“You can do that?” Vitokk looked impressed, but Vonsse frowned.
“Getting there isn’t the issue. Finding a safe place to land is. I can think of nowhere safe enough for a landing of a light craft that won’t pose additional dangers or is not directly inside the prison complex.”
“If we can cloak a barge carrier then we might be able to load it with supplies needed to build a larger base that can navigate the lagoons,” Julian suggested.
“A barge carrier is going to be too slow, even cloaked,” Re’geya noted.
“Not to mention the complications once we reach the lagoons themselves,” added Vonsse. “Unless you’ve got a trick up your sleeve, even the fastest known assembly would leave a whole lot of people vulnerable for far too long.”
“Okay hang on,” Ellie said, setting aside her dish. “Aren’t we supposed to be coming up with a plan of attack? I don’t see why we can’t do that now, here, while in this room, and then decide on a time to implement our strike. In all honesty, I want to spend as little time prior to our ambush on the planet as possible.”
From the other side of the room, a Fhasmyrric stood and approached the table where Vonsse stood.
“Permission to explain why this action would not be prudent.”
Like Mikk, he was dressed in the coverings of a Valwyn farmer, but instead of the wide-brimmed shielding hat, he wore a light visor of gold reflective material over his eyes. When he turned to the side, his hair moved in just the right way for Ellie to notice the Paisreatta crest tattooed just behind his ear. Interesting, given that he wore the badge of the Universal Protectorate on his sleeve.
“By all means,” Vonsse said with a nod, stepping back to give the man the floor.
“With all due respect, Eidyn Master, we are facing an ever-changing threat, made even more unpredictable by the evidence of disintegration tech. While the plan we have is sound, there is a less than five percent chance that it will happen without complications. We will need to be able to adapt at a moment’s notice. We’ll need an ally on the planet. Preferably one outside the city.” He turned to Mikk, who froze suddenly, dripping meat poised halfway between her plate and mouth. Her eyes, which had gone wide, as if she suddenly remembered something very important, met his in an unspoken communication.
“We need the Merata.”
Chapter 21
“I’m pretty sure fairytales can’t help us,” said Vitokk, earning him a glare from Mikk.
“No, no. We are not going to discuss the tales,” she said, shaking her head and waving her arms about in a way that peppered herself and the sleeping luk at her feet with the sticky orange sauce from her meal.
“Okay, why did you bring up the Merata if not to ask for a wish?”
Mikk rolled her eyes, sighing heavily. Between the dramatic gesture and the spot of orange sauce on her cheek, it was difficult to see her as the full grown, middle aged woman she was and not a hyperactive tween. “You mistake my words, which is no surprise. You likely left before the tales became forbidden within the Wrn prefectures. Too many young men had risked their lives for the chance to meet the wish granting maidens of the sea.”
“You have mermaid stories?” Ellie asked.
“Not quite,” Vitokk said with a grimace. “These Merata ain’t the fish-tailed ladies with the beseashelled ta-tas you’re thinking about.”
“Vitokk speaks of the fabled women who live below the water. According to legend, to become a Merata, one must kill her husband and use his blood as a sacrifice to the sea gods. They are then given shelter in the underground city, which always has fresh clean air. It is told that any man who is willing to risk the dangerous waterways in search of the hidden city is to be granted one wish.”
“Uh, if they killed their husbands, why would they grant the wishes of men?” Ellie asked, thoroughly confused, not just by the story, but what it had to do with their current situation.
“The thinking is that any man willing to risk life and limb to reach their underwater sanctuary is made of better stuff than the yo-yos they offed,” Vitokk answered. “Personally, I’m thinking that part of the tale was tacked on later by some guy who got his panties in a twist over the fact that the story spins them in an unflattering light.”
“And it does for a reason,” Mikk added as she did her best to clean the luk’s sticky fur before he woke up and did so himself. “Fhasmyr has a terribly patriarchal history, some of which lingers today. But we have no time now for stories. Vesparall means for me to make contact with the true Merata.”
“And these are women who live in the water?” Ellie asked, more than a little incredulous.
“There exists a submerged city in the eastern lagoons of the Bald Headed Sea,” Mikk said with a casualness that was not matched by the glint of mischief in her eyes. “Though I can assure you, t’was science that built the life walls, not blood magic or sacrifice. There are both men and women, but mostly women. Any man who seeks his wish and survives the lagoon with his life will find himself imprisoned unless he can prove his worth.”
“Okay, but honestly, what does this have to do with anything?”
“A lot more than I thought,” Vitokk said with a look at Mikk. “So I’m guessing Oravaschaeal wasn’t your first choice of refuge?”
Mikk’s face flushed. “I was in communication with the Abi-Merata prior to the eve of adulthood, yes, but my plan was never to live among them.”
“Oh?”
“The idea of living deep in the belly of the sea terrifies me. More even than these subterranean cities of Korghetia. The Abi-Merata was the one who set me a meeting with the Paisreatta of Oravaschaeal.”
“Have you had contact since?” Vitokk asked. “Do you even know if the Abi is the same one who helped you?”
“No,” Mikk admitted. “I have not risked contact since the taking of Fhasmyr.”
“I have,” Vesparall said in a small voice. Though his eyes were covered by the visor, it was obvious by his slump in posture they were downcast. “Conissall is still Abi-Merata, but she grows old. Were an exploratory party sent, I would ask permission to accompany."
Mikk’s expression flickered between sympathy and worry.
“If the Abi is weak, she will not be with the guard. We may be denied audience.”
“On the contrary,” he said, lifting his head and removing the visor, revealing eyes of a metallic chartreus color brimming with the threat of tears. Turning his head, Vesparall pointed to a raised bump, barely noticeable until it was pointed out, just in front of his right ear. “Mother made certain all of her children received the aural transceiver prior to her exile from Allwrn.”
Oddly, Vesparall’s revelation didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow from any of the SiFa natives present, but all of the Eidyn, including Julian and her father turned a curious eye. Gri was the one who spoke first.
“Forgive the sudden scrutiny, your majesty,” he said with a respectful bow. “It is simply that your aural implant is similar in design to a method of communication used by certain designations of Eidyssic governance, myself included. It is a bit esoteric even for us, so yours comes as a bit of a shock.”
“Andryvessa was not the first of your people to ignore the rule of noninvolvement. Ours is a long and sordid history in the minor system,” Vesparall replied with a frown of displeasure. “However, despite my name, I am not royalty. I am a proud member of the Paisreatta.”
“I see.” Gri nodded, lost in contemplation. “Forgive my assumption of title, Vesparall. Are you willing to speak to the Abi on our behalf?”
“I am,” he replied with a stiff affirmation. “If I may have use of a shielded chamber?”
“By all means,” Gri said with a smile as he led the man down the hallway, deeper into the mountainside.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Ellie turned to Mikk, who had finally finished eating and cleaned up.
“Do you truly think the Merata will be able to help us?”
“Yes, and no,” Mikk
replied, giving a shrug. “Like the Paisreatta, the Merata have no love for the SiFa Cooperative. Were it simply a matter of helping to restore our previous societal structure, then no, they would refuse and rightly so. But the Merata, while tough, are no monsters. They have no tolerance for oppression.”
The answer didn’t really give Ellie a lot of confidence. Especially as she herself was unsure exactly what it was they were fighting for. Freedom from the oppression of the Empire was all well and good, but if she was required to spend any length of time in the newly liberated Alliance, especially in a position of political power, she had every intention of letting the leaders know exactly how she felt about a good many of their practices.
Within a few moments, Vesparall returned and stood silently against the wall, waiting for the individual conversations to hush. Vitokk cleared his throat loudly to expedite the process. When everyone silenced, Gri motioned for Vesparall to speak.
“I will be allowed entrance to the city,” he said in a husky voice. Ellie noticed the visor was again in place, likely to hide the evidence of emotions that shadowed his voice. “A guard will be stationed at the Mudfeet headway. I am to accompany my be—um,” he cut off with an embarrassed cough. “I am to accompany Lady Meioak, Eidyn Master, and the Earthling Bethany. Once we’ve reached the city, we will establish a secure line of communication to our satellite base on Cald.”
“Now wait just one moment,” Vonsse cut in, bristling at the unspoken implications. “I’m not leaving the most dangerous part of this mission to only four of you.”
“Three,” Vesparall corrected. “As conditional of my assistance, I am to stay with my mother and establish the command center. It would not do for a male who knows the location of the Merata city to potentially leak this information to the ruling class, even if he is the bastard son of a corrupted royal and has lived in exile himself for the last thirty-seven years.”
“At least take Yuraelli.”
“We can’t spare any pilots,” Mikk said, taking a head count. “As it is, there are far fewer of you than I would feel absolutely comfortable with, but you needn’t worry about us,” she added, standing tall as she nodded to Ellie and Bethany. “I am looking forward to the aftermath of the SiFa citizens discovering their liberation came at the hands of three capable women.”
“Right,” Bethany added, tilting the bill of her cap to the side before crossing her arms in a stance befitting an old school rapper more than a soldier. “Let’s get this princess rebellion started.”
“Princess rebellion?” Ellie asked with a smirk.
“I’m from Queens.” Bethany heaved a shrug. “It counts.”
“Okay, so what’s our plan then?” Ellie turned to Mikk. “You mentioned taking the capital city from the inside. How exactly are the three of us supposed to do that?”
“They’re using our own citadel walls against us.” Mikk took the floor, placing her own computer on the table. A map of the capital appeared before her. She pointed to the perimeter surrounding the city. “These towers control the frequencies meant to keep the native animals from rampaging and attacking. The Huptsovians have figured out that they can also set the inner wall to emit a painful frequency for those who get too close. This is also what allows communication to the satellite stations and guard ships stationed in orbit. Our job will be to disable the communication frequencies and reprogram the perimeter to once again only keep the local fauna out.”
“And how are we supposed to do that if we can’t get close to the towers?” Bethany asked. “I take it blowing ‘em up or shooting ‘em down ain’t on the agenda if we still need to keep out the space bears and whatnot.”
“That’s the easy part,” Mikk replied. “Once we’re in the city, I have codes, given to me as a member of the high royal family, to override the towers. Once communication is jammed, we can contact our base and get the fighters out there into position. From there, we ambush from the ground.”
“That’s the easy part?” Ellie asked. Getting through the perimeter and into the castle seemed difficult enough, but coordinating a strike on the base with only two pilots sounded impossible. “What’s the difficult part?”
“Getting from the Merata’s city to the capital. Pulse travel is nearly impossible on Fhasmyr unless you know the area rather well. We’ll need a sturdy transport and shelter.”
“Exactly how long will we be traveling once we reach the surface?”
“Two or three days.”
“Okay hold up,” Bethany cut in. “Exactly what kind of shelter are we going to be able to carry with us that will keep us safe out in the Fhasmyrric wilderness for three days? I’ve been in some hellish conditions before, but predictable hellish conditions.”
Mikk zoomed in on the map and began drawing over the lagoon system.
“If we stick to the waterways, we will be safe from the larger forest dwelling creatures. Also, your newly acquired armor will go far in protecting us, Ellie. I promise you both, while we may encounter obstacles, I am confident in our survival.”
“It will be assured.”
Ellie turned to where Julian stood, arms folded as he studied Mikk’s map, and raised her eyebrows.
“You can’t go with us. We won’t be allowed into the city of the Merata.”
“I do not wish to defy the request of the Abi-Merata,” he explained. “But I can ignore the call of the Kyroibi for only so long while we are in a state of danger. I will meet your party for the journey to the capital city.”
Internally, Ellie was relieved. If Julian was capable of surviving being jettisoned into outer space, surely there was nothing on Fhasmyr that could do worse. At least, she hoped. But more than that, she had one less worry. As long as they were together, Julian could not disobey a direct order and fly off to Ia’na Eidyn to kick start the robot apocalypse.
“Is this allowed?” Ellie asked Mikk.
“It is appreciated, but I’m afraid we only have one ship capable of proper evasive tactics and we’re not going to have a chance to drop you off before heading to the rendezvous.”
“Then at least allow me to present a distraction,” Julian insisted.
“I assure you, if we were in need of a distraction, I’d abort the mission. I’m afraid we must work quickly and stealthily and that means not arising suspicions with a distraction.”
“Very well,” Julian said with obvious displeasure. “Then I shall join the number of pilots awaiting the signal to begin the airstrike.”
“Okay then,” Ellie said, pushing through the ominous feeling Mikk’s words created. “We should leave as soon as possible. Leadership is giving us ten days before they arrest me.”
“No one is going to arrest you, Ellie.”
Richard’s words were spoken with conviction and a hint of underlying anger. “I mean it. What your mother said was inexcusable. That any of the leaders think they can make demands of that which they know nothing about is some sort of hubris that flies in the face of restoring peace.”
“I agree with Sir Richard,” Gri added. “Few, if any, your mother included, I suspect, would uphold such a threat. But let me also add that I am encouraged that as the true master of the Kyroibi, your first instinct was not to immediately reach out to the weapon under your command. I myself do not know even a fraction of the secrets of the ancients, but I understand the difference between a well-planned attempt for peace and a last resort.”
As Gri spoke, Ellie noted both Julian and her father wore odd expressions, as if something he said triggered a memory, but not a pleasant one.
“Let’s just worry about liberating the planet without casualty,” she said with a tight smile as she temporarily dismissed the odd behavior. “I’ve got a feeling peace and equality are going to require a whole lot more than overthrowing the Empire.”
“Very well,” Gri went on, noticing the sudden tension in her voice. “I suggest we now coordinate the actual strike. Again, we will need to take down the fighters with minimal casualty. Pendren?
I believe you have trapping nets that can be used?”
“There are special nets that will work in open space,” Pendren replied with a nod. “My rangers will work in tandem with the fighters. If we set up teams, we can herd the imperial fighters into the traps and pulse them back to Sonna. With the distraction from the ground and lack of coordinated communication, I feel this will be one of the easier parts of the plan.”
“Right then. I suppose I will need to establish a base of communications on Cald,” Vonsse noted with thinly veiled displeasure at having to stay so far from the planet.
“Now, hang on a sec,” Vitokk said, frowning as he thought through the plan. “I know this is your ballgame, brother dear, but I think it might be in everyone’s best interest if I manned the switchboard on Cald.”
“You?” Vonsse’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “Do you even know how to coordinate an airstrike?”
“You don’t get to run a business in a place like New York without knowing how to juggle a dozen different vendors, distributors, and whatnot. Besides, we both know I ain’t exactly a skilled pilot, so what else would I be doing? This way you get to be out there doing what you do best, which is leading.”
“If your skills haven’t much improved since our youth, I’m inclined to agree,” Vonsse said, unable to keep his lips from twitching upwards into a smile. “Then it is settled. I shall helm one of the strike teams.”
“We will need to leave no later than hour one, universal,” Mikk informed her group. “That gives us just enough time to pack the necessary supplies and catch a bit of sleep.” She turned back to Vonsse and gestured at the stack of now empty takeout containers. “If you would not mind, please place another meal order from wherever you got this. I want our last proper meal to be a good one if we’re going to have to live off supps.”
“Supps?” Ellie asked.
The Princess Rebellion (The Kyroibi Trilogy Book 2) Page 19
