Empire's Son: An Epic Science Fiction Novel Series

The trip up to the Quortous was more turbulent than Rainus would have liked. In fact, there was a moment during their ascent through the thick sand cloud that still surrounded the College when the pilot momentarily lost control. The shuttle was quickly righted. Though not before the vehicle had started a sharp dive back to the ground. It had caused gasps from everyone in the shuttle and an outright shout out from one of Nathias's men that had joined them at the landing site.

The shuttle righted itself and continued its way into orbit, but Rainus caught the look of death Jamiss had sent to the pilot's back. Rainus knew his Protector was probably thinking he would never have allowed that stall out to happen. If they hadn't been so pressed for time, he was sure Jamiss would have insisted on flying. But they were, and he'd received an updated text message from Captain Pylok on his unity ring just as they entered the shuttle. Apparently, he'd already been briefed by Admiral Vang, and stated that the alien ship was only thirty-two minutes from reaching Sora X's orbit.

Instead of dwelling on the fact that they were running out of time, Rainus decided to preoccupy himself with scrolling through the long list of missed calls. Now that the Sector Four relay station was back up, he had several dozen missed calls and messages that had routed through after the network was fixed. Four of them were from the Emperor.

He could tell by the call titles that three were asking if he had left Sora X yet, but there was one that was marked urgent and confidential that he wondered about. He wasn't about to open it in the company of others, so when the shuttle finally touched down in the landing bay of the Quortous, Rainus looked to the others in the shuttle and said, "Go on ahead, I have an urgent call to make. Markus, see to it Adar is settled in the royal suite next to mine. Roane, get yourself and the rest of the men settled, and Jamiss, wait out on the ramp and let the Captain know I'll be with him shortly."

There were no objections as Markus and Adar filed out, then Roane and the four others of Nathias's men who had met up with them, while Nathias and the rest were still on the planet receiving treatments for their injuries. The pilot left next, and as usual, Jamiss was the last to leave. Once Rainus was sure there weren't any ears listening, he quickly dialed the Emperor. Ghar picked up immediately.

"Rainus, please tell me you are on your battle cruiser," the Emperor asked in an urgent voice.

"We are. We just landed, and I was about to give the order to leave orbit, but your message looked urgent. Is this about the enemy coming in?"

"It is. How much do you know?"

Rainus shrugged. "Just that they somehow breached the Empire's border, they have a way to cloak themselves, and our weapons don't appear to be very effective against them. Seems like quite the challenge set out before us."

The Emperor looked grim. "Indeed."

Rainus pursed his lips as he considered all that he knew so far, figuring there had to be more that he was missing or had not been told, but he was already starting to draw a picture of possibilities in his mind. "I sense there's more to it, and it also appears that Adar has already had a run-in with them. What are the odds that out of the many light-years and planetary systems these invaders could have gone to, they found their way to the one he's occupying?"

The Emperor was quiet for a moment, as if considering his own words. Finally, he spoke. "They attacked Admiral Vang. Apparently, they have a way to physically infiltrate the brain. We think they got the coordinates from him."

Well… that was disturbing indeed, and explained Ghar's hesitation. This sort of thing could be very bad for the Empire in general. And who knows what they had gotten from the Supreme Commander of the Zahnian Legion?

"Why are they after Adar?" Rainus asked.

"In truth, they want to talk to me." The Emperor let out a weary sigh. "It was the message the creature who attacked Vang gave him. That I was to meet them, but they didn't specify why. I'm not inclined to think it's for a peaceful chat."

Rainus grunted. "Doubtful, and may I say, Excellency, that meeting with them might not be a wise choice at this time, not until we know more about them and what they want."

The Emperor nodded gravely. "I agree, and Vang's people and mine are working with the information we have to see what can be learned. Meanwhile, the invaders continue their incursion into the Empire, and I'm positive they chose Sora X on purpose."

And suddenly, Rainus could see the invaders' motivation as clear as day. "They know Adar means something to you, so they think that in targeting him, they can get you to act to see them sooner rather than later."

"That is my guess, yes."

"What can I do to help?" There was no question that this problem needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

"Another pair of eyes on this information would be helpful, and since you are one of the heads of the Vanguard, it is wise for you to know as much as I or Vang do. I will leave it to you as to how you wish to disseminate the information to them."

"Of course," Rainus nodded. "Send me what you have. I'll set up a team to work on this immediately. Vang said he had a partial fleet on the way here, and I know the Protectorate has its own defense force. Perhaps it will be enough to curb these aliens?"

The Emperor looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps. I received an update from the Admiral recently that he has some ideas in mind on how to more effectively target this enemy, but considering how robust these invaders have been so far, it would make me feel better to have Adar on Vega Prime and behind the fleet there."

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"I will give the order to jump to hyper-light as soon as we end the call."

The Emperor nodded, but did not speak for a long moment. After the silence almost lasted a minute, Rainus decided to speak up. "Is there something else on your mind, Ghar?"

"I suppose I am curious about what these beings could want. It has been many millennia since we were a part of the greater universe. Why have they come? Why now? And why are they so eager to speak with me? It's a conundrum. I've tried to apply my Dome-ni to it, but––"

"But you don't have enough information to work with," Rainus finished for the Emperor. That was the one downside of the Perception ability. It could understand all sorts of problems and even calculate possible motives and moves of allies and even foes, but the key ingredient was cold, hard information. "Every encounter we have with them will give us more information, though I'm not sure I like the thought of losing more property or lives just to understand these aliens better."

"Neither do I."

"You have a suggestion, but you are hesitant to say it." Rainus could feel the conversation building to this almost since it began, and he wondered if this was the real reason Ghar had called.

"You know me so well, old friend," the Emperor said with a half smile.

Rainus blinked as it finally hit him to where this was going. "You want me to talk to them?"

The Emperor's hologram flickered slightly as he nodded. "I do. Besides myself, you are the most capable of understanding and interpreting their motives and intentions. You may not have the Perception Dome-ni, but your practice of strategy is impressive and significant. I also think your particular Dome-ni might be especially helpful in this situation as well."

Rainus raised an eyebrow. "Telepathy? You think I can read their minds?"

Ghar shrugged. "It's a possibility worth trying, don't you think? They can read ours. Why can't we try to read theirs? I have to wonder how different Vang's encounter with the enemy would have gone if he had the Telepathic Dome-ni like you."

"Maybe, but it's on record that the telepathic ability doesn't work as well outside our own species." That was true enough. It seemed many of the Fazha's brains were so alien from Ethians that many of the mental manipulation Dome-ni were slow to work, if they did at all.

"Perhaps, but you have a mastery level, Rainus. If anyone can make a go of it, you can, and I think it's good to know as soon as possible if our mental abilities have sway over these beings, or not."

He was right, of course. They would need every weapon at their disposal to repel these invaders. "Did you say their infiltration was physical?"

"Yes," the Emperor nodded, "but I know how much you've trained yourself. You have so many blocks and barriers in your mind that I'm not sure they would get much from you, even through physical manipulation."

Maybe, but the idea of an enemy getting anything from Rainus about his Kingdom or the Empire did not sit well with him. "But they could, and it would cause a major security risk if they did. It's bad enough that they read the Supreme Commander's mind."

"True, but I wonder how much they actually retrieved."

"What do you mean?"

"Kot-us Vang has the codes and procedures for the Legion at the highest level."

"Yes?" There was somewhere Ghar was going with this, and Rainus wished he'd just get to it. They were running out of time, after all.

"So why did the invaders attack the Sector Four relay? Wouldn't it not have been easier and far more efficient to use the codes they got from the Admiral's mind to shut the relay down instead? They had to do more backtracking to get there from Bezmore Six. I'm sure it's what is allowing Vang to get to the Sora system before they do, if only just."

Why, indeed? "Maybe they care more about destruction than efficiency?" Rainus asked.

"Perhaps, but there is a lot more damage the invaders could have done simply by tapping into the Nanite Network and wreaking havoc by sending false orders or hacking into the defense network. But none of that's happened. I've checked, and I have a team watching out for anything of the sort."

"You think they can only get a certain amount of information at a time? Maybe they are looking for specific knowledge and only retrieving that?"

The Emperor nodded. "I think these beings have their own agenda, which we know nothing about. We can guess, but I am not prepared to stake too much at those guesses. I also think they have a specific way in which they are trying to accomplish it, even if we do not understand it fully.

"I have talked with Vang on the probe itself, and while he can't say exactly what they accessed, he can say that it was a strain on the creature to get what it did. The more telling is that he could sense information about the enemy, but it was only a small amount. If a trained Telepath were to make a connection––"

"He could get far more, and would be better trained at blocking attempts of mind reading. If our abilities work on them, that is." Rainus finished for the Emperor.

"I think it's worth the risk. You are one of Ethia's greatest assets, but you are there, and you are the best qualified for such a task. We also need answers, and quickly. Every moment we delay gives them more time to advance into our territory. So this is why I ask this of you."

Rainus nodded solemnly. "I understand, Excellency. If you believe this is the best course of action, I will do as you ask."

The Emperor's hologram flickered with a hint of relief. "Thank you, old friend. I know I can count on you."

There was a moment of grim silence as that had been decided, with the weight of feeling heavy to Rainus. Finally, he broke the stillness between them. "When do you want me to make contact with them?"

The Emperor pressed his lips together for a moment before speaking. "I want Vang to have another shot at them. His fleet should arrive at Sora X soon. Let him engage. If his new tactical approach takes care of the problem, then there's no need for contact or endangering yourself, but if they get through, I'll want you to attempt communication."

Rainus nodded gravely. "Understood, and I agree. It will be done."

As the Emperor's hologram flickered out, Rainus sat back in his seat, pondering the weight of the task before him. He had faced many challenges in his long life, but this felt different. The unknown nature of these invaders and their mysterious agenda sent a chill down his spine. But the Emperor had given him a task, and he would do it. The Emperor was right too. Rainus was the best choice to do this, and he would have found it difficult to order someone else to do it.

Rainus took a deep breath and set about making calls to Captain Pylok, Adar, and Vang. After he was done, he stepped purposefully from the shuttle to find Jamiss standing guard. The Protector turned and raised an eyebrow.

"I take it things have changed?"

Rainus let a small smile cross his face, knowing the man had felt his anxiety during most of the call with the Emperor, and the steady resolve that had come after the call had ended. It was nice sometimes not to have to explain oneself, even if it meant a person getting a peek behind his usually fabricated mask.

"Yes, should I call the pilot back, or do you––"

Rainus didn't even have to finish before the Protector wheeled around and marched up the ramp and toward the pilot's seat. The King made to settle back down in his own seat as he pondered his upcoming meeting with the invaders.