“You look good,” I tell Audra as I get off my hoverbike, giving her a hug. The Royal Lancer who directed me to the right spot on the shuttle landing pad blinks, but he's probably heard that the two of us are very casual unless we should be more formal. Still, seeing two noblewomen, especially when one of them is the Queen, hugging is likely to be a bit strange. “I'd say you're glowing.”
“You look great too,” Audra says, hugging me back. “Have you gotten a little leaner?”
“I might be,” I admit, stepping back. “We've been training hard, and while Jensen's been sweet enough to make me eat all of his desserts every time we're on rations, it's been a tough week. But we'll be ready, there's something planned for tomorrow.”
“I know, Tauren told me the Rangers have something in the works. I hope it goes smoother than last time,” Audra says, smiling. “Actually, part of me wishes I was out there with you.”
“And part of me wishes I was pregnant and able to spend time just hanging out with you. Sorry, I guess that came out wrong, I just....” I start before Audra laughs. “Okay, okay, I get it, I'm no speech giver. Can we go inside? I'd like... well, if it's okay, I'd like to talk with my mother.”
Audra smiles, nodding. “I think Gwyndolen would appreciate that. By the way, you should like her new look. I think you've inspired her.”
I'm confused, but curious as Audra leads me inside, through the public areas of the palace to the guest wing, which is nearer to the king and queen’s private quarters than what it used to be. With Joren still officially in the 'King's Chambers,' they're quite comfortable in the slightly smaller 'Crown Prince's Suite,' which, remarkably, is just down the hall from the guest area.
“How has Mom being your advisor worked out so far for you?” I ask, giving Pretton a wave. He's escorting some children through the palace, and I recognize a few of them. “The kids look good by the way.”
“Thank you. It's not much, the palace school, but I think it's important. Jonpel and his friends saved my life, really. Did I tell you, Jonpel's mother is coming back from the moon base next week? She's excited, although I think a bit nervous. I'm sure she expects a royal ass chewing when she arrives,” Audra says, shaking her head before smirking. “Is she going to be surprised or what?”
“What are you doing, anyway?” I ask, stopping. I've met Jonpel and his sister, they're good kids, but have yet to meet their mother. He's a nice kid.
Audra stops and leans in, whispering. “Tauren and I are sending the whole family for a five-day vacation to the eastern royal estate. Then the mother's being transferred to capital duty. I know it's silly and little, but still....”
“You're doing what you can,” I finish for her. “Audra, I totally understand.”
We keep going, reaching Audra's library that she also uses as an office, where Audra opens the door, leading me in. I don't recognize the person standing with her back to me, looking out the window until she speaks. “You know Audra, I've been thinking about your idea for the integration of schools and...”
“Mom?” I ask, shocked. Mom turns around, and she's wearing.... pants, which shocks me. In every picture, I have of her, even in the day we spent together, she was the epitome of a lady, with grace and class that carried over even to her dresses, which were elegant and beautiful without being frilly.
Now, though, Mom's wearing an imitation of Audra's old clothing, and what I tend to wear when I am acting as Queen's Advisor, black military trousers with a V-piped navy blue tunic, although Mom's colors are white instead of silver. Even her hair is pulled back into a ponytail instead of the fashionable hairdo that I'd seen last time. “Kelbara! What a surprise!”
Mom crosses over to me and gives me a hug, and in the hug, I feel the same Mom that I felt last time, relieving me. This is Mom for sure. “You're not the only one to be surprised,” I tell her when we let go, stepping back and checking out her new clothes more closely. “What brought about the change?”
“A new position requires that I fit the job,” Mom says, looking me over. “Kelbara, forgive me for sounding like a worrying mother, but have you been eating enough?”
Audra laughs, stepping back. “If I needed any more proof you two are mother and daughter and not just sisters, I think that was it. I think I'll let you two talk some while I go visit the children's classes, to see how they're doing. Kelbara, before you leave today, would you indulge me and let’s have some lunch together? I'll stuff you full so that both Jensen and Gwyndolen here won't be worried about your body fat levels.”
“Of course, Audra. Say, a little after midday?” I ask, and Audra smiles. “Thank you.”
Audra leaves, and I turn back to Mom, who does look even younger than before in her new clothes. “Mom.... wow, I understand what Audra meant, I feel weird calling you that when you look this young.”
“Well, in a palace that has everyone acting young and energetic as well as dedicated to the war efforts, I felt out of place traipsing around in long skirts all the time. Thankfully, the Royal Lancers seem to know a tailor who could produce this for me quickly. I hope I don't look silly.”
I shake my head in admiration. “Mom, you look... you look great, really. You could be on a recruiting poster and the line for men signing up to serve would go around the palace twice.”
Mom blushes a little but smiles too. “Thank you. I do sometimes put on a dress when I'm not working with Audra though. So, what brings you to the palace? I get the impression that Audra left for a reason.”
I shake my head, amazed at my friend's ability to read my emotions. “I guess so. First, though, how are you doing? I mean, what you're trying to do is more than just new clothes.”
Mom nods, turning around and leaning against the window sill, another thing I'd never expect of her in a dress. “I think I'm helping some. Audra makes it very easy. She's so active even if she says she isn't, and almost none of it is the palace intrigue crap that she said she needed help with. I've spent most of the time meeting with other nobles and listening to their complaints and comments, filtering what is necessary to Audra while just remembering the rest. Too many of the nobles in the Council still think Tauren runs things like the old regime, where scheming and ass kissing gets them favors. I try to filter that so that Audra doesn't have to lose her temper with them.”
“That's more help than I ever could do,” I admit, shaking my head. “That little comment I made in the Noble Council about my fitness for the Rangers isn't the first time that I've been a little short tempered with some of the other nobles. I don't really put up with their bullshit very well.”
Mom smiles while I turn slightly red at my choice of words, before sighing. “Case in point. I talk like a soldier too much, Mom. I always feel like I'm about to screw up somehow. It's... it's stressful.”
“I bet. Does Audra or Jensen not like the way you speak?” Mom asks, and I shake my head, causing Mom to shrug. “Then why worry?”
I turn, going over to one of the chairs in the library and flopping down, frustrated before realizing I'm in a royal library, and I'm sprawled out like I would in my own home, which makes me straighten up and feel even more frustrated. “Mom, it's... I feel like I have so many roles to fill. I want to be a good noble advisor to Audra, I want to be a good Sub-Commander and warrior for the Rangers, never mind that means I'm with Jensen where I want to be, not just his Sub-Commander but....”
“But eventually his wife?” Mom asks, and I nod, groaning again. “He's a good man, Kelbara. Remember, I've gotten quite a few days now to listen as Audra tells me about her brother. And you. Just from what Audra's told me, it's obvious that you two are meant for each other. I can see why you fell in love with him.”
“Still Mom... I feel like I'm four different people sometimes. Before all this, it was easier, I just had to be two, Kelbara in front of Ambaris and then the private me. Now I feel like there're two more jobs as well. Kelbara the advisor, Kelbara the soldier, Kelbara the lover, and then still private me. I'm struggling.
”
Mom nods, coming over from the window to take a seat. “It's easier for non-noble women I think, or maybe just different is a better way to put it, but everyone goes through this in some ways. When we're children, we can just be ourselves, honest and open to everyone. A child says take me as I am, but as we grow older we start putting on masks, and sometimes it becomes hard, you feel like you're getting lost in the masks and forgetting who you really are.”
“How do you handle it?” I ask, frustrated. “Sometimes I feel like... I get worried that I'm going to let someone down. Either Audra's not going to get the support she needs, or the Rangers are going to be let down, or I'm not going to be the woman that Jensen needs.... and I can't just say one role is more important than any of the others. Mom, if I drop the ball in any of these roles.... people could die. People that I love.”
“It's a heavy burden,” Mom agrees. “And you don't have the background to deal with the weight, it'd be like me joining you for a physical workout, I'd be crushed by what you handle easily. But when the weight is too much, that's when you have people to help you. Like me. Kelbara, you don't have to worry about Audra, I'm taking care of her like she's my own daughter. As for Jensen, and your role in the Rangers... well, let me tell you something that I'm sure Ambaris didn't let you know about you. He was attracted to me because of it, and later it drove him nuts, although I didn't realize just how much until after I'd left him. You're stronger than you realize.”
“What do you mean, Mom?” I ask, and Mom resettles herself, drawing herself up from the slightly relaxed position that she'd been sitting in until she is nearly perched on the chair, and it changes her. She's back to being elegant, beautiful, and I feel my breath taken away a little. “Mom?”
“Kelbara.... you come from royal blood,” Mom says, smiling at me. When she sees my surprise, she chuckles, shaking her head. “Oh, don't worry, you're in no way blood related to Tauren, you're not from his line. In fact, our family, through me, we held the throne of Tamaria two dynasties back, losing it about fifteen hundred years ago. We were a long reigning dynasty, stretching back almost to the appearance of humans on Tamaria. So much of our history has been lost in the changeover of dynasties, from ours to the next to Tauren's family, but it is preserved in our family archives what happened.”
“What?” I ask, intrigued. “Lack of heirs? Corruption?”
Mom shakes her head, giving me a small smile. “We lost it because we lost sight of what was most important. The Queen and the last member of our family to the throne was a Queen and not a King, she lost sight of the important things. She was betrayed from within, sold out by a friend who felt aggrieved. I can bring you the data files for you to read sometime, but Kelbara, what I want you to recognize is two things. First, that the most important thing is to take care of your family. Take care of Jensen, Tauren and Audra, support and have faith in each other. You have me to help you with that. And second.... you are as strong a woman as any that walks this planet. You are royalty, even if you do not carry that title. But the title isn't important, royalty is what's inside your heart. And you carry that strength inside you, my beautiful daughter. Always remember that.”
* * *
Hoverbikes, this time. More dangerous, but in the wooded area, they're able to blend in better, weaving through the trees much faster than we could on foot, while at the same time taking advantage of the cover given to us by the old growth forest. A good choice.
“Okay cav riders, listen up!” I call around to the eight Rangers with me. I'm leading the charge this time, while Jensen's leading the assault force, a switch from last time. “This should be easier than last time, which means you need to be on your game twice as hard. Just because this is a slave labor camp doesn't mean we can back off. Jensen and the main force will be soaking up their fire, so when we hit, we hit fast, and we hit them hard. Our job is to secure the slave pens; these people haven't done anything to deserve what they're in. Nine Rangers are getting on the bikes. How many do I want going home?”
“NINE!” the riders reply, and I smile.
“Then Rangers, mount up.”
We get on our bikes, lifting off from our base camp and swinging away to the north. Jensen and his troops left half an hour ago, they're going by ground transport shuttle. If things go as planned, the transport shuttles will drop Jensen and his people off then swing around to evacuate the slaves just as we complete our securing of the pens.
For twenty minutes, we stay above the treetop level, just close enough to the branches that I feel like I could reach down with a boot and kick a leaf off if I wanted. We're in the tropics, the trees are thick and canopy like some of them standing forty meters or more off the ground before their thick cap of branches spreads to hog as much of the precious sunlight as possible. When we get within fifty kilometers of the camp we hover, dropping down between the branches slowly until the trunks open for us and we're in a shaded, dim chaotic alleyway. I check that all my riders made it down, then we start off again, weaving in between the trees as we get closer. I'm wearing a helmet and goggles this time, not only to help with the wind but also to give us enhanced vision in the dimness between the trees. Creeping by on my panel is the progress of each bike, and I notice someone falling back. “Bike seven, Logan! Get in line!”
“Roger, Sub-Commander,” Logan radios back, catching up quickly. We keep going, pausing when we're a hundred meters from the edge of the forest, close enough that I can hear the rattle of machinery at the camp. Whatever else the slavers are doing to us, we seem to be giving it back to them just as well, that machinery sounds like it needs a lot of maintenance and spare parts.
“Cav wing in position,” I whisper over my radio to Jensen. “On you, Commander.”
“Main force engaging,” Jensen says, and we watch. Because this is a slave camp, the cav riders are using plasma charges in our areas, but Jensen and his troops have no such restraints. They're going for kills.
I hear the rapid crackle as the minuscule sonic booms from their Gauss rounds rip through the air, and I count to thirty before calling out, not over the radio but in a loud voice. “RIDERS! ATTACK!”
It's meant to cause panic and chaos, to disorient our enemies even though it might scare innocent slaves underneath us as well. We surge out of the forest, covering the fifty meters to the edge of the camp and going over the fence on our bikes, plasma balls ripping out from our bike-mounted cannons. We've got powerlances, but we shouldn't need them unless...
Something hits my bike, sending me twisting around as one of the control surfaces gets blown apart. I don't even pause, jumping from my bike to the ground, rolling and pulling my powerlance, snapping it out to full length even as I get to my feet. I see a slaver and fire, the plasma round catching him in the chest and knocking him back. “Cav Lead down! I'm unhurt! Logan, take over cav wing! Secure the objective!”
“Stay sharp!” Jensen calls over the radio net, and I spare half a second to feel good about his concern before the first of the shuttles swings overhead, setting down and the evacuation crew exiting the shuttle to free the slaves.
I turn, pulling off my helmet to look at the slaves chained up around me. “I'm Kelbara, Sub-Commander of Jensen's Rangers! We're here to get you out of here!”
There's a general cheer, but these poor people have been kept in wretched, pathetic conditions for too long, some of them are barely conscious. I hear one person call my name, and I turn, seeing a starved looking man in a pen. I walk over, using my powerlance to break the lock on the pen and open it, the evac crew helping them into the shuttle. “Kelbara....”
“It's okay, friend. We'll get you out of here quickly.”
“Not me,” the scrawny man rasps, pointing. “The baby....”
I follow him, pushing past a few of the slaves who are still weak and he brings me to a pathetic shelter built out of scraps of food containers, old clothing, and other scavenged things. It looks like it was thrown together with whatever the slaves had when
they entered the pen, and inside it, I find a woman, her eyes sightless and on her chest, is a tiny, squirming form wrapped in a filthy rag.
“She was in labor this morning, we tried as best we could but the slavers didn't care. She was so weak....” the man says. “She was alive five minutes ago. Please my Lady, can you help the baby?”
I pick up the tiny bundle and lift the corner, seeing the perfectly formed head, the eyes squeezed shut. She doesn't cry, she's too weak, and I look, tying off the umbilical cord before I use my monowire lash to cut the rest away. I look at the mother, who looks waxy and so sad, but I can't spare a thought for her. Instead, I lift the baby, holding it to my chest as we leave the shelter, my lance collapsed and held in my right hand, the baby in my left. “Does the child have a name?”
The man shakes his head. “I don't know. The mother... she just came in three days ago, already so weak. She was named Diora, though.”
“I understand. Come with me, we'll find a medic.”
The evac crew sees me, some of them stopping in shock when they see what I'm carrying. I look for a medic, seeing one helping a woman with a broken arm. “Medic.... we need help here.”
I turn to the man, who blinks back tears of gratitude. “Go get on a shuttle, friend. You're free now, and this girl owes you her life. Thank you.”
“My Lady,” he rasps as another evac crewmember leads him away. The medic reaches for the baby, but I hold her to my chest, shaking my head for a moment before realizing that I still have a mission to finish. I hand the baby over carefully, my heart twisting in my chest even as the medic takes her.
“The baby... care for her, and when we get back to the capital, she goes to Jensen's estate.”
The medic nods, curling his massive arm to cradle the tiny body. “I swear, Sub-Commander. We'll take care of her. Does she have a name?”
I think, then nod. “Her name will be Olivia.”
The medic nods, and I turn to head back to the fight, snapping my powerlance back out to full deployment. The slavers better hope that the fight's over before I get there.
Red Planet: The Rebel War (Tamarians Book 3) Page 7