TICEES (45 page)

Chelan quickly became enamored with their discussion periods, and she actually looked forward to her time with the great Emperor. When fully immersed in their conversations, the man disappeared from her thoughts to be replaced by the intellect, the philosopher, and the negotiator. He was extremely well versed in all aspects of life, and his experiences with other cultures and beings were staggeringly diverse. Unlike the Warlords used to wield the sword and crush the life from all that they were turned loose upon, Ticees was the diplomat who oversaw the running of the Empire. He talked with, negotiated with, and coexisted with the cultures that he brought together to form the whole. Though he had thousands who did his bidding throughout the galaxy, the final decisions were his alone, and his decree was irrefutable law.

That was not to say that he was strictly an ambassador for the Empire. He was also a brilliant tactician, his ability in this vein superseded only by Korba, and Ticees was not afraid to use his powers in this regard. Though he was considered fair in the arena of negotiation, he was not one to favor too many concessions or compromises when it came to his Empire. Societies under his perusal were wise to accept his stakes early on or risk annihilation. And with the Warlords at his back, Ticees ruled with a balanced yet iron fist.

To say that Chelan was intrigued by all that Ticees had to say was indeed an understatement. His casual accounts of the deals he wielded and the billions affected by those decisions were mind-boggling. He was the ruler supreme, and now she understood why the Warlords did his bidding with very few questions asked.

It was not long after RIBUS 8 was dispatched that Ticees had a full Imperial uniform made for her, and Chelan was now free to wander outside the gigantic Palace under heavy guard. But for the most part, she simply preferred to go to the gardens and amble amid the beauty that reminded her so much of Earth. With time, she came to know most of the staff members and workers both in the Palace and in the gardens. But she did not strike up any binding relationships with any of them despite the fact that many tried to befriend her. Though they were Iceanean, they were the men and women of the Emperor, and despite her new rapport with Ticees, she still did not feel totally comfortable around his people.

Chelan ate as many meals with him as her Earthly clock permitted, and Ticees often brought her meals to her when he knew she would be absent. Chelan appreciated his service immensely, knowing that it probably went against every grain in an Emperor’s body to serve another. But she also knew it pleased him beyond all reason to attend to her.

Chelan accepted his presence in Korba’s domain, but it was a guarded acceptance. Ticees had always been aware of her possessiveness over the Warlord’s chambers and sensed her unease whenever he entered. As a precaution, he never arrived unannounced, never came in uninvited, and he never stayed long, especially if she was just rising.

As her second month alone with Ticees came to an end, Salizar had begun reporting to the Emperor regularly about her progress, and Ticees was more than pleased. Putting it precisely, Salizar felt that her talents went far beyond simply exceptional, and he had recommended that she be assigned to his division during RIBUS 7’s absences. She would be more of an asset to his department than anyone who had gone before.

With every day that passed, Ticees was more and more impressed with the shy woman, and with each day he cared for her that much more. It was easy to see why Korba had become so enchanted by her so quickly and why he had chosen to Let the young alien. Ticees envied the man.

But as Ticees came to know her better, he also deduced that her bond with Korba was an implied Let, for he knew his friend too well. As Ticees became more familiar with Chelan’s ways and her inhibitions, he knew that Korba would never subject her to a true Letting ceremony. Ticees had always known that fact in the back of his mind, and for some elusive reason that tidbit of information made him sigh with boundless relief.

*****

On this morning, Ticees sat back in his chair and watched the information pour over his console. It was not going to be a good day, as he had heard from both ships, and both would be delayed another two months. Ticees shuddered at the thought of telling Chelan. Instantly, he decided to put it off. He did not wish to jeopardize the trust she had put him at long last, and he would tell her at a later date. In the meantime, he would continue to treat her like royalty. And as far as this day’s activities went, he knew just where to begin.

Chelan was awake but not quite up when Ticees knocked. She bid him enter but was extremely uncomfortable about her vulnerable position in bed. Ticees prudently stayed back.

“Good morning, my Lady,” he greeted warmly. “It is time to rise and shine. I have a surprise for you.”

Chelan sat up, clutching the blankets to her. “What kind of surprise?” she asked warily.

“Oh, no. You must wait and see. Let’s just say that one day I had a long talk with Dar, and he filled me in on a few of your lifelong ambitions. I’m going to fulfill one of those today. But if you don’t get up, I’m afraid there is nothing I can do for you.” Ticees glanced around him and spotted her uniform. He picked it up and threw it at her. “Here, you’ll need this.”

Chelan snatched the uniform from the air and then looked over at him with a sly grin. “What I need,” she quipped, “is some privacy.”

“Ah, yes,” he observed. “Earth modesty. Sometimes I wonder how you and Korba ever got together with your incessant and annoying tendency.”

Chelan shot him an evil glance. “I bet you do,” she jabbed.

Ticees smiled and turned away. “When you are ready, meet me in my chambers.”

“What about breakfast?” she shouted at his receding back.

“That would be unwise, my Lady!” he shouted back, and then he disappeared.

Chelan was a bit confused, but she dressed quickly. She grabbed her shroud and headed directly for his room.

Ticees turned and smiled at her. “May I say, my Lady, without you taking offense, that you fill out our uniform admirably?”

Chelan looked back at him from under her lashes. “I could say the same about you, my Lord,” she countered.

Ticees chuckled. “Now, may I be permitted to tame your wild hair, or would you prefer to put it up yourself? For what I have planned, you will have to have it bound.”

Chelan simply shook her head. “Be my guest.”

Ticees stepped up to her and began gathering her long, silky hair. Slowly and carefully, he twisted it and secured it on top of her head. It was the first time he had dared touch her, and he was instantly shot through with an unexpected bolt of desire that rendered his mouth dry.

Stepping back, he was thankful for his shroud, and he took hers and draped her in it. He cleared his throat. “Now, we will be off,” and he turned and led her out of his chambers.

Chelan fell into step next to him, her eyes wide with anticipation. Soon, he ushered her into a heavily guarded area and then stopped.

“Erron!” he shouted.

“Yes, my Lord,” came a distant voice. “All is ready, my Lord.”

“Thank you,” replied Ticees as he turned to Chelan. “Are you ready?”

“I don’t know. Ready for what?”

Ticees smiled and then signaled to Erron.

Slowly, the massive doors in front of her parted, and before her was displayed, in all its military splendor and prowess, a gigantic black bird of prey, a secondary fighter.

Chelan was rendered breathless.

“Come on,” Ticees prodded. “We don’t have all day.” He reached over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her paralyzed body forward.

Chelan finally responded and followed him through the doors to the fighter. Ticees watched her as her eyes flowed over the ship’s ebony skin, and he was delighted at the expression on her face. He reached to her and brushed a tendril of silk from her cheek.

Chelan blinked back to reality at his touch and looked up at him. “What’s happening?”

Ticees smiled. “We’re going up. I’m going to lead one of the routine reconnaissance missions. We’ll be accompanied by some of my best pilots for the sake of security, and you will finally be able to see some of our planet firsthand.”

Chelan was speechless.

“This fighter is the same type as the one Dar and Fremma showed you on the RIBUS, except the cockpit windows on this one are clear. We won’t be using the holographic navigation, as I will leave that up to my wingmen. That way you will be able to look out and see things as they are.

“I’m also going to back off on the inertial damping just a bit, allowing you to experience a few of your world’s Gs just for some added fun. We are heavily armed and heavily protected, so if you feel ill at any time, either from the motion or from the field, just say so, and we can land anywhere.”

Suddenly, Chelan leapt at Ticees, taking him totally by surprise. He backstepped to catch his balance.

“Oh, thank you,” she cried as she hugged him close.

Slowly his arms surrounded her, and his heart skipped several beats. He looked down into her smiling face, her beauty on fire, and he was inflamed with desire for the second time. “Any time, my Lady,” he stammered. He pushed her away from him out of a desperate struggle for control and a need to distance himself from her warm body.

Chelan turned toward the ship, her spirited enthusiasm so all-consuming that she was totally unaware of the turmoil she had just immersed him in.

He took several deep breaths and then urged her toward the fighter. “Let’s go,” he whispered.

Ticees climbed up, extending a hand to her, and he drew her up easily, her body partially supported by the residual antigravity field. From there, Ticees took her by the waist and sat her in the rear seat, his fluid motions a testament to his tremendous power and strength as he positioned her effortlessly. The restraint system snapped over her, and she looked up at him, her body positively effervescent with excitement.

Ticees smiled at her and then slipped the protective hood over her head, checking its seal with her uniform and then helping her with the flight helmet. When all was to his liking, he nodded and winked at her. Then he seated himself in the front seat slightly below her. He took only a moment to adjust his own equipment.

“Okay,” he said quietly, his voice conveyed to her through the helmet. “How are you doing?”

“Wonderful,” she whispered breathlessly.

“Chelan, you are sitting where the navigator usually sits, but since we won’t require any complicated navigation on this trip, all the controls are turned over to me. There are some handholds to the sides, and I suggest you use them. Don’t touch anything else, or our ride may turn out to be a little bumpier than planned.”

Chelan smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m way too nervous to touch anything.”

Ticees chuckled, and then the cockpit sealed. “Ready?”

“Ready,” she replied.

The ship began to move silently, and Chelan detected no motion except that revealed to her by her eyes. Suddenly, the entire far wall lifted, and they were hit by the brilliant morning sun. The ship moved out of the suspended hangar and flowed along an invisible level plain as it cleared its nest. Chelan looked around at the floating contingency of fighters before her, and she held her breath. Below her, the Palace fortress walls fell away, and the whole scene was replaced by the vastness of Iceanea’s permanent ice fields.

Chelan leaned forward and watched the silent codes being issued to Ticees by the other fighters. Small brilliant lights were mounted on various areas of each fighter, most of them along the wing edges. Chelan guessed the intermittent signals were a form of visual cipher that could be used if radio or other contact was not recommended, but she would check it out with Ticees later. Right now she was too excited to ask questions.

The ship began a slow ascent, its body still level with the ground. As the vessel rose, Chelan watched as the variable wings swept forward seamlessly, stopping when they were perpendicular to the fighter’s body.

Ticees spoke. “We will be going subsonic until we clear the Palace perimeter, Chelan, and upon reaching the Dead Zone, we’ll go supersonic. I’ll take you through whatever you can handle, and if you find the G forces uncomfortable, tell me. I’ll eliminate them with the IDF.”

“Okay,” she breathed, barely able to contain herself.

Suddenly, they were in motion, and Chelan was pushed back in her seat. The fighter skimmed the ground, and Chelan gasped at the speed. She did not know for sure if the strange sensations she felt were due to their actual speed or because they were so close to the ground, giving her the illusion of great speed. Either way, her eyes bulged as she watched a ridge of rugged mountains approaching rapidly. Then she sank into her seat, the fighter knifing upward and over the ranges.

Ticees leveled the ship out, allowing her to take in the vast expanse of the mountain ranges that protectively encircled portions of the Dead Zone, their serrated peaks covered in snow, their deep valleys filled with glaciers.

Within what seemed like only moments, they were out over a high, limitless expanse of ice, a snow desert, the forbidden and unforgiving Dead Zone as the Iceaneans knew it. Chelan’s attention was caught as she saw the accompanying fighters dropping back and veering to the sides, fanning out to different altitudes and different distances.

Chelan looked around and watched as the wings began to sweep back. They were about to go supersonic, and no sooner had she thought that than she was thrust forcibly back into her seat, the wind nearly knocked from her. She couldn’t believe the sensations that tore through her body as Ticees began to take the fighter through a series of subdued rolls and climbs. She closed her eyes and then smiled. “This is great,” she squeaked with glee.

Ticees smiled to himself. “Are you okay?”

“Are you kidding? You’ll never pry me out of here.”

Ticees increased the complexity of his aerobatics. “You’re feeling three of your Earth’s Gs, Chelan, but the plane is actually pulling twenty of yours. If the IDF were fully operational, you would feel nothing.”