The Privateer by Zellmann William

Author:Zellmann, William [Zellmann, William]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Published: 2012-03-13T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Archuk had been correct. There were a number of apparently excellent hotels near the field. They agreed upon a rather conservative-looking hotel with what were apparently moderate prices. Cale converted most of his contract check into Angeles crowns, and was impressed by the favorable exchange rate.

They took a hovercab to the hotel, where they registered in separate rooms, agreeing to meet in several hours for dinner.

Cale took a long, slow shower, reveling in the luxury of unlimited water. He frowned at the shipsuit he had been wearing.

No, he decided. Shipsuits were practical, durable garments for the restrictive environment of a sealed ship. But now he was groundside, and would be for at least a couple of weeks. He sat at the room’s terminal, connected to the Worldnet, and began doing some shopping.

He also researched the Kingdom of Angeles.

It seemed to be a pretty good world. Angeles was 99.97 on the habitability scale, the only deduction being for the slightly light gravity of .87 standard. It had originally been lower than that due to the planet’s lack of climate-inducing moons, but during the terraforming project, the early settlers had moved two large asteroids into position, generating the first tidal forces Angeles had ever known. Over a few centuries, the climate had stabilized nicely. A number of native plant and animal species had been able to adapt to the introduction of terrestrial species, and Angeles hardwoods had been heavy demand in the Empire’s interstellar trade. Angeles had been affected by the Fall, of course. To help prevent overpopulation, the Kingdom had once established three colonies. As the Empire declined, the other three systems had requested and received their independence. The last had seceded only fifty-five years ago. There had been no real intersystem conflicts. If a member of the ‘Commonwealth’ desired to secede, they held a planet-wide referendum on the issue. If the population voted for secession, the planetary government petitioned the kingdom for release. In every case, the Parliament had voted to recommend approval to the monarch, and in every case, independence had been granted. As Atmos XIV declared, “If a majority of their population desires to leave the Commonwealth, we have no desire to thwart their will.” Those three systems were still Angeles’ largest trading partners.

The monarchy itself had existed for over 800 years. As Tess had mentioned, Early on, the royal family had established procedures to insure that only competent, well-trained monarchs ruled Angeles, and they had presided over the development of a prosperous system with a surprising level of personal freedom.

Even in the four hundred years since the Fall, Angeles was one of very few worlds to remain vibrant and prosperous. In self-defense, Angeles had established a sizable defense establishment, and had established a patrolled “security zone” stretching for one jump in every direction. The pirate that chased them, Cale decided, must have been very desperate or very foolish to risk an attack in the Angeles ‘security zone’. This also explained the excitement and action that had

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