Last of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book One)
Page 23
>That’s pretty deep, my friend.<
>You have everything to lose, and everything to gain. Do you have the courage to test your love?<
Mike scowled, but Jake’s words hit home. When he turned back to Ellie, he had made his decision.
She read it in his eyes and gave him a long, hard hug of thanks. Then, she took his head in her hands and reached into his mind. She took her time, letting him get used to the sensation, and giving him time to dampen his fear. When she sensed his acceptance, she moved in further and searched deeply. This need of his was not superficial, but bound within deeply rooted ancestral callings. When she found them, she shifted among them, studying first the perspective of Mike’s Scottish ancestors, then his American Indian ancestors. What she learned surprised her. Mike’s ancestors had been literally tied to the earth upon which they lived, a tie that comforted with roots anchoring them and defining their place within the larger boundaries of their existence. A sense of wonder enwrapped her when she suddenly grasped the wholeness of that link between the people and their land, and she lingered, savoring the feeling of belonging. Mike’s need was not a weakness, it was a source of strength, and she longed to share in it. He was, truly, a man of dirt. His need to feel the earth running through his fingers not only made sense to her, it made her envious.
She had found what she sought, and she understood. She was done. She withdrew carefully and held him while he recovered.
He looked at her with fear in his eyes, afraid of what she might have encountered. She kissed each eye, saying, “Thank you, Michael. You have given me a gift that I shall carry with me always.” She stood up. “As with all Testings, I will consider what I have learned as it applies to this issue. It may take a few days.”
It did take a few days. How, she wondered, could she apply what she had learned to their present situation? By the third day she had an answer for him. It might not satisfy his immediate need, but in time, if he could let his horizons expand, he would never be away from the land he called his own.
During those few days his performance improved. There were no more mistakes, and the pace of their voyage picked up. Mike was at the helm again, and he had a goal. That goal was no longer limited to reaching a safe haven for Ellie, it included a clear vision of making landfall on a world, any world. Even a short stay would suffice.
Ellie sat him down on the couch in the lounge again. “Mike, I never, ever, discuss my Testings with anyone other than the one Tested. It is one of our rules, yet Jake is a separate being. How do we talk about this?”
Mike’s eyebrows rose. “Is it so bad that he can’t hear it?”
“No.”
“Then say what you will. We have few secrets from each other, and I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”
>Hey, did I hear right?<
>Quiet. Let her have her say. I don’t think we need any more advice, I’m already enjoying life again, but she needs to say this. Okay?<
>Okay, but she might surprise you. She might surprise both of us.<
“Jake’s okay with it, and so am I,” he said to Ellie. “What did you learn?”
“I envy you, Mike. You two have become friends. It shows.”
“Most of the time. We still have our moments.”
“As do any who enter into long-term relationships. You seem happier since the Testing.”
“Sorry, Ellie. It wasn’t the Testing, it was putting a name on what was bothering me. I’m at peace with myself now.”
“And I understand why. Your ties to the earth are strong, maybe stronger than you know.”
“Until now, I’ve never been away from the land. I think I might understand myself better because of it. I used the resources of the earth to build homes and gardens and buildings, and I was satisfied with that. Flying spaceships is exciting, and when we started out I couldn’t imagine a greater challenge, but I know now that I’ll never make it my life’s work. The ship is just a tool to take me somewhere. I’ve been fighting an internal battle, wanting to believe that flying spaceships was the ultimate, but knowing subconsciously that it wasn’t. Jake and I have talked about it, and we’re in agreement that just knowing has removed a burden. I don’t know what lies in store for me, and I hope it includes more travel between the stars, but flying the ship is not the end goal.”
“You’re saying that getting there is part of the excitement, but your business at the destination is your goal. Michael, what you describe is exactly what I learned about you during your Testing. I’m pleased that we have both reached the same conclusion.”
He blinked. “We have?”
“We have. Through your ancestors, you are tied to the earth, strongly tied. Your Scottish ancestors coveted the land upon which they lived strongly enough to fight and die for that land. For most it was a fairly small area of land, but it meant everything to them. Your American Indian ancestors, likewise, believed the land was part of their very identity. For them the world was more open, and the land upon which they lived was something to be crossed from one oasis to the next, from season to season, but they were one with the land, and they, too, fought and died to protect what they considered to be a part of themselves. That oneness with the land has been passed on to you, and it is a wonderful gift.”
“You learned all that? I never thought about it like that.”
“Your subconscious did, and it was working hard to get your attention. I’m pleased that you have found a way to satisfy it.”
“I’m back on track, Ellie. You can stop worrying about me.”
“I will never stop worrying about you, Michael, and that is my choice. But I do worry about your future. You still have a long way to go, and it may be a while before you get home. Can you live with that?”
“I can. I’m focusing on one world at a time. Gamma VI works for the moment.”
“What if we don’t land there?”
“Uh . . .”
“Michael, do you realize that you are reliving some of the most heroic acts of your ancestors?”
“I am?”
“Yes, and they would be proud of you. For both sets of ancestors, serious fighting to protect their lands called for rigorous and sometimes lengthy travel to battlegrounds, but they always returned to the oases they called home after the battles. You are, at this moment, engaged in the same thing. Your journey is long and dangerous, and you hope to return to the oasis of your homeland when it is over. You have endured rigorous demands on your person and performed bravely. The journey is not yet over, but it will be some day. Your story may one day become part of the legends of your ancestors, but you have not yet faced the ultimate demand.”
“I haven’t?”
“No. Your ancestors were forced to relocate. Michael, they all rose to the demand and expanded their horizons, finding new oases to call home. You, too, can make the same choice.”
“What is my choice?” he asked guardedly.
“The whole galaxy, Michael. They crossed their lands on foot, in carts, or on horseback, while you cross yours in a starship. An oasis awaits you at the end of each voyage, in fact, an almost infinite number of oases await you within the boundaries of the Empire. If you can ever learn to call the Empire your home, you will never be away from your homeland, and you will have an unlimited number of oases to visit.”
Mike stared into her eyes. “Is that the way it is for you?”
“It is now.” Her eyes closed as she felt again the power of the land calling to him. “I never knew it until now, but my home is the Empire, all of it. I seek an oasis at the end of each voyage, but even now, I am home. I am traveling through the lands I call home.”
His eyes lost focus as he considered her words. Who was he to call the galaxy his home? He was just Mike Carver, Earthman, and he didn’t even consider all of Earth to be his home. Then he sucked in a breath. From this distance, the planet Earth, all of it, beckoned to him. No longer would he consider the deserts of the Southwest to be his only home. Earth was his home.
Her words called powerfully to him. His eyes rose to the ceiling and his mind reached outward past the skin of the ship to space and to the multitude of worlds that occupied that space. Could this place become his home? This whole place?
In his mind, his hands reached out through the skin of the ship. Long, ghostly fingers spread ever so slightly, and stars began drifting through them, but he didn’t just see stars. Planets filtered through his fingers, worlds with real people living on them, seemingly without end.
His breathing shallowed as wonder filled him. This was not something his ancestors might have dreamed of as they gazed with awe upon the stars overhead, but it was something he could dream of. The ghostly hands filtering through the bright points of light enthralled him.
Yes, he was just a man, one small man, but he sensed a kinship with the worlds filtering through those ghostly fingers. This place might, one day, become his home. All of it. Not yet, he was too small to accept it right now, but in time that might change. He liked the feeling of calling all of this home. It felt right to all of his senses. Here was earth, fire, water, air, and especially spirit, and they all felt true. More than that, here were people, uncounted numbers of people who sought no more than he did. They might look different than him, but in many ways they were the same.
Ellie’s words were truly a vision to him, a vision he chose to embrace. It would take time, but his ancestors demanded nothing less of him.
He focused once again on Ellie. He saw a different woman this time, a woman wise beyond her years. “For the first time, I sense the power of the Chosen,” he said to her. “You have given me a gift, and I will think on it. You speak true, and I hear your words, My Lady.”
She reached a hand out to caress his face. “You have heard the words of a Chosen, but you have heard the words of Ellie as well. I say them with love and with hope in my heart.”
He stared into her eyes. “I’m a lucky man to have one such as you speaking of love and hope to me. I will not disappoint you, that much I promise. I don’t know what lies ahead for us, but I believe I will, if time is on our side, share in your vision of the people you serve. I, too, would someday like to call your Empire my home. Just give me a little time.”
“I shall, and I will be beside you on your journey. The Empire calls to you, Michael, just as it calls to me.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said with a grimace. “I have no talents that the Empire needs. I hope I can convince whoever’s in charge to give me a chance. I’d like to hang around for a while.”
Ellie smiled. “The choice will be yours, Michael. I can guarantee that much.”
“Then I’d better see to getting us to Gamma VI.”
Chapter Twenty-two: The Empire Is Not Dead
Stven completed the last jump toward Centauri III and immediately called Sector Headquarters, demanding a tightbeam connection to Admiral Chandrajuski. It took longer than expected, nearly a full day. When Chandrajuski came on the line, he was brusque.
“Report, Lieutenant.”
“I can’t say much over the comm, sir. We failed. The rest of the ships will not be returning from Dorwall.”
Chandrajuski paused to digest Stven’s words, then he seemed to sag. “Very well. Make all haste, and report to me in private. Do you carry a passenger?”
“I do, sir. And we have some recordings that need to be examined.”
“When time permits. We have some Imperial issues to deal with at the moment. The Palace has fallen.”
“Sir?”
“Your passenger will know what I mean. Feel free to discuss it among you.” The connection terminated abruptly.
When Stven brought the message, Krys doubled over, weeping uncontrollably. Until that very moment everything she had foreseen, everything she had sensed had been purely speculative. Now . . . now she had concrete proof that a vision, a seemingly impossible vision, had come to pass. She knew at that moment that the Empire and the lives of everyone she knew were changed forever.
Tarn went to her side with an arm around her shoulders, wiping futilely at the tears. He, too, was numb. She had told him of her vision of the Palace devoid of all life, though he had discounted it at the time. Nothing of this nature had ever happened within the memory of Empire. What were they to do? What was anyone to do?
The whole crew gathered together on the bridge for an explanation. Krys was torn. How was she to explain without breaking her promise to Daughter?
“I don’t know how it happened, and I can’t tell you how I know, but everyone at the Palace is dead,” she told the gathered crew. “I believe they were killed.”
Stunned silence met her words, then a gunner spoke angrily. “If you know, you must have been a part of it.”
“I was not. The source of my knowledge is an Imperial Secret, but I assure you it was not of my doing. I suggest you focus, instead, on what this means to us. What does it mean for the Palace to be empty?”
“He said the Palace had fallen,” Stven corrected her. “By that, I suspect he meant the Royal Family, or at least the Chosen. If it’s all of them, our way of life is fundamentally changed forever.”
“What of the Empire? What of our oaths?” the pilot asked.
“What, indeed?” Stven looked at each of his crewmembers in turn, very solemn. “As officers, our oaths were to the Queen. For you enlisted, it was to the Empire. I, for one, will follow the example of Admiral Chandrajuski, whatever example he sets. I, personally, would follow him anywhere. I hope the rest of you will stand with him, as well. Our duty remains to the Empire, and he is our commanding officer.”
Krys almost spoke, sensing what the end of Empire meant to them. She did not believe the Empire was dead, not yet. She felt strongly that Daughter was still alive. She looked to Tarn and sensed he knew what she was thinking. He shook his head slightly, and she heard the message. Her knowledge was for Chandrajuski, no one else.
When they landed on Centauri III, a flitter whisked them to headquarters. Stven was the first one invited into Chandrajuski’s office. His meeting lasted for most of an hour. When he came out, he motioned for Krys to enter. “I have been asked to wait here,” he said softly as she passed him.
She took one step into the office and stopped, afraid that as soon as she spoke she would be taking a step that meant her life as she knew it was changed forever. The door snicked shut behind her, and Admiral Chandrajuski stared at her from across the room.
“Your visions have been accurate.”
She hung her head. “Sadly, I agree. May I invite Ensign Lukes in? There are few secrets between us now.”
“He knows you’re a Seer? You divulged an Imperial Secret?”
“As with you, there were special circumstances. He has come far since you last saw him.”
“Nevertheless, he is not a Friend. Trust has become a valued commodity now, and I speak openly within only a very small circle. He can wait.”
“Very well, sir. You know what happened to us. Can you tell me what happed at the Palace?”
“There has been a coup, a masterfully executed coup. Details are still sketchy. The ship I sent with your message of doom arrived at Triton soon after the event. It appears that the First Knight, Struthers, has killed all the Chosen and is ruling in their place.”
“All the Chosen are gone?”
“Yes. Everyone at the Palace, and I include here many senior government, military, and civilian leaders, perished in the explosion of a neutron bomb. All life ended within the bomb’s effective radius, though the buildings still stand unharmed.”
“Surely not all the Chosen were there.”
“Three were not. I
don’t doubt for a moment that his plans took them and the Queen’s Knights into consideration. I’m sure they’ve all been dealt with.”
“His plan for Daughter failed, sir.”
Chandrajuski started to disagree, then he paused. She was, after all, a Seer. His head lowered to her level from across the room. “The treaty mission to Dorwall was destroyed.”
“She’s alive, sir. I’m certain of it. Remember my first vision of her? The words that came to me in that vision were, “You will be so much more, and have so much less. They will best you, but a man of dirt will come to your aid.” I believe the first part of the riddle is now understood.”
He considered her words for a long time, then peered into her eyes, searching for something. His wise old eyes blinked slowly, and she sensed he’d found what he was looking for. Softly, he breathed, “Gods, child. Do you know what this means?”
She, too, spoke softly. “It means everything, sir. She is the last of the Chosen. She has a daughter who might one day qualify, but she is too young to be tested.”
“How certain are you of her survival?”
“My visions are accurate, sir. A man of dirt will come to her aid. I don’t know or care who the man of dirt is, but she must be alive if he comes to her aid.”
“If you’re right, it changes everything. Without a Chosen I am bereft of legitimate leadership. And we will never, can never, fold to Struthers’ demands. I’ve been thinking of declaring martial law throughout the sector. We already have a new governor.”
Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Already? He must have been waiting in the wings. He’ll be one of Struthers’ men.” Her thoughts went to Daughter and what she would be up against. “It’s only one sector, sir. What about the rest of our Empire?”
“What, indeed? It takes months for news to travel. I wish I could tell you I had a plan, but after what you just revealed, I don’t. Whatever we do, we must find Daughter. Where is she?”
“I have no idea.”
“Will you attempt another vision?”
“I’ve been trying. I see nothing, though I feel strongly that she lives.”