They would stay.
Yes.
And Satori knew it.
We’re not leaving.
The discussion was over.
* *
Kel Tremarch Cee Ranok sat languidly in her throne, legs to the side. The throne was a massive, obsidian construct, a piece of art, wide, with swooping arms and a back that shot high above her head, fanning out to either side like dragon wings. It sat at the center of a fittingly vast room, dark beams arching overhead to form a towering dome; austere, empty, the great room holding nothing within it save the enormous throne and a giant screen that spanned one wall.
“I can bring him before you, my queen,” her Praetor, Voltan, spoke from the screen, image of his fur-wrapped shoulders and handsome head towering before her. The eye patch only made him more fearsome, not less. “I can get him now if you wish.” The screen rose half the height of the cavernous room, dwarfing the throne and Cee sitting before it. Voltan addressed her from orbit, aboard the compromised warship. The “him” he referred to was, of course, the beast.
Kang.
Cee regarded Voltan’s giant image. “Our scientists say this Icon, as he calls it, may indeed be a relic from the Fifth Dynasty.” She sat a little straighter. “What is your take on it?” Already their brightest minds had studied every picture of the device, poured over every scan they’d been able to engage, data from its identification in space, other readings from its time aboard, securely in the grip of the beast at all times.
“I believe he will part with it,” said Voltan. “Under the right circumstances. He sees it as an item of trade. A lever. He has only that with which to bargain and knows it. His obvious ability to resist us is key, but in the end that alone will not get him what he wants. He recognizes the weakness of his position.”
Cee let a little smile escape her lips. “I think perhaps your view is too narrow.”
Voltan betrayed no reaction but she knew her Praetor. He did not like being made to feel ignorant. No one did, but Voltan had a particular dislike of being uninformed. He had designs on her throne; felt he, not her, should have ascended to that position. That he, Voltan, should sit at the head of the Forever Dynasty.
Not her.
“The thing he holds is not the only prize,” Cee said simply.
“You consider,” Voltan worked to piece together what she might mean, “he himself might somehow be useful?”
“Do you not consider it?”
Again the absence of reaction, behind his eyes flickers of anger.
But perhaps it was best not to goad him.
“Imagine if we can control him,” she said. “Perhaps even replicate his power. His abilities. With this Icon, if we can unlock the stars, and with this creature unlock such raw potential …
“Wresting this device from him, or making some exchange, is only part of the picture.”
“You see value in the beast?” Voltan remained incredulous.
“I see opportunity.”
“What, then, do you command?”
“I would speak with him. Bring him.”
Voltan bowed his head curtly. “At once.”
And he was gone from the screen. Off to fetch the thing called Kang. While Cee waited her highest ranking bishop entered the room. She listened as his booted footsteps clacked across the cavernous floor, drawing closer though she did not turn. Soon he came into view and stopped. With a cursory glance she directed his attention to the giant screen; nothing was now on it but the background of the shipboard room in which Voltan had been standing. Together she and her high bishop waited in silence.
Then the Praetor returned to the image, with him the horned, yellow-skinned monster. Though they knew what to expect Cee noticed the bishop take a step back—noticing she herself reacted, sliding involuntarily in the seat in that first instant.
Consciously she held herself straight; kept her image firm.
The beast, Kang, stood before her. Colossal on the giant display. Voltan moved several steps behind, just at the edge of the image.
“I am ruler of the Kel,” Cee announced to the yellow monster, “as you would understand it. All obey my command.” The beast’s language had been captured during their encounter with the intruder vessel, which remarkably possessed a full translation between ancient Kel and the language spoken by Kang. The dialog was crude but was so far working. Refinements had already been made to their analysis but Cee guarded against subtleties that might be misinterpreted—in both directions. It was important to listen to what the beast said, carefully. Which made the politics of the discussion that much more uncertain.
“I am Kang.” Its voice was scratched, harsh, no more beauty in it than was in the beast itself. Kang, in all, was an abomination.
But where was the individual? Surely there must be something in there that could be reasoned with.
“Why are you here, Kang? Why have you come?”
“I am here by accident. I was fighting the other. The human that appeared with me.”
The Fetok. “Was the human as powerful as you? How could you be challenged by a mere human, when you killed so many of our soldiers so easily?”
This seemed to rile the beast.
“I was not challenged. Horus is not as powerful as me.” Then: “But you should know he was stronger than an average human. Strong enough to resist me. Long enough, at least, to use this and bring us here.” He held up the shiny device.
The Icon.
“We fought on my world,” he growled. “His goal was to bring me here and leave me to die in the cold of space.” He lowered the Icon from view. “It didn’t work.”
“Did Horus know of us?”
Kang laughed. Powerful; a sudden outburst that spiked the audio feed for an instant as the electronics compensated. In the background Cee saw Voltan cringe.
Even the beast’s laugh was a force to be reckoned with.
But Kang realized the power of his presence. He bit back the laugh, though a crooked, fanged smile remained.
“He did not know of you. None of us knew of you.”
Cee wondered how much Kang actually understood. Was he just a monster from his world? Or did he truly move in their circles of power? There had been other bursts of energy in the past, like the one that deposited Kang and the Fetok, Horus. Those bursts had drawn the Kel’s attention and they set up the very outpost that captured Kang. Surely those bursts of energy were others from his world using the Icon, in which case they would at least, by then, know of the presence of the Kel. That was only logical. Kang acted as if this were the first time the Icon had been used.
“What of the other craft?” Cee asked. “Did that not come from your world?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “That ship is unknown to me. My world has no such technology. What I suspect is that it was found by others. I thought they probably came to rescue Horus.”
“Did you know it was one of ours?”
This confused him momentarily.
“One of yours?” He didn’t understand.
“Indeed.” Cee nodded. “It was a Kel warship.” She gave that a moment to sink in. “Ancient, no doubt, but one of ours. From the last great period of our rule, near as we can tell. And that, perhaps as much as anything, is a terrible mystery. That ship should not exist. There was a time, long ago, when we reigned over many worlds, some of them human. That ship is from that period. All was lost in a series of great wars. It should not have survived.”
Now there was a glimmer of understanding in Kang’s eyes.
“Our history speaks of a Great War,” he rasped, the computer overlaying his voice with a smooth translation, “when worlds fought.”
Cee tilted her head slightly. “That must surely be the same.”
“But … that was long ago.” The beast’s expression had softened in contemplation of this possibility and, for an instant, as it did, Cee saw a face within that horrible mask of destruction. A face that looked almost …
Normal.
<
br /> Suddenly she was curious.
“Have you always been like this?” It struck her that he may not have been.
“A monster?”
She appreciated the frankness of his response. Kang knew what he was. She nodded.
“I was human once.”
“What happened?”
Clouds of anger returned. “I was caught in an explosion. It transformed me.”
“Before that you were human?”
“I was like Horus.”
“A powerful human?”
“More powerful. After the explosion I’ve become indestructible.”
Cee decided to leave it at that. If she had her way they would soon know all they needed to of how Kang came to be, how he got his power and how they, too, might attain it.
And, if needed, how they might destroy him.
“So there are other powerful humans on your world?”
“There were five. I was one. Horus was one. After the transformation I killed the others. Horus was rescued and must’ve been taken back. That would leave him alone, but Horus was near dead when we came here. Horus I will finish myself. All I need is to get my hands on him.”
So many questions fell into that void. How did Kang expect to get to him? If he intended to use the Icon to do it, why hadn’t he done so already? But she knew the answer. Kang meant to rule the Kel, to lead an army against his own world and have the Kel as his puppets. And so he entered into these negotiations. Cee could see the process irked him.
However there was something about Kang that intrigued. Now that she had him before her she began to realize her original imaginings were correct. He could be used, just as the Icon could be used. Perhaps in ways she herself did not yet see.
She leaned forward in her throne. “You may leave us.”
Kang wanted to say more, but acquiesced and left the screen. Voltan stepped back to stand before her as Kang walked out the door of the stateroom. The Praetor looked to his right to confirm the door had closed and the beast was gone.
“We are alone?” Cee asked. Voltan looked down at something before him, checking information.
“He has returned to his room. We are alone.”
Cee turned to the side; placed a leg back over the arm of the throne and let the other dangle.
“If this device can truly open our ancient space lanes,” she said, “and with it a world ripe for conquest … perhaps this may be exactly what we need.”
“We know the Old Worlds are out there,” Voltan agreed. “They must be. As to whether this is one of them ...”
“There would be no other explanation.”
“The Progenitor were prolific, my queen. Records tell us their influence was vast. It is not unreasonable to think there might have been—”
“Kang is from the old Combine. He and that other, the human, are descendents of our ancient subjects. I have no doubt of it.”
“As you wish.”
Cee stared into him, piercing the giant screen; image of his head larger than she and her throne combined. Standing in front of her the bishop was dwarfed before it.
Her voice had an icy edge to it. “Our Dynasty stagnates,” she informed him—needlessly, of course. “We bloat under the weight of our limited horizon. If the Kel do not find challenge—external challenge, not some silly war games—we will again fall into revolution. You know this. Like before, we will be ruined.
“The One God has delivered us something, Voltan. This is a boon. And a puzzle. We must execute wisely.”
“It is a hazard.” His barely concealed antagonism remained. “I caution you. Nothing more.”
Cee let him stand there, waiting. At last she spoke; adopting a tone that indicated she’d moved on.
“What do you feel we must offer in order to get the device?”
“He seems bent on the subjugation of his own world. Were we to offer him that, he would comply. I am certain of it.
“However, I do not doubt for a moment he also sees us as his eventual pawns. He would rule us.”
“He will not rule us.”
“This is no wild beast we can simply corral. Were he to be unleashed on our world there would be no containing him. I’ve seen what he can do, seen how our technology has failed to stop him. All he would need do would be run amok. We would lose much before he could be destroyed. If he could be destroyed at all. He may yet prove indestructible, as he claims.”
“Bring him here,” she said. “To me.”
Voltan faltered visibly, a little tremor in his stance—though Cee knew he’d seen her demand coming. Knew he realized what her decision would be. That she would order the presence of the beast.
But he played his part. “My queen,” he said. “That is far too dangerous. As I say. Here he is contained. Once off this ship he will be a plague. One we will never get back in its bottle.”
“I will handle Kang.”
Voltan was unmoved.
“Bring him to me.” Cee repeated. “We will give him a reception due any dignitary.” She could see Voltan waver badly. He said nothing. “In the meantime ensure our scientists redouble their efforts. Study every bit of information we have on him, every scan—all we currently possess and any new data you can gather. I want to know how to destroy him.”
Voltan nodded. “Yes, my queen.”
And he signed off. The giant screen went dark.
Cee turned to her bishop.
“This may be the beginning of the end,” she said to him. Then imagined the possibilities. “Or it may be the start of the most glorious chapter in our history.
“Either way, the time for change has come.”
CHAPTER 16: A NEW WORLD
“The Dominion is in chaos.” Everyone in the room looked to Chom as he spoke. He sat at the edge of one of the living room couches, making his point. “The Emperor is gone, his body violated and thrown to the wind. Now Kang is gone—after turning the entire place upside down. Before all that the Icon was stolen, the Crucible destroyed, the Shogun and the entire religious Council killed. Most of our military is across the ocean, fighting on against the Venatres in a war that will leave the Dominion forces broken.
“Our government is a shell. Osaka is a tomb. In shock, waiting for the next blow. If ever there was a time it is now.”
The small group of Conclave leaders sat crowded into Darvon’s living room. As always, it seemed, trying to make sense of recent events. Working up the courage to act. Darvon’s daughter, Egg, watched from the wings, as she had on so many occasions.
“Kazukhan,” Chom spoke directly to the Daimyo, their most distinguished member, reclining in the largest chair in the room, Darvon’s own recliner, relinquished for the Conclave boss, listening to the debate of the others. “The Dominion leadership is crushed,” Chom seemed to plead. “First the Shogun, the entire upper echelon, then their replacement by Kang and, just as the people were grasping the shock of Kang himself and, perhaps, even coming to grips with the idea that he, in his rage, might at least deliver us the world … now Kang is gone. Utterly. Dispatched with the very Holy Relic once so safeguarded, so untouchable for so many years. What more do we need? The way is open.” He looked to the others. “What more impetus is required to finally act boldly? To become that which we have dreamed of for so long?
“True revolutionaries.”
Egg watched her father rock ever so slightly, back and forth at the edge of his seat. Events of the past days had driven his enthusiasm for the Prophecy and, specifically, the role of Jessica to new heights. When word reached them that the angel was the one that banished the murderous demon Kang—and that she did so using the Holy Relic—he’d nearly thrown a party right then.
Egg looked across to the Daimyo. He maintained his pensive repose, as he had since arriving and sinking into her father’s cushy chair with a glass of wine. Whether he was truly pensive or just tired was hard to tell.
Chom went on. “In my mind,” he said, “Yamoto is the key. Yamoto is a general at heart.
A military man. Not a Shogun. Yamoto has never been a proper Shogun. He was lost before, now doubly so. And he holds the Dominion’s top position.”
“Yamoto is shaken,” one of them agreed. “But what can we do?”
“What of the giant spaceship?” Grisha’s question was off the current line of discussion but he was confounded that they were talking about anything else. So were some of the others. “Why don’t we speak of that? That surely is the most shocking bit of news. Right? I mean, what have the Venatres been hiding from us? They were supposed to be our allies.”
“They are our allies,” Chom sought to dismiss those events, as he had already several times that evening. The others weren’t so sure. Egg herself was intensely curious as to just what the mysterious spaceship was. Reports were spotty, but apparently the craft emerged into airspace over the battle at Midbay and took to orbit, only to fly off into space and disappear. Like some great, shared hallucination. The entire capital was buzzing.
Chom stayed on point.
“We’ve known they were working on a secret project,” he said. “So many things have happened, so many unexpected things … we can’t waste time speculating over something that has no consequence for what we’re doing right now. In fact, that bit of news only adds to the chaos I describe. On top of everything else, the news that the Venatres might possess a super weapon has driven our people further into confusion Not toward cohesion.
“As I say. The time to act is now.”
The Daimyo spoke, finally, and a certain quiet descended on the rest as they listened intently to what he might say. Egg, too, paid close attention.
“It’s true, Yamoto was only ever a military strategist,” he said and paused. Everyone waited. Just as it appeared he would say no more, or had gone back to his quiet introspection, the front door burst open and in rushed Egg’s younger sister. Seeing the grave expressions of the people gathered in their living room gave her sudden pause, but only for a moment.
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