The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (6 page)

Chapter 13

Caroline

“Hey,
where's Taner?” the guy said.

“Lord
Taner is busy now,” I replied.  “Who is calling, please?”

“Thad
Mattson.  I need to talk to him, him or Berkan.  Are they around or has the Big
Guy killed them?”

“Oh
hey, Thad,” I cried.  “This is Caroline Adamson.  Remember me?  You rescued me
on Derius II.  I'm Katie's friend from the Discovery.”

“Right,
right,” Thad nodded.  “You were the nurse who worked for Jerry.”

“Jerry
Waldman,” I sighed.  “Now that is a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”

“Actually,
nobody has heard it especially since he changed his name.”  Thad chortled until
he started coughing.

“What
in the heck did he change his name to?” I asked.

“Dr.
Moonbeam.”  Thad broke into another fit of laughter.  “He’s living on Derius II
now, in the nice part though.  He’s got a clinic called the Holistic Health
Center and he spends his days doling out flowers and teaching yoga lessons.”

“You
have got to be kidding me,” I gasped.

“Yeah. 
Get this.  He left Janet practically at the altar and then reincarnated himself
as a new age hippie vegan.  Of course, Janet’s a little scary.  If I was
somehow coerced into marrying her, I might have run off and done the same
thing.”

“Wow.”
 I glanced at my ring.  “Poor old Jerry just wasn’t lucky with women.”

“I
don't know about that,” Thad continued.  “He was lucky to escape while he could. 
Anyway, Caroline, I've got more important stuff to tell Taner.  Could you
possibly patch me through to him?”

“No,”
I declared.  “They're both in meetings trying to do everything they can to stop
this invasion.”

“You
think they can do anything?”

“I
don't think so, but what do I know?  Seems like most Rehnorians think Rozari
should belong to the Empire, and the Imperial SpaceNavy is all for it.  It gives
them a chance to demonstrate all their fancy new equipment.  Nobody's going to
say no to HIM either.  If he wants it, he's going to get it.  You’re not home
on Rozari now are you?”

“Nah,
I’m off in space.  I spoke to my mom yesterday though and just about everyone is
scared shitless.”  Thad laughed again.  “Except my mom of course.”

“Well
I can have Taner ring you back as soon as he finishes up,” I offered and just
as I said this Taner walked through the door.  “Hi honey!” I called.  He came
over and kissed my check.  His bushy mustache tickled me and despite having
Thad hanging on the line there watching this, I giggled.

“Taner?”
Thad said.  “You old dog you!  You and Caroline?”

Taner
smiled back at him, proudly I thought.  “Senya had it right when he said one Human
girl was just the ticket.”  He put his hand on my shoulder, and I blushed like
a school girl.

“Well,
speaking of,” Thad said, "I have a spaceplane en route to Imperial
Spacebase 29 in the Cascadia sector.  Can you send a couple Imperial planes to
rendezvous with it?  And do me a favor, put Prince Shika aboard one so he can
say hi to his mom.”

“Katie's
coming home!” I squealed.

“Well,
not exactly,” Thad replied.  “She's determined to go to Rozari.  She's asked my
dad to set up a meeting with the Allied President and the Governor of Rozari. 
She wants to try to negotiate something since you guys don’t seem to be making
any progress.”

“Will
your father be able to do that?” Taner asked.

“Meh. 
Maybe,” Thad shrugged, “The Alliance is nervous after that little display you
guys put on last week and the fact that you have a couple ships sitting in our
sector.”

“Thank
the Saint,” Taner sighed.  “We will take care of it, Thad.  I will be on the
spaceplane and brief Her Imperial Highness as soon as I meet with her.  Just
today, HIM has started his rant again about going to Rozari, to the Karupatani
Temple there.  Perhaps Madame can arrange that, and it will satisfy him instead
of an invasion.”

“Thanks
Taner.  And don't forget to send a second spaceplane.  I've got another little
surprise for you.  Ron's uncle Tuman is coming home.  What do you know?  He was
hiding out on the same planet as Katie all these years.”

“Tuman?”
Taner gasped as Thad rang off.  “Blessed Saint, how did this come about?”

“Taner,”
I said.  “Why don't you put HIM on a plane instead of Shika?  Maybe if, Miss
Katie will satisfy HIM then no one will need to go to Rozari at all.”

“Ah,
you're very clever my little lamb,” he replied.  “Why don't we take a break for
lunch and you can show me exactly what you mean by that.”

“Oh
Taner, now hush,” I cried and forwarded my vid to Deka.

Chapter 14

Shika

It
was really weird meeting my mom again after all this time.  I mean, half my
life went by while she was gone missing but when she asked me what was new, I
couldn't think of a thing. 

Of
course, she hugged and kissed me a lot and kept holding onto my arm, which I
really didn't mind at all.  I forgot how little she was.  Actually, maybe I
never realized how little she was because I was always smaller.  Now, I was a whole
lot bigger.  She kept looking at me and shaking her head, saving over and over
how I looked like my dad even though my hair was military short and light brown
not long and black like his.

Taner
left us alone for a while, and we talked and talked about everything I was
doing and I found myself just going on and on about school and Petya and all
the problems I had.  She listened to my every word, staring intently the whole
time like she really cared, too.  She asked me what my dad thought of this, and
that and when I told her, I hadn't spoken to him since right after she left, her
face scrunched up like she was either really mad or about to cry.  It turned
out that meant she was mad because, in her next breath, she started swearing
and calling him all sorts of names. 

At
this point, Taner came back in and started telling her all about what was going
to happen when she came back to Mishnah.  That probably was about the worst
possible time to bring up that subject.  A doctor guy came in too and fixed up
the wound on her arm and then Taner told my mom she needed an injection.

“Is
it tetanus?” she asked while the doctor guy popped his needle into her arm. 

“Uh,
no,” Taner said.  “It’s a tracking chip.  But we can get you a tetanus too if
you like.”

My
mom went ballistic at that point and started screaming how she didn't give a
damn if it was the Evil Emperor's order that she got this.  She demanded that
the doctor take it back out, or she would cut it out herself.  Taner started
laughing although none of us knew why.  After that, he forbade any one to have
a knife around my mom.  Then he and the doctor left, and it was just mom and me
and Auntie Luci again for a little while.  I was able to calm her down by
telling her about my plans to join the Imperial SpaceNavy and become a ship
captain.  She thought that was a totally awesome idea and perked up again
telling me about all the adventures on her ship and how I was born in space,
and maybe I belonged out here.  I didn’t tell her about my ride on the Queen of
Altaris and how I gave the order to blow up the planet.  I wasn’t sure how
she’d react to that since she thought it was her mission to keep my dad out of
Rozari.

By
the time we got to Rozari the next day, my mom was feeling better.  Auntie Luci
had done her hair and made sure she dressed appropriately, so she was looking very
Empress-like again.  My valet had put out a nice suit for me, so I think I was
looking pretty Prince-like too.  Of course, my mom and Luci went on and on how
handsome I looked which I guess I did.  In fact, Auntie Luci whispered to me
that I was more attractive than my dad because at least I was normal looking.

Taner
was drinking coffee and eating breakfast with mom and Luci when I came in.  Mom
got over her mad at him and was laughing about the fact that he got married to
her old friend Caroline who was a tall, Human lady with grey-brown hair and
some kind of weird southern accent.  When I first saw her a few months ago, she
kept pinching my cheeks and telling me how she fed me my first bottle and that
I was exactly 8 lbs 2 ozs, 21 ½ inches when I was born.

“So
Madame,” Taner was saying as I pulled up a chair.  “Do you think you can
arrange for HIM to go to the Temple in Karupatani?   Perhaps we will all be
fortunate, and he will decide after that he has no further interest in the
planet.”

“I
think Tuman should go with him if he's going to go there,” my mom said and
smiled at me.  “Aren't you gorgeous today?”

“Mom,”
I sighed and gave the attendant my breakfast order which was a waffle,
strawberries, cinnamon French toast, turkey bacon and turkey ham and a large
glass of milk.  “Oh, I also want a bowl of fruit loops.  Tuman who?  My
cousin?”

“No
honey.  Tuman is also your dad's uncle.  Grandpa Sorkan's brother, Uncle Rekah's
dad.  He's back too.”

“Cool?”

“Yeah,
cool,” my mom agreed.  “So Thad has already spoken to SdK General Counsel, and
they are prepared to make a case that he has the right to visit the Temple
under the Alliance's Religious Freedom Act.  We think we can convince them that
the Alliance would be violating the civil rights of the descendants of Karukan
by not allowing them to express their religious preferences.  There are
precedents both in the Alliance and Earth case law, upon which the Allied laws
are based, that date back several centuries.”

“And
you think you will be able to convince them of this?” Taner asked skeptically.

“Tuman
was, prior to his departure, training to be the High Priest of Karupatani.  Of
course, Senya as Emperor is the titular head of the Karupatani State whether on
Rehnor or Rozari.  Our case is that the Temple which had been restored by Senya,
I might add, has never been consecrated.  Tuman will do that since there are no
Karuptas currently living on Rozari.  It should be a slam dunk.”

“It
probably will help that we have all those starships in the sector too,” I
commented, waving for the attendant to get me a second bowl of fruit loops. 
“No, wait.  I’d rather have corn pops.”

“Probably,”
Mom agreed.  “I'm going to offer to pull them out afterward and also grant them
a fair amount of money for their troubles.  Thad also suggested I give them the
Takira-hahr estate as a personal gift in exchange for unlocking the Kalika-hahr
campus.  I'm still thinking about that one.”

“And
we will be able to secure the area while HIM and Prince Tuman are there?” Taner
asked.

“Of
course,” Mom replied.  “We will require a security dome over the entire area
and as many Imperial Guards as the security force requires.  I'm also going to
remind them that we have EMP Control on our ships and should anyone attempt to
do anything at all curious, we will disable the entire planet if we have to. 
We'll send them back to the dark ages without nuking them.”

“You're
so smart, Madame,” Auntie Luci said.

“I
do think it may work.”  Taner smiled and nodded.  “What will you do?  Will you
go with them to Rozari?”

“I
think Madame should come back to Mishnah.  We have so much to catch up on.  So
much work that has been neglected during her absence,” Auntie Luci added.

Mom
looked at me.

“I'm
going to go back to Earth.  Right now, I feel like I've got to go visit your gramma
and see my father's grave.  I've got to finish the trip I started before I can
move back to Mishnah.”

Taner
cleared his throat.  “HIM will never grant you permission for that.”

“It's
non-negotiable,” Mom replied.  “Furthermore, he doesn't seem too concerned with
my whereabouts.  You and Berkan may be, but as far as I can tell, he has no
interest other than chipping me and putting me in handcuffs.”  She held up her
wrists and rattled the thick gold bracelets she had to wear now.  “I guess I
should be glad I don't have a collar around my neck too.  Woof, woof.”

“HIM
is very concerned for your safety, Madame,” Auntie Luci said.  “The bracelets
will prevent you from going anywhere that is unsecured and dangerous to you.”

“The
Alliance will never allow you to go to Earth,” Taner insisted.

“Oh,
it will.”  My mom shook her head.  “The Alliance will do anything for the right
amount of money.  It is the Emperor that needs to understand that this is a condition
on my part.  You may send an entire security team with me if you like.  You may
put a security dome over my mother's house.  You can secure every damn door. 
You can orbit the planet with a starship.  I don't care.  I am going to go to
Earth even if I have to cut off my hands to get rid of these.”

“For
how long?” I asked.

“I
don't know.  Do you want to come with me?”

I
thought about that for a moment.  I kind of would like to go.  I was a little
worried that she would disappear again, and if I went with her, at least I could
make sure she came back.  Of course, if her security team was with her, they
would make sure she came back too.

“School
starts next week, Sir,” Auntie Luci reminded me.  “You and Petya are moving to
your dorm room on Friday, are you not?”

“That's
fine,” Mom replied.  “You don't need to come.  I may even try and bring Gramma
back here with me.”

“Ok,”
I agreed.  “But you won't be gone too long, will you?”

“I
don't know,” she shrugged, “I'm kind of in a precarious position here.  I'm
supposed to be the Empress, but I'm not sure if I'm still married to the
Emperor or just a slave of the state.”  She banged the bracelets against the
table.

“Oh,
you are still married,” Taner insisted.  “He hasn't said anything to the
contrary, and I can assure you, he's been...uhem…entirely faithful.”  Taner
glanced at me.

“Well,
I'm not sure I want to be.”  Mom lifted her chin.  “Being married implies that
you actually live together and occasionally speak to each other.  I know he's
the Supreme Big Guy in the galaxy right now, but it would have been awfully
nice if he had at least sent me a letter and welcomed me back to sanity.”

“That
would require a return to sanity on his part as well,” Auntie Luci remarked
with a smile.

“It
would also have been nice if you guys found me and maybe rescued me some time
before eight years had passed,” Mom added.

Taner
looked embarrassed.

“You're
back now and that's what's important,” I said.

“Right,”
Mom agreed and then smiled at me.  “Geez, I just can't get enough of looking at
you.  You're like eye candy in addition to being utterly brilliant.”

I
rolled my eyes.  It was nice to be adored.