Empire Saga: The Fight for the Paradise, #1

by Lori Beery

  He picked it up. “So, this is not you?” he asked suspiciously as he compared the portrait on the coin to me.

  “It is not,” I said. The doctor and the Captain exchanged looks, obviously still not believing me. I could not blame them. Joram, in that particular portrait, and I did look very similar, but certainly not like twins. The picture didn’t, however, show his lighter hair or complexion. Nor did it depict his hazel eyes. I smiled sadly before saying, “Gentlemen, I am Rajhian. But I am not the crown prince. I am a relative of his. I am, also, a Hexator and these people are my Hexacle,” I explained gesturing to my companions. “We are traveling to Dinave to begin our service. I do not have bodyguards because I am not worthy enough to have them.” As I spoke there was the tell-tale feeling that indicated I was being scanned for truthfulness. The scanner was unseen or part of the mechanical devise. Since what I said was accurate, I knew they would find my words truthful.

  Just after my speech, Commander Grant returned. He nodded to his captain before turning to me and saying, “You are all set. You will need to plug this into the view screen in your suite.” He held a small chip drive in his hand. He gave it to Beltrain saying, “Please pass this to the Hexator.”

  When I received it I said, “Thank you gentlemen.” I tucked the chip into my pocket. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some questions for you.” They exchanged quick glances with each other. Commander Grant shifted slightly in his chair.

  “Please go ahead,” replied the Captain.

  “Why are you using shielding and why have you truth scanned me?” I asked bluntly.

  “We wanted you to be more relaxed so we could determine your family rank more easily,” he answered just as bluntly.

  Nodding I added, “You seemed angry that I might be the second most powerful person in the Empire. Why was that?”

  “It was not anger, your highness,” he responded honestly. “It was frustration and fear that we might not be able to protect you and yours should the Paradise come under attack. That would be true even if you were not of House Rajhia. Your Hexator/Hexacle status makes you all important representatives of the Empire and therefore worthy of our protection. I… apologize for our apparently clumsy way of handling our objectives,” he concluded humbly.

  “Captain, if I may be so bold,” Dulain spoke, looking to me for permission to continue. I nodded and he added, “Our Hexator is an adept. Very little escapes his notice.”

  “Wait, are you saying our technology would have gone unnoticed if he had not been present?” asked the doctor, speaking for the first time.

  “That is hard to answer,” said Marleah. “Because he was present, he made us aware of the shielding. It is probable we would have detected it. In all likelihood, it would have taken us longer. However, we would have noticed the truth scan because of its unique feel.”

  “Hmm, that is good to know,” stated Doctor Paris.

  “A word of caution, Doctor,” I warned. “Today, their statements are accurate. As they learn and practice, those statements will become less true.”

  “Seriously?” he asked disbelief etching his face.

  “I do not lie,” I stated. “Our abilities are like children. The more we grow and practice, the more we learn what we can achieve.” The doubt did not leave his continence. Perhaps, we appeared as adults to him. An incorrect perspective applied to a non-human people since not all peoples mark time the same way. Choosing not to point this out, I shifted my attention to the Captain. When his eyes meet mine I said, “Captain Lawrence, I thank you for your honesty. We will study the reports that you have made available to us. I do have a request to make before we depart.”

  “And that would be?” he asked lifting his eyebrows.

  “The week after next week may we have access to one of your cargo bays and two pilots?” I requested.

  “For what purpose?” he inquired.

  “For training purposes,” I responded knowing I would be explaining this to my Hexacle later. “Please think about it,” I continued as I got to my feet. “If there is nothing further, we will take our leave of you.”

  The officers exchanged looks. “We have nothing further,” the Captain replied.

  My Hexacle got to their feet. With respectful nods to the officers, we filed into the hallway. A crewman stood outside the room. It was not Ensign Parker. However, he did indicate the passageway to our left. Turning to go that way, we proceeded to the door at the end of the hall. Going through the doorway, we found ourselves in familiar territory. We easily returned to our suite.

  Once inside, Jacarr and Marleah both posed questions. Jacarr asked, “Do you know the crown prince?” And Marleah inquired, “What training purposes?” I choose to answer Marleah first.

  “For the training we should be ready to try the week after next,” I responded, as unhelpfully as possible. At her puzzled expression I continued, “The training will need a lot more space than what we have available in this room. And we will need the expertise of the pilots,” I concluded with a smile.

  “Hexator Nickoli, you are not being very helpful!” she blurted.

  “Indeed,” I said tapping her nose once with my finger. “A little patience and you will all know in a few days,” I added including them all.

  “But, you are not going to tell us?” asked Lucera disappointed.

  “Of course I am”, I responded brightly. “Just not today.”

  “Why not?” asked KwinJai.

  “Because I need the captain to grant us access first,” I stated. “Once he does, I will gladly tell you without any more unhelpfulness.” There was a chorus of grumbling mutters which subsided as Jacarr stepped closer to me.

  “Will you answer my question?” he asked hopefully.

  “Yes, I do know the Crown Prince,” I admitted. “I have met him on several occasions, to include the Imperial Balls held in his honor. Since such events are open to all of House Rajhia, I was in attendance. I do think very highly of him. He is intelligent, competent, and confident.”

  “Is he arrogant?” asked KwinJai.

  “I did not find him so. I thought him more self-assured. He does have a commanding presence,” I replied thoughtfully.

  “So, he is very much like you,” commented Dulain.

  “Ah, is that a compliment?” I asked.

  Dulain nodded but KwinJai said, “I have met other members of House Rajhia. They were rude, arrogant individuals who made sure everyone around them knew they were Rajhian. Thus they used their birth to make themselves first among the people. – You are not like that.”

  “I am a mold breaker,” I quipped smiling. “Thank you,” I added in a quiet serious voice to Dulain and KwinJai. Lifting my gaze to include the others I said, “I am going to turn in. Good night all.” They chorused similar responses as I headed to my quarters.

  Once behind my door, I thought about what KwinJai had said. His description was an apt picture of some of my relatives. They figured they were owed the best of everything with little or no effort of their own. They used the family name to gain high positions even though they themselves did not have the necessary skills. They often resorted to childish tantrums and threats to exert their will. I had been in a class with one of ‘those’ relatives. This one cousin enjoyed flaunting his rank and humiliating our instructor. It was a horrible misuse of power, a revolting incident. It was, also, the first time I pulled rank. It just so happened my family was closer to the throne than his. When he threatened he would call his parents, I happily invited him to do so. He soon learned, when pulling rank, it pays to know the family tree. In any case, he withdrew from my school.

  The incident required me to contact my grandfather. I had to describe the events and explain my actions. To be sure, I had broken a few school rules. I had stolen an image of my cousin’s room from his mind, I had teleported my cousin to his room without his permission and erected a ward within it to prevent him escaping or causing damage to school property. My grandfather suggested I present my
case to the headmaster and accept his judgement. I did that. Other than ordering me to remove the ward from my cousin’s room and promising not to repeat such a breach of conduct, the headmaster choose no other punishment for me.

  My cousin’s parents did come to the school. Their protests died on their lips when I entered the room. The air, instead, filled with platitudes to the distress of my cousin. My conditions for him to remain at the school were that he had to earn his marks, he would never be in any of my classes, and he would never humiliate any instructor. He decided he could not live with that. So, he withdrew.

  I remember being pleased with my cousin’s withdrawal. It bothered me how easy it was to pull rank, a constant temptation. One I strove to overcome by earning my marks and treating others with respect. A goal I seemed to have achieved with KwinJai and Dulain. I smiled contentedly allowing myself to drift off to sleep.

  Chapter 7

  The next morning we gathered before the view screen. We needed to know what was happening nearer to the Altera System. Hearing that pirate activity was on the rise brought home how dangerous our journey and mission was. We would take the time to study the reports from Thendara Station. I hoped to determine how likely we were to be attacked. And, I wanted to know what we could do about it.

  There were eleven reports on the chip-drive. They covered the last ten months. Most of the older reports mentioned either unknown sensor contacts or unidentified ship sightings. All incidents occurring out in the Frontier about a light year from Thendara.

  Then, two months ago, six unidentified vessels were seen moving in formation toward the station. They pasted green-level buoys located a light hour from the station. Despite their speed and direction the ships never reached the yellow-level buoys placed at half a light hour, or ninety deci, out. Somewhere between the markers, all contact was lost. On-site inspection found nothing. No sign of wreckage was found. Nothing was discovered to explain what happened to the vessels.

  Five weeks ago, eight of the unidentified ships attacked a three-vessel convoy from the Renowllo asteroid mining field. The convoy had been about half way between the green and yellow-buoy markers before the pirates descended on it. Imperial frigates had been dispatched to rescue the beleaguered convoy. All three cargo ships limped to Thendara. Unfortunately, loss of life and property had been high.

  Three weeks ago, twelve pirate vessels attacked a seven-ship convoy from Crete. The ambush occurred at green-level buoys from the station. By the time the Imperial frigates arrived, three of the convoy vessels had been badly damaged. The frigates were able to chase off the attackers and bring the convoy in. Again, loss of life and property had been high.

  “What do the reports tell us?” I asked my Hexacle when we had finished going over the reports.

  “That in the last ten months, unknown craft have been seen,” replied Beltrain. “Those sightings have increased in number and moved closer to the station. Then, two separated convoys have been attacked with high loss of life and property.”

  “So… pirate activity is on the rise,” commented KwinJai.

  “Were there any other attacks?” asked Marleah.

  “None have been reported,” I said.

  “Why attack the convoy so close to Thendara?” she continued pondering. “Wouldn’t it have been easier and more successful to strike the mining facility or Crete?”

  “Depends on what the pirates were after,” said Dulain. “If the pirates were after the cargo, then attacking the source would make more sense. Presumably, the site security would be easier to overcome. Also, they would be able to avoid Imperial interference.”

  “What else would the pirates be after?” asked Lucera, her brow creased with confusion.

  “Maybe… they want Thendara Station,” suggested Jacarr.

  “If the pirates control Thendara, then there would be no Imperial presence for one hundred and eighty light years in any given direction,” I concluded.

  “But, what about the tower network?” questioned Lucera.

  The tower network? It was considered archaic. How did such a young person even know about it? After exchanging a surprised look with Beltrain I responded, “It would be no help here.”

  “Why not?” she asked distressed.

  “Because it is too far away, filled with gaps, and has no way to send any aid,” I answered.

  “What?” she cried in dismay.

  “The tower network was built as a sensor net,” I explained. “They were to survey local space and communicate anything out of the ordinary. They have never had vessels assigned to them.”

  “But – I thought…,” she started.

  “There are towers that have a space port or Imperial Post on their planet,” I acknowledged. “When that is the case, they usually work together to police their sectors. Sadly, instead of maintaining and augmenting the tower network, the space stations were built to replace them. ”

  “So Thendara is out there on its own,” she stated, sounding worried. I nodded.

  Then, KwinJai spoke up. Addressing Jacarr, he asked, “Why do you think the pirates want the station?”

  “It seems they are testing Thendara’s responses,” he replied. “They fly six ships between green and yellow-level buoys. Those vessels vanish. Thendara sends a ship to investigate. For each of the convoys, Thendara had to have gotten distress calls. She responds by sending some frigates to rescue the convoys. When the frigates get to them, the pirates are chased off. What did the pirates accomplish? Did they get cargo? Why did they attack?” Jacarr paused and then plunged on with, “Why is there no data showing the pirates pursuing the convoys across green-level buoys? Is there something between ninety deci and a light hour from the station? Could a cloaked vessel be parked out there? Could there be an asteroid belt with big enough rocks to hide the pirates? Could they have tampered with the buoys somehow?” Jacarr’s enthusiastic flood of speculation halted. Looking around at each of us he shrugged and finished with, “It all seems very suspicious.”

  I had to agree with him. It did seem suspicious. There seemed to be a lot of holes in the information. Were those gaps done by design or carelessness? In any case, what if Jacarr was correct? What if the station was under threat? Giving voice to my thoughts and credence to Jacarr’s words I said, “Let’s assume the pirates are going to attack Thendara. What can we do to stop them?”

  “We would have to fight them,” replied KwinJai.

  “In order to be successful, wouldn’t we need more information?” asked Marleah. “Wouldn’t we need to know what the pirates have in their arsenal? And – wouldn’t we need to know the station’s defense capabilities?”

  “Knowing all of that would make it easier,” I answered. “Let’s focus on the station. Let’s see if we can find out how many and what type of vessels are assigned to her. What type of defenses she has? Maybe if we know what she has we could figure out how those defenses could be overwhelmed and postulate how to keep them up.” My hexacle nodded.

  “So, we have another subject to research,” said Dulain.

  “Indeed we do,” I responded. “Work to be done while we rest from our other studies.”

  “Never a dull moment,” quipped Beltrain. I returned a smile.

  *****

  During the next several days, we continued to practice external power source usage. The candle lighting exercise was becoming effortless, even when I added nine more candles. It was easier when they could choose the next candle to ignite. Now, they were coping with randomized ignition order. They had to wait until I told them which candle to light next. Very soon, I would have them lighting multiple candles at once.

  To break up the day, we worked with Lucera on her imager gift. We set up a polar coordinate array within our suite. Then, we placed shelves built from air at specific locations. Once in place, we asked Lucera to populate them with various objects. At first we projected color onto the shelves. Then we asked Lucera to include the coordinates in her image. She struggled with this unti
l she understood how to use the array. Once she grasped that concept, she could create images that included the coordinates and the shelf with the item. After some practice, she became proficient at it. A few times she forgot the shelf. She made the item real at the right place. But gravity took over and the item landed on the ground. We all, including Lucera, laughed about it.

  On the fourth day, there was a light knock on our suite door.

  “Come,” I called bringing to a halt our preparations for the afternoons practice session. The door slid open to reveal Simone and her son, Philip. She hesitated nervously in the doorway. Smiling and beckoning them to enter, I approached them saying, “Good afternoon. Please come in.”

  They stepped inside, the door swishing closed behind them. “My son tells me that you would be willing to help me,” she said, hope evident in her eyes.

  “Yes, I can help you,” I replied. “What do you want me to do for you?”

  She peered at me and responded, “I am in quite a bit of pain. I was hoping you could ease it?”

  “I would be delighted to,” I answered. With her small hand on my proffered arm I continued, “Please come over here and have a seat.” I guided her to the chair adjacent to the settee in the common room. As we walked, I waved Philip to follow us and to sit on the settee closest to his mom. Once she was settled, I reached mentally to each member of my Hexacle, ‘Please, give me this room. I will let you know if I have need and when I am finished.’ At my silent call, they went to their various quarters. When I was alone with them, I stood behind Simone. “I am going to ease your pain. To do that, I need you to lean back in the chair and relax. Try to concentrate on your breathing. Take a breath in. Good, now let it out. Again, please. That’s it,” I directed. “I am going to place my hands on your shoulders,” I continued matching my actions to my words. “Continue to breathe as you were doing. Breathe in slowly – and let it go. Good. Please keep doing that. Yes, just like that.” As she breathed in and out, she did relax. I shifted most of my awareness from her breathing to the pain center in her brain. After tracing the nerves to her tumors, I deadened those sensors so she would not feel them. Then I withdrew. “Very good, Simone. How do you feel?” I asked.