Marcus Marcus & the Hurting Heart

My sci-fi novel ‘Marcus Marcus and the Hurting Heart’ features a protagonist who is the pinnacle of a patriarchal religious / military empire. His own doubts, as well as increasing threats, force him to journey into hell to look for the soul of his dead traitor wife. It’s a fast paced novel filled with treachery, murder, space battles and fights with demons. But parallel to the big bold events there is an ongoing quieter examination of the complexity of human frailties, beliefs and identities. Here’s a short extract.

I awoke to the faint smell of charred meat and chemicals. My throat was parched. I opened my eyes to gloomy lighting; found I was lying on a hard mattress. Sitting up I saw I was in a place filled with beds and whispers and a brief momentary wailing. Moving around the room were tall dark shapes that reached tentacles over the figures lying on the beds. One of the tall dark shapes turned. Red eyes glinted.?'Stars,' I whispered fearfully. 'Is this Driseacha? Have I been snatched by Melkiresha?'

???????????'Calm yourself Your Excellency,' a voice spoke softly to the left of me. It belonged to a young man wearing the black green sheened garb of an Augur. He leaned towards me and I had a flash of memory from my childhood – a carrion crow ramming its bill into the skull of an injured pigeon. Seeing my alarm the Augur leaned back on his seat and put a smile on his face that I guess was supposed to be reassuring.

???????????'You are in the medical bay of the Wolf Craft Wiiskunner,' he said, 'on route to Algalma. Another Wolf Craft is escorting this one. By the grace of the divinities Your Excellency is alive and well and nothing can now harm you.'

???????????'Who are you?' I asked, aware as I spoke that there had to be something profoundly wrong with me, that I should begin talking to a stranger as if nothing apocalyptic had befallen my world. But that's shock for you, it likes to sit back, relax, smoke a cigar, and keep a watch out for the perfect moment to leap up and kick a man in the nuts...

???????????'I am Augur Kawkannhay, Your Excellency,' replied the young man. 'I arrived on Algalma three days ago.'

???????????'You are here because of the cursing business,' I said.

???????????'That is so,' said Kawkannhay. 'There seems to have been some misunderstanding regarding Augur Bramlint.'

???????????'He cursed one of my ships!'

???????????My raised voice attracted the attention of one of the tall red eyed beings. It moved towards me swift and silent.?As it drew closer I could see it was merely a mechanical device.

???????????'They have no human paramedics,' explained Kawkannhay. 'That's why I came down here. To offer comfort to the wounded and prayers for the dying.'

???????????The robotic paramedic reached a tentacle out and touched my neck, then my forehead. After this cursory examination it left again. It moved to a bed some twenty feet away and leaned over the small still figure of a child.

???????????'I need to get back to my duties, Your Excellency,' said Kawkannhay. 'If I may?'

???????????'Of course,' I said. As I spoke the robot pulled a sheet over the infant, then pushed the bed towards the medical bay's doors. The child's body was placed on top of a pile of shapes wrapped in white sheets. I grabbed Kawkannhay's arm. I pointed to the pile. 'Is If-Dec there?' I whispered.

???????????'No. His Honour is well.'

???????????'Then where is he? Why is he not here with me?' I demanded.

???????????'I only spoke with His Honour briefly, Your Excellency,' explained Kawkannhay. 'He had business to attend to, but he asked me to keep an eye on you. His Honour will return as soon as he can.'

???????????Suddenly I felt ashamed. I was alive and unharmed, yet demanding my vizier like a child demanding the attention of its mother. I looked to pile of dead bodies by the door. Was the infant's mother one of the dead, or was she lying on one of the beds dreaming of her child, unaware she would never again hear his laughter or tend his scrapes and bruises.

???????????'Who are these people?' I asked Kawkannhay.

???????????The Augur leaned towards me and ever so quietly explained; 'They are Visible Earth heretics. They come from a village in the Trag territories of the Narn Prince. One of the villagers blew up a troop carrier, killing seven Narn guards. Narn demanded the village be interdicted under the Extirpation Agreement, but things became bogged down at the international level. It took months of wrangling before agreement was reached, by which time the villagers had fled. They managed to buy a rocket and crew and blasted off. But the rocket was old and burst into flames within sight of Algalma. Your bullet-pod was caught in the explosion'

???????????Kawkannhay stopped talking and took a deep breath before continuing. 'It is a belief, Your Excellency, amongst the heretics that if they can reach Algalma then they will be given sanctuary, allowed passage out into the Three Zones of Humanity. It is even said that some are allowed to settle in the caverns. That is one of the reasons Augur Bramlint was on Algalma, Your Excellency, to look into this issue.' He stopped talking and looked at me, his expression questioning.

???????????I ignored his look and instead asked him to explain the problems over the Extirpation Agreement.

???????????'There were a number of issues,' the Augur said, his voice quiet and touched with regret. 'Should the entire village by interdicted, or just the family of the terrorist? What ordinance to use? Narn insisted ancient weaponry like White Phosphorous would be most appropriate, Your Excellency. Other Princes demanded a quicker killing. There was also the issue of airspace. Apparently His Honour If-Dec wanted guarantees that no Narn flights would stray into Glaik territory.'

???????????As the young man spoke it seemed to me the smell of burnt meat grew stronger. I was filled with an urge to beat him or have him doused in liquid fire. But before I could respond to the monstrosity of his words I saw a woman making her way towards us. Her hair was tangled and black, her eyes teary. 'Sirs,' she said. 'I have lost my son. Please help me find him. His name is Yoseph. He has green eyes.'?

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You can listen to an earlier audiobook podcast version of the story at https://rabful.podbean.com/ or on all podcast platforms. The final episode was broadcast on May 14 this year. Since then I've written a final draft ready for publication