Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire (17 page)

‘
What are you doing
right now? How many of these conversations have you had since you
took on the job of his second in command? Let’s be realistic,
Steven is brilliant, beyond brilliant, but his man management
skills are in the shitter.’

Buzz rocked with laughter. ‘Yeah OK
Charlie. There has been more than a few. You have to try and keep
in mind that Steven has never had this kind of responsibility
before.’

‘
I get that Buzz. At
least us two went through the process. Me in the army, and I hear
your father made you climb the ranks before he put you in charge of
his business.’

‘
He certainly
did.’

‘
It’s almost three
years since he took command of this ship Buzz, something should
have rubbed off on him by now. Instead of teaching him, you’re just
protecting him.’

‘
Ouch. I felt
that.’

‘
When we were kids, I
used to protect Steven from the local bullies, never from
himself.’

‘
Looks like it’s my
turn for the ass kicking. You think I am being over
protective?’

‘
Look Buzz, you and I
both know that Stevie is a great guy, a decent bloke with good
morals. He is the kind of guy that blokes like us feel naturally
inclined to protect.’

Buzz held up a hand, ‘I get it Charlie.
You’re right. I’ve got used to protecting him from the unpleasant
shit that floats around, and here I am still at it, years
later.’

‘
You know Buzz, I
really admire you for the way you haven’t turned your back on him.
Most guys would have. I never knew him during that time, but by
what Steven has been telling me it couldn’t have been
easy.’

‘
It wasn’t easy.
Especially the first few years after the accident.’

‘
Aye but you never
gave up on him.’

‘
I always knew that
he was in there somewhere. I admired him as a kid, and I admired
the determination and the fight he put in to get back on his feet.
Every time I was able to spark a memory, I got a little more of my
buddy back. I suppose he is more like my little brother than a
friend. I always doubted his decision when he picked me for this
job.’

‘
The way I see it is
you’re the guy that’s been keeping it all together. I think he
couldn’t have made a better choice.’

Buzz thought that over for a moment,
‘Guys like us, huh?’

‘
There is no such
thing as a bad job Buzz, just bad bosses.’

‘
Steven isn’t a bad
boss Charlie.’

‘
He isn’t a bad
person Buzz. I have heard them all talking you know, and looked
into the minds of the malcontents. Some of them resent him because
he is so bright. They are the ones who resent him for not having
the same qualifications as they do.’

Buzz grunted, ‘He had the accident
before he could finish college.’

‘
Aye, well it might
be time he considered doing it through open university. Many of
them resent the fact that he is trying to teach them without the
relevant qualifications.’

‘
Hasn’t he got enough
on his hands Charlie?’

‘
More than likely,
but it is all about perception, isn’t it? OK, the young folk coming
aboard now are in awe of him.’

‘
You mean the problem
is with the older guys, like the scientists that are
left?’

‘
Most of them were
gone before I got here, but the few that are left certainly feel
that way. They don’t mind so much if it comes from Komoru. It would
seem that she is a star in the scientific world even though, from
what I can gather, she followed Steven’s studies as far as she
could go. Then she began to develop them farther. I heard that in
the three years he has been in charge of this ship that he hasn’t
bothered to submit so much as one scientific paper. Komoru has
submitted at least a dozen.’

‘
Hey, Stevie has
literally written a whole damn book on star navigation in the past
year. It’s what they are teaching at the academy.’

‘
Has he got the
relevant qualifications? Has he submitted them for review,
published them in whatever manner the science community
requires?’

Buzz pressed his knuckles into his eye
sockets. ‘Not that I am aware of. No.’

‘
I think these folk
are desperately looking for something that they can hold up and
shout out, “Yes, he is one of us. Come learn about the
universe.”’

Buzz sighed heavily, ‘I don’t think he
likes the way they handled his papers, or the way they treated
Komoru when she stood by them.’

‘
So what? In the
Army, if you challenge one of your officers, try and tell him he is
wrong, then you had better be damn well sure of your facts, and
have the evidence to back it up. If you do it right they will
listen to you. They will even respect you for that. Of course they
will then steal whatever the hell it was, get a pat on the back and
probably promoted for it as well.’

‘
Yeah, I’ve seen shit
like that go down in my time.’

‘
That’s the point I
am trying to make Buzz. We have seen it, we know how it works, but
Steve doesn’t. He has never had to deal with these kind of issues.
Everyone has looked out for him all his life.’

Buzz opened his mouth then closed it
again. ‘I was about to say we have never had to deal with the
issues he has. You have though.’

‘
I never lost my
memory Buzz. It might have been a lot easier to deal with if I
had.’

‘
Yeah I get that. I
suppose I have to take the blame for a lot of that.’

Charlie shrugged, ‘I don’t think this
is the time or the place to start proportioning out blame. What is,
is. Deal with it.’

A slow smile spread across Buzz’s face,
‘You know, I think I’m beginning to like you.’

‘
Oh aye? I get that
sometimes.’

Buzz burst out laughing. ‘You haven’t
been sitting here for the past three days... what is it you Scots
call it, um...’

‘
Sulking.’

‘
Yeah that’s it,
sulking.’

‘
Is that what
everyone thinks?’

‘
Pretty
much.’

‘
No, I’ve been
working on a report for whoever takes on this music thing. I have
been studying the kind of music that the Modloch and some of the
other races like.’

‘
Their music is
terrible.’

‘
Bloody awful,’
Charlie agreed, ‘but it’s much less about the music and more about
the sound, comparing the kind of instruments that they use and
those that we use that sound similar. From there I have compiled a
kind of chart of the kind of music I believe they will like. Apart
from that I have been in touch with Kelly and we are working on an
advanced training program. As soon as I have wrapped this up I am
going over to work with him.’

‘
You could go back to
working with Stevie. Now this crisis seems to be over.’

‘
He doesn’t need me
at the moment, not stuck here anyway. Kelly needs me
more.’

‘
You mad at him
because he took Howe and Beaver with him, and left you
here?’

‘
Oh hell no! He did
exactly the right thing.’ Charlie sniffed, ‘OK, he did it for
exactly the wrong reasons though.’

‘
What do you
mean?’

‘
The shit he was
dealing with was ultra-high secret. I know that. Thing is I’m a
sergeant in the army. I have signed the official secrets act. No
matter what I found out, I would never reveal the details to
anyone. The stuff he was doing before he replaced me was so far
over my head I would have drowned had I tried to make any sense of
it. He replaced me with two high ranking officers who could advise
him, who would know what he was talking about. Good move, great
move even. The thing is he replaced me because he didn’t feel he
could trust me. Bad move.’

‘
Yeah, I see. Problem
is, no one is really sure about your state of mind.’

Charlie shrugged, ‘I’m not a child. I
have seen guys come down with combat stress before. I know the
signs and symptoms. If I feel at any time that it’s getting to the
stage where I can’t cope, I will be the first one to admit it. I
know the shit we are involved in here is far too vital to be
jeopardized by some idiot going off his nut. I keep my shit wired
tight. If I begin to unravel, I can assure you, I will be the first
to notice.’

Buzz smiled and stood, ‘What about
Stevie?’

‘
Want me to do it or
do you want to do it? I won’t be anywhere near as nice as you
will.’

Buzz scratched his head, ‘Let’s just
see what Stevie does when I tell him you won’t accept his apology
from me.’

‘
That should be
interesting.’

Buzz left Charlie to it. He had a lot
to think about.

CHAPTER 24

The Chief sat in front of the Emperor
in a state of high anxiety. The longer the Emperor sat and stared
at him the more anxious he became. He wasn’t sure if it was the
cold smile that didn’t reach the Emperor’s eyes which worried him
the most or the fact that he was flanked by two of the Emperor’s
executioners.

‘
Are you happy with
your post Chief?’

‘
Yes sire.’ He nodded
vigorously, ‘Very happy.’

‘
Are you sure
Chief?’

‘
Yes
sire.’

‘
Then why is it I
hear that you have taken yourself into the music business?’ The
Chief could manage no more than a strangled squawk. ‘No answer? OK,
let me go on. You see these Humans you are so friendly with? I had
them right where I wanted them. Beholden to me. This side of the
great barrier they couldn’t survive without me and my generosity. I
would have to give them fuel, food, escort their freighters back
and forth between the barrier.’ The Emperor waggled a finger in
front of the Chief’s face. ‘I bet I know what you are thinking. You
must be thinking, “Wow! How generous of my Emperor. The expense
must be tremendous.”’ He sat back with a smile. ‘Of course you are
right. It is expensive. Do you know what it isn’t as expensive as
Chief?’ He leaned forward again, ‘I suppose I am going to have to
explain this as you are a complete idiot. It isn’t as expensive as
building a whole new battle fleet, training its personnel and
paying them. I had a whole brand new battle fleet at my fingertips,
and a race that quite frankly frightens the shit out of every race
this side of the great barrier.’ He gestured with his arms, ‘A
whole race of fearsome meat-eaters beholden to me and my
generosity.’

The Emperor sat back and took a drink
of water. The Chief’s eyes were beginning to roll in his head in
panic. ‘Of course a few years from now, maybe light years from
here, when I had enough trained personnel, I could have simply let
the Human fleet run out of fuel. By the laws of salvage I could
have gained myself a whole new fleet, free of charge. Now, with the
Humans being able to buy their own fuel and food, I have no
leverage. None. Nothing. All gone. All that generosity and goodwill
flushed down the toilet. All because my Chief Engineer is a
complete idiot. Thank you Chief. You know when I sent these fellows
out to fetch you it was to drag you screaming into a quiet room
where you were to be tortured and then executed? I was quite
looking forward to the show.’ He smiled, ‘I was going to watch the
highlights in my bath this evening.’ He sighed, ‘I was so looking
forward to that. Another evening’s entertainment ruined, and all
because of you.’

Foam had began to form on the Chief’s
muzzle and his eyes were rolling uncontrollably.

‘
Will someone give
the idiot a drink of water before he faints.’

One of the executioners poured water
into a glass and forced it into the Chief’s hands. He managed to
gulp a few mouthfuls. The Emperor waited until he seemed to have
gained some measure of control again.

‘
Would you like to
know what saved your life? Of course you would.’ The Emperor picked
up a pad. ‘I received this from the owner of Dylastics, that
wonderful engineering company:

‘
My
Emperor,

It is with the greatest joy that I
supply your new city ship with the generators that you need. We
have at this time four of our latest generators in stock. I have
already started work on the other eleven units that you require.
Please accept my apologies for not having everything that you need
in stock. I assure you that I will endeavour to have them completed
and shipped out to you as soon as they have been built and tested.’
The Emperor put the pad down.

‘
The funny thing is
Chief, none of my quartermasters remember ordering such a thing.
Enquires were made and it turns out that my Chief Engineer paid for
them himself, out of his own pocket. Out of the profit he made from
his deal with that music company. Now why would you do that,
Patron? I want an answer.’

The Chief took a deep breath, ‘Many of
the generators are a complete write-off, sire. I asked for
replacements but was told that there was no money for such things
and to make do. It meant that your ship would not have been fully
powered. In the extremely unlikely event that it is attacked, we
would not have been able to supply full power to the shields and
the weapons. I had no idea that I would make so much money from the
music contract. As soon as I did, I ordered the new generators and
paid for them myself. I could not let the ship leave here without
you being fully protected, sire.’