by PP Corcoran
“Admiral Wilson, what a pleasant surprise. And may I ask what brings you to my spacious accommodation?”
Elizabeth Wilson eyed the fifty-something woman sitting on the bed and felt the tugging at the sides of her mouth as she tried to stop herself from allowing a satisfied smile to break her workman-like features.
“Ms. Thomas. You were detained trying to board a Zurich Lines private shuttle at Cape Town spaceport. A spaceport which at the time was under martial law, and your actions contravened orders from the federal government that all surface to orbit traffic was restricted to those of a military nature due to the ongoing emergency.”
Daya waved a hand dismissively. “I had urgent company business on Janus which couldn’t wait.” An arrogant sneer appeared on her face. “When you military fascists eventually release me from this illegal detention I intend to see everyone involved in my arrest court martialed and drummed out of the service… No matter what their rank, Admiral.”
“Well, at least we agree on one thing, Ms. Thomas, although you might find that our roles will be reversed.” As Elizabeth paused to activate the PAD in her hand, two men in FIB uniform entered the cell. One was holding a set of arm and leg restraints in his hands. Daya felt the cold hand of foreboding touch her shoulders.
“Pursuant to Article 19 of the Emergency Powers Act, once a person is detained under martial law, they and all their belongings are liable to search without warrant…”
Daya made to speak but Elizabeth cut her off.
“During a search of your personal belongings, authorities came into possession of encrypted data files. These files have now been decrypted and their contents reviewed. They have been found to contain certain compromising information about a number of key political and legal figures as well as details of illegal payments made to political election funds and bribes made to employees of Zurich Lines competitors.”
Elizabeth looked up from her PAD and she had a shark’s smile on her face. “Another file held details of contacts within the Alonan Empire. A shipyard manager named Arnjad Harb. And the now-deceased ship’s captain Jake Thackery. Although there are still some files awaiting decryption, it is the opinion of the Justice Department that there is sufficient evidence for you to be remanded into federal custody for the offenses of blackmail, industrial espionage, and my personal favorite… treason.”
The wail that escaped Daya came from a deep, dark place within her.
Without a second glance, Elizabeth walked from the cell. One down, one to go.
#
PRESIDENT’S PRIVATE RESIDENCE – GENEVA – EARTH – SOL SYSTEM
The select gathering in the president’s private office late in the evening comprised her inner circle. Olaf Helsett, Secretary of Defense. Edvard Dietel, the Adjutant General. Gillian Rae, senator and chair of the Science and Technology Committee. Carol Manning, Secretary of Finance. Thomas Crothers, Governor of Janus, and lastly, Patricia Bath, Special Adviser to the President.
This esteemed group all sat in comfortable chairs around a low coffee table but no one present fooled themselves that they were gathered for anything less than a major policy meeting. What was decided here tonight was going to have far-reaching implications for not only the future of the Coston government, but how man’s physical and political expansion into the universe was going to be dictated.
Rebecca looked over the rim of her steaming coffee cup at Olaf Helsett. The ex-admiral whom she had press ganged into the position of Secretary of Defense was chomping at the bit to get on. No time like the present, Rebecca. “Friends and colleagues. I’ve asked you to gather here tonight because I believe that we have reached a crossroads of sorts. A crossroads which I do not feel comfortable in making a change of direction without advice and input from people I trust not to try and color my vision but to tell me straight-up their thoughts and feelings.”
Rebecca placed her cup on the table and pushed her chair back as she stood, feeling the need to walk while she talked. The Others’ attack on Earth has changed the people’s mood in a radical way and has politicians from all sides baying for blood. The people want vengeance and whether or not you or I think this is a good thing, it is something that isn’t going to go away.”
“Operation Hades is scheduled to begin tomorrow. The day after at the latest,” interrupted Helsett gruffly.
Rebecca stopped her pacing and turned to face them with a concerned look on her face. “But will it be enough, Olaf?”
Olaf’s confused expression showed her the need to expand her question.
“Operation Hades is designed to destroy the Others’ ability to wage war on us or anybody else, for that matter. But again I ask you. Is that enough?”
It took a few moments, but as Rebecca waited, the esteemed gathering slowly understood what she meant. Patricia Bath was the first to utter the words in a hushed tone, as her eyes searched the president’s face.
“Surely we’re not talking about genocide here, Madam President?”
Rebecca held her nerve despite the fluttering in her stomach. “Why not? They came to Earth with the intention of killing every last one of us. When they were finished here, they would have moved on and done the exact same thing to every other living world in the Commonwealth. God knows how many other innocent civilizations they have destroyed in the past. Don’t they deserve the same fate?”
The shocked silence in the room held for a few seconds until it was broken by Gillian Rae. Of all the people in the room, Gillian probably had the most to hate the Others for. Her home, the Boreland Habitats, had been one of the off-world habitats unlucky enough to be on the Others’ route to Earth. The first naval vessel to reach the once-thriving colony had reported no survivors. What had been a search-and-rescue mission quickly became one of recovery only. Nearly one and a half million men, women, and children had perished in the attack. If anyone had the right to demand a blood settlement, it was she. Gillian couldn’t face her president.
“Madam President. If the purpose of this meeting is to advocate genocide, then I must withdraw. What you are suggesting is against all the principles that I have spent my life supporting. If you will excuse me, I can take no further part in this.”
Gillian stood slowly only to be stayed by Rebecca’s raised hand.
“Does anyone else feel that they could not support an order to completely eradicate the enemy home world?”
Without hesitation, each and every person present raised their hand. Rebecca felt the relief wash through her and a smile creased her weary face.
“Thank God for that. Gillian, please be seated.”
The confused looks which crossed all her guests’ faces invited explanation and was only exasperated by Rebecca’s small laugh.
“Excuse me, friends. I just had to know where you all stood. As you can imagine, I am under a huge amount of pressure to end the threat from the Others and there are quite a few calls from politicians of all ilk to simply wipe them from the face of the universe once and for all. I, and I’m glad to see you, are not of that mindset. I have no intention of wiping an entire race out of existence simply for the sake of revenge. Operation Hades will proceed as planned.”
The frown on the Olaf’s face let Rebecca know that he had something more to say. “Care to share, Olaf?”
The gruff ex-admiral’s mouth worked like he had swallowed something unpleasant. “It will not go exactly as planned, Madam President.”
Now it was Rebecca’s turn to be confused. “In what way, Olaf?”
Reaching into his inside pocket Olaf extracted an old-fashioned paper envelope and placed it in the center of the table. “Before I came here this evening, I had a visitor. With immediate effect, General Keyton Joyce has tendered his resignation as Chairman of the Combined Joint Chiefs of Staff and announced his intention to retire from military service.”
Rebecca’s shock at the announcement was reflected in the faces of the others. “His resignation is not accepted and you can tell him that from me,” s
pluttered Rebecca. “No one can blame Keyton for the attack. I’ll make a public announcement to that effect if I need to. No. You tell Keyton he’s staying put.”
Now it was Thomas Crothers’ turn to hold his hand up and halt the president. “Madam President. Think about this logically. General Joyce understands that there’s going to be a witch-hunt looking for someone, anyone, to blame for allowing the Others to come so close to killing us all. Joyce has done the honorable thing and has fallen on his sword.” Thomas gave a quick glance in Olaf’s direction. “If we are to believe the military estimates of what fighting strength the Others have remaining in their home system then whoever you replace him with will start their tenure with a crushing defeat of the enemy. And no matter what any senate investigation digs up, Joyce has already accepted ultimate responsibility for any actions of his subordinates, thereby protecting them and you.”
Rebecca’s face flushed red in anger even as the logical side of her brain accepted Thomas’ explanation. “I don’t need anyone’s protection, Thomas.”
“Don’t you?” said Edvard Dietel quietly.
Rebecca spun on him. “What do you mean by that, Edvard?”
Edvard took a moment to collect his thoughts. “What about the arrest of Seaton Anderson? We may have conclusive proof that he was involved in the selling of military technology to Alona, never mind being implicated in the murder of Thackery, along with bribery and blackmail, but that man has a long reach and a lot of friends in the senate. There’s no guarantee that what Daya Thomas was carrying at the time of her arrest was everything. I know if it were me, I wouldn’t have put all my eggs in one basket. Anderson undoubtedly has more files hidden away somewhere that he’ll pull out when the time is right.”
Carol Manning found herself nodding slowly in agreement with the Adjutant General. “Zurich Lines’ finances are a nightmare. My investigators are finding shell corporations within shell corporations. Anderson had his fingers in shipping, construction, defense, you name it. It could take years before we have enough to go to trial.”
“And all the time, Seaton Anderson will be sitting in his estate in the Italian Alps. He’ll have a lot of time to plan his defense… and revenge.” Edvard sat back in his chair as he finished watching the president’s mind at work.
Eventually, Rebecca gave a mental shrug. Something to worry about on another day, she concluded. I have other more pressing issues today.
“OK, let’s get back on track. Olaf, whom do you recommend to replace General Joyce?”
Olaf didn’t hesitate. “Admiral Jing. He’s currently in operational command of Operation Hades and is probably your most respected and senior field commander.”
Rebecca conjured up the face of the admiral in her head. Keyton Joyce had always spoken very well of Jing and he was already being hailed as the Earth’s savior after his mad dash back from Messier 54. Even the Alonans were singing his praises and that was something that may come in useful in the longer term.
“Make it happen, Olaf. I want a draft announcement on my desk by tomorrow morning.” Rebecca resumed her pacing. “That brings us to another sticky point and one which I feel we have to address as quickly as possible… the status of Janus.”
Thomas Crothers had been expecting the subject to come up. Indeed, he had thought that it was the purpose of the meeting.
“We’re not ready. Not yet,” he said simply.
Patricia looked confused. “Not ready for what, Governor?”
Thomas gave her a lopsided smile. “Our independence, Doctor Bath.”
Patricia looked open-mouthed from the governor to the president and back again.
#
LUNAR COLONIES – SOL SYSTEM
Nicholas Schamu endured the shuttle ride down from TDF Cutlass in stony silence. Cutlass had only been in lunar orbit for a few minutes when Nicholas received the call from Captain Vusumuzi Mkhize that the admiral had left his cabin and was headed for the shuttle bay. Nicholas expected as much and was already in his seat when Christos entered the shuttle and took his seat without saying a word. If Christos saw Nicholas or the silent hulking figure of Force Leader Verus and the six other equally impressive Persai accompanying her, then he chose to say nothing. The normally animated and smiling admiral that commanded SurvFlot One was gone. In his place was an unsmiling, unfeeling automaton who had barely functioned since learning of the attack on the lunar colony.
The shuttle shook slightly as the pilot fired his retro thrusters to bring the shuttle to a landing on the assigned pad. With a jolt, the landing pad slowly lowered itself below the lunar surface until it came to a halt with another small jolt. Christos unbuckled his restraints and moved to the hatch. The crew chief barred his way until the indicator went to green, signaling a good seal on the personnel tube. As the light went from red to green, the crew chief stepped to one side and half raised a hand as if to clasp the shoulder of his admiral but the deathly stare of Christos halted him. Instead he brought himself to attention as he stepped to one side.
Christos made his way along the personnel tube with Nicholas and the Persai at his heels. The small group entered the empty arrivals area. Empty but for one elderly, mousy woman hovering around two children. On seeing him, Maia and Odysseia broke free and ran for their father. Whatever had been holding Christos together evaporated as he dropped to his knees, taking his children into his arms, as he did so the tears flowed.
“She’s gone, Daddy! Mama’s gone!” wailed Odysseia.
Christos could only nod, his grief overwhelming him as he hugged them.
Verus gave a silent order to her fellow Persai who formed a protective circle around the grieving family. No one would be allowed to intrude on their moment of pain.
Nicholas nodded his thanks to Verus before making his way over to the woman who had been with the Papadomas children. If anyone had been paying attention, it would have surprised them to see Nicholas give the elderly woman an affectionate embrace before stepping back.
“Thank you for coming so quickly, Mrs. Brown.”
Placing a small, seemingly fragile hand on his arm she replied in a soft tone. “Always so formal, Nicholas. How could I not come when one of my boys needs me?”
“It’s just… Christos is a good man. He and Kayla invited me into their home and made me welcome…” Nicholas felt unfamiliar emotions well up in him.
Victoria Brown patted his arm. “When I got your message the first thing I did was call William. He told me what had happened, how the children’s mother made sure they were safe in the deep mines before going back the hospital... William prioritized that impact area for search-and-rescue, but after a few hours any chance of finding anyone alive was ruled out and they decided the teams were needed elsewhere to help those who had a better chance of survival – I’m so sorry, Nicholas.”
Nicholas looked down into the still-piercing blue eyes of the woman who had been more than a nanny to himself, his brother, and his sister. Victoria had looked after him from his earliest memory till the day he had left as a gangly, awkward teenager for boarding school. It was Victoria who told him of his parents’ death eight years before. Nicholas’ parents had never been the intimate kind and always kept their children at arm’s length, believing they would grow stronger and more independent for that. Victoria Brown, on the other hand, showered them with her love and affection and when Nicholas saw the effect the news of the death of Kayla had on Christos, he reached out to his brother William, governor of the lunar colony, to secure the Papadomas children and keep them safe until he could arrange for the arrival of his former nanny to care for them. The eldest Papadomas daughter, Philippa, had been looking at colleges in the American midwest when the attack by the Others had started and Nicholas had pulled strings to have her taken to his sister Madeleine’s home, south of Geneva, until he could organize a shuttle to get her back to the lunar colony.
Nicholas put a gentle arm around Victoria’s shoulders and guided her toward the solid circle of Persai that
opened to allow them into the space holding the Papadomas family before once more closing around them.
Nicholas spoke gently to Christos who raised his head to look at him with tear-filled eyes. “Christos, this is Mrs. Brown. She’s here to help.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Operation Hades
DURAV – 172 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH
In the blink of an eye, an area that had once been home to scattered particles of cosmic dust was filled with the massive forms of warships, bristling with weaponry as their sensors searched out targets. The Commonwealth fleet had arrived in the Durav system!
“Fold transit complete, Admiral. All units report ready to proceed.”
“Thank you, Tactical.” Ai Jing let a small sense of satisfaction creep into his normal wariness. But only a little. He was leading the largest fleet ever assembled by humanity and her allies into the very home of the enemy and he was taking nothing for granted. The Others had already shown themselves to be full of surprises and he wasn’t about to give them any opportunity to spring another on him.
“Time till Benii arrival?”
“Ten minutes, sir. Admiral Radford has already broken off cruiser divisions 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 to sweep their arrival coordinates and provide escorts for the carrier’s tugs.”
The imminent arrival of five Benii carriers would provide Ai with 575 Freiba space fighters. The small but powerful Freiba had proven themselves to be a significant force multiplier in the battle that had raged around Earth only four days before and Ai had been reading everything he could about the American and Japanese tactics for employing fighter aircraft during Earth’s World War Two in an attempt to ensure that he made best use of his new tool of war. His research had emphasized one thing in particular. The protection of the fighter’s base. If you allowed the enemy to destroy the small space fighter’s carrier, then you lost them as a fighting force. This point had caused no end of headaches for Ai’s planning staff as he demanded they find a way to protect the carriers while still allowing them to take part in the assault on the Others’ home world of Durav. One particularly bright lieutenant commander had come up with a simple but eloquent solution. The Benii themselves employed lighter units in their own space forces to protect the carriers, so why not copy them but up-gun the escort. Each carrier would get its own dedicated BatFor to act as both escort and strike force. With the forces that Ai had brought with him, that meant that five of his seven BatFors would have their own carrier. The remaining two BatFors would be stripped of their battleships, which would be evenly distributed amongst the five carrier BatFors and the battleships replaced with lighter, faster Persai Vitaros cruisers and Agis destroyers. The stripped-down BatFors, BatFor 2.1 and 2.2, Ai intended to use like light cavalry of old. To scout ahead of his main force and provide him with battlefield intelligence and a force to harass the enemy without forcing him into a full engagement. Their input may prove vital in the forthcoming battle.