I looked at Dalton. “But I saw the ship on the screen.” I pointed at the screen on Ramaker’s desk, which was showing the normal gate now. The fleet had fallen back. I had a feeling the birthday honors parade would be delayed, this year.
Dalton shrugged. “We replaced one shield with another. They saw what they wanted. By now the Shield are trying to let the Emperor know it was a fake-out. But it gave me the time I needed.”
I wanted to laugh at the sour look on Ramaker’s face. He understood precisely the position he was now in.
“Tell the guards to leave, Majesty,” I told him. “Dalton, you can let him go. I’ve got this.”
Dalton peered at me, puzzled.
“She really does,” Juliyana added. She was grinning hugely.
Dalton stepped away from Ramaker, who straightened and tugged his fancy jacket into place.
“The guards, Majesty,” I added.
He looked at the guards. “Go. Shut the door behind you.”
“Majesty!” one of the faceless protested, straightening from his ready stance.
“I said, go!” Ramaker cried, his face turning suddenly red. There was a temper beneath that red hair, then. Centuries of statesmanship had buried it deep but his awareness of the uncomfortable negotiations ahead were bringing it to blazing life.
He wasn’t happy, poor thing.
The guards retreated, crunching more glasseen. They shut the door with a quiet snick. I could hear them murmuring outside the door and dismissed them from consideration. They wouldn’t overhear what happened next. If Ramaker didn’t have this entire room wrapped in a privacy bubble I would be stunned.
“Majesty,” I said. “You’ve spent decades trying to control the array and failing. Now I have control. The array—Noam—knows I will take care of it. Him. In return, he will take care of me. I can bring the peace and economic stability you have struggled to reach.”
Ramaker’s chest lifted as he took a long breath and let it out. “What will it cost me?” he said blandly.
A pragmatic man. Good. That would make this easier. “You owe my family a year’s worth of dividends,” I told him. “And I want Noam’s record expunged and corrected to show he died with honor.”
“That might be difficult,” Ramaker said carefully.
“I’ll make that easier for you in a moment,” I said. “First, though. Dalton…do you want your career back in the Rangers?”
Dalton barely hesitated. “Hell, no,” he growled.
“Then what?”
He shrugged. “The Shield and the Rangers off my ass.”
I nodded. “Juliyana?”
She considered for a moment, then blew out her breath. “I don’t want to go back, either. How strange….”
I turned to Ramaker. “Their records restored,” I told him. “Back pay for the last forty years at their proper rank.”
Ramaker winced. Then he nodded. “You, too, I suppose?”
“No, thank you. But you can inter Moroder with honors. I think that about covers it.”
What about me? Noam whispered.
Just wait.
The Emperor tried to hide his relief. He believed he’d got off easy. “I’m surprised you didn’t ask for me to rescind all the warrants out for all of you.”
“There’s no point in asking you to pardon us,” I told him. “There are still a bunch of paramilitary outfits looking for me, and Dalton has made his share of enemies over the years. You can’t ordain them into behaving themselves, but I can. Which brings me to one last thing.”
Ramaker’s expression grew wary.
“You and your pet analyst there are to announce to the world that the array—that Noam—is sentient and has been for decades. You will explain everything to the empire, Majesty. All of it.”
“Including what you are?” he asked, his tone disdainful.
“All of it,” I repeated.
He grew puzzled. “Why? Why put yourself through that public scrutiny?”
“Once everyone knows who I am, Majesty, no one will dare touch me. Not if they want to be able to continue traveling about the stars. That will call off the paramilitaries and leave me free to live my life.”
Ramaker shook his head. “You may live to regret that. Public life has no real freedom at all.”
“It’s the only way, Majesty. The empire must learn that Noam is alive.”
“I still don’t understand,” Ramaker said. I knew it was a huge concession for him to utter those words.
“Of course you don’t. You’ve never lived a day alone. You’ve been surrounded by people always. It’s simple, Majesty. Once everyone knows that Noam is alive, they will talk to him, which will allow him to talk to them.” I shrugged. “He won’t be alone anymore.”
Noam’s mental hug felt like a shower of soft, warm sparks through my mind.
I smiled, and just barely held back my laughter.
Even Dalton and Juliyana were smiling.
26
We didn’t have to scale the cable to return to the Lythion. The Emperor’s personal landing bay was cleared out, and Lythion landed there. The three of us were escorted by the house guards to the landing bay.
Lyth stood upon the entry ramp, watching for us. Relief showed in his face as we climbed aboard.
“Where to, Captain?” Lyth asked me, as the ramp closed.
“First stop, the Umb Judeste,” I said. “I have some fences to mend. Noam will set up the gates for you.”
Lyth nodded. “I’ve rebuilt the living quarters, if you wish to sleep.”
“In a while, Lyth.” I paused. “I didn’t tell them about you. Do you mind?”
He considered. “Do you plan to get rid of me, Captain?”
“I think that would be an extreme waste, Lyth. We’re going to have to find a new way to make a living, now. Your speed and your luxury accommodations would appeal to discerning travelers.”
Lyth smiled. “Then, if you’re staying, I don’t mind that you didn’t tell anyone about me.” He left by walking down the corridor and turning the corner as a normal human would.
Juliyana watched him leave, her brow raised. “He didn’t melt into the floor.”
“He’s been studying us.” I didn’t voice which one of us he studied the closest.
The ship’s engines rumbled with effort as the ship lifted off from the landing bay floor.
Juliyana
