The Far Bank of the Rubicon (The Pax Imperium Wars: Volume 1) (9 page)

“Of course I know the answer to that question before I even ask,” Stephen sighed. “Whatever will I do with you, little brother? Don't you know that second princes are supposed to be rogues and scoundrels?”

“Actually, I had fun tonight.”

Stephen's smirk melted, and his eyes hardened slightly. He sat himself down in a chair as he unlaced his dress boots. “I know you did, little brother. Tell me about it.”

“Well, for one thing, she didn't try to act all grown up and, you know, like one of our local court tramps or something. For another, she didn't seem overly impressed by all the titles and pomp. At the beginning, the palace and the press put her off for a little while. I actually think she nearly fainted during the promenade, but when I got her to a place where she could sit, she recovered. Then, when I took her around the room, she didn't seem to be trying to impress anybody. She was just terrified like you and I used to be when we first started. That was when I began to hope that my weekend wasn't going to be another disaster. It was great to be with someone who could see me as a person, instead of someone to be pawed like a plaque or a trophy.”

Stephen paused while taking off his boot and, still holding it, looked at the ceiling. “Yeah, I got the same impression with her brother Mark. He seemed to just see me as another person. It was really kind of refreshing. I have been trying to figure out why both he and Sophia seem so able to act normally around us, while so many others act so stupid.”

“Sophia told me a little about court life on Pontus. Apparently it is absolutely ridiculous—full of petty rules and gossip. One false move and you’re done.” Jonas shrugged his shoulders, “I guess after a while in that environment, you would become immune to the show, able to see the people behind the mask. Sophia kept remarking on how relaxed our court felt in comparison to the one at home. That also explains the pressure that she felt at the beginning tonight.”

Stephen finished taking off his boot. “Malek is a piece of work. Late in the evening, Mark and I were sitting near him and Dora in the music room. He tried three times to get Dora to tell him what the King's opinion was on the proposed treaty for tomorrow, totally out of line at these state events. He really must have an ego the size of a small moon.” Stephen furrowed his brow for a second. “I wish Dad would let us in on some of that stuff. You can see it irritates Dora and Dmitri that we aren't being told what’s happening.”

Jonas felt that small part of him which still resisted adulthood rise up inside of him. “I don't know, Stephen. It’s kind of nice not to have to know. I mean, studies are bad enough with Dmitri always trying to cram information down our throats. That last exam was a little out of control—three pages on the geography of the Cairo system? A little insane, don't you think? I couldn't imagine what he would be like if he were trying to keep us up to date on the diplomatic stuff, as well as our geography, history, and political science.”

Stephen flashed a kind but slightly patronizing smile. “Too true, little brother. Ah, well, if Dad wants us to know, we’ll find out, but you aren't looking at being King someday, little Jonas. I have to know how to lead. I just wish father would let me in a little, you know?”

Jonas ignored the patronizing smile and considered the differences in their roles. As he opened the door heading to his bed, he said, “Yeah, I know. That pilgrimage hike for midsummer’s eve this year was a dream come true. Overnight alone with him. Why can’t we do that every year? Why just when you turn sixteen?”

Stephen grabbed his clothes and headed out of the room. He sighed, “I remember. Do you want me to ring down to the kitchen for a snack?”

“No, thanks. I need some sleep.” He added sarcastically, ”We still have two wonderful days to go before we start another week of studies.”

As she waited to disembark from
Beta
, Anna’s thoughts wandered to Jack lying in the infirmary above. Six days after the attack, he was still sedated. The first time she had seen him, tears had flowed. Little Jo had squeezed her hand and patted her back. At that point, he still looked a mess, with his facial reconstruction just underway. Now he looked much better. The reconstruction of his mind was the last thing to be completed. He was expected to be conscious in a few hours.

As far as what would happen then, the doctor had not been completely reassuring. In the last few days, Anna had come to see the Empress’s personal physician as a no-nonsense person, who, although kind, told it like it was.

When Anna first saw Jack, Dr. Sanderson had told her, “Modern nanite technology and medicine can do so much, but traumatic brain injuries remain beyond our capacities. In truth, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to fully heal them. Even a few years ago, Jack would have died. The good news is he didn’t. However, while our medical nanites allow us to avoid swelling and to repair broken connections within the brain, we can’t bring brain cells back to life. We can replace them but the web they represented dies. Often, patients have to relearn activities they knew before their accident. Intraspace helps—people learn things faster there. In fact, we’re already working with Jack’s mind to reteach him some of those motor skills he’s lost, but it will take time. He’s going to need some rehab. Finding stability again will be slow.”

As she stood in the corridor on the ship, Anna took a breath to calm her nerves. The walls were round—cream plexiscreens on top and polished wood flooring and panels below. She wore a gray business suit, dark glasses, and held a small attache in one hand. Her face itched from the prosthetics used to disguise her identity. Her hair had been colored a temporary blond for the occasion.

The moment felt eternal. She fidgeted. In front and behind her, two security staff from the empire got ready to disembark with her. For the six day voyage from Apollos to Athena, Anna and the children had been kept separated from the rest of the staff and passengers on the boat, quarantined to the small infirmary.

A cover story had been given out which said that embassy staff from Athena had come down with a highly contagious disease. Since their own transport didn’t have the facilities to deal with it, the governments agreed to have them transported home on
Beta
.

The morning of their arrival on Athena, Bradford from the security staff had arrived in her quarters. After she dressed in the suit, he had helped Anna apply a liquid to her face. In her hand, the substance felt like putty or clay. Anna smeared it on her chin. As she did, it began to move. She found the sensation hard to accept. It felt like something slimy had crawled over her face. She continued to daub more of the putty on her forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin. The material continued to melt and flow. Anna closed her eyes as it covered every millimeter of her face and head in a consistent, thin layer, including individual strands of hair. Once the putty was in place, Anna and Bradford worked on her disguise. Using a heads-up device, Bradford randomly changed the appearance of Anna’s hair color, her cheekbones, and nose. As she watched in the mirror, the substance on her face moved, piling up here, stretching her skin tight there. She ended up blond with a squarish chin and strong cheekbones. Anna felt like it was a manly face, but she had agreed with Bradford that it didn’t look anything like her.

Now she stood behind the agent, trying to look like she was part of the team. The other security officer assigned to the Imperial Minister for Trade stood behind her. Apparently, the Trade Minister didn’t warrant a large security detail. No one spoke.

The door opened, and Anna instantly noticed the moist heat. From what she had read, this was a more tropical planet than she was used to, and the capital on Athena, Olympia, hadn’t been chosen to spare its inhabitants. The light from the local star seemed piercingly white compared to the other standard stars Anna had known. As she stepped down the stairs, she noticed the greater gravity as well. She took deliberate, measured steps in order to make sure she didn’t stumble and fall forward onto the tarmac. Between the humidity, the gravity, and the light, Athena felt intrusive, like it was trying to invade her soul somehow or weigh it down—not that weighing it down took much effort right now.

Anna tried to walk gracefully across the tarmac and entered the back door of the last in a line of three, antique, black hover limousines. The two security trolls piled in with her, one on either side. The jacket of the guard behind her gaped open as he got into the car, displaying his hidden side arm. She felt cramped and vulnerable between the large bodies next to her. She was grateful, they stayed quiet.

Facing forward, she watched as the Trade Minister descended the tall stairs from the main entrance of the craft, stopping to talk with a couple of dignitaries from Athena in front of the media before he climbed into the lead vehicle. Once that was done, his staff piled down the staircase behind him, and got in the second car. No one appeared to notice her. Once everyone was in place, ceremonial guards, dressed in blue, stepped onto the rails of the departing vehicles. Although they were dressed for a parade in frills and trim, Anna noticed the guards also wore high-powered assault rifles on their backs and had heads-up devices placed over one eye.

The winding ride to the palace climbed from the bowl in which Olympia had been built up to the top of one of the surrounding hills. As they passed through, Anna thought the city felt modern, like Leto. However, neither city resembled the gray depressing cities Anna had known as a child in the Unity. However, whereas Leto reveled in human ingenuity and power—obliterating the natural world around it—Olympia seemed to celebrate its integration with the environment. Gardens erupted from terraces, stories above the ground. The lines of the buildings were clean and curved to fit the hills around it.

She could see why the style here complemented the environment. Humans inhabited many different types of planets around the galaxy. Some of them hadn’t ever seen a hint of life until humanity arrived and terraformed them. Others already had vibrant, natural ecologies. Athena was clearly one of the latter.

It was the flora which impressed Anna the most. There was a bluish tinge to most of the green plants on this planet and a much wider variety of colors than she was used to. At least thirty percent were red and others violet or even blue, but no matter the color, plants were everywhere. The vast hills surrounding Olympia looked like a flowing jungle. The fauna seemed to undulate, and Anna was sure she saw some of them move.

Here and there flying creatures with long, thin wings rode thermals into the sky. As they climbed a narrow roadway winding back and forth along a hill populated with increasingly larger houses, Anna got a chance to get a better look at one of these creatures. They weren’t built tail-first like many birds found throughout the galaxy. These had v-shaped vertical stabilizing fins at the front growing from what looked to be their head, with their triangle shaped wings emerging behind. They had no tails.

Anna found the palace on Athena overwhelming. It was massive. She counted four wings of white stucco and blue tile in its rounded facade, before she got too close to really see much. The vehicles pulled into a small drive which surrounded a ceremonial garden. The entrance required a two-story climb of a long flight of stairs. These were lined with masses of people, many in various uniforms.

The vehicles came to a stop. Bradford leaned over and said, “Stay here.” Then he and the other security guard exited. In front of her, the other vehicles emptied as well. As soon as everyone was out, the doors closed, the ceremonial guards stepped back in place, and the vehicles drove away. As they passed by the Imperial Trade Minister, Anna noticed that he took a second to look at her, before going back to greeting the party from the palace. It was now only she, the driver, and the guards.

The cars pulled around the drive and then down into a well-concealed underground garage buried under one wing of the palace. Once inside, the mood changed considerably. The guards stepped casually off the rails on the side of the vehicle and started chatting among themselves. The driver leaned back from the front and said, “Miss, if you would please follow me.”

Anna got nervously out of the car and then noticed how large the garage was. There had to be at least a hundred to a hundred and fifty vehicles parked among brightly painted red columns. The garage contained everything from ancient horse carriages, to wheeled vehicles, to modern flying sports cars.

Anna gawked a little before the driver got her attention.

His tone wasn’t exactly cold, but it wasn’t warm either. “Right this way, ma’am.”

He escorted her through a door on one side of the garage.

Anna first noticed the plain-looking, cream-colored walls. The ceiling glowed a little every few feet. The corridor distinctly resembled a regular office building. It certainly didn’t feel palatial in any sense of the word. The driver stopped in front of an office door, knocked, opened it, and saluted whoever was inside. After the salute, he simply gestured with a white gloved hand for her to enter. Anna stepped into the small office and found a desk with a couple of chairs for guests. There wasn’t room for much more.

The man behind the desk looked at her with keen brown eyes. To Anna, he had a rather dour look. The elbows and forearms of his uber-muscular upper body rested on the screen-top desk. He wore a white shirt, with gold buttons. His dress jacket hung neatly on the back of his door.

The soldier spoke first. “May I see your papers, please?” The tone wasn’t quite menacing, yet Anna got the distinct impression that it could become so quickly.

She took the passport she had been given by Ohlson and the letter of introduction out of her pocket and handed them over to the man across the table.

He dropped the screen for his heads-up device down over one eye and examined her documents. His scowl deepened. When he finished, he leaned his square jaw forward toward Anna and said, “Who are you?”

Anna’s heart pounded in her chest.
Now it begins
, she thought. “The matter of my identity is one that I have been asked to keep secret from all but the King.”