A laugh bubbled up from somewhere behind her left shoulder. “Your plan may work for most of the officers, assuming you’ve got enough muscle on your side, but General Castillo is a first-class prick brandishing an ego far larger than the impressively sized gun he carries. I doubt he will agree to go quietly.”
She regarded the source of the comment with mild curiosity. Aristide Vranas was the ex-Mayor of Seneca’s capital city, Cavare. He had been deposed when the Alliance sent in its lackeys to take over key government postings three months ago in the aftermath of the worker riots. If asked to consider the question, she would conclude she liked the man. He possessed an unpretentious, easy charisma and a dry sense of humor that never got in the way of a fundamentally earnest nature.
“I doubt he will agree to go at all, which is why I will be forced to disable him and may be forced to kill him. But either way, that’s on me.”
He gave her a small smile in lieu of a reply before returning his gaze to the window.
They were gathered in a small conference room in a remote corner of the Lunar SSR Center. This close to the precipice, meeting groundside held too many risks—too many Alliance loyalists skulking the halls of power.
Terzi had taken up pacing the length of the room. As the director of the Senecan field office of the Earth Alliance Ministry of Intelligence, he had as much to lose as she did. The sole difference between her fate and his if this venture failed would be the locations of their confinement until their executions .
On his next pivot he directed his attention to Vranas. “Aristide, when we’re done here I want you to get back to Cavare then stay out of sight until it’s time to go public. Local Alliance officials will suspect your involvement, and we can’t risk them grabbing you. I assume the speech is ready?”
“The speech has been ready for years, waiting on the proper moment for its delivery to arrive. Let me worry about the public. You worry about the logistics.”
If Terzi took offense at the barb, he didn’t show it. “I have agents tailing the provisional mayor and governor. When I give the word, both will be taken into custody. We’ll keep them isolated until I can get them on Gianno’s ship to Earth. Fucking interlopers.”
He dragged a hand down his face. “Once we declare we are cutting ties with the Earth Alliance, coordination and proper timing are crucial. A number of things must happen in the first hour or we will lose control of the situation. But the pieces are in place, and we’re as ready as we’re going to be.” He looked to them for confirmation and received it.
Vranas asked the most obvious and consequential question. “When?”
Gianno responded. “The Alliance First Brigade from Arcadia will reach its closest point to Seneca in three hours. We want it to be close—that timing you mentioned. If we miss this window, we won’t see a better one for six weeks so….” She lifted her chin. “I advise we go now.”
“Agreed. Give me a minute to arrange a few matters.”
Eleni moved to the window beside Vranas. A sea of stars gave way to Seneca’s familiar profile as the moon continued onward in its perpetual rotation.
“Have you ever been to Earth, Brigadier?”
“No, I haven’t. I did my off-world training on Arcadia and Messium.”
“I attended a convention there four years ago. Lovely place. Enormous sapphire-blue oceans everywhere you look. ”
“I’ll have to take your word for it, as I suspect the only way I’ll ever step foot on Earth at this point is for a military tribunal, and I don’t intend to allow that to happen.”
Terzi reappeared next to her, and she abandoned the view to focus on him. The hour was late, and the time for talk to give way to action was upon them. “Has your agent arrived? I need to brief him and go over the ship’s capabilities, but we’re now on an exceptionally tight schedule.”
“He’s waiting outside. I’ll ask him to come in.”
The man who walked in bore a closer resemblance to a banker or a corporate executive than an Intelligence agent. Neatly styled, wavy black hair complemented a distinguished jawline and iced-cobalt irises. He carried himself with quiet, resolute confidence as he approached her and extended a hand. “Ma’am.”
They continued sizing one another up with practiced eyes as they shook hands. “A pleasure to meet you, Agent…?”
“Marano. Stefan Marano.”
Director Terzi and Brigadier Gianno departed after showing Stefan to the hangar bay, and he took the opportunity of a few minutes alone to study the reconnaissance craft. The muted bronze hull appeared to draw in the light surrounding it, giving it a faint lustrous sheen. Sleekly aerodynamic, the frame’s edges cut sharply enough he made a note to give them a wide berth.
He did reach out to run his fingertips along the body, however, enjoying the smooth coolness of the material. Senecan designed and constructed, it was not merely more elegant than anything the Alliance produced, it was better than anything the Alliance produced. Faster. Stealthier—
The air shifted around him, heralding a new guest. A woman joined him beside the ship; he continued his inspection of the hull while inspecting her in his peripheral vision. Dressed in standard- issue Earth Alliance BDUs, she was nearly as tall as him and muscular in the way most young military officers were, with shoulder-length dark hair bound back in a tight tail.
He acknowledged her with a casual nod. “I admittedly don’t know ships, but this is a hell of a good-looking one.”
“First of her kind, and I get to fly her.” She stuck out a hand. “Commander Helena Lekkas. I’ll be your pilot for the operation. Also the weapons officer, navigator and mechanic. You know, now that I think about it, why is it you’re coming along?”
Ah, so she was a smartass. It seemed to be a hazard of the piloting profession. He was fine with banter, but not until he controlled the relationship dynamic.
“Because this is a top-secret Intelligence black operation outside the purview of the military. And you’re not the weapons officer—I am. Any more answers will have to wait until we’ve departed.”
“That so? I assure you, I can hit a target perfectly well.”
“Not with this weapon.”
She glared at him silently for several seconds. “If you say so. Let me finish the preflight check, and we’ll be on our way.”
STEALTH RECONNAISSANCE VESSEL
S ENECA L UNAR O RBIT
“In the wake of the declaration by ousted government officials that Seneca was formally severing ties with the Earth Alliance, martial law is now in effect across the colony.”
The news feed cut to vids of armored combat vehicles patrolling the streets and soldiers in riot gear arresting protesters outside one of the government buildings in downtown Cavare.
“We’re receiving scattered reports of weapons fire on the grounds of the Alliance military base. We’re unable to confirm these accounts, as our reporters are being denied entry to the base and a barrier is preventing aerial coverage. We do have footage coming in of a skirmish between law-enforcement officers and military personnel near the Civil Administration Building.
“It is clear the conditions on the streets tonight are very fluid, and we urge everyone to stay indoors if possible. What isn’t clear is exactly who, if anyone, is in control of Seneca.”
They drifted 0.1 megameters above the lunar surface, having departed the Lunar SSR Center before violence erupted. Several hours remained until their mission began, so for now they could do nothing but watch the news feeds and, knowing something of what was in fact transpiring, wonder impotently whether the outcome would be in their favor.
The police and security departments had in reality never been under Alliance control and would not have assisted in enforcing martial law even if there were not a coup underway. Events inside the military base were certain to be far dicier.
The mission parameters forbade any contact with other resistance members, or anyone for that matter, given the small but non-zero chance someone in the Allia
nce could be eavesdropping. So they waited.
By the time the media figured out what was happening, it was already over, at least on the ground. The press conferences and prepared statements began to roll in fast and furious, all urging calm and all speaking the language of a new, independent, democratic government.
As expected, the Alliance ordered the Arcadia First Brigade to Seneca to establish a blockade. The news feed reporter wore a grave expression as he explained how commercial craft trying to leave Seneca would be ordered to land or risk being shot down.
Also as expected, Alliance forces on the nearby worlds of Elathan and Krysk, the only colonies in range possessing a combat-ready military presence, were put on full alert and two regiments ordered to Seneca to assist with the blockade. The meager details the media possessed scrolled in a repetitive loop on the feed overlay, and he soon tuned them out .
“Why did you decide to become a revolutionary?”
Stefan kept his gaze on the silhouettes of the planet and its satellite beneath them. “My kids. The Alliance claims to be a democracy, but it threw the principle out the window the second we caused it a tiny bit of discomfort. Overtaxing us because we thrive—then using the money to prop up its bloated bureaucracy—isn’t good policy, but marching in and removing our elected leaders by fiat due to a few worker riots? ‘Disappearing’ people who speak out against it? That’s not a democracy, that’s a dictatorship.
“Its leaders believe the Alliance is powerful enough to be both—a democracy on election days and a dictatorship on every other day—but they’re wrong. No government should be so powerful. It’s time someone demonstrates the error in their thinking.”
“Hmm.” Lekkas drummed her fingers on the dash. Having completed a thorough exploration of the new ship an hour ago, she had little to do until the action started. “What’s all that have to do with your kids?”
“I don’t want them to grow up in a dictatorship, obviously, or under any regime that can act as it chooses without repercussions. They have bright futures ahead of them, and I want better for their lives.”
She didn’t inquire further. She wasn’t exactly the talkative sort, but in this instance he chose to prod her. “What about you? Why are you here?”
“Live free or die, man. That’s my motto.”
He laughed. “Is it really?”
“Nah. Gianno was a persuasive woman, particularly after my Alliance superiors grounded me for smarting off about what were unequivocally stupid orders.”
He’d read her file and agreed they had been stupid orders. “Do you have any kids?” He also knew the answer to this question, but better for her to tell him .
“Daughter. She’s four. Wants to follow in her mom’s footsteps and fly starships. I’m not convinced I’m going to be able to stop her, stubborn brat.”
“Children do turn out to have wills and minds of their own. Husband?”
She snorted. “Hell, no. Her father—” She snapped up straight in the cockpit chair as the primary scanner lit up in red blips. “Looks like the Alliance brigade is here. Took it long enough.”
He blew out a long, weighty breath, paralyzed by the weight of the actions ahead of him but unwilling to display weakness in front of his companion.
He hadn’t wanted this mission. Terzi had thrown praise and platitudes in his direction, called him an honest man and a true believer and someone the resistance could depend on. Perhaps most of it was accurate, perhaps not. He was a patriot—to Seneca, not the Alliance—and he understood the necessity of this war. Its time had come, and he felt compelled to play his part. But he selfishly preferred someone else bear the guilt guaranteed to arrive once the adrenaline relinquished its grasp.
Suspicious it had grown wild, he ran a hand through his normally tame hair. “All right, we need to sneak in behind them. Do it now, while they’re distracted getting themselves situated. Remember, staying undetected takes top priority. If they spot us, we’re dead and this is all for naught.”
“Not to worry. This ship has a custom cloaking shield built using original tech. The Alliance has never seen its kind. They don’t know what to hunt for and wouldn’t recognize it if they did detect it.”
“I appreciate that. Still, don’t take any chances.”
She grumbled as they accelerated away from the moon. “Pretty sure I don’t take orders from you.”
The last thing he needed was a renegade pilot. He circled around her chair until he was between her and the dash. “And I’m pretty sure so long as I’m on this ship, you do . Intelligence mission, not military, remember? ”
She stared at him, rich emerald eyes piercing through him. Then her chin dipped a fraction and she returned her focus to the HUD. “Whatever you say, Agent .” Her fingertips glided along the virtual controls. “Speaking of which, I didn’t get a name.”
“No, you didn’t.”
A growing crowd of vessels orbited the planet—a hodgepodge of long, bulky commercial carriers; lightweight merchant runners; and elaborate, tricked-out civilian transports.
They were blocked by a brigade-strength collection of Alliance warships. For now the warships kept their distance, maintaining a 0.5 megameter stretch of space between the departing craft and the unofficial front line of the blockade.
A handful had tried to make a run for it and been intercepted by fighters. Thus far the civilian vessels had always retreated, and shots had yet to be fired.
A number of the civilian vessels were equipped with laser weapons—certainly more than the Alliance contingent had anticipated. Many of them were effectively ringers, high-powered corporate craft sporting almost as much weaponry and hull shielding as military ships.
Stefan checked the time as unease gnawed at his gut. The civilians ostensibly wanting to leave were here, the Alliance warships were here…but the expected resistance ships were late. Had Gianno encountered greater difficulties on the ground than anticipated? Had she failed altogether? He had no way to know and didn’t dare risk a comm to find out.
They floated silently and fully cloaked in the middle of the Alliance blockade, trying to imitate a hole in space. Lekkas was peering out the viewport, scrutinizing the hulls of several vessels that lurked worryingly close.
“Think they’ll hear me if I start singing the Greek national anthem? ”
“What?”
She rolled her eyes. “Nothing. When’s the cavalry scheduled to show?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
She arched a brow and settled back into her chair.
He tried for small talk to divert their attention from the ticking clock. “Have you ever seen live combat?”
“A year or so ago, when the Triene cartel made a hard run to claim Bellici for its own. It took us a week to decimate them and another week to run off what was left. Couple of smaller skirmishes before then.”
“Why did—” He cut off as the imposing contours of two military cruisers accelerated in from starboard to take up positions between the civilian vessels and the Alliance formation. “Can we listen in on the wideband communications without alerting them to our presence?”
“Yep.” She punched in a series of instructions, and a new screen joined the already crowded HUD to display the transmission details. A few seconds later the audio feed kicked in, and an unfamiliar voice reverberated in the cabin.
Admiral Himura ( EAS Fuzhou): “Captains of the EAS Inchon and EAS Verdun, you are in contravention of direct orders from Earth Alliance Strategic Command. If you do not surrender control of your vessels and retreat immediately, you will be deemed mutineers and subject to general courts-martial.”
There was no delay in the response.
Unidentified ( SFS Verdun): “That’s a negative. We have commandeered all Alliance vessels on Senecan soil in the name of the Senecan Federation.”
Admiral Himura ( EAS Fuzhou): What ‘Federation?’ You have no allies. You have nowhere to run. You are ordered to stand down now.”
Stefan’s
hands tightened on the cockpit chair’s backrest as half a dozen frigates cleared the atmosphere below and joined the rebel cruisers. Maybe his involvement wouldn’t be required. He found himself hoping the Alliance would open fire and absolve him of responsibility.
The luminous halo of Seneca’s sun above the arc of the planet dimmed as two additional groupings of Alliance warships advanced. He realized his foot was tapping loudly on the skid-resistant flooring and forced it still. “This should be the regiments from Elathan and Krysk.”
Lekkas glanced over her shoulder at him. “They’re on our side, right?”
“That was the plan. Can’t say if the plan succeeded.”
Admiral Himura ( EAS Fuzhou): “Fourth and Seventh Regiments, adopt positions flanking the mutinying ships.”
Unidentified ( SFS Ankara): “We must refuse to follow that order. In accordance with the directives of the Elathan and Krysk governing bodies issued as of 1021.0930 Galactic, the military commands stationed on those worlds pledge their allegiance to the newly formed Senecan Federation.”
They both sighed in relief. If the rebels on Elathan and Krysk hadn’t been able to gain control of the dispatched vessels, this would’ve become a rather lopsided battle and a damn short war.
The silence had begun to grow uncomfortably long when the reply came.
Admiral Himura ( EAS Fuzhou): “Very well. This ‘Senecan Federation’ and its members are seditionists in violation of the Second Earth Alliance Constitution of 2146. Any and all actions it undertakes are illegal, null, and void.
“Any Earth Alliance military personnel who, whether through affirmative acts or by inaction, assist these seditionists are guilty of treason and will be held accountable. To all present military personnel: you have five minutes to respond accordingly.”
Lekkas chuckled. “Bet more than one scuffle just broke out on board those ships.”
Short Stories of Aurora Rhapsody Page 6