Attempted Coup
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“Captain Greenacre, you know why you’ve been relieved of your command. The charges against you are extremely serious.” The Advocate Commodore tapped the tablet. “Of course, if you cooperate, that will be taken into account.”
The Captain stared at the Commodore. “I’ve nothing to say, sir.”
“That is your choice, of course.” The legal officer signalled the Captain assigned to defend the accused. “However, the law requires that I provide you and your defender with the evidence we will be using in the prosecution. I’d suggest you consider it carefully before you decide whether to offer anything in your defence. As you know, you will not be permitted to introduce anything at the trial that you could have revealed now.”
The defender looked at the man beside him, then at the Commodore. “Perhaps I could have a private word with Captain Greenacre, sir.”
The Commodore rose. “Very well. I’ll give you five minutes.” He strode to the door, and as he approached, it slid open to reveal an armed officer and three other men.
“We’ve come to release Captain Greenacre, Commodore. Let’s keep this civil. You too, Captain. Both of you, against the bulkhead, please. Captain Greenacre, we’re taking over the ship. The lads will escort you to the Command Centre once we’ve secured these gentlemen.”
The Commodore glanced from Captain Greenacre to the officer holding the weapon then back again. “Captain Greenacre, do you really wish to add treason and mutiny to the charge sheet? I think you should consider your position very carefully.”
The Captain sneered. “Take your charge sheet and stuff it. My officers and I have had enough of being shafted by the likes of you. You’ll discover soon enough that we’re already in position, and the revolution has started. We’re taking this ship and others, and we have our own plans. You lot got lucky once, but you won’t get lucky twice. We wanted Heron’s ship as a decoy. We missed the chance, but we won’t miss the second time.”
Weapons discharges sounded in the distance, but with increasing proximity. “Sorry, sir. The Bootnecks have woken up—we’ll have to go.” The Lieutenant signalled the men at the door. “Form up. We’re moving. Commodore, Captain, your comlinks please. Now!”
The Commodore unclipped his link and tossed it to Captain Greenacre in a gesture of contempt rather than handing it to him as he would’ve done to someone he respected. The Advocate Captain handed his over without a word then deliberately turned away and took a seat next to his superior. Captain Greenacre snorted and strode from the cabin; the Lieutenant followed, backing out, his eyes darting back and forth, and his weapon trained on the two captives as if they were dangerous fugitives. The fact that he made himself look comically ridiculous with his needless drama seemed utterly lost on him.
The door slid shut, and a weapons discharge secured it.
“The rot runs far deeper than we thought,” the Commodore remarked. He fished in his pocket and produced a comlink. “It doubles as a recorder, but we should be able to establish what is happening while we wait.” He waved to the tray of refreshments delivered earlier. “Seems a pity to waste those. Care for a cup of tea? I’m sure it’s at least passable.”
“Admiral, we’ve a mutiny on our hands.” The Flag Lieutenant’s anger showed. “It seems some of the ship’s officers are part of this coup attempt. The latest report is they’ve freed Captain Greenacre and are holding the Command Centre, the Weapons Centre and the forward citadel.”
“Have they got control of Engineering?”
“No, they tried to take it, but Commander Giorgi got wind of it and shot the ringleader as soon as he made his move. It got messy, but he’s cut off control from the Command Centre.”
The Admiral nodded. “How many of the crew have joined them?”
“About a third of the people, ma’am. The duty staff fought off an attempt to take the Flag Control Centre, and now we have the Marines in position as well.”
The Admiral was on her feet. She opened her desk and retrieved her weapons then clipped the holster to her belt. “Very well, rustle up some armour for us. I’ll not have my flagship taken over by a worthless bunch of mutineers and pirates no matter what their damned cause!” She marched to the door. “Meet me in Flag Command.”
The Flag Lieutenant smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll come with you. I took the liberty of having some armour sent up for us as soon as this broke.”
“Well done, Flags.” The Admiral smiled. “Who did Giorgi shoot? Greenacre by any chance?”
“No, two of his Engineering people, Lieutenant-Commander Wallace and Lieutenant Groenewald. Wallace tried to jump the Commander from behind. He hit him with something, and that made Giorgi mad as hell. As I said, it got very messy, and I don’t think any of the mutineers are in a state to complain about it. There’s some damage to the Engineering Control Centre, but Giorgi says it’s not critical.”
“Hmph.” The Admiral glanced around the compartment as she pulled on the protective armour. “Well done, all of you. Now we clean house. I’ll need volunteers to come with me, but I also need some of you to stay here and keep things running.” A number of men and women stepped forward. “Right, see Flags and get rigged. I want every station manned, though.” She turned to the coms desk. “Any other ships having trouble?”
“Three, ma’am. Two report the attempted mutiny has been suppressed, and the third is still fighting.”
“Right, get my displays up and running. Direct the nearest ship to the one in trouble to send Marines to help.” She paused. “You said they had control of the Weapons Direction Centre?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Lock down all weapons. Countermand any attempt to use them.” She turned again. “Coms, get me the Marines’ Commanding Officer on the link.”
“Major Hertz on link, ma’am.”
“Major, report please.”
“Admiral, we have the after part of the ship secure now, the Command Centre is still in their hands, and so is Weapons Direction. I have men working their way forward on the outer hull and others guarding the service tubes and spaces.”
“Where are you?”
“Compartment Alpha Sub Delta, Deck Sub 2, at Frame 125. I’ve set up a forward command post here.”
“I’m coming to join you. Where is Colonel Winter?”
“Dead, ma’am. One of the traitors shot him in the Wardroom.” There was a pause. “In the face when he tried to grab a weapon from one of them.”
“Thank you.” Her expression was grim. One more score to settle. “I’ll be with you in five minutes.” She cut the link. “Ready, Flags?” She looked at the others. “Let’s go.”
“James, at last. I’ve been trying to reach you for ages.”
“Niamh, sorry, things are a bit hectic at the moment. What’s the problem? Has something happened to Theo?”
“Theo’s fine.” Niamh hesitated. The news reports were confusing and full of nonsense about attempts to storm the Confederation Parliament and other government buildings, and of fighting in several capitals. There were even reports of certain well-connected political figures leading the mobs. She could see her brother was looking tense, and she didn’t recognise the background of his current location in the holo-image. “Where the devil are you? Not on your usual ship—I can see that.”
“Good to hear that Theo is well, and yes, you’re very observant, as always. I’m not in my usual HQ. I’m en route to join my new flagship. Sorry, there wasn’t time to contact you and tell you about it. Now, I haven’t long, so what can I do for you today?”
Niamh bridled. “You can start by telling me where Harry is, and what the devil is going on! Mary and I are worried sick, and I’ve just learned that Ferghal has gone into deep space on the staff of your current Chief of Security.”
Admiral Heron rubbed his eyes with finger and thumb. “Niamh, I’m sorry, I can’t answer either of your questions. Our
coms are compromised, including these personal links, so there is absolutely no way I can say anything in reply. I’m sorry. You’d best ask Theo as soon as you can see him in person if he’s not at home. Whatever you do, don’t discuss anything on link.”
“What? The link system is compromised? By whom? James, what the blazes is going on?”
“I’m sorry, Niamh, I really do have to go. Talk to Theo—he can tell you some of it. All I can say is that it’s potentially bigger than the Consortium problem.”
Niamh recognised the signals; she knew her brother well. James simply would not say what he knew she wanted to hear, and he would not compromise. “I’ll talk to Theo when he gets back. Take care of our boys, will you?”
“I’ll do my best, my dear. Tell Mary we’re doing our best to look out for Harry.”
The hologram vanished. What had James meant when he said they were doing their best to ‘look out’ for Harry? Niamh considered this while making a cup of tea, to the frustration of her android butler who found this confusing—especially when she informed him that doing this menial task helped her think. Surely if James knew where Harry was, and knew what, if anything, had happened to him, he’d say ‘look after’ him, but instead, he said he would ‘look out’ for Harry.
They don’t know where Harry is, she mused, and if they do, they don’t know what has happened to him.
But then, why would that necessitate the mobilisation of the entire High Command of the Fleet? And what was keeping Theo in Dublin?
She made up her mind. A little expedition to Dublin was called for. Theo would not be able to fob her off. She smiled. For one thing, he didn’t have a ship or a fleet to hide behind, and for another, he was her husband, not her brother! To the android butler she said, “Order a transport car for me, to the house in Dublin. You’d better let them know I’m coming.” She had a sudden thought. “Wait, that’s not a good idea. We never know who might intercept it. Just get the transport for me. I’ll program it myself for the destination.”
Admiral Le Jeune joined Major Hertz. “Update me, Major.”
The Major pulled out the ship’s damage control plans. “We’ve cleared the mutineers from everywhere aft of this bulkhead. We’ve teams penetrating on Deck Sub 5 and Zero 3. I’ve more teams working in through these service tubes.” He held her eye. “I’ve had to give orders to the scout teams to shoot on sight.”
She nodded. “Necessary under the circumstances. Three more ships have had attempts on them, two have managed to suppress the problem, one was still fighting—and there’s us, of course.”
“Bastards.” The major straightened and listened to his link. “Good.” He gave additional orders then sent a team down the same service tube. “Team Bravo 4 has penetrated to the forward battery deck. They’ve taken out the men they found there, and I’ve sent in a backup team. They report finding demolition charges being laid.” He listened again. “Good work.” He met the Admiral’s eye. “My external assault team have managed to open the hull here.” He indicated a position adjacent to the main deck where a cross gangway connected several accommodation compartments, the main longitudinal gangway and the broadside passages that ran the length of the ship, known colloquially as ‘the Burma Roads’ for reasons no one knew. “With your permission, we’ll create a small hull breach here.” He indicated a second point further forward. “They’ll have to evacuate these compartments, and the only way they can go is this way, where my lads are all set and waiting for them.”
The Admiral frowned. “That will affect the Weapons Director Centre.” She traced the damage control bulkheads. “It’ll also mean a loss of atmosphere on all decks in that section. Okay. Do it. I’ll make a broadcast to the rest of them.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He spoke to his link, and seconds later there was a shudder through the hull. “That’ll get their attention.”
She smiled. “I should think so. By the way, are there any prisoners from the areas you’ve cleared?”
“Yes, ma’am. We disarmed them and shut them in the landing dock, port side. Lieutenant Sinclair is guarding them. He was wounded clearing the Engineering Section, and he’s mad as hell about it. They believe him when he says he’ll open the landing bay doors if they make one wrong move.” He laughed. “I don’t think he would, but I wouldn’t blame him if he did.” He listened to his link again. “We have the Weapons Director. They were trying to booby trap it.”
The Admiral nodded. “Very well. I think it’s time for my broadcast.” She touched her link. “Captain Greenacre, your mutiny has failed, we are now in the process of denying your people access to any compartments of importance. If you order them to cease resistance now, I will consider that in your favour. If you persist in resisting, you will leave me no choice but to hunt down every one of your mutineers, and they will all be prosecuted with the full force of the law with no mitigation. I await your answer. You have two minutes.” She switched her link to standby.
The Major looked up from his plans. “We have them bottled up now in this section, Admiral. They’ve tried to get into the service tubes, but my lads are in them and denying access. I’ve a team in place to cut their way into the Command Centre if we have to, and the Advocate Commodore and his Captain have been released and taken to the Flag Command Centre.” He smiled. “I think we’re almost done here.”
Jack Proctor froze in his tracks. “Don’t move,” he hissed. “One of those giant scorpion things is watching us.”
Harry didn’t move, and behind him, Mike Dorfling sank to his knees. The last three days had been very hard. Their rations and water were almost depleted. Despite the heat, Harry felt cold. His vision was blurred, mainly due to salt from the sweat drying round his eyes. He had no means of wiping them or clearing the muck that accumulated inside the mask. His skin felt dry, though earlier he’d been sweating profusely. His head itched infuriatingly, but he couldn’t relieve that either. His lips were cracked, his mouth was parched, and his tongue felt like it was coated with dry sand.
“Where?” he croaked, unable to see the scorpion that Jack had spotted.
“About thirty metres ahead, sir. It’s got itself into a sort of crevasse. I only saw it when it turned its head this way. Now it’s just sitting there watching us.” Jack hesitated. “If we keep still, it may not see us.”
Harry was feeling faint. “Need some shade,” he mumbled. “Must get out of the sun.”
Niamh looked up from her tablet as Theo entered. On the journey to Dublin, and since her arrival, she’d been busy, and now she knew at least as much about what was happening in various capitals as could be expected from the confused and sometimes contradictory news reports. It had been a shock to discover their home in the Irish capital was under tight security, as was their house at Scrabo.
“Have you eaten?” she asked her husband. “I told Herbert 2.0 to keep dinner until you came home.”
Theo started in surprise, not expecting to see her there. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, my dear. Why didn’t you let me know you were coming? I’d have been home much sooner.” He kissed her. “No, I haven’t eaten, and I’m famished. I need a good meal and a nice glass of wine to wash it down. Shall we?”
Putting aside her reading, she rose. “Yes. Then you can tell me what is happening, and why we have all these spooks here, as James calls them, and at Scrabo. He hinted our communication systems are compromised, and I can understand why.” She took his hand. “Don’t look so surprised, my dear, I know all the signs by now. Something is very, very wrong—but it isn’t in the news or on the media, which is why I’m really worried.” She took her seat at the dining table and waited while the android butler served the meal.
When they were alone again, Theo said, “You’ve obviously realised there’s something nasty come to a head. What did James say?”
“Not a great deal.” She frowned. “You know him. He’s a man of few words at the best of times. He said the communications systems were
compromised and he couldn’t talk to me on link. Then he suggested our private communications were also compromised, and all I hear on the news channels is reports of attempts to seize control of government buildings all over the place. What worries me is what he said when I asked about Harry. He told me they were ‘looking out’ for him, not that they were ‘looking after’ him. Then he added that what was happening was worse than the Consortium troubles.”
Theo sipped his wine. “He’s right on that score. We won’t be able to keep the lid on this much longer. The fact is, my dear, around forty of our esteemed Senators, and probably about a hundred of our Members of the Lower Chamber, supported by some very wealthy individuals and families, are involved in what can only be called treason. Three of those involved are active members on the Fleet Council.” He sipped his wine again. “We’re compromised on every side. It would be bad enough if it were just humans involved, but it isn’t. These fools have, through the likes of the LPSL and the pirate operators, done a deal with an alien race we are now learning are not far removed from the Niburu in terms of intentions and morality.” He paused to savour a few bites of food. “At least the attempts to overthrow the Confederation Government and the World Treaty Council have failed. A number of the leading lights of that attempt are now enjoying a taste of their future in custody. Some, unfortunately, are still free, but we’ll find them.”
Niamh put down her knife and fork. “I see. And precisely where does Harry fit into all this?”
“We don’t know. He does seem to have precipitated the exposure of a key player, but now he’s vanished. He could still be aboard the liner he was sent to assist, but he might not be.” He refilled his glass, his expression sombre. “We know where he isn’t, and that is aboard his command. The Lagan is under quarantine by Fleet Security in a secure sector. Vice Admiral Petrocova is overseeing the recovery of her memories and data, and Ferghal is with her.” He pushed aside his plate. “Not on the news, but there have been mutinies aboard a number of ships in the Fleet.” He met her appalled gaze. “Now you know everything I do, and why everyone is in a bit of a state. I’m sorry, I should have told you all this earlier, but I didn’t want to do so on link, and there hasn’t been an opportunity to go to Scrabo.”
Harry Heron: Hope Transcends Page 13