Star Feud

by D. R. Rosier

  She looked like she belonged.

  My first thought was… was this the bimbo fucking my Vik last night. I felt a stab of shame at the thought, he didn’t do anything wrong, and neither did she. Still, that didn’t mean I liked it. I was feeling, insanely possessive, which was so hypocritical given Telidur and I had made love again this morning when we awoke. I was also an assassin who knew how to blend in, and be any number of people, including mannerisms and attitude.

  So, I stuck a smile on my face, and sat next to Jillintara, even as Telidur sat next to me.

  The stunning beauty turned to me, and smiled. What made it heartbreaking, was it was an honest, open, and very friendly smile.

  “You must be Lorelai, Vik has told me so much about you, but completely understated how beautiful you are. I’m Cyntariel, but you can call me Cyn.”

  I smiled despite myself. Vik must have told her a lot about me, Isythians didn’t use nicknames, or shortened names.

  “Call me Lori, please. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  It was a pleasure to meet her, even if I wanted to claw her face off at the same time. Vik looked relieved, which caused another surge of guilt.

  Solyra said, “Morning Lori.”

  I sent a smile her way and nodded, even as I reached for some juice.

  Dessia looked a bit sour, had they all read about human jealousy? Obviously, some hoped I’d get past it, while others had been hoping for the opposite. The fact I’d soured Dessia made me feel a bit better.

  I knocked shoulders with Jillintara in greeting, and looked around the table.

  “So, what’s the schedule today?”

  Jillintara said, “There are already rumors about the royal family, and abuses. That you won’t give up any of your power, and care more about that power than the people. I haven’t been able to track the source, but I can tell you it started on Kaprorix and Xulia last night. It’s already made it to Isyth, Raitov, and Vehiri. I’d suggest we focus on that. For now, it isn’t getting much traction on the home world, or Vehiri. Raitov isn’t an issue at all, Xylla already addressed it and her people are taking her lead. They’re just… mocking it.”

  Figures, damn Tek and Jervistad.

  I didn’t really understand their government completely, it was some kind of weird mix of socialism and free enterprise or capitalism, that would never work on Earth, but I knew Vik and the rest of the royal family simply protected the empire from outside aggression, and upheld the laws. They were bound by those laws as well, not beyond them. Everything else was left to the people, and there were no taxes. Granted, the royal family owned all resources in the empire, which I supposed was their version of taxes, but they’d only make money as long as their people were using resources and successful as well.

  Socialism usually failed because it took away people’s incentives and ambitions, why excel if everyone shares equally anyway. Human nature. Capitalism can also fail when greedy or unscrupulous people run companies, large or small. They seemed to have fixed both problems, but they wouldn’t have been able to without A.I. to keep them honest.

  The food and infrastructure was free, and run and controlled by A.I. Healthcare as well, through nanites. No corruption, and if someone lost their fortune at least they wouldn’t starve or die in the streets. They had a chance to rebuild what they lost.

  The capitalism part was everything else, designs and fabrications of things to improve life. That part worked into people’s ambition, and caused them work and excel, to feel useful.

  I was sure there were subtleties I didn’t understand, but the more I learned about it, the more it seemed better than any political structure or solution Earth has ever had. Perhaps the same will happen there, when A.I.s and health nanites are common for everyone.

  The point was, to call Vik selfish was ridiculous. The emperor of the Isyth empire was a job and a stern responsibility. He had almost unlimited power, but within a very narrow and defined sphere. I had to admit, limited government of their type seemed to work well. It was only Denik’s stupidity I’d imagine, and the problems he caused, which allowed people to be fooled into believing Tek’s and Jervistad’s lies.

  Because of course, he had given away some authority, to change the laws unilaterally. Surely people understood he had limited the expansion of government with those decisions.

  Assuming of course, that it was them. We had no proof. Maybe it was only one of them, or both, or neither.

  Vik grunted, “Do you think I should address the people, or wait to see how far the rumors go?”

  Dessia said, “We should hold off, not too long, but long enough for their strategy to solidify. It would be a mistake to go back and forth too many times, and would put you on the psychological defensive. Better to see the big picture, and then come out with metaphorical plasma weapons blazing.”

  Cyntariel nodded, “Agreed. Expose their lies all at once, and stick with the same simple message.”

  Vik looked at me.

  Ugh, I didn’t know crap about politics, much less alien politics, but it sounded right. If I wasn’t a government employee, I’d suggest sending me to blow their brains out.

  “Politics aren’t in my wheelhouse, but Cyn’s idea sounds good to me.”

  I shrugged, I was his girl if he needed plans for assassination, extraction, protection, or a space battle. A response to a smear campaign, not a clue.

  Dessia sniffed. Bitch.

  Both Jillintara and Telidur squeezed a leg each in support, I couldn’t help but smile.

  Solyra said, “Don’t attack Tek and Jervistad directly in public, just the rumors. Doing so would just muddy the waters, and make it harder for the people to see the truth. You may want to send them a subtle warning in private however.”

  Vik nodded, “Good ideas. We’ll sit on it for now, and I’ll give a statement and interview in a day or two. I expect there will be audience requests, and meetings about local concerns, but so far things have been quiet that way. It’s only been a few days since I took power.”

  “So, that means what?”

  Vik shrugged, “Take a day off? I don’t have anywhere to go.”

  I nodded, “I can use the extra time to finish up the new systems for the prototype ship’s fabrication pattern.”

  We were silent as we finished eating, and then broke up after breakfast. I headed toward my quarters to work on it. Most of it was clear in my mind on how it worked, but coordinating so many connections which were swappable and replaceable wasn’t a simply thing. Luckily, Jillintara and Myra would help me with that, A.I.s were very good with the finer details, as long as I had a solid design they’d catch anything I missed.

  I also tried to stamp out and ignore the surge of jealousy, when Vik and Cyntariel left together, toward his quarters.

  It was several hours later, when the lights went out. My implant still had my designs available, and they were safely stored in both my implant and on the moon, but the interface for the palace was completely down. I couldn’t even contact any of the other guards, except Telidur who was on the same secondary connection through the moon. Quantum connections were uninterruptable, but it wasn’t possible to give everyone a quantum connection to everyone and everything. Switchboards of sorts were used for comm and data routing, just like telephone companies back on Earth. Obviously, the moon was still online, but the royal guards and palace were all set up in a secure comm center onsite, which had apparently lost power.

  From what I understood, there was backup power, but it must have been taken out too.

  I jumped up, and ran for the door with Jillintara on my heels. Telidur was two steps ahead of me as we raced for the royal suite.

  “What happened?”

  Telidur just shook his head, he didn’t know either. I felt like I’d failed for not seeing this coming. If I’d thought this was a possibility, I’d have insisted on a tertiary backup via power through dimension ports, from the power center on the moon that supported our ships. I also decided it w
ouldn’t hurt to have a multi-function orb cloak and follow us around, I imagined a ship level shield would stop just about any armaments from a ground attack. I made a note to myself to ask Myra to send a few.

  I breathed out a sigh of relief to see the door closed, and no sign of an enemy attack yet. Of course, they were probably right behind us by less than a minute.

  Telidur barked, “Wait outside, guard the door.”

  I wasn’t happy with that, but it made sense. I needed to guard the door while Telidur made sure Vik put on a ship suit, or some kind of protection. I was also happy I wouldn’t have to see that gorgeous, sexy, and graceful woman in bed with him. Bitch, and that thought was followed by guilt.

  I turned to Jillintara and frowned in dissatisfaction of her presence here.

  She said stubbornly, “Don’t you dare try to send me away. I can’t kill anyone directly, but I can knock them out, and shield.”

  Is it wrong, that I got a little turned on? I pushed that down, and my mental switch flipped and all of it fell away. My love for Vik, Telidur, and Jillintara. My jealousy and honest admiration for Cyntariel. My annoyance at Dessia, and my sisterly worry and affection for Solyra. I felt icy, relaxed, and felt just a little anticipation for the coming battle. I was always like that in tight situations for me, and assumed it had probably been my training and conditioning as a government grown asset for assassination missions. Got to have a cool head in dangerous situations.

  It made me a freak, I had a crazy switch, but I was also glad of it.

  I’d forgotten until then, that Solyra and Dessia were on the moon system too, our old and now integrated security and military data net. I was reminded by Solyra’s panicked voice.

  “Shit, Help! My guards are down, and they’re breaking in!”

  Jillintara said, “Go, Vik won’t thank you for defending an empty doorway if his little sister dies.”

  Yeah, but it all went through my mind in less than a second. It could be, and probably was, just a feint, a distraction to draw off part of the emperor’s protection detail, so he could be killed. Of course, there was a real chance their target was Solyra in truth, a target for kidnapping to influence and control Vik. It all depended on what Tek or Jervistad would want to do, what their plan was, but I didn’t know either of them well enough to make a reliable guess. Lastly, primary target or not, they might kill Solyra either way, if they get the opportunity.

  In the end, my trust in Jillintara decided me, she was the only Isythian I knew who could shoot as well as me, and fight hand to hand better than me. A.I. and all that. It was only one corridor over, and halfway down the hall. I cloaked and ran as quickly as I could, which was very very fast…

  Chapter Eleven

  There were two men in royal guard uniforms outside Solyra’s suite. I didn’t recognize them, but I did recognize the two guards on the ground with plasma burns on their chests. I didn’t hesitate, and raised both hands and shot four plasma strikes at each of them. They could have been valid royal guards, but if they were they’d have my ship suit technology which could absorb multiple attacks. The old tech could only take one or two plasma shots before the shields were taken out.

  The first two shots were absorbed by a shield, the third and four took them both in the chest and face. I was re-cloaked and through the door before their bodies hit the ground.

  I took in the scene with a glance. The entry room was richly appointed, and was more like a living room and long hall in one, with several bedrooms on each side. It was a large suite that Solyra was sharing with Dessia. Three of the doors had been destroyed with plasma fire, but the four men in teams of two had moved on to different doors. I guess they were having trouble finding which room the princess and queen mother had locked themselves into.

  There was a loud boom and the palace shook, and the four men turned their heads toward the sound. I ignored it, but noted in my mind that it was probably why all the royal guard hadn’t converged on the apartments. With the palace defenses down, they were probably guarding the gate from an external attack. No doubt, the six men in guard uniforms had been smuggled in earlier, and what was going on outside was the true distraction. Without comms, there was no way to communicate out orders or more information. It barely took a split second for that thought, as I brought up my palms.

  I fired four more plasma balls with each hand as quickly as possible. Shields went down around three of them, the fourth dove behind a credenza before I could hit him a second time. The hand implants could build a plasma ball in less than half a second, but it still took time.

  I ignored the latter individual and fired a wide sonic stunning field from both hands, the three without shielding went down like puppets with their strings cut. At the same time, the last man raised up slightly and shot me with a plasma pistol. I returned fire, but he’d already ducked behind the furniture.

  I smirked, and unloaded with both hands. Plasma verse wood credenza, the wood would lose every time. The bastard dove and rolled behind a couch.

  “Give up. You’re finished.”

  I walked forward, and ignored him when he shot a plasma burst at me from around the side of the sofa. My shields took it easily, to his consternation. It must have been quite a surprise, with me being in a red and white dress.

  “Surrender, now,” I demanded as I walked in his direction.

  “Screw you bitch!”

  I ran a few steps and jumped over the sofa, and hit him with two plasma shots from above, and an electrical shock to knock him out after the shields went down. Four prisoners, I had a feeling they were actual royal guards, and I wanted to know whose they were. It was the only way they could have gotten in the palace, and they’re probably the ones that took the power and comm systems offline. I could figure out a lot, but I wanted to know what their orders had been.

  “Telidur, Solyra and Dessia are secure. Two of ours down, two of theirs down, and four prisoners.”

  Telidur replied, “The emperor is secure, no one has attacked here yet.”

  More proof this was about taking the princess for leverage, but I wasn’t going to rule anything out before the dust settled and we could build a complete picture. I turned toward one of the doors opening, and saw them both looking shaken.

  “We’re secure for now, but stay in the room until the outside attack is driven off, and power is restored.”

  Dessia scowled at my order, but Solyra gave me a relieved if wan and grateful smile, and shut the door.

  To Telidur I said, “What about the emperor’s guards?”

  Telidur sighed, “Unknown. I don’t know why they weren’t outside his door, or where they are. We’ll find out when things settle down.”

  Right. I took the time to disarm the four men, and put one each in a different room in this suite, which was ridiculously big. Then again, they had over twenty children at one time, so I supposed it made sense. Once secured, I placed myself by the hallway door, and mentally settled in to wait…

  There were two more loud booms which shook the whole palace, but it grew quiet after that. It was almost an hour later before the power and comms came back up, and some of the royal guards I recognized showed up to secure my four prisoners.

  Vik, Dessia, Solyra, myself, Telidur, Jillintara, and Cyntariel got together in the dining room at lunch, to talk about what had happened after things were pieced together. I hadn’t guessed all of it, but I’d been right about most of my guesses.

  Telidur said, “Last night, six royal guards assigned to Kaprorix arrived at the palace. There was no reason to challenge them or their entry. This morning while we were having breakfast they gained access to the power and comm center in sublevel six, and were able to cut the power and override the backups.

  “During questioning, they told us they were informed you were like Denik, and were keeping the queen mother and princess hostage. Their orders were to extract them safely, and take them to Kaprorix. They say they were unaware of a general attack against the palace, they weren�
�t told about that part. Regardless, as soon as the power cut the palace was attacked by Kaprorix military insurgents, which drew the majority of the royal guard to the front of the palace to drive them off.

  “The insurgents were killed, all of them. Best we can tell, they must have been ordered not to retreat until the six royal guards escaped with Dessia and Solyra under protective custody. Eventually, power was restored.”

  Vik frowned, “Suggestions?”

  I replied, “A few of them. One, we need to rig a tertiary power backup from our moon power station for the palace. Two, any royal guards not assigned to the palace, needs to be stopped and questioned on their presence, unless of course they’re accompanied by their primary charges. No more blind trust, it sounded like these six were trustworthy, but were lied to and mislead. Three, we integrated our secure data net from when we were on the run and that’s it, I’d suggest adding all the palace guard to that system as a secondary data net if something similar happens again. Our loss of comms was the biggest problem with gauging and responding to the threats correctly.

  “Fourth, I want you, Dessia, and Solyra to either wear jewelry or clothes with shielding technology like the ship suits, or accept one of my multifunction orbs to follow you at all times. They’d be able to shield you, cloak you, and even respond to attacks if your guards are harmed. Lastly, you need to address the people, and inform them this is all about Jervistad’s lust for more authority, perhaps out of fear of what Denik did, but on him nonetheless.”

  Telidur said, “I agree with her first four points, the empire is rife with rumors and accusations, and it will only get worse until your opponents are dealt with. We can’t depend on the old days, when all royal guards were trusted. Today’s events would have been unthinkable when your father was alive. The last point was political in nature, and I don’t have a solid opinion either way.”