Disgraced
Copyright© 2025 by Ogreface
Chapter 19: Imperial Hearings
Dane had just returned to his room when his tablet pinged, indicating he had a message. The message was from somebody at the imperial palace, informing Dane that he had a lunch meeting at the palace. He was to report to the fifth floor, Office 501 at his convenience. Dane already knew that ‘at your convenience’ was military slang for ‘why are you not there yet’.
Dane saw the shadow of a hovercraft landing in the square in front of the head office building as he finished tying his jacket. He double-checked his medals, grabbed his beret, and left in a hurry. The hovercraft was sent to pick him up and only had the single pilot. They took off as soon as Dane closed the door.
Dane was dropped off in front of the marine/service entrance of the imperial palace. As the hovercraft lifted away, a lieutenant came out and asked Dane his name. Dane responded after saluting the officer. The lieutenant seemed more interested in examining Dane’s medals than saluting him back. Then Dane got escorted past security and up to the fifth floor to room 501 where a male wearing black clothes met him. Room 501 turned out to be the grand sea-facing entrance lobby for that floor, but Dane only figured that out as he was led past the lobby.
The man in black took Dane up two more floors and past a female receptionist who seemed just as interested in him but didn’t say a word. Then Dane came face to face with the colonel who stood next to the emperor as the emperor hung his medals around his neck. Dane saluted the colonel, but the colonel beat him to it, so they saluted each other at the same time.
“I always wanted to do that to recipient of an HC Gold, but as far as I know you are currently the only one alive,” the colonel said with a grin. “Which of the following would you prefer for lunch?” he asked as he handed Dane a piece of paper with a list of several types of sandwiches printed on it. Dane knew he was invited for a lunchtime meeting, but as a sergeant, he also knew, when a very high-ranking person says lunch meeting, it does not always mean you get to actually have lunch. He picked a safe ham and cheese sandwich and iced tea anyway.
“You can remove your headgear,” the Colonel said as he led Dane deeper into the office and then out onto a balcony overlooking part of the beachfront and the bay. “Wait here please.”
“Oh, hi,” a female voice said behind Dane as he stood looking out over the beach where he, Erin, and Tina walked a few days earlier. Dane turned around to find two pretty girls standing just outside the balcony doorway. Both were wearing knee-length dresses, and one was very obviously pregnant. Dane forced his eyes to their faces and made a bow. He started having weird suspicions about this lunch meeting. The presence of a very pregnant girl who looked about eighteen didn’t cause him to change his suspicion.
“I am Dane Galan,” he said, not sure how to behave or how to continue. Just to confirm his suspicion, he was saved by the emperor himself walking out and extended his hand to Dane.
“Relax sergeant, this is my backyard,” the emperor said as three females, two of them dressed in the same black outfits as Dane’s guide, slipped out and stood at each end of the balcony. The other one was wearing a regular knee-length skirt and blouse.
“A bit difficult to do, Your Majesty,” Dane admitted.
“You ordered a sandwich, so you might as well relax and enjoy your meal,” The emperor said with a smirk. “This is Empress Diane, and Sara, my baby sister.” He said as he gave the pregnant lady a one-arm hug and a kiss on the side of her forehead. She blushed and giggled as the other lady reached out to shake hands with Dane. “That one is Debbie, my personal assistant, Let’s sit down.”
“That jump you guys did was awesome,” Lady Sara said as she sat down next to Dane. “We wanted to be there to see the landing, but SHE was not allowed to go, so I had to stay as well.” SHE, being the empress, blew Lady Sara a raspberry as her hands automatically settled protectively under her extended abdomen.
“The doctors say I am too big,” the empress said. Dane was rescued from having to respond when two female servers arrived with their lunch. Dane was glad he didn’t order anything messy or difficult to eat.
“I have been told that you seemed to have become the default guardian of the group of females that were kidnapped by the pirates in the Kuiper system,” the emperor commented as they ate.
“Why would a marine sergeant become the default guardian of a group of females?” Lady Sara asked.
“He rescued them,” the emperor said. “They are all happily growing vegetables in a dome on the planet Outback.”
“For some reason they seem content with being near me,” Dane replied. “I still don’t know how to handle them or what to do about them.”
“Where they, ah...” the empress’s eyes grew big as she looked at the emperor.
“All but the youngest one, a little girl of eight,” the emperor said. “They were destined to be potential brides for the men developing the planet. Now they are spoiled goods, defiled, at least in their own eyes.”
“That is horrible,” the empress exclaimed. “I really hope the pirates will be suitable punished.”
“They will never be suitably punished, Your Majesty,” Dane said. Both girls gave Dane wide-eyed looks. “They didn’t suffer nearly as much as their victims.”
“How do you feel about the women?” the emperor asked.
“Protective, I guess,” Dane said. “None of them willingly gave themselves to the pirates. They should not be seen as spoiled goods, but I guess that is reality. The last message I got from their den-mother is that they are starting to take interest in men, or more precisely, they tolerate men near them.”
“Maybe I should set up a fund, managed by you, to pay a dowry to any male who manages to convince one of them to become his wife,” the emperor said. “You can make sure the man is caring, and the girl is happy before you pay the dowry.”
“I like the idea, your majesty,” Dane said. “I just don’t know how to manage that if I am where the marines need me, and they are on Outback.”
“Tell us about this planet, Outback,” Lady Sara said.
“It is a primitive planet,” Dane said. “It has an atmosphere, but we cannot breathe it, too low on oxygen. The only stuff growing on the surface is moss and fungi. The fungi are as big as small trees while the moss looks like short grass. I was not on the surface myself, only the officers get to meet and discuss surface conditions with the system ruler.”
Once the empress and the emperor’s sister were done eating, they excused themselves and left. Debbie stayed seated.
“Vance Robles had a lot of good things to say about you,” the emperor said when it was just the two of them and his assistant. “He even contemplated making you a baron, but he didn’t seem convincing enough to make it happen. When I asked him if he was serious, he seemed a bit embarrassed, which made me wonder if there are other factors restricting him, besides the fact that you are not eighteen yet, and you are in the marine corps.”
“I assume he would not have mentioned such a possibility if my age and availability was an issue, your majesty,” Dane said. “I got the impression that the act of disposing of the pirates was a bit too brutal for the viscountess, ah, duchess, to stomach. She and her daughters were in the pod where the fighting took place.”
“Disposed of...,” the emperor asked.
“Pirates never surrender, your majesty, at least the ones I fought against. I entered the pod and was attacked by four of them, each with a sword and a pistol. I didn’t have a chance to ask them to surrender, I was fighting to protect the marines behind me.”
“I would be very surprised to hear a pirate surrender since rape is an automatic death-penalty offense,” the emperor said. “If the new duchess sees you as a bloodthirsty monster who just happened to rescue her, then I can understand Vance’s hesitation.”
“I guess seeing it happen was a bit of a shock for her,” Dane said. “The other females who were not in that pod, personally thanked me when they were given detailed descriptions of the fate of their rapists.”
“Which explains the near hero-worship the next duchess you saved have for you,” the emperor said with a smirk. “I’m curious to see what she is going to convince her husband to do about her being rescued and returned unharmed.” Dane was not quite sure what the emperor was meaning so he just shrugged.
“Do you have any idea why you were ordered to Secundus?” the emperor asked.
“I had no idea when ordered to board the Taygete or report here, your majesty,” Dane said. “Looking back, I assume it had to do with me getting the medals, which makes me now think about what my next posting will be.”
“Would you like to be out of the marine corps?” the emperor asked.
“Not particularly, I seemed to have found a group of people who like having me around,” Dane responded. “I will be on active duty for another nine years and then get to decide what to do next, but at the moment, the marine corps is like a family to me.”
“Unlike the family who didn’t want you?” the emperor asked. Dane was surprised that the emperor knew more about his life than he would have expected. “What is not common knowledge is that the Imperial Council had a request for intervention into another system, where three separate parties have issues surrounding you.”
“Me, your majesty?” Dane asked in surprise.
“Galan is not a common last name,” the emperor said. “When a Marine Sergeant Galan becomes a hero while a Viscount Galan requests that his oldest son, who is not his heir, be sent home, it catches one’s attention. Then the duke of Sagan, the ruler of your home planet, requested you to assist him in sorting out a legal matter he has with you, I again took notice. What do you know about this strife and discord between Sagan and Viscount Calgary and their heirs?”
“As far as I know the duke only has four daughters and no heir,” Dane said. “Since my sire has two other noble-born sons I was never considered to be the heir or the spare. I am not aware of any discord between the duke and the viscount; the last time I was in their presence, they both agreed to disown and exile me.”
“Imagine my surprise when a deeper investigation revealed that the viscount actually disowned you before the duke exiled you,” the emperor said. “Would you have stayed to defend yourself given the chance?”
“I was not able to or allowed to defend myself, so I didn’t bother, your majesty,” Dane said. “And now, I have no interest in going back.”
“I sense a sore nerve, but I don’t blame you,” the emperor said. “So, the Marine Corps want you into their officers training program. Your sire wants you back home, and Duke Victor claims you are the only one who can solve his issues. Being pulled three ways can be awkward. What is your opinion about this?”
“The commander in charge of the training battalion also wanted to send me to the officers’ training school, but being exiled kind of stopped that idea,” Dane said. “Given the option to return to the home where I was disowned or actually entering officers’ training school, I would gladly serve the empire, your majesty. As for the claims made by Duke Victor, I need to know what he is referring to before I can decide.”
“When we are done here, you are going to attend a hearing with the imperial council,” the emperor said. “I will not be in the room, but I will listen in. There are three issues at stake, two of which will be discussed in the hearing. The first will be the Marine Corps wanting to keep you. The second will be your sire wanting you back home, and the third will be Duke Victor wanting you to solve his issue. Since your sire petitioned the council for an action that the Marine Corps has priority claim over, I doubt if the council will even consider his claim. Duke Victor’s problems are more complicated. They will all argue their points and then turn to you to decide, because they cannot force you into any of those options. Based on what the first council hearing exposed, and from what I observed about you, you are highly unlikely to turn down the marine corps, but you might be tempted to at least try to comply with Duke Victor’s requests. I have to look at the bigger picture, to have a stable and trustworthy ruler in the Sagan system, so I might be tempted to give more weight to Duke Victor’s demands. I want you to go listen to their arguments, but make no commitments, and make no decision yet. Tell them you want time to think about it. They will know that you had lunch with me so they will expect me to have influenced you. By asking for time, you will confuse them, and it will give you time to think about your options. I would also like to hear your opinions before you give them a final answer.”
“In other words, go in there with an open mind, your majesty?” Dane asked.
“Exactly,” the emperor smirked. “One last point, and then I will let you go attend your hearing. You have a very good idea why rangers get the type of training they get. Do you have any idea what type of classes they teach candidate officers?”
“I looked it up after being made a corporal, your majesty,” Dane said. “There is a lot of etiquette and formality involved, which makes sense. The other classes are tactics, law, military history, and leadership skills.”
“Do you think any of those classes are critical for a new officer to have?” the emperor asked.
“For a junior officer, a platoon leader, I would say if a candidate officer fails the leadership skills class, he might have issues as an officer, your majesty,” Dane said. “The history and etiquette skills are all nice to have but not critical. The legal training would suit a senior officer better.”
“Exactly,” the emperor said. “This is a secret so don’t spread it around to candidate officers, but the typical marine officers’ training course is more a way to find the officers among the candidates than to train the candidates to be officers. It is quite possible to take a private with strong leadership skills and make him an officer first, and then update his education where he might be lacking.”
“But only if the selection board can determine if that private has the required leadership skills,” Dane said as the emperor stood. Dane got to his feet at the same time and bowed to the emperor.
The colonel escorted Dane down to the second floor and handed him over to the same old gentleman in a tuxedo. This time the master-at-arms bowed to Dane when they came face to face. Dane had no idea how to respond, but then the master-at-arms turned and led Dane to the same conference room as before.
There were many more people already seated when Dane entered the conference room. He recognized Duke Samuel and Duke Henry, with Duke Henry sitting across from Dane at the head of the table. There were a total of seven dukes, with Duke Henry at the head, all sitting at the further half of the table.
On the near half of the table, Dane was sitting at the bottom end between Duke Victor and Major Gallagher. Dane bowed to the chairman of the council as he got to his seat, and to his surprise, all the dukes stood and bowed back, Duke Victor being the last to jump up.
“Just to clear matters up,” Duke Henry addressed the people around the table after they all sat down again. “Sergeant Galan is an imperial hero and will be respected and treated as such. This council is now in session. All comments and counter comments will be addressed to this body, not to each other or to the sergeant. That goes for you as well, Sergeant. First we want to hear from Duke Victor of Sagan and then from Major Gallagher. Duke Victor, you may start.”
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