by Yakov Merkin
Interesting. They had been out of contact for so long that many believed them captured or dead. This could have been sent prior to such an occurrence, of course, but new information was always welcome. It did not matter, for the moment, whether the Empire knew of this or not. That would be determined once they knew what was inside.
“Excellent work. Forward me the data immediately.”
“Acknowledged, Executor. Paress out,” replied the officer.
Moments later, the information from the transmission arrived on Keeneye’s multitool. A cursory scan of the personal message written by the Nihlurans told him that this was, indeed, new information that needed to be passed on right away.
He relayed the orders to the lieutenant, but before he could get far, another alert came in. The enemy was attacking, Dilorei, an Alliance-held world not far from his current position. So much for quiet time.
“This is Executor Keeneye,” he sent to all forces present. “Tyrannodon Ascendancy Battlegroups Twenty-seven to forty are to prepare for battle and imminent departure, then await further orders.”
The command was quickly acknowledged, and Keeneye headed to his shuttle. He might not want to continue taking part in this war, but if he ever wanted something different for himself, this is what he had to do.
The burden of leadership, asserting itself yet again.
CHAPTER 28
“It feels weird to be here, doing this, given everything that’s going on,” Nayasar said as she rested her head on Felivas’s shoulder.
“I know what you mean,” he replied. They were both on Felinar for just a couple of days on leave while the fleets and armies that would be taking part in the upcoming offensive were readied. It pained Felivas that he could easily count the days they had spent together since the war had begun. They had both known that their positions would lead to more time apart than they might like, but the war made it all the worse.
“Though, to be honest, it feels more strange to be wearing civilian clothing.”
“I hope no one saw us on the way out here,” Nayasar replied with a smile, “because I’m certain that I’m both way behind on fashion trends as well as not adhering to any past popular style, really. To someone who understood that, I’d probably look ridiculous.”
“Luckily for you, then, there’s no-one like that here, and all I see is perfection,” Felivas replied, slightly tightening his arm that was wrapped around her as he reached up and ran his free hand through her hair, worn loose for once. “And while we unfortunately won’t be here for too long, while we are here, it’s only us.”
One of the numerous perks of being married to royalty was access to the family’s private estates, such as this one in Felinar’s most beautiful forest, which honestly looked like something out of the fantastic stories Felivas had grown up reading. It was warm, bright, and the soft, sweet fragrance of the surrounding arraz trees filled the air. Aside from their comms, nothing could disturb them here.
“Wonderful, fun privacy,” Nayasar purred, then shifted herself to pull Felivas into a kiss and pushed him onto the soft, grassy ground.
Felivas, his entire body warming instantly, returned it in earnest, and rolled Nayasar onto her back, then once they both broke the kiss for air, sat atop her and smiled down.
“You know, as much as I like you in dresses, I do have one problem. I’m woefully inexperienced in the art of removing them.”
Nayasar flashed him a mischievous grin. “I can’t make it too easy for you,” she said as she arched her back in a way that made Felivas’s heart race, then sat up, arms around him for support. “But here’s a hint,” she whispered into his ear, the familiar, intoxicating smell of her overpowering everything else. “It unzips from the back.”
“Thanks for the clarification, Srei Felitzvah,” he replied, then reached a hand around, found the zipper pull, and slid it down as far as it went. Nayasar immediately began to shrug out of the dress.
“And to think that back in officer training they told us not to get romantically involved with co-workers,” she giggled as she finished escaping it, then sat up and somehow pounced on him, again reversing their positions, which suited Felivas just fine for the moment. While she’d always been feminine—she was female, after all—Nayasar had expressed that side of herself more, in private, ever since the wedding; her way of maintaining a necessary separation between Nayasar his wife and Nayasar the grand admiral. They had to keep things light and fun in the little downtime they had.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell any of our old instructors,” Felivas replied as Nayasar vigorously began to help him out of him own civilian clothes. Any pretense of playing, of taking things teasingly slow, was out the airlock now.
###
“Ehnai aheva turakh, Felivas,” I love you, Felivas, Nayasar said as she snuggled against Felivas some time later. It could have been just an hour, or four; the days were long in this region this time of year, and Felivas’s multitool was in their pile of rumpled clothes a little ways away.
“Ehnai ahevai turah, Nayasar,” I love you too, Nayasar. She would never get tired of hearing him say those words, of the warm feeling it brought to her.
“Why do these moments we have together, in peace, always feel so short?” Nayasar asked.
“Time is cruel in that way,” Felivas replied.
“This war,” Nayasar said after several long moments of silence. “It scares me, Felivas. More than did the prospect of us facing down the entire Alliance with only the Snevans at our side. At least then we knew both our enemies and ourselves, and more important, we knew where everyone stood. Now… now I feel like I’m stuck in deep space without a hyperdrive. I’m supposed to know what we should do, but how can I make the right decisions if I can’t trust most of our allies? I’ve already sent far too many condolence letters. How much longer can this go on? We are a strong people, but everyone has their breaking point.”
Felivas gently brushed away the few tears that had begun to fall as he tried to figure out what to say. He wanted to reassure her that everything would be fine, that she was worrying too much about it. But the signs were very clear that the enemy knew that the Alliance wasn’t the most stable system right now, and if they were deliberately trying to drive a wedge between the “mainstream” Alliance and other segments of it, they were slowly but surely succeeding.
“I wish I could say something that would allay those fears, Nayasar, but I cannot lie to you. I do see the rifts forming, the shifting of opinions. But I would not say that all is lost. We very much can pull this back away from the edge. I will speak with several of the major Alliance figures, see what I can do to shore up our relations. We must be wary and watchful, I agree, but to give in to despair and see betrayal at every turn is not a way to live.”
“You were always more optimistic than me, Felivas, but I pray that you are right and I am wrong. You certainly proved me wrong when you managed to secure the help of the Alliance for the Battle of the Hollow World.”
Before Felivas could say anything else, the sound of his comm ringing—it played a Felinaris military march—broke the silence.
He untangled himself from Nayasar and retrieved his multitool, then returned to her and answered it—audio only. At least it was a friend calling.
“Primas-Prikeps Tiverias,” Felivas said in greeting.
“Admiral Kharitzon,” the Talvostan replied. “It has been too long.”
“I hope you are well,” Nayasar chimed in, no sign of her recent worry in her voice.
“Ah, Grand Admiral, a pleasure to speak to you as well.”
“Please, call me Nayasar. After what we survived together, I think we are beyond such formalities.”
“Understood,” Tiverias replied. “I apologize if I intruded into personal time, but I wished to convey a message to you, on behalf of Premier Volistar. Despite the angry rumblings you may have heard from some in the Alliance, the Talvostan Union remains committed to seeing this war through until the end, and
you have the premier’s full support. We only recently brought the Alliance back together, and we will not be party to anything that drives it apart again.”
“Thank you, Tiverias,” Nayasar replied. “Please convey our thanks to the premier as well. It is good to know we have at least some friends in the Alliance mainstream.”
“Of course, Gra—Nayasar. I will be honored to fight alongside you again someday, provided we must fight at all. Not even the greatest warrior looks forward to a battle, not truly. But for now, I will leave you to your personal time. I imagine we will see each other again before long.”
“I look forward to it,” Nayasar replied.
“As do I,” Felivas nodded, before ending the transmission.
“Well that was good timing,” Nayasar said with a grin.
“And as so many say, there is no such thing as a mere coincidence, only the grand plan of the Omnipresent,” Felivas replied, though they both knew that despite the support of Premier Volistar, Talvostan opinion regarding the Felinaris, Tyrannodons, and Snevans was quite divided, even within the military. If push came it shove, and the Union had to choose between the Alliance and the Alliance’s recent enemies, what would they do?
“I presume you read the brief on Darkclaw’s grand plan proposal?” Nayasar asked, changing the subject.
“Very quickly,” Felivas replied. “It is a bold plan, and if successful, will shorten the war substantially. But I admit I am nervous, focusing so much into one massive battle.”
“Yes, but we do have a way to mitigate Sai’var’s tactical abilities,” Nayasar replied, “and the faster we end this, the less time he’ll have to figure it out. Also, if Darkclaw is certain that he can win that battle, I believe him. This all, of course, is a big if, dependent on whether we truly get the entire Alliance on board. It could be done, of course, and more easily, through… dirty means, but I can’t imagine many of us would go for that now.” She left unsaid that her career would likely not survive another stunt similar to what she had done with Maviiri Detzak back during the last war—though it had largely been effective. Felivas was not about to bring that painful memory up—not now, certainly.
There was so much to worry about, including his Nihluran friends, who, apart from a single transmission that could have been sent some time ago, had not been heard from in quite some time. And given what other intelligence sources had learned of a massive Empire-wide crackdown on Nihlurans, Felivas was very worried, both for their safety and for the Alliance’s intelligence game.
“There’ll be plenty of time for us to worry about and discuss the war before long,” he finally said. “This is time we set aside for us, so let’s spend it on us.”
Nayasar’s face lit up with one of those mischievous smiles that made Felivas’s heart race. “I don’t know about you,’” she said as she tossed the multitool to the side and pulled him onto her again, “but I am feeling quite energetic right now.”
Felivas smiled back at her, his face millimeters from hers, as he savored the warmth of her body pressed against his. “As it happens, so am I, and if I remember what my multitool display said, we still have a fair amount of time left to ourselves…”
Nayasar purred loudly and vigorously pulled Felivas to her, her warmth pressing against his. Putting all thoughts of the war out of his mind, Felivas did the same. He was going to take full advantage of what limited time they had together. The war would still be there later.
CHAPTER 29
“See you around,” Ayil said to Reki as she waved at the Svetoran, who was heading off to another area of the base along with the other rebels they had arrived with. Reki turned away, her face flushing furiously—but not before a sheepish grin forced its way onto her face—then resumed walking. Yet another example proving true the old Nihluran saying, “Anyone can be convinced to do anything. The only question is, what will it take?” The reluctant flings were certainly the most fun, as it gave a real sense of accomplishment, as well as a sort of primal feeling of conquest—in addition to good genes. While Ayil, naturally, preferred liaising with alien males, females, like this rebel and that one Revittan intelligence officer, had their charms, and, after all, she had to acquire excellent traits for her future daughters, many of which could of course only be acquired from females. Thus far, she had made good use of their time in the Revittan Empire.
“Do either of you worry that we are becoming too personally involved in the local conflict?” Liya asked with a smirk in Reki’s direction. “What I mean is, we were sent to gather information, not get involved in this internal fight. Besides, do we really even know that, should these people win, they won’t become as nasty as those they now fight?”
“I’ve asked that question myself,” Dran replied quietly. “Helping these people ultimately helps the Alliance, and thus our friends. All we need to do is make the connection, and the Alliance can sneak over some actual military people to help them while we go home and bathe in all the money we’re making from this.”
“And, you know, they have seemed nice enough thus far,” Ayil added.
“And how many have we met so far?” Liya shot back. “We should be at least a little wary, both of the rebels as a whole and of getting too directly involved.”
“I can agree with that, Liya,” Ayil said as they followed the low-level officer escorting them into one of the largest buildings, then deep inside it, until they were motioned to stop just outside a conference room.
The officer spoke rapidly into his comm, then nodded at Ayil and the others. “Here we are,” he said. “The leadership awaits you inside.”
Dran nodded. “Thank you, sergeant,” he said, then turned to face Ayil and Liya as the young man walked away.
“Let me do most of the talking, please,” Dran said. He glanced down at his clothing, which was still filthy from the battle, which led Ayil to look over her own, clean clothes. Once again, she came out on top. “I will try to get as much done as possible without committing us to anything crazy.”
Ayil nodded, and Liya did the same, then they opened the door and stepped inside what looked like a thoroughly average office room—it was probably whatever they’d been able to get easily and cheaply.
Immediately, Ayil spotted one—no, two—familiar faces among the small group assembled. One, unsurprisingly, was cute little Reki, who had somehow made it here first, likely in order to brief the leaders on what had happened in the capital—and was making a concerted effort to avoid eye contact with Ayil. The second face was extremely intriguing, though it was someone she had never actually met, but only knew about through her research. That man was Corras Revval, the head of the Imperial Revittan Security Service. What in the galaxy was he doing here?
“Please, sit,” said another Svetoran female. “I would like to thank the three of you,” she went on as Ayil’s small group took seats, “for your assistance in the evacuation of our people.”
Dran nodded. “It was the least we could do, after we were offered shelter.”
The Svetoran nodded. “I am Lerehn Vau, Chancellor of the Free Peoples’ Alliance. Here as well are my fellow leaders of this rebellion, Admiral Moyar Dahar, General Ral Orran, as well as our comrades Commodore Vilara Mierran, Captain Arvah Saral, and Corrus Revval. I understand that you three are not from the Empire, correct?”
“You are right,” Dran replied. “We are of the Galactic Alliance, sent to Imperial space to gather information.”
“So, spies?” Commodore Mierran asked.
“Well, technically, I suppose so, but we are truly freelance hires, not spies by trade.”
Corras Revval cracked a smile. “I suspected as much. You three don’t much look like trained spies.”
“Can I ask how you came to be here, Director?” Dran asked. “Information may be well controlled here, but everyone knows your name. In fact, we last heard it when your order to detain all Nihlurans in the Empire was announced.”
Revval flinched. “I had, quietly, left my position bef
ore that order was carried out, and being forced to plan and carry it out was the final straw that drove me out. I did not want to be a party to it, but I needed to keep my shifted allegiance a secret.”
Ayil kept her eyes locked on him, but, realistically, the rebels must have already vetted this man, once a major enemy of theirs, before they would let him sit here.
“To return to the three of you,” Moyar Dahar said; the Nihluran admiral looked to have a lot of Revittan blood, with their pointed ears and faint markings that looked like what the Revittans had. “Reki has filled us in on what you told her about your Galactic Alliance. Is there anything else you wish to add? And do they know of us yet?”
“Nothing that comes to mind,” Dran said. “As for what they know, we sent a secure transmission back home while on the way here, in which we mentioned that we had learned of a rebellion here. But we only know the basics right now.”
Dahar nodded. “And do you think, first, that your Alliance can win this war, given that Grand Admiral Sai’var now leads the Imperial forces? And do you think the Alliance would be open to supporting us?”
“I, we, have met several of the military leaders in the Alliance,” Dran began. “Long story for another time. But I can say with certainty they are definitely capable of winning—though you all will know this Sai’var better than us. As for support, I am certain they would understand the value of supporting an insurgent movement behind enemy lines.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Chancellor Vau cut in. “Do you think we could set up a secure link to Alliance space from here?”
“Possibly. We have a highly secure, long-range transmitter aboard our ship, which can be removed. However, as long as its range is, we are still quite far from home and there is a lot of interference as of late. If you could help us overcome that, it should serve quite well.”
