Alien Courage (Rise of the Empress) (16 page)

He was led through the complex to a security cell in
the space dock. Having been ordered to sit on a bench he avoided any eye
contact with the eight android soldiers and the Officer guarding him. The
Administrator looked into the dock, the large silver Trigeal ship sat at the
far end. Its shape perfectly silhouetted against the dark green doors of the
hanger. It was a deadly symbol of awesome power but held a fascination for the
Administrator or any pilot. It had no windows or port holes of any kind. There
was no landing gear or any marks of any kind on its hull. Its streamline shape
with razor sharp edges ideal for atmospheric conditions but no one knew or had
any idea how it flew. It made no sound and flew faster than the fastest of
Starfighters. The only ship believed faster was the magnetic drive system ships
that were only used only for exploration and long range Galactic reconnaissance
against neighbouring systems. Organic based life forms can not travel in those
ships due to horrific effects from the strong magnetic fields upon their
bodies. The Administrator felt light headed with the program he just ran within
his skeletal system. The program relocated selective memories and time periods
to other places in and around his body other than his head. It also filled in
the now missing areas of his memory with copied and slightly altered sequences
of closely associated events scripted to dovetail seamlessly in the time
stream. It was the precision of this program that enabled him avoid detection
by the Trigeals and manipulate the many security scans required in his position
within the Confederate Military. 

The android Officer tapped him on the shoulder with
his blaster motioning him to stand. The Administrator did so and the other
soldiers moved him toward the rear door. The soldiers then left, the Officer
with his blaster out of its holster stood behind him and ordered him forward.
They moved into the next room with the Administrator leading the way.

The room was brightly lit and only had a simple three
legged stool in the centre of the room. Three Trigeals stood around the stool.
Their semi translucent bodies shimmered in the bright light. They never wore
clothes or uniforms even in the ice cold wastes of the Polar Regions. They had
three toes and three fingers and stood about a third taller than the
Administrator. Their eyes were large but seem to float in their heads. They had
no nose, nostrils, or ears. They only had a mouth when they spoke - it was
learnt that mouth movement made communication with humanoids more agreeable for
them and encouraged them to communicate more freely.

The android officer halted when the Administrator
reached the centre of the room, about turned smartly and marched out closing
the door behind him. The closest Trigeal moved sideways and pointed to the
stool, “sit.”

The Administrator sat and waited for the mind probe.
He had been probed twice in the past, both times as a requisite for his position
as Academy Administrator. The Trigeal to his left simply asked, “Do you have
anything to communicate?”

“No.” The Administrator replied.

The Trigeal who spoke placed his hand over the
Administrator’s head. His long fingers reached down below his jaw. It had the
Administrator’s head completely within its three fingered hand. The
Administrator felt a slight tingling as the Trigeal sent a frequency from one
finger to another. The tingling increased in frequency and then it slowly rose
to a steady pulse and started to rotate between the Trigeal’s fingers. The
pulse spun and spun around and through the Administrator’s head. Mental images,
pictures and memories were released and then absorbed by the Trigeal. Unknown
to their victim the Trigeal recreated a time flow of images and memory of what
this being had witnessed during any time period they desired to observe. The
Trigeal cocked its head slightly as it read the data time flow of the
Administrator. Satisfied it saw nothing that implicated this being in the
recently reported events it withdrew its hand from the Administrator’s head.

The Administrator felt terrible, a headache of some
magnitude developed but he knew it would get worse. The next Trigeal placed his
hand over his head and the whole procedure was repeated. This continued until
the three Trigeals were satisfied that this humanoid was not a threat. They
found nothing and left the room, the last one out turned and said, “
return
to duties.”

The Administrator, even with a terrible headache sighed
relief. His secret was safe once again from the Trigeals. If they ever probed
the rest of his body he would be terminated.

He walked a little unsteadily to the door and out into
the space dock. The Trigeal ship was still there but the Trigeals weren’t to be
seen, probably probing security staff, he thought. He turned and walked
straight into a group of black robed figures. The lead figure stepped forward
while two others went behind the Administrator.

“I said we would meet again,” the Black Priest said
softly.

“I have no time to meet with you now. If you would
please excuse me,” the Administrator said with difficulty and tried to walk
past the Priest.

The Black Priest stepped sideways and blocked his way.
The two priests behind him moved closer. “You always seem to avoid me
Administrator. You have much to explain. The recent T334 maintenance schedule
was not authorised… or was it?” The Black Priest said in an oily tone.

“I have been cleared by the Trigeals. I do not have to
stand here and answer your questions.” the Administrator said forgetting his
headache and getting angry.

“You can answer them elsewhere if that suits you,” the
Black Priest said and raised his hand out of his robe. The two Priests behind
the Administrator grabbed him by the arms and pushed him forward into the Black
Priest’s hand. His forehead was grasped by the Black Priest and immediately the
Administrator fell to the floor unconscious. The Priests picked him up and
carried him to a shuttle and were soon airborne.

---------

The Imperial Court had been sitting for extended time
due to the Emperor being absent. The Empress had not been feeling well and the
proceedings went very slowly. The Captain of the Guard was concerned the Empress
was under too much stress with the added responsibility. Through official
channels he sought an adjournment of the Court. It was granted pending the
return of the Emperor.

That created much commotion within the Palace. Dignitaries
and Representatives from across the Confederacy and beyond all sought an
audience with the Emperor or at least the Empress. To be kept waiting even
longer was diplomatically fragile. Rumours concerning the health of the Empress
quickly spread; she sweated profusely and at times appeared unsteady on her
feet. She had refused all offers of assistance or to seek medical assistance.
She repeatedly insisted she felt normal.

The Captain of the Imperial Guard was in deep
discussion with one of his ground force tacticians when he overheard a
discussion between two of his guards behind him. “The Empress scanned a yellow
three at checkpoint AEG. That’s two degrees higher body temperature than her
morning scan. I feel we will be stood down soon, she’ll be in the medical
facility before the next shift, you just mark my words,” one y guard said to
his companion.

The Captain looked around sharply and grabbed the
guard by the arm, “are you sure of this?”

“Y... yes Sir!” The guard stammered with the shock of
being grabbed by the Captain.

The Captain let the man go and hurried to the
Empress’s chambers. He caught her just coming out of the corridor leading to
the main hall. “Empress,” he called out but the Empress just kept on walking.
“Empress, Empress Lacerta,” he called as he now ran to catch up with her.

He caught her and with his hand on her shoulder gently
twisted her to face him. His face muscles dropped with deep concern. His
beautiful Empress was flushed deep red and sweated profusely. Her normally
bright emerald eyes were a dull lifeless green and her breath came in short
pants.

“Empress,” he said very softly with his heart weighing
heavily in his chest. He took a deep breath and put two hands on her shoulders.
He looked into her eyes. “You are not well. I will take you to the Imperial
Physician immediately.”

“Thank you for your concern. I feel normal thank you.
If you will excuse me I have an appointment,” she said faintly.

“With who?
A doctor?”

“Yes,” she lied.

“I will take you. Let us hurry,” he pleaded.

Her temper rose quickly but taxed her greatly. “No! It
is of a female situation and you are not welcome. Now go!” The Empress said and
walked off quickly and didn’t look back. She went directly into the female
waiting rooms connected to the large central reception area. No male would dare
follow her there. Inside these rooms there were many entry and exit points. She
put her hood over her head and disappeared into the outer Palace.

She found herself in a dark corridor at the base of
the Assengi Temple Tower. Without knowing why she pushed at a door and it
opened. An android guard stood up when it saw her and disappeared quickly down
a passageway. The Empress stood still to catch her breath. Her body was so
finely bred and her physiology so genetically advanced it fought the biological
imbalances in her blood beyond anything the average humanoid could endure.

The Black Priest entered the room. “Thank you for
coming Empress,” he said but opened his
hood to get a better
look
at her. He glided up very close to her, observing her closely.
“This won’t do at all. I can’t have her sick or die now,” he said softly. He
gently placed his hand on her face, she raised her hand and tried to brush him
away but failed and her arm fell back to her side. Her eyes rolled as his
hypnotic effect took her once again. He rubbed her face and spoke softly,
“follow.”

She followed him down the passageway to a dimly lit
room. A foul smell emanated from it, the floor was stained in many places.
There was a broad flat bench very low to the floor in the centre of the room
with a thick matt on it. “Sit there,” he commanded and she obeyed. The Black
Priest left the room.

The Empress sat feeling nothing. She didn’t move when
Filo sat beside her and pushed her back onto the matt. Her body didn’t resist
when he slid his tongue inside her mouth. She assisted him by bending her head
back and opening her mouth. Her legs instinctively worked their way around his
body holding him. His long thick tongue slid effortlessly down her
throat.  This time, two tubes extended from under his tongue and extended
into her body. They embedded themselves in a large artery. Instantly her blood
began pumping into his bloodstream. Through the other tube he began pumping his
blood into her artery. Their bloodstreams became as one circulating through
their bodies. His organs began filtering out the antibodies and other enzymes
that were attacking her organs. The temperature difference in their blood sent
her body into shock but the celapod released a special agent which counteracted
the effect. Celapods feed this way by taking the nourishment directly out of
their prey’s blood stream, usually stopping short of killing them therefore
prolonging their food supply in times of need. He found the Empress delicious.

There will be further genetic and hormonal changes
occurring in the Empress but they would be slow to take effect. In the
meanwhile her condition stabilised giving plenty of time for the Black Priest
to implement his agenda. One aspect overlooked and underestimated by the Black
Priest were the thousands of years of selective breeding and genetic
engineering that went into the Empress’s body. Her recuperative powers were
well beyond his calculations. That blood now circulated within the celapod;
changes in his genetic makeup would slowly begin as well.

Filo felt nourished, the filtering was complete and he
withdrew his tubes and tongue. He no longer desired sex with this female, more
than enough of his sperm were permanently living inside her and would remain
fertile for the rest of her life as well as defending against the intrusions
from other males. When another male enters a celapod’s mate a number of
defensive sperm embed
themselves
into the male organ
and infected the male body with a deadly neurological toxin. Filo got up and
left the room. 

The Black Priest returned after the Empress’s blood
temperature returned to normal and sat beside her. He ran his hand down her
face and along her body, admiring his new possession. He placed his hands on
each side of her face. “Open your eyes” he commanded and with his waxy grey
eyes looked deeply into her soul. He enjoyed her submissiveness and the power
he now possessed over her and allowed his trance to deepen. “You are loyal to
only me.” The Black Priest said knowing his suggestive words were recorded
close to the very core of her purpose in existence. He chanted it over and over
and over while squeezing her face making sure his image and touch were deeply
buried in her subconscious. Quite some time later he stopped his chant and took
his hands off her. He commenced his instructions.