“That’s more thanenough information about alien penises, thank you very much!” theprisoner said in a strained voice.
Ereshkigal was alittle surprised. Who doesn’t want to talk about sex?It was one of the first lessons at the academy. Sex was one of thethings that almost every sentient species had in common and itoffered a quick-and-dirty (academy pun intended) way into a subject’spersona.
This Human,however, seemed very uncomfortable about the subject of Quailuanatomy, perhaps about sex in general. Forall the similarity she showed to the Humans ofthe empire, she might be an entirely new species.
Eventhe hair on her head was different. It hung long, unlike the Humansin the empire… and the republic. She frowned. Howlong will that infernal mess take to collapse?
Sheconveniently forgot her own master’s plan of carving out his ownlittle kingdom. In truth, Memnon may have forgotten it as well,dismissing it as his father’s dream rather than his own.
Commonground,she reminded herself. Onething in common with all people is the urge to explain what theydon’thave in common.
“Howis your world organized?” she asked the Human.
“Organized?”
“Yes.Do you call the ruler an emperor, a king, a president…”
Sheshrugged. “Probablyall of those, plus a few more. There’s nearly two-hundred countrieson Earth.”
Ereshkigaltilted her head without noticing it. They were talking in ImperialStandard but that one word had been a new one to her. “Countries?”
“Yeah.You know, a country? It’s a region with it’s own borders,government, laws, military forces…”
“Onthe same world?” Good.Keep talking about where we can find your people!“There’s no overall government?”
“Notreally. Well, there’s Gleb and Luna now, but that’s only recentand…” she frowned, staring intently at Ereshkigal. “Did youmurder my mother and drag me here just for a chat about Earthgovernments?”
“No,”Ereshkigal said, frustrated by the break in what was turning into agood flow of information.
ThisHuman wasn’t born to the nobility,she had to remind herself. She’d only recently been elevated. Mostnobles in the empire would be pleased to learn of the demise of theirparent.
Itput them one step higher in their family’s line of succession.
This onehas the emotional baggage of the lower class, sherealized. Pushfor more while she’s unsettled by it.
“Itjust surprises me that your people have so many separate… fiefswhen you all live on just one world…”
Ah…That’s not quite true, is it?
Oh Hells
Babilim Station
“Nothingfound out here, lord,” a provost officer told Gleb, “but we foundthis droid behind a grove of trees by the main path. Said his namewas Jeeves.”
Glebturned away from Adelina and Gabriella’s house and faced the droid.“Jeeves?” The name meant nothing to him, having only spent a fewmonths on Irth so far. “Did you see what happened here?”
“Damnright I saw!” Jeeves spluttered. “Assholes took her!They came into my Ownershipunsureterritory,shot up the place and took my girl, Gabriella!”
“Whowere they?”
“Youthink I know? They’re your guys. I’m the new kid on the Referenceabsurd block.”
“Werethey Humans like me?”
“Oh,they were Humans alright. Three of ’em, but not like you.”
Glebfrowned. “Not like me?”
“You’realright. These guys were total MedicalImpossibility dickheads.”
Glebraised an eyebrow at the provost officer.
“Lord,I think this droid has been in close contact withLadyGabriella. It’s probably picked up a lot of her speech patterns.”
“Why,”the drone asked, “are you numb-nuts still standing around hereplaying Ironynot found grab-ass?They got our girl. Go get them!”
Glebnodded tiredly and turned to go inside the house.
“Dragthem back here,” Jeeves shouted, or at least raised itstone and modulated it to sound more ragged. “I’m gonna put myfoot up both their asses… Or I would, if I still…”
“Both?”Gleb turned back. “You said there were three of them.”
Thedrone bobbed, looking for all the worlds as if it were actuallynodding a head. “Our girl put a knife in one of them, right in theneck. The stupid bastard was squealing like a stuckIndistinct reference found porkchop.”
Gleblooked to the provost.
“Wehave teams out checking the various paths of egress,” the officerassured him. “If there’s any DNA traces, we’ll find them.”
Glebnodded and went inside. Luna was there, sitting by the spot wherethey’d found her sister’s body.
Thiswas new to him. He’d dealt with the loss of team-members and goodfriends but his wife had just lost the woman she’d known sincebirth.
Hewasn’t quite sure what he should be doing but it seemed like a hugcouldn’t do any harm. He sat next to her and put an arm around hershoulder.
Healmost breathed a sigh of relief when she leaned her head against hischest. He was unsure of how to handle this situation – theabduction of a noble-woman from his own household was the kind ofthing that would reverberate throughout the republic – but hischief concern at the moment was his wife.
“Shouldhave left them on Earth,” she whispered. “Adelina would be aliveright now.”
“Youcan’t blame yourself,” he said softly.
“Can’tI? We brought them here and now she’s dead and gods know whereGabriella is.”
“There’sdanger everywhere,” he replied, “Especially on Irth. You saw aguy get killed over a pair of headphones.
“Hells,we barely stopped the Chironans from bombarding the surface. Billionsof lives hung in that particular balance.”
“Butwe didstop them,” Luna reminded him.
“Yeah,but you don’t know there isn’t another fleet on its way to Irthright now.”
Helooked up in alarm as Luna broke their embrace and jumped to herfeet.
“Shit!”she exclaimed. “Gleb, that’s what we’re looking at here.Gabriella’sbeen taken but there’s been no messages, no demands made. We’vebeen assuming she’s being held as leverage over us but what ifthat’s not the case?”
Glebgot up. “They took her as an intelligence source?”
Shenodded, eyes wide. “Gabriella’s been on both of theHuman-inhabited worlds. As a member of the ruling family, she hasknowledge of the defenses around each planet.”
“Thenthere isa fleet on its way right now,” Gleb said in horror.
“Yeah,”Luna agreed, “but which planet?”
Careful What you Wish For
The Old Nova, Karnak Lanes
Hilchazzar scowled at the stuttering holo. Itneeded fixing, though it would probably be cheaper just walking awayfrom the Old Nova than waste credits on her.
Aptly named,he thought for the millionth time. She wasold and her engines were constantly on the verge of doing a passableimpression
