During Mizuki's travels it had become obvious that evolution charted a similar course on most Earth-like worlds, but the details were different. This world never experienced the asteroid collisions and massive volcanic eruptions Earth had, events that triggered mass extinctions that repeatedly reset Earth's evolutionary clock. As a result, this world never progressed to the age of dinosaurs or the later age of mammals. Here insects had many millions of additional years to evolve.
In spite of the substantial differences, Mizuki could not help thinking of the natives as giant ants. That is the name she gave to the translator and that is how she saw them in her mind. The translator itself was progressing nicely, the neuromorphic circuits within it building a bidirectional translation network between English and ant speak. On the road Mizuki and Timushi had time to learn a bit about each other.
Mizuki discovered that Timushi was a Princess and that she was in some kind of race for the throne of her recently deceased mother. She also learned that all the ants were female, except for a few males kept for breeding purposes. More unsettling was the news that “daemons” were actively helping Timushi's rival, Princess Reishi. This was the topic of discussion as they settled into camp for the evening.
“You say your sister Reishi has enlisted daemons and dragons to help her gain the throne, Princess?” Mizuki asked through the translator around her neck.
“Yes, Lord Mizuki,” the Princess replied. “Three flying dragons destroyed my sister Shōshi's palace and her with it. They also spat fire and burned my palace, though I had already departed for the capital.”
“And these flying dragons make constant roaring sounds?”
“Yes, they do, do you know of them?”
“I have knowledge of similar 'dragons'. If they appear overhead your party should scatter and seek cover.”
“My Lord Castellan offered similar advice.”
“Your advisers are wise, Your Highness. There is little defense against dragons save other dragons.”
“Do you have dragons of your own, Lord Mizuki?” asked the Castellan.
“My companions do, but they are not here at the moment. I am afraid that avoidance is the only counter I can recommend in our current situation.”
“You say that you are from beyond the sky, is that correct?” Timushi changed subjects to cover the Castellan's dissatisfaction regarding Mizuki's paucity of dragons.
“Yes, my group of... fellow daemons, travel from world to world among the stars. We look for other... people to exchange ideas and goods with.”
“Your fellows are not the same type of daemon as the ones helping my royal sister?” From the descriptions forwarded by her spies this would seem to be so, but she wished to hear it from Mizuki herself.
“No, Ma'am, we are not the same as those helping your sister. In fact, they attacked us without warning when we arrived.”
“Were your companions killed?” the Castellan asked, leaning forward with interest. The balance of power could depend on whether this was the only daemon allied to their cause or if others existed who might come to the aid.
“My two companions who accompanied me to your world were killed,” Mizuki said, haltingly. “But most of my people escaped.” I've got to believe that, otherwise I'm stuck on this world alone until I die.
“When will they be back?” The Castellan pressed his interrogation.
“I do not know, Lord Castellan, but I am sure that it will not be long.” Do you hear me, Bobby?
“Enough questions for our guest, my Lord Castellan. Lord Mizuki came to our aid today and dispatched the mantis in a most convincing style. Surely our bid for the throne has been strengthened by her joining our host.”
The Princess tilted her head and looked directly at Mizuki. Obviously this was a ploy to see if Mizuki intended to accompany her to the capital, and by inference fight for her if necessary. Recognizing that Timushi's not so subtle question required an answer, Mizuki quickly reviewed her options.
Decision time! I must either flee the company of this Princess and her war party or pledge my allegiance to her cause. I doubt I will get better terms from her sister, or her sister's daemons. What is that saying of Beth's? In for a penny, in for a pound.
“Princess Timushi, I would be honored to accompany you and your warriors to the capital as you claim your mother's throne.”
Both the Princess and the Castellan had been tensely awaiting her response, heads slightly lowered, antennae slanting forward. Hearing Mizuki's answer they both relaxed visibly.
“I accept your gracious offer to accompany me to the capital, Lord Mizuki,” the Princess replied with a nod of her head, dipping her antennae, a gesture Mizuki took as the equivalent of a polite bow. Mizuki bowed in return from her seated position near the fire.
“Majordomo!” Timushi cried out. “Bring food and drink for our guest and new companion.”
Oh crap! Mizuki thought. Now I have to eat some of their food! If I refuse they may take it as an insult and that won't do. I hope there is nothing poisonous in whatever is on the evening's menu...
Chapter 24
Princess Timushi's Party
Mizuki stirred from a tempestuous sleep. Last evening's meal lay heavy in her stomach, a heaping pile of finger-sized white grubs that had the texture of tofu and tasted faintly of garlic and lemon grass. At least they had been cooked. But it was not indigestion that woke her, it was the whistling and clicking sounds coming from the servant the Majordomo had assigned to her. It was cowering beside her waiving arms and antennae at something behind her.
Instantly awake, Mizuki did a kip-up, drawing her sword while springing to her feet like a ninja. Whirling around she was confronted by a warrior in the act of driving its spear into the ground where a fraction of a second before she had slumbered. Converting her rotation into a right to left sword stroke she cut the warrior across the junction between upper and lower thorax, bisecting both ant and spear.
Standing back and raising her katana for another stroke she discovered that it wasn't needed—the upper part of the warrior toppled sideways, separating from the rest of its body. The torso-less body sank unsteadily to the ground, its four legs buckling. On the ground next to it lay the severed thorax and head, the deceased ant's mandibles opening and closing, not quite resigned to death. Satisfied that her foe no longer posed a threat, Mizuki spun around and confronted the Castellan, who had come up behind her.
“Why are you trying to kill me!” she shouted, raising her katana above her head in preparation to strike.
“Not us, Lord Mizuki, them!” The Castellan pointed beyond the severed upper body of the warrior Mizuki had dispatched, toward the woods beyond. Mizuki glanced over her shoulder in time to see another warrior loose an arrow at the Castellan.
With her left hand Mizuki snatched the arrow from the air in mid-flight. This confounded the archer sufficiently that it stood unmoving, frozen in place for the few seconds it took Mizuki to close the distance between them. On arrival she delivered a right to left diagonal cut from shoulder to hip, a cut called kisa giri in Japanese—the monk's robe cut. The archer fell, its upper body split in two.
All around the sound of battle rose and as quickly abated. Warriors ran past, into the woods seeking out more attackers. The Castellan directed the counterattack with gestures and shouted commands, moving into the woods with her warriors. It took several minutes for the chaos to subside but eventually Timushi appeared, surrounded by more jittery guards.
The Princess surveyed the remains of the attackers who had drawn Mizuki's attention and nodded as if this was added confirmation of the daemon's prowess in combat.
“I see you put down two of the attackers, Lord Mizuki.”
Mizuki wiped down her blade and returned it to its scabbard.
“Yes, Your Highness. Would you care to enlighten me as to the nature of our attackers?”
“They must have been sent by my sister, Reishi, though how they came this far this fast eludes me. If she has
already arrived at the capital and claimed the throne all she need do is wait for my arrival.”
“You would surrender to her?”
“Oh no, surrendering would just hasten my death. My warriors and I would attack and die. Her forces combined with the palace guard would far outnumber us but we would still try.”
There is no second place in this contest, Mizuki realized. This is a fight to the death.
As Timushi and Mizuki conversed several of the large eyed servants—types that Mizuki had tagged as scholars and sages—busily examined the head of the first warrior Mizuki struck down, removing it from the already severed upper thorax. The sages chittered at each other as the Castellan came hurrying up, intent on reporting to the Princess.
“Your Highness, we have killed all those who participated in the attack. They ambushed and overpowered four of the perimeter guards and snuck into the camp. From the tracks, there were only six, including the two Lord Mizuki dispatched.”
“How did they get here, my Lord, did you question any of them?”
“No, Ma'am. They all fought to the death.”
“A shame. I could have interrogated any that lived.” The Princess sounded disappointed none of the attackers survived.
“Your pardon, Your Highness,” intoned one of the scholars. “But I doubt you could have extracted any information from these assassins.”
“Why, Senior Sage? They would have been soon overcome by my pheromones, changing allegiances in spite of themselves.”
“Again, begging your pardon, Ma'am, but the antennae of the attackers have been coated with resin, rendering their olfactory sense useless. They could not have smelled your royal emanations, Your Highness.”
As proof two other sages held up the assassin's head, displaying the doctored antennae. The Princess was outraged.
“That is barbaric! Warriors without their sense of smell are almost helpless at night. My royal sister has stooped lower than I would have ever suspected.”
“We also found this on one of the assassin's, Ma'am,” added the Castellan, holding out a cellphone sized metallic object.
“Might I examine that?” Mizuki asked, extending her arm. The Princess nodded and the head warrior passed the device to the Earth scientist. Mizuki turned the object over in her hands, peering closely at it from all angles. Looking up, she addressed Timushi.
“Your Highness, this is an alien device, a device made by other daemons. It may let your enemies pinpoint your location, possibly to help guide aircraft, dragons, to attack you. We need to get it away from you and your servants. Now.”
“Give it to me, Lord Mizuki,” the Castellan responded. “I will have a servant carry it out into the field.”
Handing over the device, Mizuki continued. “Good, that is a start. Your Highness, we need to move and quickly. We must be away from this place as soon as possible.”
Timushi nodded her assent and called for the Majordomo. In less than five minutes the Princess's party had vacated the campsite and was once again on the road to the capital. If anything, the ambush had hastened their departure and lent greater urgency to their steps.
HQ, Fakkaa Expeditionary Force
“Have we received an update from the ambush force?” demanded the Commander. The six native warriors had been inserted in front of Princess Timushi's party last night, with instructions to move along the road until they made contact. The plan was to attack just before dawn, when the camp guards' attention would be at its lowest.
“Negative, Sir. The last report was over an hour ago when the bug leader said they were launching their attack.”
“Then we must assume that they were all killed in the attempt. Blast it! We have no idea of how much damage they caused, or if the rival princess still lives.”
“It is highly unlikely that the Princess was killed, given that she is surrounded by a hundred of her own warriors and servants. We can schedule the troop carrier to surveil the area, homing in on the beacon in the communicator we gave to the insects.”
“No, Lieutenant, there is no time. The reinforcements are finally arriving from the orbiting fleet and we will need all the troop carriers to ferry us to Princess Reishi's column.”
“We only have the one, Sir. Moving our entire force to the head of the column will take quite some time.”
“Yes, fortunately there are two additional quad-rotors in the landing shuttles. Also, get the attack craft prepared for the assault tomorrow. We may not need them but I want everything in readiness. Sometime tomorrow we shall cross the line of departure and the battle for this stinking ball of mud will begin.”
“Yes, Commander. I will notify the aviation commander.”
Bridge, Peggy Sue
Billy Ray looked around the bridge of his ship, finding all stations manned and ready. This was it, time to throw down on the Dark Lords that ambushed them more than a week ago. On reflection, he decided he liked their odds. The aliens seemed to be limited in offensive power, relying on their FTL torpedoes and surprise to take out their opponents.
On the other hand, the Peggy Sue had weaponry that even Navy ships did not, specifically the new superluminal particle cannon that could penetrate all but the most advanced shields. Of course you can't hit what you can't see. Everything was riding on the new sensors being able to detect the Dark Lord's ship.
“What is our status, Number One?”
“All weapons manned and awaiting power up, Captain.”
“Sailing Master?”
“A rough course is laid in, Captain, awaiting better resolution of the enemy's location.”
“Mr. Umky?”
“Ready for power up, Sir.”
Surveying the bridge one last time, the Captain nodded to himself.
“Mr. Baldursson, reactors to full power. Power up all shields, sensors, and weapons systems.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” came the Chief Engineer's reply from the engine room.
Around the bridge panels and displays illuminated, coming fully to life for the first time since they shut down for repair and refitting. The holographic display overlaying the view forward through the bow blinked into existence, status indicators and a cross hair symbol marking the enemy’s position seemingly floating in space.
“Fire control, do you have a fix on our target?”
“Aye, Captain, that we do. As clear as the scent of a seal sunning itself by an air hole on the pack ice,” Umky replied, a smile spreading across his ursine features that had more to do with predatory instinct than happiness, though for a polar bear they might be one and the same.
“Helm, all ahead flank. I want to close the range to the target as much as possible before they spot us.”
“Aye, Sir. Engines all ahead flank,” reported Bobby from the helm.
The Peggy Sue lept ahead, accelerating at 80G. Sensor and status readings danced on displays around the cabin. Tension among the crew was palpable. Some were nervous, while others stared hard eyed, looking for payback.
“Sensors, I want the large optical scope slaved to the new warp sensors. Put our target on the forward display.”
“Aye, aye, Sir!” The excited reply came from Dorri who, along with her sister, was manning Mizuki's usual station. The view forward rippled and an alien craft swam into focus—a long space-black needle banded by a ring of silver. There was nothing in the display to provide a sense of scale, but everyone on the crew had heard the Dark Lord ship was over a kilometer in length, far larger than the Peggy Sue.
A minute passed. The Peggy Sue was traveling toward her enemy at 47,000 m/sec and still accelerating. A second minute, a third. Now closing at 141,000 m/sec, and 25,000 kilometers closer to the target.
“The prey is moving, Captain,” Umky called out.
“I guess they've seen us,” Billy Ray said. “Do you have a firing solution, Mr. Umky?”
“Working, Captain...” The bear's response trailed off into a low rumble, his eyes shut, receiving tracking data through his sense of smell. On
the forward display the target's image rippled as the fabric of space surrounding it distorted.
From the helm Bobby called out. “The target seems to be heading away from us, Sir. They're running.”
“You may fire when ready, Mr. Umky.”
There was no sound, no flash of light, only changing status indicators at various stations marked the event. Two concentrated bursts of subatomic particles, traveling more than ninety-nine percent the speed of light, streaked toward the alien vessel. But the beams' effective velocity was much greater than that, as the particles traced a shallow dip into alter-space. Instead of taking a slovenly two seconds to strike their target the twin bursts struck home in microseconds.
The light returning from the alien vessel had no choice but to obey Dr. Einstein's speed limit, delaying confirmation of the salvo's impact by two seconds as it traveled across the 600,000 kilometers separating the Peggy Sue from its foe. As the photons finally arrived the view forward blossomed in a star-bright explosion.
“Pull back the view, Dorri,” ordered Beth, as the forward display was overloaded. Dorri immediately complied, zooming out until the miniature sun that had been the Dark Lord ship fit on the display.
“I think it would be safe to say we hit them,” said Beth with typical understatement.
“Good shooting, Mr. Umky,” Billy Ray responded. Shoot at my ship will you, you froze assed bastards!
Umky opened his eyes and bared his fangs at the sight on the forward display. Cheers broke out on the bridge and all throughout the ship.
The explosion stuttered.
“What the hell?” said Bobby.
The glaring matter-antimatter explosion was sucked back into itself, a million degree swirling backdraft of tortured particles and hard radiation. As quickly as it was sucked in the explosion expanded again, flashing briefly and fading to black.
The Queen's Daemon (T'aafhal Legacy Book 2) Page 19