“I did. Let’s have it.”
“The station was abandoned, and I appropriated it as requested. I moved it to my system, and Hubaisha is going to turn it into a live fire training facility. I figured we wanted it out of the way of anyone’s eyes, and with trainees rifting in, where it was didn’t really matter. Problem with that?”
“No. A more fuller report than a brief text message would have been better.”
“Maybe, but the admiral was lucky to get even that last night. I was seriously fatigued moving tens of thousands of dinosaurs around.”
“You gave them what they gave the locals. Was that justified?”
“Morally? No. Ethically? No. Karmically? Well they deserved it. The alternative was either destroying them in space, or leaving them to rot in an irradiated zone. Missiles were quicker and less like torture.”
“I’m glad you realize that. And it’s probably good you’re talking to me like that, and not anyone higher than me.”
“Yesterday was a really bad day. I’m only just starting to come out of the dark place I was in.”
“Starting? Is that where you just came back from?”
“Yeah. Their senior judgeships in the Democratic Union and Naranja seemed to think me being in the military was a waste, and thought they were convincing me to become a judge like Thorn instead. I took them to a hot dry place, and disabused them of the notion.”
She flinched.
“Actually,” she said, “I need to warn you about that. Haven government is setting up a judiciary of their own at the moment, now people are moving down to the planet. It puts them outside of direct AI observation, which means crime can now happen there with a more normal level chance of not being caught. Everyone now knows what Thorn was doing as a judge, and his skills as one, and you are being considered as a call-in judge for capital cases.”
I laid my arms on the desk in front of me, lowered my head down to touch the surface, and bashed my forehead against it three time. Then I sighed really loudly.
“That’s about what I thought, although you didn’t need to hurt yourself getting it across to me.”
I didn’t actually hurt at all. The dark sun was doing more than I thought it was.
I sat back up, and looked at her.
“What’s the official Imperium line?”
“There isn’t one. The Imperator of course gets dragged into civilian matters on a regular basis, because he is on the council, as much as he hates that, and as often as he has someone else attend for him. No-one else I know of in the military so far is also attending to civilian matters. Unless you count Chief Burnside, which I’m not, but probably should be.”
I shook my head, and sighed again.
“Yeah, I get that,” she went on. “But look at it their way. When actual observation is not available, a human lie detector is the next best thing. And you’re it.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m available. Or even interested. Thorn did it out of a sense of service. I’m serving another way. And look what it did to him. He left everything and everyone he loved behind except his wife, in order to get away from the demands on him for his last days. No-one should be forced to do that.”
“I get you. Others won’t.”
“Well, until I get formal orders, my attitude is I won’t be at anyone’s beck and call. Hubaisha is going to monitor court dockets for anything I need to look at, and I’ll consider requests made far enough in advance, but anyone who expects me to jump because they think being a judge is more important than what I am doing, is going to have a very bad day. Even if they turn out to be right.”
“Noted. And I’ll pass that on. It may come down to the military loans you out every now and then. You do a day in a court room once a month or something, when things are quiet.”
“And that will be when?”
“No idea, but we can phrase it that way when people suggest it. And they will.”
“As long as they know that no-one at all is going to enjoy the experience except the innocent.”
“It might take a day in court to prove that to them.”
“Maybe. But better if I never have to.”
“You will sometime. A grand master mage is like a four star admiral or general in a way. Part of their job is political. In your case, it’s more civilian, but it’s the same.”
“Fine. Remind me of that when I’m a four star admiral.”
She shook her head.
“I’ve never seen this side of you before. It’s a bit scary.”
“I had a really bad day yesterday. I made decisions I didn’t want to make. I’ll deal with them. What I don’t need is civilians rocking my boat in the middle of it.”
“On that note, you can stand your people down after lunch. They should get some simulator time, some space time, and then do what they want for the afternoon, including going home if they want to.”
“Who signed off on that?”
“I did. You have a mission to start, but not in the condition I see you in now. And if it was as bad as you say it was, a lot of your people will be the same. They can take some time to wind down, including getting psych help if they need it. We now have a whole department in Haven medical devoted to helping people deal with stressful situations. It doesn’t go on their records if all they need is a chat. Pass that on.”
“Leanne?”
“Boss?”
“Pass that along, please.”
“Already did. Advised the AIs for the captains and squadron leaders the moment Jane said it.”
“Good.”
I waited for Jane to either leave, or say something else.
“Anything else about your system you want to tell me?”
“You mean the waste dumps I’ve been leaving there? Had to go somewhere.”
“Yes, and since no-one officially owns any of that debris, I guess it doesn’t matter where it is, although I’m sure Bob would prefer it in Haven.”
“Is that an order?”
“No. But only as long as you tell me the rest.”
She knew. She always knew.
“I saved some intact Rawtenuga battleships. Hubaisha is going to convert them for human or AI use. I was thinking my home system could use its own militia force, and I’m the only one with funds and access to raw materials to get the work done. Let alone hire crews. If necessary, and we find they convert in a useful way, they could provide a reserve force in case of need one day. Something no-one will expect to drop in and save someone’s arse at the last minute.”
“I can see the advantages of that. I’ll ask the Imperator, and if he agrees, we’ll keep it just between us. It’s not widely known Thorn collected a small armada of ships, but only really had a handful operational at any time. You’d know that better than anyone since I assume you own them now, and some of them are now running cargo to your home base with your name on them.”
“Not my decision, and it can be changed if anyone objects.”
“No-one has expressed any reservations so far. Jon runs a fairly major fleet of freighters himself, but he can afford to. So do I for that matter, but they’re all ferries and limos. I gather you can afford to as well?”