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~~~*~~~ Chapter 4 ~~~*~~~

The path of least resistance is not always the best route to your destination.
-- Wayist Proverb.

"So, you stopped the uprising?" Dylan interjected into the Regent's history lesson when the man paused for breath.

Regent Basil Fortnoy narrowed his eyes, searching for hidden meanings in the question. Finding none in Dylan's unguarded eyes, he laughed a little too happily and waved one hand dismissively. "Fhaa! They were a minor nuisance at best. Of course, we ran them out. We are supreme!" he bragged, making a show of standing and sipping the crystal goblet of Rakean Worm wine he had been nursing for three hours. "Just a tiny insurrection comprised of farmers and some insignificant group of religious fanatics. They are quite taken care of."

Something in his tone gave Dylan a chill. He could well imagine how they had been 'taken care of.' The Regent glanced at his host over the rim of his glass with eyes as large and brittle as lumps of coal. At that point, the Captain decided that he might have dismissed Tyr's suppositions too soon.

"They won't be back to bother you then. One less problem for our new Commonwealth, eh?" said the Regent, elbowing Dylan in the arm. "Our new little empire?"

"We rooted them out!" crowed the Regent's Second, Luter Valnos, with a grand sweep of his arm. "They wouldn't dare rise against the Regent of the Seven Kingdoms again."

The Regent set his glass down hard, slopping some of the liquid onto the blue and gold tablecloth. "Fhaa! We'll chase them to the ends of the universe, they with their silly dreams of messiah's and fairy tales. A nest of serpents, I say, killing babies and incinerating structures. We won't let them continue. I had a special task force take care of the problem. But, enough of this nonsense. Tell me, Captain Hunt, of this Commonwealth of yours. Is it to be better than the last one? The last version did fail, didn't it?" Greed and thinly disguised malice infused his dark green eyes and vanished.

Just long enough for Dylan to see it and recognize it. "Even Rome fell eventually," he parried thoughtfully.

The Regent studied Dylan with narrowed eyes and countered, "So I've heard. But they didn't have to route the Nietzscheans."

"True."

"Dylan," Andromeda appeared on the viewscreen a few feet from them. Dylan made a polite excuse to the Regent, stood and crossed to the screen.

"Must be important," he pitched his voice low so those around him wouldn't hear.

"What's up, Andromeda?"

"A few moments ago," she reported with a skeptical arch of one elegant brow, "I detected a transmission from the surface to someone onboard. I traced it to the head table, the Regent's Second. It was encrypted. Of course, I could break it."

He glanced over his shoulder toward the table. Second Valnos leaned in close to Regent Fortnoy, whispering and flailing his hands wildly. Fortnoy's large nostrils flared. He covered a frown with two long fingers, then whispered back. Valnos scurried off, stopping to gather and speak to several partygoers.

Suddenly, Dylan felt the fingers of a headache dig into his temples and clench.

"Also, Soltan natives are roaming freely through many of my corridors," she continued softly.

"Have they stolen anything?"

"Nothing vital that I can tell. But several have engaged in ... inappropriate ... behavior in the dormant crew quarters. If they'll do this as guestsâ€""

He frowned, stopping her in mid-sentence. "They've had a lot of Worm wine. Monitor them for theft or sabotage, but otherwise, leave them alone." He leaned closer and whispered, "We need to end this as quickly as possible. Watch Second Valnos. I don't know what's happening ... yet."

"Yes, Captain," she said.

"And let me know as soon as the rest of our guests have docked, " he said in a normal tone. "I want to be there to meet them."

"Yes, Sir."

"Dylan," Rommie called, standing behind him.

He turned, once again struck by Harper's success in transforming one of the service bots into a humanoid version of the Andromeda. If anything, she was more beautiful than the viewscreen image or the holographic version of his ship's AI. Plus, she seemed to be developing a separate personality, one that made her seem more human than android. Something about an emotion chip, Harper had said.

"We're running out of Worm wine and Elaccaan meat pies."

"Can you synthesize some?"

"No. They contain spices I am unfamiliar with. Besides, I sent Beka to the surface for more. She left for the Castle an hour ago and has already verified she is on her way back. When she docks we'll need help carrying the trays."

Dylan scanned the partygoers. "Have Harper help you."

"He's not here."

"What?"

"He left with a woman. Surprise, surprise," she quipped.

"You're kidding?"

She snorted. "I thought the dancing had made me delusional, but it was real."

"Well, I'll be." He smiled and motioned toward the food tables. "Tyr's over there looking thrilled, as usual, to be amongst inferiors. Ask him to help." He chuckled softly, thinking how she seemed to enjoy dogging the large man more and more often these days.

"I will." She agreed, allowing the sides of her mouth to tug into the smallest hint of a smile. Turning, she sought out the large Nietzschean.

He returned to the table with a diplomatic smile. The Regent sat staring through the crowd, eyes distant.

"Problem?" Dylan prompted.

The Regent's gaze flicked over to him, an unreadable expression in them.

"Tempted as I am to deny that, Captain, I cannot. It seems we missed one."

^j^

Saraann heard laughing and singing voices coming toward her. Panic clutched her heart. She ducked into a room and listened as they passed by, trying to hold in her rapid breathing.

"And then I said, 'Can you turn off the water?'" piped a male voice in the hallway in time to swaggering footfalls.

High-pitched female laughter followed. "You were still naked in the snow, then?" the woman asked, her voice soft and melodious.

"Well, yeah. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy to rescue all those orphans while freezing myâ€""

The voices faded down the hall.

Saraann let her breath go free. Her throat burned as her gasping breaths deepened and slowed. Her temples pounded as oxygen flooded her brain. She blinked rapidly and took a long evaluating look around her. Her refuge was dimly lit, as though someone left in a hurry without turning the lights off all the way. She peered around. The walls were bare except for a symbolic gold emblem. A chill stabbed deep into her bones. It was his room ... the Nietzschean's. No, this wouldn't work. This wouldn't work at all. It was much too early to trust the Nietzschean. The giant had his place in the prophecy, but later, much later. She had to find another hiding place right away.

She slipped into the hallway again; listening at each door for the voices that had passed by.

Finally, she was satisfied that she was far from the couple. She opened another door.

She gasped and fell to her knees, not noticing the sharp jab of pain when they hit the metal hall floor. It was Valia's sanctuary incarnate! It was the hideout she prayed for. She went in certain that this refuge was temporary at best. It was the chance she needed; the one chance that prophecy would be fulfilled. She had to trust the one, the Ancient One, to make the right decisions when dictating the prophecies to improve the fate of the universe. Reverently, she knelt under a tall tree with sturdy limbs. She was amazed that something so large could grow in a container inside a space ship. However, that was said to be one of the gifts of the Ancients. They could influence the life force of plants and many animals, as well as feel gravitational flux and other unseen forces, perhaps even time itself. It wasn't for a humble servant of Light to judge or comprehend. She simply followed the Way and the dictates of the Essiivv.

She took the bag from around her neck gently and laid it on the floor, blanketed with a thick mauve creeper vine. The vine was fragrant, soothing, downy and dotted with tiny pink-petaled flowers. Once she had do so, she opened her precious package. Two large bright eyes blinked up at her. A smile spread across the tiny face. A cross between a gurgle and a giggle greeted her. She smiled and smoothed the thin white blond hair on the tiny head. The baby cooed and grinned at her, showing a single pearly tooth on the bottom. "Soon, Little One, soon you will discover the destiny you were born for and those who seek to kill you will pay for their sacrilege and greed. Those who think they will control you or kill you to control fate will fail. I will make sure of it ... for you, My Little Man."

She picked the child up and cradled him, a soft mist of tears clouding her eyes. With a sniffle, she sat him on the creepers so that he might learn from his surroundings and handed him a bottle of fresh cow's milk that she had stolen from a market during their flight. The child watched her soberly in the way that babies do, sensing that she was about to leave him. He whimpered and waved an arm toward her.

"Do not cry now, Little One. A creature will come and take you to Sanctuary. There you will have a family and a future and all the things you will need to grow strong and wise. If you come with me, the Regent will surely kill you and not just because of your mixed genetics. He's a small- minded creature and afraid, very afraid ... as he should be. But, you will be fine and you will forget me. Good bye, my Emperor." She bent and kissed him on the forehead in a gesture of utmost reverence. "Valia protect you and comfort you at her breast," she whispered, then crept silently from the room without looking back.

The little boy waved his arms in the air and kicked his feet as he watched her go, but did not cry. He tugged at the plant underneath him and lay one tiny palm on the tree bark, peering up at the emerald leaves spread flat against the ceiling. After a brief exploration of his surroundings he nestled into a shallow hallow between the small bushes at the base of the tree and fell asleep cradled in the soft fragrant creeping vines.

TBC in ch 5