Shades of Gray (14 page)

K’hedduk’s lips parted in a hiss of rage. There were already too many of the peasants about for his peace of mind, but only they had the mechanical and electrical expertise needed to repair the ancient defenses. Without them up and running, until his Generals and their Warriors arrived in six weeks, he was wide open to any counterattack. All the relays for the force field had proved to need rewiring, and the turrets were clogged with a mixture of sand and rust and needed to be dismantled and repaired. At least the Command codes to activate them—long assumed to be obsolete—had been accessible.

“Draft more of them to search the City again, and have my troops replace them where possible in the Palace, Kezain,” he ordered. “Question the medical scientists and the lab staff. They worked closely with the aliens.”

Overhead, the lights began to flicker, then dimmed, casting the Council chamber into a sepia half-light.

“That’ll be them checking the power circuits, Majesty,” said Szayil, Director of Power. “The cables for the force field relays are ancient, as you know ...” he tailed off into silence under K’hedduk’s angry gaze.

A nervous tapping at the door drew their attention to it. An aide slipped in, murmuring vague apologies while sketching a bow toward K’hedduk, then hurried over to Szayil.

He watched as Kezain surreptitiously wiped the sweat from his face and Szayil began to visibly pale. From outside, he heard a sudden burst of raucous music playing over the public address system. Thankfully, the walls muted it.

Szayil glanced across the table at his colleagues, then gestured the aide over to them. Face almost white, he then rose to his feet.

“Majesty, I must leave. There’s a—situation developing that needs my personal attention.”

“I suggest you tell me now what’s happening,” he said, keeping his temper with an effort. Fear scent assailed him from both sides of the room now as two more counselors got to their feet and the aide tried to back out of the chamber as inconspicuously as possible. The Primes were a spineless breed, and he despised them, but for now, they were all he had.

“There’s been power failures in several areas of the Palace, Majesty. Communications are down, and the water-pumping station has gone off-line. My colleagues and I must see to it now.”

“We expected some problems, Majesty,” said Lazkoh. “We’re trying to rebuild an ancient system without replacements . . .”

“We have enough water in storage for three days,” Lazkoh hurriedly reassured him. “Parts are being manufactured and delivered by the U’Churians in ...”

K’hedduk raised his hand abruptly, silencing them all. “Don’t drown me in details and justifications, just get it fixed! And someone, get that damned music turned off!” He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up.

“Communications are a priority; get them restored first. I must be able to contact the fleet. Why haven’t the backup generators cut in?” he demanded.

Szayil looked confused. “We have no backup generators, Majesty. Never, in living memory, have we had power failures before. It comes from two sources, atomic and solar. For both to be drained is unheard of.”

K’hedduk took a deep breath. As his hands clenched on the tabletop, he could feel his nails biting into the wooden surface.

“This Palace was originally a military Command Center, built to defend itself and its Royal family. Right now, even a day-old female hatchling could break in! I want emergency lighting and communications up within two hours, Szayil! Route power from other areas if you have to! Report to me then—I’ll be in the Artisan’s Quarter. You’re all dismissed.”

Fuming, he headed down the corridor to the elevator, aware of the sudden increase in temperature as the air-conditioning broke down. There would be changes made here, by all that was holy! It was time the home world was returned to its former glory.

Realizing he was outpacing his gene-altered guards, he slowed his steps as he came level with the first of the Royal statues. Some of his anger dissipated as he passed it. Already all the statues in the Palace had had their heads replaced with his own likeness instead of that of the previous Emperor. There would be time enough to commission new ones; for now it was more important that those that existed bore his image to remind the rabble in the Palace and the City that he was now the God-King.

“Power failures and brownouts?” echoed Carrie, who had joined them.

Zsurtul nodded. “I was able to tamper with the local communications too. At present, they can’t reach the fleet, nor can they communicate with the nearby towns that provide the industries they’ll be using to replace cabling and worn-out parts for the ancient defenses.”

“Music, too. Don’t forget the music,” Valden grinned, bouncing lightly from one foot to the other, tail swaying enthusiastically.

“Music?” echoed Kaid.

“Playing over their P.A. at random times. Not that they had anything decent, but I chose what Zsurtul said was martial music—nice and loud.”

“What you did might seem amusing,” said Carrie angrily, “but if they discover someone’s been hacking their system from a distance, they’ll know it was us!”

“No, Carrie,” said Zsurtul, reaching out to touch her arm briefly in reassurance. “They won’t find out. We’ve made it look like the system is old and degrading on its own. It wasn’t difficult, because it is.” He pulled a wry face, a very Human gesture. “It’s one of the things that needs to be replaced urgently.”

“It will be, Zsurtul,” Kaid assured him. “We won’t be leaving K’oish’ik until you’re as impregnable as we can make you. Kezule wants the asteroid, Kij’ik, towed into orbit over the capital. It’ll be a major asset to your planetary defenses.”

“Indeed,” agreed the young Emperor, his expression lightening. “It may even mean the General will stay on K’oish’ik this time.”

Carrie tried not to glance meaningfully at Kaid, but Zsurtul noticed just the same.

“You’re wrong. General Kezule won’t try to rule through me,” he said in a tone they were beginning to recognize. “He refused to be my father’s chief adviser and head of what we called our military. This time, I hope he will not refuse me, especially in light of what happened when he left.”

Was that a note of censure I heard?
Carrie sent to Kaid.

Possibly, but he’s certainly stopped any further discussion on the subject,
Kaid replied, his mental tone wry.
Seems to me we gave him the right military training in leadership skills that his father lacked. However, he’s a little too astute to be relying on what he knows about our body language. I think there may be some truth in Toueesut’s belief our princeling has some mental abilities.

“We’re finished here,” Zsurtul interrupted, moving away from the console. “Shall we adjourn to the rec lounge?”

“By all means,” said Kaid smoothly.
He’s taken the whole situation very neatly out of our hands.

“We also messed up their orders for cables and stuff,” said Valden with a laugh. “That K’hedduk is going to be so mad when he finds out. It’ll look like a comp error, of course.”.

Kaid stopped suddenly and turned on the youth. “You are not to go off and do anything on your own, do you hear me? Any bright ideas, come to me! I’m not having you risking everything for the joy of pulling a fast one on K’hedduk and his people!”

“Of course I won’t,” huffed Valden. “I don’t know why you’d think I would. I’m working with Prince Zsurtul now.”

Carrie opened her mouth to reprimand him, but Kaid stopped her with a mental
Don’t
.
You’ll only make it worse.
He moved aside to let Valden out.

“We smile and put up with it—for now,” he muttered to her as they followed the two youngsters out.

Kuushoi was angry, and she knew it showed in the way she held herself as she strode imperiously through the bushes, tail lashing angrily, until she found her sister.

“Why did you take him?” she demanded. “You had no right! He was to be with me another two days! Winter is
my
season, he belongs to me!”

Ghyakulla turned a faintly surprised face to her, flicking her ears in a Sholan negative.

“What do you mean you don’t know what I’m talking about? I’m talking about Vartra, disappearing in an instant before my eyes, that’s what. You chose your moment well, Sister, I’ll give you that!” she said bitterly. “He left me, unfulfilled and angry, at the peak of our joining! Much good he’ll be to you in an equally frustrated state!”

He is not yours, or mine,
she sent, a slight frown creasing her face.

“I refuse to argue about that right now,” Kuushoi said petulantly.

The Summer Goddess reached out to lay a hand on her enraged sister’s shoulder, a gentle smile now on her lips, the green draperies that exactly matched her eyes billowing lightly around her in the warm air.

“Yes, I’m distracted,” Kuushoi admitted, her body beginning to unbend a little as images from her sister filled her mind. “As you asked, I’m maintaining a null zone around Vartra’s child, Kusac, and it is exhausting me. If you didn’t take Vartra, then who did?”

A look of pure rage crossed her face, fading only slightly when her sister gave her a gentle shake and turned away from her, gesturing her to follow.

“The Camarilla!” she hissed, following. “This is beyond accepting, Ghyakulla! How dare they take
my
lover like this! It’s one thing that they meddle with the mortals, but that they, mere ephemerals, should put themselves above us like this! I want this stopped, Sister! You’ve persuaded me not to intervene until now, but this is beyond endurance!”

Ghyakulla stopped at her fountain, reaching out to pick up a simple pottery cup, made from the clay of her own garden. Filling it, she held it out to her sister, smiling briefly before a more somber look crossed her face as mentally she reassured her.

Kuushoi accepted it gracefully, arranging the pale blue tunic she wore before perching on the edge of the softly tinkling fountain.

“So you’re finally going to act,” she said with satisfaction. “Very well, I’ll leave it to you for now, but if this happens to me again, I warn you, I will take my own actions! Bad enough I am forced to share Vartra with you without him being stolen from my very bed by them!”

She sipped the drink while Ghyakulla bent to pick up one of the jeggets that had crept nervously out from the nearby bushes.

“One of your pets? I don’t know why you bother with them,” Kuushoi said. “The people consider them vermin, you know.”

Her sister said nothing, merely tickled the little creature under the chin.

“Oh, very well,” Kuushoi sighed; rinsing the cup and putting it back in its small niche. “I’ll go back and wait for him to return and leave matters to you.” Her earlier temper was now receding fast. She knew it was her sister’s influence, and she didn’t really resent it. After all, she had voluntarily accepted the calming water.

Standing up, she looked at the jegget, which was obviously enjoying the attention it was getting. “It’s probably for the best that you have Summer, Ghyakulla, even though I am your elder,” she said grudgingly. “I certainly wouldn’t have had time for those vermin. Good-bye.”

Turning, she made a slight gesture, opening a gateway from her sister’s realm to her own. Shimmering in the warmth, the gate, fashioned of ice crystals, stood before her. She stepped through it and was gone.

Ghyakulla remained where she was, shivering slightly at the faint hint of chill in the air that her sister’s portal had left. She was happy in her realm, and the thought of inhabiting Winter as the wife of L’Shoh, the Lord of Hell, had never appealed. Yes, it had been for the best that her sister had stolen the Entity meant to be her husband.

She sighed, her breath dissipating the chill, her thoughts turning to Vartra. Though it broke her heart, Vartra would have to be sacrificed to the Camarilla. If she and L’Shoh intervened, they would show their hand too soon. The faction that had taken him assumed Vartra was an Entity, but he was not: He occupied a special place in the pantheon, a mortal living on as a demigod. The Entities needed to be ignored so that their final solution would come to fruition. Her peaceful Warrior’s very existence now depended on his own ability to withstand what that faction of the Camarilla would do to him.