Chapter 3

Jupiter walked briskly at first, muttering something under her breath, in a language that sounded Russian, but she couldn't be sure.

Sapphire rushed to keep up, but couldn't help but fall behind as she kept seeing new and amazing things. Crew scurried by, bowing to Jupiter occasionally, but ignoring her. They wore uniforms for the most part, but each outfit seemed tailored to their task. About half of the people she saw appeared to be splices, but she couldn't identify most, they were moving on too quickly for her to look closely.

She saw one person laying on their back on a small hovering platform near the ceiling in the hallway, clearly working on some electronics. He was muttering to himself, in some alien language, using tools so bizarre she couldn't even begin to guess their function.

Jupiter seemed to notice that Sapphire was lagging behind, because she stopped and came back to retrieve her.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting how amazing this must be to you." Jupiter smiled warmly, "It's only been a year since I took power, and I'm already used to all of this." She spread her arms to indicate the ship and crew.

"A year?" Sapphire sagged, suddenly tired and just done. "Will you tell me what's going on? Why am I here? Faize started to explain, but... I still don't get it."

"Follow me, I've got a wonderful view from my quarters"

The room they entered was much the same as the one Sapphire had woken up in. The sheets were nicer, the bed larger, and the window was was massive, but otherwise it was identical.

"This is a queens room?" Sapphire asked incredulously. She felt like it should be covered in lace and gold and frilly things.

"I actually don't spend much time here, I spend most of my time at home – in Chicago."

"Chicago?"

"I know, right? I share a room with my mom and aunt, even."

"How does that.. Why?"

Jupiter moved to the window, and slid it open. Laid out before them was the stars – millions of them. There was no planet in view, but instead an unobstructed view of the rest of the galaxy. Sapphire was blown away by the beauty, and the countless stars, and even, far, far off in the distance, barely visible, other galaxies.

"Faize told you about the youth serum, right?"

"Y-yeah," Sapphire replied, still distracted. "But that's as far as he got."

Jupiter leaned against the window, gazing out as she spoke.

"Because Genetics played such an important role in the progress of the humans out in space, they practically worship it as a religion. It's not uncommon for a person to leave their fortunes to their reincarnation, in the off chance one should appear, instead of, or maybe as well as, their biological heirs."

"Reincarnation? Isn't that a little mystical for a scientifically advanced people?"

"You'd think that, but a reincarnation has to be genetically identical to the original. As a result, it's incredibly rare. Astronomically rare."

"That's like... I can't even comprehend how rare that must be."

"But it happens. And when you're running around seeding planets, ensuring that trillions of humans are evolving around the galaxy, it's going to happen. And it did. I was the reincarnation of one of the most powerful person in the galaxy.

But I had no idea, not until Caine saved me. See, the Abrasax family had three heirs – Balem, Kalique, and Titus. They had each been left a portion of her empire, but the most valuable planet, was left to Balem." She sighed.

"That planet was earth."

"Earth is valuable?"

"We have what? 7.1 billion people on the planet? That could keep a hundred people alive for a million years or so. Yeah, it's valuable."

"Jesus."

"Yeah."

"So you were the reincarnation. And you just came along and took it?"

Jupiter laughed, "It wasn't that easy. Balem tried to kill me, Caine was hired by Titus to bring me to him, he had his own agenda, which, by the way, also involved killing me. While I was being taken to Titus, Kalique kidnapped me, then Caine got me back. Then I claimed earth, if only just to prevent it from being harvested, Then Titus got to me, manipulated me and almost killed me. Caine got me out just in time again, nearly dying in the process. Then Balem kidnapped my family and threatened to kill them if I didn't give him earth."

Sapphire was speechless. She couldn't think of anything to say – how could she?

"What happened next?" she managed.

"Well, I realized that giving him earth would kill billions, and I... I couldn't do that. I refused, how could I not? After that, there was... An altercation, Caine rescued my family, and again, Balem tried to kill me. He didn't succeed. We got out safely, and I returned to earth."

"What happened to Balem?"

"Balem is no longer a concern."

"Ah."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"All I wanted to do was live my life. But I was now the queen of the Abrasax fortune, and there's nothing Kalique or Titus can do to get it back. They have their own fortunes of course, but I 'stole' everything their mother left to them.

I realized that I couldn't just stop with protecting earth. There are hundreds and thousands of planets out there -" She waved at the window, at the not so empty space.

"They all have life. Some farther along than others, and I have the power to do something about it.

"I had no shortage of allies – Only the rich live forever, and many people resent that, and are happy to help. But to fight the rich, you need rich allies."

"That still doesn't explain me." Sapphire was getting frustrated now, all of this talking, and she still had no real idea why she had been dragged into all of this. For a brief second she thought she might also be a reincarnation, but that was ridiculous. The odds of two people from earth – from America, no less – both being reincarnations of powerful, rich space people?

"So we started looking. First we looked for records of the various monarchs that had died and left their fortunes to their reincarnations. Then we started looking for people with exact genetic matches."

Sapphire stared.

"No way."

"Yes way."

Sapphire expected Jupiter to laugh, but she didn't. The young woman turned and gave her a serious look.

"We found one. On a planet only a little more advanced than ours. By the time we got to her, she was dead. It seemed that someone had figured out our plan, and she was killed. Well, it looked like a suicide, but we knew better.

"We found another, on a tribal planet. That was when I sent Faize to protect him. Things went bad though, and a lot of people died."

"Faize didn't though, he survived."

"He got out of there just in time. He was barely alive when we got to him."

"What happened?"

"That's... His story to tell, I think." Jupiter looked thoughtful, "But you should know that I trust him."

"Caine doesn't."

This time, she did laugh. "The past year has been tough. The reason I decided to start this crazy crusade? Four attempts to kill me, in just a month."

"Four?"

"Four."

"Shit."

Jupiter took a deep breath, "Yeah. Caine wasn't around during the last one. He's still a little pissy about that one. Doesn't trust anyone he doesn't know personally.

"So, I decided to fight back. It's been... Hard. Losing people is never easy."

"So am I one of those reincarnations?" She almost didn't want to ask, but she had to. Why else would she have been brought all the way out here?

"Yes. The Rakelm estate. Irada Rakelm, she left her planets and fortune to her only son, Ardest."

"And her reincarnation."

"Yup. She died a few hundred years ago, but apparently that there's no statute of limitations of this whole reincarnation thing."

Jupiter swung around to give Sapphire a measuring stare.

"If you claim her title, you'll have control over 6 planets, one of which currently supports human life. Two were harvested not long before Irada's death, and the other three are, well, they're still evolving. It's a small empire, compared to a lot of others, but it's an empire none-the-less."

"I'd be in charge of a planet with humans on it? How on earth can I deal with that?" Sapphire's voice rose shrilly as she worked out just what was being asked of her.

"And.. And – Murder! People have tried to kill you. Repeatedly! What you're asking me to do.. I might die!"

"I know," she replied simply.

"I can't be held responsible for a planet! Billions of people! You want me to protect them?"

"Less than a billion, actually. The planet is smaller, and they're about where we were during the Victorian times."

"Oh, yes, that makes it so much easier, thanks," she replies sarcastically, "And what happens if I say no? And just, go home."

Jupiter turned away, facing the expanse of space again, "We erase your memory, send you back. Move on to the next reincarnation we find."

"I die though, don't I?" Sapphire slumped against the wall, shaking. The sedative had apparently completely worn off – she was well and truly frightened now. It was all just too much for her to take.

"Probably. We can't protect you forever, and Ardest has already sent one team of keepers – even though I banned them from coming back to earth – to kill you. He won't stop there."

"How could I not do this though?" Sapphire said quietly. The ship must have changed its orbit around Earth, since it was coming into view again. Seeing the planet, in all its glory made her think.

"If I say no, then I'm just throwing away those people. Humans. They might not be the humans from Earth, but they're still people. People that deserve a future. If I say no, and let them be harvested, then I'm no better than the ones doing the harvesting, because I didn't try to stop it."

Sapphire stood up straight, her heart pounding in apprehension, and she wondered if she wasn't making a terrible mistake. It was reckless, diving into and intergalactic war, but she had to do it. When she saw the earth for the second time, the sun rising over Japan and China, something clicked. She felt a fierce need to protect the people of this planet. Allying with Jupiter would help both earth and the one she would claim.

She had no choice, really.

"I'll do it. Tell me what I need to do."

Jupiter smiled widely. "It's a pain in the ass, but-"

She was cut off by a screeching bell noise. It undulated wildly, low and high all at once.

"What the hell is that?"

Before Jupiter could reply, Caine burst into the room, looking both furious and worried. The door swooshed shut behind him, and he rushed inside, spreading his wings widely as he approached the women.

"There's been a murder, and I can't find Faize."