Elysium Shining

by Terri Kraemer

  Both Dasos and Zoey looked back. Their sister was the sole person by the kitchen who wasn’t returning her gaze.

  “We have company, yes, including her,” said Dasos. “Tonny’s little sister is here as well.”

  Keft’aerak said, “Really? Good evening, Highness Leezu. I wish the situation was more agreeable right now.”

  “Likewise, Captain,” Shungdi said from the other side of the room.

  “This might complicate things as well. Aelfs and Ginserei were at one another’s throats on the political level when the Hulda’fi struck. It was as though they expected this to happen and hit everywhere they could with a big hammer. If a princess of theirs is on Elysium IX during this conflict, then it could be the final strike that breaks down the tree, as it were.”

  “I agree, there have been too many incidents.”

  “I should have stopped them,” said Il’lyse, her voice soft.

  “Stopped who? What could you have done?”

  Bon’sinne said, “Was that Tonny I heard? Is she OK? She sounds different.”

  “No, I’m fine! No need to worry.” said Tong-Chang. Then she whispered , “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Who else is there with you?”

  Zoey darted her head back and forth between the monitor and the kitchen. Her apparent panic was going to give their sister away if she wasn’t careful. Though, Dasos thought, their parents needed to know. What he didn’t know was what would be the best time, or method, to tell them.

  “Dad?” said Zoey. “How secure is this line?”

  “How secure could you need it? Tell us who your mystery friend is so we can say hi.” said Keft’aerak.

  “Pretty damn secure, I think. There’s someone here you need to see, but there are people out there who shouldn’t see her. It would be really bad if they did.”

  “Zoi’ne Thalassas,” said Bon’sinne.

  “Please?”

  Before anyone else could get another word in, one of the stools screeched. Il’lyse had backed up her seat and was getting off of it. The Ginserei sisters raised their hands to say something, but then withdrew, Tong-Chang pressing her fists to her mouth while Shungdi looked on with a frown. It was too late for them to do anything.

  Il’lyse limped on her left leg toward the couch and placed a hand over the back of it. She climbed over the seat and settled down on the sofa between where her siblings stood. Meanwhile, Bon’sinne grabbed her husband’s wrist and made several attempts to breathe in the air.

  “Aerak,” she said.

  “I know, I see her,” said Keft’aerak. A single tear rolled down his cheek, and he placed his free hand over his mouth.

  Il’lyse said, her eyes watering, “Hi, Mom; Dad. I think I fucked up.”

  [ 54]

  “It was you,” Bon’sinne said. “My sweet girl, all this time it really was you.” Her hand caressed the side of her neck.

  “Yes,” said Il’lyse. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wish I hadn’t done that to you. I wish I could undo so many terrible things that I’m responsible for.”

  “What did she do?” Dasos whispered to Zoey.

  Zoey said, “She strangled Mom. She had stopped in the nick of time when I found them, but the damage was done.”

  Keft’aerak said, “Your mom will make it. We’re all shaken or injured by recent events, but she’ll be fine once we’ve all had time to recover.” Bon’sinne shut her eyes and nodded, as if bracing for something that none of the siblings, or their guests, could see on the screen. “Lyssa, what happened two revolutions ago? Admiral Fjorfolia told us that you didn’t survive. Your mother watched the craft blow up in front of her eyes.”

  Il’lyse said, “It was him. The admiral, his wife, and Buska’vild took me from you. Fe’remene fucked me, over and over, until I wanted more of it like all of their children in the Hulda’fi. They both convinced me that you had abandoned me, and that more than half of my memories of you were false. I fought it for so long, losing sight of where I began or where I ended. Even now I still remember my life like the Fjorfolias told me it was. Even now I still crave the touch of each and every one of them. Being here helps me, but I feel that abyssal edge behind my feet waiting for me to plummet.”

  “You’re serious about the two of them being behind this. Il’lyse, you understand that we can’t just take action against the two of them. In better circumstances, it would take us weeks to open an inquiry. Meanwhile, sooner or later, people will learn of your survival and your identity. They will demand justice, and there’s only so much we can do within the confines of the law.”

  “So I’m fucked.”

  Bon’sinne said, “Dear, no. We got this. If you bring me enough proof, I will hijack every ship in the Peacekeeper armada, and fire everything we have on their home when they least expect it. If you keep fighting, I will be there for you like I always wanted to be. You’re not alone.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “I believe in you, Il’lyse.”

  “What? How can you say that?”

  “I say it because it’s true. I don’t know how often I have said it in the past, but I believe in you. You are our daughter. The Hoshi-Lacartan Alliance and the Hulda’fi alike can never take that from either of us. When you were little, I was content to leave you alone as much as I did because I thought you were able to handle anything. You always shone bright, and can shine again. Be that beautiful daughter for me, Il’lyse. I believe in you.”

  Those four words sank deep. “I don’t . . . I don’t know how.”

  “You aren’t the only one who has made mistakes in your life. The cold, infinite beyond knows I did.”

  “You mean like a revolution ago, with that girl you killed?”

  “Among other things. I meant to say that I genuinely wish I’d been there for you more when you were younger, but yes, I suppose that tragedy as well.”

  “That girl, the Hulda’fi, was pregnant. I’m sure she was. I wish she had known better how to get help. I wish she hadn’t need it. If she hadn’t been at that hospital, Mom, her baby would have been removed from her belly and turned into nectar.” Il’lyse parted her shirt from her underwear and towel that she still had on, revealing two marks that she now knew to be scars from that procedure. “Can you see these scars? It happened to me, and knowing the truth about them hurts worse than being dead. The only bright side to come out of these scars is that one of them gave me a little sister.”

  Both parents had recoiled when they saw the scars and heard their daughter talk about them. Bon’sinne didn’t take long to become furious. Il’lyse had heard about her infamous rage while growing up. She thought she had seen the anger both times that her mother had shot at her – at Soror Valide. This was a dark inferno in comparison to those torches in the night. Were her fury any greater, Il’lyse would have sworn she was staring at the heat signature of a black hole.

  “We have to cut this short,” Keft’aerak said. “I have to go to the joint meeting in a few minutes, and this call can’t be open when it happens.”

  “I’m going with you,” said Bon’sinne, not even turning her head or looking at anyone.

  “Your retired status may keep you from the joint meeting.”

  “Then maybe it’s time I call off my retirement and kick that asshole off his seat. Maybe it’s time I taught him and his wife what happens when you toy with too many lives. Il’lyse, Dasos, Zoey, I believe in all three of you, but I have one question for you. Do you believe in me?”

  She had no idea how or why she was the first to do it, but Il’lyse said, “Yes.”

  The others followed. Keft’aerak said, “We will talk again soon. We love you.”

  “Wait,” Il’lyse said.

  “Huh?”

  “I would like to make a full, official statement. I would like for someone to ask me everything I know and record it. Shungdi, you’re an attorney, correct?”

  Shungdi said, “I’m still a student. My first revolution at the Ginsere
i School for Trade and Law had finished when I hopped on the shuttle headed for here. The best I can do is ask questions with the direct supervision of a trusted law officer. You’re going to need someone to grant you legal witness and guidance.”

  “Who’s going to do that, then?”

  They both looked at Tong-Chang, who proceeded to flail her arms and shake her head in protest.

  “Girls, Dasos,” said Keft’aerak, “If you do this within the next forty-five minutes, then send the recording, and anything else you can, to Trullwick Police. They have the authority to forward it to our meeting. Il’lyse, good luck.”

  * * *

  The camera turned on. It had been positioned in the kitchen by the small window and was pointed at the rectangular counter so that anyone who sat behind it could be seen. There was a linen cloth over the counter now, after the space had been cleaned, and it was the color of the day-lit sky. A tabletop microphone had been set up in the middle of the counter.

  Il’lyse was the first to sit down before the camera. She nodded to indicate that she was ready. Seconds later the recording had begun.

  While Shungdi and Dasos stood out of view, they were two meters or less from the microphone. The former said, “I am Shungdi, third daughter to High House Leezu of Heudee, Ginserei Prime, and a student of the Ginserei School for Law and Trade. It is now nineteen oh-five, in Trullwick, Elysium IX, on the Day of Transition betwixt the sixth and seventh months, Al-Re 225.”

  Dasos said, “I am Cadet Officer Das’ithrios Thalassas with the Trullwick Police Department, present for supervision as we conduct an interview with this person in my protective custody.”

  “Thank you, officer. Now, can you please state your whole name for the record, Miss?”

  “Yes, I can,” said Il’lyse. “My name is Il’lyse Thalassas, alias Soror Valide of the Hulda’fi.”

  “Before your legal representative is introduced, do you give your full consent to this interview, and cooperation to the bodies of law of the Hoshi-Lacartan Alliance?”

  “I do.”

  Tong-Chang sat down next to her on the left side of the camera’s view. She wore a gown that opened in the chest to show her hair and royal mark. She squeezed her eyes and took a deep breath before settling her chest and looking at the camera.

  And then she said, “Hello, my name is Tong-Chang II, second daughter and heir to High House Leezu of Heudee. By the power and privilege invested in me, I hereby grant legal witness and guidance to Il’lyse. You may ask her your questions, hallowed sister.”

  Il’lyse rubbed Tong-Chang’s wrist; another hand appeared from the camera’s left and patted her shoulder before withdrawing from view.

  Shungdi said, “Let us start at the beginning. When did you join the Hulda’fi?”

  “It was Auttondmane, 223, when they took me in. I lost track of the date before I became active among them. I believe it was the following month when I remember taking on my first task among them.”

  “How long did it take you to climb the ranks?”

  “I do not remember. It was during the first few weeks when I fought against it.”

  “Could you please elaborate on that?”

  Il’lyse struggled and rocked on her seat. Tong-Chang placed a hand on her and whispered that it was alright. That she did not have to answer if it was too difficult.

  However, Il’lyse shook her head and said, “I had been dating a man by the name of Buska’vild Druvvin. He convinced me to go on a trip, skipping school for a couple of weeks, to spend time with him and some friends of his that we had met previously on Natt Grans. There was a storm of stellar radiation and high magnetism that advanced on us when we hid among some asteroids. Our boat was demolished, but the both of us were transported to a ship manned by the Hulda’fi. I was told that our other witness to the devastation believed Buska’vild and I to be dead if no one got us out of that craft on time. The two of us, Buska and I, were then separated, and I was led to a room where several Hulda’fi were having an orgy. While the admiral, the Lord Tunderek, spoke to my mother to confirm my death, his wife, the Hallowed Lady over all matters of the flesh and time and beauty had her way with me.

  “She, along with the few brothers and many sisters, as I would get to know them, made me their plaything, feeding me paltry amounts of food and water for days; weeks. For days I fought, hanging on to who I was. For days I fought, trying to stay alive after so many consecutive orgasms and deprivations. If they fed me, I don’t even remember it happening. My own body betrayed me until my mind decided it was good. They told me I was theirs, that my old life was a lie, and I fought even harder against them. I fought and I fought, but fighting it was like a finger trap. You don’t know what it was like for me. I can go on about how hard I tried to keep fighting, to keep myself from wanting more. One little death after another I lost a piece of myself until I killed the first of many sisters.

  “Then I was theirs. I was broken, surrounded by all of the wrong people, every one of which subjugated each other the same as they had done to me, and I would do to them in turn. They would say ‘Hallowed is the pleasure of the flesh,’ and we would all believe it because that pleasure was the closest any of us had to feeling alive. Once I was theirs, I emerged from that room not as a daughter of the Thalassas family, but as Soror Valide, a deadly debutante and promising new leader of a team that the Lady Tunderek wished to put together.

  “We went out. We sabotaged a military depot and killed two guards, disposing of their bodies to reduce any trace of our involvement, and went back to the primary headquarters to have more sex with each other and our kindred. The worst part was that I enjoyed every mission we went on, from that point, until three months ago when half of my team perished to retrieve a single cryogenic case. I didn’t know, in detail, what was in there until later. It’s possible, despite my rank, that the others in my team knew when I wasn’t told, but the ones I could reliably ask were dead. We got what we had assaulted the Marslou for, we went home, and we had more sex. Lady Tunderek sensed my trouble with those events and took me yet again for herself, saying that I needed to remember how special I was. You don’t know what it’s like, being reminded day after day that the only thing that matters is what the flesh wants, or that the flesh always wants it. Always. I broke free, and the want remains.”

  “So I see,” said Shungdi. “We have a few specific incidents to discuss. First of all is the annual masquerade two months ago. You were there, correct?”

  “I was.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “The Lord and Lady Tunderek requested that I come with them as their personal bodyguard and driver. There, they used their socially recognized names – Fe’remene and Admiral Chan-Yeol Fjorfolia. Both attended as delegates due to their power and status among the alliance.”

  “But then the Hulda’fi attacked, is that not so?”

  “It is. I was unaware of any such operation. Lady Tunderek later denied to me that she had anything to do with the attack that night. This was a rogue group who had not been blessed to come home on Dereskoo with the rest of us, as is the case for many brothers and sisters across the galaxy. Or so I was told. So I did the dutiful thing and punished my wayward kindred. In the alley where I had begun, I met my little sister for the second time; my real sister I mean. She called me out and told me I still had a real family to come home to. I wish I’d been able to believe her then.”

  “There was another incident at a technology fair about a month ago, was there not?”

  “There was, but there was more in between.”

  “Please share with us.”

  “I came home. Zoi’ne’s words haunted me while I tried to sleep, so I flew a spare boat to this planet, using our cloaking to slip in undetected. It was me and a ship-full of broken memories while I went to my childhood home. I found the spare key in its usual hiding place, deduced the passcode on the security system, and had a breakdown in my old bedroom. I fled when Mom came home. It left me wondering who
or what I was after that. Then I sneaked away again.

  “Tong-Chang was in danger of being kidnapped by my kin due to her expertise in technology. I used my stealth training to gather information that the Lord and Lady had locked away in their manor. Then I came here on my own because the Lord and Lady did not need me for their escort like they had for the masquerade. I knew that my mother and Zoi’ne would be having dinner with them, so I trailed her until we met in private. It was then that I handed her a single name, with account info, that she could give it to someone of authority.”

  “That would have been me,” said Dasos. “My sister is referring to information on one of our former officers, which was used to open an investigation. We arrested two of our own, and more men and women working for the Hulda’fi in some capacity were eventually apprehended across the territory.”