The Smuggler’s Ascension is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Christopher Ingersoll. All Rights Reserved.
Cover art furnished by: https://www.bigstockphoto.com/
~1~
The Grand Hall of the Sanctuary echoed with footsteps against granite tiles as Stephan made his way as quickly as decorum allowed towards the training hall where he knew he would find Princess Sabine Arctura the IV. Despite all his years of patiently trying to mold the young woman into being a proper princess and member of the royal court, Sabine had resisted his efforts to teach her statesmanship, etiquette, and protocol. Instead, she had preferred learning about combat, strategy, and other such pursuits from her bodyguard Subat, pursuits that were generally reserved for the males of their world. Stephan had despaired of the day when he must present this willful young woman to the Royal Court and her mother at the time of her coming of age.
Yet now it seemed Sabine’s willfulness would serve her far better than anything she might have learned about etiquette and protocol. War had broken out just days before Sabine was to return home to Purannis, and Stephan carried yet heavier news with him as he entered the training hall. He had never liked to be the bearer of bad news, and the news he carried now for the Princess was the worst he could imagine.
The Sanctuary had been built over twelve hundred years ago during a rather bloody dynastic war between several of the noble houses of the Protectorate, when the last King of the House of Duranis died after his son had been murdered and with no clear heir-apparent. At the end of that bloody conflict, House Arctura had ascended to the throne, and they had built the Sanctuary on an uncharted world. For twelve hundred years the heirs of House Arctura were raised in safety at the Sanctuary from age thirteen until age twenty one, when they would ‘come of age’.
The Sanctuary was in essence a miniature palace where the heirs to the throne were taught to rule the Protectorate. Members of all of the noble houses were included in the training, with the hopes that by including everyone in the raising of the heir to the throne perhaps the tensions between the noble houses would be lessened. Stephan had not known those tensions to be reduced to any great degree, though he personally bore no malice towards the young Princess, yet the tradition persisted. He had once hoped that young Sabine Arctura would be a model princess and perhaps one day live up to the potential that the Sanctuary had been founded on, but she had proven to be too strong minded to easily follow in the footsteps of her predecessors.
The training hall was equipped with all of the latest equipment, and Stephan often found the young Princess here instead of at her studies. Sabine was by far a superior student who learned quickly, but she also enjoyed the rigors of physical fitness and combat. As Stephan entered the training hall he saw a slim, rather small, dark haired young woman in a form-fitting exercise leotard stood in a combat stance, sweat dripping from her forehead, as a training android approached to attack. Stephan hated the way his young charge always dressed while at the Sanctuary, but she had been incorrigible on the subject, always telling him to not be so uptight. His arguments on proper appearance had been as successful as his teaching efforts, and were always met with laughter until he had finally dropped the subject.
Today’s exercise was a hand-to-hand sparring session that Stephan had witnessed this young woman perform many times before, and the outcome was little in doubt in his mind. Her teacher and protector from the Su’Tani Order of Defenders, Subat Undani, had trained her well in the martial arts of his people. Sabine’s movements were fluid and well controlled as she watched for the android to attack. The android circled the young woman slowly, matching each of her shifting stances as it moved, before throwing a punch at her with blinding speed.
Sabine reacted instantly, however, and grasped the android’s arm as it missed her face by mere inches. Her hips pivoted as her grasp tightened, and moments later the android found itself face down on the floor with its arm trapped behind its back. Sabine delivered a quick punch to the back of the head which deactivated the android, after which the woman released the now disabled android’s arm and back away slowly before falling into a defensive stance once more.
“Very well done, your Highness,” Stephan called, his admiration for her performance and skill only slightly diminished by his desire for her to be a proper lady. Royalty was not meant to brawl like the common people, it just wasn’t done. The whole purpose of having bodyguards was to allow the nobles and royal family to maintain their regal demeanor.
“Bullshit,” the young woman spat, causing Stephan to wince inwardly. “The android should have never gotten that close to landing that hit.”
Stephan reminded himself why he was there and let his rebuke at her choice of language go unsaid. Instead, he grabbed a towel from a nearby table and tossed it to the young woman who was sweating heavily from the exercise, which apparently had been going on for some time. She caught the towel and nodded her thanks to Stephan before beginning to dry herself.
“Princess Sabine, I fear I have become the bearer of dark news,” Stephan sighed sadly. “Perhaps it would be best if you cleaned up and met me and General Mannis in the study. Things have happened at home that will need your immediate attention.”
“If it is so important, then tell me now,” Sabine countered as she peered at him from beneath the towel as she dried her hair. The steel in her dark brown eyes as she peered at him was all the motivation he needed to carry on. While she may not always speak in a civilized manner, she had learned the art of command very well in her time at the Sanctuary.
“As you wish,” Stephan replied sadly. “Three days ago the Clovani Empire sent a fleet of warships across our borders and launched an offensive against the Protectorate’s outer colonies there. Word is that three colony worlds have already fallen, suffering dreadful casualties in the process.”
“Good lord,” Sabine whispered, the towel dropping away from her head. “Has my mother ordered response?”
Stephan dreaded what must come next, but knew that he could not hide the news from his young charge. Bracing himself, he went on.
“Princess,” Stephan started, then stopped as he struggled with the words. “Sabine, my sweet young friend. I fear I must be the bearer of more horrible news. The day after the Empire launched its offensive against the colonies, it appears a small team of assassins infiltrated the Royal Palace on Purannis. Queen Josephine, your mother, was attacked in her chambers before the assassins could be stopped. I am so sorry, my dear, but your mother is dead.”
Sabine remained silent as Stephan watched her, dreading the many possible reactions from her that he had imagined when he had learned the dreadful news. This silence had not been one of them. An explosion of outrage had been his greatest fear, for he could never seem to reach her when she became angry to the point of rage. He watched as a myriad of different emotions passed through her eyes, each coming and going like clouds racing across the sky, as sweat from her workout dripped slowly down her face.
“Leave me,” Sabine whispered just as Stephan had been about to speak, pain and anger injecting a bite into her words. Stephan could see the deep pain and anger that had settled in his young charge’s eyes, and he wished he could do something to ease her pain.
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” Stephan said quietly, purposely stressing his new mode of address to reflect Sabine’s now elevated status. Sabine Arctura the IV was now Queen of the Purannis Protectorate.
Turning to leave, Stephan heard the
training android reactivate as Sabine returned to her workout. The workout proved to be a short one, however. Just before he closed the door to the hall, he heard a flurry of exchanges behind him that was quickly followed by a metallic squeal and the crash of the android’s body on the floor. The android’s severed head landed near the door, sparks falling upon the tiles from broken power cables, as Stephan pulled the door tightly shut. As he turned away, he could hear Sabine’s howl of fury and loss as a tear of his own slowly fell as he walked away.
~*~
~2~
The water had run cold as Sabine sat on the floor of the shower, arms folded around her knees. She barely noticed the way her body shivered from the cold, she had grown numb to everything but the pain inside her heart. The fact that her mother was now dead was a bitter pill to swallow after spending the past eight years at the Sanctuary. There had never been a sense of closeness with her mother, she knew, but she had always hoped that one day that might change once she was grown. That hope had grown even greater now that she had come of age and she would soon return home. Now that hope was forever lost to her, though, unless hope could persist into the afterlife.
Time seemed to pass in a blur and Sabine found herself before a long mirror in her room with no memory of having gotten there. She looked at her nude image in the mirror, her skin still wet from the shower and her long dark hair dripping down her back. She could see the hard muscles beneath her skin, earned from long hours of exercise and training with the androids and Subat, her combat instructor and personal protector. She could see the bruises beginning to form on her arms and legs from the strikes she had blocked from the androids, and the bruises on her chest and stomach from the blows she had failed to block.
Sabine also saw her breasts like small, pale apples upon her chest; breasts that had never grown big and full like those favored at court. She also saw the same with her hips; hips that while having a womanly curve, would never reach the curved fullness such as the women at court possessed. The Royal Court had always seemed to favor tall, soft, voluptuously curved women, and here she was; a short, muscled, small breasted woman and she was now their Queen. She would have laughed at the absurdity of it all had it not been for the painful circumstances that brought it about.
Of course, such physical attributes had nothing to do with her ability to rule, Sabine knew. She had excelled in Stephan’s teachings about the Protectorate, statesmanship, and etiquette. It wasn’t her fault if she found the subjects boring, so she did not waste her time at the Sanctuary following their mindless dictates. Instead she had chosen to broaden her horizons and had trained zealously with Subat to be able to defend herself. Even her time with General Mannis learning military tactics was better spent, she thought, than learning which fork to use at dinner. Still, as a young woman it was hard knowing the ladies at court, as well as a few men, would always look down their noses at her undersized exterior.
Finding a towel, Sabine dried herself as she forced herself to begin working through all that would need to happen now that she was Queen. She knew Stephan and the others were waiting for her as well. There was much that needed to be done, and getting back to Purannis was highest among the immediate list. The thought of returning there, to the Royal Court that she had never felt that she had belonged amongst, was not a pleasant one. The only saving grace was now the sycophants and toadies would not dare to look down upon her, at least not where she could see them do it.
Dressed in a tight black body glove, that she knew Stephan did not feel appropriate for someone of her rank but not caring, Sabine finally made her way to the study. Stephan sat at a conference table in the middle of the room with Subat and General Mannis, the commander of the garrison at this hidden retreat and her teacher of military strategy and protocol. All three men rose and bowed as she approached, though not before she saw the quiet look of disapproval in Stephan’s eyes, as she had expected, at the way she was dressed.
“Your Majesty,” they all greeted Sabine solemnly.
“Sit, gentlemen,” Sabine replied quietly. “This is no time dote on ceremony, which you all know I hate anyway. Besides, you three are more like family to me than anything else. You three have practically raised me these past eight years, so sit already.”
The three men sat as Sabine commanded while she went to the bar along one wall of the room and poured herself a drink. She had only sampled the bitter alcohol favored by her people a few times before at official functions when she made rare trips home. Now, she found it provided a needed warmth as her heart threatened to go as cold as her skin still remained from the icy shower. Getting the drink was also a delaying tactic, but she could not put things off any longer. Not wishing to hear the words, but unable to avoid it, Sabine addressed the group behind her.
“Tell me how it happened,” Sabine said quietly to the men who sat watching her. She stayed facing away from them as General Mannis began so that they would not see the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. She did not fear their judgement so much as she hated her own weakness and having it be seen by others. The Protectorate would need her to be strong now, not a weeping mess.
“The assassins were all Forcun snake men, posing as trade emissaries,” General Mannis began. “While not an indictment of the Clovani Empire by itself, the Forcun race has been known to be used by the Empire in the past for deeds such as this and the timing is highly suspect. The three assassins were discovered in the corridor outside of the royal apartments when the alarm was sounded. Two of them remained in the corridor and held off the guards while the third broke into the royal apartments and opened fire with a scatter gun. The Queen and her two attendants happened to be in the main room at the time when the assassin broke in, possibly attracted by the sound of the alarms, and all were gunned down immediately. The Queen’s injuries were quite extensive, but I do not believe your mother suffered, your Majesty.”
“Suffered,” Sabine laughed bitterly. “I think death would be considered a bit of suffering, don’t you think, General? It is rather final, after all. Where were my mother’s personal guards during all of this?”
“The two guards posted outside of the royal apartments were apparently stunned by a small sonic device, at which point the Forcuns moved in and killed them,” General Mannis stated sadly. “It was the detonation of the sonic device that caused the alarm, but by that point it was too late to save the Queen. The guards who responded to the alarm were a bit overzealous in taking down the Forcuns, so they had no survivors to interrogate.”
Sabine downed the remains of her drink in one quick gulp and slammed the empty glass upon the bar before turned back to her three advisors, the tears from a moment ago now forgotten in her anger. The anger brought with it a focused determination that she desperately needed right then and she grabbed onto it with all she had.
“I need to return home immediately,” Sabine said, her voice like steel. “I need to take my throne quickly so that I can deal with the Clovani aggression before they advance further. They’ve been allowed to conduct these raids for far too long now. And then, I will see about showing the Forcun people my displeasure at my mother’s death.”
“We had just been discussing these matters before you arrived, Your Majesty,” Stephan replied. “It would seem that there will be some difficulty in returning you home, however. The Empire knows that you are off world at the moment. As you well know, it has long been the practice of the Protectorate to send the child heirs to the throne here to the Sanctuary at a young age to be trained to rule while being kept safe until they come of age for many centuries now. The Empire is also aware of this fact. Though they do not know where the Sanctuary is, their fleet has blockaded all of the major hyperspace routes into the Protectorate with gravitic generators to pull all ships out of hyperspace, apparently in an attempt to prevent your returning home. General Mannis has told us that at present, our own fleet has not been able to open up any of these routes as of yet.”
General Mannis continued
. “The lesser hyperspace routes are also being heavily patrolled. They are obviously attempting to capture you in order to force the Protectorate’s surrender, or at the least keep you away from Purannis long enough for one of your relatives lower down the line of succession to assume the rule of the Protectorate. It may even be that someone from one of the other Great Houses may attempt to assume the rule. There have also been suggests that there was collusion with someone in your own family on Purannis to one of these ends.”
“How can you say that?” Sabine demanded harshly. “Are you truly suggesting that someone in my own family may have colluded with these Forcuns and the Clovani to kill my mother?”
“The assassins reportedly were able to get deep into the palace before they were discovered, Your Majesty,” General Mannis replied, “To the Royal apartments themselves. This wouldn’t have been possible without some help from the inside, since the security is normally too restrictive in that area. I’m not saying for sure it was someone from your family, it is just a theory at this point. Many members of the other Great Houses have access to the palace as well, and could have been the accomplices. Also, whoever helped them knows enough about the Sanctuary to know that it is not within the Protectorate’s borders. That is why the hyperspace routes have been blockaded.”
“So how am I to get home then if all of the ways there are blocked? It’s beginning to sound like I need to be there as quickly as possible before the Clovani completely overrun the Protectorate,” Sabine pointed out, her voice tinged with anger at the suggestion that someone in her family had betrayed her mother, even as a few possibilities crept into her mind.
Subat, who had remained quiet the whole time since Sabine entered the room, finally spoke up. He had always been a quiet man for as long as Sabine had known him. As her combat instructor and protector, he had taught her the value of silence and observation, and he never felt the need to speak more than was absolutely necessary. Sabine found that she desperately needed his advice now, though.
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