by Brown, Ryk
“…and for the attempted murder of your brother, Casimir, the prince of Takara and the true heir to the throne.”
Jalea’s eyes shifted to Tug for a brief instant, his accusations about the deaths of the former leaders of Takara coming as a surprise to her.
“Don’t be absurd,” Caius argued. “And what evidence have you?”
“Witnesses,” Tug told him as they continued to move toward the emperor, “to the attacks on Corinair and Taroa, and to the attempted murder of Casimir…”
“Impossible,” Caius protested. “Casimir died in space, alone.”
“He was not alone,” Dumar stated as he stepped out of the shadows.
“You!” Caius sneered. “I paid you for your silence!”
“A payment that I deeply regret accepting,” Dumar told him. “Had I known that the prince was alive, I assure you, I would never have considered your offer, sire.”
“I will have your head for this betrayal,” Caius seethed.
“Doubtful,” Dumar responded confidently.
“I do not understand,” Jalea confessed from the shadows. The more the others talked, the more confused she became.
“Max was not the only one there when your assassins struck, dear brother.” Tug stepped out of the shadows, the light from above casting odd shadows across his face.
Caius gasped, his mouth hanging open at the sight of his older brother. “This cannot be,” he hissed. “You are long dead. I saw the gun camera video! I saw your interceptor explode!”
“I nearly was dead,” Tug admitted. “What you saw explode was the assassin’s missiles as I slipped into FTL. Had I not been rescued by an unknowing cargo ship, I most certainly would have died from my injuries—that or suffocated in the cold of deep space. By the time I recovered from my wounds, I had lost all interest in returning. My father was dead. My brother was corrupting all that his fathers before him had built. I was happy on Haven growing molo. But you could not control yourself, Caius. Takara was not enough. You wanted more. You wanted an empire…”
“Enough!” Jalea screamed as she leapt from the shadows, grabbing Caius by his robes and putting her gun to his face. “No more talk!”
“Jalea!” Tug yelled. “Do not…”
“You bastard!” she screamed. “All this time, I believed in you. I believed in our cause!”
“Jalea,” Tug begged.
“All the talk of liberation, of freedom. You only wanted your title and your throne! You are no better than this arrogant little fool!” She shoved her gun in Caius’s mouth.
“Do not!” Tug yelled, raising his own weapon and pointing it at them. Dumar raised his weapon as well.
Jalea began to circle to her right, pulling Caius along with her, holding him in front of her as a shield. Tug and Dumar circled to match her movements, keeping themselves and their weapons facing her and Caius.
“And to think I shared my bed with you, with someone of the same blood as this parasite!” Jalea spit at Tug. “There will be no arrest! He will pay for what he has done! He will pay for the deaths of my mother, my father, and my husband!”
“Jalea, no,” Tug begged. “He must stand trial for his crimes. It is the only way…”
“NO!” she screamed putting the gun to his head again.
“DROP IT!” Jessica screamed from the doorway as she arrived.
Jalea spun her head to her left toward Jessica’s voice, her eyes going wide. As she did so, Caius grabbed her gun hand and twisted outward to her right, breaking her fingers and stripping her gun from her hand as she screamed in pain. In an instant, he was behind her, the gun at her temple with her serving as his shield.
“I see you have acquired one of our weapons,” Caius said, smiling arrogantly. “And now, dear brother, since you are the only substantial proof of your claims…” Caius moved his weapon away from Jalea, took aim at Tug and fired. Dumar instinctively dove in front of Tug to protect him, taking Caius’s shot in his chest as he fell to the floor at Tug’s feet.
Jessica fired three quick shots from the doorway. The first shot struck Jalea in her chest, the second shot in her face. The third shot found its mark, striking Caius in the face as Jalea’s dead weight escaped his grasp. Caius’s body tensed from the deadly face wound, his weapon still loosely aimed at Tug until he collapsed to the floor next to Jalea.
“Oops,” Jessica stated, realizing she had killed both Caius and Jalea. “Who are we kidding? The bitch had it coming.” The sound of boots on the stone floors in the corridor caused Jessica to spin around, her weapon raised.
A dozen armed palace guards charged the room, hollering in Takaran. Although she did not understand their demands, she knew it was time to surrender. The leader of the squad stepped forward, taking notice of the body of his emperor on the floor. He muttered something vile at Tug in Takaran, to which Tug responded in a confident and demanding tone. They argued for a moment, neither one willing to yield their position until Mister Dumar, who lay on the ground, finally summoned the strength to speak. He barked back at the squad leader as if giving an order, then followed his command with a series of what Jessica recognized as Takaran numbers. The squad leader looked at Dumar and Tug suspiciously for a moment, then pulled out a data device. Dumar repeated the numbers as the squad leader typed them into his device. A look of surprise washed over his face, and he leaned forward, scanning the back of Mister Dumar’s hand with his device. The squad leader straightened up, his tone suddenly becoming respectful of Mister Dumar’s identity. He barked an order at one of the other guards, who immediately ran out of the room.
“What the hell is going on here?” Jessica mumbled.
“They are fetching a DNA scanner,” Tug explained.
“Why?”
“To confirm my identity,” Tug told her.
Jessica’s expression changed to one of confusion. “Just who the hell are you?”
Tug smiled at her. “I am Prince Casimir Takar, son of King Austyn, brother of Caius, and the rightful heir to the throne of Takara.”
“Of course.”
* * *
“Hull breach! Section fourteen, decks A and B!” Mister Randeen reported.
The Aurora pitched over hard to starboard as another missile struck their port side.
“Mains are down to seventy percent!” Mister Chiles called from the helm.
“Damage to her port side,” Mister Navashee announced. “She’s got a hull breach.”
“Four more, Mister Randeen!” Nathan ordered. “Target that hull breach! Let’s see if we can open her up a bit!”
“Firing four,” Mister Randeen responded.
“Time to KKV impact?” Nathan asked.
“Three minutes!” Mister Navashee answered as another missile rocked the Aurora.
“We’re down to four rail guns!” Mister Randeen announced.
“Keep firing those missiles!” Nathan ordered.
“Power loss, port side, sections one eleven through one twenty eight,” Naralena reported. “Medical is on backup cells!”
“One missile got through,” Mister Randeen announced.
“Minor damage to her hull,” Mister Navashee reported. “We just missed her hull breach.”
“Try again!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing four!”
“Contact!” Mister Navashee reported. “Thirty degrees off to starboard, eighty-four up, seven kilometers out.”
“What?” Nathan asked.
“It’s the Falcon!”
“Comms, tell them to get the hell out of here!” Nathan ordered. “There’s no telling how big the explosion will be when those KKVs hit!”
Nathan watched in horror as chunks of the Aurora’s hull tore away on the view screen as the Avendahl’s rail guns walked across her topside.
“Hard to starboard!” Nathan ordered. “Roll us over.”
“Stern tubes are down, sir. We can’t fire on aft!” Mister Randeen reminded him.
“Turn anyway,” Nathan ordered, “befor
e those guns tear our topsides apart!” Nathan glanced at the tactical display window on the bottom corner of the main view screen. “Why is the Falcon still out there?”
“She’s not answering my hail, sir! She’s transmitting something!” Naralena reported.
“What are they saying?”
“They’re not transmitting to us, sir! They’re transmitting to the Avendahl!”
“What?”
“Two more missiles inbound!” Mister Randeen reported. “We’re out of rail gun slugs!”
The Avendahl’s rail guns suddenly ceased firing. Two explosions went off on their port side, rocking the Aurora slightly. Then, everything went quiet.
“What just happened?” Nathan asked. He looked around. “I thought there were two more missiles headed for us.”
“They self-destructed, sir,” Mister Navashee reported in shock. “Don’t ask me why.”
“What the hell? Time to KKV impact?” Nathan asked.
“Two minutes,” Mister Navashee reported.
“Captain! Incoming message from the Avendahl!” Naralena reported. “It’s video.”
“Put it up,” Nathan answered, rising to his feet.
“This is Captain Suvan Navarro, commander of the imperial battleship Avendahl. By order of the true heir to the throne of Takara, we are to cease fire and stand down. We will no longer fire on your vessel unless fired upon. Will you promise the same?”
“This is Captain Nathan Scott of the alliance ship Aurora. We will also stand down.”
“Very good, sir. Do you require any assistance?”
“We could use some medical aid. We have many wounded, and our medical facilities are somewhat overwhelmed. But first, I would ask that you take your zero point energy systems offline, as they are interfering with our propulsion systems.”
“Of course.”
“Second, you should change course.” Nathan paused, looking at Mister Riley. “Mister Riley?”
“Hard to starboard and forty-five down should do it.”
“Come hard to starboard and pitch down forty-five degrees, and do it quickly, sir.”
“And why is that, Captain?”
“Because if you don’t, as many as eight captured comm-drones are going to slam into you at ten times the speed of light.” Nathan couldn’t hold his smile back at that statement.
“I see,” Captain Navarro answered. He turned and gave an order in Takaran to someone off screen before turning back. “We will rendezvous with you shortly, after the threat has passed. Avendahl out.”
“Captain!” Mister Riley called from the navigator’s chair. “The jump fields are coming back online.”
Mister Navashee turned his attention back to his scanners. “The Avendahl is powering down her ZPED, sir. Her anti-matter reactors are increasing their output to compensate. She’s changing course as well and fast.”
“How about a few two kilometer jumps, Mister Riley?” Nathan ordered as he sat back down in his command chair. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Chapter Ten
Nathan followed the properly dressed gentleman down the hallway and out onto the deck overlooking the garden below.
“His majesty asks that you wait here,” the gentleman stated in perfect Angla. “He will be with you shortly. May I get you anything while you wait?”
“Thank you, no. I’m fine.”
“Very well,” the gentleman stated, after which he withdrew into the hallway, closing the doors behind him.
Nathan looked out across the simple, yet elegant, garden. Rolling hills in the distance covered with ornate villas filled the view, each of them with gardens of their own. The sky had a subdued amber hue even though it was midday in the countryside outside of Answari.
Nathan picked up a glass tumbler from the service tray on the small table in the middle of the deck and poured himself some water. He took a drink, finding a hint of sweetness to the water, flavored by some unknown Takaran fruit. He thought back to the first planet he had visited, Haven. Doctor Chen had warned them not to try any of the local food for fear that it might contain pathogens for which humans from Earth had not yet developed an immunity. He had blatantly disregarded her advice and had received admonishment for it later. The idea struck him as funny, especially after he had witnessed her enjoying a meal of Takaran delicacies with some of the royal medical staff the night before. It had been a good distraction for her, as she had been consumed with patient care over the week that had passed since the battle of Answari had ended.
The door opened on one side of the deck, and Tug stepped through, closing the door behind him. “Captain,” Tug greeted, extending his hand. “I apologize for the delay.”
“That’s quite all right,” Nathan assured him. “I expect you are quite busy as of late.”
“As are you, I am sure. How do you like the view?”
“Simple, yet elegant,” Nathan told him. “It reminds me of my parents’ place in the mountains outside of Vancouver. It looks much like this in the spring.”
“I would love to see it sometime,” Tug stated.
“What is this place?”
“It is my grandfather’s retreat,” Tug explained. “I used to come here as a child. After all that has happened, I have ordered the palace built by my brother be demolished. It is a monument to his arrogance, one that is best forgotten.”
“Some would argue that it is best to remember one’s history, both good and bad, to help guide one’s future.”
“A true statement,” Tug agreed, “but much will remain to remind us of the rule of Caius. His corruption and abuses will not be allowed to fade from our history, just as your contribution shall not be forgotten.”
Nathan laughed. “Perhaps that one would be better off forgotten.”
“Nonsense, Nathan. The people of Takara, in fact, of the entire sector, owe you more than we can ever repay… as do I.”
“A thousand of your technicians are repairing my ship as we speak. You are caring for my wounded, and you have dispatched aid to Corinair. You have done more than enough.”
“No amount of reparations can undo what my brother has done to the people of this sector,” Tug admitted painfully. “That is why I am dissolving the empire and returning sovereignty to all the worlds from which it was taken.”
“And you? Will you continue to rule Takara?”
“For a time, yes. There is much to be done here, and the people of Takara long for the peace and prosperity that was provided by my father and all his fathers before him. The Takarans take much pride in their royal lineages. However, as one man should never have the power to decide the fate of billions, I shall be reinstating the parliamentary system that was in use at the time of my father’s assassination. As much as the Takarans love their nobility, they love their freedom even more; trust me.”
“As it should be,” Nathan agreed.
“Of course.” Nathan took a long drink, emptying his glass. “One thing bothers me, Tug. Why did you feel it necessary to hide your true identity, not only from me, but from everyone? As far as I can tell, Dumar was the only one who knew.”
Tug leaned back in his chair. “You must understand, Nathan; the death of my father, the betrayal of my brother, the long and painful recovery from my injuries: these things left me a bitter, hollow man. On Haven, I had peace. In time, on my molo farm, I even found contentment and eventually love. The truth of my identity would have undoubtedly led to my demise. If Caius had thought me still alive, he would have left no stone unturned. My very survival depended on the fact that Prince Casimir Takar was believed dead. And once I married and had children, their safety depended on that belief as well.”
“But you started the Karuzari after you started a family, did you not?” Nathan wondered.
“Yes, that is true. Watching Caius conquer other systems was too much for me to tolerate. When his forces finally came to Haven, I realized I would never be free, even if I remained hidden. Nor would my family ever be truly safe. I would alwa
ys be tortured by the knowledge that I alone had the power to put an end to his reign of terror. But Caius had to believe that the Karuzari were nothing more than a band of rebellious radicals, extremist followers of the Legend of Origins, terrorists if you will. If he suspected that I was behind the Karuzari, he would have destroyed entire worlds, one by one, until he found me. I had to remain dead until I could find my way back to Takara to face him. Your ship gave me that chance.”
“You still could have told me. I might still have agreed to help you,” Nathan argued.
“Or you could have refused, tossed me off your ship, and jumped away. That is what Commander Taylor wanted you to do from the start.”
Nathan poured himself more water. “I see your point.”
Tug leaned forward, looking Nathan in the eyes. “Nathan, my biggest regret in all of this is that I had to deceive you. You of all people, have turned out to be my biggest ally and my most trusted friend… second to Max, of course,” Tug said with a laugh. “After all, he did take a weapons blast for me.”
“Of course.” Nathan also laughed. “So how is Deliza handling it?” Nathan asked, hoping to change the subject. “I mean, suddenly being a princess and all.”
Tug laughed again. “Her only concerns seem to be in our technology. She has immersed herself in the study of all that Takara has to offer in such areas.”
“And your other daughter?”
“She is doing wonderfully, as she is too young to understand what has happened. I want to thank you for dispatching a jump shuttle to bring them from Corinair. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me.”
“I only did so to protect them,” Nathan admitted. “There may be others who felt as Jalea did about your deceptions, just as there may be members of your own nobility that may oppose the steps you are taking. I felt it best that they were here with you, where you could protect them.”
“Yes, thank you again, Nathan. That was very wise of you.”
“I was wondering, Tug…” Nathan paused a moment. “Is that what I should be calling you? Tug? Or should I call you Casimir?”
