Lieutenant Commander Spacemage (Imperium Spacemage Book 4)

by Timothy Ellis

“Are you alright, Bud?”

  “I’m fine. Let me get my breath, and I’ll be back on board shortly.”

  “You better.”

  She vanished, and Leanne and Aisha popped up.

  “Are battles always like that?” asked Aisha.

  “No,” said Leanne.

  “Don’t say it,” I told her.

  She pouted.

  “Say what?”

  “She was about to infer this was one of the more boring fights.”

  “And it wasn’t?”

  “Quite the opposite.”

  “Ah. Are you going to put me back where you found me?”

  “That’s a damned good question, Commander. Are you?”

  The voice was coming from behind me, and I wrenched my neck turning it too fast.

  The Imperator was standing there. And I hadn’t felt a thing. Curious.

  My left hand went to my neck, and instead of replying, I activated some pain relief, and straightened up. It was easier to rise, than keep looking back at him. He remained standing while I did so.

  “Sorry,” he said. “That looked like it hurt.”

  “I’ll manage, sir.”

  I looked at him for a moment, concentrated, and the thirty six unmoving battleships went back where they came from. Their dots vanished from the still up navmap, and Aisha vanished with them.

  “And they were?”

  “The beginnings of a Thorn’s World militia fleet.”

  He nodded.

  “Not fully operational yet, I assume?”

  “No. Not quite standard Rawtenuga ships, but with the engines offline. Plenty of power for everything else, but just normal shielding.”

  “Did I see them start to fall into the atmosphere?”

  “You did.”

  “Why did you risk them instead of bringing something like one of the titans?”

  “No time to find anything. I had a second to bring ships here and have them fire, before the battleships were far enough up out of the atmosphere to be able to maneuver to fire around my shield.”

  It sounded a bit weak when I said it, since I could’ve just moved the shield had they moved. Although truth to tell, I’d no idea how long I could have held that shield up with all those ships firing at me at once. But then, my inclination was to deal with it, not sit there and wait for someone else to turn up and fight back.

  “So you risked what you knew was available.”

  Why was he harping on about risk?

  “I grabbed what I knew was there, and could do the job.”

  “And do a really good job they did. Your Aisha was the AI in control of them? That was Hubaisha, but has changed her name now?”

  “Yes. To both.”

  “Her first battle?”

  “Not only first, but without any preparation at all. Thorn had Jane clone her when you first met him. She’s a station AI, now also running my ground based ship upgrade facility, and just today, taken charge of the shipyard you let me have. She knows nothing about ship control or battles.”

  “I’ll check what Jane says she gave her. There must have been some battle routines in there somewhere.”

  “I doubt it. She’s running a butler droid on Judge, and is quite happy doing so.”

  He stared at me for a moment.

  “Talking of which, if you don’t park us shortly, your other half is going to be pissed at you.”

  I chuckled, and he joined in.

  “Leanne?”

  “Bud?”

  “Home jump, please.”

  Forty Seven

  Needless to say, I crashed pretty quickly.

  The Imperator rifted himself over to Redoubt before I did so, and the whole time he was close to me, I hadn’t felt the weight of the dual sceptre thing. The obvious answer was power. I’d had so much power flowing through me the whole time from multiple suns, mine was functioning on a whole other level. The dual thing just wasn’t a thing when that much power was involved at my end of us. That was the theory, anyway.

  After releasing all that power, I lasted long enough for a group hug, to pass command to Jill formally, and to order her to take us back to pick up the pilots we’d left behind, who hadn't been able to get back on board fast enough. I warned her there might be orders after that.

  And then I crashed.

  Serena woke me in time for dinner. I showered, was told it was dress uniform, and nearly went back to bed. The status display informed me we were docked at Haven, and Redoubt was back where it normally was. Although there really was no need for it be there anymore. I idly wondered why it still was.

  It was no surprise the travel car deposited us at the entrance to the Imperator’s private ballroom. What was a surprise was finding we were the last people there, and the whole room giving me a standing ovation as we entered through the door. I made an attempt to escape, but Serena had me by the arm too tightly, and all it did was make people laugh while they were clapping. For just a moment I considered jumping away, but Syrinx or Tanith would probably just bring me back.

  The way parted down the middle of the room, and left Grace Tapping standing there. The pressure on my arm released, and I found myself being hugged by someone who was not my girlfriend or my team.

  “Thank you for saving Chris,” she whispered in my ear, before releasing me, and stepping to the side, where there was now Eagle in front of me.

  “Don’t you dare hug me,” I said loudly, and people laughed.

  Instead, he offered his hand, and I took it. There was something in his eyes I hadn't seen before. Like he’d faced death head on, and wasn’t sure why he was still alive. He looked me solidly in the eyes for the whole handshake, and then nodded to me as he let go, before stepping aside.

  Now the way was clear, all the way to where the Imperator was waiting on the small rostrum by the huge windows. Serena nudged me, and we started walking again. The crowd were silent now. She stepped away from me just before I reached the base of the rostrum.

  The weight of the sceptre had increased all the way across the room, and now I drew on the local sun until it was no longer noticeable. Theory proved. I set that as the default for whenever I was near the other aspect of it, from now on.

  “Attention to orders!” bellowed Jane, inevitably.

  The room braced.

  “I think we saw the closest we will ever see to a true miracle this afternoon.”

  The Imperator sounded serious.

  “The Trixone set another trap for us. We know it was a trap, because the signal we received purporting to be from a pre-space travel civilization was bogus. We know that because the planet cannot support life. And as Jane discovered after the fun was over,” Fun? “the atmosphere of that planet made sensors almost useless. It allowed them to position enough force where we wouldn’t detect them until it was too late, and hit whatever we sent there so hard we’d not be able to recover from the blow. Turning the tables on us, if you will, and maybe we were due for that.”

  He paused, but there was no sound in the room at all.

  “There was an interesting pattern to their first attack. No ship was hit in the same place. Other than fighters which were simply blown away. They targeted the two dreadnaughts to disable them. They targeted every other capital ship in a pattern so distinctive, there is only one conclusion to what they hoped to achieve. They wanted a jump drive. They were prepared for most of our ships to jump away even badly damaged, but they played it so at least one wouldn’t be able to, without destroying the drive itself. Or so they planned.”

  “It nearly worked.”

  “I also think they were targeting specific people, having identified ships from previous encounters. All the Eagle Wing squadron leaders were taken out. Dreamwalker was the target more so than Shade was. They’ve obviously worked out where the commands are coming from, and they sought to remove our order givers as a secondary objective.”

  “Nine thousand fighters were hiding in the atmosphere. Thirty battleships. The very defi
nition of a meat grinder. And we stepped in it.”

  There was an audible group sigh which swept around the room.

  “And then our miracle happened.”

  He nodded to Jane.

  “Seer Lieutenant Serena, front and center.”

  I stepped back, somewhat surprised someone else had been called, and Serena took my place.

  “I understand a lot of the people in this room have you to thank for their deliverance, Seer Lieutenant.” He looked out at the crowd. “The only reason some of you are alive right now is because this Seer raised the alarm, and it was instantly acted upon.” He looked back at her. “You are awarded the Bronze Mage Circle, for acting on what you received in enough time to save lives. Congratulations.”

  The screen behind him was showing her now, and the suit change was obvious, as her awards all changed position. He saluted her, she saluted back, and they shook hands. With a slight nod, she stood back.

  “Grand Master Mage Lieutenant Commander Bud, front and center!”

  “Try saying that after you’ve had a few,” pinged from Jill, with a laugh on the end.

  I took the step forward, and braced again. A strange look crossed the Imperator’s face.

  “What the hell am I supposed to do with this officer?”

  There was immediate laughter, as I don’t think anyone saw that coming. I controlled my face, but with difficulty.

  “I gave him a pocket battleship. He turns up in the middle of a battle in a Lightning courier.”

  Definite laughter now.

  “I gave him a squadron of destroyers. He throws dinosaur ships at the trees instead.”

  “He’s supposed to be thousands of light years away on a mission, but no, he has to crash another fleet’s party.”

  “Thank god he did,” said Eagle.

  The laughing stopped, and the room went silent again.

  “What am I supposed to do with him?” asked the Imperator.

  “PROMOTE HIM!” roared the crowd.

  I couldn’t stop myself face palming. The crowd went wild again, and the Imperator waited for them to settle.

  “Grand Master Mage Lieutenant Commander Bud, you are promoted to commander and awarded the Gold Mage Circle for truly amazing magic in combat, and the Earth Star for placing yourself in the middle of a battlefield with no thought for your own safety in order to save others, in the face of a disaster we’ve not seen the likes of before. Congratulations.”

  He held his hand out before my suit even shifted, and I took it. There was a tingle of power there, but if he felt it, he didn’t show it. Neither did I. He took his hand back, but there was no salute, and I was not dismissed. The Earth Star was now my first ribbon, and a diamond had appeared on my Mage Circle, which was the second. My Gold Stars were third on that row now.

  “Navy Mage Squadron One, front and center!”

  Serena stepped up next to me. The rest of the squadron were obviously scattered around the crowd, because they took longer to appear, and didn’t turn up all at the same time. The Imperator waited patiently, until we were finally all braced.

  “The Americans had a medal the Imperium hasn’t embraced, called the Purple Heart, issued to those who were wounded in battle. With our suit technology these days, there is usually only two states of being. Perfectly fine, or dead. Today however, highlighted several things, and I ran this through the Imperium council only a short time ago. From today, the Purple Heart will be awarded to anyone who suffers a suit failure in a combat zone, and lives to tell about it.”

  “That would be me,” yelled Dreamwalker, and there was a titter of laughter, which soon stopped.

  “But what of those who stare at Death’s scythe, and live because their suit doesn’t fail them? Some of you did that today. What destroyed your ships was so devastating, you were left floating in space with minutes of life support left. From today, anyone who goes through a near miss like that will be award the Grey Heart.”

  Applause stopped him, and he waited it out.

  “Which brings me to these people in front of me. The third medal in the Heart series will be the Red Heart, which will be awarded to those who undertake rescue missions, where a Purple or Grey Heart either is awarded, or Imperium lives were saved which would otherwise not have been. This will be back awarded to those who’ve already genuinely earned it, and is awarded to Navy Mage Squadron One, along with those bomber pilots who flew with them this afternoon. Congratulations.”

  Our suits shifted, and I was surprised to see Serena received all three, and I received the Purple Heart as well. Apparently being infected by fungus through the suit was considered a suit failure, and Serena had almost died after her suit shredded in battle that time I’d subsequently caused a sun to go out healing her.

  We returned the Imperator’s salute, but we were not yet dismissed.

  “Lastly, the Heart medals will simply be awarded in the future as earned. Flag officers and our AIs will report when one should be given, and as soon as the award is confirmed, the ribbon will appear automatically on the dress uniform, and the medal will be delivered to the recipient. The medals awarded today by the way, haven’t been fabricated yet, but should be received in the next day or so.”

  He looked back at us.

  “There is one last order of business. Navy Mage Squadron One is no more. From today, the squadron will be known as the Spacemage Task Force.”

  The crowd went crazy.

  Forty Eight

  “Walk with me commander.”

  I followed the Imperator into an empty corner of the room, with a lot of eyes following us, including those of my squadron. He stopped, and faced me.

  “I’m going to have to disappoint you, I’m afraid.”

  “How so, sir?”

  “I don’t have a dreadnaught to give you.”

  “I had no expectation of it, sir.”

  “Yes, you did. I know damned well you did. Every midshipman in the program wants a Chaos class. At least. But I don’t have any ready, and the ones in the shipyard now are already allocated. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not a problem, sir.” A thought popped in. “You wouldn’t mind if I built my own, would you? Sir?”

  “You want to build yourself a Chaos class?”

  “No sir, I’ve something else in mind. Call it an experiment.”

  He looked at me for a few moments, and I held his gaze.

  “Something to do with Rawtenuga hulls?”

  “Something like that, yes.”

  “Is there anything you need, you don’t already have?”

  “A ship suit fabricator.”

  “Why would you want one of those?”

  “So I can hide a few surprises?”

  He laughed.

  “I’ll see your shipyard has one delivered. Any time frame for building this ship?”

  “Hard to tell, sir. A few weeks at least.”

  “And in the meantime, you’d prefer not to continue with your mission to find where the Rawtenuga are entering the core, and seal it off?”

  “No, I can do that. But I was thinking if we can’t actually seal them off, we might need to take that a step further, and find their home world as well. And for that, I’d definitely like a dinosaur hull along to hide in.”

  “Approved.” He paused. “Oh, I almost forgot. There’ll be a box on your ready room desk in the morning. Invite Aisha along as an actual avatar, and in front of your squadron and their avatars, give her the box.”

  “Sir?”

  “You’ll know what to do when you see what’s inside.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Carry on, Commander.”

  I saluted him, and he walked away into the crowd.

  As I started back myself, Dreamwalker appeared in front of me, with his hand out. I took it.

  “If it wasn’t for the fact I never knew what hit me, and woke up in a care unit, I’d have had the biggest déjà vu moment ever. The doc told me my suit was shredded, and my mask had bee
n the last to go. If I’d been out in space for more than the second or two I was, I’d have died for sure. Thanks to you, I’m still here.”

  “Part of the job.”

  “Sure, but no-one is going to let you get away with that line. Least of all me.”

  He was still shaking my hand.

  “I owe you. Big time. One day I’ll figure out how to repay it.”

  His hand let go of mine, and with a nod, he vanished into the crowd as well.

  A thought popped in, and I sent a ping to Colonel Carter and Jane asking for a meeting about search and rescue droids. It had finally occurred to me if a mage wasn’t where one was needed, a jump capable SR droid could do the same thing. One could have jumped to Dreamwalker, grabbed him metaphorically speaking, and jumped him back to safety, or a set place in a medical bay. Both said they’d set the meeting for the next day. Then it occurred to me there were other uses as well.

  Before I even spotted where Serena was, so I could head over her way, Tollin and Jedburgh came up to me. Jedburgh looked apprehensive, but Tollin was beaming.

  The other shoe cometh.

  “A moment, Commander?” said Jedburgh.

  “Sir?”

  “We’ve some news for you, I know you aren’t going to like.”

  “What else is new.”

  It wasn’t a question, just a statement that bad news was expected after all the good.

  “The Imperium council has ordered the Imperator to make you available once a month as an Imperium judge of final appeal,” said Tollin. “And frankly, we need someone who is not part of the legal system in any Imperium member, but can be relied upon to not only be impartial, but act for truth. Only you can do the truth part.”

  He paused, trying to gauge my reaction. I wasn’t letting them see any.

  “We’ll give you some legal training, but you can run the court any way you see fit, the same as your uncle did.”

  He paused again, and this time seemed to be waiting for a response.

  “There will be a price,” I said, after letting them think I was thinking it over.

  Actually, my eyes had gone to the view of the cosmos overhead, which probably accounted for them thinking what they were undoubtedly thinking. But I wasn’t. It had suddenly occurred to me how useful that view was.