The Testimony of the Right Honorable Tubar Danak, Lord Chamberlain of the Skarsian Matriarchy
In theory, Ta’al Erich’s idea was a good one, but it turned out to be more complicated than we initially thought. It was going to take time. I set the plan in motion, but we had to take action concerning the advancing battle fleet, and soon.
The report on his visit with Molly was interesting also – and I was certain it was no coincidence that Christolea and Molly were being detained in the same place. My knee-jerk reaction was to move one or the other, but that would have tipped off our adversaries that we suspected a connection between Molly and Almiss. Almiss and Erich had never met, so they would have no reason to believe that he was recognized. I wonder if Almiss asked the identity of Molly’s visitor? Probably. But at this point, unless our enemies had completely underestimated us, an investigation of Molly would be an obvious move.
I came to the conclusion that our best option was to allow SSOps to conduct an enhanced interrogation of Molly. The Archon would never have allowed such a thing, but without His presence, the decision was mine. If the media found out and objected, I was operating within my legal rights. The blame would be mine; the infamy would be mine. It wouldn’t be pretty, but I could play the baddie.
I issued the order. SSOps was jubilant, ostensibly because they wanted to take action on the Archon’s behalf, but really because this was their idea of fun. The extremity of tactics they had been allowed to use had been constricted over the years, and some were nostalgic for the good old days when they were the hatchet men of the 5th Matriarch. A surprising number were immortal, which was why their loyalty to their director, Prince Michael, was absolute. The worst of them were left to control the drug trade, and answered to Prince Donovan.
The Archon likes to look more ethical than he is, perhaps. Or perhaps it’s simply wrongheaded to attribute a single sense of agency to Ashtara. Ailann Tiarnan keeps his hands clean while other emanations do the dirty work. Admiral Whelan is another example. Perhaps it’s simply something that a human can’t understand. But he protects Her Eminence, and in doing so, protects us all. My dear Magdelaine and I are certainly held under the shadow of his scaly moth-wings.
Compared to my employment under Emperor Chulain, Her Eminence’s father, I’ve been asked to do little to challenge my sense of ethics. Also, I’ve always believed that the virtue among virtues is loyalty. No matter how alien he is, that’s something I share with Ashtara. I swore on Chulain’s grave to protect his daughter, in the name of the noble blood running through my veins. My family has served his as loyal retainers for over six centuries. How different is that from Ashtara’s n’aashet n’aaverti?
But I digress. After I ordered the interrogation, I further considered our options. Ta’al Erich’s idea to recruit our allies for covert operations was inherently a good one. But we had other allies, allies he hadn’t considered. His Holiness was not the only nau’gsh in the forest…or in space, for that matter.
Fifteen minutes later, I’d convened Lilith, Raoul and Malik, the human emanations of the Cu’enashti entities called Philosophia, Ashkaman, and Ashpremma.
“Sure, I’ll do it,” said Lilith. “But I’m not nearly as strong as dad.”
“Sorry, I’ve never been able to leave Dolparessa,” said Raoul.
“Oh come on,” said Lilith. “You’re Patrick’s son. Patrick can do it easily.”
“Actually, he had a lot of problems living as far out as Eirelantra until Ailann became Archon,” Raoul protested. “Also he, you and Cillian are all overhanging branches. For some weird reason, that means you have the knack of space travel, and I don’t.”
“So grow another branch,” snaps Lilith. “How lame are you anyway, little brother?”
“Like it’s easy to grow a new branch?”
“When your family is on the line, it is.”
“I don’t know,” said Malik. “I can live in space, but before now, I’ve never travelled on my own power. I’ve always ridden on the same ship as Premma. I’m not sure I could go for a long time without her.”
“It’s also going to take us a while to get there,” says Lilith. “We can’t exactly ride on the power grid, like Ashtara.”
That much was true. It would take them a few days to get as far as Eirelantra. Maybe this just wouldn’t work.
“But you could go through the stable wormhole from the Atlas Tree to Goliath.” The suggestion came from the datapad around Lilith’s neck, which happened to be running an app of her husband, the Quicknode Thoughtful 45. “In theory, any mothman could do it, but in practice, only three have gone further away than Sideria.”
“That’s my problem,” said Malik. “I can’t stand to be away from Premma that long. But I’ll try.”
“Goliath will get us as far as Eden in a matter of minutes,” said Lilith. “Is that close enough to the fleet?”
I ran a calculation on my datapad. We were in luck: the position of the planets put the asteroid belt closer to the incoming fleet than the outer worlds. That had to be intentional. Our enemies were hoping to outflank our fleet, which was primarily stationed on Volparnu and Skarsia. All they had to do was get past the asteroids and the troops from Sideria to hit Dolparessa – which was really the heart of Skarsia given the importance of the nau’gsh peoples. It was no longer even worth bothering with the homeworld.
I suggested that perhaps it was time we rethink our long-term tactical positioning.
“You’re as stupid as CenGov,” said Lilith. “You’re both forgetting the K’ntasari on Eden. They don’t have many ships, but they’re fanatical and engineered to be warriors.”
“We can use that,” I murmured. “Perhaps a few K’ntasari troops to get the drop on them…”
“I’m patching you through to Eradicator 9,” said Thoughtful. “Fmee has some interesting suggestions.”
The voice coming from the datapad changed slightly. “All you have to do is use alchemy to incapacitate a few ships. Make certain communication is blocked out. Then let the K’ntasari board them, and use them to attack the other ships. CenGov will assume that Ashtara has used Lucius to possess them, the way he did to that Arthvean fleet.”
“Brilliant! But can the three of you do it?”
“I’m not sure I can,” muttered Raoul.
“Four,” said Lilith. “We’re forgetting another very powerful Cu’enashti.”
“You have got to be kidding,” said Raoul. “Elma’ashra is completely insane.”
“Hellborne is insane,” corrected Lilith. “But have you looked at the Cantor Tree lately? Not all damage is physical.”
“She’s grown another branch?” said Raoul. “But even so, can we trust her?”
“I’m not into trust,” said Lilith. “But the Cantor’s not suicidal, and I’m betting the new branch isn’t, either.”
“Yeah, but can she exist in space?” asked Malik. “Heavensent could, but Heavensent is dead.”
“That proves Elma’ashra has the power to do it,” said Lilith. “And if she’s got a shred of n’aashet n’aaverti left, she’ll do what she needs to protect Elma.”