Delphi Embassy (Delphi in Space Book 11)
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Princess Catie
Chapter 2 Sorting Them Out
Chapter 3 Embassy
Chapter 4 The Trade Loop
Chapter 5 Board Meeting – Dec 5th
Chapter 6 The Merlin
Chapter 7 Resolve to Ship
Chapter 8 Landfall
Chapter 9 Ghost Raiders
Chapter 10 Well, Now What?
Chapter 11 The Galaxy Keeps Spinning
Chapter 12 Fishing in the Criminal Pool
Chapter 13 Culling the Catch
Chapter 14 It’s Lonely Out Here
Chapter 15 Retribution
Chapter 16 The End Game
Chapter 17 Home James
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Delphi Publishing
Copyright © 2021 Robert D. Blanton
Cover by Momir Borocki
momir.borocki@gmail.com
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2021.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Chapter 1
Princess Catie
“I am so tired of Princess Catie!” Catie hissed as she pulled her bag out of the closet and tossed it onto the bunk in her cabin, the captain’s cabin. She started packing her things.
“Do you want some help?” Morgan, her personal bodyguard, asked.
“I can do it,” Catie said.
“I know you can, I’m just offering to help.”
“Sure, if you’ll pack up my clothes, I’ll go take care of the head.”
“Got it.” Morgan had brought another bag to take care of the extra things they’d had made for Catie after the mission began. She had needed extra clothing that was more appropriate for a princess than her typical uniforms that she had brought with her when she was just the captain of the Roebuck.
Morgan folded the gowns with extra care. She didn’t understand why Catie hated wearing them. She was beautiful when she did. But who could figure out a teenager, especially one like Catie? At almost seventeen, Catie was just becoming a woman, but she’d lived a life only few could dream of. Following her father’s discovery of the Starship Sakira, she’d experienced one adventure after another, including a war where she’d been instrumental in Delphi winning. She’d even been awarded the Delphi Cross for that. But now she was going to have to play Princess Catherine of Delphi and Ambassador to Onisiwo, the planet they’d just rescued from being conquered by the Fazullans.
Morgan picked up the jewelry box. She paused to admire it. It was beautiful in its own right, but the jewels that it contained were gorgeous, things she could only dream about having. Catie had loaned her some a few times when she had a big event to go to. That’s one of the things she liked about Catie and all the McCormacks, they were completely indifferent to the fact that they were some of the richest people on Earth, and now in the galaxy. Morgan decided that she’d just carry the jewelry box across, no need to risk damage by packing it. She grabbed the bag and walked across the passageway with the jewelry box tucked under her arm. It was only two meters, but she knew to Catie it would be miles, from the captain’s cabin to the owner’s cabin. Morgan knew it was killing Catie to have to turn over command.
“Sergeant, is there a problem?” Lieutenant Suzuki, the first officer of the Roebuck, asked.
“No, ma’am. Just moving a few things.”
Lieutenant Suzuki nodded an acknowledgment to Morgan and continued to the bridge. Suzuki wondered why Captain McCormack needed to use the owner’s cabin as well as the captain’s cabin. “She probably has too many dresses to fit into the wardrobe.”
“First Officer on the bridge,” Roebuck, the ship’s AI, announced as Lieutenant Suzuki entered.
“Status?” Lieutenant Suzuki asked.
“We’ve been ordered to rendezvous with a Fox that’s heading this way. It just started its deceleration to match velocities,” the ship’s navigator announced.
“That’s unusual. It would have had to do a very high G profile to catch up with us.”
“Yes, ma’am. It was doing a twelve G profile to catch us. Not very comfortable for the pilot.”
“Hmm, must be something important. When will it match velocities?”
“Four hours, ma’am.”
“Very well, carry on.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Commander,” Catie greeted Commander McAvoy at the airlock to the flight bay. “Welcome aboard.”
“Thank you, Captain. Shall we proceed to the bridge?”
“Of course, follow me. My aide will take your bags to your cabin.”
“Thank you,” Commander McAvoy said, giving Catie a nod and a reassuring smile.
“Captain on the bridge,” Roebuck announced as Catie and Commander McAvoy entered.
“Captain,” Lieutenant Suzuki said as she jumped to attention from the captain’s chair.
“At ease. Please prepare for an all-hands announcement,” Catie ordered.
“All-hands, all-hands, standby for an announcement,” the Roebuck blared over the ship’s speakers.
“Commander,” Catie said.
Commander McAvoy pulled out a parchment and read: “By order of Admiral Blake McCormack of the Delphi Space Forces, Commander Tegan McAvoy is hereby ordered to assume command of the DSS Roebuck.” Commander McAvoy folded the parchment and turned to Catie. “Captain McCormack, I relieve you.”
“I stand relieved,” Catie said as she saluted the new captain of the Roebuck.
“Princess,” Captain McAvoy said as she saluted Catie.
Catie turned and left the bridge through the main entry instead of the entry that would take her to the captain’s day cabin. The owner’s cabin was identical to the captain’s cabin except for that one feature, direct access to the bridge.
“Status!” Captain McAvoy demanded.
◆ ◆ ◆
Once Captain McAvoy had gotten an update on the current status of the Roebuck, she and First Officer Suzuki went to the captain’s day cabin to go over more details.
“Are there any changes to the standing orders that you would suggest?” Captain McAvoy asked.
Suzuki paused to think. “I’m not sure, possibly limiting the Onisiwoens from accessing some areas of the ship more; they seem to have free rein.”
“I see, and how would you do that?”
“Restrict them from level B.” Level B was the bridge level.
“That would make it difficult for them to speak to the captain or the princess.”
“They could be escorted.”
“Hmm. Captain McCormack was trying to establish a personal relationship with them, as part of the process we need in order to open trade with their planet. Her evaluation on you says you’re a good first officer.”
Suzuki suppressed a snort. “That’s nice of her.”
“Lieutenant, you seem to have a problem with Captain McCormack. Would you please explain?”
“She’s just a figurehead. They put her in charge of this ship to impress the Onisiwoens. They sent you to take over once they could and it really counted.”
“And how did you reach this conclusion?”
“She’s not even seventeen.”
“Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar were only eighteen when they led their first campaigns.”
“I doubt they were
really in charge,” Lieutenant Suzuki said.
“Well, let me clarify some things for you,” Captain McAvoy said.
“First, let there be no doubt that when Catherine McCormack is in charge of something, she is in charge.
“Second, they sent me here not because they needed a more experienced officer to take over, but to free Captain McCormack to step into the role of Princess Catherine and our Ambassador to Onisiwo. She is now in charge of the entire mission in the Onisiwo system. She is in fact in charge of all Delphi assets in this system. She is my boss, and even Admiral McCormack’s boss while he is in the system.
“Third, when the admiral came to me and asked if I would take this assignment, he specifically stressed to me that Catherine McCormack would be in charge, that it would be unlikely that she would tolerate any failure on the part of the Delphi Forces that would compromise this mission. He wanted to make sure I felt up to the task.
“So, tell me. Am I making a mistake by not relieving you and sending you to the Victory?”
Lieutenant Suzuki gulped. “No, ma’am. I can and will do my job.”
“Let’s hope so. Because with me, you only get one strike.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Princess,” Captain McAvoy greeted Catie after Morgan let her into Catie’s day cabin.
“Catie, please.”
“Then call me Tegan,” Captain McAvoy said. “We haven’t met; I was on the Victory during the war, and for most of the time after.”
“I know,” Catie said. “Please be seated.”
“Thank you. I wanted to meet, to make sure that you had everything you needed and to find out if there was anything specific you might wish me to do,” Captain McAvoy said.
“You know our goals. Separate out the slaves from the Fazullan ships and put those ships in isolation in another system until we find a home for them. That part of the mission will mainly fall to Captain Clements. We also need to set up an embassy on Onisiwo. See what we can do to involve them in the economics of resettling the Paraxeans, the Aperanjens, and eventually the Fazullans. And of course, we have to do all that without upsetting the balance of power on Onisiwo or within the Delphi League.”
“Sounds simple.” Captain McAvoy gave Catie a smile.
“I wish. You should know that I’ve offered the Onisiwoens that we freed from the Fazullans, refuge on the Roebuck until they’re ready to return to the planet. Especially the women might wish to wait for the media storm to settle down before they return home.”
“I can understand that.”
“Is there anything else about the Roebuck you need me to explain?” Catie asked.
“I don’t think so. I’ve reviewed your standing orders and the ship’s log. If I do have a question, I’ll be sure to ask. Well, I do have one question, Lieutenant Suzuki?”
“Ah, our intransigent first officer. I think she’s a fine officer, but it seems she has a chip on her shoulder. I haven’t spent very much time researching her background to try and figure out where the chip comes from, but I don’t think it’s gotten in the way of her duty.”
“Not even when she challenged you to a sparring match?”
“I think that was Morgan,” Catie said.
“Moi?” Morgan feigned surprise.
Captain McAvoy gave Catie a quizzical look.
“Morgan couldn’t help herself. I think she saw the opportunity to teach the lieutenant a lesson and make a mint off of it by betting with the crew.”
“I was only taking cues from my captain,” Morgan said.
“Hmm, about half the crew thinks you got lucky,” Captain McAvoy said.
“Good, we wouldn’t want to undermine the first officer’s authority by having the whole crew think she got slammed by a sixteen-year-old girl.”
“Your uncle warned me to never underestimate you.”
“I think he was trying to keep me from having any fun at your expense. But I would never do that,” Catie said, “at least not while you’re the captain.”
“Thank you for that.” Captain McAvoy had heard about Catie’s penchant for playing tricks on her peers, and especially her penchant for getting even. She was relieved that Catie was giving her a pass on that. “Now if you don’t have any special instructions, I’ll get back to running the ship.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hi, Uncle Blake.”
“Princess,” Blake replied, giving Catie a salute. Fist over heart, the new Delphian salute they’d adopted from the Aperanjens.
“Uncle Blake!”
“Okay, hi, Squirt.”
Catie just sighed. “I thought you wanted to chat, not tease me.”
“Can’t I do both?”
“Obviously.”
“The Paraxean carriers are heading home. We’ll leave the Victory here until you finish moving everyone to their new planets, and until we can get one of the new frigates out here, we’ll leave you the Sakira as well.”
Catie just nodded her head, taking it all in.
“I assume you’ll be bringing the Fazullan ships into the system one at a time before you move them over to the next star system.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. What do you think about leaving them where they are?” Catie asked. “They’re too far away from Onisiwo to cause any problems.”
“I agree, that sounds easier and probably safer. Good idea, but what about the ones on the other side of the wormhole?”
“I thought I should ask Captain Clements to move them into this system but beyond the fringe like we did with the ones trying to invade, except this time without any velocity. He can use the Sakira to move the wormhole.”
“I agree, and approve, although you’re the boss, so you don’t need my approval. Now, once the first frigate arrives, you’ll be free to send the Roebuck off to check out the new planets. That is assuming we find what we’re looking for.”
“I’m sure we will.”
“I’ll keep the Enterprise out on the fringe of Earth’s system, so she can be here in a few hours if you need her,” Blake said. “And of course, we’re all just a phone call away.”
“I know.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll do just fine. Do you want me to send anyone else out this way?”
“No, not now. I’m sure we’ll be rotating crews before this is over. But for now, I think we should minimize the change.”
“Your will,” Blake teased, using the Fazullan acknowledgment of a royal command.
Catie just waved at him as she cut the Comm channel.
◆ ◆ ◆
“I want to thank everyone for joining me,” Catie said as the leaders of the Onisiwoen mission gathered with Captain McAvoy and her staff in her cabin for dinner. “I wanted to have a chance for Captain McAvoy to meet all of you and for you to provide us more information about Onisiwo before we arrive on the planet next week.”
“Thank you, Princess,” Charlie, the captain of the Onisiwoen mission, said. Commander Zaragaxia, the lead female of the mission, just nodded to Catie.
“Zoey,” Catie greeted her. Captain Zaragaxia had selected Zoey as her familiar name. “I’ve asked Captain McAvoy, Major Prescott, and Lieutenant Mischeff to join us.”
Kasper, Major Prescott, and Captain McAvoy used the new hand-over-heart salute to greet everyone, giving a slight bow to make it more formal.
Catie nodded to her steward to serve drinks.
“I’m sure we will all benefit from understanding the situation on Onisiwo as you remember it,” Catie continued. “Charlie, can you explain your system of government?”
Charlie finished taking a sip of the wine he’d been served before he began. “Our planet has a unified government, but that can be misleading. There are actually six different major governments, one for each of the five continents and one from our space colonies and space stations. Each government selects its representative to the Planetary Council. The Council has a Chair who leads it. That position rotates among the six representatives, with a new one stepping
into the role of Chair every two years. The current Chair is from my home, the Northern Coalition. Zoey’s home coalition will provide the Chair for the next session which starts in another year.”
“Are they elected?” Captain McAvoy asked.
“No, each representative to the Council is appointed by their sponsoring nation. I think in all cases they are appointed by the coalition’s president and confirmed by their legislature.”
“That is how I remember it,” Zoey said. “I’m sure that’s true for all members of the Council.”
“So, they don’t have much power?”
“No, they do,” Zoey said. “Their appointment to the Council is for twelve years, so each one will be Chair six times before their appointment ends. Their decisions carry a lot of weight and it takes a ruling by our planetary supreme court to overrule them, or all six governments must agree with a supermajority from their legislature.”
“How does the Chair influence the Council?”
“The Chair controls the agenda and has an extra vote in case of ties,” Charlie said.
“I see. What about your military?”
“Each nation still maintains a separate military. There have been attempts to eliminate them and form a single planetary military, but they’ve all failed. No nation wants to give up the power that the threat of military intervention gives them,” Zoey said.
“What about the colonies and space stations?”
“They are demilitarized,” Zoey said. “The lunar colonies aren’t really permanent; since the gravity is low, the people on them rotate every five years. Some rotate to the space stations, others come home to their nation.”
“So, does that mean that the space stations are the real power for the sixth nation?” Catie asked.
“That is correct; before we left, they were maintaining a neutral stance. Since they were all established as a shared planetary mission, they have ties to all five coalitions on the planet’s surface. Historically, they have been a stabilizing influence.”
The dinner continued with the Onisiwoens asking questions about Earth, and Captain McAvoy and Catie asking questions about Onisiwo. By dessert they had moved on to questions about the various forms of entertainment the two planets enjoyed, giving Catie the feeling that the dinner had been successful.