The Princess & The Privateer

by Peter Rhodan

  He wandered over casually. The two armored figures he thought were marines pulled the tab back open at his approach. Inside there was an older man, greying a little, and judging by the size of the hole in his forehead, a very dead Imperial Duke. Shit! He recoiled and the men quickly re-sealed the bag.

  “Your Highness. I…” he trailed off not sure what to say.

  She didn’t seem troubled by the death of her uncle though.

  “Captain. It is imperative that this ship, including that body, along with various other important items of evidence, makes it back to Kimeria, intact, shall we say. I am placing you in charge of the security of this ship, although I intend on returning to Kimeria aboard her myself. Captain Alistair here will be accompanying this ship with his own vessel, the Kormorant, as a, shall we say, independent escort.”

  The Captain looked at the other chap who appeared to be quite calm and unsurprised by this plan.

  “He is not a Kimerian, Your Highness, is he?”

  “No Captain, although he does have a Kimerian in his crew. It is precisely for that reason I want him flying escort. I know him and I trust him with my life. Which is more than I can say about other people, both here and elsewhere. This matter needs to be placed in the hands of my father and Baron Travgar and I intend to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.”

  She paused and Lumath considered her words. And then exactly what she was implying sank in and he had to acknowledge that the paranoia he thought she had been exhibiting was not without good reason. It would take someone at a pretty high level to change her orders and that of her security detail. She obviously believed the Duke was the main perpetrator, but that didn’t mean he was the only highly placed traitor. For that was what it had to be, a clear case of treason against the Empire. Shit.

  “I understand, Your Highness.” he thought it over.

  There was a lieutenant and six more men on the Duke of Hormforth, which he could call on. Very well. The fourteen of them, well sixteen, if he included her two personal ImpSec guards, who would also be available if she were staying aboard, would have to do.

  “I have a lieutenant and six more men aboard the flagship Your Highness. I will get them transferred over here as well. We will need Naval personnel to sail this ship back to Kimeria though.”

  “Yes.” The Princess answered, and then there was a noise from her helmet, which she put back on. A short silence ensued before she took it off again. “Small change of plans. The Admiral wants to see me, and the Captain here, aboard the flagship. I am leaving you in charge Captain.” She looked over at one of the armored figures. “Dedsun. Record this please.”

  “Your Highness.” the armored figure replied.

  “By my authority as Princess and Heir Secondary, by Imperial order I hereby decree: all matters relating to the battle in this system and the return of this vessel and all persons and information aboard her to Kimeria are declared to be a matter of importance to the security of the Empire. Date it and log it Dedsun.”

  The armored figure hesitated a minute and then nodded. “Logged, Your Highness.”

  “Good.” She turned back to the Captain. “You now have my Imperial Authority to take such steps as you deem necessary to ensure the completion of that order. Do you understand Captain?” Her eyes were as hard as stone.

  He had never had such an order given to him before. Effectively it meant he had free rein to do almost anything. Shit. He saluted.

  “Your Highness. I am at your command.”

  She nodded and turned to the foreign Captain. “Well, Karvon. Shall we go see what the Admiral has to say?”

  The tall Captain bowed slightly. “By all means Gizel. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  She grinned and turned back to the Imperial Security Captain just as it registered with him that the man had called her by her first name.

  “Dedsun. You’re with us.” She nodded his way. “Captain.” And sailed out of the cabin like she was the Empress, not just her daughter.

  The shuttle the Captain had arrived in was still in the bay and they quickly boarded it and headed for the flagship. Their arrival there was in one of several discreet shuttle ports on the flank of the battle cruiser. The shuttle bays could be pressurized individually so the coming and going of one shuttle did not impede deck operations in the rest of the bay. It also cut down on oxygen loss, as each port was much smaller than the shuttle bay on the Thister.

  Alighting from the shuttle, Gizel and her party were met in the main shuttle bay by Rear Admiral Jestwick herself. She was accompanied by a senior captain, no doubt the master of the Duke of Hormforth; a senior Commander who was probably the XO along with two Lieutenants, a marine officer, an Imperial Security Lieutenant, and a Naval Ensign standing near the Admiral who was probably her aide. Gizel saluted the Captain.

  “Permission to come aboard, sir.”

  He nodded. “Granted.”

  She nodded in reply and marched up to the Admiral.

  “Admiral Jestwick. May I present Captain Karvon Alistair of the Kormorant.”

  Karvon came up to stand beside her shoulder.

  The Admiral turned her head slightly to take in the Brython.

  “Captain. I understand we have your timely intervention to thank for this not being a total disaster.”

  “It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, Admiral.” Karvon responded in his best upper-class Brython accent.

  The Admiral cocked her head slightly, studied him for a second then nodded, before turning her attention back to Gizel while she appeared to gather herself.

  “Midshipman Desnoute. I am going to refrain from criticizing a dead man although how Captain Deltron could agree to you being the boarding officer of a destroyer defies comprehension. I will admit to being impressed with your willingness to carry out the role despite your being obviously unsuited for the position. I will even admit to being impressed with your determination to continue in that role at the end of the battle, despite your poor judgment in placing your life in the hands of a civilian. And a Brython civilian at that.” she glanced in Karvon’s direction. “And then you requested extra Imperial Security for that pirate ship despite it having surrendered and been taken without a problem Why?”

  Gizel glanced at Dedsun who nodded, indicating he had uploaded the Imperial Order to the ship and from there it had been relayed to all the other ships in the squadron.

  “Because of the threat to Imperial Security, Admiral. That ship is off-limits to anyone not approved by me personally, and I will also be requiring naval engineers to get the engines working. It is imperative that the captured ship is taken back to Kimeria, where the surviving crew and all the evidence that I have found aboard her is handed over to either my father or more likely Baron Travgar.”

  She turned to Karvon. “Unless Moxton thinks he can get the thing operational?”

  Before he could respond the Admiral interrupted.

  “Midshipman Desnoute. I am the commander of this squadron. I will be the one who decides what happens with that ship, not a junior Midshipman on her first cruise.”

  Gizel swung back to the Admiral and looked her square in the eye. “Admiral. I have declared this a matter of Imperial Security, by my authority as Heir Secondary.”

  The Admiral glared at her for a moment. “Oh really! There can’t be anything so important aboard that ship that requires you going all high and mighty on me, Midshipman. You are clearly over-reacting to the battle and the strain that has caused you. I am sure Captain Lumath is capable of securing matters over there. In the meantime perhaps we should take you down to the medical station and get you checked for shock.”

  Gizel could feel her eyes narrow. “Dedsun. The Imperial order is uploaded.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” he responded.

  Gizel focused on the Admiral. “I don’t think so, Admiral.”

  The Admiral was going slightly red.

  “You what?” she said sharply.


  Then she leaned forward. “Listen here, little girl. You may be an Imperial Princess but that does not mean you can run around declaring Imperial Security just willy-nilly. Perhaps you would care to tell me what is so important about that ship that necessitates an Imperial Security order?”

  The sarcasm was dripping from her. Gizel found that she admired the other woman’s restraint.

  “Admiral. Someone changed my orders, along with those of my Imperial Security detachment. That implies someone with a very high level of access is involved to be able to manipulate such things, wouldn’t you agree.” She didn’t wait for the older woman to respond. “Then they made sure my ship was the one sent out here into the boondocks on its own where it could be ambushed by a bigger more powerful warship masquerading as a pirate.”

  The Admiral sneered, “Yes. I am well aware of all that. It is why we broke several speed records getting out here as quickly as we did. I don’t see what the problem is that requires all the melodrama. Perhaps you can enlighten me?”

  Gizel looked at her angry face in a calm matter. Normally, a senior person getting upset with her would make her cringe internally but not now. She didn’t feel the least bit like cringing. All right Admiral, seeing you insisted, I’ll spell it out for you, she thought to herself

  “So, could you please tell me who was responsible for the orders allocating the Thister to this mission?”

  The Admiral went to say something and then stopped dead in her tracks. Several of the other officers suddenly looked enlightened as well.

  “You don’t think that I had some part in this, do you. How stupid can you get?” her tone was scathing.

  Gizel looked over to the Imperial Security Lieutenant.

  “How many men do you still have aboard, Lieutenant?”

  “Four, Your Highness,” he replied, looking a little startled.

  The Admiral swung around and looked at the Lieutenant before turning back at Gizel.

  “What on earth do you think you doing?”

  “Call them please,” Gizel said to the Lieutenant. Then turned back to the Admiral.

  “Admiral. I have already informed you that I have declared this a matter of Imperial Security.”

  The Admiral shook her head. “Yes. Yes. So you said. But you still haven’t explained what is so important about that ship.”

  “I don’t have to explain myself to you, Admiral,” she replied coolly.

  She was becoming increasingly convinced that the Admiral was going to lose it with her very shortly.

  “Listen here, young lady. I am still the commander of this task force and I demand to know what all this rigmarole is about!” she really did look annoyed.

  The four Imperial Security troopers entered the bay. While they marched over to the Lieutenant, Gizel turned to her offsider.

  “Dedsun. Do you have a record of who approved your orders?”

  “No, Your Highness. That would be filed at both Imperial Security Headquarters on Kimeria and probably at the Second Fleet command centre.”

  Gizel nodded. “Of course. So that means we only have the original mission orders. Can you access them on the Thister?”

  He played with his pad for a moment. “No, Your Highness. They appear to have changed the protocols while we were away.”

  She turned back to the Admiral. “Who assigned the Thister to this operation, Admiral?”

  The Admiral didn’t seem to want to answer the question.

  “I have had about enough of this Midshipman. I am taking charge of this whole matter now!”

  Gizel calmly pulled her weapon out and pointed it at the Admiral. “No Admiral. Please do not make any sudden moves. I have killed people with this gun. One of the reasons why I was the boarding officer despite being who I am.” The Admiral had stopped dead staring at the gun. “Now I do not know for certain whether you had any involvement in this sinister plot. I sincerely hope not. But I cannot afford to take the risk.” She turned to the Captain who was looking at her like he’d seen a ghost. “You are the senior Captain of this squadron?”

  “Yes, Your Highness. Captain Peron.” He looked very uncomfortable.

  “Very well. Admiral Jestwick. By my authority, you are relieved of command until we return to Kimeria. I am most likely doing you an injustice, indeed I honestly hope I am, but I am afraid I cannot take the risk. You are confined to your cabin until we return to Kimeria, whereupon I truly hope you will be exonerated, Admiral. Lieutenant.” she said looking over at the Imperial Security officer. “Have two of your men escort the Admiral to her cabin. I want a trooper on duty at all times. No communication and no visitors.”

  “At once, Your Highness.” No hesitation here at least, she thought as he turned to his men. “Kenard, Harven. Please escort the Admiral to her cabin.”

  The Admiral looked fit to be tied but then she pulled herself together, snorted, and moved to meet the oncoming security personnel who took station one in front and one behind and she left the bay. Gizel watched her go, gave a little shake of her head, and then turned back to the now very subdued remaining officers. She was sure she was doing the right thing, even if the Admiral was innocent.

  “Captain Peron. You are now commander of this task force. I need you to organise some naval crew for the captured ship. Communications, and engineering primarily, plus perhaps some general people for continuing repairs on the trip back.” She turned to Karvon. “Can you have Moxton send us a report on the state of the ship before we allocate crew?”

  Karvon nodded and began speaking into his microphone, turning away as he did so. Gizel waved a hand at Karvon.

  “I am having the engineer from the Kormorant send us an updated damage report and as soon as I get it I will forward it to you, Captain. I will leave the fate of Thister up to you. All the comm and action records should have been offloaded so you can decide if you want to salvage her or scuttle her.” The Captain looked a little surprised at this, but nodded to show he understood her orders. “I will be returning to the prize where I will remain until we reach Kimerian orbit. Where no doubt I will spend a great deal of time explaining myself to my father and Baron Travgar. Your ships will escort us, however, the Kormorant will be flying close escort to the prize, and they will have orders to fire first and apologise later if any of the ships in your task force do anything suspicious.

  She paused and looked around. “Any questions?”

  Captain Peron looked like he had a bucket load but none he wanted to voice. Instead, he just nodded.

  “Your Highness.”

  “Very well. I shall return to the prize.” She turned away then stopped and turned back. “Oh. Captain. If anybody queries this squadron you may assure them that I am alive and well, but no further information is available due to Imperial Security concerns. I have declared this matter one of Imperial Security as Heir Secondary, so feel free to act in any manner that you deem appropriate.” Now he did raise his eyebrows. Gizel continued, “I would appreciate a head’s up if you decide to open fire on anybody, but if you feel you are facing a real threat then you have permission to fire first and get my permission later. Do you understand?”

  While a couple of the other officers boggled at these orders, the Captain drew himself up ramrod straight and saluted.

  “Yes, Your Highness. I understand completely.”

  “Good. I will be off then.”

  And she led her small party back into the shuttle bay where the shuttle pilot was only too happy to fly them back to the pirate vessel. Not that he had any choice, but like most shuttle pilots he liked to be out in space not sitting inside a shuttle bay.

  Chapter 24

  Homeward bound

  As the shuttle flew back to the pirate vessel Karvon found himself studying the young lady next to him. He had thought at first she had been a bit over the top, but now he realized she had done the right thing in stepping out of her Midshipman Desnoute persona and adopting the Her Imperial Highness Princess Gizel mode. He rather thought the A
dmiral had been dealt with just a little harshly, although he could understand Gizel not wanting to take any chances. Still, he expected the Admiral to be cleared of any involvement once they reached Kimeria. She just hadn’t come across as the malevolent plotter type. She did do the senior officer loudly trying to throw her authority around role quite well though!

  He found himself thinking about Gizel in a completely different way to when they had first met. Yes, he had seen her naked, and she had been a very attractive teenager, but despite the Imperial training and the relative maturity she had shown, he had still seen her as a schoolgirl. She had been a very capable and important schoolgirl, but at the end of the day, he had thought of her as just a little schoolgirl. It was interesting the difference a couple of years could make!

  He couldn’t decide if it was the two years plus of extra maturity, the two years of Naval College itself, or, most likely, the desperate battle against overwhelming odds while her shipmates died around her, but she wasn’t the same person now, that was for sure! She had taken charge the minute she had stepped from the shuttle onto the deck of the pirate ship. Yes, she had deferred to him, but it wasn’t the submissive deference of an inferior junior, rather the deference of a person of equal standing, respecting the abilities of a hired expert.

  She had dealt with the shock of finding out her uncle had been the one trying to kill her admirably. Hadn’t hesitated to kill him, and then had dealt with the aftermath very impressively. Then there was the scene that had just played out aboard the battlecruiser! She had been cool, calm, and totally in command; something the Admiral hadn’t been able to adjust to quickly enough. Gizel made a damn impressive Imperial Princess even at twenty, or whatever age she was. She had been full of confidence; there had been no hesitation, no room for doubt at all!