Imperial Command

by D. J. Holmes

  “Of course Admiral,” Rivers replied. “It’s good to see you have returned quickly from New Delhi as well. I trust things went smoothly there?”

  James chuckled. “Smoothly isn’t the word I would use. But I think we have the situation in hand.”

  “That sums up our mission as well,” Rivers replied. “Our strike against the Karacknid depot was at least partially successful. We destroyed their gas mining station and most of their largest supply stations. Whatever fuel and munitions they had stored went up with them. But we paid a heavy price. Of the hundred and sixty fighter and bomber pilots under my command, only forty-eight made it back. I’m recommending all who lost their lives receive the Imperial Distinguished Order Merit.”

  James couldn’t help but grimace at the losses. He and the rest of Christine’s Inner Council had known any fighter only attack against the Karacknid depot would be costly. Even so, knowing that was how things might play out and hearing about actual lives lost was very different even if the losses were as a result of a successful mission. “Tell me more,” James responded. He didn’t want to commit to handing out any medals just yet. As Rivers went through his raid in greater detail though, James quickly found he was being swayed to Rivers’ way of thinking. The attack wing under the command of Wing Commander Chen had fought as bravely as any Humans James had fought with or against. Against worse odds than James had expected them to face, they had succeeded. “Chen is still alive?” James asked after Rivers told him about dispatching Mink to look for the Wing Commander.

  Rivers nodded. “Yes, Mink found Chen and Lieutenant Chomsky. They were both transferred to Enterprise. I’m recommending Chomsky be awarded the Imperial Fleet Cross along with Lieutenants Stromboli and Angu. They were the other two pilots who died taking on the four Karacknid frigates. I’m also recommending Chen receive the Medal of Honor.”

  James took a deep breath. So far in the brief history of the Empire, its Medal of Honor had only been handed out twice. Both had been posthumously to fleet officers who had fought and died in the Battle of Earth. If Chen received one he would be the first living citizen of the Empire to do so. It would be a historical moment. It would also mean a lot of pomp and ceremony. Ordinarily James would turn his nose up at such an event. But when it came to honoring the bravery of military personnel, that was something else entirely. “I’m in agreement,” he said as he gave Rivers a definitive nod. “You can pass on your recommendation and I will speak to those who oversee the approval process personally.”

  “Thank you Admiral,” Rivers replied. “Knowing Chen, he will not want it. But he deserves it. And it will do the rest of our pilots and their families good to see it. Especially the families of those whom we lost.”

  “I’m sure it will,” James agreed. “Now, we are approaching Earth. I’ll let you get back to your squadron. I’m sure you have a lot to organize before your ships slot into orbit. Thank you for your time Commodore. I’m sure will speak again soon.”

  “Always a pleasure Grand Admiral,” Rivers replied as he gave James a final salute.

  James returned the gesture and ended the COM channel. “No news from Earth?” he asked as he turned to his Chief of Staff.

  Miyagi shook his head. “Nothing of significance. We got a request to pass on our report to fleet headquarters. Beyond that it’s just been a few news updates and messages for the ship’s crew. There has been a request for you to report to Chilton House though. I’ve already sent orders for your shuttle to be prepped. You should be able to launch as soon as we reach orbit.”

  “I will go and freshen up then,” James replied as he gave Miyagi a nod then stood and moved to leave the bridge. He didn’t know if there was no news of significance or Christine had held back transmitting whatever she might have to say until they could speak in person. Either way, James wanted to be ready to board his shuttle as soon as Drake reached Earth. He was eager to see her again. More than eager in fact.

  *

  As he moved down the shuttle’s access ramp, James scanned the area for Christine. He smiled when he saw her standing amongst the crowd of officials who had gathered to greet him. However, if he hadn’t been practicing controlling his facial features, his smile would have turned to a frown. Instead of rushing over to greet him, she remained where she was. Then James noticed reporters and holo cameras off to one side. So, it’s an official greeting, James realized. It would hardly do for the Empress of the Human race to run across the shuttle landing pad and into his arms for the whole galaxy to see. Squaring his shoulders, James set off towards Christine. He wasn’t in the least bit surprised when a marching band played a customary naval greeting. Though he didn’t see the band, he guessed it was to the side of the shuttle. Walking right up to Christine, he stopped just in front of her. Then he snapped to attention. “My Empress, thank you for coming to greet me,” he said as he improvised. He really didn’t know the formal protocol for greeting Christine like this.

  “It is I who have come to thank you Grand Admiral,” Christine replied more loudly than she needed to for just James to hear. “You have dealt well with a delicate situation; the Empire and New Delhi owes you our thanks.”

  James couldn’t take it any longer. “What about you?” he asked just loud enough for Christine’s ears. “Aren’t you happy to see me as well?” From the look on Christine’s face James knew the answer right away. Taking another step forward, he pulled her into a hug. “It is good to see you Empress,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ve missed you more than you can know.”

  “And I you,” Christine replied quickly. Then she tried to wiggle out of his grip. “But this is not the time or place. There are others watching.”

  James couldn’t help but smile as he tightened his grip. “Let them watch. I thought our relationship was meant to help establish and legitimize the Empire. Why are you complaining? Aren’t I giving the people what they want?” His smile widened Christine gave up her resistance and allowed herself to be folded deeper into his arms.

  “It’s not exactly Imperial,” she protested, though her heart wasn’t in it.

  James chuckled as he finally released her and took her hand in his. “Dear, you’re the first Empress a united Humanity has ever known. I think you get to set the precedent for what being Imperial looks like.”

  “All right you two,” Fairfax said just barely above a whisper. “There are more of us here than just the pair of you. We came to welcome you home as well Grand Admiral.”

  “I’m all the more pleased because of it,” James said as he raised his voice and turned to Fairfax. As he did Christine made a gentle attempt to release her hand, but James held on tightly. She gave him a squeeze and relaxed into his grip.

  “Well then, let me welcome you back Grand Admiral,” Fairfax said as he stepped forward and shook James’ hand. “It seems the years you’ve spent under my tutelage have finally paid off.”

  James chuckled again as he shared a glance with Christine. “I should have known you were going to claim the credit. Though I’d be careful with that. Things are still a long way from settled on New Delhi.”

  “The colony has joined the Empire and things are heading in the right direction,” Fairfax countered. “I’d call that a success. A pretty good one in fact. I imagine the news is going to send ripple effects through the rest of the colonies that have not joined us yet. They’ll be flocking to our banner now.”

  “I’ll leave making such bold predictions in your hands,” James replied. He looked past Fairfax and smiled at Andréa, Koroylov and Cynthia. They, along with a bunch of other aides, had come to greet him. “It’s good to see you all,” James said as he moved over to them and shook each of their hands. “I imagine there is plenty for you to update me on.”

  “Indeed there is, my fiancé,” Christine answered for them. She wiggled her hand free from James’ grip and interlocked her arm through his. “We can talk more inside. The news reporters have got the images they want and then some. We can head in and ge
t some more privacy.”

  “Your wish is my command,” James replied as he let Christine lead him towards Chilton House. “Tell me,” he said once they were out of earshot of the reporters. “What are the highlights?”

  “There has been news from Alliance space,” Christine said as she gripped his arm tighter. “The full details are still being broadcast to us. But there have been two significant battles and at least three smaller skirmishes. It seems the Karacknids attempted to renew their offensive. They successfully drove back an Alliance fleet from their Beta Fort. But were prevented from penetrating any further into Alliance space by the rapid appearance of reinforcements from other sectors. At the same time, the Karacknids hit Gamma Fort.” The muscles in James arms tightened as his heart rate increased. “Don’t worry,” Christine said as she brought her free hand up to pat his forearm. “Ya’sia is okay. She managed to defend the system and hold out until reinforcements came. It looks like the Alliance lost upwards of eight hundred ships in both battles. The Karacknid losses are estimated to be in the same region. Perhaps closer to a thousand. I’m sure you’ll want to read the reports when you get a chance, but from how Koroylov has explained it, neither battle was actually fought to the finish. In both cases the Alliance or Karacknid forces retreated before really significant losses were taken. It seems that, for now at least, any thoughts the Karacknids had to continue their offensive into Alliance space have been delayed.”

  “At quite a significant cost,” James couldn’t help but comment. Hundreds more Alliance ships destroyed would put a serious amount of pressure on their defenses. “It just makes me all the more concerned. All the Karacknids would have to do to take us is send half of one of their fleets against us and we would crumble.” Even with all the minor miracles he knew Andréa was trying to work, there was no way Humanity would have anything close to eight hundred warships of her own for at least another year, if not two or three.

  Christine patted his arm again. “You are too pessimistic. With Rivers’ successful attack on the Karacknids’ Alpha-one depot. We’ve bought ourselves a little bit of time. But that does bring me to the second piece of news. The scouts have returned from Alpha-two. The Karacknids have been building up their staging planet there as well. There were no new orbital installations being built. But those that were already there were being stocked up. More than twenty freighters were detected in the system. There were also fifty warships protecting the Karacknids orbital stations.”

  James nodded as he thought through the implications of Christine’s news. “So they have been planning a significant attack against us. One they likely believe will take us out of the war. Why else would they be preparing two staging planets from which to strike us? That is troubling. And that’s not being pessimistic. Moreover, they are not afraid to let us know at least a part of their plans. They know we know they launched their first attack against us from Alpha-two. If they are not hiding their build up, they must not be afraid of what we might do. There is much to discuss I’m sure.”

  “That’s why we are all here,” Christine said as she smiled up at him. “I scheduled a meeting of the Inner Council for a couple of hours from now. It should give you a bit of time to freshen up. Then we can get you caught up on where everything is at and what plans we have put into motion. Of course, everyone will want to hear how you got on in New Delhi. Myself included,” Christine added as she nudged him with her elbow. “I had every confidence that you would handle the situation, but even I didn’t think you’d be coming back with New Delhi already signed up to join the Empire.”

  “I guess I was just keen to get home and see my fiancé,” James said as he winked at Christine. “Governor Culthrapori should have known not to try and get between us.”

  Christine laughed. “Perhaps that is the secret to beating the Karacknids. Maybe I need to let them take me back to their homeworld. Then you can come charging in like a knight in shining armor and challenge their Imperator to a dual. I’m sure that would win the war for us.”

  James rolled his eyes as he shook his head. As much as he hated the Karacknids and was desperate to bring them to battle for what they had done to Earth, he wasn’t so foolish as to think he stood a chance against a Karacknid in a hand-to-hand engagement. Heck, we don’t even know where their homeworld is, James thought. Though if we did… He thought through just what might be possible if they did have that piece of information.

  “Come back to us Grand Admiral,” Christine said as she gave James a shake. “You’ll have time for daydreaming later, for now, we need your focus to be on the issues at hand.”

  Letting out an exaggerated sigh, James gestured for Christine to lead him up to the main doors of Chilton House. “As I said Empress, your wish is my command.”

  Chapter 28

  The history of our Empire has seen greater naval commanders than our first Emperor and greater political minds than our first Empress, but as a team few could claim to have been better equipped. None can claim to have accomplished more.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  IS Drake, Earth orbit, 12th January 2483 AD (nine days later).

  James let out a sigh as he rose from his command chair and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Good work everyone,” he said to the collection of his staff officers and Drake’s Lieutenants who were in the battleship’s auxiliary bridge. “That was interesting to say the least.” They had just finished fighting a simulated Karacknid invasion from the Alpha-two staging base. For the last six hours James and his officers had been playing the role of the Karacknids. First they had attacked Holstein, then they had quickly pushed on and taken New Berlin. Only then had Lightfoot been able to get his ships into German colonial space to slow James’ advance. He had been partially successful, but in the end the numerical advantage James had been assigned at the start of the simulation had told. By the time James had pushed Lightfoot back to the Beta colony, three quarters of Lightfoot’s ships had been destroyed. That had been enough to signal the end of the simulation. There was no way Lightfoot could have defended Earth if James had pushed forward. “How did Jil’lal get on?” James asked as he sought out Miyagi.

  “Very similar to us,” his Chief of Staff reported without looking up from his command console. “It seems Koroylov won a couple of minor skirmishes, but he was forced to retreat back to the Alpha colony. It did take her an extra week to drive him back. But, to be fair, she did have further to advance.”

  James smiled, “Still, it’s something to remind her of the next time we meet in person.” Jil’lal had been playing the role of a secondary Karacknid fleet that had launched its attack from Alpha-one. As expected, having to split Home Fleet into two fleets to confront a two-pronged invasion had resulted in a total defeat. That had been expected from the get-go, however. What the simulation had been testing was how long the Imperial Fleet could delay such a Karacknid attack. Not long enough, James thought as he double checked the time it had taken his and Jil’lal’s fleet to reach the Alpha and Beta colonies. In theory, with the tachyon pulse generator, Alliance High Command could be alerted to the Karacknid attack within a couple of hours of the news reaching Earth. Then, once the artificial shift passage to Earth was completed, Alliance ships could reach Earth within a month. Technically, James’ ships would have reached Earth two days after the first Alliance ships might theoretically have arrived. But he would have arrived with fourteen hundred warships. There was no way the Alliance would be able to conjure up a strong enough force to counter such a Karacknid threat. Not when the vast majority of their warships were concentrated along their border with the Karacknids. They simply didn’t have enough reserve formations near Human space to divert that quickly in the case of a Karacknid push against Earth. Even if they did, James concluded, Jil’lal’s fleet would have sealed victory for us a week later.

  The simulation had been long and intensive as well as informative, but it hadn’t given James much hope. It only confirmed what he had already been pretty c
onfident about. If and when the Karacknids launched their expected invasion, there would be little the Imperial Fleet could do to stop them. Every week the Karacknids were delayed meant more warships were coming out of their construction yards; but the Human Empire did not have the capacity to really make use of the delay. They’d have to be producing fifty or sixty ships a month for the delay to actually work in their favor. “I’m going to retire to my quarters to freshen up,” James said to Miyagi. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready to review the simulation in more detail.”

  “Aye Admiral,” Miyagi responded as he briefly looked up.

  Before James turned to leave, Miyagi’s head was already back down pouring over the data from the simulation on his command console. Content to leave him to it, James walked out of the auxiliary bridge. The sight that greeted him made him stop in surprise. “What are you doing here?” he asked as his joy at seeing Christine quickly drowned out by concern. Whatever was so important that she had felt the need to come in person, it was hardly likely to be good news.

  Christine’s smile instantly dispelled his concern, however. “I have a couple of things I wanted to tell you,” she said excitedly. She rocked back and forth as she talked.