The Empire of the Zon Read online

  Copyright © 2013 R. M. Burgess

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design & additional illustrations by Akhila Krishnan

  © Akhila Krishnan & R.M Burgess

  ‘Zon huntress’ painting by Boris Vallejo

  ISBN 10: 0615767117

  ISBN 13: 9780615767116

  Zon Publishing

  To Maya, a real Zon princess

  I BEGAN THIS NOVEL Down Under in Sydney and completed it in Philadelphia. A number of people helped me as the manuscript progressed from a set of rough ideas to a finished novel. Maya read every chapter as I wrote it. She helped me keep the story on track and the characterization consistent. Rajan read the first draft of the entire manuscript and spotted several holes in the plot that I hope I have filled. My parents suggested the Dramatis Personae and the map. Akhila did all the original artwork and interior design. She put up with my impossible deadlines, fit me into her busy schedule with unfailing cheerfulness and optimism and shrank the distance between Philadelphia and London down to nothing. She also gave me invaluable critical comments. If my story matches the quality of her art, I will have succeeded indeed!

  Best-selling author Jim Tabor read some of the first drafts and gave me positive feedback and advice. His support at that early stage gave me the confidence to keep writing. In the same vein, I owe a big debt of gratitude to Tasha Wallis and Andreas Schotter whose encouragement gave me a big boost as I was completing the manuscript. Eric Schneider took the time to sit down with me and explain the complex process of novel publication to a first time author.

  Finally, I owe Travis Craine and his team at Createspace a big ‘thank you’ for guiding me through the process and making it relatively painless. My editor Jill did a wonderful job of reading the manuscript line by line. Her notes were insightful and helped me tighten and sharpen the narration.

  Welcome to New Eartha. I hope you have as much fun in it as I did creating it.

  R.M. Burgess, Philadelphia

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  PROLOGUE: BEACON PEAK, 1658 Z

  PART I

  SPRING TO WINTER, 1677 Z

  ONE: DRESLIN CENTER

  TWO: ATLANTIC CITY

  THREE: TROUBLE IN UTREA

  FOUR: THE FIGHTING PIT

  FIVE: THE HYDROMEDA MISSION BEGINS

  SIX: A BARBARIAN IN THE RESIDENCY

  SEVEN: DIPLOMATIC MANEUVERS

  EIGHT: THE LEADING EDGE OF THE STORM

  NINE: THE INN AT UPPER THAL

  TEN: THE POLITICS OF FEAR

  ELEVEN: OPENING HOSTILITIES

  PART II

  WINTER, 1677 Z TO AUTUMN, 1678 Z

  TWELVE: TRAVEL, TREACHERY, ELECTION FEVER

  THIRTEEN: THE OUTBREAK OF WAR

  FOURTEEN: CROSSING THE BORDER

  FIFTEEN: GRENHALL AND AURORA

  SIXTEEN: ZON MOBILIZATION

  SEVENTEEN: UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS

  EIGHTEEN: TACTICAL BATTLES

  NINETEEN: WAITING AND WORRYING

  TWENTY: CAPTORS AND CAPTIVES

  TWENTY-ONE: HAMMER BLOWS

  TWENTY-TWO: PYRRHIC VICTORIES

  TWENTY-THREE: NEW RELATIONSHIPS

  TWENTY-FOUR: THE LINES CONVERGE

  TWENTY-FIVE: END RUNS

  TWENTY-SIX: HEALING BREACHES

  TWENTY-SEVEN: THE TIDE TURNS

  TWENTY-EIGHT: STRATEGIC MANEUVERS

  TWENTY-NINE: THE RETURN OF PEACE

  THIRTY: SUCCESSION

  THIRTY-ONE: NEW BEGINNINGS

  THIRTY-TWO: RETURN TO BEACON PEAK

  THE ZON

  Centuria Lady ALEXANDRA Sheel – First Handmaiden to the Queen, an officer the Cohort of Palace Guardians. Scion of one of the Zon aristocratic houses.

  ALIUTA Ednina – a commoner, former nursery worker, retired to Ostracis.

  Princess ANDROMACHE Saxe – High Priestess of the Upper Temple, Cognis. Wearer of the royal tiara of Saxe.

  Centuria ANIKA Rulina – an officer in the Pentheselia Legion.

  Centuria BLANCHIA Rodina – executive officer of the airship Hydromeda.

  BRENDEL Nevisina – an airship huntress and an airboat pilot.

  Seignora Lady CAITLIN d’Orr – an officer in the Cohort of Palace Guardians. Scion of one of the Zon aristocratic houses. Heiress to the royal tiara of d’Orr.

  CALLIOPE Marchesina – High Priestess of the Lower Temple, Lysia.

  CLODINE Tarkenina – a commoner, former lover of DANNAE Margelina.

  DANNAE Margelina – Medica and Acting Chief Medical Officer on the airship Hydromeda.

  DARBENI Milsina – Chief legal counsel of Pragarina Enterprises.

  Princess DEIRDRE d’Orr – First Principal of the Zon Armed Forces. Wearer of the royal tiara of d’Orr and mother of CAITLIN d’Orr. Known to the barbarians as “Princess Ice.”

  Cornelle DIANA Tragina – the most gifted Zon huntress of her generation, commander of the elite Cohort of Palace Guardians. Known to the barbarians as “Lady Death.”

  Countess DOROTHEA Sheel – Descendent of one of the Zon aristocratic houses and mother of ALEXANDRA Sheel.

  First Maiden DURGA Bodina – Leader of the Engine Maidens.

  DUSHKA Karandarina – a commoner exiled to Ostracis.

  FELICIA Andrina – a huntress in the Cohort of Palace Guardians.

  FRANNA Kostarina – a server in Aurora.

  GISFIN Ednina – Medica in the obstetrics department of the Zon Reproduction Institute, daughter of Aliuta Ednina.

  Captain HEBE Nevisina – commander of the airship Thetis and mother of BRENDEL Nevisina.

  HELIODORA Talerina – High Priestess of the Middle Temple, Magis.

  HILDEGARD – Queen of the Zon Sisterhood, Empress of New Eartha.

  JENA Saracenina – a huntress in the Cohort of Palace Guardians.

  Praefecta KYRA Merlina – commander of the Queen’s Household Legion.

  Praefecta LAKSA Vertina – commandant of the Ostracis Citadel, former commander of the Pentheselia Legion.

  Centuria LING MAE Yintina – commander of the Zon expeditionary force at Ostracis.

  Seignora MEGARA Paurina – an officer in the Cohort of Palace Guardians.

  NAORINA Wilkina – personal maid to VIVIA Pragarina.

  Captain RHEA Carina – commander of the airship Hydromeda.

  RITA Cristina – Zon Resident in Utrea.

  Centuria SASKIA Warrina – Mechanica and Chief of Engineering on the airship Hydromeda.

  Lady SELENE Allerand – Zon Resident in Briga. Descendent of one of the Zon aristocratic houses.

  SUETERI Makhrina – a huntress of the Pentheselia Legion, retired to Ostracis.

  Praefecta TIGNONA Semyanina – commander of the Pentheselia Legion.

  VIVIA Pragarina – High Mistress of the Zon Trading Guild.

  YUKIA Rabbina – Hostess of Lives of our Sisters, a popular show on the Zon comm.

  BRIGA

  Alumus – Red Khalif and ecclesiastic leader of the Thermadan Mission, the largest of the barbarian religions on Tarsus (the barbarian name for New Eartha).

  Artor, Duke of Hilson – Lord of the Northern Marches.

  Batrius – Deacon of the Thermadan Mission in Chenak.

  Esme – Queen of Briga, younger daughter of Artor, Duke of Hilson.

  Harald V – King of Briga and of the Royal House of Shelsor.

  Holodus – A senior cleric in the Thermadan Mission, aide to Alumus, the Red Khalif.

  Cheval Horus Matalus – Older son and heir of Marnus Matalus, vassal of the Duke of Hilson.

  Sous Cheval Hughen va Goset – a Brigon nobleman, lord of Goset.

  Jakman Yewtree – a gladiator.

  Cheval Kantus Hilson
– a nephew of Artor, Duke of Hilson.

  Cornel Baron Luttwick da Coel – Lord Commandant of the Great Stony Keep and of all Royal Forces in Dreslin Center.

  Magnus Pontus – Royal Executioner of Briga.

  Baron Marnus Matalus – a Brigon baron, vassal of Artor, Duke of Hilson.

  Nitya – a Yengar refugee girl, daughter of Venaj.

  Numius – Master of the Merchants’ Guild of Chenak.

  Cheval Ragnus Matalus – younger son of Marnus Matalus, equerry to Esme, Queen of Briga.

  Baron Ratto va Haxos – First Minister to Harald V, King of Briga.

  Savos – a baker from Chenak.

  Talia – Wife of Cheval Horus Matalus, older daughter of Artor, Duke of Hilson.

  Venaj of Chenak – a Yengar refugee.

  UTREA

  Aghari – a nursemaid in the household of Jondolar the Just, former King of Utrea.

  Animus – White Khalif and ecclesiastic leader of the Thermadan Mission in Utrea, subordinate to Alumus, the Red Khalif.

  Baron Bradar Nibellus – younger son of Arch Baron Lothar Nibellus.

  Greghar Asgar Nibellus – Bastard son of Jondolar the Just, former King of Utrea.

  Guttanar of Estrans – a captain in the Utrean Skull Watch.

  Lady Guttrin – wife of Pinnar Nibellus, daughter of the Baron of Rocness.

  Baron Karstein Tenus – an Utrean baron, lord of Grigholm.

  Katog of Louth – First Minister to Shabor, King of Utrea.

  Arch Baron Lothar Nibellus – Lord of the Draigynys archipelago and the northwest, brother of Jondolar the Just, former king of Utrea.

  Margun of Louth – a junior captain in the Utrean Skull Watch.

  Cheval Nestar Crogus – commander of the Utrean Skull Watch.

  Baron Pinnar Nibellus – elder son of Arch Baron Lothar Nibellus.

  Shabor Nibellus– King of Utrea, descended from a minor branch of the Royal House of Nibellus.

  PROLOGUE

  SEIGNORA DIANA TRAGINA of the Queen’s Household Legion eased the airboat out of autopilot and began a careful descent. The strong magnetic fields in and around the Great Ice Range played havoc with the instruments, and everything from now on had to be done manually. The weather was always foul here. By the time she passed through an altitude of ten thousand meters, the airboat was bucking like a wild thing, and she fought the wheel and rudder pedals to maintain control in the treacherous air currents. She was not unduly concerned; she had made this journey before. Hebe Nevisina, her copilot, was tense and nervous, and her grip on her duplicate wheel tightened every time the airboat gave a particularly nasty jolt. They were both young huntresses a few years out of the Academy, but Diana was senior by a few months. Hebe has just earned her pilot’s wings, Diana thought. She will get better.

  “Hebe, why don’t you let go of the wheel and just hang onto the handrail,” she suggested. “It’s hard enough to control the boat as it is.”

  “How close are we to the mountain, Seignora Diana?” asked Hebe nervously. She used her superior’s rank and first name in the Zon fashion.

  “The peak with the beacon is just over ninety-seven hundred meters high,” she replied, nodding toward the instrument panel. The altimeter showed just over ninety-nine hundred, but the numerals on the display flickered, and Diana knew its accuracy was suspect here. “Should still be below us, just a bit off to starboard.”

  Diana switched on the high fog beams and pointed them downward, but all she could see through the clear panels below her boot was the thick, white cloud. Easy does it, she told herself, just takes patience. And then she saw it, the merest glimpse of black through the thick, swirling mist. She pulled up on the wheel, trying to maintain altitude as best she could, while she peered at the point where she thought she had seen it. Her head began to ache with the eyestrain, and she glanced at the wildly wavering gauges on her display to relieve it. When she looked back, she saw it again, more clearly. It was definitely a rocky outcrop, slightly to starboard as she had expected. She smiled.

  She aimed her fog beams at it and gently descended toward it, countering the violent air currents with her engines and control surfaces. The outcrop became clearer, and then both of them saw the peak. Except for a few protrusions of black rock, it was covered with white snow. A glacier of bluish ice rested on one shoulder of the mountain, its upper contours grasping the mountaintop like fingers. As Diana gingerly brought the airboat toward the peak, she saw the familiar small plateau that was the only possible landing spot. Patiently she jockeyed the airboat in, extending the landing gear and cutting the engines at the last possible moment. The leading gear sank into the snow till the airboat’s belly was barely clear. Diana unsnapped her seat harness and turned to Hebe.

  “Well, here we are,” she said nonchalantly, keeping the relief out of her voice. She looked out of the airboat’s trans panels. It was snowing hard, heavy flakes whirling and eddying in the high winds. She took a deep breath—best do the job quickly and get out of this white hell, she thought. She looked over at her copilot. Hebe was looking at her expectantly, waiting for her command.

  “I’ll replace the batteries in the beacon. You stay with the boat. Keep the systems ticking over. I’d like to get out of here as soon as possible.”

  Hebe had stayed in her harness in the right-hand copilot’s seat.

  “I hear and obey, Seignora Diana,” she said, intimidated as most were by Diana and retreating into formality.

  Diana surveyed the compartment behind the pilots’ seats. It was large enough to seat ten fully equipped huntresses, but half the seats had been taken out. A large pack was secured to the steel deck with canvas webbing. She quickly freed it and rolled it over to reveal the carrying frame and harness. It was immensely heavy, and she grunted as she swung it on to her back and adjusted the shoulder and waist straps. She took a step toward the exit hatch and paused. Laughing inwardly at herself, she decided to follow regulations and don her weapons belt. She took it down from a peg on the bulkhead and buckled it on, laser pistol on her right hip, sword on her left, and utility pouches all around.

  She tapped her carbonium wrist bracer to set her personal temperature shield to her liking. Then she hit the green control knob to operate the exit hatch. As it hissed and slid open, a blast of cold air blew into the cabin before the boat’s temperature shield reset itself and sealed out the weather. Big, fat snowflakes whirled into the cabin and immediately melted, creating small puddles on the deck. Diana gave Hebe a thumbs-up, snapped down the visor of her helmet, and stepped out of the airboat.

  She sank to her waist in the drift, but her temperature shield melted the snow and created a warm cocoon around her. As she strode forward, the shield melted a clear pathway. Her visor’s night vision function created a ten-meter circle of ghostly visibility through the blizzard. The beacon equipment was housed in a natural cave that opened into a solid rock face. The rock face was at the other end of the plateau they had landed on, scarcely a hundred meters away, and she was there in minutes. The entrance to the cave had been sealed with a featureless steel door with no handles or knobs. She tapped the code in her wrist bracer—there was a click, and the door glided open. She entered, pulled it shut behind her, and stamped her thigh-high boots on the cave floor to shake off the accumulated snow. She opened a comm channel to the airboat.

  “Seignora Diana here. I’m in the beacon room and commencing battery replacement. Relay our status to command, please.”

  “Officia Hebe here. I hear and obey.”

  Dim lights had come on with the opening of the door, and Diana’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the lighting. Ignoring the banks of equipment and display panels, she walked to the power plant at the far end of the cave. She unsnapped her pack harness and set it on the floor. She tapped another code into her wrist bracer, and the battery panel slid back with a gentle whirring sound. She pulled out the old batteries, two at a time, and replaced each set with a new one from her pack. It took her less tha
n ten minutes to complete the task, arrange the old batteries in her pack, and close the battery panel.

  She crouched over the pack and was about to swing it onto her shoulders when her keen hearing caught a faint hum. She cocked her head and listened intently, her suspicions aroused. She heard it again, a bit louder this time. It seemed to be coming from an inner cave, behind the power plant. Diana had never gone beyond the power plant in her previous visits, though she knew there were a number of natural subterranean passageways and caverns beyond the equipment cave. Still crouching, she drew her laser pistol in complete silence. She thumbed off the safety, unsure of what to expect. Focusing on the portal to the right of the power plant, she switched on the eyeball-activated night vision in her helmet visor—and saw nothing.

  Then the hum came again, louder and seemingly closer to the portal. She crept toward the portal, rising to her feet as she did so. Beyond the portal, she saw a cave, roughly the same size as the equipment cave. It lay in complete darkness, so she surveyed it from left to right, her night vision concentrating the dim light spilling in from the equipment cave to create a corridor of vision without active illumination. This time she saw the shadowy outline of a figure—were her eyes playing tricks on her? Even with her uniform boots, she was soundless as she stepped closer into the second cave, her laser pistol at the ready, set at low power.

  Before Diana’s eyes, the shadow grew in substance and form. Soon she saw a tall, elderly man with thick hair and a beard, both snowy white. He wore dark brown flowing robes and a broad leather belt on which hung a longsword. He had a stout staff in one hand, and the other rested on his sword hilt. He did not speak, but his blue eyes bored into hers, hard and unblinking. Without a conscious thought, Diana’s thumb pushed the power setting on her laser pistol to maximum, and she squeezed the trigger, aiming for the middle of the man’s chest.

  It should have vaporized his midsection and cut him in two. But as she watched incredulously, the laser beam lost focus and scattered into a rainbow of harmless light before being absorbed by his thick robes. She squeezed the trigger again, with identical results. She blinked her eyes, but the apparition still stood there in the cave, seemingly solid. She opened a comm channel to the airboat but got nothing but a burst of static. She locked eyes with her adversary—for he certainly did not seem friendly—and she knew. He was blocking her comm. He had not spoken, and there was no obvious medium. Oddly, in the dim light of the cave, his power did not surprise her.