Voice of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book Three)

by Lawrence White

  Chapter 10

  When they reached Shipyard, Chandrajuski joined Krys aboard Resolve for the short trip down to the surface. She was anxious to be reunited with the Queen again, but she was reticent, as well. There would be challenges this time, challenges that would be difficult for both her and the woman she called mother.

  Ellie, with Trexler and Otis by her side, waited impatiently as the ramp lowered. Chandrajuski and Captain Stven greeted them and led the way to Krys’ office/suite, Stven clomping noisily behind them in a cast that had not yet been removed. A strong feeling of dé·jà vu washed through Ellie as she entered the room: she had lived aboard Resolve for many years, and these had been her own quarters.

  The room was crowded. When Ellie stepped through the doorway, everyone that could went to one knee. Krys stood in the center of the room with a hand lightly resting on Washburn’s arm for balance. Ellie stopped, her gaze focused like a laser on Krys, then she stepped to Krys and took her in her arms. No words were spoken as each tightened arms around the other.

  When Ellie opened her eyes and loosened her embrace, she looked around the room. Most of the injuries were nearly healed, but there was no shortage of bandages in the room. “I feel like I’m in an infirmary,” she said. “Rise, all of you.”

  Dr. Natai helped Tarn to his feet, still a slow process. Ellie abandoned Krys and stepped over to him, giving him a hug. “I asked you to care for my daughter, but I did not expect this to be the cost.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  She stared hard at Borg. His bandages had come off, but raw scars had not yet hardened. Several other Protectors, both Great Cats and Terrans, still bore the remains of bandages and casts, as did Stven. She looked into the eyes of each person in the room, then turned to Major Washburn.

  “I have heard your story, Major. I, too, have taken the oath. I will give all that I am. It’s one thing to say the words, something else entirely to practice them. Tell me again why it is we do this?”

  “For our children and for our children’s children, Your Majesty.”

  “You speak wisely, Major.” She turned to the rest of the room. “I thank all of you for your commitment and your bravery. As important, thank you for taking care of the one I call daughter.” She looked to Tarn. “I understand that you have a job to do.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty. Then we must be away.”

  Her look sharpened. “To where?”

  “Triton.”

  She started to retort, then caught herself. After all, he was the Guide. She clasped her hands together and stepped over to her old desk, turned to face the room, and leaned back against the desk. She looked hard at Krys.

  “Why?”

  “I received an urgent summons to find someone named Joshua. The only Joshua we know is on Triton.”

  Not caring who else was in the room, or possibly because of everyone else there, she said, “Krys, it was in this very room that I first met you. It was in this room that you first met your brother, Val, and it was in this room that you made your first prediction about the fall of Empire.” Her voice softened. “It was in this room that you first called me Mother.”

  Ellie looked to Washburn, her voice low. “So now it’s my turn to give all that I am. For me, this is as hard as almost anything else I have had to do.” He stared back at her, his face showing no softening, though he did bow his head slightly. Her gaze shifted from him to the rest of the people in the room. “Even then, I might not agree except for one other important detail. Who here does not know the story of the Messenger and the Guide?”

  All of Krys’ crew knew the story, so only a few hands went up including Trexler’s and Dr. Natai. She frowned at Trexler. “A major oversight on my part.” She turned to Dr. Natai. “Who are you?”

  “Sir Tarn’s doctor, Your Majesty, though as you can see,” she said, her hand sweeping around the room, “there are others who have benefited from my services. Admiral Korban asked for volunteers, and I am her.”

  Ellie stared hard at her. “Will you submit to a Testing?”

  “I will, Your Majesty.”

  Ellie stepped to her and placed a hand on each side of Dr. Natai’s head. Their gazes locked and Ellie was in, sifting rapidly through Dr. Natai’s memories and thoughts. It didn’t take long. She withdrew and steadied Dr. Natai for the few moments it took her to gather herself together. Testings affected people in different ways, but it was always an intensely personal experience.

  “You speak true, and you are true to yourself. This crew has need of your services. Will you stay?”

  “I will, Your Majesty. That was always my intent.”

  “Thank you.” She turned to the rest of the room. “Anyone who knows the story is dismissed except my Knights, Captain Stven, Borg, and Major Washburn.”

  The room partially emptied as she addressed Stven. “Captain, see if you can locate Admiral Jons and Commander Skvechavka’a, then return here. They should be a part of this. Let them know we are waiting.”

  Jons and Akurea arrived together, Akurea rolling the sleeves of her coverall down as she entered the room. Ellie told the story of Lianli and the Leaf People, and for Trexler in particular, some things that had previously made no sense to him at all finally did. For the Empire people, legends came alive with her words.

  “Each of you in this room has been called, and each of you has answered that call. You deserve, and I hope that one day in the future you will have the opportunity, to meet the Leaf People. Stories do not do them justice. Now, to your vision, Ray.”

  “We’ve already figured it out, Ellie. This is just a formality.”

  Her eyebrows went up in surprise. “You did?”

  “We did,” he said nodding his head.

  “What did you see?” she asked Krys.

  “Just the following words, Mother:

  “Check, or checkmate? The Code is broken, ancestors have spoken. Emerging pride along for the ride.”

  “It speaks of codes, Ellie,” Trexler added. “We know we’re going to have the hypercom up and running soon. We’ll be communicating in codes, and it sounds like we’re going to have to change them more often. As for ancestors, we used an ancient Earth language for codes once before, and we can do it again.”

  Ellie frowned. “You seem confident, Ray.”

  He nodded. “I am.”

  “Krys, what do you think?”

  “I’m the Messenger, Mother.”

  Ellie nodded and turned to Tarn. He had been listening, but he had also been considering. He stood up and started pacing. Everyone waited, some more patiently than others, including the Queen. She had learned her lesson when it came to this young man.

  “Check, or checkmate? I am not familiar with the terms,” he said.

  Trexler answered. “It’s an expression, part of a game on Earth. Each side maneuvers game pieces on a board. The goal of the game is to take the opponent’s king. That is a win. When either player states ‘check,’ it means the opponent’s king is within one move of being taken.”

  “Hmm. So the vision suggests that we have only one move.”

  “Not necessarily. The next move could resolve the check. For example, if you’ve been checked by a particular piece, taking out that piece might remove the check.”

  “What is “checkmate?”

  “It means you have no moves that can resolve the check. It’s ‘game over.’”

  Tarn looked up quickly to Trexler. “Game over! We’ve lost the war? I think the stakes have just been raised.”

  Trexler squirmed. “We just need to outsmart the Rebels when it comes to codes. We can’t let them discover our plans.”

  “We can’t let the Chessori discover them either.” Tarn stared hard into Trexler’s eyes. “Sir, we went to a lot of trouble to make certain the Chessori do not know we have the hypercom. As soon as you start talking in code, don’t you think they’re going to know? Haven’t you just given away a huge advantage?”

  Trexler paled. He, too, sto
od up to pace. “What else can codes mean?”

  Tarn looked to Admiral Jons. Jons had been shuttling between Parsons’ World, Shipyard, and lately, Earth. His deepest desire was to again command a squadron, but his skills at coordinating Empire and Serge Parsons’ people as they built and modified ships was something Chandrajuski was not willing to give up. Grand Admirals understood well that they were nothing without their logistics support.

  To Jons, Tarn said, “The word ‘Code,’ is singular. It applies to just one code. Do you know where I’m going with this?”

  Jons had been leaning against a wall. Now he stood up strait, his eyes wide. “I do, Sire! Parsons’ World and Shipyard are governed by a Code. I refer to it as a smugglers code. They simply call it ‘the Code.’”

  “What would it take to break their code, sir?”

  “Probably lots of things. Treason, selling their secrets to outsiders would likely top the list. Serge Parsons has a lot of secrets to protect, not least of them our fast drives, weapons, shields, even the very fact that his people’s sole purpose is to get rich from smuggling.”

  “How many know of the Queen’s presence here?”

  Jons would never hide the truth from anyone in this room. “The list has grown, is growing. A lot of people here know that Parsons’ World and Shipyard are a primary supporter of the Queen.”

  Tarn turned to Ellie. “The Code is broken, Your Majesty. Someone talked.”

  Her hand went to her throat and her face grayed. “We’ve lost Parsons’ World?”

  “If Parsons’ World is betrayed, so is Shipyard. Let’s finish up before reaching conclusions,” Tarn advised. “’Ancestors have spoken.’ Whose ancestors?” He thought for a moment, then answered his own question. “Most likely Serge Parsons’ ancestors. I have no idea what words they spoke.”

  “Maybe we should get him in here,” Jons said grimly. “He’s here, on Shipyard I mean.”

  Tarn held up a hand. “We will. Let’s consider the rest first.” He turned back to Trexler. “You’re from an emerging world. What gives you pride?”

  “A lot of things, but one thing comes immediately to mind. We’ve been encouraging the people of Earth to take responsibility for their own survival. We can’t rely only on the Empire to save us from the Chessori. We’re promoting a massive effort to manufacture and install modifications that will turn slow ships into fast ships. We’re recruiting large numbers of crewmembers for those ships, and we’re training more soldiers for Waverly. We’re even sending more special operations troops to Brodor for training as Protectors.”

  Tarn’s lips compressed as he nodded. “So Parsons’ World and Shipyard are compromised. Here resides the Queen, here resides the secrets of fast ships, and here resides the plans for the hypercom. We are in ‘check.’ Our next move must be the right move or we will find ourselves in ‘checkmate.’”

  Trexler looked to Chandrajuski. “We can protect them.”

  Chandrajuski batted his fists together. His lips lifted, revealing rows of sharp teeth, his method of smiling. “I foresee great battles.” Then his lips closed and his neck drooped. “They will come for the Queen in overwhelming numbers. It will take all of our resources.”

  He and Trexler stared at each other, then both sets of eyes turned to Tarn.

  He frowned as he considered. “‘Emerging pride along for the ride. I think Earth plays a role here, sir. It’s up to us to determine what that role is.”

  Tarn turned away from the room again deep in thought. When he spoke, he spoke with confidence. “Each vision has come in the form of instruction, warning, or hope. This one feels like all three to me. Check or checkmate, the Code is broken feels a warning. I believe the phrase ancestors have spoken might contain instructions for us, and the last part of the vision, Emerging pride along for the ride offers hope.”

  * * * * *

  Serge Parsons arrived. His goatee and sideburns had turned fully gray now - his path had not been an easy one since the Queen had shown up on his doorstep two years earlier. He had gone above and beyond anything Ellie could have hoped for, yet she could not bring herself to reveal Krys’ abilities to him.

  “It’s finally happened,” she said. “We have reason to believe that Struthers knows I am here.”

  Serge missed a step, caught himself, and straightened up, his gaze locked on Ellie. “How?”

  “We received a message stating that the Code was broken.”

  Serge’s lips thinned as he nodded. “I can’t say I’m surprised. If anything, I’m surprised it took so long. It’s an interesting cast of characters I deal with. Some have honor and some do not.”

  “We will do our best to protect you. Our resources are limited.”

  “Any idea how much time I have?”

  Ellie looked to Krys who shook her head. She turned back to Serge. “No.”

  Serge looked to Jons. “I guess we’ll pick up the pace. We’re going to have to move everything now.”

  Jons eyebrows lifted. “Everything? Can you?”

  “Actually . . . yes. But I can’t take all my people.” He turned to Ellie. “We have to find a way to protect my people, some way that won’t tie up all your forces. My own ships can slow down any attack, but we’re a long way out on the frontier even for fast ships. It will take your guys two weeks to get here once they’re called. It will take Struthers’ forces three weeks to reach the planet once they drop from hyperspace, maybe a little more if my guys can slow them down. That means they’d be about a week out from the planet when your forces engage them, assuming you were able to come right away.”

  Ellie asked Jons, “How long before the hypercom is operational?”

  “A few weeks.”

  She turned back to Serge. “We already discussed our need for your ships to inspect overhaul facilities as they go about their trading routines. If you recall them, not only will your trade suffer, we will not get the information we need. What if we give Parsons’ World and Shipyard the first hypercoms, and the next ones go to the fleet? They could be here within that two week window you mentioned.”

  “It’s a start. I’m not certain Commander Skvechavka’a needs my ships any longer, though any that are out there will keep their eyes open.”

  Ellie’s eyebrows drew together. She looked to Akurea, then Jons. He, too, looked surprised. “Am I missing something here?” she demanded of Akurea.

  “Not yet, Your Majesty. I’m just in the planning stages. I don’t bother you with things that might not pan out.”

  “Hmm. Mike’s very words.”

  Serge grinned. A hand stroked his goatee as he looked slyly at Ellie. “She’s working for the wrong people. She’s much too talented for you. I’ve offered her a job.”

  Ellie’s eyes widened. “Have you accepted?” she demanded of Akurea.

  “No, Your Majesty.”

  Ellie shook her head to clear it. “We’ll come back to you later. At the moment you are our focus, Serge. Your people are in danger, and your technology is in danger of falling into the wrong hands.”

  “My technology is as safe as I can make it. My people are not. The hypercom might be the answer to an invasion. I’m sorry to say that I am completely dependent on your forces to protect my general populations. I can move the technology, but I can’t move all my people.”

  “It will take years to transfer things.”

  Serge looked to Jons who responded for him. “We’ve been moving what we could to Earth, Your Majesty, at their request and Sir Mike’s. It might be prudent to broaden our plan.”

  “You can’t move factories.”

  “No, we can’t,” Jons replied. “We can move processes though. It will take time, a lot of time, to rebuild on Earth, but it has to be done.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time.” She turned to Serge. “I think your ancestors may have spoken to this issue.”

  He paled. “It seems I have informers everywhere. I will ask for an accounting in private, Your Majesty.”

  H
er gaze into his eyes was direct. “I never lie, Serge. I did not learn of this from one of your people.”

  “Who, then?”

  “The Chosen have many Talents, Serge. We do not always need external voices.”

  He glared at her, then suddenly his visage softened. “Words carefully chosen by a Chosen. You leave no hope to us mere mortals.”

  Her look softened, as well. “We are both on the same team here. You have given more than I ever hoped to receive. Is there anything left to give?”

  “You will suck up every morsel?”

  “I honor you with every morsel, my friend. Your people’s survival rests in the balance as well as my own. It is no longer you and us. It is we.”

  “The rest of my words are for you and your First Knight.”

  “Mike is away. Everyone in this room is a key player in whatever plans we make. The success of those plans rests largely on their shoulders, Serge. The more they know, the better they perform. We are at a critical point in a dangerous game. Struthers has you, hence he has us, by the throat. Whatever moves we make must be the right moves.”

  Serge looked around the room, his gaze resting on each person. Some he did not know, including Krys and her crew. The fact that they were in this room with the Queen spoke to their importance.

  “We came here two thousand years ago,” he said. “We have struggled mightily every day since then to build what we now have. I will not give it up to Struthers, nor will I slink away. Our ancestors grew up persecuted, and they knew that persecution could raise its ugly head once again. They never decommissioned the mother ships that carried us here, nor have we in the intervening years. Our ancestors knew our population would outgrow the capacity of the ships, but we always retained the capability of moving enough of our society to preclude genocide. That capacity still exists. The number of people here who knows is small.”