Aisell stepped off the dirt path at the usual spot as it bent round further into the forest. She walked into what appeared to be impenetrable wall of leaves and flowers but she reflexively turned on her side and placed her feet into two well-worn holes in the undergrowth and stepped out into a clearing with a river running through it shaded by trees with large red leaves.

 

This used to be just her spot. Where she went as a child and a young woman to hide away from the world and a dream. And then she’d taken a huge step and invited a special someone to this place and it became their place. Over the years it had become less and less their place. As the tribe had grown more and more Humans had come here to enjoy the peace and isolation. And eventually her own nieces and nephews had made their way through the wall of fauna and her lonely spot by the riverside was well truly over.

 

But tonight there only appeared to be one other person there (if you ignored to two imperators who had looked over warily as Aisell made her way through the brush).

 

“I was wondering how long it’d be before you showed up.”

 

“Well,” Aisell smirked and walked over to the taller woman. “It’s not often that three government shuttles and half a dozen imperators park themselves in one of your fields and don’t even bother to explain what  they’re doing there.”

 

“Sorry.  I didn’t think you’d mind.” Loona said, gently embracing Aisell and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

 

“I don’t.” Aisell replied, tightening the hug as she felt just how tense Loona was. “But Lezah does like to at least have someone come over and say why they’re landing in her field. She was so annoyed she only offered them un-chilled berry juice instead of what was in the cooler.”

 

“Wow, she must have been mad.” Loona said.

 

“Livid.” Aisell smiled and released her. “Now want to tell me what you’re doing here?”

 

Loona let out a long, sullen sigh and sat down on the grassy bank of the stream, hunching her knees into her chest. Aisell sat crossed legged beside her, watching and waiting for the answer.

 

“I just needed to get out of the capital for a bit. To clear my head. To think.” Loona said.

 

“The woes of the Floor Leader?” Aisell asked.

 

Loona nooded glumly. “You know, back when I first got elected I dared to dream of what I’d do if I ever became Floor Leader. Free all the Humans, pass sweeping equality reform for the non-Titans, move to an elected upper house and maybe do away with the Emperor, invest in education and move the fleet from defence to exploration.”

 

She buried her head in her arms. “Now I’m a Floor Leader who’s hugely popular, at the head of a   unity government and all my attention is focused on war and attempting to build the biggest expeditionary force in this Empire’s history. And on top of that I’m the first Floor Leader in centuries to forcefully occupy and Imperial province.”

 

Aisell placed her hand on the back of Loona’s neck and tenderly stroked it back and forth. “I know it’s not what you wanted but…”

 

Loona looked up and stared into Aisell’s ice blue eyes. “Aisell, that’s not even what’s bothering me. I can deal with that. But what I’m contemplating…I never thought I’d ever be contemplating anything like this!”

 

“What…what is it?”

 

“I had a meeting with the Praetors and the Navarchos Imperii yesterday morning. A meeting on strategy and resource requirements. On how many ground troops we’d need, how many new ships we need to build. Hells, some were pressing for conscription. The leaders of our military couldn’t tell me directly what we’d need to end this war.”

 

“Conscription?” Aisell said a little alarmed.

 

“That’s not even the bad part Aisell. They couldn’t tell me what we’d need to end this war because no one can quite define what ‘end’ means!” Loona said quickly and loudly.

 

Aisell stopped stroking the back of her partner’s neck. She had an inkling at what Loona was saying but she wanted her to say it directly. “What do you mean?”

 

“When is the hive defeated!?” Loona waved her arms. “When they surrender!? When push them a few light years back inside their space? When they only have a few worlds left!? One world? Or we wipe them out completely!?”

 

There was a pause. A long, uncertain pause.

 

“My parents were pacifists. They followed the way of the Dunnermac. They were disappointed when I decided not to join them but they respected that I had to find my own way and that I questioned many different world views. And that I mostly remained committed to non-violence. But I’m actually considering this Aisell. I’m actually considering xenocide. How did I get here!?” Loona said verging on distraught.

 

Aisell sat up and pulled herself in beside and Loona and held her tightly. She tried to rest Loona’s head on her shoulder but she was intent on staring straight into the rippling water of the stream.

 

“Did you ever hear ever hear the story of how Luke came to live here with me?” Aisell spoke softly.

 

Loona nodded. “You found him on Titan station and he came back with you.”

 

“It was a little more complicated than that…” Aisell sighed.

 

“What do you mean?” It was Loona’s turn to ask.

 

“I found him, alone and starving in the market canteen on Titan Station.” Aisell said.

 

“The one with the crumby black and white tiled floor?” Loona asked.

 

A small smile crept up Aisell’s face as she remembered it. How many times she had cleaned it. “That’s the one. Still there is it?”

 

“It was only my last visit. Though it won’t be for long. The station is getting a complete overhaul and upgrade.”

 

“About time. Anyway!” Aisell said and took a deep breath. “I found him and got friendly and he got stabbed by a scilith. I managed to heal him and he stayed with me for a week or so. We got to know each other and he told me about Earth and his home and I told him about here and my travels.” Aisell stopped and blushed red. “We even had a drunken screw one night…”

 

“Really!?” Loona’s mouth hung open. “That surprises me.”

 

Aisell shrugged. “Why? Because he was a man or because he was Human?”

 

“Well I know you’ve been with men…”

 

“I do prefer my partners to be my species. But I’m open and well…Luke was nice and we were both lonely.” Aisell reminisced. “Anyway! We were close. Really close. Closer than I’ve been with most people. I offered for him to come back with me, as an equal but he refused. He wanted to get home. He was so desperate to get home.”

 

“Did he change his mind?” Loona asked.

 

“I prepped him. Taught him to read Archavian and got him supplies so he could last as long as possible and protect himself. Directed him where to watch for ships that could maybe, just maybe get him home. Explained to him about the quarantine. About how no ships went to Earth…”

 

“And he changed his mind?” Loona asked again.

 

“The morning I was due to leave he was sleeping in my room. I was to drop him off to the canteen on my way to the dock…” she paused and blinked back a few tears. It still stung. “Instead I locked him in a box while he was asleep, boarded the ship and took him. We were already warping out of the Sol System when he woke up.”

 

“Emperor’s balls Aisell…how…how…” Loona stammered.

 

“He was silent for weeks. He hardly ate. It looked like he was going to die.” Aisell said. “And the worse he got, the worse I got. And he went deliberately out of his to make me feel bad. To make me pay for taking him.”

 

Loona just stared at Aisell for a minute. Aisell tried to hold her gaze. She was good at doing that but the shame forced her to look away. Even after all these years and all the good times that had come that decision still shamed her. She watched the stream flowing as Loona watched her.

 

“There was something he said to me one day. I had him locked away in a tank, I was worried he’d run off or hurt himself or something. I was just sitting, staring at him, hoping the man I’d met on Titan Station would come back again.” Aisell said.

 

“What did he say?”

 

“A quote from an Earth philosopher. If you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.” Aisell said.

 

“I’ve heard that one. The philosopher is Nietzsche. Naskia says he’s an ignorant terg shit.” Loona replied. “I’d tend to agree.”

 

“Well Luke wasn’t trying to be philosophical. He was just trying to hurt me. Pretty sure I ran off in tears. But the quote stuck with me.” Aisell explained. “You stood on the bridge of that ship and watched people die. You watched the Insectoids try to kill an entire planet full of people. To try and invade the Empire. You could have died yourself.”

 

Aisell lifted her hand to Loona’s chin, held it in place and looked into her eyes. “You looked into the abyss Loona, and the abyss looked back into you.”

 

Loona looked back into Aisell’s cold, blue eyes and felt her stomach flip over inside of her. Aisell was right. Something had changed in her at Tau Ceti after she’d given the order to attack. She wasn’t the same woman who’d stepped on to the bridge of the Gyfjon.

 

“Come on.” Aisell said rising to her feet and extending her hand. “I can’t tell you what to do but I can give you a cuddle in bed.”

 

Loona smiled and took her hand. “That sounds much more fun.”

 

“But just you. Your Imperators can wait outside.” Aisell winked.

 

****
 

The Col IV Retiring Room sat one floor below the Hall of the Rising Sun in the Imperial Palace in Tuaut. It was named for the Emperor who redecorated it, Col the Fourth, founder of the ColVanos line, who had ruled for just nine months before abdicating in favour of his wife, Empress Vanos II. Col had redecorated it to serve as a bit of normal life during his time as consort to the Empress. Col had never wanted to be Emperor, and Vanos, while happy to be Empress, chafed at the requirements of propriety that the position sometimes required. So Col had commissioned the retiring room, which was, essentially, a bar. It had operated not just as a personal pub, but a place to entertain close friends of both the royals, and generations afterward. Over the years, it was expanded a bit – extra room was added for a table, and books and games were brought in. But it was meant to be an oasis of normality set in the splendour of the palace.

 

Of course, it was the personal pub of the Emperor, and so it was still quite ornate and intimidating if one wasn’t used to stopping by for drinks with Tiernan, and neither Hussel nor Lilitu Bass had ever had the privilege.

 

Neither of the Basses knew how significant a sign of respect it was that they’d been invited to lunch in the Col IV Retiring Room. Granted, they already rather understood that the invitation to the palace was a significant and impressive honour. But Tiernan didn’t invite his enemies to drink there, nor even those he merely liked. To gain an invitation to this particular room in the palace, you had to be someone Tiernan both liked and respected, someone who was either a friend, or who he expected would become one.

 

“Would you care for a drink, Dr Bass?” Tiernan asked, settling them in at the table.

 

“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty. I would take a Royal Berry schnapps,” Hussel said.

 

“Hussel,” Lilitu murmured.

 

“My wife thinks that I should avoid alcohol, and she’s right,” Hussel said. “Third liver regeneration, and it’s already showing signs of picking up metastases.”

 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rajenlif said, but Hussel shrugged.

 

“Your Imperial Highness, I was fortunate to live in a time when liver cancer could be treated by regenerating and transplanting tissues. It’s extended my life by ten years beyond what I would have enjoyed two hundred years ago. But the reality is that I’m dying slowly. I accept it. It’s something that happens to us all. And quite honestly, there are times, over the past few weeks….”

 

Hussel stopped, and sighed. “But that is not a happy thought to begin with. Lilitu, by the way, is partial to Hustain.”

 

Tiernan nodded to a servant, who returned presently with drinks for all. Tiernan looked at Hussel, and smiled gently. “Dr Bass,” he said, picking up his glass of kapskrasi and raising it, “I agree. There are times over the past few weeks where I, too, wished that fate had taken my life a bit earlier…and given the excess to my son.”

 

Hussel raised his glass in return. “Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their kids. But at least…at least our sons, and my son-in-law…what they did….”

 

“Your son and son-in-law saved the Empire,” Rajenlif said.

 

“As did your son,” Lilitu said. “I’m sure you feel like we do, your Imperial Highness.”

 

Rajenlif nodded. “I have been told that eventually, our pride in Antero’s actions will outweigh the grief we feel. I even believe it. But…that day has not come. Not yet.”

 

“To our sons, Antero and Aertimus, and to your son-in-law, Niall. May their names be remembered even when the stars grow cold,” Tiernan said. “Prostest!”

 

The four drank, and set their glasses down. Tiernan nodded to the servers, who withdraw to prepare lunch.

 

“Dr Bass, Mrs Bass, we did not invite you here only to commiserate.”

 

“If you had, your Imperial Majesty,” Hussel said, “it would be reason enough.”

 

“Indeed. But there is something more I wish to address with you. A few things, actually. First…both Earth and Avalon have agreed to share your son-in-law’s equation with us, and to work with us to develop it. In discussions with your daughter, though, we have come to find out that you had discovered this independently, before Dr Freeman and Dr Chandrasekhar did.”

 

“That’s true,” Hussel said. “I did not publish, though. I was concerned about its application as a weapon. It is potentially very dangerous technology.”

 

“Oh, I understand why you hesitated. Your decision, well, it’s very Titan,” Tiernan said. “Err on the side of caution – that’s what we have always done. Did you know Niall had developed it?”

 

Hussel looked distant for a moment, and smiled. “Your Imperial Majesty…when my daughter first introduced me to her close friend, a human…well, I am chagrined to say that it took me longer than it should have to think that was anything other than ridiculous. What changed my mind was when Niall showed me the equation I’d developed a few years before. He’d come up with it after studying warp field equations. He’d seen it in the margins. And he was right, it was there, but that intuitive leap….I’d built up to it gradually. He got it all at once. He was smarter than me, and even smarter than my daughter. At that moment, I knew, whatever one could say about him…one could never argue that he wasn’t a person.”

 

“You convinced him to sit on it, then?” Tiernan said.

 

“I did. From what I understand, he began to develop it when the Zeramblin Act was in doubt, when he was worried that humans might be under threat. I don’t agree with it…but then, if he hadn’t, my granddaughter would be dead, and my daughter-in-law, as well as him and Aerti…and many, many more. I would hope that would be remembered.”

 

“Oh, it will be. The government has determined that there is little to be gained in attacking Dr Freeman for developing the Acolytes, especially given that he was working with Earth, which is our ally. That the timing doesn’t quite line up is something that we’re busily papering over; officially, the word will be that we knew he was working with Earth all along, and everyone is thrilled it worked out. The people who are most responsible are quietly stepping down from their posts at the end of their tenure, and Niall…well, Niall is a hero of the Empire, and soon to be a member of the Imperial Clade, and a Martyr to Archavia. If he worried about the Empire’s commitment to humans…let us all agree, he had good reason.”

 

“Good. I was worried, a bit, about Nas.”

 

“Oh, your daughter has been very helpful so far, more than we could have expected given her loss. There will be no negative repercussions from this, Dr Bass. The only question is this – this will be published, this equation. It has to be now, the only way to develop counter-measures will be to study it carefully. Dr Chandrasekhar wishes to give Niall full credit as a co-discoverer. She also knows that you developed it independently first. This is a great discovery, Dr Bass. She asked through diplomatic channels if you would like to be given credit as well.”

 

Hussel leaned back, and looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. “In a fair world, I would say yes. I’m proud to have found this. But if I claim credit…there are too many who won’t accept that Niall came up with it independently, then. It will be something he ‘stole’ from me. Even with humans accepted as people…well, bigotry isn’t ending, you know.”

 

“Sadly true,” Tiernan said. “I will communicate back that you wish to have your son-in-law highlighted. You are already a Highly Learned Professor, are you not?”

 

“I am,” Hussel said.

 

“Then you should know that I am going to be granting you the Order of the Emperor, for your services to the sciences. An award you should have earned already, doctor, for being willing to push for Dr Freeman’s employment when it was seen as ludicrous.”

 

Hussel blinked. “Your Imperial Majesty…I…I am honoured.”

 

Tiernan nodded. “Now, that is the first thing we had to discuss, and the less important one. Let us have lunch…and we will discuss the other afterward.”

 

“And while we eat,” Rajenlif said, “I’d like to hear about the rest of your family. Not just Niall and Aertimus, but your other children, and your grandchildren.”

 

“Your Imperial Highness,” Lilitu said, with a smile, “as a grandmother, I’m sure you know, that is a topic I am always happy to discuss.”

 

The conversation over lunch was a good deal happier; yes, things did keep looping back to Tau Ceti, but that was true of most lunch conversations in the Orion Spur these days. It circled back when Rajenlif took the initiative to brag on her youngest. She was rightly proud that Vallero was heading to Tau Ceti to personally lead the Society of the Boundless Fountain’s assistance efforts, and prouder still that Vallero had it operating as a recovery effort for humans, not a “recovery effort for humans.” Hussel responded that Vallero should call Sorcha, who would be heading back soon with Joseph – not to run the colony, she was happy to step aside, but simply to help, however she could.

 

“Your family is quite committed to service,” Rajenlif said. “It’s a credit to you both.”

 

“I expected a lot out of our children,” Hussel said. “And I was the fun parent – Lil pushed them even harder. Rassa, Aerti, Bero, and Nas were all bright children, with bright parents and a good upbringing. We expected them to succeed; they had no excuse not to. As for service, well, that’s Lilitu’s doing – she always made a point of telling them that just making money wasn’t enough.”

 

Lilitu nodded. “Anyone can make money. Get lucky at a casino, and you’ve made money. It doesn’t make you special. What makes you special is leaving a legacy. Being able to look back at the end of your life, and say the Empire is better because of you, even if just in a little way. And thanks to my children, I can, and Hussel can, too. Not just Aerti – Rassa’s contributed to the law, Bero and Naskia have contributed to our knowledge, Bero in history, Nas in physics. I know my children didn’t always appreciate the pressure.”

 

“They don’t,” Rajenlif said. “At least not when they’re children.”

 

“And not always as adults,” Lilitu said, with a smile. “But…they have succeeded. And I am proud of that. As you must be. Prince Antero…he served the Empire, and when he died, he did so saving 100,000 people. Bero has told me what a fine patron of the arts Princess Rhionne has been, she’s done great work helping to collect antiquities, and make them ready for display. And Princess Vallero…she could have been a figurehead as the President of Boundless Fountain. Lots of celebrities have been. But everything I’ve seen says she works hard.”

 

“Well, like you, we told our children that they were fortunate,” Rajenlif said. “And that they had a responsibility because of that. And all three of them have proven themselves.”

 

“The Empire needs more families who believe in making things better, who teach their children that this is what is important,” Tiernan said. “Not that being important is. You know, I suppose, that when I die, or retire, the Houses of ColVanos and Throden are going to be merged?”

 

“Right. That’s a good thing,” Hussel said. “Jotnarherath is a lovely place, I’ve been to Jutuneim many times. It’s wonderful that my grandchildren won’t think it’s anything other than a unique and remarkable part of the Empire. As the Empress herself has shown, the Jotnar people make the Empire a better place.”

 

“Well said,” Tiernan agreed. “But you know, when the Houses of ColVanos and Throden are merged, there will be a slot opened up in the 79 families. And you would not believe what we’ve been inundated with, over the last few decades.”

 

“Oh, that’s rude,” Lilitu said.

 

“Like waiting at the grave to grab clothes from a corpse,” Rajenlif said. “They always try to couch it nicely, but it’s fairly obvious to anyone with eyes.”

 

“And it’s always about money and influence,” Tiernan said. “How much money they’ll contribute to the treasury, or a quiet offer of a new retreat for the royal family. Do you know how many retreats we already have? There’s a lovely one on Nivgrelau that I’ve been to three times in my life.”

 

“Or if they stay away from outright bribery, it’s always about the size of their business, the importance of their office,” Rajenlif said. “And those are important things…but there are many people who have been elected to office, or built businesses. That isn’t important.”

 

“Indeed, and it’s always – always – down to one person, trying to secure a legacy for their children. Because they think the title will secure their future, rather than the children earning their success.”

 

“Like the professors who try to get their middling children into Tannhauser Gate,” Hussel nodded. “Doesn’t help them. Somewhere out there in the Empire, there’s a kid who worked hard, whose parents aren’t connected, who deserves that slot far more. Probably a million of ‘em.”

 

“Exactly,” Tiernan said. “The Houses of ColVanos and Throden are old and proud houses. I would never allow a family to succeed either that had not earned the honour, never give it to someone who would lobby for it. The family who succeeds ours will be one that sought to become guardians of the Empire without expecting or hoping for the commensurate title. Who held themselves and their children to high standards, not because they wanted notoriety, but because it was the right thing to do.”

 

Tiernan smiled. “Rajenlif and I have agreed that two weeks from today, I will announce that we are joining the Houses of ColVanos and Throden into one house. These two houses will officially follow the lineage of the House of ColVanos in the 79 families. I have asked my wife, as head of House Throden, to select the successor family, and she and I are in full agreement.”

 

“Hussel Bass,” Rajenlif said. “Two weeks from today, you and your wife will be here at the palace, at the ceremony to recognize the heroism of those who fell at Tau Ceti, including your son and son-in-law. As part of that ceremony, I will be concluding the business of House Throden by recognizing a new house as a member of the 79 families. The House of Bass, with you as its Primate.”

 

Hussel stared for a long moment. “I…your Majesty, your Highness, I’m honoured, but….”

 

“When my wife pins your medal on you, you will be the head of a family that within just three generations includes three members of the Imperial Clade, six members of the Order of the Empire, two Martyrs to Archavia, and one Imperial Master of Science. There is no family that has been so highly honored. Not even mine. There is no other family I can think of that is more deserving.”

 

Hussel looked at Lilitu, who was in shock. He would be Lord Bass, for the year or two he had left. But then he would have to pass it on….

 

“Your Imperial Majesty, Your Imperial Highness…how do I select my successor?”

 

“You can set the rules,” Rajenlif said. “You will meet staff over the next two weeks to discuss it. You can make it complex or simple, it is your decision.”

 

“I just…there are many deserving people. But the person I want to succeed me…she is a Bass, through and through, and has been as deserving as any of us. But she is my daughter by marriage, not by blood.”

 

“Like I said, you determine your successor,” Rajenlif said. “You intend to pass it to Ambassador Bass?”

 

Hussel nodded. “For one thing, it will spare me from having to pick between my kids. But….”

 

“Eyrn has lost so very much,” Lilitu said. “She lost her birth parents, her adopted parents, she’s lost Aerti…but she will always be a part of our family. She will never, never lose us. She’s a fine choice, Hussel. And the right one.”

 

“She is. And this justifies our choice even more,” Rajenlif said. “Now, I want you both to know that we will call on you often – there are duties that go along with this.”

 

“There are duties that go along with all of life,” Lilitu said. “We are honoured to serve.”

 

“More than that,” Tiernan said, “your son and mine spilled blood on the same battlefield. Your family has been on the right side of a cause that…let me just say that I have a strong interest in it. We have not known you long, but we consider you friends.”

 

Hussel looked down, and smiled. “Your Imperial Majesty,” he said, “no title would mean more to us than that.”

 

“And that,” Rajenlif said, “is exactly why you deserve it.”

 

———————————————————————————–

 

Author’s note: Apologies for the delay. Got a little tied up this afternoon. Also, I had hoped to reply to the comments on Epilogue One but I’ve been run off my feet lately. I’ll try to weigh in here and there.

 

Also thanks to DX for his part in this chapter. He surprised me with it and it was perfect.