“It’s not so simple as that. For a start, we’ve got to protect the trade routes to Mars, Venus, and the Senate keeps calling for aggressive action. They’ve even got a point. You don’t win a war by hiding in the trench.”
“You do until you have enough men that you can risk charging the machine gun,” Corrigan reported. “Hold the line, build your fleets, win the war. It really should be as simple as that.”
“Unfortunately, we’ve got intelligence reports that suggest that isn’t going to be an option. The Belters have a way of turning over the table. They’re going to throw rocks at us.” She looked at the wall, her eyes seemingly distant, and continued, “We’ve learned that they are building automatic mass drivers, large ones, and they’re attaching them to Earth-crossing asteroids. Dozens of them. We’ve launched a few probing strikes to try and knock out their installations, but they’re keeping them very well guarded.”
“Christ,” Corrigan replied. “How many, how big?”
“More than thirty, ranging from a quarter-mile to more than a mile across. Not large enough to do any permanent damage to the biosphere, but that won’t matter if they slam into our biggest cities. We’d be looking at a death toll in the hundreds of millions. At least, we would if it ever happened. Our best strategists predict that we’ll surrender first. As long as we gave up the war early enough, they’d divert the rocks away.”
“Except that they’d always be out there,” Corrigan said. “A Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, ready to strike if we had the temerity to make any sort of move against them.” He looked up at Alvarez, and said, “I’ve asked you this a couple of times. Why are you here?”
“Because I need you, Bill,” she replied, setting next to him on the cramped bed. “I need you very badly. You’re still one of the most aggressive, unorthodox combat commanders we’ve got. I’ve got to get you back onto the bridge of a ship where you belong.”
“One ship isn’t going to make much of a difference, Admiral, and while I’ll be happy to take a look at the enemy defenses, if they’re as tight as you say, I doubt that there will be any way for us to get through.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but that isn’t what I have in mind.” A wry smile crossed her face, and she added, “There aren’t that many people wearing our uniform who have done much interstellar travel. Belt scientists discovered the warp drive, and they’ve spread out across quite a few of the nearby stars, settling and colonizing. Our intelligence suggests that they’re having some trouble out there already, and given their attitude towards Earth, I’m not at all surprised. We can take advantage of that.”
“Just what do you have in mind?”
She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a holoprojector, placing it carefully on the floor and activating it. Hovering in the middle of the room was the image of a ship, a starship, twin rings of the warp field generators surrounding a stubby cylinder. The lines were familiar, and Corrigan looked at Alvarez with a raised eyebrow.
“That’s a fast freighter, Admiral.”
“I’m glad our little trick is working,” she said with a smile. “That’s precisely what it’s meant to look like. It’s a Q-Ship, designed to mimic a blockade runner. In fact, it’s packing eight particle cannons, the most sophisticated electronic warfare suite every designed, boosted magnetic shields, the works.” She shook her head, and said, “She’s one-of-a-kind, and I’m very much afraid she’s going to stay that way.”
“Let me guess. Cost.”
“Cost and complexity. We’re moving to the design of simpler, modular ships, designed just for a short, hopefully victorious war. We can put ten ships into the line for the cost of this one vessel. And yet, we’ve got Avenger in commission, and I managed to get permission from the Combined Chiefs to make use of her. She can’t go into the line, and that would be waste of her in any case. She’s the fastest warship ever designed, among other things.”
“But still one ship, Admiral,” Corrigan said, a gleam in his eye. “You want me to take her out, go hunting among the stars.”
“I want to you to go and unleash Hell, Commander. Hit their supply lines, depots, defensive installations. Work with any resistance movements you find out there and see if you can’t give them enough support to overthrow the Belters. Make as much trouble as you can, enough that they’ll have to pull forces back from the front lines to deal with them.”
“One ship,” Corrigan said, shaking his head. “That’s a hell of a mission.”
“That it is, and there aren’t many officers around who would even have a chance of pulling it off. You’re one of them.” She paused, then added, “To make this situation even more complicated, this mission has to be completely secret. As of this moment, there are only ten people who know what we’re planning, and each of them has been thoroughly vetted. They’re clean. The only advantage we’ve got, the only chance we have to press this attack home, is to make maximum use of surprise. I know well enough that the Belters have agents on Earth, some of them in high places.”
“We’ve got them in the Belt Confederation,” Corrigan replied. “I suppose it makes sense to assume the reverse is true.”
“If it isn’t,” she replied, “then some of our defeats have been even more embarrassing than I already think.” Folding her hands together, she added, “Putting you in command keeps everything contained. I’ll leave it to you to brief the crew. It isn’t as though they’re going to have an opportunity to pass it on to anyone, and I will be thoroughly checking anyone riding that ship with you.” Looking across at him, she added, “The reward will be freedom. Once the war is over, Intelligence provides all of you with new lives, and a chance to start over wherever you want. Nobody will be looking for you.”
Corrigan’s eyes widened once more, and he said, “All of us?”
“You’ll be recruiting your crew from the inmates of this facility,” she said. “I’ve got the full personnel files, and you’ll have the rest of the day to choose anyone you want. The cover story is that we’re looking for a few people we can parole to work in a training capacity, with a hint that we’re getting desperate enough that you might be thrown into the line if things go bad.”
“Whereas in reality, we’re already there,” Corrigan said. “Let me get this straight, Admiral. The last, best hope of the Terran Republic is an experimental, one-of-a-kind covert warfare ship and the crew of renegades and criminals running her.”
“That’s about it,” she replied with a smile. “There’s far less chance that the enemy have infiltrated this place. It’s got to be a fairly low-priority target, and we’re moving quickly enough that they won’t have time to adapt. You are scheduled for departure tomorrow morning. We’ll launch a probing attack on Belter facilities…”
“Tomorrow morning,” Corrigan interrupted. “What time?”
“0630 hours,” she said. “Time for breakfast, first.”
“That’s very considerate of you, Admiral, but you want me to put all of this together in less than twenty hours?”
“Eighteen, actually,” she replied with a smile. “I’ll see that the guards return your watch immediately, as well as getting you something more resembling a uniform. Once you have chosen your crew, you’ll be taken to a transit shuttle. From then you are on your own. Avenger is waiting in an orbital dock with a skeleton crew, engineers who have been told that they are preparing for a shakedown cruise to try out some of the new systems in a month’s time. No hurry, and hopefully, no Belter attention.”
“I just board the ship, load the engineers into a shuttle, and blast off into the void.”
“That’s the basic idea. You’ll need five crew to run her. She’s highly automated. You get to choose, but…”
Shaking his head, Corrigan replied, “Forget it, Admiral. I choose them. If you have suggestions, I’ll listen, but I make the call.”
“You haven’t changed a bit, have you,” Alvarez replied.
“Let me put it this way, Admiral,” Corrigan said. “If
I’m going to do this damned crazy thing, then I’m going to do it my own damned crazy way.”
She chuckled, and replied, “Now how on Earth can I turn down an argument like that.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll skip the mass murderers and psychopaths, but I’m not the only person here that someone decided should be put out of the way.”
Raising an eyebrow, she said, “That’s an interesting interpretation of the chain of events that got you here.”
He smiled, then replied, “Right now, Admiral, I think that it is my interpretation that counts.” He paused, then added, “I’m going to need a complete copy of everything, and I mean everything you have on the extrasolar situation. I don’t want to hear anything about security classifications. Every piece of data you have might just be enough to give me a start, and I’ll make the interpretations on my own.”
“You know…”
“You need me, Admiral, or you wouldn’t be here talking to me. You’ve got a job for me to do. Give me the tools to get it done.”
Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “Is there anything else?”
“Not right now, but I’m sure I’ll think of something before we leave.”
She paused, nodded, and said, “I’ll get you what you need. Just get this done, Commander. The fate of the whole damned planet is riding with you.” With a smirk on her face, she added, “No pressure.” She paused, then continued, “Oh, and there’s one more complication.”
“Great,” he said with a sigh. “What is it?”
“That starship? You’re going to have to steal it.”
“Steal it?” Shaking his head, he said, “This just gets better and better.”
“I don’t think it’s a serious problem, is it? Just make sure you recruit a few good thieves to your crew. Given the available personnel, that shouldn’t be hard.” She looked at him for a moment, then asked, “Will you do it?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Everyone has a choice, Bill.”
He smiled, shook his head, and said, “I don’t. I’ll do it. Don’t ask me how, but I’ll do it. Now pass me that roster. We’ve got work to do.”
Chapter 2
Lieutenant Catherine Carter wiped the sweat from her forehead before digging deep into the innards of the sensor console, trying to make the adjustments that would bring the primary systems back on-line. One final tweak, and the console burst into life, sensors immediately beginning to track the decoys she’d launched an hour ago, still running alongside Avenger.
“That did it,” she said, sliding out of the inspection hatch and scrambling to her feet. She looked around the bridge, still in awe of the design even after two weeks on board, the holographic displays flickering information at the vacant chairs, the touchscreens gleaming and new, every detail perfected. The designers had been given what amounted to an unlimited budget, and they’d used every credit well.
“Lieutenant Carter, Ensign Lopez, report to Engineering,” barked the voice of Commander Hanson from the overhead speaker. “On the double.”
“Commander,” Lopez said, “I haven’t finished the fine-tuning on the lateral thruster array yet. Give me another hour or so…”
“You’ll have the time, but after the meeting. This is an all-hands call, and urgent.” With a soft chuckle, he added, “Don’t worry, it’s good news.”
Wiping her hands on her jacket, Carter walked to the elevator, Lopez hurrying to follow. The systems automatically engaged, the security system detecting their conversation and sending them to the location that had been discussed, a light flashing on the wall to give them the opportunity to override the destination that the two of them ignored.
“You think we’re going into action?” Lopez asked.
“I think they’re going to need to put a crew on this ship first,” Carter replied. “Four people can’t run a warship, and none of us are combat-rated.” She grimaced, then said, “Though that’s probably what they’ve got in mind. Things are bad out there. You hear about Commodore McBride? Belters caught his convoy just short of Triton. They’re scattered to the solar winds now. Five ships destroyed, three captured, eight on the run, and heaven knows when they’re going to make it home. Or if.”
“We shouldn’t be operating that far out,” Lopez said.
“When did you join the General Staff?” she asked. “We’ve got to maintain our offworld colonies, and under the terms of our agreement with the Martians, we’ve got to supply Tritonian extremophiles. If we don’t, the Belt will, and that’s one of the last dominoes left to fall.”
The doors slid open, and the two of them walked into Engineering, one of the largest rooms on the ship. On most warships, the room would have been divided up, split into cramped sections, but the designers of this vessel had preferred an open plan concept, allowing a far smaller crew to operate the ship, even in combat. Most cruisers needed a crew of a hundred. Avenger could operate with ten, half that if it had to. The future of warfare, right here.
“Lieutenant,” Hanson said, “Glad you could join us. As I’m sure the two of you have guessed, our orders have come through at last.”
“At last?” Lopez replied. “We’ve only been on board for a fortnight.”
“When are we shipping out, sir?” Carter asked.
“Midnight,” Hanson said.
“Midnight?” she replied, taking a step forward. “That’s completely out of the question, sir. We can’t have this ship ready for battle by then. We need at least another week, preferably two, and…”
Raising a hand, Hanson smiled, and said. “Relax, Lieutenant. Believe it or not, all of that has been taken care of. Apparently, this ship has been allotted a lower priority in the scheduling. Officially, I haven’t the slightest idea why that might be, but off the record, I understand that there’s a battle royale taking place down at Fleet Operations about who gets to ride this ship. The fact that she can sustain a sizable Admiral’s staff probably has something to do with it. Given that no decision has been made…”
“Then we can spend the time with more preparations, maybe a shakedown cruise to Lunar orbit, give the engines a proper baseline…,” Lopez said. “The longer we’ve got, the better, right?”
“Ours is not to reason why, Ensign,” Hanson said. “We’re getting a week’s leave, and the transfer shuttle will be coming at midnight.”
“Leave?” Carter asked, glancing at Lopez. “Sir, I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but we’re in a state of war right now, and this is the most advanced ship in the Terran Fleet. We can’t sit around sunning ourselves on some beach while the Belters attack…”
“Don’t be so anxious to get into the fight, Lieutenant.” Hanson paused, then said, “My understanding is that we’re probably going to be working around the clock for the next year or so, working on ship construction and preparation. They’re expanding the fleet to ten times its peacetime size over the next eighteen months, and you wouldn’t believe the corners they are proposing to cut to pull that off. Realistically, this is the last leave we’re going to get until the war’s over. You might as well take it for the gift that it is. Besides, don’t you want to see that fiancé of yours?”
Her face darkened, and she replied, “I’d need to consult a spirit medium to do that. He was posted missing last month.” She took a step forward, and said, “I don’t need shore leave, Commander, and I don’t have anyone down on the surface to waste time with. If my services are not required on this ship, then I’m damned certain that there must be somewhere else I am needed, and I request that…”
“Denied, damn it,” Hanson barked. “For God’s sake, Lieutenant, do I have to order you to take some time off? You’re working sixteen-hour days, and that’s a fast way to burn yourself out. I don’t care about whether or not you work yourself into a meltdown, but I do care if it affects the quality of your work output. Nobody can push themselves as hard as you are. That’s a fact.”
“No, sir, with all due respect, that’s an opinion.”
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Cracking a smile, Lopez said, “I’m happy to stay on board and keep working as well, sir. My folks will understand if I skip this one, and I…”
“The two of you will go up to the bridge, you will complete the tasks to which you are currently assigned, and…”
“Sir, I cannot possibly do midnight,” Carter said. “And if you’d looked at the maintenance schedules, you’d know why. I just finished repairs on the sensor relay inputs. That’s taken most of the week, and I’ve got to monitor the systems for the next eight hours to make the necessary adjustments. If I don’t finish it now, I’ll have to start all over again.” Glancing up at the clock, she added, “That takes me to around oh-five hundred.”
“Lieutenant…” Hanson replied.
“She’s right, sir,” Lopez protested. “I’ve been helping her with it. We can’t leave that job half-done.”
“Fine,” Hanson said. “I’ll arrange for a transit shuttle to be left alongside. As soon as you are finished you can head over to Gateway Station and arrange transit to the surface. I will be checking up, Lieutenant, and if you don’t report to Gateway by oh-six hundred, I will want to know why. Is that completely understood?”
“It is, sir,” she replied. “Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t thank me, Lieutenant. I’m doing this under protest.” Gesturing at the elevator, he added, “Don’t let me interrupt your work. And make sure you have everything packed and ready to go in plenty of time.”
“Will do, Commander,” she replied, retreating to the elevator, Lopez right behind her. They stepped over the threshold, the systems automatically taking them back up to the bridge, and she said, “That could have gone a little better, I think.”
“What the hell are they up to down there?” Lopez asked. “We ought to be working like mad to get this ship ready for action. Even if they haven’t decided just how they’re going to use her yet, that doesn’t mean…”
“I’d say I presume they know what they are doing, but I don’t for one moment believe that’s the case, and I suspect you don’t either,” she replied. “We’re struggling, Jake. You realize that the Republic Fleet has never actually fought a war? All of our experience comes from the Nationalist Wars, and they burned out five decades ago. There isn’t a single ship or officer in service now that was then. They’ve got eighty-year-old tactical instructors at the Academy just to try and get some experienced veterans into the training routine.”
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