Tides of Mars (Omnibus Version) Page 36

  “The premeditated murder of her ex-husband. Granted there won't be a body, but I think we could put enough evidence in front of the right people to get a conviction if we need one,” Ariel replied.

  Two armed Marines entered the room and picked Francine up. She winced in pain from the bruises she sustained from the hard landing, and her jaw was already turning black.

  “Marines, please take her by medical on the way to the ship. Have them inject her with a tracer so we can locate her again if we need to. I also want her bruises tended to. I don't want a mark on her when we release her on Earth,” Ariel said.

  The Marines bowed, and made the woman bow with them before they quietly left the room. Ariel put her gun away, and turned back to the surprised group of people that had witnessed the event.

  Without a word, every one of them, her parents included, got to one knee, and bowed their heads to the future ruler of the Empire.

  Chapter Nine

  Guardian Stealth Assault ship, I.A.S. Tides of Mars.

  Interplanetary space; Earth orbital insertion vector

  Sol System, Horon-A Sector.

  Princess Guardian Ariel Parker-Moran, Commanding.

  “Highness, thank you for not killing Francine. I may not like her very much, but she is the mother of my children,” Grant said, looking at Ariel.

  Francine had been escorted back to Cole, who had promptly locked her in Ariel's bunk for the trip back to Earth. Cole had told Ariel that Francine had actually been behaving herself, and had been mostly lying on the bunk, crying.

  “No need to thank me, Uncle Grant. Yes, she is one of the most infuriating people I know, but I couldn't kill her just for being a bitch. I was mad at her, but I never intended to shoot her. I did want to shock her into listening to me, and understanding exactly what we've been trying to tell her,” Ariel replied, with a sad smile. “I'm just sorry it had to come to that point.”

  Grant nodded. “I am too. Unfortunately, I still don't think she'll have learned the lesson. She's always been a bull-headed person. Which is where Gillian got it from. No, this little episode will fade quickly, and she'll come back guns blazing.”

  “If she does, she'll find herself the center of more official attention than she'll ever want. Most of the work has already been done. I was serious about what I told her; if she doesn't simply go away, then she'll be put away,” Ariel said. “I'll set up a trust for her, so she won't have to find a job, but it certainly won't be what she's used to.”

  “Forgive me for asking, but why are you doing all of this for me? You don't have to you know,” Grant said.

  “Yes, I do. You're family. What good would all this money be if I couldn't help out my own family? Besides, we really won't want anyone to look too closely into your company for a time. Especially since you'll be getting a number of very large shipping contracts from various companies and corporations soon. Not to mention all the loads going into a huge warehouse and transfer point,” Ariel explained.

  “Uh, how big? Will we need to take on more drivers?” Gillian asked.

  “Well, it'll have to be pretty big, since we'll be using Earth as a primary supply point. The tricky part is going to be getting the freighters loaded in one night. I've only seen the inside of one freighter and it was cavernous. I'm told that was only a medium sized cargo vessel. I have no idea what a large one would look like, but I can tell you with certainty it has to be very big,” Ariel said.

  Gillian nodded. “Captain Tyrr told us how big his ship was, and how much it can handle. With our current fleet of trucks, it would take the better part of a week to gather that much freight. That's using ALL of our trucks, including the ones that are under contract to other companies.”

  Ariel nodded her understanding. “Well, it won't be an immediate need. We don't have the freighters built yet, nor have we taken any planets that will need the food and other stuff. So you do have time. We actually have to build the transfer center first. For now though, we'll only need to supply the installations here in the system.”

  “What about fleet supply? How is the Admiral feeding her troops?” Gillian asked.

  “I have this one, Ariel.” Bri'tell said, winking at her. Then he turned to Gillian, although he noticed almost everyone in the room was listening to the discussion.

  “All military vessels use replicator technology for most of their food, air and water, as well as most forms of ammunition. This greatly reduces the amount of room needed for storing expendable supplies,” Bri'tell explained, but was interrupted by Karen.

  “I thought that since you use replicators, you wouldn't need storage at all.”

  Bri'tell shook his head. “One of the techs could give you all the details, but let's just say a replicator can't simply make something out of nothing. It needs raw materials. The guy that invented the machine found that out the hard way.

  “Some of his assistants began getting very sick, especially when they spent any time around the machine. Of course he had been the one to spend the most time with the machine, but hadn't noticed that he was beginning to have health issues as well.

  “After a short time of running tests, it was finally time for a large scale test; they planned on replicating a small air car. The test was a success, but everyone inside the lab, most of the equipment, and all the furniture simply disintegrated.

  “It was later found that the machine had used all the 'available' molecules of matter in its local area to make the air car. Since then, replicators are very carefully monitored, and have specially shielded holds in the ship where huge blocks of hyper-compressed matter is stored for the replicator to use.

  “It also uses a very efficient recycling system that collects, breaks-down, and re-compresses all the waste from the ship. So in this way, a ship can take on the compressed matter before it leaves port, and can stay out for long cruises without the need for resupply,” he finished.

  “That's interesting, Master Chief, but don't civilian ships and installations use them? If not, why?” Luke asked.

  “I can only give you the short answer for that, Sir, because I don't understand it myself. Economics or some such. From what I understand, it's cheaper to ship uncompressed cargo between worlds than it is to ship the military stuff,” Bri'tell replied, shrugging.

  “The Master Chief is correct, Colonel. Hyper-compression does not reduce the mass involved, only the spaces between the molecules. For example, if this ship were to go through the hyper-compression process it would only be point two-nine-three-nine-three percent of a cubic millimeter. However, it would retain its current mass,” Cole interjected. “Therefore, one cubic meter of replicator matter would be very difficult to deal with on a planet that has even a small amount of gravity. On ships like the Divine Light, the storage holds for this are kept in a zero-g state, however, the engines of the ship are still required to move that mass. It's the primary reason the larger ships cannot approach the gravity well of a planet or Star too closely.”

  “We have replicators on this ship, Cole. How is it we can land then?” Ariel asked.

  “Simple; our replicator mass is considerably smaller than that of a capitol ship. In fact, I normally don't carry a full load for the replicator. We don't need it yet. If we ever do go on an extended cruise, I will gather and compress sufficient mass to sustain us for the trip.”

  “How much power will it take to get you off planet with a load like that?” Ariel asked.

  “Far more than I currently have, Ariel. That's why I don't carry a full load. I can get what we need from the upper atmosphere of a gas giant on our way out of the system. If I have to land while I still have a large amount of mass, I'll simply dump it before it becomes an issue,” Cole explained. “Once on planet, I can maintain our supply level from any other source of Hydrogen using my drones.”

  “That was actually really interesting, but we got off subject,” Gillian said smiling. “I might need some financial help to get more rigs for the size fleet we're going to need.”
>
  Alex nodded. “Not really a problem. We can set up a fleet company that will 'lease' the trucks to you. The 'lease' will include fleet services, fuel cards, insurance and road use taxes. The companies you'll be working for will make your lease payments for you, as well as paying you for freight. In fact, I think we might already own three or four companies that do that already.”

  “Excellent! Can you handle it then Alex? I think you might need to get a couple assistants with all the work I've been dumping on you!” Ariel said.

  Alex just shook her head. “Ariel, I love you dearly, but I already have three.”

  “Three! Where the hell have I been? When did you get three assistants?” Ariel asked amazed that she hadn't noticed.

  Karen and Alex both laughed, while Luke just grinned at his daughter. “Well, you have been kind of busy, Sweetheart. Honestly, I'm wondering if you're going to need an assistant or two.”

  Ariel grinned back at him. “I already have the best assistant I could ever hope to have; Cole.”

  “He's an excellent pick, that's for certain, but I was wondering if he can issue orders on your behalf? Say, we need three troop transports built, and your too busy dealing with the fun out at the transit lane. Can he give the orders to have them built?” Grant asked.

  “With your permission, Highness?” Hanya asked.

  “I'm off duty, Hanya, please call me Ariel!”

  “I don't mean to correct you, Ariel, but you're never off-duty,” Hanya said, smiling at her friend. “The answer to you're question, Captain, is yes. Cole is one of two AIs that can issue orders on their own. The other is Phaetheon Majoris, the Imperial AI.

  “However, other AI can also issue orders. For example, on their own ships, the AI is considered the third officer, and as such, can issue orders to crew members on behalf of the Captain without oversight.”

  “Excuse me, Princess Karen you have a call on your cell phone from a Miss Brenda Ryan, would you like me to put it through?” Cole asked.

  “Yes please, and thank you, Cole.” Karen said as she dug out her phone. “I forgot to call her back once we found out you were okay, Ariel. She's been worried sick.”

  Karen's phone began to play the theme to the Pink Panther, so she pressed the 'accept' button and put it to her ear. “Hi Brenda! I'm so sorry, I didn't call you back right away!” She stood and walked down the hall towards the rear of the small ship.

  “I really do need to figure out something for Brenda. She's a busy body, and she couldn't keep a secret to save her life, but she's had a hard time. She's a rich kid that has been farmed out to different boarding schools her whole life. Her parents divorced when she was young, and both have been married three or four times a piece.

  “Because of the stigma that other kids get about rich kids, I've pretty much been her only friend; and that only since we started college together. Yes she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and will never want for anything material; but she's never really had any parents, or been loved simply for the person she is,” Ariel finished.

  “So what are your plans for her?” Alex asked. “You can't tell her about all of this until she agrees to leave the planet... which you can't tell her about.”

  “Actually, I think I'll tell her about how we met, and who I really am, at least according to who I am on Earth,” Ariel said. “Then I'll bring her out to the house. From there, I'll just have to see how it goes.”

  Empire of Stars

  Imperial Palace, office of the Emperor.

  Isle of Kings, Aldus Forward.

  Aldus Star System, Galantry Sector.

  His Imperial Majesty, Cr'ale de Aldus Forward; Emperor.

  “Imperial Majesty, Captain Alshain is here to see you. He has brought another man with him. He seeks an audience with you on an urgent matter,” Hr'tness said via the intercom. She had been the Emperor's administrative assistant for the last standard century. Cr'ale trusted her judgment almost more than his own.

  “By all means, please show him in,” Cr'ale replied, curious why the Captain of his personal fleet would want to see him.

  Moments later, the door opened to the Captain, who was followed by the largest Regulan Guard Marine Cr'ale had ever seen. As soon as the door closed behind them, both the Marine and Captain Alshain, genuflected before the Emperor.

  “Majesty, please forgive this intrusion, but a situation has arisen that I believe you would wish to know about immediately. May I proceed?”

  “Please, tell us about this situation, Captain,” Cr'ale commanded. He knew better than to try to order the Marines to rise. They wouldn't unless it was a combat situation, in which case, Cr'ale's orders meant nothing until he was safe.

  “We apprehended a man before he could leave the Hardpac Bay Marine depot. We've discovered and removed several explosive devices from the ships of the Regulan Fleet. Some of those devices had the man's DNA on them. Under interrogation he has admitted to planting some of them. Normally, I would simply execute him after getting all the information we could, however, that turned out to be far more than we expected.

  “Mr. Greorge is in the employ of Baron Aenos Cree of Jherret V. It seems that there was an entire team dispatched to plant explosive devices in strategically crippling places. Once detonated, these devices would leave this world, and you, almost totally defenseless. I have already spoken to General Uhri, and she is discretely searching the depot for more devices. The same is being done in the fleet.

  “Your Grandnephew, Baron Del'nire, contacted one of our people in a bar near our base. He told her that there would be a major assault on this planet by Republican forces in less than thirty hours. When our person offered to get him out, he refused. He told her that if he were to disappear now, then something worse might happen.

  “We have no way to insure your safety during this attack, so we are strongly recommending that you and the Princess leave immediately for the Horon-A sector, and the third fleet command ship; Divine Light. We will follow as soon as we deal with this attack and we are certain we can ensure sovereignty of this world once more.

  “Phaetheon Majoris agrees with our analysis, and has reported no unusual activity either aboard the Phaetheon, or anywhere near it. Colonel O'trell will not be in command of your personal guard during this crisis. We have taken the liberty of replacing him with brevet Colonel R'hea.”

  “Why have you replaced O'trell?” Cr'ale asked. He hadn't liked the man, but he had done a good job.

  “O'trell missed his last evaluation. He will be remaining here while he corrects the error, and under goes a training update,” Alshain said without emotion. The Regulan Guard had a very strict list of rules and regulations that each member must follow. If even one of those gets broken the subject would have to undergo reevaluation to see if his training has been compromised. As it stood now, there was a better-than-average chance O'trell would be dead before the end of the month.

  “I understand, Captain. Up to this point he has served well. We have not noticed any aberration, and to our knowledge no one else has either. It is our hope he can be salvaged, but we will accept the Guard's judgment in the matter,” Cr'ale said, and the Captain bowed. “Is there anything else Captain?”

  “One thing, Majesty. There is a company of Guards waiting to escort you and the Princess to your ship. We recommend you leave now. Upon you're agreement, Phaetheon Majoris has agreed to use the AI network to pass a coded message to Divine Light, as well as the Tides of Mars.”

  “You feel that it is that urgent that we leave? What of the people here? The Imperial Household?” Cr'ale asked, already gathering his files into a case.

  “Uh, Majesty, you and the Princess will actually be traveling in a 'civilian' freighter bound for the third fleet with supplies and personnel. The 'personnel' will be Colonel R'Hea's assault battalion, and all of their equipment. Your double will be traveling on Phaetheon with a good portion of the household, as well as your regular guard detail.

  “We apologize for the rat
her crude living quarters we provided for you, but we've been putting all of this together very quickly to avoid anyone learning of it. As for the people of the planet, Sire, we will do what we can to protect them; this is, after all, our home, too,” the Captain explained.

  “I understand. We will go to our quarters to gather a few things. How do you wish us to get to this freighter?” Cr'ale asked.

  “A hover truck will depart the palace with the guard change at the hour of wonderment. We'll smuggle you out on it. The ship is currently loading at the Marine depot, and will depart shortly after you get on. There is one of your Guardians and her ship in the upper hold, to get you to safety if our ruse is discovered. Only the Captain of the ship, your Guardian, and our guards will know of your true identity. The ship's crew will not be told of your identity unless they need to be.”

  “Thank you, Captain. We will follow your recommendations then. Will someone come for us, or do you wish us to simply 'show up' at the loading area?”

  The Captain smiled, and indicated the large Marine, who promptly removed his helmet. “This is Senior Lieutenant So'niben. He will come to your quarters to escort you, however, he will act the part of your grandson escorting his loved ones back to the depot after taking a tour of the Palace. Once at the Depot, he will change uniforms and 'take you to the freighter' under the guise of a Trans-Com Mercenary, escorting indentured workers to the Divine Light.”

  Cr'ale nodded. “That'll work. No one looks twice at indies. We'll make sure we look the part. Is there anything else, Captain?”

  “No Sire.”

  “Very well, we will look forward to seeing you again when you arrive in the Horon-A sector,” Cr'ale said. “Dismissed.” That said, Cr'ale grabbed his case, and left his office for his quarters to get ready to leave.

  If the Regulan Guard suggested he should leave, then it was because they didn't believe he was safe here. Besides, if he didn't follow their advice, they would die to the last man trying to protect him when the attack came. It was simply smarter to listen to them.