“What, you didn’t think I could make it?” I said teasingly.
“I’m impressed. Most unaugmented humans have trouble with the altitude,” she said.
I was suddenly aware of my steady heartbeat, courtesy of my demonic, bioengineered implant. “I’m not exactly unaugmented anymore, am I? Regardless, I spent most of the last year on New Melbourne. The atmosphere’s thin there, about point seven standard at sea level. It was like fighting at altitude even on the coastal plains.”
Astrid’s smile fell from her lips. “You were on New Melbourne?”
“Yes,” I said, wary of her sudden change in emotion. “I was off-world gathering supplies when the end came. I’ve spent the last weeks retreating through half a dozen portals to half a dozen worlds. Was it really less than a month ago?”
“Yes, it was,” Astrid said tersely, but then her voice relaxed. “Well, that was a close call. I cannot tell you how relieved I am you got off that world in time.”
Her tone confused me. I knew Imperial armies tended to fight without mercy, but they rarely managed to destroy Allied armies entirely. I wasn’t certain what had caused such a complete disaster on New Melbourne, but generally Alliedarmies suffered less than twenty percent casualties when surrendering a world.
Before I could ask her, we were interrupted by Prince Aureli swimming up to us. We watched him put his feet beneath him and stand, trying to look impressive but struggling for breath. The Duke of Lynwyzc tried to speak twice, but both times only managed a few wheezy words before needing to breathe again.
“Take your time, Your Highness. Please, sit,” the Emperor said, gesturing magnanimously to a slightly submerged stone beside her.
The prince nodded gratefully and sat, avoiding our eyes until he regained his breath. Once he was ready, he turned to the Emperor. “Emperor, we must speak. Alone.”
Instantly, the Emperor’s attitude turned icy. “Anything you have to say to me, you can say before my Consort. Besides, he is a citizen of your government, is he not? Why keep secrets from him?”
“Captain Boylan lacks the security clearance required to access this information—” Prince Aureli began, but Astrid cut him off.
“As the Emperor’s Consort, he has the highest clearance. He would hear what you say from me later anyways – he can simply hear it from you now.”
Prince Aureli shot me a withering glare which I bore with quiet dignity. Then, with a sigh, he said, “I’m afraid Royal Military Intelligence has been unable to find any more information as to who detonated the Fall device on New Melbourne.”
I did not make any dramatic motion. I was seated, but that didn’t stop me from going lightheaded as the blood rushed from my face. My hands were empty of anything I could drop in shock, but my limbs felt so weak I doubted I could have held a twig, and although I had no liquid in my mouth to chokeon or spray out, my stomach churned at the prince’s words.A Fall device? Someone detonated a Fall device?Then the name of the target world registered in my brain. New Melbourne. The planet where I was stationed. The planet I’d been absent from when it fell to the Imperials and opened the door to their sector-wide breakthrough.
Only it hadn’t fallen to the enemy. It hadFallen. New Melbourne had been destroyed.
Notes of hysteria started shrieking in my brain, but the Emperor reacted with little more than mild disappointment. “And your allies? None of them have any information regarding the Fall device?”
“If they do, they’re not telling us. The Urgans confirmed the device’s radiation signature was one of theirs, but that means nothing. All three major Allied powers had significant forces on New Melbourne, and your armies have conquered several worlds with Fall device facilities. It could have been an agent of any military,” the prince said.
The Emperor pursed her lips and lifted a cup of sake. “What a shame. I was hoping you’d have something more concrete by now. We cannot conclude a peace if we don’t know who tried to trip a new Fall.”
Prince Aureli tried to negotiate. “Your Majesty, I feel there are still several terms that may be discussed regardless of who detonated—”
“What if your government ordered the Fall device detonated?” the Emperor said, interrupting him. “I will not give one nanometer of space, nor one millicredit of reparations to any government willing to purposefully use such a machine. If we can prove it was a rogue agent, then we may be able to negotiate an end to this destructive conflict, but I’ll not make any final decisions until I know who set off that device.”
Prince Aureli stood. “You’re being short-sighted.”
The Emperor remained seated. “I am thinking of the future of all transhumanity, and you accuse me of being short-sighted?”
“We may never know who activated the Fall device,” the prince argued.
“You’d better hope that’s not so, or else you’ll never know peace. Go. Find who set off the Fall device. Until then, we have nothing constructive to talk about.” The Emperor turned away from the prince, dismissing him.
The prince turned to me. “Captain, please impress upon the Emperor the need to end this war. She listens to you.”
I was still reeling from the news, but Astrid responded before I could speak. “I assure you, Your Highness, Levar has been an ardent advocate for the Commonwealth cause. He has already argued on behalf of your government many times, and yet I am unmoved. We must know who is willing to risk tripping a new Fall.”
The prince pursed his lips. “In that case, I wish you an enjoyable afternoon. I must return to the palace and see what I can determine.”
The Emperor watched Prince Aureli walk away. Once he had swum well away, she turned to me. “That fool. Does he think territorial disputes will matter if someone destroys what remains of the galaxy?” Then she caught a look at my face. “Levar, what’s wrong?”
“There was a Fall device on New Melbourne?” I asked, my voice quiet.
