My Friend the Emperor
Page 11
Don’t get me wrong, everyone had made their own choices and I’m all for people accepting personal responsibility, but as a whole these Citizens had shown me more acceptance and friendliness than any group I’d known since leaving my home planet.
And then there was Monica…
I could empathize with her story. Naïvely entering the Imperial system only to be caught up in its politics. Then exiled and removed from what would surely have been a bright future; yes, I certainly knew what that was like. If I turned in a complete report, simply being a disgraced Citizen wouldn’t begin to describe the fate she would probably suffer. She was an embarrassment to the Empire and I didn’t like the thought of what would happen to her. I didn’t know if I could live with being the cause of it.
I decided to put the report off a little longer until I could figure it out.
My routine hadn’t changed much. I still reported to the bridge at the beginning of A Watch, I just no longer expected the captain to show up. I would then go back to his rooms and clean up the preceding night’s festivities, which now included empty cognac snifters. After that, while he was still sleeping it off, I did what he had suggested; I toured the ship and got to know its personnel.
I was beginning to understand that the Citizens of the ship were an eclectic lot. Very few of them seemed to fit the mold of what I would expect from an Imperial Citizen. With many of them sporting a tattoo (or like Switzer, with his entire head tattooed) I had briefly wondered about their legitimacy, but I had no real doubts they were truly Citizens. Many of them were talkative and the common experiences we shared from our Academy days would’ve been hard to fake. Still, there were things they wouldn’t talk about, like how they had gotten assigned to the Halcyon.
Citizen Felix Jones had been the first to really greet me when I came on board so I decided to approach him and get some insight.
When I approached his cabin the Door Unlocked indicator was on so I walked on in.
“Whoa,” I said out loud.
Felix had been laying in his bunk and he almost fell to the floor he was scrambling so hard to stand up.
I hardly noticed though… I was busy staring at the hologram that filled his entire cabin. It depicted a section of space, complete with a binary star system in the foreground and a nebula cluster further out. The thing is, it looked so… real.
“Jac, what brings you…? I mean, you surprised me,” he said as he adjusted a control on a small white box. The hologram disappeared.
“What was that? It was incredible!” I said.
“Yeah… I was just working on my astrogation skills. It’s called an Astrogation Box,” he said while briefly holding up the unit.
“Is that some more of the new tech this ship has? Man, the royal family gets all the new toys, doesn’t it?”
He looked at me blankly for a moment and then said, “Yes, that’s exactly it. You never know what the Imperial labs will come up with next.”
I’d been thrown off balance but I still needed to talk to Felix.
When I told him as much he said, “Sure. What’s on your mind?”
“Felix I understand, sort of, why the Captain would loosen up the formalities of a ship on the frontier, but it’s more than that. For example, some of the Citizens are talkative and some of them aren’t, but nobody will talk about how they received an assignment to the Halcyon. Why is that?”
“Well, what do you think? What did you do to get assigned here?”
“Me? Well, I just pissed the wrong people off. But I was railroaded; it wasn’t really my fault. I was trying to do my job; I just got caught up in the politics…”
Felix was laughing.
I hated the feeling of being naïve, but so far in my career I was getting plenty of practice at it.
“Are you trying to tell me the every Citizen on board the Halcyon is an innocent Citizen that got caught up in some political game?”
“Oh heavens no. Most of us are lucky not to be in a brig somewhere. But, mind you, not for being a traitor or killing a fellow Citizen or anything egregious like that. You might say that the Captain likes to staff his ship with spirited Citizens.”
“Does he have a choice? Don’t Citizens get assigned to the Halcyon like any other ship?”
“Oh, of course they do. How else would it be?” He said smiling from ear to ear.
“So what did you do to get assigned here, Felix?”
“Look Jac, you’ve gotta stop asking everybody that question. There aren’t very many things you can do to piss people off on this ship but that’s one of them. Let it lie and stop bugging people about it, okay?”
I gave him a steady unrelenting gaze.
“Okay, how about this. I’ll tell you my story if you promise to lay off of everybody else. At least for a while, deal?”
“Deal,” I said without hesitation.
Ship scuttlebutt had it that Felix was a whiz when it came to astrogation yet here he was on the Halcyon. I wanted to know what was behind it.
He was still somewhat hesitating so I thought I’d spark the story, “I hear that you’re a natural it plotting courses through the abyss…”
“Yeah, it’s like I was born to it. Somehow I can just see the three-dimensional math in my mind complete with gravity wells and the curvature of space. I can’t really explain it, but it works for me. I graduated The Academy at the top of my Cadet Group.”
“The top of your entire group? That’s not just good; you must be great at it.”
“I told you I’m good at what I do. And don’t you forget it. Anyway, there was this graduation party and things kind of got out of hand. I was caught in bed with a mother and daughter.”
“That’s barbaric!” I exclaimed.
“Well, they didn’t think so. I certainly didn’t think so, but the Head of the Astrogation Department did.”
“What did he have the do it?” I asked.
“Well it was his house where the celebration was held, kind of a gathering of all the department elites. I think it was kind of embarrassing for him when we were discovered; being that it was his wife and daughter I was caught with.”
I truly did not know what to say.
“I’d already graduated and my grades were high enough that I don’t think they really wanted to drum me out, but instead of letting me practice my art I kept getting research assignments designed to figure out how I did what I do. One day, I’d had enough and demanded to see the head of the local Assignments Bureau. I guess they figured they’d already learned everything they could from me because after a bunch of shouting and a few comm calls she promised to reassign me. And that’s how I ended up here.”
“So all your shouting worked then?”
“Oh no, she was trying to screw me over royally. Don’t get me wrong, I like being on the Halcyon but don’t tell anybody. The Empire thinks this is the end of the line, a trash assignment, a punishment detail for people they despise… Don’t correct them.”
Was that just a figure of speech? I wondered. Why was he telling me not to correct them?
“Okay Jac, it’s your turn. Why are you on the Halcyon?”
“Me? I’ve told you…”
Now it was my turn to feel uncomfortable. His gaze never wavered and he finally said, “Okay, if you say so.”
ΔΔΔ
We had detected an unscheduled freighter and were maneuvering to rendezvous with it. I went to the bridge and as usual the Captain was nowhere to be seen. This time, however, First Officer Monica was there. From the Captain’s chair she watched me enter the bridge without saying a word.
I had a devious reason for being here. I needed to know if that freighter was sailing under the Imperial flag or not. This was the dead drop protocol the Admiral had given me for getting my reports back to him.
I needed to get aboard that freighter and access a computer terminal. Apparently, the codes I’d been given would allow me entry through the two outer firewalls of any Imperial flagged freighter, ship, or
station. It was basically a backdoor into any fleet system.
Now that’s not as all-powerful as it sounds. Every ship’s crewman and officer was assigned a unique code that allowed them the same access, mine was just universal for any ship. I couldn’t access any important systems but I could upload a file. As long as I used the filename, black box/home fleet, the computer would pass on the information and no one would be the wiser. As long as, of course, I could get on the ship and access its computer without anybody seeing me. First off, though, I needed to make sure this was an Imperial freighter.
It was.
“How long until we make rendezvous?” I asked the bridge in general, trying to make it sound like casual conversation.
Several bridge Citizens glanced over their shoulders and Monica swung the Captain’s chair around to face me.
“We’ll be within range in three hours and 14 minutes. Is there anything else?”
“No, I was just curious. I’ll just…”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to join the inspection team that goes aboard?” she asked. “I’d imagine you’re starting to feel pretty cooped up, this being your first ship assignment and all.”
I jumped at the opportunity.
“Yes Sir, thank you Sir. That would be great.”
“Go tell Sergio you’re to be on the team,” she said as she swiveled her chair back around to the front.
“Yes sir,” I said.
I’d spent the first part of this voyage sweating about what to put in the report and I’d been sweating through the last few hours trying to figure out how to get the data chip over to the freighter. This was a stroke of luck. Now, I was back to needing to create my report.
As I approached my cabin I must’ve been preoccupied trying to figure out what I wanted to say. I was almost on top of him before I realized that there was someone waiting there for me in the corridor. It was crewman Barbaro.
“Ensign Nikolay, I’m sorry to approach you without an appointment, Sir. But I need to speak to you.”
I liked Barbaro but this wasn’t a good time. I needed to get my report finished before we rendezvoused with the freighter. Before I could brush him off though, he continued.
“It needs to be in private, Sir… And I think you’ll want to talk to me too.”
That brought me up short. Unlike many crewman Barbaro was steady, reliable, and almost grandfather like. He had a lot of experience under his belt.
“Why would you say that, Barbaro?”
“Because I think I can help you with that report you’re getting ready to write… Sir.”
ΔΔΔ
I practically pushed Barbaro into my cabin and set us both down facing each other at my small dining table.
“What the hell are you getting at Barbaro?” I asked coldly.
“I don’t mean any offense, Sir, but let me ask you… Have you actually written the report or are you still trying to figure out what to say?”
I leaned back in my chair and looked him over. He seemed to be the same crewman I’d gotten to know over the last several weeks. He wasn’t fidgety or nervous, and I didn’t detect any desperation. Just a straightforward confidence that he knew something I didn’t. At least he had the sophistication to exhibit a slight embarrassment at knowing something about me that I didn’t want him to know.
“Just what kind of report are you talking about?”
After a moment he said, “Sir, a few years ago when I was spending my leave on Sigma Six, Imperial troops grabbed me and gave me an ultimatum. I could either spy for the Empire or I would be punished for my crimes.”
“Spy on who?” I asked in a dead voice. “And what were the crimes?”
Ignoring the last part of my question he responded, “They wanted me to spy on the Halcyon; on the Captain, of course.”
I found myself tapping my fingers on the table, trying desperately not to give anything away.
“If I’m wrong I truly apologize, but I recognize in you what happened to me. I’d bet a decat to a denar that they’re holding something over you and forcing you to report back. Am I right?”
“Barbaro, I could take this to the Captain right now and blow open your entire scheme.”
He sighed. “Yes Sir, but I think the odds are against it.”
When I raised an eyebrow he continued.
“If I’m right turning me in would only expose your own complicity. If I’m wrong then you’d clearly be undermining Imperial authority by turning me in. The only way I lose is if you’re part of some kind of Imperial resistance.
“So are you?” he asked.
“I always have and always will stand by the Empire. My allegiances have never been questioned and certainly not by the likes of you. I thought you were better than this, Barbaro.”
“I’m trying to be, Sir. That’s why I need to talk to you before you send in that report.”
Not figuring there was any further reason to keep denying it, I said, “What did you want to say to me?”
“Well, that depends on what you’re inclined to put in that report, Sir.”
When I continued looking at him without comment he continued…
“If it’s okay Sir, let me take you through the reasoning I went through when I was put in your same situation.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity of that last statement. Almost.
Citizens of the Empire and planetary residents didn’t commingle. To say that he was anywhere close to being in my situation was absurd. Except it really wasn’t, was it?
After a long moment I nodded. He continued, “I like it here on the Halcyon, Sir. The worst thing that could possibly happen to me would be to lose my job with the fleet.”
I knew that what he’d just said was entirely true. Any planetary resident that could graduate a crew-school was eligible to gain employment on the Imperial merchant fleet’s freighters as well as on Imperial scientific, survey, passenger, cruise, or Fleet ships.
A crewman was paid in Imperial denars. Even a person from a planet with a great economy could dramatically improve their family’s lifestyle when paid in Imperial wage. This is one of the discrepancies that I had dreamed about correcting. I knew I could lessen the financial gap between the Citizen Class and the everyday residents that inhabited my home planet.
But none of that seemed very relevant right now.
“I worried that if my reports contained anything detrimental to the Halcyon the ship might be disciplined; they could very well ditch all the Citizens and crew and start over. I realized I couldn’t afford for that to happen.”
Disbanding an entire crew I could see, but when I started to remark about the absurdity of the Empire ditching a set of Citizens was when I realized that in this case it might not be too far off.
Barbaro continued, “So I didn’t shirk my duty to the Empire, mind you. I just sort of started leaving some things out of my report. I gave accurate accounts of pirate confrontations for example, but I didn’t bother to mention some of the more extravagant downtime between the calls of duty. It was really pretty easy to justify, once I got used to the idea. After all, who am I? I’m just a crewman, who am I to comment on the lifestyle or choices of Citizens? No one is gonna believe the Halcyon represents the Empire’s best or is anything resembling a tight ship, but I just decided that the tone of my reports didn’t have to plant the seeds of my own destruction. You know what I mean, Sir?”
“And you’re afraid that my report won’t show the same… sensitivity?”
“When you came on board Sir I knew right away that you were a dedicated Citizen, but I also saw something inside you that made me think you might be a bit understanding. Was I wrong?”
“No Barbaro,” I sighed. “I don’t suppose you were. Now get out of here. I’ve got a report to write.”
Chapter twelve
LEUTENANT MONICA STILES
The Captain’s New Lover
Word had spread quickly amongst the crew on how she’d saved the Captain’s life.<
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There was some of the normal pushback and testing that any new Citizen could expect from those she’d been put in charge of, but it soon became obvious that she gave as good as she got. So in that mysterious way that all crews have of evaluating leadership they not only accepted her, they decided they liked her.
At first, she thought the ships organization of watch assignments to be simply lazy but then she started putting two and two together and confronted the Captain.
“You reversed fleet doctrine. Why?”