by Kayla Stonor
Chapter Thirteen
Oltu wanted Gabrielle gone, banished from his sight as quickly as possible. The pain of her presence had altered, his physical discomfort as frustrating as ever, but there was a new quality, a raw angry agony that tore him apart, cell by cell.
Organizing the human exodus from Dralexi, arranging the mine inspection, recruiting Dralexin to stabilize the damaged sections of the mines consumed his time. Every hour that passed became more intolerable than the one before.
His mother didn’t help. K’rista disapproved of his decisions and boarded his ship to castigate him in person. She swept onto his command bridge with the righteous indignation of an avenging warrior. Oltu waved her into his office on the bridge. His mother at least held back her tongue lashing until they were out of public earshot.
K’rista swished her wings. “What were you thinking?”
“How is Fitor?” Oltu asked, offering her a glass of klai.
Her eyes fired barbed warnings. “Do not change the subject. I did not come all this way to provide you a transportation service! We are here to impose the Honored Qui’s will on a misguided world. Instead you diminish a system that has served the Empire well for millennia. Skal! You are gripped by this human madness. Your obsession with this Gabrielle has weakened you! Do you not understand? The concept of noble sacrifice loses meaning minus the tribute hostage!”
Hostage... K’rista never held back, honest to the point of discomfort.
Oltu set down the wine. “Dralexi viewed their human workforce as their personal property. Tekut acted in his world’s interests as they have watched us guarantee ours. Something had to give. Freeing Saiorse solved several problems. Sonestra freed Jaden and the Qui treaty with Earth still holds.” Invoking his sister for an excuse irked, especially as Sonestra usually snubbed tradition first.
“Sonestra put emotion before the Empire. She risked everything freeing Jaden. Only her vision saved her! Calad’n saved her!”
His mother spoke truth.
Sonestra’s pact with the rightful heir to the Surashan throne won the Court’s approval.
K’rista flicked imaginary dust from his desk. “What is Saiorse? Sovereign of a duplicitous species scraping a paltry existence from the bowels of its world! She is nothing!”
Her venom struck Oltu hard, mainly because once, before Gabrielle, he’d have agreed with her. “Saiorse is a devoted tribute but she was born to be Queen.”
His mother snorted. “As you were born to be Emperor!” Oltu flung K’rista a vicious glare, but she continued, indifferent to his anger. “You are your father’s first born! What has happened to you?”
“Not your best argument, Mother.”
“Sonestra’s succession was the Emperor’s failing. Not yours.”
“Do not speak of Xyon. He is dead. That time is over.”
“You became everything he wanted in a first born.”
Oltu jerked a hand up. “Skal! Must we do this?” He stalked to the window and gazed upon Dralexi, a sphere of brown mountain ranges beneath broken swirls of red-orange clouds.
“You lost the Qui throne the day you argued for humanity’s destruction,” K’rista said.
His fist clenched and he swung around, but his mother’s wave refused interruption.
“Sonestra was bound to speak against you. In becoming your father’s triumph you became everything she despised. She opposed you to save you. In her eyes, she fought for your very existence. She fought for the brother she adored.”
“Sonestra wasn’t alone in her view. The Royal Court agreed with her, and Xyon agreed with his Court.”
“Not true. The Emperor agreed with you, but unlike you, Xyon could not conceive of a human victory against the might of the Qui. Expediency demanded your solution, but Xyon believed relentless war would destroy humanity given enough time. Your father forfeited expediency for something he considered more valuable—a lesson. His purpose in supporting Sonestra that day was to divide you—”
“Divide? Divide who?”
“You and Sonestra! Fitor too, but it was always your bond with Sonestra that aggravated Xyon the most. Xyon never envisioned that his support for Sonestra might someday sway the Royal Court to anoint her as his successor! Your activities on Earth didn’t help.”
Oltu leaned against his desk, puzzled and aggrieved.
K’rista sank onto the sofa, her expression disapproving, agitated, caught in a memory, probably a painful one. Xyon and K’rista had argued a lot, usually over Oltu. He wasn’t the only one to have suffered at his father’s hand.
He watched his mother take a breath and resettle her wings.
“Oltu, your father favored Sonestra and Fitor for a reason. He viewed this necessary to shape you into a first born he believed deserving of his throne, a Qui ruthless and hardened enough to rule an empire. Xyon hoped to drive a wedge between you and your sister, to break your shared affection. He believed Sonestra weakened you. Your sister was too young to understand this, she reacted to what she saw, and her solution was to find ways to protect you from her father’s anger.”
“I know this. I’ve always known this.”
“Xyon believed Sonestra adored him, so he encouraged her, did everything he could to make you resent your sister, to force you into independence of thinking, unfettered by emotion.”
“He failed.”
“You saw what Xyon did not. Do you wonder why Sonestra could forgive you almost anything? She took your father’s love, his approval, his throne, and you never broke with her.”
Oltu searched back through dark memories. He remembered his training, the discipline, and those brief periods of contentment when Xyon was absent and his siblings hunted Oltu out to play. When Xyon was there, Sonestra’s arrival always created the opportunity to escape, as Saiorse had done for Yulla.
He smiled.
Saiorse had a touch of the Qui Empress inside her. Not as ruthless.
K’rista smoothed her feathers so they lay flat against the seat. “You are Xyon’s first born and Sonestra is your sister. She needs you at her side, the Qui your father raised. The Empire prepares for war. This isn’t the time for benevolence and patronage. You weaken the throne! Think Oltu! The tribute system has supported peace for generations. Where will its destruction lead us? First Sonestra frees Jaden. Now you free Saiorse! Who will be next?”
Oltu raised his eyes to the ceiling and braced. “Yulla.”
K’rista hadn’t expected a name. For a second she fell silent and then her eyes flamed red. “Your Alegian? Are you insane?”
Driven insane by a golden-haired temptress he could never have, maybe.
Skal. His father’s first born no longer existed.
“I will free Yulla as I freed Saiorse, because yes, war is upon us, but the relationships we forge now are our future. I finally understand Sonestra’s vision for her empire. Alegia’s debt is with me, not the Qui Empire. They have no desire for independence. I have been studying a recent scan of their world. An accessible vein of minerals has opened in the southern ocean. I plan to invest. If Alegia agrees my terms and joins the empire they won’t need a tribute.”
“Invest? You promised Dralexi one million danuble! You have a fleet of warships to support!”
“I have assets I can liquidate.”
K’rista’s eyes flashed crimson fury. “Sell your estates? No! You have earned your wealth.”
Oltu raised an angry hand. Alegia and Yulla was his business and K’rista overstepped her boundaries. “Enough! I have made my decision.” She blinked and looked away, upset and angry he shut her out. Oltu softened his tone. “Have a glass of klai, Mother. We have many matters I need your counsel on and I wish to hear your news at Court.”
She nodded yes to the wine, found a new line of attack. “At least transfer the president’s daughter to the Thrak ‘Katar. Be done with her, Oltu. It will give you time to resolve your commitments with Dralexi.”
On this, Oltu could agree and K’rista’s offer
saved him the humiliation of asking his mother to take Gabrielle, of admitting that she was right, that Gabrielle weakened him. “If you take Gabrielle’s brother and Colonel Tennant too,” he handed K’rista her wine, “I agree, but you will treat Gabrielle well, K’rista. It is Sonestra’s order.”
K’rista smiled. “I will treat her like a daughter.”
His mother’s unsubtle way of letting him know she suspected his unresolved issues with Gabrielle. Oltu returned her smile, his mission not yet complete. “I believe you met Colonel Tennant at the reception Sonestra hosted on Earth. Before Fitor...” Indulging his jealousy was petty but hard to resist.
The fire in K’rista’s eyes diffused to a sultry glow. “Our encounter was brief, but intriguing. His presence will at least offer amusement.”
“I understand he enjoys submission. See if you can withstand this human madness.”
*****
Oltu scanned the ship, located Tennant outside the armory talking with Ben Rooster. He frowned. Even with supervised access he didn’t want Rooster in the armory and Gabrielle’s brother looked agitated with the K’lahn guard. In fact, Tennant looked to be having a hard time herding Rooster away. Oltu locked Tennant’s access, scanned the pair for weapon energy signatures, found none, relaxed when the daily log showed they hadn’t entered.
Arranging a K’lahn detail to meet him, he turned to his ship’s captain. “Commander, send an honorary escort for Gabrielle. She accompanies the Emperor’s Consort back to Earth. Ensure she has time to gather her belongings.”
Jsut nodded, the order as good as carried out.
A link shaft deposited Oltu in a corridor near Tennant and Rooster’s position where a security detail of six K’lahn awaited him. They fell in line behind their Qui lord. Oltu shifted to human, Ben Rooster already angry enough.
They found Tennant running his palm against the armory lock to no avail, the guard having retreated inside the armory on Oltu’s order.
The colonel’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why have you revoked my access?”
“Why do you need access?”
“Weapons practice.” He glanced at Rooster. “Let off some steam.”
Oltu’s psi-translator provided too literal a translation, but Oltu guessed the gist. Ben Rooster’s hands twitched and the human refused to look at Oltu.
“Forget it,” Rooster grouched to Tennant.
“Gonna be a long trip back,” Tennant said calmly, glancing around the six K’lahn and then back at Oltu.
Oltu signaled the security detail to back off. “I will request supervised access for you on the Thrak ‘Katar. Your personal weapon will be transferred there. This security detail will escort you to your rooms where you can collect your belongings.”
Rooster’s head snapped up.
“You’re not returning to Earth?” Tennant asked.
“What about Gaby?” Rooster added.
“Gabrielle will return on the Thrak ‘Katar with you. I have business elsewhere.” His immediate priority being to find the funds needed to satisfy Saiorse and secure a zircon supply.
“Okay.” Tennant looked relieved. “Ben, we’re done here. Go ahead. I’ll catch up with you.”
Rooster shrugged, turned and walked away.
Tennant met Oltu’s gaze, grimaced, suddenly uncomfortable. “I wanted to thank you... for catching me in the mine. To be honest, I thought I was a goner.”
His voice hinted of surprise. Tennant hadn’t expected the rescue, had thought himself on his own, that Oltu would let him die. Oltu quelled a surge of anger. “Extracting Gabrielle’s brother was a mission, not a duel. In a duel to the death, I guarantee, I would kill you.” Movement caught his eye.
Oltu calculated Ben Rooster’s line of fire somewhere to his right. Arm rigid, weapon raised, a snub-nosed projectile weapon that had not come from the armory, Rooster stalked forward. He roared an angry war cry, ugly and vengeful. Now he was running. A K’lahn guard dived to the floor, his energy weapon trained on the oncoming threat.
Tennant turned, moved between Oltu and Rooster. “Ben! No! Christ!”
White intense energy exploded from the K’lahn guard’s weapon, a beam intended to kill.
Oltu smelled ozone and heard the crack of a bullet as he leapt into the line of plasma fire, hardening his Qui scales into protective armor. Rooster’s misaimed bullet blasted his left temple. No matter. Wouldn’t kill him.
“Stun!” Oltu ordered the guards seeking a clear shot. He staggered, his shift collapsing for reasons he couldn’t grasp, the energy burn entering his chest, a dazed feeling that he should move. A thud struck his back near the shoulder, spun him around. He lost his footing. Mottled gray floor filled his vision, slammed him hard.
Light exploded to dark.
He opened his eyes to glass descending over him.
Gotnas’ blurry visage appeared. “How are you awake? Skal! Your injuries are fatal, my lord. I am placing you in cryostasis. You must attempt hibernation.”
No. Gabrielle. Wait.
Oltu searched for and found a burst of energy.
“Wait.” His voice bubbled. A hissing tube in his mouth sucked out blood. He burned everywhere and a sword of molten steel stabbed his back.
The healer dropped and leaned in closer. He was listening. The chamber cover dropped slowly between them. Oltu had seconds before it sealed shut. His order needed to be clear.
“Gotnas, heed me. I want the Ambassador’s brother returned home. Gabrielle has suffered enough, won’t hurt her again.” Oltu closed his eyes, focused on the ache in his chest and remembered the hate in Ben Rooster’s eyes. My fault. That explosion of energy drifted away. He expelled his last words on a dying breath. “Tell Jsut! My honor demands this. Tell him!”
“Hibernate, my lord!”
Tell Jsut. My fault!
The tube disappeared from his mouth. He tasted blood. A series of bolts clicked home and a dull roar filled his ears.
His fingers twitched.
Hibernate.
*****
“I need to see him!”
Gabrielle stood on the Thrak ‘Yla’s command bridge, pleading with the K’lahn who’d summoned her there. She didn’t know Jsut well. The commander kept to the bridge. He held a handheld tablet-like device, intent on what he was watching, not ignoring her, but his attention focused elsewhere. A translator ear-piece sat in his ear. He had to understand her.
She switched to K’lahn. “Proz. Mus nie zobac Oltu.” Please. You must let me see him.
Jsut raised his hand to Gabrielle, a non-threatening gesture, asking her to wait. She looked around the busy bridge, cold to the bone, fielding an onslaught of hostile looks directed her way. Shit. She couldn’t stop shaking, her body on strike. She didn’t understand what had happened, or why. They wouldn’t let her see Cale or her brother, and Oltu was in medical, badly injured according to her security escort.
She felt divided in two. Fear for her brother and Cale, who could be dead, injured, in a cell, or confined to their rooms—those were the logical possibilities. But the consuming panic filling her for Oltu shocked her. For a Qui, badly injured had to mean bad, as in really bad, verge of death bad, and the thought of Oltu dead opened a terrifying landscape of emptiness and grief.
Jsut inserted his device into a console and then, finally, he looked at her.
She battled back tears. “Csy Lord Oltu, um... dubry?” Will Lord Oltu be good?
He shook his head. “I do not know. I await news. Speak your language. I understand.”
Her translator overlaid his K’lahn spoken words with a bare second delay and she nodded. “Where are my brother and Colonel Tennant?”
A K’lahn approached and spoke close to Jsut’s ear, not loud enough for her own translator to pick up. Jsut nodded, returned his attention to Gabrielle.
“Lord Oltu regained consciousness before entering cryostasis.”
“Cryostasis?” The K’lahn transported their dead by cryostasis. A heartrending grie
f filled her. “You said he wasn’t dead! What’s happened to him?”
“Lord Oltu’s injuries are... catastrophic. Healer Gotnas needs time. Cryostasis allows Gotnas time for medical plan. The Emperor’s Consort arrives shortly with her healer.”
Okay. Not dead, but critical. There was a ray of hope.
“And Colonel Tennant? My brother?”
“Stunned. They recover in containment.”
“What happened?”
Jsut touched the console and a rotating 3-dimensional visual appeared on screen.
Gabrielle watched; hands flying to her mouth in horror. Everyone was moving or diving to the floor. She heard a shot, shouting. Energy weapons flared. Oltu encased in white light, thrown to the floor amidst more shots. K’lahn swarmed around and past Oltu, blasting Cale and Ben with energy fire. The visual stopped. Barely ten seconds had passed.
“They’re really okay? My brother and Colonel Tennant I mean.”
“Lord Oltu ordered weapons set to stun.”
“He did?”
“His order allowed Ben Rooster time for a second and third shot.”
Jsut reset the visual and set it to slow, this time giving a running commentary. He paused and zoomed in on Cale’s eyes widening in shock, then darting to Ben. She watched Cale turn, run towards her brother, shout, “Ben! No! Christ!”
Her heart jumped. “He’s blocking Ben’s line of fire.”
“Yes. I am satisfied Colonel Tennant was not complicit in your brother’s assault on the First Lord, but I have questions regarding Ben Rooster’s possession of a projectile weapon of human design.”
“Colonel Tennant handed over his weapons on boarding.”
“Questions need to be answered.” Jsut gestured to the screen as he skipped back a couple seconds. “Watch.”
This time the visual playback focused on Oltu. Gabrielle gasped as the slow motion showed Oltu block a plasma stream that should have hit her brother. His chest looked on fire, his head jerked, and that’s when he gave the stun order. The K’lahn guards moved fast to switch to stun, fingers blurred even at the reduced speed, but then Oltu lurched forward, driven by a force that jolted him round. Ben had shot him in the back, then again, the reverberating growl from the slow play back echoing across the command bridge. Oltu’s head smacked the floor first.