Spirit of Empire 4: Sky Knights

by Lawrence White

  “Hmm. Actually, it happens from time to time. Your people will have their lives back.”

  She nodded. “They will as soon as the transporters get here. We owe you a debt that can never be repaid, Sire.”

  “Nonsense. You and Galborae stepped into that field with me. Do they owe you a debt?”

  “They do, but they’re our people, not yours.”

  “For years I believed my fate was to protect the Royal Family, but the Leaf People gave me a new calling, extending my services to everyone. I heard that call, I accepted that call, and it’s now what I do.”

  “You are truly a Great One, Sire.”

  “So are all of you. You set us all, your people and mine, on the path we now follow.”

  “Gar defined the path, Sire.”

  “And all of us have stepped into a field of gleasons to make it happen. We’re all leaders, Atiana.” His gaze moved to take in the three of them. “I don’t doubt for a moment that our Empire will call on you for more.”

  Chapter Forty-one

  A shuttle landed outside the main gate of a town. It’s squad deployed, then Hawke stepped down the ramp using a cane for support. He could have used a floater, but he was determined to regain the strength he’d had prior to his last fight with a gleason almost four months ago.

  Lieutenant Crowles met him and escorted him to the blacksmith’s open-air work area, then the two of them just watched.

  Graylee worked with her back to them, heavy gloves covering her hands and arms up to her elbows as she pounded on a piece of hot metal, sweat soaking through the back of her blouse. The blacksmith kept a close eye on her every move and corrected her from time to time. Hawke studied her, amazed and proud of her regardless of what was to come.

  When the blacksmith noticed Crowles, he turned toward him with a lifted eyebrow. The hammer in Graylee’s hand, poised to strike the metal yet again, stopped. She half-turned to see who the blacksmith was looking at and froze. When she started turning the rest of the way around and the hammer dropped from her hand, the blacksmith hastily took the tongs and hot metal from her.

  She did not acknowledge Crowles—her eyes were only for Hawke. Hawke shuffled toward her before she found her feet, but when she did find them she stepped toward him in a daze. She stopped in front of him and studied his face, then her gaze firmed and moved down the rest of him, missing nothing. When she looked back into his eyes, she brought a hand to his face in wonder.

  Hawke leaned forward to kiss her, but she took half a step back. “Not here. They frown on public displays of affection.”

  “Is there anywhere more private?”

  When dimples appeared, Hawke’s day brightened and his hopes lifted a little.

  She took his arm possessively and led him outside, then around the back of the structure. When she stopped, she reached up to cradle his face again, her eyes sparkling. Hawke had a habit of disappearing on her every time he showed up, so she didn’t beat around the bush. “Am I holding my future in my hands?” she asked, her eyes studying his for the slightest hints at his inner feelings.

  His heart skipped a beat at hearing words he had dreamed of hearing, but he did not answer immediately. He leaned forward to brush her lips with his own, but instead found himself caught in her grip, a strong grip that held his head so her lips could claim him. Her arms went gently around him in consideration of his injuries, but when he responded strongly, her hold tightened.

  When their lips parted, she leaned away and said, “I’ve been waiting a long time for that. You haven’t answered my question.”

  His eyes took on a hooded look. “I hope I’m your future, Graylee, but we have to talk. I might not stay.”

  The dimples disappeared as she loosened her hold and stepped back, studying his eyes for more meaning, then looking away in confusion. He watched various expressions cross her face as she considered options, then she found what she was looking for and focused back on him.

  “Lieutenant Crowles told me that might happen, that it sometimes happens to people who have been up close and personal with a gleason. I’m so, so sorry, Hawke. I’ve learned what this place means to you. It must be hard.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She hesitated for a moment, then said, “I barely know you. In fact, I know more about you from growing legends than I do from my own time with you. What have we had—something like four or five days together, always in a crowd?”

  “Something like that.”

  “We’ve had a connection since the moment we met. I keep hearing your words in my mind: you said that occasionally in life you meet someone who you know is special, and that I’m her. Well, I am her, and you’re him. I’m not ready to leave here, but if you leave, I’ll go with you. All you have to do is ask.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment, then with the aid of his cane he stepped across the intervening space and lifted a hand to her cheek. “You’re right. We hardly know each other, but I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you back in that park on Aldebaran I. A day hasn’t gone by that my love hasn’t grown. I’ve missed you so much.”

  She closed her eyes and put her arms around him again, hearing the words over and over in her mind. She had so wanted to hear those words, but for all this time—through the unthinkable demands of training to become a marine, then chasing him across light-years and through everything she had been through since coming to Tranxte—she had known she risked being the fool in coming here, in following him to Tranxte. Now she knew.

  From his chest she looked to the side at weeds growing up among the blacksmith’s discarded leftovers littering the back of the structure. She loosened her grip on Hawke and backed away a few steps, saying, “Once I would have disdained this place where we stand. Now, I find it beautiful, almost as beautiful as you. You told me Tranxte was bloody and scary, that I would find disease and starvation and bed bugs, that the food was lousy and I would be too hot or too cold or just plain wet from the rain with no escape from it . . . and you were right.”

  She looked away as she considered her next words, then turned and stepped back to him. She reached a hand out to his cheek with a sense of ownership now rather than just the hope she’d been clinging to. “You also said the locals fear us but that they hang on our every word, and that when Havlock, Atiana, or Galborae found you and gave you a pat on the back, that made everything worthwhile.”

  She stared into his eyes, willing him to understand what she was about to say. “I haven’t seen any of them since I set foot on the ground here, but I’ve met people I’ll treasure for the rest of my life, people who need my knowledge even when they don’t want it. They’re who have made everything worthwhile for me.”

  With a trace of frustration, she changed the subject, though unknown to her, she was not changing it. “Why wouldn’t you let me visit you when you came out of the tank?”

  “Because I wanted you to see Tranxte through your own eyes, not mine. You can’t stay here because of me, Graylee. It has to be for yourself.”

  “Given the option, I would stay here forever. I’ve come to think of Tranxte as home, but if being with you means I have to leave, I’ll go.”

  He stared at her, savoring those words. Could he really be so lucky to have found the perfect match for himself? As important, could he be that to her? Could he stay that way for her?

  With a hint of impatience, she asked, “Answer me this: “Would you stay here for me?”

  “Yes.”

  She stepped back in surprise. “Just like that? You said you were leaving.”

  He shook his head. “No, I said I might leave, but you’re telling me you want to stay.”

  She nodded. “I do, more than anything I’ve ever wanted besides you.”

  “Sweeter words would be hard to imagine. Would you feel that way if you’d had me to lean on these past months?”

  Her thinking leaped ahead. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  He leaned on his cane, t
hen decided he needed to sit. His Rider kept most of his pain at bay, but there was still a lot of healing going on, and as much as he hated giving in to weakness, he had to trust the experts on this. He found a pile of rotting lumber and sat gingerly, patting the space next to himself. “Will you join me?”

  She didn’t hesitate, sitting primly and facing him. She knew he was hurting and her heart went out to him, but marines ignored such things and she didn’t want to offend him by asking. Not yet.

  “Havlock just got back and is as banged-up as I am,” he said. “As pathetic as the two of us are, we’re back at work. You can imagine how buried we are in demands from all over the planet after being away for months. Despite those demands, six of us—Havlock, Atiana, myself, Galborae, Milae, and one other whom you have not met—have been on Tranxte for the last four days with only one purpose: to follow the path of the Builder.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Crowles calls me that. Are you talking about me?”

  He nodded. “I am. We visited each of the places you’ve been and we talked with the people you dealt with.”

  “What? Without me?” She leaned away from him with a trace of anger showing.

  He reached out a hand to her face. “I knew you would be right for Tranxte, but we had to make sure.”

  “And . . .?”

  “I think Havlock was sold at our first stop. A young girl by the name of Pen greeted him in near perfect Galactic High Standard. She’d clearly been practicing with you in mind since she addressed him as M’Lady, but she corrected herself.”

  Hawke watched as Graylee’s eyes brimmed almost to overflowing. That amazing mouth of hers couldn’t make up its mind weather to smile or cry so he leaned over and kissed it. The smile won, but the tears brimmed over.

  “The wall’s done?”

  “It is, though the gleasons have never attacked the fabric you installed. We’re considering its use as a tactical weapon. We might be able to use it to control gleason attack routes in particularly troubling places. By the way, Builder Thaeron had three pipes built and joined together, though they weren’t hooked up to anything yet.”

  She blinked away her tears and looked into the distance, imagining Thaeron at work. The dimples returned with a warm smile. “I’d like to see it.”

  “So tell me,” he countered, “what exactly are you doing here with the blacksmith?”

  “Well, it’s sort of a joint project. He’s teaching me how to work metal, and I’m teaching him how to make steel. All they have right now is iron. We haven’t made a quality batch of steel yet, but we’re getting closer.”

  Hawke rubbed his chin. “What happened to those baby steps?”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “It is a baby step . . . well, steel might be skipping ahead a little, but there are a few pieces of infrastructure that, once in place, will enable them to really step out on their own. I think steel is one of them.”

  “What else?”

  “We talked about this back on Aldebaran I. Remember how you wanted to install fusion plants in every town to get them started with electricity and I said no? People here lack knowledge, but they’re smart and their craftsmanship is second to none. I want to plant seeds, and only seeds. Once the seed sprouts, they’ll take it the rest of the way through their own creativity and ingenuity. I’m focused on three areas at the moment: health, power, and transportation.”

  “Isn’t Kori our health person?”

  She nodded. “We talk regularly. She’s in agreement with me that we need to deal with sewage. As for power, everyone I’ve seen so far on the planet is using human or animal muscles to accomplish work. The seed I want to plant is the engine, probably a simple steam engine. A lot of people have died at the hands of the gleasons and from disease. Engines will significantly improve the productivity of survivors and will help them move water, improve manufacturing, and eventually improve transportation. Most people have no good way of traveling between towns so they just stay put, relying on traders to move small amounts of supplies. As engines and other machines become more complicated, parts will be made in different towns and cities, and easier, faster transportation will foster commerce in the process. While it’s doing that, it will foster the exchange of ideas.

  “The concept of a steam engine will lead to the development of internal combustion engines, then turbines to generate electricity and methods of manufacturing those things, including wires to bring electricity to users. Electricity, whether we let them invent it or we just give it to them as a concept, will be the next really big leap. Since they’ve seen us using it, I’m hoping they might come up with it on their own.

  “Carrying water to homes will be a natural follow-on to the pipe building project. When they see the benefit of that, they’ll design metering valves and water towers and pumps to make their systems more efficient. Clay pipes will lead to iron pipes and better engines to make production more efficient.”

  “Did you ask anyone?” Hawke asked.

  “Who would I ask? You all left. Kori’s helped with resources, but she keeps reminding me she’s a specialist in a fairly narrow field, and General Stymes never hesitates to remind me he’s a soldier. They listened to me, then essentially told me to do what I thought best. Have I erred?”

  Hawke smiled. “On the contrary. You’re everything we hoped you would be and more. Actually, far more. You clearly have your arms around a process, a process we want you to guide the rest of us through. While we’ve been working from the top down, meaning kings and queens and emperors, you’ve been working from the bottom up. You’ve done it essentially on your own, and you’ve chosen well.”

  “I’m not going to continue on my own. We need the synergy of group thought to come up with a better program.”

  “Which would be what?”

  “I might be a builder, but I’m also a teacher and I have some thoughts along those lines. I think your plan is to eventually bring in a bunch of experts from the Empire to teach these people, and I don’t doubt for a moment that we will, but they don’t have to be our only resource.”

  “Who else can do it?”

  “Locals. I don’t know if I can pull it off, but I’ve met some wonderful, young, potentially creative people here. Take Pen, Builder Thaeron’s daughter. She’s bright and curious. I can see her and others sitting in class beside Queen Atiana learning mathematics and writing and science. If they saw Tranxte from orbit, they’d quickly get a feel for the scope of what they’re doing.”

  “They’ll never leave their homes.”

  “Maybe they will. Or maybe we wait a generation or so, but instead of importing a bunch of teachers, I’d like to create them right here and send them out all over the planet. And these ideas I’m giving to people like Thaeron and the blacksmith here? I can’t be everywhere at once. Eventually, when travel becomes safer and more efficient, I’ll give those ideas out with a caveat: they have to show their counterpart in the next town or the next country how to do it, and that person will have to agree to share it with someone else in the same way. They’ll be me, sharing what they’ve learned and leveling out advancements around the planet.”

  “You’re way ahead of me.”

  “Well, there’s more. I haven’t even been to a farm yet. I don’t know what I’ll find there, but consider the creatures here that meld. They have tremendous export potential. People all over the Empire would pay dearly for pets they can meld with. I have yet to see a sauron, I think most of them perished at the hands of gleasons, but we should do everything we can to preserve the species. And Tranxte will need printing presses and paper money and antibiotics. Those things will require mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics and the whole gamut of things you and I took for granted in our educations. How we’re going to integrate their creativity with the things we’ve already given them, I don’t have a clue. We’re already using antibiotics on them, they’re flying around in our ships and using our radios, and they’re using our weapons. Are we going to take those things away from the
m?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t see how we can. You’re right. We all need to get on the same page. I can’t tell you how proud I am of what you’re doing. I promised you a place at the Governor’s table if you came, and I meant it. Havlock asked me to ask you—will you join us?”

  “Not if you’re leaving.”

  “Tranxte is my home, Graylee. I was never going to leave. I just needed to find out if you wanted to make Tranxte your home as well. Like I said, you have to stay because you want to stay, not because I’ve asked you to stay.”

  She closed her eyes and hugged herself. When she opened her eyes, she stood up and faced him with her arms crossed and a look telling him to get on with it. Suddenly, he understood—she needed commitment, his commitment.

  He struggled to his feet and took her shoulders. “Will you stay here, Graylee? With me?”

  Those eyes he had so been wanting to fall into finally let him in. “I will. I love you Hawke. I’ll stay forever if you’ll have me.”

  The cane fell to the ground as arms folded around each other. They stayed that way for a long time as two individual lives adjusted to facing the world together.

  He kissed the top of her head and said softly, “Forever will be longer than you thought. There’s another requirement that goes with the job.” He took her hand and ran her fingers along a faint scar running the length of his jaw. “This scar rivaled your own a month ago. It’ll be completely gone in another month.”

  She left her fingers in place when he released her hand, running them along his scar as she rested her head on his chest. “Tanks can fix a lot of things. I didn’t have that option. On Aldebaran I my deformities set me apart. Here, they fit right in.”

  He took her by the shoulders again and backed half a step away. “Tanks can’t fix everything. Havlock essentially died on Harac, and I essentially died at the hands of a gleason here. Among other things, that gleason broke my neck, Graylee, yet here I stand, alive and healthy.”