A King's Ship (Empire Rising Book 2) (32 page)

“Greetings Superintendent,” Jil’lal began. “My name is Jil’lal Lackesh. A number of leading figures of my people wished for me to accompany Captain Somerville on his journey here to your home system. I wish to add my apologies for coming to your home uninvited.”

“Your apologies are accepted child,” Hallock said with a lot more compassion that he had given James. “Our people hoped there would come a day when your people would be able to visit our homeworld. I’m just sorry that it has happened under these circumstances.”

“As am I Superintendent,” Jil’lal agreed. “However it was necessary for me to come here and give you this warning. What Captain Somerville has said is true. Our Overlord has secretly built a fleet to conquer your people. I have seen the orders with my own eyes and I was on
Endeavour
just three days ago when they engaged this fleet. They lost over twenty crewmembers trying to prevent it from reaching your planet. The fleet is real and they intend to destroy everything you have built here. Please, listen to our warning. You have to prepare yourselves to stop this attack.”

“Your words are well spoken Jil’lal,” Hallock said. “Yet you are just one person. We cannot take your word alone on such a matter. For all we know the humans are forcing you to say the things you say.”

“They are not,” Jil’lal said with a hint of anger creeping into her voice. “I have come here and risked my own life to warn you. For the last three hundred years your people have stood by and watched while the Overlords enslaved my people. Yet despite that I was sent here to warn you. The humans owe you nothing and yet they have bled to bring you this warning. Your people need to listen to us.”

“Now, now my dear. We know your people and how they let emotion get in the way of reason but there is no need to spoil this dialogue.” Hallock said. “The simple truth is that we will not sanction the use of violence. That means we cannot trust your motives in coming here and even if this fleet were real, we would not resort to the use of violence to stop it. If the Overlord has indeed sent a fleet to attack us, then we will talk to its commander when it arrives.”

“Then we have wasted our time coming here,” Jil’lal said in frustration. She didn’t trust herself to say anything more so she stepped to one side and gestured for James to take over. 

“I am truly sorry if our presence here has caused offense. That was never my intention,” James began in a conciliatory tone. “If you do not want my help defending your system then we will leave before we cause anymore offense, yet I hope that after you think on our words you will change your mind.”

“I think that would be wise,” Hallock said. “In the future your government would be welcome to send an unarmed ship with political representatives to open a dialogue between our two peoples. We do not approve of species that use violence. However, that doesn’t mean that we cannot communicate with one another. In time we hope your race will come to see the benefit of peace and harmony. Farewell human.”

“I will pass on your kind words to my leaders,” James said to Hallock. “May your peace and harmony outlast the next few weeks,” he added as he closed the COM channel.

“Well that was interesting,” James said to the bridge crew. “I guess they don’t want our help.”

“What do we do now Sir?” Julius asked.

“Turn us around Sub Lieutenant Jennings,” James answered. “Now we wait, and watch,” he added to Julius.

“We’re not just going to leave them to their fate are we?” Julius asked. “We came an awfully long way to watch another alien race conquered and enslaved.

“I’m not too sure the Kulreans have given us any other choice,” James said.

“You don’t owe the Kulreans anything,” Jil’lal said. “You have already lost crew members for them. If they will not listen I’m not sure they are worth anymore of your time.”

“I’m not so sure,” James said. “You could argue that we didn’t owe your people the help we gave them. We could have bombarded the Overlord’s palace from space and allowed your planet to fall into civil war as his surviving generals fought among themselves for power. That would have protected our people. Yet we chose to help you restore freedom to your planet. At a personal cost to ourselves.”

“You are right,” Jil’lal said. “I am used to thinking as a resistance fighter. For us the cause was everything. We had to make sacrifices in order to survive. Anyone who wouldn’t help us had to be cast adrift.”

“I can understand that,” James responded. “But now Tak’ar and Mul’li’la are going to be responsible for all your people. There should be no one left behind. What’s more, you need to lead by example. If you want your people to care for each other and other species, you need to show them that you are willing to help them, even when it costs you something. I hope our actions on your planet will prove to be the cement that holds our two races together in friendship. We may yet have the opportunity to do the same here.”

“I see,” Jil’lal said. “I guess my people still have many things to learn.”

“As do I,” James replied. “Hopefully we can live long enough to learn them together.”

“Jennings, once we get to the mass shadow I want you to jump us five light hours up the shift passage,” James ordered, turning away from Jil’lal and leaving her to her thoughts. “Once we jump back out, turn us around and set a course back into the Kulthar system under stealth. We’re not going anywhere just yet. Don’t exceed 0.25C though, we don’t want them detecting us.”

“Aye, Sir,” Jennings said with approval.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do yet,” James said to the bridge. “But I want to be here when the Overlord’s fleet arrives. At the very least we will get to see if these Kulreans really are pacifists, maybe they will have a few secret weapons up their sleeve. I’m going to my quarters to think,” James finished and then got up. “Ferguson, you have the bridge.”

“Yes Sir,” the First Lieutenant said.

It has always been the duty of a Captain of an Empire warship to put himself in harm’s way. That has been their tradition from the inception of the Empire.

- Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

9
th
August 2466 AD, HMS
Endeavour
, Kulthar System.

Ten hours later
Endeavour
once again crossed the mass shadow into the Kulthar system. James was in his quarters sleeping fitfully as he dreamt of blue aliens swarming all over his ship trying to strip the weapons off the hull.

On the bridge Ferguson was monitoring the sensor feed when what he had been expecting happened. “I’m detecting ships exiting shift space,” Sub Lieutenant Malik called.

“Wait for a full ship count and then inform the Captain,” Ferguson called out. “I have something to attend to, you have the bridge,” he said to Lieutenant Julius.

When he got off the bridge Ferguson opened his COM unit and contacted Lieutenant Mallory, ““It’s time, I’m going to the Captain’s quarters now, you secure the bridge,” he said.

“Shit,” Mallory said as he dropped the coffee he had been drinking. His mind went back to the conversation Ferguson had had with him a few hours ago.

Ferguson had come to him with an ultimatum. He had discovered a number of gambling rings Mallory had set up and had actually found out how many credits he owed a number of the crew. Ferguson had threatened to reveal his illicit actions and have him thrown in the brig if he didn’t help.

Mallory had been torn, what the First Lieutenant had been talking about was mutiny. Yet Mallory had thought it had all been theoretical. He hadn’t believed the Lieutenant would go through with it so it hadn’t been too hard to agree. Besides, he thought, as much as he hated it, what choice had he had? Ferguson was going to end his career.

“Mallory?” Ferguson said.

Mallory shook himself. “Yes, I’m here,” he said. “I’ll get my men moving now.”

Mallory knew why Ferguson had come to him.
Endeavour
had been built with Chester taxes she was supposed to have been sent to Chester to map out the dark matter in the unexplored areas around Chester. The Admiralty had therefore ensured that a lot of the crew were natives of Chester so that they could enjoy shore leave on their home planet. As a result, Mallory had a lot of connections among the crew and many of them owed him or his father a few favors. Ferguson had known that too and now he was making use of them.

Switching COM channels, Mallory contacted two of the crew, “McCullough, Troon, it’s time, get your men and meet me on the bridge.”

*

Four minutes later James was woken by the beeping of his COM unit. “What is it?” he asked groggily.

“The Overlord’s fleet has arrived,” Sub Lieutenant King reported, “every ship that we didn’t destroy at their refueling point has just jumped into the system.”

“What are they doing?” James followed up.

“They are just sitting on the edge of the mass shadow at the moment. I think they are getting their bearings,” King answered.

“I’m on my way,” James said as he jumped out of his bed and searched for his uniform.

As he stepped out of his quarters and into his adjoining office James was surprised to see Ferguson standing there. He was even more surprised when he saw the pistol in his hands.

“What are you doing Lieutenant?” James said.

“I’m taking you into custody Sir, please raise your hands,” Ferguson said.

“This is mutiny, you cannot remove me without due cause,” James said carefully. Then it hit him what had prompted Ferguson’s move. “You are a coward!”

“That is for the Admiralty to decide,” Ferguson said, “but I will not let you kill us all in a vain attempt to save the Kulreans. I know you, that is exactly what you will do. Well not today. Now raise your hands. I don’t want to have to shoot you.”

As he finished speaking two crew members appeared from the shadows and approached James. They grabbed him and patted him down for weapons.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” James said. “You can’t hold the entire ship.”

“I already have,” Ferguson said. “We have sealed off the marines’ barracks and the crew members not loyal to me are confined to their quarters. My men have taken over engineering and the bridge. You will be joining the other Lieutenants and Chief Driscoll in the brig. It will take us almost three months to get home but you will be more than comfortable. Once we get there, I will turn
Endeavour
over to the Admiralty.”

“You’re not going to help the Kulreans at all?” James asked, disgusted.

“We will stay in stealth and see what the Overlord’s fleet does. But that is all. The Kulreans made it crystal clear that they don’t want our help,” Ferguson answered.

“But they don’t know what they are facing, you are just taking the coward’s way out,” James spat.

“I’m obeying our orders. You have endangered this crew and this ship for the last time,” Ferguson said, finally getting angry. “But enough of this. Take him to the brig. We will no doubt get a chance to present our points of view in a court martial. The Admiralty can decide if it is yours or mine that’s right.”

As the two crewmen manhandled him out of his offices and into the corridor James saw Second Lieutenant Mallory walking past leading two more crew members, all three had pistols in their hands.

“You too!” James shouted after him. “You are a coward.”

Mallory didn’t meet James’ eye, he just hung his head and walked past the Captain.

When James got to the brig it was already full. Julius, Becket, Chief Driscoll and all twelve of the Sub Lieutenants were there. One or two were carrying nasty bruises on their faces, testifying that they hadn’t submitted easily.

“I am sorry everyone,” James said once his captors left. “It is my fault we are in this mess. I should have seen it coming. Do not worry, I will ensure your careers are not affected by this either way.”

“We’re not sorry, or worried Captain,” Becket said for everyone else. “We followed you willingly and we would have followed you no matter what you decided to do about the Overlord’s fleet. We are just sorry that we cannot help the Kulreans. No race deserves what the Overlord’s fleet is going to do to them.”

“No,” James said as he struggled to get his head around the fact that some of his crew were willing to just watch the destruction of an entire alien civilization.

*

Jil’lal knew something was wrong when the door to her quarters swished open without waiting for her approval. She had been told that no one would be able to come in without her say so. Instinctively she jumped to her feet and turned to face whoever was entering.

A male human she hadn’t met before cautiously walked in with some kind of weapon raised. “I’m here to request you accompany...”

Jil’lal didn’t let him finish his sentence, she had already jumped into action. Using all four legs she sprung into the air above his weapon and crashed into him. With two of her hands she wrestled with him for his weapon and with her other two she fired short sharp punches into his face.

After the first couple of blows the human let go of his weapon in a vain attempt to cover his face with his hands. Jil’lal whipped the weapon away from him and jumped back.

“Don’t say a word,” she said.

“Ok, ok,” the human said. “Please, don’t shoot, I was just following orders,” he continued as his fear grew. Jil’lal’s attack had reminded him of just how alien she was. Now he wasn’t sure how she was going to react to being attacked.

“I’m not going to hurt you. If you do what I want. If you don’t…” she left the rest unsaid.

Ignoring the human for a moment she pulled out the datapad Lieutenant Becket had given her. For the first two days of the trip Becket had showed her how to work it but since then she had been teaching herself. With a few minor alterations in the datapad’s code she had been able to override the limitations Becket had put on the datapad and use it to interface with the rest of the ship’s systems.

She understood the human systems far better than they realized. Tak’ar had said she had been the best computer expert on Vestar. As it turned out, the human systems, though far more advanced, still worked on very similar principles.

With a few quick commands she got the ship’s computer to locate the Captain and the senior officers. Unsurprisingly the Captain was in the brig. Jil’lal hadn’t spent a great deal of time with Captain Somerville during the trip from Vestar but what she had seen she had liked. She certainly knew he wouldn’t have sent an armed guard to arrest her. Along with the Captain, Lieutenants Julius and Becket were in the brig along with all the Sub Lieutenants she had got to know.
Something is definitely up
, she thought to herself.

When she looked for Lieutenants Ferguson and Mallory she saw that they were both on the bridge.
I’m not liking this
, she thought as she saw the armed guards that were on the bridge when she accessed the visual feed.
It looks like Ferguson has taken over.

“What’s going on?” she asked the human as she turned her attention back to him. “Is this some kind of mutiny?”

“No,” the human said passionately. “Lieutenant Ferguson has just temporarily relieved Captain Somerville of command until we return to Earth. The Lieutenant felt that the Captain would launch us into a hopeless attack on the Overlord’s fleet. We all agreed that it was in the Admiralty’s best interest to prevent
Endeavour
being destroyed for no reason.”

“You mean in your best interest,” Jil’lal said in disgust. “Has your Captain not led you to success and glory in the last year? He is a great war leader like my Tak’ar. It is a shameful thing you have done here.”

As she looked at him the human didn’t respond nor lift his head to meet her eyes. “So be it,” she said.

This time she connected her datapad to the door’ controls. She altered a few of the protocols so that any rudimentary scan of the room would tell someone that she was inside. Then she set the door to lock and restricted all COM channels out of the room.

“You will have to wait out the rest of your mutiny in here,” she said as she walked out.

In the corridor she paused to listen and look about before she headed on. Her first port of call was sickbay. She needed to see if Lieutenant Scott was still being looked after. She owed the Lieutenant a huge debt for saving her life.

After five minutes of careful sneaking she came to the turbolift that would take her to sickbay. When she entered in her destination nothing happened. Trying again she still found that nothing happened. In frustration she pulled out her datapad and connected it to the turbolift. To her dismay she saw that access to the turbolifts had been restricted to a few select crew members. She could hack into the protocols and add herself to the list but it would surely alert someone to the fact that she was free.

With a sigh she brought up the
Endeavour’s
schematics. The exploration cruiser was a big ship and it would take her a while to get to the sickbay on foot. Once she was satisfied she had plotted a safe route that kept her away from the more populated areas of the ship she headed off.

Twenty minutes later she was finally standing outside sickbay. She had formulated a plan for her next course of action but first she had to see Scott. The doors into sickbay were locked from the outside but it didn’t take her long to override them. As they swooshed open doctor Anderson looked up in anger. “I said I wanted to be left alone,” she began angrily but cut herself short when she saw it was Jil’lal.

“Jil’lal, what are you doing here? I thought they would have confined you to your quarters,” Doctor Anderson asked.