Chapter 14
The Head of the Serpent
HIMS Ultor Sanguinis, Orbit of Erdi
Yasuko's new home on the Ultor Sanguinis was a little private room reserved for mid-ranking civilian guests the ship might receive. It had its own shower and toilet, which according Lowen was a luxury reserved for senior officers. Apparently a junior officer like Lowen had to bunk in an eight-man room and share a shower with the adjoining room. And that wasn't anywhere near as bad as the berths for the junior enlisted, which were much like the accommodations Yasuko experienced at Heigangcheng.
Yasuko wasn't allowed to go out of her quarters unless Lowen was there to escort her. It was just as well. She could use some time to rest. Even with her accelerated healing, it would take a few days to recover after being worked over by that one soldier. Not that she had fully recovered from her last bout of major trauma.
It was nice having a bed again. It didn't have the same sense of familiar comfort as that well-worn, beaten-down mattress at the Villalobos place, but it was far better than anything she'd had since.
She didn't have any bedclothes, so she just slept in the clothes she was given. The idea of even having bedclothes was something she picked up in the Capital, so it should've been more natural to sleep in her regular clothes, but for some reason she found herself missing the cotton robe she would wear to bed. Once she got her muscle suit, she made a point to keep it on as much as possible, but there were a few nights when she got to missing the feel of that fine cotton on her skin and would set aside her discipline. She was only human after all. Maybe that was part of her problem.
The chime for the door sounded, waking Yasuko up. She was feeling sorer today, but it was always worse the day after. She dragged herself out of bed and went to the door. Unsurprisingly, it was Lowen.
"Ugh, mornin'," she grunted.
"Good morning, Yasuko," Lowen replied. "The Captain has extended an invitation to have breakfast with him and I've come to get you."
"Captain? Which Captain?"
"The Captain of this ship. He wants to speak with you before you meet the Admiral later this morning."
Even if she could refuse, it probably wasn't the smart thing to do.
"Alright, let's go," she said.
Lowen gave Yasuko a once-over and then asked her, "Did you sleep in your utilities?"
Yasuko looked down at her jumpsuit.
"You mean this? Yeah. Not like I had anything else to wear."
Lowen furrowed his brow.
"What?" Yasuko asked annoyedly.
"Do you have a spare?"
"No."
"Have you at least taken a shower?"
"Lowen, I just got up. I had that decon shower yesterday."
Her answer seemed to bother him, annoying her further.
"Lowen, what is it?"
"It's just that... I'd like you to be a little more presentable, but we don't have much time."
Yasuko rolled her eyes.
"Oh my God, Lowen. You really are just like my mother. Listen, maybe you don't remember, but I had the shit kicked outta me not too long ago and as long as I got this..." She waggled her empty sleeve. "...I ain't gettin' a whole lot done too quick. Unless you plan on ironin' this shit and/or helpin' me out in the shower, you an' the Captain are gonna hafta take me as I am."
Lowen flushed a little. This managed to blunt Yasuko's annoyance at him and instead made her feel like teasing him a bit.
Jabbing him in the ribs, she said, "C'mon, Lowen, it ain't like it's nothin' new for you."
Flustered, Lowen replied, "I, I was only doing what was necessary at the time. I don't intend to make a habit of it."
"Oh really?"
Not picking up the hint, he said completely seriously, "If you need assistance, I will have a Corpsman assigned to you."
"A what?"
"It's like a hospital orderly crossed with a field medic. The Hospital Corpsmen handle just about everything that doesn't require a doctor or nurse."
"Huh... Well, I think I can hannle it, but don't expect me to knock out any 90-second showers. Well, maybe I could hannle the shower bit, but it's the dressin' an' undressin' that's a pain in the ass."
Lowen sighed.
"Yasuko, please promise me you'll be more mindful of your language around the Captain."
"Yeah, sure."
"That goes double for when you see the Admiral."
"Yeah, yeah. We goin' or what?"
Lowen sighed again and said, "I suppose we may as well get this over with. Come on."
"Hell, Lowen, you put on the charm any more, you're gonna hafta get a mop."
"I swear to God, Yasuko..." He paused. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
A wry grin crossed Yasuko's lips.
"You know it."
Lowen sighed again, prompting Yasuko to say, "You know, I think my people have a sayin' that when you sigh, your happiness slips away."
"I don't have to worry about my happiness slipping away when you're driving it off like the damn Mongol hordes."
Yasuko chuckled.
"You talk like I'm not the best thing to ever happen to you."
"Don't even start, Yasuko."
It took them about an hour to reach the Captain's Mess. They were met by a sailor in white—he even had on white gloves—who said, "The Captain is expecting you, sir, ma'am. This way, please."
Noting the sailor's language choice, Yasuko said to Lowen, "Ya'll don't normally speak Celestial or whatever it is you call it, right?"
"We've instructed personnel to use Mandarin around you," Lowen replied. "There's less variance than with Spanish and your Lingua."
"But you're still using this... what'd you call it? Spanish?"
"You seem to be more comfortable with it."
"You know me so well."
"Come on. It hasn't even been a week."
"Time is relative."
"Lunchtime doubly so."
"I thought we were having breakfast."
"It's... Oh, never mind."
They entered into the main dining area. There wasn't much to see beyond a table with six chairs and a bar in the corner. Sitting at the table was a Naval officer Yasuko hadn't met yet who was probably the Captain. Captain Delamar was there too, sitting next to him.
Lowen went to attention and said, "Good morning, sir, ma'am. Unterleutnant Meyer reporting as ordered, along with Yasuko Rodrigues."
"At ease, Unterleutnant," the Captain said. He motioned to the chair opposite to him. "Have a seat."
"Aye-aye, sir," Lowen replied.
In proper gentlemanly fashion, he pulled out Yasuko's seat for her before sitting down himself.
"Good morning, Miss Rodrigues," Captain Delamar said pleasantly. "You look a little ruffled this morning."
Uncomfortably, Lowen said, "My apologies, Frau Kapitän. I did not think to allot for more time for her to prepare herself."
"Oh, I'm sure she needed the rest. A good host must make allowances for their guests. Isn't that right, Herr Kapitän?"
The Captain didn't answer her. Instead, he nodded to Yasuko and introduced himself curtly.
"Kapitän zur Raum Konstanty Iwanowicz, Captain of the Ultor Sanguinis."
Yasuko nodded back and responded in kind.
"Yasuko Suzuki Rodrigues."
"You're scheduled to meet Admiral Lavrov at oh-nine-hundred," Captain Iwanowicz said. "I've read Unterleutnant Meyer's and Captain Delamar's reports, but I wanted to see for myself what we're dealing with here. But first, shall we order?"
"You get to order?" Yasuko asked Lowen.
"In the Captain's Mess you do," Captain Delamar said. "The Admiral's Mess as well, obviously, but I wouldn't hope for an invitation from the Lord Admiral. He's rather choosy about his dinner guests."
"Likes to keep the riffraff out, huh?"
"Yasuko!"
Captain Delamar covered her mouth to hide a smile while Captain Iwanowicz replied without the slightest sense of either anger or humor, "That is exactly right." He then motioned for the sailor from before, saying, "Fröhlich, come here."
The sailor hurried to the table and said, "Yes, Herr Kapitän?"
Captain Iwanowicz nodded to Yasuko.
"Inform our guest of her choices."
"Aye, sir," the sailor replied. He then said to Yasuko, "Today's specials are the country breakfast, consisting of eggs, your choice of sausage, bacon or ham, home fries, and pancakes or biscuits and gravy; an omelette with your choice of green and red peppers, bacon, ham or sausage, mushrooms, and cheese; and the washoku breakfast with grilled salmon, rice, miso soup, tsukemono, and natto."
It almost seemed like the washoku option was being offered specifically for Yasuko's benefit, so it would be rude to pick anything else, even if she didn't feel much affinity for traditional Wo-style meals.
"I guess I'll have the washoku," she said.
"Will that be with the natto, ma'am?"
"Yeah, sure."
"And for you, Herr Kapitän?"
"The usual," Captain Iwanowicz replied.
"And you, Frau Kapitän?"
"I'll have the fruit plate and a croissant."
"Herr Unterleutnant?"
"I'll have the omelette," Lowen said, "with sausage, mushrooms and cheese."
"No peppers?" Yasuko asked.
"No."
"What are you, a kid or somethin'?"
"I just don't like peppers."
"Like a kid."
Lowen drew in a long breath through his nose to keep from saying whatever he might've said, being mindful of the company. Again, Captain Delamar seemed amused by all this.
"You two certainly seem to get along well," Captain Iwanowicz said in total deadpan.
"We've been through a lot together," Yasuko replied.
"So it would seem."
It wasn't long before Fröhlich returned with a large serving tray with their orders. He served Captain Iwanowicz first, followed by Captain Delamar, Lowen and finally Yasuko.
Captain Iwanowicz arched an eyebrow and said, "Fröhlich, is it not protocol to serve guests first, especially civilian guests?"
"Ah, excuse me, sir. No excuse, sir."
The Captain waved him off before he could grovel and further.
"We're supposed to have the more competent mess attendants assigned here," Captain Iwanowicz said, "but it would seem that lapses still happen. You have my apologies, Miss Rodrigues."
"It's fine," Yasuko said.
"No, it's not," Captain Iwanowicz said. "A slight like this is a poor reflection on His Imperial Majesty's Navy."
"You're bein' pretty understandin' of me, so how 'bout we call it even?"
"Very well then," the Captain said. "Shall we begin?"
Because she was having washoku, it only seemed appropriate for Yasuko to say "Itadakimasu" before digging in. She noticed the Captain bowing his head with his eyes closed like he was praying before he began to eat. Captain Delamar was taking delicate bites of the sliced fruit on her plate while Lowen seemed to be agonizing over the appropriate size of the morsel he was supposed to carve off his omelette. Meanwhile, Yasuko found herself fumbling with her chopsticks.
When Lowen noticed, he leaned in and said in a low voice, "Yasuko, don't tell me you can't use chopsticks."
"Not left-handed, I can't, dammit," she grumbled.
"You could feed her, Unterleutnant Meyer," Captain Delamar said with a catlike grin. "There's no reason to be shy on my account."
As fun as it might have been to tease Lowen, Yasuko actually found the idea too embarrassing herself, so instead she held up the chopsticks threateningly and told him, "You try it and these are goin' up your nose."
"I wasn't going to try it," Lowen insisted. "I wasn't even thinking about it."
Well, now Yasuko was thinking about it, that it might not be all that bad. If there wasn't an audience, that is.
"You two aren't being honest with yourselves," Captain Delamar said.
"Your sense of humor is twisted as ever, Frau Kapitän," Captain Iwanowicz said. "Fröhlich, fork."
Fröhlich promptly delivered a silverware set wrapped in a napkin. The thought of eating a washoku breakfast with a fork rubbed her the wrong way, but what else was she supposed to do? Let Lowen feed her after all?
"We can add this to the list of things that'd kill my mother," Yasuko said as she broke off a piece of the salmon.
A moment passed before Captain Iwanowicz said, "So I hear you're an assassin."
It was rather abrupt, but it looked like it was bothering Lowen a lot more than it was Yasuko.
"Yeah, that's right," Yasuko replied.
There was no point in trying to hide it. He already read everything she'd told Lowen and Captain Delamar.
"You don't look it," he said.
"That's kinda the point, isn't it? Doesn't work out so well if they see it comin'."
Without warning, Captain Iwanowicz took his knife and brought it down on Yasuko's hand. If she'd reacted any slower, he would've pinned it to the table. Out of reflex, Yasuko stabbed him in turn with her fork, only she didn't miss. Even with her fork sticking in his hand, the Captain didn't flinch and he didn't let go of his knife.
"Yasuko! Herr Kapitän!" a panicked Lowen exclaimed.
"Stand down," the Captain said. That went for both Lowen and Fröhlich. To Yasuko, he said, "Well, you've had some training at least. That much is certain."
"And you say my sense of humor is twisted, Herr Kapitän," Captain Delamar replied, seeming strangely unfazed by this little exchange. Did she know it was coming or something?
"I had to see it for myself," Captain Iwanowicz said. "That's enough, Miss Rodrigues. You can take your fork out of my hand now."
Somewhat warily, Yasuko pulled the fork out of the Captain's hand.
"Fröhlich," the Captain said, "get Miss Rodrigues another fork."
"Ye-yes, Herr Kapitän," Fröhlich said uncertainly. "Aye-aye, Her Kapitän."
* * *
Yasuko spent a moment staring at the little booth used for showering. This was a warship, after all, so it wasn't like she could expect the luxury of the Capital. She should count herself lucky to have a way to regularly bathe at all. That wouldn't be an option if she was still on the run on the surface. She remembered Lowen explaining to her about the panel on the outside of the shower where you could adjust the settings. She couldn't read the language, but the temperature setting at least was fairly clear.
When she stepped into the shower and closed the door, she found that it worked much the same as the decon shower she was subjected to when being brought on board. Sprayed with water from all sides, then squirted with liquid soap and given about a minute to lather up before being rinsed off. You didn't really have much time to enjoy it. The whole process only took about five minutes or so.
She had a freshly pressed jumpsuit waiting for her. At least this way Lowen wouldn't be fretting about how presentable she was.
After she got dressed, Yasuko had a little while to wait until Lowen showed up. There wasn't really anything to do, so she just sat at the little desk in the corner and rested her eyes. She couldn't decide if it was better for her to be kept busy or if she could've used some more rest. It wasn't like she could sleep that easily, so maybe it was for the best that she was kept occupied.
Much as she was dreading meeting the Admiral, she was thankful when she heard the door chime. Being left alone with her thoughts was worse, after all. She went to the door and there was Lowen.
"Much better," Lowen said, giving her a once over.
"Yeah, thanks," Yasuko said, rolling her eyes. "We doin' this?"
"Yasuko, I really need you to be on your best behavior. This is the Admiral, okay? Captain Iwanowicz was being rather indulgent of you, but I can't say the Admiral will be the same."
"He's not gonna try an' stab me, is he?"
"I'm pretty sure you don't have anything to worry about, but then again, I wasn't expecting Captain Iwanowicz to do what he did. Just to be on the safe side, you don't have anything on you that could be used as a weapon, do you?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Yasuko said. A grin crossed her lips as she lifted up her arms. "You wanna frisk me?"
Lowen blushed just a little bit before clearing his throat and saying, "I, I'm sure the Admiral's bodyguards will check you if there are any doubts."
"Suit yourself," Yasuko said, lowering her arms.
"Shall we be going?"
"Lead the way."
Yasuko occupied herself on the walk to their destination by trying to fill out her mental map of the ship, picking up as many details as she could. They certainly weren't going to give her the schematics to study, but it behooved her to know her way around as much as possible. She didn't want to be wholly reliant on Lowen, even if he was supposed to be attached to her hip for the duration of her stay.
I took them at least fifteen minutes to get where they were going. When they arrived, Yasuko saw the survivors of Lowen's crew standing in the hallway waiting for them: Kan, Goran, Nils and Wei. It was certainly different seeing them in full uniform. They stood at attention as Lowen approached.
"Good morning, sir," Wei said, apparently in his role as the senior enlisted man of the group.
"Good morning," Lowen replied. "At ease. Are you and Weiss okay to be out of Sickbay?"
"We've been summoned by the Admiral, sir," Wei replied. "We would be here even if they had to wheel us in on our hospital beds."
"You're fine walking around?"
"We can manage, sir."
"Well, don't push yourselves too much."
"Aye-aye, sir."
The door opened and an officer stepped out. He had more stripes on his sleeve than Lowen, so everyone went to attention.
"The Admiral will see you now," the officer said. "Enter."
"Aye, sir," Lowen replied. "With me, Yasuko."
First Lowen and Yasuko entered the room and the others filed in behind them. It was some sort of conference room with a table for about twenty people with what looked like a holoprojector in the center and vidscreens covering most of the walls. At the head of the table was an older man in a more elaborate uniform than any of the others Yasuko had seen before, who was obviously the Admiral. There were a bunch of other officers at the table, almost all high-rankers. The only two Yasuko recognized were Captains Iwanowicz and Delamar.
Lowen stood at attention, both looking and sounding a lot stiffer than usual as he said tensely, "Unterleutnant Meyer reporting as ordered, sir, with Yasuko Rodrigues and the survivors of the Weißschwanzschwalbe-173."
The Admiral looked at them for a moment before saying, "At ease, Unterleutnant, men." His eyes slowly scanned them again from left to right. "So you five are all that remains of the crew of the Weißschwanzschwalbe-173, is that so, Unterleutnant?"
"Yes, Herr Admiral," Lowen replied.
The Admiral sighed and shook his head.
"It is a shame about Sir Istvan. He showed great promise."
"He was a fine commander, sir. I'm sure he would've done great things for the Empire."
"Perhaps you can succeed his legacy, Unterleutnant," the Admiral said. "By the authority vested in me by His Imperial Majesty, I hereby promote you, Lowen Meyer, to the rank of Leutnant zur Raum and award you the title of Knight, Fifth Class. We will hold a proper ceremony once this operation is concluded."
Lowen looked stunned for a moment, then said, "Thank you, Herr Admiral. It, it is an honor."
Yasuko was surprised he wasn't flubbing more, but apparently he could work through his nervousness.
Even though she was mostly watching Lowen, Yasuko couldn't help but notice the Admiral's eyes on her.
"So this is the local who assisted you?" he said to Lowen.
"Yes, Herr Admiral."
"What is your name, girl?"
"Yasuko Suzuki Rodrigues," Yasuko replied.
"Yasuko, address him as 'Herr Admiral'," Lowen told her in a low voice.
"...Herr Admiral."
The Admiral sniffed in apparent amusement and then said, "You have my thanks, Miss Rodriguez. The Empire does not forget those who serve her."
Something about his phrasing caused Yasuko to forget about diplomacy.
"I didn't do it to serve your Empire," she said bluntly. She nodded to Lowen and the others. "They helped me and I helped them. The only reason I've stayed with them is because I believe you can give me what I want."
Mortified, Lowen exclaimed, "Yasuko, what did I tell you!? You're speaking to Admiral Lord Lavrov!" In a panicked effort to smoothe things over, he said, "Milord, forgive her, please. She, she doesn't know our ways. She—"
The Admiral raised his hand to stop him.
"That is quite all right, Sir Lowen. Exceptions to customs and courtesies are made for the exceptional. Tell me, Miss Rodrigues, what is you think we can give you?"
"The destruction of the Celestials."
As he had no doubt been briefed already, the Admiral didn't have to ask what she was talking about. He just nodded along as if he was mulling it over before saying, "Yes, I believe our purposes do align, but what can you give us?"
"Information," Yasuko said. She nodded to her left side. "This arm."
"Precisely what information?"
"I know the Capital and more importantly, I know the man who calls himself Emperor."
Even though he probably knew as much as what Yasuko had told Captain Delamar about Sturla, the Admiral nevertheless asked, "And how exactly does someone like you know this pretender?"
"I'm the one who put him there."
"Explain."
"My mother is Masako Suzuki, all that's left of the main line of House Suzuki, the rulers of Lingmu County in Tiandao Province. She married Prince Sturla, who's now calling himself Emperor Wuying. I was his assassin. I killed the old Emperor, the Crown Prince and the Emperor's brother. I cleared the way for him."
"This Sturla, he is not your father, is he?"
"My father is Batista Rodrigues, a centurion in the Imperial Guard. Prince Sturla found out what I was trying to do, so he gave me a choice: become his assassin or die."
"What were you trying to do?"
"Bring down the Celestials. I hate them."
"But you are one of these Celestials yourself."
"I'm not a Celestial. My mother may be a Celestial, but I'm not. I'm a paisana."
"A paisana?"
"Us down below, we call ourselves paisanos. The Celestials call us Infernals."
A lot of this was retreading things she had already said, but maybe the Admiral was wanting to hear it for himself. Like before, he was nodding to himself, apparently what he did whenever he was thinking.
"The pieces are coming together," he said. "Yes, Miss Rodrigues, I think there is much we can do for each other. You see, expeditionary fleets like this one are meant to be more of a surgical knife than a club. When reclaiming our Lost Worlds, we wish to cause as little damage as possible. A careful excision of unhealthy elements and the planet can be reincorporated back into the Empire where it belongs. With your first-hand knowledge, we can work all the quicker and more accurately. Instead of hundreds of thousands or even millions, we can settle this matter to the order of mere tens of thousands."
Those numbers were people's lives. Yasuko would've been a hypocrite if she got squeamish at the thought of it. After all, she was the one who was wanting to bring down the entire Capital single-handedly. How many tens of thousands would that have been?
Anyway, the Admiral's talk of a more surgical approach wasn't bad. It wasn't like she necessarily wanted each and every Celestial to die. So long as their power was broken, that would be enough.
Leveling her gaze on the Admiral, Yasuko said, "Are you ready to get started then... Herr Admiral?"
The Admiral gave a faint hint of a smile as he replied, "All in good time, Miss Rodrigues. First, there's the matter of your reward. As I said, the Empire does not forget those who serve her well."