“But that’s…” Isaverlline frowned, but trailed off, turning instead to Julian for confirmation. She knew, of course, that the twin sisters had been artificially created, but to what extent she understood Eidyssic physiology, Julian did not know. He, however, had his own questions.
“I can perhaps accept that one half of an artificially split root attempting to inflict violence on the other half would have consequences, but why continue the ruse? Andressa was the mastermind behind the Empire. Why not use the position you’ve attained to end the tyranny in the galaxy?”
“Has the Empire claimed even a single new territory in the time since?” Dryova asked with a sharp look. “Were Svoryk’s most loyal not sent to far reaching corners of the galaxy only to come back empty-handed? I’ve done everything I could to undermine my sister’s legacy, Julian, you of all people should know this. How many times did I attempt to break the Emperor’s dominion and send you in search of the Kyroibi? Without it, removing the Emperor would have only thrown the system into chaos.”
“I recall only that you tried unsuccessfully on many occasions to discover the whereabouts of the Kyroibi.”
“Would you blame me for seeking the only chance we had?” She raised her eyebrows in question. Admittedly, her argument was sound, but Julian remained on guard. “It will be my honor to set right all that my people have interfered in, and I will even submit to standing trial should we succeed, but there is no more time for arguments. El’iadrylline has arrived and she is not alone.”
Julian shifted focus and was nearly knocked unconscious by the force of Ellie’s emotional state. He quickly pulled back, sorting through the myriad of mixed and confused emotions and pinpointed her location. Her ship was close, nearly within docking proximity. That she’d managed to get so close without setting off alarms was both heartening and worrisome.
“Ellie… and Richard. They’re… I can feel…” Isa’s voice trailed into nothing more than a shocked utterance.
“Yes,” Dryova nodded. “Your Earthling surrogate is posing as commander of the flagship and has established communication with the Emperor. He is currently negotiating the trade of El’iadrylline’s life for your own.”
“No,” Isa gasped. “Richard would never…”
“It is a thin ruse,” Dryova said with unmasked exasperation. “But apparently effective. He has demanded proof that you have not been harmed. Svoryk is on his way to personally retrieve you. I’d merely come to give warning, but I’m afraid—”
Heavy footfalls echoed in the corridor. There was no time to make an escape and ambush was out of the question, especially if Svoryk still wore a personal energy shield.
“I have an idea,” Dryova pointed to the slender privacy screen that wrapped around the rudimentary toilet and sink. “Julian, hide in there. I’ll lead Svoryk back to the bridge.”
It wasn’t much of a plan, but Julian complied, pressing himself against the far wall and taking on an appearance that mimicked the ship’s gray walls. To his surprise, the half circle partition closed completely, blocking him from view of the room.
Svoryk opened the cell door using a handheld device. Even though the modifications had been made specifically to accommodate the Emperor, Julian noticed that there was still a long delay before the manual locked slid away with a loud click.
“Andressa?”
“Who else?” she spat, looking down on the Huptsovian leader in contempt.
“What are you doing on my ship?”
Svoryk’s astonishment gave Julian pause.
“Did you think I was going to allow you to sneak off to follow the lure of the Kyroibi alone? You’re nothing without me, Svoryk. You’d do well to remember. I do not have need for a bumbling oaf such as yourself to lead my Empire when there are others more worthy.”
“Your Empire?” Svoryk’s tone was indignant, but Dryova continued to berate him as if she hadn’t heard.
“I should have followed my gut and groomed a more worthy leader for my cause,” she snapped. “It is a shame I gave you a taste of power. I knew you were too weak. I knew you would do something as stupid as attempt to find the Kyroibi in this ill-equipped and inefficient bastardization of that which my people proudly engineered. And with no plan or idea what you would even do other than make a complete and utter mess of everything.”
“I had a plan. Haven’t I done everything you asked?”
Svoryk’s tone was sullen and defiant, yet edged with fear.
“You’ll be dealt with when we return to the capital. Now, let us get your prisoner to the bridge. If the Earthling does indeed have the current master, I shall know. If he is bluffing, I shall show no mercy. To anyone.”
The threat was clear, even if Svoryk’s mumbled reply was not. Julian waited as they all filed out of the cell and out of the corridor, giving them a moment longer to reach the lift. He turned his attention again to his bond and found Ellie was close enough that he could read her intent. Frustration was the overwhelmingly dominant emotion. Worse, panic was beginning to cloud reason. He pulled back from her mind and instead focused on her location.
Worry crept into his own mind when he saw that she was near the lower docking bay. He needed to get down there as soon as possible, but first, he had to find Bethany. Getting her off the ship would relieve him of at least one worry. He placed his hand on the panel to open the bathroom door.
Nothing happened.
Chapter 19
Returning to the ship was a slow affair thanks to Richard and Vito. Neither had the necessary implants required to dampen the effects of pulse travel, so Ellie and her father led them through short, controlled pulses, travelling in a mostly direct path. As they began to get close to their Arctic destination, the rests between became shorter so that the men would not suffer any ill effects from exposure.
When they reached the ice cave, Ellie went immediately on instinct to where she knew the ship awaited and opened the hatch, sending a command which also brought up the interior temperature to something reasonable, and stood back as a wave of heated air rushed from the newly materialized portal. Both Richard and Vito hurried up the walkway and into the ship’s warmth, neither noticing nor caring that the ship remained invisible around them.
“I can’t believe you’re not freezing in that,” Richard said through chattering teeth, eyeing Ellie’s thin hoodie and jeans.
“Call it a perk of being half cell phone,” she joked, smiling at the confusion her comment caused everyone. “The planet the Eidyn live on is basically like Pluto,” she added as she filed in last, keeping her eyes from the invisible floor below her and feeling a little miffed that no one else was even the slightest bit fazed by the disorienting invisibility.
“Don’t worry, the diagnostic is almost complete,” El’iadryov told her with a sympathetic smile. A moment later the ship materialized and Ellie looked around, impressed.
“Well now, how convenient is this?”
Instead of the single console and twin chairs she was used to, the cockpit layout was gone, replaced by a full command center. Four chairs were set before a much larger half circle shaped console. Instead of the small view screen, the entire wall in front of them projected star maps, status of the displacement core, and multiple screens for viewing and communication. Behind them, doors led off to separate compartments. Ellie noted with slight embarrassment that each was designed to accommodate the various physiologies of her passengers. Something she never in a million years would have thought necessary.
“Impressive ship you got here, kid.” Vito craned his neck in all directions. “I only ever saw schematics for these Eidyssic vessels, but this one seems like an upgrade.”
“This is no ordinary star class,” El’iadryov said with a note of pride. He took the chair at the far left side of the console and began a manual security check, which displayed in real time on the screen. “The flagship’s primary function is to transport the true master of the Kyroibi to the Kyri temple of Ia’na Eidyn. Of course, it�
��s also a fully functional warship meant to lead the battalion should conflict arise. Let us all hope this is not where our path is leading.”
“Amen to that,” Richard added as he studied the star map on the wall.
“Well at least it appears to be a short path,” Ellie said with a wry smile as she connected into the ship’s information matrix. “Based on the array of residual displacement spanning the equatorial region, it looks like they’d be lucky to make it past the next star system before we catch up.”
“Amazing. You can read that?” Richard asked, sitting down at the console next to her.
“Sort of,” she said with an embarrassed chuckle. “I kind of get the idea, but if I’m being honest, the ship is smarter than I am. It’s a little weird. A lot of what I ‘know’ is simply information stored in the Kyroibi. But it’s still strange that I just sort of accept these things at face value,” she added with a thoughtful frown.
“The knowledge of the ages is a powerful tool, yes, but do not dismiss your own natural intelligence,” El’iadryov said with a smile. “From all I’ve learned of you so far, I suspect your acceptance of alien concepts has as much to do with your inquisitive nature as the Kyroibi’s influence.”
“You always did ask a lot of questions as a kid,” Richard noted with a wink.
“Yeah well, I’d ask why you’re so chill with all of this, but I forgot, you actually knew you were married to an alien for the last twenty years.” Ellie blew out a breath and shook her head. “I can’t believe that less than a week has passed since my biggest worry in life was whether or not I would ever pass organic chemistry.”
“And today you’re leading a rescue mission,” Richard chuckled and gave her a slight pat on the back. “Speaking of, we should probably get you into position. We’ve only got a couple of hours to set this up and make it look as real as possible and I’m guessing we’ll need at least thirty minutes of footage.”
“Actually, we’ll only need a few minutes,” El’iadryov said as he sent a directive through the console.
“Aren’t you afraid Svoryk will notice the loop?”
El’iadryov smiled at Richard. “For all your ‘chill,’ I don’t think you quite grasp what a ship of this size has at its disposal, but I think you’ll like it.”
Behind the command console, a brilliant circle blossomed on the floor and spiraled up, creating what appeared to be a cylindrical tube of light. Immediately, a break parted the light, collapsing back on itself to create a half-moon arc, in which Ellie hesitantly stepped.
Even though she’d already run through a simulation and knew there was no possibility she could suffer any ill effects, she was nervous. In a way, this was good. It allowed for a more natural appearance as the light circle closed in around her and the stasis field took effect. It was a good thing she would only have to spend five minutes in suspended animation because as soon as her feet left the floor, Ellie felt the familiar tendrils of panic creeping up on her. She could barely move, only to wiggle and blink her eyes, but her diodes flared, flashing messages of distress and panic.
At last, after what felt like an eternity, the ship lowered her gently to the ground and she regained control of her limbs.
“Ugh,” she sighed as she stumbled about on jelly legs. “Next time I say I’ve got a brilliant idea, don’t listen to me.”
“You impressed me, kid,” Vito said with a note of admiration. “I been in more stasis incarceration chambers than I care to think about and I can’t say as I ever handled it with that much grace.”
“You did fantastic, Ellie,” Richard added with a smile almost as wide as his eyes as he watched the ship translate the recorded data into an exact replica of Ellie in the stasis field.
“Very well done, indeed,” El’iadryov graced her with another smile as he worked. “The ship will add subtle shifts and nuances to your demeanor.”
It was unnerving to watch as the hard light replication struggled against the bonds, but Ellie couldn’t look away. Again she found herself wondering why Earth was considered primitive when the most benevolent of the so-called enlightened races utilized a method of restraint that she considered nothing short of torture. She nearly made a comment, but kept it to herself, deciding instead to internally catalog her complaints. If they were headed into an intergalactic war, Ellie was determined to make certain she believed in what she was fighting for.
An indicator on the console to Ellie’s left blinked. By the map, they weren’t very far outside the solar system, but already the ship detected a suspicious object that matched the frequencies of a damaged star class vessel.
“Hold on,” El’iadryov warned as Ellie started to send out a probe. “I’m reasonably certain that’s our ship out there, but that’s not the only anomaly detected.” He pointed to another readout showing a thin red line. Ellie frowned as she noted the trail seemed to be lengthening and shortening, but was consistently headed in their direction.
“I thought pulse trails couldn’t be traced in open space.”
“They can’t.” El’iadryov peeked at the readout and frowned. “That’s not a pulse trail, that’s a vapor trail. Hydro-propulsion is only a viable method of transport between close orbiting planets.”
“Which means that can only be one thing,” Vito added, squinting at the map. “Surprise, surprise, we’re nearing the Oravaschaeal cluster.”
A soft, yet insistent tone sounded and everyone stopped to look at the new alert that popped up in the middle of the screen. The small vessel had sent a communication request. The frequency was older, close to the radio waves that were used on Earth.
“If I’m reading this right, they’re claiming no hostility,” Ellie said, noting the grim looks of Vito and El’iadryov as well as Richard’s confusion.
“Yeah, but don’t think for a minute that ain’t got nothing to do with the fact that we can swat ‘em out of the sky with this thing. They’re crafty. Earn our trust, gain permission to board, and try to wrestle command of the ship the old fashioned way.”
“Which is?” Richard asked.
“Killing us, of course,” Vito said with a wry chuckle. “I think it best if I handle this. Make ‘em think I’m out here alone, or at least not in the company of Ghowrn royalty.”
“Agreed,” El’iadryov said, running a hand over the controls. “Just let me get them targeted. I don’t trust that this isn’t some sort of a trap. Sending a hydro-prop when we know they wouldn’t be out here without at least one star class pulse-prop is suspicious.”
Richard looked over at Ellie for an explanation, but all she could do was shrug and move herself off to the side.
“We ready?” Vito asked as he narrowed the optical focus. El’iadryov moved off to the side with Ellie and Richard and gave him a nod. The communication screen blinked to life, revealing a stately man in some sort of military dress with a bushy white mustache and hair like a messy bird’s nest. Ellie bit back a giggle as he reminded her of Albert Einstein or Mark Twain. Vito however, was not amused and paled visibly.
“Commander Vonsse?”
The man on the screen blinked twice, clearly just as surprised.
“Vitokk? What in the name of Dedsu are you doing aboard a flagship Eidyssic vessel?”
“Long story,” Vito said, crossing his arms defiantly in front of himself. “I might be inclined to give you the abridged version if you tell me why the head of the Royal Fhasmyrric Elite Guard is wearing the crest of the Paisreatta and piloting a SiFa hopper out in the boonies.”
The man pursed his lips, regarding Vito with the same standoffish attitude for a long moment before lowering his eyes.
“As much as I’d love to see you brought to justice for what you’ve done, this is not the time to reopen old wounds. Given the vessel you appear to command, I assume I do not need to inform you that the ship you are tracking belongs to the so-called Emperor?”
“That is a correct assumption,” Vito replied, but the sudden tension in his voice did not go unnoti
ced. “Quite frankly, I’m confused as to why you’re even bothering with me when Svoryk’s sitting out there with a broken ship and a target on his back. I mean, a top of the line Eidyssic star class flagship is an appealing conquest, but I would think the chance to conquer an empire would be even harder to resist.”
“It shocks me to say this, but your assessment is correct,” said Commander Vonsse with an expression of slight distaste that made Ellie wonder exactly what Vito did to earn such scorn. “I want nothing more than to know why the Emperor’s personal transport appears to be drifting aimlessly through Paisreatta space, but before we could get close enough to do reconnaissance, you dropped out of pulse. My first officer felt it best to make our presence known before you began firing on the Emperor.”
“We ain’t got plans to blow her up. At least not before we get a rescue party on board.”
“Rescue party?” Vonsse’s bushy eyebrows jumped into his hairline.
“I can’t go into all the details, but there’s a couple of prisoners on that ship. One of ‘em is ah… pretty important to the future of The Ghowrn Alliance.”
“Oh? And who would that be?”
Vito slid a nervous eye over to Ellie, who had put her hand on the console and widened the optical’s focus to allow both her and Vito into the view screen.
“My mother, Princess Isaverlline of Korghetia.”
She kept mention of Julian to herself.
Immediately, Commander Vonsse dropped his eyes and made a strange gesture with his hand over his chest.
“Your highness, permission to speak.”
Ellie slid Vito a questioning glance, but all he did was smirk in reply.
“Um, my mom’s the princess. I’m just a girl who thought she was a weird looking Earthling,” she said, feeling awkward. “But, yes, you can speak.”
“Thank you, my Lady,” he said and lifted his eyes. “Your presence comes as well received news for those of us who wish to be out from under the oppression of the Empire. Rest assured, we have no intentions of launching an attack. Quite the opposite. Prisoners aren’t the only ones aboard the Emperor’s ship against their will.”
A Space Girl from Earth (The Kyroibi Trilogy Book 1) Page 19
