I met the Empress at the door of her bedroom, and accompanied her to her throne room on the ground floor of the Imperial Palace on the dragon homeworld. She walked with stately dignity through the palace precinct, nodding at the greetings of her coloured dragon daughters, until we reached the room, which was set up for a dragon hearing.
She walked up to the blue-and-silver throne and draped herself across it, then gestured towards me with one claw. ‘Allow the petitioners to enter, Captain.’
I nodded to her and went to the double doors, as high as the vaulted ceiling and with the blue-and-silver motifs of a dragon on them. They opened inwards without me needing to do anything, and I escorted the Crown Princess Megumi, a large grey dragon with red eyes, and my own spouse, Princess Miko, a goldenscales who was close to her in size.
Both dragons nodded to me and proceeded through the hall to stand in front of the throne.
‘Record the time and date of these proceedings, and everything that follows for posterity,’ the Empress said formally to Marque. ‘This hearing is to establish precedent on the transference of coloured dragons’ souls to the bodies of goldenscales.’ She raised one claw towards Megumi. ‘The petitioner will speak first. State your case, daughter.’
Megumi bowed her head on her long neck towards her mother. ‘Marque has given us the soulstone technology that enables us to transcend our bodies. Our souls are electromagnetic radiation, effectively vibrations in the fabric of the Universe and echoes of creation. Our bodies are merely receivers for the frequency of our souls, attuned by the soulstones that we wear. We are able to move from body to body with the transfer of the stones.’
The Empress nodded and gestured for her to continue.
Megumi turned towards Miko. ‘I am ashamed to say that for millennia, we have been oppressing our goldenscales sisters because we thought they were lesser. We coloured dragons thought that our variety in colours was superiority, and that they were not as intelligent, resilient, or capable as us. We limited their ability to obtain dragonspouses, because we believed they were sterile. We thought they were inferior, and used them as servants. We thought that their inability to fold was weakness.’ She turned back to speak to the Empress. ‘And you yourself believed that their ability to gate – which you kept a secret from the rest of the Empire – would result in the destruction of everything. You were wrong, mother. They are as intelligent and as capable as we are, and using them as servants was a travesty of natural justice. Their gating ability does not damage the fabric of space-time. It has no affect on the space around the homeworld, which has been extensively damaged by excessive folding. Now that the restrictions on gating have been lifted, goldenscales are becoming both popular and wealthy, as citizens of the homeworld no longer need to travel up to the transport nexus to be folded to other locations.’
‘I concede all of these points,’ the Empress said. ‘For the record, Marque was adamant that goldenscales gating was dangerous and put the fabric of the Universe at risk, and has yet to explain why it thought this when it has become blindingly obvious that gating is completely safe. Can you explain this, Marque?’
They waited for Marque to respond but it didn’t say anything.
‘It still refuses to explain,’ the Empress said. ‘What is your request, daughter?’
‘We coloured dragons request that the Empire ease the restrictions on the transfer of coloured to goldenscales dragon bodies. We all know that transferring a soul to a different species – without it happening naturally through the process of reincarnation, where the soul has time through childhood to become accustomed to the body – results in major dysphoria where the soul is uncomfortable with the new body, but this shouldn’t apply for us.’
‘It’s a sensible restriction, and recent events where some irradiated human soulstones were placed in goldenscales bodies to reattune them is an indicator of how difficult this process is,’ the Empress said. ‘The humans eventually chose to remain unconscious during the soulstone attunement process to avoid the powerful dysphoria of being in dragon bodies. We have yet to find a species that can move its soulstone to inhabit the body of a different species without some trauma attached to the process.’
‘We submit that goldenscales and coloureds are of the same species,’ Megumi said. ‘And we wish to have the freedom to inhabit goldenscales bodies as well as coloured ones.’
Miko interrupted her. ‘The gist of this is that you want to be able to gate like we can, because it’s making us rich.’
‘That’s the gist of it, yes,’ Megumi said.
‘The goldenscales have been living as full dragons for five dragonyears, and we have yet to see a child from any of them,’ the Empress said. ‘It is possible that they are sterile after all. Would you risk that?’
‘Now that the Empire no longer uses us to travel to new planets, seduce the populations, and replace them with our own half-dragon children as a form of reproductive colonisation, I don’t think a lack of children is a major disadvantage,’ Megumi said, and grinned at her mother. ‘We have plenty of dragonscales children already.’
‘Anything to add to your petition?’
‘No, Majesty,’ Megumi said, and bowed her head. ‘Please allow us to inhabit goldenscales bodies. It will confirm their equality in the eyes of the Empire and give us more dragons able to gate, particularly since it appears that they are unable to reproduce themselves, and we must wait for you to bear them.’
‘Very well, your petition is lodged. Miko? Your turn.’
Miko took a deep breath and raised her head. ‘We say no,’ she said. ‘You all treated us like shit. You used us as servants. You wouldn’t let us have spouses or families. You made us believe that gating was dangerous, to stop us from utilising this useful tool that made us your equals. You oppressed us and used us as an underclass and none of you have apologised for it – you expect us to just forgive you and move on from this without any recompense or even an apology for our treatment. Now that we’re of value, you want to take that from us. All of you coloureds can go to hell – our biology and abilities are unique to us and it will take us a very long time to recover from millennia of oppression. With all due respect, mother and sister, go fuck yourselves, our biology belongs to us and you’re not having it.’
I spoke out loud to her rather than telepathically, in a massive breach of protocol. ‘I have never in my hundred-odd years wanted for dragon hearings to be done in public more than I do right now, so that you have an audience to your courage and integrity.’
‘Thanks, my love,’ she replied softly.
‘Do you have anything else to add to your rebuttal?’ the Empress asked Miko.
‘No,’ Miko said.
‘Very well, the procedure is registered, and the arguments are recorded. Marque?’
‘Confirmed,’ Marque said.
‘So you can speak,’ Miko said with searing sarcasm.
‘Register my ruling on this matter,’ the Empress said, and climbed down off the throne to walk backwards and forwards on the dais. ‘We admit the need for reparations for the treatment of goldenscales by the Empire. The current desirability of goldenscales’ gating ability, and their wealth as a result, can go some way towards that. We respect that we have treated the goldenscales poorly over the millennia—’
‘Poorly is one way to put it,’ Miko said, still sarcastic.
‘And acknowledge that they are our equals in all things, and superior in the ability to gate. We acknowledge our past poor treatment of them, and their desire to control their own biology without our interference or occupation of their bodies.’ The Empress turned to face them and spoke more softly. ‘They are my beloved children and my heart breaks for the millennia that they have suffered.’ She raised her voice and lifted her head. ‘I give judgement: as their mother and their Queen, I give the goldenscales full control of their own biology and restrict any other species – including our own – for transferring soulstones to goldenscales bodies unless they are born goldenscales themselves. Hear my ruling.’
‘We hear and acknowledge your ruling,’ the other dragons said in unison.
‘Well, that’s sorted,’ the Empress said. ‘Bring in the next petitioners, please, Captain.’
‘Glad it’s over,’ Megumi said. ‘Lunch, Miko?’
‘You’re not mad at me?’ Miko asked Megumi.
‘Frankly, I think you’re right,’ Megumi said. ‘There are some more . . . avaricious dragons who want to be able to gate too, and I didn’t want to represent them, but it’s my job as eldest daughter. Frankly I think we owe you a great deal for our treatment of you.’ She raised her front claw towards Miko. ‘Congratulations, you deserved to win.’
‘Thanks, Gumi,’ Miko said.
‘Before you go, Miko,’ the Empress said, and Miko turned back. ‘Any luck in finding the icosapod homeworld?
‘We’re still searching,’ Miko said. ‘The icosapods we rescued from the cat ship are helping, and there aren’t many cat systems left to search. We’ll find them soon.’
‘Just be careful – I’m sure they don’t want to lose their most effective weapon against us.’
‘We’ll find them and free them,’ Miko said with determination. ‘They shouldn’t use sentient people as food or weapons. It’s so wrong.’
‘Thanks for the update. Now we need to clear the room,’ the Empress said. ‘I have another Empire matter to adjudicate, and this time we’ll have the usual crowd of tourists listening in.’ She gestured towards Miko and Megumi. ‘Shoo, you two! Go and have lunch or something, and Captain please bring the next petitioners in.’
I guided Miko and Megumi to the door, giving Miko a proud pat on her dragon shoulder as I did.
‘See you at home and we’ll do our best to negate this rumour that goldenscales are sterile,’ I said.
‘Please do, we’ve all been watching you carefully,’ Megumi said. ‘So many false alarms, human reproduction is so finicky.’
‘It’s because I’m pure-blood minimally-enhanced human,’ I said. ‘You dragons and your children have much less trouble than we do.’
Miko raised herself on her hind legs and put her front ones on my shoulders, then rubbed her face on mine in the dragon equivalent of a kiss. ‘Love you, Jian, see you at home.’
I kissed her on the cheek. ‘Love you too. Go find the icosapods.’
The enormous doors opened to reveal the next group of petitioners and, as the Empress had said, a large audience. They all made loud sounds of delight at seeing me and Miko. She dropped onto all four legs, bunted me with her head, and she and Megumi made their way through the crowd under the coloured banners that represented the Empress’ daughters – now with some golden ones added to the mix – and went out.
‘Petitioners, you may enter,’ I said, and guided the new people into the audience hall.
Later that day, I was working on the Imperial Guard rosters when Tomoyo and Miko gated into my office. Nashi rushed to them, her tail wagging furiously, and I scolded her as she jumped to lick Miko’s dragon face. Miko just laughed and rubbed Nashi’s ears.
‘You are so adorable, puppy,’ she said. ‘Just like your Mum.’ She shot me a sly glance full of delight. ‘We found one. This might be the icosapod homeworld. Water world, warm, plenty of copper.’
‘Marque, ask if any of the Pacificans are free,’ I said.
‘I already did when we found the world. I have two Pacificans who can come with us,’ Marque said. ‘Tomoyo, go to Merry City and speak to my instance there. It has their exact location.’
Miko created a gate, and Tomoyo stepped through it.
‘Marque, is Haruka free to come with us?’ Miko asked. ‘He was very upset when he missed the last one.’
Marque spoke in Haruka’s voice. ‘I’m in the middle of a trade meeting between the colonies and the homeland. Find our little icosapod friends for us, my loves. I’ll be cheering you on while the diplomats bore me to death.’
‘The Pacificans are on your ship waiting for you,’ Tomoyo said to us through Marque.
I bent and cuddled Nashi, then picked her up and put her into her crate. She whined as I checked that she had plenty of water and locked the door. ‘You be good,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back shortly.’ I looked up. ‘Keep an eye on her.’
‘Always,’ Marque said.
Miko created a gate and we stepped through it onto our ship.
Miko still radiated discomfort when we stepped through the gate into the gallery of her golden ship, the reflective black floor shining under the glowing blue-white nebula that decorated the sky above the dragon homeworld. She’d been mortified when we’d arranged for Marque to construct her private ship, and even more mortified when she realised that it needed an engine, and one of her coloured sisters, Tomoyo, had offered to be assigned full-time to it. Two blue-skinned equatorial Pacificans – slender and lean for the warm waters of their tropics – stood in the gallery of the ship next to Tomoyo who had just folded them in, wearing skintight blue bodysuits with breathing tubes stuck into the sides of their throats to enable them to survive outside the water for more than a couple of hours. They each held a bright blue icosapod alien draped over their shoulders like capes with the heads next to their own.
They approached me and put their hands out human-style, the icosapods blinking with wonder on their shoulders.
‘I’m Yaritji,’ the woman said as she shook my hand. She nodded to her colleague. ‘This is Baxter.’
Baxter nodded and I shook his hand as well. ‘Good to meet you, Captain. Our icosapod friends are Likes-Big-Rocks,’ he pointed at his shoulder, then at hers. ‘And One-Broken-Sucker.’
The icosapods each waved a tentacle at me.
‘I hope it’s our home,’ Big-Rocks said. ‘Our talekeepers gave us many fine memories of the place – and we can rescue our relatives from the cats.’
‘This is where I leave you,’ Marque said. ‘I don’t want to risk infection by the cat nanobots: those things are becoming more and more dangerous and it’s all I can do to keep ahead of them.’
‘Understood, Marque,’ Miko said. ‘Ready, Tomoyo?’
Marque set a timer on the skin of the ship, glowing against the space above us. ‘When it reaches zero, I’m fully extracted from the infrastructure.’
We watched the timer count down from twenty to zero, and then Tomoyo gave Marque a few extra seconds to be absolutely clear. She folded us to a spot a light year from the cat colony world, the planet not visible to us in the field of stars above the ship.
Miko raised her head and closed her eyes as she studied the surrounding space. ‘Three cat ships in orbit around the planet, and one big cat ship at the edge of the system – looks like a perimeter guard. The sort of attention you’d expect for the home of their most effective weapon.’ She recited a sequence of numbers. ‘That’s it.’
Tomoyo folded the ship to the location Miko had given her, and we were in orbit above the planet. It had a dense atmosphere full of clouds, and the yellow star’s light made them glow brilliantly gold against the blue of the ocean beneath.
‘Ease up, Rocky, you’re hurting me,’ Baxter said.
‘Sorry, Bax, but I think this is it,’ Big-Rocks said. ‘I can hear their emotions.’
‘Can you contact them from here?’ I asked.
Both Suckers and Rocks stopped moving as they concentrated. They turned their heads to share a look, then back to us.
‘No,’ Suckers said. ‘Too far. Can you gate us down?’
‘You try contacting them first, Jian,’ Baxter said. ‘Your larger brain may have more range.’
I nodded and attempted to contact the icosapods below. Big-Rocks was right: I could vaguely feel their naïve, joyful emotions, but it was too far to make contact.
‘I’ve found a suitable colony for first contact,’ Miko said. ‘It’s like a city, but more spread out. The cats have structures on the land nearby – probably to harvest them. There is a building containing things that look like big tanks. I think it’s a holding facility. There are icosapod villages all around the island. Where should I take you? Do you want to rescue the ones in the tanks?’
‘No, this is a reconnaissance mission,’ I said. ‘We’re here to gather information and talk to the icosapods. If we mess this up, the cats could shut everything down and incarcerate the icosapods – or even take them elsewhere. Can you gate us to a place where there’s open water on one side and a village on the other?’
‘Let me look,’ she said. ‘I’ve found a place. It’s at the edge of the city where the water becomes too deep for them.’
‘Are the icosapods in similar-sized colonies to what they’ve built on Pacifica?’ I asked.
‘I wish I was telepathic so I could just show you,’ she said, frustrated. She saw our faces and waved one claw. ‘Yes, I know, that would make me susceptible to their use as a weapon. Let me see. I think these colonies are larger.’
‘We want to land somewhere close enough to swim easily, but far enough away that any cat surveillance won’t see us,’ I said. ‘At this stage we’ll talk to them and arrange to rescue them from the planet. Then we’ll work on the ones being held captive in the tanks.’
‘I understand. I have a spot. If I make a gate without Marque’s energy barrier, it’ll flood my lovely ship. Tomoyo—’ She recited another series of numbers. ‘Can you fold me there, please? I want to check that it’s the right spot before we take our friends down and endanger them.’
Tomoyo went to her, and I rushed to both of them, fitted my goggles and breather, and touched Tomoyo’s butt. ‘Me too, to defend you.’
I was still checking my weapon when Tomoyo folded us into the water. The light from the yellow star shifted rays through from the surface of the water, and the floor was invisible below us and covered in swaying purple sea grass. Shark-like fish, each twenty centimetres long, swam between its long, narrow fronds.
Miko tapped me and pointed with one golden claw. Visibility was twenty metres, so we couldn’t see anything beyond the edge of the sea grass.
‘They’re that way,’ she said, using the implanted throat microphone that allowed us all to communicate with each other without appearing to speak.
Let’s go, I replied telepathically. Show us the way.
She took my hand and used her tail as a rudder to move us both gracefully through the water. Tomoyo held back and kept her larger bulk closer to the floor.
We drifted over the sea grass. Round, flat, transparent, rainbow-reflective creatures, each nearly a metre across, swayed above the grass on long stalks, and glowing purple sea slugs grazed on the cilia around their edges. As we neared, the transparent creatures folded up and contracted with a snap down into the grass, the sea slugs following them to hide as well. Miko moved slowly, creeping to the edge of the grass. Ahead stood two columns of small rocks, nearly tall enough to reach the surface above us.
It looks like a gate, I said, and Miko nodded.
She approached and I pulled her to take cover behind one of the towers before we looked out. The structure on the other side was a typical icosapod colony: clusters of stones on the ocean floor provided sleeping shelters, and metre-high rocky walls meandered like fences around enclosures used to contain the shellfish herds. It was deserted, and Miko carried me further into the colony, helped by the current that was like a breeze across the structures. Another pair of columns stood on the far side of the colony twenty metres away, and an icosapod was floating between them, apparently a guard. We swam across the empty colony and stopped in front of the guard. It went bright red with shock, then displayed green rings of wonder.
Hello, I said to it. We are visitors. We are curious about your beautiful world. I frantically wished I had Haruka to help me. Diplomacy wasn’t my strong point – I was a soldier, and I tended to freak people out.
Tomoyo floated forward from below us and took two-legged form. She changed in my perception to appear as a tall, muscular, naked black man with a broad chest and strong abs, and long dreads that floated in the water around his head. There was a time when I’d found this dragon form incredibly attractive – and then I’d met Miko, and been completely entranced by her courage and intelligence that were more attractive than any physical attribute.
Tomoyo spoke to the icosapod telepathically, still sounding female in my head. I am delighted to meet you and find you very sexually attractive.
What the hell are you doing? I asked her telepathically.
What we always do; it’s worked for millennia and it will work now. Find out what their most basic biological drives are, make ourselves into sexually irresistible versions of them, and then give them gifts until they’re subjugated and replaced by dragonscales.
We are not subjugating— I began.
Of course not. But the process should still work. She turned her attention to the icosapod. This world is beautiful! Do you have interesting things to eat? I would love to meet more of your people. I am so excited to be here!
I find you very sexually attractive as well, and it’s confusing, because you are beautiful but not one of us, the icosapod said. What are you, beautiful person? Can I take you to meet my family/clan?
I would love to meet your family/clan, Tomoyo said. Can you show us the way?
This way, the icosapod said, waving its tentacles further into the colony.
Wait, I said. We are frightened of people that look like this. I sent it a picture of Oliver. Are there any of these people here?
Not since they took EdgeColony, the icosapod said. EdgeColony was selected to be relocated to heaven. That was a great celebration!
How long ago was that?
Same generation as me; I was there, the icosapod said. I was lucky to see it – only every second generation is taken. You do not need to fear the takers – they are agents of heaven and provide us with excellent rocks!
The icosapods generally lived between three and four years, the talekeepers living a few months longer until the next generation hatched, so it was horribly possible that the stolen colony were the ones we encountered on the cat ship – and the parents of the Pacifican refugees.
We followed the icosapod into the colony, and this one was inhabited. The icosapods were mostly adults, but there were some young present, scooting over the enclosures. The enclosures held pale, four-legged crabs, each five centimetres across, which emerged from the sand and scuttled to be fed by icosapods waving sea grass at them. The general emotional aura of the colony was gentle bliss.
The icosapod led us to a rocky shelter where an older one, its skin pale with age, sat in front toying with a crab shell in its remaining tentacles. It waved a couple of them at us. Hello beautiful people. It is exciting to have new visitors. Do you travel far?
Very far, Tomoyo said. We have met your friends who were taken to heaven, and brought two of them with us.
The takers say it is not possible to return from heaven?
I will leave, Tomoyo said, and return with the children of heaven.
The other icosapods must have heard the exchange because they emerged from their shelters and gathered around us, full of curiosity.
Go get them, I said.
Tomoyo folded out, leaving me and Miko with the icosapods. They touched Miko’s golden scales, and she smiled and held her claws out. They wrapped their tentacles around her claws and delicately felt them with the tips.
You taste/smell good, one of them said. Like the cold water that sweeps up from deeper places, full of interesting smells.
‘Uh . . . thank you,’ she said.
She cannot speak to you the way I can, I said. She thanks you.
She speaks like the takers, one of them said. Is she a taker?
We do have a better place that we can take you, I said, and Tomoyo appeared with the Pacificans and their icosapods. The icosapods left the Pacificans’ shoulders to swam towards their kin, and the water filled with their wonder and delight at meeting each other. Rainbow colours, glowing into ultra-violet, shifted over their skin as they shared touches and tastes through their tentacles. Rocks and Suckers communicated with their kin telepathically in a swift conversation that I felt rather than heard.
After a couple of minutes of communication, the native icosapods stopped moving and backed away from us. The meeting turned from a joyful gathering to a stand-off, and their emotions were full of denial and dismay. The Pacifican icosapods had told them the truth about the cats. The local icosapods jetted to their elder and gathered in a semicircle in front of it. There were nearly twenty of them, and they were piled on top of each other in a flowing, tentacled mass of black and green confusion and sorrow.
They don’t believe us; they don’t want to believe us, Rocks said. They’re asking the talekeeper for advice.
The talekeeper beckoned us with its tentacles, and the clan cleared a space for us to float in front of it. We swam forward and took position with our icosapods at the front, the Pacificans behind them, and me and Miko at the rear. Tomoyo floated above the icosapods, ready to swoop down and fold everybody out if things went pear-shaped.
We know the takers eat us, but they only eat one of us from each group that is taken, the elder said. What is this noise-pain thing you are describing? We do not understand.
Our icosapods explained again, more in a series of images than words. The local icosapods moved slightly away from us, shifting between black and ultra-violet with revulsion.
Noise-pain cannot be a thing, the elder said. If one is in pain the others care for them and relieve the pain.
The Pacifican icosapods had shared this information with us before. If an icosapod was sick or injured, its clan gathered around it and telepathically eased its pain until it healed. If the illness or damage was terminal, and the icosapod was in unmanageable pain, the clan gently euthanised it and fed it to the shellfish herds. The concept of prolonged, deliberate suffering – torture – was completely alien to them.
It is our joyful role to be eaten by others, the elder added. We contribute to the happiness and well-being of the takers by providing them with excellent and delicious food. Everyone benefits.
This was new, and the Pacifican icosapods were as confused as the local ones.
We can take you to a place that is better than what the takers offer, Rocks said. Our friends here are gentle rock-givers. There is no pain and the water is sweet. And they do not eat us.
They should, the elder said, and the other icosapods flashed the purple of agreement. We give them a great gift when they eat us. Before they came, we did not understand the joy of giving gifts. They have explained this new pleasurable thing to us. The takers select an outstanding individual who will provide the most meat, and they are celebrated as they go to be eaten, because the takers will take their entire family to heaven in return, and provide us with safety from predators and many lovely rocks.
‘Oh no,’ Miko moaned through comms. ‘The cats have taught them the noble sacrifice bullshit.’
‘We have to get them out of here,’ I said.
There was another swift telepathic conversation between the Pacifican icosapods and the locals, and the locals’ colours changed to the pale blue and delicate violet of acceptance and relief. The mood over the group returned to the icosapod standard of gentle curiosity and compassion, and some of the locals moved away to return to their herds.
What did you tell them? I asked Broken-Sucker.
I said that we’d stay here for a while and learn from them without forcing them to do anything.
‘Back to the empty village,’ Baxter said through comms, and I followed the rest of the group as they returned through the pillars to the abandoned rocks.
Are you sure? Yaritji said to Broken-Sucker. This is so dangerous!
We must save them, Suckers said. This is the best way. Its skin banded with the rainbow lines of amusement. They only take every second generation – we have time to convince them. The cats won’t even know we’re here; they can’t tell us apart.
Baxter reached into a pocket of his bodysuit and pulled out a bright green scale. This is Shino’s. Tap on it and we will return for you immediately.
Suckers delicately took the scale with one tentacle. Wish us luck!
I’ll be back in twenty-four hours, Baxter said. We’ll return on Shino’s ship. Now we’ve found the icosapods we can work towards rescuing them.
Yaritji took two of Sucker’s tentacles in her hands. Don’t take any risks, dear one. If you are in danger, call us and we’ll come.
Don’t worry, Suckers said, the amusement still there. We won’t nobly sacrifice ourselves.
Ready for fold, Baxter said, and Tomoyo approached us. We all put our hands on her and she folded us back to Miko’s ship.
An alarm sounded throughout the ship. ‘Proximity alert. The cats have found you and will be here in two minutes. Proximity alert. The cats have found you and will be here in two minutes. Proximity alert—’
One of the cat ships gathered the glow of a warp field around it, and the warp field gained a brilliant dot of light in front of the nose of the ship.
‘Take us out, they’re firing their warp cannon—’ I began, but Tomoyo folded to the nose of Miko’s ship and took us back to Pacifica.
The next morning, Miko and I stood in the holographic theatre of our apartment, watching the documentary of Mum’s replica Earth from a time before the environmental catastrophe. The planet was nearly finished, and we stood on the ice of a virtual Antarctic, watching as a small group of penguins cared for their young nearby. To preserve its pristine nature, no sentient life would ever set foot on the planet and the only way to view it was through remote simulations like this one.
‘Back when I lived on Earth,’ I said, looking around, ‘there was no ice here, and this was a massive tent city. It was a refugee camp for people from warmer parts of the planet when it became too hot to survive. It was all mud and death. For three months of the year, this area was in darkness and nothing would grow. Thousands died.’
‘Why would your people move to somewhere they couldn’t grow food?’ she asked.
‘You weren’t there,’ I said. ‘It was the best option available.’
‘Horrific,’ she said.
The scene shifted around us to the mountains of Japan. We stood on top of a steep hill, with a valley leading down to the sea far below. The dense forest around us was Japanese cypress: tall fir trees with massive trunks, some nearly two metres across.
‘My nose is blocking up even though we’re not really here,’ I said. ‘We tried to grow these trees to replace the lost forests in Wales – they’re hardy and produce a lot of wood – but I was violently allergic to their flowers.’
‘I removed that allergy from your incarnations a long time ago,’ Marque said. ‘It’s purely psychosomatic.’
‘Can you remove psychosomatic reactions?’ I asked it.
‘Not without removing memories, so no,’ Marque said. ‘Oh. Haruka is finished and wants to show you his project.’
I hugged Miko with delight and she squeaked with happiness.
‘Finally!’ I said. ‘He’s been locked in there for weeks without letting us see what he made.’
‘In the living room,’ Marque said.
Miko and I left the theatre and entered the living room. Haruka had emerged from his workshop and was waiting for us wearing his protective coverall with some scorch marks on the sleeves. He was still wearing his elaborate make-up from that day’s diplomatic negotiations, but his long green hair was tied tightly back into a bun at the nape of his neck. He had an ornate wooden box, the size of a shoe box, in his hands.
‘Stop,’ he said, and we did. He bowed slightly to us. ‘Honoured ladies. Beloved spouses. It is now five years since we made our vows together, and hopefully we will soon be blessed with our first child.’ He stepped forward and placed the box on a side table. ‘These are for you, an expression of my love for you and my appreciation for the joy you have brought me.’ He opened the box and pulled out a dragon-style collar that was a wide, solid band tailored to Miko’s shape, with red and blue stones embedded in it. ‘This is eighteen-carat gold fitted with rubies and sapphires, for you, my beloved Miko, to celebrate our bond.’ He placed the collar around her neck with a kiss on her nose, and she touched it delicately with one claw, her eyes wide. He put his hand on her cheek and gazed into her eyes. ‘My Miko, most brilliant of all the dragons, who has come so far – from servant to Princess. Every day I thank the Universe for bringing you to me.’ He turned and reached into the box again, pulling out a silvery collar that would fit me. ‘This is carbon nano fibre with a platinum casing and emeralds. It looks like jewellery but will actually protect you from a blow to the neck.’ He bowed to me. ‘My warrior wife, who will always fight to the end to protect what we have, and will forever have my back.’ He approached me and clasped it around my neck, then leaned in to kiss me.
‘I’m overwhelmed, Haruka,’ I said, moving to a mirror to see the collar in place. It glowed against my dark skin. ‘All I was going to suggest for our five-year anniversary was flying on Mon.’
‘We can still do that – it sounds like great fun,’ he said.
‘I hope you made something for yourself,’ Miko said, still admiring the gold of her collar.
Haruka released his shining green hair to fall down his back, then unzipped his coverall to reveal the creamy skin of his muscular chest and abs. He was wearing a similar necklace to ours, and we moved closer to see it.
‘I don’t need a warrior’s neck piece. I’m a talker not a fighter,’ he said.
‘You mean lover,’ I said, and his smile widened.
He touched the collar. It looped down over his chest instead of enclosing his neck like mine did. It was a wide band of gold, fitted with emeralds the same colour as the green scales on his temples, interspersed with rubies and sapphires that matched the ones on Miko’s piece.
I nodded. ‘That’s eminently suitable for our darling Prince. I can’t wait until everybody sees us wearing the set.’
‘It’s beautiful,’ Miko breathed. ‘Your real talent is in making these jewels, not negotiating treaties.’
‘I enjoy doing both,’ he said, touching her face and smiling into her eyes. ‘Oh! I forgot. Each of your collars has a pocket in it – a slot to contain your communication dragonscale. Where’s your scale, Miko?’
‘In my room, I’ll get it,’ she said, and skittered to her room on all four legs.
I removed my collar and checked it, and Haruka came to me and put his hand out. I gave him the collar and he showed me a decorative slot for holding my comms scale. I pulled the scale out of my pocket and slid it into the collar, where it fitted perfectly.
‘Brilliant,’ I said under my breath and returned the collar to my neck.
Miko came out with her comms scale in her claw. It was brilliant purple, and its partner scale was held at the Marque comms centre in the palace. Haruka held his hand out and she gave it to him. He slid it into a special fitting at the front of her collar, and it sat purple among the red and blue, making the gems appear even more brilliant.
She studied it, then gazed up at him with her eyes wide. ‘I don’t need to carry it in a pouch now. This is so clever!’
‘I hate to break this up when it’s just getting interesting,’ Marque said. ‘But the Pacifican icosapods infiltrating their homeworld in the Cat Republic have failed to check in for a second time. They’ve been silent for twenty-four hours, and the Pacificans are concerned about them.’
‘We should go with them and see,’ I said.
‘Armed and prepared, and I want to come this time,’ Haruka said, turning and fully unzipping the coveralls as he walked towards his bedroom. He stepped out of the clothing, naked underneath, as he entered his room.
‘Do the Empire icosapods have anyone who can come with us?’ I asked.
‘I’m arranging it now. Baxter and Yaritji will be here shortly on Shino’s ship and you can all go together,’ said Marque.
‘Let me know when they’re here and I’ll gate everybody straight to the icosapod world – I can quickly gate us out again if anything goes wrong,’ Miko said.
‘I’ll come too, since you’re gating directly,’ Marque said. ‘I’ll self-destruct if I encounter any nanos.’
I raised my arms. ‘Fit me with the light carbon nano-fibre suit. I’ll use a mid-sized one-handed energy weapon – the fifty, I think.’
The armour emerged from the wall and fitted itself to me – it was too complex for Marque to synthesise on the spot.
Haruka emerged from his room, also wearing his armour.
‘Marque, camouflage before we go so that it looks like we’re not armed and armoured,’ he said as he grabbed his two swords from the stand in the living room and slid them into the green silk belt around his waist. He nodded to me. ‘Is the collar comfortable under there? It doesn’t make the armour too tight?’
‘No, Marque’s adjusted the armour’s size already, and I can barely feel it,’ I said.
‘Good.’
Miko created a gate and Marque created an energy barrier to stop the water from entering our living room.
‘We’re good to go,’ she said.
I stepped through the gate holding my weapon and held it across my chest as I floated into the warm sunlit waters of the icosapod homeworld. The community where we’d left the Pacifican icosapods was deserted.
Baxter and Yaritji swam forwards and examined the colony.
‘Cleaned out,’ Yaritji said over comms. ‘They’re probably all captives.’ She ran her hands over the empty shellfish enclosure. ‘The cats are accelerating the capture of the icosapods; they said it was every second generation. I hope our friends from Pacifica had a chance to share with a talekeeper before the cats took them, they’ll never have a chance to reproduce.’
‘I can see a guard on the other side of the colony,’ Miko said.
I reached out with my telepathy. ‘I can sense the residents in the next village. They saw their neighbours taken – and it was brutal. They’re deeply traumatised.’
‘Motherfuckers,’ Haruka said under his breath in Japanese, then spoke more loudly. ‘Slowly. Put the empaths at the front – Yaritji, you’re one, right? And Jian, both of you broadcasting sympathy and shared grief.’
‘No problem,’ Yaritji said, and she and swam forward towards the guard at the edge of the next colony.
The icosapod sitting on the sandy floor wasn’t really guarding, it just sat squatting with its skin the brown of grief and dismay.
Haruka came up behind us and spoke to it. ‘We know what happened. We can take you away to a safe place.’
‘Come with me,’ the icosapod said without changing from brown, and led us into the village. The rest of the residents sat around the talekeeper, all of them subdued and covered in mottled brown. The talekeeper sat next to another icosapod that was lying prone on the sand, its siphons barely moving as it struggled to breathe. It broadcast confusion and pain, and the icosapods around it radiated similar emotions in sympathy.
‘The cats hit the neighbouring village with a nerve compound,’ Marque said. ‘It disables them and leaves them paralysed. This one was at the edge of the colony guarding it, and the cats missed it. Its friends are debating whether to euthanise it.’
‘Can you cure it?’ Haruka asked, moving forward to float next to it. He put his hand on it and used his healing ability to relieve its pain. It stopped broadcasting its agony and the other icosapods changed to lighter pinks and greens, interspersed with the blues of curiosity and appreciation.
Marque’s voice was deeply sad. ‘No. If it was a citizen of the Empire I would move it into a new body. It’s terminal.’
‘Please don’t kill us. We cannot fight you; we have no defence against any of you,’ the talekeeper said. ‘The Takers said that they would only take one or two. They took all of them.’ It went darker brown. ‘Except for the babies. They killed the babies. We heard them die.’
The other icosapods flashed white and grey in sympathy with it.
‘Likes-Big-Rocks and One-Broken-Sucker tried to protect our people from the Takers,’ the talekeeper said. ‘They told us that if you returned, we should go with you, because you would take us somewhere safe.’
‘We will,’ Haruka said.
‘Can you save our friend?’ the talekeeper asked.
‘No,’ Haruka said. ‘But we can move all of you to a place where there are no Takers.’
The icosapods had a quick telepathic conversation among themselves.
‘Will you take me to see this place and speak to the kin of One-Broken-Sucker and Likes-Big-Rocks?’ the talekeeper asked. ‘I will see if it is true and return to tell the others.’
‘We can. We are happy to,’ Baxter said.
‘Only with the green man who eased our pain,’ the talekeeper said, waving one tentacle at Haruka. ‘We do not trust you others.’
‘I will take you,’ Haruka said. ‘I will protect you and show you a world where there is no death or pain. But I cannot transport you myself – my friends need to come with us.’
‘I will go with you and your friends, green man,’ the talekeeper said. It turned around to speak to the other icosas, and they had a quick telepathic exchange. It turned back to us. ‘I will come with you, and my family/clan asks that you leave them now. The ending ceremony is for close family/clan only, and a private affair.’
All of the icosapods nearby went alternating black and white with grief at the mention of the ending ceremony.
‘We will respect your wishes,’ Haruka said. He approached the talekeeper and put his arm out. ‘Attach yourself to me, and we will take you to see your extended family/clan that are safe in our seas.’
The talekeeper swam to him and wrapped its tentacles around his arm. It turned back to its fellows and sent them a message of hope and determination.
‘Goodness, it’s brave,’ Miko said.
‘Gate us out, Miko,’ I said, and she made a gate directly to the sunny Pacifican equatorial waters. We swam through and she closed the gate behind us.
Baxter and Naritji approached Haruka and the icosapod, and it flashed red with alarm. ‘Green man only.’
‘We understand and we’ll respect your needs,’ Naritji said.
‘Show me, green man,’ the talekeeper said.
‘Jian, the Empress is asking where you are; you were supposed to be on duty half an hour ago, and she’s about to welcome a new species to the Empire,’ Marque said.
‘Go,’ Haruka said, nodding to me. ‘We’ll be fine, we’re in our own space and there’s no danger here. I’ll show our new friend around, then bring the rest of village back and start working on transferring the entire population over.’ His image overlaid on the armour smiled. ‘I can’t wait to take them surfing.’
Miko created a gate for me and I stepped back through into our apartment on the dragon homeworld.