Chelen City: Chapter Twenty-Two, Part One

 Notes: Time for a meeting with Restaria! What will Elanus even say to xir? What can xe possible say back? We'll find out ;)

Title: Chelen City: Chapter Twenty-Two, Part One

***

Chapter Twenty-Two, Part One

 

Only Restaria Sanclare could make sitting in a broken EV suit in the darkness of a storage compartment look dignified. Even xir hair had retained enough coils and ringlets to give it some of that famous body xe was known for. Xe was looking up expectantly as Elanus had Lizzie open the compartment, but tellingly, Restaria didn’t try to stand.

Good. Xe hadn’t gotten ahead of xirself after all.

Elanus stared at xir in silence for a long while, just taking xir existence in. Restaria didn’t blink, staring back with those dark, uncanny eyes—eyes that saw everything. Eyes that always knew which way to look next in order to gain the most control over a situation. Eyes that were, for the first time Elanus could remember, wary. Uncertain.

Finally Restaria said, “He’s alive, then.”

“What makes you so sure?” Elanus asked.

“I’m quite sure I’d be dead if Kieron Carr was. You would never have gone to the trouble to rescue me otherwise.”

“An interesting statement from you.” Elanus tilted his head. “You clearly knew you were throwing him into a dangerous situation.”

“I didn’t throw him into anything,” Restaria replied. “I offered information and he came to me to get it.”

“You knew he was walking into an assassination attempt.”

Restaria, to xir credit, nodded. “Yes. I also knew he was well-equipped to survive it.”

“And yet he almost died, and would have if his well-being had been left in your hands.”

“I knew you would come for him,” Restaria said. “And you did. He knew it as well. He was annoyed with me, but he was never afraid.”

Elanus scoffed. “How would you know what fear looks like in another person? It’s not even something that you feel yourself, do you?”

Restaria frowned. “Of course I feel fear.”

“No, you don’t. You’re something closely akin to a psychopath, to use the ancient term. I’ve known that about you for years now.”

Xe shook xir head. “Why, because I didn’t fall down on my knees before you in awe when we were at university?”

You went to your knees willingly enough for other reasons, didn’t you? But Elanus wasn’t here to rehash the past. He was here to talk about the present, and the very unstable future. “I never wanted your adulation. I wanted your love, which you never managed to give me. You were always, always looking to the future, and you decided early on that I was a poor mix with the political scene. That’s why it never went farther between us, and in the end I’m grateful for that.”

“Why?”

“Because whatever happens to you next is going to hurt less than it might have,” he said. “It won’t be completely painless, I know that much. I always appreciated you and your brilliance, even when I knew we couldn’t be together. Even after what you did to Kieron, I didn’t really want to let you die. But I wouldn’t have cried if you had, and neither would almost anyone else who knows you, it seems.”

Restaria sighed. “Surely you can appreciate that I did what I did for the greater good. The damage being done to our people with the continuation of [name], it’s unconscionable. I needed to draw you into dealing with it somehow—no one else on Gania has the power or the technology necessary to make a real difference there.”

“Not even the president.”

“Of course not.” Xe shared the bare bones of the deals that had been made with the ruling Central Planets, and how Moreno and so many more in their ruling cabinet were beholden to them.

“You all do realize that the [name] is still in shambles after what happened to President [name],” Elanus pointed out. “Admiral Liang is an interim solution; if there was ever a time to renegotiate our terms, it’s now.”

“Moreno doesn’t want to renegotiate terms. He likes things just as they are—with him on top and everyone else a rung below, especially those who might some day become a threat to him.” Restaria gestured to Elanus. “You’re also on his hit list, you know. The virus that attempted to take down your home system, the efforts made to subdue your people, those weren’t from me. Those were volleys from Moreno’s people, waiting to see just how hard a target you were going to present as now that you’re back here.”

“Sure they were.”

“I have no reason to want to hurt you like that.”

“But you did hurt me,” Elanus said. “You lured my fiancé in-between you and a messy fate. I don’t blame you for wanting to survive, but I sure as hell do blame you for using him to do it. You knew this attack was coming—you didn’t have to involve him, and yet you did. Just to get at me.”

“To get your attention,” Restaria insisted. “Everything Moreno tried just made you harder to reach. I needed to be cleverer than him.”

“You could have asked!” he exploded. “You think I wouldn’t have listened to you? How long have we known each other? How long have you known the sort of person I am? Have I ever abandoned my responsibilities or feelings in a way that made you think I wasn’t going to give you a chance to explain yourself?”

“I needed more than a chance,” Restaria said. “I needed surety that you would take action. I wish I could have gained it another way, I truly do, but believe it or not I was surprised by the timing of Moreno’s attack on me. I didn’t want to bring Mr. Carr into things, but I saw the opportunity to save myself and I took it. I’m sorry he was hurt, but he saved my life and I’m grateful for it.”

Xe leaned forward, intent. “And together we can make sure that things change. Together we can make real change for our people, from turning off the [name] to ensuring that Moreno and his ilk can’t run from justice. We can make a real difference in the lives of everyone on Gania, and in Chelen City, for the better. You know I’m right.”

“There are going to be major changes on Gania,” Elanus assured Restaria, crossing his arms. “But you’re not going to be a part of any of them.”

For the first time, xe looked truly discomfited. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that if you think I’m just going to forgive and forget when it comes to what you did today, you’re a fool.” It was Elanus’s turn to lean in. “Someone as clever as you, so political, so astute, and yet not even you were able to understand what’s at the heart of me. You don’t prioritize your own heart, so why should you consider mine, other than as a means to an end?

“But you almost ruined my life. You, Restaria. Moreno too, and I won’t forget it, but if you think I can just move on from what happened to Kieron like you yourself could, you’ve vastly underestimated the depths of my emotion. Call it love, call it pettiness, call it whatever you want, but know this: your time here on Gania is as over as Moreno’s.

“I guarantee that with my life.”

 

Chelen City: Interlude 6: Kieron

 Notes: SO! Please be aware this is a chapter with lots of violence and lots of pain. I'm mean to Kieron in this chapter, but you know me! Trust that I'll make it better in the end :)

Title: Chelen City: Interlude 6: Kieron

***

Interlude 6: Kieron

 

By the time the first person dropped down out of the ventilation in the bedroom, Kieron was more than ready for them. He was done with waiting, done with this sick, stupid game, done with everything except keeping himself—and, reluctantly, Restaria—alive long enough for Elanus to get to them.

No communication? No problem.

Assassins closing in? Survivable.

Having to face disappointing his family with his death? Kieron would do absolutely anything to prevent that, up to and including pushing Restaria in front of a bullet. Xe hadn’t done anything to lay a claim on Kieron’s faithfulness other than ensure he had the means of protecting them. Luckily for xir, xe also knew to stay out of the fucking way.

A quick baton strike to the legs as the assassin fell out of the vent broke the one on the right and ruined their landing, at which point Kieron followed up with the knife up and under the skinsuit of armor they were wearing and into their throat. He stirred the blade, the bet he could do when he couldn’t cut laterally to finish the kill, then left the bastard on the ground to choke to death on their own blood. One trembling hand reached for a blinking device on their belt—ha, not today, motherfucker. Kieron brought the knife down in a hard chopping motion and was pleased to find out that the armor around the wrists wasn’t nearly as good as the stuff protecting the throat.

He took off the other hand too, just in case. It killed off the fucker faster, but Kieron needed to move on by that point anyhow. He’d left Restaria with the darts, and from the sound of things in the living room they’d been useful already.

Kieron slid along the wet, freezing floor to where he’d left the politician behind a couch, crouching down to minimize the chances that he’d fall. This was one of those times when being shorter than a Ganian came in handy—two of them were on the floor, flailing as they tried to get up. A third was still, one of the darts sticking out of their eye socket.

Nice targeting. That ought to numb up their brains nicely. As for the others…

Kieron skidded forward, smashing one hard in the helmet with the baton. It had a tip that could penetrate the best armor if it hit it in just the right way, and Kieron was damn good at angles. He broke the faceplate right off, and the assassin turned over and stared up at him with big, fearful eyes.

“Wait!” she cried out—a woman, huh. “Please, just let me—” He hit her between those big, gleaming eyes and sent bone shards up and into her brain.

Nope. No listening. No explanations. No chances to make things right. One assassin might be someone you could negotiate with, but a whole pack of them working in concert? That was a problem that could only be extinguished with extreme prejudice.

The person beside her pulled a gun and, after a little fumbling, got it aimed at Kieron, who had just enough time to hoist the body of the person he’d just killed up between them so her armor could absorb the shots instead. They hit again and again, until the armor was perforated and chunks of body were coming out the hole, and yet the guy didn’t stop.

So Kieron stopped him by throwing the body on top of him. The assassin tried to push her aside, but Kieron followed up by breaking every bone in his left foot with the baton. He screamed, high-pitched and tinny through the helmet, then shrieked when Kieron used the baton to make strategic holes in the thigh and abdomen of his suit. One, two, three…stab stab stab. In and stir, always stir. Stabs inconvenience, slices stop. It didn’t feel good to murder the man, but in all honesty there was something satisfying about it. It had been a very, very long time since Kieron had had to deal with someone in such a hands-on way, and he couldn’t say he minded it under the circumstances.

“Four more coming in fast,” Restaria called out from behind the couch. Xir implant was cut off from scanning the overall building, but xe had built extra failsafes into ensuring xe could use it in xir own quarters. “One of them is moving in a manner that makes me think they’re carrying something large.”

Large…what could it be? Maybe a gas bottle of some kind, something to poison them or put them to sleep. Then again, circumstances had already shown that they were willing to do serious structural damage, if the blinking device on the first killer’s belt really was the microgrenade it looked like.

Shit. Kieron hoped Elanus got here soon. If these people were willing to blow up this part of the Cabinet, then there wasn’t going to be a good way to stop them. He and Restaria were confined—they wouldn’t get far trying to go out the way the bathroom person had come in.

Actually…Kieron darted back to the bathroom to grab a few things off the body, then came to hunker down next to Restaria.

Xe made a face when xe saw what he was carrying with him. “Whatever do you plan on doing with that?”

“It depends on what they’re attacking with,” Kieron said. “If they’re trying to gas us out, then it’s a projectile meant for them. If they’re trying to blow us up, then it’s a counter-strike.” He glanced out the window behind them—nothing yet. Come soon, come soon… “Close up your EV suit just in case.”

Restaria gave him a glare. “You think there’s the slightest hope I’d live long enough to see another day if I survived space and you didn’t? Elanus would have my head.” Xe became apologetic quickly enough, though. “I’m…sorry I didn’t think to secure a suit for you. That was short-sighted on my part.”

“It was,” Kieron agreed. “I could have gotten us out of this fucking mess a lot sooner if both of us could spacewalk.”

“They’d just come after us out there.”

He sighed. “You know who else can come after us out there? Elanus. You know who’s not going to risk firing on the Stellar Cabinet when he might his us instead of an enemy? Also Elanus.” An EV suit would have been great, but…to be fair, Kieron hadn’t thought to bring one along either. Not that he was as much to blame as the piece of work sitting next to him, but—

“All you have to do is give us the vice president!” a voice called out from the corridor ahead of them. The doors had been opened by the first two, and these ones were being cautious in turn. “We’ve got no interest in anyone else here.”

“Would have been nice if you’d led with that instead of leading with a weapon,” Kieron called back. “Bombs don’t discriminate when it comes to going off.”

“Our apologies.” The man didn’t sound particularly apologetic, to Kieron’s mind. “We promise, we’re not going to do you any damage unless you force the issue. Just step away from the vice-president and let us finish our contract.”

“Or what, you’ll gas me unconscious?” There was a moment of silence. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Mkay. The answer is no, but—”

“You fucker! You killed Emily!” One of the four broke away through the door, a long, curving blade visible in their hand. “Come out and fight me!” he screamed, ripping his helmet off and throwing it aside. “Fight me like a fucking man!”

“Get back out here!” the original speaker snapped, but this guy was too far gone.

“Darts,” Kieron whispered to Restaria, but xe shook xir head. Out…damn it. And if they used the explosive device now, they’d open themselves up to a greater attack via the gas later. “Fuck. Fine.” He pointed at the stuff he’d brought from the bathroom. “Throw that when I say so, you got it?”

“I—yes, fine, but—”

Kieron leapt over the edge of the couch before xe could finish, baton whirling into full extension. It wasn’t a sword, but he didn’t need it to be. He just needed to get the right hit on this guy.

Easier said than done. The man was a shitty assassin but a damn good swordsman, and the baton was made of a malleable metal except at the very tip. It wasn’t going to last long against direct blows.

Kieron managed to punch a few holes in the guy’s armor with the baton, but he took several cuts from the sword, one bad enough to let him know he wasn’t going to be able to use his left arm for much. Blood poured from the wound, and the man stared at him with a fierce, crazed look on his face. “I’ll take you apart piece by piece,” he snarled.

“Get him over by the door, Fell!”

“Fuck off! I’m going to—”

Kieron dropped the baton, pulled his knife, and threw it all in one smooth motion. The blade turned end-over-end and managed to hit the guy right in the mouth. Unfortunately, it hit with the hilt of the blade, rather than the point, but it was enough to make the fucker choke. He darted forward, jerked it out—pulling several broken teeth along with it, and then reversed the blade and drove it straight up through the man’s soft palate and into his brain.

Stir. Stir. Stir.

“Gas now, gas now!” the original speaker shouted. Kieron could run at them, but he didn’t know how the others were armed, and he was losing a lot of blood quickly. He needed to end this before they were too late. He glanced back at the window with a sense of resignation, and saw…

A speck of light heading toward them. Just a speck now, but he would know that light anywhere.

Lizzie!

He grabbed the baton again, then skidded back around the edge of the couch. “Throw it,” he croaked, and Restaria did so. Xe connected the severed hand to the detonator on the grenade at the last second, and as it flew the beeping sound increased, then—

BAM! Lightsoundheatpain as the couch disintegrated, as the two of them were thrown against the glass, as the fire from the grenade boiled out into the hallway and made the three surviving assassins scream. That heat hit him hard, sucking the air from his lungs and searing the tender skin of his face. Kieron closed his eyelids, but it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t see but he knew Lizzie was coming, and Elanus was coming, and they had to go to them if they were going to survive.

Using all the strength he had left, Kieron slammed the baton back into the glass. He hit again, and again, and the glass cracked and cracked and then it shattered, it shattered and they were sucked out into space where it was cold, no hot, no—

And then space caught him tumbling, and warm arms brought him home.

Chelen City: Interlude 5: Kieron

 Notes: GET READY FOR PLOOOOOOT! Things are about to get messy, my darlins. And exciting! Can't forget exciting ;)

Title: Chelen City: Interlude: Kieron

***

Interlude 5: Kieron

 

It wasn’t the most comfortable space flight Kieron had ever had, seeing as he made it in a secure storage locker, but it was at least short. Only a few minutes after takeoff from Chelen City and the pilot announced their arrival at the Stellar Cabinet. He was unloaded—rather roughly, someone should have put a damn “Fragile” sticker on this locker—and transported via hovercart to a quiet, almost noiseless place. A few moments later he heard a door shut, and shortly after that the locker was opened.

“Mr. Carr.” A rather attractive face looked down at him—elegant squared jaws, high cheekbones, and a sweep of glossy black hair that coiled like dozens of snakes around xir head. Xe was smiling just a bit. “Thank you for joining me on such short notice.”

“I’d say it’s my pleasure, but it isn’t.” Kieron ignored the hand xe offered and got out of the locker on his own. “Mx. Sanclare.”

“Restaria, please.” Xe pointed at a cart over by the wide, oval window on the far wall. “May I get you a drink?”

Eh, Kieron was the one who’d agreed to have this meeting, he might as well keep up with the trappings of one too. “Fine. Whiskey, straight.”

“A man of strong tastes,” Restaria murmured as xe walked over to the cart. Kieron joined xir, vaguely aware of a series of sounds starting up in the walls around them. They were rhythmic pulses, a bit clunky here and there—some sort of pressure plates, perhaps?

He forgot about the sounds as he got to the window, though. He could see the beautiful arc of Gania spread out before them, its clouds swirling mosaics of grey and blue and even pink in places, and he was struck for a moment by the incredible beauty of the place.

“Lovely, isn’t it?” Restaria handed over his glass, then lifted xir own in a toast. “Cheers, Kieron.”

“Call me Mr. Carr,” he said before drinking. He filtered the alcohol slowly over his tastebuds, testing for additives…but no, this seemed to be nothing but exceptionally good whiskey. In fact… “Elanus has the same brand,” Kieron said, looking at the glass.

“He and I share many of the same tastes.” Restaria motioned at the couch beneath the window. “Please, sit down and allow me to explain the position we find ourselves in.”

Kieron sat, but he found it impossible to relax. He felt as though he was a mouse lured into a catterpet’s lair. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to agree to come up here. “I think there’s not much more to know,” he said after taking another sip. “You’re working to perpetuate an endemic illness in the population that serves no purpose other than to keep your cleverest people from achieving everything they could. It’s sick, it’s eugenics, and it’s going to be stopped.”

“That’s one perspective on it,” Restaria said, eyes pensive as xe stared into xir glass for a moment. “Allow me to present you with another one. Originally, Elfshot Disease was truly endemic in the population of Gania. It occurred naturally at the levels you see it recreated now. What you might not know is that our scientists successfully ended the natural strain of this illness several generations ago.”

Kieron frowned. “Yeah, and then you continued to poison children despite that. I’m not sure what you’re getting at, but—”

“Allow me to finish,” Restaria cut in smoothly. “As I said, we ended the endemic version of this illness over eighty years ago. However, shortly thereafter, Gania submitted an application to be accepted into the Central Planetary Alliance. We’re not far out enough to be considered Fringe, but not being an actual part of the Central System, the application process was a long one. We were promised great rewards as a result of our membership, including heavy investment that would particularly benefit the most…elevated members of our society.”

“Bribery. Got it.”

“Admission to the CPA came with a price, however.” Restaria’s deep blue eyes glittered, perhaps with sorrow, perhaps with anger. Xir face didn’t give anything away. “We were ordered to reinstate our ‘population controls,’ or face a denial of entrance that would leave us destined to become the favorite hideaway of every smuggler and mercenary this side of the galaxy.”

That…hmm. “But why?” Kieron asked.

“Gania has one of the highest collective intelligence quotients among all inhabited planets,” Restaria said. “No one is sure why, exactly, but our people are more clever, more resourceful, and more daring than the average population on every other planet in the CPA. The planets of the Central System, particularly the big, establishment places like Olympus, disliked the very idea that we might be able to go head-to-head with them in any way, but particularly in terms of innovative technology. They couldn’t get away with giving us less than they’d give another member of the Alliance, so they opted to require us to make ourselves less.” Restaria sighed and took a sip. “And our leaders did.”

Kieron shook his head. “That’s completely fucked up.”

“Not everyone has the strength of will to go it alone in the galaxy,” Restaria murmured. “And even then it rarely works out for the best. Look at your own colony.”

Now wasn’t the time for thinking about the abysmal ruin that was Hadrian’s Colony. “So, fine, your leaders accepted the bribe and instituted a system that let them inflict generational pain on the smartest of your own people. But you’re a part of that system now. You, who have personally been given Elfshot Disease by your government, are colluding with them to infect others! Innocent children who’ve done nothing except excel at the tasks they’ve been presented with.” He set his glass aside, suddenly unwilling to keep drinking with someone he inherently despised. “How do you justify that?”

“I don’t,” Restaria said. “But that’s not an entirely accurate picture of the situation, either.” Xe set xir own glass aside as well. “It all comes down to Elanus, actually.”

“To Elanus.” Kieron raised an eyebrow at xir. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d never underestimate his importance, but he’s just one man.”

“One man with a revolutionary idea.” Restaria smiled. “I knew him in school, and I saw the seeds of determination then that I was certain would carry him to greatness…as long as he lived, of course. And because he got a powerful patron whom he made very, very rich, he did live, and thrive. Then he struck out on his own, and…well. Lifeship Enterprises is one of the largest and most profitable companies in the entire CPA.”

“Yes, it is. What’s your point?”

“My point,” Restaria said, “is that I, and some others, feel like it’s past time to push back against the draconian rules the Alliance put in place as a condition of membership. I was overruled, however, by the members of the ruling class who benefit from the status quo.”

“You are one of those members,” Kieron said, not able to let it go. “You’re in charge of the program! We checked, and…” His voice trailed off as he looked at Restaria’s impassive face. “You knew we were looking,” he finished. “Didn’t you?”

“Of course.” Xe shrugged. “I told you I know Elanus. He never relinquishes problem once it captures his imagination. Once he was caught, it was just a matter of triggering massive action.”

Kieron stared hard at Restaria. “I’ve got to warn you, you’re going to get more than you bargained for since sending that virus against our house.” And Catie.

“That wasn’t my idea, but it was one I had to support under the circumstances, or risk being removed by President Moreno. And Elanus rose to the challenge.”

“You traumatized him,” Kieron said angrily. “You traumatized his children, you—” He stopped too late, but Restaria just nodded xir head.

“I thought he’d managed it,” xe said quietly. “After Deysan’s brazen theft of the ship, giving up everything he’d worked for for a single piece of technology…I knew Elanus had to have done it. Mr. Carr, you’re rubbing elbows with truly extraordinary people.”

“I know.” It wasn’t like Kieron didn’t understand how incredible Elanus and the girls were. “And you’d better get to the point, because I’m sure they’re already plotting how to get me out of this.”

Restaria nodded. “I’m sure they are. I’m counting on it, in fact.”

Umm… “Why is that?”

“Because the president has put me under an assassination order, effective as of this morning,” xe replied. “He moved before I had all my contingency plans in place, and I didn’t have time to fully realize my exit strategy. I even had to dismiss my bodyguards, since Moreno has been footing the bill for them. I wanted to do this politely, but that turned out to be impossible. Hence…” Xe gestured at Kieron. “Utilizing you as a part of my exit strategy.”

All of a sudden, the sound in the walls increased ten-fold, and the lights went from warm and natural to blinking red and yellow. “Moreno’s first assassin has arrived,” Restaria said. “And we’re cut off from contacting anyone on the planet. I programmed a series of failsafes into my quarters here, but they won’t stop the most determined from killing us.”

Kieron stared at Restaria for a long moment, marshalling his sense of purpose through the confusion, fear, and desire to punch this person in the face. “Fine,” he said at last. “Where are your weapons?”

Restaria finally looked a bit taken aback. “There’s no need to worry about that, I’m sure no one will get close enough for individual combat.”

“I don’t care how sure you are, I care about making sure I live through this. Now give me a weapon, I’m sure you have some nearby.” In a culture accustomed to assassination attempts, it would be foolish not to.

Xe got up and led the way to a cabinet, where xir palmprint opened it up to reveal an elegant display of state-of-the-art weapons, including an energy pistol and a lightsword reminiscent of a children’s movie. Kieron ignored them in favor of a set of hypodermic darts, a single-edged dagger, and a baton that extended up to five feet long.

“My bodyguards preferred—”

“I don’t care what they preferred,” Kieron said briskly. “They’re not here. I am. Unless you’re good with any of those other things, then close that up and find a place to hide. We’ve got to survive long enough for Elanus to rescue us, at which point you better be ready to defend yourself again, because he will be pissed beyond all measure at you.”

Restaria nodded. “I understand.”

Kieron laughed. He knew he sounded a little insane, but he didn’t care. “Oh, I don’t think you do. Not yet. You will, though.”