Creyson Parthy & The Trojan Attack by Richard Bailey
Chapter Six
‘Snoring’
I relaxed into my soft two-seat sofa, a thin sheet pulled up tight to my chin in an attempt to keep the cold at bay. I lay motionless staring at the plain white ceiling. I always find at night, when I’m alone with only my thoughts for company and no distractions, I ponder, usually in depth, my previous actions and choices. This night was no exception.
My head filled with unanswerable questions that continued to hinder my slumber. I was perturbed by my new job. What did it entail? Did Minister Drake have an ulterior motive? Then there were the overhead lights that had simply stopped working. I’d assumed it was only Lincoll that had been affected, but upon returning to my unit, I’d switched on the viewing terminal to discover that several areas within Valiros had also been affected by the power outage. What would cause such a failure? My mind then drifted to the mysterious and swift appearance of the military. Were they to blame? I had lied about my relationship with Zeal. I find it difficult to lie, and lying to the military was a risky game. What if I were found out? Would Tork appear at my door and drag me to a correctional facility? My mind was running wild with so many unwelcome thoughts keeping sleep away.
The journey from Danton back to my unit had been a tedious and grating trek. Zeal spent the entire trip ranting about her dislike for the military, and her personal feelings with regards to the High Darlon Council. She lectured me on the upper classes’ disregard for the smaller communities living outside the city limits. She piled through a never-ending array of objections, aversions and dislikes on an equally never-ending array of topics; none of which meant a great deal to me. I truly believed the government cared for all its citizens regardless of their location. Zeal, of course, had a different perspective, and she made her sentiment clear.
“No, no, no,” she barked, “I’m telling you, while Danton is sitting in darkness, its people being forcibly removed; the residents of Trans Central are relaxing in their nice, cosy homes with their lights blaring. They don’t care what happens to us, as long as it doesn’t affect their perfect lives.”
I wasn’t in the mood to debate the finer points of the Valiron pecking order. “Whatever you say.”
“And what about Junior Commander Tork?” she continued.
“What about him?”
“I bet he knows more than he’s letting on. He was hiding behind order six three five two. There’s no reason for the armed forces to take military control of the area. What a joke. You can’t tell me you’re not the least bit suspicious.”
It wasn’t always what Zeal said; it was how she said it. I’d had similar debates with Benton, but there was something about her brashness that irked me. She was right, I was suspicious of the military presence in Danton, but I didn’t want to fuel Zeal’s paranoia.
“I’m sure the government know what they’re doing.”
“A government that neglects its people.”
“It’s not surprising they have their secrets, Zeal, but that’s a far cry from government negligence.”
“This is just another example of the High Darlon Council keeping us in the dark... only this time it’s literal.”
It was pointless to fight. “Look,” I said, “Whatever happened to the lights was most likely an accident beyond anyone’s control. The military was only there to help the local population relocate to a safer area.” I’m not sure I believed my own words, and I was certain Zeal didn’t.
“So why didn’t they warn anyone, hmmm?” She questioned.
I was finding myself on the wrong side of this discussion. In reality, I agreed with Zeal, but I couldn’t tell her that.
“Perhaps they were worried that alerting the public would have caused a panic.”
“Panic or not, ignorance is never a good thing.”
“It’s not ignorance; it’s the government deciding what we should know for our own benefit.”
She mumbled an insult under her breath; thankfully I didn’t hear what she said.
Throughout her entire outburst, I’d noticed she’d cleverly failed to mention that I’d saved her from imprisonment. To admit I’d rescued her from a situation beyond her control would have shown weakness on her part. She would never mention it, and I would never bring it up.
I spent the remainder of the journey in quiet contemplation, making sure to nod and agree at the right times to pacify my newly acquired ‘life partner’.
I was thankful to be home, but this feeling didn’t last long.
Upon returning to the unit, I discovered the front door was slightly ajar. I stood motionless staring at the entrance; trepidation slowly churning in my belly. Had I forgotten to lock it properly when I left? Normally I was extremely conscientious, but perhaps my mind had been distracted.
“Expecting guests?” asked Zeal.
“No, I’m not.”
“Well you better get in there and have a look.”
“Me?”
“What? You want to send a sweet, defenceless girl in there?”
“I’d hardly call you swe… defenceless.”
“Fine. Get out of my way.” She began to move towards the door.
“No. I’ll do it.”
She smirked. “My hero.”
I pushed the door open, half expecting an intruder to leap from the darkness. Of course, there was no trespasser lurking in the darkness, no interloper waiting to accost me, but the anxiety I was feeling didn’t dwindle.
“Well?” I heard Zeal shout out.
“Hang on.”
I carefully checked each room in the unit, which didn’t take long, but I found nothing out of place or missing.
I stepped back into the main living area when I felt something snap under my foot. I lifted my leg and looked at the sole of my shoe. Embedded in the tread was a small piece of wood. I picked it out and examined the slither of kindling. It seemed to have been chewed. Having cleaned the unit earlier that day, I knew it hadn’t been there before. Perhaps Minister Drake had traipsed it in.
“Creyson Parthy?” Zeal hollered again.
“There’s no-one here,” I called back, slipping the piece of wood into my pocket.
Zeal stamped through the doorway, swinging the door so hard it bashed against the wall. “You need to be more careful. Anybody could have wandered in. I’m sure this won’t happen now I’m living here.”
She seemed to be under the impression that this cohabitation was a permanent arrangement. If anybody did break in, I hoped the only thing they’d take would be her.
The hour had got late and all I wanted to do was lay my head down and drift off to sleep. Zeal, as expected, managed to make even this most simple of desires difficult.
Striding into the cooking compartment, she began rattling pots and pans, occasionally complaining about the lack of food in my cupboards. I heard a cacophony of chopping, stirring and the occasional ping of a timer as she created a feast to satisfy her hunger. When she finally reappeared she carried a large tray of food stacked high with a bizarre concoction of dishes. I stared at the tray in astonishment.
“That’s a lot of food for one person.”
“If you want something to eat then make it yourself,” she snarled, mistaking my disbelief for hunger.
Sitting in the chair previously occupied by the Minister, she consumed the meal with vigour. This was the first time since leaving Danton that Zeal had stopped talking. Hungry or not, I was thankful for the respite.
Once finished she dumped the tray on the floor and announced, “I’ll be taking the sleeping compartment and you can sleep on the sofa.”
I agreed to her terms, and she marched off to bed.
I spent the next hour cleaning up after my houseguest before grabbing a sheet from the storage cupboard and finally collapsing into a heap on the sofa.
Alone at last. I was certain Zeal couldn’t possibly irritate me while she was sleeping; I was wrong. The peaceful silence was soon broken by Zeal’s incessant snoring. I’d never heard
I turned onto my side, then onto my back, then onto my other side, then onto my stomach, then onto my back again. After twenty minutes, I finally conceded defeat and sat up, perching on the edge of the sofa.
Tired and aggravated, each second felt like a minute, each minute felt like an hour. Eventually my impatience reached boiling point and I stomped around the unit making as much noise as possible. Acting like a spoiled child, I banged every door, open and closed cupboards, stamped hard with each step, hoping to wake the annoying creature who had commandeered my bed. I doubted anything would rouse the slumbering Zeal, but my little rebellion made me feel better. I walked through the cooking compartment, and left the unit mumbling some distasteful phrases of my own.
Entering my peaceful garden instantly alleviated my tension. It was refreshing to be outside. I inhaled the crisp air and allowed it to wash my frustrations away. The gentle hum of the overhead lights was soothing and their dim glow relaxing. Even through the walls of the unit I could still hear Zeal’s faint snoring. No wonder her family were keen to get her bonded, they were probably longing for an uninterrupted night’s sleep.
Taking a seat on the cold step, I looked out at my beautiful garden, savouring the pretty plants, flowers, and floppy fruit tree. It looked more striking than it had ever looked before.
I realised something was wrong.
My attention was drawn to the gaping hole in the centre of my small garden.
Scorch marks had killed the surrounding grass. For a moment, I doubted my own eyes. I sat in shock, my mouth open wide in bewilderment.
The Trojan Device was gone.