Time Commander (The First Admiral Series) (26 page)

“Oh, my goodness!” Her hands shot up to cover her nose and mouth, and, for a brief moment, she wanted to run away and hide from the adulation.

“
Smile, Missus Caudwell, smile and bow.” The experienced voice of Peter Lindstrom flowed gently into her ear as she gathered her wits about her once more.

“
Oh, my goodness…thank you…thank you.” She held her hands in front of her mouth as if in prayer and bowed her head every few seconds.

Gradually, the applause petered out leaving Elizabeth blushing redder than the garishly crimson dress she was wearing.

“Well, Missus Caudwell, you appear to have made quite an impression in New York,” Peter Lindstrom said.

“
A drink, madam?” the Maitre D’ asked.

“
Just some water, please. You know, I’m rather embarrassed by it all.”

“
Well, you’d best get used to it Missus Caudwell, we know how to treat our authors right in the United States,” Lindstrom said.

“
Well, you never know, Mister Lindstrom, I might just be able to get used to it.” She smiled nervously at him.

Maybe, I could
, she thought to herself.

Maybe, I just could
.

The two-day “Contemplation” for the Time Warrior ritual had originally been intended for the Ganthoran Candidates, of several centuries previously, who were obliged to spend many hours in prayer and medication prior to the ritual. In those days, the piety and religious observances of an Emperor-to-be were considered important for the outcome of the ritual. The most pious and pure of heart was considered to be the worthiest of the favour of the Ganthoran gods and goddesses, and hence, successful in the ritual.

For Billy Caudwell, the “Contemplation” was an opportunity to refine the strategy and planning he had visualised for the ritual, and it was also an opportunity for him to acclimatise to the period and climate that had been set out before him.

The Adjudicators had given him a uniform from the specific time period of the battle to wear. The gleaming white pith helmet with the leather chinstrap that bit into his jaw-line was heavy and awkward. However, it did fit him remarkably well. It looked to Billy like an old police helmet, but without the badge at the front. His tunic was high necked, dark blue, and woollen; which would have made him itch badly, were it not for the off-white cotton undershirt. The tunic was fixed down the front with five shiny brass buttons. The trousers were a khaki Jodhpur-type affair, which only just fitted at his waist, and billowed out to the knee where they fitted more snugly against his lower legs. A pair of khaki braces held the jodhpurs up; fixed at the centre of his waistband at the back, and above his pockets at the front.

His boots were black leather, one-piece and knee length; polished to high shine. Those, at least, he was used to. However, these boots were new; with the leather being particularly stiff and unbending. Whilst around his waist was a broad black leather belt with a Sam Browne officer’s belt that crossed over his left shoulder to a large, closed, black-leather holster at his right hip. His sidearm was a reassuringly heavy Pryse .45 inch calibre pistol, which loaded up to five shots in the revolver chamber. From the base of the grip of the pistol, a small ring secured a lanyard of dark brown cord which looped around Billy’s neck to prevent him from losing the weapon in combat.

To the front of the holster, a small cartridge pouch carried enough of the heavy bullets required to fully reload the pistol two times. At his left hip, he now carried a sword in a metal scabbard.

Billy had previously had very little experience of fighting with sharp bladed weapons, and he hoped that he would never have to draw this sword in anger. He had been given some close-combat training by a Brigade Officer in the newly formed Landing Troopers, in which he had used the short, double-edged Battle Blade. The Landing Troopers had acquired the specialist role of boarding and capturing enemy vessels, however, their fighting prowess and skills would ensure that they would not be tied exclusively to that role for very long.

Early on the first morning of the Contemplation, Billy’s personal transport ship; The Black Rose, left the centre hangar deck of the Aquarius.

Piloting the vessel was Billy Caudwell, and seated next to him was his friend, and Chief of Staff; Marrhus Lokkrien. They sat in silence at the Control Column of the most technologically-advanced Garmaurian transport vessel ever manufactured.

Looking around the Control Cabin, there was very little that had changed since Billy had been rudely and alarmingly teleported aboard her for the first time by Tega Samarasa. The interior was sparsely equipped. Most of the manual control systems were embedded in panels behind the battleship metallic-grey bulkheads of the Control Cabin. The main operations of the Black Rose were connected by the Mind-Link technology housed within the Column to the interface with the pilot’s Personal Environment Suit. The Black Rose really was the inner-sanctum of the First Admiral’s life.

Now, as they sat quietly in the oppressive silence of The Black Rose’s Control Cabin. The young human and the older Bardomil had made the silent pact of not wishing to speak, whilst at the same time having a great deal to say to each other. It was a pained silence where neither of them wanted to open the conversation. There was a very real possibility that Billy Caudwell would not survive the Time Warrior Ritual, and not speaking about that outcome seemed to somehow distance them both from that reality.

Billy Caudwell’s death was a painfully real possibility during the ritual, and Marrhus Lokkrien had argued, loudly and at length with his First Admiral, that he should not be the one to risk his life. Lokkrien argued vehemently that it was not the First Admiral’s position to risk his life, in an unnecessary manner when he could just as easily assign a more junior officer to the task. Billy Caudwell had listened carefully, slightly surprised at the strength of Lokkrien’s feelings on the matter. Like Senior Intelligence Officer Karap Sownus, Marrhus Lokkrien was heavily invested in the Universal Alliance. Having burned his bridges to his past life, Marrhus Lokkrien had no alternative other than to work for the ultimate success of the Universal Alliance.

And, to the mind of Marrhus Lokkrien, the individual most likely to make a military success of the Alliance was First Admiral William Caudwell. Ultimately, however, that same First Admiral Caudwell had overruled the concerns of his Chief of Staff. The victory over Frontier General Grobbeg had essentially been due to the work of Billy Caudwell. This made Billy the only one able to legitimately submit himself to the Time Warrior Ritual. To leave the task to a more junior officer would have seemed like cowardice, and an insult to the Ganthoran people. To win the Ganthoran Empire and its people, and give the Universal Alliance any possible chance of integrating them within the next century, Billy Caudwell, and only Billy Caudwell, had to complete the ritual. There was no other way without the loss of millions, possibly billions, of lives in the long costly and bloody campaigns that would see the Alliance militarily overwhelm the Ganthorans.

The journey from the First Admiral’s flagship; the Star Cruiser Aquarius, to Chronos, had taken only a few moments in the Trionic Web. Emerging from the Trionic Web almost one hundred thousand miles from the planet was the inevitable safety precaution that all Alliance vessels had to undertake. Billy Caudwell or Marrhus Lokkrien would not want to emerge from the Trionic Web to find that they were entombed into the very rock of Chronos itself.

Despite being able to move from one side of the universe to the other in the blink of an eye, navigating the Trionic Web was still not an exact science. It took two minutes for The Black Rose to reach the orbit of Chronos. Stretched out in front of the young human and the Bardomil, was a beautiful blue and white jewel of a moon that was shot through with a black and brown marbling effect at the northern polar cap. Minerals and gasses from the moon’s core had seeped into the water table, producing the fluid marbling effect when the water froze. This particular alien incursion, by The Black Rose, was authorised, and received no harassment from the Imperial Guard vessels in the area. Once again, the human and the Bardomil sat in silence as The Black Rose moved smoothly through the upper atmosphere of Chronos and landed on the soft bluish-white sand of the moon’s surface. Having finally brought The Black Rose safely to the surface, Billy Caudwell let out a long, relieved sigh.

“
Right then, this is it.” Billy had an edge of anxiety in his voice.

“
Yes, sir,” Lokkrien replied awkwardly, “this is it.”

“
I take it that you are familiarised with the systems of this vessel?”

“
Yes, sir... don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her…wash and wax, don’t overdo the cleaning agent.”

“
Yes…and don’t forget to wipe the windshield.”

They both laughed, not at the appallingly mundane humour of it, they laughed for the sheer, blessed relief from the anxiety and tension. Like a river shattering a dam, the Bardomil and the human laughed together. There was still so much to be said between the two friends, but neither of them really knew how to put what they felt into words. For Billy Caudwell, Marrhus Lokkrien had been a tower of strength and wisdom in one of the most stressful roles in the universe. Not quite a father figure to the young human, Lokkrien had been the knowledge, wisdom, and strength that had made the Alliance military function up until now. He had also been the closest thing Billy Caudwell had ever considered to be a friend.

“O.K., Marrhus.” Billy wiped a laughter tear from his eye. “You know the drill if in the unlikely event I don’t come back from this escapade?”

“
Yes, William.”

“
The Vide-message to my parents…?”

“
Yes, I’ll make sure they get it.”

It was a subject that neither of them wished to discuss. However, the reality of the situation was such that every eventuality had to be considered. Almost a year previously, Billy Caudwell had recorded a final message to his parents, back on Earth, in the event that he should die whilst out in space. The instructions were quite simple. The message was to be delivered to his parents by Marrhus Lokkrien. Both of his parents having both been implanted with alien Mind Profiles, a fully-fledged Bardomil appearing in the Caudwell family home would be a major surprise. However, they would be aware of what a Bardomil was, which would most likely take the edge from the shock and astonishment.

His remains were to be left on Earth in a situation relevant to his death. If he were to drown, then his remains were to be left to be found in the local river. If he was burned, then a car accident was to be arranged. His parents, however, were entitled to the truth. It was now standard operating procedure for every new recruit to the Universal Alliance Fleet to record such messages. Even Marrhus Lokkrien, exiled from his home planet and family had recorded such a message for his wife and sons. He hoped, as did everyone, that no one would have to deliver it to his family. He hoped that he would be able to live long enough to rescue his family from the Bardomil system, and to explain to his sons why he had done what he had done. He fervently prayed that one day, they might be able to understand his decisions. That was a bridge Marrhus Lokkrien would have to cross, one day.

In terms of command of the Universal Alliance Fleet, Billy had left instructions that Marrhus Lokkrien was to become Acting First Admiral until a more permanent successor had been appointed. And, in that plan, Billy Caudwell had maintained his tradition of always having a back-up plan. Leaning forwards in his seat, Billy Caudwell pressed one of the few grey buttons on the Central Console of The Black Rose. To his left, a small aperture opened on the wall of the vessel.

Rising from his seat, Billy retrieved the small, black box that was concealed within the hidden chamber. The box; forty centimetres by fifteen wide and twenty deep, was handed to a surprised Marrhus Lokkrien.

“
Open it.” Billy nodded to his friend and Chief of Staff as he slumped back into his seat.

Opening the box, Marrhus Lokkrien found a cylindrical metal implement with a small glass-like sphere attached to one end. A switch was located between the centre and top of the device with three settings; yellow, black, and red. Above the yellow setting, a small blue light flashed lazily.

“What’s this?” said the Chief of Staff.

“
It’s my last will and testament,” said the First Admiral.

What Billy had given Marrhus Lokkrien, was, in fact, called the Thought Thief. The correct title for this piece of technology, which looked like a short, cylindrical metal bar, was the ‘Mind Profile Transference Device’. The Mind Profile Transference Device was a highly modified brainwave recorder that could also transfer recorded patterns into the brain of another individual. The Thought Thief could also be used to impart vast amounts of information into a subject, rather than spend enormous amounts of time learning by traditional methods. In effect, the Thought Thief should really have been called, “The Teacher”; had it not had the capacity to take information as well as impart it.

As part of his back-up plan, Billy Caudwell had used the yellow setting on the Thought Thief to capture and store his own Mind Profile in the Garmaurian Data Sphere that was lodged in one end of the implement. With the knowledge and experience of Teg Portan, plus his own skills, Lokkrien would understand Billy’s mission and be able to formulate the universe-wide strategy that was the responsibility of the First Admiral. With the help of the Thought Thief, Lokkrien would now be armed with the skills and knowledge to take up the appointment of First Admiral as Billy’s successor. The term prior to his almost-certain selection would allow him to develop some of the confidence and experience that he required before his formal confirmation in the role.