Blockade

by Chris Hechtl

  “The attacks were good but almost random. We have traced the glasses and ice. Interrogations of the support staff have not turned any additional clues up. We have noted one support staff member died in a vehicle accident the morning of the address. My people are still looking into that.”

  “So, you believe that person set this up and then whoever did it killed them to cover their tracks?” the countess asked.

  The baron nodded. “It's the normal way of playing something like this. Use a cutout; get rid of them, then whoever did that job just to make sure there are no ties to the actual perpetrator.”

  The countess nodded as she turned to study the emperor. “I will point out that this wasn't just an attack on you, Your Majesty, but also on the succession. Your family was also involved I understand?”

  “Yes. Catherine …,” the emperor sat back and rubbed his brow in frustration. “She nearly drank it too. If I hadn't had that fit of temper and thrown my glass, one or both of us could have easily died.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Find them. Find whoever did this. I don't care who you have to interrogate, just find them so I can make an example of them,” the emperor growled as he rose and left the room.

  “Easier said than done,” the countess murmured. The baron nodded.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  The gathering lords were a bit stiff, but Catherine was relaxed. She smiled and nodded to Countess Newberry as she entered the room. “So, my brother, Mason, is alive I heard?”

  The countess froze as the others in the room looked up in surprise and turned to them.

  “Where did you hear that?”

  “My father informed the family after the State of the Empire Speech.”

  Sabine nodded. “Admiral White informed Cyrano as he was leaving Garth,” she stated slowly. “He called him Miles though, so we believe he got the name wrong in the heat of the moment. We got confirmation from that enemy commander in Finagle with infected images.”

  Catherine stilled. All eyes fell to her. She slowly cocked her head. Everyone was expecting some sort of reaction at the mention of her former teacher and commander. “Images of others?”

  “Yes. Infected images of others, which was why we considered it a ploy,” the countess stated as she took her usual seat. “Along with a list of captive POWs,” she added.

  Malwin frowned. “Why are we just hearing about this now?” he asked.

  “Because the enemy tried to use it as a ruse to infect us with their malware,” the countess replied. “It was an obvious ploy, so we discounted the data. But a couple of my techs are rather thorough, and they ran a facial recognition pass. The prince and others were positively identified.”

  Malwin's lips twisted slightly. “Again, why am I just hearing about this now? I am the Praetor,” he stated.

  “Because the emperor overruled her on telling us no doubt,” Theo said as he sailed into the room. The group rose to their feet. “Sorry, I was talking outside in the hallway and couldn't help but overhear,” he said by way of warning. He turned a look on the officer near the door. She quietly shut it. “The emperor classified the information. So, no, we can't have it nor can we let people know we know some of their loved ones are alive. All we can do is hope it is true and that they are being properly cared for.”

  “Given our own track record with prisoners one does have to wonder,” Catherine murmured. Malwin winced.

  “Be that as it may,” the minister of war said, taking his seat. “It isn't something we can do anything about so let's focus on what we can, shall we?”

  Heads nodded as they resumed their seats and got to work.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Jezebel grimaced. That had been entirely too close for comfort. And, all too real. If Piotr died, she'd lose her direct path to the throne. Her daughter-in-law might have been behind it, she wasn't sure. The Stuarts had been quite supportive, but there was that missive about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

  Should something happen to Piotr, things could get tricky. Catherine was proving a bit too wily for her taste as were her two brothers. Young Khali might be pliable. If she could set herself up as her granddaughter's regent, then they might be able to turn things around.

  But only if things didn't go south too soon.

  Act III

  Chapter 40

  Antigua

  Iab, secretary of communications, grinned as he noted a new ansible come online. It was one the admiral had been anticipating for some time.

  "Can you hear me now?" he murmured. "Enki, can you inform White Station we're live?"

  "Yes, sir, Mister Secretary," the A.I. replied as she put the call in.

  "Sometimes I just love my job," the Neochimp murmured, sitting back to watch the event unfold.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Tau-1252

  It took the better part of three days for the ansible ship to set up the platform, then another day of ticklish work to move an ansible core into it. Two days later the traditional signal “can you hear me now” was transmitted to the capital in Antigua.

  Commodore Shelby Logan had just gotten the good news when a call came through from White Station. She'd been considering the priority on refitting the Beta convoy ships and where best to use them. She immediately took the call.

  “Commodore Logan,” a familiar voice said. Her eyebrows widened as Admiral Irons image appeared in uniform in front of her.

  Despite it just being an avatar she still shot to her feet. “Sir!”

  “I wanted to congratulate you and your people on a job well done. This is phase one, and obviously, you've run into more than we bargained for with the pirate plagues,” the admiral said. “But damn fine bit of work. I've been reading your reports as they come in. You've been building brick buildings with barely enough material to do the job. Somehow you are making it work.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Shelby stated with a nod. She noted the admiral wasn't looking at her, and his voice lacked any sort of emotional timber. No doubt the system was set up to translate his voice to text and then back into voice on her end.

  She looked over to the door as someone knocked on it. Before she could say anything, Commodore Richards slipped in.

  “Admiral Irons, good to see you again,” Helen stated.

  “And you, sort of, Helen. I was telling Shelby I'm proud of the work she's done. That you've all done. But it's far from over.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I'm monopolizing the bandwidth for this for a moment. You'll get the usual congratulations and news updates once I'm clear. But, for the moment, we have something to get done,” he stated.

  “Sir?” Shelby asked.

  “Attention to orders,” the admiral intoned. Shelby came to attention instinctively.

  “Commodore Logan, for exemplary leadership and for the growing needs of your command, I have seen fit and congress has seen fit to approve of your promotion to rear admiral.”

  Shelby's eyes widened. Her eyes looked at Helen. Helen only smiled ever so slightly.

  “There is a courier coming in with the full key package as well as additional keys and updates,” the admiral stated.

  “Thank you, sir. I don't know what to say, honestly.”

  She had been promoted to rear admiral. That was still sinking in to her. Exultation rushed through her a bit. “This solves a lot of problems, Shelby, most notably with logistics. Obviously, I can't send you components like hyperdrives. The keys are the best way to do this. Use them wisely.”

  “Aye aye, sir, I will,” Shelby said, still a little stunned.

  “Additional medical keys will be coming in as well, also a new part of your mission. You'll get it all when the courier arrives in a few months.”

  “Thank you, sir. I'll attend to them carefully.”

  “I know you will. I'm going to transmit the public keys I can through the ansible. For security reasons, I can't transmit the higher ones. But this should get you started.”

&
nbsp; “Thank you, sir.”

  “Good. I look forward to hearing more things from you two. Now, I'll let you get back to work.”

  “Thank you, sir. We'll do our best.”

  “I know you will.”

  The admiral's image faded and then winked out. Shelby looked at Helen and then sank into her chair as if her knees had given out on her. “Admiral!”

  “It makes sense. There was some flack over who should be in overall sector command, you or me. This solves that. You can focus on the overall mission while I can focus on the plagues.”

  Shelby nodded.

  “You'll do fine. You'll grow into it.”

  “Yeah,” Shelby murmured. “I guess I don't have a choice.”

  “Nope! Now, I wanted to pick your brain about the hospital training program. We need more facilities and equipment obviously …”

  Shelby shook off her reverie and focused on the task at hand. Life and duty went on; she did indeed have work to do.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Antigua

  Governor Randall grinned and waved to the cameras from the top of the ramp of the shuttle. His kids, however, had other ways of celebrating. They threw their hands up in the air with victory signs and then climbed down the stairs and kissed the ground. More than one person laughed at that.

  "Governor, how do you feel about your chances of a victory?" a reporter from GSN asked.

  They'd timed it good; they'd arrived with three days to spare. He needed to find a way to reward that crew for their outstanding efforts on his behalf. "Pretty good. We're a little travel fatigued despite using stasis, but we got to meet some great people. They told us all sorts of things that need to be done. We'll pass on copies to their senators and delegates, but I promise if I'm elected, I'll endeavor to act on as many as I can."

  "So, does that mean you think you don't have it in the bag?"

  "I haven't seen the latest polling data. I'd like a little time at home to settle the family in, but if the other candidates are up for another ansible debate, I'm game."

  "Governor Saladin has of course returned months ago. Governor Das is due in at any time," the reporter stated. "Do you believe that Governor Das’s late return will hurt her chances of rallying her base?"

  Governor Randall shrugged. "I'm not a polling expert; you'd have to ask one of them. I'd love to visit the worlds she got to visit someday."

  "Do you believe the late inclusion of worlds in Tau and Pi will affect your chances of victory given you could only visit a few worlds?"

  "That is one reason I won't say I'm a shoo-in," Jeff said with a smile. "Ultimately, the decision is in the hands of the voters as it should be."

  He waved and took a couple more questions before his wife tucked herself under one arm and guided him off.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Captain Sprite noted the Randall family's return and the media coverage. Governor Saladin had returned months ago and had been politicking through the ansible to raise his exposure that way. Only Governor Das was still out and about, though her courier was scheduled to return to her home star system by the day of the election. Whether she was on planet or not, it was anyone's guess.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Kathy's World

  Moira was starting to have regrets about her trip. Not that she hadn't wanted to see Protodon and Kathy's World, she truly had. But the timing could have been better. Nadine was doing her best to handle the election with her deputy secretaries. Not that there weren't any problems. She shook her head. She'd known Nadine long enough to make it clear to her deputies that Nadine was her chosen deputy no matter how the chain of command looked on paper. They were to defer to her judgement.

  There had been some complaints that Governor Saladin had unfairly made contact with reporters through the ansible using his government access. She decided to allow spare State Department bandwidth to be used by the other candidates up to and through the day of the election to level the playing field.

  She finished signing off on that just as Governor White Wolf arrived. She rose and smiled a tight- lipped smile to the legendary governor. "Governor," she said, extending a hand to her. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person," she said as they shook hands.

  "And I you, Madam Secretary," the governor said in a soft voice as the cameras began to click with the shot.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Seti Alpha 4

  Twenty-nine hours before the election officially began, Governor Das's courier arrived at the Pyrax jump point. The second transmission from the little ship after she sent out her IFF to the picket in the star system to announce her presence was a single phrase from the governor.

  "Wow! What a ride!"

  That earned some amusement from the interstellar media who played the drama of her late arrival for one and all. They had played up the question of the timing of her return for weeks. Now they turned to other things even though her little ship wouldn't be arriving in orbit of her planet until nearly the end of election day.

  A local reporter called her to ask if she thought the election should be delayed.

  "No! It's okay, the decision is in the hands of the people now as it should be. Besides, I want to get home and see some familiar sites and faces. I'm looking forward to finding out what I missed!"

  She did, however, take advantage of Secretary Sema's generous donation of ansible bandwidth to hold as many interviews with off-world reporters as her staff and the ship's communication suite could arrange.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Kathy's World

  Moira refused to let her ship leave until after the election day was concluded. She held the ship in orbit while she listened to the plot unfold. Each planet had a standard day to complete its voting. Early voting had been going on for weeks to make sure everyone had a chance to vote.

  Nadine started to report problems with spotty coverage and a host of issues, usually on backwater worlds or noobs. She couldn't help but sigh at some of the problems. “It just goes to show where we need to cover and train for next time.”

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Antigua

  Admiral Irons made a show of traveling to Antigua Prime to vote early on election day. He timed it to happen after Governor Randall's family voted so he wouldn't step on coverage of that. "I usually vote electronically though my implants but this is important," he said as he stood in line with the other voters. That generated a laugh. He talked with them and the reporters who were nearby covering the event. The presence of the admiral and the live coverage of him made the crowd swell as more people came in hopes of seeing him.

  Once his vote was complete, he came out and proudly showed his sticker showing he'd voted. "Sir, who did you vote for VP?"

  He smiled indulgent. "Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?" he said. "Whichever the winner is, I wish them all the best of luck." He waved and then his security encircled him and hustled him out of the area and back to the waiting shuttle to return to White Station.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  "Real nail biter?" Sandra asked, rubbing his neck and shoulders.

  Jeff smiled at her. "Something like that," he said, pulling her down for a kiss. He was the favorite and projected to win, but the spotty coverage could cause a series of recertifications or even court battles. That was one thing his staff hadn't prepared for, having lawyers on hand in case of that. He hoped it didn't come to that. He hoped he won gracefully, but you never knew until the final vote was tallied. There could be some sour grapes out there too.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Skeletor snarled as his people backed off from every attempt to strike during election day. Every bomb had been found. Coverage was intermittent of that. He was certain the powers that be didn't want to spook the population. Security was very tight. Eternia security was out and about making their presence felt.

  Even the fake bombs had been picked off. Two of his people had been identified, one had been caught, the other had been killed by his own people.
<
br />   He considered moving forward with other means of attack, but since his men were shaky, he ordered a stand-down. "There will be other opportunities," he grumbled.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Even before the State Department certified the election totals from the various planetary boards, the concession speeches by the other runners had begun. Governor Das nodded in her short speech. "The best man won. The people won!"

  Governor Saladin's coverage took on a different slant. He had a short speech to his supporters who had been gathered for a party in the capital. "The party is still on," he said, waving to them. "This is your night as it is everyone's so enjoy!"

  He made the rounds with the reporters though, and his interviews made the news.

  "Of course Governor Randall won; he has more exposure than either I or Governor Das had since he is in the capital and Admiral Irons' favorite," Governor Saladin stated.

  "Sour grapes?" a reporter asked.

  "Not at all. As Governor Das said, the best man won."

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Antigua

  Admiral Irons noted the election results and even took the time to call everyone who had lost or won to console or congratulate them. He then gratefully returned to other matters.

  Security had the bombing investigations in hand.

  Some were pretty small and petty. Like new standards for lasher training. It was stupid but someone wanted to over-regulate commerce.

  Lashers were part of a freighter's cargo management team or were part of the stevedores in port. They worked on or below deck and had to put on or remove the turnbuckles and shoes that held containers. It was one of the most dangerous jobs in a ship. During a ship's flight, they had to daily check the lashings to make sure the tension was just right. Accidents could maim or kill them.

  In port they had to move fast to secure lashings or remove them, all while the freight was being moved in or out. Robots could do the job but were incredibly slow compared to a live person.