The Infinity Chronicles Volume 1

Act-22: Plans within plans...

Act 22: "Plans within plans..."

Imperial Palace, Cheyenne Mountain, Wyoming, Earth, 12-Nov-2330

Tiberius sat at his council chambers table as an aide ran down the list of the people he would have to meet this day. He would have preferred to sleep in, but he knew that of all those people, one of them he especially wanted to speak to. He was a slender man, around 5' 10" in height, with a bit of a belly from too much good food, and a thorough lack of exercise. His hair was originally brown, but responsibilities of the realm had turned it prematurely white. His eyes, twin orbs of ice blue, still shown with authority however, despite his 54 yrs of age.

"Just send in James Carlson, you dim-witted fool! He is the only one I need to see today. Have my aides attend to the others."

"As you command, Emperor." The aide replied, as he left the chambers and ushered in James Carlson. Dressed in fine Italian livery, James always welcomed an audience with the Emperor. This meeting, from James' viewpoint, was no different. When he sat down however, the first thing he saw was a COM log transcript.

"Read it." The Emperor said. James did so. Scowling as he finished, he looked up at the Emperor.

"He's his own man now, your grace. All we share is a last name."

"Then you have no trouble with my putting a price on his head, hmm?" Tiberius said.

"Do what you must. I could care less. He's made his choice, siding with the colonies, so he can die with them."

"I also wanted to give you a heads up on another matter. I have decided to emancipate the Gideons, and I wanted to make sure my favorite weapons contractor had ample warning to adjust his accounting before he got sideswiped by slaves demanding paychecks." Tiberius said with a grin. James merely nodded, and smiled.

"I freed all of my non-human employees 3 months ago. Everyone draws a paycheck at C-D. But I do thank you for that bit of info." James said, still smiling. He knew what this news would do to his rivals, and he couldn't wait to watch the market reports tonight. He even started doing the math on what it would take to acquire a few of his lessor rivals, like Tri-Tachyon Ltd.

"Good, very good indeed. I make the announcement tonight." Tiberius said with a grin.

"On another note, what do you make of all the recent ship traffic going out of Center?" Tiberius asked.

"Yes, I had heard that the GSE yards as well as Tri-Tach were on a practical war footing there, but since we only have a non-aggression treaty with those idiots who control Center, we can't learn much more then that. It is my understanding that my estranged son is behind it."

"Yes, I did some research, well, I had my aides actually do the research, and do you know what I found out?"

"I'm all ears, excellency."

"Your son was a teenage gigolo, servicing the wives of some of the most powerful men in all of Australia. Hell, Margeret Caldwell was one of his clients, and when she passed away, she left him all of her holdings!" The Emperor said, as though spreading some unknown gossip. James merely smiled.

"So, THAT'S what that little brat was up to all that time. He told us he was walking dogs. Hmmph!" James said, scowling. "That also explains where he got the funds for some of his recent purchases. Any idea on the boys' actual worth, considering I cut the little bastard out of C-D?"

"I have a few agents looking into that as we speak, however Center's banking structure is more rigid then the banks here in the Empire. It will take some time to crack their encryption." Tiberius said, as he sat back in his chair, and sighed.

"I'm beginning to draw a line between things that happened a few years ago, to things happening now. That loss of the battlecruiser Wisconsin out on the fringe has all of the smacking's of something Alex would do. You say it was destroyed by a flight of Commercants?"

"And a flight of the newest version of the Cutlass class strike fighter." Tiberius added.

"Yes, it seems as this low tech race isn't so low tech anymore. How quickly can an assault fleet be put together to investigate this sector?" James asked as Tiberius laughed.

"Oh James, how you humor me at times. I couldn't put a force like that together in 10 years! Maybe if I stripped everything off of the borders with the Colonies, but that would leave several key worlds grossly underdefended. Maybe in 15 to 20 years, if the yards keep to their building schedule."

"Yes, that will have to do I suppose. I'll contract some friends to deal with my son the next time he ventures back toward Center. I understand a certain pirate is back in action?"

"Oh, you mean Antilles Black? Yes, complete with three new Dragoons fresh from the yards at Ammamannin. They have that new StarWarp drive you know. " He said with a smile and wink. James only grunted.

"Word has it Alex killed him the first time, so I don't have much faith in his ability to fair any better this time around." James said with a chuckle. The Emperor merely shrugged.

Carlson Estate, Marrok, 23-May-2331

Alex lie in bed, Cygna snuggled up beside him, as he starred blankly at the ceiling. He was slowly losing his marbles, being forced to remain on Marrok. He needed to get off of the planet before he killed someone.

For the last year he had trained fighter pilots and worked with the 'Psychos' while they trained. Cygna worked with them as well, helping their members cope with the psi-booster drugs. But now, his work there done, he just wanted to get back to hauling some freight. Kinsman had come and gone once and promised to send a small packet to spirit him and his crew away on the first of June, if he could hold out that long...