That was tactful— better than asking point blank if I had deposed First Councilor Tikal and stolen his job.
"Pharaoh will do," I told her. "The position of First Councilor no longer exists."
"I see." The tension in those two words spoke volumes.
I waited, keeping my face neutral. How she responded now could make or break our relations with the Allieds. She had to decide whether or not to acknowledge me as head of the Skolian government. Declining to do so would be an implicit statement of support for the Assembly, which meant she had better hope the Assembly defeated my forces. But if she accepted me as the ruler of Skolia, and my side lost, it would also deepen hostilities between her government and ours. I didn't envy her the decision.
After a delay longer than that due to distance, Loughten said, "The President of the Allied Worlds of Earth acknowledges the Ruby Pharaoh of the Skolian Imperialate."
Ragnar's exultation surged from his mind with such force I was surprised he didn't shout his triumph. Chad's satisfaction rolled through it. I had to hold myself back from giving the arm-rest a satisfied thump. Loughten had even used the ancient Ruby form of address for a fully invested pharaoh.
I managed to stay calm, outwardly. "The Imperial Dynasty acknowledges the ascension of Hanna Loughten to the office of Allied president." It didn't have the same ring as "ascension to the throne," but it fit Skolian protocol for a leader who had newly assumed her title.
Loughten inclined her head to me, the gesture controlled. I thought she was uneasy, but I wasn't sure. She guarded her body language well. I wished Eldrin were here to give me his impressions.
"It would be our great honor to have you visit Earth," Loughten said. "To show you the birthplace of our species."
We both knew perfectly well that if the Allieds got me on-planet, they wouldn't let me go. "Your invitation is gracious," I said. "I regret that I must decline. Certain matters cannot be delayed." The time had come to do business. "President Loughten, my people appreciate the generous protection that Earth has provided in guarding my family. It means a great deal to us that they were safe during the war. Their return home now will cause great rejoicing. If you will have Web Key Eldrinson, Councilor Roca, Lady Ami, and Prince Kurjson escorted to us, we will trouble you no further."
Despite her control, Loughten paled. "I greatly regret that we cannot accommodate your request, Your Highness."
Request, hell. "Aren't they here?"
Her strain showed now in her rigid posture. "Yes, certainly. They are our guests in an Allied United Centre."
I decided to push harder and see what happened. "I would like to speak with Web Key Eldrinson."
Again her answer took longer than it needed to go from Earth to here. "I am truly, deeply sorry, Your Highness. But I'm afraid that isn't possible."
In a deceptively soft voice, I said, "Why not?"
Her answer had great gentleness. "He passed away several months ago."
As much as I had expected those words, they hit hard. So hard. I bit my cheek to hold back my tears. I couldn't weep in front of Loughten. Not now. Gods please, not now.
I remembered the last time I had seen Eldrinson, sitting in a starlit chamber with a panoramic view of the stars. It had been just minutes before he left for Earth.
Take care, my sister,
he told me. I had answered,
And you, my brother.
We were always arguing about one thing or another, often with gusto, but on that day we had parted without hiding our familial affection.
A tear ran down my cheek. I rubbed it away with my palm, acutely aware of everyone watching.
Loughten spoke with kindness. "Please accept our deepest sympathies."
"Thank you." My response came out stiff and formal. I glanced at Jinn Opsister, who floated behind Chad. In a low voice I said, "Please notify Prince Eldrin."
She nodded and withdrew a short distance. As she spoke into her gauntlet comm, I turned back to Loughten. "Did Web Key Eldrinson pass away on Lyshriol?"
Her body language betrayed shock. She hadn't expected us to know. After a moment, she said, "Yes. He wanted to go home. Councilor Roca went with him." She leaned forward, her hands folded on her desk. "However, Lady Roca has since returned to Earth."
Relief flowed over me; to have come this far and then find out Roca wasn't here would have been a great blow. From the Allied view, it made sense to split up the Ruby Dynasty, lest we get together and hatch plans the rest of the universe didn't like, such as, say, deposing the Assembly. I wondered if it had occurred to all these politicians and military leaders, both within and without Skolia, that if they had just left us alone, we might have minded our own business and stayed out of interstellar politics.
I thought of Eldrin. He would want to pay his respects to his father, even if he could only go home in a virtual simulation. "Was Lord Eldrinson buried on his farm?" I asked Loughten.
She shook her head. "His dying wish was that we launch his coffin into orbit around the planet."
I stared at her. What the blazes? Eldrinson would never ask such a thing. He loathed space. His love had been for the land, especially his farm and the crops he tilled. He had eventually made a truce with the technology Roca had brought into his life, but I could never imagine him asking for a burial in space.
Suddenly I thought of Eldrin's nightmare about his father in a coffin. Saints almighty, had they buried Eldrinson
alive
?
Somehow I kept my voice cool. "And my sister allowed this burial?"
Sympathy touched Loughten's face. "After her husband's death, Councilor Roca asked that we reconsider. It upset her to think of his body in orbit. We arranged with ISC to have one of your ships pick it up."
My dismay eased. Eldrinson couldn't have been alive when they launched that coffin; he would have been in utter terror. Both Eldrin and I had felt the peaceful release of his life. He had gone gently, surrounded by his family. The Allieds had shown compassion in letting him return home, but the matter of this strange burial remained.
It hit me like ice. A living man
had
been in that coffin. Of course. It was a way to slip someone off-planet, gruesome yes, but effective. In my Triad Chair–induced "conversation" with Eldrin, he had said Vyrl needed to heal from a nightmarish sensory deprivation. Had
Vyrl
been the one in that coffin? He was taller than his father by a good half foot, but with enough planning they might have fooled the Allieds' sensors.
Only two seconds had passed since Loughten finished speaking. I replied quietly. "The Ruby Dynasty thanks you for the sensitivity your people have shown in this matter." I paused for effect. "His death comes as a surprise. He had been in good health when he left for Earth." Let her sweat that one. Regardless of how sensitive they had been, Eldrinson had still died in their custody. "We expect to take up orbit around Earth soon."
She met my gaze. "We await your arrival."
So we began the final approach to our lost home.
28
Starfall Dreams
We believe we've located Councilor Roca." Jinn Opsister set holosheets on the table before us in the Tactics Room. "She's in Sweden. We're less certain about Lady Ami and her son, but we think they are there too."
Ragnar and Chad were also at the table. "What about Rock-worth's three foster children?" Ragnar asked.
"We've found no trace of them at all." Jinn glanced at me. "But we aren't sure what to look for."
"I don't know much," I admitted. "Just that Jaibriol the Third lived with them."
"I don't like it," Chad said. "When we asked the Allieds, they went into one of their we-have-no-idea modes."
Ragnar snorted. "That means they know exactly what we're talking about and they're scared to death."
"What about Seth Rockworth?" I asked. "Anything on him?"
"Plenty, ma'am." Jinn tapped another holosheet. "He's in custody at a military base on the Atlantic coast of North America."
Ragnar shrugged. "They must know by now he fostered Jaibriol the Third."
Seth, what are you hiding?
At least now we had a valid reason to ask about the children; of course we would want to make sure no other Aristo time bombs were walking around on Earth. Our inquiries gave no one reason to suspect the children might be the Rhon offspring— perhaps even legitimate heirs— of Soz and Jaibriol II.
"We need to act," I said. "The longer we wait, the more strained this becomes."
Jinn leaned forward. "We can send a drop team into the Allied United Centre in Sweden."
"What are the chances of success?"
She stacked her holosheets together. "Earth can probably shoot down any craft we send in. Their defenses are too strong. We can't evade them."
"Can't we hide the racer?" I asked. "If we can sneak an entire fleet into this star system, we should be able to get one racer down to the planet."
Chad answered. "Traveling through interstellar space with ships in fuel bottles is one thing. Space may not be a true vacuum, but it's close enough. I wouldn't want to try it on a planet. The ship could twist out of the bottle right into a tree or mountain."
"So bring it out above ground," Ragnar said.
"We don't know how the atmosphere will affect it," Jinn said. Dryly she added, "And Earth has more junk in orbit than ten colonies combined."
"Which is the greater danger?" I asked. "Hiding the ship in a bottle or the Allieds shooting it down if we don't?"
Jinn lifted another of her holosheets, its surface catching prismatic glints of light. "We estimate the risks are about the same."
"Even if they could fire on the racer," I mused, "I wonder if they would." I could imagine the questions the Allied military was asking itself now. "They don't know if or how we would retaliate. With the size of our fleet, we could do a lot of damage to Earth before they stopped us."
Chad gave me an incredulous look, clearly aghast at the idea of firing on humanity's home world. Ragnar's approval of the idea leaked from his mind. Jinn immediately began considering how to solve the tactical problems in such an engagement.
I regarded them with exasperation. "I'm not suggesting we attack Earth. Just that the
Allieds
must fear we might."
"We could bluff," Jinn suggested. "Tell them that if they don't return the Ruby Dynasty we'll have to take action."
Chad shook his head. "The moment we threaten them, we lose. Any response they make then becomes self-defense. It will also weaken what Prince Havyrl is doing on Lyshriol. His attempts to force out Earth's occupying forces depend entirely on censure of the Allieds by the rest of humanity. Right now, the Allied Worlds of Earth are the villains. If we threaten to attack
Earth,
we lose the high ground Prince Havyrl and his people have fought so hard to gain."
I smiled slightly. "I wonder how the Allieds feel, cast in the role of Nefarious Evil. Quite a change, eh?"
Ragnar waved his hand as if to dismiss Earth, the home of his own grandfather. "They're just like anyone else. They want power and wealth. They could pretend to the high ground when they were the weaker power because they had no other options. Now that we and the Traders are weakened, what do the Allieds do? Grab for power, using your family."
I knew most Skolians shared his view. Our propaganda wizards were working overtime to portray the Allieds in the worst possible light. But I couldn't deny the other side, not when our success depended on how well we judged the situation. I spoke quietly. "Our animosity with the Traders and their progenitors has followed us through six millennia. The wars that brought down the Ruby Empire almost destroyed humanity. More than politics drives the Allieds; they genuinely fear that if they let my family free, we will destroy civilization again, on a much bigger scale, including Earth this time."
They stared at me. The last person they expected to express that argument was the Ruby Pharaoh.
I splayed my hands on the table as if to support myself. "We need to acknowledge their fear. If their only interest is power, they will respond differently than if they genuinely believe they're the only bulwark against humanity's destruction."
"If you follow that to its logical conclusion," Chad said, "then either way, they lose. If they keep the Ruby Dynasty, we may turn on them and bring about what they fear anyway."
Bitterness scraped my thoughts. My family had never asked for this power. But the rest of humanity could never leave us alone, not as long as whoever controlled us controlled interstellar civilization. Nor could we refuse the responsibility, not when it could mean the difference between a universe subject to the Traders and one where humans lived free. Somehow, some way, we had to find accommodation with those who wished to control us.
