Gunboat Diplomacy (Book 14 of The Empire of Bones Saga) Page 3

  “I think we can safely stick with Don at this point,” he said as he shook her hand. “Welcome back. I hope your trip was productive.”

  “More than you could possibly imagine.”

  Justine closed the door behind her daughter and turned to face her as she stepped into the living room. Now Kelsey was in profile, and she immediately saw the difference and froze.

  “Is that a baby bump?” she almost whispered.

  Kelsey nodded, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I hope you’re ready to be a grandmother.”

  With a shriek of pure joy, Justine charged her daughter and dragged her into a tight embrace. Now they were both crying.

  “I’m a little young, but I suppose I’ll have to adjust. Is it a boy or girl?”

  Kelsey drew back slightly so that she could look into her eyes. “Talbot and I are having a little girl. She’s about six months along, and I’m hoping to get back to Avalon before she’s born.

  “There’s a lot of other news, but I figured this would be what you wanted to hear first.”

  “The rest of it can wait,” Justine said firmly. “I want to hear everything about the baby. Let’s get you sitting down. Don, get something Kelsey can put her feet up on.”

  “Please don’t treat me like a fragile flower,” her daughter objected. “I’m fine.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that. Are you thirsty? Maybe some fruit juice? They’ve got some interesting flavors here that you might like. I’ll get you something.”

  She ran into the kitchen but not to get some juice. Instead, she clutched her hands to her chest and stared at the ceiling, trying to blink away the tears threatening to overwhelm her.

  Her little girl was having a baby. She thought that she’d known what her future held, but in less than a minute, everything had changed.

  She grabbed a towel from the counter and delicately dabbed at the corners of her eyes before getting three glasses and pouring juice. She had to regain her composure because she didn’t want to miss a single thing that Kelsey had to say.

  And then she’d make sure that Kelsey saw a doctor. The girl was a menace to her own health on the best of days, and she wasn’t about to take chances with the health of her daughter and granddaughter.

  Kelsey thought she was the ferocious one—and in most things, she probably was. So now it was Justine’s turn to show her fierceness. Nothing could be allowed to threaten her girls.

  Nothing.

  When the chime to her hatch sounded, Elise sighed and considered not answering it. She didn’t feel like talking with anyone right in the middle of her emotional funk. Maybe if she didn’t answer, they’d go away.

  The chime sounded again—two times in quick succession.

  Nope, whoever it was, they knew that she was in here, so she might as well see what they wanted so that she could send them on their way as soon as possible.

  To her surprise, Julia stood on the other side of the hatch when she finally opened it. She could tell it was her at a glance, since she’d cut her hair into a cute bob that hovered just above her shoulders a few weeks back.

  What she didn’t understand was why Julia wanted to see her. She and the other woman were friendly, but she hardly knew her. Not really, even if she did share the same background as Kelsey. The part of Julia’s life that included her was significantly different than Kelsey’s and her shared experiences.

  “Do you mind if I come in?” Julia asked after a few seconds. “I’d like to talk with you about something.”

  Elise stepped back, feeling her face flush at the rude way she’d been gawking. Once Julia was inside, she closed the hatch and stepped over to the tiny kitchenette that allowed for the service of drinks and snacks.

  “Can I get you something? Tea?”

  Julia shook her head and sat down on the small double seat that served as a couch on the small ship. She then patted the seat directly next to her meaningfully.

  With a sigh, Elise walked over and sat beside her. “I’m not in much of a chatty mood.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m here. You don’t know me very well, but the two of us are very close friends in my universe. So I’m worried about you, and I want to know what’s wrong.”

  Before Elise could say a word to deny any of what she’d said, Julia raised a hand. “Honestly, I already know what’s wrong. I just want to sit and talk with you about it. It’s the children, right? You can’t be with them, and it’s eating at you. You can’t keep bottling all of those feelings inside you, or they’ll tear you apart. Trust me when I say I know that for a fact. Talk with me.”

  When she didn’t respond, the other woman reached out and took Elise’s hands in hers, squeezing them gently. “You’re very important to me. Let me help.”

  Elise felt herself sag a little. “I don’t think you can help me. I can’t even be on the same ship as them, I won’t be there when they’re born, and I’m not even sure that I can see them as they grow up. It’s all I can think about.”

  “Carl and the other scientists are doing everything they can to get this sorted out,” Julia said in a tone that was meant to reassure. “It may not seem like it right now, but they’re going to find an answer.

  “Will it be soon enough that you can be with them when they’re born? I don’t know. What I do know for sure is that you can’t give up hope. Without hope, life isn’t worth living, and all you can see is darkness. Believe me. I know.”

  That made Elise cry a little. And once the tears started, she couldn’t stop them. She sobbed as her friend pulled her close and held her.

  When she finally got hold of her emotions and stopped the faucet, Elise wiped her eyes with tissues that Julia produced and leaned a little bit back from her friend.

  “I want to keep a positive outlook on this, but they’re so close, and I can’t even see them. It’s driving me crazy. I can’t control any of this.”

  “Maybe you need to focus on something that you can control,” Julia said in a sympathetic tone. “Like maybe exploring exactly what that mechanical monster is.”

  Elise turned her head to stare at the alien robot as it rested in the corner of the compartment. It wasn’t active right now, but she knew it would follow her if she got up to go anywhere.

  Exactly what it was supposed to be doing, she had no idea. It wasn’t as if it acted as a serving robot. It was almost as frustrating as the situation with her children.

  Actually, having the alien nanites and other devices inside her was the worst part. It was like having superpowers that you couldn’t control. Or having Marine Raider implants forcibly implanted inside you but having no instruction manual.

  Well, it seemed that Julia understood her situation far better than she’d initially thought. The two shared a similar experience, and neither could undo what had been done to them.

  “How did you learn to accept what the mad computer did to you?” she asked the other woman softly. “Having these things inside me is similar to what you went through, though not nearly as horrifying. Maybe you can help me figure out how to accept it.”

  Julia’s expression darkened a little. “I won’t say that’s easy because it’s not. Honestly, I’m not sure that Kelsey and I will ever accept the things that were done to us, and I’m not sure that you will either. All you can do is push through the pain, horror, and terror.

  “You can find happiness, love, and peace even with what was done to you, but honestly, you’re going to have to learn to understand it a lot better than you do now if you’re ever going to be at peace with what you’ve become.

  “Mastery of the stuff that’s inside you may actually give you an avenue to protect your children. If you can give those things orders and put the kids off limits, then you can see them and keep them safe. But to do that, you’re going to have to work a lot harder at figuring out how any of it works.”

  Carl and the others had done what they could to help, but working with strange alien controls that only she could see was a guessing g
ame at best. It became so frustrating that she didn’t want to have anything to do with it after a while.

  Maybe that was the wrong choice. Maybe she needed to rededicate herself to mastering this alien interface and learning what she could do.

  “That’s not what I wanted to hear, but maybe it’s what I needed to hear,” Elise said slowly. “Thank you.”

  Her friend smiled, squeezed her hands, and stood. “I think I’m ready for that drink now. Let’s make it something a little bit stronger than tea, shall we?”

  3

  “And I think that brings you up to speed,” Kelsey said from the lectern at the head of the small briefing room. She’d just finished briefing Coordinator Sara Gatewood and the rest of the senior resistance staff, including the higher-ranking Rebel Empire Fleet renegades that supported them.

  Their senior Rebel Empire Fleet officer was technically Veronica Giguere, but since she was new and already working with the New Terran Empire, that task fell to Lieutenant Commander Don Sommerville.

  A lieutenant commander was a fairly low rank to be in charge of the various military forces that the resistance had at their fingertips, but needs must when the devil drives.

  She made a mental note to suggest that Coordinator Gatewood promote Sommerville to something more suitable. It wasn’t exactly like Rebel Empire Fleet command would object any more strenuously than they already would if they caught them.

  There were a couple of her people scattered around the table as well, including Zia and Veronica. They made a cute couple. She really hoped their relationship worked out. Zia deserved whatever happiness she could get out of life, and so did Veronica.

  Captains Brandon Levy and Annette Vitter sat side by side next to their commanding officer. They also made a lovely couple.

  Sitting on the far side of the table from them were her mother and Don Sommerville. That was a couple that she wasn’t sure she understood as well. Her mother’s history with men made her wary. Still, she’d been with Sommerville for more than half a year, and they seemed content.

  Maybe her mother really had changed.

  With all these couples around, it made her long for her husband. She understood why he’d had to stay back with the fleet. He’d made the argument himself that they’d need every marine they could come up with because there was virtually no one left.

  Gatewood cleared her throat and stood, directly facing the podium where Kelsey stood. “Thank you for that report, Your Highness. Or should I be referring to you as General Bandar? I’m not quite certain.”

  “Most times, neither am I,” Kelsey admitted. “I think Your Highness is probably the more appropriate title for now, but I’d prefer you didn’t use one at all and just call me Kelsey.”

  “Very well, Kelsey. I understand that there are still many items that we need to discuss, but it will take me a while to come to grips with the fact that you’ve conquered the AIs. I’m not quite certain that I believe that even now.”

  “You’re not alone. I still wake up in a cold sweat, worrying about them. Unfortunately, we haven’t had an opportunity to run into any of the subservient AIs to verify our new codes, but since the master complied with our demands, I have no reason to doubt that they will submit once they get the instructions to do so.”

  The tall, curvy blonde woman nodded. “I believe you, yet I need to see proof as well. Then we need to negotiate for those codes. Forgive me for saying so, but this is our Empire. We deserve to control our own fates, and we really don’t know you.”

  “And there’s the rub,” Kelsey said as she gripped the lectern. “You deserve the right of self-determination, yet the New Terran Empire is ruled by the unbroken line of emperors since before the Fall. So somehow, we’re going to have to figure out a way to make everyone happy and still fight the Clans.”

  At that point, Kelsey’s mother rose and clasped her hands in front of her. “I believe that this is the point where I interject myself into the conversation. Of course, nothing is off the table, but we need to speak more privately on these matters. As my father once said, no one wants to see the sausage being made.”

  Kelsey almost laughed. Her grandfather had been an avid hunter and had often made his own sausage. She had no problems making sausage and had even found the process enjoyable, but she got the metaphor.

  Since she’d already distributed the electronic files via data chips to all the relevant attendees, she had no objection to calling this meeting over. Besides, her feet were killing her.

  Pregnancy sucked.

  Coordinator Gatewood dismissed everyone else at her nod and escorted Kelsey, her mother, and Don Sommerville to her private office and the comfortable nook off to the side. Kelsey gratefully sank into the chair and didn’t argue when her mother found a stool to use for her to raise her feet.

  “You’d figure somebody with Marine Raider-grade medical nanites would be able to handle swollen feet and ankles,” she complained.

  “Considering that we didn’t even have regular medical nanites until Commodore Anderson graciously allowed those of us with implants to get them, I’m sure I wouldn’t know,” Gatewood said with a chuckle. “Besides, I’ve never had children of my own, so the entire process has been one that I’ve watched only at a distance.

  “I understand that this is a ticklish subject, but while your people have been nothing but professional, we’ve been fighting the AIs for generations. You escaped the truly awful things that happened over the last five hundred years and are late to the party.

  “Admittedly, you’ve done tremendous things, but this is still our fight. We deserve those codes and the ability to rule ourselves.”

  “This isn’t going to be a subject that we settle in a single meeting,” Justine Bandar said soothingly. “That’s what negotiation is all about. Taking different points of view and finding where we can file the edges off until the final product is acceptable to everyone at the table.

  “The New Terran Empire isn’t going to surrender its authority, and even today, all of your computer systems recognize Kelsey’s position as the heir.”

  The last time they’d been here, that had been a real shock for the resistance. The realization that all of their computer systems would bow to her authorization codes had almost gotten Kelsey restricted to her ship.

  If she chose to use the authorizations granted her as the heir to the throne, Kelsey could force their security systems to yield to her and get into any data she wanted. Carte blanche.

  Yet, she was sympathetic to their point of view. People wanted to determine their own fate, and she sympathized with that urge. Her mother’s task was to show the resistance that there were benefits to being governed by the New Terran Empire.

  “What do you think is going to happen to the Rebel Empire now that the AIs are ceding control to the humans?” Justine asked the coordinator. “Do you think that the various systems will be inclined to accept a single point of leadership? I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s going to fall into clusters where various warlords hold sway.

  “Just because the AIs start deferring to humans doesn’t mean that the humans are worthy of ruling. How do you intend to force someone to acknowledge anyone else being in charge once they’ve seized control of several systems? Or even one?”

  Gatewood rubbed her face. “I haven’t got the slightest idea. With the various system defense forces being turned over to local control, just about everybody will outgun us. Yet that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve the right of self-determination.”

  “It’s going to take a lot of work to figure out what the best path forward is,” Kelsey said. “I’m not going to be here for that, so you’re going to have to work out the details with my mother, and my father is going to have to agree to the end product. Unlike me, my mother isn’t an ambassador plenipotentiary, so she can’t make binding pledges or sign treaties.

  “While the emperor is a fairly easygoing sort, he’s going to insist on the New Terran Empire’s primacy. We’ve bled
far more than the resistance has in recent memory, and you’ll want to keep in mind that we’re still stronger than you, even after we’ve gotten the crap kicked out of us.”

  “Now, now,” Justine said severely. “There’s no need for anything that sounds like it might be a threat. The details can be worked out. Just because the New Terran Empire is in charge doesn’t mean that they have to control everything that happens on every single world.

  “In the old days, the Empire appointed nobles that ruled over each world, but those local worlds had different forms of government to rule themselves as they chose within that framework. I’m sure that we can work out something similar.

  “And in any case, it’s not as if there isn’t a precedent for a Rebel Empire world recognizing the New Terran Empire as its ultimate authority: Harrison’s World.”

  Kelsey nodded. “Olivia West wants to talk to you, but she wanted me to clear the way first. She was a member of the resistance there and became Coordinator of Harrison’s World before making the decision—with the concurrence of the council supporting her—that they should fully join the New Terran Empire.”

  “I want to talk to her, and she’s in no danger by coming here,” Gatewood said firmly. “I’ve never met her, but once I heard that she existed, I made sure to ask the right people to tell me about her.

  “All contact with Harrison’s World seems to have been cut off, and I’m told that that was intentional, but it means that we can’t get any information about the situation on the ground. I need her to convince me that she’s made the right choice, and then I can think about the consequences of what doing that means for the resistance and the Rebel Empire, as you call it.

  “I’ve looked at the map that you sent to me, and there are a couple of paths through these new networks that will allow us to get to some of the worlds that might have been missed by the Clans. We’re going to have to send scouts to determine what’s really going on, and I want to verify that humanity really does have control over the AIs. Without that, none of the rest of this conversation is going to make any sense.”