Blood for the Empress: Part One of the Empress Trilogy Read online

  "My ship. Only place we can be safe."

  "I'm not getting into any ship. I want to know what is going—"

  Jonica let out a pent up breath. "Meph, let him in."

  "Let me in? What are you—"

  He stopped when he heard Meph. He looked down at the psi-cat. His eyes glowed a deep amber. He blinked his eyes, and he was standing in the alley, but at the same time, he was standing in a blank space with Jonica and Meph. He felt a bit of deja-vu, but didn't know why. The psi-cat was floating at eye level and there was an ethereal green light that permeated everything in a twenty meter circle.

  "What is this—"

  "This is the mind-link," Jonica said. "We can talk together without having to worry about being overheard."

  "What do you mean?"

  Psionics can hear direct contact, even mine to you, Meph said, looking at Kesh. In here, only those I allow in can hear us.

  "I'm confused," Kesh said. He then tripped over something and was again in the alley, looking up at Jonica and Meph. "How? What? What was—"

  "Follow and keep your eyes focused on me. I know you like my backside."

  "Not what I—"

  Kesh, it's fine. Jonica's voice said in his head. Come along.

  Without another word, he followed.

  He let out a low whistle. "Nice ship." It was a MX-980 Trellis ship, sturdy, small, and maneuverable. He knew it had some armament on it. It had a belly that was used mostly for cargo and an upper deck that extended into the cockpit with twin DuKanz engines and a small jump drive. His stomach grew queasy thinking about the jump drive. Like you have another place to go?

  "Thanks. The Ransom Runner has been good to us for awhile." Jonica touched one of the landing struts like she would a lover.

  The Ransom Runner was a bigger ship than he thought. It looked to be enough for Jonica, Meph, and at least five more crew members. "Is it just the two of you in this ship?" Kesh asked, looking at the MX-980 Trellis.

  "Yes, why?"

  "This needs about three to four crew minimum," Kesh said.

  "Aren't you a bright boy," Jonica said. "Meph and I do just fine on our own."

  "Uh huh," Kesh said. Jonica then opened the door. When Kesh entered, he entered through the forward compartment and into the cargo hold. He followed Jonica up the ladder to the crew quarters and down the corridor to the cockpit. He saw why they only needed two to fly. The pilot chair had been moved forward of where it should have been to make room for a pedestal that had enough wires and cables running into it that Kesh was shocked when he didn't see a brain in it.

  "Why would there be a brain?" Joncia asked.

  "Slag—You can still hear me?"

  "Oh yeah," Jonica said with an impish smile. "Not much you can do about it."

  "Great," he looked around. "Nice ship. But still, you haven't explained what is going on."

  Remember the pod I was sitting on? Meph asked, leaping up onto the pillar behind the pilot seat.

  "Sorta. Lot happened that day, Meph," Kesh said at the cat.

  It contains the treasure. And, thanks to Jonica, it is now on board.

  "Wait, I thought you were afraid the Fedrats got it."

  "Oh they did," Jonica said. She reached over and patted a long-barreled rifle that was strapped to her back. "Long story short, I liberated it while you were distracting the guards with your drama."

  Kesh looked at Meph. "You have been in contact with her for a few days, haven't you?"

  The human got it in one.

  Kesh gritted his teeth and punched the bulkhead. It hurt, but the pain helped him focus. He looked at Joncia. "Then, pay me for this so Blue and I can get out of here."

  "You aren't safe on Mars anymore, Kesh," Joncia said. "I'll take you wherever you want to go."

  "Blue is coming with me."

  "It's a scytheclaw. No. He'll shit in my ship and—"

  "Then pay me, and I'll take my chances."

  Meph and Jonica looked at each other. Kesh narrowed his eyes. "Why can't I hear what you two are—"

  "We aren't talking," Jonica said. She looked at Meph.

  Tell him.

  Jonica took a deep breath. "Kesh, you won't be on the run from just the Fedrats. The Empress is after this pod."

  "You stole... from the... Blood... Empress?" Kesh asked, feeling dread causing him to quake more and more. "Explains the Rahl we fought."

  "Yes."

  "Yes, what?"

  "We stole something from the Bloody Bitch," Jonica snapped. "I didn't fucking stutter."

  "Why in the names of all the gods great and small would you—"

  Kid, the Blood Bitch is a cunt, Meph said. She is not going to get her hands on the contents of this crate.

  "No wonder the Greenies are chasing us," Kesh said.

  "Well, yeah," Jonica said, shaking her head as if he had stated that water was wet.

  "You lied to me, slagging cat."

  That is not true. Meph said while grooming his front paws. I bent the truth.

  "You said—"

  I said that we took something from a higher-up of those men. It was not a lie, Meph snapped back. He dug his teeth into his front left forepaw. You did not ask for any kind of clarification.

  "We were being chased by a squad of Greenies!"

  Meph looked at Kesh. And?

  Kesh balled up his fists. "I'm gonna murder—"

  Before he finished, Jonica's blaster was out, humming with power, and pointed at Kesh's heart. "Take one step and see what happens," Jonica said.

  Kesh held his hands up. "I'd never hurt him, Jonica. He lied to—"

  Bent the truth.

  Jonica stared at Meph. "Tomato, tamato," she said. "Apologize."

  No.

  For a heartbeat, the three stared each other down. The ship pitched sharply to one side, as the shield blazed with light from a barrage of plasma fire. All three looked to the viewport to see a squad of green-coated Federation troops shooting at the ship. Kesh saw Blue peeking his head around a cargo container. He followed me? Kesh felt that the scytheclaw would start attacking any moment.

  "We are getting Blue."

  "Are you—"

  "Yes!" He shouted, jumping for the ladder. "Get this thing started up."

  "What are you going to do?" Jonica echoed down the corridor. "And who made you captain?"

  I think he is going to save his beast.

  Kesh ignored the shouting from Jonica in his head. He made his way through the cargo hold to the entry hatch. He pulled out his slug thrower and started to fire back at the Greenies. Guess I'm part of this now. "Blue! Get in here."

  The scytheclaw twisted his head one way, then back to those firing at the ship and his hiding area. He did his click-click-click and then a growling cough. Kesh leaned against the door, firing again and again. He heard the ship start up, the engines roaring in his ears. The Fedrat soldiers stopped for a moment. A second before he tried to find out what was going on, the loud rattling clack-clack-clack of an anti-personnel gun came to life. Kesh saw that it was aimed towards the Greenies and not Blue.

  "Come on you stupid lizard," Kesh shouted out. Blue jerked his head around and shot towards Kesh. Kesh slapped the mechanism to close the hatch as the ship lurched upwards. Kesh and Blue slid to one side and ended in a tangle. Kesh disentangled himself, feeling the air slice in front of him from the thick claw of the Blue's toe claw. "Calm down, Blue. Calm down." He placed his hands on Blue's neck and whispered to soothe the scytheclaw. He knew that the lizard wasn't used to confined spaces. "You'll be ok, Blue."

  Blue settled back and let out a mewling hiss. The scytheclaw closed his eyes. Kesh checked him over for injuries and was relieved to see nothing. He patted the scytheclaw on the flank. "I think I got us both into a heap of trouble, boy."

  You have no idea.

  "And, I still have the cat in my head."

  Until otherwise stated, you will for a long time.

  "Wonderful."

  "It isn't that
bad, once you get use to it," Jonica said through the ship's intercom. "Brace yourself, we're being chased."

  "Do you need a co-pilot?"

  Why would she need two, human?

  The ship tossed about as Jonica flew, causing Kesh on more than one occasion to grab onto the ladder to keep himself from flying. Blue, he secured with some baggage straps to keep him secure.

  Human, how is that pod?

  "It's fine." He danced around it as the pod skittered by him.

  Is it banging around?

  "A little."

  "Secure it!" Jonica and Meph screamed Kesh's head. He shook his head from the volume and went to grab the pod. Finally seeing it up close, Kesh realised it wasn't a normal cargo pod. Where the manifest screen should have been was a bio readout. "What in the Pit is this, Jonica?"

  "Busy right now, running from the Fedrats and—"

  The ship lurched, and Kesh felt his hair raise up from the static charge of the plasma blast. Smoke started to pour out of a stabilizer into the cargo bay. "I think they are trying to cripple and not—"

  The cargo is too precious for them to destroy. I am sure the Bitch ordered them to retrieve it all costs.

  "What is it?" Kesh asked, reaching out to touch the button.

  The bucking of the ship got worse and worse. For a moment, Kesh thought the ship would break up. And then he was floating for a half second until the artificial gravity kicked on and his "down" was the deck of the ship.

  "Don't touch it," Jonica shouted through the comms.

  "Why?"

  Listen to her, human.

  For half a heartbeat, Kesh wanted to ignore the cat and focused on the pod. His finger was right at the pod's latch when he was slammed backwards by something.

  Eight

  Kesh came to finding Jonica and Meph staring down at him. The screams of Blue from behind a closed door filled his ears. He stood up, Jonica helping him. "Careful, you really hurt your—"

  "Where's Blue?"

  "In one of the crew cabins. Don't worry, he's fine."

  "How?"

  Meph settled on his chest. Remember my "whammy?" He was docile enough for Jonica to shove him into one of the small cargo rooms.

  "He's freaking out. Can't you hear him?" He looked at Meph. "Can you try and calm him down a little?"

  Tried. He is beyond it.

  "Dammit," Kesh ran to the door. "Blue," he shouted. The scytheclaw stopped for a minute. "You have to calm down. Keep going like that, you'll hurt yourself. Calm down. I'm right here. It's ok." He turned and looked at them. "Where's my bag?"

  "If you're looking for meat, there isn't any left," Joncia said.

  "What do you mean?' Kesh asked, a slight panic in his eyes.

  "We used it to get him in there," Jonica said. "Meph kept it unconscious until we got it into the—"

  "His name is Blue."

  Jonica gave him a hard look.

  "We?" Kesh asked, looking at Jonica and Meph. "Who else?"

  Jonica pointed at the loader steamjack, powered down.

  Kesh opened his mouth to ask a question, then snapped it shut. He felt the strange pressure in his head. He jerked off his gauntlet and cursed. "Damn it, we're in mid-jump, aren't we?"

  "How did you know?" Jonica asked.

  He reached for his belt and realized the ordium clay was gone. The injector was there, but the vial was cracked and useless.

  "Where is my bag? I need it, now!"

  "Over there, what's wrong—"

  He ignored her. He went to the bag and pulled out a handful of the ordium clay he had taken from the crash site days ago. He pulled out a small canteen of water. He rolled some of the clay into a ball about the thickness of his thumb and dropped it into the canteen. He reached down to his belt and fished out the injector. He found a spare vial and took a breath to relax.

  The jump drive on the ship couldn't have been that big. But it was enough to get the ship moving faster than any conventional drive. It helped Man get to Centauri Prime in twenty years. But, then someone found the Gate at the edge of Pluto's orbit, and the first explorers met the first pioneers to Centauri, after waiting fifteen years. Jump drives also caused Eridani tech to get glitchy. He had had to do something similar when he had first escaped from the Eridani on the ship he had hidden on with his mother.

  "What are you doing?"

  "You shouldn't have jumped without telling me," Kesh said. "It accelerates it."

  "Accelerates what?" Joncia shouted, grabbing Kesh by the shoulders and pulling him around.

  He slipped from her grip, poured the slurry into the injector's glass vial. He mixed it, seeing it was a bit thick. "Best I can do for now." Hope it doesn't kill me.

  He felt Meph touch some memories. What are you talking about—

  Kesh turned to look at Meph. Stay out of there, cat. I will kill you slowly. Then, let Blue have his psi-cat snack.

  Meph pulled back as if slapped. The psi-cat turned, moving away with his head in the air. Very well.

  "What is in the pod?" Kesh asked.

  Jonica and Meph looked at each other. This time, Kesh heard them talking. Should we? Jonica asked.

  He will not stop asking.

  "You two realize I can hear you, right?"

  Jonica snapped her eyes to Kesh. "I know. I wanted you to know that we aren't hiding anything from you, fool." She then knelt by the pod and tapped in a series of buttons, putting in a code that opened that started the pod opening. "I only hope she's alright."

  "She?"

  The pod hissed open. Clouds of vapor poured out of the crate as its top slowly rose to a ninety-degree angle from the rest of the pod. Kesh looked down and let out a low whistle.

  Inside was a woman; a girl really. She was asleep, in night clothes. Clingy nightclothes.

  "Don't be a pervert."

  Kesh ignored her. "Pretty. Who is she?"

  "No idea," Jonica said, shrugging her shoulders.

  "Why does the Empress want her?" Kesh asked.

  "Her blood."

  "What?" Kesh looked up, "Why?"

  "Ever wonder why people call her the Blood Empress?"

  "She has sent her empire into battle after battle," Kesh said, though it came out more like a question.

  "Wrong. She drinks blood," Jonica said.

  "Slag. That's a myth," Kesh said. "They say it to make people hate her... well, more so."

  "Honest. Why do you think this girl is in suspended hibernation?"

  "No idea."

  The girl that they spoke over shot up into a sitting position and screamed, "They're coming!"

  Nine

  When Collector Torvash approached the blood-red marble-and-stone castle of the Empress's abode, ever may she reign, he felt naked. Though garbed in the full dark armor and cloak of the Collector, he felt something was off. He had heard rumours from the Rahl soldiers that there was someone missing. And that Collector Reince had failed to bring the crop in from the Sol sector.

  "Collector Torvash, you are on time," the majordomo said, squinting down at the archaic timepiece in his hands. The squat, malformed near-human was barely four feet tall. Inyen waited at the top of the steps leading into the palace proper. He looked up at Torvash with bugged-out eyes and his lower jaw thrust out with a massive underbite. "The Empress will be pleased that you are."

  Torvash gave a bow. "I serve at her pleasure." He wanted to ask the question, stopped, and then asked. Torvash felt his stomach churn as he spoke. "The Empress, ever may she reign, summoned me herself?"

  "Yes," the squat majordomo said while moving in his herkyjerky fashion down the hallway. Torvash's legs were longer and leaner, yet protocol demanded he stay behind the squat man. And he was unarmored and unarmed. His armor was exempt as was his orchiculcum blade. He thought that might be the reason for his fear. Then dismissed the thought.

  "Did she say anything about why?"

  "Collector Torvash," the majordomo stopped, turned and craned his squashed face upwards to pin Torva
sh with crossed eyes, "The Empress, ever may she reign, sometimes keeps council with me. Other times, my Mistress is as inscrutable as the galaxy. You will find out when you see her."

  Torvash sneered his lips at the majordomo. He hated dealing with the loathsome creature. His body had been in some accident having to do with one of the Progenitor Gates. He never asked. Yet, that is what was whispered throughout the Blood Palace.

  The long hallways had the smell of antiseptic and a layer of floral scents from the dozens of fresh roses and lilies that lined the walkway. He also saw the hidden forms as well. The bodyguards, the Bloodguard, hidden in the walls, their eyes on Torvash and the majordomo. None were trusted in the Blood Palace. Especially those closest to the Blood Empress, ever may she reign. Torvash schooled his mind, bringing into focus the koans to keep his mind from his Empress. It was a small pleasure she afforded him. He needed it, ever since what had happened on Rigel.

  The doors to her inner chamber were guarded by two men in gray. The Wolves of the Empress. Their unusual red eyes stared, unblinking, at the majordomo and Torvash. The lengths of black staves caused a tinge of fear to run down Torvash's spine. He had seen what the Wolves did with even a touch of their Empress's power in them. Their red orbs instead of eyes glazed at Torvash, even though they were the same height, Torvash felt as though the Wolf was staring down his nose at the Collector. "What is your business with the Empress?" One of the Wolves asked, his attention still on both Torvash and the majordomo.

  "Ever may she reign," everyone said.

  "I'm her majordomo, and this is Collector Torvash. Step aside Wolf," the squat man said, setting a hand on the doors. They opened with a touch, swinging inward on noiseless hinges. Torvash was still awed by the tech that kept them silent. The long red carpet led to the thick red stone throne that the Empress sat upon thirty meters away. She sat upon the throne with a grace that few before her bore. Torvash had started to serve as an errancy boy to her father, the Emperor Batorie, may he reign in the heavens. Yet the Empress, ever may she reign, was born to sit upon the hard, rough seat. She never showed a trace of discomfort, her poise always apparent, and her small hidden smile that Torvash saw was there. At least, from the little bit he did see. He never raised his eyes to her eyes.