The Watchtower – High Earth Orbit
The Private Chambers of the Family Lexor
April 18, 2442
Iris Lexor felt a pain in her chest. An odd clicking noise from her bionic heart made a sound loud enough to be heard through the cavity wall. A cold sweat formed on her face and she struggled to breathe. She didn’t panic, at her age she expected sooner or later her heart would fail. No one should live to be one-hundred and thirty years old. She never planned it, how could she? One part of her looked forward to death, but the reaper refused to take her. The other part of her breathed a sigh of relief she still lived. She still had plans to make. She couldn’t trust the Watchtower’s continued survival on her children. For eleven generations the Lexor family maintained the Watchtower, and with every new custodian the future remained secure… until now.
Iris didn’t trust her own offspring to continue the long tradition set down by Roderick Lexor, the architect of the ORACLE system. From his original designs the Watchtower continued and flourished – Iris refused to allow just anyone to succeed her. The moments of her passing drew close and in a zealous attempt she meant to see that nothing changed. Her plans were coming together though they took longer than she hoped. The next phase of her plot needed to be ready in the coming days. If she had more time she knew her ideas would take root. Her biggest hurdle came from her children. She hated to think that her own progeny might interfere; their actions could destroy all her efforts.
Iris knew her son, Avery, loved anarchy – he took joy in causing turmoil between the Nine. He’d always been a mischievous person. It didn’t take her long to figure out that her son instigated the attack on the breeding plant and that he arranged the slave insurrection. It’s not because he wanted to see the slaves free or he hated the breeding plants. It’s because he relished in the upheaval his schemes caused. Thankfully, no one else knew, and she hoped to keep it that way. Iris didn’t understand Avery’s impish idealisms, but she loved him like any mother would and she wouldn’t allow harm to come to him. Iris felt she’d done a good job pointing the finger of guilt at Da’Mira Tannador. With the attention drawn to her and Hek’Dara, Iris hoped she could get her son to settle down long enough for the uproar over last night to settle; giving her plan time to move forward.
Then Iris considered the actions of her daughter. The slut, though she didn’t like using such a phrase, no other seemed to fit Candace. How could she be left to attend the Watchtower? She enjoyed being on her back more than attending meetings and studying the incoming data from the ORACLE. She loved both her children, but they were both failures and Iris felt the weight of time pressing down on her. Neither of her children even cared to give her grandchildren. Have to keep focused on the plan.
With her right hand gripped over her chest she sat on her davenport and listened to her struggling mechanical heart. The artificial waterfall splashing out of the side of the wall eased her pain. It wouldn’t be long and the machine in her chest would simmer down and she would be back to work.
Work consumed her. If it weren’t for the continuous monitoring of the ORACLE system she would have no purpose in life. Iris knew that would be the end of her and undoubtedly the end of the Watchtower. It frightened her so, and Iris took precarious steps to prepare for a future without her. A future in where the Watchtower reigned supreme – as absolute authority.
The door chime rang and Eesh entered the room. In his familiar hunkered posture, his skin flush and his eyes wide, he said with a shaky voice, “Havashaw Orlander here to see you ma’am.”
Iris stood, her heart quieted, or she didn’t notice it as much. She pulled down on her green dress, and said, “Allow him to enter Eesh and send for Doctor Odak – tell her to come at once.”
“Of course, Milady,” Eesh said, and he allowed Havashaw to enter.
The large brooding man walked into the apartment, his steel blue eyes narrow and confident. “Lady Iris,” he said in his thunderous voice.
Iris’ small frail body stood in the shadow of Havashaw’s striking stature. She looked up at him and remembered that her husband’s physique mimicked Havashaw’s. In her younger years Iris enjoyed the touch of a man’s tight chest and thick arms against her. No man impressed her more than that of a man with an indomitable build. She remembered the phrase she used for her daughter not moments ago and Iris remembered in her youth she could be just as slutty.
“My time is limited Lady Iris. If you could tell me why I was asked here I would be grateful.”
Iris lowered herself back to the davenport, and said gesturing at the spot next to her, “Forgive me. I cannot stand long, if you’ll join me please.”
Havashaw sat next to Iris, his long thick legs looked uncomfortable as he worked himself in to an awkward position.
“I have information I wish to share with you about Da’Mira Tannador.”
Havashaw looked at Iris with a narrow stare, curious he asked, “Shouldn’t this information come out in the meeting?”
Iris cleared her throat, and said, “I’m afraid that once you hear this information you might be inclined to act upon it.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“The shuttle that flew into the Dalnaspidal breeding camp a few days ago was commanded by the Lady Da’Mira Tannador,” Iris said. She watched the expressions on Havashaw’s face contort and shift, confused and filled with questions. The large man’s brow furrowed, and he said, “How did you come by this information?”
“I found the information in the ORACLE database right where it’s been all this time, encrypted by a member of my staff.” She refused to implicate Avery.
“Why would you wait to come out with this information? It insures Da’Mira Tannadors involvement and ties her into the plant’s destruction. It would have been what was needed to turn the votes of Carmela Anders and Brandon Hyguard to our side.”
Iris rubbed the palms of her hands against her dress. She couldn’t give Havashaw the real reason, and careful not to reveal the truth, said, “I think I should take care of my internal problem first, see who else might be involved. Then I’ll share my findings. I want to make sure ORACLE is working to full capacity.”
“Could the system be faulty?”
“No. No I ran a complete diagnostic before relaying the information to you.”
Havashaw stood, his voice boomed, and he said, “Then we must call another meeting – give this information to everyone as soon as possible.”
“And we will. As soon as I’m sure no one else is involved… trust me.”
Havashaw threw his large bear hands into the air. “I understand,” he said, unconvinced.
“It will all come to light. And with you in control of security over the Tannador food distribution plants it is just one step closer to tightening our grip over all the high-born.”
Havashaw showed no emotion. No glimmer of faith for Iris’ plan. He nodded and said, “It has taken us more than a decade to secure the Watchtower and the Tannador plants. How much more time do you have before you are no longer here?”
Iris grinned. Her old eyes brightened when she looked up at Havashaw. Her forehead wrinkled, and she said, “Trust me, Lord Havashaw. I will always be here. So, if you’ll indulge me.”
Havashaw raised an eyebrow. “Indulge you?”
“I think it’s time we incorporate our security forces. I have a meager but well-trained security force that could benefit from working alongside of your soldiers.”
“You want my people to take over security of Watchtower?”
Iris chuckled, said, “Of course not, but I do see my defense team wearing your sigil and allowing some of your men to train over here. It will strengthen our two houses and let the others see that times are about to change. Besides, I don’t know how deep this conspiracy goes. It might do will to have a few of your loyal men here to help me flush out any traitors.”
Havashaw nodded in agreement. “As you say, Milady.”
The door chim
e rang again and Eesh entered, leading Ragan Odak into the apartment.
“If you’ll forgive me, Lord Orlander, I must see my physician now. If you’d loan me some of your men this evening, I could use their assistance, and it would be a good way for our men to work together.”
“In what way?”
“Allow me to worry about that. Just send your men.”
Havashaw nodded and stood, said, “I will see to it, Lady Lexor.”
Iris motioned for Ragan to join her. “Eesh, see Lord Orlander out, please. Come, run your scans doctor.”
Havashaw gave a slight bow and followed Eesh out of the room.
Ragan ran her scanner over Iris’ chest, with worry in her voice she said, “Your heart’s relays are down by thirty percent.”
“I’m feeling weaker every day. To take a breath is a struggle. To walk across the room is near impossible.”
“The time is near. In less than a week, maybe eight days.”
“Are you ready for me?”
Ragan nodded and said, “Just some final adjustments, we will have one chance at this. If we fail the first time all will be lost.”
Iris gripped Ragan’s arm with her thin frail hand, with a languished voice, said, “I have lived longer than most people, doctor. If I were to die so be it. What frightens me is what will happen once I’m gone. I mustn’t go so easily. Not until I know Watchtower is in good hands.”
“I will not fail you,” Ragan said with confidence.
“I hope I last long enough for you to try, doctor.”
Hours later, Iris sat alone in the dark of her apartment and waited. When she heard the hum from the elevator she hunkered down on the couch, the large davenport consumed her frail body. She watched the lift doors until they opened with a noticeable whoosh.
Avery entered the apartment; his steps were like a cat on the prowl. Mindful of his surroundings he stopped and looked around the dark room and said, “Lights.” He took a step back when he saw his mother sitting on the couch. He tried to speak but stuttered over his words.
“I was thinking you weren’t coming,” Iris said fixing her position into a regal posture. “But I knew you’d have to sooner or later. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? I have been called the queen of secrets. Sooner or later I find out everything.”
Avery passed in front of the couch and stood before his mother. Like Iris he fixed a regal stance, arranging his grey dress jacket in place and squaring his shoulders. Confident, he said, “Tell me what you think you know, mother.”
Iris kept calm. She refused to allow her son to see her flustered. “Why are you doing this? It can’t be from the kindness of your heart, because I don’t think you have a heart. Are the slaves that important to you?”
Avery chortled, and with a toothy grin said, “It’s not about the slaves. It’s about power. I’m not blind mother. I’ve been watching you for seventy years. I know how you manipulate and conspire and use the information secretly gathered from ORACLE for your own means. The slaves want freedom and I want chaos. When they think they are strong enough they will fight, and in the mayhem, I will quickly take control – no one will know how it happened. The slaves believe they are getting what they want while in truth, I am getting what I want. Soon everyone will fall into line.”
Iris sat up. She used her weak arms to straighten her. With a ping of pain in her voice, she said, “I don’t understand what you want. When I die you will have everything I have worked for, laid at your feet.”
“That’s just it, mother. I will have what you worked for, not what I worked for. Everyone will say I deserve nothing. When I am done with the bedlam I won’t just control the Watchtower. I’ll control everything, and I’ll control every great family. I’ll have the Orlander security force to back me up, because they will have no other choice.”
Secretly, Iris found Avery’s initiatives inspiring, much like her own ambitions. The steps he took to achieve them were grand, resourceful and against everything she had worked for. Iris still had her own agenda to propagate. She needed Avery to be nothing more than a figurehead in the times to come, but she couldn’t rely on him anymore. She wouldn’t jeopardize her own plans – not even for her son. It hardened her artificial heart to take steps against him, but Iris had no other alternative.
Iris forced herself to her feet, and said, “Captain!”
A half a dozen security men rushed into the apartment. Their silver armor breastplates bore the crescent moon sigil of the family Orlander.
Manhandled, Avery pulled his arm away from one of the guards, and said astonished, “I’m impressed, mother. It seems you and I think alike. Tell me, are they working for you, or are you working for them?”
“There is strength in unity son, I’ve spent my whole life trying to teach you that. It’s a pity you never listened. The Orlanders are allies. They have the strength and we have the knowledge. Sooner or later we will achieve what you foolhardily tried to accomplish in such a short time.”
Avery lunged toward Iris. Anger boiled in his words, and he growled, “What will happen when you die? Who will continue it then, my whore of a sister? Soon enough you will realize that you need me.”
Iris sighed, and shook her head, saying, “That time is passed. Take him.”
Avery fought the security guards when they took hold of him. He pushed free and before they could get a handle on him again Iris saw Avery reached into his pants pocket. She didn’t see the object he pulled out, but when he threw it to the floor she realized, he used a light nullifier. An object used during the last World War on Earth before the migration to space. The nullifier absorbed light for an infinitesimal amount of time. Long enough for Iris to stumbled back and fall. She closed her eyes expecting to land on the floor. Instead she landed in the soft embrace of the couch cushions. She drew a relieved breath. When the black cleared, she saw the puzzled and astounded looks on the faces of the guards.
Avery vanished, gone before the blackness subsided. Her son knew the locations of every watcheye. He understood the Watchtower better than anyone, besides her. Finding him would be next to impossible. Avery wouldn’t be captured, nor would he be found until he wanted to be, no matter how hard Iris tried.
Requiem – Deep Space Between Wormhole Jumps
The Upper Levels – Private Chambers of Da’Mira Tannador
April 19, 2442
Settling into her new life on Requiem came easy for Da’Mira. Life on an exploration ship wasn’t much different than living on a space platform. The hum of the deck plates were the same. The dark of space from the window looked like the dark of space from Earth orbit. Apart from the planet circling into view every thirty minutes she couldn’t tell the difference.
Then Da’Mira remembered the jumps into wormhole space. That came as a shock the first couple of times. Her stomach still hadn’t recovered from them and she didn’t look forward to the next jump in an hour’s time.
To take her mind off it, Da’Mira treated herself to a new coat of body paint. Embellishing on her already green tan, she darkened it with a shade of emerald highlighting her eyes and muscle tone. More flamboyant than her usual color scheme, she paid special attention to her eyes. She wanted to make sure when she spoke to the captain of Requiem that he looked at her eyes and nowhere else. No matter how far mankind move forward, women were always perceived as the fairer sex. She hoped to prove otherwise.
My Own helped Da’Mira dress. The timid girl spoke little since they left Earth and spent a lot of time staring out the windows of the ship. Da’Mira knew she missed home and not just Earth. It wasn’t hard to realize that My Own left family behind. Da’Mira questioned her decision to bring the young girl on the journey and felt selfish for only thinking of her and not what My Own wanted.
Slipping into a white one-piece jumpsuit, Da’Mira zipped the front of the garment. A black belt accompanied the suit and buckled around her thick hips. She pulled on a pair of thigh-high black boots that shined like slick oil.
“What do you think, My Own, am I ready to meet the captain?”
My Own shrugged her shoulders and gave no other response.
Da’Mira sighed. She looked down at the girl and said, “I know you miss your family… I miss mine, too.” That sounded like a lie, but she meant it. “I have a duty to perform and as much as you dislike it, you do too. So, come on.”
Two days on Requiem passed and Da’Mira had yet to see any more of the vessel than her own chambers. She didn’t understand her function as Master of the ship and decided to take matters into her own hands. She wasn’t sure what her brother did during his time on the ship. Knowing Quinton as she did, he did little as possible.
Da’Mira looked at My Own, and told her, “You will accompany me. I feel better with you near me.” Da’Mira saw by the expression on My Own’s face she didn’t believe her. Da’Mira really didn’t need the child to be at her side, but she could imagine how lonely My Own felt. “Let’s make the best of this,” she said in a sympathetic voice. “Neither of us can change what we have to do.”
My Own thinned her lips and turned them up into a slight smile. She rolled her lavender eyes to look at Da’Mira and finally spoke with a timorous voice, said, “Yes Milady.”
Da’Mira returned the smile with one of her own.
Out of her private chambers, Da’Mira and My Own met two uniformed men. They escorted them down an ornate corridor and through a stunning silver archway that led out into a central chamber. The sound of a crystal chime system played a pleasing melody throughout the main terminal. The feel of the chamber reminded Da’Mira of the cathedral in Tannador House, but less cryptic in its design.
A series of twenty separate elevators constructed of glass ran up to the main control deck along an intricate anti-gravity system. The cloud cars used inertial dampeners to travel at a high rate of speed to the upper deck. Impressed, Da’Mira stood in awe. Even My Own looked daunted when they rode up to the command and control deck. The elevator rocketed through the transport tube, the quick journey unnerving – Da’Mira calculated the rate at which they traveled, and she gripped a handle bar tightly.
Origin Expedition Page 17