The Choice (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 8)

by J. Naomi Ay

  "You'll see." He winked. "It will help you make your choice."

  "What does this have to do with whether I chose to live or die? I have no bearing on the business of the Empire. I am a simple Karupta man. While I have always been fond of my niece, I haven't seen her in a number of years. Are you asking me to give up my life in exchange for hers?"

  "Not at all," a voice behind us announced. My brother and I quickly turned in the direction of the sound and strangely enough, so did Katie.

  My nephew had returned. He entered the office along with the catering cart. He was dressed in a strange flowing silver robe, and there was an odd glittering mass of silver light behind him. My niece stood up and stared.

  "Ay, oops." Senya declared and suddenly he was again himself in his usual black trousers, tunic and sash. Katie sat down, blinking rapidly and shaking her head.

  "What is it?" Luci asked, reaching for a plate of sandwiches.

  "I thought I saw something," she muttered and drank some more tea.

  "So you were saying?" Pedah asked, smiling at our nephew as he wandered over to the sofas and sniffed at the tray of food.

  "I was about to say that Tuman shall not be exchanging his life for that of anyone. Every soul belongs entirely to one self. What you shall be doing is affecting the fate of others."

  "Katie?" I asked.

  Senya cocked his head as if listening to a far off noise and then frowned at his wife.

  "Possibly."

  Katie bolted up from her chair again and looked anxiously about the room.

  "What is it?" Luci jumped up too, knocking over her plate of sandwiches, which toppled onto the floor.

  "I thought I heard something," Katie said narrowing her eyes and scanning the room. Briefly she paused and appeared to stare directly at me. "Do you see anything over there by the door, Luci?" she whispered.

  "No. I see only a mess here on the floor in front of me." Duchess Korelesk knelt down as best as she could and attempted to clean up slivers of cucumber and smashed bread with mayonnaise. Unfortunately, her body was a little too large for the space between the sofa and the table. She knocked it as she bent, causing her teacup to tumble and spill all over the glass and drip down onto the floor. "Oh my!" she cried as Katie snatched at the cloth napkins and bent down herself to mop up the mess. While neither woman was looking, Senya reached over and grabbed all the remaining sandwiches, quickly stuffing them in his mouth.

  "I'm hungry," he announced to both Pedah and myself as we then watched him pick up Katie's cup and finish her tea. "Kari-fa, this is nasty. I would much prefer coffee and a sandwich with something bloody in it. I have never been fond of grass and weeds." Then, he lit a cigarette and casually strode over to where we stood gazing at the ladies as they sat on the sofas again.

  "Where did my tea go?" Katie cried.

  "That plate of sandwiches is empty," Luci stated. "Did you eat them all when I wasn't looking?"

  "I didn't eat any of them," Katie snapped. "Does it smell like cigarette smoke in here?" She lifted her nose high and loudly sniffed in our direction.

  "Can she see us?" I asked.

  "She could if she wanted to," Senya replied, breathing a cloud of gray smoke into the air. Katie narrowed her eyes and seemed to watch it. "She has the ability but she doesn't understand it so her mind shuts it out and she becomes angry and confused instead. I find it immensely entertaining to tease her this way."

  "I imagine you do," Pedah replied. "I enjoy teasing Garinka as well."

  "You do?" I cried. "Why would you want to haunt my wife?"

  "Well," Pedah began.

  "Perhaps you should tell him?" Senya shrugged.

  "Tell me what?"

  "Shall I order more sandwiches?" Luci asked, forlornly looking at the empty plate.

  "I don't care," Katie snapped, warily scanning the room. "Are you sure you don't hear anybody talking?"

  "Besides you? I don't hear anything except the rain on the window panes. Do you think it's ever going to stop raining? I remember when the weather was lovely in the autumn. Perhaps we should take a trip to the Dark Continent. It's much drier and warmer there."

  "Shhh!" Katie hissed. "I'm trying to listen."

  We all shut up.

  Senya smoked his cigarette.

  Luci fiddled with her tea cup.

  Katie looked around the room anxiously, while I pondered why my brother should be so interested in frequenting my wife.

  Senya approached his wife again, and while she sat on the couch, he sat down beside her though the cushions showed no sign of indentation. He ran a hand across her hair, causing Katie to brush at it as if there was a fly. Now, he placed his hand on her breast and then leaning over, he kissed her soundly upon the lips. Katie's eyes flew open wide. She made a sort of choking noise. She flayed about in her place as if trying to push him away.

  "What's the matter, Madame?" Luci watched all this curiously. "Did you swallow something wrongly?"

  Katie again made a little noise as Senya pushed her back against the cushions, his hands now under her skirt.

  "Are you having a seizure?" Luci gasped. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

  "You bastard!" Katie screamed, struggling out from under Senya, who sat back in his place and laughed.

  "I'm a bastard?" Luci cried, and now she jumped up. "What in the Saint's name have I ever done that you would call me that?" Her face turned bright red and her eyes filled with tears. "I thought we were the best of friends. Haven't I served you well all these years?"

  "Not you!" Katie gasped, jumping up herself. She waved her arms around her as if trying to find where Senya sat. "Him. He's here."

  "Who?"

  "Him. HIM."

  "I don't see anyone. Are you certain?"

  "Yes. He's somewhere on this sofa. Are you purposely trying to drive me insane? I don’t think this is funny at all. Get back here right now in the way you're supposed to be."

  "Maybe I should summon a medic," Luci mumbled, turning toward the door. "Perhaps it is a seizure after all or something similar."

  It was then that the imposing doors opened again and Lord Eberly or Garing came rushing in.

  "Madame!" whomever it was cried.

  "What?" Katie bolted up again, her face already frozen in alarm. "What happened?"

  "A spaceplane," he began and then mumbled something about a commercial flight from Talas to Cascadia. "Then the SpaceNavy sent…" he continued but was interrupted by the vid ringing. Lord Berkan's face appeared very pale and grave.

  "Madame," he announced. "There's been a terrible accident."

  "Who?" Katie shrieked. "SpaceNavy? Shika?"

  "I'm so sorry, Madame," both men said simultaneously.

  "Shika?"

  "Have you any idea where His Imperial Majesty has gone?" Lord Berkan asked.

  "We should ring him. Let him know," the other man added.

  "Shika?" Katie screamed and fell back on the couch. "My Shika? You can't be serious."

  "Oh, Blessed Saint, Katie," Duchess Luci cried and quickly ran to her side.

  I looked over at Senya, who was casually lighting a new smoke and watching the ladies cling to each other while the men twisted their hands and looked awkward.

  "Your son?" I called over to him, shaking my head with disbelief. "Your son has just been killed, and you have no response other than to light a fresh cig? Look at your wife! She is completely distraught. Shouldn't you return from wherever we are to comfort her at least?"

  "Actually," Senya replied, leaning back in the cushions. "This hasn't happened yet. What you are witnessing here, Tuman, is a possible outcome of your choice."

  "I don’t understand," I declared, watching Katie's face as she broke down in sobs. Katie wails echoed throughout the room. "Are you telling me if I live, your son will die instead?"

  "He'll be one of many, in fact," Senya replied. "Come, take a look."

  Suddenly, we weren't there any longer. Instead, we were in space, my brother and I sta
nding next to Senya. We were on the bridge of a ship. It must have been one of the Empire's, for both Senya and Katie's portraits hung on a wall, as well as a flag with the Imperial Eagle Crest.

  I had never seen such a ship like this before where windows lined the entire bridge. There were consoles and lights, a seat and table for the commander as well as panels that displayed all sorts of system information. Several members of the crew, in their blue SpaceNavy uniforms, stood gazing out the windows at two ships.

  There was a commercial spaceplane that read United StarLines on its tail, and a small SpaceNavy scout called, The Puffin.

  "That is Luci and Berkan's son, Marik. He's the second in command of this starship." Senya nodded his head toward the large red-headed man who clearly resembled his mother.

  "Fuck it, Shik!" Marik shouted. "Be careful out there. Slow that fucker down! What do you think you're doing going in so fast?"

  "They're in distress," Shika's voice called back. "The pilot is reporting extreme emergency. We need to get them some oxygen before they run out. Don't worry, Marik. Sam and I've got this covered."

  "Stevie?" Another voice called nervously. "I'm showing we've lost all the hydro fluid. I'm trying to reverse thrust, but she's not responding."

  "Hold on, Sam," Shika said and then we all heard them scream as both the transport and scout exploded. They shattered into millions of tiny pieces, some hitting the windows right in front of our faces.

  "Kari-fa," I gasped and covered my eyes to hide what was happening outside. It grew silent on the bridge of this Imperial starship as everyone watched the pieces of the two ships float away. "Couldn't you help him?" I whispered. "Your own son just perished. How could you stand there and watch?"

  Senya shrugged. "Who do you think I am?" He began to walk away.

  "Five hundred six killed on the transport." My brother, Pedah scratched at his chin. "Shika and his friend Sam killed on the scout."

  "You could have done something!" I shouted, my rage clearly aimed at my nephew. "You with your powers or whatever they are. You could have slowed down that ship before it crashed into the other. How could you just stand there and let your son and five hundred others die? What kind of man are you?"

  "I ask the same of you," Senya replied as a lift door swished open right before him.

  "Me?"

  Pedah and I hurried across the bridge, although no one saw us moving right in front of them. Marik was swearing, and shouting, pounding the wall next to the lift with his fists as tears dripped down his rugged face. I watched him and my own eyes filled with his grief.

  "He was like my brother," Marik whispered to no one.

  "Come." My own brother pulled me into the lift where I turned and confronted Senya again.

  "I am nothing." I pointed my finger at his chest. His face showed only indifference. "I have no power beyond the strength in my hands and the loudness of my voice. You could have willed every one of them to be saved."

  "As can you," he replied removing my finger, his silver eyes now boring into my own.

  So you are saying that if I live, my life is somehow connected to all of them? How can it be so? I hardly know your son. My death wouldn't change his course of action."

  "Wouldn't it?" Senya raised his eyebrows and stepped from the lift as we had stopped in front of a sign that read, Sickbay.

  A young woman lay on one of the cots there, her face buried in her arms, the keening sobs sounding just the same as Katie's.

  "Shika's wife." Pedah caught my eye. "Poor thing. They've only been married a few months."

  "This has nothing to do with me!" I protested.

  "If it didn't," my brother replied. "You wouldn't be here. Where to now, Sir?"

  "Let's go visit Berkan," Senya replied and stepped back into the lift.

  He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes as if sleeping. My brother hummed an old melody I used to call his thinking tune. I stood and waited while the lift buttons flashed. When the door opened again, we were no longer on the ship but in a room. It was an opulent suite with floor to ceiling windows that looked out at a city.

  "Where are we now?" I asked, watching a man pace in front of the windows. A vid was extended from the ceiling, split into two screens from which two uniformed officers peered back.

  "We're at the Ritz Carlton in the city of Nensk on the planet of Cascadia," Senya replied taking a seat upon one of the silk sofas. He put his feet up on the coffee table and reached for an open bottle of amber liquid in a half filled carafe that sat on a silver tray. "That's Berkan." He pointed the bottle at the pale white haired man. I recognized him as Senya's friend and cousin from many years past.

  "I spoke to General Verneyus yesterday," Berkan was telling the men on the screen. "He was on his way here. If the situation on Xironia is as dire as he is purporting to me, I am certain His Imperial Majesty will sanction our intervention."

  "Are you thinking ground troops, Lord Berkan?" one of the men asked. "Or were you thinking a clandestine activity or cyber intrusion?"

  "We shall need to hear from the General first before we can make a judgement as to what exactly we should do. The first option, of course would be to launch a cyber war."

  "We could annihilate their electronic infrastructure," the second man on the screen suggested. "It would be quick and simple to send them all back to the stone ages with an EMP device."

  "Then we'll need to make sure they have sufficient forces there to instill the peace. It could become quite chaotic until power is restored."

  "What time are you expecting the General to arrive?"

  "I don’t know," Lord Berkan replied, gazing out the window with his hands clasped behind his back. "It appears his ship has been delayed. It worries me. He was afraid someone had leaked his intentions to his enemies. It was possible they might attempt an assassination."

  "Actually, they did," Senya said as he tipped back the bottle and drank. "Using a child of all things. It never ceases to amaze me to what depths Evil will go."

  "That spaceplane we saw destroyed," my brother informed me, "and the scout ship that was caught in the blast. A small boy was wearing a vest of plastic explosives, which his mother detonated right as the scout approached."

  "This General then is dead?" I pointed at Berkan, who once again was fretfully pacing the room.

  "Unfortunately," Senya replied. "Which means the resistance no longer has a champion. The slaves of Xironia are doomed for another hundred years."

  "But why?" I challenged. "If you know of their troubles, why don't you go invade anyway?"

  "I don't invade," Senya replied, finishing the bottle and wiping his mouth with his hand. "I only come when provided with an engraved invitation." He chuckled as if this were funny though personally, I didn't see the humor. "Tuman." He sighed as if I was too ignorant. "We assist those who request it. It is my firm policy to only help those who help themselves, as I am not interested in acquiring new dependents. Even I have only so many resources with which to spare, as Evil is spread far and wide. I have to choose wisely when I shall fight. Without General Verneyus, I'm afraid it's not worth it. Shall we move on?"

  "Wait!" I demanded as he rose again to his feet. "Are you saying then that this General, this planet, their freedom has something to do with me? How will my death, a simple farmer of Karupatani, save him for exploding in that plane?"

  "It's complicated," Pedah replied with a smirk.

  "Indeed," Senya nodded, as Lord Berkan approached, obviously not seeing any of us.

  He picked up the carafe that was now lying empty on its side and sniffed it. Putting it back on the tray, he ran his hand across the table as if searching for the spilled liquid. The table was dry as it had always been. Berkan frowned and then looked up with a puzzled expression.

  "Senya?" he whispered hesitantly, turning about and speaking to the air.

  Senya laughed and patted Lord Berkan's wide shoulder. "Good man, Berk," he said and then pointed his finger at the carafe which was now o
nce again filled. "Come on, Tuman. You have yet more to see, and time is not waiting even for us."

  We departed again through the door we had entered but now instead of a hallway and lifts, we emerged in a field of grass. Below us was a river. Walking toward it was an old man in a bathrobe and slippers. His hair was cut into a white crew cut, and his face was dotted with white whiskers.

  "Who is he?" I asked and then looked around. "Where are we? Are we back on Rehnor?"

  "This is Rozari," my brother replied. "Look how pleasant it has become. This is the continent of Hahr that had been destroyed. It's all been reclaimed now. It's quite pleasant though it tends to be rainy. Look how well the Admiral's tomato plants are doing."

  I glanced at the garden and saw indeed the plants were healthy and filled with an abundant tomato crop.

  "Is that the Admiral?" I asked. "Why is he wading in the river? It seems a bit cold to go swimming."

  "He's killing himself," Senya replied, for once again he was at my side smoking a cigarette and looking bored. "He's got a disease. It is manageable, if not curable, although he doesn't wish to wait for that to happen. He prefers to depart now, prematurely."

  "What has this got to do with me? I don't know him and don't particularly care. You are asking me to go prematurely to save this unknown man. How is his life more significant than mine?"

  "He was once an important man," Pedah replied. "His son is the Duke de Kalika-hahr. His wife is a good friend of the Empress."

  "And so? Was I not also once an important man? Is the Empress not a good friend of mine, as well? Is my son not a Prince of Karupatani?"

  "Yes, of course, you're correct.” My brother nodded.

  "We have one more destination," Senya announced, "before you must make your decision."

  He walked off in the direction of the woodland hills, disappearing within the trees. My brother and I followed, until a moment later we found ourselves on a beach. It was dark and a single moon lit up the sky, casting a silver shadow upon the white sand.

  "I know this beach!" I cried and spun around. "I lived here for many years. The marina is just over there, and the market is down that street." I grasped my brother's arm and pulled him through the sand. "I used to have a stall there, and every day I sold my catch. Do you remember the trout we used to catch in Karupatani? The ones I caught in the river just north of here were twice that size."