Meia trailed them a respectful distance away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in earnest.
“My home is still being repaired.” She stared out through the window to where IntelSys Tower could be seen peeking its egg-shaped head above the buildings around it.
“I’m sorry about that. The government is paying for the repairs.”
“It’s not the money I’m upset about.”
“What is it then? They’ll clean everything, of course. After the sanitizing nanos go through—”
“It’s not that, either.” She folded her hands before her chest.
“What is it? What can I do to help?” His heart pounded. “I’ll do anything to make it right.”
“Will you?” She looked at him from over her shoulder. Her eyes searched his. The muscles of her face twitched. “Let’s put aside the fact that you set people up to die in my home—”
“They were coming to kill you.”
“—and the fact that I’m sure you must have known that the Abyssian was there to kill instead of capture them.”
“I don’t see how I could have known that.” His palms grew sweaty.
“The Abyssian killed the Gaians in the Biodome with no provocation.” She gave him a piercing look.
“That’s not true—” he started.
“Yes it is.” Her statement was so firm he lost the power of speech.
“You knew that, and you set that mechanical monstrosity loose in my home on purpose. You wanted those Gaians dead, didn’t you?”
“Aurora—”
She held up her hand, stopping him. “I don’t want to hear the excuse. Spare me that indignity. I want you to know what I’m angry about. You used Hephestia and me for your own murderous ends—”
“Aurora, I didn’t—”
“No? Then I must have misunderstood your intentions, Premier Keltan.” She put extra stress on his title.
“It’s not like that,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
“No?”
“No.” His shoulders slumped. “I was only protecting my aunts.”
She gave him a long, flat look, but he saw her expression soften.
“You swear that was all?”
“The violence was regrettable, but you’re safe. That’s what matters.” He looked into her eyes, willing her to believe him. His eyes stung as his mind replayed the image of the Praetor shooting Lina out of the sky.
She didn’t look convinced. She held his gaze a moment longer then looked out at the cityscape once more.
“I heard you met with Helena.”
“Two weeks ago, yes. I need alliances to make this Premiership work.” He shifted his weight. Was she about to criticize him? She’d been around long enough to understand how this all worked. Surely, she wouldn’t—
“Alliances with our hated enemies? Remember, her cousin killed my husband, my sister, your father, and your siblings.”
He scowled. After dealing with Sophi he wasn’t in the mood for this.
“I haven’t forgotten. In the long run I’ll get him for that. We’ll be avenged.”
“You still think you can beat Zalor?” Aurora cocked an eyebrow at her reflection.
“I know I can.” A smile touched his lips. The confidence of that statement flowed through him. He would do it, for Lina, for Meia, and for himself.
“I see.”
“I need your help, though,” he added, sensing she was shifting away from him. “I need Cronus support in the Barony.”
“And I need my Treasury Restoration Bill to mean something. If you want the support of House Cronus you need to make sure that passes the Barony.”
“Is this why you came here?” He took a step back. “If the treasury is restored through the budget process then it won’t need my money. My control will slip away. I’m already taking care of it. Dorsky signed the authorization before his arrest. The loan is being made.”
“The Treasury needs to go back to the people where it belongs,” Aurora said.
Ridiculous. Only you can save the Confederation, Lina’s voice whispered in his ear.
“No, aunt. Doing that will return it to the barons who used it so wastefully in the first place. If I’m not in control Zalor’s lot will be. You must understand that until I am in total control of the Barony his allies remain a threat.”
She bit her lip. Her stare made him shiver.
“You said you would do anything to make what happened at my home right.”
“Anything but destroy myself to do it,” he snapped, but he felt guilty a moment later. The woman lost her son and had her home violated by Gaians, but when she scowled at him it sparked his anger.
After all you’ve been through, and all you’ve done, you’d think she would be grateful. She’s just as selfish as the rest of them.
He gritted his teeth.
“All right, Cylus, I won’t ask that of you, but if you won’t do the right thing then know that House Cronus is returning to Stolchem.”
“What? No! I need your support in the Barony when Zalor returns.” He took in a sharp breath. His chest felt tight upon hearing her words.
“Then restore the treasury.”
“No, I can’t do that.” He shook his head.
“But you expect us to support you anyway? Cylus, you may have once been my nephew, but I will not help make another tyrant in this galaxy. Hephestia won’t either.”
“Tyrant? I’m no tyrant! I will see justice restored to the Confederation. If I give up control Zalor will just take it back. If he does that then your noble intentions will be for nothing. Can’t you see that if you don’t support me then making a tyrant is exactly what you’ll be doing.”
“You’ve arrested half of the most powerful barons who would support him. Now is the time to deliver the message that the people in this Confederation matter,” she said.
“No, aunt, you aren’t seeing things clearly. Restoring the treasury will not happen under my watch. Never.”
“Never…” Aurora turned to face him. All of a sudden, she looked as defeated as she had the night when Sophi defected to the Mercantile party.
“Do me at least one thing.”
“What?” He felt wary, afraid he would have to say no again. He didn’t want to be angry with his aunt, but she was pushing him past his limit.
“If Aki’s husband returns, please protect my daughter.”
“What? Protect Sophi? Why?” The shock of the statement cooled his blood. His mouth hung open.
Aurora scowled.
“Okay, she’s your daughter, but—”
“If Einaga gets the barony he will destroy it and my husband’s legacy.”
“How do you know?” he asked.
“He’s always valued personal gain over family and honor. Yoji suspected he was the Yulong Gongsi spy all along. Sophi’s claim is better than his. She is the daughter of the direct line. Einaga married the sibling of the Uchū Shōgun but he didn’t marry into the direct line of power. The Taiumikai’s leadership is hereditary. Einaga’s claim won’t be legitimate unless all of my husband’s offspring are deceased. Yoji recognized Sophi as his daughter when we married.”
“He’ll want her dead.”
“If my son is dead—” she cut herself off, trembling. “—because my son is dead she is the Baroness of the Shiragawa and the next Uchū Shōgun. She’s also my only living child. For all of her flaws nothing will change that. Don’t let her get taken away from me, too.”
“I—Are you sure?” He blinked, thinking he probably should have told her that it was Sophi who came up with the idea to have her killed.
“Cylus, if you do nothing else for me, do this.”
“So, you’ll stay and help me then?” he asked.
“Promise me,” she said.
“All right. I promise to protect Sophi from Einaga. Now, about the Barony, you’ll stay?”
“I’m so sorry, Cylus. No. I won’t bend on that. Hephestia and I are going back home tomorrow.�
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He gasped. Did she just betray him? He promised to do what she wanted. How could she?
She started to shake her head, then looked at him. “Cylus, keep listening to reason. You have a good heart, but you need to listen to it.”
“I need to save the Confederation,” he snapped. Anger burned through his veins. What kind of a world was this where even Aurora would betray him?
“Cylus, if you think you’re the only one who can save the Confederation then we’re doomed.”
“Get out. Go crawling back home you old fool.” His voice popped and he lapsed into a coughing fit.
“Very well, Cylus. Good luck. I hope you find the right guidance for all of our sakes.” Aurora bowed her head, turned, and headed down the corridor.
“I should’ve let Sophi kill you,” he whispered, watching as his aunt passed in front of Meia, Ben, and finally the drone before heading down the ancient palace stairs.
When she was gone Meia moved over to his side.
“That was rough. Family can be a bitch,” she said.
“How would you know?” he snapped at her, then instantly regretted it. “I’m—I’m sorry. That was stupid. Of course, you know. I’m just hurt. I didn’t mean to lash out.”
She went stone-faced. “It’s all right. I know you didn’t mean it.”
“I’m surrounded by enemies on all sides. I have no one, but… I need you to be what you appear to be. I need that. Do you understand?”
“You save the Confederation. I’ll save you. That’s our new deal.” Her tone was genuine, but it was the look in her eyes that convinced him.
“Okay.” He chuckled in sudden relief. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
She nodded.
Sophi stepped into the corridor and glared at them.
Beside her Ben watched as well. It could have been his imagination, but he could swear his manservant had an odd look on his face.
Chapter Nineteen
Ikuzlu City, Kosfanter
J2400:3258
Meia walked out onto the roof of the Palace with the sea air blowing thick against her skin. The guards on patrol in their blue and white armor saluted as she walked by. It reminded her of a time where there was metal beneath her feet and endless stars outside her window. Thinking about it sent a pang through her chest.
Placing a booted foot up on the ancient stone battlements she looked out across the sky. Her optics polarized her corneas in the bright light as she scanned the air until she found it. The bright silver dot grew steadily larger and the hiss of ion engines came to her ears. She held out her arm and willed the armacorium imitating the sleeve of a brown leather jacket to shift into a skin-tight armored coating. Moments later Mr. D dropped onto the impromptu landing strip and powered down its engines. Its four arms embraced her and would have seared her flesh had she not been prepared.
He’s back, she sent to Iapetus through her implant. The hulking form of his frame was in the courtyard by the pond watching for prying eyes.
“Linking.”
A new window appeared in her UI and the feed from the recon drone played.
Since the assault in the Volgoth bathhouse Sanul took up residence in the Gaian hideaway in the Galactic Bazaar. Now that shipping on Kosfanter was open again the bazaar was bustling. It provided the best cover they could muster against Daedalus based on the school of fish principle. Modulus’ brain core was still there, which made it an ideal location for Sanul to hide and work on breaking its encryption. The downside was that he couldn’t chance leaving unless it was a dire emergency. She couldn’t leave the Palace too often, so Mr.D became their messenger.
Sanul’s recorded image appeared in her UI.
She blinked, waiting for him to proceed.
“Ah, you probably want to hear about what I found out this week. Yeah, first I hope you are sitting down. The CSS Laocoon arrived in-system last night.”
She stiffened. Captain Solus, the man who marooned her, tried to kill her, and did kill her second, was here at last. She would tell Cylus; the sooner they plotted her revenge the better.
“There’s a delegation from its battle group inbound by AlCas ship. They will be here sometime today. Sorry if it’s late notice but I had to be careful with the starport security system.” The Volgoth blinked his geode-like eyes and his nostrils flared.
“Next, I’ve made a lot of progress with the brain core. It’s fascinating, like a mathematical net with layer after layer stacked on top to protect the core operating and memory system. Hat’s off to Big D, really…
“Ah, right, get to it Sanul. Um, this is really awkward speaking like this… Never mind. So it’s got an algorithm that rotates the security key every three seconds. There must be another operating like it in Big D so that it can access its Praetors, but it makes it practically unhackable since the ciphers are so complex. I mean, if we had a big enough computer with enough time maybe… But never mind that. There’s actually a q-comm built into this thing, and it’s active.”
Meia cocked an eyebrow. That was amazing. The brain core could easily fit in her hand, but it had a q-comm? Didn’t those things require a lot of power?
“Of course, I can’t trace a q-comm, but I was able to rig up something to detect the molecular movements inside without having to hack the device. Once I isolated which one was the comm I was able to start recording the communications.”
Meia felt a thrill go through her. Sanul truly was talented. She doubted anyone she knew could’ve accomplished the same. Come to think of it, this was amazing. For the first time a third party now had direct access to Daedalus’ communications.
“The more data I get the higher chance I have of deciphering it, but it’s going to take me a while. Sorry about that.” Sanul sniffed and his small ears flicked against the base of his horns. He drew forth an oval leaf and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing with gusto. “Oh, and I got a read on Rega. He’s heading for the starport. He’ll probably be there by the time you get this. That’s allsh for nowsh. Out.”
The image faded and the window in her UI closed.
Finally, she thought, salivating. Revenge has come.
She looked over toward the business district and saw several dark spots in the sky. Cylus was meeting with Sophi and Helena Revenant today, and she was expected to be there to guard him, but Rega had surfaced after 25 days of looking. She didn’t want this opportunity to slip by. Maybe if she was quick she could figure out where he would be and wouldn’t lose him. He was probably meeting with Solus at the starport. The inventor of the nanoweapon and its deliverer together. She had to know what was going on. It was too good a chance to miss.
She looked up at the dark specks in the sky again. They doubled in size since her last glance. She didn’t have long, but maybe if she was quick…
Meia called up Rega’s implant cipher and CPAd, then sat down with her back against the Palace battlements. She couldn’t turn this chance down. She had to know. Finally, after so long she might avenge those poor people on Calemni.
Her implant connected to Rega’s CPAd and she transmitted the cipher along with a program that Sanul gave her to suppress his implant’s notification system. She took a deep breath. What she was doing was illegal in the extreme, and she hadn’t attempted it since she was a kid. Still, she hoped it would come as naturally as it had when she was fifteen.
She closed her eyes—
—and was standing in the spaceport terminal. Luxurious couches and fine works of art decorated the private arrivals section of the port. A light tune played softly in the background as artificials made their way from couch to couch carrying trays of refreshments for the plethora of sentient beings seated among them. Ahead of her was a broad arch separating the main terminal from the private arrivals. A transparent wall allowed her to see that a gray military C-37 shuttle rested on the tarmac at the end of the walkway. Just spying it made her stomach tremble as memories washed over her.
The walkway was wide enough to fit four abreast, and
seven beings were within its confines. She recognized the black uniform of StarCorps on all but one of them. The last wore a white suit and a long, ridiculous looking cape which trailed behind him. Despite the outfit she thought him beautiful, and under different circumstances—perhaps if he hadn’t killed her father and left her homeless—she might have enjoyed the view. His long, brown locks danced about his shoulders with each step. Blue, raptor-like eyes swept across the crowd and settled on her.
She felt herself jolt in place.
“Suman, good to see you again.” Baron Revenant passed under the arch. It flickered and turned green.
“As always, happy to be here,” she heard Doctor Rega’s voice come from her mouth. It was alarming and she felt herself startle beneath the thick blanket of the doctor’s senses. “All is in readiness. I completed my calculations days ago. Construction has started at all former Savorchan colonies.”
Zalor’s eyes grew hungry. “When will you complete them?”
“You shall have your transport network in two months.” Doctor Rega pushed out his chest.
“This is the only piece of good news I’ve received from the capital since I left.”
The baron turned to the man on his right and Meia felt her body stiffen against the palace battlements. Tall, with brown crew-cut hair and blue eyes, Captain Solus inclined his pale head toward the baron.
“Cylus has made a mess of things and we have our wayward allies to blame. It’s time they owed up to their errors and fixed them. Go fetch him to my tower,” Revenant said.
“Excuse me, Baron, but I am not your cerberai to order around. I must report in to StarCorps command,” Captain Solus said.
“You are my cerberai and you will do as I say. Go fetch Cylus Keltan to me. You’ll find him in the Palace of the Just.”
“Excuse me?” he asked, but with a look from Zalor he sighed and shook his head. “Very well. Lieutenant, have the men report in. I’ll be along shortly.”
“Yes, sir.” A young man with a sharp military cut saluted. Meia thought his name might be Cardon, but she wasn’t sure as he probably served on the Laocoon. The young man turned and the soldiers around them followed him out of the terminal.
Deep Hydra Page 28
