by Kahaula
“When I went to one of the personal temple’s of the Battle Queen, there were cultural tours already giving out the information that R’Tok had worked so hard to acquire,” I tried to be kind but I could see R’Tok’s face turn to stone, “the tour guide was more than happy to charge me for my late addition as well as imply they had only started them because there had been such interest in the last few days.”
“She had you buy her own data then charged you to be on the educational tour for it,” General K’Tos laughed so hard he rocked back in his chair, “Battle Queen, indeed.” High Council Leader R’Til looked far less amused.
“I’m still only hearing supposition and conjecture,” R’Til was losing his patience with this report. I could easily agree with him and keep Welo’s secret safe. While the High Council members batted around theories and talked amongst themselves, I waged a war within. Never in my long life had I ever felt so torn. What Welo had told me and my own up close and personal experience with her had proved all our suspicions correct.
I should be happy to report in a successful mission. Glad to leave a backwater system and get back to homeworld or wherever the next mission took me and my men. But all I felt was sick. Just the thought of putting Welo in danger, exposing her to these powerful men, slashed at my insides.
I looked up and caught General K’Tos watching me. He was waiting for me to make a decision. I looked away from his penetrating stare. My expression may be blank but my eyes must have shown something of what was going on in my mind. I looked up again and saw him raise his eyebrow slowly and carefully. He had known me all my life, we were friends, brothers even. I set my jaw and drowned all the turmoil eating away at me. He wouldn’t force me to say what I knew I had to say, but he wouldn’t keep silent forever.
“She told me herself,” the stunned faces of the High Council turned back towards me. I cleared my throat and swallowed the blades cutting me up for what I was sharing, “She admitted to me that her former master made her alterations. He thought of himself as a scientist.” I spat that last word. I could get away with showing my self hatred in this moment if it was perceived to be a repugnance to the use of the ancient technology.
“Perhaps, he ran his own lab down on that planet,” I couldn’t see which High Council member had spoken but I couldn’t stop myself from snorting in derision.
“That planet before the Battle Queen took over was a wheezing cesspool of death,” I tapped on my own console. Pictures and silent videos played across the screen. More than one High Council member paled at what they saw. “The former leader here never left. He was infamous for being hard to kill because of it. His slaves, even his own guards, rarely survived his depravity.”
I pulled up more pictures and silent videos. Maybe it was to punish myself. Did they really need to see the rape games where the females and males, or children, were turned into nothing more than a pile of bloody pulp by the ‘players’? Or video from the parties where the losing fighter was strapped to a table for the wealthiest to cut them to pieces while they screamed and screamed?
“Enough, L’Ryx,” General K’Tos’s command pulled me back to the present. I hadn’t even realised I had turned on the audio to the last video. The entire bridge staff stared at the screen as a human woman was gang raped by a group of laughing wealthy males. They laughed that it wasn’t fun if she didn’t scream so they would make her. There was no doubt they were from wealthy central world families. The precious metals and jewels on their horns and tusks could still be seen even through the spray of blood as they flayed the human woman’s body with an electro-whip. R’Tok reached over to my console and cut off the woman’s animalistic screams as she begged them to just kill her.
“The former leader didn’t bother to maintain his stable of slaves,” I could hear the cold numbness I was starting to feel in my bones, “but he took an exception to her.” One final picture showed up. The only picture we were able to find, pre-revolt. Welo’s face was a mask of fury and challenge. She was completely naked save for the blood that covered almost every inch of her body.
She held up the severed head of her opponent and had one foot on his body at her feet. She was a goddess of death and victory. This moment frozen in time showed her defiance and resilience. I looked at it now with a new level of appreciation. My heart twisted realising that I may never have known her if she had been killed in those hellish matches.
“You said there were advanced med-suites there now,” General K’Tos redirected my spiralling thoughts again, “maybe her former master had his own gene splicing lab. You said he never left the planet so it would make sense that he brought his own equipment to him.”
“True,” conceded R’Til, “We ensure the directive is followed only when we are sure, I’m not authorising an execution based on circumstantial evidence. Especially when she’s already so visible.” They were all being so fucking reasonable and it only made me angrier. I knew K’Tos, for whatever reason, was trying to give me an out without exposing me to suspicion. I could just let it slide and be done with this whole thing. My silence could save Welo.
“Besides, one match in the Blood Sands couldn’t have told you that much,” General K’Tos’s offhand comment made the other two generals look between us. They didn’t show their suspicion but stayed silent in solidarity. Our loyalties between ourselves had been cemented in battle, if K’Tos was buying me time they were just going to let it play out. I loved my friend but this would only blow up in my face if I didn’t face it. A selfish part of me wanted to punished. Punished for my wavering loyalty to my people. Punished for my betrayal of Welo. No matter which way I looked at it I deserved every shitty thing I was feeling.
“I spent more time with her than just one match—“
“Yes, you mentioned you met with her under the pretences of the breeding contract,” added R’Til.
“Office meetings, hardly count—,” interrupted General K’Tos.
“Because I fucked her!” My shout stopped everything. I was fuming at myself, the interruptions, this meeting, everything. “What she told me was given in confidence. She’s...” I could feel myself deflate. I didn’t have any fire left for anger, just the cold slimy feeling of disgust and self hatred. “She’s perfection,” I said quietly. I was defeated, there was nothing left to do but surrender all that I knew, “She has no ill affects from all of the very obvious genetic manipulations that she’s had done to her. To my knowledge, there isn’t a single high end gene splicer, legitimate or otherwise, that can boast a 50-50 chance of unforeseen side effects. Welo has none.” The High Council members looked at each other, a few nodding in resolve. I had handed them her life.
“Do you believe you can use your advantage to learn where the ancient technology might be?” I was so lost in my own guilt that R’Til’s question hadn’t even occurred to me. I studiously avoided the eyes of my fellow generals. I had rebuffed their attempts to give me more time; they wouldn’t help me again.
“No,” I shook my head, “The Battle Queen prizes honesty, I traded one truth to get one of hers. Fucking her made no difference to that.”
“What truth did you give her?” General K’Tos’s eyes were full of curiosity.
“I told her that she was my mission,” my own gaze was hard, “I didn’t tell her why but dealing with her honestly got me what I needed. It won’t work again. She gave me one night and I made the most of it.” I didn’t care how it sounded or what insinuations they would make from my statement. I was done with this discussion. I stared down every single High Council member. I wouldn’t let them see how dead I felt inside, but I would let them see I knew what I was talking about. “Her people are loyal. My every move was monitored. She is a master of strategy and manipulation. It wasn’t skill that got me that information, it was dumb luck. I won’t get lucky twice. Whatever ancient technology was used to create her, if it even still exists, will no doubt die with her.”
“Then you know your orders,” High Council Leader R’T
il looked to all those present, “we follow the directive set from The Shift. Kill her.”
“Yes, sir.”
Welo
I was alone. No one else stood in the new chamber. My arms crossed tightly across my chest. I stood in the large space and let myself feel the crushing weight of what I was undertaking.
A set of eight wide wrap around stairs led up to the raised dais sixteen feet up like a bloody waterfall. No matter how tall your species was, you would alway be able to see whoever was sitting there. On the dais was a long and wide bench made from the same red veined stone as the Blood Palace. The cushions as well were in every shade of blood, from human red to black, green, yellow, even a couple bone white. No one would make the mistake of thinking the colours were random.
If that wasn’t enough, weapons and skulls adorned the wall flanking the throne. I stared back at the gaping maws and eyeless sockets. These weren’t props. These were people. People I was displaying like trophies. I had earned each and every one of those deaths. Each spear, net, dagger, sword, and gun displayed had taken a life either on the Blood Sands or in dark places to ensure our freedom.
People viewing them would no doubt see them as a warning and as a reminder. The Battle Queen is ruthless and without mercy. They wouldn’t be wrong. But they wouldn’t be entirely right either. The wall of death was also my reminder of how far I had come, and how my tenuous life hung by a spider’s thread.
This room had only one access point for guests, a lift that they would have to enter from the first floor. As spacious as it was they would feel crammed in and caged anytime they would have to meet with me. I set the tone well before they could even utter their first breath in my presence.
I didn’t want to be subtle.
Fuck with me or my people and I’ll kill you, I don’t care how powerful you think you are.
I felt someone come up behind me and knew it was Mel by the sound of her boots on the slick stone floor. The glossy surface was inlaid with gold and silver lines. Star charts of the known galaxy, just like the cuff I had given L’Ryx.
Guilt tried to gnaw at me but I shoved it down. My loyalties would always fall first to the people trusting me to keep us all safe.
“I like it,” chuckled Mel, “It’s very Conan the Barbarian meets Tenchi Muyo.” I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.
“Really?” I wiped a tear from my eye, “When were you going to tell me you were a big anime fan?”
“Shut up bitch, I’m sure you loved you some manga too,” she guffawed and slapped me on the back. “Plus it’s a pretty accurate statement.” I looked around the new throne room again with its high ceiling full of sharp black and red angles that shimmered with hidden back light.
“Fair enough,” I shrugged.
“The girls also love how you included the facility’s organic metal in the floor inlay,” she smiled and crouched to touch a few of the silver lines.
“As much as I trust in Merooth’s ability to wine and dine the ambassadors, we have to be practical about our long term planning,” I sighed, “they could try and duck him or anyone we send to spy on them, but they can’t avoid a formal reception or event here in the Blood Palace’s throne room.” I looked right and left to the archways on either side of the massive room. Just like The Pit, this whole floor was ovoid with room after open room, leading right back here. Behind my throne may have looked like a solid wall but behind it was a circular command centre at the core.
Weapons, escape routes, guards, and medical staff would have easy access from inside the palace to that room. It was a possible security risk but still a better option than going with something more open. All other staff would use a secondary lift from within the palace on the direct opposite side of the main entrance lift.
Some would see this as making sure that servants weren’t seen or heard, which would appeal to the wealthy snobs that I knew would come sniffing around. It was the perfect cover for my people to mingle in and out during parties, gathering information or completing whatever clandestine missions they may have.
Why people underestimated the power of servants and slaves baffled me in its hubris but I wasn’t one to let an opportunity go by to exploit such a weakness. I had even contemplated having any serving staff be masked like in The Pit but Mel felt it would only backfire. I tended to agree with her. She and Hs’tar had apparently already been training up their ‘Faces’. Our eyes and ears that we wanted or let people see.
I could feel a headache beginning behind my eyes. Intrigue sounded great in a book but the reality was far from glamorous. I couldn’t fathom how Mel was dealing with all the stress from her offworld projects. Our days of running a tight crew were coming to an end. We were already putting in plans for new separate buildings from the Blood Palace. Secure compounds for Mel and Hs’tar with a proper chain of command.
“You’re going to do right by us, Welo,” Mel looked at me with complete confidence, “And if you don’t, I’ll kill you myself.” She smiled sweetly and winked.
“I’m counting on it Mel,” I said solemnly. I never wanted to be a leader, but I refused to be a tyrant. She nodded and walked to the steps leading up to the stone throne.
“He did it you know,” her back was to me and her words muffled.
“Who did what?”
“L’Ryx.”
“We knew he would,” I swallowed the small pang of hurt that tried to surface.
“He’s been ordered to kill you,” Mel turned to face me.
“Well that escalated quickly,” I laughed but it was strained.
“I will kill him Welo,” her face and her words lacked all emotion.
“Mel...,” I trailed off and grasped her shoulders shaking her a bit, “His order changes nothing. It’s not personal. And let’s be real, he’s not the only one who’s tried or will try to kill me.”
“He’s the only one that might have a shot though,” her forehead crinkled up in concern, “And you’ll let him. You’ll let him get too damn close because he makes you feel something.” I pushed away from her and turned my back. Mel’s words cut me down to the bone. She had never been one to mince words, especially when she knew she was right.
“He does,” I stared out the large sealed windows that flanked the entire throne room, staring out at the beauty of the city we had built. Mel’s hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed.
“We succeed in getting everything in place before the ambassadors arrive and maybe he won’t have to,” she said softly. Turning around, I gave her an indulgent smile. I didn’t believe her.
“We each have our own responsibilities,” I shrugged nonchalantly like I wasn’t losing my shit internally, “that’s why we have multiple contingencies in place. We can’t build anything real or lasting if it’s done on a cult of personality. I’m not Spartacus or anyone’s Messiah.”
“I dunno, you do have a really cool bloody gladiator vibe going on,” Mel smiled.
“I’m replaceable, Mel,” I knew she hated having this conversation but I wouldn’t let her wiggle out of it, “Every good leader makes sure they have a good system that’s not dependent on their survival. If not, then I’m no better than a cult leader. No better than our old master.”
“You are nothing like him,” she snarled, “And it’s mine and Hs’tar’s job to make sure you survive to be the leader we all chose. So suck it up, buttercup. We’re going to do whatever we feel is necessary to ensure your survival.” What more was there to say? I had come to terms with death years ago. I had even made my peace, with Hs’tar’s help, with all the terrible shit I had done to survive. Now I had to live because my people were counting on me. This life we were building was our salvation, our haven. Our home.
The windows on either side of the guest lift frosted white. On the left showed the faces of the Rentok High Council and their High Command generals, on the right I could see L’Ryx and his second in command R’Tok on the bridge of their warship Void’s Blade.
“Pause,” I turned,
and in my first official but unobserved act, walked up the throne steps and sat facing the two windows turned viewing screens. “Play.” I listened to the conversation all the way through. Then I played it again a second and third time watching for every and any expressions or gestures that might tell me something that wasn’t being said.
“He was stalling,” observed Mel. The second time through she had grabbed one of my pillows and was sitting a couple steps below the throne leaning back on her elbows.
“And the generals, specifically General K’Tos, was covering for him,” I finished.
“Something General K’Tos said is bugging me but I can’t put my finger on it...,” I could almost feel Mel’s mind expanding and contracting as her brain worked through scenarios.
“What else did we get?”
“Keys to the Kingdom,” Mel’s smile was the most vicious I had seen it since the day of the revolt. “This transmission got us so far up Rentok High Command’s ass that we’ll be pulling out secrets for the next century.”
“That disgusting visual aside,” I rolled my eyes, “did it get us into the central world networks?”
“Oh, yes,” she rubbed her hands together evilly and laughed darkly. “Commercial, personal, even a few basic governmental networks. All we have to do is wait for the other ambassadors to arrive and we’ll get in through them just as we did L’Ryx.”
Prior to being abducted, my gut reaction would have been to make a joke about Mel being an evil villain for rubbing her hands together while laughing like that. Now? She’s fucking terrifying in her own right. Her reaction wasn’t feigned. I shuddered and thanked the Gods that Mel was on my side. She was my Spy Master, and she was pleased with her good works.