Imperatrix of the Galaxy Read online

  Jegra settled into the plush white Targarian leather seat and looked out the window as the automated clamshell doors shut. She collected her hair back over her shoulders and brushed down her dress, chasing out the pleated folds as the shuttle rose up into the blue sky and slowly pivoted in mid-air as it found its course. It gracefully climbed away from the palace, its engines spitting out blue-tipped torches of high yield plasma as the thrusters ignited.

  As the craft darted up toward the atmosphere, she glanced down and watched her glorious palace shrink away till it was the size of a toy model. As Jegra broke through the atmosphere, the halo of Dagon’s star burst over the arc of the planet Dagon Prime; it hung in the distance like a majestic blue and green opal. Between her moon and the planet hovered a silver shard, a sliver of reflective light hanging in space. It was her personal battlecruiser, which idled in low orbit like an ever-vigilant guardian angel.

  Newly commissioned and fresh out of space dock, the Dagon cruiser was sleek. A costly coat of chromatic thermal paint made the slender vessel look like a heavenly teardrop floating in space.

  It was roughly the shape of a Helianthus seed, and the length of a large ocean liner; approximately four hundred sixty meters long. It had eighteen decks and could hold up to four thousand passengers and two thousand active crew. Although the vessel had only one shuttle bay, it made up for it with three supersized cargo bays and eight docking ports. Each cargo bay was large enough to fit an entire six-passenger shuttle and also acted as emergency storage for transporting survivors or refugees. One of Jegra’s goals was to crack down on poaching in the empire and prevent the illegal trafficking of aliens from off world.

  Naturally, Jegra had personally seen to the designs and specifications of this new vessel. It was more than a statement of her supremacy in the empire; it was the first vessel in the Dagon fleet capable of slip-stream travel through hyperspace. Also, it was the first Dagon vessel to use a hybrid system of state-of-the-art Cordovan engine technology, Nyctan shield technology, and Dagon structural engineering. There was nothing like it in all seven systems of the empire. It was, simply put, iconic.

  The sleek vessel was powered by a 7-simplex hyperborean fusion drive. Cutting edge stuff. The slipstream drive was an experimental prototype of a dark energy transfusion drive. Once the hyperborean drive got the ship into hyperspace, the slip-stream transfusion drive would take over and the vessel would enter a kind of accelerated current that ran between the edge of hyperspace and the existence of dark energy.

  During slipstream travel, the ship’s ram scoops would open up in the slipstream and pull in dark energy directly from the interstellar medium, thereby effecting a virtual perpetual motion propulsion. The only thing preventing it from being a true perpetual motion machine, was basic physics and the inevitable superheating that threatened, over vast distances, to quite literally melt the engines.

  Eventually the ram scoop engines would grow so hot, they’d automatically shut down. But it took hours to get them that hot, and at slipstream speeds, it only took two to three hours to traverse each system–a mere sixteen hours to traverse all seven systems. That beat the six-month journey it took any other, more traditionally configured vessels, at hyper-faster-than-light travel.

  Subsequently, this new engine technology made the ship faster than any vehicle ever created and gave Jegra a galactic reach far beyond even the emperor’s. Moreover, she could hop from one end of the empire to the other in a matter of hours versus days, weeks, or even months.

  One downside to running such high-power through the ship’s systems, however, was that it meant there had to be sacrifices. A weapon’s system was out of the question due to the feedback it caused. During test flights of the prototype, whenever they activated the weapons systems, the complex physics of running two separate engine technologies in one hybrid system caused a huge power feedback that destroyed the ship. Jegra lost a test crew of two-hundred Dagon souls. As such, she ordered the engineering team to leave the weapons out of the equation, an order that raised a lot of eyebrows, but she had made her point quite clear: any further loss of life was simply unacceptable.

  Which meant her ship was without fangs; although, not entirely defenseless.

  Because of the high energy output of the vessel, Jegra had three times the number of shield modulators built into the ship, meaning its shields were therefore three times more powerful than anything in the system. She didn’t need weapons when she could use the ship like a molten hot needle to literally cut through any enemy vessel simply by ramming it. Which is why she’d named her beautiful glistening flagship the Shard.

  [*Approaching the Shard, Your Grace*], a computer voice chirped as the shuttle pulled up alongside the long, gleaming cruiser that shimmered iridescently like a freshly polished ocean pearl.

  The small white shuttle pulled up next to a portion of the Shard which shimmered briefly and then, as if the hull had turned molten and melted away, an entire section of the ship opened up to reveal a shuttle bay. Jegra leaned back in her chair as her craft passed through the shield barrier, the blue shimmer wavering as the ship’s energy shields mingled with the shuttle bay’s.

  Reverse thrusters fired off in spurts and the shuttle slowly landed inside the markings of a yellow rectangle painted on a section of the floor.

  As the landing prongs of the pod met the korridium deck of the landing bay with a resounding clank, the shuttle bay doors shifted and then, like liquid aluminum, meshed back together and solidified. It was as if the ship had miraculously healed itself from a gaping wound.

  Jegra rose and walked over to the rear hatch of the shuttle and waited for it to depressurize. There were a few spurts of compressed air as the shuttle matched the air pressure of the bay and then the hatch rolled to the side to allow Jegra out.

  She exited the shuttle and shuffled down the ramp that extended out from beneath the clamshell wing of the door, then confidently strode across the walkway, her dress hugging her feminine form like liquid copper.

  Although the cruiser’s artificial gravity generators mimicked terrestrial gravity, there was a strange sensation, like a stickiness, that took some getting used to every time she stepped onboard a space vessel. But it always passed after an hour or two. She didn’t know if it was a trick of the imagination or if the body simply needed to acclimate to its environment like it would stepping off an airplane into the dense humidity of a tropical climate. There was the initial shock of the change, but after a brief stint in the new environment, you hardly noticed it anymore.

  At the other end of the shuttle bay stood Danica, waiting to greet her partner. Her hair was a turquoise and purple ombre, cut shoulder length and permed so it was wavy at the tips. The shade complimented her lavender skin tone; she wore a white jumpsuit with a narrow yellow band running full length down either side. As usual, her jumpsuit was unzipped just the right amount to allow her ample bust to spill out generously in all the right places.

  “Dany?” Jegra asked, greeting her girlfriend with a quick peck on the lips. She was curious as to why she’d met her all the way down here rather than aboard the bridge. “What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait?”

  Danica held up a transparent touch-pad device. “You’ve got an encrypted call from Emperor Dakroth.”

  “So, you located him, then?”

  “More like he located us,” she replied, handing over the device. “It came across on his emergency broadcast signal.”

  Jegra took it in her hand, but felt tension on it and looked up with a curious expression when Danica didn’t relinquish the device to her.

  “I should warn you,” Danica said in a somber tone.

  “Warn me about what?”

  “Never mind. See for yourself.” She let go and Jegra tapped the display and replayed the transmission.

  Jegra watched for a moment and then smirked and raised a curious eyebrow. After having seen enough, she swiped right on the touch-screen and the video shrank away and disappeared
. She looked up at Dani’s amber eyes and gave her an obligatory smile–the smile of an empress who’s been slighted but who keeps her composure, providing an example of womanly strength and grace.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Danica said, shooting Jegra an apologetic look. Even though she had nothing to be sorry for, she genuinely felt sympathy for Jegra and the awkward position she’d been put in.

  “It’s fine,” Jegra said, returning the touchpad.

  “It is?” Danica asked, puzzled.

  “Yeah,” Jegra said with a subtle smile. “It’s not like I’m going to sleep with him ever again. And, besides, he’s the emperor. He can do what he likes. Even if it is with that blood crazed thunder cunt.”

  “Ah,” Dani said, smiling at Jegra spryly.

  “What?”

  “So you are mad, then?”

  Jegra squinted at Dani crossly and then started up the corridor. “More like disappointed.”

  Danica followed after Jegra as they climbed into an elevator at the end of the corridor. Jegra hit the button on the wall, the elevator chimed, and the doors slid shut. There was a light undulation as the lift began to rise. While they rode, Jegra let out a sigh.

  Danica just watched her, gauging how best to console her partner. The elevator doors opened with a hiss and they made their way down another corridor and to the bridge. Once they passed through the sliding doors, the bridge crew greeted them, and Danica turned to her. “Will you be all right?” she whispered, keeping her voice down so nobody would overhear.

  “Yes,” Jegra replied without so much as a second’s hesitation. After a brief pause, she laughed softly to herself. When she noticed Danica giving her that inquisitive look, she shared what was on her mind. “They really are a match made in heaven.” She laughed again. “Can you imagine what their children would be like?”

  “Honestly,” Danica sighed, “I don’t want to imagine it. It’s too terrifying to even think about.”

  “Purple fang-toothed psychopaths in metal diapers is what would fall out of that woman’s cunt,” Jegra intoned.

  Danica and Jegra shared a brief sideways glance and then burst out laughing. They leaned into one another, bumping their shoulders lightly, and shook their heads until the awkward vision of Dakroth’s illegitimate love demons faded and the present once again resumed its rightful place.

  “All kidding aside,” Jegra said, getting back to the task at hand. “The emperor is still being held captive by the assassin, Ishtar Bantu, and I intend to fulfill my duty as empress and protector of the throne.” She turned to the officers on her bridge crew and continued in a more commanding tone, “We will not rest until the emperor has been secured and returned safely to the empire. For Dagon! For the Empire!” She made a fist and extended it out in front of her.

  The crew echoed her words back to her, “For Dagon! For the Empire!” and mirrored her gesture. They held their fists out until she lowered hers, and then returned to their duties.

  “Ensign,” Jegra said, placing her hand on the shoulder of a young Dagon girl in an immaculate, white uniform. Her long white hair was tied up in a ponytail and she glanced up at Jegra with orange eyes that sparkled like Citrine gemstones. “Input the coordinates of that emergency broadcast and punch it.”

  The girl gave Jegra a confounded look.

  Danica leaned in and whispered into Jegra’s ear. “She doesn’t know what ‘punch it’ means.”

  A sheepish grin came over her and she laughed apologetically. “Reminds me of someone I know,” she said, shooting Danica a familiar glance. Dani blushed and looked away. Returning her attention to the young ensign, Jegra clarified, “Just take us to those coordinates. Maximum speed.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the girl said. Her fingers danced across the touch-display of her console as she inputted the coordinates and then she paused. “Maximum speed, ma’am?” she asked, uncertain whether Jegra wanted the top cruising speed or the full slipstream drive.

  “Maximum cruising speed,” she clarified.

  “Right,” the girl said, embarrassed by her mistake. “Sorry.”

  “Sorry, Your Majesty,” Danica corrected, giving the ensign a sharp look. She had not patience for insubordination, rookie or not.

  The girl gulped. “Y... yes, Your Majesty,” she echoed, heeding Danica’s prompt to address the empress properly.

  “It’s quite all right,” Jegra said, giving the ensign’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “We all make mistakes. Just don’t let it happen again.”

  Jegra turned and marched off the bridge. The girl looked up at Danica with a worried expression only to find the intimidating Dagon staring at her with an unforgiving gaze.

  “Get it together, ensign,” she growled, then swiveled on her heel and double-timed-it to catch up to Jegra.

  Danica matched Jegra’s brisk pace in the corridor and said, “You shouldn’t be so lenient with the crew members. It sets the wrong example. Dagons pride themselves on discipline. The girl was undisciplined and would benefit from a stern reprimanding.”

  “And what example would that set?” Jegra asked, raising an eyebrow. “That I’m to be feared?”

  “You’re the Empress of Dagon now. Whether you like it or not, you’re married to the most imposing figure in eight systems. If you show any sign of weakness, then your enemies will use that opportunity to exploit you.”

  “Empathy and compassion are not weaknesses, Dani. One can be firm yet fair. And without fairness, all you have is tyranny. I set my course apart from Dakroth’s, and if that means an adjustment period for the officers, then, so be it.”

  “You’re treating them like children.”

  Jegra stopped mid-corridor and spun to face Danica. “Is not the Empress often referred to as the ‘Mother of Dagon’?”

  Danica smacked her teeth in annoyance. “Yes, but—”

  “But nothing,” Jegra said, cutting Danica off. Brushing her bangs out of her eyes, she smiled at Danica to let her know she wasn’t upset with her. “They are my children and it is my duty to watch out for them.”

  “Just…be careful. You may be the empress of all Dagon now, but there are those who don’t recognize your authority.”

  “You’re speaking of the rebel faction.”

  “Yes. The Harbingers of Truth have grown emboldened as of recent. They are even going as far as to make public declarations against you.”

  “I thought they were just a fringe cult.”

  “They’re a growing cult with dangerous allegiances in the underground. And their whole platform hinges on not recognizing your authority. You will always be an outsider, Jegra. They do not accept you as rightful heir to the throne. In their minds they believe that Jennica is still technically the Supreme Empress of the Galaxy, as she never abdicated the throne, and Dakroth never issued a death certificate. They’re using her as a martyr to rally around. They are calling you the Illegitimate Imperatrix.”

  “Jennica is dead,” Jegra answered with a scowl. “Nothing will change that.” She looked down at her hands with a profound sadness in her eyes. Jennica’s blood would be forever on her hands, and it ate her up inside.

  Danica reached up and touched Jegra’s arm. “He gave you no choice,” she said in a soothing tone.

  “There’s always a choice,” Jegra replied.

  “She would have killed you. The throne meant everything to her. And, believe me, Jegra, she was just as vicious and power-hungry as he is. It was only a matter of time before the one turned on the other like a couple of Zalakian piranhas.”

  “Maybe that would have been for the better,” Jegra replied. She wasn’t in the habit of throwing pity parties for herself, but this was one of her biggest regrets. She’d bashed Jennica’s brains in and splattered her skull across half the wall. It hadn’t been an honorable or even merciful death. It had come of pure brutality fueled by fear and rage.

  In the back of her mind, she constantly chastised herself. She should have found another way out of Dakr
oth’s morbid death-trap, even if it had meant stealing away with Jennica and going on the lam, spending the rest of their lives playing a galactic game of cat and mouse with the emperor.

  It was just as likely that Jennica would have slit Jegra’s throat in her sleep and returned to Dagon a hero, having harrowingly escaped her captor. But whichever way she spun it, at least Jegra’s hands wouldn’t be stained with the blood of an innocent woman’s life.

  Jegra turned and continued up the corridor without saying another word. Danica followed close behind, practically treading on her heels.

  It pained Danica to see Jegra taking it so hard, but she too remembered the grisly scene like it was yesterday. She recalled unlocking the doors and seeing the blood and gore so thick it dripped down the walls like gruel. And the vision haunted her even now. Still, she couldn’t imagine how much more difficult it must be for Jegra.

  After taking Jegra’s side, Danica huffed out a frustrated sigh and said, “You’re wrong. The empire is far better off with you in charge, regardless of what anyone might say. Especially that zealot Dimeris Ferison and his cult of purist fanatics.”

  “I appreciate your confidence in me,” Jegra said, walking under the arch of the door and into her quarters. Danica followed her in and let the door close behind them.

  Once inside, Jegra stopped and turned to face Danica once more. “It means the world to me that you’re by my side. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ve made my life bearable in this inhospitable and cruel galaxy.” She reached up and touched Danica’s face and smiled. Her warm touch drew a pink blush from Danica in return and Jegra slowly leaned in to kiss her partner’s lips.

  After a long kiss, Jegra drew away and turned her back to Danica. Pushing back her shoulders so her shoulder blades nearly met in the middle, she craned her neck and looked back at Danica with a harried look. “Help me out of this dress, please.”