No…
Not until now.
Suddenly, every bad thing she'd done in the past 375 years came back to her; it was a deluge, and the swiftness in which it arrived was startling by itself. There had been a lot of lying over those three-plus centuries, a lot of cheating, treachery, bigotry, and deceit. But no offense compared to the poor excuse of a mother she'd been to her daughter. In fact, she hadn't been a mother at all. A flood of tears came now; endless waves of repressed emotions exploded to the surface. Her entire life, she'd sought only to shine and not reflect, and now it was time to pay for that conceit. Her whole world was crumbling, within and without. The room seemed to spin black and become deathly cold, such was the turmoil she found herself in. She began looking for a knife, for if one was in her reach, she would plunge it into her heart and end all this right now.
But no dagger could be found; in fact, they were banned within the palace. So she simply buried her head in her pillow and let the tears flow unabated, ruining her makeup, soaking her covers, staining her sheets.
Suddenly, though, near the bottom of this seemingly bottomless pit, she felt an amazing warmth enter the room. Her dark emotions were being swept away by something even deeper. She stopped crying.
She wiped her eyes and looked up.
Two figures were next to her bed.
They were men — but then again, they weren't, at least not in the first moment of their arrival. She had no idea how they had entered her room. The doors were all locked and laser-sealed. Her chambers were surrounded by security beams that prevented anyone from materializing from other locations unless she alone had authorized it. Nor had these two dropped in from the nearby sixth dimension, the place where the dour sentinels existed. Those phantom butlers always announced their arrival before intruding on imperial space.
No, these two were just suddenly there, not something that happened ever, despite this day and age of people popping in and out for all occasions.
And in that first split second of their arrival, she saw a strange glow around both of them. And both seemed not to be standing but floating a bit above the floor, this, even though it was virtually impossible for anyone to levitate in her presence.
The Empress of course blamed the hallucination on her breakdown just moments before — and the large quantity of slow-ship wine she'dingested lately.
But then she realized that she recognized one of the two.
"Hero Petz? Is that you?"
Calandrx smiled warmly. Tomm was next to him. He smiled as well.
"You look so… different," she gasped. "Have you had your atoms recombined?"
Calandrx laughed a little. "Maybe," he replied.
She held her head in her hands. "I must have been drugged or spiked," she gasped. "Of all the souls I never expected to see again, you are among the top…"
She sat up and brushed the tears from her cheeks.
"But Petz, why are you here? You have become an enemy of the state. With one word this room will be swarming with guards, and you will be led away to the atomic gallows."
Calandrx told her directly, "Empress — just be still. We are here carrying messages, both good and bad. But our time is limited. Please listen closely to what we have to say."
But they were frightening her. She raised her hand and twisted it at an odd angle. This was her way of calling for her personal guards. Six of them were always no more than a few feet away from her bedroom door. But though she twisted and twisted, no one came. She tried to blink out, transport herself to another location nearby, a talent shared by most of the Specials. But this did not work either.
"How can this be?" she wailed. "Are my powers finally gone? What will happen to me if they are?"
"Just be still!" Tomm chastised her harshly. He was not adapting so well to his new role. "You are wasting time…"
But the Empress twisted her hand again — and still no guards appeared. She tried to blink out again, too. Nothing happened. She was beginning to think this was all just a dream, which in a way, it was.
Finally she just gave in. She pulled the covers up to her chin. "Speak then…" she said. "Say what you will and then be gone."
Calandrx drew very close to her. It was as if he was floating right in front of her face.
"In the very near future you will be called upon to prevent a catastrophe," he told her. "This will save many millions, if not billions, of lives. When that time comes, you must be ready to heed the call."
She almost laughed. "Me? Save millions? And how am I to do that?"
"By helping in a small way the people to whom this Empire rightly belongs reclaim it for themselves," Tomm said. "It is theirs — and must be returned to them."
She almost laughed in their faces.
"Are you suggesting my family just give away the Empire?" she asked, astonished. "If that be, you are both mad, whatever the hell you are…"
Tomm said: "Righteousness will prevail eventually, Empress. It is simply the manner in which it arrives that concerns us — and in the end, it will concern you, too."
She could hardly speak. "But why are you telling me these things?"
"Because something is coming," Calandrx replied. "Something that is bigger than us, bigger than you. Bigger than the entire Empire. Many lives will hang in the balance — innocent lives. When the time comes to save those souls, you must play your part and thereby make up for your own shallow life."
With that, Calandrx put his fingers on her forehead, leaving a bit of oil just above her brow.
She sensed they were about to leave. She suddenly sat up on the bed. "You also said you had good news to tell me…" she pleaded with them.
The two hesitated. They were loath to do her any favors, considering the actions of her past. But they had no choice. They were messengers — and if it was news they were delivering, then it had to be both the good with the bad.
"Your daughter is safe," Calandrx told her simply. "And on that you can be sure, because it is impossible for us lie—"
"More or less," Tomm added hastily.
The Empress just stared back at them, stunned by the words. Her face betrayed tremendous relief.
Her tears returned.
"But where is she?" she said instead. "You must tell me!"
"She is safe," Calandrx repeated. "And if you do your part, you might see her again."
"But when?" the Empress cried. "And how?" The two never replied. They simply disappeared as quickly as they came. And at this point, the Empress really believed she was either asleep or going insane. Because just before the pair blinked out, she could have sworn that both had sprouted wings.
13
The planet mas well-named: Sleepy Time 9.
It was in a binary star system which also bore the fitting appellation of Two Over Easy. This system was located on the near side of the Ball, meaning it was a relatively short ride from Earth. There were two dozen planets here, all of them devoted to some kind of easy living. Retirement worlds, superspas and resorts, or simply pastoral settlements, many of the planets in Two Over Easy were so ordinary they didn't have names. Some were just referred to as Second Out, Third Out, or Fourth One In.
Sleepy Time 9 was a jewel of sorts in this somnolent part of space. Unlike the others, it was a retreat planet for the very well-heeled and — connected, including many retired Space Forces officers. The city of Pillows was its capital. It was built around a vast three-level artificial lake whose shorelines were crowded with palatial resort homes, some towering, some just one story high but sprawling over many acres. The three-tiered lake also featured several spectacular waterfalls, and it was by one of these that a grand six-level house stood. It was called Castillox Farms, and was a magnificent design of soaring angles, internal water springs, and miles of superglass windowing.