START OF ARC FIVE
A/N: Welcome to the fifth and final arc of my story! I hope to get through this one faster than four with fewer distractions in my life, but you can never know what life will throw at you, so only time will tell.
Again, thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me this long, it means a lot to me, I truly do love hearing from all my readers.
"
Chapter 49: Partners
"Welcome, Master Kunzite." The well dressed butler bowed deeply towards the tall, burly Earth General standing on the welcome mat just outside the open door.
"Morning." Kunzite threw a quick glance over his shoulder, back at the finely-maintained landscape of green grass stretching out in front of the large mansion. A perfectly-symmetrical line of trees and a marble fountain in the center of one of the green patches completed the scenery. Even though much of the surrounding area had been altered using the latest in technology, transforming the dry arid desert into a more livable environment, the governor's mansion still stood out like an oasis. A massive marble and stone construction of four floors, the veritable palace had played host to the local governor for centuries.
"You'll find your room exactly as you left it," the butler continued. He was a short, balding man with tanned skin, who seemed to never age, looking more or less the same every time Kunzite saw him, even as he would go years between visits to his childhood home.
"Thank you, but I doubt I'll see any need to use it. I won't be here for long," Kunzite responded. "Where's father?"
"He's expecting you in the armory," he answered.
"Mm." Kunzite gave a knowing nod.
Suddenly, an attractive young woman in a light-colored maid uniform came speeding into the entry room, just as Kunzite took his first couple steps inside. Rushing in from the right-side hallway, her dark skin and long black hair gave her an exotic look that Kunzite had known well growing up, but had rarely seen since entering into service in the Earth Palace. She was pulling a floating steel tray behind her, a knobbed lid covering whatever it was carrying.
"Oh, good!" she gasped, practically skidding her white high heels across the floor to come to a stop in front of Kunzite. She quickly bent over at the hips towards the white-haired Earth general, bowing even lower than the butler had. "Master Kunzite, welcome!"
Kunzite stared over at the floating cart, which rose up to his waist. Quickly, the maid took the hint and pulled it out in front of him.
"Master Kunzite, your lunch," she continued, grabbing the knob atop the lid and pulling it upwards to reveal a dozen bread buns that had been hollowed out and packed full of a mixture of meat and sauce. "Duck meat and orange sauce mixed in with some far east spices."
The butler was about to say something, but Kunzite cut him off. "Just for future reference, these trays can be set to follow you automatically," he said, sticking the tip of his boot underneath the floating tray. "Thank you, that will be all."
"Governor Spodon was hoping that you could meet him in the armory and eat while—" the maid continued, only for Kunzite to turn to the left and walk off, the tray following a couple steps behind.
"Yes, yes, I get it," Kunzite interrupted, reaching behind him and grabbing one of the tightly packed buns.
"
"I know what you're trying to do," Kunzite said loudly as he crossed the threshold, feeling the difference as the ground underfoot went from thick plush carpet to cold hard concrete. "I don't appreciate it." The tray followed him inside.
The armory was perhaps the one room in the governor's mansion to be almost entirely functional, no decorations or ornaments of any kind, nothing but blank concrete walls on all sides and metal shelves. Assorted guns were hanging from hooks on the walls, boxes of ballistic and plasma-based rounds stacked to the ceiling, assorted claymores and automated traps laid out, and a healthy collection of blades complemented it all to provide a very robust collection of weapons.
Two men turned to look as Kunzite entered the armory. Both had the same white hair as Kunzite, though the younger one had his cut much shorter and styled, up in spikes.
Both men were impressive physical specimens in the same way as Kunzite, tall and stout with bulging muscles and a stoic, imposing look that commanded respect. The younger of the two hadn't quite filled out to the degree as Kunzite yet, marking his younger age, but there was no doubt he would easily pass for a full adult in most places.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The elder man stood up straight, placing the butt of a long-barrelled rifle on the concrete floor, holding the tip of the barrel in his folded hands, giving Kunzite an overly-innocent look.
Governor Spodon was by and large the spitting image of an elder Kunzite, just adding a worn face due to age and a thin beard. He wore a simple black brace on his right knee, and a massive bejeweled ring on his left hand's ring finger. Though Kunzite wasn't close enough right now to examine it, he had seen it more than enough times in his life to know that the gold base was engraved with CXLVII GLOBAL DECATHLON 1ST PLACE, the most prized of Spodon's collection of spoils from a long-defunct career as one of the finest competitive athletes in the history of the Earth.
"That maid you sent to deliver my food didn't even know how to use the tray." Kunzite turned back around, grabbing another of the buns between his large fingers. "She also called it 'orange sauce'."
"Maybe it's her first day," Spodon replied. "Ever think of that?"
Kunzite sighed. "Yes, she's very attractive, and no, I will not be requiring her services tonight," he deadpanned.
"See, dad? I told you!" The younger man turned to Spodon. "He's not interested, why would he be? He can get any woman he wants, he lives in the Earth Palace!"
"Never let it be said I don't know how to treat my son right when he visits," Spodon said. "Even if he rejects my hospitality."
"Okay, like I said, Kunzite doesn't want her," the younger man said. "So can I please take a shot with her now?"
"I already told you, Triphane, that's too much woman for you," Spodon replied immediately, shaking his finger over towards his younger son. "You're not ready for that. Jamila's the finest piece of ass I've ever had working this house." He turned his pointing finger over towards Kunzite. "And there isn't a woman you could get at the Earth Palace better than her."
"Do you two remember how this family lost our status two hundred years ago?" Kunzite asked, putting his hands out to his sides. "Stop talking like that." He popped the bun into his mouth.
"Hey, hey, don't twist my words," Spodon said dismissively. "Nobody working here is a slave, they're all free to go the moment they don't want to be here anymore."
"It's not like I said to have her bathed and brought to me," Triphane protested. "I just want to...you know...make my move. What's the big deal?"
Kunzite finally smiled. "Well, whatever move you were thinking about, it's not going to work with that," he said, gesturing towards Triphane's spiky hair as he approached him. "What's going on with this, huh?"
"I like it," Kunzite's younger brother said, semi-defensively, running his fingers through his hair.
"Well, I suppose there's no arguing with that," Kunzite remarked wryly, then glancing down at Triphane's feet to see a bulging black sack with straps on the top laying there. "Oh, father's letting you help load the truck now? That's a step up."
"Nuh uh," Triphane protested. "My first hunt was three cycles ago, I've been out half a dozen times already."
"Oh, you're hunting now?" Kunzite said. "Who thought that'd be a good idea?" He went over by his brother's side and clapped him on the shoulder. "Any kills yet?"
"Three," he replied. "None of them clean, though."
"I know you can't be here too long," Spodon said. "Duty calls and all that, I understand. So I thought we might spend the time you have on a little population control. Maybe you could add another clean kill to your record."
"Yes, I gathered," Kunzite said.
"Has to be more fun than lunch on the patio," Spodon continued. "Triphane, go load your pack in the truck and wait for us."
"Mmhmm." The younger member of the family turned towards the opened door that Kunzite had just entered through. Scooping his sack up over his shoulder, he marched out. "See you out there!"
"He means you, too," Spodon elaborated. "He's really excited to get the chance to see you work."
"Yes, yes, of course, I'll play along," Kunzite said, walking over to the northeast wall and reaching out towards one of the long rifles, plucking it off the hook and holding it in both hands, feeling how balanced it was.
"So. You're in, huh?" Spodon asked. "He's got the throne. Years of babysitting about to pay off."
"You shouldn't be talking like that about your new High King," Kunzite said pointedly, lifting the rifle's scope up to his right eye and looking down it, pointing it at the wall.
"What, are you gonna get me in trouble?" Spodon said dryly. "Gonna tell on me?" He shook his head. "It's hyperbole, I know he means well. I know he's a good guy. Hell, he's smart. Book smart, at least, but...come on, son. Don't try to tell me you don't feel it."
"I'm the right-hand man and most trusted advisor of one of the most powerful men in the galaxy, and the only currently active High King," Kunzite said. "I'm more than happy with that, it's more than almost everyone who has ever lived has accomplished."
Spodon grunted as Kunzite set the rifle butt down on the floor and leaned it up against the wall. "It just kills me that you won't get any credit for what's about to happen. Well, not enough."
"Father," Kunzite said, going over to the nearest shelf and rummaging through one of the open crates. "Earth Generals who serve a King always get remembered by history. And that's all I am."
"Oh, come on, come on, come on!" Spodon goaded. "I could see it from the other side of the planet, you must have seen it after all these years of being up close and personal with him! He's not King material!"
"I try to avoid thinking negatively of the man who I serve," Kunzite said stiffly, withdrawing a black belt with several compartments and clips along the strap. "Much less speaking negatively of him. And again, father, I strongly suggest you try the same. You're a governor, meaning you serve him."
"I don't even really mean it negatively. He's not a bad person, I...I know that." He shrugged. "And he can put up a good front, he knows how to present himself to people. Respect. If he wasn't born into royalty, he would have been an amazing actor. But think about it. If they put you and him in a room together, and they got a hundred people who had no idea who you two were to look inside and pick which one they'd rather have calling the shots, who do you think they'd pick?"
"I don't think you know His Majesty quite that well, father," Kunzite said, filling the belt with a series of dull green canisters. "You underestimate him."
"When the going gets tough, and difficult decisions need to be made, you'll be running the show," Spodon continued. "He gets to sit on the throne, but you'll be standing behind it. He knows it too, deep down, trust me. Somewhere buried under mountains of expectations and grooming, he knows. You're smarter, tougher, more pragmatic, more adaptable, more cunning, name a Kingly quality, and you've got him beat." He gave a tiny smile. "I don't even think he really wants it. He'd be perfectly happy handing the crown off to someone else and spending the rest of his days on a small private island, making love to his wife and reading books. He's just too nice."
"There's more to him than what you've seen," Kunzite stated. "I just...I don't want you thinking this is something that it's not. I know what your expectations were when I started working in the palace, but...it's not the case."
"Oh, just trust me," Spodon said, coming up behind his son and placing his hand on his shoulder. "You'll never actually be on the throne, and I...I so deeply regret that I can do nothing to change that. You belong on it. I've known it since you were very little. But, the next best thing. You'll be the driving force behind the throne. And the Earth Kingdom will be better off for it."
Kunzite grimaced, thinking about all the things he could tell his father to prove him wrong. His view of Endymion was so out-of-date and incorrect to Kunzite it was almost a reflex to want to set the record straight, but of course, he couldn't say a word beyond what he had already said.
"We'll see," Kunzite finally said, pulling the belt around his waist. "I can't stay too long, so let's get out there and hunt some Cabaras."
"
Click.
Click.
Click.
Every few beats, Kasios pressed his thumb down on the small red button on the oval-shaped remote in his hand, eyes not peeling away from the giant projected screen on the bare wall of his office. Every time he hit the remote, a new image was displayed, although each one continued to be as useless as the last.
No matter from how many angles the massive, burned room was viewed, nothing of meaning could be ascertained. Every surface was a charred and ugly black, the debris was mangled and twisted beyond any hope of recognition, and you could hardly distinguish one image from any other. The initial theory, that this room had formerly been the laboratory where the imperium was refined for Cronus's distribution ring, seemed to be both the first and last piece of relevant information that could be gleaned from the discovery of the room's existence.
Nevertheless, he kept looking, hoping that by some cosmic fluke there might be something of interest left behind. It was a naive thought, of course. The finest forensic scientists in the galaxy had already gone over every bit of the remains of the room, and had failed to find anything more than indications that made it reasonable to suspect the room had played host to a lab. If they couldn't find anything, it was beyond unreasonable for Kasios to discover something by looking at pictures. But he couldn't help but try.
Kasios startled a bit at a series of soft knocks at his office door. "It's open," he called out.
The large wooden door swung open, the plump, balding Grandmaster of the agency entering. "I didn't think anything you could do right now could possibly disappoint me," he said, putting his arms out to his sides. "Or did I maybe hear you incorrectly this morning? I really hope I did."
Kasios gave a quick, fading smile. "Grandmaster Galen, good to see you."
"You too, but I have to say, I'd be happier to be seeing you as the soon-to-be Grandmaster of the agency right now," Galen said, coming over to the chair on the opposite side of the primary desk from Kasios, quickly sitting himself down. "You're not putting yourself forward for the position? You'd win no problem, it might be unanimous."
"I don't enjoy disappointing you," Kasios said. "But I'm afraid I'm not interested in being the Grandmaster."
"Gods, it just felt so...perfect in my head, I was imagining it and it just felt so right. I step down as Grandmaster a few days after you step down as High King, you just slide right in. You certainly have enough free time now, I thought you wanted this. Who deserves it more than you?" He shook his head. "You were all over this Cronus thing cycles before anyone else was, even when everyone else would have told you that you were insane for considering it."
"You really think you should be rewarding me for explicitly disobeying your orders to drop the investigation?" Kasios asked with a grin. "I mean, you did tell me to stop looking into him, and I certainly didn't."
Galen shrugged. "What can I say? You've got incredible gut instincts and an unquenchable thirst for justice. I'm not going to hold it against you that I wasn't smart enough to see what you did."
"Well, either way, I appreciate you thinking so highly of me, and I'd be lying if the thought didn't cross my mind," Kasios continued. "But I have a retirement home on Mercury that I'm itching to grow old in. Living on board The Savery just doesn't work for me. I've got a granddaughter, I'd like to see her grow up."
"Well, I can't really argue with that," Galen reasoned. "Don't suppose I could convince you to at least consider being the number two on the high council? You'd get a couple cycles every year to live off-base."
"I just don't want to confine myself like that," Kasios said quickly. "I'll take the bump up to number three, but I can't go any higher. I still have things I want to do out there. It doesn't work for me."
"Alright, alright," Galen said begrudgingly. "It'll probably be Orion, then. And he's great, don't misunderstand, it's just...you deserve it after this Cronus business."
"I know it's too late to change anything," Kasios said, leaning forward a bit and placing his forearm on the desk surface. "But you know everyone who works for this agency has the ultimate respect for you, and thinks very highly of you. You stepping down like this, I just don't know if it's best for anyone."
Galen sighed, leaning back in the chair heavily. "Kasios, do you know how many times I had lunch with Cronus? How many of my departures from The Savery were used so I could attend functions he ran?" He shook his head. "He was so involved in agency dealings, he may as well have been a high council member. And it was all because I trusted him."
"We all trusted him," Kasios countered. "Even I did until recently. It's not your fault."
"I'm the Grandmaster of the agency, everything that goes wrong here is my fault," Galen said. "I'm willing to bet a huge chunk of his success as a smuggler over the last decade can be blamed on the agency believing he was on our side." He gave a disbelieving little smile. "The former King of Saturn in disguise, can you...I couldn't make something like that up if I tried! There must have been a hundred times where I was sitting right next to him, looking right at him. He'd tell me all sorts of stories, he'd talk about his childhood and education on Saturn. And then, he's someone completely different. He made it all up. Honestly, if for no other reason, I should be stepping down out of embarrassment."
"I just...I think you could have tried to weather this. Give it a cycle or two, see what happens. I know it's a bad look, but you never know what public perception is going to be after the initial shock," Kasios insisted.
"Believe me, it was brewing behind the scenes," Galen said wearily. "They might like and respect me, but that doesn't mean they can't see a term-ending scandal when there's one right in front of them. If I didn't step down, there'd be a motion to remove me inside of a cycle." He groaned, rubbing the side of his head. "You know, he's the one who introduced me to Ossetra caviar?"
"Hm?" Kasios picked his head back up.
"N-nothing, just...it's interesting. It's my favorite food now. I have it at least five times a cycle. I had never even heard of it until four years ago, he suggested it. He even told me exactly how to prepare it to bring out all the flavors. He's given me a twenty libra platter of the stuff on my birthday the last three years, platinum-level quality." He shrugged. "And this whole time, right in front of me, he's a sociopath, running the biggest con-job in galactic history. It's like...this whole time, I was friends with his...fictional creation."
Kasios instinctively opened his mouth, figuring he'd be able to find some stock response to the Grandmaster, but ended up shutting it after a beat. He didn't know what to say, in actuality. For the first time ever, Kasios was getting a sense of genuine hurt from the Grandmaster. Despite being a human, same as anyone else, there was a certain sense that he was above the weakest and most demonstrative of human emotions. For the first time, Kasios felt a hole in that armor. Galen was hurt that he had been deceived by someone he trusted.
Slowly, he got to his feet. "It's a shock for everyone. I trusted him for a long time, I considered him a friend for years."
"It's just unbelievable," he murmured. "How can someone just be a...a completely different person like that? Years and years, countless meetings, and it was all just bullshit."
Kasios came up to Galen's side, gently placing his right hand on his left shoulder. He grimaced, then gave a tiny nod. "I guess, no matter how much we want to believe that we're close to people...when do we ever know someone, really?"
"
SIXTEEN DEAD IN SHOCKING COMMERCIAL SHIP EXPLOSION ABOVE SATURN, PHARMACEUTICAL TITAN CRONUS AMONG CASUALTIES
The newly-minted Queen Serenity had her right hand's index finger rubbing rapidly against the bit of skin right above her lip, trying to soothe herself as she eyed the news article on her tablet.
The new Earth Queen was sitting up in the middle of the massive bed, which had just recently been moved in, nestled up against the southern wall, a dozen paces from the main door. The small silver tablet was laid out on the covers right next to her. She silently ran her left hand's fingers across the screen, scrolling through the text, stopping on paragraphs that she had been unable to get her mind off of the last several days.
Besides Cronus and his three close aids, The Bulg was also carrying twelve passengers at the time of the incident. All twelve had boarded the ship just before it was hijacked by Cronus, and it's believed they were not involved in the circumstances surrounding this event.
Serenity huddled both her hands up near her mouth, eyes flickering over to the right, checking the far corner of the room. Her husband, the new High King, was sitting on one of the eight plush chairs over there, his back turned to her, in conversation with three of his four generals, only Jadeite not present.
"This has to be it," Kunzite stated firmly. "The report said they think there are cycles worth of video saved on the chips, they found them in the Earth installation where we worked, it has to be the lab footage."
It only took a handful of beats for Serenity to again drift her eyes down to the tablet next to her.
The casualties of the explosion included thirty-eight year old academy instructor Herakleitos, twenty-two year old Lateria waitress Irene, forty-nine year old steel worker Lycus, twenty-five year old crystal miners Lysandra and Heron, nineteen year old academy students Herais, Pelagia, and Platon, sixty-six year old retired military veteran Thales, thirty year old gas refiner Hypatos, twenty-six year old wife of Hypatos, Xanthe, and their four year old son, Philon.
Herakleitos, Irene, Lycus, Lysandra, Heron, Herais, Pelagia, Platon, Thales, Hypatos, Xanthe, Philon. Serenity was having a hard time getting those twelve names out of her head. Even after several busy days, her mind was drawn back to them over and over. Thinking about how they had no idea what they were getting caught in the middle of, had no opportunity to make any choices that could have prevented being involved in her husband's war. It was an uncomfortable thing to ponder. Equally uncomfortable was the fact that, by all external measures, it seemed as if the new High King was decidedly unaffected by it.
"The video files are heavily encrypted, but I suspect if the agency gets their hands on them they'll find a way to access some of it. Even a single beat worth of footage could be devastating to us," Kunzite continued, Serenity again picking up her focus.
"All we need is to get Jadeite within five paces of the chips," Zoisite said. "From that range the magnetic pulse I've rigged up will scramble the files beyond recognition with no chance of recovery. And it will be assumed that the scrambling is simply part of the encryption when they do attempt to decrypt them."
Kunzite got to his feet. "We got lucky. The chips are right where we thought they'd be, and Jadeite's already infiltrated the evidence collection crew."
"If those are the only copies," Zoisite pointed out. "We'll have to keep listening in on the status of the investigation for some time."
"Of course." Endymion stood up. "Now then, Kunzite, how about the Princess?"
"Ready and eager to meet," Kunzite answered. "I can go as early as tomorrow."
"Not without me," Endymion corrected, turning around and looking over at his wife. "Don't be ridiculous, Kunzite, we both know exactly what kind of relationship you've developed with her, you won't be negotiating anything with her on my behalf."
"Excuse me?" Zoisite asked immediately, tilting his head up to look at his fellow Earth general. Nephrite drew his head back in surprise, also giving Kunzite a curious look.
"...oh," Endymion exclaimed after a moment. "Sorry, I...I thought they knew."
"Ah, no, no problem," Kunzite said, scratching at his right temple and trying to not sound alarmed. "I shouldn't be keeping secrets anyway."
"Isn't that the truth?" Endymion said, casually walking over towards where his wife was sitting up. "This is so liberating, isn't it, sweetie?"
Serenity picked her head up towards her husband.
"Gods, never again. All that time and effort I spent trying to hide the truth from you, and for what?" He wore a warm smile. "Now I get to have...staff meetings with you in the room, and I don't even have to think about it. It's easier for everyone."
"Oh yes," Serenity said flatly. "Much easier."
"Nothing hidden," Endymion continued. "Isn't that a relief, sweetie? Everything's being taken care of as we speak."
"Hooray," Serenity deadpanned. "Everything just...works out for you, doesn't it?"
Endymion raised an eyebrow at his wife. "Um...well, in any case, Serenity, obviously things are now dramatically different for us. Zoisite controls the treasury, which opens up avenues for laundering our money. It'll go much faster now, and it should be easier. Work with her and figure out what you can do to help."
Serenity's faked, put-on smile disappeared. "Help with laundering money?"
Endymion blinked down at his wife a couple times as his three generals gathered around him. Both Zoisite and Nephrite were still giving Kunzite curious looks, clearly looking for some clarity on what kind of 'relationship' he had with Princess Venus. "You said you wanted to be a part of this, right? You wanted to help?"
"I did help," Serenity said quietly, giving her husband a reproachful look. "I helped keep the Earth Kingdom in one piece and got you on the throne, that's...that's done."
"A part of it is done, but we have a long way to go," Endymion answered evenly. "We still have a lot of money to launder, and in a matter of days we'll start receiving more."
Serenity pursed her lips, tilting her head to the side. "More?"
"Well, okay, 'days' is a little optimistic, but we're going to get our operation up and running again," Endymion said. "And believe me, just because we've pulled ourselves out of the imminent danger zone doesn't mean that everything's fine now. There are still dozens of entities who invested in my father's deep space fiasco who haven't been fully compensated, we've just started pouring resources into closing out the war on Saturn, and all the while we have a Kingdom to run."
"I thought we were done, we...you said you were only staying in because you made a deal with Cronus. Cronus is dead, so this is over, you don't have to do this anymore," Serenity said, voice just a tad thick. "Don't you have more important things to think about now?"
Endymion huffed. "I already had this conversation with Kunzite." He tossed a quick glance over at his eldest general. "Look, Serenity, this Kingdom is deep in the red right now, the surplus is gone. Does that sound like a good time to forget that we have sole access to the most valuable stash of resources in recorded history? And need I remind you why I got into this work in the first place? Not a single cred has gone to the Moon yet."
Serenity gave a lingering look over towards Kunzite, seemingly seeking an ally, but was quick to realize there was nothing there.
"Besides, do you have any idea how much easier this is going to be now?" Endymion added. "My father's barely ever going to even be on the planet, and Cronus was the one person who could actually threaten me. He's out of the way, we don't have anything to be afraid of."
"Speak for yourself," Serenity replied.
Endymion grunted, absentmindedly waving his right hand behind him. "Uh, you three, dismissed. You all know what to do. Go on."
Feeling the implied urgency in his tone, the three Earth generals hustled out of the room, leaving the royal couple alone. The moment the main door clicked shut, Endymion purposefully frowned at his wife.
"Serenity, are you going to come back to normal any time soon? The shock really should have worn off by now," Endymion chided.
"I don't remember what normal is," Serenity said coldly. "When was the last time things were normal? And clearly, things aren't going to be normal for a long time."
Endymion rolled his eyes. "Serenity, be rational. Nobody is coming to hurt us anymore, I'm the one at the top of the food chain now. I told you, things are different now. It'd be foolish to just abandon the business now, when we're just about to finally be in control."
"Oh, in control, good for you," Serenity said with a grimace. "Just had to kill everyone who got in your way first, but...you're in control now!"
Endymion couldn't hide his disdain for her insinuation, scoffing out loud. "Sweetie, he was trying to kill me! Us! That's the way it had to be! I wasn't happy about it either, but that's the way it had to happen."
"A four-year-old boy was trying to kill you?" Serenity questioned, her eyes flickering down towards the tablet on the bedspread right next to her. "A waitress? She wanted to kill us?"
Endymion craned his neck a bit, spotting the tablet finally and stepping forward to grab it. "Oh, you're, what're you…" his brow furrowed as he scanned the text on the screen. "Serenity, that's not what I meant and you know it."
"It just...doesn't bother you at all?" Serenity questioned. "You kill twelve people who did nothing but just so happen to be aboard a particular ship at the wrong time, and it's not even worth thinking about? A four-year-old kid dies because of your actions and you don't—"
"How dare you!" Endymion snapped, putting his hands on his hips, dropping the tablet to the carpeted floor next to his foot. "Serenity, I'm a father, of course it affects me! You think I don't feel awful about what happened to those people, to that kid?!"
Serenity didn't respond, simply crossing her arms over her chest and watching her husband.
"Okay," Endymion said, trying to settle himself back down. "Look. The twelve passengers on that ship, you're right. They didn't deserve what happened to them. In fact, I have every reason to believe they were all great people, who deserved to get off that ship after it landed on Uranus, go wherever it was they were heading, and have long, fulfilling lives. It's tragic that that didn't happen. But I had to make a choice. The situation that I was in, I had a simple, binary choice. Either those twelve people died, or me and my generals would die, probably followed by you, our daughter, my father, and your mother. That was the choice I had to make. And I didn't enjoy making it. But if it came to it, I would have those twelve people die every single day for the rest of my life, if it meant keeping us alive. Because those are the people who I care about, more than anything else in the universe. And if that's what I have to do to protect them, then so be it."
"I'm trying to...put myself in that situation, Endy. And I can't help but think that, if I was forced to choose between such...awful options, I'd work very, very hard to come up with a third one," Serenity said slowly, soundly oddly detached.
"Serenity, if you had any idea how hard it was to even have a choice at all, you'd…" he grumbled. "We worked very, very hard on avoiding collateral damage, Serenity. Every step of what we did on Saturn was geared around keeping as many people as possible safe. This time, as many as possible didn't mean everyone. But it had to be done, and there's nothing that can be done about it now. So the best thing to do is move on."
"You make it sound so easy," Serenity said. "It's really just that easy to you."
"Well, Serenity, look at what it's doing to you!" Endymion countered brusquely. "This is really what you've been hung up on the last few days?! After everything that happened, there still hasn't been a single moment where you've expressed any sort of...gratitude to me!"
"Gratitude?" Serenity repeated, sounding rather incredulous.
"O-or, how about, I don't know...relief?" He put his arms out to his sides. "Serenity, a few days ago, one of the most powerful and intelligent men in the galaxy was trying to kill us and everyone we care about. And I was able to kill him first, before he got to any of us. I didn't have much to work with, very little time, the odds were heavily stacked against me. And somehow, I pulled it off, and the worst thing that happened was twelve people who we didn't even know existed until that day got caught in the crossfire." He shrugged. "I feel like a little relief should be in order."
"Oh, believe me, Endy. I'm relieved. Very. I'm relieved. And scared." She wore a bit of a cold smile now. "More scared than I've ever been in my life."
Endymion squinted as if he had just smelled something unpleasant. "W-what do you mean? I took care of the threat, there's nothing to be scared of anymore. What are you scared of?"
Serenity didn't answer, instead opting to stare Endymion down with that same nebulous, cold smile that oozed sarcasm. Endymion stood there, expecting a reply, but after several beats gave a dismissive shake of his head and stalked off towards the bedroom door.
"Well, Serenity, if you still want to assist in this operation, meet with Zoisite and he'll give you instructions," Endymion said. "It's your choice. But either way, start looking at the big picture."
"
Endymion pulled back hard on a red lever to the immediate right of his seat, locking The Bastion into a lazy, controlled spin alongside a similarly-sized ship that it was now docked with via a single short tube.
Off in the middle of nowhere between the orbital lanes of Venus and Earth, the two starships almost looked as if they were involved in a complicated mating dance of sorts. However, ultimately, there was nothing remarkable about the union of the two B-class ships, happening off in the middle of nowhere and without fanfare or media coverage. And yet, the three individuals currently residing within the linked starships could reasonably have been included on a very short list of the most powerful and influential in the galaxy.
The ship safely parked, the High King got to his feet, Kunzite quick to stand up alongside him. "You'll remember whose side you're on when we're in there?"
"Of course, Your Highness," Kunzite said, turning around at the same time as his charge did, both of them swiftly going across the length of The Bastion's cabin towards the rear exit. "But we're all on the same side. All three of us."
Endymion scoffed. "You can't honestly believe that."
Before the conversation could go any further, Endymion reached the south end of the cabin and pressed his thumb into a red button right by the rear door. It whisked open, the interior of the docking tube waiting on the other side, nothing more than a simple walkway of perhaps a dozen paces. The High King marched through the narrow passageway, Kunzite hot on his heels.
"Just keep an open mind, Your Majesty," Kunzite asked. "We are a long way away from being operational again."
At the end of the tube, Endymion tapped a green button on the wall right by the door, staring right at the second steel door in front of him. A couple of beats passed, and then the door slid open, revealing the interior of the neighboring starship.
Another reasonably-spacious B-class, with a cockpit on the far side, was revealed to the two young men, a small square table in the middle of the main area. On the side of the table furthest from Endymion, a long-haired blonde in a sleeveless dress was waiting, one leg crossed over the other.
"Princess," Endymion said quietly, hurriedly going over to the table. Kunzite nodded his head over towards Venus, maneuvering to get behind his charge. As Endymion sat down in the seat opposite Venus, Kunzite grabbed the chair along the side of the table and pulled it over towards the corner closest to Endymion, quickly settling himself down in it.
"Let's make this quick," Venus said. "I'm sure we all have things to do today."
Endymion leaned forward a bit, resting his forearms on the table surface. "I'm restarting my imperium operation. Do you still have the means for distribution?"
Princess Venus's stoic facial expression cracked a little bit, lips twitching down slightly. "You're restarting the operation."
"That's right. What else did you expect?" Endymion asked impatiently.
Princess Venus's eyes flickered over towards Kunzite for the briefest of moments before flashing back to Endymion, enough to clue him in to what her expectations might have been.
Endymion twisted his body around towards Kunzite, who was averting his gaze and scratching the side of his neck.
"What did you tell her?" Endymion asked.
"He didn't tell me anything," Venus said lazily. "I simply assumed that you'd have more important things to do after taking the throne."
"Your concern is appreciated," Endymion said coolly. "But, I have no intention of walking away." He shot another glance at Kunzite. "And I have some degree of respect for Kunzite not wanting to personally be the one to disappoint you by telling you, but rest assured, it was never a consideration. Now, do you want to distribute my product on Venus?"
With a slight pause, the blonde Princess did recover. "Of course."
"Well, you can forget about our old arrangement," Endymion said firmly. "Things are going to be very different this time around. And don't even try to blackmail me this time, you go down if I go down."
"I wasn't going to," Venus replied. "And that's fine. We'll do an even split this time."
Endymion immediately blanched. "You're just distribution, Princess, don't get carried away."
"Everything you're doing means nothing if you don't have the means to sell it to customers," Venus retorted. "Something tells me you don't exactly have people lining up to sell your product."
"Be that as it may, you've got the easy part, Princess," Endymion growled. "Forget whatever leverage you think you have. I'm the one with the imperium, and I'm the one synthesizing it." His eyes narrowed. "And you need this more than me. You should be very happy with thirty percent."
"Don't try that," Venus said dismissively. "If you didn't need this badly, you wouldn't be doing it."
"I have an idea," Kunzite said suddenly. The budding argument was halted, Endymion twisting around again to give his most trusted general a surprised look.
Kunzite's immediate reaction was to wilt under Endymion's glare, faltering a bit and reconsidering offering his suggestion.
"Your idea won't do anyone any good just sitting in your head," Endymion finally said tersely. "Go ahead."
"I think...that Princess Venus's resources might be helpful in restarting the operation," Kunzite said. "We need a new laboratory, equipment, materials, and chemicals. I think that a fifty percent split is agreeable, with Princess Venus assisting in the acquisition of the things we need to synthesize."
"I think I can help there," Venus said slowly. "Consider my five angels at your service."
Kunzite smiled thinly. "There's an opportunity on Saturn right now, but it won't last for long. Many of the chemical warehouses there have boron crystal fluid, and there will be a window for us to take it during the confusion of a transition from The Rings to the sitting royal house. Since Earth is now participating in that war, we'll be able to monitor when the right time is to move."
"Sounds good to me," Venus volunteered, leaning forward. "So, we're equal partners, fifty-fifty split. I'm prepared to go as high as one thousand libras every ten days, so call it three thousand a cycle. Three billion, six hundred million creds every ten days, split evenly, with us both acting as equal partners. And of course, I'll have exclusive rights to selling your product on Venus. Anywhere else is your business."
Endymion blinked a few times over towards Venus, before finally offering a non-committing shrug. "It seems at least a majority of the people in this room are satisfied."
Venus smiled. "We might be able to expand our operation as time goes by. Whatever happens, we remain equal partners." She extended her right arm across the table, opening her hand up towards the High King.
Endymion stared at the appendage for a couple beats, still not looking particularly thrilled, but finally leveled his own right hand out towards hers, taking it and giving it a quick shake.
"
"It's really a good arrangement," Kunzite said, looking rather pleased with himself, watching the streaks across the front window of The Bastion run past his field of vision as the luxury starship zipped across open space. "Nearly seventy billion a year, and that's just on one planet."
Endymion said nothing in reply from the pilot seat right next to Kunzite's chair, hands on the levers of the center console and eyes on the window despite having no real need to pay attention to either.
"It...it allows us to not commit too much time to this operation and still accomplish something meaningful," Kunzite continued. "And trust me, the partnership is fair, I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't think it was."
Still, the High King was silent, not giving away anything with his facial expression.
"I...um, I'm sure there will be expenses, so...w-we'll still be making a larger percentage than we were before, even with that," Kunzite continued, all of his years of training working on not betraying his mild nervousness. "I—"
"Nephrite's got thousands of loyal informants on Earth that you can borrow, but somehow you need Princess Venus and her five backup dancers to restart production," Endymion finally said, his voice even and measured.
"Oh," Kunzite said, reaching up with his right hand and pressing it into the side of his neck. "W-well, we should be careful about the kinds of people we...involve in this. And, trust me, Venus's crew is very talented and highly capable, exactly the kind of people we—"
"You should be very careful," Endymion said warningly. "Your relationship with Princess Venus is a privilege, contingent on me not feeling that it's compromising you in any way."
Kunzite was smart enough to realize that nothing that he could say right now would ease the situation, so with an uneasy shift, he turned his head to stare straight forward, feeling slightly put out.