A knock came at her front door. Surprised, she went to see who it was. It was several hours yet before they would come for her luggage and other personal affects. Opening the door, she found Brett Newcomb standing there, with a smile on his face.
“Ready to go to the Imperial Palace?”
“Will I live in the Palace?” asked Kala, as she motioned for Brett to come in. So much of this she didn’t know and hadn’t thought through.
“Most of the time, though you could have a summer home out in the country, if you want some privacy.”
“I don’t know what I want,” confessed Kala, sitting on the sofa. “I’m still overwhelmed by all of this.”
Brett looked at all the luggage and boxes Kala had piled up in the living room. “You do realize that, with Andrew being a Royal, you will have a very large clothing allowance.”
Kala flushed slightly. “I wondered about that. I just don’t know so much. I’m probably over packing.”
Brett smiled. “Just take what you feel comfortable with. Keep in mind it’s over three weeks from Golan Four to Earth, so you probably won’t come back very often.”
Kala let out a deep sigh. “I’ll miss my father.”
“Remember that you can call him anytime. Hyperlight communication is almost instantaneous. The delay between here and the Empire is only a few minutes.”
“I’m hoping I can talk him into coming to Golan Four someday. I understand the Imperial Library is still intact and is full of historical information about the Empire. That might be enough to lure him away from digging in the dirt.”
“I’ll speak to him. The dig he’s on now is pretty important.”
Kala’s eyes widened. “I don’t understand.” Did Brett know what her father was working on?
“The Earth Imperials are financing it. We’re trying to figure out how Humans could evolve on both Golan Four and here on Earth. A link must be somewhere, and we’re hoping the dig your father is currently in charge of will tell us just that.”
“I never thought about that. I guess it would be highly unlikely for two identical species to evolve on separate planets so far away.”
“Not just highly unlikely but nearly impossible. Some time in the past, the same genetic material from Golan Four and Earth had to be shared. We’re hoping your father’s current efforts will answer that.”
“I’m sure he’s well qualified for that expedition. In the meantime, they will come for me in another few hours. I still have a few last-minute things to pack.” Kala wanted to make sure she was ready. She stood, wondering where to start next.
Brett laughed. “Take your time. The passenger ship will not leave without you.”
“Will there be an escort?” Kala was worried about traveling in an unarmed ship. She had heard about what had happened to Cheryl.
Brett nodded. “One dreadnaught and two battlecruisers will serve as an escort. Not only that but this particular passenger liner has a defensive energy shield as well as hull armor. You should be quite safe.”
Kala paused and looked around her home. “I really enjoyed living here. I hope I feel the same about the Palace.”
“I better go,” said Brett. “I just wanted to stop by to check on you. Tell Andrew I said hello, when you see him.”
“I will,” promised Kala. She watched as Brett left and got back into the vehicle that had brought him.
Turning, she returned to her packing. Even though she was taking a lot, she was leaving behind many things. All those would be put into storage, in case she ever decided she wanted some of it or in case she ever returned to Pallas.
-
Four hours later Kala stepped onboard the Emerald Princess, one of the most modern passenger liners currently in service. She was escorted to her suite of rooms and was amazed at the sheer luxury that she found herself in. Everything was top-of-the-line and far different from what she was used to.
“If you need anything, two attendants have been assigned to you during this voyage,” explained the young officer, bringing her luggage into the suite of rooms. “They are available twenty-four hours a day, so don’t hesitate to call them. I would also suggest you have one of them accompany you when you’re away from your rooms. You will find them quite useful. The captain has asked that you join him, some of his officers, and a few other guests at the captain’s table for the evening meal.”
“I would be delighted to,” replied Kala. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to tip the young officer of not. She paused, confused.
The officer smiled, recognizing her dilemma. “The Imperial Palace is paying for your trip to Golan Four, as well as all meals and anything else you may want. Tips have already been taken care of. So enjoy yourself, and don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything.” With that, he handed her a card with his name and a number to use, should she wish to contact him.
-
Two young female attendants made an appearance and helped Kala unpack. She had over three weeks to spend onboard the ship and was curious to see what it contained and who else was onboard. “Let’s go explore the ship,” she suggested after a while. “I’ve never been on a passenger ship the size of this one.”
“I’ll stay and finish unpacking,” volunteered one of the girls. “Shari will be glad to take you on a tour of the ship.”
Moments later Kala and Shari headed down a wide carpeted corridor.
“Have you ever been on a passenger liner like this before?” asked Shari.
Kala shook her head. “No, it’s definitely a lot nicer than anything I’ve ever traveled on.
Shari laughed. “Just remember. Anything you want, we’ll see that you get it. You’re now a very important person. Don’t be afraid to act like it.”
“That’ll take some getting used to.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you will figure it out.”
-
An hour later they were in a viewing lounge, sitting in comfortable chairs, as the Emerald Princess made its transition into hyperspace. Kala drew in a sharp breath as she felt the slight wrenching sensation, signaling the ship had left normal space. She was on her way to Andrew and a new life. Kala wondered what was ahead of her. Whatever it was, she would have Andrew at her side, and she was confident he would help guide her through it.
-
Andrew was ushered into the Palace. Everything was happening so fast that he scarcely knew what to think of all this. Eventually he found himself in the personal quarters of one of the Princesses. He wasn’t sure which one, but he suspected it had to be High Princess Layla’s suite, since Krista had not yet returned from her tour across the core worlds.
“Andrew, it’s so exciting to find out that you’re a Royal!”
Andrew turned to find a smiling Princess Layla standing in front of him. He bowed slightly and spoke. “High Princess Layla, I don’t really know what to say about all of this.”
Layla laughed. “When we’re by ourselves, no need to bow, and just call me Layla. After all, we are distant cousins. We’re in Krista’s quarters, as I haven’t had mine furnished yet.”
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me personally. I must say, I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing.”
“Not a problem,” replied Layla. “I’ll have several attendants assigned to you, and they can immediately brief you on the duties of a Royal.”
“Just what are my duties?” asked Andrew. He didn’t know of any job he could do that would be useful.
“I understand you do a lot of research, particularly in the field of communications.”
Andrew nodded. “Yes, I helped develop the hyperlight receiver and transmitter that was on the Endeavor.”
Layla nodded. “Yes, I heard about the tragedy of the Endeavor. It was very frightening. I’m just relieved you and Kala survived. If you want, you can remain in research and even supervise much of the research we will be doing on any future advancements. At the very least you would be aware of what’s being developed and could ke
ep Krista and myself informed.”
Andrew thought about the suggestion for a few moments. “That sounds like something I might enjoy doing.”
Smiling, Layla nodded. “You have time. No need to rush into anything. Kala will be here in a few weeks. Why don’t you wait until she arrives, and you can discuss it with her?”
“That sounds fine,” replied Andrew. His mind still reeling from everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours.
“I’ve taken the liberty of setting aside for you and Kala a suite of rooms in the section of the Palace reserved for the Imperial Family. I would suggest you wait to decorate until Kala arrives.”
Andrew started laughing. “Yes, I suspect my tastes and Kala’s will be quite different.”
“In the meantime, you can stay on the Starburst in one of several extra suites of rooms for our guests, and I suspect one of them will be to your liking. I’ll send those attendants to brief you on your Royal duties.”
“Thank you,” replied Andrew. “I don’t want to mess up and embarrass you or Princess Krista.”
Layla smiled. “Krista has embarrassed me enough that I’m used to it. I think, once you get settled in, you’ll enjoy being a Royal. It has its perks, but it also comes with a lot of responsibility. I do have some meetings set up with some of the planetary governors and some military officials over the next few days. You may want to sit in on those and see how I go about handling them. We are reestablishing the Constitutional Monarchy. You may also want to study some of the history of our ancestors, particularly about my father. It will give you a better idea of what we hope to accomplish.”
“Ensign Brenda Allert would like to serve as one of my attendants.”
“That’s wonderful,” said Layla, smiling. “She will do an excellent job. I’ll have one of the senior attendants assigned to her to help answer any of her questions and to show her all the ins and outs of being an attendant. Did she come with you?”
Andrew nodded. “Yes, she’s getting all our luggage and will be here shortly.”
“I’ll have someone locate her and redirect her to the Starburst. I’m glad to hear that Brenda will be joining us.”
“That’s all she’s been able to talk about,” replied Andrew. “I think she’s fascinated with life in the Imperial Palace.”
“Many people are,” answered Layla. “I’ll also put together some information for both of you as to your Royal duties and what will be expected.”
“I won’t let you down,” promised Andrew.
Layla nodded. “I know you won’t.”
-
Fleet Admiral Marloo went over the latest reports from Admiral Cleemorl. The admiral had driven the Druins away from Tantula Five and was putting up a very powerful defensive grid around the planet.
“This is our opportunity to secure seven more worlds for the Empire.”
“We should arrange to send more cargo ships with defensive grid components immediately,” said General Gantts.
“ODPs as well,” added Marloo. “They’re almost as good as assigning a fleet.”
“Can we afford to send Orbital Defense Platforms?” asked General Gantts. She knew every system in the core was rushing to build as many ODPs as possible.
“I don’t think we have any choice. The two Resistance Fleets suffered considerable losses. I’ve already diverted another Resistance Fleet to Lamora Seven. I’ll keep the two Resistance Fleets in the Tantula system and join them into one fleet. I’ll also have Admiral Cleemorl assign two dreadnoughts and ten of his battlecruisers to the Resistance Fleet as well.”
General Gantts frowned. “We’re spreading ourselves pretty thin.”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take if we want to prevent as many worlds as possible from falling back under Confederation control. Do you have any other suggestions?”
“We’ll be turning out a considerable number of attack interceptors shortly. They could be highly useful defending some of the more distant planets in the Empire.”
Fleet Admiral Marloo thought about it and nodded his head. “Let’s send the Orion along with the cargo ships. Make sure she has a full load of attack interceptors and extra crews for the interceptors. We’ll ask the Tantula governor to make available 1,500 military personnel for interceptor training. That’s what I want the Orion to concentrate on. I want as many crews trained as possible. Over the next three months I want to get all seven of those worlds as heavily fortified as possible. Those worlds stand squarely between us and the Confederation, and I want them held at all costs.”
Marloo turned his attention to the massive hologram that showed all the Human worlds in the Empire. A nice grouping of green icons was in the center, surrounded by yellow with a few greens intermixed. Beyond that were a large number of red icons, growing far faster than the green ones. The Humans were in a race against time to bring as many worlds back into the Empire as possible. At some point they would come into major conflict with the Confederation once again.
In recent days minor flare-ups had been reported when Imperial or Resistance Fleets ran across Confederation forces trying to reclaim Human planets. The battle Admiral Cleemorl had fought had been the biggest one in weeks. Marloo just hoped there would be few of those over the next few months.
If there were more, they ran the risk of running out of the necessary warships to keep control of the worlds they were bringing back into the Empire. The good news was that, in a few more months, the core worlds would start turning out large numbers of warships, as well as a few other highly industrialized worlds in different sections of the Empire.
“Any more reports on the Confederation fleet heading toward Earth?” General Gantts asked.
Marloo shook his head. “No, we tried to trace it but have had no luck. We’ve intercepted some communication from the Morag Fleet to the Confederation, but it’s being held to a minimum and is highly encrypted.”
Marloo allowed his gaze to wander over the hundreds of viewscreens in the huge underground Command Center. Most showed views in the Golan Four system. Others showed views of various core worlds. Everything was tightly monitored. Defenses had increased, and all the systems were heavily patrolled. No Confederation ship would be allowed anywhere near one of the sixteen primary systems. In addition, patrols were scheduled in most of the uninhabited systems around the core worlds as well. “How is the training of our Marines going?”
“We’re way ahead of where I expected to be,” replied General Gantts. “Fortunately most of the resistance bases had trained Marines. We’re using them to train even more military personnel. All the core worlds should have over one hundred thousand military on each planet and fully trained in two more months. After six months we will be way over one million on each world. Many of them are deploying around the Planetary Defense Centers.”
“What about our attack interceptor training?”
“The new base is nearly ready. The simulators have been delivered and distributed as promised, and Major Barkley has already started training the first class. They’re sleeping in tents for now, but we expect to have the entire base finished within a couple more weeks.”
Fleet Admiral Marloo leaned back in his command chair and took a deep breath. “How long will it take to train a crew?”
“That’s the surprising part. Major Barkley plans on doing simulator training for the first four weeks and then hands-on experience in a training interceptor. The simulators are so advanced that he feels they will markedly reduce the training time. He feels confident his first class will be ready for deployment in three months.”
“How large is the first class?” Marloo knew he should have kept better track, but so much had been going on.
General Gantts smiled. “Seventeen hundred pilots and an equal number of navigation and tactical personnel. Major Barkley is also setting up one of the battlecarriers in orbit to act as a training station. That’s where the crews will go as soon as their training at the base is finished. From the carrier they w
ill be sent out on long-range patrols and other training missions. That will help to give the crews some real-life training before they actually go into combat.”
“Let’s hope that’s enough.” Marloo’s gaze returned to the main screen, which displayed the largest of the shipyards around Golan Four. Plans were already in the works to build two more equally as large. Construction robots were being programmed, and the first beams would be put into orbit in another week.
-
Ensign Brenda Allert was ecstatic. This was better than her wildest dreams. Not only would she be an attendant for Prince Andrew but she would live on the Starburst and eventually in the Palace. She giggled to herself, thinking about Andrew. The poor man was still in a state of shock. She could hardly wait to see the Princesses and to find out exactly what her new job duties would be. She also hoped Kala didn’t mind her being around. So far she and Kala had managed to stay cordial and to even develop a friendship.
Brenda was also excited about going shopping and buying new clothes. She wondered if she would wear some standard uniform, designating her as an attendant. Whatever, it didn’t matter to her, just as long as she was in the Palace and around the Royals.
For Brenda, this was a dream come true. Since she was a child here on Golan Four, she had dreamed about being a princess and living in the Palace. While she would never be a Royal Princess, she had made it into the Palace. She knew her parents would be very proud of her.
Chapter Twelve
A few days later Admiral Cleemorl was relieved to see twelve more cargo ships along with the Battlecarrier Orion being escorting by four battlecruisers as they all dropped out of hyperspace near Tantula Five.
“I guess we’ll be doing some training,” said Captain Anderson, aboard the Orion, as he contacted Admiral Cleemorl. “I’ve got double the normal complement of interceptors. As soon as I can, I must get some of them down to the planet, so I can clear some deck space.”
The Forgotten Empire: The Battle For Earth: Book three Page 14
