The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (9 page)

Chapter 18

Sorkan

I
had taken to meeting with my son every so often just before dawn.  I came to
his office around 3AM and let myself in.  Often, he was at his desk busily
working, though sometimes he was already out on the terrace smoking a cigarette
and pacing in his awkward gait.  Usually, he was alone.  This night he was on
the terrace leaning against the balustrade.  It was a dark night with the moons
in their descent and the clouds obscuring the stars and satellites that would
otherwise light the sky.

“Hello
Senya,” I said as I took my usual place on the step.  “How are you feeling this
night?”

“Sorkan,”
he replied.  He smoked one cigarette and as soon as it was finished, he lit
another. 

This
was one habit I had never acquired.  I did not like the taste of these Mishnese
cigarettes, and the drug that was in them did nothing for my body.  My son had
told me, he had smoked these things since he was six years old, since the time
he came to live on the streets of Old Mishnah.  I wish I had known he was
living there then.  I wish I had put down my bottle and went to find him.  I
wish I had brought him back to Karupatani and raised him there with me. 

“You
will go to Rozari tomorrow with Tuman,” I stated.  “Would you like me to come
with you as well?”

“No,”
he shook his head.  “Tuman will do.”

“Will
he?” I asked and watched his face in the shadows of the night.  I knew him
well.  I was not telepathic as he, but somehow, I could feel his thoughts.  He
turned away from me.  “Tell me Senya, will he save you from yourself?”

He
didn’t answer.  It started to rain lightly and soon my clothing was damp on my
skin.

“I
want to leave,” he said, speaking so softly I could barely hear his words.  “I
want to fly away.”

“Then
go,” I replied.  “What stops you?”

“I
can't.”

“Are
you afraid of what you might do to yourself?  You alone have chosen to make
your life unbearable, my son.  You alone can choose to be at peace again.”

“You
don’t understand.  I cannot be at peace until I am free.”

“In
this lifetime, Sehron, you will not be free.  Come now.  I grow weary of your
petulance.  I grow weary of your melancholy.  I pray you will find the peace
you seek in the Temple of Karupatani with my brother to aid you.”

“Perhaps.”

“Tell
me, what are your intentions for Rozari?”  It began to rain harder now.  I
would have liked to go inside.

“Rozari
will join the Empire,” my son replied.  He stood up straight and moved back
toward the door.  “Some will flee, some will fight, most will accept this and
in six months’ time they will rejoice at their new found prosperity and forget
that they had ever lived within the Alliance.”

I
nodded.  “Rozari is the Mother Planet.  Rozari should be in the Empire.  We are
all brothers.”

“Indeed. 
Rozari has become green and healthy again.  The air, water and soil are clean. 
The ecosystem has been restored.  I have atoned for the destruction wrought by
my ancestors.  Perhaps now…”  He limped back toward his desk.

“Stop
it,” I cried with dismay.  “I will hear nothing more of this.  Go to the Temple
and make your amends to the Holy One and when you are finished, come back and
make your amends to your family and friends who despite your cruel treatment of
them, still love you.”

“Who
loves me?” he muttered scornfully, falling into his chair and burying his head
in his arms upon his desk.  “No one.  Everyone hates me.”

“Everyone
loves you, you bloody fool.  Your lovely wife, your son, your cousins, Rekah
and Berkan, your uncles, Tuman and Loman, Taner, your whatever he is, and your
father, me.”

“Ay
yah.  I hear how they love me in their thoughts.  My wife runs rampant around a
forest, dirties her hands and feet like a slave or hides half way across the
galaxy in her mother’s house because she loves me so.  Everyone else stands
before me in fear and trepidation, trembling uncontrollably should I summon
them to my presence.  They walk out of here hoping I will successfully kill
myself before their next audience.  Only you are fool enough to come before me
unguarded, expect to leave entirely whole, and plan to visit me again on
another night.”

“I
am the bigger fool,” I agreed.  “And I will take my chances in your presence. 
I will bid you goodnight my son and hope you will find that which you seek in
the Ancient Temple and may return to us ready and able to love us again as
well.”

“Goodnight,
my father,” he replied, his voice muffled by his desk.  As I departed his
presence, it occurred to me that he had never before called me by other than my
name.  For the first time, on this night, he had called me
father
.

Chapter 19

Katie

“What
the hell are you doing?” I demanded.

“Sorry
Madame, you need to get in the car.”  Telix pulled my arm.  Luci had already
climbed in and was waving anxiously for me to follow.

“What
about my mother and Allen and his family?”

“My
orders are only to see you safely aboard the spaceplane.”  Telix slammed the door
firmly in my face.

“I
want my mother to come,” I told Lanaka who was driving.  “We can't leave
without her!”

“We'll
send another team for her right away,” Reggie said.  He was sitting shotgun
while Telix had climbed in opposite Luci.  The mobile command center had
already taken off.

“Get
her in the second limo,” I practically screamed.  Lanaka had already lifted
off.  In two more minutes, we would be in orbit.  I bolted forward and wrapped
my arm around Lanaka’s neck, pulling back as tight as I could.

“Listen
to me, Telix.  Order whoever in the hell is still down there to get my mother
in the second limo or poor Lanaka is going to crash this one.”

“Madame!”
Luci cried.

Lanaka
was struggling, but I had him in a chokehold.  He'd have to break my arm at the
elbow to escape.

“Madame!”
Telix pleaded.

“Do
it!” I screamed.  The car lost altitude as Lanaka's hands fell off the
controls.  Telix ordered the second limo to turn around and get my mother.  I released
Lanaka. 

“I’m
sorry, Lanaka,” I apologized and sat back, out of breath, my heart racing. 
“Hover here until I can see her in the car.  Then send another car to pick up
my brother and his family.”

“Yes
Madame.”  Telix glared at me.

Lanaka
coughed and rubbed his neck.

“Ye
got the controls alright, Lan?” Reggie asked softly.

Lanaka
nodded and coughed a few more times.

“She's
as bad as Senya,” he mumbled under his breath.

The
second limo came alongside of us, and my mother waved, clearly excited to be
traveling in-style again.

“May
we go now before they shoot us out of the sky?” Telix asked smartly.

“Please
do,” Luci cried and we blasted off into orbit.

“I
thought you had orders only to protect me?”  I looked from Telix to Reggie to
Luci.  Not one of them would look me back in the eye. 

Leaning
against the window, I looked down upon Earth, a big blue beautiful globe below
us now.  I wondered if I would ever see her again.

“The
orders were changed,” Telix replied coldly.  “I shall update you as soon as we
are safely aboard the spaceplane en route back to the Empire.”

We
had left the solar system and were soaring across the galaxy toward Erindad
37.  Mother, Luci and I were sitting in the passenger compartment.  Luci was
studying the dinner menu while Mother was looking at the list of available
movies.

“This
is nothing like the spaceplane your father I took years ago,” mother said
selecting ‘From Here to Eternity.’  “The bathroom was filthy on that one and
the seats were all squished together.  The food was terrible too.”

“This
is a private plane used by the Imperial family,” Luci replied as the flight
attendant laid out a table with a white linen cloth, gleaming silverware and
crystal stemware.  The movie began on the overhead vid.

“Who
is that dear?” Mother asked.  “What Imperial family?”

Luci
laughed.  “Oh Mrs. Golden, you are so funny!”

Mother
smiled and patted Luci’s hand.  “Where are we going anyway?”

“Home,”
Luci replied.  “And you're going to love it there.  Shall we have some Fois Gras
on toast points and a Cabernet Sauvignon to start?”

“Oh,
that would be lovely,” my mother replied.  “Do you want a bit of Fois Gras on
toast points, Katie Anne?”

“No,”
I snapped.  “I’d rather have a fried eagle.”  I got up and walked to the back
office.

“No,
you wouldn’t, Madame,” Luci called after me.  “It’s quite tough and has a
rather nasty flavor.”

“So
what's the deal, Telix?” I demanded. 

All
the guys from the command center were sitting in there along with several
officers from the Imperial SpaceNavy.  Everyone stood up when I came in the
room.

“We
have been ordered to deliver you to Karupatani, on the Capital Planet,” Telix replied,
still avoiding my eyes.

“Order
by who, HIM?”

Telix
looked at his screen as if something very important was being transmitted
across it.  Reggie looked at the ceiling.  Lanaka fingered the purple bruise on
his throat.

“Lord
Taner,” Telix conceded when he finally looked up.

“Lord
Taner!” I snapped.  “Since when do I take orders from Lord Taner?”

Telix
nodded his head slightly and walked across the room toward the door.  I followed,
ready to kill someone and conveniently it was going to be him.

“We
have invaded Rozari,” Telix whispered.  “We had a matter of minutes before the
Allied forces would take you again.” 

“What?”
I shrieked.  “You have got to be kidding me!  We’re not supposed to invade
Rozari.  I negotiated a settlement.”

Telix
pursed his lips and looked away.

“Oh
man!” I sighed and rubbed my temples.  A massive headache was about to start. 
“I'm sorry for barking at you, Telix.  You should have said something.  Is my
brother going to be okay?”

“We've
got a team going in for him.  He's not going to like how we kidnap him, but
that is going to be the only way we are going to get him out.”

“Thanks. 
Let me know when you have him, please.” 

He
bowed slightly and walked away.

“Telix,”
I called after him.  “What sort of invasion?”

“Madame,”
one of the SpaceNavy officers called and pointed at the vid overhead. 

The
picture showed the Fashion Mall in Takira-hahr surrounded by Imperial troops. 
There were people outside in the parking lots and the streets adjacent to the
mall.  They stood around staring at the troops as if stunned.  It was pouring
down rain too, the sky a dark gray, the rock hard ground pooling with water.  I
could even see the Cowboy Corral restaurant, people queued up outside, the red
poppies still growing from the pavement and bent over in the rain.  Nobody had
umbrellas or even rain hats as it probably hadn’t rained like that in a good
thousand years.  There weren’t any drainage ditches or culverts either, and so
water had accumulated to the point of nearly flooding.

“They’re
all wet,” I remarked inanely, feeling sick to my stomach.  The officer switched
screens to show other Rozarian cities, but the picture was the same.  “They’re
just standing around and letting us take over.  Either that or they’re totally
confused by the rain.  Show me the Allied Landbase, please.”  The screen
switched again to a view of the landbase which appeared to be vacant except for
a few troops patrolling the outskirts.  The parking lots were empty.  There
were no shuttles or spaceplanes on the ramps.  My old office building was dark
and shut tight.  Even the taco stand, which was always out front, was now
gone.  “Why?”  I could barely speak, my throat was so tight.  “I promised them,
he wouldn't do anything.  I paid them.  I gave them our house.”

“As
soon as HIM and Prince Tuman departed Rozari, HIM ordered the invasion,” the
officer said.  “He claimed Rozari as a territorial planet of the Empire and
dissolved their government.  Safe passage has been granted to anyone wishing to
immigrate to another Allied territory.” 

“Get
Taner on the vid,” I ordered and paced the office nervously until the Lord
Chamberlain’s image was in front of me.  “What happened?”

He
showed me his hands.  He shook his head.  “I thought Tuman could help,” he
mumbled, obviously as upset about this as I. 

I
looked across the stars at Taner standing helplessly.  My security team stood
around uselessly.  Luci slipped through the door, a worried expression on her
face.  The spaceplane soared through the endless night of the galaxy. 

“Somebody
needs to do something!” I screamed.

“Why
are you all standing around in here?” my mother cried coming through the door
herself.  “And who is that guy?”  She pointed at Taner hovering in the air in
the center of the room.

“Did
they lay out dinner yet?” Luci said, taking Mother's arm.  “Shall we go have a
bite, Mrs. Golden?”

“Katie
Anne,” mother continued undeterred.  “What is going on?  Did your dreadful
husband take over another planet or something?”

“Yes,
Mother, exactly that.”

“Well,
let me tell you something,” she said, shaking off Luci and wagging her finger
at me.  “You need to tell him to knock this off.  Enough is enough already.  If
your father were here, he'd yell at the both of you.  Taking over the whole
entire galaxy!  My hairdresser, Vui thinks this is disgusting.  Your Aunt Emma
doesn’t understand how you can just stand around and let him get away with it. 
Didn't I teach you anything?  Yes, somebody needs to do something, and that
would be you.  You need to show him who is the boss.”

“Um…he
is?”  I rubbed my temples.

“Only
because you didn’t train him right,” my mother snapped.  “Your father always
thought he was the boss too, but that was because I let him.”

“Come
on, Mrs. Golden,” Luci cried and shoved Mother out the door.  “Dinner time.”

“I
just don’t understand you, Katie Anne.  You certainly wouldn’t let anyone push
you around when you were a child.  Good heavens, when you were a teenager, you
were positively a terror.  Since when did you become so meek?”

“Mrs.
Golden,” Luci shouted.  “We are missing your movie.”

“Oh? 
Yes,” Mother said.  “Do you think we can restart it from the beginning, Luci
dear?”

“Absolutely,”
Luci cried and shut the door soundly behind them.

Everyone
stared at me.

Taner
cleared his throat.  “Tuman and Sorkan have asked for you to be delivered to
Karupatani.  HIM will be arriving tomorrow and everyone believes you should be
there to greet him.”

“Greet
him?” I spat.  “More likely I'll kill him.”

“Then
you would be doing us all a great favor,” Taner sighed.  “However, Cmdr. Telix
will make sure you leave all your weapons aboard the ship just in case.  And
Commander?  Please make sure her mother stays aboard too.”