Saint (Gateway Series Book 2) (6 page)

Astra saw smiles of ambitious pride spread across the faces of Julius and Marcus.

“But patience will be the key,” she repeated. “And one day you’ll be rulers of your own worlds within the eternal Humani Empire.”

Chapter 5

Stone sat impatiently in one of the main briefing rooms adjacent to the command suite onboard the Terillian battleship
Winter Moon
along with Mori and most of the team. He could tell he was not the only one growing restless. Henry River, Mori, and Cassandra Orion each displayed their own subconscious idiosyncrasies. Henry, his war paint removed and his hair in two braids, sat on the edge of his chair with his head down and his feet fidgeting back and forth, up and down. Orion kept trying to smooth out the wrinkles in her uniform. Since rejoining the Terillian cause in earnest, she had been returned to her former rank of flight captain and was still getting used to her new wardrobe. Mori, also without her paint but with her hair free flowing over her shoulders, sat across from Stone and was repetitiously running her right hand through her raven-black hair.

Thay and Sandwick seemed much less concerned. Sandwick sat leisurely in a chair reading a digital letter from his father. Thay was asleep.

“Where’s Rickover and TC?” Stone asked Orion, more out of boredom than actual concern.

“What?” replied Orion. Stone could tell she hadn’t been focusing on his voice.

“Rickover and TC?”

“Oh, yeah,” recovered Orion. “Well TC’s too damn big for these chairs, or this room, and Rickover—well, he’s Rickover.”

Stone knew the answer but at least it broke the monotony of the wait. He looked toward Mori.

“And Katalya and—”

“They didn’t want to wait,” interjected Mori before he could finish. She was clearly tired of waiting too.

Stone had leaned back into his chair to continue the wait when suddenly a door opened and a Terillian general stepped forward. Instinctually, Stone came to attention. With perfect military bearing, he stood motionless. And then he let his eyes glance around the room. Everyone else was still sitting. Slowly relaxing himself, he looked toward Mori.

“Uh, Tyler.” Mori smiled, her cheeks flushed. “We don’t do that.”

Stone put his hands on the table and slowly took his seat. He looked to Thay, who had awakened just in time to see Stone’s faux pas. Thay returned Stone’s glance with an audible laugh. Stone clearly still had a lot to learn about the Terillian military.

“Ino’ka, Ohcumgache, and Pácanšihuta, we are ready to hear your request,” replied the general calling Mori, Henry, and Orion by their Akota names.

“Yes, Uncle,” replied Mori as she and the others rose. At least Stone knew the Terillians used “uncle” as a sign of respect.

Stone rose to join them.

“Tyler,” said Mori as she put her arm out to stop him. “It’s just the Akota. I should have explained to you before.”

Stone’s blood rushed to his head and his hands started to perspire.

“It’s okay,” replied Stone. But it wasn’t. He hadn’t been left out of a military briefing since he was a lieutenant.
How could the Terillian military be so different?
he thought. Leaning in to Mori, he whispered gently in her ear. “You owe me a crash course on Terillian military etiquette.”

“Of course, Tyler,” replied Mori with a smile.

Stone gave her a cold stare; it was starting to not be funny anymore. Looking squarely at Mori, Stone could see she understood.

“And I’m sorry,” she added.

Stone watched as the three Akota walked into the command suite. As the doors shut, Stone turned to face Thay and Sandwick, both of whom were staring directly at him. Judging. Again, an embarrassed and defeated Stone skulked his way back to his chair and sat.

“You really don’t know much about us, do you?” asked Sandwick.

“It’s odd that in only a few hundred years, you Hanmani have completely forgotten yourselves. Perhaps the shame of defeat made it easier,” added Thay.

Anger enveloped him. He knew Thay disliked him, and Stone was quickly growing to hate him as well. How could Mori and this psychopath be of the same people?

“I think it’s time someone knocked that smartass smirk off your face,” Stone shot back as he overtly gripped his sword.

Thay sprung from his chair, presenting his tomahawk. “Let’s see you try, Humani.”

Stone could hear the sound of Thay squeezing the leather grip of his tomahawk.

“Stop it!” shouted Sandwick as he put his hand over Thay’s and gently directed the warrior to lower his tomahawk. “Thayendanegea, your hatred for our enemy has clouded your perspective. This Humani,” Sandwick shot a glance toward Stone, “has given up his entire world when he realized the truth. You, of anyone given the power of kinship among the Haudenosaun, must understand—what if you had to face friends and family as enemies?” Sandwick turned toward Stone briefly. “Haudenosaun is what the Iroqua call themselves.”

Stone had not heard Sandwick say more than two sentences in the two months he had known him. Now the floodgates had opened to support Stone.

“Thank you, Sandwick,” replied Stone.

“And you, Stone,” countered Sandwick sternly. “You’re a skilled warrior, but I can see the doubt in you at every turn. Doubt will not only get you killed but us as well and I’m not ready to die yet. You’re fooling yourself if you think you can live with one foot in the Humani world and one in ours. You know the truth. You know you are of our people and that the Xen took that away from you. Simply embrace your heritage and pick a damn side.”

Sandwick’s words hit Stone like a brick. He knew he had to fight against the Xen to save his people, but he had been consumed emotionally with indecision and doubt. Stone so badly wanted his universe to be black and white but he was awash in a sea of gray. And he needed to get his shit together.

“You’re right Sandwick,” replied Stone. “I’ve endangered you and caused you to lose faith in me. I will regain your trust. I just don’t know how in your…our…this culture.”

Sandwick chuckled in a combination of frustration and pity.

“It’s not
a
culture, Stone. The Terillian are Iroqua, Akota, Siksika, Powhats, Numinu, and Quapaw—each with our own culture and history. We are simply allies in the Confederation.”

“Allies and cousins,” added Thay. “You, and all the Humani, are part of this history, part of the Confederation of the People.”

Stone was realizing just how little he knew about the Terillians and himself. “Mori had told me that our ancestors were from the Iroqua and Akota.”

“He must undergo the Dance or the Requickening,” concluded Thay.

Stone looked toward Thay. His normal anguished face was replaced by a clenched jaw and a reflective, far-off gaze of contemplation.

“What are those?” asked Stone.

“The right ceremony may cleanse you of the Xen pollution and remove the doubt that clouds your spirit,” answered Sandwick.

“If you accept it,” added Thay.

“Ceremony. What is it? How do I know which one?”

“We can’t tell you about the ceremonies, not until we know which one you will go through,” said Thay. “If you’re Akota, it will be the Dance. If Iroqua, the Requickening.”

“And then it’s the duty of the
wichasa wakhan
or the False Faces depending on the ceremony,” added Sandwick.

“So a DNA test will tell me which one?” asked Stone.

“No,” replied Sandwick, exhaling deeply. “It’s not your DNA, Stone. It’s about your vision.”

“My vision?”

“You must go before the holy men and they will help you to have your vision. From there, you’ll know what to do,” said Sandwick.

Stone was at the same time hopeful and skeptical. He had to do something to put his mind right with his choices. But how much could he rely on the Terillian—or Akot—or Iroqu—whatever…How much could he rely on some spiritual mumbo-jumbo to solve his problem? The picture of the Terillian Confederation he had grown up with was a combination of lies, stereotypes, and half-truths. He realized that until this point he had simply hoped to use the Terillians to save his own civilization. But now, the truth—so clear the whole time—finally sank in. In fact it was like a bolt of lightning. The Humani civilization wasn’t his; it was a fallacy. A trick. A cruel deception by conquerors that had in fact taken his and his entire planet’s culture away from them. He was Terillian.

“When can I do this?” asked Stone eagerly.

“Easy, Stone,” interjected Thay. “I can tell you are serious about this and it is good. But things must be done first, people must be consulted.

“Mori?” replied Stone.

“Among others,” answered Sandwick. “You are her mate and as an Akota she must seek permissions and…”

“Why hasn’t she done so already?” asked Stone. He was now concerned that he was having this conversation with Sandwick and Thay instead of Mori.

“That is for you and her to discuss,” replied Thay. “The Akota are, well, different when it comes to kinship. And neither Sandwick nor I would presume to understand the intricacies, especially since her father is dead and she has no uncles or brothers.”

“Don’t forget,” added Sandwick. “There are things about each culture that you will not know unless you are part of it. It’s not for us to know why, when, or if Mori will discuss this with you or what she must do beforehand.” He shrugged, then continued, “But she’s also a female warrior. And a Ka-itsenko—very rare. And complicated.”

“I think the Akota call it strong medicine,” said Thay. “Lots of people, important people, will be watching what happens because she is involved.”

Suddenly Stone realized his relationship with Mori might be more complicated than the politics involving his engagement to Astra.
Leave it to me to fall for the most complicated woman in the Terillian Confederation
.

Realizing he wasn’t going to get much more out of the two but desperately wanting to capitalize on their willingness to talk, Stone changed the subject.

“Why couldn’t we go into the briefing?” he asked.

“This is an Akota ship,” answered Sandwick. “Each ship, except command ships for large fleets, is made up of troops from the same people.”

“Are they different, the ships? I’ve only seen the same classes of ships.”

“You really don’t know the big picture do you?” asked Thay as he leaned forward in his chair toward Stone.

A wave of uncertainty passed over him with Thay’s question.

“I guess not.”

“With the exception of the Scout Rangers, which is open to all that qualify, every
Terillian
you or the Humani have faced have been Akota.”

“But the First Terillian War?” asked a stunned Stone.

“From your perspective, all Akota,” answered Sandwick. “The entire Dark Zone is dotted with former Akota colonies and Alpha Humana was the most remote.”

“With a small band of Iroqua included as part of a Confederation agreement,” added Thay.

“From my perspective?”

“There was no ‘first’ war,” said Sandwick. “We have been in continuous conflict with the Xen and their allies for over 300 years. The Siksika and the Numinu have been fighting the Dorans from the beginning. The Powhats have provided equipment, logistical support, and at times allowed entry into the Rangers. The Quapaw allow individual clans to fight with the Siksika. And the Iroqua nation—”

“The Iroqua have so far chosen only to allow individual warriors to fight,” grumbled Thay.

“Just the Akota?” Stone was dumfounded.

“Since this sector affected only the Akota and their colonies, it was they who agreed to the Accords and the creation of the Dark Zone as well,” said Sandwick.

“Because my people didn’t come to their aid when it was needed,” muttered Thay.

“Maybe this time it will be different,” replied Sandwick in a conciliatory voice.

“Perhaps. But until they do, we’ll be stuck in this eternal stalemate.”

Stone suddenly felt very small. The war that he thought to be the biggest war in the history of the galaxy didn’t even include all of the Terillians.

“Are they that important?”

“The Iroqua joining the war would almost double the size of our fleet and increase our forces under arms by 75 percent.”

“Then why haven’t they joined?”

“The Akota are holding the line in this sector, my people and the Numinu are keeping the Dorans bottled up, and the Jukaro effectively remove any threat from their sector.”

“The Jukaro?” inquired Stone. “Another Terillian civilization?”

“No,” replied Thay. “They lay on one of the far edges of the Dark Zone. The Xen attacked them about 100 years ago and were stopped dead in their tracks.”

“The Akota and Powhats tried to ally with them but they refused. The Powhats have occasional contact with them through an embassy but basically they want no part of this war but are strong enough to repel anything the Xen can throw at them,” added Sandwick.

And Stone’s world continued to shrink.

“I think that’s about all the reality I can handle right now,” said Stone. In the last ten minutes, the world he no longer understood had become even more complicated. He sat back into his chair and tried to come to grips with his new place in the universe. After the revelations of Thay and Sandwick exponentially complicated his relationship with Mori and changed his entire perspective on the conflict between the Xennite Empire and the Terillian Confederation, Stone was glad the room had again become silent.