Chapter 23

That evening Kirim and I boarded a lift and headed off to Amantil’s dining room, somewhere in one of the Imperial estates on Vreekoos. As ever we arrived first, though that was a security measure on the part of the guardian AIs to scan us and ensure we weren’t carrying weapons and could not surprise the Empress. It wasn’t personal; everyone was treated the same as Amantil bordered on paranoia with her personal security ... for damned good reasons.

“Dave, Kirim, it’s good to see you,” Amantil greeted us joyfully as she stepped out, along with Herrick, from another lift.

“It’s good to be home, Manny,” I replied as she got a hug from Kirim. “Good to see you too, Herrick.”

“You too, Dave,” he answered as Kirim gave him a hug too. Amantil accepted one from me, a first for her.

“As ever you surprised us with your antics on Kansdoorf,” Amantil began as we sat and food was brought in.

“I didn’t exactly plan to get my leg shot off,” I chuckled.

“I should think not,” she laughed. “But you never fail to present the Empire in a good light in front of the newsies and shorten the period of time necessary to bring the people back into the fold.”

“Yes, I’m hoping you’re looking into the other planets to see if anyone else is pulling a fast one like that,” I nodded.

“We are,” Herrick replied. “Seems any number of Nobles and Bureaucrats are running scams to defraud the people, though nothing like on the scale of what Cillort tried.”

“It’s quite depressing really,” Amantil sighed. “They were already quite wealthy as the positions they held were ones of high trust. But it seems greed can corrupt even those.”

“More work for ImpSec, I guess,” Kirim replied.

“Yes, plus we’re increasing the security protocols on the AIs. Far too many have had their core programming ... adjusted to ignore this type of theft,” Herrick added.

“I’m surprised they allowed it,” I chuckled.

“The right code phrases can corrupt them, Dave. It’s a weakness in the system that I’m looking to correct, but there are also safeguards in place to prevent them from becoming autonomous too. There has to be an off switch, it’s Imperial law.”

“Wouldn’t that wreck the Empire, if someone switched them off?” I asked.

“Oh yes. I never said it was a particularly wise law,” she replied with a wry smile. “But it is the law and there’s no way I could get the full High Court to change it.”

Amantil was referring to the Imperial statutes that prevented any changes in what amounted to the Imperial constitution which required a 75% majority of votes to change it, something that was both unlikely and almost unheard of. This was mostly because the two executive arms rarely agreed on anything and the Empress more or less ruled by decree within the constitution, along with the assistance of the AIs.

“So what are they good for?” I asked.

“Checks and balances mostly. Each keeps an eye on the other ... or they were supposed to. This revolt brought to light a lot of mass collusion between the executive branches, something that was never supposed to happen.”

“Corrupt to the core,” I nodded. “Oh, not all of them I admit, but enough to cause issues.”

“Yes. Some like High Bureaucrat Bonsarr are honest, others not so and I’m minded to deal with it,” Amantil agreed.

“Careful, Manny. I’m pretty sure that’s what caused the moves against your father, along with the rest of your family,” Herrick warned.

“You think I didn’t know that, my love?”

“No, I just want you to be careful and instigate it from the safety of the Imperial bunker ... though I know you won’t,” he chuckled, getting a hug off her and a smile.

“I take it auditing the Empire Bureaucracies is a no, no?” I asked.

“I’d need a reason to do that and other than the yearly audits taken upon themselves, whose results could be suspect, they aren’t exactly going to give themselves a black mark,” Amantil replied.

“Bit easier on Vreekoos, I would imagine,” Kirim nodded.

“Yes, here I see and hear things, the outer worlds, not so much.”

“Sounds like you need an investigative arm attached to ImpSec to go out and get a feel for the planets, tax levels, contentment etc.” I added. “The people you could and should use are the close protection details that Ground Force supply to your High Bureaucrats and Nobles. They’re pretty much invisible to the higher ups, but see and hear all sorts of things,” I suggested.

“Herrick?” she asked, looking intrigued.

“Yes, good idea, Dave,” he nodded thoughtfully. “Assuming they aren’t already corrupted.”

“Start with the new ones going through Marblos, add it as part of their training.”

“I’ll get the AIs right on it,” Amantil nodded thoughtfully. “Plus, it has become clear that there are ways to work around the loyalty conditioning of ImpSec and the AIs are working on a solution to it. But the AIs have been seen to be compromised too. This whole mess, starting with Tarsil then moving on to Cillort, has opened a real can of worms for me. Even Fleet were affected.”

“I suspect the vast majority of your subjects are loyal, except where they were led astray as Cillort and his conspirators did,” I shrugged. “Certainly the Imperial Forces appear loyal at the lower levels as they fought hard and well in your name. Granted Third Fleet was an issue, but that’s more down to the personality cult that Spake promoted. Just a suggestion, but you should rotate the High Admirals around the Fleets, just to isolate them from any cabals they form as well as give them information on other areas the Empire is covering.”

“Suspecting isn’t the same as knowing, Dave, but, yes I will look at moving the Admirals around to prevent the idea of a Fleet thinking they belong to an Admiral rather than me,” she chuckled.

“Make that the same with any of the executive officers on the Admiralty staff,” Kirim added. “Plus, on promotion they cannot go to the same Admiral as part of his personal staff.”

“Definitely worth looking at, Manny,” Herrick nodded.

“You also don’t have an ‘Empire Day’ either,” I noted.

“Empire Day?” Herrick questioned.

“Big day to celebrate the Empire. Parades, speeches, parties, Fleet flyby’s, with a big raise your glasses to toast the Empress held as part of the ceremonies.”

“Expensive,” was Herrick’s immediate response.

“Not as expensive as Cillort’s revolt,” I riposted.

“That’s true,” Amantil nodded thoughtfully. “I can certainly see the merit of it.”

“Make it a day off, courtesy of the Empress, with essential workers getting a day off in lieu.”

“I’d never get that past the High Court.”

“So don’t put it to them. Just get the AIs to arrange it. Keep it at a local level, give the schools and other local services a chance to show off with contests and parades. Plus you, not the High Court, control the Forces. You could also get the media stars to put on a concert and allow ordinary people in free. Yes, it would cost money, but it would also increase your popularity as well as give an indication of where things might be going wrong.”

“Worth considering, Manny. You could do with a public presence,” Herrick noted. “Plus we have that idea for the birth lottery.”

“You know I don’t want to be publicly recognised,” she retorted.

“It’s not the ordinary people who are out to get you,” I countered. “Birth lottery?”

“Got it from one of our chats when we were first educating you,” Herrick explained. “I think it will make Manny here very popular amongst the ordinary Imperial subjects.”

“That’s true,” Kirim added. “I know a few of my family would love a third child.”

“You can also use a holograph disguise if you want to move around in public,” I suggested. “Or a one for the public speech thanking your subjects for their loyalty and the work they do to make the Empire a wonderful place to live in.”

“Wait, what speech?” Amantil asked looking shocked.

“Well, you can’t have an Empire Day without a speech from their beloved Empress,” I chuckled.

“You’re on dangerous ground, Dave,” she replied, then grinned.

“You’ll do great, and it will be a boost for your subjects to actually hear from you.”

The next day I visited Medical Resource to check in with Vilgra.

“I’m glad you’re back, Dave,” she greeted me. “We have a few cases who are only prepared to deal with you.”

“Nice to be so popular,” I chuckled. “Did your evaluation go OK?”

“Yes, Senior Monitor Ashlann gave me a glowing report,” she giggled.

“No surprises there. I think at the end all she wanted was to get as far away from you and me as possible,” I chuckled.

“Didn’t work. Herrick’s still annoyed with her and had her transferred here as my boss after he demoted the former one down to Monitor and had her transferred to the other side of the planet to work in one of the monitoring offices.”

“Ooh, boring.”

“Very.”

“So I’ll be seeing Ashlann about? Only I don’t think I ever saw your boss ... ever.”

“She’s been told to take a more proactive role and root out the lazy, so yes, I suspect you will,” she replied with a sly smile.

“So long as she doesn’t try to tell me how to do my job, that’s fine by me.”

“Oh, I think she learned that lesson very well indeed.”

“So, who do you have for me?”

“We have the daughter of High Bureaucrat Simolan who is currently harbouring a very nasty viral parasite.”

“How did she come by it?”

“The family are refusing to say and are willing to pay for your utter silence.”

“Fair enough. Who else?”

“The wife of Orliantomin Andusk, Orliantomina Pilik, wants a pervasive sexually transmitted disease cured quickly before her husband finds out.”

“No problem, what of the source?”

“We have him, though his cure will be the standard medical one and will take three binary cycles.”

“Good. So far that’s the most urgent in my eyes anyway.”