Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy)

by Mike Smith

  “No, of course not,” Jon stuttered, red faced with embarrassment. “Look, can we go somewhere a little more private to discuss this?”

  Sofia looked at him as if he had just grown a second head, before replying. “If you think I am going anywhere with you, alone, you can think again.” With that she turned her back on him, striding determinedly in the direction of the residential apartments.

  “Sofia, please wait? Give me a minute to explain,” he called, exasperatedly, after her.

  “I have an early start tomorrow,” she called back. “I am an important person now. I am busy and have responsibilities. People depend on me.” However, his next words caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

  “You are just like your father. Always using your responsibility as an excuse. How many times did I hear your father say exactly the same thing?”

  “Don’t you dare speak about my father like that,” she uttered, quietly furious, her hands clenched in fists of rage. “You know nothing about him. While my father had many responsibilities, he always knew what was most important. He never missed a single anniversary, always spared the time to be with me on my birthday and my father always remembered the anniversary of my mother’s death. He was a great man and I will not have you speak ill of him.”

  Jon stopped a few feet in front of Sofia, looking at her with his penetrating grey eyes. “Your father was the Imperial Emperor. He ruled over more than a hundred star systems, billions of people, and he was responsible for them all. Yes, he was a great man but he was not perfect. It was not him that remembered every single one of those occasions that you speak of.”

  Sofia took a step back, suddenly unsure of herself, as if a cornerstone of her life seemed to suddenly tilt and twist erratically. In all the years that she had known this man, he had never lied to her, not once. “But I don’t understand,” she said, confused. “He was there every time I needed him most. He always brought me the most beautiful gifts, knew me better than anybody else alive, except perhaps—” Her voice trailing off as she stared at Jon in a new light. “It was you wasn’t it?” she breathed.

  Jon looked away, suddenly embarrassed, not having meant for her to find out that particular secret. “You are right, your father was a great man,” Jon explained quietly. “But he was only a man and he constantly had the weight of the Empire on his shoulders. I did what I could to help him, to help you, by keeping those days free for him to spend with you.”

  “And all those gifts that he brought me?” she pressed.

  “I gave them to him, to give to you,” Jon confessed. “He would have got them himself. You were the most important thing in his life, but—”

  “—he didn’t have the time,” Sofia finished the sentence for him.

  Jon just nodded resignedly.

  “Then I will consider that the time he spent with me as his gift and the others as having come from you. Thank you for all of those beautiful things.”

  “You are welcome,” Jon replied, his lips upturned in a smile. “Anyway, I cannot take all of the credit, as many of those gifts I enjoyed just as much as you did. I particularly remember that long, backless blue Louvettan-style dress I bought you. I remember thinking you would look beautiful in it.” He reached out to touch her cheek deftly while giving her an achingly sweet smile. “You were more beautiful wearing it than I could have ever imagined.”

  Sofia’s breath caught in her throat, as she observed the way he was gazing at her, as if she were the most precious thing in his world. Making a snap decision, she turned her back on him and took a few steps away. Noticing he had not moved to follow her, she stopped, turning back to face him before offering him her arm. “Aren’t you coming? I thought you said you wanted to talk. My responsibilities can wait, as tonight I suddenly find myself free.”

  *****

  Sarah breezed past yet another armed guard as effortlessly as a breath of fresh air. She made her way deeper into the Senate building, where the offices for the various Senators and their aides were located; a restricted area, and therefore strictly off limits to anybody else—including her. Fortunately there was very little need for her to sneak around, as the body suit she wore refracted all light around her, making her, for all practical purposes, invisible. Not for the first time she had to come to a complete stop as a guard swung around and pinned her with his penetrating stare. Sarah stopped breathing, trying to make herself as still as the wall she was standing in front of. She was absolutely certain the guard could not see her. The suit was the latest model from the research labs of Naval Intelligence.

  It was so secret that very few people, even within Naval Intelligence, knew about it. That was one of the strange paradoxes of working in intelligence circles, where there were even secrets contained within secrets.

  So why was this guard staring directly at her? Standing stock-still Sarah took the opportunity to study him, from his piercing blue eyes, blond hair, fantastic chest and abs, which made her drool at the thought of being manhandled by him as he arrested her for trespassing. What was even more disturbing was that all the guards she passed had been fully alert, almost as if they had been forewarned of her arrival. Furthermore all were prime human male specimens, so much so that it just made Sarah want to linger as she slipped past them. Whatever happened to the bored, half-asleep, chain-smoking, ex-cops that were usually employed in such places? Instead this bunch looked fit, mean, alert and armed to the teeth. They seemed fully capable of starting a small war, and finishing it.

  After several seconds the guard seemed to lose interest and continued on his rounds. But luckily Sarah remained rooted to the spot as, after several steps farther, the guard once again stopped, swinging his gaze in a full three-hundred and sixty degree glance of his surroundings. Confident that nothing seemed to be out of place, he holstered the pistol in his hand and continued on, constantly checking everything and everywhere. Sarah let out the breath she had been subconsciously holding, having almost been caught out by the guard’s manoeuvre.

  Seriously, who were these guys? She had broken into top-secret, illegal research facilities with less trouble than it was taking to make one round of this place.

  Finally arriving at her destination, and after checking that no more super-guards were in sight, she quickly entered the security code supplied by Naval Intelligence to bypass the lock and slipped into the room.

  It only took her a couple of minutes to expertly toss the office, leaving not a single trace of her presence behind, and to discover the information she was looking for was not contained on any datapads littering the office. Hardly surprising, since if you were in the process of committing treason by plotting a military coup against the Confederation, you were unlikely to leave proof lying around. She moved to the wall safe hidden behind the picture of the Senate building. While the safe was an archaic throwback to the past, it was equally as effective as its technological replacements. Sarah cursed quietly as she tried to crack the code; unfortunately this was one code that her superiors had been unable to obtain. It was easier said than done when she could not even see her own hands, as the research labs had yet to invent an invisibility suit that the wearer could see. With a nervous glance around to ensure she was still alone, she powered off the suit. This of course had the unfortunate side effect of no longer refracting the light around her body, leaving her as naked as the day she was born.

  *****

  It was late in the evening when Jon led Sofia from the Senate, the sun having set many hours before. However it was a clear night, with the moon and stars shining brightly, therefore still easy to see by.

  “Where are we going?” Sofia asked nervously. Considering her upbringing she had never sneaked out with a boy before and found the thought of doing so quite exhilarating.

  “We are almost there,” he reassured her, leading her around the building, finally coming to a stop at the beginning of a wide path leading away from the Senate. A wide vista of grass, lakes and magnificent trees spread out before them in
the moonlight.

  “The Senate Park?” she asked in surprise. “I’ve been here occasionally, but only during the day. I hear it’s not entirely safe after dark.”

  Jon looked at her in amusement. “After escaping from traitorous Admirals, fighting off cutthroat mercenaries and actively participating, if not starting, a brawl in a club on Altair, now you are afraid of the dark? Anyway, you are with me and I will keep you perfectly safe. Trust me,” he reassured her.

  In the end it was not armed assailants or hatchet wielding maniacs who thwarted the pair, but something far more mundane—her high-heeled shoes. After catching her for the second time, he stopped and surprised her by dropping to one knee in front of her.

  “Jon?”

  He gently took hold of one of her ankles and, after she put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself, unbuckled the shoe and slipped it off her foot. Sofia sighed as she stepped flat on the thick grass.

  "Oh, that's nice."

  He lifted his chin to look up at her and smiled sensually. Then he tapped her other ankle and she shifted her weight so that he could unbuckle that one as well. With both feet free of her torturous shoes, he stood and picked them up, hooking the back straps over his fingers to carry them at his side.

  By the time he had finished, standing so close to her she could feel the heat radiating from his body in the cool evening air, Sofia was struggling to contain the rush of desire that was pooling inside of her. “Thank you,” she breathed, taking a step closer to him to press herself against his chest. “You were always the most kind, considerate and thoughtful—” She trailed off and stood, open mouthed, as Jon casually tossed both shoes into the lake next to them. Watching helplessly as her favourite pair of shoes disappeared into the dark, still waters to swim with the fishes. “You god damn, arrogant, selfish, son-of-a-bitch. Those were my favourite shoes,” she cried out, completely forgetting her earlier opinion of him.

  “Really you should be thanking me,” he smirked. “They looked like instruments of torture.”

  Giving one final despairing look at where her shoes had sunk into the depths, she turned her angry stare back on Jon. “So now that we are finally alone, what did you want to talk about?”

  “Uh, well you see, I wanted to explain…” Jon trailed off, now that he did finally have her alone, he was unsure what to actually say.

  Recognising his uncertainty, she said, “Why don’t I start off then? As I certainly know what I want to do,” she breathed, leaning into him. “I have dreamed about this for years, ever since your sudden, abrupt departure last time.”

  “You have?” he replied in surprise, observing her eyes darken as she seemed fixated on his lips, her warm breath caressing his face.

  “Oh yes,” she breathed throatily, her lips hovering just over his.

  Jon could not believe his good fortune, as his eyes fluttered shut, leaning forward into the kiss, his body yearning for her touch. Wondering if her lips were just as soft as he remembered…

  The next thing he knew was blinding pain.

  Crying out in shock at the agony emanating from his jaw, he found himself falling backwards to land on the ground. Fortunately the thick grass underfoot absorbed most of the impact. Eyes opening, in stunned disbelief he observed Sofia standing over him, with a self-satisfied grin.

  “I have been dreaming of doing that for years,” she said in satisfaction. “How I long regretted the missed chance and promised myself that if another arose the next time I saw you, I would avail myself of it. I should thank you for the opportunity,” she added.

  “You’re welcome, I think,” Jon muttered, still rubbing his sore jaw, only now remembering that she had a vicious right hook.

  “Now get up. It’s no less than you deserved.”

  “I think I’ll remain here, on the ground. It’s safer,” he retorted.

  “As you wish,” she replied with an unconcerned expression, turning her back on him. “However, as it’s a beautiful night I think I’ll go for a stroll, by myself. Goodbye,” with that she took a few steps away, heading down the path, alone.

  With a startled oath, Jon struggled to his feet, chasing after her. It was only when he finally caught up with her, that a third voice interrupted the pair, halting any further progress.

  “Stop right there, and hand over any valuables you have. Otherwise I will be forced to use this.”

  The bright moonlight reflected off the unmistakable sharp edge of a knife.

  *****

  So intently was Sarah focusing on the contents of the now-opened safe, that she failed to hear the door quietly slide open behind her. It was only the startled intake of breath that alerted her to the intruder. Of course, she used the term intruder lightly, considering it was she who had broken into the office, and most likely the person who had just entered had a perfectly valid and legal reason for being there. Fortunately the sight of her, naked, with her posterior sticking up in the air and her head stuck inside the safe, as she rooted around in its contents, bought her several valuable seconds of time before the intruder had time to react.

  Even then she was fortunate to reach his pulse pistol, as he desperately scrabbled for the weapon at his side. She only just managed to get a hold of the pistol in time to deflect the first shot, which went wide, only just missing her by inches. Even then she could feel the searing heat of the blast as it just missed her face. With a sharp twist of her wrist, the pistol fell from his nerveless grip and Sarah kicked it away.

  Luckily for her, the intruder was not one of the many mountain-sized guards she had passed earlier but, instead, of medium height and slim build, dressed in a dark suit. Had it been one of the security guards, the fight would have been over before it had even properly started.

  Even so she found her attacker looming over her, his six-foot-plus frame far taller than her five-foot-four, and he must have had an additional fifty pounds on her. She only noticed the back of his wrist coming flying out of nowhere at the last second, far too late to avoid it, and her head went flying back with a sharp crack at the force of the blow. The impact stunned her for several seconds and all she could see was stars.

  By the time she had come back to her senses her attacker had made good use of the time and made a grab for his pistol on the floor, several feet away. Knowing she was never going to reach it in time, but trying desperately anyhow, she was still a couple of feet short when he scooped up the pistol in his hand, turned the barrel of the gun on her and depressed the firing stud.

  Sarah screamed in pain as the bright green light engulfed her.

  *****

  Jon spun around in surprise, open-mouthed in disbelief, upon hearing the voice. Squinting, he tried to locate the source of the threat, but could only just make out the vague outline of their assailant, standing concealed in the shadow cast by a tree. Only the blade he held firmly in his grip was clearly visible. “You cannot be serious,” Jon spluttered, cursing his constant string of bad luck.

  Behind him came a bubble of laughter that was quickly cut off as he turned to glare at Sofia. “No laughing,” he admonished. This unfortunately only had the opposite effect as it caused her to burst out in laughter. Even he could not help but smile at the ridiculousness of the situation.

  “I’m sorry. I cannot help it,” Sofia choked out as she laughed. “But you are just a magnet for trouble. For three years I have been perfectly fine on Eden Prime. You arrive and the same day we are getting mugged.”

  “We are not getting robbed,” Jon insisted, ignoring the snort of disbelief coming from Sofia. “Anyway I don’t know how you can accuse me of being trouble. How many times have I been shot, stabbed or threatened with death whenever I’m around you?”

  “Do I need to remind you of Jack Stanton and family on Altair?” Sofia inquired incredulously.

  Whatever else Jon was going to say was interrupted by a growl of frustration from their assailant. “I am sorry to interrupt this lovers’ spat, but I am still here and waiting. Furthermore I am
running on a tight schedule. Now hand over your valuables.”

  “I’m sorry, I left my wallet behind this evening,” Jon remarked sarcastically in return. Turning to face Sofia, his gaze lingering over her figure-hugging scarlet evening dress, he added with an appreciative nod. “You’ll also notice that the lady is hardly concealing any valuables.”

  However, not to be deterred, their attacker’s blade shot out, pointing in the direction of the ring fastened around Sofia’s neck, hanging from a thin silvery chain. In the moonlight it seemed to sparkle with an ethereal light. “That will do nicely and will fetch a fair few credits,” the voice called out from the shadows.

  Sofia shook her head regretfully, the movement causing her hair to glisten in the moonlight. “I don’t think so. It’s a family heirloom and has been in my family for many generations. I’ll keep a hold of it thanks.”

  “What do you value more, the life of your boyfriend here or the ring?”

  Sofia seemed to think about the question for a moment, glancing contemplatively between Jon and the attacker.

  “Well?” he insisted angrily, fast losing his patience with the both of them.

  “I’ll keep the ring, you can have the boyfriend,” Sofia finally decided.

  Jon just rolled his eyes in disbelief. This was his reward for almost a decade of unquestioning service to Sofia and her father? Not to mention saving both their lives—repeatedly. “Darling, perhaps you could bear to be parted with it. Just for a short while?” he asked, his voice dripping with honey.

  Sofia seemed to consider it and, after a long pause, sighed theatrically, replying, “Oh I suppose so. Here,” she lifted her chin to allow him to take a step closer and retrieve the ring.

  Standing in front of her, he dipped his head slightly to get a better view of the clasp holding the necklace in place, taking the opportunity to nuzzle the side of her neck with his nose. He was pleased to observe the small tremors that resulted from this action. “I’ll remember that little quip about giving me up instead of this ring.”