She had been wrong about the DI’s, she realized. Completely wrong. Sa’Tela and her fellow instructors really did want everyone to succeed, and pass their training, even N’Vera. After weeks of hating them, and especially Sa’Tela, it was a stunning revelation.
Shadow Lake Lodge Nature Preserve, Nemesis, Rahdwa System, Thalestris Elant, United Sisterhood of Suns, 1043.03|03|02:52:33
Even from a distance, Maya could tell that something was wrong at the Lodge. Although the side facing the nature preserve was intact, white smoke issued from the opposite wing and there were several armored hover vehicles in orbit over the resort. They were emblazoned with the insignia of the Nemesian Planetary Militia. When the rescue ‘lifters came out over the shore of the lake, one of the militia vehicles peeled away from the scene and joined up as an escort, its belly guns ranging wide.
The ‘lifters and their armored guardian cleared the lake shore and came in for their final approach to the Lodge’s main landing pads. Drawing closer, a makeshift morgue came into view. It had been set up at the edge of the landing field and another militia hover vehicle, an ambulance with a bright red pentagram on its side, was parked next to the rows of bodies. Its crew was busy, loading plastic body bags into its main bay while an armed militiawoman stood guard.
Maya tried not to look too closely at the bags, but like everyone else aboard her ‘lifter, she wondered if any of them contained someone that she knew and cared for. Felecia reached for her, and Maya put her arm around her as the ‘lifter moved over the gruesome scene and settled down onto a clear landing pad.
“I’m sure your mother made it out,” she said, countering Felecia’s unspoken fears. “I know that Bel Lissa and Sarah would have made sure of it.” Felecia responded with a nod, but her eyes were filled with worry and she made no move to get up from her seat.
“Come on,” Maya urged, “We have to get off. We have to get on with this.” Felecia obeyed woodenly, unbuckling her seatbelt.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be with you no matter what happens,” she promised her. Her lover’s features brightened slightly and they disembarked together.
A militiawoman met them at the foot of the ladder. “Are you Lady Felecia n’Calysher?” she asked.
Felecia held onto Maya for support and answered the woman in a tremulous voice. “Y-yes. I am.” This was the awful moment of truth, and Maya dreaded what the woman might say next.
“Your mother left instructions for me to escort you personally. Your Security Chief is waiting for you up at the Lodge. If you will follow me.”
Felecia let out a ragged sob and embraced Maya. “Oh, goddess! She’s alive! Oh, thank the Lady!”
“Can you tell me if everyone else in her group made it?” Maya asked, “Is Captain Inish bel Lissa and the rest of her crew all right?”
“I’m not sure, ma’am. You’ll have to check with my commanding officer,” the militiawoman replied, somewhat impatiently. “I only know that the Senatrix herself gave me explicit orders to see that her daughter received an escort as soon as she returned from the nature preserve. Now, if you’ll follow me.”
The soldier led them up into the main lobby. This time, instead of warm, welcoming lights, and smiling clerks waiting to check them in, the Lodge was illuminated by harsh emergency lights and filled with busy looking militiawomen who ignored them completely. An acrid smell hung in the air, a mixture of wood, plastic and something that Maya’s mind instinctively recognized as burnt flesh--human and non-human. It was a nightmarish reversal of their first day at the resort.
“Your Security Chief is waiting for you in the main dining room,” their guide said, oblivious to the transformation. Maya and Felecia followed her, stepping around a large, dark stain in the lobby’s ornate carpet that looked suspiciously like someone’s, or something’s, blood.
Like the lobby, emergency lights lit up the main dining room. The nearest tables had been cleared of their finery, and boxes of supplies sat on their finely polished surfaces. Where a large picture window had once been, there was now a gaping hole that had been crudely covered over with plastic sheeting. It rippled and snapped as the breezes from the forest pushed against it.
Sharra was there, talking on a portable communications phone and as she gestured for them to wait, a militiawoman came up and offered them both cups of hot kaafra, sandwiches and blankets. Maya took the food, and after settling Felecia’s blanket around the girl’s shoulders, made certain that she ate.
At last, Sharra concluded her call. “Yes, that’s right, Major. I want you to send teams out and find who’s responsible for this. I’m not too picky about what shape they’re in when they come back either. Let me know when you’ve found something.”
She hung up, stood, and looked at Maya and Felecia for a long moment. Her features, at first businesslike and professional, softened.
“Lady n’Calysher--,” she started to say.
Before she could finish, Felecia cast off her blanket and ran over to her, hugging the security officer fiercely. “I’m so glad you’re alive, Sharra!”
Sharra fought back a tear and stepped back, quickly readopting her professional façade. “Your mother is well, and she wanted us to get you back to her as soon as possible. There’s a shuttle going upside to Treetop Station right now.”
“What about my crewmates?” Maya asked. “Are they all right?”
Sharra nodded. “Yes, they are. The minute that the impeller fencing failed and the alarms went off, they took charge of the Senatrix and left with her in the JUDI for Treetop. They’re up there, and safe.”
***
Treetop Station sat in a geostationary orbit directly above the north pole of Nemesis. It was a series of flattened spheres linked by a central spindle that reminded Maya of a child’s spinning top, but on a gargantuan scale.
Because of the strict bio laws governing industry on the planet, Treetop Station was more than a mere port for starships. It was also the largest community the planet had, and its main industrial hub. The biggest sphere, taking up over a third of its gigantic mass, was completely dedicated to factories that processed the riches of the world below it into usable commodities. Vital medicines, lumber, cloth and a host of other valuable goods, came out directly from the industrial level to the space docks, and into the ships.
And as soon as one ship left, there were a dozen or more waiting for admittance. The traffic around Treetop was the fourth busiest in the Sisterhood. Hundreds of merchanters, their escort ships, and a host of service craft maneuvered around the station, or sat in space waiting for their turn to approach.
The militia shuttle was subject to no such delay. Once within range of the station’s auto-control zone, it was guided past the other ships and straight to the nearest open dock.
A trio of militiawomen met them there, armed with energy weapons and wearing fighting armor. The senior-most of them stepped forwards to meet them. “Ladies? The Senatrix has been expecting you,” she said, “If you’ll come along with us.”
The two girls were only too glad to follow as they led them through a confusing series of side corridors and emergency passages that brought them straight to militia headquarters. The place was filled with uniformed women, and Maya saw that many of them were just as heavily armed as their escort was. The attack on the Shadow Lake Lodge had been an embarrassment for the local law enforcement agencies and it was obvious that they were not going to allow another event like it to occur.
Bel Lissa was siting on a bench near the main desk and when Maya saw her, she broke away from the militiawomen.
“Goddess!” she exclaimed, embracing her, “I’m so glad you made it out! Is everyone else okay?” Although she already knew the answer, she had to hear it again, just to confirm its reality.
“Yes,” Bel Lissa replied. “We’re all fine. Zara got a little banged up and I got a tiny knock to my knee. Of course, Sarah came out of it all without a scratch.” Maya looked down and saw that her captain was wearing a smart splint on
her right leg.
“Now, come along, both of you. The militia commander loaned out her office and the Senatrix is there, Felecia, waiting for you. I don’t think she’ll be able to contain herself much longer.”
Waving off their escort, Bel Lissa took over and led them into a maze of cubicles until they reached the largest one, and went inside.
The moment that they entered, Felecia ran to her mother. The scene became one of tearful hugs and reassurances. Leaving them to their moment, Bel Lissa drew Maya out of the room. Sarah and Zara joined them as they came out into the hall.
“I’m glad you made it, Maya,” Zara said. “We were worried about you.”
“I’m glad too,” Maya grinned. “It was a close thing.”
“Closer than you know,” Sarah said. “When the fencing went down, the forest creatures attacked the lodge in force. We barely managed to escape to the JUDI.’
“Despite that, the Senatrix achieved her objective; the Rampart has agreed to disarm in exchange for certain promises. Now our task will be to transport her safely back to Thermadon for a special session of the Circle. The agreement with the Rampart is not complete until she can announce it and get the specifics ratified.”
A few minutes later, the Senatrix and Felecia were ready to leave, and Sharra and her security staff hustled them aboard the JUDI, which took off immediately. On the way towards their transit point, Sharra was contacted by the Militia Chief with fresh news and Zara piped the communication into the control room so that everyone could hear it.
The holo showed the officer, somewhere near the edge of the forest. Keela and Laa’ret hovered in the background.
“We have a good idea now about what happened,” the woman informed them. The holocam panned over to a pair of bodies lying at the feet of the Nemesians.
“It looks like the Bio Action Army had a team in place here for some time, working as Lodge maintenance employees. Someone in the Rampart must have tipped them off about the conferance. The Bios set explosive charges to destroy all the power stations for the entire impeller grid at the same time, hoping to catch the Senatrix and the Rampart delegates at the meeting.”
“I see,” Sharra replied. “And the safari’s ‘lifter?”
“More sabotage. The Bio’s compromised the restraint systems and planted some ghost flower cuttings aboard, wrapped in plastic. This made it too faint for the native women to pick up on, but not the neversaw. Those things can smell the tiniest part from klicks away, and they always go after anything that they think is threatening the plant. We don’t know why they do this, but they do.”
“So the Lady Felecia was also a target,” Sharra concluded.
“Yes, ma’am,” the Chief replied. “It seems that they wanted to make good on their threat to harm the Senatrix’s family and friends. But there are still a few details that we’re following up on.”
“Such as?” Sharra asked. There was a slight delay as the answer was transmitted from the surface of the forest world to a Com satellite, and out into space.
“To get their jobs here, the terrorists had to have references. Impeccable ones. From the Lodge records, those seem to have come from some highly placed businesswomen.
“Really?” Sharra asked. At her request, the Chief sent the data, and after she thanked her, and had ended the call, she scrutinized it carefully and cross-checked through the omniplex. Shortly, she beckoned to Sarah and the others to come over and join her.
“I think that we may have a conection with Thermadon here,” she said. “One of the references is a staffer who works for Feli n’Debara. N’Debara is a close personal friend of Senatrix Danna ebed Haria. Even though it’s possible that the employment references may have been falsified, it does create an interesting trail.”
“It does at that,” Sarah agreed. “Clearly, this N’Debara will merit further investigation. Do we have any other suspects?”
“Not yet,” Sharra replied. “The Chief’s people are interviewing anyone who knew the workers and following up on the leads. In the meantime, the most important thing is that the Senatrix gets to Thermadon as soon as possible.”
“Don’t worry. The JUDI will get her there,” Bel Lissa promised.
Bel Sharra Memorial Spaceport, Cyrene District, Thermadon City, Thermadon, Myrene System, Thalestris Elant, United Sisterhood of Suns, 1043.03|04|03:13:33
A trio of Valkyrie fighters met the JUDI when she reentered normal space in the Myrene System, and all inter-system traffic was routed around their approach to Thermadon. With the exception of providing landing vectors to an airstrip at the edges of Bel Sharra, there was none of the usual chatter with the Needle. The JUDI was expected, and as they were making their final approach, Maya saw that in addition to a pair of armored hoverlimos, a cluster of Thermadonian police cruisers and plain unmarked hovercars were also standing by. As for their fighter escort, the three Valkyries stayed with the merchanter until they reached the tarmac, and then they ascended to assume a patrol over the assembly.
The JUDI came to a halt and Bel Lissa opened the cargo bay doors. The moment the ramp was down, a group of plain-clothed women toting compact military energy weapons came aboard. The sight of them drove home the fact that they were saying goodbye to one another, and Maya and Felecia ignored everyone around them, and rushed into each others arms.
“Oh, Maya!” Felecia cried. “I’m going to miss you!” Her eyes were filled with tears. Mayas were equally wet, and she gathered her in.
“We’ll see each other again, Felecia. I know it!” Inwardly she wondered if this was really true, and then in a burst of emotion, she kissed Felecia deeply. “Stay safe, please,” she said.
One of the security women tried to gently pull Felecia away. “Lady Felecia,” she said, “we must be going. The Senatrix needs to get to the Golden Pyramid right away.”
Felecia pushed the woman’s hand away and embraced Maya again. “No!” she exclaimed, “I won’t leave you! I can’t!”
Maya silenced her protests. “No,” she said, stroking her cheek tenderly. “She’s right. Your mother has an important job to do and your place is here, with her. I love you, Felecia, but you must go.”
Then she stepped back. Those few short steps turned out to be the hardest thing she had ever done, and she felt Bel Lissa’s hand come to rest supportively on her shoulder.
Felecia sobbed in abject misery, but she cooperated with the security women as they strapped on a blast resistant vest and put a blanket over her head to conceal her identity. Then they led her down the ramp to join a group of figures waiting at the bottom. They were also covered with blankets, and by intent, it was impossible to tell who was who among them.
They were quickly shown into the two hoverlimos. And as soon as the gull-wing doors had closed, the convoy sped off towards the city, with their police escorts clearing the way while the fighters flew overwatch.
Felecia was gone.
“Come on, Maya,” Bel Lissa urged. “I know a place here in the city that serves the best drinks you can find outside of Ashkele. It’s no Nulltrekker, but I think it will do for us right about now.”
Maya nodded despondently, and turned to go back inside the ship to retrieve her flight jacket.
***
The hoverlimo ascended away from the spaceport, and Felecia pressed her hands against the glass, watching as the JUDI was left behind. The little ship was all by itself on the huge runway now, and it was a lonely sight, made even worse by the fact that Maya was down there with it. A fresh wave of tears gushed out of her, and when she felt someone try to reassure her with their touch, she angrily shoved their hand away. Finally, when the JUDI disappeared from view, she sat back in her seat, her eyes raw and red.
“Maya is a remarkable young woman,” the Senatrix remarked. ”She is brave, resourceful, and loyal.”
“I love her, mother,” Felecia said. “I love her.”
The Senatrix smiled patiently. “Yes, I know that you care for her. And as my daughter, and as
the Senatrix that you will one day become, it is good for you to have friends like her.”
“She’s more than a friend!” Felecia retorted angrilly. “Didn’t you hear me? I love her!”
“I heard you, Feli,” the woman replied, using her private, pet name. “Now, I will teach you one of the great lessons of statecraft. For those who hold the reins of power there can only be one true desire, and that is for power itself. Everything else must take second place. Even love.”
Felecia shook her head in denial, but the Senatrix reached over and gave her hand a gentle pat. “Care for her as you will, Feli. In fact, I encourage your friendship. The day may come when Maya will be the captain of that valuable little ship, and you will need all the assistance that she can offer you. Her affection will guarantee her aid.’
“But never let her be anything more than a friend. When you do marry, it will be to someone who will help you consolidate your power base, not to a common smuggler. She is, and must always be, a useful tool, and nothing more.”
“No!” Felecia retorted. “You’re wrong mother! You didn’t do that when you married!”
The Senatrix smiled again, but now there was a hint of saddness in her eyes as she remembered her pairmate, and the pain of losing her. Even after so many years it was still sharp.
“Yes, daughter, I did,” she said at last. “You see, your mother and I married for political expediency, not for love. But in time, we grew to care for one another.’
“As for Inish bel Lissa, she and I had our affair, just like you and Maya did, and then we grew apart. But even now, she is still loyal to me. You must do the same thing with Maya. That, my daughter, is what it is to be a Senatrix.”
CHAPTER 15
USSNS Lilya Litvak, Hella’s World, Hecate System, Artemi Elant, United Sisterhood of Suns, 1043.03|04|03:75:00
Sisterhood of Suns: Pallas Athena Page 58