Protector of the Realm

by Gun Brooke

  Kellen knew Rae was impatient, but she was also aware how quickly her condition worsened when the pain relief wore off. "Yes, ma'am," she ribbed her, pushing the wheelchair through the doors that led into a corridor.

  As they approached the gate, she spotted Armeo standing next to the admiral, gripping his hand.

  "Oh, God." Rae's voice was a mere whisper.

  Following her wife's gaze, Kellen noticed a tall woman standing next to Rae's father. She experienced an unexpected bout of nerves when she heard Rae mutter under her breath, "What the hell.. .Mother?"

  Kellen kept pushing the wheelchair toward the small group of three, barely noticing when Dorinda rushed into her father's arms just to her left. Stopping a few meters in front of the entwined couple, she had just managed to push the button operating the brakes, when Armeo mimicked Dorinda.

  "Kellen!" He buried his face in her midsection, wrapping wiry arms around her waist. Suddenly she remembered chubbier arms, a shorter boy, but the same dark blue eyes greeting her after countless missions. "I've been worried. I missed you so much."

  "I know, Armeo. I've missed you too, but I'm home now."

  "Don't leave again, at least not right away," Armeo implored. "I want us to be together now."

  "So do I." Kellen's eyes met Rae's over his head. "All three of us."

  Armeo turned within her embrace, about to pounce on Rae when Kellen held him back. "Careful. Rae's been injured. She's still in pain."

  "Not so much that I wouldn't want a hug," she said with a smile. "I've missed you, kiddo."

  Armeo leaned down and put his arms carefully around Rae. "Thank you." He lowered his voice, whispering in her ear, though Kellen could still hear his words. "You brought her back to me, like you said you would."

  Kellen heard a tone of regret in Rae's voice as she replied. "Actually, sweetheart, it was the other way around. Kellen saved my life and brought me back."

  "Then I owe you my deepest gratitude, Ms. O'Dal," a husky voice with the same intonation as Rae's said to Kellen. "I'm Dahlia Jacelon."

  Extending her hand the human way to greet the older woman, Kellen drew a shallow breath, uncertain how to proceed. "Please, call me Kellen."

  "I'm Dahlia and you're my new daughter-in-law, so I understand," Rae's mother said. "Guess this is an excellent opportunity to welcome you into the family, such as it is."

  Recoiling as an unfamiliar feeling of shyness flooded her, Kellen only nodded. To be in the presence of a maternal figure, even though it wasn't her own, so shortly after reading the O'Dal Chronicle Book unsettled her. Gillia O'Dal's spirit was still strong within her, and watching Dahlia Jacelon stirred up emotions of need that Kellen found hard to fight.

  "Damn it, Dahlia, you're scaring the poor girl." The admiral turned to his daughter, stroking his mustache repeatedly, as if he desperately needed to keep his hands busy. "Welcome back, Kellen. We're so grateful and happy that you're both safe. This young man has been a brave soldier, but we've all been very worried." He suddenly reached for Kellen, who found herself wrapped up in a hearty embrace as her father-in-law placed a kiss on her cheek, his beard tickling her skin.

  "Sir...Ewan...thank you. Thank you for taking care of Armeo."

  "He's done very well," Dahlia said, and Kellen wasn't sure if the sophisticated woman meant her husband or Armeo. "I apologize if I seemed slightly surprised."

  That was not how Kellen would have described it. She doubted anything could throw the obviously accomplished diplomat.

  "I hadn't realized just how young and beautiful you are," Dahlia explained. "The way everyone described you, I expected.. .something, someone else." She dismissed her own lack of words with an impatient gesture, making Kellen wonder, slightly concerned, what people had been saying about her. "And Rae..." She turned to her daughter. "Are you sure you're all right? Commander Todd briefed us about your condition a few hours ago over a subspace link."

  "I'll be fine, Mother."

  Dahlia hesitated, as if the image of the frail-looking woman in the wheelchair had removed all of her professional resolve. Kellen wondered what the history between these women was, since Rae in turn looked so apprehensive.

  Then Dahlia Jacelon knelt next to the wheelchair, apparently not caring in the least what the floor did to her trousers, and took Rae's hands in hers. "Rae." Kellen watched the diplomat in Dahlia give way to the mother. Ewan had taken out a cigar and was about to light it when the sight made him lower it slowly, a stunned look on his face.

  Smoothing back her daughter's hair, she tucked it behind her ears with evident tenderness. Kellen felt a pang of sympathy at the sight of Rae's astonishment. "You're safe." Dahlia's words, though clipped, still held all the emotions of a woman who had feared her only child was forever lost to her. "Thank all deities. Oh, Rae."

  Looking pale and tired, Rae tilted her head into her mother's touch. "Mom. I'm glad you're here..."

  "You haven't called me 'Mom' in a long time."

  "I know."

  "Let's get you and Kellen installed in your quarters," Ewan said, momentarily cupping his daughter's neck, a tender gesture Kellen had not seen him bestow on anyone else but Armeo before. "You must be tired, and you'll need to rest a few hours before the first briefing."

  Kellen began to object. "It's too soon! Rae's in no condition to—"

  "I'll be fine, darling," Rae interrupted gently. "This is how it has to be. We need to present evidence within a few hours to keep the deadline the Council gave us. If not, it will all have been for nothing." She turned to her father. "How long exactly until the first briefing? Have you interrogated M'Ekar further? Is that why Mother's here?"

  "Yes, and they've been exchanging a lot of interesting information lately."

  "I can only imagine. I want to sit in on some of those 'talks' in the next few days. I'd like to hear what he has to say in his defense," Rae growled.

  Kellen heard the pain enter Rae's voice, and she released the brakes and pushed her into the closest elevator, nodding to the de Vies family, who entered the elevator next to them. "Rae, after the briefings, there's no rush. Once the Council is aware of what we brought..."

  With a hand clutched over the injured side of her neck, Rae shot her father and Kellen a dark look. "I hope you're right."

  They reached their quarters, and Kellen noticed Dr. Meyer approach from the opposite direction, carrying a bag over her shoulder. Glancing at Rae's parents, she saw Dahlia wink at her. "We thought Gemma better look at her right away. If I know my daughter, she'll be eager to resume command of her station. Perhaps the doctor can talk some sense into her."

  Gemma reached them just as Armeo unlocked the door. Walking inside, he held the door open for the rest of them, a broad smile on his face.

  "What's this about keeping you in check?" Gemma ribbed the commodore. "I thought your goal in life was to keep me busy, by the looks of it."

  "Very funny, Doctor," Rae said and attempted to rise from the wheelchair when they heard Armeo inhale sharply, followed by a strangled cry.

  Kellen whirled around and stared in disbelief at the man who clutched Armeo. One arm choked him around the neck, while the other held a high-energy sidearm against his temple.

  "Y'sak," she gasped, staring at Armeo's bodyguard in disbelief.

  "What the hell is this?" Dahlia thundered. "Release the boy!"

  Rae stood up, her arm pressed against her midsection. Pain flickered over her features, surpassed only by rage. "You! We trusted you...Get your hands off him!"

  "I'll give the orders here!" Y'sak hissed, pressing the disrupter harder against Armeo's head.

  Kellen saw everything in slow motion. Y'sak, tugging at Armeo, shouting at Rae and Dahlia to shut up. Armeo's thin face, white, his eyes growing huge. Ewan reaching for his weapon. Y'sak, in turn, firing his sidearm, which went off with a blistering sound.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Y'sak's high-energy weapon didn't miss. "Dad!" Rae cried out. Doubled over in pain, she moved toward
Ewan, who sat on the floor, blood oozing from his shoulder.

  "Stay right where you are, Commodore," Y'sak ordered. "If not, you'll be next."

  In the corner of her eyes, Rae saw Kellen reach toward her belt and unhook the two short gan'thet staffs that dangled from her hip. Never taking her eyes off the security guard, who once more pressed his weapon against the terrified child's temple, Kellen moved furtively to her left.

  Rae stopped and faced Y'sak. She realized she had to divert attention away from Kellen, who was obviously in full battle mode. Rae knew she didn't have a chance of stopping her wife from performing her duty. "You won't get away with this, Ensign." It was hard for her to speak. The medication had worn off and she was in severe pain. Ignoring her pain, she reached for her communicator.

  "I said don't move and shut up!" He was breathing heavily and tugging at Armeo. The pale boy didn't take his eyes off Kellen, as if he was waiting for something.

  Dahlia and Gemma ignored the danger and helped Ewan to a chair. "It's nothing," he said in a strained voice. "Singed my shoulder, that's all. Damn it, are you out of your mind, soldier?"

  Kellen exploded into action. Raising one staff above her head, keeping the other in a defensive position, she launched at Y'sak. "Armeo, get down!"

  Rae prayed the boy would react fast enough. She stared at her lover, seeing the gan'thet mastery in her every muscle when Kellen spun around, her right leg splitting the air. The rods glistened as they traced a pattern in front of Kellen, too rapid for the human eye to see.

  Armeo ducked, breaking the stunned man's hold of him. When Kellen hit Y'sak's shoulder, she crashed him into the wall behind the door. The sidearm fell to the floor next to Armeo, who grabbed it with both hands. Scrambling on all fours over the floor, Armeo reached Rae, who pushed him behind her, relieving him of Y'sak's sidearm. She tugged at her communicator, fury and pain mixing in her voice. "Intruder alert, commodore's quarters. I repeat, intruder alert, commodore's quarters."

  "Affirmative."

  Rae barely registered the confirmation when, his back to the wall, Y'sak snapped his hand downward and produced a stiletto from his sleeve. He waved it in front of him, and the blade hummed to life, glowing around the edges. His eyes grew increasingly wild and desperate.

  "Ensign Y'sak, what's going on?" Rae managed, swaying where she stood. "Talk to me."

  "You know this man?" Dahlia's eyes blazed. "Is he part of your crew?"

  "He is...was assigned to guard Armeo," Rae hissed. "Ironically, this is the guard he felt most comfortable with."

  "Shut up!" Y'sak yelled, stabbing the laser knife in Kellen's direction.

  Rae bit back a cry of warning out of fear of distracting Kellen. One slash of that laser knife could kill her. Rae watched Kellen edge closer to him, moving sideways with her staffs ready. When Y'sak suddenly threw himself at her, she crossed her staffs and absorbed the energy when he wedged the knife between them. Twisting, she used the force behind Y'sak's assault to twirl him in a semicircle above her body, then slammed him into the table.

  She jabbed one staff onto his lower arm and sent the stiletto flying out of his hand. Having rendered him harmless, she jumped onto the table and towered over Y'sak, one foot across his throat and her staffs raised and ready for the final blow.

  "Kellen, no. We have him now," Rae shouted, but her words didn't seem to reach the gan'thet master.

  "Please, Kellen. Don't kill him," Armeo pleaded. When his words had no effect, he raised his voice. "Protector! Stand down."

  Kellen seemed to slip out of her gan'thet warrior skin. She stared at Y'sak, whose face turned purple while he fought to breathe, apparently still considering whether to kill him. But then she relented, removing her foot enough for the man to gulp for air.

  Rae recognized the closing, traditional victory pattern when Kellen slowly lowered the rods. Lithely jumping off the table, Kellen resumed her defensive stance, fastening her gaze, intense from barely harnessed emotions, on Armeo. "Very well."

  Rae kept the sidearm directed at Y'sak, while she barked orders into the communicator. "Jacelon to Security. Where the hell is backup?" She didn't dare take her eyes off Y'sak.

  "ETA in thirty seconds, ma'am." Over the comm system Rae could hear the sound of the security officers running.

  "Gemma, how's the admiral doing?" Rae didn't dare look for herself.

  Y'sak stirred on the table, which gained him a rod across his throat, hovering only millimeters above him. "Don't move," Kellen said in a dark, cold voice.

  "Just a flesh wound. I can start treating it immediately. How about you, Commodore?" Gemma replied.

  "I'm vertical." Rae glanced at Kellen. "Search him. We don't want any more surprises."

  Kellen fastened the rods onto her belt and slid her hands along Ensign Y'sak's tense body. "No more weapons." Her voice was cold and dull, containing no detectable emotions.

  "Sit up, Y'sak. Slowly," Rae ordered icily. "What the hell's going on? We've trusted you with Armeo..."

  "You weren't supposed to come back!" The young security officer sounded frantic. His pupils were the size of pinheads, and Rae became certain he was under the influence of some drug. "I made sure you wouldn't return."

  "You sabotaged the Liberty." Rae shook her head in disbelief. Dizzy, she pulled a chair away from the table, grateful to sit down, yet still directing the high-energy weapon toward Y'sak.

  "You weren't supposed to make it to Gantharat." His voice trembled. "Once you'd failed, the SC Council would've demanded we return Armeo to the Onotharians."

  "Why would you do such a thing?"

  "It's your fault she's dead! If you hadn't decided to engage in your personal little war.. .and for what? A brat you'd never seen before! Or a sexy woman half your age? You chose them over your own crew, your own people! You betrayed us!"

  "You're out of line, Y'sak." Rae set her jaw. "Who died?"

  Y'sak's face distorted with obvious pain and rage. "I lost my sister in the battle after the Onotharian vessels decloaked," he spat.

  "Your sister?" Rae tried to think despite the pounding ache. "Only one woman died in the battle. Rosita Sanchez."

  "Rosita wasn't her name," Y'sak said in a contemptuous tone. "That's what her husband called her. Her real name was R'oshta. She was all I had."

  Rae allowed her voice to soften marginally. "I didn't know. I don't remember seeing you at the memorial service."

  "I wasn't about to listen to meaningless clichés about my sister from some big shot who never knew her!" Y'sak lowered his voice. "I told her husband my opinion. He's never liked me. He didn't care if I was there or not! And now he's leaving with their daughter..."

  The door to the corridor, still only half closed, flung open. Security officers flooded the room, the first one visibly taken aback when she saw the intruder. "Y'sak!"

  The young man sat motionless at gunpoint on the dining room table. His eyes distant, he had obviously withdrawn and wasn't about to respond.

  "Remove Ensign Y'sak. Take him to the brig. I'll deal with him later." It hurt to speak. Rae was now biting her lower lip to not moan aloud from the physical anguish. "Right now I have more pressing matters to deal with."

  "Aye, ma'am." The security officers half dragged, half carried the apathetic Y'sak from the commodore's quarters.

  M'Ekar looked up from the document presented to him on the handheld computer with an outraged expression. "Are you serious?"

  Dahlia Jacelon's elegant features revealed no feelings. "This is the only deal you will get from the Council."

  "Sticking me on a remote Vester-class planet is the best you can do?" he said.

  Rae, who sat next to her mother, was secretly delighted. Vester-class planets were hot and humid, plagued by bloodsucking mosquitoes.

  "Jasin does enjoy a brief tourist period during the cold season," she said. "It could be worse, Ambassador. Councilman Thorosac could have suggested one of the sparsely populated desert planets."

  M'Ekar clenched
his teeth for a moment, his jaw muscles twitching. "The document states I will be escorted with an appropriate entourage to this.. .place, within a few weeks."

  "Yes." Dahlia pointed at a clause farther down. "It also states you'll be outfitted with a computer chip, surgically installed in the medulla prolongata, at the base of your skull."

  "What?" M'Ekar tossed the computer on the conference table. "I refuse to be treated like this!"

  "Of course that's your prerogative, M'Ekar." Rae nodded. "You can refuse this offer and we'll escort you to the border. Whatever happens to you after that doesn't concern us." She smiled without joy. "Then again, I wonder how popular you'd be when you returned to Onotharat without Kellen and Armeo, and not as victorious as you led your government to believe."

  M'Ekar leaned back, drumming his fingers against the armrests. "I can't go back. I staked everything.. .my future, the future of Gantharat, on this."

  "You bet on the wrong horse, then," Dahlia said, with complete aplomb.

  "You have no idea about the consequences of your actions," M'Ekar said in a tired voice. "The Onotharian Empire didn't become as vast and prosperous as it is by falling back when things went awry. Our leaders are merciless and goal-oriented. Don't kid yourself, Commodore. Armeo isn't safe. And he won't be until he assumes his title and drives the Onotharians out. If you had let him return with me, I could have protected him..."

  "As a puppet for the Onotharians to show at their convenience? I don't think so." Rae shook her head.

  Dahlia continued. "As soon as you've fulfilled your end of the agreement stipulated by Councilman Thorosac, you will be escorted to Jasin. A vast net of beacons monitors the planet and the sector around it. If they pick up any signs that you have deviated from your allowed habitat, the chip in your medulla prolongata will engage and simply shut you down."

  "What?"

  "The chip will emit a signal, rendering you unconscious," Dahlia explained. "And if the local law enforcement doesn't find you within an hour, the condition will be permanent."