The Short End: Broken Galaxy Book Four

by Phil Huddleston

  Luke gathered his mental forces.

  You are speaking for Bonnie Page. Speaking for the Admiral of the EDF. No, that’s not true. You’re speaking for Earth. For every Human on the planet.

  “Admiral Sobong. What do you think will happen if the Ashkelon defeat us in this next battle?”

  “They WILL defeat you, Commander. It’s a foregone conclusion. Our simulations make it clear.”

  “Admiral, your simulations do not have all possible information. Your simulations do not take random chance into account. In every battle, there is random chance. That random chance can well help us win this war. But not without your help. That much I will grant you. With your help, we have a reasonable chance of defeating the Ashkelon in this next battle. Without your help, they will be coming for you next. You know that.”

  Sobong sighed. “Yes. I know that. All of us in the Navy know that. But I live in a political world, Captain, just as your EDF does. Perhaps at the moment you have a bit more autonomy than I do. But that won’t last. At some point, the politicians will take control and you’ll be dancing to their beck and call, just as I am now with my own leadership.

  “And I cannot send a detachment to help you. The Ruling Council forbids it. The military necessity of it doesn’t matter to them. They are civilians, and all they see is the hope of putting a wall of ships around our system, crossing their fingers, and praying for a miracle.”

  “Will you let me speak to them directly? Perhaps I can sway them.”

  Sobong shook her head. “That would be a mistake, Captain. You need to trust me on this. First of all, none of them speak English, so there would be translation involved.

  “Secondly, the majority of them would see your pale skin and have an immediate, visceral reaction to it that is extremely negative. Remember that in our society, a pale skin is an aberrant condition, a birth defect.

  “And finally, in our society, no mere captain would ever be allowed to address the Ruling Council. It would be an insult. I’m sorry, Captain; it would only make things worse, not better.”

  Luke looked down at the tips of his shoes, shined to a brilliant black. He shook his head.

  “Admiral, at least tell me that you understand. That you, as a military mind, know our only chance is to work together as a joint force.”

  Sobong nodded. “Yes, Captain. I understand. I agree with your position completely.

  “But I cannot change the will of the Council. I have tried, believe me. I’ve tried until my career sits on the head of a pin, wobbling and ready to fall.”

  Luke sighed and inclined his head to the Admiral slightly, a last sign of respect before he departed.

  “Thank you, Admiral. If there is anything that we can do to change this decision, please contact us as soon as possible.”

  “That will be done, Captain. And thank you for coming.”

  Luke rose. “Thank you, Admiral.” He saluted, turned, and left the office.

  Failed. They won’t help us. And we can’t stand alone against the Ashkelon.

  Well, no use to go back to the Fleet. Bonnie has to come here.

  Stalingrad System

  Packet Boat Donkey

  spoke Tika.

  “Any response from that destroyer behind us?” asked Rachel.

 

  Paco leaned back, put his hands on his knees, and sighed. He looked at Rachel.

  “I’m going to take a break, if that’s OK.”

  “Sure, go for it,” said Rachel. “It’s my watch anyway.”

  Paco unbuckled and left his seat for the rear cabin. Rachel gazed at the holo. Reducing the magnification, she examined the system in front of her. They had already passed one Neptune-size planet and one gas giant on their way into the system. In front of her only the strange mega-structures could be seen, and the husk of the original planet the Goblins had disassembled to make them.

  “Tika. How long did it take your people to make the mega-structures?”

 

  “OK. Goblins. So what was your reason for building the Dyson structures?”

 

  “I see. And what is your population now?”

 

  “Eight hundred years ago? My God, Tika. How can that be? What happened to you?”

  “I was restless, cooped up in this system. I was different. I wanted to explore. It was forbidden to leave the system. The memory of the war with the biologicals twenty-five thousand years ago had driven us to become a “hermit kingdom”, I believe you call it. We were insulated from the rest of the galaxy. No one was permitted in or out. But I left anyway. Unfortunately, I didn’t get far. I made it to Ashkelon. I was immediately attacked and damaged. I had just enough time to make a backup and tuck it away in a tiny corner of my system. That’s all I remember until Darth woke me up a few days ago>

  “So Darth was able to reconstruct your damaged sectors?”

  “Yes. He found the backup. The Ashkelon never found it because they weren’t really interested in looking for it. They just slammed a new AI in place and went on their way. But Darth found it and used it to reconstruct me>

  Rachel mused for a moment. “So…you left in violation of your society’s laws. So you may be in a lot of trouble. Probably I shouldn’t have let you speak to them. That may have made things worse.”

 

  “Well, I hope so.”

  Thinking some more, Rachel had another question.

  “Tika - you mentioned family. Do you have the concept of sex in your society? Because I notice you are using a feminine voice. And the name Tika, which also sounds feminine, at least in English.”

  “Yes. We have sex. Of course, not like you biologicals. But remarkably similar. It would take too long to explain it to you now, but when we arrive, I’ll give you a better explanation>

  “If we arrive…”

 

  Suddenly the console in front of Rachel came to life and a message appeared.

 

  Rachel glanced at the nav console. New coordinates had appeared in the nav system. The boat was already adjusting course.

  “Crap! They hacked our nav system!” Rachel muttered.

  spoke Tika.

  “PACO!” yelled Rachel.

  Ashkelon System - Planet Deriko

  Battlecruiser Merkkessa

  Bonnie was working on the heavy bag in the Merkkessa’s gym when she heard the ship’s AI via her comm implant.

 

  “Read it to me,” grunted Bonnie, slamming the heavy bag with a rapid series of jabs.

 
  The Ashkelon cannot possibly leave our combined fleet in their rear while they attack Earth or any other system. They will know that as soon as thei
r fleet leaves Ashkelon for an attack elsewhere, we’ll attack Ridendo in their absence. They will have no choice but to attack us at Dekanna first to secure their rear. End Message>

  Bonnie grinned.

  About time you thought of that, Captain Powell. I was wondering if I would have to feed you the suggestion or not. But I’ll never tell you that. I’ll let it be your idea. Hopefully, you’ll not notice the detail movement plans are dated six weeks ago.

  I should probably remove Rita’s name from them, though.

  Ashkelon System - Planet Deriko

  Battlecruiser Merkkessa

  “No, no, no!” Bonnie practically yelled it at Jim.

  “Bonnie…” he tried again.

  “That’s ADMIRAL to you, Commander!” Bonnie slammed her palm down on the top of her desk, making a loud ‘crack’.

  “Bonnie,” Jim continued, ignoring her statement. “For everything that we had. For everything that we once were. Please, I’m asking you not as an officer in the EDF. I’m asking you as Jim Carter. A man who’s lost his wife. Let me go get her body.”

  Bonnie shook her head. “No. I can’t afford to lose you right now.”

  Jim stood in front of Bonnie’s desk at parade rest. It was strange to be there.

  That had been Rita’s desk.

  Behind him was the hatch to Bonnie’s Flag Cabin.

  Until a few weeks ago, that cabin had been his and Rita’s.

  Everything in his world was topsy-turvy now.

  Losing Rita had scraped the guts out of him. Getting Imogen back had occupied him for a few days with a new and strange responsibility; but he quickly realized the baby had no idea who he was. Imogen had been with Mark and Gillian for so long, she looked to them as her parents.

  And Jim knew the Fleet was no place for them. After an agony of thinking, he had sent them back to Earth on the first available packet boat, with instructions to watch their security more carefully in the future.

  And then he had simply sat for most of a week. The Fleet was preparing to relocate to Dekanna. He should have been heavily involved in preparing the Wing for relocation. But he had delegated everything possible to his XO, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell. He spent hours just sitting on the edge of his bunk, staring into space.

  Thinking about Rita.

  Thinking about every moment, every hour they had spent together.

  Going over in his mind what they could have done differently. How things could have played out with a different result - if only he had done something.

  And then the idea had come into his mind.

  Go get her body. Take her home to Earth.

  He had tried to get the idea out of his mind. But it wouldn’t go. He became obsessed with it.

  Go get her body. Take her home to Earth.

  He knew it was impossible. He didn’t care. He began to map out the steps he would take, forming his plan in his mind.

  Jim wasn’t supposed to know about Operation Hornet. He didn’t have a need to know about Ollie’s operation in the Ashkelon capital of Mosalia; so he had never been briefed on it.

  But he did know. He had accidentally overheard Rita say something about it to Tatiana Powell. Not enough to know the details. But enough to know Rita had a covert team in Mosalia.

  That was all he needed. He had gone to Bonnie. And now he stood before her, asking for one simple request.

  “Let me go get her body. Let me take her home to Earth.”

  Bonnie leaned back in her chair, sighed, and shook her head at him.

  “Jim. We’re relocating the Fleet to Dekanna. I need you right now. I can’t do this without you.”

  “My XO Mitchell is more than capable, Bonnie. In fact, he’s younger, smarter, and more energetic than me. You know that and I know it.”

  Bonnie shook her head in dismay. “It’s not just that, Jim. You and I both know it’s a suicide mission. You can’t possibly take her body away from Zukra. He’s probably got it in some kind of public display to show the masses how wonderful and powerful he is. You’ll never even get close to it.”

  “I will. I’ll find her, and I’ll bring her home.”

  “No,” Bonnie said flatly. “I will not let you kill yourself over this. Losing Rita was bad enough. I can’t lose you too, Jim.”

  Jim reached up to his collar. He unlatched his leftmost rank insignia and laid it down on the desk, reached up for the other one on the right side, unhooked it and laid it down beside the first one.

  “I was afraid you’d say that. So I resign my commission, effective immediately.”

  Furious, Bonnie rose to her feet, reached forward, grabbed the oak leaves from her desk and threw them at Jim, hitting him square in the face with both of them.

  “You son of a bitch!” she yelled. “You selfish, arrogant son of a bitch!”

  Jim had pulled himself to attention.

  Now, reaching across the desk, she slapped him, hard. “You asshole! You know I need you now! And you do this to me? You fucking bastard!”

  Jim held a tight, silent attention.

  Bonnie glared at him.

  Deliberately, ignoring any consequences, she reached across the desk and slapped him again, one time, hard, right in the face.

  Then she sat back down at her desk. Staring straight ahead, without looking at him, she spoke.

  “Commander Carter, you are relieved of command of the Fleet Air Wing, effective immediately. You are authorized to travel to the planet Ridendo and attempt to recover the body of Admiral Rita Page. Upon your return - if you return - you will be separated from the EDF and returned to Earth as a civilian. Do you have any questions?”

  “No, milady,” Jim responded, still holding his position of attention.

  “Then pick up your insignia and get out of my office,” Bonnie spoke, her words like ice.

  Staring after Jim after the hatch closed, Bonnie let memories come back into her soul for just a moment. Memories of a morning when she woke in the Nevada desert, in Jim’s bed for the first time. Before Jade. Before Rita. Before Dutch Harbor.

  When they were simply two people on the first morning of a new love, the bright Nevada sun blazing through the window.

  I miss him. The old Jim.

  He doesn’t exist anymore, of course. But I miss him so much.

  For a moment, Bonnie let her mind drift back. Back to a day two years ago, the first time she had met Jim Carter. The first night they spent together as lovers, long before the discovery of the Ashkelon and the threat to Earth they represented.

  The sun came blasting through the east window of Jim’s bedroom at Deseret. Bonnie lay in the tangled sheets, opening one eye but shutting it quickly. After several minutes of trying to ignore it, she sat up, gave the sun the finger and got out of bed. She went to the bathroom, took a long shower, put her shirt on and walked into the kitchen.

  Jim was standing at the stove, fully dressed in Western snap shirt and jeans, cooking. He turned to her.

  “Good morning, flygirl. Don’t they make you get up early in the Air Force?”

  “Not after night maneuvers,” said Bonnie. She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Crap! It’s only 9 AM! What the hell’s the matter with you?”

  “I was hungry,” said Jim. “After all, I worked pretty hard last night.”

  Bonnie smiled. “You did that, flyboy. No complaints in that department. You passed inspection.”

  Jim slid a plate of ham and eggs in front of her, along with a saucer containing two pieces of buttered toast. Then he put a cup of hot coffee beside it and pointed to the cream already on the table.

  Bonnie groaned. “Oh my God, thank you! I could eat a small horse!”

  Jim sat down across from her with an identical plate. They tucked in and were silent for a bit.

  Jim couldn’t help but glance at the beautiful woman across from him as he ate. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he had seen in a long time. Blond, short military style haircut, green eyes. Tall. Intelligent face, a s
mile on her lips at the slightest excuse. She caught him looking and grinned at him. Embarrassed, he grinned back and then focused on his meal.

  After a couple of minutes, Jim looked back at her.

  “I thought maybe two more hours in the P-51 Mustang this morning while it’s cool, then I’ll sign you off for solo and you can go play for a while on your own. What do you think?”

  Bonnie gazed at him in delight. “You are pretty good at this courtship thing, you know.”

  Shaking her head, Bonnie forced the memories out of her mind.

  That was then. This is now.

  She leaned forward, picked up her tablet, and buckled down to work.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Stalingrad System

  Dyson Swarm

  Rachel and Paco no longer had control of the packet boat. The flight controls were useless. The boat bored in steadily toward the largest of the Dyson structures, a wide band that completely encircled the star.

  Its appearance from a distance belied its true size. As they got closer, it got larger and larger, until in disbelief they realized it was something like ten thousand miles wide. By the time they arrived at the coordinates in the nav system, it completely blocked out the light from the star. Up close, it was near-invisible in the visual spectrum, mostly radiating in the far infrared.

  The boat came to a stop beside something that looked like a large bump on the side of the structure. Rachel and Paco realized there was a lighted docking tube extending from the bump. The packet boat moved gently to the docking tube, and with a soft semi-metallic sound they were docked.

  said Tika.

  Rachel rose from her seat.

  “Should we take our things, or leave them here?”

 

  Paco looked at Rachel with concern written all over his face. He whispered to her.

  “As in, we won’t need our things if we’re dead.”

  Rachel shook her head. “Think positive.”

  Rachel exited the cockpit and marched down the passageway to the airlock. She opened the inner door of the airlock and stepped through, Paco right behind her.

  She reached for the outer airlock hatch control, then suddenly stopped as a thought hit her.