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Beyond Hope
- Chapter 19 - What whispers in darkness[]
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Meeting between bothers[]
Kowloon Embassy Compound
Tharkad, Federated Commonwealth (Lyran State)
February 18th, 3055
Helena used her comm with her sister to make the calls to Maggie Doons but for the mundane stuff involving Henry’s remains?
She wasn’t afraid to use Comstar services for that. Arranging for his remains to be cremated and returned to Kowloon was simple enough.
Helena requested they be interred in a simple shrine. Nothing ornate. Placed somewhere near but not on the old Ngo family property.
Helena knew it would be a divisive issue where to put his remains once the story became known. This was her best idea for what to do with them.
The real surprise was that Katherine accepted the lunch invite.
Helena stood in front of her wardrobe deciding what to wear.
“War Witch would be inappropriate for this meeting… The suit for the swearing in is nice but not right either…Ah ha.” Helena selected a heavy dark blue dress.
“The ballistic weave dress?” Jakob almost seemed proud.
“Yeah. It seems a wise precaution.” Helena said as she slid the stab resistant plates into their pockets on the inside of the dress. “Plus it’ll keep me warm.”
Conspiracies and Industrial Deals[]
Arthur Luvon Memorial Clinic, Tharkad City
Tharkad, Federated Commonwealth (Lyran State)
"It's someone inside." Elizabeth Ngo explained, "That's the only explanation for why they'd move that much money on this kind of thing."
Her Majesty looked at the evidence they'd accumulated, and she was pale. As if it never really occurred to her…not really.
“But…why?" Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion questioned
"Ambition, Politics? Someone thinks you're too intractable, or thinks you bend too easy, or they think they can put a puppet in your position." Liz was still in her hospital bed, the meeting was in her hospital room. "My Grandfather wrote that Treason is so terrible, because to be a traitor one first must be trusted. I've read a few monographs catching up my education that say much the same. The price gets a lot worse if you do what lots of others have done, and refuse to trust anybody-that's how someone like Romano Liao happens."
“If Loherngen is compromised…” Melissa began say.
"It wouldn't be the first time they were." [https:www.sarna.net/wiki/Morgan_Kell Morgan Kell] had been on-world when Victor called him in. His excuse for being here was a proposed Factory restoration on Arc Royal. "That's why entities like Heimdall allegedly exist."
“Morgan. Thank god you’re here. If I’m going to clean house I’m going to need all the help I can get.” Melissa smiled.
He regarded Elizabeth, "Your working theory is that someone is using Katherine? Am I right?"
Elizabeth nodded. "Yeah, it makes more sense for someone to be using her, than for her to be acting alone-she doesn't gain anything useful by creating a situation that cripples the FedCom in the middle of a foreign invasion, even during a cease-fire. Working on the assumption she's not stupid, she's been, or is being, manipulated by someone who thinks they can gain from destabilizing the realm."
“The FedCom does represent a fundamental shift in the balance of power in the Inner Sphere. That makes a lot of people nervous. Or even outright hostile.” Melissa nodded.
"Who's your primary suspect then?"
Liz frowned, "I'm Kowloonese. My first suspect is always going to be the Earthers, which is me admitting I'm biased…but then again, there was the interdiction during the Fourth Succession War, and the attempted takeover in the aftermath of Tukayyid, now the split inside the former Ministry of Communications-"
"Comstar."
"Yeah, the former Terran Hegemony communications ministry-the last vestige of pre-amaris Terran Government, they're too logical to discount just because of bad history and old grudges might get in the way of rational examination-but again, No Win Condition if they succeed."
“With what Focht has made public in his own cleaning of house it would not be out of the question that the extremists that are now calling themselves the Word of Blake could consider something like this.”
"Elizabeth, you have your Grandfather's problem." Morgan said, "Your base assumption is always that people do things with the intent of winning. That there has to be some gain-some material gain, from their actions."
“The sundering of the FedCom would be worth something to many people, not just Comstar or the Word of Blake.” Melissa said.
"But in the middle of an invasion we're still not winning more than a third of the fights against?" Liz frowned.
"People can be incredibly short-sighted."
“Dracs are arrogant enough to think now that they’ve won Luthien that they can handle their invaders on their own.”
"Only the Dracs didn't win Luthien." Elizabeth pointed out, "Luthien was won by an international coalition that included your Kell Hounds."
“Theodore is smart enough to see it that way but his own internal problems with the Black Dragon Society will downplay our contributions as much as possible. Even going so far as to suggest rather than Hanse sending us that the Dragon bought out our contracts and Hanse was just saying he sent us for political gain.”
Elizabeth frowned, "Wasn't that the original cover story?"
Morgan chuckled. "YOU paid attention?"
"One brother missing and presumed dead, the other one on Tamar right in the invaders' way, yeah, I paid attention, I couldn't avoid it when mom was…having problems." she politely sidestepped the documented times Provost units had been called on the dependent's housing after one of her mother's drunken rampages.
“Still they’re absolutely the sort of people who would be the kind of arrogant and shortsighted enough to do that and try and break our FedCom as a result.”
"That doesn't explain how they'd get leverage on an intelligence agency that knows better." Liz insisted, "To get domestic treason at that level, there's got to be a domestic win condition."
“They’re people too, with views, and like you said it wouldn’t be the first time the Dracs compromised Loherngen.”
“It still doesn’t seem right. They should be equally happy that the Federated Suns half of the realm is feeding their troops into the meat grinder that are the Clans. If they break the Alliance those troops would now be free to move against them or the Capellans instead.” Melissa said thoughtfully.
"That's it." Liz said. "The win condition. We're looking at nations facing the Clanners…but the win condition isn't here, or Luthien. It's in New Syrtis and it's on Sian."
“Hanse was preparing War Plans to invade the Combine in case Luthien did fall. But there is still the possibility that they’d be directed toward the Confederation instead.”
"Old rivalries forced into the back-seat by what would seem on New Syrtis like an optional foreign war…" Liz mused aloud, "...while the Cappies never really liked the outcome of the Fourth Succession War, and it would take away the units the Commonwealth garrisoned in the conquered areas if we were suddenly in the middle of a civil war or mass uprising, a distraction that would let Romano, or her son, move in to 'stabilize and collect'."
“It would be quite the gamble indeed. But it could work. And if the Combine does suddenly start to look to fall again because the spirit of cooperation faltered…” Melissa said.
"Your grandfather had a term…'rice bowls'." Morgan said, "established careers, suddenly threatened by changes, he used to rant about it back in the day, after he was released from Blackgate."
"I know the term." Liz said, "Bureaus whose leaders are so invested that they'll sabotage progress to keep their temporary, short-term duties 'stable' because those duties represent their career and lifetime achievement, and maybe the future for their offspring. We need to be looking for people who excel at the old conflicts and might feel they've been sidelined by the Alliance…and I bet we'll find a lot of those in branches of Lohengrin."
“Hopefully we can get enough to understand there is still that safety and security, just in the form of the Clans.” Melissa said.
Elizabeth was typing something on her portable. "To keep up appearances…" she said, "That's five Myomer compositing looms, four nanoscale micropolishers, and one full line of six-axis machines with a secondary conveyor and manipulator arms, Lord Kell?"
“That should be quite sufficient.” Morgan acknowledged.
"And Your Highness, this is being financed through the Lyran Central Bank under your co-sign, is that correct?" Lizzie asked.
“Yes.” Melissa said.
"Delivery will begin in July then." Elizabeth said with a nod, "That takes care of the usual business, I don't suppose I could interest you in Helena's products while we're here, I get three and a half percent off her gross receipts, but they're big receipts."
“A proper Lyran through and through, even in a sick bed you’re looking to wheel and deal.”
"I have to pay for a Navy." Liz stated, "Those cost money, and it's part of my dowry gift to my future in-laws, I have to make sure it's good. The package I'm thinking of involves a charging station installation and logistics vessels. You'll need…" she nodded to Melissa, "...her approval if you want me to try and sell you a warship."
“Arc Royal would be most appreciative of a service station. We already have charging stations at both Zenith and Nadir.” Morgan Kell said.
"Service yards it is!" Liz agreed, "Which comes with a 130,000 ton capacity structure and service dock, eight 22,500 rating powerplants to keep it running and lit, and a technical package. You'll be able to do D-checks in the Arc Royal system instead of waiting on an open slip at Gibbs, Alarion, or Pandora."
“That is the general idea. We’re right on the line practically speaking. It would be good to have something ourselves so we can more readily respond when the truce breaks.”
"Elizabeth, how far are you from putting the Corvette line into operation?" Melissa asked.
"You'd know." Liz shrugged, "so you're looking to get me to admit it. We're two years out for the A line, finally have the necessary licenses for key components and a design that Ioto traded me for their supplementary charging stations. We DO have one prototype Mako under build, but that's another six months before she's dried in, never mind operational."
“Good. The truce and the RX-79 program should be able to handle our current needs while that completes.” Melissa nodded.
Elizabeth scrolled "Mmm, Haranshire special-ordered a large scale core-forge, they might be looking to make a play for the RX-80 program that hasn't even cleared the Estates General yet."
“The Clans do have some pretty big Battlewagons. We’ll need the RX-80 and more eventually.”
"Can you make it go faster?" Melissa asked.
"The yards?" Liz inquired.
"That was the wrong question, Melissa." Morgan said, "Elizabeth, what would it take to make your little program…and the re-industrializing of our shipping industry, go faster?"
Liz inclined her head, "Permission to speak on taboo subjects?" she asked.
"Granted."
"We could be going faster right now, if every single layer of the production chain wasn't hampered by rent-seeking, nepotism, various forms of officially sanctioned theft, and the need to maintain secrecy on key links in the supply chain." she tapped her portable, "Forty percent of my costs are in the forms of various payoffs and bribes."
“We’re still learning how to make a lot of the stuff we need from scratch again. So if I start cracking down I could very well spark that civil war we want to avoid.” Melissa said.
"What can be done without risking or triggering a civil war?" Morgan asked.
"Ease up on certain forms of licensing-especially out-system mineral rights, some investment into start-ups and small businesses, and insurance." Liz popped off, "See, shippers aren't owners more often than not-they own a mortgage, and higher risk cargoes have to be insured or you don't get the customers. An affordable insurance plan for smaller operators can be like putting accelerant into an ICE engine with the fuel."
“It’ll still cause some grumbling cutting into established business practices like that but no one should jump camp over something so trivial.” Melissa nodded.
"Not if you're offering them a deal. The idea is to make legitimate haulage more profitable than smuggling and more reliable income than servicing Pirates. You can lower the prices that way, while expanding the profits-which should make the established outfits happy."
“Which will cause grumbling from the bigger hauler corporations and the bigger insurance underwriters but once they see the extra profit from not having to pay out protection money and insurance claims as often they’ll get over it.” Melissa nodded.
Lizzie tapped her portable. "Who's the biggest insurance underwriter in the Melissia Theater?" she offered. "I know for a fact if there was more put into it, I'd make more profit with less loss as an underwriter-the safer the route, the more of those premiums go to making profit."
“I’ll get the paperwork started as soon as I can.” Melissa smiled.
"That's long-term." Morgan said, "What can you do right now to bulk up our transport and military fleet?"
"Nothing I'm not already doing? All of this takes time, I only really GOT started two years ago, though Grandfather laid a lot of the ground work with Cartwright, and Li's been keeping up with their initial plan where she could. We salvaged and reactivated two Type 51s but they're damned near useless, one Mako that mainly works as a training hulk…it's no small thing, I expect Max Haranshire will have Foxes coming off Alarion's lines two or three years before we've got a viable Mako copy ready for production runs, and Ioto will have their RX-80 prototype in trials before we can look at even considering a light cruiser-Helena's smart, but she's not magic, and it takes time to get the workforces organized and trained up."
“It takes longer to climb out of the darkness than it does to create the pit in the first place.” Melissa said sagely.
“And the Makos will fill in all the empty spaces that the RX-78’s are too valuable to use for.” Morgan understood even if he was anxious.
"Yep, though Helena's girl Jane suggested some changes to the Mako-making it more like a corvette-carrier rather than the gunship of yore, we ain't finished the engineering studies to even consider deviating that far from the original hullform. That'll be sometime around 3060 if the simulations prove out."
“You make me wish I had another son sometimes.” Morgan said sadly.
Elizabeth winced, "Any further word on yours?"
"Rumors." Morgan said, "Our best info is that Phelan's doing 'well' with the Wolves."
"You take this in so much stride, but you almost broke down when Victor told you about Henry."
"Henry's Kowloonese." Liz said simply, as if that explained everything. "That would be like expecting everyone to have the same religion."
“So it would.” Morgan nodded. “Still the point is moot since I hear you and Arthur have become quite the item.”
"I think I'm going to have to live." Liz said, "because I think maybe Arthur's got feelings for me despite all of…well, this." she gestured at the hospital room, "He waits for me when I'm In the Tank, and he's there after."
“That is the nature of feelings. Truth be told I think he was hopelessly in love with you long ago Elizabeth. A mother knows these things.” Melissa said.
"Some mothers." Liz said, "The good ones maybe. Me, and before she overdosed, Penny, could show you mothers that…weren't so good."
“Being a mother is about more than giving birth to someone. So by my definition they do not count as mothers.” Melissa shook her head.
"So, was it you, or Maggie who showed Arthur my grade seven project?" Liz asked. Melissa laughed.
"Not sure I get the reference." Morgan said.
"It was titled 'cracking a planet for less than five hundred million C-bills'." Elizabeth said, "Basically an orbital mechanics and ballistics problem, which showed that even in the depths of the horror of the early succession wars, nobody was actually trying to destroy worlds-because the means to do so is cheaper and easier than the means they actually used."
“The Succession Wars were a time of madness.” Morgan said coldly.
"No argument from me, they helped grind us all into a dark age…but that wasn't what the idiots who started them thought they were doing, at least, the math says it isn't.", Liz commented.
“I doubt anyone will ever truly know what they were really trying to accomplish.” Morgan shook his head.
"Wanna see how to crack a Brian fort without destroying the local ecosystem?" Liz asked him, "I've been playing with this one for a while…I think it might be scalable, but it DOES require a lot of information to use."
“That is the trick of the Brian Fort. You can never be quite sure you’ve found all the sally ports until you’ve already cleared it.”
"Not thinking of clearing, I'm thinking cracking." she admitted, "which doesn't leave much usable from it afterward, so maybe not the best idea, if what you're after is inside. I thought about it while I was In The Tank, as a distraction. The base idea is that all those warship-grade composites, k-sinks, heat-sinks and ship steel structural members rely on bedrock, and you can pound the bedrock around it into gravel, which basically removes most of the protective value of the fortress entirely. Pound deep enough and you'll fissure the crust under or around it, and not many fortresses are very useful if they're dealing with magma. The actual projectile is just a few tons of osmium steel with a one-use booster and a few day's lead time,. But it's not like a bunker complex is going to get up and walk away."
"Your ancestors did that in the 2768 uprising, didn't they?" Morgan asked.
Liz nodded, "Yeah, they did, which is how I guessed it was scalable-Anh Cu'ong dropped rocks on Rim Worlds garrisons outside major cities without destroying the cities. A properly made penetrator could do it with less fuel and lead time."
Morgan chuckled, "Hence your ancestor at Eagle's Nest stating that 'fixed fortifications are a testimony to foolish optimism'."
“Anh also got a bit lucky. One variable even a little off and you miss your pinpoint target and hit somewhere else instead.” Melissa pointed out.
"Angle of attack." Liz said, "your projectile has to be moving fast enough, at the correct angle to penetrate atmosphere without drifting…but yeah, that wasn't exactly the SAFE way to do things, which is why she only had to use it two other times in the Star League war-both times on targets with reams of information like atmospheric surveys, geological surveys, good charts…very good charts of orbital paths… Kowloon we were lucky, because the Rockjacks had complete surveys of the entire system and had been refining them for generations before the rising. It wouldn't have worked nearly as well on somewhere less well mapped."
“It is a wonder that no one has tried it more aggressively. Let us pray it stays that way.”
"Agreed. I haven't figured out a reliable defense against it, and neither has anyone else who's looked at the problem." Liz nodded. "But it's interesting as a thought experiment-'how do I stop a cross-orbital kinetic bombardment at relativistic velocity?' is a good mind-game and math exercise. Most of the energies would be prohibitive, the easiest solution would be to kill the guy initiating it before he pulls the trigger."
“Which is a poor gamble but the only one reasonably available.”
"There is an easier way…or at least, a less destructive one." Melissa said, "Stop him from wanting to do it. Are you familiar with the chinese idea of 'perfect victory', Elizabeth?"
"Turn the enemy into your friend, right?"
"Exactly."
"DIplomacy."
"That would be the word, yes."
Lizzie sighed, "I'm not good at that."
"Few are. Even those with a long history of it, and whose skill at it are legendary find it difficult." Melissa told her.
“Fortunately we seem to have a few now. Maybe enough we can really change things.” Elizabeth nodded.
“I know you desire to mean Helena but you’re more capable than you give yourself credit for Elizabeth. Now I have many affairs of state to attend to. I’m a busy Archon after all.” Melissa said as she rose.
“Indeed. There is much to be done if we’re going to prevent this civil war.” Morgan also made ready to leave.
“Thank you both. Your Majesty, Duke Kell. Good health.” Elizabeth said.
Handling a Problem Child[]
On the Road
Outbound from the Arthur Luvon Memorial Clinic, Tharkad City
Tharkad, Federated Commonwealth (Lyran State)
"Katherine has become a risk." Morgan confided after they left the hospital. "I should have warned you about that."
“I know. The terrible truth is the alternative to what Elizabeth and you proposed is that she is a sociopath.” Melissa said.
"Narcissist, but narcissism can be cured." Morgan mused, "Sociopathy can't. You didn't let the girl know what you suspect."
"Nor did you," Melissa said, “but I at least have the excuse of no mother wants to think of their children that way.”
He shook his head, "I know. No father wants to think of them that way either. So, what do we do?"
"I've indulged Katherine far too much." Melissa said, "I think it's time I gave her some hard, real, responsibilities-responsibilities with consequences for her."
“We’ll also still need to clean house, but what are you thinking?” Morgan asked.
"Katherine's ambitious, and has yet to actually serve a term. The draft applies to everyone. Even a royal princess."
“You might have to force her to have a contraceptive implant surgically installed. Something she can’t easily remove or counter-act on her own.”
"That would be part of the draft, yes." Melissa nodded. "I will do her the favor of letting her choose whether to follow in Victor and Peter's footsteps, or choose a different branch, but dammit she needs to understand she's not the center of the universe."
“Also use her narcissism against her. Argue that if she is really the greatest ever then she should have no trouble accomplishing great things while also taking fewer losses than other commands.” Morgan nodded.
"Draft, doesn't include officer status. If she earns her spurs, she can be an officer, if she fails, well…" Melissa shrugged, "If she fails, she's cut off, outside the succession. There have to be consequences for her or she won't learn the lesson."
“But we both know there is no way to prevent her rapid promotion. There will be far too many commanders that will either see it as doing you a favor, putting her in her proper place as a royal scion, or as a way to get her out of danger.”
"Not if I assign her to Arc Royal." Melissa said, "not if she has to report to you."
“I’ll make a soldier out of her if she chooses that path.” Morgan nodded.
"Consider it a royal command, Morgan." The Archon said, "FIX her or break her so badly she loses all ambition to be anything, but a brood mare."
“May I suggest an alternative if she decides on a Naval path since Arc Royal doesn’t have one?”
"Sticking Helena with her?"
“It is either that or put her in Elizabeth’s Coast Guard if she chooses Naval.”
Melissa mused, then…she began to chuckle.
“I almost want Helena to really be the War Witch to come back to us out of the past. That would certainly get you what you want and might actually be quite entertaining to watch.” Morgan Kell chuckled.
Royal Assignment[]
Kowloon Embassy Compound
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Helena (Cameron) Drillson
Helena Drillson (Cameron) looked at the message, then at the Archon.
"You're drafted." Melissa Steiner-Davion told her, "As Baroness of the Spider Moon, you accepted citizenship, you're drafted, it's a civil service position, but as my secretary of the Navy, you will have the authority you need to carry out the reorganization I require."
“I understand, Archon. May I ask one small boon?” Helena bowed her head.
"You may ask…doesn't mean I'll grant it, but ask." Archon told her.
“May I set my own uniform standard? I’ve grown accustomed to my old uniform and would appreciate being able to continue wearing it.”
"I expect you to run the newly formed Navy Department however you see fit, Helena, that would include Uniform standards and standards of discipline." Melissa told her, "you will have the power to fire any Admiralty that balks. I expect you to use it."
“Thank you, Archon. I will at least replace the Star League iconography with AFFC iconography as would be appropriate for someone in your service.”
"There is one other, small, fine detail royal command." Melissa told her, "This person." she handed a personnel file to Helena, "this person must be placed somewhere where she will have no favors, and a lot of responsibility with attending accountability. Katherine Morgan must NOT have any positive special treatment unless or until she has earned it in the same manner as the daughter of a pig farmer might."
“I understand. I think I have just the billet for that aboard KCGS Elizabeth Cameron.” Helena answered.
"Be sure her commanding officers understand; my daughter is on her second chance, there will not be a third."
“As you command, Archon. We’ll begin with a thorough battery of tests to see where her aptitudes are, then solid course work because if you’re not learning you’re dead, and based on that we will see which track to put her on.” Helena nodded.
"Helena? One more thing-we have twelve years, when the Truce runs out, we must be ready."
“I was running the admin for a Star League division’s worth of volunteers and ralliers. I know that my administration skills will be of use to you.” Helena nodded. “I’ll keep everything on track.”
"Good. one more thing? When you report to Mount Asgard, overturn the offices, make a public stink over foreign and domestic espionage. I find I would like an unrelated pretext for some housecleaning in the intelligence bureaus. Dig up whatever you can and give me that pretext."
“Of course. I’ll make sure Samantha and Jane both give it a thorough search.”