“What are you smirking about?” Rivan asked. He spoke quietly as he knew the other Peace Officers would react to that smile.
“Nothing at all.” Hart said. “Sometimes what goes around, comes around. I’m just glad I’m here to see it.”
He stood up, pushing his plate away and grabbed two slices of buttered black bread, then returned to engineering.
*
“This gentleman is Alfred Dunstead.” Mike Leyland said.
There was a small faded picture of Dunstead at the centre of the chart. Stretching out from this picture in all directions was a maze of interlocking lines, each leading to a new name. The chart was huge. Leyland had printed it out in sections and it now covered one of the bulkhead walls in Paul Simmons’s stateroom.
Leyland glanced back at his audience of two. Simmons stood next to the bed. He was still dressed as usual in a three piece suit. He had once informed Leyland, in a quiet moment of introspection, that his father always told him to wear a suit when in the company of others. Even if they didn’t defer to him, they would always defer to the suit. That was why Simmons wore a suit while Leyland was in his shirt sleeves, and even those were rolled up. Leyland glanced over at Rosie Ire who sat primly on a chair listening to the briefing. He could not understand her. She was beautiful and very capable and could be paid twice as much in a different company.
“These are the connections that Dunstead had set up prior to his assassination.” Leyland said. “As you can see, although he was the last of the old aristocrats on the planet Jewel, his power did not come from his background. He had wealth from his position but it was his connections both to the politicians and the money movers which defined him.”
“But with his death, do these connections still exist?” Simmons asked.
“His death did leave a vacuum, that is true.” Leyland said. “So a lot of the connections are no longer valid or are held by other people. But there are some connections which we may be able to exploit.”
“What sort of connections are we talking about?” Ire asked. She unconsciously started to play with the stem of her wine glass.
“Take this as an example.” Leyland said. He played with the viewer and magnified one section of the chart. “This is Paula Hailsten, she is CEO of the Hailsten shipyards. Until the end of the war her shipyards built the majority of the spacecraft for the Jewel Navy. We are talking destroyers, frigates, fighters and deep space scouts. Thanks to Dunstead interceding for her, she was due to win an Imperial contract worth billions of credits and which would keep her shipyards operating for many years into the future. This is currently stuck in the appropriations committee in the Jewel Senate. Until the senators agree to release the funds and allow the building of these space ships to continue, her shipyard will suffer.”
“Why would we want to help her?” Simmons asked.
“During the war the Jewel Navy stationed their ships at those asteroids in an attempt to interdict our shipping.” Leyland said. He waited for Simmons to nod before continuing. “Paula Hailsten has very strong links with the high ranks of the Jewel Navy. If we help her, we can persuade her to exert pressure on the Naval Command to agree to an official statement that these asteroids are no longer contested and therefore free for development.”
“But that won’t be enough for our council to accept that the asteroids are no longer contested.” Ire said.
“Correct.” Leyland said. He was finding it difficult not to let his exasperation show. “This is merely the start.”
“You have other connections we can exploit?” Simmons asked.
“Yes I do.” Leyland said. He zoomed out on the chart to show all the many hundreds of connections. “Hailsten is the easiest to exploit as we only need to sort out the appropriations committee and everything will fall into place. All the other connections will need two or three associates to manoeuvre. Some of these contacts Dunstead bribed, others he blackmailed.”
“We will not be able to do either.” Simmons said. “If we are caught doing anything inappropriate by the Jewel Senate, as foreigners, they will have no qualms in deporting us.”
“I will not do anything without your express approval.” Leyland said.
“How did you get all this together so quickly?” Ire asked.
“I didn’t.” Leyland said. “When Mr Simmons decided that we were coming here, I contacted an old friend in our military intelligence. Dunstead was a very important and influential figure always on the edge of Jewel politics, therefore our military intelligence routinely gathered data on him.”
“Was it illegal for our military intelligence to give you this information?” Ire asked.
“On a dead man? Hardly.”
“But what if ...”
Ire started to ask another question but Simmons raised a hand.
“That’s enough for now.” Simmons said. “Thank you for putting together the presentation Leyland. Tomorrow we will dock at the main space station orbiting the planet Jewel. I want you to descend to the planet and contact Ms. Hailsten and start setting things in motion.”
“Yes sir.”
Leyland started to unpin the sheets from the bulkhead wall. He needed to study them further.
“Ms Ire would you stay a moment longer.” Simmons said. “I want to go over the list of members of the Jewel Senate. I want you to contact each individually tomorrow and discuss with them their position if we asked for a free vote on confirming to us that the asteroids are no longer contested. We will use this bulkhead wall for each of the senators. If they are for our position, pin their names to the right, if they are against, pin their names to the left. This will give us an idea of where we stand initially and how to move forward from there.”
“I may need to descend to the planet as well.” Ire said.
“Not yet.” Simmons said. He chewed his lip for a moment before continuing. “Let’s create the list first. There are a hundred senators so that will keep you busy for the next day or two.”
“Yes sir.”
Leyland left, returning to his stateroom with the bulky sheets under his arm. Even among friends, the information contained on these sheets was explosive.
*
“So he said to us ‘why is there a goat in the kitchen?’ and we fell about laughing.”
Roger Stone chuckled a little. He could not count the number of times David Rawlins had told the story. Rawlins still made it fresh each time though with perhaps a slight embellishment. The lieutenant choked on his drink from laughing and had to set it down. That of course made Rawlins laugh even harder.
“They made it a rule in the barracks after that.” Stone said.
“That’s right.” Rawlins said. “They made a new rule. No goats are allowed in the barracks after midnight without the written consent of the commandant.”
“Why only after midnight?” Hammond asked.
“The goat was the camp’s mascot.” Rawlins said. “It actually had the rank of Sergeant. The orderly marched into the barracks with the goat in tow every morning and we had to jump to and salute the damn thing.”
“Even now, every time I see a goat I want to spring to attention.” Stone said.
“I would pay to see that.” Hammond said.
They laughed again.
Stone leaned forward as Rawlins recharged the glasses.
“Have you introduced your young engineers to the engine room traditions?” Stone asked.
“Yes.” Rawlins said. He shook his head. “Neither of them has a head for drink. Tyler Hart becomes an angry drunk and James Rivan falls asleep.”
“What’s this?” Hammond asked.
“I mentioned to you before.” Stone said. “Once we have made the jump to hyperspace there is nothing for the engineering team to do until just before we return to normal space so they throw a massive party.”
“No one else is normally invited to it.” Rawlins said.
“Why doesn’t the Captain stop it?” Hammond asked.
“In the en
gine rooms of spaceships, the chief engineer is king.” Stone said. “In my first ever cruise I remember that the Captain decided to crack down on the engineers and confiscated their alcohol. They deserted en masse at the next port. He had to resign as Captain as no one would join his ship.”
“Do you just buy alcohol as part of your provisions ready for the party?” Hammond asked
“Not me.” Rawlins said. “I have a still set up in the engine room. My two assistants are currently watching my newest concoction bubbling merrily away. You were right Captain, I did find a use for the two assistants after all.”
“I did order some alcohol for this trip.” Stone said. “Our employer, Mr Simmons, asked for some good wine to be available for him and the young lady.”
“Do you think those two are an item?” Rawlins asked.
“No idea.” Stone replied.
“I’m told by one of my Peace Officers that she hates Leyland.” Hammond said. “She was glaring at Leyland yesterday during dinner.”
“So long as it doesn’t spill over and affect the ship.” Stone shrugged.
“How did you get dragged into this?” Hammond asked.
“Wrong place, wrong time, wrong company.” Rawlins said.
“I was invited to dinner with my sister, so I dragged Rawlins to join me, to give me an excuse for an early exit.” Stone said. “Her new boyfriend had seditious leaflets in the living room. The doors burst open and, before I had time to yell, I found myself dragged to the kerb by Peace Officers dressed much like yourselves. Rawlins was thrown into the Peace Officer’s hovercraft on top of me.”
“You did want to leave the dinner early.” Rawlins said.
“What about your sister?” Hammond asked.
“I don’t know.” Stone said. “I have left messages but, up until we left on the passage, I was hoping that she would respond.”
“She may have been lying low, letting the whole thing blow over.” Rawlins said.
“Maybe.” Stone said. “We just need to do what we can and get home.”
“Spoken like a former marine.” Hammond said.
“You’re not too bad for a soldier boy.” Stone said.
“You’re not too bad for a bus driver.” Hammond said.
They both grinned and clinked glasses together in salute.
“Alright, party is over, we have an early start tomorrow.” Stone threw back his drink. “I’m sure we can look forward to a quiet week or so at Jewel then a quick passage back home.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Engineering.”
“Five minute countdown to the jump.” Roger Stone said. “Main engines to standby.”
“Main engines are on standby Captain.” David Rawlins said.
“Thanks Rawlins.” Stone said.
He waved Lieutenant Hammond to join him at his console.
“I thought since you got to see the initial jump into hyperspace, you would appreciate a chance to watch the exit from hyperspace.” Stone said.
“Is it much different?” Hammond asked.
“It is exactly the same, just in reverse.” Stone said. “Hopefully just as uneventful.”
“Two minutes.” Seána Mercer said from her pilot seat.
“Confirm the status of the jump engines.” Stone said.
Hammond retired to the bulkhead wall where he could watch without interfering.
“Status is green.” Mercer said. “I have steady power, no fluctuations.”
“Prepare for the jump.” Stone said.
He keyed his comms.
“Engineering.”
“Give me a ten second countdown to the jump.” Stone said.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven ...”
“Jump engines online, I have control.” Mercer said.
“… three, two, one, zero.”
Both Mercer and Stone pressed a button on their consoles and they felt a familiar jolt as the ship dropped out of hyperspace. The screen was still milky white.
“Why is the screen still white?” Hammond asked.
Stone raised his hand for quiet.
“Confirm our present location and speed.” Stone said.
Mercer interrogated her console for a few moments.
“The space station is twelve degrees off our port, negative seven on the ecliptic plane. At a distance of forty thousand miles.”
Stone keyed his comms.
“Engineering.”
“Secure the jump drive and bring the main engines online.”
“Aye Captain, the jump drive is secured. The main engines are coming online.”
Stone disconnected.
“Drop the shields.” Stone said.
The milky white faded from the main screen. Hammond could see thousands of stars twinkling happily.
“A one second thrust from the upper deck thrusters please.” Stone said. “At least we will be able to see the space station before we approach it.”
The stars swung across the heavens slowly as the view shifted. Hammond was surprised to be able to see the space station from this distance. It was a distant dot floating above the planet.
“A two second burst on the starboard thrusters.” Stone said.
Mercer pressed a command on her console, releasing it after two seconds.
“A slight burst on the port thrusters.” Stone said. “I over compensated.”
“It must be enormous,” Hammond said.
Stone changed some settings on his console then keyed his comms.
“Jewel One this is the freighter Piece of Nicias outbound from the Soros system requesting approach vector and docking.” Stone said.
“From the planet Soros?”
Even from the bulkhead wall Hammond could hear the note of disbelief in the controllers voice.
“That’s an affirmative.” Stone said.
“One moment please.”
Mercer opened her mouth to say something but Stone waved her to silence.
“Piece of Nicias you are advised to continue your heading. Docking bay thirty seven will be available for you now.”
Hammond could seen the surprise in Mercer’s expression. She mouthed the words ‘thirty seven’ to Stone. He ignored her.
“Much obliged for your courtesy Jewel One. Piece of Nicias out.” Stone disconnected his comms and keyed some instructions on his console.
“Thirty seven.” Mercer said. She pushed the hair away from her face. “They have at least thirty seven bays.”
“That’s only on this space station.” Stone pointed out.
“How many do we have?” Hammond asked.
“We have twelve on space station Gamma.” Stone said. “I think our whole solar system has twenty spread across the three space stations and that includes our naval bases.”
Mercer turned back to her console, her hair drooping over it as she keyed in some instructions.
“Half speed on the engines.” Stone said. “Inform me when we are approaching the five kilometre mark.”
At the expected command, Mercer pushed a slider forward to the half speed indicator.
Hammond sat in silence as he studied the approaching space station. Jewel One was an appropriate name for the station as it glittered in the sunlight. There was a central core to it from which a total of twelve arms stretched reaching out to space and a cluster of ships clung to each arm. On the far side of the space station he could see the shark-like fins of an imperial frigate. It was too large to dock. Hammond could see a glitter of tiny sparks reaching from the space station and back to the frigate.
“There is a line of shuttles trailing from the imperial frigate to the space station.” Mercer said. “I think the controllers have put us at the same docking bay as the Impies.”
“That makes sense.” Stone said. “If we mess around or cause any problems, the Imperials will crush any opposition.”
“Approaching the five kilometre mark Captain.” Mercer said.
“Take us down to slow ahead.” Stone said. “Confirm when we ar
e at the one kilometre mark.”
Mercer confirmed the command as she reversed the engines.
“Two second thrust to the starboard thrusters.” Stone said.
The view swung to the right, towards the imperial frigate. Hammond studied the ship. It was the same size as a cruise space liner, holding a couple of thousand crew as well as up to five thousand marines. It was designed to intimidate any planets it docked near. It was almost as large as the space station they were approaching.
Piece of Nicias: A Sci-Fi Novel Page 11
