by D. J. Holmes
James shook his head. “They wouldn’t have fallen back to Alliance space. Gupta knows how vulnerable Earth is. If they had been able to get back here by now, they would have. Something has happened to them.”
Christine fought back a sigh; she knew James well enough to know that when he was in one of these moods it was all but impossible to argue him out of it. She tried a different tact. “You have many friends in their fleet. Gupta, Scott, Lightfoot. They are good officers we cannot afford to lose. Yet if you’re right, they may already be lost. Or they may all be safe and sound. Either way, we can’t spend all day sitting out here thinking about them. We have an Empire to run and a people to protect.” Standing, she grabbed James’ other hand and pulled him to his feet. “Come Grand Admiral, we have our duty to see to. Gupta led her fleet to Jaranna to turn back the Karacknid invasion of Alliance space. Whatever they’re doing now, they accomplished that. Now we have to make use of the time they bought us. Come on,” she repeated as James allowed her to lead him away from the stream and towards Badminton House.” If we don’t leave now, the others will be waiting for us.”
As they walked away from the stream and through the meadow a shuttle appeared and landed on the front lawn of the 17th-century house. Christine glanced at James, he wasn’t in his full dress uniform, but he was in naval attire. It’ll have to do, she thought. “There’s no time to freshen up, we’ll get on the shuttle now and be on our way.”
“Yes my Empress,” James replied, “I’m at your service as always.”
Christine elbowed James in the side, she had told him off more than once for using her title when it was just the two of them. Even so, she smiled at him, it was his way of telling her he was setting his concerns about Gupta and her fleet aside, for now at least. Before she could think of a witty reply, six armed marines descended from the shuttle and formed an honor guard for her. They all stood at attention. One by one they saluted her as they walked past. Christine returned the gesture and nodded to their Sergeant. “We are ready to take off,” she said to the shuttle’s pilot after strapping herself in and pulling on a COM’s headset. “Take us over London as we go,” she ordered.
When James’ head turned towards hers, he shared a knowing glance with her. Neither of them needed any reminding of what the Karacknids had done, but it would focus their minds. As Empress she had several residences spread across Earth. While she and James had spent most of their free time, the little of what they had of it, at Badminton House, the next scheduled meeting of her Inner Council was to take place at Chilton House.
In just five minutes the shuttle had covered the distance from Badminton House to London. Though it had only been several weeks since she had last laid eyes on the capital city of her former nation, Christine was still taken aback by the destruction. More than ten square miles of the city was nothing but a wasteland. Here and there shuttles and ground vehicles were examining the wreckage. For the most part though, the inner city had been abandoned. There simply weren’t enough resources to start cleaning up and rebuilding. Everything her fledging empire had was being devoted to looking after those who were alive and building ships and weapons to defend against the Karacknids. It will probably fall to my successor to start rebuilding our lost cities, Christine thought. As much as she would love to be the one to begin it, she feared it would take many years, if not decades to beat the Karacknids. Not a single credit could be spent on sentimental projects when everything was needed to counter the overwhelming power of the Karacknid empire. Thoughts of a successor made Christine reach out and take James’ hand again. They were engaged now, eventually to be married. As soon as all the colonies that were willing to join the Empire had done so, she could be officially crowned and she and James could be married. Then they would have to start thinking about an heir. It wasn’t something she had talked about with him before. A part of her was scared to bring it up. The thought of bringing a child into the world they now lived in did not please her. She had enough trouble sleeping because of her constant fear and concern for her species. Having her own child to protect as well would only make that worse. Yet as James squeezed her hand back and turned to smile at her, she knew she wanted a child even with all the dangers.
“We’ll make them pay,” James said as he turned back to look out the viewport. “We’ll make them pay, and then we can rebuild what was lost. Our species will have a future.” He turned back to her, “We’ll have a future beyond this war.”
Christine returned his smile, she didn’t know if his thoughts had turned to the same place hers had, but the determination in his eyes was all the comfort she needed. After this meeting, she promised herself, we’ll talk about kids.
*
Chilton House
As James followed Christine into the large briefing room, he wasn’t surprised to see that everyone else was already there. “Sorry we are late,” he said, aware that he was the cause of their tardiness.
Fairfax waved a hand dismissively. “An Emperor should never apologize for being late,” he responded. “You may not be an Emperor yet, but it’s time you started getting used to behaving like one. You don’t see Christine apologizing do you?”
Christine shrugged at James. “I am sorry, I just didn’t want to waste more time apologizing. I knew how he’d take it.” She turned to Fairfax. “Though now it is you who is holding us up,” she said before shooting James a wink.
Fairfax rolled his eyes and gestured for James and Christine to take their seats. “So,” Christine asked after getting herself comfortable. “What is on the agenda today?” Everyone turned to Fairfax, Christine had made him her Chief of Staff. As Empress she was primarily responsible for the military affairs of the Empire, though many other things fell under her prerogative. Fairfax’s political experience in both peace and war made him an ideal candidate.
“Two main items,” Fairfax replied, “and then several lesser matters. I’ll take the first one.” Reaching out to the desk they were all sat around, Fairfax picked up a datapad and gestured for everyone else to do the same. “You each have a full report, but I’ll give the highlights. We’ve heard back from Britannia and Haven. Both have held referendums to join the Empire. Both have accepted.”
“That is excellent news,” Andréa, now drafted into the Imperial navy and promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral said as her voice rose. “Our key colony strategy is paying off.”
“Indeed, it does seem so. We are building up a good head of momentum,” Fairfax responded with a cheeky grin. “Whoever thought up the idea should be congratulated.”
Christine frowned at her Chief of Staff. He had been the one to suggest the plan. “I don’t think that will be happening any time soon. But the news is pleasing. We have New Shanghai, New Rostov, Utah, Connecticut and now Britannia and Haven. With luck, many other colonies will follow their example and we will not have to exert as much political influence.”
“Which means we can focus more of our efforts on defeating the Karacknids,” James said excitedly. He had experienced more than enough politicking over the last several months. Fairfax’s plan had called for Christine, Admiral Koroylov, Senator Nicholls and James to focus their efforts on winning the referendums that had been scheduled on the key colonies. Though he hadn’t had time to visit Britannia or Haven in person, he had spent a lot of time strategizing with political operatives before they had been dispatched to the colonies. Time he knew would be better spent directed against the Karacknids.
“Eventually yes,” Fairfax agreed, “though there is still much work to be done. We still need to convince the other former British colonies to vote to join the Empire in their own referendums. But that doesn’t take away from our success. Getting Britannia to hold a referendum and pass it means every other British colony will have to have their own vote. Unless they are crazy, they will follow what the people of Britain here on Earth and now on Britannia have chosen.”
“As should the people of China, Russia and the colonies of the former Unit
ed Colonial States,” Christine added. “Though the latter may be a little harder.” James nodded, as did several others. Everyone knew the different colonies that made up the United Colonial States of America were fiercely independent. Technically the constitution of the Empire would allow them to keep their independence, but that didn’t mean their citizens would see things that way. “We cannot rest on our laurels however,” Christine continued. “What about elections to the Senate and House of Commons? Britannia and Haven will need to elect Senators and Commoners. The sooner they can hold elections and send them here the better.”
“There’s no need to worry about that Empress,” Fairfax answered with a smile. “The reports I’ve received from both colonies indicated they are keen to hold elections as quickly as possible. They know how important getting their own representatives sent here to be involved in the decision-making will be. I’ve asked Commoner Hargreaves to take the lead in making preparations for the new members of our Parliament. Everything should be ready for them when they get here.”
James nodded. He had worked closely with Hargreaves before she had been elected as one of the Commoners who sat in the House of Commons representing Earth’s populace. “Things are going well on the political front. Are there any other referendums coming up that we’re expecting to hear results from soon? I imagine that with the worlds that have joined us there will be many others clamoring to do the same.”
“I was just getting to that,” Fairfax replied. “If you look further down your datapad you’ll see that we had a request from the governor of New Berlin. He is asking that all of the colonies in German colonial space be admitted into the Empire in one sweep. As you can imagine, they are eager to formally come under our protection.”
“That is understandable,” Christine responded as she glanced at James. Their systems were the closest to Karacknid territory. “But the terms Admiral Somerville laid out to our people were that every colony must hold a referendum to decide if they wish to join us.”
“The Germans understand this,” Fairfax said. “They’ve held referendums on New Berlin and four of their other colonies. Each was an overwhelming victory for joining our Empire. The governor of New Berlin is using this as evidence that their twelve other colonies will join as well.”
“Then when they hold their own referendum, they will be admitted,” Christine replied.
Andréa leaned forward in her chair. “Perhaps we could be a little pragmatic in this issue. Our shipbuilding efforts desperately need as much raw minerals and other rare elements as we can get. Even though many of the German colonies have been raided, we still get a significant percentage of our construction materials from them. The sooner the German colonies can be admitted to the Empire the more beneficial it will be to us. Perhaps those colonies who have not had referendum yet could be provisionally admitted?”
Again James noticed Christine glance over at him. He had been the one to insist that things be done democratically. He didn’t want some colonies to feel forced into something they didn’t want to be to be a part of. That said, when Andréa spoke, he knew from many years of experience to take heed. Christine had appointed her head of the new Military Budget Department and given Andréa responsibility for bringing the Department into being. In time the Department would be responsible for overseeing the distribution of all funds assigned to the Imperial Marines and Navy. Right now, her main task was to maximize the efficiency of the Empire’s ship building efforts. Ever so slightly he nodded to Christine, as long as the German colonies held their own referendum eventually, he was happy to be a little pragmatic.
“All right,” Christine said as she nodded more vigorously. “We can work with that. I guess you may tell Commoner Hargreaves that she can get ready for more Senators and Commoners to be arriving from the German colonies soon. She is going to have her work cut out for her. How are the parliamentary buildings coming along?”
Everyone turned to Cynthia Davenport. Christine had appointed her as Secretary for Reconstruction. In reality, her responsibilities were more focused on looking after the refugees from the Karacknid attack than rebuilding what had been destroyed. But she had been put in charge of overseeing the construction of new parliamentary buildings in Geneva Switzerland for the Senate, House of Commons, and House of Servants. Of all those within Christine’s Inner Council, Cynthia was the least known to the others. Except, of course, to James, he knew her well. She had been Suzanna’s personal assistant while Suzanna had been first the Governor of Haven and then the colony’s First Counsellor. Not many people had known it at the time, but she had been much more than a personal assistant. She had been his late wife’s Chief of Staff. Now, her experience and the fact that she was from Haven and had no loyalties to any of the Earth nations made her the ideal candidate for looking after everyone’s refugees. She was basically the only person on Earth who could not be accused of favoritism.
“Work is progressing,” Cynthia began, “albeit slowly. We have identified more than enough hotels, apartments and other buildings that will provide suitable accommodation for the first Senators and Commoners that will be coming in from out of the system. There is also plenty of conference space in Geneva for the elected officials to meet. For now, at least. The current projections for the Senate building are that the brickwork will be completed in six months. It will take another four for the interior to be fully kitted out. But by then it should be able to begin functioning. The Commons building will take an additional two months to complete and then at least two months to furbish. I’m afraid I expect both of those dates to be pushed back by several weeks, if not months. There is simply a shortage of skilled labor, Andréa is snapping up everyone she can get her hands on.”
“That is not something you will be blamed for, do not worry,” Christine reassured her. “Our priority will always be the fleet, at least for the foreseeable future.”
“Something I fully understand Empress, I’m not making excuses, just seeking to be as clear as I can be. As I have been instructed, work on the House of Servants has not begun yet. But when it does, it should be reasonably quick, we will be able to transfer workers from the other two projects to it in time.”
“Thank you,” Christine replied with a nod of respect to Cynthia. James appreciated the gesture. When he had spoken to Cynthia about taking up the role he had detected some hesitation in her demeanor. Likely, she had been reluctant to work for the woman he was now engaged to. Someone in Christine’s position might not have taken too kindly to Cynthia because of her relationship to Suzanna. James knew Christine was not that petty, hopefully Cynthia was coming to learn that as well. “Very well,” Christine continued as she turned back to Fairfax. “Things are progressing nicely on the political front. Is there anything else before we move on to your next item?”
“No, not in relation to the colonies joining the Empire, however I’m afraid the next item might put a dampener on your enthusiasm. Admiral Russell,” Fairfax said as he gestured for the formerly retired British Admiral to speak.
James sat a little straighter as he turned to Russell. Before retiring he had headed Royal Space Navy Intelligence. Christine had brought him out of retirement to build a new Imperial Intelligence Division.
Russell nodded to Fairfax and stood. “There is still a lot of work that needs to be done building up the IID. Primarily, of course, our focus is on developing intelligence related to the Karacknid Empire. However, there are other threats that we need to be aware of and monitor. I’m afraid I have to report that we have been getting some disturbing reports from both our own fleet officers and civilian sources about a number of Indian and Argentinian colonies. At the moment my main concern is with New Delhi.” With a tap of a button Russell brought up a star map of the Indian colonies. “As far as we can tell, the new self-proclaimed governor of New Delhi, a Sai Culthrapori, has seized power. With the fall of the Indian government on Earth, he took his opportunity to essentially become a dictator. He’s abolished the local parliament
and installed his own people into most of the governmental positions. Both publicly and privately to Ambassador Bracey, he has denounced any attempt to form an Empire. He is calling Empress Christine a power-hungry usurper.
Fairfax laughed. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
“In any case,” Russell continued in a more serious tone, “Bracey is still on New Delhi, trying to talk sense into Culthrapori, but she reports being frozen out. Perhaps more concerning are the rumors we’ve been hearing about Culthrapori and others seeking to form a new UN. Several other governors or groups have followed Culthrapori’s example and seized power on their own colonies. We believe there are some discussions going on between them about forming a new UN as a counter organization to our Empire. They’ve even gone as far as to send out some delegations to other colonies to canvass support. There haven’t been many takers, though a few Argentinian colonies may be thinking about it. Formosa in particular has caught my interest. The political leadership there hasn’t declared themselves a dictatorship yet, though they are getting close. Forming a new UN would give them a kind of legitimacy they couldn’t get any other way.”
“What are we to do about them?” James asked. “We can’t force them to give up power. Not unless we are willing to use actual force. If they don’t want to join us, then in the long run they will suffer economic disaster. Sooner or later they will come around.”