Five Empires: An Epic Space Opera

by Steven J Shelley

  “The Aegisi have never taken land by force,” Councilor Henschal said proudly. “We have identified a suitable planet for Aegisi colonization. Its name is Cerulean. An ocean planet in the Ginfordia system.”

  “Salt water,” Michael said out loud.

  “Quite,” Henschal said over his nose. Michael reddened immediately, vowing to keep his mouth shut.

  “The Cava05 currently own Cerulean,” Achand said. “They have no real use for an ocean planet aside from three desalination plants.”

  “The Cava05 have agreed to cede the planet to the Aegisi for a reasonable sum,” Follah said brightly. “Ginfordia is not close but there are no major obstacles or sovereign territories between this system and that one. For all intents and purposes, the proposal appears to be win-win.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Emilia said with a forced smile, her tone hinting at a question Michael also desperately wanted to ask - why did they need her?

  “Negotiations have broken down time and again,” Henschal said. “Our diplomats cannot break down the Cavan negotiator.”

  “Is it a matter of price?” Emilia ventured.

  The Councilors shared private smiles that set Michael’s nerves on edge.

  “It’s a matter of aesthetics,” Henschal said thickly. “Our diplomatic envoy consists entirely of men. We have reason to believe the Cavan head negotiator would be more… malleable dealing with a female emissary.”

  The old man let his words lay like sludge on the table. Michael resisted an impulse to tear his head off. The whole affair had taken an unseemly turn. But then again, he had no experience with affairs of state. Perhaps the upper echelons of power weren’t free of vice and corruption after all.

  “Your Diplomacy Unit,” Emilia said softly. “There are women, I’m sure…”

  “Naturally,” Follah said, pursing her lips. “But none are as suited for this critical task as you. You know several languages, you are fiercely intelligent and, most importantly of all, you are unknown to the Cavan negotiator.”

  Emilia blinked, clearly trying to process all this at once. The mission sounded overwhelming but what could she do but accept?

  “I serve the Republic,” she eventually said. Several of the Councilors visibly relaxed. Something about their attitude irritated Michael.

  “We knew you would accept,” Follah enthused. “And we must apologize for our most irregular request.”

  “You will be briefed first thing in the morning,” Achand said. “An orbital transport will ferry you to the warship Dilettante.”

  “You won’t be alone, child,” Follah said with a beatific smile. “Solitude’s finest corsairs will be at your back.”

  “And me,” Michael added without hesitation. “My sister isn’t going without me.”

  Now it was Michael’s turn to come under the spotlight of the intimidating Round Table. Achand cleared his throat and seemed about to speak. Follah waved a finger to placate him.

  “Ah, Michael Danner,” she said almost wistfully. “Today we have heard much about you. I understand two Aegisec officers are waiting for you outside Government House.”

  Michael couldn’t help but stare down at the table like an errant schoolboy. It was amazing how quickly these Councilors could reduce ordinary folk.

  “There’s a reason for that,” was all he could say.

  “A ‘reason’ for attacking an innocent, hard-working kelper?” Achand sneered “This I would love to hear.”

  Seething internally, Michael retrieved the Aegis breastplate from the floor. He placed it on the table and waited for a reaction.

  At length one of the Councilors, possibly the only one who knew what he was looking at, nodded in respect.

  “Looks a fine piece,” the man said.

  “You mean to say you raided one of our key farms so you could smith some armor?” Follah said in disbelief.

  Michael nodded. “All the regular folk on the street and in the water can see what’s going on,” he said, finding his voice at last. “We can see the Cava05 advancing further every year. We’re vulnerable. We need every military advantage we can get.”

  “That may be so, Michael, but do you think the end justifies the means in this case?” Follah asked.

  Michael blinked. Surely they weren’t going to roll out that moral argument. “I injured a man to make this armor,” he admitted. “And I also stole the materials. But in the long run this armor could save tens of thousands of lives.”

  That silenced the Councilors. Michael’s logic was theoretically sound.

  “We can investigate this armor,” Achand said with mild irritation. “That doesn’t mean Aegisec will magically disappear.”

  Michael shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He was going to be hammered for his criminal activity. The career he had always hoped for flashed before his eyes. He felt like crawling into a hole and staying there. Hell, that was where Aegisec would be putting him anyway.

  “He comes with me,” came a voice like soothing water. Emilia, looking directly at Councilor Follah with a frighteningly calm expression. “We work best when we’re together.”

  Nothing was said for a full thirty seconds. The Danner siblings had reached an impasse with the most powerful body in the Aegisi Republic. Michael studied the Councilors’ faces with renewed interest. The diplomatic mission troubled him deeply. Why did they seem so hell bent on sending Emilia away?

  Follah talked behind her hand to Councilor Achand, who nodded reluctantly. They both looked at Councilor Henschal, who waved his hand impatiently.

  “We can see how close you are,” Follah began uncertainly. “We have resolved to send both of you to Cerulean.”

  Michael leaned back in his chair but Emilia betrayed no emotion.

  “Aegisec will be waiting for you on your return,” Achand warned. Some of the Councilors laughed at what must have been a private joke.

  Michael stood, suddenly keen to be free of the suffocating room. He lifted his breastplate and ushered his sister through the door. Something compelled him to stare hard at the Councilors as he left.

  The siblings tried to control their breathing as they wandered back through the corridor. Neither dared speak as they passed through the air-water membrane and swam back through the entrance foyer. Michael took no delight in the art installation this time round. Two Aegisec officers in navy blue uniforms glowered at Michael as he swam past. Michael tried to put on a brave face but his nerves were almost fried by the time he made it to the open water outside.

  Clearly, the Aegisec men were there to intimidate him. They probably received a last minute directive to leave him alone.

  The forager was immensely relieved to be permitted to travel with Emilia, but nothing about the forthcoming mission filled him with confidence. ‘Dread’ was probably a better description. With heavy hearts the siblings followed a trail of glowing bulbs that would see them back to the hab block. Emilia seemed reluctant to talk over the com, which was probably wise. Who could be listening in on them? The last two hours had effectively turned their lives upside down.

  Not only were they firmly on the government’s radar, they were about to undertake a critical intergalactic mission. It was the kind of thing Michael had always dreamed about but he had never pictured it happening this way. The tone of his daydreams was bright and cheerful, one might even say heroic. All he felt at that moment was confused and stressed. He was sure Emilia was feeling even worse.

  His sister pulled open the hab hatch and they headed through the water-air partition. Michael stored his breastplate in his code-shielded locker and busied himself with the leftover danphis-pho.

  “Not hungry,” Emilia said in response to Michael’s proffered bowl. “I think my head is still spinning.”

  “Yeah,” Michael said with a sigh, draining the last of the soup. “Those guys have a knack for freaking people out, I’m sure.”

  Emilia smiled and sat next to Michael, huddling close to him for comfort.

  “Make
any sense of that?” he asked her.

  Michael was glad to see Emilia laugh. “Not really,” she said. “I’ve heard that female negotiators can be successful in certain situations, but I’m a civilian. An amateur. Why would they send me?”

  “That’s what I don’t understand,” Michael said with a surge of anxiety. “There must be several worthy candidates in their diplomatic corps.”

  “Agreed,” Emilia said. “Which makes me suspicious to be honest.”

  “I’ll be right by your side,” Michael said. “Letting me come with you is a good sign, right?”

  Emilia frowned. “It just makes the whole thing even stranger. I mean, they really wanted me to agree, even if it meant letting you off the hook for what happened today.”

  It was true. The Round Table could have easily denied Michael’s request, cut their losses and selected another emissary. What was so special about Emilia Danner?

  The siblings spent the next two hours sifting through the embers of their tense conversation with the Aegisi Councilors. When it became apparent they weren’t going to make any more sense of it all, Emilia yawned and suggested turning in for the night.

  “I guess we should pack some things,” Michael said.

  “I get the impression we’ll be traveling light,” said Emilia. “We’re in the hands of the Navy now.”

  The thought made Michael nervous and excited at the same time. Even though the current circumstances weren’t ideal, interacting with the Navy remained his long-standing dream. Who knew what the next few days would bring? Hopefully he could entice someone from the Aegisi Blue to have a closer look at his breastplate.

  “I’m gonna call Mom and Dad,” Emilia said, keying a number into her wrist pad.

  “Can you say goodbye to them for me?” Michael asked.

  Emilia smiled and nodded. Both had good relationships with Jon and Olga Danner, but Emilia was usually the one who maintained regular contact. Michael was content to give and receive news through his sister. His mother would simply interrogate him and fret over the day’s illegal activities.

  Michael padded into his bedroom and flopped on the faded single cot. There were a number of messages blinking on his wrist pad, most of them from his boss Farif. Michael deleted them all, figuring that he was officially jobless. He would sort that particular problem out when he got back from Cerulean.

  6

  Michael slept fitfully that night, his dreams infused with queasy trepidation. As the orange glow bulb in the corner gently suggested it was dawn, Michael rose with a stretch and went about his morning routine. Eighty push-ups, seventy sit-ups, eighty chin-ups. He usually went for a long, far-reaching swim but today he wanted to stick around for the inevitable morning visit from the Aegisi Blue. Stepping into the shower, he wondered what his surroundings would look like in just a few short hours.

  Emilia was already breakfasting on sweet kale and nut bread at the kitchen table. Michael tried to maintain morale with a series of unfunny jokes. The best he could prise from Emilia was a smile, which was a solid enough start. He was clearing the table when the security system spat a sharp chime. Emilia looked at the front camera feed - there were two figures outside, a man and a woman. Soldiers of Aegisi Blue from the look of it.

  Michael released the hatch lock and the siblings waited awkwardly while the soldiers made their way in.

  “Captain Tilder,” said the man with a strong handshake, his skin glistening with lake water. “You must be Michael Danner.”

  “Nice to meet you,” the forager mumbled.

  “Major Shaw,” said the woman with an even stronger hand shake. “We’re looking forward to working with both of you.”

  Well, that sounded promising.

  “We’re ready to leave,” Emilia said. “We just have to notify our supervisor.”

  “Already done,” said Tilder smoothly. “Mr Farif agrees that military duty comes first.”

  Michael grinned. As if that cretin had any choice.

  “Let’s go,” said Major Shaw crisply. “The transport is still running hot.”

  Emilia ran a heavy lock down sequence when they were all outside the hab. Their home would be nigh impregnable while they were off-world.

  The soldiers swam powerfully through a water profile pierced by shafts of wan morning sunlight. A cluster of dark shapes skittered out into the deeper water. Captain Tilder put a hand on his holster but took no further action. Michael tried to control his nerves as the party rose swiftly to the surface and waded up the causeway on the Senafal foreshore.

  A cobalt blue quad waited for them at the water’s edge. Those thick tires could handle reasonably deep water and rough terrain. Michael was ushered into a back seat alongside Major Shaw. Emilia sat in front next to Tilder, who drove. Michael wasn’t completely comfortable with the arrangement.

  Nobody spoke as Tilder guided the quad at a robust speed through the city streets. Many of the storefronts were only just opening for the day. The smell of fresh chocolate boysernut bread wafted through the old quarter. Aegisi civilians marched through the leafy arcades on their way to work and Instruction.

  The urban terrain opened up as Tilder followed the ‘Port’ signage onto the Western Link. The smooth road hugged the lake shore for a little while before straightening out into the Dusk Forest.

  Michael tried to marshal his more anxious thoughts as they cruised through stands of shadowy pine. Emilia seemed calm enough, but Michael didn’t like the way Captain Tilder occasionally glanced at her. He could only assume that these soldiers had been fully briefed and knew much more than the lowly foragers did. Something was being withheld from the Danner siblings and he burned to know what it was.

  The road opened out into a flat grassland. Just a half click to the west Solitude Port rose imposingly above the verdant landscape. Two column-shaped launch towers bookended the long terminal building. A hazy magenta shield wrapped the entire facility in a bubble. Michael got a stiff neck from gazing up at the impressive facility. He didn’t get out this way too often - the flat, carefully patrolled land wasn’t conducive to foraging.

  The quad passed through two security posts before entering the military quadrant of the facility. Michael spotted several Aegisi icebirds parked in an expansive hangar. The mosquito-class craft were new to the Aegisi Blue and had yet to see the heat of battle. Modeled on the old human tyros, icebirds were designed to be light and maneuverable. Not known for their air superiority, the Aegisi Navy were clearly looking to bolster their attacking options.

  Tilder pulled into a dim, empty hangar and parked by the wall. Michael stepped off the quad and stayed close to Emilia as they were led through a series of corridors. After an awkward half-minute in a drop shaft they emerged onto a wide gangway. The wind buffeted Michael as they approached the spacious airlock of a powerful-looking transport.

  Attached to the launch tower like a leech, the orbital transport sported Aegisi colors and was thrumming with the power of its active propulsion bulb.

  The foragers were guided through the airlock and up a flight of stairs. Stepping onto the bridge of the transport, Captain Tilder approached a pair of navigators sitting by a sleek console.

  “Ready to launch,” Tilder said firmly. “Report back once we’ve cleared orbit.”

  The Danner siblings were taken to a room lined with orbital harnesses. Major Shaw showed them how to strap themselves securely to the wall. Satisfied they wouldn’t accidentally hang themselves on the harness, she offered them a pink capsule from a dispenser she’d been carrying in her pocket.

  “You don’t have to take one, but I certainly won’t be cleaning your vomit off the floor.”

  Brother and sister both thought it was best to take one.

  The soldiers strapped themselves in on the opposite wall and spoke quietly with each other. Just as Michael was getting the hang of reading their lips, they fell silent.

  It was the sort of vibe Michael had experienced once before, when he booked passage to the Sando
r Plateau in Solitude’s southern hemisphere. Pre-flight nerves were a common problem with the Aegisi. Thoroughly adept under water, the species just wasn’t entirely comfortable in the air.

  The room shook and from somewhere at the rear of the vessel the prop bulb rose to a shriek. The transport lurched along with Michael’s stomach, and he realized the others had their eyes firmly shut. Following their lead, he tried to think of nice things like lime pie and summer hunts in the Dusk Forest.

  The transport twisted and turned a little before Michael felt the exultant vibration of acceleration. He let his mind wander as the transport rattled its way through the thin layers of Solitude’s wintry atmosphere. A furnace-like howl meant they were threading the upper reaches of the mesosphere. And then there was smooth, silky silence. Michael dared to open his eyes, smiling at Emilia. She appeared just as relieved as he was to be bathing in the limitless ocean of space.

  Space.

  Never before had Michael been so far from his home. Despite the rushed circumstances he felt like he had truly reached a milestone in his life. He felt energized as Major Shaw released him from the harness.

  “That was wild, huh?” he enthused, feeling immediately embarrassed. The Major gracefully ignored him.

  “Come with me, please,” Captain Tilder said in a businesslike tone.

  The Danner siblings followed him into a well-polished corridor. Major Shaw followed behind.

  “We don’t have much time,” Tilder said over his shoulder. “Yashom15, the Cavan negotiator, is not known for his patience.”

  The Captain stopped at a door and ushered the siblings through. The chamber inside held fourteen neatly arranged coffin-shaped objects.

  “Stasis,” Emilia breathed. “You guys don’t mess around.”

  “We apologize for the rush,” Major Shaw said. “There’ll be an opportunity for food and medical once we reach the Dilettante.”

  “No time like the present,” Emilia muttered as she climbed into one of the stasis capsules. Michael searched her eyes and found her mood difficult to read. She gave a brief nod and he took it as a signal to be patient.