Chapter Seventeen
Deeta
Ryder Andak’s crisply controlled tones leave us both speechless, and we turn to look at him with the frozen panic of rabbits caught in the beam of headlights.
“Now you know rather too much about Tom and our tribe for the things you’ve told me to be untrue. So like good little girls you’re going to answer my questions, but first let me tell you something that might surprise you. I also believe that someone is killing my brothers.”
“Perhaps you even know who?” asks Jan smoothly.
Ryder Andak pulls Jan roughly from her chair and against him.
“Two weeks ago my brother Devin died in one of those accidents you were just discussing. He is the fifth brother I’ve lost, so understand that when you start casting insinuations like that around; I see red. Where. Is. Tom?”
“I don’t know,” answers Jan.
“I’ve asked you nicely, start cooperating or I’ll have to try another method.”
“If you think that threatening us is a good way of showing us your trustworthy, you’re greatly mistaken.” Her voice is sardonic, and she looks up at him from beneath half closed lids.
“You play it cool, I’ll give you that, but you’re in over your head and scared out of your wits. No, don’t bother to deny it. You forget; in this position I can feel every beat of your heart.”
Ryder Andak lurches forwards as Jan kicks him in the shin, but still he retains his hold on her.
“Vicious little vixen aren’t you?” Amazingly his voice holds amusement. “I wish I had more time for your games, they’re excessively diverting, but I’m a busy man.”
Before Jan has time to struggle, he has swept her from her feet, using his leg to trip her up. She falls backwards into the chair, and he handcuffs her to it in an easy fluid movement as she falls.
“Now then; where’s Tom?” he asks, leaning back against the desk.
“You’re like a stuck record,” observes Jan infuriatingly.
“Stop wasting my time!”
“Then try another question; I’m not trying to be difficult, I don’t know where Tom is. He left the Marshall compound two days ago, and we haven’t seen or heard from him since. He took his family with him.”
“His family?” his question is startled.
“Yes; Uncle Jep and the kids.”
“Why didn’t he take you?”
“Why would he?” I counter.
“You’re not his wife?”
“Of course not!” I feel a fiery blush colour my cheeks.
“Then who is?”
“Tom’s not married,” I reply.
“But you just said he took his kids with him.”
“Not his kids! Well, they are his kids, but they’re not his kids.”
Ryder looks confused.
“She means that they’re adopted,” explains Jan.
“I see, and do you know why he went?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Ryder sits on the desk, a thoughtful look on his face.
“He’s at his most vulnerable now, I have to find him.”
I think he was talking more to himself than us, but suddenly he looks up.
“What am I going to do with you?”
“Please don’t keep me in suspense,” yawns Jan.
Ryder smiles reluctantly.
“It depends on you. If you’re good little girls, don’t mention that you know Tom, keep the knowledge that you’re from the tribe that… held… Dec, and manage to keep Keya from giving you away, you can live in private quarters in my house.”
For a second there is complete silence, and then Jan, her face white and wrathful, speaks.
“You’re fortunate my hands are cuffed to this chair, mate.”
“Don’t get excited; I live in the barracks and only ever use the place when Tom’s home.”
“Will we be able to see Dec?” I ask.
“You’ll have to if you don’t want him giving you away. Look, you’ll be under my care; no one will bother you, I can guarantee that.”
“And you won’t be in the same house?”
Ryder seems vaguely exasperated by the unimportance of this point.
“Listen to me; this is not a good place to be when you’re in the position you’re in, okay? You might not know it, but you need me.” He moves to stand over Jan’s chair. “Are you going to give me any problems? Because you can stay chained to that chair the whole time that you’re here, I don’t care. The only person who’ll be uncomfortable is you.”
“Take me somewhere that I can lie down on a bed that doesn’t crackle, and we’ll call it truce,” replies Jan evenly.
-------
We exit the room, and enter a hallway painted brilliant white with lights set into the ceiling. I’ve never seen lights like that before. We walk for some minutes before entering a large vaulted hall bustling with people. I’d been impressed by the halls at the Marshall compound, but this is a whole new level of opulence. In my wildest dreams, I would never have thought this beauty possible.
The size is far greater than the halls at the Marshall compound, and bears no trace of neglect. Everything is perfect and cared for; even the people who fill the room are completely different from anyone I’ve ever seen before. The men all wear black suits, much the same as Ryder Andak’s. Their hair is neatly parted, and smoothed back tidily. Their shoes have a gloss that would do very well for a mirror. They look pristine, orderly, and… new.
Suddenly I remember that I’m wearing pyjamas.
Once, when they were new, they might have been bright red. Now their colour has faded, and the tartan pattern has become indistinct. They are also rather large, and I use the simple method of tying string around the waist to hold them up, the elasticity in them vanished long before they were ever mine.
“Did you have to bring us through here?” I whisper furiously as I notice the suddenly arrested movements of all those we pass.
“Yes, my car is parked outside,” he answers, surprised.
I am unsure if he really is unaware of the discomfort that we are feeling, or if his ignorance is just a pretence, and underneath he is deriving great enjoyment from our mortification.
“Excuse me, Ryder?”
I turn to find that our progress has been halted by a neat man, a little under average height.
“Hi, Jimmy; what’s up?”
“Val asked me to tell you that he’s having some problems with the…” His voice fades as he takes in me and Jan at somewhat closer range.
“Some friends of mine,” excuses Ryder.
“What? Oh, yes, of course,” answers Jimmy, reddening.
“You were saying?”
“I was? Yes, you’re right, I was! Val asked you to meet him in the depot as soon as you can.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.”
Ryder makes to move on, but with a subservient gesture that is, I think, designed to be ignored if so wished, Jimmy stays his progress again.
“Is there anything you’d like me to do, Ryder?” His voice is quiet. “Would you like anything sent to Wisteria House, or – or any other arrangements to be made?”
“If you could get in touch with Mari and tell her I need a word, and that I’ll be round about one, that would be very helpful, Jimmy,” answers Ryder with a smile. “Thanks.’
We have hardly taken another step before an amused laugh causes Ryder to stop yet again.
“Hello, Rye; are these your pets?”
She is very pale, her slim form draped in a dress of blue and green hues. I’ve never seen fabric like it before; it’s circular and hangs to the floor with a long train at the back. Slit sleeves, caught in at the elbow, fall in magnificent folds to the floor. Through the slits in the fabric her luminous skin is visible.
Her hair is almost white and piled in springy curls on top of her head, framing a beautiful face that is dominated by a pair of large blue eyes, unfairly fringed by dark lashes. Over each eyelid is a thick
swathe of colour; green and blue, which sparkles and flashes every time she blinks.
Although I take in all these attributes they are not the first, nor the most obvious thing, I notice about her. That would be the spiteful hate pouring from her eyes, and enveloping us like a poisonous fog.
“Be careful; we might bite, and we haven’t been tested for rabies yet.”
Jan’s voice is sweetly innocent, and I notice a sharp and unbecoming colour spread over the other woman’s cheeks. Ryder mutters a sharp expletive, but I see a trace of amusement in his face.
“I’m a bit busy, Nova, as you can see.”
“Oh, don’t mind me. Are we still good for dinner?” She’s recovered some of her lost composure.
“I’m never too busy for dinner with you, Nova.”
Her smile is dazzling, but as we turn to walk away I have the strangest fancy that her eyes are burning holes into our backs.
“Wow; you’ve got some delightful friends,” remarks Jan.
“She’s very beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Not quite what I meant.”
“But she is beautiful.”
“Like an asp,” smiles Jan, sweetly.
As we near the vast doors of the great hall they slide apart, and Jan and I gasp. I don’t think I’ve ever even imagined anything so beautiful. A grand panorama stretches out before us for further than my eyes can see; a green and thriving oasis in a desolate grey waste land.
To the east tower blocks reach for the sky, but they are nothing like the buildings outside the compound. The grey concrete edifices of utility that characterise the City are nothing like these beautiful cream towers with columns and rococo work.
To the west is an estate of large houses, built with the same attention to beauty, surrounded by their own patch of well kept lawn and garden. Straight in front of us I see the majestic grace of a wooded park, with lakes and lawns. Toward the very centre of the compound, a huge pavilion in marble stands on a plinth perhaps fifteen or twenty feet off the ground.
“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?” Ryder’s tone is reverent and soft.
With some effort I tear my eyes from the splendour, and turn to him.
“How…” Words fail me, and I stand wide eyed and speechless.
“It’s the same for everyone the first time they see it; the wonder and rapture that radiates from them, it’s always there. I’ve never had that. I’ll never experience the same awestruck feeling.” His voice is regretful. “I was born here, I knew nothing else until I was thirteen and left the walls of this compound for the first time. To my own shame I have to admit that this is usual, this is what I’m used to.”
We follow him down steps that end in a pavement of hand set stone flags.
“Where is that car?” mutters Ryder impatiently.
“Car?”
“Yes, it’s a…”
“Yes, I know what a car is, thank you,” answers Jan tartly.
Ryder smiles, and turns to look down the road. It’s strange: he’s strange. When we had stepped out into the beauty of the compound, he had been looking forward to our reaction. He had taken pleasure in our pleasure and delight; he’d been proud of this place and its magnificence.
“Here it comes.”
The car glides to a smooth stop beside us, and the doors open. Ryder Andak slides in, and I bend to take a look at the interior.
“I thought that cars needed drivers? There isn’t a steering wheel!”
“These cars were developed here in our own research centre; they’re electric and follow wires embedded in the road.” Ryder presses a button, and a screen slides out of the dashboard and flashes into life. “Instead of a steering wheel they are equipped with these touch screens. You select your destination, and it takes you there and drops you off. You press this button here on your key card which tells it to go to the nearest car park with a vacancy. It finds a vacancy using its link to the grid. The car then reserves the space, taking it off the available list on the computer memory. This button here on the key card calls it back to you, and the card itself is a beacon containing a chip which tells the car where you are.”
“You mean there’s no way for you to control the thing manually?”
“There isn’t any need; they’re perfectly safe, we’ve never had an incident.”
“Well I’d prefer not to be the first to have an incident, if you don’t mind.”
“Would you just get in?”
“Don’t you think it would be better to walk?” asks Jan mistrustfully.
“No, I don’t.”
With the air of a martyr Jan climbs into the car, and slides across the front seat to make room for me. Even though Ryder is both broad and tall, there’s still plenty of room for us all.
“A few of the scrapers to the west are apartments; most people prefer to live in the city as opposed to out here on the estate. Only members of the council can have both an apartment and a house on the estate.”
“Yet you choose to live in the barracks; why?” asks Jan.
“I’m unmarried; what would I want with a house or an apartment? Besides; I spend most of my time in the council building, and that’s where the barracks are located. It’s much easier and more convenient to lodge there.”
“But still you keep the house?”
“And the apartment; one day I’ll need both.”
“Have you ever lived there?” I ask.
Ryder is silent for so long that at first I think he will not answer.
“Only for the first four years of my life; then my father remarried, and we moved to the apartment in the city. Generally when he remarried he left his children by that wife with their mother. Unfortunately for him our mother was dead, and there were no other relatives. His new wife, Minda, took us in. She’s kind like that; he’d have left us to rot.”
There is outstanding bitterness in his voice.
The car comes to a standstill outside a three storied house with a veranda. The doors open, and I step out on to the path. A small neat hedge surrounds the immaculate garden, and wisteria climbs across the porch and up the front of the house to hang in long purple racemes. Ryder catches my eye as I stare at its elegant splendour.
“Yeah, I know; I really ought to have it cut back.”
“That would be a pity.”
“That’s what my mother always said… not that I remember; it’s only what I’ve been told.”
He leads the way up the path towards the front door, and into a hall dominated by a large staircase.
“The kitchen is through the door straight ahead, the lounge is off right with French doors leading on to the garden. To the left there’s the dining room, and the pool.” He’s climbing the stairs as he imparts this information, and we arrive on the landing. “There are two bedrooms on this floor, both with their own bathroom, dressing room, and sitting room. On the top floor there’s a further four bedrooms.”
He opens one of the two doors.
“This will be your room, Jan.”
Jan passes through into the cream room, taking in the four poster bed with burgundy and cream hangings, the dressing table and stool, the chaise lounge, and the entire wall devoted to a built in wardrobe. Her eyes are wide, and Ryder watches her with a strange look on his face. Then his gaze clashes uncomfortably with mine, and his features take on a closed look. For a second I am horribly shaken; Tom often receded from me like that. I never knew it was an unfriendly gesture before.
“Your room is this way, Deeta.” He walks out of Jan’s room, and across the hall to the second door.
The room is light and spacious; the walls a delicate blue, and the ceiling a warm yellowy cream. There is a settee, a bed, and a small table, but other than that the room is clutter free. I move forwards to finger the blue drapes on the large four poster bed, and notice the oil paintings on the wall. Bold and dramatic; they depict an array of seascapes and sail boats.
“Do you like it?”
Ryder Andak is watc
hing me closely, but in an entirely different way to the way he looked at Jan.
“Yes; it’s lovely.”
Despite the fact that I do think it is a nice room, something about it is… different, strange to me.
“It’s Tommy’s room, when he’s here.”
Ryder stands quietly, waiting for my reaction.
“Tom’s room?”
Suddenly I realise what had been bugging me; despite the four poster, this room is obviously a man’s room. With Ryder’s watchful eyes upon me, I fidget nervously. He reaches out, and grabs my arm.
“I try to be as honest with people as I can, so I’ll tell you that I don’t trust you and I don’t like you very much. I’m not sure what your game is, but something about you just doesn’t add up.” He shakes his head. “You’re just a little too good to be true; a little too naïve. Oh, you play it well, but I’ve been around long enough not to believe you.”
“You treat people you don’t like very much in a very bizarre way; inviting them to live in your house.”
“Make no mistake; the only reason you’re here is because of your sister. While I don’t believe you, I do believe her.” Ryder releases my arm. “I’ll send Mari over tomorrow to find you and your sister something to wear. I’d get some sleep if I were you.”
He turns and walks away, and a few moments later I hear the front door close behind him. I make my way back to Jan’s room, and find her standing at the window watching Ryder Andak leave.
“Well, what do you think? Is he trustworthy?”
“That man is trouble,” I reply.
“You’re telling me!” Jan turns. “Seriously, what do you think?”
I sink down on the edge of the bed, wrapping my arm around the post, and lay my cheek against the softness of the drapes.
“I’m scared, Jan; he scares me. Every now and then he reminds me so much of Tom, it makes me want to trust him but…”
“I know what you mean. I noticed it too, every now and then.” There is a strange inflection in her voice, and she comes to sit beside me on the bed. We both remain in miserable silence for some time. I’m trying not to cry, and Jan is cradling her head in her hands.
What are we supposed to do now?
What was happening at the Marshall compound? Was the fight still on, or had the Andak won already? I swallow jerkily, wondering where my parents are, if they’re safe. Are they even alive?
A shudder tears through me, and I push the thought aside. I can’t, I won’t, believe they’re gone! They had to be safe. So did Clare and Philip, Ralph and Nella? A niggle at the back of my mind makes me think of Tom. Are Tom, Uncle Jep, and the children safe?
A horrible, empty sensation sits in the pit of my stomach, teasing me with the possibility that I may have lost everyone but Jan.
“What do we do? How can we find out if we can trust him? There doesn’t seem to be any way of making sure.” Jan raises her hand, her fingers making a gentle exploration of the back of her head and neck. “My head’s fit to split; am I bruised?”
Beneath her hair and down her neck I can see a purple and blue stain spreading over her pale skin.
“Yes, it seems to be something that the Andak are good at.”
My voice is a shade bitter as I remember the pain I suffered with my face and arm. The marks have almost faded, but my arm is still sore. It reminds me belatedly what the Andak are capable of.
“I have an idea, Jan.” I stand and pace the length of the room twice. “We have to find out if we can trust Ryder Andak or not, and we need to stop Dec giving Tom away. Plus we have Keya to deal with; we need to get her to keep her mouth shut…”
“Manage that and you’re some kind of magician,” retorts Jan.
“I think that we could do it.”
“How? Did you remember the crystal ball?”
“Jan, stop it! All we have to do is twist the facts a little… right?”
A slow smile spreads across Jan’s face.
“Right.”
“If we can trust him, then maybe…” I break off, taking her hand in mine. “Maybe we can find out what happened to everyone.”
Jan’s eyes fill with tears, and she shakes her head.
“I’m not sure I want to know. You saw what the Andak did, Deet. What if they… what if they’re all dead?”
Her question hangs on the air; there isn’t anyone to answer her.