The Namura Stone (The Ammonite Galaxy, book 6)

Chapter 18

ON DESSIA, IT had taken time to arrange things for a second attempt. At last, however, they were ready. This time, the prognosticator thought, nothing could go wrong. This time Dessia would come out on top, and he would have led his people into a great new future where no part of the galaxy would remain a secret to the Dessites, where they could relocate to a new planet in the time it took to prune a frond. He would be remembered for generations to come, would be the saviour of his people.

One thing was certain; there would be no repetition of last time. He would have video cameras patrolling the whole of the Island of the Forthgoing, starting well before the planned attack on the orthogel entity. He would not allow these bipeds access to the facility again. They had already caused enough damage, and although he had been assured by Dessia's new allies, the Enaran Ammonites, that they would themselves deal with the bipeds, he was not prepared to take the risk. After all, if he himself had plans to break the new treaty, it would be short-sighted to assume the Ammonites would keep their part of the bargain.

He gave his orders, and sat back to watch as they were carried out. Mistakes had been made in the past; they would not be repeated while he was in charge. He was not about to let a small contingent of foreigners stop him.

It was complicated to set up a network of video cameras, and they had to equip a new chamber where all their incoming data could be monitored, so it was a costly process. But the prognosticator knew that the Island of the Forthgoing represented the safety of all of Dessia. If the island were destroyed, it would be a disaster. The chances of his people's finally finding suitable planets for colonization could disappear irrevocably. It was not to be thought of. Although no aliens had dared to step inside the facilities on the Island of the Forthgoing until recently, it was clear that new times had come and that the Dessites would simply have to adapt to these new times.

He had taken to visiting the cryonutrient facilities, on the nearby Island of the Preborn. He had already picked out which spot he would choose for his final resting place, after he had been cryolized forever. It was in one of the largest of the vaults, but one which was aligned directly north and south, making it vastly preferable to the newer vaults. Recent construction had chosen to ignore the age-old customs of their ancestors, but the prognosticator was not in agreement. When he was laid for his enduring sleep, he wanted it to be in perfect alignment with the poles, where no magnetic lines would cross his body. That was the way it should be.

He made his way over to the inter-island hatches. These were set right to the back of the Island of the Forthgoing, and were defended zealously by three large Dessite guards, who were ready at any moment to clear all mundane traffic to allow the priority passage of one of the twelve.

The prognosticator felt a frisson of expectation in the ends of his fronds. This was the first time that he was to travel through the inter-island tubes as Prime of Dessia. It would be an extremely gratifying experience, he thought. Fitting proof of his new status.

He came to a stately halt just inside the staging area and looked around regally. There was an immediate ripple of awe, which he took as only his just due. The guards sprang into action, activating the priority channelization of the outgoing tube and evicting both those waiting their turn for the outgoing tube and those who emerged from the incoming tube with scant consideration of their dignity.

Soon, the tubes were suitably vacated, and the guards gestured to the prognosticator. One would, of course, travel immediately before him, and one immediately behind. None of the twelve guardians of Dessia could be left alone in the dangerous traverse from island to island, and the Prime would have not only the two statutory guards, but his own domestic phalanx too. Travel through the inter-island tubes was considered high risk, due to frequent breakage of the material they were made of, and it was therefore vital to protect important travelers. The inevitable movements of the floating islands meant that, despite the tubes being extensible to five times their normal length, ruptures were frequent. It was fifty Dessite miles from the Island of the Forthgoing to the Island of the Preborn, and so travelers could find themselves marooned in areas of strong currents and high surge.