Chapter Twenty-Four

Planning

Remy pulled up a holographic map of Confederate Space and started to fill in the information as he spoke.

“Unlike our own system, most of the Confederated Planets systems have only two or three jump points. The major exception is the Autumn Winds star system. They have four and serve as a common through point for this side of Confederated space,” He indicated a system just on the other side of Ember’s Hearth. “Our other neighboring system, Forest’s Hush, is allied with Cyrus and likely to be heavily defended once they realize what we have done with Ember’s Hearth.”

“Are you advising we attack there?” Lucy asked, here in person now that things had escalated sharply. That wasn’t distracting at all. Nope. Not at all.

Nellie forced herself to focus on the briefing.

“Not at all.” Remy shook his head. “That would be the invasion of a neighboring system, no matter what the reasons. The surrounding governments, alliances, and systems would never allow that to go unchecked. Nellie’s got the right on this situation. Action by proxy.” He gave Nellie a proud look. “Masterful statecraft.”

“Someone’s enjoying themselves,” Paren grinned, her familiar smile slightly see-through as she was actually sitting in her base-turned-hospital down on Planet Home. She looked a lot more serious than the last time they had a meeting like this, and Nellie noted her clothes had changed as well. Gone was the messy punk look, replaced with a tightly buttoned vest and loose sleeves. Her wild hair was coiled up on the back of her head like snakes but still showed a rainbow of colors.

“I won’t lie,” Remy gave a half smile. “This takes me back, and it’s pleasing to get a chance to use my true skills.”

“I think you both needed this distraction,” Lucy smirked at Nellie.

What? Okay, so she had been getting a little petty in her boredom. Ha! Who was she kidding? Nellie needed this as much as Remy did.

“The civil war is currently centered around the Sand’s Embrace system, which technically borders Ember’s hearth. In reality, the jump between the two is extended by what the Confed’s refer to as ‘The Corridor.’ It is a section of empty space with a jump point at one end and another at the other. It adds hours to jump between systems and is a possible ambush point for anyone traveling through it, but it is the only way to go straight from Embrace to Hearth.” Remy showed the small set of points. “Typical travel time is roughly six hours.”

“So that is the most likely path for anyone trying to attack Hearth from the Embrace, assuming it has already fallen?” Nellie checked.

“Very much so.” Remy continued. “Now, even if we manage to hold Hearth’s system, that still leaves us a minimum of three jumps to get to the home of Falling Waters Clan. More than that, the three neighboring systems, High Water, Still Water, and First Light, are all staunch allies of Cyrus. With autumn Winds and the Forest’s Hush, they have this side of the Confed systems sown up.”

“Except Sand’s Embrace,” Nellie offered. “They might not have that yet.”

“For now, I suggest we assume they do,” Remy shrugged. “From a defensive standpoint, at least.”

“Agreed,” Lucy nodded.

“Even if they do, it will be a fresh conquest,” Nellie leaned forward, memories of the Hub dancing in her mind. “They are vulnerable from within. We could try and get someone in there to start a little trouble.”

Remy paused and turned away a little, wiping a tear from one eye.

“Remy?” Lucy asked.

“Sorry,” Remy cleared his throat. “I just… I love this idea.”

Nellie chuckled. It was only now that she realized how much Remy must have been working against type. They had all changed a lot since they first met, but Remy had basically been going against a large part of his core personality. That would have to change.

“You know,” she said with a smile. “We should probably start working on training spies and establishing our own intelligence agency. We will need them, as this situation has just proved.”

Remy had to sit down for a moment after that.

“On the subject of support and personnel, we need to be careful not to reveal too openly that we are behind the new Clan,” Remy said a little later, once he had recovered himself a little. “Otherwise, we risk alienating Clans that might ally with us. Our neighbors will likely have objections as well.”

Nellie frowned. It was an aspect she hadn’t considered. She had even droned Hellena. Mentally, she had just imagined sending nanites and prefabs along with the Songbird wing. Not exactly circumspect.

“Do we have anything that isn’t obviously Imperium technology?” Nellie asked. “I mean, we use it for everything.”

“I can help with that,” Lucy smiled. “Our very own Emissary Cheape has been making do without nanites on the new planet. Some very interesting technology has emerged, and not just the goggles.”

“Anything that might be useful here?” Remy asked.

“They have their own version of Vicky’s Modular Boost Suit. They call them ‘Rigs,’ and I believe they are nearly as powerful as a full suit now. Easily adaptable as well.”

“Capable of being armored?” Remy asked thoughtfully.

“Definitely,” Lucy nodded. “Cheape and her people have even come up with several training programs to help people get up to speed in a hurry.”

“What about the Boost Suits themselves?” Nellie asked. “We can use them, can’t we?”

“We could,” Remy nodded. “But several of them have been seen on this station. No one has been down to Haven but Imperium personnel. Assuming the ‘Rigs’ don’t appear as exact copies?”

“They have a much more industrial look,” Lucy confirmed. “The same function, but a much different form.”

“Excellent, we should start production of them immediately.” Remy smiled. “Now, as to the construction of things needed on site?”

“The Material Processors I created for Cheape could work, but they do contain nanites.” Lucy offered.

“That's not a problem; we just need to make sure no one has a chance to open one,” Remy nodded.

“We have plenty of ship designs available as well,” Nellie was thinking of the dock she had built to make the Harbinger. It had taken enough of the ships apart; it shouldn’t take too long to make a replica of one, maybe with some upgrades hidden throughout. “A couple of capitals would make a decent start to things.”

“No chance,” Remy sighed. “It has to look like Hellena used her contacts here to get a leg up. If we give her too much, we become obvious again.”

“Subtlety is not exactly our usual style,” Lucy said with a smile.

“I’m subtle,” Paren sniffed. “When I want to be.”

“Anything you think we can use for this?” Nellie asked.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I have about thirty people you can trust,” Paren replied with a smile. “Healed, repaired, and upgraded. They will never forget what we did for them. They would happily serve under Hellena as well.”

“How obvious are the upgrades?” Remy asked.

“Completely undetectable,” Paren smiled proudly. “Nanite infused, but flesh shaped by Carl. They look utterly normal.”

“Right up until they don’t,” Nellie finished, getting a smile in return.

“Why not take Leah?” Paren added. “She wasn’t involved in the fighting, and her people are mostly unknown.”

“I was hoping they would be available, actually,” Remy nodded. “She is exactly the kind of operative to excel in this environment.”

“So, a leg up, but no outright backing,” Nellie said, thinking aloud. “What about a heavily ‘damaged’ capital ship? Something left over from the fighting.”

“That would work,” Remy nodded. “And I had another thought about the Boost Suits. We can’t send a ton of them, but it would be believable that Hellena acquired a couple of dozen for her people.”

“Boost suits, rigs, assassins. Is it wrong that I wish I were going along now?” Paren asked.

“No,” Remy grinned. “I wish I was too.”

“And me,” Nellie sighed. “Doing things by proxy is going to be fun, but not as much as doing it myself.”

/===<<<>>>===\

“Stand Clear!” Cheape yelled as she walked backward.

The large wheels began to turn, and slowly, the massive vehicle began to turn. A cheer went up as it rolled out of the machine shed and into the light.

They had given up on tires for now. It was just too difficult to get anything to work as a tire. If they found any local source, it would be a different story, but for now, the large wheels and gears were being used to make tracks.

This was their first large vehicle, an oversized dump truck destined for the mining and quarry industries. It would allow them to more than triple their production levels by removing the need for several delivery trips each day.

“Clear to move!” Cheape waved the all-clear, and the drivers let off the air horns before the truck trundled away toward the mine, tracks moving quickly over the rough ground outside of town.

“Mistress,” one of the workers called her. “Master Trevor asked to see you as soon as possible.”

Twitch.

“Thank you,” Cheape sighed, turning her Boost Suit around and stalking off toward the new Imperium building. They still had the base, of course, but Marls and Tensor had insisted on constructing a formal building for them to work in. It was nearly as big as the new Town Hall and shared the same style of design, but the two-foot-tall letters ‘Imperium Headquarters’ over the main entrance certainly set it apart. They had been carved deeply into the stone, and Cheape had to admit it made her proud every time she saw the words.

Hurrying through the town—and it was a town now—Cheape smiled to see the clean streets, immaculate sidewalks, and ornate streetlights. Each one was a metal column that ended in a stylized nanite, the light itself making up the center of the shape.

She was almost to the headquarters when something made her stop and turn, crossing the street to stare.

An electronic noticeboard had been put up in the town square. It showed a map of the town, complete with a list of jobs needing to be done. As she watched, a trio of locals came up, tapping a device on their wrist against the board and hurrying away as one of the jobs changed to show it was assigned.

“Mistress Cheape!” Marls called as he walked up. “I see you found our latest innovation.”

Twitch.

“What is this?” Cheape asked.

“Well, in the old days,” Marl smiled smugly, as he always did when talking about the near legends of this planet, “We used to have mission boards in every town square where people would post jobs and things. I have revived the practice. It lets people manage their own time and work towards their own goals.”

“What kind of rewards does it offer?” Cheape asked. She was uncomfortably aware they still had no actual currency on the planet.

“I took the liberty of putting aside ten of the Learning Pods, as well as a selection of the C.L.S. suits. People gain points for jobs done, and eventually, they can get time in a learning pod or even a C.L.S. suit of their own.” Marls beamed. “We even have a separate board in the town hall where families can pool their points for a better house, although that takes a lot longer, as you can imagine.”

He hesitated. “That is alright, isn’t it?”

Cheape thought it over. So far, everyone had effectively been working for free. They were improving their own lot in life in the process, but still for free. This wasn’t quite as bad as all that, but it had been worrying Cheape for a while now. It wasn’t a workable solution in the long term.

This wasn’t either, at least in the current form. But it was a start—an improvement over what they had now.

“Yes, I think this is a great idea, Marls. Well done.” Cheape nodded.

“Wonderful!” Marls beamed. “Just you wait, Emissary. This is only the beginning.”

Looking around the town, unrecognizable from the place she had landed at only a couple of months ago, Cheape had to agree.

“Tee! You wanted to see me?” Cheape asked as she stepped out of the Boost suit and walked over to the frowning silicate.

“Yes, and it is a difficult thing,” Tee said and sounded sad. “But I can put it off no longer.”

“What’s wrong?” Cheape felt something cold seize her heart. Was he leaving? Had she done something to make him unhappy?

“It is the mines, and the cutting of trees, and… everything,” Tee sighed. “I worry we will ruin this planet with such actions.”

“Oh!” Cheape laughed. “Phew! You had me worried there for a minute.”

“This is not a joking matter, Emissary,” TRV-4 shook his head. “These things matter to me.”

“No! No!” Cheape winced. Nice one, idiot, she thought. Next, tell him he dresses funny. “That is not what I meant.” She took a deep breath. “I just meant I had already thought of that and made plans.”

“Plans?” Tee asked.

“Well, we need the wood, stone, and ore,” Cheape hurried on before he could disagree, “But we also need this planet to be healthy and vibrant. So, I thought about replacement and reconstruction right from the start.”

“You did?” Tee looked surprised.

“Of course,” Cheape beamed. “What kind of idiot uses up a resource without a plan to replace it?” She beckoned Tee over to her workstation, pulling up her estimates and plans. “Look, I have estimated the amount of deforestation caused by the town and how it will grow over the next fifty years or so. Even with a geometric progression, we can offset this by planting several new forested areas. The healers know of a number of fast-growing species of trees to prevent erosion from setting in while the larger, slower trees mature.” She brought up the areas she had chosen for the newly planted forests. There was a ridgeline nearby that looked just about perfect, and she could already see the forest as it grew.

“That is amazing,” Tee leaned over her to look closer, and Cheape did her best not to lean back against him.

“As for the mine and quarry, we don’t use any chemicals in the mining thanks to the laser cutters. It’s a simple matter of filling them in again or even digging them out further and creating an artificial lake or two.”

“Yes, I like that,” Tee said, and Cheape could see his smile out the corner of her eye. “Perhaps the mine might be converted into more mushroom caves as well.”

“Sure,” Cheape added the note to her plans. “The biggest issue was the area where we removed the topsoil and sand. That is by far the most significant environmental impact we’ve had so far. It is down to the bedrock in places.”

“How will we fix it?” Tee asked, frowning.

“We can’t,” Cheape said, wincing as he pulled away.

“We can’t?” Tee sounded horrified. “The damage is too profound?”

“In the long term, we could, but it would just be moving soil from one area to another. Whatever we fix it with would just damage other areas. That’s why I decided to make that the site of a dedicated spaceport. We would need to dig all the way down to the bedrock for that anyway. By choosing this site instead, we prevent any damage from being done elsewhere.” Cheape turned and put her hand on Tee’s chest, trying to calm him. “We would have had to do something similar for the Port anyway. This way, we can create an exclusion zone to prevent anything from leeching into the surrounding soil. We can’t fix it, but we can use it to avoid any damage anywhere else. In the long term, this will end up with less environmental damage overall.”

TRV-4 was silent for a long moment, his head tilting this way and that. Cheape assumed he was running the numbers and estimates in his head, and she stared at him, loving the way his eyes caught the light.

“Then there is only one thing left that bothers me,” Tee said, looking at Cheape and smiling slightly. “The new machines will damage the environment. We must find a better way.”

“We will,” Cheape promised, suddenly aware she hadn’t moved her hand from his chest. It felt awkward to move it now, but she already felt a blush starting. “But I plan to create roads for them to use. Gravel roads will minimize damage, and we already have plenty of stone to use.”

“This is good,” Tee smiled. “Thank you for considering my beliefs.”

“It’s no problem,” Cheape smiled. “It is much more efficient to care for your environment, at least in the long term. Truly a Win-Win situation.”

“Still, thank you,” Tee nodded, his head achingly close to her before she stepped back. “I feel much more secure in our choices now. And in you.”

“Uh, thanks?” Cheape felt her fingers cooling as she dropped her hand. Tee was warm, and Cheap didn’t think she’d ever noticed that before.

“I will return to exploring now,” Tee bowed. “See you later?”

“Of course,” Cheape smiled.

“I will look forward to it!” Tee nodded and turned, walking out of the room before he stopped and looked back. “Your consideration really did touch me, Cheape.”

“Thanks,” Cheape said again, feeling flustered as she knew the blush was starting to show. “I’m happy I touched you!” Cheape called after him before her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped into an ‘O’ of horror.