Chapter 11: The Queen of Midnight

Victoria Sequeira, the Queen of Midnight. Former General of the Masma under the control of Bel, the old god-emperor. The unequivocal leader of the galaxy’s underworld and Queen of the Eshara.

Before the war, the Houses had heard rumours of the young, talented and ruthless general who had emerged from within the old god emperor's ranks. A newcomer who had quickly gained a reputation for being able to manipulate entire systems with minimal effort.

She commanded an enormous force, bigger than some Houses, that grew with each of her conquests. The Eshara. Rumours told of her ability to inspire leadership, though when looking closer, her main tool was negotiation, a tool that she wielded with unmatched skill. She always seemed to understand the exact thoughts of her opponents.

After the destruction of the Sha-En, the Houses stood against the Kryptea, the war House that had committed the crime. It wasn't the Houses that claimed victory that day, however, but rather the arrival of a Sha-En child. He had taken the head of the Kryptean War King, Orus Gilga. The Kryptea were enslaved to the Autarch as punishment. Bel, the god-emperor of the Masma, did not see this as fitting, and rather as a way for the Autarch to amass more power, and so war was declared.

It was only after years in the war that the Houses received word from the now prominent figure of Victoria Sequeira that she would turn against Bel and help the Houses take victory. She would provide plans, intel and her Eshara. Her condition was the safety of her people.

The Houses won the war with the help of Victoria. Her people were brought into House’s space, but there was no parade to their victory or sacrifice. No place in society was given to them. Seen as traitors, as a plant by the god-emperor, and as too different to integrate.

Victoria’s people were on the verge of collapse, with no support, and her requests from the Houses, ignored. She turned, like most desperate people do, to crime. Victoria knew that petty crime would only turn their situation more sour, so she used her forces to take over criminal syndicates. Not as an offering to the Houses, but so that they could sit upon those thrones.

The Eshara were a battle-hardened army and proved too much for any organisation to stand against. She knew too well that they would not stand together against her, and she used that.

Soon, she united the criminal underworlds, creating an empire of her own, all under her people’s banner. She carved her own place in House society.

Her warship, the Imhullu, was converted into a place of vice. All available on the ship she created a city on. Now called the Lotus. It became the epicentre of crime in the galaxy, travelling between systems and offering its services to all in the Houses. It became the place where her empire could manage its affairs, a place of business that was frequented by judges, politicians and members of all Houses. She amassed dirt on all of them and took their power for her own. Naturally, this gained the Houses' attention, but Victoria was now ready to renegotiate the terms of her people's sanctuary.

They were simple, she would do the jobs that the Houses could not, the wet work, the dirty work, the work that placed pressures on planets that would allow the Houses to walk in and save the day. That gave them the power to control more. To defeat the ‘enemy’ of the Eshara.

She would keep the underworld under control. All she asked for was the protection of her people. The Houses quickly accepted this, as it was an offer too good to turn down. Her people were now safe.

The Lotus carried out its work, offering the depravity that no one would admit to wanting, but all did. It was not a home, though. It was a business. She worked to find her people somewhere of their own, somewhere that the Eshara could live without needing to be criminals.

The Houses denied her this, saying that it would cause too much suspicion. That it would be seen by the public as the House's offering too much to a criminal Queen. She should have seen it coming, perhaps she did. Victoria did not accept defeat, and like before, anything that she had, she took by force.

It was a small moon, in a stationary orbit of a tidally locked planet that she found. A moon that was perpetually on the dark side of the planet, cast in its great shadow.

She called it Midnight, and she hollowed the moon out and built her city, the home of the Eshara. Nobody stopped her, nobody would want the planet or the moon, but she did. It became the home of the Eshara and the palace of Victoria, and gave her the new title of the Queen of Midnight.

Sonny was not looking at Midnight now, though, as he sat in his private yacht, looking out the viewport at her ship.

The Lotus still looked like the old warship it had been a lifetime ago, with its heavy hull, its turrets, and its multiple ports, but she had changed it. Now it had an open roof with a suspended atmosphere that glittered as its ceiling. The city within a thirty-two-square-kilometre ship had high rises that stretched into the atmosphere, all blinking with lights and advertisements offering its latest casino offerings, new drinks, concerts, and sex. She had built it.

It was not unusual for Victoria to leave Midnight and take command of the Lotus. It was a way that she normally conducted business. Not everyone gained an invitation to Midnight, but all were welcome on the Lotus.

It was only Jax and Sonny on his yacht, as it always was when he came to meet with Victoria. He wanted people to think that his character, ‘the young, powerful playboy of the Houses was heading to the Lotus for debauchery’ was all there was to him. The fewer people who knew about his real relationship with her, the better. He looked out of the viewport of his yacht at the old warship, remembering seeing it during the war, and what fear it would bring.

“How are you feeling?” Jax asked from the yacht's controls, an unusual place to see a shifter. Her shifting abilities were rare. Her ability to be an interplanetary shifter was even rarer and highly sought after. Jax was Jax, though, Sonny thought. She had learned how to pilot a ship because that was what was expected of her as High Council of the Artelis.

“I’m worried about what she’s going to do,” he said softly, opening his true thoughts to her. She didn't answer immediately.

“Just find out what she knows. We can’t get worried about what we dont know yet, right?” she said, imitating the mantra that he gave her when her anxieties arose.

“Yeah, yeah, you're a fucking sage Jax,” he said in good humour. The whole thing was a mess. Jax orbited the yacht around the Lotus, moving to the private port that was always given to him when he arrived. His position in the Houses warranted such treatment, so it was not something that they needed to hide.

“Do you want me to come in with you?”

“No, you may need to jump to the idiots if I hear anything too bad, and I want you to be able to move at any time. I need you to get out and get them without being noticed”

“Lemon”, she said, which would have seemed strange to most, but they used a fruit-based code word system and always had. He had found it easier to give her operational orders this way. She had been ten when she had started working for him after all. It had stuck. Lemon meant that things could go wrong quickly, and people would need to be extracted. At this point, they were running out of fruit. Sonny also could not remember all of their fruity plans anymore, but Jax did.

“Fucking lemons,” he said more to himself than to her, still gazing at the Lotus. Once they had made their way to the port, Jax masterfully docked the yacht, and Sonny got himself ready. He would wear his military colours, his character demanded it. He had always been the ‘seen’ House Head, especially in places like this. He also wanted to make sure that the Houses did not suspect him of trying to get onto Yeley.

They didn't speak much as she straightened his uniform for him, not wanting to look into his eyes, lest she convey her true worries.

He made his way to the vestibule and waited for the doors to open. The entrance of his ship had a great viewport, usually used for people to see him and his party as he entered a planet. Now, though, he saw the atmosphere from the Lotus move over his ship like it was being engulfed by a giant bubble of life-giving oxygen. He saw his welcoming party walking behind the bubble line, and he made his way down once the door opened.

“Cotton!” Sonny said with a giant smile and his arms held wide open,

“Lord Matise,” said Cotton with a bow, his bald head shining. He was somewhere between a monk and a hitman. Sonny knew him from the war. He was one of only two of Victoria’s closest advisors, and a formidable soldier, though his slight stature would not tell you that. His black suit hid the wiry strength beneath it, and his features always portrayed a Zen-like man. Sonny always suspected that this was in compensation for his more base nature. He was accompanied by four people: assistants, bodyguards, and advisors. Sonny never really paid attention to them, and he knew that they were not to be noticed by people, but rather to offer functions to Cotton. They never spoke aloud.

“Good to see you, old friend,” Sonny said, wrapping the man in a big hug, which Sonny always knew that he disliked, but was in line with his character. “Business good?”

“Through celebration and commiseration, we thrive”, he said with a big smile as Sonny released him, “Jax not here?”

“Waiting in the ship, she said she’s still trying to work off the headache from the last time she was here” Cotton smiled.

“Lady Victoria is waiting for you, but I must tell you,” he said leaning in, “She’s currently in a meeting with a Dorlec Commander”

“Is she now?” Sonny said, understanding the warning, “Well, isn't that interesting?”. Cotton took Sonny into the ship, and once again he marvelled at the hull of the former Imhullu warship, its thick steel walls. Once inside, they got into a glider, with an antique style, always the mark of forced class.

“She’s worried,” said Cotton, now that they were in the safety of the glider, his demeanour changing to something more familiar to Sonny. “And this Dorlec Commander suddenly coming in has not made her feel any better”

“I’m sure”, said Sonny as the glider left the walls of the ship into the city, where he was met with towering buildings, blinding lights and an open sky which showed the swirl of the galaxy and the planets within reach. It reminded him of his own Home ship, the Artelis, though his ship offered far more green lands and a natural setting. This was a hardened city. “Anything that I should know before I get in there?”

“We were not contacted for the job. Usually, when destabilising a planet, we will at least get word of it, if not receive the contract directly. This time, we heard nothing”

“Wonderful”, he allowed the cityscape to take him in as they drifted through the streets of the Lotus. It hadn't changed much since he had been last, although that was only a few years ago. Each building had vibrant neon signs, advertising the delights within. People littered the streets dressed vibrantly in the warm weather, walking arm in arm, cheering, and spilling their drinks.

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Sonny noticed the ever-present Eshara guard patrolling the streets too, some marked with the visible handprint tattoo offering homage to their Queen. All had the tattoo under the Eshara, it just depended on where on the body they wore it. A reappropriated symbol of Bel, now taken by The Queen. The most zealous had the print on their faces, used as a warning to all who saw them. It was shown in defiance of the Houses, the space that never accepted them, and now the Houses came to them. They wanted to show them who they were.

“Who is the Commander?”

“Sheppard. A youngster, apparently on his way to Yelean space to stop the uprising if need be”, said Cotton, also fixed on the city. They didn't even send a heavy hitter for this. Nothing here was making sense. Since when did Victoria take a meeting with a Commander anyway? And since when did you send a Dorlec to stabilise a region?

Her tower came into view, the only building that did not show any lights or advertisements. It was at the epicentre of the city, for all to have a reminder of who held the power on her ship. It was the tallest building, and stark in comparison to the rest. Known simply as the Palace. The glider came to a stop, and Sonny stepped out onto the street, hearing the crowds of the buzzing street as he got out, he heard a few shout out,

“Lord Matise!” with a wave and then a cheer from the crowd around them,

“Sonny!”

“Come party with us!”

“Where?!” Sonny shouted as he plastered his large smile on and waved his arms. They cheered more for him, gathering in a crowd.

Once inside the building, the doors closed off the people's view of them. Sonny caught a rueful smile from Cotton,

“Shut up,” he said, giving a small smile himself. As always, Cotton's posse didn't say a word. They just followed. The lift opened, and they stepped in, heading to the top of the building. The elevator was adorned with gold and showed the luxury that the Lotus needed to exude.

“She would like you to join in the meeting with the Dorlec”, Cotton said, clearly having just received the information himself. So she was communicating with her people even while in the meeting. He was quite sure that Commander Sheppard would not be aware of that. The doors opened, and Sonny was met by the other most trusted advisor to Victoria. Penna Oryel. Taller than Cotton and slightly broader than her counterpart. She held a short fringe and an irritated expression at all times. Sonny did not hug Penna.

“No trouble, please, Lord Matise,” she said in her flat way, “The Dorlec are waiting outside, we would appreciate it if you did the same”, she finished, to which Cotton gave her a nod. Covering their asses, Sonny thought.

“No problem,” he said, walking into the room. He grinned broadly at the occupants and relished in their terror at his arrival. There were five Dorlec here, four in Exo-suits that were standing and shifted uncomfortably as he walked past, and one who sat on a high-backed chair whose face was construed in pure unadulterated terror,

“Lor…Lord Matise, sir,” he said, standing and saluting in his full military colours. A Lieutenant Commander. He had the usual look of a Dorlec, made, formed. The hair was too neat, his skin too smooth, too pale, his build too manufactured. Sonny tossed his eyebrows at them and gave them a wicked smile. He made his way to the double doors of Victoria’s office, but before he could open the doors, he heard the Lieutenant Commander's plea, “My Lord, Commander…”

“Okay,” Sonny said brightly as he pushed the doors open before the Lieutenant Commander could finish.

He was greeted by a room that defined her. Dark, with a massive window that looked over the city before her, two sofas that faced each other for one-on-one negotiation, and a small bar that held the finest liquors in the galaxy. Commander Sheppard staggered in his seat. Much like the Lieutenant Commander in the lobby, he had all the hallmarks of the Dorlec: neat, tall, manufactured. He looked in shock at Sonny,

“Lord Louis”, he said, straightening his uniform as he stood. At least he knew he didn't like being called Matise.

“Sonny, please,” he said in his playboy way, as he looked at the window and the silhouette that stood blocking the lights of the flashing neon from the city and the star landscape above her. Sonny waved his hand to get the Commander to sit down again, which he complied with. She turned and faced him, to which he nodded and said,

“Lady Victoria, ravishing as always” She faced him, and he was met by the familiar sharp lines of her face, the severe bob that barely grazed her chin emphasising her slender neck. Her predatory, jewel-like eyes glowed with a faint purple in the dim room. A sharp, straight nose rested above her slightly curved, unreadable lips. She wore an all-black dress that was form-fitting and reached up her neck and down her arms. She wore no jewellery as it would detract from her. She was the epitome of elegance and danger.

“Sonny,” she said in her calm tone, controlled, practised, “Allow me to introduce you to Commander Leigh Sheppard of the Dorlec,” she said, not looking at him at all, “He was just delivering a warning to me”

“Ah, tugging the leash, are they?” he said, looking at the flailing Commander.

“Please, my lady, this is not a warning”, he said, standing again, to which Sonny again waved him down. Sonny could see the anxiety he felt as he looked between himself and the Queen of Midnight.

“May I?” Sonny said, pointing to the bar. He didn't wait for an answer as he saw that Victoria made her way to the opposite sofa, as the Commander, who cleared his throat.

Sonny picked up a very rare bottle of whiskey that had not been opened yet, a forty-year-old Fruijeleren. He poured a large glass, for his character, and for him, and made his way to the sofa.

“Please, my lady, we merely express our interest in your travelling to…” he looked over at Sonny, who sat next to him. He clearly didn't want to say the place's name in front of him,

“Yeley”, she finished tauntingly. He sighed,

“Yes, all we want to know is why you are heading there?” he said nervously, shifting as Sonny placed his arm on the spine of the sofa, giving the Commander an encouraging smile before taking a large sip of the whiskey.

“My movements are a concern to the Dorlec, Commander?” she said, looking at him with that predatory stare, like a wild cat finding the best way to open him up.

“We…we are aware of instability on the planet, my Lady. Naturally, when a ship like this moves towards a planet like that, we would have some questions,” She allowed the silence to hang.

“Instability offers opportunity for my offerings, Commander. I can assure you, however, the Dorlec have nothing to fear from me starting anything”, she said, allowing the rest to remain unsaid. The Commander seemed to be at a loss as to what his next move should be. He looked at Sonny for something and seemed to regret it immediately as Sonny just gave him another wicked smile.

“Very well then”, he said, standing and correcting his uniform. “Thank you for your time, Lady Victoria”, he said with a short bow, but as he was walking away, he dramatically stopped and turned on his heels,

“I am aware that Lor…Sonny has been given orders to stay away from Yeley as well,” he said, looking between the two. “I would hope that this meeting has nothing to do with that”, Sonny smiled and gave a look of confusion at him.

“You are well informed,” he said, smiling. “No, I am here to drown my sorrows, Commander. I find that the Lotus has just the right offerings for a man like me”

“Yes, well, if this ship stays on its current course, I would suggest departing. We wouldn't want the Autarch to suspect that anyth…”

“Changed my mind!” Sonny said, placing his glass of whiskey on the table in front of him and standing in front of the Commander. He made sure to keep smiling, “I can be fickle like that. I’d like for you to call me by my official title, the whole one,” he said staring down at the Commander, “And don’t leave anything out, I know that the Dorlec have an extra moniker that they add”

“My Lord?” Sonny just smiled down at him and nodded, “Lord Louis Matise”

“All of them, please, Commander” Sheppard was now sweating, and faltering, and with sheer terror pressed on,

“Prince Louis Matise, Head of the Artelis, Destroyer of the Bridge” Sonny spun his finger in the air to get him to continue, “The Crying Prince”

“Ah, that’s it. There we go, doesn't that feel…right?” he said, taking the smaller man by the shoulders, “You see that’s my title, Commander, that’s who I am. A part of the Autarchs family, not just a House Head. Why would I, of all people, defy him?”

“Apologies, Prince Matise,” he said, bowing his head. Sonny slapped him on the shoulder and then turned back to the seats,

“No problem, Commander Leigh Sheppard of the Dorlec. Now, you can take your leave. It seems that I don't have long on this ship, and I want to get as much pleasure packed into that time as possible. I wouldn't want to arouse any suspicions,” he said, grabbing his whiskey up again and taking a big gulp. Commander Sheppard gave a deep bow and left the room.

“I would like my usual apartments, six bottles of this whiskey, some of that blue stuff…” Sonny said, keeping up the act as he waited for the Dorlec soldiers to leave, “I’d also like whatever celebs you have here to come and see me” There was a knock on the door telling them that it was clear.

“Why Yeley?” she said, her tone turning straight to business, but now with a hint of desperation.

“We aren’t sure yet, I did get that order that the young Commander just mentioned, and I also got a warning from Oso,” he said, looking at her seriously, “It looks like they are going to be taking Yeley”

“You told me she would be safe,” she said, now looking at him the way she had been looking at Sheppard. She took in a breath, knowing that it was not Sonny who was doing this, “Do they know?”

“We are trying to figure that out, I am barred from any contact with the planet or any of its representatives, which means any move I make will cause a stir. I can’t find out what’s happening on the planet, but I have people looking into it. So far, we have seen no evidence that they do, but it doesn't change the fact that the Dorlec have been given permission to move into Yeley. I was hoping that you might know something of this”

“We weren’t even aware of it”

“Cotton mentioned that,” he said, only now having time to consider it. It was strange. This was the type of work the Eshara did, this was their forte. Why wouldn't they have been contracted for this? “A Dorlec Commander?”

“Valentine requested the meeting, but he didn't give much away. He just came from a moon called Gol, nothing there, seems he was there for a while and has now moved into Yelean space”. Sonny would bet his House on there being something on Gol. Under Valentine’s leadership, the Dorlec had become more secretive, more clandestine. It seemed to put all on edge except the Autarch, who had engaged in more business with them than ever before.

“Seems a bit green to be taking a planet, maybe we are overthinking this”,

“Another two Dorlec Pillars are moving into Yelean space. Sheppard informed me as to not scare us off”, she said, clearly frustrated with the condescension. “It won’t just be him,” she said as though this was a passing conversation. “What other reason could they have to want Yeley?”

“It’s a gateway to owning seven independent planets. Twelve in total. The planet has value in its own right,” Sonny said, having thought about this question since Oso had handed the order over on Artelis. It seemed that his words confirmed her own thoughts, but he knew that her mind would be sitting firmly in the worst-case scenario right now.

“Take Yeley, you get the rest. The problem is that the Traes have never given any reason for the Houses to take them. Pac Traes has always been aware of his position and has carefully danced through any issues that give cause to the Houses stepping in,” he said, taking another sip of his whiskey. “Still, we should have seen something like this coming”

“Harold did”, she accused,

“And from what I’ve heard, he has already dispatched a team, though, knowing Harold…” he decided not to finish the sentence. She didn't press him.

“What do you need from me?” she said, always looking for how a problem could be solved.

“Intel, I need to know what’s happening on Planet, and what they are looking to do. Speak to Harold, see everything he knows. You have other people on Planet, I need you to activate them”

“They already have been. I have people in the Temple, a guard and in the revolutionary group, but nothing has come from it yet, which leads me to think that this is going to be an attack. The Rebel group is led by a Professor, Grasci, but they are not organised enough for this, and he isn't disrupting the government enough to create a coup. The temple guard knows nothing about what’s happening, and the other country heads are not planning anything. If we didn't know about the Dorlec moving in, I would say it was business as usual” She had wrung her hands twice now. Sonny was not used to seeing the woman show any vulnerability. She always retained control, even in the most dire circumstances. He didn't need her getting nervous, not now. She hurriedly stopped and delicately grabbed her glass of wine, trying to elicit some control back. Sonny felt her gaze heavily on him, and he knew what she was going to ask, but didn't want to risk the question coming up if he was wrong. He wasn't.

“Have you heard from him?”

“By proxy, Az got in touch, but he was cryptic. He could already be on planet.” She seemed not to be able to decide whether this was positive or negative news. “I know it’s not the best solution, but we don’t have many options here.”

“Well, something best happen, Sonny,” she said in a warning tone, all of her power seeming to be on show as her purple eyes tightened, “Or I’ll take the planet myself”.