“I’m getting a page from Robert.” To the EI, Jai said, “Relay the message to myself and Empress Tarquine.”
Robert’s voice came in his ear. “Your Highness, you are needed immediately on Glory.”
“That’s it?” Jai asked.
“That is all,” the EI said.
Kelric was scrutinizing him even harder now. “Emperor Jaibriol?”
Jai knew he had to make a decision. “I’m receiving a transmission from Glory. I regret that I must invoke a temporary close to these proceedings.”
Tarquine swore on his private channel. “Don’t do this! Robert can wait. We may not get an opening like this again.”
“This is rather sudden,” Dyhianna said.
“Please accept my apologies,” Jai said. Before Tarquine could curse at him for apologizing to a provider, he spoke to his wife on the private channel. “Robert wouldn’t interrupt if it wasn’t important.”
Kelric said, “We can have our Protocol Office set up a new session with your Protocol people.”
Jai nodded. “That would be good.”
“Ah, hell,” Tarquine muttered privately. “Once Protocol gets involved, it will take forever.”
Dyhianna was studying Jai. “I hope all is well.”
So do I, Jai thought.
After the requisite formalities, Jai and Tarquine took their leave. They split up outside the conference room, and he returned to the white chamber where he always “arrived” in Paris. As its walls faded, he became aware of voices, techs talking in the console room on Glory.
Light flared as a tech removed the visor over his eyes. He could see the console room now. As the techs unfastened him from the chair, Jai stood up. Tarquine was standing in the center of her console a few meters away, being checked by medics. As soon as Jai’s medics finished with him, he strode toward the exit of the room. Tarquine joined him, accompanied by their ubiquitous Razers.
After they left the VR room, Jai spoke into his wrist comm. “Robert?”
“I’m in your office, Your Highness.”
“Why did you interrupt the session?”
“Perhaps we should speak here,” Robert said.
Jai put his hand over the comm and glanced at Tarquine. “Do you have any idea what this is about?”
She shook her head. “None.”
Bile rose in his throat, but he fought it down. Had someone tried to kill him while he was in the VR sim? Or maybe ESComm had followed the example of their Skolian counterparts and overthrown his government. Right now he might be a prisoner of the military he was supposed to command. He doubted he would fare as well as the Skolian First Councilor.
“I wonder if I’m still emperor,” Jai muttered.
Tarquine drew him to a stop. “I have taken precautions in case we ever need to leave the palace quickly.”
He swallowed, aware of the Razers forming a bulwark around them, one that had never seemed benign and now felt like a prison. “Yes. Make your precautions ready.”
They set off again, with Tarquine talking into her comm. It sounded as if she was just checking her net mail, but Jai didn’t question her. Either she had created a cover to disguise her commands or else she had lied. He chose to believe the former, mainly because he didn’t have much choice.
At Jai’s office, he and Tarquine left the Razers outside and went in alone, closing the entrance behind them. Jai was surprised to see Corbal standing behind the desk. The desk itself glimmered with a river of hieroglyphics flowing across its surface.
Corbal looked up, his face drawn. Robert was standing behind the Xir lord, a palmtop clenched in his hand, watching Jai with quiet horror.
Jai’s pulse ratcheted up. “What is it?”
Corbal moved back. “You had better see for yourself.”
Jai went around the desk, focusing on the glyphs streaming across its black top. “This looks like some sort of offworld transmission.”
“It’s from a ship that just entered the system,” Corbal said at his side. “If it had dropped out of inversion any closer to Glory, it would have violated the regulations against using star drives too close to a settled planet.”
Tarquine came to the front of the desk and peered at the glyphs. “I can’t read them upside down. They’re going too fast.”
“The ship started broadcasting the moment it arrived.” Corbal’s voice had a strange quality, as if he were struggling to contain a reaction. “The message is on a secured ESComm channel.”
Jai went cold. “This is from an ESComm ship?”
Corbal nodded. “Yes.”
Jai studied the message, which was encoded in all three dimensions of the glyphs. With the node implanted in his spine analyzing the message, it didn’t take him long to absorb its meaning.
He read the message four more times to make sure.
Jai slowly sat down in the chair. “Gods.” He swallowed. “Gods almighty.”
It wasn’t until he looked up and saw Robert’s dismay that Jai realized he had spoken in Iotic, the language of the Skolian nobility. Robert had served as a translator; he would recognize not only the language, but how well Jai spoke it. In his childhood Jai had tended to think in Iotic rather than Highton. Apparently under stress he still did. And he spoke it perfectly, with no accent. Yes, any Highton could study Iotic. Every Qox emperor had spoken it. Jai might even learn it well. But no true Highton would revert to perfect Iotic when he was in shock.
Robert shot a panicked look at Corbal and Tarquine, knowing they had heard. But they simply continued to watch Jai with neutral expressions. Neither said a word.
Jai rose to his feet, his hand resting on his desk, the glyphs flowing around his fingers.
Tarquine spoke quietly. “What does it say?”
He answered with a numbness he knew wouldn’t last long. “Admiral Xirad Kaliga and General Kryx Taratus, the Joint Commanders of ESComm, are dead.”
She didn’t even blink. “How?”
When Jai saw her lack of surprise, a chill went through him. “Taratus assassinated Kaliga.” The news felt like dust in his mouth. “Lord Raziquon was on Kaliga’s yacht when it exploded.” He glanced at Robert, his voice hardening. “Apparently my order rescinding Raziquon’s pardon never reached the High Judge.”
Robert blanched. “I will look into it, Your Highness.”
“You do that,” Jai said coldly.
“How did Taratus die?” Tarquine asked.
Jai turned to her, feeling as if he were in a surreal painting. “The Raziquon and Kaliga Lines discovered what they considered irrefutable evidence that the Taratus Line had assassinated their lords. So they retaliated. They shot Taratus.”
“Gods.” Even she seemed stunned. “They moved fast.”
“Didn’t they now.” Jai remembered her delayed arrival at the peace talks. And Kaliga had never showed up. Jai’s heart was beating so hard, he felt it in his whole body. “This will cripple ESComm. It could throw Eube into chaos.”
“You must appoint new commanders as fast as possible,” Corbal said.
“Astonishing, that.” Jai continued to stare at Tarquine. He didn’t know how he kept his voice calm. He wanted to scream. “Now I must choose two new Joint Commanders.”
“So you must.” Fierce satisfaction sparked on her face.
“You must call an investigation,” Robert said.
Jai glanced at him. He still couldn’t believe Robert had betrayed him. He couldn’t absorb any of this. Yet.
Corbal motioned at the glyphs scrolling across Jai’s desk. “According to that, an investigation has already been done and evidence produced.”
“Evidence can be faked,” Jai said.
“For an accusation of this magnitude?” Corbal gave him an incredulous look. “It would be impossible. Kaliga and Taratus were too powerful.”
“Almost impossible.” Jai turned to Tarquine. “Almost.”
“I believe the operative word is ‘impossible,’ ” she murmured.
“Is t
hat right?” It wasn’t until Jai’s hand began to ache that he realized he was clenching the desktop, his fingers stiffened into a claw.
“Apparently so.” No chink showed in her cool demeanor. “No one would dare make such an accusation without proof.” She stepped forward and rested her hands on his desk, submerging them in the river of glyphs. “You must act quickly to avoid a disaster. Select new commanders.”
He had to make a conscious effort not to clench his teeth. “And I’ve no doubt you can offer me advice on that.”
“Of course.”
It astonished Jai that he wasn’t shaking with anger as he turned to Corbal. “No doubt you have advice, too.”
His cousin inclined his head. “If it pleases Your Highness, I can offer my humble thoughts on the matter.”
Humble, hell. Jai felt as if the world had gone silent, muffled by his shock. With icy formality, he nodded to Corbal and Tarquine. “I will speak to you both later.”
Although neither looked pleased to be dismissed, they didn’t seem surprised. Jai had his Razers escort them from the office. But just before she left, Tarquine turned back to him. “Husband.”
“Yes?”
“Your speech is exalted,” she said softly. “Never forget.”
Jai swallowed. Never forget. Never again speak your mother’s tongue. Hotness filled his eyes, but damned if he would let his grief show—and he would turn to ashes in hell before he mourned Taratus or Kaliga.
None of the Razers even blinked at her comment. Why should they? Given the megalomaniacal way Hightons spoke about themselves, her “compliment” was mild. Only he, Corbal, and Robert understood its true meaning.
When everyone had left but Robert, Jai lowered himself into his chair and rested his elbows on the desk. Putting his forehead in his hands, he closed his eyes. He wished he could float away, out the window, free.
Robert spoke. “Your Highness, may I help you?”
Weary, Jai lifted his head. “It is so odd, Robert, that Lord Raziquon happened to be aboard Admiral Kaliga’s yacht when it exploded. I wonder how he received his pardon after I refused to grant it.”
“I will do my utmost to discover how such a terrible mistake occurred.”
“Yes, do your utmost.” Jai swiveled his chair around to him. “So, Robert my trusty aide, do you also find my speech exalted?”
His aide met his gaze squarely. “Yes.”
“Just ‘Yes’?” Jai raised an eyebrow. “No, ‘Yes, Your Most Supremo Emperor’? What happened to that glib tongue of yours?”
Sweat sheened Robert’s forehead. He went down on one knee and bowed his head. “I revere you now and always, and will attend you with the greatest loyalty.”
Jai clenched the arms of his chair. “Don’t kneel to me.”
Robert rose to his feet. “I wish only to serve you.”
“Then serve me. Not my wife.”
He averted his gaze. “Yes, sir.”
Jai knew, from Robert’s mind, that his aide had acted in what he believed was Jai’s best interest. What stunned Jai more, though, was that Robert never intended to question his lapse into Iotic. He would serve his emperor even if he had reason to believe that emperor might be other than what he claimed.
“We have a great deal of work ahead of us,” Jai said.
“We should get started.”
“Shall I see to the investigation into the deaths of Admiral Kaliga and General Taratus?”
“Yes.” Jai stood up, rising to his full height, half a head taller than Robert. “But first, I would like to know where my wife went.”
Robert checked his palmtop. “She is in the arbor of the North Garden.” He started to say more, then seemed to think better of it.
“What is it?” Jai asked.
His aide took a shaky breath. “I am immensely grateful, Your Highness, that the empress is not our enemy.”
Softly Jai said, “So am I.”
38
The Garden
Jai stood with his siblings in the pew of the church. For the first two Christmases they had spent on Earth, they had come here with Seth to celebrate the holiday. It had become special to them because it meant so much to him.
But this third year was different. This year, on newscasts that played over and over, they had watched their parents die. Time after time, Jai saw the shuttle bearing his mother and father explode; time after time, he saw debris hurtle through space, the detonation recorded by hundreds of other ships during battle. His parents, who had dreamed of peace, had died for their hope. The scene replayed endlessly, everywhere, in a horrible parody of the peace that this season was supposed to bring.
His grief was too big. He had never been able to weep.
Now he stood with his sister, Rocalisa, and his brothers, Vitar and Del-Kelric. Lisi was almost fifteen now, her pretty face much like their grandmother’s, Roca Skolia. At ten, Vitar was growing like a sprout, his black hair streaked with gold, his eyes red. Four-year-old Del-Kelric resembled a cherub, but with ruby sparkles in his gold eyes.
They were listening to the priest say Mass when the double doors of the church creaked. Jai glanced back, uneasy. The church held hundreds of pews, and he was near the front, far from the doors, so he couldn’t see clearly. It looked like a man was in the foyer, but the darkness beyond the doors made it hard to make out anyone who hadn’t entered the main church.
Then the man came all the way inside—and Jai’s pulse leapt. Outfitted in the full battle armor of a cybernetic warrior, the man carried a laser carbine.
When the priest went silent, staring at the back of the church, the members of the congregation looked as well. The church was packed for the holiday service, which meant hundreds of people were turning to the soldier.
He wasn’t alone.
More warriors filed in, boots clanking, guns glinting. The priest walked to the rail that separated the area where he said Mass from the main church, but when he tried to step out, a soldier moved quickly to him and put out his hand to stop the older man.
Sweat beaded on Jai’s forehead. A soldier was coming up the central aisle, carrying a laser carbine. Jai recognized his armor: the man was a Skolian Jagernaut. He kept coming, nearer and nearer, his tread relentless.
Jai felt as if he were dying inside. He had no doubt why these soldiers had come. He stepped to the end of the pew, putting himself in front of Lisi, Vitar, and Del-Kelric. He was aware of Seth moving to the other end of their line, so he and Jai bracketed the younger children.
The Jagernaut stopped at their pew and stared at Jai, making no attempt to hide his shock.
Seth spoke in a firm voice. “These children have political asylum. You cannot touch them.”
Jai wondered what good political asylum would do against so many armed warriors.
“Gods almighty,” the soldier whispered, more to himself, it seemed, than to Jai or Seth. Then he spoke into the comm on his gauntleted wrist. “All four of them are here.”
A sinking sensation spread in Jai, deepened by a sorrow greater than he knew how to handle. The soldier turned toward the back of the church. The doors were open, both those to the foyer and the doors that led outside. It was night. Light from the outdoor lamps slanted through the dark foyer, silhouetting two figures entering the church.
Then the two entered the light, and Jai’s sense of time slowed down. They seemed to walk in slow motion, a woman in a dusty black commando uniform with a carbine slung over her shoulder, and a man in Highton clothes that had once been elegant and now were ripped and rumpled. Two people—
Two achingly familiar people.
Jai heard Del-Kelric cry out, but in his shock he didn’t move fast enough. The small boy squeezed by even as Jai grabbed for him. Then Del-Kelric was running down the aisle, oblivious to the armed intruders, his face radiant.
As warriors all over the church whipped up their guns, the soldier at Jai’s pew yelled, “Don’t shoot!” In that same instant, the woman in the commando uniform sho
uted into her wrist comm, “Hold your fire.”
Del-Kelric ran on, oblivious to the firestorm of laser shots he had nearly started, his pudgy arms extended, his face wreathed in smiles. Then Vitar and Lisi pushed past Jai and raced down the aisle as well, Vitar’s long legs devouring the distance, Lisi’s hair streaming behind her. Jai couldn’t move. He couldn’t break the icy shock that had frozen him.
The man in the ripped Highton clothes went down on one knee—Jaibriol II, the Emperor of Eube, was kneeling, reaching to a little boy. Del-Kelric barreled into him, throwing his arms around the emperor’s neck, his father, at the same time reaching for the woman in the commando uniform, his mother, Soz Valdoria, the Imperator of Skolia. Then Lisi and Vitar reached them, and the two rulers gathered their children close, everyone crying as they embraced, uncaring that hundreds of strangers and armed soldiers were watching their reunion.
Jai finally walked down the aisle. Two steps away from his family, he stopped, unable to continue. They all gazed at him, his father holding Del-Kelric in one arm and his other arm around Vitar’s shoulders. Lisi stood next to their mother, tears on her face.
Jai couldn’t speak. For the past two years he had seen his parents vilified on the news as brutal tyrants who had broken two empires. Were these the parents who had given their children such a deep, abiding love?
Yes.
Seeing them now, Jai knew that whatever the rest of humanity chose to believe, he would always have the truth. They were the two best people he had ever known. He stepped forward and they took him into their arms.
So he held his family, his mother, father, brothers, sister, his tears streaming as they rejoiced . . .
Jai opened his eyes into darkness, his face wet. Grief wrenched through him. The dream wasn’t real. Yes, he and his siblings had gone with Seth to church that last Christmas, but no miracle had occurred. His parents hadn’t come home.
Finally, after so long, he cried. He couldn’t stop. The tears tore out of him, his mourning as raw as a new wound. He was alone. Tarquine had already risen, as she often did. Sometimes she woke him, her touch sensual in the dark hours, but this time she had been wise enough to leave him alone. He didn’t want to touch his dangerous wife, not tonight.