Knight of the Empire
Chapter 22

I was at the end of a deep dark tunnel travelling toward a light. I felt a steady painful thud against my chest which seemed at odds with where I was. Vaguely I heard a voice call out.

“She going into VF get me the cardiac kit from the habitat!”

It was a voice I thought I’d recognised. I was at peace part of my mind knew I was dying but something was holding me back. Business I had not finished. My heart sounded loud and fluttery to my ears.

“Don’t die on me girl!” the familiar voice shouted into my ear.

My chest felt bruised and I coughed.

“Thank god!” the voice sounded relieved.

Slowly I opened my eyes my chest hurt and my vision was blurred. I could see a dim shape leaning over me.

“Sandra!” the voice said. “Sandra can you hear me?”

“Who are you?” I tried to say but no words would come out.

“Her heartbeat is strengthening,” a second voice said it sounded male and T’Arni.

“Sandra wriggle your fingers,” the first voice coaxed me gently.

I complied slowly becoming more aware of my surroundings.

“And now your toes.”

I repeated the action with my feet the dim figure resolved into Joyce. She was kneeling beside me her hand pressed hard onto my chest. “Carry her to my room,” she said to someone unseen.

The light dimmed again as I felt hands on me.

I woke to replace myself in a small room. One of the habitat rooms if my guess was not far off. It held the minimum furniture, one cupboard, a side table, one chair and the bed I lay in. Joyce sat in the chair watching me. I looked up to see Doc Brown leaning over me a scanner in his hand.

“Normally I don’t do house calls.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or Joyce. “But you have to when you are dealing with stubborn Valkyrie. It was bad enough when there was one. Now I’ve got two.” He gave a sigh. “I’m really thinking of asking for a transfer.”

I saw him wink at me and I managed to crack a smile.

“Will she be ok doc?” Joyce asked.

“Of course,” he replied. “She’s recovering remarkably fast.”

“I warned her,” Joyce seemed to be talking over me.

“I am still in the room!” I objected replaceing I could speak.

“I know that,” Joyce said then added to Doc Brown. “That is why I don’t have children of my own. I’m too busy cleaning up mess my foster children make.”

I knew that she was referring to me. “That’s unfair!” I protested.

“That it is.” Joyce was smiling she had deliberately baited me. She turned serious. “What were you thinking?”

Her sudden change of topic had me confused. “Thinking?”

“If I hadn’t come back for my favourite mug you could have died.”

“Joyce, calm yourself Sandra will be ok her heartbeat is back to normal. Although I say it she recovered faster than I would have thought possible,” Doc Brown remarked.

“I lost my brother to the Rhosani,” Joyce said her hand gripped the arm of her chair hard.

“Joyce Neilson,” I said to her a warning note in my voice I didn’t want her to reveal who she truly was. Now wasn’t the time.

“I came back to replace you lying on the floor having convulsions. Was the information you were seeking worth the risk,” she scolded me like my mother would have done.

I thought about what I’d seen. “No,” I answered her question truthfully.

“Please for my sake it isn’t worth it nothing is.”

“And if I deem it is?” I felt stubborn I had a job to do replace the Rhosani and destroy them.

“It’s no good if you are dead!” Joyce sighed. “What happened?”

I told her what I had seen and from the expression on her face it wasn’t good. Doc Brown remained impassive all throughout my tale.

“If there’s nothing further you need to add I’ll head back to the Havok and speak to the captain.” Doc Brown raised a warning finger. “No excursions otherwise I’ll rule you unfit for duty and confine you to the medbay.”

I opened my mouth to protest but thought better of it.

Joyce waited until Doc Brown had left before speaking again. “And what does Lottie think of all this?”

Her words reminded me I hadn’t heard a peep from Lottie since I had touched the column.

“Lottie?” I called in my mind, “Lottie?” I had a bad feeling that was part of the Guardians punishment for defying their edict. “She’s not there,” I told Joyce. “I guess the Guardians took her back.”

“I for one am glad she is gone,” Joyce stated firmly.

“She never posed a danger to you,” I said my jaw clenched in anger.

“True,” Joyce apologised. “I’m sorry I’ve been so worried about you Constantina would never forgive me if anything happened to you.”

I though about what she said, I had a duty Ellie would understand. “She knows what I do, she’ll understand.” I was hard-pressed not to add ‘eventually’. I hadn’t and still didn’t where it came to my father.

Joyce shook her head and as she opened her mouth I got out of bed realising I was only in my underwear.

“Where are my clothes!” I demanded.

“Here,” Joyce replied handing me the thermal suit I had got from the Havok’s stores.

“Thank you,” I said moderating my tone. “And not just for my clothes for being there to save my life.”

“Just don’t waste it. You are Frank’s legacy just don’t please for my sake.”

Joyce’s words sent a shiver through my body. It was the same argument Camelia used it even sounded the same. “I’ll try but I’m a soldier. I would lay my life on the line to protect you and everyone in the galaxy.”

Joyce looked at me sadly. “Just be careful,” she whispered her voice sounding hoarse.

There was no answer I could give her and not make it sound like a lie. So I dressed in silence.

“You’re going back to the Archive?” she said suddenly.

“I have to, the Guardians have the answers. If we are going to stop the Rhosani we need answers.” I halted puzzled did I just say ‘we’?

“Please be careful.” She stood. “I’m going with you.”

Again I couldn’t answer that she was a civilian and I couldn’t order her around.

The Archive was no different. Several of Joyce’s youngsters were by the column. I was glad to see my excursions hadn’t damaged it. It was lit up in a riot of colours. The couple at the column stepped back as I approached both bowing as I closed in on them.

“Students take a break please,” Joyce said to them.

They hurriedly began gathering their things but didn’t go far. They stopped at the entrance to the cavern and stared intently at me. I was aware of them. Perhaps they were wondering why this mad woman that had nearly died had come back for a second try. Or was it that they were waiting to see me die. I did shoot at them when they were in armour. At the time I hadn’t known that they were the Usurper’s sacrifices. I ignored Joyce’s deep breath as I reached out to touch the column. The column remained inert under my fingers. I stepped back feeling my frustration rising.

“Lizzie, Paul,” Joyce said naming the couple who had been touching the column before I did. “Give it a try?”

The column blazed into a rainbow of light as they did. I had no doubts even if I used one of the shuriken it would be to no avail.

“Looks like the Guardians have locked me out of the system.”

“Certain?” Joyce asked me curiously.

“Excuse me,” I said politely to the couple and moved them aside. Immediately the colours died. I pressed my marked hand hard against the column it remained dead under my hand. I felt my anger rise. “Damn you!” I shouted and stomped off to the last place I had encountered the Guardians. Unaware I had garnered an audience.

I didn’t know what to expect when I reached the spot. The wall looked as solid as the rest of the Archive. I suspect I must have looked stupid trying to walk through a solid wall. I thumped the wall hard and swore. I’m sure Joyce’s students learned a few new words but not ones that Joyce would have wanted them to hear. My anger notched itself up a few levels.

“Well!” I growled after letting out another tirade of swear words.

“Sandra calm down,” Joyce called out sounding concerned.

“I have a strong desire to hit something hard.”

“Don’t,” a familiar voice echoed through my mind.

“Lottie?” I blurted out. My shock on hearing her voice rapidly cooled my anger.

“Lottie,” Joyce asked.

I nodded. “Lottie?” I said again this time in my mind. “Where the hell have you been!”

“I had to take the long route back. Someone hitched a lift and forgot about me!”

“I don’t understand,” I replied. “I nearly died.”

“We need to talk,” Lottie said ignoring what I had just told her.

“About what?”

“Not here in private.”

I was confused. “I thought we were?”

“There are a few things I need to explain to Joyce and possibly Fangirl.”

Now I was even more confused. “Fangirl?” I asked. “Tell me and I’ll tell them.”

“No!” Lottie stated firmly. “I know you too well, anything I say to you will get lost in translation.”

“That’s unfair,” I moaned.

“But true.”

I gave Joyce a helpless look. “We need to talk privately.” I tapped the side of my head.

Joyce got the message instantly. “Certainly Sandra I know just the place.” She regarded our audience giving them a fierce glare. “You all have work to do anyone I replace slacking will be on kitchen duty for a week.”

“And I’ll need to contact Marsha,” I said finally figuring that Lottie was calling Marsha, Fangirl.

“I’m here,” a voice behind me called out

I jumped a little on hearing Marsha’s voice. I hadn’t realised I was that tightly wound up.

I turned to see her regarding me carefully. “I was concerned that my XO wasn’t fit for duty and here you are running about when you should be resting or do I have to bring in Doc Brown.”

“Sorry Marsha this was too important.”

“I want to hear what’s so important that you risk your health?”

I heard her concern in her voice. “Not here.”

“Where then?” Marsha moved closer her hand almost touching my arm then she dropped it.

“Is somewhere we can go and not be disturbed,” Lottie interrupted.

“The comms hut.” Joyce gestured to the both of us.

We followed her out of the Archive.

It was only slightly warmer in the comms hut than it was outside.

“The heaters take a bit of a time to warm up,” Joyce apologised.

I waved her off.

“Now what’s this big secret?” Marsha asked me directly.

I winced slightly she was angry with me. That much I could tell.

“It’s not me that wanted to talk to you,” I told her. I had to admit I sounded sulky to my ears.

“Well?” Marsha said looking at Joyce.

“That was me,” Lottie said. “I found out what the Rhosani are up to from the Thousand.”

“Who or what are the Thousand,” Joyce said sounding intrigued. “I’m sure I’ve heard that name before when I was doing some preliminary research before we went to Anwa Padak?”

“They are slaves to the Rhosani,” Lottie replied.

“Like the T’Arni were?” Marsha sounded interested.

“Whereas the T’Arni were freed the Thousand weren’t so lucky. It isn’t a good story of how they were enslaved. Suffice to say the black globes you saw are the remains of the Thousand and they are the eyes and ears of the Rhosani.”

“What do you mean?” Joyce asked Lottie.

“The Rhosani have been reduced to the level of parasites but still retain their monochromatic vision. It’s hard to describe what they look like now but they no longer have a definable physical form. They have to rely on host to work through.”

“That explains Colonel Franklin and the others,” I mused.

“Exactly,” Lottie said. “But these lets call them ‘shells’ are as limited as the Rhosani themselves. They had all the flaws the Rhosani do.”

“You mentioned monochromatic vision?” Joyce asked.

“They can’t see colours. Everything to them are shades of grey it even affects their shells.”

“It may be a way to detect them quickly,” I suggested just glad to be able to use my own voice.

“Yes, yes,” Joyce sounded excited. “The T’Arni already knew but had forgotten the reason.”

“What do you mean?” Marsha said looking from Joyce to me.

“The pastels, the pastels. Rhosani would only see them as shades of white at the best?” Joyce sounded gleeful.

“They’re more limited than that,” Lottie replied. “T’Arni pastels appear as white.”

“And this transfers to those they’ve taken over?” I asked. “Can anyone be a host to these Rhosani?”

“Only those who are willing and it’s a death sentence which why when you kill them they turn to dust. They are telepathic but not omnipresent. If you kill one all those Rhosani linked to them die as well, kind of like a hive mind. The physic shock of the death of one will kill the others linked to it.” Lottie laughed. “Sandra you think you’ve only killed a couple of them but you’ve actually killed dozens. It’s why they are deadly afraid of you. Rhosani cannot replicate any that die reduces the population as a whole.”

“I’m up for killing more Rhosani.” Marsha said.

“But they are still able to influence non-tepes,” I said remembering that Camelia’s captain held her under the influence of Colonel Franklin.

“Even that is limited,” Lottie said. “To have full control the Rhosani have to be inside their hosts. They can control non-tepes but the number is limited and there is the possibility that those under control might rebel.”

“That’s why they go for the top? High government positions or military commanders are their first port of call.” Joyce gestured to me. “Once in place they can issue orders and no one would suspect especially if they are slow and quiet. It’s a tactic they tried before?” Joyce sounded puzzled. “It doesn’t gel with T’Arni recorded history. The Rhosani were bipedal humanoids.”

Marsha interrupted before Joyce could speak again. “All this speculation doesn’t address the reason the Rhosani are stealing planets.

“Think of a prison cell,” Lottie told her. “That’s where the Rhosani were placed.”

I just wished she would get to the point my throat was getting sore with all this talking.

“I’ll concede that point,” Marsha replied.

“And a prison cell has a door.”

“Yes?” Marsha sounded doubtful.

“The Rhosani are trying to open that door.”

“I’m following your train of thought so far,” Marsha said.

I wished Lottie would get to the point I’d lost the thread of her conversation several sentences ago.

“Sandra,” Lottie addressed me directly. “How do you deal with a locked door?”

“Kick it in?” I wasn’t sure what she was getting at.

“If that doesn’t work?”

“We use breaching charges.”

“All those planets,” Joyce said sadly. “Of course the conversion of matter to energy. They’ll have the energy. What are they going to do with it. A simple conversion isn’t going to achieve the force they need?”

I began to understand why Lottie insisted on bringing in Joyce and Marsha this was beyond my field of knowledge.

“They’re trying to overload a star,” Lottie replied.

I winced in shock at that.

“A star would have to be pretty unstable to do that?” Marsha said sadly.

“What are they trying to do?” I asked.

“A nova or even a super nova,” Marsha said to me. “If I’m thinking it through such a detonation will cause a rupture in space.”

“I still don’t get it?” I said to her. I knew the destructive power of a nova but why they could cause a rupture was beyond me.

“Nova cause ripples in hyperspace that’s why we have to nav all our journeys. These ripples cause fluctuations in a sun’s gravity well. As you well know we have to avoid gravity wells while in hyperspace, a fluctuating gravity well will throw a ship of course.”

Now that I understood thankfully I had learned something about commanding a starship. It proved I wasn’t totally ignorant.

“Joyce this is where you come in,” Lottie said.

“Me?” she replied looking surprised.

“You still have access to the Archive, we’ll need you to search the records for unstable stars, preferably ones that have destabilised within the last three years?”

“Why three years?” I asked.

“That’s how long they’ve been here.”

I felt relieved in a way. It meant they hadn’t been here that long.

“Will the Guardians allow us to do this?” Joyce said. “They’ve locked you out of the system.”

“That was more to keep Sandra out than anything else.”

“Why?” I did wonder why.

“I’ll tell to you later Sandra,” Lottie replied. “It’s too much detail for now.”

I’m sure she wasn’t telling me the full story. “Ok later then.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Marsha stated firmly.

“I’ll get onto it right away,” Joyce said. “Or I’ll get my students on it.”

“One thing Joyce,” Lottie said to her.

“That is?”

“Tell no one?”

“I don’t understand?” I was confused.

“I don’t want this info leaked we’re not ready to deal with the Rhosani yet.”

“We have to tell Com Ops something. They are already asking questions and they’ll doubt our sanity if we go out and tell them all this?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’d not be 192’d. I’d come close before after Anoxi.” I felt a shiver pass through my body. I guess I would never be rid of that nightmare. At least it didn’t affect me as badly as it once did.

“192’d?” Joyce asked.

“The designation for a soldier with PTSD,” I replied uncomfortably.

“I can do that,” Lottie said giving Marsha a look.

“Will you now?” Marsha’s eyes turned flinty.

“Just remember it’s my body that Marsha will pound into the dirt,” I warned Lottie.

“I know,” she replied in my mind. She spoke. “Diplomacy which you replace hard. I can put it into words that will be easily for them to digest. You three will have the final say on any report we send.”

“Ok,” I had no problems with that.

Joyce was in full agreement.

Marsha remained silent for a moment before replying. “Ok let’s do this!”

We waited three days for a response from Com Ops. The Axon had arrived in the mean time but not alone. The Axon had brought another cruiser the Orion and a supply ship. It made sense with the number of warships crowding the space above Melanos. Standing on the bridge of the Havok I was staring at the stars. The bleep of the Comms console had me turning it had been a boring watch.

“Ma’am?” Alvanina my duty comms officer said. Like most T’Arni she wore her blonde hair long but had it tied in a bun for regulation sake.

“Yes?” I said turning from my quiet contemplation of the stars.

“Message from Com Ops for the captain and XO only.”

“Patch it through to the ready room and comm Captain Yanik.”

“Aye ma’am.”

Marsha was already there when I entered the ready room, which meant she hadn’t gone back to her quarters yet.

“Message for Com Ops for us,” I told her. I was dreading what they would say about the report we had sent them.

“Put it on screen XO,” Marsha said.

Admiral Prmi’s image stared down at us his face grim. “We’ve reviewed the data you sent us. Is it correct?”

This was the moment I was dreading.

“We received it from a reliable source,” Marsha told him.

There had been a lot we had not said. Lottie had made it clear we were not to involve the Thousand yet or even reveal that the data had come from them and not the Guardians.

Admiral Prmi sighed. “It was a vain hope I suppose.”

“Vain hope?” I had to ask the question.

“We suspected that was happening. The computer predicted it.”

“Told you so,” Lottie said smugly in my mind.

“Shut up Lottie,” I shot back.

“We didn’t want to believe that this was the case,” Admiral Prmi continued.

“Not something any of us wanted to believe.” Which was true in my case I was still having trouble with the thought but not enough to give me nightmares.

“The Archive given you any info on what sun we’re looking for. Short of sending an expedition to every unstable star in the galaxy. The Terrans are helping from their side but they are as constrained as we are and they have more ships.”

“Most of the unstable stars are in the core,” Marsha said.

“I’m not sending any ships into the core if I don’t have to,” Admiral Prmi said firmly.

Sending ships in to the core was a death sentence for any crew. No ship that had journeyed in to the core had ever returned. Then there was the agreement between the T’Arni and the Ancients. They had been given the gift worlds in exchange for leaving the core alone. The galactic core was an area at the centre of the galaxy full of black holes, collapsing stars and worlds far more ancient that any in the rest of the galaxy. It was the place the Ancients had retreated to after their war with the Rhosani.

“Our people,” Admiral Prmi said. “And the computer states that the Rhosani must have a forward base somewhere.”

“You reckon that the Com Ops computer is another AI?” I asked Lottie.

“That is possible. I shared my programming freely to the Ezarans and you know what they are like in tinkering with things. If it is another AI then it isn’t one the humans created. I’m the only one left and I left before things went south on Earth.”

“Any idea where this base will be?” Marsha asked.

“We reckon in the former Rhosani territory,” Admiral Prmi told her.

“That’s a lot of space and planets to search through,” Marsha sounded thoughtful.

“We can’t spare the ships most of the fleets have been pulled back to protect our populated worlds.”

“I understand sir,” Marsha replied.

“I’m counting on you two to replace me a target, Prmi out.”

The screen went black.

“Wake up Sandra!”

I woke still groggy with sleep. “Who, what where?” I mumbled feeling as if I hadn’t enough sleep.

“I know where their base is!”

That had me fully awake and alert but it was only I in my room and that meant Lottie was talking to me. “Where?”

“You’re not going to like it,” she said and paused.

“Don’t leave me in suspense,” I responded feeling more alert.

“The Direkki system.”

“What you’re joking?” I said alarmed. The Direkki system was perilously close to Aurelis Prime.

“Deadly serious they’re on Farakas.”

I threw of my bed covers and got out of bed. I wasn’t questioning Lottie’s information but it sounded too incredible to be true. I picked up my comms unit. “Locate Captain Yanik,” I said to it.

“Captain Yanik is in her quarters,” a metallic voice came back. I had never bothered to change the default setting so I put up with the tinny sounding computer voice.

“Moron,” I heard Lottie mutter in my head. I wasn’t sure if she was referring to the comms unit or me.

Ignoring Lottie I dressed quickly and hurried out. It was a short hop between my quarters and hers. On reaching the door I pressed the button beside it.

“Marsha, Marsha!” I called out, “I need to talk to you it’s important.

Moments later the door slid open to reveal Marsha standing there, her blonde hair in disarray and an all too short robe on. It only just reached the tops of her thighs and looked like it had been made for someone a lot shorter. Even the lavender colour wasn’t what I would have associated her with. I suspected it belonged to someone else.

“Better come in,” she said reluctantly and blushed.

As soon as I entered I saw her dilemma. Sitting in her bed with the covers up to her chin was Shawna.

“I’m sorry I disturbed you,” I apologised. “I wouldn’t have done this if this wasn’t important.”

“What’s got you so fired up?” Marsha asked.

“We have the location of the Rhosani base.”

“What, how?” Marsha stared at me open mouthed.

I just tapped the side of my head. I knew she hadn’t told Shawna about Lottie the fewer that knew of her existence the better. I know Marsha hated leaving Shawna out of the loop. This was just between Joyce and us and I wanted it to stay that way.

Marsha strode over to her terminal and tapped a few keys with her height she had to lean over the desk. I had to turn away that robe was really too short.

“Eight hundred and seventy hours to the Direkki system from here,” she said sounding disappointed. “They’ll be long gone by the time we get there.”

“Direkki,” Shawna asked. “That’s awfully close to Aurelis Prime.”

“We could send ships from Aurelis,” Marsha said thoughtfully.

“And that would weaken Aurelis’ defences. I can’t see Com Ops allowing that,” I said. “The bigger question is why weren’t they spotted there before?”

“Farakas hasn’t been used for training since you encountered that Terran ship there.”

“We’ll have to call Com Ops, even if they don’t release ships from Aurelis they got to have ships closer than us.”

“We can get there in thirty-six hours,” Lottie told me.

It was my turn to stare. “How?”

“Wormholes, there’s one to Janari and another from there Avacore, then a short jump to Direkki.”

I knew about the worlds in those to systems. They had suffered in the war between the Rhosani and the Ancients. The habitable planets in both systems had burned to a crisp. It was only old T’Arni histories that had mentioned these were worlds but little more than that.

“How do you know all this?” Marsha directed her question to me but she was really asking Lottie.

“Lottie?” I asked.

“The Thousand gave me the data.”

“Could it be a trap?” Marsha said.

I thought about it agreeing with what Marsha was saying.

“That is a possibility?” Lottie replied.

“Why are you talking in a different voice Sandra?” Shawna sounded concerned.

I had forgotten that she was there. I realised that it did sound as if I was having a psychotic episode.

Marsha regarded me for a moment and nodded. She spoke to Shawna letting her know about Lottie.

“Those bastards!” Shawna was angry. “They marked your hand then they had to go and do that to you.” She lapsed into silence her eyes on Marsha. “Sorry,” she apologised.

“Accepted,” I told her. I switched back to our original subject. “Com Ops will have to let us investigate.”

“Meet me in my ready room in a hour,” Marsha said her eyes on Shawna. “I’ve got some making up to do.”

I took that as my cue to leave. Outside I spoke again making sure no one else was about.

“We could be walking into a trap. Can we trust the Thousand?”

“They seem genuine enough. I had to go back the long way it was the Guardians that pulled you out of there. I’d go on my gut instinct if I still had one. I’d say yes but be careful.”

“Ok thanks for the heads up.” Something she mentioned troubled me. Twice she had said that she had had to take the long way home. But now wasn’t the time to confront her about it. We had to come up with a convincing plan to present to Com Ops.

“Any time Sandra.”

Time would drag until we had an answer from Com Ops. Finally we had our answer Com Ops had green-lighted our plan now it was time to put it into action.