“I will need to inject you with this,” he said, holding a small injection gun.
“What for?” she asked suspiciously.
“In order to remove the device. Without this, there might be damage,” he said.
Anessa glared at him, but finally consented. Adrian reached up to her neck and injected the contents. He waited several seconds and then placed his hands on the device on her shoulder. He sent the command through his implant, and the device removed the needle from her organ, the nanites from the injection moving to repair the damage immediately. He removed the device, and the small pinpoint hole in her skin closed almost immediately, aided by the nanites.
Anessa hissed as the device left her body, and then she closed her eyes. He felt the minuscule amount of energy starting to gather in her organ.
“The maps to your territory are loaded into the computers. I assume that you know how to handle Erasi systems?” he asked.
“Of course,” she responded as she opened her eyes.
“Good, well… I have kept my word,” Adrian said.
“You have, and I have kept mine,” she responded, looking down at him.
“Anessa…” he said softly. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Go to your Elders, tell them that we don’t need to be enemies. We will negotiate with them. I speak with the voice of my Emperor; I can make binding agreements on his behalf. There can be peace between us.”
“Shara Daim do not tolerate rivals,” she said just as softly with her melodic voice, just a glimmer of uncertainty on her features before her face cleared. “Our Elders have never steered us wrong.”
“There are so many things that you don’t know about, things that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I don’t know what your Elders know, why you put faith into things that are wrong, but go to them, demand the truth, and you will see that the way the Shara Daim are now comes from twisted truths.”
Anessa dipped her head down, palming his face with both hands and turning it upwards to look at her. For a moment, he hoped she would dip her head just a bit lower, but instead she spoke. “And it is you who knows what is right and what is wrong, isn’t it? I should weigh the teachings of thousands of years of history against your words and find them greater? I am a Dai Sha of the Shara Daim, and my beliefs are who I am.”
She turned and left him there watching as she disappeared inside the ship, the ramp closing behind her. He turned and left, heading towards the command center. He reached the command center in time to see her small ship enter the trans-station and engage its trans-drives. One moment it was there, and in the next there was a violet flash of light and energy, and she was gone. His plan to plant a seed of doubt might have worked—there were signs—but he hadn’t changed her mind, or if she did have any doubts, her belief and trust in her people was still greater. He only hoped that his other plan worked.
Adrian stared at the empty space for a while, and then finally turned to his people. “Set a course for Sol.”
Chapter Eleven
Tarabat
“What did you find out?” Hanaru, Weaver of the Erasi, asked his subordinate.
“The ship they purchased left with their capital ship, the same ship that took the Dai Sha prisoner. And they left in the direction of the Shara Daim territory.”
“Sending her back as an emissary, perhaps… Can we intercept them?” Hanaru asked.
“Doubtful. Their ship’s normal space FTL gives it an enormous edge, and we don’t have enough assets to draw them into a trap where we can be sure to destroy them.”
“Shame. We need to spur the Shara Daim into action before their Dai Sha gets back to their Elders, if she in fact intends to act as an emissary. We can’t let them start talking; we need them at war,” Hanaru sent.
“Three of their Legions are gathered at their border, waiting for others. If we give them information about the defenses at Sol and the let them know that the Empire’s forces are involved in battle elsewhere, they might jump at the opportunity.”
“Dai Sha Anessa would already know about the forces leaving, if they didn’t keep her completely in the dark. My understanding is that she was more of a guest than a prisoner. But she might not know about their defenses,” Hanaru sent thoughtfully.
“There isn’t much, save for a few defense platforms around the fourth planet.”
“There are those strange readings that the ambassador reported, out by their gas giant and in the asteroid belt. And we still don’t know the purpose of those large stations they have orbiting their sun,” Hanaru sent.
“Does it matter if they have something hidden? We want them to keep the Shara Daim occupied.”
“Yes, but there are too many irregularities with this Empire. Too much that makes no sense. How are the hacks proceeding?” Hanaru asked.
“The agent on the ambassador’s staff hasn’t yet had the chance to place the devices; the Empire’s people are watching them constantly.”
“There will be opportunities, there always are. Until then, we will rely on the data from the ambassador,” Hanaru said. “Which Dai Sha has overall command of those three Legions?”
“Narrasak of the Third Legion.”
“Hmm… He is rash, always seeking to overthrow Anessa as the first among the Dai Sha. He won’t listen to her advice, not if she cautions restraint. Leak the info. Let’s see what Narrasak does.”
Two weeks later —Var Dara system; Shara Daim territory
Anessa was one hundred and seven years old on the day she walked the ruins of an alien world. Beside her walked her best and only friend, Garaam, who had also become a Dai Sha, and only a few decades after Anessa. Anessa was glad that Garaam had followed in her footsteps; now both of them were Dai Sha, the best of the best, protectors of the Shara Daim and servants of the Elders.
The dead lined the streets, and Anessa had no pity for them. Their leaders were fools; they had been told not to interfere in the Shara Daim expansion. Their three systems were small and insignificant; the Shara Daim would’ve let them be if only they hadn’t been stupid. But the alien leaders had understood that if they didn’t oppose the Shara Daim, they would find themselves surrounded with no prospect of expanding further. So they had attacked, and destroyed a Shara Daim transport ship, killing eighty-four people.
The Elders had had no choice; they had needed to make an example. The aliens had attacked their betters, and now they had paid the price. Anessa’s and Garaam’s Legions had wiped out all of the enemy ships, had destroyed all of their major cities and all their assets in space. A fraction of their population had escaped to the wilderness, hiding like the lower lifeforms they were. They would survive, living like savages with no technology; her people had made sure of that.
“I almost pity them,” Garaam said as the two of them walked.
Anessa turned to look at her friend. “Why would you pity them? They brought this on themselves.”
“Only because we gave them no choice. We would’ve done the same in their place,” Garaam said sadly.
“It was the will of the Elders,” Anessa said.
Garaam looked at Anessa, not speaking for a few moments, but then she finally agreed. “Yes, the will of the Elders. And who are we to question them?” she said strangely, and then walked ahead.
Anessa narrowed her eyes and was about to ask her what she meant by that when her Do Sun called out to her. Anessa turned to more pressing matters, her exchange with her friend forgotten.