by Neal Jones
"Yes, well, you shouldn't trouble yourself with such needless stress. Let me handle the empire. You make sure our firstborn – and my heir to the throne – is healthy and strong."
Larewyn thought she had misheard him. "Your heir?"
Erengaar laughed, nodding. "I don't care that our firstborn is a girl. She will rule as lady empress, if necessary. She is my rightful heir, and I will make sure that our people know it. I have convened the senate for another special session next week, and this is one of the issues I will address. There is enough law and precedent that I am confident the measure will pass with all votes."
Larewyn suddenly found herself blinking back tears, and she glanced around to make sure her handmaids weren't looking as she brushed her face with her sleeve. "Thank you, m'lord," she managed.
Erengaar set aside his wineglass and reached for her hands. "My subjects call me by that title. You are my wife. You may call me by my name."
Larewyn nodded, smiling, and reached out to caress his face. "I have missed you, Erengaar. My nights have been lonely and terrifying without you to comfort me."
"I know," he sighed, "and I'm sorry. I will make it up to you these next few days. I have told Broen to handle the matters of state until the special session with the senate next week. There's some things I need to discuss with you."
"Oh?"
"Don't worry. These are good things." He grasped her hands tighter, his face flush with excitement. "This is a new era for the Emperium, Lare! These next few months are going to be a time of great change for our people, and it starts with us – you and I. I can't wait to tell you all about it!"
Larewyn giggled. "You're gushing like a schoolboy!" She'd never seen her husband so energetic, so alive with passion and enthusiasm.
He laughed, and helped her to her feet. "I suppose I am. I can't help it."
"This...matter that you had to leave homeworld for, it went well?"
"Oh yes. It went very well." He put his arm around her, pulling her close, as they left the garden at a leisurely pace. "Very well indeed."
Part Two
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"...Thrones And Dominions"
Chapter 8
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( 1 )
LIEUTENANT SHYLER ENDARI YAWNED as she left the PTL and headed for the chief engineer's office. She shouldn't have stayed that extra round at Grax's last night for Ensign Markano's birthday celebration. Lieutenant Tyson had bought everyone shots of something called tequila, and the Chrisarii officers quickly discovered that it reacted faster in their systems than it did in humans – and to even greater potency, in fact. Hence, Endari had ordered another round for everybody, and...well, after that everything was hazy. Thank the gods she had made it back to her quarters safe and sound, but the alarm at oh-six-hundred this morning had definitely blared too early, and Shyler had immediately found that a tequila hangover was just as potent as the initial high the night before.
The dose of aspirin that she'd taken earlier to relieve the headache was finally kicking in, and Endari stifled another yawn as she arrived at Garrett's office. She glanced up from her compad, where she'd been checking the agenda for the daily briefing, and discovered that the office was dark. She looked at the chrono readout in the upper corner of her pad screen, and then glanced around the corridor to see if anyone else had arrived early. There was no one but her, and she frowned, wondering if she'd missed a communiqué about a time change for the briefing. Her hangover had put her in a bit of rush this morning, and she hadn't bothered to check her computer terminal like usual before leaving her quarters. She was only a couple minutes late. There should have been five other shift commanders in the office ahead of her, as well as Lieutenant Commander Garrett.
Shyler sighed, checked the chrono readout again, and then walked around the corner to main engineering. She crossed the expansive deck to the central ops console where the other shift commanders were already in mid-conference. All around them, the officers of the day shift were coming and going, already busy on their assigned tasks. Main engineering, being the central power generator and relay hub for the entire starbase, was always a hive of activity and commotion.
"Hey," Endari said as she approached the table. "Where's Commander Garrett?"
"He must be running late," Lieutenant Cadman suggested. "We went ahead and started the meeting."
"Was he at Markano's party last night?" Eadom asked, smiling.
Endari shook her head. "Not unless he came late."
"No," Tyson said, "he told me he had some project he needed to catch up on. He only stayed for a few minutes."
"Must have been before I got there," Endari sighed, massaging her temple. Her hangover wasn't abating fast enough.
Eadom laughed. "Not gonna serve tequila for your birthday, huh, lieutenant?"
Endari flashed him an obscene gesture, and the others guffawed.
"All right, folks, that's enough," Lieutenant Cadman cut in. He, too, was nursing a hangover. "Let's just get going, okay? The commander will be here soon."
Forty-five minutes later, after Cadman wrapped up the briefing, Garrett still had not appeared. As the other shift commanders dispersed to their respective stations, Endari approached Cadman.
"Lieutenant, he's never late. You better call him."
But the lieutenant had already tapped his commlink. "Cadman to Garrett." There was no response. He repeated the hail, and still no response.
Endari activated a panel on the ops console. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Commander Garrett."
There was a moment's hesitation, and then the annoying buzz of an alarm that indicated an error. The computer's neutral voice replied woodenly, "Unable to locate transponder signal of Lieutenant Commander Kiran Garrett."
The puzzled expressions of the two officers now morphed into scowls of concern, and the EarthCorps officer pressed his commlink once more. "Cadman to security."
( 2 )
Commodore Gabriel tugged at the collar of his dress uniform as he left his quarters, cursing under his breath the quartermaster commander in military history whose job it had been to design the naval uniforms. He always felt as if he was wearing a strait jacket, and he was grateful for his weekly Kali'Fhan sessions with Lieutenant Sikandra. He had lost ten pounds in the last two months, so at least the waist didn't feel as constricting as the high collar.
Ambassador Zar's ship would be docking in ten minutes, and Marc was looking forward to seeing Taelon again. He had worried for her when she left Exxar-One nine months ago – broken, sorrowful, and in deep mourning for the loss of her son, the station's former chief of security. Jerren had been killed in the Haal'Chai attack, and Marc had attempted to initiate a dialogue with the ambassador via correspondence after she'd departed the station. He had waited a respectable time before sending his first communiqué, and he'd kept the letter short and succinct. He simply wanted to know how she was doing. There had been no reply. The commodore had debated sending a second letter, but thought better of it, choosing instead to send her a professional and polite greeting on her birthday, which had occurred three months ago. This, too, had gone unanswered, and Marc chose not to take offense.
He decided later that it was probably better that she hadn't replied, and he wasn't really sure himself why he'd wanted to strike up the correspondence in the first place. He and Taelon had gotten off on the wrong foot last year when Marc had arrived to take command of Exxar-One. The starbase and the alliance it stood for grated against Gabriel's long-nurtured bitterness and hatred for the Chrisarii and the war that had claimed his father's life twelve years before. Only in the aftermath of the devastating Haal'Chai attack had the commodore finally understood that there were more important things than vengeance and personal hatred. He also felt that the death of Taelon's son, as well as his own miraculous survival after being brutally tortured by Colonel Serehl, had forged a connection between him and the ambassador. That day in her quarters, after the memorial service for the offic
ers who had been killed in the battle, as Taelon packed away her son's belongings in preparation for her departure from Exxar-One, Gabriel had wanted to console her, wanted to give her some words of comfort. He had asked her to stay, to help him and Major Saveck in their ongoing efforts to stabilize the Chrisarii/Federation alliance, but the speech had come out stilted and rehearsed, and he wished now that he had been more honest with her. Sitting across from her that day in her quarters, her had seen his own loss and despair reflected in the emptiness of her eyes, the blank stare that had made her appear as if she was in a fugue state. He had tried to break her out of that state with his impassioned request for her to stay on Exxar-One, but she had resolved to leave, and nothing he had said could change her mind.
Taelon had told him that she was leaving the Diplomatic Corps, and Marc wondered now what had changed in the last nine months to make her reconsider. Perhaps it was her daughters that had urged her to finish what she and Ambassador Vorik had begun more than fifteen years ago. These talks between the Chrisarii and the Federation were, gods willing, going to pave the way for the possibility of bringing the Alliance into the Federation as its 57th member world. There were still many obstacles to overcome on both sides of the negotiating table, but if she and Ambassador Morryn could successfully complete this round of talks, it was very possible that Zar might be able to broker the agreement of full membership with the Alliance by this time next year. It would be a crowning achievement to her already illustrious career, and Marc liked to think that that was one of her reasons for returning to Exxar-One now.
When he arrived at the airlock he found Major Saveck and Commander Decev waiting for him, along with the honor guard.
"Morning, everybody." He glanced over the officers of the honor guard to make sure all was in order, and then turned to Saveck. "ETA?"
"Five minutes."
Gabriel sidled closer to Decev as he adjusted his collar once more. "How's the new dinner schedule with Josh working out?"
She shrugged. "He stares at his plate and eats like a starving prisoner, but otherwise, we're good."
Marc gave a rueful smile and clasped Mariah's shoulder. "How's school? Any more death poems?"
She shrugged. "I haven't heard from his teacher, but his report card will be posted next week so..." She held up her right hand with the first two fingers crossed.
Marc nodded. "Why don't I have you both over for dinner one of these nights? I'm sure he'll talk to me."
"I don't know. He thinks you and I have a weird relationship. I think he thinks you're trying to date me. I didn't feel like getting into all of that, so I just changed the subject. But I'd love to have dinner with you. How about tomorrow night?"
"Sure."
The chime above the airlock door rang twice, and the color of the panel switched from red to green. The three officers faced the door as the honor guard came to attention. The hatch cycled open and Ambassador Zar stepped through. Her gaze immediately focused on the commodore, and she smiled warmly as she closed the distance between them. He formed the traditional DrayH'M salutation with both hands in front of his chest while bowing slightly at the waist.
She returned his greeting, and then said, "Commodore, it's good to see you again."
"And you as well, ambassador."
"Taelon, please."
"Taelon. You remember Major Saveck and Commander Decev."
"Of course." Another round of hand greetings and bows commenced. "You remember my assistant Idran, and my valet, Fedryk." She motioned to the young woman and tall man behind her.
"Would you like to see your quarters?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you."
He walked with her into the PTL, and they rode in silence for a minute or two.
"I'm glad that you accepted this assignment," Gabriel said finally.
Taelon smiled again and nodded. "I almost didn't," she said quietly.
"What changed your mind?"
For a moment, there was a distance in her gaze, as if she was looking into someplace beyond the walls of the lift. Then she blinked, made another smile, and turned to Gabriel. "It seemed the logical thing to do, I suppose. I'm the only ambassador who has dealt with the Chrisarii, and I know them well."
"You knew Vorik well. What about Morryn?"
"Yes, you're right," she admitted. "I have read a great deal about Morryn, and I sent him a communiqué once I decided that I would be accepting this assignment. His reply was very polite and to the point, but it was still...less than what I was hoping for?"
"Were you hoping for a dialogue with him?"
"Not necessarily, but I wanted to get a feel for him personally – before we sat down at the conference table." She sighed and gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Ah well. There will be ample time to get to know him over these next several months, I suppose."
"You really think these negotiations will last that long?"
Taelon chuckled dryly. "You think they won't?"
He smiled and nodded. "You're right. I'm feeling...anxious, I guess, considering what happened last time you and Vorik were here."
The lift came to a stop and the door opened.
"Speaking of which," Gabriel continued as he followed Taelon out of the car, "I would like to sit down with you and Commander Navarr this afternoon or tomorrow morning to review the security protocols for your stay."
"Actually," she replied, glancing over her shoulder, "how about tonight? I'll have my chef make some fire pasta. How does nineteen hundred sound?"
"Uh, sure."
Taelon paused, turning to him. "You seem a little surprised, Marc. Is a private dinner with me going to really be that uncomfortable for you? I meant that both you and Navarr were invited."
"No, it's not that. It's just...well, you seem better now than when you left here nine months ago. And since I never received any responses to the two letters I sent, I assumed you were still in mourning for Jerren; and that coming back here now would be upsetting for you."
She nodded, falling in step beside him. "You're right. Being back here is very...difficult. But part of the reason I accepted this assignment was to give myself closure." She gave him a reassuring smile. "I am better. And I've already informed the Diplomatic Corps that this will be my last assignment. I'm retiring as soon as this is over."
"And then what?"
She laughed. "More time with my daughters and grandchildren, I suppose. I've been asked to write about my career. My daughters think I should pen a memoir."
Gabriel's response was cut off by the chirping of his commlink. "Excuse me," he said to Taelon, and then pressed the link. "This is Gabriel."
"Navarr, sir. I need to see you and Major Saveck in my office immediately. We have a situation."
"Understood. I'll be there in ten. Gabriel out." He turned to the ambassador. "I'm sorry."
"It's all right. Is this it?" She pointed to the door they had paused in front of.
"Yes. I'll see you tonight at nineteen hundred, with Navarr."
She smiled, watching him turn the corner as he headed back to the PTL, and then she went inside.
( 3 )
The commodore arrived at the security office just ahead of Major Saveck. They found the security chief in mid-conversation with Lieutenant Endari and Lieutenant Scarvo.
"Report," Gabriel commanded.
"Lieutenant Commander Garrett is missing," Navarr replied. "Lieutenant Endari said the last time anyone saw him was last night, probably around eighteen hundred."
"It was Ensign Markano's birthday," Shyler continued. "He was having a party at Grax's, and most of alpha shift was there. Petty Officer Tyson said Garrett stopped by fairly early, probably around eighteen hundred, maybe eighteen-thirty at the latest."
"And he didn't show up for work this morning?" Saveck asked.
"That's right. The other senior officers and I went ahead with the meeting, thinking that he was just running late. We tried his commlink an hour ago and got no response, and
that's when we called Lieutenant Navarr."
"I did a trace on his transponder signal and localized it to the promenade, deck sixty-one, section forty." Chris held up a vial containing the very tiny, hard-to-see microchip. "Its privacy mode was activated, which is why it took awhile for us to find it."
"Can you determine when it was removed?" asked Gabriel.
"No, not when the privacy mode is activated. We do know it was sometime after twenty-hundred because we found it right outside an herbal shop. The owner said Garrett had been there last night, for about half an hour, alone. Apparently he goes there once a week, even has his favorite brand marked so that it's ready for him to smoke ahead of time."
"And he always smokes alone?"
Navarr nodded. "Which means, if he was kidnapped, he was probably assaulted right after he left. That part of the promenade doesn't have a lot of shops in it, and it's a somewhat secluded area."
"No vidcams?"
"There's only one in that section, and it doesn't have a direct view of the storefronts. I have a couple guys in the back looking over the footage now, but so far nothing."
Saveck frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're sure he's not on the station?"
Navarr nodded. "Remember those upgrades to the internal sensors that Ilkara and Garrett worked on a few months ago? One of the new enhancements is a polymetric filter that can differentiate between alien species. Since Kiran is the only half-human, half-Mykahrian officer here, it was only a couple minutes before the results came back negative. He's not on board Exxar-One."
"Could his biosigns be cloaked from internal sensors?" Gabriel suggested.
"Standard internal sensors, yes probably, but not these new upgraded ones. In fact, our scan uncovered two people using a scattering field to mask their bio-signatures in sector 17. Ended up arresting a couple smugglers."
"This wasn't something that was done spur-of-the-moment," Scarvo said. "Getting someone off this station without using the docking ports or the cardon fields is next to impossible, especially if the victim is a military officer."