by David Weber
"And just what is it you and the captain are after cooking up here, Magda?" "It's like this, Lad. Like Beaufort, we had a number of @u.. friends in various places in the Innerworlds. We spent years cultivating that network, but now that actual fighting's begun, we're cut off from it." ISVRECTO-RATHER
"Aye," Idislaus nodded. "We're to have the same problem at Beaufort." "Right. Well, Captain M'tana may have come up with a way to put part of our network back on line." "Have you, now?" Ladislaus bent a hard look on M'tana. The captain shifted slightly in his chair but met it unflinchingly.
"Yes, sir. Understand something, Mister Skjorning. I'm an Innerworlder--a Heart Worlder -comb when my people settled Xhosa, they didn't exactly do so completely voluntarily. I think we knew something about oppression, then, but we've forgotten since. We should have remembered, and that means we have a responsibility here. I don't want to see the Federation torn apart; in that respect, at least, you and I will never agree. But what I want and what's going to happen are two different things.
There's no way to paperstover the cracks this time too much blood's already been shed.
"So as I see it, I can either join my fellow prisoners in refusing to give you any aid while we wait hopefully for repatriation and with luck another chance to contribute to the killing, or I can help you people. Not because I love your rebellionI don't--but because the sooner the Federation realizes it can't win even ff it defeats you militarily, the better." "I see." Ladislaus grinned slowly.
"Captain, I've the thinking I'm to like you--and I'm betting that's not to matter a solitary damn to you. But yoU've the right. It has gone too far for healing. So how is it you're to be helping?" "What Captain M'tana suggested to me," Magda said, "ties in with our plans to allow correspondence between prisoners and their families.
We'll give him the codes and address of our contact on Xhosa and his 'letters home" will reopen our best conduit." Ladislaus studied M'tana's face, seeking some sign of treachery, any intent to betray. He saw exactly nothing.
"You're to have the knowing, Captain," he said quietly, "of the penalty ff the Federation is ever to be finding out about this' "I do," M'tana said flatly. "But I know-- now what the Assembly's done to you people, and my oath is to the Federation, not just its government. If I can help shorten the war and reduce the killing, I have to do it. Besides --was he looked uncomfortable his-comI don't enjoy killing Terrans, Mister Skjorning, not even ones who are technically traitors. His "I see," Ladislaus said yet again. Then he added slowly,; "Let's have the discussing of the details, then, Captain.
"Well, Chang?" Commodore Li Han tipped back her chair in Longbow's briefing room as she regarded her chief of staff. Commander Robert Tomanaga, her new battlegroup operations officer, sat beside Tsing, and the pair of them were flanked by Lieutenant Commander Esther Kane and Lieutenant David Reznick, Han's staff astrogator and electronics officer.
"Commander Tomanaga and I have gone over the Fleet ops plan, sir," Tsing replied.
"We'll know better after we run it on the tac simulator, but for now, it looks solid." "You agree, Commander?" Han turned her eyes to Tomanaga.
"Yes, sir. Oh, we could use more weight of metal, but quality counts more than quantity." He grinned, and Han frowned mentally, bothered by his brashness and wondering ff her worry was justified.
Tomanaga was certainly qualified on paper; but all of her staff officers were qualified "on paper," with no real experience in their new positions. Nor did she have any, and with an inexperienced staff under a commodore who was herself as green as grass... She hid a shudder and nodded calmly. "Run it down for us, Commander," she said.
"Yes, sir. First, I'd like to put our own operation in perspective to the overall situation. Our operational prob,-lems are complicated enough, but we think the Rump s are worse. So far, about seventy percent of Frontier Fleet has come over or been taken by our units, and it looks like we've got about twenty percent of Battle Fleet, too, but our forces are scattered all over the Fringe. With only drones for communication, concentrating them for opera* tions is going to take time and, for the immediate future, our units here at Novaya Rodina constitute Admiral Ashigara's full disposable strength." Han stifled an urge to hurry him up. There was time, and it was better to be sure her entire staff understood Fleet HQ'S viewpoint.
"Admiral Ashigara's intelligence people estimate that the Rump has suffered losses we don't know about, and that fighter losses have probably been extremely high because so many fighter jocks were Fringers. That's a bit speculative, sir, but it matches our own experience. At any rate, the Rump is undoubtedly strapped for striking forces, but has the advantage of an intact command, better communications, and the interior position; they can move what they have from point to point faster than we can shift around the periphery.
"Our own immediate strategic need is to secure our frontiers before the Rump begins to recover, for which purpose Fleet plans a series of attacks on choke points. Our own operation against Cimmaron will cut off four separa Rump axes of attack," He fouched his panel, and the briefing room lights died. A hologram appeared over the table, and light from the tangled warp lines glittered briefly in his eyes as he picked up a pointer.
"Here's Cimmaron," he touched a tiny light dot. "Only two transits away via Redwing, but Redwing's covered by The Line. The forts are cut off now, but Fleet prefers to isolate them rather than attack them." Han felt a mental nod circle the table. No one wanted to tangle with those forts.
"So," Tomanaga went on, "we'll go from Novaya Rodina to Donwaltz--was his pointer hopped from star to star as he spoke his--comto MXL-23 to Lassa to Aklumar to Cimmaron--a much longer route, but one we own as far as Aklumar.
Because of its length, we're going in with only carriers, battle-cruisers, and light units, since battle-line units would slow us by thirty, percent. On the other hand, there are no fortifications at Aklumar--thanks to the Treaty of Tycho--and they won't know we're coming, so we ought to retain the advantage of surprise until the moment we hit Cimmaron." He laid the pointer aside and brought the light back up. "Our best analysis of the defense is a guess," he admitted, showing an edge of concern at last. 'Fhe Fleet base's fixed defenses are negligible, but Cimmaron Skywatch is quite heavy: eleven type-four orbital forts, three covering the Aklumar warp point. Before the mutinies, there was also a strong OWP'-BASED fighter force, and despite Fffeet's illli estimate, there's no guarantee they haven't brought their fighter strength back up. They must be as aware of Cimmaron's strategic value as we are, so the system un- doubtedly has priority for reinforcements." He paused to let the numbers sink in, then went on.
"What we have, after essential detachments, is two battle- cruiser groups (ours and Commodore Petrovna's) and four carrier groups with approximately three hundred fighters embarked, plus escorts. The balance of force should be with us, but our edge is slim and we don't have any superdreadnoughts or monitors. Without them, the battle- cruisers will have to keep Skywatch occupied until the carriers can stabilize their catapults and launch." All of them knew what that meant. Type-four OWP'S were big and powerful, stronger than most superdread- noughts. It was statistically certain some of the battle- cruisers wouldn't be around to see the fighters launch.
"That's the bare bones of the plan," Tomanaga contin- ued after a moment. "We're transporting several hundred crated fighters to hold the system once we have it, be- cause half the carriers will have to pull out for Bonaparte and the Zephrain operation while the rest move on Gastenhowe. Other attacks should clear up additioaal choke points at the same time, but Cimmaron and Zephrain are the really critical ones. We need more depth to protect Novaya Rodina, and Fleet wants to deal with the research station as soon as possible." 'hank you Commander," Hah said quietly as he fin- ished, then looked around once more, evaluating reactions.
Captain Tsing looked merely thoughtful, but he was a bulky, impassive man, virtually incapable of revealing much emotion. He was always simply Tsing--unreadable, phleg- matic, and utterly relia
ble.
Tomanaga looked confident. It was, after all, an ops officer's job to exude confidence, and certainly one could not dispute the neatness of the plan... assuming one could subordinate one's own survival to the other objec- tives. It seemed Tomanaga could do that--which could be a flaw in an ops officer. Best to keep an eye on him.
Lieutenant Commander Kane's eyes were intent, her lips pursed as she toyed with a lock of short tilde cut chestnut hair.
Han had watched her jotting notes as Tomanaga spoke; now her stylus ran down the pad, underscoring or striking through as she rechecked them. Han put a mental question mark beside Kane's name, but she was inclined to approve.
She turned finally to Lieutenant (junior grade) David Reznick, by far the youngest member of her staff, and perhaps the most brilliant of them all. At the moment, he was frowning.
"You have found a difficulty, Lieutenant?" "Excuse me?" Reznick looked up and blinked, then flushed. "Could you repeat the question please, Commodore?"" Han hid a smile. It was difcult not to feel maternal towards the young man. "I asked ffyou'd found a difficulty," "Not with the ops plan, no, sir, but I'm a little worried about the electronics." "Aha" She regarded him thoughtfully.
"Er" yes, sir. Longbow wasn't designed as a command ship. We squeezed everything in by pulling those two heavy launchers, but the whole datalink setup is jury-rigged. It's put together with spit, prayers, and a lot of civilian components, sir, and we're spilling out of the electronics section.
If we have to slam the pressure doors, we'll lose peripherals right and left." "But the system does work?
"Uh, well, yes, sir. Works fine. The thing is, ffwe start taking hits the whole shebang could go straight to shi--ummm, that is, the system could go down, sir. "Hah couldn't quite hide her smile, and Reznick flamed brick red before his sense of humor rescued him. Then he grinned back, and Han's last real concern vanished as a chuckle ran around the table. The chemistry was good.
"Very well, David." She drew a pad and stylus toward her. "Give me a worst-case estimate and let's come up with ways around it." "Yes, sir." He opened a thick rineaeaong binder and flipped pages. "First of all Commodore..." "But, Lad, you got your Constitution adopted, and we're adopting your Declaration," Li Kai-lun said reproachfullv. "The least you can do is endorse the flag you asked me to design for you!"
Ladislaus looked sourly at the sinuous, blood-red form coiled about the ebon banner's golden starburst. Except for the star--and the wings on the snake-like doomwhale -comx looked remarkably like the Beaufort planetary flag.
"I'm thinking it won't be so very popular with the others," he rumbled.
"You round-eyes are always seeing difficulties," Kai-lun teased. "It's really childish of you.
Why not just learn to accept your karma?" "Beeanse my 'karma's" probably to be a short rope when they see this, you old racist!" "No, no!" Kai-lun disagreed. "It's only right that the symbol of Beaufort should adorn our banner, Ladislaus the committee was unanimous on that. And for those who need a little symbolism, we've added the star and wings to indicate the sweep and power of our new star nation. You see?" "Were you ever being a used-skimmer salesman?" Ladislaus asked his small ally suspiciously.
"Never." "Ah. I had the wondering." He thought for a moment, then grinned. "All right. It's glad I'll be to be seeing the old doomwhale, anyway." "Good." Kal-Inn rose and headed for the disdoor, then stopped to smile over his shoulder.
"Actually, you know, that--was he waved at the banner his-comis a symbol of good fortune." "Eh? I've never had the hearing of the doomwhale being thatl' "Ah, but when you put wings on it, it's not a doomwhale." "No?" Ladislaus" suspicions surged afresh. "What's it to be, then?" "Any child of Hangchow knows that, Lad." Kai-lun smiled. "It's a dragon, of course." Commodore Petrovna looked very calm in her new uniform, but she knew every officer of the new Republican Navy could see her on the all-ships hookup, and her warm voice was hushed with a sense of history.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Fleet, I introduce to you the President of the Republic of Free Terrans, Ladislaus Skjoruing." Isvareaco
@u Slle vanished, and Ladislaus Skjorning appeared on the screen. His face was composed, but his blue eyes were brights-and hard. He sat behind a plain desk, and the crossed flags of the newborn Terran Republic covered the wall behind him.
"Ladies and gentlemen," his deep voice was measured, his famed Beaufort accent in complete abeyance, "fourteen years ago, I, too, was a serving officer in the Fleet of the Terran Federation.
As one who once wore that uniform, I know what it has cost each of you to stand where you now stand, and I share your anguish. But I also share your determination and outrage. We have not come here lightly, but we have taken our stand, and we cannot and shall not retreat from it." He paused, picturing the officers and ratings watching his image, hearing his voice, and for just a moment it seestned that he stood or sat beside each and every one of them. It was a moment of empathic awareness such as he had never imagined, and it showed in his voice when he continued.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is you who will fight for our new nation; many of you will die for it. It is not necessary for me to say more on that head, for whatever else history may say of you, it will record that you were men and women who understood the concept of duty and served that concept to the very best of your ability. However, since it is you who will bear the shock of combat, it is only just that you know and unders "tand exactly why we are fighting and what we are fighting for. It is for this reason I asked Admiral Ashigara for this all-ships hookup tonight.
"I am about to record our first official message to the Federation's Assembly, and I wish you to witness this communication as it is recorded. I suppose--was he permitted himself a bleak smile his-comt this is an historic moment, but that is not why I wish to share it with you. I wish to share it because of who you are and what you will shortly be called upon to do.
"We represent many worlds and many ways of life.
We spring from a single planet, but the diversity among us is great. We do not even agree upon the nature of God or the ultimate ends of our ongoing evolution. Yet we agree upon this: what has been done to us is intolerable, the systematic looting and manipulation of our economies and ways of life by others is not to be endured, and no government has the right to abuse its citizens as the government of the Federation has abused us. And ff that agreement is all we share, it is enough. It is more than enoughas your presence in your ships, as your willingness to wear the uniform you wear, demonstrates. We may not share the same view of God, but before whateeaer God there is, I am proud to speak these words for you, and humbled by the cemmitment you and your worlds have made to support He looked down at the concealed terminal built into his desk--not that he needed it; what he was to say was written in his heart and mind as surely as in the memory of his computer--then glanced up once more.
"Some of you will recognize the source of these words.
Many may not, but, I think, no one has ever said it better--comand their use may help the Federation's citizens to understand our motives despite their present government's self-serving misrepresentation." He drew a deep breath and faced the pickup squarely, forcing his shoulders to relax. When he spoke once more, he appeared completely calm.
Only those who knew him well saw the anguish which possessed him..
'fo the Legislative Assembly of the Terran Federation," he began calmly, "from Ladislaus Skjorning, President of the Republic of Free Terrans, forand in the name of the Congress of the Republic of Free Terrans.
"When in the course of human events, it becomes neo-essary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the Galaxy the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and the usages of justice entitle them, a decent respect for the opinion of all races requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." He drew another deep breath, his voice rumbling up out of his chest, powerful and proud an
d defiant, yet somehow reverent as he spoke the fierce old words, newly adapted to changing circumstances.