Savage Stars

by Randolph Lalonde

  Ashley handed Hal the drink and snack bag, earning her a; "Oh, thanks, Ash."

  "No problem, Boro had his communicator open so everyone on the ship could hear. I saw these in a bag back there," Ashley said as she hesitantly sat down at the communications station.

  Hal almost had the bag of Peanut Puffs open when he stopped and turned to look at Ashley, wide-eyed.

  "What?" she asked, looking herself over quickly. "Do I have something on me? Am I not wearing this right? Is it open in the back?"

  "No, dear," Shamus said. "You just look like someone we know."

  She looked up at him, relaxing into a knowing expression. "I probably sound like her, too, Do I look a lot like her, or exactly like her?"

  "Exactly," Hal said. He finished opening the snack bag and popped a puff into his mouth.

  "Do you recognize Kline, too?"

  Shamus brought up a holographic image of him passing rations out in the crew compartment and shook his head. "No, afraid not."

  "That's okay, I don't think our personalities were designed to get along, even though I developed in an unexpected direction. I get along with pretty much anyone now. Thank you for picking us up, by the way." She smiled, and Boro saw how disarming it was. Even though it was a momentary gesture, her whole face - her dark eyes, her lips, even her cheeks - smiled before she turned towards the communications station and started to look it over, her hands clasped in her lap. The fact that she'd just discovered that there was another copy, or a descendant of hers out there didn't seem to unnerve her at all.

  "You're welcome," Shamus said.

  "Wait, what do you mean, you developed in an unexpected direction?" Hal asked. "If it's okay to ask, I mean."

  "Oh, I was made to be an espionage model for the military, but the designers leaned into the idea that I should also be approachable and likeable too much. I don't know about all the other Ashleys they sold, but after a year or so, I didn't really care about training anymore, I got really social, and all that military stuff just didn't matter. I was still smart, so they said, but they transferred me from minding the station's defence grid to programming. A lot of designers came to see me, and I got a nickname; Ashley the Affable Assassin. I didn't get it until one of the designers told me that my model was supposed to be a body guard or assassin that could win people over and hide in plain sight as a servant or spouse. Instead they got a smart, adaptable person who just wanted to be friendly."

  "Holy shit, that's our Ashley," Shamus chuckled.

  "Um, almost dead on," Hal said. "Our Ash is a combat pilot for one of the most important ships in the fleet. She's kind of a big deal. Really nice, though."

  "Oh my gosh! That's amazing!" Ashley said, clapping excitedly.

  "I'd pay to see you two meet up someday," Hal snickered. "And Minh's face."

  "I hate to break this up, but why are we hiding instead of leaving?" Spin asked.

  "We're regenerating a few hull plates that got pretty badly damaged. If they take any more punishment, then we're not going to be able to cloak anymore." Hal explained. He took a long sip and gulped before finishing his explanation. "They keep hitting the plates close to our guns, probably because they're following the trajectory of our…"

  "I understand," Spin said. "Thanks." She was on her feet and facing Shamus in the next instant. "You think you can try to make up for the people we lost thanks to you?"

  "Listen, I explained that there were more lives…" Shamus said.

  "I heard you, everyone heard you," Spin interrupted. "That's past now. Those people are dead and there's nothing you can do."

  "What would you have done differently in my place?" Shamus burst.

  "I would have tagged that Zhan class ship with as many passive receivers as I had on board. They're made to piggyback on ships so you can gather data from their scanners. Then I would have gone back after I finished covering the station and waited in orbit, cloaked, until I could download everything they collected. The receivers are cloaked, so the chances of them being found following or attaching to the ship are low."

  "How the hell do you know about those?"

  Spin pointed to the tactical console. "They're munition number nineteen. You didn't have to leave us, you just had to think about what you were doing for a few seconds before leaving us alone. There were other options too, but that's what I would have done."

  "Listen; remote recorders of any kind aren't as reliable as going to see what's going on yourself. For all we know, that carrier wouldn't have come back in range for weeks, months, so there's no guarantee that we could get to download what those passive receivers picked up. The scanners on this ship are a lot better too, so the scan of that Citadel base will be useful somehow, I know it. Who knows if a bunch of receivers would capture anything? I'd do it the same way if I had to do it all over again."

  "Fine, I'm not going to argue about something that's past. I saw something else on your scanners while I was in the back. We passed close to a Lux warship out there called the Queen's Grace once we were clear of the station. Before we go, I want to retrieve a body from it. It's in a compartment that's open to space. You won't ask questions, you're just going to safely take us there, cover us while we stuff the corpse into a stasis bag, and take it aboard. Then we can leave before the rest of the raiders get here."

  "Whose corpse is it?" Hal asked.

  "No questions," Spin repeated, starting for the bridge exit.

  "Can I stay here while we're just parked? I wanna know more about the Ashley that's been out there all this time."

  "No problem," Spin said. "What do you think of their communications console?"

  "It looks easy to use, seems to have everything," she said. "Pretty efficient, actually."

  "Okay, get Shamus to show you the Operator's Qualification Test. Try starting at level five."

  "Oh, okay. Putting me right to work, huh?"

  "You're probably the best programmer we have," Spin replied. "Give it a try?"

  "Oh, sure. It should be fun."

  Boro caught up with Spin on the other side of the bridge hatchway and touched her shoulder. He made sure the door was closed and that his communicator was off before asking; "What's this body we're taking? Why so secretive?"

  "The Queen's Grace is only ever commanded by one person; the crowned Prince of the Lux Kingdom. They're the Countess' people. He's had his brain removed, but they'll still want his remains."

  Boro was surprised, it wasn't the act of someone who was willing to leave the past behind her. "You'll bring hell down on yourself if they found out you have it."

  "I've ransomed the living before. This should be easier, and besides, we need new leverage. I gave most of my data away, remember? The only reason why I want the identity of this body to be secret is to buy myself some time to make some kind of plan that doesn't end with me and everyone I know getting killed."

  "This is the kind of thing that would drive royal types completely mad," Boro said, shaking his head. He wouldn't admit it, but he liked the idea. "I wish there was time to plan before we make off with his bones."

  "I bet Kort is on his way here already with whatever parts of the Royal Fleet he could pull together on short notice. The British Alliance would probably want to take and protect the body so they could hand it over diplomatically too."

  "Yeah, they'd use that as a bargaining chip to push some treaty or other through, even though they say they can't abide slavery," Boro agreed. "So, this is our chance."

  "We use people we can trust. You, me, Leland, and we record using Leaper as a backup."

  "Dori too. She's like the Dorian I came to know; good, solid… person. I don't know what he was like when he went cyborg, but I'd trust him with anything when I knew him."

  "All right, Dori. You'll have to tell me more about what he was like before he was mostly machine later."

  "Aye, gladly. After we get this corpse, we're going back to Beta Bio?"

  "As fast as we can."

  Fifty-One
r />   Half the audience was holographic and Ayan knew that the images she was seeing weren't necessarily accurate. The Haven Fleet Strategy Briefing she was conducting a part of was witnessed by some undercover operatives whose identities had to be hidden. Above the semi-circular tiered seating drifted the holographic matter that changed depending on what part of the presentation she was working through.

  Her regular part of the briefing went well, it was easy to report on the progress of technological developments and production schedules. It went quickly with no questions from the audience of thirty-four admirals and other commanders who were represented. The last part would lead directly into the tactical briefing, which wouldn't normally be hers to conduct. "The War Forge will finish assembling the last of the orbital shield generators for Tamber, and we expect to have a complete, operational planetary shield within three days. The Nafalli representatives have voted on its activation and it has passed. With global majority agreement, there are no barriers left to the use of this technology."

  "What about the energy cascade problem that you had in testing?"

  "Thank you for the question, Admiral Gramm. After some adjustments, testing in simulations and in situ, we've found the cause of the problem and corrected it. Simultaneous strikes on the shield at specific points will not cause systematic failures."

  "Thank you, Admiral Anderson," Admiral Gramm said, sitting down.

  "I'll be doing the Tactical segment of our Strategic Briefing today; the Defence Minister is unavailable. You've all received the information packet detailing the deployment of our ships in the Haven System. Does anyone have questions?"

  "Admiral Doolth, representing the Lau Tribe," a broad Nafalli said as she stood. "Since our vessels have been repaired, completed several upgrades we are grateful for, and put into our defensive screen I've noticed that the British Alliance have pulled many of their larger ships back. Can you address that for us, please?"

  "The British Alliance maintain the position that Haven Fleet and our permanent allies here, such as the honourable Lau Tribe, should bear the majority of the responsibility for our own defence. Their strategy here is to ensure that their position in the Haven System isn't lost, so they can run their own missions near enemy lines." Ayan wished there was someone from the British Alliance in the room, but she knew for a fact that they weren't allowed to hear a single word. Part of Haven Fleet finding its own feet was proving that they could work on their own, and that meant keeping advisors out, at least at the top level. She thought it was too soon, but that opinion wasn't held by the majority of the commanders. "While a few of their assets have been deployed outside of the solar system, three battlegroups remain and will engage if there is a significant attack."

  "Thank you, Admiral Anderson," she said, sitting down, her brow still furrowed.

  "That brings up an issue I'd like to address," Admiral Rice said, standing and smoothing her uniform. It was a reflex, her jacket and vacsuit uniform didn't require any smoothing, its flow and fit maintained itself. "I noticed that you included a worst-case scenario simulation with our tactical packets that I found chilling. With respect, are you certain that the simulation takes all our defences into account?"

  "I included the worst-case scenario because I thought our collective command style and the power level of our fleet had to be addressed. So, yes, it takes all our defences into account." Ayan knew that the inclusion of her nightmare simulation would make her unpopular. Her mother asking the question would help, but not much. She took a deep breath and put a hologram of the solar system up. Patrol routes, the locations of larger defensive assets such as stations that were being reconditioned as quickly as possible and some of the largest ships in the region populated it. Tamber, the moon to the smouldering giant, Kambis and the jewel of the system, was marked as a tiny blue dot. "My experts have determined that the Order of Eden Fleet should be back up and running with an operating system that will be impervious to hacking, at least for the near future, within two weeks. I personally estimate that they will have at least eleven battle groups ready in five days. These battle groups are all within nine hours wormhole travel to the Haven System and are close enough to coordinate with each other."

  There it was, the response of the crowd. Most of them stiffened, a few of them blanched visibly. Relaying those facts as irrefutable put everyone on edge, and no one liked the bearer of bad news. "I suggest you take my personal estimate. Have your own analyst run the numbers, they'll agree. As far as we know, there are at least five brood ships within the same range, all carrying Edxian fighter groups. That's a guess based on information stolen from Order of Eden, but it's our best guess. Information on what these brood ships look like and their capabilities has been out of reach so far. We don't know for certain, but I strongly suspect that there is another class of Edxi combat ship we haven't seen yet, an invasion ship in our local group that could easily jump into our solar system before we know it's coming. For now, let's leave that out of the equation, as I did with my invasion simulation. Include the Edxi ships we have basic knowledge on, the eleven Order of Eden battle groups that will be ready to attack us soon and run the invasion scenario that I put together." Groups of enemy ships appeared on the hologram overhead.

  "Why would they arrive in that pattern?" Admiral Mevin asked, standing slowly. "Three battlegroups on that side, five there, and three others above the Haven sun?"

  "I spoke to several experts who have seen the new strategies the Order of Eden have been using, and I used a probability model built from every Order manoeuvre we've seen in the last month."

  "Thank you, Admiral," Mevin said, sitting down.

  "The likelihood is that only one battlegroup would engage us, driving inward towards Freeground Station, because our progress in converting that to our primary space dock has been slow. They would break through its defences and send several thousand framework soldiers in to take control. When I say several thousand, I specifically mean fourteen thousand. We've seen several instances when those kinds of numbers have been used, such as the invasion on Tamber itself. Since the Order knows enough about Freeground Alpha to take control then repair its systems for their own purposes in less than two hours, mostly because we aren't being given the resources to increase the speed of its modernization, they will have a hardened platform to continue the attack from even if the entire battle group that took it is destroyed. The simulation assumes they would take heavy losses at first while they are getting control of Freeground Station, but that would turn around quickly."

  "When the Edxi drop their brood ships in near Tamber," Admiral Doolth said. "Apologies for interrupting you, but I have to present this to my people after I finish here and I need to know why you think the brood ships would risk everything by engaging from the centre of our defences."

  "Our understanding of Edxi combat tactics in space is still basic, but after analysing the data we have, some of which comes from the Order's own database, and assuming that they would coordinate with their allies, we're sure that they would wait until the largest of the Order battle groups would begin engaging the British Alliance ships before dropping their own brood ships in range of Tamber. It's likely that our forces would leave the British Alliance forces on their own, turning to defend Tamber from the brood ships. The brood ships would send high yield munitions against our planetary shields while they prepare to launch at least a quarter million pods containing millions of their young at Tamber. With the smallest of the Order's battle groups helping with the defence of the brood ships, our entire fleet would be outnumbered six to one."

  "I apologize, but I must correct you," said the only Mergillian Admiral, a brown and green skinned fellow named Admiral Kulsh. "Assuming we lose no one during the initial attack, assuming all three of the Order of Eden groups take heavy losses getting control of Freeground Station, then accounting for their upgraded software, they will almost certainly outnumber us seven to one in this scenario."

  "Thank you for the correction, pleas
e share it with everyone," Ayan said. "So, the Order of Eden forces in the Haven System will outnumber us seven to one at this point, and we're not accounting for the brood ships. I'm sure that changes the timing of the final outcome of this simulation, but my version predicted the complete loss of the Haven System in three hours, forty-two minutes."

  "Three hours and three minutes," Admiral Kulsh said, sitting down with a concerned expression. "Three and three," he repeated quietly.

  "So, there it is. The details are there, if you 'd like to review, but we are not winning. Technical advancements and power scaling that outstrips most of the Order's fleet don't count if we don't have the trained people to man our ships, the support crews we need, or a large enough population to press into service if that can even be an option."

  "Is that something you recommend?" Admiral Lamonthe asked, surging to his feet.

  "My answer is more complicated than yes or no, Admiral."

  "Let's hear it," he pressed.

  Ayan had squared off with Lamonthe more than once, and it was always productive. She didn't always agree with him, but the way he challenged people made him a great commander and he was a great thinker to boot. "I believe every citizen should serve in the military for three years as a final step to earning their citizenship. That's not to say that they should all become combat qualified, there are many ways to serve, but I believe a limited period of service should be mandatory for adults. Having said that, this is a democracy, so until that becomes law, that will not become a reality."

  "My last question, then I'll retake my seat; does the Defence Minister have the same opinion?"

  "I can't speak for the Defence Minister on that topic," she replied, aware that he had exactly the same opinion. "Even if everyone who has been cleared for citizenship in the Haven System joined today, we wouldn't be ready in time to defend ourselves from the invasion, which I am sure is coming."