Aeolus Investigations Set 2: Too Cool To Lose: The Continuing Evolution of Lexi Stevens

by Robert E Colfax

  There were nods of agreement from all of the Ostrieachians at the table. “The second is that it was only the intervention of you three that saved us from that fate. Shortly after you left, we started rumors circulating about how powerful your little starship is and of the technology it boasts. We made it widely known that you are not only leasing us the captured warships but also giving us the technology and the training that will enable us to build our own and achieve technological parity with the rest of the Accord, the lack of which has rankled for centuries. You’ve earned the respect and admiration of my entire planet.”

  A woman named Beva whom Geena knew but Lexi had not met before today stood up, saying, “My name is Beva, Lexi. I’m an analyst working for Fleet Admiral Orgiazz. Everyone on Ostrieachia knows what your team did. If you care to look, you will find animated cartoons of Urania lifting a chunk of Rathca into hyperspace, the crash into the ocean, and the fight Danders led against the Raiders. Check on our global datanet. Those three half-hour cartoons have garnered more views than our total world population. You guys are our heroes and we all know it.”

  She added, “Then, at your request, a junior fleet of Ackalonian battleships showed up to protect us from Unity.”

  Lexi frowned. “I didn’t request battleships. I asked for engineers and psychologists.”

  Kalia flicked her ears and said. “You were there when we all met with Jis Boc Sekan, when she told us what we needed to do. She said she would trust you with her planet and that we should do the same. She was right, Lexi. That is the decision we made.” She paused for dramatic effect. “We held a special election while you were gone. We elected you as Chief Minister of the One World Council. The Samues are ministers of the council now as well.”

  Ron noticed that rather than looking either shocked or pleased, Lexi was looking rather grim. Over the course of their time together, she made an art-form out of looking grim. “How is that possible?” Ron asked. “We’re not even citizens of this world.”

  “Oh, but you are,” Kalia clarified. “We made you all honorary citizens just as we did Danders and the other ex-Unity pirates we’ve adopted. We had to.”

  One of the older Ostrieachians at the table stood and said, “Our people need a hero badly, Citizen Stevens. This world needs someone to rally behind. Ostrieachia needs unification. We all know that. That was the purpose of this Council from the beginning, almost eight-hundred years ago now. We just lacked the means, or the ability, to pull our nations together and make it happen.”

  Lexi shook her head. “I cannot stay here. This not what I want to do with my life.”

  “We understand that,” Kalia replied. “We really do. You can resign at any time of course. But while you are here, you can establish policy. You can show up from time to time and check on things. Appoint a deputy minister. Chief Minister doesn’t have to be your full-time job.”

  Lexi thought for a minute. There just isn’t any way out of this situation, is there? I can run away with Ron, Geena, and Urania. But if I do, I think we lose this world to chaos. I’m in charge of this council, this planet, and a battle fleet of over sixty state-of-the-art warships whether I want to be or not. This would be just perfect if I had ever aspired to world domination. They’re most likely right that they need someone to kick them in the ass. OK, then. “Kalia, please stay. Other than you, Ron and Geena, I want the room cleared of all non-military personnel. We’ll reconvene the full council this afternoon.”

  Kalia quickly said, “I think we should include Beva, too.”

  Lexi frowned, but said, “Beva, please stay.”

  Chapter 37

  Jis Boc Seckan

  Once the room cleared, Lexi looked at the small group that remained. Four Admirals, a Fleet Captain, which was almost the same position in the Borgolian military hierarchy, Kalia, Beva, who she still didn’t even know, and Lexi’s two friends and partners. Lexi remained seated as she said, “I do not believe I am qualified to run a planet and even less so to command a battle fleet. I’m an investigator, a scientist, an engineer, and an inventor.”

  De Borkin replied, “Do you truly think that either of the Boc Seckans or King E’Kret are qualified to command the Home Fleets? I know they’re not. The Plicora decides what she wants to be done, not how it is to be done. That is my job.”

  “Speak only of what you know, Admiral,” Fleet Captain Muelm suggested with a smile. “King Han E’Kret is a graduate of Borgol’s Naval Academy. I understand his ratings were quite high. He served as an officer on several ships before his father stepped down and he became our king. He just might be qualified to command a fleet. That does not, however, alter the intent of your statement. He does not need to be.”

  De Borkin smiled and inclined her head towards him. “Apologies, Fleet Captain.”

  “Which makes it my turn to contradict you, Lexi,” Kalia said. “I was with you on, or rather, under the pirate base. You’re both a brilliant strategist and a remarkable tactician. We’re not asking you to run the planet on a day to day basis. We’ll do that for you. Nor do we intend for you to be a figurehead. Just tell us in what direction to go and how to get there. Think about your friend Jis. How do you think she manages a planet? It has to all be at a very high level.”

  Lexi sighed, looking helplessly at Ron and Geena. Geena asked, “Why did Jis send so many ships? Our message drone asked only for the psychology team and any technical people she could spare. We explained in detail to her that the situation here was under control.”

  “Yes, good question,” De Borkin responded. “I’m afraid I don’t know the answer. Don’t lose sight of the fact my fleet was dispatched weeks before the arrival of your drone. When we left Ackalon, we had no knowledge the situation here was already under control, as you said.”

  She paused, focusing her thoughtful gaze on Lexi this time. “I can tell you this. My officers and I still find it amazing. Ackalon’s entire Home Fleet is on standby, prepped to come and bail this system out should I request them. A full third of Borgol’s home fleet is already stationed in-system at Ackalon, on loan for Ackalon’s defense, in case I make that request. That arrangement would have to have been made shortly after the Plicora’s coronation. I believe our Plicora is taking this situation very seriously.” She shrugged. “She is our Plicora. She’s supposed to know what she’s doing. And her actions will always be for the good of Ackalon.”

  The silence around the table was broken when Beva, a thoughtful expression on her face, asked, “What is the scope of your assignment, Admiral? What is the duration?”

  “It’s a permanent assignment. We expect to rotate ships and personnel out on a scheduled basis, replacing them with others from Home Fleet. But, yes, we are on permanent detached duty until we are recalled by the Plicora or we are released by Chief Minister Stevens’s command. The three ships of our Borgolian contingent are part of my command and therefore also the Chief Minister’s.”

  Lexi started to speak, but Geena held out her hand and asked, “Chief Minister Stevens? Or simply Lexi Stevens? Lexi wasn’t Chief Minister when we sent the message drone to Ackalon. Of course, you’ve already said Jis sent you on your way here before she received the drone. How exactly were your orders specified?”

  “I do apologize. That is an interesting point, isn’t it? Lexi Stevens. Just Lexi Stevens.” She paused, looking penetratingly and unflinchingly into Lexi’s eyes. “You might recall that when you asked about mission guidelines, I used the word ‘implied.’ I considered my wording carefully. My actual instructions were simply to place myself under your command. There are no constraints on your use of my ships. The Plicora conveyed the impression that if you wanted to use my fleet to, say, attack Ackalon, I’m expected to do so. I would resign, first, of course, but still…” She shrugged. “It is a junior fleet, but it is totally yours.”

  There was again silence at the table while the Admiral’s last statement was considered. Lexi stood. She spent a moment looking out at Ostrieachia through the fake win
dow. When she turned back, her expression was grim. “I don’t want this position, but I can’t get out of it. You, all of you, are my senior staff. Beva we’ll need to talk about why Kalia asked to have you included. I want you all to think about something because my first order, and yes, I do have an order for you, won’t make any sense otherwise.”

  She waited while all eyes turned to her. “This isn’t about Ostrieachia or Ackalon or even Borgol. Nor is it about Unity. The Accord has existed, virtually unchanged, for eight-thousand years. Plicora Jis Boc Seckan just drastically changed it. No world of the Accord would ever go to the lengths she was prepared to go to help out another world. No world would willingly reduce it’s defenses by a third to aid another. Ackalon, with Borgol as a willing accomplice, has altered that stance. Other Accord worlds are going sit up and take notice. They no longer have a choice. Most of them will remember Jis’s words that the Accord was soon to change forever. They’re going to be thinking, and worrying. They’ll have no choice but to make their own arrangements concerning a possible Ackalon/Borgol/Ostrieachia coalition.

  “Borgol’s King, Ackalon’s Plicora and the Ostrieachian Council have collectively decided to give me responsibility for a planetary defense fleet. A fleet that, combined with the existing Ostrieachian fleet and the captured Unity ships, possesses greater firepower than any other Accord world, with the possible exception of Vankovia. Very well. I want you to begin merging your crews.”

  She observed the surprise on the military faces around her. Ron and Geena were both nodding. Kalia looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. Since these people actually looked like cats, Lexi was uncomfortable with that possibly derogatory analogy. “Fleet Admiral Orgiazz, I need you to begin assigning your people to the foreign ships. I want to have Borgolians serving on both Ostrieachian and Ackalonian ships. Admiral De Borkin, I know it will be difficult for them, but if any of your people can tolerate serving on Borgolian or Ostrieachian ships, transfer them, even if only for short rotations. I want all of the members of this command comfortable working with each other. I want them to learn to trust and depend on each other. Admiral De Borkin, when I’m absent, you will be reporting to Fleet Admiral Orgiazz. I trust the Fleet Admiral to remember you may have better training for this than he does.”

  She looked at Ron and Geena. “As Kalia let slip a short while ago, Aeolus Investigations possesses the most powerful starship in Accord space. She did not misspeak. Urania is capable of taking on and defeating the rest of the fleet in this system. Her technology is upgraded far beyond that of any of your ships. My team and I made the decision not to make that tech available to the Accord. It was not a decision we made lightly. We felt it would destabilize and eventually destroy the Accord. The decisions made by Jis will already be destabilizing to the Accord. In that respect, and taking the overwhelming numerical superiority of Unity, I see no reason not to turn over much of our technology for incorporation in your ships. Any objections, team?”

  As Geena and Ron exchanged glances, Urania piped in over their comm-gear with, “I kind of liked being the big kid on the block. But no, no objections.”

  Getting go-ahead nods from her two flesh and blood partners, Lexi said. “It’s unanimous. We’ll upload specs to your ships. Once crew reassignment is completed, send one of your drones to each of your home worlds. I’m sorry, Captain Boll, but Borgol will need to be checked out by a team of Ackalonian sensitives. This tech cannot be allowed to fall into Unity’s hands. I don’t know that Unity has suborned any of the Accord’s militaries, but we want to be sure.”

  Captain Boll nodded, looking thoughtful, but saying nothing.

  Lexi continued, “Questions? No? Kalia, Beva, I’d like you to find time to lunch with my Aeolus team if you can. Please arrange for a full council meeting this afternoon. Dismissed.”

  Once her subordinates left, sitting alone in the room with only Ron and Geena, Lexi said, “Urania? Help?”

  “What do you need help with, honey? If you’re overwhelmed, think of it like this. You’re in your lab, developing a new technology. Your boards are blank. You know how this works. Pour yourself more coffee and hold it while you walk around. Start making notes. Start thinking your way through it.”

  When Lexi said nothing, Geena said, “Start with the council.”

  Ron said, “Mom’s right, kiddo. If you’re accepting the job, you need a council committed to you and to the unification of Ostrieachia.”

  Lexi nodded. “That’s good. Urania, put step one on the board as adjusting the council membership. I’ll explain our goals. Then we’ll have the Ackalonian psychology team interview each one individually. That’s urgent. I want them flown in for this afternoon’s session. Urania, would you please comm Orgiazz and get that in the works?”

  Geena remarked, “You’re bound to lose some of the councilors.”

  Lexi said, “That’s OK. I think we might want to co-opt Beva as one of the replacements. Step two. We use these people’s propaganda machine to push out our goals. We let them know exactly why some councilors are being dismissed.”

  “You’re going to have to go on the datanet to personally send that message,” Ron pointed out.

  Lexi shook her head, “No, that’s Geena’s job.” Looking at Geena, she added, “I need you to be our spokesperson, love.”

  Geena smiled at her. “That’s what I do.”

  “Good. Step three. We deal with Rathca. I think that’s going to have to be your project Ron, at least until you find a couple of assistants you’re comfortable with. You’re going to have to start with rebuilding a flight deck and getting defenses reestablished. We should go with our version of primaries for that. Their idea of using the space under the old flight deck for gardens was a good one if they want to make it a permanent base. Have Kalia dig up some architects and see what you can come up with. Co-opt, with the Fleet Captain’s approval, some of the Grake Engineers. Make it beautiful. Take Urania and enlarge the cavern if that’s what they want.”

  She closed her eyes. “Geena, we’re going to present it as an Ostrieachian colony. They’ll have their own seat on the council. We also want to send a few fully crewed Raiders over there for defense, sooner rather than later. Danders and the Borgolians can check out Ostrieachian crews on them. That should be a priority, eventually we’re going to have Unity show up wondering why their base went dark.”

  Ron said, “Make this step 4; we should also make training pilots on the fighters a priority.”

  “Agreed. That will also fall on Danders and his fellow Unity fighter pilots, of course. We’ll send the first half of the squad to support the base. Then step 5, we deal with national rivalries. Military aggression needs to stop immediately. We back that up with the fleet presence, ruthlessly if necessary. All complaints go through the council, which will have the authority to redraw national boundaries.”

  “You know,” Geena pointed out, “we’ll be here for months doing jobs we’re not really qualified for.”

  Lexi looked grim. “I know. I wouldn’t have chosen this, Geena. Jis and the Ostrieachians made the decision to put us in charge of this world. There really isn’t anyone else here these people will follow. They’re right, they need an outsider. Yes, it’s outside of our comfort zone. Rescuing the hostages on Hepca was outside of that zone too. We can make a difference here. It just means we need to be administrators for a while.” She paused. “Absurd, right? Urania, you’ve been pretty quiet. What do you think?”

  Urania chuckled over the comm-gear. “I don’t have anywhere else I need to be. Let’s do it.”

  Chapter 38

  Lunch

  At lunch, Kahlia remarked, “I had hoped, we all had hoped, for a more informative answer as to why Jis is willing to risk leaving her planet virtually defenseless to defend us, but very well.”

  “Really,” Ron said. “Whatever other reason could she have had?”

  “Personally,” Kalia replied, “I suspect Ostrieachia has nothing to do with it. I suspec
t she is willing to risk her planet protecting the three of you. Just my opinion. You might want to think about it yourselves, though.”

  “No, Kalia,” Lexi said. “I have thought about it and do believe you’re probably right, protecting Ostrieachia, per se, is not her goal. I disagree otherwise. She’s not protecting us. For one thing, I don’t think she worries about us despite the situations we manage to get into. We always find a way out, even if it involves stealing a flight deck. No, she’s protecting Ackalon and she’s protecting the Accord. Keep in mind she senses future events. She’s sending a wake-up call to the other Accord worlds.”

  Ron pointed out, “She didn’t need to send us nine Accord battleships. We only needed the Borgol techs and the Ackalonian sensitives. I do not believe she didn’t already understand that in whatever way she knows things. But she gifted Lexi a fleet. Lexi is probably her closest friend, Kalia. They call each other sister. I think she knew that Lexi would shuffle the crews on those ships and I think, somehow, she expects it to strengthen the Accord.”