He didn’t wait for Mike to answer. “What if you’re wrong? What if your hope is misplaced, Sire? This being has gone to all this trouble for us, for you, and what if you’ve failed it? Consider the message as if it was given in anger, with disdain. I see the words coming from lips that are curved into a leer.
‘ Never underestimate your opponent. The man of dirt learned his lesson well. His battle is won, and all is well. Friends and family are all that matter now.’ ”
Mike considered the words. “You’re saying that I didn’t learn my lesson well, that all is not well, that friends and family are not all that matter. I’ve missed the boat, so to speak.”
“Partly, Sire. These messages are never simple. I would offer a slightly different interpretation. I want to believe that the source of these visions has not given up on us, will never give up on us. The words might be said with disdain, but I believe there’s still a message here. I believe the first and last sentences have dual meaning. They add to the disdain, but they might also contain a message.”
Mike mumbled the words to himself. “Never underestimate your opponent. Friends and family are all that matter now.” He looked inside himself, then he looked at Tarn. “I must not underestimate my enemy, and friends and family do matter.”
“Put another way, Sire, you have underestimated your opponent, and your friends and family need to be your focus. They’re in trouble. You have a location.”
“My friends and family are here, Tarn.”
“Not all of them, Sire.”
Mike’s eyes narrowed. “You’re right, Lieutenant. They’re on Earth.” He turned to Ellie. “Could we have gotten so focused on the senate that we forgot about the Chessori?”
She looked at him in horror. So, too, did Krys.
Mike turned away from them and paced, a grim expression on his face. He turned suddenly to Tarn. “How much time do we have? Does one follow the other?”
Tarn spread his arms wide. “I don’t know, Sire. I’m guessing at all this just as much as you are.”
“It’s Mike, darn it, and your guesses are a heck of a lot better than mine. What do you think?”
Tarn considered the words again and shook his head. “Do they mean it’s already too late, or do they mean there’s still time? It’s a message of instruction, but the instructions could be taken either way. I don’t know, Mike. I’m not sure it matters.”
Mike stared at him. “How can it not matter?”
Tarn’s eyes shifted from Mike to Ellie. “Because of another vision, Your Majesties.”
Krys sucked in a breath, then shrieked. “Your Majesties?” She stared at Tarn, then whirled to face Ellie. “You married your knight in shining armor, Mother?”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Ellie went to Krys and gathered her in her arms. “Did you expect anything less, my daughter? I wanted both of us to tell you, but your vision intervened. I’m sorry.”
“I’m so happy for you, both of you,” she said, turning to include Mike. “I wish I could have been there.”
“Well, it was quite the private affair,” Mike said with a tight smile. “The vision, Tarn?”
Tarn deferred to Krys, but she didn’t have all the pieces. “What about the hands?” she asked him, thinking of Buskin’s vision.
“They’re his,” he said, brooking no argument.
She nodded and turned back to Mike. “I had a vision of Admiral Buskin several months ago. Do you know him?”
“I know of him. We haven’t met.”
“You know he’s gathered a number of ships to himself?” Mike nodded grimly, and she continued. “In my vision of him, I was looking through his eyes. He was in the net, and he could see all around himself. Behind him, a blue and white planet with a single moon was receding. In front of him, what seemed like a thousand ships were coming his way. Tarn says they were Chessori ships because of their color and drive signatures.” Mike nodded again.
“With the vision came the following words for Admiral Buskin:
‘Follow or lead? Where once it was dirt, a king’s tears now fall through spread fingers. The battle is won, the war lost.’”
Silence filled the room as Ellie and Mike considered the words.
“Have we failed?” Elle asked.
“Have I failed?” Mike countered. He turned to Tarn. “Is it already too late?”
“Krys did not sense imminence with Buskin’s vision. I believe there is time yet. I’m sorry I didn’t figure it out sooner. We could have gotten him started months ago.”
“Started on what?”
“He’s hiding out while he trains Great Cats to fly and fight his ships. It doesn’t matter where he hides. He’ll go wherever you send him. Why not let him do his waiting near Earth? He has a lot of ships, probably more than you have here.”
Mike smacked a fist into an open hand. “Get him in here.”
“Uh, Sire, Lieutenants don’t order Fleet Admirals around. Truth be told, I was just an ensign when all this started.”
Mike reconsidered his demand, then could only smile. A few minutes delay wouldn’t matter. He went over and put an arm around Tarn’s shoulders. “You might have just been an ensign, but I was a civilian. Rank isn’t the determining factor around here. Duty and ability are all I care about. You were right a little while ago when you pulled me aside. You said things were going to start hopping, and you were right then, too. I get the impression you’re right a lot of the time. What’s your official position in all of this?”
“I’m Krys’ aide, assigned by Admiral Chandrajuski.”
“Hmm. She’s a Knight now, and I’m First Knight, so she’s part of my team. That means you are, too. I only accept volunteers. Will you volunteer?”
“Of course, Sire.”
“Okay. We need a meeting, and I don’t know where anyone is. Can you round up Buskin, Trexler, and Jeffers for me, and do it in my name? Say one hour from now?”
Ellie took charge. “Make it two hours, Michael. We have some other business to attend to in the meantime.” She turned to Krys. “You can help him if you’d like.”
Krys smiled weakly. “I recognize a dismissal when I hear one.” She went to Ellie and kissed her on the cheek. “All this aside, I’m happy for you and your First Knight, Mother.”
Ellie kissed her back, on the mouth. “And I’m grateful. What you two have given us today might make the difference between success and failure. You’ve done well, and so has your man. Just don’t stop calling me Mother. Return here when you’ve finished setting up the meeting.”
Krys and Tarn left hand in hand, a Knight and a Friend of the Royal Family.
Ellie stood for a while in thought after the door slid shut behind them, then turned to Mike. “You really want him on your staff?”
“I do. Look at what he just did, and it’s not the first time. Krys has given us the visions, but he’s the one who’s figured them out. If his interpretations are right, he’s given us critical keys to defeating the Rebels, and he might just have saved a whole planet, my planet.”
“Your home, Michael.”
“No, my home is here with you, but it’s my homeland.” He smiled. “Did you see how he pulled me off to the side?”
“No. When?”
“You and Krys were being mother and daughter. He doesn’t take no for an answer, Ellie. In his own mind he’s an ensign, an officer of the lowest possible rank. Despite that, he made a decision he knew was right, and he acted upon it despite the fact that I’m First Knight. And he didn’t just ask for information, he demanded it. He reminds me a lot of Val.”
“I’m not surprised. He’s the Guide.”
“From your story about the leaf people?”
“The very same, only we had it wrong, all of us. Krys discovered that he wasn’t her guide, he was our guide. His purpose is to guide whomever the vision is about. He’s guided Chandrajuski, Korban, Seeton and Veswicki, Buskin, and now you and me.” She kissed him hard. “And now you’re leaving me again.”
“I’m afraid so. I must.”
“When?”
“Soon. We’ll know better after the meeting. I don’t want to rush off with a bad plan. Korban needs help, Seeton is counting on our help, the sectors and districts need us out there in the worst way, and we haven’t figured out how you’re going to deal with the senate. I wish Chandrajuski was here.”