by Sam Lippert
CHAPTER IX
When Omany had been found by the party that had boarded Nola, he had been presumed dead because of the depth of his unconsciousness. The customs of the Kalifet people were that the dead, whenever possible, were to be returned home for burial. Because he was a Kalifet citizen by birth, and enjoyed high standing inside the palace, Omany believed there was a near ninety-nine percent chance custom would be observed for him. He decided to use this to his advantage, as no one ever expected trouble from a corpse, even when that corpse was a Verstaten priest, thanks to the secrecy surrounding the order's abilities.
In order to slow the effects of the gas, he had slowed his metabolic processes down to the point that his heart beat twice a minute and his breaths occurred half as often. This caused his body to feel cool to the touch, and made both his heartbeat and breathing imperceptible to all but the most astute. In theory he could survive the better part of a month in this state, although a week was the longest he had achieved in the past. The fact that his body was stored in a refrigerated morgue facility would have some impact on how long he could maintain this state of 'semi-death' but he was unsure what that impact would be.
Omany and Remini had decided to do their best to maintain the illusion that all was as it appeared while slowly gathering information and looking for the opportunity to escape. This charade would be far easier for Omany than the Princess, as all he had to do was stay in the morgue to keep from arousing suspicion. The Princess, however, would have to regularly interact with Marag and possibly other members of the crew. Luckily Remini had the advantage of being a 'Royal' and therefore had substantial training in the art of deception.
As Omany's activities were relegated to the spirit plane it was his responsibility to size up the crew and determine how many members of the anti-peace movement Marag had been able to surround himself with, and of the remaining crew who could be counted on to help he and Remini out of their predicament without arousing suspicion. To do this he would call upon another secret Verstaten talent: dream walking.
What most people do not realize is that the spirit plane and the dream plane exist in nearly the same state. This is why a successful séance requires its participants to achieve a near 'dreamlike' state of consciousness. Of course, this dreamlike state leaves the participants very prone to suggestion, so one never knows if she has actually taken part in successful contact with the spirit world or was simply hypnotized by a con artist.
Because of the nearness of the spirit plane to the dream plane, it is possible, with the proper training, to cross from the spirit plane into the dreams of others. This can lead the living to have dreams that include the dead, where the manifestations of those spirits pass on information the dreamer would not otherwise have had. It was Omany's task to do this in reverse. To appear in the dreams of each of the crew and extract information from the dreamer. The crew of Kurufet Rising stood eight hour watches, so at any point in time roughly one third of the crew was asleep. The next twenty-four hours would be quite busy for the priest.
Inserting oneself surreptitiously into another's dream was not easy. It was not possible to observe the dream without becoming a part of it, so it was therefore necessary to assume a form that would not bring undue notice. Omany entered the quarters of his first subject, looking around for clues about the sailor's life, and therefore her dreams. This search was hampered by the fact that he could not directly interact with the physical world.
A look in the closet found uniforms and military issue 'workout' clothing. No casual 'off-duty' wear. This indicated the sailor lived and breathed her career. The walls were adorned with awards and citations for skill and bravery. The room's small desk had a picscreen that scrolled though several images of the sailor with an older, gray haired woman, as well as one of a marker on a military tomb.
Omany imagined himself in the form of General Marag and passed into the sailor's dreams.
* * *
Remi 'stepped' back into her body, which was still unconscious on her bed. Her spirit-self had spent the last eight hours roaming the ship, listening to conversations and sizing up the situation. She had followed Marag and discovered that, in the ultimate irony, he was coordinating with, and practically taking orders from, the Rathshelliam movement to destroy the peace. It seemed that even the staunchest of delusional 'patriots' on each side could find a way to work together. Maybe this could be utilized to bring the two sides together after the eventual wedding.
Along with verifying Omany's exact location in the morgue, Remi had also discovered that the Nola's cargo was aboard. Since she had been responsible for selecting this pricey cargo, she felt a responsibility to get it back to its owner, if at all possible. Finally, Kurufet Rising appeared to be on course for Axis.
While Axis was a member of the Consortium, along with Vegas and Nexus, they weren't exactly neighbors, except in a cosmic sense. Much as had happened with its namesake on Old Earth, the Vegas gambling habitat had been located in an out-of-the-way, inhospitable place: A binary star system comprised of rocky, airless planetoids. Materials were mined from the planetoids around the first star to build Vegas. Construction of Vegas took years, and the work crews went several months without leave that was substantial enough to allow them to return to civilization. It had only been six months into the project when the workers had gone on strike, demanding 'recreation' of a sort near the work site. Management, fearing a riot and loss of billions of credits to delays and work stoppages, purchased a decommissioned stellar cruise liner from the defunct Nexus Lines. It was equipped with a variety of entertainment, but the most popular were the prostitutes.
After the completion of the Vegas habitat, the star liner remained nearby, becoming a popular second destination for the visitors to Vegas. Seeing the opportunity to bring in even more money, management built a second habitat one million kilometers from Vegas. Intended to be the premier destination in the galaxy for sexual entertainment, it was given the name Nexus, in honor of its star liner roots, and the Consortium was officially born.
When the time came to build Axis, the Consortium chose to locate it on the other side of the star system, if such a reference can be made in relation to orbital bodies, both because at this point raw materials were easier to mine there, and to give the banking habitat a bit more credibility. The Consortium maintained an n-wave network between all three habitats for ease of communication and financial transactions. There were also regular shuttles between the member habitats.
There had to be more to the fact that Kurufet Rising was en-route to Axis than the fact that the Consortium was known to be Marag's favorite vacation spot, an incongruity Remi had never understood. It was rumored the stoic General was quite an accomplished Janga player.
Whatever the reason for the current course, it could be used to the Princess' advantage. If Nathan had managed to miraculously repair the Nola, the consortium would be his closest port. If she could effect her escape there it would greatly simplify returning herself and the cargo to him.
Remini began the process of reconnecting her spirit to her unconscious body. While it did not take long, there was an immediate feeling of mental fatigue that came with the process. Once she was safely reintegrated, she opened her eyes.
* * *
It took a staggering amount of money to maintain and operate an underground movement the size of the anti-peace movement within the Kalifet Empire. As it was frowned upon by the majority of the population, as well as by the legislature and the Royal Family, it was necessary to construct and maintain an entire underground organization. This took money both for the activities themselves as well as 'hush money' to keep those activities secret.
It was risky for Marag to take Kurufet Rising to Axis, but it was the location of the numbered account that paid the expenses of his clandestine activities. When Marag was recruited he was given the account number, with no indication of who was supplying the funds or where they were based. He just knew that when he needed money it was there.
Whenever the General had acquired enough leave he would take a pleasure trip to Vegas, which was never questioned outside of Palace gossip about the oddity of someone as stoic as him vacationing in one of the more hedonistic locations in the galaxy. Once inside the Consortium he would make a hefty withdrawal from the numbered account in Kalifet Credits, thus he was able to return home with enough funds to get by until his next vacation. This had earned the stern head of the Palace Guard the reputation of being quite a gambler. One that was not completely unwarranted, as he did manage to pad his retirement savings with Janga winnings on each trip.
All things considered, the Consortium was the last place Marag wanted to take Kurufet Rising. As Nexus was where the Nola had been heading when Marag had raided it liberating the Princess, being in the Consortium could lead to some difficult times with Her Royal Highness. However, with the Nola about to turn up missing, likely fallen to a Rathshelliam raid, Marag, Kurufet Rising, and her Imperial Passenger needed to disappear. While it is possible for an individual, and even a small private spacecraft to travel known space in relative anonymity, it took a substantial sum of money to 'disappear' a craft of the size and stature of the royal yacht. The only place for Marag to get his hands on that kind of money was the numbered account in Axis.
“So you see how it is.” Marag had been explaining his reasoning to his contact within the Rathshelliam faction, Admiral Peter Sokolov, over encrypted n-wave.
Sokolov was Marag's father's age, or the age his father would have been had he not died in that awful attack. Like Marag, Sokolov had lost someone he cared about during the hostilities. Marag did not know for sure the relationship, but he was pretty sure it had been the poor man's wife, and possibly a daughter as well.
“Wouldn't it have been easier to kill the girl,” Sokolov replied. “Then report back to your Empress that you had been unable to do anything about the raid? I could have ordered the Pumas to shoot you up a little bit, making for a better story.”
“I have been a guard of the Royal Family for the last ten years of my adult life, and a loyal member of the Kalifet military for all of it. I am honor bound to defend their life with mine.” Marag took a pull from the whiskey bottle on his desk. “Some oaths must never be broken, even when serving a righteous cause. Or is that not the way in Rathshelliam?”
“Marag,” Sokolov chuckled. “If we were as bad as you, this treaty would have been sealed six years ago when your princess should have married our first Crown Prince.”
“But, Sokolov, didn't your agent refuse to kill the boy and kidnap him instead? When it is time to make the hard choices, your people are no different in mine it seems.” Marag responded pointedly.
“Be that as it may, the results were the same, Marag. The wedding to permanently bind our two empires was delayed and very nearly averted. This is the first real chance your people have had to stop it and you have made quite a mess of things.”
Sokolov was right, this was not how things were supposed to go at all. Before the Princess had left on that scow, Nola, Marag had intended to simply ensure that the bride, who would have been traveling to Rathshelliam aboard Kurufet Rising, simply missed the wedding and remained lost until after her twenty-fourth birthday, a year and two days later. This would have led to the election of a new ruling family and have voided the treaty with Rathshelliam. Neat, easy, and nobody would have to get hurt. Marag would have completed both his duty to the Empress and to his father.
Princess Remini's departure with that Daniels character changed everything, taking control of her travel to Rathshelliam out of Marag's hands. Even though he had been sent to fetch Daniels, it was not until the ruffian had left the palace that the Empress had told Marag why. He had barely been able to arrange for the tracker before Nola left Kurufet. When the Empress had dispatched him to follow the Princess he believed he had the time to put a new plan into place.
Pressure from Sokolov had led Marag to make the raid on the Nola much earlier than he had planned. Apparently the Empress had been correct, there was a mole in the palace, one that was loyal to Sokolov and not Marag. The traitor had provided Sokolov with the Nola's heading upon their departure from New Rome, and the old man had dispatched a squad of Puma P-25s to intercept the trading vessel. Marag was given the choice of either leading a 'snatch and grab' and then keeping the Princess out of sight for the next two years, or Sokolov, with firepower that would overwhelm even Kurufet Rising would simply destroy the Nola with all aboard.
At least he had been given the choice.
* * *
Omany was a little over halfway through his dream-walking interrogation of the crew before he found the first true loyalist. Mory was a Verstaten priest several decades younger than him, whom he had never had the pleasure of meeting. Even though it was still early in the young priest's training, Omany knew it would be pointless to try and be surreptitious, so he chose to use his true form. As Omany expected, the young man knew instantly when his dream had been entered.
“Welcome, wise one,” the dream self of the young man said. “I can tell by your appearance that you carry the 'O' honorific of a high priest. From that, and the presence of the Princess Remini aboard, I deduce you are her mentor, Omany.” The backdrop of the priest's dream shifted to the high temple in the monastery on Verstat. A courtesy extended whenever hosting another of the order in a dream.
“A sound deduction, Mory,” Omany replied.
Looking at the dream image of the young man was like looking at a much younger version of Omany himself. Although Verstaten clergy were not clones, the rigors of the mental discipline and training resulted in such a stark resemblance amongst its adherents that they were often thought to be derived from the same DNA.
Verstaten priests were also notoriously apolitical. The philosophy championed for the greater good of humanity as a whole, achieving transcendence by fostering understanding between individuals. There was also the understanding within the order that certain individuals must be nurtured, while others were eliminated in order to move the race as a whole forward. This 'big picture' outlook meant that most Verstaten priests were trusted with many secrets which were only ever shared with others of the order.
“What can you tell me about the situation aboard Kurufet Rising, Mory?” The older man asked.
“Honestly, I do not know much, wise one. Although my presence here is tolerated, the crew is not exactly forthcoming,” the young priest explained. “I do know there was an n-wave conversation between Marag and someone in the Rathshelliam underground. Immediately thereafter the ship went on alert. I get occasional bits of information from a sailor by the name of Devka whom I believe is also a member of Kalifet Imperial Intelligence. It is from her that I learned that the Princess is aboard, and not of her own free will. Her information also stated that you had been killed during the Princess' abduction, but that I did not believe. I am relieved to see that I was correct.”
“I can confirm that the Princess is aboard not only against her will, but against the will of the Empress. I can also confirm that I am believed to be dead, as my body is currently in the morgue. As personal mentor to the Princess, it is my duty to get her off the ship as soon as possible, as I fear she may be in danger here. I trust I can count on you to assist me.” Omany stated this as the fact that it was, and left the dream to search for the Imperial Intelligence agent.
* * *
Upon 'regaining consciousness' Remi did the royal thing and immediately went to her personal 'head' to refresh herself. She was sure that Marag was monitoring her, but was unsure as to the extent, so she wanted to not give him any cause for alarm.
Kurufet Rising, being the royal yacht, was simultaneously a plush pleasure ship and a military vessel. As it was generally used to ferry members of the royal family, no expense was spared with regards to their comfort and safety. For Princess Remini, who had been lying in bed for at least three days, the most important part of this fact was that there was ample water aboard. This meant that, in he
r suite, Remi had access to her first warm, real water shower since leaving Kalifet. The princess basked in the luxury of the warmth and the steam while thoroughly cleaning her hair and body. The chemical showers necessary aboard the Nola were actually more effective at cleaning, but were certainly not as pleasurable.
Once she was clean and rinsed Remini reluctantly turned off the water and activated the warm air jets to blow herself dry. She felt like a new woman. Once dry she wrapped a soft lavender bathrobe around her body and made her way to her closet.
Showered, dried and otherwise refreshed, she picked a modest gown, or if not truly modest, the closest thing to it that was available. Once dressed, she tried the door. As she suspected, it would not open for her. Sadly, this was consistent with Marag's story of her having been a victim of Tenguary Fever, and would arouse no suspicion among the crew, as it would not be wise for her to be roaming the corridors until fully recovered.
Remi sat down at her terminal. She had hoped for the ability to surprise Marag on the command deck, thereby learning more by what would have been a momentary drop of his personal defenses, or those of the crew. Instead, she would have to bring Marag to her. She ran a query she knew would get his attention, asking the NavComp for their current destination. Surprisingly the NavComp returned the answer she knew was correct: Axis. Just to be absolutely sure she got his attention, she attempted to place an n-wave call to her mother. Her terminal promptly ignored this second request, giving her an interface error.
In less than three minutes her door chimed. The fact that the door now opened to her command told her all she needed to know.
“Glad to see you awake again, Princess,” Marag said with what would only be called a smile by someone who knew the general well. He stepped into the suite. “I trust you are feeling rested?”
“Yes, Marag, I feel quite well. I must say, I am also itching to get out of this suite and mingle among the crew. I believe it would be good for them to see with their own eyes that their Princess is fully recovered.”