CHAPTER 35

Joseph Hartwell was standing there with his mouth hanging open there was no way in hell that he was going to believe that O'Toma was emperor.

Shaking his head he had to sit, almost as if by magic a seat appeared under him.

"I'm sorry I am finding this a little too hard to swallow." That was when Hartwell started to laugh.

"It's a good one I have to admit, now then, I really need to meet or talk to the man. The genius, that brought about the capture of over 100 pirate ships, near the old ship yards."

Sighing Derrick wasn't exactly sure how he was going to prove to this man he was the genus emperor.

Mary appeared a moment later.

"Rear Admiral Hartwell," she stated. "Do you by chance recognize me?"

Nodding he looked straight at her, "You are a computer generated hologram, I recognize you from the few pictures that remain of the first and last emperors."

"Very good sir, what you may not know is that I was given the power to enact all imperial mandates, in all imperial matters. The most important in the last 2 centuries was finding someone from this man's family."

Laughing a bit she continued, "In this case he actually found us. I was the one who sent the proof that the next emperor had been found. Though I am sure you noticed I left his name off? That was to protect what was left of his family. I am the only one who can declare anyone to be the emperor."

Derrick looked over at Hartwell, nudging him he whispered, "Joey, close your mouth." Nodding Hartwell did as Derrick told him.

"You really are the man? The one who scared the hell out of command? You almost gave me a coronary with that first then the second message, crap; I thought we were toast after that second one." Shaking his head, "When did you get that brilliant?" Hartwell asked.

"Well I had help," Derrick told him. Showing the man his download head set, Derrick was tempted to give the man a little taste, but he didn't want the man in the infirmary for days.

"I have to say it is you, my god man you have an empire waiting for you," Hartwell said.

"I want you to be a part of it, I also want the others that are left, we can help almost everything that might be wrong with them." Derrick said excited that he finally had a human he could actually trust.

Sighing Hartwell looked away tears filling his eyes, "Of the nine that were left only 5 of us are still alive. Shilo and Grant were killed in a transport accident, the whole ship was lost. Jimison was killed trying to stop a robbery. Norman," here Hartwell sighed even harder, "was blown out of a hatch; he'd managed to save 15 people that were trapped. He heard the hatch failing and shoved them into life boat capsule, he'd just managed to get it shut and secured when the hatch went."

Even bigger tears were in his eyes, "He was a hero! They said it was his fault, he wasn't even there, he was on the other side of the ship when the call came out. The bastards blamed their own incompetence on him; I have tried to reopen the case for 2 years now. The president was part owner so it was swept under the rug!"

Derrick growled Norman had been the best of his unit, strong and capable with a moral code that was second only to Derrick's own.

Derrick sat there a moment waiting for Hartwell to calm, then Derrick spoke, "There will be justice for them, I'll make sure of that, if it's the last thing I do, there will be justice for them all!"

Hartwell looked up at Derrick, "Listening to you I can tell you aren't the same man I knew all those years ago, I also believe that you will do as you say."

"What of the others Dempsy, Thomas, Rayburn, and Kimison?" Derrick asked though he wasn't too sure he was going to be happy with the answer.

"Dempsy is still as tough as he was back then, he joined the Rangers with me. He's turned down a commission more times than I want to admit, he still says that you and I were born leaders and he was more happy following than he is leading.

As for the others, let's see the last I heard Thomas went into the salvage business, damn good pilot from what I hear. Rayburn settled down on a far pioneer world on the Galatic rim doing pretty good the last time I saw him." Here Hartwell stopped a look of anger on his face, "They shoved Kimison into a veteran's recovery center, more like a slow death pit, half of the people staffing the place don't care. The other half looks the other way. I pay for him, he saved my life more than a few times, I owe him that plus a whole lot more. It's the only reason he his treated and tended as well.

Derrick growled, he'd seen those supposed veteran's centers he had to agree they were death pits, really not even worthy of dying in. Between clenched teeth Derrick said, "I will have him out of there as soon as I can, I owe him quite a bit myself, and I intend to repay him."

Here Derrick slammed his fist down on the table in front of him. "I'm going to need your permission to remove him; I need you to radio me on this frequency when you sign the papers." Hartwell nodded the look of surprise then pride in his eyes spoke volumes of what he thought of Derrick's plan.

Mary had been standing nearby taking in everything that Derrick had said. Everything would make it that much easier when she entered his mind to help clear the rest of the distress that she felt was still there.

"Sire," Mary spoke up a moment later, "I know that you trust the Rear Admiral, but as per your plan, do you wish him to be released with the knowledge of just who you are? As you yourself advised me you are still worried about your family. At present I have only been able to land 2 sentries in abrir oculta, at present there is no threat though I am afraid that will change when who the emperor is, is known."

"Yes I know, but to do any type of memory block might seem as if he were tampered with while he was here."