by D. J. Holmes
James was completely taken aback, last time they had met the King had intentionally ignored him. Yet here he was singing his praises. James had to kick himself into action as silence descended on the room. Everyone was waiting for him to move, no one left the King waiting with his hand outstretched.
“Thank you your Highness,” James said as he took the King’s hand. “It is my pleasure to serve, it is my crew who deserve the real praise.”
“Indeed they do,” Prime Minister Fairfax said, jumping in, “and I’m sure all this publicity isn’t hurting your chances with the ladies either,” he added with a chuckle.
“I don’t know about that,” James said, “but it has certainly made getting any privacy all but impossible. I’m eager to get back to my ship.”
“All in good time my boy,” James’ uncle said, joining the conversation. “We have brought you here to pick your brains. Both the Prime Minister and the King have read your report in great detail. Still, they want to hear your account in your own words.”
“I understand Sir,” James replied, “where would you like me to begin?”
“Come and have a seat,” Admiral Somerville said to the group, “then we can begin.”
When everyone was sitting around Admiral Somerville’s desk James recounted his story. A number of times Fairfax and King Edward interjected with a question or two, especially when it came to the two alien races, but for the most part, the three older men let James speak freely.
When he was done James took the opportunity to offer his own opinion on the situation. “And so it would be my recommendation that we do everything we can to peacefully incorporate the Haven colony and the surrounding systems into our colonial empire. If we, or any of the other powers try to force them into something against their will, I believe it will quickly become a serious incident. We would have to provide an occupation force to police and garrison the planet. We all know that such endeavors almost never end in success.”
“What is your evaluation of the general populace then?” King Edward asked.
“They are fiercely independent and highly competent. To have accomplished all that they have in the last two hundred years has only been possible because each member of their society is fully committed to their ideal of a free and productive society. I think they have made amazing progress, in large part because they wanted to meet the Earth nations as equals. I fear that if we or any of the other powers were to turn that passion and ingenuity against us, actually controlling their population would prove impossible. Or at least so costly that it wouldn’t be worthwhile,” James answered earnestly.
“So you think the general population would take up arms against any attempts to control them? Fairfax asked, “hence your idea of a protectorate.”
“Yes,” James said, “if Councilwoman Rodriguez and the others can be convinced then I believe that we could convince the rest of the population. I don’t know all the ins and outs of interstellar politics but it seems like it would give everyone the best deal. The Havenites would get to keep their sovereignty largely intact, they would also have control over their closest systems; giving them plenty of room to expand. We, on the other hand, would have direct access to their systems with our military and exploration ships. If Haven became a protectorate it would open up an entirely new area of space for us to explore and expand into. Just as importantly, so far the only known way to Vestar and Kulthar is through the Haven system. We would therefore be able to control what will most likely become the most important trade route in the Human Sphere.”
“Well, you make a strong case,” Fairfax approvingly. “Now tell me, what do you think of this Council Woman Rodriguez? Can she lead the Haven people towards joining us?”
James took a moment to consider his answer; he didn’t want any of his feelings to cloud his reasoning. “She is a very competent woman,” he began. “And she is deeply concerned about the future of her people. Yet First Councilor Maximilian has a firm grip on the colony. The people look up to him as the heir of the founder of their colony. Even after we revealed his involvement in harboring Chang and the piracy of our freighters, he managed to hold onto power.
“I’m not saying she cannot convince the people of Haven to join us, however, it will be a very hard task. The population are deeply untrusting towards any Earth nation and Maximilian has been using that to keep himself in power.
“I believe Rodriguez would make a good and faithful alley, yet without some form of help I do not think she can carry the people away from Maximilian. At least, she won’t be able to convince them before it is too late. Maximilian is determined to keep Haven independent at all costs. Even if we were to ignore the colony and its strategic importance, Maximilian is going to get himself into trouble with one of the other major powers.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” King Edward said. “We will take everything you have said under consideration. You’ll be pleased to know that your uncle has largely agreed with your assessment. However, there will be a lot of work involved in just getting the Houses of Parliament to agree to any kind of intervention in Haven. We are still sorely over stretched after our war with the Chinese and our expansion into the Void.
“I will tell you this much, the Prime Minister and I are convinced we need to make a play for Haven. Just what that will look like yet we don’t know. We do plan to send an envoy to Haven as soon as possible. Our diplomat will be fully briefed on our desires and he will be actively assessing the possibility of offering protectorate status to Haven, among other possibilities. There is one thing I think we can all agree on however, we can’t let the Indians or anyone else get their hands on the colony and the shift passages to our new friends.”
“Agreed,” Admiral Somerville said. “I’m glad my nephew has been of some help to your thinking.”
“I am happy to have been of some service,” James said, pleased at his uncle’s praise. “I just hope we can sort things out peacefully.”
“Indeed,” Fairfax said, “I suspect that will not be up to us however.”
“No,” the King agreed, “but that is for you to worry about Admiral,” he added as he stood. “I would advise that you do everything you can to get the fleet back to full strength.”
Admiral Somerville sighed, “Isn’t that what you say to me every time we meet your Majesty?”
“It may well be,” Edward replied, “but that doesn’t make it bad advice. Now, I really must be going, I have three more meetings today.”
“Of course your Majesty, Prime Minister, I hope this meeting has been helpful,” Admiral Somerville replied.
“Yes,” Fairfax said, “it is always good to see the personality behind the report. Your thoughts will be taken on board Captain,” he added as he shook James’ and his uncle’s hands.
King Edward followed suit and the two men left Admiral Somerville’s offices.
“What has come over the King?” James asked his uncle as soon as the two other men left. “He hated me before.”
“Politics,” Admiral Somerville said, laughing. “When you were chasing his daughter you were a political obstacle to be overcome. Now you are one of his richest Dukes and an up and coming naval officer. King Edward can’t afford to keep you in his bad books.”
“I see,” James said. He didn’t tell his uncle but he was certain it would take a lot longer for his ill feelings towards the king to disappear. He still blamed the man for ruining James’ chance at love and a family, even if he knew why Christine had made the decisions she had.
“So, about Endeavour,” Admiral Somerville said as he reached into a drawer in his desk.
“Yes?” James said eagerly.
“I have your new orders,” Admiral Somerville replied coyly. “Are you ready to depart?”
“Certainly,” James said, “I think I have had enough of London for another few years.”
“Ha,” James’ uncle said, “I remember a young lad who loved wasting his time and fortune frolicking around London, throwing h
is money at any pretty girl who would look at him.”
“Yes,” James said contemplatively as he remembered his misspent youth. “That was a long time ago, a lot has happened since then.”
“It certainly has,” Admiral Somerville said thinking of his brother. “Your father’s actions were hard on us all. I still feel guilty that I didn’t notice any sign he was in trouble before things got so bad.”
“There is no blame to be laid at your door,” James said forcefully. “My father brought all his troubles on himself. I miss him in a way, and I pity him for how things turned out. But the only one to blame for his misfortune was himself. I’m just happy that Andrea has managed to turn the Dukedom’s fortunes around and compensate all those who lost their jobs and livelihoods because of him.”
“Yes,” Admiral Somerville said, “I don’t think you have realized it yet but your decision to pay out such generous compensatory packages and to hire back so many of those who lost their jobs has proven very popular among the masses. Your discovery of the Void and now Haven and these alien races is making you a household name.”
“Hardly,” James said dismissively, “it just made me a target for a bunch of annoying news reporters. The sooner I’m back on board Endeavour the better.”
“Yes, well, back to your orders then,” Admiral Somerville said as he handed James the data chip he had taken out of his desk drawer. “I’m sending you to Chester as we discussed. You can return to your ship and depart as soon as your crew return from leave. I have already assigned a number of new crew members to replace the losses you suffered.”
“That’s great,” James said excitedly. “I’ll get her fixed up and back to the Alpha system as soon as possible. I’m looking forward to Pemel’s arrival. It’s certainly going to cause a stir. He can be the one who has to deal with all the reporters when he arrives.”
“Yes, you would enjoy watching that,” Admiral Somerville said. “Well, that is all I wanted to say to you. I’ll see you in a couple of months Captain,” he added as he stood and shook James’ hand.
“Farewell uncle,” James said as he walked out of the office.
*
An hour later James walked into the recovery ward of the Royal Marsden Rehabilitation Hospital in West Sussex. Lieutenant Scott had been transferred there as soon as Endeavour had reached Earth. James wanted to make sure she was being looked after properly before he left for Chester. Jil’lal had made him promise that he would personally make sure she received the best treatment. A quick COM message to Andrea had ensured that the best rehabilitation center in Britain had taken Scott immediately.
“How is she doing doctor?” James asked the woman in charge of Scott’s care.
“Remarkably well,” the doctor said. “We have taken her out of the induced coma and are beginning the first stages of helping her cope with what she went through. Her new legs and fingers should be grown and ready for transplant in about a week.”
“I thought Endeavour’s doctor said she needed to stay in the coma until her new legs were attached?” James queried.
“No, not exactly.” The doctor began. “Recent studies have found that if the patient is made aware of the loss before the operation then they appreciate the new limbs more. If they just wake up with a new leg or arm they instinctively know something is wrong and yet they can’t figure it out, for on the outside it looks like everything is exactly the same. Helping them realize the loss they have gone through helps them cope with the new arms or legs. The real problem comes if they have gotten used to not having a limb. Then attaching a new one can be much harder to adjust to.”
“I see,” James said. “Can I talk to her?”
“Certainly, actually she has been asking for you,” the doctor said as she turned and lead James into Scott’s room.
“Hello Captain,” Scott said with a smile from her bed as soon as he walked in. For anyone who had known her before it was obvious that she had lost much of her beauty. The Marsden might be able to get rid of a lot of the scar tissue but she would never be the same. Her smile however, was exactly as James remembered it.
“Hello Lieutenant,” James said, taking her hand. “It’s good to see you finally awake, we’ve missed you.”
“It seems I’ve missed a lot,” Scott said. “Though no one around here knows exactly what happened after the explosion, I was hoping you could you fill me in?”
“Well, of course,” James said before he dived in to telling Scott about capturing the Overlord and stopping his fleet.
“It seems you are all heroes,” Scott said.
“Not any more than you are,” James replied. “You saved Jil’lal, she was at your side daily until we dropped her off on Vestar.”
“I’m glad she is ok, and that reminds me,” Scott said. “That’s why I wanted to speak to you. The explosion. It wasn’t a booby trap or anything like that. It was an alien ship like we thought.”
“A Kulrean ship?” James asked, curious.
“I don’t think so,” Scott said. “It was armed to the teeth and it spoke to me.”
“Spoke to you,” James said in surprise.
“Yes, it seemed to have some sort of artificial intelligence that communicated with us. It was even able to identify us as humans,” Scott said.
“Identify you?” James repeated. “Then if it wasn’t Kulrean or Vestarian you mean there is another alien race out there. One that knows we exist.”
“Yes, I believe so. And if the Vestarians obtained their advanced technology from them then they must be far more powerful than we are,” Scott concluded.
“What did the RSN intelligence agents make of all this?” James asked.
Scott hung her head, “I didn’t pass my psych evaluation. They say I have post-traumatic stress and survivor’s guilt. I’m not sure they believed me about talking alien ships.”
James wasn’t surprised. Humans had abandoned the development of artificial intelligence more than two hundred years ago. The research had got to the point where the AI’s were basically self-aware. However, try as many times as they could, the researchers could never instill a sense of morality into the machines. The results had been truly terrifying. The AI’s had come to see humans as the cause of all humanity’s problems. Their logical solution had been the enslavement of humans to the direction of AI’s. If they had been allowed out of the laboratories they would have tried to take control, all for the good of mankind. As a result, AI research had been banned.
The common consensus had been that any alien race they would encounter would have come to the same conclusions. AI’s were just too powerful to actually allow them to exist. James hadn’t spoken to Pemel about any Kulrean AI’s but he made a note to bring it up when he got to Earth.
“I believe you,” James said as he turned his attention back to Scott. “This is something we will have to take very seriously. But for now you need to get better. If you make a full recovery then the rest of the navy is much more likely to take you seriously.”
“I know,” Scott said, squeezing his hand. “I’m going to do my best. It helps that you believe me.”
Epilogue
29th December, 2466AD, New Delhi
“Our request for a trial was denied then?” Prime Minister Slaman Devgan asked.
Yes, but it served its purpose,” Sha Roshan the Minister for External Affairs said. “The British think we have put the matter to rest.”
“So they suspect nothing?” Devgan followed up.
“I wouldn’t say they suspect nothing,” Roshan answered. “They will know that we must be considering our options towards Haven. Yet I believe they will think we are taking our time, weighing our options.”
“Then we must press ahead with our plans,” Devgan said confidently. “Admiral Kapoor, how are your preparations coming together?”
“A messenger freighter has just returned from our colonies,” Admiral Kapoor began. “Our fleet is prepared and ready to move. They are just waiting for a large enough gr
ound force to be gathered. The latest report estimates that we will have gathered fifty thousand troops by the end of next month. By then, the fleet will be ready to move.
“I have placed Admiral Kumar in charge of the main attack force. Admiral Khan will remain behind with one battlecruiser to block any British attempt to send ships to Haven. Once we secure the colony Admiral Kumar can release more ships to Khan to beef up our defenses. The only way the British can get to Haven is through our colonial space. If we move fast, the British won’t be able to stop us. The majority of their large warships are still undergoing refits after their war with the Chinese.”
“It is settled then,” the Prime Minister said, “send your messenger freighter back to the colonies today with the go order. As soon as enough ground forces have been gathered, Admiral Kumar is to make her move.”