Kingdoms Away 1: Jorian Cluster Archives (15 page)

“There you are, Master.”

Ed grinned. “You might need to run through
that again.”

His driver gave him a knowing look and a warm
smile. “Have fun today.”

Right now he had lessons with Parax and Juner
so it was one of his Guardars dropping him off, along with five
other protectors lurking around somewhere. He jumped out of the
airvehicle. He quickly looked back and waited for a Guardar to hand
him his bag that he had forgotten in his rush; she smiled at Ed’s
excitement and motioned for him to continue. He knew there were
already Guardars at the site, around the site and many probably in
disguise. One was probably even a wood crafter. It didn’t matter to
him, being so used to their presence. He entered the large shed,
inhaling the smells of wood, varnish and machinery.

Juner and Ed were both working on a large arm
chair which was to be a gift to Master Trent’s wife, who was
pregnant with their sixth child. They were allowed so many children
because his two sisters had no interest in bearing children and so
handed over their permits to Master Trent and his wife. The sisters
were happy to be Secondary Mothers while still enjoying their
independence. After another hundred years they were eligible for
children again.

“Hey, Ed, does your dad know you have
increased your lessons with Master Trent?” Like many young ones,
both Parax and Juner felt uncomfortable in the Sovereign’s presence
and it wasn’t just because of his rank. They only ever visited the
castle when the Sovereign was away and they only ever used the term
“dad” when they were sure no strangers were about.

Ed paused slightly, “I don’t think Mum has
told him yet. In fact, I think the Guardars are keeping me out of
the way more. I don’t know. Hand me the corner chisel.”

He was so brusque the twins knew not to push
the subject. Juner asked him what size he wanted and gave him a
little encouraging smile. He replied to her question and
apologized.

“Did you see Star Tramp last night on TV; it
was fantastic, Milawsky found a way to break the Hrenka’s barrier
...” Juner filled him in on the latest adventure of the comedy show
and they laughed at some of the show’s stunts. Parax joined them,
adding details they had both forgotten. What surprised them was
when Master Trent added even more points, “We old folks do enjoy
the odd show now and again!”

“Old!” Juner said with mock scorn, “You’re
only in your third hundreds!”

“And you, young miss, haven’t even reached
your first!” Trent looked down at her blonde head because she hid
her red face. He said with some pride, “And don’t forget I’m almost
Colony.”

During their break they spoke of the ceremony
ahead where they would all learn the Consent Protocol. The ceremony
was held every five years and anyone from ten to fifteen was
required to participate. It was exciting to think that soon they
would be able to make a request to any animal and travel on live
transport. The Elysians had somehow installed a keylock into each
animal’s brain after the Third Hostility and provided the Joirans
with a key in the form of a signal whereby they had to ask the
animal’s permission to employ it for some purpose. Ed used to love
his mother’s horses but now that he was older he had a personal
interest in animals, and it also meant his whole family would be
present.

Ed was envious of Parax and Juner, who would
only have their parents and grade one and two parents present. He,
on the other hand, being a Sovereign child, would have grade one
through to five parents present, and this was on both sides of his
family. The grading system started at the count of one for the
grandparent level because it became too confusing using the
great-great-great-great-grand parent routine. Unfortunately for Ed
this also meant a day full of lots of kissing and cuddling.
Yuk.

At lunch Trent joined them with the latest
edition of the Eventus.

“Anything interesting?” Parax was always
interested in the news. The others only half listened.

“Not really. Beron’s Bakeries is making up a
stack of Trilberry muffins, cakes and slices while the fruit is in
season. There’s a shortage of potters and they’re calling on anyone
to train for the positions.” He glanced around at the young faces
watching him. They all screwed up their faces. “No takers then, I
see. Hmmm, the Space Corpus has released a new Metamorphic Shield.
The Joiran Coalition are meeting in three months, EO time, and the
search still continues for the girl, Serafina Reos.”

Ed’s interest perked up. Everyone wanted to
know why she was so important. He wondered if Ethas had the latest
update. He made a mental note to get the Eventus after his classes
ended. Summer was almost at an end and his group made plans on how
and where they were going to spend the last of the hot days.

{[JOIRAN CLUSTER] [Drepanaspis] [Saxe, Port Saxe]

[917475/2584/155/space]}

Sorance and Tharini were enjoying a quiet evening in
their cabin discussing recent events. They were sipping a rather
good red wine and small portions of cheese.

“I still can’t believe Donaven left the
Pteraspis and quit like that,” he said relaxing on the floor,
leaning on the couch.

“Spoilt your fun, my love.”

“You know me too well.”

She smiled and leaned over to top up their
glasses. “You know he worked for over a hundred years for the
Archival Planet.”

“No, I wasn’t aware.”

“He made some remarkable improvements. You
know, if you plan to overthrow people you need to do a thorough
background investigation on them.”

“I wasn’t building a Portfolio!”

“The same principle applies.”

“I hadn’t gotten around to it,” he
muttered.

“In over five years?”

“You’ve been distracting me.”

“I see, like this?” She leant over towards
him seductively and laughed when he grabbed for her, pulling her
onto his legs. They fooled around before resuming with their wine
and cheese.

“You should try this one; it comes from
Erus.”

“I prefer this one from Apis. It has more
bite to it.”

They nibbled away in companionable
silence.

“I love you,” he said suddenly, as he usually
did. His hand was holding the cheese hovering just in front of his
mouth.

“I know.”

He raised his neat brown eyebrows. “And?”

“Oh, I love you too.”

“Well you don’t have to be so blasé about
it.”

“And you don’t have to sound so surprised
every time you declare your undying love for me.”

They met each other’s eyes, brown challenging
blue. Brown crinkled in humor first.

Her round face screwed up as she tipped a
piece of cheese from her mouth to her hand, and it went back on the
plate, “That was disgusting.”

Sorance popped his cheese into his mouth,
leaned over to read the label. “It’s from Parlin.”

“That explains it; nothing good ever comes
out of Parlin.”

“That new Verging Officer comes from
Parlin.”

“Really, maybe we should invite him over now
for some cheese.”

Sorance looked down at the partially
mutilated cheese on the plate. “And offer him cheese from
home?”

“Why, that’s my thought exactly.”

“You’re a wicked woman, Tharini.”

“That’s why you love me.”

“Funny how the conversation always winds its
way back to that topic.”

“Love is what makes the universe go
round.”

“And babies.”

“Go round?”

“Makes babies.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Don’t you ever stop playing games, my
dear?”

“No, especially when the moon is full.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“It was an old Earth saying.”

“You know the information about Earth is not
reliable.” She didn’t know he was one of the few left and he’d
altered his identity and DNA enough to fool most people.

She sighed, “I sometimes wonder about our
descendants. What they were like. How they lived. What they did
with themselves in such a short time.”

“No you don’t.” Earth was no longer.

“I do, sometimes.”

“Let me enlighten you; they destroyed their
planet, didn’t care for their animals, abused their resources, they
lived in small houses with no land, some lived in what they called
cities ...”

“What would you call them?”

“Messes. Anyway, they were born, lived badly
and then died. We can thank our Founders that we don’t live like
that.” Here we go, he fell for it again.

“Actually, while I applaud your devotion to
the Science Founders they were unscrupulous and were going down the
same way as the Earthlings. The difference being they unlocked
aging, once given the blueprint, and now had thousands of years to
bring death and destruction to the cluster.”

“My ancestor was different.”

“Ah, the great Professor Chen. Yes, but his
profession was devoted to animals anyway, after the Tunuen was
attacked, or so says history.” She lifted her glass of wine to make
a toast. “Here’s to the real saviors, the Elysians.”

He lifted his glass. “To the Elysians and
here’s to freedom.” Oh, no. He had done it now.

“Ah, yes … freedom. Be obedient or die.”

“How about, to choice?” He tried lifting his
glass again.

“True choice would mean there are no
restrictions. We could do as we want.”

“If we wanted that we could leave the Joiran
Cluster.”

Tharini frowned; her husband had made a good
point. Damn. Chen knew he’d won. It didn’t happen very often but it
meant he got to choose her wardrobe tonight.

{[JOIRAN CLUSTER] [Mador] [Wasps Nest]

[361977/1288/49/autumn]}

Tzand knew the timing was right. He took a deep
breath and exhaled. Everything was reliant on this one move. His
partner screwed up her face, dreading the moment. She held her
breath, feeling the strain in her lungs. The suspense was killing
her. They had been playing Praxlock for two days non-stop. It was a
game of strategy, endurance and chance.

He pulled out the chip and watched the random
holopoints blink out. He had miscalculated the last equation. But
he quickly saw another opportunity. His Prax partner saw it first
and imprinted a chip with an equation. She inserted it and the
holovision completed the picture. The perfect hornets’ nest.

“Same time next month?”

“Absolutely.”

Tzand left her to pack up the game. It was
her turn to pack up, though he made sure he took his plate full of
crumbs. She had enjoyed sharing his snacks on the first day and was
reluctant to leave the table lest he made any moves without her
knowing. Part of the strategy was to make sure your opponent went
with you if you left the table, or you visually recorded the game
while away or had a third party stand guard.

He admired the coastal view as he left. She
lived right on the shoreline and had clear sea views. Still, he
preferred his view of Wasp’s Nest, made of dark, matted domes, and
attached village. The hornet nest port was a large, multi-story
construction with various openings to allow space craft to land and
take off. Any crates or ships classed Titan had to use the outer
openings specially supported to carry their weight. Most Titan
class vessels orbited the planet and sent down their ferians filled
with people, livestock, or goods.

The sky overhead was clear as he used his
airvehicle to drive up the mountain to his home. Unlike some
commanders, he had a simple stone house. The typical housing was
nest format but Tzand liked to have a little variety and steered
away from the usual design. He decided a couple of days’ sleep to
catch up on hours missed would make him feel like a human again.
His chin was rough with stubble and he probably stunk. They usually
overcame that little problem by having a shower together but it was
the wrong time of month for her. They always timed toilet breaks
while the opponent began formulae calculations, which normally took
a few minutes each.

He lay down for a few seconds, or so he
thought, when he was rudely awakened by his alarm. He flung himself
up and off the couch where he’d laid down. The alarm indicated an
emergency call from the admiral.

“Admiral.” Tzand tried to look alert as he
stared at the admiral’s image.

“We need—” the eyes narrowed as they look in
his appearance “—been playing Praxlock?”

“Yes, Admiral.” No doubt his pink eyes were
accentuated by bloodshot whites as well.

“Get down here immediately. No wait, you look
like an inhabitant from the Linet swamp. I’ll send someone to pick
you up. You’ll have to postpone your holidays for a few days.”

Tzand yawned and just had enough time to
wash, shave and eat before a vehicle indicated its arrival outside
his shaded property, which was teeming with trees and understory
plants. He grabbed out his hat from his vehicle before sliding into
the seat of the admiral’s private airvehicle. The admiral’s attaché
did a double take when he saw Tzand.

“Two days straight.”

“I’d suggest a quick sleep then commander.
I’ll take the long way round.”

“It’s not that urgent then?”

“It’s urgent, but getting there a few minutes
later won’t change anything.”

Tzand grinned. The admiral had finally
convinced the young engineer Ard to work for him as his attaché. He
certainly had a mind of his own. Taking his advice, Tzand allowed
his eyes to close and enjoyed over half an hour of sleep. He felt
refreshed when Ard woke him.

They had driven through the lower tunnels and
parked outside the admiral’s offices. Other vehicles were parked
slightly away. Tzand recognized most of the vehicles; the whole
Nest council must be present.

Ard lead the commander through the maze to
the largest conference room. The circular room had chairs situated
around and graduating up. On the floor facing the half circle sat a
large metal, rectangular desk. Nest officials sat around the desk,
along with a serious-looking delegation of Joiran Coalition
officials. Ard’s face had settled into his usual bland façade and
he left the room. Tzand was now grateful for the short sleep. He’d
be here for some time.