Impact Velocity (The Physics of Falling)

by Leah Petersen

  “The Imperial wing is for family only. You shouldn’t have made it past the entryway.”

  Now he made no attempt to appear pleasant. “Are we not family? Are you so quickly grown used to the change in your circumstances that you have forgotten how they came about?”

  I settled back. “I haven’t.” I brushed off his objections with a lazy gesture. “I was merely concerned for the security protocols. I hadn’t gotten a chance to give any orders regarding you yet.”

  He watched me, and I kept my face carefully neutral. He would believe me or not. I wasn’t fool enough to think I was better at this game than he was. In any case, I was badly out of practice. Finally his expression softened. “I see. Well, that is a natural concern, of course. If it will help, I can draw up instructions for the guard so that it is clear that I am permitted entrance to the Imperial Wing.”

  “I think not,” I said casually. “No offense, and it’s certainly not for lack of gratitude, but I think it is best if we keep our association to a minimum just now. We want to divorce ourselves from any connection in the minds of those who are watching. Otherwise they might think too long on, as you said, how I got here, and they might wonder what else we have done together.”

  Now his expression was openly speculative. “I see.” He settled back into his chair with a broad smile on his face. “Perhaps this is best. After all, it is easily remedied once Owen is returned to us. It is only natural for me to move into Family apartments when my grandson comes home. He will need all the support he can get from those who have his best interests at heart.”

  Something about the way he said it made me wonder if Owen’s best interests really were what concerned Laudley, or if they were only so long as they paralleled his own. At least Owen had the protection of being Laudley’s only grandson. His ambitions were meaningless if the throne did not stay in the family line. One man’s rule was nothing.

  “And what do you intend to do about the princess?”

  Laudley raised an eyebrow. “What brings this up now?”

  I sat forward. “You may have been the one behind it all, but they put the crown on my head last night. What you do to further the family interests now, I get blamed for. I need to know what to expect.”

  He examined my face for a long time. “I intend to find her, of course.”

  “And then?”

  Laudley favored me with an incredulous look, gazing about us obviously.

  I sneered. “Do you really think we are being spied upon in here?”

  “Do you really think we are not?”

  “If the emperor’s own bedroom isn’t secure, then nowhere is. There will be word games enough from now on, I want to speak openly and to the point in here. Otherwise there is no need for you to come at all.”

  His pleasant expression froze. He moved deliberately to sit forward, crossing his hands in front of him on the table. “Then speak openly, Enryn.”

  “Your Excellence.”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “So neither of us learns to become too familiar and slips in public.”

  His eyes relaxed but his expression didn’t otherwise change.

  “What do you want to ask me, Your Excellence?”

  “I want to know plainly and frankly what you intend to do with the princess.”

  He pursed his lips as if considering. There was not a chance in the empire that he didn’t have this thoroughly planned out already. He was considering how much to tell me, and he intended I know it.

  “I would not harm a child.”

  “You speak of Owen as if there is no doubt that he will be the next emperor. She is unquestionably the legal heir. How do you intend to resolve this without harming a child?”

  He favored me with a smile that was more than a little condescending. “She will not always be a child, Your Excellence.” The mockery in the title was subtle but clear. I chose to ignore it, for the time being.

  “So you will not harm her but you will actively plan her demise for the time when you consider her old enough to kill without compunction.”

  He made a disgusted noise. “You speak of it as if these things have not been done for centuries, millennia. There are still many years before she will be old enough to rule without a regent. If the people have grown comfortable under your rule then they can be encouraged to forget there was ever any other alternative.”

  “There will always be those who will remember and resent our rise to power.”

  “So be rid of enough of them to shut the others up. You speak as if you know nothing about these things. Or have you grown soft in the years spent among unclass and criminals?”

  I favored him with a look of icy contempt. “‘Soft’ isn’t a word that comes to mind, no. I think I’ve gained a valuable perspective. And a few tricks of my own, Laudley.” I stood, which forced him to as well, and I stifled a smile. He had stood automatically, out of reflex rather than choice.

  “I think you could easily grow drunk on power, and careless.” I smiled. “It was wise of you to put me on the throne, rather than try to assume it yourself. Clearly you have factored in your own weaknesses and liabilities.” I nodded once to him. “A wise move, Your Grace.”

  His expression was just short of a glare. “Yes. A man would do well to remember where he is weak,” he said. “And where he is vulnerable. You might be more of both than you think, Enryn.” He gave me a sardonic bow. “Good day, Your Excellence.”

  On the day that my ally and nemesis liberated me from that prison, I took nothing away from Dead End, not even myself. I wasn’t the man who had arrived there so many years before.

  iv33

  I left my rooms, not at all sure of the wisdom of baiting Laudley as I had just done. Had power gone to my head already? It was far too soon, and I was still tied too inextricably to him. If he went down, I did too.

  I pondered that all the way to my meeting with Lord Naganika. Already it sat in the first position of my schedule each day, as it had for Rikhart. It seemed a good pattern to keep up, if only because Rikhart had clearly found value in it.

  Not that I trusted Naganika. I still didn’t know where his personal loyalties lay. I was more and more convinced any glimpse he gave into what might be considered his true feelings were as calculated as his non-reactions. But I did trust his professionalism. Not only had old Sifer picked him personally, but Naganika was a younger son of the king of Carolis. He had been weaned on court politics. There was a reason he was in one of the highest positions in the empire before he was thirty years old.

  After my unexpected breakfast meeting with Laudley, I found myself looking forward to the meeting with Naganika. I had a feeling that the juxtaposition would be as informative as anything either man said himself.

  “Good morning, Your Excellence,” Naganika said, bowing properly as he entered my office.

  “Good morning,” I replied. “Have a seat.” His brow cocked as I gestured to one of the chairs in front of my desk. “Would you prefer not to?” I said.

  He smiled, settling into the chair with a casualness that was in no way disrespectful. Just the proper amount of deference and the ease his emperor had asked for. I set my chin in my hand. “You seem surprised? Did Rikhart never ask you to sit?”

  His expression sobered briefly before he smiled again. “On the contrary, he asked me to sit from the first day I met him, long before I was appointed as his Minister.”

  “So I’m the one who surprises you. Is it that we’ve met more than once and I’ve only just asked, or that I asked at all?”

  His smile settled into a comfortable pose. “I expected you to ask me eventually. I’m surprised that you have this soon.”

  I watched him, letting the silence stretch for a long time. He returned my appraisal with a frank, expectant look, never once fidgeting, his expression not even twitching. I smiled.
/>   “You intrigue me, Lord Naganika. I think you are a more valuable asset than I realized.”

  He smiled. “I hope so, Your Excellence, and I hope that I will intrigue you many more times over the course of our association.”

  “Will that be good or bad?”

  He laughed. “Both. And neither. And everything. The universe is infinite and complicated, Your Excellence, and humans much more so.”

  We talked of minutae on his report until I came to the final line. “Laudley has ordered changes in the chain of command among the palace guard?”

  His expression firmed. “Yes, Your Excellence.”

  “He ordered them?”

  He gave me a careful shrug. “Perhaps it is merely force of habit.”

  “Is that what you think?”

  He weighed his words. “I think he would like for things to continue to be that...easy for him. I think he would like to be able to issue orders and have no doubt they will be approved.”

  “What do you think of these substitutions? I don’t recognize most of these names, but he’s trying to replace Samson Illiane, the head of the Imperial Guard? That’s quite a change. Has there been some complaint about him, or report I haven’t been made aware of?”

  “Other than the fact that the last emperor died under his watch?” Naganika replied, with no emotional coloring except perhaps a hint of sarcasm. “No, there has been no concern or complaint.”

  “This woman he wants to install as guard captain, she is loyal to Laudley?”

  Naganika cocked his head. “Not that I’m aware of, and I seriously doubt that would be the case.”

  I steepled my hands in front of me. “Why is that?”

  “Because it’s too obvious. I have no doubt he believes she will be malleable, but I cannot believe she would be his creature already. It would be a careless and stupid thing to do, and if he is anything, the Grand Duke is neither careless nor stupid.”

  “But these others?”

  “The other substitutions? Some of them will be his men, of that I am certain.”

  “Which ones?”

  “I do not know, Your Excellence. Not yet.”

  I sat in silence, considering. “The captain will not be replaced. As for the others, approve half of them.”

  “Which ones?”

  “That I will leave to your discretion, Lord Naganika.”

  He gave me a smile, and I felt sure it was the most genuine one I’d seen from him. He stood.

  “Thank you, Your Excellence. I will do my best to protect the interests of the Empire.” He bowed to me, indicating, as was proper, that the empire and I were one and the same. But long after he left I was still pondering his choice of words. Wondering.

  ***

  Laudley’s words from the morning churned uneasily in my gut, sloshing together with Naganika’s warnings. Cautiously I opened the secret data link. I searched first for Laudley’s location. He was in a garden in the noble wing, and he wasn’t alone. Naganika was also there, though they were on opposite sides of the lawn. I scanned for possible surveillance devices that might allow me to eavesdrop.

  There were two, and I sat back, stunned and appalled to realize what they were.

  Most people carried personal comm devices, but nobles rarely did. That was what servants were for. Of course, when plotting treason, the privacy of a com device was more attractive than go-betweens. I had carried one myself for years. Enough powerful men used them for virtuous reasons that it wasn’t immediately suspicious for those of us with nefarious purposes to be seen with one.

  The two surveillance ports the computer was reporting were the two men’s personal com units. I could access live feed of anything they could hear or see.

  Cold sweat drenched me even as a hot flush swept up my neck. Adrenaline set my heart racing and my pulse pounding in my palms. Our personal com devices. We had plotted murders, atrocities, and treasons. The emperor could have accessed us at any time. How had we remained undetected so long? How had Laudley managed to kill him?

  I shook my head. Perhaps Rikhart’s advice on cautious use was less wise than he’d believed. I let out a slow, deliberate breath, and tuned in to Laudley’s device.

  “Good evening, Your Grace,” Naganika’s voice came to me clearly. “This is one of my favorite gardens. Do you come here often?”

  “We will keep this brief,” Laudley said. “What is so important that you asked to meet me here, where anyone can see us together?”

  There was a smile in Naganika’s voice. “There is no one but us here and if anyone comes within fifty yards of any entrance to the garden, I will be alerted. It is not as dangerous as you think.”

  “It is always more dangerous than you think. Was there a point to this?”

  Naganika cleared his throat. “Yes, Your Grace. I met with the regent this morning and he would not approve all of your guard transfers.”

  “Which ones?”

  “I believe he was reluctant to approve any of them, though he did eventually authorize a select few. Mostly the guards who have little access to either him or you.”

  Laudley scoffed. “And the guard captain?”

  “That one he did not approve.”

  Laudley was quiet for a moment. “It makes no matter, though his initiative concerns me. What have you done to make him suspicious?”

  “Me? On the contrary, Your Grace, I got the impression that he suspects me not at all.”

  He made a noise of disgust. “He is not a complete fool. Never mind, I will handle it. Is that all?”

  “Is there anything else you would have me do about Blaine?” There was a long, charged silence. Naganika broke it with a laugh. “There are no recording devices here. You checked before you came and you scanned me before you spoke. I’m not trying to trap you, Your Grace.”

  Laudley made a rude noise. “It is careless just the same. Continue as you are. At present you need only concern yourself with making sure my son-in-law,” the words dripped with contempt, “does not learn too much, either about me or about how to be an emperor. The less he accomplishes, the less he will believe he is able to do. Anything else is of no matter until Owen is found. After that, we will speak of Blaine again.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  I stared out the window for a long time, a heavy, sinking feeling in my gut. And the worst realization was that I wasn’t surprised, or even disappointed.

  Laudley had been planning this for years. He was prepared for anything I could throw at him and I had no idea what traps he had already set for me. He didn’t need time, or for me to be careless enough to give him an opportunity. He only needed Owen. After that, I was worse than expendable. I was already dead.

  Don’t forget, dinner tonight with the Blaines.

  Ugh.

  Hera will be there. And she asked me if she could bring Owen.

  What does a baby do at an official dinner?

  Sleep, I imagine.

  iv34

  I spent the next two days in the lab. Jonathan helped me set up an area for the children, so that we could establish some sort of routine for them, some semblance of normality. So while I worked at my table, and Jonathan at his console, the children did their schoolwork for a couple of hours each day. It seemed to soothe them from the first, this pretense at a normal life. I didn’t like to think of how easily they adapted to the change, or how much it hurt me, against all logic.

  I scowled to myself. What did I want? For them to be uncertain and miserable?

  I watched their faces, intent on their work. They were my life, and this was our life now. Pete was dead. Pete was dead and there was nothing I could do about that. Wherever we went next, whatever we did next, we had to do without him.

  The children understood it better than I did.

  I watched Jonathan working nearby,
quiet and intent. It occurred to me that I’d never seen him work like this before. Always these things had gone on behind the scenes. The invisible backdrop that allowed him to work his magic and remain almost unseen. I’d always hated that. The sight of Jonathan like this, with us, warmed me and I went back to work with a smile on my face.

  About mid-morning, I released the children to play for a while and I made my way to the kitchen, grinning at the thought of what Jonathan would say when he realized I’d come in here and fixed my own snack while he was working on something else.

  As I was rummaging through the cabinets I heard what sounded like knocking. I turned, trying to locate the source and found myself standing in front of the door to the garage. Had one of the children gone in and gotten stuck? I opened the door.

  Blaine was standing there.

  ***

  “How funny,” he said, “it won’t open the door for me because you were here first.”

  I catalogued the fact that I was still standing there, in the safehouse, that Blaine was in front of me making meaningless conversation. I expected to blink and the illusion would be gone, the mirage created by too little sleep and not enough sanity.

  The reality of what his presence here meant slapped me across the face and my heart stopped. A rush of pure fear nearly drove me to my knees, but it was washed away in a strange calm and certainty that settled over me. I stepped into the garage, closing the door behind me.

  “I’ll come with you right now, no fuss, if you leave the children alone. I’ll do whatever you want—” I swallowed hard, “if the children are left out of this.”

  Blaine’s eyes widened only fractionally before a smile teased the corner of his mouth.

  “Anything I want?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’d confess to killing the emperor?”

  My gut bottomed out, my heart clogging my throat.

  “Yes,” it was hoarse but audible. “If I have to. But only if I have a guarantee that the children are safe, and I don’t mean with you.”