In Case Of Emergency Break Fourth Wall (The Messenger Archive Book 3)

by DC Bastien

  "I have external sensors, and I have adequate stored energy from my solar cells to power a get-away."

  "You would get away, wouldn't you? Not just... sit and get hurt...?"

  "If I believed it was the only way to survive, then yes: I would. I will sit here and hail the Captain and attempt to pass along your message. If I need to flee, I will page you."

  "Okay," she said, and ran her hand over the console one last time. "Just... be careful."

  "I will, Biann, I will."

  Kre wisely said nothing about Biann's sudden nerves around her ship. She knew that Biann considered Mes to be 'hers' more than anyone, except possibly the Captain. Engineers did develop territorial feelings towards their charges, after all.

  "If we can summon you to the palace, we will," Kre said, reassuringly.

  "I appreciate that, Kre," Mes said. "But please: do not hesitate on my behalf. This is an important mission."

  "Right." Biann tugged at her shirt, pulling it around her hips.

  Suddenly Kre wasn't sure it was all nerves about the ship. She put her paw on Biann's shoulder, nudging under her ear with one claw. "Is this because we are going to see the Za?"

  "Uh, yes? I haven't exactly been around many leaders of whole people before."

  "But you have been around his daughter."

  "Yeah, but... you're... you?"

  "And he is just my father."

  "A father with the ability to command a whole freaking planet!"

  "And still: just my father. Biann... he is a man like any other. And one day it could very well be me who is making those decisions. Would you see me any differently, then?"

  "Well... no. Because I know you. You're all... normal."

  "Every leader is as normal as anyone else is. It is simply that they have more... buttons to press, or engines to tinker with."

  "Right. Okay. I'll take your word for it. It's just..."

  "Nessin truly shook you, didn't she?" Kre frowned, her brow turning down in annoyance. "You do realise that all of her power – her influence – is thanks to her family?"

  "Kre, that's... it's the same for you."

  A slow, deep breath. "Quite. Which is one of the reasons I left. I did not want my success to be based on my inheritance. I wished to be recognised for my own abilities, not the place I was born to."

  "That why you don't want to be the Za?"

  "Partially. I would... I would lose all autonomy. I would no longer be able to live as I liked. I would have my every movement scrutinised, and I would have to be a strong and believable leader. I... I suppose I needed away from all that responsibility, too."

  "I guess it couldn't have been easy growing up like that."

  "It wasn't. Even though my father did his best to keep us all grounded and... sane... I could feel the weight on my ruff as I matured. And it terrified me."

  "You really think Eru would be better at it than you?"

  "Better? Perhaps not. Want it? Yes. Definitely."

  "Then why doesn't your father accept that? He has to have some reason to want you instead of her?"

  "In all honesty? I do not know. The fact that I have been so long absent does not bode well for others to follow me. If he was thinking rationally, he should have named Eru long since. Unless he was refraining from doing so to... to keep others from making attempts on his life."

  "Does that... really happen so much to Sianar? I mean... you've been attacked twice with us."

  "It happens more than I would like to admit."

  "Did... your mother...?"

  Kre shuddered. "It is possible, yes."

  "Wow. Okay. I'm sorry."

  "No... do not apologise."

  "We didn't know our parents, much. Dad died when we were little, and our mother... she... she took it hard. Left us with her brother when we were old enough to work, and went off."

  "Did you ever hear from her, after that?"

  "A few visits over the years. She'd drop by with presents. Vid calls. I mean... she stayed until we were legally adults, so I guess she tried. But she just... you could tell she wanted to get away from the memories."

  "That's not fair on you or Saidhe."

  "Nope. But what can you do? You can't force someone to want to do things. You can't... make her be happy around us. Yeah, maybe she should have been, but she wasn't. And it'd be as cruel to her to have her miserable, and us miserable because she was... as for us to be alone."

  "I... suppose so."

  "Anyway, our uncle was fine. And it meant we got a job on the crew. So it all worked out in the end!"

  Her relentless optimism really was something, Kre thought. "No family is perfect, it seems. But... Biann: you have nothing to fear. My father is not one to judge you based on your ancestry, just on your actions."

  "Okay. If you insist."

  "I do. Believe me, I do." Ail had many flaws, but snobbery was not one of them.

  ***

  [Ashroe: It's not long, now.]

  [Sianor: I know! I have a count-down widget.]

  [Ashroe: I just do it internally.]

  [Sianor: I like seeing the numbers tick away.]

  [Ashroe: Much like my life.]

  [Sianor: Hey, morbid, much?]

  [Ashroe: Sorry, long day.]

  [Sianor: Oh, isn't it thingy-time?]

  [Ashroe: Yes, it's thingy-time.]

  [Sianor: You know what I meant!]

  [Ashroe: Indeed I did. I presented my evidence in a nice, professional display binder. And had the documents on the shared drive. And I argued both eloquently and politely. And now I wait.]

  [Sianor: Ugh, I hate waiting.]

  [Ashroe: Me too. But now I can do nothing to influence it, save perhaps seduce my boss.]

  [Sianor: Hey, we didn't agree to an open relationship!]

  [Ashroe: It's for my career!]

  [Sianor: But would it just be pure, animal lust?]

  [Ashroe: I assure you there wouldn't even be lust. Just grunting. Ew. Actually... I think I'd rather live off packets of noodles for life than stoop that far.]

  [Sianor: Plus there'd be the awkwardness of post-fucking-talking in the office.]

  [Ashroe: Yes, and I already find it difficult enough to hold conversations over the water cooler. Which we now have. I never used to have a water cooler in my office, it was just a kettle and a collection of sad fruit tea-bags that had been there for fifteen years, with equally sad normal tea-bags and some coffee granules that had – perhaps once – seen caffeine. But from a very, very long way away.]

  [Sianor: Do you like the water cooler?]

  [Ashroe: In the summer I do. In the winter it's a bit pointless. I like my coffee, and sometimes I bring in cans.]

  [Ashroe: Not beer cans, I hasten to add.]

  [Sianor: So we've agreed no sleeping our way up our respective career ladders?]

  [Ashroe: Damn skippy we have.]

  [Sianor: Remember you work to live, not live to work.]

  [Ashroe: Yes, give me some motivational crap. I think I need some. And not Hang In There style.]

  [Sianor: We could totally make some motivational posters with the screencaps from the episodes.]

  [Ashroe: YES.]

  [Sianor: Hang on...]

  [Sianor: Okay I did this. I know it's crappy, but...]

  [Ashroe: Ahhh yes I love it! Do more!]

  [Sianor: This is fic avoidance!]

  [Ashroe: This is motivational!]

  [Sianor: Liar.]

  [Ashroe: I didn't say what it was motivating me to do, just that it was.]

  [Sianor: Semantics, semantics.]

  [Sianor: Here.]

  [Ashroe: Fucking—I will never be able to look at his ass in the same way.]

  [Sianor: How did you used to look at his ass?]

  [Ashroe: Well, not like that!]

  [Sianor: Hehehe.]

  [Ashroe: Hang on...]

  [Sianor: Like a kitten, claws extended, pushed into the wood, tail swinging below, face scrunched up as the elements batter
my tiny, fluffy body, I—]

  [Ashroe: Here.]

  [Sianor: That's it. No more photoshop for you. Ever.]

  [Ashroe: Hehehe.]

  [Sianor: I mean it! That pun was so bad that Shakespeare would cry!]

  [Ashroe: Tears of disappointment at not making the word-play himself.]

  [Sianor: Tears of rage that the English language has sunk so low!]

  [Ashroe: Please. Read my sister's attempt to send a text message and then talk to me about the depths my mother tongue has sunk to lick.]

  [Sianor: Pervert.]

  ***

  "Tur, why are you—?"

  "You can't be here right now!" the very, very tall Sianar guard hissed, showing his teeth. There were a lot of them, and they were very, very sharp.

  "I need to see my father, Tur," Kre said, unconsciously rising up on her hind paws, her fur bristling around her neck to look bigger and more threatening. "You will allow us to pass."

  "You can't be here!" he repeated, looking frantic. His own instinct was kicking in, though, reacting to a 'superior' Sianar by slouching, his ears back and down.

  "Why not?" Biann asked, arms across her chest. "She's the Za-le."

  "Which is why—Kre, no!" Tur cried, sounding horror-struck.

  Biann watched as she pushed the other Sianar away as if he weighed nothing. In all honesty, he was likely cowed by the Za-le, but that still didn't make the feat any less impressive. Biann didn't have a chance to object or consent, and all of a sudden she was off her feet and her shirt collar was choking her as Kre bit into it, lifting her up. The Hleen made herself as unobtrusive as she could as Kre practically scrambled up the vertical wall, and tossed her up in the air. A shriek, and she found herself falling into Kre's waiting arms.

  "I am sorry," the other woman said, her voice gruff with the adrenaline rush.

  "It's okay." She was going to say 'warn me next time', but when it came to something as spur of the moment, there wouldn't be time for warning. "Aren't we about to get shot?" she asked instead.

  "They would not shoot us," Kre said. "But we must move, now."

  "This is a really, really bad idea."

  "Your Hleen friend is right," Tur said. "Please do not go into the palace, Za-le."

  "I have no choice, Tur," she said. Then she turned back to Biann and lowered her muzzle, her whiskers flickering in the air. "May I?"

  Considering how heavy the world felt, Biann nodded. "Please."

  She was scruffed again, and surprised when Kre tossed her over her shoulder. She grabbed hold of the Sianar's ruff and wrapped her legs around her waist.

  "We must find out why I am suddenly unwelcome in my own home."

  ***

  "What are you doing here?"

  Biann blinked. Kre had pushed past increasingly vexed Sianar to stop in what had to be the highest-vaulted building that wasn't a dock she'd ever been in. She was still sitting on her back, clutching on tightly, not sure if she should drop to the floor or not.

  "I came to speak to you and father," Kre replied. "And everywhere I go, it seems I am unwelcome."

  "And you just happen to come back now? After how long?"

  "I was here mere days ago!"

  "For the first time in years!" the other Sianar spat.

  Biann figured she must be Eru. She'd heard little bits about her, but not much. Still, the resemblance was quite striking. If it wasn't for the black markings around her eyes like shades or a mask, and the slightly paler fur under her chin, Biann might mistake the sisters for one another.

  "What is going on?" Kre roared.

  "As if you do not know!"

  "Could we please stop shouting and start talking?" Biann asked, her voice a little shrill. She decided the two weren't going to behave of their own accord, so she dropped from Kre's back and stood between them. "We just landed. We came because my sister and our friend got kidnapped. And we're looking for help."

  "Is that so?" Eru asked, her tail cutting through the air angrily. "Is that truly what you believe? Is that what she's told you?"

  "You faithless—"

  Biann rose up onto her tiptoes and grabbed each of the Sianars by their muzzles, clamping them shut. It was not easy, because they were so tall, but she was determined and determined usually won.

  "It looked like Ardeshir," Biann said, to Eru. "I saw the footage. Any day now the Tuadan Corp are gonna run a story saying as you've kidnapped a Hleen and a Roq. So... we thought maybe we'd come and work out what was going on. Now... I'm gonna let go of you both, and you're gonna talk civil, like, or I'm going to kick you both in the shins. Deal?"

  Biann wasn't even sure where she got the sudden burst of confidence from, but squabbling sisters were squabbling sisters. No matter how sharp their teeth, or how important they were. It was something she knew well.

  Kre nodded first, but even that was a little sulky. Biann could understand, because she figured this position was rather demeaning for a Sianar. For anyone, really. She didn't let go of Kre's muzzle until Eru agreed also, and her version of a 'yes' was her eyes averting and her tail making that whooshing noise as it whipped back and forth once. That would do, she guessed, and after another pause she let them go.

  "You think I kidnapped your friends?" Eru asked, her voice going even more shrill, the sub-vocalisations close to murderous.

  "I do not know what to believe any more, Eru! There have been multiple attempts on my life!"

  "Don't you think if I wanted you dead that you would be dead?"

  "Like Cil?" Kre snapped.

  That was it. That was clearly the breaking point. Eru lifted a paw and swiped over Biann's head, clipping Kre across the cheek. There were faint flecks of blood welling up under the fur, but Kre didn't react.

  For a moment, everything was silent. Silent except for the slightly laboured breathing. Biann wasn't sure if she needed to back away from the pair, or attempt to restrain one – or both – of them. Not that she really could. They could snap her neck by hugging her too hard.

  Then Kre lowered her gaze submissively, and all the tension dropped out of her. "Eru, I am sorry..."

  "How dare you say such a thing?"

  "I... I am sorry," Kre repeated, and she cringed down, low.

  "How many deaths would you put on my paws?"

  There was silence, and Biann didn't even know what to do with it. She felt... lost. Utterly lost.

  "I suppose you will blame me for Ail, too? When you were the catalyst for that."

  "For... Ail?" Biann asked. "Isn't that...?"

  Kre's head snapped back up. "What did you say?"

  "Oh, yes. You haven't heard, have you? Our father is no more. And he died without announcing his heir. So. I thought it in the best interests to leave him as officially alive until we work out what we're doing. I know you discussed your succession with him when you were here, and I didn't want the conflict that would inevitably follow if I claimed the throne and then you challenged it."

  That made the Hleen even more unsure. Eru had just announced their father's death? No wonder she was feeling emotional.

  Kre... Kre just folded. All of a sudden it was like her strings had been cut, or all the muscles in her body went lax at once. She crumbled to the floor, a vibrating heap of fur. Biann couldn't bear to see it, and she dropped down beside her, putting her hand on her back, just... touching. Touching to let her know she was here.

  "Did you really have to tell her like that?" Biann asked, looking up at Eru.

  "How else was I supposed to tell her?" Eru asked, her voice now obviously wrecked with her own grief. "He died not an hour since. It is not as if I prepared my speech on the matter."

  Kre was pulling at her tail in her pain, and when she looked up, the fur around her eyes was dark and damp. "How... how did it happen?"

  "Suddenly. I suspect poison," Eru said, simply. "I have concealed it. I said he was taken ill, and in his chambers. But I suspect many of the staff either know, or believe otherwise."

  Kre shud
dered, and Biann held her tighter.

  "You... tried reviving him?" the Hleen asked.

  An angry cluck of tongue to teeth. "I do not know what my sister has told you of me, but I am no monster. Of course I tried to revive him, but he was already too far gone. He is in his chamber, locked away. I have been... trying to lock down the palace ever since. Which reminds me—"

  "They knew it was me," Kre said, with a heavy sigh. "It is the only reason I got in. You know they have likely been given orders to allow my 'surprise' return, at any point."

  "Yes, our late father would have wanted to make sure you were a security breach," Eru said with a flick of her ears. "And are you now going to answer why you're returning at such a convenient time?"

  Biann stood up, then. "Look. I know you lost your father, too, but Kre was with me the whole time. We just got here – you can check with the ship we took passage on. Kre don't want to be the new Za, so why would she hurt her own father? Looks to me like there's wheels within wheels. Like the so-called Ardeshir kidnapping."