I laughed at him, causing his finger to twitch.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with general. My people only arrived here a matter of weeks ago. We spent the last several months fighting the Darkness, and after them, the Keerah are just a nuisance."
"The Darkness is a myth."
"The Darkness is a myth, NOW. When you want to see the truth, I'm more than happy to show you what one looks like, and how they threatened the galaxy. I can also introduce you to a Keerah white, who lived through those months, and was a part of the solution which locked the Darkness away forever."
I gave him a serious look, ignoring the gun.
"When I use the analogy of a dragon, I am not joking. I'm tired of war. My people don’t want another war. But if you insist on having one, be warned the entirety of your space is a small place to me, and your homeworlds will not be safe from my fleets. If I need to burn your planets down to the bare rock, I will do so as fast as I can locate them. And I will start with Keerah itself."
He pulled the trigger.
Seated as I was, there was no way I wasn’t going over backwards, even braced and ready for it. The chair went over, and I rolled off it and over, rising back to my feet, and bracing again. The second shot took me in the chest, and I stood there solidly. My suit shifted into full protection mode and the next one took me in the face between the eyes.
The tiger was shocked, and continued to pump shots into me, until I finally put a rift in front of the barrel, and the next shot went through it, emerging just over the gun itself, turning it into junk. My suit shifted back to my uniform.
For a moment, we stared at each other.
Behind me, the door opened. I maintained eye contact with the Keerah.
"You okay boss?" asked BA.
"Perfectly fine Master Command Sergeant Major. Am I going to like what's happening on the other side of that door?"
"Probably not. But the general wasn’t going to take any chances with your safety, so we secured the area around this room."
"Well you can tell the general she can unsecure it. I'm almost done here."
"Aye sir."
The door closed.
"I apologize for the overprotectiveness of my team. I expect a few of your people are out cold, but they should recover in a few hours. And no, we are not here to take you. I could, easily, but I’d rather you communicated with your superiors, and began a withdrawal from this system. And before you ask, I could if I wished destroy this station the moment I'm back on my ship, which although small, could still rip the central guts out with but a button press. But I know you have civilians docked here, and I'm not interested in harming them."
He began opening his mouth.
"Don’t test me general. We can take this station from you any time we wish. And if you are still in control of it when the deadline expires, it will be taken from you. As will all the others. You sent troops to take stations from my allies. My people took them back very easily. I have prisoners, including whites, and they can be negotiated for with the non-aggression pact I want from you. Tell your superiors, and get out of this system."
With his mouth hanging open, I put a rift right in front of me, and stepped through onto the bridge of Gunbus, closing it on a surprised Keerah. Jane swiveled around to look at me, as I took my seat again.
"That went well."
"Damn."
"What?"
"I left the chair behind."
Jane started laughing, and I found I had to join in. The others started filing in a few minutes later, with Syrinx trailing in last. Well that answered that question.
I replaced the laughter with a scowl, and waited for them all to be seated.
"Jane, show me the flagship of the fleet at the jump point, and back us off a bit."
"Confirmed."
A screen popped up, with the appropriate ship highlighted. Gunbus moved back from the airlock. The rift formed in front of us, and I adjusted it to be right up the flagship's arse, just far enough back for us to fire safely.
"Go."
Thrusters fired just enough to slide us through, and I dropped the rift immediately. Jane was looking at me. I nodded.
Every front facing gun and torpedo launcher fired through just big enough holes in the ship suit, and the engines of the ship in front of us exploded. I opened another rift, nodded at Jane again, and Gunbus returned to Redoubt.
"That won't have destroyed the ship," said Amanda.
"Not my intention."
"What was?" asked Annabelle.
"To reinforce with the general we're able to hit them hard any time we want. I told him I had a small ship this time, and the admiral of the fleet will confirm it was able to significantly damage the station had I wanted to. With luck, it will be enough."
"And if it wasn’t?" asked BA.
"You go in and take the station from them, while the fleet clears the system of all enemy ships."
"We'll start planning it immediately," said Annabelle. "Just the one we just visited?"
"No, all three. And after that, we'll take the Ralnor one as well. But I'm hoping we won't need to."
"I think you're being too optimistic," said Aline.
"Possibly. But I had to try."
The clunks of docking to Redoubt wafted up from below, and everyone started to rise.
"Jon?"
"Jane?"
"The council requests your presence immediately."
"Oh joy!"
I hadn't been looking forward to the call, but the only surprise was how long it had taken to come.
Thirty Nine
David Tollin was at one end of the long table, with ten councilors along each side.
On the opposite end was an empty chair, and I sat in it. Aline took a parade rest stance behind me, and to one side. Eyes flickered from me to her, and back again.
"Welcome back admiral," said David. "We have a few issues to discuss, but first, can you give us a summary of what's happening outside our space?"
"Fighting continues in Reaper's Crossroad, and if anything, it's getting worse. Admiral Bentley has the Redoubt jump point under control, and nothing is getting through."
"Are we really calling the system that?" asked a woman half way along the side to my right.
"I am. For the moment, it doesn’t belong to us, so it’s a moot point, but given it is a galactic crossroad, and the only one enjoying himself in there is the grim reaper, I think it's appropriate."
"Quite," said David. "System names are on the agenda. What of our allies?"
"Potential allies. I'm not aware of any treaties having been signed yet." David shook his head. "For now, we continue to protect humans who need protection. Battlestations are now in place at each key jump point, and the shipyard is concentrating on making enough for us to control Crossroad very soon. The two ends of Thorn's space are now secure, as are both magician systems."
"When do you intend to take Crossroad?"
"I've just come back from a social visit with a Keerah general." Shock showed on most of their faces, and was quickly removed by most. "I offered them the advantages of our station network for their entire space, if they pull back from the system they're in, creating a neutral zone until we can get non-aggression treaties in place."
"And if they don’t?" asked Ravi Singh.
"I gave them a Keerah day to evacuate. After that, I told him I’d destroy their fleets, and take the stations."
"Is that the actual plan?" asked David.
"I hope not. I’d rather the Keerah came to their senses, but they probably won't. So we're going to need to do it at least once. Possibly three times. And if they keep on coming, eventually I'm going to have to go to Keerah itself."
"And do what?" asked a man to my left.
"Whatever is needed to make them respect us enough to come to terms."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," said another of the women.
"I don’t like the sound of it myself. But unless we continually b
uild up defenses, one day they will hit us with more than we can cope with. They have the industrial might of a third of the core galaxy to hit us with, and the only thing stopping them right now is the distance involved. Before they can get overwhelming force here, I want this war ended. They haven't figured out how to get enough force through a jump point yet to take us. But they will. And I’d prefer we have treaties in place long before that."
"As do we," said David. "On that note, we have things to discuss."
"Such as?"
"Who owns what assets?"
"All space assets are owned by me personally, with the exception of those owned by the Apricot Mapping Service and John Slice personally, and a chunk of the shipyard yet to be determined, owned by Bob Derr. Mine include this station, Redoubt, and the mining station. Terminus is also owned by me, but dedicated to diplomacy and trade. The ships guarding the Redoubt jump point, and the Wayward Fleet I'm using beyond my space are all mine. I'm not sure Hunter Security still exists, but in any case, that was mine as well. The three explorer ships are another matter. Galactica effectively belongs to my father. The other two belonged to Earth, but were resurrected by me, so I guess I own them as well."
"What do you see which isn’t yours?"
"The planets between here and Redoubt. Technically the resources of the asteroid fields in the systems belong to the new government, but I'm mining them at the moment to keep the fleets updated. The cost of defending us and prosecuting an offensive war are on me, so I'm using what is available until this ends. After, we can start talking about buying or taxing resources."
"Which brings us to tax."
"As far as I'm aware, I'm not actually collecting much of anything. Most of our people are living rent free on my stations, and only those making an income are paying rent or tax. It's not much. Have you come up with a tax policy yet?"
"For now, we're going to continue your flat ten percent rate. You own the only bank we have, but it will continue to be required to collect tax on transactions. We've discussed this with Jane, and it's already happening. We assume you don’t have a problem paying ten percent tax as well, since the majority of tax money is going to come through you for the short to medium term. At least until we get people settled on planets. And even then, many are not going to want to leave the stations."
"I have no problem with the tax. Jane can organize it. I don’t really want to know the mechanics. All I need for now is raw materials to turn into ships and missiles. And funds to pay people. I have enough for now, and Bob tells me we're mining convertible minerals which can be turned into funds if need be. The war can be financed this way, and it is one reason why I built the trade network, so we can sell precious metals and gems into other markets, to generate cash to pay our people with, so they can pay rent and tax, which will build an economy."
"Why include the Keerah?" asked someone.
"The cost of moving goods from one end of their space to the other would be prohibitive. But if we can move it for them in days instead of months or years, there is a lot to be made doing it, and in the process, a lot of local economies will benefit. Especially where they have perishables wanted elsewhere which take too long to move. It's just a matter of linking everyone up. The further the network goes, the more opportunities for trade occur. The Keerah can't see this yet."
"What about the Ralnor?"
"Next on my list. I was about to visit their adjacent station when you called me here. Ultimately, I see being able to link together two thirds of the galaxy for trade purposes, with us collecting transport fees for each movement, which will provide us an income capable of supporting our society for centuries to come."
I sighed.
"But we need to win a war first?" suggested David.
"There is that."
"Actually," said Ravi, "the income figures I've already seen for just the systems already joined are quite impressive. The fees are not individually great, but the stations are moving an incredible amount of goods around already, and the fees are accumulating nicely. All of this is Jon's income, but as soon as we get people on planets and the stations connected to them, we can start charging our own end of the process. As are our potential allies already on their planets. As the network grows, so will incomes from what it moves around. The further the network extends, the more we make on our ends, and from tax on Jon's part of it."
"Which brings me to the next issue," said David. "We meet tomorrow with all our potential allies, to see if we can form some sort of formal alliance. We first need non-aggression pacts in place, which should be a formality. Then we can start on something bigger."
"I don’t want to be involved."
"You need to be. As the admiral in charge of, and who owns a fleet capable of destroying any planet on your whim, it is essential you be involved."
"Jane can represent me."
"Technically, Jane would be representing her own people."
"She can do both."
"We think not."
"I'll talk to her. Perhaps what she should be doing is getting one of her people to step up as a full time ambassador. They'll need one at some point anyway, so might as well start now."
"That might work. But you will need to be involved. If we get an alliance started, it will need its own military, and the best of what is available to form it is yours. You are also the highest rank, and your people have the most experience. Of all our potential allies."
"For now, my focus is on stopping the conflict and keeping those I've undertaken to protect safe. I don’t care about the politics. I will not be beholden to political oversight, at least until the main conflict is resolved, or we determine it cannot be resolved in the short to medium term."
"This is what has worried us the most," said the first woman.
"I'm well aware of this. But I will not be shackled by people who have no idea how to fight a war. You either trust me and my senior officers, or you don’t."
"And if we don’t?" asked the man next to me on the left.
"Let me make something quite clear. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be fighting a war, let alone leading the fight. But I will do what needs to be done. If you try to manage me, I'll simply vanish like Thorn seems to have done. When the war is either over or diminished enough, we can talk about collective militaries forming one, and what my role might be. In the meantime, these are my ships and people at risk, and I intend to end the current conflict any way I can, as soon as I can. You can let me do it, or you can let me go."
"We'll let you do it," said David, his eyes raking around the table. "But at some point, the new alliance will form a collective military, and we will require at least some of your ships to form the core of it, which will include your largest ones, which everyone agrees should not be in the hands of a single person."
I nodded. Even I knew that. The damn things were too big, and way too destructive. Even wielded by a government they were way too big and destructive. But for now, they were my ace in the hole.
"When the time comes, we'll discuss it. If you have questions for me as you build this alliance, address them through Jane, and I’ll supply answers if I can. But if you pull this thing together in the short term, whatever formal body goes with it will have to accept I have a private navy doing their dirty work, and it answers to me. Maybe we go back to being a mercenary force or something, sub-contracted to the alliance. If you can't get agreement on that, maybe it's better you don’t form any alliance. It’s not ideal, in any sense, but it is reality."
"We understand, and I think you'll find our potential allies all understand as well."
"Was there anything else?"
"No admiral."
"Standing behind me is Lieutenant Takai. She is now my aide, so all business you have with me in the future, should go through her."
"Understood."
I nodded to David, rose, and we left.
Forty
After lunch, we did the whole station visit thing again.
This time I issued orders keeping everyone on the ship unless something drastic happened. No-one was happy, but they did accept this really was a social call, and I could get myself out of it if I needed to.
With Gunbus pressed up against the Ralnor station on the other side of Crossroad, I stepped through the rift.
"Welcome Admiral Hunter. I've been expecting you."
The roo standing behind the desk had a lot of white fur, especially around the muzzle. He was the equivalent of our three stars, but wore nothing showing either rank or decorations. The rank was on the plaque on his desk. Since everyone else outside his office wore a waistcoat with at least rank insignia, his not wearing it was a good indication he didn’t need to show it.
I nearly lost my stride on being addressed so quickly, but continued across to the chair he was indicating. When I looked down at it, it turned out to be designed for humans.
"Expecting me?"
He laughed.
"After your visit to the Keerah, it was only a matter time before you came here, since this is the only one of our stations you might know about. At least we hope it is."
"May I congratulate your intelligence service?"
"You may. The Keerah think theirs is first rate, but next to ours, they are rather amateur. Yours is either really good, or non-existent. But give us a little time, and we will make a determination."
He was grinning.
"Time, yes. We've only been here a few weeks, and are still getting a handle on this four way war that’s broken out."
"Oh the war has been going on for centuries. All you did was trigger the next phase a bit earlier than expected by anyone, and in a different place than all the planning on all sides provided for."
"My apologies. We were but exploring our local space when we dropped into the middle of things unexpectedly."
He gave me an appraising look.
"Your appearance through a previously unknown jump point was a surprise, and we do regret how the fleet commander on the scene reacted. But what is done is done. I trust you are aware we stopped trying to enter your space several days ago?"
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