Chapter 2: The Mynos Incident

The Mynos system was in the same sector as Grendel and Bova, and thus part of the sector the Electra was patrolling. To get from Grendel to Secundus a ship has to jump via an empty system to Bova, which was the main jump gate hub for that sector. Mynos was six light years from Grendel and was a dead-end system, meaning it only has one jump gate to get in and out of the system. Grendel, Bova, Mynos, and the nameless empty system formed a kind of triangular pyramid.

The Mynos system consisted of two habitable worlds and a number of large mining asteroids. The seat of the Mynos government was on a large moon orbiting a gas giant on the outer edge of the goldilocks zone around the Mynos sun. The inner planet was called Sparta and was on the extreme inner edge of the goldilocks zone and, while people lived there, it was not truly habitable since the atmosphere was too thin with not enough oxygen.

The planet was a desert with temperature extremes that made plant-life unlikely. It rotated so slow that the same hemisphere was always facing the sun. This meant that all the water on the planet was on the dark side in the form of snow and ice while the sun side was a very hot dry desert. The planet was rich in all sorts of metals and minerals with enough of a population and industry to have a viscount ruling it. The planet surface looked and felt like an industrial hell so the entire population lived in deep shafts and cavities underground. The numerous factories were spewing pollutants into the atmosphere without restriction since the air was not breathable anyway and with no plant or animal life depending on it.

By contrast, the moon orbiting the gas giant was a virtual paradise. The original settlers never bothered to name the gas giant, other than to refer to ‘The Gas Giant’, but called the moon Athena. The moon had a comfortable temperature range and a breathable atmosphere with an indigenous plant and insect biosphere. What made Athena even more of a virtual paradise was the fact that the plants and insects were human compatible.

The outer asteroid mines in the Mynos system were all space habitats with permanent residents and were managed by barons reporting directly to the Duke of Mynos. There had been talk among the locals that all the asteroid mining colonies should fall under another viscount, somebody who would stand up for their rights and living conditions.

For unknown reasons, Duke Arnold of Mynos never appoint another viscount. He also never appointed an official heir even after he was in his late 60s. What made the issue more confusing was that the duke had two sons, twins aged sixteen. While the twins were close and got along very well with each other, they differed like day and night in personality.

The death of the duke two months earlier threw the system into turmoil, resulting in the Electra being called to stop a threatening rebellion.

“So, which of the two sons would make a more suitable duke?” Captain Ericson commented rhetorically after his XO gave a summary of the situation.

“Do we know who the opposing parties are?” Commander Garrister wondered.

“All of us might just have to act as advisors to Lord Jason if matters end up becoming a bit tricky,” Captain Ericson said.

“Nothing we discussed so far is giving me any indication that there might be a threatening rebellion,” Jason said, “unless the group of barons in the asteroid belt are threatening to appoint themselves a viscount without Imperial authority.”

“Captain, can we get Lord Jason’s other ADCs to join this meeting please.” Commander Garrister suddenly said as he looked up from his tablet.

“Get Gomes in as well.” The battalion commander added. “We might as well inform them both of the proposed exchange.” When the captain nodded his head, Gwen sent them messages. A few minutes later Dalton, Lisa, Carmen, and Delano entered the conference room and took seats at the long table.

“You first,” the XO said to the battalion commander.

“I talked to Lord Jason and we agreed to your request” Lt Col Winterton said as he faced Lisa and Dalton. “We still need confirmation from the commandant of the marine corps but with Lord Jason’s backing that will just be a formality. Lady Lisa, you will immediately assume the position of senior ADC to Jason Taurus. Lieutenant Dalton, you will assume command of the Fourth Platoon, Alpha-Company, Third Battalion.” Both Lisa and Dalton had huge grins on their faces as they first looked at each other and then at Jason.

“The real reason we called all of you here is because we have just received an official video message from the Merope.” Commander Garrister said. He turned on the large view screen against the wall and did something on his tablet. The next moment the screen turned dark and then the emperor appeared on the screen. He was sitting behind a desk with an elaborate version of the emblem of the Pleiades cluster behind him.

“This is an official Imperial declaration,” the Emperor said. “This declaration will also be sent to the Imperial Council for ratification as soon as we reach Secundus. Effective upon receiving this announcement, my heir, Jason Taurus, will assume the role of plenipotentiary representative of House Pleiades. Any decisions he makes in my name will be upheld by me. All subjects of the empire are hereby notified to give him any and all assistance he requires to fulfill his duties to the empire.” The emperor hesitated as he looked up at the screen. “Jason Taurus might be young but he is vastly more mature than his age would suggest. Once this appointment has been ratified by the Imperial Council, I intend to create a new title to reflect the new status of my heir. I might declare the new title to be hereditary, after discussing it with the imperial council.

“Jason Taurus, this is a heavy burden I am placing on you but I know you will perform your new duties to the satisfaction of me and your mother. I included a private message to you. That is all. Good day” Then the video faded to black.

“Now that none of us expected,” Captain Ericson muttered.

“Suddenly the Electra has a lot more teeth,” the battalion commander added with a chuckle.

“Trust him to play the mom card,” Jason muttered.

“With you already being an earl, the only worthwhile new title would be that of a new dukedom,” Lady Lisa said. She meant it as a private comment but as she started talking, everybody stopped talking so everybody heard her.

“It sounded to me as if he would only decide what title it will be once the imperial council agrees.” Jason said. “I should be fine acting as imperial representative with my current title of Earl of Taurus.”

“Congratulations, My Lord. I think you will do great as roving ambassador,” Captain Ericson said. Jason was just as shocked as everybody who saw the announcement. It took a while for the implications to sink in.

“How do I access the private message?” Jason asked.

“Check your tablet, My Lord.” the XO suggested. “There is an encrypted section in the main message. I suspect it also went straight to your tablet.” Jason stood and walked out of the conference room as he activated his tablet. He didn’t even notice as everybody, including Captain Ericson, jumped to attention as he left.

He found the message quick enough. If it was encrypted, his tablet most likely decrypted it automatically. The message consisted of text explaining how to use his Taurus medallion to interact with other dormant medallions should he have a need to activate one. The text explained that while the emperor’s medallion was the only one that could activate a new ducal medallion, the Taurus medallion could reactivate any existing medallion below that of Earl, and also reactivate a ducal medallion by using the Taurus medallion and his tablet. There was a coded signal embedded in the message that would allow Jason to use his Taurus medallion to act on a ducal medallion. While Jason could fix any dormant medallion and assign it a new holder, he could not create a new title.

Jason realized that he now had the power to act as Imperial judge and arbitrator on any matter that would normally be referred to the emperor. He knew that each system had its own justice system, with the local duke as supreme judge. When it came to imperial matters, jurisdiction included the imperial court on Pleiades Prime and the Imperial Council before a case would go to the emperor. Jason assumed his new authority fitted in there somewhere, below the emperor, but he was not sure about the imperial council.

In school Jason was taught that all twelve members of the Imperial Council could act as imperial justices, with the Emperor having the final veto. As far as criminal matters went the local duke has the final say on matters occurring in his jurisdiction while civil matters could be escalated to the Imperial Court on Pleiades Prime or the Imperial Council on Secundus. Jason realized he needed to study up on imperial law if he was now a roaming imperial judge.

“Some instructions on how to handle dormant medallions,” Jason said when he got back to the conference room. “It seems my medallion now has some new abilities.”

“I guess there is not much more we can do until we know more,” The captain said. “We will reconvene as soon as we have more information.”

When Jason got back to his pod, the girls were all busy with school work. Both the couches were occupied and some of the girls were lying on the floor. All of them were busy reading on their tablets. Mister Gray was sitting at the desk but he stood and moved away when he noticed Jason.

“Can you cue up whatever you have on imperial law for me please,” Jason said as he sat down behind the desk.

“Imperial law?” Mister Gray asked in surprise. “Is this just for interest or do you have a specific topic in mind, my lord?” Clarissa and Sylvia both came out of Jason’s room with questioning looks on their faces. Before Jason could respond, the large screen came alive with the image of Captain Ericson facing the camera.

“We have just received a formal imperial announcement.” the captain said. “We are the first to receive this but it will be made public within the next couple of days. This is what we received.” With that the screen turned blank and then the image of the Emperor appeared. Everybody in the pod sat up and watched as the announcement was repeated throughout the Electra.

“What does that mean?” Chloe asked as everybody in the pod stared at Jason after the emperor’s image disappeared from the screen.

“Oh, my word!” Mister Gray said. “No wonder you want to read up on Imperial law. I have some material on that topic but not nearly enough. I will have to see if the ship’s library has more. Lord Jason is now an Imperial ambassador or Imperial judge. From that announcement I would guess he just became one of the highest ranking noblemen in the empire.”

“Provided the Imperial Council approves of it,” Jason muttered.

“In my lifetime there has never been an imperial announcement that was this far-reaching.” Mister Gray said. “Up untill now the Imperial Council has been approving everything the Emperor asked for. They might want to interview you before ratifying this but I have no doubt that they will ratify it.”

Mister Gray only had a few introductory courses on Imperial law so Jason started reading those. Most of the stuff was fairly boring since it consisted mostly of the definitions of various legal terms. After a while he realized that the pod was exceptionally quiet. As he looked up, he noticed that all the girls were watching him, with huge eyes and serious looks on their faces. Not only did Jason feel way out of his depth but suddenly he also felt isolated.

“This is not working,” Jason muttered as he stood up from the desk and wiggled himself down on the couch between Andrea and Lotus. Both of them were predending that they were reading their tablets but like everybody else, they were watching him. He grabbed the nearest girl on the floor, which happened to be Chloe, and pulled her onto his lap. He had her sitting upright on his thighs as he propped his tablet against her lower back. “Can I have some muttering and other related sounds please,” he said before trying to read again.

“Can we move as well?” Andrea asked.

“Yes, please,” Jason said as he reached out and tweaked her nose. She gave him a skewed smirk as she wiggled her nose in response. It took a while before the rest of the girls started acting normally again but after a while the nearly dead silence in the pod was replaced with normal mutterings, comments and giggles.

Later that day Jason found himself sitting next to Lilly. She was also studying like all the other girls but unlike the others she kept her distance and stayed quiet around him. She would respond when he talked to her, but seldom started chatting to him like the others.

“So, tell me,” Jason asked when nobody else was close by. “What do you think of being sent off to Secundus with me? Have your parents even bothered to ask you if you want to go? What do you hope to achieve by going to Secundus?” Lilly looked back at Jason with huge eyes and a surprised look on her face.

“Um, I guess I’m supposed to end up in a suitable marriage,” she said softly. Then she seemed to gather herself as she sat more upright and turned her shoulders towards Jason. “No, they didn’t ask me if I wanted to go to Secundus, just like they never asked Lavender if she wanted to go to Bova. Lotus is the only one who ended up getting what she really wanted. She has been eyeing you from a distance ever since you moved to the castle and you got more involved with everybody else. She never spoke to you, but she talked a lot about you. She was careful never to let Mother hear her talk about you. We used to tease her a lot, about her picking you. Since then I realized she is the happiest of the three of us. She got to be with the guy she wanted. It would not have mattered to her if you ended up a regularly employed commoner or farm hand. The fact that you ended up being the heir of the Emperor makes no difference to her.”

“Mm, that was all about Lotus,” Jason responded, “but what about you?”

“I guess I never really knew what I wanted,” she said. “Both Lavender and I always just let Mother dictate what we do, who we see, how we behave. It’s nearly as if she was brainwashing us into being the good little daughters that she wanted us to be. I guess in a way being sent to Secundus is a blessing in disguise. For the first time in my life I will not be influenced by my mother.”

“Can I assume you don’t see yourself as one of my many concubines?” Jason asked with a teasing smile. Lilly returned his look with a serious expression on her face.