Fragile Empire Read online

  His face fell, and for a moment she saw fear in his eyes.

  A group approached the table.

  ‘Here, Ravi,’ said one. ‘What ya doing with a fucking lizard? I knew you chased anything in a skirt, but I didn’t realise your standards had fallen so low!’

  The others fell into gales of laughter. Nyane felt a rush of anxiety but kept her face emotionless.

  ‘Shut up, you dicks,’ said Yanin.

  ‘You talking to me, bitch?’

  Ravi stood. ‘Hey, steady, guys.’

  The group grew closer to Nyane, muttering. One clenched his fists.

  ‘You’re not fucking welcome here,’ he said.

  Ravi pushed his way in front of them. ‘She’s my guest. Back the fuck away.’

  Behind Ravi’s back, Nyane leant over and placed her palm on the cold, stone floor of the club. She sent a rush of power through her skin and into the rock, and the ground beneath their feet spasmed, sending the group and Ravi crashing to the floor. Glasses rolled off tables and someone screamed.

  Nyane lifted her hand from the floor as patrons began running towards the exit.

  Ravi grabbed her arm. ‘Are you alright?’ he yelled.

  ‘Perfectly fine, thank you,’ she said, getting to her feet.

  ‘That was a fucking earthquake,’ Yanin cried as they ran for the door.

  ‘No kidding, sis,’ Ravi said, his arm around Kerri.

  They came back out onto the street. People were glancing around, confused expressions on their faces.

  ‘That’s weird,’ said Ravi. ‘It was like it only happened in the club. Nothing out here’s different.’

  ‘I thought Amatskouri didn’t get earthquakes,’ said Yanin, lighting a cigarette.

  ‘Give me one of those, sis,’ he said. ‘I need a smoke after that.’

  Nyane smiled. ‘After all that excitement, I think it’s time for me to retire for the evening. It was my very great pleasure to meet you all. Good night.’

  She turned and set off down the street.

  ‘Wait!’ Ravi cried, running after her.

  ‘Yes?’ she said, continuing to walk.

  ‘Will you at least look into what I said? I mean, through the proper procedures of course.’

  She glanced at him.

  ‘I’ll consider it,’ she said. ‘Oh, and thanks for leaping to my defence in there. It was gallant of you.’

  He flushed. ‘No problem.’

  His eyes narrowed and he gazed at her as they walked.

  ‘Hang on a minute,’ he said. ‘Was that you back there?’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said, smiling. ‘Good night, Ravi.’

  Chapter 5

  Day Off

  Boxer City, Rahain Republic – 15th Day, First Third Spring 524

  The three soldiers sat round the table in their quarters, drinking in the flickering light of a candle. It was evening, and they had the following day off to look forward to. Squad-leader Logie had tried to cajole them all into going with him to the mess-hall to get drunk, and most had gone, but Lennox, Libby and Cain had slipped away when he wasn’t looking.

  ‘I’ve had enough,’ said Cain, passing Libby a bottle of fortified wine.

  ‘You always say that,’ she said, ‘but there’s fuck all we can do.’ She took a swig. ‘We can’t exactly ask for a new squad-leader. The captain loves him. Shit, half the squad loves him.’

  Lennox thought it more likely that they were scared of him, but said nothing.

  Cain glanced at Libby. ‘You could always get out.’

  She frowned at him.

  ‘If you got pregnant,’ Cain went on, ‘then they’d give you two years in Liberton to have your twins.’

  She snorted. ‘Forget it.’

  ‘But think, Libby,’ he said. ‘Two years out of this.’

  ‘What?’ she said. ‘You mean two years of lumbering around pregnant, in a place where nobody knows me, then the birth…’ she made a face, ‘and then having to look after two screaming bairns, and at the end of it, having to give them up, not knowing if I’ll ever see them again, and it’s back off to the army, with nothing to show for it but a few stretch marks? Aye, sounds fucking great.’

  Lennox laughed.

  ‘Aye, alright,’ Cain said. ‘I guess not having the option makes it seem more attractive, if you know what I mean.’

  Libby passed the bottle to Lennox.

  ‘Here,’ she said to him, ‘I heard that Cody in Ninth Squad fancies you.’

  Lennox shrugged.

  ‘She’s a right looker,’ said Cain. ‘You should ask her out.’

  ‘No, thanks.’

  Cain shook his head. ‘What’s the matter with you?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘He’s still pining after Darine,’ Libby said. ‘That lass broke his heart.’

  ‘That was ages ago,’ Cain said. ‘You were only going out with her for about ten days. You need to get over it.’

  Lennox scowled. ‘Like you’re over Libby sleeping with Logie?’

  His two oldest friends glared at him.

  ‘Why in Pyre’s name are you bringing that up?’ said Libby. ‘It was one, stupid, drunken mistake. Look, I get that you’re in a bad mood, but don’t take it out on us.’

  ‘I’m not in a bad mood,’ he said.

  ‘I think I am,’ muttered Cain.

  Libby glanced at the two young men, shaking her head.

  ‘Check the pair of you,’ she said. ‘Cain, you have to stop dwelling on the fact that I went with Logie that one time. It means nothing, unless you want it to mean something. And Lennox, sorry but you’ll just have to accept that Darine doesn’t fancy you. You’re a good-looking boy, and I know plenty of girls that would want to take a closer look, but Darine is not one of them.’

  ‘Thanks, Libby,’ Cain snorted. ‘I’m feeling so much better now.’

  ‘Oh grow up,’ she said. ‘You’re professional soldiers in the republic’s elite division, and you’re both acting like lovesick boys. Pyre save us if we ever actually go to war.’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ Cain said. ‘I’ll just pretend that every one of the enemy has Logie’s face, then I’ll enjoy beating them to a pulp.’

  The door to their quarters opened.

  ‘Thought I’d find you up here,’ said Darine, walking towards them. ‘Mind if I join you?’

  Cain frowned. ‘We’ve only got one bottle.’

  Lennox glared at him.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Darine said as she approached. ‘I’ve brought reinforcements.’

  She sat next to them and opened her coat. She pulled out another two bottles of fortified wine and set them down onto the table.

  ‘Fair enough,’ beamed Cain. ‘We’ll let you stay.’

  ‘Thought you went to the mess-hall,’ said Libby.

  ‘I did,’ said Darine. ‘Place was crammed. Logie bought a few brandies for the squad, and we all downed them, but then he started acting like a right prick, shouting abuse at Carrie about something she had done. Kallek tried to step in, but he started screaming at him as well, so I reckoned it was about time to leave. I went up to see if the girls in Eighth fancied a drink, but they were all sleeping, so I came back here.’

  The door to their quarters swung open and Logie strode in, his arm supporting Carrie, who looked as drunk as he was.

  ‘Is this where you ran off to?’ he said to them, kicking the door shut. ‘Our company not fucking good enough for you?’

  ‘Didn’t fancy the mess-hall,’ Lennox said.

  ‘Well you can clear out, the lot of you,’ Logie said. ‘We’re needing the quarters.’

  ‘Aye, fuck off,’ slurred Carrie.

  Libby moved out of their way as they staggered towards the door to their bunkroom.

  ‘Go on,’ Logie said. ‘Get lost, and don’t come back for at least an hour.’

  Darine tutted and got to her feet.

  Logie pushed open the door to the bunkroom, then went inside with
Carrie and slammed it shut.

  The others glanced at each other.

  ‘Come on,’ said Darine. ‘Let’s go before we hear anything.’

  Lennox shook his head and followed the others through the front door.

  ‘Where now?’ he said. ‘The mess-hall?’

  ‘Nah,’ said Darine. ‘Fuck knows what state the rest of the squad will be in by now. How about the roof?’

  ‘Aye,’ said Libby. ‘Sounds good.’

  Lennox glanced at Cain, and they shrugged. Darine and Libby led the way, and they walked to the rear of the barracks block where there was an iron staircase affixed to the exterior of the building. They climbed, and came out onto the wide, flat roof. The lamps were low, but they still had a decent view over the central caverns. Libby and Darine strode over to the low parapet and sat by the edge. Lennox positioned himself next to Darine. She frowned as she put down the two bottles she had brought, and he tried not to stare at her. Everything about her was perfect and he longed to touch her. He looked away, remembering what Libby had said.

  Cain sat next to them, shaking his head. ‘I can’t understand why Carrie puts up with that arsehole. He treats her like shit.’

  Darine shrugged. ‘Fuck knows.’

  She opened one of the bottles and took a long swig.

  ‘This’ll pass,’ she said. ‘We won’t be stuck in Boxer City forever. Either we’ll get rotated out, or the war with the empire will actually fucking start.’

  ‘I hope it’s war,’ Libby said. ‘Rotation just means that we’ll end up in some other barracks. Sure the scenery will be different, but it’ll be the same old bollocks. At least if the war comes we’ll get to do something that actually… you know, means something.’

  ‘Aye,’ said Cain. ‘It’ll be worth all the shit we’ve been through.’

  Someone clapped and the four soldiers turned.

  An older Kellach man in uniform was smirking at them. He was standing a few yards away, a bottle in his coat pocket.

  ‘Bravo,’ he said. ‘Either that was the best comedy performance I’ve heard in a while, or you children talk the biggest bullshit I’ve ever heard.’

  He staggered over to them.

  ‘What the fuck do you want, old man?’ said Darine.

  ‘I came up here for a bit of peace and quiet,’ he said. He stopped in front of them and pulled the bottle from his coat, swaying. ‘And instead I found you eejits.’

  He sat and swigged from the bottle.

  ‘We were having a private conversation,’ Darine said, ‘and I don’t remember inviting you.’

  ‘Oh shut up. I’m a fucking major in the glorious Army of Pyre, so I can sit where I like. I outrank you all. Miserable squaddies. Been training you bastards for fifteen years. Fuck, it’s partly my fault you’re all so messed up.’

  Lennox caught Libby’s eye. She shrugged and took a sip of wine.

  ‘Apologies, sir,’ Darine said. ‘I hadn’t realised you were an officer.’

  The old veteran started to laugh.

  ‘For one more day, lassie. They’re retiring my arse tomorrow. In a few days I’ll be in Liberton, relaxing on the small scrap of land the state’s given me for my many years of service.’ He took another long swig from his bottle. ‘Going to have to learn how to farm. What a ball-ache.’

  Lennox glanced at the major. It was the first time that he had met anyone who had completed their fifteen years of active service. He had another twelve to go, and would be thirty-one upon discharge. He wondered how old the veteran was. He looked like he was in his fifties, but as they rarely saw older Kellach Brigdomin, he wasn’t sure.

  ‘You must remember the Emperor,’ Cain said. ‘I mean, sir.’

  ‘Nope,’ he said. ‘I was a captive down here in the south. Never even knew there was an emperor pretty much until he was dead. The rebel Old Free government wasn’t overthrown in this region until the following year, when Ghorley’s troops marched in.’

  ‘You were liberated by the Lord Protector?’ asked Libby.

  ‘Liberated?’ he laughed. ‘Aye, that’s one way to put it. They dragged us all out of the mines and stuck us in a camp for a year. Then they decided to build the Army of Pyre and I was selected to join, while most of the other survivors were taken away to found Liberton.’ He paused, his gaze lingering for a moment on the soldiers drilling in the courtyard below where they sat. ‘After that,’ he said, ‘it was pretty much fifteen years of turning bairns into killers.’

  Lennox thought back to his decade in training and shuddered.

  ‘Aye,’ the major went on, glancing at them with a smile, ‘I can see by the looks on your faces that you remember that time well. Our instructions were to devise the toughest regime possible, to push you to the limits of what you could take, without too many of you dying in the process. And we did it. We created a ruthless killing machine – five regiments of Kellach Brigdomin for Ghorley to play with, whenever he finally decides to begin the invasion.’

  ‘Are you disappointed that you’ll miss it, sir?’ Cain said.

  ‘Fuck that,’ he said. ‘I don’t want any part of that shite.’

  ‘But we have to overthrow the usurper,’ Libby said. ‘It’s our duty to reclaim the empire for the Creator.’

  The veteran laughed again. ‘You know the best bit about retiring?’ he said, ‘I won’t have to pretend to believe in that bullshit any more.’

  The four young soldiers stared at him. Lennox had never heard anyone speak in such a way about the Creator before, apart from a few Old Free rebels who had screamed out blasphemies as they were being burnt at the stake.

  ‘Avenging the Creator is not bullshit,’ Libby said.

  ‘That’s not what I meant,’ he said, his eyes heavy. ‘No, the whole Creator faith is bullshit. You’re being conned. Can’t blame you believing though, it’s been drummed into your heads for years. What choice did you have?’

  ‘You’re lying,’ Libby said.

  ‘Or he’s trying to test us,’ said Darine. ‘We’re not falling for your tricks, old man. Nice try, though. Sir.’

  The veteran shook his head at them.

  ‘We did our jobs too well,’ he said. ‘Us trainers, and the fanatics that Ghorley had teaching you.’

  Libby stood. ‘I don’t think I can listen to any more of this. Test or not, it’s making my skin crawl.’

  ‘Aye,’ said Lennox. ‘Let’s go.’

  The old veteran smirked at them as they got to their feet.

  ‘Good night, sir,’ Darine said. ‘I hope you enjoy retirement.’

  The sound of his laughter echoed over the roof as the four soldiers walked back to the stairs.

  ‘What a nutter,’ said Cain.

  ‘He was just drunk,’ said Darine. ‘Imagine how wrenching this must be for him. Tomorrow he has to leave the Army of Pyre. If that was me, I think I’d go a bit crazy too.’

  ‘But what he said about the Creator…’ Libby began.

  ‘He didn’t mean it,’ Darine said, silencing Libby with a glare. ‘He was testing us. We passed.’

  ‘Where will we go?’ said Lennox as they descended the stairs.

  Darine sighed.

  ‘Fuck it. The mess-hall.’

  Lennox’s mood was grim as they descended the stairs. He strode on ahead, and Darine caught him up.

  ‘What’s up with you?’ she said. ‘Not dwelling on what that old bastard was saying, are you?’

  Lennox glanced at her. ‘I don’t think he was testing us.’

  Darine looked around, making sure that Cain and Libby were out of earshot.

  ‘Don’t tell the others,’ she said, ‘but I don’t think he was, either. He was just a sad old drunk who’s lost his faith. Hopefully he’ll find peace in Liberton.’

  ‘I wish I’d asked him about the homeland,’ Lennox said. ‘He’s so old he must remember what it was like when our folk still lived there, before they were transported to Rahain.’

  ‘Aye,’ she said. ‘Some life he�
�s had.’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘There’s no point worrying about it, but. Let’s get hammered.’

  The deafening shriek of a whistle wrenched Lennox out of his sleep, and he rolled onto the floor and stood at attention. Countless drills over many years had conditioned them until their behaviour was like a reflex, and in the dim light of a lamp Lennox saw the rest of the squad standing by their bunks, alert and ready, regardless of their hangovers or lack of sleep.

  ‘Fifth Squad!’ yelled an officer, a whistle round her neck. ‘Kit on and report for duty. You’ve got five minutes.’

  She turned and strode from the bunkroom.

  ‘Fucksake,’ groaned Darine as the officer left. ‘It’s supposed to be our day off.’

  ‘Get a move on,’ cried Logie. ‘Kallek, get the lamps lit. Loryn, fill the water-skins.’

  ‘What time is it?’ asked Cain. ‘Is it dawn?’

  ‘Fuck knows,’ muttered Lennox, his head throbbing from the mixture of fortified wine and cheap spirits from the night before.

  They piled through to the reception hall. Half went to the bathroom as the others began to dress in their riot gear. Lennox laced up his boots and helped Libby strap her armour on. He ducked into the bathroom and relieved himself as Logie screamed more orders. He shook his head. If it was an exercise, then they could be back in their beds within the hour.

  He emerged back into the reception hall as the others were lining up by the door, while Logie was walking up and down inspecting them. Lennox grabbed his helmet and rushed to where Darine was standing.

  ‘Fucking sick sense of humour,’ she muttered.

  ‘Who?’ he said, doing a final check of his equipment.

  ‘Our idiot officers, drilling us on our day off.’

  ‘You don’t know that,’ Logie said. ‘Could be anything.’ He glanced down the squad. ‘Not bad. Alright, let’s go.’

  They trooped out of the door and set off at a half-run towards the stairs. Other squads were on the move, and shouted orders rang through the air. They descended the steps and ran out into the main courtyard. Hundreds of soldiers were already assembled, lined up in their squads and companies. Logie made for their company’s standard, and the squad got into formation behind the First.