Another worker flew down, holding a half-formed glass cocoon. ‘We want to speak to you out of range of the AI. Please enter this and we will carry you away from it.’
I stepped into the cocoon. A couple of workers flew up and completed it, exuding glass from their butts until I was enclosed in a glass coffin.
The worker placed its head on the glass and surprised me by speaking dragon, almost unintelligible through its hairy mouthparts. ‘Do you speak the dragon language?’
‘I do, I had it implanted a long time ago,’ I said.
‘Tap the glass if you run out of air, but we’re not taking you out of the atmosphere.’
I nodded. Five larger workers – each three metres long – flew to me and carried me in their forelegs.
‘Do you want me to listen in?’ Marque asked through comms. ‘I’m not a hundred per cent sure they can be trusted.’
‘No,’ I said.
‘I’m glad I backed up your memories last night. You should have done an incremental backup and left your soulstone with me.’
‘That would be an insulting display of distrust.’
‘Not if they’re planning to eat you.’
‘They won’t eat me! Put me on privacy and butt out.’
‘Very well.’
The workers flew me for five minutes, then smashed the cocoon on a spike and caught me as I fell out of it.
‘Are you harmed?’ one of them asked.
‘No, not in this lower gravity,’ I said.
I followed the workers, walking carefully through the fungal jungle. Without Marque’s assistance to keep the gravity higher, any sudden moves I made could easily cause me injury. We arrived in a round clearing the size of a house with a dome-shaped roof of woven fungal filaments, with the sun shining in amber rays through the gaps. A glass effigy of the Hive Queen herself, as tall as me, sat in the middle, making the area look like a place of worship.
A larger worker was waiting for us in front of the effigy and crossed its feelers at me. Its face was strange – instead of the usual mouthparts it had what looked like lips and teeth. The human attributes on the insect’s face were deeply disturbing. When it spoke, there was no buzz – the Hive had grown this worker specifically to speak to me.
‘Thank you for coming, Captain,’ it said in dragon. ‘We understand and honour your show of trust. Are you sure the AI isn’t listening?’
‘I’m sure,’ I said. ‘I put myself on privacy.’
‘Thank you.’ It gestured towards the statue with its feelers. ‘This is our first attempt at art – a self-portrait. The Empire has taught us about art and music and shared stories, and it has given us greater understanding. We will add effigies of the other species that we selfishly destroyed before the Empire taught us empathy, as a tribute to their sacrifice when we have no other way to atone.’
‘It’s beautiful – aesthetically pleasing, and brings joy to my heart,’ I said, hoping I sounded honest rather than diplomatic. ‘I’m sure the Empire will appreciate that you are working to redeem yourselves.’
‘Thank you.’ The worker turned and a cloud of tiny insects rose from behind the effigy and hovered in front of me. ‘You are aware that we can modify our genome to create workers to suit any task?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Although I didn’t realise you could become so small.’
‘We can become even smaller: so small that the AI doesn’t detect us,’ the worker said. ‘We’ve engineered them to appear as insect life native to the dragon homeworld.’
‘You have agents on the dragon homeworld?’ I asked. ‘How did you travel there?’
‘Hitched a ride on the Empress herself,’ the worker said. ‘We have ridden dragons throughout the Empire.’
‘Why?’
‘During the conflict with the Mushrooms, we were in negotiations with the cats. We were thinking of joining their Republic. They assured us that we would suffer no negative consequences from our activities with the Mushrooms – in fact, they offered us the Mushrooms as a food source in return for working with them.’
‘I assume you’re telling me this because you changed your mind.’
‘We were ready to join them when we discovered what they do with the children. That is unacceptable.’
I stared silently at the worker, surprised that their mindset was capable of this level of ethics when they saw all other species – adults and children – as nothing more than a protein source.
‘We understand why you treasure your children, Captain,’ it said.
‘Your workers are disposable, though.’
‘You appreciate that they are disposable? You are not concerned when you see them destroyed at the end of their usefulness?’
‘No, I’m aware of your shared consciousness,’ I said. ‘The workers are like the cells in my body.’
‘And we understand how precious your children are,’ the worker said. ‘You have so few of them, and every one of them is a consciousness equivalent to the entirety of us. Look at you – you have been alive for so many years and are only just now carrying your first child. Even this single foetus is draining the life out of you – a huge biological investment.’
‘I’m really pregnant? You can see it?’
The workers’ buzz went louder, vibrating through me, then softer again. ‘Yes.’
I hugged myself. ‘Marque been telling everyone that it couldn’t be sure yet!’
‘Can Marque see inside you the way we can?’
‘Yes.’
‘So your AI lies,’ the Hive said. ‘That is why we spoke to you alone. We do not trust it.’
‘I don’t blame you,’ I said. ‘What it did to the goldenscales is unforgivable.’
‘That too. But we understand how rare and precious your children are, and what the cats are doing is wrong. So we joined the Dragon Empire despite our misgivings about the dragons’ honesty.’
‘The dragons aren’t perfect.’
‘That’s one way of putting it.’
‘Okay, they’re colonising assholes. But you’re right, the cats are worse. That’s why humanity joined the Empire and used our leverage as weapons to force the dragons to stop. Now tell me about your agents on the dragon homeworld. What were you doing there?’
The worker shuffled its wings. ‘Whatever the cats asked us. They asked us to carry a soulstone from Earth to a teleport portal, and we did.’
‘Oh lord,’ I said. ‘What colour was it?’
‘Red. It was—’
I didn’t let it finish. ‘That was my son’s soulstone,’ I said, my heart full of pain. ‘He suffered the Real Death because of that.’
‘We know. We are deeply sorry, Captain. We didn’t know what we were doing. We are members of the Empire now, so the cats will no longer have the benefit of our assistance.’
‘Are you asking my forgiveness?’ I asked.
‘No, we’re asking if we should tell the Empress that we helped the cats. Your son’s soulstone isn’t the only action we took on behalf of the cats, and some of the cat listening devices we planted are probably still there. Will she expel us from the Empire if we tell her?’
‘I knew it,’ I said. ‘We thought someone was spying on us, but the Empire is so transparent we didn’t consider it a major issue. Has another species taken over your job of spying?’
‘Not as invisibly as we did, but yes.’
‘Can you help me find the agents?’
‘Of course. We worked with them. We know exactly who they are.’
‘Come on,’ I said, and headed towards the shrine’s exit. ‘Let’s go talk to the Empress, she’ll be thrilled to bits to know the truth. We suspected for a while and if we know the location of the bugs we can feed a message of reconciliation to the cat subjugate species.’
‘But how do you feel about this?’ the worker asked, scurrying to follow me on its many legs. ‘Please forgive us. We like you and want to be your friend, Captain.’
I lowered my head as I stepped into a new cocoon. ‘That I will need to think about.’ I raised my head. ‘You helped take my child away from me.’
‘You have another coming.’
‘Not the same.’
‘We understand that as well. And by the way, congratulations, you obviously didn’t know.’
‘I’ve thought a few times that I was pregnant and I wasn’t,’ I said. ‘You’re right about it sucking the life out of me. I’ve been feeling tired, hungry and vaguely nauseous all the time.’
‘What is “nauseous”? We don’t know that word.’
I smiled grimly. ‘You don’t want to know.’
Two workers came and filled the wall of the cocoon with butt-glass. The worker that had spoken to me was swarmed by the smaller workers; they tore it into small pieces and spread them over the ground. Its sole purpose had been to speak to me, and it was no longer of any use.
The Empress and the other Imperial Guards were waiting for me with the children I’d spoken to, on the glass platform outside the children’s dome. A large group of Hive workers had taken the dome’s roof off and moved all the furniture onto the surrounding platform. Marque had generated a number of construction spheres and was creating a new floor out of a high-density material.
‘I can feel it pulling at me,’ Newmea said. ‘What’s it made of? Is it magnets?’
‘No,’ a Marque sphere above us said. ‘Just really heavy stuff.’
‘It won’t hurt the planet?’ I asked.
‘You know me better than that, Jian,’ Marque said.
‘Yes, I do, that’s why I’m asking.’
A child sidled up to me. It was covered in green scales that had feathery edges, and its face had two large front-facing eyes over a long snout with many teeth, giving it a bird-like appearance. ‘You really have a baby inside you? Growing, like in an egg, but in your stomach? How does that feel?’
‘The Hive told us,’ the Empress said. ‘Congratulations, Jian. I guess you’re off field work for the duration.’
‘I would have preferred to have privacy, Hive, so I can control how the information is disseminated,’ I said.
‘That’s why I didn’t tell you yet,’ Marque said. ‘You asked me to stop sharing the information. I was waiting for us to return home and have some privacy.’
I hesitated, then said, ‘I see. Thank you.’
‘So how does it feel?’ the bird-like alien asked. ‘Does it move?’
‘No, I can’t feel anything yet, but I am a bit tired and hungry because it’s taking its food from me,’ I said.
‘Is it half-dragon?’ Newmea asked. ‘Like all of the Eh-Yi?’
‘It is,’ I said. ‘But its dragonfather is a goldenscales, so it may be different.’
‘Golden!’ Newmea said. ‘Does your species lay eggs or give live birth? How long before it comes out? Will it grow quickly? How big will your stomach get? Will it come out through your belly? Will it hurt when it comes out?’
‘Uh . . .’ I smiled down at her. ‘Sit here and I’ll explain how it works while the Hive talks to the Empress and Marque finishes your dome.’
Uo sidled up to me. ‘Is there only one baby in there?’
‘Hey, Hive,’ I shouted up at the workers buzzing on the fungus. ‘You sure it’s only one?’
‘One, Jian,’ the Hive replied.
‘There you are, Uo,’ I said. ‘One baby. That’s really good luck for an Eh-Yi, isn’t it? Just one baby by itself is good fortune.’
‘How do you know that?’ Uo asked suspiciously.
‘I wanted to care for your mother the very best I could, and that meant learning everything available about your culture so I could make her feel at home.’
‘Oh,’ Uo said, and rested her head on the glass floor.
‘I’d like to spend some time with the Queen in orbit while Marque makes the alterations to the domes,’ the Empress said.
‘We’d like that, too,’ the Hive said. ‘Just make sure you take the AI with you when you leave.’
‘Don’t worry, dear Hive, I will.’ The Empress nodded to me. ‘I’d prefer you were present to watch my back, Captain.’
I saluted her. ‘Ma’am.’ I turned to the children. ‘I have to do my job, so I can’t tell you about having babies right now. If you like, I can come back when the baby’s bigger.’
‘Come back soon,’ Newmea said.
‘Remember what I said, Newmea and Uo,’ I said as I went to the Empress. ‘Both of you are welcome in my home. And Uo, please ask Marque to relieve your pain.’
‘We’ll talk to her for you,’ Newmea said. Uo didn’t reply, and the Empress folded us to the Queen’s chamber.
The Empress folded us back to the orbital nexus on the dragon homeworld after she’d spent a couple of hours having sex with the Queen, and we took her private elevator down to the palace and returned to her office.
‘Marque, start the arrangements for the medical care of those children, including Uo,’ she said as she went behind her desk and pulled up the newsfeeds. ‘And I’d like a full report on what the Hive discussed with you in private, Jian.’
‘The Hive wants to tell you itself. I have a lot to unpack.’ I turned to Leggy and Graf. ‘Good job, guys, dismissed. Graf, meet me in my office at the end of the day and we’ll do a temporary handover of my duties until Shudo is available.’
‘Ma’am,’ Graf said.
The guards each placed an appendage over their main hearts and went out.
‘You’re dismissed as well,’ the Empress said. ‘Go rest, and notify Shudo that he’s up to do your job.’ She smiled at me, all blue eyes and dragon teeth. ‘Congratulations, Jian, another grandchild for me. This will be the first goldenscales child in living memory. I cannot wait to see.’
‘It’s your fault they haven’t been able to have children until now,’ I said. ‘Does Marque have any records of what goldenscales children look like?’
Marque didn’t reply, and I felt a shot of concern.
‘What aren’t you telling us, Marque?’ I asked.
‘It will be identical to a human dragonscales in most respects, except that the scales on its forehead will be gold,’ Marque said. ‘Don’t be concerned, the child’s genome is perfectly normal for a dragonscales. It won’t be in any way inferior, and with its parents’ outstanding heritage I expect it to be remarkable.’
‘Thank you.’ I bowed to the Empress with my hand over my heart, then went into my office.
Haruka and Miko were waiting for me, both of them full of joy. They rushed up to me and took turns hugging me and planting big kisses on me – even with Miko’s messy dragon mouth.
‘Guys, please, I need a moment,’ I said, extricating myself from them and flopping to sit behind my desk. I leaned my head in my hands. ‘You remember when my son David died?’
‘You should be focusing on the joy of having a new child, not the loss of your dead one,’ Haruka said. ‘Don’t do this to yourself, Jian.’
‘You remember that David was in a relationship with that cat we rescued? The one that was supposed to be Oliver’s wife in an arranged marriage? She and David had a relationship instead, and both of them died because of it?’
‘We’ll keep your baby safe, Jian, don’t worry,’ Miko said.
‘No, you don’t understand,’ I said, still with my head in my hands. ‘She took his soulstone, and handed it to an agent of the Republic to send back to their homeworld using their teleporters. That agent was the Hive. The Hive just told me – it infiltrated the dragon homeworld with tiny insects that Marque couldn’t identify.’ I dropped my hands and gazed at my spouses’ confused faces. ‘The Hive helped kill him.’
‘Oh Jian,’ Miko said, and both of them came around the desk to comfort me. They pulled me up and wrapped me in a joint hug.
‘The Hive had agents here and I didn’t know?’ Marque asked.
‘You are so worthless,’ Haruka said, without letting go of me.
‘But you were right about being pregnant,’ Miko said. ‘We have a child coming. You’ve mourned David, and that was a long time ago, Jian.’ She touched my cheek – the back of her golden claws feather-light against my skin – and gazed into my eyes. ‘You’re giving me a gift I never thought I would receive. You have brought me from a silent, cowed servant to a proud, equal dragonfather. You’re carrying the Empire’s first goldenscales child. These are good things! Be happy, please – it breaks my heart to see you grieving.’
‘No, Miko, don’t be selfish. Don’t force her to hide her pain to relieve yours,’ Haruka said. He squeezed me. ‘Take as long as you need. Go home and rest.’ He pulled me to my feet. ‘Let’s go home.’
‘I’m sorry, Jian, Haruka’s right,’ Miko said.
‘You’re needed in the common room immediately, Captain,’ Marque said. ‘Six and Five-Shriek are fighting.’
‘They’re fighting?’ Haruka asked. ‘They can’t even touch each other.’
‘They constantly argue over everything,’ I said with resignation. ‘This was inevitable. Meet me at home after I’ve sorted them out.’
They hugged me and went through the far door into our apartment, and I went onto the balcony above the common room.
The Guard had decked the common room with human-style celebratory banners that said ‘Congratulations on the baby’. They had human music playing and were setting up a table of food and drink.
‘Where’s Six and Five-Shriek?’ I shouted over the noise.
The Guard all cheered.
‘Congratulations, Captain Jian,’ Namazozo said. ‘We’re celebrating your new family member. Come and join us!’ She ran up the stairs to me. ‘Tell her spouses, Marque.’
‘But what about Six and Five-Shriek?’ I asked.
Namazozo pointed: Six was a glowing word ‘baby’ hanging from the ceiling, and Five-Shriek was flying in circles beneath it.
Haruka and Miko emerged from my office onto the balcony and stood beside me. Haruka put his arm around my waist and the guard cheered again – someone had been teaching them human social interactions.
‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to,’ Haruka said.
Miko leaned into me. ‘If you’re still feeling sad about David, we can just go home.’
I looked around. All my lovely guards and my family were ready to celebrate this miraculous gift. My heart lifted and I felt the joy of the upcoming child. Miko saw me smile and grinned as well.
‘Thanks, guys. I can’t think of anything I’d like more.’ I smiled at my spouses. ‘I guess we do have something to celebrate.’ I raised my arm. ‘Let’s party!’
The guard cheered again, and Haruka and Miko guided me down to the floor of the common room. The room was full of love for me and I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.
‘I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you all,’ I said.
‘You’ll have to do the same thing again with your family after this is done,’ Marque said into my ear as I poured myself something non-alcoholic from the bottles labelled ‘human’. ‘The guard demanded they have the first chance to celebrate, and your mother is taking the opportunity to set up something even more elaborate for you on Earth.’
‘I feel so loved,’ I said, looking around.
‘That’s because you are, dear Jian,’ Miko said.
‘Is the Empress coming?’ I asked.
‘No, this is just for us,’ Namazozo said. ‘Guards only. The best of the best!’ She climbed onto the table, raised her tiny cup and toasted the guards with it.
‘Damn straight!’ I said, and raised my own. ‘My mother is going to kill me when she discovers that you guys got me first!’
‘We can take her!’ Namazozo said. ‘The Guard are undefeated. Even the mighty Connie Choumali is no match for us!’
They cheered again and I was mobbed.
The evening was in full swing and the guards had moved all the furniture for an impromptu dance circle, when Marque contacted me. ‘I have a message for you from your son,’ it said. ‘He says it’s urgent and he needs to speak to you right now, Captain.’
‘Put him through.’
‘He says he needs to speak to you privately.’
‘Oh.’ I looked around.
‘In your office,’ Haruka said, gesturing. ‘We’ll wait.’
‘If the party finishes just go up,’ I said, and both of them nodded a reply.
I went up the stairs into my office and stopped behind the desk. ‘Put Ollie through.’
Oliver appeared in holographic form in the middle of the room. He raised one hand, the black pads on his fingers visible between his fur. ‘Hi, Mum!’
‘Mum told you already?’ I asked.
‘Told me what?’ he asked, confused.
‘Oh, this isn’t about me having a baby?’
‘You’re pregnant? With Miko’s child?’ He lit up. ‘I’m going to be a brother. A little sister!’ He spread his arms. ‘I need to return to the homeworld and give you a huge hug. All of you. This is great news!’ He sobered. ‘Haruka’s okay with it, isn’t he?’
‘Oliver, we’re a trinary. Haruka’s as thrilled as you are.’ I grinned. ‘And we’re planning on having another one that’s a mix of him and Miko as soon as this one is big enough.’
‘That’s brilliant news, Mum. I’ll get there as soon as I can.’
‘No rush, I’ll be pregnant for a while.’ I studied him. ‘If you didn’t want to speak with me about that, is there a problem? Marque said it was urgent. Everybody’s okay, aren’t they?’
‘Don’t worry, everything’s fine. Annie would like to see you, but sometimes I think she’s more interested in seeing her grandmother’s new puppy than her actual grandmother.’
‘You were supposed to get one of her own. There’s still a few left in the latest litter.’
‘She spends too much time at school to care for a dog by herself. Maybe when she’s bigger.’ He shifted uncomfortably. ‘But Newmea, that little cat on the Hive world? She asked for more information about you, then contacted me directly, asking for asylum.’
‘That’s excellent news. Will you take her?’
He didn’t reply and his ears drooped slightly.
‘Ollie?’
He jerked straighter. ‘Yeah, about that – she’s a virgin female, and she should be desperate to return home. Her attitude is strange. This feels all wrong.’
‘She’s orphaned, has no family to return to, and doesn’t want to enter the sexual slavery of a reproductive contract. Nothing strange about it.’
‘You’re thinking like a human, Mum. A human girl would be desperate to escape a reproductive contract. Cats see it very differently. A normal cat girl should be thrilled to bits at the opportunity to gain the wealth and status that having a clone child represents.’
‘Even when it involves so much suffering?’
‘Even then, Mum. The pain they suffer adds to the prestige of the martyrdom. They’re regarded as weak and cowardly if they don’t embrace the sacrifice of childbearing.’
‘That’s so—’
‘Yeah, wrong, I know.’
‘She’s been away from her home and family for a long time, Ollie. Her attitude has probably changed. I’m not surprised she’s asking for asylum: she can do anything she likes if she stays here with us.’
‘If she goes home, she suffers for a year as a bonded servant, has the child, and then she’s rich and free. If she stays with us, she can never go home and she will be pursued by nanos wanting to execute her for the rest of her life. The reproductive contract is a small price to pay for her freedom. This feels really wrong.’
‘Are you sure you aren’t an extra level of suspicious because of what happened with Cat and David?’
‘I’m damn sure I’m an extra level of suspicious. I’ve made extensive studies of cat culture – and what Newmea is asking for is, frankly, unbelievable.’ His ears drooped again. ‘She’s a spy, Mum.’
‘Are you absolutely sure of that?’ I said. ‘Why would they plant another spy on us when we already know Cat was one? What if you send her home and her asylum request is genuine? Are you sure you want to risk it?’
He laughed. ‘I won’t send her home. I’ll grant her asylum, and she can come live with me, Runa and Annie. Marque and I will study her, feed her fake information – and find out how she sends it back to the Republic. If we’re lucky she may even assist me to infiltrate cat space.’
‘You’re as much of a spy as she is,’ I said with wonder.
‘I haven’t been receiving specialised training in Sky City for nothing,’ he said. ‘Marque tells me there’s a big guard party happening for you, so I’ll leave it there – those things are famous. I just wanted to tell you that Newmea will be moving in with me and Runa.’ His voice became wistful. ‘If we’re lucky, we may even turn her for real.’
‘Just don’t risk Annie’s happiness. You know how the cats feel about dragonscales hybrids, and she’s a cat one.’
‘We’ll be careful. I’ll talk to you later. Love you, Mum. Give Miko and Haruka a hug for me – and hey, take care of yourself.’
‘They’ll make sure I will. Love you, Ollie.’
His hologram had already faded out. ‘Bye.’
I exited my office to find the party still in full swing. Miko and Haruka grabbed me – physically lifting me – and carried me into the middle of the dance circle. They linked hands and sang a song about golden children that they had obviously just made up on the spot.
Someone pressed my glass into my hand and I raised it to them all.