Chasing the Jewelled Throne

by r. a. Ben Miller

  Chapter 10; The Emperor’s Spy

  The Admirals milled around in the ante-room. They had been summoned to a regular morning conference. Heren thought that would keep the spy from bolting before he could get his hands on him.

  Keeth thought that this meeting was poorly timed. Arth was theirs. With most of the key government officials that had been against them having jumped off to who knows where, there was much to do about setting up the new government. The Admiralty Staff and Hawk Senators and their people were clamoring for the cushy new jobs that had just come open.

  Senators that had been in favor of this coup were wanting to know when the new Emperor would be crowned so that they could have proper photo opportunities for the news.

  The news was a mess. Arth was cut off from the rest of the empire. Crown forces had blown up all the transmitters on the planet. There would be no photo opportunities until the news was back on the air. They were unable to announce that anything had occurred. That General Z, for an old poop, was too fast for them.

  Zimmerand was in charge of technical proficiency. He stalked back and forth like a caged beast. He had teams of Jump Techs going over all those destroyed tubes trying to find any clue at all as to the whereabouts of their terminal tubes. House to house searches were under way to locate any members of the old government not affiliated with the Admiralty’s positions and therefore, potentially disloyal to the new Emperor. He set up links through his Flag Ship so that the news could go on line. When his ship filled up with newsies, he moved his flag to his number two vessel. This, was a short term solution and reconnected Arth to the rest of what was left of their new empire.

  Chun, as new Commander in Chief of the Navy, was so busy thinking about how he was going to set up things his way. He had already sent out one-man and two-man speed fliers in every direction to the other Naval Bases trying to get them to join the new Empire and to try to find that secret base.

  Within days, over a thousand ships were looking for any clue to the whereabouts of Aldo and his court. Within a few weeks, as the million credit reward gained greater converts, every rocket jockey in the universe was flocking to our banners to find the Royal Family.

  All Maori could think about was communications. If Z was ever going to get him out of this place alive, communications must be restored. He had been promised a support network. He looked at every stranger’s face that he had seen that day hoping for some kind of sign that he was not the last Loyalist officer left on this whole planet. His first officer had promised that the damages would be repaired in time to show the coronation on the Sundown Report News Cast.

  Just then, the giant double doors to the Throne room opened and out stepped Birt, Heren’s cousin. After Silvie’s death, Birt had joined the Navy and became Heren’s secretary and valet. “The Emperor would like for you to come in as called, Admiral Keeth, sir, if you would kindly enter.”

  Keeth nodded his assent and entered. The doors closed silently behind him. He found the new Emperor in a middle chamber, sitting at a huge, raised desk. Heren was signing proclamations to begin the new government and handing them to groups of people packed around him.

  He looked up, noticed Keeth, and said, “Keeth, my old friend, already the pressures of government, eh?” With a swipe of his arm, he cleared the room. Leading the way to a couch behind the desk, he continued, “How are your men?”

  Puzzled by the small talk, he answered, “We experienced few losses once the batteries were taken, Sire. The Country Palace was nearly empty when we arrived, as you know.”

  In five minute intervals, Chun and Zimmerand were brought in leaving Maori outside. As this group was seated on the couch, the mood suddenly changed.

  Savagely, explosively, as if he had suddenly lost his mind, Heren began to rave. “They were warned, damn their eyes! I had that ward room swept for listening devices. Security found none! Do you know what that means, my friends, a year’s work wasted because of a spy in our midst. This is the only time, at the anniversary of the coronation of my half-brother, that all the Royal Family is gathered on Arth. We could have wiped them all out and never had to fight them again. Now, a long civil was will rage. But I do fear war. I vow to fight until every Menzi and Medio alive has been put to the sword!”

  He tossed an object to Keeth, “What do you make of this?”

  “It’s a Super Scrambler. It sends a message that will sound like a toilet flushing to the Security Grid and not set off any alarms. General Z was supposed to make them available to the Navy, but he had been dragging his feet, saying they had some problems to work out. Where did you find this, Sire?

  “I found it well hidden in Maori’s state room. Now, when he comes in, I don’t want anyone to say anything about this. I want him to see me on that Jeweled Throne before he finds out that we know.”

  Heren looked at each man and each, in his turn, bowed their ascent. Maori was brought in and together the coronation march began. They were joined by members of the new Senate and newly appointed officers of the bureaucracy, mostly drawn from the Department of the Navy. It was quite a show for the cameras. Comm-links to the entire galaxy were promised by night fall. So, Heren wanted the film ready for the Sundown Report. Stately music was played by the Naval Band. People cheered as the new Emperor turned, waved to gathering, and sat.

  Within seconds, all could tell that something was desperately wrong. Heren’s eyes bugged out. The one hand that was free jerked uselessly in the air while the other appeared to be glued in place to the arm of the Throne. At once, Birt and Admiral Chun reached for the Emperor’s hand. Several members of Heren’s Personal Guardians also attempted to render aid.

  Keeth grabbed Zimmerand and held him back, thus saving his life. Any person attached in any way to the Throne remained there, slowly frying in an electric field. Keeth and the others slowly backed out of the Throne Room. Keeth then ordered it sealed and called for Interrogators to get to the bottom of this situation. He didn’t care if every person on Arth was tortured to death. He wanted answers, now!

  The remaining three members of the Admiralty met back aboard the “Zia” in the same ward that this revolution had begun. Zimmerand had polled the Senate. As dead men and women anyway, they vowed to continue the revolution. If left alone, Aldo was still a total idiot. The reasons for the coup were still as present as ever. Heren had been a blood member of the Royal Family, but he was dead. They asked that Keeth, as the Senior Officer, take the reigns of power. Zimmerand said that he agreed and looked at Maori.

  Maori was stunned to still be alive. He had seen that his state room had been gone through and that the Super Scrambler was missing. He had hoped that the secret of his betrayal had died with Heren. He was determined to try to bluff his way out. “I can make no better recommendation, my friend.”

  Suddenly Keeth was very tired. He slowly pushed the call button on the edge of the table and Security Mates surrounded Maori. He was very sad. Maori had been his friend since school. He motioned for them to take him away saying, “Full Courts Martial tomorrow. I’m too tired to hand anyone tonight.” He got to his feet slowly and made his way to his shuttle for the return trip to his own vessel. He then walked without talking to his state room. Without ever taking off his clothes, he fell face down on his bed and slept for the first time in almost three days.

  Two hours later, when she came off duty, his companion, Glori, found him that way. She called to the Security Mates to help her. Gently, they undressed him and got him comfortable. With a soft kiss, Glori turned off the light and curled up beside him to sleep.

  She had heard the scuttlebutt about him taking the Crown, “Sleep, my little Emperor,” she thought. There he lies, sleeping the sleep of the pure hearted. When this is over, if my luck holds, he’ll make me his Empress.

  Crowding in on these pleasanter thoughts came her worries of this afternoon. Rumors had begun as soon as the cameras covering the coronation for the fleet that had suddenly gone dark with no further word of what had
occurred. She had been nearly frantic. She had heard that there had been an accident and that most of the Admiralty were dead. Luckily, she had gotten her brother assigned to the Flagship as a Comm-Tech. She rushed to his office. He had asked a few discreet questions and was able to tell her only that Keeth was still alive and unharmed. He then shooed her out as he was quite busy trying to establish the network broadcast of the Sundown Report for Admiral Maori.

  Upon waking, Keeth untangled himself quietly from the young girl. “I’ll have to buy her something nice,” he thought, “She takes better care of me than I do myself.” Walking to the shower, he tried very hard not to think about what he was going to have to face in a short while. It would be an impossible task. Finally, he just gave in to it with grave sadness. He showered quickly and dressed in a full dress uniform.

  He typed a command into the Bosun-Rob. The robot began touring the ship, heading for the bridge and piping all officers to the Courts Marshall. As he was fresh out of Admirals, Keeth called two Vice-Admirals over from nearby ships to preside. They agreed to be picked up in the Admiral’s shuttle so that they can go over the case to save time.

  They would be gathered in the ward room that this conspiracy had started aboard the “Zia”. As he was drifting in to dock with the flag ship, he realized that they could not follow a vessel named after a Royal heir. As he was being piped aboard as the new Flag Admiral, he saw that they were already painting out the word “Zia” and painting “Heren” in its place. As good of a name as any he thought. What he didn’t know at the time was that his own son had suggested that very thing only this morning. Always looking for friends in high places, the commander had quickly moved to have it done. After all, this was no longer the Royal Navy, at least no of the old Empire, anyway.

  Saying nothing, Keeth led the entourage to the court room and took the chair at the head of the table. He looked right and then left to make sure his fellow judges were set to go and said, “Gentlemen, let’s get this over with as soon as possible. We have more important work to do. Bring in the prisoner.”

  Maori’s face, resigned to death, was impassive while the Clerk read the charges. “I took this assignment knowing the consequences of failure he thought. I must now take this like a Royal Officer of the Line.” The evidence was brought, witnesses testified, and the prisoner was convicted in less than thirty clicks.

  Keeth looked up from his papers and asked, “Do you have anything to say before we pass judgment on this case?”

  “I wish to state, for the record, that I am not a traitor, but everyone else in this Navy who doesn’t immediately rally to the Crown is and will die as a traitor. And further more…aaagh!”

  The papers in front of Keeth had a perfectly rounded hole, smoking slightly. The prisoner stood there a second, a look of utter surprise on his face. His chest had an equally perfect hole that someone could look through, should they care to. He fell backward with a sickening thud.

  “That’s for every one who died yesterday and all who are about to die to end the old Empire and bring a new order to the front. They will not have needed to die if all had remained true.” With that statement, Keeth left the court room. “I want this cleaned up in time for the General Staff Meeting.” He said over his shoulder. “We must now prepare for a civil war that we have all hoped to avoid.”

  Keeth turned back on his heel, looking at the stunned faces around him, “Ladies and gentlemen, we must now assume that the good general has already had a secret base planned for some time. I can not emphasize this enough, we must find that base. Every day that they remain at large is two days worth of fighting that it will take to defeat them. Every tick they are free, they will rally more and more support.”

  As he was walking out, he grabbed his son’s arm. “Please see to my things. Make sure that Glori has a good duty station on the Flagship.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  “See that someone buys her a nice gold necklace with a diamond stone. I want to give it to her at supper tonight.”

  “As you wish, sir.” Danil carefully kept his feelings about his father’s “aide” out of his voice. His father had been a good husband to his mother, for a Navy man, and had always been his hero. Glori was just a topic that was never going to be discussed between them and that was that.

  “Son, you are to by my Chief of Staff. I am offering you my old job and my old staff. You will act as my liaison to the Admiralty, after I appoint an Admiralty, of course. Your job now will be to help me screen candidates and to make sure that no one is forgotten. Please command my Flagship.”

  “I will do my best, Father.”

  “Zimmerand, you are the Chief of the Admiralty. I will review your nominations for the new Admiralty this afternoon.”

  “Yes, Sir. Right away, Sir.”