Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire (5 page)

‘
What for
sir?’

‘
No idea.’

The Chief found himself drawn onwards
as Tapper engaged him in conversation. The three of them arrived at
the line in the hall that no one could advance beyond without royal
consent. All three were ushered forward, the Chief almost panicking
when he suddenly found himself in the presence of his own Emperor.
He was just wondering how the hell he had got there when he was
spotted. The smile that played around the Emperor’s muzzle wasn’t
pleasant.

‘
Ah! My Chief
Engineer. Where have you been hiding? Are you recovered from your
illness and ready to resume duties?’

The Chief almost choked, ‘Yes
sire.’

‘
About time too.’ His
eyes swivelled towards Charlie’s. ‘So, you are what passes for a
soldier in the Human world?’

Charlie had turned on all of his senses
and clearly heard the King think, ‘Give the bugger what for
Charlie.’

Charlie smiled, and looked one of the
Emperor’s guards up and down. The guard shone like a new pin, and
wore a decorative sword at his side. ‘Is that what passes for a
soldier in your Empire sir?’

‘
He is one of the
elite. A soldier beyond compare.’

Charlie could sense curiosity in the
Emperor.

‘
Really?’ Charlie
sniffed, ‘We have those too. I, however, am a common soldier. How
about a little test of strength sir? Just a small one.’

The Emperor suddenly felt a rush of
excitement. ‘What do you have in mind soldier?’

‘
Let’s say I place my
hand on his sword and try to prevent him from drawing
it.’

The Emperor burst out laughing, ‘You
jest?’

‘
Not today
sir.’

The Emperor gestured to the guard,
‘Gord. Come here. Did you hear what he said?’

‘
Yes
sire.’

‘
What do you think of
his chances Gord?’

‘
I think the oxygen
rich air is affecting his mind sire. I have no objections to this
test of strength.’

The Emperor looked to the King, ‘Have
you any objections?’

‘
None at
all.’

‘
Gord, if you will.’
The Emperor commanded.

The guard presented himself and Charlie
placed his hand over the hand guard and locked his fingers onto the
scabbard. Charlie nodded and the guard tried to draw his weapon.
The smirk on his faced soon vanished.

The Emperor frowned, ‘What’s wrong
Gord, draw your weapon.’

‘
I am trying
sire.’

‘
Try harder damn
it.’

The guard used both hands, one on the
scabbard. Still he couldn’t move it. He gave a great bellow as he
tried one last herculean effort. The sword didn’t budge and
Charlie’s expression didn’t change. He felt fear leap between the
Modloch like a flame.

‘
Enough.’ He
suggested.

‘
Enough.’ The Emperor
confirmed. Their fear levels dropped as Charlie let go and stepped
back. ‘That was quite an impressive display of strength
soldier.’

‘
There is one thing
you have to take into consideration about the Human race
sir.’

‘
What is
that?’

‘
When you get fed up
of listening to our fat politicians, get sick of listening to their
endless whining and decide it would be far easier just to squash
them and declare war on the Human race, remember it isn’t men like
them that you will be fighting. It is men like me.’

The King coughed politely, ‘That’s
enough Sergeant. No one here is proposing war.’ He turned to the
Emperor, ‘You will have to excuse the Sergeant, he is a typical
Scottish soldier. They can get a little carried away sometimes.’ He
turned back to Charlie, ‘Dismissed.’

‘
Yes Sir.’ Charlie
took two steps back and saluted, ‘Gentlemen.’

The Emperor growled, ‘That didn’t
translate. What did he say?’

‘
It is a form of
respect towards those of higher status,’ the Chief almost
squeaked.

‘
It is, is
it?’

‘
Yes
sire.’

His eyes sent the Chief scuttling after
Charlie. He turned to the King. ‘Why did you invite a common
soldier to this evening?’

‘
Ah! He was the first
soldier on to the city ship and one of the last off. He and his men
fought the entire length of the campaign without respite and took
the surrender of the Albany. This is a little treat. My show of
appreciation for their efforts. He represents all of the common
soldiers that fought.’

The Emperor was almost growling, ‘I
understand.’ He accepted the King’s explanation. ‘It is
occasionally necessary to throw the commoners a few scraps from
your table. Their gratitude is pathetic, but it can make them more
loyal and fight all the harder.’

‘
Exactly.’

‘
It would seem that
we aren’t all that different after all.’ The Emperor noted that his
Chief Engineer had caught up with the Human soldier and by their
body language it was clear that the two were familiar with each
other, maybe even friends.

CHAPTER 7

Steven and Komoru spent a week in
academic bliss at the royal institute. Steven had a list of
questions and the Professor welcomed each and every one. Their
presence also seemed to inspire his other pupils. Steven noticed
there were seats for over a hundred, but only about a dozen were
taken.

The Professor showed the pair of them
around and they soon became aware of the prestige of the academy.
His schedule was very light so he was able to give them a lot of
personal tuition. After a couple of days Steven took Hailey in to
see how she would fare. For the past few months Steven had been
teaching her the basics. Hailey dived into the classes with as much
gusto as Steven and Komoru, to the great delight of the
Professor.

Their arrival didn’t go unnoticed
though and at the end of the week they were called upon to attend
the Dean of the institute. He eyed them coldly.

‘
Captains Gordon and
Kiazu, your reputations proceed you. It is a pleasure to see you
here. However, I have had a number of complaints from some of the
students and their patrons, to the effect that you and another
member of your crew are receiving free tuition. That is
unacceptable. The patrons of this institute are amongst the most
influential in the Empire. As such I will have to put a stop to
your visits.’

Steven and Komoru were devastated.
Steven tried to reason with him. ‘With respect sir, in the short
time I have been here we have learned so much. I was going to
suggest that together we start a program to teach Human navigators.
The Professor has informed me that too few pupils take his course
and the institute is even considering cancelling the program. We
can fill those seats and pay for the tuition of the pupils. As a
race we are so far behind in the art of astral navigation. Yes, we
have computers that do it, but I truly believe that the first
generation of navigators should know the absolute basics. Only then
can we truly begin to learn.’

‘
You are correct
about the institution wishing to close the department. However, the
majority of us hold exactly the same view as you do. To which end
as long as a single pupil crosses that threshold then the
department will not be closed.’ He sat forward, ‘Your offer is very
tempting. There is one major problem though. The Human race has no
collateral or cash on this side of the great barrier. You may have
rare minerals, metals and gems to trade but without a formal trade
agreement in place with the Universal Mining Commission they are
little more use than lumps of chalk. As an unregistered planet, any
application will take years to process. Of course it would also
undoubtedly fail. The last thing the commission wants is a glut of
fire diamonds and precious metals on the market. That would drive
prices down.

‘
Many years ago,
Captain, I majored in finance and economics. My first job when I
left this institution was working with a major freighting company.
As you can imagine, this opened my eyes to the way things are run
on a universal level. I have to tell you that you and your people
are heading for a major disaster. You would be better turning round
and heading back to your own solar system.’

Steven wasn’t amused, and neither was
Komoru. ‘Would you like to enlighten us?’ Komoru asked, ‘After all,
we have the support of your Emperor.’

‘
He is one Emperor in
a vast ocean of emperors. We do have the largest standing fleet and
probably the biggest empire, I admit, but that does not mean we are
invulnerable or that we can flaunt the laws at will. Are you aware
that there is a universal ban on the movement of any form of meat
products within this galaxy?’

‘
No sir I wasn’t,’
Komoru answered truthfully.

‘
I would presume you
have supplies coming from your own home world.’

‘
Yes sir, of
course.’

‘
Every freighter and
freighter captain is subject to universal laws. There is a
universal force that polices those policies. That means that they
can lawfully stop any vessel in any sector of the galaxy they wish,
including ours. The only exemption are those freighters that are
part of a military convoy. The penalties for transporting meat are
severe, such is the dislike of meat-eaters. For a world like yours,
with no official standing, that would mean internment for many
years for the crew and most likely the destruction of the cargo
along with the freighter.’

‘
But we could simply
escort them from the great barrier.’

He sighed wearily, ‘Your world has no
official standing in this part of the galaxy. They could stop your
military vessels at will if they wished to do so. Any form of
resistance would bring whatever hell you primitives believe in down
on your head. Neither could our Emperor stop it, nor would he.
While you are part of the Modloch fleet you are all perfectly safe.
The moment you start roaming around on your own, you become very
vulnerable.’ He seemed to be about to conclude the interview.
‘There is one more thing that you may wish to consider. May I ask
how your ships are being fuelled at the moment?’

‘
By tankers from
home,’ Komoru answered.

He half smiled, ‘Then you must have a
lot of tankers. Your ships are modelled on our own so I know they
can travel for months without refuelling, but eventually they will
need to be. You will not be able to procure fuel here. I am quite
sure that the Emperor might supply you with some, maybe for a
while, but a fleet your size is expensive to run. Of course he
could just let all of your ships run out of fuel and then rescue
your people. Under the laws of salvage those ships would then
become his property until you buy them back. Of course he also has
the right to procure them from you if he so wishes. I can assure
you the price he will pay would be nothing to the cost of building
them. Then again, with no legal way of paying you, he could just
keep them free of charge. Were you aware of that?’

‘
No sir,’ Komoru
admitted.

‘
I didn’t think so. I
am quite sure that you are having the adventure of your lifetime
and I envy you from the depths of my soul. However, the galaxy is
not a playground for children. You have no experts in galactic law
and no real clue as to what you are really doing here. We are
brought up with it. We are taught it from childhood. By looking at
you I can see that our brains are much larger than yours and far
more capable of retaining the knowledge required to survive out
here. From what information I have been able to gather, your
species is not ready to join the rest of the galaxy yet. Go home or
learn fast.’

He picked up a tablet and a stylus, ‘If
you can find a way of getting funds and a patron, we would be more
than delighted to take pupils in from your race. I would suggest
that you look farther than just astral navigation. Good day.’

CHAPTER 8

Steven went straight to the President.
Of course, what the Dean had told them was the absolute truth. The
President admitted that they had already approached a number of
galactic banks and all had refused to open an account for the
Humans.

The President sipped at his coffee,
‘The Dean was right to some extent. We can’t sell any of the
precious metals or gem stones that we brought with us. We would be
allowed to sell that which we have procured from our own home world
if we receive galactic status. Normally when you receive galactic
status you can deposit any amount you wish as collateral, providing
that it came from your home world. That doesn’t include your solar
system. I have a team of people wading through it right now, but it
isn’t looking good.’

‘
What about our
supplies sir?’ Admiral Baxter asked.

‘
We are going to have
to ask for an escort from the Emperor.’

‘
That means we are
going to have to stop them on the other side of the barrier until
we have a large enough number for a convoy sir. That will seriously
delay the arrival of some essential supplies.’

‘
I am aware of that.
We are going to hold a large feast for the Emperor and what other
dignitaries he brings with him from the other worlds. After that we
may well have to return to our own side of the barrier, at least
until we can build staging posts where our forces can cross over to
refuel and resupply.’

‘
Even then, any
vessel we have, including our military ships, can be stopped and
searched at any time by the relevant galactic forces.’ Admiral
Baxter added. ‘Every single one of our ships has meat products on
board.’