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The woman slowly adjusted the settings on her monitor. Absently she pushed back a dark curl from her eyes, then pressed the RECORD button on the monitor once she was satisfied with the readout. A low hum emanated from the machine as she slowly waved it over the prone body of Prince Arin, from feet to head. Near his head she stopped and held it in place, then frowned slightly as the data played across the screen. She adjusted again, took a second reading, then turned off the device in satisfaction.
“And how is our charge?” said the voice of Lodar Veran. In a whirl of motion she lowered the monitor with one hand and reached for the weapon concealed in the breast of her loose fitting tunic with the other, then abandoned the idea once she had identified the source of the voice. She placed the monitor quickly into her breast pocket.
“You startled me,” she said flatly. “Don’t do it again.” The statement was plain and to the point. Veran nodded slightly in disingenuous respect.
“As you wish,” he said calmly. “I meant no harm.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she said gruffly.
“I meant no insult,” came the insincere reply again. This time she answered by whipping out the small energy pistol in a motion too fast for the typical human to respond to, and too instinctive to be defended against by any contemporary means. She had not noticed Veran’s entrance into Prince Arin’s private chambers, and was embarrassed by her lapse. The additional insults by Veran only flamed her anger. Someone of her professional acumen didn’t get caught off guard often, and she was not about to acquiesce to Veran’s further puncturing of her character.
“Say the wrong word and I’ll burn a hole in your skull, Sri,” she said in the same flat tone.
“A most impressive display of skills,” he said.
“As was your entrance,” she replied, gun still leveled squarely at the High Priest.
“Come, my dear, we’re not here to squabble. I’ve merely come to check on your progress, and to make sure our investment is paying dividends,” he said evenly.
“And, I suspect, to show me your abilities should I decide to renege or, shall we say, depart early, from your little adventure?”
“Of course,” he said with a deep bow. She was unmoved by his false flattery.
“You’ve paid well for my services, and my reputation depends on my fulfilling my commitments. But don’t task me, priest,” she said the last like a curse, “I’ve reason enough to want you dead. Give me an excuse and you’ll find I waste no time cashing in, understood?”
“I understand you very well, my lady,” said Veran, his tone turning menacing. “Now understand me. My men have broken down your crude defenses and gained access to your shuttle. They have installed a proximity device which will detonate in a sizable fireball should you decide to ‘depart early’. Without the access code the device cannot be deactivated. I have the access code. You will not be leaving this Starliner without my approval, understood?”
She hesitated a moment, going over her security measures in her mind. If the Sri’s agents had overcome them then they were dangerously capable. She tried to bluff her way through.
“I don’t believe you,” she said, more uncertainty in her voice than she would have liked.
“What you believe is irrelevant. That I have power over your life is.”
“And I too possess power over yours,” she replied defiantly, taking a step closer.
“Come now, do you really think I would be so foolish as to enter without adequate security? To place myself at the mercy of a paid assassin? Really, you would not leave this room alive, you must know that.”
“This bickering is getting us nowhere,” she said, then abruptly returned her weapon to its place.
“Quite right,” said Veran, confident he had won the exchange, and sure now of his power over the assassin’s life. “To other matters. How is our precious Prince?”
“Incapacitated. He needs nine hours of sleep per night to give the enzymes time to bond with his blood platelets. His system is borderline on rejection right now. I’ve had to induce sleep on several occasions. He has an enormous capacity for... recreation.”
“Something which I’m sure your special talents are able to satisfy. Wake him.” It was a command.
“If I do I cannot guarantee the bonding will not be rejected. The enzymes are at a delicate stage right now.”
“Wake him!” Veran demanded.
She hesitated only a moment, then drew an injector from a hip pouch. She measured a pale blue fluid into the vial and then dispensed the stimulant into Arin with a soft hiss.
“Leave us. I don’t want him to associate you with the treatments. At least not yet.”
She nodded, then departed. Arin took several moments to arouse, then opened his eyes with difficulty. He focused on Veran and then sat up quickly on the pallet.
“What are you doing here?” he said, looking around the room in confusion. “Where is my mistress?”
“I sent her away so that we could talk.”
Arin rubbed bleary eyes. “I have no desire to talk to you, priest,” Again, like the woman, he said the last word as a curse. Veran smiled bemusedly to himself.
“I think you will, soon,” he said.
“You are mistaken. I hate the Sri and all you stand for.”
Vern shrugged his boney shoulders beneath the concealing robes. “An ancient prejudice. And besides, how can you hate that which you are about to become?”
“What?” Shock was evident in Arin’s voice. “What are you implying?”
“I am implying nothing. I am merely stating fact. You are already well on the way to becoming one with the Sri.”
Arin’s face flushed quickly. A rage shone in his eyes.
“Liar!” he shouted, then took a lunging step toward the priest.
“Stop!” Veran held his left hand out to back his command and drew a coil pistol in the right, trained on Arin. The prince stopped two paces short of the priest.
“Sit back down and listen.” Again, a command. Arin measured the distance between them, judged the probable reflex time of the priest as already demonstrated, then sat back on the edge of the sleeping pallet. He crossed his arms.
“Talk, priest. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.”
“Because of what you will gain by joining with us,” said Veran.
“Such as?”
“The Emperor’s Chair.”
Arin mocked disinterest. “Bennis has already offered me that.”
“Yes, but he doesn’t have the power to fulfill it. We do.”
Arin eyed him warily. “Go on,” he said after a moment.
“May I dispense with this?” said Veran, waving the pistol. Arin nodded.
“Of course.”
Veran put the weapon away.
“We believe Bennis’ plan has a chance to succeed, to a point. But we have some, ah, reservations about it. If he does succeed, it is to our benefit. We can help him rule a dissonant Empire. Above all else, the families of the Kallaket, and especially the Board, must be kept docile. Bennis in the Chair will infuriate them. They will do anything to protect the royal system. So we give them a royal as heir. You.”
“This is nothing new. Bennis has already outlined this much to me.”
“So he has. But what he does not tell you is that above all else, you are the key. Quantar lies at the crux of the Empire’s future. The wealth about to be yielded in the next generation by the New Planets Consortium is unlike anything the Empire has seen for centuries. There are riches out there that only beings such as ourselves can dream of. And great dangers, too. Quantar is not only the central port to the Inner Empire from the new planets, it is also a planet with some stature within the Imperium. Your family name will carry some weight with the Kallaket. If we raise you up not as an heir to Bennis’ rule, but as a savior from his oppression, the Kallaket and the Board will rush to embrace you as their new sovereign, especially if you marry into one of the Board families, such as the Feilbergs.”
“As Bennis has suggested in his plan,” interjected Arin.
“Which we acknowledge has some merit. Once so placed we can then begin to move to consolidate power, seize control of the Starliners from the Imperial Governors, using the example of Bennis as our excuse.”
“To what end?” said Arin. “If I already rule the Empire, control of the Starliners will mean little to me.”
“To the end of eliminating the Kallaket, by destroying the royal families.” Veran paused to let his words sink in. Arin eyed him carefully.
“Destroy the families of the Kallaket? Why?”
“An Empire, ruled by an Emperor, has no need of an Imperial legislature, looking out for its own interests. Destroying the Kallaket will end once and for all the illusion of democracy, and begin a new era of absolute rule by just one man; you, my dear Prince.”
Arin contemplated the disturbing man. “Your offer is tempting. But why should I wish to destroy the Imperial system? It has yielded much wealth to the Emperor over the centuries.”
“That it has, but it is nothing compared to what is to be found in the new planets. Nothing, I assure you. Our guides have been there, we know. As for your wish to destroy the Kallaket, that should be obvious. They are the ones who kept you from your rightful place. Their corrupt system is what installed your brother as heir.”
Arin examined the Sri carefully. His words made the Prince distinctly uncomfortable.
“So I have vengeance in mind. What of it?” said Arin.
“Why stop at vengeance? Once you take your rightful place as their sovereign, they will bow to you, not as loyal co-rulers, as they are now, but as your subjects. We offer the royal families to you as slaves.”
Arin analyzed Veran carefully. His words were tempting, but the carried with them the unmistakable stench of a hidden agenda.
“You offer me an Empire of slaves. But to what end? What is your gain in all of this?”
“Our gain is our matter. Let me simply say to you that our ultimate design is yet to be revealed, even to many of us. We are engaged in the practice of... preparation... for humanity to take a next step in its evolution. A controlled and docile Empire, ruled by one of us makes that transition easier.”
“One of us? I think you presume too much, High Priest,” said Arin, his face flushing with rising anger. “I have never agreed to join you.”
“As I said, the treatments have already begun. In six days your body will be ready for the infusion. You must act by then, or the bonding will fail. I offer you an Empire, young Prince. What is your answer?”
Arin did not hesitate. “My answer is to wait, Priest. If Bennis and I succeed here, I don’t need you, and I certainly don’t need to become one of you. I do not trust you, but I will reserve final judgment on this until after the attack on the Sanctuary. That will leave us both plenty of time to decide which direction to go in next,” Arin stepped forward then and Veran took a step closer to the door. “I will make you one promise though, Sri. If Bennis does become Emperor without your help, I will see to it that you are utterly destroyed for your violation of my person. And please inform my mistress that her services are no longer required, and if I encounter her again on this ship, her life is forfeit.”
Veran affected disappointment. “Very well then, we will wait. But not long, young Prince. Not long.”
In flash of motion which defied his physical appearance, Veran left Arin’s quarters abruptly. Once safely outside in the hallway Veran held up a small device and spoke very quietly into it, using a coded language.
“Did you get that, Arimel?”
“Yes, Lord,” came the scratchy response.
“I think we need to assume the young Prince will be uncooperative. Prepare the lifeboat for transport. Include plans for the infusion surgery. If necessary, I will do it myself.”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Oh, and Arimel, make sure our hired hand continues her treatments regardless of the Prince’s defiance. And when she is done, make sure she does not get off this ship alive.”
“Yes, Lord.”
Then Veran switched off the device and whisked himself down the hallway back towards his quarters, and safety.