The Council of Hhearn Trilogy Box Set

by P F Walsh

  “He moved a planet? That’s not possible. I didn’t know anyone could do that.” She said completely surprised.

  “No one could, but apparently Captain Flynn picked up a few tricks wandering around the galaxy. He intends to turn it into a research center for science and medicine. I’ve already sent him the U.S. intention to lease a building for each discipline, or whatever they have to rent.” He said as he sipped his drink.”

  “Knowing Captain Flynn, I am certain there is a ton we can learn there.” He paused, and then said quietly, “Would you be willing to do Britain and me a favor?”

  The next day at Earth’s Cultural Attaché Office in Washington Millie was on the phone,

  “Yes, of course I bloody well know who I am asking to talk to, and I know he’s the Prime Minister. See here, you give him this message and have him ring me back, here is my number, I’m busy, and it is a matter of State.” She dictated her number in Washington, DC.

  “Tell him Millie Griggs called. We spoke at the British Embassy in Washington a month last. Tell him it’s urgent. Yes, that’s all. Now listen, this is not tosh, you will be fried in frog fat if you delay this.” And not waiting for a reply, she hung up with a smile thinking,

  “Brilliant, I’ve always wanted to do something like that!”

  The secretary at the other end just sat there for a full two minutes thinking,

  “Frog fat?”

  Against her more disciplined inclinations, she brought the message to his office, and placed it on the desk in direct sight of the Prime Minister who was on the phone talking with India.

  “Listen, my good friend, it’s clear we have some issues we can resolve with a bit more work, I give you my word on that. Right now, I have an urgent call I must make. May I call you back later in the day? He asked. He received affirmation from the other end, and hung up to pick up the message, and immediately began to dial. The secretary observed all of this as she left his office to close the door behind her.

  “Who the bloody Hell is Millie Griggs?” She thought. “Good move to take a chance on it though, seems important. Frog Fat? That must be some sort of code word to expedite a call. I must remember that.” She went back to her desk fielding nonsense phone calls, with none of them threatening to fry her in frog fat.

  Sean and Mother Primitia were in Discovery’s lab as the Doctor removed the case from the dryer and placed it on a table that had been covered with a white table cloth. Sean and the Doctor wore gloves. They examined all sides of the case. All the while, a vid was being made of the whole process.

  “Shall we open it now?” The Doctor asked.

  “Yes, carefully.” Sean said as Mother Primitia looked on. The Doctor began to lift the flap slowly and got it about halfway open when it broke off.

  “It is seriously dried out.” He said.

  “Yes, I see that, but I am not so concerned about the case as its contents. Set the lid aside, tip the case a bit and see if the articles inside will slide out.” He said. The Doctor lifted the case slowly with the opened end resting on the tablecloth. Several items slide out including what appeared to be some kind of journal.

  “Ship’s log?” The Doctor asked.

  “No, I don’t think so, that would be kept in the Captain’s cabin. I could be wrong, but it looks like a personal journal of some type with a latched lid.” Sean said, and then,

  “Mother Primitia, do you recognize any of the pins and jewelry there?” He asked.

  “Yes.” She whispered into his mind, “They are the Queen’s. They must have been removed after she died. There is one piece that is missing. She would not have been put to rest wearing that one.”

  “Doctor, check the case, make sure it is empty.” He said.

  The Doctor lifted up the case again and one more large brooch slid out. This one was ringed in sparkling stones with a large, smokey-white stone in the center. It was thick and heavily made of gold. Mother Primitia threw out her hands as if to protect it from sliding onto the floor.

  “This is the brooch of the Royal Crown. It confirms that the Queen is dead. It would never be separated from her possession. Only a person who has the throne’s legitimate royal blood can wear it. When the Queen wears it, it becomes brilliantly lit and sparkles. But now, this will only happen with a legitimate heir, whoever that might be.” She whispered. “All this must have been given to the ship Captain for safe keeping. These articles are precious to Mak! Secure them, and tell no one what we have here until we know the rightful inheritor!” She urged.

  Sean nodded, repeated what she said to the Doctor, and then said,

  “Let’s try to open the journal if we can. There may be last-minute entries that can explain what happened.” Sean released the catch and slowly opened the journal. The journal cover bent back easily and it did not break off. The pages within were some kind of water-resistant plastic. The writing was in hand and pen, and was not smeared by the melting frost. It was in the language of Mak. One could see the pages were dated and numbered, a journal, but by whom?”

  “Mother Primitia, would it be permissible to have Allister scan and translate it into a printout we can read?” Sean asked silently, knowing the journal might be politically explosive.

  “Yes, it would be good for you to read the entries and gain some insight into what we may be facing ahead. I will read them as well, to familiarize myself with what has happened since my Sisters left. We must keep what we learn to ourselves.” She whispered. Sean nodded affirmatively and told the Doctor all of what we retrieved was classified and not to be shared with any of the crew. He agreed.

  “Allister, have you been listening and watching?”

  “Yes Captain, although I could not hear the communications between you and Mother Primitia.” He replied.

  “Good. Doctor Tak will hold each page open. Please scan and translate into a printed copy for me in English, and one in Mak for Mother Primitia. Do you have the translation protocols for Mak?” he asked.

  Allister acknowledged, and said,

  “I downloaded that conversion file from her recovered starship before we left Hhearn.” Allister said.

  He then prompted the Doctor how to hold the journal as he scanned. The scanning began, and took quite a while as the Doctor turned the pages slowly and carefully, the journal was more than one hundred annuals old. It was clear it had been kept studiously for a long time.

  Later, when the journal had been read, the name in the front revealed that it was the journal of the Queen’s scribe. Their task was to document all of the Queen’s day, appointments, decisions, socials, and edicts when they occurred. It was a trusted position, and the scribe carefully detailed the last days of the Queen and a few beyond.

  In the Journal, Sean found the entry detailing the rescue of the owner of the abandoned ship Bettlrig that Discovery found. It had run out of fuel during the migration. The owner was only allowed to bring one bag with him onto the rescue ship because of the crowding in all of the ships. It required two men to lift it. The owner was entered as Bettl-Rig. He was a banker, elderly and sickly when rescued. He died shortly after while on the Mak ship Mennpar. He had no family and was emigrating alone. The journal recorded his committal ceremony. No entry described disposition of his bag or possessions.

  The journal revealed that the Mak migration ships had proceeded to slowly move from one system to another stopping for a week at each system to look for a new home and supplies. In the midst of all this, the Queen had been assassinated by one of her guards using a deadly poison. The guard escaped in a personal sled into the fleet of migrating ships and was never found. The journal described the details clearly. A decision was made to announce the Queen had died of sickness to prevent rage and hysteria among the fleet of stressed emigrants. The same poison was found in food set out for her two children but only one ate any and succumbed. His demise was described as a coughing disease. The journal said the remaining heir was dressed in common clothes and secretly moved to another ship during the re
distribution of passengers under the guise to equalize the diminishing food stores. Hundreds were moved, families were separated there was great confusion.

  The journal included a belief that Lady Merka of House Elsvig was behind the assassination in an effort to seize the throne. She had been a continuing critic of Her Majesty’s rule and had gathered a cadre of supporters, all seeking power they did not have. The journal ended.

  Sean, Nasht-Mer, Allister, Rooky and Mother Primitia all read the Journal. Much was familiar to Mother Primitia from her Den’s records, but the coup to seize the throne shook her. After a day’s consideration of their findings,

  “Allister, secure the fleet to resume the jumps. Alert the fleet that we may be entering into a system in dispute. All shields up once we drop back into normal space, until we see what awaits us.” Sean directed.

  “Acknowledged Captain, securing the fleet for jump.”

  The Senior Councilor frowned as the head of the legal department walked into his office.

  “What now, Trellick?” He asked with a sigh.

  “I wanted to report to you that the mess regarding the confiscation of assets from the Duchess of Kal has been settled.

  “Settled? I didn’t know there was a mess. What is going on?”

  “Well, sir, we knew you were quite vexed with the whole matter so we worked on it until we got it all resolved. Neatly too.” He said.

  “Trellick, you’re talking in riddles. Please explain to me what happened and how you resolved it. The resolution couldn’t have been totally satisfactory or I would never have heard about it.” The Councilor said with a trace of exasperation.

  “Well sir, as we went to assert confiscation of the personal assets of the Duchess after her arrest, not the ill-gotten funds, but her personal assets, we discovered she had filed a Bond of Regal Transfer.”

  “A what?” What is that?” The Councilor said.

  “A Bond of Regal Transfer is quite a complex document, but inviolable under our law.” He said and continued,

  “This instrument provides and dictates as to the dispersion of a regal estate and title when there are no inheritors. And, as you know, the Duchess committed suicide in jail. Quite canny of her, actually. In fact, it may be why she chose suicide, aside from being unwilling to endure the punishments aligned ahead of her. If we had completed the full confiscation while she was alive, we would have succeeded.” He said.

  “Go on.” The Councilor urged.

  “Well sir, under this document, her estate assets including her home, furnishings, personal possessions, and her title are completely under the control of this document, and we have followed it to the letter. Her liquid ill-gotten assets had already been confiscated while she was alive. If we did not follow the Bond document after her death, it would place the Council under threat of treble damages, with any award to go to one of the Noble families by lottery. This law was set up a hundred annuals ago as the monarchy was diminishing. A sort of last ‘gasp’ as it were, to perpetuate the continuance of the Noble families. This is the first time it has been invoked that I know of.” He said. Then he continued as the Councilor sat there silently wondering what was next,

  “The document dictates that since there are no living heirs, the remaining regal houses must have a conclave and choose an inheritor. This assures continuance of the noble remnants. It cannot be someone who already holds a title. That resulted in us calling all the Duchesses together to assign them the task of choosing an inheritor of the fixed assets and title. They all gleefully showed up except Nasht-Mer, Duchess of Mer, she is on a trip with the Duke Consort.”

  “Yes, I know where she is, go on,” the Councilor muttered.

  “The outcome of the conclave’s decision was to award the Bond of Regal transfer to a woman named Nan-Cee. She is now the Duchess of Cee and may take possession of the transferred estate at her pleasure. I counseled the ladies before the vote that the best applicant should be a person with excellent business acumen to manage such a large estate.”

  “And does Nan-Cee have those qualifications?” Asked the Councilor.

  “Not exactly Sir. Her mate owns and runs a very successful data processing business here on Hhearn, but she is personable, and was socially active.” He said.

  “Very well, it seems something good came out of all that criminal mess. I am glad the Duchesses were sensible and used a serious choice as the best criteria. Quite sensible.” He said. Trellick looked at him and seemed a bit uncomfortable.

  “What?” The Councilor said looking back.

  “Well sir, that wasn’t the criteria that they finally used.”

  “It wasn’t? What did they use?” He asked.

  “They chose her because she had the most ladies’ shoes in her closet!”

  In Washington, the sun was still shining brightly and Millie Griggs was beginning to reach for her next request from Hhearn for a concert when the phone rang,

  “Earth Cultural Attaché Office, Millie Speaking.”

  “Yes, good day Millie, this is Jeremy, you called suggesting some urgency?” He asked. Millie was surprised that the call was returned so quickly, or even at all, but she was quick to play,

  “Mister Prime Minister, thank you so much for returning my call.”

  “Mister Prime Minister is it? How shall we get on if it’s all stiff and collars?” He asked.

  “Very well Jeremy, you’re very kind, I’ll get on, I know you’re busy. The President thought it would be a good idea for me to give you a ring and skip over lots of throat clearing, and get the information where it matters.”

  “Quite right, he seems on top of it, don’t you?” He said.

  “Trick question,” she thought,

  “Yes, rather ahead of it I should say. I am sure you have heard about a new addition to our solar system?” She asked.

  “Yes, there’s a bit of a buzz, is it true?” he asked.

  “Yes, I am afraid it is, lots of hand wringing and political fuss ahead and the President wanted to give you first pitch.” She said.

  “Right, what does he want?” The Prime Minister asked.

  “Actually, it is about what you may want, and it is quite generous. You see, the new planet is an abandoned alien planet with a full city, an Artificial Intelligence, and all systems operating. Some of it is quite a bit in advance of ours. It is privately owned by Captain Flynn as a space station and the U.S. has declared it so. Captain Flynn has given the President the option to rent two buildings to place research staff there. They would be under the Managers Captain Flynn appoints, but would share in the discoveries. He also said the President could include anyone else in the study group he thought could cooperatively contribute to the study of advanced science and medicine. Do you suppose there might be an interest from the UK in joining in the space station declaration, and the research?” She asked toyingly.

  “Millie, I do believe friends should share burdens. It appears that Captain Flynn has some empty buildings to rent. I am not sure he is going to enjoy being a landlord, but count us in. Anything to help. And, thank the President. We’ll owe him rather big for this one. I’ll get the science and med boys on the jump, and the Foreign Office too. I’m assuming we’ll keep this hush hush for now?” He said.

  “Yes, please, except for making a public statement that the UK agrees with the space station designation. All among friends, you understand?” She replied.

  “Of course. Millie, this is the best call I’ve had all day. Count on something special when you are back in London.” He said and rung off.

  “Well, that was something. Seems there’s lots of nice bits ‘n bobs when you are the President’s girlfriend.” She thought, and then recalled what she might have been doing a year ago, “Blazes, what rubbish. I can’t believe I was living like that!” She looked over what she had to organize next. “Looks like I will have to make another starship trip to Hhearn. This Orchestra Conductor will never go unless I hold his hand.” She thought. “This definitely means
more shopping for new outfits. I wonder if Dolce Gabbana would like me to model a few of their outfits while in Hhearn? And then, of course, there’s Gucci, they both have new shops on Hhearn.” She hummed as she reached for the phone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Book Three

  The next two systems the Discovery fleet jumped into were both unsuitable for settlement. One contained a world that was still forming with violent storms and erupting volcanoes. There were no signals detected of any type, but that world did reveal to Allister’s scans small flows of molten gold. Allister marked the location for future investigation on how to get it without being crushed by falling volcanic debris, and searing heat. Otherwise, a few days was spent at each to be thorough. After accidentally finding Caerus hiding under a hologram, Allister was being more incisive in his scans.

  “Captain, there is nothing in this system that would support biological life. I recommend that we proceed to the next system. Keep in mind, my rough calculations indicate the immigrants would have very little food supplies by now.” He said.

  “I understand, advise the fleet to prepare for another jump to the outside edge of the next system. Maintain being on alert with shields up when we arrive, as we’ve done the last two jumps.” He ordered.

  “Acknowledged Captain, Preparing for departure.” Allister brought aboard the two collector drones he had scouring the system for valuable minerals or ice. Only the molten gold was worth returning for. The fleet formed up and began to accelerate for the system edges to transition into ‘no-space.

  Four days passed by in the flow of ‘no-space’ as the fleet pushed a particle nose bow aside, creating a turbulent wave behind as they passed. The fleet was matching Discovery’s present speed and Sean wondered just how fast the fleet ships could go. He knew the Discovery could exceed speeds that would make it untenable for biologicals on board, although he mused that the effect on the Sisters would be negligible, if any. Elementals didn’t seem to have any appreciable mass.