“I can’t explain that one, but he reminds me of when you first came to us – tormented and torn between two worlds, between a blank canvas and an ominous voice inside your head. You already know this, but Ichirō has gotten worse.”

  “But why?”

  “He’s angry and has nowhere to let that rage out. So he bottles it up and contains it within himself. But trapped inside like that, it festers, it rots, and that decay spreads; it infects his goodness and corrupts him.”

  “So, how do I help him?”

  Father remained silent momentarily, eyes fixed on the orange horizon, his forehead creased in contemplation. “Don’t you have a diplomatic mission to Akka soon?”

  “Yeah, next week. Why?”

  “Why don’t you take Ichirō with you? It’ll get him off-world, give him a change of scenery, and you’ll both be able to spend quality time together as father and son. Show him what a good man looks like, how they act … it’ll help him resolve that inner conflict.”

  “That’s actually a good idea. Thank you!”

  “No worries. I’ll send my bill over tomorrow.”

  I laughed. Father did not.

  “Oh, wait – you’re serious?”

  The corner of his mouth twitched, and he snorted slightly as he stifled his own laugh.

  “Hilarious,” I quipped, somewhat impressed that he had lured me into his trap.

  “I’m old, but I remember how to tell a joke!” he said, his face lit up with a smile. “Anyway, we’d best finish these drinks. I daresay Amorina will call us inside soon.”

  Chapter 2

  We’re on a Diplomatic Mission to Akka

  2157, Common Era – Planet Gaia, Outer Rim, the Republic of Humanity

  The Republic had welcomed the colonies with open arms when the Empire fell; they’d provided additional trade, service, and immigration opportunities. Gaia’s population had boomed since then, now home to over one million people. The sudden spike in new arrivals had caused social norms to shift, and Gaia’s citizens had grown to accept strangers – their arrival no longer considered taboo. Gaia even had an airport dedicated to receiving interstellar traffic and welcomed visitors from the stars daily.

  Today, I focused on a particular dropship, watching its atmospheric entry closely. As the ship touched down, the rumble of its engines shook the ground beneath me, and as they cut out, the air filled with a slight chemical tang, the only hint of its otherwise odourless biofuel exhaust fumes. When the vessel had settled, its rear hatch opened, and Zavis stepped out, slowly making his way down the ramp.

  The old man’s face broke into a smile as soon as he saw me. “Hello, Raith!”

  I returned the smile. “Hello, my friend.”

  Zavis was one of the few people who looked at me and didn’t see Tynan. It was a small, simple action, possibly even subconscious, but it meant the world to me.

  “How is life treating you?”

  “I’m good … getting by, one day at a time.”

  Zavis tilted his head downwards and peered over the top of his glasses as they slid down his nose. His eyes squinted as he stared at me, his lenses glinting in the sunlight.

  “Your dark eyes would suggest otherwise, Raith. Troubles with the governorship?”

  I shook my head, somewhat glad Zavis hadn’t guessed the actual cause. “No, no – managing Gaia is … well, it’s easy, all things considered.”

  Zavis gave a slight nod. “Having trouble sleeping then, perhaps?”

  I huffed and smiled slightly. Nothing could ever escape Zavis’s keen eye and intuition. It all made sense when you thought about it – the man had kept his two identities separate for decades, balancing his roles as Empire advisor and Insurgency leader.

  “I’ll admit, I’ve had trouble sleeping for some time now.”

  “We have several hours before we must depart. Shall we take a walk, and you can tell me all about the things that, ah, go bump in the night?”

  I gave an eager nod. “That sounds like a plan. But where do I begin?”

  “Take it from the very beginning – it’s an excellent place to start,” Zavis suggested with gusto.

  “Um, well, I had this terrible thought about Tynan one night.”

  “Go on.”

  [)
  As we walked, I shared my thoughts with Zavis. “After all these years of research, I only have a few scraps of information. Those I have confided in, Amorina and my father, don’t believe me. They see my fixation as something that I should just let go.”

  Zavis nodded thoughtfully. “Would you like a coffee?”

  I glanced at Zavis, one eyebrow raised in question, trying to make sense of the sudden shift in the conversation, but I was never one to turn down a cup of coffee.

  “Yeah, sure,” I replied with a slight shrug.

  Amorina’s mother still reigned as the top barista on Gaia, so that was where we headed. We sat at a vacant table, and when Anne noticed us, she promptly made her way over. Seeing her face always caused my heart to ache; her scarred and twisted features were a poignant and haunting reminder of our shared past.

  “Raith, great to see you, as usual!” Anne smiled warmly, and her eyes twinkled in the same way her daughter’s did.

  “Hey, Anne. How’s everything going?”

  “Ah, you know what it’s like. An overwhelming number of customers and a daughter that’s fairly happy and healthy.”

  “Only fairly happy?”

  “Mmhmm!” Anne said with a piercing, knowing look. “Amorina spoke to me about a particular project that someone had failed to set aside, despite their promise.”

  Ahhh, right.

  “Yeah … it’s a work in progress.”

  “I hope so, for the sake of your well-being. Anyway, the usual?”

  “Yes, please,” I said, eager to change the subject and take the focus off my relationship.

  Anne nodded and turned towards Zavis. “And something for Mr …?”

  “Ah, where are my manners? Anne, this is Zavis, an old friend of mine. Zavis, this is Anne, Amorina’s mother.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, Mr Zavis,” Anne replied, extending a hand towards Zavis.

  Zavis smiled flirtatiously at Anne as he shook her hand. “Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Anne. Please, call me Zavis.” With a twinkle in his eye he added, “And I’ll have a latte with gamoya milk, please.”

  “One gamoya milk latte, coming right up.” Anne said with a coy smile, then walked back into the café.

  I shook my head in disbelief, unwilling to accept what I had just seen.

  “If you’re gonna flirt with my mother-in-law, please do it when I’m not present.”

  “Oh, relax, Raith. A bit of playful banter never did any harm. Let’s return to your research findings before Anne returns.”

  Zavis’s abrupt shift of topic caused my brain to whirl, and I shook my head as I rearranged my thoughts in an effort to keep up with him.

  “I believe you.”

  “What’s the point though. You’re only going to tell me –” I stopped, and my eyes whipped up to stare at Zavis. “Hang on, you actually believe me?”

  “Yes, Raith, I do.” Zavis gave a warm chuckle as his eyes twinkled with amusement. “Whilst it’d be easy to think that Tynan’s advisors knew everything, his trust was far from guaranteed. He often kept his plans to himself and admitted as much on multiple occasions.”

  Zavis’s faith alone was enough to leave me speechless, but I was even more astonished to discover that the advisors hadn’t been privy to all the former emperor’s schemes.

  “Did you ever try to discover what those plans were?”

  “Of course! But it sounds like you haven’t been able to uncover any more than I did in the past. I recognise some of what you said, while the rest sounds unfamiliar.”

  “Like what?” my heart pounded as I leant forward. Was I finally going to get the answers I’d been seeking?

  “I recall a Phoenix project and the Reclamation Protocols. A ‘SANE’ program also rings a bell.”

  “Do you know anything more about all of those?”

  “I have some thoughts, naturally, but nothing certain. Myths about the Phoenix go back a long time, but they involve immortality, invulnerability, pyrokinesis, and resurrection – Tynan’s project could be about any of these or something else entirely! I would have no idea if he intended this for himself or the Empire.”

  “And the other two?”

  “Reclamation feels a little more self-explanatory – the process of regaining something – and I feel the most applicable context would be to reclaim the Empire.”

  “Here you go, guys!” Anne said as she set our coffee cups in front of us, the smell of the fresh brew wafting in the air. “Is there anything else I can bring you while I’m here?”

  Zavis smiled gently and replied, “No, thank you, Anne – that’s all for now.”

  “No worries. Enjoy!”

  Zavis waited until after Anne had walked out if ear shot before he continued.

  “SANE is an acronym similar to Tynan’s MIND AI. It was meant to represent Safety … no, not that … uh, Shelter … no … Sanctuary!” Zavis exclaimed, clicking his fingers as he landed on the right word. “Sanctuary Against Mind … no, ah Neural … um … like programming, but a different word for that …”

  “A word that starts with ‘E’, related to programming?” I asked as I pondered the acronym. “Is it encoding?” I suggested.

  “That’s it, my boy! Sanctuary Against Neural Encoding – SANE,” Zavis declared with a broad smile.

  I leant back in my chair and took a moment to contemplate what Zavis had said; one of Tynan’s hidden agendas had been to develop a program to protect against neural encoding. I also knew that the only thing capable of encoding the mind was the mass conversion device and the artificial intelligence that powered it.

  “So, Tynan was simultaneously devising a method to encode minds and safeguard against it?”

  “Yes,” said Zavis, rather matter-of-factly. “Tynan was well aware that the MIND AI could be used against him. It makes sense that he would develop a counter to it – afraid that he would fall victim to his own invention. But we know he hadn’t completed it.”

  Zavis’s words echoed in my mind. What if Tynan had completed it but never got the chance to apply it to himself? Did I know anyone who’d been immune to the mass conversion?

  With a gasp, I jolted forward. “Ichirō!”

  At my outburst, Zavis jumped and knocked over his mug, spilling its contents across the table. “Ichirō?”

  “Yes! I think Tynan used SANE on his own son!”

  “Why do you think that?” Zavis asked as he tried to mop up the lost coffee.

  “Because we’ve been struggling with his behaviour all these years, and I could never put my finger on what the issue was. Now I think that Ichirō was immune to the effects of the mass conversions!”

  I watched Zavis’s eyes widen. “Yes, I can see that. Tynan would want to protect himself, but only with a reliable solution.”

  “What kind of person would risk their own child to test an experimental technique?” I exclaimed, my voice quivering with fury.

  “Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that Tynan is the type of person to fit that mould. Ichirō was his son. They had similar genes. If Tynan wanted to see if the technology would work and how it would work for himself, Ichirō was the perfect test subject.”

  A wave of nausea washed over me, and I felt my stomach churn with unease. Tynan had treated his son – my son – as nothing more than a lab rat. Suddenly, Ichirō’s behaviour was re-contextualised; he’d gone from living in the lap of luxury with people who agreed with him one day to feeling completely isolated and alone the next, with no one who believed in the same things he did. I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. I tightened my fists, fervently wishing that Tynan would manifest before me so that I could take my fury out on him.

  “I wouldn’t tell him.”

  Zavis’s voice brought me back to the present moment.

  “What?”

  “I wouldn’t tell Ichirō about this.”

  “Why not? Wouldn’t it help him understand and move on?”

  Zavis shook his head. “Not as much as you’d probably like it to.”

  “I just want a way to ease his suffering. To undo the actions of my past self,” I said as my shoulders slumped.

  Zavis gave a gentle, sympathetic nod. “I can’t fathom what it’s been like for him. Your entire world transformed in the blink of an eye, but you’ve remained unchanged. If that happened to me, I’d be furious. I’d be willing to bet that a lot of Ichirō’s behaviour is just him expressing his anger.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “He’s always in a state of simmering rage – particularly in regard to me.”

  “That’s exactly why it’s not a good idea to tell him that, in essence, you used him as a science experiment.”

  “But it wasn’t –”

  Zavis raised his hand, silencing me mid-sentence.

  “Raith, I know it wasn’t you. I’m not implying that you’re at fault here. But why do you suppose Ichirō directs his fury towards you specifically?”

  I wanted to say that I didn’t know, but I knew the truth. Another wave of nausea swept through my body as I turned the thought over.

  There are two men in the mirror.

  “Because when he looks at me, all he can see is Tynan.”

  “Precisely,” Zavis said, pointing a finger at me for emphasis. “The tension between the two of you notwithstanding, we can’t be sure that this is truly what happened. An educated guess, granted, but it’s merely our best assumption, after all.”

  I closed my eyes and released a weary breath. Zavis was right, and now I knew I was right too – my sleepless nights had not been in vain. Tynan had plotted while ruling as emperor, but now the question was how many of his dark designs had come to fruition?

  “So, Tynan had worked hard to create his plans, but how many did he make into a reality or instruct others to create?”

  Zavis spread his hands helplessly, his tone apologetic, “I don’t know, Raith.”

  I wrinkled my brow and nodded slightly. I didn’t think Zavis would have all the answers.

  “No one has seen those two Empire frigates that escaped, despite conducting many searches. Space is … well, incredibly vast, and you never know what’s out there in the darkness. That’s the root of the problem, isn’t it?”

  Zavis glanced upward, and I followed suit.

  “If the remnants of the Empire are still out there,” Zavis said as he motioned at the heavens above, “then they have a multitude of places to conceal themselves. But there’s no need to worry since the Republic is strong – if the Empire dares rare its head, we will soon lay them to rest!”

  I nodded, if only to appease Zavis. It was easy to think that the Republic was powerful enough to defend itself, but they didn’t understand Tynan the way I did; any plan of his deserved one’s caution.

  “You’re probably right. I really appreciate you taking the time to hear me out and more so for believing me, Zavis.”

  “The pleasure is mine, Raith. I have been proudly serving you and your family since the day you entered this world, and I don’t intend to stop anytime soon! Speaking of your family, it’s about time we gathered them and returned to the airport.”

  [)
  “Both of you will stay out of trouble now, won’t you?”

  Adanna and Winona met my comment with eye rolls.

  “Of course, Dad! We’re your good kids, remember?” Adanna replied.

  “And besides,” Winona added, “what kind of trouble can we possibly get into on Gaia?”

  I could sense a subtle resentment in Winona’s words. Perhaps she was offended by the idea that she’d be the one causing trouble, but it was more likely that I’d unintentionally caused them to recall memories of Earth, which had more to offer young adults their age than Gaia.

  “That’s a fair point, and I know you’ll both behave. Grandpa is going to look out for you, too.”

  Adanna made a dismissive snort. “Ah, I think we’ll be looking after Grandpa!”

  I chuckled. “That’s probably true as well.”

  “Enough of the small talk.” With a tap on her wrist, Winona pretended to look at a watch that wasn’t there. “Don’t you have a starship to catch?”

  “See, now it feels like you’re trying to get rid of me!”

  “I’m just looking out for you, ensuring you don’t miss your flight!”

  “Mmhmmm. Alright, bring it in, you two!” I said as my arms wrapped around my daughters and pulled them into a loving embrace.

  “Dad!” They both raised their voices in protest. “You’re embarrassing us!”

  “Oh, no!” I gasped in fake horror. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass my daughters!”

  The sound of Amorina’s sweet laughter echoed behind me, and I loosened my embrace as Adanna and Winona playfully pushed me away with grins on their faces.

  “I love you both.”

  “We know,” said Winona.

  “Lemme hear it.”

  “I love you too,” they replied in unison.

  “See you in a year!”

  I moved away and let them say goodbye to Amorina as I shifted my gaze to my son.

  “Are you ready to leave, mate?”

  “I already said no! I don’t want to go!” Ichirō ground out between gritted teeth.

  “Come on, Ichirō – don’t be so stubborn!” I said, doing my best to stay calm despite my son’s behaviour.

  “How about you try being less stubborn? I refuse to take part in your stupid diplomatic mission, okay?”

  “There’ll be more to it than just diplomacy. I’ve got some amazing sights for you to see and a new planet to explore!”

  “I said no!” Ichirō roared.

  My blood boiled, and I was about to unleash my ire when Amorina stepped between us.

  “Let me try.” She gave me a knowing look and whispered, “Stay calm.”

  I rolled my eyes and watched her go to Ichirō, put an arm around his stiff shoulders and speak quietly to him. After a few moments, he wrenched out of her hold and strode towards the dropship while Amorina returned to me.