Knight of the Empire

I stomped back to my apartment not caring what anyone thought I felt frustrated. My search for Gena Guerro had bought me nothing but a wall of silence. Leaving my guards at the entrance to my apartment I stepped into my apartment and stared. Seated on my couch was the object of my fruitless search. Gena Guerro was no more than eighteen and the same height and shape as I was. She had a pretty face, her dark hair had been cropped short and she wore what the Terrans called a jumpsuit in dark green. A loose version of the figure hugging skinnies Confederacy soldiers wore. I preferred those to the Terran version.

“Gena?” I couldn’t have sounded more surprised. She looked paler than I’d last remembered seeing her. It relieved my heart to see her there.

Gena rose from the couch and saluted Confederacy style. Her salute crisp and smart her fingers forming a precise line on her forehead it would have made any drill sergeant proud.

I returned the salute my hands remembering the move. “Gena?” I said again. Where ever she had been she had learned things I had never had the chance to teach her.

“Lady Sandra.”

“We can drop the formality here,” I told her. “Just plain Sandra.”

Gena hesitated as if struggling with her emotions. “Of course.” There was an unspoken ‘my lady’ on her breath.

“Where have you been. I’ve been looking for you?” Guilt flushed through my body it hadn’t been until recently that I had been trying to find out what had happened to Gena. I felt ashamed with myself for not thinking about the mess I had left behind on Anwa Padak. At the time I had been so happy to leave the youngsters in the hands of Joyce Neilson and the other archaeologists that I had forgotten about them. It had been my choice to put Gena in charge of her companions. I had to do something after I had exchanged Gena’s combat armour for my own skinnies. The armour proved a godsend later when we had rescued Camelia from the soldiers the Usurper had sent to kill her.

“I’m sorry my lady I tried to get to you please believe me. But I had no choice.” Gena hesitated, sadness upon her face. “I can’t talk to you about it.”

“If you’re in any trouble tell me and I’ll deal with it.” I was damn certain to repay my guilt by doing something positive.

“It’s fine my lady,” Gena replied a sad smile breaking the gloominess of her expression.

“Sandra to you. Please tell me if you are in any trouble. I can fix it but I’m not the same woman I was things have changed for me.” I wanted to add ‘not in a good way’ but found I couldn’t. I didn’t want to burden the younger woman with my own problems.

“None of us are,” Gena replied.

To my ears sage advice from someone so young she must have been through a lot to give her that attitude. I was determined to make her life better. I’ve never had a younger sibling now I knew why. Camelia’s father had ruined more lives than mine.

“I’m ready to do my duty if you still need me.”

I heard the plea in Gena’s voice. I hadn’t the heart to send the young woman away. “Duty?” I had to ask the question.

“As your servant.”

“You are better than that,” I stated. “Servants I have no need of.” Adding quickly. “Friends yes but not servants.”

“I’d like that.” Gena relaxed.

I searched around for more topics of conversation but I knew I wasn’t any good at small talk. “What happened on Anwa Padak after we left?”

“Not much,” Gena replied it appeared she was like me in that respect she didn’t do small talk.

I nodded thoughtfully perhaps in time both of us would get better. Plenty of time to find out exactly what happened and where Gena had been all this time. “Where are you staying?” I asked finally.

“Oh they’ve given me the room opposite.”

I remembered that there was a servant’s quarter attached to my apartment just across the corridor. My guards used it as a rest room rather than the guardroom down the corridor. Not as nice as this apartment and a little cramped compared to my spacious rooms. I had wanted that room but Ellie and Camelia had drawn a line on that. “Who did?” I half asked myself.

“Her majesty,” Gena replied. “That was ok wasn’t it?”

“I don’t have a problem with that.” So Ellie had spoken to Gena that made sense since Gena had pledged herself to Ellie, as did her companions on Anwa Padak. I hadn’t been part of that and when Ellie had asked me I had stated that my oaths were to the Confederacy yet I still ended up serving her. “I suppose I should let you get settled in,” I told Gena.

“Thank you my lady.”

“No, I’m Sandra. Please I’m no lady.”

My comment brought a pleasant smile that lifted the gloominess from Gena’s face. I watched Gena leave wondering what I had let myself in for.

I woke early light filtering through the windows told me that it was still early morning. Windows were a misnomer. What I was seeing was an image from a camera situated on the ground floor. My apartment like most of the palace was below ground like an iceberg. Only the throne room and administration offices made up ground floors. There were a few other rooms up there but most of the important accommodations and things like the control room were underground. I climbed out of bed and with sleep still crusting my eyes I headed for the bathroom. I showered and feeling relaxed I stepped back into my living room cum bedroom only clad in a towel. Gena was setting out breakfast on the table I used to eat my meals dressed in a servant’s dress consisting of a skirt and top, one half dark green the other purple. I often ate meals alone in my room I felt uncomfortable in the formal dining room eating with Ellie and Camelia. Even when it was a so-called ‘private’ meal servants and guards surrounded them. Here in my apartment was the only time I felt I could truly relax.

“Gena what are you doing?” I shouted one hand grasping my towel the other my marked held out in front of her palm up.

Gena gave a startled cry. “My lady your hand!”

I realised that no one had mentioned the mark on my hand to Gena. I always wore gloves to hide it. Putting them on was so natural now that it was an automatic reflex.

The younger woman dropped the cutlery she was holding and rushed over to me. I stepped back a pace as Gena grasped my hand.

“Does it hurt?” she asked her hand reaching to touch the mark.

Quickly withdrawing my hand I answered. “No it doesn’t.” I had heard the same many times before. It was the reason I wore the gloves. “Now go and put some proper clothes on.”

“I’m not the only one,” Gena replied giving me a hard stare.

“Now!” I moderated my tone slightly. “Gena I don’t want to make you a servant. You deserve better. Please for my sake change those clothes.”

Gena curtsied. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s ok Gena we do need to talk.” I hoped I might get the truth from her.

She stared into my eyes and spoke. “Yes my lady.” She sounded resigned.

I dressed slipping into a grey pantsuit the colours I wore when not in uniform. Gena had returned by the time I stepped back into the living room from my walk in wardrobe. For some reason Gena had dressed in charcoal grey her figure hugging jumpsuit echoed Confederacy skinnies but the material was coarser and had pockets on the breasts and hips. I noted the colour matched mine closely.

“That’s better,” I commented. “Please sit.” I wasn’t going to pull up Gena on her choice of colour.

“You need to eat,” Gena gestured to the table she had laid out. She had gone to great lengths to set a breakfast that I liked.

Someone must have told her what I liked. A plate was piled high with buttered croissants something I had grown to like. They didn’t have them in the Confederacy. My stomach rumbled at the sight of the food. “I guess I’ll just have to have them.” Not wanting to admit I was hungry. I had already missed my evening meal. Camelia had already spoken to me about missing meals. The only alternative was to eat with Ellie and her formal dining arrangements didn’t suit me. “And afterwards we can talk.”

Sitting on the couch I regarded the younger woman seated in the armchair opposite. A small table with two cups of steaming black coffee separated us. I had grown to like Terran coffee. The stuff from the Confederacy was no match. I gave a sigh and pulled off my glove the palm of my marked hand palm up.

“I’ve got a lot to tell you none it good.” I had to admit that much to myself.

“My lady are you in pain?” Gena sounded worried as she stared at my hand.

“Just my memories. The Guardians swapped Lottie for this.”

“Lottie?”

“My implant?”

“Implant.”

“Yes I had a computer implanted into my skull to handle my comms.”

Colour drained from Gena’s face. “You have a machine in your brain?”

Belated I remembered the Terran paranoia about machine intelligence I was reading a book about it. Back somewhere in the twenty-first century Terrans had become too attached to their technology and began to experiment with Artificial Intelligence. They quickly developed a system using memory tapes from willing donors. These donor minds became the basis of all AI computers. Soon the Terrans had them controlling everything. Then it went horribly wrong. Another book I hadn’t finished reading. What it all boiled down was that the AI took over. The Terrans managed to turn them off but not before millions died. It did explain the computerised systems here in the palace. The server that controlled my apartment was not linked to the comms system. Terrans didn’t want to be at the mercy of their technology again.

“Not like that,” I said hastily. “There is no AI in the Confederacy it is banned.” Although that didn’t account for Lottie. I had long suspected that she was a rogue AI. The point was moot since the Guardians had swapped Lottie for the mark on my hand. I wasn’t sure if it had been a better deal. “You know we rescued Constantina.” I used Ellie’s official name. “And at her urging we rescued Lady Broaden.”

“I was told about that,” Gena told me.

I was a little taken aback. “Who told you?”

“Her majesty.”

Ellie had spoken to Gena. I thought about it, Gena had pledged herself to Ellie before they had left Anwa Padak. She would have to have seen Ellie before coming here. There was a whole level of sub text I wasn’t aware of but Gena seemed to be speaking it in volumes.

“The Empress told me how proud of you she was and how brave you were. She wished there were more like you around. She told me that you were wounded but you are all better now.”

That surprised me, I continued my tale. “After I rescued Lady Broaden we went to Melanos the world of the Guardians.” I spoke on telling Gena how Camelia had tricked me on to the shuttle and had injected me with a sedative before I could react. When I had woken up I was inside a cavern on Melanos. A further shock awaited me as I learned that Com Ops had deserted me. Their message was brief and to the point. My orders were to protect Ellie and Camelia and help them get to earth. Feeling abandoned and alone I wandered the strange cavern exploring the rows of columns. A strange shadow had me searching for the source. It was then that I encountered the Guardians and learned their plans for me. They had planted their symbol on my hand and sent me out to face my destiny or die in the process. That was when I fought my first Rhosani and found how flawed a weapon I was. In using the shuriken forged from my own body I had passed out only to awaken on a Terran ship on it’s way to Earth. “I confronted second Rhosani within the palace and killed it. I didn’t know what happened afterwards I was unconscious.”

To my surprise Gena sat and took it all in. “My lady I didn’t realise.”

“Now you know. The Guardians turned me into a living weapon in the war against the Rhosani. It’s there and I’m stuck with it.” I pulled my glove back on I felt self-conscious about having a bare hand. Camelia and Ellie had encouraged me to keep my hands gloved.

“Sorry my lady,” Gena stared at me wide-eyed.

I shrugged I wasn’t going to dwell over it. The last time I had done so I had ended up an alcoholic. I rose from the couch and strolled over to the terminal on a small desk near my bed Gena remained seated but I could see she was straining to move at my slightest gesture. Checking my terminal there were no messages. I hadn’t expected there would be but it would nice to hear from my former friends. Gena’s presence made me think of the people I considered my friends. Friends I had left behind on the Havok. I had only Ellie’s word that the Havok had sustained damage and a relief ship from the Confederacy had rescued it. At the least Marsha or Shawna could have contacted me but I hadn’t heard from either since I had landed on earth. With time to kill since I had no official business I headed to the throne room Gena and my guards dutifully trailing in my wake.

The hot desert sun beat down mercilessly as I shaded eyes looking at the squat blocky buildings of the military base. In the distance though the heat haze I could see the outlines of the hangers. Ellie hadn’t been in the throne room but one of the side rooms off of it pouring through records from the ongoing war with the Orsini Commonwealth. The Terrans’ were gaining territory although at a cost. But a gain was a gain when it came to dealing with the Commonwealth. It hadn’t taken me long to outline my proposal although I had to make concessions. One was that my guards would be with me all of the time and the other were that I apologise to the base commander. The man had been awkward first but he relented at last and allowed me to train on the base.

I stepped out of the locker room dressed in PT gear much like what I wore in the CGF. It consisted of a pair of shorts and tee shirt in Terran green and a pair of dark brown sneakers. Gena was similarly attired although my guards were still dressed in their combat armour ideal in this heat with their internal temperature regulators. This time there would be no opportunity to slip my guards and head for the airport. When Eel had brought me back from my failed attempt to leave Ellie and Camelia had banned me from going back to the base. I missed my home in the Confederacy as much as it was. My quarters at the Rosewood Academy had been modest but it had been mine. Here I felt like an unwelcome guest that had overstayed her welcome. I shut the thought from my mind as I began my warm up exercises.

Back in a routine I began to relax and felt the tension ooze out of me. Gena stood beside me vainly trying to keep up with me. I remembered Gena telling me that they had only two weeks training before being thrown to the wolves. I moved through my warm up exercises my mind on tackling the obstacles on the assault course.

“Wait here!” I told Gena, the younger woman was breathing hard.

“My lady?”

“You’re not fit enough to tackle the course. In the coming weeks we’ll go through a training regime and slowly build up your fitness levels.” It wasn’t as if there was much for me to do anyway. I was getting tired of shaking workers hands, handing out prizes and reading out speeches from prepared scripts.

Gena nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you my lady.”

I was off running the course my mind on beating my previous time.

I finished the course in record time feeling blood pumping around my body and dripping with sweat from the hot desert sun. I felt good. Gena was waiting for me at the finish line a bottle of water in her hand. As I approached she reached out to hand me the water. Suddenly some sense alerted me to danger. Before Gena could protest I grabbed the younger woman and jerked her to the floor. A bullet whizzed through the space I had occupied only a heartbeat ago.

“Sniper!” I yelled pressing Gena to the floor. I glanced up to see the sign I had been standing in front of now sported a hole, a hole where my head would have been.

My guards went on alert and surrounded me with their weapons drawn.

“Stay down your grace!” one said his hand pressing me to the ground.

I could feel Gena trembling beneath me. “Stay down Gena I’ll protect you,” I whispered to the younger woman and felt her violent trembling subside.

In the distance I could see soldiers boiling of their barracks as the sirens began to sound. I tried to rise but a gauntleted hand forced me back down.

“Sorry your grace,” the guard apologised. “It’s not safe.”

I shrugged him off and struggled to rise my blood boiling I was angry not for myself but for the suffering Gena was going through. Someone was going to pay for that.

“Your grace!” he protested trying to keep me down.

“Whoever it was is long gone if they’d any sense,” I growled at him.

I felt him release me. I stood then crouched down and helped Gena up. I could feel the younger woman trembling beneath my hands. There was a terrified look in her eyes and the dirt she lay on stained dark with wet, the same dirt and that wet had transferred itself to her shorts. A stench of urine filled the air I wasn’t going comment on it. It wasn’t the first time she had done that. Again Gena’s fear had got the better of her.

“I’m so frightened,” Gena quivered.

I held her close like a mother with her child. “It will be alright Gena…” I soothed her.

That was as far as I got. The camp commandant pushed through growing crowd that surrounded my guards and me.

“Your grace are you alright?” he said his face was flushed.

“Dusty but fine,” I replied my voice calm but inside I was angry. I kept up the pretence of calmness for Gena’s sake. “I need to grab my gear and have shower before we head back to the palace.” I was dreading what Camelia would say to me. Despite my aura of calmness my eyes were scanning the soldiers surrounding us the assassin might be hiding among them.

“Break it up!” a sergeant bawled his voice echoing around the camp. “This isn’t some two bit peep show.

The sound of his voice almost brought a smile to my lips. The sound was something I could relate to.

“Your grace we’ll find who is responsible,” the commandant said clearly shocked that there had been an incident in his camp. “You there!” he yelled at some lieutenant. “Seal the base and search everywhere!”

I doubted that they would find anyone. An assassin with any sense would have been long gone. I did wonder why it had taken commandant so long to get into action. “I must get my gear from my locker and head back to the palace.” I stepped towards the building where I had stored my gear.

“Your grace!” The same guard that had kept me on the ground grabbed my arm. “There may be a bomb in the locker room.”

I knew the guard was probably correct. The tactic was one the Orsini often employed. I hadn’t thought to see it deployed here. I turned to the camp commandant. “Get someone to check!” I ordered sounding authoritative.

“You and you sweep the locker room for devices!” he ordered two soldiers. Then he was way talking into his wrist comms unit. They ran off at a gallop. He turned to me. “We have transport incoming. The palace have deemed it too dangerous to send a shuttle to pick you up.”

While I waited a Wombat APC painted in desert camouflage roared up. The wheeled vehicle was about eight metres long and about three metres high. Coil guns bristled from ports along its side. A turret on top sported a sixty-millimetre railgun, while another poked out beside the crew compartment. The six tires on either side were almost as tall as I was. I had brushed up on the specs while I was resting in bed after my encounter with the Rhosani agent. Had they had some of these on Anoxi then the outcome would have been different. They could have easily over come the lighter MRCV that were the staple of the CGF. One of the things I couldn’t fathom about the Terrans was their decision to name all their armoured by names of animals or inanimate objects. The MRCVs (Terrans called them Warthog Missile Carriers not a better name in my opinion) on Anoxi had been captured by the Orsini and turned on the very troops that relied on them. I shut out the memory focusing on the tasks at hand. Dwelling on the past in a dangerous situation could be fatal. I tensed as the rear ramp on the Wombat lowered. Several armoured Marines stepped out looking ready for action. Just then the soldiers sent to the locker room returned with my gear and that of Gena’s.

“I’ll need a weapon,” I said handing my gear to one of my guards and giving Gena’s to her. One of the Marines from the Wombat tossed me his. I automatically checked it relishing the routine. The Terran equivalent of the standard Confederacy AR 32 coil assault rifle weighted heavier and was a little broader at the muzzle but it was a weapon I could strip apart and reassemble in my sleep. I felt emboldened by the weapon here was something I could relate to.

Glancing over I saw Gena standing there a tear trickling down her flushed and pale face her shaking hands clutching the bundle of her gear.

“Gena just put your fatigues over your PT gear,” I spoke gently fearing for the younger woman’s sanity.

Trembling violently Gena tried to dress. I could see she needed help. Handing my newly acquired weapon to my guard I helped Gena dress pulling her jumpsuit over her soiled clothes. Not one of the soldiers or guards with me offered to help. I guess there were too busy scanning for further threats. Finally we were ready. The look I gave those assembled there conveyed volumes. I snorted disgusted that no one had offered any help to Gena.

“Come on Gena,” I said as I led the younger woman up the ramp and into the back of the Wombat my guards trailing behind.

There were a number of seats in the back lining both walls of the hull. Directly opposite the ramp was another sealed door that led to the crew compartment. I guided Gena to the back of the passenger compartment and sat her down. Sitting beside Gena I felt underdressed I hadn’t bothered to change my clothes my only comfort was the weapon in my hands. Gena huddled beside me looking forlorn while my guards surrounded us both. Several armoured Terran Marines filled the remaining seats. As the ramp raised one of the Marines pulled his helmet off and winked at me. He was dark skinned and had short dark curly hair.

“I was on Tate’s World,” he stated.

I suddenly stiffened feeling my guards do the same. “I killed more than a few Marines on Tate’s World,” I replied staring at the Marine. I was ready for action if his hand twitched the wrong way then he would be dead. My mind wondered if this was why someone had tried to kill me. Yet it didn’t make sense I had been at the base a number of times before there had been more than enough opportunities to do it then.

He shrugged. “We know it was you.”

“Oh,” I replied casually ready to fight if necessary.

“We’ve seen you in action. Soldiers like you are one of a kind. The kind we’re glad are on our side.”

I thought that the shot at me could have been a ploy and this was the real chance to kill me. Somehow my unspoken thoughts transferred themselves to my guards and they raised their weapons. The other Marines made no move either way.

The Marine that had spoken raised his hand to show he had nothing in them. “Look we’re not your enemies. Everyone here knows those orders were illegal and the Empress is the one we owe our oaths to. We’re just sorry it took too many of our own men to learn the truth. Constantine was a good man. His daughter follows in his mould she cares about the Empire.” he shuddered. “We all heard the Tunis transmissions. No one of us believed they were faked not when the captain showed us the bombs and where they had been planted.” His face turned into a scowl. “There are some that do but not us.”

I hadn’t heard about that. It must have occurred while I was unconscious after the battle in the throne room. “Ok,” I conceded but I was ready to act if the situation turned bad.

“We just wanted to you to know that we’re with you whatever you may think.” He nodded to his companions. “Hurrah!”

The other Marines echoed the sound just then the Wombat’s engines rumbled into life and we were off. I began to wonder just what I had gotten myself into and what I would find when I reached the palace I didn’t trust these Terrans yet, it was a good attitude to have. The Wombat rumbled away from the base and headed towards the palace many kilometres distant.