["Are they letting ships through?"]
Akarin's lips hardened into a cold frown. ["No."]
["No shipments…But the people—"]
["We will suffer,"] Economic advisor Burien Satiri said. She brushed aside a loose brown curl from the stiff lines of her face. ["We will be reduced to what we can obtain from the Ahben in the oceans and them from us, but our population is too great to sustain at the levels the Ahben can supply."]
["Our ships are ready."]
["Not enough, General."] Akarin's wings tightened and, in the soft glow from the hologram, Atia noticed the dark circles under her sister's eyes. How long had she been bothered by this? Atia made a mental note to ask her later in private. Her sister should have told her sooner.
["Diplomacy is our policy, by the Covenants of Jaerla. The wisdom of our ancestors was set down to guide us in the future and avoid the mistakes of the past. We have contacted these Risaal to open negotiations and await their reply."]
["Then we can do nothing but wait."] Atia spoke with a confidence she far from felt, but her sister depended on her support, and the faint hint of a smile confirmed Akarin's gratitude.
["Should we not be ready?"] General Shotoral Kaira's dark wings tightened like her face. Her job was the defense of their world. She was good at what she did, but Atia had always felt she was a little too eager to prove herself.
Akarin let out an audible sigh. Apparently the argument had gone on for some time. Atia almost pitied her sister for the responsibility placed on her shoulders; their entire world hung in the balance of her decisions.
["You're right to avoid fighting,"] Atia said. ["Our world is fragile, and the defense grid will protect us."]
The general stiffened, pulling her dark brown wings tight to her back.
["As I've already stated many times."] Akarin straightened, an unconscious act of accepting the general's unspoken challenge, probably because she had her sister's alliance in the matter. The other woman relaxed, and Atia released the tension she in her shoulders, which she hadn't noticed until then. A fight amongst them was the last thing they needed in this situation.
[Is this how it all began?] Raea listened and watched, eaten away by Atia's anger and conflicting emotions about her sister, her son, and a million other concerns. As the day moved on, the tension among the advisors thickened.
[Why am I seeing this? How is this possible?] She couldn't be in the past. Time travel was impossible, unless there was another secret the Starfire kept from her until now. That couldn't be right, though. How was she experiencing all of Lady Atia's emotions and sensations?
Okay, so she saw how it all began. So what? She could wake up now.
Anytime…
[Hello? Can anyone hear me?]
Nothing.
Great. She was stuck in some sort of delusion of the Starfire or a hallucination from studying the Atlantis monolith.
Better than the pain of losing Elis.
Elis… A spear thrust through her emotions.
The scene shifted. A violent quake rocked Atia and the boy tumbled away from her across the cracking palace floor like a child's doll. ["Lantis!"]
End of the World
For a moment, Atia's heart stopped in panic. The stone cracked and groaned. If the generators shut down, the palace would plummet from the sky and sink into the ocean depths far below.
A small ship shot past a glassless window, which had shattered moments before the boy rolled to the wall beneath it. Glass sparkled across the floor between them, but she didn't care. He was her son. No amount of danger would separate them.
["Lantis!"] Atia regained her feet and ran across the floor, which trembled from another hit. They had to get out of there, where she could spread her wings and fly.
Glass pieces crunched beneath her shoes. Blood on the boy's bare arms hurried her feet. To her relief, he moved to sit up and groaned. ["Momma."]
She reached his side and fell to her knees to cradle him in her arms. ["I'm here, my love. I'm here."]
Small arms wrapped around her neck, inspiring a wave of peace calming her heart, despite the battle outside. ["I'm scared. Don't leave me again."]
["I won't."] His words twisted her emotions like a knife in her gut and the grip of tiny arms pleaded with her never to let go. She wouldn't. She loved him and would give her life to save him.
The sound of an explosion somewhere outside made her cringe and hold tighter to the boy. ["We'll be all right."] The practice of her upbringing gave her words more conviction than she felt. She hoped they would be all right.
The tromping of feet halted nearby.
["Lady Atia."]
She looked up as three palace guards in their green flightsuits reached down for her and helped her and Lantis to their feet.
["We've been trying to reach you. I'm glad to see you alive."] The relief on the woman's face sank into a frown as her eyes passed over two guards lying dead in the corridor.
["See me alive?"]
Lantis relaxed his arms slightly, but refused to let go of her waist. While his blood smeared her clothes, she breathed easier seeing the slow beading of fresh blood from the handful of small cuts. He hadn't been badly injured.
["This way, Lady."] The captain ushered her and the boy with them through the corridors. She could only guess where they went, but she hoped it was a safe location.
["What's going on?"]
["The consular ship was a hoax. They opened fire on the city and circled around to the palace…They were destroyed."]
A sickening feeling knotted Atia's stomach. So much for peaceful negotiations. It had taken the Risaal a week to agree to that much and they still refused to say why they held Inar'Ahben under siege. It was a peaceful world. They had no warships, or at least nothing more than what they needed to defend themselves, but it wasn't enough for this. More Risaal ships had joined the first and they surrounded the planet, staying just outside the perimeter of the defense grid's activation.
She hurried through the corridors with the guards, her fingers tight around Lantis's small hand. ["Where's Lady Akarin?"]
["She sent us to find you."]
At least her sister was alive and well. Inar'Ahben needed her now more than ever. They needed House Mikael to show strength against the invaders, and her sister would need to show her leadership in this crisis.
Their steps tromped through the quiet corridors, interrupting the whisper of the wind through broken windows.
A few pieces of artwork lay shattered and ripped in the blasts taken by the palace, but the anti-gravity generators seemed untouched.
The guards ahead opened a door and stepped aside for her and the boy.
Akarin stood within her study, the white feathers of her wings ruffling like her gown in the breeze from the shattered window. As if someone had drained away her tension in that moment, her shoulders sank. ["Atia. Lantis. I'm glad you came."]
Her sister sounded stressed, despite the poise and calm with which she stood. Atia pulled Lantis close to her, her arm around her son's delicate shoulders. His wounds were minor compared to what her sister faced; they could wait. ["What's happening? Why didn't you contact me sooner?"]
Akarin's pale blue eyes shifted to Lantis. ["These Risaal have no intentions for peace. Lady Elisha reported much the same from her visit. Yet they will say nothing of their reasons for attacking. We did nothing to provoke them…that I know and have requested many times to hear their reason for this siege, but they refuse all communication."]
["What of our allies—the Kortalis, the Shishu, the others? Where are they?"] Someone had to help them. The rare ores mined undersea by the Ahben were valued by many of their trading partners. The other worlds had vowed to protect Inar'Ahben as part of their agreements for those resources.
Akarin straightened with greater confidence. ["I've sent messages to all requesting their assistance, but it could take some time. They will consider all options."]
And in the meantime, Inar'Ahben would fa
ll. Why would any of the few advanced races in that region of their galaxy allow it? Without the Inari, the Ahben would suffer also, and they were best adapted to underwater life and work. Their allies knew that.
They had to come, except for one consequence. ["They might not."]
["Why?"] Akarin brushed something from her waistcoat.
["Involving them with the Risaal might mean a war they don't want. I would expect that this is our fight, Akarin. Like it or not, we may be on our own. There must be a way to reason with them."] And save those most precious to them, like the boy clinging to her side.
["I was afraid you'd say that. Then I have no choice but to send General Shotoral to confront them."]
Atia swore her heart stopped. Her sister couldn't be serious. ["That's suicide."]
After a reluctant nod, Akarin met her eyes. ["She understands the stakes."]
That didn't mean Atia approved. What about her son? What about Akarin's daughters? Didn't she realize what could happen? A war could devastate their fragile world.
["I don't like it,"] Akarin said. She brushed a loose piece of hair behind her ear and her wings tightened at her back. ["But they've demonstrated their unwillingness to engage in diplomacy. They want our world, Atia. We must fight to survive."]
[We're not fighters.] The thought echoed through Atia's head with the idea that the Inari were moderators, acting as impartial third parties to many negotiations. Yes, they had built up forces to defend their world, but they had not the strength to stand against the forces surrounding their world now.
["Try again."] Atia held tighter to Lantis.
["Did you see what they did? Were you asleep during the attack?"] Akarin's wings lifted with the threat of her emotions. ["Atia. Their shuttle fired on the palace and the city."]
["And they were destroyed by our defenses. The Risaal will have a reason to be wary. They'll not be so quick to attack again."]
Like many times in their arguments as children when she ran out of words, Akarin huffed and turned to the window, her white wings once again tight at her back and her arms crossed.
["You would give up so easily?"] Atia looked down at Lantis at her hip and stroked those lovely yellow strands from his face and eyes of gold. That was worth doing all they could to stay alive and save their world. Fighting was not the answer for them. Maybe if they were better prepared, they could, but they had never been able to raise a force strong enough to deflect a full planetary siege. They'd never had to.
A heavy sigh sank Akarin's shoulders. ["It's frustrating when you're always right. Sometimes…Sometimes I wish you were the one leading our people, Atia. I couldn't do this without you. You're the strong one, not me…I did what I was told, followed all the rules while you…you followed your heart."] She turned from the open view, her blue eyes on Lantis with a sad smile.
What? Had she heard right? Her sister, the great leader always confident and poised—and often self-righteous and indignant of change—admired her? Atia must have heard wrong, but maybe this was the real Akarin on the point of desperation revealing her true self.
["It's easy to make decisions without the pressure of everyone's eyes on you,"] Atia said in sympathy.
The sunlight sparkling over the shards of glass set Akarin aglow. Perhaps her sister was not as arrogant as Atia had assumed on so many occasions. In that moment, she saw the younger sister who had feared the strange emissaries visiting with their mother. Rather than arrogance, Akarin hid her fears behind a veil of exaggerated confidence, a veil which fell in that private moment.
["I'm sorry for what they did to you, Atia. He was good to you…]
Atia swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Words escaped her in that moment of closeness with her sister.
A chime from the door interrupted them. Akarin's demeanor returned to the measured confidence Atia had always seen.
And to think that she had let Akarin fool her all those years and feed jealousies of what was never there but only imagined.
["Enter."] Akarin's voice carried her usual steady calm.
The door opened and two of her ministers entered with General Shotoral, their wings tight. ["Lady Akarin…and Lady Atia."] The woman who spoke relaxed her wings, her dark eyes flicking between Akarin and Atia. ["All that is peace, we worried that you were in the section of the palace that collapsed."]
Collapsed? The floor had cracked and shifted beneath her and Lantis and several beams had fallen. Had they narrowly escaped being crushed? Had that area of the palace collapsed entirely? She glanced down at Lantis in gratitude that they had survived and noticed his small cuts had crusted already.
["It's good to find you both here and well."]
["Thank you."]
The other minister stepped forward, a communicator in her hands. ["Ladies of Mikael, the Risaal wish to speak."]
Now they sought diplomacy. Atia met her sister's eyes with a smile but tried to keep the smugness out of it in light of what she'd learned.
["I will speak to them."] Akarin's boots crunched over the broken glass to reach the minister's hand and take the palm-sized device. Holding it near her mouth, she said, ["I am Lady Mikael Akarin, leader of the Inari. To whom am I speaking?"]
A long pause followed. Atia loathed these moments, wondering if the translator worked.
["This is Kan Rikku Nakor Lakim of the Third Fleet of Ch'tor. We do not tolerate liars and thieves."] The artificial voice of the translator came out as a slight staccato.
Liars and thieves? At Akarin's look, Atia shrugged.
Atia put the device near her mouth again. ["I'm sorry, Kan Rikku Nakor Lakim, but I have no knowledge of that which you speak."]
Another long pause.
["Liar."]
Of course. Why should the Risaal believe them? They had already stated that much by calling them liars and thieves.
Akarin blinked and hesitated as if not sure what to say. Atia longed to step in, but her sister was capable. ["What do you believe was stolen?"]
A pause followed while the translator relayed the message.
["The D'Nuvar was taken from our world. It disappeared with your consular vessel. Its power sustained us. We know you are weak and seek to make yourselves powerful. Your tricks cannot fool us."]
Akarin hesitated, her eyes staring into nothing, until she turned to the shelf behind her. ["I've never heard of this D'Nuvar. We would return it if you could describe it. Whatever happened must be a misunderstanding."]
Odd. Why was her sister staring at the shelves of her collections from various worlds? ["Akarin. Do you know something?"]
Her sister stepped towards the shelf, her eyes focusing on a glass ball bearing an aquamarine crystal the size of her fist within it. ["I don't know. Elisha said it was a gift to her by the lesser clans of Risaal…Is this trickery on their part, a set up to blame us for their problems?"]
["What?"] Did she know what this D'Nuvar was?
["The D'Nuvar is a crystal of immense power, but you know that or would not have stolen it."] The neutral voice of the translator came through.
["Pardon me, Lady Akarin,"] General Shotoral stepped forward, her wings lifted slightly. ["If this is the crystal they speak of, we should not return it."]
Atia whirled. ["Why not? It's not our property."] The general was a fool to believe in keeping stolen property and continuing the blockade around their world.
Shotoral shot Atia a reproachful look. ["Returning it could make matters worse on two accounts: First because it would confirm that we have it and second because if it is powerful, they could use it against us. Perhaps they were planning this when our ship first encountered them and they realized we were no match. If we return it, they may take retribution on us simply as a show of force."]
["And they may not. They may leave,"] Atia said. Lantis kept quiet for once, as she had drilled into him, although he never seemed to heed her until now.
["Would you risk them possessing more power than they have already, to return perhaps to finis
h what they started? From Lady Nafeir Elisha's report, I feel the dominating clans of Ch'tor want to rule not only their world, but as many other worlds as they can. They would be a threat once they unite their world. Depriving them of any power may help us. This turn of events may have given us a chance to stop them before they could carry out their plans. Lady Nafeir Elisha felt that they had no intention of peaceful trade. They are aggressive."]
Too true. Atia had read the report too. She couldn't argue with the general on that logic, but she disliked being accused of stealing with the confirmation before her. The Inari were held in esteem on many worlds for their integrity.
What was Akarin thinking?
Something she probably didn't want to know. Atia had seen that wry smile before on her sister. ["We don't know that this is the D'Nuvar. It seems an ornamental display to me, received as a gift."]
[Akarin.] Atia bit her tongue. General Shotoral had made a good case against returning anything to the Risaal, but there had to be other options.
Akarin lifted the communicator to her mouth again. ["We have detected nothing of unusual power here. You invaded our space, attacked our city, and killed our people for nothing. Negotiate a truce or leave our space."]
While her sister sounded confident, Atia recognized tension in the tightening of her wings. In the silence, Atia held Lantis close, but his arms already squeezed her thigh and his warm cheek pressed against her waist. [We'll be all right,] she wanted to say, but her breath froze in her chest.
Seconds ticked away, the tension building in the room while the wind rushed through the window to stir the smallest fragments of glass on the floor and ruffle Akarin's skirt around her leggings.
If the Risaal were willing to lay siege to a planet for a crystal, there must have been something special about it. Unfortunately, General Shotoral made a logical argument for not giving it up; but what would come next? What would they do with it? Was it worth risking their world to keep it from the Risaal?
Where were their allies now? This delicate game of chance with the Risaal would end badly for their world no matter what the outcome of the talks taking place.
Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) Page 12