Chaos Quarter: Imperial Ambitions

by David Welch

  He was beginning to understand better why Rex continued to willingly serve his nation, despite all the crap it had put him through.

  Keith pulled himself away from his daughter’s grave. He slung an arm around his wife’s shoulders, and they started to make their way toward them. They paused a few feet away. Keith broke from his wife, and stepped forward.

  “If I could ask for a few moments alone with Alvadile,” he said.

  Rex nodded politely and backed away, moving thirty feet or so away, to where Jake and Second awaited. Lucius remained, meeting Keith’s stare.

  “You used my name,” Lucius said.

  “I did,” Keith said. “It seems the names we were given at birth were not our true names, doesn’t it?”

  Keith sighed, and extended his hand, somewhat awkwardly. It was not a greeting that serfs or warriors used. It was a Terran thing, and it felt a bit fitting when Lucius grasped it firmly.

  “You have nothing to fear from me, now or in the future,” Keith declared.

  “Likewise,” Lucius replied.

  Keith nodded, hesitating.

  “Does it ever get easier?” he asked, glancing back at his daughter’s grave.

  “Not really,” Lucius replied. “It’s just a scar you learn to bear.”

  Keith nodded again, slowly, sadly. “Well, uh, my wife, she wants to talk to you, so…”

  The grieving man broke, and turned to his wife. She handed him their son, and he went off toward Rex. Lucius found himself alone with Helen once again. She set her face with a determined look.

  “My husband forgives you,” she said. “I cannot.”

  “I do not expect you to,” he replied.

  “Do you really think anybody could?”

  “Nobody human,” Lucius replied, unconsciously grasping the crucifix around his neck. The motion was not lost on Helen.

  “But it is clear, from what you did for us, that you are not the man you were,” she said. “So the best I can do is to say that I will forsake my revenge.”

  Lucius’s head perked up at the words.

  “I won’t come after you. I won’t send anyone after you,” she said. “You go live your life; I live mine, and we never meet again.”

  “If that is what you wish, I’ll respect it,” said Lucius. “But I would advise you to keep clear of Paphlygonia.”

  “Duly noted,” she said.

  “There is one thing I must know though,” said Lucius.

  She eyed him warily. “What?”

  “Our children. What were their names?” he asked.

  Her fists balled angrily.

  “They were serfs,” she spat. “They had no names.”

  “They had names, even if they never knew them. You’re they’re mother. You had to have named them,” Lucius replied, forcing himself to stay calm. Her eyes narrowed, her body vibrating to hold back a wave of rage.

  “Even if they did have names, what makes you think I would ever tell you?” she seethed.

  “You’ll tell me because I am going to have stones made for them, when I get home. I’m having them made for all my lost children, all ten of them. They deserve to be remembered. Most I will have to name myself, but the three we had together deserve to be remembered by the names their mother gave them,” Lucius explained, his eyes never leaving hers.

  Helen seethed quietly for several seconds and then slowly, forcibly, unballed her fists.

  “I did not name them until after I had reached Anglesey, after I had taken a name myself,” she said, emotion welling up in her throat. Lucius said nothing, letting her churn through the loss she must have been feeling.

  “Alex, Ted, and Maya,” she finally said, barely able to get the words out. Without another word she turned, and hurried after her husband. She wiped tears from her eyes as she came up upon him. Keith was exchanging some words with Rex. As Helen nestled into his side he stopped, and extended his hand. Rex shook it, and they parted, moving away down the terrace.

  Lucius followed slowly, meeting up with his friends. Jake gave him one look, and then knowingly grasped Second’s arm.

  “Come on, we better give these two guys a second. Looks like soldier stuff,” Jake said with a small smile. Lucius nodded his thanks, and then watched Jake and Second move away through the rows of graves.

  “That couldn’t have been easy,” Rex noted.

  “You heard?” Lucius asked.

  “Didn’t mean to, but sound carries up here,” Rex said with a shrug.

  Lucius sighed, and paced toward the edge of the terrace. Twelve feet below another waited, lined with graves like this one. He moved his eyes from it, to the green, forested ridge across the valley.

  “Not sure she’s right, if it matters,” Rex said, moving alongside him.

  “She’s right,” Lucius spoke. “Some things can’t be overlooked or forgotten. I suppose this was the best I could hope for.”

  “There’s a difference between amoral and immoral, Lucius,” said Rex.

  “Not to the victims,” Lucius replied.

  “And if not for you, she’d be a victim, of something you can’t come back from,” Rex countered. “All of them would.”

  “There’s no use arguing it. It will not change anything,” said Lucius, resigned. “It’s not how I imagined my first visit to the homeworld would go.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t worry about that. They’ll be dragging us back here in a few months anyway, if what Jonesy says is true. Bring Chaki and Little Quint. While I’m being grilled by politicians, you can go be tourists, see the sights.”

  Lucius smiled at the thought. “Maybe. But I have this odd sensation that I’ve been here before. I know I haven’t, but still…”

  “Earth effect,” Rex said. “Everybody feels that the first time here.”

  “Earth effect?” asked Lucius.

  “Yep, had it myself when I came here to go to the academy; short version is that we evolved here. The gravity, the day-and-night cycles, the horizons, even the planet’s rate of rotation…it’s what we’re naturally wired to. So when guys like us come here, we’re basically coming home, so to speak,” Rex explained.

  “I was unaware of that,” Lucius said.

  “Yeah, it’s a scientifically observed thing. We spent a couple million years evolving here, so it’s in our blood. Even when we go build new Earths, we still know, deep down somewhere, that it ain’t actually Earth,” Rex said and then tapped a foot on the grass. “This is Earth, the one and only.”

  “It is strange, thinking about it,” said Lucius. “Every planet in the empire, we know the history—all of it, from discovery to terraforming to habitation. But here…it all feels impossibly ancient, mysterious. The idea that we didn’t make this—that it just happened…” Lucius mused out loud, unconsciously grabbing his crucifix again. “It is odd, to think of all the men and women lying here, dead on a world where life is older than time itself, the very place where life began. We were taught growing up to look on Earth as this miraculous place, unique in all the universe, because God chose it to be the place where life began. In a dead universe of rock, plasma, and gas, this was the exception to the rule. The place of life…and here we are, standing on the miracle…surrounded by death.”

  Rex took off his beret and exhaled heavily.

  “Lu, I think you’re looking at this all wrong,” he said.

  Lucius nodded. “I know; it’s just a depressing day.”

  “Well, that can be fixed,” Rex said. “You need a drink, or a few drinks. And you need to remember that, bad as this day has been, we’re heroes. We saved the day.”

  “I seem to remember the freedmen doing a good deal of the fighting,” Lucius countered.

  “Not saying they aren’t heroes too, they are. But had we not showed up with a ship, all their fighting would be in vain. Because of us, it wasn’t. They fought bravely; they bought their people time; and many of them escaped. We made that happen. Ergo, we’re heroes, like the cool roan rider!”

&
nbsp; “The cool roan rider?” Lucius said, chuckling.

  “Why not? Did he not show up at the last moment to save the town from rustlers? In the second movie, I think?” said Rex.

  “Yes, the second one. I suppose he did,” Lucius admitted.

  “So we’re heroes too then. We’re damn cowboys,” Rex said.

  “Cowboys wear wide-brimmed hats, not berets,” Lucius pointed out.

  Rex looked thoughtfully at the dress beret in his hands and then nodded conclusively.

  “You’re right. It’s settled then. First we find a pub and then we go buy cowboy hats,” Rex said. “This is rural country; there’s gotta be a store around here somewhere that sells them. There always is; it’s practically law!”

  “If you say so,” Lucius said through a grin.

  “I do say so,” Rex declared. “Come on, let’s go. We’ve had enough heavy stuff for one day.”

  Lucius felt a bit lighter, and moved to follow Rex down the terrace, to the long stairway cut into the ridge so people could move between terraces. They had made it ten steps when Rex stopped.

  “Sorry, forgot something,” he said.

  He put the beret back on his head and then turned to face Kate’s grave. He saluted crisply, holding it for a long pause; then he turned back to Lucius.

  “Okay, now we can go.”

  You think it’s impossible for me to be content with life on this world? Living what your people call a “normal life”…I see the doubt on your face. If I wanted riches, women, and power, I wouldn’t have left the empire. I wouldn’t have taken vengeance on my father. I would’ve swallowed my rage, or drowned it in pretty young bed serfs and fine wines. But it would all be a lie, a golden cage—unearned and unimportant. I don’t want it. I want this—something deserved and earned, something real. Chakrika is real. Quintus is real. A handshake is real. You know I never experienced that gesture until I met Rex? You think a Europan lord would ever take part in a greeting that established equality between two people? They wouldn’t dream of it, yet I’ve come to find it more meaningful than any bow I was taught. There is no going back, even if I wanted to. You cannot unlearn a truth, and I cannot be blind to the fact that I have seen more truth living in Rex’s mother’s spare room than I did in all my years of being an imperial…

  —Logs of the debriefing of Lucius Baliol, taken February to June 2507 Standard Date; Classified; Not for public release

  Mecong Island, Paphlygonia, Lambda Aurigae System, Capellan Prefect, Free Terran Commonwealth, Standard Date 10/28/2507

  When Rex opened to door to his mother’s house, he expected noise—maybe something to do with Eric, maybe his niece tearing through the house with a joyous squeal, maybe Lanie shouting after her, something. Instead it was dead quiet.

  The hair on the back of his neck stood up. When they’d dropped Lucius off at his new house, Chakrika had told Rex that his mother had something to tell him. Rex wasn’t sure what she could have to say, given that she had already told him that she was pregnant and getting back together with his father, but Chaki’s expression had made him think it was something important. That made the silence all the more awkward. His mother was nowhere to be seen. He would’ve expected some excitement, given the months they’d been gone—nothing huge, but people coming to the door, exchanging hugs, the normal stuff.

  Not silence.

  “Umm…are they out?” asked Jake as they stepped inside, out of the rain.

  “Mom?” called Rex. “Lanie—”

  A hologram appeared in front of him. It was a medium shot of his mother, a contented smile on her face.

  “Hi honey. Sorry to have to leave a message like this, but your dad and I are at my first prenatal checkup. We’ll swing by when it’s done, so you can tell us all about the things you can’t talk to us about,” his mother said.

  “I see where you get your sense of humor,” Jake snarked.

  Rex cracked a half smile, and then listened on.

  “Anyway, the house might seem a little empty. That’s because it is. Since your dad and I are starting a new chapter of our family, we thought it would be best to start somewhere new. Some place without all that Eric baggage floating around. He’s bought a stretch of land on the eastern side of the island and is at work designing a new home for us. As you can imagine, his mind’s running a little wild at the thought—what I get for loving an architect. He’s got blueprint holograms floating all over his townhouse,” she said, smiling and shaking her head. “Lanie got a new job in town, so she and Irina got an apartment down there. And with Chaki living in her new place, it means you have the house all to yourself.”

  “I do not understand. Are we not here with you?” asked Second.

  “Your dad thinks I should give it to you—put it in your name and all—and I agree. I think having some quiet place and some land of your own would be good for you. It’d give you some place to rest between your missions. You father’s lawyer is still drawing up the legal stuff, but for all intents and purposes, the house is yours.”

  Rex felt his jaw drop a little.

  “Oh, shoot, looks like they’re waving at me. Gotta go. When you get settled, give us a call. Your dad and I want to hear everything that they allow you to talk about—” She paused as somebody said something to her in the background. “Okay, I’m coming! Love you, Rex; say hi to Second and Jake for me.”

  The hologram disappeared, leaving them with a quiet house again.

  “Huh,” Rex said.

  “So all this is yours?” asked Jake.

  “Looks like,” Rex replied.

  “Cool, cool…” said Jake, nodding agreeably. “So…umm…do you want me to start looking for my own place? ’Cause if you want your space—”

  “Jake, you’re always welcome here,” Rex said. “If you want your own place, I won’t stop you. But I ain’t gonna throw you out either.”

  “Should I find my own place?” Second asked.

  “No,” both men replied simultaneously.

  “I do not understand; I don’t imagine it would be difficult. I saw numerous homes driving in from town,” said Second.

  “People live in those homes, Second,” Rex said.

  “All of them? There were many,” she reasoned.

  “I’m pretty sure,” Rex replied.

  “Look, if it’s all right with you, I think I’ll skip Introductory Real Estate and head downstairs,” Jake said.

  “Yeah, yeah. Go on,” Rex replied.

  He clomped away, leaving Rex and Second alone. Second seemed unsure of what to do, so she shrugged and headed for her room upstairs. Halfway up she stopped, and looked back down at Rex.

  “I am unsure of something,” she said.

  “What would that be?” Rex said, biting back the urge to add “this time.”

  “When you invited me to sleep beside you on the ship, when I felt unsure of being alone…” she started, insecurity etched into every line of her beautiful face.

  “What about it?” Rex asked, not sure if he really wanted to know what Second’s mind had made of that night.

  “If I find myself feeling that way again, is it acceptable for me to come to you? Again?” she asked, glancing down at her shoes. Was she blushing?

  “You know normally adults don’t share beds unless they’re in some sort of relationship,” Rex said.

  “I understand,” she said. She opened her mouth as if to argue, but nothing came out. She just frowned and went back to looking at her feet.

  “But I suppose, if you’re feeling that badly, I could live with it,” Rex continued. “Though I think I’ll probably move into the master, once I get a new mattress and sheets; there’s lots more space in there.”

  He paused, rubbing at his chin.

  “God, there’s probably a hundred things I want to do to this house, now that I think about it,” he said.

  “It is not satisfactory now?” Second asked.

  “It’s fine enough—just want to personalize things, that’s
all,” Rex said. “You may want to think about that too. Your room has got nothing but bare walls, a bed, and a dresser. Kinda austere.”

  “I do not understand. What else would I need?” she asked.

  “It ain’t always about need,” Rex said. “Maybe think about it some.”

  Second cocked her head quizzically, thought for a few moments, and then continued up the stairs. Rex stood alone. He stretched out his arms in the great room of his “new” old house. Just looking around he could come up with a few things he wanted to do. But they would have to wait. People were coming over; they’d need something to eat, and he had several hundred pounds of venison in the chest freezer that he’d been dying to try for three months now…

  Acknowledgments

  The author would like to thank Ebook Launch for their cover design services, CreateSpace for their editing services, and LiberWriter for their file conversion services. He would like to thank Amazon for making the Kindle platform available to authors. Finally he would like to thank friends and family for their continued support, as well all the readers out there for their patronage.

  About The Author

  David Welch hails from the capital district of upstate New York, where he has lived all his life. He is a longtime fan of action-adventure tales in all genres, be it classic pulp tales, shoot-em-up westerns, or ripping space operas. When not writing he spends his time hiking, skiing, and exploring out-of-the-way places. His books Chaos Quarter and The Gods’ Day to Die are currently available in paperback or e-book.