Imperium: Revelation: Book Two in the Imperium Trilogy

by Paul M Calvert

  After a few seconds, the viewscreens and holographic displays on the Bridge stopped showing static and began to relay the scene. Admiral Ferris, via his implant and ship’s AI, quickly took in what had happened. Four of the more badly damaged ships at the front of his fleet had been caught by the leading edge of the blast and their weakened shields had been unable to withstand the released energies. One of them was now lifeless and the other three were reporting casualties and radiation damage.

  Of Dauntless and the other fleet, there was no sign, just an area devoid of any debris or even space dust, everything having been consumed and converted into energy by the cataclysmic explosion. Frith had heard of such total conversion explosions but had never witnessed one before.

  He stood up and smiled, a thin, cruel smile that was almost a grimace. “A day of firsts,” he thought to himself.

  He was about to order search and destroy teams to find and eliminate the message buoys but decided against it. It would be far better to let them escape when the Jump Point stabilised, eventually taking back their confirmation of the death of the Emperor and his son. He had better things to do than waste time chasing after the heavily cloaked buoys, for example, bringing the news personally to Duke Frederick, “No, Emperor Frederick,” he corrected himself, once the Jump Point stabilised.

  Scene 6, Skye, Scotland. Where to begin?

  Despite having planned what to say literally dozens of times, now Christine was faced with having to explain events, she found herself strangely hesitant. With so much history to cover, both personal and ancient, she really didn’t know where to begin. If she got the order wrong, it might give a completely false impression to Adam.

  Both Karen and Adam were looking at her expectantly and she found herself sitting there with her mouth slightly open, unable to proceed.

  Suddenly, a voice spoke out from an unexpected corner, making Karen jump.

  “If you don’t mind Christine, seeing you don’t know where to start, perhaps I should kick off to get the ball rolling. Did I use those idioms correctly, Karen?” asked Vimes, his voice coming from the Ruark radio behind Karen.

  “As you said earlier, it would be rude for us to hold a conversation with you unable to understand what the other parties were saying. Before you ask, Karen, I’m the Vimes you have heard about from Adam and I discovered just now that I can use the Bluetooth facility on this radio to project my voice.” His voice took on a more formal tone, “Let me introduce myself formally, my name is Vimes and it’s a pleasure to finally be acquainted with you.”

  Adam rolled his eyes. “He can be quite the charmer when he wants to, Karen, but watch him, he’s a tricky devil.”

  Karen looked at Adam. “Can he hear me, oh…of course he can. He does it through you and Christine. Uh, it’s nice to meet you too, Vimes. Any second name, or is it just Vimes?

  “Vimes will do nicely, thank you. Now, if you are all sitting comfortably, I will begin with a brief history, more for Karen’s benefit than yours, Adam. Please bear with me.”

  Adam reached for Karen’s hand over the table and she gripped it tightly, nervous yet excited about what she was about to hear. Christine, watching their byplay from the other side of the table, smiled inside, the gesture reminding her of Alexander and her own moment, so many years ago. “Like father, like son,” she told herself.

  “As Adam has previously told you, the Empire was founded over four thousand years ago by the first Emperor, Josef, who discovered Jump Points and Quantum Attraction. What no-one else knows, outside of the Emperor and his consort, is what happened during the early experimentation days. A fortuitous accident resulted in Josef Jumping here to the Earth system by mistake. He had no idea where he was and simply logged the Quantum Signature of the system for possible future use, took a quick look around and Jumped back home. Earth was of little interest to him then, as most of the humans on this world were barely out of the stone age, although he noted the people’s you know as ancient Egyptians showed promise.”

  “Fast forward several hundred years to the year 278 and the enthronement of Emperor William. Unfortunately, he proved to be completely detached from what life was like for the majority of his subjects and he effectively lost touch with his humanity, inevitably leading to a revolt. The two hundred years of civil war and chaos that followed his death finally led his eventual successor, Emperor Justinian the Wise, to look for ways to ensure each new Emperor or Empress had a good grounding in, for want of a better word, what it was like to be a “normal” person.”

  “What made Justinian better than any of the others?” asked Karen.

  “Good question. Although directly descended from Josef and of Imperial birth, he was the third son and never expected to rule, so was able to grow up leading a less sheltered life. In addition, as a young man, he joined the Imperial Navy and saw a great deal of action, almost losing his life several times in the Empire’s service. His years in the Navy and his less sheltered upbringing gave him the idea that each heir needed to be tested in a number of ways. The two most important were service in the Imperial Navy and being stripped of their rank and privileges for a period of testing, preferably without their ever knowing they were being tested.”

  The voice of Vimes chuckled, “Between the two of us we came up with using Earth as a proving ground. He was called “The Wise” for a good reason, not the least because he listened to my advice, unlike some.”

  Quick on the uptake, Adam could see where this was going. “So I wasn’t marooned here due to an accident with my ship’s drive system after all? My father engineered the whole thing as a test? Is that right?” He looked at his mother accusingly.

  Christine met his gaze. “Yes, Adam, and not just your father. I knew too and approved. You were meant to be here for two, maybe three years, until such time as Vimes determined you had learnt self-reliance and what it meant to be a normal person. Unfortunately, events in the Empire made me take the decision to bring you home early.” Christine looked across at Karen, “What I didn’t expect was for you to have become involved with an Earth woman, however nice, so quickly, although perhaps I should have known better, after all, that’s how your father and I met.”

  Karen asked the question first, a fraction ahead of Adam, “How you met…so you are human-human and not alien-human, Christine?”

  Christine sighed. “Yes, Karen. Originally from London, near Peckham, actually. I met Adam’s father in 1940, just after the Dunkirk evacuations. We had three years to get to know each other before he had to return, and both he and I were faced with the same choices as you two have now.”

  Christine looked at Karen sympathetically, all trace of her previous demeanour replaced with one of understanding. “So you see, my dear, I do know what you are going through right now and believe me when I apologise for my attitude earlier.”

  “But that’s not possible as it would make you almost one-hundred years old,” exclaimed Karen, not quite believing the story now. Adam told me you lot had longer lives than us but if you are human-human, that doesn’t explain how you look so, so young!”

  Smiling, Christine explained, “I’ll take that as a compliment, Karen, thank you. Much as I’d like to say it’s healthy eating and a clean lifestyle, it’s simple genetic engineering. I had treatments to stabilise and renew the Telomere chains at the ends of my DNA, thereby extending exponentially their Hayflick limit.” She smiled directly at Karen. “And we can do the same for you, too, but only if you want us to.”

  “Does the change process hurt?” Karen asked and was relieved when Christine shook her head.

  “Not at all. You are asleep for the process and when you wake up a little while later it’s all done. As the cells in your body renew themselves, the changes take effect. Being a Doctor you know how quickly that happens. The final cells to change are your white blood cells, as they take about a year to replace.”

  “What about the yacht exploding and the Infiltrator Programme on it, Vimes?” Adam interrupted, altho
ugh he anticipated what the answer might be.

  “All false, Adam. The explosion was a missile programmed to detonate when we were clear and the yacht had cloaked. It’s currently safe in a high orbit, waiting for a signal. Everything was planned, apart from where you decided to ultimately land. Had the accident you suffered been beyond my capability to keep you alive, I would have called for the yacht to pick you up and transfer you back to Capital in stasis for treatment, then brought you back here afterwards without your ever knowing. It was touch and go for a while, but your innate ability to heal and my assistance made doing that unnecessary. I’ve already instructed my avatar on board the yacht to pilot it back to the family’s private hanger on Capital. It will leave orbit after us.”

  “How can I trust anything you say to me anymore?” Adam asked Vimes, sadly, feeling somewhat betrayed by his new found friend and companion.

  “Ah, that is a good question. You will have to believe me when I tell you that is the last time I will ever deceive you. I was under orders from both your parents on this and just like you, I too am a subject of the Empire and must follow their commands. I judged it to be in both the best interest of you and the Empire, otherwise, I would have told you before.”

  “Before you answer anything else, Vimes,” Karen interrupted them both, “I’ve finally twigged. It took long enough, but I’ve just realised that if this is all a secret known to the royal family and done to the next in line to the throne, that makes you and Christine…Bloody Hell.” She rested her elbows on the table and held her head in her hands before looking up at them both and leaning forward. “That makes you the Crown Prince, or whatever you call it up there and you, Christine, must be the Empress. Or did I miss something here? Christ almighty, what have I let myself in for?”

  Adam was about to repeat his question to Vimes when Karen interrupted again. Adam and Christine didn’t say anything, understanding how difficult this must be for her to take in.

  “And another thing, if Josef came here and saw the ancient Egyptians and Emperor Judge Dredd, or whatever his name was, decided to use Earth, just how many times has this happened, then? Five, ten, fifty?

  “Thirty-three, to be exact. Adam is the thirty-fourth.”

  “So we human-humans, are we just lab rats to you with Earth nothing more than a giant Petrie dish that you conduct experiments on?” she demanded, increasingly annoyed, as the thought of everything she held dear being simply a giant experiment run by aliens, was too much for her.

  Privately, Vimes signalled to Christine she needed to step in to reassure Karen, something she was far better equipped to do than him.

  “Karen,” responded Christine, “please believe me when I tell you this; non-interference in a pre-space flight civilisation is a serious offence to us. There are hundreds of planets within our Empire that we protect and nurture. To interfere with them goes against our laws. Although not in the Empire, Earth is safe, don’t worry. If we were to interfere with your development in any way, we risk destroying the very uniqueness that makes it such a vital place for our future leaders to learn in. You have my word on this…as Empress and possible mother-in-law.” She smiled and raised her eyebrows at Karen. “Trust me, I’m an Empress.”

  Sitting back in her chair, Karen looked in turn at both mother and son, trying to make sense of what she was being told that simply was at odds with everything she thought or knew, her world view and place in it turned upside down.

  “Quite a number of Emperors and Empresses had a human-human parent or spouse,” Vimes continued, “Alexander, obviously, is one, so many of them have had a great deal of affection for this planet. We protect its secret and would ensure other races didn’t interfere should any ever turn up. Fortunately, Earth’s position out here in this spiral arm affords it a great degree of seclusion. Currently, there are no other races within two hundred light-years of Earth.”

  “So no little green men abducting people and probing them, then?” asked Karen, slightly relieved and trying to inject a little humour into the conversation, as was her nature.

  Christine responded, pleased to hear a little humour return to Karen’s tone. “No, Karen, apart from us, the humans on Earth have never been visited by any other race, and we have tended to take a low profile, apart from a few exceptions. Any probing is strictly consensual.”

  She turned to her son. “But I have more, pressing, news. Adam. There was an attempt on my life, timed to coincide with an attack on your father. After he left the Heaven system, as you know, he visited Duke Frederick who wanted his help in destroying a pirate base in the borderlands. Father went to eradicate it and we lost contact with him shortly after he and the task force Jumped. Despite our best efforts, we've been unable to contact him. To make matters worse, Duke Frederick has announced both of you dead and that he has assumed control of the Empire. At least a third of the Dukes and Duchesses have announced their support for him and the rebellion, effectively plunging the Empire into Civil War.”

  Turning to Karen, Cristine apologised, “I need to update Adam on a lot more things, Karen, so I’m sending this to him direct as it will save time. While he is digesting it, is there anything else you would like to know?”

  Sitting next to Karen, Adam had gone silent and his eyes glazed over as the information flooded in, deeply engrossed.

  “So you are now in the middle of a rebellion of some sort? What are your chances and have I just agreed to end up in a war zone? It’s a shame you didn’t see fit to tell me about this earlier,” Karen pointed out, a little sarcastically.

  “In answer, yes, I don’t know, probably and you’re right,” came back the immediate response. “My mind hasn’t been totally straight since this began, Karen. I’m dreadfully worried about what’s happened to my husband. We’ve rarely been out of contact for more than a few days in all the long years of our marriage, apart from when he has been away fighting, and even then he’s always tried to get a message to me.”

  Christine stood up and walked over to Karen, placing a hand on the young woman's shoulder.

  “If you come with us and we find things are not going our way, I promise to do my best to get you home before the end. I can’t promise you more than that. Also, for as long as we remain in control, we have the means for you to get messages to your Aunt and Uncle here. Vimes told me about them and I am sure they would worry if you suddenly lost contact.”

  “Can you do that for me?” asked Karen. “That was the one thing that concerned me; how they might worry if I suddenly vanished. They would have been awfully worried.”

  Christine nodded, “We have “resources” here on Earth that can be used to facilitate contact. It won’t be real-time, but any letters or audio messages you send will get to them. One more thing. If, and it’s a big if, you and Adam should stay together and you eventually become Empress, you will be able to visit here from time to time, although your official duties will almost always get in the way,” Christine paused for a moment. “I should know, it’s been five years since I last visited London. So much has changed.”

  “Did you visit family?” asked Karen, interested.

  “No, it wasn’t possible, although I did observe them from afar and make sure they were all OK. I’m afraid my lack of ageing would be impossible to disguise and tongues would wag.”

  Adam suddenly lifted his head, which had slumped down a little, and snapped his eyes open. He looked at Christine. “When do we leave?” his voice serious and full of concern now that he had the full picture of what was happening in the Empire.

  “Immediately,” Christine replied, her eyes not leaving Karen’s, “once Vimes has made the arrangements and Karen has finished writing a letter to her aunt and uncle.”

  Karen nodded her head once, then rose and headed off to the study for a pen and paper, ruffling Adam’s hair in an affectionate gesture as she walked passed him.

  Christine watched her leave the room, then messaged Adam.“You need to pack up whatever you want to bring back
with you. I think you’ve picked a good one here, Adam. She wasn’t freaked out by this or was intimidated by me. I also think you’ve grown a lot in the last few weeks. Despite what we’ve just told her, if your relationship doesn’t work out, she won’t be allowed to retain memories of what she’s just been told. You understand that, don’t you?”

  “Yes, mother, I do. It doesn’t look good back home, does it?” he thought back, his concern for both things obvious. “They almost got you on Capital, didn’t they?”

  “Yes, but thanks to your father’s foresight in having hidden defences, such as converting the Palace statues into smart-metal, I had a means to fight back. That gives me hope that there are other things he has which will give us the edge in the upcoming war. Now go get your things and help Karen get ready, we’ll leave as soon as she’s done.”

  Scene 7, A Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

  A massive ship appeared within the Arisia system’s Jump Point, its shields blazing with the intensity of a bright miniature star, radiating far into the ultraviolet and impossible to look on with the naked eye without risking blindness. Instantly, it began to cool as the energy contained within the shields finally began to be absorbed by her massive engines or radiated away into space. Along the ship’s mile-long length, several sections of her armoured hull had been vapourised away by the explosion she had narrowly avoided, in some places down to within a few yards of the internal habitable areas, the occupants within now painfully aware of how close they had come to death as they checked their implants for information.

  On the ship’s Bridge, Command Officers leapt to their feet and cheered as the viewscreen pictured normal space instead of the opposing fleet and the rain of missiles and slugs which had been devastating their shields an instant before. They all turned to face Alexander and Admiral Frith, adding claps to their cheers. Frith allowed this to go on for a while, then raised her right hand and gestured for it to stop and everyone to pay attention. Almost immediately, silence fell across the room as everyone waited for either of them to speak.