The route from Sabrina and Ford's apartment to the Guardian's rooms was one Sabrina knew well; her roses had originally been housed there until they had outgrown the space. So she led the way, Ford walking beside her in silence.
As they left the building, he took her hand, holding it firmly in his. She could feel his anxiety along the link and realized that, as happy as he was to see his parents, their return heralded the end of the tenuous peace they had enjoyed the past five years. With a new Kyan advance in the works, not to mention expecting their second child, he was having a strong, unpleasant sense of deja vu. It didn't make her feel better to know she wasn't the only one.
Behind them, Tirqwin let out a long sigh. Then he said, "I had almost forgotten what walking on a planet is like. The smells, the sounds, the breeze—no artificial environment can really compare."
Sabrina hoped that at Tythir, Scotty was taking the opportunity for a starlit stroll, rediscovering the same things.
Ford said, "The charm fades after a few years, Father. Trust me."
"I suppose," Tirqwin replied, "we always long for what we do not have. Do not worry, Niavar. I am sure your talents will be much in demand in our efforts."
"Not in space," Ford said firmly. "Not until after the baby's born, at any rate."
"I cannot blame you for not wanting to endure another separation. I certainly prefer to avoid it," Tirqwin replied. "But our personal preferences may be a luxury we cannot indulge."
Ford kept his instinctive response silent. To give him time to calm down, Sabrina said, "Just tell me that whatever this plan is, Scotty didn't come up with it."
Tirqwin chuckled. "Not all of it, to be sure. Mara had a hand in it, and Nllata A'Patel added some creative flourishes. There is, however, not a consensus about our next steps among the Wayfarers who made the journey back."
"Oh, this should be good," Sabrina murmured. Ford gave a muffled snort and squeezed her hand again.
They entered the building housing the Guardian's apartment a few minutes later and followed the sounds of the royal family up the stairs. As they entered the reception room, they were greeted by Seuréa, who grabbed Sabrina's arm. "Sabrina, Mama says I may stay with you. I can, can't I?"
"Of course," Sabrina said, surprised. She had assumed Mara would reclaim custody of her daughter and take over her training.
Seuréa turned to Ford. "I'll be good, I promise."
"You better be," he teased her. "Mother's not taking you back?"
"She won't be here. She has a lot to do with the Realm," Seuréa replied. "But she said she would teach me some healing so I can help people. I asked her to show me what to do for Nera and Corbin's mother, and she said she would before she left."
A wave of relief washed over Sabrina. "That was kind of you."
Seuréa grinned. "If things are going to get crazy again, Liara's going to need help, right?" She sobered. "I want to help this time."
"You helped last time," Ford reminded her. "You helped get rid of the Kyan ships."
"But I couldn't help all the people who got hurt, and I want to." Seuréa looked determined. "I can do more this time. And I will."
Sabrina couldn't help remembering some of Mara's more willful moments during her training and suppressed a shudder. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity to learn more, now that Mara's back. She can teach you all the things I don't know how to do." I could learn healing myself, she realized. It had always seemed too delicate to attempt without guidance, but with Mara home, she could learn with Seuréa.
A tug at her awareness startled her, and she realized that Mara was calling for everyone's attention. She'd never realized Mara used the Crystal like that before.
"Let us go through to dinner," Mara instructed. "You may not be hungry, but I have not had fresh food in five years, and I am famished."
How did they deal with the lack of raw materials for producing food and spare parts? Ford wondered as they went through to the dining room.
Leave it to you to wonder about the footnotes, Sabrina thought, amused. She was pretty sure the answer would turn out to be Mara and her ability to transform and transport matter via the Great Crystal.
They seated themselves at the long table in the Guardian's dining room, arranging themselves by precedence out of long habit. Mara sat at the head, with Seuréa at her right hand and Baldaran on her left. Ford and Sabrina sat immediately beside Baldaran, while Acting First Chair Aboulrawn sat beside Seuréa. Prime Minister Betharn, who had arrived in their absence, sat on Sabrina's other side, with Commander Rigeon following. The other royal siblings sat in descending order of age down to the foot where Tirqwin was. A smaller table near the back of the room accommodated the staff, including the King's secretary, a military aide probably accompanying Rigeon, and one of the First Chair's staff in addition to Liara, Marvan, and Terel.
Sabrina caught sight of Marie, whose mental disability caused by a Kyan parasite had lessened somewhat due to diligent research and experimentation. She was still not the bright, lively girl she had been, but she was able to learn now and care for herself. Tirqwin spoke quietly to her, and she responded to him with only a little hesitation, Sabrina was glad to see.
The servers were all Baldaran's, Sabrina noticed. The Guardian's staff had been mostly on leave the past five years, and it would doubtless take some time to assemble them again.
She dug into the soup a split second before Mara did, causing Ford to chuckle inwardly as he noticed Baldaran blink in surprise. Ford leaned over and whispered to his brother, "She's pregnant. Don't get between her and food."
Baldaran smiled. "Congratulations, and noted. You've displayed your usual sense of timing, I see."
"I'm not taking the blame for this," Ford said. "We'll talk later."
Aboulrawn looked impatient, and after he finished his soup, he must have remembered that royal protocol didn't apply to the Guardian. "Guardian, may I ask whether you intend to convene a Council of the Realm?"
"There is no time," Mara replied. "I shall go to each of the Realm worlds instead and inform them of the situation and what we ask of them. I will go back in time for each trip and thus accomplish them all at once, from your perspective."
"I hope not before you preside over the funeral for my predecessor," he replied.
Mara nodded. "Yes. That must be done as soon as possible so that you may be formally installed. I assume by this time you have re-excavated Giandrah and retrieved Aunt Imari's remains?"
"Yes. The arrangements have all been made; we have lacked only your presence."
"Excellent. I will confer with my Chief Attendant tomorrow, but I hope to have the ceremony in a matter of days," Mara said. She paused to allow the servers to clear the soup dishes and present the main course. "In the meantime, I will speak to the people of Praxatillus. With His Majesty's permission, of course."
"My communications staff are at your disposal," Baldaran said. "I assume you will want Commander Rigeon to put the system on a war footing?"
"You are not already?" Mara sounded surprised.
"We stood down three years ago. It is difficult to sustain such a resource-intensive posture over a long period when no activity justifies it. We have not returned to normal life as most of us knew it, but we have begun to participate in joint activities again. We helped rebuild Avestar, and some of our military assets are helping with the blockade of Reissian space while our intelligence is assisting Homeworld with assessing and eliminating Kyan assets there."
Mara nodded in approval. "Excellent. So it is mostly the incoming Kyan we will need to concern ourselves with."
Rigeon nodded. "We have confined the Kyan we know about within Reissian space, with Homeworld's help."
"What do you know of the Kyan's intentions for the Reissians?" Mara asked.
Rigeon paused a moment. "We have not been able to confirm their purpose, but we believe they have absorbed the Reissians' knowledge of the races of our galaxy, as well as our technology. Of course, they also have control of the Reissian military, which they have attempted to use in conquering other systems. However, to date, Realm and Homeworld forces have been able to repel them. It appears the Kyan have not attempted to retrofit Reissian ships and armaments with their own technology, whether because of a lack of raw materials, or because they fear rebellion."
Betharn said, "If that should change, we would face a real danger of defeat."
Ford said, "I've been in communication with Homeworld's analysts via our embassy there. The technology the Kyan used to create the Way that almost destroyed us has been a main focus for them. In studying the wreckage of the Kyan ships in our orbit, they have discovered that the kind of crystal the Kyan use is not known to exist in our galaxy. Their inability to replenish their crystal supply may be the limiting factor."
Mara nodded. "Once we learned to access and interpret their ship's systems, we discovered as much. Unfortunately, the one we intercepted was a troop carrier and did not contain crystal other than as part of its drive. Still, we will be able to continue studying that—or at least, Homeworld will. There must be other ships carrying supplies. We must be on the lookout for them."
Rigeon's comlink pinged, and she excused herself from the table to murmur into it. After a moment, she returned. "A fleet of Wayfarer repair ships has arrived and is asking to enter orbit. I have given permission."
Tirqwin stood. "I must be aboard Khediva. I will return as soon as I can."
He vanished, and Mara nodded. "Good. We will not need to inform Homeworld of our plans—their own Wayfarers will do that for us."
Ford said, "What is the plan, Mother? The Realm—the entire galaxy, really—is already on alert. The Kyan would find it difficult to take anyone by surprise at this point."
Mara nodded. "Forewarned is not necessarily forearmed, but our plan is considerably more ambitious than defense. The information we gleaned from the Kyan ship included its point of origin."
Silence fell as the implications dawned on them all. Sabrina felt Ford stiffen beside her and hoped she didn't look as terrified as she felt.
Baldaran said, "So you plan to take the war to them?"
Mara nodded. "We have their troop carrier; we will fill it with our own forces and penetrate the very heart of their space. The Wayfarers believe their own Way capabilities can be used to disrupt Kyan space enough to give us a fighting chance, and of course I will be there as well."
Into the stunned silence that followed, Seuréa said, "And me!"
"No." Mara shook her head. "The Realm must not be left undefended. You will remain here to defend our galaxy, with Sabrina's help."
Sabrina didn't need to ask to know that Ford's role would be with the invasion force—his studies on Homeworld and extensive knowledge of crystal-based technology made it inevitable. The thought of being a galaxy away from him made her struggle to breathe, and her heart began to pound.
Calm down, Ford thought to her, alarmed. I'm not going anywhere. I told you.
For a few months at least, she thought back. It would take time to assemble the force Mara was referring to; their separation was not imminent. But after the baby's born, you'll have to go. You were practically born for this.
No, Ford thought angrily. I'm not going to miss my children growing up. I'm not going to come home and have them not remember me, like Scotty.
Baldaran asked, "How long will the intergalactic journey take? I thought there were no Ways."
"Not as we previously understood them," Mara said. "Their crystal technology appears to work very differently, using a kind of sympathetic resonance to fold space. It requires a Kyan crystal source at both ends."
Rigeon frowned. "That would seem to indicate their arrival point will be in Reissian space."
"There may also be arrival points on uninhabited systems," Mara said. "A small amount remains on Lillavani, where we initially encountered the scouting party. We were able to use that to re-route ourselves. From there, I transported us into Praxatillus' orbit."
Rigeon nodded. "So we should monitor that system. I'll see to it."
"Thank you." Mara nodded. "With His Majesty's permission, I would like to assemble our expeditionary force in Praxatillus' system, rather than move the Kyan ship again."
Baldaran said, "Naturally. I wonder whether Homeworld might prefer to host it, however. Their borders have been more secure than ours."
"I will leave that to you and Homeworld to work out," Mara said. "I am not at all sure it is possible to move the Kyan ship into Homeworld space under its own power; I felt resistance when transporting it here. But the Wayfarers will sort that out among themselves." She paused, then looked at Sabrina. "We will need Niavar and Sabrina here to help Seuréa with the defense of the Realm, and also as our escape route if needed. I could not draw on the Crystal outside our galaxy to any great extent. I am hopeful that we can construct and maintain a connection for this journey. We will work to confirm that during my travels."
Sabrina nodded. "I've made some progress while you were gone, but I have so much to learn."
Mara smiled. "After all you taught me, it will be my pleasure to teach you. And I look forward to seeing what Seuréa can do."
The conversation turned to travel logistics, and after a while, Sabrina began to feel sleepy. Ford scooted his chair closer so he could put an arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.
Sleeping for two, he thought, amusement coloring his fond thought. Do you want to go back to our apartment?
I'm not falling asleep, she argued. Just resting. Just for a second.
All right, he replied. She could tell he was indulging her, so she poked him with her elbow.
A minute later, she was sound asleep.