Starbound

by Dave Bara

  I tossed and turned for more than an hour, exhausted but unable to turn my mind off. I got up around midnight and picked up a novel with an interesting cover from the collection in my room and sat down to read. It was from an author named Swenson, what they used to call “science fiction,” an antiquated genre. I remembered reading it as an adolescent and enjoying it. I was barely fifteen minutes into my reading when there was a knock at my door.

  “Come in,” I said. The doors parted and Karina came in, wearing a pink robe over a flowing white nightgown, which trailed her across the carpet as she came in and shut the door behind her.

  “That gown looks a bit long for you,” I said, smiling as I put the book down. She smiled back.

  “Short girl problems. I’m only a hundred and fifty-six centimeters,” she said. I tried to run the conversion in my head.

  “Five-foot-one?” I said.

  “Five-one and a half,” she replied. “In your quaint outmoded measurement system.” She came over and sat next to me in a side chair, the gown fabric flowing onto the floor. She wrestled with it, trying to figure out what to do with all the extra fabric.

  “We’ll try to find you something that fits better tomorrow,” I said by way of apology. She smiled again.

  “They did their best. No doubt some normal-sized second lieutenant of the royal guard is out her favorite nightgown,” she said, then continued. “I saw your light on. I couldn’t sleep either. There’s so much on my mind.”

  “And mine,” I agreed. I sensed there was something more, but hesitated to ask what it might be, so I let the silence hang in the air for a while. She looked at me as if she was unabashedly evaluating me, but for what? Finally she spoke.

  “I hope you would agree that these are not normal circumstances, Peter, and that we’ve been forced together in a way that neither of us would have chosen,” she said.

  “I would agree with that,” I said. Now where is this going? I thought.

  “Then perhaps that will make you open to some more . . . unorthodox solutions in regards to our current predicament?”

  I shifted in my chair. This could be trouble. “What’s on your mind, Karina?”

  Now it was her turn to wiggle uncomfortably in her chair. “You would agree that the problems on Carinthia, with my brother, are now threatening to envelop the whole Union?” she said.

  “Yes, that’s obvious.”

  “And if we could put pressure on Arin in his position as Regent, force his hand, if you will, it might create a crack in my world’s desire to follow him down the path to leaving the Union,” she said. I thought about that a moment.

  “Which side will your people come down on?” I asked.

  “My people are dedicated to my father. They trust his rule, and his judgment. Arin is not so well liked. He’s never been popular with the people. There has even been a movement to petition my father to make Benn the legitimate heir, though my father never considered it,” she said. I thought for a moment again.

  “My hope has been that you and your father will be able to make your broadcast to the Carinthian people. Won’t that help the situation?” I said. Now she moved in closer to me.

  “Help, yes, but will it be enough? Arin could just maintain that the kidnappers were forcing us to make the broadcast. And he doesn’t care about his popularity, whether they will believe him. He just wants control,” she said.

  “Go on,” I replied, trying to stay as neutral as I could manage.

  “So to my mind,” she continued, “we need something more decisive than just the message. An act that will force both sides on Carinthia to choose who they will follow, my father, or the Regency,” she said. The look in her eyes was very intense now. It was time for me to find out what she had in mind.

  “All right. What are you proposing?” I asked. She leaned in close and took my hand in hers. Whatever was coming, she was very serious about it.

  “Marry me. Now,” she said.

  I could only stare blankly at her, so she continued.

  “My father will condemn Arin and declare a government in exile, a union of our two families. It will split the Carinthian people and the military in two.”

  “Karina—”

  “Please, Peter. Can’t you see this is the only way? My father is fading fast. Once he’s gone Arin will have total power, and the Union will be at an end. Only by our two families being joined can we hope to mount a challenge to his authority. Only that bond could sway popular and military opinion enough to save Carinthia from civil war and the Union from dissolution. You have to see it. It’s the only way,” she said.

  She had surprised me again. No, shocked me, with her boldness.

  “You’re not saying anything,” she said. “Is it such an audacious proposal? Or is it just that you don’t fancy me as much as your daring Lightship captain?”

  I had no idea what to say to that. I hadn’t even considered this as a possibility. A marriage for political purposes was something I had always been faced with since the death of my brother; I just hadn’t thought of it as a solution to this current crisis.

  “I think we should consult with my father and Wesley,” I said. “This could actually spur on a civil war on Carinthia.” Karina shook her head.

  “That won’t happen. If our wedding is as popular as I think it will be, the people will clamor to stay in the Union, and the military will not act in discord with the people. I’m not saying it won’t be dangerous, but I believe there are enough good men left in the Carinthian military to stave off a civil war, and we will be the catalyst for them to stand down, even in the face of Arin’s orders,” she said.

  “But—” I didn’t get to protest as she continued to talk right over me.

  “As for your father and the admiral, they will discourage it, and Carinthia will pay the price. Our people will fall under oppression and my father will die in exile of a broken heart on a world light-years away from his home. I want to save my world, Peter. I’ve thought it through, and this is the only way. I’m asking you, not as a young navy commander, but as a royal son of Quantar who will one day inherit his own planetary title. Unite our two worlds. Marry me. Help me to save Carinthia,” she said. Her grip on my hand was ever tighter, and she was on the verge of tears. I looked at her and knew she would not be dissuaded from this path. I had to decide, one way or another.

  I broke free of her hand, went to my room com, and called down to Walther.

  “Listen very carefully,” I said.

  I walked into the palace’s map room on the third floor at 0850, dressed in my full royal uniform, indicating both my rank and decorations as Duke of KendalFalk. I chose this over my regular navy uniform for obvious reasons; the decisions being made in this room were going to be of historic importance.

  The map room was the only one big enough to accommodate the more than forty people required in the council that also had the plasma displays and 3-D projectors necessary for strategy and planning. The main table had a dozen seats around it, and I had instructed the stewards to place me on the wall side, facing the windows, third from the head, where my father would sit. Spaces were reserved next to me on my right for both the grand duke and his daughter. I hoped Karina could get him prepared enough to both attend the council and be coherent enough to make decisions.

  Next to my father would be Wesley on his right, followed by a Royal Navy Admiral and Union commanders in descending order of importance. It seemed to me that I had chosen the proper side of the table to sit, next to our allies and not in opposition to them. Harrington would be on my immediate left and Zander was placed next to him as his primary military consultant. Essentially it was the Quantar and Union Navy on the window side and the foreigners, except for me, on the wall side. As the principals began filtering into the room I sat down and then poured water from a crystal pitcher into a glass, as did many others in the grim-fac
ed crowd. Those not anointed with a seat at the table took up strategic positions around the room, standing against the strategy console or sitting in chairs brought up from the family dining room.

  My father came in three minutes early, trailed as always by Wesley. They sat down together, engaging in hushed conversation. I was soon joined by Harrington and Zander and their subordinates. My father glanced over at me from his notes, perhaps curious that I had chosen to sit on the wall side, then looked to the two empty chairs next to me reserved for Karina and the Grand Duke Henrik. He cleared his throat.

  “Let’s begin,” he said. I looked at my watch: still two minutes early.

  “Pardon me, sir,” I said to him. “But could we give the grand duke and his daughter another two minutes? We are starting early.”

  My father looked at the wall clock and nodded while Wesley gave me a cold glare from across the table. I stayed calm and sipped my water.

  At precisely 0900 the Grand Duke Henrik and his daughter came into the room, and everyone stood and gently applauded. His gray-streaked hair was clean and styled, his black military uniform was pressed and properly pleated, and he strode through the room as if he had been in such situations thousands of times. Indeed, I supposed that he had. Karina was at his side and guided him by the arm to his chair, where he sat with the kind of dignity only a lifelong royal could muster. Karina, dressed in her green Carinthian lieutenant’s uniform, sat down between us. She smiled at me and gripped my hand quickly under the table before letting go. Then everyone else took their places except my father, who stood and addressed the duke.

  “Grand Duke Henrik, let me be the first to officially welcome you to Quantar, and to wish you many blessings on your visit here,” he said.

  The grand duke nodded, acknowledging my father, but said nothing while the crowd applauded politely again. My father sat down then and looked my way a second time, but again said nothing to me. Then he started in.

  “This council is called to address the great threat before the Union, the possible secession of Carinthia from our alliance, and all the implications thereof, up to and including the possibility of war,” my father stated formally. “I will ask Grand Admiral Jonathon Wesley of the Union Navy to give us the latest tactical report.” Wesley stood, cleared his throat, and then nodded to an assistant who activated the main plasma display taking up almost the entire near wall. The Union Navy Linkworks logo appeared as we all looked down the table to the wall display.

  “About nine hours ago we received a distress signal via longwave from H.M.S. Valiant, on a survey mission in the Sandosa system. She reported that she was under heavy attack from unknown forces, but was seeking to avoid the conflict and find safe haven. About two hours ago we received an update packet from Valiant, containing the following visual recording. I’ll let the room assess what it shows,” Wesley said, then nodded to the assistant who played the recording.

  The display showed a formation of ships attacking Valiant from at least three sides, I couldn’t be sure but the vessels looked like the type of automated HuKs both Impulse and Starbound had faced before. The grainy images showed Valiant avoiding and escaping from the buzzsaw-like attacks. Then suddenly the field of view cut to a deep field scan that I recognized as being generated by a longscope tactical screen. It showed a large-displacement ship jumping into the fray very close to Valiant, and her moving evasively to avoid the rising hulk.

  “Imperial dreadnought,” I said out loud, more muttering to myself than anything else, but Wesley overheard me.

  “Since you’re the only one in this room who has seen one up close, Commander, we’ll take your word for it,” he said, then waved to the assistant, who shut off the screen. “An Imperial dreadnought. From this point Valiant was able to use her sub-light impeller drives to escape to the jump point and make a direct jump to Pendax before the pursuing ships caught her, but she burned out her HD impellers doing it. I think you can all see the implications of this attack. The Imperial Navy is operational, and is now hunting our Lightships. They will eventually figure out where Valiant jumped to and pursue her. If they do, the Pendax system will be under real threat.” I looked to Admar Harrington, who looked more than a bit upset at these potential circumstances, and I couldn’t blame him. Something else occurred to me though, so I spoke again.

  “According to the tactical display we saw, that dreadnought jumped directly into the battle scene, Admiral,” I said. “That indicates the dreadnoughts don’t need to use jump space to ingress and egress our star systems anymore.”

  “And that means they’re a goddamned menace to the whole Union,” said Wesley. “No one is safe from them. And the larger implication of this attack is that we may be facing a war on two fronts.”

  “Or a single front with two enemies,” Karina said. Wesley shrugged.

  “Either way, it’s not good news, Princess,” he said, using her royal rank rather than her military one.

  “What will we do about Valiant?” I asked. “Rescue mission? Reinforcements?” Wesley waved at the assistant again and the display reactivated, bringing up a link to Starbound’s command briefing room, where I was heartened to see the faces of Captain Maclintock and Serosian appear.

  “Valiant was intended as a survey and First Contact ship, and her captain and crew are not trained for serious battle situations. She will need to be reinforced and brought up to battle trim, and quickly,” continued Wesley. “I don’t think I need to introduce Captain Jonas Maclintock or Historian Serosian of Starbound to most of you, but I’ll do so as a courtesy to the grand duke and to you, Princess.”

  “Thank you, Admiral,” Karina said for them both. Then I noticed that she had to give her father a gentle nudge as his eyes started to close. He responded by tapping her hand to thank her.

  “What’s your status, Captain?” Wesley demanded.

  “Fit, trim, and ready to rumble, Admiral,” Maclintock said. That set off a round of low-level laughter. “All repairs are complete. We just need our longscope officer back aboard and we’ll be ready to head out to Pendax.” That was a nod to me and I appreciated it.

  “That’s good news, Captain, and I do have your departure orders,” Wesley said. I looked to my father, but his attention was fixed on the screen. Wesley went to his briefcase at the table and pulled out some papers, shuffling them a couple of times before continuing. I was beginning to worry that I might get left out of the coming battle. Perhaps I had gone too far and now both Wesley and my father saw me as a liability to the navy. Wesley cleared his throat again.

  “Starbound is hereby ordered to the Pendax system, there to provide protection for the local populace as well as to relieve the command crew of Valiant. You’ll need to get her on a battle footing quickly, Jonas,” he said. Wesley then turned to Admar Harrington. “Mr. Harrington here has a flotilla of merchant frigates, or Wasps as he calls them, five in all, deploying throughout the Pendax system now. They aren’t Lightships but they pack a solid punch and they’re faster than anything those Imperial thugs have. You’ll coordinate with the Wasp fleet commander to set up a systemwide defense. Understood, Captain?”

  “Yes, Admiral,” said Maclintock.

  “Good. Captain Zander will follow you in with a battle group of seven more Wasps deployed from Candle, and the remaining ten are going to be split equally between defense of Levant and Quantar, though we here likely already have enough in-system firepower to hold off anything but a full-scale invasion. The Earthmen, of course, need no help with planetary defenses. You should note that those additional seven Wasps will likely take another twelve hours to reach you after Starbound makes her jump, so you can’t count on them until they show up.”

  “Understood, Admiral. But I have a question: if Captain Scott of Valiant and his command crew are to be relieved, who will be taking command of her?” asked Maclintock.

  “Believe me, that’s been a question here,” replie
d Wesley, setting the reference paper back down on the table and then returning his attention to the display.

  “I can’t recommend Commander Devin Tannace highly enough, sir,” said Maclintock. Tannace had been Starbound’s XO before Dobrina and I had been assigned to her at Levant. Since then he’d been the military attaché in charge of training the Levantine crew of their Lightship Resolution.

  “Your recommendation is noted, Captain, but I’ve already made Tannace captain of Resolution. He left for Earth this morning, and the Levantine crew is going to be replaced with experienced Earth spacers. The ship itself will likely not be ready for another week, but we’re rushing to get her in the game.” At this he took in a deep breath. This situation made me want to get back to my own ship to help as soon as possible.

  “With apologies Admiral,” started Maclintock, “but who—” Wesley stopped him with a raised hand. He came back to the table and pulled a small box out of his briefcase. He looked at the box briefly, then set it down and slid it across the table.

  To me.

  I looked at the box, then reached out and opened it. Two matching gold captain’s bars for my collar.

  “Mr. Cochrane will command Starbound. He’s the only command-level field officer besides you with battle experience against the empire, and he’s familiar with your ship,” said Wesley. This sent a ripple through the crowd. I looked at the bars again, and started to get nervous. Wesley turned his attention back to the display screen.

  “But, Admiral,” said Maclintock, “Captain Zander has—”

  “Lightship command experience, yes I know, Captain. But he’s not in the Union or Carinthian Navy anymore. And besides that, I believe Mr. Harrington here would prefer that Captain Zander protect Pendax’s interests, since that is what he’s paying him for,” said Wesley.