Among Bright Stars... (10 page)

“Are you an AI, or did you once wear flesh
and blood?” Sharr asked the Synthicon.

“I used to be an old woman, who gained a new
life in this mechanical body.” Kasumi 9 thought from a distance,
outside of herself, that Sharr Khan might have been surprised to
learn who she actually once had been. The Shotar was of the right
age to have witnessed firsthand the history her former persona
made. But that was another life.

“Hmm,” Sharr stroked his goatee. He noticed
that Ch’Kran watched him expectantly, not sure if his Lord was
about to hit on the Synthicon, or if he were seeking other kinds of
information from her. “Why doesn’t your Imperator take on such a
body?”

“Romulus maintains certain...” Kasumi 9
wavered. “Superstitions.”

“He’s a Christian.” The Shotar surmised.

“Catholic, to be specific.” Corrected Kasumi
9. “He’ll prolong his life with medicine, but refuses to become
like me, or even you. The Imperator believes fully in his god.” She
said with all the attendant skepticism of woman who accomplished
her own immortality through that of the machine mind. “He expects
to be awarded when he enters his Heaven, but is not yet prepared to
make that last journey without securing his nations future.”

Sharr glanced at his Majordomo, and then
back at the Synthicon. “Tell the Imperator we shall grant him his
peace summit. We’ll begin making the arrangements upon my return to
Vanguard Island as to time and location.”

Once more bowing, Kasumi 9 left the
conference room.

Sure she had gone, Sharr picked up the
holocube, very pleased by the outcome. Victory appeared to be at
hand. He had cornered JR Giovanni. An idea formed as to how to
press his new advantage and make an opportunity out of the softened
sentiments of a dying Imperator.

[Vorkrür Island: Evening, Imperial
Palace]

Legs curled up under her, Nadia sat on a
saffron brocaded divan, while on the floor, Shikar put together a
puzzle which she'd given him to solve. While her son solved his
puzzle, Nadia went over her notes regarding the 'Future Falcanian'
Shiertar, who had visited Kheira from an unknown future. More
specifically Nadia studied what she had jotted down about its
armors properties which still remained sequestered in a Valküri
vault. Her thoughts were kept in a wire-bound notebook, Nadia
always wrote in such note pads and actually, dozens of such books
filled with all kinds of information that pertained to the Phoenix
Project now existed in the Falcanian archive. This particular
notebook would be the sixteenth to have been written down with
observations about the being known as Shiertar, or at least her
deductions over his bio-ceramic shell.

“Done!” The Crown Prince exclaimed.

Delighted to see that indeed Shikar
completed his puzzle, he had accomplished it in a very short time,
which wasn't a surprise given his heritage, Nadia pulled her
brilliant blue eyes out of her notes to check and see if all the
pieces were fitted together in the correct spots. “Fifteen minutes,
very good Shikar.”

“No problem Maa, so easy.”

“Aren’t you pleased with yourself my little
Bandor?” Nadia teased. Notebook put aside for the moment, she got
down on the rug in front of Sharr’s huge burgundy cushioned chair
and gave her son a big hug. Shikar flushed.
Little monkey,
oh how Shikar hated that nickname, yet she couldn't help but tease
him with it, just to see him turn crimson. “Do you want a
snack?”

“Sure.” The boy licked his lips.

“Something sweet?” Nadia herself craved
sugar. And so the Queen had a servant retrieve she and her son a
platter of desserts: A colorful assortment, pinks, and yellows,
rounds and diamonds. Many finished with fine silver and gold foils.
There were also her father’s favorite tippaleipä, a Finnish treat
similar to a little funnel cake on the platter.

Through morsels of cake, Shikar said.
“Weird.”

“What?” Nadia wondered.

“I saw a Vorchar.” Shikar remarked as if it
were not that big a deal.

“Oh really,” For some reason, that concerned
Nadia. “In Char I assume?”

The Crown Prince nodded. “It made me
different.”

“Different? What do you mean?”

“Took me to a temple in Vraxis, gave me an
orb.”

Eyebrow raised, Nadia pondered. “Do you mean
a spark, a soul?” From what Shikar seemed to tell her Nadia
realized her son had been 'switched on', the continuation of
Falcanian life by means of the Phoenix Heart. A normal function as
part of the rebirth process. Falcanians defied Heaven, and for
themselves created a concrete technological hereafter complete with
resurrection. This was she knew, a turning point for her son.

That seemed to be right; Shikar nodded and
took a big chomp of tippaleipä . “I think Krada’s.”

Mention of Sharr’s first-born deceased son
caused Nadia to perk up. “What?”

“The Vorchar, gave me Krada’s orb.” Shikar
explained certain.

“Oh.” Nadia whispered. Her thoughts turned
to Shalimar.

Crafted from gold, brass, and blue glass,
the telhri loomed giant and bright in the inner sanctum of the
Tahru's temple, suspended from a chain that reached up the length
of the structure. The lamp hung over a circular reflection
pool.

Darius stood nervous, unsure about this
foreign holy place.

“Are you okay?” Ariel asked. She had
suggested they come here so that he might learn better about those
he would ally himself with. The Princess now regretted it.

“Huh?” Noorani, the 12
^th
Imam
glanced around uncertain. “I’d expected idols, objects of
devotion.” After the big Persian cat head outside the temple it
would be an understandable assumption on the 12
^th
Imam’s
part.

“My Father says we may honor our gods with
representations, but we may not pray to them. That’s' probably the
Protestant in him.” Ariel remembered her instructions in devotion
fondly. “He says there are other means to gaze into the faces of
the Lords of Char and know The One.”

“This is a glorious light.” Darius took in
the lamps blue warmth.

Ariel pulled Darius with her closer to the
great lamp. Cobalt light washed over the couple, caused as it did
with others an otherworldly sensation in their synapses. “The light
of the Telchar” She motioned at the flame. “Manifests in the
physical world, the divine spark that shines in all sapient
beings.”

“Telchar?” Asked the 12
^th
Imam.

“Guardians of the Demiurge – The One.”

“How does this flame burn? What fuels
it?”

“Rendered flesh from a ritually slaughtered
goose.” Ariel explained. She watched him shift his weight, clearly
these ideas made him feel out-of-place. “You’re uncomfortable, we
shouldn’t have come here.”

Noorani shook his head, said: “No, no I
enjoy learning of other faiths, other ways. I taught my people to
be open to that which they do not understand and behold. Allah's
face is in all his creation.” Darius smiled. “This is just
overwhelming.”

The Princess knelt before the lamp, spoke a
few words that Darius did not understand..

“That is it?” Noorani raised a brow.

Ariel smiled, stood, said: “There’s more,
another rite.” Close at hand were pieces of parchment, the Princess
scribbled on one in Trikash, rolled it up, and touched the parcel
to a flame. “The candle is lit from the prayer lamp,” she
explained. “It is a spark of the holy light.” And then tossed the
parchment into a brass container where it burned with other prayer
scrolls. “Later the Jahs will take the ashes and scatter them upon
the winds.”

[Falcanian Occupied Alaska]

Blue alcohol spilled from a tri-claw goblet.
The chalice fell from the grip of a black gauntlet. Gold fixings
stitched into the large fingerless glove belonged to Sharr Khan's
regalia. Thrice it bounced at the foot of a heavy chair, and rolled
across octagonal stonework to reach the edge of an exquisite
Persian rug. She recognized the rug, and chair leg as part of
Sharr’s own seat inside the Imperial family room. Often Sharr, his
wives and children took meals there...

The vision momentarily took her by surprise.
As a Morningstar, Arshira understood she shouldn’t have such
experiences. On a number of occasions Frederika discussed the topic
with Nadia. GenKon’s Morningstars (excluding Nadia of course) were
purposely constructed ESPer blind. Or so the Korelias assured Uric
Kreis. The working theory, Turhan set Frederika up to be a Trojan
Horse in order to impede GenKon’s global plans. Yet even Ambika Sen
did not know for sure, her husband’s notes on his development of
Frederika's models molecular construct having vanished. It didn't
help matters for Frederika that Oberon taught her to think of
herself as a recombined clone, rather than that of an advanced
synthetic humanoid, created with state-of-the-art biorobotic
technology. Of course Oberon didn't really understand what
Morningstars were. To Oberon Kreis, Morningstars appeared all but
human, albeit very strong and intelligent, just better DNA.

Or, an alternate hypothesis: Rishaak fruit
did not effect Morningstars in the same manner which it did animal
based life. Not needing to preserve Morningstar youth, even a drop
of Rishaak nectar unleashed overlooked PSI potential built into a
Morningstar's matrix. In any event, Arshira discovered herself to
be highly instinctive, prophetic.

“Sub-Commander, your link to Vorkrür has
been established.”

Arshira opened her emerald eyes.
“Danke.”

“Arshira!”

“Zuriel, I just called to check in on you.”
Arshira smiled at the young man who looked at her through the prism
of a strange vision that genetic and advanced cybernetic
enhancements had built into his formerly blind eyes. Zuriel Gilan
Hol, he and his sister were Arshira’s very own adopted family.
Falcanian law permitted Arshira to take in the young blind boy
known as Philip, along with Mia his older sister as members of her
own household.

“It’s been hectic here...” Zuriel told her.
“But you knew that Arshira.”

“I can’t talk about the military
operation.”

Smiled Zuriel. “I just hope you can return
soon, I miss you.”

“I miss you too. What’s your sister been up
to?”

“Shopping of course.”

Arshira beamed, wished that she could be
back shopping in the plaza with her friend, instead of out here in
this cold desolate place making war. “As long as everything is OK.”
She smiled. “Goodbye Zuriel and tell your sister I miss her.” She
was supposed to be off duty, probably should be resting, thought
she wasn't tired at all, far from it.

The Valküri flipped through her hard copy of
'The 12
^th
Daughter of Kobol'. Unlike Sharr and Nadia,
who loved reading on tablets, Arshira preferred the sensation of
paper pages between her fingertips. The book's cover, an almost
indecent depiction of Alita Hel, its protagonist, who bore more
than a transitory likeness to Nadia, both in physical description
as well as biography. Kobol himself a ringer for Turhan
Korelia.

Arshira opened to the chapter titled: 'The
Desolation of Mankind' which began in the office of the United
Earth President. Why in Sci-Fi, wondered the Valküri, did the
planet always end up depicted as a homogenous state? In this case,
a Socialist government based out of China. Though the President
himself seemed to Arshira rather American in words and bearing. As
the chapter commenced, Alita Hel stormed the President's office,
and pummeled his Secret Service agents. The President remained
behind his desk, in fear for his life, yet quite mesmerized by this
beautiful blue-eyed gynoid who demanded of him nuclear codes.

By chapters end, stockpiles of nuclear bombs
began to rain onto major population centers, pruning the human race
to a manageable handful. Arshira gasped as she read on. Alita Hel
inaugurated the twelve sisters reign with a deadly kiss, after
which she broke the President's neck. Closing the pulpish novel,
the Valküri sighed, and concluded that her brethren Morningstars
were capable of just this sort of action should they ever be
motivated toward such a goal. Of course, the epilogue assured that
the twelve sister were liberators of a stagnated, and corrupt
humanity.

“Sub-Commander Hol. Please report to the
C&C.” Imperial Strato-General Shuriken Kra summoned over the
base’s intercom, discontinuing Arshira's ruminations any further.
This book, unlike any other piece of popular fiction swept the
Falcanian population up in a near religious fervor. It was, Arshira
thought, rather provocative.

Arriving at the Command and Control Center,
Arshira discovered Kulcarin and Shuriken watched over a holographic
situation table. What she witnessed displayed on the table made her
heart sink. “Zum Donnerwetter!” Cursed Arshira in German. “What?
No! Who authorized that nuke?” Arshira stood over an image of a
newly bloomed thermonuclear mushroom cloud.

“Nuke six.” Kulcarin Aranskrai informed. “My
men and I planted it at the Orion Armaments facility on Wake
Island.” He bared his teeth, and added: “That’ll put back any
military operations they plan for years to come.”

JR Giovanni chose the Wake Atoll to be a
jumping off place for his fleet in that region. Here he moored many
of his ships, and also constructed armaments for his Legion, in the
Orion factory that he had built there. The atoll had always been a
strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean, one with a storied
military history at that. Were the Imperium to have launched a
military action against Vanguard Island directly, it would be from
this place that it would originate. Aranskrai had taken much
pleasure in his convert entry of the militarized island, using the
cloaking abilities of his armor, to hide his brigade’s breach. That
he and his Skatha could do so undetected, under even the nose of
the Legion proved to be a great victory.