New Dawn
Chapter 9

Both sunswere high in the sky, burning through the glass panes of the cabin when Ausanneawoke and lazily stretched her lithe body. The bed was comfortable, far morecomfortable than the one Hansola had provided. Gently she turned over, notwanting to wake the sleeping Niku. The Chamonkey chattered in her sleep, thennestled down into the crook of the princess's arm. Ausanne smiled. She was gladto be reunited with her beloved pet. She was considering closing her own eyesagain for a few minutes when there was a knock at the door.

She badeher visitors to enter, and the door slid open revealing a grinning Kabi andMaicee. She found it hard to believe that Kabi was her uncle. He must be at least sixty, she thought,but he looked no more than forty. And the doctor. Yes, the doctor. Smiling athim to check, she discovered that he still had a strange effect on her, thoughshe didn't really know what it was.

“I trustyou slept well, Princess,” said Kabi.

“Yes, Uncle,thank you. And you can just call me Ausa,” said the girl, turning her smile toKabi for a moment.

But thenher eyes went back to Maicee, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He washappy to see his long-lost sister—of course he was, though he wasn't allowedquite yet to acknowledge that she was his sister. But there was something aboutthe way she smiled at him that made him feel very odd indeed. However, that could be because I’ve had solittle experience around women, he thought, trying to be fair.

“Ausa,then,” said Kabi, unaware of what was passing between the two sisters. “We aretaking you home. It should take us about five sailing days, following the routewe're currently on.”

“Thankyou,” said Ausanne again. Then, remembering who she was, she added: “I am surethat my father will be very pleased to have you once more in his court.”

Kabi lookedsomewhat shifty at this, and he paced the short length of the cabin.“Princess,” he said. “Ausa. I made a promise to your mother that I would lookout for you. Your father, on the other hand ... Let us just say that there areissues between us. I believe that it would be best for now if you do not revealour acquaintanceship to the King.”

Ausannelooked surprised but bowed her head in acceptance.

“Good,”said Kabi. “If you would like to prepare yourself, we'll be glad to welcome youfor a very late breakfast.”

He turnedto leave the cabin, Maicee following, but was interrupted by the princess'svoice.

“Maicee,would you mind staying here for a moment? There is something that I would liketo ask you.”

Maiceelooked at Kabi, who nodded, so he turned back to the princess.

Kabi gentlyclosed the door behind him as he left. He'd brought the two sisters backtogether. At least one of the things he needed to do had been done.

Benho wokewith a splitting headache, so bad that it blurred his vision. He sat upright,head in his hands, kneading at his temples, hoping that it would ease the pain,that it would relieve him of the memory of his father’s dying at his hand. Heremembered nothing about leaving the Orion,only his father's blood soaking his skin, picking out the lines on his palms.

Tearsformed, and he didn't stop them. Hot, salty drops streamed down his face. Hehad loved his father. Once. But then revenge had become the only thing he'dwanted. Now that he had it, he couldn't believe that the heavy weight in hischest was still there. He'd honestly thought that killing Hansola would leavehim free, would cut his ties to the past and enable him to live his own life.But all he felt was emptiness.

“Ben, areyou awake? Can I come in?”

Sa-li'ssweet voice came through a crack in the cabin door.

Benho wipedhis face on his sleeve and took a deep breath before unlocking the door to letthe beautiful girl inside.

“I wasworried about you,” said Sa-li, simply.

She tookhim by the hand and led him back to his bed, sitting behind him and holding himin her arms.

“How areyou feeling?” she whispered, her breath tickling his neck.

The tearscame again, but he made no attempt to hide them as he turned to face her.

“I'll befine,” he said.

Sa-lidelicately wiped his tears with her thumb. “I know.”

He smiledat her, a token effort, one sided, but it was a start.

“I'm sorryabout your father,” Sa-li said, thinking that it was important that the wordsbe said, that they didn't avoid the subject and let it come between them.

“Hedeserved it,” said Benho, dully.

Sa-linodded, then took him into her arms. His voice was still hoarse from waking up,and she kept quiet, just holding him. All she could do was to keep him company,to be there for him and offer whatever comfort she could afford. After longminutes, Benho stirred and kissed her smooth white forehead, grateful that shedidn't hate him for being the enemy's son.

For once,the winds were perfect and the seas were calm. The next five days of sailingwere as close to perfection as life on the ocean could ever be. Benho wasslowly recovering with the help of Sa-li, and Ausanne and Maicee were rapidlybecoming the best of friends.

Lucia wasstanding at the railing of her ship, taking a rare pause in between her otherduties to enjoy the soft tickle of the wind in her hair and the calming warmthof the sun on her skin. Not far away, Ausanne and Maicee were chatteringhappily. Lucia smiled indulgently but felt a pinch of jealousy. How nice it must be, she thought, to be so young and free of worries.

“Somethingon your mind, Captain?” said Kabi, approaching Lucia and noticing how tired shelooked.

“Just tiredof being old and lonely,” said Lucia, half in jest.

Kabishrugged. “Then why do you not replace a good man and settle down? Maybe raise a fewpirate children of your own?” he suggested.

Luciasighed, her deep green eyes looking out over the waves. “I would like to,KabiOnn. But there is so much to be done. So much injustice to right. No.” Sheshook her head, red locks dancing in the soft breeze. “I can't just retire. Nomatter how much I may want to.”

She wasquiet for a while. Then Ausanne laughed at a joke Maicee had told her,attracting the attention of both the captain and Kabi.

“They makea nice couple, don't they?” said Lucia, trying to put her jealousy to one side.

Kabigrunted. “If you knew what I knew, then you wouldn't think so,” he said. Theprincess's obvious flirting with Maicee was starting to worry him, and he hopedthat Maicee knew what he was doing.

“What doyou mean?” asked Lucia, curiously.

“They aresiblings,” said Kabi, leaning in closer to whisper. “Keep it secret.”

Luciaopened her mouth in surprise. “Does the princess know?”

“No,” saidKabi, sighing. “It's complicated. Just promise me you'll tell no one. If anyonereplaces out, then Maicee's life could be in danger.”

“Then whydid you tell me?”

“Because Itrust you, Lucia,” said Kabi, smiling gently.

Luciablushed, and a strange, warm feeling filled her.

The Freedom crossed into Britannian watersearly the next morning. There were no markers, but all aboard knew as thevessel boomed her foghorn loud and clear. The authorities of Britannia werenone too pleased to replace an unknown ship in their waters, however.

“Unknownbattleship, you have entered the waters of His Sovereign Majesty of Britannia.Stand down and state your business. This is not a warning. Repeat. This is nota warning. We will fire if you proceed further. State your business.”

“Happy tosee us, aren't they?” commented Falorni, looking at the white-uniformed man whohad appeared on the bridge com screen.

“Stopengines,” ordered Lucia.

“This isCaptain Seagull of the battle cruiser Freedom,”she said, turning to face the screen. “We have Princess Ausanne on board andwish to proceed to port.”

A look ofshock came over the young defence officer's face. “Just a moment, ma'am, I'mpatching you through to the Commander.”

The screenflickered momentarily, and then a bored-looking older man's face appeared.“What is it?” he snapped.

Luciarepeated her wishes, gratified that the bored expression fled from the man'sface.

“This isCaptain Juntri of the Britannia Defence Corps. I will need to confirm that theprincess is on board before I can allow you to proceed,” he said.

Ausanne,who happened to walk onto the bridge at that moment, laughed and approached thecom screen.

“Yourdiligence has been noted, Captain,” she said. “But I am most certainly here. Ifyou could give Captain Seagull any assistance she may require, I would be mostgrateful.”

The man'seyes bulged. He hesitated, stuttered, then managed to spit out: “Welcome home, Princess.The people of Britannia will celebrate this night. Two escort ships will joinyou to lead you into harbour. The King will be pleased to know of your return.”

The screenfaded to black, and Ausanne grinned. She was happy to be home, finally. Maiceetoo smiled. He was also glad to see his homeland, though he remembered nothingof it.

Thatafternoon the trumpets roared, and the people of Britannia cheered as the royalcarriage passed through the central square to the cathedral for the ceremonialblessing of Princess Ausanne's safe return. The cobblestones hard under hisfeet, his nose filled with unfamiliar scents, Maicee stared in wonder. Hemarvelled at the two large dracos pulling the carriage. Dracos were unknown onCarooine, native to Britannia, and the large green reptiles were used as draftanimals and food alike. Little did he know that later that evening, he'd beeating one of the animals.

The palacerang with noisy fanfares and shrill voices. The evening's party was packed tothe brim with all the rich and famous of Britannia, as well as a small group ofunknown pirates. All attention was on the princess. As successor to the crownof Britannia, she was surrounded by suitors from all over Britannia, all tryingtheir best to ply her with wine and impress her. But Ausanne's eyes were notfor these wealthy men. Instead, they searched the huge hall continuously forsomeone else.

With dinnerfinally over, Maicee went to the bar counter and got himself a glass of sweetwine. So many years he’d been away, but there was no sense of warm nostalgiahere. He was greeted coldly, if at all, and felt distinctly uncomfortable inhis homeland. He sipped at the wine, hoping that the alcohol would warm thecoldness he felt inside.

“This iscertainly what you'd call the good life,” said Benho, stumbling over, his gaituneven and his face flushed with the wine he'd drunk. “You should try and talkto some of these girls. Maybe it'd cheer you up a little.”

Maicee'snose wrinkled at the stench of alcohol on his friend's breath, but before hecould reply, Sa-li appeared. He grinned at her.

“Bettertake good care of him and stop him from drinking any more,” he whispered. Sa-ligently took Benho's arm and led him away.

With asigh, Maicee ascended the large, curved staircase and stepped out onto abalcony to escape the crowds of joyful people. He let his eyes drift over thehorizon, seeing the dark sea and the outlines of ships, and the warm night airsoothed him a little. He had seen the King. His father. From a distance, buthe'd seen him, a tall and distinguished man. He shook his head sadly. Perhaps there is no going home, hethought. Perhaps this place wasn't for him.

“Feeling allright?” asked a silvery voice.

“Yes, yes,”he said quickly, turning to see the princess.

She lookedbeautiful tonight, a long robe of pale pink having replaced her militaryuniform, her long golden hair tied up elegantly.

“You sure?”she asked doubtfully, surveying his sad face.

“Absolutely,”he said, giving her a half-hearted grin. “And it seems like you've got a wholebunch of people awaiting your return to the party.” He changed the subject,pointing to a small group of young men who were peeking around the corner ofthe doorway to see where the princess had got to.

Ausanneshook her head. “I'm a game piece to them,” she said bluntly. “A stepping stoneto a great and glorious future. And I just can't be bothered with it alltonight. Besides,” she said as music started to play below, “I'm here to askyou for the first dance.”

Before hecould think of an excuse not to, he was being dragged by the hand back down thelong staircase.

“I ... Idon't even know how to dance,” he stuttered, once he was already standing inthe middle of the floor.

“I'll showyou,” said Ausanne with authority, taking his hand and putting her other handon his shoulder.

Their dancecaused the biggest scandal of the evening. Eligible bachelors fumed, andgossiping ladies speculated on the identity of the handsome young man dancingwith their princess. Maicee tried as hard as he could not to embarrass himself,or the princess, nor to bring his body too close to hers. After an agonisingten minutes, the princess nodded in satisfaction.

“Not bad,”she said. “Come, let me show you something.”

And much toMaicee's relief, she led him off the dance floor and out into the gardenthrough one of the tall glass doors, leaving the bustling, gossiping crowdbehind them.

“Theycaused quite the stir, don't you think?”

“Indeed,Your Majesty,” said Kabi, dryly. He'd seen the whole affair from the railing ofthe mezzanine overlooking the hall. “It's nice to see you again,” he added.

“Thank youfor keeping her safe,” said the King, joining Kabi in surveying the dancefloor.

“You knowabout it?” Kabi said, nodding.

“Irecognised you the moment you stepped off that ship, KabiOnn,” the King saidsoftly. “Do you really think that there were any secrets between Salamazi andI?”

The soundof his dead sister's name sent a pang of sadness through Kabi's heart.

“She toldme all,” continued the King. “Even of the Divine Order. But I must pretend toknow nothing.”

Kabiwondered why he wasn't surprised at this. Maybe he had always realised how muchhis sister had loved her husband. “Are you going to reconcile with yourdaughter?” he asked.

The Kingwas silent until Kabi thought that he wasn't going to answer the question atall. He was about to leave when the King said sadly: “I would love to.” Hepaused again. “But it is not to be. It would only put her life in greaterdanger. And that I will not do. There are still those who would burn her as awitch.” He laughed derisively. “No, I cannot openly defy the Church. She issafer with you than with me.”

“I think sotoo,” said Kabi, reaching for his glass.

Turning, heclinked the small container of liquor against that of the King, and both drank.The liquid was bitter, but not as bitter as the King's forced smile.

“It'sbeautiful!” gasped Maicee, looking over the glistening water.

“You thinkso?” asked Ausanne, pleased that she had got the reaction she’d wanted. “It'scalled Silver Lake. It was built for my older sister.” She was quiet for amoment, then added: “She was kidnapped.”

Maicee'sheart pounded, but he said nothing, simply offering his arm to the princess sothat they could stroll casually around the edge of the lake. He blinked back awave of tears and hoped that Ausanne didn't see him doing so in the moonlight.

“Do youmiss your sister?” he asked, curious as to what her reaction would be.

“Ofcourse!” Ausanne said immediately. They walked a little further before shesaid: “But to tell the truth, I don't remember much about her. I was only fivewhen she disappeared. I remember that she used to give me gifts, to play withme. She'd bring me here and sing to me. ...” Her voice trailed off.

Maiceethought for a while, pondering what to do. This was his sister, after all.“Would you like to meet her, if you knew where she was?” he asked cautiously.

“More thananything,” Ausanne softly said.

“But areyou not worried that you would lose your crown?” Maicee asked her. “I mean, shewould usurp you as next in line to the throne.”

Ausannestopped in her tracks so that she could glare up at him. “Nothing is moreimportant to me than reconciling with my blood sister,” she said. “And I'dprefer to wear her gift of a crown of flowers rather than any cold metalcrown.”

Moved bythe passion in her eyes, Maicee said: “I ...”

But he wascut off by the shout of a guard. “Who goes there?”

“Standdown,” said Ausanne, sharply. “It is I, Princess Ausanne.”

“Myapologies, Your Highness,” said the guard, appearing out of the dark trees andbowing before continuing with his patrol.

“What wereyou about to say?” asked Ausanne, turning back to Maicee.

Given a secondto reconsider, Maicee found that he'd lost his nerve. “Just that I think weshould retire,” he said, smiling. “You must be tired.”

“I am, alittle,” she said, taking his arm and turning them back the way they'd come.“And I'd almost forgotten. My birthday is in two days’ time. I would so like itif you would stay and attend my party. It will be a costume party.”

“I'll bethere. I promise,” said Maicee, guiding her back towards the palace.

The dimmedlights were turned up, causing the men in the room to blink. It was early inthe morning, and Kabi feared that most here were still suffering theaftereffects of too much wine and food. He'd explained the contents of the datadisk as best he could, but whether or not they understood was a different matter.

“Gentlemen,”said the King, leaning forward towards his council. “What do you make of this?”

Fleming, avocal member of the King's Council, snorted. “Project New Dawn? A space-faringship? Impossible.” He gave another snort for emphasis. “I've heard stories, ofcourse, but who would believe them?”

KingMichael sat back and looked at Kabi. Fleming was the senior member of hiscouncil, and he was inclined to trust him. Kabi, however, was family. And hislate wife had trusted her brother with her life. Had trusted him with theirdaughter's life.

“Could theSupreme Emperor pull this off?” he asked Kabi. “I have a gut feeling that thisis bait to lure us into something.”

“Sire,”interrupted General Tongku, “I agree with Fleming that this smells fishy. Ithink we should send in a squad of men to verify this information before wecome to any conclusions.”

The Kinglooked at Kabi, who nodded slowly.

“In answerto your question, Your Majesty,” he said, “yes, I believe the Emperor can pullthis off. This ship is ...” He hesitated for a moment before continuing: “Well,it's Black Technology. Something that I believe you gentlemen may have heardof?”

“Fairytales!” snorted Fleming.

“Not atall,” spoke up another council member, Professor Ulros, Dean of the RoyalUniversity. “Black Technology is perfectly real. However, if memory serves mecorrectly, it was deemed a threat to the survival of mankind and was thereforeprohibited many aeons ago. Information was destroyed or sealed, but that doesnot mean that the technology itself no longer exists.”

“Blasphemy!”shouted Fleming, getting to his feet. “You should be burned by the Church tosay such things!”

“Fleming,”said the King, warningly.

Chastened,the angry man sat.

Kabi closedhis eyes in despair. How was he to persuade these men that he wasn't acharlatan, wasn't a pawn of the Supreme Emperor?

“YourMajesty,” he said, “I assure you that everything I have told you is true, morereal than the God that you serve. And more, I assure you that should this shiplaunch, then it will bring great calamity on Archeonis.”

“What kindof disaster?” asked the General before anyone else could speak.

Kabi lookedat the King, who nodded. “All here are sworn to secrecy,” he told the man.

Sighing,Kabi ran his hand over his grey-stubbled head before looking up and facing themen at the long conference table. “His Majesty knows what I am about to say.The rest of you, however, do not. And what I will say is going to shake yourbelief in the very existence of Archeonis.” He was procrastinating, he knew it,putting off the moment when he was going to say something so unbelievable, soshocking, that there was a fair chance he would be laughed out of the room.

He lookedaround the table, noting that no one objected to what he had just said. Fine.He would just have to spit it out.

“We humansare not from Archeonis,” he said, slowly and carefully so that no one wouldmiss a word. “We are from another planet. We are from Earth.”

A burst ofchatter exploded in the room.

“Silence!”said the King.

Kabi noddedhis thanks. “Your ancestors,” he continued, “were banished from Earth andembarked upon a journey into space. Eight hundred years ago, their transportcrashed onto the planet we now call Archeonis. Once it became clear that thiswas a habitable place, every effort was made to obscure our origins in order toprevent us from returning to Earth. The technologies that brought us here werebanned, the technologies that we now refer to as Black Technology.”

He stopped,and this time there was silence as everyone around the table tried to take inwhat they had just been told. Even Fleming sat, open mouthed. Then, one by one,the men turned their eyes to the King.

“He speaksthe truth,” the King said calmly. “We are not indigenous to Archeonis. When welanded here, Archeonis was a wild planet. The pioneers, including my ancestors,decided that history would be re-written so that the people would not know ofthe existence of Mother Earth.” He sighed, his mouth tightening, tendons in hisneck standing out with the stress. “For better or worse, we decided that thiswould be best for the new generations that would be born here. The secret waskept and passed down from ruler to ruler as a reminder of our roots and of ourresponsibility to our people.”

Slowly, andfeeling indescribably old, the King rose to his feet and walked to where alarge painting hung on the wall. Pressing a hidden lever so that the paintingswung back, he reached inside the hidden safe and retrieved a pile of papers.One by one, he flicked through them until he found the document he needed. Onlythen did he turn back to the still-silent room.

“This iswhat I have to prove my word,” he said, handing the paper to Fleming.

Flemingread the document, mouth hanging open. Then he passed it to the next man at thetable, who read it and passed it to the next, and so on until all present hadread what was written.

“I can'tbelieve this,” said Fleming, rubbing his eyes.

But hisvoice wasn't confrontational. It was the voice of a man who had just had everythinghe'd ever believed in brought into question. Someone who no longer knew whatwas right and what was wrong. The General flinched as he put down the document,the last man to read it.

“As you cansee,” said the King, retaking his seat, “this is a document signed by the firsttwelve rulers of Archeonis, one from each of the islands, that says we shallhold this secret and protect our people.”

The men atthe table were at a loss for what to say, and Kabi watched them struggling todeal with the bombshell that had been dropped on them. Finally, taking pity onthem, he said: “Nevertheless, we have work to do. We must protect this secretwith our lives.”

The Kingnodded, determined now that they must act. “I concur with the General that wemust send in a team of infiltrators.”

The Generalsaluted. “Sire.”

“You willassemble the best that you have,” the King ordered. “But be sure that every manunderstands that once they are out there, they're on their own. Britannia willdeny all links to them. You have two days.”

“Yes,sire,” said the General, saluting again. His mind was already calculating whichof his troops he could trust to send on this unusual, unbelievable, andpossibly deadly errand.

“One morething,” the King said, speaking to everyone now. “All that was said in thisroom will remain within these four walls. Understood?”

The mennodded and shuffled to their feet, still stunned at the new knowledge they hadreceived.

“YourMajesty,” said Kabi, approaching the King, “I wish to join the General's troops.”

GeneralTongku, overhearing this, dropped back to hear what the King had to say.

“Verywell,” said the King, looking Kabi up and down. He knew that he couldn't haveordered the man to go but was glad that he'd volunteered. “And you may takesome of your own people along if you feel it necessary.”

The Generalnodded and escorted Kabi out of the room, discussing how many men would beneeded.

The Kingsat back in his chair, turning to look out of the arched window beside him. Inthe distance, dark clouds were gathering, portending a heavy downpour. A stormwas brewing. But, thought the King, will we survive it? He prayed to his Godthat all would be well.

“Can younot stay?” Benho asked, aware that his voice sounded almost pleading.

Sa-liturned from closing the shutters, preventing any drops of rain from enteringtheir cosy chamber.

“One moretime, Ben, I promise,” she said. “Lucia needs me. But this will be my lastvoyage. Can you wait for me?” She smiled cheekily and posed so that he couldbest appreciate her naked body.

“Then I'llask if I can come too,” he said petulantly.

“You arestill not in fighting shape,” Sa-li said, coming to join him on the large bed.“And besides, when I come back, I want you to be able to carry me into thatchurch without collapsing in pain.”

Benho'seyebrows raised so high that they almost disappeared off his forehead.“Church?” he began.

But Sa-lisilenced him with a kiss.

Minuteslater, he was able to groan: “I'm going to miss you.”

“How did itgo?” Maicee asked as soon as he opened the door of his chamber to Kabi.

Kabishrugged. “Not too badly. I managed to persuade them to send a team of men withus.” He pushed inside the door. “But I'm not here about that. I brought yousomething.”

He handedover a large white box tied elaborately with a pink ribbon. Confused, Maiceeaccepted the package and lifted the lid to peek inside. When he saw thecontents of the box, his eyes narrowed.

“What isthe meaning of this?” he asked Kabi.

“That isfor you to wear tomorrow to the princess's party,” said Kabi, turning to leave.

“Are yousure?”

“Yes,” Kabisaid simply.

He slippedout of the doorway, closing the door behind him, leaving a very baffled Maiceealone in his room musing over what possible meaning this strange gift could have.