For Duty (Antaran Legacy Book 1)

by Matthew C. Plourde

  Prisca squeezed her sister’s hand and said, “Listen, be careful out there. I don’t know what my world would be like without you in it.”

  Helena blinked away her tears and said, “You too, my sister.”

  Chapter 27

  “Really?”

  “Try to control your emotions, sister,” Helena said.

  Terentia straightened herself and said, “Thank you for choosing me for this mission. I will succeed!”

  Memories of raising her from an infant to a young woman threatened to consume Helena. The youngest of the Antaran daughters had a most open and caring heart – something their mother strived to place in all of them. Love and acceptance came easily to Terentia. Her heart knew no limits.

  Keeping her feelings for her sister from overwhelming her consciousness, Helena glanced at the harp in the corner of the room and said, “Were you playing?”

  “This morning, yes. It calms my mind,” Terentia said. Then, she held her datapad aloft. “I’ve been studying though! Don’t think me lax.”

  “Dear Terentia, you should have been able to sense that I knew you were not abandoning your duties. You need to remain vigilant and alert, especially while talking with the Humans,” Helena said as she moved to the harp. “It is the only way you will succeed.”

  Terentia bit her lip and said, “I’m sorry, sister.”

  “Apology accepted,” Helena said as she sat and strummed the strings. “There’s no room for error while you are aboard your ship, surrounded by Humans. Remember that.”

  Terentia kneeled next to her sister and said, “I’ll not forget your words.”

  As Helena tested the tune and resistance, she sensed her sister’s troubles. “You are fearful of failure,” Helena said. “That is something we all must reconcile before we depart for Terra.”

  “I know,” Terentia said. “Everything’s just been so serious around here lately.”

  “Of course it has,” Helena said, suppressing the urge to hold her sister in her arms and tell her everything was going to be alright. Now wasn’t the time to treat her like a child. She needed to become a woman.

  Helena played a tune on the harp and allowed the math of the music to flow through her fingers. Though she preferred the smaller string instruments, the harp held a special place in her heart. Her mother trained her on the harp, and Helena had taught Terentia.

  When the last of the notes faded into the walls, Terentia said, “You’re still better than me at this… at everything. You are all so skilled and perfect. Am I really ready?”

  “That is what I am here to test,” Helena said. “But first, know this – you are greater than us all, Terentia. I sense tremendous potential within you. We all sense it. Mother gave you a gift before she passed on and you will learn to master it far beyond even Valeria’s vaunted skill. Trust in yourself. The delicate time where you could afford doubt has passed you, my sister. Now is the time for strength and action – we will see if you are ready.”

  Helena sensed her sister’s hesitation. Terentia had planned to finally ask a question which had haunted her since her birth. She struggled with the words in her mind for a few moments and Helena allowed her to work though her pain.

  Finally, Terentia asked, “What was mother like?”

  Since her birth, Terentia carried the guilt of her mother’s death. The circumstances of her birth tormented her. After all those years, she now found the strength to face her guilt with courage and dignity. Terentia had never before broached the subject of their mother.

  Helena smiled and allowed Terentia to curl up against her side. “I’m more than happy to tell you about mother,” she said. “Safe and warm when we were children, she was our world. She taught us what it meant to be an Antaran, but she did this through example rather than instruction. A day did not pass without mother engaging the people in some way - a speech, a visit to a place that needed hope, and many other selfless gifts of her time and energy. She was as much a force on this planet as the winds and plants.”

  “And she taught you how to harness our mental discipline?”

  Helena nodded. “More than that, she showed us how to weave that ability into our unique personalities. Claudia is in tune with all things in nature. Valeria has gone as far as to be able to control the actions of others. Prisca has a deep understanding of the physical and stellar sciences. Justina is spiritual to a degree I cannot even begin to comprehend. Marcella can soothe a crowd. And you combine all of these elements into a dynamic balance. We’re all proud of you and your potential.”

  “You mentioned a test?” Terentia said as her young eyes searched her sister for a clue. “How will I know if I’m ready?”

  “We do not tell you about the test, because mother believed this is something that should not be studied for,” Helena said. “You are either ready or you are not ready.”

  “What is the test?” Terentia asked.

  Helena sat in front of her sister and locked their eyes together. “It is a test of mental discipline. Mother gave the test to me and now I give it to you. Clear your mind and prepare yourself, my sister. This will not be easy.”

  After invading Terentia’s mind, Helena trapped her in a virtual landscape of bleak sand and a dark sky. She sped time so hours in the real world translated to years in Terentia’s dream world. She stripped everything away from her sister and watched her struggle to find an end to the desolation.

  For weeks in the dream, Terentia meditated. She slowed her body’s metabolism to a near halt and attempted to find the spark of life by reaching her mind out across the wasteland. To Terentia, this world was her life. Helena supplanted Terentia’s memories with a blank slate, leaving only her core personality and instinct.

  Terentia found life miles to the east. Before she struck out, she mined the collective thoughts of nearby ant colonies to find sources of water.

  Exhausted and near death, Terentia arrived at the desert settlement. The people there took her in and Terentia found work as a tailor. As she lived this pseudo-life, she realized the oppression of the sultan when he came and took all the young women as slaves, Terentia included.

  This was the part of the dream where each sister had taken their own path. Helena had enlisted the aid of a rival nation when her mother gave her the test. Though she wasn’t certain how Valeria reacted when their mother tested her, Helena assumes Valeria killed the sultan in cold blood and assumed ruler ship. Prisca became the sultan’s vizier and made the dream world a better place for the inhabitants. Justina brought religion to them and established the first churches. Marcella seduced the sultan and he made her his bride. After that, a simple poisoning ensured she could govern free of the sultan’s interference. Claudia dutifully assumed her role as harem concubine and appealed to the sultan’s mother to dethrone the sultan. Then, Claudia served as the advisor to the new ruler of the dream world.

  Now, it was Terentia’s turn.

  Helena watched as her sister suffered in the harem and eventually became the sultan’s favorite. Through the years, Terentia discovered a softness in the sultan stemming from his troubled youth. She carefully helped the sultan realize that part of his personality and he became a beloved ruler.

  Stunned at Terentia’s approach, Helena allowed the dream to continue farther than she had in the past. She marveled at her sister’s infinite compassion and ability to see the kindness in any heart.

  Then, Helena slowly pulled the veil of the dream away and allowed her sister to sleep after the marathon test.

  She had passed. Though her mother never revealed if there was a right and wrong way to conquer the dream, Helena believed that Terentia had “solved” it. Nobody was killed, the people’s core values weren’t changed, and everyone prospered internally and externally.

  Terentia was the greatest of them all and Helena stroked her sister’s hair until she awoke several hours later.

  At first, the youngest sister was confused. She was expecting to awake in her bed at the sultan’s palac
e an old woman. Instead, she looked into the strange face of her sister. The worlds slowly divided in her mind and Helena watched as her sister sorted things out in her mind. She had now lived two lives and that realization was taking hold in her heart.

  “H-Helena…?”

  Helena nodded. “I’m here, my sister.”

  “I… I-“

  “Take some time,” Helena said. “Most of us meditated for days afterwards. I can return when you call me.”

  “No,” Terentia said. “I don’t need time. I think I understand.”

  Helena watched Terentia reconcile everything from inside her mind. Though it would take time to incorporate everything into the Antaran Terentia, Helena sensed her sister would succeed.

  Could she send Terentia into battle? Could she risk losing their future? Now Helena realized why her father resisted involving Terentia in the war. And now it was too late to change the plan and also ensure success.

  Chapter 28

  Helena returned to space before she felt like she had a chance to catch her breath. The seven daughters of Agreios were whisked to Terra where they were formally received by Human diplomats.

  “This is absurd,” Valeria said. “We should be preparing for war, not prancing around in our gowns at a ball.”

  Helena was once again in the crystalline Human Grand Banquet Hall. The battleships had been returning home since the Antaran princesses arrived on Terra. Now, to celebrate their new allies and repair their image, the Human Council decided to organize a ball to honor the aliens.

  “Marcella is having a good time,” Terentia said, pointing to the dance floor.

  Indeed, Marcella was the center of attention as always. Her gown flowed magically as she twirled around the Human men. Helena noticed a few unsavory looks from shunned wives and girlfriends.

  She also noticed Admiral Stugardt approach them with a wide smile on his face.

  “We didn’t put this together so you could stand to the side and watch,” Stugardt said as he brought his wife forward. “This is my wife, Nadine.”

  Nadine smiled and said, “My, you are an impressive group of women.”

  “I am pleased to see you again, Nadine,” Helena said as she bowed her head. “Allow me to present my sisters – Valeria, Justina, Claudia, Prisca, Terentia. And Marcella is dancing with, well, several men at the moment.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you all,” Nadine said.

  “If you don’t mind, my dear,” Stugardt said, “I’d like to ask the Lady Helena for this next dance.”

  “Mind?” Nadine said. “Please, go. It’ll give me a moment to get acquainted with these lovely women.”

  Stugardt led Helena to the dance floor and demonstrated the steps to the current dance.

  “Oh, this is quite simple,” Helena said.

  “So, are you ready for tomorrow?”

  “The war council?” Helena said. “Yes. I think the plan is a wise one.”

  “You know, I’ve never met anyone quite like you,” he said.

  “Why thank you, Admiral.”

  “That stunt you and Nadine pulled took some guts. I didn’t think they’d back down.”

  “Well, they still haven’t, not completely,” Helena said. “Agent Rowe continues to shadow my movements on the Jupiter and here on Terra.”

  “Once things get in motion, I’m sure they’ll reassign him,” Stugardt said.

  “Ahem,” a voice said from behind Helena. Without turning, Helena knew the speaker was Captain Nathan Connor. Though she kept her distance from him while onboard the Jupiter for the return trip to Terra, Helena’s heart soared with jubilation in response to his proximity.

  “Admiral, you can’t monopolize all the beautiful alien princesses,” Nathan said.

  “There’s five more over there,” Stugardt said.

  “I saw this one first,” Nathan said, interposing himself between Helena and Stugardt.

  “Take good care of her,” Stugardt said as he wandered back towards Helena’s sisters.

  “How is the evening finding you, My Lady?” Nathan said as he stepped in tune to the music and smoldered her heart with his beautiful, brown eyes.

  “Quite well, thank you, Captain.”

  “Nathan,” he said. “Remember? When we’re not on the bridge of the Jupiter, call me Nathan.”

  “I’m sorry. Your rules of propriety still perplex me.”

  “May I call you, ‘Helena’?”

  Helena spun under his arm and returned to his dancing embrace. “No, you may not.”

  “What about ‘Princess?’”

  Helena allowed a smile to escape and she said, “Please, no!”

  “Lady Helena it is, then,” Nathan said.

  After a few moments of uncomfortable silence she said, “Why do you stare at my face?”

  “I’m just trying to remember that time I saw you without your facial markings,” Nathan said. “That was a while ago.”

  “I guess,” Helena said, sensing his desperation and need to reveal his feelings for her. However, he held back.

  “I’ve been thinking about our time on Caledonia…” he said.

  “Yes?” she said as she found strength in her sisters. His charm was easier to resist under their watchful eyes.

  “I… I just had a great time with you, that’s all,” he said as he angled his head to the side. “I see you still wear the globes we found in that shop?”

  Helene touched the glowing orbs with her fingertips and said, “I do love them. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure, Lady Helena.”

  The song ended and everyone on the dance floor clapped for the band. Councilor Durgess stood at the microphone and waited for the noise to subside.

  “Honored guests, senators, distinguished friends, and my fellow councilors,” Durgess said, “we are pleased to welcome the daughters of Emperor Agreios to Terra.”

  The room erupted into applause as everyone searched out the painted faces of the aliens. Helena sensed a great deal of excitement from the crowd. She also sensed a disapproving stare from Valeria.

  “Tonight we raise our glasses in respect to our new allies from Antares. May our friendship stand the test of time and may our walls hold strong. To the daughters of Antares!”

  “Here! Here!”

  The Humans raised their glasses and drank to Helena and her sisters. Human customs were so strange. The music resumed and Nathan led the seven sisters to their table. Throughout the evening politicians, scientists, and military officers came to the table to greet and talk with the sisters.

  Then, Admiral Stugardt appeared at Helena’s side and said, “We have an emergency. The Proxans attacked one of our planets a few hours ago. We just received word.”

  As the news spread, the party dispersed. Helena and Stugardt were transported by aircar to the Human High Command. Inside the bowels of the secure building, admirals and officers scurried from screen to screen and into meeting rooms. Helena found the man in command of all Human forces in his command chair reviewing a datapad.

  “Well, I guess we do this a day early,” Admiral Leighton said as he pushed aside his work and examined Helena in her royal gown.

  Helena studied the main holographic tactical display and the many monitors in the war room. The Proxans attacked, with great force, a Human planet that has served as a staging point for mining preparation of the second tellium star.

  “I think they know,” Helena said.

  “Know what?” Leighton asked.

  Stugardt interjected and said, “She was the one who captured the Proxan spy and she has kept the location of Beta a secret.”

  “Well, now everyone knows,” Admiral Leighton said.

  “This doesn’t change things,” Helena said. “Are the communication stations in place?”

  Admiral Leighton nodded. “Yes. We have everything ready to go. We haven’t activated them yet and so far the Proxans haven’t discovered them.”

  “Good,” Helena said as she activated the laser
pointer. “We should move with haste. The Jupiter is ready to go. We should send her to deal with this immediate Proxan threat.”

  “There are reports of two Proxan battleships in that area,” Admiral Leighton said. “We should send three of our battleships. I already gave the order to prep the Jupiter, the Saturn, and the Nova.”

  Helena pointed to a location in Proxan space. “No. The rest of the fleet should begin their assault here. Claim this system and setup a communication station. From there, strike out as we planned to disable communications along this line. They won’t be prepared for this kind of assault. Not this quickly.”

  “With all due respect, the Jupiter is no match for two Proxan battle fleets,” Leighton said.

  Stugardt stepped forward and said, “Not to disagree with you, sir, but you are talking to the Jupiter’s two tactical advisors. I’ve seen the lady in action and I’m more than happy to go to battle with her against most any odds. I think once the Proxans hear about the major advance into their space, they’ll not stick around for long.”

  “Exactly,” Helena said. “Once we’re done there, we’ll rejoin the fleet, activate all the communication stations and resume the attack plan.”

  Admiral Leighton studied the holo-display and said, “Very well. You two better get moving.”

  Stugardt looked at Helena’s gown and said, “We could use a quick change, as well.”

  Helena changed into a plain Human jumpsuit, attached her “advisor” insignia and tied her hair into a high pony tail. As she painted her Gima tattoos across her face, she imagined her sisters performing the same motions before boarding their ships.

  Now she was truly alone. Duronius was safe on Antares, back with his daughter and family. Helena’s sisters were scattered to their various ships. Their people waited in their homes unaware of the emperor’s plot.

  Helena again wondered if they had made the right decision. Queen Galeria’s gamble worked, so the Archives remember her has a hero. What if they failed? Would the Archives remember Helena and her sisters as villains? Would there be anyone left on Antares to remember the tale of the seven daughters of Agreios and their secret plot against the Humans and Proxans?