The Choice (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 8) Read online

  I nodded emphatically, wondering if they actually did that. Briefly, I imagined the procedure to remove a head, the initial incision, the severing of the spine, suturing the arteries, sealing off the neck. Damn, I was glad I was no longer a surgeon.

  "In case you haven't noticed, Doc," Head Two snapped, glaring at me. "You're the only act in town."

  "I am. That is correct." I slowly released my hands and backed away. "No more head banging, understand?" I watched for a few moments before sitting down and picking up my tablet once again. "There's an SdK hospital less than an hour's flight away. I think I know someone there who can help you."

  Flipping through the contact list, I searched for the number for Dr. Kaesi. She was a friend of my wife, Janet, in the same book club and an occasional dinner partner whenever we were over on the other side of the mountains. Kaesi had also been in Spaceforce years ago, specializing in exo-galactic physiologies. It was a stretch, but she was the only one I knew who might have some insight into Beckwads. "I'll tell you what. Let me make a few calls, and then I'll ring you with a recommendation."

  I was about to stand up when Janet abruptly knocked on the exam room door and poked her own head in.

  "Almost done?"

  "Yes." I abruptly rose to my feet.

  "No!" The Beckwad cried unanimously.

  "Sorry." Janet hurried into the room and balled up the paper on the exam table. "We're getting backed up, and you've got a procedure scheduled this afternoon."

  "I do?" She shoved me out the door.

  "Three minutes, girls, and then I need this room vacated. This isn't a hotel, you know."

  "I'm not paying for this," Head Two called after us. "He didn't solve our problem."

  "Sorry," Janet replied. "Read the contract you signed when you checked in. There was no guarantee included. You're paying for the consultation whether you like it or not."

  "What?"

  "Two minutes!" Janet slammed the door and pushed me down the hall to my office.

  "What's going on? What procedure do I have scheduled?"

  "My tonsils." She wrapped her arms around my neck and proceeded to go after my own tonsils with her tongue. It was just about then when the vid rang. Janet groaned and rolled her eyes.

  "We'll resume this later." I reached for the button on my desk which activated the screen. I was only momentarily surprised to see Thad's face.

  "Doc!" Thad called and pointed his finger at me. "What are you this week, Moonbeam, Sunbeam, Jim Beam?"

  "Still Moonbeam, Thad." I pointed my finger back at him. "How's it going Lord Whatever You Are?"

  "That's Duke Kalika-hahr to you, Jerry," Thad replied as Janet left the office. "Only my friends get to call me Lord Whatever-You-Are." Janet blew a kiss from the door and lifted her top for a moment so I could get a glimpse of what I was now missing out on. She looked damn good for a woman her age. She acted damn young for a woman her age too. "Yo, Jer!" Thad pounded his desk and whistled. "I need your attention over here where my face is. You've got something more important going on in your office there? Were you doing a gyne exam on your couch when I so rudely interrupted?"

  "Maybe," I said feeling my face heat up. "What are you calling about anyway?"

  "I'm in your neighborhood. Well, actually I'm in your solar system which means I can be in your neighborhood for dinner tonight if you and your lovely bride are interested. You're not still Vegan are you?"

  "Not strictly although I prefer to avoid saturated fats. We could have seafood. Omega-3s are always a good option, and there's a fish dive just around the corner from here that has the best chowder on the entire planet. It's so thick you could eat it with a fork which, unfortunately, means it goes straight to your arteries. Once in a while we can splurge. Is Lady Gina with you?"

  "Fortunately, not," Thad replied with a broad smile. "Feel free to bring a young female to entertain me while Gina is four light years away. Shall we make it seven-ish at your office?"

  "That'll work." I considered inviting the Beckwad to entertain Thad. "I may have just the girl or rather girls for you."

  "Girls." Thad nodded and showed me his thumbs as I clicked the button again to disconnect. I had just hung up when Janet came back.

  "What did Thad want?"

  She kept the door open which meant our tonsil explorations were postponed for another time. She had a file in her hand and was wearing her lab coat as she had a patient waiting for an acupuncture procedure.

  Briefly, I told her about Thad dropping in for fish tonight.

  Janet rolled her eyes. "Does he think Gina won't notice him screwing around if he's hiding out here with us?"

  "I don't know what he thinks, and you know what? I don't care."

  Standing up, I stretched my lumbar by placing my right leg on my desk and leaning forward. Then, I did the same with my left leg.

  Janet shook her head. "I have a mind to call Gina and tell her."

  "You do what you want." I pulled out my yoga mat. "It's your choice."

  "I just might," Janet said as she shut the door. "I just might."

  Chapter 5

  Berkan

  "Where has he gone exactly?" I asked.

  "She said she doesn't know!" Luci snapped. "Weren't you listening?"

  "I was listening." I glared at my wife who never ceased to find a reason to irritate me these days. She sat in "her chair", as she put it, the one on the left side of Madame's desk, whilst I sat in Caroline's chair, which was on the right, and now of course, quite empty.

  "Stop it," Madame said and rolled her eyes whilst rubbing her temples as if her head ached. "Will you two please stop bickering over nothing?" She turned to me, her deep blue eyes hooded and surrounded by dark circles.

  "Have you not been sleeping well, Madame?" I asked, surprising myself with the depths of my concern. "Are you ill?"

  "No, Berkan." She rubbed her temples again. "Just a little overwhelmed by everything he's left me to do. Rehnor, Rozari, Andorus, Altaris, Lumineria, Cascadia, Derius…" She listed off all of the systems within the Empire while tossing aside stacks of parchments which required her attention.

  "Don't worry, Madame," Luci cried enthusiastically. "We are here to assist you in all matters."

  "I know, Luci," the Lady sighed. "And believe me, I appreciate everything you do. I suppose we ought to get started. What is this business here about Xironia?"

  "Xironia?" Luci asked. "What is a Xironia?"

  "It's a planet." Now I rolled my eyes.

  "One of ours?" Luci asked.

  "No. Are you sure there isn't something else more important for you to be doing?" I looked pointedly at my wife. "Aren't there some dresses you need to be picking out or some dinner menus to be arranged?"

  "I can do more important things than that, Berkie," Luci protested. "I'm not as stupid as I look." She frowned at me whilst the Lady chuckled a little.

  "Really Luci," Madame said. "I think you had better work on rescheduling all the events we had organized for the rest of this week. There's no telling when HIM is planning on returning, and I'll probably end up being here chained to the desk until he does."

  "All of them?" Luci asked fretfully. "Even the reception with the basketball team?"

  "Yes. All of them. Send everyone my sincerest apologies. In fact, if you could handwrite a personal note to each one of them that would be best."

  "Oh, I had better get to it quickly." Luci jumped up from her seat. "I shall have to call in some assistance, as well. Shall I ask Noka or Lady Kelli? Kelli tends to be so forgetful these days, and Noka's penmanship is simply hideous."

  "You shall have to do it all yourself." I shook my head and smiled sympathetically. "You should get started right away."

  Nevertheless, Luci stood there for at least another ten minutes, dithering about whom she might call in to assist. I hadn't any time to waste listening to this drivel about penmanship. His Imperial Majesty's abrupt departure to places unknown and unscheduled had not only placed a tremendous amo
unt of work upon the Lady's platter but plopped a shitload on mine.

  "Perhaps I ought to hire another lady. Would you mind that, Madame? We need some fresh blood around here."

  "Get as much blood as you want to, fresh or frozen," Madame replied abruptly, her voice now laced with annoyance.

  She raised her eyebrows decidedly at me, whilst dismissing Luci, who continued to count off names on her fingers as she walked toward the door. This one or that one, they all had something wrong with them. Apparently, there wasn't a single person in this entire Empire who could answer Madame's vid or make a note as well as the late Lady Caroline.

  "So Berk, what do you know about Xironia?" Madame waved for my wife to shut the door behind her.

  "There is a small oligarchy that controls virtually everything on the planet," I began, pleased to get back to the real business before us.

  I called up a pictorial display of Xironia, which I had previously prepared. As it appeared on the overhead vid, I proceeded to describe the stratifications of Xironian society including the current ruling class, the middle class and the slaves.

  "Slaves." Madame sighed again and rubbed the back of her neck. "I hate it when planets are run by Neanderthals. Actually, that's an insult to Neanderthals. So this resistance group that contacted us, how large or organized are they?"

  "They are still quite small, but they are led by a former General of the Xironian Army. He believes that if he can demonstrate our support, he will be able to increase their numbers significantly."

  "I see. What constitutes significant? As awful as it is, we can't go there and impose our ways. Especially, if nobody wants us there. He does understand that, right? We don't invade. We're not going to wage this war for him."

  "The General believes if we offer even a token of support, he will raise an army large enough to overthrow the ruling council."

  "And you trust this General? We're not going to replace one corrupt government with another?"

  "I don't know yet, Madame," I replied. "I shall need to meet with him first. Prior to HIM's unscheduled disappearance this week, I was going to be traveling to Cascadia for a meeting with our governors there. I can arrange to rendezvous with this General as well. That is, if you think you can manage here without my assistance."

  "I don't know yet, Berk. This has all been thrown upon us so suddenly. It seriously pisses me off that he just picked up and left with no warning, no preamble." Now I nodded my head with genuine sympathy for both the Lady and myself. "What about the Alliance?" She continued shuffling through the papers upon her desk, finding a pair of reading glasses under a stack. "Is there a chance they will come in and back Xironia?" She peered at me through the glasses before taking them off and tossing them into a drawer. "I can't see with, or without these things," she mumbled. "If my vision gets any worse, I'm going to need sensory lenses too."

  "As will I." I saluted her with my own reading glasses. "In regards to the Alliance, there is always that chance, Madame, especially if they choose to consider our action a provocation. Potentially, this could escalate from a single planetary conflict to a regional or sector issue." The Lady nodded and grimaced. "Are you pained?" I asked.

  "Headache. Migraine or working it's way into a migraine." She reached up and tried to rub the back of her neck again. "I'm feeling unusually stressed but I'm not sure about what exactly. It's like, there is something in the air, some electricity. Are thunderstorms predicted?""

  "I don't believe so, but I agree, this is indeed all very stressful, which is, I presume, why Senya needs to disappear on occasion." I rose to my feet and came around the side of the desk. "Allow me, Madame." I put my hands on her shoulders and massaged the tight muscles of her neck. "Are you worried about him? I suspect he's just off in the forest killing something or sharpening his claws."

  "No, I'm not worried. I'm upset he just disappeared, but you're probably right. He's just off doing what he needs to do every now and then. Don't we all wish we could turn into an animal and not think for a while."

  "Actually, no," I replied and we both laughed a little.

  "Oh, yes. A little more to the center and up just slightly." She gave a small moan as I pushed my thumbs behind her ears at the base of her skull.

  "Luci gets migraines like this too. This technique seems to relieve some of the pressure."

  "You're very good," the Lady said, relaxing into my hands. She leaned back slightly, her blonde curls brushing against my fingers, her eyes closed. She moaned a little again. "Yes, right there. That's perfect. I feel like something is off kilter right now with the Universe. It's almost as if it's out of balance or about to be. Does that make sense?"

  She opened her eyes and looked up at me. She had beautiful eyes. She always had. In a way, they were almost bewitching. I had heard that said about her many times before, and had felt it somewhat myself.

  There were some odd theories about her. Some thought she was otherworldly like Senya. I hadn't believed any of that nonsense, not about her. I had always assumed that she was strange because she was human. All the humans I had met were strange, although in different ways.

  "Do you feel it too, Berk?" she asked.

  "What?" I had forgotten what she was talking about.

  Unfortunately, I had become distracted by the warm skin beneath my palms, the soft hair on my fingers, the fathomless depth of those eyes, and alas, those ruby red lips that were turned up to me.

  I had always fancied her a little. I even remembered the first time I saw her. She was in a hospital bed in our SdK facility in Old Mishnah. I recalled walking in there as she slept, gazing upon her and feeling something stirring, although I wasn't sure what.

  Now, before I realized what I was doing, before I could stop myself from such an impulsive and thoroughly ridiculous move, I bent down and kissed her.

  She didn’t push me away, not at first. In fact, her lips softened and seemed to draw me inward. I took my hands from her shoulders and neck and instead lifted her out of the chair and pulled her against me. It was only then that she pushed me off, backing away across the desk, her blue eyes blinking rapidly, filled more with confusion than anger.

  "I'm sorry," I cried softly as it was the right thing to say though, in my core, I didn't feel apologetic at all.

  Instead, I found myself drawn to her even more so, as if I had tasted a wine that left my tongue parched. Stepping closer, I trapped her upon the desk, my arms on either side of her, as if locking her within the walls of my cell. She was a small woman, her slim arms and legs easily confined by the breadth of my body, unlike my own wife, who was now as wide as she was tall.

  "Berkan!" Madame snapped, her eyes turning to fire. "Don't."

  I was jolted as if abruptly shaken from a dream. What was I doing? What had gotten into me just now? Something that had been buried deep inside me had suddenly wriggled free.

  Over the years, all these many years I had gazed at this woman with what I realized now was a forbidden desire. I had denied it. I had ignored this feeling or fought it down. Now, it had erupted and made its presence known. Now, I could hide it no longer.

  "Katie," I sang her name. "Katelina." The sounds rolled off my tongue as a melodious song. Just as, I reached for her again, the door swung open to admit my wife.

  "Madame," she trilled. "I've got a lovely idea for a new assistant. How about…Berkie? What are you doing?" I backed away as quickly as I could, leaving Katie perched alone on the desk. "Madame? Why are you sitting up there?" Luci frowned, and her already red face turned even more so.

  "There was something on the floor," I insisted, frantically nodding my head. "A mouse or perhaps some sort of insect. It was huge, enormous." I stomped my foot around and made to look under the desk. "No, Madame, I don't see it any longer." I practically shouted these words. "I think it is safe for you to come down."

  "Good," Madame coughed, her own face a fetching pink. "Ok. I'm going to get down now." Slowly, she eased herself back into the chair. She fumbled around
on the desk as if searching for papers and once again finding those reading glasses, she quickly put them on. "Um…Lord Berkan, did you say you were going off to…um…Cascadia today? You had some meetings to set up there…with…with…the Xironians?"

  "Yes, Madame." I bent over at the waist in a formal court bow. "Of course, Madame. I shall depart immediately to meet with the Xironian General."

  "Ok," Katie nodded. "I think it's extremely urgent. You should get going right away, like…uh…right now."

  "Yes, Your Imperial Highness, Madame, I will. I am on my way. I am leaving this very second." I bowed again. Actually, I bowed three more times and then I proceeded to back out of the room. I stopped by the door and taking my wife's hand, I emphatically kissed it and then kissed her cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can, dear. Important business, you know, very important."

  "Of course it is, Berkie," she replied with a small smile. "Are you sure the mouse has gone from the room? I don't like those rodents at all." She glanced around nervously. "I wonder why we're having such problems with these creatures now. I have never seen a rat in this office before."

  "When Senya's gone, they seem to come out of the wood work," Katie remarked drily, pretending to glance through the papers on her desk. "He has a way of containing their population." She looked up at me, glancing over her eyeglasses. "He enjoys killing them."

  "Well," Luci said seating herself again in her chair. "If he stays away much longer, we'll have to get some cats."

  Chapter 6

  Pedah

  I was the youngest, number seventeen, and named after an uncle who had died way before I was born. No matter how old or how tall I grew, I was always the baby.

  My dad, Rekah de Kudisha was a prince of Karupatani and first cousin to the Great Emperor although he was treated like the black sheep of the family. I didn't know why exactly.