I was hoping for a few days of peace with Jamey in the garden, but it was not to be. Lord Danak burst into the royal bedroom before daybreak. I knew he would never violate protocol and privacy like this unless something was terribly wrong.
“CenGov has declared war against us,” he said.
I guess that fits the definition of terribly wrong.
“Furthermore, they’ve already moved from their base of operations at the science station to capture Dalgherdia City. They’re holding our citizens hostage.”
Yeah, that’s wrong. Before I could even say anything, Jamey leaped into the air, spread his wings and landed as Cillian. It was a remarkable sight, as though gravity had compacted the mothman into the form of the admiral.
“The Terran President is flirting with me,” said Cillian. “It’s more than clear he wants my fist up his ass.”
“One other thing – they’ve captured Tasea.”
Now that’s – a problem. Dalgherdia is within our system – which means that Ash can pretty much handle it. Anyone who causes trouble in the Domha’vei is asking to be smashed. But Ash can’t leave the Domha’vei. He’s bound to the Atlas tree. His natural range is as far out as Eirelantra – about half the radius of the system – but he can augment it with the power grid to get almost to the rim. There’s only one other Cu’enashti that can go farther than Sideria – that’s Ashpremma. My Ash taught him how.
Except…all of this is wrong now. The K’ntasari can go wherever they want. And with Goliath on Eden, that must boost Ash’s range…if he’s emanating out of Goliath. But not nearly as far as he’d need to get to the Tasean system.
Cillian was completely nonplussed. “Our forces were that fucking incompetent?”
“The Taseans helped them. They welcomed CenGov as liberators. Force of numbers was against us.”
Cillian began to laugh. “They’re gonna regret it. Big time.”
“It’s not funny,” I said. “They will regret it. After we took their system, we fixed the infrastructure and were trying to bring them into full citizenship. CenGov will treat them as a subsidiary state. It won’t be pretty.”
“Yeah. So why don’t we leave that one on the back burner and let them stew a little? In a year, they’ll be begging us back.”
He’s probably right about that.
“What we wanna do is trick the Terrans into attacking us here, on our home turf. There’s no way our fleet can match their fleet. If we leave the Domha’vei, we’ve lost.”
“I’m sure they know we know that. The state of war could persist for years with no real battles. That’s why they took Tasea. They hope to provoke us into defending it – or, failing that, use it as a staging platform. I’ll bet the whole planet is under martial law.”
“We can find out,” said Cillian. “Cara’s there.”
Cara the Arrow is an agent of Skarsian Secret Ops. As a child, she had suffered from a degenerative heart syndrome that refused to be remedied by numerous painful therapies and regrowths. And then one day, Ailann noticed her in a crowd and performed a casual miracle. He barely thought about it. But Cara thought about it. She didn’t think about anything else. In her eyes, she’d been given a whole new life, one she owed to her god, the Archon. In other words, she’s a trained and deadly religious fanatic, the best agent we could ask for.
“I think our first priority has to be Dalgherdia City. Have they made any demands?” I asked Lord Danak.
“Unconditional surrender.”
“Arrogant pricks,” said Cillian. “They’re banking a lot on us protecting our citizens. If we don’t, we look bad, but they look worse for slaughtering a civilian population. In fact, the IndWorld governors must be having a painfully large bovine right now. If CenGov is bold enough to attack us, who’s next?”
“They already have a PR angle,” Lord Danak sighed. “They’re protecting humanity from our new bioweapon.”
“Our what? Who authorized a bioweapon? Did I miss something important while I was gone?”
“Davy did,” I said. “They’re talking about the K’ntasari.”
“The K’ntasari are Nau’gsh. They are not a weapon.”
“CenGov probably doesn’t see it that way. All they know is that a new race of being appeared around three years ago. These beings are physically remarkable – tall, strong, built for dexterity with their sixth fingers, for extreme conditions with their second eyelids, are practically unkillable and discharge dangerous energy emissions from their hands. What would you think if you were a Terran commander?”
“Some kind of genework – and the Domha’vei is known for the use of organic technology.”
“Exactly. Now do you want to contact CenGov and explain that Davy created a new species of sentient beings because he felt like it?”
Cillian closed his eyes and sighed. “No. And I especially don’t want to tell them the fucking truth: Davy felt like creating a bioweapon because I and I needed soldiers of unquestioning loyalty that were capable of travel outside the Domha’vei. Basically because your destiny is to rule the galaxy.”
“I was afraid of something like that.”
“Right. Well, the next step is to retake Dalgherdia. Get me General Lemkht and Admiral Veeta. Let’s just go and pound the living compost out of those Terran scientists.”
Then he hadn’t realized the implications. This was going to be delicate. “Cillian,” I said slowly. “You do realize that you won’t be going to Dalgherdia?”
“Of course I’m fucking going to Dalgherdia. Why wouldn’t I…shit.”
“Basically, you have two choices. Trust Lemkht and Naveeta to handle it, or trust Goliath.”
“Nope. I’ve got no fucking choice. I and I wants us to go. I can feel it. It doesn’t matter fuck all what Ailann has planned. If we fight it, I’ll just turn into the mothman and fly there.” Cillian looked thoughtful. “But maybe we can turn this to our advantage.”
*****
While Cillian was gathering data for our strategy meeting, I was left to myself. And I was angry, selfishly angry. I tried to turn my anger into righteous rage at CenGov for what they were doing to the people of Dalgherdia and Tasea. If I were honest with myself, I would have to admit a little bit of satisfaction about Tasea. That world had been nothing but a problem for years. No matter what I tried to stabilize the situation, it got turned against me. I understood totally Cillian’s dismissive attitude although wisdom told me that there would be trouble if we didn’t play the good guys. Dalgherdia I felt worse about. But the truth is, I was angry because I wanted Jamey to stay for a while. I was angry because I wanted to work out a solution to the problem with Atlas and Goliath. I hated CenGov for mucking up my personal life yet again.
Sometimes I think I’m a terrible ruler because I just don’t care. Other times, I think I’m a good ruler because I just don’t care. It’s not a power trip. It’s not like I wanted the job.
Sometimes I catch myself caring more than I’d intended. A lot more. Then I know I’m in trouble.
*****
We convened in the old cathedral of war later that afternoon – myself, Cillian, Lemkht, Naveeta and Clive Rivers. I wanted Clive there because he was born and raised on Earth – and had spent most of his adult life as a revolutionary against CenGov. If anyone understood them, it was him.
Cillian already had a plan. “If we go in guns blazing,” he said, “They’ll just start killing the hostages. And it will be easy to spot a big fleet from a distance. However, they happen to be sitting next door to an asteroid full of bioweapons.”
“You mean to use the K’ntasari?”
“Why not? They’ll follow Ari anywhere, right? There aren’t that many Terrans at the science station. I figure CenGov has been sneaking in weapons and soldiers for some time now, but they’ll still be outnumbered ten-to-one by the people in the city. They’ve probably got their hands full. And the SSOps agents on Eden reported no incursions.”
“But Cillian, how will the K’ntasari get to Dalgherdia? They aren’t mothmen. They can’t fly there.”
“We’ll have to build a ship on Eden.”
“Build – a – ship. Cillian, that half-baked idea is worthy of Cuinn. Yes, Eden has the natural resources, but absolutely no technological facilities.”
Cillian grinned. “We’ve got the best technology, baby. Cu’enashti technology. Alchemy.”
“That’s still…I mean, Ailann could probably do it, but it will involve an enormous amount of power and precision…and knowledge.”
“Ailann could do it with his hands tied behind his back.”
“That goes without saying, seeing as he wouldn’t need his hands.”
“Because he’s Archon. But so is Aran.”
“The problem is the knowledge, Cillian. Ailann has had so much experience with really precise alchemical manipulations, and he also has access to all Cuinn’s knowledge of the little details – like putting together a ship’s drive. Aran didn’t even know how to reset my telomeres.”
“Well, Aran is going to get a crash course in interplanetary engineering. Don’t tell me he can’t do it. Do you think I and I knew battle strategy when he pushed himself out of the seed coat? Or politics, or diplomacy, or multidimensional geometry, or even how to play the fasharp? If you want it, if you need it, we’ll become it. And if Goliath can’t adapt, then Goliath is fucked up, and Ailann is right about how to handle it.”
“Actually Owen is better at engineering,” I sighed. “Cuinn is more of a theorist, and an impractical one at that.”
“Yeah, but he and Davy still came up with the javamelon. Speaking of which, can we get some fucking javajuice in here?”
“My Lord,” General Lemkht injected, “we do have a report from Cara on Tasea. Perhaps you would like to hear it?”
He nodded, and Lemkht gestured at a viewscreen. “Hey Cara,” Cillian began. “What’s the situation?”
“See for yourself, Admiral Whelan,” said Cara, moving the camera in her transmitter so that we could all view the background of devastation through a cracked and dirty window. Smoke still arose from some of the buildings and the streets seemed deserted. “We’re under curfew here. Public transport is blown to hell, and half the hospital is lying in the street. Before the CenGov troops even set foot planetside, the Tasean underground had already stirred up worldwide riots and terrorist attacks on our military facilities. Everyone was all for helping out the Earthers. That is, until the Earthers got here. That’s when it sunk in that they weren’t a freed people – they were a conquered people. CenGov appropriated everything they can use. Sorting of children starts in three days.”
“What do you mean, sorting children?” Cillian asked.
“Standard CenGov policy after a world is absorbed,” said Clive. “Anyone between the ages of 8 and 14 is sorted A, B and C. The A’s will be sent to Earth for education and indoctrination. They’ll be used as part of the politico-scientific infrastructure, but will never be accepted amongst the elite. The B’s will stay on Tasea. C’s will be taken for military training, and the low C’s for mining and other hard labor.”
“That has got to be the most appalling thing I’ve ever heard,” said Naveeta. “How can they take children from their parents?”
“And turn them against their homeworld,” added Lemkht. “A diabolical and cowardly strategy.”
“I said they’d be fucking sorry,” said Cillian smugly. I glared at him.
“Oh, they’re sorry, Sir,” said Cara. “Nostalgia for the good old days of Skarsian oppression is rampant. I’ve already started to organize the resistance.”
“Good girl!” said Lemkht. “I never cease to be amazed at the occasional usefulness of women.”
“You’re walking on thin ice, Lemkht,” said Naveeta. General Lemkht was originally from Volparnu and Admiral Naveeta from Skarsia – both born into the noble, warrior classes. The gender politics of the two planets somewhat mirrored a debate between Nietzsche and Hippolyta – basically “You go to woman – then bring your whip;” “Try it and I’ll slice your balls off.” Fortunately, Lemkht had converted to Archonism, and was somewhat liberal in his views.
“Thin ice?” Lemkht replied, puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
I had to laugh. “It’s an idiom. Don’t worry about it.” If he wasn’t familiar with the term, there’s no way it would make sense to him. Volparnu was more or less solid ice.
“So have you identified the major supply and transportation routes for potential sabotage?” asked Cillian, pointedly ignoring his subordinates.
“That would take too much time, and we’ve too few resources. Instead, we’ve concentrated on letting the CenGov forces know that Skarsians are weak and decadent, and that the Matriarchy is an apple ripe for picking.”
“You WHAT?” sputtered Lemkht.
“Good girl!” said Cillian. “That’ll get them here. You know the old saying…’Come into my parlor, said the mothman to the spider.’”
“That’s not quite accurate,” I pointed out.
“Oh, and one more thing. Bad news,” said Cara.
“There’s bad news? I’m shocked,” said Clive.
“See for yourself.” Cara patched in a security transmission that she had broken – a message from the commander to the occupying forces.
Cillian slammed his fist on the table. “That’s fucking General Panic!”
I shot a glance at Clive. “What?” said Cillian. “You two don’t look surprised.”
“Android, right?” asked Clive.
“Yep,” Cara replied. “100% machine.”
“Clive had hypothesized that the palimpsest process that was used to transfer Edom St. John’s memories into his brain could also be used to transfer memories into an android.”
“Fucking hell,” said Cillian. “She’s like a fucking mushroom. You can’t get rid of her.”
“Please don’t insult mushrooms with that comparison,” I said. “I really don’t know why Nau’gsh have this thing about mushrooms. Most plant species have mycorrhizae, which perform valuable symbiotic functions. Conifers, in particular, need ectomycorrhizae to survive. General Panic is much more like a parasitic wasp.”
“No self-respecting Nau’gsh would have mushrooms. It’s fucking disgusting.”
Well, he’s right about one thing – it’s one of the ways to distinguish a Nau’gsh from a true tree, if the blue leaves and warm bark didn’t give it away. Nau’gsh do not have symbiotic fungi.
“In any case, we’ll just have to kill her again.” My stomach churned. “Clive, how many times will we have to kill her again?”
Clive shrugged. “In theory – infinitely. They can keep putting backups of her memory into more droids. In practice, maybe just this once. Androids are expensive, and Panic is, to put it delicately, a major fuckup. No matter how much misery she caused us, she ultimately failed. If she wasn’t elite to begin with, they probably wouldn’t have bothered. I’m guessing this war against us is her last chance.”
“So what’s the next step?” asked Lemkht.
“Cara, continue the good work. Veeta, keep the Skarsian fleet in readiness in case CenGov moves out from Tasea. Lemkht, you’ll take a few ships full of elite troops along with Tara’s flagship and head towards Dalgherdia. We’ll keep on the opposite side of the sun, though. Tara, you’ll be taking Mickey and a platoon of SSOps agents. The situation on Dalgherdia could prove to be tricky. The Special Ops people might prove more useful than the soldiers.”
“Wait, Mickey? I thought you were going.”
He shook his head. “Mickey makes more sense. Remember, he infiltrated the science station, worked there for years. He knew it inside and out. He’s the best person to plan a strategy.”
It was true. Mickey’s combat skills were excellent, and he was probably a better choice for a delicate operation than Cillian. Cillian’s idea of subtlety was to knock on a door before kicking it in. But then again, when it came to the actual combat situation, Mickey wasn’t going to be there either. “Do you think Ari can handle it?”
“Ari can handle the K’ntasari. For the rest, it’s like you said. We’ll have to trust him. It’s not like we have a choice.”