The Phoenix War Read online

  Caerwyn frowned, paying close attention to the Princess’s rhetoric for anything he could use against her in his own address to the Assembly, which he was already planning.

  “My father, King Hisato Akira, the rightful monarch of our Empire, was slain on the Assembly Floor. Murdered, I have no doubt, by the same conspirators who have taken root in the Assembly, and at the highest levels of our military, to steal the Empire away from the people who formed it. To enrich and empower a few corrupt individuals at the expense of the safety and well-being of humanity as a whole. And now they have committed regicide and murdered the king, a king who was a good man, a king who deeply loved the Empire and her citizens. He bled to keep us all safe during the Great War, he led and guided us, but now he can protect us no more. And we must look to new leadership, if we are to endure.”

  Here it comes, thought Caerwyn. He knew the princess was going to challenge the power of the Assembly, to steal away whatever meager portion of humanity she could to rally to her banner. But in the end, her efforts would prove fruitless and insufficient, Caerwyn knew. Once he finally united the Assembly behind him, naming him the new monarch, Kalila’s claim to the throne would evaporate, as would her support. Only the most ardent and fanatical Akiraphiles would remain loyal to her, and Caerwyn would sweep them away with a wave of his hand.

  “The Assembly called the king to the Assembly Floor to address them, and as he did, he was murdered! And strangely the murderer has yet to be found,” said Kalila. “I say to you all that the king was lured there! Lured for the purpose of arranging his death! There can be no mistake! And on top of his death, my own brother and sisters were similarly slaughtered by the terrible plans of a corrupt and selfish few. An evil group who arranged for four royal deaths to happen in less than an hour, and no doubt wanted five—I only escaped them because I was on my ship, surrounded by my loyal crew, outside their reach. But I’m sure they are working hard, even now, to remedy that and destroy me too. But I shall not let them! No more than I shall let them destroy the future of this Empire. Our future. With your help, we will stop them. We must! And we shall restore this great nation to her true glory!”

  This will be useful, Caerwyn thought as he listened. The princess was making a heartfelt appeal that would no doubt win her some support, at least in the short term, but she also made herself out to be desperate, and Caerwyn was sure he could use this broadcast to demonstrate how weak the Princess was, grasping almost blindly for straws.

  “When the King stood before the Assembly, in those last few minutes of his life, he never once said anything that could be interpreted as surrendering the throne to the Assembly. He did not abdicate. He did not accept the Assembly’s judgment that the throne should be taken from him. He held it until the end, and planned to protect and defend the citizens of the Empire with every breath. That was his one mandate. He remained protector and defender of the realm until his eyes closed that final time. And when he died, the throne passed to his heir. I am his lone surviving child, I am the last of his name, I am his only heir. It is not a mantle I ever wished placed upon myself, and indeed the burden of defending the Empire, and caring for the welfare of humanity, is a heavy one. But I shall carry it.

  “I address you now as Queen Kalila Akira, Heiress to the Andrevine, and Sixth Monarch of the Empire. I call upon all loyal citizens to support me. To all members of our military who still love the Empire to rally behind my banner. And to all Representatives of the Assembly, any who still remember their duty to care above all for the well-being of the citizens they represent, to cast your voices behind me. Support me. Help me save this Empire. Now is our only chance and we must act swiftly. Even now the crows and vultures are circling, just outside human space, waiting for the ideal moment to attack. Let us stand together united, right now, and not give them that chance. My father never yielded, and neither shall we! Support the Queen. Save the Empire.”

  With that, the broadcast ended and the display winked off. Immediately the chamber filled with commotion as the nearly four-hundred representatives, all present, discussed this new development among themselves. Representative Tate struck her gavel three times.

  “Order on the Assembly Floor,” she said forcefully. She repeated herself twice before silence returned to the chamber. “We have before us a declaration from Kalila Akira that she is the rightful monarch of the Empire.”

  Caerwyn stood up and switched on the microphone in his hand. It was a breach of the Assembly’s rules, but he had to get the matter resolved as soon as possible, and not let the Princess’s claims—the self-declared Queen—fester in the minds of his fellow Representatives. “Kalila Akira has no claim to the throne,” said Caerwyn, interrupting Representative Tate very briefly. Before he could continue, he himself was interrupted.

  “Point of order,” said Lady Florence, rising from her seat on the dais near his. All of the Lords and Ladies of the major Houses had taken their seats on the dais and would continue to do so until they’d successfully elected a new king. That king will be me, thought Caerwyn. Florence continued, “Representative Martel is out of order. He did not have the floor.”

  “I’ll allow it,” said Representative Tate. “The matter of Kalila Akira’s claim to the throne is now open for debate.”

  “We cannot recognize her claim,” said Caerwyn. “To do so would not only be illegal, it would further fracture the Empire by encouraging more starships, planets, and citizens to take part in Kalila Akira’s insurrection.”

  “We have voted eleven times to elect a king and eleven times we have failed to choose one. This Empire is already fractured, it’s fractured because it lacks leadership. Kalila is offering us that much needed leadership, on what basis would such a well-timed, well-needed offer be illegal?” replied Lady Florence.

  “This body voted successfully to enact the Sovereignty Clause of the Imperial Charter, Article One. That clause gives us the power the remove the throne from the monarch and establish a new leader. We voted to remove. Therefore it must follow that the claim to the throne and all of its relevant powers belongs to the Assembly now and not the spawn of Hisato Akira.”

  “By my clear reading of the text,” said Lady Florence, “the power of the throne remains in the hands of the monarch until a new monarch is chosen, so the Empire may never experience a moment when it is without a leader. We need a leader.”

  “That is one interpretation, yes,” said Caerwyn. “But to abide strictly by such an interpretation would be to place the reigns of the Empire in the hands of a corpse. The monarch we voted to replace is dead, so we must expediently and swiftly elect a new one.”

  “Not so,” said Lady Florence. “The interpretation I speak of, which is the interpretation any thinking person would reach after reading the Imperial Charter, would not put the crown atop the late King Hisato Akira’s head. It would follow the normal rules of succession and pass to his oldest child during the interim period where we have yet to elect a new leader. And Kalila has just told us she accepts the burdens of that leadership.”

  “Nowhere in the language of the text can you make the claim that succession enters into it at all,” said Caerwyn. He looked over the vast audience as they seemed to be scrambling with their displays to call up copies of the Imperial Charter and re-read them for the thousandth time. He smiled, knowing that there were no rules within the document for what to do when a king’s throne has been recalled yet he dies before a new king is chosen. “There are no rules governing this situation.”

  Lady Florence seemed momentarily tongue-tied, much to Caerwyn’s pleasure. “Which means,” Caerwyn continued, “we must look to ourselves, our authority as the people’s representatives, and our own wisdom to determine what course is best. I say that we proceed with elections and finally decide upon a leader. Let this be the day that we vote to unite.”

  “You’re right, Mister Martel,” said Lady Florence. “There are no rules governing this exact situation. Just as there is no rule and no precedent,
and therefore no reason, to think that the invocation of the Sovereignty Clause against King Hisato Akira still applies now that he is tragically deceased. I say that the vote we made is now nullified, on the basis that no law can be binding upon a deceased person.”

  It was a clever argument, Caerwyn had to admit. But not a strong one. “If this were a trial and we were arraigning charges against Hisato Akira’s person, his status as deceased would be a perfectly acceptable defense, and it would be proper, just as Lady Florence suggests, for us to dismiss the legal matter as no longer pertinent. But, as it happens, the execution of the Sovereignty Clause is not a charge against a person, it is a vote to reform the government. It is a vote of structure and restructure, not an issue affecting a man, but rather a motion affecting an Empire.”

  Representative Tate smacked her gavel once and spoke. “The debate considering the invocation of the Sovereignty Clause charter is already resolved, it came to vote and this Assembly voted in the affirmative. Representative Martel is correct, the clause is active. What remains is for the Great Houses to select a new king, and for this body to determine who safeguards the powers of the monarchy until a new monarch is chosen.”

  “I say that it must be Kalila Akira,” said Lady Florence. There were a few shouts of “aye” and “hear, hear” from the lower balconies. Though most of the nearly-four hundred assembled remained silent, which Caerwyn took as a good sign. “Kalila is the last living Akira, the throne must pass to her. At least during the interim period. Who else could it pass to?”

  Caerwyn knew he had to get Lady Florence derailed at all costs from convincing the Assembly to vote to support Kalila’s claim. If they allowed Kalila even temporary powers, Caerwyn doubted the cunning would-be Queen would surrender those powers to Caerwyn later, even if he did have the support of the Assembly and was elected King by the Great Houses.

  “I call a motion,” said Caerwyn, cutting in abruptly while Lady Florence paused for breath between sentences.

  Representative Tate smacked her gavel. “The Floor recognizes Representative Martel from Capital World. What motion do you call?”

  Caerwyn took a moment to consider his words carefully. “I call a motion to declare Kalila Akira an enemy of the state.”

  The Assembly Floor erupted into a chaos of voices. Caerwyn couldn’t quite tell from the noise whether most of it was positive or negative. He looked at Lady Florence who stared at him stupidly, evidently shocked by what he’d just said. Caerwyn knew if he could get Kalila declared an enemy of the state, it would undo whatever credit she’d earned herself with the common people through the broadcast she’d made, and it would also make her ineligible to serve as the interim monarch until a proper one was elected. Such a motion was rare, but required only a simple majority of the common Assembly members to pass.

  “Order. Order,” Representative Tate smacked her gavel several times. “Order!”

  The chamber fell silent.

  “That is a bold motion, Mister Martel. On what basis to you propose to support the motion?”

  “Against the former princess I lay the following charges,” said Caerwyn, clearing his throat. “By broadcasting to the people of the Empire and calling on them to disregard the legal mechanics of this Assembly, and the law itself, in favor of supporting her and her rule, she has circumvented the rule of law and is guilty of sedition.” There were murmurs but he spoke over them, raising his voice slightly. “Further, she is engaged in an enterprise clearly designed to split the Empire in two and bring about civil war, this is treason. And it may cost the Empire immeasurable loss of life. And finally, I have evidence that she, and those in her charge, under her banner, acting with her authority, have brutally murdered several innocent civilians, including my own brother Zane Martel. I therefore charge her with murder and abuse of power.”

  This final charge was met with gasps. The first two charges, of sedition and treason, were far more serious. But only the third charge, of abuse of power and murder, was truly a surprise.

  “And I suppose you have evidence of these claims?” asked Representative Tate.

  “I do,” said Caerwyn. When he’d heard about the grim and gruesome scene police had found where Zane and several other “wealthy citizens” had been discovered, it had sickened Caerwyn and he’d had no stomach for it. But even as he’d been told the gruesome details of that grim business, and was shown the photos at his own request, he knew Zane had overreached himself, as he often did, and made more dangerous enemies than he had powerful friends. It was his Phoenix Ring nonsense, that cult of his, that had been his downfall. And Caerwyn was quite certain that it was the enemies of the Phoenix Ring, and not the Princess’s bulldog Executor who had murdered Zane and his colleagues. But that hadn’t kept Caerwyn from paying the right people to plant the right evidence to implicate Kalila’s people. After all, Calvin and his men had been on Zane’s trail and had both means and opportunity to have created the slaughter. It wouldn’t take much to invent a motive.

  Caerwyn had also paid to suppress the news story so he could bring it to light at the ideal moment. Now the time had come.

  “Is there a second to this motion?” asked Representative Tate. “So that Mister Martel may bring forth his evidence supporting the charges he raises against Kalila Akira?”

  Caerwyn knew there would be. They were all too curious now. And, sure enough, not five seconds later, Representative Conroy stood and seconded the motion.

  “The motion has a second,” Representative Tate observed. “We will recess for thirty minutes to allow Representative Martel to arrange for his evidence to be brought before us.”

  Caerwyn resisted a smile. He had them. They were in the palm of his hand. And once they saw the evidence he’d arranged, they would surely declare Kalila and her henchman Executor, Mister Cross, enemies of the state, along with anyone who supported her ridiculous notion of winning the throne. That throne had sat five Akiras including Hisato, but Caerwyn would sit in it next, he promised himself. And that chair would never see another Akira as long as he lived.

  The Empire I will make will be glorious, Caerwyn thought. He only needed to coax it a little more and it would inevitably accept his leadership.

  And who knows… perhaps the true killers who’d butchered Zane and his associates would see his placing the blame for their evil deed on Kalila’s shoulders as a favor, and decide to think of Caerwyn Martel as a useful ally. I could be a very useful ally indeed.

  ***

  To Shen’s amazement his foot had healed almost completely. Some redness persisted, as did a small break in his skin, but the injury itself was much farther along in the healing process than it had any right to be. At least there’s some small benefit to being a monster, he thought. Cuts and bruises don’t bother me the way they used to.

  Shen felt nervous standing in the otherwise empty elevator as it zoomed to the top of the ship. He shouldn’t have been nervous. This was something he’d done countless times. But somehow, this time was different. He felt oddly sick as he stared at the sealed door, dreading the moment it would slide open.

  I don’t belong here, he thought. Wondering for the thousandth time where his place was in the galaxy—if he even had one.

  Eventually the elevator came to a halt and the door slid open, revealing the lights of the bridge. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the deck, walking as calmly as he could to the ops controls. He’d barely gone three feet before Sarah noticed him.

  “Hey Shen,” she said, giving him a pleasant smile.

  “Hello,” he replied softly. Unsmiling. Trying hard not to notice Sarah’s supple lips, rich dark eyes, and chocolate-brown hair… he felt something within him stir, so he averted his eyes and took his seat without another word. Relieving the current ops officer. It was his first official shift since the incident on Remus Nine, and the beginning of what was sure to be a long, cruel experiment determining whether or not he could return to human society as a functioning member of the crew, despi
te the changes he’d endured. As he grappled with his deepest worries, he found himself guardedly pessimistic. I’m a monster, he thought again. A monster in human skin.

  “It’s great to see you buddy boy,” said a familiar loud voice. Shen turned his chair to see Miles beaming from the XO position. He looked rather proud of himself and a toothy smile reached from ear to ear on his big round face. He sat next to Summers Presley, who looked a bit too comfortable in Calvin’s chair, and to Shen’s surprise Summers wasn’t ripping Miles a new one for being in the XO’s chair. Shen took that to mean that Miles had been raised to the position of Acting XO in Calvin’s absence. The universe is indeed a strange place…

  “Yes, Mister Iwate, it is good to have you back in your proper place at the ops station,” added Summers.

  “Thanks,” said Shen quietly. He turned his chair back to center and began looking over his controls. He silently set about re-adjusting the layout which annoyingly had been changed by the previous ops officer. Honestly, why do they do this? The computer was smart enough to keep three discrete layouts in its memory, one for each shift, but whenever someone else covered for him on White Shift they always seemed to mess everything up. Can’t they see how inferior and inefficient their methods are?

  “Shen,” he heard Sarah’s voice call to him from behind. He ignored the impulse to swivel his chair and give her his undivided attention and instead kept his focus on the ops control adjustments. “It’s… it’s good to see you,” she continued. Her voice was warm and seemingly a little bit cautious. “I tried to visit you, honestly I did, but I never seemed to come at the right time. You were always away.”