Among Bright Stars... (7 page)

While Veheer spoke, Nadia carefully recorded
this information. It called for deeper consideration. Ambika Sen
instilled in her daughter a respect for balance and karma. The need
to act however overpowered Nadia. “How’s Sharr supposed to ‘save’
this other? This Sun-Angel, Aria I presume? She lives, and has
already been avenged.” Nadia concluded the obvious, that 'the
other' in Veheer’s triad must have meant the reboot. Who else could
it be?

“When the moment presents itself, you’ll
understand.” Veheer’s tone became sad. “It will be painful, but you
Nadia shall endure.”

“What dangers await my husband?” Nadia
worried. “Tell me that I may prevent them!”

The Oracle clicked her tongue. “I cannot,”
again the somber voice. “Things must unfold on this strand or your
kind, both Morningstar and Falcanian would be wiped out. The
Annunaki won't abide new gods. Humanity itself would be lost to
slavery if you fail.”

“Do not play games!” Nadia said, violence
swelled within her.

“Time is a delicate equilibrium,” Veheer
reminded. “It is not easily mutable, not without dire consequences
if one tries to meddle with it. Each of us must endure the
vibrations spun upon the web of fate. We are causality itself, and
yet also are we its thrall.”

Then quite abruptly the labyrinth of rooms
faded, and with them The Oracle vanished. Nadia and her Valküri
stood alone in a large empty warehouse. Confused, the Queen found
herself less certain than she thought that she ought to be. Nadia
closed her eyes, and tried to reach out with her mind to find a
trace of Veheer. None could be discovered. Had she simply been a
projection? She had felt tangible enough. It could though have been
a very strong illusion. Her guess though, there was more to Veheer
then what little the Oracle let be known.

[London England, Red Draco Pub]

Guillaume LaSalle’s iron strength quickly
felled Zafar Saladin, who surrendered to Frenchman in their arm
wrestling battle. Not that LaSalle didn’t always win. “And you
hardly broke a sweat.” Laughed the Jordanian, as always awed by
Gee’s excellent muscles. “Sure built some strength on that Gascony
goose farm of yours.”

Commander Guillaume LaSalle sat back in the
old pub’s booth, took a drag from his long curved clay pipe, and
savored his victory. The herb laced tobacco soothed him.

“You seem troubled?” Asked Lieutenant
Saladin.

“What Zafar?”

“You have that look about you my friend.”
The science officer pointed out. “Do not deny it Gee, how long have
we been friends? I know you too well.”

A smoke ring circled Guillaume’s head, he
took a swig from his mug and he said. “Our planet's reaction to
learning that humans are nothing more but an abandoned slave race
and its somewhat predictable response bothers me.” Not that it
should matter much to him, Gee wasn't exactly human. “This shall
not end well.” Nothing good came out of the
DSV Excalibur
’s
original mission. They welcomed these Iksar’rang to Earth as an
occupation force and strong arm to be utilized by the Imperium.
“People aren’t falling over themselves with joy at the release of
those DNA charts.” He harrumphed. “Wonders shall never cease,” Gee
LaSalle said dourly. “Aliens proclaim humanity to be an engineered
slave species of ancient Sumerian ‘gods’ and what happens? It
unites both the scientific and religious communities in
contempt.”

“It is a unique occurrence, that’s for
sure.”

“You’ve not been too vocal about the topic?”
Gee LaSalle realized.

“Even if these Annunaki did build us, it
matters not at all,” the science officer sounded very reasonable
and well resolved about the notion, more so than many LaSalle
witnessed who talked about the subject. “Allah remains the ultimate
power in creation; even these would be gods must answer to him in
the end.”

“The Budjah response is of course: ‘Let’s go
kick the Universe in the ass.’ And bring the truth to the stars.”
Gee LaSalle reminded his friend of the root of Bishop Styx’s
declaration as a counterpoint to the Iksar’rang’s revelations of
human origins. “What a work of art it is, ‘The Second Reformation:
Blue Catholic Bible’. It’s a setup for a galactic war –“

Then the visage of Sharr Khan Mingh Drakonis
interrupted the soccer game (or rather football) which had been on
the holoviewer at the center of the pub. “Citizens of Earth,”
proclaimed Sharr Khan from behind a lectern, on which the Falcanian
Phoenix emblem had been emblazoned. “Today my forces struck against
the American Imperium.”

LaSalle swallowed heavily, thought:
It
has begun...
He'd hoped that his King would be pleased by the
result. A part of Guillaume wanted to bring Zafar Saladin into the
underground, but Odin had been explicit in his wish to keep things
on the down low. The Falcanians acted on the intelligence
information, which at King Odin’s behest, Guillaume LaSalle
provided for them. Gee’s blonde interrogator, supposedly another of
his fellow Morningstars showed she was less than convinced when she
questioned him about the nanotechnology virus. Given recent
developments, it appeared as though he’d nevertheless succeeded in
his mission.

[Tehran, Iran: Queen T’Kara’s Hotel
Suite]

Lark Douglas:
You were born Nadezhda
Korelia August 12, 1980, to Doctors Turhan Korelia and Ambika Sen
in Calcutta India. By all accounts, a child prodigy. The first
child born of their Morningstar Project. An experiment in a new
type of genetic engineer –

Queen T’Kara:
Yes! Well it’s true
Miss Douglas, my parents engaged in, how shall I say, cutting edge
science. They really deserved to be awarded for it. My birth is the
result of their research. You must understand, my mother was
infertile, they both wanted a child. No other solution – But for
the one they discovered made that possible. If you met Ambika Sen,
you’d understand why she couldn’t simply settle for having a child
the old fashioned way. Their discovery... It gave the world the
artificial womb, which has since helped other women have
children.

Lark Douglas:
You’re being far too
modest your Highness. Besides you’re a telepath? We know that
doesn’t just happen, governments engineer special operatives to
have that gift.

Queen T’Kara:
Indeed, that was a
later addition. Thanks to Dr. Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of
morphogenetic fields, and the discovery of the cells that bear his
name, we can engineer telepathy. A discovery of a near-extinct
instinct utilized to the effect of mind reading, as well as um,
other abilities.

Lark Douglas:
Just before 9/11 you
met your mate, the Shotar. From what I’ve gathered, that was an
important moment in Falcanian history. Without you, there would be
no Falcanian Khanate, no winged beings to patrol the skies. You and
your family helped secure land in India. Beyond the reach of the
former United States, you conducted your own experiments, and out
of Kuras, came the first Falcanians. I do know a thing or two about
your Dr. Ambika Sen. It seems, she has close connections in the
Indian Parliament. Once the Khanate was recognized as a sovereign
nation, you and your husband helped repay the Indian government by
using your warriors to invade Pakistan.

Queen T’Kara:
Even we cannot escape
the intricacies of politics. We did what had to be done to secure
peace in the region. With the USA destroyed there chaos ran rampant
across the globe, the mountain areas had to be brought under
control, a hot bed of terrorism. It’s too bad the local government
couldn’t bring the situation to a conclusion. They were either
unable or unwilling to act.

Lark Douglas:
Isn’t that what you’re
doing now? Attempting to rein in the Imperium?

Queen T’Kara:
We are doing what we
need to survive.

Lark Douglas:
But at what cost?

Queen T’Kara:
I ask myself that
everyday Miss Douglas.

Lark Douglas:
Let’s talk about your
mate; rumor has it that the Shotar is a great gift giver. What was
the first gift he ever gave you?

Queen T’Kara:
A purple teddy bear and
a set of gold and copper bangles, they make a most satisfying
clang. He brought flowers for my Mother.

Lark Douglas:
That’s impressive,
jewelry for a first date.

Lark Douglas:
Up there in space are
being built three battlecruisers: The
Arshira's Ascension
,
T’Kara’s Tears
, and an as yet unnamed third vessel. Why did
your husband name one of his battlecruisers “T’Kara’s Tears”? Was
that some kind of apology intended for you? Do you think he’ll name
the other vessel after Aria DeFalco – his third wife? There seems
to be a trend.

Queen T’Kara:
My husband is given to
poetics; he’s just honoring me in his own manner. I couldn’t be
certain what name he’s chosen for the third battlecruiser.

Lark Douglas:
But what tears have you
shed that he feels must be memorialized?

Queen T’Kara:
We’ve had... [Ed. This
is the first time in the interview the Queen appears to be
unnerved.] ...I shouldn’t talk about it.

Lark Douglas:
All couples have
problems you’re Highness, nothing to be ashamed of.
[Lark: WOW!
This is such a human moment. I wish that I could put to words the
expression on Nadia’s face, it’s a look of total devastation, she
tries to hide it, but it’s hard to conceal a broken heart.]

Queen T’Kara:
I know he loves me...
[Ed. There are hints of tears.]

Abruptly Lark’s interview ceased, Sharr
Khan’s global address had just begun.

“Citizens of Earth, today my forces struck
against the American Imperium.” He glanced down at his notes. “Our
actions were deemed necessary for our own survival. You see, the
Imperium had developed technology given to them by the Iksar’rang.
A nanotechnology virus intended to be released upon my people, its
single intent, our absolute extinction.” Sharr spoke in a
declarative manner, made it sound as if there would be no debate
about the issue. Indeed to the Falcanian there was none.

“Is this true you’re Highness?” Douglas
probed.

“Yes.” Nadia told her simply.

“We have secured the virus, as well as the
research and those who developed it.” The Shotar evenly explained.
“At this time the Falcanian sixth battle group, with joint support
from the Shogunate’s war fleet has occupied the coast of Alaska,
and taken control of the Iksar’rang base there. We will broach no
further counter attack by the Imperium.” Sharr threatened.

Nadia’s brilliant blue eyes glanced away
from the holoviewer; here would be the sticking point. They hoped
to keep the Imperium in a stalemate and prevent them from a counter
assault upon Falcanian assets. A gambit that could easily spin out
of control.

“Various nuclear devices have been planted
in the area, and we will use them if we are attacked.” Sharr Khan
said definitively. There then came a pause in Sharr’s speech, an
interval that Nadia had dreaded since the invasion had been
finalized, but the point had to be made clear that the Khanate
meant what it said, an example must be shown. She knew her husband
so enjoyed object lessons.

[Falcanian Occupied Alaska]

Various nuclear devices have been planted
in the area, and we will use them if we are attacked.
Arshira
listened as Sharr, her mate, and her master, whom she had sold
herself to set out his ultimatum. Behind her stood both Kulcarin
Aranskrai, and Imperial Strato-General Shuriken Kra, her mentor,
and friend, both waited for her to act on cue.

“He’s waiting.” Shuriken Kra gently
reminded. “You have my authorization to use the nuke.” Shuriken had
never dreamed that he would ever give such an order. They had come
so far since the original conception of the Phoenix Project.

Arshira’s finger lingered over the button,
felt Kulcarin’s feral expression as he glared. It occurred to her
that Sharr had taken the planned pause in his speech, and that he
could only remain silent for so long. Eyes tightly shut; Arshira
compressed the button that would signal the nuke to explode. Off in
the distance she felt the detonation.
What a waste...

[IFV Arshira's Ascension, Near Earth
Orbit]

“A small nuclear weapon has just been
detonated in an unpopulated region, one still scarred from The Burn
many years ago.” Sharr Khan explained from behind his lectern. “If
any move is struck against us, we shall detonate other such bombs.”
Sharr spoke in a cold flat tone which brokered no reproach. “We
shall provide proof of the Imperium’s intents, but not the weapon
itself to the world body. Our actions are just.”

Down below, Earth went to high alert.
Leaders of all stripes, from the corporate-nation states, to living
computers had to choose how to respond. One leader watched the
event unfold in his palace common room, as circumstances would have
it, a Falcanian Princess happened to be there with him, along with
her burly Drakorian Guards. Darius thought the object lesson that
the Shotar just visited upon the Imperium to be courageous, daring
and worthy of his support.

“Let us forge a peace from this destruction,
let us help end hostilities before they escalate beyond our
control.” Sharr outlined for his audience. “I await Imperator
Romulus’s reply.” And with that the holographic transmission
ended.

[Falcanian Occupied Alaska]

“Dining over split-atoms?”

Arshira sat in the cafeteria, a half-eaten
MRE steamed in front of her. She pushed a piece of sprakzir-pig
around with her steel irajik utensil, and poked it through with the
sharpened points. Honey-blonde curls loosely hung around
Frederika's heart shaped face. Blankly, the Valküri Sub-Commander
gazed at the crispy sprakzir-pig and cheese curd.