Of all the technologies that were lost, the loss of the secrets of transdimensional science hurt the most. This science was the foundation of the Imperium Aeternus’ power. Without it, I fear we may never climb out from under the Formican Peace Settlement. The Coalition may have had the ideological high ground, but their success has cost humanity trillions of lives and set us back a thousand years.”

Professor Victoria Basset

King’s College of Klutea

Lady Elinor North, House Montclair

Planet Murkaph, Emanyo System

Manifold translation is remarkable only in how unremarkable it is. A ship flies through space and goes to a certain location. Often, pilots will slow down dramatically, usually to a relatively dead stop. This is because the translation will only happen in that one exact location, and it is far easier for a pilot to hit that spot if they aren’t going too fast.

Once the waypoint is hit, the manifold translator onboard takes a bubble of space and twists and sets it in a transdimensional space that can’t be found any other way. There is no turbulence, no obvious change, and no way back without a reverse translation. In fact, traveling through a fold of manifold space is essentially no different from traveling in deep space. There are occasional pieces of matter that does not fall on the periodic table that are collected as curios for the rich, but have no real value otherwise. The properties of translation matter are usually mundane, sometimes odd, and never useful. In fact, some of the larger, asteroid-sized pieces of matter could both hinder exploration and aide in navigation, for once in manifold space, you still had to find your way back out again.

As far as Elinor knew, no one had ever fully determined if manifold space was a single dimension, a fold of normal space-time, or an infinite series of pocket dimensions. What she did know, however, was that when you access a fold, that fold would connect a maximum of six star systems. That meant an exploration team had to find, usually by trial and error, five additional exit points to make a manifold waypoint useful. So called ‘dead end’ waypoints were common, with populated systems routinely having a dozen or more. The Dotalian System had twenty-three documented waypoints, but only three that were fully mapped out. This was nowhere near the largest number that Elinor had heard of, and if she knew anything at all about the Universe, it was that there were always extremes somewhere.

So the simple fact that Elinor’s explorers had located a new Way connecting the Dotalian Sovereignty’s home system to another star system was big news. For a moderately sized interstellar kingdom of just under forty claimed star systems, being able to add another would be a great accomplishment. But making a claim and keeping it were two completely different things.

Elinor didn’t notice the translation at all. In fact, she missed the rendezvous with Lord Jeremy Porter, Alice’s husband, and the cargo cog full of gear and family servitors. These servitors were mostly mining operations employees and another handful of Dragoons for security. She did not, however, miss the translation back into normal space. The entry into the Emanyo System marked the start of making her claim.

“Oh stars, this is so exciting!” said Dorcas with a bright, wide smile.

Elinor stared at the viewscreen, which projected a view of the virgin star system they had just entered. Another viewscreen on the side of the bridge showed the cargo cog. The cog was a huge, lumbering vessel, able to carry massive amounts of cargo or passengers, depending on the configuration. Cogs were the largest class of cargo carriers, and the Wayward Goose was one of three owned by the North family. Like all cogs, the Wayward Goose had a large crew quarters and command bridge at the bow, connected by a half-kilometer long, narrow spine to the three massive engine pods at the stern. Connected on all four sides of this narrow spine were standardized intergalactic shipping containers. These shipping containers were twenty meters in height and width, and eighty meters in length, and two could fit side-by-side, allowing for fifty containers per side. A fully loaded cog could haul two hundred containers total, or 6.4 million cubic meters of raw cargo space.

This space was eaten into, of course, by such things as shielding against radiation and refrigeration or heating systems, and when passenger containers were attached, life support, walls and supplies. A cog fully configured for passenger transport could haul two thousand passengers, and all the hydroponics, supplies and redundant systems for many months.

“I can hardly believe we are actually here,” admitted Elinor. “I wish my parents were here to see this.”

Dorcas nodded, her smile dimming. “They would have been so proud of you.”

Elinor barked a laugh, a tear in one eye that she refused to let fall. “They would have told me that my ambitions were going to be the death of me.”

This elicited a laugh from her friend. “Your mother would have asked if you would deign to find a suitor now. ‘Rafe can’t be expected to produce children on his own, you know’.”

“Poor Rafe,” said Elinor with a chuckle. “She could never forgive him for his womanizing, but she did love to dote on his son, bastard or not.”

“I think she was more upset that Mathilde was a maid, and not a noble, so she couldn’t force a wedding on him.”

Elinor laughed at the thought of her brother being forced to tie himself down, especially as he was only nineteen at the time. “I’m not sure we expected from Rafe, considering how he took after Father. He was known for running wild before Mother settled him down.”

“Miles, on the other hand…” said Dorcas leadingly.

A soft grin spread on Elinor’s face. There was a sixteen year age gap between her and Miles, and he had always been the baby of the family. Despite having every opportunity to grow up as spoiled as any Montclair cousin, Miles worshipped his older siblings and wanted more than anything to prove his worth. While Elinor wasn’t excited to see him choose the Dragoons upon reaching his majority, it was really the only path he could take to distinguish himself from his ambitious siblings.

Elinor shook her head, unwilling to speak of her hopes for her youngest brother, for fear that the Universe would will it otherwise. She changed the subject. “Are we ready to launch the beacon?”

“We are,” confirmed Dorcas. “And the secondary package, as well.”

“Let’s launch the beacon at a thirty degree angle from the planetary ecliptic. Send the secondary on a ninety degree angle.”

The two walked to the cargo bay together, and out the airlock. Their helmets automatically deployed when the airlock began to cycle, and gloves slid out to cover their hands. Once in the cargo bay, they walked over to two very large, boxy shapes.

“This one first?” said Dorcas over a private channel.

“No, the other,” said Elinor. She opened a panel on the box she’d pointed at, and typed in a few commands. Doracs, meanwhile, opened the bay door that lead out of the small cargo space. The bay was cramped with the two large packages inside it.

After a few minutes, the first box lifted out of the cargo bay, obeying the commands that Elinor had entered. The package fired its engines in a gentle burst once past the threshold, pushing it into an orbit that would carry it on a ninety degree angle from the ecliptic. It would take months for it to reach the appropriate point for its orbit, where it would initiate a secondary burn to stabilize its orbit.

“Beacon launched,” announced Elinor over the ship-wide channel that covered both the Arctic Wind and the Wayward Goose. Someone opened a channel on the Wayward Goose so that she could hear the cheering of the crew. Elinor grinned in satisfaction.

Elinor then went over to the second package, and typed in a series of commands. Dorcas looked over her shoulder, and gave her a strange look when Elinor typed in sixty degrees instead of thirty. Elinor gave her a nod, and motioned for her to not say anything. The package then lifted itself out of the cargo bay and drifted off. It wouldn’t fire its engines for three days.

The claim beacons were commonly used as a way of planting a flag by interstellar empires. They would continuously broadcast what empire claimed ownership, and whatever other information the claimants wanted to share. For the Dotalian Sovereignty, claim beacons also contained the name of the noble house or family that laid the claim. For new systems, that gave license to harvest resources, found colonies, and generally lay the infrastructure for the Sovereignty to expand. Once a suitable level of industry or population was achieved, the Sovereignty would then start extending its Defenses accordingly.

The planet Murkaph was a lifeless, dull place, thought Elinor. They had been on-planet for only a few weeks, and already she was tiring of the reddish-brown rocks and dusty surface. The reddish dirt clung to her boots as she walked around the rudimentary mining camp. Dozens of passenger containers were lined up in neat rows on either side of a newly constructed hallway. Airlocks were on either side, and massive solar panels were set up on the roof.

Despite its drabness, Elinor couldn’t contain her excitement. Comprehensive scans of the surface had led them to the rough location of the anomaly, and the mining equipment was already being assembled. Massive equipment rigs would soon start boring into the crust of Murkaph, while core samples were being drilled to pinpoint the final locations of mine shafts and tunnels.

Meanwhile, out in the system’s asteroid belt, a second mining operation was starting up. Elinor’s cousin, Alice, was with her husband as they set up shop overtop a promising transuranics deposit. The asteroid they were on held decent amounts of platinum group metals, as well, and Elinor fully expected the operation to be one of their most profitable. Murkaph, right now, was experimental.

“Milady! Milady!” shouted one of the miners, as he ran towards her. He was holding in his hands a core sample, but it was far too small. The sample should have been nearly a meter in length, a cross-section of the material in the ground that would allow for easy analysis. This one was not even half that length. “We broke a drill during coring. Look at the bottom!”

Elinor lifted the core sample. It was mostly igneous rock, shifting to metamorphic at the bottom strata. She didn’t see the cause for excitement until the miner reached over and turned the sample so that she was looking at the bottom. Flakes of broken, diamond-tipped drill bit were stuck to the sample, but right in the middle was a bit of flaky gold.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked.

“It is,” confirmed the miner with a wide grin visible through his helmet. “It’s aurum ore.”

It was late in the night cycle when a brand new cargo cog docked at Montclair Station. This was not unusual. In fact, the docks were busy day and night, as Montclair Station bustled with the loading and unloading of the massive cargo containers carried by the cogs. What was unusual was for two of the crew to slip away into the crowds, unnoticed by the dockmaster and customs official as they stood by the primary dockway that tied the crew quarters to the station.

The pair of cargo crew made their way to a servants entrance. This airlock was for Montclair servitors, who handled the daily needs required to operate the opulent lifestyle of the House Montclair. Heavily guarded, this door was every bit as difficult to infiltrate as the main entrance used by the noble family. The two crewmen presented a sheet of vellum to the guards. After careful examination, and thorough scanning by numerous security systems, the guards stepped aside and allowed the crewmen to enter.

Just inside the door, a butler stood waiting to escort the two men through a maze of corridors. They were led into a lush private study on the very top floor of the Station. The walls were lined with books and records, and the desk that dominated the center of the room was clearly used, with neat stacks of vellum and binders full of reports in perfect piles. To one side was a nook, where a computer stood, its screen powered down. On the far side of the room was a fireplace, crackling with very authentic-looking holographic fire. Tall velvet drapes hung on either side, giving the appearance of windows being covered against the night. A single comfortable chair sat beside the fire, the chair canted so that the sole occupant could watch the two men as they entered the room.

“Mr. Vinter. You requested this meeting. What can I do for you?” asked Duchess Ursula Montclair, head of the House Montclair, and one of the most powerful and influential nobles in the entire Dotalian Sovereignty. Her spare frame was slender and graceful, her silver hair flawlessly styled despite the late hour. Lady Ursula’s eyes were sharp and unforgiving, not missing a thing as the butler stepped out of the room and closed the door.

“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me,” said Uric Vinter. He was a hard man, his own eyes probing the room and its occupant, searching for any sign of weakness. Uric had built Vinter Family Trading from the ground up, from a single cargo galley to the dozens of cogs it used today. “I appreciate your willingness to-”

“Oh, do cut the flowery language. It’s late. Get on with it,” said Lady Ursula sharply.

“Fine,” said Uric abruptly. He was unaccustomed to being interrupted, but he kept his irritation to himself. “I have a dispute with a cadet branch of your family. I came to ask you to stand aside while I deal with them.”

“I assume this has to do with the body of Nathaniel Vinter being dumped in front of your local office?” asked Lady Ursula. “And your son Leonard going missing?”

“Indeed,” said Uric. “But that is not my main concern. I intend to claim the new star system that the North family has located. They are too underfunded and weak to exploit it properly. I believe the Crown will support my bid, once they see the results of my exploratory mining.”

Lady Ursula cocked her head to the side. “You seek to buy yourself a noble title.”

“I think the Crown will reward a loyal family that has long worked for the betterment of the Sovereignty,” countered Uric.

“Very well,” said Lady Ursula. “I will not stand in opposition. In return, I expect fifteen percent of the gross profits for the star system, and your loyal support as an ally in Court upon your ascension, as recompense for not receiving revenues from the North family.”

Uric nearly choked on his tongue at the price tag. That would eat a major part of the profits, funneling the money directly into a competing family that invested no money at all in the venture. But at the same time, the Vinters would still make billions, and get the Patent of Nobility that would boost their family right into the heart of the Sovereignty’s power dynamics. He really didn’t need to think about it. “I agree.”

The butler reappeared like magic, with no visible signal for him to show. He escorted the two men out of the room, closing the door behind him as they left. No sooner had the door closed, than another man stepped out from behind the velvet curtains covering the faux windows.

“Hedging our bets, madam?” said the man.

“Of course, Gerald,” said Lady Ursula. “When have I ever done otherwise?”

“What would you have me do?” he asked. She wouldn’t have asked him to listen in if she didn’t have something for him to accomplish. Lady Ursula was a model of efficiency.

“Begin outbidding every buyer for Vinter Family trade goods. Use our unaffiliated companies and brokers with no ties to the Montclair name. Send word to our allies and vassal Houses, that the Vinters are blackballed for offenses against the nobility.”

“So I take it you want me to deny Lady Elinor’s request?” asked Gerald.

“What would make you think I wanted that?” asked Lady Ursula. “No, she has much promise. Far more than my idiot grandchildren. Grant her request.”

“This is a test,” said Gerald. “If she succeeds, then House Montclair gains an entire star system. If she fails…”

“Then she proves no better than my grandchildren,” said Lady Ursula. “And I will still get that star system once I crush the Vinter Family.”