by Celeste Raye
Talon said, “We did not think you would appreciate us bringing Federation ships here. Plus, not to put too fine a point on it, most of their captains could not have survived the journey in.”
Blade burst into laughter. That sound did not relieve Margie’s fear. “You are correct in that. So, my father has decided to switch sides? Interesting.”
None of them spoke. Blade went to a cabinet and rummaged about within it, producing a printer. He sat it on the table and pressed a button. Food began to come, and he handed it out. It was a dry and crumbly thing, some sort of loaf that smelled slightly oily and vile.
Blade didn’t seem to notice. He chewed his with real enthusiasm. His weapons were holstered now, but she had seen how fast he could draw them and she was not disarmed. She was also not about to eat that thing in her hand. It had a texture that made her stomach roll.
Blade said, “Go back to your ship. Stay there. You are not safe here. Especially carrying that type of news. Go outside the solar ring and wait for me by the tip of the Black Ink system. You know which one I mean?”
Talon nodded. “I do. There are old warp-weaves there, and it’s dangerous for us to wait there. At least for too long. I can give you twelve hours, but no more.”
Blade said, “I need no more than that, son.”
The man had a whole lot of arrogance, but did he have the army that his father, Talon, and Jeval all seem to think he had as well? It was highly possible, and she knew it. It was also possible that he didn’t, and that frightened her.
Her daughter had chosen that moment to fall silent to say nothing. That just figured.
Blade said, “I shall travel behind you, just to assure your safe passage back to your ship. If you have not noticed, there’s a civil war here in the city.”
Talon said, “When is there not?”
Blade dusted his hands together, scattering crumbs along the tops of his worn boots. “You have a point, but this one is much more serious. There are too many criminals and not enough justice to satisfy their bloodthirsty little souls. Maybe now is the perfect time to take them on a mission against The Federation. They all want blood and revenge; this might be their chance to get it. I should warn you, though, that I do not run them all. I cannot guarantee who will actually be loyal to you and who will be a deterrent to your cause.”
Talon said, “Our cause.”
Blade shook his head. “Not everyone here has a complaint against The Federation. In fact, some even do business with it. Their loyalty lies only with profit. Can you promise them a profit from this?”
Jeval said, “Of course we can, and you know it. The Federation takes large cuts of everything, even this. The Federation has long since had its hands in the pockets of pirates and wreckers. There’s an un-discussed tax that we pay and have always paid.
“Tell them they can have credit and whatever they can plunder from the ships that we go up against. That we now know the location of the planet on which the highest Federation officials reside.”
Blade’s mouth hung open. “That is far above my father’s pay grade.”
Margie prayed hard that her face would not betray her emotions at that moment. Nobody knew, absolutely nobody, where The Federation’s highest officials dwelled. For their own safety, they had been hidden away for centuries. Talon was lying!
Blade said, “Go. I shall follow and have several of my men surround you. Do not panic. I haven’t decided not to kill you myself yet. I would highly advise you to make sure that I don’t decide to on the way since your back will be to me.”
Jeval said, “I have never known you to be a being who would be so cowardly as to put a blade into someone’s back.”
Blade laughed, “You may be correct. I would absolutely demand that you face me first.”
They went. Every step was torment for Margie. She could feel the heat of her mate’s body next to hers, hear his breath. Every step might be their last, and she knew that way more than she would’ve liked to have known it.
Time became so precious, so precious that not even the stone tunnel could take her mind off how close death hovered to them. Blade had several of his men come along with them to the ship. As they reached the mouth of the tunnel and the docking station, he and his men turned away. Margie suppressed the urge to break into a fast run towards what she perceived to be the safety of the ship. She knew that was a false perception; as long as they were on the planet and within that ringing system, the odds were not in their favor.
Chapter Ten
Talon said, “I am fine. Go to your chamber. You need rest.”
Jeval said, “As do you. You are riding along the rift, and it’s a dangerous thing to do. You need help and company.”
Talon looked around at the crew, all of them silent and many of them pale with fear. What they were doing was the most dangerous thing that they could do, but it was the only thing that they could do. The old warp-weaves were in strong pull mode at the moment, and Talon had to make sure that the ship stayed far enough back not to get sucked into that emptiness that lay beyond, an emptiness that would shatter the ship and everything within it as well.
He sighed. “Then stay. We only have another hour anyway. If he does not arrive directly on time, I shall be forced to leave. The warp-weave pull is getting even stronger. In truth, I’m not even sure we can wait out the hour.”
Jeval wasn’t sure either. In fact, he wasn’t sure if it was even safe to be there at that moment. He doubted it. At any minute the pull could become stronger than even Talon could calculate, and then what?
He tried to lighten those fears by saying, as lightly as possible, “I rarely get to stand on a ship deck with you anymore.”
Talon nodded. “If I had my way about it we would never have to do this again. I know that few would believe me, or even did believe me, when I said war is the last thing I want. I want to live in peace now. I do. I want that more than anything. Only it seems that every time I am sure that I will be able to have some peace, The Federation decides to pull some stunt that makes me have to go back to war again.”
Jeval said, “There is only one cure for that.”
Talon said, “We have been saying for centuries that the only cure for this universe is the eradication of The Federation. Our father said it before us and his father before him. They have ruled for many centuries, and in that time, they have brought a lot of tears and deaths.
“I know that history taught us that the first half of their rule was benevolent. That they brought advances to every corner of the universe. That they gave as much as they took, and that it was a fair exchange. But it is no longer a fair exchange.”
Jeval nodded. “It has not been fair for centuries. All of us know that. Even those planets that once wholeheartedly embraced The Federation’s laws and governments have begun to show signs of disquiet and discontent. When the thing is no longer working, then it is broken. A broken thing can be of no use to anyone.”
Talon said, “Now you sound like our father.”
Did he? There were worse things to sound like. Their father had been a fierce warrior and a ship captain who could fly even better than Talon. He had loved his wife and his children with an intensity unmatched by most. He had loved his people, and he had given his life in service to them. If there was any being that he had ever hoped to emulate, it was his father.
He said, “How does Margie know what she knows?”
Talon looked around the deck. He said, “I have my suspicions.”
Jeval drew closer still. “Then why don’t you tell me of them, brother?”
Talon said, “There’s something amiss with her as of late. I don’t know what it is. She’s your mate and your woman; perhaps this is something you should have noticed. I don’t know what it is. But something about her has changed.”
He groaned out, “I understand that. She never before had visions or spoke in that voice. It was…”
He froze. His entire body went stiff. Sweat broke out all along his bro
w. His mouth went dry and his tongue cleaved to the high arch of his palette. His eyes went wide. His gut first dropped and then clinched so tightly that a spasm rocketed through his abdomen. His fingers balled into fists.
Talon stared at him and then hastily turned his attention back to the swell of space that was threatening to toss them right into the warp-weave. “What is it?”
He couldn’t breathe. There was no way he could breathe. If what he had just thought was true, then…
No.
Impossible.
He said, “Ships.”
It was the only thing he could think of to say, and it was true. Ships, many of them, came toward them. Everyone on the deck jumped into position, ready for war. The ships drew close and the comcaster lit up. Talon hit the button. Blade appeared, his face wearing its usual raffish grin. “I see you survived.”
Talon snorted, “Did you doubt I would?”
Blade said, “You are the best captain I have ever seen. I just had to know how good you really are. This is my army. We are here to stand beside you. Do not think you shall order me, though. I have my own bones to pick with The Federation. I stand with you only as an ally against them. Any other quarrel we have or have ever had will be set aside for the moment. That is the same agreement I have reached with all who are here to begin this war.”
War.
It was official. No more rebellion, no more uprising. No more minor harassment of Federation ships.
This was full-on warfare.
Jeval’s heart sank like a stone. He said, “Take us out of here, Talon.”
Talon said, “I thought you’d never ask.”
The ships formed a line and sped away from the warp, heading east, heading toward the fleet of Federation ships run by a rebel general and the father of their biggest ally and enemy.
But even those things were not enough to take his mind off the truth that had just hit him right between his eyes. It was the truth; he knew it was the truth.
The old Oracle had said that one would come to take her place. That it would be centuries before it happened but that one would come. They had all chosen to believe her because they had no choice. She had refused to leave the surface of their original planet, claiming that she had seen already down to the end of her days and that that was where she would die. She had been gravely wounded, and the odds of her being able to survive her wounds had been low anyway, but leaving her behind had been a terrible blow to the morale of those who had escaped. Not everyone on his original planet had been lucky enough to make it to the ships in time to leave the surface before the planet was eaten by a warp.
An Oracle.
Margie?
Was it possible that Margie was their new Oracle?
He walked into the chamber he shared with her to find her stepping out of the cleansing chamber. His eyes went right to her abdomen; it was swollen, and he knew then that it was not Margie who was the Oracle that his people had long since awaited.
All of his defenses crumbled. “You’re carrying a child.”
Her head moved up and down. “Yes.”
“It was the child who spoke to you.”
She nodded. “How did you know?”
His breath came in a hard and awed gasp. “The Oracle comes.”
She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
Jeval closed his eyes. “The Oracle brings great war and the possibility of great peace. It’s true then. The Federation will fall. Not should fall. Not must fall. Will.”
The End
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Celeste Raye
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