As the two ships docked, Tamerlane turned back to Nakamura, leaned in close, and whispered his final thoughts on the subject: “I’m not sure which is more troubling, General. The fact that the Emperor and all the rest of us are out here, in the middle of nowhere—or the fact that no one has explained why, even to you.”
Nakamura led the way through the airlock tunnel and into a broad, high-ceilinged reception area so vast that it seemed out of place on anything other than an Imperial carrier. Behind him came his top military staff of senior officers from Legion I, led by his new adjutant, Colonel Tamerlane, and Major Konstans Belisarius. A large congregation made up of special ops forces and support staff followed behind them. All wore the dark red dress uniforms of Nakamura’s First Legion.
Tamerlane motioned for the others to stay back, behind him, as Nakamura separated from them and moved quickly across the space separating them from the Emperor’s party. He moved quickly to the front of the formation that already half-surrounded the Emperor, and snapped a precise salute.
“Well, well. Hideo,” the Emperor said, gazing at the general with an expression that was impossible to read. “So—you came, anyway.”
“I came because I serve you, sire, and my primary duty is to protect you, along with your Empire.”
Janus IV Rahkmanov, Emperor of Anatolia, largest of the four empires of mankind, turned to face Nakamura fully and returned the salute. Only in his late thirties, the Emperor kept in good physical condition, as his visible muscles demonstrated. His hair was dark, wavy, and a bit long, his nose angular and narrow, and his eyes a deep brown. He wore a military uniform quite similar to Nakamura’s, though of a dark shade of purple with gold trim—the Rahkmanov colors—rather than red. A variety of dubiously-won medals were displayed across his chest. Behind him, almost ludicrously attempting to blend into the crowd, stood the six members of the Emperor’s Guard—six giants in gleaming armor fashioned from synthetically-grown crystal and mineral. The bulk of their bodies occupied as much space as two or three normal men and their faces were entirely obscured by multifaceted helmets of the same substance as their armor.
“I know that to be true, Hideo—and your fine career of unsurpassed service to me and to my family is why I permit you these indiscretions.”
“Indiscretions, sire?” Nakamura asked, feigning surprise. “You mean you did not wish for me to be here? In a sector of the Empire still recovering from the recent hostilities? I had assumed the message calling me to your side was disrupted in transmission.”
The Emperor smiled flatly and laughed once. “You never cease to entertain me, Hideo,” he said. “Truth be told, I’m pleased you’re here.”
“I’m very glad to hear that, sire.”
The Emperor nodded toward the person who stood to his right. “I believe you are already acquainted with Ecclesiarch Zoric?”
Nakamura blinked, then recovered quickly and greeted the older man. He’d scarcely recognized him. In their previous encounters, the Ecclesiarch had always been adorned in the sumptuous golden robes of the Church; now he wore merely a priest’s simple working outfit of slacks and tunic, both in off-white. The elaborate formal headgear he normally wore had been traded for a matching, lightly filigreed cap.
“General,” the man murmured, bowing his head ever so slightly. Nakamura did likewise.
As the general turned his attention from the Ecclesiarch back to the Emperor, Janus IV smiled and made a show of looking past him to the crowd of immaculately-dressed officers in red who surrounded Tamerlane. “I see your entire retinue is with you. Including my erstwhile security chief.” He turned back to glance at the civilian technicians who stood at a sort of respectful half-attention across the room. “I trust all will go well, and we won’t be needing our entire First Legion today—including the ones who have failed me before,” he added. “But I appreciate your bringing them along, just in case.”
Tamerlane bristled at the remark, as utterly unfair as it was, but managed to keep any reaction off his face. Nakamura, who knew the truth of it, did the same.
“We were already together, sire, returning from a mission against the Riyahadi,” he replied, having to force a somewhat convincing smile onto his face as he remembered the circumstances of his team’s withdrawal.
“Yes, well,” Janus said, “let’s hope your present force amounts to substantial overkill.”
The Emperor turned and began to walk through the crowd, which hastily parted for him as he advanced. The Ecclesiarch moved easily alongside him. The shorter Nakamura hastened to keep up with them. Tamerlane looked on, uncertain of what to do.
“To be honest, sire,” Nakamura was saying as they passed out of the reception area and into a short, broad tunnel leading to another chamber, “I was uncertain of exactly what level of force might be needed here. I haven’t been made aware of the precise purpose of this mission.”
Frowning deeply, Tamerlane made his decision—he started after the Emperor’s party, motioning for the others to follow him.
“So, what am I doing out here, then, you mean to ask me?” The Emperor looked back at Nakamura with a half-smile.
“It is your realm, sire,” the general quickly answered. “You will move about it as you please.” He paused as they emerged into an even larger chamber of the station. Then, “I merely wish to have as much information as possible so as to provide the most secure environment for you and your—”
“Patience, General,” the Emperor interrupted, waving a hand at him. “I’ve purposefully kept all information about this mission a top-level secret from the beginning.”
Nakamura nodded. Listening in from behind them, meanwhile, Tamerlane found it extremely curious that the head of First Legion and the ranking officer in the entire military somehow hadn’t qualified for a “top-level secret.”
Nakamura gazed expectantly at the Emperor, waiting. Finally, he blurted, “But you’re going to tell me now, yes, sire?”
The Emperor laughed.
“Hideo, you worry like an old woman. Are we not secure here? Particularly with your entire team now present.” He gestured toward a broad viewport that curved across the surface of the far wall, covering some fifty yards in width and twenty in height. “How many in the galaxy are even aware of the significance of this region of space—and of that number, how many would guess that I am present here, now?”
Nakamura swallowed uneasily and nodded.
“Very true, sire. Even so—”
“Even so, you wish to know everything. Isn’t that true, Hideo?”
“Always. The more I know, the safer you will be, majesty.”
The Emperor gazed back at him, unflinchingly, for several seconds. Then he smiled again and nodded.
“You’re right, my friend,” he said to the general, softening. “And I know that everything you do, you do with the safety and welfare of the empire—and of myself—firmly in mind. I should not tease you so, nor keep you in the dark.”
This time, Nakamura merely returned his gaze evenly, waiting.
After several seconds of this, with neither man speaking or even moving, the Emperor finally laughed and reached out to clap his general on the shoulder.
“Now that is the legendary Nakamura patience I was expecting,” he said. “Very well—you have worn your Emperor down, my friend. I will tell you.”
As the Ecclesiarch looked on, beaming like a proud parent, Janus IV leaned in close, whispering in the general’s ear. While he spoke, he gestured toward a particular bank of equipment that covered a large portion of the chamber they currently occupied. A swarm of technicians moved across it, checking this and adjusting that. At that moment, they finished snapping together a number of components and raised the entire affair up on its side. It was a tall, rectangular frame of black metal covered in wires and cables and glowing crystals. It looked for all the world like the frame of some massive doorway. An open doorway.
Tamerlane recognized it at once. He nearly screamed. It was a very n
ear duplicate of the machine he and Singh had been ordered to assemble on NM-156—the machine that enhanced and opened the dimensional portal in the cave. The machine that, Tamerlane was convinced, had exploded and killed his entire team.
He started forward, but Belisarius shot out a hand and grasped him by the upper arm, restraining him. Tamerlane stared down at the hand and then up at Belisarius, his eyes filled with anger.
“My apologies but, whatever you were about to do, Colonel,” the major whispered, “you probably ought to think about it a little more first.”
Tamerlane gritted his teeth and by sheer willpower forced himself to calm down, to not wrench himself free of the man’s grasp, to not be angry with Belisarius. How ironic, he thought as he nodded once to the major, that his nickname is “the Belligerent” and yet he’s settling me down.
Belisarius released him. “Again, my apologies, Colonel,” he said quietly.
“No—you did the right thing,” Tamerlane whispered back. He turned to listen in on the general’s conversation with the Emperor again.
Nakamura’s eyes were wide. When the Emperor reached the final portion of his statement, the general clearly balked, stepping back a step. He looked up at his ruler with unabashed shock and slowly shook his head. Before he could speak, however, a dark-haired woman in an immaculate dark green suit entered the chamber and approached the Emperor respectfully, bowing as she neared. Tamerlane didn’t recognize her at all.
“Majesty,” the woman said, still looking down at the metal flooring, “I am Leona Dharva, chief administrator of this project. It is time for you to take your place within the observation chamber.” She gestured timidly toward a broad, gleaming window set into the far wall that appeared to be at least six inches thick. “If you would?”
“I would not,” the Emperor replied testily. “I have made my intentions in coming here perfectly clear, and they do not include mere observation.”
The administrator blinked, her mouth opening and closing. She looked wide-eyed from the Emperor to the other scientists. No one stepped up to support her.
“Majesty,” she said, “as administrator, I am responsible for your safety while you are present—and therefore must insist that, for that very safety’s sake, you accompany me inside the viewing chamber. I assure you, not only will you be able to witness everything that happens from very close by, but you will have access to all of our electronic data—you will see everything pertinent to the experiment as it happens.”
The Emperor glared at the woman. As the others looked on, many of them would have sworn the administrator actually appeared to be melting away into thin air.
“You presume to tell me what I can and cannot do, administrator?”
The woman was taken utterly aback and said nothing for a long second. Then she opened her mouth to respond, but instead seemed to be choking on something.
Tamerlane watched the events transpiring with no real degree of surprise. He had known of this Emperor’s reputation and personality his entire life, seeing as how they were both of similar ages. He also wasn’t surprised to see Nakamura step forward, a respectful smile bolted onto his face as he approached the Emperor.
“Sire, the scientists here seem to believe it would not be safe for you to be here in the chamber when the device is activated—let alone to actually travel through it.”
The Emperor’s eyes flashed as he turned to Nakamura, but then his expression softened somewhat.
“I understand that, Hideo,” he replied, sighing heavily. “But the Ecclesiarch believes I will receive a tremendous blessing from such a pilgrimage. And if I should be so fortunate—so blessed—as to actually find it…”
Find it? That perked Tamerlane’s ears up even more. Find what? Surely he couldn’t mean…
“Indeed,” the older man stated, smiling beatifically at Nakamura. “And through him, the entire Empire will be blessed and will prosper.”
Janus IV was nodding at this. “And, in the end, Hideo, it’s up to me—my choice, my decision. I am the Emperor, after all.”
Tamerlane knew that Nakamura recognized the expression that was settling onto his ruler’s face. He’d surely seen it many times before. He knew then that no further argument would be brooked. Even so, Nakamura couldn’t simply stand aside without a word and allow the ruler of a quarter of all mankind to so flagrantly risk his life. “Perhaps, Majesty,” the general ventured, ever so carefully, “we should step into the administrator’s offices and discuss it further.” He cast a quick glance at the Ecclesiarch. “The scientific aspects of it, I mean. With all of the experts present—”
The Emperor’s expression soured instantly. “I grow tired of my subordinates instructing me constantly in what I can and cannot do,” he growled—and everyone in the big room instantly noted the chill that descended. “I am the Emperor. I do as I please. The rest of you make accommodations for that.”
“Of course, sire,” Nakamura responded quickly. “But—”
“Always a but! As if all of you know better!” The Emperor glared at him, all traces of good humor having evaporated. “Well—this time I know better. I know!” He swept his arm wide to indicate virtually everyone in the room. “All of you know nothing! Only I know!”
Tamerlane was growing concerned not just for the Emperor’s safety but for his mental stability in general. And for Nakamura’s continued health—and survival.
Janus raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Instantly the Emperor’s Guard in their gleaming crystalline armor of red and green and sapphire and turquoise and garnet stepped forward, surrounding their master protectively. Their heavy quad rifles were already unslung from their backs; long, rugged, black and silver affairs, far too heavy to be carried by an average soldier not wearing high-tech armor, they featured twin energy-weapon and particle-beam barrels up top and matching high-speed, high-capacity projectile-throwers at the bottom. While the Guardsmen weren’t precisely aiming them at anyone at the moment, there was an undeniable sense of extreme menace in the air.
“The next words out of your mouth, Hideo, had better be, ‘As you wish, Majesty,’” the Emperor growled, “or I will find a new general for your division.”
Nakamura reddened, but he did not blink. His dark eyes remained focused intently on those of the Emperor even as every other pair of eyes in the chamber stared intently at him, and when he finally spoke it was in a strong, clear voice: “As you wish, Majesty.”
A second passed, and then another, moving at glacial speed. Then the Emperor’s scowl dissolved and his usual half-smile returned. He reached out, between two of his imposing Guards, and grasped Nakamura by the shoulder.
“Old friend, you worry too much. All will be fine.”
And with that, the icy tension vanished and the Emperor whirled about, striding toward the equipment and the technicians and that strange, rectangular framework. The administrator, meanwhile, appeared to grow only more troubled and afraid. She shuffled quickly away.
Tamerlane rushed forward and caught up with Nakamura. He leaned in and whispered, “What was that all about? What does he want to do?”
Nakamura shook his head wearily and pointed at the black rectangle. His reply was almost too soft for his colonel to hear. “That thing’s supposed to be some kind of doorway to another dimension. To the Above, if you can believe it.”
Tamerlane looked from the general to the big rectangle.
“Alright. And?”
“And he wants to travel through it when they open it. In fact, he wants to lead the way,” Nakamura hissed.
“He what?”
Tamerlane’s startled exclamation was much louder than he would ever have intended. All eyes once again turned their way. Nakamura wanted to sink down through the metal floor, and ice ran through his veins as he waited for the Emperor to react—to turn back and order the colonel’s execution, most likely, given his current mercurial mood.
To the immense relief of both men, either the Emperor hadn’t heard
Tamerlane’s reaction or simply chose to ignore him. Either way, Janus continued across the room to where the team of scientists and techs were gathered, hard at work on the massive banks of electronics that filled this entire side of the chamber.
“He says,” Nakamura went on, speaking very quietly, “his agents have discovered that the terrorists who stole the Sword of Baranak—”
Tamerlane gawked at this.
“—carried or tossed it through a dimensional doorway, in this local region of space.”
Tamerlane reddened but managed not to exclaim anything. Barely.
“And he plans to go and get it back.”
Tamerlane forced himself to swallow. He looked off to the side for a couple of seconds, at nothing in particular, as he struggled to regulate his pounding heartbeat. Then he leaned in closer to the general.
“That…is…insane. There’s scarcely a word of truth to any of it.”
Nakamura shrugged. “It’s the word of the Emperor.”
“I—I simply don’t know what to say,” Tamerlane stammered. “I—”
The Emperor was on the move again, and Nakamura had to rush off to keep up with him. Tamerlane waited a few seconds before following along, keeping a respectful distance. Inside, his mind was in turmoil.
Nakamura caught up to the Emperor again as he was looking the enigmatic machinery over and managed to catch his attention.
“Majesty—if I may ask one more thing?
The Emperor favored Nakamura with a warm smile. “Another question, Hideo?”
“Just one, sire, before you embark on your glorious expedition.”
The Emperor visibly warmed to this. “By all means, then—proceed.”
“If I may ask, sire,” he all but stammered, “How—or where—did you get the idea—the inspiration, I mean—to go on the mission yourself? And to be the first through this portal? And that you might find the Sword on the other side?”
Janus IV gazed back at him, surprised, as if this was not the question he had anticipated. A warm smile finally rekindled on his face.
The Shattering: Omnibus Page 8