“Suddenly, you’re a bounty of intelligence, Mr. Taron. Explain how you know so much about this city.”

  “The Splinters, Captain. Trust me. You don’t want the full story now. I’ll save it for later. I think a public announcement is the smart way to play this.”

  “Don’t tell me my job, Mr. Taron. They don’t need to know who we are or what we want.”

  “A few already do. I know one in particular.” He surveyed the forward images and pointed to the largest of the curvaceous towers. “There. The man who runs that company is familiar with …”

  Chinois turned away when proximity alarms rose.

  “Sit-rep.”

  “Five small vessels on approach. Similar configuration. They have weapons packs, but they won’t make a dent.”

  “Are they communicating?”

  “No, sir. They’re running on AI nav. No humans onboard.”

  “Maintain silence. If they fire, drop them. You were saying, Mr. Taron?”

  “Captain, I’m sure all this data will be useful, but I think we need more in order to dazzle the Empress.”

  “Such as?”

  “I need to meet with them.”

  Bonju stood up, and Moon followed, stunned.

  “Father, what are you …?”

  “It will be fine, Moon. Trust me. Captain, both Gen. Taron and I are known to a few people in this city. Send us with an escort and we’ll meet with one of the most powerful. We’ll record the conversation. The Empress will be impressed.”

  “You wouldn’t by chance be trying to find an escape route in case the tether fails?”

  “How would I do that, Captain? You could level the city.”

  “What do you think this diplomacy will do for us?”

  “Open a necessary door. I promise it won’t extend our visit.”

  But it will buy time.

  “Hmm. I suppose you’ll want your son to come along?”

  “I do.”

  “I’m not a stupid man, Mr. Taron. If I allow you off the Ajax, I keep your most important possession.”

  Bonju turned to Moon.

  “I have to go. Yes?”

  Moon bucked up.

  “I know, Father. I’ll be fine here.”

  He didn’t say the words, but Moon knew what his father was playing at. They had to give Royal as much time as possible.

  Before Bonju could continue the conversation, Chinois turned his attention to the control circle and a new set of alarms. Forward images showed a defense system activating on the fortieth floor of a nearby tower.

  “Capability?”

  “Minimal, but the platform has locked onto Ajax.”

  “Take it out.”

  A single missile launched.

  34

  Hotai Counsel

  M EDIA CONFERENCES PROVED as useful as they were exasperating, which is why Amayas endured them. He didn’t take these moments into consideration when building the Alliance, and he missed the days when his allies considered him a mysterious and distant figure. Still, he preferred his message be delivered without the filter of marketing directors or spokespeople.

  “I disagree with the premise of your question,” he told a clear skeptic amid the small media confab in the Colonnade lobby. “A world can be sovereign and deepen the roots of its cultural traditions while also sharing resources equitably with others. We’re talking about economic opportunity. If a member world chooses to enact strict immigration laws that don’t interfere with trade and security, the Alliance will not stand in your way.”

  The woman who asked the question wore a flamboyant sea-blue dress with wide-brimmed hat containing floral touches. Amayas thought she might be better suited reporting on gossip among the society elite. She did not accept Amayas’s response.

  “Honorable Mr. Knight, you seem to forget recent history. The Collectorate granted us ethnic sovereignty. The Ark Carriers and the Guard protected each colony from unwanted mixture with others. Do you plan on building a military barrier as strong? Otherwise, the more prosperous worlds will be flooded by immigrants.”

  The mask came off. An ultra-globalist. Every planet had its share.

  “I know history quite well. I’ve lived on many worlds.” He didn’t dare reveal his Chancellor birthright. “The Chancellory blocked immigration because it was an expensive maintenance issue. They wanted to reap the benefits of your world’s material wealth without affecting the bottom line. What you suggest was a generous policy was in fact nothing but a method of control. I want your people to thrive. Whether that be here, or out there. The decision should be theirs, not anyone running an orbital blockade.”

  He didn’t give her a chance at a follow-up.

  “I have loved my time on Hokkaido, but I do have a full agenda. So, I’ll take one more question.”

  A man in the front row who tried to speak many times but could not compete against the more excited voices raised his hand. Amayas did not want him to leave empty-handed.

  “Thank you, Honorable Mr. Knight. My name is Perr Shan. I have spent the past several months investigating the assassinations that plagued our island. I have uncovered evidence suggesting the vast majority of those victims, including Hotai President Ya-Li Taron, were members of the Alliance before it went public. This raises many questions dating back to the Taron-Syung wedding massacre. What do you know of these deaths, sir? Should they raise concerns among Hokki citizens who are uncertain about this Alliance?”

  Shin warned him this might come up. His briefings said many quiet investigations continued despite the KumTaan’s closed book, having laid the blame on Green Sun sympathizers. Amayas wished he had brought along Shin. Instead, he left his right-hand at The Hold to rest after their recent grueling agenda. The Hokki’s injuries from the bombing continued to wear on his stamina.

  “Mr. Shan, it’s not my role to interfere in domestic matters, criminal or otherwise. I will say the assassinations gave me pause. I wondered if Hokkaido was moving in the right direction as an Alliance member. Fortunately, my talks here and on the continent suggest it is, despite the ongoing conflicts. I know the Alliance lost many good people a few months ago, but all we can do is move forward now. I realize this may not be a satisfactory answer. However, I …”

  Amayas caught a sudden surge of movement out of the corner of his eye. He regrouped for a second.

  “However, I want to reassure … I want to reassure all …”

  The surge became a wave of gasps and screams.

  All attention moved toward the Colonnade main entrance. Hokkis ran outside, looking to the sky and pointing. The remaining media flashed their hand-comms, which came alive in delirium.

  Perr Shan, the investigator, bowed in gratitude and then moved away with the surge. Hotai security also broke off. Amayas turned to his personal escort. He asked Mehta Jarrod:

  “What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know, but we should leave. This city is not safe.”

  “I didn’t hear an explosion. They’re not running from anything.”

  Amayas almost took Mehta’s advice. Then the marketing director, Hira Jade, ran toward him with a glazed look set somewhere between terror and exhilaration.

  “Are they yours, Mr. Knight?”

  “My what, Ms. Jade?”

  “The ships. Are they Alliance?”

  Before his stomach turned into a complete knot, Amayas retrieved his hand-comm and flashed to Hermes C&C. His navigator, a Boer, looked surprised to see him so soon.

  “Trouble, Inventor?”

  “I hope not. Where are you?”

  “Orbit, sir. Haven’t moved since you left.”

  Oh, no. Tell me I’m wrong.

  He raced toward the entrance with his escort and looked up through the glass, which was four levels high.

  At first, he thought a dark storm cloud hovered above the city, caught between its massive corporate towers. Then it took shape.

  The monster was a hundred meters long, its armor black and gray. A long red scorpion graced its undercarriage. He’d seen enough mirrors to know: This was a Ruttiger Class Battleship, the workhouse of an empire’s galactic navy.

  “What is it, sir?” Mehta asked.

  “Swarm.”

  He looked around to make sure Jade wasn’t close enough to hear.

  “It’s too soon, Mehta. We’re not ready.”

  “We need to leave now, sir. There’s no debate.”

  Why hadn’t he seen it in the mirrors? He reviewed Hokkaido/Beta before leaving The Hold. No clear variant suggested they’d cross. He had thought of sending SV’s on a tether to recover Royal before the immortal did too much damage, but the forecast was unclear, the locations in flux. He would have made the same mistake as Royal, potentially dooming those men.

  “Yes. You’re right. We have to go. Now.”

  He looked around, but Hotai security was struggling with the madness outside the lobby.

  “Do you remember the way, Mehta?”

  The Mauri turned to the other SV’s. They nodded.

  “We do. Come, sir.”

  All attention diverted from Hokkaido’s newest celebrity guest, which suited Amayas fine. The trip up the lift to the twenty-fifth floor seemed to take an eternity. He heard from his Hermes navigator.

  “Inventor, there are three massive ships above the city. I don’t recognize the patterns. Are they Chancellor?”

  “I wish. Hold position for us. We’ll jump once we’re clear of the parking lodge. If something goes wrong, do not enter orbit and do not engage those ships. Am I understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  After they boarded the Scramjet, Amayas took control of the nav circle. This felt like his first combat flight in nine years: Before the end of the Collectorate, before Aeterna won its freedom, before he lost his brother. This time, he needed to pilot with caution.

  He had to navigate a narrow passage toward the lodge egress, but the bigger problem hovered outside. The bow of the nearest vessel was three hundred meters from Hotai. The combat AI detected a full weapons package locked. How eager were they to test local defenses?

  He threw open the wormhole coordinates to Hermes as the light of the midday sun welcomed them outside Hotai.

  Slow and easy. Gentle move out of firing range. No provocation.

  The Scramjet cleared the line of fire for the ship’s forward guns, and Amayas counted down to jump. Five, four, three …

  Mehta saw the fiery missile first and yelled.

  It came too fast for the Scramjet to maneuver.

  No. Not today. Not after everything I’ve accomplished.

  The missile continued on course and missed the Scramjet by thirty meters. It sliced into a much more impressive target.

  Two glass towers away from Hotai, flames exploded from the fortieth floor of Nantou Global, the second largest seamaster.

  Amayas didn’t have time to consider his good luck. A wormhole aperture opened with a thunderclap.

  After he boarded Hermes, Amayas allowed reality to sink in. The Genesis Defense wasn’t ready, but the Swarm was.

  “We need help,” he told Mehta. “I never believed it would come to this. I vowed to leave my people out of it.”

  Amayas saw no choice. He set a course for the place where his journey began: Aeterna.

  35

  B ONJU WANTED A PEACEFUL ENTRY. Capt. Chinois and Gen. Taron preferred a display of strength that adhered to Swarm legacy. “They’re not military,” Bonju insisted. “They are if they resist,” said Chinois, who agreed to the landing ten minutes after setting a nearby tower on fire. He promised to keep Moon close by and to execute him if Bonju deviated from the plan.

  They landed a transport on the roof of Hotai Counsel. Building security never had a chance against six FGs in full-body armor. After receiving the all-clear, Bonju followed Hoija down the rooftop stairs and stepped around the bodies.

  As he neared the executive suite, Bonju felt like he was visiting a second home. Ya-Li spent most of his final weeks here. Bonju did not lose his memories of the place after their connection severed. Before he entered the office, Bonju realized what Park Doon was about to encounter. The poor man’s shock would be devastating. He lifted a hood over his head.

  The FGs stood in two disciplined lines as Hoija paraded through, hands behind her back. Bonju lowered his face and allowed his aunt to have her moment with the shaken President of Hotai.

  She stopped in the bowl beneath Signet, the desk from where Ya-Li tried to reshape Hokkaido. Hoija wagged a finger at Park and insisted he stand before her, subservient. He did not meet her eyes.

  “Now,” she said. “Good day, President Doon. I am General Hoija Taron. Third Aerial Assault Brigade. I am here under official directive from the Supreme Admiralty of the Swarm.”

  While she spoke, Bonju slipped behind her and made his way up the bowl. The president’s desk was more impressive in person.

  For years, every part of Ya-Li’s life seemed both immediate and dreamlike. Bonju never foresaw a day when they’d meet for real. This felt like a wonderful runner-up prize.

  “I will be direct, President Doon,” Hoija said. “This is a beautiful city. I would be ever so disappointed to burn it, especially since it has no defenses of any kind and no one to come to its rescue. You are alive for one reason. You played no small part in making it possible for me to take this city. Though you are less competent than your late partners, you will have to do. Follow our instructions, and you live. Your family lives. The rest, you will leave to us. Turn away when you feel compelled.”

  “I don’t … I don’t understand. How is this possible?”

  Bonju refused to drag it out. Hoija took what Bonju told her of Park Doon’s association with Ya-Li and added her own grandiose spin. If he remained quiet, she’d demean the poor man.

  “Oh, I think you know the answer,” Bonju said.

  He caressed Signet.

  “I always wondered what it would feel like.”

  Bonju threw back his hood and allowed Park to consider the larger truth. When Park did, he teetered near collapse. Hoija stopped his fall.

  “President Doon,” she said. “May I introduce you to my nephew. Governor Ya-Li Taron.”

  He thought the title more than a little premature. Hoija and her bombast. Still, if it meant he’d one day have his family at his side, maybe it was worth considering. To see them again, he might be open to anything the Swarm wanted him to do.

  He smiled at Park and took the executive seat where Ya-Li spent so much time dreaming and scheming.

  “I feel like I know you so well,” Bonju said. “Pardon the general’s formality, but Ya-Li was my birth name. I am known to many as Bonju.”

  Park moved his eyes between the General and Bonju, his mind putting together the bigger picture.

  “You’re him.”

  “I am.”

  “Ya-Li’s counterpart. You taught him about the Splinter.”

  “I invaded his life for nine years. He was more than a counterpart. He was a good friend.”

  “You were using him. All that time.” He gave Hoija a good once-over. “You’re the one who killed all those Hokkis. You’re … you’re Swarm.” Turning back to Bonju: “He said you hated the Swarm. He said you’d never let them cross the divide.”

  “It’s complicated, Park. I’m not your enemy. I’m just like you.”

  “No. You’re nothing like me. Or Ya-Li. You drove him mad.”

  “I’m doing the same thing as you. I’m trying to protect my family. You have a child. Yes? I have eight. We need to talk about how you and I will never put their lives at risk.”

  “Then what?”

  Hoija planted herself between Park and Bonju.

  “Then things are going to change around here,” she said. “I hope you live to see it.”

  As with many others, Hoija made a grown man cry.

  36

  Swarm Gallant Carrier (SGC) Sturgeon

  Rally Fournos System

  Beta Universe

  E MPRESS CHASTAIN IV WENT BY MANY titles, all of which bored her to no end. She was Light of the Holy Swarm Crusade, Domineer of the Holy Risen Church, Voice of the New Creation, and Master of the Consolidated Trade Federation. The complete list filled pages. She was also an old woman, long past a hundred twenty and sure to die any day. Or so her doctors claimed. All of it was more or less a nuisance. She wasted too much of her remaining time indulging the tiny words of servile creatures and conniving empty suits.

  She had three genuine pleasures: Cheese, moisturizer, and Ahmet. Tonight she enjoyed all three in her personal suite.

  Chastain laid on her stomach while Ahmet massaged and moisturized every fold and crack in her withered skin. The cream smelled of raspberry tinged with a hint of rose blossom. Ahmet’s fingers played with her delicately enough to remind Chastain of decades long gone, when a man would not be repulsed by her body. Yet he knew her sore points and avoided inflicting pain.

  “You’re the best,” she said, head sidewise on a pillow. “All the other cunts never found a rhythm.”

  “It’s my life’s work, Empress.”

  The Imperial Crafts Union gave Ahmet its highest endorsement when the Empress sought to replace her nineteenth masseuse, whose name she’d long forgotten. Ahmet had been with her for three years. She hoped he’d be the last man to touch her before she died.

  Other than her nurses, Ahmet was the only man to see Chastain without her habit.

  “I’m going to turn you, Empress.”

  He handled her tiny frame as if she were an infant. She loved being in his arms, even for a few seconds. Ahmet laid a towel over her privates and slid the cheese tray within reach. As he started on her bony legs, Chastain chose a cube of white cheddar, which she savored before following it down with a peppery red olive. Only in the past few months had she discovered this surprising combination.

  “When was the last time you saw your wife and child, Ahmet?”

  “Three years, Empress.”

  “Since you’ve been in my service?”

  “Yes, Empress. I’m on call. I cannot afford the distraction.”

  “Nonsense. I’ll put in a word. We’ll jump them here for a day.”