by K. L. Bone
“What?”
I looked around the room and took several deep breaths. My racing heart began to slow. “How far are we from the rendezvous point?”
“Twenty minutes. I was coming to wake you.”
I took a few more deep breaths. “Thank you. I am going to take a shower and prepare for the meeting. Please inform Lord Kasar to be ready to accompany me within the hour.”
“Yes, my Lady. They would like to know if you want more ships to head to this location as well?”
I paused for a moment and then replied, “No, that won’t be necessary. Between my and Lord Kasar’s fleet, we have more than enough firepower to deal with the situation.”
Darin left to inform Lord Kasar of my orders. I took quick shower before once again donning my formal robe. I pulled the top of my hair back with a ruby clip that matched the burgundy robe just enough for my golden earrings to be visible within my jet black curls. I added a golden chain with a delicate gold cross that held a single diamond in the center. The last piece to the attire was the golden ring that, as always, glistened in the dim light of the fire. I touched the ring gently, “It was given to my sister when she saved the life of a young woman,” Kavra’s voice echoed through my head. “Now I want you to have it.”
“My Lady,” Darin interrupted my thoughts.
“I’m coming,” I replied. I turned and exited the room, Darin following a few steps behind me. I entered one of the main communication rooms where Lord Kasar and Councilor Revdran awaited me.
“Computer,” I said, “open communications with Lord Kavra’s ship.” Once again a shimmer ran throughout the room and I found myself facing Commander Jones.
“Commander,” I said. “As you can see, we have brought ships.”
“Yes,” he stated, “but not in the required condition.”
“Let me explain what is going to happen, Commander. One of my ships is being cleared as we speak. When the total evacuation is completed, shields will be dropped and you will be allowed to scan to ship to ensure that all personal have been removed. When you agree that the ship is in fact, empty, you and I shall meet face to face upon it. We will each be allowed two honor guards to accompany us to the meeting. There and only there, will we discuss the finer points of your demands. I will see you in thirty minutes.” I cut communications before he could reply.
“I hope you know what you are doing,” my fellow Councilor replied.
“The Empress always knows,” Lord Kasar replied with a cheshire cat grin.
A half hour later I was facing the commander again, only this time it was in the flesh. We met in a living room on a side ship belonging to Lord Kasar. The walls were of course, dark and a large fireplace burned behind us. Two large couches stood facing each other and I took a seat, sinking into the soft pillows as I motioned for the other men to do the same. They looked slightly surprised at the setting, as though they had expected a baron room with uncomfortable chairs.
Commander Jones and sub-commander Taylor took their seats beside another man with dirty blonde hair and pale green eyes. “Welcome to the ship of Lord Kasar,” I began. “May I ask the name of your third companion, commander?”
“This is sub-commander Burns,” he replied.
“May I offer any of you refreshments? Some tea, or perhaps a nice glass of wine?”
The commander looked startled. “No,” he replied.
“Some water then?”
“No, thank you,” he refused again.
“Well I do believe I am going to. Lord Kasar, would you mind opening a bottle of wine? I know you have some behind the bar.”
“Certainly, my Lady,” Lord Kasar replied. “I even have your favorite.”
“Good.” We waited as Lord Kasar opened the bottle. “Computer, how about something classical to listen to? Something from Earth. Mozart, perhaps?” I glanced at Commander Jones, “unless of course, you have something else you would prefer?”
“No,” he said softly. “Mozart is fine.”
The music began to play softly in the background. “There, isn’t that better?”
No one replied as Lord Kasar walked forward and handed me a glass of wine. He also poured a glass for himself and Councilor Revdran. “Thank you,” I said. “Are you sure you and your men won’t join us, Commander Jones? I assure you it is an excellent vintage.”
“No, thank you.” Commander Jones replied again. Then he said, “Look, what is going on here?”
I took a sip of the red wine, allowing the sweet smell of cherry and oak to fill my senses before gently placing the glass on the small table to my left. “Well, gentlemen, I was hoping that we could enjoy the evening for a while first, but since you seem to insist upon business, I am willing to oblige.”
“I believe that would be best,” the commander replied. “I do not understand why our demands have not been met.”
I gave a soft laugh that ended in a sigh. “It is because they are not going to be met, Commander.”
Silence followed, as though no one in the room had understood what I said. The silence lasted for almost a full minute before Commander Jones said, “What?”
“Okay, gentlemen, let me inform you what is going to happen. You have two choices, and only two. The first choice is that you will order your men off of the Setian ship immediately. You will re-enter your own ships and run as far as you can. You will be given twenty-four hours with which to pass through our Empire safely. At the end of the twenty four hours, you will once again be considered as much a threat as any other ship.”
“What!” the commander said. “Do you not understand? I will kill everyone on those ships we have taken, at least two of which have been identified as Setian Lords! I will kill them…”
“Option two,” I cut in. “Is that you refuse to leave the ship in which case, you and all of your men will die.” Silence followed again. “Oh forgive me, if you wish to join the Empire, you are always welcome to do that as well. Any number of Setian’s would be proud to share the mind of the commander who managed to capture one of our esteemed Lords.” I took another sip of the wine. “Are you sure you don’t want some, it truly is…exquisite.”
“Are you not understanding?” Commander Jones asked in disbelief. “I will kill them.”
“No, Commander, it is you who fails to understand. Those men are proud to die in service to their Empire. They will die with full forgiveness and shall travel from this realm to one of eternal glory.” I touched the golden cross hanging from my neck. “To heaven, if you will.”
Several moments of silence followed. Commander Jones cleared his throat. “And what would your men say if they knew you were willing to throw their lives away so casually?”
I leaned forward and stared into the commander’s eyes. “Those men will say they are honored to die for the Empire.” I lowered my voice slightly. “They will die for honor. They will die for glory. They will die for me.”
“You?” the commander asked in an almost haunted voice. “Who are you?”
Jones was about my age, but staring into his wide eyes, he seemed decades younger. “Chrissalynn Dehartra Kasar,” I finally replied, “a Lady of the Setian Empire.”
“May,” his voice was only a bare whisper. “May I ask you a question, Lady Dehartra?” He seemed younger with every word, panic slowly filling his eyes. “What…if you were human and had captured a Setian ship, what would you have done?”
I stood from my chair and walked towards the bar where the open bottle of wine sat. I grabbed a new glass from the cabinet and filled it halfway. I walked back to the sofa and placed the crystal glass in front of the captain.
“Have a drink with me, Mr. Jones, and I will answer your question.” I touched our glasses together and we both took a sip of the wine. After a moment to savour the taste, I placed my glass down on the table beside me and turned back to the captain.
“If I were you?” He nodded. I thought for a moment and then answered, “If I were human and had come upon a Setian ship
and had managed to take control. I would have immediately killed everyone on board, wiped the computer’s memory, taken the ship, and then proceeded to run to the nearest hiding place I could find, hoping that I had not killed someone important enough to send the entire Empire after me. That’s what I would have done, commander.”
“The Lorids,” he replied, “warned me that making demands was pointless.”
“And they would have been correct. They are a wise species, you were ill-advised to ignore their warnings.”
He leaned towards me slightly and whispered, “You would honestly let them all die, wouldn’t you?”
“I never lie about death, and I will pull the trigger myself if needed.” My voice was soft, the statement a simple matter of truth. “In fact, should you choose to live, the first thing I will do is order the execution of the pilot who failed to evade you. He will die in shame and, in our belief system, be sent to a type of hell for his crimes.”
“Wait,” the captain said. “I thought death forgave your kind?”
“Only if they die by your hand in service to a Setian cause. If they die by execution, they go to hell instead.” Silence followed as I finished my glass of wine. “Come now, captain. The decision isn’t that hard. Death, life, or infestation.... all you have to do is choose and I will take care of the rest.”
“I could just order this ship blown up,” the naïve man said. “We would both die.”
“You can’t,” I replied.
“Oh, yes…”
“No!” I cut him off. “First, because you have shown your fear. Second, because you are human,” I said the word as though it were something dirty, “and it is not the human way. Third, I choose this ship because it has the best shielding in all the Empire. There is no known technology that can break through Lord Kasar’s shields.”
I gave him a pitying glance. “The attack will be harmless, the ship your men are on will be destroyed and all your men will die. Now, are we done with idol threats?”
A heartbeat of silence followed, then the captain nodded. “Now this is what is going to happen. Choose one of your two assistants and send them back to the ship. A task force of my guards will accompany them. When all of your men have been removed from the ship and it has been confirmed that you killed no one after our initial conversation, then and only then will your men be allowed to leave. Twenty-four hours of safe passage will be granted to your ship.”
“And if anyone has been killed?” the captain asked.
“If I were you, Captain, I would pray they have not. Computer,” I said, “open communication to the captured ship.” I turned to the young humans as the image appeared before us. “You’re up. Choose your words wisely.”
He talked to the man on the opposite side of the image, instructing him to allow our people on board and to follow our directive. The other human questioned him, to which Commander Jones replied, “If we want to live, we have to do this!” The blond on the captain’s right rose to lead our Setian team.
“A last piece of advice,” I said when the communications were cut. “Kill the man who questioned you. Next time no one will.”
Twenty minutes later, all of their people had disembarked from Lord Kavra’s ship. Commander Jones and I were still sitting on the couch, working on a new bottle of wine when there was a knock at the door. Lord Kasar rose and walked across the room. He opened the door. I turned to address the visitor, but my words died in my throat. Kavra stood tall, draped in a long, navy robe that stood as a perfect match to Lord Kasar’s. I rose to go to him, but a slight movement from Kasar stopped me. He was right, I still had a hand to finish and showing affection in front of the enemy was never an option. Both men remained standing by the door, one on each side as I turned back to Captain Jones.
“Are you ready for your last lesson, Commander?”
His eyes searched mine as though looking for answers.
“When you choose a role of leadership,” I explained, “you must also face the consequences of your mistakes. You have my word that your ship will be given free passage to run. However, you will not be offered the same courtesy. You or your sub-commander must remain here and pay the price for your failure. The choice lies solely with you.”
“What!” Commander Jones exclaimed. “You said we would be released!”
“I said your ship would be given the chance to run, yes. I never said you would be on that ship when it left. Now, you try my patience, Commander. Choose, yourself or your comrade before I infest you both!”
Almost a full minute passed before Commander Jones said, “Me.”
I glanced behind me to where Kavra and Kasar still stood side by side in their dark Setian robes. They stood tall, one’s hair as black as the other’s was gold, Kasar’s dark eyes in contrast to Kavra’s pale, pale blue. They were a sight to behold any day, but in that moment standing in their matching robes of status, it took my breath away.
“You’re choice to sacrifice yourself is the reason your kind will fall,” I told Commander Jones. “And you will live to see it, Commander. That is a promise.”
“I am not leaving him,” the other human declared.
“Yes, you will,” Commander Jones replied.
“No, I…”
“She will infest us both!” Jones interrupted his friend.
After several minutes of arguing, the sub-Commander returned to the human ship and shortly after it left, leaving its captain with me. Lord Kasar and Lord Kavra led Commander Jones back to my ship and into one of the rooms that hosted a Setian pool. “Wait!” he finally said. “I was number one on my ship. Don’t your laws allow me to ask for death, since I was number one?”
I considered the question, then asked, “Is death what you wish?”
He gave no verbal answer, only nodded. “If you were truly a number one, it would be an option. A mere captain or commander is not of sufficient rank to qualify. Come now, it won’t be so bad. Think of this new life as an opportunity to learn. Who knows, you may even form a positive relationship with your chosen Setian. Many do, in due time.”
“Other human leaders were granted death. They died as heroes instead of facing slavery.”
I looked at Kavra and could not help but laugh. “Tell you what, Commander Jones, I will let you in on a little secret. Computer,” I called to the ship, “would you please find my lover and tell him to come to the pool room immediately.”
“Yes, Empress Dehartra,” the computer replied.
“Empress!” Commander Jones exclaimed.
I smiled, “Yes, that would be me.” He looked at me as though through a new light. “The other commander was wearing a matching robe.”
“Yes,” I replied again.
“That means he was part of your council.”
“Yes, in fact, you had five Councilors on the ship you captured. Five Councilors and the second ranking military Lord all within your grasp. It truly would have been a devastating blow to our morale if we had lost half our council overnight. However it did not happen, thanks to you.”
We both turned suddenly as Darin walked into the room. “Hello, darling,” I said in a cheerful voice. “I would like you to meet the man who managed to catch Lord Kavra, Commander Jones. Commander Jones, I would like you to meet Darin Hoyle, one of the true leaders of your rebellion.”
“Darin?” Commander Jones said. “You’re…alive?”
Darin said nothing and I could not help but smile as the light began to fade from Commander Jones’ eyes. I walked to Darin and gave him a long, slow kiss before turning back to the other men in the room. “Take Commander Jones to the infestation chambers,” I told Lord Kasar. “I think he has seen enough.”
He was taken away and I motioned for Kavra to follow me to my private chambers. When we reached our destination, I closed the door behind us and turned to face my best friend.
My suppressed emotions rose in a wave of fury. I slapped him hard across the face. He reeled slightly, then turned back to face me. I slapped him
again. “You stupid, horrible, dim-witted…What were you thinking?” I screamed at him. “What the hell were you thinking? You almost got yourself killed. You stupid fucking idiot,” hot tears began to roll down my face. I starting hitting him at the chest level and he moved his arms around me until I was locked; crying against his chest.
“I’m sorry, Chrissa. I am so, so very sorry. It was stupid, but I swear I thought we were safe. I thought…it doesn’t matter. You’re right, I was an absolute idiot. I am so, so sorry.” I wrapped my arms around his body and he suddenly picked me up from the floor and carried me over to the bed. He set me down gently and pulled the outer robe from my body before throwing his own to the floor. He laid down beside me, wrapping his body around me as I cried.
Chapter XXIX
The next morning I awoke alone to the sound of pounding on my door. I was still wearing the black jeans and shirt which I had worn under the robe the previous night. I spent a moment lying in the dark when the pounding started again. “All right!” I finally said. “What is so damned important?” The door opened and four of my fellow council members walked into the room. Two had chosen the form of human men, both pale skinned with brown hair and eyes while the other two held Lorid hosts. One of the Lorids, Councilor Lindis, stepped forward first.
“My Empress,” Councilor Lindis addressed me.
“Yes, Councilors?”
“First I would like to thank you for finding a solution to our dilemma. It was a rough situation for all and your brilliant and fast thinking goes to show yet again that we were right in choosing you to be our leader.”
“Thank you, Councilors. Your gratitude is much appreciated but, I assure you, entirely unnecessary. Any Setian would have done the same.”
“Yes,” Councilor Lindis replied. “However the point, Empress, is that the situation never should have happened in the first place. Someone must pay.”
“I agree,” I replied. “The pilots responsible will be executed shortly along with Sub-harars 14, who was on duty in the control room that night.”