Queen of the Savages - Complete (9 page)

Tracy turned to Rev. "You should get some sleep. You too, Tev. There's no telling what is going on at your home, but one thing for sure is that you need to be as close to your best as possible."

Tev shook his head. "Go, Rev. You sleep. I need to find this bug."

Tracy bit back her answer. Tev would probably find it better if he wasn't so fatigued, but it wasn't her place to say.

"Come on," said Rev. "We'll sleep for a while, and then Tev can get some rest."

She didn't even remember her head hitting the pillow.

Once again, Tracy woke to the sound of a warning klaxon.

"What the fuck," she said, sitting up suddenly. "Don't aliens have alarms like regular people?" Rev was snoring next to her. "Rev, Rev, there is something wrong! Wake up, Rev!"

Rev woke and scrambled out of the bunk. He lumbered out of the cabin, and Tracy followed him.

"Damn it!"

They were over a planet filled with blue water, like Earth. Tracy noted the land masses were much different from her home planet.

It was lovely.

What was not lovely was the armada of space ships.

Tev stared at the ships without saying anything.

"Who's piloting these ships?" asked Rev.

"It seems both of our troubles have followed us here. There are Aligned World ships, but also those of Quargan's pirate fleet. I recognize some of them."

The screen flickered and Ja-Idin Du's face filled the screen.

"Ar-Teven, I address my remarks to you. I hope you will be reasonable. Your status as a tracker will not be affected if you turn over Ar-Reven and Noc Walsh to us. If you do not, your nation's status as an Aligned World member may suffer. Even now, there is a petition before the Aligned Worlds congress to interdict the Kerdos Empire."

"I see," said Tev coldly. "I should turn over my brother to you because of what?"

"The crimes he committed," said Du.

"If he was given the information I asked to be sent to him, the crimes would not have committed."

"I cannot answer for the actions of the Enforcement Wing, and I do not respond to hypothetical scenarios."

"Oh, you can't?" said Tracy. "Can you answer why there are these pirate ships here, and your fleet is doing nothing about them?"

"I do not see any pirate ships." said Du innocently. "Those are merely trading vessels."

"They have an awful lot of guns for trading ships," muttered Tracy. "Rev, you are recording this, aren't you?"

"I am getting every word."

Du's dark skinned face lost some of its color. "If you refuse to co-operate, you will all die."

With that the screen blinked off.

"The Aligned Worlds ships are retreating," said Tev.

"Yeah," said Tracy. "To leave the pirates to do his dirty work."

The viewscreen flickered on again, only this time it was filled with the ugliest, meanest face Tracy had ever seen. His skin was a deep black scored with scars. His right ear clung to his head in tatters and his lips curled into a scowl.

"So Tev, Zywth was right about you after all. A traitor."

"Hello, Quargan, a pleasure, as always."

"Until now. Pray to your gods and prepare to meet them."

"Pray? Pray?" said Tracy incredulously.

Quargan's gaze turned to Tracy. "So this is the piece of Non-Aligned trash that has the Aligned Worlds all in an uproar. You seem like such a little thing. Hardly a threat to anyone, yet I promised Du I would take care of this."

"Why would you do anything for Ja-Idin Du?" Tracy said, surprised.

"It's complicated, and it doesn't matter." Quargan turned away to address the ships remaining in orbit around Kerdos.

"Fleet, this is Quargan. On my orders, fire on the transport ship. After you're done shooting at it, I expect to see nothing left."

Alarms rang throughout the ship. Rev looked at a monitor.

"Every ship in orbit is arming their weapons, and they're pointed right at us!"

Tracy stared at the ugly face of the pirate, enjoying the feeling of cold rage washing over her.

How dare he? How dare he try to take her life when she'd been through so much?

He had no idea who she was.

She looked at the line of ships, many of them almost as large as a battle cruiser. The planet was still visible through the cloud of spacecraft.

Seeing the planet gave Tracy an idea.

"Rev, we still have engine power, right?" she asked. "Can we move closer towards the planet?"

A slow smile spread across Rev's face. "Yes!" he triumphantly. "I understand."

"Understand?" said Tev. "Understand what?"

"They'll have to follow us into the atmosphere to shoot down," said Tracy.

She sat quickly in a seat and buckled in as the transport banked sharply and dove into the atmosphere.

They were headed for the capital planet of the Kerdos Empire.

The spacecraft descended violently into the atmosphere. If Tracy had not been strapped in, the shaking and bucking around here would have given her a concussion. From her seat, she watched the screen, trying to keep an eye on the ships trying to shoot them down. Four of the smaller ships had followed her and fired lasers and them. Fortunately, because of the turbulence, they couldn't land a hit.

ANOTHER warning sounded throughout the ship, and a voice spoke. It was the ship's computer.

Insertion angle too steep. Level off to avoid crash landing.

The ship bucked wildly. Tracy's heart thumped as the ship began to spin around in a circle. Tracy's stomach lurched as both Rev and Tev worked the controls furiously in a futile attempt to regain control of the ship.

They fell straight through the clouds and Tracy saw a lush carpet of green beneath them.

The brothers were sweating now, drips falling off their brows. The ship shuddered as Rev managed to level the ship and bring its flight path under his command.

At the same time, a patrol of fighter craft swept up past them, firing on their pursuers. The lead ship following them was blown apart. A second ship tried to escape, but was unable to evade the heavy fire and was destroyed. The final two ships fled into a full retreat. Half the patrol followed them in pursuit, and the other half settled around the transport in an escort formation.

"Your highnesses, this is Commander Ta-Crevon. We have monitored the transmissions to learn of your arrival. With your permission we will escort you to Ombrit Air Station. The High Council awaits you there."

"Thank you, Commander," said Tev, giving a sigh of relief. "Permission granted."

The transport rumbled down the military runway, and Rev guided it to a halt. When the ship taxied to a stop, Tev glanced at his brother.

"You act like you've done this all your life," he said. "Did you do that much flying while we were apart?"

"No," said Rev. Then he leaned over and whispered something in Tev's ear. Tev laughed.

"Quite right, quite right." Tev turned to Tracy and winked at her.

"What? What's that?" said Tracy. "Are you talking about me?"

"Not at all."

Tracy crossed her arms. "I'm an alien, that doesn't mean I'm deaf or stupid."

Rev just shrugged his shoulders. "Let us go meet the High Council."

When they were at the hatch, Tev pushed some buttons to open it. Soon warm sunshine streamed down on them as they stood in the hatchway.

Tracy saw that a set of temporary stairs were pushed against the hull. A green carpet lay on the tarmac below them, and a row of soldiers lined either side of the carpet.

Rev led the way, holding Tracy's hand as they descended the stairs. Tev followed behind closely. Feeling land under her feet again felt strange, and Tracy realized that she felt heavier than on earth. She stumbled.

"Easy," said Rev. "The gravity on this planet is heavier than what you are used to, but we know from experience that you can adjust with time."

Though it was a short walk to the end of the carpet, Tracy felt exhausted. With Rev on one side and Tev on the other, they met a line of finely dressed people. They knelt in unison.

"You may stand," said Tev.

"My lords, A-Teven, A-Reven, we are pleased you have returned home so quickly after the tragedy."

"Pa-Kregan," said Rev, "I am pleased to present to you my mate, Tracy Walsh of Earth. She is a brave woman of noble blood."

"My lady," said Pa-Kregan. Tracy did not detect any warmth in his words. "We are pleased that one of our princes has taken a mate. This will weigh heavily in the Council's decision."

"Decision? What decision?" she said.

"Why, who should sit on the throne of Kerdos, of course."

"I see that the head of the council once again presumes to step into the emperor's place." said Tev sourly.

"My lord," protested Kregan.

"We have much to discuss," said Rev. "In what shape is the palace?"

"It is badly damaged. I've taken the liberty to secure the mountain lodge as temporary quarters."

"No," said Tev. "It is too remote."

"I agree," said Rev. "We'll take the palace as is."

The counselor looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

"There are a number of security concerns."

"I'm sure the security staff can deal with them," said Tev. "Let's start for the palace now."

The counselor bowed. "As you wish."

Rev, Tev, and Tracy were led to a ground transport that reminded Tracy of the cars back home except for one thing. It floated freely over the ground. Other ground transports lined the road ahead of and behind their car.

"Your transport." said Pa-Kregan. Pa-Kregan tried to keep his face neutral, but Tracy sensed tension in him. He did not like them here on Kerdos.

Tracy wondered just how much.

"Counselor Pa-Kregan, please do us the honor of riding with us to the palace," said Tracy. "I have much to learn about Kerdos, and I'd appreciate it if you were my guide."

Pa-Kregan had a shocked look on his face. "My lords, explain to her that this not done."

"You know what, Kregan," said Rev. "If she wishes it, then it is so. It is done on this day; you will accompany us to the palace."

"Yes, my lord," said Kregan uncomfortably.

"Please get inside," said Tev.

Kregan had no choice but to obey the direct command. Tev looked back at Rev and Tracy and nodded his head.

"Well," said Tracy to Rev under her breath, "you did not tell me there was intrigue in your own palace."

ONE WEEK LATER

Tracy laid on her bed of sheets. She had a big smile on her face. These sheets were softer than silk.

She was in the palace of Kerdos, absorbed in a task she had given herself. In her hand was a computer.

She was reading the history of the Aligned Worlds. Spending so much time learning was an act of self-preservation. In the week she'd been on Kerdos, she had never felt so completely lost.

On her second day, she had attended the funeral of the royal family. She had discovered that funerals were the same no matter what planet you were on. Lamentations and cries of despair had filled the air.

Tracy wore a borrowed robe in funeral colors of black, gray, and white. She stood with Rev on a platform where council members gave their eulogies and praised the remaining princes Ar-Teven and Ar-Reven, who were both home from their duties in the Enforcement Wing.

No one mentioned Rev's dishonorable defection from his former employers, stealing a spacecraft, or showing up at home with a woman he mated with illegally against the laws of the Aligned Worlds. Not a single person spoke of this tragedy being brought on by the criminal Quargan's revenge against Rev for destroying part of his criminal enterprise.

Rev was praised as the hero who saved his brother from imprisonment at the hands of pirates, and Tev was praised for his bravery in infiltrating such a dangerous den of bandits.

No one mentioned that as a result of Rev and Tev's actions the pirates let loose a rain of airborne destruction on Kerdos killing thousands, including the entire royal family.

No one mentioned Tracy.

In all of this, Tracy was nearly ignored by everyone except Rev, her attendant As-Sali, and the doctors who examined her.

She had to stop thinking about this. Her search results finally flickered onto the screen.

Aligned Worlds Government (AWG) — The Aligned Worlds Government is comprised of three branches. The Legislative Branch consists of the Council of Nine and the Aligned Worlds Congress. The Judicial Branch includes the AW Court System, the Enforcement Wing, and the last remnants of the former royal rulers, colloquially called the Vacant Throne.

This last bit sounded interesting. Click.

The Vacant Throne is a symbol of the defunct royal line, the Moc-Noton. This hereditary line failed to produce a royal heir three hundred standard years ago, leaving the throne of the Aligned Worlds empty. The charter of the AWG was written one thousand standard years previously and is the foundation of Aligned Worlds rule and law. Rather than dissolve the charter and the Aligned Worlds government, the throne is allowed to remain vacant.

The passage sparked Tracy's curiosity. They let a throne stay vacant? On Earth, there were still kings and queens even though royalty had lost its prominence. Even if the rulers were deposed, their children in exile would still have claims to the throne.

She spoke into the tablet to perform her next search. Though her language implants allowed her to read Galactic Standard, she couldn't write it. The palace doctors explained that the ability to write words was different than speaking them.

They were amazed she could read as well as speak through the translators. It seemed human brains were organized differently from most other sentient species.

Though she was called "my lady" and treated like royalty by some, one thing she did not appreciate was being treated like a lab rat by the Kerdos doctors. They marveled over everything from her red blood to how Rev's mating bite didn't addict her. They poked and prodded her so much that even Rev was losing his patience with them.

One thing she appreciated about Rev was his protection. His screaming after a particularly long session with the doctors kept them away for days. The memory of Rev's fit of temper directed at the well-meaning medical staff put a smile on Tracy's lips.