Interview with Rias (AKA Fleet Admiral Starcrest) — Encrypted/Decrypted Extras

For those who are new to my books, character interviews are a long-standing (almost a year old!) tradition in the EE Universe. Thus far we’ve had frank conversations (and some glares and glowers) with…

• Sicarius
• Maldynado
• Sgt Yara (Part I & Part II)

Now, using the questions from the ladies (oddly, it’s always the ladies, hmm) in the EE forum and on Facebook (two male readers chimed in here, yay!), I bring you an interview with the exiled retired Fleet Admiral Rias Starcrest. He’s recovering from the events in Decrypted as I talk with him (note: Decrypted takes place approximately 18 years before the Emperor’s Edge books, so any references to Sicarius will be of the young 17-year-old assassin Rias last dealt with in Encrypted), but I’ll edit out any spoilers.

Interview with Former Fleet Admiral “Rias” Starcrest

Thank you for agreeing to join us for a few minutes… Rias. Is it all right if I use that name? I know you have your friends call you that, though I’ve admittedly put you through some… distress of late.

Indeed.

That… wasn’t really a yes, was it? Well, either way, thank you for joining us. I understand the Kyattese have been keeping you quite busy, and I imagine Tikaya is, too now that you’re… ah, better not spoil things for the reader, eh?

*eyebrow quirk* Indeed.

Hm, this is starting out a lot like that Sicarius interview. I sense you don’t approve of me fully. Well, perhaps you’ll open up to your readers? Why don’t we jump into the questions…

First up, Moondreamer asks, “Does he want kids? How does he view his future with Tikaya now that they’re both free?”

Yes, I do want children. Freedom, now that’s an elusive concept. So often people claim to seek it, yet they construct the bars of their own cages.

That’s how you’re going to open this interview? With philosophy?

*another eyebrow twitch* I’m getting a sense of why your characters don’t approve of you.

Hey, it’s not me. The readers like… Well, you’ll see what folks really want to hear about in some of the future questions… but let’s keep things simple. Next up, Daisy and Cat wonder what your first impressions were of Tikaya.

My first thoughts were along the lines of… “Dear ancestors, they’re putting a woman in the cell across from me? When I look and smell like this? Maybe if I hide in the corner back here, she won’t notice me…” I wasn’t in a very good state of mind then, you understand. It was only her mutterings of puzzles and mathematics that intrigued me enough to speak.

Right away, her presence on the warship caught my interest, but it wasn’t until I learned about her unique role in the war that I became rather smitten.

Meera asks, “Would you return to Turgonia if it had a more progressive emperor?”

Though I’m reconciled to the life of an exile — and the Kyatt Islands are a far better place to live in exile than most! — it would be pleasant to be permitted to visit my family and old colleagues at some point. But there is little point in musing upon such matters. Emperor Raumesys is neither an old nor unhealthy man, and I expect he will continue to rule for a long time.

Sarah asks, “Is there really a Starcrest Adventure Series for Boys, also known as the less factual tales of Rias’s adventures that Sicarius kept in his cubby at the Barracks? Is there an accompanying action figure, now with more strategizing action? If there is an action figure, how does he see Tikaya reacting to this knowledge?”

*blink, blink* You’ve heard of those books? I confess that I haven’t read any of them, but I’m sure they overly dramatize true events. I’m not aware of any “action figures.” How does one strategize in an actiony manner? With much pacing?

As for Sicarius, we did not discuss books or… cubbies (I believe that what a young man keeps in his cubby is of no one’s business but his own), but I did, of course, sense that he regarded me with deference that he didn’t display toward the other officers. I suspected he was familiar with my military career and found it admirable.

Leslie, SparkleGirl, and others want to know how you survived on the penal island. “How long was he there for, what was it like and was he forced to eat anyone?”

Will this interview be publicly available in the Polytechnic library?

Oh, I should imagine so. They keep records of everything, don’t they?

Well, then, since I may have children one day, I’ll say only that surviving on Krychek Island was difficult, but I was not forced to do anything forbidden by the Kantioch Treaty or that would be otherwise considered reprehensible by modern human notions of morality.

I see. And these nightmares you still suffer from on occasion, they’re of…?

*Rias eyes the Kyattese landscape for a moment* Coconuts falling on my head. It’s dreadful.

Turgonians are very good at keeping secrets secret, aren’t they?

It’s part of the anti-interrogation training, yes.

K2N2 asks, “Is there anything that scares you to the point where you’d seriously consider running in the other direction?  No, I understand the Turgoinan military doesn’t run….so I’ll rephrase that to ‘perform an expeditious strategic retreat to a more defensible position?'” 

I have, on more than one occasion, expeditiously retreated to a more defensible position when my ex-wife’s mother came to visit. Interacting with Tikaya’s grandfather is a pleasure by comparison.

As for physical threats, I’ve rarely found those too daunting to face. I’ve been told, by those under my command or otherwise foolish enough to stand within range of artillery fire with me, that this isn’t always an admirable trait.

Sweartoad asks, “What’s your stance on goatees/facial hair? Spelunking is a very popular sport in Turgonia. Your thoughts?”

Turgonian military regulations require facial hair to be kept shaven. But… I suppose those regulations don’t apply to me any more. Do you think I should grow a goatee? I had some facial hair for a brief time during the story you know as Decrypted, as I was too busy to tend to daily ablutions. Or sleep. Or eat. Tikaya, however, seemed relieved when I shaved it.

Spelunking? In the aftermath of recent events, it may be a while before I’m ready for more cave explorations, though, for the purpose of research, I did enter a cave with Tikaya during our adventures here on Kyatt. Twice.

Just to be clear, you’re talking about real caves, right? With rocks and bats and things?

What else would I be referencing?

Never mind. Rebecca and Kara want to know about the black knife. “Has your black dagger become your tool of choice, like Sicarius? Or did you snatch other super sweet tools from the Alien ruins?”

Actually, the Kyattese confiscated the knife and everything else in my pack when they first detained me. I haven’t seen the black blade since. Perhaps some erudite archaeology professor is using it to clean his nails during staff meetings?

Kitty asks, “So is he gonna be a good submariner and do it deep?”

Yes. Yes, I am.

You know that was a sexual innuendo, right? I only ask because English isn’t your first language and Tikaya isn’t around to help with translations. You kind of missed the spelunking thing.

*bland expression* Yes.

All right, then. Moving on. Parang asks, “Rambunctious Rias in his youth… what was he like to his closest friends?? Do his teachers have stories that they pass on to future cohorts?”

Due to the age difference between myself and my classmates, I was usually… Let’s just say there were years when books were my closest friends. I was often able to convince the neighborhood kids to play with me by showing off the incendiary and sometimes explosive devices I’d built. Nothing dangerous, of course. Nobody lost more than their eyebrows. Or part of an ear. But I maintain that Rivvy Ravencrest blew up his own ear.

As for teachers, I’m told they found me bright, delightful, and… don’t confirm Tikaya’s suspicions here, but the word trying came up often at parent-teacher meetings. That started sometime after the outhouse-as-a-rocket incident. I’m certain I wasn’t the first boy to see if it was possible to make an outhouse… airborne. It’s possible I was the first to achieve it. Have you ever noticed that incidents like that remain on your record? It came up during my officer candidacy interview, if you can imagine.

Rhiannon asks, “Did he like those who must have been in charge when he was still a Warlord? The Emperor, Hollowcrest and (perhaps) Pike.”

I had little contact with them until I reached the rank of admiral. Even then, I was at sea most of the year, interacting with my superiors only through written documents. Since I usually only came into ports for restocking and repairs, and the capital is far from the sea, I didn’t meet the emperor or Commander of the Armies Hollowcrest in person until my promotion ceremony to fleet admiral.

Is it just me, or are you avoiding answering the question?

As a marine, you’re taught to obey the rank, no matter what you think of the person.

I guess that’s the best we’re getting, hm? Okay, last question. Sam says, “I would like to know more about his first wife.”

Sam, if you have a warrior-caste lineage, money, great stamina, dexterity, and an utter lack of inhibitions, I can introduce you to her. Oddly, I don’t believe she’s remarried yet.

* * *

All right, thanks for reading, everyone! The next post will be to announce the availability of Decrypted. It should be up in a couple of days.