Chapter 7: House Taurus

The shuttle was still where it landed the day before. As the armored vehicle pulled up, the two marine grunts moved away from the open doorway and took up positions at the front and rear of the craft. Two females pilots got into the craft and disappeared from sight. Everybody started getting out while Sam kept Jason back while Elena and Steve checked the shuttle. The major followed them but after a few minutes Elena exited and waved at Sam.

“My lord, the pilots will be giving you an aerial view of Imperial City and House Taurus before we land at the palace. They invited you to sit up front in the cockpit,” the major said as Jason got into the hovercraft.

With everybody inside, Jason noticed that they took up less than half the available space. The seating was rigged for marines and it was not particularly comfortable. The major guided Jason and Sam into the cockpit where she introduced the two pilots.

“Navy ensigns Gloria Segar and Trudy Ramos, my lord,” the major said.

“You two will have to do the wand test,” Sam said as she squeezed past Jason. “I should have insisted on you doing that yesterday already.”

“Wand test?” the one pilot asked in confusion. “I’m sorry, major, but we have never before flown with anybody with a wand. We have no idea how to do this wand test.”

“You don’t do a wand test; you are given a wand test,” Sam explained. “Either you pass and work closely with Lord Jason or you fail and we get another pilot.”

“All you have to do is touch the wand,” the major explained as Jason removed the wand from his pocket and held it in front of him.

The two pilots were obviously not aware of what will happen if they fail the wand test so they shrugged and reached out to stroke over the wand Jason held out. Nothing happened so the major exited the cockpit, leaving Jason and Sam behind.

There were a row with six observation seats behind and slightly above the three pilot seats, or more accurately, pilot, co-pilot, and engineer seats in a triangular pattern. The co-pilot pointed at the observation seats before she got back into her seat.

“I nearly forgot,” the major said as she popped back into the cockpit. “Your official call sign is now Pleiades-2.” The pilot and copilot both turned in their seats and stared at Jason in obvious disbelieve.

“Is that because of the wand or something else?” the pilot asked.

“It’s because Jason Taurus is the heir to Jason Pleiades,” the major said as she gave Jason a wink. “Be nice to your new boss. He might be only seventeen but he an earl with a wand. Oh yes, he is also a special envoy to the emperor.” The two pilots gave each other’s surprised look before they turned back to their instruments.

Jason had a clear wide-angle view through the front windows as they took off. The shuttle took off low over the forest to the north before it climbed much higher. As the shuttle circled out over the city, Jason had a glimpse on the horizon of the three-thousand-meter-high mountain ridge that was the bottom anchor of the space elevator. Neither the elevator nor the cable were visible. Then they turned east and flew out towards the coast.

The land mass of Vesper could be classified as a very large island or super-island with a mean diameter of two thousand kilometers. Monaco City was about four hundred kilometers from the coast so it didn’t take long before Jason could see the sea and the sub-continent of Valhalla. The fifteen-kilometer-wide land bridge was a relatively flat strip of lush forest dotted with numerous vacation resorts along both sides of the strip. The entire fifty-kilometer land bridge consisted of wide white-sand beaches. The land bridge was not straight but curved to the south by nearly ninety degrees.

Valhalla was smaller and flatter than Vesper. Most of the land was also covered in forests, especially along the low rocky ridges crisscrossing the continent. About a third was covered in agricultural land while the northern part was rockier and less populated. The south-eastern section was where Durham City and Imperial City was located. Like Monaco all buildings in Durham City was limited to ten stories. That meant the city with a population of about half a million people was smaller than the other cities on Graceland and spread out over a large area.

Durham City was a combination light industrial center and vacation destination since it was a coastal city. They flew from the land bridge over a corner of the sub-continent to Durham City facing eastwards. As they flew over the southern edge of the city towards the sea, Jason had a great aerial view of the city and the large bay since they were quite high at that point. He could not see much detail of the beach area except that it consisted of a wide and long sandy beach. Once they were some distance out over the sea the hovercraft turned south-west. They were at about three thousand meters while flying parallel to the coast when Imperial City was pointed out to him.

From their vantage point Imperial City was not a city but a single building that looked like a series of concentric circles built about a hundred meters behind the rocky beach right next to the city center of Durham City. The shuttle was slowly descending as they got closer.

They were not headed straight at the building but was headed more north to fly past the city just off the coast. Jason could see the center of the concentric rings looked like a huge stone structure in the shape of a cone or a circular pyramid with each level recessed with a stone parapet. There was a stone wall surrounding the central circular pyramid-like structure. Jason counted ten levels on the structure.

The land between the stone wall and the sea was taken up by a park. The park was linked to a boardwalk which stretched along the beach front for more than a kilometer. Behind the boardwalk was a wide paved pedestrian plaza which ended at what looked like the main entrance to Imperial City.

The hovercraft continued along the coast for another few minutes before they turned towards the coast. Once they were past Imperial City, the coast was rocky and with no beaches. As the hovercraft turned inland, Jason could see a white sandy beach between two rocky outcrops. The beach was about three km long with a low rocky ridge about a kilometer inland from the beach. Jason was so intent on examining the beautiful stretch of beach, it was only as the pilot spoke that he noticed the structures behind the beach.

“House Taurus is the one on the left,” the pilot said as she pointed out the window. “The one in the middle is House Dorado while the one on the far left belongs to the Duke of Atlas.”

House Taurus consisted of a glass and sandstone structure built in a curved tiered shape facing the sea. The ground level covered about a third of a circle. The side facing the sea was also tiered. There were four levels, each being shorter than the one below it, with the fourth level covering about a quarter of the ground level of the building. The levels above the ground level each had a wide covered balcony with the covering extending over about half the balcony. The exposed roof area on each level consisted of roof-top gardens.

Inland from the curved tiered main building was a large enclosed space which reminded Jason of the parade ground of a marine training base, except this one had the universal ‘H’ to indicate a hovercraft landing spot. This square was bordered by three separate buildings, a hovercraft hangar to the west of the space as well as two three-story buildings on the north and south side. The main entrance of the curved main building was facing the square.

Behind the hangar was a forest stretching all the way to the coastal ridge a km from the coast. In front of the arched building was an elaborate garden complete with a pool right on the edge of the rocky sea wall. The semi-circular paved and planted garden ended at the sea wall.

The shuttle made a wide turn around the outside of the three estates before it headed back north towards Imperial City while flying along the ridge about a kilometer from the coast. It only took about ten minutes before the palace came into view again. Jason was watching the scenery outside but when the shuttle slowed to a stop about 300 meters above the ground while pointing at the palace.

Jason started taking note of what the pilots were doing. He only understood one phrase from all the radio slang, ‘Pleiades Two’. Then the shuttle slowly started moving again. Just on the outside of the palace ring wall, on the side away from the sea, was a complex of hovercraft landing pads. Jason counted four of them in a square.

Before the shuttle got near the landing pads, the craft got turned around to point in the direction we just came from. Jason could see the pilots were now using a small video feed to see behind them as they slowly backed up to land with the tail of the shuttle pointing at the palace.

“Lord Jason, you need to exit the craft first, if you please,” the major said as she appeared in the doorway of the cockpit. Jason and Sam unbuckled themselves and followed the major.

Everybody in the main cabin were still seated as Jason was led towards the back. The rear ramp was busy opening as they approached. Jason was in the middle of the ramp with Sam and Elena on either side of him but two steps behind him. As the ramp finished lowering Jason walked out of the shuttle.

The fact that Major Emerson insisted that he exit first was a dead giveaway about a formal reception. Jason was thus not surprised to find two Imperial Marine Corps platoons formed up between the shuttle and the building against the palace ring wall. The marines were drawn up with a platoon on either side, forming a walkway to where two older civilians and a marine lieutenant colonel were standing waiting for him.

“The gentleman on the left is Viscount Valhalla, the ruler of this province, meaning this whole sub-continent,” Major Emerson whispered behind Jason as he tried his best to walk sedately towards the reception committee. “The one in the middle is Sir Arthur Benning, the Chief Protocol Officer. Lieutenant Colonel Nelson is the battalion commander of the Second Imperial Marine Battalion, stationed here at Imperial City. Relax. you outrank all of them.”

Jason relaxed and walked up to the three, greeting them in order of rank, hoping they were standing in order of rank.

“I understand you have some ladies of noble birth in your entourage, my lord,” Viscount Valhalla said as he glanced past Jason’s shoulder. Jason looked back as well and noticed all his concubines and proteges were following him off the hovercraft. A quick glance at Major Emerson told him he was supposed to introduce them. Jason noticed that the rest his people were gathering off to one side of the shuttle, with Delano directing a small group of marines who were unloading their luggage onto a hover pallet.

Jason could feel that the three older gentlemen was not sure how to react toward him. He was just as unsure about how to behave towards them. He went through the motions of introducing the ladies of noble birth in his group, with Roxy being last and just introduced as his concubine. With the others he also gave the name and title of their father or grandfather, or husband in Sylvia’s case. The marine commander and the viscount both knew Lisa and greeted her as Lady Lisa.

After the awkward and stiff formal welcome, the chief of protocol escorted Jason and his group into the circular pyramid and up to the fourth floor to a visitors’ suite. The suite was huge with enough space for all his people. There were even offices for him and Clarissa. There were two luxury apartments, both with outside views except the views were not towards the sea. Jason and his concubines occupied the one while his dependents, Sylvia, Clarissa, Chloe, and Jade Brita occupied the other apartment. The rest of the people were in single or double rooms with no external windows.

Clarissa told Jason that the palace kitchens would supply meals that will be served in the suite’s huge dining hall, unless he wants to dine in private in which case his meals will be served in the much smaller dining room next to his office. From her tone Jason got the impression even the usually unflappable Clarissa was feeling out of her element in the imperial palace.

“The emperor has not returned to Secundus yet,” Lisa informed Jason when his ADCs and Clarissa met with him in his office soon after they occupied the suite.

“Any idea when he will be back?” Jason asked.

“That would be an imperial secret,” Lisa responded with a shrug. “The emperor’s movements are usually top secret.”

“I hope it is soon,” Jason muttered as Sam and Elena joined them. Sam had escorted Jason to his apartment and told him to stay put while they inspect the rest of the suite. She gave him a glaring look when she came into his office because that was not where she told him to wait.

“This entire suite is secure,” Sam said. “We will treat this as home base so you can move around in here on your own. Please do not exit the suite with at least two of us accompanying you.” She gave Jason a glaring look as she spoke.

“Come sit on my lap and say that again,” Jason teased her, and got a raspberry for his efforts, while Lisa and Gwen rolled their eyes. Elena looked shocked but didn’t say anything.

After taking an unguided tour of the suite, which involved walking into rooms unannounced and surprising some of the ladies, Jason settled in his office on a couch with his tablet. Clarissa was occupying his desk and was discussing some financial stuff with Maggie.

That evening Jason ate in the small dining room, to allow the others to feel more relaxed while having their own dinner. He obviously had a small crowd of females eating with him. Megan decided to invite Maggie’s two preteen daughter as well as Ron’s two preteen daughters to be her guests while his more forward and aggressive concubines had their own personal assistants eating with them.

Jason decided to go to bed early, since there was not much to do and he was still adapting to the time zone they were in. He was surprised when his concubines left him alone, only to have Sylvia join him in bed.

“No funny stuff,” she said as she cuddled up against him. “I just need some cuddling.” She was dressed in sleepwear that covered most of her body so Jason kept his hands to himself while her hands roamed all over his upper body.

The next morning Jason woke up with Sylvia half on top of him, and Megan cuddled against his other side. He was sleeping in the nude but both the ladies were dressed in sleepwear. He managed to extract himself from Sylvia and got dressed for some running, even if he had no idea if he would be able to go for a run.

Jason found security crew outside his apartment, all dressed for running as well. Seconds later Lisa, Greg, and Rina also joined them. They were all looking slightly lost when Major Ruth Emerson, the protocol officer assigned to Jason, walked in. She was also dressed to run.