[The Princes X] [Exile] “Battle Carrier, this is Kurnez One,” Lord Sparrow keyed the ancient microphone, “Request clearance through the blockade.” The massive Battle Carrier was dead ahead and blocked their escape; The Com-link crackled. “Where did you find a Kurnez Class Battleship, Kurnez One?” responded the Captain of the Battle Carrier in front of the six escaping Battleships. Lord Sparrow squinted his eyes and thought furiously for an answer. He had just intended to make a run for it and sacrifice the other five ships to get the Emperor to safety, but Si’s little trick made things more complicated. “The Emperor contracted me to refit these ships for a special ceremony,” responded Lord Sparrow. “Which Emperor?” said the Captain. “We are in a bit of a situation right now, I think we have three Emperors.” Lord Sparrow chuckled to himself, only the Kitsune could make such a ridiculous mess of their own government. “I could give a damn about your Kitsune politics, your Emperors, or which Emperor you ‘Oh so glorious Sky Over-Lords’ prop up on your Eternal Throne, or the toilet for that matter,” said Lord Sparrow. “And I am aware you are dropping nuclear weapons all over your planet. I hope you toss some more around and blow yourselves up completely, but I have never failed to complete a contract and I’m going to refit these ships and return them to whatever glorious immortal grand mucky-muck is in charge.” There was a long pause before the Captain responded. “Is this Lord Sparrow of Darai?” asked the Captain of the Battle Carrier. “Well aren’t you the bright shining star of the galaxy,” said Lord Sparrow. “Now move that over-grown scuttle bucket out of my way.” “Lord Sparrow, our sensors indicate you have received a lethal dose of radiation,” said the Captain. “Yes, thanks to your planet keeping illegal weapons and tossing them around like children throwing rocks,” replied Lord Sparrow. “I’m headed to the medical facilities on Carina for treatment then to my ship yards, and if I miss my contract deadline, I’m charging you.” “Carina is three days at top speed in those ships, you have four days before you die of radiation poisoning,” said the Captain. “Do you have anyone on board with you? We can’t scan inside your hull, it’s too irradiated.” “I have five crew on each ship,” replied Lord Sparrow. “May I go now ‘Oh great Over-Lord.” “If you were anyone else but Lord Sparrow I would shoot you down for insolence,” said the Captain. “Will the yacht I ordered for the Carina Summer Cup be ready in time?” Lord Sparrow stared at the microphone in disbelief, was all Kitsune absolutely insane? House Sparrow had countless thousands of ships in production; spacecraft, aircraft, ground vehicles, as well as ocean vessels. He could not be expected to be aware of the status of every ship being built at every ship yard he owned. “It will be ready, we are putting a new water wing design on it,” lied Lord Sparrow. “What color would you like me to paint it?” “Alright, you may proceed,” ordered the Captain wondering if Lord Sparrow was being serious. “Can you make it red with white trim?” “Idiot,” mumbled Lord Sparrow to himself. “I knew you could do it,” said Si. Lord Sparrow turned around and looked at the boy standing in the hatchway to the bridge. “I thought you were on one of the other ships,” said Lord Sparrow. “I lied,” said Si. “Like you just did.” Lord Sparrow turned back around and fiddled with the controls. The Battle Ship was just starting to move past the enormous Battle Carrier outside the small view windows. Si crowded up next to Lord Sparrow to see the looming ship passing. “It’s big,” said Si. “I see why you’re a prodigy,” said Lord Sparrow sarcastically. “What did that guy mean when he said lethal dose?” asked Si. “The radioactive cloud we passed through, these ships don’t have sufficient shielding to protect us,” explained Lord Sparrow. “My body will heal me,” said Si confidently. “Sorry hatchling,” said Lord Sparrow. “Radiation is one of the things your body can’t heal from, you’ll only last an extra couple days longer than me and the Carinians on board.” “What do we do?” asked Si. “I’ll be unconscious before we get there,” explained Lord Sparrow. “An adult Kitsune should be able to stay conscious the longest, so send one up here and I’ll teach them to land.” “The other ships?” Si asked concerned. “Same thing,” said Lord Sparrow. Si returned to the crew area and sent Lord Tolnor up to the bridge to learn to land the ship. The boy's spirits were good considering everything they had gone through and crowded around the view ports watching outside. Si didn’t think the Ravens were in high spirits though, they didn’t look very well. The Ravens huddled together apart from the others. Si found the remaining Black Guards in the rear of the ship and they weren’t looking very well either. The radiation poisoning was affecting the other species first that had been outside during the first nuclear detonation. The boys wandered about exploring the small Battleship for the first several hours but Si noticed more and more of them were returning to the main crew compartment and laying down. The Ravens moved off to a smaller chamber and Si could hear them throwing up. “Si?” said Seph in a small scared voice holding out a handful of hair. “I know,” said Si pulling out a handful of his own hair and showing Seph.” “Are we going to die?” asked Seph. “We’ll make it there in time,” Si tried to assure his cousin. The boys grew more sick and by the second day Si was begging the ancestors to make the dry heaves stop. Lord Tolnor spent all his time on the bridge while his people tried to get the boys to drink as much water as they could. Si didn’t feel much like drinking water and he didn’t feel much like doing anything else either, but Seph looked far worse. Si realized he had been under the Ravens flexible armor when the radioactive wind storm passed over him and Seph hadn’t. The Ravens themselves would probably already be dead if not for the small extra protection their armor had given them. By the middle of the third day Seph was unconscious and barely breathing. Si tried to sit up and his head spun while another round of dry heaves wracked his body; his ribs hurt so bad. I have to get up, thought Si, I’m the Emperor. Si forced himself to his knees and then to stand on shaky legs. He had never felt so sick before. The rest of the boys lay where they had last fallen down. Si moved around the cabin, pulling blankets over several of the boys shaking violently. Marshal crawled over to Si and stood slowly. The two boys helped each other move around trying to give comfort the best they could. Akio looked really bad and Si remembered he had been standing on top of the stream bank when the flash of light from the nuclear weapon lit up the sky. Marshal tried to get Akio to drink some water but all that did was start Akio coughing until he was spitting up blood. “That wasn’t a weapon of war,” croaked Si, his throat was nearly too dry to speak. “That was a weapon of pure evil.” “How could anyone use a weapon like that?” whispered Marshal. “I swear to the ancestors,” said Si. “I will never let anyone use that weapon again, I will destroy them all and kill anyone that tries to make them.” Si left Marshal tending to one of the boys and made his way to the bridge. The ladder up to the bridge was only six rungs but it felt like it took him an hour to make it to the top rung. He almost lost his grip and fell back when a hand grabbed him and pulled him up. “What do you think you’re doing?” asked Lord Tolnor. “You should be resting.” “I’m dieing,” Si said simply. “We are almost there, son,” said Lord Tolnor. “I’m not your son, you’re not my father,” said Si. “Don’t say it again.” Lord Tolnor sat Si down in the chair next to him at the control console. He knew Si was hurting bad from the loss of his father and didn’t really mean to be cruel. The boy just needed time to grieve. Si could see Lord Sparrow on the floor; Daraians must be more sensitive to radiation poisoning than other species. “You don’t look too bad,” said Si to Lord Tolnor. “I was underground during the first blast,” explained Lord Tolnor. “I’m only getting the effects of the radiation coming through the hull. My body can’t heal radiation sickness, but it’s keeping me on my feet.” “We should have brought more adults on board this ship,” said Si. “There wasn’t much time to think about it,” replied Lord Tolnor. “But at least the boys on the other ships are being better cared for.” Si was drifting in and out of sleep when Lord Tolnor’s voice woke him. “Carina Space Command,” said Lord Tolnor. “This is Kurnez One declaring emergency.” There was a pause before someone responded. “Unidentified ships, we have no identification for a Kurnez One.” Lord Tolnor looked at Si, “We can’t just tell them who we are, we don’t know who is still loyal to you.” “Father told me how to do this,” said Si concentrating on the neural interface to his wrist implant. Si couldn’t get his implant to respond, his mind was drifting too much to activate it so he tried just talking out loud, maybe the interface would respond. “What is my code name to identify myself to Lord Black?” Si asked his wrist. Every member of the Imperial family had hundreds of code names, each one intended to identify that Prince only to the specific House Lord intended. A word appeared over Si’s wrist implant that only Si could see, it was really only inside his mind, but it was determined during the first years of the neural computers that the microscopic chips implanted next to the cerebral cortex at birth worked best if people could visually concentrate on something, so the wrist implants were created to be that visual interface. “Tell them we are Blue Fox,” said Si. “Sorry about that Orbital Command, we have a serious case of radiation poisoning up here, my mind is fuzzy and I was thinking about my last job,” said Lord Tolnor. “Orbital Command, this is Blue Fox declaring an emergency.” “How severe is the radiation poisoning, Blue Fox?” asked the Orbital Command Officer. “We got hit by a freak radiation storm, it’s really bad. We have over two-hundred onboard six ships that require immediate medical attention.” “Understood, we are sending coordinates to land at the Black Coral Space Port, medical teams are being notified,” replied the Orbital Command. “Orbital Command, all the pilots up here are in bad shape, I’m barely holding on to consciousness. You better foam the landing field,” said Lord Tolnor. “Understood, good luck Blue Fox.” “You’re not losing consciousness,” said Si eyeing Lord Tolnor. “I know, I’m just not sure I can land this thing,” explained Lord Tolnor. Si watched the planet come into view and fumbled with the buckles before giving up, he couldn’t get his fingers to work right. The ship hit the atmosphere and Si watched the flaming plume surround the ship as it descended. The ship broke through the clouds and all Si could see was endless ocean. Where was the Space Port? Where was land? Si held the sides of the chair and was getting worried. They were getting closer to the ocean and he still didn't’ see any place to land. The island appeared at the last moment and Si wondered if it was even long enough for the ship to be able to slow down enough before they ran into the ocean. “Shouldn’t we be able to just come straight down and land like a normal ship,” cried Si. “Probably,” yelled Lord Tolnor. “Don’t know how, if you want lunch call me, but landing a Battleship… hold on!” The ship hit the landing field hard, there was no graceful control. The Battleship skidded along inside the landing foam and for a moment Si thought the ship was going to roll over on it’s side. The ship continued it’s slide while Si clung to his chair and he bit his tongue from being bounced up and down. When the Battleship finally came to a stop, Si looked out the front view port; he could have thrown a rock in the ocean. The surf was lapping up against the bottom of the ship, they were on the beach. Si sat back and breathed heavily, then the drive heaves returned and he fell off his chair. When he looked up again a man in a white decon suit was just coming up the ladder and entering the bridge. “Who’s Master of this ship?” asked the man. Si couldn’t think of anything else to say and he wasn’t sure yet who to trust. “I’m Master Fox,” said Si weakly. Oh great, thought the man, a rich kid out in his antique toys and he just had to crash here. “Let’s go people,” shouted the man. “There’s three more up here, I want them in the ambulances now!” The rest of the day was a blur. The people in the white decon suits carried Si to an ambulance; there seemed like dozens of ambulances and emergency vehicles parked around the ship. Si could see the other ships and people carrying his sick boys off to other ambulances. One of the ships was being pushed back up on shore by a floating ship. Si had never seen an actual ocean ship before. A man in the ambulance put some needles in Si’s arm and after that everything was a dream. He could remember being put inside a tube of something like water; he had a mask over his face and he started to get scared he would drown but then something warm went into his arm and there was darkness. The next time Si woke up he was staring up at lights and someone turned his head and he threw up. He drifted back to sleep for awhile and his next memory was being on a table while a large circle moved back and forth around his body. Si didn’t remember anything else until two days later when he woke up in a bed cuddled under blankets that felt strange and too thin. A nurse came into the room and Si tried to ask about his people. The nurse told him she would ask the doctor to come visit him later. She put some medicine in a bag hanging above him and Si felt a warm rush and went back to sleep again. Si woke again when he felt something cold on his chest. A doctor was listening to him breathe. “My people?” asked Si. “There will be time for that later, young man,” said the doctor. “You need to rest now and get better, you were very sick.” Si grabbed the doctor’s wrist and squeezed. Si had never been permitted physical contact with off-worlders before and didn’t understand how dangerous a Kitsune was physically, even a six-year old Kitsune was physically stronger than most species. The incredible natural strength of the Kitsune was superior to the other worlds and made them natural conquerors. Only the Demonians had a strength that rivaled the Kitsune, but the Kitsune technology tipped the scales easily to their advantage. “You’re hurting my wrist,” said the doctor. Si let up the pressure but didn’t let go. “My people?” asked Si again. “Six of the Daraians, three of the Carinians, and two of the Kitsune children died, but everyone else will be fine,” said the doctor. Si let go of the doctor’s wrist. He had lost two more orphans. Si closed his eyes and cried. The doctor ordered the nurse to put more of the medicine in the bag above Si and he drifted back to sleep. The next time Si woke another man was standing at the end of his bed reading a chart. The man was large and powerfully built, he had the features of a Carinian, and something more; there was a presence about the man. The man looked up from the chart he was reading. “So, Master Fox is it,” said the man. “Let’s keep it that way, do you understand?” Si did understand, he needed to stay hidden and he needed a new name. “I’m Lord Jon Black,” said the man. “I’m going to help you, but you and the rest of your army will have to be hidden, and you can’t call them Sionnach’s Eighty anymore either.” The man walked around the bed and stood beside Si and laid the chart down on a table. “Those coins you’ve been foolishly passing out for years have made your faces too recognizable. But, a few years of growing up will change your features enough that you won’t be recognized anymore.” “Where will we hide?” asked Si. “I’ve been giving that some thought,” said Lord Black. “Several years ago your father gave me a Charter and tasked me to create a new Marshal Order and police my navigation lanes; you know, from pirates and outlaws and such.” “What’s the Marshal Order called?” asked Si. “It doesn’t have a name yet,” said Lord Black. “I haven’t really had much time to do anything with it yet, but I have sent a few law enforcement officers out to police the nearby lanes. The pirates and outlaws have given them a nickname, on account of the way the officers have to sling their guns on the outside of their spacesuits when they board ships.” Lord Black took Si’s wrist and held it up and looked at it. Si felt a little uncomfortable, he wasn’t accustomed to being touched by anyone except Seph. He was a Prince, or Emperor now, and you just don’t touch a Prince. “They’ve been calling them Gun Slingers,” said Lord Black. “That’s a good name for my army,” said Si. “You’re going to get reinforcements,” said Lord Black. “Most of the Black Guard son’s you sent here are orphans now and want to join you, as do all the orphan soldier’s sons you sent to Corvus. I’ll be sending them to you once you get settled on the new planet I’m sending you too.” “There are no other planets,” said Si wondering why this man was still holding his wrist. “It’s a small world I haven’t run any navigation lanes to,” said Lord Black. “I’ll open a small one, it will be years before the Empire finds it, and by then you’ll be settled in.” Si tried to pull his wrist back. Lord Black squeezed it hard and Si cried out in pain. “You are the strongest species in this galaxy,” said Lord Black. “But there are many other species in the universe that are stronger. Do not ever use your strength against my children again, do we understand each other.” Lord Black squeezed Si’s wrist until he thought it would break. “Yes! Yes!” screamed Si. “Yes, what?” said Lord Black calmly. “Yes Sir!” said Si. Lord Black let go of Si’s wrist and without another word left the room. Si held his wrist and watched the man leave. Si spent the rest of the afternoon thinking. There was more to Carina than he understood. Carina was the first planet conquered. Was it really conquered? The Kitsune only kept a very small garrison on the planet, and the Kitsune had never been able to break the shield that protected Castle Black. And why did the Black Guard protect the Imperial family? Or, Si had a thought, was the planet conquered, but not the Ocean God. And Si would be dealing with Jon Black, and he had said his children. Was Jon Black not really Carinian? Si knew the Ocean God was really an advanced species called Carina. He supposedly had come here before even the Carinians had existed. Was Jon Black Carina’s son? Si wasn’t in his father’s protected Imperial Palace anymore and he realized he didn’t really know anything out here. He would have to be more careful what he did from now on. Si laid back and closed his eyes, then laughed. “Why couldn’t I have come up with a better name than Fox?” Si said to himself. “Now I’m stuck with it.”