Twenty minutes later, Annie was still keening in her room. She lay on her bed on her stomach with her face pressed into her pillow, and Newmea, Mum and I were holding her as we murmured platitudes, but none of it made it through to her. Oliver strode into the room and sat on the bed next to her.
‘Everybody out,’ he said without looking away from her.
We guided Newmea out and closed the door on them. Mum took us back out to the terrace, where Marque had already cleaned up the remains of the potato meal.
‘I left some food in the warmer if anyone’s still hungry,’ it said.
‘Just a big pot of tea,’ Mum said as she sat at the table and wiped her hand over her face. ‘Poor Annie.’
‘Will she be all right?’ Newmea said as the teapot and cups floated out of the kitchen.
‘Yes, of course she will. She’s a dragonscales, and they’re notoriously resilient,’ I said.
Mum poured. ‘She shouldn’t need to be, Jian.’ She spoke to me on comms. If your son wasn’t harbouring this criminal our little Annie would not be suffering like this.
I replied telepathically. I know. It’s time for her to go.
Oliver came out and sat next to me. ‘A cup for me as well, Marque.’ He put his head in his hands, then swiped his hands up over his ears. He straightened, leaned on the table, and faced Newmea. ‘Newmea, I’ve cared for you and protected you and come to be very fond of you, but you’ve hurt my family and it’s time for you to go back. Is there somewhere in the Republic that we can drop you? An intelligence station nearby?’
Newmea sat staring at him, blank, for a few heartbeats. Then her face screwed up into a mask of pain. ‘I don’t want to go back there; they’ll force me into a reproductive contract!’
‘They treat returned infiltration agents exceptionally well,’ Oliver said. ‘You’ll be fine. You succeeded at your task, but this mole thing has made it obvious that you’re the one passing the information. You hurt my daughter, and you have to go.’ He picked up his teacup. ‘You have one hour Earth time to collect your gear together, and then Runa will drop you off wherever you say.’
‘I don’t understand, what are you talking about?’ Newmea said.
‘Your emotions don’t match your confused tone,’ I said. ‘You knew this was coming, Newmea, so go into your room and pack up.’
Annie stormed onto the terrace. ‘You’re a spy. You told the cats about the moles. You had them all killed.’ She leaned on the table and put her face right into Newmea’s. ‘How can you live with yourself?’
‘I really don’t know what everybody’s talking about,’ Newmea said. She turned to Oliver. ‘Please, Oliver. You’re like a father to me. Annie’s my little sister.’ She looked around at us. ‘I love all of you – you’re the only family I’ve known. I really don’t understand why you’re talking like this.’ Her voice rose in pitch. ‘Don’t make me leave! They’ll hurt me.’
‘Go and pack up your things, Newmea,’ Oliver said, turning away.
‘What did I do?’ Newmea looked around at us again, desperate. ‘Tell me what I did! Is it because I didn’t provide you with sexual favours? I will if you want. Annie.’ She turned to Annie, who had come around the table and was sitting curled up between me and her father. ‘Tell them. I would never hurt anyone. Don’t send me away.’
‘Is it possible it wasn’t her, Daddy?’ Annie asked.
‘Her room is full of nanos to communicate with the cat homeworld,’ Marque said.
‘The cats were spying on me and I didn’t know?’ Newmea said. ‘Why didn’t you tell me they were there?’
‘Newmea.’ Oliver sighed with exasperation. ‘We know you’re an agent. We know you were sending information to the Republic. I was aware of it, and I gave you incorrect intel to send back – but this time you hurt Annie. You broke her heart, and all the moles are dead because of you.’ He rose and took her by the upper arm, pulling her away from the table. ‘Let’s go and sort out your stuff. Runa will be here in an hour, so think about where you want us to drop you.’
‘I didn’t do anything!’ Newmea shouted as Oliver pulled her away from the table. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re my family! Annie, tell him. I never hurt anyone.’ Her voice filled with tears. ‘Don’t send me away.’
‘She didn’t hurt me that much, Daddy,’ Annie called to him. ‘Let her stay.’
I put my arm around her. ‘He’s doing the right thing.’
‘You cried for twenty minutes because of her,’ Mum said.
‘But she can’t be a spy. She’s my sister.’ Annie rose and ran towards Newmea’s bedroom, and I followed her.
Oliver was standing inside the door and Newmea was packing her clothes and possessions into a Marque transportation capsule.
‘I don’t understand,’ Newmea said as she pulled her clothes out of the dresser. ‘This morning you loved me and I was part of the family. I didn’t do anything.’
Annie stood next to Oliver and he put his arm around her. ‘She’s my sister, Dad. Can’t she stay?’
‘I’m sorry, Annie. No. Not any more.’
Newmea came to Annie. ‘Tell him, Annie, I wouldn’t hurt anyone.’
‘Mum, please take Annie out,’ Oliver said. ‘Annie, I’ll explain when she’s gone. But right now.’ His voice hardened. ‘You need to leave.’
I took Annie by the hand and she started keening again. She went into her bedroom and closed the door, activating the privacy lock.
‘Leave Annie, I’ll talk to her when this one is gone,’ Oliver called to me from inside Newmea’s room.
I wiped my eyes and joined my stricken Mum on the terrace. She made me a cup of tea with extra milk and sugar.
‘Here,’ she said, pushing the teacup towards me. ‘The great British cure for everything.’
Ten minutes later Annie was still locked in her room. Oliver came out, dragging Newmea by the upper arm.
‘Jian. Connie. Please. I don’t want to go!’ she said. ‘Don’t make me go.’
Miko appeared on the other side of the terrace next to a gate. Oliver dragged Newmea to the gate and pushed her in. The storage capsule followed her, and Miko closed the gate.
‘Psych advice on dealing with Annie’s denial about Newmea, Marque?’ Oliver said, heading towards Annie’s room.
Miko took two-legged form and sat next to me. ‘I heard what happened.’
‘I’m glad she’s gone,’ Mum said to the teapot.
‘Are the nanos in her room dying? They won’t take any revenge, will they?’ I asked Marque.
‘I’m destroying them,’ Marque said. ‘I know the rest of the house is clean but there’s a possibility she left a device in her room when she was on privacy – could you do me a favour, Miko?’
‘Yes, Marque? It’s not like you to ask for a favour – normally you’re the one that does things for us.’
‘I know,’ Marque said. ‘With the Choumali family’s permission, I’d like you to place a gate to space in the doorway of Newmea’s room and suck the entire contents out of it. That way we can be absolutely positive that everything is gone.’
‘That will be hard to do precisely enough without damaging the structure of the house,’ she said.
‘You’re capable.’
‘Only if Oliver agrees,’ Miko said. ‘It’s his house.’
‘I’m sure he will agree,’ I said. ‘I can’t imagine staying here knowing that those things could be there watching us.’
‘Something—’ Marque said, and then the entire house went down. The lights turned off and the sound of air circulation ceased. The sun had already set outside and everything was dim outlines against the blue of the nebula in the sky.
‘Miko, gate them out now!’ I shouted, unable to see clearly in the dim light. I jumped to my feet and reached for Mum but my hand hit empty air. A glowing gate appeared, and I could see Mum next to me in its light. She was standing frozen with indecision. I physically grabbed her with my enhanced strength and threw her into the gate, then jumped after her. I landed in the living room of my apartment in Sky City, the easiest place for Miko to gate as she did it so often.
‘Get Oliver and—’ I started, but it was too late. Miko closed the gate just as the explosion blasted out of the hole in a small flash of fire.
‘No!’ I screamed, collapsing to the floor. ‘That little cat!’ I thumped the floor with fury as the tears stung my eyes. ‘I will tear her to pieces for—’
‘We’re okay, Mum,’ Oliver said. I jumped up and threw myself into his arms and hugged him fiercely with the tears running down my face.
‘Rokuyoko helped me,’ Miko said. ‘I asked her to come and watch me use a portal to clean the room, I thought she might like to learn. She arrived just in time.’
‘You’re okay, you’re okay,’ I said into Oliver’s fur. I looked around and grabbed Annie and held her close as well.
‘I’m fine,’ he said, holding me tight.
‘It’s okay, Nanna,’ Annie said.
‘They’re fine, Jian,’ my mother said. ‘I’ve never seen anyone move as fast as you did.’
‘Marque, we need to post a guard on Ambassador Choumali,’ I said into Oliver’s shoulder. ‘He’s being targeted with assassination attempts the same way Haruka is.’ I pulled back to speak to Oliver. ‘Where’s Runa? You need a dragon on standby just in case you have to be folded out in a hurry.’
‘Marque?’ Oliver asked.
‘I’m asking your dragonspouse, Ambassador,’ Marque said. ‘She was suddenly called away by one of her other spouses.’
Runa spoke to us through Marque. ‘Marque just told me what happened,’ she said. ‘I will be there as soon as I can – but I’m with my other spouse Fourteen-Moons, and you know her reproductive cycle’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We’ll be courting for at least a week, and then I’ll be busy with her for another week after that.’
‘You can’t come for two weeks while your husband is being targeted by assassins?’ I asked, incredulous.
‘Someone else can do it,’ Runa said. ‘There are plenty of dragons available. Aren’t there a couple in the Imperial Guard, Captain? You don’t need me.’
‘The Imperial Guard is for guarding the Empress,’ I said.
‘Whatever,’ Runa said, sounding disinterested. ‘Oliver will be fine. Hey, Ollie?’
‘Yes, Runa?’
‘I love you and I can’t wait to return. Let’s make a little sister for Annie?’
‘I’ll think about it,’ Oliver said.
‘If someone did that to me, I’d be walking away,’ I said to Oliver.
‘Right now, Runa’s irrelevant and I’ll deal with her later,’ Oliver said, and from the tone of his voice he agreed with me.
‘Marque,’ I said. ‘Please place a formal request with Princess Miko to identify some suitable goldenscales who are looking for some extra income – we can pay in Welsh golds—’
‘You don’t need to pay, Jian, don’t be ridiculous,’ Miko said. ‘I can easily find another couple of my sisters and we’ll set up a guard roster.’
‘Captain of the Goldenscales Guard,’ Oliver said, releasing me and guiding me to sit at the table in my apartment. ‘I like it, Dragonfather.’
Haruka charged in and tackled me, lifting me off my feet. ‘Are you all right? Are you all okay?’ He looked around, gently lowered me, and hugged Mum. ‘Connie! Please be okay. Annie? Oliver?’ He turned to Miko. ‘You saved them.’
‘We’re fine, love,’ I said, and he hugged me fiercely.
‘I thought I’d lost you again,’ he said into my ear.
‘I’m okay,’ I said. ‘We’re all okay.’ I pulled back to brush a stray hair away from his devastated face. ‘Miko saved us all.’
He buried his face in my neck again, and Oliver patted my back from where he stood next to me.
‘Your house is wrecked,’ Marque said. ‘It will take me at least three weeks to recreate it from backup. I can arrange for an apartment in the city—’
‘They can stay on the guest floor of my house, there’s plenty of room,’ Mum said. ‘The best thing for Annie right now is spending time a long way away from all of this.’
Oliver hugged her around the shoulders and kissed the top of her head. ‘Thanks, Connie, I think that’s a good idea.’
‘Let’s go set you up,’ Mum said.
After we’d established Oliver and Annie in Mum’s guest rooms and left them to talk, Mum and I sat on the deck overlooking her potato fields. She sipped her wine and watched the sun set over the flat expanse of potato fields. The breeze gained a chill that had never been present on the Earth that I knew as a young woman.
‘How many times have the cats tried to kill members of our family now?’ she asked.
‘That depends on whether you include the time—’ Marque began.
‘I was being rhetorical,’ she snapped. ‘They go after Haruka, they go after Oliver – always our family. Why haven’t they attempted to kill the Empress herself?’
‘She’s irrelevant,’ I said. ‘She’s a figurehead. Haruka and Oliver are doing a fine job of talking their subjugated species from them. Of course the cats are targeting them.’
‘Part of the reason they haven’t attacked the Empress is because the captain is good at what she does, as well,’ Marque said. ‘Look at that assassination attempt when Emperor Akihito was crowned – she and her Guard stopped it without hurting a single guest.’
‘Those assassins took out their stones and killed themselves as soon as they were released from prison,’ I said. ‘They said they couldn’t live in a Japan ruled by a trans man. What a waste.’
‘I can understand how they felt,’ Mum said.
I turned to her. ‘What? You object to Aki being trans?’
‘No, no, of course not, but sometimes life doesn’t seem to have any meaning,’ she said. ‘Taking my stone out sounds good. Yuki’s neglecting me even worse than Runa’s treating Oliver. She’s off with other spouses all the time and won’t come and see me even if she isn’t with them. Typical behaviour from a dragon, and I knew it was coming, but . . .’ Her voice trailed off.
‘So break it off with her and find someone new,’ I said, touching her hand. ‘One of Miko’s sisters. The goldenscales are all exceptional, and you deserve nothing less from a partner. That’s not a good reason to take out your stone.’
‘That’s not it. The project’s finished, the Earth-analogue planet is self-sustaining and I’ll never see it in person,’ she said. ‘I have nothing to keep me going any more. I think I’ve hit the limit.’
‘The limit is a state of mind, not a scientific fact,’ I said. ‘There’s no proof that it exists. It’s a philosophical concept that gains momentum from people sharing it. Self-fulfilling prophecy.’
‘You’ll feel different when you reach it,’ she said. ‘I’m nearly a hundred and thirty years old, and I feel: enough.’
‘That’s nothing compared to many other species,’ I said. ‘Dammit, Mum, you’re about to have another grandkid and I’ll need your help.’
‘You have two spouses, a son, and a granddaughter already,’ she said. ‘You sure you’ll need me?’
‘Damn straight. This is the first goldenscales child in living memory.’
‘It can’t be the first,’ she said, waving her wine glass. ‘It’s been what – five? Six years since the goldenscales were liberated. Some species have no gestation time; the babies happen immediately. No way your daughter can be the first.’
‘All of the goldenscales are holding off to see what my child looks like,’ I said. ‘They want to be sure that I’ll produce a perfect, viable offspring before they have any themselves.’
‘Is there any doubt that your daughter is perfect?’ she asked sharply.
I didn’t reply.
‘Lovely,’ she said with biting sarcasm. ‘Lab experiments. Breeding programs.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Goddamn dragons.’
‘I’ve been keeping an eye on the baby and it’s fine,’ Marque said. ‘Growing well, all the bits are there, looks human, no abnormalities.’
‘I should hope so,’ Mum said. She sighed and took another sip of her wine, then placed it on the table in front her. ‘I really do think I’ve hit the limit, darling Jian, but I’ll stay with you as long as you need me.’
‘I’ll always need you, so don’t think like that.’
‘What about what I need?’
That silenced me.
She touched the soulstone in the middle of her forehead. ‘If I do decide to take the path of the Real Death, I won’t seek an immediate ending.’ She lowered her hand. ‘I’ll just take the stone out and let fate take its course. I could have decades after I make the decision.’ She saw my face and smiled gently. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of warning.’
My heart twisted. ‘You’ve seen so much, Mum. From the day Dad found you in your burnt village in China, to living with me in Wales after we lost him, to being there when the dragons discovered us and we joined the Empire. You’ve seen so much. You’re a historical treasure.’
‘I feel it,’ she said ruefully. She straightened and her voice went brisk. ‘Don’t worry, I want to see what you and Miko produce. This baby is the first of her kind – a goldenscales baby – and with parents like you, she’ll be very special.’ She rubbed her hands together. ‘Cannot wait.’ She picked up her wine glass. ‘To us, Jian. To the worlds we’ve seen and the history we’ve made.’
‘We still have a lot of history to make, Connie,’ I said, and tapped her glass with mine.