Imperium: Betrayal: Book One in the Imperium Trilogy

by Paul M Calvert

  This sombre thought only slightly dampening his good mood, he got into Karen’s Mini and watched carefully as she skilfully drove the car out the drive and onto the main road to Dunvegan. Whenever they had gone out for a drive he’d been watching how she controlled the car and didn’t think that it could be that hard.

  “After all,” he reasoned with himself, “If I can pilot a starship across a system how hard could it be to drive a “car” a few miles on almost deserted roads?”

  Driving along at a fair pace, Karen played some of her favourite music through the car stereo. Prince was singing “Little Red Corvette” and Vimes was supplying a running translation of what the lyrics meant. Even so, many of the references escaped them both and he set a mental note to ask Karen how a jockey could feature in a song about a red car and what a “Trojan” was. Paloma Faith’s haunting “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” followed. He listened intently to the words and music, amazed at the feelings the powerful beat and melody instilled in him.

  “If I ever get off this planet and finally become Emperor, would I bring these humans into the Empire or allow them to remain anonymous?” he wondered.

  From what he had seen and heard, the cultural accomplishments of this branch of humanity would take the Empire by storm, especially the vibrancy of their music. Varied and beautiful as the music of the Empire was, it had a tendency to either be too martial or swing too far into the complex and esoteric for his taste.

  “Maybe I’d simply let them be for another hundred years and come back to see how far they have progressed,” he thought. “For at their rate of advancement they might even make contact with us by then, assuming of course that we’re both in the same Galaxy.”

  Adam let his mind wander, taking a little respite from his concerns by thinking over what-might-have-been if he’d chosen different paths in his young life.

  He sat looking out of the window, catching glimpses of the coast and sea in-between the car dipping down behind hills and swinging inland before the road caught up again with the sea. A singer called Shirley Bassey was singing “Moonraker,” her voice switching from softness to a powerful force that did something, along with the haunting strings, to his soul. He thought it was one of the finest things he’d ever heard and was only a little surprised to feel moisture gathering in his eyes.

  “These musicians would make a fortune in the Empire,” he decided, bringing himself back to the present.

  Karen, oblivious to his mood, had been softly singing along to her favourite music, stopping every now and then to provide a commentary on the scenery they were driving through.

  Nearing Dunvegan, Karen pointed out a low black and white building to their right.

  “That’s the School House. It’s a lovely restaurant. Good food. My Uncle Alastair used to go to School there before they built a new one and sold the old one off.” She looked at him. “I know; you can take me there one night. Your treat,” she asked expectantly and was pleasantly surprised when Adam quickly agreed.

  “How about tonight, can you make the arrangements?” he asked.

  “Great, I’ll phone and book a table when we get off at the castle car park.” Seeing the familiar look of confusion on his face, she smiled and explained. “Make a reservation, Adam. That’s what it means.”

  “Ah, thank you,” making yet another addition to his growing list of idioms for this amazingly rich and complex language.

  The view of the coastline was obscured by dense bushes as they neared the castle and car park. Tall rhododendron bushes and moss covered, thin trees were everywhere, sheltered from the strong winds that stunted their growth almost every else on the island that was open to the elements. Karen parked near to a small pine cabin which served as a reception and ticket booth, opposite the gift shop and small cafeteria that serviced the castle. Although the castle wasn’t normally open to the public until April, she’d phoned the day before and used her uncle’s name to literally open a few doors. They had been allowed to tag onto a small group of elderly Japanese tourists who were being given a private guided tour of the castle.

  Karen had to admit she and Adam looked out of place in the group, for although she was of average height, Adam literally towered over the rest of the people. For an instant he looked surprised when they all turned, bowed and started taking numerous photographs of him. To Karen’s amazement, once the initial surprise had passed, Adam looked completely at home, moving over and posing quite happily with two tiny matrons, to their obvious delight.

  “Kare wa hansamuna wakai otokodesu?” said one of the matrons to her friend, who looked approvingly at him before nodding in agreement.

  Replying without thinking Adam said, “Arigatō. Anata mo īdesu,” before launching into an animated conversation with the group who were delighted to discover he spoke Japanese. As they crowded around him in appreciation, Karen rolled her eyes and stared at him accusingly. He caught her look and gave a feeble shrug, mouthing a silent “sorry” before resuming his conversation with the group. Although she didn’t understand a word of what was being said, Adams response in yet another foreign language reignited the wariness in her that had been fading over the previous few days.

  “A riddle wrapped up in an enigma” she quoted again under her breath, vowing she would get to the bottom of this frustratingly fascinating mystery man of hers.

  For his part, Adam was annoyed at his lapse in concentration and could see the wariness return again to Karen’s face. Silently cursing his inattention, he managed to separate himself from the eager ministrations of the group by pretending to be on honeymoon with Karen and with a wink, told them he needed some time with his new bride. At this they all looked towards her and smiled, some of them bowing politely before taking photographs of Karen, much to her confusion.

  “What did you tell them?” she asked suspiciously, realising Adam had said something to the group that related to her.

  “Well, I needed an excuse to get away so, and I hope you don’t mind, I told them we were on our honeymoon and needed some time together.”

  Karen simply looked at him, rolling her eyes again and shaking her head. “Jesus Adam. What did you tell them that for?” but on seeing the sad expression on his face, she laughed and took his arm, pulling them both together.

  “Well then, husband,” she said, emphasising the last word, “you need to show your new wife a good time today. Lead on.”

  Together, they picked up the pace to catch up with the group, who were being escorted through the lovely castle gardens, laid out in the last century by a previous Laird.

  Taking in the quiet tranquillity of the gardens, neither of them realised they were both wondering what it might be like to be together in reality, rather than as a simple fiction. Without thinking, both gave each other’s arm a gentle squeeze of affection at the same time, causing Adam to look down at Karen as she looked up at him. For an instant, Karen found herself fighting a powerful urge to reach up and kiss him. Looking down at her, Adam felt his heartbeat quicken and they both stopped walking. A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind and he began moving his head down towards hers, looking into her eyes and seeing a similar need.

  The sound of giggling and gentle laughter broke the moment. Startled, they broke eye contact and realised they were again the centre of attention, with the Japanese matrons all watching intently and taking yet more photographs.

  Karen and Adam smiled, with Adam nodding in their direction before moving slightly apart, but still holding onto each other’s, for neither wanted to break the connection just yet. Both of them understood that something had happened between them again, just as in the Hospital.

  The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur, the passage of time tempered by a sense of anticipation that came and receded like waves on the shore. Karen had booked the restaurant for seven o’clock, giving them enough time to get back after driving across the island to Portree’s large Co-op store for food shopping.

  In the meantime, they were
enjoying a trip on a large rowing boat which had set out to visit a small colony of seals that populated the inlets and small rocky prominences that struggled daily to raise themselves above the high water level. For Adam it was like being back home, reminding him of glorious summers when he spent days with the sailors who fished the teeming waters near the Palace.

  Looking around with fresh eyes at the scenery, the wonder of convergent evolution finally came home to him. Whilst he’d known all about the theories that set out why humanity was found all through the known galaxy, the reality of it finally struck him. Back home in the Empire he’d previously assumed that most of the animals had been exported from Capital over the millennia to the other planets, but here, on this distant speck of a planet, the seals and wildlife were no different from the home-grown varieties, apart from colour or other minor adaptations to the local environment. For an instant, he worried if any of the other alien races were nearby until a quick check with Vimes reassured him that no traces had been found when they emerged from the Jump and he’d detected no evidence when checking for emissions from nearby solar systems. He would hate for these people to become subjugated, for the other races did not follow the Alexander doctrine in any form and would simply take what they wanted from this planet.

  “What exactly is my responsibility to these people?” he asked Vimes again as the boat was rowed expertly back to the jetty near the castle. “Do I make myself known and openly assist them to advance further, do I assist from behind the mask of a shell Corporation or simply allow natural evolution and advancement to take place without any prompting?”

  “If I may, Adam, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself somewhat?” interrupted Vimes for the first time in days “It’s only been a relatively short time since the accident and, despite your comprehensive searching of the Internet for information, you know next to nothing of these peoples. If anything, your only responsibility, as it will always be, is to the Empire and the Crown. Your first duty is to try and contact your family and let them know you are safe and well instead of worrying about what you may or may not be able to do for these people.”

  Suitably chastised, Adam compartmentalised that particular train of thought and brought his attention fully back to the present. He could feel the pressure of Karen’s thigh on his own and was enjoying the seas heavy swell as it rocked the boat, forcing them both together on the hard wooden bench seat. He risked a quick glance to look at her. As Crown Prince, he had been the centre of attention for many of the most beautiful and intelligent women in the Empire, yet here, sitting next to him was a fascinating woman who wasn’t blatantly vying for his affections, something he found refreshingly different and very, very novel.

  Karen was also enjoying the boat trip, one she had made on several occasions in the past with family and friends. She felt both anticipation and confusion. Although she was almost certain that once she and Adam returned home they would continue on from that moment in the garden and was looking forward to it, she was surprised at this reaction in light of her earlier misgivings and the nature of their relationship. Only an hour before, his use of Japanese had made her suspicious again, yet she had to admit to herself she was strongly attracted to him and would probably take him to her bed if he was interested.

  “Am I misreading the signals here and simply projecting my own needs and wants onto him?” she mused. “It is nice being close to such an interesting man. He’s such a strange mix of strength and vulnerability. At times almost child-like yet I can sense an inner strength and confidence which is almost regal or even arrogant.”

  She sighed deeply, the sound lost in the noise of the lapping waters and excited conversations from the tourists as they readied themselves to get off the boat.

  First off, Adam helped her to step onto the jetty and remove her life jacket, then she did the same for him. They said their goodbyes to the matrons, Adam looking over his shoulder once and waving to them as they both skirted the gardens and walked along the long gravel path back to the car park, following a line of massive rhododendron bushes on their left. Neither of them knew whether now was the right time to talk about what had happened, so they both deliberately ignored it, chatting instead about the boat trip and other inconsequential things, yet each hoping the other would raise the subject.

  It was late afternoon and already getting dark by the time they returned home with the following weeks shopping. They’d driven the twenty-minute journey over the hill road from Portree to Struan in silence and growing anxiety, both wondering with anticipation what would happen next but worrying they had picked up the wrong signals. Arriving back at the house, they packed away the shopping from the boot without a word being spoken.

  Karen emerged from the store-room, where she’d placed the spare toilet rolls and tinned goods, and bumped into a nervous looking Adam who, without her knowing, had been waiting outside. After standing there for a moment she began to move past but stopped when she saw the look on his face.

  “Karen, all afternoon we’ve both been trying to ignore what happened and I need to know if I was just imagining…” his voice trailed off into a questioning silence.

  “Imagining what, Adam?” Karen asked, looking up at his face with a warm smile, resisting the temptation to play around with him. “Was it this?” and with that she moved in close and put her arms around his neck, gently bringing his head down to hers. For several seconds they simply held each other’s gaze, looking for something, before Adam reached behind Karen and pulled her even closer, gently covering her mouth with his own. After what seemed an age, they came up for air and Karen simply rested her head on his chest, Adam gently stroking her hair with his left hand. They held that tableau for several minutes before Adam broke contact and held her apart from him, both hands on her shoulders, looking carefully into her face.

  “I’ve been wondering what that would feel like for a number of days,” he said softly.

  “Was it worth the wait?” Karen asked before she could stop herself saying it.

  “What do you think?” he replied, batting the question back again with a smile that told her everything she needed to know.

  Karen took his hands from her shoulders and put them around her waist, moving in close and looking up at him again, feeling the heat coming from his body. She’d noticed he didn’t seem to overly mind the cold and was always warm to the touch, even when he’d been outside in the cold mornings or evenings, but at the moment it was nice to feel up close and safe against his warm body.

  Looking up at him, they kissed again, surprisingly tenderly. Karen had expected him to more forceful but was pleased he wasn’t rushing in like a bull in a china shop. She did notice there was no pressure on her hip from his groin and the Doctor part of her brain was alarmed at the thought he might still be suffering from the effects of the accident. Normally at this point, a man’s interest would be quite pronounced, yet she felt nothing, but as she could hardly reach down and check without appearing to be rushing things, Karen hoped he was simply wearing overly tight pants.

  For his part, Adam was feeling torn. He felt a strong emotional and physical attachment towards Karen, finding her extremely interesting and fun to be with, yet now his hindbrain was warning him not to get involved and to back off from complicating matters. The last thing he wanted to do was encourage her to become emotionally involved with him, only to get hurt when he moved on to find a way off this planet. Between Vimes’ tutelage and his own reading up on this societies customs and mores, he understood that physical relationships were a lot more complex here than back in the Empire.

  “What do I do Vimes?” he asked, only to receive the sympathetic but succinct response of “Ah, the angst of young love, Adam. I’m not your keeper and this is one of those times you are going to have to work things out for yourself, however perhaps this is the moment for you to start thinking about putting other people’s feelings first.” And with that, Vimes broke contact.

  Karen could sense an almost impercepti
ble change in what was happening between them and gently pulled away.

  “Is everything all right, Adam? I thought I could sense something just now when you were holding me.” She looked at his face for something. “Is this too sudden?”

  Adam looked back, his face displaying conflicting emotions as he tried to make sense of his feelings. Coming to a decision, he took a deep breath before speaking.

  “Karen, before we do anything else there’s something you need to know…….”

  Scene 31, Surprise

  Squadron Leader Harris and her team had joined with pilots from the other squadrons and were now attached to one of the many Marine Cohorts assigned to repel boarders. It hadn’t taken long to acclimatise herself to the suit, as the urgency of their predicament helped to sharpen her recall of where everything was and how it operated. Unbidden, useful information seemed to drag itself up from the dim recesses of her memory, speeding up the familiarisation process.

  It felt good to be back in a combat suit and she regretted not having one when she had been shot down on Heaven. It went against her sense of dignity to have had to cower behind Ambassador Gallagher’s shield, instead of taking on the enemy herself. As she began to picture an alternative ending to the fight on Heaven, urgent deployment instructions from Lieutenant Baker came through her implant. Baker was the Officer in charge of the group she was assigned to, and his message gave updates on several breaches close to their current position.