I wandered into my office, ready to hand over to Graf, to find that Shudo had already reconfigured it to his species’ specifications. The desk was now a furry green lump of what looked like waving grass, with nodules of different sizes attached to it in order from small to large. It was only as high as my waist, with a stool for him to sit on and a central fuzzy display on its flat surface.
Shudo popped up from behind the desk and grinned at me. ‘Hey, Jian, I sent the grandkids to my daughter for a couple of weeks so I could stop you from throwing away your spare bodies.’
‘Is she okay with that?’ I asked.
He shrugged, making his pink fur ripple. ‘Times have changed; we’ve been in the Empire for generations now. It’s not nearly as much of a scandal as it used to be.’ His grin turned evil, with many pointed teeth. ‘She’s receiving some media attention for modernising the tradition and enjoying every minute of it.’ His smile disappeared. ‘My father wasn’t alive to care for her when she was a baby, so my wife and I did the respectable thing and dropped her into a shared residence. All of us wish she could have stayed with me and her mother, tradition be damned. This is her chance to change everything, and she’s taken it with extremely fragrant genitals.’
‘She’s definitely your daughter,’ I said.
‘Absolutely.’ He waved at the furry desk. ‘Three dragons are preparing to fold the AI cores back to where they started from, at the edge of the galaxy. Some goldenscales have volunteered to talk to the amoebas and the heavies about joining the Empire. Do you want to see?’
‘Certainly,’ I said. ‘Who’s guarding them?’
‘Graf and Morning-meal on the coloured dragons, Six and Five-Shriek on the goldenscales.’
‘Six and Five-Shriek together? Seriously?’
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘Six because it’s practically indestructible and will sense any abnormal energy readings in the area from stray nanos. Five-Shriek because, and I quote, “I need to watch that asshole because it will screw everything up”.’
‘Makes sense,’ I said. ‘But I know damn well you like watching the two of them bicker.’
His toothy grin widened.
A glowing human-type display sprang into view next to Shudo’s desk and I settled into a chair that emerged from the floor of the office to watch. Shudo turned back to his desk and studied the furry display on its surface.
‘Is Oliver still talking to the moles?’ I asked.
‘Both Oliver and Ambassador Haruka are with the moles on their ship and taking the slow way back to their homeworld – by warp. They’re negotiating with the mole leaders about joining the Empire, but it will take them a while to make a decision – you know how they are.’
‘Who’s on the Empress right now?’
‘With all due respect, ma’am,’ he said with a smile in his voice, ‘that’s not something you need to worry about until you come back after having your dragonspawn.’
‘Point taken.’ I leaned forward and studied the display. ‘Here we go. Good luck, ladies.’
The coloured dragons, accompanied by their guards, floated towards the three enormous, empty ships that held the AI’s cores. The ships hung dead in the sky and I wondered if there were charred remains of the cats inside, or there was nothing left. Either way, those cores were too dangerous to leave in Empire space. The dragons landed on top of the ships and folded them away, then reappeared near the guards.
‘Success,’ one of the coloureds said. ‘We’re coming home. It will take the cats millennia in warp to bring those cores to their Republic.’
‘Good job,’ Shudo said to the guards on comms. ‘Graf, accompany the coloureds home, Morning-meal, stay there and help watch the goldenscales.’
The view on my screen shifted to the goldenscales. Miko and her two sisters were floating in front of the amoeba’s tiny ship, with the amoebas visible floating in the ammonia within it. The dragons were accompanied by Six in its raw energy form, a crackling ball of blue lightning, and Five-Shriek, which looked like a crocodile with wings. Six didn’t need protection from space, its usual habitat, but Five-Shriek was wearing elegant personalised armour in the blue-and-silver of the Imperial Guard. Miko hung back to watch as the guards flanked the two goldenscales and they approached the cat subjugate aliens.
‘Back up, Six, you’re too close to them,’ Five-Shriek said.
‘I’m not too close, I won’t harm them,’ Six said. ‘Wait.’ A blade of energy whipped from it and flashed over Five-Shriek’s head.
‘What the hell? You could have hurt me!’ Five-Shriek snapped. ‘Stay within protocol, lightning bolt. Keep to the regulation distance from matter organics.’
‘There’s no need to be offensive, there was a nano there,’ Six said. ‘You concentrate on the goldenscales, I’ll have a look around for more of them.’
‘Just don’t burn anyone,’ Five-Shriek said, and escorted the goldenscales closer to the subjugates. The amoebas clustered against the wall of their ship.
‘Hello, golden dragon, take the other form that looks like us,’ they said.
Ayuka changed to her two-legged form.
The amoebas spun a circle around a mutual axis inside their ammonia.
‘I think they just married her,’ Marque said.
‘Would you like to come in and visit with us?’ the amoebas asked.
‘I would love to, but can you mitosis without destroying yourselves for babies? I’m not ready to lose you.’
The amoebas spun again. ‘We’re so flattered! You want to mitosis without reproducing? What an honour!’ They separated, then formed into a clump again. ‘We adore you. Please, come in. You are very special.’
‘I think she just gave them the highest honour possible in what passes for their culture,’ Marque said.
‘I thought they may be insulted; looks like in a lucky accident I’ve done the opposite,’ Ayuka said. ‘All right. Here goes.’
The amoeba’s ship developed a vertical opening, its outer skin pulling back to reveal a second skin. Ayuka swam through space into the opening and it closed behind her. The amoebas held back, waiting, as the second airlock door opened, then she was in the ammonia with them. They delicately approached her, touching her with their cilia and moving their organs closer to see her better. She filled half of their transport and they clustered around her.
‘Found another nano,’ Six said. ‘They look dead, though. They’re not responding to anything I do to them.’
‘They rode the subjugate amoebas here, but there isn’t enough solar energy to keep them alive,’ Marque said. ‘Any nanos here will be dead.’
‘Just destroy them and be done with it,’ Five-Shriek said as it guided the other goldenscales, Naoko, to the heavies. Naoko removed her soulstone, handed it to Five-Shriek, then drifted closer to the heavies until she was sucked into their gravity well. She was pulled down to the surface and it opened just before she hit. She disappeared inside.
I turned back to check Ayuka; Marque was playing the awful cacophony that passed for dragon music, and Ayuka was dancing with the amoebas inside the liquid.
‘Naoko just tapped the communication scale she took with her,’ Marque said. ‘She says the environment is quite extreme and she doesn’t know how long she’ll survive in there, but that the heavies are – to use her words – extremely sexy.’
‘What about the moles?’ I asked.
‘This was interesting,’ Marque said as the screen changed. Haruka and Oliver were sitting with the moles in a room that had soft, glutinous mud – or faecal matter – as its walls, floor and ceiling, which was so low that it touched the moles’ backs. They were in a circle in the dark with the moles and were communicating through the moles’ tentacles.
‘After the moles were subjugated,’ Marque said, ‘the exterior of their cat-provided ships just looked like normal cat ships, and I never had a chance to see the interiors. Inside they are radically different – completely packed with the soil/faecal mixture, and the moles constantly dig through it to create meeting and sleeping areas.’
‘The smell must be atrocious,’ Shudo said, and rubbed his chest. ‘Imagine getting that in your fur. Oliver is a champion.’
‘I’ll need to shower for a week when we’re done,’ Oliver said on comms.
‘How do the moles stay clean?’ I asked. ‘When they came onto Miko’s ship they were spotless.’
‘They’re usually covered in a layer of mucus,’ Marque said. ‘They eat it when they move into a cleaner environment. It’s a delicacy for them, and trading mucus is one of their courting behaviours.’
‘I did not need to know that,’ Shudo said.
‘Leave me to it, I’m having a great time,’ Ayuka said from the amoeba ship.
‘We have it from here,’ Haruka said from the mole ship.
‘This is so much fun!’ Naoko said from the heavies’ ship. ‘Put my stone on another body; I won’t last more than a few days in here. We must find a way for me to come in here and survive longer. The sex is magnificent!’
‘Go and rest, ma’am,’ Shudo said, snapping my attention back to my office. ‘Everything’s under control, and you can officially take your leave.’
I hesitated, then stood – already feeling the weight of the pregnancy – and nodded to Shudo. ‘I’m next door if you need me.’
‘I suggest you go visit your Mum because I really don’t want you around second-guessing me,’ Shudo said, studying his desk. ‘It’s under control, Captain. Go and rest. You smell tired.’
I saluted him human-style and went out of the office, quietly wondering what I would do with myself. My insides lurched – was that a kick? Not possible. I shook my head and headed home.
‘Nanna!’ Annie shot to her feet and ran to me to give me a huge embrace. ‘Hurry up! Daddy’s about to relay for us.’ She stopped dead and stared at me. ‘You’re twice as big as last week.’
‘Oh, thank you very much,’ I said.
Annie had matured quickly and was obviously approaching puberty, even though she was only ten. She had jade-green scales from her dragonfather Runa, which peeked through the orange fur on her temples. She was taller and leaner than the already graceful cat archetype. She looked the same age as Newmea next to her, who was fourteen.
‘Let me know when you want a lift home,’ Miko said from next to her gate.
‘You’re not staying?’ Annie asked, disappointed.
‘I have five goldenscales lined up to learn gating today. Jian needs family time,’ Miko said, and pulled herself onto her hind legs to embrace me. She rubbed her cheek on mine. ‘Tell Oliver I love him.’
‘Hugs, Miko,’ Annie said, and Miko turned to embrace Annie as well, then returned through the gate and closed it.
‘Do you know how much time you have to go?’ Annie asked me as she led me to the living room of Oliver’s house.
‘No idea,’ I said. I put my hand on my stomach. ‘I know I’m only three months along, but Marque says this is about six months’ development.’
‘At this rate she’ll probably give birth in six weeks,’ Marque said. ‘But we still have to see how it goes; this is the first goldenscales child.’
Mum and Newmea were waiting for us in Oliver’s living room.
‘Captain Choumali,’ Newmea said, spreading her hands and wriggling her butt to me, making her silver-tipped white fur glitter.
I responded with the cat greeting. ‘Sentient Newmea. It’s good to see you looking so well.’
‘Newmee’s my best friend,’ Annie said, gazing at Newmea with adoration.
‘Reminder: the relay starts in two minutes,’ Marque said.
‘Quickly!’ Annie said, and took my hand.
‘In the auditorium,’ Mum said, and I followed her into the house’s stage area.
‘Remember, Annie, Newmea,’ I said as I sat facing the stage. ‘This is still confidential. The rest of the Republic mustn’t know which moles are planning to leave.’
‘We couldn’t tell anyone even if we wanted to,’ Annie said, nudging Newmea with her shoulder. She jiggled in her seat. ‘This is so exciting! Daddy’s first negotiation as a full ambassador for the Empire.’ She hugged herself. ‘I’m so proud of him.’
‘I am too,’ I said, and sat next to her to hold her hand. She clutched it.
‘Here we go,’ Marque said.
Oliver and a click were doing the talks on mats in a circle on the floor, with a Marque-simulated set of tentacles sitting in the centre of the circle to act as a communication and recording device. A door opened, and the Empress entered the room accompanied by the goldenscales Rokuyoko, who was deliberately walking next to the Empress instead of behind her, and was holding her head high.
Oliver rose and bowed formally to the Empress. ‘Majesty.’ He returned to the mat and gestured for the Empress to join them. She reclined next to him and touched the Marque tentacle surrogate, using it to share a greeting with all the moles present. Shudo stood at ease on guard behind the Empress, and I watched with satisfaction as he deployed the rest of the guards to cover the area.
‘We are tweaking the last few clauses of the treaty,’ Oliver said. ‘Marque has assured the moles that we can provide them a suitable alternate home within the Empire.’
‘The main issue has been the moles that wish to remain within the Republic,’ Snaprap said.
‘What proportion of the population wish to stay?’ the Empress asked.
‘Just over a third,’ Oliver said, his voice thick with disappointment.
‘Tradition and history are vitally important to us,’ the head mole negotiator said. ‘Our planet is intrinsic to our culture. The fact that two-thirds of us are willing to be entirely relocated demonstrates your representatives’ talents and our belief in the Empire’s goodwill.’
‘The rest of the population know that they’re being mistreated by the Republic, but their homeworld is too important to them,’ Snaprap said. ‘I could not have done even this much without Ambassador Choumali Runaspouse.’
‘Ambassador Choumali’s honesty and compassion are unlike that of any cat we have met before,’ the mole said. It waved its tentacles at him. ‘Haruka and Snaprap spoke well to acknowledge our needs, but the Ambassador spoke the truth.’
Oliver bobbed his head and brushed the tentacles. ‘I thank you, honoured sentient.’
‘He’s so cool,’ Annie said under her breath, and squeezed my hand.
‘I think so as well,’ I said.
‘We are ready to confirm the terms of the treaty as they stand, and for our people to be transported to the Empire,’ the mole said.
‘Excellent news,’ the Empress said. ‘I invite you all to my palace for a private party to celebrate.’
The moles’ tentacles stopped moving, then they disconnected from the Marque simulation to have a quick conversation with each other.
‘Monogamous,’ the Empress said with regret. ‘I’ll only have the chance to party with one of them. I was looking forward to experiencing a few.’
‘Ah, no,’ Oliver said, and Snaprap rasped its wing cases together – the click version of laughing. ‘Definitely one at a time, that’s how they do things – but they’re arguing about who goes first.’
The Empress perked up. ‘There’s the rest of my day sorted! Marque, prepare a suite with their environmental specifications.’
The mole argument stopped and one of them extended a tentacle towards the Empress. ‘Hanako’s romantic abilities when she first visited our planet are the stuff of legend. Lead on, Empress, because we have heard many things about dragons and want to see if they are true.’
‘Oh, they are,’ the Empress said. ‘Rokuyoko, please gate us to my bedroom. Let’s celebrate!’
She took two-legged form and the moles froze completely. Their tentacles went limp – an embarrassing display of sexual interest that was usually kept private in their culture.
The transmission blinked out.
‘That was not age-appropriate for a ten-year-old, Marque,’ my mother said stiffly.
‘I’m a dragonscales, Popoa. I’ll be sexually mature soon and you know what we’re like,’ Annie said. She lowered her voice. ‘It will be hard to show self-control.’
‘You can do it,’ Newmea said with conviction. ‘You’re so awesome, Annie.’
‘Thanks, sis,’ Annie said.
A gate appeared on the other side of the room and Oliver stepped through. He raised his hands. ‘Mission accomplished. Marque will build them a planet within the Empire and two-thirds of them will move here. The rest will think about it.’
‘Come out onto the terrace. I brought some potatoes to celebrate,’ Mum said, and both Newmea and Annie squealed with delight.
Mum grinned at them. ‘I thought you’d be sick of them by now.’
‘Do you know how jealous my school friends are?’ Annie asked, taking Oliver’s arm in hers and leading him towards the terrace. ‘Welsh Golds are famous.’
The terrace had a smooth, white-tiled surface, and a traditional cat-shaped dome – with no walls – that provided shade. Oliver had planted some cat-specific plants in pots on the terrace, and it led out onto an Earth-style green lawn with some of Annie’s play equipment that they’d never bothered to remove when she’d outgrown it.
‘Bathroom,’ Newmea said, and ran into the house.
Oliver and I shared a look. He shook his head slightly and allowed Annie to guide him onto the terrace. We sat down and Mum placed the foil-wrapped basket of potatoes on the table.
‘Only the best for my fantastic family,’ Mum said as she opened the basket in front of Annie’s wide green eyes.
Newmea came back out. ‘Those smell divine.’
‘Help yourself,’ Mum said, using the tongs to place some potatoes in front of Annie. She sat back and raised her glass. ‘To Oliver, Ambassador for the Empire. I could not be more proud of you, young man, you’re a credit to this family.’
I raised my glass as well. ‘I heartily agree.’
‘Thanks, Nan, Mum,’ Oliver said, embarrassed.
‘Me too,’ Annie said, and bunted him with her head. He rubbed the fur on her cheek and she grinned.
‘Ambassador, the moles just contacted me through a dragon scale,’ Marque said. ‘They are concerned that a fleet of teleporters is materialising just outside their system. The teleporters are building destructive drones, and it may be enough to—’
‘To blow up the planet,’ Oliver said, jumping to his feet. ‘Mobilise the goldenscales. Notify the Empress, she needs to authorise an emergency evacuation. Can someone fold the flagship to their system? We need to save them!’
A gate appeared on the lawn, and Runa emerged from it accompanied by a goldenscales that I didn’t recognise. ‘Come on, Ollie, time’s against us!’
Oliver sprinted across the garden and into the gate. Runa followed him and they disappeared.
‘Hi, Dragonfather,’ Annie said to the empty space.
‘Keep us updated on the evacuation,’ I said to Marque. ‘This is the first one since the new flagship was constructed.’
‘Admiral Heung said she never wanted to use it,’ Mum said as she poured herself more wine. ‘I’m glad it’s there for them.’
‘The moles don’t deserve their treatment by the cats – we must save them,’ Annie said. She looked up. ‘Marque? Where’s Dad?’
‘Easier just to show you,’ Marque said.
A three-dimensional representation appeared above the table. It showed the Mole system and a swarm of lights at the edge of it.
Newmea leaned forward to see the image more closely without speaking.
‘The lights are the drones,’ Marque said. ‘They are small and fast, and each of them is a thermonuclear device that is capable of duplicating itself. The swarm is constantly doubling in size.’
‘How many are there?’ I asked.
‘Right now, four thousand, but they duplicate themselves every five minutes.’
‘Save them,’ Annie said to the image.
‘It will take them twenty minutes to reach the mole home planet from the edge of the system,’ Marque said. ‘I think they can do it.’
‘Are those things present within the Empire?’ Mum asked.
‘Not the weapons themselves, only the nano fabricators,’ I said. ‘They’re so small that we can’t destroy them all; we just deal with them when we find them.’
‘Don’t worry, the Empire is too large to be threatened even by something as nasty as this,’ Marque said. ‘If they start multiplying within any Empire system, I will see them and destroy them. And we have contingency plans in place if I can’t destroy them all.’
The swarm approached the planet. It seemed to move in slow motion, increasing in size as it passed the outer planets.
‘Oliver is talking to the mole leadership, explaining the danger and the urgency,’ Marque said. Its voice changed to chagrined. ‘They don’t believe him.’
‘Come on, Dad,’ Annie whispered.
The image zoomed closer as the flagship of the Imperial Fleet – the Stewart Blake – appeared next to the mole planet.
‘The swarm’s very close, Marque,’ I said.
‘The moles are arguing among themselves about the threat,’ Marque said. ‘Many of them don’t believe the cats could be that callous. If they don’t start moving now we’ll lose some population centres, it’s unavoidable.’
‘No,’ Annie said.
I glanced at Newmea. She looked stricken. I wanted to yell at her that she’d caused this and shake her until her teeth rattled, but I didn’t move.
A full-size Marque sphere emerged from the Stewart Blake and hovered next to it.
‘Runa’s folded the evacuation modules onto the surface near the major population centres,’ Marque said. ‘I’m putting protective energy domes over as much as the planet as I can. I think we can hold off the drones until everyone’s evacuated.’
The drones had reached the planet and swarmed around it. They attacked Marque’s sphere first, surrounding it in a haze of red-orange combustion.
‘I wasn’t expecting that,’ Marque said. ‘I—’
The image froze. Annie jiggled with apprehension.
‘Marque?’ I asked.
There was a long, drawn-out period of silence as we sat looking at the frozen image.
‘Marque!’
‘I’m trying to reconnect with the ship,’ Marque said. ‘My sphere was heavily damaged – second one I’ve lost in the last hundred years. This is unprecedented.’
‘Who cares about your sphere – what about Daddy and my dragonfather?’ Annie shouted.
‘My son is down there!’ I shouted at the same time.
The image changed. The Stewart Blake was gone – hopefully folded away. The Marque sphere was shattered, with molten pieces of metal spinning away from it into and bursting into flame as they hit the atmosphere. The planet was on fire – multiple burning fronts, thousands of kilometres wide, swept across the continents, blackening everything in their wake and filling the atmosphere with smoke.
‘Oh no,’ Annie said.
‘I was wrong, they weren’t nuclear devices, they were atmospheric igniters,’ Marque said. ‘Much worse.’
‘What about my son!’ I shouted again. ‘Where’s the Blake? Are they okay?’
‘They’re fine, they’re unhurt, but they only managed to save a few thousand moles,’ Marque said. ‘The moles argued among themselves right up to the last minute. Most of them died in the destruction of the planet.’
‘The cats have murdered another species,’ I said grimly.
Oliver spoke to me on comms. Please stay there, I need to unpack all of this with you after I debrief the Empress.
I’ll be here for you.
Don’t tell Annie it was a ruse and we saved all the moles, her face will give it away. You can tell your mum, if you like; she’s probably ready to go medieval on Newmea and we’re not supposed to know that Newmea’s the asset.
I saw Mum’s face. She was glaring down at her potatoes, shaking with rage. You’re right. I need to talk to her right now.
Understood.
‘Mum,’ I said, and she didn’t look up. ‘Mum!’
‘We nearly lost another of your sons because of the cats,’ she said, her voice hoarse with emotion. ‘How can you stay so calm?’
‘Marque helped me,’ I said. ‘Oliver’s fine, he just contacted me though comms.’ I touched her arm and spoke telepathically. We’re not supposed to know that Newmea’s a spy. Don’t look at her. Mum! I tapped her arm and she didn’t respond. It was a diversion. All the moles are okay. They moved them off hours ago. We knew this was coming.
She glanced up at me and her expression filled with wonder.
‘See? Marque’s medical assistance,’ I said. ‘Do you feel better?’
‘Yes,’ Mum said weakly.
‘What did Marque do to her?’ Newmea asked.
‘Drugs,’ I said.
‘I knew Daddy would be okay,’ Annie said. ‘But all those moles . . .’ She spun on her seat and ran into the house.
Everybody’s fine, I told Mum telepathically. The moles are safe. The planet was destroyed, so the cats think they’ve killed all the moles and they won’t come after them. We knew this would happen the minute the moles agreed to join the Empire – and they agreed yesterday. We evacuated them hours ago, and the cats destroyed an empty planet and a dummy Marque sphere.
‘Thank you,’ Mum said, and took a trembling sip of her wine.
‘Oliver will be back soon. We’ll need to talk about what happened,’ I said.
‘I’m going to check on Annie,’ Newmea said, and went inside.
Mum rose to join them and I raised my hand to stop her. She has listening devices everywhere. As far as the family is concerned, an entire species was just wiped out and we don’t know that she caused it.
‘All of this is too much for me,’ she said, then added silently on comms, ‘all of this spy stuff – I know both of you are good at it, but sometimes . . .’
As soon as Oliver is back he’ll take over and you can go home.
She nodded, then raised her head. ‘Annie’s keening.’
I raised my head as well. Mum was right. Annie was keening like a dragon, making loud, drawn-out sounds of grief and pain.
Both of us rose to go in and help her.