EMPIRE: Conqueror (EMPIRE SERIES Book 6)

by Richard F. Weyand

  They both appeared in the simulation Dunham preferred for such meetings, the blank room with the two leather club chairs. Both were a bit early.

  They were close to each other in age, the powerfully built Emperor and the slight and bookish district governor. The Emperor was blond and blue-eyed, where Glick’s coloring was dark, with black hair and deep brown eyes set in a face the color of polished walnut. There could hardly be a greater physical contrast.

  “Your Majesty,” Glick said and bowed his head.

  “Governor Glick,” Dunham said. “We’re both early, so why don’t we just get started?”

  Dunham waved a hand to the chairs, and Glick waited until Dunham sat before seating himself.

  “The first order of business, Governor Glick, should probably be to ask if you have any questions for me.”

  Glick nodded.

  “One big one, Sire. The rest are minor, and probably don’t even need to be asked right now.”

  “Go ahead, Governor Glick.”

  “I’m not sure how to phrase this, Sire. I guess the basic question is, Are you really who you appear to be?”

  “And who do I appear to be, Governor Glick?”

  “An almost painfully honest and simple man thrust into an absurdly complex role. Someone who wakes up every morning and can’t quite believe his own situation. Who will nevertheless do the very best job he can at the impossible position in which he finds himself, because it is his duty to do so. And who really does place the welfare of everyone under his protection at the very top of his to-do list.”

  “You sound like you don’t quite believe it, Governor Glick.”

  “Because I’ve never seen it before, Sire. The people who rose to the top in the Democracy of Planets were all schemers and manipulators, myself included. It was the only way to get to the top. Oh, we might have been idealistic and altruistic when we started out, but the people who succeeded in climbing that ladder had to make compromises along the way, work within the system as they found it, as flawed as it was. But you, you seem– untarnished is probably the best word.”

  “Governor Glick, I am no more than what you see. I am a military man, a commoner, lifted to the Throne by my sister in a time of crisis. I grew up in what one could delicately call strained circumstances. My childhood bed was a simple mat on the floor of a three-room cabin in the woods. We had no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing. We ate what we shot or grew ourselves. I didn’t have a pair of shoes until I was fifteen years old.

  “And yet, Governor Glick. And yet. In the Sintaran Empire, I received VR implants at the age of four. I had a VR-based education. I won a scholarship to the Imperial Marine Academy, and became an officer in the Imperial Marines.

  “My sister was even worse off, suffering from a debilitating disease until the Empire provided, at no cost, the medicine that cured her. She also had VR implants, also had a VR-based education, also won a scholarship, to the best university in the Empire. By a combination of ability and hard work, she ended up being the Personal Assistant, then Personal Counsel, and finally Heir Presumptive to the Empress. She may well have been the best Empress the Empire ever had.

  “That is the magic of government done well, Governor Glick. The Empire made its mistakes, it sometimes lost its way, but, on the whole, over the centuries, it tried to be the best government it could be for all its people. To let ability, and hard work, and perseverance define a person’s opportunities, and not the circumstances of their birth. To let people achieve as much as they could for themselves and their families.

  “That is my goal, Governor Glick. To perfect that model. To keep always in my mind the circumstances of the common man, and to do the best by him I possibly can. Any less would be a tragedy and a stupendous waste of human potential. Any less would leave me forsworn, drained of honor and empty of virtue.”

  Glick was nodding.

  “I feel the pull of it, Sire. Of those childhood dreams of my own. Power with virtue. It seems so long ago....”

  Glick’s gaze went unfocused, as he drifted off into his memories – the dreams of the child, revisited by the man.

  Dunham was content to wait.

  Presently, Glick started and returned to the here and now.

  “Very well, Your Majesty. I’m with you. I accept the position of Sector Governor of the Gandon Sector. I will see if I can polish up those old dreams of mine, drag them out of the closet of memory, and restore them to their rightful place.”

  “Excellent, Governor Glick. I am very pleased to have you with me.”

  “Give me some time to talk to the others, Sire. I am, if only because of my proximity to the late Gunther Auer, respected among my fellow district governors. Let me discuss these issues with them, tell them my decision, see to what extent I can revive those youthful dreams among them as well.”

  “That would be appreciated, Governor Glick. If I can have both their current experience and their former altruism, it would be a tremendous benefit to the former DP and the Empire as a whole.”

  “One other question occurs to me now, Sire. Is there a sector governors association or group? It would seem to me some sort of meetings among the sector governors would be helpful now. You have people who have been working within the Empire’s rules, working to your goals, for years, and their counsel would be very helpful to me and, I’m sure, to others. There are, what? Seventy-nine of us? That’s a small enough group. We could all get together periodically and exchange ideas, talk out problems.”

  “That is an excellent idea, Governor Glick. Would you set up such a group for me? I would be pleased to address them at your kick-off meeting, if you wish.”

  Glick nodded.

  “Very well, Sire. First order of business, though, is to talk to my fellows in the former DP, and see what we can do to get everybody headed in the same direction.”

  Dunham stood, and Glick perforce did as well.

  “Well, then, Sector Governor Glick. You know what you are about, and I will leave you to it.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  They shook hands, and then Dunham cut the channel.

  It was nearing the end of dinner, with the four of them seated at the dining table in the dining room of the Imperial Residence. Dinner had been baked mostaccioli with meatballs and tomato sauce and mozzarella, with a Caesar salad and garlic bread. Cannoli would most likely be dessert.

  As the staff removed the dinner plates, Dee got serious.

  “Mother. Father.”

  Not Mommy and Daddy. Something was up.

  “Yes, Dee?” Peters said.

  Dee started it off, but the twins tag-teamed through the question.

  “We were wondering...”

  “... since our birthday is coming up...”

  “... if we could have a birthday party...”

  “... at the swimming pool...”

  “... with our friends.”

  There had always been children who were raised in the Imperial Palace. Peters was one of them. They knew to stay off the office floors, and they didn’t have access to those floors in the VR controls that ran the elevators anyway. Since most of the people on the Emperor’s staff were relatively senior, there weren’t ever many of them, but there were always between a hundred and two hundred minor children living in the Palace. There were probably ten or fifteen who were the twins’ age.

  There was a daycare center in the Palace – on the ground floor, with access to the garden and swimming pool behind – and the twins had been visiting it several days a week for at least a couple of years. They needed to know there were other children in the world besides just themselves, and learn to get along.

  Peters looked at Dunham and he shrugged.

  “Yes, you may have a birthday party for your friends at the pool,” Peters said. “Do you want to invite their parents as well?”

  Sean and Dee looked at each other, then back at Peters.

  “Sure! More people...”

  “...
is more fun!”

  Peters laughed.

  “We’ll need more picnic tables,” Dunham said.

  “There are extras in storage downstairs,” Peters said. “Housekeeping will take care of it all.”

  “Never underestimate Housekeeping.”

  It took extra time to get the kids to calm down enough to go to bed that night, as they excitedly planned their birthday party. When they had finally gone to bed, Dunham and Peters sat out on the balcony.

  “So how did it go with District Governor Glick today?” Peters asked.

  “Sector Governor Glick.”

  “Oh, ho! So he signed up.”

  “Yes. It seems I caused him to rediscover his youthful idealism. He’s excited about it.”

  “I can see that,” Peters said.

  “He also suggested a group for the sector governors. Get together once in a while and talk out ideas, help each other out.”

  “Careful you don’t reconstitute the Imperial Council or its equivalent there. That’s a pretty big power center.”

  Dunham sighed.

  “I know. The difference is the Throne picks its members. The Council selected its own members.”

  “Is that enough of a counterweight?” Peters asked.

  “I think so. I thought of having Markov’s people look at it.”

  “That’s probably smart. So, you have your first DP sector governor. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. He’s also going to talk to the rest of them. See if he can re-ignite their own idealism and get them on board.”

  “That would be great. The less disruption, the better, for integrating all this.”

  “Agreed. At least until we get VR rolled out to everyone.”

  “That will take years, though.”

  “Perhaps. There are people working on it.”

  It was a curious meeting. The Emperor, the Engineer, and the Businessman. All three from the simplest of origins – the backwoods, the barrios, the slums. All three self-made men. All three wildly successful in their fields.

  Dunham wore a simple but expensive business suit, the Sintar Cross on his lapel. Stauss also wore a simple but expensive business suit, with the Gratitude of the Throne on his lapel. And Denny wore a mismatched sport coat thrown over an engineer’s slacks and shirt, the Gratitude of the Throne on his lapel.

  Denny and Stauss stood when the Emperor arrived in the VR simulation of his office in the Imperial Palace.

  “Be seated, gentlemen.”

  Denny and Stauss sat, both curious as to why they were there and who the other fellow was.

  “I should first introduce you. Mr. Denny, I would like you to meet Mr. Otto Stauss. Mr. Stauss has assisted the Throne in several ways over the years, including arbitraging the Empire’s freighter production during the hiatus in military shipbuilding seven or eight years ago, seeing to the honorable burial of the fallen in the Alliance mustering points, and most recently warning the Throne of an imminent threat from the DP’s shadow government. Mr. Stauss is one of the Empire’s wealthiest individuals.”

  Denny nodded to Stauss.

  “Mr. Stauss,” Denny said.

  “Mr. Stauss, I would like to introduce Mr. Jared Denny. Mr. Denny’s organization designed the Imperial Navy’s new warships, invented the remote control repair system that made remotely crewed warships possible, designed the electronic countermeasures suite that allowed our missiles to be so effective in the recent wars, and came up with the box launcher idea that allowed massive missile attacks. Mr. Denny’s organization is one of the most capable and brilliant design engineering firms in the Empire.”

  Stauss nodded to Denny.

  “Mr. Denny. Pleased to meet you,” Stauss said.

  Stauss and Denny shook hands and turned their attention back to Dunham.

  “The reason I’ve asked you both here today is two-fold. First, with the winding down of military activities after the completion of the recent wars, Mr. Denny’s firm isn’t going to have a lot of weapons work to do. Unless you and your fellows have decided to retire, Mr. Denny.”

  “No, Sire. I mean, we have plenty of money from all the design royalties and such. But none of us is likely to retire anytime soon. It’s hard to explain. I guess some people do crossword puzzles to stay entertained. We do engineering puzzles.”

  Denny shrugged before continuing.

  “It’s just what we do.”

  “I understand, Mr. Denny. Mr. Stauss, there you are. I’m sure you will have need of a top-notch design engineering firm as you evaluate you recent business acquisitions.”

  “Indeed, Your Majesty.”

  “My second reason is that I have a problem for you both. The Empire is now seventy-nine sectors, encompassing ninety-five percent of the human race. That entire volume will be a free-trade zone. What will bind the Empire together is trade, lots and lots of trade. We’re going to need lots of freighters, Mr. Stauss.”

  Stauss simply nodded.

  “The Empire is also going to be promoting colonization to the galactic west, beyond the Empire’s borders. The Empire will subsidize the adventurous to go out and start new colonies. This effort will also require freighters, as well as ships with passenger accommodations.”

  “You’re going to give those who get bored with civilization someplace to go so they don’t cause trouble,” Stauss said.

  “Indeed, Mr. Stauss.”

  “Very smart, Sire.”

  “So again, we need lots of ships. Now, we just happen to have six million DPN warships that have been abandoned at their home planets, all across the DP. It seems to me we have frames and engines and environmental and cabin space and all of that already available. Can we salvage those, remove the weapons systems, and use them for these other purposes?

  “That is the question, and I will leave it to you gentlemen. But those ships are just floating there, abandoned, which makes them salvage, Mr. Stauss. If you come up with some plan to use them to further my goals, I will write you a salvage license on them.”

  Stauss looked to Denny.

  “Do we have a complete engineering package on them, Sire?”

  “I’m sure we do, Mr. Denny. I believe Mr. Dunlop is preparing that for you.”

  “Excellent. Thank you, Sire.”

  “I’ll leave you gentlemen to it, then.”

  Dunham bowed his head and cut the channel.

  More Meetings

  Immediately after the meeting with the Emperor, Stauss and Denny met in VR. They used Denny’s simulation of a conference room for Sintar Specialty Services.

  “So, Mr. Denny, what sort of business relationship do you have with the Imperial Navy? What is your billing structure like?”

  “The Navy has had us on an open-bill, no-bid contract for several years, Mr. Stauss.”

  “Indeed? Very unusual for the Imperial Navy. However, I want to hire you on those same terms. It’s easier, and the Emperor certainly seems to have no doubt he received his money’s worth.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Stauss.”

  “Call me Otto.”

  “Very well, Otto. And you must call me Jared.”

  “All right, Jared. So what’s your first-blush reaction to this whole problem? Any ideas?”

  “First would be to centralize the work to some few shipyards. Get the ships there. Perhaps we could send around a team to hook up remote-control to them so we don’t have to crew every ship for the transfer. The Navy has a remote control box I think we can use. We might even be able to get a hold of HARPER remote-control repair units to mount on them for the trip.”

  “Good. Makes sense so far. I’m actually the majority shareholder in a DP shipbuilding company now, so we have shipyards local to the ships. We don’t need to run them all the way to Sintar.”

  Denny nodded.

  “Then we need to remove a lot of stuff. The impeller tubes have to come out. Those need to be decommissioned properly, so they don’t find their way into some mischief. The magazines and the loading mecha
nisms can come out. For colony transport, we might be done there. For freighters, we need to cut back on the sealed cubic, get the hull size down so we can mount more containers. We’ll have to take a look at the plans and see what’s possible.”

  “I have metal grinding machines, Jared. We can grind those impeller tubes up.”

  “OK, good. Otto, for any more than that I have to see the plans. We need to make sure we can hook up remote controls to these ships, for instance. That will make a big difference to how we go about it.”

  “Fair enough, Jared. I just wanted to make sure we were more or less on the same page going in. I’m happy.”

  “All right, Otto. And thank you for your business.”

  The two shook hands and Stauss dropped off the channel.

  Sector Governor Seth Glick and District Governor Roddy Riley were meeting in VR. The simulation was of a stone patio overlooking a forested valley, with two Adirondack chairs.

  “Roddy, how are you?”

  “Good, Seth. And you?”

  “Good, good. Have a seat.”

  When the two had sat, Glick continued.

  “Have you met with the Emperor yet?”

  “No, I wanted to wait until someone else had, and I could pick their brains a bit. More information never hurts.”

  “Smart. Well, I have met with the Emperor, and I’m meeting with people so they can pick my brains about it. So go ahead, I guess.”

  “First question is, What’s he going to be like to work for? I suppose that’s the most important.”

  “I think he’ll be easy to work for, as long as what you are doing is looking after the people writ large. Not corporate patrons. Not big money interests. But the everyday guy in the street. Make life easier for people, make it easier for them to live their lives without interference, to advance themselves and provide for their families, and he’ll be on your side. Otherwise, not so much.”

  “After the DP, that sounds naive,” Riley said.

  “I don’t think it’s so much naive as idealistic. He’s a simple man, and he can’t understand why government doesn’t always work for the common man. That’s what he swore to do, and he feels honor bound to do so. He isn’t unaware others take similar oaths and ignore them, he just doesn’t understand how they can do that and still look themselves in the mirror in the morning.”