25. Axl

This is exactly the position I didn’t want to be in. The admiral has one of his ships holding Georgiana and wants me to execute all his tasks before he gives her to me. He gave me three tasks and I’ve done two of them. The third is to kill the captain of the imperial guards so that he can be replaced with someone sympathetic to the men’s cause. The only way I can kill him is by entering the palace and secretly doing it. I’ve killed for less. And the captain of the guards and I have never been on friendly terms. But it’s who the captain of the guards is and his powerful family that I’m worried about.

Despite this, I message the admiral that it’ll be done in the next few days.

He promises me that Georgiana will be kept safe.

I know though if I fail, he will either give her to one of his men or return her to Alliance Force in the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is that he’ll sell her at Gala. But he has a human wife himself, so I don’t believe he would do that.

I contact the Empress and ask for an audience. She obliges me for the day after tomorrow.

There’s little I need to do to prepare. Treachery in the shadows has been my occupation for decades and I know the palace as well as anyone.

I bow before the Empress. We are in her private rooms. I’ve been here many times before. “Imperial Fleet Reserve Commander Axl, I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.”

“What do you mean?” I know exactly what she means.

“Allowing that human to go. I understand she was lovely and interesting but…”

“Not good enough to be my wife?”

“Precisely. Your mother has arranged a fine match with Aru.”

“I’ve met her. She’s a decent woman.”

“But?”

“I don’t know if marriage is for a man like me.”

“You’d let your mother, sister, and our House down?”

“There are many other men in the Empire in need of a good wife.”

“But not in House Zu. It’s your duty, Axl.”

“Will you force me to do this too?”

“Will you break our imperial succession because ‘you don’t feel like being a husband?’ You know I would rather see you married to no-one. I thought, at first, that was the reason you had brought the human to the Empire. To keep her as a sex slave and satisfy your mother for an illegitimate heir that could be passed off if her skin was the right color.”

“And you would have let me have a sex slave?”

“Oh Axl, you know I would have if it meant nothing between us ever changes.”

“I’ve told you many times, what happened before you married can never happen again.”

“I know that better than you, but it’s still within my control to keep you from hurting me. It doesn’t matter that it’s been decades since you touched my naked skin,” she runs one of her hands down her neck, “I remember it like it was only moments ago.”

“To protect your own feelings you will deny me my freedom to choose a wife?”

“What are you talking about, ‘your freedom?’ You have ‘your freedom.’ You can choose any woman within reason to be your wife.”

“What if I wanted to marry Madame Georgiana?”

“The human?” she says with disdain. “You cannot marry a human. You can keep her as a sex slave.”

I don’t answer.

“Humans are not Alliance citizens, Axl. Perhaps you were bewitched on Earth.”

“According to my medical scans, I’m as healthy as ever. Never mind, you’re right. I’m just a foolish man. Now are you going to tell me why I was near Earth in the first place. What was Ros’s crime? I checked his record; he didn’t seem like a criminal.”

“You’re wrong. He was the worst kind of criminal. He was secretly transporting Alliance women to Earth for pleasure. He had been doing it for decades.”

“What?”

“Yes. He was covertly transferring maximum class women to and from Earth for a few days of carnal pleasure with human men for UCs.”

Regret washes over me. “That’s why there were two life signs.”

“Yes,” the Empress laments. “But women should not want to leave the Empire. Whoever that woman was who died with Ros, may the goddesses forgive her, was a sinner.”

It didn’t occur to me at the time that one of those life signs could have been an Alliance woman. I put my head in my hands. “This can’t be happening.”

“It’s the goddesses’ will. Now you marry Aru. Your human has been returned to Earth completely unharmed and unaware of what happened to her. And you remain my faithful servant. Everything is as it should be.” When I don’t say anything the Empress continues, “Come now Axl, why all these emotions? You, of all people, cannot marry a human. You carry the weight of the Empire’s morality. Everyone respects you. And you have more freedom than most men. And most importantly, I adore you. Why can’t you be happy with that?”

The Empress really has me now. I killed an Alliance woman without reason. “What if I marry the human?”

“Nonsense. Why would you shame yourself and House Zu?”

“But what if I did?”

“You know what would happen. You killed an Alliance woman,” the Empress whispers. “But I won’t have you ruin your life over it.”

“You’re right,” I say after a moment of consideration. I didn’t come here to anger her. “I have a better life than most men. I should be grateful to you and my mother.”

“Exactly. Marry Aru, have a daughter and secure our House’s reign in the Empire.”

“I will consider it.”

“Time is ticking. You only have days left before your 50th birthday.”

“I know,” I say hoping the admiral will release Georgiana to me before then and not add anymore tasks for me to complete.

“Now, come sit next to me and tell me about Earth and our Lost People. Madame Georgiana wasn’t nearly as stupid as I imagined humans. Do you suppose we should cordon off their entire planet?”

I take the seat next to the Empress and tell her everything that happened, omitting my feelings for Georgiana, of course.

So, I skip over all of my emotions, the first time she surprised me with her wit or the first time I looked at her and found her absolutely stunning by the firelight. I don’t mention the deliciousness of her sex as my tongue caressed her into orgasm, or my despair at her being ripped away from me by all the women in my life.

I reflect after I’ve told the Empress everything that happened that all the women I trusted to take care of me have betrayed me.

I close the door to the Empress’s chambers and make my way through the restricted areas of the palace. No one thinks it’s odd that I’m here. Especially not since Georgiana is gone. No doubt everyone thinks it was a misunderstanding. No one like me could want to marry a human.

I soon find myself in a conversation with one of the Empress’s advisors who is also a friend. Then, as if the goddesses planned it themselves, the captain of the guards joins us. He’s as foul as ever, but it’s perfect timing. I activate the poison in my fingertip and stand close enough to him that I touch the top of his gun. No matter what he does today, he will touch the hilt of his gun. And if I’m lucky he will die in his sleep.

This common poison is slow acting. There’s an antidote but once you realize you’re dying from it, it’s too late for the antidote. And because of that, it’s the poison of choice in the Empire. The High Council and GC have tried to eradicate it but it’s too lucrative on the black market for them to be successful.

I retract the poison from my fingertip and continue talking to the men. I’m so used to espionage that I talk for another hour at the Empress’s court before making my way home.

The news that the captain of the guards is dead spreads quickly through the Empire. There is speculation as to who could have done it, but my name is not on any of the public lists complied by his House. Justice in the Empire is almost always a House matter.

Before I contact the admiral, I receive a VM from an alpha ship captain in the men’s language. He tells me where I can meet him. Now I have to keep this secret from my own House, something that breaks my heart, but once I’ve seen that I’ve been living in a cage, I can never go back to believing what I did before. Whether Georgiana will have me or not, I don’t know. But I can’t live with myself never finding out the truth from her.

Some might even call me brainwashed, my former self would have said that about my current state, but it doesn’t matter. I secretly transfer UCs to rent a ship with a crew that has come recommended to me by some of “my new friends” in the fleet. I hope this isn’t the biggest mistake of my life. Tomorrow we will leave to retrieve Georgiana and then it will be up to her what she wants to do. But at least I will have the satisfaction of taking her to Earth myself and saying ‘goodbye.’

Not surprisingly as soon as we clear Space Port One, my sister RVMs me.

“Axl, where do you think you are going?”

“I have something I need to do.”

“With House UCs? No one authorized this.”

“I authorized it.”

“You’re a man!? I want you to return to Space Port One immediately.”

“I’m no longer in the Capital Planet’s orbit so you cannot order me to do anything Lia.”

She purses her lips. “Why are you doing this? Is it about the human? She doesn’t want you. I met with her myself, she wants to return to Earth and she wants to forget all about her alien encounter.”

“That may be, but I should be allowed to hear it from her. Mother gave me seven days of courting and I never got them.”

“You don’t trust me to have your best interests at heart? I’m your sister Axl. No one will think about what’s best for you more than I will. Come back. Don’t throw your life away chasing a human woman who doesn’t even want you.”

“Lia, I appreciate your concern.”

“I know you’ve joined this so-called, ‘men’s equality movement.’ It’s ridiculous. Men have more than their fair share of rights. I don’t know who brainwashed you, but you need to come home. The human woman doesn’t want you. Your family and your Empire need you.”

“I still would like to hear the words from Georgiana’s lips myself.”

“And when she tells you the same thing that I have will you renounce this men’s equality movement?”

“No. Regardless of Georgiana’s feelings towards me, I will not. Alliance men deserve equality.”

“But you have almost everything! What more could you possibly want?”

“Freedom to make my own choices. To marry who I want. To choose my own profession. To even choose the clothing I want to wear.”

“And this is exactly why men aren’t capable. You’re too emotional. Look at you, throwing your whole life away for a human who doesn’t even want you. She asked to see me when she was at the palace, not you. Even a human woman coming from a patriarchy knew that she could only trust a woman to understand.”

Lia always knows exactly how to hurt me and make me doubt myself. “I still want to see her again and at the very least, to apologize.”

“You’re a fool, Axl.”

“Maybe, but at least, this is my own decision.”

“You have strayed into the darkness, Brother.”

“At least I’m among my own kind.”

“Just make sure you’re back in time for your marriage ceremony. Your wife’s work will be cut out for her.”

Lia ends the RVM and I put my IC in my pocket. Momentarily doubt washes over me. Is Lia right?

The captain of the Lio, my temporary ship, says, “If I can offer some unsolicited advice?”

I nod.

“Women usually say the opposite of the truth when corned by men’s decisions they don’t like.”

“You mean you think Madame Georgiana might want to be with me?”

“It’s a high possibility given your sister’s reaction. Excuse me for asking, but what will you do if she does?”

“It’s still a work in progress, but I did bring my Known Jewelry with me as a precaution.” I don’t add that I also brought all the clothing I had made for Georgiana when she was pretending to be my wife including our marriage bracelets from Alliance Force.

“We are at your service whatever the outcome,” the captain says.

As the days pass I keep an eye on what’s happening on the Capital Planet. The Empress has contacted me a few times. She has a new ship for me. I have responded by letting her know I need some time to think about a married life.

I’m under no illusion that I’ve fooled her or anyone else. They all know by now that I’ve joined the men’s movement and that I’m going after Georgiana. However, nothing I’ve done is against the law. Nothing except killing the captain of the guards and killing that Alliance woman in Earth’s atmosphere. Both the admiral of the fleet and the Empress have something over me now. The two most powerful people in the Empire, one woman and one man.

“We are docked,” the pilot tells me unnecessarily as we’ve docked in the alpha warship that is holding Georgiana.

As soon as the door opens, I walk onto the other ship followed by the pilot and a guard from the Lio.

“Walk in the goddesss light,” I say to the captain of the alpha ship who has come to greet me.

“The god of war guides me,” he replies.

It takes me a second to regain my countenance. Never before have I heard those words spoken out loud.

“Too long you’ve conformed to the women you’ve worked for Axl. Now you are here among men.”

“This is true, although I never considered the goddess of home being responsible for the way I’ve been treated by the women in my life.”

“Think on it and you might,” the captain replies. “And now more urgent matters. The human woman.”

“Is she ready to depart?”

“Are you prepared to return her to Earth?”

My heart sinks. “I’m prepared to take her wherever she wants to go.”

“Good, then I’m ready to release her,” the captain says and makes me formally agree to the contract.

Then he stops me from walking any further, “We will bring her to your transport.”

I’m stunned. “I would like to retrieve her myself to make sure her quarters were within standard and she was well looked after.”

“I assure you we took safe care of her. I will send over all of her medical reports and you will see for yourself she’s in good spirits.”

“I will have my doctor on the Lio do a check before we depart as well.”

“I would expect nothing less. Now if you don’t mind?”

There’s nothing I can do. I must do as he asks. I return to the Lio’s transport and wait.