The Immortal Empire – Episode 24: Castle Hoburn
"Where are you off to?" The question sounded more suspicious than Jim Hawking actually intended, but he decided to double down, given his business partner one of his more suspicious looks.
Gene Starwind was simultaneously adjusting his blazer and admiring himself in the full-length mirror in the entryway of their suite. "Where else? The hotel lobby bar." He glanced over his shoulder. "Melfina, you want to come?"
"Oh." Melfina seemed surprised by predictable inquiry. "Sorry, Gene, I've been trying to catch up on studying," she said apologetically.
Gene gave a grunt. "Suzu…?"
"No, thanks," the response came from one of the two adjoining bedrooms.
Gene sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So, Jim…"
"Bro, aside from not being able to drink in the empire, I am actually busy doing work," Jim replied condescendingly. Gene managed to give him a patronizing look to match before he could elaborate. "I have to be here if they get back to us, either Fred, or O.L.S.S.! Unless you want to answer the calls."
Gene grunted. "No thanks. Fine, I'll drink alone. It's better than working."
"Where have I heard that before," Jim jeered, exchanging a look with Melfina at the table. "Go, drink, before there's another demonstration or referendum or something and they close early." Despite the combative look, Gene seemed to take the warning to heart, put on his shoes and left shortly. Jim returned to his improvised workstation around the small sitting table with its lamp and old-fashioned wired telephone handset, his vision shifting between two identical unfolded persocoms sitting within reach.
He didn't notice Melfina watching him from just over one of her textbooks. "Jim, what are you reading?" she asked after a minute.
Face reddening, Jim jerked around in the chair he'd pulled up to the sitting table. "Oh! It's nothing. I mean, it's obviously something, I mean…" He paused, and wondered to himself why the apparent guilt suddenly, then recomposed his face. "Just multitasking. I wasn't lying to Gene, I am waiting on those calls, apparently FTL telephony is the most widely available, inexpensive option here in the Imperial capital. So I thought I'd get caught up on some of my own homework," he said, forcing the joke.
Melfina smiled back at him in that blank manner she sometimes still did before returning to her textbook. Jim returned to the second of the two persocoms, which was opened to a decrypted digital text file.
As I've noted repeatedly in my reports over the last four years, the strategy of competing military intelligence services in the Space Forces to undermine the military capabilities of the empire by diminishing the supremacy of the Imperial Throne and the sovereign in the civil space, is extremely flawed. These flaws are numerous, but in hopes of my warnings being taken seriously, I'll emphasize the two greatest ones: it betrays a misunderstanding of the public sentiment towards the sovereign as an individual and the monarchy as an institution, and adjacent but separately, it betrays a misunderstanding of the public view of the empire as a whole.
The Hashiyo-Hashiyo dynasty is consistently popular and has been for the last several generations; even Space Forces is aware of this. What it may not understand is among which strata of society its popularity does diminish. The monarchy, currently inseparable from a sitting sovereign who has presided over a long period of peace, civil tranquility, and relative prosperity (relative to the empire's southern neighbors, that is, ourselves), is popular. It is popular among the general body of social conservatives, mostly the older generation in the empire, their own parents, etc., despite the monarch's immaturity. It is moderately popular among the current youngest generation, for much the same reasons. It is not particularly popular among, for example, Earthling émigré in the empire, but just as importantly, it is more popular than the fringe, unstable anti-monarchial social elements among that same émigré. As I reported two decades ago, and one decade ago, during the Freespace Wars, this is not a meaningful political opportunity to undermine the enemy.
Jim didn't know a lot of history, but he knew about two Freespace Wars, or the First and Second Terran-Ctarl-Ctarl Wars as they were also called. After all, they were the only interstellar wars to have involved all four of the Great Human Empires and all four of the Great Pirate Guilds simultaneously. Homo sapiens had done everything possible to end a decades-long political deadlock with their most biologically-similar mammalian neighbor in the known universe, and it had ended with an alien empire on the doorstep of Earth, the cradle of humanity. So I guess it's a safe bet that these outsiders, the Kata-Kata, really didn't like humans either.
Second, the enemy as defined our leadership—the Ctarl-Ctarl interstellar empire—is reliant, but not solely dependent, on the institution of monarchy. The interstellar empire was founded by the earlier Tomoyo-Tomoyo dynasty, and numerous historical monarchies predated it; but contrary to common wisdom, in my opinion the current empire-state does not actually require an hereditary sovereign. The institution of monarchy is ancient, reaching back into prehistory; by contrast, the interstellar empire is only "a few centuries" old. In the mind of the Ctarl-Ctarl public, most broadly, it is the final product of the early epoch of Ctarl-Ctarl space colonialism, as they gradually populated every habitable world in the Nochi-Nochi star cluster before extended into neighboring space, down the Orion Arm of our galaxy.
"Jim! Jim, room service is here."
Looking up from the small display of his persocom, Jim found Melfina leaning over his armchair inquisitively. "Oh, sorry about that."
"What're you reading?"
Well, I walked into that one. "Oh, this. Before we crossed the borders, I managed to…informally access a few Space Forces archival databases pertaining to the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire, but with the meetings and whatnot, I didn't have a good opportunity to actually read them until now." He forced awkward laughter. "To be honest, they're nothing earthshattering either. They only stood out because they were submitted to the headquarters of the Ninth Expeditionary Fleet, and all from the same author, someone named Chandrasekhar who was the official envoy to the Imperial capital years ago."
"And what did this envoy have to say?" Suzuka asked coolly from her seated position behind him.
"Not…very much, to be honest. For someone who submitted more than a thousand reports over their career, it doesn't look like they carried much weight. They definitely weren't widely circulated." He tilted the persocom in his hand, as if the angle that he viewed the small display screen would improve the content of a digital file. "He wrote some of these on a daily basis. You can't help but think a lot of this was just busywork."
"And what isn't busywork?" A certain gleam appeared in Suzuka's calm, dark eyes.
Using the small keys, he hastily scrolled through the list of files on one persocom. "There's a whole batch of reports here…that talk about the various hairbrained schemes that certain government intelligence organs had to try and offset the huge military advantage the Ctarl-Ctarl had after the end of the Second Freespace War. Though really, the reports he sent were mostly just refuting those schemes and calling them stupid, useless or pointless." Jim frowned sympathetically. "You get the impression that this Admiral Chandrasekhar, he didn't like being an admiral but he did admire the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire, or at least, he thought the even combined Human space was completely outgunned by them."
Suzuka tilted her head. "I can't imagine there were no sympathetic opinions to that position."
Jim turned to her, a little surprised. "Yeah, there were actually. Suzuka do you…actually follow interstellar politics?" His bewilderment was almost subsumed by jeering by then.
She smirked back at him. "When I was very young, my mentor was a veteran of the war. Not a typical soldier of sailor, but a combatant nonetheless. The few times he broached the topic, he explained that while he didn't understand the greater strategic picture or the overall war plan in either war. He ended the war teaching commandos in in Kei Pirate space how to fighting Ctarl-Ctarl occupation troops."
"How did that work out?" Melfina asked, without looking up from her books. The question stirred both of them in surprise, and Jim almost laughed. It was still difficult tell when Melfina was telling a joke or not, all these years later. Jim just grinned at her in response.
"He lived a relatively long life. He told me he was briefly captured by the Ctarl-Ctarl, but released in a prisoner exchange, after which he went on to train human soldiers until the war ended." Her smile became somber. "He was killed by the Anten Seven. You might say that led me to my way of living, and eventually to you and Gene."
I'm going to regret bringing that up. "Remember the instructions the military gave us when we arrived?" he asked, eager to change the subject. "Yeah, considering when I called the Tenpa Embassy, the second they recognized my name they strongly advised me not to go around picking at any records like this, I thought I'd give it another try." Jim grinned.
"And how's that paying off?"
Jim pouted. "Not well. But there's not a lot else to do while we wait, and the truth is, the company had a plan if we ever did any major business with a client in the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire." He sighed. "And that plan…"
"…was to have Aisha do all the work," the three repeated in unison. Jim looked at Melfina, Suzuka, and then back to Melfina before throwing himself back into his chair. "I'm going back to reading. With government reports, you never know if you're stopping right before actually learning something worthwhile."
"I'm more worried about your vision if you keep reading pages of text on a screen that small," Melfina warned him, all smiles again.
"If you'll forgive me for repeating myself, Ron, but it was the most obvious outcome."
Hoburn, his back against the void of space through armored bay windows, stared at the static-plagued video transmission coming in to his office. At the other end, Ron MacDougall's passively menacing face was staring back him, patiently waiting through the several seconds of lag present over the Force's expensive ether space transceivers. "When you're right, you're right, Hoburn," his distorted voice replied genially.
"But I appreciate you and the kid taking the time to inventory the site. Waste not, want not. I hope my young associate is learning from your example."
Another pause. "I'm just sorry you paid for the parasite ship to cross the border."
"Oh, that? Forget it, life's too short to pinch pennies like that. So, what's your next move?" He leaned forward, indicating his interest.
"Your girl here's been a big help, actually. Even more so than the ship. But before we leave, I thought I'd use my old comrade's death as a lesson to the Ctarl-Ctarl military." Ron laughed, as if only now appreciating the gravity of the statement. "Not a big one, I'm going to single-handedly overthrow the empire or anything. But…you know how we Outlaws are."
Hoburn didn't bother to hide his amusement at Ron's bravado. "You put great weight in precedent. Then again, don't we all?"
"So I'll need to spend a little longer in the empire. With your approval naturally." The static broke for a few seconds. "…worry, I'm still thinking about that offer."
"Oh, naturally," Hoburn echoed genially. Even by the standards of their partnership so far, this was very accommodating. "I've told you how much I value camaraderie and friendship, and of course, you have my blessing and my proxy in the field. Don't worry about acquisitions for the time being, they're probably more trouble than their worth. But I hope you'll consider some…friendly…advice?"
The delayed feed from Ron broke up into static momentarily, but he returned, mouthing something inaudible.
"What was that, Ron?"
More waiting. "Always."
Hoburn nodded. "First, twenty-five percent is very generous," he reminded him jovially. Ron gave a restrained laugh in response. "Second, be careful out there. I know that seems obvious, but you're dealing with the preeminent naval power in the known universe even without their numerical advantage. When I was your age, I thought, well, after the wars we'd have to teach the Ctarl-Ctarl a lesson every so often, the kind of lesson that the great guilds and empires had failed to, on terms that the Ctarl-Ctarl could understand. People need to stand up to bullies, that's a simple reality even a child would understand. But it doesn't change the military situation."
"That the Ctarl-Ctarl have a military, and everyone else may as well not?" Ron asked astutely.
Hoburn gave a sobering half-smile. "More or less. But I don't need to tell you what they're capable of, you fought in the second war too after all. Don't do anything I wouldn't." His earlier grin returned. "That aside, don't forget to have fun out there."
Ron grinned back through the stuttering transmission. "Oh, I have a long…of mixing business and pleasure. I'll keep you posted."
Hoburn gave a nod as the video cut. Waiting a few seconds, he exhaled deeply and rotated his spinning chair to face out the armored bay windows. He was about to begin practicing breathing meditation when he heard a door far behind his desk hiss open. Into the shadows, a tall woman in an old fashioned sleeveless layered dress under a frilled bustier stared at him with glowing yellow eyes.
"Something bothering you, Your Highness?" He tried to moderate the sarcasm in his voice.
"You realize he's blowing you off," Her Highness growled sharply in response.
He almost laughed. "Of course I realize that, and I wouldn't call it being 'blown off'. Among Earthlings, you see, this is called an 'unspoken understanding'. I don't know if you have that sort of thing among your kind."
"My kind?" she snapped back.
"Your democratically-minded Travelers," he replied with a smirk. "Besides, why the sudden concern? I thought you had complete confidence in your man—excuse me, android—Carver."
"I don't have complete confidence in anything," she rebuked him. With the clicking of white high heels, the tall woman maneuvered through the long shadows cast from the sparse recessed lighting along the opposite wall before dropping herself, loudly, into an empty chair facing him, before crossing her arms over her frilled corset, then her legs under the long hem of her dress. Above the hem of her skirt, she remained cloaked in the long shadow, yellow eyes staring at him. "Neither should you."
"What a depressing way to live such a long life," he observed, turning to face her. "I mean that. I might be a child by comparison, but I still have a lifetime's experience dealing with his type," he assured her, smoothing the long sleeves of his dark suit jacket.
Her Highness growled something, low and inaudible, in Ctarl-Ctarl. He kept his genial smile on his face. "Excuse me, Your Highness?"
"I said you sound like a fool," she growled.
Hoburn chuckled at that. "Well, Your Highness, you could always reveal your intentions to the War Ministry personally. Cut me out of this deal entirely." He gestured with one large, open hand, causing her long, tapered ears to twitch in the hsadow. "I'm sure they'd be thrilled to speak to you, in the flesh, Cammy."
There was the loud creak of steel grinding against itself; after a moment, Hoburn realized that she had grabbed one of the chair's armrests and jerked it upwards, tearing it free from its support, and was still squeezing it in one of her elbow-length gloves, hard enough that the remaining screws were falling to the brushed metal floor, each one triggering a twitch from her ears.
She could kill me for that. She won't, but she could. He kept his genial smile to the Ctarl-Ctarl. "Excuse me again, Your Highness."
Terms to Know:
Anten Seven – Seven assassins compromise an elite cadre in the Kei Pirate Guild, under the pirate lord Hazanko. Seemingly separate of the larger formation of the 108 Stars (of which Hazanko was the most infamous member), they were wiped out in a vendetta with the Outlaw Star, excluding one who became an Outlaw himself.
- Hitoriga – One of the Anten Seven and an assassin in league with the Kei Pirate Guild. Sharing a master with Twilight Suzuka, he killed him and then Suzuka's family; subsequently, Suzuka exacted her revenge at the conclusion of the Outlaw Star TV series.
Ctarl-Ctarl Occupation – Near the start of Year 198 of the Hashiyo-Hashiyo Dynasty, the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire launched the Terra Strategic Offensive Operation, a deep operation intended to advance on Sol in the core of human space, in the process invading and occupying dozens of occupied star systems, principally in the U.S.S.A. before accepting Earth's surrender after the Battle of Liberty Bell. After the negotiated settlement, the empire continued to occupy some of these worlds for as long as a year before withdrawing, mostly acting through regional collaborator governments.
Persocom – Or "personal computer", the small portable computers that people like Jim Hawking carry on their person, though it could also refer to tabletop or desktop consumer appliances.