Imperial Subversion

Chapter 2

Chapter 2As Chief Engineer for Legation Station, to say that I had a lot on my plate was an understatement. With most of the regular Imperial Navy interned down of the planet, we had a shortage of manpower to run things up here. The Militia WAS helping, a lot. After the Farmers Union Day m******e, and the death of my brother David, there had been a general call up for the planetary Militia. Both new recruits and grizzled veterans lined up to join. Many were veterans of some of the PPL border skirmishes 30 years ago and the last war 17 years ago. Eugenic treatments and Gene therapy were universal on the planet, but old is still old. With an unknown response from the Empire possible en route, my father, the head of the Militia, was rushing to retrain as many troops as humanly possible. Small boot camps had sprung up to join the normal ones. Hong Kong was special in that basic Military training was required of all residents from age 17. Local teens were trained for 6 weeks every year for 4 years. At age 21 they could chose to opt out of future training. All however were considered to be the strategic reserve, in case of disaster or invasion. I myself had gotten my basic training with the Militia. That training had provided the building blocks for my subsequent Imperial training.

Here on the station we were desperate for help. Almost all of the regular Navy had chosen internment over helping ‘mutineers or traitors to the Empire.” Over 90% of my own crew off the James Cook had chosen to join the others on the planet. My former Captain and I had chosen to stay and help. My family was here. I had missed much in my long absence. As the last, true officer of the PPL Navy, I made the decision to ignore my new allegiances and return to the fold. A few of my friends had elected to stay with me. Commander Wang, my former XO, was promoted to Captain Wang assigned to the training ship Paney. If anyone could turn out spacers in a few weeks it was him. The two ’twins’ Di and DJ had also decided to stick around. “The Imperial Navy is boring” is what they told me. To each his own, I guess. Wilson my resident AI and all around pest has been hanging out with them recently. I keep forgetting to check up on that.

All of the officers except three from the Paney, had elected to be interned. Dr. Zack Smith and Chief Engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko had joined our merry band. Chief Tad was a welcome sight and was sent to oversee our shipyards. We had two Navy vessels to repair and several older ones to rebuild and refit. Ensign Enyo Tisiphone, also from the Paney, was a local. When she was given the choice, she chose to support her home and family. She was currently on the planet with the Special Forces, Sergeant Yannos had requested her for extra training. My girlfriend Marine Lieutenant Dar Zakaszewski was all in with our rebellion. She had just kissed me and said “where you go, I go.” Of her Marine force, about half joined us as well. Lieutenant Kinno Mutai and his four men chose to join her as well. It was nice to have a few professionals around.

Not to dismiss my fellow Hong Konger’s but most of the local engineer’s were of the agriculture kind. Fixing a tractor was easy when compared to a starship. Most of the space trained engineers were needed for the ships we had in orbit or over at the Shipyard. There were a few FLEA scientists still around, but most had joined the navy interns. Before leaving they had approved my ‘droid’ designs for use on Navy ships. Wilson had lent his aid and had made a few clones of himself for their operating systems. The little trashcan shaped ‘bots were autonomous and could make repairs at will. All that I had to make repairs on the station with right now, was a few maintenance chiefs, some techs, my new ’droids’ and me. As a result I was insanely busy.

Inspired by Wilson, I put the twins in charge of the flight bays. My sister Minerva, as station head, had assigned a few maintenance chiefs and some of the older war veteran crew members to give them a hand. The two look-alike young women had a new appreciation for the high speed of a fighter pilot. I guess I should thank Wilson for that. He did give them a ride they would not soon forget. It was either that or the swath the two were cutting through the pilots. They both had a hard time saying no to the cocky space jockey’s. They were a couple of little heart breakers.

Legation Station was officially assigned one Navy squadron of the newest space fighters. None of the Militia pilots had the advanced skills to pilot one. We did have a remote control module, that when installed made the fighters un-piloted drones. The Militia had recruited a group of hot shot speed demon air car and taxi drivers to pilot those ships. Using computer interfaces they would ‘pilot’ from the relatively safe confines of the station. My own personal opinion was that if Wilson my AI could pilot all of them by himself, then these ‘kids’ would be OK. The conversation that Wilson and I had following his admission to the practical joke he had played with the fighters was not pretty. I am not sure if he truly believes the threats that I have made to him, but he has been on his best behavior lately. He apologized to the ‘Twins” or the Double D’s as he calls them. He laughed when he called them that. There is a joke there somewhere but my knowledge of the 20th century is lacking.

In addition to the Navy fighters, we had Minerva’s former squadron quartered on the Station. The Silver Valkyries were made up of surplus Sky Sharks. Although not in command of the squadron anymore, Minerva kept her personal Starfury Mark IV on the station. The Militia had been very lucky to acquire the Sky sharks. The planets other squadron, made up of Fuglies, had returned to patrols on the far side of the planet. One of the tasks laid before Chief Engineer Tad was to build the Militia more fighters. In this corner of the galaxy, new fighters were a rarity, planets had to rely on Fuglies or armed freighters for defense. Pirate attacks were very common out here. Our intelligence group had uncovered information that proved that the pirate attacks were not random, but planned by an organization called the Cabal. This and other bits of information had helped to further the resolve of our planet’s leaders. This planet would no longer stand with the Empire. We would dissolve our relationship and go it alone, sort of.

The Revolution that I helped to start on Hong Kong, had spread to many of our surrounding systems. Several agricultural planets like ours, were suffering under the yoke of corrupt and criminal Sector Governors. Our former Governor Norton had locked down all of the communication satellites after the m******e, but my buddy Wilson had been able to spread the news reports far and wide, at near light speeds. The pleas of our planetary government for help were heard by many planets. The Imperial news reports tried to paint our revolution in a dark light, but the video evidence of the m******e was already out. Our planet’s Governor Roy Stoner, sent ambassadors to our neighbors. He invited them to a congress to come to a resolution about the Empire. Many of our people hoped it would result in a revival of the Pan-Pacific League.