Voice of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book Three)

by Lawrence White

  “I’ve had a lot of time to think about this, and don’t forget - I was an advisor to the President. I know what it takes to be a leader. The Queen has been hiding out for a long time, too long. It’s time for her to lead again. She needs to be out there among her people right now, even if it’s not in plain sight.”

  “So what does that have to do with you?”

  “She also can’t leave here, Ray.”

  He frowned. “She has to leave. Struthers knows she’s here.”

  “So he sends a massive fleet to destroy Parsons’ World or Shipyard, right?”

  “I probably would if I was in his shoes.”

  “No you wouldn’t. What’s his first priority?”

  The answer was automatic, something everyone had been saying ever since he’d become involved. “The Queen, of course.”

  “So he shows up here with a fleet, and what does she do?”

  He leaned back and stared into her eyes. “I see where you’re going with this. You’re right.”

  She nodded. “She fast-ships out of here. Struthers knows the Queen has fast ships, and he’s not stupid. As long as she’s here and alive, Parsons’ World and Shipyard will not be attacked. She has to go, and I have to stay here in her place. I’m Parsons’ World’s insurance.”

  “And Struthers’ primary target.”

  Her lips trembled, and she buried her head in his neck again. He closed his eyes, wishing he could find words of encouragement, but he could not.

  Later, he said, “There’s a whole room of people out there waiting for us. Are you ready?”

  She pushed away from him, her eyes filled with alarm. She knew that once she left this bathroom, her life would never be the same. “Will you visit?” she implored.

  He pressed a hand to her cheek. “When I can. I’m pulled in a lot of different directions at the moment.”

  She grasped that hand with both of her own. “We have to keep up pretenses. It would be natural for you to visit the Queen.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I’ll do my very best, Your Majesty.”

  * * * * *

  When they returned to the meeting, Nancy’s physical appearance seemed unchanged, but despair lurked in her eyes. “May I join the meeting again, Your Majesty?” she asked.

  Ellie stood. “Once you take that step, there will be no turning back.”

  “There’s no turning back for any of us, is there? None of this is who I am. I want to ask ‘Why me?’ but I won’t. It just is. I’ll do my part.”

  The two of them sat, the Queen and the Twin.

  * * * * *

  When the meeting ended, Ellie and Otis stayed behind with Krys and Tarn. Ellie wandered the room, old memories welling to the surface. So much of her life had been spent aboard this ship, so much of it right here in this room. It was here that she had grown to love a Great Cat named Otis. It was on this ship that she had met Mike, Reba, and Trexler. It was on this ship she had first spoken to Val, and it was in this very room that she had first spoken to Krys who, in time, called her Mother. They would all be gone from her again, soon, all of her loved ones out in harm’s way.

  She went internal, to her Rider, Cassandra. >Nancy will need help,< she said.

  >Agreed. She is not your twin.<

  >Makeup and clothes will go a long way. I was thinking more in terms of her learning to act as me. She’s used to being around power and has held powerful positions, but she barely knows me. There’s a solution, but it presents more problems. I have already broken with ancient tradition. I hesitate to break further from it.<

  >I have never directly participated in your Testings.<

  >But you know my memories of them.<

  >How can I not? I don’t dwell on them. Truthfully, they hold little interest to me.<

  >It breaks a trust. The Chosen never reveal what they learn during Testings without permission. From here on out, I will have to advise each person Tested that I have a Rider.<

  >I would counsel otherwise. The fewer who know you carry a Rider the better for both of us. Your enemies are weakened by not knowing. At present, they do not even suspect.<

  >Does not informing them make it a lie? I cannot lie, ever.<

  >Since when does an omission bother a Chosen even in the slightest? You are all masters at omitting full truths when it serves you.<

  >Or when it serves the listener.<

  >Or the listener,< Cassandra agreed. >In this particular case, do you have a choice?<

  >Your offspring will have your memories.<

  >Memories that will guide Nancy as she becomes you. Nancy’s Rider will know you, and she can make physical changes to Nancy’s appearance, as well. Given enough time, Nancy might even become your twin.<

  >No. Resemblance is one thing. Identity is another. It risks everything the Chosen stand for. It risks the very fabric of Empire.<

  >Her Rider will know your wishes. You worry needlessly.<

  >I hope so. The whole thing feels wrong to me. It is deceitful.<

  >All those years of advanced learning on Rrestriss and that’s the best you can come up with? I don’t call it deceitful. I call it misleading.<

  >Semantics.<

  She felt Cassandra smiling as she replied, >We walk a fine line here, I agree. I would never presume to instruct a Chosen.<

  The lines around Ellie’s eyes crinkled as a grin found its way to her face. >Jake gave me excellent counsel when we were in the net together. Yours is equally good if not better. Thank you for being my friend.<

  >You’re just introspective today. You’ve been doing more and more of that lately.<

  >Implying what?<

  >Just that Nancy Shaw is right. It’s time for you to get back to work. You need to be a Chosen again, not just a figurehead.<

  Ellie’s lips firmed. Cassandra was right. She needed to get back to work. She stepped over to a chair and rested her hands on its back, leaning toward Krys who was again seated on the couch. Krys had not been blind long enough to really get good at balancing and she sat whenever possible.

  “So you’re off to Triton. When?”

  “I have no excuse to delay.”

  “Give Trexler and Chandrajuski one more day to flesh out their plans. They’re bound to have instructions for Mike.”

  “We will have to alert him to the presence of gleasons,” Otis added. “That is a key piece of the Nancy Shaw vision, a fortuitous piece if I ever saw one.” He turned to Krys. “I would like to go with you.”

  Her visage instantly brightened. “Wonderful!”

  Ellie’s expression fell. “I had hoped you’d stay with me.”

  Otis sat in his listening to Ellie pose. “So had I. The presence of gleasons changes everything. Mike’s whole mission could fail. We should definitely reconsider your presence there. It is far too dangerous.”

  She frowned as she considered his words. She did not lightly dispute her counselor of so many years, but this time his counsel felt wrong. Then she found the only possible response and brightened in triumph. “I have to go. We both know that. Besides, my presence there has been foretold. Would you have me defy the Leaf People?”

  Krys broke into the conversation. “They are visions, not instruction manuals, Mother. Maybe they were warning you to stay away. After all, I did see you carried from the chamber in Mike’s arms, and you were completely limp.”

  “We make our decisions, right or wrong, and we shoulder the consequences. My place is there. I’m going. Period.”

  Chapter 11

  Ellie spent another month on Shipyard preparing Nancy Shaw to take her place. During that month, most of Serge Parsons’ production left for Earth.

  As a crutch to learning how Ellie thought, Nancy studied the speech Ellie would make to the senate. Ellie had only a small staff, and Nancy proved a welcome addition, having spent years writing speeches at the White House. Not that Ellie really needed the help: at her age and with her experience, speeches had become a routine business. This particular speech, ho
wever, was so important that any benefits from multiple inputs were welcome.

  Nancy also got to know Alexis, Ellie’s daughter. Almost four years old now, Alexis had spent her life shifting from one home to another. The only constant in her life had been Mildred, and the two deeply loved each other, but Nancy marveled at the relationship Ellie maintained with her daughter despite heavy demands on her time. Alexis related well to both her nanny and her mother.

  Developmentally she was slightly ahead of what Nancy had experienced with her own children, but not markedly ahead. Formal education had already become a part of her life, but until Ellie was restored to the Palace, education would come from tutors. Once Palace life was restored, some of her education would take place in classrooms, though if Ellie determined that Alexis carried the gifts of a Chosen, tutors would always play a part in her life.

  Admiral Jons and Commander Akurea Skvechavka’a entered Ellie’s quarters one afternoon without even knocking, both engrossed in animated conversation. Jons was dressed in his standard uniform, but Akurea wore coveralls, and she had not gotten around to rolling her sleeves down. Various sensors, meters, and tools protruded from her pockets.

  Ellie stood up when they entered, both of them beaming when they saw her. “It works!” Jons pronounced.

  “Can I assume you’re talking about the hypercom?” she asked.

  “Oh. Sorry, Your Majesty. Yes, the hypercom. The receiving ship was only a few jumps out of the system, so it wasn’t all that far, but it worked.”

  Nancy stood up and moved off to the side, soon ignored by everyone. It had become her way as she studied Ellie’s every mannerism.

  “Congratulations, both of you,” Ellie said. “I couldn’t be prouder of you. Not only are you giving our commanders a tremendously useful tool, the hypercom will change civilization.

  “Its impact on the war is right up there with Serge’s fast ships and Mike’s projects,” Jons said, nodding his head in agreement.

  “Mike’s projects?”

  “You know. The new ships and all.”

  “I know a new ship was built on Earth at his suggestion. Are you telling me there are more?”

  “He didn’t tell you?”

  “No.”

  Jons bit his lip. Had he erred? “I’m pretty sure he intended to. Something must have intervened.”

  “A likely possibility. What projects?”

  “Well, uh, ships and guns mostly. He and Serge met privately. It was a business deal.”

  “A business deal! You’re joking.”

  Jons squirmed as he raised his eyes to the ceiling. To himself, he said “Come on, Mike - not fair.” To Ellie, he said, “No, Your Majesty. I couldn’t be more serious. Serge is providing engineering and development. Earth will do the actual construction, and some day Earth or the Empire will pay him royalties.”

  “Mike is spending my money?”

  “Well,” Jons said, wishing he’d never brought it up, “He is First Knight. Isn’t that what they do?”

  A grin split her face from side to side. “Of course it is. I just didn’t know he knew.” She moved to her favorite position, leaning back against the front of her desk. “I want to hear all about it, but first I want to hear about the hypercom. Have a seat.” She turned to Akurea. “I thought Serge’s people were doing the work.”

  Akurea looked perplexed for a moment, then looked down at the tools hanging from a belt at her waist and sticking out of her pockets. “Oh, sorry, Your Majesty.” She immediately began tugging on the ends of her sleeves, rolling them back down. “I was just testing a few things on the ship during the transmissions.”

  “The hypercom is on a ship?”

  “It is. It takes a lot of power, power that is safer to release from orbit. We’ll set up an automatic relay to patch calls to and from the surface, no problem there.”

  “The message is clear?”

  “Not yet. We might be able to improve it, but that’s down the road. There’s a lot of hissing in the background and the transit delay is frustrating, but it’s not as bad as calling port control when you first enter a system. That delay is on the order of hours. Here, at least on this short range call, it was on the order of minutes. It might be longer over longer distances, but it might not. We just don’t know yet.”

  “When will it be available to the people who need it?”

  “We have two hand-made units. Production will take place on Earth. The facility is already enroute. We just have to give them the go-ahead. It will be a few months, but we’ll be able to turn out five or six a month once we get started.”

  “What about the software patch for Chessori power plants?”

  “Ready to go, Your Majesty.”

  Ellie raised her eyebrows. “Really! Who’s going to deliver it?”

  “Me.”

  Ellie shot a look to Admiral Jons, and he stood up. “Sorry, Your Majesty, but my hands are more than full with guiding Earth’s construction projects. Truth be told, I’m less in control than I would like.”

  “Why?”

  Jons grinned. “As you know from personal experience, Serge’s people are enough of a challenge all by themselves, but the program managers from Earth are their equals. I guide, and I keep the programs in focus, but that’s about all.”

  “Tell me about Mike’s projects.”

  “There are several. Mike wants tiny little spaceships, just room for a few guys. Serge and I decided the minimum crew was four. Mike doesn’t want more fighters, he wants ships that can take on capital ships. These tiny little ships would be all drive and all guns, and each gun would be the equivalent of a single gun on a cruiser. Serge has one that’s just about ready. It’s actually flown. The production line is on its way to Earth.”

  “They’re fast ships?”

  “They are, but in order to build them quickly we had to give them limited functionality. They can’t operate in atmosphere so they’ll be carried aloft inside other ships. That might change with future versions. Additionally, Mike was concerned that Terran crews might decide to go on a jaunt across the galaxy. We’ve prevented that by limiting the life support systems to ten days.”

  “Ten days! Who would go out in a ship that would run out of air in ten days?”

  “According to Mike, Trexler’s guys will. Some 80% of the space in our ships is taken up with life support systems. In these small ships, it’s almost negligible. It has really simplified production.”

  “And Serge did this in what, a year or so?”

  “I wasn’t kidding when I told you Serge has gone all out. He fully understands the impact of the scree. He’s planning well beyond what Mike asked for – he knows we’re going to have to take this war to the Chessori domain eventually, and he wants us to win.”

  “What other projects?”

  “I’m not entirely certain. He’s wily, and he’s a criminal. That hasn’t changed, nor for the moment do we need it to change. When this is all over, I think he’s going to be a very formidable opponent.”

  “I don’t see us going after him.”

  “He’s a smuggler to the bone, Your Majesty. We’ll have to try, but I don’t think we’ll have a lot of success. I, for one, would not want to be the first Empire ship that goes up against one of his.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “We don’t really know the extent of his operations or of his capabilities. When we first came here in my banged-up squadron we knew about Parsons World, but we didn’t know about Shipyard. I’m starting to wonder if he doesn’t have another place or two he hasn’t told us about.”

  She considered, then said, “I would not find it surprising. Don’t pry, at least not too hard. You said he’s working on other projects.”

  “One of Mike’s other ideas bore fruit. Everyone’s guns are tuned to deliver the strongest possible punch, but shields are tuned to prevent those punches from getting through and they’re effective. It takes a while to penetrate them. Mike wondered if it would be possible to t
une the guns to a different frequency that the shield was not designed to stop. Serge’s guys have tested new guns. They’re weaker than our own, but they punch right through shields. These tiny little ships will have the new guns. They’re not as strong as those on a cruiser, but they will have an equivalent impact on their targets, maybe an even greater impact since more shots will get through.”

  Ellie sat back in her seat deep in contemplation. “So they work.”

  “They are not battle tested.”

  “Do we need a massive project to rework the rest of our ships?”

  “Not yet. I don’t think this system is better than what we have now, but it is equivalent and it’s quicker to install in the new ships. We’ll know more after we’ve seen them in battle.”

  “What about our fighters? They’re pretty useless right now.”

  “We’re going to test the new guns on fighters once the transfer to Earth is complete. It would be nice if we could just convert existing ships rather than build new ones, and it would be nice to see our fighters useful again, but the power plants might not be adequate. We might have to limit shields when they’re shooting.”

  “Who would go out in an unshielded ship?”

  “According to Mike, Trexler’s guys will. They might not have to with these new, lower powered guns. We’ll know soon. On another project, you know about the ship they modified on Earth to detect drive signatures rather than beacons.”

  “I don’t have any details.”

  “Well, Mike knows warfare. He knows that the beacons on our ships advertise our presence just as they advertise the presence of the Chessori. To date, we believe that Chessori beacons serve the same purpose as our own: they prevent collisions, and they give commanders a means to control battles. We can shut ours off now, but they’re turned back on when we engage. The Chessori have seen this, and they’re going to follow our example. Mike asked Serge to build special ships with the most sensitive sensors we can produce, ships that will see any ship with or without a beacon, even ships far out in a system. The sensors are tuned to see drive signatures, not beacons.”