by Ben Winston
Chapter Eleven
Ariel, Sean and the Emperor were touring the hanger and covert landing facilities when they approached Cole, Cr’ale turned to his guard and gave him a series of hand signals that told him not to follow, but surround the craft so no one could approach. The guard didn’t argue, just nodded slightly and issued the orders.
When they had gotten inside, Ariel took a deep breath of the fresh air. “Cole, please seal the hatches, and raise the shields. Also make sure there are no listening devices on any of us. Please make sure there is no way our conversation can be eavesdropped on. If there are any remotes on board, deactivate them.”
“Your Majesty, you have four electronic tracking and surveillance devices on your person,” Cole replied.
“I only know of one, could you point out the others, please?” Cr’ale said taking off the starburst broach and royal purple ribbon on his lapel.
“Your cufflinks are active listening devices; I am currently jamming them. There is a radiant patch on the back of your jacket that can be used as a tracking tag. May I suggest I replace those three items for you before you proceed any further, Majesty? That patch would be ideal for a smart bullet to lock onto,” Cole replied.
“Thank you, Cole. That would be excellent, please do.”
Ariel led Sean and Cr’ale up to the lounge area of the ship, and retrieved the items to replace Cr’ale’s, then took his jacket and cufflinks to be destroyed. Once that was accomplished, Cr’ale looked at the ceiling, “How are we now, Cole?”
“There are no further listening, tracking, or recording devises present. The only foreign electronic device is the watch on Ariel’s wrist and it is benign. You are secured, Majesty,” Cole said formally.
Cr’ale held up his hand to forestall the questions he knew Ariel and Hs’ean had. “Cole, please create an ultra-secure channel to the Imperial AI aboard the Phaethon. Protocol Cr’ale-alpha-nine-nine, break Omega. He’s expecting you.”
Cole acknowledged the order, and Cr’ale turned back to the two women. “Now, before you fill me in on what you’ve discovered, there is a small matter we need to get taken care of before anything else happens.
“Ariel, I want you to know I loved your mother, and I will miss her more than I can ever show. I can see that her plan for creating a strong heir has indeed worked. Your mother, Dame Estelle Parker, or as she was known in the Empire; Duchess Guardian E’telle du Aldus Forward, was my granddaughter.
“Currently, there are only two surviving members of my household. I think you’ve met your uncle?” Cr’ale asked smiling. “He is a likable enough fellow, but simply doesn’t have the strength to keep the throne once I pass or retire. We must have a strong person sitting the throne of Aldus Forward. There is a covert and mostly bloodless war between the Emperor and the Alliance Council.
“If Del’nire takes the throne, the Empire is finished and the people will be at the mercy of the greedy nobles that now compose the ruling portion of the Council. I cannot permit Del’nire to be the heir any longer. That leaves only one person that can legally be named heir; you.
“E’telle didn’t want to be heir, and talked me into a plan to hopefully create the perfect person to assume the rule of the galaxy if something happens to me. I’ve a gift that enables me to be a very good judge of a person’s character. After talking with you last night, and again this morning, I have to agree with what that gift is telling me.
“You are the right person for this task, Ariel. In fact, by commanding Cole to make the protocol connection I did, I set you as my official heir,” Cr’ale explained. “Cole should be receiving all the current protocols and security upgrades he will need to function as your personal AI.”
“Hold it!” Ariel said holding up her hand to Cr’ale. “I know you’re the Emperor, and I’m supposed to do what you say, but are you out of your fucking mind?!”
Sean quickly covered her mouth to keep from busting out laughing. She was certain Ariel was deadly serious, and didn’t want to offend her.
“I don’t know how to run my fucking household, and you want to name me as heir to the whole fucking galaxy?” Ariel said seriously. She noticed Sean trying not to laugh, and rounded on her. “You! You bitch! You knew didn’t you? You knew the first time we spoke because you called me ‘Princess’!”
“I knew about your lineage, and about Estelle’s plan, but not that Cr’ale had actually named you heir; I didn’t know about that until Del’nire was announced when they landed last night,” Sean explained. “I’m sorry Ariel, but if you could see all this from my perspective, it would be extremely funny. I mean, stop to think about it; a little slip of a girl, telling the Emperor of known space that he was out of his mind. You can’t pay for a show like that.”
“I’m glad you can see the humor here, Fleet Admiral Hs’ean,” Cr’ale said, grinning evilly at the woman. “Yes, I want you in a position to help her if she needs it. I’ll also want to get that pirate son-in-law of yours to watch her back. He’s just sneaky enough to pull it off.”
“Forgive me, Majesty, but Tho’ren isn’t my son-in-law yet. He did finally get around to asking her, and she agreed but was so surprised, she didn’t get a date out of him. However, if he gets another girl pregnant before her, I don’t think he’ll be able to hide from her,” Sean said grinning.
“Wait a minute here; let’s back up to my being named heir. For the love of the Goddess, why me?” Ariel asked.
“I thought I covered that?” Cr’ale said. “I need you, Granddaughter; hell, the Empire needs you! Now, I don’t plan on ‘retiring’ anytime soon, but the way things are going, it may end up being tomorrow!”
“But, what about becoming a Guardian, and needing me here? I thought I was needed to fill my mother’s place?” Ariel asked.
“You are needed to fill her place; as my heir. I also need you out here. So your traditional station as Prime Minister of Aldus Forward will stay in the hands of Del’nire for now. He does well enough for the planet. But the Council thinks I’m going to order you back to Aldus to assume your traditional post. Of course, I’ll have to formally ask you to go, but since you are in effect, my equal now, you can tell me no. That ought to give Altrov a fit, since he can’t do a thing about it!”
“What about my other mother, Alex? Does all this mean she is officially a Princess?” Ariel asked.
“Yes, I’ll make sure she officially has that rank. I will also list her as your stead-holder. That means that in your absence, she controls the House,” Cr’ale explained. “Now, what is so damn important that you need to get me alone to tell me?”
“Cole? All three of us are present, please tell the Emperor what we’ve discovered here,” Ariel said.
“Admiral, do you agree?” Cole asked.
“Yes, Cole, I agree,” Sean said.
“Majesty, do you agree?”
“Yes Cole, I agree. Please show me the information.”
Cole began with a simple outline of the request Ariel had made of him, then gave a breakdown of the area scanned. When he heard the result, the Emperor was astounded. “How the hell has this been overlooked? Is it just this planet, or is it all human planets in the galaxy? What about the other races?”
“The only way to answer those questions, Majesty is to find a way to covertly survey the other planets. However, a project that size would surely come to the attention of the Council,” Cole said.
“So what? They...” Cr’ale sighed and his shoulders slumped. “They would want to cover up the results or kill the people found to possess the coding. The Council cannot afford to have a force like the Guardians become what it once was. They would lose most, if not all of the influence they have gained over the last three hundred years.”
“Majesty, we have to consider the possibility that they already know about it, and are the ones that hid the information originally. If not them, then Altrov’s Trade Alliance,” Cole suggested.
“If you remember, Majesty, we already have proof that
the traders are developing military grade cloaking technology. Who knows what else they’re coming up with?” Sean said.
“Not to mention that bastard Altrov was probably the one to order the attack on my mother,” Ariel said softly.
“Ariel, even Cole’s records show it was a random event. That’s not to say that Altrov wouldn’t have ordered it if given the chance, he would have. However, trying to pin the death of your mother on him is futile. Yes, I completely believe he is ultimately responsible for it, but I don’t believe he had any prior involvement.” Cr’ale said gently. “There is already enough to hate about the man without adding more.”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmm, adding more. What we really need are more loyal Guardians, but the Council would never stand for it. They would also notice if I tried to pay for the ships, and training. However, if it took place in a territorial protectorate, like the Horon-A sector, the cost could be hidden in the fleet budget.”
“Sir? What are you talking about?” Ariel asked, confused.
“Ariel, from the information you had Cole discover about your people here, approximately twenty-seven percent of the planet are able to become Guardians. We need more Guardians to take back the Galaxy from the greedy nobles of the Council before the Kragan invade us. How would you feel about building a training and ship building facility here?” Cr’ale asked.
“I mean no disrespect, Majesty, but just how are we going to recruit those people when we are supposed to remain a secret to the population, and if we do manage to get them recruited, where are we going to hide that many new Guardians?” Sean asked.
The old man grinned, “You let me worry about that. How about it, Ariel?”
“It would be difficult, Sire. This planet has developed technology that can see a damn long way. They’ve found Cabalaas 3 but they know it as Gliese 581c. They would certainly detect any closer orbital facilities,” Ariel said.
“So, none of it has to be orbital. You’ll mostly be building ships like this one. If I remember correctly the survey of this system said it had abundant mineral and ore deposits. Hell, one of your planets actually produces the fuel we use naturally! Isn’t there a place here on this planet where you could build the training facility? If the damn slavers can slip ships onto this planet, then we should be able to come and go as we please,” Cr’ale said.
“There are huge expanses of mostly untouched wilderness in the northern territories of Canada. Perhaps some place in the Rocky Mountains here and maybe another area in one of the big deserts would be better,” Ariel said thoughtfully. “You know, if we did build our facilities off planet, but in plain view, maybe it would motivate these greedy assholes to get off their butts and get back to figuring out how to get out and explore.”
“Let’s hope they don’t do that very soon, once they do, we’ll have to let them become full members of the Alliance, and then we couldn’t hide any of this,” Cr’ale said.
“Well, I still don’t know how we’re going to talk people into this without the government finding out about it. But if we could just keep the damn slavers off the planet, I doubt they would even notice since fewer people would be disappearing,” Ariel said ruefully. “As long as they get their tax money, they probably won’t care anyway.”
“Well either way, we need to be getting back; we’ve been gone long enough. I imagine Baron Altrov is climbing the walls because he couldn’t listen in on the conversation.” Cr’ale said grinning.
“So, what is the deal with Hanya? If she’s an ally, how did she get to come with you?” Ariel asked.
“Hanya is the minority opposition leader in the Council. She got to come along because it is ‘only right that the interests of the entire Council be represented’. I think she did it more to save me from having two assholes traveling with me than anything else.” Cr’ale said.
“I actually think it’s pretty stupid that they feel the need to send anyone with you. I mean, you brought your advisers, if you were all working for the same goals, there should be no issues,” Ariel said.
“Ah, but the fact is we are not. The Council of Nobles wasn’t elected; they are the heads of the ruling families of the major planetary systems. Before the treaty of D’tare, they all fought between themselves, and were slowly killing each other off. At the time, the only solution that would save lives was to forge a treaty among all of them. I still question the wisdom of that action, but that’s easy to do since I wasn’t there. Now our fleets are large enough to invade and give each of the systems a democratic system, but our crews are made up of the citizens of those planets. Most wouldn’t want to make war on their own people.”
“Hmm, I don’t think that is completely accurate, from what I’ve been hearing,” Ariel said. “The major trouble-makers are the members of the trade alliance; however, there have been worlds that have had to be repressed because they were on the verge of open revolt. I think if we could get there before the nobles’ pet Guardians, we could gain real allies in this, and start freeing worlds from the nobles’ rule.”
“At the first sign that we are freeing worlds, all trade in the alliance will stop. We’ll have worlds starving while half a sector away, every warehouse will be full of food. We’ll be back to the old days when people were fighting each other to survive,” Cr’ale said.
“Not if you are doing everything in your power to stop the insolent renegade bitch of a granddaughter that was defying your orders. Let’s get the Guardian force rebuilt, also build some cargo haulers and fighters to protect them. Then, I’ll go rogue and free worlds from noble rule. According to the current laws of the empire, once I free them, they legally become vassal worlds of mine. The fleet is supposed to be in place to keep what we are planning to do, from being possible, so the noble houses shouldn’t have much in the way of protection,” Ariel said.
“They don’t have much as far as space fighters and the like, but they do have ground troops and lots of hand-held weaponry. If you can take enough worlds, in a short enough time, you’ll have a majority vote in the alliance; it just might work. The one problem I foresee is that I’ll have to issue a real order to the fleet to hunt you down and destroy you as rebels, even though I approve of your actions,” Cr’ale said frowning.
Ariel grinned. “Rebellions are only illegal if you fail.”
Chapter Twelve
“We are pleased to announce the naming of Princess-Lady Ariel Moran-Parker as our Heir,” Cr’ale said to the small gathering. He waited for the smattering of applause to die down before he continued. “It is traditional for the Heir to take the office of Prime Minister of Aldus Forward. However, Princess Ariel wishes to remain here to see to the matters of her own house. She also wishes to complete her guardian training and has several other projects she wants to undertake. We have agreed to her requests. Baron Del’nire will continue in his capacity as Prime Minister and Heir Presumptive to the throne.”
“Majesty! I must object! How will the Empire be able to protect the Princess so far away from the core worlds?” Altrov voiced as if right on cue.
“Baron, we raised that exact question to her ourselves; rest assured, my good Baron, anyone attempting to harm her in any way will have a very nasty surprise in store for them.” Cr’ale replied, smiling confidently. “If Dame Estelle had the security that Lady Ariel has, she would still be with us today, and the pirate that killed her would be hanging in the public square on Aldus, as would his masters.”
Baron Altrov paled and opened his mouth to reply, but instead shut it again, and bowed to the Emperor. Duchess Hanya almost burst out in laughter as she too bowed to the wishes of the Emperor, giving formal acceptance of Ariel’s wishes by the Council.
Cr’ale ignored Altrov to make another decree. “Lady Ariel, upon our departure, you and your ship are to report to the maintenance facility aboard the Divine Light to undergo a refit and systems upgrade as outlined in our earlier conversation. You will need a name for him by the completion of the refit and recommission
ing ceremony.
“Fleet Admiral Cyrus A’gree has asked to be allowed to retire from our service, and in appreciation for his many years of faithful service, we will honor his request to name Guardian Admiral Hs’ean as his replacement as supreme commander of the third fleet. The Flag will officially transfer upon our return to Aldus Forward, but formal command of the fleet is now hers.
“In honor of our departed granddaughter, there is something we should have done long ago. Alexis Moran of Earth, please kneel before us,” Cr’ale asked the startled woman.
Alex hesitantly stepped before the raised chair that Cr’ale was sitting on, and knelt down.
“Lady Moran, you cared for our granddaughter, Dame Estelle and helped give life to her daughter. In as much as we can, we acknowledge you as Princess Ariel’s mother. Rise, Lady Alexis Moran of House Parker. In addition to your rank, we would bestow upon you the title of Stead-holder to House Parker. In the absence of Princess Ariel, you will be in charge of the household’s affairs.”
A stunned Alex rose and bowed to the Emperor. When she turned to face Ariel, she had tears in her eyes. She ran to her daughter and threw her arms around her neck in happiness.
“That is enough for today, we think. Let us retire to enjoy more of the wonderful hospitality of our hostess; Princess-Lady Ariel,” Cr’ale said and stood. He stepped down from the dais, took off the formal robe of office, and laid it on the chair. “That pool looks wonderful.”
Sean caught up with Ariel as she was entering her Den. “Princess, may I speak with you a moment?”
“Certainly Sean, come on in,” Ariel replied nodding her head toward the door.
“Minister D’nfrees has asked me several times to ask you to speak to your staff; the poor man seems like he’ll blow a gasket if I don’t do it soon,” Sean said.