by Randal Sloan
“All kneel,” Master Sergeant Gibbons proclaimed in a command voice so strong that even Greg was kneeling before he knew what was happening. “I present to you Her Royal Highness Princess Jarraosa Christinee Von Hasson.”
With a regal smile, Jarra inclined her head to the assembly. “Thank you for your service. Please rise.” Then her face hardened. “Master Sergeant, immediately place Lieutenant Gregorio Resault under arrest.”
Greg went in an instant from surprised to terrified. He didn’t actually make it to his feet, the surprise of the moment freezing him. He found his hands bound behind his back. He desperately sought some way to escape, trying to use his implants to reach out, but he found his access blocked. He knew his father was away meeting with his co-conspirators, so he would have no help there. His terror only grew worse when the Princess came to stand in front of him, her stance regal. He wondered how he never realized who she was, but then he looked into her eyes. Nothing there but cold anger that burned him to his inner soul.
“Give me one reason why you should not hang by your neck until you are dead, Inmate Resault. The charge is treason and the penalty for treason is death. I have more than enough evidence to prove you guilty.”
His terror now complete, for the first time in his life Greg had nothing to say. He just hung his head numbly. Luckily for him, the Princess went on, offering him a tiny lifeline, “If you’re willing to cooperate, I will suspend the death sentence, but only if you are willing to cooperate to the fullest. Understand one thing though. I hate traitors and if you’d been behind any of this directly, I wouldn’t offer you even this.”
It was quite clear to him, something he had known instantly while he lay on the ground in that arena but had later pushed from his mind. This woman meant what she said and backed it up herself. No way was she bluffing. To find out that she was so far above him in authority that she could order his death and have it carried out immediately was the last straw. He also knew begging would get him nothing; he had only one chance to come out of this alive.
“I’ll do whatever you ask,” Greg told her, his voice unsteady but he somehow managed to be able to speak.
“I need to know everything you know about your father’s plans, what you know about his allies, anything else you know. In particular, I want to know about the plans with the AI’s.”
Jarra looked up at the timer. “Let’s start with the last one. We have five minutes before we talk with my uncle the Emperor and I need to be able to give him as many details as possible regarding the AI replacements and the plans of the rebels. He still can override me and demand your death, so you’d better give it to me fast.”
As if she could read his mind, she went on, “No, your little stunt with the AI didn’t tip us off to the whole rebellion thing. We already knew about that, just not the plans with the AI’s. That did speed up our timetable, which ironically may save your life. I was going to use you to find your father and then hang the both of you.”
With a gulp, Greg answered her, “It was my understanding the plan was to infiltrate the AI systems in the two Rim Districts. I can give you the name of the man who is working on the AI systems here and I suspect he can give you the name of his counterpart in the other Rim District.”
“Is it their intention to take over the other Rim District too? I can’t believe Governor Kerwaski would side with the rebels. I’ve met the man and he is as loyal as they come.”
“No, the idea was to sow confusion so the Empire would divide their forces, giving them more time to get established here.”
“Ok, we have two minutes. What else can you give me that will help me convince my uncle to let you live? Are there more drones being built or did we destroy all of them?”
“I think the drones were being used as a chance to test the technology of the aliens, the Aerestone. They only had the one plant that I was aware of. I’m guessing that was what my father was so upset about a couple of days ago. But listen, I think I overheard something I wasn’t supposed to hear. I think all of this is about a plan to use the confusion here to send a team in to assassinate the Emperor and the Admiral of the Navy. You have to warn them.”
Jarra stared at him in shock. “Assassinate my uncle? My Aunt Margarette? Quickly, what else can you tell me?”
“Only that they have an inside man and he will be able to give them access to both while everything is in chaos, somewhere the Emperor believes to be safe.”
Something clicked in Jarra’s head, something she had seen just before she left for her assignment in the Rim Patrol. This would have to be handled carefully or the rat still might be able to pull it off. Just as bad nearly, he might get away. She would allow neither of those to happen.
She gave Greg a half smile, even though the anger still burned within her. “You may well have just saved their lives, but I’ll have to handle this on my own. Believe me, I will, because I have no desire to become Empress.”
Jarra looked him right in the eyes. “I’m not done with you, but that last bit of information has definitely taken the noose off your neck.” She eyed the timer; only a few seconds left. Too many decisions.
“Master Sergeant, if you will, move our prisoner off to the side. Commander Crusoe, if you will, please come join me here. The rest of you take your places behind us.”
The VR came alive with a 3D image of the Imperial Emblem. “His Imperial Majesty, Emperor James Cessor Von Hasson.”
Everyone in the assembly room other than Jarra dropped to one knee. The Emperor appeared in the 3D virtual view. He looked even more tired this time than before, but he smiled when he saw Jarra. Speaking to the others in the assembly, he intoned, “Thank you for your service. Please rise.”
“What have you stirred up now, my little Jarra?” the Emperor went on, knowing she had hated being called that since she was a child.
“Oh, just a little rebellion, Uncle Jimmy,” Jarra replied, quick with the response using the name that he only heard from her and the one he always proclaimed he couldn’t stand. “Nothing that we can’t handle here, but I found out something you needed to be warned about rather urgently. As part of their plot, the rebels have come up with a plan to switch out the controlling AI’s here and replace them with AI’s of their own. Our intel also tells us it’s planned to be done in the other Rim District as well. We don’t think it’s supposed to be Empire-wide, but you need to take precautions just in case. Lock down all controller AI’s with command codes until we can be certain the problem has been contained.”
“It’s being done as we speak. What kind of update can you give me on the rebellion”
“We’re still gathering intel. I believe we have a little more time yet, probably a day. Don’t worry, Uncle, I intend to squash them all like the rotten little worms I know they are.”
“You need to leave the squashing to your cousin. I’m still worried about how I’m going to explain all this to your father, who sends his regards, by the way. It was the mention of your discovery of the aliens, the Aerestone, that changed the Borjon’s minds about joining with us. Your father knows that information came from you and he said to tell you that you were right, as usual. He also said to tell you that he loves you.”
“I miss him a lot, Uncle, but like him, I’m doing the thing I love the most and serving the Empire to the best of my ability.”
“I’d tell you to stay out of the rest of it, but I’d be wasting my breath. Do be careful, my little Jarra.”
The last was said with such affection, Jarra couldn’t even pretend to be angry. “Of course, Uncle. I always do.” She saw his look that said he believed that as much as she did, but it really wasn’t her fault that trouble always seemed to find her.
Jarra went on before he could comment further, “I’ll pass on any additional info I’m able to gather to you and Cousin John. I do have one favor to ask, Uncle James. While all this is going on, I need you and Aunt Margarette to wear your personal armor at all times.”
The Emperor o
f the Galactic Empire could only stare at his niece for a moment. “I know you’re not telling me everything, but because you asked, I will do it. I expect a full explanation when all this is done.”
“You’ve got it, my dear uncle.”
The broadcast ended and Jarra turned to speak to the group who were all a little awestruck. This time she couldn’t give them the time to digest it. “Ok, guys, we’ve got our work cut out for us. Let’s get to work. Master Sergeant Gibbons, I need to speak with you off to the side for the moment. I need a big personal favor.”
#
Greg had been hoping the Princess had forgotten about him. Despite his history with her, he had been as awestruck as the rest of the group to watch her casually speaking with the Galactic Emperor as the beloved niece she obviously was. He was quite glad that she didn’t point him out to the Emperor, but left him off to the side out of the picture, obviously planning to deal with him herself instead of pushing the decision to her uncle. Not that he had any doubts that she would do whatever it took to protect the Empire, including ordering the death of anyone she knew was a traitor.
But he really wasn’t surprised that when she finished speaking with the Marine sergeant she turned her eyes toward him. Greg noticed the Marine immediately left the room, but this time he didn’t have a thought about trying to escape. “Ok, Mr. Resault, it’s time we continued our little talk. I want to know everything you can tell me about the rebels, and I want to know it now. How many and where are the troops? How many ships do the rebels have and what type? Your earlier information may have saved your life, but now it’s time to decide the remainder of your fate.”
Greg had been re-evaluating himself in the last few moments, and he really didn’t like what he saw. He knew part of it was his father. His father had given him no limits and no direction to his life other than complaints about the Empire, but the rest of it was his own fault. He saw before him someone who had been brought up with it all, but her strength of character was obvious. She was a tremendous force for good. Greg resolved to do his best to be more like her.
“I don’t know as much as I should know,” he told her. “I didn’t really believe in my father’s cause, but he threatened to kill my mother. I was too afraid to try to oppose him or risk something happening to her if I did my duty to report him. Now, I’m extremely sorry about that; even then I knew it would have been the right thing to do. The only thing I can do now, I will do my best to tell you everything I know.
“The rebels are commanded by General Sommel Jackson, a nasty sort of a man, who should still be in the Capitol. Hopefully, you’ll be able to apprehend him. I can’t tell you the exact location of their camp, but I know they discussed using caves to hide all the equipment.”
Sasha had followed her Princess over for the interrogation. She spoke up quickly. “There’s only one place on the Southern Continent that would have a big enough complex of caves that they would be able to do that. It fits well within the patterns for the possible location for a rebel base. I’m sending the coordinates to you, My Lady.”
Jarra nodded as the ping came into her implants. It did look like a likely spot based upon what her AI showed her. She looked back over to Greg. “What about their ships? How many do the rebels have?”
Greg didn’t hesitate. “I know they have a couple of squadrons that would compare to one of your Navy’s. That’s why they were trying to get you to split your forces. But they do have one advantage that I need to warn you about. They have one ship that is huge and it has been enhanced by support from the aliens. I don’t know if an entire fleet can take that ship. That’s probably where my father is right now.”
“I bet I have a way to take that ship with limited loss of my own. Do you know where they are hiding?”
“No, but my father was traveling in his private yacht that would have limited travel distance and he has to be back in time for his part of the rebellion here. The yacht is hyper capable, so I’m guessing it’s just outside the system, hiding at the edge of hyperspace.” He snapped his fingers, going on, “Wait a minute. I remember him mentioning a nebula, something he called ‘Dragon Nebula.’ I’d never heard of it but you may know what it means.”
Sasha grinned. She had this one too. “I bet he was using the common name for the Komodo Nebula. Komodo dragons were a large reptile on earth that were quite aggressive, the largest reptile remaining after the death of the dinosaurs. I know exactly where that is.”
Jarra nodded. She knew where that was too and it would be the perfect hiding place. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“The whole thing was supposed to start in thirty-six hours, thirty-five now. I had a bit of argument with the AI about that.”
“Yeah, I heard. Because it thought it had us blocked from the outside and my implants disabled, the AI and you were stupid enough to use unencrypted channels. I heard every word between the two of you.” She turned to look him directly in the eyes. “You should know, I still think you are a despicable human being, but your willingness to cooperate to the extent you have has gone a long way in your favor.”
Greg took a deep breath. He knew this was his one chance to still salvage something from his life. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but in the last few minutes I’ve been taking a long look at myself and I don’t like what I see either. I want to try to redeem myself. I don’t know what that means, but I will do whatever it takes to help you.”
“I’ll have to think on it a bit. I’m no longer eager to see you hang, but I still want to kick your ass, lock you up, and throw away the key. I’ll figure something out, but in between, you’d better keep quiet unless you have something you’re able to contribute.”
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Greg dropped to one knee, placed his hand on his heart and told her. “I am yours to serve. Do with me what you will. I certainly deserve it, My Lady.”
Jarra just looked at him a moment. He felt like she was looking into his soul. Finally she surprised him. “I thank you for your service. Please rise.”
Jarra smiled at the shock in his eyes. “Yes, I mean it. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with you, but I mean it.”
She left him then to contemplate what had just happened. Jarra herself wasn’t sure.
#
That left Jarra a bit of business to take care of. She delegated a lot of it. The planetary rebels were primarily left to the District Militia forces, who quickly apprehended General Jackson. They were able to slap an implant block on him at the same time so he wasn’t able to warn the rebels. That helped the loyal generals in their plans to surround the rebels and they were quietly moving into position. Jarra had hopes they could launch their attack coincidentally with the naval attack she was working on.
The planetary defense system was brought up to one step away from full alert status so that the rebels wouldn’t detect it, but they were ready. All of that Jarra left to the local government. But the plans to overcome the rebel space squadrons she managed herself. She needed to coordinate with her cousin, so she placed a real time call to him.
“Hey Dani,” she said when he answered, using the pet name she used for him when they were young. Prince John hated his middle name, but he had come to tolerate her nickname based on it. Jarra knew she needed to soften him up as much as she could, because she suspected he wasn’t going to like her plan.
Hearing her pet name for him, Prince John immediately knew she was up to something. Not that he expected it would do him any good. “What is it, Ja?” he answered.
“We now have intel on the rebel ships. You’re not going to like some of it. Two squadrons to your three, but they have an extra ship in one of them. It sounds like a souped-up super-dreadnought, or maybe even bigger, a monitor ship I’ll call it. You know we looked into building them, but they’re just not practical with our current technology. Somehow they’ve managed it, probably by taking advantage of some of their alien friends’ tech. I expect you would be able to take it eventu
ally, but not without losses.”
John started to interrupt, but Jarra went on, “My intel includes an approximate location for the squadrons and I believe we need to use that to our advantage.” She pointed to an area in the 3D Virtual Display she had included in her transmission.
“Here, somewhere in the Komodo Nebula. A small stealthed ship should be able to slip into that area of hyperspace and locate them.” Jarra saw his immediate reaction to her statement.
“Yes, my ship just happens to be the most qualified to do that. Once located, we would be able to determine the target coordinates for their monitor ship and send them to your squadron. We would then be able to take advantage of your new ability to launch missiles from hyperspace to take them by surprise. That should turn the tide in your favor from the get go.”
Prince John just stared at her for a moment. “I know you’re right, but our uncle is going to kill me if something happens to you. I suspect I’m already in hot water over the earlier incident. He’s just waiting for the pot to boil.”
“Might as well get it over with then, cousin. I’ve got just the flame to bring to that pot to get it up to that boil quickly. Then it will be over and you can move on.”
“If you weren’t right about the losses I would take, I wouldn’t even think about it, but we’re talking about the potential loss of a number of ships of the line with the loss of a huge number of lives associated with that. But you have to promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will, cousin,” Jarra told him. “I’m always careful.”
“That’s what worries me. But let me know when you’re space-borne and ready to begin the action. We’ll be ready.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A Little Space Battle
Jarra sat at the pilot’s station on Aeres as they searched for the rebel fleet in the Komodo Nebula. Her part was pretty easy for the moment with Galen plotting their winding course in hyperspace that corresponded to a straight search path in real space and Gabo manning their passive sensors for any sign of their enemy.