Scales of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  We heard her moving around inside the bathroom.

  ‘I’m going to kill that dragon!’ Oliver shouted from his room. ‘She did this to us.’

  ‘Exceptional hearing,’ General Maxwell said.

  ‘I can hear your heart beating,’ Oliver said loudly. He lowered his voice. ‘I will tear it out and eat it.’

  ‘Will Shiumo take me home?’ Georgina said.

  ‘Why don’t you ask her yourself?’ I said.

  ‘You’re mine until you’re mature, personal slur,’ Oliver shouted. ‘Even if the dragon took you home, they’d have to give you back to me. You’re mine.’

  ‘And the psychologists are doing their best?’ the general said, gesturing for us to leave Georgina’s room.

  ‘Yes, ma’am, with Marque’s help. They won’t give up.’

  ‘I’m going to eat their hearts too,’ Oliver said with menace. ‘Your torture and brainwashing will fail. I am loyal to the Republic. I have property back home and I will find a way to get it.’

  ‘Can we see him?’ the general said, nodding towards Oliver’s room.

  ‘He’ll just attack you, ma’am. He’s not cooperating at all.’

  ‘I will resist your torture and kill you all!’ Oliver shouted.

  ‘Maybe we should torture him if he wants it so much,’ General Maxwell said with amusement.

  I slapped my forehead. ‘Thanks a lot, General.’

  ‘I knew it!’ Oliver shrieked. ‘You hear that, Ee-yi-oh-ue? They’re going to torture us. Are you ready for it?’

  ‘I want to go home!’ Georgina wailed. ‘Let me out!’

  ‘Let’s go see if Shiumo’s here yet,’ Commander Blake said with resignation.

  ‘I see the problem,’ the general said as we walked back through the corridors to the elevator that led up to Scaleshome. ‘If you keep them confined, they won’t trust you. If you release them, they’ll run away and hide.’

  ‘They jump off the cliff into the ocean,’ I said. ‘Georgina’s nearly drowned three times. She says she’d rather be dead than here. Oliver’s a strong swimmer, and made it close to the mainland twice before we caught him.’

  ‘Maybe Shiumo can help you win their trust.’

  ‘I sincerely hope so, ma’am. Everything we’ve tried so far has failed. We just need one small breakthrough to move forward.’

  Commander Blake stayed at the terminal to supervise the arrivals, while I took the general up in the elevator and onto the surface of Scaleshome.

  Marque had cleared the main square for the visitors; usually it was covered in ceramic beams that Marque was using to build residences for the dragonscales. Some of the edges of the square were finished with perfectly smooth stone in a soft shade of pink. A few residences were complete: ten-metre-wide dome-shaped pink buildings with round windows and planter boxes around their edges.

  ‘Is the colour an attempt to honour the old-fashioned “pink for girls” thing?’ the general said. ‘Since all the babies are girls?’

  ‘No, it’s Shiumo’s livery, her representative colour,’ Marque said. ‘Any visiting member of the Dragon Empire will see the colour and immediately know that the facility and the children belong to a member of Shiumo’s red clan.’

  ‘Send me a report on this clan business,’ the general said in an aside to me.

  ‘Nothing to it really, General,’ Marque said. ‘Each of the Empress’s daughters is a different colour, and all their children match that colour. This shade of red identifies the children as related to Shiumo.’

  ‘And the second generation, when they’re a mix of two colours?’ the general asked, intrigued.

  ‘Then it depends on what colour their scales are,’ Marque said.

  The general nodded. ‘Makes sense. Estimated time to completion of the facility?’

  ‘Another six months. Based on the children’s development in the last four weeks, I’d say they’ll be ready for their first Scaleshome retreat when they’re five years old.’

  ‘How long before they can have babies?’

  ‘Damn, you’re blunt,’ Marque said. ‘Working from their enhancements to the human baseline, I’d say about sixteen to eighteen years old. They’ll be the human equivalent of twenty-five.’

  ‘Good.’

  I showed the general through one of the completed houses. It had a living room, bedroom and bathroom similar to Georgina’s residence.

  ‘How long did it take Marque to build this?’ she said.

  ‘Each of the residences takes a week,’ Marque said.

  ‘Some of our refugees would love housing like this.’

  ‘Pick a site, General. When I’m done constructing the facility, I’ll come and build some for you.’

  ‘Appreciated.’ She checked her tablet. ‘Shiumo will be here soon. Let’s go wait for her.’

  Commander Blake met us in the square as the last of the scalesmothers came up in the elevator. We all stood together in the square, the babies quiet and alert in their mothers’ arms or in their buggies.

  ‘They look human until they start acting like this,’ the general said, softly enough for only Blake and me to hear. ‘Little Veronica’s already close to walking.’

  ‘How do her brother and sisters feel about her?’ I said.

  ‘They adore her; they call her their “ray of sunshine”. She’s always happy, hardly ever cries, and she has the biggest blue eyes and knows how to use them.’ She made a soft sound of amusement. ‘She appears to have inherited a great deal of charm from her dragonfather.’

  One of the babies started to cry. Her mother quickly pulled on a sling, lifted the baby with her husband’s help, and put her on her breast.

  ‘I can hear her sucking from here,’ I said with wonder.

  ‘Their mothers say it feels like they’re eating for three,’ the general said. ‘Linda has trouble keeping up.’

  ‘At one month old,’ I said.

  ‘The scientists can’t wait to get their hands on them,’ the general said. ‘But because the babies arrived sooner than expected, they still haven’t finished the ethical guidelines. They’re panicking that they’re losing valuable research time while they sort out the paperwork.’

  ‘If it keeps the babies safe and unharmed, they can take as long as they like,’ I said.

  ‘Hear, hear,’ Commander Blake said softly. He checked his tablet. ‘Any word, Marque? She’s ten minutes late.’

  ‘You know she’s never on time,’ Marque said.

  ‘She can travel instantly and she’s still always late,’ I said with amusement.

  ‘Has she pinged the edge of the solar system?’ the general said.

  ‘The ping would take three hours to reach us anyway. She’ll probably arrive before it does,’ Marque said.

  The commander checked his tablet again. ‘Is there any way for us to know if something’s happened to her or she was waylaid?’

  ‘No,’ Marque said.

  ‘I wish I still had that scale,’ I said.

  ‘Six more months, Jian. You’re first on the list for when she grows a new one,’ Marque said.

  ‘I know.’

  A few of the babies became restless, and their mothers took them for walks around the side of the square, showing them the buildings. More time passed, and I tried not to become concerned. Marque was right: Shiumo was always late. I checked my tablet; she was twenty minutes overdue.

  Chairs floated out of the construction warehouse, and Marque placed them around the square for us. The mothers sat, and a few of them fed their babies as they waited.

  The general sat too, and checked the feed on her tablet.

  ‘There’s no plan B if she doesn’t show,’ Commander Blake said. ‘All we can hope is that if something has happened to her, she managed to contact the other dragons first.’

  ‘Don’t forget that she’s effectively immortal,’ I said. ‘The only way she could be destroyed is if she runs into a cat ship –’

  Shiumo’s black pod appeared in the m
iddle of the square and she shouted telepathically: Help me! They’re hurt.

  The pod opened. A group of Japanese colonists were slumped inside, and the air filled with the smell of burned flesh.

  ‘Synching,’ Marque said. ‘The cat that attacked you on New Europa found the Japanese colony. We need medical attention for them immediately. There are more up on the ship – about fifty altogether.’

  ‘Contact Major Irina Sorovich in New Whitehall,’ the general shouted to Marque. ‘Tell her the situation.’

  ‘Sorovich here, General,’ Marque said in a woman’s voice with a crisp New London accent.

  ‘We need meds for fifty severely wounded colonists from New Nippon. They were attacked by that damn cat,’ the general said as she checked the colonists in the pod. ‘Severe burns. Amputations. They’re in a bad way, Irina. Do you have space for them?’

  ‘We’ll make space, General. Bring them to QA3,’ the major said.

  The general called to Shiumo. ‘Can you transport them to Queen Anne III Hospital in Euston?’

  ‘Show me where it is, Jian,’ Shiumo said. She was still sitting on top of the pod.

  I gave her directions telepathically.

  ‘Understood. I’ll take them directly,’ Shiumo said.

  ‘Tell Major Sorovich they’re on the way,’ the general said to Marque.

  ‘Already done,’ Marque said.

  As we exited the pod, one of the women woke and screamed in Japanese, ‘They took my baby!’

  ‘Oh lord,’ I said softly.

  ‘My son. My son!’ she shouted. ‘It took my son. It took our children!’

  ‘What did she say?’ the general said.

  ‘The cat took their children.’

  ‘Oh fuck,’ she said.

  Shiumo reappeared with the pod twenty minutes later. ‘They’re all safe at the hospital, but I want to go back and check I didn’t miss anyone in the dome. Jian, I need your psi ability to sense them – you’re human. Come and help me, please.’

  The general gestured for me and Commander Blake to enter the pod. ‘Go see if there are any more of them.’

  I sat on the floor of the pod and showed Commander Blake how to prepare for the journey.

  The pressure changed, and the door opened to reveal Richard standing in the corridor of Shiumo’s ship, holding breathers for us. He was wearing a silky deep gold shalwar kameez, and his skin glowed with good health above the mandarin collar.

  ‘Stay in the pod – she’s taking us straight to the colony,’ he said. ‘There isn’t much chance there are more survivors, but we want to be absolutely sure. If they had a panic room or extra breathers, more may be alive.’

  ‘Good to see you, Richard,’ Commander Blake said, shaking Richard’s hand.

  ‘Likewise, Stewart. This isn’t how I was expecting to meet you again,’ he said with grim humour. He nodded to me. ‘Good to see you as well, Lieutenant. I hope Stewart’s looking after you.’

  ‘Can’t complain, sir.’

  Prepare for fold, Shiumo said.

  Richard passed us the breathers – they were smaller, slimmer and lighter than our Earth ones – and the door opened onto the surface of Kapteyn-b – New Nippon.

  The soil was a copper-rich green, but under Kapteyn’s red light it appeared black and streaked with red tones that looked like blood. The Japanese dome had collapsed over the structures that had been inside it. The greenhouse, similar to ours on New Europa, was still standing, but the edges of its skin fluttered where the cat had torn it open.

  I had a flash of disorientation: I was back on New Europa and needed to check my colleagues. Then I remembered with a pang that they were all gone, and I was seeing that massacre all over again.

  ‘Stay put and let me open it up first,’ Marque said.

  Its sphere flew to the dome, cut the skin, and peeled it back to reveal the bodies of the colonists. They were the deep blue of asphyxiation, the red light making them appear a mottled purple.

  ‘Jian, see if you can sense any life,’ Shiumo said. She launched herself off the top of the pod and flew over the collapsed dome. ‘I don’t feel anything.’

  I nodded, and walked carefully over the collapsed skin of the dome, avoiding the lumpy shapes beneath it. My breathing echoed inside the mask as I sent out my empathy. All I could sense was the rage and grief of my colleagues.

  You need to tone down your emotions, I told them telepathically. They’re getting in the way. I hate to say it, but please attempt to find a happy place, and take your mind away from this situation.

  ‘I don’t think I can,’ Commander Blake said over the comms, his voice hoarse with pain.

  Asking them to hold in their emotions made the interference worse. I tried to ignore it as I walked among the dead. Marque peeled more skin away from the dome so everyone could check each body carefully.

  ‘Anything?’ Shiumo said above me.

  ‘Nothing.’

  After I’d covered the dome, I went to the greenhouse. It was chaos inside: the hydroponics racks had been overturned, and storage bins spilled their contents everywhere. Six colonists wearing overalls the colours of botany and security lay dead. The cat had ripped out all the potatoes, and left everything else.

  There was a large burn hole on the far side of the greenhouse. Outside, in the soft dust, were tracks that looked like something had been dragged across the ground. I realised the cat must have put the children into a net or bag to get them to its ship.

  My stomach fell when I saw a small dust-covered lump on the ground. I ran to it. It was a child of about a year old, lying on his back. I had to take my breather off to wipe the tears from my eyes – he was the same age as my son David. His breather had slipped from his face, and he hadn’t been old enough to adjust it. He’d suffocated; his cheeky face was mottled and purple in the star’s red light.

  I sent my senses out further and traced the path the cat had taken with the children to its ship. I found three more small bodies where the ship had been – burned beyond recognition by its launch blast.

  ‘I wonder how many children it managed to steal,’ I said, almost to myself.

  ‘You can find out from the survivors,’ Shiumo said above me. ‘They’re sure to know how many children were in the colony.’

  ‘Can you carry us to find this cat ship?’ Commander Blake asked her. ‘I would like to have words with it.’

  ‘And get the children back,’ Richard said.

  ‘It’s already left the system,’ Shiumo said. ‘Space is huge, and the ship is tiny. The chances of finding it are infinitesimal. Even if you do find it, you can’t enter the warp field to interact with the ship. That would be like the dimensional stretching that happens if you’re not close enough to me when I fold. You’ll have to find the ship, then wait until it comes out of warp before you “have words” with it. That could take years with the dilation effect.’

  ‘So the children’s parents will have grown old, while the children remain the same age,’ I said. ‘That makes it even worse.’

  ‘Do you have any idea which way the ship was headed?’ Commander Blake asked Marque. ‘Did it go in towards Earth, or out towards the American and African colonies, or did it head home to cat space?’

  ‘No idea. Sorry, Commander,’ Marque said. ‘Once again the cat destroyed the colony’s spheres. I have no idea what happened.’

  ‘We have to work out how long it will take to reach Earth or the other colonies,’ Commander Blake said. ‘And be ready for it.’

  ‘How can we defend ourselves against it?’ I said.

  ‘We’ll find a way,’ Commander Blake said grimly.

  When we returned to Scaleshome, Oliver and Georgina were waiting for us in the main square, accompanied by General Maxwell and a Marque sphere. None of the scalesmothers were present.

  I walked forward to speak to the aliens. ‘Thank you for coming out of your rooms. It’s good to see you.’

  ‘I want to see what happened,’ Oliver said.
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  ‘He doesn’t believe me,’ General Maxwell said. ‘He wants to see for himself.’

  ‘I need to see,’ Oliver said.

  ‘There are dead children there, Oliver. Are you sure?’ I said.

  He just gazed at me with his bright green eyes.

  I turned to Georgina. ‘What about you?’

  ‘I have to go and explain to him how it works,’ Georgina said. ‘If I don’t, you’ll fill him full of propaganda and turn him against his species.’

  ‘Where are the dragonscales babies? Are they okay?’ I asked Marque.

  ‘I put them all in the training centre in Scaleshome. Right now I’m giving the mothers a lecture on what to expect in the first twelve months of development.’

  ‘Thank you.’ I turned to Shiumo. ‘Can you take us back to the colony?’

  ‘This is a very good idea,’ she said. ‘Jian, Oliver, Georgina, put your hands on my shoulders. We’ll collect some breathers, then go see.’

  ‘Me as well,’ General Maxwell said, and I nodded.

  The Japanese colony was still deserted, the wind whistling over the destroyed dome.

  Oliver trudged around the collapsed skin, stopping a few times at the bodies of the fallen.

  ‘There are no children here,’ he said. ‘Marque lied.’

  ‘The massacre of the adults means nothing to you?’ the general said, irate at his apathy.

  ‘If these people refused to sell their children, they deserve everything they got,’ Georgina said. ‘Civilised people appreciate the wealth that children like me bring to their families.’

  ‘The children are on the other side,’ I said, and gestured for Oliver to follow me. ‘Is it important for you to see that your people killed children?’

  He didn’t reply, but his emotions were full of misery and regret.

  ‘You didn’t know this happened?’ I said.

  His misery deepened.

  ‘Your people regularly –’

  ‘Shut up!’ he shouted at me. ‘Where’s the child?’

  ‘He’s on the other side of the greenhouse,’ I said. ‘You don’t have to look if you don’t want to.’

  ‘I have to see,’ he said grimly.

  He went through the greenhouse to where the small corpse lay in the dust, and kneeled next to the little boy. His face was expressionless, but his emotions were full of turmoil.