The Lost Aria (Earth Song Book 3) Read online

  “Concordia species never do.”

  “This is true. We are a thing of secrets, and lies. We have all colluded to create this web of deceit and come to an accord in that.” Minu shook her head in stunned silence, then P'ing continued. “Many years ago we found among your species our best, our brightest, our most inventive Chosen to ever come along. Young Chriso Alma excelled in every test and challenge, much as you have. Rising above disaster in his trials, he quickly rose through the ranks to become First. His ascension to First began a very difficult time for you Chosen. Many died, more lost without a trace. Including to our frustration, Chriso himself disappeared. War has come to your leasehold for the first time, and noncombatants have perished.” Hse paused for a full minute, perhaps in thought before continuing. “I am ahead of myself.

  “The young First Chriso was so driven he did not consider his own needs in many ways. He would work until he collapsed from fatigue, sleep a short while, and return to the same task as if he'd never stopped.” Sounds familiar, Minu thought. “This is admirable, however it is by all indications damaging to humans and does not serve our purposes of growing your Chosen. A suitable mate was located and he was required to reproduce.”

  Minu blanched, shaking her head again in amazement. “Are you telling me you made him marry my mother and have me?”

  “Exactly. It is a shortcoming of your species that you have two sexes.” Speak for yourself, Minu thought. “So we were unable to directly combine two successful First among the Chosen lines. Instead, the offspring of a prominent scientist was mated with your father. You are the result. And once you were sired your father lost interest in more breeding and returned to his duties.”

  Minu felt like she was going to puke. It took all of her self will to keep her raging emotions under control and continue to carefully listen as the Tog continued. Her mother and father, an arranged marriage? Inconceivable! And yet, deep in her now wounded heart, she knew there was truth. Truth she'd seen over her whole life in how her parents acted together before her mother died. And for that matter, even the circumstances surrounding her mother's death. “Naturally your genetic material was exemplary, as we'd planned, though Chriso was disappointed at your sex. Had we fully grasped the implications of your specie’s natural sexist issues and that they would interfere with your career, then we would have manipulated his seed to assure a male offspring. As it was, we found no problem with you so we proceeded as planned.

  “You were provided all the necessary pushes and opportunity, state of the art Concordian learning tools were made available and the best education your world could offer was given to you. As you approached sexual maturity, your father was ordered to make you Chosen.”

  “Make me Chosen? That isn't how it works.”

  “It works how we say it works. You are our Chosen; we can pick and choose as we wish. Does not every candidate stand before me and the final decision is made? The covenant between our species is simple, but direct. You decide how to pick the candidates who will be Chosen, we make the final decision. Your trials are simply the way you narrow down our choices. A particularly sexist way of doing it that overly favors physical prowess while neglecting mental fortitude and general inventiveness. Regardless, Chriso defied our desires and refused to simply make you Chosen, even though you would not have been the first one so appointed.”

  “Really? Who else did you just pick?”

  “Another time, perhaps. Chriso insisted you go through the trials like any other candidate, and then no doubt proceeded to try and convince you not to be Chosen. Luckily you proved as incorrigible in this as any other task set before you, and here you are now.”

  “The council wasn't going to make me Chosen,” she realized aloud. “After the trials, when you picked me, they were all outraged.” Except Dram, but she kept that to herself.

  “Correct. However since you finished the trials you were presented to us, as is tradition. They were sure that in your weakened emotional state, injured as you were that you would be completely unsuitable.” Minu could swear that P'ing was smiling, despite hser complete lack of a mouth.

  “You wanted to make me First among the Chosen right then and there, didn't you?” It was an epiphany that allowed her to see the truth of it. All the times the Tog had interceded in her short career, the arbitrary promotion two years ago when she was on the verge of quitting. Even now, when she'd all but blown up Serengeti and the council looked ready to have her shot by a firing squad, here hse was to save her. And most of all the unmitigated hatred of Jacob from the day of her first arrival. With her father missing, he was the logical choice for the new First, and the Tog tried to make her First by fiat. It all made terrible sense.

  “Intuition and insight are two of the criteria your parents were picked for, and it has bred true.”

  “Jacob did not like that, did he?”

  “No, he and the entire council threatened to resign. We could not accept the losses this would have resulted in. Analysis suggested twenty to twenty-nine percent of the Chosen would quit if a sexually immature female was placed as First among the Chosen, especially if led by the protest resignation of the current council. So you were placed in service like any other Chosen.”

  “And they've given me every shitty job they could to slow my progress.”

  “Indeed, and every time they moved to impede your progress, you have turned it to your advantage.” P'ing shook hser head in a very human gesture. “You humans revel in political intrigue of all kinds. So self-important, so obstinate, so intractable. Even after this, in the face of what you have accomplished against all odds, they were on the verge of throwing you from the Chosen because you took too much initiative.”

  “So here we are again,” Minu said with a sigh.

  “Indeed. You have exceeded your father in every way but one, his prowess as a scout in the field. We cannot force the council to assign you to a branch, that is their power to do, but we have some power.

  “Your, soldiers, as you call them, are exceptional. As brave as any Chosen we pick ourselves, but with ten times the tenacity and a hundred times the capacity for violence. In all the years I have lived, never have I seen the Tanam so roundly bested in combat by a numerically inferior force.” Now Minu was certain the Tog was smiling. More history there, between the Tanam and the Tog, she was certain of that. ”The soldiers’ willingness to spend their lives in combat and their skills in warfare are unparalleled. The entire Concordia will soon be talking of them in hushed tones.”

  “And I'm to have them taken away from me, aren't I?”

  “Yes.” Minu almost screamed in pain and frustration. “Only for now. I am sure that once they realize I do not intend to let them throw you from the Chosen, that they will shuffle you out of the way somehow, into a job with no exposure to anything useful. You have gained the ire of the council, and the Beezer.” Minu looked down in defeat. “But Minu Alma, you have gained the gratitude of me.”

  “I am your servant,” she said solemnly. Hse nodded and moved towards the doors. “P'ing, can I ask a question?”

  “You may.”

  “Why won't you tell us more, why are we only allowed limited database access? You said it was the law?”

  “One day, when you are ready and the time is right, will come your Awakening. At that day all will be open to you, and we will not be your masters any longer. It will be a unique Awakening, in many ways. At that time, if it comes in your lifetime, we will talk about many things. You will thank me, and likely curse me as well. It is the best I can offer.” She sighed and nodded. Hse opened the doors. “Please come back in,” hse told the suddenly hushed crowd outside.

  Once everyone was back in and at their seats and the recording device returned to the young Chosen, Jacob addressed P'ing directly. Minu could see he'd spent the intervening minutes composing himself, though stress still showed in the way he ground his teeth. “May we proceed now?”

  “Of course, our First. Understand this though,” hse
said, once again bringing Jacob up short. “Our Chosen, Minu Alma, is not to be removed from the Chosen, reduced in rank, or forced to retire. Despite her injuries and unconventional tactics, it is our judgment that she has acted in the true tradition of our Chosen and deserves to be treated as such.”

  “I see. Well, there is little I can do then, except this. Minu Alma is to be detached to service in the Training branch under Terrence Pagalio,” the dark haired Pagalio smiled big nearby, his long ambition to get Minu under his control finally realized, “there to serve in whatever capacity that causes the least amount of material damage and abuse to her fellow Chosen. An official statement of displeasure from the Chosen Council will be entered in her file, I have that much control.”

  “Noted,” P'ing said, then addressed the council. “Please also note I have decided that Minu Alma is appointed as the new permanent liaison to the Tog for humanity.”

  “What?” Jacob choked. “There is an ambassador elected by the planetary council to serve that purpose.”

  “Ridiculous. We have never taken that low level bureaucrat seriously. From now on all matters of communication and protocol between humanity, the Chosen, and the Tog will go through Minu Alma in her new capacity as ambassador. She will be assigned such staff as she needs and office space will be created for her on Herdhome. In her new assignment with Training, due consideration needs to be taken that she can accomplish her new task for us. A fifty-fifty split of time between these new jobs should be sufficient.”

  Jacob sat with his jaw hanging open, unable to speak. Dram nodded his head and spoke for him, as the Second among the Chosen. “It will be as you wish, Concordian master.” Then he gave Minu a small but unmistakable wink. And that was how the meeting ended.

  Chapter 2

  Octember 31st, 521 AE

  Portal Spire, Capital City, Serengeti, Beezer Leasehold

  Minu was due in surgery in an hour to have more work done on her right leg, the one that was more seriously damaged. She was spending every minute she could sending emails and sorting files. Her transfer was not official until she returned to duty. If the soldiers were to continue without her she wanted to be sure the various unit commanders understood what happened, knew where she stood, and realized how proud she was of them. The hundreds of emails from her soldiers spoke volumes of how they thought of her. She had a casualty list from Gregg and vowed to spend every last minute she could while recovering sending letters of condolence to each and every family of the soldiers.

  Just calling them soldiers no longer felt appropriate. Any person with a gun and a uniform was a soldier. Her men (and women) had acquitted themselves with guts and aplomb. None of them surrendered. Not a one failed to carry out an order. She’d been thinking about it for some time and thought she was close to a decision when a gentle knock came from the hospital room door.

  “Are you okay?” She turned to see Christian standing a few meters away, dressed in a hospital robe similar to hers and carrying a portable vital signs monitor.

  “I'll be better when I can walk again.”

  “Did they throw you out of the Chosen?”

  “No, but not for lack of trying.” He nodded and looked down at the floor nervously.

  “I was surprised you weren't there testifying against me.”

  “They tried to make me.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I told Jacob to shove it up his tight ass.” Minu laughed then gritted her teeth against the pain in her prepped legs. “I needed to come here and tell you something.”

  “So talk, it’s not like I'm going to walk away.” He shared a small laugh with her, Chosen humor.

  “Thank you for saving me and my team’s life. No wait, let me have my say. For the last six months I've been a huge asshole.”

  “Massive,” she corrected.

  His face looked stormy but then he nodded his head. “I can accept that. You didn't do anything any other Chosen would when faced with a chance to gain advancement and help the organization. I became a jealous jerk at your success and did my best to sabotage you every step of the way. For that I'm truly sorry.”

  “You forgot how you tried to beat me and my friend up in Leavenworth.”

  “We thought you were homosexuals.”

  “What the fuck does that have to do with anything? You know for a fact there are half a dozen Chosen men who have shared beds for ages; it's the worst kept secret in the organization. Was it just that you were afraid she could give me something that you couldn't?” The storm clouds returned and she moved to head them off. “You're male pride is safe. You were my lover for months, Christian; do you really think I prefer girls?”

  “Well, no, I suppose not.”

  “Then let’s leave it at that, shall we?” He nodded and looked defeated. “Apology accepted. I'm glad if we can be friends again.”

  “Maybe something more someday?” She looked skeptical. “Only if I earn it. I know I have a lot to make up for.”

  “Agreed. You can go a long way by helping integrate the scouts into the soldiers’ organization. There are more kids on the way soon from the next round of trials, and it looks like I'm going to be training some of them. Take those kids under your wing; don't let them become institutionalized against the soldiers.”

  “I promise.”

  She gestured to him and he came over. She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, finishing with a light kiss on his lips. “I knew there was the man I cared for in there, somewhere, even in the worst of it.”

  “Thanks, I wasn't so sure myself.”

  He left after a few minutes, his departure leaving Minu feeling a deep sense of closure she hadn't felt since their relationship broke up. She didn't think she'd ever be with him again, but at least he wasn't her enemy now, as she'd feared he was before. While she was waiting to go into surgery on the gurney she saw a young doctor go by and saw that he seemed to have a lot of orange fur and blood on his clothes. “Excuse me, doctor?”

  “Yes, ma'am?”

  “Chosen will suffice.” He looked at her a little surprised then saw her gray right arm.

  “I'm sorry, you must be Minu Alma.”

  “Correct. Now I'm going to assume you're working on the cat that I brought back?”

  “That's your handy work? You made a real mess of that being.”

  “I'm all broken up over it.” He was no more than twenty, relatively short with square cut curly dark hair and a wide nose that spoke of Summit Tribe heritage. His name tag pronounced him as Dr. Julio Rico and the glare he gave her made it obvious that he disapproved of her comments.

  “Well, she'll live, no thanks to you. Her name is Seela, high born to the Tanam ruling family.”

  “You know a lot about them.”

  “I'm about the closest we have to a xenophysician, I guess. I've studied under Tog xenophysicians for years now and was lucky enough to read a tablet on the Tanam.”

  “I didn't figure she was alive after the fight.”

  “She lost her left mid-arm, and left leg to your nasty shocking rifle.”

  “Shock Rifle,” Minu corrected and earned another glare. He was really quite cute. She suddenly felt like kissing him and shook her head hard to clear it.

  “Ready for surgery?” asked a nurse and Minu turned to see her pumping medicine into the IV.

  “Ah, now I understand.” she said with a slight slur. “Doctor cutie-pie, one more question?”

  For the first time he actually smiled and she knew he was cute. “Sure.”

  “What are they going to do with her?”

  “I haven't heard, but she does not want to be ransomed back in this shape so we're just going to rehab her as best as possible.”

  “Oh,” she said, falling back towards the mattress slowly but steadily. “Night, night,” she mumbled.

  “Sweet dreams,” the doctor said as the lights went out.

  Minu always loved the vistas from the Steven's Pass facility. Of all those various installations the C
hosen owned and operated on Bellatrix, this was by far the most picturesque. The views from almost any window almost made up for the buildings drab ceramic concrete block construction and squat profile. At its peak it once held most of the currently serving Chosen, now less than ten percent called the six spokes and central hub home. The room she now occupied was in the busiest section, the medical wing, on the fifth floor recovery ward. Perhaps as a result of the three gold stars she wore, it afforded her an exterior room with an incredible view over the valley below. Today being a beautiful Julast day, she could just see the gleaming little village of Chelan some kilometers distant below. During her early years it was the most common place to escape to, now it held little appeal.

  She spent most of her time in the hospital trying to avoid pain, and reading. The reading was partly her standard fare of college material, and some research linked to her recent experiences. Trying to coax more details of the Squeen out of the computers (not a word), intricacies of the Tanam and their society (scary stuff), and more on what P’ing meant by Awakening. The Concordian database defined Awakening as that time when a client species was given full access to the Concordia computer network. It was one of the most stringent rules of the empire that young species which had yet to Awaken were not allowed full access. Doing so could bring down swift and horrible retribution, supposedly up to destroying a planet. That was possible? And that was the extent of the information on Awakening she could find. The damned computer just clammed up. And there was nothing further on the subject in her bootlegged data either.

  About her own fate and how she ended up where she was, Minu avoided thinking on that as much as possible. A few times, late when she was trying to sleep, the thoughts would come unbidden. Her father probably never loved her mother. He’d married her only because the Tog demanded he produce an offspring. Her mother was always the matriarch of the family, telling Minu proudly where her ancestors came from and how important she was. It was her mom who first told her that the story of Mindy Harper was about her own ancestor. She’d tried a couple times to remember her mother and father openly showing affection for each other, and failed. A kiss on the cheek and ‘be careful’ was all her mother would offer when Chriso left to do his duty. He would nod, smile and pat Minu on the head, and be gone. Never once had he told his wife that he loved her. Their family was a lie, a deception, or worse. An exercise in eugenics by their Concordian masters. As the days rolled on her depression settled into a deep funk.