Ep.#11 - A Rock and a Hard Place (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  “There is only one logical solution to the problem,” the general said. “Destroy the shipyards and as many warships as possible, especially the Orswellan ships, and then leave. The Dusahn will believe that you attacked Orswella in order to deny them the logistical support it provides.”

  “But what if they decide to abandon Orswella and glass it on their way out?”

  “That is not your concern.”

  “You’re talking about four million people, General,” Nathan argued. “How can I turn my back on them?”

  “Compared to the trillions of lives you will save by defeating the Dusahn, it seems an acceptable loss.”

  “Four million innocent people,” Nathan reiterated.

  “The inability to accept the necessity of collateral damage has always been your greatest weakness.”

  “Some might say it’s my greatest quality,” Nathan argued.

  “Now you’re going to ask me if there is a way to eliminate the Dusahn forces on the surface of Orswella, without harming the civilians.”

  “You know me too well, General.”

  “It may be possible; however, we have almost no intelligence on those forces—location, dispersion patterns, training, armaments, transportation, air cover… The only information we do have is that there are at least one hundred thousand troops on Orswella, possibly more. Because of this lack of intelligence, I cannot answer your question.”

  “Can you speculate?” Nathan asked.

  “The only speculation I can offer is that if the Dusahn have any experience in surface-occupation tactics and logistics, and they do have a hundred thousand troops on the ground, then there is no way we can liberate Orswella without a massive loss of life. Not only that, but you would also then be responsible for the protection of Orswella, something that would be quite difficult given the distance.” General Telles leaned forward, looking Nathan in the eyes. “Captain, your only play here is to take out those shipyards, as well as all the ships guarding them, and leave the Orswellans to their fate, whatever it may be.”

  “That’s unacceptable,” Nathan replied. “There has to be another way.”

  “I’m not saying there isn’t,” General Telles replied. “But without good intel, it is the only safe play.”

  “Then we need better intelligence on Orswella,” Nathan decided.

  * * *

  “Try it again,” Vladimir instructed, sighing.

  “Commander, you only changed the initiation feeds by point zero one four percent. That isn’t enough to do anything.”

  “Wait, I almost forgot.” Vladimir got up off his knees and kicked the side of the massive device before him. “Chort bui tebya probral!” He wiped his hands on his shirt, turning back to his assistant. “Try it now.”

  “But, sir…”

  “Davai!” he yelled.

  That word, the technician understood. He pressed a few buttons on the control station on the side of the massive starboard drive. After a few moments, a series of green lights appeared. “Oh, my God!” he exclaimed. “It worked!” He looked at Vladimir in disbelief.

  “Sometimes all it needs is a good kick and a few bad words,” Vladimir said.

  “What did you say to it?” the technician wondered.

  “Loosely translated, I told it to go to hell,” Vladimir said as he tapped his comm-set. “Bridge, Cheng, main propulsion is fully restored.”

  “Commander, we still have to align the injectors and test the backup power feeds.”

  “Details,” Vladimir replied. “First, I’m getting something to eat.”

  * * *

  Josh walked down the corridor of the pediatrics ward, peeking into each room as he went. Finally, he found the room he was looking for. “There you are,” he said.

  Loki turned and gestured for Josh to keep his voice down.

  “Sorry,” Josh apologized, reducing his volume. “How’s she doing?” he asked, stepping up to Ailsa’s crib and looking down at her.

  “She’s doing well,” Loki told him.

  “She’s a real looker,” Josh said as he admired baby Ailsa. “She’s going to break some hearts when she gets older. I can’t believe you made her.”

  “My part was rather small,” Loki admitted. “It was mostly Lael.”

  Josh took a seat next to Loki, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “This really sucks, man. I don’t know what else to say.”

  Loki did not respond, he just continued staring at his sleeping child.

  “If there is anything I can do to help, you know I’m here for you,” Josh promised.

  “I know,” Loki replied.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

  “Honestly, I don’t see how I can leave her,” Loki admitted. “I’m all she has left. I mean, I can’t leave her with Lael’s family, they’re still on Corinair. Hell, I don’t even know if they’re still alive.”

  “Listen, I’m the last person to be giving advice about parenting,” Josh said. “Hell, I was raised by Marcus, and we all know what a shining example of good parenting he is. But you have to consider what’s best for your daughter, and as much as you love her, you might not be the best person to raise her, at least not by yourself.”

  Loki looked at Josh in disbelief. “What are you suggesting, Josh, that I put her up for adoption, or something?”

  “No, nothing like that, man. Maybe a nanny, or something, or a family who could take care of her while you’re at work. I mean, you still have to earn a living, right? So, you’re going to be gone at work half the time. Whether you stay or go, you’re still going to need help.”

  “I can get a job working from home,” Loki told him. “Something that’s just enough to pay the bills. We don’t need much, just a tiny place.”

  “Dude, you’re a pilot, a really good pilot. Probably the best pilot I’ve ever known…besides myself, of course. You’ll be miserable if you’re not flying, and you know it.”

  “Not a whole lot of flying jobs allow you to bring an infant along in the cockpit,” Loki said.

  “Have you thought of asking one of the other families if they can help?” Josh suggested.

  “I don’t think I can do that,” Loki replied. “She’s my daughter; my responsibility.”

  “This is an alliance, remember? We help each other.”

  “How do I justify risking the only parent she has left?” Loki asked him. “How can anyone be that selfish?”

  “Jesus, Lok, half the people in the Alliance have families, and a lot of them are single parents, as well. The Mystic is full of kids who are being raised by a community while their parents are serving in the Alliance. What makes you any different?”

  “I don’t know, Josh,” Loki replied. “I just don’t know.”

  “Look, you do what you’ve got to do. If you want to come back, great. If not, that’s fine too. You’re my bud. I’ll miss you, but I’ll get by.”

  “I know you will,” Loki said. “You always do.”

  “And so will you,” Josh insisted, “and so will Ailsa.” Josh patted his friend on the leg, then rose and headed for the door. “Maybe you should ask yourself what you would want your father to do if he was in your position.”

  “I can’t believe you actually got that out correctly,” Loki said, smiling for the first time in three days.

  * * *

  Nathan threw up his left hand, sweeping it to the outside to block his opponent’s jab. Spotting an opening in the opposition’s midsection, he dropped his right shoulder and drove his right hand forward, but it didn’t work. Instead, he felt his right leg being swept out from under him. Before he had a chance to react, he was on his back, his opponent’s foot on his throat.

  Nathan quickly tapped the mat, and Jessica removed her foot from his neck. “You telegraphed your attack by dropping your ri
ght shoulder, first,” she said, reaching out to help him up.

  “I was trying to put some power behind it,” Nathan said, climbing to his feet.

  “As you should,” Jessica agreed, “but you have to do it in one smooth motion, or your opponent will see it coming.”

  “Got it.”

  “By the way, I left my midsection open so you would go for it with your right hand, setting you up for a leg sweep.” Jessica smiled as she took a drink from her water bottle. “And you fell for it like a newb.”

  “Glad I didn’t disappoint you,” Nathan replied, picking up his own water bottle. “Now that you’ve smacked me around a bit, you should be in a good mood, right?”

  “Yup, I’m feeling pretty steely right now.”

  “I’ve got a mission for you,” Nathan said, taking another drink.

  “Orswella, right?”

  “How did you know?”

  “You went to see Andreola, then you talked to Telles. I put two and two together…”

  Nathan looked skeptical.

  “Okay, Telles told me.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t think I can learn the Orswellan version of English fast enough for your timeline. I’m going to need a guide.”

  Nathan looked at her. “You’re thinking about taking Andreola, aren’t you? Are you sure you can trust him?”

  “No, but saving his world should provide the right motivation,” Jessica replied.

  “He could turn you in, once you get there, and win himself points with the Dusahn. He could even be part of a plot to lure us in.”

  Jessica laughed. “Now you’re thinking like me,” she said, taking another drink. “He doesn’t strike me as the devious type, though. Besides, I can’t think of any reason he would have to betray his own people.”

  “Unless he’s lying about not having a family,” Nathan suggested.

  “Possibly, but Siddens interrogated every member of the Amonday’s crew, multiple times. They all said that Andreola had no family and hated the Dusahn more than anyone. He even turned down his own ship because he didn’t want to kiss their ass directly.”

  “They could be well-rehearsed,” Nathan said.

  “Siddens would’ve tripped them up,” Jessica insisted. “He’s really good.”

  “Then you think taking the commander to Orswella as your guide is a good idea?”

  “No, but it’s the best one we’ve got.”

  “Then you don’t agree with the general’s recommendation to take out their ships and leave them to their fate,” Nathan surmised.

  “Actually, I do,” Jessica corrected. “It’s by far the safest play, but that doesn’t automatically make it the right play; not without sufficient intel, anyway.”

  “But just getting the intel is risky,” Nathan reminded her.

  “Pretty low risk, I’d say,” Jessica insisted, setting her bottle back down.

  “You call sneaking onto an enemy-held world, with a local who could be a double agent, low risk?”

  “It’s what I do,” Jessica replied, shrugging her shoulders. “Now, are we going to fight, or what?”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Are you watching this?” Cameron asked as she entered the captain’s ready room.

  Nathan extended his right hand toward the view screen on the wall.

  “In a surprising gesture of interplanetary cooperation and goodwill, the Neramesean Prime Minister has offered to loan its missiles to Rakuen until such time as Rakuen’s own planetary defenses can be resupplied. In addition, Minister Cornell has pledged all available Neramesean resources to the repair and rebuilding of Rakuen, after the recent Dusahn bombardment.”

  The image on the view screen changed from the news anchor to Prime Minister Cornell in the Neramesean pressroom. “The people of Neramese stand with our allies on Rakuen. We make this gesture of goodwill so that all…”

  Nathan picked up the remote and muted the view screen. “It took him long enough.”

  “You orchestrated this?”

  “I made a strong suggestion,” Nathan admitted.

  “You realize that the leaders of Rakuen will take this as an insult,” Cameron pointed out.

  “I’m expecting a call from them at any moment,” Nathan replied.

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  “No, but it does maintain the balance of power.”

  “You could have just given our missiles to Rakuen and left Neramese’s missiles alone.”

  “And miss an opportunity to chip away at that stubborn, Rakuen-traditionalist pride?” Nathan replied. “Not a chance.”

  “Is it really necessary to meddle in their relations?” Cameron wondered.

  “These two worlds are more linked than they’d like to admit,” Nathan explained. “Economically, strategically, politically, even socially. The only thing separating them is Rakuen’s stubbornness.”

  “Neramese did attack Rakuen first,” Cameron pointed out.

  “Decades ago,” Nathan replied, “and they’ve been living up to the terms of surrender ever since. Neramese has moved on, Rakuen has not. In fact, they’ve been clinging to their defeat of Neramese as proof of superiority. They need to admit to Neramese, and to themselves, that they cannot survive without each other. Rakuen may have the water, but Neramese has the land. The war occurred because both worlds chose to ignore that balance.”

  “I don’t disagree with you, Nathan,” Cameron said. “I just wonder if we shouldn’t allow them to restore that balance naturally.”

  “The Rogen system may not be of strategic value to the Dusahn, but it is to us. The sooner its worlds begin to truly work together, the sooner this ship will be able to take the battle to the Dusahn.”

  “This ship isn’t ready to take the battle anywhere,” Cameron reminded him.

  “It will be.”

  “You’re pushing your crew too hard, Nathan,” Cameron insisted. “Vlad is taking shortcuts in order to get everything ready by your deadline, and that’s dangerous.”

  “Vlad knows what he’s doing,” Nathan assured her.

  “He’s ignoring engineering protocols and safety procedures,” Cameron argued. “Procedures that were written to protect this ship.”

  “If this ship doesn’t start moving soon, the Dusahn will come in force,” Nathan replied. “We’ve been lucky so far, but that luck is not going to last. The Dusahn aren’t stupid. With each attack, they’ve seen the Aurora’s condition improve. They can do the math, Cam, and that math tells them they can’t wait much longer; that they have to send everything they’ve got and finish us off, now. To be honest, I’m surprised they haven’t already done so.”

  “Which makes one wonder why they haven’t done so,” Cameron said.

  “You think I haven’t wondered that, myself?” Nathan replied. “That’s all I can think about.”

  “Maybe they’re waiting for those battleships Commander Andreola told you about?” Cameron suggested. “Maybe they want you to bring the battle to them? Maybe…”

  “There are a million maybes, Cam, trust me. You and I both know that if they come for us in full force, we’ll lose everything—the Aurora, Rakuen, Neramese…everything. This ship must leave this system. We must take the fight to the Dusahn, and we must do so before the next attack.”

  “Recon has shown no significant changes in the deployment and movement patterns of the Dusahn fleet,” Cameron reminded him. “Perhaps they aren’t on the ‘attack a week’ schedule you think they are.”

  “Look, Cam, I have no intention of running off half-cocked and attacking the Dusahn before this ship is ready.”

  “Yet, that is exactly what you are gearing up to do.”

  “Cam, Vlad has always taken shortcuts to keep this ship in action,” Nathan argued. “The only difference
, now, is that he is telling us he’s taking them. He is the chief engineer. He knows which shortcuts are safe to take and which are not.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Cameron wondered. “Because what I see is a man trying to help his friend, regardless of the risks.”

  “You mean, like you did?”

  “It’s not the same,” Cameron argued.

  “Actually, it is.”

  “I gave everyone a chance to decide for themselves if they wanted to take the risk. Vlad isn’t.”

  “No, he’s passing that decision to his captain, exactly as he should to do.”

  “He is supposed to run it past you, first, and let you decide,” Cameron argued. “Instead, he’s doing it and then telling you after-the-fact.”

  “Because I insisted he not waste time consulting with me on those decisions. We’re in a war. We don’t have the luxury of debating every little thing, and we shouldn’t be second-guessing our chief engineer. The man is doing his job. After seven years with him as your chief engineer, I’d expect you to have more trust in him.”

  “I do trust him, Nathan,” Cameron insisted. “I just worry that you trust him too much.”

  “I always have you to keep him honest, don’t I?”

  “That’s my job,” Cameron reminded him.

  Nathan sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Look, I promise to make Vlad correct all the shortcuts he has taken but not until all our primary systems are fully operational again. However, if the Dusahn show any signs of gearing up for another attack, this ship will return to action, shortcuts or not.”

  “Understood.”

  “Captain, Comms,” Naralena called over the desk intercom.

  “Go ahead,” Nathan replied.

  “The Prime Minister of Rakuen is requesting a vid-link with you, sir.”

  Nathan sighed. “I hate being right.”

  “Lucky for you,” Cameron said as she turned to exit, “it doesn’t happen that often.”

  * * *

  Lieutenant Rezhik pressed the call button beside the door and waited for a response. After a few moments, the door opened, revealing Gunwant Vout.

  “Mister Vout,” the lieutenant greeted in a calm, unemotional tone. “I am Torren Rezhik.”