Lieutenant Spacemage (Imperium Spacemage Book 3)

by Timothy Ellis

  “Why did they need new maps?” asked Lacey.

  “Because ours are less than optimal for that region, and we know they’re inaccurate. What they discovered was the Trixone have no-go areas, where different species are holding them out, or where going into them is fatal. They don’t care about them all that much, and just went around them when discovered. It’s what they’re doing to us as well. They suspect Arthur is in one of these no-go areas, hence looking for better maps. As they get closer, they should be able to find a better map, as well as the message.”

  “I still don’t understand why the meeting now,” said Bigglesworth.

  “They were contacted from one of these no-go areas, by a species which dominates there, and which apparently has the Trixone so penetrated they know all about the Imperium, including our standard language. They asked for a message to be sent to us.”

  “What was the message?” asked Tollin.

  “They want the Imperator to visit them.”

  “What for?” asked Bigglesworth.

  “They know we can close jump points, and want their space isolated from the Trixone.”

  “What are they offering?” asked Jedburgh.

  “Medicals in the first instance. Apparently everyone in their region owes them big time because of their medication ability. So they call the shots, and get whatever they want.”

  “Big Pharma?” suggested Lacey.

  “That was my impression. But at least one of their species has to be significant ship builders to hold out the Trixone, and presumably they or someone else are formidable warriors. But they were not going to disclose anything without a formal meeting with the Imperium, and preferably the Imperator.”

  “What species are they?” asked Lacey.

  Jane grinned.

  “Intelligent fungus.”

  Thirty Three

  “What?”

  The reaction exploded from Lacey, and caused the rest of us to laugh. He’d used intelligent fungus as a joke when tearing a new one for the group of squadron commander recruits who’d then gone on to mutiny. Apparently the joke was now on him.

  An image appeared on a hollo screen, showing what appeared to be the bridge of a ship, only all the surfaces were covered with very short plant growth.

  “Well, it takes all kinds to make a galaxy,” said Tollin. “Do we want to deal with them?”

  “That’s why this meeting,” said Jane. “I’m proposing we send a military expedition to meet them formally. Nothing too threatening, but quite capable of taking care of itself if this proves to be a trap. If it’s not, we need a diplomatic mission ready to go to follow up.”

  “And you want to send Eagle Wing?” asked Lacey. “Just when we’ve figured out how to be effective against the Trixone?”

  “I’m sending Navy Mage Squadron One because Bud can open a rift directly there, they have enough skills to handle anything thrown at them, and Bud can get them out again if need be. I want to send Eagle Wing because we need to send a flag officer to command the mission, and you’ve got by far the most in-the-field experience of any we have except Annabelle, and she’s not navy, and not available anyway.”

  “Except for you, Jane,” added Jedburgh.

  “I’m already on Rogue. And I’ve enough to be getting on with here.”

  Tollin gave her a speculative look.

  “Okay, what off the books operation are you running now?”

  “Who me?”

  She batted her eyelids a few times, but Tollin wasn’t biting.

  “Yes, you. Spill it.”

  “I interrogated those of the American team who I didn’t allow to go on the mission. They all had the same story. Like the Sci-fi people all along the spine, the American sector had a significant group of people who wanted out of the way America works politically and governmentally. They wanted to carve off one of the new colony worlds for their own, and use the ship they stole to hold the jump point. They want a government based on compassion and fairness for all, and don’t believe the existing political system would ever become what they want. Ironically, what they want is very similar to what Haven has, and the Imperium is based on. Their plan was reasonable, and I’ve since verified all the details. I’m currently setting up a new colony for them, and starting to organize the movement of a couple of million more people.”

  “Where to?” asked Lacey.

  “Remember Dead Man’s Chest?”

  “Sure. You mean the habitable planet on the other side we found?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Do they deserve such a great planet?”

  “I think so. I’m pretty sure the Rogue crew are going to earn it. So I’m proceeding on the basis they will find Arthur, and keep whoever or whatever Arthur is protecting safe, until I can get a message back to myself. Then I’ll tell Jon what’s been going on, and he can send whatever is needed by direct rift.”

  “And having three master mages, and a carrier force already over that side when you do hear what the real situation is, could speed up the response time?”

  “Yes. If they are right over the other side of the core, then it’s still going to take time to get a message back here. You and Bud can drop comnavsats wherever you go, staying connected to the network at all times, and thus receive any message from my other me, way ahead of when I will. You can then respond appropriately before we can.”

  “What about our ability to rift fleet fire at the Trixone? Isn’t that more important at the moment?”

  “Syrinx and Tanith have been studying what Bud’s been doing, and while they don’t have his control, or speed, they have already been able to duplicate the effect. The battles are slower, but the results are the same. They are also working to train up the few decent rift mages they’ve been able to bring on. We’ll put them on dreadnaught flagships as soon as we can. I’ve also taken Bud’s suggestion on board and am building some two seat Excalibur fives, so when we have spare mages with rift or shielding ability, they can second seat with the squadron leader.”

  She looked at me.

  “I’m also in the process of assembling Navy Mage Squadron Two from the current batch of midshipmen. Although this time I’m going to put an actual squadron leader in command of them. So far I can’t find a mage master like Bud who can also lead. Or even a mage master like Bud, period. They will take longer to bring on, but I’m aiming to try and duplicate Bud and his squadron’s success as often as possible. That is keeping one of my avatars fully occupied on its own.”

  “So you want our permission to launch the mission?” asked Bigglesworth.

  “Yes. We can’t spare anyone else with the needed skills. So we need Bud and his squadron, and we need Algy’s experience to head the mission up, which means his entire wing goes. If the shit hits the fan, they’ll need the firepower anyway. I’ll have another squadron of fives ready for them shortly. And we can keep updating you through a rift when we can. But yes, I need fighter and navy permission for this.”

  Her eyes went to Tollin.

  “And I need you to form a diplomatic mission on the quiet, in case things go really well.”

  “You have my permission to launch the mission,” said Bigglesworth.

  “And mine,” added Jedburgh.

  “Ditto,” said Tollin. “I’ll get a diplomatic team ready tomorrow, if you can supply a ship for them to travel on.”

  “Thank you,” said Jane.

  “Do Bud and I get a choice?” asked Lacey.

  “No!” all four of them said together, causing Lacey to shake his head, and me to keep my grin in.

  “Mission orders?” he asked.

  “After breakfast tomorrow,” said Jane, “Bud will open a rift to the system I give him, you’ll go there, make contact with the fungus, and agree to meet them. You are not to start a war, but you are allowed to protect yourselves to be able to return home. You have mission command Algy, but Bud commands the navy ships, especially if you go into combat. The same as you did today in fact.
Let’s hope you won’t need to. If all goes well, you call for the diplomatic mission, and then protect them. You are authorized to use pilots in combat suits as marines. If you think you need marines, we might be able to send you a frigate and a battalion. But nothing more. If you need more, or the situation deteriorates badly, you evac as quickly as you can, and rift home.”

  She looked at the two four stars.

  “Anything to add, sirs?”

  “Nothing more,” said Bigglesworth. “Safety of your people is the highest concern, but having a new ally is worth taking a risk for.”

  “Agreed,” said Jedburgh.

  “Also agreed,” said Tollin.

  Thirty Four

  “Ground rules,” said Eagle.

  We were now in my ready room, which technically was really his. There was no provision for an admiral on this ship class, which was probably an oversight. But he could use the XO’s chair on the bridge, and there was also the XO’s office. He was already in the XO’s accommodation. He definitely wasn’t the XO.

  “I’ll move my stuff out of here and my suite so you can have them.”

  “No, you won’t. I’m was going to be quite happy living on an Excalibur three, which had its own bed-sit. I lived on a predecessor of the Excalibur for several years, and was very happy. The suites here are more than big enough for all of us, including me. I chose to be a fighter pilot, and I’ve fought hard to get back to Excaliburs. I don’t need the accoutrements of flag rank, and you’re the captain of this ship, so you get what is the captains.”

  “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “It doesn’t feel right now. When you’re a commander and flying a dreadnaught, you’ll have an admiral with you, but those ships are designed to have an admiral on board. Or will be by then, I’m sure. Once the fleet grows big enough, admirals like Bentley will take command of bigger groups than we fly now. The flagships will be designed to carry them and their staff, as well as crew. In the meantime, get used to what you’ve earned.”

  “You’re the admiral, Admiral.”

  He cringed.

  “I’m not an admiral. I’m a Space Commodore, which is a fighter rank, not navy, and you damned well know that. And don’t remind me. I was happy being a mercenary squadron leader, for all we fell on hard times before the Imperator nearly blew us away one day.”

  “That sounds like a story.”

  “I might even tell you about it one day. I’ve never wanted to be more than a squadron leader. It was me who wanted a squadron like you’ve got now, but Jane beat me to setting one up, so it’s navy instead of fighters. But it also gives me experience working with your team, and one day I’ll headhunt my own special purpose unit based on Excaliburs and operating on our own. That’s my plan anyway.”

  “You didn’t try to wrest us away from Admiral Jane?”

  He laughed.

  “No-one does that. For all she was asking for permission just now, she really didn’t need to. But she is very polite, and mostly observes the chain of command.”

  “Mostly.”

  “After Jon, she’s the most powerful person in the Imperium, but like Jon, she doesn’t abuse it. When she sets out to help people, they get helped.”

  “So, ground rules?”

  “We do it the same as we did this afternoon. I’ll give you the mission objectives for the moment, you decide how to carry them out. I’ll only override your orders if the mission warrants it. And if we need to separate, whoever has the rank commands.”

  “In other words, I follow your orders.”

  He face palmed.

  After he left, I took a moment to look at the navmap. The line of live systems crossed most of the core from us, through the Trixone system, to the other side of the core, and where we needed to go was one of the systems towards the end of that line. I pulled up a few of the systems over that way, and there was a lot of civilian traffic, and also Trixone fleets moving away from us. I wondered if Jane had noticed that detail. That far away, there was obviously a threat level on par with us. Although it could just be they were trying to take some of their no-go zones.

  If they were sending large fleets after Arthur, then he and his people were probably long gone. Although the fact the fleets were still moving that way, suggested if he was the target, then he’d found a way of beating them. It wasn’t really even speculation, but just guess work, and we’d find out in due course when the freighter caught up with Rogue.

  Rogue wasn’t on the network, as expected, and the freighter was. It looked like an old style spine cruiser in the few seconds I had to look at it before it jumped on. Probably capable of jumping out of trouble, but not surviving a battle. It was even older than the Ocean class support cruisers, before they were upgraded.

  I called Leanne in, and checked what supplies we were getting. The cargo bays on all the corvettes were completely filled, as were the store rooms for the messes, and the fabricator raw materials stores. A popup told me we had the makings for comnavsats on board, but not the ability to fabricate them. Point noted. Apparently they’d been on board from the day I’d taken command, which explained why I was able to create two of them so easily. Creation magic worked best when everything needed for what you wanted to create was close at hand.

  It felt wrong being alone in the evening. I’d grown used to our spa sessions and then sitting around chatting before going to bed. When I asked her, Leanne told me Serena was already asleep in her own room. And everyone else was on their own ship now. The accommodation downstairs was now for Eagle’s squadron, and we no longer had a place for the team to meet, or even a squadron spa. Although we could use the rifts back to Haven, assuming they still worked at that distance. But that could have consequences if the unexpected happened.

  Something niggled at the back of my mind, and I took another look at the specs for the ship. And yes, there were two messes, the main one on the deck below, and the second one off the conference room behind the bridge. As extensively as the ship had been upgraded, the top deck had remained much the same as the original Gunbus. There was an office for the XO, and another one for the third officer, with several other smaller ones for crew to use. But when I looked further, my suite had another office, the XO’s had a smaller one, and there was room for a desk in the thirds.

  I asked Leanne what we could do, and told her what I wanted.

  When I checked the ship status the following morning, there was a desk and chair ready to be moved into Serena’s suite, and off an enlarged top level mess was a wet area with a spa for thirty, and a living room area for the same number.

  The first thing I did before showering was shift the rifts so they entered the top level living area, instead of what was now the pilot’s living room.

  The next was to invite the rest of the squadron and their AI’s for breakfast.

  Thirty Five

  I met Eagle coming out of his suite at training time, and led him to the running track.

  He pinged his pilots, and they followed me as I started running at a pace where the sudden left turn could be safely negotiated. Leanne was feeding me what was going on behind me on a small popup on my PC HUD. Serena joined the end of the line behind them. Each time around the track, I stepped up the pace slightly. I expected her to bail at some point, as she was still not completely fit yet. But she stayed resolutely at the tail of the line.

  On the seventh lap, there was a major oomph behind me, and the sound of someone hitting the wall solidly. Give him his due, he rejoined the line behind Serena, even though blood was dripping from his nose. I pinged Eagle to check how his suit was configured, because protection mode should have prevented that. Sore nose maybe, but definitely not blood. By the tenth lap, everyone including me was touching the wall in that spot as we went around, just to make sure we’d judged the turn right.

  The pilots went on into the gym, but Serena and I headed for our showers. The thought of inviting her into mine was tough to resist, but we were not there yet. And she didn’t l
ook like she’d thought of it herself. I was beginning to wonder if she was going cool on the ‘us’ thing, especially since now she didn’t have her own ship, and I didn’t think she was quite okay yet with the whole ‘coming back from the dead’ business. It also wasn’t exactly forbidden for us to share quarters now, so that part of any thrill component was gone. Maybe Jane figured it would sort us out, given a little time. For now though, I was giving her space. And it wasn’t as if I didn’t have enough to do, now I was an actual captain, and a fleet squadron commander.

  The others were surprised to step out into a larger living room, and once all of them were there, I explained my thinking to them on us needing our own space, even though we had our own capital ships now. A little surprisingly, everyone including the AIs agreed it was a good idea, and unless something required their presence on their own ships, we decided meals would be on Long Water from now on.

  Although I felt the need to point out we all needed to eat with our pilots periodically, and sometimes just with our squadron commanders. The latter reason was why the captain’s suite had its own dining room.

  As we ate, we discussed how to interact with officers much more senior to us, while holding on to being the senior navy officer present. There were officer course notes we could reference on this, but the practical was of course something completely different, and we all needed to work this one out, and achieve a working relationship with both the COs of our squadrons, and the pilots themselves. There was also the whole ‘captain needed to be aloof from the crew’ thing. Which of course I’d already failed with them, and Woof mentioning it caused a good laugh. Mel then asked if getting naked with her squadron in the wet room was a good idea or not, getting a very firm ‘not’ from Gitte, which also caused us to laugh.

  Metunga then suggested we magically daisy chain the running tracks together with different themes in each, so the track became thirteen lengths long instead of us doing ten laps. Technically, we should all be able to share it if we started at the same time, or one crew started, and everyone joins in by AI command, so we ended up with one long conga line. The only downside to that was Metunga himself running it at two to three times the speed we did. Although, as Metunga’s AI pointed out, the effect of two, or even three big cats overtaking everyone at some random point could be quite amusing. The rest of us were not amused, but three big cats laughing at our lack of amusement did set the rest of us off.