Empire Turmoil (Gate Ghosts Book 10), page 24
“Then what would you do, Julien?” Ophorous inquired.
“An outpost enforced by your tri-hulls,” Uferus supposed.
“Captain Ophorous, get underway. Remember, you initiated this contact. Stand up for your actions. I must communicate these events to the Yerets’ judimal,” Uferus said.
“Thank you, Captain Uferus, for all you’ve taught me,” Ophorous said. Then she ordered her pilot to make for their home world.
Uferus ordered his pilot to get underway for the nearby system. His bridge crew watched the visitors’ ship accelerate and disappear into the dark before Ophorous’s ship could reach escape velocity.
“The council is in for the surprise of their lives,” Uferus murmured to himself.
Ophorous sailed toward Utilimat. Her race had taken the planet’s name for that of their society. During the journey, she tried composing her announcement. She’d put aside the question of whether to communicate to her superiors or the council. This was why she was busy creating two different reports. She was in the middle of her ninth iteration of each, growing more frustrated with each attempt, when she felt the ship’s exit.
Ophorous dressed and made the bridge. Then the bridge crew and she heard, “Greetings, Captain.”
“Opal?” Ophorous queried.
Several questions ran through Ophorous’s head. She noted her pilot raising a tentative hand and pointing toward the bow, as if he’d like to ask a question. She nodded.
“Opal, this is the captain’s pilot. How did you know where we’d exit our journey?”
There was a distinct pause, which Ophorous thought would be odd for a digital sentient. Then she nickered as the answer occurred to her. “Opal, you saw the coordinates the pilot entered, didn’t you?” she inquired.
“In fact, you’ve been through every bridge system, while searching for data related to our language,” Ophorous surmised.
The bridge crew stared aghast at Ophorous, believing their systems were at the mercy of the visitors. If it were true, the visitors could control every ship in the prime system. As their captain seemed deep in thought, they waited for her orders, which would surely demand they attack Julien’s ship.
“Help me with a conundrum, Opal,” Ophorous requested, which surprised the bridge crew. “I’ve been unable to decide whether to communicate to my superiors or the council. If I had my choice, I’d be talking to the seven councilors and the three upline officers at the same time.”
“I thought you might,” Ophorous replied. She smiled easily at her bridge officers who were slack-jawed. Then she lazily waved a hand at them to indicate that they should relax.
To her officers, Ophorous said, “You must embrace our visitors’ natures. Their technology is vastly superior to ours. We appear as neophytes to them. Still, we’re treated with respect. Be grateful for that.”
Ophorous brayed, which did much to relieve her tension. “Julien, I’ve been so busy composing what I’d say to either group, I didn’t think through the difficulty of speaking to the entire group.”
While Ophorous organized the list, she could see that she hadn’t convinced the bridge crew that there was no need to fear the visitors. Then again, she wondered if she was deluded by the excitement of making a first contact. Her final thought was that it was too late to worry.
Opal wasn’t too far from a comm satellite near the Utilimat rim. She established a connection and began the search. In the meantime, she identified the home world’s cycle.
When Opal was finished, she cued Julien that she was ready to make the connections.
“Suggest away, Julien,” Ophorous replied. She felt giddy and worked to control the mood.
Julien explained.
“I like it,” Ophorous replied. “It strikes the right balance.” As she spoke, she eyed her officers, willing them to cooperate with her.
In the end, the officers proved to be loyal to their captain, and they implicitly followed her commands.
As the reformed flotilla made its way toward the outer rim, Opal began connecting to the naval superiors first. The lesser officers weren’t available, but she did reach the supreme forces commander.
Julien played a subtle game. His message to the commander was to hold for a conference with the Utilimat council. As Opal connected to each council member, he repeated his message, adding that the conference was unscheduled but necessary.
Ophorous took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “This is Captain Ophorous, speaking to you from beyond the rim. I’ve been sent to report personally to you by Captain Uferus. While we were on duty outside the Yerets system, we witnessed ships exiting what was thought to be an energy phenomenon. We now know it to be an energy tunnel. Captain Uferus ordered us to engage and defeat the invaders. Fortunately, this proved impossible. I say that because their technology and ship prowess could have destroyed our warships any time they desired. The visitors tell us they represent a huge conglomeration of races, and they’ve a message for you.”
“Supreme Forces Commander Ugurter, launch a pair of warships to investigate the accuracy of this report,” Supreme Councilor Ojoojaf ordered.
“Captain, you led them here?” the supreme commander queried irately.
Suddenly, every conference member received imagery from the Freedom’s bridge. For millennia, the Utilimats had known only four races, counting their own. Now they witnessed a host of races standing shoulder to shoulder.
“Who’s speaking?” Ugurter asked. “No one’s mouth is moving.”
Julien projected his fedora, and Ophorous brayed softly, which annoyed the commander and the councilors.
“That would be Julien, who’s speaking, in his way,” Ophorous said. “He’s a digital sentient, a SADE. As such, I imagine that he has an internal comm system.”
“We don’t want you here, Julien,” Supreme Councilor Ojoojaf declared.
“That might be a rash decision, Councilor Ojoojaf,” Ophorous said. “You should hear the alternative if we don’t wish to cooperate with the conclave.”
“You’ll destroy us, is that it?” Ugurter declared.
“An agreement with another race isn’t something that we desire at this time,” Ojoojaf responded with finality.
“Your request is refused,” Ugurter stated forcefully.
“Because ... because that’s my decision,” Ugurter stammered.
Julien wasn’t the only one wanting clarification.
When Ojoojaf flatly refused to consider Julien’s request, Ophorous saw a wonderful opportunity slipping away. Julien’s appeal to have her accompany him had energized her hopes. Then they were dashed by the commander’s rebuff.
“Captain Ophorous had a duty assignment. She neglected that duty when she came here without authorization from my offices,” Ugurter replied huffily.
“Might isn’t the appropriate word. Her career is at an end,” Ugurter said pompously.
Ophorous was crushed. She’d dreamed of entering the naval services and captaining her own ship.
“What would be my duties?” Ophorous inquired.
The captain’s response had the supreme commander and supreme councilor shouting at Ophorous that she shouldn’t speak with Julien. However, Gistamia had muted their sides of the conference.
Ophorous nickered and replied, “My initial studies were as a linguistics specialist. I speak all three languages.” She gazed at her bridge officers, with whom she had enjoyed working. A few frowned at the idea that she was considering the offer. It was her pilot, who caught her attention. He was silently mouthing the word go.
Hearing the Utilimats’ supreme individuals reaching crescendos, Gistamia opened their comm lines.
“Captain Ophorous, accepting employment with foreign forces will be considered treason,” Ugurter was concluding. “This is your final warning.”
“What a wonderful choice?” Ophorous queried sarcastically. “I can stay and be arrested, lose my captaincy, and possibly be incarcerated for who knows how many annuals. On the other hand, I can join the conclave, get involved in advanced technology, and support alliances among our local races.”
Opal accelerated her traveler from her hiding place among the rim’s asteroids. Ophorous’s decision was assured, and Opal knew Julien would request she manage Ophorous’s exit from her warship.
“Julien, I accept. How do I manage the transfer?” Ophorous said.
Many actions took place in a short period of time.
As Ophorous stood, she saw the intent on the faces of two officers to arrest her. They’d heard the supreme forces commander condemn her. Before they could touch her, four other officers bumped into them, as if trying to reach her too. Then the pilot spun her toward the bridge exit and shoved her. She stumbled, caught her balance, and ran.
Throughout the ship’s comm system, Ophorous received one instruction after another. She could tell it was Opal communicating with her. The circumstances made her bray softly. She was trying to escape her warship without a plan of action, and a digital sentient was directing her, as if the two ran side by side.
Dropping down several levels, Ophorous ran down a corridor. Two crew members waved urgently to her. They held the lower section of an environment suit. She faltered briefly and then sprinted toward them. With a hop, she stuck her legs into the suit. Swiftly, the pair completed the suit’s assembly.
“Who?” Ophorous queried.
“Can’t rightly say who,” a crew member replied, winking, which made Ophorous nicker.
Then the trio heard the final instructions. The crew members appeared dubious, but Ophorous ordered them to follow the voice.
Running to a shuttle bay, the crew allowed their captain to activate the airlock access controls. It would support their denials about assisting her.
In the bay, Ophorous sealed her suit, opened air flow, and depressurized the bay. As she waited for vacuum to be attained, it occurred to her why her access for the various controls hadn’t been canceled. Opal or the SADEs had full control of her ship. Systems wouldn’t be returned to her crew until she was safely off. She brayed loudly at the timely intervention.
When the bay doors spread aside, Ophorous made her way between two shuttles and stuttered to a stop. A slender figure stood on the end of a lowered rear ramp, beckoning to her. She only had to leap across two meters of open space.
It’s jump or be arrested, Ophorous told herself. With that thought, she leapt with considerably more force than she needed. The slender figure caught her, and they spun in circles, as if dancing, while her kinetic force was absorbed.
Opal grasped the captain’s hand and tugged firmly, while she led her to the pilot’s cabin. Simultaneously, she signaled the ramp closed and Julien of the captain’s retrieval.
The flotilla waited to retreat before they returned the warship’s systems. When Opal was safely aboard, Gistamia reversed the Freedom through the Tridents. Then the conclave ships swiftly accelerated and disappeared.
Behind them, the warship’s systems were restored, and the bridge crew had to report that Captain Ophorous escaped in a small shuttle with an odd shape.
“How is that possible?” Ugurter inquired angrily.
“For the most part, the conclave members controlled every aspect of this warship,” the pilot replied.
“We tried to remove the captain’s credentials or interdict her access to elevators or bays,” an officer added. “But we were denied operation of every bridge panel.”
Ugurter wanted to ask how that was possible, but he realized that what had transpired aboard the captain’s warship was beyond him. It would require an analysis of the officers’ reports and the ship’s systems. His final statement was to temporarily promote the pilot to the captaincy and sail the warship into the home world’s orbit.
18: Unfortunate Discovery
WOOT SYSTEM
IMPERIUM SPACE
After the Imperium’s presiding executor election, Gaketork and Rebtar swapped territories. The ex-presiding executor was aghast that he’d inherited a nearly destitute swath of space. The twin patrol fleets had been chased back to Imperium, and freighters from the grain and produce rich worlds were returning empty.
Rebtar’s first action was to meet with the two patrol fleet commanders. He had every intention of ordering them back to his territory with the freighters, with instructions to protect them at all costs.
“But the conclave has a heavy number of Tridents,” a fleet imperator objected.
“Fight them anyway,” Rebtar had retorted. He was too incensed at losing the election to care about the loss of Krackus life.
As the peacekeeper fleets, accompanied with an abundance of freighters, sailed for the far reaches of the Imperium Empire, the crestfallen commanders discussed their ridiculous orders. Previously, they’d been happy to abdicate the field to the conclave when ordered to do so by Executor Gaketork. The numerous Tridents would have spelled ruin for them.
“What are the chances that the conclave fleet has deserted the territory?” a commander had inquired of his counterpart.
“If they sailed from Helgart in Grageth’s territory, then they journeyed a long way to reach Gaketork’s old territory,” the other commander reasoned. “To me that means they intended to conduct a great deal of business.”
“What kind of business?” the first commander asked.
“A freighter captain shared a message with me. It was delivered to him by a local citizen,” the second commander said. “The female warned him that the return of Krackus would find the entire citizenry up in arms against us.”
“An idle threat,” the first commander responded. “They never fought us during the original landing.”
“Here’s the thing,” the second commander shared. “The female was called Resolute. According to our records, she received an Imperium decree and was delivered to Helgart.”
“That would mean the conclave fleet is returning dissidents to the far edge of our empire,” the first commander surmised. “That doesn’t make much sense. They’ve this massive warship fleet, and they waste it returning a handful of dissidents.”
