Bewildered, Oakley turned back and suggested, “Are you … carsick, ma’am? Shall we stop for a restroom, or maybe you could try going back to sleep?”
“I don’t feel well.” She didn’t seem to have heard him, her eyes gawping outside through the windows. “I want to go home …” Then she buried her face in her hands, and her shoulders quivered slightly.
Oakley looked at Sterling helplessly. “Shall we call a doctor?”
A doctor wouldn’t be able to solve her problem. Sterling remembered Charlie’s words and realized what must have happened.
* * *
Following the successful dinner banquet, the atmosphere of the conference on the next day was noticeably softened. Matthew generously acknowledged the strategy proposed by the Sunphereans, although he insisted on setting up the ambush inside the Stony Band. He also led a discussion on the worst-case scenario—if one or more planets were seized by Thyphol, what should the rest of them do to help the defeated governments.
When the conference came close to the end, Matthew said with a semi-casual tone, “Yesterday some of you mentioned the possibility of getting help from Artorna …”
Sterling could tell that the relaxed audience immediately tensed up.
“As you know, we’ve had several fruitless talks with them over the years. The Neutral Agreement is just an excuse. It’s really a matter of how well we’re bonded to them. You’ve probably heard about Prince Edwards’s recent divorce. I talked to him on the phone three days ago—it was a pleasant talk—and he said he was willing to establish a closer bond with us. More specifically, a potential relationship with Queen Geneva. Yesterday I mentioned this to Her Majesty at dinner, and she said she’d like to consider it.”
Restrained excitement bubbled in the audience and quickly subsided.
“It’s not that we couldn’t defend ourselves without their help,” Matthew continued. “We’ll manage through this battle no matter what. I’m more interested in our long-term relationship with them. Since Prince Edwards isn’t the heir of Artorna, it is very likely that he would choose to reside in our system if—”
“Why bother?” Charlie cut in abruptly, drawing surprised looks from people who were used to his courtesy. “An easier solution is to chain up our wives, girlfriends, daughters, and send them to Emperor Pompey. Maybe under His Majesty’s mercy he would spare us all.”
“Charlie!” Jonathan called him with a soft but stern voice.
Matthew’s expression was now a mixture of dignity and abashment. “I wouldn’t have brought it up to Queen Geneva if I personally considered it a bad choice. She has dated some of you guys in the past. What’s wrong with Prince Edwards? Anyway, she has her free mind to make her decision.” He sat back in his seat and looked sideways, like a loving father being misunderstood by his children.
Everybody gazed at Geneva.
“Thank you, Admiral Swinburne,” she said aloofly. “That is my decision. Compared with the sacrifice our soldiers and their families have made for us, this is—.”
“I used to think to end this war, any means could be justified.” The cynicism in Charlie’s voice was replaced by despondence. “We think war has been imposed on us, but in fact, it’s rooted in our human nature and will never be extinguished unless we change ourselves. What’s the point of winning, what’s the point of continuing a species, if after millions of years’ evolution it remains savage?”
A moment of silence fell inside the room as everyone appeared to be reflecting on Charlie’s words, except Owen, who looked around and sneered. “So according to Swinburne’s theory, we should all lay hands on ourselves …” His hand whisked under his chin. “To … leave alone a better universe, I guess? I can’t believe this is called a Defense Conference! Who’s more dangerous? Even Pompey doesn’t want all of us dead.”
Matthew had recovered his composure and made a conciliatory gesture to Owen. “Let’s stay constructive. Our enemy would be more than happy to watch us fighting one another. Regardless of personal affairs, I believe it never hurts to communicate and make friends. I will invite Prince Edwards to visit my place in the next couple of days. If any of you are interested in getting to know him, please let me know.”
Jonathan glanced at Charlie and said to Matthew, “We too would be happy to serve as a host.”
* * *
When the Sunphereans arrived at the king’s private spaceport, the afternoon heat had been blown away by strong and humid wind. The heavy clouds hovering low in the sky were portending an immediate storm.
“What do you think you are doing?” standing behind Geneva, Sterling said reproachfully. “We should be preparing for the upcoming battle every minute from now on. There’s nothing more dangerous than counting on others in a war.”
She looked into the distance and made no response. The ship they were waiting for had stopped taxiing in front of them. A high-pitched sound from the engine was wafting inside the wind.
“And do you know what kind of person he is?” he pressed on.
“I don’t, but it doesn’t matter.” She walked over to the stairs and soon disappeared into the ship.
Chapter 9
Prince Edwards was supposed to arrive at Sunphere on the following Friday afternoon. Although the media portrayed his visit as regular diplomacy, the public immediately figured out what it was really about. The public was never fooled. During the previous week, those who had friends or relatives in the RC or who could afford the Wartime Vacation Packages had been preparing for their trips; others were busy storing foods in the underground shelters. Upon learning of Prince Edwards’s visit, though, they paused to watch the situation. Maybe there was no need to worry this time, or any time in the future. Thank God the queen didn’t marry Anthony! How much of protection could Rainprus bring them, when its ability to defend itself was a matter of uncertainty?
* * *
On Friday morning, there was a defense consult meeting—the biweekly meeting had been advanced to twice a week now—and for the first time the queen showed up late.
“I apologize that I have to leave in five minutes. Prince Edwards is ahead of schedule.”
Sterling smelled fragrance after she entered the room in a dressy skirt suit. She sat down behind her desk and quickly browsed through her notes. The shiny pearly makeup was quite out of place with the seriousness on her face. “Admiral Howard, is the Pemareal in the orbit?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the women admiral said. “It finished reassembling last night.”
Nowadays, most of the light warships were space, air, and sea-surface compatible, and could easily switch modalities, but a heavier warship, such as a supercarrier, was too bulky to take off from the sea on its own. It had to be taken apart and transported separately to space. That was why Ribbon Islands and Thyphol had moon bases. They’d rather transport oxygen and other living necessities than portions of ships. Having stayed in the harbor for years, the Pemareal owned by the First Fleet had experienced difficulties in its disassembly.
Geneva nodded and glimpsed at her notes. “Admiral Oakley, you have something to discuss about your command chain?”
“It’ll take more than five minutes, ma’am.”
Sterling took a quick look at other officers of the Second Fleet and sensed some disfavor toward whatever their combatant commander wanted to talk about. It was probably related to Rafael. He knew Oakley had been working hard to get Rafael promoted, but many of his peers disagreed.
“All right, we’ll get to it later.” She briefly mentioned a few more things and stood up, a hand resting on her notes. “Admiral Wilson, I’ll leave the rest of the list here, in case you would like to address some of them, or you may have other things to discuss. Again, I apologize for leaving early.” She left her desk and rushed out of the room.
Wilson walked to the front and picked up the queen’s notes. He stared at the paper for a long moment as if he were holding a mouse that had ruined his entire book collections. “I’m not going to trade h
er for help!” He slammed the paper back to the desk. “Why would we need help? We are educated and trained to be soldiers. Fighting for our country is our job! Haven’t we been fed enough by our taxpayers? Now the enemy comes, and we just sit here waiting for help?”
He left the desk. Seconds later he was standing in front of Sterling, his face flushing with indignation. “Why are you still here, Commander Presley? Aren’t you her boyfriend?”
Sterling jumped up from his seat. “Who said … sir?”
“Disappointing …” Wilson fumed at him and then headed to the door. “Disappointing, all of you!”
* * *
Edwards was about ten years older than Geneva, but he looked more sophisticated than peers at his age in Geneva’s society. He had smoothly parted dark auburn hair, attentive eyes that deliberately convey honesty when they were fixed at people—eyes usually seen on an experienced salesman. He was generally good-looking, except for his rough skin, which was probably a result of stress and overworking. And to Geneva, he should be the last person in the world who needed to worry about anything.
After being picked up at the spaceport, Edwards and his company, Admiral Huang, were settled on the fourth floor of the queen’s palace. The guests had lunch in their rooms and preferred to take a break, for they had not recovered from their visits to Sparkland and Rainprus during the past three days. In the evening, Geneva invited William and Lloyd to come over for dinner, although William had sincerely offered to host the guests in his house. Having known the old prime minister since she was little, she had rarely seen him in such a great mood. His knowledge of the culture and history of Artorna couldn’t have been accumulated in a short term. He reminisced his honeymoon thirty years ago on Artorna’s Honey Moon, and laughed at the incorrect way he and his wife tried to eat the eyeball crabs. Geneva and Edwards didn’t get to talk to each other until later, when they were sitting at a table in one of the palace’s roof gardens.
“So how’s little Russell doing?” She browsed through the set of cookies on the table and randomly picked one up. Normally at this time of the evening she’d be eating shish kabobs, but she figured it wouldn’t look good in front of a guest. “You should’ve brought him here.”
“He wasn’t feeling well when I left.”
“Oh!” She made a sad face.
“But when I called home yesterday, he was off to the beach.”
“Did you have a good time in Sparkland and Rainprus?”
“Oh yes, I was treated really well! Almost felt guilty. I like the atmosphere here, warm, relaxing.” He paused to eat some cookies. Then his expression became a puzzled dismay. “What I couldn’t understand is, some of the gentlemen I met here don’t seem to have a job. Can’t they find one they’re interested in? I mean, they all had good educations. Some of them even graduated from business schools in our system. But all they talked about was horse riding, golfing, yachting … They can’t do these things all the time, can they?”
They certainly can, Geneva said to herself. “I heard you and your brother each runs your own business?”
“So does Isabella. Our world is built on business, you know. If we can’t even run a corporation, how can we run the country? We need to prove it to our people before one of us takes charge.”
Geneva frowned. “I’m not sure I got it right. Isn’t your brother the heir?”
Edwards smiled. “A lot of people think it’s that way. Nope. By the time our father retires, whoever makes the largest profit is going to succeed him.”
“I see.” Uncertain how to respond, she took a long sip of her wine. She too disliked the way many of her peers were raised, and the outdated society she grew up in. Yet she wasn’t sure she would prefer the inheritance system of Edwards’s family. As a monarch herself, she thought that the charm of the monarchy lies in its mysticism and unassailability, with a certain amount of blindness. Yes, there had to be some blindness, or even foolishness. Otherwise why not just go with republic and let the people elect the best, or the seemingly best, head of state?
“So what kind of business do you have?” she asked.
“Mostly groceries and constructions.”
Groceries! That explained why he was here.
“Speaking of constructions, I met Charlie Swinburne yesterday. The junior. His father and I were partners during the Fantasy-Town project. We are still close friends. But somehow I feel his son doesn’t like me much.” He shook his head. “He’s so different from his father!”
Again, Geneva didn’t know how to respond. She peeked at her watch. It was getting late. He would be leaving on Sunday morning, and she needed to know more about him, his inner world. “Is your ex-wife still the chief executive of Veily Iris? I love their shoes.”
Then for the first time she noticed a trace of vulnerability escaping from his skillfully maintained confidence. “No. I wish she still were.” He filled up his glass with wine. “She’s changed so much over the years. Now all she cares about is parties. Parties after parties. I was tired when I got back from work, you know, and just wanted to be with the family! And it wasn’t good for Russell either.”
She gave him a conciliating smile and tried to think about what to say next. Then he seemed to have remembered something exciting and took out a velvet box from his pocket. “Almost forgot. I have a gift for you.”
It was a unique bracelet. Each piece of jewelry on the chain was shaped like a planet in this quadruple system. Geneva quickly identified all of them. “That is so lovely!”
“I know you majored in astronomy … Oh, by the way, it’s not just a bracelet! There are nanochips and bluetooth in each of the planet. You can store up to three zegabites of data and carry it wherever you go. The instructions are here.” He pointed at a small piece of paper tucked in the box.
“That’s cool!” She pretended to be impressed. Now she didn’t feel like wearing it anymore.
For a while, they said nothing but quietly ate the cookies. She looked up at the cloudless night sky. The Renaisun-C had gone, but Planets RC-2 and RC-4 were dangling around the highest tower of the city. “That’s your home planet.” She pointed at the RC-2.
“That one? Really! I’ve never seen it this way.”
So it was also going to be her home planet in the future? She imagined how he would help her country survive this crisis, and how she would help him obtain kingship. Then she’d also become queen of Artorna and Sunphere … And then what? She made a sour smile. Maybe she’d begin having parties after parties.
A maid appeared at the entrance and gazed over. Geneva left Edwards and talked to her briefly. Then she came back and apologized, “I’m sorry, Edwards. I’ll be right back.”
* * *
She walked to the front hall with the maid and was surprised to find Sterling standing there. When the maid told her that one of her assistants came, she thought it had to be Fernando. He was wearing a light-blue shirt with his uniform pants, which was his usual apparel after work, but something about him felt different, and she couldn’t grasp what that was.
Then she noticed the backpack left on the ground beside him, and her breaths picked up. “Are you going somewhere?” Was he leaving now? Didn’t he have one more year?
“Headquarters asked me to stay here,” he said as a matter of fact.
“What?” After a moment of bewilderment, she slowly figured out that something must have happened at the meeting after she left. So there were people in this world who did care about her, not just their own safety. She suppressed the tears that rushed to her eyes and acted as if she were annoyed. “Headquarters … There’s no room here for you to stay. Go home, or find yourself a hotel.”
“They took away my keys and wallet.”
“I’ll lend you money.”
“They took away my ID.”
She nodded, her arms crossed. “So I’ll have to take you then? Fine, as long as you make sure nobody spots you.”
“I’ll stay in my room.” He picked up his bag and head
ed inside. “You report to me before midnight, today and tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?” she said to his back, amazed. “Who’s the boss?”
“Whoever has the troops.”
She shook her head and asked the maid to find him a room on the third floor. Then she went back to the garden and resumed her night with Edwards. Every now and then her mind strayed away when he was talking. At a quarter to twelve she accompanied him to his room and said goodnight. Then she left for the stairway and hesitated at the entrance. On the right were the stairs up to her room, and on the left, stairs down to the third floor. She strolled downstairs for a few steps and paused.
Report to you … She bit her lips. Then she turned around and ran all the way up to her room.
Chapter 10
Sterling was woken up by thunders of footsteps on the following morning. Through the door viewer he saw servants running up and down on the stairway with food trays. Honestly, he couldn’t imagine living in a building like this for one’s entire life. It was more of a hotel, or a hospital—always people attending to you, whether you were happy, sad, or just wishing to be left alone. Can’t move to another city when you were bored. No neighbors to chat with, to drink beers and eat barbecues together with on a summer afternoon. Always people. Always loneliness.
The noise faded away after an hour, yet nobody had visited his room. He finally decided to go to the kitchen and grab something himself, but as he stepped out the room, he almost bumped into Geneva.
She was holding a white apron in her hands. “Wear this if you want something to eat.” It wasn’t clean or folded, so she probably had just stripped it off from a waiter.
He shook his head. “It’s filthy!”
She waited for a moment, and he gave up. The apron smelled of muffins and aggravated his hunger as he put it on. On the way to the kitchen, he studied her dress and frowned. The multi-layered skirt was okay, but the top … “You’re not going to wear this today, are you?”
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