The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 33.2

[Gabriel]

Prime Minister Wyatt Wilkes appeared on the viewscreen with a grim scowl on his face, a far cry from his usual cheesy politician smile. "I have little time, Chancellor. What do you want?"

"To stop a war, Mr. Prime Minister." Jayna replied, drawing down her eyebrows. Hope stood beside her. "Beyond the loss of ships and life, it would be hugely unpopular to your people. Call off your battle group."

"Then back down." A menacing half-smile drifted onto his face. "Your forces will be crushed. And with a decisive victory, my people will come around. They will like a good show of force."

"Is this a publicity stunt, Wyatt?" Jayna asked. He bristled as she spoke his first name. "A distraction from some inconvenient truth? History will judge you harshly."

"The Confederacy is illegitimate, as is the false Empress beside you!"

Hope stepped forward. "You built your house with deception, Mr. Prime Minister. The thing about that is, the bigger it gets, the easier the walls crumble. When they do, what truths will reveal themselves? I think we both know. We offer you a chance to withdraw as a man of peace and preserve your honor."

The Prime Minister growled an expletive and terminated the communication.

"Well, that was unproductive." Gabriel said, leaning against the galley wall beside Admiral Glynn, out of the camera view.

"Not entirely," Jayna disputed. "We now know how desperate he is."

"And by inference, how deep his corruption is." Hope completed the thought. "The Trade Consortium must have him by the balls."

Gabriel grinned at his sister's analogy. Sometimes, she didn't talk like an Empress. Composing himself, he asked, "So, how does all that help us?"

The Admiral answered. "He is also overconfident, and his battle group will be aggressive, hoping to score a quick victory. We might use that to our advantage."

As Hope turned to leave with Gabriel, Jayna stopped them, turning up her dark brown eyes and gathering her hands in front. "There is one more thing, Empress. Before you leave the Asclepius, we would like to take some of your ova for safe storage. Just in case."

Hope's breath hitched, and a chill crawled down Gabriel's back. Nothing ominous about that.

By her admission, the implications troubled Hope more than the actual procedure, which included localized hormone treatments to spur multiple egg production, followed later by robotic transvaginal aspiration. The ova were preserved in a secure stasis chamber on board the ship.

*****

Amil flashed his characteristic heart-warming grin as Hope and Gabriel entered the treatment room. Strapped to his arm, an infusion module slowly injected life saving medicine while a monitoring screen displayed vital data. He sat in a padded chair, doodling on a tablet viewer. Both Hope and Amil extended their prosthetic legs and clicked them together in their own special greeting.

Gabriel ruffled the boy's thick hair. "How is it going, buddy? Are the treatments okay?"

"It's no fun." Amil sighed. "I have to sit here a long time."

Sura came to her son's side. "Only two more to do. Then we can go home." She turned to Hope and bowed her head. "Empress... Hope, I cannot thank you enough. You gave my son back to me."

Hope put a hand on Amil's shoulder. "I am happy to do so. Your son helped lift me from a dark place when I needed it most."

"I made you this!" Amil held up his viewer, displaying a drawing of him and Hope, smiling hand-in-hand under a bright sun, each holding out a prosthetic leg.