Royce Read online

  "You do know who my parents are, don't you?"

  "I was told you mother is one styling chick like her daughter and your dad is the six-plus foot tall King of the Milky Way Galaxy, but that is neither here nor there. They're your parents and their son is in a bind, so we need to call them. What's their number?"

  Gloria looked at him slack-jawed. Dr. John Taggart, the League's foremost authority on Biocybernetics had distilled a very complex task down to its bare essentials.

  "Okay, hand me my bag, please," she said.

  He handed it to her and waited. She pulled a device out and placed it on the lab table. She pushed a button on it, and the viewscreen on the wall lit up as the device interfaced with it. Alien script appeared overlaid on a glyph. She pressed another button and the script morphed into Standard. It said "RealmComm."

  "How are the rates? I'm thinking of changing providers," John asked.

  Gloria swatted him. She realized she missed their strange form of repartee. She pressed another button, and a spinning arrow appeared in the center of the screen. She stepped out of view of the screen's camera. Before John could say something witty, a female elf appeared. She was wearing a headset. "Office of the king. This is Gladys, how may I direct your call?”

  John nearly choked. Before Gloria could say anything, he cleared his airway and said, "Hello, Gladys. Is this a secure line?”

  Gladys reached off-screen and pressed something. A light on Gloria's device went green. "It is now. Please state your business."

  Gloria blanched. She knew Gladys. John didn't have a chance.

  "Gladys, my name is Dr. John Taggart, and I'm with the League of Planetary Systems' Cube Center for Research. May I speak to the king, please?"

  "I'm sorry, Dr. Taggart, but the king is very busy. May I take a message?"

  Gloria suddenly realized what John was going to say next, but before she could stop him, he blurted out, "Yes, it concerns his son, Prince Royce Aymar."

  For the first time in her life, Gloria saw shock on the face of the unflappable Gladys who stared at John like he was growing a goat out of his forehead. She slapped an off-screen control. The screen went back to the glyph, but this time it had the words "Please Stand By" emblazoned across it. Odd music started to play over the speaker.

  "Are you freakin’ mad? Royce is in the elf version of witness protection and you blurt out he's here over an open RealmComm line?"

  "First, the line is secure," he said as he tapped the green light on her device. "Second, I never said he was here. I said my message concerned Royce, not that he was here. Third, I never realized how pretty you are right before you tear my head off. It's a really good look for you. Does your tail always dance around like that?"

  A very stern elf appeared on the screen. "This is King Montagor. Speak," he said. Then he saw Gloria. "Daughter? What is the meaning of this?"

  "If I may?" John said, as he was the only one not staring. He explained what happened. Gloria noticed he left out any mention of the incident outside her quarters.

  The king sat back in his chair, stunned, while Gladys handed him a glass of water before standing behind him and wringing her hands.

  "Is he alive?"

  "Daddy, we saw him a short time ago. He looked fine. We're going in to get him in a few hours when the rift cycles open."

  "How are you holding up, daughter?"

  "I'm okay," she said, shocked he would ask. He never asked.

  The King sat forward and straightened his tunic. "I will be arriving shortly. No fuss. I promise, I won't be a bother. Montagor out." The line went dead, leaving Gloria with a stunned look on her face.

  "Wow, I get to meet your father. Isn't this great?" John said with a smile.

  "You are completely mad!" Gloria said. "The King of the Realm of Gweyr is coming to pay a visit, and you're happy? What the hell are you smoking?"

  "What's the problem? He sounds very nice."

  "He's six-plus feet tall and has twelve private guards who have full-grown tigers as pets. Are you trying to kill me?" she yelled as she stormed out of the lab.

  John sat back and smiled. "My Gloria is back. Damn skippy!" he said as he called Ciara to give her the good news. He couldn't understand why she had the same reaction as Gloria. "Women!" he said to himself as he retrieved Gloria's screwdriver and went back to work on the hawkbot.

  ###

  Gloria stormed into Ciara's office only to find the director holding out a martini. Gloria took it and drained it.

  "John Taggart is going to be the death of me!" she growled as Ciara poured her another stiff one.

  "Tell me about it," the director said as she plopped down in her big chair. "Wait a minute, why are you so pissed off? The king is your father. Don't elves have that special place in their heart for daddy like the rest of us girls?"

  "My parents divorced several years ago, and I chose to stay with Mother. Father and I don't speak much."

  "I think the commissary has little models of the Cube emblazoned with 'World's Greatest Dad' on them. Perhaps a gift?"

  Gloria rolled her eyes. "Really? No coffee cups?"

  They stopped and broke out laughing. "What does the king need in the way of accommodations?"

  "He'll be coming in the Aegnor, his flagship, which is about the size of an Olympian Annihilator-class warship, but he'll use a standard shuttle to visit. Accompanying him will be his private guard, say a dozen heavily armed elf Marines."

  "When John called, he mentioned six-plus feet tall?"

  "Yep, complete with a six-foot-long tale tipped with an adamantine spike. Not all males get that big, but he sure as hell did. All elf kings are warriors and take the role very seriously."

  "Can he morph into something smaller? The housekeeping staff will have fits finding a bed for him."

  "All elf males can morph to some extent, but none like Royce. Father has a wide repertoire of facial expressions, but that's about it. Hell, I think Royce could be an Alturan and fool the real ones."

  "You know, we're going to get your brother back, don't you?"

  "I'm counting on it," Gloria said as she finished her drink. "I need to apologize to John," she said, staring into her empty glass.

  "Why?"

  "I was pretty harsh with him."

  "So was I, but I'm not going to sweat it."

  "Why?"

  "You know what he said?"

  "Let me guess: Gloria is a Royal Bitch?"

  "No. He said his Gloria was back, and then he laughed. He missed you. Not to sound like a broken flash drive, but you probably should talk to him before your father arrives."

  "I don't understand."

  "When it comes to daughters, fathers can sometimes be psychic. It's possible your father will know immediately if you and John have feelings for each other when he sees you two together. Just sayin’."

  "Dammit," Gloria said as she headed out the door.

  "You're welcome," Ciara said as she poured herself another drink. "I wonder if she noticed there's no ethanol in this concoction."

  ###

  "Computer, location of John Taggart?"

  "Dr. Taggart is in Observation Room Three."

  Gloria changed course and headed to the Quadrant Three elevator banks. Once inside, she pressed the button for Level four before leaning against the back wall. "Come on girl, pull it together. You and John have been friends for over twenty years. He has to feel something," she said to an empty car. "What if he doesn't feel the same way? I know, I'll move to the new colonies and open a Cosplay costume shop. Yeah, always good to have a fallback plan." The car stopped and she stepped out across from the Observation Room entrance. She crossed the hall and found herself standing in the darkened Observation Room Three.

  The Cube had several observation rooms where visitors and staff could watch ships come and go. Each room was three levels high with the external wall comprised of twelve-foot-tall by six-foot wide armorglass panels allowing an unobstructed view of space outside the Cube.

>   Gloria stood and stared as a Goranthi warship passed by on its way to the departure area. The glass panels were so perfect she could see members of the ship's crew walking past view ports.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?" John said as he joined her from the darkness. "We used to be at war with them, now they come here for refits. Go figure."

  She looked at him and marveled at what the two of them had been through over the last two-plus decades. She remembered the day they met, before she could muster the courage to appear in her real body. Then his accident, and the Martok Incident. Did she dare risk all that on something as ethereal as love?

  He took her hand and led her to a couch. They sat and he put his arm around her.

  "I love you, John," she said, suddenly mortified.

  "Thank God. I thought it was just me."

  "What?" she said.

  "Princess Gloria Aymar, I have been in love with you since the day I met you, but I didn't think I even had a chance, with you being a super being and all."

  "Super being? What the hell are you talking about? Make sense, man!"

  "What body were you wearing when we first met?"

  "The Police Interceptor Motorcycle...oh, right."

  "Do you realize that until you showed up back at the Cube in this body, I had no idea you actually had a body?"

  "Oops."

  "I thought you might be one of those ancient god beings that show up from time to time. What chance does a mere mortal sans part of his soul have with an immortal? Then Ciara came along at the same time you decided to show up with a real body which, by the way, put every frame I ever designed or built to shame."

  She blushed.

  "Gloria, I'm just going to say it: I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. By the way, how long do elves live?"

  She cuffed him then kissed him. For the first time in almost a quarter century, they stopped dancing around the flame and dared to fly into the light together.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Chancellor Lhoris sat at his desk and read reports, lots of reports. He had six in-boxes and all were overflowing. When asked why he didn't have an assistant, he would say he had almost a hundred and these were the reports that made it past them.

  He hated reports.

  A knock at the door stopped him. Normally a knock would occur only after his secretary announced the visitor. No announcement meant this visitor wanted to remain anonymous.

  "Come," he said as he closed the report he was reading and placed it back on top the stack in his closest in-box.

  The door opened and a tall woman walked in, quickly closing it behind her. Seeing who his visitor was, Lhoris pressed a switch on his desk activating a privacy shield. The walls and door momentarily shimmered as the field quickly formed. The woman sat down in a chair and dropped her bag on the floor.

  "Farryn, what can I do for you today?" he asked the fair elf, her hair a metallic red and her clothes the finest money could buy. He could barely stand being in the same room with her.

  "Royce Aymar lives," she said as she leaned in close so her whisper could be heard.

  "What? You don't have to whisper, not with the privacy shield in place."

  "Royce Aymar is alive!" she said, this time in a much louder voice.

  He dropped his stylus and stood up, leaning over to look her in the eye. "Impossible! Royce Aymar died at the hands of my handpicked assassin."

  "Did your assassin ever report back?"

  "Not in so many words," he said, remembering the bucket the healer brought into the King’s chambers. "Royce's healer confirmed it though."

  "A healer? A healer examined Royce? Are you mad? Which healer?"

  "I am not mad. It was beyond my control. After Royce tried to kill the king, the young prince was whisked away to an undisclosed destination. I had no idea where he was taken until he got there."

  "You thought sending an assassin to a healer's house was a good idea? Whose house was it?"

  "Parker Prime."

  Farryn went white. "You're mad. We are all doomed. She can rip a person's soul out of their body and read it like the morning news feed! I've heard she was once a demon!"

  "Farryn, calm yourself. There are no demons. Parker is an artificial intelligence like all the other healers," he said calmly. He got up, went to the bar, and poured them both a drink.

  "Well, she lied. Royce is alive," she said as he handed her a glass.

  "Who told you this? I have heard nothing from the king,"

  "You will. All of this happened right before I arrived. One of the king's servants is a ...friend of mine," she said with a furtive glance in Lhoris's direction.

  "Slumming it now, Farryn? Can't find a lover of your own station?" he sneered.

  "That doesn't matter. What matters is Princess Gloria contacted the king and told him that Royce was in an accident. He was alive but somehow trapped in someplace called the Large Magellanic Cloud, wherever that is."

  "It is very far from here. Even our fastest ships would take years to get there."

  "Gloria made it sound like a rescue attempt would be mounted by the primitives she's staying with in less than twenty-four hours?"

  "Impossible!" He said as his intercom rang. "Go for Lhoris," he yelled.

  It was the king. "Lhoris, if it isn't too much of a bother, get your ass in my office, now!" he ordered. The line went dead before Lhoris could say anything.

  "I should go," Farryn said as she gathered her things and exited the room. Once she was gone, the chancellor shut down the privacy field before going to meet with the king.

  ###

  Lhoris knocked on the door to the king's office and waited. "Come!" the king bellowed from the other side. Lhoris walked in to find the king and Queen standing over a map of the Realm with the captain of the king's flagship standing across from them. Nearby were two of the king's Honor Guard—leader Ariel and her second, Eldar.

  "Sire!"

  "Chancellor, how nice of you to join us," the king said as he waved Lhoris over to the table. "My daughter just called to inform us our son, the late Prince Royce Aymar, is no longer late. It seems Healer Parker spirited him away and hid him in a place called the League of Planetary Systems."

  "League, sire?"

  "A small group of planets out on the periphery of the Realm. They're on the short list for inclusion, but that isn't important. What is important is our son is alive and in trouble."

  "What happened, sire?"

  "Long story short, he got sucked through a rift and is currently trapped on a planet in the Large Magellanic Cloud. He's alive, and this League is mounting a rescue operation. We are going to observe."

  Lhoris looked at the king and queen. "Who is going, Sire?"

  "Work with me here, Chancellor. I'm going. The queen is going. My Honor Guard is going and you're going. Pack your things, for we leave in an hour," he said as he walked off with the captain in tow.

  When they were out of earshot, Lhoris pulled the queen aside. "What does he mean you’re going? I thought you and he..."

  "Were divorced? We worked it out for now. As for you and me, that is over."

  "Why, my love?" Lhoris asked.

  "Because I think you're somehow involved with the plot to kill the king. I don't have enough proof to show him, but when I do, I promise you, my wrath will know no bounds. I suggest you plan an exit strategy."

  "Yes, my queen. Your Highness, if you think this of me, why bring me along?"

  "There is a planet in this League called Earth, a place once special to the Elves. The people of Earth have a saying: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. I want you where I can see you. Now stop wasting my time and prepare for your journey," she said as she returned to her husband's side.

  Lhoris watched her leave, remaining calm on the outside while seething on the inside. He turned and left to return to his office where he called his quarters to arrange for his servants to pack for him. When he finished the call, he killed the connection an
d stood there holding the handset. He made another call.

  "Where are we with our preparations?" Lhoris said into the handset.

  He nodded. "Good. The timetable has changed. We move within the next twenty-four hours. I will explain when we are aboard the flagship."

  He killed the call and stood there, thinking about what his next steps would be.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Ciara walked into the shuttle bay to find an honor guard in place and most of the department heads present. Also present were captains from the League Warships in orbit as well as a few dignitaries who were on station. She had contacted her bosses in the OffSec and they were scrambling to get other dignitaries to the station ASAP. She loved taking a stick to the OffSec hornet’s nest occasionally just to keep everyone on their toes.

  Ciara noticed John over by the back wall wiping a fingerprint off one of four Minotaur frames he had standing at attention. She walked over, curious about what he had in mind.

  "Dr. Taggart. What's with the hardware?"

  "Oh, just showing off. These are the latest of our multi-role frames we got in from the factory. Each can be driven by telepresence, Orta, or autonomously via an advanced on-board computer system. Gloria hinted her father is a little bit of a hardware snob, so I thought these babies may just give him pause," he said as he removed the last fingerprint from the black carbon fiber skin.

  She looked at them, and had to admit, they were impressive. Seven feet tall with forms like body builders and a pair of laser-tipped horns emerging from a bull-like head. Unlike the mythical beast they were based on, these had prehensile tales, tipped with a high-powered laser. "Gloria still testing these?"

  "Yep. She gets frame-time in whenever she can, though now she uses the medbed. She and Serena actually play rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets first crack."

  Serena was the Orta third-leg of the Biocybernetics Department. Orta were the closest thing the League had to a living fire elemental, with a body temperature of over seven hundred degrees Celsius, an Orta could die of hypothermia in a pizza oven. Luckily for Serena, John had their lab fitted with high-power microwave emitters to keep her warm.