Empire

Chapter 1

Rick stepped out of the ship he had been in AFTER signing out and saluting the captain. It had been a relatively quick tour, only four months. The part that irked him the most was that it had been a milk run. What they needed a war ship for this for escaped him.

He himself may be a captain, however the captain of this ship technically outranked him.

What he was really looking forward to was catching up to his wife and his daughter. Four months had been four months far too long. He was already missing out on way too much for his liking. His little girl was growing up fast and he feared that she was going to forget him.

He had his bag in hand and sighed heavily when he found someone at the gate waiting for him. "Captain Castle, if you'll come with me please." He had his orders even if he didn't know why.

"Lead the way." It wasn't like he had a choice.

They went to the landing bay next door and boarded a shuttle. Rick raised an eyebrow. This was an admiral's shuttle. Not a simple shuttle that would take crew from ship to shore or ship to ship. There was even wine and food waiting for him. Still it was an admiral's shuttle so he didn't touch it. If he wanted to get anywhere he needed to do his job, do it very well, and keep his nose clean. It was politics and he hated it. His wife was so much better at it. But then her race was born into it unlike his.

Rick watched as the shuttle went down from the station and into the planet's atmosphere. He was a little taken aback at the building they were headed for. He also started groaning. He silently prayed that he wasn't being assigned another position so quickly. He was looking forward to some much needed shore leave.

::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ** - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - :::

Rick saw the name on the door and was a little surprised. Roy was, he thought, a good friend, so why was he doing this to him?

"Captain Castle. If you'll sign in please," the young woman at the reception requested. She looked new to him since he didn't remember seeing her before. Roy did have good taste in his hired help, though. She had green skin, green hair, hell, green everything. He was betting she even had green pubic hair. She was drop dead gorgeous and just oozed sex.

Rick placed his hand on the pad. "Captain Richard Castle. Code Alpha 2, Delta 1123, Gamma 2."

"Code and voice confirmed." The pad turned green like it always did.

"You can go in, he's expecting you," she told him with a smile that made his cock twitch. He made a low sound in his throat then remembered that he was a married man.

"Roy?" Rick saw him sitting behind his desk.

"Rick!" Roy was happy to see him; he got up came around and shook his hand.

"What have you volunteered me for this time, old friend? I was hoping for some shore leave with my wife and daughter. I thought we were friends," Rick teased.

"Oh, we are, we are. Drink? I think you're going to want it." Roy offered him a glass and poured him a drink.

Rick took it and downed it quickly. He needed something to kill the pain of what was to come.

Roy turned his back to him and picked up a pad. "This is eyes only." He handed it to him and gave Rick a moment to read.

"What's a Banshee Battleship? And what's it go to do with me?" Rick had never heard of such a ship in his life and he knew his ships.

"Over here." Roy took him over to a table and activated it. "This is a Banshee Battleship." He gave Rick a moment to look it over.

It didn't have anything next to it to give him any idea of scale, but if it was a battleship, that made it one of, if not now, the biggest battleship in the Empire.

"I've never seen anything like it. You're sure this is a battleship?" Rick just stared at it. It looked like two scimitars married together to form a ship. It was only the stern of the ship that was a little boxy-looking.

"So why am I being shown this ship?" Rick braced himself for the bad news.

"Because it's yours…commodore." Roy chuckled softly at his reaction.

"Mine! commodore!" But he was just a captain and didn't command a ship. Rick stared at it once again with new eyes. Then he squeezed them closed. "What's the catch?" His luck wasn't that good.

"The Empire has found a planet. It's far off in a minor arm of the galaxy. It's inhabited and the Emperor has decided to add it to the Empire. This is where you come in." Roy was sure he was going to love it. IF, and that was a big if, Rick let him finish before he blew a fuse.

"Sir." Rick was all set to decline his kind offer.

Roy continued to tell him more about the task. "The ship is actually a city since this is going to be a four year deployment."

"Four…years?" Rick would rather just kill himself and get it over with.

"Did I mention that it will have families onboard? Basically an entire small city that just happens to have the latest in weaponry that the Empire has to offer." Roy waited for it and started counting.

"Families! I accept on one condition." Well, actually it was two but he wasn't thinking fast enough. He was too shocked by it all.

"Your wife and child are already on board along with a full crew and supplies. She's there waiting for you to command her. Take her to the planet and add it to the Empire as commanded by the Emperor," Roy asked since commanding him wasn't something he could do to Rick.

"What's she called?" Rick was in and couldn't wait to board her.

"The ship or the planet?" Roy teased. "The ship is named SSE YI SUN SHIN. Swentab System Explorer, the first of its kind. It only just finished its space trials and final configuration."

"Yi Sun Shin." Rick tried it on for size. He actually kind of liked it. It seemed to fit it perfectly. "I need to go home and pack, sir." He had a lot to move onto the ship.

Rick turned to find Roy standing there with a small box. "These used to be mine. I would be honored if you would wear them on your ship. Wear them proudly and serve the Emperor with distinction. Something that will be remembered in the history books." Roy opened the box to show them to him.

Rick snapped to attention. "I would be honored, sir." He watched as Roy removed his Captain's bars and replaced them with Commodore of two stars.

"Congratulations, Vice Commodore Castle." Roy stood rigidly and saluted him with pleasure.

"Thank you, sir. I will do my best not to let you down." Rick had no plans to fail him.

"I'm sure you won't, Vice Commodore. As for going home, all of your belongings as well as your family are already onboard. You're scheduled to leave orbit in the morning. I suggest you get moving," Roy smiled. He had a soft spot for Rick and was happy that his faith in his abilities was not displaced.

"SIR!" Rick saluted him again and resisted the urge to run to the first shuttle he could find to get onboard HIS ship.

::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ** - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - :::

"Mommy?" Alexis wasn't happy. She needed her mom to comfort her and to tell her everything was going to be all right.

Kate was sitting on their sofa reading her pad. She had a lot to learn and almost no time to learn it. She set the pad aside since she knew that tone of voice well. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" She opened her arms, reached out to her daughter, and waited for her to step into them.

"Where are we going?" She didn't want to move again. She was going to lose all her friends again. Every time they moved she lost friends.

Kate patiently explained, "We're on a ship and it's our job to bring a new planet into the Empire. The Emperor has commanded it so we won't let him down. …Will we?"

That wasn't the answer Alexis was looking for. "What about my friends?" She wasn't going to have any and she knew this was a military ship. There weren't going to be any kids here. She was going to be all alone.

"You'll make new ones." Kate tried to sound enthusiastic and help her feel better. "Did I tell you that this ship has a school? And a daycare? Did I mention that it has a theater where we can watch movies? That there are shops on the Promenade where we can shop? There's even an ice cream shop. Complete with cookies." Kate smiling widely at her.

"School?" Alexis had stopped at that word.

"A school filled with kids. Some of which will be your age." Kate tried to think of anything that would make her feel better.

"School." Alexis suddenly sounded better to Kate. "What about Daddy?" She hadn't seen him for so long.

"Your daddy's coming with us this time. He's in command of this ship. He's in charge." Kate was proud of him. Though she knew he might be in charge of the ship, she was in charge of the three of them at home.

"Daddy's coming with us?" Alexis instantly brightened. Just as suddenly she was depressed. "He'll just leave again," she said sadly, her lip quivering. He was always leaving and she hated it.

"Not this time, sweetheart. This time we're all going to be together for four long years. We're going to spend it on this ship." Four years didn't sound like long enough to Kate, but at least it was a start.

"Four years?" To Alexis that was a lifetime. "Where is he?" Alexis actually started looking around for him. Maybe he was hiding and she needed to find him.

"He's coming. Give him a chance, he'll be here soon. …Are you all unpacked? Have you found Monkey Bunkey?" Kate had let her unpack since she'd insisted that she was a big girl. Alexis shook her head. Kate knew she still had a lot to read, but her daughter needed her. Besides she would stay up all night reading if she had to.

"Let's get you unpacked and all cleaned up. You want to look your best for Daddy, right?" Kate tried to sound happy and excited as her daughter nodded and smiled broadly. "Then let's get started. Let's impress your daddy when he gets here. We can find your best dress and be all pretty for him." Kate put her down and followed a running child into her bedroom.

::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ** - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - ::: - O - :::

Rick had to go through security just to get on his own ship. He had to place his hand on a pad, recite his code, and have it verify not just his palm print, but his voice and code as well. Only when they all saw green was he allowed to cross to his ship.

Once there he found two people. One was a woman who greeted him. "Welcome aboard, commodore." She saluted him. The other was a heavily armed guard in full combat armor. You couldn't even see his face. You couldn't miss the cannon he had for a weapon, though. He didn't say a thing or more a muscle. Still Rick was betting he was being given the once-over.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. There may be some late items arriving so don't close up just yet. Have them sent to my cabin when they do arrive." Rick had made a stop on the way to his ship. One item for his wife and one for his daughter. He was hoping both would like what he'd gotten them.

"Yes, sir. Do you need help finding your way?" She would summon a crew member if he did. This ship was pretty big and even she didn't know where everything was.

"I'm sure I can manage." Rick did his best to hide the fact that he was already lost.

The lieutenant said nothing else and let the commodore walk into his ship. She noticed that he turned the wrong direction if he wanted to reach either his cabin or the Bridge. Still he might have someone he wanted to see, so she dismissed calling out to him.

Rick saw people everywhere. The whole ship felt like one big anthill. Most simply walked past him with either a nod or, "commodore."

He finally found an empty corridor that was remarkably short. It allowed him to touch a wall panel, of which he had already seen several. "Where is the commodore's cabin?"

"The commodore's cabin is on the Command Deck, rooms 101, 102, and 103. Directly across from the Bridge. Do you require a map, commodore?" The computer was either too smart for its own good or just stupid enough. It showed him a 3D map of how to get there anyway.

Rick took a moment to study the map and right himself. It looked like he had a long walk ahead of him. "Thanks." Rick started to walk away.

"I am here to serve, commodore." The 3D display vanished and everything was silent again, save for all the people in the area talking to each other. "That's new." None of the ships he had served on had a system like this one seemed to have.

Rick was walking through corridors and got onto a transit pod. "Command Deck." Then he felt the pod start to travel. What he hadn't realized at the time was that the pod itself was made of clear glass-like material, if not infinitely more strong. He learned that as his pod whooshed past the three decks that made up the open air Promenade that was filled with shops. "WHAT THE HELL!?" He went past it so fast that he missed most of it.

"I am so finding out more about this ship." Rick said to himself. The pod took him to the Command Deck and he stepped out into a short corridor. He feared he was going to be up all night just studying the map of how to get around this place. It wouldn't look good for the commodore to get lost on his own ship.

He started down the corridor but only found two doors. One was to the right and one was to the left just as the corridor ended. Rick looked the one on the right over and saw a security pad. "Naturally." That told him that was the Bridge, that it was locked, and likely had a heavily armed guard just inside the door. Complete with his own cannon that would blow a hole in him.

But the one to the left had no such pad. What it did have was a small blue panel that was a little low, he thought. Still he put his finger on it and watched it glow for a moment before the doors opened.

"WOW! So this is how commodores live!" He had never seen anything like it before. Even Roy's office didn't look this nice.

"DADDY!" Rick saw a well-dressed little girl with long orange hair that was flying everywhere as she ran right for him. Rick had just enough time to kneel down and let her land in his arms.

"PUMPKIN!" He knew he had missed her, but it wasn't until then that he realized how much. Rick hugged her for all he was worth.

When he pushed her just far enough away, without actually letting go of her, he felt his tears starting in his eyes and saw hers rolling down her soft cheeks. "You've grown." Rick was betting it was a growth spurt that he had naturally missed out on.

"I'm a big girl, Daddy!" Alexis stated proudly. Then she let go of him and stepped back. "Like my dress? Mommy bought it for me." Alexis twirled around to show it off.

"You're amazingly beautiful, pumpkin. How did I ever get so lucky to have a daughter like you?"

He hadn't expected an answer but his daughter had one for him anyway. "You married Mommy."

"And just where is Mommy?" He had seen his daughter who he loved fiercely, but just where was his wife?

"Mommy's putting on makeup." Alexis wished she was old enough to wear makeup, but her mother kept telling her she was going to have to wait until she was older.

"Well let's go find her. What do you say?" Rick stood up, took her hand, and let her guide him to their bedroom since he had no idea just where it was.

They were only about halfway across the living room when the door opened and out stepped his wife. He stopped in his tracks. She was drop-dead gorgeous.

Rick knew almost all Elasians were beautiful. Even the men were damn good-looking. He had always wondered just what his wife had seen in him. The men of her race were far better looking than he was. Still she had married him, bonded herself to him, and he to her.

Her smile at seeing him lit up the room and only made her more beautiful. "Daddy's here, Mommy." Alexis was beaming. She had both parents in the same place at the same time.

Kate walked up to him and made sure to let the long slit in her dress show her long legs as she walked. She smiled even wider and felt her blood rush to her core as he looked her over. STARS, but her husband was handsome! She had counted herself lucky to have found him. Almost all Denubians like her husband were ugly in her race's eyes. Her husband was an exception. It didn't hurt that he was a hunk underneath that suit, either. She knew it was partly because he was born on a heavy gravity planet, but still he had muscles and she had missed running her fingers over all of them.

"Hello, Husband." Kate gazed into his eyes and found only love like she always had.

"Hello, Wife." Rick looked down, then looked up her body, and looked directly into her eyes. He saw her grin, knowing just what he'd just done. It pleased her greatly that he still found her beautiful and sexy.

"Or should I say commodore?" Kate's smile only got wider since she already knew something he hadn't until Roy had told him.

"Roy blabbed, I see." He was going to have to get him for that.

"You can thank him later, Husband." Kate couldn't wait any longer; she stepped into him and kissed him deeply. Rick kissed her back and she felt his hands roam over her bare skin since her dress was backless and braless. Kate let a soft moan escape before remembering that their daughter was standing right there.

Alexis for her part was beaming at her parents. She secretly loved seeing them kissing. It told her that her parents loved each other which meant she got to keep both of them. Still, "EWW!" She spun so she didn't have to watch for long. She heard both of them chuckle softly and felt two kisses to the top of her head. It told her that she could turn around now.

Rick frowned a little. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

"No, I'm a big girl now. I can stay up later," Alexis argued, not that she'd even tried this on her mother yet.

Kate arched her own eyebrow at that. "Thirty minutes and then it's time for bed, young lady. Daddy's here now and he's not leaving. You can have breakfast with him in the morning." Then Kate added softly so hopefully only her husband heard her, "As soon as we figure out where breakfast is." Neither she nor Alexis had been on this ship long.

"Why don't you go show Daddy your new room. I'll make us a drink to celebrate." Kate watched Alexis drag her husband off to see her room. It brought a smile to her lips.

He was back a short time later. "Where's Alexis?" It was just him and she had three drinks ready. Only their two had any alcohol, Alexis's was a child's drink.

"She started yawning so I helped her get ready for bed and kissed her goodnight." Rick accepted his drink, took a sip, and then set it down as he watched Kate put hers down without sipping it. Then they kissed by smashing their mouths together and let their hands start roaming.

"It's been four months, my Husband." Kate let her hand wander a little lower to find him already hard and ready for her.

"Four very long torturous months, my Wife." Rick cupped his hands over her breasts. Kate moaned softly. "First, though." He ignored the look she gave him because he was teasing her by waiting longer.

"You don't happen to know just where we're going?" Rick hadn't bothered to read his orders. His focus was on getting here, greeting his daughter, kissing his wife, then stripping her of whatever it was she was wearing and making love to her ALL NIGHT LONG!

Kate grinned at him after she recovered and sorted out his little game. "I've done a little reading." She turned her head to look at the pad that was still on the sofa and saw that her husband did the same.

"Some dinky little planet far from here in a minor arm of our galaxy. The locals call it EARTH."