The raider captain walked along the line of women. When he stopped at Saria, Seabreak’s pulse surged. He stepped forward, and one of the mercenaries raised his spiker. Seabreak looked at the gun, then at Saria. If they tried to take her, he would do whatever it took to stop them, spikers or no spikers.
The captain appraised Saria as if she were a rare vase he was considering for purchase. She met his gaze, her face red. Putting his finger under her chin, he turned her head from side to side, then stepped back and looked her over—a woman in a silver jumpsuit that did nothing to hide her spectacular figure. In the past, Seabreak had loved that outfit, but no more. He wanted to kill the captain for the way he was surveying her.
“Pretty,” the captain said.
Seabreak tensed, preparing to lunge. But the captain continued down the line, looking over the other women. Then he moved on to the men against the other bulkhead. When he stopped in front of Tandy Marzin, Seabreak began to worry again. Tandy was an athlete, obviously strong enough for hard labor, possibly a lucrative find for the Traders.
But the captain went on. He paused at Seabreak, and Seabreak met his gaze, defiant. He barely hid his exhale of relief when the raider continued down the line. The captain also stopped in front of Jacques Ardoise, who stared back, unable to disguise his fear. Lithe and blond, with blue eyes, Jacques was a musician. Although women found him attractive, Seabreak couldn’t fathom it. The young fellow looked fragile. At least that benefited him here; the raiders probably couldn’t auction him for much.
The captain apparently had the same thought. He turned away and went back to the other raiders. They conferred quietly, and one of the men indicated Saria. The captain shook his head. Seabreak wasn’t sure what he said, but it sounded like, “I’ve seen better.”
Seabreak had never been so glad to have someone find his girlfriend less desirable than he did. They could think whatever they wanted as long as they left her alone.
Finally the captain turned to them all. “We will take the yacht. You may have the lifeboats. Go where you want.”
Seabreak’s relief was so intense it threatened to make him dizzy. He caught Saria’s gaze across the cabin and she managed a shaky smile, her eyes luminous with tears.
Then the raider said, “Except for one of you.”
Seabreak froze. No. Gods, no.
The captain motioned at Jacques. “You come with us.”
“What?” The color drained from Jacques’s face. “No!”
Seabreak blinked. Jacques? Belatedly, he saw the flaw in his reasoning. Why would the Traders need slaves for hard labor? Robots were cheaper and stronger. His own interest in beautiful women had made him overlook the obvious; the raiders could get just as much for a beautiful man, especially if he was an empath.
The artistic gifts that made Jacques such a dramatic performer might well arise from empathic ability. The traits would have to come from both parents, given the recessive nature of the genes. Jacques had listed them in his employment application: his father was a stardocker on the Skolian world Jalliope, and his mother had been a musician and Earth citizen in a place called France before she married his father and became a Skolian. The few times Seabreak had met them, he had noticed their sensitivity to each other. It wouldn’t surprise him if they and their son were empaths.
When the mercenaries closed on Jacques, Seabreak and the others attacked. It was stupid and desperate, but he had no intention of standing by while Traders kidnapped one of his employees. A female mercenary easily held the struggling musician while the raiders spiked the prisoners. Seabreak screamed as the serum attacked his nerves. Dimly, as he convulsed on the deck, he saw the raiders drag Jacques out of the lounge. Then someone shot him a second time and the excruciating pain became his entire universe.
Gradually he became aware again, the agony ebbing enough for him to think. Mercenaries were carrying him into a lifeboat. They loaded him into the pilot’s chair and strapped the others into seats behind him, including Saria. As the other raiders set the autopilot, the captain swiveled Seabreak around to face him. “Leave now, and we’ll let you live. Fight us, and we will kill you. Understand?”
The spiker had induced a partial paralysis, but Seabreak managed to croak, “Yes.”
“Good.” The captain jabbed the controls and the engine roared. But before he went out the airlock, he turned back to Seabreak. “You can tell the boy’s family he was taken by the Line of Xir.” Enmity glittered in his eyes. “You remember. Corbal Xir.”
Tarquine almost missed the bombshell.
She found it in a report on Jaibriol’s health. Cracking open his secured medical files had taken a good deal of work, but when she finally had them, they revealed nothing she didn’t already know. She could have told the doctors her husband was a strong, healthy young man. But she copied them anyway.
Something bothered her about the file on his nanomeds, though she couldn’t say what was wrong. Everything seemed in order. He had the best meds available. Their chemistry looked odd, but nothing too unusual. All Hightons had customized meds designed to optimize their own personal health. Of course an emperor would have many unique species, the best available. He had probably inherited some of them from his mother while he was in the womb.
But the differences seemed familiar.
Tarquine frowned, trying to remember where she had seen similar meds. She was sure it had been within the last year. She had the computer compare his file with the records of every Highton that she had encountered or investigated in the past two years, but no match came up. So she checked every Aristo, including Diamonds and Silicates. Still no match. She widened the search to Razers and high-level taskmakers.
Still nothing.
She rubbed her chin. Could it have been a lower status task-maker? It seemed unlikely, given the elite quality of the meds. Providers had top-of-the-line species, especially to delay aging, but theirs were also designed to suppress aggression, heighten their desire to please, make their minds more susceptible to Aristos, and act as aphrodisiacs. Of course Jaibriol’s had none of those modifications.
Well, so. She might as well look. She had the computer check every taskmaker and provider she owned whose file she had looked at in the past two years.
Still nothing.
Tarquine shrugged. She must have been mistaken. She spoke to her EI. “I guess that’s it.”
“You haven’t looked at one file.”
“Why didn’t you bring it up?”
“You asked about slaves you owned or sold.”
“That covers every—” Tarquine stopped. Ah, yes. One of her providers fit neither category. He had had the unmitigated audacity to escape. “You mean Kelric Valdoria?”
“That is correct. Shall I make the comparison?”
“No, don’t bother.” Tarquine started to stand up. Then she paused. “Oh, why not. Go ahead.”
After a moment, the EI said, “Comparison complete.”
She looked over the results. The general meds Jaibriol and Kelric carried had nothing in common. Of course.
Except—
“Gods almighty,” Tarquine whispered.
Of the nanomeds that Kelric and Jaibriol had inherited from their mothers, most were an exact match.
PART THREE
Penumbra
26
Hall of Ancestors
They will excoriate us,” Jai said.
With Robert at his side, Jai paced through an ancient wing of the palace, one that had survived both the war and the assassination attempt on his wedding day, mainly because it housed nothing useful enough to destroy, unless one counted the dour holoportraits of Jai’s ancestors. His dead relatives stared down at him with icy faces. The hall seemed to brood, from the bronze and black tiles on the floor to the black marble pillars. It fit his mood.
“Excoriate,” Jai repeated. “I can’t cover up what Tarquine did to Sapphire Sector.”
“I don’t see that you have much choice,” Robert said. “
You must never admit it.”
Jai wanted to kick himself. He had married Tarquine fully aware of her financial shenanigans. The platinum business was the worst offense, but she had plenty of other transgressions. He had wanted her anyway, and now he had to deal with the consequences.
He stopped under a portrait of his great-grandfather and scowled at the long-dead founder of the Eubian Concord. What possessed you to create Eube? He would never know the full story, anymore than he would ever fully know why his Skolian grandfather, Eldrinson, had helped Jai’s parents go into exile. Eldrinson had taken that secret to his grave. Even having never met his grandfather in person, Jai mourned his death.
Robert was waiting. “Your Highness?”
Jai turned to him. “Xirad Kaliga isn’t helping either. I can’t get straight answers from him about anything.”
“I can requisition additional ESComm reports.”
“I doubt it will help.” Jai grimaced. “And I have to respond to Azar Taratus. Do you remember the credits he had to repay my wife for Kelric Valdoria? Well, now he wants his money back. He says Valdoria was worth even more, as a Ruby prince, than what Tarquine paid.”
“Taratus fully intended to cheat her,” Robert said. “That the provider turned out to be worth more than anyone knew doesn’t change the fact that the admiral committed fraud.”
Jai rubbed his eyes. “Do you remember what I said the insurance bureaus had to do if an independent assessment determined Kelric was worth more than the low value they set?”
Robert paused. “I believe, Your Highness, you required them to pay the empress double the difference.”
“Yes, well, Tarquine made them do it. It came to almost thirty million.” Jai started walking again. “And she still has the settlement from Taratus. I can’t let her keep both, Robert. Everyone is furious. I have to do something.”
His aide blanched. “She may not appreciate your telling her to return one.”
“She’ll pulverize me.” It would make no difference that she would still be better off even if she gave back one of the settlements. She would never willingly part with her wealth. He stared up at his allegedly estimable ancestors on the walls and wondered what they would do. Whatever it was, it would probably appall him.
Nor was Tarquine his only problem. “High Judge Muze says we must let Raziquon out of prison.”
“You can refuse,” Robert said.
“He belongs in prison.”
“Of course.”
“Ah, hell.” Jai hit his fist on his thigh. “I’ve made too many enemies. If I refuse the High Judge, someone will try to assassinate me again.”
His aide looked alarmed. “Being alive is definitely more desirable.”
“Sometimes I wonder,” Jai muttered.
Robert pulled him to a halt, forgetting no one could touch the emperor without his permission. “You mustn’t say that! All Eube would mourn if anything happened to you.”
“Sure they would. They have to. I own most of them.”
“It is more than that. Much more.” Robert spoke earnestly. “You are a just man. Good. Decent.” He paused, and Jai could almost feel him searching for the right words. “These unique traits make you a Highton among Hightons.”
That was tactful. Robert could have just come out and said the Hightons were greedy, self-centered sadists. They would make anyone look good and decent. Maybe that was why Aristos talked in such convoluted forms. It made the truth less stark.
“Eube needs you,” Robert added.
“Thank you.” Jai doubted his advisers shared that opinion, but he appreciated his aide’s loyalty. He regarded Robert curiously. “I was wondering.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Your name. It sounds Allied.”
“It is my father’s name. He came from Earth.”
“Pirates attacked his ship?”
“Yes.” His expression closed. “My mother bought him. She is a taskmaker, but her father was a Highton lord. She runs a factory that makes robots.” A muscle twitched under his eye. “My father was her provider.”
Jai spoke quietly. “I’m sorry.”
He expected Robert to give the canonical platitude about his mother honoring his father. Instead, the aide’s face worked as if he were fighting to hide his anger. His memories of his father came through despite Jai’s barriers, images of a man who had grieved for his lost freedom but loved his son. “At least my father is no longer her favorite. He has a quiet life now.”
“Would you like him to come here? To the palace?”
Joyful surprise leapt in Robert’s mood, but he guarded his response. “If it would please Your Highness.”
“I had the impression you missed him.”
Robert stared at him. Then, remembering himself, he said, “I appreciate your generosity. I’ve hardly seen my father in years. And I think he would like to come. But I don’t know if my mother would let him go.”
Jai thought of Silver, Kaliga’s provider, the girl who had introduced him to love. He knew now he would never see her again. But Robert had said his father was no longer his mother’s favorite. “I can make an offer. What do you think would work?”
Hope came from Robert’s mind. “My mother likes jewels. Real ones, not synthetic gems.”
“I have plenty of those.” Jai grimaced. “More than I’ll ever need.”
Robert hesitated. “I don’t know what my father could do for you. He has no training for your staff.”
“What did he do on Earth?”
“Art. He still paints. Mother gave him a studio.”
Jai beamed at him. “Well, there you have it. He can have a studio in the palace. You make arrangements.”
Robert’s cautious expression gave way to a smile. “Yes, certainly, I will take care of it. Thank you, Your Highness.” His gratitude overflowed his thoughts. “You are most kind. Thank you.”
Jai wanted to say, How can you thank me when you wear that collar around your neck? “I wish I could—”
The scream of a siren drowned out his words. Jai clapped his hands over his ears, but that only made the agonizing noise echo inside his head.
“Aaai!” He stumbled forward, aware of his Razers bursting out of shadows around the marble columns. Robert was speaking urgently, but Jai couldn’t hear. Others grasped Jai, trying to pull his hands off his ears.
“Get away!” Jai shouted. He lurched away from them and pushed the heels of his hands against his ears, but the unbearable sound kept going on and on, inside of him.
Backing up, Jai thudded into a pillar. He slid down to the ground, and bent over, folding his hands over his head. Someone was kneeling next to him and someone else was yelling orders. His head felt as if it would burst. The painful sound came at several frequencies, some so low he felt rather than heard them. Dark spots danced before his eyes and nausea surged in him.
“Help me.” Jai looked up into Robert’s terrified eyes. One Razer had a medtape on Jai’s arm and another was scanning him with some device, he didn’t know what. Had they betrayed him? It had to be someone who could get close enough to trigger whatever was shattering his head now.
Jai groaned and doubled over. Clenching his fists, he hit them against his head.
A rumble penetrated the unbearable noise, boots thudding on stone. Then more people were kneeling around him, doctors, officers, soldiers. Jai rocked back and forth, ready to add his own scream to the one killing him.
“Gods, make it stop,” he cried. Yet no one else showed any sign of discomfort, or even that they heard the noise. “It must be the medic alarm in my body. It’s gone crazy.”
Someone said, “Can you verify that?” and someone else said, “Yes, we’ve confirmed it.”
A medic shot Jai with an air-syringe. He suddenly felt as if a blanket fell over him, taking his sight, his speech, and then—mercifully—his hearing.
Gradually Jai became aware of the hall. His retinue had moved him to a black marble bench behind the columns. He closed h
is eyes and sat slumped, never so glad for silence. He wiped his palm against his cheek, smearing tears.
“Your Highness?” a woman asked.
He opened his eyes. A doctor was sitting with him on the bench. She wore the uniform of a lieutenant colonel in the ESComm medical corps, and the name patch on her shoulder read Lyra Qoxdaughter. She was one of his relatives, perhaps even a daughter of his grandfather. Jai’s Razers towered around the bench. He regarded everyone in stony silence, wondering just what, if any, connection they each had to what had just happened.
“How do you feel?” the doctor asked.
“Fine.” He couldn’t bear the minds of his bodyguards. Raising his head, he saw Robert standing nearby. He motioned tiredly, hoping his aide understood.
Somehow Robert managed, with efficiency and discretion, to nudge, coax, urge, and otherwise persuade the Razers to move back. Although they didn’t withdraw far enough to eliminate the pressure on Jai’s mind, the improvement made him breathe out in relief.
The doctor continued to watch him. “Why do your bodyguards bother you?”
“I like privacy.” The shorter his answers, the better.
“They can do their job better if they don’t have to stay so far away.”
“They’re still with me.” Jai knew if he didn’t give her a plausible explanation, she would keep probing. “I’m not used to people. I lived alone for most of my life.” He rubbed his head. “Do you know what happened to the alarm in my body?” His voice turned cold. “I want the names of everyone who has worked on it.”
Her face paled. “I programmed it, Your Highness. Please be assured I would never do anything to harm your person. I never set it up to hurt you.”
Jai could tell, from her mind, that she told the truth. “Then what happened?”
“Someone altered it to affect your nervous system and brain as if you were actually experiencing the sounds you heard. It was triggered from a distance. Had it continued long enough, it would have killed you.”
Another assassination attempt. He wasn’t going to let them win, damn it. “Who could have done it?”