"B e advised, Admiral Longknife, that we only have one berth at the High Capital Station. You may have Admiral Tong and Admiral Kitano berth the rest of your ships at Guard Fortress 5."
Fortress 5 was the one closest to the jump. That would put them at least a day's sailing away from Kris and her embassy.
Kris shook her head curtly at her comm officer.
"Wait one," she replied.
"Sensors," Kris snapped. "Can you tell me the number of open berths at the Navy base on High Capital Station?"
"Yes, ma'am," the commander replied, studying her board. "There are plenty of empty piers at the Navy base. There are also open piers among the clan shipping section. The only piers full are those docking ships needed to remove sewage and colonists."
"Nelly, get me Admiral Tong."
"Yes, Most Excellent Admiral," Tong spoke from the main screen in hardly more than a blink.
"Tong, I'm Commander of the Combined Fleet, right?"
"Most definitely."
"How much authority do I have?"
"He who hears you, hears the Emperor, may He be Worshiped Forever."
Kris mulled that. She'd never had her command authority explained to her in quite those words. "Is there anyone in this system that's in the Navy and isn't my subordinate?"
Tong coughed up a raspy laugh, "No one stands between you and the Emperor, Most Excellent Admiral. Even the most senior clan chiefs only stand at your side."
"Really?" Kris said.
"Really. Did you not understand that?" Tong asked.
"No one got around to telling me any of this. I knew I commanded all these ships, and no one objected when I took several thousand of them off to get into fights, but where I stood in the whole social pecking order? No. No one told me that."
"Why do you think that they bestowed all those honors on Ron? Without them, his social status would have put him groveling on the deck before you."
"As when Ron was an admiral commanding a fleet . . ." Kris let the thought trail off.
"He has an admiral's status. As a mere apprentice counselor, he hardly has the right to look upon you, Commander of the Combined Fleet."
"I take it that you or Coth could never have risen to command of the Combined Fleets?” Kris asked.
"No, Most Eminent Admiral. That command is rotated between senior clan chosen from the four most ancient clans. Five before the rebellion."
"Until I got it," Kris mused.
"Exactly."
"Who exactly are these five ancient clans, Tong?"
"The We, Quo, Abba and Wo are the oldest families. Domm was junior among them before they went out in rebellion."
"And the Chap'sum'We clan?" Kris asked, naming the clan and sept Ron was from.
"They are the oldest branch of the We clan. They and all of the We clan gained much prominence from Roth's negotiation of an end to the Human War."
"As my grampa did for his side of the negotiations," Kris said, understanding matters a bit better, then shifted gear.
"I take it that the Station Admiral of the High Capital Station is junior to me."
"As a pebble is junior to a mountain."
"Then I think it is time for this mountain to flatten a pebble."
"I am glad to have been of service, Most Eminent and Grand Admiral," Tong said. "I am embarrassed that neither I nor my brother officer Coth gave you this information sooner."
"We all have a lot to learn about each other," Kris said. "Sometimes we have to stumble into the question before we can hunt for the answer."
"Then you may count on me to stand ready to answer any of your questions."
"Admiral Tong," Kris said, formally. "In the near future I may need a chief of staff for the Combined Fleet. It would mean giving up your own ship to transfer to a human ship."
"I stand ready to obey even the slightest request, Most Eminent and Grand Admiral."
"Thank you, Admiral," then Kris changed direction again and called, "Alice, I need my full get-up again.”
Five minutes later, with her uniform and medals all settled around her, Kris said, "Nelly, get me the station admiral."
It took almost half a minute before an officer in gray and a lot of gold showed up on the main screen. Apparently, the skin of the top of the skull going gray was indeed a revelation of age.
"What? What? Who are you? How did you get access to my communicator?" he demanded.
"I command the Combined Fleets and I require sufficient pier space at the Navy base on your station for six hundred battlecruisers."
The old fellow was rapidly blinking all four of his eyes. They started out blinking in pairs, the inner two first, then the outer two. However, as seconds passed, his eyes lost their coordination and soon each eye was blinking to its own beat.
"Ah. Ah. I will have to get back with you."
"Do not close this comm circuit," Kris commanded, and the fellow's hand, reaching for just that switch, froze in place.
"I can tell you what you will find. There are plenty of open docks at the base. You will schedule me at pier Edgar 21 through pier Joules 98."
The old admiral seemed to freeze up, unable to either go forward or back down.
"Now , Admiral," Kris barked.
"Yes, yes, of course, Admiral. Ah, aren't you a human, though?"
"If you were keeping up on your message traffic you would have known several months ago that I have received command of the Combined Fleet directly from the Emperor's hand. Get the sand out of your ears, old man, or you may find yourself sunning your rear on the sand."
Kris had heard that particular phrase once and found it memorable. She'd stored it away for moments just like these.
"The codes have been sent to the piers, Most Excellent and Victorious Admiral."
"Good. Send the codes to my flagship as well."
"They are sent."
"Comm?" Kris asked.
"We got them all, Admiral."
"Thank you, Port Admiral. I look forward to seeing you when I land."
"Yes. Ah. Yes. Of course."
Kris cut the circuit, less as a mercy to that ancient derelict and more because she really didn't want to watch him taken by an imminent heart attack.
"Alice, could you take this damn harness off me? I don't want to call my kids looking like the back forty of a junk yard."
Alice and Jane helped her change quickly.
"You better call Abby before you call the kids," Jack whispered into Kris's ear.
That earned him a scowl.
"The kids could be at the swimming pool, Kris. If you talk to them there, it will be all over the embassy before you hang up and get connected to Abby."
With a sigh, Kris did what duty required.
In a moment, Abby was on the main screen.
"Hi, Kris," sounded a bit guarded.
"Hi, yourself. How are things going?"
"Do you really want to talk about matters on an open circuit?"
"That bad, huh?"
"We've been through worse a time or nine."
"Can you and the kids meet me when my ships dock tomorrow?"
"I would not suggest it, Kris."
"You sound like you're under siege."
"Not exactly, but close enough."
"I think you've told me quite enough," Kris said.
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."
"Tell everyone I'm looking forward to seeing them, too," Kris said, and cut the connection.
"That bad?" Jack said, with a low whistle.
"That bad," Kris agreed.
If she could have, she would have gotten out and pushed to get the Princess Royal in faster. However, it's date with the Imperial Capital was governed by the speed of the planet in its orbit. If Kris got there any earlier, the planet wouldn't be there yet.
Once again, Kris found herself struggling to learn patience.