The Night's Dawn Trilogy (328 page)

Jay Hilton was sound asleep when every electrophorescent strip in the paediatric ward sprang up to full intensity. The simple
dream of her mother broke apart like a stained-glass statue shattered by a powerful gust of sharp white light; colourful splinters
tumbling off into the glare.

Jay blinked heavily against the rush of light, raising her head in confusion. The familiar scenery of the ward hardened around
her. She felt so tired. It certainly wasn’t morning yet. A huge yawn forced her mouth open. All around her the other children
were waking up in bleary-eyed mystification. Holomorph stickers began reacting to the light, translucent cartoon images rising
up to perform their mischievous antics. Animatic dolls cooed sympathetically as children clutched at them for reassurance.
Then the doors at the far end of the ward slid open, and the nurses came hurrying in.

One look at the brittle smiles on their faces was all Jay needed. Something was badly wrong. Her heart shivered. Surely not
the possessed? Not here?

The nurses began ushering children out of their beds, and along the central aisle towards the doors. Complaints and questions
were firmly ignored.

“It’s a fire drill,” the senior staff nurse called out. “Come along, quickly, now. I want you out of here and into the lifts.
Pronto. Pronto.” He clapped his hands loudly.

Jay shoved the thin duvet back, and scuttled down off the bed. Her long cotton nightie was tangled round her knees, which
took a moment to straighten. She was about to join the others charging along the aisle when she caught the flickers of motion
and light outside the window. Every morning since she’d arrived, Jay had sat in front of that window, gazing solemnly out
at Mirchusko and its giddy green cloudscape. She’d never seen speckles of light swarming out there before.

Danger.

The silent mental word was spoken so quickly Jay almost didn’t catch it. Though the feel of Haile was unmistakable. She looked
round, expecting to see the Kiint ambling down the aisle towards her. But there was only the rank of flustered nurses propelling
children along.

Knowing full well she wasn’t doing what she was supposed to, Jay padded over to the big window, and pressed her nose against
it. A slim band of tiny blue-white stars had looped itself round Tranquillity. They were all moving, contracting around the
habitat. She could see now that they weren’t really stars, they were lengthening. Flames. Brilliant, tiny flames. Hundreds
of them.

My friend. My friend. Lifeloss anguish.

Now that was definitely Haile, and intimating plenty of distress. Jay took a step back from the window, seeing misty grey
swirls where her face and hands had pressed against it. “What’s the matter?” she asked the empty air.

A cascade of new flames burst into existence outside the habitat. Expanding knots blossoming seemingly at random across space.
Jay gasped at the sight. There were thousands of them, interlacing and expanding. It was so pretty.

Friend. Friend.

Evacuation procedure initiated.

Jay frowned. The second mental voice came as a faint echo. She thought it was one of the adult Kiint, possibly Lieria. Jay
had only encountered Haile’s parents a few times. They were awfully intimidating, though they’d been nice enough to her.

Designation. Two.

No.
The adult responded forcefully.
Forbidden. Designation.

You may not, child. Sorrow felt for all human suffering. But obedience required. No. Friend. My friend. Designation. Two.
Confirmed.

Jay had never felt Haile so determined before. It was kind of scary. “Please?” she asked nervously. “What’s happening?”

A torrent of light burst through the window. It was as if a sun had risen over Mirchusko’s horizon. All of space was alive
with brilliant efflorescences.

The adult Kiint said:
Evacuation enacted.

Designated.

Jay felt a wash of guilty triumph rushing out from her friend. She wanted to reach out and comfort Haile, who she knew from
the adult’s reaction was in Big Trouble over something. Instead, she concentrated on forming a beaming smile at the heart
of her own mind, hoping Haile would pick it up. Then the air around her was crawling as if she was caught in a breeze.

“Jay!” one of the nurses called. “Come along sweetie, you… ”

The light around Jay was fading fast, along with the sounds of the ward. She could just hear the nurse’s gasp of astonishment.
The breeze abruptly turned into a small gale, whipping her nightie around and making her bristly hair stand on end. Some kind
of grey fog was forming around her, a perfectly spherical bubble of the stuff, with her at the centre. Except she couldn’t
feel any dampness in the air. It darkened rapidly, reducing the ward to weak spectral outlines. Then the boundary expanded
at a speed so frightening that Jay screamed. The boundary vanished, and with it any sign of the ward. She was alone in space
devoid of stars. And falling.

Jay put her hands to her head and screamed again, as hard as she possibly could. It didn’t put a stop to any of the horror.
She paused to suck down a huge breath. That was when the boundary reappeared out on the edge of nowhere. Hurtling towards
her so fast from every direction that she knew the impact would squash her flat. She jammed her eyes shut. “MUMMY!”

Something like a stiff feather tickled the soles of her feet, and she was abruptly standing on solid ground. Jay wind-milled
her arms for balance, pitching forward. She landed hard on some kind of cool floor, her eyes still tight shut. The air she
gulped down was warmer than it had been in the ward, and a lot more humid. Funny smell. Rosy light was playing over her eyelids.

Still crouched on all fours, Jay risked a quick peep as she gathered herself to scream again. The sight which greeted her
was so incredible that the breath stalled in her throat. “Oh gosh,” was all she eventually managed to squeak.

______

Joshua initiated the ZTT jump with little enthusiasm. His downcast mood was one which he shared with all the
Lady Mac
’s crew and passengers—at least, those who weren’t in zero-tau. To have achieved so much, only to have their final triumph
snatched away.

Except… Once the initial shock of discovering that Tranquillity had vanished from its orbit had subsided, he wasn’t frightened.
Not for Ione, or his child. Tranquillity hadn’t been destroyed, there was at least that comfort. Which logically meant the
habitat had been possessed and snatched out of the universe.

He didn’t believe it.

But his intuition was hardly infallible. Perhaps he simply didn’t want to believe it. Tranquillity was home. The emotional
investment he had in the habitat and its precious contents was enormous. Tell anyone that everything they ever treasured has
been erased, and the reaction is always the same. Whatever. His vacillation made him as miserable as the rest of the ship,
just for a different reason.

“Jump confirmed,” he said. “Samuel, you’re on.”

Lady Mac
had jumped into one of Trafalgar’s designated emergence zones, a hundred thousand kilometres above Avon. Her transponder
was already blaring out her flight authority codes. Somehow Joshua didn’t think that would quite be enough. Not when you barged
in unexpected on the Confederation’s primary military base in the middle of a crisis like this one.