Democracy 1: Democracy's Right

by Christopher Nuttall

  The thought spurred him into action and he started to look for the Captain, but Howell was nowhere to be seen. His massive living room, decorated with expensive wooden artefacts and odd paintings of women in compromising positions, was empty. Colin felt sweat trickling down his back, wondering if Howell had somehow realised what was happening and had chosen to escape his quarters and hide somewhere on the starship. He’d secured the datanet, but the Captain possessed command codes that would allow him to access and control any system from any terminal. If Howell had escape, the entire plot might be within seconds of unravelling.

  “In here, Commander,” Howell called. “I’m just meditating.”

  Colin had never entered Howell’s sleeping quarters before, so he took a moment to look around as he entered the bedroom. There was a single massive bed, large enough for three people, covered in silken sheets. Howell had decorated the bedroom in more subdued colours than the living room, thankfully, although there were still several tasteless artefacts scattered around. Colin’s attention was held, briefly, by a golden starship model, before he located Howell. The Commodore was sitting at his terminal, studying his private files on Jackson’s Folly. Colin smiled inwardly. The files had been provided by Anderson and Colin had taken pains to ensure that many details that should have been alarming – like the fact that Jackson’s Folly was distributing heavy weapons to its civilian population in preparation for an underground war against the Empire – were omitted. Colin wondered briefly if Commodore Roosevelt intended Howell to prepare a plan of operations on the surface – it seemed unlikely, but stranger things had happened – before pushing the issue aside. It didn't matter any longer.

  “Ah, Commander,” Howell said. He sounded mildly annoyed. “The main datanet isn't working properly. I had to use my own command codes to access data from the open sections of the datanet.”

  Colin studied him for a long moment. Howell was everything he detested in the Empire, an incompetent man placed in a position of power, placed there by powerful patrons over far more deserving candidates. He would whore for his position, feeding Jackson’s Folly and the billions of humans who lived on the planet and its daughter worlds into the fire, just to keep his position and all the privileges that went with it. The Captain-Commodore had no sense of honour, or even of service to a higher ideal; he existed only to maintain the Empire, put in his place because he was a safe pair of hands. Cold hatred flared through his mind and he drew his pistol. Howell’s eyes had only a moment to widen in alarm before Colin shot him through the head.

  He had practiced with the firearm when he’d obtained it, using the Marine firing range to practice until he knew what he was doing. Even so, the noise sounded inhumanly loud in the confined space – and the blood flowing from Howell’s body was definitely new. It was the first time Colin had killed someone personally – rather than serving as a tactical officer on the bridge of a starship – and it shook him more than he had expected. It took him several seconds to gather himself and catch Howell’s right hand, pulling off the golden ring that marked his command of a starship. The ring wasn't just a mark of command; it allowed him to access the ship’s computers and take control of any part of the datanet. Colin tensed as he pulled it onto his own finger, wondering if there had been a mistake in the intelligence. The ring should have registered Howell’s death and him as his legitimate successor, but if something had gone wrong...

  The ring felt oddly heavy on his finger and he studied it thoughtfully. It was chunky, decorated with the star-and-spaceship of the Imperial Navy, glittering on his finger. Carefully, he pressed it against Howell’s terminal, praying that it worked. There was a click and Howell’s secret files unlocked at his touch. It had worked! Colin skimmed them quickly, marking several down for later study, before standing up and heading back to the bridge. The starship’s computers had acknowledged his command authority, which meant – in theory, at least – they should have no other problems. In practice, Colin knew, they had barely begun.

  “Captain,” Finnegan said, when Colin entered the bridge. Somehow, hearing the title in someone else’s mouth made it real. “The datanet is back up on all ships, apart from Daffodil. The Captain was able to destroy his command ring and lock the computers before he could be stopped.”

  Colin smiled as he took the command chair – his command chair. One ship with locked computers wasn't so much of a problem. Given time, the command codes could be removed from the network and the computers restarted. It wouldn't even be difficult. He checked the brief updates from the other ships quickly and smiled. They were all in his hands and firmly locked down. The datanets had been secured, rendering a second mutiny – a counter-mutiny – impossible.

  “My friends,” he said, keying the private communications channel. “The ships are ours!”

  Chapter Three

  “We have seventy agents in all,” Anderson said, as they stood together above the main shuttlebay. “They were all captured before they could cause any damage.”

  Colin nodded in relief. Anderson – in his position as the starship’s security officer – had located most of the agents onboard, but Howell’s files had included a list of agents who reported only to Imperial Intelligence, their names unknown even to their nominal supervisor. It was quite possible, he had to keep reminding himself, that there might be a third group of agents, ones who were unknown even to the squadron’s commander. Imperial Intelligence wasn't known for doing things by halves.

  The agents had been quickly rounded up once the ships had been secured, whereupon they’d been transferred to one of the shuttlebays and secured there. The Marines had turned the compartments into holding areas, allowing the prisoners to take care of themselves, but leaving them unable to escape. Just in case, the automated systems that controlled the shuttlebay had been deactivated, rendering it impossible for even the Captain’s command codes to release the prisoners. Colin was fairly certain that none of the agents had any command codes they could use to hack into the main system, but it was well to be careful.

  He studied the images on the security monitors thoughtfully, stoking his chin as he moved from face to face. Most of the agents had been nonentities, crewmen and women who had done their jobs without fuss or bother, but a handful had been truly popular. One of them had been an older wiser hand for the younger crewmen to turn to if they needed help; another was effectively a whore, selling herself to crewmen who found themselves deprived of female company. She had been very popular; now, Colin wondered, how many crewmen were wondering just what they might have disclosed to her during pillow talk. It wasn't a pleasant thought. The Imperial Navy permitted relationships between crewmen – there were regulations covering the matter, although they were routinely flouted by just about everyone – and many of them became intimate. Who outside the ship, on a planet’s surface or even an orbital habitat, could hope to understand the stresses of living on a starship?

  “That leaves us with one question,” Anderson said. “What do you want us to do with them?”

  Colin nodded. He couldn't keep the agents on the ship, not when there might be other, undiscovered, agents onboard. They might attempt to liberate their comrades and recapture the ship. On the other hand, he couldn't abandon them on Jackson’s Folly either, not when the Imperial Navy would be looking for someone to blame for the mutiny. It wouldn't be hard for Public Information to make it sound as if Jackson’s Folly had organised the mutiny, even though it would have been suicide. And then, he hadn't realised how many agents there actually were. No one had. There were times when he wondered if Imperial Intelligence knew how many agents they had on retainer.

  “We’ll transfer them to the Garand,” he said, finally. The bulk freighter had been captured by one of the destroyers three weeks ago, after its Captain had been identified as a man with an outstanding Imperial warrant on his head. Colin would have liked to intervene and free the crew, but it was too late. They’d been shipped off to Camelot to face trial, whereupon Admiral Per
cival’s assistant’s assistant would probably review the files and order them sentenced to the nearest penal world. “Once we take the superdreadnaughts, they can take the bulk freighter and head back to Camelot.”

  Anderson frowned. “Do you think that that is a good idea?”

  Colin blinked. “What other choice do we have?”

  “We could kill them,” Anderson pointed out. “We could just open the shuttlebay to vacuum and expel them all into space. They’re just too dangerous to keep alive.”

  “They don’t know anything that can be used against us,” Colin countered. He didn’t want to start his career with a massacre of helpless prisoners. There would be enough death in the future without making it worse. Besides, Public Information would have a field day with such an act, turning it into something comparable to a planetary scorching. “There’s no point in killing them outright.”

  “It's your decision,” Anderson said. “I just don’t like the concept of loose ends.”

  Colin nodded. Security Officers tended towards the paranoid, particularly the ones who operated – almost alone – on starships. If they had a suspicious mind, they could blight a career – even that of a perfectly innocent crewman – just through insisting on a rigorous interrogation. Undergoing such a procedure wouldn't look good on anyone’s file. He couldn't blame Anderson for wanting to lop off the loose end, but he liked to think that he stood for something better. The thought wasn't reassuring. How many other Imperial Navy ships had mutinied in the past, only to devolve into pirate ships and crews who made the Imperial Navy look harmless?

  “No,” he said, finally. “Besides, we are going to want to take surrenders and if they think we’re going to kill them once they’re helpless, they’re not going to surrender to us.”

  Leaving Anderson behind to supervise the transfer of the prisoners to the bulk freighter, Colin walked through the starship’s corridors, inspecting the ship – his ship now, for as long as he could keep it. Part of the crew remained in lockdown – another third of the crew was being brought up from the planet’s surface now, where they would be briefed – but those Colin trusted to do their jobs were working on the ship itself. Thankfully, there hadn't been a firefight for control of the ship, yet Colin knew that they wouldn't have time for basic maintenance once the superdreadnaughts arrived. His most trusted allies were already working on the message that, hopefully, would convince Commodore Roosevelt to accept that nothing had gone wrong. Others were securing the communications section, just in case. A single message from an undiscovered agent could ruin everything.

  “We have switched out the magazines and loaded them for ship-to-ship combat,” the weapons officer assured him, as he checked the tactical section. Captain-Commodore Howell hadn't been fond of actual weapons drills, something that Colin hadn't understood until he’d read the man’s secret instructions from Commodore Roosevelt. Howell had been under orders to avoid causing any incidents between the Empire and Jackson’s Folly, at least until the superdreadnaughts had arrived and the Roosevelt Family could make its claim on the planet and the infrastructure the population had built up over the years. “If it comes down to a fight...”

  Colin shook his head. The Observation Squadron was powerful, but it couldn't take on even one superdreadnaught, let alone a full squadron of nine ships. If the plan failed, the only option would be to flicker out and hope that they could evade the Empire long enough to come up with a new plan. The superdreadnaughts had to be taken intact and functional. If Commodore Roosevelt managed to crash the computers, they would have to be abandoned.

  “Load the internal tubes, but don’t bother with the external racks,” Colin ordered. It would look suspicious to any observer – as if the Observation Squadron was preparing for a fight – and they couldn't afford to arouse suspicion. He might have held Commodore Roosevelt in absolute contempt – she hadn't impressed him when they’d last met, back when he’d been Admiral Percival’s client – but he had no idea who might be advising her, or commanding her ships. “Did you manage to unlock the missile control systems?”

  “Yes, sir,” the weapons officer said. “They’re ready to fire on your command.”

  Colin nodded and continued walking, feeling the weight of the starship descending on his shoulders. He hadn't been responsible before, even though he’d done most of the Captain’s work as well as that of the XO – even the paperwork, the paperwork the Captain was supposed to inspect and sign personally. The thought made him smile. Over the last few months, the Observation Squadron had ordered thousands of tons of additional supplies, all ordered under Captain-Commodore Howell’s name. He could operate the squadron for years, if necessary, without support from Camelot or another Imperial Navy base.

  His smile faded away. He’d taken control of the ship and of the lives of the two thousand crewmembers on the vessel. They were all depending on him now, depending on him not to throw their lives away. He was the man responsible for everything. Colin looked down at the chunky ring on his finger and winced. It might have been his imagination, but it seemed to weigh more every time he looked at it. The weight of responsibility was settling in on him, pressing down on his mind.

  He remembered the young officer he’d been, the intensely focused officer who had believed that he could climb to the top of the Imperial Navy through hard work and dedication. That young and naive officer would not have understood, but then – he wouldn't have understood the mutiny either. That officer would have carried on serving the Empire, crushing entire worlds and populations under its iron heel, as long as the Empire rewarded his service. It was a bitter pill to swallow, yet he had to face it squarely. Once, there had been a time when he would have given his life for the Empire he had sworn to destroy.

  An hour later, he stepped into the main shuttlebay and stared down at the massed ranks of crewmen. It was traditional to assemble the duty shift in the main shuttlebay if the starship’s commander needed to speak to them personally, while the remainder of the crew listened in through the datanet. A fourth of the crew should have been sleeping, or otherwise relaxing, but nothing had been normal for the past two days. The crew who had known about the conspiracy, or had been briefed in just after the ships had been taken, were relaxed, yet the remainder of the crew was nervous. Who knew what they were thinking or what they knew, other than the fact that the ship was operating on minimal levels and armed Marines had been posted at every access hatch. Colin knew that many of them had to be terrified.

  He stood up on one of the smaller shuttles, suddenly realising his mind was blank. What should he tell them? He couldn't think of words to say. He had planned a series of coordinated mutinies that had taken an entire squadron of starships, but he couldn't think of the words to speak to the crew, the men and women who made the ships work. What could he tell them? Unlike Captain Howell, he didn't even have legitimate authority on his side. He could just have lied to them, he knew, but sooner or later the lie would have come out, risking chaos. Colin focused his mind, pushing the uncertainty aside, and started to speak.

  “I have taken command of the Observation Squadron,” he said, flatly. By now, that wouldn't be a surprise to anyone, he suspected. It had long been joked that rumours travelled right through solid bulkheads. Hell, the Marines might have been under strict orders to keep their mouths shut, but the briefed crewmen might have passed on some of the briefing to their friends and comrades. “I am taking these ships in a mutiny against the Empire.”

  He continued to speak, explaining what the Empire had in mind for Jackson’s Folly and just what would have happened, if he hadn't launched the mutiny against Captain-Commodore Howell. It helped that most of the crew had been enjoying their position above the threatened world, where they had access to remarkable – and cheap – facilities on shore leave. It also helped that many of the crewmen had been recruited from the lower classes of society and often felt as if their superiors didn't care in the slightest what they thought. It was another security problem, Colin
knew, but it wasn't as if the Thousand Families could crew the entire Imperial Navy by themselves. Besides, Imperial Intelligence had seeded the crews with undercover agents, hoping to catch any plans for a mutiny. There would be some heads rolling back on Old Earth.

  It was hard to gage reaction – no one became a crewman without some ability to hide what he was thinking or feeling – but he pressed on anyway. He told them that he couldn't promise victory, or even survival, yet they had a chance to reshape – perhaps even topple – the entire Empire. They would even have a chance for proper advancement, without the rules and restrictions that prevented anyone from the lower decks rising to a higher position. The Imperial Navy wasn't keen on officers from the lower orders, but Colin – while he'd been drilling the ship – had spotted dozens of crewmen who deserved higher ranks. The rebel fleet would definitely make the best use of its manpower. It couldn't afford to blunder along through brute force and bloody-mindedness.

  “If you don’t want to join us,” Colin concluded, “or if you fear the consequences of victory or defeat, you are welcome to leave the ship and be transferred to a freighter that will transport you back to Camelot. If you want to stay, you will be welcome. Please make your choices now.”