make sure the boy stays alive until we find what you need. Is that understood?”
“Certainly, commander.”
“One more thing. You said he does not understand our language.”
Doctor Modius bobbed his head.
“Can you install one of our cranial transmitters in his brain?”
“Hmmm…” the doctor crossed his arms, thinking. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. I can connect his transmitter with my computer. I can feed him words … hmmm. If his brain is like ours it might work.”
“Get it done,” said Valeria and she left him standing there.
On her way back to the bridge, she passed a group of Bion-looking crew members. They saluted her and returned to their duties. Where do I get a Bion DNA? she almost asked them, forgetting that they just looked like Bions, not that they were.
For once she was willing to have real Bions on her ship, to help the boy…
Her way back to the bridge was faster than the way down. She was so enveloped in her thoughts that she didn’t even realize how quickly she was sitting on the command seat, staring at the debris outside.
“Commander,” Captain Galerius’s voice made her shake her head. “I have reconstructed the events prior to Aquila’s destruction,” he said.
Valeria waved him to keep going.
“It seems the Aquila sent thirteen children against the merchant ship. Ten of them hit first, the last three hit some half an hour later. We have discovered bodies burned with beam weapons inside the merchant ship’s remains.”
Valeria’s blue eyes squinted. “Are you saying there was a firefight inside the ship?”
“Yes. We found six of our soldiers dead inside the remains of Lightning Bolt. I bet that they tried to stop their captain from ramming Aquila. But, obviously, they failed.”
“They actually rammed the battleship?” Valeria was aghast. Why didn’t you move, my love?
“Yes. The battleship needed time to turn–”
“Why turn? Why not go straight ahead?” It doesn’t sound like Arrius would do such thing.
“I think Captain Arrius was trying to disable the merchant ship before they rammed them. If Aquila went ahead, the merchant ship would be out of the primary cannons’ angle of fire. Maybe Captain Arrius was afraid the merchant ship would escape.”
It makes sense. But it still didn’t sound like Arrius. He would never risk his ship if he thought there was another way.
“Here comes the interesting part, commander.”
Her eyes fixed on Captain Galerius in expectation.
“One escape pod managed to launch from the merchant ship before the ships collided.”
She was disappointed. “I find that the least interesting, captain.” It would’ve been interesting to her if the escape pod was launched from the battleship instead.
“We never found the escape pod, commander. I think there was another merchant ship that arrived before us. I think the merchants took them in.”
Commander Valeria curled her fists. “They took the merchant escape pod, but not the survivors from Aquila.” She decided she would hang every crew member from that merchant ship once she finds them, and she would strap them outside her battleship, and then pass very close to the sun and enjoy watching them melt away.
“Maybe some of our soldiers were rescued, commander. We just can’t know–” Galerius stopped for a moment. He closed his eyes. He opened them again and looked at her with sudden confusion. “Commander, I have just received report which you might find interesting. Our men have found a survivor on the battleship.”
She sprang to her feet. Is it Arrius? “Who is it?”
Galerius shook his head.
Valeria turned and rushed toward the hangar, full of expectation, while the captain followed her behind. She was never truly religious, never believed in their gods, but since they gave her the boy she became open-minded. Please gods, let it be Arrius…
The hangar bay’s door toward space was wide open when she arrived. Rescue teams returned inside the ship with their mover packs. One after another they landed on deck. She stared ahead at two dots flying close to each other.
That must be him.
It turned out it was another soldier carrying weapon crates he found in the debris.
Do they know who it is? – she sent to Galerius – did they recognize him yet?
He was standing next to her, looking into open space – They said it was someone important.
That gave her hope. Arrius. It has to be him. She even smiled.
Commander – sent Doctor Modius then – I searched through our cranial transmitters–
Not now, doctor – she sent back.
Now, commander. You need to hear this.
Make it quick then – she sent.
You see, I searched through our cranial transmitters, trying to find a suitable one for the boy, and I found that one of them was missing.
What do you mean?
I mean someone stole a cranial transmitter.
Valeria didn’t like the sound of that. It meant someone inside her fleet could be tracked by the Praetorian Guard and the usurper. Have you found who did it? – she sent.
Not yet.
Report to me as soon as you have something.
Yes, commander.
Another group entered the hangar bay, but they too carried weapons and ammo.
Valeria was growing impatient by now, wondering whether to take a mover pack herself and get out there…
…and then a soldier holding a man in his hands drew closer. The man was large and badly wounded, his metal skin blackened and melted in parts. Gods, what have they done to him? She was angry and happy at the same time. Quickly as that, happiness overcame anger. Her smile widened.
Captain – she sent to her man as she rushed to meet him. Captain, I thought you were dead.
He didn’t reply.
Captain, are you all right? Talk to me.
She slowed down. Something was wrong.
The massive door toward space closed as the soldier landed on the deck, holding the survivor close to him. He had one functional leg and another that he was dragging along. His head was blackened and burned. The decorations on his body were deformed, melted and then cooled in rough forms. Once the soldier and the survivor were close enough, the deformed man smiled, golden tooth shone. Valeria’s entire body froze. Words were unable to come out of her mouth.
“Nice to … see you … again, commander,” said the man with his robotic voice. He sounded worse than the last time she heard him talk.
But all she managed to say was a disappointed, “Captain.” The ugly, robotic-looking Captain Lartius of the Silent Wind.
She made a step closer to him. Her voice turned sharp and cold. “Now, Capitan, I will ask you one question, and you will pray that I like your answer. If you lie to me, by gods, I will hang you on what remained of Lightning Bolt and I will use what’s left of your body as a target practice.” Her face was close enough to smell the burned metal and wires from his face. “Where is Captain Arrius? Where is Emperor Lucius?”
Lartius looked away then looked at Captain Galerius.
He is buying time.
Valeria waved her hand. “Strap him on the biggest piece of debris you can find.”
The soldier holding the captain nodded. “Aye, commander.” He started to turn when Lartius said, “Wait!”
Valeria raised her hand. The soldier stopped.
“The emperor … he … he…” Lartius looked at Captain Galerius and then back to Valeria, “… he is alive, I believe … And so … so is the … the captain.”
Valeria ground her teeth. “Where are they?”
“I saw … their … pod when … when they … were rescued.”
“Aquila never launched a pod.”
“No … but … but … Lightning Bolt did.”
Suddenly everything made sense to her. The movement pattern on Aquila and its collision with the merchant ship never struck her to be Arri
us’s doing, and now she had Lartius saying that Arrius never was on Aquila.
“Where are they?” she asked again.
“I believe … the merchant ship … it was … was heading for … Palatine.”
Valeria immediately sent – Attention all ships in the Imperial fleet. Set a course for Palatine. We are leaving in ten. To Lartius, “I hope you have a good story to tell, captain.”
His smile turned sour. “The … best … commander.”
LUCIUS
Subura was the most colorful district, Lucius would give them that. Each building on the street was a story of its own. Some were shacks made out of corrugated metal and pieces of cloth to fill in the gaps. Others were remnants of old houses of concrete and metal rods. If Lucius remembered his history lessons well, there was a time when the slums were a district full of wealth and happiness. He couldn’t remember when time eroded this place and turned it into what it is now, a place of sorrow and grief.
Men and women lay on the ground or sat and prayed that someone would be kind enough to help them. There weren’t many kind people in Subura, only thieves and scavengers who were plundering the upper capital, and their friends who were too weak to join in the effort. This was not how Lucius imagined his Empire. There were no poor and no weak in that image. But the reality was cruel and sad.
“You there,” Arrius called. The soldiers surrounded someone who sat on the ground with the back pressed against a wall. Lucius couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. Its entire body was made out of pieces of cybernetic animals. The legs in particular caught Lucius attention, they were from a cyber dog, and they were broken.
“Where do we find Doctor Axios Felix?” asked the captain.
The person looked up at him, eyelids sagging over deformed skin on the
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