Her grandfather’s funeral came and went. She went and it was soul-crushing. The sense of finality to him being gone really hit home. Rather than deal with the emotions she did what she always did, she distracted herself with work of some kind. In this case her undercover research into tracking the Sal’nash. Her obsession was getting the best of her. She started missing dates with Tyler. She cancelled a weekend camping trip. She felt like she was on the cusp of a breakthrough. Her parents just chalked it up to her being upset about being grounded by the Military and being upset about her grandfather’s death. They were correct but not about the extent they were impacting her.
Allison was careful to turn in all her schoolwork and keep her marks up. She never missed a cheerleading practice. Something had to go away so she could focus on what she thought was the only way to save her friends and family, that was the relationship with her friends and family. Eyre and Maria’s warnings fell on deaf ears. Allison was going to figure this out and she was going to make sure the Sal’nash were wiped out once and for all if she had to steal more neutral nanites and reprogram them to do it.
She felt like she was about to make a discovery as she looked at the virtual whiteboard she’d created. Her train of thought was derailed when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked back. It was Tyler; She glared at him.
“What do you want? Damn it.”
He looked like she’d slapped him.
“We said we’d do your birthday date tonight; You weren’t at home…”
Allison frowned.
“I thought I’d cancelled, I’m sorry. See you at school.”
Tyler just stared at her.
“What?”
Allison looked back at him in annoyance.
“I don’t have time for this. You already ruined three hours of work, just go, I’ll see you Monday.”
She turned back to her virtual whiteboard and didn’t see the broken look on Tyler’s face. It was doubtful it would have had much impact on her at this point. Allison started rearranging images on her whiteboard. She had managed to build out at least a third of the migration patterns. They seemed to match the ones from six thousand years before. She was missing chunks, of course the pods seemed to move around Andromeda so that would make it impossible to see the tags. There was a vast swath of the Galaxy that was unexplored because missions from the League would take so long, even with SA ships, it would only be half the time, which was still years.
Allison had no idea why they followed the same migration path year after year, century after century, millennia after millennia. No one was. She decided it was time to use the stolen data processing VI she’d copied off of Zebra. It wasn’t anything complicated, all it did was look for commonalities in data. It required massive processing power. She had been avoiding it because she’d have to increase the power of the virtual server she’d been renting by a factor of one hundred and that would definitely trigger an alert for Eyre. She was too far down the rabbit hole now to even worry about it at this point. She expanded the virtual machines processors to accommodate the new requirements.
She let the VI chew through the star maps and data. Truly her best bet would be an Astrometrics lab on one of the explorer class ships. Of course, she highly doubted Eyre would approve the cost. Those took months to build. People to crew. Though there were the League science vessels. If she could convince the Primarch or Grand Eminence to loan her a Steller Cartographer and their lab for a few days, it would help immeasurably. Once again, she was too deep into her obsession with tracking the Sal’nash to consider whether she should risk annoying them with the request. She accessed her hyperwave and opened a channel to the Grand Eminence's private residence. As the overall commander of ADF, the military arm of the LSR, he had to be able to be contacted at all times.
Ember answered her call. She was holding baby Allison and feeding her from a bottle. Her wings perked up when she saw Allison but then she started to look concerned. Her wings drooped slightly.
“Allison? What is wrong? You seem… a few shades too pale. Did something happen?”
Allison blinked a few times.
“Everything’s fine. Sorry, I was hoping to speak to the Grand Eminence. Is he available?”
Ember shook her head.
“No, he is in session with the high council. Is it important?”
Allison shook her head. Ember’s wings twitched slightly.
“Are you sure you are alright child?”
Allison nodded.
“I’m fine. It is important but I can’t really discuss it on an open channel. I was hoping to set up an encrypted end to end call with him from the Embassy.”
Ember’s wings twitched again.
“You look very pale, and like you’ve lost some weight. I’ve been reading on human adolescents and any changes like this could indicate a health problem, or are you taking illicit substances?”
Allison blinked a few times. She pondered what books Ember had been reading.
“I’m fine. Just pale because I’m part vampire, I don’t tan. I probably lost some muscle because I haven’t been training as much.”
Ember’s wings slumped. Allison didn’t like that body language. Ember flexed her wings and plastered a fake smile on her scaly red face.
“I will let him know you reached out.”
*****
Ember held baby Allison who was giggling at a butt fruit worm in her palms. Her husband finally returned. By the look of his wings he had not had a good day with the high council. He paused and watched baby Allison playing with the butt fruit worm. His wings immediately perked up. Ember smiled at him.
“How was your day, my love?”
Aseian rubbed his snout gently.
“They are concerned about the Sal’nash. As expected. Ruby is in a panic. After the attack on the medical station which we could not reach in time to mount an effective defense confidence in the high council and the council is at an all-time low. The Synthlin are furious. The good news is I’m getting funding. Bad news is, there is no way we can scale up production and training to meet the needs they’re demanding.”
Ember slid up beside him and wrapped her wing around him.
“Did the System’s Alliance sign the emergency mutual defense pact against the Sal’nash?”
He brushed his wing against hers affectionately.
“They are willing, for what reason I do not know, with their wormhole technology they guard so closely they can be anywhere almost instantaneously. Even a hundred thousand light years they can do in minutes of an alert. Why do they need us?”
Ember smiled.
“Then at least our people will be protected.”
Aseian threw his hands up and moved away from her.
“That is the thing, we are not, the high council cannot agree on it, nor can the council. They are afraid of giving up our sovereignty! Madness. What good is sovereignty when we cannot even defend our own people? If we had a way to track them… The System’s Alliance even offered to station a wormhole capable ship with our battlefleets, their tech is vulnerable to the pulse the Queen’s emit, ours is not. With their wormhole support and our fleet’s immunity we could respond to attacks in minutes! Fools. Ruby is doing her best to garner support. I am thankful for the Battlelord at least she can respond. Allison is quite adept at slaying Sal’nash. She defeated another fleet by Ratoa.”
Ember’s wings drooped at the mention of the battlelord. She looked up at Aseian.
“She tried to reach you today.”
His wings perked up.
“Indeed? Did she say why?”
Ember shook her head.
“She did not say, beyond she could not speak on an open channel. Aseian, I am concerned about her. She looks… unwell. There was a darkness about her, like her light had been snuffed out. I fear she is ill.”
His wings drooped.
“Ill tidings, my love. She is the one weapon we have that has never failed us against the Sal’nash.”
Ember narrowed her yellow eyes.
“Weapon? She is a child.”
Aseian’s wings drooped.
“I misspoke.”
Ember invaded his personal space in an aggressive manner.
“Misspoke? The pressure on that child has been immense, from both sides. No Silwrath her age would have so much expected of them. It has been a long time since you emerged from an egg for her it has only been sixteen years. If she were Silwrath she’d still be in primary school.”
Aseian stepped forward and lowered his head to meet his mate’s gaze.
“Child she may be, but she is a battlelord. Proven in combat time and time again. If she is ill, then we must find a cure because child or not, she is the only one who has ever triumphed against the Sal’nash on every battlefield she has encountered them. Not even Ventor the Decimator could claim that. The greatest battlelord in our history. As the humans are fond of saying, Allison 4, Sal’nash, 0.”
Ember backed away when baby Allison started to look uncomfortable. The child had cupped her hands around the butt fruit worm defensively. Even as an infant she seemed to have figured out Silwrath body language.
“Every death has a cost. You of all people should know that Aseian. She has nearly wiped out the Sal’nash as a species. Tell me how much did that cost her? You should reach out to her family, specifically her aunt and address our concerns.”
He nodded.
“I will speak to her first and assess. No need to concern her family if nothing seems amiss.”
Ember narrowed her eyes again.
“And how much of the literature provided on adolescent humans have you consumed?”
Aseian’s wings drooped.
“Enough…”
Ember snarled slightly.
“Which means none!”
Aseian shook his head.
“I have watched all of these recommended Dr. Phil episodes we were provided. I don’t have time to read.”
Ember flicked her wings.
“Yet you have time to watch every game of Raq Full Contact!”
Aseian shook his head and walked away without a further word.
*****
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Allison pounced on her hyperwave when she saw it become active with an incoming communication from the Grand Eminence. He looked tired when his face appeared. His wings immediately shifted, indicating concern. Apparently, Ember had alerted him to Allison’s demeanor.
“Battlelord, I understand you tried to reach me. How can I help you?”
Allison bit her lower lip.
“Could we schedule an encrypted comm session from the Embassy. It’s about that data you provided me about the Space Manatees.”
His wings perked up.
“Yes, of course. How soon can you get there?”
Allison glanced at the time on her AR HUD. It was late, but she could do this and get home if she parked directly in the garage or underground. She would avoid the bacteria carrying insects.
“Ten standard minutes.”
He nodded.
“You have access to the comm array. I will set up the encryption.”
He ended the call, and she hopped off Bit and rushed to the embassy in her truck. She hoped he would say yes. She was suspended from active military duty due to medical reasons, but that did not apply to her active military role with the League of Sentient Races. Something Maria had overlooked and Allison had never corrected. Her actions at the medical station had earned her a security rating and pass as LSR military. So, accessing the Embassy and the secure comm room were as easy as swiping the DNA locked pass. Soon she was back on with the Grand Eminence who as Battlelord she was considered just under in rank, at least when it came to her position on a battlefield. Politically it was muddy.
“Battlelord, do you have good news?”
Allison shook her head.
“Sorry, I do not have any news. Just a new request for resources.”
His wings perked up.
“Battlelord, what do you need to make this happen?”
Allison flicked something at the hyper-wave, he reviewed her request.
“Ah, I see. Is there a reason the System’s Alliance cannot provide this?”
Allison blushed.
“They think I’m working on a school science project. I’ve been suspended from active military duty and my flight license has been revoked. I’ll need to pass another flight test before I can legally fly again.”
He snarled.
“They’ve benched their strongest warrior? What fools are running your military? Our treaty allows our pilots to fly in System’s Alliance space and planetary airspace. You can operate with the understanding you have a license from us, they cannot revoke that without going through proper channels. Any weapons and supplies you require can be delivered to the embassy. You will have your Astrometrics lab and a stellar cartographer within two weeks. I will place the scouting fleet directly under your command. They may be blind to your needs, but I am not. A warrior needs battle to fight.”
Allison smiled; It was her first genuine smile in a long time.
“Umm, do you mind if I use the results that don’t pertain to tracking Sal’nash in my science fair project? I’ll need to have something to show for all the time I’ve been putting into this.”
He nodded.
“Of course. Why haven’t you told them the real reason for this?”
Allison sighed.
“Because I have nothing else, and it will be taken away from me by scientists who are stuck in bureaucracy. A science project I can randomly contact academics, and they’ll share stuff with me. If they know its military sometimes, they get all picky about it being used as a weapon. I’ve gotten a lot of data from League researchers who wouldn’t have given it to our military, or yours.”
He chuckled.
“You continue to remind me why you are a Battlelord. I will tell the System’s Alliance the ships are in Eden orbit as a show of good faith towards our unsigned mutual defense pact and that you are in command of them. I do not recognize your military suspension.”
She bit her lower lip.
“My Aunt Maria will not be happy with this. Nor will my father.”
He flicked his wings.
“I will deal with them. I will not have them sideline the Battlelord. Not when we’re at war.”
Allison blinked.
“At war?”
He nodded.
“The councils have declared war on the Sal’nash after their attack on the medical station. That means we need you at the top of your game with access to resources. If the System’s Alliance will not provide them then we will. We have already spoken with your government. They have agreed there is an active state of war. I thought that meant you were informed. I am sorry, I will not assume anything anymore. When the fleet arrives, they will ensure your starfighter’s hyper-wave is capable of encrypted communications and you will be read in on the encryption rotation as is your right at your rank. I will let you get back to work.”
Allison did a Silwrath salute. He did not.
“We are family now that you are Egg-mother to Allison. No need for formalities. I address you by your title as a sign of respect, nothing more.”
Allison nodded.
“Thank you, Grand Eminence.”
The communication channel closed. She smiled. She was back in the game, and she hadn’t even meant to try to work around her Aunt Maria.
*****
Maria saw the incoming hyper-wave call from the Grand Eminence. She assumed it had something to do with Allison’s unscheduled visit to the LSR embassy that Helen had witnessed. She looked up at her chief of staff.
“Leave. Clear my schedule for the hour.”
The chief of staff looked rather put out but left. Once the door was closed, Maria opened the comm. The Grand Eminence had not had the opportunity to speak to the leader of the System’s Alliance before. He had heard she looked young and was pale for even a human. When he saw her in all her glory he was unimpressed. Yet, the Battlelord looked non-threatening, and he realized how much damage she had done already. These humans were a difficult bunch to understand. The eyes reminded him of ancient Silwrath like himself. Her eyes had seen much. She spoke.
“Grand Eminence, I did not expect to hear from you. Is something amiss with the High Council?”
He waved his hand dismissively.
“Something is always amiss with the High Council. They’re still debating your mutual defense pact against the Sal’nash. They’re concerned about your ships in our space on a standard basis. I have come to the conclusion we cannot wait on them. I am sending a fleet to Eden Prime to fulfil our already signed treaty that we will provide sufficient defense for the Embassy should a threat present itself. Since we’re now at war with the Sal’nash and they are attacking your planets, I would say our Embassy is at risk. With your ships unable to withstand the emissions from the Sal’nash Queens, you are incapable of protecting the colony.”
Maria pursed her lips. She imagined telling the board and the Joint Chief’s of Staff about this development. The Grand Eminence’s delivery was borderline insulting, but she let it pass, Silwrath were brash at the best of times, and this was not the best of times.
“We agreed to reasonable defense forces in our space to defend the Embassy. We have repelled three attacks so far successfully including one in your space on our own. Why do you think a defense of Eden Prime will be different?”
His wings flicked. He liked her already. There was a fire in her eyes. He decided to go a little harder.
“That was with the Battlelord in the lead. You’ve suspended her, what hope do you have now?”
Maria narrowed her eyes.
“My niece is not the only asset we have that can fight them.”
He crossed his arms.
“Is that so? Tell me how your fleet would have fared at Ratoa had she not shown up with reinforcements?”
Maria’s fangs came out. His wings flicked and the beginnings of a smile creeped across his lips showing his sharp teeth. She did have fire in her.
“We are expecting them now. She is on leave for medical reasons.”
He shook his head.
“Unacceptable. She is the Battlelord. I demand a medical assessment by our medical staff, until such time as they deem her unfit for duty, we consider her active, including her LSR Pilot license which she earned while she was here on her last extended visit. In fact, I’ve placed her in command of the fleet I’m sending to defend Eden. I believe your board should find that acceptable, the fleet under the command of a System’s Alliance officer. As Battlelord she is my second in command here. Her status has been ratified by unanimous decision by the High Council and Low Council at the insistence of our Primarch. So whatever bullshit your medical staff used to suspend her better be undone or we may have a diplomatic incident.”
Maria clenched her fists. How dare this Silwrath dictate System’s Alliance policy. She rarely got angry, but he was pressing her buttons very effectively tonight.
“She is not in her right mind. She needs to focus on being a child and school. It has been too much for her.”
His demeanor softened. He was seeing almost motherly concern on Maria’s pale face.
“She is a battlelord, even in a bad place she is the most effective weapon against the Sal’nash and any other enemies both of our people have. There is a reason we have the rank. The only time they sit out of a battle is when they are dead. You need to look at this like a military leader, not her family.”
Maria’s fangs retracted she spoke with a softer tone.
“You do not understand humans. Especially teenage girls. They have limits.”
He shook his head.
“No, the only limits Battlelords have no matter what the species is those we allow them to put on themselves. You don’t train them, they are born. They are born for war, like it or not, she was born to fight.”
Maria sighed.
“She lost her grandfather and is in a very dark place. She lost most of her squadrons in that battle.”
His wings drooped.
“I wish she had the time to reflect, but she does not. The Sal’nash are coming for all of us.”
Maria shook her head.
“She needs time to process her grief properly. I am giving her that time.”
He laughed.
“Process her grief? You think that’s what she’s doing? She’s been working on a secret project to track Sal’nash hyperspace travel under the guise of a ‘Science fair project’. All you did was redirect her focus. Battlelords don’t think like we do, they are creatures of action, they are kinetic, they are forces of nature. You cannot make her process anything. It is a fool’s errand at best. Causes them to self-destruct at worst. Like it or not she is the light in the darkness, the beacon to lead our militaries to victory.”
Maria frowned. The words he had used described both Amee and Enid. Enid always craved action and conflict. She was never happy with sitting still and reflecting unless she needed it to move forward then she would deal with it herself.
“Fine, but what is this about tracking Sal’nash hyperspace travel? Why am I not aware of this?”
He flicked his wings.
“You shouldn’t be, I shouldn’t have told you. She’s been working on it since I sent the data shortly after your ‘Christmas’. This fleet I am sending includes a science ship with an Astrometrics lab and one of my best stellar cartographers. It serves two purposes. One, you can help us respond with our ships to any Sal’nash incursions in our space or yours, two, it allowed me to let the Battlelord use it. I don’t care whether you approve or not. Any ability to track the Sal’nash ships through FTL will change everything. We can choose engagements.”
Maria knew this was out of her control already, so she leaned forward.
“Fine, you want our help to defend your space, you want Allison in charge of the Sal’nash defense, so be it, but I need something from you. Our wormholes need beacons. Anything else is risking losing whatever fleet we send through. You want our help, and her, you will agree to beacons in strategic locations in LSR space. Without them I will not risk my ships. Our intercession at the medical station had benefits for us so I was willing to risk the lives of our people and fighters. I am not willing to do that for your worlds. Beacons or all we can promise is a response at ten light years an hour.”
His wings flicked a few times.
“What do these beacons do exactly?”
Maria tapped her fingers pondering how to answer.
“They send a ping to our network confirming coordinates relative to what we consider intergalactic center along with local space conditions. With that information we can plot a four-dimensional point in space. I can provide the beacons you just need to deploy them and warning buoys declaring the space unsafe. You can pick the places you want them. I would suggest close to worlds you are concerned about.”
He leaned forward.
“Could we not just provide you with the coordinates ourselves via hyper-wave?”
Maria nodded.
“You could, if you had a ship in the location. Everything is moving in the universe we can and we can guesstimate but it is always extremely dangerous. The only two people I trust with plotting dark jumps on a regular basis are myself and Allison. We both know she is different than most pilots and navigators.”
He nodded.
“I see, well I suppose we could put them in the nav buoys we use no one would be the wiser.”
“How you conceal, deploy, get approval for them is on you. I can have them to you within the hour or have them deployed in a few days if you would like us to do it.”
He tapped his claws.
“A few days? How?”
Maria decided to be honest with her counterpart. She was formal head of the military after all.
“You know Allison can travel at much faster speeds then your species, because she is a dhampir. What you do not know is that vampires have no limits in FTL because we are dead. My sister travelled two and a half million light years in under three weeks and that was before I perfected our graviton thrusters. We have others who can withstand faster speeds. I am willing, as a show of good faith, to send a vampire along with a special forces team to assist in this deployment in one of our VI run ships. The special forces team will consist of dhampirs and wolf-born. They can do about a hundred light years per hour. I think they could effectively deploy at least one a day.”
He nodded.
“Well, then, I accept.”
Maria looked up at her wall then back to the screen. How could Olga have missed Allison working on something so important? Science was never the Russian woman’s forte. She addressed Aseian again.
“How close is Allison to a workable solution?”
His wings drooped.
“I do not know. She seemed… defeated when we spoke. I am hoping giving her the fleet and a more active military role will bring her fire back to the surface. I saw hints of it.”
Maria hit her table. She had miscalculated so badly with her niece. She had done the exact opposite of what she needed.
“Please do not tell her I know. I will bring your fleet proposition to our board and council. I suspect I will be forced to put her on active duty again. She is not speaking to me, and I cannot reward this behavior. I would consider it a personal favor could request your medical staff keep an eye on her.”
He chuckled.
“I will ensure Futara is on her flagship. I understand they have a special relationship.”
Maria noticed a question in the Silwrath’s body language.
“Do you have something else to ask, Grand Eminence?”
His wings drooped.
“Something my agents found on the medical station caused a great deal of concern with my Synthlin science advisor. Are you aware the Battlelord weaponized nanotechnology to defeat the Sal’nash?”
Maria would have gone pale, had she had any ability to get paler.
“You must be mistaken; She would never do that. It is an executable offense. Two if you considered it a biological weapon deployment. I assume it is the same there.”
He nodded.
“I apologize I should have said, may have used, we found nanite residue all over the station, but I suspect they self-destructed due to being released without programming, as they are supposed to do. I was wondering if she had reported anything, it would seem there is nothing of concern then.”
Maria nodded.
“I am glad to hear you are sure it was not what they had initially suspected. I am sure Allison can shed some light on what happened to the nanites, she did mention the storage had been breached on her report. Likely the Sal’nash on a rampage.”
His wings twitched.
“Yes, of course, I will inquire with the Battlelord. We should be in close contact so I can monitor the fleet. Thank you for taking my call, President Aurelius.”
Maria bowed her head slightly and they ended the communications. Maria swore under her breath and quickly erased the call log.
