**Author's note.
If you are reading these lines, then you are one of the few who has not found this story to be unmitigated trash. Let's face it, this story hasn't been one of my more popular endeavors.
I'm not complaining. If you had told me when back when I submitted my first story to Lit that it would have gotten only a few hundred hits, I would have been more than ecstatic. The fact that that story now has over 350,000 seems surreal to me, and I still credit those numbers to a stupendous error in accounting.
But I digress. I just wanted to thank my loyal readers, and I will continue writing this saga until it is done, or until the readership dwindles down to the point of embarrassment.
Thanks.
D.S.
*****
Earth, The Empire' Capital
Most of the animals had long since disappeared from Earth, though one should not misconstrue that the planet was a dead one, for it teemed with life. But apart from the single-celled creatures that have occupied the Earth for billions of years, and would most likely live on long after man was gone, Earth's multi-cellular animal life was restricted to only a few hundred species, the largest group of these being humans.
Throw into that mix a number of other species that had been considered domesticated "pets" like dogs, cats, several species of birds, and the like. What was left were the vermin that man, with all his technology, could never seem to eradicate.
In truth, most of that so called vermin, mainly insects and arachnids, though mice, rats, and even raccoons fit the definition, lived in the more destitute areas of the human population, for poverty was another ill that man could never exterminate.
The rest of the life that had once lived on Earth was exiled to so-called Zoo Planets, which existed mainly as destination sites for tourists. With virtual reality making ride based amusement parks a thing of the past, the new theme parks were zoological and botanically based.
People would pay big money to see not only Dinosaurs but also to swim with dolphins, watch penguins perform their mating rituals or watch a jaguar stalk its prey all from the convenience and comfort of an invisible, automatically controlled, two-person pod.
Or they could lay out on a man-made beach surrounded by Palm trees and other tropical flora. Then at the end of the day, while enjoying dinner and cocktails poolside, they could watch as elephants and giraffes roam in a distant savanna. It seemed that man couldn't get enough of wildlife, as long as it fit into his preconceived notions.
Other animal planets that were conceived out of necessity, though not necessarily tourist destinations, were Agrarian Planets. On these planets, the usual food crops of corn, wheat, soy were raised, along with vegetables and fruits. So-called farm animals, like cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, and game were reared. Animal protein cultivated in labs, though indistinguishable from "live" animals in taste and texture, were considered unpalatable by the general populace, and so was only harvested for the poor.
Animals that were used for ancient myth based remedies were farmed like tigers whose penises were harvested for so-called impotence cures. With advances in cloning and genetic modification, extinction was extinct, and man had an unlimited supply of beasts to sate his every appetite.
But as was previously stated, the Earth was teeming with human life. Every continent was overpopulated, the skies were crowded with great spires housing billions of people, even the oceans had vast colonies.
It had been that way for ages, even before the Empire existed. So when the Emperor of a Thousand Universes needed a palace, the only large expanse of vacant land was in the Sahara, the largest "Hot" desert on Earth. So that was where it was built.
From a twenty-first century view, the whole facility would seem a miracle. It was domed with a unique material that was opaque on the outside to block sunlight during the day but translucent at night and of course translucent from the inside. The whole structure, including the dome, was a solar electric generator, providing more than enough power to run the whole capital.
From the inside, you could see the sky through the dome, but the sun's rays were dampened enough so as not to cause a pedestrian the slightest discomfort even at midday. In fact, the inside temperature was kept at an even seventy-two degrees.
Once Capital City was built it became the epicenter of the Empire, and the Palace was the epicenter of Capital City. It was in this Palace that Xho Shi now walked, hoping to some day rule it, though through her son, in proxy.
"Madam Xho?" Exclaimed one of the Aeollian Guards who was standing sentry outside of the Aeollian Guard's headquarters.
"Yes, soldier, I have come to see your captain Kurosawa. I have urgent matters to discuss with him."
"I'm afraid the captain, ma'am, is in headquarters."
"I know that soldier, that's why I am here."
"But madam must know that it is not customary for anyone but an Aeollian Guard to enter headquarters."
"I know that is your tradition, but it's not a hard and fast rule, now is it, soldier?"
"I know ma'am, but..."
"Do not stammer, son. I know your customs. The tradition may be an old one, but there's no law against it. Send a message to Captain Kurosawa, I'm sure he will approve."
"Yes, ma'am."
Xho Shi walked down the sterile corridors of the Aeollian headquarters behind the young soldier. Several times questioning eyes glanced out at her from offices along the way, only to look away when she returned their stare. She was not afraid of their interrogations.
Finally, the guard showed her to what appeared to be a central office. There in that office, speaking with two junior officers, was Captain Kurosawa. He was tall with a hard look on his face, but stunningly handsome, especially in his uniform.
His ethnicity was hard to tell, probably a mix of Japanese and Indonesian. Just the sort of man her family would hate, yet it was her mother who suggested such a relationship. Her mother was the shrewd one in the family.
Kurosawa then turned and noticed her and dismissed the other guards brusquely. "Leave us," was all he said.
Xho Shi felt a something that she had never felt before. She wasn't just attracted to this handsome man, she was attracted to the power he wielded, drawn to it like a hornet to sugar. She liked this man, and would have slept with him even if he was of little use to her.
"Why is it, Lady Xho, that your visit with us today feels that some sort of gambit has been played," he said when they were alone.
"Can't a woman come to see her lover?"
"Is that what we are?"
"Of course. Believe me, Captain, whatever notions you have of me, please believe that my feelings for you are genuine."
A smile came to the Captain's face. Xho Shi wasn't sure the meaning of it, but she was hoping that it was a good omen.
"Let me ask you something, Lady Xho."
"Yes?"
"What is my first name?" He asked still smiling.
