Chapter 22

“Any trace of Twip’s ship, Marshia?”

NONE, CAPTAIN.

“Damn!”

I’M SORRY, CAPTAIN.

Phoenix waved a hand dismissively. “Not your fault,” he said at last. I FAILED TO TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE OBVIOUS.

“If anyone should be blamed for failing,” said Bev, “it should be me.”

“And me,” said Vick.

“You never mentioned Twip was your brother,” said Streemly, including Bev and Vick in her gaze.

“Half brother,” said Bev.“Same father.Different mothers.”

“More like a twentieth ... now,” added Vick.

The control room fell silent. Phoenix was the first to speak. “Keep scanning for survivors or anything else that can give us a clue to Twip’s whereabouts please, Marshia.”

YES, CAPTAIN.

“We need some suggestions,” said Phoenix to the room in general. “And I suppose I’ll need a new ...”

Crew members looked at their shoes. “Later perhaps,” said Phoenix.

“May I suggest,”said Kwait, “that after Marshia has finished a thorough scan and initiated any repairs that may be necessary we head back to USO City on Lodsa and see if Twip has made contact with Urquat Pykes .”

“Damage report please, Marshia,” said Phoenix.

MODERATE QUANTA-ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT DAMAGE, CAPTAIN.

“Estimated time for repair?”

APPROXIMATELY FIVE HOURS, CAPTAIN.

Phoenix moved towards the control room door. “I’ll be in my cabin,” he said.

*

West stood in front of the full-length mirror in his cabin. He hardly recognised what he saw. A dishevelled, bloody, hollow-eyed man stared back at him.

He stumbled to his bed and sat down. His thoughts, a whirl of confused numbing images, began slowly to coalesce.

“ Humans, ” thoughtWest dispassionately.“ Creatures ... Why do they do these things to each other? ”

Something crouched below his consciousness. Something allied knotted his stomach. His heart felt clutched in an ice-fingered grip. A surging black torrent of emotion vomited up through West’s throat and out through his mouth and eyes. His body writhed like a puking cat as the wail started deep from within him. He stood and bellowed helplessly at the ceiling, emitting a single long-drawn-out word. “WHY!”

When, at last, every molecule of air had been expelled from his lungs he collapsed back onto his bed sobbing uncontrollably into his hands.

Ten seconds passed.

MISTER WEST?

The softness of Marshia’s voice made no impact on West.

Chaos ruled in his mind. The chaos of blood-splattered images, splintered limbs, blood, heads oozing brain, blood, entrails, screaming, gaping mouths, clawing bloodied hands, blood. His open mouth gasped and sobbed. His open eyes flooded and saw only carnage. “No control” West felt the pit of madnessopening ...

MISTER WEST?

“Stop.I can think. I can’t stop crying but I can think. That’s OK.”

MISTER WEST?

“It’s ... OK ... Marshia,” West managed to gasp. “I’m OK ... Really.”

The racking sobs started to subside.

“Water please, Marshia.”

UNDERSTOOD.

*

Phoenix approached his washbasin determined to brush his teeth, as if purging his mouth with minty freshness would in some way help get rid of the images of death and mayhem. A MESSAGE FROM SERGEANTS GEORGE AND ARTHUR, CAPTAIN.

“A message?” asked Phoenix testily. “What are those two up to? Never mind, what’s the message?”

MESSAGE READS: HELP. END MESSAGE.

“What?” Phoenix frowned.

MESSAGE READS: HELP. END MESSAGE.

“Yes, yes, I get the message but where are they? Why do they need help?”

ONE MOMENT, CAPTAIN.

Phoenix pulled the Osmondo’s -Paste-Tremble-n-Squirt Dental Cleanser from its holster and looked at himself in the mirror.

“Bags under my eyes like scrotal sacks,” he said, lifting his chin to get a better look up his nostrils. MESSAGE READS: WE HAVE A SITUATION OF THE PROBLEM PERSUASION, SIR. END

MESSAGE.

Phoenix sighed. He had almost forgotten about his two ex-prisoners. "Ask them what the problem is please, Marshia."

Phoenix, with some difficulty, studied his left ear in the mirror. “ Another one of God's little jokes, ” he thought. “ Take the hair from your head and make it sprout out of your ears. ” Phoenix realised something. “ Yet another of God’s little jokes; that high velocity three pin plug that killed Vick. Of course. It came from ... ” He suddenly realised something else.

"Marshia?" he said."Why the delay in communications? Why can't I talk to them direct?" THEY ARE COMMUNICATING OVER SUB-QUANTRONIC VTTOLINK, CAPTAIN.VOICE

TO TEXT, TEXT AT TWENTY CHARACTERS PER SECOND. I AM RELAYING THE TEXT

TO YOU.

"Any particular reason they're using such a slow method?" Phoenix's mood was deepening."Stupidity?

Embarrassment?Bloody-mindedness? ..."

SECURITY, CAPTAIN.

"Security?"

YES, CAPTAIN.

"Where the hell are they?"

ONE MOMENT, CAPTAIN.

Phoenix shuffled from foot to foot, impatiently looking at the ceiling. In his mind he was looking at Marshia. She was always above him somewhere.

MESSAGE READS: WE GOT STUCK WHEN THE FIEND HAD IT ON HIS TOES, SIR. END

MESSAGE.

"Fiend?"

I THINK HE IS REFERRING TO DJANGO TWIP, CAPTAIN.

"Stuck?"

MESSAGE READS: WE WERE CARRYING OUT OUR DUTIES OF THE ORDERS

PERSUASION, SIR. END MESSAGE.

"What are they on about, Marshia?"

IT SEEMS THEY HAD ORDERS TO CLAMP LIMPET SCANNERS TO TWIP'S VESSEL, CAPTAIN.

"Not from me they didn't.” Probably Apricot. “So what happened?" THEY ARE ABOARD SHUTTLE M901. ITS COMPUTERS REPORT SOME HULL AND

THRUSTER DAMAGE RESULTING FROM INERTIAL FIELD FAILURE. THIS OCCURRED