Risen From Ashes

by Sam Schall

Security Complex

  New Kilrain, Fuercon

  President Derek Harper looked at the half dozen men and women standing around the table. Two wore mess dress uniforms and had braced to attention the moment he entered the room. The others wore business suits and stood, their eyes on him, as they waited for him to speak. Instead, he held them where they were, his expression grim.

  “I have two questions.” Anger roughened his voice. One hand fisted at his side. In the two years of his presidency, he’d done his best to protect Fuercon and her allies. A large part of that time had been spent rooting out the corruption that sprang up during the previous administrations. Now he found himself fighting against betrayals by supposed allies. “Do we have confirmation of Admiral Collins’ accusations against Governor Fonteneau and has the admiral taken that son-of-a-bitch into custody?”

  “Mr. President, I’ll begin with your second question, if I may.” Secretary of Defense Linden Klingsbury waited for Harper’s nod of approval before continuing. “Admiral Collins sent Marines under Colonel Shaw’s command to take Fonteneau into custody. The mission was successful and the Marines not only arrested Fonteneau but secured evidence against him and several others in his administration. The former governor and two others are currently being held in the brig onboard the taskforce’s flagship. They, along with all evidence against them, will be transported here as soon as their relief is on station.”

  Harper’s mouth firmed before he forced himself to relax. Then he sat and motioned for the others to do so as well. As he did, he considered what to ask next.

  “Fonteneau’s motive? He requested our assistance. So why try to betray the taskforce to the Callusians?” Especially considering how the enemy essentially wiped out the entire population of the planet Shennong with the biotoxin they then attempted to use against the taskforce. The very thought of what would happen to a ship’s crew if exposed turned his insides to water.

  “Preliminary information from Admiral Collins indicates he did so after the Callusian commander threatened to use the biotoxin against the system’s capital planet,” Klingsbury said. “It seems Fonteneau’s mantra has become ‘I did only what I needed to in order to protect my people’.”

  Harper nodded. Part of him understood. He’d do almost anything to protect Fuercon and the other planets in the system. But he couldn’t forgive the betrayal of his people, not when they’d been in the Savitar VI System at Fonteneau’s request.

  “And the biotoxin. What do we know about it?”

  “Not much more than before, Mr. President,” Dr. Imad Tabion, the Navy’s chief medical officer, said. “The taskforce’s medical teams and researchers have sent their preliminary reports, but the results are, to be honest, incomplete. That isn’t a criticism. The labs onboard the ships simply aren’t set up for the sort of research needed to do an in-depth study of the biotoxin. In other words, we won’t know much more until the taskforce returns and we get our hands on the samples they managed to obtain.”

  “Then what do we do to protect our ships, our personnel and our planets in the meantime?” That, more than anything else just then, was what mattered.

  “For our ships, we follow the steps Admiral Collins and his people instituted,” Admiral Miranda Tremayne began from her place down the table. “Compartmental discipline is put into place at all times, not just when the ships are at battle stations. It will be inconvenient, but it is our best bet at limiting exposure if the enemy manages to breach the hull with the biotoxin.” She paused, her expression grim.

  “Mr. President, my recommendation—and I’ve already passed it along to Secretary Klingsbury is to take an aggressive approach to challenging any ship nearing our system borders. The same should be done by any of our forward elements. It might cause some hurt feelings, but I’d rather have that than dead crews.”

  Harper glanced at Klingsbury who nodded in agreement. “Issue the order. Any ship refusing to identify and allow boarding is to be turned back. If they refuse, they get one warning shot across the bow. After that, if they fail to comply, the consequences are on their CO’s heads.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in a defensive position where the home system is concerned. We will remain so until we have a better handle on what’s happening.” Something they should have been doing anyway. They knew the Callusians would do whatever it took to defeat them and their allies.

  “Yes, sir,” the others replied.

  “Now, what about our Marines?” Harper turned his attention to the dark-skinned, grim-faced woman sitting midway down the table.

  “The armorers are already working on refining the additional filters and seals Colonel Shaw’s Marines used on the mission. The tech gurus are working with the medicals to update armor sensors to detect the biotoxin. That is the best we can do with our current equipment until we know more about the biotoxin and how it works.” General Helen Okafor, Commandant of the Fuerconese Marine Corps, glanced at her datapad before continuing. “Mr. President, the real key is going to be decon procedures to get the Marines from the surface—or from onboard infected ships—to their own ships without undue delay. The procedures Taskforce Liberator put into place will work, but there must be a way to shorten the length of time needed to run through decon without putting a ship’s company at risk. Once the taskforce returns and the researchers have time to breakdown the biotoxin, our people will work with them not only with regard to our armor but the decon procedures as well. Captain Dalton said it best: ‘we can’t do shit until we know exactly what we’re working against.’”

  Harper’s lips twitched slightly. He knew the Corps’ chief armorer. The man was as irascible as he was devoted to keeping his fellow Marines safe.

  “My people are in full agreement with Dalton, sir,” Dr. Tabion said. “We can do some preliminary work on combating the biotoxin, but until we have samples, our usefulness is limited.”

  “Then we need to get the taskforce home ASAP.”

  Everyone around the table nodded grimly.

  “But we have to make sure the Savitar VI System is protected when the taskforce pulls out.” Fonteneau may have betrayed the taskforce, but Fuercon would not leave the system to the mercy of the Callusians. “Admiral Tremayne? Secretary Klingsbury?”

  “Orders have gone out for elements of Fifth Fleet to divert to Savitar VI, Mr. President,” Klingsbury said. “The fleet will be supplemented by ships from the Cassius System. Taskforce 57 should be on station in another week. They’re under orders to progress there at best military speed.”

  Harper nodded. “Issue orders to Admiral Collins to bring his ships home as soon as 57 arrives and he’s had a chance to brief its commander.” He leaned back and thought for a moment. “Will the taskforce be battle ready by the time they depart the system? The last thing we need is for it to fall on its way back here.”

  “I’m sending a squadron out to act as escort, Mr. President,” Tremayne said. “They will rendezvous with Admiral Collins’ ships, hopefully before the taskforce leaves the system. The squadron departs in-” She checked the time.-“Less than an hour. As far as the crews know, they are taking part in a training exercise. They’ll be told the truth once on their way.”

  “Very good, Admiral, and thank you.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back for a moment before sitting up. “I understand you haven’t seen all the evidence our people have managed to gather in the Savitar VI System. Based on what you have seen, did Fonteneau ask for help knowing he would betray our people or was this something that happened after the initial call for assistance?”

  For a moment, no one said anything. Then General Okafor spoke. “Mr. President, that’s a question we don’t have an answer for—yet. However, based on reports I’ve received from Colonel Shaw, I believe Fonteneau made the decision to betray our people after he requested our help. The Callusian commander, Navarch Jurah Dadd, was one of the most vicious of their COs we’ve dealt with. Our people, Navy and Marine alike, never managed to defeat him befo
re Savitar VI. That is mainly because he tended to sweep into a system, destroy its defense and comms platforms and then lay waste to the system before allied forces could respond. We know his people have not only stripped planets of their resources but have taken prisoners, selling them into slavery. His reputation for ruthlessness was confirmed by what he did to Shennong.”

  “But?” Harper asked.

  “My guess, and it is only a guess until the taskforce returns home and we have a chance to review everything they discovered, Dadd’s mission was specific this time. He was to deploy the biotoxin against a secondary planet in the system. Doing so accomplished at least two things. First, it allowed the Callusian high command to evaluate the biotoxin’s effectiveness. If they’d used it before now, we’d have heard of it, even if they did so against a planet they already held. This sort of mass murder isn’t something that can be kept quiet for long.

  “The second thing the mission accomplished was that it put the fear of God into the rest of the system. I have no doubt Dadd then played on it. Whether he laid out a plan for Fonteneau to lure allied ships to the system or he somehow managed to contact the former governor after Taskforce Liberator’s arrival, we don’t know. But Fonteneau has been consistent in one thing: he continues to claim he acted as he did to prevent Dadd from turning the capital planet into a wasteland. It doesn’t excuse what he did, either to his own people or to ours, but Colonel Shaw believes him.”

  Harper nodded, his expression grim. “What else?”

  “Dadd’s death leaves a gaping hole in the Callusian Navy’s command structure. More than that, it takes a major player out of the picture. We need to find a way to take advantage of it before someone steps into his place.”

  “Helen’s right, sir, on several levels,” Tremayne said. “Had it not been for the sacrifice of the Marines on the shuttle that intercepted the missile targeting the flagship and the inspired battle plans put together by Admiral Collins and Colonel Shaw, the system would have been lost and we’d never know of Fonteneau’s betrayal. More importantly, we wouldn’t know the enemy has managed to weaponize the biotoxin to be used with their torpedoes. But all that pales in the face of Dadd’s death. We’ve bought ourselves and our allies some time to put new defenses into place and to press our advantage with the enemy.”

  “What can we expect from the Callusians in response to what happened in Savitar VI?”

  “Fleet Intel is split, Mr. President,” Klingsbury admitted. “Most feel the enemy will continue with its current operations while trying to fill the void left by Dadd’s defeat. A few feel the enemy will make a quick strike on a new target, most likely utilizing the biotoxin, to keep allied forces off-balance. That would buy them time to find someone to fill Dadd’s place in the command structure.”

  Harper considered both options. “Let’s pray for the former but plan for the latter. Send word to our allies about our plans concerning system defense. No details, just philosophy. Let’s not risk the messages falling into enemy hands. Tell our representatives onsite more details will be forthcoming via courier.”

  He stood, his expression thoughtful. When the others made to follow suit, he waved them down. “Helen, I want a more visible presence outside the Midlothian embassy. Coordinate with capitol security. We have no evidence Midlothian knew or took part in what happened in Savitar VI, but let’s not take any chances. Most of all, let’s not take a chance that they’ve managed to smuggle samples of the biotoxin on planet. No one goes in or out without being checked.”

  “You know the ambassador will protest,” Secretary of State Marc Nelms said, speaking for the first time.

  “Let him.” Harper started to say something else. Then he blew out a breath and relented. “If he does, remind him that we have more than enough proof that members of his government plotted with the Callusians against our interests and the interests of our true allies. Either he allows the searches or he packs up his staff and their dependents and they all leave Fuercon on the first transport off-planet.”

  Nelms made a quick note before slipping his datapad into a jacket pocket.

  “I want one thing made perfectly clear not only to the Midlothians but to everyone.” Harper leaned forward, hands on the tabletop, eyes flashing. “Fuercon will no longer be at the mercy of so-called allies working behind the scenes to harm us. Marc, draw up the appropriate communiques to the Midlothian government and our representatives there. They are to hand over everything they have on Alexander Watchman and those who worked with him against our best interests. Those we have identified as part of the conspiracy are to be arrested within seventy-two hours of receiving the communique and handed over to our representative for transport here to face charges. Failure to do so will be taken as an act of war and dealt with accordingly.

  “A similar message is to be sent with the taskforce heading out to relieve Taskforce Liberator. If Savitar VI wants our assistance, they will fully cooperate with the investigation, no hesitation and no attempts to hide anything from our people. Failure to comply will mean a complete withdrawal of all allied ships in the system and a cessation of allied aid in any form.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, Fuercon will, first and foremost, do everything necessary to protect its citizens and interests. Our next obligation is to our allies, those who have stood with us against the Callusian threat. But to accomplish that, we must take the fight to the Callusians and end this war once and for all. The first step to doing so is moving our ships into position to launch the final strike. The second step is to find out everything we can about the biotoxin and how to protect our people from it. If any of you are not fully onboard with me on this, I will accept your resignations now. Otherwise, you have work to do.” He pinned each of them with a firm look. One by one, they stood and even the civilians braced to attention and assured him they were with him. Good.

  “We will meet again in two days. I want updates morning and evening until then.”

  With that, he turned and left the conference room. As he did, he hoped they had time to regroup and adapt not only their tactics but their equipment to the Callusians’ latest threat. Otherwise, the war would end, but not in the way he wanted.

  Fuerconese Taskforce Avenger

  Savitar VI System

  “Ma’am, are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you?”

  Ashlyn shook her head without looking up from her report. No one could get her what she wanted: Talbot and the others back safe and sound. They’d died trying to shield the taskforce, specifically the flagship. Nothing she did or said could change that. They’d died heroes, sacrificing their lives so others could live. Exactly what she expected of all her Marines—what she expected of herself. Not that it made their loss, especially Talbot’s, any easier to accept.

  “Go get some rest, Corporal. I’m going to finish my report and then do the same.”

  She listened as Corporal Branz left her quarters. Once the hatch slid shut behind the young man, Ash leaned back with a sigh. Then she stood and crossed the room. A moment later, the sound of whiskey being poured filled the air. She sipped, poured some more and returned to her desk.

  Three weeks. Three long weeks since the taskforce came so close to destruction thanks to Fonteneau’s betrayal. Three weeks while they waited for reinforcements, praying the enemy didn’t return first. Three weeks where she’d been unable to truly mourn her dead. The only good to come during that time was Fonteneau’s arrest. He’d face Fuercon’s justice for what happened, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

  Sipping the whiskey, she ordered the screen across the room to activate. A moment later, the image came into focus and she smiled grimly. Every night she watched the same scene, Fonteneau in his cell several decks below. It was the closest Admiral Collins let her get to the man now that he was in custody. Not that she blamed him. Collins knew her well enough to recognize her need for vengeance. Unfortunately. Instead of getting a modicum of satisfaction from Fonteneau, she had to be content with
watching him in his cell.

  She sipped some more whiskey as she returned to her desk. Two weeks as a prisoner had changed Fonteneau. Gone was the man’s bluster. Now he looked beaten. The medical staff warned he might turn suicidal. Hearing it, Ash ordered around the clock monitoring of the man. She wouldn’t let him take the coward’s way out. He would stand before the bar and face judgment for what he’d done.

  She closed her eyes, the whiskey glass dangling from one hand. For a moment, she allowed herself to imagine what it would have been like had her brother not stopped her the morning they took Fonteneau into custody. She’d been prepared to be the first through the door, hoping, praying the former governor tried to resist. She’d have killed him without a second thought.

  And Mike knew it. She had no doubt Admiral Collins did as well and that was why he’d made sure her brother was part of the team, even though she was the Marine CO on the mission. Even as resentment rose, deep down she knew they were doing everything they could to protect her and save her career. Not that it helped just then.

  Opening her eyes, she watched as Fonteneau pushed off from the bunk where he’d been sitting. He paced the length of his cell, watching the cell door as he did. He might be beaten but he had yet to give up hope that escape was still possible. God, she wanted him to try. More than that, she wanted to be there when he did. That would be her excuse to kill him, preferably very slowly and very painfully.

  Get a grip, Ash. You do that and you’re no better than him.

  The need for vengeance burned deep inside. Since her return from the penal colony on Tarsus the previous year and her subsequent pardon, she’d come close on several occasions to losing control. It didn’t matter that most of those responsible for all that happened to her and those under her command on the Arterus mission had been brought to justice. They lived while her people had died or had been brought up on charges and sent to the penal colony with her. Worse, they still didn’t know exactly how deep the conspiracy ran. FleetIntel and the JAG were still investigating. Ash knew she might never have all the answers about what happened and that rankled her more than she wanted to admit.