The Noble Petty, Complete Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 2)

by Craig Gerttula

“How does he-,” he put a finger to her lips.

  “The loyalists...he was pretty vague, but I think the majority are in control of the Emperor's Wall Fleet and the Emperor's Home Fleet, which make up around 200 million starships. But it's the Emperor's Purge Fleets that are of concern. An open defection happened during the battle at “The Wall” and I've heard many other purge fleets have completely vanished.” The number of starships he had learned were available to Emperor Yuloo were almost too large to fathom. The 100,000 starships that arrived at Alutia'Earth made up only .001 percent of the entire purge fleet.

  “Did he provide any additional instructions?” Sasha asked, her mind working.

  “Yes...he gave us permission, in secret, to commission the construction of the Empress Defense Fleet and a new Alutia Protection Fleet to handle escort of the ABF Alutia, along with new ABF battle squadrons to protect Alutia'Earth,”

  Sasha's eyes went wide. “Gorian?”

  Trent nodded. “Yup...to be built in the...the Black Fleet Retrofit and Construction Station ...the one your father and I discussed most thoroughly, which is currently being expanded with the help of an Emperor's Construction Fleet...until the initial 100 planned Alutia Construction Fleets are online,” he smiled, the thought giving him goosebumps.

  “And we will be paying for this...how?” Sasha asked suspiciously.

  “The emperor will pay for any excess gorian that is required beyond his allocation and help subsidize the Alutia Fleet with trade concessions and special limits on provided resources...all classified, of course.” Sasha shook her head in disbelief.

  “He is going to make a very many traditionalists unhappy if this gets out...” Trent's face went stiff at the term.

  “That was his final warning; be wary of the traditionalists, for they are the enemy of change...and you...so protect my daughter well...” Sasha sighed in his lap.

  “Trent...you realize 80 percent of the galaxy is traditionalist?” he nodded, having heard the lecture before. “So almost the entire galaxy is our enemy?” he nodded again, knowing it was a scary thought. “Well...up against you...I think the odds are still in our favor,” she kissed him and he beamed his pride back at her, unable to be humble in light of the words from his love. She wouldn't want him to be anyways, he knew.

  “Us...Sasha...us. I am nothing without you,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Of course! Since the court is a mess back home and it will take “us” to deal with it...” Trent pulled his head back, looking into Sasha concerned eyes.

  “Tiana's father?” he asked.

  “His crony's actually. Seems he is loitering and waiting for us to return, not wanting to directly confront mother,” she smiled. “But more trade agreements are being disrupted by their dirty tactics. I really wish I could ban them from the court,” she must have guessed Trent's words before he said them.”But I will not, since we need that gauge to tell us if we are doing things right,” he nodded understanding.

  “So if they are mad, we did good, if they are happy, we did bad?” she laughed.

  “Yes...that's exactly it,” she kissed him.

  “Anything else?” he questioned, finding that her kisses were lasting longer and longer.

  “Just a long line of nobles for us to interview for holdings within our duchy and the naming of the new planet that will be the headquarters of the petty education centers,” a name popped into his head immediately.

  “How do I convey a name without your translation node changing it to the literal meaning?” the question was sudden and Sasha's brow furrowed in thought.

  “It shouldn't be an issue, since it handles naming differently. Translation nodes know if the word or meaning is important.” Trent nodded, hoping the word didn't sound too strange in comparison to Sasha's native tongue, which he suddenly realized he didn't know.

  “Erudio,” he said carefully.

  “Erudio...” she let roll off her tongue, “It's beautiful, my duke. But that is not of your native dialect?” she asked, having obviously reviewed his native tongue.

  “It's from Latin...an old Earth language which is the root for my own,” she kissed him.

  “Erudio it is...Vin.”

  “Logged, Alutia V0465 shall now be referred to as Erudio.” He smiled.

  “Now...if you can't think of anything else...” He stood, allowing her to wrap her legs around his body.

  “I think it's time for our morning exercise!” Their lips locked and their bond opened wide, pouring their souls into each other as he carried her towards their bedchamber.

  Four other bonds, barely perceptible, like tiny threads attached to a massive twined rope, allowed a small taste to escape. The love they felt for each other filling those that they too loved.

  For a time, as stars sped past the starship, all was peaceful and the love of the two noble rulers, protectors, agents of a changing alliance, echoed in the hearts of those they loved and those who followed.

  Epilogue

  TE-Doo finished analyzing the final 134,549 failed launches, inserting the test data into the failure report he would submit to AH-Zec, leader of the ASU. He had been successful, or so he thought, knowing well only initiatives that brought about complete victory for the ASU would be given that particular moniker. So officially, it was a failure.

  Close to two million of his asteroid ships made it through the human defensive platforms and fortifications along “The Frontier”, delivering the HDP Eradicator too many human worlds. But it had not been enough. One of the Schnac'lasis infiltration teams had been careless, forgetting to wipe the data on a human transport ship they had infected.

  But it was bound to happen, all his analysis having predicted some sort of mistake or lucky break to give away how they were slipping ships through, which of course, occurred within the window he had originally predicted.

  He quickly placed an additional section in his report, stating the apparent unity issues that had been witnessed during the final encounter, stating his recommendations for possibly using this information to their advantage, then adding an additional reference to the human's response time being at the high-end of his predictions, beyond what the brains at human-xeno said possible.

  After reviewing the report one final time, he sent it through split-space to the leaders of the ASU and the Archivers to research more thoroughly, performing unneeded reviews of his results. He never made mistakes.

  TE-Doo would be reassigned, most likely as an assistant on some meaningless research project. But he had done his part. Now it was up to AH-Zec to use the information he had provided to end this war, one way or the other.

  *********

  King Johan watched the last of the Vn'Oco Battle Fleet high-admirals exit the large conference room within his private apartments on the NHA Super-Capital VBF Vn'Oco. The battle had been over swiftly, the unshielded ASU asteroid ships being crushed under the massive firepower of his combined fleet. Overall, losses had been minimal, the heaviest within the ABF battle groups who had been the first to respond to the threat. He smiled, thinking of his daughter, her Duchy once again becoming the center of it all. While her charge, the Empress Yukie, had discovered the ASU's plot in time to dampen the overall damage of the mass incursion.

  But the price was still great, 150 colonies had been lost and almost a thousand more were under quarantine, his fleet spread thin to blockade the growing HDP threat. The cleanup cost would be staggering. But they would survive and grow stronger, or so he told himself.

  Accessing his private BAP, he requested his personal image library and started projecting pictures of his family in the air before him; his beautiful, but estrange wife, who'd decided to take up residence with his daughter on Alutia'Earth. In her arms, a baby, a memory of their first daughter who'd vanished soon after birth, fate unknown. At her side stood his second daughter, Valia, married off to the eccentric explorer she'd taken a liking to when she escaped her guards and went gallivanting around the universe. Next to her sat his son, Crown
ed Prince Kohan, soon to be a 100, banished to a noble penal planet for the actions of his wife, Princess Xeros. Then finally, his third daughter, who had become the center point of all his grief.

  She'd freed the petties, without consulting him, then raised a petty to the rank of baron, again, without consulting him, and finally declared judgment on a marquis, without consulting him. If it was anyone else but his daughter, he would have them removed, forcefully if need be. But he knew she had done nothing wrong, most of her actions requiring his consent only based on tradition, not law. It was instead he who was at fault, unable to pull himself clear of his traditionalist tendencies and see that what she and her husband were doing, should have been done thousands of years before.

  That didn't mean, however, he could forgive her for the unrelenting flow of complaints and demands for her and Trent's heads that he'd received from almost every ruling noble in the universe, fearful of petty uprisings within their own domains, or more likely, the sudden emigration of the much needed, low cost labor and manpower. He'd been forced to create an automated response system that sent the same message to all, that his hands were tied and all complaints should be directed at Emperor Yuloo or his daughter, Empress Yukie, her being directly involved in the changes taking place. He knew none would raise complaints to the emperor, fearing reprisal. But he could always hope.

  “Your Majesty! Have you checked your messages?” Knight Captain Rillia, captain of his personnel guard, interrupted his thoughts.

  “No...is it important?” he knew it would be for this man to interrupt him.

  “Yes, Your Majesty. The emperor has called a King's Review!” The words made him stiffen.

  “A King's Review,” The last time one of those had been called, half the galaxy kings and their families had been removed, replaced with those nobles that more closely followed the current emperor's ideals. He shivered, knowing well that Emperor Yuloo was a reformist and the vast majority of his kings were realists and traditionalists.

  “When?” he asked, voice drained.

  “Two weeks, Your Majesty,” he nodded, climbing stiffly to his feet.

  He shuffled slowly out of the conference room and into the quiet corridor where he began a message to his wife.

  “My love, I need you...”

  ########

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading The Noble Petty, Complete Edition. The road was a rough one, with many ups and down, but I still enjoyed it with all my heart and hope you enjoyed the journey as well. Please look forward to the next book of the Alutia Rising Series, Foresight of the Duke, which will be available in early 2014, were Trent and Sasha will face a new threat, and begin to learn of the true reality behind the universe.

  Thank you and I hope to see you again in Alutia!

  Craig Gerttula

  Short Story - The Shipyard

  Part 1

  Sunlight twinkled off the uneven metallic exterior of the Rovial Fleet Construction and Retrofit Stations as they orbited slowly about Don’Alutia IV’s 17th moon. Each of the four stations were constructed from hundreds of varying sized, cuboid shaped modules that attached to a single central supply and docking cylindrical interlock. This made the stations appear to curve around the volcanic moon they orbited, like partial, manmade rings to match that of the moon’s natural parent. Their sheer size, and the capability of each of the four individual construction and retrofit stations to manufacture an entire battle group in 10 days, was a sight to behold. Though even its grandeur paled against what lay just beyond, Planet Don’Alutia IV, a star that had failed to ignite, having gone cold eons before, leaving behind an enormous gas giant whose greenish-purple clouds swirled hypnotically amongst thousands of tiny bursts born from deep within its core.

  "Is this wise?" Mus'Til asked from the ferry shuttle’s copilot seat as he gazed out the primary viewscreen, still uncertain about their plan.

  "Wise? No," Bordin paused, letting a familiar, one-sided smirk spread across his lips. "Fun? Yes." Mus'Til sighed, having realized years before Bordin's idea of “fun” didn’t match his own.

  "Fun and danger are not two words I normally put together,” Evilonia muttered from the seat behind his, agreeing with Mus’Til’s thoughts, like always, while glancing to the unreadable woman seated at her side.

  “Bordin, the GM field is displaying abnormal fluctuations. Adjust our approach vector by 2.5, -3 and decrease velocity by at least 75%,” Tio’Vie, seeming to miss, or ignore, the humor in the air, responded seriously while manipulating a projection of their tiny ferry shuttle, with a GM field overlay, originating from the “specialized” portable PDU she always carried.

  “If I do that, Tio, others may arrive before us and spoil our fun,” Bordin responded, a slight hint of mocking in his tone.

  “That is fine. I’ll just endeavor to keep us from losing our tether on rational time while we try to maintain your arbitrary schedule. Though if I am unable, we will have a significant amount of time to wonder if that was in reality the most prudent course of action as we wander through “split” time,” Tio’Vie answered, her remark seeming sarcastic, but for those who knew her well, like Mus’Til, Evilonia, and Bordin, it was anything but.

  “I trust you,” Bordin started, winking at Mus’Til, who was unable to mask his own shock that Bordin wouldn’t cave, like always, “but what is an adventure without a little risk?” Bordin laughed.

  “Bordin! You know what will happen if we fall into “slip” time. Listen to Tio!” Evilonia blurted, her head appearing between Mus’Til and Bordin.

  Bordin chuckled, messing Evilonia’s short cropped, black hair. “Actually, I don’t, Evi...please enlighten me,” Bordin said, obviously picking on Evilonia’s allergy to anything science.

  “Tio, explain to this...this rogue! Why we must avoid falling into slip time at all cost.” Evilonia fell back into her seat, turning to Tio’Vie for support, like always.

  Why does their every conversation seem to follow the same track? Mus’Til thought to himself with a sigh.

  “Bordin already knows, and I have explained the concept to you verbatim, I have more important matters to consider, so...” Tio’Vie’s words trailed off and Mus’Til could easily guess why.

  Evilonia’s pout turned almost anyone to putty, her fluttering lids, quivering lips, and drooping earlobes where a sight to behold, though it was definitely not a look anyone would expect to see from a once elite arcguard commander.

  Tio’Vie cleared her throat. “I have time for a simple explanation,” she started, having obviously lost to the pout. “As you know, when the velocity of an object within the stationary universe increases and approaches the average speed of light, the faster the object will move along the rational timeline, or in comparison to the speed at which time passes within the stationary universe. This means if we approached the average speed of light without an active GM field, the rate at which time passes for us in comparison to rational time increases. For instance, if we traveled at the average speed of light for a few days without an active GM field, in rational time, or stationary universe time, a few weeks would have passed.

  “This is called the rational timeline theory, though it no longer fits the theory moniker since it has long since been proven as fact, hence the reason we can travel at speeds beyond the average speed of light while not being affected by major time fluctuations.

  “This theory states that there exists only a single rational timeline within the universe that flows at a set pace for the stationary universe, rational time, though objects within the stationary universe are not bound by rational time, only by the “rules” governing the universe. Meaning objects can actually move along the rational timeline at any pace, slowing to essentially a standstill, but never moving backwards, or, like when approaching the average speed of light, move significantly faster than rational time along the rational timeline.

  “When slowing the flow of time at which an object moves along the rational timeline, the object is n
ot actually in the past and still exists on the present rational timeline, called “phased matter”, though objects within rational time cannot perceive phased matter’s existence, and the phased matter cannot perceive the rational time objects existence, unless tethered.

  “What then occurs when “phased matter” returns to the rational timeline, after undergoing what is called negative velocity manipulation, is the opposite of what transpires when you approach the average speed of light. The object whose time was “slowed” will return to rational time instantly within the rational timeline. So if a couple weeks passed for the “phased matter”, when it returns to rational time, along the rational timeline, only a couple hours would have actually past.

  “Now, as you know, through the use of an NSD core and the GM field it creates we can “anchor” ourselves to rational time by manipulating mass, energy, and time itself through the use of black hole physics and singularity manipulation. Basically, the starship exists within what would normally be the event horizon of a singularity, though this is not technically true, since the powerful gravity that causes this phenomenon is “contained” within a dark matter matrix.

  “So in simple terms, we are separating ourselves from the rational timeline, or “splitting” away, while anchoring ourselves to rational time, then integrating back into the rational timeline when high-speed travel is no longer required. So though we are detaching from the rational timeline, we are not detaching from the universe itself, and can still interact with objects within, since if we did detach from the universe, we would be converted to pure energy and lost within the divergent space.

  “Though to answer the primary question. If, by chance, a failure does occur within the NSD or GM field while undertaking FTL travel, we will not revert back to rational time, like if we were traveling along the rational timeline. Instead, we will lose our anchor and be unable, without assistance, to return to the rational timeline. Though this is impossible, since when we lose our anchor, we are no longer “visible” to the stationary universe and instead exist within a space called divergent space, or more commonly referred to as “split” time.