The Burden of two Oaths

[Dougal MacDonald]

Inverness, New Scotland, Castle Tùranrìgh

King James IX of New Scotland sat behind the desk of his office looking over computer screens. Dougal MacDonald sat opposite of the king in his Terra Alpha Marine uniform.

Castle Tùranrìgh was a thoroughly modern styled building. Dougal supposed it was called a castle mostly because that's where the king lived. Though, in all fairness it was a fortress. There were two meter reinforced walls, an independent power source, phaser turrets, and shields.

"Sorry about that," James said looking up from his work. "There's always someone looking for a peice of my time. Part of the job I guess." James had the unassuming flat Mountain-West American accent. Remarkable in only that it lacked anything most would call an accent.

James Stuart grew up in Salt Lake City, UT, went to college at Harvard and got a law degree. He never knew that he was the closest living relative to the last kings of Scotland. Nonetheless, James carried the royal blood that stretched all the way to the Kings of the Picts, and Alfred the Great of Wessex. For the Scots trying to rebuild their society that was all that mattered.

"Can I get you something? Coffee? Tea? Whiskey?"

"No, I think I'll be fine," Dougal replied.

James nodded, "We are forming a military."

"Why?" Dougal bluted in surprise. "Isn't thats what the bloody TA Navy and Marines are for?"

"It is," James agreed. "But, their focus isn't on New Scotland. It isn't on our home. And honestly I'd like it if we had our own people defending us. Even if it's a minor role. No one is going to fight as hard as those protecting their homes."

"Och aye," Dougal agreed. "An what is best for the Alliance isn't always what's best for New Scotland."

James nodded and smiled, "Glad you can see that. I've secured twenty ships for a Navy. They are all old Starfleet ships. Mostly Miranda and Excelsior classes, but I think I can negotiate with President Price for some upgrades. For the Army I have secured funding for two divisions. An Aerospace Force is in the works, but we haven't the funding for that yet. Fighters, gunships, bombers, and transports don't just grow on trees, and surplus fighters are worse than no fighters."

"Aye," Dougal agreed uncertain where this was going.

"The Army would do well with the Hero of Inverness leading it."

"Ye want me ta lead yer wee Army?" Dougal bluted in surprise.

"I do."

"An do I have any say in the matter?"

"Of course."

"I appreciate it. Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course, but I need an answer in a few days. I need that general in place so we can establish a training regimine."

"Aye, of course."


<Later, Capital City>

Dougal stepped off the elevator into his wife's office. "My wife here?" He asked the receptionist.

"Yes, Mr. MacDonald. She's in her office."

Dougal thanked her and headed for his wife's office dodging office workers as he made his way across floor. He knocked once on the door and entered.

"No, that's not the contract we agreed to," Aimee said into her comm terminal. "Look, if you want your stuff delivered like that it's going to cost a whole lot more. There's a lot of planets we are bypassing to get to yours, and then my crew has to back track. They'll lose two days worth of pay screwing around with this load. I won't ask them to do that without paying them for their time. That extra money isn't going to me, it's going to my crew to pay them for wasting their time."

There was a pause as the client thought about it, "Okay do it your way. I can't afford the extra shipping costs."

"Understood. Have a good day Mr. Rexburg." The comm terminated and Aimee looked up at Dougal for the first time, and her expressionsoftened. "Hey."

"Hello, mo chridhe, my heart" Dougal said with a smile. "Ye, got a wee impatient bugger?"

Aimee sighed and crossed the office to wrap her arms around Dougal's impressive bulk. "Yeah. Most of them are old customers of Galaxy Freight, and they think they deserve special treatment. I could do with less of those kinds of customers... I could do with less customers in general. Got more freight than ships, and the late fines on some of these shipments are making those loads a breakeven at best. So yeah, to heck with them."

Dougal chuckled, "Aye well, ye ken better than I."

"What brings you in?"

"I had my wee meeting with the king," Dougal said unnecessarily. Aimee already knew that was going on. "He wants to build an army and to have me lead it."

"An army? Isn't the Alliance military good enough for him?" Aimee said looking up at her husband still in her embrace.

"Och aye. I dinnae ken why."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have my obligations to the regiment, an the general."

"You mean my brother," Aimee snickered.

"Aye well, yer brother. I suppose he's my brother too ya ken."

"Oh, I 'ken' that all too well." Aimee laughed and released him. "So, what are you planning? It sounds like you are going to say no."

"Aye. I told the king I would think about it, and I intend to, but I have obligations to the 82nd and the 78th."

"If you asked I'm sure Ethan would release you of that commitment."

"Aye I ken that well enough, but a war is coming to this wee planet. I dinnae plan to be sitting on the sidelines when it happens."

"Then it's settled," Aimee said practically. "But, I won't be forgiving you if you get yourself killed when you had other options."

[Olivia Ryder]

Olivia knocked on Aimee's door.

"Hey Aim's... sorry to bother you but Bridget in requisitions needs your answer in like an hour if you need those four pallet lifters and the additional crates and skids for that Rigel 2 job. Otherwise she may not be able to get them in time for the load." Olivia said and gave Dougal a smirk. "Nooner? I could always come back in twenty minutes..."

[Dougal MacDonald]

"A nooner?" Dougal asked confused before a scandalized expression fell across his face. "Uh no. I would'na be opposed with getting the lass with child, but that's something that can wait for the bedroom."

"I'd mind," Aimee said flatly. "The pregnancy with the twins wasn't fun, the labor worse, raising two tiny helpless babies at the same time is just this side of hell, and leaving them to come to work every day the worst part of it all." She paused momentarily changing gears, "Liv, get that put through. We're so busy right now if the Riegel 2 contract fails we'll still have a use for them."

"Oh aye," Dougal agreed not distracted. "When it comes to bairns it's the lasses that get the short end of that stick. I love sweet Livvy, and wee Xander as me own, but I would like to have a bairn of my own blood someday."

[Olivia Ryder]

"Well it certainly kept her out of trouble. Somewhat." Liv said with a smirk as she tapped a few things onto her padd. "And... done. Thanks Aimee. Well... give yourself a liiiitle time before you have any more 'wee bairns'. Take it from me... bouncing back after a multiple birth takes a while. Why do you think I married a woman?" she teased. "Oh... speaking of spouses... Kirby managed to sort out that problem we had with that one crew. Turns out all they really wanted were a couple extra days of leave every quarter and a supply of decent non replicated liquor. Guess having a spouse that's been in the freight business since she was a little girl is helpful. I have to admit, as much as I miss touring, this is rather satisfying working... those colonies that were really hurting for supplies sent us some very nice thank you comms.... addition to paying their bill on time."

[Aimee Sandoval]

"Nonetheless sometimes you have to take a job because it's the right thing to do. If you get stiffed it's still worth it. Oh by the way I think we're going to get the contract from the Terra Alpha government to supply that new colony in the Camora System. If we can get a few more ships and crews that would be ideal."

[Olivia Ryder]

"I'll talk to my father in law... I know since the Imperium a lot of the 'cover' freighters have been forced to actually ship freight since they weren't running missions or operations for Starfleet Intel or the FSS. He might have a line on a few ships and crews that we could hire." Olivia said as she leaned against the door. "I've also been trying to get some my more reliable spacers to hire on with us instead of going it independent. That dry dock that we inherited from Angel helps not to mention all the automated drones. Can actually save some of these crews quite a bit of time and lost income by doing repairs 'in house'. Not to mention that our pretty faces have netted us some better deals on our shipping contracts. Told you the PGD wasn't a myth." she chuckled and looked at Dougal. "Pretty girl discount."

[Aimee Sandoval]

"I doubt it works when it comes to the lasses," Dougal smirked. "Aye, I'd hate to speak ill of my gender, but when it comes to a bonnie wee lass we do tend to be a bit soft in the heed."

Aimee shook her head, "Yeah, see what you can do to bring some independents on. If it's their ships we could probably get them 70-80% of the line hauls instead of the 30%."

[Olivia Ryder]

"Exactly... hey I told my in laws that even though we're the 'big corporate shippers' we're still going to look out for the little guys. I know how razor thin their margins are but they're usually far more committed to getting their loads on time, safely and ensuring that they maintain good relations with others because you never know when you'll need a favor called in." Olivia said and smirked. "And I do have a few favors to call in. Way I see all this, the bigger we build this company and the more auto-pilot it can run... the more time we'll have to spend with our families and once inspiration hits we can record and go back out on the road. Anything to keep from tempting me back into Intelligence. Tali and Nicole have both tried to hire me as a consultant. I told them I'll give them a 5% shipping discount. That's the most they're getting out of me. Maybe an autographed album cover."

[Aimee Sandoval]

"Well, when we go on tour, Dougal here is going to cover for us," Aimee said with a devilish grin.

"I am? An' what if I want ta go on tour with you too?" He replied exaggerating hid accent to a cartoonish level.

"Oh yes," Aimee replied. "Besides day to day buisness is generally handled by the crews and dispatchers."

Dougal shook his head in defeat. "Aye, I will."

[Olivia Ryder]

"And that's why we're both working our petite asses off so this place runs with military precision and automation." Olivia said as she handed Dougal a small padd from her pocket. "My sister was always the Operations girl, the business end, but I've always been on literally the business end of everything she and dad set up. Tip of the spear as my Marine ex used to say. So the more we can ensure supply lines are maintained, defended and adapted as needed, the more we can keep not only the Alliance but also allies and neighbors happy. And ensure our intelligence and military leaders can get accurate information beyond the borders."

"Wow mom, you sound like you're getting into this corporate stuff?" Lana said as she walked into Aimee's office, dressed entirely like a 'rocker chick' in black fishnets, tall boots, a long yet torn and stitched together Mata Hari's t-shirt and a black leather bolero jacket with her company name tag clipped to the lapel. "Hey Aunt Aimee... got fifteen new applicants for the loading docks and our warehouses and another ten for the bullpen." she held up a padd. "Guess when you offer those college kids a decent wage some upward mobility they get excited. So at least we've got the losses we took from that Scion attack more or less taken care of. And I think it was genius to set up a job fair table at that concert. I tried to recruit some of the road team but they weren't that professional the more I watched them. The 2nd year college kids had more professionalism than those Road Rats did. However we may get one of their equipment ships to sign with us... mom needs to talk to them. One of the moms at least. Apparently they got stiffed on two of their last bands and need to make up their debts or they may lose two of their ships. And you two are always talking about adding to our fleet..." Lana grinned. "He's cute too, so's his wife... nice people they'll fit in great here. She was a former Starfleet CO, one of Malone's ex girlfriends I think. Andra Starr."

"I remember her, served with dad and Aimee's mom in Pythus when she was still a Lieutenant. Perky blonde? Right?" Olivia chuckled.

"Well it's purple and pink now but yeah, total blonde. Like Aunt Angel." Lana replied with a smirk. "She got out during the Fall but she and her old crew, lot of former officers who got disillusioned with the 'big military complex'... but she was saying it was hard keeping everyone employed."

Olivia hummed and looked at Dougal. "Hmm... you thinking what I'm thinking?" she crossed her arms and smirked. "Scots want to have their own little standing army... there's some more crew. Not that we don't need them, but that's what the reserves always were... people that worked other jobs but took up arms and put on the uniform when they were needed. Plus... I have been getting more of our clients insisting on at least some military aboard our ships to give them the peace of mind that their shipments arrive intact. I may not be a Scot but Aimee is like another sister and by extension you're another brother. Granted an older brother that make us look younger." she nudged Lana. "You did good kid."

"Thanks mom." Lana said with a big grin.

"Although we are going to have a discussion about you taking my leather jackets without asking...." Olivia cleared her throat. "I've had that one since I was well... the age you look like now. first leather jacket I bought for my first undercover operation. You do realize those buttons on the collar are explosives right?"

"Yes... I wasn't going to take it but momma Kirby made me take a jacket because she thought this t-shirt would fall apart. It only LOOKS like it will." Lana chuckled. "I had to fit in."

"You are growing up way too fast girl." Olivia sighed and looked at Aimee. "Wait until your Livvy starts fitting into your clothes..."