The Return: The Conglomerate Trilogy (Volume 1)

by William S Frisbee Jr

  It had been built over twenty-five years ago by the Kadesh to Luke’s specifications and he had been upgrading it ever since. Now four close-support frigates could latch onto the cruiser when he was not under combat conditions. Clusters of artificial intelligences and robots controlled the smaller ships nestled up behind the hammerheads and shielding the landing bays.

  Topa Suresh had lent Luke and New Alamo the money to have the ships built, and Luke had paid off the loan within five years.

  Now it was crewed by sentient droids and they were not complicated, did not provide drama, and did not care if he lacked social graces. Most of them also did not even care if they died and they made excellent crew, completely focused on their jobs and specialty. Non-sentient droids did a lot of the heavy lifting and basic work while the lack of people was a comfort to Luke.

  As a large vessel, the Leonis Ultio had many places Luke did not frequent and even more places he had never been.

  The officer’s mess hall was one place he could not remember having visited and until now he hadn’t known it existed. He always ate his meals in the commander’s lounge, the CIC, or his quarters. When he commissioned the Kadesh to build it, Jeeves had recommended numerous social amenities. Luke had allowed them, expecting it to become the property of the New Alamo Defense Force when he died. As he thought about it, this might be the first time since it was built the mess hall had been used for its intended purpose. What else was there?

  The doors opened and Luke peered into the room. His three ‘apprentices’ were already there and snapped to attention, their droids also snapped to attention and Luke looked at them more closely. They were clustered together on one side of the table and had probably been talking before he arrived. A quick glance around showed the officer’s mess hall was a nice, formal room. Fake wood paneling made it look sophisticated and expensive. Several view screens around the room showed the front of the ship, the back and the hammer heads on either side. The table itself looked expensive but with nano programming it could have looked like anything.

  Overall it looked nice, but it had no soul. There was nothing to distinguish it other than the fake wood, which was a shallow attempt at decor. No pictures, nothing unique or personal. It had been designed by a droid with no imagination other than the wood paneling which it had seen in a picture somewhere.

  Traditionally, he should say ‘at ease’ and they could relax, but he was not interested in being nice or kind, their mere presence on his ship made his skin crawl. They were intruders on his ship, foisted on him by a jackass of a prime minister. Right now was the time to set the tone and make his first impression. The easiest way to make sure they didn’t want to stay was to make them unhappy.

  Marching right up to them, he looked them over more closely. They were wearing their white NADF dress uniforms. To Luke’s unpracticed eye, everything looked in order. He ran a quick scan with his InnerBuddy to identify anything out of the ordinary. Everything was in order, all ribbons worn and in order, all buttons shined, each apprentice at attention. They were ready for an inspection. Luke looked to their droids. Unique, immaculate, and pristine wearing NADF colors and configurations. Like on a parade deck. The droids themselves were uniform white. Boring.

  “At ease,” Luke growled. These were veterans, decorated warriors. One might think treating them like this was an insult. Luke did not care. They snapped to the position of parade rest, feet shoulder width apart, hands going behind their back and their eyes snapped to him. Just like recruits in boot camp. Luke squinted at them, looking at them more closely. Something was wrong with their behavior. They weren’t recruits. There should be a tinge of arrogance or rebellion but they were strictly professional. Luke felt a shiver of uncertainty.

  Unless he got rid of them, they would be with him for a year, that was plenty of time to encourage them to leave. Looking them over, he could not growl at them and keep them in the bowels of the ship for a year, he had to at least pretend to be civil. He had a job to do, and nobody could ever accuse him of not doing his best to accomplish the mission.

  He looked at them, trying to think of something to say that was not too rude.

  “I do not understand why you were selected to be my ‘apprentices’,” Luke looked at their faces. His statement was not entirely true, but close. “I didn’t ask for any, and I do not take kindly to strangers on my ship. The Prime Minister has forced you upon me and I resent that, so indirectly I resent you. Your opinion on this matter means absolutely nothing to me. You are intruders into my world.

  “I realize this is probably not your fault,” Luke said and paused. “If it is I better not find out you requested this or encouraged it, or I will have you thrown out an airlock faster than you can squeak an apology. Clear?”

  “Yes sir!” they echoed as if they had rehearsed it on a training ground.

  “I do not want any drama,” Luke said. “If your feelings get hurt, too damned bad. It is only a year. Suck it up. I work with facts and reality, not wants and desires. Let me find you trying to manipulate a situation for your own gain and I will throw your ass out the airlock.

  “Just for the record, I do not think I have a brig to lock you up in, but I’m sure I have an airlock. It will save time and provide me some level of satisfaction.”

  Luke scowled at them. Liking the situation less and less. Actually, he might have a brig. He would have to check with Jeeves.

  “Any questions?” Luke asked.

  “Yes sir,” Brita said snapping to attention to ask. “What is our mission?”

  Luke stared at her for a second. Her eyes held an edge but there was also a soft tenderness there that he didn’t expect.

  “Nelson?” Luke said.

  “Sir?” Nelson replied over the intercom.

  “Forward them a copy of the Topa’s transmission.”

  “Aye sir,” Nelson replied. “Done.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Brita said.

  Luke nodded. “You will find the details so incredibly sparse as to be non-existent. We are supposed to go to a specific set of coordinates on a planet, whenever we get around to it, and meet a Soma, whatever THAT is and provide assistance. Then we are to escort the Soma to another location in the middle of nowhere and continue to provide assistance.

  “Usually the Topa provide a hell of a lot more detail than that,” Luke continued. “I hope you have your affairs in order because this is likely another suicide mission. I don’t get easy missions. This one is so damned nasty they didn’t bother providing any details. Did that answer your question?”

  Luke looked at Brita and his voice got stuck in his throat. This close she really was beautiful. It had been a very long time since he had been this close to a woman. He had never had a human woman on his ship and he looked around again, seeing his ship again as if for the first time. Utilitarian. Spartan. Functional. A droid had done the decorating, and it showed. Everything was to specification, mathematically configured to achieve a specific effect. There were no blemishes or inconsistencies to give it character. It was depressing when he paid attention.

  “Yes sir,” Brita said and snapped back to parade rest. Luke caught Jeremy and Amanda sharing looks and wondered what that was about. Dammit. The drama was beginning he thought.

  “You should have been shown your quarters,” Luke said. “I will assign you tasks as I figure them out. I am supposed to teach you something, take you under my wing or some shit. If you know what I am supposed to teach you, let me know, if I figure it out I will let you know. In the meantime, you will be crew. This will suck for you because my current crew of droids is better than you can ever hope to be, and you are likely to be bored observers.

  “Now let’s eat,” Luke said and headed to the head of the table. The three apprentices took seats at the table. Jeeves had done a good job setting up a table large enough not to have any empty seats, but not small enough to make it awkward.

  Jeeves had prepared a formal meal and Luke had to check his implants a couple
times throughout dinner to make sure he was not breaching some stupid etiquette rule, like using the salad fork for the main course. He did not spend much time watching the others, assuming they would not make such mistakes and Luke did his best to tune them out.

  Using his InnerBuddy, he monitored the Leonis Ultio as it traversed the system. His implanted cybernetic system, called InnerBuddy provided a display into his eyes only he could see, sounds only he could hear. Using eye movements and more focused thoughts or sub-vocalization he could request information, change screens and send messages. He could also emulate controls and use his hands, feet and body to manipulate them but it looked odd to people unaware of what he was doing. Like a mime interacting with invisible objects.

  This was a hub system and there were numerous other ships. Luke liked to keep track of arrivals and departures, monitoring the races and classes of ships involved, anything available on the public net. The Leonis Ultio had an excellent sensor suite and was constantly collecting information and data. He kept hoping for a call from New Alamo to bring back the ‘apprentices’ but the call would never come. If the apprentices thought he was distracted, too bad. He could access all ship functions and sensors from anywhere on the ship. It was more interesting than his apprentices were right now. This wasn’t the sector capital of Ubashi with its hundreds of thousands of ships, but it was busy.

  The Topa ship had left the system over an hour ago, reaching speeds Luke would not have thought possible if he had not seen it many times before, so Suresh was gone, the bastard. Probably going back to Ubashi.

  Amanda and Jeremy sat next to each other and had some kind of silent communication between them. Brita ate quietly and quickly. Nobody spoke except for the absolute bare minimum.

  “Sir?” Brita finally asked shattering the silence like a grenade exploding.

  Luke looked at her, somewhat startled someone would dare speak. He had been pulling up the detailed scan specifications for a distant cruiser and had forgotten they were present. She really was pretty.

  “Reading this order, Topa Suresh is directing you to assist YOUR Soma. I’m not familiar with a Soma and I’m not finding anything on the net. Can you clarify? Why is it your Soma and what is a Soma, sir?”

  “I have no idea,” Luke said. “When I asked he gave me some mystic bullshit about tapestries, rocks and ink. The Soma is a she and I’m supposed to be her teacher too. She will be of equal rank to me I’m told. Freaking mystics. The Topa are like that sometimes. Might be a game to them to throw out some odd name or title and see how people react to it.”

  “Why do the Topa trust you and award you the rank of Shoka, sir?” Brita asked.

  “The billion-credit question,” Luke said trying to hide his annoyance. Was she trying to make small talk? Didn’t she read reports? They weren’t classified. “I have no idea. Maybe it is the fact I’ve tried to piss them off and they find that refreshing?”

  “Piss them off, sir?!” Amanda said joining the conversation, Luke avoided rolling his eyes. Couldn’t they small talk among themselves?

  Luke shrugged. “I don’t kiss up to them or act all afraid of them. I’m not afraid of them. What’s the worst they could do? Kill me?”

  The three stared at Luke, their blank faces and wide eyes concealing their shock.

  “Torture you to death maybe, sir. I’m sure they could find something, sir,” Brita said.

  Luke shook his head. “They aren’t cruel or mean hearted. They do not 'do' torture, and from everything I’ve seen they do not like to see suffering. If they tired of me they would just kill me. Quickly and efficiently. Maybe send me on another suicide mission. Like now.”

  “How do you know, sir?” Jeremy asked.

  “Okay, new rule. Can the ‘sir’ bullshit. We all know who’s in charge, this is a real small group, and we will be stuck with each other for a year. There aren’t any enlisted on this ship to set an example for and I will get real sick of it, real fast. Should you forget I’m the one in command, I guarantee you will not forget what an air lock looks like when you and your last breath of air are being expelled into space. Understood?”

  “Aye, aye” they echoed. Amanda almost said sir but muffled it in time. Luke scowled at her.

  “Sorry,” she said.

  “I’ve dealt with the Topa more than I wanted to,” Luke said leaning back and staring at his plate. It hadn’t been bad and Luke wondered who had cooked it. Had it been cooked? “They don’t micromanage and they don’t second guess. They are some of my best employers. Very hands off. Usually they provide me with terabytes of data about a mission and plenty of details. They don’t screw around either. I’ve just never heard or seen a cruel streak in any of them. If you piss them off they either ignore you or kill you.”

  “How do you piss them off?” Brit asked.

  Luke sighed. “Well, I try not to kiss their ass like everyone else and I sometimes call them by their name, not title. I ask lots of annoying questions, stuff like that. Peeing in their throne room is not something I've done, but it is on my list.”

  The three laughed. Droids did not laugh like that. It caught Luke by surprise. It had been so long since he had heard human laughter. He was silent, trying to figure out if he liked it or not. Yes. It was acceptable. Laughter was a human thing and laughter was a part of them all. It had been a very long time. His droids laughed and joked but this was different. When the droids laughed, it felt more like a programmed response, not a natural one.

  “They tolerate that?” Amanda asked. “What else do they tolerate from you?”

  Luke scowled and spoke softly, forcing them to listen more closely. “One more thing. They do not tolerate, and I don’t either, is lies. Don’t ever lie to them. They can see through lies. They like the truth, the plain, honest truth as you see it. Just don’t ever lie to them.”

  His apprentices nodded, staring at him, surprised at his words and the vehemence in them.

  “We will transit out of the system tomorrow,” Luke said. “I will expect everyone to be at the CIC. If there are questions check with my droids Nelson or Gray. They are my senior officers and outrank you. If you have a problem with a droid out ranking you, then you know where the airlock is. You can walk back to New Alamo. Musashi is another droid that outranks you. I’ll introduce that prick later. Understood?”

  “Aye, aye Commander” they all echoed. It had been so long since he had much affiliation with other members of the military too, it would suck because he had gotten set in his ways.

  When the meal was over, he made his retreat to his briefing room.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Briefing

  Luke woke up screaming and covered in sweat.

  Nelson and Gray were there online.

  “Was it the dream again?” Nelson sent. Luke nodded, exhausted. Nelson couldn’t see him, but he would know. Luke didn’t trust his voice.

  After forty-five years, it still had not lost its strength. It had been maybe a year since he had remembered those last minutes with Elena. If anything, it had gained strength. He could not remember it ever being so strong or powerful. Her words, making him promise had reached into his soul and burned themselves there, again. He could still feel the pain in his hands from punching the consoles. It was the intruders on his ship causing his memories to surface.

  Luke pulled himself to his feet and pulled on some workout clothes.

  “I’ll notify Musashi,” Nelson sent and Luke read a smirk in his words. “He will get his ass kicked.”

  Musashi was Nelson’s personal trainer droid. Specialized in all manner of the art of personal combat and physical fitness, Musashi was focused on training others in the art of combat. Whenever Luke had ‘the dream’, he recovered by working himself to absolute exhaustion in the arena against the droids.

  “I’ll notify the foundry to start making more rag dolls,” Gray transmitted to Nelson. “Luke will destroy what is in stock right now.”

  Nelson nodded. Luke’s bio signs were
intense and Nelson hoped this did not happen too often. He calculated how this would affect the mission and interaction with the apprentices. He did not like the initial calculations but Luke was usually full of surprises.

  * * *

  Hours later Luke was sitting in the CIC, interfaced and reviewing what was available in the Chonka system. His wounds had healed, and he felt a little better. There was a lot of history in the Chonka system as the system had been part of the Conglomerate for several thousand years and was a major trading hub. The primary planet, Luke’s destination, was a massive hive city with well over a hundred billion inhabitants. Gravity was 0.97, weather was acid rain, mixed with lightning storms. The planet was named Bizzen and had been populated by Brazat long ago. Now it was a melting pot of races and cultures, with no one species being dominant.

  The system was part of the Chonka Federation; the best way to describe the Chonka Federation was as a Feudal Republic, with strong capitalist tendencies. They did not restrict travelers or traders, and everything was for sale. There were no meaningful references to the word ‘Soma’ there either.

  The door opened and Brita walked in. Luke looked up wondering what droid was entering the CIC, and he froze when he saw it was a human. A shiver ran down his spine at the unnaturalness of it. When she saw Luke, Brita’s eyes widened. It was five in the morning. She was dressed in the standard work suit uniform of the NADF. Black with blue trim and Luke was wearing his standard battle dress with side arm and rifle in the rack nearby. Luke would not be under dressed for a space assault.

  Nelson and Gray stood nearby, also reviewing the information with Luke, and everyone turned to face Brita.

  “Sorry sir,” she said coming to the position of attention. “I thought I would get here early and familiarize myself with the ship and protocols.”