Christopher Nuttall - Democracy's Right

“Any Chief Engineer who actually earned his position could do that,” Cordova said. He seemed fully alert now. “I am reluctant to take untested designs into combat and I suspect that Admiral Walker will feel the same way. A design more complex than the arsenal ships may well have unsuspected flaws.”

“Simulation is not reality,” the lead Geek said. The other two nodded in unison. The effect was almost hypnotic. “We will test the designs thoroughly before we start mass production. Once mass production had begun, we will be producing new units at a speed considerably greater than the Imperial Navy’s shipyards.”

Hannelore sat up sharply as the Geek’s words echoed in her mind. “The Imperial Navy’s construction process is deliberately inefficient,” the Geeks said, flatly. “Their senior officers accept bribes in order to source components. Workers are taught the minimum they need for their work and nothing else, nor are they encouraged to offer suggestions or thoughts, even ones that might boost profits. Our construction process will not suffer from those problems. With the addition of the supplies from the Annual Fleet, we will be able to expand production quite rapidly.”

One of the rebels Hannelore didn’t know leaned forward. “If that is true,” he said, “couldn’t we just withdraw and wait to build up our attack fleet? How long would it take to put together a fleet that would be a significant challenge to the entire Imperial Navy?”

“Twenty-seven years,” a Geek said.

Hester shook her head. “By then, the Empire will have started its own construction program,” she warned. “They know now that their precautions are… insufficient to prevent us from operating almost at will and they will take corrective measures. How long would it take for us to build up a significant challenge if the Empire is aware of our threat and enters the race?”

“Uncertain,” another Geek said. “The Empire’s very structure makes it difficult for them to expand or improve production on a massive scale. Assuming that they push their own rules and regulations aside — and that they start educating commoners, which adds its own risks — they would be able to start a massive expansion program within three to four years. Once they were underway, they could just keep going; bear in mind that their starting point is considerably in advance of our own. We might not be able to out-produce them at all.”

Hannelore sighed as the argument developed, with both sides waving facts and statistics at the other. She rather understood Cordova’s desire to sleep during the meeting, even though it had been partly billed as a chance for her to meet the other rebels and start understanding her duties. It wasn’t anything like a conventional position. The various production facilities scattered through the Beyond were reluctant to disclose their location to anyone, particularly someone who hailed from the Thousand Families. Intellectually, she understood their concern, yet she found it irritating. How was she supposed to do her job if they didn’t trust her to do her job?

“I think it’s time to call a recess,” Hester said, finally. “Jude — can I remind you that you agreed, along with the rest of us, to put political decisions aside until the war was won. This isn’t the time or place for arguing about what is going to happen once we defeat the Empire, or what is going to be done to reform it.”

Jude — a short dark man whose face bore the signs of a botched regeneration — nodded angrily. “I speak for those of us who fled the remains of Paradise,” he said, insistently. “We are not receiving our due! We have fought when you…”

“ Enough ,” Cordova said, sharply. The entire room looked at him. “We have to win the war before we start arguing over the peace. If you don’t want to take part in the Popular Front, I suggest that you withdraw now and save us some trouble. If you do, then cooperate instead of demanding rights and promises that we are in no position to give you.”

His gaze swept around the room. “Let’s be honest with ourselves, shall we? We all came here because it was safe, because it was a place to hide. We lurked along the Rim and, over the years, we became timid. We told ourselves that we would build up our forces and one day retake out worlds. Did we do that? No, we didn’t fucking do that!”

He slammed the table, hard. “No, we found it preferable to sit and dream of the future than to actually do the hard work of overthrowing the Empire,” he added. “If we stop now, we will still be kidding ourselves in twenty years time that we’re still not ready — and that we will never be ready. This is the best chance we are likely to have to reform the Empire and create a universe we can all accept, even if it isn’t perfect. Now tell me — do you want to throw that chance away?”

No one spoke. “I thought not,” Cordova said. He looked over at Hester. “I suggest that we reconvene tomorrow and complete the planning then, once tempers have cooled.”

“Yes,” Hester said, flatly. She tapped the table. “I definitely think we should complete our discussions tomorrow.”

Hannelore followed Cordova as he strode out of the meeting room and back into the network of rocky corridors that made up the rear of the asteroid. He didn’t seem surprised to see her following him, but he said nothing until they reached the airlock connecting the asteroid to the Random Numbers .

“I’m going onboard my ship for a break,” he said. “The crew needs some drills and I intend to oversee them. And I need a drink and a nap, perhaps not in that order. Politics always leaves me feeling dirty.”

“So do I,” Hannelore said, too quickly. She hadn’t realised what she was planning until the words came tripping out of her mind. “Perhaps we could take a nap together.”

She felt her face flush as Cordova looked back at her, as if he were half-expecting her to change her mind. The boys in the Imperial City on Earth were very forward, particularly the ones who were born to the most powerful of the Thousand Families, and they had considered girls like Hannelore their rightful prey. She’d had to punch one of them out once for pushing his luck too far, not something that had pleased her family. Cordova… she was sure that he was attracted to her, yet he’d done nothing about it. And if she were wrong, she’d just destroyed their chances of developing a working relationship.

“I would like that,” Cordova said, slowly. He reached out and pulled her into a hug. His lips touched hers, first softly and then with increasing force. Hannelore felt her body respond to his caress, even though his beard was tickling her lips. His tongue slipped out and into her mouth, drawing her close to him. It was suddenly very hard to breathe properly. “Coming?”

He pulled her towards the airlock and through the hatch, both of them giggling like schoolchildren. The guard on the far end of the hatch saluted Cordova, but kept his expression carefully blank as Cordova escorted her through the corridors and up into Officer Country, where he opened his cabin and invited her inside. The cabin was warm, but his lips were warmer. From the urgency of his hands as he started unfastening her jacket, it had been a long time for him, perhaps longer than it had been for her. There had been no one she could risk taking to her bed at Tyler’s Star.

She gasped in delight as his lips roamed over her breasts, kissing, licking and sucking them, even giving them tiny bites. Cordova was a far more experienced lover than the callow boys back on Earth and it showed. It was suddenly urgent to get out of her trousers and panties, even though her hands were occupied trying to get his own clothes off. He took his hands off her for a second to pull off his jacket and she took the opportunity to start kissing her way down his body. His chest was covered in scars, as if someone had whipped him badly long ago and the scars had never faded away.