They reached the turnover point quickly, and Karen felt a momentary disorientation as the shuttle transitioned from acceleration to deceleration, burning off speed to match relative velocity with the Felidae ship. As they approached, Karen was suddenly hit by a wave of nausea and fought back the urge to vomit. She began to tremble and brought up her hand to check if it was shaking badly. The tremor was only mild, but as she watched her fingers shake, at that moment Karen wanted nothing more than to be back home with her Aunt and Uncle.
“What the hell am I doing here?” she asked herself, the magnitude of her current situation hitting hard, “I need to get away from this madness and try to make sense of everything that has happened to me. For goodness sake, I’m just a regular person from Inverness, not Leia Organa leading a rebellion.”
Gallagher, somehow sensing her distress, looked across.
“Are you alright, Karen? You’ve gone a little pale. Do you think you might be suffering from delayed shock?” He raised the cabin temperature several degrees and instructed a thermostatically controlled jumpsuit to be brought for her to use. “Can I get you anything? You are the Doctor, so just ask.”
“I’ll be fine, Patrick, really don’t worry. Everything’s suddenly caught up with me, and I feel a little shaky, that’s all. Don’t worry, by the time we dock I will have settled.”
Gallagher nodded but didn’t look convinced. Karen waved away the servitor, rejecting the jumpsuit, but accepted a glass of warmed water instead, wrapping her fingers around the tall container to both warm and steady them. She took several deep breaths and began to feel a little better, the shaking already subsiding.
“Positive mental attitude, that’s what I need,” she said to herself, “Doctor, heal thyself!”
She watched the Felidae ship grow large, filling the viewscreen and felt the shuttle tremble as it passed through the shields, not needing ship’s sensors to know what had happened. The flow of information lessened as they approached their docking cradle and the shuttle began shutting down non-essential systems. Her seat restraints flowed away, and she was grateful to stand, moving over to join the Duke who had already made his way to the exit. Within seconds, the doors opened, and she smelt again the not unpleasant aroma of Mau Prime come through the open door. Gallagher gave her another quizzical look but was reassured when Karen signalled she was fine by waving away his concern. Satisfied, and with his mind focused on what was ahead of them, Gallagher checked to see if she was ready, then began walking down the steps.
At the bottom waited First Mihos, with a small retinue of three warriors and a much smaller version of the ground transport they had been in earlier. Gallagher reached the bottom of the stairs first, greeting First Mihos warmly. To Karen, it looked far friendlier than their earlier meeting.
“Probably the two of them came to some sort of accommodation last time, or there’s no need for willy-waving now there isn’t an audience to play to,” she thought for a moment. Stepping forward to greet him herself, again she had the almost imperceptible sense Mihos was smelling something on her. With that, memories of the last conversation she had with Christine came crashing back, bringing with them the raw sense of loss she felt and had, for a few minutes, managed to forget.
If First Mihos noticed or sensed her distress, he made no mention of it, gesturing for them to take a seat in the ground car, which, once they were seated, sped off into the heart of the ship. It took a different route this time, and despite her eidetic memory, Karen soon became lost. She gave up trying to trace their position and sat back in her chair, watching the featureless walls skim past on either side, the two warriors, one human, the other Felidae, quietly talking to each other. She knew Gallagher would not mention Christine’s death to anyone, not even First Mihos until he had spoken to the Empress, and Karen wondered how he was explaining the reason for their impromptu visit.
By the time their transport had reached its destination, Karen was almost feeling back to her normal self, and she left the ground car feeling better prepared for what was to come. She looked around, her gaze resting on moving friezes similar to the ones she had spied before on the massive doors leading into the main hall where she had first met the Empress. These new friezes decorated the door they were apparently meant to enter, and while not as large or impressive as the ones she’d seen before; they were just as ornate and intricate, perhaps more so. She focused her lenses on to the detail and tried to make out what story they were telling. This time, instead of a history of the Felidae, these seemed more intimate in nature and Karen thought she could even see Freya in some of them.
Unfortunately, just as before, Karen wasn’t given enough time to fully appreciate the message or what the carvings were meant to represent, but was left with an impression of family and belonging, something she was desperately missing herself at this moment. She took a mental image for future study before moving on. It took them another few minutes before they had been cleared through the various doors and checkpoints until there were no more guards and they walked through into what Karen could only assume was one of Freya’s seemingly enormous private rooms.
As before, the walls and ceiling gave a perfect representation of being in the open and Karen could feel the warmth of the hot sun overhead on her face. Grateful for the heat, she closed her eyes for an instant and tilted her head upwards, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin.
“It is pleasing, isn’t it, Friend Karen?” Freya’s voice made her start and open her eyes suddenly, noticing that the Empress had noiselessly crept up on them from behind an outcrop of rock, her silent approach a forcible reminder to Karen that she was dealing with a sentient predator, one at the very top of the food chain. Karen caught the Duke looking at her with a small smile, probably amused at her discomfort and threw him a dark look, before turning to greet the Empress.
“Your Majesty,” she replied, bowing formally, “I was enjoying the warmth and didn’t notice your approach, forgive me.”
“There is nothing to forgive between friends, please, make yourselves comfortable,” Freya replied, pointing towards two chairs which had appeared out of the dirt and rock floor. She nodded to First Mihos and they both squatted down on the buff coloured grass that grew in random patches all over the floor. Freya waited patiently for them to take a seat before speaking again.
“Duke Gallagher, I am intrigued at your unexpected request for an audience. Whilst it is always an honour to speak with you, Friend Christine and I are due to meet again later today, so what could not wait until then or have been dealt with by my First?”
Karen watched carefully, her gaze flitting between the Empress, First Mihos, and the Duke, who cleared his throat before speaking. It was obvious the two Felidae could sense something was troubling the Duke, and to Karen, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became charged, making the fine hairs on her neck rise.
Gallagher stood and, to everyone’s surprise, went down on one knee in front of Freya, his head bowed. At this unexpected move, both Freya and First Mihos exchanged a lightning quick look, before Freya’s head snapped back to the old Duke as he began speaking, his voice charged with emotion.
“Your Majesty, it is with the deepest sadness that I have to inform you of the death of our Empress at the hands of an assassin. She died quickly and with little pain.”
Karen watched the reaction of the two Felidae, then quickly turned back to the Duke, who had lifted his head to look at Freya. Shocked, Karen saw tears running down his face and realised that, no matter how bad she was feeling over Christine’s death, the Duke had known her far longer and had loved her as a father would his daughter. The old Duke had been holding in his pain, knowing he had this difficult and dangerous duty to perform and only now could he let his grief show, using it in the service of his Empire.
Freya sat still, her only outward signs being the tail lashing furiously from side to side and ears flattened against her skull. First Mihos stood up and moved to his Empress’s side, his body posture te
nse and focused, his tail also flicking, signalling his agitation at the unexpected news. Freya’s head whipped suddenly to face Karen, her golden eyes having taken on a dead look.
“And you are here to give credence to this story, Friend Karen?” asked the Empress in a flat tone, all semblance of emotion or humanity gone from her voice, the inflexions to put them at ease forgotten in the moment.
“I am, Empress. I was there and also attacked, but Duke Gallagher managed to save me.”
Freya considered for a moment, then looked back to the Duke, still on one knee. “Show me what happened,” she commanded imperiously, again in that toneless voice.
It took a moment for the Duke’s implant to complete the interface with the Felidae system, but then, suddenly, the space around everyone changed, and she was taken back to Christine’s private quarters, watching the two of them eat, the recording tactfully starting just after they had finished discussing Freya. The illusion was total, and Karen felt herself tearing up at the sight and sound of her dead friend, her tears, like the Duke’s, now flowing unashamedly down her cheeks. She watched as Collinson entered the room, carrying the booby-trapped present. Even though she had been there and knew what would happen, she found her body tensing and found it increasingly hard not to shout out a warning, so lifelike was the recording.
With great sadness, Karen watched the delight on Christine’s face as she accepted the gift and smiled warmly at her murderer. Unable to watch anymore, Karen looked away and instead observed Freya and First Mihos. Their whole attention was focused on the recording, the Empress’s tail having stopped twitching as she took in the unfolding scene. Karen flinched when she heard Christine cry out when the needle pierced her skin, injecting the fatal toxin. Forcing herself to look again at the drama, Karen watched as Collinson struck her and the two battled over Christine’s dying body.
The painful scene was quickly over, ending with Gallagher forcing his way into the room and stunning them both, and to her surprise, Karen realised what had seemed an age to her at the time, had taken less than five minutes to unfold. The recording around them faded away, replaced again by the outdoor scene favoured by the Empress.
Apart from the gentle sighing of the wind and the almost imperceptible rustling of the thin alien grass, the room was deathly still. For a few, long moments, nothing happened, until Freya broke the silence and addressed the motionless Duke, still on one knee before her.
“Duke Patrick, please rise and be seated again,” Karen noted, as did Patrick, that the human-like inflexions had returned to Freya’s voice, “I share your loss. Please convey my sincere condolences to Emperor Alexander.” She paused, allowing the Duke to begin talking.
“Thank you, Empress. Alexander will be comforted by your words…” but before Gallagher could continue, Freya spoke again, interrupting him.
“However, a guest has been killed whilst under my personal protection, and this insult to my honour is unforgivable. First Mihos has reluctantly reminded me the penalty for such an insult is death and I find myself on unfamiliar and unwelcome ground. You and your party came here in friendship to make common cause with us and strengthen the peace that has held between our two Empires for decades, profiting both sides, yet I find myself having to take actions which will inevitably result in a destructive war.”
Karen watched the byplay with growing alarm. She could tell by Gallagher’s stern expression that he was readying himself for action. She looked across to study First Mihos. Although his expression was hard to read, it was obvious from his posture that he was preparing himself to defend his Empress from any move the old Duke might make. Thinking furiously, she hit upon an idea and suddenly found herself standing up and addressing Freya.
“Empress, you named me Friend and have extended the hand of friendship to me. Before you continue down this path and condemn us to war, I wish to speak for the benefit of us both.”
All eyes turned to look at her and, with a start, Karen understood the lives of untold billions now rested on her choice of words. Freya nodded agreement. The room suddenly grew hot, and she could feel sweat began to form on her forehead and begin trickling down the small of her back.
“On my planet, in the time of nation states, there was a convention that held embassies of foreign powers to be considered sovereign territory and not part of the host nation. I humbly suggest that a similar situation has arisen here, and as Christine was murdered on our ship, which is technically sovereign human space, no insult has therefore been made to Felidae honour.”
The two females, one human, the other alien, looked at each other. Karen could almost feel Freya thinking and guessed the Felidae Empress neither wanted nor would welcome war between their two Empires and was silently talking to her First to see whether her idea would be an acceptable compromise.
Long seconds passed until suddenly, Karen felt a palpable change in the level of tension permeating the room. She sensed, rather than saw, both Freya and First Mihos relax, and she risked a quick look at Gallagher, who flashed her a relieved smile and brief nod.
Freya broke the silence and began speaking. “Your Empress chose wisely in bringing you, Friend Karen, and I look forward to our future meetings with even more interest. Today you have served both our races well.”
Freya gave a quick, small, but formal bow to Karen, immediately followed by a much deeper and longer held one from First Mihos, before turning away to address Duke Gallagher.
“When the time is right, I will travel to your Capital and pay my respects to Friend Christine when she is finally laid to rest. No doubt the ceremony will be delayed until such time as the rebellion has been quashed. First Mihos will accompany you back to your shuttle. However, it is my wish that Friend Karen remains here for a while longer, for we have things to discuss. She will rejoin you after we have spoken.”
The Duke’s voice sounded in Karen’s mind, as Freya rose, signalling an end to the audience, his surprise at Freya’s request obvious, “Don’t be concerned, Karen, Vimes will make sure you give nothing away. I will be waiting for you in the shuttle.”
“That I will,” Vimes responded to them both, speaking for the first time in hours, his welcome voice reminding Karen how absent he had been. Despite having numerous questions for him, she suppressed them and focused on getting through the next part of the meeting.
Gallagher bowed and left with First Mihos, leaving Karen alone with Freya, who padded softly over to her. Freya rose onto two legs and looked her in the face. Karen noted Freya’s ears were pointed directly at her.
“You are a puzzle, Karen, a curiosity I will enjoy exploring over the years, as I did with Christine.”
Now they were alone, Freya had dropped the honorific, signalling informality, so Karen could finally relax a little. “Thank you, Freya, it is kind of you to say so,” at which point she was surprised when the Empress laughed.
“We know nothing of kindness, Karen, for that is a human concept. Love for our family and affection for those that serve us faithfully, yes, but kindness or mercy are alien concepts. Christine understood this and if we are to get along and serve our people's, you must too.”
“Why did you want me to remain, Freya?” Karen asked, the strain of the last few hours now beginning to catch up with her. I am not a diplomat, nor do I hold any formal position in the Empire, so while I would love us to get to know each other better, with respect, this may not be possible.”
Freya’s voice took on a quizzical tone. “Are you not carrying Christine’s grandchild, Karen? Forgive me if I do not understand your human customs completely or the complexities of your relationships, but will not this child be the one to rule when both Alexander and Adam are dead?” Freya examined Karen’s face closely, then spoke again, “If I read your expression correctly, you were not aware you are pregnant? How can this be, for your scent is unmistakable? I know you do not possess the same abilities in this area as we do, but surely human medicine would have told you? Please explain.”
“Careful, Karen,” Vimes spoke in her mind, “no mention of Earth, although I suspect her heightened sense of smell, as you and Christine surmised, has detected you both have a slightly different genetic makeup to regular humans. As to you being pregnant with Adam’s child, that can be easily confirmed the moment we get back to the ship. If true, let me be the first to congratulate you, it is wonderful news.” Karen didn’t bother to respond, still trying to take in what she had just been told.
“I didn’t know, Freya. I recently underwent a rejuvenation process for the first time, and as my body is still in a state of change, I paid no attention.”
“More mysteries for me to solve about you, Karen, just as there were with Christine. You two are very alike, yet oh so subtly different from the others of your kind I have studied. I will enjoy the intellectual chase. It is to be regretted, for I had hoped to learn more from you today, but understand you will now wish to return to your ship and check for yourself. Unfortunate, but delaying a pleasure simply heightens the anticipation. Felidae are long lived and have great patience, so I look forward to speaking with you at a later time.”
Freya extended her paw to Karen, looking down to make sure she made the human gesture correctly.
“Your simple words have served both our Empires well today, yet few on either side will ever know, however, it is sufficient that you and I do. I watched you fight well in defence of your friend and Empress. We admire honour and ferocity, at times perhaps too much, but such is our nature. You were aptly named Friend, Karen.”
Imperium: Coda: Book Three in the Imperium Trilogy Page 3