The Phoenix War (18 page)

“What do you think?” she turned to Captain
Adiger. He’d stood vigilantly by her side the entire time where
he’d kept a respectful silence and allowed his queen to control the
discussion.

“I think he’s hiding something,” said Adiger.
“I’m also suspicious of his information.”

“I am as well,” admitted Kalila. “Although,
if it is true…”

“Then our situation is indeed dire,” said
Adiger.

Kalila pressed her fingers together and
considered all that Raidan had told her.
Such a tangled web this
all is
, she reflected. Thinking how odd that Raidan’s source
for all this new information was, allegedly, none other than Calvin
Cross’s own father.

“If I may, Your Majesty?” asked Adiger.

“Please,” said Kalila. “Speak your mind.”

“I would follow you into any battle, to my
own grave if it comes to that, without so much as batting an eye.
You know that.”

“Indeed I do,” said Kalila. She’d known
Adiger since she was a child, and even before she’d been born,
Adiger had faithfully served House Akira.

“And so I hope what I am about to suggest is
not out of place,” Adiger said, his words seeming to tip-toe.

“Say it,” said Kalila.

“You are the rightful heir to the throne, and
by every law of the Empire, you should rule. Your claim is the
best, your right to succeed your father is absolute, now that your
elder siblings are passed on, but…” he hesitated.

Kalila held her tongue. Knowing what Adiger
was about to say. And not liking it one ounce.

“Have you considered… for the safety of your
subjects and all the realm… surrendering your claim and allowing
the Assembly to select a new monarch?”

“That’s no longer an option and you know it,”
said Kalila. “The Assembly has declared us all Enemies of the
State.”

“True,” Adiger admitted. “But in exchange for
certain promises, for the chance to prevent civil war, I’m sure
certain arrangements can be made. Deals brokered, guaranteeing your
safety, in exchange for cooperation.”

“It isn’t my safety I’m worried about,” said
Kalila. “The very fact that the Assembly could so easily and so
readily declare us Enemies of the State illustrates how severely
hijacked they are. They are a corrupt body of bribed, bought, and
beguiled fools who have sold the Empire out from under its citizens
in exchange for their own personal profit. Even if I turned the
reins over to them, and let them choose a new king from amongst
themselves, would you really trust that person to lead our fleets
in a proper defense against an alien invasion? Assuming they could
even manage to pause their dysfunction long enough to agree on a
successor monarch?”

This seemed to give Captain Adiger pause.

“And even if we did survive the Rotham
invasion, what then?” asked Kalila. “Would such a new leader, one
completely in the pocket of a consortium of foreign interests and
corporations be able to restore our Empire to its true glory? Would
such a person be capable, and willing, to cleanse our government
from the corrupt influences that have taken root?”

“No, I suppose not,” said Adiger. “I just
thought… if we could avoid civil war…”

“Don’t think I haven’t considered it,”
snapped Kalila, letting more frustration color her tone than she
wanted to. “I don’t want to hold the monarchy. I never asked for
it. I
never
desired it. I was always relieved that the
throne was meant to pass to Genjiro and not to me. But reality is
what it is. My brother is
dead
. My sisters are
dead
.
Worst of all, my father is
dead
.
Murdered
. Slain on
the Assembly Floor! And you would have their deaths go unanswered?
You would give control of the Empire to those maniacs? What hope
then would be left for humanity? Is that what you honestly think is
best? Tell me true!”

“No, Your Majesty,” Adiger said quickly. He
bowed his head. “Forgive me. I spoke out of insolence. I was not
thoughtful.”

As she looked at him—a man who’d always
seemed made of steel, bowing before her now, looking disgraced, she
felt pity.
I should not have been so harsh with him
.
He
is thinking only of saving lives. An admirable goal. And one we
both share
.

“You have not spoken out of insolence,” she
said, her voice calm and commanding. “And I thank you for your
thoughts and advice. As things stand, however, we must stay the
course. And if there is any hope of saving the Empire, it must
remain in the hope that good triumphs over evil. And that those
responsible for corrupting our Empire, those who have sold us out,
those who would destroy us, shall be exposed and punished.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“And as for the Rotham threat… let us hope
that it is not so urgent as Raidan thinks. And that by the time
they come to challenge us, we will again stand as an Empire
united.”

“That is my tenderest hope as well.”

Kalila looked away from her servant and back
at the display. It was empty, no broadcast was being sent. But in
the emptiness she saw Raidan’s face and the words of his warning
haunted her. If there was an imminent Rotham threat, if indeed they
were already on their way to Renora, and if the Alliance truly was
no hindrance to them anymore… she had to know it. And be ready to
deal with it.

“Summon Calvin Cross here immediately,” she
said.

“At once,” Adiger snapped to attention and
headed for the door.

“And send a general order to all fleets,”
said Kalila, thinking about Raidan’s haunting words. “Tell them to
intercept any ship heading to Renora. If the ships are Rotham,
order them to divert course. If they refuse…
destroy
them.”

“General order to all loyal ships?” asked
Adiger, he’d stopped his march to the exit and was again facing
her.

“General order to all
Imperial
ships,”
said Kalila. “Loyal or otherwise. This is a threat that affects us
all. Everyone needs to know what’s at stake. And everyone needs to
do their part to keep our people safe.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Adiger saluted and
left.

***

“So?” Kalila asked, looking at Calvin
intently. “Can he be trusted?”

Calvin scratched his chin thoughtfully as he
considered all of this new information. When he didn’t reply
immediately, he could see in the queen’s eyes that she was
impatient and deeply concerned. Though her body language remained
composed, regal and collected.

“Who do you mean?” asked Calvin. “Raidan or
Samil?” This new information, for it to have any credibility,
depended on the assumption that both Raidan and Samil were telling
the truth. Which seemed like an almost ludicrous assumption under
normal circumstances. Raidan was cunning and often relied on
half-truths, and as for Samil, everything he had ever done—indeed
everything he
was
, everything he
said
, everything he
ate
, everything he
slept in
, every breath he
breathed
, everything he
surrounded
himself with…
everything
about him was an enterprise of deceit, emptiness,
lies, and self-interested betrayal.

“Your
father
,” clarified the queen. “I
understand that you haven’t seen him in quite a long time, and that
he left you and your mother. Which doesn’t speak well for his
character. But I also understand that he was the source who tipped
you off regarding the isotome weapons on the surface of Remus Nine.
Deadly weapons that you proceeded to destroy. I am therefore aware
that he can, at least sometimes, be a trustworthy source of
intelligence.”

Calvin listened, holding his tongue. He felt
a mixture of emotions welling up inside him, part of it was anger,
part of it was something else entirely. As he stood attentively
before Kalila, the mighty Queen of the Empire, he tried very hard
to ignore the flicker of memories of his childhood that danced
through his mind as they discussed the man who’d abandoned him and
broken his mother’s heart. Memories of the man Calvin had once
idolized. And, even more shamefully and stupidly, had once loved
and sought the approval of. And then, as sudden as starlight, the
man had vanished. Mother had been in denial for days after that,
and when the truth finally sank in… she wept for a long time.
Deeply and frequently.
He hurt my mother
,
that
bastard
,
for that I’ll never forgive him
…

“So tell me, Mister Cross,” the queen
continued. “In this instance, do you counsel me to believe the
threat he warns us of is credible, or is there an ulterior motive
at play? Perhaps he is working for the Rotham? Maybe they hope they
can use him to trick us into making a preemptive attack, one that
will justify their war to their own people?”

Calvin bit his lip and continued to hold his
silence awhile longer before speaking. When he did, he kept his
tone as neutral as he could. “There’s always an ulterior motive
where Samil is concerned. He never does anything out of heartfelt
generosity. Whatever motivated him to warn us that the Rotham are
moving against Renora and that the Alliance cannot deter them much
longer, you can bet he’s getting something out of it. Somehow he
benefits from this. But in this case, I don’t believe he is working
for the Rotham.”

“If not that, then what?” asked Kalila. “If
not out of loyalty to humanity, or as part of some scheme hatched
by our enemies, why then would he send us such a warning?”

Calvin had no answer for that. “I don’t
know,” he admitted.

Kalila nodded slowly. Seeming to accept this
answer. Though clearly she was disappointed. “Putting his
intentions aside then,” she said, “in your opinion, is the warning
credible? Or should I dismiss it?”

“Don’t dismiss it,” Calvin said, almost
hastily. When he answered, Kalila’s eyes betrayed her curiosity. No
doubt the speediness of his reply made her think there was more
Calvin knew about Samil, something he wasn’t telling her. Calvin
cleared his throat and explained. “We know the Rotham threat is
real. They have declared Renora as one of their own planets.
Therefore war is inevitable. Whether they are making plans for
Renora, or are actively making their move right now—as Samil
claims—it is a question of timing, but either way the threat is
real. And something
must
be done. And as for the part about
the Rotham war fleets being able to cross the DMZ and enter
Imperial space with impunity, no longer concerned about the
Alliance… that is harder to imagine. But it is possible.” He
thought of how tightly-controlled Tybur had been when he’d snuck
onto the planet to get information. And how many warships had been
on constant patrol. Warships that would shoot first and ask
questions later, should the Rotham—or any Imperials—try to cross
the DMZ. Could those fleets really be made irrelevant in one swift
stroke?

“But if there is even an inkling of a chance
that the claim is true,” continued Calvin. “Then it is a major
threat. Possibly even the greatest threat we currently face. And
that
has
to be looked into. It could be that Raidan lied. Or
my father lied. Or that their intelligence is bad—I certainly
hope
that’s the case! But, for the sake of the Empire, I
think it would be foolish not to take the warning seriously.”

Kalila nodded. “You and I are of one mind on
the matter.”

Calvin was glad to hear this. He’d already
believed the Rotham threat to be even more important, and more
threatening, to human survival than the brewing civil war. It was
time for Imperial forces, both loyalist and insurgent, to bury the
hatchet and unite against their common threat. As much as Calvin
didn’t want to see the monarchy in the hands of humanity’s most
corrupt leaders, such as Caerwyn Martel, he was even more worried
that infighting would only manage to serve up their precious worlds
on a silver platter to ruthless alien invaders.

“So I take it we are sending our forces into
the Corridor?” asked Calvin. “Probably to Praxis and Thetican and
other systems?”

“Unfortunately, we are not at liberty to do
so,” the queen replied.

Calvin felt momentarily confused. “What do
you mean? We must deploy along the DMZ. To intimidate the Rotham,
to make them think twice about attacking the Empire.” While not a
perfect solution, it seemed like the obvious first step to him. If
the Rotham are coming, as Samil and Raidan warned, and if no one
else can stop them, then certainly it must fall to Kalila to lead
her forces in defense of the Empire.

“I wish it were as simple as that,” said
Kalila. “But if we withdraw to the outer fringes of the Empire, we
leave the core worlds defenseless against the tyranny of the
Assembly and those who would usurp my father’s throne. Many of our
most valuable allies, systems that have declared for us, would be
abandoned to their own inadequate defenses against the insurgent
fleets. You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?”

“No,” he said. “I suppose not.” Though, at
this point, he felt almost willing to support either side in the
Imperial conflict, so long as it meant humanity could stand united,
without bloodshed, and jointly oppose threats from Rotham space—and
possibly even Polarian space. No doubt when the Rotham managed to
successfully seize valuable Imperial systems, and the Empire proved
unable to stop them—too busy destroying itself with its own
conflict—the Polarian States would smell the blood and various
warlords would emerge to stake their own claims, and lead their own
conquests. And all for what? “I just don’t want to see the Empire
torn apart,” said Calvin. “Especially when we know there are
enemies abroad, true enemies, who are eager to invade and conquer
us if we leave ourselves defenseless.”