Star of Hope Read online

  Ishbel lay back, allowing her elbows to sink into the soft moss and, not for the first time recently, she wondered what Sorlie and the others were up to in Steadie. As the months passed she had begun to get used to the idea that she could spend the rest of her life here, oblivious to the suffering of the rest of the Esperaneo natives. And then the order had come through from The Prince two days ago, she was to prepare for action.

  She spied her brother Kenneth on the quay, a guard by his side. This was his daily walk, always guarded since his vicious attack on Vanora. Poor Kenneth. They said he was mad beyond help, but it was grief. Ishbel couldn’t blame him for hating Vanora and attempting matricide. Kenneth had loved the guard Ridgeway and Vanora had been careless with his life and death.

  At the time of Kenneth’s attack, Vanora, although shaken, had put up a brave front and tried to resume her role as empress and all round deluded despot. But that time had long disappeared and as the months went by Ishbel witnessed that behind all the bluster, Vanora had shrunk into the old woman she was. Her only ally now was Monsieur Jacques, the elderly Noiri king. Two aging has-beens propping each other’s armies up like a house of cards.

  Ishbel watched Kenneth retrace his steps back to his quarters in Freedom’s infirmary. A whistle escaped through the gap in her front teeth before she sucked in her courage. She couldn’t put it off any longer.

  The infirmary orderly was a stern man given to staring past Ishbel as if she didn’t exist. He was of a generation that still found face to face interaction threatening, and who found native women even more threatening. Ishbel thought she must terrify him. A whole two generations of natives brought up to interact only with their friends in a virtual world – friends real and not so real. Vanora had told her that before the Switch-Off, children were introduced to extra Tactical Social Classes to teach them how to interact with other humans. How could it have grown so bad? The damage had been done decades before. The faceless generations out there. And Ishbel loathed having to deal with them.

  Kenneth smiled at her entry. ‘Come to rattle my cage have you?’

  ‘That’s unfair and you know it.’

  He held his hands out to Ishbel. ‘Come talk to me. You are my sister, and yet I’ve never really spoken to you. Never got to know you.’ He chuckled and she knew why. ‘Except through your fine fare, that is.’ Ishbel had been one of the domestic’s natives who had fed Vanora’s clandestine army. She had grown extra fruit and vegetables in the Mayben garden. Pickled them and sent them, via Dawdle’s Noiri network, to Kenneth’s hideout as well as two other coverts.

  ‘You kept me alive, Ishbel.’

  ‘If I hadn’t someone else would have.’

  He stroked his well-trimmed beard and glowered at his feet.

  ‘What are you going to do with me?’

  ‘I’m going to give you a project to keep you from trying to kill Vanora again.’

  ‘What? Not execute me for insubordination?’

  Ishbel laughed. ‘Oh, Vanora is baying for your blood but there isn’t anything she can do to you anymore.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘It was agreed at Black Rock, after you’d tried to kill her. You’d be my responsibility.’ He put his head down and she knew what he was thinking. He started to cry.

  ‘Ridgeway and I had only just found each other again,’ he said, choking on his tears.

  Ishbel wanted to put her arm around him but found she couldn’t. The emotional repression of her upbringing was too strong.

  ‘I know,’ she said. ’Ridgeway was a good man.’ Ishbel also knew that Vanora hadn’t needed to take Ridgeway with her on the mission where he perished. She only did it to deny Kenneth his company.

  Kenneth sniffed loudly and cleared his throat. ‘I miss him so much.’

  ‘I know, he served us well.’ She saw Kenneth’s shoulders stiffen. ‘He was a good man,’ she said again, biting her stupid tongue. She placed her hands on his shoulders and forced him to face her. ‘Look Kenneth, we are going to win this fight. We will conquer Esperaneo Major. The Prince has it all worked out. But we need good people back here to build a strong society. What’s the use of taking control if we are left with a heap of uneducated natives who can’t even communicate with each other?’ Kenneth lowered his sad eyes, but she lifted his chin again with a gentle hand. ‘You are useful. Scud has history, you have science.’ She clicked her comms and scrolled through some screens. ‘Look, remember, Davie’s library at Black Rock.’ He peered at the screen with his old watery eyes and failed to keep the interest from his face.

  ‘We have saved the books. They’re back where they belong on Black Rock. We have the old knowledge, true knowledge. Knowledge we thought we had lost after the Switch-Off. You and Scud are going to set up our education programme.’

  He dry sobbed and took in a great breath. ‘Ishbel, I want to fight in the revolution.’

  ‘You are too old to fight.’

  His eyes became fierce. ‘I will never be too old to fight.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Ishbel said.

  He sat down wearily. ‘When are you going on your first mission?’

  ‘Soon.’

  ‘I’m coming with you.’

  ‘The Prince will never agree.’

  ‘Then don’t tell him.’

  He stood up and walked towards her and she could see his past still blazing in his eyes.

  ‘You owe me, Ishbel. All those years Vanora had me ensconced in that cave for nothing. You expect me to retire to a cosy school room.’ He thumped the wall. ‘No, I fight.’ He pointed at her. ‘And, and I tell you, if Scud wants to fight, you let him. We might be old men but we have been in this mess a lot longer than you.’

  ‘I hear rumours that Scud is not well. He wants to go back to Black Rock.’

  ‘Rumours,’ he shouted at her. ‘From that Noiri scoundrel, Dawdle, no doubt. No wonder Scud’s not well. You didn’t have to go through the purge – see your career thrown out as useless. You didn’t have your loved ones ripped from you.’ Spittle flew with each passionate word.

  She put her hands up against this onslaught, looking round for the emergency bell. She’d call to sedate him soon if this kept up.

  ‘Kenneth, I am leaving you now,’ she said, drawing herself to her full height. ‘You will be kept under lock and key until we can place you outside the toxic range of Vanora. You can’t come with me and I think you know that too. You are a scientist first and foremost. Think that over and think what good you can do the cause with that knowledge.’

  The day before Ishbel was due to leave on her mission Kenneth asked to see her. She expected another plea to allow him to fight so she was surprised to find him in calm mode, sitting at his work bench.

  ‘Kenneth.’

  As she approached he held up a vial.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘A virus.’

  Ishbel baulked. ‘Have we not had enough manmade viruses in our lifetime? The population has been selected, and reduced to near extinction, we don’t need any more killing.’

  He shook his head. ‘It isn’t a virus for humans. It affects concrete.’

  ‘Concrete?’

  ‘You asked me to apply my brain to a solution. Well I did. I’ve actually been working on this all year. There’s a waterborne virus that erodes concrete, so I asked myself, what if it were made airborne? Think how much concrete there is in the Capital.’

  Ishbel examined the innocent-looking vial. ‘Has it been tested?’

  ‘Sort of,’ he said, his eyes to the floor, and she knew he was lying. ‘There is only one way to find out. We could test it in Beckham City first. What harm can happen there? I’ve heard the place is a dump. If it works then take it forward.’

  ‘What if it gets out of control?’

  ‘We have to take that chance, Ishbel.’

  ‘No, ab
solutely not. I forbid it.’

  Kenneth glowered at her below his busy brows. ‘You asked me to apply my knowledge and now that I have you reject it.’

  ‘It’s untested, Kenneth. If you can show me test results on how it works, how it is controlled and contained, I will consider it when I come back from my mission. Not until.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘No!’ She held her hand out for him to shake a goodbye but he stared at it like a petulant child.

  ‘Bon voyage, Kenneth, you will be going to Black Rock tomorrow. I will ensure your lab equipment follows you and you can perfect your virus when not helping with the education programme.’ He stared at the wall, his eyes glazed over with indifference.

  ‘I will fight one way or the other. I will fight.’

  Ishbel whistled through the gap in her teeth. She’d be glad when he was safely ensconced on Black Rock.

  Sorlie

  Pa was wrong about the good weather to come. Rain plashed down heavier than normal for the PM. I lifted him back into the barrow and wheeled him to his container. I was just helping him up the duckboard step when Reinya’s screams tore through the whole camp. Scud rushed from the canteen tent, his face paler than normal, his mutant expression, soapy and weak.

  ‘What are they doin tae her? Make them stop,’ Scud moaned, his hands over his damaged ears. Tears started in his walnut eyes. His Privileged looks meant he didn’t have to hide from the raid. He’d have stayed out, working in the plastic reprocessing plant when the raid started.

  He grabbed my free hand. ‘You go Sorlie, see what’s happenin. They’ll no let me near.’

  As I looked at the beseeching face of my friend I recognised an expression I’d seen in him many times before. In danger, in hope and in pain, he had asked for my help, the help of a mere boy but in his eyes still a Privileged, superior. But this time it was different. Our roles were more equal.

  ‘OK.’ I said as I let him take the burden of Pa.

  I stepped out into the busy streets of Steadie where natives and specials continued to clear up the mess. Could no one else hear her? I hopped along the ridged plastic duckboard, jumping over broken sections, skiting round those now sunk in the mud. Relentless rain had battered this area in the last two months. In the old days this fourth quarter had been called Winter and was reputed to have brought a coldness so cold it burned; ice and snow and clean air. Not in my lifetime, so I was doubtful for a rain check any time soon. Ice was something the State President put in his Mash.

  Another scream ripped through the camp. The door to the infirmary tent was pulled tight shut. As I bounded the steps two at a time I heard a slap then silence. Another scream issued from Reinya, just as painful but different. This scream held the hurt of nations.

  A native woman pulled the flap open and almost fell over me. ‘It’s a boy,’ she said through her gummy oldie grimace.

  Betty moved out behind her and stared at me with worried eyes.

  ‘What? What is it? Is Reinya OK?’

  She shook her head. ‘Go and see for yourself.’

  ‘I’ll get Scud.’

  ‘No. Sorlie, you go first.’

  I hesitated at her worried look. A cold thread plumbed my spine as I remembered Reinya’s story. This child was the result of violence done to her on the Prison Ship. I didn’t want to find out what was in there. Before I ducked into the tent I turned to survey Steadie. There were the specials, protected from the State in this radioactive haven. They would have been destroyed during the early purges for their flaws. Deemed a burden to our cleansed society. The result of nature or too much tampering with nature. They chose to be silent because society had shunned them. Both Privileged and native did not want to hear what they had to say. And now this baby. What if? But the what if didn’t matter when I saw Reinya propped up in bed, her rusty hair spread out against the pillow, dampened round the edges.

  ‘’e’s beautiful,’ she said, smiling down at the bundle she held. This fierce girl who never smiled, always angry at a world who robbed her of her childhood. ‘’e’s beautiful,’ she said again. The room seemed to be holding its breath and cold air curled around us. I stepped up beside her and looked down at the baby so pale it was almost translucent. His eyes were cold, his lips blue.

  ‘’e’ll never be able to leave ‘ere as long as thurs no freedom. ‘e’ll always be in the middle of the pack ‘idden. But ‘e is the most beautiful baby uh’ve ever seen and uh’m goin to make ‘is life worth livin if it’s the last thing uh do.’

  I touched his forehead. It was warm but cooling fast. The baby was dead.

  ‘’is name is Kooki,’ Reinya said, her lips trembled. ‘It means Star of ‘ope.’

  Betty went to Reinya and placed her arm across her back. ‘Let me take him.’

  Reinya hugged the bundle closer. How could she not feel the cold from him? She stared at us, one after the other. The smile on her face started to slide. She pulled the blanket tighter around him. ‘’e’s gettin cold, uh must warm ‘im up.’

  Betty nudged me. ‘Do something, Sorlie,’ she whispered.

  I looked at Harkin, who stood in the corner, watching us, her arms crossed over her chest. Her face blank of emotion.

  ‘Harkin?’ I said but it was Scud who stepped up. He’d been standing in the doorway watching the scene. I don’t know how long he had been there but it was enough to know the score. He walked to the bedside and knelt down. Since our arrival in Steadie, Reinya had worked hard to rid herself of her revulsion at her mutant grandfather. In the past months they had even sometimes shared a meal. She now turned her head to Scud. Her lips twisted, there was a tear on her lower lid.

  ‘It’s this place,’ she whispered. ‘Uh should never ‘ave brought ‘im ‘ere.’

  Scud touched the baby’s head. ‘He would have been ma great grandson.’

  Reinya’s mouth hung open and a line of spittle dribbled from it. With the back of one hand Scud wiped it clear, with the other he eased the tiny bundle from her grasp. Tears streamed down her face, her mouth forming an ugly gape.

  ‘Please,’ she whispered, trying to keep hold.

  ‘Reinya, he’s gone. Let him go,’ Scud rasped.

  As Scud removed the baby from her bedside, Harkin moved in and hugged Reinya close to smother the heart-breaking gasps. My chest was tight and a hard lump lodged in my throat. I stood helpless like a tube. As I turned to go I clocked Betty’s normally jolly face grim with disappointment.

  I followed Scud into the grey morning. ‘What do we do now, Scud?’

  He remained silent as he walked serenely towards one of the outer tents.

  ‘Scud,’ Betty hailed. ‘Wait up.’

  When he turned I noticed tears rolling down his face. We waited as she hirpled along the duckboard.

  ‘Our death dealer will take care of him.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘There will be a cremation.’ She pointed to a small building beside the hothouse. ‘In there. Let me take care of it, Scud.’

  He handed the baby to Betty. ‘Make sure Reinya gets tae see him before he goes.’

  ‘What if she wants to hold on to it again?’ I asked.

  Scud looked at me as if I were mad. ‘She won’t,’ he said. ‘And it’s ‘him’ not ‘it’.’ He walked away. I ran after him.

  ‘Scud, wait up.’ I grabbed his sleeve but he shook off my grip. ‘Scud?’ I ran round him and stood to block his way.

  ‘Let me go, Sorlie.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Anywhere away from here,’ he gasped. ‘Ah can’t bear tae see her pain. Ah can’t take this anymore. All those years in prison, workin as an agent for Vanora. Twenty-odd years. Ah always had hope. But the pain just keeps on happenin. The needless sufferin.’ He cast his arm around the site. ‘Look at this place. The specials, the oldies, forced tae live in this hell-hole bec
ause the alternative is death. Why did we have tae bring her here?’

  ‘Because we thought she would be safe.’

  ‘We should have taken her tae Freedom.’

  ‘There’s no place for her there, you know that. The Prince was clear, it was for warriors only.’ I felt a chill as I thought about that order. No one questioned it at the time, but Scud was right. Reinya should have been taken to Freedom. ‘Ishbel returned there because she was useful to the cause,’ I continued. ‘The Prince and Reinya would go to Steadie to recover.’

  ‘Mebbes sometimes The Prince is wrong.’

  ‘How can you say that? Only a few months ago you told me he was the best person to lead this fight.’

  Scud stopped. ‘And what fight is this? When will this revolution start?’

  I squared my shoulders. We were both small but I tried to grow taller in defence of Pa. ‘These things take time to organise.’

  ‘Organise!’ he spat the words. ‘He needs tae act now. These people need tae get out o here before they all die.’

  I tapped the bar badge on my overalls.

  ‘They know how to live here, Scud. They know when they’ve had enough and get moved to the perimeter and those at the perimeter move in a bit.’

  He took hold of his own badge, and ripped it from his jacket. ‘And who told ye that?’

  ‘Con did.’

  ‘And did the great elder, Con, tell ye how many specials they have carted off tae that incinerator over there?’ He pointed but he couldn’t look. ‘The Death Dealer has his work cut out for him here.’

  ‘Scud, you’re upset.’

  ‘Upset!’ he screamed. ‘Snafin right ah’m upset. My wife died o a broken heart, my daughter was forced into being an addict and ended her days dyin a horrible death on a prison ship. My granddaughter suffered unimaginable horrors there too and that baby, the one good thing tae come from all that violence, is dead.’