The Maharani was beautiful. Ravana looked into her heart-shaped features, at her dark eyes and glowing caramel skin framed by a cascade of jet-black hair, then turned her gaze to the floor, her hand moving to touch the scar upon her own face. Her father put an arm around Ravana’s waist and gave her a comforting squeeze. She glanced up into his eyes and noticed with surprise that he was regarding the Maharani with an expression that was unexpectedly cold and unwelcoming.
“Well, well,” her father said, his tone sarcastic. “If it isn’t Maharani Uma, the mighty exiled drama queen of Yuanshi herself.”
The Maharani met his stare calmly, unabashed.
“We meet again, my dear Quirinus,” she purred, her voice laden with silken tones. “As before, I regret it is an act of war that has caused our paths to cross.”
“War?” Quirinus snorted in disbelief. “Here on the Dandridge Cole?”
“Indeed,” replied the Maharani. “And once again, I need your help.”
Chapter Two
The Eden Ravines
BELLONA STARED out of the window of the skybus at the bleak landscape flashing by. The endless grey desert was not much to look at, especially in the dim red light of Barnard’s Star, but it was good to get out of Newbrum’s dome. Her best friend Philyra sat next to her, idly flicking through the latest celebrity gossip holovid on her wristpad. To look at they were nothing alike, yet plump ebony Bellona often thought of herself and pale skinny Philyra as sisters; they were both tall and dark-haired, they studied the same subjects at school and both liked the industrial robopop bands that were the latest sensation coming out of Alpha Centauri. On the other hand, Bellona had tried and failed to understand Philyra’s fascination with the gossip holovids, particularly her current addiction to the long-running game show Gods of Avalon, which featured a host of minor celebrities fighting to survive on a forest moon where robotic mythical beasts, android deities and even the terraformed climate were controlled by a surprisingly sadistic audience vote.
On the seat opposite sat Endymion, a tall and scrawny youth who wore a permanent lazy smile on his face. He was Bellona’s brother and at eighteen Terran years a full three years older than his sister and her friend, who nonetheless both agreed that he often acted more like a four-year-old. Like the girls, he wore a one-piece light blue flight suit that was the school uniform, all of which bore the Commonwealth Space Agency ensign for Ascension on the shoulder: a small brown planet against a large red sun with the national flag of the United Kingdom in the corner. In a rebellious mood he had undone the top half of the one-piece and tied the empty sleeves around his waist, revealing the fibre-optic tunic he wore beneath. Bellona and Philyra had limited their own personal touches to the non-uniform wide silver belts worn tight around their waists, though both had also taken more care than usual to pile on the make-up and antigrav hair lacquer.
The fourth member of their party was Miss Clymene, a portly and slightly eccentric Scottish woman who ruled the class with a firm but fair hand. It was said by her ex-students that she could be both your best friend and your worst enemy; more often than not at the same time. At the moment she was at her most relaxed, sitting calmly across the central aisle opposite Endymion. Miss Clymene was dressed as always in riotous assembly in red, complete with a scarlet beret wedged upon her head to keep her tousled grey locks in check. As Bellona glanced towards her teacher, Miss Clymene looked down at the small touch-screen computer terminal upon her lap and smiled.
“Nearly there!” she exclaimed, putting the slate away. “All excited, are we?”
“Whoopee,” muttered Endymion, staring at the floor.
Bellona gave him a kick. His tunic momentarily flickered, the graphic of polonium rock band Butt moving a little then stopping before the tunic’s resonator could play a segment of their song Smell My Gas.
“Is he on egg?” remarked Miss Clymene, looking at Endymion carefully. She was referring to the latest mood-enhancing drug out of Epsilon Eridani.
Bellona laughed. “No, he’s always like that.”
“Aren’t you glad to get out of the city?” Philyra asked him.
“This is a school trip,” he retorted. “It’s not the same. I’m not even in the same class as you and Bellona.”
“On the contrary, during the run-up to the band competition you are most definitely part of my class,” Miss Clymene said firmly, her voice slightly scolding. “You know the rules. We rehearse together; we study together. It is a shame there’s only you three at the academy who actually have any musical talent, but that’s the way it is.”
“There’s only twelve people in the whole school,” Philyra pointed out.
“Newbrum’s starting to look like a ghost town,” her teacher agreed, though school numbers had also suffered due to the big corporations setting up their own private schools. “The Clarke family shipped out to Tau Ceti last month. The Robinsons too are talking of going back to the Solar System to work on a terraforming project on Mars. There won’t be any proper families left on Ascension at this rate!”
“My dad says there’s no jobs,” mumbled Endymion. His and Bellona’s parents, both top-class aerospace engineers, had emigrated from Nigeria to the Barnard’s Star system before he was born and were now starting to regret it. “Not unless you want to work at the hydrogen works or the spacecraft breaking yards.”
“Not me,” retorted Philyra. Her own Ascension-born parents were descended from the English settlers who had helped to found Newbrum. “When I leave school I’m going to catch the first ship to Alpha Centauri and get a job at the holovid studios on Avalon. They say they’re always looking for new talent.”
“Do they indeed,” Miss Clymene murmured.
“Perhaps we could leave you on Daode,” suggested Bellona, teasing her.
Philyra shook her head, horrified. “Why is the band competition there, of all places? Isn’t there war in Epsilon Eridani, or something?”
“Not on Daode,” Miss Clymene reassured her. “I have been through this several times. We have been invited to represent Newbrum in the school band competition at the peace conference on Daode. There will be bands from all across the five systems, plus of course all the politicians and officials who are coming together to try and bring peace to the region.”
“So there is a war?”
“On Yuanshi,” her teacher confirmed. “Not Daode. Different moon entirely.”
“The Avalon holovid news teams will be there,” Bellona reminded Philyra, who immediately brightened. Endymion was somewhat more lacking in enthusiasm.
“We’ve got no chance of winning, have we?” he grunted. “Just the three of us?”
“The band may be small but it’s perfectly formed,” remarked Miss Clymene.
“We sounded awful at rehearsal this morning,” Bellona said with a sigh. “I couldn’t stop my clarinet from squeaking. It sounded like a chicken trying to lay an emu egg.”