by Eva Brandt
Countless years had passed since then and many things about our organizational system had changed, but the security around the moon had never faltered. The individual star fleets occupied other garrisons as well, but over half of the Crius Guard Corps was assigned to the Hades Moon Base, monitoring all the angles of approach. It was why I’d always been so leery at the prospect of attacking The Grand Judiciary, even if most of its members deserved to die a very painful death. I might have been able to pass using the Typhon, but it would be impossible to launch a widespread attack without the guards realizing what had happened and turning on me.
That wasn’t something I was considering too closely today. The explosion at Tartarus Base left me anxious, as did Selene’s departure to Terra. She was still upset and not dealing with recent developments well. She shouldn’t have had to go anywhere alone. I hoped I’d be able to handle matters here quickly, so I could catch up to her and the others later.
As I approached, I contacted ground control and announced our arrival. “Typhon and Cerberus closing in, tamers Brendan Chimera and Knox Alexander. Requesting permission to land.”
“Request granted, Your Highness,” came the immediate response. “Direct your chimeras to the main hangars.”
We did, although I half wanted to turn back. It already seemed obvious that we’d come all this way for nothing, since there was no anomaly or enemy here.
But for good or ill, we’d made the trip, so we might as well notify The Grand Judiciary of what was going on. Besides, if someone had attacked Tartarus Base, they might be planning to target Hades later.
The staff of the hangars received us with the appropriate amount of deference. As Knox and I left the cockpits of our chimeras, several members of the Crius Guard Corps met us on the tarmac. That was when things got really weird. Bowing lowly, one of them said, “Your Highness, the emergency meeting is already in session. Right this way, if you please.”
I was befuddled by this turn of events. I hadn’t known anything about any emergency meeting. But I didn’t let my shock show. Instead, I went along with it, curious what incident could have caused The Grand Judiciary to organize such a meeting.
The Grand Judiciary met up often to discuss organizational matters of both the star fleets and Terran governments. Each individual member had a different role, but they discussed their common goals together, to keep their new decisions from clashing. That was why it was very unusual for emergency meetings to happen. Only a very alarming event would have led The Grand Judiciary to act this way. But what could it be?
Knox walked by my side, his stance so tense I expected him to snap any moment now. “What do you suppose this is all about?”
“No idea, but it can’t be good. If there’s an emergency meeting and our presence here wasn’t surprising, I assume the topic must require our intervention.”
After what had happened in Gaia’s Haven, I had no desire to follow their orders again. I’d just have to make a choice depending on what they asked me.
“I’m with you, Your Highness,” Knox murmured, “no matter what you need.”
His words made me feel much better and by the time we reached the main meeting hall of The Grand Judiciary, I was calm once again. The guards at the door stared at us when we got there, but they let us pass.
The doors glowed red as the sensors detected my presence and approved it. Side by side, Knox and I walked into The Grand Judiciary Main Hall—and were instantly struck by the sounds of a serious argument.
“We can’t just burst in there!” one of the members of the nobility shouted. “It was a disaster last time!”
“I know that, but we’re more prepared now,” another replied. It was Pollux’s father, Caius. “We know the frequencies we need to absorb the power of the quasar.”
“That might well be,” a third man said. I recognized him as Leonardo di Rossi, one of the representatives in charge of Terran governments. “But we can’t afford to get too arrogant. If we go through their main environmental defenses, we have no idea what…”
He stopped mid-sentence when he finally noticed me and Knox. “Your Highness? What are you doing here?”
Every single member of The Grand Judiciary turned toward us. Normally, their scrutiny wouldn’t have bothered me, but at that moment, I was frozen. Their conversation had shocked me so much that for a few seconds, I didn’t know what to say. I quickly snapped out of it and answered with a question of my own. “Are you saying I’m not at liberty to join an emergency meeting of The Grand Judiciary whenever I desire, Lord di Rossi?”
“Not at all, Your Highness,” he replied. “It’s just a little surprising. We thought you were busy with your studies.”
“And my schoolwork is more important than a possible attack on the Apsid Quasar? I don’t think so.”
“Besides,” Knox drawled, “I’m assuming that if this happens, we’ll be directly involved. We’re supposed to be here. In fact, we deserve it far more than some people who are currently present.”
From our right, Knox’s father Peter and his brother Harry glowered at him. Knox’s parents had never approved of his sexual relationship with me. My father had blamed Knox for my refusal to marry Penelope, and because of that, the Alexanders had lost a lot of favor with the king. They still belonged to his inner circle, but things were much tougher for them. “Knox, now’s really not the time,” his father hissed.
“Indeed,” I said. “Now’s not the time to focus on trivialities. Can you tell me what is going on and why we’re considering such a drastic approach?”
“We’ve detected some serious activity in the heat patterns around the Apsid Quasar, Your Highness,” Caius Donadieu explained. “We believe the apsids are preparing for another attempted invasion.”
I suppressed the urge to flinch. In hindsight, it had been foolish of us to believe we would leave no traces of our expedition. We’d forced our way through the event horizon around the apsid home world and we’d used a huge amount of energy to do so. Then there was the Great Mother, who’d transported us back using her mysterious skills. That alone would have been noticeable to our scanners. We were lucky nobody had managed to make the connections between the power output of the chimeras and this incident, because otherwise, we would have been in a lot of trouble.
“I see,” I answered. “Has there been any sign of apsid crystallized units?”
“Nothing specific, no,” Peter answered between gritted teeth, “but it’s unavoidable that it will happen.”
“We can’t base such serious decisions on speculation, Milord.” I looked around and took note of a very serious absence. “Why was my father not consulted on this? He should have been present for an emergency meeting of The Grand Judiciary.”
“Oh, this isn’t exactly an emergency meeting, Your Highness,” Caius offered. “It’s more like a debate. As Lord Alexander pointed out, we haven’t seen clear signs of enemy units invading our territory. We wouldn’t want to bother the king with such an issue until we agree on a clear course of action.”
I frowned. That didn’t sound right at all. Yes, The Grand Judiciary had a lot of power and could make pertinent decisions on their own. But only my father could give the order of entering the quasar. He was the official head of all the star fleets and without his approval, there would be no attack.
“I believe that bringing it up with him is urgent, before we go any further. The heat patterns at the quasar might not be signs of apsid activity at all. We’ve had a power surge at Tartarus Base that brought down the main generator. My main goal when I came here today was to check if there had been similar issues in Hades.”
Chaos exploded throughout the room at my announcement. I waited and gave the nobles a few moments to recover their composure. It was Pollux’s father who finally asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “But, Your Highness, if there are issues at Tartarus Base, it might be all the more important to act now. What makes you say this isn’t related to apsids?”
“There have be
en many instances of solar explosions in the past. We haven’t been affected by such anomalies in Tartarus Base, but when we were at The Fields of Mercury, my chimera and several others were damaged because of similar energy bursts. The Charybdis even went dormant. We’ve fortunately managed to return her to her previous state, but the fact remains that the solar energies in The Fields of Mercury affected us. And so, I can only conclude that this might just be a natural phenomenon.
“If that is the case, we’d be making a big mistake if we focused on the apsids. The alien threat is without a doubt something to be wary of, but we can’t forget that the sun itself remains a danger. The High Priestesses of Gaia are only now starting to rebuild Terra. An increase in solar output could be devastating for their efforts and destroy all our sources of natural foodstuffs.”
I was talking out of my ass a little bit, since I was pretty sure solar explosions had nothing to do with recent events. But even so, it wouldn’t hurt to remind The Grand Judiciary that our main goal here wasn’t destroying the apsids. It was protecting Terra.
Or at least, that was the official story. To this day, I didn’t fully understand the interests of all the people here.
“You’re correct, Your Highness,” Leonardo said. “I have heard many High Priestesses make a note of having problems in some areas. We’d be best served in trying to increase the protection around the larger and most useful settlements.”
Other people started to nod. “This would come in handy even if there’s an apsid attack.”
“And we can always increase patrols to monitor the region, just in case.”
“It’s a better option than trying another assault on the quasar, that’s for sure. We’ve already lost enough troops to that insanity.”
I secretly wondered what they’d have all thought if they’d known my lovers and I had been there and come back—with the Great Mother’s permission no less. A part of me wanted to tell them, just to see the looks on their faces. But I recognized that part as the one that hadn’t left the quasar unscathed so I silenced its voice.
“I’m glad you agree. Now, I’m afraid I must excuse myself. Since the Hades Moon Base isn’t at risk, we might be needed elsewhere.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Lord Alexander said. “Thank you for honoring us with your presence and for clarifying the situation.”
“It is always my duty to do what is best for the Chimera dynasty and its subjects. May Tartarus watch over you.”
Without another word, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the room. Knox followed, and together, we made our way back to the hangars.
Once we were safely ensconced in our chimeras, I dared to tell Knox what I really thought about this whole thing. “This is bad, Knox. Even if we assume the energies around the entrance to the quasar aren’t related to apsids, it can’t be a coincidence that the explosion at Tartarus happened now. Something’s going on and we’re missing it.”
“I don’t know about you, Your Highness, but I think the explanation is right in front of us. There’s really no reason for any of us to trust the man who kidnapped Selene.”
No, there wasn’t. But was Jared really capable of doing such things? And if he was, what else did he have in mind?
A shiver went down my spine. Jared was on Earth now, and so was Selene. The story was repeating itself. Once again, we’d left her exposed to his manipulations. “Typhon, hurry. We have to get to New Washington. And contact Selene’s coms.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the long-distance coms didn’t work and there was no reply from the Sphinx. I forced myself not to panic, knowing it wouldn’t help us now. “This doesn’t mean anything,” I told Knox. “It’s probably the interference messing with her systems.”
“Yes,” Knox answered. “Yes, of course.”
His voice sounded distant, almost like he hadn’t heard me at all. I ignored the part of me that was screaming he needed help. Together, we launched ourselves into space yet again, the systems of our chimeras already guiding us toward Selene.
Knox would keep fighting and so would I. We wouldn’t fall apart, not yet, not while Selene still needed us.
* * *
Selene
It was evening when I arrived in New Washington. The city was alive with activity and the light of Gaia glowed over every street. There was no sign of any damage nearby, but I knew that was deceptive. Terra was a huge place. The strange phenomenon that had hit Tartarus Base could have left New Washington untouched, but affected any other area of the planet.
My mother met me outside the Temple of Gaia. There were other priestesses around, but by now, everyone was used to my visits. No one showed any alarm upon seeing Sphinx land.
As was her habit, my mother hugged me as soon as I approached. “Selene, dear, I didn’t expect you back so soon. I heard from General Rhodes that you’d be having exams at Chimera Academy and you wouldn’t be able to come to Terra for a while. I was actually going to return to Tartarus Base the day after tomorrow.”
“I’m not sure that will be possible,” I said as I hugged her back. “There’s been an alarming incident at the base. Something affected the power generators. Have there been any attacks or anomalies here?”
My mother released me from her embrace and blinked at me in surprise. “Not that I know of. Come inside. I’ll check all the reports I’ve received recently and speak to other High Priestesses. They might know more.”
She ushered me into the building and set out to contact all her friends from other cities and continents. I waited in the control room, feeling useless and frustrated.
It relieved me to see that there had been no attack here, of course, but at the same time, it made me anxious. Something was afoot, and the uncertainty was even worse than an all-out threat.
But I wasn’t the one calling the shots here, so when my mother finished reviewing her reports, I thanked her profusely for her assistance.
“I suppose no news is good news in this case, right?”
My mother shot me a concerned look, not in the least bit fooled by my attempt to appear nonchalant. “You don’t really think that, do you?”
“It’s hard to say,” I answered with a sigh. “I wish I did, but I still have a bad feeling. Who knows? Maybe I’m just jumping at shadows. I haven’t had the easiest time lately, so I’m not the best person to assess the situation here.”
“The generators at Tartarus Base collapsed, Selene. That kind of incident warrants caution, even if you weren’t prone to panic or hadn’t seen just how badly things can escalate. It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you.”
Her words were almost identical to what Brendan had told me a little while back, when we’d spoken about Commander Trevor. The memory made my heart clench. I still had no idea what to do about our relationship, and at this rate, I wasn’t going to find out anytime soon.
But I didn’t have the luxury of focusing on my love life now. We needed to find out the root of the problem at Tartarus Base. Then and only then could I return to untangling the threads of my confusing future.
In the meantime, since I’d already dropped by, I took advantage of the occasion to ask my mother to check on my pregnancy. I didn’t tell her what had happened in the showers, because I still felt too embarrassed. But the baby wasn’t something I could ignore either. A child wouldn’t wait until I found it convenient to check up on him or her.
My mother guided me to lie down on a cot in her quarters. As she swept her hands over me, Gaia’s Gift drifted into my body. It was so familiar, and yet, it made me squirm with discomfort. It didn’t seem invasive, but it didn’t quite fit with my abilities. I felt like I was too big for my skin, like a pot that was about to bubble over because there was too much liquid inside me.
As much as I appreciated my mother’s assistance, I was glad when she pulled away. “As far as I can tell, everything is in order, but your energies are a little unbalanced. The pregnancy is definitely messing with your hormone levels. You’ll hav
e to be careful with your use of your powers.”
That wasn’t news to me, since Commander Trevor and the others had told me the same thing. “I’ll do my best. Is there any medicine I can take that’ll help?”
“I have some herbal remedies for you, yes. Wait here.”
I did, relaxing on the cot while my mother left to procure the remedies. “At least we know there’s nothing too problematic going on with the pregnancy,” I told Sphinx.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can be lax,” she chastised me. “We have to consider a real plan and course of action for this whole assignment business and for future missions.”
“I think Commander Trevor would be willing to help me, but I’m not sure how much he can be trusted. What do you think, Sphinx?”
Before my chimera could reply, my mother returned to the room. I got up to my haunches and smiled as she handed me a small package. “Thanks again for the help, Mother. I have to go now. We’ll keep in touch.”
“Of course, Selene. Keep that dry and out of sight. I’m not technically supposed to provide any medicine without the prior approval of The Grand Judiciary.”
Right. Everything that came from Terra went through a very careful vetting process. The food was rationed and the substances used for medicine taken to special storage facilities. Fortunately, the package was small enough that it fit in a section of my uniform, against the strap that was supposed to hold my phaser. “Don’t worry. I have permission to go in and out of Chimera Academy without passing through Charon’s Barge and the only ones who ever see my things are the members of my unit. They won’t say anything even if they do notice.”
My mother hated my lovers since the incident at Gaia’s Haven, but trusted my assessment on their character anyway. Together, we headed out of the room, back toward the Sphinx.
It was as we exited the temple that my day took a turn for the worse. Much to my surprise, I found Penelope Welton waiting for me next to my chimera. “So, you’re back,” she said without preamble. “The information from the tablet was useful.”
