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Chapter Two Alf screamed as the hypodermic pierce her skin… but she felt no pain. Instead she felt reality slip away from her. The Wasi faded away; as did the street, the souk and the van. It was strangely reminiscent of using the time amulets the Doctor had designed when the TARDIS had been destroyed on Ossobos. Alf concentrated and slowly became aware of her new surroundings. The ground was pinkish-brown, pockmarked and scored with occasional sprouts of what looked like mahogany bulrushes. The sky was dark, but not the normal blue-black ink of a night sky. This was more of a black coffee darkness. There were no stars, but a small and very distant moon or possibly sun - about the size of 5p piece - afforded enough light by which to see. The overall effect was like being in a massive cavern lit only by a 40-watt light bulb. Alf took a step and had to steady herself. The surface felt spongy, like thick moss. Before she could bend to examine it, someone behind her spoke. 'They got you, too?' It was the Cufic who had been dossing in the doorway of the souk. 'Looks like it,' said Alf. She examined the old Yahanan. 'So that was the Wasi, was it?' 'Yes,' the Yahanan said sadly, bobbing his head. Alf supposed nodding must be difficult with no neck. 'Wearing the robes of Styx, just as I had heard they do.' 'Who or what exactly is Styx?' 'This is, of course!' said the Yahanan, spreading his arms to indicate the odd topography around them. 'The world of the dead.' Alf sighed. Why was it that such a patently ridiculous notion as heaven or hell was so widespread in the universe? 'This is not the world of the dead,' she said. 'This is a physical place and we have been transported here by whatever was in that syringe. My name's Alf by the way.' 'Teef Lorkan,' said the Yahanan, bowing. He looked unconvinced by Alf's evaluation of their environment. 'Well, Teef, let's get moving, said Alf. 'There must be someone here who can tell us where here actually is. All we have to do is find them.' The old Yahanan shrugged. 'We have little else to do while we wait for judgement.' The two figures set off towards the horizon, which seemed to curve up to meet them, rather than stretch away from them. "Here" certainly was odd, no doubt about that, thought Alf. As she and Lorkan walked, they bounced on the springy surface, allowing them to move at quite a pace. Something was nagging at Alf's mind. Something Lorkan had said. Then it struck her. 'I thought all male Yahanan names ended in "-is",' she said. 'So how come you're called "Lorkan"?' Lorkan looked at Alf in astonishment. 'Surely you were brought up in the traditional ways?' 'My mum didn't exactly go in for tradition,' said Alf. Lorkan's wide mouth twisted into an expression of what looked like regret. 'All males end their name with "-is".' He said as if reciting from a textbook. 'We take the first name of our fathers and add the "-is" ending - meaning "son of". So my father was Lork Stakis and my grandfather Stak Storis and…' 'I get the picture,' said Alf. 'But that still doesn't answer the question of why you're called Lorkan.' The Yahanan sighed and his beady eyes narrowed a bit. 'After we die,' he explained, 'we are no longer a son, merely the offspring so our names change. It is the same for females. Gender is unimportant in Styx.' Lorkan looked at her. 'I assume that you have a second name, Alf? One ending in "-a"?' Alf scratched her chin as the unlikely pairing bounced along. Obviously equal rights had not quite reached the world of Yahanis, but she played along. 'Sure,' she said. 'It'd be McSha.' 'When we die, Alf, we are no longer a son or daughter,' Lorkan explained. 'We are merely offspring of equal import. We adopt the neutral ending, "-an". So you are now Alf McShan.' It was Alf's turn to grimace. So her real name almost meant she was dead in Yahanan! She reflected how true this would have been if she hadn't taken the decision to destroy all her weapons and never use one again. Lorkan's casual remark still bothered her though But then she smiled. Names, as Officer Brakis had pointed out, were for tombstones and she wasn't bloody dead yet! Askaris stood before Jeret Seth, a remote control device for operating the main view screen in his hands. He had delivered his report as ordered and now Seth was sitting back on one of the luxurious couches in his personal living room, arms stretched out along the padded back, head tilted up, thinking. 'So what you're telling me is that we don't know very much about these Wasi,' he said finally, returning his gaze to his assistant. Askaris remained silent. He knew his master was not after excuses. Seth was not that sort of man. He didn't instil fear as much as a desire not to fail him. 'Can you at least tell me whether the skimmer has reached the last known position of the "Leel Elma"?' 'It has, Effendi. There are signs of debris, but it cannot be positively identified as the "Leel Elma".' 'Oh, it'll be the "Leel Elma" all right,' said Seth. 'But whoever attacked the ship has ensured that it cannot be identified. We are dealing with a highly efficient foe.' 'It would seem so, Si'id.' 'That means that it could not be another Formanasi. They are all too caught up in their little turf wars to undertake such an audacious attack. And they fear our retribution too much. No. As we have ruled out the Buliseye, it can only be the Wasi and you tell me that we know next to nothing about them.' 'No one does,' said Askaris. 'As I say, we know only that they are relatively new on the scene and believe society to be corrupted by criminals and vagrants. They think the security services are weak and ineffectual in the face of these "non-citizens" as they call them and are not averse to taking the law into their own hands.' 'You are wrong, Askaris. Someone does know about them. The thing is to find out who that person is. What about the prison attack? Surely there is a Buliseye working on the case?' 'At the time it was Satav Sontaris, but the investigation seems to have petered out. Our operative within the Buliseye can give no reason for this.' 'Then I would suggest we need to recruit a better-informed source,' said Seth. 'Make that a priority, Askaris. And tell our distributors to keep an eye out for Wasi activity. If any of these "activists" are seen, I want a violent invitation extended to them for questioning. Make it known that I will be very generous to the Yahanan who brings me a Wasi alive.'
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