strongholdrising

by Lisanne Norman

  He was about to say c’shar when he realized he hadn’t had coffee for some time. “Coffee, please. Kaid, I think I should go to Stronghold.”

  “You’re kidding,” said Kaid, swinging round or look at him. “Why? Not because of last night?”

  “No, of course not,” he said, getting up and sitting on the side of the bed. “Well, sort of,” he amended. “Look at it logically. Where do I stay here? With you? What about you and Carrie? I can’t stay in the nursery after last night’s nightmare. Carrie can’t, she needs her sleep, not a bed in the nursery where she’s awakened bright and early by Kashini.”

  “I’ll sleep in the nursery if necessary,” said Kaid, turning back to pick up the first drink. “I don’t want you leaving us, Kusac. You don’t need to go through this alone.”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to sleep with Kashini,” he said with a smile. “I know how uneasy you are with cubs. No, the more I think about it, the more sure I am that Stronghold is where I should be until these new nightmares stop.”

  Kaid picked up the second mug and headed back to Kusac with them. “Wait a few days, see what happens. There’s a guest suite still unused here, and some staff rooms downstairs. I’d rather go there than have you leave.” He held out the mug of coffee. “It’s your home, Kusac.”

  “Our home.” He hesitated a moment then nodded, taking the drink from Kaid. “All right. I’ll wait a couple of days, but if I have another night like last night, I’m going to Stronghold.”

  Prime world, the same day

  Kezule watched the civilian females training with his daughters in the barracks gymnasium. According to Zayshul, several of her friends carried the extra organs his caste had, and could pass them on— to their daughters. He’d been working with them for a week and already he knew that only these females of all the civilian Primes that had tried their hand at his combat training, had the potential to be Warriors. But why them? And if only them, was it a modern trait, a mutation caused by the Fall, or were they regressing to what they’d been before?

  Alone, he’d even considered the unthinkable— were Warrior males like him the aberration and females like these the norm? Were the females of his time kept feral because of this? His thoughts had been fueled by the racial memories he had of a time before the Empire, and Zayshul’s success at learning to use bio-feedback. Not only did she have the organs, but they worked. And that augured well for these females he was watching.

  “General, your wife called…”

  A bell rang out, drowning his words. Below them, the class stopped and, bowing to the instructors, the females filed off to their locker areas.

  “Your wife called,” he continued. “She said you should return immediately.”

  He looked thoughtfully at his aide, wondering why Zayshul hadn’t used his personal communicator. “How did she sound?”

  “Frightened, General.” He hesitated.

  “Go on.”

  “The tone was, but not her choice of words.”

  Kezule began walking toward the exit. “Take it further, M’kou.”

  “If it had been really urgent, then her guards would have called in. They didn’t. She didn’t use your personal communicator. That leaves the possibility she thinks her call to you could be overheard, and was expected.”

  “It also means she might have lost her communicator,” he said, pushing the swing door open and heading out into the courtyard where his grav floater stood under guard.

  “Yes, sir,” said M’kou, crestfallen, before running forward to open the floater door.

  Kezule took the controls, taking off before M’kou had finished sitting down. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, M’kou,” he said, glancing across as the young male recovered his balance in the seat. “That wasn’t a bad assessment of the situation. Had my wife lost her communicator, there was still no reason for her to call me over the public line.”

  M’kou brightened visibly, his crest rising a few millimeters before settling down again.

  “Call in and tell them we’ve gone home, M’kou,” he said, dodging the vehicle round a slow moving goods floater.

  “Shall I contact her guards, General?”

  “Yes. Ask for a report from them. Imply they’re late calling in.” He concentrated on driving for the next few minutes.

  “Nothing to report, sir. They didn’t use any code words to warn us of trouble.”

  “Curiouser and curiouser,” he murmured.

  *

  The doorkeepers had noticed nothing strange over the last few hours, and there had been no unusual visitors. Impatiently he waited for the elevator to reach his floor. The corridor was clear, except for the two guards on the door. They snapped to attention when they saw him.

  “Two visitors called, sir. One left, the other remained.”

  “Carry on,” he said, unlocking the door, more intrigued than worried.

  Zayshul leaped to her feet as he entered. “Thank the God-Kings you’re back! Come with me,” she said, grabbing hold of him and hustling him toward the bathing room.

  “The visitor,” he began.

  “In here,” she said, opening the door. “Look. What the hell do we do with her?”

  Lying curled in a ball on a pile of cushions was a small gray-pelted shape. Kezule moved closer, bending down to get a better look. She was asleep, nose tucked under her tail tip, thumb in her mouth.

  Kezule backed out, drawing Zayshul with him, and shut the door quietly. “She’s the Sholan hybrid cub I told you about,” he said, gesturing M’kou over. “Sweep the apartment for recording and listening devices,” he ordered quietly.

  “I figured that out myself,” she said.

  “It’s a trap, whatever we do,” he said as he guided her by the elbow to the sofa. “I didn’t expect her so soon. K’hedduk said he’d give her to me after the coup, not before. What’s he trying to do? Compromise me by reporting her presence to the Enforcers?”

  “He gave me this,” she said, handing him a slim crystal data card. “I didn’t recognize him.”

  Taking it from her, he changed direction for his desk reader. Switching it on, he fed the card into the slot in the side. The screen remained dark as a synthesized voice began to speak.

  “As requested, General, here’s your little companion. I’m sure she’s a shade young for what you have in mind, but enjoy her, and your revenge. We’ll talk again soon.”

  Kezule hissed, his crest rising to its full height in rage. “She’s a bribe! He’s sent her to buy my loyalty, and ensure my destruction if I betray him!”

  “What’s he mean about revenge?”

  He pulled the data card out and turned to her. “He assumed I wanted her for sexual reasons for revenge against the Sholans. How dare he think I’d use a child! I’ll have his hide for this, Zayshul, by the God-Kings, I will!”

  “Let him think what he wants,” she said. “What do we do with her?”

  He saw M’kou hovering out of the corner of his eye and swung his head around. “What is it?” he demanded.

  “The apartment’s clean, General.”

  “Good. There’s a Sholan child in the bathing room, M’kou. Warn the guards they must on no account let her be seen by anyone visiting the apartment, and they must not speak freely in front of her. She could be an agent in a coup against the Emperor.”

  M’kou’s eyes widened as he nodded his understanding and disappeared again.

  Kezule headed for the sofa, taking Zayshul with him. “What’s due to happen in the next few days?” he demanded. “Any royal events?”

  Zayshul looked dubious. “There’s the Festival of Fruitfulness in about ten days to celebrate the harvest, but what has that to do…”

  “They’ll move then,” he said, trying to remember the few occasions his visits to the Court had coincided with festivals in the past. “We’ll be providing the honor guard for the Emperor. What better time to turn on him then when we celebrate rebirth?”

  “What do we do?” she asked
grimly.

  He glanced at her, surprised and pleased by her attitude. “They’ll be watching us to see how we react. I need to mobilize our forces now, before they contact me with their plans.” He checked the time. It was midafternoon. If he didn’t head back to the barracks, it would be seen as odd by his own people. Another twenty minutes or so would be a reasonable time for him to take to deal with his new arrival, then he could leave.

  “M’kou!” he called. “I’ve got a job for you,” he said when his aide came running. “I want you to log a flight plan for the N’zishok at the orbiting station. Backdate it by several days so it looks like it was planned weeks ago. Can you do it from my communicator?”

  “Should be able to, sir. What’s the flight plan?”

  “You word it. I intend to put out tonight for a series of four one-day maneuvers. We’ll redock each night. Following this, we’ll leave on a three-day weapons’ skill exercise out by that asteroid field— you know the one I mean.”

  “Aye, sir. Anything more?”

  “Yes, put down that personnel will be arriving in several units at various times over the next ten hours. Make sure our ship gets a copy. They aren’t our people so spin them some yarn about us doing undercover ops so if questioned they can say they knew about the exercise. Tell them to have the ship fully provisioned with munitions, fuel, and food. They’re to expect me the day after tomorrow but my wife will be arriving tonight.”

  “Aye sir,” he said, going over to the communicator and sitting down.

  “I’m not going up to the ship without you!” she said.

  “I want you and that egg up there in safety. What I’ve got to do is dangerous. I don’t want to be worrying about you when my mind should be focused on what I’m doing. And you can take the Sholan child with you.”

  “How am I supposed to do that? I can’t just walk about with her in full view!”

  “But you will. She’ll be sedated and packed in a kit bag over the shoulder of one of our guards.”

  “She’ll suffocate!”

  “Not if you get one of those oxygen breathers and put it on her first. She’ll have her own air supply.”

  She stared at him. “You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?”

  He looked away.

  “You were going to take me like that if I hadn’t agreed to go with you.”

  “I hoped it would never come to that,” he said. “You’re valuable to me, Zayshul. You’ve got a good mind.” He saw the look in her eyes and added hastily, “And I’d have missed your company.”

  A door opened and they turned round quickly to see a small gray face peering in. The gap widened and the cub, dressed in a short tan-colored tunic, edged slowly into the room and stood there, looking at the floor, hands held behind her back.

  Kezule got up, preventing Zayshul from rising. “Let me,” he said. He approached the cub and stood in front of her. She was smaller than he remembered, her head reaching only just above his waist.

  “Look up at me, child,” he said. “Have you a name?”

  She looked up, pale blue eyes serious. “Yes, Seniormost, Gaylla.”

  The voice was quiet, her Valtegan surprisingly understandable. He took hold of her chin and tilted her head up. A metal collar circled her neck. He let her go.

  “I seen you before,” she said slowly, tail flicking from side to side.

  “Do you know why you’re here?”

  “I yours, Seniormost. Stay here with you.” Tears began to flood her eyes, spilling over onto her cheeks. “I vassal of Prime Empire. I go where told,” she said, hands going up to her mouth, pressing it closed in an effort not to cry.

  Before he could blink, Zayshul was there, sweeping the cub up into her arms and holding her close. “She’s lonely and frightened, Kezule! Leave her alone! How dare they tell her she was a slave!”

  He looked at her, a pained expression on his face. “I was the one who asked for her to stop her being harmed, Zayshul,” he pointed out as she retreated to the sofa carrying the now sobbing cub. “I’m not trying to frighten her.”

  “You’d frighten any child the way you look at them!” she said tartly. “Just remember, we don’t keep slaves or pets in this time, Kezule. Now do something useful. Get Gaylla something to eat and drink. She must be starving.”

  “She doesn’t look starved to me,” he murmured, going over to the drink dispenser.

  “It’s done, Commander,” said M’kou from his desk. “Your flight plan is logged in for two days ago. I contacted the ship and passed on your message.”

  “Well done,” he said, choosing a bland herbal drink. “Go fetch something from the kitchen for her to eat, would you? You’re young, pick something a child would like.”

  M’kou rolled his eyes at Zayshul as he passed her.

  “Here,” he said, putting the drink on the table. “I have to get back to the barracks. Don’t let anyone but me or M’kou in, hear me? With her here, everyone coming to the door is suspect right now. And pack. You’ll be leaving in a few hours.”

  “I hope you’re not going to be as unfeeling when our child hatches,” she said, eyes flashing at him over the top of the cub’s head.

  “Ah, that’s something else entirely,” he said, backing away from her. “Never liked the smell of mammals, you know.”

  “Kezule!”

  “I have to go now, Zayshul,” he said firmly, checking over his shoulder to see where the door was.

  “I know, but you’ll find breathers for fire drills at the barracks.”

  “Good point,” he said, beating a hasty exit.

  M’kou ran back with a plate of spiced meat balls on sticks which he slid across the table to her before disappearing after Kezule.

  *

  There was an air of suppressed excitement in the lecture room. All one hundred of his sons and daughters were here, security being provided for the time being by the fifteen M’Zullians. He waited till the gentle buzz of conversation died down.

  “You’ve been training for this day since the beginning,” he said. “It’s what we, as Warriors, do. We protect the God-King and his royal family, and the people of the Court of the City of Light. From today, those words become actions. The days ahead will test your loyalty to me, but hold firm, play your part in the whole, and all will go as planned.”

  He paused, letting the importance of his words sink in as they looked at each other with a mixture of emotions.

  “Because of my close relationship to the royal family, it isn’t practical for me to remain here. I am taking some of you with me, you all know who they are. I wish it could be more, but the Emperor needs you. The security of the Court and the royal family depends on you remaining here after we’ve destroyed this attempted rebellion.” He stopped, looking around at them once more. It wasn’t going to be easy to leave any behind. He could have made a life for himself among these children of his— had it not been for the rest of the Prime culture.

  “I’ve chosen Khayikule to replace me. As of this moment, he assumes the rank of Captain. You will obey him in all things. Unit leaders, remain here, the rest of you, return to your dorms and await further orders. Dismissed.”

  He waited till all but eleven and M’kou had gone. “Come to the front,” he said, gesturing them closer. They left their seats, taking new ones in front of the table he leaned against. He looked at their fresh, eager faces, the flush of excitement staining their skins a darker green. Two were female, the rainbow-colored skin surrounding their eyes standing out among the plain faces of the ten males. They were the one weak link, weak only by virtue of their gender. As small as the females of this time, they still had the necessary characteristics of a Warrior.

  “There is a threat against the Emperor from a group calling themselves the Directorate,” he said. “I expect them to make their move within the week, at the Festival of Fruitfulness. We, however, are moving now. Zhookoh, you and Shartoh have been shadowing members of the Directorate. Zhookoh, you’ll leave imme
diately after this briefing and position yourself to pick up your target as soon as you see him. Take him to the designated holding place and keep him there until you hear from me. Shartoh, your team is going undercover for the next two days, employing diversionary tactics against the other three Directorate members. You have your brief. Target them in their homes, their offices and on the streets. I want them good and paranoid. Remember, you’ve done it half a dozen times as exercises. All that’s different is that you set off your charges and fire a few shots. Try to locate K’hedduk this time. When you’re done, proceed to the main rendezvous and hand your units over to Kayikule. You’ll proceed to the orbiter with the second group of civilians.”

  “Yes, sir,” they murmured.

  “Zhalmo, your unit’s with me the day after tomorrow at 01.00 hours. Stay behind after this briefing and we’ll go over the plans of the Directorate. Our target is the headquarters itself. You’re based at the barracks till then.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Zhalmo.

  “Shezhul,” he said, looking at the other female. “You’ll hold the main rendezvous area, making sure our people have safe access to the transport out to the shuttle port. You’ll also join the last group for the N’zishok.”

  She nodded.

  “The rest of you will be picking up your civilians in three stages, just as planned. The first group will go up to the orbiter platform with Noolgoi. We’re using your plan to take command of the N’zishok, Noolgoi, therefore you should implement it.” He stopped for a moment before continuing. “There will be an extra piece of luggage with my wife, Noolgoi. She’ll tell you about it, but it will require handling as carefully as the incubator. It’s to stay with my wife at all times. Once the ship is yours, secure the crew in the brig. I’ll deal with them when I arrive. First group of civilians go tonight, second tomorrow night, third the night after. Remember, we want to create the impression that we’re rotating personnel from here to each of the four one-day training missions.”

  “Aye, sir,” said Noolgoi.

  “Finally, Khayikule,” he said, turning to him. “Yours is the most difficult task of all. That of staying behind and leading. Only someone I trust implicitly could be given that responsibility. I know you’ll fulfill your role with honor. I know you all will,” he added, looking round them again. “Now check your kit and move your units out. Dismissed.”