Knights of the Chosen soe-2 Read online

  Knights of the Chosen

  ( Spirit of Empire - 2 )

  Lawrence P White

  Knights of the Chosen

  Lawrence P. White

  Chapter One

  The gleason struck so quickly that only a few in the great forest room of Chandrajuski’s home knew it was even there. Most were still shaking off the terrible effects of the Chessori mind weapon. The three Chessori lay dead, killed by Mike and Reba, but Otis, Ellie’s Protector, lay dying with a knife in his side. Ellie, the Last of the Chosen, collapsed with a knife in her heart, dead before she reached the floor.

  Jessie, Mike’s Protector and the only remaining Great Cat, leaped to the back of the room, firing repeatedly at the gleason to make certain it was dead.

  Mike fell to the floor with Ellie, cushioning her. “Guard us!” he yelled to the room at large. Without waiting for a response, he went internal.

  ›Jake, I need you. She needs you.‹

  Jake knew exactly what he meant. ›It’s not done like this, Mike. You’re my host.‹

  ›We’re her First Knight, Jake. Find a way. You are her only chance.‹

  Ellie’s death had come so suddenly that Jake was at a loss, completely unprepared for what Mike asked of him. He had never considered living anywhere but within Mike. Riders always committed to a host and remained with them forever. The thought of leaving Mike devastated him. He wanted to fission a new Rider instead, but he knew his Queen did not have time.

  ›I’ll try. Give me a minute, then remove the knife.‹

  Mike closed his hands around Ellie’s neck, providing skin-to-skin contact for Jake, feeling for a pulse as he did so. There was no pulse at all. He closed his eyes, oblivious to all other activity within the room, feeling intently, waiting for a pulse. Still nothing. He waited the full minute, then pulled the knife from her chest and immediately went back to feeling for a pulse.

  After a time, he thought he felt a faint pressure. The pressure gradually increased until he was certain there was a pulse, though it remained weak.

  “Thank you, Jake,” he whispered and was momentarily surprised that there was no response. But there could be no response. Jake was no longer a part of him.

  His attention widened to take in his surroundings. All eyes were on him and Ellie. Vorst, the replacement Sector Commander, lay bound hand and foot. Jessie crouched beside Otis who was unconscious. “Is he

  …?” Mike struggled to ask.

  “Not yet,” she growled in response. “But it will not be long. The knives are almost certainly poisoned.”

  Mike turned to Reba who stood at the ready, her blaster trying to cover the whole room.

  “Jake has gone to Ellie. It seems to be working.”

  Her eyes closed as she went internal to her Rider. When her lips thinned and she holstered her blaster, Mike knew the two of them had reached agreement. She went to Otis and laid her hands on him. After a time, she removed the knife from his side.

  She turned back to Mike, the sparkle that was always evident in her eyes gone. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Jeffers, the leader of Chandrajuski’s underground, spoke into a communicator, then ordered everyone outside to the assembly point. One of Serge’s freighters was just settling to the ground. As they struggled to get Ellie and Otis aboard, the freighter was struck by fire from above. It quickly responded with its own weapons, but it could not move until the ramp closed. Its upper shields glowed from hits, and dissipating energy streaming from the shields struck several of Jeffers’ men. There was no hope for them.

  Jeffers boarded and quickly ran for the bridge. When he arrived, the ship was just lifting. Captain Palmetier, though busy, immediately lifted his visor and raised a blaster toward him.

  Jeffers raised his hands, shouting, “I’m on your side.” He set his own blaster on the floor and slid it toward Palmetier, then submitted as two crewmen pinned his arms to his sides. A glance at the screens showed a full squadron of fighters engaging the freighter.

  A loud, “Time to boogie, Jer,” came over the speakers as another freighter appeared on the screens headed directly into the fray, its weapons firing nonstop. Serge Parsons had come in person.

  “On the way, boss,” replied Palmetier curtly. He slid his visor back over his face to cover a grin.

  Moments later, a cruiser came into view from over the horizon, moving fast.

  “That one’s on our side,” yelled Jeffers. “So are a couple of others. Be careful who you shoot at. Get me into the net so I can help.”

  The two crewmen were uncertain until Sir Val showed up. “Let us both into the net,” he ordered.

  It didn’t take long before they cleared the fighters and headed for space. In fact, by the time they reached space, there wasn’t a single Rebel fighter left. The Rebel command ship, a cruiser, broke off its pursuit when Jeffers’ friendly squadron approached. When two more squadrons of Jeffers’ ships came over the horizon, it was no contest. The Rebel cruiser retreated.

  They reached the edge of space, but they did not have to wait three weeks to jump as did Jeffers’ ships. Use of the micro jumping capability might give away a closely held secret, but Ellie’s life hung in the balance. Joline’s beacon went silent, and it was likely the Rebels would not even see the ship amidst all the confusion. As Palmetier prepared jump computations for the first micro jump, Val contacted Serge and gave him a set of coordinates, explaining to him that three heavy squadrons loyal to Chandrajuski and the Queen would head for that point in space. Admiral Chandrajuski wanted those ships, but none of them knew the location of the Queen’s secret base.

  Serge balked until apprised of the Queen’s condition, then grimly advised Val that he’d take care of it.

  Joline’s sickbay carried no life support tanks, only a medic and basic supplies. Jake and Celine, the two Riders, had their work cut out for them.

  From his own experience Mike knew that, at the very least, food was essential to their survival. The healing process used by Riders consumed large amounts energy. The medic attached two IV’s to each of them and pushed all the nourishment she could into the comatose bodies.

  Her principle concern for her patients was not the physical damage caused by the knives – the Riders seemed to have that problem well in hand. Her greater concern was whether the Riders could cope with whatever poison had been on the blades. She took blood samples, then had to wait while a computer worked on the samples.

  Mike remained by Ellie’s side. She couldn’t hear him, but he believed his presence might somehow help. She and Otis each contracted high fevers despite their Riders’ best efforts.

  The computer only partially resolved the issue of the poison. It was there, and its molecular structure had been analyzed, but it matched no known compound. The medic made an educated guess that it was from the home world of the gleasons. Any wrong attempts to treat it might make Jake and Celine’s jobs harder.

  It didn’t take Mike long to make the logical connections. He called Captain Palmetier.

  “You carried Otis on his research mission to study the gleasons. Do you have his notes?”

  “I do.”

  “There might be some mention of poisons used by the gleasons. Can you get everyone you can to review the records for us?”

  “We’ll get on it immediately.”

  It took a while, but Val and Reba eventually showed up with printouts in hand. “We have a number of possibilities, Mike,” Val advised. “We’ve discarded most of them as being so lethal that they kill instantly. Neither Ellie or Otis would still be alive if they had been used. We’re down to three that are a little slower acting but just as deadly.”

  They showed the printouts to the medic
who studied them intently. She then went to work on her computer.

  “Of the three, I can synthesize antidotes for two,” she announced after some study. “An antidote for the third is unknown. I cannot say which of the remaining two is most likely. I’m going to take samples for testing.”

  “How long will the testing take?” Mike asked wearily.

  The medic worked while she talked, taking new samples of blood from Ellie and Otis and placing those samples on a number of test dishes. “A day or two, minimum. I have to let the growths get started, but I can work on making both antidotes while that’s going on. Then we test the antidotes on the test growths. Another few hours to a day or so.”

  “Let me know the minute you have the antidotes ready,” Mike ordered. “It doesn’t look to me like we have days. They’re burning up with fever.”

  The antidotes were ready in a few hours. Mike pushed the medic as hard as he could. “Is there any sign of growth yet in the test samples?”

  “Only microscopic. Not enough to test.”

  “You have lots of samples. Test a few right now.”

  The medic did as ordered, but she was not happy about it. “The tests results will not be valid, Sire.”

  “I know. You can run complete tests on the other samples later.”

  Mike then reached both hands down inside Ellie’s hospital gown, placing both hands flat against her stomach. With his eyes closed, he willed his thoughts to Jake. “Come on, Jake. Come to me,” he whispered.

  It didn’t take long for Jake to sense his presence. Though he couldn’t feel anything, Mike felt Jake’s presence.

  ›Hello, Man,‹ he heard faintly, as if from far away.

  ›Hi, Jake.‹

  ›I’m too busy for idle chatter. I don’t think we’re going to make it this time.‹

  ›Yes you are, and I’m going to help. I need you to pass me a sample of the poison.‹

  ›You already have samples.‹

  ›No, Jake. I need you to pass a sample into my body. We don’t know which antidote to use. We’ll test one of them on me.‹

  He felt Jake’s presence strengthen in him. He had Jake’s complete attention for the moment. More, he sensed Jake’s suffering. The poison was clearly killing him as well as Ellie.

  ›Not a good idea, Mike. This is a bad one.‹

  ›I know, and from the looks of things, you can’t save her by yourself. Please let me help, for both of your sakes.‹

  ›You understand that if I lose her, I am lost as well?‹

  ›I kind of guessed that.‹

  ›Okay, here you go. This stuff hurts.‹

  ›Make it a strong sample, Jake. If we guess wrong, if we use the wrong antidote, it will kill both of you.‹

  ›Okay. I have to go. See you on the other side.‹

  Mike felt Jake’s presence withdraw. He pulled his hands from Ellie and turned to the medic who was staring at him with a shocked expression.

  “Any results yet?” he asked.

  “No, Sire. I just started the test. What were you doing? ”

  “Communicating with her Rider. The poison is in me now, and it’s already working. You’d better get another bed ready.”

  The medic’s eyes rose to the ceiling. With a frown, she bustled Mike off to a bed. Reba started to chew Mike out, but Val put his arm around her waist and leaned toward her ear.

  “You know it’s the right thing to do. I’d do it for you in a heartbeat. In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t think of it myself. He’s doing it for her, not just for the Empire.”

  “Of course he is. My god, it could all fall apart right here,” she breathed.

  “No. One Heir remains, if she proves to have the Touch. I’m staying the course. Will you?”

  “I choose to stay with you no matter what course we follow,” she whispered into his ear.

  Mike’s body arched. He groaned, “Someone better make a decision.”

  The medic turned frightened eyes to him. “It’s too soon, Sire. I can’t be certain.”

  Chandrajuski’s long, jointed legs inched his bright green body farther into sick bay, the wise old eyes of the giant praying mantis swinging toward the medic until they were on a level with her own.

  Speaking like a father rather than the queen’s senior military commander, he said, “You must decide, child. If you choose wrong, it will not be held against you. We understand.”

  She returned to her test dishes, taking samples and placing them under a microscope for visual inspection. The computers had so far been inconclusive. Switching samples back and forth, still peering into the eyepiece, she eventually said, “I believe it is most likely this one, but I can’t be certain.”

  “Then the decision is made,” Chandrajuski said to her. “Administer the antidote. If this one fails, we will administer the other to Otis.”

  Twenty minutes later Mike stirred, then opened his eyes. Chandrajuski took charge, turning to the medic. “Were both knives poisoned with the same chemical?”

  “Yes.”

  “Administer the antidote to both of them, at once.”

  Both Ellie and Otis’ fevers broke hours later. Both remained in a coma as the Riders did their work, but the immediate danger had passed.

  Mike was able to leave his bed the following day, though he remained weak. He found Jessie sitting by Ellie’s side, her tail curled around her feet, her body wrapped in massive bandages.

  “How are they doing?”

  “About the same. No worse. The poison damaged multiple organs. They’re beyond help from the medic, but she believes the Riders have a chance. They both need tanks, but the ship doesn’t carry a tank.”

  “You’ve been here a while, haven’t you?”

  “I have my responsibilities. I will answer to Otis when he recovers.”

  “Can’t you share the job with the other cats?”

  “What others?”

  “You mean…” He paused, suddenly aware that the rest of the Great Cats were missing. They must have perished in their battle against the gleasons.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” After a time, he asked, “Were any of them special to you?”

  “All of them were special to me. We were team members.”

  “Why don’t you take a break, get some rest. I’ll stay.”

  “You couldn’t protect her from a feather right now.”

  “Neither could you.”

  “You’d be surprised, Sire.”

  “Okay, I’ll get Val or Reba to relieve you. Will that be acceptable?”

  “Bring both of them, and be certain they’re armed. We cannot guarantee the loyalty of the crew. She is not to be left unguarded, even for a moment.”

  *****

  He joined Chandrajuski and Jeffers in a planning session the following day. Reba and Val attended, as well. Jeffers started the meeting, briefing them on the sizeable underground organization he had built on Centauri III. During the months of planning Chandrajuski’s rescue, he had managed to transfer his supporters to ships commanded by individuals he was certain would be loyal to the Queen. He had also managed to send most of the families of those sailors to other worlds where retribution would be slow to follow.

  Chandrajuski had high hopes that his senior staff had made it aboard the Empire ships at the last moment, but there was no way to communicate with those ships after the first jump. He hoped to fan these leaders out across the Empire to recruit more ships and more men.

  Everyone agreed that the ultimate demise of the coup would have its roots in the political arena, and the Queen would surely lead that effort when she recovered. Their job was to support her political agenda with appropriate military force, and they would have to move fast to gather those forces. The Rebels became more entrenched with every passing day.

  As Mike listened to them talk, it dawned on him that their plan ignored a vital component. He waited, sure it would come up, but it did not. As the meeting wound down and chairs scraped back preparatory to everyone le
aving, he held up a hand.

  “Wait. We’re not done.”

  He looked to each of them as he considered his next words. Reba nodded encouragement, knowing his concern. Val looked worried, clearly understanding that Chandrajuski’s plan was flawed, but he had no solution to the flaw. Jeffers raised an eyebrow to his First Knight and waited for him to speak. Mike’s gaze ended up on Chandrajuski, a creature he barely knew. The wise old eyes of the Gamordian that so reminded Mike of Albert Einstein stared back at him, expectant and patient. Mike studied those eyes, wondering what was going through the Admiral’s mind.

  There was no question in Mike’s mind that, with Chandrajuski aboard, his own responsibilities, the responsibilities of the Queen’s First Knight, were changed. Not diminished, just changed. The rebuilding of Empire military forces would be accomplished by Chandrajuski, and Mike had no doubt that the job was in good hands. His own responsibility in that regard had metamorphosed to one of oversight. Chandrajuski’s presence did not push him to the sidelines – there were no sidelines for the First Knight. Instead, he was free to focus in other directions, and his immediate focus was on the big picture: what good were Chandrajuski’s forces going to be against the Chessori mind weapon?

  “Your plan is exactly what the Queen had in mind, Admiral, and I hope you can pull it off. She believes that you can.”

  “You don’t?”

  “I do, so far as it goes.”

  “It’s already well underway.”

  “It is?”

  Chandrajuski considered him for a time. He knew almost nothing about the new Queen’s First Knight, but after what Mike had done to save her, he held no doubts concerning his loyalty.

  “I have not revealed every detail of my plan, to you or to Captain Jeffers.” His gaze went to Jeffers. “There was too much risk in informing you, my friend.”

  Jeffers nodded, and Chandrajuski’s steady gaze moved to Val. “I told you in our first meeting that your sister was out on assignment. I did not tell you what that assignment was.”