‘But that would mean …’
‘The city’s gone, just like it had never been there in the first place. It just went out. Everything. There’s nothing left.’
The blood drained from the trooper’s face.
‘The enemy. Their army must have gone too. They’ve got to be insane. Why should they want to take out their own army?’
‘I suppose they thought the army was expendable. What’s an army, one way or the other?’
‘That’s crazy.’
‘Maybe.’
The trooper moistened his lips. He shook his head in bewilderment.
‘What do we do?’
‘Go back to your seat.’
‘But …’
Bannion’s voice took on the old edge of command.
‘Get back to your seat, trooper. You’ll be told what to do when the time comes.’
The trooper disappeared. Bannion didn’t speak for some minutes. He seemed deep in thought. Kronski looked as though he was in shock. He held the controls of the airship steady, but his eyes stared vacantly and his mouth hung open. Only the Wanderer appeared to be in full control of himself. It was he who finally broke the silence.
‘We’d better work out where we’re going to go.’
Bannion stiffened in his seat.
‘We’re going to go to Quahal.’
Kronski’s eyes focused incredulously on Bannion.
‘What did you say?’
‘We’re going to complete the mission.’
Kronski let go of the controls.
‘Just wait a minute. Are you crazy? Litz has gone. It’s been taken out. What possible reason is there for going on with the mission? We already decided to split. Damn it, Bannion, let’s get the hell out of here to somewhere safe.’
Bannion’s face became set.
‘We’re going on.’
Kronski dropped his hands stubbornly into his lap.
‘You’ll be going on without me. Fly this motherfucker yourself.’
With a slow deliberate gesture Bannion placed his hand on the sidearm that hung from his belt.
‘You’ll fly this ship to Quahal. Got it? I’m going to destroy the maniacs who started this or die trying. You understand?’
Kronski remained as he was for ten seconds. Bannion slowly started to pull the hand blaster from its holster. Kronski gave in with a sigh. He gripped the control column, and glanced sideways at the Wanderer.
‘You’d better start feeding me a course, old man.’
***
An atmosphere of terror was slowly building up in the confined space of the Quahal bunker. It radiated outwards from A.A. Catto herself. Even the destruction of Litz brought no air of celebration. A.A. Catto received the news lolling behind the huge, newly installed desk in her study. She lounged in a voluminous black neglige. She was drunk, and she looked rough. Her hair was uncombed, and there were dark, purplish circles under her eyes. The aide who delivered the news wisely did it over the video link to the war room. It was becoming increasingly dangerous to get too near A.A. Catto. Almost every fit of pique seemed to end in executions.
Nancy had no such choice. A.A. Catto insisted she remain in constant attendance. She hovered round the back of the big desk, attempting to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
The Presley replica had taken to hiding in obscure sections of the ziggurat. He tried to avoid A.A. Catto as much as he could. Nancy hated him for it.
After the aide’s face had disappeared from the screen, A.A. Catto slumped silently in her chair for some minutes. Her face grew petulant. She slammed her whip down on the desk. She was scarcely ever separated from it now.
‘Why did they have to destroy the city? We were looking forward to riding into Litz in triumph. It would have only been fitting after the way we were hounded out of there by that terrible assassin.’
Nancy looked at her hesitantly.
‘You did order the city to be destroyed, my darling.’
‘They could have found some other way.’
‘You did specifically order a fifth column into the city to sabotage the generators, dearest.’
‘What’s the point of conquest if everywhere you conquer just gets wiped out? There’s no pleasure in that. How can there be?’
Nancy attempted to placate her.
‘Litz is the first place to be completely taken out. You’ve conquered plenty of other places, my love.’
It didn’t work. A.A. Catto turned stubbornly morose.
‘Litz was one of the best places. We wanted it left intact.’
‘Why the hell did you order its generators destroyed?’
Directly she’d spoken, Nancy knew she’d gone too far. She bit her lip and waited for the explosion. Surprisingly, it didn’t come. A.A. Catto sank deeper in her vast, white leather, throne like chair. She reached out a pale hand that trembled slightly. She picked up the half empty crystal decanter and poured herself another brandy. As she did so, she spilled some on her neglige without noticing. It was obvious to Nancy that her mind had jumped off in another direction. Nancy wondered what it would be.
A.A. Catto sat warming the balloon glass between her hands. Slowly she turned her head and looked sadly at Nancy.
‘We’re sick of this cursed war. It’s even turning you against us.’
Her voice was plaintive and brittle. Nancy moved closer to her. She put a reassuring hand on A.A. Catto’s shoulder.
‘I’m not against you, my love. You know I’ll always be with you, whatever happens.’
Sure she’d be with her. Nancy knew full well that A.A. Catto would have her killed if she ever tried to get away. A.A. Catto reached up and grasped Nancy’s arm. Her grip was painfully tight. Nancy could feel her nails digging into her. A.A. Catto stared pleadingly into her eyes.
‘You’ve got to understand me. It’s this terrible responsibility we’ve taken on. We have to always do what’s right for our subjects. We don’t mind. We know it’s our destiny, but sometimes .,..’
There was a slight catch in her voice.
‘… it gets so incredibly lonely.’
Nancy did her best to disguise the alarm that she felt. A.A. Catto was losing her mind even faster than she’d imagined. She stroked A.A. Catto’s hair as though she was comforting a child.
‘I’m sure the war will soon be over, my darling.’
Nancy was aware that within a couple of minutes, A.A. Catto could be screaming for blood. That was the trouble. It all seemed so normal. Nancy had been with A.A. Catto so long that she had lost all sense of the bizarre.
A.A. Catto stared dreamily into space. She seemed to have forgotten that she was still holding tightly on to Nancy’s arm.
‘We do so want peace.’
Nancy’s arm was beginning to hurt, but she didn’t think it would be too wise to say anything. A.A. Catto’s voice took on a wistful, little girl quality.
‘When the war is over, and we have brought order to this poor damaged world, we will have my coronation.’
Nancy was startled.
‘Your coronation, my love?’
This was an idea that Nancy had never heard before. A.A. Catto became petulant again.
‘Don’t you think we should have a coronation? Every empress should have a coronation.’
Nancy took a deep breath.
‘Of course you’ll have a coronation. It’ll be wonderful.’
A.A. Catto nodded vigorously.
‘It WILL be wonderful. It will be the most wonderful coronation in the whole of history. It won’t only be a coronation. It’ll be the foundation of our great religion.’
‘Great religion, my sweet?’
This too was a new one. A.A. Catto tightened her grip on Nancy’s arm. Her eyes were wide and starting to take on a fanatical glaze.
‘Our empire will need the kind of spiritual base that only a religion can give. Our subjects need a formalized method of worshipping us. We have transferred a section of the computer from the war effort to work on our religion.’