The Void War (Empire Rising Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

identity after the Meccan incident. This in turn led to the nobility becoming the focus of the public eye and over time an uneasy relationship developed.
     
    The nobility knew they needed the popular support of the British people. Both to keep parliament on their side and to ensure there was a constant stream of patriotic volunteers for the RSN, its merchant fleet or for the various space and planetary colonies and industrial nodes the nobility had significant financial stakes in. As a result the nobility had to present a patriotic idealized face to the public if their position in society was to remain and so James Patrick William Somerville, Duke of Beaufort, found himself commanding a RSN survey ship over 60 light years from Earth.
     
    Banishing thoughts of London’s high life James turned another page of his book. He enjoyed the rough feeling of the paper under his fingers and the weight of the book in his hand. Letting out a sigh he savored the moment. He allowed his free hand to return to twirling the long sideburns he had grown to match the latest trends in London. At least it was the latest trend when he had left two years ago! 
     
    When he had turned to the old style books as a distraction he had raced through the first couple, flicking the pages in annoyance at the hassle but now each moment was precious. Turning the page allowed his mind to take in what he had just read or to just wonder aimlessly depending on his mood. This book was the last in the collection his uncle had given him. 
     
    His uncle he knew had a vast array of ancient paper books, possibly the largest outside the British Library. Giving James thirty of them had been a major gift. Smirking, James knew that the term gift was too generous for his uncles’ actions. All the books had been 20 th century novels depicting the life and times of British naval officers. The colonial wars of the 17 th and 18 th Century between Britain, France and Spain and the subsequent Napoleonic war had made for an exciting time in the navy.
     
    Generous may have been going too far but manipulative may not. Idealized and overblown the characters and feats of some of the hero’s couldn’t possibly have been realistic. Yet James had to concede that the novels might have at least partially had their intended effect. After a year engrossed in the novels James wanted to be a hero. He wanted to emulate the men in his fantasies - if for no other reason than to allow him a route back into the high life of the nobility. For if the public embraced him as a hero, he would have to be readmitted into the inner circles of the nobility and once there his real desire would be within grasp.
     
    Secretly James had to admit his desires had widened just a little. He wanted to be a hero in his own right. The characters from his uncle’s novels were inspiring, even if they were all fictitious.
     
    Yet being a hero or returning to London just seemed to be a pipe dream. Command of a survey ship wasn’t the place to cover oneself in a cloud of glory nor had there been a shooting war between the major space faring nations in over twenty five years. James could feel the old depression welling up inside him. This was the last novel in his collection and his source of escape was about to end.
     
    Before he could begin the next page his COM unit beeped. Tapping the control panel James’s annoyance at being interrupted showed in his sharp, “Yes?”
     
    “Commander,” Sub Lieutenant Fisher began after a pause that showed her nervousness about disturbing her Commander, “we seem to have reached the end of this shift passage, it’s a dead end sir.”
     
    “Ok, I’ll be out momentarily”
     
    James tapped the COM unit rather aggressively before he stood to make his way to the bridge. Lieutenant Fisher’s nervousness irritated him. He had been on the ship for over two years now and she still had not gotten used to being round a member of the nobility. The RSN was one of the few