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  Zak frowned. “This is a little out of the blue, isn’t it?”

  Maia tried to smile. “I thought so too but it makes sense. And it’s important.”

  “All right, but what exactly is it?”

  “It’s...” Maia faltered, looking around at the others seated by her. There was Selina, who had taken her into her family. Her sister. There was Asten, who through his relationship with Selina was practically family as well. Then there were Drackson and Carla, who had been close friends ever since she had fought alongside them against Corinthe’s forces over Phalamki. Beside them, sitting spread out along the table were the other members of Sigma Squadron, every one of them a comrade she would trust with her life.

  There was no reason she couldn’t tell them. Besides, Lyla and Alia already knew all about it.

  “It’s nothing dangerous,” she said. “At least, I don’t think so. I’ve agreed to run two small errands for him. However, time is something of an issue so we should leave soon. But basically, the first errand is to deliver a message. He’s given me a data recording, some co-ordinates outside Minstrahn space, a hailing frequency and an identification code. And he wants me to transmit a message to someone outside Minstrahn space.”

  “Why can’t he send one of his own people?” Zak asked her.

  “He could,” Maia replied, “but as the co-ordinates he provided are en route to our next destination, it makes just as much sense for us to do it.”

  “And where’s our next destination?”

  Maia glanced around the table for moment before looking back at Zak.

  “Felarias.”

  “Felarias? Where your mother’s people come from?”

  “Yes.”

  Zak frowned. “I thought you said Lord Valaekei and the Third Division of the Levarc destroyed it, killing everyone there.”

  “That was my mother’s assumption,” Maia replied. “However, Admiral Roth says there were survivors and they are slowly rebuilding their world.”

  “I see,” Zak murmured. A chance for Maia to learn about her mother’s people, to see for herself that they still lived and to see other people like herself. For although she was only half Felariam, she shared all their physical characteristics. It was easy to see why this was so important to her. However, he felt as though he were seeing only half the picture.

  “But what’s his interest in all of this?”

  Maia’s expression hardened. “He wants me to prepare Felarias to defend itself.”

  “From what?”

  “From a second wave of Levarc.”

  For a moment, no one spoke.

  Ja’is broke the silence. “Isn’t he getting a bit ahead of himself? I mean, we all heard about the Levarc weapons that were used on board that ship we found but...”

  “And there’s a Federation garrison in the Levarc Kingdom,” Adaria pointed out. “There’s no way they could even think about building a fleet of warships, let alone launching another campaign of conquest without the whole thing being shut down on the spot. And if you look at the Levarc living in the Federation and the Frontier worlds, the last thing they’d want would be another war.”

  “That’s true,” Maia said. “But they’re not the ones the admiral is worried about. He thinks there’s another group. A second kingdom.”

  “Where?” Layson asked.

  “He’s trying to find out,” Maia said. “But he’s convinced it’s tied to this trouble with the Minstrahn.”

  “And how are you and Zak going to prepare the Felariam to hold these people back if they decide to strike at the Frontier and the Federation?” Adaria asked.

  Maia glanced at Selina, her half-Phalamkian sister.

  “Because since Maia’s my sister,” Selina said as she got it, “she carries a lot of influence with some very powerful people, most notably my father.”

  “Ah,” Zak nodded.

  “What?” Adaria asked, turning to him.

  “The Phalamkians designed one of the most powerful planetary shields ever conceived,” he told her. “If Maia can explain the situation to Lord Erama, we can get a group of Phalamkian engineers out to Felarias and commence work on constructing something similar to the one they have on Phalamki. Admiral Roth’s not ahead of himself. He’s just ten steps ahead of the enemy.”

  “An enemy that might not even exist though,” Layson pointed out.

  “Then there’s no harm done,” Zak countered. “But if he’s right, then Felarias could be a critical outer defense point for the worlds of the Frontier and the Federation.” He looked at Maia, a knowing expression in his eye. “I suppose the admiral mentioned that it might be worthwhile getting the Felariam to consider petitioning the other worlds of the Frontier for some assurance of mutual assistance?”

  “He did say something to that effect, yes.”

  Ja’is smiled. “He really has thought of everything, hasn’t he?”

  “By the way, how are all those United Frontier talks going?” Adaria wondered. “Does anyone know?”

  Selina sensed that everyone was looking her way for some reason. “I don’t really know anything,” she told them. “My father’s on the defense side of things. I mean, he hears some things but most of it’s pretty much the same as all the news in the public domain. I mean, it’s happening and we will have a United Frontier soon but it’s hard to tell exactly when all the little intricacies are going to be smoothed over.”

  “I have a question.”

  Everyone turned Asten’s way but his gaze was focused on Maia and Zak.

  “How are you planning to get to Felarias and Phalamki?”

  “Well, in our Corteks,” Maia replied, sounding a little perplexed by the question. “I mean they’re more than capable of handling long journeys and they’re faster in hyperspace than the average shuttle as well. Which may well have been another factor in Admiral Roth’s decision in getting me to transmit his message instead of sending one of his own men.”

  Asten nodded. “I know that but I just think it’d be better if you and Zak could go in the same ship. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about being separated and it’d be a much easier trip for you both too.”

  “Yeah, but how?”

  “Take the Lady Hawk.”

  For a moment, Maia was truly stunned. The Lady Hawk was Asten’s pride and joy and since he had bought it on Tanem six years ago, it had been his home. Or at least, it had been his home until he had met Selina.

  “Oh, Asten, I couldn’t.”

  He shook his head. “No, it’s fine. It’d just be sitting in the hangar otherwise. And I know you two aren’t going to run off with it. Besides, like I said, it’d be easier all round.”

  “Thanks, Asten.”

  Ja’is glanced at Zak to see what he thought of it all. “So that’s settled then?”

  “Yeah,” Zak murmured. “Although we’ll be slightly underhanded flying the Lady Hawk with just the two of us. But yeah, I know what you’re going to ask. You and Adaria can have joint command of the squad until we get back.”

  His wingman nodded as if Zak were just confirming an unspoken fact. “Great.”

  It was Drackson who spoke next. “And Zak, I can come with you if you like. At least, until you get to Phalamki.”

  “So what’s your errand?” Asten asked his friend.

  “I want to see if I can work on this business of the suspected second Levarc Kingdom from another angle.”

  “The Harskan angle?”

  Drackson nodded. “I remember what my mother said about the changing climate back home. I think I can use that.”

  “How?”

  “It may be a little early to say,” Drackson told him, “and I might be entirely wrong.”

  Asten nodded. “All right. But assuming you’re not going to drag Zak and Maia to the Harskan Sector, how are you going to get there?”

  Drackson shrugged. “I was hoping that perhaps I could persuade Lord Erama to lend me something small with lightspeed capabilities that I could use.�
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  “Why don’t you take my Harskan Cortek?” Zak suggested. “I mean, I appreciate your offer to help us fly the Lady Hawk but if it’s just going to be simple direct flying, we should probably be able to handle it with just the two of us. I mean, if it were a real problem, I could always take another one of my pilots.”

  Drackson nodded. “You’re right. That might be better. Then I could go back to my sector directly.”

  “All right,” Maia said, standing up. “Then it’s settled. However, we’d better get going before Admiral Roth starts wondering whether his message has been delivered or not.”

  When Zak brought the Lady Hawk out of lightspeed at the co-ordinates the admiral had given Maia, they found themselves quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” he asked.

  Maia checked the navigation instruments for a second reading. “This is the place.”

  “But there doesn’t seem to be anyone here.”

  Maia shrugged. “Maybe there doesn’t need to be. Let’s try sending out that hailing signal and see what happens.”

  They didn’t have to wait for long.

  “Code in,” a military type said over the communicator.

  Zak gave Maia a look of mild surprise. She shrugged. She hadn’t been expecting a response that quickly herself.

  “Upsilon-Theta-Lambda,” she replied over the speaker. “Message from Admiral Roth.”

  “Copy. Stand by.” On the other end, there was the sound of someone tapping switches. “Transmit when ready.”

  “Transmitting.”

  Maia waited until, with a click, the speaker came alive again. “Transmission received. Over and out.”

  For a moment, the cockpit was silent.

  “Well,” Maia shrugged. “That was easy.”

  “So, that’s it?” Zak asked, just wanting to make sure.

  “That’s it.”

  “Right,” he nodded. “All right then. Let’s set that course for Felarias.”

  Captain Teráji waited as General Kellahav read the message from Admiral Roth.

  “Trouble, General?” he asked.

  Kellahav smiled. “It appears that is for us to find out.” He handed him the pad. “Give these co-ordinates to the helmsman and relay to the rest of the task force. Then prepare all ships to leave. I want to be under way in twenty minutes.”

  “Comm,” Kellahav called out as Teráji headed for the helm.

  “Sir?”

  “Have Major Eslen meet me in hangar one, and inform the deck officer that I want his assault shuttle prepped for immediate launch. You can tell the major I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  “Sir.”

  There was a short wait while the order was carried out. The communications officer then turned back to the general. “Sir. What directions shall I relay to Captain Dreimarc?”

  The captain of that last vessel that Admiral Roth had assigned to his task force.

  “He’s almost two days from here so we can’t wait for him,” Kellahav said, thinking. “Tell him to proceed into the Minstrahn Empire, find a suitable point immediately beyond the outskirts of the Minstrah system and then wait there for further orders.”

  The communications officer didn’t question the directive, although Kellahav saw the uncertainty in his expression.

  “One defining aspect of space, Lieutenant,” he assured the younger man, “is that there’s a lot of it. There is no reason why the Minstrahn should know he’s there.”

  “Yes, sir,” the communications officer replied and turned back to his task.

  Kellahav then left the bridge to meet Major Eslen. The time had come for the men and women of his task force to earn their keep.

  9. The Lords And Ladies

  One by one, they filed in, the lords and ladies of the Minstrahn Ruling Families. Laila looked at each of them as they took their seats around the conference table, trying to gauge some idea of what they were like. However, the duplicity she was looking for eluded her as every one of them seemed as concerned as the Empress had been by the seriousness of the situation they now found themselves in.

  For the moment at least, the atmosphere was one of cordial politeness but there was a definite tension in the air. The room added to it as well. Although it was airy with floor-to-ceiling windows that encircled it and leafy plants around its edge, it was clearly a conference room. And just as clearly from the thin layers of dust on various surfaces, the Minstrahn had had little occasion to use it until now.

  Laila looked at the color of the cloth of the various tunics and dresses she saw around the table. There was the deep red of the Limasi quadrant on the Lord Kamais and his younger brother, the dark emerald green of the Chara quadrant on the splendid sequin dress worn by Lady Eras and there was the black and silver of the Daeispa quadrant on Lord Valinski and his younger sister, the Lady Valinski. Then of course, there was the soft white of the Empress’s gown and the gold sash that Lord Admiral Arathea wore over his tunic.

  Finally, there was the blue of the Kyrias quadrant but the man who wore it was not a lord of a ruling family, but rather a knight commander of that quadrant. No lord or lady sat by him as Lord Ilian had no younger siblings.

  When it seemed the meeting was about to begin, the elevator opened and a man and a woman of the fleet arrived, a lord and a lady admiral by the look of them if Laila was right. The man was dressed in blue, while the woman was dressed in deep red.

  “Ah,” the Empress smiled, acknowledging them as they entered, “Lord Admiral Calendres. Lady Admiral Kallista. I thank you both for taking the time to join us all here today.”

  They both bowed in response, a slight motion from the waist, then took their seats next to those from their respective quadrants.

  Laila stole a quick glance at Admiral Roth sitting beside her. He had arranged a little surprise with her for the assembled lords and ladies of the Minstrahn but there was no sign in his expression of either anxiety or anticipation. Laila could only hope her own feelings were as well concealed. Seated beside the admiral, Captain Merrick - the commanding officer of the Sentinel - looked equally calm and Laila wondered whether he’d been let in on the plan as well.

  She then looked at her daughters, sitting on her right. Their roles, being quiet observers, were simpler than either her own or the admiral’s, but were equally important. Hopefully, they’d get something out of this meeting.

  “My thanks go out to each and every one of you for responding to my call so quickly,” Empress Tenenial said, rising to her feet and gesturing with an open palm to everyone at the table. “It is my understanding that you are all aware of the gravity of this situation that we now face, and I therefore see no reason to go over it yet again. It is instead my hope that through our meeting here today, we can come to some understanding as to how all of this has come about and through that, forge some measure by which we can resolve this.”

  “To help us achieve that end,” she continued, “we have today both the privilege and honor of the company of Admiral Roth, the supreme commander of the Federation navy.”

  Roth inclined his head as the Empress took her seat. “Thank you, your Imperial Highness. Lords, Ladies and those of you who represent your respective divisions of the Minstrahn naval forces, this is an open forum to assist us in resolving this matter that threatens your people. A matter so serious, I remind you, that your Empress saw it necessary to request the assistance of my own. I trust the implications of this are not lost on any of you.”

  There was a murmur of assent from the table.

  Roth then turned to the knight commander in blue, representing the Kyrias division of the Minstrahn navy and aligned with the Ilian family. “Knight Commander Tanas. Can you reiterate the circumstances of Lord Ilian’s disappearance?”

  “Certainly,” the younger man replied, taking the floor and bowing to the assembled. Roth for his part remained seated throughout the meeting. For someone else, the act could appear to stem from an un
willingness to adapt to a custom one didn’t approve of or an ignorance of that same custom. However, Laila knew that for the admiral, this was a calculated move on his part. He wanted the assembled Minstrahn to be aware at all times through the meeting that they were speaking in the presence of outsiders who were not bound by their ways and, by extension, any loyalty to a particular Minstrahn family.

  “I was accompanying the Lord Ilian on a visit to the Kephelia system,” Tanas said, “where he was intending to meet with the local administrators to discuss any matters of interest they wished to share with him. I understand that face to face meetings for such affairs are perhaps not common in the Federation. However, so you may better understand the circumstances, it is worth noting that such a visit is nothing out of the ordinary for a Minstrahn lord or lady.”

  “I thank you for making that clear,” Admiral Roth replied with a courteous nod. “Please continue.”

  “Very well. Shortly after our arrival at Kephelia, a nearby patrol ship received a distress signal from an orbital station in the Eramen system. The captain responded quickly, bringing in his own men to deal with the situation and I was informed immediately. I took a task force to respond, judging it safe to leave Lord Ilian where he was. He was after all on board his own cruiser, a formidable ship in its own right, with a guard of loyal warriors to protect him.

  “When I arrived at the Eramen station, it was too late to save it. The men who had arrived before me had risked their very lives, going aboard to see if by their valor, they could salvage the situation. However, there was little left to salvage by that time. I instructed them to get out while they could, as the station was about to fall apart, and they made it. But not before the saboteurs who had done this had also escaped.

  “I was angry and though I could not stop the saboteurs from fleeing the destruction they had wrought, I hailed them and demanded an explanation. They told me that the station was nothing and that I should look to my lord.”

  He stopped, as if the rest were obvious, his head hung low in regret.

  “It was a diversion then,” Admiral Roth said, prompting him to continue.