“We failed our masters,” First Queen said, her mandibles chittering in horrified dismay. “They have abandoned us to stand naked and alone before the unstoppable malice of the Star Slayers. Our ships have detected the doom-bringers at the outer planets. Go, and wait for the end as seems best to you my daughters.”

Third Queen of the Northern Plains raced back to her transport as quickly as her six locomotive legs could carry her. Soon she was in the air speeding over the farmlands and forests to her home.

Her flight was shrouded in dark and hopeless thoughts. How could the Masters abandon them? How could she and her people have done more to avert this catastrophe? Had they not faithfully provided ships and warrior eggs for over ten centuries now? What could she do? How was she going to tell her children they had reached the end? What could she possibly say to the thousands of offspring she had birthed only to die today?

She arrived at the entrance to her under-city. Not even bothering to close the canopy behind her, she leapt from the ship and ran toward the now concerned workers filing in and out.

She reached them and with panic making her words barely decipherable cried, “They are coming my offspring! The Star Slayers have reached the outer planets. They are headed here now!”

One of the workers took a few steps forward and asked, “What of the Masters? Surely they in their great and awesome power will repel them, won’t they?”

She turned her large compound eyes to face him and lamented, “They said we had failed them my child. They took the last of our warrior eggs and ships and departed. They have left us alone and defenseless to face our end.”

She noticed high above a series of long straight clouds billow to life. They were ships making atmospheric entry. There were dozens on them.

She sobbed, “Go into the city now my children. I do not want you to see me die, and I could not suffer the sight of you perishing. Keep everyone in the dwelling and try to stay calm. At least let them remember we died with dignity.”

The clouds had stopped growing above her as the descending ships slowed in their approach. She looked up and saw one of them in the far distance appear out of the hazy summer sky. It was coming straight toward her and the entrance to her dwelling. She started shaking in fear as it landed thirty meters away. It was so alien. It was so, unnatural.

When the wind from its thrust exhaust stopped and the ship had come to rest, a large door on the back opened and she saw one of them for the first time. The Star Slayers, bane of the Masters. Physically, they were a little smaller than she was and carried exotic, dangerous looking weaponry.

“P…Please! Don’t kill my nest! I will do anything you want just don’t harm my children!”

One of the creatures gave its weapon to one of the others in the group and began walking toward her. As it teetered toward her on two thick legs, it drew a sword from its sheath with a crisp, “Shnik.”

Barely able to stand now for the trembling, she had never known the kind of terror that was surging through her. She hated herself for not being able to face death with more composure. Her legs gave out and her body fell to the ground with an audible thud.

The nightmare beast stood over her now. It raised its sword in the air to strike. It would all be over soon. She covered her eyes and turned her head away. She couldn’t stop herself from crying out in a baleful wail of hopelessness and despair. The end had come.

But, it didn’t.

She felt a pressure on her upper thorax.

Uncovering her eyes and still trembling violently, Third Queen turned her head back to see what the creature was doing.

It had placed one of its upper appendages on her and was gently holding pressure on her. Moving very slowly and calmly, it put its sword back in its sheath and started making oddly soothing noises at her in a speech she did not recognize.

It turned and said something to the collected creatures behind it and they all stopped pointing their weapons at her.

What was happening? Were they going to toy with her, or try to extract information from her?

“I…I don’t know any military tactics or information you would find useful. If I did, I would tell you,”

The creature knelt down next to her, the whole time keeping that appendage pressed to her thorax.

It poked at a panel on its outstretched arm with the opposite hand and then asked in her language, “Can you understand me?”

“Yes. Please don’t hurt my children.”

“Where are your children?” it asked with apparent concern in its translated voice.

“Wh…why? What will you do with them?”

“We do not harm children. I need to know where they are so we can keep them safe.”

Unable to fully comprehend what was happening, she reached out one of her upper arms and pointed toward the entrance to the Under-dwelling and said, “There, they are all there.”

The creature looked over and the large hole in the ground and continued, “Are there any soldiers there I need to be concerned about?”

“No,” she said numbly, “The Masters took all the warrior eggs we had and left us to die. We have not hatched warriors here for a thousand years.”

The creature turned to another and ordered, “Sergeant, keep everyone out of that hole and do not engage with the inhabitants. There are children inside. Establish a defensive perimeter and keep everyone calm over there.”

The other creature, the ‘Sergeant,’ jerked its head forward and back and said, “Sir,” before moving off and ordering a defensive perimeter established around the entrance to the city.

The soldiers formed a ring around the entrance to the under-city. They knelt and raised their weapons. To her amazement, they were facing away from the entrance. They were actually protecting her children.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the creature next to her as it turned and said to another, “Tony, get me on coms to command.”

“Yes Sir,” the subordinate obeyed, and began tapping the panel on his lower arm. A moment later he said, “Ok, you’re good Sir.”

The creature carefully took its appendage off her thorax as it stood up saying, “Command, this is Lieutenant Sullivan with Recon Unit 039. We are getting information that the entire population of the planet is Civilian…Yes Sir…Negative, I spoke to one Sir…Yes, it understood and responded appropriately to questions…It is clearly sentient and intelligent, but it seems terrified…No Sir, the ones in this area have shown no sign of aggression, quite the opposite in fact…Understood Sir…Sir, this one says there are no warriors on the planet. Apparently the Vashali took their ships and warrior eggs and bugged out…No Sir, I didn’t mean to make a joke there……Understood Sir…Yes Sir…Sullivan out.”

Lieutenant Sullivan turned to Third Queen and requested, “Can you come with us please? We have some questions we need answered.”

“What is going to happen to my children and nest?” she asked, worried.

In response, Sullivan spoke over his com again and said, “Sergeant, your orders are to maintain a defensive perimeter around the civilian location and keep it and its inhabitants safe. Is that understood?...Already? Nicely done…Sullivan out.”

They led her aboard the strange metal ship and closed the large door behind her.

Sullivan spoke to the pilot and said, “Go easy on the maneuvers Lieutenant, we don’t have a harness suitable for our guest and we don’t want it getting knocked around. If it cracks it’s exoskeleton I’m not making any of my guys clean up after it pops.”

“You got it,” the pilot responded.

The ship lurched slightly and Third Queen had difficulty staying upright. The strange metal floor offered little traction to her still visibly shaking legs.

She turned her head to look at the creatures around her. She was surrounded by warriors with weapons. She had never felt this helpless in her entire life. Her mandibles started involuntarily chattering together in fear. Nothing seemed right. Nothing was familiar. She was in a wholly alien ship. Everything smelled like metal and industrial chemicals. There was not a familiar or friendly scent anywhere. She felt so lost and alone.

She was snapped out of these depressing thoughts by one of the creatures reaching toward her with something. It was doing it slowly, like it was trying to sneak up on her. She pulled away in fear and her legs clattered on the bare metal floor. She lost her traction and balance. Her main body dropped to the ground with a thud as her legs splayed out around her.

She looked back and the creature had retracted the appendage and was just sitting there.

It tapped at the panel on its wrist and said in her language, “Uh, sorry. I wasn’t trying to scare you. I thought you might want something to hold on to. It’s just a cargo strap.”

She looked at the appendage it had reached toward her and saw a strange flat woven web-like length in its graspers. One end was secured to the wall, and it was offering the other to her.

She looked at her position on the floor and felt so embarrassed. She was scared, and now one of her legs hurt. Swiveling her head around to look at it, she saw her carapace was cracked and oozing blue blood. It would not kill her anytime soon, but she couldn’t reach that leg with her mouth and would need one of the hive to mend it for her.

“Uh, Sir?” the warrior said, “I offered it a strap to hold on to and it freaked out and injured itself. It didn’t pop.”

Sullivan stood came back from speaking to the pilot and walked over to Third Queen. He looked at the crack in her leg and then up to her face.

He said, “You are injured. Your carapace is cracked and you are not dead? How is this possible?”

She looked up at him and chattered her mandibles in confusion, “It…it is only a minor wound. It will not threaten my life for some time, but I will need one of my children to mend it for me since I can’t reach it. Also, I am a female. I am a lesser mother-of-city.”

Sullivan tilted his head to one side and asked, “Um, ok then. Would you mind if one of my people looked at your leg?”

Her antennae twitched with confusion and she responded as she looked around at the soldiers, “Can they not see it now?”

The human chided himself, “Oh, right. Sorry. It is an expression that in this context means to render medical assistance.”

“I am at your mercy. I will not resist,” she submitted.

Sullivan turned to one of the other warriors in the room and said, “Andrews, get over here and take a look.”

The one he addressed unstrapped from its station and stood up saying,” Yes, Sir,” before moving over and examining her injured leg.

As he was doing that, Sullivan asked, “Just now you pointed out that you were a female. What made you feel you had to say that?”

“Well,” she answered, “You referred to me as an, ‘it,’ when speaking to the one guiding this craft. I am not a worker or a warrior.”

At this point the one called Andrews reached into a bag and pulled out a small thick disk. He began peeling the top layer off of the disk and wrapping the flat length around her injured leg. With a few wraps it soon stabilized the injury and completely stopped the bleeding. He then pulled out a knife and cut the length off of the remainder of the disk and put both away.

Looking up at Sullivan he said, “Sir, I am not Krador medic, but this silicone tape should keep everything secure until its,” he glanced at Third Queen and said, “Sorry, her, people can administer proper treatment. The tape will be easier to remove than anything else in my bag when the time comes.”

“Thanks doc,” Sullivan replied, “Go ahead and strap in again. Good work.”

Third Queen was amazed at the speed and effectiveness of the treatment. It would have taken one of her kind much longer to stop the bleeding. Testing her weight on it, she found it had stabilized the leg quite well also. She stood back up on the metal plated floor carefully and tested it again. Her leg seemed fine. What strange medical technologies these beings had.

Looking back to her captor she asked, “Where are you taking me?”

The strange Lieutenant creature looked down at her and said, “I am escorting you to my superiors. They are waiting in orbit aboard our flagship.”

Panic raced through her and she exclaimed, “Orbit? We are leaving the planet? It is forbidden! I cannot leave!”

She covered her head in panic and began uncontrollably trembling again, whispering, “Please forgive me Masters! There was nothing I could do!”

Sullivan took a step back from the terrified insectoid. All eyes were on the two of them. He stepped forward slowly and crouched down. As he did so, he reached out his hand to place it gently on her body again.

“It’s okay; you are safe with us as long as you don’t take any aggressive actions.”

“But you don’t understand! The Masters will…”

“Do nothing to you. You are under our protection now. It’s all going to be okay.”

Her front arms slowly fell away from around her head and she turned her head to look at him.

There was anger in her voice as she spoke, “Why do you toy with me? What sick purpose does it serve for you to lie to me?”

He tilted his head to the side and withdrew his hand and said, “What? What do you mean?”

There was venom in her words as she seethed, “The Masters told us about your kind. You have killed hundreds of thousands of our warriors, millions even, without remorse. You slay stars in your malevolence. How can you expect me to believe you will do me no harm when you have attacked our galaxy and destroyed entire star systems? What cruelty hides behind this attempt to give false hope?”

The Lieutenant stood up and took a step away, “What do you mean, ‘attacked our galaxy’? You think we started this?”

“Of course you did!” she shot back. “For two decades we have given our young to the war effort to defend ourselves from your aggression! I have born over three thousand warrior eggs in that time, only to be taken away to be killed by your cruel hands among the stars. They died defending us from the war you started!”

Some of the soldiers around her tensed and gripped their weapons a little tighter, ready for her to attack.

She looked around at them in short, jerky movements. A few moments passed and she sank down slightly.

The Lieutenant held out his arms and spread his graspers out toward his men and said, “Easy.”

Her voice quieted down as she was reminded of what was at stake, “Do what you must to me; I have no hope for myself. I only ask that if I follow your commands you might spare my offspring. I am at your mercy, mighty slayers of stars.”

The floor shuddered as the ship landed in the docking bay of the Retribution.

The large door at the back of their craft opened up to reveal Admiral Shoji and General Lancaster among other officers and advisors. Third Queen was led out and stood before the assembled observers.

Sullivan introduced them to the Krador queen, “These are our leaders. This is Admiral Shoji, and this is General Lancaster. They have some questions for you.”

Shoji stepped toward her, his eyes on her injured leg. “I am Admiral Shoji. Were you injured by these soldiers?”

She turned her large compound eyes toward him and said, “No, they have done me no harm. I fell and they used their medicines on me.”

Turning to the Lieutenant the Admiral said, “That is good. Thank you Lieutenant. You may come along if you wish.”

“I would like that very much Admiral, thank you.”

All the creatures in the large bay seemed to move slowly, when they did. All the strange bipeds fixed their alien, predatory eyes on her. She was keenly aware that she was on a hostile ship, in orbit, among a species of deadly creatures. It would be worth the risk if she could save her children.

The leaders led her to a large area that had been cleared of equipment. Shoji and the others sat in a semi-circle of chairs and Third Queen was led to the center. Behind them were a row of more metal clad warriors prepared for violence.

The one named General Lancaster spoke first, “Do you have any forces anywhere on the planet that could threaten our people?”

Turning her head toward him, she responded, “No, there are no warriors on the planet. The Masters forbade us to hatch them on our world centuries ago. There are only workers and young.”

He continued, “How is it that you are injured and not dead?”

She twitched her antennae in confusion and asked, “What do you mean? Do minor injuries kill your kind?”

He looked at Shoji and then back to her and answered, “No, they don’t. I suppose I mean to ask how your internal pressure didn’t cause you to explode as soon as your exoskeleton was cracked.”

She looked back at her leg, and then to him again, “Why would it do that?”

Her question was met with silence, and the gathered aliens spoke quietly to one another for a few moments. Occasionally, one would turn its strange eyes on her and stare for a moment.

Sullivan stood up and addressed the General and Admiral, “Sirs, if I may, I had a limited interaction with her on the way up in the shuttle and you may be interested to hear about it.”

Shoji deferred to Lancaster and the General motioned the young man over, “Go ahead son. What did you find out?”

Third Queen listened intently for what he was about to say, but Sullivan tapped a few buttons on his forearm device and his speech garbled to his strange alien tongue.

When he was done with his report, the two leaders stood up.

General Lancaster addressed a female standing to his left, “Colonel, is there still no indication of resistance from anyone on the planet?”

The woman replied, “That is correct General. The inhabitants are not acting aggressively toward our occupation in any way.”

The thought of her people being slaughtered by these strange aliens became too much for her to bear and she cried out, “Why did you have to come? For a thousand years the Masters provided for us. They gave us this garden world to populate, and medicines to extend our lifespan. They have been great teachers and protectors to us. In return, we gave them warriors to aid them in repulsing the evil species that ran rampant through our galaxy. One after another the dark forces fell before our children until finally peace reigned throughout our galaxy. Then, when we finally knew peace and safety, you come from another galaxy to attack the Masters, kill our soldiers, and destroy our worlds. Why did you have to come now? Why?”

All of the assembled humans stood staring at her in silence for a moment before Lancaster lifted his forearm device to his face and ordered, “This is Lancaster. I am ordering a general withdrawal. All forces are to pull back from the planet and await further orders.”

The Colonel he had been speaking with earlier said, “Sir?”

While looking at Third Queen he explained, “Colonel, it’s becoming clear to me that we don’t have a job here. There’s nobody to fight. We don’t make war on civilian populations. If we leave our forces in place accidents will happen and I don’t want that.”

Shifting his gaze toward the other officer he concluded, “This is no longer a military operation. We need diplomats, not soldiers.”

Turning again to face Third Queen, Lancaster said, “I would like you to see something. Come with me please.”

She followed him through the ship corridors until they eventually entered a large room with metal walls. Along the far wall there were multiple sets of large doors. Each was reinforced metal with a single small portal that could be opened up to view what was inside.

Along one wall there was a series of strange tables with devices that looked like some sort of alien computers built into them. Interacting with these were more of the odd creatures, these wearing white cloth over their bodies.

Nervousness gave way to acceptance as she said, “Am I to be imprisoned now?”

Lancaster retorted, “No, that’s not why I brought you here. If my intentions were to imprison you, I would have told you. As I said before, I want you to see something.”

He led her over to one of the closed cells and opened the small door so she could see in.

He stepped to the side and said, “Look.”

She did as she was instructed, and moved her head to the opening.

Before she could even position her eyes to see inside, a wall of pheromones hit her like a crashing wave. Anger, hunger, and pain all flooded over her antennae as she recognized something else as well. Even though she had never experienced it before, as a queen she knew it immediately. This was the scent of a warrior of the Krador.

Her head snapped back and her antennae swung in short jerks of confusion and anger. She resolved to look inside. What met her eyes ignited a fire inside her.

The grotesque shadow of a Krador warrior was skittering around the room desperately looking for a way out. Tuning into its scent she recognized it was in some kind of battle rage. It stopped for a moment, antennae twitching, and looked at the door. It had, from somewhere deep inside, recognized the presence of a queen.

It seemed to calm down noticeably, but the pheromones in the room were still thick so she couldn’t tell what it was feeling now.

One of the creatures in white cloth said, “Interesting. It seems to recognize her.”

Barely able to contain herself she shouted, “What did you do to him? I demand you answer me! It is in pain, and hungry, and knows an anger I have never felt in my kind before. You must undo what you have done!”

The soldiers with them snapped their weapons up and took aim. Everyone was stunned for a moment save Lancaster and Shoji, who observed her carefully. Shoji raised a hand to the soldiers and they slowly lowered their weapons.

A moment passed and one of the white-clothed said, “N…nothing. We didn’t do anything to it. That is how they all are.”

Her antennae twitched in confused anger as she exclaimed, “Impossible! This is not how we form our soldiers. What is this trick you are attempting on me? No Queen would ever form their child in this way. The Masters were true when they said you were a species of liars!”

Admiral Shoji turned to her and asked, “Is this not one of your offspring?”

“If it were I would know its scent!” she snapped.

He calmly and slowly gestured to the cell and asked, “Can you tell whose child it is?”

As she stared at him her mandibles slowly opened and closed in anger. How dare this creature suggest any of the queens would produce a child doomed to suffer pain like this.

Remembering her children under the surface of the planet below, she forced herself to calm down. Focusing on his scent, she leaned her head toward the opening in the door to allow her antennae to swing through the air inside. Soon, she sensed its broodscent.

It was subtle, and familiar. It reminded her of…

She pulled her head back in disbelief and exclaimed, “You are the offspring of my sister Second Queen! I know her well child.”

Confusion flooded through her as she tried to make sense of the situation. She knew Second queen of the northern plains better than anyone. They grew up together. She would never make a child so unbalanced, doomed to suffer chronic pain such as this one.

Turning to Shoji and Lancaster she said, “I must speak to it. It is in pain and enraged. Please open this door. I need to comfort it. No harm will come to me.”

Shoji and Lancaster exchanged a glance. Lancaster nodded, and Shoji turned to the lab tech and ordered, “Open the door.”

The heavy doors slid aside on tracks. The Krador   warrior paced back and forth along the far wall of the cell. When the door had opened enough for the queen to enter, she did so slowly.

Focusing, she excreted large amounts of calming pheromones into the air around her. She entered slowly and regally, as a queen should. The warrior slowed and the jerking movements of its antennae and limbs subsided into gentle swaying motions.

“All will be well, young one. I am Third Queen of the Northern Plains. I am sister to your mother. Tell me, what happened to you?”

She could tell something was deeply wrong with the deformed creature before her. It did not greet her as a queen and submit as instinct demanded. It didn’t even respond to her. It just kept pacing the back of the cell, slower now. She waved her antennae through the air to discern its feelings. There was confusion, anger, and still under everything an insatiable hunger. There was pain, too; so much pain.

“Do you understand me child? Do you even recognize it is a Queen of the Krador that stands before you? I am here to help you.”

It stopped pacing. It turned toward her slowly and its antennae flitted through the air. One leg at a time, it inched its way toward her. She held open her upper arms in welcome. With her lower set she reached out to take its arms in hers.

Without warning, it screamed in rage and leapt toward her with open fangs. It brought its claws down to eviscerate her. She raised her arms to protect herself, but it was so fast and unexpected she couldn’t do it in time.

The sound of thunder filled the room and it exploded into a spray of blue gore and chitin.

Stunned, she looked around and saw Lieutenant Sullivan standing with arm outstretched with some kind of weapon in his hand. A small trail of smoke trickled up and out of the front of the device.

“It…the poor child had no mind. There was no spark of true life there.”

Sullivan lowered the weapon and put it in its holster as she asked, “What manner of weapon is that? You made it explode with just that small thing? I know now why the Masters spoke with such rage about your weapons.”

“It’s not the weapon. It doesn’t cause nearly enough damage for that reaction in the target normally.”

“What is it that happened then?”

“They all exploded like that when their exoskeletons are fractured. We thought you may be able to tell us something about it.”

“I…have no answers for you. No queen would do that to their offspring. It is unimaginable.”

At this, Shoji stepped into the room, careful to secure his footing on the now slippery floor.

He asked, “Are we to understand you can control the physical traits of your offspring?”

She looked at him and wiped a glob of viscera off her left eye and responded, “Yes, of course. Depending on the terrain and needs of the family we can vary the children in many ways. We can also imbue more or less intelligence in them within limits.”

“And you say no queen would make an offspring like this?”

“No, it must have been a mistake of some kind. I know the mother and she would never do this. Where did you find this poor wretch?”

Shoji looked at her for a long moment before answering, “We have only encountered a handful of different kinds of your species. Of them all, you are the first that we have been able to communicate with. All the others, in one way or another, were as this one you met today.”

She waved her antennae in a confused motion and replied, “I can’t believe that. It would require all the queens to choose pain for their children. What kind of monsters do you think we are?”

Shoji responded with his hands folded behind him, “I did not say you were monsters. Despite the conflict, I believe this is the first contact we have had with your species as it ought to be. We are learning about you and your people for the first time right now. All others of your race have been mindless brutes the same as you just experienced.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Lancaster stepped forward and said, “Come with me.”

The group walked through more of the metal tunnels in the ship until they eventually reached a large room with a sloped floor like the shape of a bowl. She could tell from his scent that Lancaster was becoming impatient and upset.

He indicated a place for her to stop in the room and said, “This is usually a briefing and tactical assessment room, but it will suffice for our needs. I want you to see with your own eyes what the Vashali, your ‘Masters,’ have done with your offspring. These are actual recordings of battles. I want you to watch these and learn what those vile creatures have been doing with your children.”

“How do I know…”

“SIT DOWN!”

She submitted. Arranging herself, she rested her body on the floor and waited. The room went dark and a hologram of their most recent space battle pulsed to life above them.

Over the next three hours, she was shown record after record of Krador atrocities. Beginning at the earliest images captured from Broda transports, to the invasion of Oom Three, and on to various space conflicts, she saw how the Vashali used her kind as terror troops and fodder for their war machine. Her heart broke to see the countless lives lost both of her kind and the alien species they consumed. When she saw the giant abominations of Krador and Vashali technology, she began crying openly. It was undignified for a queen to do so, but her broken heart gave her no choice.

What had the Masters done to all those generations of Krador children?

When the images and sounds stopped, she was completely dumbstruck. She had so many questions. Deep down, she was afraid to learn the answers.

Shoji approached her. She was getting accustomed to the scent of these creatures now. His indicated he was calm and unafraid.

“Our species, Humans, have only been among the stars for about three years now. The Broda, the large bipedal beings you saw in the early images, were the first in our galaxy to encounter your kind roughly twenty years ago. Krador hunters attacked their ships and worlds, killing billions. It did not stop there. Colonies of other species were soon attacked, and many, many lives were lost.”

“Your galaxy? But, the Masters said you attacked us.”

“They lied to you. None of the species we know of from the Milky Way Galaxy ever traveled beyond the rim until now. We didn’t even know where you were until we recently captured a navigation core from one of their ships.”

“But, why would they seek you out? Why would they use our children for such horrible acts?”

Shoji tapped the device on his forearm and the overlay of Krador expansion of the Milky way rose to life from the holo-projector.

“The Vashali planned and attempted a genocide of all the sentient life in our galaxy. They hold an ideal that only they are a pure form of life. Only those other species that serve them are to be tolerated to exist. They even offered us your place as their servants, but we rejected them.”

She whispered the oft repeated saying among her kind with new understanding, “It is through our service we are cleansed.”

It was then she realized it had all been lies. A thousand years of lies. The Masters were not the benevolent benefactors of her people; they were their enslavers. For a millennium, generations of queens had blindly fueled their diabolical agenda with the very life’s blood of her people: their children. The Vashali had twisted countless of their young to suit their heinous agenda.

Guilt for condemning her offspring to such a torturous fate overwhelmed her and she lowered her head in shame. Her mind told her there was no way to know, but her heart condemned her with every beat. She was crushed by the weight of this new reality.

“What is to become of us now? You have every right to destroy us. Justice demands it, not only for what our offspring have done, but for what we have done to them. It would be better for our people if you purged us in star fire as you did the Vashali world.”

Quiet filled the room. Nobody dared speak.

After a few minutes, Shoji stepped forward and gently took the queen’s lowered head in his hands.

“Seeing you now, as you truly are, there is only one thing that can be done.”

“We have earned death. Please, be merciful to my children and make it painless. They don’t deserve the punishment for this shameful legacy.”

“You do not understand who and what we are.”

Her antennae fell limply to the sides of her head as she whispered, “I understand. Justice must be done.”

Dropping to a knee to look up into her downcast face, he promised, “No, we will not condemn the Krador. We will redeem the Krador.”