Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (60 page)

Sasha moved gracefully towards the head of
the table, her red and black formal gown flowing elegantly, like
she walked atop a crimson sea. He moved alongside her, trying to
match her grace, but still found it difficult to move smoothly in
the tight red noble doublet, cut low at the neck to reveal the skin
tight black undershirt he wore beneath. The matching black
trousers, which felt like they were constructed from plywood,
gripped the sides of his thighs relentlessly, providing a clear
view of the embroidered rose vines that swirled down to his red and
black boots.

When he first adorned his new ensemble, he
thought he looked ridiculous. But Sasha and her ladies had assured
him he looked dapper. He thought at the time they were just being
nice, but something peculiar had occurred. A sensation he could
only describe as a tingly warmth, flowed into his mind, convincing
him the ladies were being completely honest. As the morning
progressed, he noticed this peculiar sensation repeat, finding it
originated from the Eye of the Emperor whenever he met or listened
to someone speak.

Two feelings had become quite pronounced: the
warm tingling, like stepping out into the bright morning sunlight,
and an icy chill, like jumping into a glacial lake. The first time
he experienced the latter, he almost collapsed. Luckily, Sasha and
Tiana were able to hold him steady. They passed it off as a
momentary weakness, but Trent knew there was more to it than that,
the cold sensation having washed over him when they'd shared a tube
transport with a young TSB crewman whose expression went dubious
when he learned Trent's name. It felt like Eye of the Emperor was
trying to tell him something, but he just couldn't figure out
what.

Sasha flowed into the oversized, cushioned
chair that stood almost three times taller than all the others.
Trent sat stiffly at her side, forcing his pained limbs to bend,
like the movement was unnatural.

“I would like to thank you all for coming,”
Sasha gazed around the table at her subjects, nodding when
appropriate, “Now, since time is short, let us begin where we
previously left off. Knight Admiral Bhool, Knight Captain Quinn, if
you could please provide full status updates on the current
operations we-,” a forced cough caused Sasha to pause. The entire
room turning to the furiously flushing ABF officer seated alone,
directly across from Sasha. Overwhelming cold flowed into Trent’s
mind, momentarily repressing the pain, as he stared at the man.

“Your Grace, I am very disappointed that you
improperly provided orders to my officers and crew without my
authorization. I told you, quite clearly, I would have a plan for
resolving this issue today, but you saw fit to undermine my
authority in this matter!” he said, words awash with fury, banging
his gloved fist upon the table to drive home his point. Trent felt
the cold sensation subside, but only vanish completely when he
looked away from the man.

“Knight High-Admiral Baric, you forget
yourself. I provided orders to my people, including the commander
of the Alutia Battle Fleet, Knight Admiral Bhool,” Sasha responded
through clenched teeth, Sir Baric exactly the man she had described
him to be. Trent resisted the urge to squeeze her leg in
support.

“Excuse me, Your Grace, but you are
mistaken!” Sir Baric fumed. “I was assigned as commander of the
Alutia Battle Fleet by your brother, Crown Prince Kohan, with the
blessing of King Johan!” Sir Baric shouted, his words full of
self-righteousness.

It’s the same,
Trent knew, having seen
this all before, seen the exact same reaction from another entitled
noble who threw a fit like a child when someone dared question his
authority. Trent glared at the fidgeting officers seated along the
wall behind Sir Baric, more than one with a hand resting near a
holster. He moved his own hand under his noble doublet, checking
that what lay hidden beneath could easily be drawn, planning to do
whatever was necessary to avoid a repeat of the enlistment trial on
Earth.

“Again, you forget yourself, Sir Baric!”
Sasha smacked the table, “I am the Grand Duchess of Alutia and have
the right to assign my own commanders after I assumed my
responsibility! Since you, sir, were assigned after I had
officially assumed control of the Alutia Duchy, you are no more
than a common battle group commander that must report to Knight
Admiral Bhool, no matter if you were assigned by my brother,
father, or the emperor himself! Do I make myself clear?” Sasha
said, voice trembling with frustration laced with anger.

“You are quite mistaken, Your Grace,” Sir
Baric refused to back down. “The Alutia Duchy is still under the
jurisdiction of the king and since the official transfer ceremony
has not been completed you are bound by the king's judgment. In
which case, I am the highest authority in the Alutia Duchy until
you have been officially seated!” The throbbing cold tingle
exploded into his mind, clearly emanating from the choker around
his neck, the moment Sir Baric spoke. A sudden understanding filled
him, like knowledge of its meaning had always been there, but he’d
just forgotten.

“He's lying.” Trent spoke the words that came
to his lips before he had a chance to think on their consequences.
The ABF officers seated behind Sir Baric gasped, while the knight
high-admiral himself contorted with rage, turning his hateful glare
on Trent, the shadow of Sir Simwa shimmering alongside.

“How dare you!” Sir Baric slammed the table
while exploding to his feet. All eyes turned to Trent, including
Sasha’s, who stared at him with a look of utter astonishment. Trent
turned to her and pointed to his choker. Her eyes went wide with
sudden understanding.

“How dare you, sir!” Knight Captain Quinn
responded first. “You are in the presence of the holder of the Star
of Terra, an award for bravery equivalent to the King's Nova. He
will be heard,” the room trembled, and more than one of those
present cowered in fear.

“My honor has been questioned and I-.”

“Sir,” Knight Captain Quinn banged both his
fists upon the table, interrupting Sir Baric mid-sentence, “you
disregarded your honor when you insulted Grand Duchess Sasha
Alutia. I will remind you of one thing you may not have been
informed,” his tone dropped an octave. “You currently stand in a
special protectorate that is under my complete authority. At times
of emergency, I have the right to request assistance from the local
duchy. But I, and I alone, have total authority within the special
protectorate of Earth,” he paused for dramatic effect, “and I have
given my total support to the Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia, no matter
if the authority of the Alutia Duchy has been officially
transferred from the king or not. So she, Sir Baric, is currently
the highest authority in this star system.” Sir Baric glared at
Sasha, unwilling to face Knight Captain Quinn’s wrath, face still
contorting in a way that told Trent the man probably wasn’t even
listening. However, a few of the ABF officers seated behind Sir
Baric dared to hold Knight Captain Quinn’s gaze, but flinched like
they were trying to stare into the sun itself. Satisfied, Quinn
turned to Sasha, nodded, then returned to his seat.

“This disturbs me greatly, Sir Baric. I am
tempted to call a Program to oversee this meeting and verify you do
not continue knowingly misrepresent your knowledge of my authority.
It seems you are already aware, but once the decision is made on
whom will rule a newly formed duchy, this noble will assume
authority during an official transfer ceremony overseen by the
king, or, Sir Baric, when said noble enters the new duchy for the
first time to assume control. I'm sure you were already well aware
of this fact, but I thought it wise to remind you.” Sasha said, her
voice freezing the very air around them. She had clearly regained
her composure after Trent's unexpected declaration. Her gaze turned
to him, smiling with such warmth that the momentary chill he felt
at her previous words vanished. But then she looked away, back to
Sir Baric, her expression shifting once more to the authority of
command.

“Now...Knight Admiral Bhool, what is the
status of the cordon over the infected areas?” Knight Admiral
Bhool, who had been glaring at Sir Baric, expression unreadable,
turned back to Sasha.

“Your Grace, the barriers are fully in
place,” a projection of Earth appeared above the table, two spots
in southeast Asia highlighting red. “The first infection area, in
sector SEA-695, covers an area of 235 square kilometers, while the
second infection area, in sector SEA-543, surrounds an area of 532
square kilometers. There have been no detected infections beyond
these barriers. So as of this moment, the infection appears
entirely contained,” Knight Admiral Bhool nodded to the officer at
her side.

“Your Grace, I regret to inform you that we
did incur some significant losses in sector EA-695, 1034 to be
exact. The creatures had moved farther from the infection’s
epicenter then we originally anticipated and the containment teams
came into direct contact with HDP infected humans,” the officer,
with short cropped black hair and a smudgy face, like it was
slightly concave, sounded noticeably disturbed by the news he was
delivering, and Trent could guess why. Being transformed into one
of those “things” was a fate far worse than death.

“Thank you, Knight Admiral Bhool,
Vice-Admiral Sys’Kol, it wounds my heart dearly to hear about the
loss of so many brave men and women. Please have their names sent
to my servant, Gil’Da. I would like to personally contact their
families and award them all appropriate honors.” Trent reached
under the table to squeeze Sasha’s leg, no longer caring about the
possible repercussions. “Knight Captain Quinn, did you have any
luck dealing with the local populous?” Sasha asked, the melancholy
that tinged her previous words draining. Knight Captain Quinn
turned from his persistent glaring at Sir Baric, who still refused
to meet his gaze, though his expression had turned to one of
unnatural smugness.

“Yes, Your Grace. We were able to insert
false reports with the local news services that explained away the
starships as a corporation testing a new holographic technology.
There is much skepticism and conspiracy theories still circling the
Earth’s data net. But it appears to be working. We will continue
feeding false reports to keep their eyes turned inward.” Relieved
nods greeted the knight captain’s words.

“That is great news. Thank you, Knight
Captain Quinn. Knight Admiral Bhool, if you haven’t already, I need
you to send a request to the crown for additional battleguards, I
leave the exact numbers to your discretion. We need to clean out
the contained areas and start our search for the ASU infiltrators
as soon as-,”

“That will not be necessary,” Sir Baric
interrupted, “I have already been in contact with Crown Prince
Kohan and he has already approved my plan to deal with this
situation,” an arrogant smirk crossed Sir Baric’s lips.

“I am sorry to hear that, Sir Baric, but that
does not matter. You seem to have forgotten, once again, that I am
the one in charge here. A plan has already been decided upon and is
being implemented effectively as we speak.” Sasha responded,
noticeably distraught. Trent couldn’t tell if it was because Sir
Baric had decided to enter the conversation once more, or the fact
that he had completely abandoned all formalities. Trent slid his
free hand under his noble doublet, carefully sliding loose what he
hoped he wouldn't need to use.

“The way I interpret the law, my dear little
princess, is that the king's authority overrides your authority. So
my plan is the one that will be implemented,” Sir Baric
responded.

Something isn’t right,
Trent realized,
the anger Sir Baric showed before having been replaced by an
overbearing confidence.

“Sir Baric, I thought I was clear about this
already. My authority is absolute in this star system, even over
the king's,” Knight Captain Quinn said, sounding more frustrated
than angry.

“Ah yes, the special protectorate of Earth,”
Sir Baric spat with obvious disgust, “I am sorry, Quinn, but your
theoretical authority ended when you called for help from Alutia,
which of course, is currently under my authority, no matter what
Lady Sasha claims,” the air left the room as Sir Baric’s venom
filled words struck the ears of the stunned officers.

“He's lying again,” Trent felt the response
come unconsciously to his lips, “he knows Sasha has the real
authority. He just doesn't want to admit it.”

“How dare you dishonor me again!” Sir Baric
flew from his seat and pointed accusingly at Trent, spittle raining
halfway across the table.

“No! How dare you, Sir Baric!” Sasha exploded
to her feet in response, slamming the table with both her palms,
while Terra hopped onto her shoulder, squawking angrily alongside.
“I've had quite enough of your foolish claims that you are not
under my authority! You will cancel whatever it is you are planning
and start to show the respect that I and my office deserve!”

Sasha and Baric stared at each other across
the table, like two gun fighters dueling in the old west, neither
blinking, neither moving. Trent felt the tension mounting;
smothering him, like the air itself was becoming thick. But he kept
his wits, watching Sir Baric's men, whose hands rested on their
holsters, eyeing everyone warily.

“It is too late to cancel the plan and my
authority is from your brother! You question me, you question him!”
Sasha’s chin dropped, eyes falling closed, trembling. Trent tried
to reach out for her hand, but his muscles locked. Whatever
medicine he'd been provided by Quo’Moy, had already started losing
its effect.

“What is this plan?” Knight Admiral Bhool
asked in place of Sasha, noticeable irritation tingeing her words,
but also a touch of fear; which surprised Trent. She didn't seem
like someone who would be scared of anything.