Hand of the Empire (Rise of the Empire Book 8)

by Ivan Kal

  “This is the first time that you decided to get a support staff. I was just wondering why that is.”

  Ryaana kept quiet for a while, debating what to say. Then she decided that the truth was the only answer. “I never wanted a support staff because of the ways that everyone acted around me. I am the daughter of the Empire’s Lord Sentinel and the Shara Daim’s Kar Daim after all,” she said mockingly.

  Her father winced, but nodded in understanding. Of course her father had noticed.

  “But Vas is not like that. He doesn’t care; he didn’t even know who I was when we first met. I feel like I can trust him.”

  “He didn’t know who you were?”

  “Well, he was born in Kazalir, on a small world. And he says that he hadn’t been a very good student. A lot of his education is lacking, but he doesn’t feel ashamed to ask questions. It’s one of the reasons why I like him so much.”

  “A small world… And you say that his education is lacking…” her father said slowly, his face getting darker.

  “Dad? What’s this really about?”

  “I don’t know if I want you being near him, Ryaana.”

  Ryaana leaned back in confusion. She had never heard her father speak this way. It made no sense—Vas wasn’t any kind of threat. He was far weaker than her and far more ignorant. And then it dawned on her.

  “Dad! I’m almost five hundred years old. I don’t need you looking after me!” she said, feigning outrage, but she was smiling. It felt good knowing that her father cared about her that much. And she could see why he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. Ryaana had never before brought anyone to meet her parents. And most of her relationships happened in systems far away from them. Her parents had always been busy and she had never met anyone that she would even consider bringing home to meet her parents. And here she was talking about how much she liked Vas.

  “It’s not like that at all, Dad. Vas is just a friend, and now a subordinate.”

  Her father was taken aback by her outburst. To her further confusion, he leaned back and his eyes narrowed, looking dangerously grim. Then his gaze lessened, and she could see him thinking things through, considering.

  “Right,” he said. “I apologize if I jumped to any conclusions.”

  “It’s kind of nice knowing that you care so much.”

  Her father gave her a smile. “Of course I do. Anyway, I think that I have a proposal for you.”

  “A proposal?”

  “Yes. I’ll have Gotu call you and explain,” he said, nodding to himself, as if he had made some big decision. Then he gave her that same grave look and added, “You should extend the invitation to your new subordinate as well.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Josanti League

  Alliooppaastori, High Venesar of the Josanti League in charge of Nassanti sector, hurried to make sure that his office was in top condition. He was having a very important visitor—an envoy of the Partenai, something that was almost unheard of. The Partenai almost never left their systems in the core. The enigmatic race was one of the founders of the Josanti League and was the oldest race in the Josanti—perhaps even the oldest in the galaxy. They had vast knowledge and power, but never did they abuse it. Many thought them pacifists, but there had been instances where the Partenai had fought wars, although all of the wars in their history had been defensive in nature.

  The Partenai were the most revered race in the Josanti, and were one of the leaders of the League. Arguably, they were its most important race. That one was coming here, to meet with him… It was a clearly a sign of how much respect he had garnered in the core. He had always dreamed of being recognized by the core powers for his achievements. But not even in his dreams had he thought that he would be honored by a Partenai, and given his new post in person! And not only that, the Partenai in question was the High Matriarch—Levisomaerni, the oldest and the most respected of the Partenai. Some said that she was older than some stars.

  Suddenly a chime announced his visitor, and Alliooppaastori quickly straightened his tentacles and wrapped them around his body, making himself presentable.

  The Partenai walked into his office, her sleek four-legged form gracefully stepping toward his desk. Alliooppaastori could not help but admire her beautiful feathers, red with blue tips covering her entire body. Her long, graceful neck had a red mane of long hair framing a long snout covered with blue feathers, and her feathered wings were folded neatly on her back. The Partenai had no manipulator appendages, but then they didn’t need them. They could move things by using their telekinesis, and in many way could operate fine tasks far better than any other race.

  She was smaller than him, and many other races in the Josanti League, yet she had such grace and power that even from above none could really look down on her, or any other of her race.

  Alliooppaastori greeted her respectfully.

  “High Matriarch, it is an honor to have you grace my small sector,” he said. His sector was in fact very large, but there was no point in bragging to her.

  “High Venesar,” she said, her voice as gorgeous as she was herself. It was a song that brought tears to the eyes. “Thank you for receiving me on such short notice.”

  “Of course, High Matriarch. Please, take a seat.”

  She walked over to the foam and jumped on it, landing gently and curling her legs behind her body as she turned her long neck and her deep yellow eyes to Alliooppaastori.

  “Thank you. I came here in order to ask you a few questions.”

  “I am at your disposal, High Matriarch,” he said. He hadn’t been aware that gaining a post in the core required any kind of interview, but perhaps it was necessary in this case. After all, Alliooppaastori was going to be the first that had not been born in the core to gain a position there.

  “I would like you to tell me anything that you know of this Empire that we have recently came in contact with. More precisely, the three races that are a part of it. The Humans, the Nel, and the Shara Daim.”

  Alliooppaastori looked at the High Matriarch blankly, for a moment not even comprehending the question. The High Matriarch wanted to talk about the humans? He couldn’t imagine any reason why she would want to know about those primitives. It must be some kind of a test, then—there was no other explanation possible.

  He composed himself and spoke. “From the three races you just mentioned, we have dealt only with the Humans. The Empire’s Ambassador is a human female.”

  “Do you have a visual record of their appearance?”

  “Yes, of course,” he said. “But may I ask why you are interested in them?”

  “The report you sent to the core on them triggered certain…keywords, let’s say. We wish to know more.”

  “Yes, yes, I understand,” Alliooppaastori said, not understanding at all, and he opened a file containing the data on the humans, bringing out the hologram of the ambassador.

  “Dear creators!” the High Matriarch exclaimed, her feathers ruffled. Liquid that he was pretty sure was tears leaked out of her eyes. “It’s really them.”

  “High Matriarch?” Alliooppaastori said, completely lost.

  She composed herself, and used her paws to wipe away at her tears. Then she turned her eyes back to Alliooppaastori.

  “Tell me more, what did they say? What did they want?”

  “They asked for permission to pass through our territory,” Alliooppaastori responded carefully.

  “Why?”

  “They wished to reach the territory of the black ships.”

  The High Matriarch nodded as if in understanding. “Of course, of course… But why would they need to pass through our territory?” she asked, but Alliooppaastori thought that she was talking to herself. “They could just—but then again, we haven’t been able to use them…”

  “High Matriarch?” Alliooppaastori said, after several minutes of her silently mumbling to herself passed.

  “What?” She raised her head to look at Alliooppaastori, appea
ring almost surprised that he was still there. “Right. Tell me more—is there a representative of theirs here?”

  “Ah… Well, no. There is not.”

  “Why not?”

  “I refused their request. And they packed up and left. As far as I know, their ships left and headed toward the territory of Tar’ferat.”

  “You refused their request?” she said menacingly.

  “It is the usual practice,” he protested. “We don’t allow primitives unchecked access to our territory. There are designated systems if they wish to trade, and I pointed them to those.”

  “Primitives?” She raised her voice. “You fool… You…” she started, and then stopped shaking her head and calming herself.

  “I need to get back to the core,” she said as she stood up. “Get back and arrange for a true diplomatic team. We will need to approach them as fast as possible and make sure that we make amends for your actions. And then, we need to ask for forgiveness,” she said wistfully.

  She turned and started toward the doors. Alliooppaastori watched her in shock, without understanding anything that had just occurred. She wanted to ask the humans for forgiveness? Then, as she reached the door to his office, he finally found his voice.

  “Wait! But…but what about my new post?”

  The High Matriarch turned and looked at him in confusion. “What post?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Olympus Mons

  Adrian sat at his table inside his quarters. Above his table in the air was suspended a hologram—a file. He had read through it countless times now, and he’d had Iris go through it countless times as well. He’d even had her access the relays and the net and search there for anything that might seem off. They had found nothing. The person on the file above him seemed to be exactly who he claimed to be.

  Except that he wasn’t.

  Vasily, born in Clan Kazalir on an insignificant world, with an identification number too long to actually speak out. Every single thing in the file checked out. Not a single thing was questionable, not a single thing seemed out of place. The events of the last few months seemed suspicious to Adrian, but only because he knew without a shred of a doubt what Vasily really was.

  Vasily and his friend had stumbled upon pirates, his friend had gotten killed, and the Hand had been called. Adrian then sent the Erebus along with two inquisitors there, as a way to test the Erebus’s systems. Vasily did not initiate anything. His presence on Olympus Mons was ultimately because of a fortunate set of circumstances. The inquisitors used him as a part of their team—again, nothing strange, as the Hand regularly utilized personnel on site. Vasily was military trained and had experience on the colony world and with the pirates.

  Again, nothing really suspicious. The inquisitors took him with them after they dealt with the pirate depot. That could be strange, yet Adrian could explain the action easily enough. Vasily’s friend had been murdered, he had wanted retribution, and the inquisitor whose life Vasily had saved allowed him to accompany them. They came to Sol, and Hayashi assigned Ryaana as overseer of the mission. And everything that happened afterward was equally explainable—except for one thing. In Ryaana’s report, he found a mention of a Gatrey using its mental attack and Vasily being unaffected.

  Ryaana noted it as a latent talent, an ability that manifested itself during a stressful situation. If Adrian hadn’t been unsure about Vasily, he wouldn’t have looked twice at the explanation. It was a rare occurrence, but one that was documented. Hell, it had happened to him as well.

  It was all just a set of explainable circumstances that had brought an Enlightened right to the top of the Empire.

  It had taken a lot of willpower not to visibly act when he had seen through his disguise. And it was a good one—to his senses, he was a human. Vasily’s mental signature barely registered on Adrian’s mind. But he had been curious—his daughter had for the first time ever assigned someone to her team. And Adrian had wanted to see everything about him. He used his Sha sight, and was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of Sha twisting and churning inside of him. And threads, so many of them, thin as if made of silk reaching around him everywhere, connecting him to the Sha. And many more had been wrapped around him, bounding all that Sha inside deep. It was why to all of his other senses Vasily seemed normal.

  He had been tempted to attack immediately, to get a first strike in and kill the monster. But something had held him back. In that moment, Adrian truly realized how different from everyone else he was. He had always stood out from the rest of humanity. He was capable of setting his emotions aside and doing what needed to be done. It was what made him a very good commander—he could sacrifice anything and anyone if it meant gaining victory. And in that moment, he knew that anyone else in his place would’ve felt fear. But Adrian had felt something totally different: relief and exhilaration. There, in front of him, stood something that was beyond him, an obstacle that he could not overcome easily. Even with Ryaana fighting by his side, he didn’t think that they could manage to take the Enlightened down. But now, finally, he had found an obstacle worth overcoming.

  Vasily would not act, at least not soon. He was here for information; otherwise, he would’ve acted the moment he had seen Adrian. No—he was playing the long game. The Enlightened had come to his territory, was hiding right in front of Adrian. But this was a game that Adrian played well. He had learned a lot in the long peace after the war with the Erasi. The Heart of the Mountain had learned the Weaver’s lessons well. Now, he had a game to play. A game with the fate of the galaxy as the prize. A game truly worth playing.

  And to play it well, he would need information, and there was only one place where he could get the information that he now needed.

  But before, that he needed to make a short call to Gotu. He closed the file and opened the comms. He waited for several seconds, and then Gotu answered from across the system.

  “Lord Sentinel, how can I help you?”

  “I just wanted to see how you were doing with the lists?”

  “Well, so far more than ninety percent of personnel that I asked have accepted. However, I have been focusing on military personnel; I think that once I start on civilian personnel, that percentage is going to drop somewhat. But we are slowly gathering recruits, and I have no doubt that we will have enough by the deadline.”

  “That’s good, Gotu. I need you to add two more names to your list. Preferably you will speak with them soon.”

  “Of course, Lord Sentinel.”

  “I’m sending you the files now,” Adrian said, and sent the two files.

  He saw Gotu receive them and glance at them. He nodded and then turned his eyes back to Adrian.

  “I think that Ryaana would be a great asset, but I am not familiar with this other person.”

  “Vasily is now a part of Ryaana’s team. She seems to think that he has potential. We won’t need just the old and the proven—young people with talent should be approached as well.”

  “I see. Yes, I agree. I’ll see to it, Lord Sentinel.”

  “Good. Let me know if you encounter any problems,” Adrian said and closed the comm. He wondered if the Enlightened would take the bait.

  ***

  Ten days later—Clan Warpath

  Adrian’s transport entered the massive cavern in the asteroid that served as Warpath’s greatest shipyard and research center. It was from here that the greatest achievements of the Empire had come—it was where the first four Sovereign had been built, and where all of their advanced weapons and technologies were developed. It was also the one place where Adrian might get the information he needed on the Enlightened. As his transport passed through the large cavern, he saw the bones of a massive ship. Another Sovereign, Adrian’s personal ship. It was costing him a lot to have it built, and it would not be finished for a long time, a decade at least. But he didn’t need it yet—not until the Nomad fleet was finished. He turned his eyes from it and watched as the transport landed.

  Upon exiting
he was met with the Warpath’s Clan Leader, the man that had succeeded the post after Adrian, Isani.

  “Adrian. From your message I got the impression that something serious happened. Is everything okay?” Isani asked.

  Adrian nodded as he approached and greeted his friend. “Yes, everything is fine.”

  Isani turned his palm in a gesture that meant skepticism. “Does it have to do with the fleets? The order for mobilization had already gone out.”

  “No, no. Trust me, everything is fine. For now. I need to speak with Axull Darr. Privately.”

  Isani gave him a strange look, and then shrugged in a very human gesture. “All right then, don’t tell me.” He turned to leave and then threw back over his shoulder, “You know the way.”

  Adrian made his way to the research center, navigating through dozens of laboratories to eventually reach his destination. He put in his code with his implant, and the doors slid open, allowing him inside. At the center of the room, on a small pedestal, lay a sphere. A storage system that contained all the knowledge of the People, as well as the shadow of Axull Darr. A digital image of his memories.

  As Adrian approached, the sphere was illuminated with soft blue lines, and above the sphere, a hologram of Axull Darr appeared, floating.

  “Adrian, it is nice seeing you again,” the shadow of Axull Darr said.

  “Axull Darr,” Adrian greeted the hologram.

  “It has been a long time since you last visited me. How may I help you?”

  “I need to review everything that you have on the Enlightened.”

  “I have already provided you with all the data the People possessed on the Enlightened.”

  “Yes, but you have kept things from us before. I need to know if there is anything else you are not telling us.”

  “You know that if I have protocols that have not been satisfied yet, I can do nothing about it. Why are you asking now? Did something happen that I was not made aware of?”

  Adrian looked at the hologram for several moments, debating whether to tell him or not.“Yes,” he said slowly. “Something did occur, something that only I know about.” The hologram’s expressionless eyes kept his, and Adrian continued. “There is an Enlightened in the Empire’s territory.”