Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  “Indeed,” the young woman who had spoken first agreed.

  “You shall have it,” Christine promised. “I will sign it personally.”

  “Deals and contracts and triple pay will mean nothing if you are defeated,” another smuggler, a man in his thirties said. Christine thought he was called Haken. Whoever he was, his voice was full of disdain. “This is not our work; I have no desire to die for your cause.”

  Christine allowed some of the anger she was feeling into her voice. “This is not just my cause. You are a fool if you think that it is. Every Human life is threatened. If we do fail and we are conquered, then yes, my offer is worthless. Yet so is everything else you have. Do you think the Karacknids will allow you to go on smuggling once they have conquered our colonies? Do you think you could run and hide? Perhaps live out your life in a distant uncolonized world, or some hidden asteroid base?... Yes, you could do that,” Christine said with a nod. “But the Karacknids would still hunt you down. What kind of life would you have? Always on the run, always looking over your shoulder, never having a safe home. We are at an all or nothing point in this war. Everyone who can help must, we stand or fall together.”

  Though he said nothing, Haken held Christine’s stare. A part of her heart went cold when she saw that her words hadn’t moved him. She could see it in his eyes. He really did care for no one and nothing else. He’d let Earth and every colony burn just to serve his purposes, Christine thought, dismay filling her. She grit her teeth. So be it. “I’m not here to force any of you to do this,” she said as she forced her voice to be calm. “You have heard what I wanted to say. If you wish to sign on, you may remain and I will have the paperwork brought to us. If not, then I will not waste any more time on you.”

  There was a short period of silence. Then the smuggler who had spoken last stood up sharply. “I can’t believe the rest of you. I will not serve nor die for this woman. I didn’t vote for no empire nor no war.”

  Christine thought he was going to spit on the floor as he turned and stormed off towards the large double doors that led out of the throne room. She gave the rest of the smugglers a few seconds to consider their own response before asking, “Anyone else care to join him?” When no one stood and several smugglers shook their heads, Christine smiled at them. “Good,” she said with a nod. She half rose from her chair and gestured towards the two Imperial guards who were standing at the main doors into the throne room. As Haken went to pass between them, they grabbed him. There was a brief scuffle, but he was quickly subdued and dragged out of sight. When Christine sat back down, all of the smugglers had spun to watch. Slowly, one by one they turned back to her. When she had their attention she smiled as pleasantly as she could. “There are several warrants out for Mr. Haken’s arrest. He will be handed over to the relevant authorities and a full investigation carried out. If he is innocent, he will be set free. On that you have my word. For now though, all his ships and assets will be impounded. If they happen to be halfway to New Shanghai by the time Haken makes bail, then that will be a pity.”

  Seamus shook his head. “You would have arrested us all if we hadn’t agreed?”

  Christine nodded as she kept the same smile on her face. “Every single one of you,” she said in a far colder tone than her face communicated. “I will leave no stone unturned when it comes to getting what I need to protect my people. Be thankful then that you agreed to this. Keep your end of the bargain and I will keep mine.” With a nod to McCarthy, Christine stood and left the smugglers to it. She could trust McCarthy to get the paperwork sorted and bring it to her. She’d sign it and make sure each smuggler had their own copy before they left the Palace.

  “Andréa is going to go ballistic,” Fairfax said as he caught up with her just outside the throne room. “Organizing logistical supplies from forty-four colonies and ninety other systems is hard enough. Doing it while employing smugglers is going to be a nightmare.”

  “I’m sure it will be,” Christine replied as she felt a twinge of sympathy for Andréa. It was no small task being in charge of the fleet’s Research and Development and Logistics divisions. Yet Andréa was one of a kind. Christine was sure she would find a way, though she wouldn’t be happy that was for sure. “If we all live long enough to have to deal with them, it’s a nightmare I’ll happily face,” Christine added. “We made our conditions clear. If they do not live up to them, we will remove all their contracts and fulfil them ourselves.”

  Before Fairfax could say anything, they rounded a corner and found Patricia waiting for them. “Empress Christine,” she said as soon as she saw them. “Commodore Mandow has requested your presence in the C&C center.”

  Christine fought back a sigh, if there wasn’t one thing, there was another. “Lead on Patricia,” she said in a manner that didn’t reveal her emotions. “Do you want to come?” she asked as she half turned to Fairfax.

  Fairfax grinned at her, “Whatever it is, I’m sure you can handle it Empress. I have a pile of files to go through that would ordinarily take a week. I have given myself till this evening.”

  “Very well,” Christine said as she shooed Fairfax away. “Go and see to your files. Just make sure none land on my desk. “Shall we?” she asked as she turned back to Patricia.

  Patricia nodded quickly and turned to lead the way to the Palace’s C&C. When they stepped in, Christine couldn’t help but be drawn to the massive holo display of the Sol system. James had told her the Palace’s C&C had the largest military grade holo display yet built. The C&C was a large circular room with a diameter of more than one hundred meters. She reckoned the roof was at least twenty meters high. Nevertheless, the holo image of the Sol system dominated almost the entire room.

  “Empress,” Commodore Mandow called out, drawing her eyes back to ground level. “Thank you for coming. The Vestarian reinforcements have arrived. They are under the command of a Rear Admiral Malon’nal. He has requested to speak to you.”

  “Thank you Commodore,” Christine replied. “I presume I can speak to him here?”

  “Yes,” Mandow answered as he pointed up towards a group of eighty contacts that were approaching Earth. “His squadron should be in two-way COM range in a couple of minutes. You may speak to him from this terminal,” he said as he guided her to a COM station.

  “Thank you,” Christine said again as she took a seat. As she waited for Malon’nal’s flagship to come into range, she looked up at the holo display. Not for the first time, she was envious of Commodore Mandow’s job. Though she was sure managing all of the Sol system’s civilian and military traffic was an incredibly complex task, getting to stare at the massive holo projection of the system was a very pleasant benefit. Despite not having the professional eye James and most of her naval officers did, Christine was pleased as she began to pick out various things. She counted sixteen large orbital battlestations being towed towards the Beta shift passage. Half of them had come from Earth or Mars, but the other half were on courses that led back to the Alpha shift passage. They had been taken from colonies that had once belonged to the British Star Kingdom, French Republic, or Russian Star Federation. Wherever they had come from, they were going to New Shanghai. Streaming past the slow moving battlestations there were several hundred freighters all headed towards the Beta shift passage as well. No doubt they were laden with troops, munitions, fighters, or defense satellites.

  Further into the system, in high orbit above Earth was what was left of Home Fleet. Nogamoro was in the final stages of getting ready to leave. In another couple of days the two hundred ships he had gathered would depart for New Shanghai along with the massive swarm of freighters that were hovering around the warships. Alliance High Command had promised to immediately dispatch all their nearby border patrols. Within a week or two they would start to arrive. Perhaps as many as six hundred ships would eventually make it to Earth. Nogamoro had refused to wait for them though, he was eager to get going.

  Finally, she returned her gaze to the Vestarian wars
hips. With their own tachyon pulse generator, she had been able to inform Vestar of the Karacknid battlefleet within an hour of finding out herself. The eighty additional ships they had been able to scrape together and send to Earth would be greatly appreciated.

  “Rear Admiral Malon’nal is ready to speak to you,” a COM officer informed Christine just as her COM station beeped.

  Nodding to the officer, Christine reached out and activated the COM unit. A holo image of the Vestarian Admiral appeared in front of her. “Greetings Rear Admiral Malon’nal and welcome to Earth. We are glad to have you with us. Thank you for making such a quick journey here.”

  “Thank you for your welcome Empress, and may I pass on the greetings of Tak’ar. He asked that I speak to you personally and assure you that we will send as much help as we possibly can,” Malon’nal replied.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Christine responded. “Such assurances from your leader relieve some of my concerns. Are there any other ships that we can expect from your homeworld in the coming weeks?”

  “Some,” Malon’nal answered. “We are rushing the construction of ten ships that are nearing completion. There are another twenty or so that are expected to return from patrols or scouting missions. They will all be sent here as soon as they are able. Once they arrive though, that will be our entire fleet. We will have nothing more to send.”

  “Then your people have done more than I could have hoped,” Christine replied. “You have my assurances that my people will not forget.”

  “We know that we are all in this together,” Malon’nal said. “Even now Admiral Jil’lal is facing down this battlefleet with Emperor Somerville. My people and yours will fight side-by-side until this war is over.”

  Christine smiled at Malon’nal. “It seems Tak’ar has chosen the right Admiral to command his reinforcements. I’m sure you’re eager to make contact with Admiral Nogamoro and Home Fleet. I know he will enjoy getting to know you. No doubt he has many simulations for your people to run with his. I’ll not keep you any longer Rear Admiral. I will speak to you again before the fleet departs.”

  “Thank you for your time Empress. I know you will do everything you can to support the fleet.” Malon’nal gave a Human salute before he ended the COM channel. Christine looked up at the much larger holo display again. For a couple seconds she let her gaze linger over the projection of all the ships and planets in the Sol system. Then she let out a sigh and turned to find Patricia. She had far too many meetings to be wasting time stargazing. “Right, what’s next?” she asked as she stood.

  *

  Imperial Palace (two days later).

  “You’re going to want to see this,” Fairfax said as he rushed into Christine’s office without even knocking and thrust a datapad in front of her face.

  “What is it?” she asked as she frowned at Fairfax. She didn’t reach for the datapad. She wanted an explanation first.

  “It’s an FTL message from Kulthar. Superintendent Hallock has given permission for one of their worldships to accompany Home Fleet to New Shanghai,” Fairfax said, a massive grin on his face. “They actually responded positively to your request!”

  When Christine moved to take the datapad, Fairfax pulled away. “Are you sure you want to read it Empress?”

  Despite her stress and tiredness, Christine grinned back at Fairfax. She suddenly felt giddy. A Kulrean worldship was thirty or more times the size of a Karacknid dreadnought. She had no idea how good its weapons were, the Kulreans kept that a secret, but one worldship had to be worth sixty or maybe even a hundred dreadnoughts. “Give me that,” she growled as she snapped at the datapad again. “Don’t play games with your Empress!”

  Fairfax relented and handed her the datapad. She scanned through it and glanced at Fairfax. “I can hardly believe it,” she said. For the first time in several weeks she felt hope.

  “I know, I know,” Fairfax said, clearly as excited as her. “They took their time to decide, but they are actually sending one ship to help us. I know it says the worldship is only allowed to use its defensive weapons, but even so, that is going to help! The Karacknids are bound to attack them as soon as they see the ship. They will feel threatened for sure!”

  “Organize a COM call with Captain Kalong,” Christine requested, still not sure she believed it. She wanted to hear from Tranquility’s Captain herself.

  “Right away Empress,” Fairfax responded as he gave Christine an over exaggerated bow.

  Moments later the Kulrean appeared on her office’s holo projector. “Captain,” Christine said in her best formal tone. “I have just received a communication from Superintendent Hallock. He informs me that Tranquility has permission to accompany Home Fleet to the New Shanghai system?”

  “That is correct Empress. I have orders to accompany Admiral Nogamoro when he leaves later today,” Kalong confirmed. “My ship is not to be used for offensive operations, but if the Karacknids threaten New Shanghai or Tranquility herself, then I have authorization to use my ship’s point defenses. I have also been tasked with attempting to open negotiations with the Karacknids. If the battlefleet does reach New Shanghai, I would ask your permission to speak to them before any fighting breaks out. It is Superintendent Hallock’s hope that our species’ direct intervention could put an end to your war, or at least bring about a ceasefire.”

  Christine shared a glance with Fairfax, she was certain there was no hope that such an attempt would work but she was fine with Kalong trying. “Of course Captain, you may attempt to negotiate with the Karacknids. Neither I nor any of my commanders will attempt to prevent you. Though I would not get my hopes up if I were you.”

  “Thank you, Empress. We have to try even if the Karacknids will not listen to us. If they will not, then Tranquility may encourage them to reconsider.”

  “I hope that she does,” Christine said sincerely. She didn’t know if Kalong was overestimating his ship’s abilities, or if he seriously thought one Kulrean ship could turn back an entire Karacknid battlefleet. If he was right in his estimation of the balance of force, then she would be overjoyed.

  “If you do not mind Empress, I have many things to attend to. I understand Home Fleet will be departing within two hours?”

  “It will,” Christine confirmed. “I understand that you do not have any more time for me. I will inform Admiral Nogamoro that you will be joining his ships. Good luck Captain,” Christine finished as she gave Kalong a deep bow.

  “Thank you Empress,” Kalong said as he returned the gesture.

  As soon as the COM channel ended, Christine turned to Fairfax and shook her head. “Do you think one worldship could really tip the balance?”

  Fairfax shrugged. “Your knowledge of naval affairs is as good as mine. I’m sure Nogamoro will be pleased one way or the other.”

  “I’m sure he will,” Christine said as her grin returned. “Let’s give him a call and tell him ourselves.”

  When Christine got Nogamoro on a COM line, she was still grinning. This time it was at his facial expression; he was unable to hide his shock and surprise. “Just how much of a difference do you think Tranquility will make?” Christine asked after updating Nogamoro on everything Kalong had said.

  “Some,” the Admiral responded having got over his surprise.

  “Just some?” Christine pressed, not entirely happy with his answer.

  “We and the Alliance have had R&D teams analyze the Kulrean worldships as best we can. We still don’t know too much. Pound for pound I’d say the worldship is somewhere between two and three times deadlier than a Karacknid ship. But that’s really just an educated guess. It could be more.”

  “Then one ship isn’t going to turn back the threat of this Karacknid battlefleet?” Christine asked, her hopes suddenly falling.

  Nogamoro shook his head. “I’m afraid not, not on its own at least. But with Tranquility’s firepower added to everything else going to New Shanghai, it will help. And if the Karacknids attack the Kulrean ship, who knows wh
at might happen? If the Kulreans are dragged into this war it could change everything.”

  That hadn’t occurred to Christine. Though the Kulreans inhabited just one solar system, their industrial and technological base was far greater than all of Humanity’s colonies combined. It was probably greater than all of the Alliance species bar the Varanni as well. But it could be too late, Christine thought. Even if Tranquility was attacked and that stirred the Kulreans to join the war, the Karacknid battlefleet would conquer Earth before they could intervene. “Then our hopes still rest with Home Fleet and Admiral Somerville,” Christine said in a somber tone. Her earlier giddiness had evaporated. “Inform your officers and crew that the hope of all of the Empire’s citizens goes with you.”

  “They are already aware of the responsibility we hold,” Nogamoro assured her. “But I will inform them of your words, nonetheless. They will give us courage for the days ahead. With your permission Empress, my fleet is ready to begin final preparations for breaking orbit?”

  “Then you may proceed Admiral. Godspeed and good luck on your journey,” Christine said as Nogamoro saluted her. As the COM unit blinked off, Christine stood and glanced at Fairfax. “I hear many of the Palace staff and officers are gathering in the main foyer to watch the fleet’s departure. Shall we join them?”