by M D Cooper
“That’s the kind of work Pharis enjoys.”
“And from what you’ve told me of her, I think she’d be great at it. But we’d need to get people in the right mindset to have those kinds of discussions with someone who’s part of the historical oppression machine, as they’d see it from their vantage—once their eyes are opened to what’s going on.”
“And how do you convince people that you’re different and don’t want things to continue in the same messed-up way?” Cyrus asked rhetorically.
“That’s the part I’ll need you to work out.”
He nodded. “I can do that. Or try to.”
“It’ll take the houses buying into the same message. We can’t have a house offer one solution while another house suggests something else.”
“Agreed. I’ll make sure we get everyone on the same page—whatever message we can all agree on.”
“Kristina seemed to have her own ideas about how to do that.”
“As I’m sure Pharis will, too.” Cyrus looked her square in the eyes. “Don’t worry, Terry. I’m as committed to this as you are. We’ll find a way to make it work. Together.”
She nodded. “All right. I’ll keep working on the message from my end. We’ll start with my friends, and see how they take it. We’ll figure out what resonates.”
* * * * *
Cyrus left Terry to her work and went to his cabin to check in with Pharis. He had wanted to call her as soon as they left the meeting with Kristina on Acadia, but he figured it was better to wait until they were closer to Gallas, and avoid the frustrations of light delay.
He settled on the end of his bed and dialed her secure line. She picked up after thirty seconds.
Her face brightened when she saw him. “How’d it go?”
“Pretty well, I guess.” He paused. “She suggested that we get married.”
“As in you and Kristina?”
“Yes.”
Pharis laughed. “I wasn’t expecting that!”
“Neither was I.”
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t say much either way, just tried to shift the subject back to our planned talking points.”
“Probably a wise move. That’s an extreme measure for what we’re undertaking.”
“Though it makes sense, it wouldn’t be my first choice.”
“I can see where Kristina is coming from,” Pharis said. “Now that she’s leader of Laurentia, being unmarried and childless doesn’t instill confidence in the future of the house.”
“Then she should put up a ‘Spouse Wanted’ sign rather than proposition the first person to pay her a visit.”
“You offer a strategic advantage, though—good optics. You have the right pedigree, but are also an ‘outsider’ in terms of your political involvement to date. It would play to make her look more like one of the people, rather than the reclusive queen in her clifftop manor that she is in reality.”
“The entire point of this revolution is to get away from the political games.”
“Oh, dear brother, as much as we want that, they can’t be eradicated entirely.”
“Still, this is too overt for my taste.”
“It was rather forward of her,” Pharis agreed. “But I think you should play along for now.”
“Pharis, no. When she brings it up again, I’ll—”
“You’ll thank her for the opportunity to formalize the alliance and accept. There’s still opportunity to call it off later, but turning it down now might sour all negotiations.”
Cyrus worked his mouth, unable to come up with a rebuttal that wasn’t driven by his personal feelings on the matter.
A decade prior, he might have been flattered by Kristina’s offer. She was pleasant to look at, and smart, but the fact remained he’d spent all of half an hour with her. A marriage—even one that everyone knew was strictly for political show—meant they needed to present a united front. Knowing next to nothing about her, he couldn’t be certain their political views aligned on other issues.
“I know this isn’t what you had in mind when you agreed to become involved in the political game, but it comes with the territory.”
“I guess,” he muttered. Terry was already hesitant about us. I don’t want to miss out on what we could have together.
Arguing the point further would only make him look selfish, so Cyrus decided to let it go for now. If he could come up with a viable way to secure the alliance through other means, it would become moot, anyway.
“Other than the marriage, what else did you discuss?” Pharis prompted, apparently ready to table the issue, as well.
“Kristina didn’t seem thrilled with our approach to sparking the revolt, though she seemed to agree with the concept of gathering support at the bottom and pushing it to the top.”
“It is contingent on getting the first few people on board.”
“Terry doesn’t think it will be an issue.”
Pharis evaluated him through the screen. “Do you share her confidence?”
“I think it can be done, but it might take more than she realizes. And by ‘might’, I mean we’re probably going to have issues when we start out.”
“What can you do to mitigate those issues?”
“You could certainly help. I’m an outsider, like you said. But if the actual Charlemis scion came forward in support of our proposal, it would go a long way.”
Pharis shook her head. “I wish I could.”
“This can’t all be on me.”
“No, and I know it’s not fair to ask it of you. But Mother can’t know about this until we already have too much momentum to be stopped.”
“She should be proud of you for stepping up and launching your own initiatives.”
“Not this. She’s vacillated between being non-committal and pro-Nebracken, but certainly never given any indication that she wants the five Great Houses to operate any way other than how they do right now.”
“Surely she can see the threat Nebracken poses.”
“Jeslan has already offered a solution that keeps Charlemis safe—in one way or another. Not to be self-centered, but I think my own life is in more jeopardy than the house itself right now.”
Cyrus took a steadying breath. “I believe that. But from my perspective, the health of the house is tied to you. Jeslan will run it into the ground, or set it back a millennium in terms of policies.”
“Agreed, but Mother doesn’t seem to care.”
“Try talking to her, feel out her opinion in more certain terms, if you can.”
“I don’t know, Cyrus…” she hedged.
“If I have to entertain marrying Kristina Laurentia, then you can have a heart-to-heart with our mother.”
“All right, I’ll try,” she yielded.
“We’ll arrive at Gallas shortly. Will you still be able to hide our transport logs?”
Pharis nodded. “It’s all been arranged. You should be able to move around freely without the usual traces on your whereabouts.”
“Thank you. I’ll be in touch as soon as we have preliminary reactions to our messaging.”
“I really hope people take to this plan. I don’t know how else we can get ourselves out of this mess unless we get the public behind us.”
“We will, Pharis. I have no doubt.”
“I wish I shared your confidence.”
“Give it time. Once the revolution begins, it’ll be all you can do to keep up. You will be the face of it, after all.”
She blushed. “And here everyone thought I was a free-spirited party girl with no ambition.”
“You’ll show them.”
“I will. Thank you for believing in me.”
“You’ve earned it.”
“I won’t let you down.”
PERMISSION, NOT FORGIVENESS
STELLAR DATE: 12.21.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Nebracken Estate, Mesophis, Serenity System
REGION: Orion Freedom Alliance, Perseus Arm
/> Jeslan Charlemis collapsed on the bed next to Silvan Nebracken, panting from exertion and pleasure. Sometimes conversation with him felt like she was talking to a brick wall, but at least he made up for the dull discourse in bed.
“It’s so good to be free from them,” she said, propping one arm behind her head.
“You didn’t stick to the plan.”
“Pharis’s scheming made that impossible. If I hadn’t slipped away when I did, I might not have gotten another chance.”
“We needed you close to your mother to make sure she does what’s needed.”
“Don’t worry about her,” Jeslan assured him. “I know her, and all she cares about is maintaining power and appearances.”
Silvan pulled on his underwear and went to get a drink from the wet bar at the other side of his bedroom.
“Don’t you believe me?” Jeslan asked when he remained silent.
He took a sip of citrus liqueur. “The concern is that your mother may side with Pharis in your absence. She is the named scion, after all.”
“Pharis is foolhardy, and Mother knows it. She’s been looking for an excuse to remove Pharis from succession for years.”
“And how is you being gone going to help with that?”
Jeslan gracefully rose from the bed and slinked toward him. “Because once we announce our engagement, Mother will see that I’ve taken the initiative to elevate our family’s standing. All Pharis has ever done is suggest we give away our fortune to the ‘needy’, or however she puts it.”
Silvan ran his hand over his blond hair. “Ugh, she was so exhausting.”
“You never have to deal with her again.” She traced her index finger down his bare chest.
He grabbed her hand, gripping it a bit too hard. “We have a meeting.” He released her and downed the rest of his drink in one gulp.
Jeslan dressed in silence, donning a flowy, floral-print dress in the Nebracken style, rather than a skinsuit like she’d worn for most of her life. It seemed better to blend in at present, and Silvan preferred the exposed skin.
Without a doubt, Pharis’s refusal to bend to such preferences had contributed to the end of their relationship. Everything was now as it should be, as far as Jeslan was concerned.
The meeting had been set in an outbuilding next to the spaceport at the edge of the Nebracken estate. Being near the landscaped gardens, it was easy to slip around the back to the building without drawing attention. The underground passageways for maintenance personnel connected the building to the port itself, so their visitors could enter unseen.
Jeslan had learned that most of the property was designed with covert meetings and supply movement in mind. It thrilled her to finally be working with a family who had their act together in all aspects of house dealings. By comparison, Charlemis, under her mother’s guidance, had been too sloppy to accomplish anything significant in recent years. Really, it was remarkable the house had once been coordinated enough to unseat Thermodes at the High Table.
Our time has almost come again.
Every move she’d made against Pharis—to sway her mother, to persuade Silvan of their alliance—had been for the advancement of House Charlemis. Soon, they would no longer be confined to operating at the edge of the Serenity Ordus in fear of their position being stripped away. The house would unquestioningly hold its place among the five Great Houses.
Their contact, Toni, was waiting for them in the outbuilding when they arrived. The woman appeared older than most of the nobles Jeslan had been around, though she suspected that was more because the woman didn’t have access to rejuv tech rather than being of an appreciable age.
Toni bowed with respect to the two house heirs when they entered. “My lord. My lady.”
“Did you get it?” Silvan asked.
Toni nodded. “It wasn’t easy, sir, but I found a supplier and was able to arrange transport.”
“Where is it?”
“My colleague will be here with it shortly,” she said.
Silvan glowered. “You opened our business to others?”
“My lord, no task like this can be handled alone. Shira can be trusted.”
“That’s for us to decide.”
Jeslan placed her hand on his arm. “It can’t be taken back now.”
“That’s the problem.” Silvan glared at Toni.
Footsteps sounded from below, and Jeslan noticed a ladder nearby extending through a square hole in the floor. A brunette’s head cleared the opening, and she smiled.
“Sorry I’m late,” the newcomer said. “These passageways are a maze.”
The brunette finished climbing up the ladder and dusted herself off.
“This is Shira,” Toni introduced.
“My lord. My lady.” Shira bowed her head to each in turn. She then raised a case she was carrying in her right hand. “I have it.”
Jeslan breathed a quiet sigh of relief, hoping that Shira’s appearance would diffuse Silvan’s temper.
She wasn’t pleased that Toni had brought in outside help, either, but it also felt unreasonable to punish their contact for bringing in the help she needed to complete the assignment within the short timeframe they’d allotted her.
“Let’s see it,” Silvan demanded.
Shira set the case down on the table in the center of the room and opened it. Inside were several vials and a complicated wand-like device with a slot the size of one vial.
Silvan looked over the case’s contents. “That’s all there is?”
“Yes, my lord. That’s all that’s needed,” Toni confirmed.
He turned his attention to Shira. “Why are you delivering this, rather than Toni?”
“I secured and transported the items.”
“What did Toni do, then?”
“She hired me.”
Silvan looked between Toni and Shira. “Sounds like an unnecessary redundancy.”
Panic flitted across Toni’s face. “Like I said, my lord, getting this kind of tech involves a number of people.”
“It sounds like Shira managed on her own once you contacted her. Is that correct?”
“I needed to go through my supplier and a programming specialist,” Shira clarified.
Silvan tilted his head. “I’m still not understanding Toni’s role.”
Jeslan placed her hand around Silvan’s waist and whispered in his ear. “No need to make a scene over it. We have what we came to get, let’s get back to bed.”
He disguised his response as a kiss on the side of her face. “No one goes against me.”
He turned to Shira. “You may go. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else. Toni, there’s one more bit of business.”
Toni shifted uncomfortably on her feet while her colleague departed. When enough time had passed for Shira to have made it a fair distance from the outbuilding through the underground tunnel, Silvan walked behind Toni and closed the trap door covering to the tunnel.
“I didn’t mean to betray your trust—” Toni began.
He stepped closer to her. “I’m sure you meant well, but let me remind you what’s expected when you do business with this house.”
LIGHTING THE SPARK
STELLAR DATE: 12.22.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Charlemis Estate Port, Gallas, Serenity System
REGION: Orion Freedom Alliance, Perseus Arm
Terry stepped off the Star Ember onto Gallas for the second time in as many weeks. She was again there to gather information, but this time, it would lead to her own direct action rather than passing off intelligence to others. All of her efforts were finally taking shape toward a tangible result.
At least, she hoped she was making progress.
Despite Cyrus’s assurances, she still felt like a nobody, and worried that no one would listen to what she had to say, no matter how moving the words.
I guess I’ll know soon enough.
She’d prepared talking points rather than a speech, knowing how her friends were likely to react to
anything that sounded overly rehearsed. She needed to appeal to them as someone who’d grown up and lived as they had. As it was, she was already drifting away, despite only having been gone for a matter of weeks.
She took a deep breath of the recirculated air, and centered herself. They’ll see what we want to do. They’ll support it.
Dylan met her near the port. “Can’t seem to stay away, can you?”
“Not so long as I have unfinished business,” she replied.
“In that case, you’ll never leave.”
“I don’t know about that. See what you think after you’ve heard what I have to say.”
He nodded. “I’ve gathered everyone like you asked. We won’t be able to meet for long without arousing suspicion.”
“I’ll be quick. Either people will like what I suggest, or they won’t.”
“I’ll try to keep an open mind. I can’t promise how others will take it.”
“I know. Thank you for doing as much as you have.”
When Terry had sent him a private message, she hadn’t been sure he’d even respond. Their subsequent conversations had indicated that he saw the same issues she did with the governance of Serenity, but he seemed resigned to the idea that there was no way around it. If she could convince him, he might help sway more people, and begin the movement she hoped would go on to spread throughout the Ordus.
Dylan led her to the mess hall, the one place where a sizeable group of workers could assemble at the proper hour without it seeming out of place. People had agreed to forego part of their lunch break to listen to her, and she intended to make it worth their while.
When they arrived in the large room, it was already half-filled. She spotted Suze and Cynthia in the front row, and they waved to her. With the room rapidly filling, she decided it was best to wait for a more personal greeting after the main event.
After a few minutes, the doors were closed, and Dylan signaled to her. “Jammers are active. You can speak freely for five minutes without anyone listening in.”