Page 26 of Controlled

“Of course not,” Draven objected. “That is called conquest, not colonization.”

She had no objection with that conclusion, so she asked, “Was there a specific event that started the war or did hostilities just escalate?” Nothing she’d heard so far was unusual. She wasn’t fond of war, but she was also realistic enough to admit that some leaders had no interest in negotiations.

Without explaining his actions, Draven walked across the room and transformed one of the walls into a massive display. He navigated through several views of what appeared to be external cameras until he found what he wanted. “The Citadel is old and extremely expensive to maintain.” He motioned toward the structure framed on the center of the display.

It looked like something from a big budget science fiction film. Suspended in space, the Citadel was shaped like her grandmother’s favorite Christmas ornament. That couldn’t be a coincidence. It had three wide, rotating rings in the middle. The top formed a dramatic spiral, and the bottom had one final ring that was much smaller than the others. Lights all over the structure accented windows and the landing bays lining the bottom ring. They were still a good distance away, but they were clearly heading for the structure.

“Rather than spending an inordinate amount of money on a major renovation,” Draven continued, “the governors asked permission to purchase a large section of one of our newly colonized moons. Building from the foundation up was cheaper and gave them more flexibility than trying to continue on at this location.”

Flora nodded, but she wasn’t sure what this had to do with the war.

Draven left the display active as he recounted the events. “The Torretians attacked the moon, killing four thousand and sixty-two Altorians. They leveled every building and scorched one third of the moon’s surface. The new Citadel was also destroyed. We lost twenty-nine mentors and their apprentices. Six conduits were among the dead. The complex had been open for three weeks. We do not have the funds to start over, at least not in a similar location.”

That certainly required retaliation, but did it justify war? How many lives had been lost in the ensuing years? How many cities destroyed?

Draven crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes narrowed. “I can feel your disapproval, mate. Would you have me believe your precious humans would not retaliate against an unprovoked slaughter?”

“Of course they would. Any society would. But wars are hard to end and the casualties quickly accumulate. What will it take to end this war with the Torretians? When will they have been punished enough for the lives they took on that moon?”

“It will take power triads,” Draven insisted. “It will take others like you and me.”

“Prefect Yites has been trying to negotiate a cease fire for nearly two years,” Noratu added. “Emperor Jevara will not even sit down with him.”

“Altor has elected officials while Torret has a hereditary ruler?” She wanted to make sure she wasn’t misconstruing the implication of the titles.

Noratu nodded. “It has been so for at least three hundred years.”

This was likely where the problem began. Absolute rulers seldom played well with others, and elected officials had to balance their own impulses with the will of the people. “Have all the Torretian emperors been as bad as Jevara?”

“His father was much worse,” Draven told her. “Jevara was in his late teens when his father died. We all hoped that he would be more reasonable.”

“When you are told from birth that every person on the planet was created to serve you, it doesn’t make for a very balanced perspective,” Noratu said.

“Torretians believe, or at least their rulers believe, that the emperor is the Supreme Being made manifest in flesh.”

Flora looked at Draven as if he’d lost his mind. “Some of our primitive cultures believed that sort of thing. It’s hard to understand how a culture capable of space travel would tolerate such nonsense.”

“The punishment for speaking negatively about the emperor is death. Those sorts of rules are why rebellions continually spring up on the planet. Unfortunately, Jevara squelches them just as fast.” Draven looked beyond her for a moment then his gaze shifted back to her face. “We have been cleared to dock. I need to return to the command deck.”

She glanced at the wall. The Citadel filled the entire display now, revealing more details. She could see people standing at the windows and walking around inside the rooms. Several other ships were docked and one departed as she stared at the display. The age of the complex was also more apparent. There were numerous patches to the structure and divergent colored metals indicated where sections had been replaced.

“Will I be able to see my grandmother before we get off the ship?” She looked at Noratu hopefully.

“I’ll insist you be allowed to say goodbye.”

“Thank you.” She hesitated to push her luck, but she would never be able to concentrate on developing her skills until she knew her grandmother was safe. “What will happen to her now? Azar promised to release her. Does she have somewhere to go?”

“I’ve made arrangements for her at my estate. Your father wanted to keep her in protective custody, but I insisted on this instead.”

An estate sounded more comfortable than a detention center, but a cage was still a cage. “Is she your prisoner or your guest?”

“She is my guest, with some restrictions.” He smiled as he added the stipulation. “We need to make sure she is finished causing trouble.”

“Can you keep Azar away from her? I do not trust him at all.”

He ambled over to the sofa and held out his hand. “Does that mean you trust me?”

“Of all the males in my life at the moment, I trust you the most.”

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