The Noble Petty
By Craig Gerttula
Complete Edition
Book Two of the Alutia Rising Series
This is a work of fiction.
Copyright © 2013 Craig Gerttula. All rights reserved.
Cover Image:
Crown Graphic: Copyright © Ivan Ponomarev/shutterstock.
Sun Graphic: Courtesy of NASA/JPL, which in no way supports this work.
Published by Sky Hoshi Publishing
Complete Electronic Edition March 2014
ISBN-10: 194118703X
ISBN-13: 9781941187036
Publisher Contact Information:
www.skyhoshipublishing.com
[email protected]
To my dog, Hoshi.
Thank you my friend.
Prologue
A flock of fumi birds soared through the floating amphitheater, humming in tune with the dance orchestra performing the Death of Yu. It was an odd ballad, one with a gentle melody and dance telling of a time of great loss, but also great hope. Of a new beginning made possibly only by the death of the living god of Origin known as Yu.
King Johan Vn'Oco of the 189th New Universal Empirical Human Alliance Galaxy listened with great joy as the projected performance unfolded, imagining himself in the audience, among those founding nobles who just signed the last accord, uniting humanity forever in the alliance known as the NHA. Though many probably doubted this alliance would survive long, so many varying human cultures and beliefs being integrated into one, and soon conflict would arise anew.
They would have been wrong, Johan thought, gazing upon the many faces of hope as the projection zoomed through the audience. The future is beyond even my imagining, he mused, wondering once again if his life was just a dream, that humanity hadn’t actually spread so far across the universe in only 75,000 years; colonizing 203 galaxies, millions of planets and stars, with millions more already discovered, just awaiting humanity’s eventual arrival.
The final stanza boomed, the dancing musicians swirling together above the stage, telling the story of a final goodbye for a loved one whose time had long since passed. The seamless way the composer called forth sorrow and joy, such seemingly different emotions, always touched his aging heart, threatening to call forth tears to his long dry eyes. He always thinking the finale fit him all too well.
As the symphony faded, the projected performance vanished from the air before him. He glanced lovingly to the majestic woman seated on the opposite end of the couch, his wife, Queen Vahna, who was lost in her own work. She looked none of her 170 years, still possessing the “noble perfect” features, silky smooth skin, emerald eyes, and stunning, long black hair that so enchanted him in his youth. In contrast, a quite clear contrast, he thought dryly, he looked all of his 185 years. His hair had turned a bone white 50 years before, thinning substantially, but still flowing well below his shoulders. He'd started to hunch, his body having long forgotten how to stand straight, while his sagging skin was littered with age spots that were rarely found on anyone younger than 300. The two looked more like father and daughter then husband and wife, the thought of which, mixed with his already somber emotions, called forth a remorseful laugh to cracking lips.
Vahna looked up with surprise, her attention pulled away from the irradiated particle display unit, or PDU, projecting the quaint, biological summer house she intended to gift their third daughter, Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia.
“I do not believe I have heard you laugh in over a century, Your Majesty. May I ask what ever is the matter?” Vahna questioned, voice stiff and words forced. He reached out, placing a gentle hand across her exposed forearm. A look of suspicion flashed within her gorgeous eyes.
“The years have been kind to you, my dear Vahna, but for me...I think I may soon be following Yu into the beyond, into the star gods bosoms. This galaxy weighs heavy on my soul,” the king told with words that held no sadness or self pity, just knowledge of an inevitability.
“That is true. I do take much better care of myself then you. But to say your death will be soon is rather melodramatic...is it not, Your Majesty?” Vahna rolled her eyes as her words trailed off, turning her attention back to the floating projection, her body language informing him that the conversation was over. He sighed, suppressing the retort that sat on the tip of his tongue, knowing there was no getting through to her.
Silently, he started studying his love while she once again became engrossed in her work. With an elegance that looked like a formal dance, she outlined sections of the biological summer house that did not meet her noble standards. The four Vn'Oco Royal Biological Architects responsible for its design and construction responded immediately to her every concern, no matter how trivial.
After a time, Johan realized, she would not join him in conversation. Resigned, he climbed to his feet, muscles crying out at being forced to work, then crept carefully around his wife, who didn't even notice him leave. He still loved her, and he knew, deep down, that she still loved him. But it is difficult being ignored, is it not? He sighed to himself.
They'd been married when he was 45 and she, 30, the first 20 years of which was the happiest time of his life; a time when wanderlust had overtaken them, the vast universe summoning their hearts, no political obligations or responsibilities to inhibit their adventures or love. They would travel from galaxy to galaxy, exploring the universe's natural wonders, while enjoying each other's unbridled attention. A long forgotten memory from that time forced its way to the surface as he started shuffling across the royal lounge.
Near the twilight of their travels, they'd stumbled upon an ancient star system in the throes of collapse, its yellow-white star rapidly cooling, having burned through the last of its immense supply of fuel. Thinking to demonstrate his proficiency to Vahna, having claimed, years before, to be the foremost authority on starship navigation and piloting, he brought them in much too close. They barely survived the stars initial collapse, their starship’s primary NSD core and communication array being damaged beyond repair. Floating helplessly through interstellar space, with what they thought was no hope for rescue; they discarded their self-control, indulging fully in their animal instincts.
Days unknown passed and they continued unabated until an NHA research vessel, investigating the newly collapsed star, which had expanded into a red giant, happened upon their distress signal. Though he and Vahna had little knowledge of their saviors arrival until they had appeared onboard, finding them in the throes of passion. He clearly recalled Vahna's rare, embarrassed reaction at being seen in such a state, a grin finding its way to his lips at the memory. But it quickly vanished as his thoughts turned to his now banished son, who had been born a year later.
Crown Prince Kohan Vn'Oco and his wife, Princess Xeros, had been exiled to a noble prison planet for their part in the destruction of the Planet Earth, to live in isolation until King Johan's death. This fate had been of his own request. Since his first son, Prince Kohan, had stated he would share the same punishment as his wife, who had ordered the destruction, and who he loved more than anything in the universe.
Kohan blamed himself for what had befallen Earth, believing he was responsible for not properly overseeing the actions of his wife. Thankfully, the emperor had delegated King Johan the responsibility of deciding on Princess Xeros’s fate, with only a recommendation that she be exiled to dark space. It was a cruel doom, usually only reserved for the most heinous of crimes; which he clearly knew this was, Princess Xeros being ultimately responsible for the destruction of a planet of 25 billion innocents. But he
couldn't do it. He couldn't send his son into the nothingness between galaxies, to never be seen or heard from again. So he decided on, what is known as: “noble prison”.
For nobles who commit crimes that do not justify death or banishment, but still need to be separated from society, there are special prisons of unique design. Every galaxy is required by universal mandate to have at least one class C or higher habitable planet allocated for just such a use, allowing convicted nobles to live similarly to how they would on the outside. But they would be unable to leave or receive visitors, while any communication beyond the planet's surface was strictly forbidden; a type of penal colony.
He remembered the anxiety of waiting for the emperor's response after sending his decision, hoping he'd been severe enough for the man not to directly intervene. Historically, emperors would never forgive unjustified habitable planet destruction. It being quite common for a galaxy king, who the emperor thought complacent in allowing the planet’s destruction, to be removed as well. Emperor Yuloo had, however, begrudged him his request, but clearly noted that he, or one of his agents, would personally decide if Crown Prince Kohan and Princess Xeros would be allowed to assume the throne of galaxy 189 after they were released from the noble prison planet. He had thanked the emperor for the small kindness and turned his attention back to the festering problem that created the situation which led to the Earth's destruction in the first place: Duke Zehman of the Hulk’Zif Duchy.
He continued slowly across the royal lounge on his personal starship, the NHA Super-Capital VBF Vn'Oco. Within the lounge were two primary seating areas, one designed just for his wife and another for himself. His was situated on the far left, separated from his wife’s by a pure blue stream teeming with aquatic life forms from hundreds of different worlds. Bridges of purple tinted, white stone spanned the stream's expanse, while walkways of the same stone crisscrossed the length of the lounge with many exotic plants lining its flanks. Luxuriant carpeting of deep purple, displaying the Vn'Oco royal crest on its surface, a platinum crown adorning a red sun, filled the gaps in-between. The walls were covered with ornate artifacts and unique creations of programmable matter art, with the Vn'Oco Royal Guard standing at attention below. Overhead, the domed ceiling twinkled with multicolored gems, arranged in the formidable shape of a giant Vican, an extinct predator native to Planet Vn'Oco.
Having reached his favorite couch, he lowered himself onto the exceedingly soft, luxurious purple pillows that cradled his entire body. Once settled, he accessed his Biological Communication Node, or BC Node for short, an organ integrated into the human brain that allowed communication by thought with a biological access point, or BAP, sending an activate command to the semi-spherical, irradiated particle display unit, or PDU, that was hidden high overhead. The air before him shimmered, rapidly filling with trillions of multicolor particles that quickly coalesced into a three-dimensional image of NHA Galaxy 189, the galaxy in which he ruled. It was a stunning reproduction. Its clarity and detail making him wonder if he was actually looking through a window at the galaxy and not a projected replica.
At his command, the projection of NHA galaxy 189 became overlaid by 130 differing hues, allowing him to easily discern all the various sovereignties under his rule. Of these sovereignties, 128 were duchies controlled by his dukes and duchesses, the smallest highlighted area controlled by the Anti-Sapien Unification, or ASU, an alliance of nonhumans bent on total destruction of humanity, while the largest highlighted area was under his direct authority, the Vn'Oco Kingship.
He continued scanning the galaxy map until he located the region of concern, zooming into the newest duchy within his domain: Alutia. He had gifted this duchy to his third daughter, Princess Sasha, in the hopes of heading off the growing threat of the Duke of Hulk'Zif, Duke Zehman.
A near irresponsible risk, he scolded himself, having placed his inexperienced daughter in the center of raging inferno. But few others could he trust unconditionally, too many realists, his supposed supporters, under the sway of the traditionalists, and time had been of the essence.
The Alutia Duchy sat in-between the fourth and fifth primary arms of the galaxy ring, on the opposite side of the galaxy core from the Vn'Oco Kingship, between the Hulk'Zif, Bar'Vac, and Waz'Pol Duchies. The majority of the space allocated for the Alutia Duchy had been appropriated from Hulk'Zif and Bar'Vac, both of which had been double the size of every other duchy in the galaxy at the time, being almost as large as the Vn'Oco Kingship. Duchess Lionise of the Bar'Vac Duchy had no issue with his plan, the House of Bar’Vac having not even begun considering the exploration of the region being annexed. But Duke Zehman had responded as expected, with barely concealed contempt, filing formal complaints with the emperor and himself. King Johan had, of course, ignored the man, since the duke was the reason for the new duchy being created in the first place.
For a great while Johan had known of Duke Zehman's mounting lust for power, and growing instability. A common trait of the House of Hulk’Zif, and he being well aware of this fact. The royal spy services had kept a close eye on the man since his ascension after the untimely, and suspicious, death of his father, Duke Rehman Hulk’Zif. But they had been unable to properly infiltrate his ranks, leaving Johan to rely on the shifting whispers of his other nobility who were easily infiltrated. From this he’d learned a harsh reality. That Duke Zehman had already swayed a large portion of the traditionalist sect of galaxy 189’s ruling nobility to his cause. However, what this cause was had escaped his many ears, and it wasn’t until a defector had graced him with the knowledge did he learn of its severity.
A private explorer had discovered a gorian deposit the likes the universe had never before seen in the unpopulated border region of the Hulk'Zif Duchy. Duke Zehman, once learning of this fact, permanently silenced said explorer to hide its existence, and then began planning to exploit its immeasurable worth to further increase his powerbase, with the eventual goal of challenging for the kingship of galaxy 189.
Johan had started planning, as was his right, to bring the massive Vn'Oco Battle Fleets to bear, crushing Duke Zehman before the man became too powerful. But the emperor had denied his request, stating that any sort of disharmony in galaxy 189 would not be tolerated; it being the frontline of the 400 year war with the ASU. Infuriated, but unable to go against the emperor's will, he decided to implement his backup plan; to force Duke Zehman's hand.
His plan was simple. Under the auspice of gifting his third daughter, Princess Sasha, a holding to rule for her coming of age on her 26th birthday, he would create a new duchy out of the space that just so happened to contain this gorian deposit. He knew the emperor would find little reason to deny this request, though found his wife, Queen Vahna, vehemently against placing their daughter in such a dangerous situation. But when he explained she could provide her anything she desired, Vahna’s tone had changed. She immediately went to work designing everything from the new duchy’s crest, to Sasha’s private shuttle, while compiling a list of extravagant gifts that Johan knew would drain the royal coffers and lead to many questions of propriety if the knowledge came to light.
The first part of his plan went off without a hitch. He was able to separate Duke Zehman from the new source of capital before it could be exploited, while also identifying many of his co-conspirators. He'd been certain a few would not be foolish enough to come directly to Duke Zehman's aid, or send letters of objection to Johan. But he could now confidently identify 47 of his dukes that could not be trusted. That left him with 51 duchesses and 30 dukes who were still officially loyal to him. He knew none of the duchesses would ever side with Duke Zehman, based on his traditionalist reputation and being an admitted paramour, a view which none of his duchesses shared. But the other dukes were still suspect. He was good friends with the Dukes of Conti'Ro and Foom'li, which made it unlikely they were involved. The rest, however, he couldn't verify, his spy services finding little concrete evidence either way.
Duke Zehman had then made the n
ext move, faster than Johan had expected, inciting a disturbance on the special protectorate of Earth, a semiautonomous star system that was now part of the Alutia Duchy. Without seeking permission, or allowing time for Johan to react, Duke Zehman invaded Alutia on the pretense of rescuing an unjustly imprisoned noble. His excuse being that time was of the essence. When this had befallen, Princess Sasha, who was on her way to Vn'Oco for her official transfer ceremony required for her to become Grand Duchess of Alutia, diverted to Earth. Apparently, she had received a communication which led her to suspect Duke Zehman was after the then commander of the Terra Space Battalion, the autonomous organization responsible for protecting Earth, Knight Captain Quinn. However, while she was on route, the Alutia Guard, the guard organization responsible for her protection, turned traitor, attempting an assassination while seizing her private shuttle.
Johan clenched his fists at the thought; the gall of the man to try to kill my daughter! Luckily, Princess Sasha and the majority of the loyal crew were able to escape. But they found themselves stranded within a star system preparing for battle.
The Hulk'Zif Battle Fleet, consisting of seven NHA battle groups, led by Duke Zehman himself, had begun the invasion of the Earth star system. The only thing standing in his way was the Terra Space Battalion Fleet, whose starships were specialized, designed to keep inquisitive nobles from breaching the sanctity of the Earth star system. This meant that even though the numbers of starships on each side were almost equal, the TSB Fleet was heavily outgunned, almost 1000 to 1.
The battle looked all but lost until the Alutia Battle Fleet, consisting of four battle groups, two of which were newly assigned from his own Vn'Oco Battle Fleet, arrived on the scene. Unfortunately, Duke Zehman escaped when the battle turned against him, feigning damage to his private super-capital ship and retreating to safety; sacrificing his remaining forces in the process.
The Noble Petty, Complete Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 2) Page 1