Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Princess. What the ever-loving fuck had Vinnie gotten them into? Aiden started cataloging the possible repercussions of his ill-planned rescue mission as the rest of the crew made little noises that signaled their disbelief, or in some cases, history nerd boners.
“Well, I can see at least one of you keeps current with galactic affairs,” Evelyn said, the bitterness in her words barely tempered by the sarcasm in her tone. “Although I suppose it’s galactic history, now, and I’m required reading. Where are you from anyway, Aiden?”
“Earth. Other side of the Milky Way from where we found you.”
“I should have known! No one does red sauce like Earthlings. You know, some planets never developed alliums and their ideas about red sauce are horrific. You never want to eat pasta cooked by someone from —”
“Proxima Centauri!” Nannette finished the sentence with Evelyn.
Evelyn nodded and grimaced. “Repulsive. The last time I was on Earth, you hadn’t discovered interstellar travel yet. I had to get special permission to work on my thesis and everything.”
“We cracked the tech about eighty-five years ago. Got the visit from the Galactic Planetary Collective about a month later and joined within the year,” Lillian said. “From what I understand, it was a very exciting time. My mother had scads of saved news clippings from the induction.”
“You were on Earth working on a thesis?” Aiden asked, trying to refocus the crew.
Red sauce and news clippings were all well and good, but he needed information.
In a few days’ time, and what Evelyn told them may well decide if they were going to show up at all.
The more he could figure out about Vinnie’s intentions, the better.
“Sure was. Earth not only has the best red sauce, but in my opinion, the best storytellers. I was studying pulp literature in pre-interstellar societies. Everything was going swimmingly, and then I started to get very troubling messages from home. Which is how I wound up in that damn pod.” Evelyn sighed and raked a hand through her hair.
“You have to understand, I’m the third child.
You know the phrase an heir and a spare?
I’m the spare spare. I was never groomed to do anything important in regard to the affairs of state.
Honestly, I’m super lucky. I saw the toll being the next in line took on my older sister. ”
Nannette’s grip on her coffee mug tightened ever so slightly. Aiden knew she was far too familiar with the sort of pressure Evelyn was talking about.
“I basically got to be a very well-funded academic. I got to immerse myself in the culture I was studying. But then Aunt Corrie started sending me these messages. . . Tanalia was part of a small interplanetary alliance that formed before the GPC came to power. As such, our formal treaties were still in effect with the other sister planets in the system.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and Aiden could see her going back in time, memories flooding her mind and drowning the joy in her eyes with sorrow when she opened them again.
She sipped her tea and took a fortifying breath. “Tanalians were some of the first documented humanoids to develop extrasensory abilities. My family has a rare secondary ability that set us apart from the majority of the planet. We’re what are called Amplifiers. That’s how we wound up as monarchs.
“There was a fair bit of intermarriage with a lot of our sister planets among my cousins’ families, and as a result, the trait has popped up on their planets as well. The only planet in the sister system that one of us never wound up on is called Bauder.”
Nannette made a noise of disgust. Aiden watched Evelyn turn to Nannette and give her a quick once over.
“You seem a lot more well informed than the rest of the crew,” Evelyn said.
“I’m from Cygnus Colony,” Nannette said. “We take galactic history very seriously. They haven’t quite figured out how to impart its importance on Earth yet.”
“We’re slow learners, but excellent cooks,” Aiden said. Nannette smiled into her coffee mug. Aiden turned back to Evelyn. “I take it Bauder didn’t like being left out of the genetic lottery?”
“No, they did not. It didn’t help that their culture was about as far removed from Tanalian society as you could get.
Whereas our focus was on lifestyle enrichment, Bauder’s society has no real appreciation of the arts.
Instead, they focused on technology and warfare.
It was considered a bit of a coup when they joined our interplanetary alliance.
Other planets largely left us alone knowing they were now our backup.
“Aunt Corrie told me that the Bauder Prime Minister was sending really outrageous trade demands to my father. He was asking for things he had to know we could never deliver.” She paused as Veronique placed a small plate of cookies and a paper napkin next to Evelyn’s glass of iced tea.
Veronique gave a small, sad smile. “Sweets make hard things more palatable.”
“Thanks,” Evelyn said. Aiden thought he saw her eyes start to tear up, but she ran her fingers through her hair again, and the moment of vulnerability was gone.
“The demands started to become threats. Eventually, the interplanetary alliance got involved and started mediation. Emil, that’s the name of the PM, said the only thing that would make him back off was an Amplifier. ”
Aiden’s mouth went dry. He really didn’t like the way the story was going. He reached for his own iced tea, then noticed he gripped the glass too tightly. Evelyn had gone quiet, absently twisting the paper napkin Veronique had given her, breaking off small pieces of recycled paper into her lap.
“There is speculation among historians that Emil was seeking a marriage alliance with Tanalia,” Nannette said softly.
“My father was outraged. He shut down the negotiations. Two weeks later, Emil stopped sending protection patrols around Tanalia’s orbit.
Scavenger ships started showing up, trying to raid us for crops, resources.
People were starting to get hurt, but Papa stood firm.
He wouldn’t be intimidated into forcing a relative into a relationship with a fascist. He appealed to the GPC, but they refused to get involved.
They said our pre-existing treaty arrangements hadn’t reached the breaking point where they could override. ”
Veselko made a disgusted growl. “GPC is fucking useless unless they’re showing up to collect taxes.”
“To be fair, the healthcare’s pretty good. Transmittable disease is largely a thing of the past on GPC planets. No unplanned pregnancies, no untreated mental health issues . . .” Tariel trailed off. “Not the point. Please, continue.” He smiled sheepishly at Evelyn.
“The raids got more frequent and more violent. Farms were being raided, data centers were ransacked. Bauder had completely removed their protection from the planet. Every communication I got from home was more dire than the last, so I went back to Tanalia. Aunt Corrie explained to me that Emil had clarified that he didn’t require a spouse, merely the services of an Amplifier.
People on Bauder were starting to show very faint signs of extrasensory ability.
They wanted to run tests to see if they could be brought up to a, and I quote, ‘useful level of talent.’” The napkin was destroyed now, twisted beyond repair into little shards of paper.
Evelyn didn’t seem to notice the pile of pieces in her lap.
“Gross,” Cairn muttered. Aiden agreed with this assessment but kept his mouth shut. He had no respect for leaders who saw their people as commodities.
Evelyn nodded. “Emil proposed a ten year period of service. Bauder would resume their interplanetary treaty obligations. At the end, if the Amplifier wished to continue providing Bauder with their services, compensation would be agreed upon. Papa said he would propose the offer to the family, but most of us were outraged by Bauder’s strong-arm technique.
If Emil had come to us in any reasonable fashion, we would have very happily helped him.
No one wanted to budge. We’re very principled on Tanalia,” Evelyn said with a bitter laugh. “And then the drone strikes started.”
The moment the words left her lips, the tears started to fall. She didn’t seem to even realize she’d started to cry. Tariel had silently gone to retrieve a box of tissues from the side board and placed the box next to Evelyn, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“All our great cultural centers were targeted, one at a time. People were being killed. One strike a day was promised until Papa came back with an offer. On the fifth day, they destroyed our opera house in the capital. I couldn’t take any more death and destruction, so I volunteered.”
She yanked a tissue out of the box and angrily dabbed at her face, unable to ignore the wetness on her cheeks.
Aiden wanted to wrap her up in his arms and soothe her tears away, but he couldn’t stop her story now.
He wouldn’t. Bravery came in many facets in his opinion, and facing an unpleasant past was one of the largest.
It’s probably insulting to comfort her just to make myself feel better, anyway.
“So I packed up my pajamas and my e-reader and showed up at the negotiating table. Papa was furious. Furious at Emil, furious at me. Furious at how toothless we were as a society, how dependent Tanalia was on this bully for our own protection. I was mad too, but I could do something to end suffering. Corrie tried to talk me out of it until she was blue in the face, but I wouldn’t budge.
It was the right thing to do. What’s a few years in stasis compared to all this suffering, I said.