Chapter 8

The Riders of Kasteesh

‘I JUST HOPE you rigged that tag-gadget right, Oddball,’ said Hoax. ‘You can’t tell what ship we got ourselves loaded on from inside here. We could be heading for the wrong side of the galaxy, for all we know.’

He, Rake, Oddball, Tea-Leaf and Salt were huddled together inside the cargo pod, most of which was still crammed with its original contents – stacked crates of canned soya meat. It wasn’t overly comfortable. At Salt’s request, Oddball had crushed a couple of glo-caps, to provide a little light. Unlike the youngsters, the old armourer had no night-vision visor to rely on.

‘Don’t you worry,’ smiled Oddball. ‘I’m certain we’re heading to Kasteesh right now. Well – almost certain.’

‘Fantastic,’ said Hoax sarcastically. He plucked a can from the stack beside him. ‘Oh well, at least we won’t starve  . . .’

Rake turned to Salt, who was hunched bear-like in silence.

‘Master, we’re going to be stuck inside here for quite a while. Why don’t you explain what’s so significant about Kasteesh, while we’ve got time on our hands. We all saw how you reacted when you found out that’s where Snow was heading.’

Salt gave a grunt and shuffled awkwardly.

‘Rake’s right, master,’ pressed Tea-Leaf. ‘Why were you so shocked?’

Salt let out a sigh of resignation. ‘We do have something of a trip ahead of us, I suppose,’ he growled. ‘And I see no real reason for further secrecy.’

There was a moment’s silence, then he continued.

‘Very well, Templer, Balista, Sappar and False-Light – I will tell you the story of Kasteesh. And of why, I fear, it has drawn our young friend into danger.’

The glo-caps’ weak yellow gleam cast an eerie light over the faces of Salt’s four young listeners as he began his tale.

‘The connection between the Armouron and the planet of Kasteesh goes back many years,’ rumbled the old armourer. ‘Their destinies first became entangled a very long time ago.’

‘What, when you were young?’ blurted Rake. He realized a moment too late how that sounded. Salt gave him a hard stare.

‘Even further back than that, Templer – if your imagination can grasp such a time-scale,’ he growled dryly. ‘Over five centuries ago, in fact. Back in the early days of star travel, before the Corporation Wars. When the Armouron were still the dominant force for order across the galaxy.

‘One of the foremost Armouron at that time was a knight named Ocell.’

It was Hoax who interrupted this time.

‘I knew an Ocell once. He played pro-league speedball with my dad. I remember when they won the  . . .’

His voice trailed off, as he sensed the four withering stares aimed his way.

Salt tried again.

‘Ocell was a great warrior, but something of a loner. He was happiest when undertaking solo missions for the order, however arduous or perilous. As starship technology developed, he took on the lonely role of exploring the galactic fringe – the outreaches of known space. One such voyage took him to the small, rocky fringe-world of Kasteesh.

‘In those days, entering a planet’s atmosphere was still a risky business. Ocell’s ship crash-landed and he was badly injured. He would have died – but for a tremendous stroke of good fortune. Not only was Kasteesh a world where the atmosphere was fine for him to breathe, but it also proved to be one of the handful of fringe worlds that was populated. Ocell’s wrecked ship was discovered by one of the planet’s natives. His body was recovered and over the coming months he was nursed back to full health.’

‘You’re right – he was lucky,’ said Oddball. ‘Not all people would be so caring.’

‘Not people, Sappar,’ said Salt. ‘The natives of Kasteesh, as Ocell was the first to discover, are a race of large winged creatures. We know a lot more about them now than was known then – there has been a Corporation research station on Kasteesh for over a decade. One of its scientists – a man from the Hotlands – was the first to give the creatures a name: the mashetani-anga, from the Afrik for “sky-demons”. Most people call them the “Mshanga”.

‘But for Ocell, they were a nameless unknown, unlike any beings he had previously encountered. Even their means of communicating was alien.’

‘A different language, you mean?’ said Rake.

Salt shook his head. ‘No. The Mshanga have no use for language. They have no vocal apparatus whatsoever. Instead, they speak to one another by transferring mind-waves. They’re telepaths.’

‘So how did they communicate with Ocell?’ asked Tea-Leaf.

‘With difficulty, at first. But this is the most astonishing part of his tale: with time and the creatures’ help, Ocell developed the ability to transmit and receive basic mind-messages himself. He was far from being a full telepath, but he forged the beginnings of a link with their thought-based community.’

‘Wicked!’ said Hoax. ‘Imagine being able to get inside each other’s heads. How cool would that be?’

‘You’d hate it,’ said Tea-Leaf. ‘Whenever you claimed to have royal blood, or a pet prawlkon, or some other load of dunk, everyone would see right through you.’

Hoax grinned.

‘You said “with time”, master,’ said Rake. ‘So did Ocell stay on Kasteesh for quite a while?’

‘He never left,’ replied Salt. ‘The company of the Mshanga suited him better than the bustle and noise of life among humans. After living in their colony for many years, he was granted the ultimate token of acceptance. The creature which had first rescued him and done most to care for him allowed him to ride it in flight.’

Tea-Leaf looked at Salt a little awkwardly. ‘This is all fascinating stuff, master – but what has it got to do with Snow? You said there was a connection between her and Kasteesh. So far, I don’t see it.’

‘Be patient, Balista,’ growled Salt. ‘All will become clear.’ He cleared his throat, then frowned. ‘Where was I?’

‘Ocell riding one of the flying aliens,’ said Oddball.

‘Ah, yes. Ocell had little sense of it at the time, but in riding one of the Mshanga, he was becoming the first of a select group of Armouron Knights who would do so. By the time of his death, the creatures’ relationship with Ocell had broadened into a wider one with the order as a whole. The knight selected to be his successor and bear his medallion chose like him to live among the Kasteesh colony. He too was granted the right to ride one of the creatures.

‘And so it continued. One knight from each generation of Armouron had the honour of becoming a Rider, paired to a mind-mate among the Mshanga. And with time, the creatures began to assist the order with their work enforcing peace and justice. It was a powerful union. The Riders and their flying mounts became one of the most feared and respected forces within the outer reaches of the galaxy.’

Salt paused and looked meaningfully at Tea-Leaf.

‘And, now, Balista, we come to your question. What has all this to do with our young friend Snow? Well, if I tell you that she is unique among you in having a father who himself belonged to our order, can you perhaps hazard a guess?’

‘Snow’s dad was an Armouron?’ said a bewildered Oddball.

Salt nodded.

‘You mean  . . . he wasn’t one of these Riders you’ve been talking about, was he?’ ventured Tea-Leaf.

Another slow nod from Salt.

‘The last Rider, to be precise,’ said the old man gravely. ‘As you know, the Corporation has made it its business to bring down the Armouron. And since the Chairman established his scientific base on Kasteesh, the Mshanga colony has also come under threat. The ancient union between our order and the Mshanga has collapsed.’

‘But Snow doesn’t know any of this, does she?’ said Rake. ‘She thinks her mum and dad were Nu-Topians. She told me they both died in a blue flu outbreak!’

Salt looked suddenly very weary. ‘I made a promise not to tell the child of her true ancestry when she first came into my care,’ he said. ‘Now it seems that somehow – somehow I don’t understand – she has discovered it for herself. I cannot see why she should otherwise choose to journey to Kasteesh.’

‘Well, she’ll be able to tell us exactly what she’s up to when we catch up with her, won’t she?’ said Rake, putting on an air of cheery determination. ‘She can’t be that far ahead of us. I reckon we should just be grateful that the executive shuttle happened to be heading out this way.’

Salt gave Rake a rare smile. ‘I applaud your positive outlook, Templer,’ he said. But his expression quickly became more grave. ‘In truth, though, the Chairman’s presence gives me additional cause for concern. I’d like to know why he too feels the need to visit Kasteesh at this particular moment in time. In my experience, having that weasel around is only ever a bad thing.’

His heavy brows knitted in a scowl.

‘A very bad thing.’