by Isaac Hooke
“Why do I think those crabs with the elephant trunks are cute?” Cheyanne said.
“Because you’re one sick individual,” Maeran said.
“Thank you,” Cheyanne said. “Coming from you, that means a lot to me.”
“You know, for as long as I’ve known you two girls, I still don’t get your humor,” Aria said.
“You will, someday,” Cheyanne said. “It’s an acquired taste.”
The forest soon replaced the facility, and Jason continued the march without having to worry that those Dragon Cheetahs might break free. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. He kept glancing at his rear view feed for the next ten minutes until he was certain none of those bioweapons had broken loose to pursue.
That didn’t mean other bioweapons might not attack somewhere along the way, of course.
“Hey Jhagan,” Jason said. “What are the chances we might be attacked by bioweapons en route? I mean, considering we had two encounters with these Dragon Cheetahs of yours so far. It seems like there are a lot of the things on the loose.”
“Low, I’d say,” Jhagan said. “The first time you were unlucky. The second time, well, the battle drew them. That, and your larger units, which had their upper bodies poking out of the forest, visible for kilometers around. Here, that can’t happen.”
“But what about our noise?” Jason said. “And the vibrations we produce?”
“Those are masked as well,” Jhagan said. “Part of the stealth tech we Tyrnari have produced. In addition to the video loops, the stealth tech will mask our approach to the city, until it’s too late.”
“Oh,” Jason said. “I wonder how that works.”
Jhagan didn’t answer.
“Don’t want to reveal your tech, huh?” Jason said. Still no answer. “By the way, how come there are so many bioweapons out there anyway? You’d think the Imperials would spend time hunting them down. Lost profits and all, right?”
“You can blame the Modlenth for that,” Jhagan said. “We sometimes attack their breeding facilities and purposely set their bioweapons free. At first the Imperials rounded them up as fast as they were able, like you said, but eventually we wore them down, and they gave up. They’ve since shored up the defenses of their facilities, and we don’t attack them as nearly as often as we did in the past. These days, the Imperials only round up escaped bioweapons when they need to meet empire quotas.”
“Can the creatures breed out there?” Jason said. “Outside the facilities?”
“Of course,” Jhagan said. “Which is why we didn’t really put that great of a dent in overall bioweapon production. Sometimes we stage hunting parties to eradicate as many freed bioweapons as we can, but inevitably there are a few we miss, and their populations bounce back.”
“Interesting.”
About three hours into the march Jason received a VR request. Wondering which of the girls was bothering him now, he was surprised when he read the name next to the request: Risilan.
So Bokerov shared his VR code with the Tyrnari as well. Interesting.
“Z, take control of my mech,” Jason said. “I’ll be entering VR for a little while.”
“Affirmative,” Z said. “It looks like the alien princess wants to play with you.”
“Yeah, well, I guess we’ll just have to see what she wants,” Jason said.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Z told him with a seductive rasp to her voice.
“Uh, yeah,” Jason said.
He switched his consciousness to his loading screen and created a new VR partition for privacy, seeing as all the girls had access to his main VR. Then he loaded up a copy of his mountain lake house.
He walked out to the picnic table and sat down on the main table portion.
He rubbed his chin. “Hmm. Not here.”
He teleported to the family room of his house. He sat down on the hardwood floor next to a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the lake.
Then he accepted the VR request.
A woman appeared in front of him.
Her face was pale, with long, curly red hair that reached below the front of her shoulders. Her cheeks were rouged, her eyelids painted in dark blue eye shadow for a smoky effect. A tear-drop brooch hung down from the center of her head, from a small tiara she wore just above her hairline.
A see-through yellow veil was draped over her locks a few centimeters past the hairline, a veil that reached all the way to her waist. She wore two pearl necklaces placed one atop the other; they were tight, neatly wrapping her neck, the first made of silver pearls, the second black. She also had on two groups of longer necklaces. The first group was made of closely spaced red beads that reached below her breasts. The second group of necklaces was slightly longer, reaching to her navel, and covered in bigger, golden beads that were more widely dispersed.
Her gown was red and gold, with white sleeves, and so long that it hid her feet. She had a tall brown belt cinching the garment at the middle, and she wore golden bracelets on her wrists, and rings on her fingers.
She looked very much how he would have imagined a princess.
Jason cocked an eyebrow. “Risilan?”
She smiled. “Hello.”
“You’ve been researching Earth princesses, I see,” Jason said.
The smile became a frown. “Is my form not pleasing by human beauty standards?”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Jason said. “But one thing you quickly learn about us humans, everyone is beautiful in VR.”
“I see,” Risilan said. “Perhaps I should use my Tyrnari form.”
“No,” Jason said. “This one is much more pleasing on the eyes.”
She nodded. “Very well.”
“So what did you want?” Jason said.
“Only to acquaint myself with the human I’m trusting to help me secure the throne,” Risilan said.
“Well, there’s not much you really need to know about me, I think,” Jason said. “I’m from Earth. That’s good enough, isn’t it?”
“Would you rather I left you alone?” Risilan said.
“No,” Jason said. “You can stay.”
“Good.” Risilan sat down on the floor in front of him. She bent her knees, so that her calves partially rested against the insides of her thighs, and the lower part of the gown spread out around her.
She looked really good, he had to admit.
I might have to talk to the other girls about dressing up like this.
“You know, you probably shouldn’t be giving away the position of the mech you’re using with that topknot,” Jason said.
Her brow furrowed, but then she seemed to realize what he was talking about.
“That particular mech is part of my royal guard,” Risilan said. “It’s a ruse: I’m in an unmarked mech nearby.”
“Ah,” Jason said. “Good job.”
“The Imperials know this already,” Risilan said. “They’ve tried to assassinate me several times since I refused to live in exile.”
“It must be hard, being a princess,” Jason said. “At least on your world.”
“You don’t have princesses on yours?” Risilan asked.
“Well, we do,” Jason said. “But they have no real power. Sure, they can influence politics to an extent, inasmuch as they can sway their followers, but otherwise, they’re just like any other rich people who have to resort to lobbying to get what they want. My homeworld isn’t ruled by a single man or woman, or a family. We’ve divided our planet into different countries, based on territory. Each of these countries run elections, where—”
“Yes, I’ve read about your political systems,” Risilan said. “Ours is much more efficient. You waste time and effort, not to mention your ‘credits,’ to run elections every two years. There is no such thing as stability: elected officials are always changing. With us, the same people are always in charge. We ensure peace and prosperity for our people, giving wealth to those who deserve it, and pain to those who do not.”
“Sound
s like a despot system, to me,” Jason said.
“You cannot understand,” Risilan said. “You are an alien.”
“Yeah, and here I thought you were the alien,” Jason said. “But I can see your point of view. I’m the one who’s come to your homeworld, after all.”
“Yes,” Risilan said. “Our ruling system fits perfectly with the Tyrnari mindset. Any other system would fail. Believe me. We’ve even tried some of the systems your species practices. They all ended in bloodshed.”
“And yours didn’t?” Jason said. “You murder each other in coups every few years. Plus, you allowed your entire planet to be terraformed to produce bioweapons for the empire.”
“The terraforming would have happened regardless,” Risilan said. “And the coups, they will end once I am back in power.”
“So you say,” Jason said.
“They will end,” she said firmly. She stared plasma bolts into his eyes, but then at last sighed, and sat back. “Coups. Such a detestable thing.” She clutched her veil in one hand, and her eyes glazed over. “I still remember the day the Imperials slaughtered my family. Duke Malbeck was visiting under the pretense of tribute negotiations. Among his guard, he hid assassins. When my father welcomed him with open arms, his assassins vomited up hidden weapons, and killed him. They hunted down my family members. I still remember hiding in the kitchens, hearing the screams of my brothers. I couldn’t have been more than five years old, in Earth terms.”
“I’m sorry,” Jason said. He paused. “But you know, it sounds like this is more about vengeance than anything else.”
She looked at him. “Vengeance is a part. But I truly want to help my people. I plan to shut down bioweapon production when I’m back in command. I want to restore our homeworld to the way it once was, so that Tyrnari may walk free among the plains once more, rather than living their lives inside the dome cities.”
“The empire won’t like that, I take it,” Jason said.
She shrugged. “We will lose our position in the High Council. And we’ll probably have to ax our space navy. But it will be worth it.”
“Jhagan told me the empire would one day attack when you became queen,” Jason said.
She nodded. “It’s possible. They don’t like royal dynasties changing hands without their approval. I’m hoping I’ll be able to negotiate my way out of any attack. But if they decide to make an example out of me, then we will fight. We’ll use our space navy against them, rather than giving it up.”
“So wait, if what you said is true, that means these Imperials would have had to have permission from the empire to stage a coup.”
“And so they did,” Risilan said. “Malbeck promised to increase the output of bioweapons by several millions of tons per year if they allowed him to make his attempt. The empire gave their approval.”
“And you’ve similarly asked the empire to let you do this?” Jason asked.
“No,” Risilan replied. “I haven’t bothered. Because there is nothing I can offer them. Especially considering I intend to shut down bioweapon production entirely.”
Jason stared at her. He didn’t know what to say. She was an idealist. But it sounded to him like she was putting her entire population at risk for those ideals.
“You think I’m a fraud, don’t you?” Risilan said.
“Not at all,” Jason lied.
“Yes, I can tell,” Risilan said. “We Tyrnari can read micro expressions. I’ve studied thousands of your avatars over the years, knowing that someday I might make an alliance with humanity. I know how to interpret those micro expressions. You’re laughing at me, inside.”
“I just think you could be putting your people in a whole lot of trouble,” Jason said.
“Trust me, my people approve of my plans,” Risilan said. “They don’t want to be part of this empire. They don’t want their homeworld to be used to produce bioweapons for that empire’s army. Just as you don’t want that for your world.”
Jason nodded. “You have a point, there.”
“My people will fight if they have to,” Risilan said. “Some will prefer that we remain under the yoke of the empire, yes. But the majority want freedom.”
“Maybe you should have a vote on it,” Jason said.
Risilan stared at him, and then laughed aloud. “Ah, you humans can be so entertaining. But I think I’ve had my fill for now. Until next time...”
She vanished.
“Well, that was interesting.” Jason stood up and stretched his legs. Then he returned to reality and continued the march in his mech form.
12
Jason and his army marched for the next four hours until Jhagan called a halt.
“Why are we stopping?” Jason asked. He gazed between the tree trunks ahead to confirm the Modlenth army had halted as well.
“Scouts have detected an Imperial patrol,” Jhagan said. “Risilan plans to remain here for the next three hours.”
“Why three hours?” Jason said. “Once they’ve gone past, we could wait fifteen minutes to make sure they’re not coming back, and then continue on our way.”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Jhagan said. “Usually, patrols return the same way they’ve come. Certainly, we will be long gone by the time the patrol returns, but we’ll have left behind ample evidence of our passage. When the patrol see the depressions and tracks we’ve made, they’ll alert the city.”
“All right, team, looks like we’re resting for a few more hours,” Jason said.
Jason assumed a comfortable standing position, and then ran through the Damage Report sheets of his army. All units were thoroughly repaired by now; one tank had been destroyed for spare parts, but otherwise the army had suffered no further losses since leaving the Modlenth city.
He received a private call.
It was Iris.
“What can I do for you?” Jason said.
“We have a dinner date,” Iris said.
“What?” Jason said.
“At eight o’clock, remember?” Iris said.
“Oh... yeah.”
“And since we’re stuck here anyway, I’m going to hold you to it,” Iris said.
Jason sighed. “I’m not really in the mood for—”
“I don’t care if you’re in the mood or not,” Iris said. “I’ve spent the past hour cooking Baqala polow for you, and you’re going to eat it.”
“What?” Jason said. “It doesn’t take that long to cook in VR.”
“Yes, but it takes that long to prepare the proper imagery, texture and taste,” Iris said. “I had to accelerate my timebase to the maximum, you know. Just for you. Many days have passed for me in that hour. Days spent getting this recipe just right. You’re not going to refuse me. You wouldn’t dare!”
“All right,” Jason said. “Guess I’m entering VR. Z, would you mind taking control of the mech?”
“Gladly,” Z said. “Have fun! Let me know if you want me to join you. I kind of like her.”
“Uh, maybe next time,” Jason said.
He signed out of reality and switched to his VR loading screen. Once more he created a duplicate of his partition, and logged into the copy for some privacy.
He stood in the kitchen.
He accepted the VR entry request from Iris, and she appeared a moment later. The Middle Eastern woman was dressed in her usual pink shawl, matched to a demure black dress that ended above the ankles. She was wearing sandals. Her face seemed exceptionally bronzed today, and she had overdone it a bit on the eye shadow—it looked like she’d been punched in either eye. Still, he wasn’t going to complain: she was sexy no matter what she did with her makeup. Definitely a far cry from the six-legged and four-armed Locust mech she piloted.
She was holding a tray containing a big pot and two plates. She set it down on the table and grabbed some utensils from the cupboard.
Jason sat down, and she took a place opposite him.
She caught him staring at her eyes. “I’ve overdone my eye shadow, haven’t
I?”
“Not at all,” Jason lied.
“I look like a drag queen with two black eyes,” Iris said.
“No, no,” Jason said.
Instantly the eye shadow vanished. “How’s this?”
“Just as good,” Jason said. Much better.
She smiled, and scooped some rice from the pot into her plate. Jason did the same, and then dove in.
“Mm, this is good,” Jason said.
Iris nodded, smiling. She swallowed. “Baqala polow is rice with fava beans and dill weed.”
Jason nearly choked on the rice he was in the process of swallowing. He got it down, and then said, in a bit of a squeak: “Dill weed? Good choice of dish.”
“I thought you’d like it,” Iris said, giving him a flirtatious look. “I love eating dill.”
He swallowed nervously.
“By the way,” Iris continued, the seductive tone leaving her voice. “I just wanted you to know, I don’t have sex on the first date.”
Ah. So that was what she was playing at.
Jason was very familiar with this game.
“Good, because neither do I,” Jason said as casually as he could manage.
She looked up. “Really?”
“Uh huh,” Jason said. “I don’t have sex on the first date. Sorry.”
“Oh,” Iris said. She seemed disappointed.
Jason couldn’t help but smile inside. He knew how to turn the tables on these girls quite easily by now. They’d trained him very well.
Even so, he wasn’t going to press for sex. In truth, he wasn’t really in the mood. Not with a fight coming in a few hours. And try as he might, he couldn’t get thoughts of that battle out of his mind. Nor his meeting with Risilan, earlier.
Iris seemed to pick up on his troubled thoughts, because she asked: “Have you met Risilan in your VR yet?”
“I have, actually,” Jason said.
“How was she?”
“Weird,” Jason told her.
“That’s all you have to say?” Iris said.
“Well, basically, I’m not sure we can trust her.”
“Of course you can’t trust her,” Iris said. “She’s an alien. I don’t believe for a minute that she’s going to send us back.”