Galaxy Under Siege

by Tristan Vick

  Brei raised an eyebrow. “Why would you read a book about someone’s dick?”

  Jegra laughed. “No, the book is about a whale hunter who’s tracking down a legendary great white whale.”

  “Oh,” Brei said, sounding embarrassed. “Sounds...interesting.”

  “Brei...” Jegra said, leaning in.

  “Yes?” she said, turning to face the empress’s glowing face.

  “Shut up and kiss me.”

  “Oh,” Brei whispered. Before she knew it, their lips were pressed together and they were sharing a long, drunken, extremely public kiss.

  Brei, feeling awkward, pulled back and scanned the crowd, searching for Dakroth. When she couldn’t find him she let out a relieved sigh.

  “Do I get one of those?” a voice asked.

  Brei looked up to see the Lord Emperor himself standing over her shoulder. Panicking, she tried to stand, but the alcohol got the best of her and she toppled out of her chair and disappeared under the table.

  Jegra smiled and reached up and took Dakroth’s collar and drew him down to her lips. Leaning in, he kissed her long enough that the attendees would see them and then gently pulled away. “As sweet as ever, my luv,” he said, delicately stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.

  She smiled up at him and he moved down the table to talk to Grendok and Callestra, who were busy chatting.

  “Brei,” Jegra said, without looking down.

  “Yes?” a faint voice came up from under the table.

  “It’s okay to come out now,” she said.

  “No thanks,” Brei said. “I think I’ll just stay down here for a while, if you don’t mind.”

  Jegra shrugged and then took another sip of the delicious Galliforn wine, of which she couldn’t seem to get enough.

  AFTER SECOND MOON HAD set behind first moon and the evening had worn on for several hours, everyone at the soirée had managed to find themselves in the Bacchanalian stupor of good wine, gratifying food, and tranquil song.

  Thoroughly sozzled, Dagons and Satyrs alike fell asleep right under the stars. Some lay hunched over their tables or nearby them, while others had gathered around a communal campfire at the center of the festivities and sat in groups while they listened drearily as a bard played his fretted lute.

  The bard’s melodies wove themselves into the dreams of the slumbering guests and was accompanied by the steady and soothing crackle of fire. In the sky, there was no moon, but the glimmer of the Shard could be seen keeping a watch over the people on the ground.

  Satisfied that the evening had worn on pleasantly, Jegra slowly pushed herself up, brushed down her dress as she scanned the bevvied faces of the crowd, and then staggered off in silence.

  Brei, who’d solidly dozed off some time ago, was snoring lightly, her face resting on her crossed forearms which in turn rested on the white table cloth. Her lips were stained a dark shade of purple due to the amount of wine she’d imbibed. She was sleeping peacefully when Jegra, who was mildly tipsy from her own impressive consumption of the free flowing vin de table, accidentally knocked into the leg of Brei’s chair with her foot as she passed by.

  The small jolt roused Brei from her slumber and she mumbled something about a turquoise banana print not belonging in the fall fashion catalogue. She managed to crack her eyelids in time to glimpse the blurry image of the empress wobbling away from her.

  Brei sat up and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. The empress blurred in and out of focus and she squinted harder and then widened her eyes to try and compensate for the distorted image, looking the part of a real-life cartoon as she contorted her face in animated ways.

  Determined not to let the empress slip away during the evening hours without an escort, she forced herself to her feet and took a wobbly step forward. The dizziness rushed to her head and she swayed back and forth before catching her balance.

  “Girl, you’re sooo drunk right now,” she said reflectively as she focused on keeping herself upright and just putting one foot in front of the other.

  Interested in where Jegra was headed during the witching hour, Brei followed her, making sure to maintain a safe distance behind so as not to be detected. About fifty yards from the festivities, the drunken melodies of song gradually faded into the distance and, to Brei’s astonishment, Jegra’s posture stiffened and any trace of inebriation quickly disappeared.

  Brei’Alas grew worried. Not only did she recognize Jegra’s stride as that of a warrior marching into battle, but she also struggled to keep up since, unlike the empress, she was sloshed out of her mind.

  If that wasn’t bad enough, she kept falling behind little by little until, finally, it appeared as though Jegra had virtually disappeared. “Drats,” she muttered to herself when she realized that she’d officially lost the empress.

  Panic filled her chest as she looked in all directions, desperately searching for any trace of the empress. Doing her best to pull herself together, Brei entered the same grove of trees that Jegra had and roamed about aimlessly in the woods. She called out once or twice at random intervals to no avail, but felt compelled to keep looking.

  What felt like an eternity later, but probably hadn’t been more than ten minutes, she stumbled upon Jegra standing in a clearing. She was just standing there, staring out at something that Brei couldn’t quite make out.

  “Jegra?” she asked. But the empress didn’t acknowledge her presence. Instead, she continued to stare intensely at a figure that stood at the other end of the clearing.

  When Brei sidled up to the empress, she saw it too. It was a young boy of no more than seven or eight cycles. Brei found it strange that a child so young should be out playing in the middle of the woods on a night like this, especially so close to a war zone. What’s more, he appeared to be half Dagon and half...that’s when it dawned on her.

  “Oh, my lord,” Brei gasped, covering her mouth. Tears flooded into her eyes when she realized who they were staring at.

  The young boy gazed back at them with eyes that were as black as obsidian—all but for a golden halo around the irises that glinted brightly in the darkness and seemed to glow with a radiant energy reminiscent of the celestial squid entities.

  Mother and child peered across the clearing at one another in silence and, then, in silence, the boy turned and entered the shadows of the trees and vanished from sight.

  “That was him...” Brei whispered, still in shock. “It was your—” Her voice trailed off as she couldn’t bring herself to complete the sentence.

  “It was H’aaztre,” Jegra said, finishing Brei’s sentence for her.

  “It was your son,” Brei said, touching Jegra’s arm.

  Jegra pulled away and shot Brei a glare so frigid Brei withdrew her hand and cautiously eased back.

  “My son,” Jegra assured, “is dead.”

  Brei lowered her gaze and bit her tongue. It was clear that Jegra needed some space right now and even as she had the best intentions, she realized that she was only inserting herself where she didn’t belong.

  The empress spun around and marched back toward the encampment. Brei, growing anxious as she stood there all alone, looked back at the far end of the glade and gulped hard. Feeling unnerved by the immense silence that seemed to permeate this place, she slowly turned away and then trailed after the empress.

  “Wait for me,” she called out, walking as fast as her wobbly legs could carry her.

  24

  Aldebaran’s edges glowed like a golden halo as the alien sun passed behind it. The morning rays lit up the terrain of the planet and, stretching, Brei’Alas stepped out of the barracks and into the light.

  As she stretched, her unfastened uniform parted slightly, revealing the navy blue of her chest underneath. She yawned and then looked around for any familiar faces. It was no secret, after what she’d seen last night, she was worried about Jegra.

  She tracked down Grendok who was behind the counter in the mess hall serving Cambrios eggs and Te’lek
kian bacon strips to the grunts, scientists, and whoever else wanted a nice early morning breakfast.

  “Good morning, Lieutenant Brei’Alas!” Grendok said in his jovial tone. “Can I get you something to eat?”

  She shook her head. Brei couldn’t eat with a nervous knot in her stomach. “Maybe later, right now I’m looking for Jegra. Have you seen her?” she asked.

  Grendok shook his head. “Sorry, but she hasn’t shown herself today. Have you checked her prefab unit?”

  “I just came from there,” Brei replied. “The bed was made as though no one had slept in it.”

  Grendok shrugged. He had nothing more he could say that would help her. “Sorry, I don’t know what to tell you.”

  Brei looked over her shoulder to find a line of angry stares and realized that she’d unintentionally held up the line for far too long. “Sorry,” she murmured and then scurried off to continue her search for the empress.

  As she was about to exit the mess hall, she spotted Callestra eating by herself. Brei took in a deep breath and went over to her. “Excuse my intrusion, Vice Admiral, ma’am,” she said nervously. Callestra looked up and raised one finely painted eyebrow.

  “Are you here to offer me that massage?” asked Callestra, a sly grin forming on her lips.

  Brei shook her head, no.

  “Oh,” Callestra said, sounding dejected. “In that case, what do you want, Lieutenant?”

  “I am looking for the empress. Have you by any chance—”

  “No,” Callestra said, cutting Brei off. “I haven’t seen her.”

  “Oh, I see. Thanks,” she said, slowly backing away. “Sorry to have bothered you, ma’am.”

  Brei saluted and Callestra rolled her eyes and saluted back. Once Brei had scurried off, she went back to eating.

  Another twenty minutes went by and Brei started to grow increasingly worried that she couldn’t find Jegra anywhere. That’s when she decided to retrace their steps from last night.

  Although her memory was a little bit foggy from the wine, she eventually found the clearing they’d been standing in the previous evening. This time, however, she heard voices talking.

  Careful not to make a sound, she snuck up behind a tree and peered around the edge.

  “It was here where you saw him.”

  “Right over there,” Jegra said.

  “Alright then,” Emperor Dakroth said. “I’ll have my men plant charges over there just to be sure any multidimensional time pockets are collapsed when we blow this place.”

  Jegra raised her finger to her lips to silence him and then signaled with her hands that they weren’t alone. Dakroth glanced around and Brei ducked behind the tree trunk before either of them spotted her.

  Her heart raced in her chest and then she heard Jegra’s voice. “Lieutenant Brei’Alas, I can hear your heart thrumming from all the way over here. Take a deep breath and come out. It’s perfectly alright.”

  Brei did as ordered and stepped out from behind the tree. Dakroth looked over at her and smiled. She saluted.

  “It seems your shadow has caught up to you,” he said.

  “You be nice,” she laughed. “She’s a loyal officer and a fierce warrior. And I know she doesn’t look it, but she’s a veritable sex goddess.”

  “I see,” he said in the same blasé tone. “In that case, I’ll leave you to it.” He took his leave and passed by Brei, pausing briefly to look down at her from his shoulder. If Jegra was right, he thought, then this girl was full of surprises and he’d be keen to keep an interest in her.

  Before Brei knew it, Dakroth continued on his way without so much as offering a morning greeting or, for that matter, returning her salute. But as the emperor, he needn’t bother. So, she merely held herself at attention until he’d gone.

  “I don’t think he likes me very much,” she said timidly, watching Dakroth walk off.

  “Don’t take it personally,” Jegra said. “Unless you catch his fancy, he doesn’t bother with small fish.”

  Brei turned back toward the empress, who just stared at her with curious eyes. “So, you think I’m a sex goddess?”

  Jegra laughed. “When you need to be. The rest of the time, you’re a little peculiar. Yes, it’s true. But that’s why I love you.”

  “You love me?” Brei gasped.

  Jegra looked over at her and smiled. After a moment, she changed the subject and asked, “How may I help you, Lieutenant?” asked Jegra.

  “I was going to ask the same of you, your Excellency. After last night, I just wanted to make sure you were...you know...doing okay.”

  “I’m fine,” Jegra said curtly. She wasn’t fine, but she had to at least pretend to be. It was her duty, as empress, to be a symbol of hope and strength in these difficult times. Anything less and she wouldn’t consider herself fit to lead anyone, let alone be empress to a whole galaxy.

  Brei opened her mouth to say something more but Jegra was pretty much finished talking about last night.

  “I’ll be returning to the ship shorty, Lieutenant. You can accompany me there or stay down her and help assist Grendok’s team. They could use an officer to help lead them.”

  “Is that an order?” Brei asked harshly.

  Jegra shot her an exacting look but didn’t reprimand her. After rethinking it, Jegra answered, “Yes, it’s an order. Stay here, Lieutenant, until the work is completed and then report to me back aboard the Shard.”

  “Yes, Your Excellency,” Brei replied. She crossed her fist over her heart and bowed.

  Jegra touched the com-link on her wristband and said, “One to teleport up.”

  Almost immediately, golden rods of light surrounded her and, beneath the glowing shower of particles, her body began to break apart into hexagonal micro-packets of light. Holographic data packets that converted matter into energy and then reassembled that energy back into matter aboard the ship using Quantum Entanglement Buffers, or Quebs for short.

  After the empress had teleported away, Brei’Alas wiped a single tear that had slipped down her cheek and let out a deep sigh.

  “Ugh,” she groaned as she turned to hike back to the camp. She wasn’t looking forward to having to manage an entire team. She wasn’t exactly the most social person in the galaxy and expressing herself in any manner was never easy.

  But orders were orders, she told herself. And if the empress needed her space, then Brei would give it to her.

  She puffed up her chest and, with a bounce of confidence in her step, followed the dirt path back toward basecamp and said to herself, “Maybe I’ll take up that old goat's offer for some breakfast after all.”

  SIXTEEN HOURS LATER, Brei’Alas’s team finished planting the neutron bomb charges. She knew that this many neutron bombs detonating all at once could theoretically cause a black hole. And that was the whole point. Destroy Aldebaran at any cost.

  By adding a container of super-condensed antimatter at the core of the explosion, it would create the Heigl-Brocknalius effect whereby all the energy and pressure would reverse itself and implode, collapsing all that energy inward and creating a black hole.

  If that didn’t destroy the alien world, then she didn’t know what could. The black hole would then feed on the nearby star and grow larger over time, eventually gobbling up the entire solar system. But she wasn’t worried; they’d all be long gone before the explosion ever went off.

  Brei’Alas tapped her bracelet and opened a com-link. “Mr. Grendok, sir,” she called, “my team is ready to return to our ship now. Your transport will be arriving in ten minutes. I wish you all the best of luck.”

  A gruff yet jolly voice came back over the comm. “Thank you, my dear. And don’t you let the empress out of your sight...not for one moment. She’s grieving deeply and your well of optimism and warmth is exactly the soothing balm her wounded spirit needs right now.”

  “I’ll do my best, sir,” Brei replied.

  “I know, child. And may Pan forever watch over you.”

  “Yo
u too,” Brei replied.

  She tapped the button on her bracelet and the com-link cut out. She then turned to see her team gathering their things and allocating them to a central location in an open field. She shifted her posture, making sure it was something more confident and less “Jr Officer,” before strolling over to them.

  When she arrived back at the group, she heard gasps and hushed voices talking in excited, short sentences and she turned to find Vice Admiral Callestra Van Morgan and the Lord Emperor cutting across the open meadow as they made their way toward them.

  “Mind if we catch a ride with you, Lieutenant?” the emperor asked in a pleasant tone.

  Brei could tell he was putting on his best show for his people. After the cold reception she’d received earlier, she wasn’t too keen on being the ranking officer right about now. But it was her duty to answer him. Brei saluted, placing her right hand over her left breast, and bowed slightly, holding it for about eight seconds before rising back up.

  A bubbly smile on her face, she replied, “It would be our great honor to have you join us, Your Majesty.”

  He saluted her back this time, as did the Vice Admiral, and Brei turned away from them in order to let out a nervous sigh. It was bad enough that she always closed up tighter than an Angorian clam around the captain, but to be in the presence of both the Vice Admiral of the fleet and the Lord Emperor himself was too much for her nerves to take.

  As they stood in formation, waiting to be teleported up to the Shard, Brei fidgeted and kept glancing over at Emperor Dakroth. He finally noticed her about the third or fourth time she’d turned toward him, noting it seemed she had something that she desperately needed to get off her chest.

  “Lieutenant,” Callestra said, intervening on the emperor’s behalf. “Are you just going to stand there gawking or come out with it?”

  “Uh, yes, thank you, Vice Admiral.” She looked at Dakroth, her eyebrows arched in a worried expression on her face.

  “See, the thing is...I slept with your wife. What I mean is, technically speaking, she seduced me. But we fucked. Actually, we’ve fucked three times. And there’s no denying that there’s some sort of connection there. I just wanted to apologize and say it won’t happen again...” she trailed off and looked up to find two astonished faces staring back at her.