Empire of Night Ch 41

Delphine barreled down the stone corridors of the imperial palace. ‘Hone on my position,’ he said. Knowing where he was was one thing, but getting there was something else entirely.
“Sargent,” she said, accessing her radio transmitter.
“What- who is this? How did you get this frequency?” came the response.
“This is general Delphine Alden; clear the airfield.”
“Ma’am?” the sergeant responded. “We’re expecting-”       
“I don’t care; I need an emergency medivac; send a truck to the palace for pick up.”
“But- the roads-”
“Make it happen!” she bellowed over the connection and cut the transmission.
She looked around; his beacon was below her and off to the right. She knew the main stairs were down the hall, through a door, and to her left, but she figured there had to be a more direct route, and it sounded like time was of the essence.
She spotted one of the palace servants coming out of a nearby door and shouted. “You,” she bellowed. “Yeah, you there, stay put.”
The little lady glanced around, seeming ready to bolt as Delphine approached. She didn’t blame her; she knew she was an imposing figure, over nine feet tall; her U-frame would have been pushing three hundred pounds if it had been made of flesh and bone instead of steel and plastics.
As it was, she seized the woman by the collar, shaking her as though she weighed nothing. “Stairs,” she demanded. “I need to go down; where’s the nearest flight of stairs?”
“Uh,” the alien woman said, seeming dazed. “There’s there’s a servant’s corridor, but-”
“Show me,” Delphine demanded, giving the woman a shove. 
The little slip of a thing nodded vigorously, clearly frightened. Delphine felt a little bad, but she didn’t have time for nice.
The woman scrambled ahead, Delphine following behind. “Hurry up,” she snapped, “I don’t have time for this.”
That got her guide running, though her shorter stride still left Delphine following her impatiently. 
Finally, they came to a little alcove, a door frame within, though one lacking a door, leading into an adjoining stairwell. Delphine saw the problem immediately.
While the passage down seemed reasonably wide; it would be a squeeze, but she’d manage; the portal was too small; she’d never fit.
She approached the archway, and the servant followed after. “You see the problem. Perhaps if we-”
Delphine raised a fist and brought it down, the palace stonework shattering beneath the blow. She tore the doorway wider and forced her way through; at the bottom, she barely slowed as she barreled through a second such door and, gaining her bearings, headed straight for Alex’s beacon.
She rounded a corner and found herself heading toward a dead end, so much the pity for the wall. She burst through it into someone’s room, the occupant leapt to her feet, shouting something or other, but Delphine wasn’t paying attention, crossing the room and slamming through the door. 
The beacon was close now; somewhere in this hall, she followed it to a nearby door which she kicked off its hinges and squeezed through, surveying the room. Alex was on top of an older Dyrantisa woman, blue-skinned, like the Empress, performing compressions, a black woman, who Delphine only knew was part of the diplomatic corps because she was human, periodically breathing for the unconscious Dyrantisa.
She pushed her way past the women who stood gawking at her and took a knee next to Alex. “How long has she had symptoms.”
“At least since she got in here, she collapsed just before I contacted you. I’ve given her some aspirin; I didn’t have any nitroglycerine.”
“Pulse?”
The diplomat checked and shook her head.
“Alright, back off, Hagan,” Delphine said. 
He lifted himself off the Dyrantisa, and Delphine retrieved her knife from her belt, cutting the woman's shirt open; she placed one hand near the woman’s shoulder and the other just above her sternum. “Get off her.” Alex and the diplomat backed away, and she waited as her chassis’ EKG took a reading. She shook her head, “clear!” The Dyrantisa lady’s body jumped beneath her, and Alen backed away to allow Alex to resume compressions. She could have performed the compressions herself, but it was less delicate if he did.
She observed the two of them at work, allowing them to go for two minutes before shooing them away again and taking a reading.
“Check for breathing.”
The diplomat did so and sat back, sighing. “Let’s get her on her side.”
Alex nodded, gently taking the woman by the arm and rolling her over, bracing his hand on her back.
“Is-” Elliza swallowed, “is she alright?”
“No,” Delphine said flatly before turning to Alex.
“I’ve already called for extraction.”
“Extraction?” Elliza demanded. “What do you mean?”
“Your aunt needs to be hospitalized,” Alex said. “We can’t do anything more for her on Nyx.”
Elliza shook her head. “What? But-”
“You want her to die?” Delphine demanded.
“Of course not! What a terrible thing to say!”
“Then she’s going to be on that shuttle; we need a litter or something like it,” Delphine said.
“I have a cot you can use,” an older woman, perhaps one of Lisril’s relations, said.
“Get it,” Delphine said. The woman went to do as she was told, and Delphine turned back to the Empress.
“I can’t assess the cause of her attack here, which means I can’t rule out that she needs surgery. Our airbase has some basic diagnostic equipment, but she needs a full screening in an ICU.”
“ICU?”
“Intensive Care Unit,” Alex said. “Eli, she’s right; she needs more than we can provide on Nyx.”
The young woman said nothing, and soon the woman returned, dragging a folded-up cot behind her. She laid it beside the unconscious woman, and Alex worked with the diplomat to move their patient onto the litter.
“Alright,” their host said, clapping her hands, “a couple of you girls take either side.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Delphine said, crouching down and scooping the cot and woman up in her arms, lifting both without effort.
“Let’s get her downstairs; you come with me, your Magnificence,” Delphine said.
“Yes, of course,” the young empress said.
Alex cleared his throat. “I’ll tag along too if you don’t mind.”
 “I’d like that,” Elliza said, reaching out and seizing his hand.
Lisril stepped forward, she said nothing, but her intent was obvious.
“Fine,” Delphine grunted, heading for the doorway. “But let’s not dilly dally.
She glanced over her shoulder as she stepped over the splintered remains of the door. “Sorry about the damage.”
She didn’t bother waiting for a response; instead, squeezing through the opening and out into the hall, trailed by her hangers-on, the Empress, Alex, and Lisril, and the diplomat followed, too.
“Who invited you?” Lisril asked.
“I wasn’t told I couldn’t come along.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“And neither did you.”
“Shut up,” Delphine snapped. “Both of you.”
She was already regretting letting any of them come. But she figured she would probably need Elliza at least, given the circumstances.
They walked on in blessed silence, drawing stares from the few servants they passed, but no one dared interfere. Eventually, they came to the grand stairs, and she led the group down into the entry hall. 
She pushed her way out into the cold and snow, looking out for the lights of the truck she’d called for. She glanced at the empress. “Go tell them my people are coming.”
“Ah- yes,” the little woman said, rushing off. As she sprinted away, another woman intercepted her; they seemed to speak briefly, though Delphine couldn’t hear what was said. 
She considered activating her directional mic, but it would be a violation, and the decision made itself, anyway. The women broke apart, and the Empress hurried off again, the one who’d intercepted her heading their way.
As she approached, Delphine saw that it was a rather fat woman with bright-red skin and an especially ruddy complexion. Her face seeming to glow—more than was usual for a Dyrantisa lady.
“What’s going on?” the woman demanded. “Something to do with my-”
The woman’s eyes widened, and she assumed an aggressive stance. “What is this!? What are you doing with her?” She demanded.
“Who are you?” Delphine asked, impassive.
“I’m that woman’s sister-in-law!” the red-skinned woman shrieked. “I demand to know what’s going on.”
“She’s had a heart attack,” Alex offered. “She needs medical attention.”
The woman glanced at Alex and seemed to dismiss him as soon as she saw he was a man, turning back to Delphine and speaking to her as though she were the one who had said it. “Then what are you doing? I’ll call a surgeon; take her back inside where it’s warm.”
Delphine ignored the order; she could see the truck's headlights, though the vehicle hadn’t crested the hill. “We’re taking her to Earth for a real course of treatment.”
“Excuse me? You can’t just-” the woman grabbed at Delphine’s arm, trying to detain her. 
Delphine glanced down at the woman and shifted her burden with a frustrated huff, cradling the unconscious woman in one arm, and reached out, grabbing her assailant by the collar and picking her up, pulling her up to look her in the eye. “I’m not going to allow a woman under my care to die to save the pride of some alien barbarian.”
She tossed the woman aside as the truck came into view, and Elliza rushed back to them. “What’s going on? What’s the meaning of this?”
The red-skinned woman scrambled to her feet. “Your Magnificence, this- creature just-”
“That ‘creature’ is one of the Federation's top generals,” the Diplomat said.
The newcommer gaped, her eyes wideneing. “That- She attacked me!”
“Just giving you the lay of the land,” Delphine said.
“Enough!” Elliza snapped as the truck pulled through the front gates. “Why are you here?”
“We- we wanted to speak to you about your perspective engagement,” the woman said.
“Well,” Elliza said. “It shall have to wait.”
The truck pulled up beside them, and two marine medics climbed out of the back, joining Delphine, saluting. “Ma’am,” they said.
She returned the salute. “At ease.”
The men relaxed, and one nodded to the woman in her arms. “The patient? We weren’t given details.”
“Heart attack,” she let the woman down, and the men took the cot from her. “She’s stable but needs a hospital; I want a medic with her when she goes; the pilot will have to determine the fastest port of call.”
The marines began loading their patient into the truck, and the sister-in-law took a step forward. “Just a moment.”
The men glanced at her, but she wasn’t in the chain of command, so they kept working, transferring the patient to a gurney and into the truck.
 “Aunt Ritieia,” Elliza took her shoulder. “I’ve consented to this action; leave it alone.”
“Your Magnificence!” The portly woman glanced at their little group and pulled Elliza aside, whispering to her in what Delphine was sure she thought was a measure of privacy and would have been if she’d been a normal woman.”
“Elliza, allowing these people to just pluck the matriarch from Nyx will cause a terrible uproar.”
“If the alternative,” Elliza whispered intensely. “Is her death, then surely this is the lesser of all evils, especially at this juncture. Who do you think will be chosen as her successor?”
The woman paused. “Lady Danse.”
“Exactly, I love her dearly, but beyond my personal feelings, if her death can be delayed by a single day, we must do so. For the Empire.”
It was a cold thing to say, but it seemed to convince the older woman, who nodded.
“Another thing,” Elliza said. “You had some argument with General Alden.”
“Yes! You should have heard the language she used to refer to me. To say nothing of-”
“She is fighting to preserve your sister-in-law, my aunt’s, life. If her dedication faltered at course language, it would do her disservice in the eyes of heaven. And in any case, we can’t afford to offend her. Make amends.”
“Yes, Magnificence,” the woman sighed.
The young lady patted the older woman’s shoulder, and as the marines completed their work and drove away, the pair of them returned.
The elder cleared her throat. “I beg your pardon, ma’am; my words and deeds appear to have been imprudent.”
Delphine regarded her, her face and voice were ill-equipped for expression, but she did her best. “No,” she said. “It must have been a strange and frightening sight. I’m sorry I treated you so roughly. I was- back on the battlefield, for a moment.”
“Then we were both wrong, forgiveness is for heaven, but I shall pardon you and beg your clemency in return.”
Delphine stretched out her hand and gently took the woman's hand when she reciprocated, careful not to hurt her. “We haven’t been properly introduced.”
“Retieia,” the woman said, giving Delphine’s hand a vigorous shake.
“Delphine Alden, a pleasure,” Delphine said, returning the handshake.
Elliza stood staring after the truck, and as Delphine watched, Alex joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “She’ll be okay; this sort of thing’s no problem for doctors on Earth.”
“I wish I could go along, that’s all,” Elliza said.
“You’ll likely see her sooner than later,” Retieia said. “Parliament and the church will be howling at your door for access.”
Elliza nodded, “General Alden, could you arrange visitation for myself and some of the Empire’s elites?”
“I can’t promise anything right now; it will depend upon her recovery,” Alden said.
“You heard her,” Elliza said, nodding.
“It will have to be soon,” Retieia insisted, resolute.
The diplomat stepped forward. “Perhaps I can be of help. They’ll take her to a civilian hospital?”
The dark-skinned woman glanced Delphine’s way, and she nodded. “Most likely.”
“Then the state department might have better luck arranging, if not visitation, then perhaps a look at her in an observation room.”
“I’ll leave it to you then; I should return to my room,” Delphine said. She took a step back toward the palace and stopped, turning to the empress. “I think I caused a ruckus on my way to that room there. I apologize for any trouble caused.”
“You are pardoned,” Elliza said. “We shall take care of any problems.”
“I apricate it,” Alden said and, with a nod, turned and started back toward the palace.

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