A curious, distant expression hung over Nadia. Clearly she was deep in her thoughts. As if she were playing out probabilities in her mind's eye. A look of profound calculation caused her to stare off at a naked winged female statue at the end of the pool.
Frederika felt Nadia's tail jerk under the water, its biorobotic plates striking her bare thigh. Nadia snapped back into herself and looked at the girl near her in the perfumed water and focused on the girl's question instead of her own thoughts. “Because he is a Maharajah. Deserving of the finest pleasures his whim calls upon.” The Queen swam a few inches away from the blonde while she continued to examine the dancer's features. She noticed the freckle under Frederika's left eye. An artfully placed mark, the flaw that enhances beauty. Turhan had once spoken to her about asymmetry, and how when done correctly the unbalanced could make an already pretty thing more beautiful such as a misplaced strand of hair or a mole.
“What I mean is... doesn’t it bother you? If he is in love with the memory of his lost muse, don't you feel threatened he will find another amongst all these females to capture his heart like this Aria once did?”
“His love for me is secure.” How else could she respond to such a question? “The love he felt for Aria does not lessen how he feels about me.” Of course, it had taken Nadia sometime to come to terms with this. Long ago she had cried many times in her pillows, her mother her only comfort when Nadia learned of Sharr's affection for the now long dead Aria DeFalco.
“So…” Frederika became nervous again as Nadia looked her over. She had the distinct impression the queen wanted to inject herself into Frederika's mind. “My lady do you have a Falcanian name? Nadia is Russian if I recall correctly.”
“It is Russian,” Nadia said in affirmation glad for the change in conversation. “In the official records of the Aeries of Falcania I’m known as Maharani T'Kara.”
“T'Kara,” Frederika murmured. “What a beautiful name. What does it mean?”
“It means 'hope', an equivalent to my given name Nadezhda,” the Queen said.
“Why not use it commonly?”
“Skora is an ironic language. In it the word ‘hope’ carries implications of doom.” Nadia peered sideways and smiled to herself, a glint in her blue eyes. “My Sharr chose this for me. He enjoys bequeathing names.”
The early afternoon sunlight shone across the stacks of books in the Imperial Library.
Frederika peered out the elliptical windows. A pleasant day waited outside where a squad of Drakorian flew past, armored tails whipping behind them. To see them fly was incredible. Mia was right – To witness a Falcanian in flight would always be a thing she would remember.
The Queen made it very clear it would be best if the Shotar woke to find Frederika still in his nest. To awake and not see Frederika would have greatly angered Sharr. So after her bath, she returned and curled up beside the Falcanian ruler.
In the morning Sharr Khan asked if there were anything that she would like. She asked if there was a place where she might find something to read. He brought her to his great library filled with stacks of books and writings from across the globe, a well stocked collection of tomes rested on many shelves.
Her emerald eyes glanced past the manuscripts on the shelves which ranged across numerous topics: The Rig-Veda, Ramayana, and Mahabharata. The Bible, Koran, Torah… these were expected. The works of Nietzsche, books on genetics, robotics and a wide amount of science fiction including Stranger In A Strange Land, A Canticle For Leibowitz, Skyfall. Herbert, Heinlein, and Vinge occupied the shelves beside a Falcanian publication, translated into English with the curious title: 12th Daughter of Kobol by Tanis Rao. Frederika also had been delighted to come across her own favorite book among the high stacks: Watership Down. And an original edition at that!
In the center of the library rested a large leather bound copy of the Telchar Shanral. Raised on a pedestal, Frederika leafed through the illustrated pages written in the curving Falcanian calligraphy. A translation would need to be found as it had been written in Kaliburn script. Frederika wanted to understand her host's moral center.
A computer terminal stood against the end of a huge shelf, the first that she had seen. There were none to be found in the entertainment center within the nodor. Frederika guessed the Khanate didn't wish for random messages to be sent from within the palace by the dancers. Curiosity compelled Frederika to search for anything she could find on Falcanian biology. She did not discover much but for a broad scientific classification of the species.
Falcanian: Falco Ornis-Sapien Invictus. Biorobotic, winged-hybrid created using genetic manipulation and cybernetics. Chief characteristics: Bat-like wings and an armored pincer tail. Males and females are covered with primitive feathers, also with human hair in mature form. Oval ears are a prominent feature of the Falcanian. Falcanians are able to survive harsh environments.
Reproductive Method: Classified. Males take more than one mate and live in extended family groups called tharrin or aeries.
It went on like that, listed some details, but much remained hidden behind a lockout. She needed to find someone who knew something about the subject and would be prepared to talk about it with her. Mia certainly wasn't going to, Frederika doubted she knew more than herself anyhow.
“Falco Invictus,” Frederika said to herself. She giggled after a moment. “'The Unconquered Falcon'. Fitting, if a bit arrogant.”
“Ahem!”
Frederika jumped at the sound and turned around. “Sitara!”
“I see you've found our library.” Sitara strode over to the girl. “Doing some research?”
Frederika could not be sure if the question was an accusation or not. “Um… I was wondering…”
Sitara smiled at Frederika and waited for an answer. The Princess learned this morning that her trip to Mars would be canceled. The Dreikatha met in an emergency session and her father, along with Urksa would be unavailable for the trip. The Princess thought she'd come down here to research her plans for the new FX-24 Capital ships. She hadn't expected to see Frederika, who had mostly been at her father's side or off exploring the island.
“Well, your father and I... We...” This felt almost as awkward as when the Queen found her naked in Sharr's lair. “He and I made love. Und I wondered… We didn't use any contraceptives…”
“Ah!” Exclaimed the Princess who easily fell for Frederika's impromptu lie. “You wondered if you could become pregnant.”
“Ja.”
“I assure you, that’s not possible. A Falcanian can only reproduce with another Falcanian…” Her next words were carefully chosen. “We are... Physiology different from you.”
The blonde raised a brow. “Oh?”
“Come, I'll show you what I mean.” The Princess took Frederika's hand. A taboo subject to be sure. What she was about to show the girl remained forbidden to an outsider's eyes. Her mother would surely not approve, yet Sitara thought this girl deserved to understand this little bit. Coming here and giving herself to her father for his pleasure that entitled her to understand why it was impossible to become impregnated by a Falcanian male.
Why didn't they ever warn these girls?
A fury raged in the Dreikatha hall and Kheira stood at its center. Hidden in his canopy, her father sat upon his Claw-Throne. Not far away the Queen waited, serenely composed while she listened as the nine caste Lords argued. This discussion had gone on for hours, and it did not appear it would stop anytime soon.
The Princess glanced at the faces of the nine Lords. An argument waged between the Tahru and Guilthari about the implications of Shiertar's prophecy. The Konar were doubtful of the story's accuracy. Especially since no such being had been detected on Vanguard's holy shores. How could it escape notice?
Nadia remained silent and kept her opinion of Kheira's truthfulness to herself. At the moment, she surrounded herself with her green and gold clad Valküri Sisters. Each eagerly awaited for her to read the child's thoughts, but also wondered how th
ey might use what the learn toward Falcania's advantage.
Sharr leaned forward on his throne. He also contemplated the meaning of what Kheira told them. Oh yes, the temporal dynamics and the paradox of Shiertar's presence here implied much to the Lord of Falcania. The future created its own past so it could in the end make itself manifest twisted in Sharr's mind. Had what the advanced Falcanian told his child been what was to come pass? Or did it remain simply one of a thousand outcomes? If merely a possibility then whatever action they took now would recalibrate the future to set it on the right course based on that new set of choices.
But what if Shiertar had put a delicate set of events into motion that could not be thwarted?
What must be, must be!
Nadia cleared her throat. “Lords of Falcania's castes, here me!” All eyes focused on the Queen's as the arguments subsided. “You trust my insights. Let me now look into this child's mind and tell you what she has seen.”
“Oh, how wonderful!” Frederika exclaimed as she followed Sitara into the hatchery.
Frederika glanced at the unhatched eggs in awe. The green ovum rested in little incubator nests and were slightly larger then an old American style football. Clutches of green eggs were cared for by Valküri nurses and their concerned progenitors. While they waited for their offspring to reach the fullness of gestation and hatch, mothers gave affection to the eggs they had produced.
“Sitara, is this how you came into the world?”
The Falcanian Princess nodded. “My mother still has the shell of my birth.”
A distinct crack came from a nearby egg which had begun to hatch. A baby Falcanian forced its way from its shell. A kind of mask with a sharp beak broke the egg much as a bird would do. Once out of its shell the child's beak would fall away. Except for the oval ears, the baby looked like a normal human with one important difference: the immature Garuda merged to its spine which as the child rapidly matured would one day allow it to fly.
The mother lifted her child and helped the baby remove its beak. She placed the newborn to her nipple so that the child could sate its hunger. An attendant Valküri placed the cracked green shell into an emerald box and gave it to the mother.
“Why not live births?” asked Frederika, curious at this choice of avian like gestation.
“It’s a survival mechanism,” Sitara said. “A Falcanian egg can survive in suspension for some time. The gestation can be halted, to wait for safety and begin the hatching. Though we resemble you, we Falcanians are not human.”
“To be human is more than appearance.”
“Indeed it is.” Sitara nodded in the direction of the newborn. “We Falcanians are more than wings and oval ears. Our bodies have a few extra organs, not including the Garuda which we are bonded with from birth.”
Extra organs?
Frederika hid her surprise. “More organs? Like what?”
“We've got something like a gizzard, Falcanian digestive tracks are highly efficient. As you might guess, we need a lot of energy to sustain ourselves.” Sitara smiled. “Like I said, we are not human.”
Realization dawned on Frederika. “Sitara, when were you born?”
“September 9, 2018. Three months after the Great Rashalon.”
What the Princess said began to sink in. The fast growth rate of the Falcanians meant they were a hearty species designed with endurance in mind. A three-month gestation period could ensure a quickly established population in bombed out sections of Earth, or indeed on far off worlds. The control exerted over fertilization would keep the populace in balance but the Falcanian species could, if they desired overrun the human population in a few years if they so chose.
Doing some fast math Frederika said: “That would make you like twelve Sitara.”
“Another survival trait, we must mature faster than a human to ensure the continuation of our species,” the Princess told her. “I may be only chronologically twelve, however I’m a mature, fully grown woman Frederika.”
The discontinuity of age shook Frederika, it made perfect sense however. To get a foothold the Falcanians needed to be biologically vital. Certainly the Princess was a mature woman, both in her conduct and her obvious feminine charms, there could be no mistake of that fact.
Light filled Nadia's mind, and its vibrancy warmed her soul. Her mind merged with Kheira's as they both watched Shiertar open his shell, bathing them in this glow unlike any other light she had seen.
Nadia probed deeper. By some paradox of time and space, the Queen felt a sense of none-location as they stood in the garden in front of Shiertar. It was as if Nadia was also joined to the evolved Falcanian's mind.
Looking into his thoughts, she saw he spoke the truth to Kheira. There was no doubt what she had said was so.
Nadia gazed into the future Falcanian. She witnessed the very fiber of his essence, the DNA composing the rich tapestry before her inner eye. The Queen could look at what would make the Falcanians become what Shiertar now was. The strings of the genetic strands unraveled and laid out a map for her to follow. Nadia reached out and touched the triple coded spiral structure. Pieces of the genetic web coalesced into a new helix. She looked for genetic markers and committed them to memory for later use. Shiertar had given them much more than he had expected.
“Kheira speaks the truth,” the Queen said.
Nadia glanced at her Valküri Sisters. She communicated her findings to them with her mind. They were elated. The path to godhood now lay in their grasp. The image of the genome spiraled in her head and Nadia began to outline her own breeding schemes.
Sharr suddenly stood. All other thoughts vanquished from his mind as he strode down his dais and made ready his airfoil for flight. He marched straight to the great doors of the hall. Drakorian Guards followed, ready to serve their Shotar in his needs.
The gathered Nine stunned at the sudden departure of Sharr broke out in a clamor.
On the causeway that attached the domed hall to the island, Sharr extended his great black-wings. He launched himself into the sky with an electric blue burst of his jets and headed for the mainland.
“Let me go!” Mia shouted as she struggled against the firm grip of the two blue armored Tahru protectors.
Sharr landed, inches from where the ark rested where The Heart of The Phoenix had been placed. The Heart had called out to him. Someone had violated it.
“What did you do?” demanded the Shotar, roughly grabbing Mia's wrist.
Mia began to cry at the Shotar’s anger. She wished Frederika were here. Mia did not know how to handle the anger of the Falcanian Lord. “I… I didn't mean to do anything wrong!” touching the Phoenix Heart had been an accident. She'd been taken in by its hypnotic gleam.
“Take her to the palace. Not the nodor, but the dungeons,” the Shotar ordered.
The Drakorian obeyed and escorted the young girl back to the Imperial manse.
A twinge of remorse pierced him as she was dragged to the dungeons. Mia was one of his favorites, for her to have violated such a sacred object demanded he address the transgression with the maxim response.
He launched himself upward. His wings fluttered, caught the air, and he made for his palace to contemplate what he was to do about the incident.
Her body trembled as Kheira placed her right hand to her temple. Ever since the encounter with Shiertar, she felt different. Something unusual had begun inside her, inside her cells. She sat down on the empty dais, weary from the day's events. The Dreikatha hall had cleared and she was alone. Or so she had thought.
“Are you okay, Princess?”
“Colonel Aranskrai.” Kheira looked up and forced a smile on her face. Her skin illuminated a little more than usual. “Yes, I am fine. Maybe a little overwhelmed, but I'm okay.”
Kulcarin's brow furrowed in concern. “You should go back home and rest. I'll escort you myself.”
“Thank you,” Kheira said and stood, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I should congratulate you. Father says you and Sitara are
to be wed soon.”
Kulcarin smiled at the young girl. “Sitara has finally come around to the idea. You know how stubborn your sister can be.” Once he had talked it over with Sitara, she agreed to marry him. Mostly she was concerned that he would make her give up her command to stay home and produce eggs. She wasn't ready for that yet.
He let his hand rest on his sheathed Kraris. The Princess noticed the gesture, which to her seemed a perfectly normal action for a Drakorian.
Slaughter this child! Kranix demanded. She has knowledge which threatens us.
I will not! She is a child of my Shotar. To harm her will raise questions, Kulcarin said. Let us dispatch of Urksa.
Kranix needed to handle Kheira with more subtlety. Perhaps he could even use her? Kulcarin's dislike of Urksa could be a leverage he must remember to exploit.
Yesssss. We can do that.
“Colonel Aranskrai!” Kheira pitched her voice with command. “Are you listening?”
“My Lady, I am sorry. I was just thinking about today's events.” He cleared his throat. “The Universe is often filled with the unexpected, is it not?”
Kheira gave her soon to be brother-in-law a weary smile. “Yes, it is.”
She let herself lean on his arm and Kulcarin placed a brotherly arm around her.
[October 1, 2030. Windsor Castle, England. One Month Before DSV Excalibur’s Departure]
Commander LaSalle was somewhat astounded when he received the private Royal summons to Windsor. Gee had expected all official meetings concerning the DSV Excalibur to be handled by the Prime Minister. The alliance with the Imperium was part of Archibald Blud’s schemes and the King himself had remained well apart from it.
“We are most pleased to meet you, Guillaume LaSalle,” the King greeted.
His Majesty Odin Battenberg wore his blond hair longer then had been current custom and he sported also a trimmed beard to go with it. Much about the King was not typical, it could be rightly said that Odin strongly favored those Northern barbarians who long ago had helped settle and conquer these British Isles. He leaned on a heavy stone fireplace dressed in a forest green tunic, regaled with chains of office and many Royal Orders.
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