“This might be Admiral Roth,” he said, flicking on the communicator. “Incoming vessels. This is Lord Erama of the Phalamkian Defense Forces, currently acting under the authority of the Felarias Defense Network. Do you read me?”
“Lord Erama,” a familiar voice replied. “This is Admiral Roth. I read you loud and clear.”
“It’s good to hear your voice, Admiral. I take it you’re here to offer your assistance?”
“I was,” Roth replied. “Although you appear to have things well in order.”
“Yes,” Erama replied. “We had a trick the enemy didn’t know about. It... well, you can see what it did for yourself.”
“I saw it. Electron shockwave charges,” Roth said. “When they detonate, they trigger two consecutive expanding radiation waves. The first ionizes the components of every ship in its path, turning them into enormous electrical circuits, while the second is a wave of electrical energy that runs through these circuits, frying all the componentry and electrocuting everyone on board. Which is rather nasty when you think about it but highly effective.”
Lord Erama exchanged a staggered look with Chief Commander Cyraes. “How did you know all that?”
“There are schematics for such a weapon in the Federation military archives,” Roth replied.
Lord Erama smiled as something clicked in place. “The Federation used it in the final campaign against the Levarc Throneworld. Crown Prince Kaeratak’s Dreadnought. The Throneworld’s planetary shield generators. That was how you did it.”
“I am not at liberty to either confirm or deny that, Lord Erama.”
Lord Erama nodded. “Of course. And officially?”
“All production and development on the weaponry ceased shortly after the introduction of dual layered shielding, as it couldn’t penetrate that type of shielding. Even when it was heavily weakened.”
“That’s true,” Lord Erama said. “Also, the weaponry is somewhat cumbersome and consumes a lot of energy as well. It did what it was meant to do though but I intend to remove it as soon as I get back to Felarias. Although, perhaps I should wait until we can measure how serious the Levarc threat is first.”
“Then you can discard it whenever you wish,” Admiral Roth replied. “There is no Levarc threat.”
“What do you mean?”
“Allow me to show you,” Admiral Roth said. “Join me in the main hangar of the nearest vessel. My men will go aboard first and put up some portable lighting before you arrive. I believe some of your companions might also be interested in seeing this as well.”
On the deck of one of the stricken Levarc ships, Lord Erama took in a deep breath. He looked at the bodies of men Admiral Roth’s troops had found in other parts of the ship and had brought down to the hangar. The obviously human bodies.
“Minstrahn?” he asked, just to be certain.
The admiral nodded.
Several meters away, Alia was pacing about the deck and shaking her head. “Lies upon lies upon lies,” she muttered.
“So these people just found some abandoned Levarc Dreadnoughts lying around?” Admiral Garam asked. “That was convenient for them, wasn’t it?”
Admiral Kalae looked at the bodies that had been brought down and turned away. “Or not, considering where it got them.”
“True,” Garam agreed. “All this work for nothing. Although the modifications were probably fairly minimalist. A few adjustments in the bridge to allow humanoids to comfortably operate the various systems and the rest of it would have been restoration work to get the ships running again. But, as Laila Casdan observed, they were being flown by skeleton crews.”
“So it was no wonder they weren’t able to utilize these ships to the same capacity that their original Levarc owners did,” Admiral Kalae remarked.
“Where did they find these ships in the first place, though?” Garam wondered. “That’s what I’d like to know.”
Nearby, Laila’s Levarc engineer Chaelak offered a suggestion. “Around three hundred years ago, there was a group of Levarc who broke away from the original kingdom, and for a long time, my people have wondered what became of them. I think today, we have been given some clue.”
“So they all died somehow, leaving their ships intact?” Garam asked.
“They all died,” Chaelak said, “but not before leaving these ships as you may think. When King Saeravak took the Levarc throne by force, denying his nephew Prince Araakheil his birthright, the prince took these ships away with the sole intent of forging new territory for himself elsewhere. The fact that he left ships of even the Dreadnought class abandoned suggests one hypothesis to me and one hypothesis only. Whether through illness or injury, Prince Araakheil died unexpectedly. Then, following a custom that I suspect is peculiar only to our people, his followers transferred to as few as ships as possible and made a blind jump to lightspeed from which they did not intend to emerge.”
Garam frowned. “What do you mean?”
“They would travel until they either died of starvation, killed each other in the throes of madness or ploughed through a star.”
For a moment, everyone was speechless.
“That’s horrible,” Admiral Kalae managed at last.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” Chaelak replied.
“Do you understand the custom?”
Chaelak was aware that his wife Thaseil and his nephew Kalaer were watching him. He contemplated the question. “I understand it but I don’t condone it.”
“And now three hundred years later, some Minstrahn upstart found the ships they left behind and caused all this trouble,” Admiral Garam said, changing the subject of the conversation.
“Yes,” Chaelak agreed. “However, it appears that the trouble is over.”
While this discussion continued, Laila Casdan quietly stepped to Admiral Roth’s side. “You know where Lord Ilian and the others found these ships, don’t you?”
“Well, you were there when we discussed it,” Roth replied. “General Kellahav obtained the location from the leader of the Basilisk pirates. We just didn’t know what the Basilisks had really stumbled on when I sent my team out to confirm the location. Anyway, we should know for certain shortly.”
“How did Lord Ilian get the location off the Basilisks, by the way?”
Roth smiled. “That was actually a piece of work. When he found out they had Levarc weaponry, he offered to pay them a large sum of money if they told him where they found it and he arranged to do this on a quarantined world outside the Minstrahn borders. When his ships arrived, their ships were already on the surface and he bombarded them so they couldn’t take off. Then rather than paying them for the information, he told them that if they didn’t tell him what he wanted to know, he’d leave them stranded there. They cooperated of course, not having any choice, and Lord Ilian informed them that he would come back and pick them up once he had confirmed the location.”
“And then he just left them there?” Laila asked.
“Well, the location turned out to be genuine,” Roth explained with a shrug, “so once Lord Ilian had what he wanted, he didn’t need them anymore. Also, by leaving them stranded, he didn’t have to worry about them telling anyone what he was doing.”
“So he and Lord Admiral Calendres could then tow away ships at their leisure,” Laila said. “And have the other ships they took been accounted for as well? Because I notice you’re not hurrying back.”
“You notice a lot, Laila. Yes, all the ships have been accounted for. Three of them attacked Minstrah but we had some assistance there in dealing with them.”
“Did the other Minstrahn quadrant fleets send reinforcements?”
Roth shook his head. “No. The assistance came from a different origin entirely. A Harskan task force.”
Laila nodded. That was the reason Drackson had left the Harpy after all. To rally his people. However, the fact that they had arrived at the right place at the exact right time was nothing short of miraculous. Maybe, as the Minstrahn woul
d say in situations like this, fortune really was smiling on them.
“And are they still in the Minstrah system?”
“They are,” Roth assured her. “You’ll be able to meet with them before they leave, I’m sure.”
“Good,” Laila murmured. She shook her head again. “You know, Lord Ilian really strung us along with this Levarc connection of his.”
“He strung many people along,” Roth told her. “Even some of his own people. At first, he was content with using the ships and other equipment that he found without making up any cover stories to explain it. Then Knight Admiral Alenski must have begun wondering where it all came from so he told him that he was making a deal with the Levarc in exchange for it. Then I think Alenski started questioning him and in order to pull him into line, Lord Ilian changed the story again, this time telling him that the deal with the Levarc was put in place so the Levarc wouldn’t make any overt moves against the Minstrahn.”
“He threatened him in other words, then?”
Roth shrugged. “More or less. Alenski told me that in Ilian’s words, their very survival depended on the Levarc deal.”
Laila nodded. “Dramatic. Hyperbolic. Yes, that sounds like the Lord Ilian we’ve all come to know and love.”
“Indeed. Then after that, when he was captured, he started playing that tune with us as well as it distracted us from what he was really up to. All in all, it was a tremendous performance. And not just from him, but from Lord Admiral Calendres and Lady Valinski as well. Had they kept to theatre, the Minstrahn Empire would have been a richer place for it.”
“I don’t know,” Laila said. “In a way, it was theatre. It’s just that the three of them needed a larger stage for their show.”
Roth nodded. “They found one then.”
“One thing’s still a little unclear though. I don’t know how Lord Ilian worked out that he could play that Levarc angle with us. And he started that as soon as he was captured, when he insinuated that it was the Levarc who had taken down all the long-range communication relays. As far as I can tell, there was no way at the time he could have known that we knew about the Levarc connection.”
“You don’t know?” Admiral Roth asked, giving her an odd look. “I’m sure a woman of your intelligence can reason that one out. However, perhaps I can start you on the right track. You see, I’m afraid, like her sister Lyla, Carla’s much too nice to play subterfuge.”
Laila frowned. “Aleida.”
Roth smiled encouragingly. “Go on.”
“When Carla was on her ship, she said she was probing Aleida for information. So while Carla was probing her, Aleida must have been quietly probing her back. Then when Carla mentioned that the Minstrahn didn’t have a lot of good weapons for sabotage operations, Aleida worked out that Carla was fishing for information on the Levarc weapons Ilian and the others had been using. So before she and Ilian were put in their separate rooms on the Harpy, she must have tipped him off.” Laila shook her head. “That bitch was smarter than I thought.”
Roth chuckled. “My people did tell you.”
Laila gave him a look of mock annoyance. “Doesn’t anything slip past you?”
“Not if I can possibly avoid it,” Roth replied. “However, they were just doing their job. I always ask my people to be thorough when they make a report.”
“How thorough?” Laila asked, not entirely convinced.
“Just enough. Nothing intimate gets passed on, I assure you.”
“I should hope not.”
Roth chuckled again.
“Now, what?” Laila asked.
He shook his head. “Forgive me, Laila, but I was just thinking you’re much more like your daughter Alia than you may think.”
20. Many Farewells
The sun was setting over the canyon settlements of Felarias when Chief Commander Cyraes took Maia out in his personal ship to see her world.
“You didn’t get a good look at Felarias when you were here last,” he explained as Maia watched the landscapes racing past below them. “So while those weapons are being removed from your father’s ships and everyone’s getting ready to leave, I want to show you something.”
“What are we looking at?” Maia asked, frowning.
“I thought seeing your mother’s world with your own eyes must have been something of a shock,” Cyraes said. “However, it’s not as bad as you may think.”
“But you all live in that tiny part of the northern continent,” Maia pointed out.
Cyraes smiled. “We live there because it’s home. We moved there in the wake of the Levarc assault, and once we settled there, we just got comfortable. It’s not easy to move an entire people, you know.”
“But where would you move? This is all lifeless wasteland.”
At this, her uncle laughed. “My dear Maia! Did your mother raise you to be a cynic? That’s exactly what I’m trying to show you. Look carefully. The Levarc didn’t raze this world as they did several others. They weren’t interested in us. They just wanted to make sure we weren’t a threat to them before they moved on.”
Maia nodded and then, immediately afterwards, shook her head. “I still don’t get it. What am I looking at?”
“It looks brown from orbit, and it’s probably hard to see in the dark, but...”
“Ah. The ground is covered with shrubbery.”
“Exactly. It’s not a surface of lush green vegetation yet but the ecology is slowly recovering.”
“But it’ll take decades before it reaches anything resembling normal ground cover though,” Maia said.
“True,” Cyraes agreed. “However, you’ve only seen half the story.”
“Half the story?” Maia asked.
“Literally. You see, when you came in, you only saw half the planet.”
Maia realized it was getting brighter outside the cockpit. “We’re heading to the dayside?”
Cyraes smiled. “We’re heading to the dayside. Have a look.”
Maia did. She saw islands dotting a light blue sea, surrounded by shallow reefs. She saw lush rainforest climbing up rocky pinnacles shrouded in mist, and great birds circling around the peaks. Then they flew over another continental landmass and she saw graceful animals leaping and bounding over grasslands dotted by trees, along with large beasts that towered over the landscape, occasionally grazing from those trees. When she saw these giants, she knew she was looking at the peaceful Laeshar her mother had told her about as a child.
In the distance, the grass gave way to temperate forests, climbing up foothills from which blue glacier-fed streams trickled, and up above them were the awe-inspiring features that crowned so many worlds, mighty snow-capped mountains.
As they approached the edge of the continent and the night side, Cyraes brought the ship down to land. They were next to a beach and it was dusk.
“Come on,” he said as he opened the hatch. “I want to show you something.”
“I often come here alone,” Cyraes told Maia as they walked across the beach. “And dusk is a wonderful time for it.”
As they neared the water, he motioned for her to stay still and look out beyond the waves breaking on the shore.
Maia had to watch for a little while before she could see what she was supposed to be looking for but when she did, she clasped her hands and cried tears of joy.
“Deltines,” she said as she saw the pretty mammals leaping above the breakers, their wet grayish skin shimmering in the oranges and reds of the fading light against a crimson and blue sky behind them.
She turned to her uncle. “They’re as beautiful as Mother said.”
Cyraes smiled. “I thought you would like to see that. Of course, I don’t expect you to leave everything behind and live here on Felarias just because your mother’s people are still here. You have a family in Lord Erama and Selina, a fine partner in Zak and your home is among the worlds of the Frontier. But you are the daughter of my sister, and your father was perhaps the closest friend I ever had. You will alw
ays be welcome here. However, I wanted you to see this because I think it is important for you to know that your mother’s world wasn’t destroyed. And the beauty she spoke of to you is still here to be seen. One day, Felarias will be whole again.”
By the time Maia returned to the Harpy, everyone was ready to go.
“Did your uncle say anything about what they’re going to do with those Levarc Dreadnoughts?” Selina asked her.
Maia shrugged. “I think that’s something he and Father are going to work out, along with establishing more formal ties between Felarias and the Frontier worlds. But we didn’t talk about that.”
Selina sensed the fact that her sister didn’t want to mention something personal in front of the rest of her squadron so she didn’t press the issue. She’d find out later anyway. “Fair enough. Well, come on in and get comfortable. We’re heading back to Minstrah.”
“That’s right,” Asten said. “Drackson’s waiting for us with a massive armada of Harskan ships at his command.”
Selina gave him a playful slap on the arm. “All right. Come and help me on the bridge.” She gave Ja’is a knowing look. “And Maia, I believe Ja’is was just in the middle of an informal debriefing if you want to find out what all your pilots were doing while you and Zak were away.”
“Great,” Maia nodded. She then looked around the mess hall with a slightly disappointed expression. “Oh. Have Captain Fera and his squadron gone already?”
“Yeah, they’re all heading back to the Frontier,” Zak said. “The job’s done and I don’t know if the Empress could entertain all of us on Minstrah. Carla and her family’ll be there though.”
When they reached the Minstrah system, the scene that awaited them could have been mistaken for the most heavily populated world in either the Federation or the Harskan Sector. There were two Minstrahn assault cruisers and twelve patrol cruisers, along with the Annihilator and nine Federation Class-A Cruisers, and then there was the Harskan task force they had all heard about, with fifteen capital warships.
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