"Found you! Found you!"
The alien woman danced with an awkward ridged form, despite seeming to swim through the atmosphere of her nest. Her frustrations had been increasing as she had failed to find her beloved one within the sector of space considered the territory of the Alliance. She had infiltrated their government and scoured their identification files, but nothing had piqued her interest. So she had begun to cast her web across her near neighbour, only to wonder... he had been royalty in his last life, perhaps he had been reborn in a similar position. It was hardly logical, It had told her with heavy sarcasm, but she had raised an invasion force and sent it towards the one place in this galaxy known to raise royalty; The Empire's Cherok.
Weaving through the coils, she sought out the place where his signature had been last heard. Her delight turned sour as the signals scattered about his location were silenced one by one. She frowned.
"My love, just let me in," she whispered, but the ploy of using the survivors that destroyed her initial invasion force failed. Her pleas fell unheard. She sounded out her frustration, her minions wincing as the heard her sensory screams. "Prepare a new invasion force!" She demanded. "Separate it into three and invade Imperial space."
*Ah such a thing is not possible at this precise time. Many nanochips were destroyed by the Imperial Warships.*
"Then how long do we require?" She asked, grinding her teeth together.
*Seventy two hours should suffice.*
"Then I'll leave it to you."
*****
Guran was lead through the ship by Law to an empty cabin, though they were not too far apart from Luck who was still in near choke hold of his aunt, two cabins down. The chips that had made up his life pod followed him. He hadn't told his lover yet, but Yin had taken over the chip inside his skull and reprogrammed it. Now he could control a small amount of the chips as well as evade the Queen's control, though he could still hear the echoes of her whims. He had bided his time, following her instructions as if he was just another minion until the opportune time came to escape. He almost had not made it when it finally came!
Naturally this ability of his, to control the chips, though it was no way on par with that of the Queen, made the crew and survivors uncomfortable. Were it not for the twins, he'd have been killed long ago. As he wasn't entirely trusted, he was given the cabin to himself, but it would be locked from the outside while he was in it. The imperials were given two other rooms with the exception of Jezmi, who had to share with one of the female Pirates.
Law unlocked the cabin door and allowed Guran to enter first, before he followed, locking the door behind them. Then he pulled Guran's head down slightly so he could claim the soft plumb lips.
Wah! Brother! That feels strange!
Bear with it, Luck, please. It's been sixteen years, let me have this one moment! It won't be more than a kiss, I swear.
****
A frown marred Jezmi's forehead, not because of the small quarters nor because she would have to share; she had had plenty of experience with such as an ensign of the military many years ago. Her thoughts were focuses elsewhere. "What is it, sweetheart?" Jezmi asked, worriedly, as she noticed Luck's flushed face. She placed her hand upon his forehead. "Are you alright? Do you a fever?" His temperature felt normal.
"I-I'm okay, ma'am," Luck attempted to smile, but it felt weird when his lips were tingling this way. He covered his mouth with his hand, the strangeness had spread to his tongue!
"You should call me Aunty Jezmi, Luck," she smiled warmly, but the edge of the smile was lost as a thought crossed her mind. "Ugh, he could have given you a better name."
Luck tilted his head and swallowed the excessive saliva in his mouth before saying; "But I like my name."
"Well, it's easy enough to remember, I suppose," Jezmi allowed, reluctantly. She glanced at the open cabin door. "Where is your brother, should he not be back by now?"
"Ah!" Luck gasped slightly and reddened further. "I'll go get him!" He fled the cabin towards where he knew his brother and Guran were and banged on the locked door. "Brother!" The door opened and allowed him to witness the dishevelled appearance of the two youths.
Law looked slightly sheepish and apologised to his brother, but he still held Guran's hand in his. It made Luck's heart ache slightly, but he did not understand why. Guran whispered something in his brother's ear, but naturally he heard it. "Go and stop acting so out of character!"
"Can't I claim that it was love at first sight?" Law asked with a pout. Guran held back a burst of laughter, his eyes filled with delight yet tinged with a hint of sadness, but shook his head.
"Next time," he murmured and pushed the boy out of the cabin.
*****
Although the Empire's head was officially his Imperial Majesty Absyrtus Xiang Li, his position was figurative; he did not rule his Empire. Instead the Empire was run by political parties, namely the Militant Party, which was the largest force in government and had been since the Empire was taken from its useless monarch's clutches some thousand years past. Opposing them, though with a small voice, were the Royalists who firmly believed in the power of the Imperial family and the even smaller voice of the Democrats, who cried out for the concept of democracy. The Militant Party did not really need to tolerate these two groups at all, so firm was their grasp of power, however they were not so dictorial that another point of view was refused, even if they would later choose to ignore it.
All three parties convened when the summons came for an emergency government meeting, where Aldon Krause of the Militant Party gave his report.
"And you are simply accepting the words of this enemy double agent?" Dameon Stavropoulous of the Royalists, sneered. The man had tiny beady eyes and a pointed chin and positively loathed the Krause family. He had happened to have been one of the suitors for the Welhaven's first daughter, but not only was he snubbed, the family had not discussed any marriage possibility with their second daughter and himself either. He had been overjoyed when the woman had 'walked out' on Krause and even savoured the news when her death was later announced.
Aldon's unemotional, cold demeanour did not alter under his questioning. "What we have been informed ties in with what our agents within Alliance space have reported," he said simply.
"But if what you say is true," Stavropoulous pointed out, "Then your agents could have also been compromised and been feeding you false reports. Then all this persons words would amount to scare mongering!"
There were jeers from the other Royalists, but the Democrats chose to remain silent. "Ah and so what would the Royalists have us do?" Ieremias Badjie, a newer member of the Militant Party asked.
"That is simple," Stavropoulous replied. "Bring this informant in for questioning."
"The estimated time for the invading fleet to reach our borders is less than seventy two hours," Aldon repeated this from his report. "Our informant would not reach us in time before this deadline is up." This last part was a lie, he did not actually know how far the man named Guran Vi Du was from the planet on which government convened, but the man before him infuriated him.
"How convenient," the Royalist laughed without mirth. "So say you redirect our forces to intercept this so called invading fleet, what of the Imperial Capital? What of our border with the League? Are you willing to let both be unprotected?"
"So called invading fleet..." Badjie echoed his words. "Please, honourable gentleman, what would you have called the megalith that descended upon us just hours ago and caused the annihilation of many scouts, battleships and warships?"
"I am not questioning reports from the brave survivors of our border fleet," Stavropoulous allowed, "nor am I demeaning the sacrifices of the heroic men and women who stopped that anomaly. I am simply requesting that we do not act on hearsay and investigate the situation thoroughly."
"Ah so the Royalist Party would have us wait and see what shows up on our doorstep," Badjie jeered. "If in seventy two hours something shows up on our border, we'll be sure to ask them to wait nicely, while you finish your investigations."
"That is not what I suggested at all!" There were roars of complaints from the Royalists and cries of condemnation from the Militant Party.
"Captain Jezmi Welhaven," Aldon's voice strengthen by his psychic ability rose above the crowd, causing it to calm. Stavropoulous winced lightly at the name. "Commander Judan Uster, Lieutenant Karvel Minevicias, Ensign Tobias Kutrz, Ensign Sholan Myrrh. These five were the only survivors of the ships that felt their only choice was to self destruct inside the belly of the beast. They have all vouched for the informant, who was a simple university student before this happened. He had to watch as the will of others was stolen away from them, to be controlled by the entity known as Queen, including that of his own mother. His identity checks out. His background checks out. It is in official records that he was at the dig site that he claimed unearthed these nanochips. Would you like to compromise the safety of the Empire on the off chance that his words and our investigations are false? Or would you prefer that I, Aldon Krause, kneel and polish your shoes should we make a move to protect our borders and all remains peaceful after the deadline?"
There was a deathly silence following his words. Stavropoulous cough echoed in the chambers. "Now, now, I would not go that far..." although he would be the first to admit that he would enjoy that.
"The Democrats chooses to align with the Militant Party," Merida Ambraska piped up. The two larger parties glanced over at her, she reddened slightly under their scrutiny, but stood tall. "I know that doesn't count for much, our power here is weak, but our party stands for democracy, giving the people a voice and a vote. If this Queen succeeds in her invasion, the people will never have a voice to speak freely with again."
Her small voice made a deep impact and the Royalists stood reluctantly down. They also knew that their Emperor would never rise to power if this Queen took control. They would concede... for now.
Aldon Krause thanked the speaker for the Democrats, the woman blushed a little deeper and smiled. It felt good to be heard. Then, the Militant Party began to plan how best to confront their enemy.