THALES

 

Lasper Farr is dead. The notion stunned Thales. As did the sight of the Commander’s savaged body.

‘We’re in!’ shouted Fariss.

Her voice delivered Thales from his shock. He saw the Feohte and Mau follow her through the wall panel, and the comm technicians rush for the hatch.

Then he was alone with the dead and two ‘esques he’d never seen before: a Balol who stood behind his workstation as if rooted there and a Lostolian with strange multi-faceted eyes. The latter advanced on Thales with a knife in his hand.

Thales backed towards the direction the technicians had fled, but the Lostolian cut him off from the hatch so he crouched down and looked around for something to defend himself. He spotted a gun partially covered by a body.

‘Ra!’ bellowed the Balol. ‘Stop!’

Ra? The name meant something, but fear prevented him from being able to remember.

‘He’s the disruption. His death will be the repeller,’ hissed the Lostolian. He moved closer as he spoke, stopping just short of stabbing distance from Thales.

‘Him. Why is he important?’ said the Balol.

‘He’s not. It’s his connection to others. How his death will affect their actions.’

‘You’re being insane, Ra. You can’t possibly believe—’

The Balol broke off as Thales grabbed the gun and raised it.

With one tiny movement of his thumb, Thales knew he could end the Lostolian’s life, but he baulked.

Thoughts cartwheeled through his mind, and emotions deluged his body. He felt as if the whole point of his existence hinged on what he did right now. He’d left Scolar as a naive young man who, for a time, deserted his Jainist principles. But now he’d returned, knowing much more of himself. He wished Villon was here to tell.

Then, just as quickly as he’d become paralysed and confused, the right choice became clear. He would not kill anyone. Not even to defend his life.

He threw the gun away and stared at Ra.

The Lostolian, surprised by his action, hesitated.

And as he did, the Balol made a choice of his own. He pushed aside the workstation and leapt forward. With nearly as much force as Petalu Mau had used on Lasper Farr, the Balol punched Ra in the back of the head.

Ra fell.

Thales watched the Balol dive forward, teeth bared and face contorted. Heaving his body at the Lostolian, the Balol impaled Ra with the spikes of his stiffened frill.

Ra made one short gurgling sound of pain then fell still.

Immediately, the Balol withdrew his frill and wiped the spikes clean on Ra’s robe. When he stood up again, his teeth were still bared but his face was composed.

‘He wanted to change the course of events,’ the Balol told him, as if Thales should understand.

But Thales shook his head in bewilderment.

The Balol gave a rough laugh. ‘My name is Balbao, formerly Chief Astronomein of Belle-Monde. That was Ra of Lostol, one of the tyros. The rest of it will take a while in the telling.’

‘Thales!’

Fariss was back, covered in blood. ‘It’s done!’ Her eyes narrowed and she looked between him and the Balol.

‘What’s done?’ asked Balbao.

Thales stared at Balbao. ‘We’ve started the sequence to close the shift sphere. In a few days no one will be able to leave Scolar station.’

‘And now we have to get out of here,’ said Fariss with feeling. ‘Every red robe on the station is coming our way.’

‘Commander Farr’s ship is close,’ said Balbao.

Fariss looked to Thales and nodded. ‘Let’s go.’