The Admiral and the Assistant

Herin Kasra adjusted to the dials on his device.

Though he thought Senn Sehren was an idiot, he had to admit that the transmitter was a well-designed piece of equipment.

Senn wouldn't need it. He was busy spending the rest of his life in a tiny cell in a prison on Techterra.

Herin sat in a little lean-to, with the transmitter mounted to a small stand, pointed up at the stars.

Dialing in the coordinates had been easy, but the alignment was more challenging. He'd been working at it for a couple days now, here from the surface of Pasoria.

Pasoria was perfect for his purposes. It was far away from any other civilized planet, but it was functionally unpopulated. He'd dropped off from a passing freighter and shuttled to the surface.

He didn't know quite who he'd be talking to when he got this thing working, but he'd spent enough time interrogating Senn and going through his notes that he had a rough idea. Not friends, certainly. Not any kind of ally. But a kindred spirit, maybe.

Someone interesting, at least.

In any case, nobody he wanted to give any information to. Not before negotiating, at least.

His rental shuttle rested nearby. It was good enough as a makeshift tent, at least for a few days. He had enough food and water to last comfortably for a month, but he doubted it would take that long.

A steady stream of static emitted from the transmitter. Herin continued making adjustments. Two little yellow lights glowed on the transmitter. He'd spent all of his first day getting it from a single red light to a single yellow, and yesterday getting it up to two.

The yellow lights flickered, and a little green one began to glow unsteadily. Herin continued to dial in the transmitter.

If there was one thing Herin Kasra could do, it was focus. So many people lacked focus.

It was why they never accomplished anything.

Now that he had a green light, the adjustments came faster, more easily. The green light steadied and glowed brightly, and a second green began flickering to life.

Of the course of the next couple hours, he had three green lights, shining strong.

Now he was ready. He could find out who was on the other end.

Herin powered down the transmitter and walked back to his shuttle. He had his dinner: a small Navy packed meal. It began heating itself as he zipped it open. In a couple minutes, steam rose from the bag. He fetched his single spoon and began eating.

It was some kind of pasta in sauce. The taste was not terrible, but it certainly wasn't anything he'd eat for fun.

Herin pondered as he slowly ate. He was powerfully curious, but he knew better than to rush things.

Rushing was how you made mistakes. And whoever was out there, he couldn't afford any mistakes with them.

He smiled as he ate.

"Find your heart's desire." A little more poetic than Herin would have expected from a Cryptographer, but that's what it had said. Whatever it called itself, Oracle or whatever, Herin recognized a Cryptographer when he saw one.

And Cryptographers were never wrong.

His future-- the rest of his life, everything he'd ever wanted-- lay right outside the shuttle, waiting for him to transmit.

He finished his food, tidied up, and laid back on the simple cot he'd set up in the shuttle. He closed his eyes and snoozed.

Thirty minutes later, his eyes opened. He sat up straight.

It was time.

He sat on his little camp stool in front of the transmitter and dialed in.

"Hello," he said. "It's me."

Admiral Stonefist and Lieutenant Kinnit sat in their office, going over reports from the fleet. The sounds of quiet clacking from the consoles filled the space.

Grimthorn wrapped up his reports and began going through messages. His brow furrowed, then rose. With wide eyes, he read through the message several times. With his face twisted into an unreadable expression, he looked up at his wife.

"Kinnit, you need to come see this."

"Hmm?" she said absently, still sifting through data on her console.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Kinnit." Something in his tone made her stop what she was doing. With a worried expression, she made her way over. She began reading the message on his console over his shoulder.

"I, the Emperor of the Imperium, Sovereign of the Stars and protector of the galaxy, do hereby issue this decree:

"The designation of 'Subject Species' in the Imperium is hereby abolished. No longer shall there be division among the citizens of the Imperium. From this day forth, all who dwell under the protection of the Imperium shall be one-- full citizens in right, full citizens in privilege, full citizens in duty.

"Let no law, custom, or person contradict this decree.

"The Imperium is one, the citizenry is one. So saith the Emperor. All hail the Imperium."

Kinnit's knees wobbled, and she grabbed Grimthorn's shoulder for support.

"Grimthorn, is this real?" she said quietly, her voice uneven.

"It's sealed with the Imperial key. All the cryptographic signatures match. It's as real as you're standing here," he said, watching her face closely.

She swayed, her eyes fixed on the message, her face flitting from one expression to another.

"We did it," she said, her tears flowing. "Kobolds are citizens. My people are citizens." She turned to Grimthorn. "All the SSes are citizens."

He rubbed her back.

"You did it, Kinnit."

"Oh, Grimthorn!" She flung herself into his arms, awkwardly hugging him in his chair, laughing and crying, torrents of conflicting emotions washing through her. "Oh Grimthorn, Grimthorn!"

He held her tight.

"The Imperium is stronger today," he said. He smiled down at her. "Because of you and your people."

She cried and clung to him. He rubbed her back.

"I'm so happy!" she bawled.

He smiled and gathered her up, sitting her in his lap and holding her while the storms of emotion swept through her. She wept, then laughed, then wept again, and Grimthorn held her through it all, steady as a rock.

At last the storm subsided, and she stayed curled up in his arms, content to be held. He kissed her gently on top of her head. She turned her tear-washed face up to him, silently asking for more.

They kissed, long and deep.

"I am glad. For you, and for your people," Grimthorn said as they broke apart.

She sniffed and nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more at the moment. Grimthorn smiled.

"I suppose this is the 'surprise' that the Emperor was talking about when we met him," Grimthorn said. Kinnit's face opened in shock.

"It is! That man!" she cried in mock outrage. "Why didn't he just tell us?"

"Probably had to work through some procedural stuff," Grimthorn said. "I can't imagine it was easy to get everyone on board with his idea."

"I guess," she said, idly toying with one of the buttons on his jacket. She was quiet for a minute. "I bet Dass talked him into this," she said finally.

"Probably. It sounds like the kind of thing he'd do." He smiled at her. "So what do you want to do now?"

Kinnit paused, thinking more.

"I want to tell my people," she said. "I want to go home to Takkar and tell them all."

"I think that's a good idea," he said. "We'll take some leave and go visit them."

Kinnit grabbed Grimthorn around his chest and squeezed him tightly.

"Thank you, Grimthorn."

He chuckled.

"For what?"

"For all this. For believing in me. For helping me." She looked up at him. "For being with me."

He tapped her nose playfully.

"There's no one in the galaxy I'd rather be with. Now, or ever."

She laid her head on his chest and sighed happily.

They didn't manage to get any more work accomplished that day.

"Minius, are you okay?" Brutus asked.

Captain Minius gave him a tight smile.

"I are fine. Just thinking."

Brutus' large brow crinkled in worry. Flander was busy operating the crane and torch, carving up another wreck in the Alvor sector, stacking scrap in their ship. Brutus was keeping the Dawn close to the husk of the burned out Oryndrax cruiser.

Brutus pursed his lips. Minius should be hopping around the bridge with excitement. They were going to scrap an entire cruiser. If the scans were to be believed, there was still some reactor shielding and a little coolant on board. That would net them a tidy sum on top of the metal they were stripping off the vessel. They'd made more money in the last few weeks than the Ocher Dawn had made in any entire year since Brutus had come on board. With so much money and so much scrap, Minius should be absolutely, insufferably happy.

Instead, Minius was simply staring at his console, distracted.

"What's wrong?" Brutus asked.

Minius broke out of his daze.

"Ah... sorry." He shook his head. "It are this task that the Admiral did lay upon us."

"About this Aberrant? We don't have to do anything about that, Minius. He just said to keep an ear out. If we hear anything, we tell him. If not..." Brutus shrugged. "Are you worried he'll pull our letter of marque if we don't find it?"

Minius' eyes drifted back to his console, his face lost in thought.

"No, no, nothing like that. I just... I did go downplanet during our last scrap sell."

"Sure. And?"

"I thought to dig on this, to keep the Admiral happy. I... did talk to some people. Asking about it. I did hear what this Aberrant have been doing." He turned to Brutus. "I... I think we should pause scrapping and look for this Aberrant the Admiral do want to find."

The bridge went silent. Brutus stared in mute shock. Even Flander stopped working its console.

"It... it are a strange thought, I know," he said. "But this Aberrant have been guiding the hands of terrible people. Slavers. Pirates. Worse." Minius looked back and forth between Brutus and Flander. "It does say it will advise anyone, but because it guides the worst of Imperium, good people will not go to it any more. It are only strengthening those who prey. I... I do think it is something we should help the Admiral put a stop to."

Brutus stared at him in long thought.

"I've never heard you talk like this, Minius. What of the scrap in Alvor?"

"That will keep," he said. "This are important. This are bigger than scrap."

"You're letting the Admiral infect you with his ideals, Minius."

"No. No, it are not like that. It are not the Admiral." His eyes looked slightly haunted. "It are the stories. I... I do not want to share a galaxy with such a creature. I do not want my galaxy to be guided to Geina by such a one. If the Imperium can stop it, then I am for helping them."

"We're not warriors, Minius."

"No. But we can search. We just have to tell our Admiral where it are. I know that he can handle the rest."

Brutus stared at Minius for a long time.

"You are the Captain, Minius. If you say we should find this Aberrant, then we will find this Aberrant."

Flander tapped once.

Minius gave him a smile in response, but there was no joy behind it, only worry.