Samantha's jaw was clenched hard, her fists balled, and Frost realized he was doing the same. He touched the back of her hand and she nodded, tried to look more dismayed than defiant as he did the same. Nigel was almost weeping, and as Ayan's white statue tilted suddenly, coming half way down, he flinched bodily. "Why didn't they just make this in a computer? Why do we have to stand here and watch."
"Because this is a reward for their soldiers, doing this right in front of us," Samantha whispered. "And in the version they send out, they'll make it look like we're all cheering them on."
Frost nodded, his eyes scanning the crowd. There was shock, anger, but mostly sadness. Wheeler was wounding thousands by making this happen. When it was time to rise up against the Order in Haven Shore, he'd find more volunteers thanks to what was happening. An ear-piercing crack made him jump, drew his attention back to the statue, and he saw that the last support holding Ayan up had snapped, and with two mighty pulls, the fake Haven Shore citizens had the statue down. It fell, rolled a little, and the fake citizens brought hand cutters, loudly sawed into her neck, her shoulders, even her back. When the head came free they cheered, lifted it up, revealing that someone had already gotten to it with a tool, cutting her nose off and scarring one of her eyes.
"You're free! Now the strong can lead the weak, as it was always intended," Wheeler shouted. "The Order of Eden is bringing you true freedom, and I'm backing that up with something real. We're re-opening the manufacturing facility here, that means three hundred and fifty jobs that pay good credit. You'll find out if you were chosen over the next few days, and soon, very soon, you'll forget about the Haven Government, how they wanted everyone, even the laziest, least ambitious of you to have a share of this world's bounty. Remember this moment, let it mark the very beginning of your freedom."
"We'll remember, all right," Shamus said under his breath. Nigel and Samantha nodded just enough so he could see, as did her neighbour, Malen. Frost didn’t realize he followed them when they moved to another part of the crowd.
Another voice, someone not on the platform but already familiar to Frost because he heard it whenever a new shift began, said; "Day shift in fifteen minutes. Begin travelling to your work sites or be docked for being tardy."
Two
Exile: Day 12
* * *
The Merciless was a wonder of balance throughout. The cabins and corridors were large enough for most Nafalli to be comfortable, but not over grand in size like the Triton. Terry Ozark McPatrick always liked that there were few, if any corners where he had to worry about bumping his head, but sometimes places aboard the Triton seemed oversized to the point of being wasteful. There was none of that aboard Commodore Jacob Valent's ship.
When the opportunity to host the meeting of the Special Operations Combat Unit leadership meeting came up, and it was to take place aboard the Triton, Oz turned the honour down, suggesting that it would be more appropriate to meet aboard the Merciless. He insinuated himself into the meeting even though he wasn't part of SOCU anymore, and, to his surprise, his ruse to see the Merciless as a guest worked. There was curiosity throughout the admiralty about the Merciless, and when many of them discovered that the meeting was to take place there, it quickly became a more general gathering where issues not involving SOCU would be discussed as well so some of the admirals who were available could pay the ship a visit. It happened overnight, and by morning Oz had to be there anyway, especially since he may be taking over headmaster duties at the Academy.
Since he could remember, Oz loved starships. One of his first memories was standing on the railing in front of a section of transparent hull watching the ships come in to the main Freeground Station Port. He could almost recall the way the railing dug into the soles of his shoes as he hopped up and down at seeing one of the larger warships, close enough so he could see the shapes of people in front of the oval portholes. Perhaps that was just him editing, improving one of his oldest memories, but seeing that there were people aboard, seeing them move about even in silhouette and how tiny they were, was almost enough to send little Oz into an excited frenzy. A little of that excitement was still there when he saw the smooth but utilitarian halls of a ship like the Merciless.
The crew moved with a purpose, a few who weren't in such a rush saluted him on their way by. One who was moving almost lackadaisically was particularly official when he snapped to and saluted upon noticing Oz. "Commodore," he said, rising to Oz's height. It could have been him when he was younger, maybe on his first tour.
Oz returned the salute. "At ease. What brings you to the command section, Ensign?"
"Sir; the communication terminals needed a discreet processor cluster and storage system installed, Sir," replied the young officer.
"You're supposed to be off duty," Oz said, reading the Ensigns brief profile on his command and control unit.
"I helped do the finishing on the bridge, know it from one side to the other, so I volunteered. Chief Finn did not object, Sir."
"On your way to the mess?" Oz asked.
"Sir, yes, Sir."
"How is the food here, Ensign Launer? Speak freely," Oz asked with a little smile. He liked the official tone the Ensign took, even though he wasn't standing at attention, he was still focused on making a good impression and his record showed that he was praised as a hard worker who was interested in advancement. He had also served on the Revenge.
"Not as good without Tamber, but better than I've had anywhere else. Can I ask you a question, Sir?"
"Aye, go ahead," Oz said with a cocked eyebrow.
"There's a lot of talk on Crewcast about how the British are selling our tech, betrayed Haven. There are petitions going around to withdraw from our alliance with them. If you were me, at the beginning of your career, would you make your opinion public by signing any of them, even one that calls for more restrictions on the alliance, but not a break?"
"I'd keep my head down and get back to work. Study for Qualification Testing in my off-time like you're doing," Oz looked up and nodded at Ruby Sima as she emerged from the large meeting room behind the Ensign. She didn't interrupt, smiling at him as she pulled her bright blue hair out of a ponytail.
"May I ask why you'd avoid sharing your opinion, Sir?" Ensign Launer asked.
"Those petitions don't change policy. The only people who will see them are in communications, you won't influence command. I didn't even know there was more than one petition."
"So, there's not much point in making my opinion public if the people I want to see it aren't looking is what you're saying, Sir?"
"Yes, but more importantly, there's a chance that it could hurt your chances for promotion because, to some commanders, it shows a lack of trust in Fleet command. The real question you have to ask here is if you trust your commanders to make the right decision. I do, so I'm free to do my job without the burden of questioning things that are over my head."
"I trust my commanders, Sir," the Ensign said. "Then I won't touch any of those petitions, I was on the fence anyway, Sir."
"Which way were you leaning, just between you and I?"
"I support renegotiation and reparations," the Ensign replied, looking a little surprised to be asked. "They're our connection to the core worlds. We need them but I think they still owe us something, Sir."
"Then we're of the same mind. Good luck on your Flight Systems Qual, I'll watch for your results." Oz saluted. "Dismissed."
"Sir, thank you, Sir," Ensign Launer replied, returning the salute then moving on.
"I'd vote to have the British put to our thrusters, sell our older tech ourselves through some dummy corp," Ruby said as she took the Ensigns place.
Admiral Lamonthe walked past both of them with two of his aides, saying; "I'll see you in there, Commodore McPatrick," as he did so.
"I'll be just a minute, Sir," Oz called after him, returning his attention to Ruby. "I'm afraid I agree with the Ensign. The British owe us a few tons of platinum, an apology, and a seat at
their table, but we need them for support and firepower. Looks like they want to prove themselves, too."
"What, that little raid on Iyagda? That served them as much as it did us, the Order was encroaching on British Alliance territory."
While that was true, Oz had seen the detailed reports on that action. The attack on the Order of Eden's secret shipyards in the Iyagda system cost the British Alliance two carriers, five destroyers and over a thousand lives. Holding it took four times as many resources as the battlegroup they had supporting Haven Fleet, and without real help from their allies, it would take years to make the system productive and self-sufficient thanks to the damage the Order did once they realized they were about to lose control of the system. More importantly, taking Iyagda was a test run to see if they could liberate the Haven System on their own, and the results were grim. Iyagda was lightly guarded in comparison, and even outnumbered, the Order was able to defend themselves well. "Iyagda gives them a space where they can rally less than ten light years from Haven. It's a good start."
"They could have reinforced the Mergillians' home system, they think they're next on the Order's invasion list," Ruby said. "I heard Iyagda cost the British a carrier."
"A bit more than that, but you're not cleared to see the report, so…"
Ruby nodded. "So, what brings you aboard the mighty Merciless?"
"I was the SOCU commander for five minutes, so I still get to sit in on some of their meetings, and I might be the new headmaster for the Academy. What about you? Are you doing something for SOCU?"
"If you don't already know, then you're not supposed to," Ruby said wryly. "I noticed you didn't recruit me when you were in charge of SOCU. What gives?"
"Fleet wanted you for another command, I thought it would be one of these." Oz knocked on the panel next to him.
"Way too big," Ruby said. "You know where I ended up."
"I don't, actually," Oz said. "Your service records are all a blank to me. You're labelled; 'Need to Know Only.'"
"To a Commodore?" Ruby laughed. "Well, they gave me the Redstone. One of first general purpose heavy ships the Forge is printing."
He knew the ship, it was the first to be built by the War Forge after departing the Haven System after the invasion. It was a heavy destroyer, a relatively compact ship for its class only built for war with the best of everything. The design only used technology that proved itself during the invasion. They were nothing fancy, but each was sturdy and adaptable. "Congratulations, that's a good ship. I saw the design before it was built. How's your crew?"
"A third trainees, mostly Nafalli, but they'll be wearing nothing but Fleet black soon, they're ripping through quals like they were born to it. The rest of my crew are well chuffed to have their hands on some real modern tech, and the new bunks are a huge improvement."
"Coming, Commodore?" Liara asked as she opened the door to the conference room, then let it close as soon as he nodded.
"Looks like you're holding things up," Ruby said. "Before you go, though; how's the Triton?"
"Good, repairs are almost finished. The regenerating systems speed everything up. We're almost back to normal."
"Good, I love that ship, glad to hear she's back in good shape. How about her Commander?"
"Glad to be alive, happy in the service," Oz replied. "Good hunting, Ruby."
"You too," she replied.
When Oz entered the conference room, the doors sealed and latched behind him. Red lettering appeared across the metal saying; AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY, CLASSIFIED LEVEL SEVEN. No one sat at the long table in the middle of the largest conference room aboard the Merciless, the chairs were still pushed in. The lights were dimmed so the holographic presentation they were about to see would be as clear as possible. Jake stood at the opposite end of the table, talking to Liara, Lamonthe, Ayan, Doolth who stroked the fur under her chin, and aides for them all. Remmy and his First Officer, Dotty Bedel, were the first to pull seats out and sit down. Aides took that as a cue, and more than twenty of them took a seat on the padded benches running the length of the conference room. "We're all here? Good," Admiral Lamonthe said, pulling a broad seat out for Admiral Doolth, who smiled at the courtesy as she settled in. Oz's space was marked, he was to sit beside Ayan, who sat beside Jake. If he wasn't the former SOCU commander, it would have been odd to sit beside the Defence Minister, but it wasn't her meeting, after all. "Commodore Valent, what is your ship's status?" Admiral Lamonthe asked.
"We're cloaked, signal silent," he replied. "Nothing detected on long range."
Minh-Chu, who was still settling in to Oz's left, added; "We have two wings running patrols with a few light corvettes for support. They'll spot anything out of place."
"The Triton is in the patrol pattern, cloaked, with her ears and eyes wide open," Oz added when Admiral Lamonthe looked in his direction. "Trident Wing is standing by."
"Then we are secure," Lamonthe said. "It is the first time everyone here has met in person since before the Invasion, and it may be the last for some time. Admiral Doolth is representing the Lau Tribe, her battlegroups and the general concerns of the Nafalli people, while Admiral Kulsh is doing the same for his people. The rest of us are here to be updated and to discuss strategy going forward. I regret that I must report the notable exception of commanders from the British Alliance from this meeting. Admiral Paris Hadlee was not willing to attend."
"I have her proxy," Ayan said.
"Have you discussed moving our fleet to Iyagda? There are asteroid belts and a small nearby nebula that would allow us to operate without cloaking fields."
"There are still too many Order operatives hidden in the system. They don't think it's safe for us to operate there yet," Ayan replied.
"There are a lot of people celebrating their liberation from the Order there, they have a lot of support from what I've seen the feed from Hart News," Admiral Doolth said. "They are celebrating the overthrow of their corporate leaders, welcoming the promise of democracy. I believe there are still spies there, but sometime taking shelter is better than hiding in the space between the stars. At least we'd have closer communication with people from more solar systems."
"I made our case to her," Ayan replied. "The Admiral is taking it to her leadership, but she doesn't expect they'll change their mind. The British Alliance wants Iyagda all to themselves. We'll be welcome when we're less controversial."
"And that's why I'm happy Admiral Hadlee isn't here," Wing Commander Minh-Chu Buu said. "No friend is a true friend if they hide you from their other friends."
"He has a point," Lamonthe said. "I think we can let the issue of using Iyagda as a refuge there for now, unless anyone has something else to add."
"I am using back channels to speak to my people about volunteering areas in the Fethun Solar System as a place for this fleet to operate in the open. I expect to hear word back from them in approximately nine days, though the use of a ship with a quad drive would speed that up considerably."
"Remmy is available," Commodore Valent said, looking to Remmy, who was already nodding.
"I could use the break. We'd get there in a little under a day and act as a communications relay so you can communicate live."
"I'll put Alaka on standby and you'll head out as soon as we get the details of your mission together," Jake said.
Admiral Lamonthe looked to the green and brown skinned Mergillian. "How does that sound, Admiral?"
"Better than I hoped," he said. "There are thousands of people waiting in that system, hoping to get the opportunity to serve in Haven Fleet. We have been driven out of more than one solar system by corporations like Regent Galactic and organizations like the Order in our history. We are eager to fight back. If you need a place while you regroup, I am sure we can provide it. We only want the opportunity."
"With that settled for the time being, we can move on," Lamonthe said. "The meeting is yours, Defence Minister."
Ayan cleared her throat and nodded, thinking for a moment before spea
king. "The British Alliance has offered a reparations package. Half a billion in platinum, property in three prime solar systems within their space - that part is contingent on us winning this war - some of it is properly terraformed. They are also offering an official treaty between them and the Haven Government, and they've agreed to set up a business relationship going forward where we will have a say in what we release using their channels and a royalty. I turned it down."
"You turned it down?" Admiral Doolth asked with a surprised squeak. There was a collective gasp in the room as aides and several of the higher-ranking officers reacted. Remmy and Minh-Chu laughed sharply, shortly.
"Good," Oz said. He saw the estimates on what the British Alliance made on selling specifications and materialization patterns to companies in the Core Worlds. Tens of billions in platinum was their reward for betraying their Haven Fleet allies, and that might be the least of it. "The Order will eventually get their hands on all that technology. Imagine Order Knights wearing armour that's only a small step behind our encounter suits. They won't get our regenerative hulls, the quad drive technology, no one has, but they'll have access to our weapon tech, basic gravity shields. They could upgrade their entire fleet, and after the losses they took during the invasion, I'm sure they will. The British Alliance owes us at least ten times as much as what they were offering and safe harbour somewhere nearby where they're hiding their firepower in fringe space."
"But a bird in the hand," Lamonthe said. "I wasn't even privy to the negotiation."
"You didn't have to be," Ayan said. "They're low-balling us because we don't have land to stand on. They think we're desperate, they're looking to take advantage. We don't need holdings that are only valid after we win this war, or legitimization when we'll get that by taking the Haven System back anyway. Admiral Hadlee is relaying my response to their people now. We'll hear back in a couple weeks."
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 13 Page 2