Read Democracy 1: Democracy's Right for Free Online Page B

possessed the knowledge and training of a first-year cadet, but as it was, he was certain that the only way she had passed through the Academy was through family connections.
     
    It didn't help that Stacy had been placed in command of the Roosevelt Family’s planned expansion into the Rim, once they had secured control of Jackson’s Folly.  The senior members of her family, people who intimidated even Stacy herself, had been very insistent that everything should go according to plan.  Stacy had, accordingly, taken control and instructed Captain-Commodore Howell to refrain from doing anything until she arrived with her superdreadnaughts, but the Roosevelt Family wasn't the only one involved with the sector.  It wasn't hard to come up with possible scenarios for disaster – and, even for Stacy, failure would mean heavy punishment.  She would probably find herself exiled to run a mining station somewhere thousands of light years from Earth, the heart of the Empire.
     
    “We are running late,” Stacy repeated.   Her face, the best that money could buy, was colouring with rage and stress.  Jeremy was silently grateful that they were in her stateroom, rather than on the bridge.  Being screamed at in front of his crew could only reduce his command authority, what little there was of it.  Like most incompetent officers, Stacy was a micromanager, without the wit to know that it would be better to allow the more experienced crewmen their heads.  “Why are we running late?”
     
    Jeremy kept his own face blank.  There was no point in shouting back at her, not when a word from her could ruin his career.  He wouldn't have put it past her to ruin his career out of spite anyway, but at least he had to try.  Besides, he did have a certain degree of loyalty to the Imperial Navy and he didn't want to think about what Stacy would do without someone watching over her shoulder.  It was highly unlikely that she would order a flicker jump right into an asteroid field that would destroy the squadron, yet he wanted to be careful.  The Empire could not afford to lose any superdreadnaughts.
     
    “We needed to swap out some replacement components on the drive,” he reminded her, calmly.  After that, they’d made good time – indeed, they were one jump away from Jackson’s Folly – but Stacy wasn't interested.  Never mind that leaving the drive motivator in place might have resulted in the drives failing at an inconvenient time.  “We will be there in one hour, Commodore.”
     
    “I want you to find the person responsible for this delay through gross incompetence and have them removed from their post,” Stacy ordered.  Jeremy nodded.  The chances were good that no one was responsible, at least not in the sense that they’d done it on purpose.  Drive motivators, exposed to the weird energies of the flicker drive, tended to fail more often than any other component, even after years of research.  The superdreadnaughts tended to swap out almost every component on the ship over a five-year period, just to keep the ancient vessels running.  “They have delayed our mission.”
     
    “Of course, Commodore,” Jeremy said, smoothly.  Bitter resentment flickered through his mind, only to be forced down and back into the rear of his mind.  Scraping and bowing to a noblewoman was humiliating, but it could be a great deal worse.  The post on HMS General Montgomery was prestigious.  It was well worth the hassle.  “I shall see to it personally.”
     
    He smiled as he tapped the main display, bringing up the star chart.  The Observation Squadron had carried out a careful tactical survey of Jackson’s Folly and its daughter colonies, preparing for the invasion that everyone knew was inevitable once the Empire realised just what a prize Jackson’s Folly actually was.  There might have been a handful of Rogue Worlds, where the writ of the Empire didn’t run, but they were poor and harmless – and had nothing the