Stories from the Shepherd Moon - Interviews 2

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Stories from the Shepherd Moon –
Interviews #02:  An Obsession with Royalty

“This is Bryan Seacrest, broadcasting from BBC Solar’s outside broadcasting van, or what we in the news business like to call the ‘OB Van,’ here on the front lawn of the Royal Castle of the Northern Territory here on Elyra Prime. We are covering the investiture of the Princess Amelia Liaran-Kerr-Steele as the new ruler of the Kingdom of the Northern Territory. As you know, this comes on the heels of…”


 
 

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Warning! If you haven’t read the Shepherd Moon stories,
and don’t want any spoilers, don’t continue.

This particular story is part of the “Stories from the
Shepherd Moon,”
and provides a bit of a recap of
the events that make up the Shepherd Moon story.

This is a fun and funny kind of vignette, about a
royal event in Mia’s life, covered by the fictitious 
BBC Solar video network, and anchored by the fictitious
TV personality Bryan Seacreast (wink wink), with news
personalities Danni Sawyer and Kathy Courik (lol).

This story is also chock-full of pictures
(as my stories are known to be from time to time)
which, I hope, adds a bit of the fun element of this little post.

As usual, the pictures and collages are from publicly-accessible
pictures from the net. No i.p. or copyright infringement is intended.

So.
If you wish to continue,
feel free to scroll down
and I hope you have fun!

(And please do comment? Thanks!)

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Announcer: “To all our viewers on the planet, the colonies and territories of the United Nations of Earth, and, via galactic radio relay, to all our viewers in the Galactic Federation of Free Races – we welcome you back to BBC Solar’s special galaxy-wide coverage of the investiture of Princess Amelia Liaran-Kerr-Steele as the new ruler of the Elyran Kingdom of the Northern Territory.

“We now return you to BBC Solar’s Bryan Seacrest and special news correspondent from the Royal Elyran Broadcasting System, Jen Tevan-Losira.”

 

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“Welcome back, viewers. My name’s Bryan Seacrest, broadcasting from BBC Solar’s outside broadcasting van, or what we in the news business like to call the ‘OB Van,’ here on the front lawn of the Royal Castle of the Northern Territory here on Elyra Prime. I’m here with the famous Elyran presenter and TV personality, Jem Tevan-Losira.”

Jem spoke, but only Elyran could be heard.

“Jem! Jem! You have to make sure both buttons of your translator are pressed down.”

“Oh!” Jem said, took the little translator from his ear and pressed a button on it. “Apologies, Bryan. Am I fine now?”

“Yes, thanks.”

T’chahn, everyone,” Jem said, and fitted the translator back in his ear. “Apologies to all the viewers.”

“Jem and I have been covering the investiture ceremony of the Princess Amelia Liaran-Kerr-Steele as the new ruler of the Kingdom of the Northern Territory. Actually, the investiture rights have been completed a while ago, and we are just waiting for the last part of the ceremony, the official portrait of Princess Amelia to be properly framed and then hung in the castle’s Hall of Paintings. As you know, this comes on the heels of…”

“Pardon me, Bryan,” Jem interrupted. “That’s not strictly correct. Princess Amelia isn’t really the ruler of the Northern Territory. Officially, she is now the Steward of the Realm, until the family of Dorian-Kerr officially reclaims the throne.”

“Thank you, Jem. Can you explain that to me, though? Why is Princess Mia a ‘steward’ instead of the out-and-out ruler? And what is a steward, anyway?”

“Good question, Bryan. A Steward or royal custodian is a person who is assigned to act as the caretaker or keeper of a country, state or territory, and to act in place of the royal family until the rightful ruler can claim her throne again. So, in effect she is like a proxy ruler.

“Stewards become necessary from time to time when there are no immediate heirs to a throne, as what has happened to the Northern Territory.”

“Yes. As you all know, the Royal Couple and Princess Mara Dorian-Kerr have been unmasked as Detterex spies. It happened prior to the surrender of Detterex, right?”

“That’s right. But not just them – it also included several members of the family. As such, there are no valid heirs to the throne remaining. The Queen therefore commanded the House of Royal Peers to search for the next legitimate heir, and while the search progresses, the Peerage has appointed a Steward, and that’s the princess.”

“Ahhh. Why did the Peers select the Lady Amelia, anyway? Why not the other members of the Royal Clan?”

“Well, there are certain qualifications for a steward – the steward must keep the welfare of her charges her foremost priority, the steward must have no aspirations to establish herself as the permanent ruler, and the steward must be acceptable to her charges and the Peerage. Princess Amelia meets all the criteria, and was voted by acclamation.”

“But I also heard that there were many who protested her appointment, that she wasn’t an Elyran, much less a royal. There were a few rallies, in fact.”

“Ahhh, yes. That’s true – there was one other criteria, which is that the steward has to be part of the Royal Clan. But with her marriage to the heir apparent to the Royal Elyran Throne, Princess Tasha, that made her a royal by marriage.”

“But she’s an Earther, not an Elyran.”

“True. But, technically, there are no rules that specify that a requirement for a steward. It was a touchy issue. What tipped the scales in favor of Princess Amelia was the fact that the instigators of the protest movement, which wasn’t too big, actually, - not even eight-eights of eight – the instigators were unmasked as Detterex spies! And the when the Keeper of the Heritage weighed in on the subject and endorsed the princess, well, from there, the tide of opinion of the few that were still against it was reversed.”

“So it was clear sailing for the princess’ investiture, then?”

“Yes. But there is, however, a problem.  After several months, it seems that there has been no trace of the real Princess Mara, and the other missing members of the Dorian-Kerr royal family could not be found as well. It is a general opinion among the Peerage that, either they have been assassinated or are in hiding, and they will not be found, so there are rumors that the Peerage is considering establishing a new royal line for the Northern Territory, and you know how difficult that would be.”

“Actually, no. What do you mean?”

“Well, imagine if one of the other royal lines would, in effect, inherit the northern kingdom, which is, after all, the second most powerful among all Elyran kingdoms and colonies. The Royal Peerage would have to debate who among them could truly act in the interest of the northern kingdom’s subjects, and renounce any ties or claims to their current lineages. Which could be an endless debate. And ultimately, whoever that person is, she and her new line would also need to be vetted by their subjects, too.”

“Speaking as an Earther, I find this a little unusual. I would have assumed that the queen makes all the rules.”

Jem laughed. “Yes, I have heard Earthers say the same thing.  I was told by Ben…”

“Ben? You know Dr. Ben Tevann-Areeya? Wow!”

Jem grinned. “Yes. Anyway, Ben said that there are precedents even in your Earth. They’re called ‘constitutional monarchies,’ like your own Great Britain…”

“I doubt Queen Margaret is like the Princess Tasha…”

“Well, true, they’re not exactly the same, nor is the government of Great Britain exactly like Elyra.”

“But, I imagine this thing, this appointment of a steward, has happened before. How was it handled in the past?”

“Actually, it hasn’t happened anytime in modern recorded history. Only in legend, I guess you could say.”

“Oh.”

“Indeed.”

“Well. Anyway, in the meantime, let’s get back to our coverage. Let’s go back to our senior correspondent and Elyran bureau chief Danni Sawyer. Come in, Danni.”

 

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“Thank you, Bryan. I’m Danni Sawyer, and I’m back for the continuation of BBC Solar’s galaxy-wide coverage of Lady Amelia’s investiture ceremony.

“Nestled among these beautiful, majestic snow-covered mountains of Elyra Prime’s Northern Territory is the northern kingdom’s Alwahri Taryn Eloisha Seraphim, or the Burning Castle in the Sky, the home of the northern kingdom’s ruling family and the kingdom’s seat of government.

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“The Seraphim has been the seat of government of the northern kingdom for thousands of millennia, and has played host to so many momentous events of the race.  Today has been another one of them, where an alien - a human - actually ascends to the throne of a great Elyran kingdom.

“The investiture rites, as it is called, has actually been completed, administered by the High Holy Bishop of the Church of Elyra, and everyone is just awaiting the final portion of the event, which is the ceremonial hanging of the official portrait of the investiture in what has been called the Hall of Portraits. We have Kathy Courik from our Elyran bureau standing by there. Come in, Kathy.”

 

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“Thank you, Danni,” Kathy said as her camera went live. “I am here in the castle’s Hall of Portraits, which contains portraits and pictures of all the major events that have happened in the northern kingdom and to it’s people. It’s like the history of the planet documented in pictures. It’s quite incredible, really. It’s an enormous hall which, I am told has about 500 million square feet of space, containing over 900 million photographs and paintings. Some have said that there is at least one photograph or painting that documents at least one major event per year of Elyran recorded history. Many of them have, in fact, already succumbed to the ravages of time, and have had to be removed.”

“My goodness, Kathy!” Danni commented. “That sounds like an incredible sight!”

“Indeed it is, Danni,” Kathy commented. “The daily line of visitors outside is long and seemingly never-ending.”

“Have you had a chance to take a look around?”

“Not really, Danni. But I did see the hall’s latest and most popular exhibit.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“It was just installed a few weeks ago, actually. It’s the official portrait of the new Elyran Royal Family of the Elyran Race. Hold on and let me see if I can get a picture of it on screen. Here you go.”

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“That is a wonderful portrait of the new queen-to-be and her royal consorts.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it? In the middle is, of course, Crown Princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr, who will ascend the throne of the Great Plains Territory, and, simultaneously the Throne of All Elyra once the reigning queen and king step down. To her right, in her trademark Alice band or headband is the Duchess Sahsha Liaran-Kerr-Delyer, the former Sahsha Delyer, a human, and the main liaison officer of the United Nations to Elyra, and the long-time girlfriend of Admiral Amelia Steele, who was also the former Dr. William Steele, the famous scientist who discovered Phase-Wave. Here, she is wearing a tiara which, as many of my Elyran friends say, is the current fashion among the royals in the Great Plains kingdom.”

“Hi, Kathy, this is Bryan. The three ladies are married to each other, right? Can you elaborate on that?”

“Hi, Bryan. Yes, the three are married to each other, which is unusual in Elyran society, but not unheard of. It seems that the three are what are known as bridges to each other, what that means is something I am not clear about. They became so because, I hear, the two Earth women were able to rescue Princess Tasha from suicide following the death of her husband, Prince Ren Tevann-Reshanii. However, because of prevailing laws on Earth, the marriage isn’t officially recognized on Earth. As far as Earth law is concerned, only the marriage between Lady Amelia and the duchess is official.”

“Must make for a complicated kind of relationship, huh?”

Kathy giggled. “I wouldn’t know, Bryan.”

“So, Kathy,” Danni said, “any word yet on when the portrait will be coming.”

“I am told that a floater has just landed on the castle’s roofdeck. I think that’s from the laboratory assigned to print and mount the new portrait. If I’m right we can expect the hall’s newest exhibit to be on display within the next half hour.”

“That’s good to know. We’ll be standing by. Unfortunately, it’s started to snow here. I think I’ll get inside now, and turn it back over to theà guys. Bryan?”

“Thank you, Kathy and Danni,” Bryan said. “While we wait, perhaps we can talk to a few other people and find out how all this got started.  Jem?”

“Thank you, Ryan,” Jem answered. “On the line with us now is Lady Reena, Ship’s Mistress of the flagship Talon. My Lady, are you there?”

 

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“Yes, Mr. Seacrest,” Reena said. “I hear you.”

“Thank you for giving us a few minutes of your valuable time, and for going on the air.”

“Not at all.”

“Do you mind if we ask you where you are now, Lady Reena?”

“Well, I am currently onboard the Great Plains flagship, the Talon. She is also part of EarthForce’s Fifth Fleet. It is my honor to be the mistress onboard the Talon. Currently, we are in orbit around Detterex Prime. The Talon is part of the blockade around the planet, to enforce the terms of the conditional surrender of the Detterex to the Galactic Federation. But our tour of duty will be done in a few days. We are not expected to be back here for another six months.”

“I believe Lady Amelia is also your superior officer, am I right?”

“Indeed. I and my crew are part of Earth’s Fifth Fleet, as well as part of Elyra’s Royal Space Force. Therefore, Lady Amelia is our superior officer since she is also the commanding officer of the Fifth Fleet.”

“While we wait, would it be all right if you help us recount how all of this began, My Lady?”

“It shall be my honor.”

“So. When did it all begin for you, My Lady.”

“Well, for me, it all began a few years ago, when the entire Elyran system was blanketed by that signal from Earth.”

“Yes! I remember that. All the radio and communications systems of the entire system was switched off, and it took hours to restore them.”

“As it was throughout the entire Federation, as well as the Tiros and Detterex empires.”

“Indeed. So, tell us what happened.”

“After that message from the then-unknown Human Race, meetings were held on Elyra and in Colossus, where the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian nations decided on sending an expedition to Earth, to get a ‘lay of the land,’ as Earthers might say, and invite them to our mother worlds and to Colossus, and possibly enter into an alliance with them. So the Talon and several other ships from Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia were sent.

“However, at the time, the Detterex and Tirosians had the same plan. The incredible coincidence of their arrival in Earth System at the same time as us seems explainable now. Obviously the Detterex spies – it might even have been the in-disguise Princess Mara – had leaked our plans to the enemy. In any case, after an incredible battle that ended with massive losses to both us and the enemy, we continued on to Earth.”

“Was it an easy trip from then on?”

“Well, it was a very long trip - over an Earth month. Apparently, the Earthers were bending over backwards to accommodate the slow speed of our spacecraft. But we were quite busy over that month, so we weren’t bored. By using Earth’s Phase-Wave, we were able to do a lot of work. Treaties, agreements, contracts and all of the diplomatic work the Prince and the other leaders were expecting to do down on Earth were done onboard so that by the time we arrived, there would be a minimum of discussions and negotiations.”

“Did it go well from then on?”

“Well, no. The remaining Detterex and Tiros forces were making their plans to intercept us and stop us from making planetfall on Earth. Captain O’Connell and her crews decided to intercept them near Saturn. We were not there ourselves but it was indeed one of the more legendary of space battles. Many of the new battle tactics that are now taught during academy training for pilots were, in fact, inspired by the tactics used by Lady Amelia and Captain O’Connell during that battle engagement. That battle engagement is now referred to the ‘Battle of Saturn’ by academy trainees.”

“Jem,” Bryan said, “I think we have Captain Elizabeth O’Connell on the other line. Perhaps we can talk with him about that.”

“Okay, Bryan. Lady Reena, our thanks for your time.”

“As the Earthers say, ‘not a problem,’ Jem. I’ve been watching your show, actually, and it’s a good show. Good luck.”

Jem grinned. “Many thanks, My Lady.”

“Okay,” Bryan said. “Let’s now go to Captain Elizabeth O’Connell onboard the EarthForce Cruiser Shepherd Moon. Captain O’Connell, are you there?”

 

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“Good afternoon, Mr. Seacrest. I can hear you.”

“Good afternoon, Captain. I’m just going to confirm – you are currently onboard the Shepherd Moon, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“What exactly is the Shepherd Moon, and where is it now?”

“The Shepherd Moon is DSC 05, the flagship of EarthForce’s Fifth Fleet, and is Admiral Steele’s Flag Carrier. We are actually in orbit above Elyra Prime now. We’re waiting for the Admiral and her party. We’ll be bringing them to Colossus for a major conference that’s been called by the new Dravidian ambassador.”

“So you guys are playing taxi, huh?” Everyone laughed. “And Admiral Steele is…?”

“Yes, yes. Admiral Steele is actually Her Royal Highness, Princess Amelia Catherine Liaran-Kerr-Steele, who is also Lady Amelia of the Sciollian Isles.”

“Whoa! Pretty heavy.”

O’Connell laughed. “Well, to me, she’s just my boss. I call her ‘Skipper.’”

Everyone chuckled. “Hope she doesn’t see this program, then, and hear you talking like that. But, by the sound, you like the Admiral.”

O’Connell nodded. “Oh, yes. I consider her a good friend, but more than that – I respect her. But she is my boss, like I said. So I try not to be too familiar.”

“I even heard that you acted as the ‘maid of honor’ for their wedding.”

“Yes, but under protest.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t like the bridesmaid dresses.”

Everyone laughed.

“Well… anyway, we wanted to ask about the ‘Battle of Saturn.’ I hear that you had a major role in that.”

“Oh, God, yes!”

“Can you tell us about it?”

“Well, after the initial engagement with the enemy in what everyone now calls the ‘Battle of Pluto,’ we were on our way back to Earth. But several weeks into our return trip, we found that the enemy was on the way to intercept us. They had engaged a new technology that hid them from our EM detection systems, but we were able to detect them with Phase-Wave. They were going to barrel through the Saturn system so the Admiral decided to intercept.

“We played a kind of cat-and-mouse game, hiding from them using Saturn’s rings. It was crazy. The Seeker was playing like it was a submarine, hiding under the rings, and then coming out and rising like an old World War 2 boat to engage the enemy. I know that I won’t be doing anything like that in my career again. But I’m sure you can read the blow-by-blow of that battle in the Shepherd Moon chronicles.”

(click this link to see the Shepherd Moon chronicles.
The Saturn encounter is in Chapter 15 of Part 4 – Bobbie)

“So what happened?”

“Well, apparently, we hadn’t gotten all of the enemy, so there was yet another encounter over in Luna. There, we were able to get all of the enemy, and even captured the Detterex flagship, the Defiant. Then we proceeded to Earth. I’m sure you’ll want a blow-by-blow of the Moon encounter, but can you hold on? My people are calling me…”

“That’s all right, Captain. I’m sure you’re quite busy. We’ll let you go back to work.”

“Anytime, Bryan. Thanks.”

“So, who do we have next, Jem?”

“Well, Bryan,” Jem answered. “We have, standing by, Ambassador Nick Andros from the Earth Mission to Colossus, and Professor Jennifer Priestly of the CETI institute. Ambassador? Professor? Are you there?”

 

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“Good afternoon, Jem,” Jennifer answered. “How are you, today?”

“It’s a pleasure to be here today, although it’s pretty cold at the moment,” Nick said with a chuckle.

“Nick!” Jennifer Priestly exclaimed.

“What did I say?”

Jem laughed, too. “Well, you’re in the northern kingdom, after all,” he said. “Be glad it’s the summer season.”

“You two are some of Lady Amelia’s closest friends, I’m told,” Bryan said.

Nick laughed. “Sure. We’ve known her when she was just plain old ‘Mia.’ Now, with this investiture thing, she’s going to be more insufferable than usual.”

Jennifer shook her head. “Ignore Nick, guys. He always does this.”

“Does what?” Jem asked.

“Embarrass people.” Everyone laughed.

“Well, while we have you here, we’d like to ask you a few questions. We were just talking to Captain Elizabeth O’Connell, and she was talking about the arrival of the Federation expedition on Earth.”

Nick nodded. “You mean, after the moon encounter? When the Lunar guys beached the Detterex ship, Defiant?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m sure you remember. We escorted the five remaining Federation ships back to New York, and then to the United Nations. And the Secretary-General made that famous speech of hers…”

“And the events of those days set the tone for everything else that happened afterwards,” Jennifer said. “The treaties and everything else. But more than that, it’s started the integration of Humanity to the rest of the galaxy.”

“Speaking as an Elyran,” Jem said, “the changes since you Earthers came onto the scene have changed the galaxy enormously. How has it changed things for you? Professor?”

“As a sociologist, knowing for a fact that there are other people out in the universe changes a society fundamentally. And actually seeing them and interacting with them, even more so. And with the opening of the Federation embassies in the Sciollian Isles meant that there would be a constant presence of, pardon my choice of words, Jem, - a constant presence of aliens on the planet. We can only expect that we Earthpeople will change even more.”

After a moment of silence, Nick chuckled. “Very deep Jenn,” he said, trying to break the seriousness. “This girl can’t leave work at the office.”

After a short chuckle, Bryan continued the interview.

“Talking about the Federation embassies,” Bryan said, “I hear it’s a pretty elaborate place, and very high tech.”

“Well, yes,” Nick said. “It is. Though almost all the members of the Federation have the same kind of requirements we do, there are some specific needs that they have to take care of, hence all the high tech machinery.”

“I heard it’s a wonderful place, too” Jem said. “My cousin is part of the Elyran Mission to the United Nations, and he gets to spend a lot of time there in the Isles of Scilly. He said…” Jem paused when everyone started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing, Jem,” Nick said. “We Earthers find the name ‘Scilly’ funny.”

“Well… all right…”

“I’ll explain later, Jem,” Bryan said. “Hey, here’s something interesting. I’m reading through my briefing memos and it says here that the Isles of Scilly are owned by Lady Amelia. What a coincidence!”

Nick laughed. “Hardly. The way I understood it from the queen…”

“The queen of Elyra?” Jem asked.

“No, no! I mean Queen Margaret II, the queen of England!”

“Ahhh! I apologize. So what did Queen Margaret say?”

“She said that Lady Amelia specifically donated the islands to the world government, specifically for use by the Federation. She said that the islands were not being used much anyway, and she said it was her way of helping.”

“How does the queen know Lady Amelia.”

“Well, Lady Amelia is the Duchess of the Isles of Scilly, and is a subject of the Queen. That’s why she has the title of Lady Amelia.”

“Ahhh.”

“By the way,” Jennifer said, “the Duchess prefers that her duchy be called the ‘Sciollian Isles.’”

“Hmmm,” Jem said. “You really have to explain that thing about the name soon, Bryan.”

“Never fear, my friend,” Bryan said.

“Well, what ARE the Sciollian Isles, Nick?”

“It’s a small archipelago of about thirteen main islands plus about forty-five islets, located southwest of Cornwall, making the islands the southernmost part of the UK. Of the thirteen main islands, Lady Amelia has given the Federation a long-term lease on twelve of them, so that they can have a permanent presence on the planet for their embassies.”

“Ahhh. What are the name of these islands?”

“There’s Saint Mary’s, Tresco, Saint Martin’s, Saint Agnes, Saint Helen’s, Bryher, White Island, Gugh, Gwael, Samson, Annet, Tean, and Great Ganilly. There are about forty-five islets, but they’re nothing but little rocks. Lady Amelia is leasing all the main islands to the Federation except for Saint Mary’s. She’s keeping that for herself.  That gives the Federation a total of sixteen square kilometers, not counting the several dozen square kilometers of open sea surrounding them.”

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“Sounds charming.”

“Haven’t been there myself, but I’ve been told that the islands are very picturesque.”

“It’s good that the Federation has a permanent home on Earth,” Jennifer said. “It’s the least we can do, after they’ve given us Gibraltar Base.”

“Isn’t Gibraltar Base the Earth’s outpost on Colossus?” Jem asked.

“Well,” Nick said, “not ON Colossus, but on the nearby planet, Zeos Three.”

“Ahhh.”

“I believe the establishment of Gibraltar was immediately after that battle near Colossus,” Bryan said, “when the station was almost totaled by a near-miss of a runaway Detterex cruiser.”

“Yes,” Jem said. “That was a story for the ages!”

“Hold on, hold on, my dear co-host,” Bryan said. “Let’s not get side-tracked. We still have other people to interview.”

“Ooops! You’re absolutely right, Bryan. Apologies.”

“No Worries. Thank you Ambassador, Professor. Let’s move on to some other luminaries out there in the front gardens of the northern kingdom’s castle.  Who do we have on-line, Jem?”

“Actually, Bryan, Danni was able to catch someone just outside of the castle grounds. Danni? Who did you see?”

“Hi, Jem, this is Danni. I’m just outside the castle’s main gate, and I bumped into Dr. Ben Tevann-Areeya. He’s here outside apparently waiting for a cab. Doctor? Good afternoon. I’m Danni Sawyer, with the Earth press corps. We’re covering the event for BBC Solar. Can I ask for a few words for our televiewers?”

 

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“Good afternoon, Ms Sawyer,” Ben said. “What can I do for you?”

“What are you doing out here by the curb, sir? Are you leaving?”

“I’m afraid so. I’m just waiting for the royal limousine.”

“But, sir, the portrait hasn’t arrived yet. Don’t you want to see the portrait?”

“I do, but I have been instructed by my liege to take care of some matters, to prepare for her meeting at Colossus.”

“Ahhh. You were just appointed as Lady Amelia’s chief of staff, were you not?”

“Just this morning, actually…”

“And you’re already hard at work…”

Ben giggled. “That’s life with Princess Amelia. But it’s important work. I’m honored to be relied upon by Princess Amelia in such important matters. Ahhh. Here’s the car. If you’ll excuse me…”

“Of course, sir. Well, that’s too bad, Jem. Just missed talking with Dr. Ben Tevann-Areeya. He’s a very busy man.”

“I’m not surprised, Danni. But that’s all right. We have on the line someone else that our viewers will definitely recognize.  It’s Queen Margaret II of the United Kingdom of Earth, and her husband, Prince Stephen. Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness.”

“Good afternoon, Jem,” the queen replied. “You really are as gorgeous as they say you are.” The companion beside her moaned and covered his eyes.

 

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“Oh, shut up, Stevie,” she said, and elbowed her companion. She leaned towards the camera. “What use is it to bring along your husband if you don’t get to embarrass him on TV,” she mock-whispered conspiratorially, and giggled.

“So what can we do for you this fine, crisp and snowy day?”

Jem giggled. “Your Royal Highness never fails to delight. Well, we just wondered how this will affect the duties of Princess Amelia in the Commonwealth, given that she’s now the steward of the northern kingdom.”

The queen shrugged. “Well, it’s not like we’ll miss Mia in Westminster. She has not been attending to her duties in the House, but it’s understandable. She’s the busiest person I know. I believe she is on extended leave from the House, but she’s promised me that she’ll come back if her peers ask her to, especially during the important votes.”

“That’s unusual, isn’t it?” Bryan said.

“Mia’s an unusual girl,” the queen said. “But she is one of the few people who have the full support of the public. So they gave her special dispensation by way of a parliamentary act, so she can be away and send her votes in via Phase-Wave.”

“So, how do you feel about one of your subjects wielding as much power as you, Your Majesty,” Bryan said in a conspiratorial tone. “Heheheheh.”

The queen giggled. “Well, all I ask is that I’m allowed to visit the castle grounds as often as I want.” Her expression turned serious. “But I guess what you are asking is if there’s any kind of conflict of interest, whether she’s representing the interests of Humanity, or of Elyra.  It is a very tough dilemma. The Prime Minister and myself have been in discussions about it with Admiral Silverman and the Joint Chiefs as well as the Secretary-General and her chief-of-staff. But, you know? In typical Mia fashion, Mia anticipated this and has filed her resignation from the House, from EarthForce, from the Foreign Affairs Office and from CETI.  And while she is waiting for that to push through, she simultaneously filed leaves from the House, from the Foreign Affairs Office, from EarthForce, and from CETI as well.

“She has even given myself, the Secretary-General and the Admiral a very heartfelt letter that she is a loyal Terran citizen, but she needs to do this for our Elyran friends. This way, if she resigns, no one can accuse her of any conflict, and if need be, she can renounce her citizenship. She said she hoped that would not be necessary, but she is offering it just the same.”

Bryan and Jem were in shock.

“Your Majesty…”

“I am not joking, Bryan.”

“This is breaking news!”

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“Perhaps it is, but let us not give undue attention to this alright? Not until after, okay? Mia deserves this, after what she has given all of us – it’s the least we can do. Hold off on any follow-ups until tonight. It is the only decent thing to do. All right?”

Bryan and Jem looked at each other.

“I don’t…” Bryan said.

“Oh, Bryan,” Jem said. “Your journalistic ethics aren’t in question. We’ve broken the news already. Her Majesty has given us the news and we’ve told the public. Let’s not ruin this day for Princess Amelia. Just for this day.”

Bryan looked at Jem. “Okay, Jem.”

Bryan turned to face the camera. “Okay, folks. This is a major piece of news. You’ve heard it here first. Lady Amelia has filed for resignation from the House of Peers in the British Parliament, the Foreign Service, from the CETI Institute and from EarthForce. We’re not dropping this breaking news item, we’re just postponing the follow-up. Let’s finish today, and we’ll come back to this immediately after.

“Anyway, we’ve just heard from Kathy Courik that the portrait has arrived. Kathy? What’s happening over there?”

“Thank you, Bryan,” Kathy said to the camera. “I am still here in the castle’s enormous Hall of Portraits. The officials from the castle have come and gone, and they have already hung the portrait of ‘Princess Amelia of Earth,’ as it has been labeled. Let’s see if I can get through and get everyone a picture… Excuse me, please. Pardon me. Pardon…

“Ahhh, here you go. My goodness! It’s enormous. And it’s so beautiful!”

investiture_resized.png

“Wow, Kathy!” Bryan said. “That’s so beautiful.”

“Indeed,” Jem said. “You see Lady Amelia wearing a robe in the royal colors of the northern kingdom – royal blue, silver and white. In her hands, she carries the Crystal Staff, which symbolizes the power she wields as the kingdom’s ruler or steward, showing that she is the highest authority in the land. Notice that she isn’t wearing a crown. That symbolizes the fact that she is not the queen – that she is just the Steward of the Realm.

“You know, Bryan, I had the pleasure of meeting her, Princess Tasha and the Lady Sahsha years ago during an interview. It’s like she hasn’t aged, except her hair is quite short now.”

“What’s that jewel that the Bishop is placing around her neck?” Bryan asked.

“That’s the Blue Heart, a Type IIb diamond that’s about four inches across, and symbolizes that she is the rightful ruler of the land. By putting the Blue Heart around her neck, the High Holy Bishop of the Church of Elyra is officially declaring Lady Amelia’s new title, and invalidating all the claims of any claimants to the Throne. It’s quite a moving ritual.”

“Let’s break away from Danni for a moment. We have Ambassador Fal of the First Colony of Elyra, accompanied by her husband Micah. Ambassador, are you there?”

 

Slide07_resized.png

“Yes, Bryan, I’m here,” Ambassador Fal replied.

“Have you seen the portrait yet, Ambassador?”

“Not yet. The crush of people…”

“Yes, Kathy had some trouble getting through herself. Anyway, Jem was telling me about the meaning of this investiture. Can you add some more information?”

“Well, Bryan,” she began. “I am, myself, not part of the Peerage, so I know a little bit about this. I am not a Royal, but I was selected by my liege to represent the First Colony in council, and, on occasion, at the Federation Assembly in Colossus. Similar to Lady Amelia, I had my own investiture. The difference is that Lady Amelia is a Royal.

“Being declared as a Steward means you have all the powers, duties, privileges and responsibilities of the queen, really. The only things you won’t have are the power of granting royal warrants of appointment, granting royal and noble ranks, bequeathing royal properties, monies and perquisites not part of the business of the throne, and, of course none of your forbears or assignees may inherit the stewardship without an investiture of their own. And, of course, if the legitimate heir to the throne has been identified by the Peerage, and has been declared as ready, you would need to relinquish your stewardship.”

“So,” Bryan, “to me, that sounds like Lady Amelia is the princess or queen, except in name.”

“Exactly correct, Bryan.”

“So, what does that make her title now? She cannot claim any royal title…”

“Aha!” Jem said. “That’s where you’re wrong, Bryan. Princess Amelia was officially already a royal, even before the investiture, so by that, she should have been addressed like a royal princess regardless of her investiture.”

“So, I shouldn’t have been calling her Lady Amelia?”

“Well…”

“Ambassador?”

“Jem is correct.”

“Uh-oh… So what is Princess Amelia’s official title, anyway?”

“Hold on, Bryan,” Jem said. “Let me  look at my notes. Let’s see… alright – the Princess’ official title is…

“Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Amilia Catherine Liaran-Kerr-Steele of Elyra Prime and the Elyran Great Plains, Steward of the Nothern Kingdom and Duchess of the Sciollian Isles of Earth, Keeper of the Messiah’s Torch, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet of Earth and High Admiral of the Elyran Defense Force, Lord-Defender of Arachnia and the Daemon Territories, Friend of All Detterex, Lord and Master of New Gibraltar, Director-General Emeritus of the CETI Institute, and permanent ambassador of the United Nations of Earth to the Galactic Federation of Free Races.”

“Wow – that’s a lot to remember!”

“Well, for short, you just address her ‘Your Highness,’ and informally call her ‘Princess Amelia.’”

“As opposed to?”

“Well, if you’re part of EarthForce, you address her as ‘Lord Admiral Steele,’ or perhaps just ‘Admiral.’ I am not too familiar with Earther conventions.”

“No problem.”

“Bryan?” The ambassador asked. “Would it be all right if Micah and I leave you now? The guests are being paged for the reception at the Great Hall…”

“Apologies, Ambassador. Thank you for your time. Jem, do we have others standing by?”

“Let’s check in with Danni. Danni, are you there?”

“Yes, I’m here, Jem. I’m here with Dame Antoinette Windsor. She’s part of the British royal family, and is a member of the House of Peers. Good afternoon, My Lady.”

 

Slide06_resized.png

“Good afternoon.”

“So, how did you find the unveiling of the portrait of the new steward?”

“Truth be told, I haven’t seen it yet. There are just too many people.”

“Too true. Do you mind me asking, My Lady, how you are related to Princess Amelia? How do you know her?”

“Again, truth be told, I only know of her by name and reputation. But I am quite proud to be here, and am quite happy for her.”

“You are part of the royal Windsor family?”

“Yes, but only distantly. My father is the duke of Marlinspike Hall, in Marlinshire. I am like 2,562 in line to the throne. I’m sorry. My own little guilty pride, I guess.” She giggled.

“What do you think of all of this pomp and pageantry?”

“Well, I am bowled over. I have never attended a coronation, excuse me, I mean an investiture, before, and on a different planet, too.”

“Yes?”

“Well, I know that this is serious business, that the kingdom is currently leaderless, that this is something that they desperately need. I am just pleased to be a witness to it.”

“Well, thank you for speaking with us.”

“No problem.”

“Danni, I see the delegation from Arachnia here on the monitor. Can you see if you can…”

… (to be continued, perhaps?) …


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Sure please continue if you can

Poor Amelia, just so many demands on her. Frankly I would hate to be so needed as I would have no time for myself.

Hopefully it is shown how she is able to find balance.

Much Enjoyed

UnfortunateReader's picture

I love how you put the effort into placing the pictures into the story. Makes it even more enjoyable, and brings a large feeling of authenticity, like you were watching it on the screen.(Or 3D in that time)
I do hope you continue to bring us lowly peons your quality work for us to worship.
Ever a fan,
~Unfortunate

I can see other stories are possible in this universe

What is really interesting is Bill risking deliberate gender dysphoria to do what she had to do. It obviously helped that Bill seemed always to be a gentle man whose psychological makeup had sufficient 'feminine' elements that it was adaptable. Unfortunately the tech that makes for such a quick and profound transformation can of course be abused by people who are sick and use it to deliberately transform unwilling people.

Where such a story goes of course will determine how dark or possibly redemptive it is for the protagonist.

Other stories can be along the lines of first contact stories. I can't imagine Amelia being happy just being an administrator and such and run the Northern Territory thingy forever. One thing she can do is to find a 'lost' heir while on 'adventure' but *shrug* who knows? There can of course be more first contact stories as I can't believe that as humans expand they will not find other 'empires'.

Phase wave as a tech begs the question of how far it can probe and what limits how far it can probe. Let's face it, space is Vast and the amount of information processing to process such a large volume of data would make even the NSA quail.

The mutiny fleet worries me,

The mutiny fleet worries me, even though they are being tracked, that won't stop them from "acquiring" supplies or press ganging for crew, not with a fleet that size, not when everyone is busy with dealing with the aftermath or when they shift tactics to suit the fact that they are cut off, if this is a few years after part 6 then I have to assume that they have recovered all their non-nuclear armament and added some captured vessels to their fleet. I would assume that they added shielding to their EM suppression systems too (engineers would be their most valuable personnel), and instead of completely suppressing a target, leaving an unsupressed engagement zone so that they can use energy weapons against cargo vessels, assuming that they even need the curtain of light, until ships are freed up from relief efforts and blockade/mop up work, no one can spare the ships to go after a 40 ship fleet unless they approach a more developed region,

Depends

I would imagine the mutiny fleet needs maintenance just like any other fleet. The 'authorities' can starve them out but monitoring depots and/or planets for their presence. I don't see them as a particular threat.

You can only starve them out

You can only starve them out so much, they have the ability to block the warning messages after all. Also starving them out will just make them desperate and desperate hostiles in such large numbers is exactly what you DON'T want. Makes them more likely to go after population centers or large shipping lanes.

Earth can already spot 'smudges'

aka dead zones, if they use the curtain of light as you seem to be implying.

Given they have a good idea of the layout of the empire and federation, I would think they can keep an eye out for that.

Just so long as the one reporter doesn't show us her...

colonoscopy.

-- grin --

But then the real reporter that occurred with had lost her husband to such a cancer a colonoscopy might have caught in time and became an advocate of the test.

So much for Ms Couric.

I noticed something odd in the story. I quote.

>>
“You know, Bryan, I had the pleasure of meeting her, Princess Tasha and the Lady Sahsha years ago during an interview. It’s like she hasn’t aged, except her hair is quite short now.”
>>

So was Jem just being his lubricous TV interviewer personality or IS Mia aging oddly?

The Earth doctors who did her sex change and the ones who healed her arm after the injury outside of Colossus all wanted to do their very best. Did that combined with her eugenics selected genes somehow reset her biological *clock*?

We know Dr Priestley is now near immortal as the next apprentice of the Keeper.

Hum?

The mutinied fleet? Who will aid them? They will need resupply and parts but from where? Plus adult Tirosians seem eager to commit suicide when defeated.

Hum? When the Deterex Queen asked for help as the empire began to break what did she give in exchange?

Info on what happened to the real people their spies replaced?

But then it was said it was not a coordinated infiltration so maybe even her spy maters don't know?
So many Q you can answer or not.

Fun to speculate and to read what your mind creats.

John in Wauwatosa

Why didn't they?

John in Wauwatosa

Other oddities in the story telling

There seems to be a weird mix of using English and Metric units.

The dividing lines between what got affected by the 'curtain of light' vs what is not, is nojt quite as clear cut as it could be, yeah I know it is fiction.

In the scene where the inertial converter creates the laser beam for the first time, did the enemy ship have the 'curtain' going at the time?

I assume the rail gun still works as the projectile being accelerated is in contact with the accelerating mechanism. It's so funny that a rail gun is just a very high power solenoid :).

responding

bobbie-c's picture

Yes, the mixing of English and metric units of measurements is definitely weird. Just like it is irl today. Like when some cars have speedometers calibrated in kilometers and others in miles, and the highways in the States show speed limits in miles while in Germany, it's in kilometers. And when someone asks how much you weigh, you mention it in pounds while in Japan, it they say it in kilograms. The mixing was deliberate to show this same kind of "weirdness."

Also - the mixing was deliberate for the sake of the reader. The impact of illustrating the height of a person would have a more instinctual feel of the height if it's mentioned in feet instead of meters, while long distances (like in thousands) would have no instinctive "feel" and it wouldn't have mattered to the reader, except as some number.

Yes, the Curtain of Light effects are indeed not clear. the Earth and Federation scientists feel the same. They're tearing their hair out trying to find out why.

Anyway, I'm ready for any more nitpicking you might have, and won't get irritated like before when you buried me with an avalanche of complaints on details. Please continue your nitpicking if you want. I will try and cope. :)

Continuing on -

Yes, the Curtain was going when they used the inertia converter-powered turrets. It's in the story.

No, the projectiles are not in contact with the rail guns' accelerating mechanisms. What made you assume that? They are launched via electromagnetic fields that repel/attract them. The best kinds of material for rail guns are, of course, superconducting materials, followed by ferromagnetic materials, and then diamagnetic and paramagnetic materials. The easiest to accelerate would be ferromagnetic material. But then, if the material mix is correct and its temperature is correct, then that's the best kind (superconducting). Part of the rail gun mechanism could be cryogenic coils. But in any case, all metals are diamagnetic in varying degrees. All that's needed is enough power, I suppose, to repel/accelerate such materials fast enough. The speed of the projectiles will therefore vary depending on the projectile material. No, they cannot be based on mechanical pusher-plate technologies since those accelerate projectiles mechanically, and they are therefore not rail guns, and would not be called rail guns. And at such velocities, the mechanical not-rail-guns would have disintegrated or broken up after the first few shots.

Although I can imagine a pusher plate being magnetically run instead of mechanically. In which case, that would be a viable pusher-plate rail gun, and the magnetic potential of the material of the projectile will not matter.

And yes, I suppose rail guns are indeed glorified solenoids, given that they generate controlled and/or uniform magnetic fields in a specified volume of space.

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Hey don't get me wrong

I enjoyed the story immensely.

The only major weirdness is some literally half finished sentences which I suppose is due to some kind of formatting cut-off from converting from one format to another.

But like I had implied in my comment, a certain amount of the element 'handwavium' is present in a lot of sci-fi stories and is unavoidable.

The curtain of light thing reminds me a bit of the whole darkness zone thing in Star Trek TOS, though but obviously a bit more selective. The really hard to believe bit is somehow phase-wave not getting leaked due to mere human greed or some Rosenberg type rationalization.

Good sci-fi stories I believe live on a formula

The formula is:

Molecules of handwavium and obfuscatium in a suspension of disbeliefium.

Of course there might be other molecular formulas but I believe, like life needing water, I am sure the final part is indispensable.

Speculating is a great fun!

bobbie-c's picture

Hey, John.

No. Kathy Courik probably wouldn't show such things on TV. lol

About Mia not aging - well, I don't think that's gonna happen. Jem was just being gossipy. But you can never say :)

As for Mia's arm being fixed, the quick healing of bones is just part of regular medical treatments. It wasn't anything special. Also, Jennifer Priestly's non-aging is not there yet. It will eventually come when all of her biological parts are replaced with artificial parts, as it happened to the Keeper. But that's still far out into the future.

What's going to happen to the mutinous Tirosians, we don't know yet. But here's the thing:

We know that a large part of the Tiros population (94~95%) committed suicide, and those that were left were mostly the younger ones;
we know that Phase-Wave tracking can spot them regardless of where they go;
we know that, even if they use the EM suppression field (aka the "curtain of light"), they can still be tracked, though not as precisely;
we know that Earthers can eavesdrop on radio communications at will; and
Earthers can send 2-minute-long messages even to those only equipped with radio-based systems.

We can conjecture that:

The Earthers will let them know that they're being tracked in order to convince them that there's no escaping;
they will not be able to approach any known civilized/industrialized areas of the known galaxy without the locals being warned; and
they will not be able to resupply themselves easily - they may need to manufacture their own supplies from raw materials they find.

We can further conjecture that:

We can assume that this "fleet" will not last long;
They will be forced to abandon their ships and go underground. But they can only do so only on Tirosian planets;
Some of them will succumb to this suicide malady or syndrome they have, but probably only a few, since those that were susceptible to this would have already suicided early on, probably at the same time as fall of Tiros Prime.

This could mean that their future would mostly be about the Federation battling a more guerilla-style of rebellion, which means that this could be a very protracted kind of thing.

As to what the Detterex queen gave in exchange for their surrender, I suppose she could have given up the names of the Detterex spies she knows about, but she doesn't know them all - as mentioned in the story, there was no organized espionage program, and many of the spies were hired by individual Detterex royals or groups. She could require her subjects to give them up but there's no guarantee they will. Also, for the spies not caught, they might not risk things by revealing themselves, and might go into deep underground. Perhaps they might even join up with the underground Tirosian rebels, but in either case, they would be a very small group, even put together. The main problem could be their efforts to foment rebellion amongst their people.

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Didn't you hint at the aging

Didn't you hint at the aging thing in the first 2 parts of Shepherd Moon, Mia's not aging strangely, Elyrans have shorter lifespans then humans.

yep

bobbie-c's picture

that's correct - But it wasn't a hint: Elyran and Detterex lifespans are usually up to 60 Earth years. Earther lifespans are between 100-120 Earth years , especially with their nanobot treatments.

But that's not it. It was just a few years since Interviews#01 and Interviews #02. No ageing would have been apparent regardless. No. Jem was just being gossipy.

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But we also know most ships

But we also know most ships cant stop and change course when they are already at speed, only ships with inertia converters can do that, and we also know most fleets are busy with the rest of the aftermath of the war, that means that any ships they encounter in the less populated shipping zones, or ships that are trying to find faster routes to their destinations, rather than using the more established trade routes, and prospector vessels, are out of luck, true it means they cant stay in any area for very long, but it does mean that if they are smart with their food and fuel, both of which they can relatively easily manufacture, they can last a long time. Though the mutiny fleet may or may not know this, phase wave cannot determine the size of a fleet in a suppression field, meaning they can leave ships behind to act as temporary manufacturing facilities and so long as they maintain radio silence, and the rest of the fleet maintains suppression long enough that it is unclear where they left their friends, or even until they loop back around and rejoin, then no-one will be the wiser, unless of course they get optical recon data to indicate the discrepancy in their numbers, which will only really be useful AFTER they regroup, without that it may take a while for tactical analysts to pick up on the scheme, countering it is another matter entirely, they would have to sweep every system that the mutiny fleet has been for a ship that doesn't want to be found, whats more is if instead of simply looping back to regroup, is if the main fleet travels to several different systems, and regroups at a predetermined rondevu point. Until said regrouping, the loss in numbers can be chalked up to FTL problems and those ships going "missing" in the void, heck if they are clever, they can hide ships as they regroup, making it so that it doesn't look like they gained more ships ever, which would conceal the scheme until they ACTUALLY loose ships or until detailed intelligence analysis indicates that a "lost" ship and a present ship in the fleet swap status, which may be something no-one would think to look for until their projected supplies drops below what the latest intelligence would indicate. This of course is assuming they have a rather clever and resourceful admiral, but also considering that no-one has the resources readily available to hunt down such a large fleet unless they approach populated areas. To expand on this, if they come into contact with Detterex spies and rebels, they could form a cold-war esk supply and information exchange system, reducing the need for them to manufacture their own supplies, or at least not completely from scratch, however societal factors do make this eventuality unlikely, as Tirosians do not seem to have inclination for cloak and dagger ideology, the closest examples that may bear resemblance to cloak and dagger they demonstrate are the "Prime Minister" and the "curtain of light" one could argue that the Hunter Killer mission to eliminate the Federation expedition force in the Earth System was cloak and dagger, but even that was rather overt, and how much of that was Detterex rather than Tirosian is also a factor. In any case, the Mutiny Fleet's biggest limiter would be specialty components needed for ship maintenance and manpower, food and fuel is mostly a matter of finding water, and considering that they use vacuum tubes for their electronics and structural material isn't hard to manufacture (they could use their energy weapons to melt metal ores into useful material), getting what they need from raw material wouldn't be that hard, EXCEPT for where advanced materials and complex systems are concerned, some of which they may be able to strip off of the few ships that aren't warned in time or are already enroute to a system with the fleet's presence. However even so, unless they manage to sneak their ships to and from areas with active rebellion, which would be no easy task, certainly not feasible for the whole fleet at once if at all, someone will have to act as a distraction, none of what they could do to supply themselves would matter, they aren't strong enough to attack any major areas, not without the element of surprise which they cant obtain, at most all they would be otherwise is a large pirate fleet, that can easily be avoided, and its only a matter of when the authorities decide to actively hunt them down as to when they are no longer a problem, even a small force to slowly wither them down, rather than eliminating them out right would make it nearly impossible for them to sustain themselves, but then again, they do have nukes and can use the ships they are forced to abandon as missiles, the only difficulty they would have with that is the fact that their FTL is imprecise, but if they target a pursuing fleet close enough, or even large objects NEAR said fleet, at relativistic speeds, maybe they don't have to be. True they wont survive long, if any attention is paid to them, however, that doesn't mean they aren't a serious threat, in addition to whatever weapons they are carrying, they have 40 planet killers plus however many small ships in their complements can reach relativistic speeds and a number of their ships have the ultimate EW weapon, minus the rail guns they can even replicate what the Federation did to them heck they could substitute the rail guns with suicide ships. While being tracked eliminates options that rely on surprise, it opens up others, if they are desperate or fanatic enough, they can devastate a fleet or two, before they have to go underground.

Basically there are a few ways it can go; they can be a persistent pirate fleet, until either they have manpower shortages or someone decides to hunt them down; they can supply and support rebel cells gaining supplies as the would as a pirate fleet with the help of spies; or they use anything and everything they have to cause as much damage as possible to their enemies, and will resemble Japanese forces in the latter portion of WWII, only instead of small aircraft colliding with strategic targets, where much of the damage is often explosive, or a fair mix of explosive and kinetic damage, the impacters may be larger and traveling at relativistic speeds, or may hit nearby rocks to fragment and propel them into their enemies, resulting in a short lived but very costly conflict.

Letting the Tirosians know they cant escape isn't necessarily a good idea, tactically, if they don't know they are being tracked, they will be far more predictable, because they will think there's a way out or that they have a chance at doing damage CONVENTIONALLY, there's a reason why after the enigma code was broken the allies didn't immediately hunt down every U-Boat in the Atlantic, but rather let many of them continue to sink ships, and that was to stop them from knowing the code was useless, until there was nothing the Germans could do about it, letting them think they were still the unstoppable killers in the sea, slowly sinking more and more of them, making it look like the Allies were just getting lucky, until it was undeniable that they were actively hunting them down, and by then, it was far too late. Same principle is true here, if they think they have an advantage that they really don't have, they will not adapt to not having said advantage, until it's too late, a predator that's trapped and knows it, is at its most dangerous.

sorry for postponed reponse

bobbie-c's picture

I am sorry not to be able to reply to this right away. The paragraphs are too long, and there are too many run-on sentences.

Give me some time to read and understand your post first and I will respond as soon as I am able.

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Okay, here's my reply. Finally.

bobbie-c's picture

Hey, Mike. Do you know that your first paragraph has 977 words? Paragraphs are necessary – they have a purpose. They aren’t just a style choice. Periods are wonderful things. I suggest you use them more often. And commas are not the same as periods – they are not interchangeable. And learning to take a breather from time to time will help one regroup and help her ideas become easier to understand.

Sorry, Mike. I’m not picking on you – just making a point. :)

Now, about the “rebel fleet,” here are a few things I want you to think about:

Sure they can hide their numbers while they are in a suppression field. But what’s stopping them from being visually identified?

About dropping off a ship, why would the Earthers not notice that there’s a new ship in a certain place when it wasn’t there before the field blanketed the place? And wouldn’t the ship left behind not be identifiable as a ship from the “rebel fleet?”

What’s stopping the Federation from warning a place before the enemy got close?

Why would the loss of ships be chalked up to FTL problems? Wouldn’t the natural conclusion be that they dropped off/let off a ship? At the very least they’d be suspicious. If they weren’t then they’re probably the most stupid people in the galaxy. And if they really thought loss to an FTL mishap is plausible, why wouldn’t they search for the debris?

And as soon as the Federation got things more-or-less settled down, why wouldn’t they send ships out to harass these rebel ships, or at the very least, trail them?

What led you to think Tirosians do not seem to have a cloak and dagger ideology? Isn’t the fact their emperor eliminated the prime minister, or their leaders’ fear of their emperor or each other show that they can have cloak and dagger mentalities?

Why would the mutiny fleet have problems with “specialty components?” Aren’t they in their own part of the galaxy? Aren’t they in the Tiros Empire? Wouldn’t their components be just regular components instead of specialty components?

Isn’t it FTL engines cannot be miniaturized to the extent that they would fit smallships?

Yes, they can do the same thing that the Earthers did to Tiros. But how can they set up? How can they hide their preparations?

Why wouldn’t their ships stick out like sore thumbs in the Federation, and even in the Detterex empire? After all, their ships look like Tirosian ships. How can they sneak around the Federation?

“Until someone decides to hunt them down?” Aren’t they already being hunted down?

How can they be like the Japanese in WW2 if they do not have the advantage of stealth?

Impacters travelling at relativistic speeds? So, piloted ships are the impacters? (otherwise, how can they be traveling at relativistic speeds)

Yes, letting the Tirosians know they can’t escape and informing them where they are exactly isn’t necessarily a good idea, but it would probably be a good idea. It’s like saying to them, “Hellooo? We see you. We see you hiding behind that planet. We see you launching missiles. We know you’re en route to Colossus. We are sending our guys now. Ooops, we see you changing course for Elyra, so we’ll send our people to Elyra instead. Sorry, you can’t do anything we cannot see. You should give up now. Nyahh nyahh!!” This would have the same effect on the Tirosians as Tokyo Rose had to the Allies in the Pacific in WW2.

How can the Tirosians “persist,” as you put it? They cannot hide. They cannot go to a planet and hide their ships. They’ll always be on the run, with no place to hide. The only way these rebels can survive is by abandoning their ships and go underground, and fight their fight like ISIS or Al-Qaeda, or perhaps get other ships. Whatever the case may be, they’re gonna fight a guerilla war.

Here’s a history lesson – in WW2, the reason the Allies didn’t tip the Nazis off about them having broken the code for their Enigma devices was not to hide the fact that the code was useless or to let the enemy think they were still unstoppable, but (1) so that they wouldn't know it was necessary to switch to another encryption code because the code crackers will have to start from scratch and they will take a looong time to break a new code again, and (2) it’s so that they can use the code against them – like planting that dead body in the English Channel with all those fake papers, so when the Germans picked up the body and saw the papers, they started to prepare for a nonexistent invasion, and the Allies knew that the Germans were preparing because they saw this through their decryptedr communiqués. But the PRIMARY reason they didn’t let on was so that the Germans won’t switch codes. You can read up on this – there are lots of books about this.

Last thing. Sorry, I didn’t understand – what is an “esk?”

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Good points

But the small ships dont need their own ftls, they can ride on the large ships and detatch before they decelerate.

ship-maneuverable

bobbie-c's picture

If a fighter, shuttle or any other smallship should leave its mothership's FTL field while it is in or above speed-of-light, it will die.

If the mothership is below speed-of-light, but the smallship leaves above ship-maneuverable, it will probably die. It's not 100% guaranteed but close. That's why there's a rule for waiting for ship-maneuverable before launching. This was explained in Part 2.

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Could be automated, all you

Could be automated, all you need is the decoupling and mass, even so, borderline ship manueverable would still be a very devastating impact, if it fragments that just means that its more likely to hit the target. Any pieces larger than a grain of rice could be crippling at less than .01c and we could be talking up to about .6c where the FTL engages, as to how they could kamikaze without stealth, bait their pursuers and learn to anticipate their approach vector, and they will be halfway there, another option is picking a target and never decelerating.

So. If it's automated, and is

bobbie-c's picture

So. If it's automated, and is launched at your "borderline" velocities, then what makes it any different from a run-of-the-mill missile?

Are you saying there's no pilot in there anymore? If so, why is it still a kamikazi? Why not use a missile?

If there's a pilot, aren't you risking the pilot's death since you're launching at "borderline" ship-maneuverable?

And if you are putting a pilot in there anyway, but it's automated, isn't the pilot superfluous?

And if you launch at speeds/conditions low enough for the pilot to survive (i.e. "borderline"), then what makes it any different from a regularly-launched smallship? Why make it automated?

Isn't this idea all about launching at relativistic speeds so that the impact is so much more devastating? But since you're not anymore, then what makes this different from a conventional missile?

And "picking a target and never decelerating" - isn't that what a missile does? Why kill a pilot when a missile is good enough?

Haven't we established that "structural integrity fields" are available so the impacts of small objects will not be fatal?

Didn't you start this idea as a fighter traveling at relativistic speeds? (http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/comment/455832#comment-455832) Now that it isn't traveling at relativistic speeds then didn't you just make an over-complicated rube goldberg missile? Why not use a regular pre-programmed missile? Or are you just helping Tirosians in the throes of the "suicide syndrome" commit fancy seppuku?

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There are numerous ways, some

There are numerous ways, some of them ancient, of obscuring the reliability of optical recon, from using the terrain, to "smoke grenades", to paint, to facsimiles, I was thinking the small objects would be traveling with the energy of a rail fired projectile, but in any case, the Mutiny Fleet has options, even if they don't sustain themselves, they have proven they aren't the type to surrender, the closest Earth analog would be Imperial Japan, which is why I can imagine them using the larger ships as well as the shuttles and fighters, as ammunition as they run out of supplies, which would be devastating,

Another 'nit'

Well, it's up to you whether you think it is.

There would be no kingdoms on Elyra. Despite the awkward pronunciation, they would properly be called queendoms as it is a female ruled society.

no such word

bobbie-c's picture

There is no such word as "queendom." The word "kingdom" is defined as "a country whose ruler is a king or queen." You can check this out yourself.

Please don't be too literal, and try not to invent words. *sigh*

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In an online unabridged dictionary there is

I checked before mentioning it of course.

Supposedly it is on dictionary.com that makes reference to Colliers British dictionary 2012 digital edition. *shrug* It makes references to other works that use such a term.

Sorry, it is a matriarchy so to mention the king as the preeminent term would be weird. Here, men are always mentioned as the default gender but in that society that would be kind of reversed. As a matter of fact they would not even be called woman or (from man.)

As a Chinese speaker, reference to a woman is an absolute and not a relative term as an example of it in English. I am bi-cultured so I am more sensitive to such nuances and as you have a Japanese partner, I would assume you would understand the cultural differences (the Kanji is the same.)

OTOH, since you are creating a society out of whole cloth, I am suggesting some consistency even if there are is no such word. If there must be a descriptive name if that is the case, then maybe call it with sovereignty or 'land' or whatever in it and that would void the whole issue of the gender of the ruler.

Touchy, touchy.

*sigh*

bobbie-c's picture

I think it is important to understand that the medium and language which I am using for my storytelling is colloquial English, and, in English, “Kingdom” is the correct word.

Gender-specific roots to words in English can be traced to Old English, which is, after all, a Germanic-rooted language. Old English had a system of grammatical gender similar to German, which makes it more strict than today’s English.

But in the 11th century, grammatical gender began to decline, and in the 13th Century, Middle English had officially removed this gender system.

Today, gender in English is not inflectional anymore. However, nouns and pronouns still have what is known as “natural gender” - for example: his,/her, widow/widower, actor/actress, hero/heroine.

Still, a movement towards gender-neutral language is currently happening (has been happening, actually, since the 60s/70s), where it is actually culturally incorrect to make genderized distinctions in nouns. For example, use of authoress, heroine, poetess, etc. are actually discouraged now. But then again, use of other words, such as policewoman, are encouraged.

The point I am making is that the English language, as any living language, is in flux, where words have traces of previous povs and prejudices and noms persist. Only time will tell which words will change in their meanings, usage, conjugation, etc.

What you should realise is that I am writing in colloquial English. And, at the moment, the word “kingdom” works whether or not the ruler of the land is a king or a queen.

I disagree on your insistence for me to use a word not used simply because of a close-minded notion that, because a kingdom is headed by a queen, it must therefore be called a "queendom," or it has to be a queendom because it is a matriarchal kingdom.

Next time I write a story, I will consider writing it in Elyran, and you will be sure that I will use the correct word for "kingdom" (the romanized Elyran word for "kingdom," by the way is “Eloisha,” and this word is genderless. And since I am the one inventing the language, no one can contradict me. Mwahahahahah).

So, I am sorry to disagree with you - the fact that my spouse is Japanese only stresses to me this dichotomic condition of the language. You, as a bilingual person, should be less pedantic, and realize the great gulf between languages, and must be ready to accept the idiosyncrasies of each. And if, in Chinese, reference to gender is absolute, you must know that is not always the case in English. Reflect on the following words (which I copy-pasted from a dictionary):

man - a human being of either sex; a person.
"God cares for all races and all men"

man - work at, run, or operate (a place or piece of equipment) or defend (a fortification).
"the firemen manned the pumps and fought the blaze"

man - irrespective of the sex of the person addressed, to express surprise, admiration, delight, etc., or for emphasis.
"man, what a show!"

manhandle - move (a heavy object) by hand with great effort.
"seven guys had to manhandle the piano down the stairs"

manhandle - handle (someone) roughly by dragging or pushing.
"a drunk had manhandled one of the deputies"

manhole - a small covered opening in a floor, pavement, or other surface to allow a person to enter, especially an opening in a city street leading to a sewer.

manhunt - an organized search for a person, especially a criminal.

mankind - human beings considered collectively; the human race.
"research for the benefit of all mankind"

manpower - the number of people working or available for work or service.
"the police had only limited manpower"

manslaughter - the crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder."the defendant was convicted of manslaughter"

mantrap - a trap for catching people, especially trespassers or poachers.

I doubt if you will see the words "womanhandle," "womanhole," "womanhunt" and "womanslaughter" used anytime soon.

I suggest you try and be less pedantic, and try not to nitpick just to catch a writer in an error.

Picky-picky…

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All words are invented

erin's picture

Someone's got to do it! :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

T'chahn, Erin

bobbie-c's picture

Ta vi an ceart agat pravas. Ni raibh me in ann a duirt se nios fearr fin, Erin . Go raibh maith dankon agat.

Translation of the above Romanized Elyran is: "You are right. I could not have said it better myself, Erin. Thank you."

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You tied in....

The visuals very well, looks great. I'd read more. Is there any word on the next chapter of Danny?
Hope the little one and wife are doing well. Thanks

Yes, and thanks!

bobbie-c's picture

Thanks so much for the compliment!

And, yes, I'm working on the final installment of Danny (the upcoming Part 7 will be the last).

And, thank you for asking about the family. We are all doing well.

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No Nits Were Picked In This Comment

First off, I enjoyed this immensely, in fact since I saw your note about Danny I reread all the Danny currently posted multiple times skipping back and forth matching up events. When I got through it then I jumped over to this story, which I have reread multiple times also.*

You know you did a good job when people ask for more stories. "Always leave them wanting more" P.T. Barnum Several stories are like that. Kudos! Now I eagerly await more "Danny"!

Oops! Almost forgot what I wanted to ask. In the artwork accompanying these "Interviews" many of the couples shown one person (usually the male) covering or hiding their face. I even see an earther couple doing the same thing. How come why? (Almost forgot (again!). Wanted to say the artwork is really first class!

* You and I got off on the wrong foot at the start, mostly because I was being a bitch (Who, me?) I apologize for the things I said, it was wrong of me. I'm so very, very, sorry.


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Continued

I would like to see this continued. It’s very good I hope Mia doesn’t need to resign she is too valuable.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna