Chapter 17

Vesta, 30 Miraa, 4395 Orthodox Calendar

Monday, 12 October, Native Regional Reckoning

Dracora Medical Annex (Faey Medical Service sovereign territory), Dracora, Draconis

It was like waking up from a nightmare, and realizing that the nightmare was reality.

The first thing he was aware of was a twinging pain in his right arm. It was dull and throbbing, and it was the first indicator that something was terribly, terribly wrong. He was in a place with cool, sweet air fillig his nose, with warm sheets tucking him into a comfortable bed, and an odd rushing sound that was rhythmic and strangely soothing, like waves crashing on a beach .

It was not his bed. This was not home.

Before opening his eyes, he went over the last thing he remembered. They were in…a library. Yes, a library. He remembered it, with its dark, old bookshelves and the antique table. Rann was there, and Songa. And Meya, wearing her armor. They were researching through old books, while waiting for their noon appointment with Seamus MacGregor.

A revelation. Jason and the other human telepaths were descended from the Faey; the Faey were actually the Faerie Folk from Scottish folklore. He remembered that, the shock of it, quite clearly. It confirmed Rann’s theory that Jason was descended from the Karinne bloodline, because of the disease that affected him.

Then…what happened next? He couldn’t remember. He made a phone call, and then…nothing. Here he was, wherever here was. He supposed that maybe opening his eyes and looking around might help with that.

He was in a hospital room, but it wasn’t like any hospital room he’d ever seen before. It was a large, warmly decorated room with soft red tiles on the floor, corded cloth fiber covering the walls, the color of wheat, with paintings hanging on the walls. One was a strange nebular swirl, the other was a painting of a blue-skinned woman wearing an archaic, flowing robe with one sleeve longer than the other, kneeling down and holding her arms out to a blue-skinned toddler, about to embrace the child. There was a padded chair sitting by his bed, and a table in the corner, by an open window that showed a blue sky. The wall behind him was the only indication that he was in a hospital, for a glance up showed a wall of panel monitors and indicators, and wires came out of that wall and over him, over his bed.

Distantly, he realized that this wasn’t the infirmary in the mountain. This was a Faey hospital.

He’d been captured.

He tried to sit up, but he felt weak, unable to command his muscles. He tried to push on the bed with his hands, but he couldn’t. One of his hands was resting on his chest, refusing his commands to move, but his right arm was held straight on the side of the bed, secured to a metal frame, and his arm from the elbow down was covered in some kind of plascrete sheath. The arm above that sheath was swathed in bandages, and he had bandages across his chest that he could see as well, under his resting left hand. That was where most of the pain he was feeling was coming from, from that arm. Had he broken his arm? What happened? What had gone so terribly wrong?

Well, it was over. That was clear enough. Something had happened, something he couldn’t remember, but it had ended with his capture. He was a prisoner of the Faey now. Clearly he hadn’t gone down without a fight, so now they were putting him back together. He guessed Trillane wanted him healthy and whole before they marched him in front of a firing squad.

What had happened, though? Did Rann and Songa make it alright? They were doctors, they didn’t really know that much about fighting. Meya had probably been the biggest hitter in whatever fight they’d had. She was wearing her armor, and she was highly trained and a very strong telepath. She would give any attackers fits.

It was maddening, not knowing. What had happened? Were the others alright? Did Jyslin know he was a prisoner, or did she think he was dead? Or did she even know? He had to get in touch with her, he had to tell her he was alive.

He had to get out of this damn bed…but he couldn’t move. It was like he was paralyzed.

Well his body wasn’t working, but his mind was clear enough. He reached out the way Jyslin had taught him and assensed the area around him. He sensed hundreds of guarded minds, Faey minds, and sweeping out more he found thousands more. Thousands and thousands. There were other minds out there too, unguarded ones, but they were mostly Makati.

He wasn’t on Earth!

Oh shit! They’d taken him off Earth! He was on a Faey-controlled planet!

That was going to make getting back home just a bit more difficult.

The door opened, and a young woman entered wearing a red longcoat over a red jumpsuit of sorts. She had white-blond hair done up in a topknot, and she had light gray eyes, almost like Jyslin’s. She had a handpanel in her hands, and was looking at it as she came through the door. She looked at him, and then gave him a bright smile. “I see you’re awake,” she said in perfect English. “I would ask you how you feel, but you can’t talk at the moment, honey. We have you on a paralytic agent right now, that vastly reduces your ability to move. Opening your eyes and maybe tilting your head a little is going to be all you’re capable of for a while yet. So, if you’re worried about not being able to move, that’s why.”

She came over and sat on a stool by the bed that he hadn’t seen from his vantage point. “Now, I’ve been warned about you, honey. They told me that you have talent, but I’m not so sure I believe that. So, I’m going to put my hand over yours and establish enough of a connection with you so I can hear you. If you have any questions, just think them, alright?“

She put her hand over his. He felt her touch distinctly, and felt her mind hovering at the edges of his consciousness…but it did not try to breach his border of self. It instead touched on the edge of his self, putting a mental hand on the wall that protected his mind. This should be a little easier for you to comprehend, and I should understand you better, she sent, her mental voice very soft, very gentle, and the sense of the emotion behind her words were that of sincere concern for him. Now, how do you feel? Just think what you want me to hear, but you have to think “loudly,” hon. I won’t hear it unless you make an effort to have me hear you.

He decided to play the game. If they didn’t believe he had talent, then that was just a weapon he could use when it came time to escape. Weak. Confused. I can’t remember what happened.

You suffered head trauma, honey, she told him. A common complication of head trauma is a loss of short-term memory, which usually includes the traumatic event and often time leading up to it. You suffered a major concussion, and had severe burns over thirty percent of your body. You also lost your right arm, but we’re taking care of that right now. That device on your arm is reconstructing it right now, starting by synthesizing bone to replace the skeletal structure. That’s why we have you on the paralytic agent. It’s critical right now that you don’t move. Once it’s done, you’ll be in a flex-cast while your body regenerates the muscle tissue and skin, then after some physical therapy, you’ll be doing handstands again in no time.

There were others with me. What happened to them?

She sighed. I won’t pretend it’s good news, honey. Lieutenant Rann Berylle is in grave condition. We’re not sure he’s going to make it. He was in cardiac arrest for nearly six minutes before they started revival procedures, and that’s in the danger zone. But it’s not totally hopeless. We’ve recovered patients after a longer arrest period, who went on to full recovery. Ensign Songa Berylle is recovering in the room down the hall. She suffered injuries almost similar to yours, a severe head trauma and the loss of a hand. Meya Arenne is doing fine. She had a cybernetic eye implanted to replace her lost one, and she’s already on physical rehabilitation and cybernetic assimilation training. She’ll be released in a few days, as soon as we’re sure her eye is going to function properly. She’ll have to undergo cybernetic assimilation training for a few months so she can get the full use out of her new prosthetic, but she’ll be just fine.

Cybernetic? Why not regrow it?

Growing an eye takes months, honey, because of the exacting precision involved. It’s usually faster and easier to give the patient a cybernetic eye. Some patients do have a cloned eye implanted once it’s ready, but most patients get used to the cybernetic eye and decide to keep it, because a cybernetic eye sees much better than an organic one. It’s entirely personal.

What happened? How did we get injured?

Oh, yes, I should have explained that. Well, honey, from what we were told, your car was struck by an orbital bombardment. As to why you were in that car, that I don’t know. I can only tell you what I was told. And before you ask, right now you’re in the Medical Annex on Dracora. This is the headquarters of the Faey Medical Service, and the best hospital in the Imperium, she sent with pride vibrating through her thought. You will receive the best care we can possibly give you, honey. Your life is safe in our hands. We will treat you well.

And then hand me over to Trillane, he growled.

No. Trillane is trying to get their hands on you, honey, I won’t deny that, but right now you are the, ah, guest of the Imperial Ministry of Research and Development, which means you’re under Imperial protection. They have legal custody of you right now, with some woman named Myleena Merrane having direct responsibility for you. If Trillane wants you, they have to wrangle with Imperial JAG to get you. I don’t know if they have the ovaries for that.

I, I don’t understand. What does that mean?

It means that what happens to you after you leave this hospital is up to the Imperial government, she answered. They could give in to Trillane’s demands and extradite you, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. You’re a very special Terran, Jason Fox. It would be a crime to see that lost.

So, I’m a prisoner.

In a manner of speaking, I guess you are. But know this, Jason. Inside this annex, you stand on sovereign ground, and the Medical Service answers to no one. This is neutral ground, and we do not tolerate petty squabbles and bickering over our patients. In this place, there are no sides, there is only the needy. Your legal status outside these walls does not matter in here. Right now, you are in our custody, and who you are or what you’ve done doesn’t mean anything to us. Do you understand?

I, I guess I do.

I know it’s hard to relax with everything I’m sure is going through your mind, but at least try. For the moment, know that you are safe, and you will receive the best care that we can give you. You’ll find none better anywhere in the Imperium. She patted his hand. Now, I’m going to order a light sedative so you can sleep. It would be boring laying there with nothing to do and no way to move. It would be better if you just sleep through it. When you wake up, you’ll be off the paralytic agent, and you’ll be able to move around. You’ll have a vidlink avialable to you when you’re awake, and you’ll be allowed visitors.

Nobody’s gonna visit me I want to see, he grunted mentally.

I think that your two friends would like to see you, and they’ll be allowed to when you wake up, she sent with a wink. Over your head on the top left corner of the headboard there’s a big red button. If you press it, it alerts the nurse station you need something. So, if you need anything, just press the button and a nurse will attend you. Understood?

I understand.

Very good. I must say, I’m happy I got to meet you, Jason Fox. And I’m honored I get to be one of the doctors on your recovery team. But you can thank me properly after you’re healthy, she sent with a not-entirely appropriate tilt to her sending, a flirtatious invitation. But for right now, sleep is on your treatment schedule. Have a good rest, and I’ll check in on you later.

She pulled up her little handpanel and tapped on it with her finger, and Jason immediately started feeling drowsy. Did she have control over drud administration by remote control, using that little panel? He wondered, but he started feeling very light-headed…even a little euphoric.

Sweet dreams, her thought touched him just before he slipped into a deep, restful sleep.

He didn’t really feel any better when he woke up, but at least he could move again.

It was daytime when he woke up, and before he realized where he was, he tried to scrub his face with his hands…and saw the big plastic sheath over his lower right arm. That was a quick and brutal reminder of the predicament he was in.

He found that he could think more clearly now, and he had no headache, just the dull pain in his arm. He was still connected to wires that ran to that sheath on his arm, but the sheath itself was no longer attached to the bedrail to prevent movement. And since he could move again, that meant he wanted out of this bed. He had to look around. Already, he was considering how he was going to get out of this hospital and back to Earth, and knowing the layout of this hospital would be important.

Getting out of here wouldn’t be easy. He had no doubt that cameras were watching him, and guards were watching him. He would have to outsmart the guards, fool the surveillance, and try to find some way to reach a ship. But this wasn’t home. This was Draconis, and here, a human was going to stand out like a pile of coal in a ballroom. The first step was going to be observation. He had to look around, come to understand how this hospital worked, and learn the layout. Then he’d have to work out some way to get himself and the others off this planet and back to Earth. If they got that far, then they’d have to make their way back to the mountain. It wasn’t going to be easy at all. This would be even harder than breaking out of a prison.

The door opened—they must be watching him all the time!—and a Faey entered. But instead of steeling himself for an interview or a doctor’s examination, he instead smiled brightly when Meya, wearing a simple white hospital jumpsuit, padded into the room in her little white slippers. “They said I could come see you!” she told him, rushing over and embracing him tightly. He hugged her as best as he could with one arm, then pushed her out to look at her. Her right eye was clearly cybernetic. It looked something like a real eye, but there was a fakeness about it that made it apparent…and the color of the synthetic iris didn’t exactly match the color of her remaining eye. There was a faint scar above and below that fake eye. He reached up with his left hand and touched her face, concern and chagrin all over his face. “It’s not that bad,” she told him, putting her hand over his own. “I’m getting used to the new eye. Who knows, I might keep it,” she smiled.

“I’m so sorry, Meya,” he began, but she put her hand over his mouth.

“We knew what we were getting into when we came with you, Jason,” she told him.

“I didn’t get you very far,” he sighed.

“I beg to differ,” she countered. “We’re not dead yet, Jason. I applied to Merrane for asylum, and they’re looking it over. I’m a commoner caught up in a spat between two nobles, so I can use an old law to seek protection from the ruling house. If they grant me asylum, Trillane can’t touch me. Songa and Rann, well, they’re doctors. Nobody can touch them, no matter what. You are who I’m worried about. I’ve already had a visit from Myleena Merrane,” she grunted. “That was fun. But at least she’s keeping those dogs from Trillane out of the hospital.”

“She is?”

Meya nodded. “We’re in a secured wing, hon. There’s already a broiling fight in the Palace over you, so the Medical Service took some precautions.”

“Fight over what?”

“Over who gets you,” she answered. “Trillane wants your head, but it seems the Imperial government has other ideas.”

“Well, they can bloody well get over that idea,” Jason snorted.

“It’s more than that. Right now, you’d better be kissing Myleena’s feet, because she’s keeping the mindbenders out of here too. She won’t let anyone anywhere near you except the doctors.”

“You bet your ass I won’t,” came her voice from the doorway. Jason looked at her, and finally, in person, saw Myleena Merrane. She was tall and elegant, much taller than he thought, wearing a Class A uniform with her ribbons and her gold tassel, holding a hat in her hands. He looked at her, and he got a strange shiver up his spine, a shiver that made him gasp.

She was a Kimdori!

“Miaari?” Jason asked curiously.

“No, Myleena,” she answered bluntly. She looked out the door and made a slashing motion with her hand, then closed the door. “I had them turn off the cameras in here babe, cause we gotta talk. And I don’t think this is something I want someone to overhear. You, out,” she said, looking at Meya.

“We’ll talk later, Jason,” she told him, kissing him on the cheek, then she got up and quickly scurried out.

She came over and sat down on the stool, throwing her hat casually on the bed. “So, you are working with the Kimdori,” she grunted. “If I remember my intelligence right, Miaari is a Kimdori consul who has a personal relationship with a Trillane, that little one that vanished. So, my question to you, Jason Fox, is what are you?”

“Huh?” he asked in surprise.

“You feel like a Kimdori. I can sense them, you know. It’s a little trick. You have the same sense as a Kimdori to me. But Kimdori don’t bleed,” she told him. “So you are not a Kimdori. So, Jason Fox, what in Trelle’s name are you? Because you’re no human.”

Few can sense my gift, and it is this that aspect of you that will lead you to your sister, Miaari had told him, and he recalled the other things she’d said about this woman. You’ll find your sister behind you, wielding your sword, helping you find your way. Don’t mistake the sword in her hands as being held against you. She will not strike you down with it.

No! Myleena? Miaari had been talking about Myleena? No fucking way!

He gaped at her for a long moment, trying to understand. Miaari knew about Myleena Merrane, and she’d known that they’d send her to chase him down. She’d prepared him for this! But if she wouldn’t raise his sword against him, did that mean she would help him? Did that mean that he should tell her the truth? Would she really stand behind him and help him find his way, or was that just a metaphor for something else?

Damn Kimdori. Why couldn’t they just say what they meant?

Well, he didn’t have many options here, and he did trust Miaari. She told him that his sister would help him find his way. Well, Myleena was that sister, so that meant that he had to invest just a little bit of trust in her, and just have faith that his trust in Miaari wasn’t misplaced.

One thing jumped out immediately at him. If both he and Myleena could sense Kimdori, and Miaari called her his sister, and Songa said that some Karinnes married into other houses…then the ability to sense Kimdori had to be a specific trait of the Karinne family line. Myleena had to be a descendent of one of those Karinne nobles.

But the bigger question is…if Karinnes could sense Kimdori, why did Karinnes also have that same sense of presence? Miaari had sensed him right off, because he felt like a Kimdori to her. How did that tie in with it? What was the connection between the Kimdori and the long-dead House of Karinne?

There had to be one.

Myleena stared into his eyes as they swam in confusion, then she watched them harden with resolve and become lucid as a plan of action formed behind them. If she was going to help him find his way, he’d better find a way to make her want to do it. Despite being the sister Miaari told him about, she was still a Merrane, and helping him would go against her house. If he wanted her help, he was going to have to lead her into it. Just coming out and blurting things wasn’t going to work.

He knew Faey. He knew how they thought, how they worked. He had enough experience with Jyslin, Symone, Kumi’s group, and the doctors to know how to approach this problem. This was a Faey female, but more than that, this was an engineer, and being both, she was a woman who had a near-weakness for the concept of a mystery to solve, for something to fix. He would have to lure her into helping him

“I’m human enough,” he told her evenly, holding up his injured right arm.

“Be that as it may, that doesn’t answer the question,” she said, very seriously. He’d never seen her this serious in all the phone calls they’d shared.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“And spend the next two hours arguing over it? No thanks, I don’t feel up to that. I have better things to do.”

That incited an act he never thought would happen. Angrily, she reached out with both hands and grabbed his face. Her touch was not gentle. That touch amplified her telepathic ability, and to Jason’s shock, it was awesome. This woman was stronger than Jyslin! He tried to raise the defense that Jyslin taught him, but she was so fast, she shattered his outer walls of self and drove a spear of her own self straight through him. In a heartbeat, she had complete access to every part of his mind, but instead of raking her fingers through every part of him, taking the prize of his darkest secrets, she instead searched out the answer to that question, a question that, he realized, had been consuming her in obsession so severely that she was willing to risk infuriating him by attacking him telepathically to get the answer she so craved.

And she got it. She sifted through his memory of his revelation, digesting that discovery quickly, then touched on his association with the Kimdori and picked through his memories of Kiaari and Miaari and the conversations they’d had concerning the subject.

She gasped audibly. Her eyes widened, and she took her hands off him like he was a live snake. No! she sent in shock. It can’t be true!

I told you you wouldn’t believe me, he sent privately to her, a bit indignantly. There was no call for that!

I…I’m sorry. But it can’t be true! That you—you’re Faey!

I’m not Faey. I just have a Faey ancestor, he told her. And if Miaari was right, mine is the same as one of yours.

I…I don’t know, she sent in confusion, putting her hands on the sheath over his arm. I could look through our historical tree, I guess. But I don’t see how. This is unbelievable!

That was my reaction too, he sent. Now, if you don’t mind, you can go now. I’m really angry right now.

She grimaced. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. She frowned, then reached out and put her hand on his face once more. He was about to slap her hand away, but instead of attacking him, he felt her lower all of her defenses through that touch. She opened her mind completely to him, surrendering to him anything he wished to take, an act of contrition for taking what he had not offered freely.

He grabbed her hand and pushed it aside, breaking that communion. “No,” he declared. “Just go.”

She gave him a stricken look, then nodded silently. “I’ll come back tomorrow, because we really have to talk, alright? And I promise never to do that again.”

“I should calm down by then,” he informed her.

She nodded, stood up, and filed out. Meya, who had obviously been standing outside, came in after she left, watching her go from the doorway, then sat on the stool. What happened?

I wouldn’t give her the answer she wanted, so she took it.

Meya gasped. She attacked you?

In a manner of speaking, Jason bristled, his indignance bleeding through his sending. I’m not quite sure what to do now. I need to get out of here, to escape. Miaari told me that Myleena would help me, but now I don’t know if that’ll happen.

How would she know that?

Jason glanced at her. Remember when you brought Miaari to Chesapeake, when she brought me those IDs? Remember what she said, about my sister holding my sword? Meya nodded. She was talking about Myleena. She knew that they’d send her to deal with me, somehow. Meya, Miaari knew that Myleena’s related to me.

She is?

She must be one of the descendents of one of those Karinnes that married into other houses that Songa talked about, he explained. Miaari told me how I’d know her, and I knew it the instant I saw her face to face. Myleena is the sister. Miaari said she would help me, but I’m not sure if she really will. She seemed absolutely shocked to find out. That’s what she took from me. I wouldn’t tell her why I—why she got a peculiar feeling when she looked at me, the same one I get when I look at her. When I refused to answer, she took it.

You can tell just by looking at her?

He nodded. Miaari told me what it would feel like. I, I guess the Karinnes could sense each other, because Myleena feels much different to me than any other Faey.

Well, I don’t know about that kinda historical shit. I never paid much attention to my history when I was in school.

Well, this might be a good time for me to start reading about the Third Civil War, Jason sent with an audible grunt. I won’t have anything else to do for a while. I fully intend to escape from here, but there’s nothing I can do until this is fixed. He held up his sheathed right arm, where the device sealed to his arm worked to regenerate the part of his arm he’d lost in the attack. Whether Myleena helps me or not, I’m going back. I’m going home.

Well Jayce, if you need help, I’m in, she told him. I was going to apply for asylum, but you’re right. We have unfinished business back on Terra.

The door slid open again, and a jumpsuit-clad Songa stood in the doorway, her right arm sheathed in a similar unit to the one on his own. She looked at the two of them, the burst into tears and ran into the room. She collapsed on the bed, her arms clutching at Jason’s neck, crying uncontrollably. “Songa?” Jason said in surprise.

Rann is dead! she sent with emotionally charged power, a sending they probably heard miles away.

Jason closed his eyes and felt the burning well up in his nose immediately. He gathered Songa up into his good arm and cradled her, Meya put her hand gently on Songa’s shoulder, sharing in her mourning as they grieved for the loss of a husband and good friend.

If there was any one good thing that came about from the passing of Rann, it was that Songa did not blame him for his death. And it bought them precious time.

She became his virtual roommate after that, as she and Meya spent their every waking hour in his room, seeking solace from her grief in the presence of her friends. For several days after his passing, she would fall into bouts of severe weeping and episodes of almost psychotic depression, and was highly emotional and moody. Jason and Meya consoled her as best they could, but it was very, very hard on her. Faey married for life; there was no concept of divorce in Faey society except in the noble ranks. The pair bond of a Faey couple was intense, powerful, telepathically reinforced. The death of a spouse was a severe blow to a Faey, much, much more so than it would be for a human. The bonds of love between a human husband and wife were a pale shadow of the bond that formed between telepathic mates. Jason read after Rann’s death that suicide was a common occurrence for a widowed spouse, and often they simply wasted away from grief and died.

They would not let either of those become Songa’s fate. Jason and Meya worked together to keep her mind active, keep her challenged, allow her to express her grief for Rann but not allow it to consume her. Sometimes it took humor, sometimes it took comfort, sometimes it took understanding, and more than once it literally required a slap on the face to snap her out of a self-destructive obssessive line of thought.

Because of the delicate nature of Songa’s condition, and much to Jason’s surprise, Myleena did not press any of her urgent issues. Everyone backed off, even the other doctors, and allowed Jason and Meya to help Songa through her time of bereavement.

After nearly two weeks, when they’d replaced the unit on Jason’s arm and let him get a look at a rather grisly sight of new bone and thin reeds of blood vessels and ligaments around them, awaiting the covering of flesh and skin, the outside world had decided that it had been long enough to start again. Songa was still touchy and had bouts of depression, but both Jason and Meya felt that the worst was over. She could say Rann’s name without breaking down now. It may take her months, or even years, to fully move past the trauma of it, but at least now she wasn’t suicidal, and was taking interest in the life around her once again.

But things wouldn’t stay on hold forever because of Songa, and the appearance of Myleena Merrane in his doorway one morning, as Songa sat by his bed watching the vidlink and Meya braided her hair, told him that reality was back in his life. He looked at her and felt that same shiver go up his spine, and she filed in and stood by the door until it closed. Songa glared a little at her, and Meya just gave her a cool look.

“Such an unfriendly welcome,” she said with a slight smile, but it was not Myleena’s voice. It was Miaari!

“Miaari!” Jason gasped, jumping out of bed as she walked up to him. He met her halfway, putting his hand and sheathed arm out to touch her as she reached her hand out to place on his neck. He felt that moment of expansion, when Miaari used her ability to merge her mind with his own, and he felt very little from her side of that union. “I didn’t think you’d come!”

“I had to wait for things to calm down, that is all,” she explained, placing her hand on his neck in ritual Kimdori greeting. He couldn’t resist putting his hand on the side of her neck in reply. She smiled at him, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “You look better now, my friend. Is your arm healing well?”

“They say two more weeks,” he answered, holding the sheath up for her to see. “Can you get a message—“

“I already have,” she told him, urging him to sit down. He did so on the edge of his bed, and she sat beside him. “I don’t have much time before the real Myleena gets here, so listen carefully. Kiaari has told the others what happened. They have decided to carry on in your stead, Jason. Jyslin misses you and wishes to be with you, but she has taken over as the main engineer of your devices and continues to make life hell for Trillane. Your capture has created what you might call a general state of war on Earth. Your allies have not taken kindly to your capture, and they are producing devices that attack Trillane at a truly staggering rate. They have even left the safety of the mountain and conducted armed raids on Trillane military holdings, raiding for weapons and supplies. Trillane is retaliating against the lay citizenry in response, and things are starting to escalate. Trillane is also furious with the Empress right now. After your capture, she withdrew her Black Ops team from Terra and has left them to deal with your compatriots alone. She refuses to send any additional help. They have also demanded your release to Trillane to answer for your sedition, but their pleas rattle against a closed door in the Imperial Palace. The Empress will not even call Grand Duchess Trillane to court. She has made it clear that you were her only interest there, and without them there to try to counter your rebellion, they are running roughshod all over Trillane shipping. Your rebellion is costing Trillane a fortune.”

“I’m glad they’re not going crazy with worry.”

“They are, Jason, but by devoting herself to standing in your shadow and carrying on your vision, Jyslin seeks to lose herself both in her work and in your goal. Kiaari told me that she carries around a picture that broadcasted on INN of your burned-out car, and every time she gets tired, she looks at it and then goes back to work.”

“My poor baby,” Jason sighed. “I wish I could talk to her.”

“That would not be advisable, Jason. But be patient.”

“Miaari, Myleena—“

“Yes, you have met her,” she said simply.

“But she took it really hard. She might not help—“

“Let that flow of its own accord, Jason. There is no need to push at what will move on its own in time. Trust me.”

“Alright.”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “So, now you know what I wanted you to know. Well done, Jason.”

“But what does it mean, Miaari? There’s more to it, there just has to be.”

“That is the point, Jason. There is more to it. With the help of your sister, you can find the answer you seek. Learning what I hoped you would learn was only a stepping stone across a stream.”

“What did you want him to know?” Songa asked.

“It is a secret I still cannot speak of openly, child,” she answered evenly. “Even when speaking it to those who already know. A secret unspoken remains a secret. It is the Kimdori way.” She shifted her hand back onto his neck and shared with him a time seventeen days from today, and a place, an old vacant warehouse about 17 kathra from the Medical Annex, and a detailed memory of the city of Dracora. It was like he’d lived here all his life; he knew every back street, every alley, every walkway, and he knew he could walk from Lusten Beach all the way to Myrai Heights with a blindfold on. She also shared with him a thought, an instruction: be at this place at that time. We cannot interfere, but we can ensure you have a way out. I will make the necessary arrangements, but getting to that place, at that time, is your responsibility. Do you understand?

He nodded, and the face of Myleena smiled at him. “I am out of time, my friend. Be well, and take care. Oh, yes. Perhaps you should consider one thing, Jason.”

“What?”

“An interview.”

“A what?”

“An interview,” she repeated. “The citizens of the Imperium know your name, but perhaps it is the best interest of the rebellion if they see your face, and hear the words from your own mouth. Perhaps it is time for the rest of the Imperium to hear about what happened to friend Kumi, an attack Trillane has managed to keep very quiet. Remember, the game you play with Trillane is as much status and position as it is financial. Put enough pressure on Trillane brought about by the rest of the Imperium concerning their actions on Terra, and they might bend.”

“Are, are you sure that would work?”

“I wouldn’t hurt,” she shrugged. “In your position, my friend, seeking any advantage would behoove you. Your situation is not favorable at this moment, is it?” she asked, pointedly looking around the room to remind him where he was. “You have no restrictions in this place, Jason. Don’t forget, this is sovereign ground of the Medical Service, and they do not tolerate outside interference, even from the Empress. You, like any other patient, have every right to call others from your vidlink. You can call whoever you please, so long as you understand that more than you and the one you talk to will be listening, and whoever you call can be traced.”

“I understand,” Jason said, nodding to her unspoken warning: do not call anyone you don’t want found.

Miaari walked to the door and opened it with a touch of a button. “I will see you again shortly,” she said, then walked out and closed it without a word.

What was that about? Meya sent tightly, so only Jason and Songa would hear.

She had me touch her mind, Jason sent, a bit evasively. She gave me a location and a time. If we’re there at that time, we have a way off Draconis. All we have to do is get there. She warned me that getting there is our problem. They won’t help.

How lovely, Meya sent darkly.

Despite Miaari’s statement that Myleena would come around on her own, he didn’t see a whiff of her for three days after Miaari’s visit. But that was a welcome respite, for it gave Jason time to think things over, consider how he was going to handle getting away, and also ponder the question that was nagging at him since Miaari’s visit.

How were the Karinnes and the Kimdori connected?

It was a bothersome question, because the Kimdori defined secretive. There was so little information about them on Civnet, it wasn’t funny. About the only information one could find about the Kimdori was that their homeworld was near the center of the galaxy, in a star cluster that was virtually uninhabitable by any other species due to intense radiation…yet the Kimdori thrived there, as well as other life that existed in the system. Kimdori were immune to radiation. There was mention that they were shapeshifters and that they had a pack mentality that caused them to organize into cells of family groups, but that was about it. No information about their society, their history, their culture.

That was a no-go, but there was plenty of information about Karinne. It seemed that the foundation of modern Faey technology was directly traced back to the House Karinne, and there was something of an intergalactic incident when House Merrane destroyed House Karinne at the onset of the Third Civil War.

The House Karinne was formed in the year 1282 PE (Prior Era, which they counted backwards from 0 just like Earth counted backwards in B.C. years) at the end of the First Civil War. Noya Karinne, an Imperial General, was awarded nobility and the territory of the destroyed House Zudunne after she saved the Empress’ ship from destruction. In that early era, the House Karinne was like all the other houses; ambitious and manipulative, gaining territory, power, and status to become one of the stronger of the minor houses.

But things changed after the Second Civil War. After being awarded more territory, Caenry Karinne, the grand duchess at that time, sold off one of the gained star systems to raise money and used it to invest in her house’s research efforts. That was a name Jason recognized, not for Karinne, but her first name. The Caenry Theorum was the fundamental theorum of phased plasma physics. Jason had no idea that Caenry was a Karinne. A little more reading showed Jason that the Karinnes did way more than develop the fundamental theorum of phased plasma physics. Caenry was responsible for surrendering more than 75% of Karinne territory, but the money she raised went straight into research. Hard shields, the first spatial warping experiments, ion weapons, the basics of plasma power, hot plasma weaponry, and the first experiments in metaphased plasma weapon technology were all researched by the Karinnes. It could be said with high authority that the House of Karinne was the cradle of modern Faey technology. The stargates, MPACs, spatial engines, all of it could be traced back to groundbreaking Karinne research.

But it was Moiri Karinne’s act that was probably one of the most brilliant, if one considered what she was doing. She sold off everything but their home planet of Karis, then consolidated all of the various research efforts by forming the Karis Academy, a centralized research facility that Caenry Karinne wisely made self-sustaining by opening it as a university, where other students could come to learn.

Karis Academy. He remembered reading about it in Xeno class. It was the learning institution, a place that races all over the galaxy came to for higher learning.

Damn clever woman. The Karinnes were obsessed with science, so what better way to increase scientific advancement by putting the most scientists in one place?

At its height, the Karis Academy was the size of a large city. It had hundreds of thousands of students, and thousands of scientists and professors. At any one time, there were hundreds of major research projects going on, from a wide variety of disciplines.

But the history didn’t cast the Karinnes in the warm light of science. Over the years after the Second Civil War, the Karinnes changed. They became withdrawn from the Imperium, indifferent to it, even scornful. The entire house began a controversial selective breeding program within the house to increase its power in telepathy, a program that both worked and brought about laws against it. The program worked. The Karinnes became known as the most powerful telepaths in the Imperium, hand over fist. It also caused Empress Ziora Shevalle to enact the Natural Progression edict, a ban on genetic engineering experiments that other houses began to consider after seeing the success of the Karinne breeding program. Over time, the Karinnes became literal outcasts in Faey society, but they didn’t care. They shunned Faey society and culture and withdrew to Karis and to their own mysterious goals. It became a rare sight to see a Karinne off Karis, but they were easily identifiable wherever they went, for every member of the house wore a decorative metal device on their left ear with prongs that stretched horizontally under the left eye nearly to the nose in a delicate bar, and vertically down the front and back of the ear, then wrapping around the back of the head with a curved skull-hugging brace that rested atop their heads. That metal ornament came to signify the Karinnes and identify them wherever they went.

Then came the Third Civil War. In 2886, the Faey Imperium broke into two factions, the Loyalists and the Seditionists, but House Karinne refused to take sides. They remained neutral, which was the policy of the house for a thousand years, offering no aid to either side. Both sides, however, didn’t honor Karinne’s neutrality. In 2887, Seditionist forces spearheaded by a Merrane battle fleet destroyed Karis. They used Omega weaponry, which irradiated the planet and made it uninhabitable, even to this day, some 1,307 years later. Seditionist and Loyalist houses, both sides, then hunted down and killed all the remaining Karinnes. Both sides, the history read, feared Karinne retaliation.

It took a little time for him to understand why they’d be afraid. It seemed that House Karinne was well known—almost infamous—for the telepathic power of its nobles. All of them, every single Karinne noble, was staggeringly powerful in talent, because of the very controversial selective breeding program the house underwent between the second and third Civil Wars. There were even documented cases of Karinne nobles having telekinetic ability, which was as rare among the Faey as telepathy was among humanity. Both sides feared the power of Karinne nobles who now had no house, and had nothing to lose. So they were hunted down and killed. They even went so far as to kill Karinne nobles who had married into other houses and become part of the new house. Male nobles changed houses when they married, becoming part of the new house.

That explained why both Jason and Myleena were so strong in talent. Jason, being male, was weaker than Myleena, but that was a relative comparison when one considered that Jason was more powerful in talent than maybe 94% of Faey females. He was almost even with Jyslin. His weaker talent was way more than most Faey women, but Myleena, a female, was much stronger than him. Myleena had to be in the top 1% of all Faey in telepathic power.

The destruction of Karis had negative repercussions through the rest of civilized space. The loss of Karis Academy really pissed off some of the other spacefaring races, because quite a few non-Faey students were killed in the Merrane assault. The newly reunited Faey Imperium, under a new Empress and a new ruling noble house, found itself suddenly at war with another civilization called the Urumi, who considered the death of its students on Karis an act of war. The Urumi had been allied with the Loyalists, and when they lost the war, the Urumi simply declared war on the entire Imperium.

That wasn’t the real problem, though. Since the destruction of Karis Academy, Faey technological advancement had slowed to a crawl. Stargates, moleculartronic computer architecture, and MPAC technology had been the only real major breakthroughs in the millenium since the Third Civil War, where before, Faey technology had been advancing by leaps and bounds. They had killed the golden goose when they destroyed the Karinnes, for the Karinnes had been the backbone of the Faey scientific community.

That was interesting and all, but it didn’t really answer the question. There was no mention in any of the various historical files he read that linked the Karinnes and the Kimdori in any way. He had no doubt that some Kimdori had attended Karis Academy as students, but outside of that obvious assumption, nothing.

But there had to be some connection, and Miaari had said without saying that that connection was very important. That connection just had to be why the Kimdori had done so much to help him; clearly, they wouldn’t render so much aid to him for some other reason. There was something back in the marches of history that linked the Kimdori and the house of Karinne together, and that was what Jason felt that Miaari wanted him to find.

Jason kept reading through the historical files of several universities on Draconis, and was engaged in reading another essay on the Karinnes when the door opened, and Myleena Merrane stepped in. Jason felt that shiver when he looked at her, and he had to wonder if this was Myleena, or if it was Miaari. “It’s about time,” he said simply.

“I was busy,” she said, in her own voice. It was indeed Myleena. “I didn’t know I’m related to someone famous,” she said with a humorless chuckle.

“Me?”

“Gora Karinne,” she stated. “His older brother was married into Merrane. I looked through Merrane geneaology, and he’s my thousand-year removed grandfather.”

“How did your parents take it?”

“They died when I was a baby, along with my older sister,” she grunted. “I was raised by my aunt Uri. My uncle Taen has been riding me about having a baby to continue my line, but I’ve blown him off for years.” She snorted. “I guess I shouldn’t. I looked it up, babe. I’m the last living descendent of my line. All the splinters off my line died before having kids, or they did have kids and their kids died before producing any heirs. I’m it. That’s a sobering thing.”

“And what do you think about it?” he asked.

“What can I think about it?” she said, throwing up her hands. “I’ve always been able to sense Kimdori, you know. I was terrified of them, afraid they’d find out that I could, cause then they’d kill me. Every time I felt one, it’d look right at me.” She shuddered. “And now I find out that it’s not unique.”

“Could your parents sense Kimdori?”

“No idea,” she shrugged.

“So. What do we do about it?”

“What can I do about it?” she told him. “I’m a Merrane, babe, no matter that I have an ancestor from another house. Just about every noble has relatives from other houses nowadays, because houses intermarry. I have my orders, and those are to get you into Makan Academy.”

“Where?”

“Makan Academy, the best engineering school this side of the galaxy,” she told him. “As soon as you heal up, I’m supposed to take you there. Personally. Then you settle in and learn engineering properly, and once you graduate, you come back as the newest member of Black Ops.”

“I see this is going to be interesting,” Jason said simply, giving her a cool look. “Because I have no intention of going anywhere but back home. I hope you’re ready to chain me to a desk on Makan.”

“If that’s what it takes,” she told him evenly.

“It’ll take more than that,” he warned. “You seem to forget, I’m fighting a war back on Terra. I’m not too concerned about what the Imperium has in mind for me when my people need me.”

“It’s not really your problem now, babe,” she told him.

“It will always be my problem,” he said coldly. “One way or another, I’m going home, Myleena. Either you’re going to help me, or I’ll go through you. I was told that you’d help me, but I guess you’re more worried about being a Merrane than you are a relative.”

She gasped. “What do you expect?” she snapped. “Yes, I’m curious about how we came to be relatives. Yes, I like you, Jason, and I’m worried about you, and I’d like to help you. But I have my orders, and they’re good for you as much as they are for us. You can reach your full potential at Makan, and maybe you can do some good for your people there. Did you ever think of that? Make your case, babe, do it out in the open instead of with a bomb. You ever think of talking to an INN reporter? Lots of people kinda like you, babe, cause you’re a romantic figure. If you went on INN and explained what was going on, maybe you could create enough public support to have the Empress start investigating a hell of lot harder than she has been. People thought your attacks on Washington were funny. Show them a face to go with that sense of humor, and fill people in on what motivated it all.”

“You’re the second person to suggest that,” he said, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“It’s not a bad idea. But be that as it may, I’m not here just to talk about our common ancestry.” She brought up a handpanel. “Let’s start with how you were getting around without being detected.”

“Push off, Myleena,” he snapped. “I’m not telling you shit, because if I reveal how we did it, then the people still back there who depend on those things for their lives will have their asses hanging out in the wind. There’s no telling who else is going to see anything that goes in that panel, so you get nothing.”

“Now hold on—“

I said no, he sent with ferocity, resorting to sending to fully convey his outrage at the very thought of it.

Hold on there, babe, don’t take it out on me, she sent with supplication. I was told to ask. I asked, you said no, and I’m not gonna push it. I don’t really blame you, truth be told. She came over to his bed, and looked at the monitor sitting on the table in the corner, which had lines of flowing Faey script and a picture of a Faey woman with a metal object attached to the left side of her face. I see you’ve been researching, she sent. That’s a Karinne.

How can you tell? he asked, calming down considerably from the mollifying tone of her sending.

The thing on her ear that sticks out under her left eye. All Karinnes wore it, even when it gave away who they were.

I don’t remember seeing it on that picture we found back home.

Who knows?

If all Karinnes wore it, why wasn’t the one in the picture?

Maybe she lost it. What are you looking up?

Well, now that I know where I came from, I’m trying to understand that side of me better. I’ve been looking at the history of the Karinnes. I’m also trying to find why you and me can do what we can do concerning them, and what it means. There’s more there. There’s something important there. If I can just figure it out, it would let me sleep better at night.

Good luck, she sent with a shrug of her shoulders.

Doesn’t it make you curious?

Of course it does, but I have bigger things to worry about. Like keeping your ass alive. Did you know that Trillane had the nerve to come here and demand they hand you over?

No, I didn’t.

Holy Trelle, was Commodore Yia pissed, she sent with a laugh. She’s the hospital’s commander. Trillane has some serious guts to try to come in here after you, but now they’re gonna face the wrath of the Medical Service. It won’t be pretty.

I knew there was a reason I liked Faey doctors.

They have guts for people who vow never to raise a hand against another. Then again, they have their ways of making others pay when they get pissed. Trillane might get all their doctors recalled to Draconis.

“More power to them,” Jason said, standing up and going over to the panel he was using. He sat down in front of it and scrolled through the essay again, scanning it with his eyes. I’m going to warn you right now, Myleena, he sent privately to her. I will not be on any transport to Makan. When my arm is healed, I’ll be going back home. You can do whatever it is you need to do to try and stop me, but it’s not going to get you very far. When it’s all said and done, I’ll be back where I belong. You can try to get in my way, or you can bow to that inevitability and help me. If you help me, I’ll remember it. If you get in my way, I will remember it. How you want to play that game is up to you.

My, sounds like I’m being dismissed.

You are. Out. It’s clear you have nothing of substance to talk about, I have work to do, and we can save the chitchat for the next time.

“Alright, alright,” she sighed. “I’ll come see you tomorrow, okay?”

Whatever makes you happy. Just remember what I said. I meant it.

I suppose you do, but this isn’t your sandbox back home, babe. You’re in my sandbox now, and you’ll find that I’m very stingy when it comes to sharing my toys.

Guess it’ll just be that much more humiliating when I break out of here, then, he shrugged. You are nothing but a momentary inconvenience, Myleena.

That got her. Oh, you’re just digging your own grave now! she sent hotly. You wanna play with me, babes, you just got yourself a game! And when they put you on that transport to Makan, I’ll be in the seat next to you laughing the whole way!

We’ll see.

She stormed out, and Jason had to smile. Getting her angry may have been petty, but he wanted her to be mad for a little bit. If for no other reason than she had it coming. He sighed and stared at the face on his monitor, an old picture of a Faey woman with hair the color of pampas grass that was long and straight and parted in the middle, hanging in front of her right ear but pushed over her left, staring at the camera with a serious, almost irritated expression. Her right eye was closed ever-so-slightly more than her left, a glittering crystal bead was hanging from her right earlobe on a golden chain, and that dark metal ornament on the left side of her face with its elegant prong resting under her left eye, flowing back to her left ear where it joined with the rest of it. So this was a Karinne, a woman named Sora Karinne by the caption of the photo. What secrets were lurking behind those violet eyes? What secrets had gone with her to her grave, as the warships of Merrane destroyed Karis around her? He read the caption again.

[Duchess Sora Karinne, daughter of Grand Duchess Garda Karinne, Heir Apparent of House Karinne. Photo taken 2675, Karis Academy, Karis.]

Well, warships wouldn’t have been over this woman’s head. She had lived hundreds of years before the end of Karinne, a picture from over fifteen hundred years ago. Was she one of his distant ancestors? Probably not. She was the house ruler, after all. Jason didn’t have the ego to think that he was descended from the ruling family in the noble house.

“How do I fit in, Sora?” he asked the picture aloud. “And where do they fit in? I don’t see the connection. I could use a little help here.”

The picture was silent. Then again, pictures usually were.

“You’re a big help,” he accused the photo, then switched over to the mail program. It was time to send a little correspondence to INN. Maybe they could find a reporter that wasn’t busy.

The interview wasn’t half as bad as he thought it would be. A reporter was at the hospital literally minutes after he made that call, and he found her to be warm, enthusiastic, friendly, and very nice. They talked for quite a while about what they were going to talk about, and she assured him that he could say whatever he wanted. Her name was Tiya Harelle, and he grew rather fond of her as the day progressed.

When the time came fro the camera—or her personal panel in this case—to roll, she was both professional and discreet. She did not wander an inch from the material they had talked about. She asked him about what was going on back on Earth, and he answered her. He told her about how the humans were being treated like dogs, and his accusations of slaving (which he admitted he couldn’t prove), and his decision to risk everything to do something about it. He told them about what he remembered of his capture, and informed the entire Imperium that Trillane had fired on a car holding doctors, and one had died. The Imperium treated their doctors like saints; even an accidental killing of a doctor was a major black eye to Trillane in the eyes of the rest of the Imperium. That was a damning offense.

Then came…the question. It was the question that she hadn’t said she was going to ask, but he knew she’d drop it on him. “There are rumors that there are humans expressing talent, Master Fox, and that you’re one of them. Would you like to confirm or deny this?”

“I won’t hide it,” he told her. “I have talent. It’s one reason why Trillane has gone so far to try to kill me. It’s what I meant in my original statement when I said that they knew who and what I was. Trillane has known I have talent for a long time.”

“Really?” she asked, giving him a smile. “I know our viewers can’t experience you proving it, but I’d like to—“ then she gasped, and laughed. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, I’ll attest that statement. Jason Fox is a telepath!”

From there, after that revelation was over, they talked about Kumi. Miaari had specifically told him to talk about Kumi, so he did. He described her as exactly what she was, a Trillane noble who had risked her own life to investigate his accusations, and was nearly killed because of it. He never named her, but any reporter worth her salt could figure out who it was with a little investigation…and Tiya certainly seemed competent.

“And you know where she is now?” Tiya asked.

“Not anymore,” he answered. “Now that she’s recovered, I think she’s back on the trail of who tried to kill her. And I doubt she’ll be very forgiving when she catches up to them, given that they shot her in the back.”

Take that, whoever it was who tried to kill Kumi. Now they’ll be looking over their shoulders, looking for a fire-eyed Eleri Trillane, coming to exact a little vengeance.

The interview wound down after that. When it was over, Tiya shook his hand, told him it was nice to meet him, told him to look for the interview to run at evening headlines, and left.

Jason watched the interview that night, and was impressed. Tiya did not edit anything. The interview was played in its entirety, using that single camera angle with the hospital room in the background. There was a little piece before the interview that described Jason as a rebel protesting House Trillane by using armed force. Tiya was very professional about that piece, not showing bias either way, simply stating the facts as they were known for the benefit of the audience, and then going straight into the interview. After the interview she commented to the anchor that she had been very impressed meeting Jason in person. “He’s just as charismatic in person,” she said with a smile. “A very kind and thoughtful young man, with a sense of purpose about him that I noticed immediately. He’s a man that believes in what he’s doing with all his heart. Some may call him a rebel or even a murderer, but he truly believes that he’s fighting for the betterment of his people.”

“He won’t be doing much fighting from a hospital bed in the medical annex,” the anchor tittered with a grin.

“True. Perhaps that’s why he agreed to do the interview,” Tiya acceded.

“Is there any word about his legal status?” the other anchor asked.

“At the moment, no,” she answered. “Imperial JAG refuses to comment, only stating that it’s a currently active case and they won’t comment. Trillane lawyers, on the other hand, have been very eager to comment about the case. They accuse the JAG of stonewalling them and denying them an extradition hearing. Rumor in the Palace is that the Imperial arm intends to keep Jason Fox as a researcher, given his knack for Faey technology.”

“Ah. Any information on who this injured Trillane noble is?”

“There’s no official confirmation from the Trillane spokewomen, but most likely it’s Countess Eleri Trillane. She’s been missing for several months, last seen leaving her office where she served as a military liaison. She’s officially listed as AWOL, for she was in her conscription.”

Nice, Meya commented after they finished watching. What was it like to sit there and talk to her and know that the whole Imperium was gonna see it?