Scales of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  I wiped the tears from my face. Many of the other colonists had broken down and were sobbing.

  After interminable speeches from a variety of dignitaries, including Shiumo, the Prime Minister and General Maxwell, the King closed the ceremony.

  He shared a few words with the others on the stage, then turned and looked straight at me and gestured for me to join them. I checked behind me; it was definitely me that he wanted to see.

  Yes, you, silly Jian, Shiumo said. Come on up. He wants to thank you.

  ‘Uh …’ I looked around for the private who’d been pushing my wheelchair.

  A Marque sphere whizzed to me. ‘Hold on to the chair. I’ll carry you,’ it said.

  I squeaked as the wheelchair lifted into the air. The other colonists made loud sounds of astonishment – then started to applaud, embarrassing me horribly.

  My chair landed on the stage with a bump that made the bones in my shoulder grind painfully together.

  ‘Sorry,’ Marque said.

  I lowered my head in a clumsy attempt at a bow to the King. ‘Your Majesty.’

  I’d never seen him this close before. He looked nothing like the face on our coins and screens, and wasn’t nearly as good-looking as his portraits made him out to be. He was taller than I’d expected, but that could have been because I was stuck in the chair. His skin was darker in person – darker than my own – and his hair was longer than on the coins, twisted into dreads and touching his shoulders. I felt stupidly awkward with this tall young man – the same age as me – who I had no idea how to interact with. Then he grinned, full of good humour, and I relaxed.

  ‘I’m glad the colony had you – and your dragon scale – there, Lieutenant Choumali. Without you, the cat would have killed everybody.’

  ‘I think the success of my entire military career so far is based on me being in the right place at the right time, Your Majesty,’ I said.

  ‘One-in-a-million psi, trained military, brave and intelligent – but yeah, it was just “right place at the right time”,’ Marque said.

  ‘Marque’s right,’ Shiumo said. ‘Don’t underestimate yourself, dear Jian. It took real courage to attack that cat when it was armed and you weren’t.’

  ‘They’re both right,’ the King said. ‘We’ll make sure you’re suitably rewarded.’

  General Maxwell nodded. ‘Only proper that your valour be acknowledged.’

  ‘I didn’t do anything,’ I said.

  ‘Now, Jian, we all know that’s not true,’ the general said. ‘I recommended you for the Military Cross, and the King has approved it. We’ll promote you to full lieutenant as soon as the mourning period is over.’

  ‘The Military Cross is way too much!’ I said. ‘It was just one cat.’

  ‘It was armed. And you weren’t,’ the King said. He smiled at the general. ‘I think you should receive the King’s Medal, but General Maxwell said you’d refuse it outright, and then I wouldn’t be able to have my fun.’

  ‘You’re not wrong,’ I said under my breath.

  An aide approached us. ‘Your Majesty and Princess Shiumo – if you would like to come with me, we have refreshments.’ She gestured towards a nearby marquee.

  ‘Marque, bring Jian, and be gentle this time,’ Shiumo said. She focused on me with her silver eyes. ‘Would you be willing to come up to my ship so Marque can fix that shoulder for you? It can have you as good as new in five minutes.’

  I hesitated. Had the mind control started already? I’d set myself a task after the general had ordered me to get close to Shiumo again: I wouldn’t tell her the mission goal, or that I’d been ordered to go to her. As long as I could keep that secret and pretend I was going with her of my own free will, she didn’t have full control over me. I checked my feelings: I didn’t feel forced to go onto her ship; I could say no if I wanted to. Although having my shoulder fixed and being free from pain sounded good …

  ‘Accept the offer, Lieutenant,’ the King said, broadcasting more than just goodwill. ‘You deserve the best treatment, and Shiumo can restore you better than we can.’

  The general eyed me sternly. Time to do my job.

  ‘I can’t disobey an order from my monarch,’ I said. ‘Is the pool still there?’

  Shiumo gasped with delight. ‘You’ll come back to live on the ship?’

  The King nodded meaningfully at me.

  Will you have me just as a friend? I asked Shiumo. I don’t want to be more than that. Do you still want me if I can’t give you more?

  ‘Yes!’ she said. ‘Of course! I love having you around, as a friend, companion, assistant – whatever. You’ll really come back to me?’ She frolicked down the stairs like a new lamb. ‘Please say you’ll come back!’

  I bowed to her from my wheelchair. ‘I’d love to, Princess.’

  ‘We’ll have that shoulder fixed in a jiffy, and then we have so much to do,’ she said. ‘I need your help. We’re planning to repair the colony dome and make it ready to receive new people. This is wonderful!’

  A rush of excitement, mirroring Shiumo’s, filled me. I was returning to my luxurious quarters on her superb ship to travel the stars and re-establish the colony. I couldn’t wait.

  Marque lifted my chair and floated me down the stairs, and over the grass towards the marquee. It gently lowered me at the entrance, and pushed me past two grim-faced King’s Guards. Twenty senior politicians and military were already inside. Marque pushed me to a table where the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary were waiting for us.

  Shiumo looked at the food on the table. ‘Any potatoes? I still haven’t had a chance to taste them, and Marque hasn’t seen them yet so it can’t copy them for me.’

  ‘The Marque on New Europa saw them,’ I said.

  ‘It never synched back with the rest of me,’ Marque said. ‘Part of my consciousness is gone forever. The cats have some sort of device that disables me. I don’t know how they do it, and I hate it.’

  ‘Under the circumstances, we thought it would be inappropriate to serve potatoes,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘Disrespectful to the families.’

  ‘I understand, but I’d still like to taste them,’ Shiumo said. ‘They don’t seem much at all from your broadcasts.’

  ‘We’ll arrange it,’ the Prime Minister said.

  ‘Now that I have you out of the crowd,’ the King said to Shiumo, ‘there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.’

  ‘What’s that?’ she said.

  ‘I’ve heard you have a two-legged form that’s strikingly different from this one?’

  ‘Yes …’

  ‘Could you show me?’ he said, flashing her a politician-level charming smile.

  Shiumo glanced around. ‘Will anybody be embarrassed? My two-legged form looks like a naked human.’

  General Maxwell linked her hands behind her back. ‘I’d like to see it too, Princess.’

  The Prime Minister nodded her agreement.

  Shiumo placed her glass on the table, and shifted to become the dark-skinned dream man. He smiled at me, and my heart – and other parts – responded. I’d missed him.

  He put his arms out, fell to four legs, and changed back to Shiumo’s dragon form.

  There was complete silence around us, then a loud buzz of conversation as people discussed what they’d seen.

  ‘You certainly gave them a show, Shiumo,’ the King said. ‘Thank you. I wanted to see that – I’d heard so much about it.’ He turned to the general. ‘What did you see, Charles?’

  ‘My husband,’ she said. ‘As he was when he was younger, but definitely him.’

  ‘That’s a sign of true love, General,’ Shiumo said. ‘You are blessed to have such a connection with your spouse.’

  The general smiled. ‘I know.’ She glanced up at the King. ‘What did you see, Your Majesty? If you don’t mind me asking.’

  ‘A tall white man with glorious long auburn hair and the same silver eyes,’ the King said.

  ‘You’re transitionin
g next year, is that correct?’ Maxwell said.

  ‘Yes,’ the King said. He raised his glass of water. ‘No alcohol while they’re starting me on the hormones.’ He took a sip. ‘Cannot wait for it to be finished.’

  ‘I didn’t know this was a problem for your people,’ Shiumo said. ‘What a unique situation. A King who will in two years become Queen.’

  ‘We are the first species you’ve encountered with transgender members?’ the King said with interest.

  ‘Oh no,’ Shiumo said. ‘It’s very common. Philosophers claim it’s something to do with the nature of the soul not matching the vessel, but it’s such a minor inconvenience that nobody really cares. You are the first species I’ve encountered where it’s considered an issue.’

  ‘They tell me you are pan-sexual and pan-reproductive,’ the King said. ‘If I were pan-reproductive it would have saved me a lot of grief. I could have transitioned when I realised I was dysphoric instead of waiting until after I had fathered a couple of heirs.’

  ‘Yes, we dragons are pan-reproductive,’ Shiumo said. ‘But we’re so long-lived that interspecies reproduction isn’t a good idea.’

  ‘Hasn’t stopped you from having thousands of children,’ I said.

  ‘Thousands?’ the King said, shocked.

  ‘She’s procreated with coral,’ I said, amused. ‘Thousands of spawn.’

  ‘That’s about as pan-reproductive as you can get,’ the King said. ‘And the half-dragon children are able to procreate with their own species?’

  ‘We call the half-dragon children dragonscales,’ Shiumo said, ‘because of the scales on their heads. They can have children with dragons or their own species, but no others. If a dragonscales has a child with their own species or a fellow dragonscales, it’s another dragonscales. If a dragonscales has a child with a dragon, you have another dragon.’

  ‘A full-blood dragon?’ the King said.

  ‘Well, mixed with the external species – but yes, it has all the attributes of a full-blood dragon. I shouldn’t be talking about this,’ she said. ‘It’s a terrible idea.’

  ‘And these dragons can fold as well?’ The King was broadcasting curiosity, but he must have read the report. They were setting Shiumo up to agree to the breeding program.

  ‘Your Majesty, it’s a terrible idea,’ Shiumo said. ‘Believe me, you don’t want to interbreed with dragons. The resulting children will be more long-lived than you are –’

  ‘But the second generation will be pure dragon and able to fold?’ the King interrupted. ‘What do the first generation look like? I’d love to see.’

  ‘I think you’ve already seen the first generation,’ Shiumo said. ‘Those aliens that visited you – they all had scales on their heads, didn’t they? They might have been under their feathers or fur, but they were there.’ She shook her head. ‘Coming here like that was a serious breach of protocol, and they tried to bully you on top of it.’

  ‘You’re leaving soon, and we need to restart our colony,’ the King said. ‘Without your help it will fail. Will you make some dragonscales for us so we can have our own dragons?’

  Shiumo broadcast mortification. ‘What you’re suggesting would reduce me to a stud animal!’

  ‘Oh, I’m terribly sorry,’ the King said, but his remorse wasn’t matched by his emotions. ‘What a tactless thing to say. I sincerely apologise.’

  ‘Would it be possible to employ dragons to carry our ships for us?’ the Prime Minister said. ‘What if we traded opals, or potatoes?’

  ‘Would any of your fellow dragons be willing to help us?’ the King said.

  ‘There aren’t really enough of us dragons to go around,’ Shiumo said. ‘The Empire is enormous, and we’re all busy with our spouses and children. I doubt anyone has the time to be a starship engine for you. I’ve already spent far too much time away from my families. Some of my spouses miss me terribly – and I miss my children.’

  ‘Then help us to make our own starship engines,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘What about artificial insemination? Is that an option for you? Could you donate?’

  ‘No,’ Shiumo said. ‘It has to be me in person, so the … I’ll say sperm but not really. I have an organ that modifies my reproductive nature to suit the recipient’s cellular structure. Once it’s modified, impregnation is guaranteed.’

  ‘Every single time,’ the Prime Minister said with awe. ‘What if we bring you volunteers? How many would you be willing to impregnate?’

  Shiumo hesitated, looking from one of us to another. Then she shook her head. ‘Such a proposal reeks of a deeply immoral value transaction instead of a free act of mutual pleasure. If it was Jian or Richard, I’d consider it. But not anyone else. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.’

  ‘Of course. We’ll leave it there,’ the Prime Minister said, and shot me a sharp glance.

  I’m on it, I said to her. She nodded slightly in reply.

  26

  After Marque had fixed my shoulder, I sat with Shiumo in the ship’s main gallery area to share some dragon tea, the spectacular stars shimmering above us. I noticed with a smile that the sculpture I’d given Shiumo was on display on its own plinth in the art gallery.

  ‘Jian?’ Shiumo said.

  I snapped out of it. ‘Sorry. I’m just glad to be back.’

  She gestured towards me with her teacup. ‘It’s completely pain-free now?’

  I rotated my shoulder and nodded. ‘Like new.’

  ‘Good. Now we need to hurry and find a way to bring Richard up here so we can save him. Marque says he doesn’t have long.’

  ‘He’s incredibly stubborn, Shiumo. He won’t come back even though it’s killing him.’

  ‘He’s unconscious right now,’ Marque said. ‘He’s past the point of rejecting our help. We could bring him up without telling him and just do it.’

  ‘That would be deeply unethical and I’m surprised you’d even suggest it,’ Shiumo said.

  ‘I like him,’ Marque said. ‘It’s been six months since you separated. If he were fully restored, I think he could survive the heartsickness. We just need to get him up here so I can fit the biologicals.’

  ‘Would the General let me take Richard if I returned him immediately after restoring him?’ Shiumo asked me. ‘I won’t keep him here against his will. I just want to save his life!’

  ‘He’ll come if the general orders him to,’ I said.

  ‘But she’s respecting his decision. The Prime Minister agrees with her. None of them will order him up here. They’re prepared to let him die instead.’ She lowered her head. ‘I wish I’d never met him now. I’ve cost him so much.’

  ‘You should warn people before you start a relationship with them. You need to tell them that loving you and leaving you is lethal,’ I said.

  ‘I have never had this problem before. Everybody takes a scale if they leave me – dragons’ scales are prized symbols of prestige throughout the Empire. Nobody else has accused me of this ridiculous mind control!’ She shook her head. ‘There has to be a way to save Richard. Come on, Jian, you know your people. How can I save him?’

  The opportunity was too good to pass up. ‘Why don’t you offer to impregnate some women with dragonscales in return for saving him?’

  ‘That’s a trade!’ Shiumo said. ‘It’s so wrong! There’s a word for that – Marque! What’s the word for trading sex for favours?’

  ‘Prostitution,’ Marque said.

  ‘That was an honourable profession,’ I protested.

  ‘You people are so strange,’ Shiumo said. ‘That there should even be a market for such a thing …’

  ‘Save Richard’s life, and help humanity to the stars,’ I said. ‘Nobody loses that way – especially if we return Richard to Earth immediately. Send another dragon to create the second generation of starship engines, and we’ll be able to carry our own colonists to safety if we need to. Everybody wins.’

  She hesitated, watching me with her silver eyes.

  ‘Can you
arrange for a dragon to parent the second generation?’ I said.

  ‘Of course I can. Some of my sisters would love the idea. Look at Zianto – she’ll sleep with anything, and she loves experimenting with new species.’

  ‘Wait – she’s your sister,’ I said, shocked. ‘We can’t have the dragonscales reproducing with their own aunt!’

  Shiumo waved one claw. ‘That doesn’t apply with dragonkind. Our genetic natures are so different that by your standards we are entirely unrelated to each other. It wouldn’t make a difference to us or to them.’

  ‘Really?’

  She nodded. ‘Trust me.’

  ‘It’s worth it to save Richard,’ I said.

  ‘I know.’ She lowered her head. ‘If I didn’t love him so damn much I wouldn’t even consider this.’

  ‘I’m very fond of him too, and I think it’s worth it,’ Marque said. ‘As Jian said: nobody loses.’

  ‘Can you guarantee that what happened to Richard won’t happen to the volunteers?’ I said. ‘Having sex with you won’t kill them?’

  ‘Well, your Home Secretary is just fine, so I can confidently say “yes” to that,’ she said.

  I choked with laughter. ‘How many human partners have you had in the last six months?’

  ‘Let’s just say I had so many offers that I could afford to be extremely selective.’

  ‘They offered even after what happened to Richard?’

  ‘Oh, absolutely. Many species will take enormous risks for sexual pleasure, particularly when it’s with royalty. And I assured my partners that the same thing wouldn’t happen to them. Richard’s a special case because of the love we share.’ She tilted her head. ‘Not even the slightest twinge of jealousy. Remarkable. You really are an exceptional example of humanity, Jian.’

  I shrugged, and my shoulder didn’t hurt at all. ‘You and I are friends, and I don’t want more than that.’