Starfall: A Starstruck Novel

by Hiatt, Brenda

  Her smile was halfhearted, but she nodded. “I’ll try.”

  Shutting myself in my room, I quickly retrieved my Scepter. “Chartlann rochtana.”

  A second later, my grandfather, Leontine, stood before me. “Emileia. You have more questions?”

  “I do—but they’re kind of tricky ones. There are people, um, close to me that I can no longer trust. But they’re pretty powerful in Nuath. Together, they probably have more influence than I do, and they definitely have lots more experience. Before I found out how they betrayed me, they were the people I was mainly relying on for advice. Now…I need yours.”

  “Of course.” His holographic brow creased in apparent concern. “Do you believe yourself to be in danger from them?”

  I bit my lip, considering. “Maybe not physical danger, but I’m worried if I confront them, expose what they’ve done, they might—I don’t know, stage a coup or have me declared unfit or incompetent or something. And there is someone else they might hurt if I’m not careful.”

  “I see. Are you aware of the various Palace security measures available to the Sovereign? All can be accessed from here, without anyone else the wiser. Only twice in Nuathan history have they been necessary, but they were put in place for just such an eventuality, should allies become enemies.”

  “Then…why didn’t they work against Faxon?” I couldn’t help asking.

  Leontine looked thoughtful, which I’d realized by now meant he was searching the Archive. “It appears I did not have enough warning to put the measures into place. I have no record of what happened after my final Archive entry, but based on the tenor of Nuathan politics at the time, I would guess that I was either assassinated in some public place, outside the Palace, or by a Palace insider I’d had no reason to suspect and therefore guard myself against.”

  Hearing him mention his own murder so calmly weirded me out, but his theory made sense. I at least had the advantage of knowing who my enemies were. “Okay, what do I do? How can I keep them from sending word to Earth to hurt my…my friend, or from somehow rendering me powerless?”

  “The simplest and most logical solution is to confine them all to the Palace itself and restrict their communications. That should limit their ability to act against you in any significant way. In addition, I recommend you enable your personal fail-safe security system, should it transpire that you are physically threatened after all.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It was put in place during Sovereign Tiernan’s time, when an ambitious member of his Advisory Council turned against him and sought power of his own. When the system is active, a trigger word spoken anywhere inside the Palace proper will immediately create a stasis field within a twenty foot radius of your person.”

  He proceeded to show me how to activate that system, then walked me through setting up my trigger word, which would only work with my own voice imprint. Since it needed to be a word I wouldn’t use accidentally, I went with “arboretum,” a place with even more happy Rigel memories than the cornfield.

  Once that was done, Leontine explained how, once I had all my traitors here in the Palace, I could keep them from sending messages to Earth or even elsewhere in Nuath. After another half-hour’s conversation with my grandfather, I felt satisfied I’d covered every base I could think of.

  “Thank you. I can’t tell you how awesome it is to have you right here for advice like this when I need it.”

  Leontine’s smile was fatherly—or, I guess, grandfatherly. “It is my pleasure, Emileia, and indeed my very purpose. Should you ever need advice of a more personal nature, I hope you will not hesitate to seek it from my mother, Aerleas. She was justly revered for her great wisdom in matters of both state and of the heart.”

  Even though I knew he was a recorded hologram, I felt myself blushing. Apparently Leontine had figured out more from me than I’d realized. “That’s, um, really good to know. I’ll remember that. Talk to you soon, okay?”

  At his nod, I deactivated the Archive. Shaking off the pang I always felt when my grandfather’s image vanished, I stowed the Scepter back in its cubby, already planning my next move.

  8

  Reactive power

  I emerged from my bedroom to find Molly watching some gardening show on the main vidscreen.

  “Molly, do you mind pausing that? I have a call to make.”

  Though she was clearly curious, she immediately complied. I didn’t take time to explain, not wanting to lose the tiniest bit of my resolve. Instead, I brought up the call function and punched up the contacts for Mr. O, Devyn and Nels. I considered including Morag Teague but decided against it. Not only wasn’t she a particular threat, but she’d already ensured her own punishment by irrevocably alienating her only family.

  “I’d like you all to meet me at the Palace in Conference Room Three at one o’clock. It’s extremely important. Thank you.” I hit “send,” then turned to Molly. “That gives us half an hour to grab some lunch.”

  She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, her eyes wide with worry. “But…what was that about? What are you going to do?”

  “You said you were with me, right? I’m not planning to hurt your dad, if that’s what you’re worried about, but I’m also not going to let him or the others hurt Rigel any more than they already have. Or me, either. Just trust me, okay?”

  Swallowing, she nodded. “Of course. Forgive me. I should never have questioned—”

  “No, Molly, it’s fine. Don’t go all formal on me. I’ll explain everything later, to you and to Sean. So, lunch? Just a sandwich for me. And some tea.”

  Looking only slightly relieved, she hurried to the recombinator and a moment later I was scarfing down a turkey and swiss sandwich while I continued to compose a script in my head for the coming confrontation.

  The vidscreen pinged three times while we ate, each one a confirmation from the three men I’d summoned. None asked for details, which was good, since I had no intention of sharing any ahead of time.

  At three minutes till one, I left for the conference room, telling Molly she could finish watching her show. Cormac, of course, came with me. “I doubt it will be necessary, but I’d like you to, um, stay alert during this meeting,” I told him as we walked. “Just in case.”

  “Always, Excellency.” His voice was impersonally professional, but I could sense his curiosity, nearly equal to Molly’s earlier.

  All three men were already waiting in Conference Room Three when I arrived. They rose and bowed to me in unison, their expressions eager. Mr. O spoke first.

  “Well? Have you learned more about the Grentl and their intentions? Sean told me—”

  “Sean told you what I asked him to tell you. But that’s not why I’ve summoned you all here.” With a glance at Cormac, who had his back to the only door, I said clearly, “Security setting alpha.”

  Nels and Devyn exchanged a startled glance and Mr. O’Gara frowned. “How did you—? I mean, why did you feel that was necessary?”

  “Just a precaution.” I smiled, but it probably wasn’t a very reassuring smile. “I know what you three—and Gordon and Morag Teague—did to Rigel, and that the message he supposedly sent me was fake. Since you’ve all demonstrated your willingness to ignore Nuathan law and ethics, as well as your loyalty to me, in pursuit of your own ends, I’m not taking any chances.”

  “What?” Nels exclaimed. “Who—? I had nothing to do with any false messages, Excellency, I assure you.”

  I pinned him with a glare. “But did you agree that Rigel’s memory should be erased and that I should be told he did it voluntarily?”

  He shifted uneasily from foot to foot. “I was, er, persuaded that course would be best—safest—for Nuath. But beyond that one discussion, I wasn’t involved in any of the particulars.”

  “What we did was for the good of Nuath,” Devyn declared, standing shoulder to shoulder with Mr. O now. “Quinn pointed out that it was by far the safest thing to do, for all concerned, and I�
�all of us—concurred. Once you told young Stuart about the Grentl, it was the only possible course open to us.”

  “Yes, Excellency, do try to look at this rationally.” Mr. O’Gara put on the fatherly expression he’d used so often with me—and which I’d always believed sincere. “I know you must be terribly upset, but we had the welfare of all Nuathans to consider.”

  “Don’t talk to me about ‘welfare’ or ‘best courses,’” I snapped. “You stole a year of an innocent boy’s life and then lied to me about it! I don’t believe you even considered any other course before deciding this one was ‘best.’ It may have been the most convenient, especially for you, but no way was it best. After watching that memory extraction, you had to know full well Rigel wasn’t going to tell anyone about the Grentl. This was about getting him away from me, permanently. Wasn’t it?” I directed that question at Mr. O but he refused to flinch.

  “I won’t deny that was a consideration, Excellency. Your maintaining any sort of relationship with Rigel Stuart had the potential to undermine your authority as Sovereign, just as it interfered with your Acclamation. The people of Nuath—”

  “Oh, spare me your lofty speeches! You were scared. Scared of what the Grentl would do if I didn’t stop them, scared that Rigel might somehow distract me from that, scared that if he and I were together it would mess with all your sacred Royal traditions that say I’m supposed to be with Sean. Scared that once I was Sovereign you wouldn’t be able to keep us apart anymore. Why else would you erase every memory he ever had of me, not just of the Grentl? And why else would you have had Devyn and Gordon create that awful video to convince me it was all Rigel’s idea, then go on about how noble it was?”

  Devyn made a gesture of protest. “I believed and still believe that what Quinn proposed was indeed noble. It allowed you to do what was necessary to prevent the destruction of Nuath while at the same time removing a potentially serious security risk.”

  “It wasn’t noble.” I spat the word. “It was evil. Rigel is a sixteen-year-old boy who’d committed no crime, yet you wiped his memory and exiled him to Earth without any kind of trial, without even telling him—or me—what you planned to do! Even violent criminals have more rights than that under Nuathan law. What you did to Rigel,” I said directly to Mr. O, “was exactly what Faxon did to your daughter Elana. He probably insisted he was acting for the good of Nuath, too.”

  Mr. O’Gara opened his mouth, no doubt to issue a denial, then closed it again, the color slowly draining from his face. For the first time, I sensed uncertainty from him, perhaps even a tinge of horror, as he absorbed the parallel—one he’d apparently missed until this moment.

  The others seemed not to notice.

  “What…what do you plan to do?” Nels’s voice shook noticeably, while Devyn still appeared completely unapologetic.

  Standing a little straighter, I lifted my chin and looked each of them directly in the eye. “None of you will leave the Palace until such time as I see fit to allow it. You can arrange to have personal items brought here for your comfort, but no unscreened messages will be sent to anyone in Nuath or on Earth. And you will assist me in getting to Earth myself, on the very next ship, if possible.”

  “This is absurd, Excellency,” Devyn immediately protested. “You can’t possibly mean to keep us all prisoner here. And how will a proper government be restored if you abandon Nuath with no alternate leadership in place?”

  “Not to mention the issue of the Grentl,” Nels added, looking positively scared now. “Remember, they said they’re coming and we still don’t know when, or what they plan to do when they get here, or…or anything. And you’re the only one who can find that out or maybe stop them, like you did before. Please! You can’t just—”

  “Calm down, Nels,” Devyn advised him. “Of course she can’t. Excellency, I find it hard to believe that you would abandon your own people to possible anarchy and the threat of annihilation by the Grentl, simply to rejoin your boyfriend. Surely the Sovereign line is made of sterner stuff than that?”

  Oh, he was good, all right! No wonder he’d come so close to being elected leader of Nuath. And, unfortunately, he made a valid point. One I’d managed to ignore in my desperation to get to Rigel at all costs.

  “The Sovereign line does not ignore its obligations, nor does it practice deceit. While I made a promise to Rigel that I intend to keep, I am also fully aware of my duty to the people of Nuath. I will of course do what I can to deal with the Grentl before I leave, though I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to deter them. I will also appoint a Regent, though obviously it won’t be any of you. My Regent needs to be someone I can trust.”

  At that, both Devyn and Mr. O winced. About time.

  “Excellency, not even the Sovereign has the authority to imprison anyone without due process.” Mr. O was clearly striving for a reasonable tone, but I could hear the strain in his voice. “I understand that you’re upset right now, but—”

  “Due process?” I echoed. “Like the due process you gave Rigel?”

  He swallowed visibly.

  “Sure, I could follow Nuathan law to the letter for a situation like this.” Luckily, I’d memorized every single statute last year. “That would mean a public trial for all three of you, to include media representatives. Do you really want to explain what you did, and why, to everyone on Mars? I thought the whole point was to keep them from finding out about the Grentl.”

  Their expressions showed they hadn’t had time to think of that particular ramification. I smiled—a real smile this time.

  “Consider yourselves my guests. No one will think it strange that the Sovereign wants her most important advisors close by during this ‘difficult time of rebuilding our government, our infrastructure, and our very society.’” I quoted the same words Devyn had used at the beginning of his campaign against me. “Nels, Devyn, someone from the Palace housekeeping staff will be here shortly to show you to your new quarters. Now, gentlemen, if you will excuse me?”

  I inclined my head regally and swept out of the room.

  * * *

  Not until I was in the thankfully deserted hallway did I let out a sigh of relief. While that confrontation had been immensely rewarding, it had also gotten dicey there at the end, forcing me to make promises I didn’t want to make. As the tension seeped out of me, I felt wrung out.

  “What do you think, Cormac?” I asked my Bodyguard as we headed back to the Royal wing. Behind me, I heard raised voices as the three men argued among themselves, probably pointing fingers. “Did I go too far?”

  “On the contrary, Excellency.” I was startled by the deep respect in Cormac’s voice. “For several moments there, I could have sworn it was Sovereign Leontine himself in that room instead of his granddaughter. You handled them just as a ruler should. Though they may not say so, I guarantee they all respect you far more than they did before, and deservedly so.”

  Gratified and incredibly touched, I glanced back at him with a misty smile. “Thank you Cormac. That means more to me than you know, given your long association with my father and grandfather. Please don’t think the reason I want Rigel back is because I’m not happy having you as my Bodyguard.”

  “I quite understand that, Excellency.” His words were accompanied by a rare smile of his own.

  Back in my apartment, I headed straight for my bedroom, again assuring Molly I’d explain later. The sooner I fulfilled the two promises I’d made to those three traitors, the sooner I could join Rigel on Earth. Retrieving my Scepter from the closet, I activated the Grentl Archive.

  Using the colony databases my grandfather Leontine had shown me from the main Archive, and with this version’s help, I put together a detailed report for the Grentl. He again advised against including any mention of Earth, though I was pretty sure that cat was already out of the bag. Surely, that was more Faxon’s fault than mine? I hoped. It would be beyond awful if almost the first thing I’d done as Sovereign was precipitate a Grentl attack.

/>   “Power reserves have fallen dramatically since my last report,” Leontine commented, displaying the two figures side by side. “Far more than between that report and the previous one, thirty-four years earlier.”

  He was right. I pulled up that number for all the previous reports and saw that while power had slowly but steadily declined over time, maybe since the very start of the colony, the drop was far greater over the past forty-six years.

  Curious, I searched a few other databases and discovered that the precipitous drain had occurred during Faxon’s tenure. Not only had he or his people introduced inefficiencies into all sorts of systems, from transportation to agriculture, but whatever secret military stuff he was doing—those particular files were missing—had also used an enormous amount of power.

  To my inexperienced eye, it looked like Nuath’s century or so of continued existence might now have been cut to barely half that. Assuming, of course, that the Grentl didn’t plan to wipe us out even sooner.

  Finalizing the report took nearly two hours. It would have gone faster if I hadn’t had to keep switching out the Archives. The version of Leontine in the main Archive was the most helpful by far, but he had to keep censoring himself to avoid any direct mention of the Grentl.

  “I guess I understand the security reasons behind this,” I said when it happened for the fourth time, “but it seems kind of silly. I mean, nobody but a Sovereign can access either Archive, right?”

  “Not as far as we know,” he agreed. “But there is always a risk of…hacking, I believe is the modern English word? It seemed a sensible precaution when my mother set up the system.”

  “I suppose,” I said, thinking of Faxon. “Anyway, can you show me how to store my report on a data chip? And how to make it work once I, um, get where I need to go?” I didn’t use the G word, since it made this version of Leontine clam up.

  “There should be empty data chips in the small drawer to the right of your vidscreen.” There were. “This process is quite simple. As for the other, can you not ask one of the Engineers to accompany you?”