Victoria's Challenge

  Looking to her mother, her smile widens. Cyndy has gotten so much better since their arrival on Carina. Short curls cover her once bare head, making her look so young. She is wearing one of Kia's creations that enhances the curves she's regained, in beautiful House of Knowledge blue.

  “Dad’s going to go nuts when he sees you.”

  “I know,” Cyndy agrees, running her hands over the hips that have once again filled out. “I can’t wait.” Smiling, she looks to Amina in her violet dress, it not only coordinates with hers but also represent her House, the House of Protection.

  “And then there's you…” Victoria looks at Amina.

  “Me?” Shocked eyes look to Victoria. “No one is going to be looking at me,” Amina immediately denies.

  “Oh I don’t know,” Victoria teases, trying to put a smile on her friends face, she’s been distracted and quiet all day. “Barek is going to be there.” To her shock, Amina’s eyes fill with tears. “Amina! What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She waves a hand. “I’m sorry, I…” She can’t go on.

  “Amina, tell me!” Victoria quickly moves to her friend, stopping only when Amina’s eyes fly to Kia.

  “Kia, are we done?” Cyndy asks, instantly understanding Amina wants privacy.

  “Yes, Madame Chamberlain. I will return with the gowns tonight after the final alterations are complete.” Quickly gathering the gowns, Kia leaves.

  “Now Amina, tell us what’s wrong.” Cyndy sits next to the young woman that has collapsed on the couch.

  “I... I betrayed the Coalition,” She whispers then breaks down in Cyndy’s arms.

  "What?” Whatever Victoria thought could be wrong, it wasn't this. "That's ridiculous! Who’s saying that?" she demands. "You'd never do that! Come on, we’ll go talk to Uncle William.” Moving to stand, Amina's next words stop her.

  "I already have... yesterday... he's the one that told me..."

  "Told you what honey?” Cyndy tucks a piece of hair behind Amina's ear, there is no way this sweet girl could have done what she claims. She's smart, loving and loyal.

  "That Assemblyman Stannic found out about the turminan filter because of me.” She tells them between sobs.

  "Wait! What?” Victoria's totally confused. "What's a turminan filter?”

  "It's a way to detect the signature of the cyclotron propulsion system.” Amina tries to get herself under control. “Dad and I developed it."

  "And?” Victoria asks.

  "Stannic found out about it because dad and I were careless," Amina finally admits.

  "Bull shit!” Victoria immediate response startles Amina. "You're never careless when it comes to your work, neither is your dad!"

  "But we were.” Amina argues back. “We were sitting in our garden talking about the filter, about what it could do. That's how Gad found out."

  "Gad...” Victoria's eyes narrow as she whispers. "What was Gad doing there?"

  "He wasn't. He had surveillance set up on the house, recording everything. His father found the recordings."

  "Gad had you under surveillance... because of me.” Victoria pales at the thought. "Because of what happened with me."

  "What happened to you, Victoria Lynn?” Cyndy demands her eyes going hard.

  "It isn't your fault, Tori!” Amina immediately tells her.

  "He wanted too...” Tori can't go on.

  "Victoria Lynn Chamberlain what happened to you?” Cyndy doesn't shout but her tone can't be ignored. Tori looks to her mother.

  "Gad Stannic attacked me when I was at school. He is Assemblyman Rogue Stannic’s son, a powerful Assemblyman in the House of Knowledge. I took him out with one of dad's moves."

  "He tried to rape you.” Cyndy whispers.

  "It never got that far, mom.” Victoria immediately reassures her. "He grabbed me and I put him down. There were visuals of it so he couldn't deny it and have his father make it go away.” She turns to Amina. "That's why he went after you, because he knew it would hurt me."

  "That's what Gad told Tibullus when he interviewed him, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that he learned top secret information because of me!” Amina tells her.

  "Of course it matters! You’re not to blame for this! There's no way you could have known you were under surveillance, you were in your own garden, for god's sake!"

  "I know but..."

  "No buts, Amina," Cyndy tells her firmly. "Tori's right. You had every right to believe what you and Leander said was just between the two of you, just like we do in the palace. That someone took advantage of that, for terrible reasons, is not your fault. No more than it is Tori's for Gad attacking her. Which by the way,” sharp eyes turn to Victoria. "You should have told me about sooner young lady."

  "It was cycles ago, mom, and until Gad showed up on the Retribution, I never gave him another thought. I should have realized he wouldn't let it go."

  "No, Tori, if you won't let me blame myself for this then you can't either. No one knew they would take it this far.” Amina squeezes her friend's hand.

  "He was on the Retribution?” Cyndy doesn't try to hide her anger.

  "Yeah, Lucas found him on his flight deck. It pissed him off but it wasn't until he started spouting off classified information that he had him arrested," Victoria tells her.

  "That's how Barek found out about him stalking Amina," Cyndy connects the dots.

  "That's what it sounds like," Victoria agrees.

  "Leander must be enraged.” Cyndy looks to Amina. “I know Peter will be."

  "Dad was. They've put a security dome around the house," Amina tells them.

  "Good.” Cyndy nods, knowing what that is.

  "Uncle William knows? Aunt Cassie?” Victoria frowns, thinking.

  "Yes. They are gathering Intel against Stannic but wanted us to know.”

  “As you should,” Cyndy informs her. “But now, we'll let them handle it."

  "Amina... why do you need a different filter for the cyclotron system?” Victoria asks.

  "Hmmm, what?” Amina looks at her confused.

  "The fleet can already detect warp signatures," Victoria reminds her.

  "Well yeah, but those are totally different. Don't you remember? We talked about this once? Warp signatures are like your jet trails were on Earth, traceable until they dissipate."

  "The Cyclotron system isn't like that?"

  "No, it's a pulse system, so it has no trail, making it nearly impossible to detect."

  "But you were able to... detect it."

  "Yeah."

  "Come on, we need to talk to Uncle William.” Victoria pulls her up.

  "But...” Amina looks to Cyndy confused.

  "Go!” Cyndy orders, understanding what her daughter’s thinking.

  "Is he in?” Victoria demands, surprising Hadar as she storms into the High Admiral outer office, dragging Amina behind her.

  "Yes, but he's in a meeting with Lucas and..."

  "Perfect," She cuts him off, heading for the door.

  "But...” Hadar stutters trying to cut her off. He isn’t quick enough.

  "Tori... what do you think you’re doing?” Amina whispers urgently, as Tori pushes open the High Admiral's door. "You can't just barge in..."

  "Yes Victoria. What exactly do you think you're doing?” The chill in the High Admiral's voice would have stopped anyone else, not Victoria.

  "We need to talk to you about what Barek discovered.” Looking around the room, she realizes not only is Lucas here, but so is Barek. "Good your here.” She nods at him.

  Lucas frowns at Victoria, she knows better than this. It doesn’t matter who she is, there are rules. He decides he'll let the High Admiral handle it.

  "Gentlemen, we'll continue this discussion later.” William quickly disconnects his comm.

  "I'm sorry sir.” Hadar stands in the doorway, wringing his hands nervously. No one has ever gotten by him before.

  "It's alright, Hadar. Close the door," William orders before turning hard eyes t
o Victoria.

  "Yes sir."

  "Now, Victoria, you will explain exactly what is so important that you interrupt a classified meeting."

  "Classified?” Her eyes widen as she finally understands what she’s done and looks to Lucas who nods ever so slightly. "Look, I'm sorry, but this is important."

  "Victoria, I realize you're upset about what's happened to Amina and Leander, but it's been handled," The High Admiral tells her.

  "Upset! Damn right, I'm upset.” Her anger over what could have happened instantly returns. “I should have made sure that little foabhor was singing soprano permanently.” Lucas and William both flinch, understanding the saying.

  "Singing soprano?” Barek questions, looking from Lucas to William, puzzled by their reaction.

  "I'll fill you in later," Lucas mutters.

  "But that's not why I'm here. I’m here because of what Gad discovered. The turminan filter."

  "How do you know about it?” The High Admiral demands. The pointed look he gives Amina has her shrinking.

  "Amina and I tell each other everything," Victoria tells him dismissively. "We always have, but she only told me about the filter today because she was so upset that you think she betrayed the Coalition."

  "What!” William surges to his feet. "I never said that! Never thought that!” Rounding his desk, he stops in front of Amina, putting a gentle finger under her chin, tipping it up, so she has to look at him. What he sees breaks his heart. "Never Amina. Not in a million cycles," He tells her gently.

  "But..."

  "No, this is on Gad and his father, not you and yours," William reassures her.

  "Barek?” Victoria looks to him, knowing without her saying it, that Amina's worried she's betrayed her future King.

  "No. The High Admiral is correct, Amina.” Barek tells her. “You were never to blame for this."

  "Thank you," Amina whispers.

  "Good. Now that that's settled, we can get to what really brought us here. Tell them Amina."

  "Tell them?” She looks at her friend, totally confused. "Tell them what? I have no idea why you dragged me half way across the palace."

  "The turminan filter, what it does."

  "But..."

  "Victoria, we know what the turminan filter does. Now if that's all.” William turns back to his desk.

  "Of course you know what it does," Victoria agrees. "But do you know what it does?"

  "Victoria...” His tone warns he’s not in the mood for games.

  "Amina, tell them what you told me... about the differences."

  "Between what the filter detects and what we use now?"

  "Yes."

  "Well," Amina looks to the High Admiral who reluctantly nods. "Right now, we detect the Regulians because of the trail their warp leaves behind before it dissipates. The cyclotron system is a pulse system making it nearly impossible to detect."

  "I know this," The High Admiral says impatiently.

  "Uncle William, the filter detects the energy pulse of the Guardian.” Lucas suddenly sits straight up in his chair, his eyes shooting to Victoria.

  "Like the Regulian energy pulse?” Lucas questions.

  "Yes!” Victoria shoves her fist in the air, finally someone understands.

  "What are you talking about?” Amina looks from Tori, to Lucas, to the High Admiral. “What energy pulse?”

  "You know about the last Regulian attack on the fleet?” The High Admiral quizzes.

  "Yes.” Amina nods to the High Admiral.

  "What you don't know,” the High Admiral continues, “is that the Regulians were able to produce and maintain some type of energy pulse that made them invisible to our scans."

  "What?” Paling at the thought, Amina blindly reaches behind her for a chair, not realizing Barek has moved to assist her.

  "Victoria was able to record it as she passed through it, but no one can figure out what it is,” William continues as if she hadn’t interrupted.

  “Can I see it? The recording?” Turning a screen, William pulls up the data to show Amina.

  “That’s not a cyclotronic pulse,” Amina immediately replies, turning her head slightly, she frowns, there is something familiar about it.

  “How can you be sure?” Barek demands.

  “The wave is too concentrated,” She immediately replies. “See, there’s almost no break.” Amina points, as if he should understand. ”It would take a massive power source to produce such a wave.”

  “Like a ship?” The High Admiral prompts.

  “A ship?” She looks at him startled.

  “If there was a ship, that’s only job was to project that wave, would it be possible?” Amina is silent for several minutes considering what the High Admiral’s asking. Watching as more data scrolls by.

  “Project it…” She frowns at the thought. “It would be a very strange looking ship, more of a transmitter really,” she says more to herself. “It would have to travel out in front of anything it was trying to shield and its effective area would be narrow. Anything traveling behind it would have to be extremely close, maneuverability would be an issue.” Lucas gives his father a sharp look, this it is exactly what they’d seen.

  “Can your filter detect it?”

  “No,” Amina reply is immediately and definite, she doesn't notice the High Admiral’s disappointed sigh. “But I could have one for you in a day or two.”

  “What?!” William can’t hide his shock. “We’ve had the best Coalition minds analyzing this for nearly three moon cycles.

  “To reproduce it.” Amina nods understanding. “I don’t need to do that, just isolate it, that’s entirely different.”

  “Amina.” The High Admiral slowly walks around his desk. “Can you really do this? Lives are at stake here.”

  Swallowing hard, Amina looks from him back to the screen. There is something so familiar about the pattern. Suddenly realizing what it is, her eyes fly to Tori.

  “What?” Victoria asks, she knows her friend’s looks.

  “It’s a radio wave…” she whispers. “Like you told me used to be on Earth. The ones we use to recreate when we'd get in trouble, so we could still talk to each other. It’s modified of course, extremely amped up, but that’s what it is.”

  Victoria’s eyes widen, looking at the screen.

  “So that’s how you two did it,” The High Admiral mutters. “It drove Cassandra and Javiera crazy.”

  Barek and Lucas watch as the girls share a smug look.

  “Can you create a filter to isolate it?” The High Admiral demands, pulling them all back to the matter at hand.

  “Of course,” Amina answers confidently. “Now that I know what it is, it shouldn’t really even need a filter. Your current systems just need to scan at a much lower frequency. You're looking for the wrong thing. If you let me run the data through the program dad and I developed for the turminan filter, I’ll be able to give you the exact frequency. Along with a safety range for any possible deviations.”

  All three men look at her stunned while Victoria just smiles. Men… even Carinian ones, tend to underestimate their women.

  “I’ll have your father bring the program," The High Admiral finally speaks. "I want this all done within the Palace, under the tightest security. We’ve had enough leaks lately and no, I’m not referring to you, Amina,” he quickly reassures her. "There's more going on here then you know."

  "Alright. I just need a place to work."

  "You'll have it. Victoria.” He looks to her standing next to her friend. "You were right to interrupt but...” He holds a finger, stopping the smile that is about to break across her face. "Don't do it again. You and Lucas will have enough hurdles because of Cassandra and me without giving them more reasons."

  "I...” Victoria opens her mouth to argue but realizes he's right. If it had been anyone other than Barek in the room, things could have gotten very sticky, very fast. "I'm sorry. I was angry about Gad and when I realized Amina would understand the Regulian data, I just
reacted. I know better than to storm past Hadar. I'll make sure I apologize to him."

  "Do that. Now go finish your Union plans. Amina, I'll contact you when the program is here."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Peter and William are speechless as Victoria stands before them, glowing in the beautiful Union gown Kia has created. Peter remembers gown from his own wedding, remembers sliding his hands up the bell shaped sleeves to pull Cyndy close.

  Victoria turns, revealing the violet laces along her back. Cyndy’s had been ivory and he had quickly undone them once they had been alone. Peter decides not to think about Lucas doing the same.

  William finds that yet another Chamberlain woman has left him speechless. Cassandra does it daily with her love and strength but on the day of their Union, she had stunned him. She had worn House of Protection violet instead of House of Knowledge blue. Seeing Victoria wearing it tugs at him in a way he had not expected. She is stating for all to see with whom she stands.

  “You look beautiful, baby.” Peter is the first to move.

  “Thank you daddy.” She gives him a quivering smile. “Uncle William?”

  “You’re stunning, Victoria.” He walks over to kiss her cheek. “I’m not the least surprised.” He smiles at her wistfully, touching her cheek. “Only yesterday, you were asking to call me Uncle.”

  “And you were begging me to take you swimming.” Peter touches her other cheek. “Now you are about to walk down the aisle to the man you love, and the only one I would ever consider worthy of you.”

  “He loves me, daddy. The way you love mom.” She looks to her second father. "The way you love Aunt Cassie. I know I will always be first with him…he will always be first with me.”

  Lucas shifts his weight from one foot to another as he waits.

  “I can’t believe you’re nervous.” Barek grins, standing next to his friend.

  “Where is she Barek?” he asks.

  “Getting ready, I would assume.”

  Jotham watches them indulgently. They remind him so much of him and William. Related by birth. Friends by choice. They truly are two of the finest Carina has ever produced. A smile cracks his face when Lucas shifts again. William had been the same way, waiting for Cassandra.