Worldbuilding Prompt #832 - Heirloom

This post was inspired by a writing prompt in the Worldbuilding Community - Worldbuilding Prompt #832 - Military Tactics

It stars one of my favourite long-running characters, but I haven't written a story for her for a few months....

Enjoy !

Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio

The stateroom's intercom chimed, a tone intended to be a gentle greeting but actually just loud enough to be an annoying interruption to someone deep in thought.

Admiral Alex Deroma looked up from the multiple reports overlaid on her datascreen with a grimace. "Come in," she called, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

When the door slid open, it revealed a young orderly officer, his sky blue piping indicating he was part of the Communications department. He seemed nervous, and was clutching a package to his chest. He tried to simultaneously bow, salute and hold onto the package, and didn't do a very good job of any of them. But he didn't drop the package, and that was something.

Alex grinned. It wasn't so long ago she'd been doing that job, before she was promoted to Command.

"Don't look so nervous, I don't eat people. Well, not often, and rarely my own officers. Is that for me ?"

The boy nodded, and held the parcel out as if it was an unexploded bomb he was desperate to be rid of. Alex took it and waved him off. He left, clearly relived to have discharged his duty.

The package seemed to be a box, carefully wrapped in protective film. It was neatly tied with a scarlet ribbon with a note slipped underneath. The note simply read "You've earned this now, Alex. With love from Tebur."

Her brother ! She hadn't seen him since the start of her tour, more than a couple of years ago. But she knew what this was. One of their most precious family heirlooms. The tradition was that you could only read it if you'd successfully completed your first independent fleet-level command, and afterwards it was to be returned to the safety of the family vault until the next time it was won.

Sitting down, she placed the package on the desk and reverently unwrapped it.

There, in front of her eyes, was the book she'd been told about as a girl. Of course she had studied it on dataslate at Staff College, but this was different. A real book. With real pages. Bound with orichalcum and Scarzanian wolfhide. It was unbelievably ancient and even more importantly it had been gifted to the Deroma family by the author with huge amounts of annotations and personal comments that no-one else was allowed to see.

It was, of course, Arch Warlord Korvrell Ti Shonordihe's seminal work "Defending the Empire: Holding The Line Against Mad Machines, Slave Waves, and Pesky Pirates."

Alex pushed her datascreen to one side, poured herself a cognac, and sat down to read. The pages were embossed plasti-paper, still soft and pliable after thousands of years, although starting to look a little worn in places. Opening the cover, she saw immediately the Arch Warlord's cursive handwriting in faded red ink with a general greeting to all the generations of her family, finished off at the bottom with the great man's bold signature. She chuckled inwardly. Red ink. Of course; it was the colour of his family arms.

Her only encounter with the Arch Warlord had been... difficult. Oh yes, he was still alive. One of the very few recipients of the I-Treatment. Immortal. Thousands of years old. Almost a god. The treatment was insanely expensive and complex, the dream of every ambitious Imperial officer, and awarded at most once in a generation.

When she'd seen him, he was sitting on her Board of Inquiry and had come down heavily against her, despite his family and hers being considered friends forever. In her heart, she had to admit he'd had a point; her actions had been reckless and insubordinate in the extreme.

Despite that, this book, this family heirloom, was a classic work well worth studying. After reading just the introduction, she saw his notes in the margin added immensely to the meaning of the printed words.

There were chapters comparing the economies of the two warring alliances, on the strategies and tactics used by the Confederacy, and commentaries on how the Allied Imperiae could block their advances.

Just as she started the chapter which covered how to defend against enemy drop-assaults, there was another chime from the door. Did that "Do NOT Disturb" light mean nothing ?

"What ?" she called out, her extreme irritation obvious.

The door opened, and there standing in it was the Arch Warlord himself.

"Oh, sh..."

Alex stood and saluted. He was as much above her station as she was above the lowest vegetable peeler in her fleet. He shouldn't even be in this sector !

Korvrell Ti Shonordihe stroked his grey goatee as he strolled into the chamber, a faint and unusual smile of amusement on his face.

"You've got my book, I see," he said in a casual tone, holding out a hand for it. She handed it over, shakily, wondering what he was doing.

Before she could react, he pulled out a small pocket knife and stuck it into the endpaper. Alex could only look on in horror as the family heirloom was sliced open.

Then he handed it back. "Read it," he said in a sharp tone. Then, more calmly, "At the Board of Inquiry, I didn't connect two and two. Your family has the most damnable habit of naming girl children Alexandra literally every two generations. Now, I'm sure it's you. I wrote those words five thousand years ago, after those time-meddlers in the Chronos Legions came and spoke to me one day."

Alex looked down at the damaged book. With a shock, she realised there were two endpapers, which had been glued together. On the now revealed section, she saw ancient faded red words, the words of the Arch Warlord.

"Alexandra Deroma, the Chronos Legions tell me you will achieve great things in a few thousand years. Read this book and realise that many of the notes I wrote in it are for you. But always follow your own path, and know that I am and will be your friend. K."