Steph Bennion - Paw-Prints of the Gods

“She was here,” said Quirinus, glaring at his hired pilot. “Last night she gave us the slip whilst this idiot was again dozing on watch. Their transport returned to pick her up and they left in a flying wing that’s been parked here the last couple of days.”

“I wasn’t asleep,” muttered Momus. “It was me who saw the frigging ship leave.”

“It woke you up, you mean,” retorted Fornax. “The bitch stole my Pinot.”

“Jones ran off and hid in their transport,” Zotz told Ravana. The electric cat lay curled upon his lap. “We followed its camera feed on my wristpad but it was mostly jumping around too much to see anything. We did spot the nurse with another woman and a boy.”

“I didn’t know it could transmit pictures,” Ravana said cautiously, looking at her pet. Zotz blushed and dropped his gaze. “Have you been messing with its insides again?”

“Their transport must have docked with yours whilst you were unconscious,” reasoned Quirinus. “Jizo was clearly waiting for you to show up. I wonder why they left you behind? She said something about you being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Ravana frowned. This aspect of the mystery puzzled her also, especially given the trouble Jizo and Lilith had taken to keep her locked up next door to Artorius. Her father had instructed the Platypus AI to keep track of the departing Atterberg Epiphany and they knew the black ship had touched down on the new runway at the excavation.

“I found a link between the dig and a so-called prophecy in the Isa-Sastra ,” she said hesitantly. “It could be that they thought I knew too much, so wanted me out of the way. But if so, why abandon me with a vehicle right next to where our spaceship is parked?”

“More prophecies?” asked Quirinus, rolling his eyes.

“This time, I don’t think it’s something invented by Taranis,” Ravana told him. Earlier, she had shown them all Artorius’ words on the slate. “But calling it a prophecy sounds too mystical, somehow. It might be more of a warning.”

“A warning!” exclaimed Zotz.

“It seems to me they want us to leave,” Momus said flatly. “There’s too much frigging secret-agent stuff going on for my liking. The sooner we blast out of here, the better.”

“Leave?” Fornax frowned. “What about my story?”

“Forget your story. What about Artorius?” asked Ravana, her face creased in concern. “We can’t leave him here. He’s just a little boy.”

“Artorius,” mused Philyra, looking thoughtful. “I know that name.”

“It’s Taranis’ freaky cyberclones that scare me,” said Quirinus. “You’ve seen two of them and Ostara reckons there’s a couple more in Newbrum. You saw the police flyer at the dig. I’m hoping they already have the situation in hand.”

“There’s clones in Newbrum?” Ravana was shocked. “How do you know?”

“Ostara has been doing some secret-agent stuff of her own,” he told her.

“Frigging lizard men!” scoffed Momus. “As if Newbrum needs more weirdos.”

“We blasted them into space,” said Ravana. “Who rescued them?”

Quirinus, Zotz and Momus realised they had omitted an important piece of their story and told her about how the ejected engine room had been salvaged by the crew of the cloud-mining facility at Thunor. When Momus mentioned that Sky Cleaver ’s shuttle had been found in orbit around Woden, Fornax looked thoughtful.

“Some guy at the spaceport told me it was the Dhusarians’ black ship that brought the monks to Newbrum,” she said. “It must have met the stolen shuttle.”

“Then delivered another two to Falsafah,” murmured Ravana, perturbed. “What about the rest of the twelve? And Taranis himself?”

Momus shrugged. “There was a half-eaten stiff at Sky Cleaver . Was that him?”

“Did he have a spider walker instead of legs?” asked Zotz. He grinned as Fornax and Philyra screwed their faces in disgust. Momus however shook his head.

“Half-eaten?” Ravana shuddered. The more she heard about Taranis’ creations, the worse they became. “That must have been Fenris. He was killed by the clones.”

“Jizo spoke of Taranis as if he were still alive,” Quirinus said gently.

“But Lilith said he was dead,” she retorted sullenly. “And that I killed him.”

For a while, no one spoke. Zotz took advantage of the lull to find Ostara’s recording on his wristpad, which in turn reminded Quirinus to send Ostara and Wak the news that Ravana was safe. As Zotz showed Ravana the shaky muffled footage of Nyx and the two monks, the fear she felt back at the Dhusarians’ dome was awakened anew. Taranis had called them his disciples, created to spread the word of the Dhusarian Church, but it was a shock to see they had begun their mission on Ascension. Yet foremost in her mind was Artorius, the mysterious star man Athene described as being led to his duty like a lamb to the slaughter, who was once again prisoner of the Dhusarians. There was little Ravana could do about the cyberclones on Newbrum. Here on Falsafah, she could not stand idly by.

“I have to try and rescue Artorius,” she said. “I don’t know what the Dhusarians have planned for him but I’m sure it’s not good.”

“They have scary killer robots,” Philyra said cautiously. “We saw a couple of military androids in crates in the hold. I just thought I’d mention that.”

“I didn’t intend to march in there unarmed,” Ravana reassured her, before adding hopefully, “nor alone.”

“Armed!” exclaimed Quirinus. “My little girl does not mess with guns!”

Ravana gave him an apologetic smile. “I only shoot robots and acid slime.”

“And launch lizard men into frigging space,” muttered Momus.

Zotz looked uneasy. “I’ll come if you want me to,” he said quietly. The cat in his lap squirmed under his tight embrace. “You needed my help last time.”

“Count me in too,” said Fornax. “I still need a good story to take back with me.”

Ravana looked to her father with pleading eyes.

“I suppose we should make sure there’s nothing untoward going on at the dig,” admitted Quirinus. “This is no place for a little boy to be lost. Let’s see if that transport of yours has any life left in it before we decide to try that new runway.”

“You’re all frigging mad,” muttered Momus.

“But you’ll come with us?” Quirinus asked.

Momus scratched his ragged moustache. “Am I getting overtime for this?”

The lone repair robot stationed at Arallu Depot, a beetle-like automaton half a metre long, clung gloomily to the undercarriage of the transport and in a blaze of sparks added yet another glowing scar to the broken suspension strut. Two of the vehicle’s huge wheels had been removed, along with the gearbox, a couple of drive shafts and a large coil spring that had snapped in two. One look at the robot’s progress was enough to tell Ravana it would be a while before the vehicle was capable of going anywhere again. Leaving her father watching the robot, she clambered into the transport and emerged minutes later loaded down with the plasma cannon, a couple of undamaged survival suits and Kedesh’s cricket bat, all of which she deposited on the floor. Quirinus’ quizzical gaze moved immediately to the bat.

“It’s the only other weapon I could find,” she explained. “There was a pistol in the cockpit locker but Kedesh must have taken that with her.”

Quirinus picked up the cricket bat, took a practice swing and smiled.

“This takes me back,” he said. “Genuine willow, too. Odd thing to have aboard.”

“Kedesh reckoned she used to play for Kent,” Ravana replied, her words tinged with sarcasm. “Of course, that may have been another lie.”