by Ben Winston
Moran-Parker Estate
Near Henderson, NV. United States of America.
North American Continent, Earth, (Sol III) Horon-A Sector
0500hrs, local
When Cole brought the ship down, Ariel immediately noticed that construction had resumed around the property. When she asked Cole about it, he said it looked as though they were installing a force shield and the weapons systems similar to those on the royal estate on Aldus Forward.
“Good, Alex and the staff here need that kind of protection when we're not here. I won't worry about them as much,” Ariel replied.
“I don't think they are installing it for the staff, young one,” Cole replied, amused.
“Why not? I'm not here all that often really, and I sure as hell don't want these people hurt,” Ariel replied intentionally missing Cole's point.
“You know, you really should try to get some sleep after you see your parents. That courier ship won't be here for a couple more days. I'll contact the Mars base, as well as Tewney and get an accurate status report for you,” Cole offered in an attempt to change the subject.
Ariel only nodded as she headed for her stateroom to get her gear. “Do you have an estimate on how long the Anvil will be out at the Vega sector?”
“Quite some time I'm afraid, Ariel. It'll take six months to a year to get the station to a point where it can finish on its own. The mining parasites from the Anvil will have to travel about three light-years for the raw materials to build it. Perhaps further if needed,” Cole replied. “Did you have a project for the ship?”
“Just considering options. Like building a mobile refining forge near the Asteroid Belt, and moving the sensor drone construction to the moon. They should be able to find a good share of the metals they'll need there, and it'll take the strain off the Divine Light's machine shops,” Ariel replied.
“Didn't you already decide to move that to the Mars base?” mKail asked, confused. She knew Ariel had been talking to Cole internally, but since Ariel had been replying out loud, mKail decided to interrupt.
Ariel frowned as Cole confirmed mKail's assumption. “I guess I'm more tired than I thought. I just can't help but feel we need to be doing more. People are suffering, and here we sit; doing nothing.”
“Ariel, we are far from doing nothing. You have ordered the things we will need to bring change to the lives of every person in the Empire. Once those projects are completed, and we have enough folks trained, we can begin the real mission. Remember, once we begin this, we're going to have more volunteers than we have room for,” mKail explained.
“I know you've told me that, but I can't help but be nervous about assuming we'll get those people. I'm just not sure we're doing enough,” Ariel sighed.
“Let's finish this conversation after we eat. I'm sure Betty has a wonderful breakfast awaiting us,” mKail suggested.
“Only because you had Cole call ahead and warn her!” Ariel accused her in mock anger.
“Well, Betty did ask that I let her know when you are planning to return to the Estate so she can plan accordingly,” Cole admitted out loud. “That's a perfectly normal request.”
“What happened to the people that got caught up in that mess with my parents?”
“Alex had them all sign a standard US government nondisclosure agreement and sent them home. Of course nowhere in that NDA did it actually say that it was the US government, but it should suffice. The lie detector they were under when they signed it, said they all did it willingly, and without deception,” Cole replied.
“That's about all that could have been done. Now, all we have to hope for is that they all stick to the story,” Ariel said and yawned. “Damn! I don't know if I'm even going to be able to eat and say hi to the folks! But either way, I suppose I should get going. Mission guards are off rotation for forty-eight hours, and are exempt from the next mission. I'll check with the Master Chief when I wake up.”
“Both of you; rest well,” Cole said and Ariel grinned at mKail, who winked at her.
“Thank you, Cole,” mKail replied, as the two disembarked from the ship.
When they descended the ramp, Ariel's parents, including Alex, were waiting for her, as well as the Master Chief and an honor guard surrounding the landing area. Everyone but the guards looked tired.
“You know, I think I should make a new rule around here; before nine a.m. only the guard should be here. Everyone else can sleep in,” Ariel said as an aside to mKail whose grin deepened.
“Do you honestly think anyone would obey that rule, Highness?” mKail replied.
Ariel turned to her. “I thought you were past the ‘Highness’ thing?”
“I'm required by Imperial Law while I'm on duty. I must refer to you 'by title and with all honor.' Don't worry, as soon as I'm off duty, or we are in a private situation, I will refer to you by name if that is your wish,” mKail explained.
Both Bri'tell and her father snapped to attention as soon as she got within a few feet of them. Ariel rolled her eyes. “Good God! Will you two relax? It's way too damn early for all that saluting and shit.”
Alex handed her a dark chocolate mocha iced cappuccino. “Betty sends her love, and has breakfast ready in the main dining room, Ariel.”
Taking a drink of the heavily caffeinated beverage, Ariel sighed. “Remind me to give her a big kiss in thanks for this.”
Ariel was about to hand the drink to mKail when Bri'tell interceded. “Uh, I'll hold that for you, Milady. Caffeine and mKail are not a good combination. The last time she tried one of your coffees she had so much energy she decided to join my troops for hand-to-hand practice. I had so many in life station that it was a miracle I could field an appropriate detail for you!”
Ariel chuckled as mKail blushed. Bri'tell raised an eyebrow at the show of emotion from Ariel's Guardian. Regulan Guards where a strange breed; raised from birth for the Guard, they had been conditioned and indoctrinated to protect the Emperor and the Empire. They were as fanatically loyal as any religious zealot could ever be, and a hundred times more deadly. They were trained ghosts, and ghosts had no emotions. Because of their training, stoicism was their hallmark.
For mKail to be showing any emotion at all meant her conditioning had been broken, and she was, by definition, a threat to the Empire. One of the classified standing orders in the Imperial Guard was that, if a Regulan Guard appeared to have broken conditioning, you needed to notify Imperial Command immediately. Imperial Command would dispatch two other Regulan Guard to retire the now rogue Guardsman.
What bothered Bri'tell was that mKail had to know this as well. So, why was she still here? Was she still clinging to her duty even though she knew her life was forfeit? That would certainly be in line with what he knew of the Regulan Guard.
Ariel was introducing her to her parents. Bri'tell caught the subtle pride and inflections in her voice, and saw that Major Janis had as well. Bri'tell suddenly glanced at mKail and he suddenly knew what had happened to Ariel's Guard; mKail’s loyalty and duty had shifted from the Empire to Ariel. mKail was now too close, emotionally, to Ariel.
As if she knew, he had just reached that realization; mKail looked right at him and nodded her head, subtly. He knew that what was to come would hurt his Princess, but he was still duty bound to report it. In his mind, he sat it aside for the time being. He knew he'd have time to think it over later.
“... and as much as I would love to stay up and reconnect with you, I haven't really slept in about four days. Damn slavers kept making a nuisance of themselves,” Ariel finished.
“That's okay, Sweetheart. You go ahead and get your sleep, we'll still be here when you get up,” Karen replied.
Command Super Dreadnaught, I.S.S. Divine Light
142 degrees north, 62 degrees west trans-solar orbit
Sol System, Horon-A Sector.
Fleet Admiral Lady Guardian Hs'ean commanding
“Has the Intelligence Section figured out what the hell the Slavers thought they were doing by staging
that kind of an assault?” Hs'ean asked from her place at the head of the conference table.
“We can find no reason other than as a diversion to get as many ships down to the planet as they could. However, that doesn't leave them with an exit plan. Even after thoroughly analyzing the data from the Merchant's Profit, we still have no answer.
“There are still several freighters as well as several capture ships still on planet. We're rounding them up as quickly as we can thanks to the information from Captain Tyrr.” The commander looked at her data pad. “We have had time to really go through the different temporal cloaking generators used by the slavers. They all operate on the same general principle. They create a temporal field around the ship that renders it not only invisible, but immune to any attack not tuned to the correct temporal 'frequency'
“It's a very effective cloaking and shielding mechanism but it has one major draw-back; it tends to weaken an objects phase lock with what we would call 'reality.' There is a lot of scientific language here, but the bottom line is, it will eventually destroy anything within its area of effect, including humans.
“Specific physical examination of several of the prisoners shows varying degrees of this effect from very mild to pronounced molecular depolarization. Medical hasn't been able to discover a method of countering these effects, and they predict four prisoners will not survive for more than a week.
“Six others will last longer, but unless a way can be found to counter this effect, the damage is severe enough that it will eventually kill them as well. The rest will have a lot of pain but their bodies should 'retune' themselves. Captain Tyrr and his mate will experience this withdrawal effect as well.”
“Do you think we could use this knowledge against the slavers command? If we broadcast this knowledge to all the other slavers would it get them to surrender, or at least drop their cargo and run?” another of the Commanders asked.
An alarm started sounding, and Divine Light's voice came over the speaker systems “Decompression Alert! SAR teams and damage control to Omega section, decks forty-one, forty-two, and forty-three. Omega section has been sealed. Zero atmosphere in Omega section. Damage control to Omega section! SAR teams, life beacons are being tracked outside the hull, location Omega section. Deck forty-two at transfer lock.”
Hs'ean tapped her comm. “Divine Light what's going on?”
“Admiral, someone over-rode my control of the airlock in the Brig. I didn't even know anything was wrong until the emergency doors began to slam closed,” Divine Light explained. “I would very much like to know how they did that.”
“Did any of the prisoners survive?” Hs'ean asked.
“I am showing green on each of the cells emergency systems; however, there are no life signs in the cells. Only the four terminal patients that are in life station under guard, Captain Tyrr and his mate remain. The emergency atmosphere units injected Hyperchlorophene Nitran into the cells. When the lock blew, the cells sealed and killed the occupants. I am investigating the maintenance logs as we speak. Last month, Tech-Corporal Honguard of Tiberius performed the last maintenance. However, the units themselves show that in the last four days, someone used an override code to open them.”
“What about the Guards? Did we lose anyone?” Hs'ean asked.
“Negative Admiral, as per regulations, the guards were wearing armor that sealed when the area decompressed. They are the beacons I am receiving,” DL answered. “Research lab nineteen reports that the temporal cloaking units have been melted down. As inconceivable as it sounds, I think we have discovered the object of the slavers direct attacks.”
“Altrov must have gone completely insane to waste so many people on a grand diversion for such a trivial task!” Hs'ean said out loud.
“Excuse me, Admiral? Did you mean Baron Altrov?” one of the Commanders asked.
Moran-Parker Estate
Near Henderson, NV. United States of America.
North American Continent, Earth, (Sol III) Horon-A Sector
While Ariel was asleep, Cole gave her the reports she'd wanted from the two major projects they had going in the systems at the moment: the research base and ship building facility on Mars, and the flight training facility on Rhea and in the rings of Saturn. Both were progressing nicely. In fact, construction of the research area as well as the main base buildings on Rhea was already mostly completed.
Tewney reported that not only had they accomplished the building of the main academy, but also that Tabitha was pregnant. Thorn had finally agreed to make his relationship with Tabitha formal, and she conceived that night. Tewney was overjoyed.
Among the recruits for the Mars research facility, Wendy had talked a Botanist with a PhD into the adventure. He reported that he had been successful in coaxing a few earth variety seeds to germinate in the Martian soil. Among the hybrids were several coffee plants, as well as grains, a very hardy strain of Corn, and some fruit trees.
In her dreams, Ariel and mKail sat watching the dancing ice asteroids in the rings of Saturn while sipping a dark, blood-red cup of coffee. Cole watched the dream unfold and was amazed at the imagination of humans. He knew she'd never been to Saturn yet, but Ariel was picturing the rings perfectly. Perhaps she had subconsciously accessed the images that Tewney had sent him. But where did she get that odd color for the coffee?
When Ariel awoke, she took a shower to start the day. She must have been tired because Cole told her she'd slept almost twenty-five hours.
“So, did I miss anything while I was hibernating?” Ariel asked Cole as she was drying herself.
Cole filled her in on the deaths of the prisoners.
“Did Captain Tyrr or Jessica get hurt?” Ariel asked.
“No, Jessica was in a private room in the infirmary. The Captain was with her when the incident took place. The Divine Light is currently on lock down until security finds the guilty parties. DL is going through his sensor logs of the recent fighting; he believes that the murderer came aboard with the assault, and simply posed as trapped crew.”
“That would make sense, I guess. It still doesn't explain why they needed to assault the whole fleet. That was just a waste of lives.”
“Analysis of the Slaver tactics, in light of the new information, reveals that the assault teams might have believed that they had an escape. The captured pods were equipped in such a way as to support that theory. They had several hours more environment remaining, as well as breakaway thrusters. However, they also had a small explosive device powerful enough to destroy the pod.
“Intel believes that the assault force was to stage the attack while the assassins got on board. Once they'd been 'rescued,' the assault would break and fall back to the pods. There the teams would climb back in, and detach, expecting to be picked up by the ship that dropped them off. However, once they gave the command to detach, the explosive would detonate killing the occupant, and putting a hole in the side of the ship,” Cole explained. By now, Ariel had finished drying off and was getting dressed.
“Well, I'm hungry, so I'm gonna head down to breakfast. Could you ask Hs'ean if she captures the people, I'd like to see all the evidence before we make them breath reactor coolant,” Ariel instructed.
“I certainly will. The Ophuchian courier ship, Spring Rain, will be landing in about two hours, Young One.”
“Cole, will I ever grow out of that name?” Ariel asked smiling.
“Ariel, to me, you will always be 'Young One.' After all, I am a few centuries older than you,” Cole replied.
“Maybe I should start referring to you as 'Old Man'!”
“As I am neither Old nor a Man, the moniker would be most inappropriate,” Cole replied trying to sound as stuffy as he could.
“You're a 'he' that's a 'few centuries' old, so the name fits perfectly!” Ariel teased as she walked down the stairs. “By the way, where's mKail?”
“She got up earlier so she could do her morning workout with the rest of the Marines. Currently, she and Master Chief Bri'tell
are having a private discussion in his 'office.' I must assume from the look on the Master Chief's face, that the matter is very serious. He used an Imperial Guard Security lockout to disable all monitoring devices in the room,” Cole replied.
“Well, he can't kill her without my approval, so it can't be that bad,” Ariel said, but she still felt a shiver run down her spine.
“Actually, that's not true, Young One. He very well can kill her, if he determines that she has broken her conditioning,” Cole reported. “Which she has by expressing emotions around you. mKail should not be expressing emotions. It is the primary indicator that her Imperial conditioning has been broken.”
“Where are they?” Ariel asked, all lightheartedness gone from her voice now.
“The office off the Marine ready-room. Ariel, although I like mKail too, there is a reason for what the Master Chief is doing. You don't have all the facts about mKail,” Cole replied.
“You've got the time it takes for me to get there to fill me in,” Ariel replied as she started running.
“mKail has already been given a stay of execution by the Emperor. However, Imperial Decree forbids her to speak of it, but what she didn't tell you of her time in the ambassadorial corps, was that she had become the prince's lover. He had petitioned the Emperor for her release so he could make her his consort,” Cole explained. “When her duty made her kill the Prince, as well as an Imperial Ambassador... Well, the event utterly shattered her conditioning as well as making her either homicidal or suicidal, depending on whom she blamed at the time for the death of the prince.
“Cr'ale didn't have the heart to let her be killed for doing her duty, so against the advice of the Regulan Guard commanders, he ordered her sent back to the academy to try and salvage her. As a result, she lost the confidence of her superiors, and they would no longer allow her to be in proximity to the Emperor. They flatly refused to allow her this duty as well, except once again, the Emperor took a direct hand and assigned her to you, as long as other provisions were in place to ensure your safety.