Boy's Adventure Tale - Part 2

This is a boy’s adventure tale.

But this is not a boy’s adventure tale prepared by a stuffy old man in a tweed jacket with elbow patches. This is the sort of story that a boy might imagine for himself, filled with action, mystery, a red-hot space queen, and not a whiff of precious moral instruction.

Well, maybe there is some moral instruction. But this is Reversed Black Maria. Nothing is as it seems, and the thread-well, you’ll just have to read to find out if it breaks.

Boy's Adventure Tale Part 2

A Reversed Black Maria Novelette in Multiple Parts

“Tante, where have you been?” Oskar asked. “It’s been five years since the Legion declared you MIA. Farfar and Morfar were devastated when they got the news.”

Aunt Karina motioned in the direction of the policebot cordon, which was slowly following them up Glipping Street, glassy black heads swiveling and stun sweepers waggling. “Not here, Oskar. Inna’s little shopping spree blew our cover.”

“Aren’t the police here to protect her?”

His aunt snorted. “They’re here to protect us from her.”

“That’s strange. She seems nice.”

“She’s nice alright. She’s slick as an eel and takes what she wants. Apparently, she wants my dumb randy nephew.”

Poor Oscar blushed. “It was my fault. I had no idea she was the Empress. I would have expected her to be surrounded by bodyguards.”

“She doesn’t need them. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. She’s dangerous, and not just because she could kill you with her pinky toe. Do me a favor and don’t flirt with her tonight.”

Oskar did a double-take. “Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight. She’s joining us for dinner. We came back to introduce my son to the family. I’m starting to think it might be a huge mistake.”

Oskar nodded dumbly. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that his aunt travelled with the notorious Empress of the Galaxy, and never had he imagined that the Empress would take an interest in him. But one of her many rumors bothered him. He brought it up as they gained the top of the hill.

“Does she really eat people?”

Aunt Karina glanced over her shoulder at the phalanx of patrol bots before she answered. “Not people. Not yet, anyway.”

Farfar Hendrik’s was the last house on the right, a traditional three–story townhouse with bright blue thermoplastic walls that mimicked clapboard and an emerald green dyneturf roof that harvested sunlight by day and wind power by night. The steep stairs leading to the front door were flanked by sunny yellow flower pots made from spent rocket engines. Aunt Karina shook her head and smiled as they climbed past them. “At least Pappa hasn’t changed,” she said.

No sooner had they reached the threshold when the front door flew open. A toddler stood in the doorway. His hair was red as fire, the hallmark of all the Winters, save Oskar. But his eyes were flashing sliver, like the scales of a fish.

Like Inna’s.

Aunt Karina giggled. “Hello Nils. I see you’ve learned to use the door. This is your cousin Oskar.”

Oskar extended his hand to Nils. But instead of shaking it, the little boy’s eyes went wide. Looking to his mother, he pointed at Oskar’s hand. “Tante Inna! Tante Inna!” he squealed.

“Yes, yes, I know he touched Tante Inna,” Aunt Karina said brusquely. She hustled them both inside, and pulled the door shut behind her. The smell of roast lamb enveloped them. “Mamma, we’re here!” she called.

Oskar was still processing what had happened. “Uh, how did he..?”

“He just does. Forget about it,” his aunt hissed, as Mormor emerged from the kitchen. She was a small woman with a tight knot of blonde hair streaked grey at the temples. Her attention went right to Oskar.

“Oskar! Where have you been? We were getting worried.”

“He met a friend after class, and lost track of time,” Aunt Karina answered. “Has Raina arrived?”

“Yes, just a few minutes ago. She’s with your father in the great room.” Mormor’s voice dropped to a stage whisper. “You might have warned me better. I had reservations going in, but after meeting her, well, I don’t know. I had no idea she was so startling, if you’ll pardon the word. Is she safe?”

“No, not in the least. But she’s good, in her own way. You have nothing to fear from her.”

Mormor looked unconvinced. “If you say so. I could use a hand with dinner. When Pappa entertains, he forgets his duties.”

Aunt Karina laughed. “I’ll bail him out, just this once.” She turned to Oskar. “Why don’t you join Pappa and Raina? The kitchen is too small for all three of us.”

The great room was the largest in the house. It was dominated by a huge table dressed in blue linens. But the table was dominated by Inna. Even seated, she loomed over Oskar’s diminutive grandfather like a mounted Valkyrie over a fallen dwarf. But Hendrick was not a man to be intimidated by anyone so pedestrian as the invincible Empress of the Galaxy.

“...we were coming in hot on Rift Beta Niner,” he was saying, building up to his trademark war story. “When Glowworm pitched over for insertion, the proximity alarm sounded. It was one of those kamikaze miniships, but our closing velocity was so high we never even saw it. It took off our whole stern. The only other survivors were Mate Ellis and the two replacements from Rift Prime. I set the self-destruct charges. One blew while I was still in the airlock. A splinter pinned my arm to the bulkhead. It was a bad moment, I will tell you.”

“How did you escape?” Inna asked.

“I hacked off my arm with a plasma knife. My suit sealed up like it was supposed to for a change, and Ellis picked me up before I went into shock. He was a damned good first mate. It’s a pity that assassinbot swarm got him on Gorshkov Minor.”

Hendrick paused for a sip of tea. Oskar knew from experience that his story was far from over. If he didn’t speak up now, he might not get a chance. “Hello, Farfar. Hello, Inna,” he said, stepping into the great room.

Hendrick was instantly on his feet. “Boy!” he shouted. “This is Her Imperial Majesty Raina, Empress of the Two Kindreds of Man and Warqueen of the Loyal Arzenekoi. Show her some respect!”

Farfar’s still an old-school hardass, Oskar thought. He dropped to one knee and bowed. “Your pardon, Majesty,” he intoned grandly, trying not to laugh.

“Imperial Majesty,” Hendrick corrected.

Raina’s reply was cold, but her eyes sparkled with amusement. “For the sake of the evening, I shall forgive your lapse. Rise, Oskar Winter.”

Hendrick looked from her to Oskar, taken aback. “You’ve met, Imperial Majesty?”

“Indeed we did, a short time ago. Your grandson is fearless and gallant. I am pleased to have made his acquaintance,” Inna said grandiosely, but winked when Hendrick wasn’t looking at her.

Oskar’s knees turned to jelly. He thought he was saved from further embarrassment when dinner arrived, but somehow, he ended up seated directly across the table from Inna. From his perspective, the twodees of Uhura Wanyama, First Minister of the Universeraat, and stodgy old King Haakon the Two Hundred and Third of Nordrom that hung on the wall behind Inna appeared to watch her nervously. The sight amused him, and he failed to wipe the grin off his face before she noticed.

“Do you see something that pleases you, Oskar?” she asked.

“Oskar is easily entertained,” Aunt Karina answered.

“Nonsense. I think he is a man of excellent tastes,” Inna replied. Beneath the table, her foot came to rest lightly on his shoe. Aunt Kari tensed in her seat, and he felt Inna’s leg shudder when her kick struck home. She didn’t flinch, but her exploratory foot hastily withdrew.

It was strange and wonderful that wispy little Aunt Karina could harry the Empress. There was a lot about her that he didn’t know.

Cider was poured, plates were mounded high, and the company fell to eating. Oskar had heard hushed rumors of the Black Queen’s unlimited appetite, but Inna’s table manners were impeccable, save for the way she ate the small, hard apples that garnished her plate. She snapped them up–cores and all–in one or two quick bites, sharp teeth flashing. Oskar nibbled one. His bite could barely dent it.

The Empress was not like other people.

Dinner was disposed of and coffee served. But the conversation that normally sprang up around the old pewter samovar was muted, and soon guttered out altogether. But the entire time, Farfar Hendrick’s eyes never left Aunt Karina. At last, he spoke into the silence.

“Dottir, we’ve heard many strange and terrible things since you vanished. It shouldn’t come as a wonder that we thought you dead. You have been returned to us in most illustrious company, and we are grateful and humbled. But where have you been?”

Aunt Karina sighed. “Have you got a year?”

“We have the rest of our lives, Dottir.”

“Very well. Five years ago, my ship was patrolling the Coreward frontier near Heliodor. We received priority orders to interdict pirate operations in the far Outbye. But when we got there, we found her instead.” She pointed to Inna.

“The Empress? Five years ago?” Farfar asked.

“I wasn’t Empress yet,” Inna said. “I was an independent explorer.”

Karina laughed. “You were a crazy kid searching for Valhalla. We rescued you...”

“You arrested me!”

“That’s beside the point. The pirates attacked again. We later found out they were Arzenekoi chasing Inna. Things got complicated, and we were separated from my ship.”

Inna grinned. “That’s a nice way of saying you went AWOL.”

“I was helping you, dammit!”

“You were, and I thank you for it. I wouldn’t have made it without you. Herr Winter, your daughter is valiant in combat!”

“She is a proper Legionnaire, just like I raised her to be,” Hendrik said proudly. “But her valor does not excuse her from finishing her story!”

“Alright, alright!” Karina said. “It turned out that Inna wasn't entirely crazy. She actually found a shunt that led to Valhalla.”

Mormor cleared her throat. “The Valhalla? In Eisenhimmel, beyond the Core, where Jørgen Pangloss once kept his halls? You’ve been there?”

“I live in Valhalla, Mamma. I might have lived there from the first, but things went downhill fast when we arrived.”

Inna shuddered. “May we skip that part, please?”

“Suit yourself. We fled Valhalla, but returned to a galaxy at war. The Arzenekoi wanted Inna back. You must know the rest. They tried to force us to hand her over by laying siege to the foundry at Sacra Cor. It might have worked, but the Arzenekoi warlords started fighting each other for control. They desecrated the sanctum, and the foundry was ruined.”

His coffee forgotten, Hendrick leaned in to ask a question. “Dottir, I had not heard that the foundry had a sanctum, or that it was desecrated. You make it sound like a temple.”

“It was,” Aunt Karina said flatly. “There was a divine entity within the sanctum that conjured up Spooky engines. A long time ago, Jørgen Pangloss coerced it into working for us.”

At the mention of the Mad Emperor’s name, Grandma shuddered. “At least he was not there,” she muttered to herself.

“Oh, he was there. He led the charge on the sanctum himself, with only me, a few ghostwrights, and an idiot space pirate for backup, against a thousand armored Arzenekoi warriors. They never stood a chance against us. But we arrived too late, and the sanctum was deserted.”

The Winters were speechless.

“Wasn’t that when you got into an argument with Dyadya?” Inna prompted.

“Hell yes. We were standing before the defiled altar when word came that you had been lost. Your Dyadya Jørgen didn’t seem to think that he bore any responsibility for it. I told him different.”

“You argued with Jørgen Pangloss?” Mormor squeaked.

“I ripped him a new asshole, more like. I told him he was a self–serving, arrogant bastard who wasn’t nearly as smart as he thought he was, and if he’d left Inna alone, millions of innocent people would still be alive. I’d have smacked him senseless, too, if I thought it would have done any good.”

“What happened?!” Oskar asked.

His aunt blushed. “He thanked me,” she replied.

“Dyadya valued candor above all else. You earned his admiration that day,” Inna said solemnly.

Hendrik tapped the rim of his cup, slowly shaking his head. “That is quite a story, dottir. If I’d known of it at the time, I would have lost my mind.”

“Why do you think I waited this long to tell you?”

There was a nervous round of laughter. Having your spaceship shot out from under you was one thing. Dressing down the dread overlord of the galaxy to his face was another. Oskar brimmed with new respect for his tough little aunt.

“Something is unclear to me,” Mormor said hesitantly. “Why did the aliens want Her Imperial Majesty so badly?”

Inna and Aunt Karina exchanged a significant look. “I thought it was common knowledge?” Aunt Karina said.

Inna shook her head. “No, thank God. There have been leaks, but I've never admitted it publically. The Unificare, the Arzenekoi Loyalists, and the Regents of Eisenhimmel all want to keep a lid on it. It’s the only thing they all agree on. Nobody wants a new religion, especially with the unrest we’ve had since the war.”

Oskar could bear it no more. “Keep what under wraps?”

Aunt Karina pointed her coffee stirrer in Inna’s direction. “Our Empress here is also a goddess.”

New material twice a week. Don't miss the next installment coming Feb 3!

Part 1 | Part 2