Protector of the Realm (50 page)

“Rosita wasn’t her name,” Y’sak said in a contemptuous tone. “That’s what her husband called her. Her real name was R’oshta. She was all I had.”

Rae allowed her voice to soften marginally. “I didn’t know. I don’t remember seeing you at the memorial service.”

“I wasn’t about to listen to meaningless clichés about my sister from some big shot who never knew her!” Y’sak lowered his voice. “I told Benito my opinion. He’s never liked me. He didn’t care if I was there or not! And now he’s leaving with Mia…”

The door to the corridor, still only half closed, flung open. Security officers flooded the room, the first one visibly taken aback when she saw the intruder. “Y’sak!”

The young man sat motionless at gunpoint on the dining room table. His eyes distant, he had obviously withdrawn and wasn’t about to respond.

“Remove Ensign Y’sak. Take him to the brig. I’ll deal with him later.” It hurt to speak. Rae was now biting her lower lip to not moan aloud from the physical anguish. “Right now I have more pressing matters to deal with.”

“Aye, ma’am.” The security officers half dragged, half carried the apathetic Y’sak from the commodore’s quarters.

M’Ekar looked up from the document presented to him on the handheld computer with an outraged expression. “Are you serious?”

Dahlia Jacelon’s elegant features revealed no feelings. “This is the only deal you will get from the Council.”

“Sticking me on a remote Vester-class planet is the best you can do?” he said.

Rae, who sat next to her mother, was secretly delighted. Vester-class planets were hot and humid, plagued by bloodsucking mosquitoes.

“Jasin does enjoy a brief tourist period during the cold season,” she said. “It could be worse, Ambassador. Councilman Thorosac could have suggested one of the sparsely populated desert planets.”

M’Ekar clenched his teeth for a moment, his jaw muscles twitching. “The document states I will be escorted with an appropriate entourage to this…place, within a few weeks.”

“Yes.” Dahlia pointed at a clause farther down. “It also states you’ll be outfitted with a computer chip, surgically installed in the medulla prolongata, at the base of your skull.”

“What?” M’Ekar tossed the computer on the conference table. “I refuse to be treated like this!”

“Of course that’s your prerogative, M’Ekar.” Rae nodded. “You can refuse this offer and we’ll escort you to the border. Whatever happens to you after that doesn’t concern us.” She smiled without joy. “Then again, I wonder how popular you’d be when you returned to Onotharat without Kellen and Armeo, and not as victorious as you led your government to believe.”

M’Ekar leaned back, drumming his fingers against the armrests. “I can’t go back. I staked everything…my future, the future of Gantharat, on this.”

“You bet on the wrong horse, then,” Dahlia said, with complete aplomb.

“You have no idea about the consequences of your actions,” M’Ekar said in a tired voice. “The Onotharian Empire didn’t become as vast and prosperous as it is by falling back when things went awry. Our leaders are merciless and goal-oriented. Don’t kid yourself, Commodore. Armeo isn’t safe. And he won’t be until he assumes his title and drives the Onotharians out. If you had let him return with me, I could have protected him…”

“As a puppet for the Onotharians to show at their convenience? I don’t think so.” Rae shook her head.

Dahlia continued. “As soon as you’ve fulfilled your end of the agreement, stipulated by Councilman Thorosac, you will be escorted to Jasin. A vast net of beacons monitors the planet and the sector around it. If they pick up any signs that you have deviated from your allowed habitat, the chip in your medulla prolongata will engage and simply shut you down.”

“What?”

“The chip will emit a signal, rendering you unconscious,” Dahlia explained. “And if the local law enforcement doesn’t find you within an hour, the condition will be permanent.”

“That’s barbaric!”

Rae nodded thoughtfully, adding simulated surprise to her tone of voice. “Coming from an Onotharian, I take that as a compliment.”

“That can’t be part of the SC laws and directives. Your culture isn’t as--”

“As violent and savage as yours?” Dahlia completed his sentence. “In fact, this precaution is well within SC laws and directives. Granted, we don’t implement it very often, but in your case, it was the only way we could persuade Councilman Thorosac to agree.”

Slumping back into his chair, M’Ekar looked at them with a sly expression in his calculating eyes. “I have a request.”

“A request?” Dahlia sounded as if she couldn’t believe she heard the man correctly.

“Will I get a chance to meet the boy before I depart? After all, I am his only living relative.”

Squinting, Rae tried to see beyond the hated façade. M’Ekar sounded sincere enough, but something inside her recoiled like a snapping rubber band. “No.” Her eyes never left his face. “Over my dead body. You are his great uncle by marriage, hardly a relative.”

The corners of M’Ekar’s lips turned down in an ugly mask of discontent, but he made no further comments.

“That takes care of that,” Dahlia summed up. “Study the document, Ambassador, and let us know when you’re willing to commit to the terms.”

Without looking back, Rae and her mother stepped out of the room and walked side by side down the
Kester
’s main corridor. SC personnel moved purposefully around them, preparing the ship, as well as its sister ship the
Ursa
, for its journey to the Supreme Constellations main shipyard, a vast facility orbiting the Crova Moon in the Corma System. Alex de Vies would captain the
Kester
with Leanne at the helm.

Rae thought of how her favorite pilot had sounded almost as if she were pleading when she in an uncharacteristic nervous tone had volunteered for the job yesterday. Unusual dark shadows under Leanne’s eyes testified to her latest ordeal. Being wounded twice in such a short time took its toll.

“I’m cleared by Dr. Meyer to resume my duties. I’d like to take the
Kester
to Crova, unless you’ve decided on another pilot.” Her restless hands had plucked at the hem of her jacket. “The truth is, I’ve stayed away from Corma far too long.” Leanne stepped closer to Owena, who stood by her side. “Seems the Cormanian Parliament is awarding me the Third Meritorious Band. That’s pretty special, ma’am. They don’t do that often.”

“I know, Lieutenant. I have more news for you regarding decorations.” Rae had enjoyed the moment. “You will receive the Second Medal of Merit in less than a month for your courage during the battle when the Onotharians first decloaked. I believe it’s my father who will do the honors.”

Leanne’s cheeks colored a deep red. “Oh, Commodore. I didn’t…I never…”

Rae laughed. “Well deserved, Lieutenant. And just so you know, Owena, your actions on Gantharat and aboard the
Liberty
have earned you the same recommendation. I fully expect the Council to follow my advice.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Owena said, seemingly unfazed by the news. Still, her eyes glittered with something resembling happiness.

“Oh, sweetheart, isn’t that great?” Leanne was all the more exuberant. Then her face turned solemn again. “I have to be honest with you, Commodore. I have another reason for returning to Corma.” She had stopped fiddling but was obviously nervous, biting down on her lower lip before she continued. “I need to make one more attempt to reconcile with my mothers.”

“Reconcile?” Rae urged her on when Leanne seemed to falter.

“Yes, ma’am. My family belongs to ancient Cormanian nobility, and I stem from a long line of a strictly female dynasty. We’re nowhere near the M’Aidos or the O’Sarals, but the D’Artansis name…well, my mothers thought I shamed it when I joined the Fleet. They made me choose.”

And you chose your own path.
Rae knew all too well how unwelcome choices could affect a family.

Owena had folded her arms across her chest at this point, her eyes a frosty sea of blue. “I’m going with her.”

Leanne shot the tactical chief a tremulous smile. “Of course you are. No matter the outcome with my mothers, we can still spend our leave on the Draggara Beaches.”

Rae had never seen Owena’s eyes take on such a soft expression before, and it altered the stern woman’s expression completely.

“I wish you luck on your endeavor, Lieutenant,” Rae said. “Both the journey and your attempt to reach your family.” She hadn’t told Leanne how much this situation tied in with her own conflicting emotions regarding her parents. The fact that she was actually talking with them without keeping her guard all the way up felt like nothing less than a miracle.

“Thank you, ma’am. It might turn into a huge disappointment, but I still have to try. I’ve…missed them.”

“I understand that. At least you’re not alone, Leanne. Owena will stand by you.”

Leanne nodded. “To be honest, that’s all that really matters, in the end.”

“Have you and Kellen made up your minds yet?” Dahlia asked as they exited the Onotharian vessel, startling Rae back to the present.

“We’ve hardly seen each other the last few days, let alone had a chance to talk,” Rae replied. “We’ve had to attend so many briefings, then there’s the vast amount of information we brought back…”

“So you’ve been stalling?”

Hating the guilty feeling, Rae didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “In a way, yes. Once Gemma cleared me to go back on full duty, I’ve buried myself in work. I…I just don’t know how to tell her, Mother.”

“Does she even know what’s going on?” Dahlia asked, taking a seat in the almost empty rail car.

Sudden tears burned behind her eyelids, and Rae shook her head. “I don’t think so. I look at Kellen and Armeo, and I know they’ve just gone through hell. It’s damn near impossible for me to barge in on their newfound sense of security…and wreck it all.”

“At one point you have to. Time’s running out for you, daughter.”

The unexpected term of endearment, spoken with a tender voice, made Rae reach for Dahlia’s hand. “I’m aware of that. I’ll talk with Kellen tonight. I won’t put it off any longer.”

Dahlia squeezed her daughter’s hand. “It’ll work out, somehow. These decisions are hard to make, but you have to give her the chance to choose.”

“Is it fair, though?” Rae swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat.

“Nothing in this damn situation is fair.” Dahlia raised her other hand and slid a finger along Rae’s rank insignia. “Between you and your father, I have a lot to worry about.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. Of course.” Rae gave her mother a careful smile. “You’ll be busy too.”

“I know.”

Riding the rest of the way in a new, comfortable sort of silence, Rae thought of the woman she had let into her life and into her heart. It was time to quit stalling.

*

“I assume we have something to discuss, since Armeo’s spending the night with your parents in the VIP quarters?” Kellen faced Rae as she brought them Cormanian coffee in tall titanium Keep-Hot cylinder-mugs. “Yes,” Rae said in a low voice. “You’re very observant.”

“So, why not finally get to the point?” Kellen slid one arm along the backrest of the couch, her eyes fixed on her wife. "You’ve been tiptoeing around me ever since you went back on full duty. You’re tossing and turning--”

“All right, all right.” Rae held up a hand. “I’m sure you’ve heard through the grapevine how negotiations aren’t going so well between the Onotharians and the SC.”

“Yes. Political turmoil and an increasing number of border skirmishes don’t look good.” Kellen wrapped her cold fingers around the hot coffee mug. “Will there be a war?”

Rae examined her face with a steady gaze. Her eyes felt almost like a touch where they followed the long waves of Kellen’s hair. “Yes, I think so. Not right away. The SC Council is trying every possible route to a peaceful solution first.”

“And of course you’ll be a part of it all.”

“Yes, one way or another. This is what I’m trained to do, darling.” Rae placed her mug on the coffee table. “I received directives to begin evacuating civilians from
Gamma VI
. The military will occupy most of the residential area. The same goes for
Gamma V
and
VII
.”

Kellen’s heart picked up speed, the implications of Rae’s words hitting all at once. “No civilians at all…not even family members of the ones deployed here?”

“No. Only military staff and some commercial interests such as shops, restaurants, and legal services for the crew. There are going to be a lot of changes, I’m afraid.”

Speechless, Kellen could only stare at her spouse. Not sure what Rae wanted her to say, she remained motionless, unaware of how precariously her mug was tilting until Rae removed it from her hands.

“Don’t look like that,” Rae implored, raw emotions obvious in her voice. “We’re not without options.”

“What options? You just said…” Kellen pressed cold fingertips against her trembling lips. “Armeo and I are civilians.”

“Yes, but listen to me.” Placing the mug on the table, Rae moved closer and took Kellen gently by the shoulders. “The problem we have is not only that you and Armeo are civilians. Armeo is safer now than he was a week ago, but you know as well as I do, until he reaches adulthood and either regains his title as an O’Saral Royale or relinquishes all claims to it, he won’t be entirely safe. We’ll always need to take special precautions until then. My parents have suggested we move him to Earth, since it’s located in the heart of the Supreme Constellations.”