* * * *
Tyler was moved into the second floor residence of the east wing which came complete with nine bedrooms, several offices, a fully staffed kitchen, no less than eight bathrooms, and four common rooms filled with art, furniture, and electronic devices of every function. It was more than Tyler had ever experienced, but he quickly grew accustomed to the posh lifestyle.
Because he was undergoing physical therapy, Tyler moved around using an electric chair on wheels. It surprised him they used wheels, but he had been told by one of his nursing staff they did not have floating chairs, as the energy requirements were too great for such a small device. Although the nurse giggled when asked the question, Tyler didn’t think he’d raised any suspicions. After all, it was a well known fact the Admiral had never been sick a day in his life.
Although Tyler believed the Admiral’s memories were complete, small items such as wheelchairs were not often adequately represented. The Admiral had a wealth of knowledge of the history of Poolto and Krildon. Battle strategies, administrative management, and financial planning were but a few of the areas he was well versed in. However, knowledge of the everyday things tended to be incomplete. Tyler assumed it was because the Admiral never needed to do these things for himself. He’d been born into wealth and power, and this afforded him servants and assistants to take care of the mundane tasks associated with living. His life was one of intellectual pursuits, epic battles, and military strategy.
Tyler enjoyed his newfound wealth and was more than happy to enjoy its benefits. Having lived without it on Earth, he took full advantage of every opportunity. He learned to use many of the electronic devices available within the Palace, and when not in therapy or staff meetings, he took time to go through the enormous number of broadcast channels their version of television contained. From watching these, he learned more about Poolto’s society than he could glean from the Admiral’s memories.
All channels were controlled by the Poolto Communication Ministry, but they offered a remarkably open forum for varying opinions, including those of the religious few. Although they did not get their own air time, they often appeared on other shows, either as news segments or as individuals espousing their beliefs. Even sporting events hosted signs in the crowds touting religious statements like ‘God will save those who believe’, ‘God begs for you to stop the war’, and ‘Let no more die in vain’. Tyler remembered Earth and similar actions.
Although the cameras were good at avoiding this preaching, every now and again, the message got through—enough that the everyday person began to ask questions. Tyler understood why his innocent comment had caused such a stir. Supporting that which went against the Imperial Palace was not a smart move for the Supreme Military Commander. His own curiosity was piqued by the people who espoused these beliefs, but he wisely kept his questions to himself.
Over time, life in the Palace grew routine and boring. Tyler took advantage of the abundant free time to increase his knowledge of the planet and the Admiral. He was grateful for the Marshall, who despite his obvious discomfort at many of Tyler’s questions, remained dutiful when explaining. Tyler grew accustomed to relying on the Admiral’s memories, and as they more fully integrated with his own, he felt confident impersonating the great man. He seemed successful in fooling everyone within his staff, and any minor discretions that slipped were routinely ignored as side-effects of his prolonged coma.
Tyler increased his daily role as the Admiral, and as such, began to understand the dilemma the Marshall had warned him of. In one of their earliest meetings in Tooland, Marshall Sliss had disclosed the important item concerning Vice Admiral Teesen. Apparently, while in command during the Admiral’s coma, Vice Admiral Teesen had taken it upon himself to plan a counter attack to take advantage of the debilitated state of the enemy fleet. Teesen figured by gambling the rest of their own fleet, Krildon would be caught off-guard before they had time to recover their full defensive capabilities.
Tyler agreed it was a huge gamble, and pointed out their own ability to mount such an attack or defend themselves was only marginally better than the enemies. In response to Tyler’s observations, the Marshall outlined the remnants of Poolto’s forces. Unfortunately, the numbers were small and the experience young. Many of the Admiral’s best commanders had been lost during their last battle, and now, the Vice Admiral wanted to commit what was left to a suicide mission. They still didn’t know why the first mission had failed.
Despite this, the Vice Admiral held the ear of the Emperor, and his plan was being given strong consideration within the Imperial Palace. The Emperor and his staff were careful not to leak information, especially to the Supreme Council, but the Marshall had spies in both Teesen’s and the Emperor’s staff, so he’d uncovered this disturbing information.
Although the Marshall employed spies, his intelligence network paled to that of the Emperor’s. Up until a few years ago, these measures had never been necessary, but as the Admiral’s popularity as a war hero grew, the Marshall saw changes in the personnel assigned to the staff. It became obvious the Emperor was keeping a close eye on his Supreme Commander. Eventually, the Marshall’s suspicions were confirmed when one spy approached him offering to work as a double agent. After some preliminary checks, the Marshall had agreed, and thus, the Marshall’s intelligence network began. Although small in scope, it encompassed the Emperor’s staff, various bureaucratic agencies, and even the Supreme Council. It was enough to ensure the Admiral was never surprised by either branch.
Now that they obtained valuable information through this network, the Marshall and the Admiral wondered how they’d ever operated without one. The war had forced many to participate in activities they once thought absurd, and in addition to the standard costs of war, Tyler suspected they were beginning to pay a high price in terms of their societal values and ethics.
Tyler spoke privately with the Marshall about how they could thwart the Vice Admiral’s plan without appearing disloyal to the Emperor and the war effort. They both believed the Admiral could use his enormous popularity as National Hero to counter the proposed plan, but if the Emperor was determined to strike a final blow, they weren’t likely to easily dissuade him.
The one thing Tyler had in his favor was the fact the Emperor was highly intelligent and probably wouldn’t want to waste his remaining forces in case the plan failed. They needed to convince the Emperor the plan was risky, especially in light of their last failure. However, Tyler knew it would take more than his own opinion to sway the argument toward caution. For now, they kept their ideas to themselves while studying the details of the Vice Admiral’s plan, documenting the flaws it contained. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find flaws.
Vice Admiral Teesen was no fool and he’d won many battles for Admiral Osloo. He was nearly as decorated as Admiral Osloo, and if the Admiral had not gained such prominence, Vice Admiral Teesen would most likely be the Supreme Commander. He was a formidable man and Tyler didn’t relish the prospects of having him on the opposite side. Then again, Tyler didn’t think highly of losing the war.
The plan’s most obvious flaw was the enormous gamble requiring too many things to go right without adequate backup. In this, Tyler saw Teesen as careless. Most of the time, Teesen’s gambles paid off, but there were a few moments in history where they’d not, and it had cost his men dearly. He was a brilliant tactician, but his plans simply required too many things to execute perfectly, and this latest was no exception. It required supply routes that didn’t exist, asteroid bases that hadn’t been captured, and fleet movements that went undetected. These things were unlikely at best and impossible at worst. Krildon suffered dearly from the last offensive, and Tyler knew they would step up their vigilance in its aftermath.
If they hadn’t recently lost the Admiral’s battle, they might have been capable of pulling it off. But now, all reports indicated Krildon increased their surveillance of Poolto activities, and more than a few scout craft were shot down or detected near
remaining bases and supply points. They were under the microscope, and the Vice Admiral’s plan did not take that fully into account. According to the Marshall’s spies, the Emperor’s staff had also noted the same discrepancies, but the Vice Admiral was rumored to have brushed them aside as insignificant in light of their great ruse.
The Marshall didn’t know how the Emperor’s staff had reacted to Teesen’s response, but they knew the plan was moving forward. It called for two more carriers to be completed before they could begin, so that held the launch back for at least another four months. That gave Tyler and the Admiral’s staff time to intervene. Meanwhile, word leaked out that the intelligence agencies were busily working on their own surveillance of the Krildon fleet with the goal of determining their defensive capabilities and speed with which they were rebuilding forces.
To date, Krildon appeared to lag behind the Poolto effort after losing much of their manufacturing capabilities during the Admiral’s offensive. Although on the surface this appeared good, the Marshall was suspicious of its accuracy. After such a devastating blow to their home world, the Marshall believed Krildon would double their efforts and keep them under tighter secrecy. The Admiral’s memories seemed to confirm the Marshall’s analysis, and it made logical sense. Unfortunately, the military relied almost solely on the Empire’s intelligence agencies, and lately, the Admiral and his staff were being excluded from that information.
The official response to inquiries about the missing intelligence was that ‘…until the Admiral fully recovered, they were instructed not to burden him with ongoing operational details’. As the Marshall put it, “We are systematically being cut out of the position of power we once held.”
It was unclear who was behind it, Vice Admiral Teesen or the Emperor. Either way, the National Hero no longer held the Imperial Palace’s ear as master strategist. They would have to find a way to change that if they wanted to stop the next offensive.
Despite this burden, Tyler felt confident as the Admiral, but was increasingly overwhelmed by the decisions he was being forced to make. He sensed the Admiral’s staff waited patiently for him to act, hoping to regain their former power and success.
Unfortunately, Tyler was not yet able to do that. More than a few times, Adanni had intruded into Tyler’s thoughts, insinuating he ought to take over a little of the control. He assured Tyler his own experience would help them navigate the political mess and put the Admiral back on top. Though Tyler was tempted, he declined the magnanimous offer. Until he was fully recovered, he had no intentions of letting Adanni make personal decisions. The stress took its toll, and though his physical recovery progressed rapidly, he felt mentally inadequate to the tasks assigned him.
This, too, added stress, and he used this as an excuse to sample the sloose berry wine. He had the wine delivered from the Palace’s immaculate cellar to his viewing room every day. Tyler had befriended one of the estate staff members named Feernii Oolaa after arriving in Tooland. Among Feernii’s many responsibilities, food and beverage was one of his favorites, and he was more than happy to share that information with Tyler. He possessed the only keys to the wine cellar and was well versed in its awesome selections. Feernii himself hand selected each bottle that was sent to Tyler.
Tyler convinced Feernii to keep the deliveries secret as the doctors and nurses would disapprove of his consumption. Remarkably, Feernii never knew the original Admiral abstained from alcohol, so he was only too pleased to demonstrate his knowledge of their wonderful cellar. Tyler didn’t really care if Feernii had known, it was a distinct pleasure to enjoy the calming and uplifting effects of alcohol once more. Since that dreadful day that turned Tyler into something new and different, he hadn’t sampled the pleasures of drinking, and though it was only wine, he relished the experience.
During the monotonous days at Tooland, Tyler sat through meetings and physical therapy patiently waiting to retire to his viewing room and enjoy a new bottle of wine. Like his life in Los Angeles, his daily consumption grew routine, something he was not concerned about. The wine tasted extraordinarily good, and Tyler chided the Admiral’s memories for abstaining all those years. Between the wine and the wonderful meals, Tyler could just bear the daily grind of recovering his health and managing the Admiral’s staff.
After two months in Tooland, Tyler felt at home. He’d originally imagined the experience would be alien, but as the days sped by, he realized life on Poolto wasn’t too different than life on Earth. He wished they’d never leave Tooland, but the Marshall informed him a trip to the capital was imminent.