Vivid Stars Online

“It's done,” I said as I reached the others, hefting the core as I did so. “The AI is no longer present in the facility, so you should be able to secure it unimpeded.” I stumbled as little as I came to a stop in front of the group, only now realizing just how tired I was.

“I would be annoyed at you taking something from the systems in here if it didn’t work out so well for us,” Felisa responded with a laugh. “Since the lights are still on, I’m guessing that the place will keep working without the AI?”

At my tired nod, she continued. “Then I’m willing to not ask too many questions about what exactly that is,” she finished with a gesture at the cube. With a wink, she turned away dramatically until she could no longer see me.

Taking the hint, I stowed the cube away in my pack, where it just barely fit because of its size. By the time I had finished, she had turned back around and was talking as if nothing had happened.

“Mother will be here in just a couple of hours now, so I’ll send the drop troopers to clear out the rest of the facility. If the AI is really gone, I doubt they will have much trouble but it’s best to be safe,” she finished with a nod at us, before moving off to organize everything.

That left us with nothing to do, and after a few whispered words, we all agreed to return to the hangar and spend the time looking at the spaceships. When I stumbled again trying to get moving, Linnea silently moved over and helped support me on the way back.

The struggle against the ancient Psion’s working had left me tired in a way that I’d never felt before. I wasn’t even that low on Psi energy, being just a little below half, and yet I felt a soul-deep exhaustion from struggling against their lingering will.

Upon reaching the hangar, I settled down to rest against the wall while Elana rushed off to look over the capital ships again. After a few whispered words of encouragement, Linnea moved off as well, returning to the fighters.

It was funny how they both rushed off to different areas, though I was pretty sure I knew why. Linnea was dreaming about flying one of the fighters, of the freedom that would give her, while Elana was dreaming about working on one of the capital ships.

Perhaps if the negotiation with the Duchess went well, I would be able to fulfill both dreams. All I would need to do was convince her to let me keep a powerful military asset in a time of crisis.

My stomach sank as I thought about the enormity of that task, as well as the potential ways to get around it. The most obvious was to promise my help against the Pirates, that way the Kingdom would still have all the ships when that happened.

That didn’t help with Felisa’s comment about civilians not being able to own military ships, but it was pretty much the best I could think of. Hopefully, all the work I had done for them, and all the other ships I was providing, would be enough for an exception to be made.

I had intended to spend all the remaining time coming up with more strategies, however, the exhaustion crept up on me. The next thing I knew was the feeling of being shaken awake and the sound of shouted greetings.

“What?” I groaned as I blearily opened my eyes to see Linnea standing over me.

“She’s here,” Linnea responded with a fond smile, gesturing toward the hangar door as she did so.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I accepted her help in pulling me up and turned toward the entrance. Another squad of people was coming round the side of the cruiser, these dressed in the familiar armor of the royal guard.

In the middle of them stood an armored figure that would be unrecognizable if she had her helmet on. Every other time I’d met the Duchess, she’d been in some form of beautiful, and no doubt expensive, dress.

Now she was decked out in full combat armor of the same style as the royal guards. She had a sword strapped to her hip and was holding a rifle in her hands in a way that suggested she knew how to use it.

She soon spotted me and strode over purposefully, waving off her guards as she did so. “Jared Hope,” she addressed me with a smile as she arrived. “I see you have come through again and in a most unexpected way this time.”

“Ah, yes,” I said, stumbling a little as I was still getting my wits about me from my impromptu nap. “The ritual chamber has been secured and confirmed to be of the same type as the other three.”

“Yes,” she responded with a smirk. “And with the AI mysteriously disappearing in the process.”

I winced a little at that and opened my mouth to explain before she cut me off by continuing to speak.

“That is exactly as we had hoped, and as I communicated through my daughter, I will pay you double what we had agreed for the mission. You went above and beyond when ambushed and deserve to be rewarded for that.”

I relaxed at that, both that she wouldn’t be asking about the AI and at the confirmation that I would get so much money. One million credits were quite a massive amount, more money than I’d ever had to my name before.

“But,” she continued, her smile growing. “That does not account for the incredible find that we see around us.” She turned slowly as she finished speaking, taking in the ships that were visible around us. While many of them were hidden behind others, just what we could see was an impressive view.

This is it, I thought as she was occupied. I need to start strong and keep it up if I’m going to get what I want. “Ah, yes,” I started, getting her attention again. “Just after the ambush, Felisa reiterated that everything designed to leave the facility would be mine.”

She spun to face me again, her smile gone and an almost terrifying frown taking its place. The Dutchess had an incredible presence when she was angry and I found myself backpedaling almost immediately.

“I’m not saying I’ll be keeping all of it, of course,” I hurried to clarify. “But I will want to keep one frigate and a few of the smaller ships.” That was the conclusion I had come to.

The frigates were the smallest and presumably weakest of the capital ships, while also still being more than large enough for any needs I would have in the future. They were also the most numerous and would hopefully be easier for her to let go.

Her face relaxed as she took in what I said before morphing into a more inquisitive, judging look. It felt like she was evaluating me again, though I couldn’t tell if she liked what she saw.

“An interesting position to take,” she responded eventually. “Are you aware that we do not permit civilians to own military-grade ships on this planet?”

I nodded in response, glad that she hadn’t immediately thrown the idea out. While technically I had the law on my side here, as well as a promise by a member of her family, I suspected that would all disappear if I become too troublesome. I might even disappear with it.

“I see,” she nodded as her face returned to its normal smile. “Then I must think on this.” With that, she strode off and began examining the ships in more detail, occasionally checking something on her watch.

Far from relaxing me, the wait made me more nervous as time went on. During the wait, Elana sidled up to encourage me to keep aiming for the frigate, while Linnea warned me to be careful.

“I know she’s been reasonable so far,” she whispered with a nod in the Duchess's direction. “But I’m sure she has responsibilities to the King as well. Don’t push her so hard that she has to act in order to meet them.”

That was good advice, and I nodded in thanks. It was important to remember that as powerful as she seemed right now and was in her own province, she too answered to someone. The key thing was to get what I wanted without preventing her from meeting those responsibilities.

The wait was agonizing despite only being about half an hour before she returned. She was almost beaming as she did so, and I relaxed fractionally at how pleased she looked.

“The ships are even better than was reported to me,” she said as she strode up to me. “This is a wonderful find indeed, good enough that I find myself actually considering your request.”

“The key concern, of course, is your civilian status. In order for you to actually own and keep one of these ships, that status needs to change.” She smirked as she finished speaking, sending a small shudder down my spine for some reason.

That didn’t sound great, and I opened my mouth to refute her before I got conscripted into the military or something. She held up a hand, indicating that I should pause, however, before she continued speaking.

“To solve this issue, you will donate almost the entirety of this find out of civic duty. Granting your planet the help it needs in this time of crises,” she gestured for me to wait again as I almost shouted in anger at that.”

“And in recognition of this generous donation, we will grant you the title of Count, with land equivalent in value to the donated ships.” Her smirk was in full place as she finished, after which she paused for my response.

It was good that she did because it shocked me to hear that coming out of her mouth. The idea of a noble title had flickered through my mind as a potential way past the civilian issue, however, I hadn’t expected to get any land out of it.

I had expected to need to sell the ships to her at a very steep discount in order to get an exemption that allowed me to keep a frigate. She must have seen my confusion because she started speaking again.

“Let me explain,” she started with an understanding smile. “In our current multi-faceted crises, we simply cannot release the amount of liquid funds that would be required in order to purchase these ships from you. We also cannot let the opportunity pass us by.”

“On the other hand, it is widely known that you cannot simply buy a noble title as this would cheapen the basis for our entire society. Of course, one can be granted for incredible service to the crown, such as for the donation of a significant military force.”

“So this is like a loophole, then?” I asked as it started coming together. “And I assume that I’ll need to use it to defend the planet when needed?”

“Of course,” she responded with a nod. “We have a feudal system of government here and as such, all nobles of the realm are required to field troops for the defense of the planet. Most contribute soldiers for the army, however, in your case, a fully manned frigate would suffice.”

“So, I donate most of these ships, after which I will get a noble title and land of equivalent value,” I summarized her offer. “And after that, I will have a responsibility to defend the planet, particularly against the current threat.”

“Indeed,” she responded. “While the land will not be immediately profitable to you, with time and work, you will be able to build it up until it can support your family for generations.”

I nodded in response, before turning my attention to analyzing the offer. I was tempted, strongly so. While it didn’t give me any more money upfront, it got me pretty much everything else I wanted.

I was already being paid a million credits for the job, plus what I could get for selling the other loot from the facility. When combined with the money I had only recently been paid for the last facility, I was actually pretty good on money for the immediate future at least.

With that in mind, I could afford to ‘donate’ the ships as we had discussed, particularly with the promise of land included. If I could build that up over a period of years until it produced passive income, then it could be incredible for my future.

While there were a few concerns over exactly how it would tie me down and what my responsibilities would be, I was ready to agree in principle.

“OK,” I responded with a nod as I turned my attention back to the Duchess. “But I want a couple of other things as well.”