Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire

by J W Murison

  They both laughed.

  CHAPTER 20

  The chiefs of staff and the President had finally made up their minds which course of action to take. Steven was relieved by the decision but was still uncomfortable about the whole thing.

  The fleet had enough fuel and rations for another few months. In the next month they would empty as many freighters as they could and send them back across the barrier, with a small Modloch escort to see them safely there. From there the President would announce publicly that the Earth’s fleet would return home. At that point the course of action would depend on the Modloch Emperor. If he turned against the Humans they would abandon the last of the freighters and make a dash for the barrier. They would do so without taking up arms against the Modloch race if possible. They would only fight as a last resort.

  The best result would be for the Modloch Emperor to accept their decision and in good faith escort the Humans back to the barrier. For some reason, no one quite believed that would happen.

  With the decision made, Steven was now free from the process and could turn his mind back to more domestic matters. He hadn’t even made it back to the ship when the first problem arose. They were on a shuttle away from the Burning Wind when the pilot’s voice came over the tannoy. ‘Listen to this everyone.’ Everyone laughed when the strains of Glen Miller’s ‘Moonlight Serenade’ came through the sound system. When it was finished he announced that it was racing up the Modloch music charts and was being hailed as the next Empire-wide number one.

  ‘How did they get hold of that?’ Buzz asked. Steven just shook his head.

  Babes talked to both of them at once. ‘It was Charlie. He made me steal a gold master disc.’

  ‘What was that?!’ Steven had spoken aloud and received a few funny looks from the rest of the passengers. He shut his mouth and asked again with his mind.

  ‘Charlie set up a company and sold the music to the most prestigious music company on the planet.’

  Steven was stunned, ‘Our Charlie?’

  ‘Yes Steven.’

  ‘How could he sell anything? Did they pay him cash?’

  ‘No, the Modloch have set up a bank account for his company.’

  ‘Why wasn’t I told about this?’

  ‘You wanted no communication with Charlie in case he read your mind by accident.’

  ‘Is it just Charlie that is involved?’

  ‘No, I believe he employed the help of the former ambassador. He gets three per cent and Charlie gets seven.’

  ‘When did this happen?’

  ‘Almost two weeks ago. I am not party to everything Charlie is doing. He can block me from his mind and I cannot read his thoughts.’

  Steven was slowly getting over the shock and it was being replaced by anger. ‘I want the command staff assembled when I get back. I want to talk to them, and then I want to talk to Charlie.’

  By the time the shuttle had dropped them off his command staff were already assembled. None of them knew anything about it. Steven was beginning to see red when he ordered Babes to ask Charlie to join them.

  Charlie was using the ship to talk to the Chief; both were in high spirits.

  ‘That’s two payments already!’

  Charlie laughed, ‘I know, it’s great, isn’t it?’

  The Chief shook his head, ‘It is for me. You’re not getting anything. I feel guilty.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid.’

  Babes interrupted, ‘Charlie, could you report to Steven? He is in the command briefing room.’

  ‘About bloody time. Sorry Chief, duty calls.’

  ‘No problem Charlie, catch you later.’

  Charlie grabbed his briefcase and made sure everything was present. It only took him a few minutes to reach the briefing room. His first indication that anything was wrong was from the dour looks on everyone’s faces.

  ‘What’s wrong, has something happened?’

  Steven sat forward, the anger on his face easy to read, ‘Charlie, do you know anything about a music company that was set up?’

  ‘Yeah that was me.’

  Steven stood, ‘How could you Charlie? You know the whole bloody fleet is in dire straits, and you go cashing in on music that doesn’t even belong to you!’

  Charlie didn’t even have to open his mind to know what was happening. He felt the first red hot flush of fury surge through his veins. He approached Steven and slammed the briefcase on the table. ‘If you werna´ so fucking paranoid then it would never have bloody come to this! The company was set up in your bloody name by your mother. The details are in this briefcase. You might want to go through it before you shove your big fat foot farther into the shit and I shove my fist down your bloody throat.’

  Steven felt his anger begin to evaporate, ‘My mum!’

  ‘Aye, yer ma. You and Komoru are the directors of the company. We now have a bloody bank account. That’s what you were after, wasn’t it? I also named Buzz, Lewis, Mr Howe and Cookie as directors, and there are another half dozen you can nominate yourself. Each named director has access to the bank account. And as a matter of interest, I don’t. I have no access to the account at all.’ Charlie snapped round and walked away.

  Steven got to his feet, the blood had drained from his face. ‘Charlie wait.’

  Charlie flipped him the bird, ‘Fuck off Stevie.’

  The door closed behind him. There was silence in the room. Steven became aware that everyone was looking at him. He sat back down slowly. An embarrassed silence seemed to press in and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

  ‘Oops!’ There were some nervous chuckles, ‘I am sorry about that everyone. It looks like I jumped to a bad conclusion before I heard all the facts. My mistake, one which I will endeavour to rectify. In the meantime I had better just discover exactly what Charlie has been up to. For now you can all return to your duties.’

  They all filed out. When the last had left Buzz pulled up a chair.

  ‘I made a complete mess of that didn’t I?’

  Buzz turned the briefcase towards him, ‘Let’s just find out all the facts before we go off half-cocked again. You might want to give Komoru a call.’

  An hour later they had read Charlie’s report and began making checks on the information. Howe and Beaver were called in and they too helped check. In the end it was Komoru who confirmed everything by purchasing a couple of silk pillows on the equivalent of the Modloch internet. They all sat around the console breathless as she placed the order.

  ‘That’s it,’ she announced. ‘It will be delivered to the central space port in about two hours. If we want it transported up here we have to pay extra and set up some sort of beacon.’ She turned, ‘What do you think Steven?’

  ‘Is that an option for fast delivery?’

  ‘Yes but that is extra too. Half an hour guaranteed to the spaceport.’

  ‘Go the whole hog Komoru. Pay all the extras.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  He shrugged, ‘If the transaction fails then we will know within the hour.’

  She saw the sense and clicked all the extras. ‘We have gained some form of points as a valued customer.’

  ‘How nice to know.’ Steven grunted. They all chuckled at the sarcastic remark. He stood up, ‘I think we should just about have enough time to have a cup of coffee. Babes, do you know what kind of beacon they are talking about?’

  ‘Of course. The code will be sent with the conformation.’

  ‘Here is the conformation,’ announced Komoru, ‘can you read it from the screen Babes?’

  ‘Yes, that is the beacon set.’

  It was quite a tense wait. ‘A craft is approaching, my heart, and asking for permission to dock. They are also asking for a signature from Komoru.’

  ‘Inform the bridge to begin docking procedures please.’

  ‘Yes my heart.’

  Komoru got up and left. Ten minutes later she reappeared, laughing as she struggled with a large container. ‘Give me a hand Steven.’


  They manhandled the container into the middle of the room and Komoru opened it. She burst out laughing again as she removed the first pillow. ‘It is huge.’

  Steven removed the second one, ‘Wow.’

  Her eyes gleamed, ‘Feel the material.’

  ‘I am. It is something else, isn’t it?’

  Komoru jumped on her one and it seemed to envelope her. ‘Oh I love this.’

  ‘But you know what this really signifies?’

  ‘Of course. If we can buy luxury goods then we can also buy fuel for the fleet.’

  ‘Yeah, but how much money have we got? How much is it for a tanker full of fuel?’ Buzz asked.

  None of them knew the answer. It was Babes who answered. ‘The wallet the cards come in is also a secure communications link to the bank. If the card is in the wallet, turn it over and swipe the back.’ Steven did so. ‘There should be a security pin with the wallet. Once you put the pin in then hold the wallet in front of your face. It will perform a retinal scan then ask for a thumb print.’

  ‘Everything is in Modloch,’ Buzz complained.

  ‘I will guide Steven through the process.’ She did so and the wallet was soon connected to the bank. With her help Steven managed to look at the balance. He grunted, ‘Now we’ve got Modloch numbers.’

  ‘I will send information to the bank so they can update their software with English.’

  Steven nodded, ‘Aye, we certainly need that. Can you explain this to us Babes?’

  ‘Three payments have been made into the account in the past two days. One yesterday and two today.’

  ‘Is it a lot?’

  Beaver held up a pad he had been studying, ‘According to this, if sales recorded amount to less than one hundred thousand an annual payment will be made. If sales exceed five hundred thousand then automated payments will be triggered.’

  ‘When was “Moonlight Serenade” released?’ Steven asked Babes.

  ‘It will be five days ago at midnight, Modloch time.’

  ‘And it has sold over a million and a half copies already.’

  ‘Obviously,’ Komoru stated, cuddling into her pillow.

  ‘What about copyright?’ Howe asked.

  Babes knew the answer to that one and flashed it up on a screen, ‘It has been over seventy years since the death of the original composer and the day it was broadcast for the first time. That makes the recording public domain.’

  Howe nodded thoughtfully, ‘I see, and Charlie named the company Public Domain. Very smart.’

  ‘Was it seven per cent of the retail price?’ Steven asked.

  ‘It was,’ Beaver answered.

  ‘Still no good if we can’t read,’ Buzz stated the obvious. ‘Babes, can you find out the price of fuel and calculate out how many ships we could refuel at this very moment from empty.’

  ‘From empty we could refuel a hundred destroyers, thirty seven light cruisers, twenty-eight heavy cruisers and fifteen battleships, not including the Burning Wind. Or all the freighters within the fleet. There is also enough money to refuel our tankers. If the record keeps selling at this rate then we will have made enough money to refuel the whole fleet within a fortnight, as well as fill all our tankers to capacity.’

  The bubble burst and they all began laughing and shaking hands. ‘Who would have thought a Scottish sergeant could pull our shit out of the fire?’ Buzz laughed.

  Steven’s face fell. ‘Charlie. What the hell did I do? The President needs to be told this right away.’

  Buzz could see Steven wavering between duty to the fleet and his friend. He slapped Steven on the back, ‘You go see the President, I will go see to Charlie.’

  CHAPTER 21

  The President looked exhausted, ‘How can you look so fresh?’

  ‘Good news has a way of perking you up, sir.’

  ‘Oh! What good news?’

  ‘We can scrap all of those plans sir. One of my men has found a way to open a bank account. Not only that, we already have enough money to completely fill all of our tankers.’

  The President looked momentarily bewildered, ‘Then I think you had better sit down, Captain Gordon.’

  Steven laid the briefcase down and began the explanation. He could see the President’s spirits rise as he went on.

  ‘Captain Gordon, can you explain to me how this didn’t proceed through official channels? Please understand I am not berating you or your man’s work. However, we now have a situation where by you and your crew hold almost all of the cards for this account – the ones who really need them are the quartermasters. I don’t think half a dozen for the entire fleet is quite enough.’

  Steven sighed, ‘I have to apologise for that sir. I had no idea that my man was doing this. In fact, I had refused him an interview on a number of occasions.’

  The President frowned, ‘Why?’

  ‘Quite simply because I was dealing with all this top secret stuff.’

  ‘I don’t see the relevance.’

  ‘I know you don’t sir. The man in question, however, is highly intuitive, and could be considered an expert on reading body language. He has a gift you might say. I dare not let him anywhere near me while dealing with things so highly classified.’

  The President’s frown deepened, ‘He sounds like a man who would be better served as part of the intelligence community.’

  A look of abject horror came over Steven’s face, ‘He would not serve the intelligence community in any capacity sir. In fact, he hates them with a passion, and with good reason.’

  The penny dropped, ‘Ah! I think I know who you are talking about. The Scottish sergeant?’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘Now it all begins to make sense. If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have Orlath.’

  ‘Yes that’s right.’

  ‘We are already deeply in this man’s debt, now even more so. Can the accounts be transferred to different people?’

  ‘I would assume so sir.’

  ‘We will deal with that later. The first thing to do is fill those damn tankers and begin refuelling the fleet.’

  ‘I agree sir.’

  ‘Do you think it will work?’

  ‘We have already made a test purchase.’

  ‘Just as a matter of interest, what was it?’

  ‘Captain Komoru ordered a couple of silk pillows.’

  ‘They have silk!’ He laughed.

  ‘I don’t know if it is real silk sir, it is just the translation. They were delivered within the hour. I have to say they do feel a lot like silk.’

  ‘I feel we should move immediately. Certainly before the forces that are against us find out we have access to funds.’

  ‘I agree with that sentiment sir.’

  ‘Until we get those cards transferred to more appropriate members of staff, you and your people will have to deal with, and pay for, the refuelling.’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘This has also helped in another way.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘Now we know what kind of music they like. I believe the marine band do quite a bit of Glen Miller. That will help with this big function we are supposed to be holding.’

  ‘It is a few weeks away isn’t it sir?’

  ‘Yes that’s right. The Emperor is fully booked up until that weekend. It also gives him time to groom the more reluctant of his allies.’

  ‘Maybe the music will help.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘Will that be all sir?’

  ‘Yes please, Captain Gordon. I will issue orders from here. You get in touch with those companies who can refuel us. The quartermasters shall liaise directly with you.’

  Steven stood, ‘That sounds good to me sir.’

  The President ran a finger under a grimy collar; Steven noticed his discomfort. ‘Is something wrong sir?’

  ‘Weeks of being cooped up in one of these tin cans without fresh air. I’m not a fan of these sonic showers either. I know they get you clean but I just don’t
feel clean. I would give my right arm for enough water for a proper bath.’

  ‘That might not be necessary sir.’

  The President’s interest peaked, ‘You have a tub?’

  ‘I have a friend who has one. On the surface.’

  ‘Captain, you may well yet get onto my frequent diners list.’

  CHAPTER 22

  ‘Earth vessel designated Tango Kilo Foxtrot Zero Five, please move into a stationary orbit now.’

  ‘Roger control.’

  ‘For the rest of this procedure we will refer to you as five. Confirm five.’

  ‘Five confirm.’

  ‘OK five, let me guess, you have never done a manual in-planet atmospheric refuelling?’

  ‘That is correct control.’

  ‘Understood five. Stay in the pattern we give you, at twenty thousand our automated controls will take over. They will land the ship, refuel it, and lift you off. Control will be handed back to you at twenty thousand again. From there follow the flight path we give you until you are clear of the atmosphere.’

  ‘Roger control.’

  ‘Switch on your identifier five.’

  ‘On control.’

  ‘Roger we have you. Begin your decent five.’

  ‘Roger control.’

  Down on the planet, the Modloch in charge of the refuelling almost tossed his headphones away in disgust. ‘There hasn’t been a single galactic credited pilot so far.’

  His partner snorted, ‘Makes you wonder how they managed to beat the Albany.’

  Their supervisor stood behind, ‘They beat them because they are merciless meat-eaters. Hunters in a way you pair can’t imagine. You would be well to remember that, and keep the sarcastic tone from your voices when dealing with them.’

  The first controller reseated his earphones correctly, ‘But sir, none of their pilots have even flown their ships in an atmosphere. Isn’t that illegal?’

  ‘It is only illegal if they are a part of the galactic alliance, and they aren’t. I will have a word with the relative authorities though. If they have the money to pay for fuel then they have the money to get proper training.’