Chapter 7

Roy woke from his sleep, his bed creaked under his aging frame. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to fall back into his soft white sheets and sleep the day away. It was his vacation after all; that’s what he told himself while wondering what could possibly be worthy enough to get out of bed. But a certain scent caught his nose, making the decision much easier: the unmistakable aroma of fried bistot strips and hot cakes wafted into the room, and the sound of crackling oil met his ears with a therapeutic effect that ran up and down his spine like a delicate masseuse.

The sun shone brightly through the thin bedroom curtains - it was already midday. Roy rubbed his tired eyes, a little shocked at how late it was, and with a loud yawn, he hopped out of bed. Swishing the curtains open, he peeked out through the window overlooking Kanchi’s coziest city, Onesto. Even after all the years of living there, Roy always admired the view of colorful buildings in his neighborhood and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Onesto was a simple city with little starship traffic dotting the skies. Nothing was ever out of the ordinary, and that was how he liked it.

As he headed straight for the kitchen, the smell and sound of his meal grew louder, and he could hear six familiar voices all mashing together to make an unintelligible rumble, with the occasional high pitch squeal; nonetheless, the racket was music to Roy’s ears.

Inside, his wife, Ann, stood by the stove tending breakfast. Roy’s gaze met her radiant green eyes and cute button nose, and she stepped away to give him a quick kiss.

“Good morning honey, happy first day of your vacation! I made your favorite dish.” She wasn’t lying. Fried bistot bacon crackled on the cooktop, and a stack of golden brown hotcakes sat on the counter.

Roy didn’t respond right away. He took a deliberate moment to admire her long brown hair, pulled back in a tail, and her choice of attire: she wore a shirt two sizes too big with soft red pajama pants. But best of all, her smile astounded him.

She’s so beautiful! I think I’ll hug her!

And so he hugged her. Roy knew his loving embrace was expected of him anyways, which made it all the better. Even after ten years of marriage, his love for this woman remained just as bright as it was at the beginning.

“Thank you, dear, it smells delicious.” He released her from his grasp and stared deeply into her green eyes and said, “I love you so much.”

Ann smiled again, tipping the spatula in her hand up and down at her husband. “Yeah, you’d better.” She said and stepped back to the stove finishing up the meal, but she turned around and added, “No nightmares last night?”

“Thankfully no,” Roy lied as he smiled and shook his head, pushing away ghoulish images of a dark cloaked man and the sting of cold winds. Looking around the kitchen, he simply did not have the heart to spoil the morning.

Sitting at the dinner table were Roy’s three little girls and two boys: Lucy, Anri, Pan, John, and Tristan. They were all giggling and playing amongst themselves boisterously. Some parents might have preferred quiet well behaved children, but not Roy; he adored the hustle and bustle of a full house of seven and ten-year-olds.

“You don’t know? The eyes, look. That’s how you know they’re lying!”

“How was I supposed to know, I don’t even play that game!”

“Ow, stop pulling my hair!”

Amid the chaos of jostling children, one was sitting bizarrely quietly, her brow furrowed in a concentrated skew as she colored on a piece of paper. Lucy looked up with her mother’s eyes, and genuine joy overcame her. She ran to her father, yelling, “Daddy!” Roy scooped up her pint-sized body in a light embrace, her tiny arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Lucy! How’s my favorite girl?”

“Hey! What about me?” Pan shouted, yanking her hair free from John’s grasp.

“Yeah, hey, me too!” Anri called out loudly— not that she would really think her father played favorites, but she’d play along for the sake of her younger sisters’ enjoyment. A nugget of pride burned in Roy over his oldest daughter.

“Hey, hey, you are all daddy’s favorite, okay?” Roy shot back genuinely with a smile; then he whipped around so that he and Lucy were facing Ann. “Well, Mommy is my favorite too!”

Ann looked over her shoulder, rolling her eyes approvingly, which Lucy found to be hilarious.

A datatab sat on the table —covered in breadcrumbs and some sort of sticky substance— with the front page of the daily post opened, waiting for Roy’s focus. He took a seat, donned his square lens glasses, got comfortable, and held up his datatab, eager to read the headlines – but a sudden banging at the door interrupted him.

“Who could that be?” Ann asked.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Roy got up as the urgent knocking continued. On the other side was his friend and colleague, Toru. He was a tall man with short silver hair and squinty brown eyes. A shimmering Amani crest displayed proudly on his gold and navy blue military uniform, which complemented his muscular build and the proud smile he typically wore. Today, however, he looked as though he had been running from a terror panther.

“Commander Toru, what’s wrong?” Roy asked in a whisper. His children had become mute, curiously eyeing their visitor.

“Roy…it’s not good…” He said, gasping breaths of air, “I might be overreacting…but…I had to get this…to you in person.” Handing Roy a small datatab, Toru finally took a moment to catch his breath.

Toru’s voice carried weight— it was strong enough that the vibrations ran across the skin, yet tranquil enough for visiting the home of a friend. It was the kind of voice he needed to lead his men, inspire loyalty, and raise morale even during the darkest of times. So it felt strange, unsettling even for Roy to hear him under so much distress.

“Please, come sit! Join us for our morning meal. Well, technically, it’s the afternoon. But who’s complaining?” Roy suggested gleefully.

Toru offered a polite declining wave, regaining his composure. “I’m sorry, Roy, I mustn’t be long. I need you to take a look at that datatab.”

“It’s some sort of power surge?” Roy asked as he skimmed over the graphs and numbers.

“Earlier this morning, a cruiser was shot down by pirates. One of our satellites tracked seven escape pods that made it to the surface, but there were only two survivors.” Toru reached over and swiped the screen, revealing an aerial photograph of the crashed escape pods dotting Kanchi’s green plains.

“How did an entire cruiser get destroyed?” Roy asked as he studied the image.

“They…never sent out a distress signal.”

“So, you think maybe Owlen and Mabahse are at it again?” The question slipped from Roy’s lips as if talking about the mundane squabbles of his children.

“No,“ Toru said gravely, “I fear the situation could be much worse.” He reached over once again and zoomed in on one of the crash sites. “The image isn’t clear, but there are definitely two people standing near this last crash site. Briefly, there is a huge power spike…I’m hoping you can tell me it’s not what I think it is,” Toru said, wincing.

Flipping back through the numbers, there was no doubt about it. Roy stepped through the threshold and clicked the door shut. “It’s a cadami sword being unsheathed.”

There was a notable stillness in the air between Roy and Toru, the children’s playing muffled from beyond the door.

“So the Tuyet Voi are here…” Toru’s hissed, his head dropped.

“A likely assumption, Commander, but there are alternative possibilities. For starters, it really could have been those gangsters fighting each other again. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve found a sword with a non-Progenitor.”

Toru sighed a mixture of relief and disbelief, “I suppose...it does sound farfetched that the pirates would go after anyone other than their competitors. But we can’t afford to rule out the possibility of Tuyet Voi Progenitors.”

“Do you know where they went afterward?”

“Our satellites tracked them for a while, but we lost them as they entered the Hazog Canyons.”

“The Hazog Canyons,” Roy echoed. “Sounds like they could be heading to pay Mabahse a visit.”

“It’s possible.”

“So, why do you think a pair of Progenitors would come all the way out here?”

Toru clasped his hands behind his back and began whispering some kind of list to himself, “Our shipyards and fuel depots are likely targets. Or...you don’t think they’re after the Cathedral, do you?” He was not kidding around, grasping at straws, covering every conceivable angle. Years stationed on Kanchi and Toru had never voiced any worries about the Cathedral before. It had to be an extraordinarily serious concern to mention the possibility. “But there are only two of them.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of even a single Progenitor, Commander, “Roy said with a grave smile. “We would do well to make sure all possible targets are placed on high alert. And as far as the Cathedral goes...it’s hard to believe anyone could know what’s inside, or even how to get in.“ Roy shrugged.

“Whatever the reason…” Toru said, “I’m sorry, Roy, I didn’t want to…”

Roy cast up his hand to cut him off. “I will, of course, be assisting with the investigation, my friend. My vacation will be waiting for me once this is all taken care of.”

“The people of Kanchi and the Amani Royal Navy owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. Our boys on the ground will be scared once we warn them that there might be Tuyet Voi Progenitors out there,” Toru said warily.

Roy flashed a big smile and said, “How about I get an extra month of vacation after this is all over, and we’ll call it even? As for our military security, I will personally submit an order for them to stand down and surrender should they come face to face with one of the Progenitors. They will not be able to defeat them.

“Extra month vacation? You say that like I have authority over you,” Toru grunted— which, for him, passed as a chuckle. “Volunteering to do this...I truly appreciate it.”

If there really were Progenitors on Kanchi, everyone was in danger, including the kids and Ann. “I will report to the command ship at three standard.” As the words left Roy’s mouth, he felt a tremor in his chest so strong that it made him briefly reconsider his decision. He peeked through the door window: the table was set, Ann sat quietly, not touching her food. Lucy and the other children had started a mock contest to see who could draw the prettiest picture, blissfully coloring away.

“Until then, get in contact with our spies at Mabahse’s palace and find out if they’ve seen anything,” Roy shook Toru’s hand.

“As always, it is an honor, sir,“ Toru said with a deep bow. “And…tell Ann that I’m sorry about all this.”

Before Toru had turned away, a sharp pain ran up Roy’s arm, and a sudden weight fell on his chest, overcome with the sensations of loneliness and despair. He did not recoil from the pain. He knew what it was. Ann had left the kitchen.

Quietly, Roy stepped into the bedroom where he found his wife, head hanging low with tears streaming down her cheeks. She wiped away some snot after unsuccessfully sniffing it back into her nose. They had hoped that living on Kanchi would be peaceful since it was so far away from the war— and it had been for years, but it appeared that the war was catching up to them.

Gently embracing his wife, Roy said nothing for a long moment, knowing that was the best thing he could do at the time.

“I heard everything, but I’m proud of you Roy…this is just one of the reasons I love you so much,” Ann said, breaking the silence. “I married you knowing what I was getting into...and this isn’t the worst thing you’ve had to go through. At least you will get to stay home, right?” Ann added, perking up with some relief.