“How do you guys pick your successor?” Hawkins continued.
“We … have a holy congress and weigh each candidate’s value. Many are qualified, but few choose to serve in such an august position. This is not something done in a hurry.”
“Well”—he paused and looked at Gurang—“if you don’t pick someone soon, running this world will fall to us. I can’t speak for the Citadel or the Mirador, but I know the Rangers could benefit from someone better equipped to lead.”
“And what of the people, General? What do they need?”
“A triumvirate to rally around, a trio of leaders they can place their confidence in. They need faces to see on the screens and on the streets. We need to rebuild not just structurally but also to rebuild faith and trust. If you think about it, we failed. All of us. The Savant’s satellites were easily circumvented—again—and the Primus was so busy hiding her illness, she wasn’t there when we needed her guidance. The Rangers couldn’t take the Ursa down fast enough, weren’t anticipating a three-legged version. We let the people down, and now we have to build that back up, put a fresh bandage over the wounds left behind.”
“Most important, it needs to be done quickly,” Gurang added. “The media has already concluded that the Savant’s passing leaves us adrift. The people are mourning and worn; they need something to rally behind, and that’s this government.”
“Well said,” Hawkins began. “You want the job?”
“Heavens, no. I have other things I prefer to devote my time to,” he said defensively.
“So we’re back at the beginning. We need leaders in all three divisions and need them fast,” Pryor said.
“May I make a suggestion?” Hawkins rose and tapped a control on the panel before his seat. Appearing before the Crucible and the Tribune were images of Vanessa Raige along with her duty jacket. Both scanned the data as the General paced around the room, warming up to his topic.
“We need leadership sooner than we’re comfortable with. What about an interim leader?”
The Crucible nodded in agreement, her eyes still reviewing the findings. “Yes, we might be able to name a pro tem Primus. It’s never been done, but the guidelines do not prohibit it.”
“You said ‘leader.’ Singular,” Gurang said.
“Good catch,” Hawkins said. “Yes, I am proposing something radical. As you will see in her profile, Ranger Raige is deeply religious and respectful of the Citadel. She also has amazing science scores. She understands all three branches of government and has proved herself in the field. The best thing about her is her name.”
“Raige.”
“Yes, Crucible. She’s a Raige, one of a long line that has become a part of the planet’s lifeblood. Who better to rally around than a Raige in our hour of need? Make her interim everything for a year and let us rebuild and reorganize.”
“No,” the woman said. “She is not trained in our ways.”
“But you are,” Hawkins said. “Guide her. Let Vanessa bring her skills to your operation, and that gives you time to select someone appropriate to continue Primus Kincaid’s work.”
“Six months,” Gurang said. “We’ll have someone picked long before that, but it gives us time to prepare and make this a smooth transition. It gives Raige a chance to get all three branches back in working order.”
“I can live with that; can you?” He stared intently at the Crucible, who wrinkled her brow in concentration.
“If I say no, you still outvote me two to one. But for the sake of the people, I will make it unanimous. There can be no clue we disagreed. Now is not the time for dissension.”
iii
“Ah, Commander Raige. Do you know Crucible Pryor or Tribune Gurang?”
Vanessa shook her head, meeting their eyes briefly, and then scanned the room, wondering where everyone else might be. She could have been called in for a specific mission, but she couldn’t imagine what area of expertise she alone possessed. Finally, she mentally gave in and just went with the flow.
“Tell me, my dear, why did you not become an augur?” Pryor asked.
“I believe, Crucible, but felt my path was with the Rangers.”
“The family business, as it were,” Hawkins added.
“I had ancestors in the augury,” she admitted. That earned her an approving smile from Pryor.
“It’s the family we’re here to speak with you about,” Hawkins continued. “The people hold the Raiges in high esteem. You might say they are the first family of Nova Prime.”
“You might say that, but we don’t,” Vanessa said defensively. “There are many other families that have long, rich histories. Like the Kincaids.”
“But none with your history,” Gurang interrupted.
“Granted. How can the family help?”
“My dear, we’re facing terrible times. You know that there was no clear line of succession for the Rangers. It appears all three divisions of the planetary government are in disarray. It’s certainly not a legacy our departed would have imagined leaving, but it is the truth. We need to quickly show the people the government still functions.”
Raige turned as Hawkins continued where Gurang had left off. “We need to do this quickly and focus on the reconstruction, not the leadership. To do that, we need to buy time for all three divisions to reorganize and rebuild. To accomplish this, we need a singular face and voice to lead the people. We’re offering you the chance to help your people. Lead us, lead all three divisions, for a period of six months.”
Vanessa was stunned. She expected assignments, commendations, maybe a promotion. But being put in charge of the planet? Her best friend and fellow Ranger, O’Shea, would flip.
“General, you know I have just accepted my nephew, the PC’s son, into my house. He has to be my priority,” she began.
“He will benefit from a stable home and a stable planet,” Pryor said. “Right now, we have a world in need of a symbol of unity. That, my dear, means we need a Raige. You.”
Her mind was whirling. Questions kept forming, but so were ideas. Gaps she had noticed that needed sorting, improved communications between divisions. Suddenly, possibilities were outnumbering objections. But a dark memory lingered. There hadn’t been a singular leader of the people in centuries, and the last time that had happened, it hadn’t ended well.
Vanessa turned away from the trio of expectant faces and tried to sort her thoughts. She noted that the first sun was setting, painting the horizon in red and gold. She studied the window, and for a moment she thought she saw Hunter’s face staring back at her from the reflection. He was smiling, flashing her a thumbs-up the way he did as a kid before she did something monumentally stupid. It made her smile. It also made her heart ache.
He wanted her to take it. To do the family proud.
“I can’t say yes before I speak with Trent. You have to give me that.”
“Agreed,” Hawkins said. “You have until tomorrow. We need you. Yes, so does your baby, but you’re about to inherit more on-call babysitters than you can count.”
Vanessa’s husband, Trent, was playing with Lorenzo, who was gurgling high over his head. He was young, but it was clear he’d have eyes like his father, Hunter. Vanessa watched them contentedly playing and was happy they could provide the infant a safe haven.
“Hey,” she said, entering the room. He angled the baby toward her, using his hand to make Lorenzo “wave” at his mother.
She walked over, leaned down, kissed Trent on the forehead, and took Lorenzo into her arms. If she took the post, moments like this would grow fewer and fewer just as she was getting used to thinking of the baby as her son.
“Trouble?” He followed her into the baby’s nursery, which just a week ago was a workout room. There remained a faint aroma of sweat that Trent needed to address but first things first. She was changing Lorenzo’s diaper, powdering his skin and cooing over him. Finished, she swaddled him in a bright red, blue, and yellow blanket.
“Not exactly,” she s
aid, accepting the bottle Trent offered her. “Comm chatter appears surprisingly quiet.”
“Admit it, you like when things are slightly off the rails,” he said. “But there’s something going on, otherwise you wouldn’t have been called in.”
“Yeah, there was a meeting,” she said, uncertain how to broach the topic. She mentally reviewed a speech the entire way home, but now, with Trent and Lorenzo in the same room, it wasn’t coming easily.
“We’ve built a pretty good life, haven’t we?”
“Sure.”
“We have friends, we go out, we do things,” she said as she adjusted the bottle in her grip. Then she settled into a chair and fed Lorenzo. It felt wonderful. Peaceful and calm.
“Are you worried the baby will change all that?”
“Oh, he will. We won’t go out as often, our social circle will change, especially when he begins classes. But I was ready to accept the responsibility.”
“What are you getting at? You’re being vague and not telling me about the meeting. Was it bad?”
“No, not bad at all. Kind of thrilling, actually. But it would mean changes. Lots of them.”
Trent stepped closer, brow knitting in concern.
“Are you being reassigned?”
“I have an offer,” she began.
“One of the new colonies?”
“No, here in the city,” she said as her free hand stroked the baby’s cheek. Lorenzo sucked away, oblivious to the growing tension in the room.
“Come on already, tell me what’s going on.”
“You know the family history. You know how the Raiges are forever intertwined with the Rangers. Well, that’s being called into play.”
“PC? You’re kidding. Shouldn’t Hawkins have the job?”
“More.”
“What more? There’s nothing more than the Prime Commander,” Trent said.
“They want me to run the government and fix the planet. I’d oversee not only the Rangers but the Citadel and Mirador.”
“That’s crazy,” he said. “A one-person PC, Savant, and Primus? That’s unheard of.”
“It’s happened before, but it didn’t turn out so well,” she said, and reminded him of the disastrous man who assumed all three roles in 195 and took the overbearing title of Imperator.
“Really? I’d forgotten all about that.”
“Well, they hadn’t and want me to do the same, only better.”
“But you’re so young,” he said. “Are you experienced enough to know how to fix the government?”
“They think I am,” she said, placing the now-empty bottle atop the changing table. “It’s an amazing offer.”
“Did you accept?”
“I told them we had to talk so here we are, talking.” She reached out and grasped his hand.
“A week ago we had one kind of life, and this last week we began something new and wonderful. Now I’m being asked to give it up and take on a monster responsibility. But I like our life. I love spending time with Lorenzo. That’d all change.”
“For how long?” he asked.
“Six months, time enough for everybody to figure out who should really be running the planet.”
“So, you’d just be a caretaker?”
“More than that, Trent. There are things that need fixing. There’s rebuilding to do. People who died that need replacing, beyond our leaders. The list could be endless.”
“And you have six months.”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds like you want to do this,” he said, gripping her hands tightly within his.
“I love what we’ve built. I love our little family. But I am a Raige and we’re built to protect all of Nova Prime. The people are our family, too, and they’re hurting.”
“I know. I know all about the Raiges and the way you’re trained. Protecting runs in your family.”
“But you’re not happy.”
“I worry about you. Emotionally, you’ve been through so much in such a short period of time. Taking this on will be crushing and you rarely rely on others, preferring to do things yourself. Looking after the planet is a huge responsibility, and I want my wife back when the six months are over. Will you be the same?”
She leaned over and kissed him.
“As long as I can come home to you and Lorenzo every night, I’ll be just fine.”
Carefully placing the baby between them, the couple embraced and she soaked it in. After all, she began wondering, just how many nights over the next six months would she actually have the luxury of coming home, finding either one still awake?
It was, though, just six months. And Hunter already told her to do it. He was speaking for the ancestors. She would do the job, without that damned title, and protect not only her family but all the families on Nova Prime.
It was in her blood.
1000 AE
Nova Prime
i
Faia Raige had been preparing dinner for herself, since the men in her life were away together, when she heard a knock at the door. For a moment, she wondered if she had extended an invitation to someone and forgotten. That would be unlike her. She was usually good at remembering such things.
Hearing the knock again, she wiped her hands with a cloth and went to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw two men she had never met before. There was something about them. They looked … official.
“Mrs. Raige?” the taller of them said.
“Yes. Can I help you?” Faia asked.
Then they told her what had happened. For a moment, they were just words. Then they sank in, and she began to scream. The men looked away. What could they do? They had torn her life open and ripped its heart out. What was there to do after that?
Years earlier, Faia had lost her daughter, Senshi. That was the most horrible thing she could ever have imagined, the most horrible pain she could ever have borne. But this …
This.
ii
Kitai felt a soft pecking at his cheek. What …? He brushed it away with his hand, but it resumed a moment later. Finally, he opened his eyes to see where the pecking was coming from and found himself staring into the eyes of a tiny, newborn baby bird, close enough to nuzzle at him with its beak. Instinctively, Kitai jumped back and realized he was covered in something clear and viscous. He sucked in a breath and began wiping the stuff off his face. Only then did he pay attention to the patchwork of light and shadow around him and the intertwined branches picking shadows from the sunlight.
Where am I? he wondered.
Propping himself up, Kitai looked around. He was surrounded by eggs: not the kind he had known on Nova Prime but huge ones, each of them bigger than the baby bird. And they had all begun to crack.
As he watched, the birds inside them—dark, wet things—emerged from the eggs and spread their slick wings as if they would take flight. A nest, he realized. I’m in a giant nest. Kitai looked down. He could see through the bottom of the nest, where there were gaps in the branches. If I’m in a nest, he thought, I must be in a tree. He identified the biggest branch in the interwoven structure and traced it back to an enormous trunk. And there, sitting on the branch right next to the trunk, was a massive bird of prey, not unlike a condor except it was more than two meters tall if it was a centimeter. As Kitai looked on, his heart pounding, the bird opened its beak and spread its wings. They spanned a good five meters. Of course, he had seen that kind of wingspan before …
Just before the bird plucked him out of the sky.
It seemed to be standing guard at the base of the branch. Eyeing him. As what? Food for its newborn?
Kitai had no intention of serving that purpose. He looked around for his backpack and found it on the other side of the nest. It was torn in the corner, but his cutlass was still clipped to it. That was good. With the cutlass, he had a chance against the bird. He started moving toward the weapon slowly so as not to disturb the bird. All around him, its young continued to break free of their eggs. Finally, Kitai reached
his gear.
But as he reached for it, he looked down through the gaps in the nest and saw a dark shape moving up the trunk of the tree. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked enormous, even bigger than the adult bird. One of the newborn creatures moved toward Kitai. He extended his foot and pushed it away. It fell on its side so clumsily that it was funny.
But Kitai wasn’t inclined to laugh. Not when the dark shape was still moving up the trunk below him. And definitely not when he saw a second shape drop onto his branch from above.
With trembling hands, he unclipped the cutlass from his pack. Then he tapped in a combination on its handle. Instantly the weapon extended to its full two-meter length, with one end featuring a sharp spear point and the other a flat blade. None too soon, either, because the limb on which the nest rested began to shake violently.
Suddenly, the adult bird went at the invader that had attacked from below. Kitai could see the intruder better now. Its fur was a burned gold. The body someplace between leopard and lion. It snarled and swiped at the bird, which spread its wings and took itself out of the leopard’s range. But not too far. It still had a nest full of young to protect. As Kitai watched, it flew at the leopard and pecked at it with its razor-sharp beak.
This is my chance, he thought.
While the creatures were busy, he could slip out of the nest and make his way down through the branches of the tree. With luck, neither of them would notice his departure until it was too late to retrieve him. Kitai crawled to the edge of the nest, but before he could climb over it, he felt the branch shudder. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he saw another leopard appear on the end of the branch. Still others were scaling the trunk below him.
The cadet looked back at the newborns in the corner of the nest. They squawked at him. Kitai didn’t know why, but he felt an obligation to defend them.
It was crazy. He had his own skin to look after, and his father’s life depended on him, too. But he couldn’t just leave the newborn birds to the mercy of the leopards. Moving back into the center of the nest, he stood in front of the younglings, his cutlass at the ready.