Return to Haven (Empire Rising Book 3)

by D. J. Holmes

  Blackwood looked like he was about to make a ruling, doubtless to deny Cynthia’s witness request. However, he never got that far, for the back doors to the courtroom burst open. Ten security personnel quickly filed in followed by King Edward.

  “I hear I have been called as a witness?” Edward said as he walked up to the front of the room.

  “You were Your Highness,” Blackwood said. “I was just about to make a ruling on such an unorthodox situation.”

  “You are not going to send me home now are you?” Edward said. “I have come all this way.”

  “I…” Blackwood began, but then he hesitated. It was clear that everyone in the court was eager to see what King Edward was doing there. The sight of everyone watching made him lose his nerve. “I was just about to welcome you to my court Your Majesty. You may enter the witness box and then we can proceed.”

  “Thank you,” King Edward said as he moved towards the box.

  “On behalf of the defense I would like to thank you for agreeing to be a witness in this court martial,” Cynthia began.

  “It is my pleasure dear,” Edward said. “I am the head of the Royal Space Navy after all, so I do have a thing or two to say about this situation.”

  “Can you elaborate on that Your Highness?” Cynthia said.

  “Certainly,” Edward began. “This entire court martial has been convened upon the assumption that Captain Somerville attacked the Indian ships in the Haven territories against orders, and that those actions were carried out in direct contradiction to his actual orders.

  “I must say, if that was the case, then I would be in full agreement with the prosecution. Captain Somerville should be charged with treason. I’m afraid however, they have got their facts wrong. First, as you all know, I co-signed the executive order Prime Minister Fairfax released calling for the RSN to treat Indian warships in the Haven territories as hostile. I can tell you clearly, the intention of that document was to give legal power to RSN ships to engage any Indian ships they encountered in the Haven territories. James’ actions cannot be painted as treasonous, in fact, they were in perfect accord with the will of his government.

  “Second, as you all know, Captain Somerville has been intimately involved in the entire Haven affair. He discovered the Haven colony, he is married to one of Haven’s leading political figures. Both he and his wife have been involved in the discussions and planning our government has gone through as they have decided how to respond to the illegal actions of the Indian Star Republic. Captain Somerville therefore had additional verbal orders from me as the head of the military, orders that both the First Space Lord and the Prime Minister were aware of.”

  “And what were these orders?” Cynthia asked.

  “Captain Somerville was ordered to do whatever it took to ensure the long-term safety of the Haven people and to protect British interests in the area,” Edward replied. “He knew full well that meant that he had free range to engage Indian warships if the situation called for it.”

  James shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Technically, the King was speaking the truth. But he had said those words to James when they had been discussing his marriage with Suzanna, they hardly applied to his mission to Haven. I guess all the information I took away from the discussions I had with Edward, Fairfax and my uncle tainted my decision in Haven. If I hadn’t of known their thinking, and their desire to actively help Haven, maybe I mightn’t have confronted the Indian ships in the way I did. Still, the King is walking a fine line, James thought. Just another person who is having to put their neck on the line because of my actions.

  “So, the charge of disobeying a direct order does not apply in this situation?” Cynthia asked.

  “Certainly not, Captain Somerville was acting in full accordance with my verbal orders,” Edward replied. “I have been King of this nation for more than thirty years. In all that time, we as a British people, despite the fact that we are spread across many planets and systems, have stood up to tyranny and fought for the right everyone has to determine their own future. We cannot just stand by and watch an entire colony fall into occupation and under the rule of a foreign hostile power. That is not who we are.”

  James could tell Edward and Cynthia were playing off a script, but it was a good script. He could just imagine this playing out on the national news broadcasts.

  “What do you make of this court martial Your Highness?” Cynthia continued. “If James’ actions were not just legal, but actually in accord with your orders, why are we all here?”

  “I think we all know why we are here,” King Edward said, “and it is an outrage. This entire court martial is a political charade orchestrated by the Liberal party. Just because they oppose any intervention in Haven, they think they can destroy the career of a fine young naval officer in order to further their political ambitions. What’s worse, this court martial has released into the public record details about our fleet and our marine forces that may very well put British lives at risk. This is unacceptable.”

  “Those are strong allegations,” Cynthia said. “Do you have any proof Your Highness?”

  “My word should be proof enough,” Edward said. “But if that isn’t enough, there is someone here who can confirm what I have said. Admiral Blackwood,” Edward said, turning to face the bench. “Did you not swear an oath to obey your King when you entered the navy?”

  “Yes, Your Highness, I did,” Blackwood said nervously.

  “Then I order you to answer the questions the counselor put to you earlier today,” Edward said sternly. “Did you and Shadow Defense Minister Reynolds discuss bringing charges against Captain Somerville? And were you the one who brought these charges against the Captain at the latest Admiralty Board?”

  “I refuse to answer any such questions,” Blackwood responded.

  “This is not a request for you to refuse Admiral. As your King, I am ordering you to answer,” Edward said.

  “This is still a court martial,” Blackwood answered. “I am therefore exercising my right under article ninety-five of the military code, I refuse to answer on the grounds that my answer may incriminate me.”

  Once again an uproar broke out in the courtroom. Everyone knew what Blackwood’s words meant. For more than two minutes the commotion continued, Blackwood made no effort to stop it.

  As the noise died down to a level where Cynthia could make herself heard she shouted, “I move that the charges against my client be immediately dismissed.”

  “I cannot do that,” Blackwood said in response.

  “Then the defense rests its case. We are ready for the jury to vote on these charges,” Cynthia said.

  “Does the prosecution have any questions for King Edward?” Blackwood said, visibly shaking from the tension he was feeling.

  “No, Your Honor,” Rodgers answered. He was already packing up his things, he looked like he wanted to get as far away from the court martial as possible.

  “Then the jury may vote on the charges that have been laid against Captain Somerville,” Blackwood said.

  “I suggest you bring this court to order before you hold the vote,” Edward advised, disgusted that Blackwood was willing to let the vote be missed in the all commotion. “I insist on it in fact,” he added when Blackwood made no move to bring silence.

  “Order,” his voice boomed out. “The jury will now vote.”

  James felt a moment of nausea as his nerves spiked. His career was on the line. As he looked over the jury though his nerves quickly faded. As each Captain electronically voted from their seat, they looked towards James and gave him a nod or a smile.

  “The votes are in,” a court aid announced moments later. “On the charge of treason, the jury finds Captain Somerville, not guilty. On the charge of dereliction of duty and disobeying a direct order, the jury finds Captain Somerville not guilty. All charges against Captain Somerville have therefore been dropped.”

  As the chorus of voices rose again, Blackwood rose from his seat and stormed out o
f the room without officially bringing the court martial to a close.

  “I guess that is our cue to leave,” Cynthia said.

  “Come with me,” King Edward said a few moments later when he came to their side. “The day’s festivities aren’t over with yet. Fairfax wants you both at the Houses of Parliament.”

  *

  The next several hours were a whirlwind for James. By the time they finally made their way out the front entrance of Admiralty House there were hundreds of reporters blocking their path. King Edward refused to answer all the questions that were thrown at them bar one. One reporter had asked where they were going now.

  ‘Prime Minister Fairfax has called an emergency meeting of both Houses of Parliament this evening. We are going there now to prepare for that,’ Edward had answered.

  Now James found himself sitting in the observation platform that overlooked the main chamber of the House of Commons. Both the observation platform and the main chamber was cramped, as along with all the MP’s, each sitting member of the House of Lords was crammed into the room. Initially, a lot of the interest from the more than one thousand people crammed into the observation platform had been on him and Suzanna, who was now at his side. When Fairfax had entered the Chamber followed by King Edward, that attention had shifted to them.

  “Members of the Commons and the Lords, I have gathered you all here today to call for an emergency vote on the Haven situation,” Fairfax said as he stood to address the large gathering. “Eight weeks ago we voted to send an ultimatum to the Indian Star Republic demanding that they remove their troops from the Haven colony. After that vote, one of our brave naval officers was sent to Haven to ascertain what was going on there. You have all seen the disturbing images he brought back. The Indians haven’t just invaded Haven, they are tearing it apart. And they are doing it without any legal or moral precedence.

  “What’s worse, so far we, along with every other Earth nation, have stood still. We have warned the Indians, but we have not been prepared to do anything more. Well, we have here with us today someone who was prepared to do something more,” Fairfax said as he pointed to James.

  “Captain Somerville was prepared to risk his life to help the Haven people. Despite this, the opposition tried to use him as a political pawn. They were prepared to ruin his career for their own gains. Well, I will not allow that. Rather than ruin Captain Somerville’s career, I believe we should all look to it for inspiration. Our nation must rise up as he did to defend those who cannot defend themselves.

  “That is why I am submitting a bill for immediate consideration before both houses, to be voted on tonight. This bill will declare a state of war to exist between the British Star Kingdom and the Indian Star Republic until such time as their troops and warships are removed from the Haven territories. We will vote in one hour.”

  As Fairfax sat down many of the MP’s and Lords rose to their feet and applauded the Prime Minister. Fairfax stood again and gestured that he appreciated the recognition, then he turned and raised his hands to applaud James. Many of those around James in the observation platform also stood and clapped in his direction.

  Suzanna leaned over and whispered in his ear, “And that is how heroes are born.”

  The clapping lasted for several minutes and then it died down as MP’s and Lords discussed the upcoming bill. They only had an hour and things needed to move fast.

  With so many people thronging about the Houses of Parliament James didn’t think they would be able to get far so he and Suzanna remained in their seats to await the outcome of the vote.

  “Does he have the votes to win?” James asked his wife.

  “You still aren’t learning are you?” Suzanna said with a smirk. “He wouldn’t have gone through all this fanfare if he hadn’t.”

  “Then we are going to war,” James said. “Your people will be liberated.”

  “Yes,” Suzanna said as a tear ran down her cheek. “Thank you my love,” she whispered in his ear over the din of the parliament chamber.

  Chapter 29 – Captain Somerville

  As with many of the events that led to the formation of the Empire, the then Captain Somerville was to play a major role in the British-Indian war of 2467-2468.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

  9th June 2467 AD, HMS Endeavour, Earth orbit.

  Five days after the combined vote, James strode onto the bridge of his ship with Suzanna at his side. He had been away for more than a week.

  Lieutenants Mallory, Julius and Becket, along with almost all the Sub Lieutenants were crowded into the bridge to welcome back their Captain. As soon as James walked through they began clapping.

  “Stop that,” James said as he waved their clapping silent. “I don’t deserve that.”

  As silence descended on the bridge an air of tension quickly rose. “Let me begin by saying that nothing has changed between us. Those of you who had to testify at my trial, by now we all know what the prosecution was trying to do. You all told the truth and for that I am happy. I don’t intend to hold anything against anyone, we were put into a very difficult position,” as James spoke he intentionally caught both Mallory’s and Julius’ eyes.

  “Let me also say this,” James continued. “Whilst I was cleared in the court martial, I did make mistakes on our last voyage. I should have listened to Lieutenant Mallory, the information we were carrying was vital to the war with India. His testimony in my court martial was the truth, he could say nothing else. I should have left the convoy alone and come straight home with our intel. My uncle told me the very same thing the day we returned, before any of this court martial business began.

  “I hope to learn from my mistake, and I hope you all will too. Now, let’s get back to work before this turns into a sob story,” James finished, waving for everyone to turn back to their stations.

  Mallory let out a sigh of relief. He had been fearing James’ return for the last five days. Everything had worked out alright in the end, but he knew his testimony had been damaging. There had been a lot of tension in the air, the rest of Endeavour’s officers felt Mallory had let their Captain down. Hopefully, James’ words would go a long way in calming things down.

  To further aid that Mallory spoke up, stopping everyone from turning back to their work. “On behalf of the crew,” he began, catching everyone’s attention. “I just want to say how happy we are to have you back Captain. There is no one else we would rather serve under. If we are going to war with the Indians, you are the man we want to follow.”

  “Thank you,” James said. “I hope I can live up to your trust, now back to work.”

  “It’s good to see you again Duchess Somerville,” Mallory said with a genuine smile once everyone turned back to their tasks. He jumped to his feet and took her hand to his lips. “Our last trip was a lot less exciting without your presence.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” Suzanna said. “From what I understand, my husband always finds ways to keep things interesting for his crew.”

  “I can’t deny that,” Mallory said.

  James was relieved Mallory was so forthcoming; he had been worried his relationship with his First Lieutenant had been damaged. “No welcome for me?” he asked, feigning disappointment.

  “When you look as good as the Duchess, I will welcome you with the same level of enthusiasm,” Mallory said as he held out his hand. “While you have been off rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty the rest of us have been busy getting Endeavour ready for another long deployment. You can’t blame us if we didn’t arrange a party for when you finally decided to return.”

  “Ha,” James said, laughing. “If that is how you feel then you can be the one who goes through a court martial the next time we return to Earth. Then maybe my uncle will want you to go before the King and the defense committee to give a full update on the situation at Haven.”

  “Well, eh, I’m sure you did a fine job Sir,” Mallory said, backtracking fast.

  “That’s
what I thought,” James said. “But if you want to be a Captain someday, you’re going to have to mingle with the high and mighty eventually. Besides,” James continued taking his wife’s hand. “Suzanna and I had to take a proper honeymoon.”

  “I don’t begrudge that,” Mallory said. “After everything the Shadow Defense Secretary and Admiral Blackwood put you through, you deserved a break. And it’s hard to make a relationship work in the navy.”

  “Are you speaking from experience?” Suzanna asked.

  “Yes, I had a fiancée before I joined Endeavour,” Mallory answered, rather than meeting James or Suzanna’s eyes he kept his firmly locked on the deck. “She was from another noble family. Our families had suggested the match when we were younger and we had been trying to see if a marriage would work. Initially things went well, but when I was away from Earth for such long periods, she decided it wasn’t what she wanted. She has already married someone else. The Earl of Durham I think.”