Phoenix Rising Broken Vow, page 10
There was a silence in the hall which was broken by three pagers going off simultaneously. Joniel looked down as did the Prince and Kel. Joniel looked up and around at all present. “Although I would have greatly wished to have enjoyed your company for an evening sadly we must all depart. I bid you farewell.” He hissed in a whisper at the others. “Move it, now, get out of here and don’t look back.”
Prince Anathorn still held Aliniel’s hand and he didn’t let go as he guided her gracefully out of the hall. Kel kept hold of Arla’s hand and lead her out and Joniel took Kyla’s hand. He looked up at his mother and grandmother. They both smiled but they were looking nervous.
The whole of the Council were looking nervous and as they left the hall the Council stood up as one. He could see chairs being rearranged so that both women had the protection of a Council Member. His mother her husband to be, his grandmother a rather distinguished dark haired man who took her hand and Joniel recognised as her long term mate, Jestrathian.
Once out of the hall Joniel headed for the shuttle. “In a week or two it will be safe to return but I wouldn’t like to enter our chambers tonight. I took the liberty of removing your paperwork and our equipment to the shuttle earlier my Prince.”
Anatorn cast a sideways glance as they walked as fast as they could to the shuttle. “I would suggest that was a very wise move.”
The shuttle bay door was shut but it opened at their approach and they stepped inside as the door shut behind them. Rennon was already at the controls and had done the pre-flight checks. They took off as the Prince used his scanner to destroy all bugs and tracking devices. Small puffs of smoke erupted all over the ship. When he was satisfied their ship was clean they took off.
They got into space and headed for the Princes Palace on Alkar’na’thurion.
4
The night dwindled in endless silence as the dawn rose over the Prince’s palace. Its silence brought a million worries to troubled minds but for some that morning, joys like they had not dared to imagine. To the lonely warriors there was not only hope, there was love.
The dawn’s golden light crept through the rose garden and kissed the ancient stonework of the fountains and white marble statues. It slunk silently across the sweeping drive and caressed the wind blasted marble of the basilica that had stood unchallenged for many hundreds of years.
The Prince crept silently from his room to take his place back in the world. He smiled as gentle thoughts caressed his warrior mind but out of duty he put them aside as he took his place at his desk. His fingers lingered over the keyboard for a moment, savouring the last of the time he could devote to his gentler emotions before he pressed the keys and opened his electronic communiqués. Report upon report came in at its appointed time and he read them one by one. His joy fading to the despair of one seeing the numbers lost as living breathing souls. His head rested on his hands as he attempted to think of more answers as the questions kept on coming. The more he answered the more arrived.
Kyla stood at the bedroom window, watching the dawn creep across the gardens. She was lost in thoughts of how her children had now grown up and worrying for their future. Joniel joined her. His gentle caress as he ran his fingers down her neck and over her shoulders pulled her away from darker thoughts that crept in unbidden. He gently kissed her neck and whispered. “Live in the moment my love as that is all we truly have.”
She turned to face him and he cradled her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes as he whispered. “Remember this moment of peace and the love we have. Hold onto it when things get dark. Whatever happens I will love you.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
Joniel wiped it away with his thumb. “Why tears my love?”
Kyla’s eyes sparkled through her tears. “It is such a perfect moment that I would like to hold onto forever.”
Joniel smiled. “Nothing is forever but there will be more moments. I promise you.”
Kyla put a finger on his lips. “Don’t, just don’t. We can’t make promises like that. We have there here and now, we can only try our best to have tomorrow or the day after. But, I could not bear it if I had to go on without you.”
Joniel looked down at her, his face serious. “My love, you would go on. You are strong. You would be the woman I know you are. You would be strong for everyone else, do what you have to do and then in private you would cry for me. But, let us banish such thoughts. It is a beautiful morning. If we let dark thoughts like that darken our door we’ll never be happy and we might as well be dead. So, kiss me my darling. Let us steal a little longer before we join the world.”
She kissed him and he swept her up into his arms and laid her on the bed. His look was mischievous. “Ok, so let us steal a lot longer before we join the world. It can last without us for this time I think.”
Rennon sat in his new room and looked at the boxes of equipment. His arms suddenly felt very tired from constantly opening the boxes, constantly setting up his laboratory and constantly being alone. Thoughts drifted back to that first time on the ship where he had thought his loneliness was over. Her face haunted his memories. Unbidden the same thoughts drifted to the betrayal and the pain of laying in the room without hope as someone he had come to really like had been the one who had tried to kill him. He renewed his vow never to let anyone that close to him again. A vow he knew deep down he would break in a moment if the right person came along.
Dawn passed into later morning and they all sat together in the dining hall. The Prince was surrounded by papers and deep in thought. Aliniel sat beside him, reading over his arm and occasionally pointing to things. Joniel smiled as the Prince constantly looked surprised as she evaluated situations in a way he had not seen and then gently suggested ideas.
Kel and Arla arrived late, both looked a little unwell. Kyla looked up in concern and Joniel put a hand on her arm. He smiled at Kel. “I trust you both left us something in the drinks cabinet and that you didn’t break all the furniture in the Great Hall.”
The Prince looked worried.
Arla smiled. “We didn’t break a thing though this oaf tried his hardest.”
Kel growled and poured himself some coffee from the pot on the table. He poured one for her too and put it in front of her. She looked up and smiled at him.
Rennon sat opposite Kyla and Joniel. His laptop was set on a wooden board so that he didn’t damage the ancient wood of the vast dining table with the heat from the base of it. He was deep in thought, his hand reaching out occasionally to grab his mug and bring it to his mouth. Kyla kept the mug refilled for him. He made notes and flicked through screens.
Then he looked up and caught the Prince’s attention. “I think I’ve got it. It’s taken a while and I’ve had to run the data through a few times to check. The origins of the Followers are of course those pods. The worms need the fluid to live in. It is the fluid that causes the carapace growth but also mental instability, paranoia and a susceptibility to suggestion. Once imprinted that suggestion becomes a memory. So breaking the conditioning is not going to be easy. In all aspects it is a real memory and part of the victim’s psyche. We’re also dealing with various different aspects. I can’t identify these yet. We’ll have to deal with each part as we can. The waters are very muddied, it’s not as clear cut as one thing being the cause.”
The Prince looked up. “That can’t be good.”
Rennon shook his head. “Couldn’t be worse I would say. I’ve analysed the substance over and over again and run tests on animal subjects. It’s very good for training animals by the way but I wouldn’t recommend it as they grow the carapace as well. The carapace is a reaction to the conversion process. The fluid multiplies in the system and a bi-product is secreted through the skin. When it reacts with oxygen it becomes a hard calcium deposit on the skin as the other part of the compound evaporates. The addition of carbon dioxide drives the deposits deep into the cellular structure where it encounters oxygen in the blood, turning more of the unfortunate soul to carapace and killing off all nerves and blood supply to the calcified skin. The ridges are created by heating and cooling depending on where the victim is exposed to the fluid. By what I can see the mind control is achieved by introducing miniscule amounts of the fluid to the water system. I have figures here from water tested in Follower areas. It is naturally occurring in the water courses so I would suggest that they are seeding it in the rain and then arriving to imprint their message.”
Aliniel looked down at the paperwork. “How do we fight that?”
Rennon looked exhausted. “There is something in the royal blood that gives immunity to the effects of the fluid. I have to thank Kyla for her constant supply of blood for research.” Joniel glared at Rennon. “With the addition of an antigen and by creating a compound I have been able to project that those as yet unaffected by the fluid can be rendered immune. But that would require a vast quantity of blood that we do not have. I am working on a way of chemically synthesising the compound. Then we too would be able to seed the clouds with it and let it rain down naturally. The people concerned need never know.”
The Prince looked up. “It gives us hope but no, I would not sanction such an act. If it is done it will be done with the agreement of the population.” Aliniel put her hand on his arm and smiled at him.
Rennon was flicking down screens. “Well then in my opinion the best thing we can do is hit their research and storage facilities. If we introduce the antigen to their vats it will render their contents useless. If we can do this covertly then they will continue their campaign but using totally ineffective fluid which also renders those it touches immune to further exposure.”
The Prince smiled. “Are you fairly certain that this would work?”
Rennon flicked up a screen. “According to statistics it should. According to the physical tests I have carried out there is a high percentage chance it will succeed. I can’t say any more than that.”
The Prince looked thoughtful. “Any hope is better than no hope at all. I will be committing people’s lives to this. To raid their bases and storage facilities will be dangerous. He looked at his hand held scanner and called up a page. Our resources are dwindling as more planets fall. If this is a viable option I will have to act fast. Rennon, I’ll let you have the location of the facilities that we know about already. Can you draw me up a plan of how we can most effectively deal with them? I can’t waste man hours, if this is going to work we will have to get the anti-fluid out there before they realise what we are doing and then I think create a diversion to give them something else to think about. If we merely go for the facilities they are going to know something specifically relates to them. If we hit other things that are important as well we may stand a chance of them not realising what we are doing if we are discovered. The question is if we are going to get that close to the vats, why don’t we just destroy them?”
Rennon looked down. “I will run some tests as to what damage would be done for allowing the fluid into the environment in one particular area. It may take some time.”
The Prince looked up. “Time is something we do not have a lot of. If an explosion would send this airborne or make the situation worse there is no point trying it.
Daily we lose control of planets and each time that means lives lost. We will be at a point soon that we can no longer put forward a viable resistance to these people.”
Kel looked up. “Well can’t we just go out and give them something to think about?”
The Prince smiled. “Kel, I know you want to take the fight to them. Believe me when I say it that I really want to as well. The damage we would do to them would be minimal. The loss of life would not be worth the reward. At the moment all I can do is keep those who haven’t been infected safe.”
Aliniel looked up. “You said infected. What if there was a virus that attacked the infection. You are talking about immunisation but what about a direct attack. What are these bugs that the fluid is protecting? It doesn’t seem to harm them.”
Rennon looked up, stunned. “You know I was so bogged down in looking at the fluid I never thought of looking at the pupae. I’m wondering what would happen if we hatched one?”
The Prince looked really worried. “It’s a bit of a risk isn’t it? We don’t know what the pupae will develop into.”
Rennon raised an eyebrow. “We’re running out of time, people and chances here. We’ll have to try something. With your permission I would like to ask one of our research establishments on the moon bases to undertake experiments to try to hatch one of these pupae. If something happens at least it will be contained. I can’t see any record of one being hatched and experimented on.”
The Prince looked troubled. “Do you think this stands any chance of success?”
Rennon looked up, the exhaustion evident on his face. “I don’t know. I’m out of options and out of ideas. It’s the only avenue I can think of that I haven’t gone down so who knows.”
The Prince took a deep breath. “I will sanction it. Put together a briefing and I’ll get it sent to a remotely located base and carried out. Kel, I know you are keen to be out on a mission but you cannot until we can give you the antidote. What of these two?” He looked at Arla and Aliniel. “Are they immune? Do they carry the blood?”
Rennon looked up. “I have tested both of them. Aliniel has the blood, Arla doesn’t. So Arla is not immune.” Kyla looked at Joniel.
The Prince looked directly at Joniel. “What would it mean to either of them if you gave them your blood?”
Joniel closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. “I had hoped that wouldn’t be something that would be important. It is their decision to make. Physically it would give them enhanced strength, agility and longevity. But Aliniel is immune already so it wouldn’t make her any more immune. Arla on the other hand would gain immunity. Emotionally it means that they would have to watch those they love and care about grow old and die.”
The Prince looked at Joniel in earnest. “Is that why your people are so cold and vicious?”
Joniel smiled. “A gentle soul rarely survives the emotional pain. That was why I didn’t give Kyla my blood earlier. It is our birthright to be cold and vicious. You have seen what living there is like. Aliniel and Arla will be different. They were raised without that environment. If Aliniel wants to accept my blood, that is her choice. It will give her a better chance of healing but there is dependence and you would find yourself in the same position as we were. You would never again be able to make love as if she lost control at that point of elation, instinct would take over and she would see you as prey. She wouldn’t be in control. I doubt that either of you would want to choose that.”
The Prince turned to Aliniel. She smiled and kissed him. Her voice was gentle. “I would happily forsake immortality, let us be happy with the life that we have.”
Kel grunted at Arla. “Don’t you even think about it.”
Arla slapped him and nearly knocked him backwards off of his chair. “I wasn’t you great Shamshach.”
The Prince smiled kindly at Kyla who was looking wistful. He spoke gently. “I can never experience how you must feel as an immortal mother having to listen to your daughter choosing to forsake immortality.”
Kyla smiled. “One lifetime of happiness is better than an eternity of shadow. I’d already made my decision and it was a long path to get there.” She smiled. “But thankfully, pending any tragedy that is not a worry I have any more. The Order usually have no problem with immortality as they are mystics and wise women for the tribe so people come and go but they remain eternal. They may not take a lover until after they have attained mastery and by that time longevity is something they are more than used to. Perhaps that is the difference between it being heaven or hell.”
The Prince laughed. “I would never ask a woman her age but the more you talk, the more I realise how old you might possibly be.”
Kyla smiled enigmatically. “And I’m not going to tell you. Part of our training is to go to planets with different time dilations. So I can live out many years there while only a year passes here. It makes for effective training as many mystics can be trained up within one generation of the tribe.”
The Prince smiled. “Well that sounds practical. We’re a romantic lot but let it be our strength. If we aren’t looking for love we can concentrate on what is important. Now we have to find Rennon someone.”
Rennon looked up. “Give me a break. If you find me another fanatical Follower convert I’ll give up on love entirely. The next one will have to be someone of the blood. It’s the only way to be sure. And not one of your psychotic she bitches from the Flagship thank you very much.” Rennon rubbed his neck.
Joniel noticed the bite mark and smiled. “It’s always the quiet ones. How did you survive?”
Rennon smiled. “I used chemical intervention then sent her packing and locked myself in my room. I’m a scientist. You wouldn’t be able to use it as a way around the problem. I knocked her out before she got that far. No, I wasn’t popular afterwards, that proved problematic as it was almost as dangerous and as you can imagine knowing what I know now I’m not very impressed with her either for putting me in the possible food situation.”
Kel grunted. He looked at Arla. “Just give me the antidote if you have one. I tire of sitting around doing nothing. I want to take the fight to them. Are we fighting them anywhere?”
The Prince took a deep breath and frowned. “We are constantly at war with them and fighting is going on everywhere. The star bases are deployed keeping their eastern forces occupied and they have wiped out at least five Follower planets. I have battleships in active service fighting their forces on our North and Eastern fronts. Fifteen battle stations are fighting in the Endurion Galaxy. They have fleets of back up ships and they have managed to get ground troops down on the Minories Planets. Using hazmat suits they are avoiding contact with the fluid. But of course any penetration of the suit and the individual is lost. The other three galaxies have united forces actively opposing the Followers. Our diplomatic contacts have paid off as most planets who know about the truth of the situation have committed troops to the main force. We have a strong alliance out there. I don’t generally bore you with all those details.
