by M. D. Cooper
Tanis had also insisted that the Aegeus had its own set of blades for communication with Khardine, and another set for calling back to New Canaan—though it only had a dozen of each.
Eventually, as the deployment of QC blades to the fleets progressed, Khardine would turn into the main communications hub. That hub would keep every fleet from having to maintain blades that could talk to every other fleet.
Tanis still expected some of that to be present.
Routing all comms through Khardine presented an incredible risk. Should Khardine fall or be infiltrated, it would be impossible for the ships to know that their communications were being altered through the relay.
She could only imagine what a pain QC blade management was going to become as the war progressed. But that was a problem for another time; one that was dwarfed by the unbelievable advantage that instantaneous communication across the front would provide.
Lieutenant Collans called down from the Aegeus.
[Negotiations proceeding well,] Tanis sent, using her words sparingly. [We’re to provide four gates for two-way fleet transfer from two Scipian bases to Hegemony border.]
[Embedded escorts and engineering?] Admiral Krissy sent back.
[Yes. Size and composition at your discretion.]
[Will we give over tech?]
Though there was no emotion in the words, the question on its own spoke volumes. [No. We will provide mirror tugs for the fleet transfers. Tech to remain top secret. Scipians will have the same orders.]
[What precipitated this so quickly?] Krissy asked.
[Hegemony capitol buildings on High Terra are destroyed. Uriel is now The Hegemon.]
[Well, shit. Everything else going well?]
Tanis wondered how much to tell Krissy. She didn’t want to worry the woman, but she also didn’t want Krissy to feel like she was out of the inner circle. [The usual. Hand agent tried to kill us, Elena escaped. Hunting her on Alexandria.]
[Your ‘usual’ is usually worse. Sounds like you have it in hand. Will send an update with fleet composition. Please provide destination locations as soon as you get them.]
[Will do,] Tanis replied.
[Good luck. Admiral Krissy out.]
[You too, Admiral,] Tanis said, and reached out to Lieutenant Collans once more.
While Palisades was not the location of ISF command in New Canaan, it did have four QC blades that had pairs on the I2—one of which Tanis had brought to the Aegeus.
She knew it was selfish, but she’d perform her duties more efficiently if she knew that her children were OK.
They waited a few minutes in silence. Tanis’s nano picked up the suite’s front door opening and Petra entering and rushing to her room. She didn’t look happy, and though Tanis had nano all throughout the suite, she disabled audio pickup from Petra’s room.
She could hear the alternate cursing and crying through the walls well enough without it.
Sera broke into Tanis’s thoughts.
Tanis hoped the actual events were somewhere in between those two extremes.
Tanis recalled that event. It had been back on Sabrina, the day she had awoken after cryostasis to find out that she was five thousand years in the future and over a hundred light years from the Intrepid. She still felt emotional at the memory.
Tanis laughed.
Tanis snorted.
Collans reported.
[Tanis, good to hear from you. So to speak,] Joe said.
[You too,] Tanis replied.
Angela joined in. [How’s the ISFA, Joe? How’re the kids?]
[You know how it is, a lot going on. New semester and new facility on top of that. The girls are all great. Faleena is growing by leaps and bounds. I’ll see if I can reach them; they were out for supper with Nance, but they should be almost back by now.]
[OK,] Tanis replied and waited a minute for Joe to come back.
[Here we all are. I’ve just routed them through my Link to the blade. It might get a bit confusing, but we’ll manage.]
[Hi, moms, it’s Cary, how are you?]
[Great!] Tanis replied. [We’re at Alexandria, a world city in the Scipian Empire. Had dinner at a restaurant down beneath the planet between two plates. We could see the mantle.]
[Wow! This is Saanvi. Did you have good food?]
[No,] Angela replied. [Someone tried to kill us.]
[Really? Are you OK? Oh, this is Faleena.]
Tanis smiled to see the words from her youngest daughter. [Of course we are, Faleena. How are you? Joe said you’re doing great.]
[Dad’s too kind. I’m muddling through. Some of the instructors are brutal.]
[They’re supposed to be brutal.]
No one identified themselves, but Tanis was certain that had been Joe.
[I hope your negotiations go good, mom.]
[Thanks, Cary. We already have our first steps underway. We have some big gala to go to tomorrow night, and then the real work will begin.]
[How’d you know it was me?]
[Because you refuse to use the word ‘well’ when you’re supposed to,] Angela scolded.
[Told you she’d notice.]
[We’re burning time here on the QC, girls. Anything you want to say to your moms?]
[Love you, moms. Get a good outcome.]
[Have fun at the gala!]
[I miss you both so much.]
Tanis and Angela knew the final words had been from Saanvi, then Cary, and finally Faleena. Tanis felt tears come to her eyes, and knew that Angela felt the same way.
[We love you all too,] Tanis said.
[And we miss you terribly. Study hard so you can ship
out and join us,] Angela added.
[The three of them are well on their way,] Joe said. [Talk to you soon, dears.]
[Bye, moms.]
[Good luck.]
[Be safe out there, moms.]
Tanis and Angela replied in unison, [We will. Love you all.]
The connection closed—probably instigated by Joe so they didn’t all repeat farewells for the next hour.
MEET WITH THE PRELATE
STELLAR DATE: 08.12.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Imperial Palace Complex
REGION: Alexandria, Bosporus System, Scipio Empire
Elena waited in Prelate Fiona’s quarters, barely breathing, monitoring the room’s tracking systems to ensure she remained undetected.
It was fortunate that the Celebration of the Seven Suns was occurring the following day. All of the prelates were on Alexandria for the event, and would stay for several weeks afterward as they held meetings with the empress and their quadrant delegates.
She knew from her time serving in Scipio in the past that Fiona would be the one least interested in joining a massive war. The prelate would also do nearly anything to harm the empress; at least, anything that didn’t harm Fiona as well. It would make her the easiest to deal with.
A small part of Elena felt twisted for working so actively against Sera, but it had to be done. Sera was beyond redemption, and Elena would do what she must to see the Transcend brought to its knees. It was past time to end their tyranny.
Still, that small part of Elena urged her to consider that Sera may have been telling the truth. That perhaps it was Orion that was pushing the conflict forward. For all her tech, Tanis just wanted to be left alone; she wasn’t trying to spread it around the galaxy.
But will that last forever? Elena knew that the cat would eventually be let out of the bag. Once New Canaan’s picotech spread to all humanity, the race would become unrecognizable. It would change them into something else.
This was where it would stop. In Scipio. She would deny them this alliance, and the Transcend would lose the Inner Stars. With the bulk of humanity and AIs siding with Orion, there would be nothing Sera and Tanis could do but step down.
Perhaps the war could be avoided entirely.
Her probes picked up movement in the hall, and a few seconds later, Prelate Fiona entered her private quarters.
The prelate was a tall woman, well over two meters in the heels she currently wore. Her long white hair was bundled together into a single thick braid that fell to her thighs. Her outfit was simple—a tight pair of red pants and a long brown jacket with tails that came to her knees.
Once the door swung shut behind her, the prelate pulled off her coat and threw it onto the bed, revealing a shimmering white shirt beneath.
“You’re a stunning woman,” Elena said from the darkened corner where she stood.
Fiona spun, her eyes showing neither fear nor alarm, only anger.
“What are you doing in here? Who are you?”
“My name is Elena. I came to talk to you in regards to a plan Diana has set in motion. A plan that will grant her even greater power, and draw all of Scipio into a war unlike any other.”
Fiona sighed and kicked off her shoes. “Sounds very melodramatic, and I’m tired. Why don’t you make an appointment with my executive AI, Samantha? I’m sure she can fit you in sometime right around the end of the universe.”
Elena stepped out of the corner and into the light. “Are you sure? This is a one-time offer. When I kill Diana, you will not be the benefactor.”
Fiona’s head snapped up. “Kill? When?”
“Tomorrow night,” Elena replied. “At her precious gala.”
“You’re a fool,” Fiona said with a disdainful sniff. “That is the most secure event in the galaxy. You’ll never get in.”
“Very well, then,” Elena said as thin silver filaments began to flow off her fingertips toward Fiona. We’ll just have to do this the hard way.”
Elena had severed all the room’s sensors while they spoke, replacing their feeds with one of Fiona lying on her bed.
There was no one listening as Fiona began to scream.
THE IMPERIAL COSTUMER
STELLAR DATE: 08.12.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Imperial Palace Complex
REGION: Alexandria, Bosporus System, Scipio Empire
“How are you feeling, Valerie?” Tanis asked as she walked out of her quarters and across the suite’s central room, rotating her arms in slow, languid stretches as she walked to the coffee maker.
“Right as rain, ma’am” Valerie replied from where she leaned against the bar, working through a series of holoprojections that only she could see. “Aegeus sent down a medic that fixed me up; he’s set up shop in the suites across the hall. Given your record, I figured we should have him on hand.”
“My record?” Tanis asked, a wounded expression on her face.
Valerie snorted, “Yes, ma’am. I was given access to much of your record. Took me two days to read it.”
Tanis sipped her fresh cup of coffee and turned to look at Valerie. “It’s far too early in the morning for ‘ma’am’ing, Valerie. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other over the upcoming years. New rule: if there’s no one else around, I’m just ‘Tanis’.”
Valerie met Tanis’s eyes and her lips twisted. “I’m not sure that’s a good habit to get into.”
“You’re smart,” Tanis said with a wink. “I’m sure you’ll manage not to slip up.”
“Yes…Tanis.”
“See? Not so hard,” Tanis replied as she eased into a chair by the window and stared out over the gardens. “You know,” she said after a minute’s silence. “If this place wasn’t such a viper pit, it may actually be a nice place to spend some time.”
“Not my kinda vacation place,” Valerie said absently as she flipped through her holos.
“Oh, yeah?” Tanis asked over her shoulder. “What is?”
“I like cloud sailing on worlds like your Roma. Give me a gas giant, a strong headwind, and a CF sail, and I’m having the time of my life.” Valerie’s voice sounded wistful, and she sighed.
“Sounds like you’d rather be there,” Tanis said, turning in her chair to face Valerie. “Why join the TSF?”
“Stars and Alliance, right? We all have to do our part to safeguard humanity’s future—even if it’s hard to see the forest for the trees sometimes.”
“Sorry, Angela,” Valerie said. “I tend to think of humanity and AIs as sharing the same future. At least, I hope we do. Maybe we need a new word for both…like ‘allkind’, or maybe ‘omnikind’.
Tanis nodded. “I like that. I’ve heard some places have fancy words for both, but ‘allkind’ is nice and broad, and doesn’t have any baggage or nuance. Just ‘all’.”
“You AIs have turned yourselves into things, as well,” Valerie noted as she closed out her holodisplays and walked to the coffee maker. “‘Allkind’ would encompass your ascended brethren, too.”
Valerie looked up sharply. “That wasn’t in any of the briefings. I mean, there have always been rumors of humans ascending…whatever that means. Have you met any?”
“So how does she know it happened?” Valerie asked.
“It’s classified, for now,” Tanis replied. “But we have every reason to believe that those people determined how to ascend. Although they did not seem to interact with corporeal beings anymore once they had done so.”
“So yo
u’re not sure,” Valerie deduced as she leant against the window.
Tanis shrugged. “I’m as sure as I can be without meeting one.”
“Stars, you’re all so loud,” Sera said as she emerged from her room, rubbing her eyes and stumbling toward the coffee maker.
“You two have some of the most advanced nanotech in the galaxy,” Valerie said as she watched Sera pour herself a cup and sip it with delight. “You don’t need coffee to feel awake and alert.”
“Racial mental addiction,” Tanis said. “We consume coffee to feel awake because we must. There is no why.”
“What she said,” Sera mumbled as she breathed in the aroma. “Ritual and tradition, our brains are wired for it.”
Valerie shrugged. “If you say so. I like to avoid patterns; keeps the mind sharp.”
“Where’s Petra?” Sera asked as she sat and picked a grape from a bowl between her and Tanis’s chairs.
“She went to fetch a costumer,” Valerie replied with a hint of a grin.
“A what?” Tanis asked, her tone sharp.
“I didn’t really ask, but I looked up this Celebration of Seven Suns, and it does seem to involve some elaborate outfits.”
“I saw that in my research last night, too. It looks pretty amazing,” Sera replied. “Didn’t you dig into what this whole shindig is about, Tanis?”
“No,” Tanis shrugged. “I was making some calls last night. Reached out to Krissy and then Joe afterward.”
“How’s your man and the kids?” Sera asked.
Tanis drew in a deep breath. “Good, they miss us, Joe misses us, Faleena really misses us. I feel like a bad mother.”
Valerie nodded. “I know the feeling. I have a ten-year-old daughter back home. She’s with my sister right now.”
“I saw that in your file when I selected you,” Tanis said. “I almost didn’t pick you because of it, but half the best officers have kids…”
