Blood for the Empress: Part One of the Empress Trilogy

by Lon Varnadore

  "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kesh said. "Alcrest isn't that far from Gherl. There are probably news alerts—"

  "Alcrest is a bit more backwater than Gherl. They don't even have a full spaceport. Had to trek in on foot. I doubt that we are in much danger," Jonica said.

  "Don't you think this is a bit too convenient? Suddenly, Lyra sees her sister and knows where she is?"

  Jonica pulled him closer, away from Lyra. "Yes, of course it's weird. Still, her powers are growing. It could be that her sister is here."

  "How did she escape the Empress then?" Kesh asked.

  "We can ask her when we see her," Lyra said with an innocent smile.

  "Are you listening in?" Kesh asked.

  "No," Lyra said with a smile. "That isn't nice, you told me that."

  "Good, I think," Kesh said. He turned back to Lyra, "Something doesn't smell right. I think Blue and I should come towards the meeting point from a different road."

  Jonica nodded. "Good idea. Don't want what happened on Europa to happen again."

  Kesh gave a whistle, and Blue hunkered down so he could mount the scytheclaw. "See you at the spot," he said. He turned and gave a "Giddy up," and the scytheclaw bolted down an alleyway.

  Torvash looked at Kern across the gap of the alley. "Are you sure this will work?" He asked through his comm.

  "Of course. Humans are easily manipulated. If Lyra thinks that her sister is here, she won't be thinking rationally."

  "She's gained more access to her powers?" Torvash asked, swallowing hard.

  "That is why we have the Rahl," Kern said. She flicked her head towards the twenty men and women who wore the dark blue armor with the white skull helms of the Rahl. Their bodies were covered in the thin, lightweight, but tough armor. Their hands held small blasters or lengths of metal, stun batons that would knock someone out forcefully. Kern looked over her troops. "This is a recovery. Don't do any permanent damage to the girl with dark hair. The young man and the woman with white hair, do what you will."

  There was a nervous fellow in the colors of a militia captain standing by Torvash. "Excuse me, madame. I was given instructions by the mayor to—"

  Kern rounded on the man. She grabbed his high collar and pulled him close. "The Empress will soon rule all of Sol. Your mayor knows this and has helped us. Do you wish to be on the bad side of him, myself, and the Empress, ever may she reign?"

  A half-second later, the militia man repeated the last four words, as did the five Alcrest militia men who had come with the Rahl to secure this sector of the city.

  Torvash felt revulsion in at Kern's words. How have I come to this? There was something that he couldn't touch, something that was wrong about the entire scenario. The Empress was all, ever may she reign. He looked at the way the militia men quaked and shivered near the Rahl soldiers. Something was very wrong. He gritted his teeth, banishing the image of a dying storyteller. After his visit to Rigel III, his Empress was growing more and more unstable. Or maybe that is how I am seeing her more and more, seeing her truly for the first time?

  He rested the back of his head on the wall, his carbine cradled in his arms as he waited. He looked across at Kern. He couldn't figure her out. She was duty personified, but she also would rut with him like an animal and smile about it. It didn't torture her like it did him.

  I can have sex and not worry about it, she had said. My life is for the Empress, ever may she reign. Once I gave myself over to her, what I do with this vessel doesn't matter.

  Torvash cracked his jaw with a yawn, turning to glance at the alley wall. He saw the various paper handbills advertising wanted criminals, art festivals, and the like. Ganymede wasn't a planet controlled by the Empress. It didn't have the same regulations. And there was something freeing about it. He liked the city of Alcrest. He took in the thick smog of the city, the crowded buildings, and the press of people. This city had life to it. There was a smell of brine in the air, even this far inland, and it made Torvash smile.

  These people were free, something he would never be. He was as Kern had said, a vessel of the Empress. Ever may she reign.

  "Collector Torvash, Lieutenant Kern," a male Rahl soldier's broke through the comms. "We have spotted the scytheclaw and the girl. They are closing in on the alleyway."

  Torvash grunted a response, stood up, and gave a hand signal to his half of the squad. Kern gave him a curt nod and readied her group of troops.

  The trap itself was simple. Somehow, the Empress was able to make this Lyra think her sister was waiting for her. The Rahl would bait the trap, using one of their strange abilities given to them by the Empress. Torvash pushed back the chill running down his spine when a volunteer morphed into a girl that looked much like Lyra except older and walked out to greet Lyra and the rebels. Torvash took a deep breath, waiting for the group to move into the trap parameters. The lizard would be the hardest thing.

  That was when he noticed the cat that was in the white-haired woman's arms. It twitched and looked right at Torvash. The white-haired woman stopped and screamed, "It's a trap!"

  And that was when the scytheclaw attacked.

  Twenty-Eight

  Jonica felt herself twitch. The Flash in her blood made her hands shake against the stock of the rifle. The low hum of the plasma battery caused a pain that grew in her head following Lyra. She ground her teeth to stop from saying something. Meph was already giving her eyes. Like I can't handle this.

  You cannot.

  Can too!

  How are you going to use it? The rifle requires two hands, human.

  "Shut up!" She snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

  Lyra looked at her. "Jonica, are you—"

  "I'm fine," Jonica said, taking a deep breath. "Let's get you to your sister."

  Jonica, I do not sense—

  You stop it right now. You've been wrong before. You don't know everything!

  Very well, human, Meph said. She felt him curl up in the pack by her side and shut off the link between himself and the rest.

  "What did you do to—"

  Jonica saw a young woman, much like Lyra standing in the intersection of the alleyways. "Isn't that your sister?" She pointed, making the younger girl look away from her. Jonica's finger shook violently. Her left hand was still in pain, but the Flash was helping her ignore most of it.

  "There is something wrong," Lyra said.

  "Nonsense, I'm sure—"

  Jonica stopped when there was a sudden blast from Meph. It is a trap! That is not a human!

  As Meph said that, Jonica saw the youthful girl turn to look at Lyra and start to melt into a Rahl soldier.

  "Trap!"

  Kesh jerked backwards as something slammed into his mind. It was a warning from Meph. He looked up to see the woman that had a moment ago been Lyra's sister change. Her form melted and reshaped itself until it was a lean, hard-looking woman in dark blue armor. Eridani tech? At that moment, Jonica shouted out that it was a trap.

  He jerked his slugthrower at the Rahl soldier and fired, knowing it would do nothing. He pushed himself to his feet, reaching out to grab Blue's reins. The beast jerked back, shrieking and tried to charge forward. Kesh saw that was what their enemies wanted. To have Blue charge forward into a kill box.

  Instead, he pulled as hard as he could and caused the lizard to swing its hissing face towards him. He elbowed Blue's muzzle and pointed towards the open alley. "Go, you stupid lizard." He turned and fired at the soldiers until his clip was empty. He heard the high-pitched whine of Jonica's rifle power up and fire towards the corner of the alley. There was a scream of pain, and five of the troops in the dark blue fell.

  Kesh let go of Blue, who started to run away from the fray. He reached out to touch the mind-link. Meph was screaming, Get to the ship! Get to the ship! Kesh looked to see most of the soldiers were running towards Lyra and Jonica. He sighed, popped the slug thrower clip out, and rammed home the only other one he had. "Hey, over here!" He shouted, taking a shot at one of the
Rahl soldiers. A few of them charged towards him, one of them trying to fire with his carbine. Kesh dodged to the side, the plasma bolt blocked by the wall he ducked behind. He popped out for three quick shots, the slugs tearing into the armor, but not doing much damage to the Rahl. From what he had seen, it had to be from some kind of Eridani enhancement.

  As he was going to take another shot, something slammed into his back, and he felt his limbs and body convulse all at once. Pain exploded in his back. He fell to the ground, his body shuddering as every muscle tried to constrict at once. For what felt like an eternity, he flopped on the ground like a landed fish. His vision tunnelled as three Rahl soldiers stood over him, their hands tapping clubs of some kind. Each of them removed their skull-helm faceplates, revealing shark-like smiles of filed teeth, eyes that were all black pupils and noses shaved to almost nothing.

  As the convulsing slowed, he blinked in shock as he saw something streaking down from above. He smiled as he saw Blue's kill-claw slice through the armor of two Rahl soldiers. They were good against plasma bolts and slugthrowers, not so much against a half ton of scytheclaw falling towards them.

  Blue let out a blood-curdling shriek. The third Rahl tried to strike at Blue. The blow was mis-timed, as Blue ducked down to take a bite out of one of the two downed Rahl and the third overextended and fell down. In his current position, Kesh could only lash out weakly with his heels, which is what he did. The Rahl let out a cry as Kesh's heels connected with his wrist. With his attention on Kesh, the third Rahl solider never saw Blue's jaws until they latched onto his throat.

  Jonica hit the side of a warehouse, breathing heavily. Her left hand hurt, pulsing from the pulverized bones that were only held together by a poorly-placed splint. "Shut up Meph! I know we need to get back to the ship!"

  The psi-cat had been screaming that since he’d noticed the trap.

  "We're exhausted! Stop," she screamed.

  We need to go, now. The Rahl are coming. They are coming.

  "What the Hells is wrong with you," Jonica screamed into the bag at her side.

  "Jonica, he's scared," Lyra said. "Calm down. We need to—"

  Jonica jerked away from Lyra. "Don't tell me to calm down! I am the adult here. You need to shut your mouth and be a good little girl."

  The barb hit hard, and Jonica wanted to swallow the words, knowing that it was far too late to do it. She gripped her good hand, it shook around the stock of the weapon. She felt herself being torn in different directions. Her brain was a bag of cats. She needed a moment to think.

  Flash, just one more injection. It will help me—

  No! Damn it Jonica, that is the crap that is causing you to lose it. Meph jumped from his position in the dropped bag. In his teeth was the Flash injector. He glared at her. I am not going to let you get it.

  "Give it to me, Meph. I mean it, you stupid damn cat. I need—"

  Jonica, behind—

  Jonica turned her head to see a carbine stock slam into her face and knock her prone. She went skittering across the ground, her jaw aching. Meph was beside her. Two Rahl soldiers grabbed Lyra, as a third one, in black and red, moved closer towards them.

  Weakly, Jonica tried to concentrate on what she was seeing. The Collector. The red and black made her body shiver. The Collector approached, his left hand jerking out, and the glittering orichalcum blade shot out. "Enemies of the Empress, ever may she reign, you shall die at my hand."

  Jonica tried to push herself up. Her left hand spasmed in pain, and she buckled. She started to cry and laugh. She wasn't sure what to do.

  Shoot him.

  Jonica looked at Meph, How?

  The Collector walked closer, taking his time. Jonica felt herself frozen from seeing him.

  Jonica, it is what he does. He is not that fearsome! Snap out of it.

  No, I can't, Jonica whimpered. Her hand slipped from the stock of the rifle in a tremor of fear.

  Imagine it is Pryce.

  Something in her snapped at hearing the name. She looked at the Collector and saw him morph into the smiling, pretty face of Pryce, the white metal hand clanking tightly around her wrist. Janice grabbed the stock, heaved, and let the barrel fall onto her feet. She didn't have time to aim, she pulled the trigger and prayed. The butt of the rifle slammed into her shoulder, and it spun out of her grip. Her head rebounded off the concrete of the alley, and she was unconscious.

  Twenty-Nine

  Torvash looked over the unconscious girl that two of the Rahl soldiers held. He reached out to touch her face and check her pulse. The gloves of his suit registered a pulse. He nodded. "Get her to the ship." He groaned slightly, his chest plate biting into his sternum. It was badly scored, and his entire body ached from the blast. He was stunned that he had survived.

  The two Rahl nodded, while Kern stood over him. His chest hurt from the plasma shot. Anger blazed in her eyes. "We should hunt them down now. Kill them before—"

  "The woman is half-dead. The psi-cat is nothing without her. The boy and the scytheclaw? How could they find us?" Torvash stood finally. The men had found him against a wall of a warehouse, a black smoldering scorch mark on his chest plate. The woman and the cat were gone, from the reports they gave him. He had fallen when he reached the dropship, his entire body hurting from the fight.

  "We should burn the planet. Let it—"

  Torvash touched her hand. "Kern, silence. That is an order. Let’s get back on the ship and make all haste for the Gate."

  Kern growled a, "Yes sir," before she turned and ordered the remains of the squad into the dropship.

  Torvash shook his head. His head hurt, his body hurt, yet he had done what She commanded. He had found the girl, and he needed to get her back to the Empress. Afterwards, he would take a long rest on Fershaw. The garden planet was a good place to rest for a long time. Perhaps he'd ask Kern to come along. She would refuse. She would come to him later today, wanting to work off the leftover adrenaline. It would be in her bloodstream for hours. It should have been with Torvash as well. Yet, something was stopping it. He pushed the thought aside and turned for the dropship. He missed his personal ship, although it was a small thing. The Blade was attached to the larger Dauntless above the planet. He would visit it soon. And Kay, he missed her sass.

  Striding onto the deck of The Dauntless, Torvash felt a bit of his vigor return. He walked along the command bridge, the control pit under him, buzzing with Rahl and normal soldiers of the various Families that had been conscripted. And enlisted men as well. Kern approached behind him, and at the far end of the deck were the two Rahl with the girl.

  "I thought you would want to put her into cryo yourself," Kern said.

  "Thank you, Lieutenant," Torvash said. He looked over the sides of the command deck. "Make best time towards the Gate."

  One of the soldiers in the pit turned her face up to Torvash. "Collector Torvash, that will put us in contention with—"

  Torvash frowned. "The Empress demands it, ever may she reign," he said.

  The crew repeated it a half a heartbeat later. He felt the engines throb through the deck. He turned back towards Kern and the two troops with the young slip of a girl between them. "Are you sure she—"

  "It is my job to keep them safe from themselves and others," Kern said. "Yours is to find them and bring them to the Empress."

  "Ever may she reign," the both said, looking into each other's eyes at a whisper.

  Kern turned to one of her soldiers, "You have the conn."

  The Rahl saluted, hand over his heart, as Kern followed Torvash and the girl.

  The girl looked scared, staring at Torvash and dragging her heels. "What are you going to do to me?"

  "I am going to reunite you with the Empress, ever may she reign." He moved forward and took her hand. She tried to struggle, but her choices were follow or be dragged. Kern followed a handful of steps behind them.

  "What is she going to do?" The girl asked, still trying to pull free from Torvash's grip.


  Torvash frowned, but covered it up as soon as he could. He saw the flicker of concern on Kern's face.

  "You are going to help her look out into the universe and find threats."

  "How?"

  Torvash watched as Kern touched Lyra on the shoulder and knelt until she was at eye level with the slip of a girl. Kern touched Lyra's face with two fingers, keeping the spikes from puncturing her skin. "Your blood, little one."

  Torvash looked at her. Why did you tell her? He asked in a look towards Kern. Kern shrugged and pushed the girl towards Torvash.

  "I've done my job, you have a job to do now, Collector. And when you are done, perhaps we can dine together." Kern gave Torvash a wicked smile and walked off.

  Torvash let out a sigh. He took a hard grip on Lyra's upper arm. The girl protested. "Come along. You need to go into cold storage."

  "Why?" Lyra called out.

  Torvash dragged her down the long hallway towards the lift and cold storage. "You could try and do something to yourself. Others have tried. Cold storage is best."

  "No," she pleaded. "Please don't put me back there. It's horrible." The lift doors opened. She tried to pull away, but Torvash easily pushed her inside and held her as the door closed. He let her go once the doors closed.

  "I am sorry, but it is protocol," Torvash said.

  "You have no idea what it is like. The endless undreaming dream. The cold sucking away your life slowly." She gripped her arms and felt into a fetal position. She was crying, and nothing coming out of her mouth made sense. Torvash felt a small spike of pity for her. "You are wrong, I have been in cold storage before."

  The crying slowed, but didn't stop. He continued. "For training to be a Collector, after the Empress changed us, we are set the edge of the Empire and forced to fight each other. Since the Empire is light-years across, and there are no Gates at the far edge, we have to ship to Purgatory in cold storage."

  "So... you know what... what I've gone through?"

  "I do," he said. He didn't reach down for her, not yet. But she was looking at him. "And I know what you mean about the dreamless dream. How long were you in cold storage?"