Dawn of empire, p.1
Dawn of Empire, page 1
Dedication
For Mika Ishikawa
Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Historical Notes and Further Reading
About the Author
Also by Kylie Chan
Copyright
1
I met the Empress at the door of her bedroom, and accompanied her to her throne room on the ground floor of the Imperial Palace on the dragon homeworld. She walked with stately dignity through the palace precinct, nodding at the greetings of her coloured dragon daughters, until we reached the room, which was set up for a dragon hearing.
She walked up to the blue-and-silver throne and draped herself across it, then gestured towards me with one claw. ‘Allow the petitioners to enter, Captain.’
I nodded to her and went to the double doors, as high as the vaulted ceiling and with the blue-and-silver motifs of a dragon on them. They opened inwards without me needing to do anything, and I escorted the Crown Princess Megumi, a large grey dragon with red eyes, and my own spouse, Princess Miko, a goldenscales who was close to her in size.
Both dragons nodded to me and proceeded through the hall to stand in front of the throne.
‘Record the time and date of these proceedings, and everything that follows for posterity,’ the Empress said formally to Marque. ‘This hearing is to establish precedent on the transference of coloured dragons’ souls to the bodies of goldenscales.’ She raised one claw towards Megumi. ‘The petitioner will speak first. State your case, daughter.’
Megumi bowed her head on her long neck towards her mother. ‘Marque has given us the soulstone technology that enables us to transcend our bodies. Our souls are electromagnetic radiation, effectively vibrations in the fabric of the Universe and echoes of creation. Our bodies are merely receivers for the frequency of our souls, attuned by the soulstones that we wear. We are able to move from body to body with the transfer of the stones.’
The Empress nodded and gestured for her to continue.
Megumi turned towards Miko. ‘I am ashamed to say that for millennia, we have been oppressing our goldenscales sisters because we thought they were lesser. We coloured dragons thought that our variety in colours was superiority, and that they were not as intelligent, resilient, or capable as us. We limited their ability to obtain dragonspouses, because we believed they were sterile. We thought they were inferior, and used them as servants. We thought that their inability to fold was weakness.’ She turned back to speak to the Empress. ‘And you yourself believed that their ability to gate – which you kept a secret from the rest of the Empire – would result in the destruction of everything. You were wrong, mother. They are as intelligent and as capable as we are, and using them as servants was a travesty of natural justice. Their gating ability does not damage the fabric of space-time. It has no affect on the space around the homeworld, which has been extensively damaged by excessive folding. Now that the restrictions on gating have been lifted, goldenscales are becoming both popular and wealthy, as citizens of the homeworld no longer need to travel up to the transport nexus to be folded to other locations.’
‘I concede all of these points,’ the Empress said. ‘For the record, Marque was adamant that goldenscales gating was dangerous and put the fabric of the Universe at risk, and has yet to explain why it thought this when it has become blindingly obvious that gating is completely safe. Can you explain this, Marque?’
They waited for Marque to respond but it didn’t say anything.
‘It still refuses to explain,’ the Empress said. ‘What is your request, daughter?’
‘We coloured dragons request that the Empire ease the restrictions on the transfer of coloured to goldenscales dragon bodies. We all know that transferring a soul to a different species – without it happening naturally through the process of reincarnation, where the soul has time through childhood to become accustomed to the body – results in major dysphoria where the soul is uncomfortable with the new body, but this shouldn’t apply for us.’
‘It’s a sensible restriction, and recent events where some irradiated human soulstones were placed in goldenscales bodies to reattune them is an indicator of how difficult this process is,’ the Empress said. ‘The humans eventually chose to remain unconscious during the soulstone attunement process to avoid the powerful dysphoria of being in dragon bodies. We have yet to find a species that can move its soulstone to inhabit the body of a different species without some trauma attached to the process.’
‘We submit that goldenscales and coloureds are of the same species,’ Megumi said. ‘And we wish to have the freedom to inhabit goldenscales bodies as well as coloured ones.’
Miko interrupted her. ‘The gist of this is that you want to be able to gate like we can, because it’s making us rich.’
‘That’s the gist of it, yes,’ Megumi said.
‘The goldenscales have been living as full dragons for five dragonyears, and we have yet to see a child from any of them,’ the Empress said. ‘It is possible that they are sterile after all. Would you risk that?’
‘Now that the Empire no longer uses us to travel to new planets, seduce the populations, and replace them with our own half-dragon children as a form of reproductive colonisation, I don’t think a lack of children is a major disadvantage,’ Megumi said, and grinned at her mother. ‘We have plenty of dragonscales children already.’
‘Anything to add to your petition?’
‘No, Majesty,’ Megumi said, and bowed her head. ‘Please allow us to inhabit goldenscales bodies. It will confirm their equality in the eyes of the Empire and give us more dragons able to gate, particularly since it appears that they are unable to reproduce themselves, and we must wait for you to bear them.’
‘Very well, your petition is lodged. Miko? Your turn.’
Miko took a deep breath and raised her head. ‘We say no,’ she said. ‘You all treated us like shit. You used us as servants. You wouldn’t let us have spouses or families. You made us believe that gating was dangerous, to stop us from utilising this useful tool that made us your equals. You oppressed us and used us as an underclass and none of you have apologised for it – you expect us to just forgive you and move on from this without any recompense or even an apology for our treatment. Now that we’re of value, you want to take that from us. All of you coloureds can go to hell – our biology and abilities are unique to us and it will take us a very long time to recover from millennia of oppression. With all due respect, mother and sister, go fuck yourselves, our biology belongs to us and you’re not having it.’
I spoke out loud to her rather than telepathically, in a massive breach of protocol. ‘I have never in my hundred-odd years wanted for dragon hearings to be done in public more than I do right now, so that you have an audience to your courage and integrity.’
‘Thanks, my love,’ she replied softly.
‘Do you have anything else to add to your rebuttal?’ the Empress asked Miko.
‘No,’ Miko said.
‘Very well, the procedure is registered, and the arguments are recorded. Marque?’
‘Confirmed,’ Marque said.
‘So you can speak,’ Miko said with searing sarcasm.
‘Register my ruling on this matter,’ the Empress said, and climbed down off the throne to walk backwards and forwards on the dais. ‘We admit the need for reparations for the treatment of goldenscales by the Empire. The current desirability of goldenscales’ gating ability, and their wealth as a result, can go some way towards that. We respect that we have treated the goldenscales poorly over the millennia—’
‘Poorly is one way to put it,’ Miko said, still sarcastic.
‘And acknowledge that they are our equals in all things, and superior in the ability to gate. We acknowledge our past poor treatment of them, and their desire to control their own biology without our interference or occupation of their bodies.’ The Empress turned to face them and spoke more softly. ‘They are my beloved children and my heart breaks for the millennia that they have suffered.’ She raised her voice and lifted her head. ‘I give judgement: as their mother and their Queen, I give the goldenscales full control of their own biology and restrict any other species – including our own – for transferring soulstones to goldenscales bodies unless they are born goldenscales themselves. Hear my ruling.’
‘We hear and acknowledge your ruling,’ the other dragons said in unison.
‘Well, that’s sorted,’ the Empress said. ‘Bring in the next petitioners, please, Captain.’
‘Glad it’s over,’ Megumi said. ‘Lunch, Miko?’
‘You’re not mad at me?’ Miko asked Megumi.
‘Frankly, I think you’re right,’ Megumi said. ‘There are some more . . . avaricious dragons who want to be able to gate too, and I didn’t want to represent them, but it’s my job as eldest daughter. Frankly I think we owe you a great d
‘Thanks, Gumi,’ Miko said.
‘Before you go, Miko,’ the Empress said, and Miko turned back. ‘Any luck in finding the icosapod homeworld?
‘We’re still searching,’ Miko said. ‘The icosapods we rescued from the cat ship are helping, and there aren’t many cat systems left to search. We’ll find them soon.’
‘Just be careful – I’m sure they don’t want to lose their most effective weapon against us.’
‘We’ll find them and free them,’ Miko said with determination. ‘They shouldn’t use sentient people as food or weapons. It’s so wrong.’
‘Thanks for the update. Now we need to clear the room,’ the Empress said. ‘I have another Empire matter to adjudicate, and this time we’ll have the usual crowd of tourists listening in.’ She gestured towards Miko and Megumi. ‘Shoo, you two! Go and have lunch or something, and Captain please bring the next petitioners in.’
I guided Miko and Megumi to the door, giving Miko a proud pat on her dragon shoulder as I did.
‘See you at home and we’ll do our best to negate this rumour that goldenscales are sterile,’ I said.
‘Please do, we’ve all been watching you carefully,’ Megumi said. ‘So many false alarms, human reproduction is so finicky.’
‘It’s because I’m pure-blood minimally-enhanced human,’ I said. ‘You dragons and your children have much less trouble than we do.’
Miko raised herself on her hind legs and put her front ones on my shoulders, then rubbed her face on mine in the dragon equivalent of a kiss. ‘Love you, Jian, see you at home.’
I kissed her on the cheek. ‘Love you too. Go find the icosapods.’
The enormous doors opened to reveal the next group of petitioners and, as the Empress had said, a large audience. They all made loud sounds of delight at seeing me and Miko. She dropped onto all four legs, bunted me with her head, and she and Megumi made their way through the crowd under the coloured banners that represented the Empress’ daughters – now with some golden ones added to the mix – and went out.
‘Petitioners, you may enter,’ I said, and guided the new people into the audience hall.
Later that day, I was working on the Imperial Guard rosters when Tomoyo and Miko gated into my office. Nashi rushed to them, her tail wagging furiously, and I scolded her as she jumped to lick Miko’s dragon face. Miko just laughed and rubbed Nashi’s ears.
‘You are so adorable, puppy,’ she said. ‘Just like your Mum.’ She shot me a sly glance full of delight. ‘We found one. This might be the icosapod homeworld. Water world, warm, plenty of copper.’
‘Marque, ask if any of the Pacificans are free,’ I said.
‘I already did when we found the world. I have two Pacificans who can come with us,’ Marque said. ‘Tomoyo, go to Merry City and speak to my instance there. It has their exact location.’
Miko created a gate, and Tomoyo stepped through it.
‘Marque, is Haruka free to come with us?’ Miko asked. ‘He was very upset when he missed the last one.’
Marque spoke in Haruka’s voice. ‘I’m in the middle of a trade meeting between the colonies and the homeland. Find our little icosapod friends for us, my loves. I’ll be cheering you on while the diplomats bore me to death.’
‘The Pacificans are on your ship waiting for you,’ Tomoyo said to us through Marque.
I bent and cuddled Nashi, then picked her up and put her into her crate. She whined as I checked that she had plenty of water and locked the door. ‘You be good,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back shortly.’ I looked up. ‘Keep an eye on her.’
‘Always,’ Marque said.
Miko created a gate and we stepped through it onto our ship.
Miko still radiated discomfort when we stepped through the gate into the gallery of her golden ship, the reflective black floor shining under the glowing blue-white nebula that decorated the sky above the dragon homeworld. She’d been mortified when we’d arranged for Marque to construct her private ship, and even more mortified when she realised that it needed an engine, and one of her coloured sisters, Tomoyo, had offered to be assigned full-time to it. Two blue-skinned equatorial Pacificans – slender and lean for the warm waters of their tropics – stood in the gallery of the ship next to Tomoyo who had just folded them in, wearing skintight blue bodysuits with breathing tubes stuck into the sides of their throats to enable them to survive outside the water for more than a couple of hours. They each held a bright blue icosapod alien draped over their shoulders like capes with the heads next to their own.
They approached me and put their hands out human-style, the icosapods blinking with wonder on their shoulders.
‘I’m Yaritji,’ the woman said as she shook my hand. She nodded to her colleague. ‘This is Baxter.’
Baxter nodded and I shook his hand as well. ‘Good to meet you, Captain. Our icosapod friends are Likes-Big-Rocks,’ he pointed at his shoulder, then at hers. ‘And One-Broken-Sucker.’
The icosapods each waved a tentacle at me.
‘I hope it’s our home,’ Big-Rocks said. ‘Our talekeepers gave us many fine memories of the place – and we can rescue our relatives from the cats.’
‘This is where I leave you,’ Marque said. ‘I don’t want to risk infection by the cat nanobots: those things are becoming more and more dangerous and it’s all I can do to keep ahead of them.’
‘Understood, Marque,’ Miko said. ‘Ready, Tomoyo?’
Marque set a timer on the skin of the ship, glowing against the space above us. ‘When it reaches zero, I’m fully extracted from the infrastructure.’
We watched the timer count down from twenty to zero, and then Tomoyo gave Marque a few extra seconds to be absolutely clear. She folded us to a spot a light year from the cat colony world, the planet not visible to us in the field of stars above the ship.
Miko raised her head and closed her eyes as she studied the surrounding space. ‘Three cat ships in orbit around the planet, and one big cat ship at the edge of the system – looks like a perimeter guard. The sort of attention you’d expect for the home of their most effective weapon.’ She recited a sequence of numbers. ‘That’s it.’
Tomoyo folded the ship to the location Miko had given her, and we were in orbit above the planet. It had a dense atmosphere full of clouds, and the yellow star’s light made them glow brilliantly gold against the blue of the ocean beneath.
‘Ease up, Rocky, you’re hurting me,’ Baxter said.
‘Sorry, Bax, but I think this is it,’ Big-Rocks said. ‘I can hear their emotions.’
‘Can you contact them from here?’ I asked.
Both Suckers and Rocks stopped moving as they concentrated. They turned their heads to share a look, then back to us.
‘No,’ Suckers said. ‘Too far. Can you gate us down?’
‘You try contacting them first, Jian,’ Baxter said. ‘Your larger brain may have more range.’
I nodded and attempted to contact the icosapods below. Big-Rocks was right: I could vaguely feel their naïve, joyful emotions, but it was too far to make contact.
‘I’ve found a suitable colony for first contact,’ Miko said. ‘It’s like a city, but more spread out. The cats have structures on the land nearby – probably to harvest them. There is a building containing things that look like big tanks. I think it’s a holding facility. There are icosapod villages all around the island. Where should I take you? Do you want to rescue the ones in the tanks?’
‘No, this is a reconnaissance mission,’ I said. ‘We’re here to gather information and talk to the icosapods. If we mess this up, the cats could shut everything down and incarcerate the icosapods – or even take them elsewhere. Can you gate us to a place where there’s open water on one side and a village on the other?’
‘Let me look,’ she said. ‘I’ve found a place. It’s at the edge of the city where the water becomes too deep for them.’
‘Are the icosapods in similar-sized colonies to what they’ve built on Pacifica?’ I asked.
‘I wish I was telepathic so I could just show you,’ she said, frustrated. She saw our faces and waved one claw. ‘Yes, I know, that would make me susceptible to their use as a weapon. Let me see. I think these colonies are larger.’
‘We want to land somewhere close enough to swim easily, but far enough away that any cat surveillance won’t see us,’ I said. ‘At this stage we’ll talk to them and arrange to rescue them from the planet. Then we’ll work on the ones being held captive in the tanks.’
