Their travel time cut down by months, Ngozi still maintained a communication black out to keep the Identic ignorant of his movements and the fact that he now knew the shortcut back to Ardjia from Kold Ring. It did not help. They were set upon as soon as they exited the Sejani anastomosis into Parare space. His ka blind captains pushed their ships at full FTL speed toward the Trinitron anastomosis, but doing so put him in the path of a major military patrol.

More fool they, in addition to the troop transport he picked up in Sejani space, General Ngozi and his ka blessed warriors picked up half the patrol as soon as they came close enough to be overwhelmed in the godworld. Twenty ships of a class to guard the heart of the Identic, Parare, now belonged to Ardjia, now were part of Ngozi's space navy.

No ships followed through the Trinitron jump to Ardjia space.

“Father Brother Ngozi!” Jumoke called cheerfully, nearly bouncing with excitement after the anastomosis engines disengaged and the ships continued the journey on FTL engines.

“Eh?” Ngozi growled. The itchy ka of the Tattva Sanga woman seemed to reach around the soothing familial ka of his brother's genius son.

“Don't be so glum Uncle!” Jumoke cried. He and the girl sat down by him at the conference table in the meeting room Ngozi had commandeered for an office. “You return victorious with so many captured ships and knowledge not only of the Identic technology, but also with so many nice slave crews to help us do everything correctly in very fast time! And, you do this on your daughter's birthday!” Jumoke grinned at Ngozi's blank look.

“Oh! Really?” the General asked absently.

“Yes! Now Maina can see how an unmarried princess celebrates her birth!”

Both men chuckled then Ngozi rumbled, “The list was over a hundred when we left.”

“A hundred what?” Maina asked, perplexed.

“Amunet's mother's list of eligible bachelors invited to woo her.” Ngozi grinned like someone who has a secret.

“It must be nearer two hundred by now,” Jumoke chuckled.

Maina's dark eyes were mortified. “Two hundred suitors? For her hand in marriage?”

Ngozi hit a button and a holographic monitor appeared shimmering in the air before him, above the table. His huge fingers poked around a bit before he got connected to Captain Tegrit of the destoyer IAPV Lymik ( Identic Assembly Peacekeeping Vessel), now Ngozi's personal command ship.

“Tegrit! Land us at the Golden Valley airport quick as you can,” Ngozi ordered.

“Ah! General Ngozi! We are receiving hails from Ardjia and I was just about to contact you. Would you like me to send them to you there?” Tegrit's pleasant baritone sounded from his image on the monitor.

“No, I'll come out to you,” Ngozi returned. “Come on then, Brother Son. Help me greet our God Emperor will you?”

Jumoke blinked then they both turned to regard Maina who gave off a blast of sudden fear. Ngozi never tired of the taste of it. He swallowed. The girl was with his nephew and he was old enough to be her father. He sighed and they all rose and exited the room onto the Lymik's bridge. Jumoke took Maina's hand.

The PPI showed the green pips of his arriving ships in one corner toward the floor. Upwards were two round balls, the large blue green marble of Ardjia and her small grey moon. Darker green pips identified the ships on them. Ardjia Orbital One and Two left the surface of Ardjia to service station to station vessels like the two Explorers. Ardjia's Gift sat in the Golden Valley and Ardjia's Glory sat at River Mouth. That Syndicate boy's flitter even showed as a tiny grey pip, the civilian flitter, Zephyr at the Golden Valley air port.

Jumoke stood by his uncle while Maina commandeered an empty seat and began speed skimming transmissions from the present backward toward the day they had been betrayed by their Syndicate Educators.

“Standing by for God Emperor Ttttutmosen,” Comm Officer Tanley announced. Everyone stiffened in response.

“Main screen,” Captain Tegrit ordered and the image of an Imperial Guard in red leather appeared larger than life above and to the bow.

The guard blinked and nodded. Seeing the General he hit a toggle and was replaced by the God Emperor himself.

“Ngozi, my Second Wife Brother, please attend me at River Mouth and tell me of your glorious victories.” Ttttutmosen's black eyes shone red and hard.

“God Emperor!” Ngozi dropped to his knees and touched his head to the floor. At his mental command, all aboard the bridge slid out of their seats and did likewise. He rose quickly and said, “Today is the twentieth birth anniversary of my daughter Amunet. Even now she meets many many young men with only my wife and your Second Son to take care. I will go there first with this ship. You may see the many others your army took from the Identic and Syndicate betrayers.”

The God Emperor's face looked even more grim and forbidding as he considered his General's words. After an uncomfortably long pause he replied. “Very well. We will also see to your daughter's welfare. I have not seen my Second Son in too long. Be advised: the Midlanders have risen in revolt. You will put them down immediately after seeing to your daughter.”

Ngozi could not hide his shock. The Treaty broken? Were dragons attacking the Mainland? Madness!

“Jumoke, it is good to see you well,” Ttttutmosen said, looking over the bridge.

“Thank you God Emperor,” Jumoke said in a small voice. He too was horrified at the news of open conflict with Cloudbank. The were dragons were the only force that could challenge the ka of the Aaaamankhotep Dynasty and their firm grip on the Throne of Ardjia.

“Rohjer Doss is missing?” Maina cried in alarm then opened her mind to the otherwhere searching for her spiritual Tattva Sanga brother. She shuddered as Ttttutmosen's darkness suddenly invaded her mind, and quickly brought up her mental shields again.

“Yes,” the God Emperor drawled. “My son let him go off to the North by himself. He did not return.”

Then he focused on Ngozi again. “You will attend me in the Were Jaguar's Den,” he said.

“Of course, my God Emperor!” Ngozi snapped with a crisp nod of agreement.

The holographic figure disappeared and all present breathed a sigh of relief.

Jumoke hurried over to Maina to hear more of what had happened while they were gone, but Ngozi ordered Tegrit to provide information on the present strategic situation on the Mainland below them. He feared that he only had a few hours to plan a battle before they landed on a completely different continent.

*

“Good to be home!” Ngozi declared as he exited the Lymik. Jumoke and Maina strode along with him and his personal guard of twenty and headed for the waiting ground cars.

Fresh Ardjia air flavored with the smoke of wood and dung fires wafted over them during the drive to the Were Jaguar's Throne. The sounds of bleating oxen, bustling throngs of people, and the occasional brass bell dinned pleasantly in Ngozi's ears. The Highland was not much to compare to the majesty of the Mainland, but the sea of brown faces and black hair soothed his soul after so much time spent with so many species of humanoids in airless, groundless, thinly ka'ed space.

“Daddy! Come save me from all these stupid men!” he heard in his mind halfway to their destination.

“Do you truly need saving?” he replied in an amused mental tone.

“No, I had to send Pale Strongclaw to bed lest she start breaking the necks of the ones I think to be boors.” Amunet confided in a happy voice.

“Does your bear not dance to Ardjiani drums?” he asked.

She only giggled in his mind and soon enough he arrived and entered the audience hall to a wave of pleasant mental greetings. It seemed all here were happy for his success and knew nothing of the situation on the Mainland. Was he the one to bring the news to them, not only of the Identic's betrayal but also that of Cloudbank?

“IEEEEEE!” Ngozi recognized his daughter's squeal. She remained favorable to him when his other wives turned their daughters against him, disparaging his sexual appetite while spending the gold he earned as the Throne's Scythe.

He grabbed Amunet up and swung her around whispering, “My treasure,” in her ear.

When he set her down she cried, “Daddy! You came back to me. And you brought Jumoke too! What a joyous occasion my party has become!”

“It is joyous simply to breathe the clean air of Ardjia!” he replied. “Though your birth anniversary makes a mighty fine welcome home.”

Aamankhotep came forward to greet him and Ngozi did a double take at the red of his eyes.

“Ah, I heard the Lightfall is taken. Fear not, little jaguar,” he took Aamankhotep into his arms. “We will find your lost tiger. We have many new ships and many ways of tracking him!”

Aamankhotep forced a smile and a nod at the encouragement then forced himself out of his uncle's warm embrace. It made him long for his mother's presence. Though they appeared as opposites on the outside, Ngozi and Ssasankh had a similar core of hardened iron.

“Yes, now that you have returned,” Aamankhotep said, his voice hoarse at this late hour, “we can begin pursuit.”

“Ah, well,” Ngozi stammered unhappily. “Your father arrives soon.” He did not want to speak openly and thus spoke mind to mind.

“Yes, I know. He lands in minutes. I need to go greet him.”

“No. Wait for him to summon you. He wants me first.” Ngozi hesitated until Aamankhotep focused on him tightly. “To plan strategy for Cloudbank's attack on the Mainland.”

“What! When did this happen?” Aamankhotep's burning red eyes now widened in anxiety.

“It happens now, but do not worry. You will not be involved. Ttttutmosen stirred them up while traveling there. This is a Mainland concern. You will rule your Highland and keep Amunet safe. Understood?”

Aamankhotep sighed then ran long strong fingers through his black tousled hair. “But I must leave to find Lord Lightfall!” he bit out in frustration. “Just as soon as I have a heading! I am dependent on you to get me that heading!”

The blood seemed to swell in his eyes. Flesh stretched over the sharp bones of his face. Aamankhotep looked more like his father than he ever had. His features seemed no longer softened by his mother's beauty.

Amunet blinked in surprise, only now realizing they had been conversing without her. “Cousin?” she inquired then continued as Aamankhotep continued to stare at Ngozi. “Now that Father is here, you may retire for the evening. In fact, I am tired of dancing and wish to dismiss everyone.”

Finally Aamankhotep looked her way. “Your Father, the General, has business to attend to. If you are truly ready, let us begin the closing line.”

She nodded and Aamankhotep beheld her weariness. Unlike him, she had not yet replenished herself after bestowing so much of her personal ka on her guards. He also saw how intently her Guard Captain, Kiilaq, old friend of his Guard Captain Dethar, watched over her, as if ready to bodily snatch her up and bear her away should she faint.

“Does she even notice?” Ngozi's voice sounded in his mind.

“I do not know... yet I can only think that she must.”

Aamankhotep led her to the front entrance of his Audience Hall and helped Amunet to chivy guests out the door by bidding them to have a good evening. They all seemed to want a private word with her in order to extend an invitation, but anyone with any sense could see that there were just too many of them for this to be practical. They all hoped that by catching her hand in marriage, they might come to rule the planet Taproot as their own. However incorrect, it was a strong motivation for them to insist on putting themselves forward to the Princess until Aamankhotep manually took a suitor's hand out of hers and placed the next exiting guest's in it. Her maids help at the doors as well and the line of black clad guards did not hurt.

It still took hours for everyone to leave congenially. All along Aamankhotep tried to peek in on his father's meeting with Ngozi which took place in an upper level meeting room within the Pyramid of Hell to the south of the trade plaza. Ngozi kept his Fortress of the Mind up high and tight, but Ttttutmosen allowed his Second Son to peer at his thoughts and their conversation. Aamankhotep found himself shocked at the news of attack on the Mainland as he learned the full scope of discontent that Ttttutmosen spread throughout Cloudbank Midland.

Aamankhotep wanted to join the meeting but by the time he finally finished with Amunet's party, they were headed to their ships. So, he escorted his cousin back to her small mansion and pretended not to notice her Guard Captain's hand on her back to steady her after she stumbled.

The early morning air chilled his face but also felt refreshing after the close crowd of the party and the dark presence of his father in such physical proximity. He chose to walk with Dethar back to his Den and discuss developments. The Blood Star, low in the sky, bathed them both in red light.