Spirit of Empire 4: Sky Knights (59 page)

“It might not be what you think,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“She just woke up to a gift that I’m told is the most valuable commodity in the Empire if it could be bought or sold. She’s been given a Rider. I have a feeling she’s getting acquainted with her Rider right now. We’re far less important to her at the moment. Let’s see how things are in a few days.”

Nbara’s eyes lost their focus. “She has a Rider? How is that possible?”

“It doesn’t matter how.” Atiana answered. “It was the only way to keep her alive. Your daughter is not lost to you, Mayor, not yet. You know what she did. She’s a true hero who played a huge part in saving me and all of us. Be proud of her.”

“I
am
proud of her. I’ve always been proud of her,” Nbara said, looking fondly at her daughter as tears of hope fell. “But a Rider? Riders aren’t for such as us. I can’t even imagine how it will affect her life.”

“Let’s just hope the Rider can heal her,” Atiana said. “The rest will be what it will be.”

* * * * *

Quarantines were a rare occurrence within the Empire, but when they were necessary, they were thorough. A mobile quarantine center orbited Aldebaran I. It took ten days to activate it, then a long process of moving people from the frigate to the quarantine center began.

Each person went into a decontamination chamber on the frigate, removed their clothing, and stepped through a decontaminating wash. They then entered a sterile bubble and were transported through an air lock into another decontamination center. There, they suffered through another decontaminating wash, the bubble melting in the process. Finally, they walked freely into the quarantine center, chose clothing from a wide selection, and received a room assignment.

Claire went through the process on a floater. When she reached the quarantine center, her mother was waiting. Medical tanks went through a similar process, though their occupants were not fully admitted to the quarantine center until they, too, underwent the sterilization process

The initial quarantine period was set at six months, but after examining fragments of the super peicks, sector scientists announced that a quarantine was unnecessary. Akurea, keeping in mind the threat foreseen by the Leaf People, nevertheless insisted on at least three months.

The fact that they were under quarantine did not stop others from communicating with them. Seeton called Akurea, Atiana, and Lebac to a video meeting.

“We’re here to discuss what happens next,” he said when they had all gathered.

“Are we going to sterilize the planet?” Akurea asked.

“No,” he answered. “We considered it, but it’s not necessary at this point, and once done, it’s a process that cannot be reversed. We’ll keep our options open. We are, however, going to relocate the gleasons from Tranxte to Harac.”

“Someone is looking into the issue of preventing super peicks from entering those ships as they drop their cargoes?” Akurea asked.

Seeton nodded. “I’ve had a fairly simple theoretical plan demonstrated to me.”

“I’m told I need some fast transporters to move the gleasons,” Atiana said.

Seeton frowned as he shook his head. “I don’t have any fast transporters, Your Majesty. We’ve only modified fighting ships and some hospital ships into fast ships.”

“The ship we lost at Harac would hold many gleasons, and I’m told you have plenty of them.”

Seeton brought a hand to his chin and scratched his goatee as he considered, but he ended up shaking his head again. “You’re right, though I’m not sure what condition the ships would be in afterwords.” She started to retort, but he held up a hand and continued. “I know—that doesn’t matter. What matters is that all my fast ships are spoken for.”

“You once told me you’d do whatever it took to cleanse Tranxte of gleasons.”

“I know. Timing is the issue here. We’re finally going after the Chessori, and it’s a massive effort taking every fast ship we have.” He stared at her, not certain she would accept his argument. “This battle is important, Your Majesty. In the long run, it’s even important to Tranxte.”

“Where people, lots of people, die every day.”

He nodded. “Agreed. I don’t know the timing of our great battle. I promise to send fast ships when I can.” He paused, then added, “Or I could send regular ships now. We have lots and lots of them.”

“What does that mean?”

“A fast ship would make the trip in a week or so. Our regular ships will take seven or eight weeks.”

She bit her lip and turned away while she considered. When she turned back to him, she said, “We planned to make the gleasons sleep on the ship. They cannot sleep for weeks.”

“No, they can’t. We’ll have to provide food and water.”

“They refuse to eat in captivity. I can’t even imagine how horrid the living conditions would become inside those ships.”

“Nor can I, though I really don’t care about the gleasons’ comfort. We can seal off the cargo holds from the rest of the ship so our men remain safe. If you can convince the gleasons that they’re passengers, not captives, they might eat. The Rebels brought the gleasons to Tranxte on regular ships, so we know it can be done. How many gleasons do we need to relocate?”

“It’s a number I don’t understand, but there are many thousands of them,” she answered.

Lebac spoke up. “We’re estimating some 250,000, but we should plan on 500,000 gleasons.”

Seeton’s eyebrows rose. “So many?”

“Yes, sir. They’re breeding as we speak. They have short lives, but they make up for it by breeding in large numbers, and they grow to adulthood quickly. Because of that and the fact that we can’t really see them to count them, our estimates have always been a moving target and probably not very accurate, which is why I suggest doubling our best guess.”

“I’m getting the impression we need to pick all of them up at the same time, not do this in waves.”

“We do. We’ll never get to the end of them if we give them time to keep breeding between waves.”

“We don’t have that many troop transporters.”

“They’re not going to sleep in beds,” Lebac said. “Cargo ships might actually work better, and it’s probably easier to seal off those cargo bays from the rest of the ship. A thousand gleasons per ship means 500 ships.”

Seeton grimaced, but he nodded his head. “We can do that. I’d rather do it with military ships.”

Lebac frowned. “I suppose we could use cruisers. We could clear out the hangar decks and leave the fighters behind. You’re probably talking extensive repairs when we’re done.”

“But hangar bays can be opened to vacuum when necessary,” Seeton said thoughtfully. His gaze settled on each of them momentarily. “I’m thinking about after we drop them on Harac.”

“In case some don’t get off the ship,” Lebac finished the thought for Atiana’s benefit. “We’ll want to get some experts involved in the planning. They’ll have to modify the hangar bays if we’re going to feed and water the creatures and maybe protect some of the installed systems.” He looked hard at Seeton. “Or, we could just open the doors as soon as we reach space.”

Seeton frowned. “The thought crossed my mind, but no.”

Lebac shrugged. “Just an option, sir.”

“I understand. Our engineers are already working on modifications. I’ll make sure the work gets a high priority. When will you be ready?”

Atiana did not hesitate. “Immediately, assuming I can get agreement from the gleasons.”

Seeton’s eyebrows rose. “You’ll definitely need their cooperation. Can you get it?”

“I have to get it. They either come willingly or they die, but one way or another I’m calling an end to this abomination.”

* * * * *

Claire improved slowly but steadily during the ensuing weeks. Word spread through the quarantine center about what she had done, and a steady stream of friends and visitors helped keep boredom at bay.

Atiana came into sick bay one morning to find Claire wobbling along the edge of her bed, dragging one leg. She crossed the intervening space quickly and took one of Claire’s arms, but Claire turned to her with a stern look.

“No!” she said.

Both of them looked at each other in surprise. It was the first word Clair had spoken.

“Oh, well done, Claire,” Atiana breathed. Her grip on Claire’s arm tightened. “I won’t do the work for you. I’ll just keep you from falling, I promise.”

The two of them worked their way around the room for a while. When she’d had enough, Claire worked her way to a chair and sat, but she did not let go of Atiana. Instead, with her strong arm she maneuvered Atiana to the deck in front of her. Atiana faced her on her knees. Claire leaned forward with brimming eyes and planted a messy kiss on Atiana’s forehead, then lifted her weak hand to Atiana’s neck with her strong hand. She then placed her strong hand on the other side of Atiana’s neck and pressed down to keep Atiana in place.

Claire closed her eyes and a long minute passed, then Atiana heard,
>I’m back! Don’t move.<

Her eyes widened as she felt Claire’s hold on her tighten. Overjoyed, she asked Stren,
>Are you certain? Doesn’t she need you?<

>Riders don’t like to share hosts. I’ve done everything I can for her. Ariana will take it the rest of the way.<

>You mean . . .?<

>Yes. She has her own Rider now. They chose a name similar to yours.<

Atiana swallowed hard.
>Will Claire ever fully recover?<

>Of course she will. It’s what Riders do.<
A minute or so later she heard,
>Okay, it’s done.<

Claire dropped her hands from Atiana’s neck, but Atiana took Claire’s strong hand in both of her own. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” Claire managed to say with some degree of clarity. She leaned forward and planted another kiss on Atiana’s forehead, then remained leaning forward with her eyes closed and her  forehead pressed to Atiana’s.

* * * * *

Havlock came out of the tank a few weeks later. Atiana was sitting beside his bed when his eyes opened. They stayed looking straight ahead, then without moving his head, his eyes turned to the side and found hers. An instant smile that spread to his eyes filled his face.

“I knew you’d be here,” he whispered.

“Always and forever,” she said. Then with a twinkle in her eyes, she said, “Get up. I have work for you.”

His gaze did not waver from her, but the smile stayed in place. “As you will, Your Majesty.”

“What happened to
My Lady?”

The smile grew. “Come here,” he said a little stronger.

She leaned over him, and their lips found each other.

* * * * *

Josh came out of the tank a few weeks after Havlock, though the doctors insisted on another two weeks of bedrest. His neck had indeed been broken by the super peick, and despite the presence of a Rider, his spinal cord was not yet strong enough to suffer another incident of any kind.

* * * * *

The Queen called for them the moment the quarantine ended. A shuttle brought them down from orbit and landed beneath her cruiser, then they worked their way to her conference room. She stood up as Josh, Havlock, and Claire walked in unassisted but with canes to steady themselves. Akurea, Atiana and Galborae followed them, and Seeton brought up the rear.

Atiana and Galborae reached her and went to a knee, but she clapped her hands strongly. “We’ll have none of that. Not among us, even for those of you who can.” She motioned to the chairs and couches. “Make yourselves comfortable, as comfortable as you can,” she corrected herself, looking at the three with crutches. “I know the facts of your mission, but I want to hear them from you directly. Decisions of Imperial significance have to be made.”

Claire, already as nervous as could be in the presence of the Queen, sat up as straight as her bent body would allow when the Queen approached her, then knelt down before her. “I know your story, or at least some of it,” she said, looking into Claire’s eyes. “Since the beginning of the revolution, we have a new rule: I must Test you before this meeting can proceed. May I?”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Claire said, her words much clearer than they had been even a few days earlier.

Ellie reached out to Claire and placed hands on each side of Claire’s head, then she was in. This was not a brief Testing as she had expected. What she found intrigued her, and she took her time. When she was done, she removed her hands from Claire, but she did not stand. Instead, she leaned back on her heels and stared long and thoughtfully at Claire. When she stood up, her eyes left Claire and went to Otis who had remained in the background.

“We have another Val,” she said, the wonder in her voice clear to everyone.

Otis shook his head, tossing his great mane. “Indeed,” he growled. “That would bear further investigation.”

“In time,” Ellie agreed.