-I'm scared, Kri'a,- Li'ren said, rising from her seat and going to her mate. -I don't know what's going to happen now. And it worries me that something could happen so close to us, without us knowing about it or being able to stop it.-
-I know, little one,- Kri'a said. She stood up and brought Li'ren into her arms, hugging her tightly. Their tails twisted around each other tightly. -It scares me, too, believe it or not. To think that our security could have been compromised so thoroughly...- She stopped talking, feeling the beginning of a quiver in her voice. Her concern for Li'ren's safety far outweighed her regard for herself. -I must ask a very important favor of you, Li'ren.-
Li'ren looked up at Kri'a. -Anything, mistress. You know I would do anything for you.-
-I'm afraid you may not want to do this, Li'ren,- Kri'a said with a smile. -I want you to go away, back to Arbaros, to be with your mother. I think you will be safer there than here on Lirna.-
-No!- Li'ren said quickly and sharply, her arms clutching tighter to Kri'a. -I'm not going to leave you. I belong here. My home is with you.-
-Please, Li'ren, you must do this,- the Empress said firmly. She kissed her softly on her forehead. -If it is a true civil war that we are heading into, I will be a prime target for the rebels. I don't want you caught up in any of that. Our enemies have already proven that they can get close to me. You will be far safer on Arbaros.-
Li'ren looked down, not wanting to listen to Kri'a even though she knew that what she was saying made sense. -But I want to stay with you...-
-I know, love, and I want nothing more than the very same. You know I love you more than anything.- Kri'a tipped her lover's head up, kissing her lips tenderly. -It will not be for long.-
-Alright,- Li'ren finally said, blinking tears out of her eyes. -I'll do it for you.-
-That's my girl,- Kri'a said, smiling at her. She brushed a hand along the side of her face, teasing the base of one ear. -Come. Let's go home for now. We'll have a relaxing evening, and we'll give your mother a call to let her know you'll be coming.- She waved a hand, letting her guards know that they were ready to leave. -It will be all right, my little one. Everything will be back to normal before you know it.-
Though a comforting thought, both of them knew it to be far from the truth.
- 2 -
As soon as Aria's brain caught up to what her eyes were seeing, she let out an aggressive snarl and rose from her seat, her tail lashing at the air behind her. Baring her fangs, she stared down the Pteryd that was standing before the table. Aria could not believe that her mother would allow such a creature to be in her meeting room, and yet she knew her eyes were not lying to her. The Pteryd had been enemies of the Ascendancy for thousands of years, almost as long as both species had been capable of interstellar space flight. For most of the time they had been in conflict, both species had been at a stalemate due to infighting within the Ascendancy, until the Ailians had become allied with the Nuretan Empire and had been able to push the insectoid race back from their borders. Ever since that time nearly three centuries ago, fighting with the Pteryd had been confined to skirmishes and a few minor wars near the border regions, the last of which had been fought when Aria's mother was a young officer in the Navy. Even so, Ailians had developed a deep instinctual fear of their old enemy, reinforced by the history lessons which were hammered into them during their schooling years. Aria wanted nothing more right now than to leap over the table and smash the green-shelled creature into oblivion.
-What is the meaning of this, mother?- Aria asked, her voice a low growl. -What is this...this...
thing
doing here?-
If the Pteryd could understand what she was saying, it displayed no offense at Aria's insulting words. Instead it seemed rather curious, its head rotating a quarter turn to one side as its antennae twitched in her direction. The claws on its hands flicked, but Aria could not tell if it was a gesture of irritation or merely a nervous motion.
-Calm yourself, Aria,- Ara'lana said, a tone of warning in her voice. She waved a hand to her daughter, bidding her to sit down. -I will explain everything to you. As I said, this is Seirin-143 of the Pteryd Combine. It is a representative of its people, here on my invitation. I will not tolerate any sort of threat to it, is that clear?-
After staring at her mother for several long moments, Aria slowly resumed her seat, turning her eyes back to the Pteryd. -'It?'- Aria inquired, her voice overly polite now. She had recognized the veiled threat in her mother's voice. The same tone of speech had been used not infrequently when she was a child and had done something wrong, usually as a precursor to punishment of some sort.
~That is correct,~
a voice said. The sound nearly startled Aria to death, since it seemed as though it was coming from within her own head. For a moment she didn't realize what was going on, and then she recalled that the Pteryd were a telepathic species. Obviously Seirin-143 was the one speaking.
~As you may know, our species reproduces by parthenogenesis. Though we are all sexually female, gender holds no meaning for us.~
Seirin-143's “voice” was very neutral and androgynous, with no inflection to suggest mood or temperament. For Aria, it was like listening to a less electronic voice readout from a computer.
~Therefore, 'it' is the most proper word to use when referring to the individual.~
Aria blinked at the Pteryd. -Noted.- She looked at Ara'lana. -What is
it
doing here?-
-As I said, I invited it,- the former Chief Admiral said. -I have been negotiating for months to come to agreeable terms for an alliance with the Pteryd, and now we have come to a most satisfactory agreement. Seirin-143 came at my invitation to finalize that alliance.-
Aria's ears laid back as she grew more confused. -I don't understand.-
-Aria, we are on the brink of a very exciting time for our people,- Ara'lana said with a smile. -Now that the rebellion against royal tyranny has begun, we need to solidify our place in the universe and assure security for our citizens. It's time for us to set aside the conflict that we've had with the Pteryd. I doubt that anyone in the Ascendancy, save for the most dedicated of scholars, would even be able to remember
why
we hate them so.-
~Well said, Lady Me'lia,~
Seirin-143 agreed.
~The conflict has gone on far too long. So many dead, and so much progress lost in the name of war. There must be an end to it.~
-That is a very noble idea,- Aria said, with some measure of thinly veiled sarcasm, -but your actions to this point don't seem to match your ideals, mother. If peace is what you want, than I can perhaps understand your rebellion against the Inner Colonies and Central Worlds. But I know that you have also invaded Earth and the center of human space. That surely will not bring an end to the war.-
Quiet until now, Admiral Selina Kris spoke up. -Quite the contrary, Lieutenant. You are not thinking strategically.-
-Then make me understand,- Aria insisted.
-Certainly.- Admiral Kris smoothed down the front of her uniform, folding her hands in her lap as she regarded Aria coolly. -Though the Inner Colonies and Central Worlds collectively have a few more fleets than the Outer Colonies, the actual personnel and numbers of ships in the Outer Colony fleets far outnumber them. As the primary line of defense at our borders, this has always been so. Therefore, we have a comfortable advantage over the royalist forces. This allows us to expand the campaign against the humans while we fight in the Ascendancy.-
Ara'lana nodded in agreement. -With the support of our new Pteryd friends, we can overcome the Inner Colonies and Central Worlds, as well as the humans.- She waved her tail behind her serenely, her peaceful smile widening. -And once the Empress and the humans have fallen, the conquest of the Nuretan Empire will not be far behind. Those ridiculous frogs had no business imposing themselves in the Ascendancy's affairs during the first civil conflict. It would seem only fitting, then, that we repay them in kind.-
-Imagine it, Aria,- Lady Shi'ala said, leaning forward earnestly in her chair. -We have the opportunity to unite the known universe. Human, Pteryd, Nuretan, and Ailian, all at peace finally, for the first time in thousands of years.- She shrugged nonchalantly. -Of course, the war will be bloody. But one must accept these things on the road to greatness.-
Looking around the room in shock at what she was hearing, Aria examined the face of each of them in turn. Seirin-143 was unreadable, but her mother, Major Tal'in, Lady Shi'ala, and Admiral Kris all looked thoroughly convinced in the rightness of what they were saying. They had just stated to her, more or less, that they meant to take over the entirety of known space through total war. And they all thought of themselves as righteous warriors, soldiers in a fight for the greater good. Aria sat back in her chair, staring at her mother as the conclusion rose to the front of her thoughts.
They're all insane.
******
The kitchen servants all steered clear of Sami that evening while dinner was being prepared for the family. She felt like keeping to herself anyway, busying herself with chopping meats and vegetables for a hearty stew. For the most part she was operating on automatic, doing what she had done hundreds of times without really thinking about it. Her thoughts were instead on her sister and where she might be right now. The young female Ailian was almost too mentally exhausted at this point to even be truly worried. She just felt so tired. The whole thing seemed wholly unfair. Her family had been so happy once. Both of their parents had been alive, even if their mother and eldest sibling were frequently away, and they didn't have to deal with trials, kidnappings, hospital stays...There had been a war, yes, but it had always seemed so far away. Now it was practically on their doorstep.
-I wish everything could be back to the way it used to be...,-
Sami thought to herself. Reaching to her left, she picked up another dense, green root vegetable, laying it on the cutting surface in front of her. Picking up the knife, she began to slice it thinly. Everything went perfectly until, in her inattention, the blade slipped and nicked her index finger on the hand not holding the blade. She dropped the knife quickly, grasping her injured finger as it began to bleed.
“A're meori ke sho!”
“Careful.”
Sami glanced over her shoulder, seeing Jack standing slightly behind her. “Ah...Jack...” She turned her attention back to the cut on her finger, watching the small trickle of blood soaking her orange fur. “Why you here?”
“I just though I'd come see if there was anything I could do to help,” Jack said. He stepped up beside her, looking at the bubbling pot of stew. “It smells good.” Looking over at Sami, he raised an eyebrow. “Haven't heard you curse like that before.”
“Ah...you understand that...,” Sami said, feeling her face warm with embarrassment. She rarely ever used language as strong as what she had just said, but she was upset. Stepping away she began running her finger underneath a faucet, washing away the blood from the minor cut. “If want help, could cut for me.”
Jack nodded. “Sure, I can do that,” he agreed. Pushing away the knife Sami had been using, he picked up a clean one and started cutting the vegetable where she had left off.
Sami opened a cabinet, looking for something she could dress her cut with. Finding a small first aid kit placed in the kitchen for such occasions, she withdrew a bandage and wrapped it securely around her finger. “Thank you.” She observed Jack's cutting, making sure he was doing it correctly. Though the knife, designed for an Ailian hand, was unwieldy in his grip, he seemed to have little trouble. “Not believe I do that...”
“Look at it this way,” Jack said as he dropped the sliced vegetable in the pot. “At least
you
didn't do it on purpose.”
The attempt at humor was very weak, and definitely not appropriate, but it still broke the tension of both of their moods. Sami looked at the floor, trying not to smile at the joke and failing. “Is true.”
Wiping his hands off on his shirt, Jack looked back at Sami. “I really came here to check on you,” he admitted. “You hadn't said more than two words to anyone all afternoon, and I learned my lesson not to leave anyone alone for too long when they're upset. How are you holding up?”
Sami sighed, her tail drooping. “Not well...,” she said, holding up her bandaged hand as evidence. “So tired. Wonder what happen to Aria. Wonder if she ever come home again.”
“La rek a'mari ke han'rek,”
Jack said, crossing his arms.
Looking surprised, Sami nodded her head. That was a phrase that her father was very fond of. It meant “whatever happens will happen”. Hearing it from Jack was something she hadn't expected. “You learn speak right,” she said, managing another small smile. “But you accent bad.”
“Aria tells me the same thing,” Jack said with a smirk. “My Ailian still isn't as good as your English, but I guess I'm picking up a few things.”
“Except cut roots right,” Sami admonished him, looking into the pot. “Too thick. Will be tough.”
Jack grinned. “I never was much of a cook. My chef skills are pretty much limited to picking up the phone and calling for delivery. Even when I was roughing it out in space, Aria did most of the...” He stopped. Thinking of those days was painful for him. Back then he never would have thought he'd ever look back on those times favorably, but on an increasingly frequent basis he found himself wishing he was several months in the past. As complicated as survival had been when he and Aria were stranded together, he figured he was at least a
little
less stressed then versus now. And back then they were together, able to rely on each other.
Noticing his sudden change in mood, Sami laid a hand on his shoulder. “Will be alright,” she said quietly. The Ailian drew him into a gentle hug. “Aria not here, but you with family. Brother.”
With a wry smile, Jack looked up into her blue eyes. “Sounds strange to hear that. Though you feel like more of a sister than my
real
sister.” He was surprised at how grateful Sami's expression became when he said that. “It's weird. I know that I'd like to return home one day, but at the same time I feel like I'd be so out of place there, now.” He sighed, brushing a hand through his sandy blonde hair. “But what I really want right now is Aria...”
“Me too.”
******
-You're very quiet, Aria.-
Flinching a little in her chair, Aria looked up. Her mother was staring at her, a neutral expression on her face. They were alone now, in a different area of her mother's living quarters, a private sitting room equipped with soft lighting and comfortable, padded armchairs. Both of them had mugs of the hot, strongly bitter tea that Ara'lana favored. The former admiral was drinking hers with great enthusiasm, but Aria had barely sipped at the beverage. Her mind was elsewhere.
-I apologize, mother,- Aria said. She looked down at her lap, then back up at her mother, and then she lifted her cup and took a halfhearted sip. -I was thinking.-
-About what?-
-What else? This whole situation!- Aria turned her gaze away from Ara'lana, looking at a random spot on the wall. -You still haven't told me something I've been wondering, mother.- With difficulty, she brought her eyes back to the older Ailian. -If you knew where I was, and you knew the charges I was facing,
why
did you wait so long to take me away? Do you realize how much I've suffered these past months? Mother, I nearly killed myself because of the stress!-