Empire's Son: An Epic Science Fiction Novel Series

Gayle assessed the damage as she walked through the streets of the College. It had been a little over eight hours since the enemy had left the Sora System. One minute the Orbital Station had been monitoring the intense yet well-disciplined communication traffic of the battle, and then there was an exclamation from one of the fighter squadron pilots––the enemy ships were leaving.

Commander Felix had her confirm it as she and Saibawn had scanned the tactical readouts, both of them disbelieving what they were seeing. Both of the alien vessels had simply... withdrawn. No explanation, no final assault. They tracked the alien vessels as they accelerated beyond the atmosphere. The retreat had been as sudden as their arrival—organized, purposeful, with no sign of defeat. More like completion.

It made little sense until Ground Command reported that the enemy had taken King Rainus Nador.

Gayle's jaw tightened as she stepped over a fallen support beam. The College's west quadrant had sustained the heaviest damage, with three buildings reduced to skeletal frames and scorched stone. Caretaker teams moved through the debris, their white uniforms stark against the ash-gray ruins. She noted with a professional detachment that their emergency protocols had been effective—casualties were small considering the scale and viciousness of the attack that had descended on the College.

She had not been here, but Gayle had seen the reports coming into the orbital station after communications were back up with Ground Command. Nearly thirty of the enemy pod ships had landed throughout the College, and dozens upon dozens of the strange-looking aliens had come from the black seed pod looking ships with weapons and deadly intentions. Pledges, Disciples, and ex-Protectors had bravely met the attack with most wearing the MX4 suits, but the enemy was fast, brutal, and devastatingly efficient in their movements.

The battle had been fierce, and she was told that if it hadn't been for the protection and enhancements of the MX4 suits, many more would have been seriously injured or killed. As it was, the number of wounded was now up over seven hundred, and so far, a hundred and twelve had been killed.

But the worst hit was losing the King. The Protectorate took their jobs seriously and gave their lives willingly to keep the rulers of the Empire safe from harm. The loss of King Rainus after everything that had happened with the Heir over the last few weeks was difficult to swallow. She could hear much of the surface thoughts as she moved through the College. It was going to be tough to come back from this, if the College even could. That thought more than anything made Gayle feel ill.

She continued to pick her way through the damage as her mind shifted back to when she'd been on the orbital station during the battle.

After the enemy ships departed, she remained stunned by the unexpected arrival of the second vessel during the battle. She and Saibawn had thoroughly scanned the entire Sora System and had never detected another ship. This left her with an unsettling feeling, and once the two vessels had gone, Commander Felix instructed her and Saibawn to re-scan the entire system multiple times. As far as they could determine, the enemy had vanished. However, the surprise emergence of the second vessel made them realize this assurance meant very little.

Eventually, even Commander Felix's paranoia had waned as a third hour went by with no signs of the enemy. He then promptly dismissed Gayle and Saibawn to get some rest as new Pledges came to take up the stations. Only Gayle wasn't remotely in the mood for sleep, so she'd taken a shuttle down to the College to see the damage with her own eyes.

The acrid smell of scorched metal and chemical fire suppressants hung in the air. Gayle stepped around a cluster of Disciples clearing debris from what had been the Advanced Combat Training hall, their faces grimy and expressions grim. She recognized determination in their methodical movements—the kind of focused energy that came after shock had worn off.

"Pledge Tau-mine!"

She turned to find Nathias coming up from behind, walking in a purposeful manner. She noticed the limp as he moved toward her, and she wondered if he'd been injured in the attack. The disheveled appearance of his gray uniform certainly made it look like he'd seen action, and it was hard to miss the large amount of blood splashed across the front.

Gayle stood in place until the man met up with her. He then nodded his head toward the trainee courtyard across the street, which looked empty of people and, surprisingly, appeared mostly undamaged from the storm and the battle.

She followed the man, concerned about the amount of blood on him. "Shouldn't you be in treatment right now?"

"Blood's not mine. I was trying to save one of my men impaled by those bastards. He didn't make it by the way." The man stepped into the courtyard and found an alcove along the side where they could talk privately. He turned, and Gayle saw the dark expression on his face. "I lost five more of my men in the battle, and we still couldn't save Rainus."

"Yeah, I heard," Gayle said, not sure what else to say. He was obviously upset that he wasn't even trying to block her like he had before. His surface mental chatter was full of how he wanted revenge on the invaders. "So, why did you want to talk?" She decided to move things along and perhaps distract the man from his violent thoughts.

"I have someone who wants to talk to you, and you need to listen to him. He and the Heir have a way to save the King."

Before Gayle could say a word, the Arch-Major activated his unity ring and flipped the view screen so that she could see the person in the hologram and be seen as well. Gayle's jaw tightened as she saw who it was.

"Sorry about doing it this way, but I didn't think you'd answer if I'd called you directly," the holographic image of Markus said. "And I have something to say that's going to make you even angrier, but I ask that you hear me out all the way."

Markus paused for a moment to see what Gayle would do. He was right. She wouldn't have answered if he had called. Even though she was going to be the Heir's new Protector, she wanted the bastard to sweat a little more. It was the least he deserved, and from the sound of things, she wasn't going to like what he had to say anyway. But King Rainus had been taken by the invaders. She supposed she could cooperate long enough to see what the plan was to get him back.

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Gayle gave a slight nod. It was enough to make Markus start speaking again, but he didn't look relieved. In fact, despite Markus's usual ability to mask much of his emotions, Gayle could see hesitation in his eyes and even heard it in his voice. Oh, this was going to be bad. She just knew it.

"A lot's happened since we last talked, including…" the man paused for a long moment as a rare moment of reluctance played across his face. "Well, you heard about the attack on Adar from Zorren?"

Gayle raised an eyebrow. She knew there had been an attack that caused the destruction of the dome shield, and that it was related to the compromised safety of the Heir, but none of the details of who had been responsible had been relayed to the Orbital Station.

"Zorren is here at the College?"

Markus nodded. "Yes. He had Hame to help and possibly others, but his attack worked. He took Adar down to the bonding chambers. I followed as soon as I could, but not before Zorren inflicted a mortal injury on Adar. When I found him, he was dying."

Gayle's insides seized up at the news, but immediately calmed herself. If the Heir was seriously hurt or dead, surely she would have heard about it by now, even with the battle going on. But last she heard, the Prince had boarded the Quortous and was on his way to Vega Prime before the invaders had shown up.

"Nathias, is your location secure?" Markus said before continuing, even though the Arch-Major was nowhere in the viewing range of the holographic recorder.

"As secure as I can make it, considering the circumstances." Nathias replied as his eyes darted around the empty courtyard, making sure it was still indeed empty.

Gayle's interest rose. Obviously what whatever came next wasn't something Markus wanted getting out to others.

"It was fortunate that we were in the dragon's lair when I found him. You have to understand Gayle. He was dying. There was no time to get him to a Remaker." Markus replied in a lowered voice, but she didn't think it was solely because he was concerned a passerby on the street might hear the echoing of his voice through the courtyard.

The woman blinked at the man for a long moment as the words he wasn't saying settled onto her. The dragon. Who she knew all about in the special lectures that she was never to discuss with anyone outside of those who were Pledges and Protectors. The creature and the source that created the bond between Protector and charge.

Gayle's gaze briefly went to the Arch-Major, who certainly wouldn't be authorized to know anything about the dragon and how the bond was created. Had Markus told him? Knowing Markus, he probably had. A slight nod from Nathias confirmed it. Yavit Markus and all his rule breaking. He was going to get her in trouble–again.

She then caught a surface thought from the Arch-Major. Hear him out. This is important. Gayle studied the man intently. Few people outside of Telepaths usually thought of or attempted to focus their mental ability in talking to a Telepath through the mind. Most people were too busy trying to block them out, or lacked any mental training at all.

"Only the Protector's side can do that kind of healing," she said as focused her attention back on the conversation.

"That's why I had to do a double bond. It was the only way to save his life."

Gayle's mind ground to a halt as she stared at the holographic image of Markus. Everything else fell away as her eyes bored into the man before her. He had adopted his usual stoic expression, but she'd seen the flitter of unease as he'd said the words. That, more than anything, told her that what he said was true, even though she was having a hard time grasping it.

Yes, Markus was a rule breaker, but there were some rules she thought even Markus would respect. Certainly, he would respect Gayle enough not to betray her by stealing her charge. Apparently not.

"You bastard!" Gayle seethed as she clenched her fists. The anger exploded in the woman, causing her vision to blur. That yavit bastard! And he didn't even have the decency to tell Gayle to her face so she could beat him senseless.

Markus didn't respond as his holographic image patiently rode out of the storm.

"Seriously?!" Gayle's voice echoed loudly off the courtyard walls. "I helped you when I knew I shouldn't, and it ended up getting me remediation on the yavit Orbital Station, which you know I hate. And now you poach my charge. You are a shit friend, Markus Nador!"

And a shit member of the College. Everyone in the Program knew you didn't mess around with or try to steal another Pledge's or Protector's potential charge. If talks were already in progress, then you left yavit alone!

"I didn't poach your charge," he said calmly, not even phased by her outburst, which only made Gayle want to hit him more. "He was bleeding out. What was I supposed to do? Let the Heir to the Ethian Empire die?"

"You could have commed for help," Gayle seethed, her hands still balled into fists at her sides. "There are Remakers in the College. You had options."

Markus shook his head. "No, I couldn't comm out. Our unity rings didn't work down there. Something in the bedrock must interfere with communications. Besides, there wasn't time to move him. By the time I found him, he had only minutes left."

The Heir stepped into view behind Markus with a grave expression. "I'm sorry that happened, Pledge Tau-mine. It wasn't how any of us planned things to go, but it's done now. And we need to focus on retrieving Rainus, before it's too late."

Gayle's anger didn't subside, but she forced herself to take a deep breath. The Heir was right—they had more pressing concerns. They still haven't gotten to the part about how to help King Rainus.

Still, the implications made her head spin. A double bond. It had been the topic of exactly one lecture during her introduction on how the bond was made, and it had been to explain all the reasons why they were never done and that it was against College policy to do them. Command must be pissed with Markus. That fact made her feel at least a little better.

"Fine, but this isn't over, Nador. You and I have more to discuss about this," she growled, making it clear she wasn't going to be speaking in words when they had that conversation.

Markus gave her a nod of understanding. Well, at least he wasn't being a little bitch about it. The Heir's expression turned to one of relief, and she guessed he'd probably missed the meaning behind her words. That's fine. This was between her and Markus, anyway.

"So, what's the rest of it?" She growled.

"Adar has a plan to get my father back, and we need your help."

Gayle glared at Markus, surprised he had the balls to say that after what he'd just admitted. "You can't be serious?"

"It isn't for me. It's for my father," Markus said. His voice was full of emotion.

That gave Gayle pause. For as long as she had known Markus, he had had nothing good to say about his father. Markus had done everything in his power to put distance between himself and his family, and any time he spoke of them, there was only anger and disdain. This was the first time she'd heard anything remotely resembling concern for King Rainus.

"My father and I may have our differences," Markus continued, seeming to read her thoughts, "but he's still my father. And more importantly, he's still the King of Avi-da. We have to find him. Every minute he's in the hands of the enemy, the chance grows that he won't come back."

Gayle studied him through the hologram, searching for any hint of deception. She found none. The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable, and that caused her anger to recede. She wouldn't forget it or let it go, but this was not the time or place. She could be professional about this, unlike some people.

"What's the plan? And what part do you need me to play in it?" she asked finally, her voice tinged with grudging curiosity.