Chapter One

The Long Road Ahead

Logistics Officer Cheap stepped out of the orb craft before the debris thrown up by the landing had even started to settle.

The Imperium’s new planet didn’t make much of a first impression, and she was immediately thankful that she had chosen to come in her Modular Boost Suit.

The heavy metal feet squelched through the mud at the edge of what passed for a landing pad as the sensors registered the local temperature at a less-than-welcoming nine degrees.

“Welcome to Malshire!” Andy grinned at her, gesturing at the mess of stone buildings behind him. Even muddy and surrounded by squalor, the Marshall’s resident doctor looked distractingly attractive. “The president’s waiting in the town hall; come on.”

“The president?” Cheape hesitated. She had been told they needed a senior officer, and apparently, she qualified. In the words of the Queen, they probably need a logistics upgrade as well, so Cheape would go. “What exactly am I here to do?”

“No idea,” Andy shrugged, his shoulders relaxed as he led her past stone buildings riddled with moss and mold topped by slumping, fetid thatch. “The pres just asked for a senior member of the Imperium.”

“What about you?” Cheape asked. “You were here long before me.”

“Marshalls don’t count,” Andy said with a smile, nodding to a couple of people as they passed. “The boss always says we have to remain as neutral as possible. Honestly, I think he just prefers someone else handle the governmental stuff.”

“I’ll do my best,” Cheape promised.

Andy had been part of the force that had taken apart the Imperial Line detachment she had been part of before joining the Imperium, and she still felt like it was up to her to prove they had made the right choice in allowing her to join. Maybe this was her chance to do that?

“I’m sure it’s nothing major,” Andy reassured her. “These people are in a mess, but that means their expectations are so low they are subterranean.”

“It’s that bad?” Cheape asked. The place looked run down, but it wasn’t much worse than the world she had grown up in.

“Medically speaking, it’s a wreck. Everyone is malnourished, their diet is terrible, and the conditions they live in practically guarantee they are sick almost constantly.” Andy grimaced. “That is the first thing I intend to tell whoever ends up running this place to fix.”

“Undernourished?” Cheape looked around at the few people out and about. Their skin was pale and kind of dry-looking, and their hair did look a bit thin and wiry, but she had assumed that was more their racial look than anything else. “Aren’t they farmers?”

“Technically,” Andy made a fifty/fifty gesture. “But they suck at it, frankly, and the vast majority of what they grew was claimed by the black port, so…”

They continued on as a light rain began to fall. It suited the gloomy place and the dour people she saw as they finally approached the village hall.

“That’s just a big barn,” Cheape said before she could clamp her lips shut against the rude comment.

“Yeah,” Andy nodded. “But it’s a really big barn, and they have chairs and stuff for meetings.”

“You said I was meeting the President?” Cheape asked, “Shouldn’t they be in the capital?”

“They are,” Andy pushed open the door to the barn, revealing a soft light from lamps within. “So are we, by the way.”

Cheape managed not to let her thoughts escape her mouth this time, giving one last look at the town before stepping into the barn. It didn’t look any better the second time around.

Andy led her past wooden chairs and towards the back, where a wiry man was waiting beside a table that looked to be made of carven stone. It had an official look to it, and Cheape did her best to ignore the ‘sacrificial’ look of the thing.

She assessed the man quickly, noting his clothing looked new and clean unlike everyone else here, but his skin was drawn against his muscles and features almost more than the others she had seen.

With a bald head and sunken eyes, he looked almost skeletal in the dim light offered by the lamps hung on the walls. They at least looked like they were electrical. She had nearly expected them to be oil lamps.

“Mister President,” Andy called warmly. “Allow me to introduce Officer Cheap, our head of Logistics.”

“Thank you for coming,” The man bobbed his head in a quick nod. “Forgive me for asking, but you are a senior officer?”

“Officer Cheape is the Chief Logistics Officer responsible for a large part of our success in the recent war,” Andy said, a serious look on his face as he spoke. “She meets with the Herald of the Queen every morning and the Queens themselves most weeks.”

Cheape tried not to react, reminding herself that Andy was merely inflating her importance to satisfy the president. Still, it was nice to hear him say it.

“We are honored to have you visit our capital, Chief Officer,” the president said, bowing a lot lower than before.

“The honor is mine, Mister President,” Cheape said quickly. “How can I be of assistance?”

“Our planet is not a prosperous one,” the president said quickly, “And we do not wish for the Imperium to be suspicious that we are trying to hold back any supplies. I was hoping you could accompany me on a tour of the capital and examine our stores. That way, you might better understand what we can supply the Imperium.” His tongue darted out, licking his lips nervously as he hunched over like someone expecting a blow.

“A tour?” Cheape asked. “Certainly, I would be delighted.”

“Give me a couple of minutes to prepare it,” the president said, relief clear on his face. “Thank you.” He didn’t exactly run out of the barn, but it was close.

“Marshall?” Cheape whispered as soon as they were alone. “What do I do here?”

“No idea,” Andy said with a frown. “I assumed they wanted to do some kind of welcome ceremony.”

“Why do they seem so scared?” Cheape asked. “And what do we actually want them to supply us?” Bitter memories of watching her former Captain of the Line extort and threaten backwater planets came back to haunt her. Surely this wasn’t going to be a repeat of that?

“No idea,” Andy shrugged. “I was told to come down and see what they needed medically. No one mentioned getting anything in return.”

“Can you stall them for a moment?” Cheape asked. “I think I better call Salem and ask.”

“Go for it,” Andy nodded and hurried after the president.

Calling up her implant’s contact list, Cheape scrolled through to see if Salem was available. The icon next to many of the contacts was red, indicating they were busy, and unfortunately, Salem’s was as well.

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Sorting the list for available, only two possible choices presented themselves. The first was Leah, the terrifying adopted daughter of the Queens with a fondness for knives. So, yeah, no. Next was Remy, the Chief of Security, but he never set his icon to red, just in case of emergency—also, a no. Cheape was a little terrified of the silent, ever-watchful man. He always seemed to be looking through her when they spoke, as if she was made of glass.

A new name appeared on the list, and Cheape breathed a sigh of relief and chose it immediately.

“This is Baz,” The Imperium’s chief pilot answered immediately. “Whoever this is, you have about thirty seconds before I start docking, so speak quickly.”

“Umm,” Cheape hesitated before plunging into it. “This is Cheape, and I need to know what we want for the planet in this system?”

“No idea, since apparently they refuse to allow me to be a pirate king,” Baz sighed theatrically. “I’ll get Nellie for you, one sec.”

Cheape froze in shock before the line flashed, and an image of the Queen of the Nanite Imperium flashed onto her HUD.

“Yes?” The Queen looked both busy and angry.

“Sorry, Ma’am, I was just looking to find out what we needed from this planet. I didn’t mean for the Senior Pilot to bother you with it.” Cheape felt sweat rolling down the back of her neck. The Queen was amazingly normal and friendly on the few occasions they had spoken, but she was also the leader of the entire Imperium, and some of the stories about her were…

“No problem,” The Queen sighed. “We do need to sort that place out, and I did send you there, so… Okay, basically, we don’t want anything from them. Maybe crew members and that later, but from what Lucy tells me, it’s basically a mudball?”

“That would be a fair assessment, yes, Ma’am,” Cheape replied quickly. “The president seems to be worried, and Marshall Andy informed me the medical situation was worrying as well.”

“Ostie,” The Queen groaned. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Sorry, Ma’am.” Cheape swallowed nervously. “Perhaps a more experienced officer would be better for this assignment?”

“You’re right,” Nellie said grimly, “But we don’t have any to spare.”

“Ma’am?” Cheape asked.

“We are having to do a lot in a short time here, Cheape,” Nellie said with a wry smile. “Salem is overseeing the expansion of the Rest and dealing with the Maiusarian situation. I’m dealing with ambassadors, and Lucy is overseeing the rest of the new system. Remy is busy finishing the jump rings, and Crush is insisting on a codified set of laws. Berenice has apparently upset the Sagacity. We have a whole new civilization on the planet below, and my daughter is not taking my calls while hiding out on Planet Home.” She frowned, “You know, I’m sure there are a few things I’m forgetting on that list. The point is, we are busy.”

“Understood, Ma’am. What should I do? I can tell them we will return later if you wish?”

Nellie seemed to focus on Cheape while thinking it over, and even a system away, Cheape tried not to squirm under the scrutiny.

“We need that planet sorted out,” The Queen said after a couple of seconds. “We never wanted to take over the planet, but here we are. I’ll send you a list of what we want done, but you will have to oversee it yourself. It’s a lot to ask, but I’m afraid we don’t have another choice.”

Cheape tried to swallow, only to find her mouth too dry to manage it.

“Me, Ma’am?” She hated how terrified she sounded. “Do I have the authority to do that?”

“You will by the time we are done here,” Nellie said, looking off to the side as what sounded like an argument started in the background. “Look, I have to deal with this. I take it you accept the assignment?”

“Of course, Ma’am. Anything you need.” The response was automatic. The bosses asked, but it was never an actual question. At least, it never had been before she joined the Imperium. Old habits died hard.

“Thanks, Cheape,” The Queen smiled. “I’ll have Salem assign you some staff.”

The line went dead, and a second later, her message box chimed.

It took an embarrassingly long time before she had the guts to check the messages.

Notification of Field Promotion.

You are hereby assigned the Rank - Emissary of the Nanite Imperium.

Emissary of the Nanite Imperium:

You are the hand of the Herald, the voice of the will of the Queens, and the Eyes of the Chief Marshall.

Military Rank Bestowed: Captain

Diplomatic Rank Bestowed: Ambassador

Government Rank Bestowed: Advisor

Congratulations!

Cheape only just managed to get her helmet open before she threw up.

After rinsing her mouth with water from her suit reserve, Cheape tried to calm herself down by focusing on something else. In this case, she chose the second bit of mail.

Priorities and Goals for inducting the new planet into the Imperium

Education and Training Programs

Imperium Standard of Living

Establish a working Health System

Establish the rule of law according to Marshall’s Code

Integrate modern technology and farming methods

Establish a trade hub

Build a spaceport

Detailed scan of the planet

Detailed list of minerals, plant, and animal life

Establish local Manufacturing centers for Nanite and Imperium technology

Create a functional economy

…

Cheape felt her throat tighten as the list went on and on. It seemed like they wanted her to build a planet. An entire planet, right now. When she finally got to the end of the extremely long list, she saw a note from Salem added to the bottom.

Cheape - I know this seems like an impossible list, so I want to offer you some advice and a short form. We want those people happy, healthy and brought into the Imperium. That should be your focus. Hopefully, they have some of those things in place already, and you will be upgrading things.

If not, just start with the most immediately urgent things and work out from there.

It won’t be easy, but I have faith you can do this.

Good Luck.

Salem.

She read the note three times, which didn’t help much. However, the part about having faith in her was great. Yaay. They had faith in her. That could also be read as she was expected to succeed.

Or they would lose faith in her.

No pressure.

The great thing about the boost suit was that it covered her completely. That meant that when she stepped out of the barn to meet the waiting president and Marshall, neither of them could see the way her hands were shaking. Nor could they see how pale she was or how much she was sweating.

All they could see was the smooth, polished metal of the suit.

Weirdly enough, that helped her to calm down a little.

The tour passed in a near blur, with not much in the way of highlights. Despite the near panic state, Cheape made the right noises, asking questions when it seemed appropriate. Luckily, she had a couple of advantages. First, it seemed that Andy had an agricultural background, which meant he was able to translate the entire hour-long talk about the local farming methods into a few simple words.

“They are basically a bunch of individual villages, each trying to grow as much as possible on the land they have. One family, one farm type stuff.” Andy whispered. “Not much machinery, and no co-operative or industrial farming methods.”

“Have you not considered advancing your farming methods?” Cheape asked the president as they left the farms and headed back towards the village.

“We didn’t have the option,” the man shrugged. “Anything good we had, the pirates took.”

Cheape nodded. It sounded a lot like her home planet, right down to the bastards who came and took whatever they wanted.

They stopped outside the food storage towers, but Cheape decided not to look in. The smell alone was enough to know that some of it was spoiled. It was another example of something they never needed to worry about, as the pirates had taken everything before it spoiled normally.

“Where is the school?” Cheape asked as it looked like the tour was winding down. “Or the hospital?”

“We teach our children to be farmers,” the president said, looking away. “No need for ‘em to learn anything else if that’s all they will ever be.”

Cheape saw Andy tense at the comment, his shoulders tightening as he looked away.

“And we don’t really have a hospital; just got the healer.” the president said. “She and her sort fix us up with herbs or help with births and such.”

Cheape saw Andy almost trip up in his shock.

“You do what you can with what you have,” Cheape said quickly before Andy could open his mouth. Weirdly enough, she was coming to understand these people a bit. They were very similar to her own.

“That’s right,” the president nodded. “So, begging your pardon, Ma’am, I hope your people leave us something to do things with.”

“We don’t take from people,” Andy said, angry for some reason Cheape didn’t understand.

“We work with them,” Cheape continued as smoothly as she could manage. “In fact, I see many ways in which we can help each other.”

Maybe she could do this after all.