Sins of Empire: CH 5 PT 1

"Does she really intend to build another slip-stream drive?" Kara asked as Noah paced back and forth on the abandoned bridge of the Flambirg.
"Yes. I even found the damned work order. The Corvus is being sent for refit in one of the yards as we speak."
"So soon?"
"Yes!" snapped Noah, heedless of his tone.
Why was the Empress being so incredibly stubborn—even stupid—about this? Subspace was treacherous enough as it was without trying to circumvent it. He'd learned that the hard way aboard the Repulse. Trying to circumvent the jump gates that linked the stars together was suicidal at best from his own experience.
"Is it possible that she will succeed where the past attempts have failed?"
Noah stopped in mid-step and glared at Kara who remained impassive. He began to consider everything that had gone wrong with the Repulse experiment. There hadn't been enough power, so the reactor had overloaded and shut down which meant that they'd needed to do a cold start which took a few hours to conduct. Power. Power was the main issue. That and whatever forces acted on a ship in hyperspace. Unlike subspace which was a wholly stable connection between stars, hyperspace was unstable and relied on the creation of man made wormholes rather than exploiting naturally occurring ones. Subspace tears were similar to hyperspace in that the tears were man made but they relied on the gravitational forces of surrounding celestial bodies. Hyperspace was the complete circumvention of those gravitational forces and no one really understood what effect that had on a ship or the crew...aside from overloading the power source of course.
The other issue was more difficult to overcome. They hadn't been able to control where the ship had come out of hyperspace. Bereft of the guidance of the gravity wells there was no way to know where in space the ship was. So when they'd dropped out directly on the border with the Eternal Empire who had just weeks before declared open war...well there was no need to relive that part of it.
"If she has a ship with enough power then yes, she could pull it off theoretically." Noah said finally. "But the power drain is huge. You'd have to gut a battleship of half its combat systems to power it properly."
"So then might a hunter-killer design be able to handle something like that? Especially if it's stealth systems were removed?"
Noah felt his insides twist as he realized the obvious. The Corvus was a hunter-killer. Oh damn the woman.
"She's going to get someone killed, we have no way of navigating through hyperspace."
"The Weave." prompted Kara.
"Oh that's brilliant." Noah said throwing his hands in the air. "A force only one percent of the population can detect. What sort of solution is that?"
Kara smiled ironically. "It would create a new job opportunity for those of us blessed with the Weave."
Noah sighed and leaned back against a control console, his frustrations building with him. "I suppose that's something at least." he looked around at the bridge pensively. "Do you think its occurred to the Empress yet?"
"To use the Weave to navigate?"
Noah nodded to which Kara shrugged.
"I cannot say. However she isn't stupid."
Raising his eyebrows Noah scoffed. "She's doing a good job of proving otherwise."
Kara shook her head. "Sir, she's probably frustrated and feeling very alone...you would know that better than I would."
"She has seven advisers one of whom is directly related to her and with the exception of me are very good at their jobs."
"Yes, but none of them are her friend the way you once were." Noah's eyes narrowed and Kara frowned in reply. "I'm sorry sir, did I speak out of turn?"
Noah sighed. "No, you didn't." he just didn't wish to be reminded of the relationship he might have had whether it was as a friend or anything else. That was the last thing he wanted to be reminded of. "Kara, how do we protect her from herself?"
She considered for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Sir I don't worry about protecting the Empress any longer. That is the concern of a Knight which I am no longer. My only duty is to you."
Noah looked to her for a long moment before turning away with a glower. He'd never tried to understand exactly why she'd abandoned her vows of Knighthood for service to him but sometimes he forgot just how fully she had done so. That she would say that the Empress' safety was not her concern only served to emphasize how far she'd taken her apostasy.
"Alright then, how do I prepare for her doing something that could potentially get her killed?" Noah asked the space between them.
"I think the first thing you need to do is have a ship on constant standby ready to jump at a moment's notice so that you can get to her at a moment's notice if need be."
Noah looked at her in growing alarm. "Please tell me you aren't saying that she's going to be on the ship when it starts testing."
"If it does occur to her to use the Weave as a navigational aid then it would make sense sir. After all, she is very skilled in manipulating it to her purposes."
Noah groaned and held his head in his hands. "Stars help me. How do I keep a leader alive who seems bent on getting themselves killed?"
"Take her to your bed." Kara prompted.
Noah's head jerked up but Kara's face held no mirth, she remained completely solemn. "You're serious, aren't you."
"She doesn't hide her feelings for you very well sir."
Noah snorted, his face twisting agonizingly. "She doesn't hide it at all. Dammit why does everyone think that my sleeping with her is going to solve all this?"
"Because sir, she is the Empress and to most her concerns matter most. Right now she wishes for your companionship so naturally most would assume you would give it."
Noah took a deep steadying breath. He didn't want that. It wasn't that Thiera was unattractive or even unpleasant, it was simply that he did not want to be attached to a monarch. Being a Grandee was more power than he'd ever desired. He'd never wanted to advance past commander. He hadn't even been in a command position truly beyond being in charge of his design team.
"Kara, don't take this the wrong way but I wish I hadn't been aboard the Repulse that day."
She actually smiled though it was hardly a happy expression. "Sir, with respect, I imagine most of us who were there wish we were not."