The Empire of the Zon

by R. M. Burgess

  “So what are you telling me, Deirdre?”

  “Hildegard, I think we may have to land a force in Utrea to collect the tribute and find out what they have been up to.”

  “Very well. Authorize Captain Hebe to demand an inspection of the suspicious sites and organize a landing party.”

  Deirdre sipped her katsch. She watched Diana drive Anika back toward her goalmouth again and smiled. She enjoyed a good game of Impale and was still a fairly good player herself.

  “I took the liberty of authorizing this already, Hildegard,” she said softly. “King Shobar refuses to allow an inspection and threatens that any attempt will be met with force. He has rallied his barons and already has mobilized almost twenty thousand troops, including about a thousand cavalry. They were already encamped around Nordberg when the Thetis arrived overhead. Resident Rita has been warning us of this buildup for some time. This is not a petulant refusal like those in the past.”

  Hildegard was silent, allowing a pause to develop as she turned over Deirdre’s words in her mind. While she was thinking, Deirdre went on.

  “We need to teach Shobar and the Utreans a lesson they won’t soon forget. I have the highest regard for Captain Hebe’s airship huntresses, but they are too few, and they have been trained to fight from the air, not on the ground. I recommend that we reinforce them with the Cohort of Palace Guardians. We must destroy the army Shobar has mobilized, collect the tribute, and levy a heavy additional penalty to pay for all the trouble he is causing us. And we must inspect those tunnels. We can’t have the Utreans defying us, much less building an entire city out of the reach of our airships. Unless we punish the Utreans severely, it will embolden the other kingdoms. They may even unite against us.”

  Hildegard digested this.

  “And this is in addition to all our other troubles,” she said sadly. “I hear that a group of sisters in Ostracis Citadel have been agitating for a bigger share of the annual tribute.”

  “I have heard more than that, Hildegard. I spoke to Captain Rhea Carina of the Hydromeda when she returned from re-supplying Ostracis last week. There are actually some rabble-rousers urging secession from the Sisterhood and making common cause with the barbarians.”

  The Ostracis Citadel was the Zon city of retirement, though it was also where the Zon sent those who failed their Excellence boards. Deirdre did not have to tell Hildegard that Ostracis was in Utrea.

  Hildegard sighed. “What have we come to, Deirdre, when we cannot trust our own? What is the status of the Hydromeda right now?”

  “She has only been charging her batteries for a week. But she had not run down her charge when she came in. Even if we can’t wait to get her fully charged, she should be good for a couple of weeks in the field.”

  “Very well. Assemble a couple of Palace Guardian centuries. Recall the crew of the Hydromeda from their shore leave. Let us hope that King Shobar is bluffing and that we can call him. I don’t want to initiate any bloodshed. Let us communicate our intention to reinforce the Thetis to King Shobar and repeat our demand to inspect the tunnels and for payment of the tribute in full—”

  “But, Majesty,” Deirdre interrupted hotly. “The penalty—”

  Hildegard put her hand up, and Deirdre subsided.

  “And let us initiate secret contacts with Arch Baron Lothar. I don’t want to fight a war, Deirdre. I’d rather the Utreans replace Shobar themselves. Remember, it was only about thirty years ago that we fought the War of Brigon Succession over just this issue of tribute. The military talked Queen Margaux into starting that war.”

  “It was the right decision, Hildegard,” said Deirdre, swallowing her irritation. “You will recall I was Resident in Briga then. We killed the old king, his older son, and the more dangerous barons. As a younger son, King Harald has an undisputed claim to the throne. We have had him under our tutelage since he was a baby, and he has been very accommodating. Briga is united and at peace.”

  “We lost almost five hundred beautiful, strong huntresses in that war,” said Hildegard softly. “Including your dear mother. We all know that the siege of our Dreslin Center Residency was a very close thing. I have watched and re-watched the video comm. If it had fallen…”

  She shook her head, causing her mass of ash-blonde ringlets to swing around her face.

  “And fifteen years ago, when I was a new queen, our Palace Guardians killed King Jondolar the Just of Utrea, without my authorization. All he had done was ask us to temporarily lower the tribute when their crops failed. To kill a valuable and moral ally without express orders! And look at the good it did us—it brought this brutal villain, Shobar, to the throne.”

  Hildegard was angry now. Her eyes flashed.

  “That will not happen again, Deirdre. The huntresses will not initiate hostilities without my express command. The Cabinet Council will maintain tight control over our forces in the field.”

  Deirdre was silent. Her eyes had gone back to the game, where Diana was attacking furiously again and Anika was clearly tiring.

  Hildegard went on.

  “In the meantime, order Captain Hebe to reinforce our Nordberg Residency with a century from Thetis and deploy another two centuries at the Ostracis Citadel. Make sure no one enters or leaves the citadel till we clear this mess up. Let me know as soon as the Hydromeda is ready to sail.”

  Deirdre stood and put her hand on her heart in salute.

  “I hear and obey, Your Imperial Majesty,” she said formally.

  “And Deirdre…” she called out as the First Principal was leaving the Imperial Box, “I will call an emergency meeting of the Cabinet Council this afternoon. We need to inform them and get formal authorization for all this. I want the Cabinet to be on the comm in real-time, monitoring the situation. I want our huntresses to defend themselves if attacked, but undertake no hostilities unless specifically authorized by the Cabinet.”

  Deirdre’s mouth tightened, but she bit back her retort.

  DIANA HOVERED NEAR the top of the cube, moving toward the center, leaving her goalmouth tantalizingly open. She knew Anika was tired and wanted to end the match quickly. But to take advantage of the opening, she would have to concede altitude to Diana. She made a couple of small advances, and still Diana did not respond. With a slight upward feint, she streaked toward the goalmouth. She was so close that she got her sparring sword into Diana’s goalmouth. For a moment the crowd thought she had won, and it drew a collective gasp. She had almost pierced the hymen in the interior of the goalmouth when she felt Diana’s steel shoulder guard strike her helmet with a clang that echoed around the arena. Coming from above, the combination of Diana’s speed and weight overcame Anika’s rocket boost. Her sparring sword shattered, and she spun downward toward the floor of the cube. By the time she recovered, it was too late. Diana had flown to her opponent’s goalmouth at full power and thrust her sparring sword home. Klaxons sounded as she scored, but they were almost completely drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

  Diana flew down to the floor of cube and took Anika by the arm. They flew to the middle of the cube arm in arm. Diana raised her right fist, and the crowd chanted:

  “Di-ana Tra-gina! Di-ana Tra-gina! Di-ana Tra-gina!”

  After three circuits of the cube, the two adversaries flew down to the exit door that was now open. They made a final bow to the crowd and ducked out of the cube into the adjoining ready room. They were both covered with sweat from their long match. Their seconds helped them unbuckle their harnesses and take off their rocket packs. As Diana and Anika exchanged compliments, Deirdre entered the ready room. All of them put their hands on their hearts, and Deirdre returned the salute.

  “Great match,” she said warmly. “Well contested, it could have gone either way.” Anika bowed at the compliment, and Diana smiled.

  “However, I am afraid that duty calls. Diana, I need you to attend on me immediately.”

  “Princess, I will get cleaned up and come directly,” said Diana.

  “Come
to Chateau Regina,” said Deirdre brusquely. “I will expect you momentarily.”

  THE QUEEN’S OFFICIAL residence was a sprawling castle complex built on and around Simran’s Peak, the highest mountaintop in Atlantic City. It was surrounded by a dry moat and ten-meter high walls crowned with crenellated battlements, patrolled at all times by a century of Palace Guardians. Diana’s handmaiden drove her official speeder past the massive Long Trek Memorial with its towering spires, over the drawbridge, and into the bailey, bringing it to a stop in front of the official entrance to the East Wing. The two Palace Guardians on duty raised their halberds in salute as the gullwing door hissed open and Diana emerged in full dress uniform. She adjusted her ceremonial sword and touched the silver choker that bore the crossed swords of her rank as she put her hand on her heart to return their salute. The Guardians were both very tall, but Diana comfortably topped them. A few tendrils of blonde hair escaped her ceremonial helmet, and the helmet’s plumes swayed in the slight breeze. Even among the Zon, where good looks were commonplace, Diana was strikingly beautiful. She had all the traits prized by the Sisterhood. She had great athleticism, a sharp mind, and the “perfect” set of physical attributes: very light blonde hair, alabaster skin overlain with an outdoorsy bronze, a thin nose, and high cheekbones. Her eyes were such a pale gray as to be almost colorless, so that even when she was in good humor, she looked enigmatic. Her nickname of “Lady Death” was apt.

  Moments later a second speeder with the markings of the airship Hydromeda pulled up behind Diana’s speeder. Its door shushed open, and Captain Rhea Carina emerged, also in full dress uniform. The crossed swords on her choker and wrist bracers bore wings, indicating her airship service. She was tall but still stood a head shorter than Diana. Her features were pleasant, but her face was a bit too long, giving her a slightly horsey appearance. I wonder how she passes her Excellence boards, Diana thought, as she always did when they met. Captain Rhea came up the steps, and they greeted one another as equals.

  One of the Palace Guardians fell into step with them as they entered the building, saying, “Princess Deirdre is an emergency meeting of the Cabinet Council. She asks that both of you join her there.”

  Diana nodded. She had attended Cabinet meetings years ago, when she served as one of the handmaidens to the newly elected Queen Hildegard. So she knew the ancient chamber well. It was situated on the highest level of the East Wing with a viewport that encompassed an entire wall, affording a panoramic view of the city and the eastern sector of the Great Vale. Two more Palace Guardians were at the huge double doors of the Cabinet chamber. They had obviously been briefed, and after saluting, they opened one of the doors and motioned the two senior officers to enter.

  There was a buzz of conversation around the table, but their entrance brought about a lull as all heads turned to see who had entered. The queen sat at the head of the long table in her ceremonial robes of semi-diaphanous silver, clasped at her small waist with a slim white gold cummerbund. The outline of her finely sculpted body was clearly visible to all, as was traditional at this very formal meeting. She wore the historic jewel-encrusted Zon crown, made over a thousand years ago on Eartha, and the royal scepter of her office lay on the table in front of her. Her three handmaidens were arrayed behind her.

  Princess Andromache Saxe, the raven-haired High Priestess of the Upper Temple, Cognis, was at her right hand, representing the time-honored Zon ideals that officially placed learning on the highest pedestal. Deirdre, as First Principal of the Armed Forces, was at her left, in recognition of the secondary position of the military. Both wore their official robes of the finest and thinnest Kanjiam silk, white for Andromache, red for Deirdre. Both wore the ancient gold tiaras of their houses, for the Saxes and the d’Orrs were the oldest and noblest lines in all of the Sisterhood.

  Also present were the High Priestesses of the Middle and Lower Temples and the military leadership represented by the praefectas of the two Zon Legions: the Queen’s Household Legion and the Pentheselia Legion. Each cabinet member had her handmaiden standing behind her chair. There was a huge silver samovar in a corner of the room, and the aroma of katsch pervaded the chamber.

  One of the Palace Guardians had followed Diana and Rhea into the chamber and announced them in a clear voice: “Diana Tragina, Cornelle of the Cohort of Palace Guardians, and Rhea Carina, Captain of the airship Hydromeda.”

  The Queen inclined her head.

  “Welcome, Cornelle; welcome, Captain. Princess Deirdre has asked that you be allowed to attend this meeting, as you will both be a key part of the strategy we decide on today. Please join us. I hope you will take some katsch.”

  There were two empty chairs by Deirdre, no doubt by design. As they seated themselves, Deirdre’s handmaiden brought them steaming mugs of katsch. It was the highest grade from the queen’s own store. Diana inhaled the fragrant aroma, stifling an urge to sigh with contentment.

  There was a map of Utrea on a large viewscreen on one of the chamber walls. There were black rectangles around Nordberg, indicating Utrean troop dispositions, as well as a flashing orb with the legend Thetis. Arch Baron Lothar’s capital of Vesterans also glowed in the far northwest of the country.

  “I fully support the queen,” said Calliope Marchesina, High Priestess of the Lower Temple, Lysia, obviously continuing an ongoing discussion. “We must not initiate hostilities. It will only serve to unify the Utreans. We should learn from the disaster that followed the slaying of King Jondolar by our huntresses.” Here she threw a venomous glance at Diana and Deirdre. If looks could kill, thought Diana. “Arch Baron Lothar is a sensible man. Like Jondolar, he is a direct descendent of the Royal House of Nibellus. Indeed, he has more claim to the throne than Shobar, whose own descent can be traced to a minor branch off the main Nibellian line.”

  “However, we must make sure that he marches on Shobar on his own, without any obvious alliance with us,” said Andromache, brushing a shiny black strand of hair out of her eyes. “The Utrean public must believe that this is an autonomous move by Lothar to maintain peace and reestablish Nibellian rule. We must stay in the background, out of sight, and provide him support in secret, just enough to make sure he wins. To this end, let us withdraw Thetis from Nordberg and send her to Ostracis.”

  Hildegard nodded, but before she could speak, Deirdre declared, “Withdrawing Thetis will be interpreted as weakness. This news will travel fast. Shabor will crow, and our enemies in other kingdoms will draw encouragement. We may even face trouble in Briga.”

  “We need Thetis at Ostracis in any event,” said Hildegard. Her voice had an edge. “It does not matter what Shobar thinks—in fact, if he and anyone else thinks we are weak, so much the better. They may become overconfident, and it will be easier for Lothar to defeat them. Hydromeda will sail for Utrea carrying two centuries of Palace Guardians, in addition to her normal complement. Cornelle Diana Tragina and Captain Rhea Carina will have joint command of the mission to persuade Lothar to attack Shobar and take the throne. They will provide him with logistics and intelligence as well as command and control support. They may provide discreet—I repeat discreet—fire support from the air. But they are to have a minimal combat role, and they will be continuously monitored by the Cabinet over the comm. Everyone must believe that this is an internal Utrean affair.”

  “I suggest that Captain Hebe of Thetis communicate with King Shobar indicating that she is withdrawing to Ostracis await for reinforcements arriving on Hydromeda,” said Heliodora Talerina, High Priestess of the Middle Temple, Magis. “That will give Lothar grounds to move—it makes it credible that he is acting to avoid all-out war in the face of our gathering forces.”

  Diana cleared her throat and spoke, aware that all eyes in the chamber turned to her.

  “I beg the Cabinet’s permission to speak,” she said. Her voice was melodious, even though her tone was flat and emotionless. “While I am simple soldier and do not understand the complexities of diplomacy, it seems to me that Captai
n Rhea and I have been given a rather illdefined mission. We know what we cannot do, but we have been given little direction as to what we must do. How should we approach Arch Baron Lothar? If we approach Vesterans in the Hydromeda, all of Utrea will know of our contact with him, defeating the objectives outlined by High Priestess Princess Andromache. If we approach on the ground, we are likely to run into Utrean troops and will have to fight to defend ourselves. Yet the Cabinet instructs us to avoid hostilities.”

  Deirdre leaned back in her chair and smiled. Her decision to involve Diana in this meeting was paying off. Both Praefecta Kyra Merlina of the Queen’s Household Legion and Praefecta Tignona Semyanina of the Pentheselia Legion echoed Diana’s sentiments. The mission was too vague, they said, it called for too much oversight and placed too many restrictions on the troops in the field.

  “I move that we give Cornelle Diana and Captain Rhea a free hand to decide on the best way to approach Arch Baron Lothar,” said Praefecta Kyra. “This is a difficult mission and calls for a lot of flexibility in the field. So long as our overall objectives are served—the replacement of Shobar with Lothar and the concealment of our role in the action—let our commanders in the field take whatever actions are necessary.”

  Captain Rhea spoke up. “I thank Praefectas Kyra and Tignona for their support and confidence. Cornelle Diana and I”—she touched Diana’s forearm—“will do everything in our power to bring this mission to a successful conclusion.”

  The queen had the last word.

  “I accept Praefecta Kyra’s delineation of the mission,” she said with finality. “Subject to regular mission reports on the comm.”

  She rose, and her handmaidens fell into formation behind her. As she swept from the cabinet chamber, all the participants rose. Deirdre patted Diana’s rump.

  “Well done, Cornelle,” she said, smiling. “Call up your best centuries. And Captain, I am sure you will get the Hydromeda ready to sail as quickly as possible.”