by Peter Rhodan
“As you wish, your Majesty.” the Chamberlain replied.
Kronar Lembow was only a recent appointment as the Palace Chamberlain and Gizel didn’t know him that well. Old Stelthar had still been the Chamberlain when Gizel had left for her ship. Gizel, for one, was only too happy to see a new Chamberlain as old Stelthar had been getting quite grumpy the last couple of years. She knew his health had been poor, but she also knew that he had begged her father not to replace him until his fifty years service was up, which had been due just after she left for the Thister. She didn’t wish ill health on anyone, but she was glad they had a new Chamberlain. Particularly as Kronar had gone out of his way to make Karvon feel welcome, and had ensured the same attitude towards him was shown by the other staff of the royal household.
The door closed behind the Chamberlain and the Emperor turned to Baron Travgar.
“Well, Hogart? What is the bad news you have for us?”
Baron Travgar leaned back in his chair looking surprisingly composed.
“Actually, apart from the Duke, there were very few knowing participants in the plot.” he glanced at Gizel. “Your friend, Captain Bornham was the highest-ranked conspirator. Somehow, he was under the impression that the Duke was still alive when we questioned him, in my professional opinion he gave us pretty much everything he knew. We didn’t really have to promise him anything other than he would get to live.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t mention that such arrangements have to be confirmed by you, your Majesty. Anyway, his main accomplice was a petty officer in personnel with whom he was having an affair and whom he had persuaded to alter the Princess’ orders. She claims he had told her it was a practical joke, transferring the princess to a destroyer instead of a battlecruiser. He wanted to ensure she had a taste of the real Navy, and he confirmed that is the line he took with his associate, so at best we have criminal charges against her but not treason.”
Now he turned his attention to the Emperor.
“The biggest hole is to be laid squarely at the feet of Imperial Security. One Portas Krillon was a Palace porter for many years. As far as we can tell, the whole time he was a plant of the Duke. He was the one that bugged Gizel’s clothes two and a half years ago. He was also the one that reported her escape from the Palace to the Duke. Thus allowing the Duke to arrange the attempted kidnapping that in turn led to her adventures with the good Captain here. Somehow he managed to pass all the tests during the subsequent investigation into the Starfire incident. About a year ago he left the Palace staff to take up service with the Duke, which all seemed perfectly straightforward and aboveboard at the time. Unfortunately for him, Captain Bornham knew of his role and put the finger on him for us to investigate.”
They all digested this information for a period. Finally, Gizel leaned forward, a puzzled expression on her face.
“So why was Captain Bornham working for the Duke?”
“Ahhh. The usual, I am afraid. The Captain’s wife is the niece of the Duke’s wife and he got into a bit of trouble with some shady characters involving illegal gambling. Somewhere along the line, the niece told her aunt about the problems her husband faced. The Navy is not keen on its officers being involved in illegal gambling, nor in them owing considerable sums of money to the operators of such activities. The good Captain was in danger of either losing his career, or his life, or maybe even both. So the aunt put in a good word with her husband the Duke, who bailed him out of his difficulties on the quiet, which gave him a man on the inside in the Navy.”
Gizel nodded and leaned back in her chair while she considered this. Karvon raised his eyebrow in question and the Baron indicated for him to ask whatever questions it was that he had.
“It appears you are joining the family, so ask away, Captain Alistair.”
Karvon grinned that this.
“I was wondering about how he managed to get hold of a cruiser? It’s not the sort of thing that is easy to come by, as a rule.”
The Baron nodded. “No, a cruiser is not something you can normally just pick up anywhere. As far as we can tell it was sheer serendipity. The Duke’s Chamberlain, who wasn’t all that active in the conspiracy, although he did know about it, so there is no excuse for him, has a cousin who is a ship repair technician of some sort at a place called Hovering Station, which is some sort of shipbuilding and repair hub in the Bordmann’s Star system in Lotharia.”
“This person just happened to mention, in one of his infrequent letters to his cousin, that there was a mercenary cruiser in for repairs at the station. He went on to say that it been doing so poorly that most of the crew had been forced to find part-time work on the station to earn the money to get their ship repaired. The cousin thought this was so hilarious he had to pass it on to the Chamberlain. The Chamberlain then mentioned the story to the Duke who saw an opportunity, and he took passage to Bordmann’s Star and bought himself a cruiser.”
The Emperor joined the conversation. “So essentially this was a very small, closely-held conspiracy that is not going to require a massive witch hunt through the ranks of the Navy or Imperial Security for that matter?”
“No. It appears to be a matter of chance that the petty officer was employed at just the right place where she could change the Princess’ orders before the Imperial Security orders were issued. In fairness to the Imperial Security fellows, once the two guards to accompany the Princess had been selected their computers automatically matched the guards with the orders the Princess had received without any human involvement.” the Baron answered.
Karvon jumped in here. “Why only the two guards?”
The Baron waved a hand dismissing this. “Because they were really only there for her protection while she was traveling from here to wherever her ship was. Normal procedure. The ship would already have had a section of Imperial Security aboard, presuming she had joined a battlecruiser, as was intended, rather than a destroyer. We will be changing our procedures slightly following this debacle, I can assure you.”
He paused and saw the questioning look on Karvon’s face.
“I have already tendered my resignation over this matter, twice in fact, but the Emperor refused to accept it in both cases.”
“Damn right!” the Emperor said forcefully. “You were not personally responsible for any of this. The order thing was only possible because procedures haven’t been changed in, I have no idea, but it was long before either of us were born, I would guess.”
The Baron nodded but didn’t look happy. Gizel could understand how he felt; she still felt a failure over what had happened to the Thister and the casualties they had suffered. Like the situation with the Baron it wasn’t really her fault, something Karvon had spent hours drilling into her during the trip home. The guilt she still felt may have been ameliorated somewhat thanks to Karvon, but that didn’t mean it was gone completely. And then she had a question of her own to ask.
“What about Admiral Jestwick?” She asked suddenly into the small silence that developed after the Emperor had responded to the Baron’s admission of offering his resignation.
“As far as we can tell, she was completely innocent. She wasn’t even on station when you arrived and wasn’t aware you were on the Thister until the alert came from Fleet headquarters. I gather she wasn’t entirely happy with your treatment of her, but in the circumstances, I can entirely understand why you undertook the actions you did.” Travgar said by way of response.
Gizel nodded. “I am actually relieved that is so. You’re right, I couldn’t take the chance, particularly with the talk down to me manner she adopted, even after I had made it abundantly clear that the matter was one of Imperial Security. Under those protocols, I was the senior person on-site, regardless of rank. She still wanted to treat me as a midshipman, not as the Imperial representative present. In fairness, she was probably on the receiving end of my reaction to the losses in the battle I has just fought, but at the time I wasn’t prepared to put up with any senior officer grandstandin
g given the circumstances.”
She had been staring down at the table while she said this, and when she finally looked up she found all three of the senior people studying her and could feel herself blushing under their combined stare.
“What?” she said defensively.
Her father shook his head and smiled at her.
“It’s always a shock when you realize your little girl is grown up,” he offered. “That is precisely how you should have reacted in the circumstances, and if Admiral Jestwick found herself on the short end of the stick, she really has only herself to blame. No doubt Admiral Gording will be having words with her in the near future once he has read the full report.”
This last was more of a question and he turned to face the Baron who nodded.
“I think you can be fairly safe in assuming that Your Majesty. The various eyewitness accounts of the Princess relieving her of her command on her own flagship made for interesting reading, I can assure you.” He turned back to the Princess. “The drawing of your pistol was the thing that stuck in most people’s minds. Captain Alastair’s version was the most colorful, but Captain Peron’s was perhaps the most damning. I think the description he used was it was like watching a runaway ore barge hit an asteroid. If he could see what was coming, even if the drawing of your pistol did take him by surprise, then Admiral Jestwick should have pulled her head in sooner.”
The Baron exchanged looks with Karvon who smiled enigmatically Gizel noticed, and wondered what words they had exchanged outside of her presence. His interview with Imperial Security had not lasted very long, which was suspicious in itself, she decided.
“The Navy will have to be careful about my future deployment,” Gizel said after a moment. “I doubt the Admiral would be keen on having me as a subordinate again and quite possibly a few other admirals would be a bit leery about me turning up in their command structure.” she grimaced. “Maybe a few captains as well.”
The Emperor looked her way for a moment then nodded.
“I’m glad you realize the problems you’ve caused for yourself in the future,” he said in a flat tone.
Gizel had thought about this before, now and then, on the way back, but this evening brought home to her the difficulties she had brought on herself by her actions. Some of the admirals and other senior officers would understand, in fact, most of them would probably understand, but they would all be still wary of having her under their command. Which would be understandable, she supposed. She had still to come up with any reasonable alternative in the circumstances, although, in hindsight, the gun had been a bit much perhaps.
Her father, meanwhile, had turned back to the Baron.
“So far we’ve managed to keep everything under wraps waiting for your report. What course of action do you suggest, Hogart?”
The Baron looked at the Empress, a little sad smile on his face.
“In light of the ahh, family connection, we feel the best course of action to follow is that the Duke will experience a shuttle accident. My advisors suggest one out at that asteroid mine he owns. The other two main conspirators, his Chamberlain, and the good Captain, will be tried for treason in-camera, found guilty under the Imperial Security act, and sentenced to death which will be carried out humanely, and then they will both join the Duke in his shuttle accident.”
The Emperor glanced at his wife who just shrugged sadly before he turned back to the Baron who continued.
“The girl in the naval operations department will be tried under normal naval discipline and dismissed from the service, besides probably serving some prison term for her actions. There are a few other loose ends still floating around but none of them know the full story. For the public, the Thister will have been involved in a fight against a serious pirate menace, a battle in which the Princess performed well. I will leave the handling of that side of it up to Admiral Gording and keep Imperial Security out of the picture as far as the pirate ship is concerned.”
The Emperor nodded. “And the pirate crew?”
“They will all be tried as pirates, found guilty, and executed. Because of the Princess’s involvement, I will be able to keep a tight rein on the publicity. The pirate crew didn’t know who the Duke was anyway, as far as we can tell. The only outstanding issue is the young woman he had taken along for his own entertainment and who he then used as a shield when the ship was boarded. She hasn’t admitted to knowing his true identity but I’m pretty sure she does. We could just release her but if she goes to the newsies it could make things interesting, to say the least. With that threat hanging over our heads my recommendation is that she be charged with treason but given a suspended sentence for her help in the investigation. She will be provided with a totally new identity in another polity, probably Brython, and set up with a job and so forth there. It will be made abundantly clear to her that the suspended sentence means that if she speaks to the newsies she won’t live long enough to enjoy the money she would be paid.”
Gizel was a bit shocked by all this and made a small sound before stopping herself from saying anything stupid. Her father looked over at her, studying her for a moment with a slight frown before making a little hand gesture in her direction.
“Welcome to the realities of Empire, my daughter,” he said softly.
In truth, she had been sheltered from such realities during much of her upbringing, but she had been aware, to an extent, if only from reading some of the histories she had to study at school. She realized that these sorts of decisions were probably made quite regularly to keep matters from becoming a problem and she nodded at her father.
“I believe having a clear view and understanding of, as you say, the realities of Empire, is in my job description somewhere, father. Even if I have been, protected, shall we say, up until now.”
Her mother reached across the table and clasped her hand reassuringly, with a small, sad smile. Gizel squeezed back and gave her mother a small smile in return. She turned to Karvon.
“So, do you still want to marry me?”
Karvon studied her for a moment before replying. “I wasn’t aware I had a choice!”
This took her by surprise and before she realized what she was doing she gave him a semi-playful whack on the shoulder. Karvon made a big to-do about rubbing his shoulder.
“See. An instant example of these realities of Empire.” he said with a grin to the others.
Their banter did appear to relieve the solemn tone that had enveloped the table. Both Imperial personages managed to keep a straight face as Gizel waved a finger at Karvon.
“You’ll pay for that later!” she told him.
“Promise?” Karvon said, catching her by surprise again with such a comment in front of her parents and she felt herself turning red with embarrassment.
“Oooo!” She said struggling to refrain from saying something that would embarrass her even further.
She stared at Karvon who simply smiled back at her, maddeningly. She noticed her parents glance at each other, exchanging a small smile as they did so, and she felt even more embarrassed. Her father finally came to her rescue by turning back to the Baron.
“I agree with your suggestions on how to handle the matter,” he said to the Baron who nodded acquiescence.
“In the meantime, Captain Alastair here had best return to his ship and oversee its refurbishment in the Naval dockyard as a reward for his service in coming to the aid of an Imperial Naval vessel that was under duress. There will be a small financial reward for each of your crew that will be announced publicly in amongst the other matters.”
He appeared to consider things for a moment and turned to Gizel.
“I will speak to Gording about getting the naval hearing over with as soon as possible and then Gizel can sneak out.” he paused momentarily. “No. I think it would be better if the Navy were to ostensibly transfer her to a less risky position on a base somewhere, one fairly isolated. See what you can come up with Hogart. We need something she can disappear from for
a period without anybody realizing so she can go to Brython and talk to King Artur before we make anything public.”
Baron Travgar nodded agreement and then scratched his head before frowning and then smiling.
“I have just the place. It’s a small research station with an Imperial Security Garrison because of the nature of the research, but it also has a small naval detachment based there because the research also has naval implications. It would be easy enough to have the Princess ostensibly assigned there, as it is fairly isolated and not open to anyone without a certain level of security clearance. It would provide the perfect cover for her trip to Brython.”
“Sounds ideal. We’ll have her transported in an Imperial Security vessel which can meet up with the Kormorant in some empty part of space so the Princess can transfer aboard for the journey to Brython space with Captain Alastair here.” the Emperor said.
He looked over at his daughter.
“Is that satisfactory to you?”
She didn’t have any other choice and it did mean she would get to travel with Karvon aboard the Kormorant, so she smiled and nodded.
“Sounds excellent father.”
“Captain Alastair?” the Emperor asked.
Karvon waved a small hand. “Sounds fine to me, Your Majesty.”
“Right.”
The Emperor said turning to the Baron. “I understand we already have one operative aboard the ship, is that correct?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I understand the Princess has co-opted one of her security detail from the Thister as her aide, and I would suggest adding another man to the crew, preferably a combat type given the Princess’ martial propensities.” This last was said with a small smile in her direction.
The Emperor looked over at Karvon. “You would have no objection to us adding another member to your crew?”
Karvon shrugged and gave a little smile. “Certainly not, Your Majesty. We are only operating at two-thirds crew capacity as it is. Having an extra combat fellow along would be a plus, I have to admit, so between him and Dedsun it should add considerably to the safety of Gizel during the cruise.”
