The Aliens of the Flaming Red Sun/26 Perplexity

The Aliens of the Flaming Red Sun/ 25 All Alone?
The master was furious that everything had gone wrong and ready to pick on anyone while free and bond servants were uncomfortably quiet. Those who had dared go past the room where young Blue Tentacles was shut in told stories about how they could hear him crying but none dared to enter. Servants discussed things, some reminded the others what Blue Tentacles had done but many whispered quietly that they thought the master was going too far.

Purple was especially careful as he had been with the boy and could easily get the blame for anything. He liked the boy and wished things were different but many slaves regularly see bad things that they can’t prevent. Purple could never quite get used to that though. He was attentive to his mistress, the mother of Blue Tentacles and brought her nourishing food from the kitchen. Mother drank water from a ewer as Centaurians are semi aquatic and need plenty of water but she didn’t feel like eating very much. Purple thought of the good food going to waste, he thought about the crying boy, then he cleared the food away quietly and put it into a bag that he could tie to his tentacles together with a water container.

Purple made sure no Centaurian could see him and went into one of the service ducts. The mansion had tubes and passages that were part of the heating system, the air conditioning system or any number of other systems. Purple knew his way round the ducts like the back of his tentacles as he was often asked to do work on the diverse machinery there. Purple knew well he would face severe punishment if he was caught but he didn’t think he was taking too much of a risk. After all who would do maintenance that wasn’t urgent when the house was in crisis? Strong tentacles gripped vertical walls where humans would have needed footholds or a ladder and eyestalks pointed anxiously in different directions as Purple tried to make sure he wasn’t seen.

Blue Tentacles started with fear when a trapdoor he didn’t know existed opened in the room where he was confined, then relief was all over his tentacles as he recognised his friend Purple. Blue Tentacles ate and drank greedily but later clung to his friend and begged him not to leave. “You must let go, little master, if I’m caught we’re both in very big trouble.” Purple was more insistent than slaves usually are. Reluctantly Blue relaxed his tentacles and Purple went back the way he’d come, without food and water to weigh him down Purple could climb faster, he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or sorry when he was too far away to hear the boy crying. A few more times Purple got food for his mistress and a few more times Purple brought surplus food for the boy. Blue Tentacles asked Purple, “When will this end?” Purple could only reply, “I don’t know little master, you must be brave, be patient.”


 * Perplexity