“We have a security breach, sir.”
Director Kim scowled and addressed Korban. “I can’t say I’m surprised, Governor. Is this necessary?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it is. We’re in the middle of a war, and my name is high on a certain very unpleasant list.”
Kim looked up and down the corridor thoughtfully before replying. “And walls have ears.” He studied the four Protectors, then addressed Kinash. “Do you share my feeling that they would be armed even if we took their weapons?” He focused on Akurea. “And you? What is your purpose here?”
“As you say, Director, walls have ears.”
Kim waved an arm in surrender. “Very well. Let them in, Stor.”
“Sir . . .”
“I know, but sector governors are not our average guest, and in his shoes I would not travel without security either. Let them in.”
Kinash nodded, her lips compressed, and both groups continued down the corridor. A moment later she turned back to Akurea. “We’ve identified a veritable arsenal on you and your companions, but there is something in your pocket that we cannot identify.”
“Your methods are thorough. Have you no decency?” she demanded.
“None when it comes to this corridor. You signed a release before boarding the shuttle, Ma’am.”
“Your purpose here is to enforce Imperial decrees. So, too, is mine. The contents of my pockets will remain private.” She changed the subject. “Tell me, why do you concern yourself with Imperial decrees? The Empire is dead.”
Thin eyebrows over bright amber eyes drew together. “Tell me, Commander, have you ever questioned the reliability of the power plants in the ships you fly?”
“No.”
“Nor will you . . . ever. The quality of our products has never been less than perfect. Those standards were established by Imperial decree centuries ago, and we have proudly held to them. We have not, and we will not, abrogate that trust.”
“So we’re wasting our time here?”
Kinash continued down the corridor toward the doors at the far end. “I do not know your purpose, but considering in whose company you travel, I cannot believe your purpose here is wasted. We hear the rumors, you know.”
“What rumors?”
“That we have a Queen.”
“What if I told you it was just a rumor started by the governor to keep the peace?”
“I support keeping the peace, but I would be . . . disappointed. Please tell me you are not here to dash our hopes.”
“You are not alone in your beliefs?”
“I am not. The outcomes of Admiral Dgoffs’ battle for our district and Governor Korban’s battle for Orion Sector restored hope for many. Aboard this station, I would say it restored hope for most of us.”
“Words are easy.”
“But battles are not. Both of them took stands, and their presence here honors us. The complexity of my job has tripled since the coup - the director makes no secret of his expectations for the future. Everyone new here is thoroughly vetted. We are not going to let ourselves become infected with Rebel ideals.”
“You speak of honor, but you’re just a private enterprise. What do you care who governs? In fact, Struthers might be more supportive of private enterprise than was the old Queen.”
Kinash lowered her voice. “The old Empire never condoned murder to achieve its ends.”
“There is no proof that Struthers did any such thing.”
Kinash leaned toward her, those bright yellow eyes daring her to disagree. “You’re not that naive.”
“I didn’t say he was innocent. I just said there’s no proof.”
“Believe what you will. I’ll be interested to hear what Governor Korban has to say today.”
“I think it will be for the director’s ears only,” she replied.
“That’s okay. Things filter down eventually. I can be patient when I have to be.”
“Patient, and I suspect, thorough. You intrigue me,” Akurea said, a smile suddenly lighting her face. “May I call you Stor?”
* * * * *
When they reached the far end of the corridor, doors irised back into the walls and they entered administrative work areas. Here, softer, natural colors replaced the stark environs of the corridor. Sterility was not the first impression, though a feeling of absolute cleanliness still prevailed. Some 50 people, most dressed in conservative business attire, worked at various tasks. Director Kim led the delegation around the circumference of the workspaces toward a conference room off to the side and held the door open for them.
Akurea entered the room and stopped, staring at the far wall. She couldn’t tell if the whole wall was a window or a screen, but space intruded right into the room. A bright white and blue planet held center stage toward the floor, partly obscured by one of the massive spikes extending from the station. Off to the right side and above her, a sun burned brightly, outlined by myriads of stars shining like diamonds between the spikes. Off to her right, the stark crescent of a moon floated in the void. The other two moons were not in view.
She followed Korban and Dgoffs to the wall, all of them enthralled. Director Kim let them look, clearly sharing their enjoyment.
He joined them. “I have never tired of this view,” he said. “It is a constant reminder of what we do here. Most of us claim roots from the planet below and it is them we serve, but we serve interstellar trade as well.”
Korban picked right up on his meaing. “Serve. An interesting choice of words.”
“Indeed. Who serves whom?” He turned and waved them to the table. He sat at the head of the table, and Korban and Dgoffs sat to each side of him, but everyone else remained standing, positioning themselves around the perimeter of the room.
“Let me conclude our conversation from the corridor,” Kim said to Korban. “The Empire exists to serve us, its member worlds and businesses. I am not so certain that Struthers hasn’t turned the tables. From the tone of his decrees, I feel like we’re now serving him.” He changed the subject, looking across the room to Stor Kinash. “Feeling a little outnumbered, are you?”
The Llaska’s lips thinned, and though she did not speak, Akurea sensed the thoughts flowing between the two: likely the fact that two Great Cats and two human soldiers were overkill for a protection detail. They had no way of knowing that the detail’s purpose was only to set expectations. If things progressed the way Akurea hoped they would, the Queen would make a personal appearance tomorrow, in which case the protection detail would not be overkill, it would be insufficient.
Director Kim added to the Llaska’s concerns. “Governor Korban tells me that his security will remain in place during our meeting, but fair is fair - you will remain here as well. I have assured him that this room is secure, and that whatever transpires here will not pass these doors.”
“The room is free of listening or recording devices, sir. You have my agreement concerning confidentiality,” Kinash said.
“He also informed me that the security is not for himself.”
Kinash’s glowing eyes moved to Admiral Dgoffs, but Dgoffs just shrugged. “I’m a warrior. I am security.”
Kinash looked confused, then her eyes turned slowly to her right, toward Akurea. Their gazes met, but neither of them spoke.
Akurea broke the standoff and stepped up to the table, but she remained standing. She addressed Director Kim. “We are here on Imperial business.”
He stood to face her. “So I am informed. That being the case, your first requirement will be to ascertain my loyalty to the Crown. I will tell you that I stand against Struthers, that his actions undermine the very fabric of my own personal values, but words are easy. How can I convince?”
“I have a request to make, a request that, according to what I have learned from Ms. Kinash, conflicts with certain fundamental standards to which this station has held since its inception.”
Director Kim paled. “The number of such standards is limited. I might have to refuse.”
“Will you refuse your Queen?”
He seemed to sag. Then, with a startled look, he straightened back up. “Are you her?”
Akurea shook her head. “I am not.”
Their gazes remained locked. “I will not refuse an order from the Queen provided I am assured of its validity. I do, however, demand explanation. I will not blindly follow anyone’s orders. I am told that we have a Queen, but does she hold to the old beliefs, to the old standards?”
“Can she not?” Akurea demanded in return. “She is a Chosen, and she is true. As important, until she is no longer chosen by the Empire and its citizens, she rules not only at their bequest but at their insistence. She will not let her people down. She is your Queen, Director, and she has need of your services.”
“And you carry her message?”
“I do more than that, sir. I speak in her name.”
She heard a sharp intake of breath from Ms. Kinash. She reached into her pocket and withdrew a Knight’s Pin, though her gaze remained locked on Director Kim. She reached her arm back toward Kinash, saying, “This is the item your sensors could not identify.”
Golden eyes studied the Pin, but Stor did not touch it. She stepped around the table to Director Kim’s side. Akurea leaned across the table and placed the Pin in Kim’s hand.
His eyes shone as he stared down at what lay in his hand. “I have never actually held one of these,” he said softly. “If this is real, we do, indeed, have a Queen. Will you do the honors, My Lady?”
Akurea leaned across the table again and passed her hand over the Pin. It sprang open instantly, emitting a holographic image of the Empire’s new Queen. Director Kim and Stor went to a knee with their heads bowed.
“Stand, both of you,” Akurea demanded. “There will be no more of that - we’re at war, and I hope we are on the same team. May the Queen count you among her supporters?”
They stood, and Stor Kinash stepped back around the table, resuming her old post, but she no longer kept her eyes on the Protectors. Those glowing eyes stared in wonder at the Knight in their midst.
Akurea, without giving many specifics, briefed Director Kim. He already knew in general terms what was happening within the Empire, but this was his first introduction to the scree. Equally important, it was his first time to see the connection between the Rebels and the Chessori. When she told him about her own abandoned effort to upgrade Chessori ships and the reason her project had been abandoned, he abruptly stood up.
His hands turned into fists as rage contorted his features. “He’s using us! He knew we wouldn’t support him, so he never gave us the truth.”
“What do you mean?” Governor Korban asked.
“I’m fairly certain Struthers knows I am not among his supporters. This proves it.”
“I meant what truth did he not give you?”
“I received a directive from him several months ago. Included with that directive were sets of new plans and six Chessori engineers to monitor our procedures. The changes are not substantial, mostly in the input and output connections, so I gave the plans and the Chessori little thought. Now, his intention is clear. These Chessori need bigger power plants, and our first shipments have already left.”
“Have other stations received the same plans?” Akurea asked.
“I have no way of knowing, My Lady.”
She looked to Governor Korban and received a nod. Dgoffs, too, nodded. Both of them believed it appropriate to move to the next stage of her plan. Akurea stepped to the wall screen and enjoyed the view, but only for a moment. She turned back to Director Kim, saying, “There is one other crucial piece of information I’m going to share with you. We have strong reason to believe that the Chessori will, in time, overthrow their Rebel partners and take over our Empire. The Rebels will be powerless to oppose them. If the Chessori plan succeeds, all of us will be slaves to this mind weapon of theirs.”
Director Kim’s back straightened, though his gaze wandered as he considered the ramifications of her words. Was the future hopeless?
Though it was not her place to speak, Stor Kinash spoke her mind anyway. “Sir, the logic is sound. We cannot contribute to such an outcome.”
Akurea did not want to leave them without hope. “The Queen’s forces have found a means to counter the Chessori mind weapon, but the Rebels have not. We will defeat the Chessori. In the process, we will defeat the Rebels, but we need time. We need your help.”
Director Kim nodded, his lips in a tight smile. “We are not like Struthers. For us, the end must justify the means, and the means must conform to our values, our principles. We cannot operate otherwise.”
“I will never ask you to abrogate your values, Director. I speak in the Queen’s name when I say this. I might ask you to refine your underlying assumptions, but that will come tomorrow. I will present my plan then, and as the experts, you will be invited to propose revisions to that plan. I need you to brief a senior drive scientist or engineer for whose loyalty you vouch, and I will need the services of a senior buyer from your purchasing department. I’ll explain my plan then. Shall we adjourn until tomorrow?”
* * * * *
Akurea’s delegation arrived the following day, though its number had been increased by one. For the long walk down the corridor, Ellie wore a white hooded cape, just as Akurea did. Stor Kinash greeted the delegation, and though she noticed the addition, she did not question the motives of a Knight. She led them to the same meeting room, and Ellie stepped over to the wall display with her back to the room.
Director Kim, too, noticed the addition, but his focus was the Knight. “My Lady, let me introduce Doctor Petsrik, my chief scientist, and Mr. Phusk from my purchasing department. Both meet your requirements.”
When she heard the name Dr. Petsrik, Ellie turned around, though the hood still hid her features. Petsrik and Phusk went to a knee before the Knight, but Akurea bade them to rise.
Dr. Petsrik sprang to his feet despite the tell-tale white, thinning hair of advancing age. “An honor to meet you,” he said, an easy smile and bright, intelligent eyes welcoming her. Phusk wobbled to his feet, his considerable girth not well-suited to springing. A light sheen of sweat covered his balding head.
“What you are about to hear is, and will remain, an Imperial Secret,” Akurea told them. “Your participation, should Struthers hear of it, could lead to your deaths, though we will do our best to protect you. If you prefer to back out, now is the time.”
Firm headshakes answered her, though Mr. Phusk’s lips trembled, betraying his uncertainty. “Very well,” she said. “Please be seated.”
Stor remained standing along the back wall with the Protectors. Despite the presence of the two Great Cats, she never let the second cloaked woman leave her field of view. Ellie turned her back on the group again and stepped back to the wall screen. Though she had spent uncounted hours in the net aboard Resolve during her escape from Earth, she still reveled in the feeling of being in space, and this view brought her as close to that feeling as any she had seen outside the net.
Akurea remained standing, as well. She stood along the side of the table opposite Ellie. “My task has a narrow focus: to prevent the Chessori from obtaining advanced Empire propulsion systems. I have some suggestions as to how we proceed, but you are the experts. I welcome your suggestions and improvements to my plan.
“First and foremost,” she emphasized, “our efforts relate only to the Chessori. The Queen will not permit civil war, and every Rebel ship we engage is offered the chance to surrender. Not so, the Chessori. Against them we wage all-out war.”
She leaned over the table and directed her gaze to Doctor Petsrik. “I have in my possession a piece of software that, when inserted into the power bottle architecture, will cause the bottle to fail catastrophically after a period of time. I want you to ascertain that the software will function as intended and that it will remain undetectable during tests run at overhaul facilities. If it meets these requirements, I want it inserted
into all power bottles destined for Chessori ships.”
Doctor Petsrik shoved himself back from the table and stood. He stared at Akurea, then turned his back on her and stepped away, deep in thought.
Director Kim’s gaze moved from her to Governor Korban and Admiral Dgoffs, his eyes just slits. “You both knew the details of this plan, and you still brought her to me?”
“You’re our best prospect, Makai’i,” Dgoffs said. “Because of our long friendship, I hope you will at least hear us out.”
“How can I? It is against our most fundamental principles. Always, every bottle that leaves this facility is perfect. It is our promise to every spacer.”
“I know, and it is a promise we rely on. The Chessori not only have not earned your trust, they don’t deserve such trust. I have seen them in action and they are ruthless. They are my enemy, and they are your enemy.”
“So you bow to expediency. The end justifies the means.”
“No, I do not bow to expediency. We fight for our very survival, my friend. Forget the Rebels for the moment. We’re dealing with them, and we’re going to win. This isn’t about internal Empire business, it’s about an external threat. Did you know the Chessori invited the Empire to a formal treaty signing just before the coup?”
“No, I did not.”
“Daughter led two heavy squadrons, some 5,000 people, to meet with them. Only four individuals returned from that mission. I’m talking about cold-blooded murder. The Chessori showed no remorse and they offered no quarter. The horrors of your childhood, the stories about terrible invaders entering the Empire - they have come. They’re here right now in the form of the Chessori.”
“So go ahead. Fight them.”
“We are, and we’re winning, but it’s not a sure thing. The forces we mount against them are exceedingly limited in number. Because of the scree, the Chessori never developed strong weapons and shields. Their power plants are insufficient to power the stronger weapons and shields that Struthers offered them. If their ships get upgraded, it could turn the tide of our efforts. We could lose.”
Voice of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book Three) Page 28