Revenge of the Heir

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Eric was in his quarters, and was surprised that for 6 hours no one had bothered him other than to slip an envelope under the door. He was being ordered to report to Lt. General Knights office at 1800.

The knock at the door drew him from his thoughts, and was set to ignore it when he heard Holly.

"I know you are in there, we need to talk." she said through the door.

"It's open." he said loud enough to be heard. She walked in and could tell he had been here awhile.

"What is wrong?" she asked him as he looked at her.

"Why do you care?" he asked her.

"Because I care about you. Not about the money, the power no one knew you had, or any of the bullshit out there." she said as she came in and sat on his bed. "I am sorry it happened that way. I told him it would be a mistake to include others in the conversation."

Eric nodded as he kept looking at her. "Let me guess, he wanted to know what you knew about me?" he asked her.

"At first, I told him he would have to discuss it with you. After that, he wanted to know about me actually." she said as he was surprised by that. "I think he thought you would be more comfortable if I were there. I haven't heard much, but from what I managed to gather, they know just about everything."

Eric looked at the clock, and knew she would have come straight here from her work. He had 20 minutes before he had to meet the President, and knew he had no appetite. "Thanks, I have to go." he said as she could tell he was depressed.

"I'm here if you need me." she said grabbing his arm as he was about to pass her. He looked at her, and she could tell he was torn about asking her. She saw him set his jaw, and knew she had to try. "Please don't shut me out." she said knowing she likely had a tear forming.

Eric was lost in thought for a moment, as he tried to decide how he wanted to move forward. "I am still upset, and we will need to talk about this later. Would you care to join me as we learn what the hell this is about?" he asked her nicely.

"You are aware I was ordered to be there, right?" she asked him.

"I figured." he said as he offered his hand to help her up.

"Should we see how deeply depraved all of this is going to be?" she asked him with a smile as she took his hand. She was glad when she heard him laugh as they walked out of his quarters and towards the administration building.

"So, what did you think of the President?" he asked her conversationally as they walked. She had yet to see the file he was carrying, and the President was not going to like how he was hitting back.

"He is interesting, seems to care about the Empire a lot." Holly said as they walked in and Veronica Monroe met them at the door.

"Apolo-" Veronica began when Eric cut her off.

"Shut the f**k up." Eric told her coldly. "If I ever want an apology from a piece of scum like you, I will seek you out. Remember every time you speak, I must restrain myself from knocking your teeth out of that putrid mouth of yours."

By the time he finished speaking and walked right past her, he could see the tears falling from her eyes as he walked into the conference room.

"Do not ever address my people in that manner again. Otherwise we will have problems." President Tycho said as he slammed the door shut.

"Too late for that Mr. President, you ensured it." Eric said slamming the file on the table in front of him.

"Let's get to business than shall we?" he asked angrily.

"Certainly, President Tycho, you have been served." Eric said sliding the papers across the table.

"What is this?" he demanded.

"That would be a lawsuit in the Federal Imperial Courts." Eric told him flatly as Tycho widened his eyes.

"For what?" he demanded to know.

"For being an accomplice after the fact in the deaths of my parents, for covering up the crimes of the son of one of the Lord's Council, for failure to properly investigate the crash that claimed their lives, and numerous other things. All in support of Federal Laws that you are sworn to uphold. For 15 years this government has failed to do it's duty, and now I will force it." Eric told him as the President sighed.

"Colonel, you are testing the limits of my patience." President Tycho said as he slid the file over.

"Than I suggest you follow Imperial law to the letter and do exactly as you should have, 15 years ago." Eric told him unphased by the comment.

"Despite what you may think Colonel, we have followed Imperial Law." President Tycho said slamming a box of files on the table himself. "Just because we have delayed it's execution, does not mean we have failed in our duty."

"To delay your duty, is to fail in your duties until you quit delaying." Eric told him, using an exact quote he had given in a speech just a few days before his arrival. "If you did not fail, why has the final report been withheld 10 years past the date it should have been delivered to the Transportation Department? If you did not fail, why has no person ever faced charges for what occurred?" Eric demanded as Tycho sat down.

He looked at Eric, and shook his head. "I knew you were the right man for the job. We just need to find a way past this unpleasantness." Tycho told him.

"It is only unpleasant because you are in violation of the very laws you swore to uphold. If you had done what the law required, I would be willing to bet that box proves beyond a doubt that Kevin Heinrich should be in prison. Does it not?" Eric asked him bluntly. "Something to do with sabotaging a plane that was just fully restored and flight checked not 2 flight hours after the check flight was performed." Eric said as he looked at the President.

"How did you know?" Tycho asked.

"I have had 15 years to investigate. After the 5 year investigatory period is over, the details from the sources can be revealed. It is interesting what companies will hand over when asked nicely after a plane crashes. Everyone seems to want to ear themselves of responsibility, and will gladly hand over the information to Private Investigators." Eric replied with his own smile. "The only ones who refused, happen to belong to my Uncle. What exactly he did, I am sure that box will tell me."

President Tycho sighed as he nodded. "You have made your point Colonel, now I have an offer for you, From Lord Jonathon Heinrich."

"Who is that?" Holly asked as she had never followed the Lord's Council very much.

"My grandfather." Eric said as a letter and envelope were slid over too him. It had clearly been ripped in half.

"I was not the one in violation of the law, your grandfather was. He wrote that letter for you when I confronted him about it, and informed him you had already been named his acceptable Heir by Congress." Tycho said as Eric picked up the taped letter.

'Eric, by now you know what happened, or are very close to finding the truth. There is no one to blame for it but me, as my youngest son refused to accept he would never become Lord. I am the one who has stalled the investigation, as due to my health I cannot manage this family alone.

'Your parents were some of the best people there were, and I am sorry that because of the actions of my other children you will never truly get to know them. All I ask is you leave the innocent in my family out of this battle, as they are not even aware it is occurring. What you do to your Uncle for justice once I am gone, is between you, God and the President. I love you my grandson, even though we never truly knew each other. Take care of my family well.'

Eric set it down, and saw it had been dated 4 years prior. "So what is your plan?" Eric asked him.

"The report was filed this morning, and will be available in 72 hours. It will not be trumpeted about, so it is likely your Uncle will not discover it. What happens from here with it, is up to you. As Lord, you have the right to appoint prosecutors within your realm, and Boston just so happens to be the seat of the Heinrich Empire, it is up to you." Tycho said as he slid over another file. "This has been the plan since I discovered it, as only you are positioned to know what justice should look like for this. The proof is in the files, and we have 200 more boxes to deliver. As much as I wish you could remain here to do this work, I need you in Boston acting as the Lord."

Eric looked at the box, and realized that was likely just the summaries of everything else they had. He smiled as he looked at it, and Tycho knew that whatever he was thinking would not be pretty for Kevin Heinrich. "I am under the impression that Heinrich Enterprises has a research division?" he asked.

"They do, deals mostly with weapons technology I believe." Tycho told him. "That would be a question for your Board of Directors once you take control."

"I would like to continue this project, splitting the team between Boston and Freebird Base." Eric said as Tycho smiled now.

"Done, decide who needs to be where. There is only one more thing we need to discuss, so I am glad you brought here with you this evening." Tycho said as Eric looked at her.

"That would be entirely up to her." Eric said as he knew what the President was insinuating now.

"What?" Holly asked as she was clueless.

"My dear, I could care less what you decide. However the Lord's Council is not the place for a bachelor to be. I know that you two just started dating, but it is my hope you could assist Lord Heinrich." Tycho said as she looked at the two of them.

"I would help in any way I can." Holly replied as Eric took a box from his pocket. It was the ring he had designed for her, and it had been delivered just a few hours ago.

"When does that episode air?" Eric asked Tycho.

"Next week." he answered Eric as he looked at Holly. "Any way?" he asked and she nodded as Eric went to one knee beside her.

"It is not how I planned this, but if you are going to help you will need this." he said as she turned to look at him. She looked into his eyes first, and could tell he was hoping she would have said that. She also realized he was offering her something, and as she looked down she spotted what was clearly am engagement ring.

"Yes, even this." she said as he took the ring out and slid it over her finger. He had ordered it in the perfect size, and it for perfectly.

"Will you marry me?" he asked as she held up the ring and nodded.

"Yes, of course." she said as he stood up and pulled her in for a kiss.