Inwards Bound (The RIM CONFEDERACY Book 13)

by Jim Rudnick

  After shaking hands, they walked down the long ramp to the tarmac toward the waiting vehicle.

  As they reached it, one of the Tunander guards, who was taking a call from someone, held up his hand to delay the two of them.

  Bram was only slightly perturbed, but then the grinding roar of a landing ramp being extended hit them. He turned, like they all did, and over at the Paladin, he saw the lower deck on the destroyer was extending outward. In a minute, it hit the tarmac, and down the ramp came a vehicle—a small personnel carrier—that went right by the waiting Tunander Coalition vehicle and its two guards and sped toward the administration building.

  The guard gestured toward them and said, “Please board, Captain,” as he moved out of the way.

  “What was that?” Ambassador Harmon asked.

  “The Noriega didn’t need our ride, I suspect,” the guard said, and Bram heard a little sarcasm in the guard’s tone.

  The vehicle followed the personnel carrier, and in a minute, both arrived at the front of the administration building. Bram got out quickly and was followed by the ambassador, but they noted the vehicle from the other ship was already empty. They had only been there a half a minute, but the passengers—whomever they were—were already inside.

  The Tunander Coalition guards led them up the stairs, and they went into the building, turned to the left, and walked down a short hall to a room.

  Bram had expected a meeting room, but that was not what they had been taken to. Instead, they had reached the building’s cafeteria. It was full of tables and chairs and had a complete serving line on the far side. More than a dozen servers stood behind the serving line with its long metal rails for sliding food trays. Strange, but they are all watching the guests come in, Bram thought as he turned to his left and stopped cold.

  The first time he had met Tunander, he had thought the man was dressed like a “banana republic” dictator, but the attire of the three men from the Paladin far surpassed Tunander’s.

  Each was a human—or appeared to be a human—of about six feet in height. Each wore an identical khaki uniform. But the uniform was completely without any kind of normal badging.

  Across the chest was a band of olive green. On it were small star-shaped patches in rows. One man had several of those patches—many more than the other two. Must be the one in charge, Bram thought. The three men from the Paladin stood there looking at Bram and Ambassador Harmon.

  Bram made the first move and stepped forward. “I’m Captain Bram Sander of the Crimson I—the big red ship out there. And this is Ambassador Harmon, and we’re both from the RIM Confederacy on a diplomatic call to the Tunander Coalition.”

  He smiled and he waited. None of the three men opposite him said anything for several seconds, but eventually, the man with the most patches nodded and stepped forward.

  “I am Noriega. I ordered this meeting. Where is the Tunander?” he said.

  Rude, Bram thought and mentally shook his head, but he said nothing.

  From behind him, the head of state of the Tunander Coalition spoke up. “As usual, Noriega, you are being rude to our guests—not your guests. But yes, let’s get this whole thing started, shall we?” He turned then and walked over to a table that had been set for nine guests, and everyone followed. He smiled at Bram and Ambassador Harmon and said, “I think perhaps we should eat first and then talk—”

  “No. We are not here to eat. We are here to listen to your excuses,” Noriega said and sat. One of his aides sat to his left and the other on his right.

  Tunander nodded, turned to Bram, and gestured over to the cafeteria line. Bram didn’t smile too much, but he led the way over to the line. He took a tray, put some silverware on it, moved to the rails, and put the tray down. He looked at the first lady behind the line and said, “What’s good today?”

  She smiled at him as she stepped forward and pointed at the various compartments behind the clear glass. “Sir, we have a wide selection of some of the planet’s best-known and loved dishes. Here, we have our appetizers—everything from fresh, raw rodent to fish to a platter that has a large selection to choose from, if you prefer.”

  As she spoke, Bram looked down to see what looked like a six-legged varmint of some kind staring back at him. “Probably pickled,” he said to himself, but the gentle tremor up his back reminded him that he wouldn’t touch that at all. Ever.

  He nodded and said, “And then?” He moved his tray down the line a few feet.

  The same person followed him to show him the entrées, the sides, soups, salads, and eventually desserts.

  He ended up selecting a small portion of some kind of fish fillet. Looks odd, but it is cooked and does smell good, he thought. He then chose something steamed that reminded him of rice. And for dessert, he chose a piece of what the lady behind the line had said was a fruit pie.

  He sat and a moment later, the ambassador returned to the table with a full tray, laden with food. Bram raised an eyebrow, which the ambassador noticed, and he whispered, “Bram, it is always good to eat well.”

  Across the table and down a few chairs, Noriega sat and watched them.

  Mad. The guy is pretty mad, which is a good thing, Bram thought. One can sometimes use that anger to get someone to make a judgment call and action based on that anger. And in negotiations, using a man’s anger against him is often a bonus.

  Tunander came back to the table with a large portion of the same fish Bram had. Once he was seated, he said to Noriega, “Perhaps as we eat, you can tell us why you wanted this meeting.”

  Not polite. Not perhaps really necessary from one head of state to another, Bram thought. Still, Bram saw, it did make Noriega blanch a little more.

  Noriega nodded, and it looked like he tried to curb his tongue. “Tunander, your coalition was the place that the RIM Confederacy came. We want to know why. And more than that, we want you to remember that your coalition is a part of the Warlord space—a full partner,” he said forcefully.

  Tunander smiled as he speared a large piece of fish on his fork and gently placed it in his mouth. He chewed. One didn’t talk when one chewed, so they waited. Bram tried that rice-like dish, and it wasn’t bad at all. It was steamed and the small kernels had a spongy inside with a brittle cover around it. Bram thought it tasted a bit fishy, but that might have been from the fish fillet sitting beside it on the same plate.

  Tunander swallowed and then spoke slowly and softly but firmly. “Noriega. We didn’t move the planet to visit them—the RIM showed up here. Why? We don’t know. We have been hospitable hosts though. We took them on a tour of all four of our worlds in one day. We have our holidays, which end this evening with the big festival. And tomorrow, I will sit with the captain and his ambassador to talk about the reason for their visit. But I’m sure—positive, in fact—that this has nothing to do with you or your space, Noriega.” He didn’t smile. He just looked at the dictator across the table from him.

  Noriega jumped to his feet, pointing a finger at Tunander, and his voice went up in volume until he was shouting. “I know there’s another reason, and don’t think that I won’t find it either. You are on notice from the Warlord space that we will be watching. And at the first sign of any double-dealing or treachery, the whole might of the three of us warlords will come down on you—both of you,” he said, spittle flying out of his lips as he was so mad. He stormed off, followed by his two sidekicks.

  Bram wondered if they’d even ask the landing authority for permission to leave or just jump up and off planet on their own. He took another bite of the fish and decided that he did like it. He ate slowly and in a few minutes more, he was done.

  He tried the pie last, but he didn’t like it. If it was Oirus fruit, then he’d hate to see the tree it was grown on as he thought it tasted like a mix between mud and soot.

  Tunander watched him finish and then smiled. “Noriega is more than incorrect in that we—you and I have no hidden agenda. We haven’t even talked as yet. But, that will happen soon
if that’d be okay with you—and you too, Ambassador?”

  Bram bowed his head, smiled, and said, “At your convenience, Tunander. Just let us know where and when.”

  The lunch broke up, and instead of taking the carrier back to the Crimson I, Ambassador Harmon and Bram decided to walk. They talked and decided that tomorrow they would be honest and forthright with Tunander, but they would keep the Jannah request on the down low.

  Bram smiled at that, as the whole situation was going to get a lot more complicated when the Caliph and Baroness each sent negotiation teams to visit Jannah.

  #####

  The ready room on the Gibraltar was large, yet for Admiral Vennamo to receive the Baroness and then offer refreshments and hold a meeting, it was a bit cramped. Maybe not for myself and the Baroness, but then there were the inevitable EliteGuards, the hangers-on like aides … How many chairs should I even have the stewards set up?

  She stood and threw up her hands. “Ten. Put eight chairs over against the bulkhead there,” she said as she pointed toward an inner wall. “And then the two here opposite my own seat at the captain’s console.”

  Stewards jumped and reset the chairs according to the admiral’s wishes. One came forward and said, “Admiral, will this do?”

  The eight chairs were in a line against the inner wall that separated the ready room from the bridge. Against the exterior bulkhead, the view-screen showed Neres below, in all its daylight glory. Next was the captain’s console with her chair against the desk side and the two chairs opposite her chair. A small cart that carried pastries, tea, coffee, and even wine had been wheeled in. Her chief steward had prompted her that sometimes the Baroness looked for wine, and as it was almost noon, Eleanor had okayed the addition of a small selection of Quaran whites. She hoped that this would not be seen as being improper; one might think it odd, but then again, pleasing a Royal was sometimes a guessing game.

  She sat in her chair, looked at her monitor, and noted that the inbound shuttle from Neres City, carrying the Baroness, was on time and should dock on the Gibraltar in less than ten minutes.

  The reason for the visit was still an unknown. There had just been a notice to expect the Baroness on this date at this time. “Maybe I’m getting my walking papers—she’s found someone else to be the Barony Navy admiral. Or maybe she’s going to resign and … never mind,” she said to herself, ”I’ll know in a few minutes.” She stood and went through the door connecting the ready room with the Gibraltar bridge.

  “Admiral on the bridge,” her XO barked out, and as usual, she waved it off.

  “Yes, XO, thank you. The Baroness is coming aboard, and you will give her all the deference a Royal deserves. She will pass right through the bridge to meet with me in my ready room. I do not know how long our meeting will last, but you all had better look busy, busy when she’s on the bridge. That understood?” she asked.

  The “Wilcos” rang out, and that handled that problem. She smiled at them all and then went out of the bridge to wait in the corridor where the Baroness would be coming along soon. In less than five minutes, she heard the tramp of the EliteGuards’ measured walk coming around the curved corridor first. Moments later, the Baroness came into view and she was smiling.

  “Good sign,” Eleanor said to herself, and she walked forward to meet the head of state of the Barony.

  “Baroness, so good to see you—hopefully the shuttle ride up was fine?” she asked, thinking that small talk was always a good starter.

  “It was fine, Admiral, and the pilot gave us a full sweep around the Gibraltar too. The ship looks very good, and that is a reflection of the person in charge—so kudos to you, Admiral.” She smiled as they entered the bridge and was able to look surprised when the XO stated, “Baroness on the bridge,” and the bridge crew jumped to their feet with small bows.

  She looked happy at that and said, “Please as you all were, nice to be on the Gibraltar.” She walked right by them on her way to the ready room.

  “Starts with a compliment and then all to business—traditional characteristics,” the admiral said to herself.

  The Baroness went right over to the refreshments, and shooing away a steward, she poured her own tea. She did look over the pastries and chose a raisin tart. No wine. No coffee. None of the little doughnuts or Danishes either. All she chose to go with her tea was a raisin tart in its little foil shell.

  She sat alone opposite the admiral’s chair, and the admiral noticed they were alone in the ready room. She had brought no aides—and the EliteGuards were still out in the bridge. Probably just eying the crew, she thought as she poured herself a cup of coffee and then sat carefully at her console.

  “Hope the refreshments are fine, Ma’am?” Best to stick with more small talk and let the Baroness get to the point when she wants, Admiral Vennamo thought.

  The Baroness nodded as she had taken a bite of the raisin tart and smiled as she chewed. “I am especially fond of these ones, so yes, they’re fine, Admiral.”

  No movement to the point of the meeting as yet, so Eleanor smiled back at her and took a bite of the cherry Danish that she had picked. She chewed slowly hoping they’d move along past small talk soon.

  “You know, Admiral, that I asked for this meeting, correct? I mean, your aides told you that as well as that I requested that the Gibraltar be ready for a trip off the RIM, correct?”

  The admiral was blindsided. No one had told her that at all. But as always, she was ready for anything.

  “Yes, Ma’am. We’re ready for any kind of mission to anywhere, Ma’am,” she said. Almost true too, she thought.

  “Well, here’s what I need done—a sort of ‘“undercover” type of mission. One thing to show everyone else, yet a hidden agenda for you to act upon …”

  She went on for almost a full half hour on the mission of the Crimson I. She explained about the agreements between the Caliph, the Duke d’Avigdor, and herand that she had donated the Defiant to the mission. She explained that Bram Sander, an Issian and a past Adept Officer, had been promoted to full captaincy of the Crimson I by the duke and that he was charged with the duty to find opportunities for the RIM Confederacy to grow by seeking out realms that might be interested in joining the Confederacy. And he had done just that. Out in Warlord space—the new name for the failed Pentyaan Oligarchy—there was just such a group—the Tunander Coalition. And one of their planets was interested in joining the RIM, but it had no real position on whether to join as a full member or as a realm of a current member

  “And that is why I am here today,” the Baroness said. “What I want to happen is to send you and the Gibraltar to this Tunander Coalition to talk to this interested planet, Jannah, I believe it’s called. You will present to them a full proposal to join the Barony, and I give you all the opportunity to get them aboard. You may let them know that as a member of the RIM Confederacy, they would receive the Barony Drive too. Either as a full member or as a subordinate realm to a full member. That may also be a real chip to play with their dictator too—offer up to, say, five Barony Drive units if a price needs to be paid to buy the Jannah world,” she said, sipping her tea once again.

  “But that’s the public face that you will present. There is another that you will keep confidential. And it’s this,” she said as she took another bite of the tart and finished it off. “What I want you to be more aware of are the other realms that are in this coalition. I understand that there are four—of which Jannah is the only stated one looking for a change. But there will be others watching and noting it all—and it’s those ones that I want to know about. Who they are. What they might be looking for. What might get them to ‘buy in’ to the Barony. That’s your real job on this mission, Eleanor—are you up for it?”

  She replied immediately, “Of course, Baroness. We will look one way but have our ears to the ground for all other opportunities, Ma’am.” She felt this was going to be a difficult task but one she could handle.

  The Baroness nodded and wen
t on about the other items she would need to be aware of too. The Caliph was also sending a team to make their own proposal to the Jannah representatives. Since the duke had passed on this opportunity, there were only going to be the two offers to Jannah.

  I wonder why that is, the admiral thought. For the duke to just decline an opportunity to add another realm to the Duchy d’Avigdor was an odd thing to do. She wondered if there was more to this than could be seen, and she’d ensure she remained aware of this and watchful.

  The Baroness smiled at her admiral. “Eleanor, I know you. I know your skills and talent. This mission is perfect for you—and I know that you’ll come back with some solid information too. Best of luck—you need to be in Tunander by the day after tomorrow. Please, keep me in the loop, as the younger set says.” She sipped the end of her tea and rose quickly.

  The admiral was on her feet a second later, and as they left the ready room, the EliteGuards fell into line behind them. They went out of the bridge to the corridor beyond.

  “I can find my own way back to the shuttle, Admiral—and I’d think that you have preparations to get done. Good luck, Admiral,” the Baroness said over her shoulder as she went down the curved corridor toward the lift down to the landing bay deck.

  The admiral went back to her ready room and sat after taking another cherry Danish. A simple proposal to make to the Jannah representatives was the easy part. Watching the others in the Tunander Coalition as much as possible was the harder part of the task. And the Caliph’s team would be just as eager to gain a new realm as she was.

  She chewed a large bite of the Danish, enjoying the taste and drank some of the sweet coffee to wash it down. ““Time—well, in ten minutes maybe—to get organized and ready for the trip to Warlord space …” she said to herself.