“I am sorry about you and Galené. I like her.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, and don’t you dare interfere in my life?”
Kaede smiled and said, “I heard Fight Club is the second-best gentlemen’s club in the Empire, after the Teahouse.”
Hiro relaxed and said, “I think it is the best. I first discovered it when I was at the Naval Academy in New London. The city has many pubs, casinos, and gentlemen’s clubs. It has the best bare-knuckle fighting ring in the Empire. They make a range of premium beers.”
“Sounds cool.”
“When you are 18, I will take you to the club, but if you go without me, I will not care if you are Emperor, I will strand you on Merope.”
“What’s so bad about Merope?”
“A large shallow sea covers the planet, populated by thousands of islands. Most of them have nudist beaches and trust me, do not go there. Most of the population are old women with the appeal of a three-day-old fish.”
“Why do many people go there?”
“It is cheap. It has the cheapest seafood in the Empire. Thousands of fish farms dot the planet. Almost every food place serves barracuda, barramundi or swordfish with soggy chips and mayonnaise mixed with tomato sauce.”
“Why is it cheap?”
“The planet is too hot and too wet, even the poles are too warm for snow. In the equatorial zone, most live underground and only come out late at night. But it is not just bland food; the nightlife is boring. Half-naked elderly widows crowd every beach looking for their next young male friend.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Didn’t father warn you about gold diggers and cougars?”
“I look forward to the challenge. Toshiko tells me gold diggers are lining up to get their hooks into my wealth. I look forward to stringing them along and disappointing them all. But if Merope is so bad, why do so many people go there?”
“As I said, it has many nude beaches, and that brings many young males each year on spring break. Many old Elves love to sleep by day and go out into the hot night to drink and party. However, a side effect of living a long life means retirement is only as long as our wealth lasts.”
“Yes, I have heard Merope is full of temporary retirees trying to make their time off work last as long as it can.”
“Yes, due to frequent storms, the planet has the cheapest accommodation in the Empire, and most of it is underground. It has an abundance of seafood. They have the largest and best rock lobsters in the Empire. But the morons boil it until it is rubbery, then smother it with cheese and butter, and serve it on plastic plates with bibs.”
“Yet we have a private island there.”
“Grandfather hides some of his business associates there,” Hiro said. He made quotation marks with his fingers when he said, business associates.
“I know about the Yakuza.”
“You do?” a surprised Hiro asked.
“The Dragon Ninkyō Dantai run and protect certain establishments for the house. A very original name, they might as well be wearing house colours and live at the Palace.”
“I hate to burst your bubble, but my father manufactures most of your luck. But it does seem that a few things, like your dance trophies, are truly yours. I have seen you dance, and you are great.”
“First, doing business with the mob is a necessary evil, and second, you think I don’t know my grandfather tips the scales for me?”
“Sorry, son, I am not saying that you are unintelligent. But, as for the Yakuza, we do not need them. When you’re the Emperor, turn them over to Patya and clean house.”
“father, the social club protests the working girls, our gambling establishments, and produces many of our recreational pharmaceuticals. We pay them to keep away less cooperative crime. We would lose more than we pay them if they were shaking down our customers and hijacking our shipments.”
“True, but you’re paying criminals not to rob you.”
“Yes, but this way, we know who the criminals are, and violent offenders get to be violent to each other, keeping it off the streets. Many do dislike the system, but it works. We have the lowest crime in the Empire.”
“You cannot trust criminals. They are greedy and will betray you.”
“Which is why Grandfather averages an execution a week.”
“Son, more than that. So, you know, when he tells Lady Toshiko to go and take care of business, he is telling her to go kill someone.”
“I know that, and Sora and Akiko want to be Knights. When I am Emperor, I will be the one who sends them out with Toshiko to take care of business.”
“I see.”
“I know that you don’t approve, but one day, I will behead someone live on the information network, and I hope you will not look down on me for doing it.”
“I understand, just don’t ask me to kill someone for you.”
“Relax, father. I will not ask you, and I don’t think of you as less of a man for refusing to take part in executions.”
“Thank you,” Hiro said. “I will fight pirates, but once captured, I will only jail them.”
Kaede stood up and said, “I wish I could stay, and talk some more, but I must go. Next time we can have dinner, I will cook you anything you want. Grandfather is teaching me.”
“I would like that very much son.”
“Take care.”
“Wait, I just remembered. What happened to your plan of using tractor beams to land ships?”
“We have a team working to extend the range of tractors, not just to land ships, but so a ship can lift objects to and from orbit. Another team is working on launching small pods into space to dock with fuel ships, collect a load, and return on their own using tractors and anti-gravity.”
Hiro frowned and leant forward, “You’re growing up so fast. You are only eleven, and yet you’re almost as tall as me.”
Kaede looked away and said, “Yes.”
“I know my father meddled in your DNA. I don’t know the details, but you can tell me, are you ageing normally?”
“I know, but do not worry. I am not aging rapidly. The Witches have tested me many times. I am growing and ageing at a normal rate.”
“If you ever have problems, you can tell me.”
“Oh, I almost forgot, with Grandfather away, I need you to sign the permission slip for me to have flying lessons with Rudolf. He told me he taught you?”
“Yes, he did,” Hiro said with a smile. “I will sign the papers for you.”
“Thank you. You might as well come with me over to my ship.”
“Can we have some of your fresh food?”
“Take what you need. We sent over plenty, along with fresh MAGs, and tinned peaches. There is a package just for you with pickled vegetables, turtle meat, BBQ duck, and a cask of Grandfather’s sake. The girls made the vegetables, and I made the duck.”
Beaming, Hiro bowed slightly and said, “Thank you, son.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I am proud of you, son.”
Chapter 18
Andre stood in the control room over the shoulder of a Goblin.
“What is it?”
“Two size three ships decloaked. They appear to be identical. They performed a scan of the area, communicated and then moved to be side by side,” the Goblin replied.
“Do we have visuals?”
“Only a few clear images. They are far away, and there are too many asteroids between them and us.”
“What can you tell me?”
“Two ships, Size 4, maybe 5. They might be Imperial Navy as they have military radar, but both ships have civilian ship identification codes for Kaede Enterprises.”
“That’s illegal.”
“No. The Hashimoto Corporation has armed their transport ships for a long time. They claim there is no limit on the right to bear arms under the charter. They have successfully defended themselves from many lawsuits to have them disarmed.”
“Why, then did y
ou call for me?”
“Two ships that are far from regular patrol zones, and if they are transferring cargo, their shields are down. We could take a couple of ships and hijack them.”
“If they’re armed, it means they have an armed crew. A failed attack would alert the Elves to our presence.”
“Drop a hyperspace portal in front of them and let them starve to death in hyperspace.”
Something bothered him. “No. Stick to stealing small automated shuttles. If they are armed transports, they could only be carrying oil.”
“Wouldn’t they be in a large convoy?”
“Kaede, that is the name of the Prince. It is well known that he sells the fleet tinned fruit, nappies and processors. Or they could be bait. Record as much as you can about the ships and send the information to the Sisters. They will want the registry codes and keep trying to get a visual on them.”
“How boring.”
“Boring keeps us alive. If those ships disappear, and the Imperial Navy appear, I assure you I will make your death very long and just as painful.”
“We are a tiny needle in a haystack, surrounded by a million haystacks.”
“That’s what the Brotherhood thought, and the Navy found them. The Elves sent a large fleet and wiped out over half their fleet.”
“The Sisters must be happy.”
“You think, but they are never happy.”
“Movement,” the Goblin said as he turned his attention to the screen. The two contacts moved apart; one raced into the system, the other one headed out. Both left a long line.
“What is with the line?”
“When a ship accelerates to speeds faster than light, we get so many contacts that they form a line. The computers will give us a course and speed soon.”
The line ended with distortion.
“What happened?”
“If I didn’t know better, I would say both ships jumped into hyperspace.”
Andre nodded. Does the Empire know we are here? Did they rub my nose in the fact they have my ship? Andre leant in, “How fast?”
“The system estimated speed to be FTL 20 before the portal collapsed.”
“Signal the Sisters, tell them the Emperor appears to have private warships that can jump to hyperspace at FTL 20,” he growled.
“We are not scheduled to send a signal.”
Andre put both hands on the Goblin’s shoulders. Afraid, the Goblin shivered. Andre hissed, “Make contact immediately and send them this data, or Ash and Avi will relieve their boredom by breaking all the bones in your face.”
“Yes, captain,” the frightened Goblin said.
The command deck remained very quiet as Andre watched the Goblin send a copy of the files from his folder to communications.
Andre walked over to the Goblin at the communications console, who was already preparing a message to the Night Queen.
✽✽✽
September 2, 11,573. Imperial Island.
Kaede and Nori followed Emi and Izanami out the west exit of the Palace. They headed to the west gate. Patya, Viktor, Abelle, Dain and Toshiko followed them with a squad of Knights and a squad of house guards from Hashimoto, Petrov and Hartman houses.
The sun was just over the horizon when a 1455-metre-long starship descended through the clouds until it was only three kilometres above the lake.
Like most ships, it was long, had a blunt nose, and an oval cross-section. On the bottom of the hull, near the second manoeuvring ring, a hatch slid open. From within a yellow beam appeared. It touched the ground behind the Palace. Then a bright, thin, yellow beam, within the cone, lowered a large round elevator to the ground. It landed near a stack of a dozen small shipping crates.
A couple of crew members exited the space lift and began to load the crates.
“Wow!” Nori said.
Dain pointed at the ship, and said, “The Large Vagn. Built at Hartman Shipyards.”
Kaede turned to Nori and said, “Using the space lift, created by me. This model can carry up to 50 segments in volume. It will revolutionise space travel and massively reduce our fuel consumption by reducing the number of shuttles launched, as it can transfer cargo to and from orbit.”
Dain snorted, Abelle punched his arm.
Viktor said, “Simple ideas are often the best, your Imperial Highness. A lift system will save me a fortune by reducing the number of shuttle launches.”
“His model is only 50 segments,” Dain said. “I aim to double that soon.”
Nori whispered to Kaede, “What’s a segment?”
Kaede leant over and replied, “A three-metre cube, it used to describe the approximate volume of a starship’s hull.”
“How big is this ship?” Nori asked.
“The Large Vagn has an internal volume of 200,000 segments, making it size class ten. It has five decks, the top and bottom deck is three sections wide, the middle three are five sections wide,” Kaede replied.
“How do you know this?” Dain asked.
“I have omega clearance. I can access all ship designs,” Kaede replied. “The Large Vagn is nice. It is smaller than and does take less time to build than an Exodus-Class. When finished, the Turtle-Class will Dwarf your ship, and it will have larger space lifts.”
Abelle started to laugh and put the back of her hand to her lips, Dain glared at her, then at Patya, “I thought his clearance was temporary.”
“No, Kaede’s clearance is permanent,” Patya said to Dain.
Dain asked Kaede, “What is the Turtle-Class?”
“Do keep up, brother, it is a size 50 transport and is made using type 100 alloy,” Abelle said.
“Impossible,” Dain snorted, “The largest hull to date is size 30. A ship that size would be too heavy to move.”
“Not with my mega gravity pulse engines,” Kaede shot back.
“If a ship that large was under construction, I would know, it is too big to hide,” Dain remarked.
“Patya, Viktor and I built a shipyard inside a size 250 asteroid. The ship is suspended using tractors. Powered by dark energy, it is the most advanced shipyard to date,” Kaede replied.
“Patya?” Dain asked.
“Yes, we build the largest dock, and it is building massive ships at record speeds and safety,” Patya replied.
“By using robotic construction, the dock will complete construction of the ship, within a year,” Kaede remarked.
Dain raised an eyebrow and looked down at Kaede. “A year?” Dain scoffed, “Impossible, a frame that big would take over a decade to build and is likely to collapse under its own weight.”
Viktor said to Dain “We developed a range of sub-light and faster-than-light engines for ships over size 30.”
“Where are you getting all these engineers from?” Dain asked.
“I am staffing civilian projects with Dwarves and giants, while we move Elven engineers to Haven,” Kaede replied.
“How are you reducing construction time?” Dain asked.
“The Forge is the largest 3D printer I have. It can process the raw materials and arrange them into beams up to a kilometre long,” Kaede replied.
“A 3D printer?” Dain asked.
“Yes,” Kaede replied.
“Like the box with six arms inside or the weird one on the inside of a huge anti-gravity sphere?” Abelle asked.
“This one vaporises matter inside the zero-gravity sphere with hot lasers; then cold lasers will select the required atoms and arrange them in an adjoining large zero-gravity chamber. It has multiple lasers and tools to produce a finished product,” Kaede replied.
“Can these machines build anything?” Dain asked.
“Almost everything. We have models for recycling waste, raw materials, and changing organic matter. With the organic printer, it can turn goo into artificial timber, clothing, food, drink, and medicine,” Kaede replied.
“You are aware there are restrictions on robotics?” Dain asked.
“Yes, I am aware the Empire has restric
tions on the use of robotics,” Kaede replied.
“Before you complain, little brother, most of these robots replace existing machines, and some we designed for the Navy to use on support ships,” Abelle said.
“How would you know that?” Dain asked.
“Unlike you, I am a shareholder in Kaede Enterprises,” Abelle said to Dain.
Dain glared at Abelle. Behind them a large cylinder, inside a yellow glow, landed on the ground with a barely audible thud, its doors popped out and slid apart. A crew member emerged and came over to Dain. He said, “My lord, we are ready.”
Dain turned to the group and said, “They are ready for us.”
Nori turned to see the lift. It looked like a round cylinder with doors.
“I heard nothing,” Nori said.
“It is a type 15 tractor, the range extender gives it a 50km range,” Kaede said.
“What is type 15?” Nori asked.
“Type 15 is the rating of the strength of the beam inside the containment field. It means it can move up to a size 15 object,” Kaede said.
The group boarded the lift; the doors slid closed and sealed. The beam inside the containment cone lifted them into the cargo hold of the ship.
Chapter 19
In New Tokyo, Takahiro lay naked on a medical bed, with multiple tubes running into his arms, and his penis wrapped in bandages. It had a drainage tube coming out the tip.
General Yoshiko came in and laid a medical sheet over Takahiro’s penis. He left the room and returned with Mako and Miko. Each held a tablet with medical records which showed Takahiro had a broken nose, shattered liver, his left arm twisted and broken, both knees shattered and many minor injuries all over his body.
“How do you feel?” Kenta asked.
“Lightheaded,” Takahiro replied.
Kenta turned to Mako and Miko, “We’re combining the technological healing of the Medical Bureau with the magic of the Blood Witches with Prince Kaede’s goo. We are not only reversing the effects of old age by regenerating most of his body, but we can permanently alter his appearance, while not affecting his face, and fingerprints.”
Power Games Page 16
