Tides of Mars (Omnibus Version)

by Ben Winston

  “The Minister of Protocol? Have we done something wrong? Betty and I did go over the procedures for hosting the Emperor...”

  Sean grinned, “No, actually he’s quite pleased with that. However, it’s the form of address your people use to refer to the Emperor. Apparently, the term ‘highness’ is a lesser title and refers to one’s king. Since we have an Emperor, the proper form of address at all times is ‘majesty’. He was trying very hard to be tactful about the correction, since he knows you all went to so much trouble, and have done so well... those are his words; I think he might have a bit of a crush on you, Milady,” Sean said grinning.

  “Please inform Minister D’nfrees I will speak to them as soon as I am able. Now speaking of crushes; what’s the deal with Thorn and your daughter? Why isn’t she with him?” Ariel asked, waving Sean to a seat and getting two glasses of iced tea from the wet bar.

  Sean sat and looked thoughtful. “Thorn is very paranoid about having someone he loves on a mission with him. Even though she’s a very capable, well trained pilot aboard my ship, he would still blame himself if something happened to her while she was with him. I would have brought her down with me, but I couldn’t think of a reasonable excuse. If I tried to include her simply because of her noble blood, I’d have to allow the rest leave to come down as well. That would be about ninety percent of the command staff of the ship.”

  “Would I need a reason to ask you to bring her down?” Ariel asked.

  Sean chuckled. “No Highness, no one would insist they be allowed as well if you ordered it.”

  Ariel was thoughtful a moment. “Sean, you said she was a capable pilot; just how capable is she?”

  “She has earned several medals for bravery under fire, and professional excellence. She has risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander and has command of her own fighter wing. She is one of my best flight instructors... You’re going to steal her away from me, for this project aren’t you?”

  “She’s not ideally qualified for this job?” Ariel asked.

  “Actually, she would be one of the first I would recommend. If it lets her and Thorn spend more time together; I’m all for it,” Sean said.

  “We could always treat them as a married couple; maybe Thorn would get the hint then?” Ariel replied, grinning.

  “Once she sees all the beautiful women down here. I’m afraid she would glue herself to the man just to ensure no poaching gets done. She’s not actually jealous, but wants to make sure she remains in his heart.”

  “Well, whenever you can get her down here in the usual in and out traffic, please do... Sometimes I think we’re busier then O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.” She was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. “Come in.”

  “My apologies, My Lady, But the Colonel wanted me to ask you where you wanted him to put your guard?” A young looking, female marine asked when she stuck her head in the room.

  Ariel got a confused look on her face at the question. “I didn’t ask for a guard. Are you sure the Colonel said my guard, and not His Majesty’s?

  “Yes, My Lady, I’m absolutely certain he said your guard. The Imperial guard will be remaining on board the Phaethon.” The girl replied.

  Ariel was about to tell the girl to call the colonel back to tell him he could stuff his guards, so Sean interrupted. “Thank you, Corporal. Please inform the Colonel we’ll be contacting him directly to make those arrangements.”

  The girl looked relieved and nodded her head to the admiral, then bowed to Ariel before she withdrew. Ariel turned back to Sean. “Okay, what the hell is that all about?”

  “As a member of the royal family, you are required to have a guard. I imagine, our good colonel has undertaken the job of arranging a temporary one for you; probably on the orders of either the Emperor or Baron Altrov,” Sean replied. “Even if you lived in the palace on Aldus Forward, you would have to have a guard, Milady.”

  “Sean, when we’re alone would you please call me Ariel? I’m still the same totally confused girl you chewed out not so long ago. Unless you plan on being all formal even when you have to chew me out again?”

  “That depends, Highness, will I have to chew you out again?” Sean asked with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Count on it, Admiral!” Ariel chuckled, and Sean joined her.

  “Seriously Ariel, Colonel O’trell probably has upwards of ninety hand-picked marines on the Phaethon awaiting assignment to you. The fact that you had no warning about it screams that this was a Baron Altrov original.” Sean sighed. “Which means this ‘guard detail’ is probably bursting with slaver spies. With your permission, I’ll see if I can stuff them into my marine barracks in the Divine Light. I can have my people check the poor bastards out and perhaps swap the more questionable ones for real troopers. I need to go back up there tonight anyway for the change of command ceremony and to say goodbye to an old friend.”

  “You’ll be coming back down, won’t you?” Ariel asked.

  Sean smiled. “Yes, as long as the Emperor is here, I have to be available to him as his senior military adviser. But even when he leaves, I’ll still be in this sector for a while; the techs will need more time to finish the recon network.”

  “Any idea how long he’ll be able to stick around? I like having him around, but I know he’ll have to leave soon,” Ariel asked.

  “Actually, I’m surprised he’s been able to stay as long as he has. You can bet that Baron Altrov is nagging him to leave so the security here relaxes again. For some reason, he really isn’t happy about the fact that you are staying here. We know his slavers raid this planet regularly, but his insistence seems to imply more than that.”

  “You’re right, He’s an under-handed sneaky bastard anyway, but there is more going on here then the suspension of a few slaving raids.” Ariel paused, thinking. “I think I might want to speak to Tara’s new lady friend, Denise. Do you think I can get her to talk with out all the... It’s like she’s afraid of me.”

  “It’s a common reaction most people have to the presence of Royalty. She got over it around me, because she sees me more as an Admiral then as a Baroness. Which, admittedly I am. However, since you are in fact the second most powerful person in the galaxy, she will never see you as anything else then two steps below the goddess,” Sean said with amusement.

  “Great, now I’m viewed as a minor deity as well? You know, I’m liking this whole royalty business less and less,” Ariel said in frustration.

  “This only proves, more and more, that you are exactly the type of person we need to take over if anything happens to Cr’ale. Our Empire needs to change. Cr’ale has been trying, but isn’t making much progress. You’ve given him hope again; something he badly needed right now,” Sean said.

  “Well, we are definitely going to be changing it. I just hope too many people don’t get caught in the middle,” Ariel said wistfully.

  Ariel found Tara and Denise in the hanger, opening crates and directing the drones which pieces to take into the new control center. “Excuse me, Ladies. May I have a word with you?”

  Denise came to attention and had a look of panic on her face. Tara smiled tentatively at Ariel but seemed more differential to her as well. Ariel tried to hide her annoyance.

  “C... uh... certainly, Highness,” Denise stammered out.

  “Denise, please relax around me. I’m just another person; I’m no different than you are. Hell, you’re by far more intelligent than I am, and even prettier. You have nothing to fear from me,” Arial said.

  “No one’s as pretty as you are, Highness!” She glanced nervously at Tara, and tried to change the subject. “Uh, what can we do for you?”

  “I was wondering if we could speak in private, say aboard my ship? I have a favor to ask you, and I don’t even know if it’s possible,” Ariel replied.

  Denise nodded and Ariel led the two women over to Cole. Once inside, she got some refreshments for them all and sat at the small table in the galley area. “Baron Altrov and his p
eople are up to something here on Earth. I need to be able to find out what it is without them finding out about it. Is there a way we can create a special satellite that I can use to locate slaver ships on this planet and observe them?”

  Tara spoke up before Denise could answer. “Ma’am, there are already satellites for that. We might have to upgrade them a bit, but if we can use the existing orbital spy satellites instead of creating our own, they would be less noticeable, and are already in the ideal orbit for what you want. All we would need to do down here is create a small interface computer to sort through all the information for you.”

  Denise was nodding in agreement with her lover. “Absolutely Highness, it would be a simple matter to attach a small image enhancer and transmitter to the satellite, tie it into the existing power unit, and we’re there. If needs be, we could even replace the existing power unit giving the whole device a longer, more reliable lifespan.”

  “That’s a good idea, but would let the owners of the satellite know we’ve messed with it. Could you give the modifications their own, back-up power unit for when the original finally stops working? Only big enough to power our stuff. If the ground stations for the various intelligence agencies keep receiving a signal well after it was supposed to stop, it’ll make them suspicious,” Ariel pointed out.

  “No offense, Highness, but won’t they be suspicious anyway, after they recover the satellite?” Denise asked.

  “They don’t recover them, Dee. They just leave them up there and wait for their orbits to decay so they burn up in the atmosphere,” Tara said to her friend. “Sometimes they don’t burn up enough, then they panic to recover the parts that didn’t.”

  “That’s just plain stupid. I mean, the only thing wrong with the thing is that it ran out of power. Why don’t they just catch it, replace the power core, and do whatever updates are needed, and reuse them? Talk about inefficient!” Denise said, forgetting for the moment that Ariel was standing there. “Well, if they do that, why don’t we just use their old devices? We could pull them in, refit them, and kick them back out in no time at all. No muss no fuss. It would take a maintenance crew about four days to get enough of them for planet-wide coverage.”

  “Could you do it without the ground stations knowing that you did it?” Ariel asked.

  Denise shrugged. “All we need to do is figure out how they are tracking the derelicts, then just emulate the signal while the upgrades are taking place. It should be simple.”

  “Please get someone working on it. I’d like to have it in place before the Emperor leaves,” Ariel asked.

  “As you wish, Highness. I’ll contact the Divine Light right away,” Denise said.

  “Please remember to keep it under the radar, I don’t want this project known,” Ariel said as she lead the women out of Cole.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Ariel, I wanted to give you this for when you get your shoulder guard. To date there is only one in existence. It’s the Imperial crest for your uniform. Please have Cole send me Holo’s and the video of your graduation,” Cr’ale said, hugging the girl. “I just wish I’d be allowed to attend, and be the one to pin the shoulder guard on you myself.”

  Ariel hugged the old man back. “Who knows, Grandpa, maybe I’ll fly Cole all the way to Aldus Forward for the ceremony. You know I like to do things my way! I just wish you could stay longer; I really enjoyed having you here.”

  “Granddaughter, you have done so much for me in just a few days; I feel as though I have a new home. Perhaps if we do finally end up saving our galaxy, we can relocate the capitol here, and I can retire,” Cr’ale said.

  “You can retire when you get old; you still have a couple of centuries before that happens!” Ariel said with tears in her eyes. “Grandpa, with what we have to do in the coming years, please remember that I do love you, and no matter what, that will never change. I’ll miss you so much!”

  “Cole has a deeply encrypted, communication protocol in the new batch he received. It will allow us to speak privately from time to time, but remember that it won’t remain secret if we use it too often. Altrov and his people are constantly scanning to make sure I don’t do anything sneaky. Be safe, and keep your eyes open. By naming you my successor, I’ve also made you a target. Given your profession, it will make it all too easy to assassinate you,” Cr’ale said. “Be safe, sweet girl, and if anyone ever gives you a hard time, kick their asses all the way back to the home world, and I’ll hang them in the courtyard as an example!”

  “Just make sure I’m not one of those we have to string up!” Ariel teased.

  “This is going to be the most dangerous undercover assignment in history; a crown princess going rogue? It’s unheard of. Let’s just make sure it’s believable,” Cr’ale said.

  “Grandfather, you know I’m going to have to make a few examples. I want you to know that I will make absolutely sure they are guilty before I kill them or have them killed.” Ariel said seriously.

  Cr’ale smiled. “Ariel, guilt is not always that easy to prove. However, try to make sure you either send your proof to me, or keep very good records; once the smoke from this clears, we may have to do some damage control to get the brand off of you.”

  Ariel smiled. “I will, Grandfather. Now I think you better get going, Altrov looks like he’s going to blow a fuse any minute! Whoops! Here he comes!”

  Baron Altrov bowed to the two nobles before he spoke. “Majesty, Princess I just learned that you have asked for recon drones to be deployed in this sector. I’m afraid I had to countermand that order. You see the Antaries agreement of...”

  “Baron Altrov, I’m afraid you misunderstood the agreement you pushed through the Council. The Antaries agreement only applies to officially acknowledged members of the Alliance, which I am not. Currently, this entire sector is part of my house and as such is a protectorate of the Empire – not subject to the dictates of the Council.

  “Further, there are no trade agreements between my house and any others, save an agreement I recently made with Duchess Hanya to ferry official documents for my signature. I have the legal right to request military assistance from the Empire in any form I wish, and I have.

  “Admiral Hs’ean informed me of your unlawful attempt to countermand my request. As you know direct interference in the private affairs of a household is an insult to that household and I would be within my rights to challenge you to a dual. However, since it was clear you misunderstood the situation, I will be satisfied with a formal apology,” Ariel said loudly enough for the entire retinue to hear.

  The royal guard immediately formed a protective ring around a grinning Emperor, and Admiral Hs’ean tried very hard not to smile. If Baron Altrov pushed this issue, Ariel would kill him in a dual here and now. If he apologized instead, she would simply do it later and he would lose considerable face with his allies in the interim. His name was near the top of the list of corrupt nobles Cr’ale, Sean, Thorn and Ariel had made. His system would be one of the first liberated by Ariel’s little ‘rebellion’.

  Altrov’s face was bright red with anger as he stared at Ariel. “Those probes are an infringement on our right to free trade within this system. You need to remove those probes,” he said through tightly stretched lips.

  Ariel smiled widely at the smaller man. “Are you challenging me, little man? You have no rights here save what I give you. No one has the right of free trade in my system unless I say so, and I haven’t. If I catch even one unauthorized ship in my sector of space, I will impound it, confiscate the cargo, and hang the crew. Do you understand me, Baron?”

  As Altrov opened his mouth to reply, Ariel cut him off. “I warn you Baron, if you reply with anything other than ‘Yes, Princess, I understand’ I am going to shoot you in the head with a laser pistol. Now, think carefully about your answer.”

  Baron Altrov just stood there staring at Ariel with undisguised hatred clear on his face. His nostrils flared as he struggled to control his anger, but he remained silent
and refused to answer.

  After a suitable amount of time, she motioned two guards to come forward. “Corporal, please escort this person back to his ship. He is no longer welcome within the bounds of House Parker. If he resists, shoot him.”

  The corporal bowed to her. “Immediately Princess.” He turned to the enraged Baron, “Baron Altrov, By order of Her Imperial Highness, Princess Ariel Parker, you are hereby forbidden to return to House Parker or to any area under its control. If you will please come with us, Sir.” The guard was respectful, but made it clear he would follow his lady’s order to the letter. Baron Altrov turned and stomped back toward the Imperial cutter with Ariel’s guards on each side of him.

  “You’ve made a powerful enemy, Ariel. He’ll have you up on charges by the time we get back to Aldus Forward,” Cr’ale said.

  “They won’t stick; too many witnesses. Besides, if I did answer them, I would still get to shoot him in the dual, it would just be more public. I’m just sorry you’ll have to live with him for the trip back,” Ariel replied.

  “We imagine by the time we make orbit, he will have a heavy contract out on you. It’s really too bad we can’t record his conversations while he’s aboard our ship,” Cr’ale said wistfully.

  “Well, while you’re in my space,” She winked at him. “You have my leave to do as you wish with his communications. You know; next time you visit, we’re really going to have to work out the details of that diplomatic courtesy thing.”

  Cr’ale chuckled softly, “Oh Ariel, you are really making an old man’s day. That might be pushing our luck, but I’ll see what can be done; after all; how are we to know what orders you issued about him after we left?”

  With a final embrace, and a kiss on the cheek, Cr’ale and his guards ascended the ramp into the ship.

  Hanya gave Ariel a chuckling kiss on the cheek as well, before following the Emperor.

  “You are either very brave or very foolish, Niece. Please be careful out here. The Baron has made more people disappear than anyone I know. I’m very grateful to you for accepting the title of Heir. I’m one of those people that never should have been born to lead people; I don’t have the stomach for it. I’ll keep my ears open, and send word if I hear of anything,” Del’nire said as he leaned in to give her another kiss on the cheek.