"Why Joseph, if I didn't know better, I'd say you have a crush on the Empress", Dullon said with a smile.
" I," began Joseph, as he held his head up with pride, "have served the Imperial Matriarchy for my whole life. Young Empress Avon is the third Empress it has been my honor to serve. I was her teacher, and if I do say so myself, I feel she has the potential to rule as well as Empress Serra I. "
Dullon smiled and laughed. "Ah, the legends of Serra always amuse me. You T'laren have long and accurate racial memories, but you're also prone to ancestor worship. "
For a moment Joseph went livid. No one should speak poorly of the sainted Empress Serra I, the Grand Matriarch of the Clan T'laren. Then, as he was about to explode, he looked again and remembered that the Dullon was one of only two beings alive today who had ever known the Grand Matriarch during her lifetime, and as the Dullon had served her for 2 generations, he knew her better than anyone could. Suddenly, he, Joseph the Wise, advisor to three Empress's felt small. All his honors and his accomplishments as advisor, friend and tutor to three Empresses faded and were nothing as he looked at The Dullon, living artifact who had served the Imperial Matriarchy since it's conception, 70 generations ago. The Dullon, who had in fact been instrumental in the formation of the Imperial Matriarchy, for if the legends were only half true, no other being could have guarded the Grand Matriarch during the years of change and chaos. The Dullon was so, so, human, Joseph caught himself thinking, that it was easy to forget that he - it - had lived longer and done more than Joseph could imagine. And now, the Dullon seemed almost relaxed, so very human, as it looked over the balcony railing at the Imperial herd of Farkas.
"They weren't always such stupid beasts, you know," Dullon said.
The words broke Joseph from his stupor. "Wha...? What? I m sorry, what did you say? "
"The Farkas lizards," Dullon said gesturing to the herd of purple and orange two-ton lizards grazing in the meadow below, "weren't always such stupid beasts. Generations of inbreeding have improved their thick hides and obscene digestive capabilities, but at the cost of their brains. Long ago, it was possible to train them to recognize faces and simple voice commands. Now," he shrugged, they're lucky to be aware of their own existence." He turned to Joseph, and a look of concern washed over him, "Joseph, are you alright? You look rather ill. "
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, thank you, Dullon," the older man stammered feeling rather old and tired. He looked out at the Farkas, and embraced the change of subject. "So I'd read. Do you know if is true that smuggles used to hide materials inside the Farkas because of their scanner-resistant hides? "
"Yes, it's true. The smugglers would induce the eating beasts to swallow special containers which could survive the digestive acids. At their destination, they would let the stupid beasts feed until they vomited. The smugglers would then recover their belongings. However, that was a long time ago. Since, for whatever reason, the Farkas are so popular now among the rich and powerful, it's virtually impossible for smugglers to transport them. "
The Emperor, a dull-witted, arrogant twit whom the Empress married only for political reasons has left the planet. His family is still ruled patriarchal and feels that the Emperor should have more power. They know that because of established customs, it is very important for the Empress to become pregnant with his child relatively soon. Therefore, he has been refusing contact with her in hopes to force her to grant him more political power. He recently left the planet to be with his family for further protection should the Empress decide to use force. He has sequestered himself on one of his family s homeworlds, a well fortified planet where even the elite of the Imperial Matriarchy s military cannot reach him.
The Empress, while never fond of the Emperor, does recognize him as the Emperor, and therefore he must be the father of her children and while she is not against force, the Emperor cannot be killed.
During consultation between the Empress and Joseph and Dullon, all this is revealed. It is also revealed that while they cannot teleport personnel onto the planet, they can teleport them off. This is because of a one-way tachyonic planetary force field that the Emperor s family uses for planetary defense. They like to be able to teleport bombs into space against their enemies. A plan is formed.
Joseph and a small honor guard take a Farkas and travel to seek an audience with the Emperor. Joseph explains the Farkas is to be a gift of good will, as Joseph is to negotiate on behalf of the Empress for the Emperor s return. The Emperor, being pompous and overconfident in his family's fortified home, admits Joseph and the Farkas to a large audience chamber. Joseph invites the Emperor to return. The Emperor asks for the moon and the sun in exchange, which Joseph obviously refuses. It quickly becomes clear that Joseph does not like the Emperor and the Emperor is a very spoiled child. When the Emperor throws a tantrum and flatly refuses to ever return, Joseph simply sighs resignedly and says, we thought as much, and he ducks for cover. The Farkas begins to vomit, and seconds later, it vomits up Dullon and collapses unconscious. While the Emperor's guards blast at Dullon with laser weapons, Dullon extracts his weapons from protective sheaths. Dullon then blasts the guards into hamburger, and blasts the electric door mechanisms so the doors won t open. The confusion clears.
Joseph stepped gingerly over the broken bodies of the guards while the Emperor cowered behind his throne. Dullon looked around to be sure that all the guards had been neutralized, then he spit something out of his mouth.
"Excellent! Joseph, when you return to the Empress, tell her that the neutrino communicator worked beautifully! I was able to hear everything, although having the sound echo in my mouth was a bit strange." Dullon said now that his mouth was empty of the neutrino signal receiver which had been converting the tight beam communications into sound inside his mouth.
"No," Joseph said quietly.
"What?" Dullon asked shocked, immediately becoming tense again, like a predator sensing danger.
"I will not be returning. After our assault on the Emperor, the Empress will need your protection even more."
"Joseph, we had this all planned out. We can only teleport one of us off plaent before our orbiting ship is detected, and I'm much better equipped to remain behind than you are," Dullon said flatly.
"No. My life has been full, and after our attack like this on the Emperor, the Empress will need you by her side more than ever," Joseph said with authority, his demeanor clearly indicated there would be no argument. "Here, take the transmitter. You will need to be teleported up," he held out a small device and Dullon took it from him.
There was the sound of movement from the other side of the room. Both Joseph and Dullon turned abruptly, Dullon raising a weapon to the source of the sound. The sound had been the Emperor retrieving a weapon. He held it to the side of his head, and though his hand was shaking, his voice was steady, "Let me go, or I'll kill myself. The Empress can't have children without me, and then your entire mission will be a failure."
Dullon flexed his trigger finger, and the Emperor's weapon disintegrated as the round slammed into it. Dullon stalked across the room, drawing a knife and surgical kit from a protected pouch around his waist, "To be honest, your Highness, I'd be happy to kill you, but the Empress seems to think you should remain alive. I'm not going to kidnap you. You see, you really aren't necessary for the Matriarchy to continue. We just need a little bit of your seed."
The spoiled emporer stared at the large knife, and his eyes grew wide with horror as he realized what Dullon meant. The Emperor screamed.
"Look upon my first child, Dullon, is she not beautiful?" the Empress asked, as she rested in bed. It had been an easy natural birth, Dullon had observed from his vantage point in the corner of the room, guarding the Empress during delivery.
"Yes, she is indeed beautiful," he replied as he sat at the edge of her bed. "What shall you name her?"
"Dullon, in honor of our friend, I think our little one should be named 'Josephine'." Dullon stood and smiled as the royal family was admitted to admire their latest member.