Imperium: Betrayal: Book One in the Imperium Trilogy

by Paul M Calvert

  “He might sound effeminate,” she thought to herself, smiling at the memory, “but that wasn’t a canoe in his pocket when he was trying for some tonsil hockey.”

  Karen looked over in his direction for a moment, accidentally catching his eye. He raised an eyebrow in query, but she shook her head slightly and looked down again, chuckling quietly to herself and feeling a little flushed. “God, I so need that break.”

  Fortunately, the expected early rush of patients didn’t appear, just a steady stream of early morning commuters who’d fallen over, sprained ankles or were taken ill on their way into work. The most serious case in the last half hour had been an elderly lady, brought in by her worried husband, complaining of pains in her neck and left arm. Potentially a heart attack or severe angina, she’d been rushed through and was currently in the cubicle next to Mr. McKinley who had woken up and was currently asking for a cup of tea “with something a wee bit stronger, if you get my meaning,” winking at the nurse. He always followed the same pattern and would no doubt be leaving soon under his own steam to find somewhere to buy more alcohol.

  Anticipation had been steadily rising in readiness of the Air Ambulances arrival, especially as it had been a slow morning. Colleen, a lovely nurse from Blessington in County Wicklow, had gone with two porters and a trolley to the Helipad.

  “I can hear it coming,” Karen said to herself, debating if she had enough time to grab another coffee, go to the toilet or preferably both. Toilet needs came first so by the time she had returned to her station, the patient was being brought in through the doors, followed by the Pilot and Paramedic in their orange flight suits. Karen could see a silver Mylar heat retaining sheet peeking out from underneath the green blanket the patient was wrapped in and was relieved that he seemed responsive to Colleen’s ministrations.

  Letting her team get on with the initial assessment and diagnostics, Karen walked over to James and Michael, the pilot and paramedic.

  “Morning gentlemen, how are you this fine morning?” she asked them with a smile.

  “All the better for seeing you, Karen,” replied James, with a tired grin. Michael just nodded and headed off at speed for the toilet.

  “Don’t mind him, he’s been busting to go for the last hour,” James said, laughing quietly. “He refuses to use the emergency bottle so just had to suffer. He’ll be all right once he’s been.”

  “How’s the patient?” Karen asked, looking over to him. Already, he had been transferred from the trolley and lifted onto a bed and was being examined carefully by one of the junior Doctors. Colleen was cutting off his heavy hiking boot whilst another nurse was attaching an IV line into the back of his hand.

  “He’ll be fine. Tough one that lad, smart too,” replied James. “He managed to set up and spend the night in his emergency tent, so apart from a nasty fracture should be OK once your lot have sorted him out. The only daft thing he did was go out on his own.”

  Michael returned, smiling and looking a lot happier.

  “Sorry Karen,” he said, “couldn’t wait for a second longer, literally a matter of life and death!”

  Returning the broad smile, Karen said, “You are forgiven Michael, providing you buy me a cup of coffee if you two have the time and don’t have to go right away.”

  “Fine by us Karen,” replied Michael, “we are due a half hour break now anyway. Lead on,” pointing the way to the canteen.

  Twenty minutes later, Karen found herself nursing an empty, lukewarm coffee cup whilst pouring out her troubles to her two slightly bemused colleagues. Her pager hadn’t gone off so she knew everything was going smoothly back in A&E.

  “What, so he just sent you an email telling you to leave and it was all over?” exclaimed Michael. “What a bastard. I had a girlfriend dump me like that once. Did I ever tell you about…?”

  James interrupted his friend. “I don’t think Karen wants to hear about that now Mike,” he said, given him a pointed stare.

  “Oh, right, sorry Karen,” Michael mumbled in apology.

  “Yup, just like that,” Karen said, looking back down into her empty cup. “So I moved out right away and will spend part of my three-week break looking for somewhere to stay.” Karen looked up at the two men. “Either of you two familiar with Bracadale, near Struan?” she asked. “That’s where I’m staying.”

  “Wasn’t that where we picked up that heart attack a few months back?” Michael turned to James. “You know, the overweight Scandinavian woman that insisted it was just indigestion?”

  James agreed, nodding. “That was Struan. We had problems finding somewhere safe to land so I put us down by the ruined barn near the jetty. Lovely views on the flight back here. One of the nicest parts of the island, if you ask me.”

  Karen nodded, “That’s the place. I’ll be staying there, at least for the first week, then it depends on how long it takes me to find somewhere permanent to stay. If you can recommend somewhere or know someone, let me know.”

  At that moment Karen felt her pager buzz and the three took that as their cue to get up and get back to work. The two men gave Karen a friendly hug each before saying their goodbyes and headed for the main exit while Karen turned left and walked swiftly back to A&E.

  Scene 10, Banishment

  Ten hours into his long flight to reach the outer system Jump Point, Adam was currently refusing to talk to Vimes. Despite his best efforts, Vimes had been unable to coach anything from him, other than a yes or no, so had decided to let Adam stew in his own juice for a while longer, knowing that he’d have to come around eventually.

  The two of them had stopped being on good terms many years before. When aged thirteen the Prince had tried unsuccessfully to smuggle a girlfriend into his suite at the Imperial Palace, using the woodlands surrounding the garden. Vimes had alerted the Palace Guard and the girl had been sent back to her parents with a stern warning. From then on, in a display of stubbornness, Adam had preferred using a stripped down version of Vimes which lacked most of the personality and critical functions, claiming his thoughts were his own and no-one else’s. On turning eighteen, Adam had left the Palace and rented a large suite nearby in the main city, conversing with Vimes only when absolutely necessary.

  For the first hour of the trip, Adam sat, lost in his own thoughts and misery, still stunned at his father’s decision to send him away. Of course, he knew that joining the Imperial Navy was going to happen at some point in his life, but just not this soon. For a while, he thought perhaps his father was trying to teach him a short lesson and Vimes would soon turn the yacht around and take him back to the flagship, where he would be given another lecture and possibly restricted to his quarters for a few days. When it became apparent this wasn’t going to happen, Adams shock had turned to anger and he’d tried to take it out on Vimes by shouting at him, demanding that he turn the yacht around. When Vimes refused to comply and instead presented a copy of the Imperial edict and letter of introduction to Commodore Haynes on the nearest screen, Adam’s anger subsided and turned into resignation. Adam just sat on a sofa in the main cabin, numb, as a black mood of despair threatened to overwhelm him.

  “Incoming recognition request, Adam,” said Vimes, breaking him out of his self-pity. “It’s from the Ascension fleet which we will be passing in forty-five minutes. Sending response now.”

  Adam looked up. “Show me.”

  Immediately a large viewscreen appeared on the wall opposite his sofa, displaying a view of the star field outside. The magnification increased until hundreds of blue points of light began to appear, spread out in a regular pattern.

  “I’ve marked the position in blue as the ships are currently not visible to the naked eye,” said Vimes. “As you will learn, anyone approaching naval vessels must identify themselves or risk being fired on.” He continued, “I’ve sent our ID codes so we will pass by without any trouble. Nothing for you to do except sit there and wallow in your own pity.”

  “Damn you, Vimes,” Adam shouted at the ceilin
g. “You're enjoying this, aren’t you? Admit it, you old bastard.”

  Vimes chuckled out loud, deliberately so as to annoy Adam further.

  “Yes, I have to admit a certain pleasure, Adam. But it’s not what you think. I am looking forward to getting to know you again over the next few weeks, without the distractions of having to attend to the Emperor. At least you are now talking to me even if it is only to be rude.” Vimes continued, “I have been the personal aide to every Emperor, Adam, from when Josef wrote my first basic programme right through four thousand years of improvements, additions, and changes to my matrix. Each Emperor has left a bit of themselves with me; imprinted a little of their personalities you might say.” Vimes paused for effect, “I am the sum of all their experiences, memories, hopes, fears, and dreams for the future. One day I hope you too will share a bit of yourself so that I can add to the Emperor’s wisdom and so benefit the Empire and your successor. Assuming you survive long enough to succeed your father, that is.”

  “Why shouldn’t I succeed Vimes?” asked Adam sarcastically. “Do you know something I don’t?”

  “Adam, I will happily share with you the views of your father and Ambassador Gallagher about what happened back on Heaven and the ramifications for what this means in the Empire, however, I would prefer you to try and think them through yourself. Indulge an old programme by telling me your views first. Please? It will help you pass the time.”

  With nothing better to do Adam thought for a few moments, going over in his mind what he’d bothered to learn about Heaven before the attack. His father had tried to explain some things in the transit tube yesterday, but he’d not being paying too much attention and now struggled to remember what he’d said to him.

  “OK,” he began slowly, “Heaven, like all pre-space-flight civilisations, was embargoed and protected by the Empire until it developed manned space flight. Outside contact was prohibited and the Jump Point to this star system was only available to authorised vessels or personnel, ensuring the planet could develop naturally without interference.”

  Warming to the subject, Adam started to regain some of his normal good humour as he thought about something other than self-pity. He ran his hands through the mop of curls on his head and clasped them behind his neck, stretching.

  He continued, “That gives us three possibilities. First, they came up with this plan themselves. Second, someone has found another Jump Point in this system we don’t know about, which is very unlikely, or came here via normal space and fed them lies. Third, someone in the Empire subverted or tricked the Jump Station into letting them through.” He finished, “I can’t think of anything else.”

  “Good,” said Vimes, “they are effectively the same conclusions that we came up with. Now, what are the ramifications for each of the three? Take your time, Adam.”

  “If it’s the first, then we have a problem with the population of Heaven being assimilated into the Empire in the near to middle future,” he began. “They’ve demonstrated an unusual aggressiveness and willingness to take on a much larger and more powerful foe, and for no apparent reason. Not good.”

  “If it’s the second, then it’s part of a long-term conspiracy or plan. Even allowing for a constant one-G acceleration, it’s a fifteen light year journey from the nearest star in real space. That’s some, hmm, five and a half years’ ship and around seventeen years’ real time allowing for time dilation. That’s a big ship, big expense and a lot of forward planning.”

  Adam scratched the back of his neck for a moment before continuing. “That would mean someone very wealthy and powerful in the Empire is behind this, probably at least an Earl or more likely a Duke controlling a whole sector. If it’s not that, then it has to be one or more of the emerging powers, probably reptilian as most of the smaller human empires we’ve discovered apparently want to remain friendly with us. However, the reptilians are good at cunning but tend to lack patience and long-term strategic planning. Finally, I don’t think there’s a hidden Jump Point.”

  Adam yawned, tired from doing nothing since getting on the yacht. “As for the third option, that troubles me. It would mean Imperial records have been doctored and officials bribed, possibly even in the Navy itself. Again with this option, it would take a great deal of money and influence to achieve this, pointing once more towards someone in the nobility or another power.”

  He puffed his cheeks and blew out a long, controlled breath. “If it’s either of the last two, Vimes, I suppose we have a big problem.”

  Vimes let Adam think through what he’d just said before saying anything himself, hoping the young man would see the obvious reason why his father wanted him safely away from the intrigue.

  Adam stood up and stretched. “I’m not happy Vimes, but I understand a bit better why father wanted me gone and a lot of distance between us.” He paused. “Clever, you making me work it out for myself. You do know you’re a manipulative bastard, don’t you? But thank you anyway, I feel a bit better now I understand why father sent me away.”

  If Vimes could have smiled at that moment, he would. “All part of the service Adam, all part of the service.”

  Adam looked around the cabin. Luxuriously, yet simply furnished with relatively few items, it reflected his father’s current taste. “Simple but good,” he thought, thinking back to the family suite back home on Capital. He missed the gardens and woodlands now more than anything, given he was unlikely to see them for the best part of a year. “With any luck, father will have gotten to the bottom of this all and it will be safe for me to return,” he thought ruefully.

  “There are several other factors for you to consider Adam,” Vimes continued. “After we left, your father sent me an update with details gleaned from a number of interrogations that took place. The planet’s religious leaders had been convinced that we were going to forcibly change their religious beliefs and enslave them. Apparently, Gallagher and the other diplomats failed to notice how deeply held their religious beliefs were as they gave no indication of extremism. There are also strong indications of this religious fervour being whipped up by third parties who are almost certainly from outside of their system. I’ve downloaded a copy to your moronic aide should you wish to view them, along with tactical data and summaries. I will, of course, keep myself updated on any additional information that comes in until we make the Jump Point.”

  The two of them chatted for another hour, reminiscing about things they had done before the incident with the girl, Eventually, Adam admitted to himself that Vimes had changed somewhat and wasn’t necessarily the pain in the royal backside he had once thought him to be. A little more at peace with his fate, Adam got to his feet and yawned loudly.

  “Vimes,” he called out, walking to the bedroom, “I’m going to bed now. Can you arrange for a light breakfast tomorrow, thank you?”

  “Certainly, Adam,” Vimes replied, “sleep well. I’ll wake you at seven. Pleasant dreams.”

  “Make it ten, Vimes” Adam responded, closing his room door.

  “Seven,” said Vimes quietly to the closed door.

  The next morning, over breakfast, Adam chatted with Vimes about the latest reports sent from the flagship and updates from around the Empire that had come in from the Ascension fleet. Problems had broken out on the border between Sector Twelve and the Dubunni, a small empire of fifty-two systems that were on/off allies with their own neighbour the Silures, who bordered Sector Thirteen. Both of these rival Empires were human and coveted the same planets, resulting in occasional border clashes. In addition, they found the restrictions placed on them expanding past or through Imperial space hard to accept and regularly tested the border. Duke Frederick and Duchess Helena, rulers of Sectors twelve and thirteen respectively, were together requesting the appearance of the Emperor and Dauntless to calm matters or take a lead in punitive action.

  Adam guessed his father would be heading out there once he’d decided on what to do in this system, possibly stopping off at Capital to see mothe
r first. In the ten years following his twelfth birthday he’d not seen that much of his father, maybe only a years’ worth in total, and his mother only a little more. Although they contacted him regularly, affairs of Empire meant his education and upbringing had for the most part been left to family advisors and retainers.

  Adam watched a humanoid servitor soundlessly clear away his table. It moved with fluidity and grace, reminding him of his last pet, a cat he’d named Peter for no particular reason. Aged eight at the time, Adam had found Peter wandering the woods one day.

  “Actually,” Adam thought, “to be honest, it was the other way around. Peter found me in those woods.” The cat had followed him home and became his closest friend and companion until its death ten years later. Heartbroken and feeling true loss for the first time, Adam had buried him in the woods near the spot they’d first met, erecting a little smart-metal monument to his old friend. Soon afterwards he’d moved out of the Palace.

  “Vimes,” Adam asked, “Why are there so few servitor Androids outside of the royal household? Why don’t we use them more, you know, for the basic jobs and such like?”

  The servitor turned around and spoke with Vimes’ voice, startling Adam and making him jump.

  “There are several reasons Adam.” The android’s eyebrows raised in surprise at his startled expression. “Apologies for startling you, but surely you hadn’t forgotten that I control everything on this yacht, including the maintenance and assistance droids? From your expression, I can see you had. Never mind.”

  “You did that deliberately, didn’t you?” Adam responded, but not getting a reply.

  The android turned back and continued out into the small galley where food was prepared. Adam moved over to his favoured armchair and sat down, crossing his legs and drinking from the glass he’d carried over from the table.

  On the opposite wall, a viewscreen appeared, showing various android designs over the ages, along with dates of manufacture and what they were used for. Vimes began an audio-visual narration, displaying relevant information on the screen to highlight his answer.