The Void War (Empire Rising Book 1) (11 page)

Once James was finished recounting his journey through the Void and no more questions were forthcoming, Somerville nodded to James, giving him permission to return to his seat.

Then he got up again and stood in front of the committee. “As you can see Chairman Akiyama the significance of this discovery cannot be over stated. I’m sure you’re well aware that my government and I would like to begin expanding our influence into the Void as soon as possible. To that end we would like to offer the planet we have designated as V17 to the Chinese as a sign of peace and goodwill. We do not desire a shooting war between our two nations and we certainly don’t want a repeat of the Damang Incident. Further, we do not think we have the resources to make the best use of three separate habitable worlds. Even though our latest discovery has just gone to Canada via the lottery we would like to offer the habitable planet that falls outside our borders to the lottery fund as well.”

“That is a very generous offer Admiral. Can I be assured that you speak for your entire government in this matter?” Akiyama asked.

“Yes sir, you can, I have with me a signed document by the Prime Minister and King Edward XI laying out our offer.”

As he spoke an aide brought the letter to Akiyama.

“Indeed you do.” Akiyama said after scanning over the letter, “and what then is it that you want in return for this generosity?”

“Nothing beyond what is expected in these circumstances Mr. Chairman,” Somerville answered. “It is simply my wish that this committee ratify the division of planets and the new interstellar borders that would result.”

Tapping his datapad Somerville brought up a new map of the Void and the surrounding Chinese and British territories. The Void was divided into three unequal sections. One, in red, represented what would fall under British ownership if the standard rules of the UN Interstellar Act were applied. Britain would assume control of V2 and V48 along with twenty six of the other star systems. A flashing white section centered on V34 represented what would be given to whomever won V34 in the lottery. A further fifteen systems fell within the white border. Finally, V17 had been added to Chinese space along with the remaining eleven uninhabitable systems within the Void.

“Chairman, I must object to this proposal,” Feng Liao interjected before Somerville got a chance to continue.

“Yes, and why may I ask?” Akiyama said as he turned to face Feng Liao.

“The British have just claimed that we have carried out an act of war. Why would they then offer us a planet in the Void that the laws of this committee do not demand them to offer?”

Feng Liao was beginning to sweat very heavily. It was evident that he had figured out the obvious. In his final map of the Void, Somerville had included a wider shot showing the positions of Cambridge, Damang and Reading. It was clear to any half-witted observer that Damang was in close proximity to the Void. If there was a shift passage linking the Void to Chinese space then it would likely connect with Damang. Putting two and two together only came up with one reason for such a large Chinese fleet to be operating in and around Damang.

Somerville hoped the other representatives would be able to come to the same conclusions themselves. If he had of came to the committee with evidence that the Chinese had already discovered the Void they would have had little choice but to offer the two habitable planets that fell outside British space to China, as technically they would have discovered them. Yet, as things stood, China had not announced their discovery. The committee had to act on the basis that the British alone had discovered the Void. And if they could figure out the Chinese knew about it even better.

The committee usually came down very hard on any breach of the UN Interplanetary Act. If some of the representatives suspected China had covered up their discovery of the Void, they would not react favorably. Certainly Somerville hoped that the more astute representatives would realize that the British generosity was actually a ploy to wrestle away control of the Void from the Chinese without having to resort to war.

“Do go on committee member Feng Liao. I hope you have a better reason for objecting than the British are being too generous.” Chairman Akiyama said sarcastically.

Feng Liao frantically looked around for help but none seemed to be forthcoming. “They are up to something, can’t you all see that?” He shouted rising to his feet.

Chairman Akiyama stared at Feng Liao until he took his seat. “Thank you committee member Feng Liao, I hope that is going to be your first and last outburst or I will have to ask you to leave this meeting. Now, unless Feng Liao or anyone else has other information that they feel should delay our vote on this issue, I believe the time for a decision has come. The British offer is indeed very generous and I see no reason not to accept all their suggestions.”

The voting itself took another forty-five minutes, all of which Somerville spent laying plans for the future. He didn’t think the Chinese would take his little coup lying down. He had already made as much preparations as he could before this meeting but now that things would be out in the open he would have to act swiftly. His one advantage was time. On a zoomed out map of shift space the distance between Earth and the Void was roughly the same through Chinese or British space. Yet zoomed in things were different.

The shift passages that connected Wi, the nearest inhabited Chinese system, to Damang and Damang to Reading were particularly narrow and twisted. It typically took the convoys over a week to traverse the two shift passages. RSNI didn’t know exactly where the Chinese shift passage to the Void matched up with known Chinese space yet even a conservative estimate gave the British a week advantage in sending messages to the Void. Somerville planned to use it ruthlessly. He would have a British fleet in orbit around V2 before the Politburo could even get a message to their fleet in the Void, let alone send in reinforcements.

By the time Somerville had surveyed all the RSN deployments, looking for some more ships he could reassign, the voting was coming to an end. As expected, the motion passed almost unanimously. The Brazilians and Argentinians had abstained, yet with only the Chinese and Indians opposing the proposal passed into law.

Somerville could not help but smile. Usually the bureaucracy of Earth and British politics was the bane of his existence. This time he had been able to manipulate the setup of the UN Committee in his favor. From the beginning, the Committee had been structured to allow decisive decisions to be made to stop any confrontations from coming to a head. Now it meant the Chinese had been unable to react to his plan before it was too late.

After Akiyama delivered the Committee’s decision Somerville again approached the Committee members. “Sir, I have one more request before we adjourn.”

“Yes Admiral, what else could you possibly have to bring before us?” Akiyama asked in annoyance. The meeting had already run well past lunch.

“Don’t worry chairman; the Void was my last surprise. I would simply like to request that the recordings of this committee meeting be immediately released to the public.”

At this Feng Liao jumped off his seat shouting, “that is out of the question you insolent….”

Before he could finish, Akiyama cut off the feed from Feng Liao’s mike, although almost everyone still heard the expletive that followed.

Pretending he had heard nothing, Somerville pressed on, “my legal aides assure me that under section seven point eight of the Interplanetary Law a supplicant to this committee may request that the proceedings of a closed Committee meeting be made public. I know this section does not normally apply where armed conflict has taken place. However, subsection three does specify that the Committee Chairman may wave this restriction if the armed conflict was an unprovoked act of aggression and the victim agrees to wave their confidentiality.” 

“I must say,” Akiyama began, “this is highly unusual given that you were the one who requested this meeting be a closed session in the first place. Yet, your actions are perfectly in accord with the Act governing this Committee so I’m going to grant it provided we can adjourn now?”

“By all means Mr. Chairman, I am as eager for lunch as you are.”

“Very well, permission to publicize this closed meeting is granted,” Akiyama said, as he brought down his ceremonial hammer closing the meeting.

Before turning to leave the chamber Somerville could have sworn that Akiyama had winked at him. The sly dog, he thought as he collected Russell, Lightfoot and his nephew, he knew what was happening all along.

“Well,” he said to the three other men outside the chamber, “it seems we got everything we wanted. Let’s just hope the rest of our plans go as smoothly.”

Whilst the significance of the discovery of the Haven colony went largely unnoticed at the time, the brewing Void War having taken precedence, its discovery would prove to have a more long lasting impact on human expansion into space than even the discovery of the Void itself.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

11
th
January 2465. New York.

After the UN hearing, James invited Lightfoot for a drink in a local bar. The UN Interplanetary Committee was based in New York alongside the other UN administrative buildings. James had heard of this bar from other RSN officers. Lightfoot had politely declined; citing all the work he had to do in overseeing the repairs of
Surprise
as an excuse.  James didn’t blame him, if
Drake
was damaged he wouldn’t want to leave her until he had seen his ship put back together. Still, he decided to go on his own. He needed some time alone to think.

On the news screens scattered around the bar a number of reporters where excitedly talking about some recent news. James immediately focused on the reports. It seemed that a French exploration ship had discovered a lost colony. Or at least they had made contact with a ship from the colony in another star system.

In the years before the shift drive had been discovered almost one hundred sub light speed colony ships had been sent out into space. A few had been rediscovered after the discovery of the shift drive. Almost all of them had managed to establish small colonies on habitable worlds however, they had all been struggling. Other colony ships had left no sign of themselves even after the planets they had set off for had been linked into the expanding Human Sphere. Still others were presumed lost forever, the dark matter near the systems having been mapped without any way to actually get to the planets being found. If the colonies had proved successful there was no way of finding out short of sending in a sub light speed ship. Such a trip could take decades and no one was interested in volunteering for such a mission.

It had been over one hundred years since the last lost colony was reconnected to human space. As the exploration ships of the space faring powers had headed deeper into outer space they had long since passed the point where the first sub light speed colony ship sent from Earth could have reached. Many stories and holo-drama’s had sprung up around the possibility of encountering another human planet, one that had been separated from the Human Sphere for over three hundred years. No one quite knew what to expect. Would the rest of humanity be welcomed with open arms? Or would a whole new culture have developed hostile to the rest of mankind?

Well, it seems as if we’re going to find out James thought. The French exploration ship had made contact with a human shift drive capable ship over seventy light years from Earth. That was well beyond even the new Canadian system of Quebec. The ship had claimed to be from Haven; however, the reporters were not reporting the location of the colony. That was strange, wherever it was, it must be closer to Earth than where the two ships had met. That meant there was an entire network of shift passages that would lead closer back towards Earth out there.

One news reporter had shifted her focus to a wealthy billionaire called Harold Maximilian. He had set out back in 2198 with thirty thousand volunteers in a colony ship he had largely funded himself. His writings, she was reporting, spoke of a planet free from overbearing governments and nanny states. It seemed like the holo-drama writers might just be getting everything they wished for. If this colony had developed the shift drive independently of Earth it clearly had a good tech base. If they still carried the independent philosophies of its founders then it wouldn’t be rushing into the arms of one of the space faring powers. James made a mental note to look up all the data he could through military channels once he got back to
Vulcan
and
Drake
. This was going to throw a whole new dimension into the interstellar politics of Earth. How would the UN Interplanetary Committee react to a colony that wanted its independence? Whatever the finer details, the discovery was likely to throw off all the RSN exploration deployments. There was going to be a rush to survey the space around this new colony.

Sitting back in his chair, James dwelt on the implications for a few minutes before he stretched and looked around the room. A short blonde woman in a dark, tight fitting uniform caught his attention. He had noticed her coming in and now she was staring straight at him. Judging by her facial features she couldn’t be more than twenty-two or three, certainly not old enough to command a spaceship. That was strange he thought; junior officers were rarely called to the UN so what was she doing in New York?  Sighing, James nodded to the woman, signaling to her that it was ok to intrude upon his solitary drink.

“Good afternoon Commander, my name is Lieutenant Ricks. I’m with the RSNI attached to their UN section here in New York.”

Nodding, James realized that the uniform was almost identical to that worn by Admiral Russell only without the rank insignia. Clearly on Earth the RSNI wanted to keep the feeling of being in uniform without drawing too much attention to themselves.

“Admiral Russell sent me to keep an eye on you. He said I was to allow you to enjoy your drink but not to let you talk to anyone else.”

“He did now did he? And what would happen if I decided I wanted to strike up a conversation with a beautiful French or Spanish Captain as I enjoyed my drink?” James asked.

Smiling Lieutenant Ricks reached up and undid the top two buttons of her uniform. “We are taught many skills during our training to enter RSNI, I’m sure I could manage to play the part of a jealous girlfriend without too much difficulty.”

Chuckling, James lifted his lager and finished it in one gulp. “I guess there’s no point staying around here too long then, you’ll just spoil my fun. Do you want to accompany me to the shuttle docks?”

“My orders are to see you off Commander, so I go where you go,” she replied.

“Very well then, there’s nothing else keeping me here.” James said as he stood.

Looking up at the news screens as he walked out James happily noted that every reporter had forgotten about Haven. They were all playing the footage Admiral Russell had released to the press of
Surprise
coming in to dock with
Vulcan
, her battle damage plain for all to see.

*

11
th
January 2465, 6:30am. Petworth, West Sussex.

Major Samuel Johnston RSNM, retired, was cooking breakfast for his wife who was still in bed. The sausage, eggs and bacon were done; he was just waiting on the toast to pop when he heard a loud knocking on his door.

He groaned inwardly. Even though he had been out of the Royal Space Navy Marines for fifteen years he knew that strong measured knock. Someone with armed forces training was at his door. He had seen the news reports last night about what was being called the ‘Damang Incident.’ His wife had been concerned but Samuel had reassured her. The facts just didn’t add up. There was no reason for the Chinese to attack a British convoy coming from Reading! If there was going to be war, it would be announced with a much bigger battle. Yet why was someone at his door?

As he pressed the command to open the door his suspicions were confirmed. Despite their civilian dress, the man and woman standing before him were unmistakably armed forces. The man, in his mid-thirties had obviously tried to select baggy clothing to hide his physique but to Johnston’s trained eye his lean muscled body couldn’t be completely hidden. The woman looked much younger, barely past twenty Johnston guessed. Whilst she didn’t have a muscled body that suggested she was a marine or an army soldier she did carry herself with a poise that indicated she had some martial combat training. Her body language also shouted the fact she was junior to her partner and was deferring to him.

After giving Samuel a brief look over the man stepped forward. “Major Johnston?”

“Retired,” Samuel answered.

“Yes of course. We’re here on behalf of RSNI, do you mind if we come in? My name is Mr. Jones and this is my associate Sub Lieutenant Becket.

“If you must, I suppose, my wife is still sleeping though.”

As his two visitors sat at the kitchen table Samuel poured them both tea from the kettle he had been boiling for his wife. “So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Anything to do with that battle we’re hearing about on the news?”

“You could say that,” Jones said, “We have need of your services.”

“Just hold on there one minute. I hung up my boots fifteen years ago and I have no desire to come back. I gave the marines forty years and I intend to give my wife forty more in return for her faithfulness to me.”

“Yes, of course we understand that,” Jones began in a conciliatory tone. “If you will just hear us out. We are not requesting that you come back to the marines. The RSNI wants to offer you a three-month contract. We have need of your expertise and we would like to hire you on a short term basis.”

“And what exactly does the RSNI want with me?” Johnston asked.

“I’m afraid we can’t give you any real details unless you agree to sign the contract. What I can say is that you will be going off world, you’ll be working with and training Marines and we don’t think you’ll be needed any longer than three months.” Jones replied. “You’ll be embarking on a RSN ship, which is why Sub Lieutenant Becket is here. If you agree to join us she’ll prepare your things to be transported aboard her ship.”

As Johnston studied Becket more closely she smiled at him. Turning back to Jones he asked, “And what is in this for me?”

“Well, for a start we’re offering you a very attractive salary for the three months and a similar rate for any additional months you may wish to remain in our employ. Of course, any astute observer might see the connection between this offer and recent news events. You can be assured that if you accept you will be serving your country.” Jones answered.

“And when do I have to give you my decision?”

“This is a time sensitive mission so we need to know within the hour. We can give you that time to think it over and talk it through with your wife, if you want.  If you agree though we will have to leave in one hour from now.”

“Ok, well you can leave the contract with me and I guess I will see you in an hour,” Johnston said, already considering what his wife would say.

“Thank you for your time Major, I hope you make the right decision, we’ll call back in an hour,” Jones said as he got up to leave. Becket followed him out of the kitchen and then out of the house.

Flicking through the contract Johnston groaned, it seemed like the RSNI’s offer was too good to be true. Certainly he could use the money and he was as much a patriot as the next man. Yet letting the RSNI get its hands on you was almost never a smart move.

He looked up as his wife walked into the kitchen in her nightgown. “Did I hear voices?”

“I’m afraid so dear, we have had visitors from RSNI.”

“RSNI?” his wife asked with a hint of concern.

“Yes, they want me to go work for them for three months. I have the contract here. They won’t tell me what I’ll be doing but they are willing to pay handsomely.”

His wife’s concern visibly grew, “does this have something to do with the attack on that ship, what was she called, the
Surprise
?”

“I think that is a safe bet,” he chuckled.  “I guess I may have been wrong after all, what do you think of their offer?”

His wife paused for a moment to think. Walking round she sat on her husband’s lap and looked him in the eyes.

“As much as I have enjoyed having you at my beck and call, we both know we need the money. But more importantly, I know you. If this is important you can’t turn your back on it. If there is going to be trouble with China then the best way you can protect me is by going, we both know that.”

Samuel looked at his wife with pride. Deep down he knew he was thrilled at the prospect of sinking his teeth into something again. He hadn’t wanted to leave his wife. Yet, instead of having to talk her around, she was sending him out. Leaning in he kissed her deeply, giving expression to his pride.