Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2 (5 page)

Heraklion
is reporting she’s
ready to deploy,” said Flounce, turning to look at the Commander.

Ahead the big doors to
the hanger bay were opening, and the other three ships of the flight were
powering up.  Juriviscious pushed the commit button and set the launch sequence
in motion.  It was too close in here, even with the size of the hanger, to
allow human reflexes to move the ship out of the bay.

One left the hanger
first, moving into the star field outside the ship and out of sight.  Two
followed, then Three left the deck and moved on the trail of her sisters.

“See,” said the Commander,
leaning forward and putting a hand on O’Brien’s armored shoulder.  “Nothing to
it.”

“Yes sir,” said the
ensign, starting on his weapons check and finding everything in working order.

“Proceeding to the
patrol point,” said Juriviscious, punching in the commands on her board.

“Primary due on board
in twenty-five minutes,” came the voice of the flight commander over the
intercom speakers.

Which means all the
security is in place on the station
, thought O’Brien, looking over his scanner. 
And
the only things out here are Imperial ships of the protection force.  So why am
I still feeling like something really bad is going to happen.

Nothing could happen at
this time and place.  The only armed people had been deep scanned and deep
conditioned, and were guaranteed to be no threat to the Emperor or his family. 
So nothing could happen, could it?

Chapter 2

A great man on Earth
once said that war is just an extension of diplomacy.  I say nonsense.  I have
been involved in diplomacy all my life.  Diplomacy is war, plain and simple. 
Only the dying may take an extended period of time.

Ambassador Sandra
Alexandropolis in a speech to the Parliament.

Augustine Ogden Lee
Romanov looked over at his eldest son, Dimetre, and smiled.  The Crown Prince
looked bored, and Augustine couldn’t blame him.  Cabinet meetings were not much
fun, even if they were held on the Central Station Dockyards.  “Patience,” he
whispered to the young man who would not see the throne for another century,
unless there were unforeseen circumstances.  “We’ll be out of here in an hour
and on our way to the
Donut
.”

The younger man nodded
and smiled. 
He’ll be a good ruler someday
, thought the Emperor, looking
around the table, then glancing back at his wife, Dimetre’s Princess, and
Henry, occupying the spectator seats in the large chamber, along with several
undersecretaries and the cabinet staff. 
And they look bored as hell as
well,
thought Augustine, shaking his head. 
Or at least impatient to get
to the wonder of the Galaxy.  I’ll try to wrap this one up fast.

“I hereby call this
meeting to order,” said Augustine in his best official voice, silencing the
several conversations that had been going on between ministers.  “I thank you
gentlemen and ladies for being able to meet at such short notice.  I figured
that Central Station was a perfect spot, as some of you live on New Terra.”  He
nodded at a couple of figures that were holographic projections of the real
people.  They were so clear that they seemed to be really in the room, and
there was such a short transmission difference between here and both the twin
planets that it really didn’t inconvenience any of the participants.

The four ministers from
the Lords sat on the end of the table, clustered together.  Not all the Lords
were enemies of Augustine, and his friends had steered several members his way
that met with his satisfaction.  Lord Halbrook, the Minister of the Exchequer,
was not one of them.  The small man smiled, then looked over at the alien
member of the Lords with unconcealed distaste.  Not that the centauroid
Phlistaran Minister of Security, Lord T’lisha, had much to worry about,
outmassing the human by a factor of four.  Halbrook also had little to fear, as
the large mammalian was actually on New Terra.  He was also an ally of the
Emperor, as was Lord Garis, the Minister of State.  And Lady Hannah had risen
through the ranks of the Imperial Marines to get her second star before
retiring, and was one of the best Ministers of War the Emperor had ever known.

He looked to the side
of the table, where sat the three Scholars.  Professor Martin was one of the
most brilliant physicists the Empire had ever seen, now an organizer more than
a researcher as he headed the Ministry of Science.  Historian Professor
Loristrates had been well published during her time at the Imperial University
Capitulum, and now led the Ministry of Education.  While Professor Klashpek, a
large dinosauroid, headed up the Ministry of Communications.

The Emperor then nodded
to the Ministers who had been nominated for their positions by the Commons. 
Augustine let another smile play across his face.  The Ministers from the
Commons were staunch allies all.  Ms. Landrulis, the small humanoid Matlican
Minister of Labor, was the smallest being in the room, but far from the
dumbest.  Mr. Klein, the Minister of Agriculture had done a fine job running
one of the most underfunded Ministries in the Empire.  Josh Jenkins, the Under
Minister of Colonization, was also doing a wonderful job manning the Ministry,
while his boss was out touring said frontier.  And H’rressitor of the Gryphon
species was doing a bang up job as Minister of Commerce and Industry.  Clara
Chung, the Minister of Justice, was the only wildcard on the Commons side that
Augustine was just not sure of.  He had hoped she would be on his side, but
rumors told him otherwise.

“We’ll start with
finance,” said the Emperor, nodding at Halbrook.  “Any inroads on freeing up
funds for Bolthole?”

“We have tried, your Majesty,”
said the Lord in a nasal voice.  “We truly have.  Without raising taxes to an
exorbitant level I really don’t see how anything can be done to finance that
project.  Especially as it is a black op.”

“But a necessary one,”
said the Emperor, leaning forward to glare at the Minister that he was stuck
with for the next five years.  “The Empire needs that industrial base.”

“And for what, your Majesty,”
said Halbrook, glaring back.  “We have the most powerful fleet in this region
of space.  Some would say the most powerful in the Galaxy.”

“Not the Galaxy,” said
the Emperor, pointing his finger at the Minister.  “That honor still belongs to
the Ca’cadasans.  We need to build our strength, or else we’ll…”

“The Ca’cas are just a
nightmare used to frighten children,” said Halbrook, to the stares of the other
Ministers.  “We have not seen a Ca’ca ship in over two thousand years.  How do
you know they are even a going concern?”

Augustine stared at the
Minister. 
He interrupted me
, thought the Emperor.  While not illegal, it
was unheard of.

“They had been a going
concern for almost three thousand years before we met them,” said Augustine,
slamming his hand on the table.  “Why wouldn’t they still be?”

“And why aren’t the
ancients still around?” said Halbrook, pointing his finger at the Emperor. 
“They were more powerful than the Ca’cas, with a larger Empire from what we
could see.  And they disappeared.  So why not our boogiemen?”

“I would like to say
something here,” said Professor Loristrates, raising her hand.

“By all means,” said
Augustine, happy for the interruption as he contemplated the murder of one of
his Ministers.

“The ancients were not
a true conquering empire,” said the woman in a quiet voice.  “And they existed
for over twenty thousand years.”

“Just my point,” said
Halbrook, nodding at the woman.  “The Ca’cas were an expanding military
Empire.  And they made a lot of enemies, without and within.  So who’s to say
that they’re even still around?”

“Because Empires like
that only fail when they meet a stronger exterior opponent,” said the
historian, raising her voice.  “And they will not have met their match in the
last two millennia, you idiot.  Or at least we can’t assume they have.  Some of
us live in the real Universe, not the fantasy world that some Lords live in.”

“Why you common born
bitch,” said Halbrook, glaring at the woman.  “How dare you speak to your
betters in such a manner?”

“I will have civility
in this meeting room,” said Augustine, raising his voice.  “From both of you. 
And I would remind you, my Lord,” he said, turning his stare toward the
Minister of the Exchequer, “that this is a free society.  And I respect the
credentials of the professor far more than the birthright of any noble.  And
since we can’t get anywhere with the Exchequer coming up with the funds the
crown needs, I say let us move on.  How goes the colonization efforts, Mr.
Jenkins?”

“We are having problems
opening up enough slots to keep everyone happy, your Majesty,” said the young
man with an infectious smile on his face.  “As soon as we open another world
for colonization we are inundated with requests.”

“And why are the people
not allowed to move,” said Halbrook, seeming to want to keep his nose in every
argument.

“Planets have to be
opened at a sustainable pace, my Lord,” said Jenkins, looking at his flat
comp.  “We have to have the area to put them.  It doesn’t do anyone any good to
pile a bunch of unprepared colonists on a planet to watch them die.”

“And most are coming
from the core worlds?” asked Augustine, trying to avoid another argument,
asking a question he already knew the answer to.

“Yes, Majesty,” said
the young man.  “Over ninety seven percent of them.  The rest seem to be the
disaffected in the developing worlds.  But most want to have children, so they
move from the crowded worlds, where they need licenses, to those that will give
them unlimited reproductive rights, while it opens up more licenses on the core
worlds.”

And so we keep
expanding the population base without overcrowding the interior worlds and
getting behavioral sinks
, thought the Emperor.  That had been ordered by
proclamation from one of the early rulers, who did not want to see the problems
of crime and poverty that came with overcrowded resources.  Jewel and New Terra
were super densely populated, but they were able to bring in enough of
everything by space to leave large wilderness areas on the surface.  Other core
worlds had population limits, flexible of course, if just a bit, so that people
could move for business or other purposes.  But they were mandated to remain at
least fifty percent wilderness, with another ten percent as outdoor recreation
space.  So living worlds could remain living worlds.  And on colonized worlds
with indigenous life, those wilderness areas had to populated by the native
organisms of the planet.

“And the terraforming?”

“I understand you
visited one of the new open worlds, your Majesty,” said Jenkins, raising an
eyebrow.

“Quite an experience, I
must say,” agreed Augustine.  “And according to my figures you should have
another ten opening up within a year.”

“They are prime
destinations, your Majesty,” said Jenkins with a nod.  “Perfect for terrestrial
life.”

“Any word on Hephatius
IV?” said Halbrook, leaning forward.

He’s not going to like
this
,”
thought
the Emperor, looking at his own flat comp.

“It’s a death trap,”
said the Under Minister without hesitation.  “Exploration teams have called it
the deadliest terrestrial environment imaginable.  It’s like the planet goes
out of its way to kill us.”

“The scuzzzies, I mean
the abos, seem to do OK,” said the Minister, who had invested his own money
into opening what looked like a verdant world.

“Because they evolved
there,” said Jenkins, looking over at the Emperor.

 “Why don’t we just
send a division of Marines down to the surface and take charge,” said Halbrook,
his voice tone trying to make it sound like a reasonable proposition.  “Then we
can clear cut that damned forest for the colonists.”

“And destroy the most
magnificent biosphere we have ever seen,” said Professor Martin, holding out in
hands in a pleading stance.  “The Ministry of Science would never condone such
a move.”

“Then don’t condone
it,” said Lord Halbrook, glaring at the man.  “We don’t need the permission of
your ministry to exploit the resources of that world.”

“But the biodiversity?”
exclaimed Martin.

“Exactly,” said
Halbrook.  “That diversity could lead to exploitable products that could
increase the wealth of the Empire.”

“Increase the wealth of
those who can buy their way into the forest,” said Martin, returning the glare.

“What are you saying,”
said Halbrook, his voice rising.

“I have decided that
Hephatius will remain an Imperial protectorate,” said Augustine, watching the
reaction in the Minister.  “Off limits to all but researchers.  And of course
anyone who invested will receive compensation.”

The face of the
Minister fell, and Augustine knew the man was calculating the loss he was going
to take on his expected return. 
Well, too damned bad.  Those people there
want to be left alone, and so they shall be.