Spirit of Empire 4: Sky Knights

by Lawrence White

  He asked the question uppermost on his mind at the first opportunity. “Sires, My Lady, am I to understand there are three Knights on the same ship? I didn't think it worked that way."

  "Actually, Colonel, there are four Knights on this ship,” Krys answered. “Our artificial intelligence, whom we call George, was also knighted by the Queen." She sensed the marine’s confusion and was not surprised. "He's a special AI. The Queen would not be alive today without his good judgement. George?"

  "At your service, My Lady. Colonel Havlock . . .Teacher . . . Healers, welcome aboard. We know your stories and we're proud to serve beside you. I might mention that our crew includes two admirals. We're not exactly a standard ship of the line."

  Havlock did a double-take. Almost afraid of the answer, he asked, "George, is the Queen here?"

  No, sir, but I believe that day is not far off."

  "Define I."

  "No problem, Colonel. I know very well who I am. Your First Knight gave me my name, and believe me when I say I understand your confusion. Perhaps I can best explain by telling you I am not entirely of Empire manufacture. I suggest you do not dig deeper at the moment."

  "It's probably fair to assume a suggestion from a knighted AI is an order?”

  "In this case, yes, but you'll find us open minded about most things. We are definitely not here to instruct you. We are here to counsel and learn."

  Havlock shook his head. Was he really holding a conversation with an AI?

  Captain Stven rescued him from his own thoughts. "Colonel, I'm intrigued by something Queen Atiana said yesterday. She claims you not only spoke with a gleason but that you want to save them. Out of the whole Empire, I believe you stand alone in that belief."

  "That's possible, Sire. I admit to some incredulity myself. Don't worry. It will not color my first responsibility here which is to help clear them from this world."

  "Au contraire, Sky Lord. I hope you’ll accept my command that it become a first-order responsibility. The solution you seek is precisely what your Queen would demand of you if she was here. On a personal note, I find it a very Rress-like solution. I wish I had seen the issue in the same fullness you have."

  "Sire?"

  "You heard me. My further advice is that you take a pat on the back when you can. They come rarely enough. How do you intend to 'save' the gleasons?"

  "I don't have a clue, Sire. In my mind I've imagined finding a planet somewhere that would actually benefit from their presence." He looked down for a moment, then back up with his arms spread wide. “Trust me, Sire. I know how ridiculous it sounds.”

  "But despite its improbability, you continue to hope."

  "I do, Sire. Consider the gleasons' home world. According to the gleason we spoke to, things are very bad there. They would welcome fresh meat, and it's a big galaxy out there—there could well be another world in similar straits. While I don’t condone rampant killing for killing’s sake, it’s not my place to judge them.”

  Stven nodded. "Since hearing your remarkable story from Queen Atiana, George has been running a search. So far he’s come up empty."

  Havlock's shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry to hear that." He lifted his head and spoke to the room. "Will you keep searching, Sire?"

  "I will, Colonel. There's a lot of unexplored galaxy out there."

  "Thank you."

  Stven continued. "We're led to believe that you've taken your responsibilities far beyond the loosest possible interpretation of your orders. I'm referring here to your plans for the planet after General Stymes arrives." His head swung over slightly to take in Sergeants Hawke and Kori. “You are known here as the Teacher and the Healer. You, too, have gone far outside the parameters of your assigned duties.”

  Though Stven was a great Knight, both of them lifted jaws in defiance at his words.

  Havlock stood and looked to Atiana with sadness in his eyes. He said to her, “I had thought you understood, Your Majesty."

  “I understand more than you think, Sky Lord. Hear him out.”

  He stared at her for a moment, then turned back to Stven. "Sire, they’re volunteers acting under my direct orders."

  “I don’t doubt it, but I prefer to think of it as acting within the highest standards of service to our Empire. They saw a need and responded in a way that made sense. I might add that, according to Queen Atiana, they responded quite effectively. Our Queen will hear of it, and she will be pleased."

  Jaws dropped on all three of them. Havlock was the first to respond. “You support our activities?"

  "I applaud them, Colonel. All of you have acted outside the boundaries placed around you by your positions within the Imperial Marines, but all of you have acted in a way that makes me proud."

  Stven turned to Sergeant Hawke. "Do you like what you're doing, or would you prefer to return to your piloting duties?"

  Hawke stood. "I've made a personal investment in this world, Sire. I've been trying to find a way to continue what I've been doing after General Stymes arrives. It doesn't seem likely."

  "It's far outside the realm of the Imperial Marines, I agree. You could always resign and throw in with Queen Atiana."

  Hawke glanced furtively toward Havlock, then to Sergeant Kori. Her lips pursed, but she nodded her head ever so slightly. Hawke returned his focus to Stven. "Sergeant Kori and I both discussed that very thing, Sire. We're pretty sure she'd take us on, but marines don’t resign in the middle of a deployment."

  Stven nodded. "There is that, I agree, and it's a big one. It's just as well. If you did resign, you'd probably be stuck here forever."

  "There are far worse fates, Sire, even throwing gleasons into the pot. With our duties, forever isn't likely to be all that long anyway. Had it been possible, it’s a price we were willing to pay."

  A small puff escaped from Stven. He ignored it, though no one else could. Hands waved through the air to clear away the obnoxious odor. “Danger? What danger? I was under the impression you two dealt on diplomatic levels with various kingdoms."

  “Uh . . . well, Sire . . . diplomacy here comes out of a gun. I take whichever nobles are willing to go with me and we join one of our caravans. They learn how to use our weapons and they learn how to kill gleasons. It’s never a sure thing. We’ve had losses, both among our marines and among the locals.”

  "If your deployment was scheduled to end tomorrow, what would you do?"

  Hawke glanced apprehensively toward Havlock. "Sorry, sir." He turned back to Stven and squared his shoulders. "I'd resign and stay here."

  “Every marine who serves here will get special attention later. Let’s face it—out of the whole Empire, how many marines will ever be able to say they fought gleasons? Your very presence here has opened doors to a future of your choosing in the Imperial Marines.”

  Hawke did not hesitate. "Sire, when will another opportunity like this come along? We don't allow emerging worlds to know about us, so the opportunity to interact with one will never happen again, especially not for a marine. I’m good at what I'm doing, and I make a difference. I like making a difference.”

  Stven turned to Sergeant Kori. "Your duties place you in danger as well?"

  She stood up. "They did at first, Sire. Now, only during major battles, though life in the cities I visit can be worse in a way. I'm training other healers, and some of that training takes place on the battlements during attacks. It's always confusing and dangerous when a gleason makes it over the wall. I never go anywhere without my weapon. Besides, gleasons aren't the only danger here.”

  "They're not?"

  "No, Sire. Between wounds and rampant disease, I don't save everyone. Many a sword or knife in the hands of a grieving friend or relative has been swung at me and Milae."

  "And you like this life?"

  "Not all of it. The hours are long, it's dangerous and dirty and uncomfortable, but I like making a difference. There will be no end of local healers who could benefit from my teaching. To me, every life saved by a healer I trained is
a life I saved. I will never willingly give up this calling.”

  She looked toward Milae and said, “Ours is a team effort. Without Milae, our efforts would not be nearly as effective. She gets me into places that would not otherwise accept a sky knight, and her own medical abilities have come a long way.”

  Stven shifted his gaze between the Healer and the Teacher, that gaze as stern as a dragon could make it. "Think hard on this, both of you. As Knights, we have the authority to reassign. Queen Atiana will gratefully accept your services." He moved his focus to Havlock. "What do you think, Colonel?"

  Havlock felt heat rising up through his body and his vision narrowed. Despite the presence of four Knights, he leaned back on the couch and shut out the rest of the room while he thought. When he returned to the room, he sat up and said, "Please excuse my rudeness, Sire."

  "Deep thoughts are exactly what we need here. You’re troubled."

  Havlock frowned at the Knight’s choice of words. "It won't work, Sire. At least not very well. They'll both need equipment, supplies, transportation, and eventually classrooms and a support structure. Queen Atiana can’t provide those things on the scale they’ll need. In order for him to make the impact he wants to make, Sergeant Hawke needs the respect and unfettered backing of the Empire’s local commander. He might have that, but he might not. As for Sergeant Kori, what she really needs is the resources to teach herself out of a job. Her students could become teachers and doctors themselves, not just healers.”

  "How would you envision things here in 50 or 100 or 300 years?” Stven asked.

  Havlock blinked, caught off guard by the question. He peered hard at Stven and asked a question of his own. “I’d heard you Knights take the long view.”

  "We take whatever view we have to take in order to resolve the problem we're dealing with. I'm asking for your advice here."

  “Can I have some time to think about it?”

  “Come, Colonel. I won't believe you haven't given it some thought already. A lot of thought.”

  Havlock had, in fact, given the issue plenty of thought, but it was complicated. “Sire, we've already discussed the gleasons. They have to be eliminated or sent away. During that process, the Imperial Marines will make contact with as many kingdoms as they can. Since Sergeants Hawke and Kori can’t be everywhere at once, they’ll have to train some of General Stymes’ forces to do what they’ve been doing. A lot of that training will be in the field. Queen Atiana is our best diplomat, but she can't be everywhere at once either and her own people need her.”

  He glanced over to Atiana—the two of them had discussed these very issues—then back to Sir Stven. “Once the immediate threat ends, once we’ve dealt with the gleasons, our relationship with the various kings and queens will change. Right now we’re accepted because we’re killing gleasons—the details about who we are and where we've come from are less important than the results—but the day will come when we have to explain ourselves. Beyond that, we have to figure out how to enrich local populations in a controlled manner. They’ll need mentoring and guidance, guidance which always focuses on the long term. It won't be easy duty either. There will be disagreements and disputes, possibly wars when we fail, and those wars will be fought with weapons the Empire issued to locals to fight the gleasons. If we’d had the foresight, we’d have given them weapons that could be disabled with a signal from orbit if and when things got out of hand.”

  He frowned at the oversight, though he had sent several messenger drones to General Stymes, and a request for such modified weapons had gone on each one of them. His gaze moved between the Knights, then to each of his people. It settled on Atiana, though he continued speaking to Stven.

  “Let’s face it. Tranxte’s future is pretty much ordained: they’ll eventually emerge and enter the Empire. But on that day, will it be them, or will it be an Empire creation we welcome into the fold?”

  He shifted his gaze back to Stven. “Sire, I’d like to think we’re smart enough to create an environment here that forces the people of Tranxte to choose their own way, that lets the people of Tranxte be who and what they choose to be, not what the Empire chooses for them. To do that, we’ll need expert advice and a place to keep those experts out of harms way while they work. The locals here have already seen some of our technology, and I don’t just mean our weapons. They’ve seen lights that don’t require flame, they’ve seen our ships that fly through the air, and they’ve used our radios and translator devices. We'll probably end up giving them other technology, but we can't give it just to some. We have to give it to everyone at the same time. That's going to take a lot of coordination, and it will require a large budget.

  "Finally, we have to do all of this with the knowledge that our ultimate goal is to work ourselves out of a job. Every single Empire employee on Tranxte will have to acknowledge that, and they'll have to be reminded on a regular basis."

  "You could be right, but you're thinking too small,” Stven said.

  "I'm not surprised, Sire. I'm just a soldier. This is all a little out of my league."

  “It’s not out of your league. You just need to expand your vision to encompass what works rather than what can be achieved by a colonel in the Imperial Marines. It takes a while to make adjustments like that. I was a lieutenant when the rebellion started. Sir Tarn was an ensign just out of the academy. Lady Krys was a civilian. George was just a ship. We’ve all been through the process, and I’d like to think we’re proof it can be done."

  Havlock's gaze slid from one Knight to the next, then to Hawke and Kori who both had uncomfortable expressions on their faces.

  Hawke spoke softly. “Should we be here, sir? This is a little above our pay grade."

  “Yes, you should. You've both been a great resource to me and to Tranxte. We’re establishing a plan, and you’re a resource just as I am. Jump in whenever you feel it's appropriate. Besides, I think it's your futures we're talking about."

  “I get the feeling our futures are decided, sir. I think we're talking about yours now. You're being tested just as we were."

  Havlock directed a sharp look to Stven. "Is that true?"

  Stven ignored the question. Instead, he addressed Hawke. "Your perceptiveness intrigues me, Sergeant. I see why you're such a good negotiator."

  "Am I right?"

  Stven stared at him but did not answer. To Havlock, he said, "You have indeed been tested, though we tend to judge people by their actions rather than their words, and your actions have spoken for you through Queen Atiana. We just wanted to meet you face to face. I told you that you were thinking too small and I meant it. It takes time to learn to govern at this level. We'll give you some time, but not a lot of time.”

  “Time for what, Sire?”

  “We four Knights are in agreement that you’re the one for the job. I particularly appreciate your understanding that your ultimate goal is to work yourself out of a job. Will you accept our call?"

  "Sire, what exactly do you mean?"

  "We want you to lead Tranxte through its emergence. We're open to suggestions, but it seems best to us that we name you ‘Sky Lord, Governor of Tranxte.’ As governor you'll exercise control over the Imperial Marines, you'll have access to Empire resources, and you'll guide the Teacher and the Healer as they expand their territories and responsibilities. Most important, you'll exercise Empire authority and limit that authority insofar as you can over the locals. Oh, and one other minor item: you’ll determine the fate of the gleasons."

  Havlock found himself speechless. Him a governor? Then he thought about all the things he could do under that umbrella. Everything he had hoped for was possible, though he would have to deliver on some tough promises.

  He turned to Hawke and Kori. Both of them were grinning. He looked to Atiana who was sitting right beside him and found her deep in thought. He interrupted that thought. "Did you know about this, Your Majesty?"

  She shook herself out of her reverie and focused fully on him. "I did not, Sky Lo
rd. I'm growing fond of these great Knights from the stars. What they ask of you is exactly what our home needs."

  "Your home."

  "No, Sky Lord. This will take everything you are and then some. If you accept, you will call Tranxte your home for the rest of your days."

  Their gazes locked on each other seeking answers to questions which had not yet been asked. Both played the game stoically, but in the end Atiana broke the silence. "Say yes, Gar."

  He nodded solemnly and turned back to Stven. “Sire, what you’re offering is more than I hoped for in my wildest imaginings, but it feels like the right thing for Tranxte. I’m your man. I accept, and I won't let you down."

  "I'm not the one you need to satisfy, Sky Lord. The Queen will take a very personal interest in this. Governor Seeton will be your contact for support, but never forget that you report ultimately to the Queen. To satisfy the formalities, I herby Name you Sky Lord, Governor of Tranxte."

  He looked to Hawke and Kori who both sprang to their feet. "I assume you'll both accept a transfer from military to government payroll?”

  He heard two "Yes, Sires” and looked to Havlock. "Would you like to do the honors, Governor?"

  "I would, but the paths they've chosen will be hard. Empowerment by a Knight might ease their way."

  "Very well." To Hawke and Kori he said, “I hereby Name you Teacher Hawke, to be known locally as Teacher, and Healer Kori, to be known locally as Healer. Your Sky Lord will have to fix your pay scales, but I'm sure he’ll find the Queen generous to those in whom she places so much trust."

  To Havlock, he said, “Our next stop will be Governor Seeton. We'll let him know your new status, and he'll notify General Stymes. We have a fast ship. Would you like us to deliver a shopping list?"

  "Sire, that would be helpful. I’ll have it to you by tomorrow.” He paused for a moment, then asked. “What exactly is a fast ship? I’ve heard rumors of them, but I don’t know the details.”

  “The details are classified and probably incomprehensible to us anyway. A fast ship will make the transition to Aldebaran in about a week. A regular ship takes seven or eight weeks. Getting back to your shopping list, make sure it includes a means of searching for a new home for the gleasons and a plan for your infrastructure here.”