Helios: Corrosion From Within, 013 - Divergent Paths

Dropcraft Landing Area

Kongsfestning, Kongsbyen, Aesir

0900 VST, February 20, 2482

      Kaiserreich Johannes Rupertsen and his wife Kaiserin Anne Rupertsen exited the sleek black limousine which had brought them from their large palace-like home to the dropcraft Dragonfly. Several smaller limousines trailed behind theirs, followed by two large panel vans.

      Johannes was dressed in tan dress pants and a short-sleeve maroon dress shirt that was tailored just enough to hint at his well-defined upper body. The gold lenses of his sunglasses hinted at his occupation as a space-jock. The only hint of his age was the short gray hair of his closely shaven flat-top.

     Anne wore a semi-form-fitting maroon knee-length dress, oversized sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed but fashionable hat.

      The two appeared surprisingly young for their age of 50. They had Douglas and Synnove when they were 30, about seven years later than most nobles. Waiting the extra seven years gave Johannes time to secure his future position as the Kaiserreich while allowing Anne to completely reconstruct the family's public image.

      By the time the Kaiserin took her place next to her husband, the Dragonfly's stairs were already deployed with their daughter Synnove making her way down them.

      The Kaiserin kept her composure by clenching her teeth together, “your daughter is rebellious”, she said quietly to her husband.

      “She is still a child like her brother,” the Kaiserreich responded, “and yes, a little rebellious. But I trust you will address that.”

      Synnove had exited the dropcraft before her brother, something that was considered in poor taste, bad upbringing, unladylike, and a breach of protocol amongst the nobility. To make matters worse, rather than changing into the vestments of nobility, she emerged wearing a spacejumper complete with patches. Douglas never bothered to put his spacejumper on after being picked up from Ak-Chin by his sister. Instead he wore a maroon button-up shirt and dress pants similar to his father's.

      Anne managed to fake a smile well enough to fool any cameras that might be around as she hugged Synnove and welcomed her home. A wide, genuine smile crept over her face as she welcomed her son Douglas back home.

      Johannes lovingly embraced Synnove as most fathers would their daughters, then grasped his son's hand for a moment and hugged him briefly, “welcome home my son. We have much to discuss.”

      The others from the Dragonfly's crew of nobles were each welcomed by their families as they exited the craft. The ground crew was already unloading the horses from the dropcraft to place them into a lush green holding field.

      Johannes and his wife got back into their limousine while Douglas and Synnove climbed into their own. Once all the nobles were in their respective vehicles, the column of limousines started back towards the house.

      "I think you upset mom", Douglas said as he sat across from his sister.

      Synnove's exhale from her almost silent snicker preceded her response, "she's always upset when I'm involved. She wants royalty to make herself look good; not someone with motivation to be something more than a pretty face."

      The vehicles pulled into the long covered drive that ran parallel to the front of the stone-clad house, the Kaiserreich's limousine stopping directly in front of the entryway. Douglas met up with his father as the group walked through the oversized entry and into the reception hall.

      The house was less of a home and more a combination corporate headquarters, command center for paramilitary forces, and place to host businessmen and other nobles. Although it appeared to be a beautiful palace it was in reality a fortress with a pleasant façade. With exterior walls three yards thick made of layered composites and rock, not many weapons had the ability to get through to the interior living and working areas. The entire estate, including furnishings and equipment, was built at a cost of around 500 billion. The house accounted for half the total and the aerospace terminal a quarter of it.

      Despite being nobility, Johannes and his wife had paid for the estate up-front using their own money. Nobles within the Republic weren't entitled to any payments or similar concessions from the government or taxpayers. One of the two primary requirements to be granted a title of nobility was a level of income which would normally allow someone to establish a State of their own. The other requirement was an Oath to secure the Natural Rights of any law-abiding individual within the Republic.

      Johannes lit a pipe as he and his son made their way to the library. The wisps of pipe smoke filled the air with the sweet aroma of cherry Cavendish tobacco.

      "Ahhh, I've missed that smell," Douglas said, "reminds me of time spent building models of dropcraft and jumpcraft."

      The two walked leisurely down the wide stairway that landed on the first subfloor as Douglas lit a cigar,       "Indeed, we had many good times when you were young. I'm surprised you still have those models packed away."

      After taking an elevator to subfloor five the two arrived at what was referred to as the library. It was a library in the sense that it had books and almost limitless amounts of information at the fingertips, but that's where the similarities with an actual library ended.

      The expansive room was just barely lit by red lights. Opposite the main entry seven large displays hung across the wall, each measuring 20 feet wide and almost 13 tall. Near the center of the room, a large holoprojector displayed various star systems. Thousands of small blue cone-shaped symbols were scattered throughout the projector's field, each representing a jumpcraft owned by Johannes and his wife. Dozens of people sat at consoles accomplishing various tasks which ensured the smooth and safe flow of goods and services provided by Anne's company, El Dorado Heavy Industries.

      The usual custom within the Republic regarding the property of nobility was that the husband wholly owned and controlled a house's paramilitary forces and passed them on to his first-born son. The wife owned a house's industrial assets but ceded their day-to-day operation to her husband. Upon her death or incapacitation, the assets would pass to her first-born daughter.

      Douglas immediately noticed the drastic changes in the Nemesis system, "What's going on in Nemesis," he asked as he reached out and tapped the star's holographic representation.

      An area of a few dozen cubic feet was instantly filed with a representation of the Nemesis system, "You've bought the system?"

      "Yes," his father replied, "a day after you last departed."

      Douglas examined the system closer, "How much did that cost?"

      "Almost two quintillion. We expect to recover around twelve times that," Johannes said as he leaned next to Douglas and examined the system.

      "What does that make now, seventeen complete systems?"

      "Eighteen," his father responded as he stood and walked over to another star and brought it into focus, "but we will be finishing this one off within a year from now."

      Douglas stood, "Synnove should be quite happy."

      "No, I don't think she's very interested in seventeen star systems and all the associated industry."

      Johannes approached his son and placed his hand on his shoulder, "You've got almost 1500 jumpcraft, a few nodes, space stations, and everything else to go along with them. Your sister will end up owning one of the largest corporations in the entire galaxy, but you will have a military force that rivals those fielded by any faction including the Republic."

      "Being able to bring that level of protection to a marriage would be a big plus," Douglas responded.

      "Think bigger my son," Johannes spread his arms slightly, "such a force would almost certainly ensure you are chosen as my replacement by the Electors."

      "I think the proper word would be 'guaranteed'."

      Johannes leisurely blew smoke from his mouth, momentarily obscuring his face from his son's view, "Now you're thinking like nobility."

      "And without any brothers to compete with I have it easy," Douglas said then took a draw from his cigar.

      His father sat, "You're exactly the type of person the Republic needs right now if I were to pass."

      "How so?"

      Johannes crossed his legs and stuck the pipe in the corner of his mouth as he spoke, "You were briefed on your trip from Ak-Chin. With all the problems we have now within the Republic I've been working hard within the congress to silence the war drums. Patience of the people is running short. If something were to happen to me, I believe you could rally the nobility and the Reichstag to keep the wars at bay."

- - -

      Anne entered her daughter's large bedroom less than two minutes after Synnove had. She walked past Synnove to the picture window and looked out of it for several moments. The few house staff also in the room paused from their tasks and stood straight as Anne passed. Synnove stood facing in the same general direction, waiting for the awkward silence to be broken.

      Anne turned to Synnove, “what you did today was disgraceful.”

      “What was,” Synnove responded, "coming out of my dropcraft first? I was born first, even if only by a few minutes.”

      “No,” Anne said slightly angered, “Coming out first can be explained away. And it's not your dropcraft. You know that your father bought it for your brother and it bears our arms. You haven't even been granted arms yet, and if you continue with your rebelliousness I will ensure that you never will be. You bring ridicule on me by wearing that.”

      She paused for a moment gesturing her hand in Synnove's direction, “That thing out for all to see. You look like a little whore. I have no idea how you managed to get into it.”

     “It's not this that brings ridicule; it's that I refuse to play helpless pretty princess in a dress. That is why the nobles have no regard for you. They think you've failed to raise a daughter that will marry one of their sons and provide them with male heirs. And both the nobles and freemen see what you have really done by marginalizing me since I was a little girl.”

      Anne raised her voice as she stepped towards Synnove, “Every young noblewoman within the Empire wants the figure and face I have given you. You have more young noblemen in line to be your suitor than any of those women. The media turned you into the darling of the Empire. Pictures of you from just an hour ago have already been beamed across Empire space. You are throwing this all away to go play war games.”

     Synnove saw pictures of herself from earlier on the large display screen hanging on the wall behind Anne. The news agencies reported the return of her and her brother from an unknown mission for the Republic. Even though her brother took precedence the news was less focused on him and more on her.

      She stepped towards Synnove, almost touching shoulders, and lowered her voice enough so as to not be heard by any of the household staff in the room, “I won't let you ruin everything I have worked for. You will marry a nobleman and you will bear male heirs. If I have to order you to be restrained for your chosen husband I will. You will not continue for long to bring disgrace upon me or damage the image of this house that I have built through the years.”

      Anne gave her daughter one last hateful look directly in the eyes before walking off. She had put up with this treatment from her mother on a regular basis since her preteen years and it was finally starting to wear on her. She decided to turn the tables on her mother for once.

      “I will play pretty princess for now,” Synnove responded without looking back at Anne, “Maybe I can even play heifer in a few months.”

      She noticed some of the house staff trying to hold back a smile at her comment, and gave the hint of a brief smile back at them. The sounds of her mother's heels on the floor stopped then began approaching Synnove.

      “You're damn right you will. Take a cue from your mother,” Anne said then turned and started out of the room again.

      Synnove knew she had hit a nerve. This was the first time she had heard her mother curse. Anne had otherwise done very well keeping her response respectable.

      Synnove decided to move in for the strike, “If a woman determines her own value by how fertile of a cow she is, then I should easily surpass my mother's example and ability if I wanted to”, she paused momentarily as the sound of her mother's footsteps stopped, “But I don't value myself by only that measure.”

The house staff's eyes widened as they waited for Anne's response. After less than a second Synnove heard her mother continue on her way out of the room.

      “Moo,” she said without looking back.

      Anne again stopped, this time for several seconds, but didn't respond.