Guardian of Empire

by Kylie Chan

  ‘Understood. Let me talk to them.’ He leaned over the tank and his long hair slid down his shoulder to dangle in the water. A conversation happened between him and the octopus that I felt rather than heard. He reached towards the water and a pale tentacle lifted out of it and wrapped around his hand, stroking it.

  ‘Its mind is like a wide clear sea without a single wave,’ he said with wonder. ‘So beautiful.’

  ‘I know,’ I said.

  He nodded and the tentacle released his hand. He stepped back. ‘Let’s go to Pacifica. These babies really are about to hatch – in fact the octopus has asked them to refrain until we move them to cleaner water.’

  *

  We arrived in orbit around Pacifica and could see the planet from Tomoyo’s gallery. Most of it was water, but it did have chains of islands around its equator.

  ‘What sort of environment is ideal for them?’ Rin asked Marque.

  ‘They’re copper-based, high oxygen. Temperature . . .’ Marque was silent, then said, ‘Warm. Shallow, warm water near the equator, with a median temperature of twenty-five. I may need to boost the oxygen for them.’

  ‘The Honour Atoll should be good,’ Rin said. He concentrated on Tomoyo. ‘There.’

  ‘Got it,’ she said, put one claw on the tank, and disappeared.

  ‘I’ll take the rest of you down,’ Rin’s dragon partner Umeko said. ‘But please remove the armour before you do, it may distress our children.’

  We put our arms out and Marque changed us into Pacifican bodysuits. It was good to see Haruka back to his pre-capture body size, and the bodysuit highlighted his muscular arms and tight butt.

  ‘Thank you.’ Umeko nodded to Miko. ‘Will you show me a gate? I’ve wanted to see your special skill. I would never have believed that goldenscales were so gifted, you were always so . . . reserved.’

  ‘Charming,’ I said with biting sarcasm.

  ‘What are the co-ordinates?’ Miko said, diplomatically ignoring me.

  ‘I’m passing them now,’ Marque said.

  Miko created a gate.

  ‘Let’s go,’ I said.

  I stepped through the gate onto the pure white sand of a coral atoll under a completely cloudless blue sky in the golden light of an engineered Sol-type sun. The sandy island had some scrubby undergrowth and succulents, and a number of palm trees in groups growing over the water. The water itself was completely clear, like a sheet of glass placed over the sand, giving it a pale, turquoise hue.

  ‘Gorgeous,’ Haruka said. ‘Is there surfing here?’

  ‘Not on this atoll, but there’s another one that’s more exposed that has an excellent break,’ Rin said, approaching us. He’d changed into a wet suit that covered him to his wrists and ankles, and was tight around his neck. ‘I’d be glad to take you once we have the babies stable.’

  ‘You feel the cold?’ I said. ‘It’s lovely and warm here.’

  Rin smiled. ‘Exactly the opposite. I overheat quickly, I’m more comfortable in colder and deeper water. This suit is to keep me cool.’

  ‘I see.’

  He gestured towards the water. ‘This way. We’ve put the whole tank into the water, and the octopus says that it’s pleasant. The babies are pushing at the eggs, ready to hatch.’

  ‘There’s nothing around here that will eat them, is there?’ I said.

  ‘We’ve enclosed the lagoon,’ Rin said. ‘Marque’s synthesising food for them to try.’

  A brilliant crystalline squeal pinged through the air, full of joy and freedom, and Rin and I stopped dead.

  Haruka turned to us. ‘What happened?’

  ‘You didn’t hear that?’ I said.

  He shook his head.

  ‘Telepathic,’ Rin said, and we kept moving into the water. As it approached my neck, Marque enclosed my head in a bubble of air and fitted me with fins. I ducked under to swim and followed Rin out to where the sandy bottom was five metres below the mirrorlike surface. The squeal sounded again, followed by a child’s giggle, and a bright blue baby octopus, the size of my outstretched hand, shot past me with its tentacles trailing. It did laps around me and Haruka, broadcasting pure joy, and zoomed back again. The black tank sat on the bottom, and another baby climbed out the side and jetted in circles around us.

  Marque took the form of an adult octopus and waved its tentacles. ‘Hey there, kids. Come and try some of the food I’ve synthesised for you.’

  Two of the babies ignored it, but a third went to Marque and twined its tiny tentacles around Marque’s. ‘Food?’

  Marque passed it a piece of shell with crab meat attached to it, and the baby delicately tasted it with its tentacles. It quickly shifted the food down the suckers to its central mouth.

  ‘Do you have more of that?’ it said, then shouted telepathically. Hey come check out this awesome, delicious food!

  The other two babies approached, their tentacles waving as they touched Marque and each other. Three more babies jetted out of the tank, and the adult’s white tentacles waved above the black edge.

  Rin swam next to Marque. ‘Give me some so I can help. You’ll be mobbed.’

  The hatching was happening at full pace now, and twenty babies shot over the side of the tank, screaming with glee.

  Marque handed Rin a small sack of food, and he took pieces out and gave them to the babies, who floated around him in a blue cloud, squealing at each other with delight. A couple of Pacificans who’d been watching nearby joined us to help feed the babies. I felt a touch and looked down to see that Marque was tapping me with one of its tentacles. I took the bag it offered me, removed a piece of food, and handed it to one of them.

  We were in a blizzard of blue baby octopuses. When they’d had enough to eat, they started a game of tag with each other, whizzing over the sandy floor. Miko joined them, using her tail as a fin and sweeping through the water, flashing gold amongst their brilliant blues. She laughed as she played with them, a delightful sound I’d never heard before, and my heart lifted to hear her so happy.

  The adult octopus climbed out of the tank and moved slowly with its limited tentacles to the middle of the sandy area. The babies stopped rushing and went quiet as they sat around the adult with their tentacles spread.

  The adult went red all over, then red and white in alternating waves. It went white, then sent out a telepathic message in a single explosive burst that nearly knocked me over. I didn’t receive much of the transfer; the information was too different from my own consciousness, but I saw their homeworld, their history, and their way of life. They lived peacefully in clusters that were similar to human villages, and since gaining sentience had stopped killing and eating each other. The villages worked co-operatively to gather and store food, and some of them cultivated crabs and shellfish to eat, trading between villages. Information was handed down telepathically through generations, making them more like a trans-generational single organism.

  The babies went red and white, then back to blue. The adult released from the sandy floor and floated in the current, obviously dead. The babies gathered and covered it, tearing it into tiny pieces and spreading it in the water to feed the plankton and smaller creatures.

  One of the babies approached me and raised one of its tentacles. I am next talekeeper. Thank you for helping us. It turned and joined the rest of them, scooting through the remains of their elder to spread them through the water. Fish approached to eat it, and crabs scuttled along the sand, collecting pieces in their claws. One of the babies pounced on a crab and quickly devoured it, broadcasting pleasure.

  Five Pacifican children had quietly swum up with their teacher, their large feet moving slowly. They were a more slender blue body type, with their hair clipped short. Rin spoke to the octopuses, and they approached the children carefully.

  The children and the octopuses touched hands to tentacles, then in a sudden and synchronised motion all of them squealed and took off together around the bay to play.

  Rin came up to us. ‘Thank you f
or saving them.’

  ‘I hope we can find their homeworld,’ Miko said. ‘I’ll arrange for a coloured dragon to help me scout, and I won’t stop searching cat space for it.’

  Rin looked out over them. ‘I’m glad you goldenscales are free to use your skills to find them, because you’re the only ones who can.’

  27

  I arrived home very late from the party where I’d been guarding the Empress, to find Bartlett lying with his nose jammed against Haruka’s closed bedroom door. I went into the kitchen where a hot bowl of savoury ramen was already waiting for me, and sat at the table with it.

  ‘They lock you out again, honey?’ I said. ‘Come and sit with me.’

  Bartlett put his head in my lap as I ate. ‘Marque, flip through the major happenings in the Empire.’

  A small, three-dimensional display appeared above the table and Marque showed me the news. There was a story on the octopuses: they’d settled in to Pacifica nicely and were happy. The footage showed them giving Yuki a tour of their little stony village where they cultivated gloriously fluorescent sea slugs.

  ‘I can show you the rest of that later,’ Marque said.

  ‘Thank you. Any news on Aki’s tour of the tombs?’

  The image changed to Aki in an open car, wearing the old-fashioned uniform and waving to the crowd with his wife next to him. He smiled up at his wife, who touched his hand and smiled back. I felt no pain to see him, and it was good. I glanced at Haruka’s bedroom door. I was happy. I wouldn’t change anything.

  Aki stepped out of the car and was met by the archaeological team. They talked for a moment, he shook everybody’s hands, and then they proceeded to the Yayoi Tombs excavation site. He stopped and turned to speak to the gathered vloggers.

  ‘This tomb is my ancestors’, but more importantly a part of Japan’s long history. We will not disturb any of the treasured remains within: we will merely gather images of the way our ancestors – my ancestors – lived their lives. Nothing will be disturbed. This is an exceptional opportunity to add to the history of all Japans, and I’m honoured to be the archaeologist in charge of the site.’

  He turned back to join the other archaeologists on a tour, and the vloggers followed.

  ‘He still says he’d love to catch up,’ Marque said. It lowered its voice. ‘You’ve been with Miko and Haruka for more than a year now, and there’s a great deal of curiosity about the three of you. Meeting the Japanese Emperor with your two spouses would be a good time to explain to the rest of the Empire how your relationship works.’

  I banged the chopsticks on the bowl. ‘Why do we have to explain to anybody how it fucking works?’

  ‘Because we’re royalty,’ Haruka said from his bedroom door. He was wearing a stunning rose-coloured silk robe open to the waist, his creamy skin highlighting his strong chest and abs. Miko was next to him in human form, also wearing one of his robes, but it was way too big for her and it dragged on the floor. ‘And such language from royalty is unbecoming.’

  ‘Deal with it, I’m military,’ I said. ‘Did you make yourself taller, Miko?’

  She looked down at herself. ‘No? Am I?’ She looked up at me, concerned. ‘Am I too tall?’

  ‘No of course not,’ I said, and Haruka said, ‘You’re perfect,’ at the same time.

  Miko’s appearance confirmed my suspicions about her human form: sex with Haruka had just boosted her self-esteem and she appeared bigger, more mature, and more confident. She was taller and more muscular and her face definitely looked older. The dragons claimed that it was our brains making the illusion, but, as usual, that wasn’t the whole truth. Miko altered her human form to appear less threatening by making it small, slender and childlike, and she didn’t even know she was doing it. I would talk to Haruka about it later – we could work together to make our love as brilliant as she could possibly be.

  Miko shook her hands free of the robe’s sleeves and joined me at the table, and Haruka sat next to me on the other side. He put his arm around my shoulders to give me a quick kiss on the cheek, and I kissed him back.

  ‘We have to explain our relationship?’ Miko said, still concerned. ‘I understand that this is the first time a goldenscales has had a relationship with anybody . . .’

  ‘You two are planning to have a baby together,’ Haruka said, ‘and we’ll need to clarify whose it is, otherwise the Royal Household will have fits.’

  ‘Let them,’ I said, drawing Miko in to kiss her as well. I returned to my food; I was starving. It had been a long day of chasing the Empress around as she did her thing. ‘I can’t imagine anything more satisfying than making Tokugawa suffer.’

  ‘They won’t break us up because you’re a Prince, will they?’ Miko said.

  ‘They’re more likely to try to force one of you – probably Jian – to leave the relationship because monogamy is the official stance,’ he said. ‘They’re prefer I was settled down with a suitable . . .’ He choked on the word. ‘Virginal woman.’

  ‘Like they can tell us how to run our lives,’ I said into my ramen.

  ‘They have in the past,’ he said dryly.

  ‘Never again.’

  ‘That’s why I’m living here and not there,’ he said, and smiled at Miko. ‘Among other things.’

  I grinned at both of them. ‘I have a brilliant idea. It will drive Tokugawa nuts and clarify our relationship to everybody in one go.’

  ‘I don’t want to drive anyone nuts,’ Miko said.

  ‘You’re still Prince of New Nippon, right?’ I asked Haruka.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘So what New Nippon needs more than anything right now . . .’ I put my chopsticks over the top of the empty bowl and pushed it away. ‘Is a royal wedding.’

  ‘You and Haruka will get married?’ Miko lowered her head and appeared to physically shrink. ‘I suppose that works.’

  ‘No, of course not,’ Haruka said, reaching around me to touch her shoulder. ‘All three of us. Royal wedding, three participants.’ He grinned with mischief. ‘Jian’s right. That would drive Tokugawa nuts, there’s no precedent and he’d have to do the organising work from scratch. The people of New Nippon would love it. Everybody adores you, Miko, it would cement your status as a full royal dragon. It would be the wedding of the century.’

  ‘All three of us?’ she said, eyes wide. Her appearance grew more confident again.

  ‘Oliver has to be flower boy,’ I said. ‘Mum and Aki, Wedding Squad. No, Aki to preside and do the ceremony. Charlie and the Empress as Wedding Squad – no, Charlie as Wedding General. No, Oliver as Wedding General . . . whatever. I’ll work it out.’

  ‘Western style? Even worse! Tokugawa will . . .’ Haruka switched from Japanese to Euro, ‘. . . have kittens.’ He switched back to Japanese. ‘I want to organise it. Green, blue, silver, gold. Hm. Outfits.’ He glowed with enthusiasm. ‘This will be a lot of fun. Why didn’t I think of this?’

  ‘I’m going to bed,’ I said, and rose. ‘Any objection to me in Miko’s bed?’

  ‘None at all,’ they said in unison, Miko happy and Haruka distracted.

  ‘I’m coming with you,’ Miko said. ‘It’s been a long day of teaching dragons how to gate.’

  ‘I’ll join you in half an hour,’ Haruka said. ‘Shut the door if you want privacy.’

  ‘You’re always welcome, you know that,’ I said. ‘And you know how Miko feels about having both of us at the same time.’

  ‘I don’t know, Jian, our friendship is very important to me. Adding . . .’ he coughed, ‘benefits might change everything and ruin it.’

  ‘We both love Miko, and we’re both marrying her. It would be magnificent.’ I looked down at Miko. ‘I can see from here how excited she is at the concept.’

  She nodded vigorously.

  ‘Well, if it’s what my Princess wants . . .’ Haruka’s gaze went intense. ‘How about saving it for the wedding night?’

  Miko squeaked and jiggled with enthusiasm next to me.

 
; ‘There’s your answer,’ I said. ‘Marque, remind him to come to bed in thirty minutes, and if he’s still out here drawing outfits in an hour – pick him up and physically carry him in. He has an early meeting with the delegation from New Nairobi.’

  ‘I’ll do my best,’ Marque said.

  ‘I’ll only be a minute,’ Haruka said, pulling up a display and a waving a stylus. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t be long.’

  I kissed Miko’s cheek, and we went towards her room with Bartlett following us.

  ‘Jian! Miko!’ he called as we reached the door.

  We turned back and I put my arm around Miko’s shoulders, realising with delight that she appeared nearly as tall as me. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Will you marry me?’

  We clutched each other and laughed, and said in unison, ‘Yes!’

  He raised his arms in an uncharacteristic whoop and said, ‘Engagement rings all around! I need to design them too.’

  ‘Thirty minutes, your Highness,’ I said sternly.

  ‘I’m on my way.’

  SCALES OF EMPIRE

  Book 1 in the Dragon Empire trilogy

  Corporal Jian Choumali is on the mission of a lifetime – security officer on one of Earth’s huge generation ships, fleeing the planet’s failing ecosystem to colonise a nearby star.

  The ship encounters a technologically and culturally advanced alien empire, led by a royal family of dragons. The empire’s dragon emissary offers her aid to the people of Earth, bringing greater health, longer life, and faster-than-light travel.

  But what price will the people of Earth have to pay for the generous alien assistance?

  ‘Scales of Empire is not your average sci-fi adventure. This genderbending inter-stellar romp is full of delightful surprises that kept me enthralled from start to end. I am dragonstruck!’ Traci Harding

  ‘So different to her other books, but unmistakably Kylie Chan . . . Imaginative, epic, and heaps of fun, while still exploring thought-provoking and important themes.’ Alan Baxter

  About the Author