Herbie Brennan - The Faeman Quest

‘Firstly,’ Madame Cardui said coolly, ‘all our intelligence on the matter suggests there are very few countries with the power resources to do us much damage. They have the spells, of course, but not enough power reserves to drive them to anything like their ultimate potential.’

‘Haleklind has the resources,’ Henry interrupted. Haleklind’s reserves of magical power were massive, exceeded only by the combined reserves of the entire Empire.

‘Haleklind does,’ Madame Cardui nodded. ‘But the question is whether Haleklind would wish to be seen to be the first to break the prime provision of the treaty.’

‘Yes, but they wouldn’t be the first, would they?’ Pyrgus snorted. ‘We would.’

This time Madame Cardui shook her head. ‘No, we would not,’ she said firmly. ‘The treaty specifically bans the use of neutron spells against faeries or allied races. It says nothing about manticores or other animals.’

‘Well, it should do!’

‘That may be so, Pyrgus,’ Madame Cardui told him, ‘but at the moment it does not. If we specifically target the manticore herds -’ She gestured towards the viewglobes, ‘- the effects will be isolated from all the main population centres and there should be no collateral damage whatsoever. Once we make the strike, we will announce that the Haleklinders had developed breeding manticores as weapons for military purposes and that our aim in removing these weapons is purely to preserve peace. Legally, the Haleklinders have no grounds to strike back at us and if they were tempted to strike anyway, even they do not have sufficient power reserves to wipe us out completely. We, on the other hand, have sufficient reserves to remove every living being in Haleklind.’

It was the fact she said it so calmly that chilled Henry so much. ‘That’s what I mean,’ he told her soberly. ‘Every living thing in Haleklind includes our daughter at the moment.’

It had a chastening effect on Blue. He knew that, even though she tried to hide it. She started to say something, but Pyrgus cut across her. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘do we have to act at once? This very minute? Can we wait a day or two before wiping out the manticores?’

Blue glanced towards Madame Cardui and General Vanelke, who were standing together – like newfound allies, Henry thought – near the edge of the Operations Table. Vanelke glanced in turn at the viewglobes. ‘They’re not positioned for an immediate attack,’ he said. ‘But they’re positioned to be positioned.’

‘How long?’ Blue asked.

‘The ones closest to our border… half a day… twenty-four hours at the most.’ Then he added unexpectedly, ‘But if you take the whole strategic situation into account, it would be longer – somewhere between forty-eight and seventy-two hours, I would estimate. They’re not stupid. They know what they’re facing and they’d want to make sure of every detail. That takes time.’

‘Cynthia?’ Blue asked.

Madame Cardui shrugged. ‘I have no specific information that an attack is imminent. What worries me is the very existence of the manticores. As the General says, we could have a border incursion in half a day.’

Blue turned back to her brother. ‘All right, Pyrgus, what did you have in mind?’

‘Two things,’ Pyrgus told her. ‘I’m more familiar with Haleklind than anybody here. I suggest I go back there. Prime objective to find Mella and get her to safety. I have contacts who could be helpful. Secondary objective, to find out if there’s any way to defuse the situation. Call it a diplomatic mission. At very least I might be able to buy time. With Mella still in Halkelind somewhere, time may be the most important thing.’ He stopped and stared at her expectantly.

Henry opened his mouth to support Pyrgus, then closed it again. Blue could get stubborn if she thought they were ganging up on her. He waited. After a long moment, Blue said, ‘Yes. Yes, Pyrgus, that’s a good idea. Can you go at once?’

Pyrgus nodded. ‘ Yes.’

‘Alone or with back-up?’

‘Alone,’ Pyrgus said.

‘I’ll come with you,’ Henry told him hurriedly.

But they both turned towards him.

‘Not a good idea,’ Pyrgus said.

‘I don’t trust the Table of Seven,’ Blue said soberly. ‘It’s bad enough to risk a Crown Prince. I’m not prepared to risk my King Consort.’

‘It would also be bad politics,’ Madame Cardui put in. ‘We would be acting at too high a level.’

‘Pyrgus,’ Blue said.

‘Yes?’

‘I can give you two days – at most.’

‘I understand.’

Blue said, ‘That’s assuming there’s no change in the present situation.’

‘I understand,’ Pyrgus said again.

But Blue clearly wanted to make absolutely sure he really did understand. ‘If there is any evidence – any hint or suggestion – of an attack by the Haleklinders, or Madame Cardui brings me any intelligence that such an attack is imminent, I shall order the immediate use of neutron spells specifically targeted to wipe out the manticores. All the manticores…’ She turned to Henry with a bleak smile. ‘At least we can be sure Mella will be safe. Whatever she’s up to, there’s no way she will be anywhere near a manticore herd.’

Hairstreak was in the forest for almost an hour before he heard the screams. They were some distance off, but carried an interesting degree of urgency. It was difficult to be certain, but he thought it might be a female scream. Specifically a girl’s.

‘What’s that?’ Aisling asked.

Aisling had been slowing things down. With his new body, Hairstreak could walk indefinitely without tiring, but Aisling was a bundle of complaints after the first few hundred yards. Her feet hurt. Her legs hurt. She scratched her hand on a thorn bush. She was out of breath. The forest was smelly. Couldn’t they rest a little while?

‘Somebody in trouble,’ Hairstreak said tritely. ‘You stay here: I’ll go and find out.’

He expected she might protest, but she only said, ‘Please be careful, darling.’

It was odd to be called darling, but he rather liked it. ‘Use your whistle if anything comes near you.’

‘Of course,’ Aisling said. She stood on tiptoe to give him a brief kiss. He liked that as well.

The scream came again.

Hairstreak flicked his new body into turbo mode and ran. Mostly he kept to the paths, but from time to time found it convenient to push his way directly through shrub and bushes. Although his mind was occupied, he was aware of the scrapes and scratches that resulted; and also the pain. Consolidated Magical Services had enabled the body to feel pain in the normal course of events, since pain was a necessary – and familiar – signal of malfunction. But the pain was less intrusive than it would be in a natural body and if it grew troublesome, he could always switch it off using a small stud built into his left nipple. On the whole, he was too distracted to care. The screams – they were definitely girlish screams – had to mean Mella was in trouble: after all, the forest was not exactly teeming with young women. She’d been caught by a manticore, perhaps, or fallen down and broken her stupid leg. But the question was, which Mella? With luck, it would be the real one. In which case he could finish her off and resume his search for the clone. But if it was the clone…

He kicked his speed up another notch.

The screams were continuous now, and closer. There was an overlay of other noises, an animal growl and a snapping sound like the breaking of bones. Someone was under attack, but so long as she was screaming, she was not dead. Hairstreak put on another burst of speed. He ran along a narrow pathway, then left it for a more direct route. He broke through a screen of bushes and found himself in a broad clearing. He was no longer alone.