by D. R. Rosier
She paused for a moment for us to digest that.
“Like I said, they’re clever. They have ten very small installations capable of building just one ship at a time. As a result, the asteroids they were in weren’t that big, they only needed to host ten ships each after a year, given it must have taken them two months to build the infrastructure in secret and get started. According to the scans they’re also illegally fabricating an insane amount of the heavy element.”
They’d need to, to keep a hundred ships constantly cloaked with the old technology.
Telidur asked, “Should we go confront him now?”
Vik shook his head, “Let’s not deviate from our planned path, I don’t want to alert him to the fact we know or that anything has changed. We now have the proof to sanction Tek’s life if we wish, and force the planet to vote on secession. Before we do that, I want to know where Jervistad stands on the issue.”
Telidur nodded, “I’ve randomized our approach, I don’t think we’ll run into anymore of Tek’s traps. I hope you’re right about Jervistad, he was very angry at the meeting when you took power.”
Vik shrugged, “Their race can be like that sometimes. It occurred to me I could have been a little more political about my compromises. We’ll see when we get there if we have an ally there or not. Either way, the people there aren’t very happy with me, there hasn’t been a cessation of rumors and lies about me yet.”
“More politic?” I said in a doubtful voice.
Vik explained, “I walked in there and told them how it was. Chances are he had a plan to prevent a recurrence of another Denik situation. Mine works great, but I rammed my version down their throats and didn’t listen to any dissenting opinions or alternate ideas. I’m not saying I should have bent on it, spreading out the power is how governments grow larger, but I could have at least listened. I stepped on his pride, acted as arrogantly as my brother, and most likely stepped on his own ambition, if his plan included further empowering the governors. Ironically, Tek didn’t care about that part of things at all, since he apparently was ready to replace me. Xylla and Natalya know me well enough to know it was out of good intentions, and they thought it a good plan.”
Huh, when put that way Vik sounded like a megalomaniacal asshole. I suppose I hadn’t seen it that way because I knew him, and knew he wasn’t the power hungry control freak, like his brother had been. In fact, his hard line on that issue had all been about keeping the power contained and small, and out of the citizen’s daily lives. But… I could see how Jervistad could have been both offended by it, and afraid he was just as grasping as his older brother. Add that in to his own ambition and his plans being thwarted, and it made sense.
“Alright, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, and try to have a real back and forth conversation, but the fact that his planet is full of false self-righteous anger, vitriol, and twisted lies against you, I wouldn’t hold my breath on a good outcome.”
Vik snorted, “Don’t sugar coat it for me.”
I winked, “Don’t worry, I won’t. That’s why you keep me around, and love me.”
I suppressed a laugh, but couldn’t help the shit eating grin. I also wouldn’t hesitate to put down anyone that looked at him wrong. I didn’t delude myself, this wasn’t good verses evil, it was us verses them. That tended to simplify things. I was quite sure that wasn’t the case around Denik, there had been something very wrong with his brother.
He smirked, but didn’t argue.
Whatever happened at Xulia, it would be interesting, but hopefully not too interesting.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I found out that Kaprorix was the third world to join the empire, making Tek’s world, Xulia, the fourth. Kaprorix was inhabited by a saurian race, and they were quite advanced but dysfunctional when the Isyth stumbled across their star system.
There was a lot of formality and traditions in their society, it was a control mechanism for their aggressive instincts which were higher than Isyth or human aggression. It explained to me why Jervistad had been so angry, and I found myself begrudgingly admiring of his self-control.
Kaprorix had offered advances in weapons technology, in return, the Isyth empire had brought them better health, longer lives, and artificial intelligence to handle their infrastructure. It hadn’t all happened overnight of course, it had taken Kaprorix almost sixty years to finally take the step to join the empire.
Kaprorix also gave me hope for humanity, maybe in as many years the humans would be in a position to join the empire. It was hard to say, Earth was far from a united world.
Regardless, in hindsight, Denik’s actions had just about pushed every button the Kaprorix had. I had some hope that Vik would be able to win them over, but it wouldn’t be easy, and as I’d already told him, I wouldn’t be holding my breath. Not only would he have to win over Jervistad, but Jervistad would also need to believe it was worth the effort to try and win over his own people. Not just effort, but also the risk. If his people turned on him he’d be thrown out of office, and most likely Jervistad’s successor would secede from the empire.
It wouldn’t be easy for Vik. They didn’t want a ruler like Denik, but at the same time it would be disastrous for Vik to show weakness. Honestly, I don’t know how he did it, I wouldn’t want to rule. Just make money, be comfortable, and surround myself neck deep in friends. I enjoyed being his guard though, as well as his weapons officer when on ship. Not to mention, his lover.
I was trying not to get too excited by what he’d intimidated the other day when we were in bed, but it wasn’t easy. In the stories I read, the alien king always stole away the human female and made her a queen. This was real life, that kind of shit just didn’t happen, and I wasn’t even close to that lucky.
But… a polyamorous family of sorts? No power of my own, not by virtue of my relationship with Vik anyway, except what power I could take through my own efforts, credits, and inventions. That appealed to me greatly, and fit reality as I saw it. Nothing would or should be handed to me. Even if it did all fall apart, it was worth it, so I planned to just go with it until it derailed. Either something would come up that I couldn’t abide and I’d take my credits and go, or I’d be asked to leave, or it would work out.
No matter what happened, I didn’t think I’d ever regret the last year of my life.
I pushed that all out of my mind as we made orbit around Kaprorix.
Telidur looked as tense as I felt, and Jillintara looked pensive. Vik looked relaxed, like he was about to go on a picnic, which I guess meant he was very confident in Telidur’s and my ability to keep him safe on the planet below.
Honestly, I felt more confident about Xulia, because at least we knew where Tek stood, he was our enemy. I knew he’d try to kill us, he didn’t have a choice because we had him dead to rights, and he’d be a dead man soon. I just had to anticipate and outthink him. Jervistad on the other hand, we weren’t quite sure where he stood yet.
All I could do was assume we were moving onto hostile ground, and we would be attacked. That way, I could be pleasantly surprised if nothing came of it.
Vik asked, “Status?”
Jillintara said, “We have clearance to head down in a shuttle. The only warships in or near orbit are our fifty escorts, and the ships assigned to protect this planet. It is also highly unlikely any of the Suateran scouts beat us here, since they used subspace not wormholes.”
I nodded, that sounded good for getting us on the planet, but it left out the chance that one of Tek’s cloaked ships were in the system. It would aid him greatly if Vik were killed there, instead of in his own system.
“Alright, let’s go.”
We went down to the hangar bay and left in a cloaked shuttle, and shortly after a fake shuttle launched from our fake ship using a variety of technologies through the multi-function orbs. It should fool any ship’s sensors, and we wouldn’t rendezvous with the fake one until we were very low in the atmosphere on final approach.
It was almost a disappointment when no one took a pot shot at the fake shuttle, and we joined with it on the way down. My worries were unrewarded as we approached the palace and landed. There was no one outside it, neither protestors nor supporters. I didn’t have a bad feeling about it, but I was still worried as the shuttle door opened up and we walked toward the palace. I felt naked, and tense, which should have told me we weren’t going to have any issues, but emotions rarely yielded to logic.
We walked in the front door, and a Kaprorix I’d never seen before greeted us.
“Your majesty, I am Istan, one of Jervistad’s advisors. Jervistad would have met you himself, but is tied up with an issue. I’d be pleased to guide you to your rooms, where you can freshen up before you meet with my lord.”
The words were respectful, but the tone was not. It wasn’t quite disrespectful either, Istan was toeing the line of incivility, but not quite crossing it. I wanted to kick him in the nuts, but didn’t let it show on my face.
Vik said, “Lead on.”
As we walked, Vik asked, “What was the nature of the emergency?”
Istan’s skin slightly browned, and he replied reluctantly, “Several people tried to gain access to the palace who don’t belong. We suspect some plot against your arrival.”
I got the idea Istan wouldn’t have minded looking the other way, but I decided to reserve judgement. I didn’t quite have a finger on the pulse of this world, or their race. I knew it was fuzzy thinking to compare them to humans, any of the races, but I held my tongue again.
Vik said, “Commendable. I am content to wait until Jervistad handles the matter.”
I heard Istan’s teeth grind, and we didn’t speak again as we were led to the royal guest wing in the palace. My and Telidur’s rooms were obvious, the first two in the corridor. The setup was very similar from world to world. I also noted that I had a certain amount of control over the security in this wing. According to the data, there were no others in the wing at present, but that didn’t stop me from using the mark 1 eyeball as we passed several rooms, or from listening to my instincts. Which in that case, agreed with the sensor data.
Once Vik was settled in his room, we returned to ours quickly to change out of our ship suits and into our uniforms, or a dress in my case. I wasn’t too worried, I didn’t just have control over the wing’s security, I had a multi-function orb hovering over Vik’s head with its own passive scanners pealed. The rest of us had one as well. Untrusting of me perhaps, but I wasn’t taking any chances with Vik or the rest of his family.
After changing and refreshing myself, I headed back to Vik’s suite where we all waited for Jervistad to deal with whatever issue he was dealing with.
“Are we having fun yet?”
Jillintara snickered.
Vik shook his head, but he was smiling.
“We’ll see how this goes. I don’t imagine we’ll be doing the tourist thing and meeting the people this time around, unless things go much better than I expect them to.”
Telidur nodded, “I wouldn’t advise it. We could keep you safe, but we don’t want to start or put down a riot if we can help it.”
Vik grunted, “Once we deal with Tek, I’ll put out a statement and the evidence against him on the data-net. Regardless, it will take the people of the two worlds a long time to trust again, they’ve been lied to and manipulated, and won’t like having it pointed out to them.”
No, some things were universal, and anger at being played for a fool was one of them.
“I think we should watch what we say here.”
It might already be too late.
Vik nodded, “Anyone hungry, we could be waiting a while.”
“I could eat.”
We moved into the dining room area in the suite, and got to work on a meal…
Chapter Twenty-Five
The conference room felt tense as we walked in. I recognized Jervistad, but not the female Kaprorix sitting next to him. Of course, Istan had guided us to this meeting room, and took a seat on the other side of Jervistad, while the four of us took seats at the other end of the table.
Our host didn’t seem as angry, but he was closed off and giving nothing away.
Jervistad said, “You know Istan, this is my other advisor Sherias.”
Vik nodded politely, “How do we move forward Jervistad? What are your concerns?”
He hissed, “Straight to the point I see.”
Vik shrugged, “War is coming soon, our best guess is within a week, and we have proof of Tek rebelling. Three empire worlds are growing, quickly, but two are not as they are caught in lies and foolish rhetoric. Perhaps on my next visit we can more closely observe the formalities.”
Istan hissed, but Jervistad cut him off with a growl of sorts.
Jervistad said, “I have not been involved in what you call rumors and lies.”
Vik replied, “But you haven’t spoken against it, or tried to reassure your people I am not my brother. The people take their lead from the top.”
There was a brief pause. Istan looked murderous, I couldn’t read Sherias at all, she looked as icy as Jervistad did. I was more than alert, and I was also wondering what Vik was doing. I’d just learned how important tradition was to the Kaprorix, his direct informal approach was a mistake. Or at least, it seemed like it was, maybe he knew better than I did. He should know better.
Jervistad stated, “No, I have not. Nor have I spoken against you. I don’t know if you are worthy of our trust yet. Time will reveal the truth, until then Kaprorix will be an empire world.”
Right. And I bet the fact we’re about to be invaded had nothing to do with his decision to stay in the empire for now. Not at all. If he did secede now, his planet would be helpless against attack, since he didn’t have a fleet.
Vik sighed, “I had a whole year to think about it. My brother in power, and abusing it against both the empire itself and the independent planets. I knew those two things, giving up the right to arbitrarily change the law at a whim, and the overrides for the A.I.s would prevent a recurrence in the future, given two generations or a thousand more, it would never happen again. I was angry at the deaths of my family, and much more recently of my sister, who would have become the empress instead of me. I never wanted this. I should have listened to your proposals, or discussed mine, but I was too angry and eager to put it behind us. I was too used to being a ship’s captain, and not a politician.
“I am here now Jervistad, to listen to your concerns for Kaprorix or any others. I would also urge you to take advantage of the new technological revolution, and to assuage your people’s fears so they could grow and prosper with the rest of the empire. I will not try to force it, I wouldn’t, and couldn’t.”
Jervistad replied, “We will see, time will tell. If you speak the truth, me and my people will recognize it in your actions. If not, we will decide as a people where to go next. This is my greatest concern, and my only concern, save the threat from without. What has Tek done, and what proof do you have?”
Vik said, “He funneled off resources, and built shipyards under my brother’s nose. We believe he currently has a hundred ships, at an unknown technological level as he’s been upgrading them. Those yards have been found and scanned. That in itself isn’t a problem, it was when he didn’t declare the ships and hidden shipyards after my brother was removed that makes it illegal. I would not have judged anyone for resisting my brother’s tyranny. The rest is worse. We’ve had several assassination attempts, and were recently ambushed with a minefield of shielded missiles. He will be removed for treason against the empire, and then his people will be given a choice, secede or stay in the empire.”
Jervistad grunted, “Why haven’t I seen any of this?”
Vik replied, “I can share it now, in this room, but it must stay off the secure data-net for obvious reasons. Tek has already used that system more than once against us, by tracking our every move. We aren’t sure what his plans are yet, as far as timing. There
are advantages to attacking while we fight our external enemies. All we know for sure is he needs to attack before the scout-destroyers are completed.”
Vik nodded to Jillintara, who interfaced with the rooms holographic systems, and showed the data we’d gathered. Jervistad and Sherias appeared to be shocked with the revelation. Istan looked furious, and alarmed, which gave me a very bad feeling. Then I felt nothing, as my psycho switch was thrown, and I took in everything with crystal clarity.
Istan hissed and stood, “Lies!” and then went for his weapon. Two doors opened with armed guards behind it. I could read the shock in Jervistad and Sherias, they had no warning of Istan taking this course of action.
“Shields now,” I muttered as I raised my hand and went to my feet.
The orb dropped a shield around the seven of us as I simultaneously jumped and fired. Istan’s plasma weapon was still clearing the holster when my plasma shot cut his hand off at the wrist. I continued my flip onto the table and pushed off with my hands, and kicked him in the face with both feet. Both him and the chair were thrown backward into the shield. He bounced back forward and met my side kick which slammed him into the ground.
I stunned him, knocked him out with a sonic blast, which maybe should have been my first response, but in my defense, I’d expected him to be shielded. While I was doing all that, Jillintara, Vik, and Telidur were laying down suppressive fire on the open doors. They ignored the return fire for the most part, the shields from the orbs made it almost unfair. Without complete surprise, and hitting us before our shields went up, we were fairly safe from any type of hand weapon ordinance. Given our personal shields would absorb a whole lot of punishment too, it would take serious ordinance and complete surprise if we were on the ground. Information I wasn’t eager to share, but that should be obvious.