Daughter of Nox

Chapter Nine

Night crept over the horizon as the cruiser carried Freya and Father toward the reception. Freya leaned toward her window to peer into the dusky atmosphere, to see the outline of the Sphere. From their angle of approach the place looked like a waxing crescent moon against the violet twilight sky. Spotlights and landing signals flared up from the ground about it.

"Whoever decided that hosting this thing at the Sphere should really get out of the party planning business," Freya told Father.

A ghost of a smile twitched onto Rúnda's lips, which Freya understood was the equivalent of him giving a good belly laugh.

"It's unorthodox I agree," he said, without looking up from his datapad. "But choosing the Sphere as the site of the reception is more symbolic than practical."

Freya tilted her head. "Come again?"

"It's a show of strength," he said, looking up from his datapad. "It's a way for the Ministry to signal that attacks like the one on the Sphere are meaningless."

"Signal to who?"

"Founders, the lower castes, the Separatists themselves," he said. "What better way to show your enemy how little their efforts matter than by holding an extravagant party at the very site of their last attack?"

"But what about if the Separatists see the reception as an even better target than the Sphere?" Freya said. "I mean, aren't there supposed to be Ministry people at this thing? That seems like an awful tempting target to someone looking to make a statement."

"That's an insightful strategic analysis." Father's smirk made another appearance, but lingered this time. "Careful, or someone might mistake you for an Ascending First Marshall."

Freya stared blankly at Father. "Am I dreaming right now, or did you just try to make a joke?"

Rúnda made a scoffing sound in his throat. "Believe it or not, I am capable of humor, Freya."

"Dad, the fact that you just said 'I am capable of humor' only underlines how incapable you are."

Rúnda opened his mouth to answer, when the sensation of their cruiser decelerating made both of them lean into their seat harnesses. Freya turned from Father and looked out the window again, and felt a jolt of surprise at the scene.

The Sphere loomed massive in the near distance, and at its base sat an enormous tiered structure Freya knew hadn't been there during her last security tour of the facility. The place looked crowded, even from the vantage point of the sky. Stacks of open-air platforms rose up from the ground, each level connected to the other by spiraling staircases that glimmered like crystal in the brilliant white light that radiated from each level. Dozens of smaller platforms topped with writhing water sculptures drifted on hover jets and made lazy arcs around the main structure. Freya could see the shine of dozens of newsfeed drones swarming around the place as well.

"The slagging media is here?" she asked as the cruiser touched down on a landing pad just beyond the reception. "How many people are supposed to be at this thing?"

"With a thousand Founders, their families, and as many military officers and Ministry politicians as could get their hands on invitations, the newsfeeds would never miss something like this."

"A thousand?" Freya's eyes widened. "But there aren't even a thousand Founders on Nox."

"Normally, no, but with the first day of Academy beginning tomorrow, Nox is playing home to many off-world Founders, and their Ascending," he said. "I'd wager that all of your future classmates are down there now. Their parents and siblings as well."