she patted him on the shoulder and withdrew to a symphony of respectful bows.

"I'm glad I got to meet someone like that once before I die," Zora said as she sat back down in the pilot's chair.

                                        * * *

It took them two days to get the _Scimitar_ repaired.

There was a _lot_ of damage. They ignored everything but the necessary systems; propulsion, life support, shields, power generation, and still it took two days to get everything fixed. Jason and Myleena recruited just about everyone into the repair efforts, as they themselves had Cybi download what data they needed to work on the ship and they started pitching in. Jason didn't know half as much as Myleena or the Kimdori, so he isolated himself to finding and repairing damaged conduit, something he did know how to do and was pretty good at doing. He drafted Yana and Maya to be his assistants, and the two of them would get locations from the Kimdori workers on bad conduit, find it, and replace it.

There was more damage than just the marching of the years, though. Many of the ship's systems had been cannibalized, either taken by the crew that abandoned it or stripped by some passing ship that had happened across the ship. They had taken sensor arrays, power plants, spare parts, replicators, anything that basically wasn't nailed down and half of what had been. Their stripping of the interior of the ship was why the ship was having so many problems.

It did give him a chance to get an idea of the ship, though. It really was a flying laboratory, with most of its rooms and decks dedicated to research, rooms they basically wrote off and ignored, for most of the equipment that was in those rooms had been taken. The ship was laid out in a very logical manner, with a pair of main passages running amidships on each deck that served as the main artery, where everything branched off from those two hallways. Engineering was the domain of the back quarter of the ship, and everything from there to the bow was all research. The top two decks were primarily crew quarters, and a look through them showed that the Faey who had abandoned this ship had had time to do it. Most of the personal effects were gone, leaving behind only small knick-knacks and a few articles of clothing. Everything else was gone, showing that the Faey had definitely premeditated their departure.

The ship's logs supported that. The logs stated that after the _Scimitar_ got word of the attack, and then the final warning for all Karinnes to flee came down, they decided to do what Jason's own ancestors must have done. They found a good planet that could support life and evacuated to it with every bit of equipment and supplies they could get, which seemed odd to Jason. They could have waited on the ship itself, but they had instead chosen to make camp on a planet and wait it out. Then they had the ship hide in that nebula and wait for a recall order, an order that never came. The ship had the location of the planet where the Faey went in its memory, and Jason was of a mind to go there and see if there were any Faey there, see if they'd managed to establish a colony of exiles.

"What do you think of all this, Maya?" Yana asked as they sat in a narrow crawlspace with Jason, who had half his body stuck in a bulkhead as he worked a damaged piece of conduit free of an exchanger and a junction where it went through a bulkhead.

_All of what, Yana?_

"The ship, and all of what the Karinnes did. I think it's really strange. Why would they keep all this a secret? They had stuff that was like ultra-advanced back in that time, and it's still advanced now, but not by much. We kinda caught up to them. Why didn't they make a killing patenting it and selling it? Or hell, why didn't they try to take over the Imperium? They'd have won that war, hands down."

"They didn't care about money and power, Yana," Jason told her. "All they cared about was their research. I know it's hard to understand, but the Karinnes were very different from other Faey. Their focus was on science, not on power. They considered the pursuit of knowledge the greatest thing in the world, and that's what they did."

"You're right, I guess I don't understand it," Yana chuckled.

"You will," he told her. "I've already decided that everything here on Karis stays on Karis. The Imperium won't see so much as a moleculartronic board from here. They won't even know it _is_ here. As far as the Imperium is concerned, Karis is still a radioactive wasteland, and it always will be. The only thing they'll ever see of the Karinnes is this ship. I won't even let anyone wear an interface or gestalt off this planet or out of this ship. When we leave the ship, they stay behind."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want the Imperium to even think that they're anything other than what the old stories say they were, simple jewelry. And it'll discourage any kind of temptation," he added.

"Well, they don't really do anything off the ship, Jayce," Maya noted.

"And that's exactly why nobody will wear one outside," he told them.

"Makes me wonder how they kept it all a secret," Yana mused. "You know, with the Academy being here and all, and all the outsiders."

"I looked up the old maps, and saw that the Academy started off in the capitol, but then it was moved to a large island just off the main continent," Jason told her. "The new Academy was a hell of a lot bigger than the old one, the size of a city. It really was a city, if you think about it, self-contained and self-sufficient. Most people probably thought they built the new one so it could have more room, but I think they put it there to separate the Academy from the rest of Karis, so they could keep the benefits of having the Academy with all the input and research from the non-Karinne scientists, but still have the privacy to do their own work. With all the outsiders isolated to one island, it would make what _really_ went on here easier to keep secret from them."

"Still, it couldn't have been easy."

"I bet it wasn't, but they had the Kimdori here to help them, and the Karinnes were the strongest telepaths of their era," Jason reminded her. "I'm sure between them, they could keep a lid on the truth."

"Probably."

"Here," Jason said, handing out the damaged conduit through the hole, having to squeeze it through. One of them took it, and put the replacement section in his hand. He carefully navigated it through the tight access door, then lifted it up and into place with careful moves, being careful not to scratch or nick the edges of the conduit.

_Do you mind explaining what we're going to do a little, Jason?_ Maya asked.

"Not at all, hon," he told her. "Well, first thing we're gonna do is go back to Earth. We'll approach in a way that makes it look like we came in from inside the system, and then get all the Legion out of the mountain. That's our first objective. I need to get them out of there before Trillane does something insane. Once we have them, we're going to Draconis. What we're doing there is fairly simple, hon. We get in front of the Empress, and I claim my ancestral rights as the last descendent of the Karinne nobles. Obviously, I'm not gonna tell them about Myleena right at first," he explained. "From what I read of the laws of _Siann_, if I can prove I'm a descendent, they can't say anything."

"How can you prove it?"

"I won't be able to with direct evidence, but I'll have a hell of a lot of circumstantial evidence to prove my point. This ship will be a big one," he answered. "When I tell them I found the ship my ancestors came in, it'll have weight."

"But this isn't that ship."

"But they don't _know_ that, do they?" Jason said pointedly. "It's not solid evidence, like I said, but it's a biggie. I also have all the scans the docs took of my DNA, showing that I have similar DNA to a Faey. Add that in with the fact that I'm a telepath, and it all fits. Humans are telepathic because they're part Faey, and those Faey had to come from _somewhere_. Add a ancient, battered Karinne ship into that equation, and what answer do you get?"

"Ah, I see," Maya noted. "Yeah, that is a solid conclusion, isn't it?"

"Yup. As far as they'll know, the ring was on this ship, and after I found it, I read up on the laws of _Siann_ and figured the rest of it out. I do have something of a reputation for being clever," he said modestly. "Of course, Trillane and maybe the Empress will see it as simply a ploy to kick Trillane off Earth, but I'll have enough solid evidence behind me to give my argument enough weight that I'll get a foot in the door. After that, it comes down to some negotiation to sway the Empress to side with me. That's where it's gonna be tricky."

"How so?"

"If I do this, hon, I'm going to be held to the same expectations as Trillane," he explained. "I'll have the same quotas of food production to meet, and unlike Trillane, I don't have a huge noble house to mobilize to produce that food. And also consider that if I pull this off, Trillane will sabotage the hell out of Earth as they go to make sure I can't possibly meet that quota. And I'll be honest about it hon, I'd never meet it. I have no money, no resources, just me and a handful of radicals. So, what I intend to so is _lease_ the planet's food production to another house, with _heavy_ Imperial oversight, and make terms that gives that house virtually all of the profit, which is a win-win situation for the house. There won't be any house soldiers on Earth, _only_ Marines. The other house will only be here to help with the farming and move the food, that's it. That's one half of it. The other half of it is something I found in Cybi's stored memory about Karinne technological advancements. It seems that the Karinnes did some work in other fields, and at some point in the past, they tackled the technology of replicators.

"What they came up with is a replicator that can produce complex molecules," he told them. "But they didn't get it to work right, because it couldn't produce any element larger than Iridium, when they were trying to build a replicator that could replicate any element. That's still better than the replicators they have now, though. The Karinnes used it to produce materials they needed for their research, it was why the house didn't really care about money. They could _replicate_ what they needed, even precious metals like silver, iridium, and tungsten to sell on the open market if they needed cash. But they didn't see the kind of need for it I have for it now."

"Complex_food_!" Maya gasped.

"Yeah, I already crunched the numbers with Cybi, and it'll be capable of replicating edible food. The Karinnes never used it for that, but it's entirely possible. Not sure how it'll taste, but it's possible. That's the carrot I'm gonna dangle in front of Empress Dahnai. I'll offer her that technology in exchange for her siding with me. Merrane could make a _killing _if they patented that thing and sold it, and besides, if the Imperium can _replicate_ food to make up its food shortage, it'll go a long way to making the Imperium more self-sufficient. In the end, everyone will win except Trillane. Earth is taken away from Trillane, the house of Karinne is restored to the _Siann_,_ _my people can find some dignity under direct Imperial supervision at first, then slowly migrate back to what we had after the replicators cut the need for Earth's food production, Merrane makes money, people in the Imperium don't starve, and everyone's happy. Except Trillane."

"Wow. That's pretty smart, Jayce," Yana said.

"Thank Denmother Zaa," he told them. "I told her my basic idea, but she's the one that helped me flesh it out to where it has a chance to work. I didn't think of things like leasing out Earth to cover the short-term quotas. She also helped me by teaching me things I'd need to know about being a Grand Duke. Dealing with the other nobles in the _Siann_ and shit like that. She's a very smart lady, and I'm gonna be sending her thank you notes for the next fifty years. At least."

"Sounds like taking that title was a good idea," Yana giggled.

"I certainly hope so. Thanks, by the way. I know you're taking a risk by jumping on board with me, guys."

"A chance to be a noble in a house like this? I think it'll give me one hell of a story to write when I'm old," Yana said.

"You believe in something so strongly that it makes us believe in it too, Jason," Maya told him simply. "Through all of this, you've never strayed from what you believed in, and you really care about us. Why wouldn't a girl take a chance on a man like you?"

Faith. Miaari told him that faith could be a powerful weapon. Now, he finally understood what that meant.

The ship shuddered, which made Jason bang his head on the bulkhead when he flinched. _What the hell was that!_ Jason's sending boomed strongly through the ship.

_Ack! Sorry! _Zora sent through the ship. _That was my fault! The pilot controls just came back up and I was practicing on a simulation. I kinda forgot to separate the simulation from real commands!_

_Watch it, girl! _Myri barked. _This isn't your personal toy!_

_It won't happen again, I disengaged the pilot controls, _Zora called. _And cut me some slack, will ya? You have any idea how tough this is? I'm learning to fly an unfamiliar ship from scratch here, using a control system I didn't even know existed!_

_The ship will fly itself, Zora, _Jason told her. _You just tell it where to go._

_And if the autopilot fails? I'm not about to let this ship take off if I can't safely put it back down, Jason. It's just common sense._

_She has a point there, _Ilia agreed.

_How are you coming along, then?_ Jason asked.

_I'm getting the hang of it, _she answered. _It's really not much different from flying a dropship. I just kinda think out loud which way I wanna go, and the ship goes that way. It's not hard, it's just taking some adjustment here... that's what's hard. My need to use my hands confuses the ship, 'cause it sees two sets of commands, what I want to do, and then a repeat command right after as I try to use the controls to do it. If I do pilot this thing manually, I'm gonna have to sit on my hands to keep from trying to grab a control stick and throttle._

_Ah. Well, just be careful, _he sent.

_Will do._

"Sounds like Zora's having fun up there," Yana giggled. "Wonder what it's like for her."

"Different. Exciting," Jason said. "She's been a pilot all her life, and now she gets to sit in the pilot's chair of something nobody's flown in a thousand years. For her, it's probably really exciting. I just hope she gets the hang of it quick. When we show up at Earth, Trillane might shoot at us. She'd better be ready to handle this thing."

"I'm pretty sure she will. It's just a matter of doing what she already knows how to do a little differently than she's used to, that's all," Maya said.

"Yeah, I know."

_[Jason, computer reprogramming is complete. The Scimitar computer is now up and running,]_ Cybi communed to him. _[I must give thanks to Miaari. Her technicians were very quick and efficient in repairing the computer systems.]_

_[Yeah, they really are doing a good job. With the computer up, how much longer til everything's fixed?]_

_[One moment. Miaari relays that according to her master technicians, the ship should be fully repaired and ready for the mission in five hours. All primary systems are now operational. All that remains is redundant and tertiary systems, such as the system you are working on now. It is part of the power supply system for deck sections that once had equipment installed that is no longer there.]_

Jason grunted a little. _[Well, it had to be fixed, so I'm fixing it.]_

_It's getting a little late, ladies, Jason. Are you hungry? I'm making some chaya stew, _Songa sent.

_Chaya stew! Sign me up!_ Min sent eagerly.

Maya's stomach growled. _I think I'm about ready for something to eat, too, _Maya sent with an audible laugh. _Let us finish what we're doing and we can come eat._

_Sounds like a plan, ladies. Finish up what you're doing, and we'll break for chow, _Myri ordered.

"She's really a good cook," Yana said appreciatively.

"She's just happy she can be doing something right now," Maya said observantly. "If I lost Vell, I don't know what I'd do. I feel so sorry for her."

"I heard you've been giving her some man comfort, Jayce. That's really nice of you," Yana told him, tapping him on the shin. "She's a sweetheart."

"It's the least I can do for her," Jason told them honestly. "I owe Songa a lot."

"Think you can owe me enough for a quickie?" she asked.

"Yana!" Jason barked.

"Hey, a girl has to ask, ya know," she giggled. "We have to make sure you're taken care of since Jyslin isn't here. You're a squadmate's husband, Jason. We gotta look out for you. A lone boy surrounded by girls? Someone's gotta keep the monster in check, so why not me?"

"Songa is taking care of that, thank you very much," he said primly, aligning the conduit and sealing it in place. "And of all the girls in the squad, you were the _last _one I expected to proposition me, Yana."

"Pft. Just give us enough time stuck here with you, and we'll all come to knock on your door," she told him bluntly. "Even Maya."

He ignored that. "Alright, that's it, we're done. Let's collect up the tools and go grab some dinner."

"Let's get some food in your mouth so you don't have so much time to think," Maya told Yana.

"What? It's not like _you_ haven't thought about it," she accused Maya. "I guess that wasn't you last night sending me a memory Jyslin shared of you of Jason naked, and wondering what he'd be like between your legs!"

"Okay, I _really_ didn't need to know that," Jason said with a faint blush as he squirmed out of the access door.

"Thinking about it and blurting out like that are two different things," she said pointedly in reply. "Really, Yana. He's consoling Songa, which can't be easy for him because her husband was his friend, and you ask a question like that! All that talent, and not a lick of common sense!"

"Let's go eat, before I find out _way_ more than I want to know," he said loudly. "Then again, I think I already have," he said, looking at Maya.

She blushed a disturbing shade of violet. "Well, I _am_ her partner. We're close friends," she explained.

"Uh-huh," he said, looking at Yana.

"Well, she was curious, and that was a long time ago, right after you and Jyslin had your first night," she said weakly, turning purple. "And I can't _believe_ you told him that!" she hissed at Yana, standing up and glaring at the younger Marine.

Yana gave her a smug look.

Jason stood up and cleaned his hands on a rag, then tossed it right into Yana's face. She gagged, then laughed as she pulled it off and stood up. "Sorry cutie, but a girl's gotta be a girl," she told him, leaning up on her toes and kissing him on the cheek. "Now let's go get some dinner."


Chapter 19

_Vesta, 34 Demaa, 4395 Orthodox Calendar_
_Saturday, 20 November, 2008, Native Regional Reckoning_
_The_ KES Scimitar_, docked at Kosiningi Emergency Response Center, Zoka Prefecture, Karis_

This was it.

The ship was ready to launch. Everyone was ready that was going, which was Jason and all the Faey. Miaari and the Kimdori were remaining behind. The Marines were fully armored. Jason and Myleena, having no armor, were on the bridge of the ship, going over the last details of the data that the _Scimitar's_ computer had downloaded into their gestalts, which basically dealt with what their stations would require of them. Myleena was sitting at the engineering console, which allowed her to monitor the operation of the ship, and also gave her control over ship functions. Jason was sitting in the captain's chair, which was actually the position on a Karinne ship that did most of the work. His gestalt was the command controller, and it was by his command that most ship functions were enabled, though Myleena also had the power to activate or deactivate the systems, because she was sitting at the ship's main engineering console and the ship's computer recognized her as the main engineer. Jason controlled the defensive systems, the communications, sensors, and other tertiary systems. Zora, being the pilot, had primary control of navigational systems and propulsion. The final chair, a chair for an assistant engineer, was taken by Myri. Everyone else was down in the galley.

The ship was going to be easy to operate, because the computer did almost all the work. Jason just told it what to do, and it did it. The ship's crew numbered 24 on this ship normally, and 19 of them were engineers and technicians to make sure that the ship ran properly and maintain the equipment the researchers used. Three were pilots, one was the captain, and the last was a first officer. The ship's computer was no Cybi. It was a Mark II Biogenic Mainframe, and interacting with it was very _sterile_. It had no personality at all, nothing like Cybi. It was just a dry monotone of a commune in his mind that relayed information, nothing more.

It was going to be hairy from here out. They would not return to Karis until it was all done, if they returned at all. Jason knew that Trillane wasn't going to just let them waltz in. The ship was unidentified; no telemetry beacon, unmarked, it's identifying marks either scoured off by the nebula or faded over time, and they would fire on it even if they didn't know who was inside it. All Jason hoped was that they'd hold off on firing just long enough to let them get into a position to pick up the people in the mountain, and then they would run the gauntlet to get back out. If they had to land and recover the Legion under fire, it was going to be ugly. So, the plan was speed. Race in, take as much advantage of their confusion and hesitancy to fire on the ship until they had confirmation as possible, land and get his people the hell out of there, then take off and run the gauntlet to get far enough away from Earth's gravity well so they could use the hyperspace jump engine to escape.

And once that was done, there was still a matter of getting to the Empress and then fighting an entirely different kind of war, a war of words. Denmother Zaa had prepared him well for that, but it still wasn't going to be very fun. Dealing with a nest of vipers, where one word not delivered with exacting meaning could create a deadly pit from which he could not escape... ugh. He was going to have to kiss Jyslin for her gift to him. Her vast knowledge of the Faey language was going to serve him well when he stepped into that room.

Right now, they were waiting. The four spaceworthy ships they had on hand were being loaded into the very small ship bay, which was located on the top of the ship, as well as the only battle-capable unit on all of Karis. The two small Novas, the Karinne dropship, the dropship they used to get here, and the Gladiator were all being loaded by the Kimdori.

That Gladiator... _shit_, was that a fearsome looking piece of machinery. Where standard exomechs were sleek, graceful, a reflection of the supple Faey who piloted them, the Gladiator was a bulldog of a mecha, big, heavy, blocky, and it just oozed intimidation. It was no taller than an exomech, about fifteen feet, but it was about twice as wide. Jason had sat in the cockpit while waiting for the Kimdori to finish the repairs, just after dinner, and man, was it different. The ship was interface controlled with no manual controls at all, only a series of heads-up display panels inside to provide information to the pilot. He'd taken it for a walk around the storage bay, and was surprised at how _graceful_ it was, despite its ungainly appearance. The interface control meant that he basically had absolute control of it, could control it as exactingly as his own body.

The Novas too were interesting. They too were interface controlled, but they did have manual controls in them. They were chasers, unarmed, small, fast single seaters used for personal planes. But unlike a skimmer, the tiny Novas were more along the lines of a sports car, with their tailless design dominated by a pair of large diamond-shaped wings attached to the very back of the ship, the wings serving as both wings and tail for the craft in the atmosphere. Jason had to take one out for a test flight, and _wow_. They were fast... they were _amazingly_ fast. And after he got the hang of the interface control, letting go of the stick, he found that the ship was very responsive. And man, was it nimble! Its small size and aerodynamic shape made it very agile in the air, and it could turn on a dime, but the small size of the ship, only about twenty feet long, would make it really hard to adapt it as an armed unit. Putting even one plasma cannon in it would require the engineers to take some of the existing systems out of it. There was just no room in it.

One thing was for sure. After this was over, one of those Novas was going to be sitting in his driveway. _Damn_ were they fun to fly!

But fun would be for later. Right now, he was looking at the hologram projected in front of Zora's seat, taking up the whole front wall, showing a Kimdori securing the last ship they'd brought in, the dropship they'd come in. The small gray-furred Kimdori grabbed hold of his memory band and looked up at the camera, and seconds later the computer contacted him. _[Maintenance reports final exterior craft is secured.]_

_[Tell them to disembark. Tell me when they're all off.]_

_[Acknowledged.]_

_[Cybi.]_

_[Yes, Jason?]_

_[We'll be leaving in a minute. Give Miaari my orders after we're gone. Tell her if we don't come back, then Karis is their responsibility, and they have to take care of you. Make sure you tell her that.]_

_[I will, but I would very much like for you to return home, Jason.]_

_[That makes two of us.]_

The Kimdori were clear of the ship, and all hatches were closed. Jason blew out his breath and prepared for what was coming in a moment of quiet contemplation. When this ship took off, he was doing more than accepting his responsibilities as the Grand Duke Karinne, he was taking responsibility for the eleven lives in this ship that were not his own. He had to make sure they all lived to enjoy whatever rewards they managed to see out of this. If they weren't all executed, anyway. _Alright girls, we're taking off. Everyone find a seat, and start praying,_ he sent, strong enough to be heard through the ship. He looked to Zora. "Alright, Zora. It's all yours."

"Alright, gals, Jayce, let's see if two days of constant practice was enough. I see the docking ramp has been retracted, so we're clear." She rather deliberately crossed her arms in front of her. "And here we go."

The Kimdori on the balcony overlooking the docking ramp waved as the _Scimitar_ lifted out of the water, and a flurry of water cascaded down when a power surge through the hull caused all water molecules to be repelled off the ship's hull, sending a salty rain down onto the sea below. The ship turned as it slowly ascended, then nosed up and accelerated. Jason felt almost no acceleration, though; felt the ship take on what felt like a level attitude, so much so he could have stood up without having to steady himself.

"Wow, the inertial dampers on this thing are good," Myri noted.

"I'm just glad it has artificial gravity," Myleena added. "I'd hate to have to float around for the next twenty minutes."

That was how long it was going to take them to get far enough away to jump out. They couldn't jump in a gravity well, so they had to get out away from the planet. In that respect, it was different than the hyperspace engines that the Imperium used, that were more tolerant of gravity wells. But, if these engines weren't as tolerant, they were much better in that there would be no relativity time delay after they entered hyperspace. Their trip to Earth would take 37 seconds, and exactly 37 seconds, in both subjective time and in real time. If they'd used a regular hyperspace ship, that trip would have taken 37 seconds in subjective time, and about 6 days in real time.

The _Scimitar_ cleared the atmosphere, and one side of the hologram showed a camera view of what was before them. But Zora had her eyes on her own console, and looking over her shoulder showed him that she had the starchart up there, a three dimensional representation of space. She zoomed in and a dot in that chart blinked, then turned white. The map noted it at [Star C2450-174], but Jason knew that it was the Earth system.

In the twenty minutes it took them to get to the jump boundary, Jason calmed himself using techniques his father taught him, the meditative focusing exercises taught by martial arts. He was scared out of his mind with what he knew was coming, but he had to keep it together. People were counting on him, and he couldn't let them down. He had to keep his head, and most of all, he had to control his fear. If those whores from the _Siann_ realized he was afraid, they'd eat him for lunch. He had to be calm, unruffled, and decisive. He had to be confident.

"Alright, we're here. Earth coordinates locked in. Jump engines are ready," Zora called. "I got us set to come in behind the moon, Jason, so they don't see where we came from."

"Do it," Jason told her.

_Everyone take a seat, we're jumping in thirty seconds!_ Zora sent throughout the ship.

Jason bucked the safety belt attached to his chair as the other three in the bridge strapped in and locked their chairs so they wouldn't swivel. He heard Zora counting down, but this time he closed his eyes. He wasn't all that curious about the psychodelic images he'd see in hyperspace.

"Three. Two. One. Jump!" Zora barked, and then all his senses went crazy. He tried his best to ignore the strange sounds, the weird smells, focusing his mind by repeating a mantra over and over, waiting out the 37 seconds they would be moving through this nonsensical domain. But it wasn't easy, because those sounds, those smells, the strange feelings along his skin, they were almost tantalizingly unusual, begging him to explore them. But he kept his focus, keeping his eyes shut.

And it was over. Everything returned to normal. Jason opened his eyes and saw the moon ahead of them, about the size of a beach ball in the hologram, and the planet Earth peeked out from behind it. He shook his hea