Aeson: Black by Vera Nazarian EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Authors: Vera Nazarian
- Language: English
- Genre: Colonization Science Fiction eBooks
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AESON: BLACK
I remove the black armband, dutifully fold it into a perfect square of
silken fabric, and place it on the night stand near my bed.
The “night stand” varies, depending on where I sleep that night—in a
crowded Fleet barracks, in the grand and solitary Crown Prince’s Quarters
at the Imperial Palace where every piece of ancient décor belongs in a
museum, at my spacious home in Phoinios Heights filled with modern
luxury, in a cramped crewman’s shipboard cabin, or in somewhat more
accommodating Fleet officers’ quarters—such as now. Sometimes, the night
stand is an antique piece of furniture made of priceless lacquered wood. At
other times, it’s a metal shelf emerging from a ship’s hull, or a makeshift
stack of items rising from the floor.
The ritual grounds me.
Ever since I awoke from the black, and drew my first, newly living
breath, filled with an undefined but real urge and purpose, small rituals
became important.
Such as tonight, here and now. . . .
“Now” is a grim moment, six years later, on board the Imperial
Command Ship 2—a Fleet vessel under my command, presently fulfilling
the final stages of a complicated and fateful mission to Earth and back.
Early in the morning of this same day (three days before our scheduled
arrival on Atlantis), I’ve had a soul-shattering conversation via interstellar
with my Imperial Father. As soon as it ended, I disconnected our secure
video call quantum comm link across the universe.
Then I called in my three Aides, all waiting outside my office—Gennio
Rukkat, Anu Vei, and Gwen Lark. I told them that we’ve been ordered by
My Father, the Imperator, to the Imperial Palace, as soon as we arrive in
orbit, and that he expects to see Gwen Lark immediately, to be brought
before him at Court that same evening. They must’ve noticed some of my
initial agitation, especially in those first moments when I conveyed to them
the Imperial orders—which is unforgivable of me.
What I did not tell them was the true gravity of this Imperial command
and what it really means.
I’ll never forget that call. . . .
Our exchange was precise, unemotional, coldly controlled—a typical
interaction between the Imperator and his Heir. And yet, something was
different. A new sense of inner conviction arose inside me even as I listened
to my Father’s casual and terrifying words in regard to a person who has
increasingly taken on significance for me.
This person, she—
I fixate on the Imperial words now, dwell on their cruel meaning,
reliving our conversation. . . .
“As soon as you land, you’ll bring the girl directly here,” Romhutat
Kassiopei, my Father and the Archaeon Imperator of Atlantida tells me
during our call. “In fact, let’s have her present at the Court Assembly as we
welcome you home, so that I can have a first look at her while she’s still—
fresh. Afterwards, she’ll be escorted straight to the research facility, and
surrendered to the STA lab techs.”
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