The turquoise queen, p.1
The Turquoise Queen, page 1
part #1 of Coalition Series
contents
01 - The Tides Of Scarlet Reef
02 - Farewell Mirror
03 - From The Desert
04 - The Boney King Of Nowhere
05 - Cold Child
06 - Gray Man
07 - Rageris
08 - Staring At The Sun
09 - Purple Screams
10 - Silent First Step
11 - Invader
12 - Walking Ahead Of The Tide
13 - Six Red Stars
14 - Smooth Transition
15 - To Maim The Leviathan
16 - Saint Veshirra
17 - Giants For Scouts
18 - Breaking Waves
19 - Saffron Fields
20 - Placating Friends
21 - A Monster Rewarded
22 - Listening To The Sun
23 - Warrior Of The Taken Lands
24 - Purchasing Vengeance
25 - Interrogator
26 - The God Of Dusk And Dawn
Epilogue - The Gift Of A Blade
The Tides Of Scarlet Reef
The woman laid on the beach, not asleep, not quite awake. Soaking in the hot morning sun, oblivious to the thriving metropolis under the rolling waves, and to the mighty warships far above the pristine sky. She had chosen to ignore them, for now. The sea breeze made the scorching heat so pleasant. Calm seas surrounded the tiny, coral colored island. It was a resort for tourists of land walking species.
That's what she looked like, a common tourist. Laying on a plastic recliner, clad in a lime green bikini. Huge, lime-green framed sunglasses covering her eyes. An elaborate, icy cocktail resting on a little table by her side, under an umbrella. A caricature of a common tourist.
Clusters of mineralized trunks sprouted from the shallow water and the shore, here and there. They were the same color as the sand, the carcasses of their ancestors ground to fine dust by the waves. Their extremities split into delicate branches covered in violet plumes. Ever growing, in death they would make sure the island would not soon disappear beneath the water. In the distance, a hotel and apartment complex gleamed in metal and glass, the only surface building in the area.
To the sound of distant, joyous chatter, she lazily opened her eyes, to watch the passersby. Most were Earthlings like her. The weather on this part of Illuminated Ocean was a lot like Earth's tropics. A pair of Raiac men wearing tunics walked past, talking fast in the clicks, chirps and creaks of their tongue. A corpulent creature, whose race she could not identify, sat lonely at a drink kiosk. He or she looked sad. Not a single native in sight, though she knew millions of them dwelled just a few hundred meters in front of her. The island was just the visible tip of a vast reef. She was right on top of one of the busiest commercial districts in their capital.
This time was hers alone. For a few hours each week, she was just one more of those carefree vacationers. Oblivious to the fact that this was a colony of the Sencris. An empire whose leaders she had heard whispering of invasion against the very worlds most of those tourists came from.
For now, none of that was her problem. She took a long sip from her drink, slid her eyes shut again, felt the sun on her skin. Then a beep sounded in her ears, nails on a chalkboard.
She pressed a finger to her temple to answer the call. A wide, three-sided face took over the left portion of her field of view. It had a beak flanked by large eyes, framed by large panels like fins, all gently undulating. Her Aquatic secretary. Ideograms flashed on his face panels in rapid succession, a greeting followed by "Five Emerald-Green Hexagons." That was the local version of her name, for reasons they had never explained to her satisfaction. Something to do with the color of her eyes, and the way she gesticulated when she spoke.
There had always been the option to use a translator, have the ideograms converted into audio. It was what the vast majority of people did when talking to another species. With the Aquatics, Natalie Kadomodo had chosen to forego that option, even though keeping up with the rapid sequences of complex symbols strained her Earthling eyes and visual cortex to the absolute limit. For Earth's ambassador on one of Senchrien's wealthiest colonies, she'd concluded, the ability to eavesdrop on nearby conversations was too essential to pass up.
By the light green hue of his skin, it was clear the Aquatic was nervous, agitated. The message he brought was simple and he got right to it. Another three symbols and Natalie was just as nervous. Turquoise, Queen, Seven. A name she was quite familiar with.
"Turquoise Queen Seven is on her way here. She'll be arriving today!"
He was talking about Erchtria Kreshalti, the newly elected Raiac regent.
"How am I only learning this now?" The translator picked up the irritation in her voice, tinting the symbols the Aquatic saw in pale yellow. A state visit of such scale was too big an event to keep secret. There were preparations, prior negotiations. It took months to plan. She should've had months to prepare, not hours.
"Looks like Turquoise herself didn't know she was coming here until a couple days ago," the secretary guessed. "A last-minute decision?"
"She might have told her ship's crew where she was going a couple days ago, but I guarantee she planned this long before they left the dock."
The regent didn't want the Aquatic government to plan for her arrival, Natalie thought. More important, she didn't want the Sencris to know she'd be there.
"She wants to meet you."
That was unusual. If Raichr had dealings to discuss with Earth, why not contact her government directly? They were close allies, there should be no need for subterfuge.
"Me?" She asked. "Did they tell you why?"
They had not, the Aquatic replied, but the regent's message had named Natalie, provided a location and a time. They had not bothered to ask if she would be available, he added with a note of rosy humor.
"They figure her time is a bit more valuable than mine."
Orders of magnitude more valuable. When the co-ruler of over four dozen star systems says she wants to meet, a mere ambassador must make the time to be there, anyway she can.
Ripped from her stupor, Natalie got on her feet in one quick move, a high priority request already sent to the nearest transport pod. Before hanging up, she told the Aquatic to send her any data he had on the regent. Vacation was over, she had to make the next few hours count.
The trip home was brief. The ambassador lived in an apartment on the tower by the shore, on one of the upper floors. It offered a beautiful view of the crescent-shaped beach, while also placing her conveniently close to her workplace, in the underwater metropolis of Scarlet Reef.
She made hasty preparations, all the while pouring over the text and images freshly downloaded into her computer. The current state of relations between the Sencris Empire and nearby star systems, with special interest on Earth, the Sharizinar Alliance, and Illuminated Ocean. A summarized biography of Raichr's newly anointed ruler. Manuals on Raiac body language. Most of it was old news to her, but she had to look it over, make sure she wasn't missing anything. Some connection, some clue to what this latest development meant.
Natalie had a few theories, but her time was up before she could give them any serious thought. She boarded the pod again, gave it the coordinates provided by the regent's staff. A private dock in Scarlet Reef's central spaceport. With a soft hum, the oval vehicle took off, speeding above the undisturbed ocean surface. It had very little company to share the sky with. Most pods here traveled underwater, weaving their way across the neon-lit canyons of the city below.
It was close to noon when she arrived at the spaceport. It was one of a few structures built above water, to cater to visitors from other worlds, and by far the largest. It was made up of several circular buildings of varying size, each topped by a long, thin docking tower, all interconnected by suspended bridges. Here, pod traffic was much more intense. The autopilot on hers expertly weaved its way to one of the smallest docks, delivering her straight to the topmost landing pad, where she was to wait for her illustrious guest.
There, all alone, she paced from one side to the other of the large, circular open space. The sun was at full strength now but, at that height, so was the cool wind. This choice of location was telling. This would be the regent's first appointment on Illuminated Ocean, and it was to be a private one.
The wait felt a lot longer than it actually was. Very punctual, the tiny incandescent dot of a reentry shuttle appeared in the sky. It quickly cooled down and grew, until its shape distinguished it with ease from the many civilian shuttles arriving and departing nearby.
It was blade-shaped and sleek, its hull the characteristic dark blue of Raiac and Tcheerazeen ships. As it approached, Natalie could see the fine detail of the silver engravings that covered its every available surface. Interweaving branches, leaves and flowers from Raichr's notorious, exuberant flora. Slowly it descended on the platform, extending its feet into a soft touchdown.
As the hatch opened with a loud click, Natalie stood before it with the trained posture of a diplomat, one that projected the needed authority and respect. Yet the circumstances were far from customary. There was no welcoming committee, no media coverage, no pomp whatsoever.
The first to disembark were six guards, marching in cadence down the hatch ramp. Full body armor left little of their exoskeleton exposed, and each held a beam rifle. All their equipment was covered in golden engravings similar to those on the ship, though the species depicted were far more predatory. Bleeding edge military tech made to look like ornate antiques.
They positioned themselves in a semicircle around the hatch. Their bulky physique, their chitinous fingertips sharpened into deadly razors, the expressionless goggles covering their eyes, all told that, to those people, intimidation was second nature.
After that, a slender figure calmly descended the ramp. The first word that came to Natalie, to describe her, was shiny. With a clear, trained voice, she uttered the proper greetings.
"In the name of the Earthling Republic, I welcome your excellence to Illuminated Ocean."
The regent was tall for a Raiac. She wore a long burgundy skirt with a geometric stamp. From the waist up, only jewelry covered her polished exoskeleton, and there was a lot of it. Necklace upon golden collar flowed across her chest. Natalie recognized the creature depicted in the largest of them, the flattened silhouette of a bulbous Narochrrando, with fine, gemstone-sprinkled gold chains for tendrils. Large bracelets and rings also doted her arms and fingers, the tips of which were as sharp as those of her escorts.
"Thank you, ambassador Kadomodo." She turned to the nearest of her guards, a tall, imposing woman. "I will be fine Irshte." Then back to her. "I apologize if my security team made you feel uneasy. They're a bit on edge. This is a Sencris colony after all."
With that, all six soldiers assumed a less menacing stance. Her voice was diminutive, leveled, friendly. Her eyes however, piercing black dots surrounded by vast crimson irises, transmitted all the necessary authority. Golden ocular masks surrounded them, stylized Nirchrei wings engraved on their concave surface.
"I hope you had a pleasant journey." A default attempt at ice breaking.
"Yes, quite. I hear Scarlet Reef is lovely this time of year. A bit chilly for my taste." The Raiac took a long look at the ocean below, gentle waves as far as the horizon. The sun was still very much up. It was tough for Natalie not to sweat in her formal white suit. "But still, lovely. We have a lot to discuss, so we should go somewhere more comfortable."
"Of course, your excellence, I shall summon a pod."
"Yes, a pod attracts a lot less attention than this pompous thing." She pointed a razor finger at her ornate shuttle. "And please, just call me Erchtria. If this were an official meeting, this place would be a lot more crowded."
Natalie felt those crimson eyes staring directly into hers, studying her, for just a moment. Then the Raiac continued, her clicks and creaks still sweet and careless, as if she were talking to an old friend. They could hear the soft hum of the approaching pod's engines.
"You were at Twelve Atoll Beach just now, right? We should go there."
The ambassador maintained her composure, tried not to look surprised by the regent's knowledge of her whereabouts. Of course she'd sent spies ahead of herself. Of course she had planned this visit long before actually telling anyone about it. As for the reasons for all this secrecy, she supposed she would soon discover them.
"Yeah, it is a beautiful place. A lot of the Earthlings who visit the planet stay there, but it's not very crowded. It's a good place to talk." She tried to mimic the other woman's relaxed demeanor.
The pod arrived. Three of the soldiers trained their rifles at its door as it opened, as if expecting a battalion of Sencris lancers to come bursting out. It was empty. One of them took a scanner from a compartment in his armor, ran it carefully across every centimeter of the vehicle, then gave his mistress the all clear.
"In case you're wondering, it was the Voldrajuh," Erchtria said as she boarded and took her seat facing Natalie.
"Excuse me?"
The pod took off, speeding away towards Twelve Atoll Beach.
"The one who was watching you. You must've thought it was the two Raiacs, but it was the Voldrajuh sitting at the kiosk." She let out a little hiss and her pedipalps quivered. Her kind's version of a chuckle, the body language manuals told. "A drunk, depressed guy sitting at a bar? People make a point of not paying attention to him, no matter the species."
This revelation sounded like a veiled threat. The regent must have caught the momentary hint of fear on Natalie's face.
"That scared you, sorry," she added quickly. "I needed to be sure you could be trusted before we met face to face. That's all."
Several minutes later, the two arrived at the beach. It was a warm, pleasant afternoon. They sat at that same kiosk, in the shade of a large parasol, just a few meters away from where Natalie had been sunbathing in the morning. However, they now looked very out of place. The many gems and precious metals covering Erchtria's body gleamed intensely, tinkling with any broader gesture she made. And the Earthling's clothes, while less sumptuous, were not at all adequate for the locale or the weather.
The Voldrajuh was still there, sipping on his probably non-alcoholic drink, still feigning sadness and inebriation as he discreetly monitored his surroundings. A floral sarong left most of his massive, scaly brown body exposed. At the sight of his boss, he calmly finished his glass, paid the bill and got up to leave, never acknowledging the two women's presence. He had four small tusks, and flaring nostrils just above his tiny yellow eyes, Natalie observed as he left. It must've been the first time she saw one of his kind, or at least the first time she paid attention to one.
"I'm sorry I interrupted your little holiday, I really am. I mean, what's the point of being stationed on a place like this if you can't enjoy the view now and then?"
Her voice remained small, disarming. In the pod, once the initial apprehension had been lifted, they had chatted about innocent things. Their homeworlds, things left behind. At one point, Natalie had told her she had no family on Illuminated Ocean. That had made the regent introspective.
"Good, one less thing to worry about," she'd replied.
Of herself, Erchtria had said very little, and nothing that could not be found in the public data network. The ambassador, in turn, had ended up speaking at length about growing up on Oberon, a remote Earthling colony. About her saffron farmer parents and how excellent for their trade the weather on the tidally locked planet was. It was only when they landed that she'd realized how many personal details about her life she'd let slip to this stranger she'd just met. And it surprised her, embarrassed her even, for talking to people, knowing to control information was a big part of her job.
"The beach won't go anywhere."
"So, what do you recommend?" Erchtria gestured at the many bottles stacked on shelves behind the kiosk's counter. Natalie hesitated. Guessing why, the regent hissed again. "Don't worry, no one's going to try to poison us. My agents vetted this place."
She thought for an instant, then made an order. The bartender was an Earthling, in his late seventies by the small wrinkles on his sunburned skin. He had a warm, welcoming demeanor, no doubt acquired from years of catering to tourists.
"Two Violet and Vodkas." The man started to work, mixing vodka, ice and ground violet stalk blossoms. Her personal favorite, and the acid taste should satisfy a Raiac's palate, she guessed.
The two drank, the Raiac taking her time to savor the mix. After a moment, her pedipalps wiggled downwards in approval.
"Delicious!" She looked around, at Natalie, the bartender, the beachgoers. When she spoke it was with a contemplative tone. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this planet was an Earthling colony."
She took another long sip of the icy purple mix. The Raiac was beautiful, Natalie realized, an articulated turquoise sculpture shining in the afternoon sun. She could still sense those sharp crimson eyes on her, even as Erchtria scanned the landscape with an absent gaze.
"Yet look just below the surface, and you'll see it's an entirely different species' homeworld," the regent continued. "Spot your first armored lancer, and you'll see it's also a Sencris colony."
"The Aquatics aren't just another Sencris client race." Natalie felt a tinge of pride in pointing that out. This had been her home for some years now. She'd grown fond of it, and of its people.
"Exactly. That's why I'm here." She drank again, wiggling her pedipalps. "I could read all I want about this place, but only someone who lives here can tell me where to, say, get the best violet and vodka. Someone like you."
There was a long pause, as if she was steeling herself. When she spoke again, her voice had lost its cheerful tone.
"It's a bit crowded here. Let's take a walk." They were the kiosk's only customers. The bartender was still there. He had ears, innocent though he may be.
