The
Thunderhead Rebellion
Chapter One
The carriage pulled up to the front
of Bellingham Palace, the Residence of the King of the planet Anglia, A place
servant opened the rear door, and a tall
man with short grey hair stepped out.
The servant was quick to hold the
umbrella over the man.
“Quite a downpour we are having, Lord
Blackstock, not fit for man nor beast.”
The guard commented as he escorted the man up the steps leading to the main palace entrance.
“Neither is the hour Mr.
Hill.” Lord Cyril Blackstock replied
with disgust. He was upset at the time as
much as the weather, 3 AM Lowidon time.
The only advantage of traveling through the Capitol streets surrounded by its massive
skyscrapers was there was no traffic, but
this was not an equitable trade-off regarding Sleep.
The
large and ornately carved doors of the main entrance were guarded by Two Royal
Sentries, dressed in the old style dress uniform of centuries past; a Bright
red woolen coat with gold buttons, Dark blue pants with a red stripe up each
pant leg, black boots shined to a mirrored finish and to top it off each guard
wore a bear fur hat. At their side was the only current item to their uniform, if a weapon could be considered part
of the uniform, a plasma musket.
The
guards did not move they stood motionless as the heavy oak doors opened of
their own accord allowing Mr. Hill and Lord Blackstock to step inside to the
main Hall, a large room full of white marble columns, black and white marbled floor,
fine hand woven rugs, painting from the masters of old and brass statues
depicting heroes of the kingdom to creatures of mythology. Curved staircases descended from the second story on
each side of the main hall. These stairs led to the quarters of the Royal
Family.
Lord Blackstock stepped toward the left-hand stairs.
“His Majesty is in his Quarters I
take it.” Lord Blackstock said.
He was corrected by Hill, “No your
Lordship, he is in the study.” Hill said
and motioned to a door under the
staircase.
“Do you know what is so important
he would have summoned me at this hour?”
“No Lord Blackstock. His Majesty was in an
excellent mood after he arrived home from his holiday this .. or I
should say yesterday afternoon. He went
to his study to review his communiqué’s and has been locked in his study ever
since. He even missed dinner. He has been raving the whole time your Lordship,
he only stepped out long enough to have me summoned here your Lordship.”
I
another matter of minor proportions, Sir
Blackstock thought. Every time he returns from holiday it is the same
old thing, he reviews his paperwork and flies into a huff. In the past,
Lord Blackstock was summoned during the day,
not in the middle of the night.
“Well,
I better see what has his majesty’s feathers ruffled. Can you announce me Mr.
Hill?”
“Yes, Prime Minister.”
The door opened Mr. Hill stepped
inside the study stood straight and
announced, “The Prime Minister Lord Cyril Blackstock.”
Lord Blackstock entered the office
bowed slightly to the King, who was sitting behind a large dark wooden desk the
size of the average married couple’s bed. The desk was centered in the middle of the back wall which was not a wall, but a
large bookcase like the other walls in the room only the forward wall was bare
of shelves and books. This wall a shiny red mahogany glad wall was decorated
with pictures of the current royal family.
“Will you need anything else, sire?”
“No Henry, you may retire. Lord
Blackstock can show himself out when we are done.” King Lawrence said without looking up from
his desk and the file that lay sprawled upon it.
“Yes, Sire” Mr. Hill withdrew
backwards from the room.
Lord Blackstock waited for the King
to address him so he could speak but the custom
was he could not address the sovereign unless spoken to first. He waited in
silence no sound since the door closed after Hill left. Finally, after terminally long
time His Majesty rose from his chair.
“We have a problem Cyril.”
No beating about pleasantries just
straight out with the bad.
“This proposal from The Minister of
Colonial Affairs is unacceptable, it is an outrage, an insult to the crown.”
The King exclaimed picking up the file briefly displaying it to Lord Blackstock
then slammed it down on the desk, papers flying.
Blackstock took this as a signal
for him to approach the desk of the sovereign. He looked at the mess of papers, but he did not have to read them he had
read the proposal the day before. Blackstock
knew it would outrage the King, but he did not count on being summoned during the
early morning hours. He hoped that the Sovereign would be angered but only
enough to sack Sir Gordon Ramsey the Minister for Colonial Affairs, an appointment forced upon him by the
opposition to solidify the current government controlled by his Tory Party.
The Tories had not the majority to
completely control the cabinet so through backroom deal-making and promises they won the majority on the condition
that one member of the opposition, The
Whigs, would be appointed to a cabinet post. After meetings and discussions
with his party and the king, it was decided
that the office of Minister of Colonial
Affairs would be given to Sir Gordon Ramsey, the Whig’s secretary. It was felt
the position was important enough to be accepted, but not so necessary to cause problems for the Tories or
His Majesty. This was a miss calculation.
Ramsey was a trouble maker from the
start and everyone in the Cabinet wanted him removed,
but the King’s political adviser’s recommended he be kept to appease the Whig
and to some point the Colonists. The only way out was to let Ramsey commit an
act so the King would be forced to withdraw
his support from Sir Ramsey.
“I read the proposal your Highness
and determined that it had no chance of passing parliament. I do not think this will harm the government Sire.”
The 6 foot 4 balding sovereign
slammed his hands down on his desk.
“I
do not give a damn about the government! I am concerned with the Crown!”
“Yes Sire, but surely this is a
matter for His Majesties Government.”
The king took a deep breath fumbled
through papers and picked up one and handed to Blackstock.
“Take it! Do you know what it
says?”
Lord Blackstock took the paper skim
over it; he did not need to read it he knew it what it was already. As he was
doing the King started to pace spouting out all the while.
“That is why it is a problem Prime
Minister. It makes me a laughing Stock to all other Nations. It takes away my
right to decide to whom colonial lands
are given and how they are to be used. It limits the tax that can be imposed on
the colonies. It gives the colonists the right publish anything they like even
if it slanders the crown without repercussion.” The King took a breath before he continued.
“They want colonial representation
in Parliament! A bunch of backwoodsmen
deciding Policy? I think not. The right to have a fully armed militia.
Ridiculous! What for we provide their protection they have no need for such a
force. Free Trade with other nations! Ha! Plus
they want to usurp the power of the Church
of Anglia
All unacceptable Lord Blackstock.”
“Sire, it is just a preliminary
agreement. It has no merit. I am sure it will not get past committee.”
Blackstock replied.
Blackstock watched The King pace
beside his desk wearing the weave out of the carpet.
“It does not matter if it gets past
committee; the fact is it is out there Lord Blackstock. The Representatives,
the traitors, from the colonies, might as well dictating policy! No, It is we
who determine policy!” Lord Blackstock nodded in agreement as the King
continued to rant.
“And This Sir Gordon Ramsey, I
knighted him, and this is how I am to be
repaid. He might as well poisoned me with some concoction cooked up in a
hellish kitchen!”
This is what Lord Blackstock was
waiting for, the chance to rid himself of Ramsey and gain control over the
whole of the cabinet.
“Sire I take it as your wish to have
Sir Gordon removed from office.”
The King stopped his pacing
returned to his chair and plopped down. He sighed and shook his head.
“I am afraid it is not as simple as
that Lord Blackstock. Two things pose a problem now.
If we sack Ramsey, he will talk to the press and create a stir. And then there
is the matter of the colonial representatives, once they arrive back in the
colonies news of the proposal will spread and when word comes that the plan has been
scrapped there will be outrage they could
turn to Gaul for help if there were and uprising. I take it Richard Brothers
paid a visit to Gaul while he was here?”
Lord Blackstock was amazed that the
King was aware of Brothers’ visit to Gaul . The king has his own intelligence sources,
Lord Blackstock thought.
“Yes,
Your Majesty. He made the Trip to purchase antique books for a colleague of his
back in the colonies; this was confirmed by our
intelligence assets on Gaul .”
“He still could have had a secret
meeting with the Gaulian government?”
“Highly doubtful, sire.”
Lord Blackstock answered.
“He is a man of the media, isn’t he? Has his own publishing house.
And what of this John Braintree? He is a Lawyer? I recall hearing of him not
too long ago,” the king continued his rundown of the Colonial representatives.
“He represented our soldiers
involved in the Beacon Massac’…Incident,” Lord Blackstock caught himself before he used the term massacre,
a word the King despised.
“Mr. Baintree was able to win an acquittal for the men. A real service to the crown.”
The king scoffed, “Yes service the
crown one moment then knock it off my head the next.”
Not knowing what to do next Lord
Blackstock was left one option.
“Sire what would you like me to
do?”
“Have a seat Cyril and I will show
you,” The King said as he operated a few button on the right of his desk. A
holographic projection appeared just above the desk showing a star chart one
planetary system, the home system, and a large nebula, the Thunderhead nebula,
a few light years distant.
The Thunderhead Nebula, the most massive object in the Anglia sky,
was named because the Ancients thought it resemble a Thunderstorm head. The nebula was special because it held 3 large
planetary systems in a void inside the bubble. Two of the systems contained the
colonies of Anglia the last system were
Iberian colonies.
Lord Blackstock sat down and
examined the chart as the King explained his plan using a light pointer to
indicate points of interest.
“We
must do two things; first, we must silence Ramsey move him to the
ministry of education and use the States Secrets Act to keep him silent about
the Proposal, This I leave to you.”
“Yes, sire, but wouldn’t it be best to sack him and let it be done with?”
The king smiled. “No, sacking him
would only infuriate him and the Whigs. No, It is best we keep him where we can keep and eye on him. I think the
Ministry of Education would do, I doubt he could cause much trouble there.”
Lord Blackstock forced a smile
despite himself. He would get his wish of removing Sir Gordon Ramsey from the
Ministry of Colonial affair, but Ramsey would still be part of his
administration. He would be Blackstock’s thorn in his side.
“Yes,
your majesty. And the second option?”
“The colonial representation
departed for the colonies a week ago?” The King asked.
“Five days sire.”
“They are using a converted
merchant calling it a frigate? Since it is not a real frigate it still has its
original faster-than-light engine?”
What the King was leading to
started to become apparent in
Blackstock’s mind.
“Yes,
sire. They have a long haul merchant FTL
drive. It is limited by duty cycle and ability to fold space.”
The King smile when he heard Lord
Blackstock’s confirmation.
“From what data this computer has
and the calculations then their ship will have to drop out of FTL about two-thirds the distance to the Corridor. If we
sent one of our frigates, it could
intercept them while they slowed for the cooling cycle?”
It was evident now the King meant to catch the ship and prevent news of
the proposal from reaching the colonies. He was forming his plan around the
duty cycle of the FTL drive. The folding of Space required power and with power
there was heat. To prevent the FTL from
overheating and possibly destroying the ship, ships would drop out of FTL to
cool the engines for the next fold cycle. At slower than light speeds the ships
would fully extend their solar sails and use the spars and sails to radiate
head into the void of space. Once the FTL cooled,
they would fold space again to travel faster than light.
“Our Frigates can make the run to
the corridor without the need of a cooling cycle. There is a risk that the FTL
fold pod will need to be replaced after the run
sire,” Blackstock said and thought of the next question one he did not wait to
ask.
“What do you want to do with Mr.
Brothers and Mr. Braintree when they are…uh.. apprehended?”
“What we normally do with traitors,
execute them!”
“But sire that would inevitably draw outrage in the colonies and
here soon as the news gets out!”
The Kings smile became a sinister
grin. “There will be no news, there will be no witnesses. Once the ship is
caught it will be boarded, the representatives will then be brought to the
frigate and executed, the colonial ship will be destroyed. When it fails to
arrive at its destination, there will be a search,
and we will assist. In the end, it will be
determined that the vessel met some misfortune crossing the void, and all will be forgotten. It is an old
ship after all.”
“Yes, sire, there is just one problem we will have to be particular when
we choose the Frigate we will send. We cannot pick any ship, especially one
with talkative officers,” said Lord Blackstock.
The king rose from his chair Lord
Blackstock did. Also, this was a signal
that a decision had been made, and the
meeting would soon end.
“That is another thing you can help
with Cyril. Your Nephew, Edward Cochrane, is in command of The Hammer?”
Edward Cochrane was Blackstock’s
sister’s son. He was a newly appointed captain of
the RSV Hammer a newly constructed Royal Space Fleet Frigate currently
patrolling the edge of the Home System.
Edward was a young captain but capable who rose to his current position
without the help of his uncle, this made
Lord Blackstock proud.
“Yes,
he is Sire. He is patrolling the Thunderhead Nebulae side of the outer home
system.”
“Good, I have arranged with the
Admiralty be detached for special duty to the crowd. I want you to send a
communiqué with royal orders as to what needs to be done. Please, emphasize
the need for absolute discretion. No one but he should know the details. On the
completion, he is to report to the Halifax
“Yes,
sire.”
“You may Leave Lord Blackstock.”
Blackstock bowed and left the
office and palace to face the rain as he waited for his carriage to be brought
around. Things were going to change, but
he did not know how much. The decision made that rainy night would bring forth a storm that no one expected.
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