“But you are back now, Mother, and you can save us all.” The older female grasped my hands and held them tightly in hers.
I was beginning to understand what it was they were asking of me. Their entire way of life was under attack. Their culture was a threat to the empire. Simply by existing, they were rebelling. I wiped the tears that slid unbidden down my cheeks. I wasn’t sure that there was anything that I could do to help. But in the struggles of these rebels, I saw the future of my own species. How would humanity survive the Troiken Empire? Would we too be faced with the terrible choice; assimilate or die? The walls felt like they were closing in around me.
“I have to go,” I said, jumping up suddenly. “I promise to come back and hear more stories.” I squeezed her hand and pressed my forehead to hers, breathing in her breath. It was a very Troitek thing to do, but she didn’t seem offended. Nedan bowed slightly and then followed me out.
“Sava?”
“I’m okay,” I lied.
“Do you want to find the Commander?” He wasn’t buying it.
“No, I just need to get back,” I said.
I started walking back to my chambers, my heart pounding in my ears. I wanted to escape, get away from everything. I suddenly felt very confined within the giant mountain structure.
“Sava why are you running?” Nedan’s voice brought me back to my body. I was indeed running, but I felt no fatigue. I wanted to run, to jump and to soar. I kept running.
“Sava!” I could hear the panic in Nedan’s voice, but I was beyond wanting to heed his call.
I felt a buzz beneath my skin as if an electric current was passing through my veins instead of blood. It fed every cell in my body and made the dizzying pace of my sprint even more exhilarating.
I turned a corner, aware that I was glowing again. The sight of me dashing through the corridors shocked many, but I didn’t stop to give them an explanation. I just kept running until I found myself approaching a cliff where a bridge had either been planned or destroyed. I couldn’t tell. But I didn’t stop.
For a split second I thought about how crazy this was. I was going to die. Nothing could survive a fall that steep. I knew it was crazy, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to get away. My legs just kept moving, until finally I lost contact with anything solid—and for a few precious seconds, I was weightless. I spread my arms and closed my eyes as the relief of being free from gravity overcame me. The feeling of falling wasn’t terrifying at all. In fact, it felt peaceful, as if this space between heaven and earth was the place I was meant to be.
I opened my eyes, only to see that I wasn’t falling. I was floating down softly, like a feather on a breeze. It wasn’t flight, exactly. But I could feel invisible currents of air pass over my body. I heard the gasps and whispers of the people as they gathered along the levels to see me floating down. I glowed brighter than I ever did, the nanites working overtime to preserve my life.
Circling up from the dark depths of the mountain came Rakesh, fully transformed, looking magnificent in his dragon form. He didn’t catch me, instead choosing to fly in circles around me as I descended. He kept a close watch on my descent.
By the time I reached the bottom, every able-bodied person had seen me for themselves. Whether I liked it or not, I’d just confirmed my role in their mythology. I was the Great Mother, goddess incarnate, and savior to the people. I climbed onto Rakesh’s back and allowed him to fly us back to our new home. Once inside, Nedan and another rebel stood watch outside of the door.
It took Rakesh several moments to regain his humanoid form. But once he did, I had only one question for him.
“What do we call our people, Rakesh? Our people need a name.”
Chapter Six
We all sat around the monitors, watching. We were now two newly minted peoples, joined under one flag. The Kearney and the Et’em, the people of Thano Mountain. Rakesh and I watched as our peoples stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the two captives appear on screen. They were thinner than we’d expected but seemed otherwise unharmed.
Meck hung his head as we listened to the Crown “welcome” them home. He’d been doing what he did best, getting to know the power players on Thano, and testing the climate among the Troitek. Rakesh had sent him on several secret missions to meet with sympathizers in the government. He seemed worn out, and the sight of the captured crew members impacted him heavily.
“Don’t worry. We’re almost ready. We’ll bring them home,” I said to Meck softly.
“It’s their honor and duty to die for the Commander. That’s not a concern,” he said fiercely.
“Then what?”
“I just realized, Sava, that we have been wrong. We assumed that the Crown wanted us dead.”
“The Crown didn’t order the roundups?” I looked up at Rakesh, who seemed unsurprised by the thought.
“I thought it might be so. This is only a confirmation, but it changes nothing,” he said stoically.
“Not the Crown? You mean the Council, then? If the Council ordered the round-up, then why is the Crown doing this?”
“It’s a message, Little Flame. They are trying to sway us to their side by protecting the two captives,” he said softly, stroking my hair possessively.
I leaned back against his warmth and watched as the whole grotesque farce played out on the screens. The King and Queen took turns making proclamations about the appearance of the Red Dragon, the triumphant return of the crew of the Chronos, and the future of the empire.
“So now what?”
“Now we go and get our people,” Nedan said, turning and exiting the hall where we had gathered.
In the few short weeks since my “flight”, he’d become more and more serious, but no less loyal. He was the first one to declare himself both a Kearney and an Et’em. He was both a Troitek defector and one of the Seed Carriers, a child of the mountain. Even in this new blossoming world order, he was a bridge between two worlds. On his uniform, he'd replaced the empire’s insignia with my family’s coat of arms, and a new symbol from the ancient Trill language that meant Et’em, seed carrier.
Within days the two symbols seemed to be everywhere as people openly declared their identities. And I had become part of the life here in the mountain. I visited Naini Ma frequently to hear the oral history of the people of Thano Mountain, the Trill, and the long-forgotten ways of the ancient Troitek. I slowly began to embrace the new symbols and the new order of things. Even P’tah began to wear the Kearney coat of arms on her lab jackets.
“There isn’t much I can do for them medically. But I can help with the agriculture. Growing crops in white and yellow light is something that humans know very well. Lucky, I am this planet’s foremost authority on Earth,” she said, dropping off another supply of strangely colored food.
“They let you keep that research?”
“Let me? They couldn’t take it from me, Sava. I am a lot of things, but I am no fool. Those scavengers would’ve picked my research clean and tried to pass it off as their own. I’m no idiot,” she said.
“No, you’re not.”
“But you are,” she said with a smile. “I heard about your little fall. I don’t know how your little friends managed to save you, but there is no running from it now, Sava. You are Thorni Mai, now and forever.”
“I don’t know what happened, either. I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to jump. Even though I thought I would die, I needed to jump.”
She observed me silently for a few moments before speaking.
“When our young reach a certain age, they become impulsive. Usually, they are sent out into the wilderness to camps to learn to control those impulses.”
“Sounds like puberty,” I snorted.
“Yes, that is it. But this part of life is a time when our young discover the limits of their abilities. Perhaps you are experiencing the same phenomena. Your body has undergone massive changes, even though your basic form remains the same. Perhaps your body, and your nanites, are running tests
to see just how far you can go before you injure yourself. Testing the limits,” she hypothesized.
“Wait… you’re saying I should be prepared for more impulses to do insane things?”
“Hormonal fluctuations,” she added.
“Nice. More supernatural sexy time,” I chuckled.
She rolled her eyes and licked her teeth with disgust.
“That’s the other thing. There has been an outbreak of conjugal urges among the Kearney.”
“So?”
“So, it’s not natural. You should have a talk with them about proper reproductive etiquette to avoid injuries and the breakdown of unit cohesion.”
“You mean like consent and safe sex?”
“No, I mean you need to explain how to contain those urges. I caught two Kearney rutting like animals in a dark corner just a few risings ago.”
“Were they both having fun?”
She stared at me as if she didn’t understand the question.
“What about the Et’em—are they also rutting?”
“They have always done things that way. But they are seeking to revive a coupling tradition, long dead except among the most devout.”
“Which is?”
“Some sort of lifelong mating ritual.” She came and sat beside me, her tail curling around her body.
“And that bothers you?”
“Mating with only one partner doesn’t ensure optimal genetic diversity. Several offspring from the same two parents are genetically unique, but not as unique as offspring from several different pairings. Considering how small the genetic sample size is here, it doesn’t seem like the best idea to have such a thing become widespread.”
“What you are talking about is called a marriage. And humans have been practicing it in one form or another for millennia.”
“But most of your marriages were polygamous. One male with several females, or one female who mated with several males over her lifetime. The kind of mating that they are hoping to revive is more permanent. One male and one female mating for life.” Her distress was real.
“This genuinely bothers you?”
“It’s not good science,” she growled, her teeth clicking together as she talked.
“I won’t tell the Kearney not to rut. Nor will I tell the Et’em not to marry. But I will give them a little advice about how to handle those situations.”
“But—”
I held up my hand to silence her.
“This isn’t the Troitek way, but here on Thano, I think we are going to have to find our own ways. What makes the Troitek ‘weak’ may be the thing that makes us strong.”
She didn’t look satisfied, and I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t very convinced myself, but I was learning to have faith that everything would work out well. I had no other choice.
A commotion outside interrupted our conversation. I pulled on the blue and green coat duster that had become my uniform and grabbed my blades. As soon as we opened the door, Meck came running over to us.
“Sava, we caught one of theirs! Nedan did! He caught a Crown courtesan!”
“Caught?”
“He’s bringing the female here to you,” Meck said excitedly.
“For what?”
“She probably has a message to deliver,” P’tah said lazily. “They’d never allow one of their precious females out of the palace unless it was to deliver a message. I wonder who she pissed off to receive this kind of assignment?”
I ignored her snarky attitude and peered down the corridor. People lined the path, straining to get a look at one of the royal Troitek whose strange coloring and unique breeding set them apart. I had expected them to attack her, or at least hiss and jeer. Nothing of the sort happened. Instead she was led towards me, hands bound, head high, met by complete silence and unassuming stares. It could have been worse, but I still felt sorry for her. I knew what it was like to be observed like a zoo animal.
When she drew near, I could see a bruise forming on her right cheek.
“Did you do this?” I asked Nedan.
“Sha attacked me first,” he offered.
“Did you?”
The female remained silent but lifted her head in defiance.
“He is my bodyguard. An attack on him is like an attack on me. If he were your Queen’s bodyguard, what would be the punishment?”
“Death.” She didn’t flinch as she said it.
“Good. So now we know what the alternative is. If you want to live, please deliver your message and answer my questions truthfully.” My words were kind, but my voice carried none of the accompanying warmth. It was a threat, and she knew it.
“In front of all of these people?”
Her disdain for the Et’em was palpable. They were worse than common Troitek in her eyes. They were mixed species, the result of unchecked and unregulated mating. Freaks and defects.
P’tah growled low behind me, lip quivering with her anger. The courtesan’s eyes grew wide with fear, but she didn’t shrink away. She was well trained.
“Come inside and deliver your message,” I said, stepping in front of P’tah and ushering the female inside. I turned to P’tah who was seething with hostility and pulled her face toward mine. “Find your brother.”
She nodded once and then ran away.
I locked the door behind us and gave Nedan a nervous glance. I wasn’t sure what to think, but he seemed confident, which put me at ease. I walked over to the female, still clothed in white, along with a burgundy traveling cloak. I kicked her legs out from under her and put her on her knees.
“Speak,” I ordered, ignoring her gasp.
“The Queen would like for you to know that the two crew members are in good health and are receiving medical attention. She would also like for you to know that her ability to keep them alive is limited.”
“And? She is the Queen, after all. If she can’t keep them alive, then how am I supposed to help them?”
“Come now, human. Must I spell it out for you?” She looked exasperated as she spoke. The whole time, her eyes never stopped darting around the room.
“Maybe. I’m only human; I can’t be expected to understand the ways of the great Troitek Empire.”
“She is trying to help you. Our Queen is not your enemy. The Council is.”
“I don’t know about that. The King didn’t seem to be too excited to see me either.”
“The King is a fool. Everybody knows that. Even he knows it. He can be contained. But the Queen cannot contain the King and fend off attacks from the Council.”
“So why doesn’t she just release them?”
The courtesan looked at me suspiciously, unsure if I was as dumb as I seemed, or trying to trick her into giving up answers. I drew my blade and pressed it to her throat. A single, sticky line of blood oozed down her neck.
“She can’t. There are limits even to what the Queen can accomplish,” she said reluctantly. “I have been sent to help you to plan the rescue of your people.”
There was a knock at the door behind me. I heard Nedan move to open it, and then a loud bang as whoever was on the other side of it came crashing in.
The courtesan’s eyes lit up with excitement, but I didn’t take my eyes from her face. I knew, unless it were Rakesh, Nedan wouldn’t allow anybody to get close enough to harm me.
“You want us to plan a prison break and get our people back? How do I know this isn’t just a trick? Maybe the Crown wants us to rush in to save two of our own and then trap us all. How do I know your Queen is sincere? How do I know that you aren’t a liar?”
“Because if she fails, she and all of her bloodline will die as well,” Puva said, approaching slowly.
“How do you know?” I kept the blade to the female’s throat.
“I know because those are the palace rules. She isn’t just some lackey from the court. She is one of the Queen’s personal attendants. She can’t go anywhere without permission from the Queen. Being out of the palace like this means that she is co
nsidered contaminated. If she returns without fulfilling her mission, they will rid themselves of the contamination by eliminating her and any offspring that she has. Palace attendants don’t care anything about family, but they care very deeply about legacy. To have your legacy eliminated like that would be devastating. One might even risk their life to protect it.”
Puva moved into my line of sight slowly, with her hands out. Her tail hung ominously high in the air, showing her fear and concern.
I looked over to Nedan, who was watching the whole scene play out. He looked almost bored.
“What do you think?”
“I think that her story checks out. The word is that somebody wants every member of the Chronos dead,” Nedan said.
“So what do we do with her? We can’t send her back,” I asked.
“Release her into my custody, Sava,” Puva begged. Her eyes danced with a secret delight. Making me suspicious
“You know this female?”
“I do. Her name is Mora, and she is the daughter of one of the Queen’s advisors.” Puva’s normally light pink skin turned a darker shade and then I understood.
“You are lovers.” I’m not sure why the concept surprised me.
“We have been,” Puva said.
“And does she love you?”
All eyes turned to the kneeling female.
“She is special to me,” Mora said softly, but it was clear that it was deeper than that.
“Good. Puva, I am putting you in charge of her. If she even breathes out of place I will kill her and you, together,” I said.
“Yes, Sava,” she said, bowing low. I spied their two tails intertwine gently from the corner of my eye but pretended not to notice or to care.
I knew I could never bring myself to kill Puva for something somebody else did, but Mora didn’t. As soon as the two left my chambers, Nedan began to smile.
“I will interrogate her and see if her information matches up with what we got from the Council,” he said slyly.
A Pet For The Commander: The Complete Series Page 24