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

by Lawrence White

  Very soon now they would know if that had been enough. Whatever was going to happen here on Triton would happen in two weeks. They might all be dead afterword, but if things went as he believed they would, the Empire would be a giant step closer to what it had been before the coup.

  The spaceport was a hive of activity. Ships of every description brought senators and their staffs to the convocation. A fair number came in private ships similar to Resolve, and the spaceport was bulging at the seams as a result. Others arrived in cruise liners that whisked away after a few days, and some traveled in regular passenger vessels that stayed for only a few hours.

  Some senators arrived in military vessels, possibly fearing for their safety. After what Struthers had done four years earlier, Mike was not surprised.

  Spaceport staff and security had been beefed up during the preceding few months, but the sheer number of ships and bodies overwhelmed their best efforts. Resolve arrived in the midst of that vast influx, this time landing at the main spaceport serving Crystal City.

  Mike hefted the tool bag and started up the ramp. He didn’t see a guard, though he knew someone would be up there inside the ship. Sure enough, a figure materialized from nowhere with a long blaster pointed off to the side. Mike continued up the ramp, studying the man.

  “Welcome aboard, Sire.”

  Mike blinked and stepped closer. “Jacobs? Is that you?”

  “The very same.” Jacobs, a wide grin on his face, made a signal with his hand and a Great Cat materialized from farther back in the ship.

  “We have medics guarding the front door now?” Mike asked, reaching out to shake hands with Sergeant Jacobs.

  The Great Cat sauntered up to them studying Mike. “I don’t recognize you. Who are you?” he asked.

  “I’m your First Knight. I don’t recognize you either. Did we train together?”

  “I’ll need verification, Sire.”

  “Sorry. I don’t carry my credentials here.”

  The Great Cat swung its head toward Jacobs who was no longer grinning.

  “I vouch for him.” To Mike, he said, “He was one of the Great Cats who manned Buskin’s ships. They’ve been released from their duties. There have been some changes, Sire. Most of the Queen’s Protectors are new to her.”

  Mike sensed the ominous tone. “Why?”

  “A major incident. Everyone died in the attack except her. Ralph covered her with his own body. Jessie got her out.” He paused and looked Mike in the eye. “The Queen was injured.”

  Mike paled. “How bad?”

  “Her hands. She was poisoned. Her Rider exploded out of her body, shredding her hands but taking the poison with it.”

  Mike’s eyes widened. “Her Rider died?”

  Jacobs nodded. “She’s waiting for you. Actually, I think she’s waiting for Jake.”

  Mike went internal. >Jake?<

  >I’m on it. I’ll need a few hours. A day would be better.<

  Mike turned and headed toward her quarters, then stopped and turned around. It was Krys’ ship now. He didn’t know where Ellie was staying.

  “Where is she right now?”

  Jacobs looked to the ceiling. “George?”

  “She’s in your old room, Mike. Welcome back.”

  Mike turned and headed toward the central shaft. “Good to hear you again, George. I’ve been out of touch. Can you bring me up to date?”

  “I could, but Otis is with her. I think they’ll want to do it together.”

  Mike shook his head. “You really did get an education on Shipyard.”

  “I’m still getting it, Mike.”

  As he approached the central shaft, purple scales suddenly filled the opening. Stven stepped out, and Mike stepped back to give him room. It seemed like an eternity since they’d last spoken.

  “Permission to come aboard, sir.”

  Stven’s long neck swayed from side to side. “You Earthmen! Admiral Trexler does the same thing. Why would you ask my permission when it’s your ship?”

  “The captain is the captain is the captain,” Mike said chiding him. “Even with the Queen aboard, this is your ship. You hold our lives in your hands.” He changed the subject. “I’m amazed that Resolve can even be here, that the Queen can be hiding right under Struthers’ nose.”

  “Our presence is a clear weakness in Empire procedures . . . well, Rebel procedures anyway, but I’m not surprised. Until I met Serge Parsons I had never even considered the fact that a ship’s beacon could be modified. It’s unheard of throughout all of the Empire, and it’s illegal. The Rebels have established new procedures that require we electronically download our beacon for examination, but they can’t imagine that information being false. It’s something you will have to address when you’re back in the Palace.”

  “Hmm. Maybe I’ll give you the job.”

  A puff escaped from each nostril, and Mike was forced to wave his hand through the air, though it did little good. Stven was mortified, but the damage was done and could not be undone.

  “You know, Sire, I haven’t given a moment’s thought to what we’re going to do when this is over. I almost can’t imagine life without Krys anymore.”

  “I know what you mean. I almost can’t imagine a daily existence not focused on war. This past year has been the longest of my life.”

  “It’s a long time to live in fear. Akurea said the same thing.”

  “Who’s she?”

  “Hmm. You haven’t met her. Officially she ran an overhaul facility on Grnlee. Unofficially she worked on projects to sabotage Chessori ships. With her help we stole hypercom plans from the Chessori, then she translated their plans to our language. Resolve has a hypercom now and so do a lot of our other ships. The presence of instantaneous communication across light years will eventually change life throughout the Empire.”

  Mike’s eyebrows rose. “A lot has happened in my absence. Josh didn’t mention that little item when he got back.”

  Stven didn’t hesitate with his reply. “I’m glad to see he’s focused on Triton. All of our efforts over the past few years will culminate one way or another in the next two weeks. Whatever happens, the Empire will never be the same again. It might die, or it might be strengthened, but it will not be the same.”

  “I heard you’d become a statesman. I see my information is correct.”

  “Sire?”

  “My information is all third hand, but from what I hear you’re a hit on Earth, and you’re really a hit with Trexler.”

  “I didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know. The Queen is our only focus for the next two weeks, Sire.”

  “I can take a hint. I’m on my way to see her now.”

  “She’s not well, Sire.”

  “So I heard.”

  “I don’t mean physically, Sire. She’s deeply unhappy. Losing Cassandra highlighted just how frail we all are. I think she has finally lost one too many friends. She grieves.

  Mike frowned. “Thank you, Captain. I’ll see what I can do.”

  * * * * *

  Mike approached the door to his old quarters, now Ellie’s quarters. Without his even asking, the door slid open at a command from George. Through the opening he saw Ellie seated on a floater. Otis sat in front of her, but the Great Cat stood up on all four hands and stepped away when he saw Mike.

  Mike stood in the doorway for a time studying his bride, appalled at what she had become. Tubes stretched from both arms to a box on the floater. White, bulky gloves covered each hand. The skin on her face stretched across sunken cheeks and seemed thinner than he remembered. Dark circles under her eyes emphasized the missing spark that had always been in her eyes. She seemed . . . beaten.

  She lifted arms to him. He went to her, taking her head in his arms and kissing the top of her hair. She would have none of that. She leaned back until their lips found each other. His touch was gentle, hers more strident. When they parted, eyes looked into eyes hungrily.

  “It’s been a long year,” sh
e whispered. “This is not how I wanted to show you my home.”

  “But that year is behind us now. The day is getting closer when you will really be able to show me your home.”

  Her eyes closed. She savored his touch, and he could feel his energy flowing into her.

  “Jake’s working on a new Rider,” he said.

  She pressed her head into his chest, and he held her there. “I’m not ready.”

  Mike heard a low growl from Otis, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. Had he ever heard Otis growl at Ellie? He was pretty certain he had not.

  She had heard him as well. She pulled back from Mike, saying, “I know I promised. I’m just not ready.”

  “The time for mourning is over,” Otis insisted.

  Mike understood instantly. He pushed himself away but kept a hand on each of her shoulders. “Tell me about it,” he said softly.

  “I don’t remember. I woke up in sick bay.”

  He turned to Otis. “What happened?”

  “Everyone in the room except her died. Cassandra, Ralph, Governor Veswicki, all the Protectors, several Raiders, the new governor, and the fleet commander she was Testing.”

  Mike shook his head and turned back to her. “You’ve lost so many over the past few years. I’m sorry.”

  “I think I’m finally grieving for all of them. I can’t stop.”

  “Yes you can,” he said lovingly. “You’ve given yourself over to grief, you’re at possibly the lowest point of your life, but you’re strong. Start a new life, Ellie. Be the Phoenix. Rise up from the ashes of your previous life and show us what the Chosen are made of. Show your Empire exactly who they’ve chosen and why.”

  She reached a hand up to his face. Her eyes went to that hand in sadness. “I can’t feel a thing.”

  “Yes you can. You have always felt with your heart.”

  Her lips quivered, the first hints of a smile. Those wise old eyes that he so loved stared into his own, almost as if she was preparing to Test him. “You are my man, you are my First Knight, and you are King. I chose well. It’s time my Empire gets to know you.”

  “Almost, but not quite yet.”

  “I’ll never replace Cassandra, but I waited for you. I waited for Jake. She was his direct descendent.”

  “And you’ll have another direct descendent. We don’t know her yet, but she, too, will be wonderful. You know that. Jake says he’ll be ready tomorrow.”

  She stared into his eyes, then turned to Otis. “I’ll pull myself out of this depression by tomorrow, I promise. Will you allow me the rest of the day?”

  Otis didn’t have to like her decision, though he had to accept it. “We’ll schedule a staff meeting for tomorrow afternoon, then Resolve has to be away.” He padded softly from the room.

  Ellie stared at Mike, blinking from time to time. “I’ve missed you.” Her arms lifted to him again.

  He leaned over the floater and took her in his arms. “I’ve missed you too. Jake says ditto.”

  “Hi, Jake,” she said. To Mike she said, “You’ve lost your tan.”

  “Afraid so. I haven’t seen much sun since we got here. It’s definitely been an inside job.”

  “So, have you fallen for any strange women in my absence?”

  “I haven’t run into any strange women carrying stunners. That’s what it takes to get my attention.”

  She might have blushed, remembering what she had done to him back on Earth, but Mike couldn’t tell. She suddenly looked flushed. “Are you okay?”

  “It’s nothing your arms around me can’t fix. Just hold me.”

  * * * * *

  He woke up Ellie later that night. “Jake’s ready,” he told her. “Are you?”

  “I have to be. I promised Otis I’d be back on the job tomorrow.”

  * * * * *

  He and Ellie entered the conference room arm in arm. The floater was no longer a part of her life, and the anti-pain medications had been flushed from her system. Everyone stood, but Ellie waved them back to their seats, at least the ones who used seats. Chandrajuski remained standing, of course, and so did Stven. Ellie went first to Krys and hugged her. Then she went around the room touching and speaking briefly to each person.

  When she reached Nancy Shaw, she paused. “I hear you’ve given the Chosen a bad name,” she said.

  “I have, Your Majesty. You’ll survive it.”

  “Parsons’ World survived it. That’s what matters. Thank you.” She turned to face the room. “Your Queen took a time-out, but I’m back on the job now. The results of our efforts during the past few years culminate in two weeks. Let’s make it count.”

  She stepped to the two empty seats at the head of the table, one for her and one for Mike, but she stopped before sitting down and turned to Josh. “Colonel, this is your operation. This seat is yours.”

  She and Josh traded places, but he remained standing. He brought a detailed depiction of the palace complex to life on the wall. “Struthers knows we’re planning something. He just doesn’t know the details,” he began. “We know that for a fact. Don’t let your guard down. The Imperial Senate convenes in two weeks, and the meeting will last for a month. At the half way point Struthers will install himself in the Palace as Emperor, all with the blessing of the senate. One of the first goals of the meeting is to officially welcome the Chessori into the Empire. A delegation of twelve Chessori will be seated with the senators from the outset.”

  “Before they’ve been voted in?” Ellie asked in shock. “It’s not done that way.”

  “Struthers intends to keep a tight rein on the senators, Your Majesty. This is just one of the ways he’s letting them know.”

  He went on to describe the operation in broad detail. “We infiltrate through the tunnel network. We’ll guide our strike forces into position anywhere from a few days to a few hours before the meeting begins. Val will be up in the second floor spectator area when the meeting starts. He’s our eyes in the chamber. He has to go in unarmed.”

  Heads turned toward Val. He just shrugged.

  “A limited number of Protectors will remain with the Queen. The rest of the Protectors have only one purpose: take out the gleasons. Sir Otis will command them.

  “Specially trained teams of Waverly’s Raiders will take out the weapons control centers. It’s the only way we can shut them down. There are three of them, all underground: one under the military headquarters on the west end of the plateau, one under the gzeikolt in Palace City, and one under the park in front of the Senate Chamber. A large force of Waverly’s Raiders will secure the central portion of the plateau. To do so will require securing portions of the Palace grounds and Palace City.

  “Our two weakest links are the gleasons and the defensive weapons. Failing to deal with the gleasons will prevent the Queen from getting into the chamber. Failing to deal with the weapons installations will prevent her extraction by ship. Our fallback is to leave the same way we came in, but the Rebels will be looking for us and it will be a hard fight. I definitely want her taken out by ship if at all possible.

  “Nancy Shaw will draw the gleasons to Otis. We don’t know where they’ll be hiding or even when they’ll get here, so we’ll expose her in the corridor near the main entrance to the chamber. We’ll retreat through the corridor on the Palace side of the Chamber, drawing the gleasons away from the Queen. We’ll make our stand in the second level corridor when we’re away from the Chamber.”

  Krys uttered six words that stunned everyone in the room. “They’re here now. I see them.”

  Josh blinked a few times trying to get his mind around those simple words. He leaned toward her with his fists on the table. “My Lady . . . you see them now, right now?”

  She turned her head toward his voice. “I see them, Joshua. Right now.”

  He stepped around the table to stand behind her. “Where do you see them, My Lady?”

  “Four locations.” She pointed her arm toward them.

  From inside the ship it was
difficult to determine exactly which direction her arm pointed. “George,” Josh called, “Where is she pointing?”

  “Toward the plateau. If we moved closer I could be more specific.”

  Josh placed his hands lightly on her shoulders and squeezed, then he stepped away and turned his back on everyone in the room. He didn’t stay that way long. He moved back to the head of the table and silently let his gaze move to each player.

  “Our plan just changed.” He leaned over the table toward Krys. “My Lady, will you stay and guide the Queen’s Protectors?”

  * * * * *

  Resolve left that afternoon to return Chandrajuski to his fleet. He and Trexler would hammer out the final details of their part of the operation based on Josh’s latest plan. Resolve’s crew, all except for the Great Cat Borg, Major Washburn, and Sergeant Jacobs, the medic, remained with the ship. Had they not, the ship would have been incapable of fighting, and though Resolve had no specific assignment at this point, it had proven to be a formidable opponent against all but capital ships.

  Bruston, Governor Veswicki’s old executive assistant and now head of the spy network, had a major logistics nightmare on his hands, though he had had almost a year to prepare. Great Cats had not been welcome on Triton since the coup. Some 300 Great Cats and their equipment had to be transferred from traders at various spaceports to apartments without being seen, then they had to be delivered to the warehouse above the tunnel entrance for their mission. The Terran Protectors had much more freedom of movement, though their fighting equipment could not be carried through town and had to be delivered as well.

  Bruston acquired a floater for Krys - there was just no way a blind person was going to walk through the miles and miles of tunnels. She and her team gathered in the warehouse over a period of several hours. Josh had placed Borg in charge of the mission with Reba as his guide.

  The team of nine, all of them including Krys dressed in camouflage uniforms and boonie hats, received a final briefing from Reba and set out. The twenty-mile long tunnel under the forest and the shorter but more difficult climb up to the plateau had been cleared of orths and spiders, but it had been a while ago. Some would have returned. She reminded them that this was a stealth operation. Before reaching the plateau, sound would not be a major concern, but once they reached the lowest levels of the palace complex, sound and vibrations from blasters might be detected by the Rebels. The team’s primary defense against the tunnel inhabitants demanded silent killing methods.