“Where’s Vimes, Karen?” asked Sir John, “I can’t see him anywhere. Will he be joining us?”
“You don’t get rid of me that easily, Sir John,” Vimes disembodied voice spoke out, “I’m all around you. I will be piloting everyone back to Skye. Are any of you affected by heights?”
No-one voiced a problem, so Vimes changed the walls to provide a life-like representation of what was outside, making everyone except Karen start. Looking across at her aunt and uncle, she instructed the two seats holding Alastair and Flora to move closer together so they could hold hands and give each other some reassurance during the short flight. Sir John noted the subtle movement, his eyes taking in everything and missing little.
Vimes activated the yacht’s cloak, then gently accelerated upwards at one-G, dipping the prow so everyone inside would get a better view of what was beneath them. Although Karen knew it might be her imagination, she felt the tension level in the room rise as the ship lifted and gave everyone a clear view of the base and nearby runway. Twenty seconds later and Vimes swung the ship around, heading it towards Skye, accelerating away at one-G.
Alastair and Flora spoke quietly amongst themselves, but Sir John addressed the empty air, feeling a little silly but assuming this was how they should converse in the absence of a physical body to talk to.
“Vimes, how long to reach Skye?” he asked, the first of many questions Sir John was dying to ask.
“Ten minutes. We will accelerate for half that time, then begin decelerating at the halfway point, reaching a maximum speed of just over three thousand four hundred miles per hour.”
“What about the sonic boom? Wouldn’t a ship of this size would break most of the windows in western Britain and cause a stir?” he asked, wanting to see what mechanism they used and hoping it might be something his scientists could replicate later.
“In situations, such as this, the ship projects a narrow force field to the front which guides and directs the air flow around it. Simply put, it cuts smoothly through the air, so a sonic shock-wave is not produced,” came the reply, “I’m afraid your technology is many years away from even getting close.”
“Is this ship detectable by our defence systems?”
“Not at all. The only way we can be detected is through mass sensors or line of sight, and even then, we have ways to ameliorate those. Feel free to make contact with anyone you like, Sir John. I’ve connected your mobile phone to this ships communication suite so you can access everything as normal, even your encrypted channels, should you prefer privacy.”
Sir John wriggled in the couch, trying to remove his mobile from beneath one of the straps, finally getting it free to make the first of several calls, all the time keeping one eye on the surroundings outside and the ground disconcertingly speeding past underneath his seat. Next to him, Alastair and Flora watched the scene with open amazement, keeping their voices low and discussing how crazy the day had been, occasionally casting a glance towards Karen, who found herself becoming somewhat melancholy.
For Karen, the quiet return to Earth had not panned out as she had planned. Instead of a relaxing time with her family to recover from the death of her friend and worry about how her lover would react to the news of her pregnancy, she had now inadvertently drawn them into a potentially nightmarish situation where their peaceful lives on Skye might now be filled with anxiety and worry every time there was a knock on the door. She sighed deeply, regretting ever thinking coming back to Earth might be a good idea.
Vimes picked up on her mood and for the briefest of moments before speaking, debated with himself whether to say something or let Karen work through it herself.
“You did the right thing, Karen, based on the information available to you at the time. If anyone should be blaming themselves for what has happened here, it is me, and I shall say this to both Alexander and Adam when the time is right for them to know what has transpired. Now, focus on your aunt and uncle, reassure them and stop blaming yourself for wanting to come home.”
“But I feel so guilty, Vimes. All those years no-one had the faintest inkling the Empire existed and now…well, just look at the mess I’ve helped make. How can I not feel bad?” Karen thought back.
“One or more Governments would have caught on at some point.” Vimes did the mental equivalent of a sigh, “Karen, your people’s ability to use computing is quite remarkable and well in advance of where it should be in comparison to their social development, which over large parts of the world is frankly little better than barbaric. It was only a matter of time before someone would have been found out. It could just as easily have been Christine on one of her rare visits to check on distant relations or perhaps one of my avatars when they check to make sure you haven’t blown yourselves back to a pre-industrial society.” He mentally gestured towards Sir John, who was deep in conversation on his mobile phone. “Funnily enough, Sir John over there is our best hope of keeping the genie in the bottle for a while longer, perhaps even long enough for when that child growing inside of you has to come here for their own testing. I will work with Sir John to repair what damage I can. Now, enjoy the view, we will begin decelerating in a few moments.”
Karen remained silent, feeling only slightly reassured and keeping her thoughts buried where even Vimes couldn’t sense them. She linked herself into the ship’s systems, her mood lifted a little by the merging and feeling of well-being coming from the yacht. Karen allowed herself to mentally sink deeper into the ship until she could feel the sensation of air lightly pressing on her skin as it rushed along the ship’s outer hull. If she hadn’t been linked to the ship, Karen would have missed the almost imperceptible change as the ship began decelerating towards its destination.
Karen allowed herself a few minutes’ linkage, enough so the problems of here and now were almost entirely subsumed by the sensory inputs coming from all over the ship. Finally, she withdrew, bringing herself back from the god-like feeling of power to the almost mundane reality of her mortal existence in the world of flesh and blood. As the last vestige of the merging ended, she changed the view ahead to show the Isle of Skye, magnifying the picture so her three passengers could get a closer view of their destination, for she knew neither Alastair or Flora had ever seen their home island from the air.
“Will you look at that,” exclaimed Flora excitedly, “look, you can see Rum and the Cuillin hills. Isn’t this wonderful, Alastair?”
He drew his eyes away from the screen to look at his wife, “It is that. Who would have thought we’d have the chance to enjoy it?” He gently squeezed her hand, not having let go since they had set off on the flight, then turned back to look at the rapidly approaching island.
“Apologies for asking,” interrupted Sir John, “but we are still…cloaked, otherwise making our cover story stick just isn’t going to work?”
Before Vimes could answer, Karen spoke first. “Yes, John, we remain invisible. Provided no-one is around, the yacht will land next to the jetty, and we can all get off there and walk back to the house.” She paused, then addressed Vimes so everyone could hear, “Vimes, please arrange for coats to be made available for our guests, we are almost home.”
SCENE 8, DECISION TIME.
Vimes woke Adam at five-thirty, the young Prince having ordered breakfast and arranged for requested updates to be ready for his perusal the night before. He leapt out of bed and ran naked to the shower, only pausing for an instant to look at himself in the mirror and noting it was time to apply more beard inhibitor, the unfamiliar dark growth plainly visible on his chin.
Only the merest of shadows under his eyes hinted at the late nights and stress he had been under since discovering the awful truth of his mother’s assassination thirty-six hours previously. With Vimes keeping his father gently sedated during this time, much of the command burden had fallen to him, or at least, that is how it seemed to Adam. However, in reality he knew that both Vimes and Admiral Frith were managing the majority of things on his behalf, only passin
g matters over when his approval was required.
He stepped into the shower and gasped out loud as jets of cold water hit him from multiple angles, bringing him fully awake in an instant.
“Vimes, I swear you aim those jets deliberately. One almost went right up m…”
“As if, Adam. Now, a light breakfast will be waiting for you when finished here, then please report to your father. I woke you both at the same time, and he is looking forward to seeing you.”
“How is he?” Adam asked, “Is he…?”
“Back to his normal self, is that you want to know? He is back to being the Emperor we know, but will he ever be the same man? Only time will tell, Adam. Your parents shared something both rare and true, but now it is gone even I do not know the answer. Now, hurry up and finish here for there is a long day ahead for you both.”
Twenty minutes later, Adam was finishing off his final cup of tea and running through the day’s revised agenda, changed and updated by Vimes now his father was awake and again dealing with matters of State. It was noticeable to Adam that he was still being copied into everything, something that had never happened before. Knowing Vimes wouldn’t have made a mistake, he assumed it must have been on his father’s instruction; the implied expression of faith from his father warming him.
Finally finished with the reports, Adam put on his jacket, checking in the mirror for anything that might mar the look. Satisfied, he exited the room, picking up the two members of his father’s personal bodyguard who, with others, had been seconded to look solely after him now.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” he said, acknowledging their crisp salutes with a nod. Vimes had already updated them with the day’s agenda, so they knew where to go, one leading the way, the other two steps behind Adam. It was a matter of moments before they rounded a corner and arrived at the Emperor’s quarters, at which point they joined with their compatriots already on duty outside. Acknowledging yet more salutes, Adam approached the door and waited, knowing Vimes had already informed Alexander he was there. As expected, the door opened immediately, and he walked in, looking for his father and unsure what he might find.
Alexander was standing over at the far wall, which had changed into a large representation of the view outside, annotated by Vimes with the disposition and names of every ship in view. Alexander immediately turned to look at his son, a small, sad smile on his face as he quickly walked over with arms outstretched and enveloped him in a hug. Adam happily returned the gesture, reassured there seemed to be no lasting bad feeling from what had happened at their last meeting.
Alexander broke first, looking at his son’s face as if he was searching for something.
“Thank you, son. I don’t know what else to say. You are a credit to your mother and I. Vimes explained how you took charge, and I’m grateful for what you did.”
Neither Alexander or Adam really knew what else to say, so the two men, so alike and yet years apart in age and experience, simply stood facing each other for a few long moments, each taking comfort in having the other close.
“Thanks, dad, I only did what was needed at the time. You are looking much better…I have to ask, are you alright now or do you need me to do more?” Adam’s voice trailed off a little, hoping his father would fill the space.
“I don’t know if I will ever be fine again, Adam, but Vimes took good care of me and, yes, I’m ready to move forward and settle this with Frederick once and for all.” He looked closely at his son’s face, “Yours will be a heavy burden to bear.”
Adam was intrigued, wondering what exactly Vimes had been doing while he father was asleep for all that time, but was in two minds whether to ask, not sure if it might be seen as prying. Apparently picking up something from his son’s face, Alexander answered the unspoken question.
“Vimes took me back on a journey through time, Adam, helped me to relive old memories, many of which I had forgotten. Most of them were happy times with Christine, especially those when all three of us were together when you were young.” Alexander’s face noticeably relaxed as he spoke, “we also went back into the lives of some of my predecessors. It was bittersweet to see my parents and family again, but Vimes’s lesson to me in doing this was to show me nothing lasts forever. Wasn’t it, old friend?” he thought to his companion, letting his son hear the brief exchange.
“There was no implied lesson, Alex,” Vimes replied to them both, his internal voice thoughtful and authoritative, “I had faith you would find both comfort and some healing in the memories. It’s gratifying to know I was able to help in a small way, but you do yourself a disservice, as the strength to overcome was, and always will be, within you.”
Again, both men looked at each other, thinking over Vimes words, Adam finding the exchange between them all both reassuring and intimate. He would be the first to admit the relationship with his father hadn’t been especially close or warm since he left the Palace as a young adult but could see now the fault had been mostly down to him and not his father.
“Perhaps mother’s death will bring us both closer together,” Adam thought to himself, “I hope so, as apart from Karen, there’s no-one else.”
Thinking of Karen made Adam feel guilty. Events of the last thirty-six hours had almost banished her from his mind, but he missed her now more than ever. “How is she, Vimes, any news?”
“No need to worry, she is safe and well,” came the reply, “I will update you later today, once things here with your father are settled.”
Reassured, but still feeling slightly guilty, Adam walked over to the wall display, looking for his own ship, INS Britannia.
Knowing exactly what his son was looking for, Alexander pointed it out to him, “It’s here, son. You never forget your first command. Mine was a Spitfire; crew of one, but a beauty to fly.” His voice took on a wistful tone again as he recalled the memories Vimes had taken him down, “It was like strapping wings on your body.” He turned to look at his son, “You know, I swear you only had to think what you wanted to do and it would do it.”
Seeing Adam’s quizzical look, Alexander spoke. “Ask Vimes, he’ll give you a history lesson. Now, let’s get down to business, we have a war to win together.”
Several long hours and much discussion later, the two men were sitting opposite each other, both staring intently at the hologrammatic display slowly rotating between them showing the disposition of their forces and the relative position of the rebel fleets.
“How can you be sure Frederick has his fleets set out like that? Surely, we lost any real-time feeds when Fredrick shut down all the Vimes avatars?
Alexander looked pleased with himself as he answered, “Right at the beginning of the rebellion I sent stealthed surveillance drones from Arisia, Jumping them directly into Rebel-held systems using our secret Jump drive to bypass their Jump Stations. The drones are fitted with our instantaneous communication system, so we are getting real-time feeds from almost all of the Rebel systems.”
He sat back in his armchair, his grin spreading wider as he explained everything to his son.
“Previous Emperors had the foresight to obtain Quantum Signatures from deep within almost every star system in the Empire. Every time a new system joins the Empire, it is down to the then Emperor or Empress to keep the list updated. The only systems we have no information on will be those that Frederick and the rebels have discovered for themselves and kept hidden from the Empire at large, just as we did with our Arisia.”
“How are you going to use this information? It will be very difficult to use it without someone like Frith becoming suspicious as to where you are getting the intelligence from.” Adam asked his father, seeing the implications. “The Admiral is no fool, and she will want answers.”
Alexander nodded, “I know, and that’s why we need to make a decision, son.”
He stood up and walked over to the display of ships on the far wall, changing it with a thought to one showing the Empire and a display of the Rebel held territories. Alexa
nder remained silent, his eyes roaming over the coloured systems representing where Frederick held sway, then turned to face his son.
“With your mother gone, I find myself suddenly at a loss. We had both planned to stand aside when you came of age and showed yourself ready to take over the burden of Emperor. No, don’t interrupt,” he said to his son, who tried to speak, “We spent so many years of our lives apart from each other, what with my campaigning and touring the Empire, trying to heal the divisions caused by the Succession Wars. We often spoke about spending more time with each other when you were ready, perhaps even going off together and exploring the galaxy.”
With another thought, Alexander changed the view again to show the galactic whorl, looking down onto it from a great distance. “Look at this. We control such a small portion of it. The probes originally sent out by Josef have continued charting new systems, so we now have the Jump Signatures of literally tens of millions held in Vimes’s memory.”
“So, what are you saying?” asked Adam, not sure he liked where this was going.
“Shortly after I met Karen for the first time, all three of us argued over dinner how we had to change, perhaps even make the secret Jump technology known to the rest of the Empire. At the time, I argued against it, saying we would lose too much control over commerce and security.” Alexander smiled at his son, “If I recall, Karen took your side, giving examples from Earth’s history where Empires fell because they were too insular and ill-equipped to cope with invaders from outside with new ideas.”
Alexander walked back to his son. “Adam, when this war has been won, I intend to stand aside and relinquish the throne in your favour. The Empire will be for you to mould as you will. As always, Vimes will be here to assist you, but I intend to go exploring for a time. Perhaps in the silence of space I will find something to fill the void inside me that has been left by your mother’s death. Anyway, there’s nothing worse than having an ex-Emperor around to second guess and comment on everything you are doing.”
Imperium: Coda: Book Three in the Imperium Trilogy Page 16
