by Lee Watts
"Alex!"
He turned as the shapely blond bounded at him, flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him forcefully. Vivica's eyes were closed, but Alexander's panicked gaze went to Aulani. With a look and tilt of her head, she pressed Alexander to handle the situation.
Interrupting the awkward moment, Merrick approached with two other men. From Alexander's stories, Aulani thought she recognized the man with the walking staff and angular features as Caedmon. Aside from the other man's uniform identifying him as military, she knew nothing about him. Seeing the warm welcome Alexander was receiving from Lady Vivica Canton, Balin indiscreetly cleared his throat.
Using the opportunity to separate himself from the woman, Alexander pulled away from her.
"Vivica," he panted while trying to catch his breath.
Balin decided to rescue his sovereign.
"Sire, I don't mean to intrude, but there is an urgent matter requiring your immediate attention."
"Yes, yes, certainly, Admiral," Alexander said while trying to sound official and not displaying his immense gratitude for the opportunity to escape the moment. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Aulani still looking at him and awaiting him to clear up the confusion. Regaining composure, the King turned to Vivica.
"Vivica, we'll… talk later, okay?"
"Of course, Alex. I've waited so long for you. I can wait a little more."
He smiled uncomfortably, and she responded with a wink. Swallowing hard, he turned to Aulani,
"Can we talk later too?"
"Actually, Sire, she's coming with us," Balin informed.
"What?" blurted Vivica.
"Yes," Balin explained. "There're some important negotiations, and we need her abilities. But don't worry, Lady Canton, I'll have someone come attend to you shortly."
As the group headed to a shuttle that would take them to the Dauntless, Vivica's eyes narrowed, shooting daggers at the brunette's back.
"Young Lady," Balin began in his gravelly voice, "I hear you have a talent for languages. We're short on translators at the moment, and a situation's come up. Do you think you could assist in talking to some people?"
Trying to push aside her emotional distraction, Aulani forced a smile.
"I'll try, but no promises. What do they speak?"
"I don't know. I don't even recognize half their races," the barrel-chested man answered. "But if you're as gifted as Merrick here says - then you are our best shot during the negotiations."
"What negotiations?" Alexander asked as the shuttle launched out into space. "I thought we were heading to liberate the outer Realm worlds."
"We are, Excellency, but there's an opportunity to make some alliances before we start the liberations; allies can make all the difference in war. Seems the Ramillie that attacked our base mentioned your name in a report they transmitted. We now have half a dozen calls in from various resistance movements of other conquered nations wanting to talk to you and verify that the Ramillie really were defeated at Oosay."
"Wait a minute," Aulani interjected softly. "I want to be useful, but honestly, I don't know how much help I can be. Why don't you use the ship's computers to do the translating?"
"Because we've taken a lot of battle damage these last years. Fixing the translation matrix wasn't a priority, and it's only getting every tenth word," Balin explained. "Merrick here says you're a bit of a wonder with languages. You're the best shot we have."
Aulani nodded shyly, trying to bolster her confidence with determination. They reached the communications section where the various aliens awaited to speak with the man who had led a victory over the Ramillie.
Four hours later the discussions were complete. Mentally exhausted, Alexander and Aulani stepped out with what they considered great success. She had been able to pick up on most of the languages, and several of the delegates were going to try and coordinate resistance efforts with the Realm.
When the last transmission ended, an awkward silence filled the space between Alexander and Aulani. Alexander realized she wanted to know what he intended to do about Vivica. Alexander was also curious about that.
"Aulani… I… don't know what to say."
"You could begin by telling Vivica about us. She thinks you're still engaged."
Alexander raised one eyebrow as he considered it for the first time.
"Are you?" she asked in a mix of shock and accusation.
"I- I don't know," he stammered. "Technically, I guess so. But remember it was an arranged marriage."
"Yea, I bet they had to twist your arm to agree to marry her."
Interrupting his fumbling was a beep from the communication device at his belt. The voice that came out was unmistakable.
"Alex, I heard your meeting's over," Vivica cooed. "They gave me quarters here on the Dauntless. I can't wait to see you."
He closed his eyes letting out an agonized breath, not knowing what to say to either woman.
"Vivica, I- have a few more things to sort out. I'll see you as soon as they're done. Okay?"
"I'll count the moments."
Alexander looked to Aulani, giving her the unconvincing smile of a desperate salesman who knows his wares are less than stellar.
"Okay look," Aulani said shutting her eyes for a moment then let out a sigh before continuing. "I know I shouldn't be giving you such a hard time. You told me about your relationship back on Acatus, and I can't expect her to magically go away. I just didn't think about her being here as soon as we got back."
"Me neither, but I'll handle this."
"How?"
"I don't know. I'll talk to Caedmon; he'll know what to do."
A few minutes later, Caedmon answered the king's summons to his impromptu office. Alexander explained about the pre-arranged engagement to Vivica, but how during the years on Acatus he'd fallen in love with Aulani. Alexander hoped his old teacher would have an answer to this problem.
"I have no idea," Caedmon admitted and was glad he wasn't in the King's predicament.
"But you're supposed to give me advice."
"Sire. Thou were espoused to Lady Canton to strengthen ties with the Enty worlds. Now, more than ever is this of importance. The might of the entire Realm wilt thou need in this struggle for liberation."
"So, you're saying I should marry Vivica?"
"Not necessarily, she who shares the crown is not only wife, but by duty must needs be: ambassador, hostess, counselor, and a thousand things more. She is known as the Premier Lady of the Realm, and so establishes the bar for elegance, nobility, and propriety. I know not Lady Canton. Doth thou believe she can be these things?"
"I... have some doubts," Alexander admitted.
"We will seek the Elder's will," Caedmon said. "For now, I advise thee to not drive Lady Canton away. Merrick tells me thou didst make a pledge of intention to Miss Aulani."
Alexander regarded the old man in an unsuccessful attempt to look innocent.
"Didst," he admitted. "What am I going to do, Caedmon?"
"The same thing all men do when trying to figure out women… pray."
CHAPTER 3
"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." – Revelation 20:3
Entering the Acatus system, the small craft exited lightspeed and set course for the fifth planet. On that primitive jungle world, survivors of the crashed colony ship Morningstar eagerly awaited rescue after nearly twenty years of being marooned. Though it was only a matter of days since the small craft took off with the first half of survivors, it seemed an eternity to those left behind. During the days of waiting, there were many fears that those who already left had perished in the attempt to find The Remnant. If that was the case, the loss was doubled because not only had they lost their loved ones, but also their only hope for rescue.
Using the coordinates in the ship's navigation logs, t
he pilot was able to find the exact island of the village of the Morningstar. Sev Suchet, the father of Aulani and her younger brother Jaiden, heard the joyful shouts of Christina, Didymus, and the other survivors before catching sight of the ship. Rushing out from his makeshift hut, he saw the craft making a low pass. With insufficient space to land, the pilot was forced to set down quite a way from the village, but it was still less than twenty minute walk. The villagers shouted, and cried, and embraced each other.
"They must have made it," the ordinarily reserved Professor Didymus Galbraith exclaimed. Their long trial was finally over; at last, they were going home.
Days prior, another set of eyes had noticed the ship's first visit to that world, but it had taken off too quickly to reach it. Now, as hoped, it had returned for a second load.
With nothing worth taking, the villagers headed out empty-handed. No one ran; youth having long since left them, and the harsh conditions of that world made each of them age beyond their years. Making their final journey through the jungle brush was a surreal experience.
"I can't believe we're actually leaving," Christina voiced to no one in particular.
Few words were spoken, each person's emotions overwhelming them too much to vocalize. When at last they reached the clearing and saw the waiting ship, there was a mixture of tears and laughter.
Gesturing to the group, the pilot waved them toward the ship. Each of the gaunt survivors made their way into the craft. With the last person settling in, the pilot climbed the ramp. While standing in the doorway, he addressed the group.
"Is this everyone?"
They nodded.
"Very good. We'll take off as soon as you're strapped in. We're heading for the Oosay system. His Majesty has directed me to- AAAH!"
Jutting from his chest appeared the silver point of a flaming blade thrust through the man's back. Sev, Didymus and some of the others stood to help, but before they could do anything the pilot's body was tossed from the craft and in stormed a wild looking man holding a burning weapon.
"Who are you?" Sev asked, but the man only glared at them. "We have nothing. What do you want?"
"…Revenge," hissed Koraden.
***
Docking on the Hegemony space station, positioned between the twin worlds of Theera and Enty, was a shuttle with the Regent of the Realm, Salazar Yorin. The Regent took full advantage of the privileges of his position in the galactic-spanning, ever-expanding Hegemony. Making his way down the station's corridors, Salazar had to let his eyes adjust to the low light levels and pulled his cloak around him a little tighter. The entire station seemed dim and cold to him. Ramillie environmental preferences were notably different than Realm standard.
Entering the space station's conference room, Salazar noticed four others already there. He recognized three of the men, but the fourth's face was obscured in shadows. At the head of the table, dressed in a gold-trimmed, black suit exquisitely tailored to his muscular form, was a person of high importance in the Hegemony. Koraden, who personally commanded more wealth than most world governments, rarely came to the Realm Province. His presence at the meeting emphasized the gravity of the situation. Regent Yorin wasn't sure how this alien came to be in such a position of power, but the Ramillie deferred to him. Salazar was introduced to Koraden years before when he was disguised as a crewman on the Chariot, but until Koraden's return six months ago, Salazar had thought the man was dead.
Next to Koraden was Saqir Nexos, the Ramillie administrator of the Realm province. As usual, the administrator had one of those hideous charuk dogs on a leash at his feet. Saqir delighted in having T'lec surgeons transplant the brain of one of his enemies into such horrid creatures. Saqir wondered if the disgusting beast was anyone he knew.
Behind Saqir was Dakshi. The administrator's bodyguard, Dakshi was a man who always made Salazar uneasy. Dakshi was Ramillie, but Salazar felt there was something extra about Dakshi that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was something about his eyes as if he was looking through you - not at you. Salazar couldn't explain the feeling all he knew was to keep his distance.
"Regent Yorin," Saqir sneered in thinly veiled annoyance at the mere presence of the Entian. "Take a seat. I trust you've rounded up the dissidents who arranged that protest yesterday."
"I have, but I doubt it's going to have any long-term effects."
"Really?"
"Yes, really Administrator," Salazar snipped. "As long as you don't handle this Remnant problem, their sympathizers will continue to grow. You assured me Alexander was dead, but Koraden here evidences that he survived. Polls show more and more people doubt our claim he's just a clone the rebels concocted, and the unrest will continue to grow until you make good on your claims and eliminate him and The Remnant once and for all."
"We're handling the situation," Saqir shot back. "Remember your place, Salazar. Your position is tenuous… at best."
"Oh, I agree, but not for the reasons you infer. The greatest threat to my position, and yours I might add, is that any day The Remnant fleet might show up to reclaim this system."
"We can take care of The Remnant fleet."
"Then why haven't you?" Salazar demanded. "The Realm is only fifty worlds, and these rebels haven't even liberated all of them yet. The Hegemony is tens of thousands of planets. Why don't you just assemble an armada and go crush them?"
An awkward silence filled the room. Salazar noticed glances exchanged between Administrator Nexos, Koraden, and the other man.
"You've tried, haven't you?" Salazar deduced. The looks on their faces told him it was true. "You tried, and you failed. They beat you. Time and again they've pushed you back, haven't they? How is this possible? How can this rabble take on the might of the Hegemony?"
"They have help," Koraden growled while thinking how the Elder's hand was clearly on The Remnant.
"Then we need that help on our side," Salazar insisted. The thought almost made Koraden laugh… almost.
"That isn't going to happen," Koraden grumbled with certainty.
Saqir, though loath to side with Salazar, agreed the current situation was intolerable. His superiors had reached their limits with the upstart rebel's challenge to Hegemony supremacy.
"He's right," Saqir reluctantly admitted. "Something must be done. If The Remnant continues to make advances, word will get out, and it will encourage other peoples to begin resistance movements. It's an irritant now, but if it spreads-"
"It will not spread," Koraden insisted cutting off Saqir. "If we can't take the power away from them, then we must take them away from the power."
"And how can this be accomplished?" Saqir asked.
"I will see to it," claimed the man in the shadows whose face Salazar could not see. "They will move so far from the Elder that He will no longer help them. After they're alone and turn on themselves, we'll devour what's left."
CHAPTER 4
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." – I John 4:1
Sosimo LaRouche, a pirate captain, and former officer in the Realm Navy, stared at the moon displayed on the main viewport of his ship, the Fortune. In the six months since the Realm fleet was rescued, he had searched for the starship Fame without success. Commanded by the mutinous Crimson, the Fame had a cloaking device, which the crime lord known as The Hammer, required in exchange for the final piece of an ancient map. Sosimo's hunt for the mutineer was two-fold, get the ship, and honor his promise to kill Crimson for murdering Sosimo's lifelong friend and first officer Shen Lei.
Sosimo looked to the tactical control station where sat Shen Lei's only child, Mei. Though an adult, he still protected her as a child, and since Lei's death had treated her as his own daughter. If he ever could find Crimson, he would have to race Mei to see who got to kill him first.
Sosimo's problem was… he couldn't find the Fame. Searching for a lone ship in a galaxy with one-hundred twenty billion stars was
literally harder than finding a specific drop in an ocean. Compounding the problem was the fact the vessel he sought could turn invisible. He needed a way to narrow the search; he needed information and knew right where to get it.
Mutineers' Moon was in the unclaimed sectors of wild space beyond any interstellar government's claim or control and served as a haven for what could only be called the dregs of the galaxy. The rumor was it started because a crew had mutinied and the fight for the ship caused such damage that it was forced to crash-land on the moon. Since the mutineers couldn't go back to their world, they became "independent businessmen" and used the crashed ship as a base of operations. Over the years it expanded into a hodgepodge of old starships from dozens of worlds and the complex was now connected by a series of makeshift passages. The moon had it all: con-artists, crooks, pirates, bounty hunters, gamblers, gangsters, assassins, and a host of other, even less savory types.
"Ah, home away from home," Sosimo gleamed as the Fortune extended its landing gear and the breaking thrusters fired to ease the ship down. With a gentle rock of the deck and a few groans from the ship, it came to rest.
"Landing procedure complete, Captain," Mei reported.
"Very good," Sosimo replied with a sigh. He didn't want to waste any more time than necessary, but he knew it was useless to try and keep the crew from carousing in the many casinos and other entertainments the moon offered. Keying the control on his command chair to activate the ship's intercom, he addressed the crew.
"All hands, this is the Captain. Shore leave is granted, but we're leaving here in eight hours - not eight hours and one minute. If you're late, you're left. Begin four-hour rotations, and if any of you stay out longer, you'll answer to Shen Mei."
Mei, much like her father, was all business, highly focused, and efficient. After her father's death, Sosimo assigned her as the first mate. Growing up on the Fortune, many of the long-time crew considered her their little sister, and anyone who messed with her, messed with all of them, not that Mei couldn't take care of herself. Lei, knowing the dangers of raising his daughter on a ship full of pirates, made sure to teach her how to fight. Every so often a new crewman would try to make a move on her…but they would make this mistake only once.