A King's Ship (Empire Rising Book 2) (16 page)

“Like I said, this is just a clue. As to what this gift is, I have no idea. Though it is a starting place. Whatever it is, it appears to have helped the colonists get this far from Earth as quickly as they did.”

“So the impossible is possible,” Ferguson said looking at the Chief Engineer.

“Maybe,” Driscoll conceded. “But I’ll tell you one thing. They didn’t do it using the shift drive. Remember, I had a look at the drive in that freighter, and there is no way they had the tech to get from Earth to here two hundred years ago. However they did it, they have me intrigued.”

“There is one more thing we found,” Scott said as she changed the holo display again. “Does anyone recognize any of these ships?”

“That’s a Webb class interstellar freighter,” Third Lieutenant Julius said, “it’s a British built freighter, where are these images from?”

“It is a Webb,” Scott said as she gave Julius a smile. “In fact all of these eight freighters are British, French or Indian design. From the markings on the hull we have identified this freighter as the
Rosemary
.

“These images were taken by our optical sensors as we rounded Haven before our final attack on the alien fleet. Our focus at the time was elsewhere and so no one noticed them, but one of my team spotted them as they were reviewing the battle sensor logs.”

“How did they get all the way out here?” Julius asked

“Piracy,” Scott answered and she was shocked to see the change that came across the naval officers faces. Major Johnston and Bell didn’t look best pleased but that was nothing compared to the rest of the officers.

“Explain,” James ordered in a carefully controlled tone.

“The
Rosemary
was reported missing five years ago,” Scott began. “She was actually one of the missing ships that prompted the Admiralty to build
Innocence
. We weren’t able to identify any of the other freighters but their type and class are consistent with other freighters that have been reported missing in the last seven years.

“The only reasonable conclusion is that the Havenites captured these freighters themselves or they bought them off whoever did.”

“Sir, we can’t let this stand,” Mallory said in indignation. “Even if they just bought these freighters from pirates, they are complicit in their crimes.”

“And let’s not forget they intentionally took in Chang, a wanted war criminal,” Johnston said. “I think we may have been a little too nice to our new friends,” he added, pouring sarcasm into his last word.

“Yes,” James said. “But we need to tread carefully. We already knew they had intentionally given Chang safe passage. From the limited political reports I have been able to access it seems as if they have been playing hard ball with the Earth nations ever since they first met that French cruiser two years ago. Despite repeated attempts they have been flat out refusing to reveal the location of their homeworld. Their impressive military buildup suggests they have been paranoid about the Earth powers for a very long time.

“I’m guessing they made contact with us long before we knew about it. At least eight years ago if the missing freighters were all stolen by them. That means they have been planning for when we would find them for some time. They probably wanted our freighters to get a look at our tech.

“If you think about it, they probably feared one of the main powers would just claim their world and annex it into their territory. Certainly the Indians would love to get their hands on a fully developed colony.

“All in all, I think that means we need to take a measured approach. Haven is going to cause Earth problems in the future. The presence of the Vestarians only complicates things. If we go in gung-ho now we might drive Haven into the arms of the Indians or the Canadians for protection.

“However,” James said as he paused to let what he had just said sink in.  “That doesn’t excuse their actions. Let me assure you. They will be held accountable. Nevertheless, for now we need to be a bit more circumspect. We need to treat the next few days as a fact finding mission. We need to bring as much information as possible back to the Admiralty, ultimately they and our political leaders will have to decide what to do with Haven. Our job is to give them as much detail as possible.

“So, I don’t want any mention of Chang or these freighters at the reception. As hard as that may be,” James added, waving down the looks of protest that appeared on his officer’s faces.

“We need to know how they got here, and how they built up their tech base so quickly. And, most importantly, we need to know all we can about these aliens. Whatever the Havenites have done in the past, these Vestarians are the real threat. We don’t know where their systems are nor how many ships they have. What we fought a week ago could just have been a scouting force.”

The room went quiet as everyone contemplated James’ last statement. More than one officer suddenly realized that even as they sat, other alien fleets could be leaving a line of devastated human systems in their wake as they sought to attack Earth.

“Cheer up,” James said, “we don’t know anything for sure. There’s no sense in worrying about unknowns. Let’s just focus on this reception. Try to make friends, get people to open up. And remember, you are permitted to have fun at the reception. The last week has been intense, so relax, unwind, but don’t give away any state secrets!” he said to a few chuckles.

“Ok then, the reception is in six hours,” James added as he stood. “You may hand off your duties to your Sub Lieutenants and go prepare. I want you all in your dress uniforms. The more we impress the Havenites the easier our future with them will be.

“You are all dismissed,” James said as everyone got to their feet and made their way out of the briefing room. Before James left he approached Third Lieutenant Julius and asked, “Can you join me in my office Lieutenant?”

“Yes Sir,” Julius replied.

As they both stepped through the adjoining door to James’ office he turned to the Lieutenant. “I’m afraid you’ll have to stay behind to command the ship. With Becket in sickbay I want at least one senior officer still on board. I do have a task for you though.”

“I understand Sir,” Julius said with obvious disappointment. “What do you want me to do?”

“Our sensors only got a short glimpse of the captured freighters. Since then the Havenites have been keeping them at the opposite end of the planet to
Endeavour
. It’s possible not all of the Haven government know about them. While we are at the reception I want you to take
Endeavour
out on a short cruise. See if you can loop around the planet and get a better sensor sweep of the freighters. If we can identify the rest of them, it may give us some useful information. If Haven ground control asks, tell them you are testing the repairs. I’m sure they will get a little nervous. If they do, remind them of who saved their colony and push on. If ground control gets nervous enough they will send a message to whoever oversees the freighters. I’ll be keeping an eye on their leaders, their response may just give something away.”

“I understand Sir,” Julius said. “I’ll give them something to worry about.”

“Very good,” James said as he clasped the Lieutenant on the shoulder, “just don’t let them know what you are after.”

“Aye Sir,” she said grinning. “I know how to keep my cards close to my chest.”

“Very well, go get ready to take over the watch then,” James said, ending the conversation.

8
th
May, 2466 AD, Liberty, capital of the Haven Collective

As James stepped off the maglev train that brought his officers from Liberty’s main landing port to the Collective’s Council Chamber, he couldn’t help being impressed. The Council Chamber wasn’t the largest building in the city but it was by far the most decorative. Whereas the rest of the colony was built purely for function, no doubt a necessity for a fledging colony, the council chambers were ornately decorated and clearly modelled after government buildings back on Earth. The whole building was made out of some local white stone. Along its front a flight of twenty steps led up to a series of what looked like marble colonnades. The shape of the building had been designed to reflect the images James had seen of the colony ship that had brought the colonists to Haven.

As he went up the steps, James saw the First Councilor, Graham Maximilian, standing between the two largest colonnades with his back to the doors that led into the chambers. “Welcome Captain,” he said as he stepped forward, taking James’ hand. “It’s a pleasure to get the chance to honor the man of the hour.”

“James, please,” James said, “and the honor is all mine. My crew have been very impressed with everything you and your ancestors have been able to do here in Haven.”

“We have worked hard,” Maximilian said and then spoke up as he addressed the officers James had brought with him. “You all performed admirably, both in the battle with the Vestarians and dealing with the aftermath. I will be sending a message to your Admiralty praising every one of you.

“Now come, come,” Maximilian said, shooing everyone up the stairs towards the main doors. “It’s time you all got a chance to enjoy yourselves. We have prepared a feast for you.”

At the mention of food the pace of the group picked up and James found his mouth watering. Whilst the food on board naval vessels was usually pretty good, the frozen rations couldn’t live up to a freshly prepared meal.

As they stepped through the main door it was obvious that whoever had designed the council chambers had spent as much time on the inside as the outside. “This is a very impressive building,” James said to Maximilian.

“Yes, my Father took great pride in constructing this building. He said it represented everything we have accomplished here.”

“Your Father was the First Councilor too?” James asked.

“Indeed, and his before him and his before him starting with Harold Maximilian, the founder of the colony,” Maximilian replied. “The First Councilor is elected every ten years but so far our people have been happy to see Harold’s vision for our colony continue to rest in the hands of his descendants. We all still look up to him.”

“You are a direct descendant of Harold Maximilian?” James asked.

“Yes, he is my great grandfather,” Maximilian replied. “After being taken out of cryosleep he spent the rest of his life building this colony. My family have been dedicated to his vision ever since.”

“Then you have done extremely well in just four generations,” James commented.

“Thank you,” Maximilian said, “though for most of the population I can assure you it has been more than four. We have a lot of incentives to help our population grow. I already have over fifteen great grandchildren and no doubt there will be many more before I step down as First Chancellor. My eldest son is eager to take over but he will have a few years to wait yet.”

“That’s very interesting, James said, “I’m sure I will have lots more questions for you.”

“I’m sure,” Maximilian said with a wry smile. “As I do for you. For now though, let’s enjoy our meal. If you would step into this room,” he added as he stood aside and gestured to the door in front of him.

As James stepped through a loud round of applause greeted him. The room was over one hundred feet long and a single table stretched its length. Seated along the table were over eighty people, all of them standing, applauding
Endeavour’s
officers as they entered.

“We like to show our appreciation,” Maximilian shouted over the noise before he turned to the crowd and waved for them to bring their clapping to an end.

As the noise died down a number of servants appeared and directed the naval officers to their arranged seats. Maximilian directed James to a seat beside the head of the table and then sat at the head himself. As James sat he shook hands with Admiral Harris who was seated to his right, “Good to meet you face to face Admiral,” he said.

“And you,” Harris replied, “For a while I didn’t think I’d be meeting anyone again. Your stunt with Haven’s gravity saved our bacon.”

“I was just doing my duty,” James said as the servants brought out the first course of the meal, “a British naval officer is expected to put his life on the line for others. I’m just glad we were able to get here in time.”

“About that, how exactly did you manage to get here?” Harris asked.

At that James noticed Maximilian pause mid-sentence in his conversation with the councilor who sat opposite James and turn to hear his answer.

“Well,” he began choosing his words carefully. “You have probably noticed that
Endeavour
isn’t your typical cruiser. She may be the size of a medium cruiser but she doesn’t have the armaments of one. Instead she is equipped with extra cargo space and a few other things even I don’t have clearance to know about. She is designed to be able to carry out long survey missions.
Endeavour
is an exploration cruiser you see, the first of her class. We had been testing her long range survey capabilities when we stumbled across your system.”

“An interesting concept. Even so,” Harris said just as carefully, “you are still a long way from British space. We expected to bump into an Indian or a French ship sooner or later. Not a British one.”

“That I can understand,” James said, “but as you know, we are in direct competition with the Indians for new colonial systems. My mission was to go beyond Indian space and see if we could beat them to a new system. It seems I have succeeded.”

“That you did,” Harris said. “And I bet you found far more than you were expecting.”

“Certainly,” James chuckled without having to fake anything. “That brings me to a few questions of my own. You know it has been more than a hundred years since any Earth power made contact with a pre-shift drive colony? You certainly gave us a surprise finding you all the way out here.”

Before Harris could formulate an answer Maximilian interrupted the verbal sparring. “Come now Captain, there will be plenty of time later for discussing all that stuff. You are here to enjoy a good meal. Let me introduce you to Councilor Pennington. She is one of the most powerful people on Haven.”

Sensing that he would get nowhere if he pressed the issue James turned to smile at the councilor. “My pleasure Councilwoman,” he said.

In what followed the Councilwoman sought to impress him with the extent of her family’s businesses and her own personal wealth. Certainly the various industries her family owned and run were significant but to James they were just possessions, not overly important in the grand scheme of things. Growing up he had been surrounded by wealth and fame. His father, now dead, had been the Duke of Beaufort and one of the wealthiest Lords in the British Star Kingdom. He could have bought everything in the Haven system combined and still had plenty of credits left over.

Despite his youth James had learnt the fleeting nature of such things for his father had committed suicide and in the aftershocks it had been revealed that he had lost most of the family fortune in bad business deals and gambling. As the younger of two sons James had always known his brother would take over the family Dukedom and business. James had been enrolled in the RSN by his father instead. Initially hating it, he had slowly come to love the navy, but in a cruel twist of fate his father had left the Dukedom to him rather than his drunk of a brother. James had always suspected his father had done it out of spite. Being landed with an almost bankrupt Dukedom hadn’t done James’ career or social life any favors. Yet, with the help of a friend from the naval academy and some good investments in the Void, his finances were starting to look very healthy. James wasn’t sure as he didn’t check such things regularly but he suspected he could give Pennington a run for her money if it came to comparing assets.

Not that he was going to tell her that. He wanted Haven’s council dealing with him as a naval captain, not as a Duke with potential political connections and clout. Things were complicated enough as it was,
besides
, he thought,
it is not as if I have any sway with the King or parliament
.

The meal and conversation continued on for over an hour before the servants removed the last course and two large doors were opened at the far end of the room. Taking it as a signal, the guests got up and made their way into a large reception room. A jazz band was playing and the group split as some made their way to the bar, others went to the tables that lined the room, and a few made their way onto the dance floor.

As James paused to watch he saw Major Johnston and Agent Bell were mingling like experts with a number of the military personnel who had been invited to the reception. Johnston was actually laughing and James was delighted at seeing the change that was slowly coming over the Major. It seemed that whatever had happened with Chang on the planet had broken the anger and self-recrimination Johnston had been dealing with. James had been disappointed they hadn’t been able to recover Chang, or at least his body. Yet events had taken on a life of their own and Chang had become the least of his worries.

With a wave of his hand he motioned Mallory and Ferguson away, both had been about to come to his side after the meal but James wanted them to continue to mingle. Whilst Mallory came from an important family in Chester it appeared that neither of the Lieutenants were comfortable among such distinguished guests. So far James had only met a few of them but it seemed everybody who was anyone had been invited to meet the British officers.

Sighing, he stepped away from the wall and began to mingle. After sharing pleasantries with a number of people a stunningly beautiful woman in a fiery red dress stepped in front of him.

“Hello there Captain,” she began, “or should I say Duke,” she added with a mischievous smile as she held up her hand for James to kiss in the tradition of the British aristocracy. As he lent in James took a moment to take in her beauty. Sparkling brown eyes sat wonderfully against her lightly browned skin and long dark hair flowed over her shoulders and down her back. Her red dress accentuated the rest of her body in all the right places without being too revealing. James couldn’t help it and, despite his alarm at being recognized, as he kissed the back of her hand he inhaled deeply, drinking in her perfume.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered, waggling a finger at the look of concern that had crossed James’ face. “Your secret is safe with me. Though if I can do my homework properly it is only a matter of time before others figure it out.”

“I guess you have me at an impasse, may I ask who you are?” James said.

“Of course you can,” she said resting a hand on James arm. “I am Councilor Suzanna Rodriguez, I have been serving on the council for the last five years. And I might add, doing everything I can to keep this colony from falling into the hands of an aggressive Earth nation.

“I wonder,” she said as she linked her arm through James’ and directed him to the side of the room. “May I pick the brains of one of the heroes of the Void War and an ex-consort of a princess of Britain?”

“Of course you can, that is why I’m here,” James began. “Although I think hero is going too far, and if you know my background you’ll know I don’t exactly have much sway in British politics. I’m out here after all, as far as the Admiralty is concerned, in the middle of nowhere. That being said, I’d be happy to help you any way I can. Though I might want something in return,” he hastily added, trying to stay on top of the situation.

“I’m sure we can come to a satisfactory arrangement,” Suzanna said with a smile. “Let me be honest though. I am a business woman first and a politician second. Councilors are only allowed to remain in office for one term. Then we have to return to public life. I stood for election because I thought the council needed a different voice in their debates, not because I love all the political maneuvering. There may be some here who love to play the game of politics but I like to say it straight and come to the point.