The Phoenix Crisis (37 page)

“
Don’t
blame the Republic for the blood on your hands,” said Caerwyn,
cutting in abruptly.

“
I didn’t specifically blame
anybody,” said Kalila.

“
Because no one else is
guilty,” said Caerwyn.

“
Mister Martel makes an
extraordinary claim, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary
evidence,” said Kalila.

“
There is evidence,” said
Caerwyn. “And more evidence is mounting all the time. I don’t raise
these allegations lightly. I weep for my Empire, and I am the
King’s loyal servant. But higher even than the King is the sanctity
of this Empire and the sovereignty and dignity of its people. As a
member of the Assembly I must fight for them, and for their safety,
and so it is with the heaviest of hearts that I expose the
government for the abusive regime that it is, it has misused our
military and violated the peace, the honor, the safety, and the
dignity of our noble citizens. I regret having to make these
accusations, but I have a duty not just to the citizens of our
great Empire but to the truth.”

“
Please, by all means,
present your evidence,” said Kalila. Her words were calm and well
composed; she shared her father’s gift for seeming to have command
of any situation no matter how dire, but this was one battle she
would not win. Caerwyn was certain of it.

“
The fleet that entered
orbit and began bombing the planet—war criminals who would
slaughter civilians—did so unopposed. If it was not a military
operation, why was there no military presence there to stop them?”
He wanted the question to linger on his fellow Representatives’
minds but he did not want an answer stated, so he continued
speaking. “The attacking ships were unopposed. The weapons they
fired were of military grade—only our military could possess such
weapons. And witnesses on the ground say that the ships flew under
the King’s own banner.”

Caerwyn finished and then looked at his
opponent. Unable to read from Kalila’s neutral expression what she
was thinking.

“
With respect,
Representative Martel,” said Kalila slowly, after a few seconds.
“The evidence you present is anecdotal. The attacking ships moved
in unopposed because we had no warning of the attack. Why there was
no military presence protecting the planet is a question to be put
to the Lord Admirals. That decision was not made by my father or
indeed anyone from my House. The weapons might have been supplied
by a foreign military in an effort to undermine the strength of our
Empire—a threat that should be at the forefront of our concerns.
And the sighting that the ships flew the King’s lights and
broadcasted under the King’s frequencies might have been done by
anyone. Anyone who would have wanted the King to be blamed for the
attack would have motive to act under our banner.”

“
My Lady Princess,” said
Caerwyn, fighting a smile, “you are grasping at straws. You ask us
to accept these weak explanations, rumors of conspiracies for which
there is no proof, whilst our people suffer and bleed and die
because of mismanagement by our highest executive authority? Every
hour of every day, new accounts are whispered across the Network of
brutality on Renora by the King’s soldiers.”

“
Rumors only,” said
Kalila.

“
Rumors perhaps, but not
lies. There is no question that the King’s decision to fill the
streets of Renora with troops—against our official advice, I would
add—has been a mistake that has cost the people of the Empire in
terms of its most valuable treasure, the lives of its citizens. And
now the people demand action, they demand
change
, and so should we as their
representatives.”

“
What are you saying, Lord
Martel?”

“
I am calling a motion. It
is high time for the Assembly to execute the Sovereignty Clause of
Article One of the Imperial Charter.”

Surprised and eager voices filled the
Assembly Floor, causing Representative Tate—who was presiding over
the session—to smack her gavel and call for order.

“
You are calling for the
throne to be recalled back to the people and a new monarch chosen?”
asked Kalila.

“
I am,” declared Caerwyn,
knowing this bold challenge to Akiran authority would be carried by
the news across the Empire far and wide.

“
Is there anyone who will
second the motion?” asked Representative Tate.

“
I will,” said
Representative Conroy. Caerwyn squinted at the second row balcony
and saw Lord Conroy standing. Caerwyn had expected him to be the
one to support the challenge to the Akiras, no doubt he believed
his House had a fair shot at claiming the throne. He was wrong of
course, but so long as he served Caerwyn’s interests, Caerwyn would
welcome Conroy’s misplaced support.

“
Representative Akira, your
response?” asked Representative Tate.

Kalila called for a recess,
just like Caerwyn would have done in her position. She would meet
with her faction of support and arrange for Caerwyn’s motion to be
blocked before it could come to a vote. He knew that Kalila’s
effort would succeed—
for
now
—she had just enough votes supporting
her to block him. Loyalty to the Akira House went deep, after all
they’d always controlled the monarchy. But as the situation across
the Empire became more chaotic, and more news of bloodshed and
mismanagement spread far and wide—and the citizens of the Empire
demanded answers—Kalila’s support would erode. And the Empire would
demand a change in leadership.

The Conroys and Sabels no doubt had their
own ambitions, their own dreams of sitting on the throne. But there
was an answer to that too… once push came to shove. And in the
ashes, once the dust settled, Caerwyn knew he would be the one
wearing the crown. Ready to lead the Empire into its next era of
glory. All he needed now was patience.

Chapter 26

Calvin sat in the Arbor Café and waited. He
took a corner table, so no one could surprise him from behind, and
sat away from the window. There were only a few patrons here: an
old woman, two old men, a mother with children, and a young
disheveled man who sat nursing a black coffee. None of them struck
Calvin as his informant, but he kept a watch on them all the same.
While pretending to stare down at the display screen on his table
and read the news.

“
Would you like anything,
sir?” asked one of the baristas as she approached him with a
notepad and pen.

“
Sure,” he said, knowing
that if he sat there and didn’t order anything he would draw
unwanted attention. “I’ll take a coffee with milk and
sugar.”

The barista made a note and left. She
returned a moment later with his drink and he thanked her.

“
If there is anything else
you need, please let me know,” she smiled at him.

He nodded and she left. When she was gone he
made a show of sipping his coffee but he did not actually drink. He
didn’t trust it. And he wasn’t much of a coffee drinker. He set the
mug down and checked his watch, discovering that his mysterious
informant was now officially late—by one minute. He would wait five
minutes, he decided. If no one came by then Calvin would leave. No
reason to sit here exposed. Especially if this was some kind of
setup.

“
Tell me you’ve got
something for me,” he whispered. His concealed earpiece had an
excellent microphone so he barely had to make any sound.

“
Still nothing, sir,” said
one of his observers. His people were keeping watch on the streets,
giving him the heads-up of any suspicious activity that might be
heading his way. In addition he had forces ready to swoop down on
the Café and come to his aid, should the Khans or some other
would-be assassin make a play. Calvin did
not
want a repeat of the motorcade
incident.

He scanned over the top stories while he
waited and found that new details had been released concerning the
latest attack on Renora.

The planet, which was already in a major
state of emergency and chaos, had been bombed from orbit. The
newest buzz throughout the Network was that the ships that’d
participated in the attack had flown the colors of the King. Calvin
knew the King would never bomb his own people, but what mattered
more at this point wasn’t so much what the facts were but rather
what the citizens of the Empire believed the facts to be. And these
rumors certainly didn’t bode well for the King, or for Kalila, or
for Calvin for that matter—now that he was tied to the Akira
family.

He was sure this attack had been a false
flag operation, probably done by the Phoenix Ring, to further
weaken the Akiran throne. He tried to take some small comfort in
knowing that, once he’d done his job and tracked down the
conspiracy’s leaders and exposed what they were doing, that this
would all come to an end. But, as he imagined the death and chaos,
the displaced families, the orphaned children, and the general
slaughter that was going on… he wondered if this was partially his
fault. Had he been more efficient, had he tracked down the
conspiracy leaders sooner, perhaps he could have prevented
this…

He closed his eyes and tried not to think
about it. When he opened them again he discovered that there was a
new top story. This one was coming out of the Republic; for once it
wasn’t Imperial citizens but rather the Rotham who’d been affected.
Apparently one of their planets, Cepheus, had been the victim of a
brutal and unprovoked attack. The Republic was rushing ships and
aid to the planet. The details were still sketchy and no one had
been identified as the culprit. However, the Republic seemed to
have ruled out the Imperial government and was calling it an
isolated terrorist attack. Possibly done by “disenfranchised human
radicals.”

From the initial reports, it looked every
bit as dirty, and savage, and bloody, as the Renora attacks had
been. Countless deaths, mostly to civilians. But the Cepheus
situation had the potential to keep getting worse in a way the
Renora situation didn’t. Once the ships had stopped firing on
Renora, the rainfall of planetary bombardment rounds had ceased.
Giving the survivors the chance to pick through the ashes and lick
their wounds. But on Cepheus… the entire ecosystem was being
affected, and food production on the planet was expected to
decrease by over ninety-percent in the next year, possibly leading
to mass starvations. There was even the chance that the planet,
which was home to billions of people, would become uninhabitable. A
massive planetary evacuation had never been attempted in all of
history, but people on the Network were writing about what it would
take to achieve if the worst should happen on Cepheus.

It was difficult, at this stage, to sort
through all of the rumors and identify which ones were plausible
and which were exaggerated or false, but one thing Calvin knew for
sure… this had been a sick, and revolting action against innocents
who’d had no skin the game. They weren’t the enemy. So why attack
them?

This was Raidan’s
work
, Calvin realized. It seemed too dark,
and too savage to be something Raidan would have done. But Calvin
remembered the report Grady had given him not long ago, about how
Raidan had likely stolen materials from Aleator that were
components for extreme biological weapons. Calvin had intended to
confront Raidan about it when he saw him, and demand answers, but
he hadn’t gone to Raidan. He’d chosen to meet with the princess
instead…

Damn me
… He wondered if that meant he shared in some of the blame for
this outrage. Was some of the blood of Cepheus on his hands
too?

No
,
he couldn’t think like that. Couldn’t let himself become a martyr
for others’ choices. He’d never wanted this attack to happen, and
certainly never would have ordered it himself, so he wasn’t guilty…
but if he wasn’t guilty, then why did he feel so… dead inside over
this?

“
We’ve got something for
you,” said a voice over his earpiece. He snapped to attention and
watched the door.

“
Go ahead,” he
said.

“
Female, about thirty-five
years old, short brown hair, purple hat, lavender coat. She did a
full perimeter sweep and is now heading directly for the café. She
does not appear to be armed.”

“
I see her,” said Calvin as
a woman matching her description entered. She looked around the
room for a moment, as if searching for something. Calvin watched
her, careful not to stare. He had no intention of drawing attention
to himself until he got a better sense of who she was and what she
wanted.

“
We’re running the photos we
took through the computer system now, so far no matches,” said the
voice in his ear. “Probably because she was too
covered.”

The woman wore a scarf and sunglasses in
addition to her coat and hat and, taken together, the outfit did a
good job of making computer recognition analysis difficult—if not
impossible. Calvin doubted this was a coincidence.

As the woman glanced over the room, her eyes
eventually fell on Calvin. She walked very casually up to his table
and took the seat opposite him.

“
Nice
hair
,” she said. No doubt a comment on his
altered appearance.

“
Thanks,” he said,
deflecting her sarcasm. Despite what she, and Rain, and others
thought, he pulled off the dark hair look very well, as far as he
was concerned. And it must have been authentic enough because it
managed to fool the barista and everyone on the street into
thinking he was someone else.