Toshiko raced up behind Galené and saw that she stood in the middle of a dark empty room. A beam of light emitted from her wand. She ran the light over each wall, the floor, and the roof. Each appeared to be solid rock.
“I don’t understand it; we followed Galen here,” Toshiko said.
“I am sorry,” Galené said.
“He is your twin brother, it is only natural you doubted his guilt,” Toshiko said, “But I will have to inform Inquisition that I read you in, hoping that you could stop him from taking the plane.”
“I told him whatever you are thinking, don’t,” Galené said.
“I saw, he denied everything,” Toshiko said.
“Because of him, no one is going to trust me,” Galené said.
Toshiko put her hand on Galené’s shoulder and said, “We can worry about that later.” She turned to leave and said, “I am going to question every Goblin until one explains where the fighter went. A 20-metre long spaceplane just doesn’t vanish.”
Galené looked about and said, “I don’t get it. The scope said it was in the hanger, but then as the doors opened, we lost the signal.”
“We detected magic, but I used Truesight, and the plane was not invisible,” Toshiko said.
“Maybe there is a concealed lift in the airlock?”
Toshiko said, “I will go look,” she turned to leave and asked, “Are you coming?”
Galené shouldered her rifle and said, “I am going to tap the walls. There has to be a secret panel here.”
Toshiko nodded and left. Galené shone the light from her wand on the floor and noticed the trio of footprints in the dust. They were close together and went up to the wall opposite the door. It looked as if they walked into the wall.
✽✽✽
Days later, the Unicorn approached the planet, Alcyone Three. Emperor Takahiro sat in the captain’s chair, as the ship entered orbit, the pilot kept the spaceship positioned as to keep the rear exhaust facing away from the planet.
Hilda, a tall blonde Mountain Elf, came to him and said, “Emperor, they are ready to transport Hiro. You can leave with him.”
Takahiro tapped controls and put the view of the planet on the main screen. While facing the screen, he said, “This was the first world we fully terraformed.” He turned to Hilda and said, “We wanted to recreate the enter solar system but ended up only copying Mars, but on Freeport, a much larger planet, but it was the only one covered with a soil rich in iron.”
“Are you alright Emperor?” Hilda asked. At 8ft tall, she was as tall as most giants. Although her head was near the roof of the bridge, and she was just able to fit through the door, she was not uncomfortable.
Takahiro starred the live view of Imperial City from above. It covered most of the Crimean Peninsula, dominated by a fifty-kilometre-wide artificial lake in the centre. Canals ran to the ports of New-Yevpatoria and New-Sevastopol on the west coast; to New-Feodosia on the south coast, and on the east coast to New-Kerch.
Two massive covered bridges ran to the island, in the centre of the lake. One from the east and the other from the west. In the centre stood the two-kilometre tall Imperial Palace. The island was also home to the largest mall. Incomplete buildings covered half the island.
With tears in his eyes, Takahiro said to Hilda, “Stupid boy, I told him to load the guns with blanks before handing the plane over. It is not my fault.”
“I’ll go tell Czar Petrov you need time to get ready,” Hilda said.
As Hilda turned to leave, Takahiro said, “Tell him, I will give him my full cooperation. I want him to leave no stone unturned. Hunt Galen down and kill him. I know this is too big not to hold a public inquiry, but give me a few minutes alone,” Takahiro said as he ran his fingers over the controls. He zoomed in on the Palace.
Chapter 36
The base of the Imperial Palace was a round flat top building with seven oblong wings. Two large walls, each a gatehouse on the east side surrounded the Palace. The grounds had many gardens.
The gardens to the south had a large pool house, inside was an Olympic-sized marble pool. Prince Kaede, age twelve, was swimming in the pool with Izanami and Nori, both also aged twelve. Sora and Akiko, both fifteen, and the seventeen-year-old twins Mako and Miko lay on lounge chairs by the pool sipping orange juice.
General Yoshida sat at a table, sipping iced tea, watching the púca in the water. Two maids in a red yukata waited with towels. Armed guards, wearing a dark combat uniform with vests, wearing tabards of house Hashimoto, stood on watch.
General Yoshida, in a yellow casual shirt and black shorts, answered a call on his large satellite phone. The caller ID was the Emperor. He held the phone to his ear and listened for a few minutes, then stood. “You have my condolences, my Emperor,” he said.
“Put Kaede on.”
“Yes, Emperor,” Kenta replied.
Holding the phone, he went to the edge of the pool and yelled, “Kaede. A call for you.”
“If it is my father, remind him tomorrow is my birthday,” Kaede replied.
“It is the Emperor,” Kenta said.
Kaede rolled his eyes, swam over to the ladder and slowly climbed out. He came over and saw it was a video call. He bowed. The Emperor sat in the captain’s office of the Night Owl Two, he stood and bowed low.
“Grandfather?” Kaede asked.
Kaede stared at the screen and frowned. What is he plotting?
I don’t know.
Is he blocking us?
No, gnosis doesn’t work over long-distance communications, only face to face.
Takahiro tried to hide his sadness, but his voice quivered, as he said, “Kaede, I have bad news. I am sorry, your father was injured in a serious incident. I am not at liberty to go into details, but I can tell you it is bad. He is in a coma and is on his way to Blood Tower.”
Takahiro remained bowed.
Shocked, Kaede asked, “How bad?”
“The Blood-Witches need to replace his heart, lung, liver and spleen, and he will be in the hospital for a long time,” Emperor Takahiro replied.
“Send him to Shanghai, I will have Kenta rebuild him,” Kaede demanded, a tear in his eye, his body tense and his fists coiled.
“Kaede, how many times have I told you to control your emotions? The Witches have already been in touch with your medical team. I told everyone to let me talk to you first.” Takahiro put his hand on a large rock on the desk.
“Yes, Grandfather,” Kaede said bowing. “I apologise for my outburst.”
“Good. Czar Petrov is coming to see you about your relationship with Galené,” Emperor Takahiro said, tapping the rock. “I want you to tell him the truth about everything.”
“You don’t want that.”
“You know what I mean,” Takahiro snapped, then in a soft voice said, “Look, if I told Patya the truth, he would never believe it, and things look bad enough for me already. Hiro loaded the plane with live rounds, and it appears his cockpit had weak armour.”
Sabotage? Kaede held back his anger. He said, “It looks terrible for you.”
“I want a soft landing. Please distract the media. The Yoshiko twins will do anything for you, make them your formal fiancée. Go on dates, keep as much of the media’s attention off the Inquiry as you can without harming your image.”
Kaede looked at the rock; It was yellowish to brown and was the size of a football. Kaede was sure it was Lonsdaleite and had never seen a crystal that big before.
“I prefer Sora,” Kaede said, looking at General Yoshida.
“Kaede, she has no clan,” Takahiro snarled.
“Sora is awesome, and we both know it. She is a natural leader, and the twins listen to her,” Kaede said, again looking at the crystal. Takahiro raised an eyebrow and put his hand on the rock. Kaede nodded.
“Trust me, when you are older you will want the twins,” Emperor Takahiro said, putting his hands in his sleeves.
He is tapping code. Not sure but did he say more diamonds than Lon
sdaleite? Kaede wondered.
Yes.
“Kenta is right here, Grandfather,” Kaede said. “So are all the girls. I want to tell them you approve of Sora as my fiancée.”
“General Yoshida is my close friend and ally, and he tells me Mako and Miko are more than keen on you,” Emperor Takahiro said.
“I want you to approve of them all,” Kaede said.
“Your prime must be a member of the nobility,” Emperor Takahiro said.
“Sora is a good organiser and a champion footballer. She has been recruited to play for the Galaxy Girls. You can make her a lady for sporting achievements,” Kaede said.
“Do you plan on wearing me down?” Emperor Takahiro asked.
“Yes. Sora is popular with the public, and she has many fans,” Kaede said, “Izanami has more fans, but she doesn’t want to sit in court all day. She finds it boring.”
“I see,” Emperor Takahiro said, he tapped the rock in front of him, then he put his arms inside his sleeves, and said, “There are a 125,000 reasons for you to distract the media, pick one, get her to sign a contract and she’s a princess, the rest ladies, even Nori. But in return, you are to pin nothing on me.”
Kaede bit his lip, the rock was a large Lonsdaleite crystal, and he was sure Takahiro tapped billion on his arm after he said 125,000.
“Can we discuss my next project and wish?” Kaede asked.
“Now?” Emperor Takahiro asked.
“I have a project which could even be more profitable than artificial cells,” Kaede said.
“I have a shuttle waiting for me. I must go now. Send me your plan on the internal clan network, and I will decide tonight,” Emperor Takahiro said. He stroked his chin and tapped his finger, “Patya off-camera.”
“Grandfather, I as crown prince, I demand a meeting,” Kaede said.
“Why?” Takahiro asked.
“As crown prince, you need to crown my princess,” Kaede said.
“You’re too young to marry,” Takahiro said.
“That is not what I asked,” Kaede said. He huffed and said, “I am making a formal request for a meeting. I urge you to consider it.”
“I will consider it Kaede,” Emperor Takahiro said, looking ahead and not at the screen.
Takahiro ended the call. Patya frowned at him.
“What was that about?” Patya asked.
“We both know Hiro put the bullets in the plane to defy us.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You know the plane should have had dummy rounds and missiles for the test flight.”
Patya nodded. “I know, but I must investigate.”
“You want it coming out we told Hiro about Galen being a suspect in front of Kaede?” Takahiro asked. “You know people will take sides. I will shoulder some blame, but some will think Kaede took shortcuts, or worse.”
“I see,” Patya said. Is he fishing for a deal?
“You know the Banshee Interceptor is outdated. It would look bad for us both if we allowed people to think Kaede took shortcuts. We need to forget certain informal meetings,” Takahiro said.
“You’re willing to fall on your sword?”
“Are you going to thrust it all the way in and twist it?”
“Was Hiro supposed to die?”
“Hiro was supposed to fire a couple of missiles and let Galen escape.”
Patya frowned and asked, “Why didn’t he?”
“We both know I messed up. Hiro should be with Galen and Galené. I should have accepted Hiro when he told me he loved them both.”
“Yes, but the public is fickle; they admire a queer performer, don’t care if a lord is gay, and yet many people find it normal for a woman to be bisexual. But most women want a crown prince who chases starlets, not males.”
“Kaede was my idea, not Hiro’s. My plan was for the people to accept Hiro, the naval officer. I should have found a way for him to be with Galené, but both grew bitter, and then Galen started pedalling untaxed alcohol and tobacco.”
“Are you going to make public the fact we told Hiro about Galen’s criminality?”
“No. But I am sure you looked at the security video from the hanger. I am aware that after Hiro’s flight, he loaded the nose cannon with armour piercing rounds before telling Galen it was his turn.”
“Do you think Hiro knew Galen was a villain and wanted to die?”
“I fear that he hated me that much.”
“I cannot save you. The public will either think you put your son in danger because he was a homosexual or put him in a situation to kill his lover.”
“Just make the landing soft, and I will step down, but please, Kaede must take my place.”
“I have to freeze your assets.”
“While you’re setting up a trust fund for me to live on, please take your time.”
“You cannot give him everything and expect people not to notice.”
“Just Hashimoto Resources, and some ships he wanted. No need to pretend, you and I both know he is sitting on a fortune.”
“You can accept any bids he placed before today, but you will need to justify any transaction you make in a public setting before a panel of thirteen judges from the House of Lords.”
✽✽✽
A shuttle transported the medical pod containing Hiro, along with the Blood-Witches and Takahiro to a space station, where a space-lift landed them on the roof of Blood Tower.
While Hiro was rushed to a waiting surgery, Dain rushed into the Palace, and took a lift to the seventh floor, as he got out, Sora stepped in front of him.
“Prince Hartman,” Sora said as she curtsied.
“Miss Sora, you should not be here,” Dain said. He attempted to step around her.
“I am going to marry Kaede,” Sora yelled out.
“I see,” Dain said. He turned to see Abelle; She wore full armour with a claymore on her back, and a Viper-4 over her shoulder.
“New armour and a new gun?” Dain asked.
“Yes, the Viper-4 is a compact coil gun, and my armour has an exoskeleton,” Abelle replied as she raised her armoured arm and curled her fingers into a fist. Her white armour fitted her entire body like a glove. The large faceplate was so clear, it was barely visible.
“What’s going on?” Dain asked.
“Dain. Please escort Miss Sora to the waiting room,” Abelle replied.
“Isn’t this your job?” Dain asked.
“I cannot leave the hall to the throne room unguarded,” Abelle replied.
Dain looked at Abelle, who smiled. Dain looked at Sora. “This way, Miss Sora,” Dain emphasised miss.
“Did you know because I am an abandoned púca I don’t have a surname?” Sora asked.
“I already know that,” Dain replied.
“Did you know I scored the most goals this last season for any player?” Sora asked, “I broke Abelle’s average of 1.3 goals a game. My average was 1.52 goals per game. I am getting a medal and a title.”
“No, I didn’t know that. Girls’ football doesn’t interest me,” a confused Dain said, looking at Abelle.
“Don’t you like girls?” Sora asked.
“That is not what I said,” Dain shot back. He looked at Sora and sighed. He took a deep breath and said, “I am sorry, Miss Sora. I meant football doesn’t interest me. I love super-kart racing. It is well known that I own the most successful racing team in the Empire. If you want to talk about football, speak to my sister. I am sure Abelle would love to listen to you describe how you broke her record.”
“Do you race?” Sora asked.
“This way to the waiting room, Sora,” Dain said. He glared at Abelle, and then they headed down the hall.
“He used to, but my little brother stopped after I beat him,” Abelle called out.
“You and Abelle are twins? Did you know Akiko is my twin? Did you know that the occurrence of twins is so rare?” Sora asked.
Abelle chuckled. Dain stopped, shook his head and continued around the shaft to
another hall and proceeded down it. Sora looked back at Abelle, who gave a thumbs up. Her armoured gauntlet was like a second skin.
Sora nodded to Abelle, turned and ran after Dain. She loudly asked, “Prince Dain, how do you feel about me breaking Lady Abelle’s record?”
Dain groaned and went to the door of the waiting room and opened it.
“You’re not leaving me alone, are you?” Sora asked as Dain headed out the door, “What if a stranger molests me or something?”
“Just looking for security,” Dain replied as he looked at the camera and growled.
Abelle watched them and laughed. As she headed back down the hall to the doors of the throne room, she messaged Kaede; “The Stag is out of the way.”
Kaede came out of the toilets, waved his omega card over the scanner and walked around the security scanner.
Abelle pressed open the doors to the throne room. Kaede walked past the other Senators and stopped before Patya, who was on the throne. Takahiro stood in the middle of the room. The only one missing was Dain.
Patya stood. He thought he intimidated people in his black suit with a red tie. Kaede was neither impressed nor intimidated. Patya said, “Prince Kaede, now isn’t the time.”
“I have an appointment,” Kaede said as he bowed to the throne.
“Takahiro?” Patya asked.
“Yes, he insisted I make Sora a lady, and announce their formal engagement,” Takahiro replied.
“The girl we are giving a sports award to?” Maharajah Arjuna Desai asked. Arjuna, a Night Elf, was only 120cm tall, with jet black skin, his lips dark purple, dark purple hair, and violet eyes. Like the other lords, he sat facing the throne. He wore colourful silk robes with silk shoes.
“Yes, I signed her to play for the Galaxy Girls,” Patya said. “She broke Abelle’s goal record.”
“We should wait for Prince Dain,” Admiral Viktor Niemi said. Viktor, an Aquatic Elf, had ocean blue hair, bright blue eyes, and wore an Imperial Navy uniform with many medals.
Power Games Page 32
