Seren- Legends of the Galaxy

by P H Campbell

  "What, again?" Lyle smirked.

  Treah simply looked at him in that unnerving way she often had when he was being more of an ass than usual.

  "Okay, I'll let her know she needs to call you," he agreed. "But this is a very, very, very big favor."

  "It is," Treah agreed. "Once I settle my business, I will repay you."

  "What business is that?" Lyle wondered.

  "Saving the galaxy, of course," Treah replied with a smile that reminded Lyle he was still very much a male. "Thank you, Lyle."

  The transmission ended.

  Lyle sat for a moment, then did something he thought he'd never, ever do again; He reached out to contact his former commanding officer.

  CHAPTER 12

  The moment the Twins reached the communications center to call Lyle, they saw the QUESTOR light up. There was only one person in the galaxy who would call on that machine.

  "Hi Lyle!" they chimed together, activating the viewing monitor.

  The face on the monitor was not Lyle's.

  "You're Ash and Looie, if I recall," the fit, middle-aged woman with short, dark hair and a curiously calm but haunted, light eyes replied. "I'm not Lyle. But I understand you want to talk to me.

  "I'm Katherine Reynolds."

  "Oh, shit," Looie breathed. "Get mom."

  "Screw Mom, I'm going to get Seren," Ash decided. "Be right back!"

  "You two haven't changed much since your mother misappropriated the colony ship, have you?" Katy smiled.

  "It shows?" Looie asked innocently.

  "It does," Katy confirmed. "What's this all about?"

  "I think it's better if Seren explains it," Looie replied in a moment of amazing prudence on her part. "She's the one who really needs to talk to you."

  "Seren being the de facto leader of a planet called The World, correct?" Katy asked.

  "Yes, how d'you know?" Ash wondered.

  "I spoke with her sister not long ago," Katy explained.

  "Oh, well, then, you probably know everything," Ash realized.

  Seren and Cinder both came into the comm center.

  "Cinder, good to see you again," Katy remarked. "And your companion must be Seren. It's good to meet you. I spoke with your sister. Between she and Treah, I've been convinced to…" She paused, thinking how to phrase what had happened diplomatically and then continued, "…step out of retirement and give you, a hand. But I must tell you that I am not an official representative of the UGW. Once the Scouts program ended, I… informally resigned from the Fleet and retired from public life."

  "I apologize for imposing like this," Seren said. "I wasn't aware you weren't with the UGW in any official capacity any longer. I was given the impression you could influence the UGW by being an unbiased advocate for my world's best interests."

  "That I can do," Katy allowed. "If not officially, then definitely unofficially. I believe you are on your way to UGC eleven eighty two charlie, correct?"

  "We are," Seren acknowledged.

  "I'll be there when you land," Katy promised.

  "How?" Seren wondered. Their travel time wasn't that long since they were so close to the Shade Alliance border already.

  "I have a friend who owes me some favors," Katy winked. "See you then."

  She then cut the connection.

  "McGrew Ports," Seren concluded. "She'll be using a McGrew Port. But I thought those can't be used unless there's a galactic emergency or something."

  Her impression of the older woman was one of immediate respect. Everything she'd heard about her showed that Katy Reynolds was interested in the greater good, and not in fame, fortune or the promotion of the UGW in general. That she'd gotten straight to the point, and offered her services, though in what capacity seemed to be unclear, indicated that she understood the situation, and would help. If her presence could help The World in a way no one else's could, then that help was welcome indeed.

  "Beats me," Cinder shrugged. "It was the first I'd heard of them. But come to think of it, didn't Treah mention…"

  "Mom, wasn't there a crew-person named Molly McGrew on the Talon?" Looie asked.

  "Could that be the same person?" Cinder wondered.

  "Don't ask me," Seren shrugged. "We're sort of new to the galaxy. But if she can use a McGrew Port, I guess she can get there ahead of us."

  "Bleath is going to shit himself if Katy shows up there again," Cinder chuckled evilly.

  "I'd have the bedpan ready," Seren suggested. "That woman sounds to me like she's never made a promise she couldn't keep."

  The mine ship's arrival in the UGC 1182 system was, to be blunt, chaotic.

  "Well, this is depressingly familiar," Cinder remarked looking at the screens.

  Ahead of them was a swarm of spacecraft, most of them planetary defenders comprising some small frigates and a lot of fighters. They were attacking a single, small ship, which seemed indifferent to the streams of hellfire impacting its shields. The small ship wasn't doing anything but calmly orbiting the planet.

  Suddenly, a calm, relaxed male voice announced over the comms, "Attention mining ship. This is Talon. Do not approach or make any aggressive moves or you may be fired upon by planetary defense forces, or receive incidental fire. We are attempting to clear up an understandable misunderstanding. Please be patient. Talon out."

  "Talon?" Seren echoed. "Like the Scoutship?"

  "Get me the fucking council," Cinder demanded.

  "Bleath's already calling," Looie reported. "On screen."

  "Cinder, we're being invaded by the UGW…" the Grank told her.

  "Bleath, you've always been as dense as a black hole but seriously, what the fuck do you think you're doing shooting at a Scoutship?!?!" Cinder shouted the final word with as much force as she could muster. "If that's who I think it is, Seren, you know, the woman who's the head of the delegation trying to decide who gets the goodies in her planet's system, asked for her!!!"

  Bleath gurgled, then pressed a button on its console with one of its tentacles, "Bleath here, all ships stand down. Now."

  The weapons fire quickly ceased.

  "Call the Talon," Cinder said.

  Looie made the connection.

  "Talon here," the male voice said. There was no image. "Ah, you are Cinder, I recognize you from our previous encounter. You must be aboard the mining ship. Katy is looking forward to meeting you in person. Unfortunately, the locals became alarmed when we arrived and thought we were making an aggressive move against them. They did not respond to communication requests."

  "Yeah, they get that way sometimes," Cinder agreed. "Sorry about that."

  "No damage done," Talon assured them. "If you prefer for the moment to rendezvous in space, until the situation below can be settled? Perhaps Katy can come aboard your vessel up here, and I can depart to alleviate any tensions."

  "Bleath are you going to behave?" Cinder asked.

  "I will, but you know how some others can be," Bleath allowed.

  "I wish I could contact everyone simultaneously," Cinder muttered.

  "I can facilitate that, if you wish, Cinder," Talon offered. Then another voice cut in.

  "Hi Cinder, this is Katy," her image came up on the screen next to Bleath's. "Sorry for the confusion. I thought they'd be reasonable and not shoot at us, considering how we helped before. But I'm not here for them, I'm here for Seren. And I can call Talon anytime I need to. Is it all right if I take a ship over like Lyle did when he stayed with you on the colony ship?"

  "Sure, Katy," Cinder allowed. "We'd planned to stay on the planet for a while before leaving. You okay with that?"

  "That's fine," Katy agreed. "This one I'm playing by ear, anyhow. So whatever works, works. I just wanted to be discrete and kind of blew that plan."

  "That ship popped up in low orbit without so much as a hi," Bleath groused. "It was reckless beyond words to come out of H-space that close to a planet."

  "Yes, it was, and I apologize for that, Bleath," Katy told him. "I will personally see t
o it that everyone is compensated for their time and trouble."

  Bleath's exterior brightened at the thought.

  "Then you will be welcome, Katherine Reynolds," he said.

  "I'll see you and Seren personally in a few minutes, Cinder," Katy waved. "Talk with you then. And thank you Bleath."

  The Talon then disconnected.

  "I hope you know what you're doing Cinder," Bleath growled.

  "I'm trying to do what's best for the Alliance, and you're shitting all over it, thanks," Cinder shot back.

  "The treaty only solves part of our problems," Bleath told her. "The Fusions are very, very restless."

  "If you stopped treating them like wage slaves and started treated them like the refugees they are, they'd probably be a lot less restless," Seren mentioned.

  "We have an economy in shambles, few resources, and no accommodations," Bleath told Seren. "I understand what my people are saying. I understand what the Fusions are saying. I understand what the UGW is saying. But until we can get the resources we need, nothing will change, and what everyone else is saying will only get louder."

  Cinder held up a hand, "I know, Bleath. Believe me. Sorry for screaming at you, but you were literally shooting up our best chance for all of us to come out of this much better off than we are now."

  "And now, I understand what you are saying," Bleath remarked. "Perhaps I should have kept you on the council after all."

  "If I go back to the council, it'll be in your seat," Cinder told him angrily.

  Bleath gazed at her on the monitor, then said, "For the good of the Alliance, I will meet that price. Contact me when you are ready to accept payment."

  The screen went dark.

  There was a stunned silence. Cinder's face looked like a slow-motion avalanche as the enormity of what just happened began to sink in. Much to her annoyance, Ash and Looie began laughing, then fell on the floor laughing even harder.

  Cinder stood dazed at the magnitude of what she had just done.

  "Did what just happen mean what I think it means?" Seren asked.

  "Oh, fuck me," Cinder sighed and sat heavily in the empty comm chair with the most epic facepalm of her life.

  "Oh, yeah," Ash nodded at Seren, wiping away tears of mirth.

  "Mom's the leader of the Alliance as soon as she says so," Looie confirmed.

  "Just like that?" Seren asked, confused.

  "Mom made a straight up offer for a place on the council – leadership or nothing," Ash giggled. "He agreed. It was witnessed by two members of the Shade in good standing, which is us. That's as binding of a contract as a blood oath."

  "Oh, fuck me," Cinder moaned again.

  Katy arrived aboard the mining ship in a Superhawk VI. The little vessel was highly maneuverable, heavily armed and heavily armored. They designed it to engage squads of fighters or other targets all by itself. Katy was the only one aboard the two-seater.

  "Permission to come… Sorry, habit," Katy grinned as she took off her helmet from the transit.

  "Hi Katy," Seren greeted her first. "I'm honored to meet you. I've heard quite a lot about you."

  "My understanding is you're as famous in your world as I am in my neck of the galactic woods," Katy shook her hand. "And I hear your world is, well, pardon the term…"

  "If you're going to say, 'fucked', you'd be right," Seren replied. "I don't really stand on any formality. What do you know about me and why we're here, so I don't have to cover anything you already know?"

  As Seren spoke, Katy stripped off the outer space suit to reveal mostly casual clothing beneath. She wasn't wearing any kind of uniform or insignia.

  "Treah told me your world's system is the galactic mother lode of all systems regarding critical resources," Katy told her. "You're on the border between the Shade and the UGW, so are deciding which to align yourselves with. Miralenda told me that your world is technologically primitive and you lack the ability to protect what's rightfully yours. She also told me a rather incredible tale about how she caused that world's issues in the way it created the races there, which I only believed because Treah insisted it was true."

  "We do have the video," Seren mentioned.

  "She showed it to me," Katy admitted, pulling off the last of her space suit and folding it carefully into the storage chamber of the fighter.

  "So, that event was preceded by another event involving an entity that bathed your world in radiation thousands of years ago and killed its ecology," Katy continued. "That's why your world is so…"

  "Fucked, yes," Seren nodded. "We don't have the technology to restore it quickly enough to avoid mass starvation. We have about a quarter of the resources of a colony ship from fourteen thousand years ago, but clearing arable land and planting and all of that will take a herculean effort we can't do without losing tens of millions of people before achieving self-sufficiency."

  "So it's up to the UGW, or the Shade, to bail you folks out and you'll pay them back with certain rights to the system's resources," Katy nodded.

  "It's a touch more nuanced than that," Seren agreed, "but that's the gist of it. Oh, and we also need to help the Fusions find worlds, and to help Treah fix a problem with an entity by quickly evacuating millions of people before it shifts to another dimension for good. The former puts the Shade into debt to us, and the latter puts the UGW into debt to us."

  "Ah, leverage," Katy understood. "The UGW can't use McGrew Ports on UGC zero seven five one charlie because of the energy fluxes there. If that's being caused by an inter-dimensional entity, then I can understand why they won't work."

  "That makes one of us, but I expect the science is over my head anyhow," Seren chuckled.

  "So, you have a solution to all of this?" Katy wondered.

  "One last thing, Katy," Cinder interrupted. "You won't have to deal with Bleath anymore. There's been a… change… in Alliance leadership."

  Cinder's expression told Katy exactly who was now in charge of the Shade Alliance.

  "I'm sorry, Cinder," Katy told her sincerely. "But I can't think of anyone I've ever met from the Shade who embodies it's spirit better than you do."

  "Is that a compliment?" Ash hissed to Looie.

  "I think so," Looie whispered back.

  Cinder smirked. "Coming from you, Katy, I'm honored by your words."

  Seren was used to reading between lines and noticed the qualification Katy had thrown in. Curiosity goosed her hard.

  "Who do you know in the Shade?" she asked.

  Katy beamed at Seren, "Only one person well, actually. Lyle Dufour."

  The silence that filled the room at the magnitude of the compliment Katy had given Cinder was sudden and deep.

  Ash broke it.

  "Yeah, definitely a compliment," she judged. "Big one."

  Cinder's eyes glistened with tears of gratitude.

  Seren was not conversant with Lyle's background other than he had negotiated for the UGW with the Shade, and had to do it again, because the UGW had done some shady things of their own in the wording the Shade hadn't considered properly. She didn't know that Lyle was originally born into a Shade family before joining the Scouts and leaving the Shade behind.

  "Do we want to land now, or wait for the proper ceremonies?" Seren wondered.

  "Oh, there won't be any ceremonies until I call in my marker with Bleath and take over," Cinder asserted. "For all the shit he's given me over the years, I'm inclined to let him stew in his own juices for a while – at least until I'm in the position to work a final deal on what we're all going to be doing."

  "Winners and losers?" Katy asked.

  "I don't want losers," Cinder asserted.

  "Neither do I," Seren agreed.

  "Whoever comes to negotiate for the UGW will want the UGW to win, though," Katy hazarded a guess. "Treah had pull, lots of it, because she seemed to know what we needed before we needed it."

  "There's actually an explanation for that," Seren mentioned.

  "She alluded to it when we talked, b
ut didn't go into details," Katy admitted. "But her pull let her be in the exact right places when she needed to be to be assigned to deal with both the epidemic and the diplomatic matters that followed. To be honest, I never understood why she went into diplomacy. I'm having a hard time realizing this whole situation with you, your world and oh seven five one charlie might be related."

  "She's not the diplomat type," Seren remarked. "But she is uniquely suited to understand what's going on here better than any of us."

  "You're remarkably honest and straightforward for a diplomat, yourself," Katy smirked.

  "Put the right clothes on me and I can fake it," Seren admitted. "But I'd rather use my staff on someone than try to reason with them most of the time, usually because they're being completely unreasonable. I don't like losers. I try to find compromises where everyone can feel like they won."

  "Your sister told me that," Katy informed her. "Had you just been out for the best deal your side could get, I wouldn't have come. But you're an unusually mature and self possessed person for your age."

  "Did my sister happen to mention our backgrounds?" Seren wanted to know.

  "Mostly," Katy replied. "She didn't go into your personal history before you two became acquainted in person, after… what did she call it…? the Day of the Southern Sunrise?"

  That meant Katy only knew about her from when when Seren became part of The World's government more officially than before. That recounting omitted all the aspects of "magic" Seren had been able to do prior to that point. It also artfully removes a lot of extraneous things since she could no longer do "magic" as she did before. Some things were best explained in person, she supposed.

  "That leaves out a lot," Seren noted. "But it covers the important points."

  "I look forward to hearing what that 'a lot' is all about," Katy smiled.

  Katy's introduction to the delegation was refreshingly anticlimactic to her. News of her fame hadn't made it to The World, so as far as anyone knew, she was someone from the UGW who would help The World with any issues that the delegation couldn't cover.

  As for what they would do about the situation, that was still a bit of a mystery. They had yet to visit the normal planets and the luxury planets of the Shade Alliance, then head back to the UGW to visit their luxury planet, then come home to make their decision regarding which side to join. That was the time-table they had to stick to, since preparations were being made for their arrival in each place.