The Admiral and the Assistant

Captain Cohrmere watched with stoic resignation as blasters shredded the remainder of the pirate ship's shielding. Heavy bolts of energy punched through the stricken ship. Relentlessly, the ships Ninth Fleet hammered the pirates, until their ship flared bright blue. The portals auto-dimmed, protecting the eyes of those on the bridge from the intense flare.

"Reactor overload," Captain Cohrmere said sadly. His lips tightened. Neither the ISS Helix, his ship, nor any of the ships of the Wraithfleet had been called upon or allowed to act in combat. Again.

"Sir," said his Assistant. "Shall I prepare the after-action report for the Admiral?"

"Yes," Captain Cohrmere said gruffly. He took a deep breath and tried to moderate his tone. He reminded himself that it wasn't his Assistant's fault that the Wraithfleet had been utterly unused since being retrieved from the jumphole collapse off of Arcturus.

"I'll send it to the Admiral once it's done, sir."

"No. Prepare it and put it on a pocket drive."

"Sir?"

"I'll take it to the Admiral myself. It's time he and I talked about a few things."

After a brief shuttle trip, Captain Cohrmere paneled open the door to Admiral Stonefist's office and stepped in. Admiral Stonefist looked up in surprise. Captain Cohrmere saluted.

"Captain Cohrmere," Admiral Stonefist said. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I came to deliver the after-action report from the recent combat with the Storm Wake Pirates, sir."

"Very well." Grimthorn held out his hand. Captain Cohrmere gave him the pocket drive.

"Is there a reason you came all the way out here to deliver the report personally?" Grimthorn asked.

"Yes, sir. I had hoped to discuss a matter with you."

"Of course." Admiral Stonefist moved to the small meeting table and gestured for Captain Cohrmere to sit. "Does my Assistant need to vacate?"

"No, I there's nothing sensitive to discuss." He turned to Kinnit, sitting at her desk. "Congratulations on your enlistment... Lieutenant Stonefist." The rank felt strange on his tongue, alongside the Stonefist name. Kinnit beamed at him.

"Tell me what's on your mind, Captain," Grimthorn said.

"I wanted to discuss the disposition of the Wraithfl-- I mean, the Arcturan detachment with you sir."

Grimthorn nodded, as though he'd known what was coming.

"You can call it the 'Wraithfleet' if you like, Captain. I know that's the name going around now."

Cohrmere nodded.

"Sir, I'll get right to it. The ships of the Wraithfleet want to know when we'll see action again. If we'll see action again."

"Well, Captain, the Wraithfleet is very valuable for observation. Your reports on our recent combat excursions--"

"With all due respect, sir, the Wraithfleet is not a recon fleet. We are-- were-- a combat detachment. We serve the Imperium by destroying its enemies, not by watching them."

"I understand your frustration, Captain." Grimthorn sat a moment in long thought. He finally spoke, slowly. "Do you understand why I haven't?"

"It is because we haven't been able to master the new formations."

"A bit. There's more than that." Grimthorn looked away. "Why are you called the Wraithfleet?"

"It's a name we chose for ourselves, sir. After you rescued us from the jumphole collapse, none of us could return to our old lives. We're neither alive nor dead. We're... in between."

"And have you figured out why your detachment can't master the new formations?"

"I... we... no, sir."

Grimthorn nodded.

"And the incident during formation exercises. Have you found any explanation for that?"

"Sir, there's no record of the incident in any of the recordings or the ship's--"

"That's the problem, Captain. Something exceptionally strange is going on with your 'Wraithfleet.'"

"Sir, I don't mean to question what you think you saw--"

"The entirety of the bridge crew watched three of your ships collide, then vanish, then reappear, unharmed, hundreds of miles away."

Captain Cohrmere's mouth became a thin line.

"As you say, sir."

"Until we understand what's going on, the strangeness of the Wraithfleet represents a risk in any combat scenario. We have no idea what could happen." Grimthorn leaned back. "Now, if we can understand what went on, then we can work the Wraithfleet back into the combat rotation. If there are limitations or dangers, we can work around them, or account for them. But until we understand what's happening, the risks are too great."

"Sir, we are willing to accept the risk!" Captain Cohrmere said.

"Is the rest of the fleet?"

Captain Cohrmere paused, thinking.

"You see, there's more than just the Wraithfleet at stake," Grimthorn said. "There are other ships that would depend on you. Even using the old formations, there's a risk you might suddenly not be there. Can you defend a flank if you vanish? Can you keep fire pressure on an enemy if you're suddenly hundreds of miles away? Can you be a bulwark if you could disappear at any time?"

Captain Cohrmere's jaw was clenched.

"Then I'd like to request permission to run some experiments with the Wraithfleet, sir. To figure out what's happening to us."

Grimthorn thought about it for a bit.

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"That's a risk as well, but perhaps an acceptable one. You'd need a regular ship of the fleet along with you."

"Sir?"

"None of you remember the collision that occurred during the exercise. The ships didn't record it. You'll need someone that can... I don't know, take notes or something. Someone to remember what happened."

It wasn't much, but a dawning hope swelled in Captain Cohrmere's chest.

"Yes, sir. We want to get started as soon as possible."

"Very well," Grimthorn said. "We'll finish up in this sector and carve out some time to help the Wraithfleet."

The Emperor of the Imperium swept into the Imperium Council chamber. Sunlight streamed in through the tall, thin windows. It gleamed on every polished surface. The Ministers were already gathered.

"Your Imperial Majesty," Minister Aster said. "Today we have--"

"A lot of thin soup," the Emperor interrupted with distaste.

"Ah... I don't understand, your Imperial Majesty?"

The Emperor threw himself into his chair at the large, round table.

"Today, you will drip-feed a tiny amount of statistics to me. Then you will all argue about the statistics. Then nothing will be done. Just as you did last week. Just as you did the week before."

"Your Imperial Majesty," Minister Aster said, "the matters of the Imperium are complex, and we must act with caution and discretion."

The Emperor pinned the senior Minister with a fierce gaze.

"Do you know how long the Imperial Council has been an institution?" the Emperor asked.

"Oh, since time immemorial, your Imperial Majesty," Aster said. "The Imperium has long benefited from the advice and wisdom of her most senior Ministers."

"Two hundred years. I established the Council two hundred years ago to manage different aspects of the Imperium, to refine and deliver information to me, that I might rule more effectively." He glowered at the assembled Ministers. "It seems that the Council has seen fit to change their role from supporting and informing the Emperor to hiding information from him."

"Your Imperial Majesty, we would never!" Minister Aster said, his face painted with outrage.

"Really? And the collapse of the local currency on Dapus 7? You've told me nothing about that. The rampant counterfeiting operation on Storia? Perhaps the inflation in the Gora system? As the Minister of Finance, you didn't think any of these were worth mentioning?"

"Ah... your Imperial Majesty, these are minor local matters, far too small to waste your time with."

"If the people of the Imperium are suffering, then it is in no wise 'too small' to 'waste my time with.'"

"Your Imperial Majesty, I--"

"And you?" he barked, pointing at Sema Albrem, the Minister of Transportation. "There are shortages of roadbuilder torpedoes across the galaxy. Nearly a third of the active jumphole projects have stalled. Why?"

Minister Albrem, caught flat-footed, sat with his mouth open, struggling for something to say. The Emperor's finger swung over to Wain Sarden, Minister of Resources. She shrank from his focus.

"Food shipments are being raided by pirates, causing disruptions in food supplies. Why has the Imperial Navy not been notified to protect those routes?"

"Your Imperial Majesty," she whispered. "The fleets are very busy--"

"It is not your role to manage the Navy's schedule. You simply tell them where there are problems."

The Council sat quietly, each one hoping they would not be the next to fall under the Emperor's accusing finger.

"Since you have all been failing to fulfill your basic duties, surely then you must be focused on the other priority I set you all."

Minister Aster's face soured.

"The Subject Species issue, of course, your Imperial Majesty."

"What progress, then?"

"Ah, well your Imperial Majesty, we have... convened a subcouncil to discuss the impacts... of..." Minister Aster stumbled to a stop as the Emperor's face turned red with fury.

"'Convened a subcouncil?' Weeks ago, I made this the top priority, and so far you've 'convened a subcouncil?'" he said in a tightly controlled voice.

"Your Imperial Majesty, it is a complicated process, filled with potential issues that must be carefully considered--"

"Carefully consider this, then. The Imperial Council is on notice. Deliver something. Do your job. Or I will dissolve the Council."

Minister Aster's was aghast.

"Your Imperial Majesty, that could result in catastrophic--"

"You know what's catastrophic? The inability of this Council to accomplish a single thing." His piercing gaze swept over the assembled ministers. "The Imperium operated for six hundred years with no Imperial Council. If you cannot move so simple a task forward, then I'll do it myself!" He turned and stormed out of the room.

The assembled Ministers buzzed with consternation.

"What will we do? He's obsessed with this idea of destroying the institution of the Subject Species!" said one.

"Can he really abolish the Council? What would happen after that?" said another.

"He's changed, since his sickness," said a third. "More... autocratic. Less calm."

"It was Idrian. That scoundrel's perfidy has the Emperor questioning everything!"

"He keeps doing things! The Emperor's not supposed to do things!"

Minister Aster glared at the closed door the Emperor had left through, a sneer painted across his face.

"The Imperium was healthier when the Emperor was dying," he said darkly.

Kinnit sat with Lucy in the empty mess hall late in the evening, sharing a cup of coffee and chatting.

"How's married life treating you, hon?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, it's wonderful," Kinnit said. She sighed. "It's everything I'd hoped it would be."

"Have you all managed sleeping arrangements?"

"Oh, we could get a shared berth, but his quarters are big enough for us to use. Plus they're right by the office. Shared berths are all the way at the other end of the ship. We don't need much room."

Lucy smiled knowingly.

"Well, I'm glad you two have figured it out."

"Have you ever been married, Lucy?"

She smiled and nodded.

"A few times. It's different for Velspyn. Our males have a very short lifespan, only a few years, so we don't get too attached."

"Oh," Kinnit said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

Lucy chuckled.

"Nothing to be sorry about!" she said. "That's just how we are. I loved each husband in his own way. We met, we loved, they passed on. I don't regret any of them."

Kinnit sighed.

"That's sweet," she said. "And a little sad."

"I think it's sweet that you went with the Terran tradition with your Admiral. Kobolds don't have anything like marriage, do they, hon?"

"No, but we should," Kinnit said. "Devoting all of yourself to one person for your whole life, and them to you... it's amazing."

"Mmhmm. It was lovely meeting your family at the wedding, by the way."

Kinnit giggled.

"I can't believe you jumped right into the Clamber like that," she said. "And somebody spiked the punch with Terran alcohol. You don't know anything about that, do you?"

Lucy wore an expression of angelic innocence.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, hon. I was just enjoying the reception."

Kinnit tried to glare at her, but dissolved in giggles.

"I'm glad you were there."

"Me too."

Kinnit gazed off into space, idly sipping her coffee.

"Someday they'll all be part of Imperium as well," she sighed. "I can help them all learn the joys of the galaxy."

"Hmm? What's that, hon?"

"The Kobolds. My dream is to have them all become full citizens. For Kobolds to no longer be a Subject Species."

"Oh." Lucy carefully sipped at her coffee. "Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Hon, how many Subject Species do you think have been made citizens?"

Kinnit's brow drew down.

"I don't know? I never looked it up. A bunch, I guess."

"Aha." Lucy drank some more coffee, avoiding Kinnit's gaze. "Not exactly."

"A few?"

"Hon, no Subject Species has ever achieved citizenship."

Kinnit's mouth hung open in shock.

"Never?"

"Not one." Lucy shrugged, but hurried to add: "If anybody could make it happen, though, it's you."

Kinnit's brow drew down and she bared her teeth.

"No Subject Species has ever been made citizens?"

Lucy quietly shook her head.

Kinnit's expression grew darker.

"None of them. And nobody told me?"

"I-- we didn't know that was what you were looking to do, hon."

"Does Grimthorn know about this? About SSes not becoming citizens?"

Lucy paused with her mouth open.

"Ah... he'd kind of have to know about it... I think..."

Kinnit pushed her chair back and stood stiffly, her face set with fury.

"Excuse me," she said through clenched teeth. "I have to go talk to my husband."

Lucy winced as Kinnit marched rigidly out of the mess hall.