B. Larson - The Empress

“I needed to speak with you about a serious matter, Aldo.”

“Is this about Sarah? I left her some time ago. You may not have heard.”

“Yes, I know,” Droad said.

“Is it about my dueling, then? I’ve taken care to keep kills to the minimum and my records will show every instance of a disagreement has been documented and witnessed.”

“Meticulously,” Droad murmured.

Aldo spun around and stared at the Senator intently. “You didn’t have a hand in getting me out of that misunderstanding in the tavern, did you?”

Droad smiled more broadly. “What you suggest is absurd. I’m a simple servant of the people. I would no more abuse my power unethically than would any other Senator of the Nexus.”

“Of course,” Aldo said with a tiny snort. He smiled for the first time. “And thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Okay then, if it isn’t a legal matter, or Sarah-why am I here?”

“Because I need you, Aldo.”

“An unusual admission for anyone.”

“Nevertheless, it’s true.”

Aldo squinted at Droad, as if peering into the other man’s mind. His eyes suddenly widened in alarm. “Not them? They’ve shown up again?”

Droad raised a hand to calm his friend. “No. Not exactly. Not yet. But I’m sure the aliens will do so-somewhere.”

Aldo shook his head and gestured for Droad to speak further.

“I’ve been busy, Aldo.”

“With the Senate and the transmitted warnings, yes. I’ve heard and I approve. I voted for you, you know. Even though I had to tap your name into the search field to do it.”

“Thanks. But I’m not talking about warnings. I don’t think they go far enough. I’ve made other-arrangements.”

Aldo squinted at him again. “Arrangements? That could only mean a ship. I haven’t heard anything about a ship.”

Droad nodded, impressed that he had jumped to the correct conclusion so quickly. Aldo was a sharp man. “Privately, I’ve worked in secret on several critical plans that have gone further than transmitting warnings to endangered human colonies. And yes, I’ve managed to get a ship built. It’s ready to leave tonight.”

Aldo was at a loss for words. Then a look of calculation swept over him. He nodded as if having divined Droad’s true purposes. The performance was so convincing, Droad wondered if he actually had seen more deeply than had been intended.

“This is about Sarah after all,” Aldo said at last. “I see it clearly now. You get me out of a misunderstanding with the law, then request a favor. As a result, I’m sent off on a decade-long fool’s errand, where hopefully I meet with some unfortunate accident in space. Elaborate, Droad. I had no idea you cared so deeply for her. Well, let me assure you, this ruse is unnecessary. I was infatuated with the woman for months, just as you were. But I have many personality flaws, and one of them includes an inability to maintain a relationship-”

Droad finally stopped Aldo’s speech, waving away his words as if they hung in the air between them. He stepped forward and reached out a hand. Reluctantly, suspiciously, Aldo clasped the offered hand with his own and they shook hands.

“No, Aldo,” Droad said. “I’m not sending you away for my own convenience. In fact, I’ll miss you and I’m unhappy to lose your help.”

“What then?”

“You are simply the best man for the job. You know the enemy. You know how to handle people as well as alien invaders. I need you to fly out to Ignis Glace and do what you can to defend that world.”

Aldo stared in disbelief. “I barely remember my grade school lessons about that strange place. It’s the most remote planet that remains under local Nexus control.”

“It’s also my homeworld, and I’m asking you to help defend my home for me.”

Aldo looked troubled. “You have family there?”

“I did, yes. I left long ago. I would like you to check on them for me.”

“But this is a diplomatic mission. I’m no diplomat, Droad.”

“You will not be the ambassador. You are to be the ambassador’s bodyguard. Possibly, the role will expand when you meet the natives. The people on Ignis Glace do not respond well to diplomacy. They are tough and unpleasant for the most part. That fact contributed to my decision to leave my homeworld and emigrate here to the capitol.”

“I understand they use titles on Ignis Glace,” Aldo said. “What was your title? Are you nobility there?”

“Yes,” Droad said. “I was a Baron and Droad House possessed a small fief.”

Aldo chuckled. “A Baron! Then you became a governor and most recently a senator? You should run for king, next.”

“This is no laughing matter, Aldo. They are my people. Will you help?”

Aldo grimaced. Droad thought drily that he looked like a trapped animal.

“Why me?” Aldo asked.

“Because you are as hard as nails and you can read people very well. You are not to be a diplomat, but rather an agent. Most people here at the Nexus-they could never understand how people from my frontier planet think. The people here are too bureaucratic.”

“While in comparison, I’m some kind of pirate?” Aldo demanded. “What do you want me to do out there?”

“You must do what you can to get the fractious Houses of my homeworld to understand the danger and teach them how to fight this implacable enemy.”

“All right, I’ll ask a deeper question then: why aren’t you going?”

Droad sighed and went to stare down at the city spread out two thousand feet below. “I’m needed here. If other infections show up, we’ll have to send a fleet to expunge the enemy. We’re building stations in space even now-hundreds of them. To keep up this effort will be easy for a few years, as the fear will be fresh in the minds of the people. In time, however, their fear will begin to fade. I remain here anticipating that time, a decade from now. I will keep stoking those flames so they are not forgotten.”

“Sounds dull.”

“Exceedingly so. You’re role is infinitely more exciting.”

“Still, your own family, Droad…” Aldo said, looking at him sidelong. “I don’t believe you’d hand off this mission to another unless there were a greater reason.”

Droad frowned. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to reveal too much. In truth, he’d left Ignis Glace under less than pleasant circumstances. He sighed, realizing Aldo must be told more in order to get him to go. “I had a wife and children on Ignis Glace,” he said.

Aldo’s eyes widened. He was clearly impressed.

“We were incompatible,” Droad went on. “I left to keep the peace.”

“I see,” Aldo said thoughtfully. “And if I refuse to go? Will you sign a writ for my arrest?”

Droad shook his head.

Aldo was silent for a time. They both stared down at the bustling city. A light dusting of snow began to fall as they watched, slowly turning the shoulders of the buildings white.

“I’ll do it,” Aldo said at last. “You know I love to travel, but I’ve never been out of the system. I have to admit, crossing blades with the aliens-that was more exhilarating than dueling fops for their paychecks.”

“Excellent,” Droad said.

“How large is the crew? Is it a big ship, like the Zurich?”

Droad shook his head. “Sadly, no. It can’t be. It’s a small vessel with a crew of less than twenty souls.”

Aldo looked stunned. “What kind of armament does it have?”

“Nothing to speak of. You must understand, the ship is built for interstellar travel- fast interstellar travel. It must catch up with Gladius and pass her. It can reach speeds very close to that of light, but to do so, little of her displacement can be devoted to anything other than propulsion.”