No… please no…
Jack held Anna’s gaze for what seemed like an eternity. She tried as hard as she could not to bite her lip nervously. She needed to be strong, but his eyes were making it so hard…
“I love you, Anna,” Jack said quietly. “I think I have since the second I laid eyes on you in Homeroom, which feels like a billion years ago. I may never have been a good learner, but after all we’ve been through, I think I have picked up on one thing...”
No…
Jack reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand. She felt her chest tighten and her heart begin to beat rapidly.
“Life’s too short to be afraid of anything. Least of all you,” he whispered.
Gingerly, he began to move his face toward her for a kiss. Anna breathed deeply, closing her eyes. She wanted to kiss him back. She wanted to kiss him so bad it hurt. She wanted to run her hands through his hair and hold him close, falling into the ocean of emotion she had for him and drowning in it.
But if she allowed herself to, she knew it would break her heart, because such a thing simply wouldn’t last. And she didn’t think she had the strength to survive it when it would be made to end.
Just before their lips met, Anna forced herself to turn away, pulling her hand from his and looking off in the distance. She could feel tears just on the edge of appearing, but she fought hard to keep them at bay and to gain control of herself. Jack looked at her. She could tell he was hurt.
“Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same way I do,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter what I feel,” Anna whispered. “It can’t ever happen.”
“Of course it matters how you feel!” insisted Jack. “How could it not?”
“Jack… you just don’t understand,” replied Anna. “After all you’ve seen by now, don’t you get it? I’m not just a girl. I’m a Princess. A figurehead. A leader. And for someone in my position, we don’t have the luxury of being selfish. I have thousands of predecessors I have to live up to. Responsibilities to billions and billions of life-forms across the galaxy. What I want doesn’t matter.”
Jack grimaced. “Maybe I don’t understand,” he said. “You’re in charge aren’t you? That means you don’t have to live up to anyone. You don’t have to be something you’re not. You make the rules and others follow.”
Anna shook her head. “That is not how a true leader operates,” she said.
“Isn’t it?” Jack asked. “Real leaders lead through the strength of their will. They make the hard decisions others might not understand, not because it’s expected of them, but because it’s the right thing to do. I know you feel as though you need to fill the shoes of some legendary Emperors, but the only thing you really need to do is be the best Emperor you can be. And that means being true to yourself and not worrying about what other people think. You’re smart, and strong, and brave, Anna. All you ever need to worry about is achieving what you set out to do, and nothing else. If you want to conquer planets, then you conquer planets. If you want to destroy the Deathlords, then you destroy the Deathlords. If you want to find lost Ancient technology, then you find it. And if you want to be happy, then you do what it takes to be happy.”
“The last time I followed advice like that,” said Anna quietly, “it led to the destruction of your planet, and the death of the only father I’ve ever known.”
Jack blinked at Anna, as though her words had slapped him in the face and stunned him speechless. Anna placed her hand on top of his and smiled at him comfortingly. “If my life weren’t so complicated, I’d toss everything away just to run off and be with you,” Anna said, before sadly adding, “but unfortunately, my life is extremely complicated. And there’s no room in it for you… no matter what I feel.”
The two sat quietly together for a long while after that as her words settled in. Jack gazed out over the bright and bustling street below, looking so sad it made Anna want to cry. Finally, he spoke. “You know… I’ve never been in love before,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how it works. Right now, I wish I did, because it feels pretty crappy… but I just want you to know something…”
Jack squeezed her hand and looked Anna in her eyes.
“No matter what happens, whether I’m by your side or a billion miles away… whether you’re married or whatever… I’m always going to love you. You don’t have to love me back or anything. You just have to know that no matter what, when you need me, I’ll be there. And what I feel… it doesn’t matter if you’re the greatest Emperor who’s ever lived, or some nerdy bookworm from West Virginia. What I feel is unconditional. All you ever need to be is your true self, and that’s good enough to make me happy.”
At that, Anna couldn’t hold her tears back any longer. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, and couldn’t help but chuckle at how ridiculous she probably seemed. “But you’d be happier if we could make out,” she said.
“Oh, so much happier,” added Jack.
They both laughed at that.
“I’m sorry, Jack,” Anna said after they’d settled down. “You deserve so much better than me.”
“I don’t know what I deserve,” Jack replied. “All I know is what I want. And I want you.”
They looked into each other’s eyes, both sad and frustrated. What had started out as a fun and exciting night had turned into sorrowful heartbreak, and there was nothing more either could do to salvage it…
And they both knew it.
“I think it’s time I got back home,” Anna said. “Before anyone discovers I’m gone.”
Jack nodded. “Yeah. I think that’s probably a good idea.”
Right before Jack teleported them away, Anna looked out over the stratum, admiring the part of the capitol she never got to see one final time – the part far below the Royal Tower, where the regular people lived.
It was nice to be normal… she thought. While it lasted.
Chapter 14
Jack entered his quarters, feeling like he’d been run over by a couple of freight trains. His heart hurt so much, it felt like a 100 pound weight in the pit of his stomach. A blanket of depression had wrapped itself around him so tightly, all he wanted to do was fall into bed and cry himself to sleep.
That did soooooo not go as I’d hoped, he thought bitterly. He’d laid it all out there, and it still hadn’t been enough. He probably should have known what to expect. He probably should have been prepared for Anna to shut him down like she did. But a part of him – the part of him who’d faced impossible situations before and had persevered – had hoped he’d be able to pull off another miracle. But it was painfully obvious he couldn’t win them all.
And as everyone should know by now…
Jack hates to lose.
Jack was so depressed that he almost didn’t notice the man standing by the window, looking out over the city with his hands clasped behind his back. Jack stopped short and looked at the back of the bald, tattooed head, his brain just starting to register the fact that the Chief of Imperial Intelligence was waiting for him in the dark of his apartment.
“I take it your little date did not end as you’d hoped?” Alabaster commented.
Jack blinked at the man as he turned to face Jack, revealing an amused smile. “How did—” Jack started to say.
“How did I know you and Princess Glorianna were traipsing around the city all night?” Alabaster said, good-naturedly. “Come now, did you really think we wouldn’t notice an unauthorized spaceship flying around the Royal Tower? Particularly one as distinct as yours? You have no idea how close you came to being shot out of the sky on several occasions, had I not intervened.”
Jack shuffled his feet. He suddenly felt like he was about to get detention or something. “So… you know we snuck out… thanks for not blowing us up, I guess.”
“Oh, I know more than you simply snuck out,” said Alabaster as he approached Jack, holding a datapad in his hand which he tapped, calling up a holographic recording of Jack and Anna holding hands on the ove
rpass and almost kissing. Jack’s eyes went wide at the video evidence of his most embarrassing heartbreak ever.
“Where did you get that!?” Jack shrieked. “We were alone!”
“The Princess is never alone,” Alabaster said. “The minute you teleported her out of her quarters, I had Agents flooding the streets, just to be close-by should either of you be recognized. And of course, you were constantly monitored by our spycams.”
“Spy… spycams?”
“You’ve no doubt noticed by now the flying orbs that our media uses as cameras. Kimlee Evenstar is practically surrounded by them. The Intelligence service utilizes the same technology, only our cameras are the size of a pebble. So small and so powerful, they can monitor you from a distance where you will never see them. I have a record of your entire date, from the minute the two of you set foot on the ground.”
Jack sighed and rubbed his temples. “So, did you, like, come here to threaten me to stay away from Anna and never do something like this again?” Jack asked.
Alabaster chuckled and turned off the holofeed. “I think the Princess made her feelings on the subject of you and her very clear. There’s no need for me to offer my opinion on it,” he said. “However, I do feel that you and I must have a little chat.”
“Can it wait?” asked Jack. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been having kind-of a crappy night.”
“Oh, I won’t take up much of your time,” Alabaster said as he motioned for Jack to sit in a chair at a small table, which Alabaster sat down opposite of. “In fact, if what you told the Princess is true and you really do love her, then you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”
Jack looked at Alabaster suspiciously before accepting his invitation to sit. Alabaster reached into the breast pocket of his uniform and produced a small case, which he laid down on the table between them.
“Tell me, Earthman,” he said. “In your time with us, have you ever heard of a game called Optiass?”
“Can’t say I have,” Jack replied.
“Optiass is from Old Solar, meaning ‘influence.’ It was invented over seven thousand years ago by a Paragon named Kamtruise. The original game was played with carved stones, but nowadays, there are electronic versions. Care to know how it works?”
“I guess,” said Jack, wondering just what the man was getting at.
Alabaster opened the case and took out two small stones. He then set the case down on the table and hit a button on it, producing a holographic board with a variety of different playing pieces. Jack looked at the set-up with interest. The pieces were in the shape of what appeared to be various alien species, with one set being black and the other white.
“Most games are controlled by players,” Alabaster said. “You want a game piece to do something, you move it to perform the action you desire. However, Optiass is unique in the sense that all the pieces on the board have minds of their own. It is impossible to get them to do anything without their cooperation. So if you want them to move the way you wish them to, you must first convince them to do so.”
“Convince them?” asked Jack.
“Yes. See this stone?” Alabaster said, holding up one of the case’s stones between his fingers. It looked like a smooth grey rock. “When you hold this in the palm of your hand, it allows you to speak to the pieces on your side of the board. Each piece has its own unique personality. It has its own desires. Its own goals. Some pieces wish to be upgraded to become more powerful. Some pieces wish to be left alone. Some are bloodthirsty, and some are peaceful. Some are strong, and some are weak. And none of them wishes to be sacrificed. The purpose of the game is to move your pieces so that the Emperor of your opponent is vanquished. And in order to do that, you must influence the pieces to act the way you want them to.”
“Wow,” said Jack as he looked at the different pieces on the board. “That sounds… really hard.”
“It is,” Alabaster said with a smile. “Games of Optiass have been known to go on for days, weeks, sometimes even months as the two players try to figure out how to influence their pieces to play as they wish them to. It’s such a valuable skill, learning how to peddle influence over others, that we require all Imperial Intelligence Agents to take classes in the game during their training. Over the years, I’ve gotten to be pretty good at it, but I would hardly consider myself to be at a Grandmaster level. However, I take great pleasure in studying those who have been able to master Optiass. Would you like to know who my favorite player of all time is?”
“I get the feeling you’re going to tell me regardless,” replied Jack.
Alabaster nodded. “Indeed. His name was Purefoy Harmston. The most unlikely of Grandmasters. Purefoy was a Rooroo, an alien species which places a great deal of emphasis on trade and merchant skills. They’re widely known to be quite greedy and untrustworthy because of their relentless pursuit of material gain. Unlike other Optiass Grandmasters, who tend to be Paragons or Politicians of some type, Purefoy was a salesman. He travelled from planet to planet, selling the wares of his family’s business. I believe it was because of his skills as a salesman that he was able to so expertly know how to manipulate others into doing as he wished. But what makes him particularly unique was a strategy he invented to win many an Optiass game.”
“And what strategy was that?”
“He called it a ‘Swindle,’” replied Alabaster. “It’s quite an ingenious little strategy, really. A Swindle is a ruse by which a player puts himself in a losing position on purpose to trick his opponent and, thereby, achieves a win instead of the expected loss. A Swindle is usually a strategy that is employed when it’s clear a player has lost the game, as a last ditch effort to fend off defeat. But Purefoy would often put his pieces in precarious positions on purpose so as to motivate them to fight for their lives. To his opponents, it would seem as though he’d lost control of the board. But what Purefoy was really doing was setting himself up to swindle his opponent out of their victory.”
Jack nodded. “I’m getting the feeling there’s a moral here, somewhere,” he muttered.
“There is indeed,” Alabaster replied. “Tell me what you know of Imperial politics where the Princess is concerned.”
“Um….” said Jack. “She’s the heir to the throne. She can control Ancient technology. She’s being forced to marry someone.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Jack, feeling like he should know more than he apparently did.
Alabaster nodded. “Let me tell you a story,” he said as he gripped the Optiass pebble in his hand. The holographic board before him cleared, and new pieces appeared. They looked to be a King, a Queen, and four peasants. “Years ago, there was a powerful family. It consisted of a wise Emperor, his equally wise wife, and their offspring – three boys, and a girl…”
Another piece appeared on the board, this time a powerful looking giant.
“Another powerful family, one with a great deal of ambition, approached the Emperor about a marriage union between their oldest daughter and the Emperor’s oldest son,” Alabaster continued. “This family had a great deal of influence, money, and resources. It made sense for the Emperor to align his family with them. At the same time, another player entered the game…”
A new piece appeared, this time a tiny miner, looking weathered and frail, especially next to the large giant.
“This family wasn’t nearly as powerful. But they were extremely ambitious. They wheeled and dealed and finagled their way into a marriage alliance, as well, this time between their only son and the Emperor’s only daughter. Being fourth in line for the throne in a family full of healthy males, it seemed like a trivial victory for this family who so desperately wanted a foothold in the halls of power. But then, something happened which changed everything…”
The pieces of the royal family disappeared, leaving only a female peasant in its place.
“The Emperor and his family all died, save for one – his daughter.”
“Anna,
” muttered Jack.
“Indeed,” replied Alabaster. “With the oldest son dead, the powerful family who had staked their claim to the throne were suddenly on the outs, and the minor family who had bound their only child to the Emperor’s daughter were now in direct line to assume the Prime Legacy.”
The tiny miner suddenly morphed into another giant, just as big and powerful looking as the other one.
“The head of this family leveraged his new position to grow his Legacy, amassing a great deal of influence and power, enough to rival that of the first family. But that family did not like to see the other growing in power so quickly. Soon, both giants were at each other’s throats, with the poor daughter of the dead Emperor caught between them.”
Jack watched as the giants moved to either side of the peasant girl and began hitting each other with their clubs as the girl cowered between them.
“You’re… you’re talking about the Evenstars and the Skyborns, aren’t you?” said Jack.
Alabaster nodded. “You must understand that things are far more complicated than you think they are,” he continued. “Since the fall of Regalus Prime, the Evenstars have been trying to find a way to nullify Princess Glorianna’s wedding contract so that she can be wed to their son. Likewise, the Skyborns have been pushing for the wedding to go through so they can shore up their position, but the marriage contract prevents the Princess from marrying until she is 18 cycles of age. There has been a cold war raging between both Legacies for a decade now, and I fear it is starting to escalate.”
“Escalate how?” asked Jack.
“When Paragon Shepherd was alive, I had an ally in protecting Princess Glorianna from this feud between the Evenstars and the Skyborns,” Alabaster said. “He’d never let any harm befall the Princess, so I was able to focus my efforts on keeping the Evenstars and Skyborns from each other’s throats. We’ve thwarted countless assassination attempts, both on Mourdock Skyborn and Amadeus Evenstar.”
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 18
