The Namura Stone (The Ammonite Galaxy, book 6)

Chapter 23

DIVA HAD FLASHED again across the diameter of the Eye of Enara, swooping and diving down between the shiny lilac ridges that contoured around the centre of the eye. She was tired now; she could feel the weight of her fatigue dragging her back, and knew that she had probably left it too long.

But she wasn't going to give up. Just one last circuit, one last attempt to keep the Ammonites attention away from anywhere else.

She could feel their eagerness; they sensed that she was tired, too. They were gaining on her, and the ones in front were already forcing her in ever smaller circles. She felt her mind lose its concentration for just a moment, and she faltered, stumbled in mid air, almost falling. Then she recovered, managing to pick up speed again.

That had been close! For one moment, she had seen Six clearly in front of her, sword drawn, trying to defend her. It had seemed real, and she had been reaching out to touch him when she realized that he wasn't really there, and that, even if he had been, she could no longer have reached out to touch him. She had no arms.

She raced on, ignoring the confusion which seemed to be taking her over. Just this one more time. This time, when they had her enclosed, she would transport all the way back to Pictoria. Surely she had given Arcan and the others enough time to put their plan into action? It felt as if she had been hurtling around Enara forever.

She passed too close to one of the Ammonites, which spun so fiercely that it scored a long burn along one side of her. She shied away from that direction, overcorrected, and then found herself surrounded again on all sides.

She checked her body quickly. There was a deep black mark where she had been burnt, and it hurt terribly. She felt as though her legs were on fire. She wondered how it could hurt when she no longer had legs. Where were the nerves that transmitted pain? Then she realized that it didn't matter. All that did matter was that she was finished. She was done. She had to transport away from here before they came any closer. Already she could feel the heat they were transmitting, and they were still all of ten metres away.

Diva concentrated on Pictoria and tried to visualize the thin layer which overlay everything, the one that would enable her to find her way home.

It wasn't there.

She felt a moment of panic, redoubling her efforts. She needed to find that waveform, needed to allow herself to spread out over the galaxy, become one with it, in order to coalesce in Pictoria.

But she couldn't see it, and the Ammonites were now only five metres away. The heat they were giving off was huge; she was now having to use second sound to dissipate it. She knew that she couldn't go on much longer.

For the last time, she dropped back inside her mind to find the way back to Pictoria. For the last time she tried to become that thin layer across the very fabric of the sky.

Then she slumped back. She was lost. And alone. And about to be burnt; she could no longer sustain even second sound.

Diva looked around her and sighed. That was the shortest million years ever, she thought. Trust me to mess it all up. Arcan, I hope you and the others managed to carry out your plan. I hope it was all worthwhile.

There was a long silence. Diva prepared to die, again.

Then there was a whisper in her ear.

Just the tiniest whisper.

Hold on.

I am coming for you.

She grinned to herself. Now she was hallucinating again. She could have sworn that voice was Arcan's.