Chapter 1: Meeting the Emperor

The Emperor’s secretary led Jason into his uncle’s study. The door took some effort for him to open after he knocked. It looked thick and heavy and the surface was covered with elaborate tiny carvings and looked to be a very old. The room was paneled in the same richly colored wood as the door and was partly illuminated by a friendly yellow light projected up to the very high, cream colored ceiling. The light was uneven and the light areas were punctuated by areas of deep shadow. There were several statues of military figures on pedestals and paintings on the walls of family scenes gently illuminated by suspended focused beams.

Jason was alert to the secretary probably being one of the disguised cockroaches and watched him carefully. His ring vibrated its tentative opinion. Jason had learnt from the bugs how to hide his identity and make himself invisible to the ‘roaches. He knew from their scans prior to arrival that there were three of them in the palace, but this was the first one that he had met face-to-face.

The secretary was thin and spindly and was wearing a dark gray robe that he constantly nervously rearranged, pulling it tighter around him. He wore black sandals with black socks that looked threadbare. His voice was high pitched and grating in the extreme. The secretary had a pseudo-obsequious manner that gave Jason the creeps.

“Your esteemed highness – I would like to introduce the young primitive from Earth who is coming to learn the ways of the Empire,” he said with disdain and smirked never looking directly at Jason. He then looked down his nose at Jason and whispered, “Do not tire the Emperor and above all do not waste his valuable time, he is a very busy man and does not take to chatter and gossip.” He sniffed, turned and walked rapidly out of the door and closed it loudly.

Jason peered into the dimly lit room and saw a man that looked middle-aged but more than a little confused. “Can you explain to me a little more as to who you are and why you’re coming to see me?” Cassius the Emperor said plaintively with his voice sounding weak. Jason noticed his face was looking sallow and sickly.

“Your highness, you may recall speaking to me on my ship several times during the war with The Mob. I am the young Duke Kargo, who has returned at the request of my great grandfather. I understand that you are my great uncle. In fact you asked me to call you, uncle, and join you in the palace.

“I am returning at the request of the Empress, as I have heard that my great-grandfather is ailing. I have returned to assist my great-grandfather and reclaim the duchy. I understand that my great-grandfather’s nephew, my cousin, is temporarily running the estate. I am seeking this appointment to visit with you as my Emperor, and as my great uncle. I have come to pay you my respects and introduce myself formally.”

The study was huge L shaped room. The Emperor was a little past the L and could not see the door and conversely could not be seen from the door. He was moving backwards and forwards a step at a time to look at Jason and then returned to his desk where he could not be seen from the door but could just be seen by Jason who had moved further into the room.

The secretary barged into the room and stood next to Jason. “My Lord, the time for this interview has passed. Shall I usher him out?”

“No,” said the Emperor, in a firmer clearer voice, “ I remember him. He is my nephew and is to stay with us. He did a wonderful job for us in the war, give us at least another hour and perhaps closer to two hours before you ask again.” The Emperor waved imperiously at him to dismiss him and was sounding firmer and more in control. Cassius again moved towards his desk and Jason seeing the opportunity moved behind the secretary who was looking angry and starting to turn to leave the room, and put his signet ring to the secretary’s neck. The secretary was drawn into the ring and then incarcerated in trans-dimensional space. There was sufficient power in the ring to hold him for at least twelve hours.

One down two to go thought Jason. Jason gently shut the door. He scanned the room and established that the room was under electronic surveillance. He touched his belt which produced a prerecorded conversation for the listeners that appeared quite innocuous. He switched on his counter-surveillance equipment which looked like a small cube in his pocket. He could now speak freely.

“Uncle, if I may call you that, I would very much like to visit my great-grandfather on the estate and assume my title as Archduke if appropriate. I certainly wish to take over from my cousin. It is my understanding that there may be little time left for Great Grandfather, so the sooner I see him, the better. I understand that since his illness that he can no longer undertake his role as one of your kings.

“He has reverted to maintaining the estates of the family in the role of Archduke. It would be grossly premature for me to become one of your kings, but I believe that I can be of great assistance to grandfather during his remaining time.”

“Young man, do not be in such a hurry to take over the Duchy,” he said with a smile. I am told by my advisers that it is being run very well by Ingmar Hesketh, your cousin. Although I admit I’ve had my share of doubts, knowing Hesketh. He’s a wastrel, like his now deceased father, who was no loss. My vizier assures me that he keeps in touch with his colleague Norwald Yang who is his counterpart on the estate. He’s vizier to the estate and keeps Hesketh in line,” said the Emperor indulgently. “I am not sure that you need to worry. My own vizier has been with me for a very long time, and is a very able and convincing man. He has had a very firm view about how the estate should be operated, and I am inclined to support him. He suggested that we give you time to settle and expressed his doubts that a primitive could contribute to the estate.”

Jason had a strong feeling that his uncle despite his apparent frail and confused state was much more aware and alert than he seemed and was testing him.

“In that case your highness, I would like to challenge my cousin, Ingmar Hesketh to a duel for the right to become the Archduke, which I believe is my right. I would appreciate your support. I may well be from a backward planet, however the sooner I am in position to assist my great-grandfather with the estate the better. I may be more competent than many would assume. I have my own independent assets, and do believe that I can contribute to the Empire. There is no doubt I could be of help to my Great-Grandfather.”

Jason had a strong suspicion that it would come to this. He now knew that the Grand Vizier was number two.

“Young man I wonder if you would put your head out of the door and ask the young lady at the desk if she would beg the indulgence of the ‘Grand Vizier’ to attend upon us?”

“Certainly. your highness, I shall do so immediately.”

The Emperor moved out of sight again, and it sounded as though he sat on his seat. Jason opened the door and put his head out and called to the pretty, young lady, sitting at a beautiful wooden workstation, operating a holo-cube.

“The Emperor has asked for the attendance of the ‘Grand Vizier’ to advise him as quickly as is possible.”

Jason kept the door slightly ajar. He heard her call for the ‘Grand Vizier’ and moments later he could hear rapid impatient footsteps. Jason placed himself a little further towards the right wall to force the grand Vizier to remain in the less visible part of the room from the Emperor.

Jason looked at him carefully. He too wore a robe that was ill fitting but the material was plush and looked like a brown velvet. He had a thick belt that covered the bulge of his waist. He was a large portly man, who barely glanced at Jason before beginning to walk to Jason’s left where he was not visible to the Emperor. Jason moved behind him and putting his left hand with his ring on the man’s shoulder next to his neck. That was number two.

He could feel the remaining powerful presence in the palace. Porquenta’s intelligence had identified these two as being most likely to be the enemy. There was a much greater degree of uncertainty about the third person might be and what strategy to apply to winkle him or her out.

“Uncle, he appears to be too busy to be able to attend upon us. Can I invite you to inspect the gift that I have brought for you, which was made especially for you. It is a very high powered luxury yacht that I had made on my planet, Porquenta.”

Jason knew that the Emperor loved gifts. It was believed that if the Emperor went to the ship that it would force the last cockroach to make a move to ensure that the emperor would not be alone with Jason for an extended period and would lead to his unmasking. The Emperor was obviously excited and was even rubbing his hands together like a little boy eager for his toy.

“Young man, I wonder if I could prevail upon you to ask that young lady if my security guards will insist on accompanying us to the yacht. No doubt they will. I cannot go anywhere without them babysitting me nowadays. At least you are a family member, you are of impeccable background and a defender of the Empire. You are unarmed and no threat to me. Perhaps we could keep them out of this and go for a ride. They stick their noses into too many things as it is. My head of security is insufferable and worse than that he and the vizier are as close as two peas in a pod. I cannot do anything without one or the other supervising my every move.

‘Bingo!’ Jason thought.

Three security guards insisted on attending and there was no doubt that the head of security was a cockroach. He was a powerful looking mountain of a man. He and his deputies were wearing light armor without helmets and all three looked at Jason suspiciously.

“Yelgo, this is my nephew. You don’t need to look at him like that. He’s family. We are going to look at the yacht he has given me, made on his planet.”

They walked towards the yacht, which was a luxuriously fitted out gunship. It had been manufactured on Porquenta as part of some of the new products that Porquenta was producing for sale.

“Jason, it looks lovely! Sleek and dangerous. I can’t wait to see the interior!”

The head of security was obviously alert but suspicious.

Jason wondered if he was not a little curious wondering about the absence of the secretary and the ‘Grand Vizier’. The Emperor was becoming progressively less confused as time passed and was looking better with each passing minute. He chatted all the way to the ship with Jason while asking many questions about his trip, but was seemingly poorly informed about the priests and even seemed to know but little detail about the recent planetary battles with The Mob, other than that Jason was a hero and had been of great help. He was under the impression that there were some skirmishes and Jason had acquitted himself well ... for a gross amateur. He appeared to have forgotten the substance of some of the discussions they had enjoyed. Jason did wonder if it was for the benefit of the guards who remained close to them.

Jason saw Cassius was dressed in a robe that once had been lovely. It looked worn, creased and even dirty.

The palace gardens were beautiful and extended in terraces to the distant walls. There were large flat paving stone covered areas for shuttles and cargo deliveries to the palace in one section near the large kitchen entrance. The yacht was clearly visible, an elegant silver colored craft with fine lines that managed to look both dignified, and ferocious. It looked like a purebred stallion ready to leap forward.

The Emperor became highly animated and very excited the closer they came to the ship. He looked like an excited six-year-old boy waiting anxiously for his first bicycle. He even rubbed his hands together with glee.

“I’m sure your highness that you do not want to tire yourself by walking to the yacht. I’m sure that we can show you pictures of the interior,” said the chief of security as if he was communicating with a recalcitrant child.

“Nonsense Yelgo, it’s a pleasing stroll, and I am enjoying spending time with my nephew. I’m perfectly able to walk, and walk I shall. I shall inspect the yacht. You do not need to treat me like a baby. If you are feeling tired, stay behind. That is the most beautiful yacht that I have seen and if my nephew has given it to me as a gift, I will see it and inspect it thoroughly.

“Ensure that my diary is cleared for this afternoon. I will have lunch with my nephew, and I will spend the afternoon with him!”

Jason could see that Yelgo was steaming. His shoulders tensed and his neck, already red, looked even redder and blotchy. It looked as though the other two guards were struggling to stifle their laughter as they seemed to have warmed to Jason. As they got close to the yacht an elegant ramp unfolded outwards and an iris opened to expose a doorway. The surfaces of the yacht all looked smooth and it gleamed in the sun. Jason thought it was beautifully presented. Gentle but inviting lighting could be seen within.

The head of security sent in the two guards first. Jason had informed them that there were two pilots and a small crew of staff who had accompanied him. This was in no way unusual. Someone of Jason’s background would often travel with many people, including bodyguards. The guards appeared back at the door and indicated that the Emperor could enter. Jason tried to position himself next to the head of security but without success. The man was clearly a consummate security professional and would take no risks. The Emperor entered ahead of Jason. He looked around.

“Jason this is an amazing gift. Your aunt would love it. It is beautiful and the finish is magnificent. I like how it projects beauty along with being dangerous. It has been done so well and is a great compliment to your designer.”

The staff on the ship were of bug origin. They included six of the AIs who had been part of the group that had captured Nimrod Khong as well as Philippa and one or two of her support staff. They showed the Emperor through all the areas of the yacht. The head of security remained highly alert. They went up to the top deck where there was a large lounge area behind the pilots. The AIs attempted to position themselves behind the security people but were constantly ushered ahead of them.

The Emperor had heard several people address Jason. He had previously appeared to forget his name despite many calls to the ship in the past.

“Jason, this is truly one of the most magnificent gifts I have ever seen. I would very much like to go for a quick test flight, out to the blue moon and back. That should get us back in time for lunch and then we can spend a relaxing afternoon.”

“Your highness, we have not had enough time to prepare for a surprise trip away from the palace. You would be too vulnerable. Can we not delay this for three to four hours? It would be a good idea if both your secretary and vizier came along to help you appreciate your gift,” said the clearly frustrated Yelgo, who Jason thought was probably wanting to make sure that he could find his friends. He did make the mistake of moving towards the Emperor allowing one of the AIs behind him. As the AI lifted his hand, the head of security suddenly became aware of the AI moving behind him and began to lift his weapon towards the Emperor. The other two security guards looked at this in horror, too slow to react.

Jason who was next to the Emperor knocked the weapon aside, while moving in front of the Emperor. The AI had been moving at a very fast pace and just as he lifted his capture device Yelgo sent a small stream of mist towards Jason and the Emperor behind him from his open mouth.

Events moved quickly. The AI captured and immobilized the head of security, Jason quickly put up a shield, but a tiny amount of the cockroach poison had already reached his face. Jason thought that he had erected his shield in time. It was in time for the Emperor, but too late for Jason. The AIs and Philippa quickly commenced countermeasures to prevent the mist touching anyone else. The two security guards were temporarily put in stasis to prevent any premature or inappropriate response.

“Jason, my boy, I am eternally grateful to you for what you have done, today. I have never liked that man, but he was competent. I wonder what happened to make him decide that today was the day he would assassinate me. I cannot imagine that it was your presence or even the proposed trip. We could have easily called up several frigates, a few destroyers and a cruiser or even a battleship to accompany us within fifteen minutes as they are already picketing the planet.” Jason turned to face him. The Emperor was excitedly patting him on the shoulder and then moved forward to hug him. Jason slowly collapsed to the floor.

There was very rapid action on the yacht. “Put Jason into stasis, immediately,” said Philippa. Even as she spoke, two of the AIs placed him in stasis and were carrying him to the stasis chamber.

“What’s going on?” said the Emperor.

He appeared not to be worried about himself in the least, but was flummoxed by what was going on, and was clearly worried about Jason.

Cockroach Coven- Old Palace of the Emperor, Conference room 1:

Meeting of the senior cockroach leadership political and military.

Chairman: Larnor Bakt-Yekt Grand Overseer of the coven of cockroaches

“I would now like to receive your reports of progress,” Bakt-Yekt ordered as he looked at Gremd Mordrake - Para-Overseer Internal affairs. “Mordrake, I was disturbed by your report. Can you please explain your opinions?”

“Grand Overseer, the morale of the Coven is at an all time low and the people pine for our Emperor of old. Traitors, at the instigation of the Emperor, have broadcast our perceived setbacks and they hanker for a return to the old days before the Great War. We have sadly lost two of the three operatives who are infiltrating the followers of the Old Emperor.

“It remains my view that we need to act against the Emperor, it is merely a question of when. It is clearly not now. We will need a major distraction first, like a war. One with the human Empire or the Octopi will suffice.

“We have made some progress in gaining a foothold in the genetics research laboratories of our old Emperor. These efforts are beginning to bear fruit in improving our infiltration efforts into the human Empire and the insect Collective. We still cannot achieve form change at will, though it is but a matter of time.

“Our restive population is our biggest risk, and it leaves us at risk of insurrection and a counter coup against us. We need a major success, urgently. The human Empire is our best opportunity. I urge the vital importance of moving soon. Perhaps Krimpt and his Intelligence people are finally able to make a move.”

Gremd looked around the room at the nodding heads and nodded to Krimpt. The chairman nodded and turned to Yesteg Krimpt Senior General, Intelligence, senior Handler of Norwald Yang

“Krimpt, can you provide us with an update of your information?

“Grand Overseer, we are at a critical mass of influence in the human Empire. We are ready to assassinate the Emperor and his great-nephew ... an oxymoron if I have ever heard one. Despite being an incompetent from a primitive planet his forces are well led and have given us a few short term setbacks. We will then be ready to take over the Empire and reverse our losses of the tentacles and the Mob influence. The Jumo remain weak, as they have lost their military and we will be able to strike soon after we control the Empire of Cassius. The Jumo Emperor is floundering.

“General Norwald Yang the Estate’s Vizier, has gained control of the Kargo Estates. The old archduke is under guard in a basement and is close to his end, the nephew was assassinated and the unstable son is under Yang’s control, and is doing as commanded. He is a loose cannon whose days are numbered. Yang and his associates are moving to gain control of the Kargo corporations. The great nephew is a fool and cannot behave in the corporate environments. Yang believes full control will readily be achieved after the Emperor’s demise which will allow him to terminate the bumbling sociopathic son of the nephew.

“General Derris Yelgo as head guard of the human Emperor has gained control of the Emperor and will assassinate him within days of your order. Yang will do the same to the Kargo great nephew, after the Emperor and the primitive Kargo are confirmed to be dead. He has inserted two other operatives into the palace, the vizier and the secretary who are both very capable and have achieved the rank of Colonel. There will be a smooth transition of power.

“We have ample forces in the capitol that are ready to move. We are patient pursuing our strategies with the Empress but are not making as much progress in neutralizing her and her family forces. We will have to neutralize them after the Emperor is no longer an influence. We will act during the funeral. We will strike the critical decisive blows necessary to gain us a major foothold and the soon to be ex human galaxy. Soon the galaxy will be ours without an overt war. Covert operations are relatively economical except in time. Time for us has never been an obstruction. In time our enemies grow complacent while we prepare to strike at their hearts.

“It will not be too long before we act in the Collective. Ouma Chatzke has become progressively less vigilant as the years pass and we have been patient and slowly moving. We have obtained a steady stream of technology that continues to grow from the universities and they conduct research for us without any awareness of the risk of security breaches. We are not yet in position to strike the fatal blow that we need to gain the ascendancy in the Collective.

“The Octopus intruders into our Galaxy are on the run. Our forces will succeed in finding their core planets and we will destroy them and gain a galaxy that is much like our own and ripe for the taking. Our scouts will find them, in time.

“Grand Overseer at your command and we shall act in the Empire, decisively and irrevocably. A decisive victory will be achieved.”

“Krimpt, as Grand Overseer, I command you to execute your plan for the Empire as described and outlined by you. May we all move to victory together and we will be blessed after the conclusion of a long planned and executed strategy!”

All twelve around the table cheered. They lay around the table eating and drinking and calling for more toasts “To the Conquest of the Human Galaxy!”

Emperor’s gift shuttle, Palace Grounds

“Your highness this will require a little explanation. You may recall,” said Philippa authoritatively, “the war that nearly destroyed this galaxy, and another?

“I am sure that you know that highly technologically advanced peoples had an intergalactic war after this galaxy was invaded.”

“Wait, Wait! I am really interested in what you are saying but I want my wife involved,” said the Emperor urgently, “I want my wife Alana to hear this explanation and know what is going on. The more she knows the more she can make rational decisions on my behalf. Please get the palace on the line and I will speak to her.”

Fifteen minutes later Alana arrived, ostensibly to see the yacht.

“My darling this is a gift from my great nephew, Jason as I explained when I called you. These are his staff and guards who accompanied him.”

“This is a beautiful yacht Cassius but where is Jason, my nephew, Cassius I want to see him?” Alana asked.

“My head of the guards Capt. Derris Yelgo, who you recall was appointed by my Vizier last year attempted to assassinate me.

“Yelgo attacked me with poison and Jason stood in front of me to prevent me being killed. He saved me at great cost to himself. He is now in stasis and is desperately ill from an unknown poison.

“There is apparently a history of how this came about, and they hope to put it in perspective. This is Philippa, I am not sure of her role. She and his other staff are going to explain what happened and what they know about the background. They will explain what is going on and who they are.”

Philippa moved over and gently placed her arm around his shoulders as the normally calm Cassius sobbed convulsively for several moments, before regaining control and putting his arm around Empress Alana and smiling at her. Philippa stood in front of them both and spoke calmly and reassuringly.

“My name is Philippa and I am for the sake of simplicity a fiancé of Jason. I come from another galaxy where I am a Queen, one of four Queens and three Kings. My mother is the supreme Queen. Her name is Ouma Chatzke, and she is also known as the Prime Minister. You do not know our people; and, until recently, we did not know of you. We live in what is called a Collective, and our population consists of more than ninety-trillion beings. We are a very ancient people, who have chosen not to ascend.

“This Yelgo creature comes from our galaxy and is disguised as a human. I shall reiterate what I said and I will then explain further. Your highnesses you may recall from your history that there was previously an inter-galactic war. It was one of three we know about. The last war was around a hundred thousand years ago and was much less severe than the previous two. The invaders included a group of highly advanced cockroaches who were beaten off by a more advanced group of beings. What you have seen today is their new infiltration into this galaxy. They have found a way of disguising themselves as humans.

“Our technology is very much more advanced than the Empire and we have the ability to extract information directly from a person’s brain without the necessity for interrogation. I will show you a little of what was the history of each of these individuals and was in the minds of your head of security and his friends your secretary and the grand vizier. In view of the urgency that we face of moving Jason to appropriate care I will have to be brief. We must get Jason to our doctors very soon. We will need to leave here within ninety minutes at the latest. He is safe in stasis but in addition he is in another dimension which delays the activity of the poison further.

“Our fleet circling above us can take us to the Collective very much more quickly and safely than any ship in the Empire.

“I have taken the liberty of asking our AI to assemble a summary of what has happened today and then I will move on to show you the background and thoughts of each individual.”

She then proceeded to very carefully show using holograms assembled by the AI, first what happened in the palace so that Cassius had a frame of reference.

“I am very pleased that Jason captured those two slimy bastards,” said Empress Alana. “I told you I loathed that fat self satisfied, controlling piece of dung Vizier as much as that unctuous, sycophantic, slimy, ingratiating secretary of yours,” Alana stated strongly.

“Yes, dear, I was aware that you had some feelings about them. I am sure I was intermittently being somehow influenced by them. I had no will to do anything other than do as they suggested. I can feel my mind is much clearer, even now,” said Cassius.

“Please continue, Philippa, dear. I am sorry we interrupted,” Alana said.

Philippa then showed what happened on the ship and played the holographic image in slow motion of Yelgo sending a stream of poison towards Jason and the Emperor, Jason knocking the weapon from Yelgo’s hand, the stream partly stopped by the shield, and droplets hitting Jason’s face. They watched Jason collapsed and the subsequent capture of Yelgo and the guards. Emperor Cassius, Empress Alana, her guards, Jonathan, Norbert and Gamma watched the events with great interest.

This astounding presentation went a long way to convince them that she was trustworthy. Philippa repeated some of the conversations in summary form between Cassius and Jason when Jason was in the palace.

“I will now show you both, very briefly and in a highly condensed summary, what has happened to Jason on the way to the Empire. This is from a few months after he was on the ship when he encountered the first priest who was attempting to poison him on the battleship,” said Philippa. She showed the history very briefly in less than ten minutes.

“To get back to the present time there is a high probability many more cockroaches have infiltrated the Empire. You can see how we collected the information when The Mob was conquered. You can also understand that we were originally, and still are, an insect species. The cockroaches come from our galaxy. Our galaxy is very much older than this galaxy, and that is the reason that we are a much older species than yours.”

“That was truly an amazing presentation,” said Emperor Cassius. “My nephew is indeed one-of-a-kind. He is a very special person. How do you know that the three beings that have been captured were cockroaches?” Cassius asked.

“We have extracted the memories of your secretary, the grand Vizier and the guard Yelgo. I will show you a brief summary of what we have extracted.”

Philippa proceeded to show holograms that went back to the earliest times in the lives of the three cockroaches. The Emperor could clearly see their background on one of the planets where they were hatched, received their education from cockroaches and then were assisted to infiltrate the Empire. He first began to look concerned as did Alana and then he began to look angry while she looked resolute.