War of the Rosette
Page 18
A clouded expression came over Cyrus’s face, and his jaw set. “One question.”
“Go for it.”
“All this time aboard the Celestiana, you could have just sold knowledge of Star City and paid your debts. Why didn’t you?”
Terry shrugged. “Same reason you didn’t hit up Pharis or your mother to help you out. I wanted to make it on my own. Plus, the temporary benefits to be gained wouldn’t outweigh the ongoing attention afterward.”
“Okay, touché. I guess we should hail them.”
“And brake,” she muttered. “And here I was all proud of getting this much delta-v out of the Star Ember.”
PERSPECTIVE
STELLAR DATE: 01.02.8939 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Laurentian Wind, Serenity System
REGION: Orion Freedom Alliance, Perseus Arm
“We’ve got reports of fighting in Yucana’s capital,” Antaris said as he walked into the officer’s mess aboard the Laurentian Wind.
Pharis was sitting at a table with Kell, going over supply logistics for the newly formed Serenity Defense League. It wasn’t the best name in the world, but creating a neutral sixth military in the system had been a stroke of genius from Pharis when their small fleet had been asked to declare which house it supported.
Of course, that declaration had cut them off from official supply lines, and without Kell’s connections, they’d already be worried about where to find food for the next week.
It really caused Antaris to wonder how close to the wire House Laurentia had run the Acadian Fleet. His ship had never wanted, and quartermasters far down the chain of command had managed supplies for the rest of the ships.
But just a week of supply line disruption by the spaceport workers was all it took to cripple the fleet.
Thank stars we were never attacked by a sophisticated enemy. Serenity would have fallen in days.
The only moons that had not seen significant problems were Yucana and Teros—until now.
Both Pharis and Kell perked up at his announcement, and the heiress cocked an eyebrow. “There haven’t been reports of any major strikes down there. Mepholec locked down fast.”
“Bit of an iron fist,” Kell added.
“Well, looks like their people just ended up skipping the whole strike phase of things, and jumped right to straight-up violence.”
“Anything we can do to help?” Pharis asked.
“Not right now, no,” Antaris replied. “Their space force has pulled in tight around the moon, no one in or out. Not sure how the locals got their hands on any weaponry.”
Kell chuckled. “I have a bit of an idea. Laurentia and Charlemis were always smart with weapons, which is to say that not a lot of them were stored on-world. Most of the armament was in space, on the ships and the military stations. It’s made the riots on our worlds a lot less violent.”
“I take it Yucana wasn’t so smart?” Pharis asked.
“Never saw it firsthand,” the old captain replied. “But I’d heard they weren’t quite as paranoid. If they brought out heavier weapons to subdue the populace, the people might have gotten their hands on a few shipments…”
Pharis sighed. “And then made things messier.”
“What about Nebracken’s buildup?” Antaris asked. “They had to have been warehousing a lot of that on-world. Yet they’ve managed to shut down every major protest thus far.”
“I think it’s because their people know that the house leaders aren’t afraid to mow down their own people,” Kell replied.
“I hope Jeslan is happy there,” Pharis muttered. “We’ve gotten confirmation that my mother managed to escape…or that Connor threw her over his shoulder to get her out of the estate. They’re holed up in some ancient bunker in the mountains to the west.”
“And your people?” Antaris asked. “How are they faring?”
“The violence has settled down. A few leaders representing the people have been having talks with some of the lesser houses that managed essential parts of the industry. It’s in everyone’s interest to keep food, water, and power flowing.”
“She’s selling herself short,” Kell said. “Pharis here has played a key role in mediating between some of the groups. Crazy as it sounds, segments of Gallas have actually gotten back to work.”
Pharis waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s all short-term, stop-gap stuff. Our currency is useless, so at present, everything is based on trades and agreements to settle things later. It’ll only hold up for so long.”
“I wish things were doing so well on Acadia.” Antaris gripped the back of a chair. “Kristina won’t see reason, all she cares about is retaining her position and power. I guess there’s a lot of Mother in her, even if…well…Mother isn’t in her. Shit, that was in bad taste.”
Pharis rose and placed a hand on his arm. “I’m surprised as well. I always thought she was more compassionate and—in all honesty—a little more grounded in reality. Any house that thinks things will just go back to normal after this is living in a fantasy.”
Antaris was about to reply when a Code 1 alert sounded, and red lights came on in the corners.
“What the hell?” Pharis asked.
Kell and Antaris caught one another’s gaze, then both dashed toward the corridor leading to the bridge, with Pharis chasing after.
“What is it?!” she called out. “What’s happened?”
“It’s Thermodes,” Antaris shouted over his shoulder. “We’re under attack from House Thermodes.”
The bridge was a buzzing hive of activity when they arrived, and Antaris slid into the captain’s chair as though he was made for it.
“Scan! What do you have?” he demanded.
“They came up from Serenity’s south pole. Others are lifting off from Gallas’s far side now,” the man reported. “Sixty ships from behind the planet, and another forty coming off the moon.”
“A hundred ships against our fifty-two,” Kell muttered. “But why attack us? We don’t hold any resources or territory.”
“There, look!” Kell pointed at a set of Gallas Guard ships that had broken off from their lower orbit. “They just got another forty ships.”
Pharis muttered something unbecoming, and Antaris turned to her, brows raised. “You think your mother made a deal with them?”
She nodded. “It fits. I think she’s definitely reached the ‘if I can’t have Gallas, nobody can’ phase.”
Perry’s response came into his mind, the man’s tone sure and calm.
Antaris’s lips twisted, as much from being called ‘Commodore’ as from the man’s confidence. Being placed in command of the SDL fleet hadn’t been his idea, Pharis and Kell had collaborated on that—the pair were thick as thieves—but he didn’t feel worthy of such an exalted rank. He could just imagine his sister scoffing at him for daring such a title.
Perry coughed.
Antaris laughed at the clear irony in his s
ubordinate’s voice.
He closed the connection and turned to Kell, who had taken initiative and organized the second division of the SDL to confront the ships approaching from Gallas.
Though the forty ships from house Thermodes were troubling, it was the Gallean vessels that concerned Antaris more. Half of the twenty-five Defense League ships remaining at the moon were Acadian; direct action between them and the Gallean craft could be seen as an act of war between the moons.
Then again, who cares? Not like I have to deal with the fallout when this is debated at the High Table. There is no High Table.
He looked down at the holotank, studying Kell’s formation, nodding as he saw that the captain had ordered the SDL ships to accelerate. The increase in velocity would transfer them to a higher orbit, and make them harder to track and hit for the ships deeper in the world’s gravity well, while making the enemy ships easier targets.
“Have they sent any messages?” Antaris asked while turning to the comm officer.
“Not directly to us, no. There have been a few poorly encrypted conversations between the two forces which confirm hostile intentions, though.”
Antaris rubbed a hand across his cheek, steeling himself for what was to come next. “Hail the Gallean ships. Tell them that Commodore Antaris of the Serenity Defense League is asking them to declare their intentions.”
“Yes, sir.” The man bent to his task, shortly afterward sitting back with brows raised. “Well, that’s a response.”
“Which is?” Antaris prompted.
“Not exactly fit for civilized ears, sir. They’re basically ordering SDL ships to clear Gallas’s nearspace, or they’ll attack.”
“Aren’t we above the moon’s territorial space?” Pharis asked.
Kell nodded. “We certainly are. And not just because we’re being circumspect, but because it’s tactically sound. It also does smack of a blockade.”
Pharis sighed. “Everything we do to help is taken the wrong way.”
“This attack is likely coming from your mother,” Antaris replied. “There’s no way they’d mount this sort of offensive without her approval.”
“Especially in concert with Thermodes,” Kell added. “Either way, we need to fire when they re—”
“No.” Pharis uttered the word with an unmistakable note of finality. “We will not shoot first.”
Antaris shared a look with Kell before turning to her. “That’s giving up a significant tactical advantage.”
Even as he spoke, he could tell she wasn’t going to budge.
“We’re the ‘Defense League’. We picked that name for a reason. You can be ready to fire back in an instant, but they have to be the ones who shoot first.”
“It’s all semantics, ma’am,” Kell said in a far calmer voice than Antaris wanted to use. “Our shields are up, and if we’re ready to fire back, they’ll see that our weapons are hot. That’s an aggressive posture that they could cite as the reason they fired first. I’m sorry to say it, but in this instance, we’ve moved past diplomacy and optics. Our primary goal now is the preservation of life on our own ships.”
Pharis took on the expression of someone who had just bitten into a lemon. Her lips worked for a minute, and then she gave a curt nod. “Fine, do as you wish.”
Antaris wanted to say something to sooth her, but knew there was no way to ease the tension without first reaching the conclusion of the upcoming conflict.
“Put me on,” he said to the comm officer.
“Yes, sir,” the man replied, and then added a moment later, “You’re live, Commodore.”
Antaris faced the forward display and squared his shoulders. “Gallean vessels and Thermodes house craft. The ships of the Serenity Defense League stand ready to aid in any effort that betters the lives of all in Serenity. So long as you are not making war on the citizens of your worlds, we will not intervene in any conflict between houses and moons. But also know that we will defend ourselves against aggressors.” He drew in a deep breath and lowered his brow. “Consider this your only warning. If you wish to treat with us, you may do so in a civilized fashion.”
He glanced at the comm officer, who replied with. “You’re off, sir.”
“Okay, that seemed fair,” Pharis said, her tone mollified. “What do you think they’ll—”
Her statement was cut off by beams lancing out from the lead Gallean ships, tagging the Laurentian Wind, and setting off alerts across the ship.
“Evasive pattern delta!” Kell shouted, and the deck shuddered beneath their feet as the craft shifted vector.
Antaris toggled the fleet-wide channel. “All ships, fire beams on the three leading vessels in the Gallean formation, prepare rails.”
While only ten enemy ships had fired on the Laurentian Wind, which was a heavily shielded cruiser, all twenty-five SDL vessels were in range of the leading enemy craft, and each one of the targets registered significant shield degradation.
“Fire rails on same targets!” Antaris called out a few seconds later, watching with grim satisfaction as two of the targets suffered full forward shield failures, their hulls taking direct impacts from a dozen SDL rail slugs.
A muted cheer went up on the bridge of the Wind as the damaged ships fell back, but Antaris knew better. They’d only damaged two out of the eighty craft they faced, not to mention the fact that Perry’s division was outnumbered nearly two to one.
“We’re being hailed now,” the comm officer announced.
Antaris nodded for the man to open the channel. Before him appeared a middle-aged man with greying hair at his temples, and a face that looked like it had been carved out of old cheese.
“You’ve committed an act of war, Acadian. Under the laws of the Ordus and the High Table, we—”
“Oh, shut up,” Antaris interrupted. “Where have you been for the past week? There is no Ordus and High Table anymore. No more five houses ruling over everything. The SDL represents an interim peacekeeping force that will ultimately continue on or disband under the direction of legitimate governments as they form.”
“Legitimate?” the man snorted. “That’s something else indeed coming from a pampered house scion. There are already legitimate governments in Serenity. Your ‘Defense League’ is an extralegal mercenary group.”
“Hold up,” Pharis asked as she approached, stepping into view. “Tell me, Captain Aarons. How can we be Acadian aggressors as well as a mercenary force?”
“Lady Pharis,” the man’s face softened ever so slightly. “We’re relieved to see you well. Intel suggested that you were a prisoner of this…rogue.”
Antaris shook his head and snorted, but let Pharis reply, stepping aside to give her center stage.
“Don’t be a fool, Aarons. I’ve been onscreen dozens of times, giving missives—”
“Pre-recorded,” he interrupted.
“Well, now I’m live, and I’m telling you that the SDL is neither mercenary, nor representing Acadia. A third of our force consists of Gallean ships, so what makes you think they’re anything but loyal citizens of their world?”
“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but if they were loyal, they wouldn’t have rebelled against House Charlemis.”
Pharis folded her arms across her chest and took a step forward. “I said loyal to Gallas, not Charlemis.”
“Charlemis is Gallas,” Aarons insisted.
Pharis glanced at the comm officer and he nodded. An icon appeared at the upper corner of the holo indicating that the conversation was now being broadcast to all ships and down to the world below.
“Captain Aarons, don’t be a fool. House Charlemis is no more, a relic of a time past when we were all tricked into this caste system by Samantha Annias, a madwoman who killed her daughters. Her death opened the door for real change. People like y
ou thought it would be the perfect time to advance their house standing, but some saw the real chance, a once in a lifetime opportunity, to put an end to our feudal form of governance and usher in a truly democratic form of government.
“If the house leaders had been smart, they would have opted for a way to share power, to slowly transfer it to the people. But every last one of our matriarchs sat in their castles and chose to starve and even kill their own people. Well, I’ll die before I live under a system that kills its citizens for no other reason than to help its leaders live a life of luxury denied their people.
“You, Captain Aarons, your crew, all the crews of the Gallean and Thermodesian ships, is this the system of government you want? One that would rather burn everything down than offer fair wages for honest work? Rather than allow social advancement? The people of Serenity are not cattle, they do not need to be ruled with a firm hand. Join with us, stand for the defense of the people of Serenity and for peace and prosperity for all.”
Pharis’s speech ended, and the only sound was the rush of air coming from vents, and the creak of people shifting in their seats as they glanced at one another.
Then the comm officer stood, letting out a gleeful shout. A second later, everyone on the bridge had risen, cheering and calling out Pharis’s name.
Antaris thought he heard clapping coming through Aarons’ feed before the other man cut the comm link.
“That was a hell of a speech,” he said, turning to Pharis while Kell glowered at the bridge crew, motioning for them to sit down and get back to work.
“We’re still in active combat, you yahoos,” the older man muttered. “I want targeting solutions on the three heavy cruisers in their vanguard.”
“I guess I just got sick of playing nice,” Pharis said with a nervous shrug. “I just hope it does something.”
Antaris pointed at the holotank. “Oh, I think it’s done something.”
A half dozen Gallean ships had broken off from the main force, dropping back into lower orbits. Their position flanked the loyalist force, though with the Thermodesian ships approaching in a polar orbit, that wouldn’t be the case for long.