Chapter 6

Admiral Brennij watched his fingers nervously dance an intricate rhythm against the solid wood of his desk and willed himself to stop. Yes, he was uneasy, but it would not do to allow others to inadvertently witness the unfortunate tic, even if he was alone in his study. If he allowed himself such liberties in private, they might betray him when he was in the company of those he needed to be on guard against.

True, he was the ranking Fleet Admiral of four complete Battle Groups, but none of the other three would by default see him as anything more than first among equals, regardless of how much higher he stood above them in the Essence. Two of them had, in the past, made no secret of their dislike for Kasov, and he was honest enough with himself to acknowledge that they had good reason. Still, they were military men through and through, and would follow his lead as long as it made sense to them to do so, and that was problem.

They were coming to support his effort to defend the Empire.

He, on the other hand, was focusing on its destruction.

A True Prophecy, he rationalized, could not be defeated by human effort. Its damage could only be mitigated. Thus he would work to allow this backward planet the ability to “defeat” the Empire, and clean up the resulting mess ... a new Empire, with a new Emperor. All hail Kasov I, Master of the New Valoran Empire! The thought tasted sweet, though a part of him shuddered at such a complete betrayal of those who had put their faith in him. Viciously, he squelched that annoying whine before it tried to challenge his ambition. Few men had opportunities like this, and he was determined not to waste his.

The communications console blinked, letting him know that the comms officer had successfully hailed Battle Group Eleven. Drawing a slow breath to force his body and features to stillness, he reached over and activated the unit. A short moment later, Fleet Admiral Mirino Taventes looked at his senior counterpart across the vast expanse of stars that separated them.

Taventes was one of the two that actively disliked Kasov, and if he hadn’t already made that abundantly clear, the scowl on the admiral’s face would have done a fair job. Brennij himself had little respect for Taventes either, the man was far too soft and often confused morality with duty. He was well respected by his crew, but the man allowed his staff to question his directives! That was a sure way toward a painful execution in Kasov’s Battle Group.

Still, he was a Fleet Admiral, and as such deserved a modicum of respect. Even Taventes, while scowling, properly greeted the senior officer.

“Admiral Brennij. Our Imperial Master has instructed me to provide all assistance necessary in the completion of your mission.” Brennij’s eyebrow rose in surprise. Taventes’ words and tone conveyed many messages that Kasov found very interesting, the first and most significant being that Taventes was not aware of what the mission was.

Briefly pondering what Voistra hadn’t told Taventes and why, he did see this as an immediate advantage in the coming power play. Still, the man had to have a direction to move in, and it was up to Kasov to provide that guidance. Perfect.

“The Empire is in a state of great danger. I refer to nothing less than its possible total destruction at the hands of an enemy we have never seen before.” He paused while the man on the other end of the comm console registered this dire information with a slight widening of the eyes, and a significantly less hostile bearing. Brennij continued on in his best imperturbable tone. “The homeworld of this threat is my destination, and now yours as well. I require your fleet to make best time to the outskirts of the system to join with myself, Battle Groups Five and Thirteen, for a mission that may directly impact the survival of the Empire. The coordinates have been sent to your helmsman.” He noted with great satisfaction how Taventes’ eyes grew larger with every syllable, and waited calmly as the words sank in.

A lesser man would be in shock with the import of what Brennij had told him, but Taventes was a Fleet Admiral, and as soon as he understood what Brennij was telling him, and not telling him, he immediately switched to a tactical mode, his eyes flickering to a secondary display that doubtless displayed the location of the system that was his new destination. His eyes grew thoughtful.

“Would it make more sense to rendezvous with your fleet further out? I can be at your coordinates in less than 4 months, and we would be able to approach the system en masse.”

Brennij blinked. “If you can make it in 4 months, then I think that’s a good idea. I didn’t realize you were so close to my position.” That meant that Battle Group Eleven was less than eight thousand light years away from him, something he couldn’t have known until BG11 had dropped out of OtherSpace. A fortuitous turn of events, to be sure.

Taventes nodded. “Very well. I will make all haste to your position. Is there anything I need to prepare for?” he asked, almost solicitously.

Brennij fought to keep from gloating as he answered calmly. “Not at this time. At this point, the nature of the threat is too fluid to start planning countermeasures. I will keep you informed as I receive more intelligence.”

Taventes nodded again, obviously having expected nothing less. “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be seeing you inside of four months.” He sounded a bit dour about that, but his duty was clear. Brennij nodded acknowledgment, and they both terminated their connection.

Kasov relaxed back into his chair, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling as he thought about this latest twist. Things could not have gone more perfectly. Whether Voistra intentionally helped him out by making him the source of all information regarding this venture, or he was too lazy to do more than send a coded message to Taventes, the Fleet Admiral of BG11 had for all intents and purposes acknowledged Brennij as his superior. There was no arguing, no ego clash ... as if Brennij truly ranked higher.

And reality was based on perception.

Brennij no longer worried about the other two Fleet Admirals. Voistra had done him a tremendous service, although if everything else went according to plan, the First Admiral would be less than pleased with the results.

This could actually work.

The show was incredible. Kurana had never felt such a wide range of emotions in such a short time, experiencing the characters’ lives as her own for a brief but intense period. Leaving the theatre on Eric’s arm was a scary bliss of its own. She now understood what he meant about “entertainment,” and was determined to see more of the same as soon as possible ... as soon as she could convince Eric to take her again, that is.

Walking back to the ship with him as they chatted amiably about the show and other unimportant things, she had finally sorted out her feelings for the man. Not sure whether or not to call it “love”, as was the popular term on this world, she still saw Eric as a potential savior for her people, but now there was more. A personal savior, rescuing her from the loneliness that had haunted her adult life.

Her father had been very protective of her. Being a beautiful young woman, daughter to a Great Lord, and a Great Lady in her own right made her very attractive to several of the more powerful Houses of the Empire. Had he wanted to, he could have made a very powerful alliance by arranging her marriage to one of those jaded eligible bachelors, and House SeliGarde would be stronger therefore.

Instead, he stubbornly rejected the offers for her hand, even when they started to become insistent, knowing each suitor would condemn his only daughter to misery. By that point, he was already coming to see the Empire as corrupt and decaying, collapsing inward from its own gravity. It was not until the Emperor callously issued a decree naming her one of his concubines, however, that her father officially rejected the Emperor and his authority. He apparently was not alone in his dissatisfaction, for as he declared the worlds under his leadership free of the Empire, a surprising number of Great Lords stood behind him.

The vast majority, of course, did not.

While her father had always muttered about the corroded Empire as far back as she could remember, she couldn’t help but think that if she had never been born, he would not be the most infamous man in the galaxy. The responsibility implied by being the catalyst of such drastic consequences threatened to suffocate her, and the only way she found to assuage her guilt was to be as powerful, as competent as possible, to make herself worthy of such sacrifice. To make him proud of his decision to make a stand.

Part of that included measuring men against his standards. True, most highborns considered her to be anathema, an instant sentence of painful death to the man who gained her hand, but there were still those among the rebellion who courted her.

She found them all lacking.

They were concerned with power, or influence, or making a statement. Or they saw a beautiful female body and little else. Those who saw her as a woman seemed incapable of seeing her as a Great Lady, and those few who saw her worth as a Great Lady saw her as a political icon, a tool to be used and discarded when spent. They weren’t interested in her future, just their own.

Her father was right. The highborn were jaded, and even among those in his faction, the intrigue and corruption continued.

But Eric...

Eric was anything but jaded. He was so powerful, even without the Essence, a natural leader in spite of his self-effacing attitude, and an inspiration to all, highborn or not. His aura of quiet confidence inspired respect, even among those who had little use for highborns, like Shiloh. His drive and determination to help his people, regardless of the horrible state they kept him in for so many years was humbling, and his subtle sense of humor made her smile even when she didn’t want to.

More importantly, he was the first person besides her father that really cared what she thought, listened to her, respected her as a woman and Great Lady. He had no designs on using her influence to gain power ... in truth, once in a while she was afraid he might believe she was trying to use him in such a manner. His was not a household name yet, but she knew the day was coming.

Genuine, charismatic, caring, powerful, disciplined ... Eric was the first man she had ever met that could look her father in the eye and not be found wanting. Regardless of all his other qualities, that alone would make him highly attractive to her.

But of course there was more to it. She had connected with him before she ever met him, and that link was almost tangible, a gossamer cord wrapping around them that couldn’t be seen, yet constantly announced its presence. She wondered if he felt the same way. It was as if she knew their futures intertwined, and likely, on some level, that’s exactly what the Essence was trying to tell her.