Fear the Empire

by Jaron Lee Knuth

  Maksim dropped his face into the palms of his hands and wept. It was a deep, wailing cry that made him heave back and forth. Carmen had never seen him like that, and it scared her. The most powerful man she knew looked broken.

  “Yuri's gone mad. He's crazy. He's... he's...”

  “It's okay,” Carmen said, wondering to herself what could possibly be worse than what they saw during the funeral procession. “Where is he? What did he do?”

  Maksim pulled his face from his cupped hands and looked into Carmen's eyes. They were bloodshot, red with tears, looking desperately at her as he spit out the words.

  “He killed him, Carmen! He killed Azakor!”

  The announcement rattled her in a way she wasn't expecting. She held no special love for the man, but he hadn't shown her the disrespect that Padamir had. She had hope that Maksim's brother would bring stability to the Empire, especially when he stopped listening to their mother. But another Imperator was dead. She couldn't imagine a way to pick up those pieces, to convince the world not to worry, or to show the Empire there was any reliable leadership left. The Zharkovian crown had become a death sentence.

  “Why would he do that? Why would he kill his own father?”

  Maksim launched himself off the bed in a fury. “That's just it! There is no sense to that boy's actions. He just acts on his urges, with no thought or responsibility for the outcome.”

  Carmen tried to control her fear, to place it in a box where she could deal with it later. She needed to be strong in that moment, and help Maksim through his pain. She tried to organize her thoughts, to categorize them and make a list of priorities that they needed to deal with. Yet as she did so, she thought of Magda. The witch was cruel, but she was experienced in handling tragedy.

  “We received word that the robot forces have fallen,” Carmen said. “We'll need to act fast. The people of Neo-Nippon will be looking for some semblance of order. If we craft the right message, I'm sure they will return to the Empire, under your protection. Perhaps Magda could help. People know her. She's the oldest, the one who's lasted through all of this. She could be a good mascot to show that the Zharkovs still-”

  “There is no Neo-Nippon, Carmen. He wiped it out. All of it. Every last soul in that domain is nothing more than a pile of bones laying in a puddle of blood, if they're lucky.” Maksim looked at his own hands as if they were covered in the blood of the fallen. “We couldn't stop him. We didn't even have a chance. He moves faster than any of us. He's stronger than any of us. He's... he's unstoppable.”

  “Don't say that. That isn't true,” Carmen said, wanting to convince him as much as herself. “I watched you defeat Malignus. And do you know how you beat him?”

  Maksim looked at her, desperate for the answer.

  “You didn't give up, Maksim. You never stopped. No matter how many times that thing beat you down or threw you across the city. You kept throwing punches, no matter how dire the situation appeared. You kept fighting.”

  Maksim looked down at his hands again, but this time he balled them into fists, his arms flexing under his armor. “You're right. Of course you're right. But how do you fight against chaos? How do you fight against a force of nature that has no motivation, no direction? He doesn't want the crown. He doesn't want the Empire. He just wants death. He wants destruction. He wants to end it all.”

  There was a knock on the door before Carmen could respond and when Maksim didn't say anything, she called out, “Yes?”

  The door pushed open just a bit and a fearful looking servant girl peeked her head in. “I'm sorry to bother you, my lady, and I hope I am not intruding, but-”

  Suddenly the servant girl was shoved to the side and Magda threw open the door. “My goodness, girl. I am his mother. I don't need to be apologized for.”

  Magda floated into the room, her feet dangling inches above the floor, her gown flowing behind her as if she were an apparition. She crossed the room, floating past Carmen without even looking at her, and placed both hands on Maksim's cheeks.

  “My boy... my boy... is it true?”

  Maksim pushed her hands away. “Yes, mother. It's true.”

  Magda faltered a moment, looking as if she was going to faint, but she caught herself against the wall and pushed herself back upright. She flashed an embarrassed glance at Carmen before returning to her rigid posture.

  “And it was Yuri? My grandson is to blame for all of this?”

  Maksim nodded silently.

  Carmen looked shocked, glancing back and forth between the two before grabbing onto Magda's arm and asking, “Wait... you knew about this? And you didn't tell me? Magda... I'm a part of this family!”

  “This isn't just a family matter,” Magda said, ripping her arm away from Carmen's grip. “This is an imperial matter. The Imperator is dead...”

  Magda breathed in hard through her thin nostrils and stuck her chin into the air in order to keep her composure. “Maksim, my son, you are the only Zharkov left who is fit to wear the crown.”

  Maksim rolled his eyes and groaned, “What about Zana? Have you written her off as quickly as we sold her to the Therians?”

  “Oh please, Maksim. That girl is a Therian now. One day she may be welcomed back into our fold, but for now, you are our only hope.”

  “And what about our child?” Maksim shouted, pointing at Carmen's belly. “Is it not the heir to this whole crumbling Empire?”

  Magda calmly slapped her hand across Maksim's face. Maksim did not flinch.

  “You will never speak of our Empire like that. You are the Imperator now, Maksim. Do you not understand that? We have very little time to bring this world back to its knees. If we give them even a moment to doubt our power...”

  “Be gone!” Maksim shouted as loudly as he could, inches from her face. “I will not listen to anymore of your prattling 'wisdom.' Let me mourn for my brother. Let me mourn for the people of Neo-Nippon.”

  Maksim fell into the chair behind him, holding his brow in his hand like the weight of the universe was upon it. “Let me decide if this crown is even worth saving.”

  That was all it took for Carmen to step up. She knew her place in these discussions. Normally, she would stand idly by, allowing the family to berate Maksim and each other, silently nodding along to their declarations and demands, until she was alone with her husband. That was when she built him back up, renewed his vigor, and reminded him of who he was and what he was fighting for. But there was no family anymore. There was no Imperator to hand out orders. They were always going to be alone.

  “Wait,” Carmen said, gripping onto Magda's wrist again as she turned to leave. “Your mother is right. We need to figure this out. Together.”

  Carmen couldn't blame Magda for the look on her face. She was just as surprised that she was agreeing with the woman, but there was no denying the truth, no matter how much it pained her. She and Maksim had no real experience with politics, propaganda, using the media, or giving speeches. Perhaps with her help, they could find a balance between Magda's cold-hearted pragmatism, and their genuine care for the people of the Empire.

  “While I appreciate your blessing,” Magda began, looking down her thin nose at Carmen, “I don't need your approval to-”

  “Yes, you do,” Maksim said firmly as he opened a chest and pulled out pieces of his armor. “If you want to work with us, if you want this family to not only survive, but triumph, you're going to work with both of us. We need to be a team. We need to be a family.”

  Magda glanced back at Carmen with a look on her face like she smelled something foul, then turned back to Maksim with a full smile on her face. “Of course, dear. You always were the idealist.”

  Maksim pulled on his armored leggings. “Was that a... compliment?”

  Magda smirked, seeming genuinely amused. “Idealism is fine. As long at it doesn't make you blind to reality. We need to strive for idealism, but plan for reality.”

  “Agreed,” Carmen said, not wanting to get lost in the convers
ation like usual. “Which means the first thing we need to do is deal with Yuri. We can make all the promises we want to the citizens of the Empire, and all the public announcements on television about new leadership, but as long as he's out there, no one will care.”

  Magda hissed, “He's only a boy. If we could talk to him, perhaps-”

  “He's no boy. He's genocide incarnate,” Maksim mumbled, like he was hesitant to allow the words out of his mouth. “There are no words that can correct what's wrong with him. There is no logic that can control his madness.”

  “Even if he's a boy,” Carmen said, unable to lift her gaze to meet the eyes of either of them, “he's a boy with the power to destroy the world. We don't have a choice here. We have to stop him.”

  Magda's voice became shrill as she stormed for the door, “I will not be a part of planning the murder of my grandson!”

  Carmen was annoyed with the woman's bizarre morality when it came to her family. “This isn't about his life, this is about the lives of every other person on this planet.”

  “If the two of you feel the need to skip to last resorts, you will do it alone,” Magda said, turning her nose into the air as she walked out of the room. “I will never give up on this family. Never!”

  When she had left, Maksim dropped his face into his hands, defeated. Carmen rushed to his side and helped him continue to buckle his armor on, hoping the uniform would manifest into actual strength.

  “What about the prison in the Dead Zone? The warden that runs it negates super powers. If you could get Yuri there-”

  “You don't understand! I can't make him do anything he doesn't want to. I can't beat him. I can't kill him. He's too powerful.”

  Carmen hated seeing Maksim like this. He may have looked defeated in a room full of political debates with his family, but the one thing he could always stand firm on was his ability to beat someone in a feat of strength. No monster, no person, no army could defeat him. He had never wavered in that belief. Yet there he was, staring down at his own fists, feeling impotent.

  “What if you gathered a team, a force of super powered individuals that would be stronger together than individually.”

  Maksim shook his head. “I believe 'fish in a barrel' is what they call that.”

  Carmen sat down next to Maksim, placing her hand on his. She summoned the power of the star that burned inside of her, causing her hand to glow red with heat. When it reached a burning point, Maksim flinched, taking his hand away from her. She smiled gently, and with her cold hand, brushed it along the scar on his face.

  “Maybe we don't need anyone else. Maybe we just haven't been using the right weapon against him.”

  Maksim's stare darted back and forth between her eyes, like he was searching for any hint that she was joking. “No!” he finally said, pushing away from her and the idea. “I won't have you, or our baby, anywhere near him!”

  Carmen shut her eyes, fearing her own words. “If we don't stop Yuri, he'll murder me and the child, just like everyone else. I have the power to hurt your family. We know that. I might be the only one who can kill him!”

  Maksim shook his head, furiously trying to deny the idea. “I won't have the mother of my child marching out onto a battlefield, holding her pregnant belly with one hand while her other burns with the flames of a star.”

  Carmen opened her mouth to argue, but the entire room tilted, throwing them both off balance. The Citadel itself shook, the walls cracking under the shifted weight. Carmen would have thought it was an earthquake, if they had been anywhere near the earth, but it was Maksim that verbally solidified her fear.

  “Yuri.”

  Carmen waited for Maksim to react, but the nervous look in his eyes as he buckled his cape to his armor made her realize she was the one who needed to step up, with or without him.

  “I'm sorry,” Carmen said, standing up and looking toward the sound of rumbling that spun around the Citadel. “I know you want to keep me away from Yuri and protect our baby, but right now, I don't think either of us have a choice."

  28

  MERMAID

  The tequila burned the back of her throat, but not as much as she had hoped. It was supposedly a good bottle, but she knew nothing about alcohol. It had been twenty years since she had touched the stuff. The neck of the bottle still had the gift tag tied around it that said: Congratulations! From: Lucas. Everlast had most likely just asked an intern to pick something up for her, but on that day, she appreciated it more than he would ever know.

  It had sat in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet next to her personal computer, gathering dust with the rest of the random items she didn't know what to do with. There was a key to a city that no longer existed, wiped out by the Plasmax explosion. An engagement ring given to her by a man she barely knew and too young to know any better. A domino mask with a tear in it she had meant to fix since she was in her mid thirties. They were all representations of moments in her life that got tossed into a drawer and forgotten. She wished all her memories were so easy to discard. Moments of embarrassment. Moments of horror. Moments she was currently trying to drown. When she poured her third shot, the liquid spilled over the side of the glass and she knew she must be on the right track.

  “That's against the rules, you know.”

  The voice startled her, making her heart slam against her rib cage, but when she saw the walking cane standing by itself in her doorway, she let out her breath.

  “Do you have to do that?”

  “Do what?” the voice asked as the cane walked itself into her office and pulled out a chair.

  “You know exactly what I'm talking about, Spook. You sneak around this place and freak everyone out. Do you have to be so creepy?”

  “Isn't that what you pay me for?”

  “You could put on a trench coat or a hat or... a pair of sunglasses at least.”

  The bottle of tequila lifted from the desk and turned side to side as the invisible man examined it.

  “Good stuff.”

  “So I'm told.”

  “Still against the rules.”

  “Whose rules? The Imperator? Didn't you hear?” Mermaid slammed her shot. “He's dead.”

  “Doesn't mean the rules are dead.”

  “Lighten up. Have a drink with me.”

  Spook set the bottle back down. “You know I'm going to write you up for this.”

  She let out a sigh and splashed another shot into her glass. “Of course you are, Spook. And that report will be sent to the council, which will be a wonderful use of our time, because there's only two of us left, and you know damn well that Negaton isn't going to vote against me having a drink.”

  “Only two of you left?” Spook let out a grumble. “What about Replica?”

  Mermaid tried to hide her smile. “She's dead. I signed the papers this afternoon.”

  “You know that's not true.”

  “Do I? Because I'm sure I saw hundreds of her bodies burnt up and shot down near the Hive border. Looked like the handiwork of your pupil.”

  “You know as well as I do that Replica, the real Replica, is hiding somewhere. She would never put her actual self out in the field when she can just send copies.”

  Mermaid shrugged and swirled the tequila in the glass, watching the light pass through the golden color. “Sure. I've heard that theory. And if someday she wants to miraculously come back from the dead, that's her call. But for now, as far as the Empire and the Zharkovs and whoever else is concerned... she's dead.”

  “But-”

  Mermaid slammed her glass on her desk. “I said, she's dead. Let her die, Spook.”

  Spook let out a sigh. “Is this where we're at? Are we lying to protect our friends, Mermaid? Are we embracing cronyism with open arms now?”

  Mermaid took a tiny sip from her glass and rubbed her forehead. “Just let this one slide. Please. I'm not sure I've got it in me to have this argument with you. Not today.”

  “Let it slide? No. I'm not going to sit back
and watch this place become a slippery slope that devolves into lawlessness. I fought my entire life to keep this place going, to keep law and order functioning. I've made sacrifices-”

  “We both have.”

  “Then you should understand why this is so important.”

  “You're talking about a bottle of booze.”

  The tequila was suddenly knocked aside, smashing against the wall and emptying the contents across one the many television screens monitoring the world's news.

  “You know it's not about that!” Spook yelled.

  Mermaid glanced at the tequila dripping down the screen that displayed Imperator Azakor's face during a news conference about his death.

  “Maybe if I cared more about your opinion, I would take the time to try to figure out what exactly you are talking about, but I'm tired, Spook. This day... this week... this life has been a long one. So please, just get to the point.”

  “My point? My point is, I think you're doing a terrible job of running this domain.”

  Mermaid was genuinely taken aback. She assumed he was going to give her a speech about her patriotic duty, not attack her ability as a leader.

  “How dare you?”

  “The Empire is falling apart. The war that's taken so many of our soldiers, is finally over. Some of our own Alliance members are wanted criminals.”

  Mermaid slammed the last of the tequila in her glass and said through the burn, “Yes, Spook. I get the daily briefings. I know what's going on in the world.”

  “And yet you do nothing.”

  “Nothing? You arrogant little...” She held her tongue, trying to remain calm, trying not to let him get her riled up. “You have no idea what it takes to run this domain. You've never sat on the council. You've never slogged through briefing after briefing, only to sign your name on a piece of paper you don't agree with just because the majority of the council does. You've never read the names of all the citizens that die when you make the wrong decision. Do not sit there and try to tell me how to-”