Alien Courage (Rise of the Empress) (7 page)

“Captain,” the Administrator said standing straighter
and pushing his shoulders back to relieve the pressure from holding the sword.
“I am not here as a military dignitary or as a member of any of the Great
Houses. I am here as requested by Ennack’s Security Chief to put forward a
matter of Confederate security to the Emperor. I have no idea why the Mandates
of Almogest have been exercised but since they have it is a matter for the
Emperor to adjudicate. I wish to neither offend the Emperor or yourself by
departing from the Mandates.”

“Very well,” the Captain replied as if he were
discussing a military matter with a subordinate. “We will dispense with the
formalities. Come with me.”

The two men marched off the parade ground and through
two enormous doors guarded by soldiers with long pikes with silver spikes at
the top with white, red and yellow gold inlay on the shafts. “It is the custom
that you will remain my responsibility while you are here, unless directly
intervened
by the Emperor,” the Captain explained as they
walked down a great hallway with many elaborate statues and paintings of
planets and constellations adorning the walls. One whole section had alcoves
with some of the actual Space Fighters that were used in historic and decisive
battles throughout the Confederacy’s history. “Give me no reason to intervene
in your mission or this will be your last view of anything living. I do not
trust you and any out of favour behaviour by you will see you in my hands for
discipline. Do you understand me?” The Administrator needed only to nod his
acknowledgement. The Captain was one of the most serious people he had ever
met.

They turned a corner in the walkway through the hall
and came up to another guarded doorway. The guard to the right stepped forward
and saluted. The Captain returned the salute and handed him the sword. The
doors were opened wide and the two men walked through into the Imperial Court
atrium. They both stopped inside. The room was really another huge hall and was
full of hundreds of people of all races and creeds. There were representatives
and dignitaries from all the far reaches of the Confederacy.  They were
dressed in a multitude of uniforms and traditional dress. Many android waiters
and servants were busily attending to the dignitaries.

The Captain turned to face the Administrator. “They
are all waiting for a consultation with the Imperial Court. That must be done
before an audience with the Emperor can be granted. I will arrange…” The Captain
was interrupted by a female android, the same one that came to get the
Administrator from the Academy. The android whispered into the Captain’s ear.

“What!” The Captain shouted loudly at the android. The
android said something of which the Captain obviously disapproved. The android
gave the Captain a small object and the Captain opened it. “Very well,” the
Captain said and the android hurried off.

“Come with me Administrator,” the Captain barked and
turned smartly marching back out of the doorway they had just entered, his cape
trailing from his shoulders. The Administrator followed and the guards closed
the doors behind them as they went through.

Across the hall in a small alcove behind a statue a
black robed figure turned his head to gaze upon the two men. The hood of the
robe completely obscured the face but in the shadow of the hoods slit two grey
eyes followed the movement of the Captain and the Administrator. The behaviour
of the Captain since the shuttle arrived with this ‘guest’ intrigued this black
robed figure. The fact the Captain had taken his guest back out of the atrium
and broke protocol was indeed worthy of investigation. The black robed figure
tapped the wall and a secret panel opened, he disappeared.

The Captain led the Administrator through the vast
Hall and into passageways leading to the heart of the Palace. Guards along the
passageways previously were numerous but now there were none. They entered a
corridor of unusual beauty and splendour compared to the others. “Wait there,”
the Captain said clearly annoyed but pointed at a chair against the wall. The
Captain disappeared through an ornately decorated door.

The Administrator sat and looked around him. He had
never before seen such grandeur. The floors were marble and onyx set in the
pattern of flowers. Inlaid stone of a darker colour representing stems and
branches snaked their way up the walls to the ceiling. The Administrator found
himself captivated by the design and almost failed to notice the statues of two
eighteen foot tall Chesapeake bears, the largest of all known bears. A little
down the corridor were a pair of hand carved ebony tigers guarding a large
wooden trunk. The trunk had inlaid stones of blue and green, the hinges and
border were made of gold and silver. Some of the stones were missing and the
trunk must have been thousands of years old. The Administrator suddenly stood
up and looked at the chair he was sitting on. It matched the trunk! He slowly
reached down toward the chair and ran his finger along the gold banding and one
of the inlaid green stones; it was cold to the touch. He lowered his head to
closely inspect it, he gasped - an emerald the size of his thumb!

He stood up and spun around slowly carefully observing
his surroundings. This was true power and wealth he realised. There was
probably more wealth in this corridor than in the vaults of many of the great
Houses. He slowly walked looking at the many artefacts, totally absorbed in
their beauty, daring to touch the edge of two crossed swords which must be
older than the Confederacy itself, not very sharp he thought.

The door behind him swung open and the Captain marched
out. The Administrator swung around and stood to attention, he noticed the
Captain’s mood had not improved. The Captain closed the door behind him and
marched directly past the Administrator neither saying anything nor even
looking at him. The Captain disappeared around the corner. His footfalls were
clearly heard but getting fainter as the distance increased. Then a door opened
and closed, silence.

The Administrator looked up and down the corridor.
There was no one but himself. He was a little perplexed but in true military
fashion, obeyed his last order. He went back to the chair, sat down and waited.

---------

Url
couldn’t help himself. He noticed the leggings and
tuft in the hat of the second man making his way past him past him. He was from
an enemy tribe, the Beclin. There was only a short distance between his two
enemies.
Url
rose from his hiding place like a ghost
and lunged forward.

The man from the Beclin tribe never knew what
happened. He felt an impact and suddenly found himself in space over the cliff
falling. His arms and legs thrashed in the open air, his gun seemed to float
beside him as they both descended into the abyss. The howling wind quickly
drowned out his screams but not before being heard by his companion on the edge
of the cliff.

The falling man’s companion swung around when he heard
screaming. He saw a figure move toward him and didn’t have time to avoid the
blow.
Url
hit him a savage blow with the butt of his
gun. The Beclin man went down with a grunt.
Url
was
quickly over him and he took his gun off him and handed it to Brakin who was
now beside him. “You gun now,”
Url
grunted glancing at
Brakin, and then took out his long bladed skinning knife. He rested the point
against his enemy’s throat and lightly jabbed, a small amount of blood flowed.
Url
was now sitting on his chest.

“Why come,”
Url
shouted.

“Why,” his jabbed a little harder.

“Hunting,”
came
a whispered
answer.

“Lie, no hunt.
Why come?”

The terrified man didn’t answer.
Url
twisted his knife and the man screamed.

“You tell, why come?”

“We were told you were here,” the man answered with a
croaking voice.

Url
leaned down closer to the man’s head. “You attack
village?
Answer or die slow.”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“Raiding party, fifteen…” Those were the last words
that man ever said.
Url
thrust his knife deeply into
his throat and savagely twisted the blade killing the man instantly.
Url
waited until the convulsions stopped then quickly
stripped the body of all valuables. He gave the ammunition and black powder
horn to Brakin and kept the knives, necklace, gloves, boots and small trinkets
to be shared among those at the village. He threw the man’s body off the cliff.

Brakin had heard what the man said and quickly
gathered up what they needed. They would have to leave the sled and the skin
but carefully packed the eyes into a special pocket in his inner skin. He
released the goat to fend for itself. The skin would be lost as animals were
bound to pick up the scent of blood and eat it.

Brakin thanked
Url
for the
gun. It was a handsome weapon equal to the one ruined by the cat.

“Go fast now,”
Url
said
pulling Brakin by the arm.

The two men made their way along the trail. It was
easier going with the wind at their backs but the anticipation of what they
would find at the village made both men anxious. Raids by Beclin were not
uncommon and loss of life was mostly minimal but always resulted in a
retaliatory raid which was equally expensive for the Beclin. The conflicts were
always over hunting areas; inter tribal jealously, or for women.

Url
pressed on at an alarming rate. Brakin tried to
reason with him but realised he was wasting his time. Brakin decided caution
was not an option and took the same risks as
Url
.
Brakin felt instantly pleased with his decision and their pace picked up. Now
the weather was an asset, not an obstacle as it was earlier. 

Url
had his gun at the ready when they crossed onto the
plateau where the village was located on the extreme edge. His movements became
rhythmic and calculated as the village came within range of his gun. He stopped
and motioned Brakin to his side. The village lay below at the end of a gentle
slope. They could just make out the shape of the lodges.

“You go that way,”
Url
told
his friend and dropped over the ledge of a short incline into powdery snow. He
made his way forward and disappeared into heavy undergrowth towards the
village.

 Brakin slid down the incline and made his way
into the undergrowth. He tired to circle around to the left but the frozen
creek he was following was blocked with large snow drifts. He was forced to
doubled back and follow in
Url’s
footprints. With all
the caution he could muster he advanced to the edge of the village. He
immediately found a body in the snow. A large area of blood soaked snow
surrounded its head. Its throat slit from ear to ear. Brakin counted another
two dead Beclin, before he came across the first body of a villager. It was of
a young woman, the daughter of a friend who had violently resisted her captors.
Her bloody body frozen and her wide open eyes transmitted her horror to the
living. Brakin dropped to his knees beside her and closed her eyes. He removed
his outer skin from his shoulders and gently covered her body. Tears streamed
down his cheeks which instantly turned to ice. He was beside himself with rage
and without caution ran into the village.

Brakin cared not for his own safety but ran directly
to his lodge. It was empty and he searched its surrounds frantically. He found
no sign of his family. He ran to his neighbour’s lodge and found it was also
empty, fear filled his mind. He ran with all his might to the meeting hall and
stopped at is entrance. There lay another Beclin in the snow. The smell of
blood was very strong as Brakin cocked his gun and withdrew his razor sharp
skinning knife and placed it between his teeth. He moved through the entrance
of the meeting hall and was prepared to kill whoever was in the hall.

Brakin stopped when he saw
Url
sitting with a body cradled in his arms, his grief was overwhelming. He sobbed
uncontrollably as he rocked back and forth. Brakin sheafed his knife. He didn’t
what to do seeing his friend in such a way. He fell to his knees beside him and
then he saw
Url’s
wife in his arms. Brakin fell
forward and rested his head on the ground unable to speak.