Jane said, “We just started them reading and they are both already approaching the third grade level. They’re a couple sponges when it comes to knowledge. The last two days Fina has adamantly stated that she wants to be a doctor. Of course, tomorrow she’ll want to be a basketball player. It changes every time she encounters something new. I shudder to think what’s gonna happen when I take them to the old library building in Ronceverte.”
Jane looked out at Jenny as she chased the toddlers around the field. “She likes kids.”
Mace shook his head. “Give it up. The subject came up earlier. She said she wanted one or two about a dozen years ago, but that ship has sailed.”
Jane pointed toward the town. “We have a hundred million embryos over there that will need parents. The equipment still works if she wants an implant.”
“It’s not any of that. She doesn’t want the worry that goes with being a parent. Right now she can pick up and go as needed. And if she has to go off to fight, she doesn’t have to worry about who’ll be taking care of them if she doesn’t make it back.”
Jane nodded. “Exactly the way I felt before these two came along. Now I see them as being everything we’re fighting for. They’re the future, and it’s our job to make sure the present doesn’t swallow them up.”
As the kids ran circles around Jenny, Johnny stood. “Call me a glutton for punishment, but I’m going out there.”
Jane commented as Johnny jogged away: “At least they keep him active.”
Mace replied, “I think he’s been looking for someone of his mental age to play with since I’ve known him. Guess they let me off the hook.”
Chapter 7
*
A month passed before the Revelation again dropped through the atmosphere in a ball of fire, slowing to a stop before sending a thunderous rush of air to the ground below. A shuttle departed, landing in the field by the cave. A shining black King Collins walked down the ramp with two armed guards at his sides. A short walk had him on the porch, while his men scouted around the small building that once housed his business.
Jasper plopped down in his chair and began to slowly rock back and forth. “Well, it’s done. The Quelli and the Zinka have joined my kingdom as subjects. The Sarkesians are asking to. That leaves the Dellus, Gorange, and Dunden Heap. They were all quick to sign a truce.”
Mace asked, “What came of the gatrellium?”
Jasper relied, “The Zinka had the largest mine in their territory. It’s now mine. I’m swimming in the stuff at the moment.”
“And the ship production?”
Jasper nodded. “Thanks for saving those factories for me. We’re already at full production. I’ll soon be turning out one of those Muhatha ships every month.”
Mace waved his hand around. “Given any thought to my request to build factories here?”
Jasper looked over with a leery eye. “I have. And I’ve decided against it.”
Mace pulled back. “What? Why?”
Jasper stopped his rocking, leaning forward. “It’s not you. Or any of the Rogers crew for that matter. It’s others. There are more Starks out there. I don’t favor them having enough ships to cause trouble.”
Mace said, “So that’s it, then? We’re to become part of your kingdom?”
Jasper shook his head. “No. Earth will remain governed by Earth. You just won’t have a military capable of causing a ruckus. Aside from your defense guns here, the kingdom will provide for your needs.”
Mace asked, “What about trade ships?”
Jasper replied, “I’ve already thought that through with my advisory team. We’ll sell you whatever trade ships you need, for a more than fair price.”
“What about repairs?”
Jasper chuckled. “You are just full of questions today, aren’t you?”
“Repairs?”
Jasper began to rock. “That one is under consideration. On the one hand, you can’t really build a new ship with one, but you could modify one. And I don’t favor heavily armed ore haulers flying around in my territories.”
“Your territories?”
Jasper nodded. “Who else you gonna be doing trade with?”
Mace shrugged. “Who knows? The United Front? Or maybe even the Karthians. With new leadership commanding the former Union colonies, they might be interested in dropping their aggression for a good trade deal.”
Jasper stopped. “Not sure if I would accept that or not. Might depend on the outcome of their next attack. If we kick their ass, I might be inclined to kick it until they’re all done. Put an end to the whole threat.”
Mace spun his feet around, leaning back against a post. “You know, you’re starting to sound like Stark. He was one of those people who always came across as thinking things couldn’t be done right by anybody but himself. I’d say you might be starting to suffer from Stark syndrome.”
Jasper started rocking again. “Maybe. One thing I think you’d agree with, though, it’s good to be the king.”
Mace offered a half smile. “Well, at least you’ve been fair in your dealings with everyone. I’ll give you that. If you keep that attitude, I think we can get along.”
A shuttle docked in bay one of the Rogers. Several minutes later, Jeff Moskowitz and Gnaga Klept walked down the ramp. They joined Mace and Jasper on the porch.
Jeff said, “Mr. Collins, good to see you.”
Jasper nodded. “Likewise.”
Jeff turned to Mace. “I just came from the cannon up on Spruce Knob. The guidance software has been updated. Everything is tracked and identified before it comes within firing range. You could have a thousand ships up there all swirling around and the system can now ID and pick off any individual ship you want. We took a drone up and tested a hundred different scenarios under low power. And the gunners that are sitting up there were very knowledgeable about use of the overall system. Any luck making contact with the UF?”
Mace shook his head. “The Gerty’s been at Canto for a week. They haven’t received a response. I’m thinking Mr. Knuttin may have been there when the attack happened.”
Jasper stood.
Mace asked, “Going somewhere?”
Jasper pursed his lips. “Yep, I think I am. It’s time my kingdom established a relationship with the UF.”
Mace winced. “Be careful. They aren’t overly interested in conversation. And the weapons on that station are supposedly far more powerful than the microwave cannons we now have.”
Jasper replied, “I can handle this. I am the king, you know.”
Mace shook his head. “But you’re not their king. From the brief discussions we’ve had with them, they have no interest in starting up dialogue with anyone.”
Jasper walked over, hopping off the porch on the way to his shuttle. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Mace stood. “Hang on, I’ll go with you.”
The Revelation lifted into space, where a wormhole to the Canto system was opened. After a quick check with the crew of the Gerty, the grand Muhatha flagship of the Targarian fleet made its way to the United Front warstation, slowing as it came within comm range.
“This is King Jasper Collins of the… the Collins Kingdom. I’m here to establish relations with the United Front.”
An image of an officer replied, “You are in violation of United Front space. Withdraw or face destruction.”
Jasper huffed. “Now listen. Let me talk to someone in charge. Go fetch your boss!”
The image leaned in to the comm camera. “I am in charge. As I said, withdraw or face the consequences. This is your final warning.”
Jasper stood from his command chair. “Listen … this is a friendly visit. How are we supposed to communicate with each other so we can come to an understanding about—”
A microwave beam, lit with a laser, streaked through the void of space, narrowly missing the hull of the Revelation.
The image said, “The next beam will be directed at your bridge. You have twenty secon
ds to give an indication that you are leaving United Front space.”
Mace stepped into the camera view. Could you pass a message forward to Frado Knuttin or his associates that we would like to speak to them?”
The officer nodded. “The message will be passed. Now leave.”
A Targarian captain bowed before his king. “Sire, we placed the power of that beam into a simulation. Not only would it penetrate our shields and armor, it would burn through five or more bulkheads. We would lose a fight in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.”
Jasper growled, “Take us back to maximum sensor range, Captain.”
The Targarian bowed before turning to bark out an order. Jasper returned one final defiant stare before the Revelation began to move away.
Mace shook his head. “You aren’t making any friends.”
Jasper replied, “Nonsense. These people are just like everyone else. They respect confidence and strength.”
Mace frowned. “All well and good if you have something to be confident about. This ship won’t stand up to their weapons.”
An extended comm came in from the warstation.
Jasper said, “How’s that possible? We’re out of comm range.”
Mace shrugged as he accepted the incoming signal. “They have better technology that we do.”
Mace looked into the camera of his arm pad. “This is Hardy. With whom am I talking?”
The image floating above his arm replied, “I am Leonis Kontin, Mr. Knuttin’s Director of Strategic Partnerships. I’ve been instructed to inform you that Mr. Knuttin was critically injured in the assault on the colonies. He escaped, and will live, but his recovery will be slow, with numerous operations to be performed on him in the coming months. He asked that I inform you that he will be unable to fulfill the remainder of our contract with you and that a refund of your generous payment will be forthcoming.”
Mace held up a hand. “Tell Mr. Knuttin we wish him a speedy recovery, and that he can keep the payment so long as he makes an honest effort to fulfill the contract in the future. And you can tell him the threat to the Canto system has been taken care of. The species who attacked have been neutralized and are no longer a threat. The Mawga, who laid claim to this system, have withdrawn any claim. They won’t be back.”
Kontin replied, “Thank you for the good wishes and the generous offer. The loss of the Canto and Fombry colonies was a substantial financial blow to the corporation. A number of our shareholders are demanding an ouster for Mr. Knuttin.”
Mace frowned. “Is there any way we can help, Mr. Kontin? Mr. Knuttin has been extremely helpful to us, and we wouldn’t want to lose that relationship.”
Kontin scratched his ear as he sighed. “Unless you have untold riches to shower on the corporation, I’m afraid not.”
Mace held up his chin. “Would more diamond work? Could we buy out the unhappy investors?”
Kontin slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid it would take a hundred times the amount of diamond you delivered last time, Mr. Hardy. And given the quality of those diamonds, I don’t suppose you have such generous amounts lying about like so much sand.”
Mace said, “Give me a number. How much do you need?”
Leonis Kontin looked up. “What?”
Mace nodded. “How much would it take to get Mr. Knuttin out of trouble? How many tons?”
Kontin gently rocked his head back and forth in thought. “I suppose if you were serious, a minimum of two hundred fifty tons would be sufficient.”
Mace smiled. “So would we receive shares in the corporation? We’d essentially be buying out the investors who are unhappy?”
“That would be the gist of it. Are you saying you have the funds to possibly make this happen?”
Mace grinned. “Is raw diamond adequate?”
Kontin nodded. “Very.”
Mace said, “Mr. Kontin, please inform Mr. Knuttin he possibly has a new investor. We’ll meet you back here in a week, if that works for you? You’ll act as our agent for the exchange.”
An agreement was made and the comm closed. The Revelation was flown to 55 Cancri e. Several hundred Targarian engineers worked for four solid days at pulling Cancri diamonds from the planet’s crust, four hundred tons in all.
Mace said, “I’m thinking we build a little mining colony here and pull as much of that out of the ground as we can. That’s a very tradable resource.”
Jasper replied, “Consider it done.”
Mace stood in an alcove on the hull of the Revelation, looking down at the most recent mining operation. Targarians were moving about like ants, their exosuits allowing heavy work where their small frames would normally collapse. A growing stack of raw diamond sat in a pile beside a shuttle.
Jasper said, “When they bring that load up, we can jump back to Canto.”
The captain walked into the alcove. “Sire, I have something to report.”
Jasper slowly shook his head. “Well, then report it.”
The captain replied, “The shuttle we sent to do deep scans has located the remains of a downed ship. It is a vessel that appears to have a small amount of gatrellium aboard.”
“OK. Send a team to recover it. Thank you, Captain. Wonder who crashed out here?”
Jasper looked at the captain, who remained in place. “Is there something else?”
The captain nodded. “The ship is buried beneath half a kilometer of sediment, Your Majesty. It isn’t a Union ship. At least not anything we show in our databases.”
Jasper tilted his head. “Hmm. This just got interesting. Captain, prepare a shuttle. Mr. Hardy and I will be going out to inspect.”
Mace said, “You do realize that’s a very harsh environment out there, right?”
Jasper waved his hand as he walked. “Our suits are adequate, at least for a short while. My people have been out there for hours.”
“And a handful have come in sick due to the high levels of electromagnetic radiation. These suits aren’t the best for that. In fact, the older Mawga suits were better.”
Jasper huffed. “Then go put on your old suit.”
Mace took a deep breath. “OK. I see where this is going. So, a half kilometer of sediment. Your people have any idea how long it took to get that deep?”
Jasper opened a comm. “Captain, do we have any estimates as to how long the ship has been down there?”
The captain replied, “Given the sediment levels of the surrounding terrain and the weather on this planet, our initial guess is anywhere between five hundred and ten thousand years. Possibly longer.”
Jasper chuckled. “Ain’t no ten thousand year old ships out here. The oldest Union species is the Sarkesians. They’ve only been out among the stars for a thousand. Still, I think gatrellium has only been around for a couple hundred.”
The shuttle pulled out of the bay, shooting across the landscape to the area in question, before settling in the base of an ancient crater. The ramp lowered. Mace and the king walked down to the surface.
Mace said, “Scan puts us right on top of it.”
Jasper replied, “I have a team assembling to come and move dirt.”
Mace looked around at the barren landscape. “Half a kilometer down? Given the almost non-existent atmosphere, which means few storms, I would think that ten thousand estimate might be possible.”
Jasper pulled up the scan data on his holo-display. “This planet is volcanic. A few good eruptions could have produced that. And see… here, the dirt looks to be volcanic, so…”
The Targarian team arrived in another shuttle and went immediately to work removing the sediment. An hour into their efforts, a square kilometer of earth two meters deep had been removed.
Mace said, “They don’t mess around, do they?”
Jasper replied, “Not while the king’s around, at least. Actually, I have nothing bad to say about their work ethic.”
Mace nodded. “Well, at least this is a good distraction. Kontin isn’t expecting us for another couple da
ys. You think we’ll have it dug out by then?”
Jasper nodded. “We will now.”
Jasper leaned into his comm, whispering several commands to his captain. Twenty minutes later, two additional shuttles landed with several hundred more personnel joining in the dig.
Jasper crossed his arms. “We should have a good eighteen hours to look it over before we’re due back.”
The captain came over the comm. “Sire, the diamond material has been loaded.”
“Excellent work, Captain. Have the men start on a new pile. We’ll be here for a couple more days.”
The captain nodded. “Yes, Sire. And in the spirit of keeping you informed, our miners have uncovered a vein several meters thick and nearly a hundred meters long. Our sensors didn’t peg it as so large due to its vertical nature. It runs almost straight up and down. We estimate it weighs nearly nine hundred tons on its own.”
Jasper closed the comm. “More is better, as they used to say.”
Mace asked, “Who used to say?”
Jasper returned a momentary stare. “I don’t know, they… they used to say.”
Mace patted Jasper on the back. “I guess I have no choice but to accept that answer.”
Mace glanced at the hole in front of them and then back at the shuttle. “Gonna be a while. We might as well go back and get some rest.”
Jasper nodded. “The king does like his rest.”
Chapter 8
*
The digging continued through the ultra-short Cancri night. The outer hull was reached several hours earlier than expected. Plasma torches struggled to cut the armor plating that covered the long-downed ship. Mace and Jasper returned to the site.
The captain came over the comm. “Sire, our dating of the hull places it at fourteen thousand three hundred years old.”
Mace raised his eyebrows. “Wow. Definitely not anyone we know. You said the Karthians were in the five to seven thousand range, and only achieving space flight in last eight or nine hundred years. And the United Front people are only slightly older than that. Of course, I would guess it was odd that after billions of years, everyone emerges within a few thousand years of each other. What’s the likelihood of that?”
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