Imperium: Coda: Book Three in the Imperium Trilogy

by Paul M Calvert

  “No, Adam.You both had the same information but have drawn different conclusions from it. For the record, I agree with his decision. I could go on at length explaining his reasons, but it's best for him to do so in person. Hopefully, everything will become clear. By the way, he is now aware you are coming to see him…no, I didn’t tell him, Admiral Frith rarely misses anything and knew from the moment you handed control of Britannia over to Commander Joge. You surely hadn’t forgotten that as part of your accelerated training, your every action on board is being watched and evaluated?

  “Oh, for goodness sake, Vimes. You are an AI, not a person. Your feelings are nothing more than realistic subroutines and algorithms written by a genius. How can anyone who wants to be thought of as a good ruler ever consider ordering what we’ve just witnessed? Let me tell you something, when I’m finally Emperor I will never make such a decision; for nothing can justify such loss of innocent life.”

  Vimes remained quiet, knowing nothing he could say would change Adam’s mind. He didn’t want to argue with the boy, knowing he would soon have more than enough pain and grief to deal with, and didn’t want to add to it. He contacted his counterpart in Alexander, wanting to check on the Emperor’s current mood and update himself on the recent conversation, their closeness allowing them to communicate without too much of a time difference. For an instant of time, so small it could barely be measured, the two updated, then cut contact. Vimes was concerned, knowing now how fragile Alexander’s state of mind was. He debated whether to say anything further to Adam, but decided against it, choosing instead to keep his own counsel. In any event, he was not currently in favour with the boy, as evidenced by his harsh words to him.

  By the time Adam’s shuttle had docked in the hanger reserved for the Emperor’s private yachts, most of the destruction on the planet was over. The tsunamis had begun retreating from their relentless march into the interior of the continents, dragging back with them the detritus of a broken civilisation, carrying it out to sea where the currents would slowly distribute it around the world.

  Adam had watched this, anger at his father’s decision growing with every passing moment. Frustrated almost beyond measure at the delay, he was waiting impatiently for the docking tube to form. When it came, he passed through the door before it had even fully opened. Vimes had directed him to this hanger, instead of the main one, not wanting Adam to be seen by any of the crew when in this mood, for it was hard enough keeping a lid on rumours, even on a ship as large as Dauntless. Vimes had also allocated him two of the longest serving Marines from his father’s personal bodyguard for as long as he was on the ship. After the attack on Christine, Vime’s was obviously not going to take any chances with his safety, even somewhere as safe as Dauntless.

  Adam was surprised to see the additional Marines waiting for him along with Admiral Frith, as on previous visits to the flagship he had been allowed to wander around without anyone paying too much attention, but he put it down to his father trying to send him an unspoken message of some sort. Not in the mood for pleasantries, he acknowledged the Marines’ presence with a nod and greeted Frith with a salute.

  “Admiral, I wasn’t expecting you to greet me personally. Is this my father’s doing?”

  “No Captain, I daresay you didn’t, and no, I’m here to offer you a few words of advice, not just as your Admiral but as a family friend. Adam, when you see your father, leave your anger at the door and listen to what he has to say before arguing with him.”

  “Is that all, Admiral?” he asked, too annoyed to take much notice, but regretting the words the moment they came out of his mouth.

  Seeing she had wasted her time, Frith responded with some frost of her own, reminding him who she was and represented.

  “For the moment, but you and I will speak later about the proper behaviour of a Captain during an engagement and how to show respect. Dismissed, Captain.”

  He saluted and watched as Frith turned around and walked off, inwardly kicking himself, adding to his frustration. “Why did I just do this?” he asked himself, but not enough to make him go after the Admiral and apologise. He watched as she entered the transit tube and vanished, then walked over to it himself, the two Marine bodyguards following a discrete distance behind, exchanging looks.

  The journey to his father’s quarters was very short and as the tube doors opened, Adam, despite his anger, suddenly felt a flash of apprehension. Immediately he dismissed it, greeting the four Marines keeping station outside his father’s door.

  He turned to his own Marines, who had followed him from the hanger. “Wait here, check first with Vimes if you need to be relieved.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” came the response, the two Marines moving to stand next to their comrades.

  Adam stood outside the door, trying to reign in his anger, a part of him knowing it would do no good to start their meeting with a row, but he kept seeing the planet’s destruction in his mind’s eye. The door opened, and he stepped in, a small part of his mind noting the spartan décor. His father was standing in the middle of the room, looking away from him at a whole wall showing a real time scene from above the now-ruined capital city.

  “He can’t even be arsed to face me,” Adam thought, using an expression he’d learned from Karen during his short time on Earth, his built-up anger suddenly snapping out of control.

  He walked towards his father, who slowly turned to face him, dressed in his day uniform. Adam stopped, hardly recognising the man who stood there. His father had changed; physically he looked the same as ever, but something was missing, some spark of life that had mysteriously vanished, leaving his father somehow diminished. Adam watched as his father’s mouth opened slightly and looked as if he was trying to say something, but nothing came out. Before he could stop himself, the frustration of the past day and events boiled over, and Adam began talking, almost shouting.

  “How could you do that,” he said, pointing angrily at the screen behind Alexander, “what possible justification could you possibly have to kill tens, if not hundreds of millions of our own people in this way? Why didn’t you take my messages? Were you afraid I would find out what you had planned here and would try and stop you? This is madness, father. Do you know what you’ve done?” the last words coming out as he moved forward and found himself almost shouting in his father’s face.

  The two men, so alike in stature, faced off. Alexander said nothing, and if Adam hadn’t been so consumed by his anger, would have noticed the change in his father’s eyes. Despite himself, Alexander found himself reacting to his son’s anger, his own, so tightly under control since finding out about Christine’s death, finally bursting through.

  “Don’t lecture me on things you are obviously too inexperienced to understand,” he retorted, trying hard not to give in and finally release the boiling rage and hurt that had been eating him alive from the inside. “There’s something I need to tell you, Adam, please,” pleading with his son to understand and listen before he lost control.

  “What, that you are a murderer, you mean?”

  The instant the words came out of his mouth, Adam regretted saying them and realised he had gone too far. He watched as his father’s face changed again, the haunted, empty look replaced with a naked ferocity he had never seen before. His peripheral vision noted how his father's hands bunched; his own body instinctively wanting him to take a defensive posture, having recognised a dangerous predator. Adam saw him take a step forward and for a terrible moment, thought his father was going to attack him. He knew then, with a sickening certainty, that if he did, there was nothing he could do to stop him from doing so, remembering his mother’s warning to never, ever push his father too far. Occasionally, when he had been growing up and the two of them were alone, she had told stories of his father’s legendary temper. She’d warned him it very rarely surfaced, but when it did, even she knew better than to stand in his way. It never lasted long, only a few moments, but she had counselled him to watch out for it in h
imself.

  Alexander stepped forward, his mind clouded with an all-consuming hatred, wanting to lash out and try to unburden himself from the pain. At the last moment, he recognised his son and sanity suddenly returned. With an almost superhuman act of willpower, he forced his anger back and regained his mind, the rage gone, replaced with an all-consuming grief that crushed his very soul.

  Neither of the men said anything, Adam having realised something was very wrong with his father. For the first time, he’d seen what his mother had warned him about, and regretted awakening it, but he needed answers. Before he could say anything, whether to apologise or demand an explanation he didn’t know, Alexander spoke first, his voice cracking with emotion, tears welling up hotly.

  “She’s gone, son, your mother’s gone. She’s left me all alone, and I don’t know what to do.” He looked at his son, tears falling from his eyes and suddenly grabbed his son, hugging him tightly to his chest, his head nestled in his son’s neck.

  Adam had to hold his father upright, feeling his legs give way, staggering slightly under the unexpected weight. His father was sobbing uncontrollably, in itself something so shocking that Adam didn’t know how to react, never having seen him this way before. He didn’t understand what he had just said, “what did it mean, his mother was gone? Gone where?” he thought before it dawned on him why his father was reacting in this way, an icy chill running through his body, the hairs on his neck rising. Hoping beyond hope he was wrong, Adam steered Alexander to the nearest sofa and gently sat him down. Alexander let go, bowing his head into his hands to cover his face and total grief.

  “Vimes,” Adam asked, his mind desperately seeking reassurance from his companion, “Mother’s not dead, is she? Not that, please, not that.”

  By way of an answer, Vimes relayed the same image he’d shown to the Felidae Empress into Adam’s mind, the transfer taking only a few moments, at the same time reassuring him Karen was safe and well. Heeding Karen’s stern warning to him and his promise to her, Vimes made no mention of the pregnancy.

  Adam became icy cold inside, too stunned to feel anything other than shock and disbelief at the news. He sat down next to his father, gently putting his arm around the sobbing man in an effort to take away some of his pain. Suddenly, as if a switch had turned in his mind, Adam put aside his own feelings, knowing what to do. He would grieve later, but for now, there were things that needed doing.

  “Vimes, please see to the Emperor. He cannot be seen in this way and is demonstrably incapable of making rational choices for the moment. Please send him to sleep for a while…I don’t think he is in any shape mentally to resist, then arrange for his physician to attend. I’ll stay here with him and will remain until he wakes up and we can talk properly. Inform Admiral Frith that father is temporarily incapacitated and anything urgent needing his input is to be directed at you or me. Also, please tell her I understand now and apologise. Do I make myself clear?” he asked, Vimes noting it was an order, not a request.

  “Yes, my Prince, I understand and approve. Well done. There, it’s done.”

  “I will see to your father,” a familiar voice said suddenly behind him, making Adam jump.

  He turned and faced an oddly familiar servitor, the only giveaway it wasn’t human being it spoke with Vimes voice. It took over from Adam and gently laid the now sleeping man down, stretching Alexander out on the sofa to make him comfortable, wiping away the tears on the Emperor’s face with a gesture that Adam recognised as one of genuine tenderness, surprising from a servitor. It turned and looked up at Adam.

  “I will warn you before he wakes up, so collect your own thoughts and review properly the information I’ve sent you on the visit to Felidae space. As you will see, Duke Gallagher and Karen managed to save the situation from exploding into another war. You can be very proud of your partner; she did well.”

  “When can I speak to her, Vimes?”

  The servitor sighed, another surprisingly human gesture. “Not for a while. Karen doesn’t want to be disturbed, and it is difficult to make full contact while they remain in Felidae space. Obviously, we don’t have comprehensive Jump coordinates mapped for their Empire, and the light-speed delay makes real-time communication tiresome.”

  Adam looked down to the sleeping figure, and a powerful wave of affection for his father swept over him, leaving behind embarrassment at how he had reacted earlier. He remained unsettled at what had happened to the planet but knew he should have handled this situation better and vowed never to do anything like that again when speaking to his father. Adam moved over to the armchair facing the sofa where Alexander lay sleeping, sitting down and allowing the data from Vimes to pass through his mind. It was a sobering thought to realise that, with his mother gone, his father was the only family left to him now, so as he sat thinking he didn’t notice the tear gently sliding down his face.

  The temporarily dominant Vimes in Adam said nothing, keeping its own counsel, but an eagle-eyed observer might have noted the faint smile of approval which formed on the servitor’s face as it tended to the Emperor.

  SCENE 5, OURS NOT TO REASON WHY, OURS BUT TO DO OR DIE

  Duke Gallagher and Karen sat in silence for the short shuttle flight back to their ship. At first, he had tried to engage her in conversation and find out what she and Freya had discussed when they were alone, but despite his best efforts, Karen remained unresponsive, answering his questions with short answers. Gallagher eventually took the hint and left Karen with her private thoughts, trying a different tack by speaking directly to Vimes, half-heartedly quoting national security as a reason for the Emperor’s aide to tell all. However, as he expected, Vimes said nothing, referring Patrick back to Karen, subtly chiding him for even asking.

  As their shuttle docked, Gallagher leant across from his seat and caught Karen’s attention by softly tapping her arm.

  “Karen, will you join me for dinner later? I promise only to talk to you about what Freya said if you do so first.”

  Karen looked at him, for a moment not completely understanding what he had asked as she came back from whatever place in her mind had been visiting.

  “Oh, sorry Patrick, I was miles away.” She shook her head. “I don’t particularly feel like socialising at the moment, and there are some things I need to attend to first, but thank you for the offer.” She checked with Vimes how long it would take them to return to Capital with this ship, only to find herself frustrated with the answer. “Will you be returning to Capital with us or do you have other plans?” she asked him.

  “Other plans, I’m afraid,” he replied, “this ship will return with you to Capital, where Christine’s body will lie in State until Alexander is ready to arrange her funeral. I will be Jumping to meet with my son and our fleet to await further instructions.” At the mention of Christine, his face darkened for a moment, a look of sadness appearing before his well practised diplomatic mask hid it. “What will you do when you get back, have you any idea yet?”

  “It all depends,” she replied, somewhat cryptically, “I…I’m not sure what I will do. My head is spinning, and my thoughts are all over the place at the moment, so I really don’t know.”

  Gallagher looked sympathetic, thinking he knew why she seemed so distracted and torn.

  “You can always return with me and spend time on Wayland if you can’t face returning to Capital. My home planet is a wonderful place to spend some time recovering, Karen, and I promise my family will look well after you. It’s much livelier than Capital, or so I’ve been told, and might just be the thing to take your mind off of what has happened. New things to see and experiences to savour may well be what you need right now. Your choice.”

  The shuttle's pilot interrupted them with his announcement that the docking tube was attached and everyone was cleared to exit. Their restraints morphed back into the seats, and they both stood up, the old Duke towering over Karen, even without his armour. Gallagher easily read the signs on Karen’s face, for after all, he was o
ne of the best diplomats in the Empire, and saw Karen would not be staying with him. He also suspected she was deliberately holding something back but took reassurance that Vimes seemed to be on her side, as this meant it was of no immediate importance. “One less thing to worry about,” he thought to himself but knew the mystery about what had happened back on the Felidae ship would be a niggling source of frustration until it was revealed to him.

  He gestured for her to take his arm. “Shall I escort you to your quarters?” he asked.

  “Only as far as the transit tube. I’m going to visit the medical wing to have some more checks done. I have a headache forming and want to make sure it was nothing to do with being hit there during the fight.”

  Gallagher nodded, extending his arm for her to take it and as she did so he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “You did well, Karen, and my report will reflect that. You did us all a great service today,” his words an uncanny echo of the Felidae Empress’s.

  After saying goodbye and exiting the tube, Karen entered the Medical wing and headed to an examination suite, instructing Vimes to seal the door and erase all records of her visit when finished. She lay down on the padded table and watched nervously as the two sides formed over her midriff, bathing it in a pale blue light. Overhead, and directly in her line of sight, a holographic projection of her abdomen appeared. She focused on the image of her womb and magnified it, instructing the scanner to search for an embryo. Instantly it appeared, a tiny mote of life within her.

  “Oh my God, Freya was right,” she exhaled, having forgotten to breathe while searching, “I am pregnant. I’m pregnant. How did this happen?”

  “The normal way, Karen,” said Vimes, his voice coming from the room. “Adam had his contraceptive implant checked before coming on the ship, so I assumed you would both be safe.”

  “Various people, including you, have told me how advanced you are, so how could this implant not have worked if you are all so bloody brilliant?” she almost shouted at the ceiling, before trying to calm down. “What went wrong here?”