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

by Lawrence White

  The two stared at each other for a long time. Eventually, Director Kim asked, “There’s more. What is it you’re not telling me?”

  “There’s lots I’m not telling you. The Queen fights on many fronts, and even I don’t know everything. But I promise you that this project is high on her list of needs. She needs you, Makai’i. Will you stand with her?”

  “I’m just one facility. There are hundreds of others.”

  “But only seven that make the large bottles needed for these ships. These six other facilities are Lady Akurea’s problem, not yours, though we’re hoping you can guide her. Stand with us, old friend.”

  Director Kim leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. He let out a long breath, then said, “You ask too much. You ask me to betray thousands of years of tradition.”

  “I do ask too much. I know it. Among our forces, we have a rallying cry. It is this: We give everything that we are to this war effort. We do it for our children and for our children’s children. Without that commitment, without your commitment, our children will not have a future.”

  “I will so swear,” came from the side of the room. Stor Kinash was on one knee before Akurea with her head bowed.

  Akurea reached out and lifted her chin, now on the same level as her own since the Llaska was on one knee. “I, too, have so sworn. I welcome you in the Queen’s name,” she said.

  From the other side of the room came a new, commanding voice. “I, too, have so sworn.” All eyes went to the woman standing before the wall screens. She pushed the hood back from her head, staring at Doctor Petsrik as she did so, then she walked around the table to Stor. She pulled Stor to her feet and reached a hand up to caress her face. “You have chosen well, my dear.”

  “Who are you?” Stor asked in amazement.

  “I am one of the four who made it back from the treaty mission to the Chessori. I have fought the Chessori, and I ask no more of you than I ask of myself. Prior to the coup, I was known as Daughter. Now, I am the Last of the Chosen. I am your Queen.”

  If ever a room could be said to be filled with silence, this was that room. Protectors kept their hands near their weapons, but just near them, not on them. Stor started to sink to the floor, but Ellie held her up.

  “With your vow, you have joined the ranks of my warriors,” she said to Stor. “They do not bow before me, they stand with me. Until I defeat the Rebels and expel the Chessori from my Empire, I, too, am a warrior. My people demand all that I am, and I freely give it.”

  She turned to Doctor Petsrik, keeping a hand on Stor’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you again, old friend. Surely you will stand with me.”

  Petsrik went to one knee with his head bowed, but he did not stay that way. He stood up with hints of a smile tweaking the corners of his mouth. “Rrestriss was many years ago. We had so many hours of wonderful debate, you and I. I loved you then, and I love you still, My Lady. More important, I know your mind. You are true, and I will follow you anywhere. Of course I stand with you.”

  Petsrik turned to Director Kim. “Stand with us, sir. No . . . on second thought, stand with her. Disagree with her, debate her, but in the end, stand with her. In her heart she represents everything that we are. She shares in the Empire’s demand for perfection from this station, and she knows our pride. But she knows, too, the cost of failure. Our pride, our little standards, pale in significance to the loss of the Empire.”

  Ellie added to his words. “I do not ask for a lowering of standards, Director Kim. Rather, I ask for even higher standards, standards so high that no one will ever suspect. Make our deception perfect, so perfect that Struthers and the Chessori will never know. Help us to restore the Empire that was.”

  He went to a knee before her. “You ask that we give all that we are, Your Majesty.”

  “I do,” she responded.

  “You are my Queen. I stand with you.”

  “I will not forget your choice. Rise and stand by my side.” She turned to the one everyone had forgotten, Mr. Phusk. “You, sir, where do you stand?”

  “This is all out of my league, Your Majesty.”

  A smile lit her face. “Well said, Mr. Phusk. If you are who I hope you are, we will prove you wrong. You will be tasked with responsibilities as great as anyone’s in this room, and I include myself here. There is little direct impact I can make on our war effort, but the same will never be said of you. Some warriors fight with weapons, but you, sir, will fight with your mind.”

  Phusk looked perplexed. “Your Majesty?”

  She let go of Stor’s arm and lifted the hood of her cloak over her head, hiding her features. “Who do you see, Mr. Phusk?”

  “Uh, you, Your Majesty.”

  “Wrong, Mr. Phusk. Your mind sees me, but what do you see?”

  He blinked as understanding came. “Someone wearing a hooded cloak. Before learning who you were, I had no idea. In fact, I ignored your presence here in favor of your Knight.”

  “Precisely, Mr. Phusk. Now . . . Director Kim operates a factory here. Your duties involve the time-honored tradition of ensuring a steady supply of parts which he turns into power bottles. Tell me if you will, do you ever fail in your responsibilities?”

  Phusk shot a glance to Director Kim, then came back to his Queen. “Failure is not an option, but it is a continual struggle, Your Majesty.”

  “Would some of those struggles focus on the same repeat offenders?”

  He frowned. “Your Majesty?”

  “Come now, Mr. Phusk. Are some suppliers habitually late with their deliveries?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what do you do?”

  “We find alternative suppliers when we can.”

  “And when you can’t?”

  “We offer higher prices when it will make a difference. In some cases, we plead.”

  “You plead?”

  “Certain suppliers simply cannot increase their production. For example, computers that control the large power bottles we manufacture rely on the very largest high-pressure crystals. They are always in short supply. There are only a few suppliers, and all of us bottle manufacturers compete for the same parts.”

  “So success of all the factories hinges on the performance of a limited number of suppliers. What would happen if you bought up all the supplies of those parts?” she asked.

  He blinked again, then closed his eyes. When he opened them, the corners of his mouth trembled. “I see where you’re going with this, Your Majesty. If it could be done, we’d shut down the other factories.”

  “For how long?”

  More blinking, and the sheen of perspiration on his head turned to drops. “Until Struthers figured out what was happening.”

  Her lips firmed, and she nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Phusk. Do you accept your assignment?”

  More blinking and more perspiration. “Suddenly, a pledge to give all that you are takes on a whole new meaning, Your Majesty.”

  She nodded. “It does, Mr. Phusk.” She nodded toward her Great Cats. “Would your travels be easier with a little Protection?”

  This time he gulped. “For me?”

  She stared at him, saying, “The results of your efforts will, hopefully, never be needed.” She turned to take in the others in the room. “Mr. Phusk is our back-up plan. Our hope is to deceive the Chessori. We want them to install as many power plants as possible, power plants that will fail. If they or the Rebels discover our plan, we will have to shut down all manufacturing, at least the seven facilities that make the large bottles. That is the gist of our plan. We welcome suggestions for improvement. What do you say?”

  Director Kim answered. “Your plan has its merits. Struthers will not take this sitting down.”

  “No, he won’t. I’m buying time, Director. Delaying him for a year is acceptable, two years is a bonus. I hope it will be over by then. Lady Akurea has access to certain resources. We can provide meaningful protection to your station and your world.”

  “We’ll have to fle
sh out the details, but we will do our part, Your Majesty.”

  “I have pressing duties elsewhere,” she said. “Before I leave, the nature of your duties requires that I Test each of you. Do I hear any dissention?”

  She Tested each of them in private. Mr. Phusk was last. When she released him, she gave him time to recover, then leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. “Your Queen knows you for who you are, Mr. Phusk. For some, what we do comes naturally. For others . . . well, courage comes in many forms. Know that I know, and know that I do not forget.”

  * * * * *

  Dr. Petsrik approached Akurea several days later. The Queen had left on other business, and Governor Korban and Admiral Dgoffs had gone with her. Akurea was on her own.

  “Where did you get this?” he demanded, shaking the crystal containing the new software in front of Akurea.

  “I’m not at liberty to say,” she answered.

  “It’s brilliant!” Petsrik exclaimed. “I simply must know who wrote this.”

  “That day might come, but I make no promises. I take it the software meets our requirements?”

  He nodded. “It will work, and it will not be discovered. I’ve adjusted the timing slightly. Our bottles spend more operational hours before installation than this program provides, and there is extensive testing after installation. I’ve added a comfortable margin.”

  “Not too comfortable, I hope.”

  “You don’t want the bottles failing at the installation center. That would betray the whole plan and kill a lot of innocent people.”

  “We definitely want the bottles to fail when demand is high. That would likely be in the midst of a battle, or possibly while in hyperspace.”

  “My thoughts exactly. Uh . . . the software provides for other failure points besides time.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him, though her mind was on the engineers who had developed the program, Serge’s engineers. They had completed the project just before heading to Earth with their own power bottle manufacturing facility. “Hmm. Did they by any chance specify a location in addition to time?”

  “They specified four locations, My Lady.”

  “Four!” She considered. Parsons’ World and Shipyard were likely candidates. So, too, was Earth, since that’s where the engineers were headed, but a fourth world? Admiral Jons, the Queen’s head procurement officer, had wondered if Serge Parsons might have held certain knowledge in reserve from the Queen’s forces. It appeared that he might have.

  “I’d like the locations, but no one else is to know. Those locations are some of our most carefully guarded secrets.”

  “Well, if anyone with one of these modified drives approaches one of these locations, it will be their last voyage.”

  She changed the subject. “I’d like to get a tour of the facility.”

  He stepped back from her. “I was wondering when you’d get around to that. Stor will be your guide, and yours will not be the standard tour.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Am I so obvious?”

  “Your needs are. Some facilities are not going to cooperate. I shudder to think what your options will be.”

  “So do I.”

  * * * * *

  Stor greeted Akurea the following morning as she stepped from the shuttle. As seemed to be her custom, Stor was dressed all in black again. Akurea was accompanied by Lex, a Great Cat and her head Protector, and Major James Harriman, her senior Terran Protector. Harriman, tall, lanky, black, and with features that looked like they’d been carved from granite, stood as tall as Stor’s shoulder. Clearly, he was not accustomed to looking up at women, and though he was an officer in the SAS, her presence left him slightly unnerved, just as it had on their previous visits to the station.

  Stor ignored the two Protectors: she had eyes only for the Knight. “My Lady,” she said in greeting, lowering herself gracefully to one knee.

  “You know better than that,” Akurea reprimanded her. “There will be no more of that.”

  “Very well, My Lady,” Stor said, unfolding gracefully to tower over everyone. “Follow me.”

  She led the small delegation down the long entrance corridor. As before, the gleaming surfaces distorted and disoriented. The corridor ended, and Stor led them deep into the bowels of the station, a long, complicated journey. They arrived at a control room where Stor motioned them into a glassed-in, elevated office running the width of the room. She ordered several individuals to clear the room and waited to speak until the door closed behind them.

  “This is one of my offices. We can speak freely here.”

  Akurea spoke. “I thought you were going to give us a tour of the station.”

  “All in good time.” Stor’s golden eyes bore into her, then shifted to the two Protectors and stayed on them. “Your time is limited. These stations are incredibly complex. I will only be able to give you a cursory understanding of what you need to know.”

  Lex, the Great Cat, addressed her. “What is it you think we’re after?”

  Without hesitation, she said, “Living tops the list. You can’t do your job if you are dead.”

  “And that job is what?”

  Stor placed a hand on her hip, leaning into that hand in a very feminine gesture. “You have six more stations to visit, each of which is a separate corporation and all of them probably supplying drives to the Chessori. Time is of the essence. Director Kim has decided to, as you requested, give all that he is. He will visit one of the stations for you. He knows the director there and believes he will support the Queen. We are not certain of the other five, though I am well acquainted with the security head on one of them and believe we will find support there. That leaves three which might not comply. What will you do if they don’t?”

  “Destroy them if we must,” Lex said.

  Stor closed her eyes. Her body swayed from side to side as if she was dizzy. “Please, sir, don’t.”

  Lex sat on his haunches in his listening pose and stared at her. “Our options are limited.”

  “Destruction must remain a last resort,” she said. “Besides the fact that a lot of innocent people live and work in these stations, production is always in high demand. Let me provide you with other options.”

  “We are here to learn,” he answered.

  Stor turned her attention to James Harriman. “The Great Cat’s purpose here is clear. Yours is not.”

  “I’m just a specialist, Ma’am.”

  “A specialist at what?”

  “This and that. It’s not important at the moment.”

  “Are you an expert in station security?”

  “No, Ma’am. That’s why we’re here - to learn.”

  She stepped up to him and leaned down into his face. “Can you be so naive? Do you really think you can learn what you need to know in a few hours?”

  He rose up on his toes, bright white teeth flashing a smile as he inched closer to her. “We’re good. A few crumbs might be enough. Can you give us those crumbs?”

  “No.”

  Stark, white eyes stared up into golden eyes. Neither blinked until Akurea coughed into a fist. “Uh . . . Stor?”

  Stor turned to her in embarrassment. “Sorry, My Lady. There is method to my madness. Your plan lacks a key component.”

  Akurea’s brow furrowed, but Lex’s did not. He padded up to her and rose up on his two back hands, his head on a level with her own. His two front hands formed into fists as golden eyes stared into golden eyes.

  “Our plan is, indeed, limited. Are you the missing component?”

  She faced the Great Cat, but her head turned toward Akurea. “My purpose was clear to me the moment you revealed your plan. I’m going with you.”

  Lex dropped to all fours, a deep roar escaping his throat. Heads in the command center below turned and stared. Stor went to the window and waved them back to work, then turned to Akurea.

  “If you’ll have me, My Lady.”

  Akurea blinked, awestruck and at a loss for words. />
  “I know what I’m doing, My Lady. Director Kim knows, as well.”

  “He approves?”

  “Not exactly. His station will suffer if the Rebels figure out what he’s doing. I have an able assistant who is acceptable to him.”

  “Why does that not surprise me?” Akurea wondered aloud. Her lips pursed as she stepped up to the towering Llaska. “We might need you, but do you need us?”

  “I love my work, My Lady, and I’m good at it, but did you know I was once a slave? I will not be a slave ever again. Is that reason enough?”

  Akurea paused, then said, “Almost. You’ve already committed to the Queen. Will you commit to us? We’ve made the same pact among ourselves: we give everything that we are to restoring the Empire that was. Will you join us on those grounds?”

  Akurea reached out a hand, palm down. Lex placed his hand above hers, and Stor took the hint. Harriman was the last to join, placing a hand that was hard as rock on her hand. She blinked, but her gaze did not waver from the Knight.

  * * * * *

  The tour began right there in Stor’s office. Every single part of the station, with the exception of private residences, could be observed at will. Security staffers occasionally shifted monitors from one view to another, but at a more fundamental level computers did the monitoring. Most activities on the station could be predicted, and anything out of the ordinary created an alert. Specific areas, including hangar bays and the entrance corridor used by visitors, were monitored by individuals during all arrivals.

  She brought a holographic schematic of the station to life in the center of the room and described the main features of the station, features that all stations shared to a large extent. A central hub held vast life support facilities, living spaces for the employees and their families, schools, stores, churches, entertainment, and all the other various things necessary to support a small population. Not important to the task at hand but important to the inhabitants was a policy which provided employees and family members with unlimited shuttle privileges to and from the planet.

  She expanded the display until it filled the room and they were inside of it. She brought various decks into focus, and they visited the hangar bay, apartment complexes, and the station’s own power plants.