“Well?” McKillip looked up at Quan from her desk display.
He closed the door and walked over to her desk. “It isn’t going to be as easy as I hoped,” he admitted. “Do you know how many subspace relays and transceivers there are on this forsaken dirtball?”
“I can imagine.” She leaned back in her chair and templed her fingers. “I gather we haven’t put them all out of commission.”
“Well, I …”
“You said we could get this done quickly,” she demanded. “How bad is it?”
His face turned red and he started to speak. With a visible effort he slowed his breathing and responded calmly, “GNN has its own transceiver, and the damn spaceport is cluttered with them. Every bloody citizen who has an overdrive equipped cruiser has a transceiver, and the First Landing primary relay is on the spaceport. That’s the one the governor general uses if you’ll remember.”
“We need to shut down the spaceport anyway,” McKillip reminded him. “How hard can that be?”
“The Home Guard has a company stationed there, and with all the skirmishes going on. They’re on alert. We can’t put a mishmash of untrained volunteers up against them. It would be a blood bath.”
She sat silent for a moment. Then a grim smile formed on her lips. “What about a diversion. The rest of the local battalion of the Home Guard is scattered over the province putting out fires. If a mob of separatist militia moved on First Landing from the south, wouldn’t that draw out the company that’s on the spaceport?”
Quan brightened. “It might. Certainly most of them. If we have a mercenary platoon spearheading the attack, they can take on any Home Guard left at the spaceport.” He smacked a fist into his palm. “That will work.”
“Great. Now what can we do about GNN?”
Quan sobered. “That’s a whole other problem. The reporter is Princess Jana. The governor general has a squad of guards in mufti around her at all times. It will be extremely difficult to separate her from the transceiver.” He began pacing.
McKillip watched him without speaking. In a moment he stopped and turned toward her. “I’ve developed some contacts,” he said. “Let me see if they can help us.”
“What can they do?”
“For one thing they can identify the guards,” Quan responded. “Then perhaps they can ‘convince’ them to turn their heads long enough for someone to get to the transceiver.”
McKillip frowned. “We’ve been treading a fine line with this whole rebellion. I believe we can get away with it as long as it looks to be supported by a significant number of citizens. They won’t spend a lot of effort tracking the leadership down. Especially if there’s a clear cut vote in favor of seceding. On the other hand, if we put a royal at risk, they may not be so understanding.”
Quan smiled. “Leave that to me. I’ll see that there’s no way to connect us in the first place and that the princess is taken care of.”
Later, when he left McKillip’s office, Quan called the private number. “I need a team to keep Princess Jana out of trouble.”
Chapter 5
“Hey, Number One. Over here.” Tony Orsini waved to Colt from a table near the port bulkhead.
Colt quickly made his way across the amidships mess hall to Orsini’s table, noticing the attractive lieutenant who was with him. Both of them stood as he approached.
Orsini nodded at the lieutenant. “Gus, this is Lieutenant Magda Von Hagen. Magda, this is Commander Gus Colt.”
She smiled brightly, “It's a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Good to meet you, Lieutenant Von Hagen.” He slid into an empty chair. “Sit, please.”
“What are you doing in the crew mess?” Magda asked. “I’d expect you to be at the captain’s table.”
“Not my style. I want to know what’s going on with the crew. That means I have to spend time with them whenever I can.”
Magda showed a faint smile. “You mean you want the crew to believe you care about them so you make a show out of being where they work and eat.”
“Magda―” Orsini started, but Colt raised his hand. “That sounds a bit cynical. You don’t think it’s possible that a senior officer cares about the lower ranks?”
“It’s theoretically possible, but I’ve never seen it.”
“I’m tempted to ask you if you have ever looked for it, but I can see this is an ideological discussion. I’d love to continue it; however, I need to get back to the bridge as soon as I finish lunch. Perhaps you and Tony could come by my quarters this evening after second watch mess.”
“I’d like that.”
Orsini cleared his throat. “Magda, I know you like a challenge, but I think you’re out of your league on this one.” He turned to Colt, “We’ll be there. Shall I bring bandages?”
“I’ll keep it bloodless if she will. I haven’t had a real opportunity for ideological debate in ages, and I wouldn’t want to inhibit it. Besides I suspect Lieutenant Von Hagen can hold her own. It sounds as if we should have an interesting conversation this evening,” Colt said, smiling.
###
“How did you come by the name Barkley?” Colt asked.
His cabin AI responded, “Is that name unsatisfactory, sir? You can change it if you wish.”
“Barkley is fine,” Colt responded. “I was just curious how you came about the name.”
“Like all the other Artificial Intelligences on the ship, I’m integrated into the ship’s computer system, but as a model 1738N, I apparently converse more spontaneously than other models, and Commander Reynolds, thought I was similar to MP Barkley Samuels.”
Colt grinned. Of course, Samuels was known throughout his career as a non-stop talker. If this Barkley was similar, he’d have to tone it down some.
Once Colt had finished instructing Barkley on his personal protocols, he called up the records on Corona. The planetary system had been discovered by telescope over 350 years before, but it was far enough from Earth that the first exploration didn’t take place for almost another 150 years. Colonization began as soon as the Colonization Board cleared it.
The system was a treasure trove. The sun, Aurora, had four habitable planets. The third planet, Persephone, yielded large amounts of rare organic compounds. The fifth and sixth planets, Castor and Pollux, circled each other. The deserts on the far side of each held vast stores of easily accessible minerals.
The fourth planet, Corona, was so earthlike some scientists initially speculated that somehow it and Earth had been seeded with the same startup proteins. It rotated once every 24.6 hours, and orbited Aurora in just over two Earth years. From the beginning, settlers flocked to the smaller northern continent, where a year-round southerly flow kept most of the arable land green. Consequently, the bulk of the population lived there, and most of the available land was rapidly being settled.
Colt had started to read about the history of the settlement when Barkley announced, “Commander Orsini and Lieutenant Von Hagen have arrived.” The AI opened the hatch as they walked up.
“Come on in, and make yourselves at home,” Colt said. “Either of you care for tea or coffee?”
“You do have something stronger, don't you?” Orsini asked.
“The liquor is still in the sideboard, along with the Buzz-Off tablets. How about you, Magda. May I call you Magda?”
“Yes, sir. I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea.”
When Orsini had returned with his drink and everyone had settled in, Magda said, “If I may ask, Commander, where do you call home?”
“First, my friends call me Gus. While we may agree to disagree, I hope you’ll consider me a friend.”
Magda nodded, frowning almost imperceptibly, “I have to say that I’m not entirely comfortable calling a senior officer by a nickname, especially the XO.”
“Well, you have my permission if you change your mind. I went through the same thing with Gretchen … Captain Wessler.”
Colt continued, “As for my home, it used to be the Pacific Grove
suburb of Monterrey Bay in North America. Since my wife and daughter died, I’ve pretty much lived shipboard.”
“Tony told me about the accident. I’m sorry to hear it.”
Colt glanced at Orsini before saying, “I appreciate that. It still hurts once in a while, but I’ve had to get on with my life.”
Orsini interrupted. “Didn’t we come here to discuss politics? I’m waiting for the bloodletting to begin.”
Colt laughed. “Thoughtful adversaries should always start politely. It allows us to be nastier without the battle turning physical. I hope we won’t see any bloodletting tonight.”
“I’m prepared to make my point without being brutal,” Magda agreed, smiling slightly.
“Well, let’s get on with it,” Orsini said.
Colt nodded, “I was going to work into this, but if it’s all right with you, Magda, perhaps you can enlighten me on your views.”
Over the next half hour Colt and Magda exchanged verbal barbs, with neither side willing to concede significant points. As the discussion progressed, Magda grew increasingly agitated. Colt could have easily wrapped up the argument but held off. He felt something was wrong with her responses but couldn’t decide what it was. Then it hit him. He paused for a moment, looking at Magda quizzically.
“What?” She asked angrily.
Colt sat up a little taller. “I’ve been watching your eyes as we’ve talked. Your face and voice and body language have all said that you’re passionate about Dissolutionism, but your eyes haven’t shown the passion. I don’t think you really believe what you’re saying. What’s going on here?”
Magda’s face went pale. “What … well …I ….” She sputtered. She stood up. “I’m sorry, sir, but I have to go.” She almost lurched out the hatch, leaving Colt and Orsini behind.
“Now what was that all about?” Orsini asked.
“I believe I know,” Colt answered, “but I think you’d better go after her.”
Interlude
Quan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking out McKillip’s panoramic window onto the busy street below. “Our agents weren’t able to delay the Invincible’s departure. She’ll arrive here in two weeks with a full complement of marines. We need to advance our schedule.”
“I don’t see how, Richard,” McKillip disagreed. “The separatists are getting edgy about the idea of having to fight other colonists. A lot of them have friends who are loyalists.”
Quan turned to look at her. “We’ll just have to put more mercs in charge.”
“Won’t that mean pulling them away from guarding the subspace transmitter sites?”
Quan barked a short laugh, “Considering the condition of most of the sites, that won’t be a problem. Even the weakest units could easily handle them without mercs. At worst they can plant charges and blow them when they surrender. We can pull most of the professionals out of the effective militia units and move them to the ones that are wavering. Leave just enough of them in the other units to maintain control.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that simple.” She got up from her desk and walked over to the window. “We need to account for Billy Hargety. He’s become a bigger factor than we originally thought. In fact, he has become the de facto leader of the separatists. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Quan grimaced. “I know,” he spat. “My information was that he was a buffoon that no one other than his close friends would take seriously. I apologize for underestimating him.”
“You see the problem here, don’t you? As long as Hargety has this much influence, we can’t ignore him, and he doesn’t know there’s any reason to hurry.”
“So we get rid of his influence.”
“And how do you propose to do that?” She asked.
“He could have an accident.”
“Wait right there!” She glared at him, unblinking. “I draw the line at murder.”
He returned the stare. “What exactly do you call conducting a civil war?”
She continued to look him in the eye. “War. The casualties of war have never been considered murder victims. The other side always has the option of not resisting.”
“Neither of those statements is accurate, but I will grant that we humans do make a distinction between war-time casualties and murder victims.” He resumed looking out the window. “Never mind, I’ll work something out.”
He glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting in ten minutes. We’ll talk more when I get back.” He strode to the door.
“No murder,” she repeated before the door closed behind him.
He called the private number. “We need to eliminate Hargety as a problem.”
Chapter 6
“First Landing Control, this is HMS Invincible, come in please.”
The speakers remained inexplicably silent. Ensign Bath turned to Captain Wessler and said, “I don’t get it, ma’am. They’re down there, but they aren’t answering.”
Colt, now sitting in the first officer’s chair, turned to the communication station. “Lieutenant Soriescu, are you picking up anything?”
“Yes, sir,” responded the communications officer. “The personal communicator system seems to be working normally. They just aren’t answering traffic control radio. I can patch into the comm system if you know a number to call.”
Colt looked at Wessler for direction. “We’d better go directly to the governor general,” she said, touching a pad on her console. “Adrian Remarque.” The number appeared on her screen. “There’s the number, Lieutenant Soriescu. See if you can raise him.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The comm had barely rung when the three dimensional image of a pale young man in a business suit appeared in the display screen, the governor general’s crest floating above his right shoulder. “Governor General’s Office. Mr. Wallace at your service. How may I help you?” His face seemed to brighten as he recognized the navy uniform.
“Captain Wessler of HMS Invincible calling Governor General Remarque.”
“Yes, ma’am. Just a moment, please.”
The crest briefly replaced his image. Seconds later Remarque appeared. A swarthy man with a neatly trimmed black mustache and a full head of black hair, he stood out in a scarlet ceremonial jacket with gold trim and a gold sash. “Gretchen! Thank God you’re here!”
“I hope the ceremonial uniform doesn’t mean you were about to surrender, Adrian,” Wessler said.
“What? Oh, no, despite this bloody nonsense with the separatists, my daughter, Melanie, is getting married today. You didn’t get the invitation?”
“I’m afraid not.” She paused. “What’s going on down there, Adrian? We can’t contact approach control.”
“Rebel troops are holding the port. It’s a nuisance. The Home Guard has them surrounded, but we figured it was better just to wait them out since we have so little space traffic. It’s been a standoff for the last three days.”
“Shall I send down a platoon of marines?”
“I suppose that would be best. Please, instruct them to minimize casualties. These may be rebels, but they have a large percentage of the population on their side. We don’t want to add more to their sympathizers.”
“Gus, can you take care of that?”
Colt stood. “Aye, Captain.” She signaled him to wait.
“We’ll have troops on the ground in an hour, Adrian. If you have radio contact with the rebels, tell them they can surrender to the Home Guard or wait for the marines. I don’t think the marines will be in a mood to play games.”
Remarque nodded off-screen. When he turned back to the screen, he said, “The wedding is at 3:00 PM this afternoon. Will you be able to make it?”
“Sorry. Technically this is a hostile situation, so I have to keep the Invincible in orbit and on alert. Give Melanie my regrets, and tell her I’d be there if I could. Hopefully I’ll be able to see her before she leaves for her honeymoon.”
She spoke to Colt. “I’ll brief the COC duty officer. You
contact the marine commander and Captain Decker to set up the troops and the transport. It’s time to stop the nonsense. Meet me in the ready room in ten minutes.”
###
“Gus, I’m sending you with the marine contingent so I can get your take on what’s going on down there.” Captain Wessler paced thoughtfully in the ready room. “This whole thing doesn’t feel right, and I want reliable information.”
Colt frowned, “I’m not objecting to the assignment, but doesn’t it suggest that you don’t trust Lieutenant Camarotte?”
“I want Felipe concentrating on securing that landing field with minimum casualties. Your job will be to assess the rebel’s operation. What are they trying to prove? Are they combat ready or disorganized hooligans?”
“Okay. I’d better get going then. The landing craft leaves in twelve minutes, and I still need to get into my armor.”
“Use a camera helmet. I want several feeds, and you can narrate yours as you go along.” She paused. “When the operation is over, I want you to report to Adrian and fill him in on what you saw. Then find out what we can do for him. I don’t trust standard comm circuits for sensitive information.”
###
The landing craft touched down on an open pad near the center of the spaceport. As the fore and aft ramps were lowered, a few stray blaster bolts glanced harmlessly off the force field. The shooting stopped when the marines surged onto the surface and fanned out into combat positions.
Colt and the marines wore the same camouflaged armor. The carbon fiber shell could stop a charging rhino without a dent. The servos augmented normal movements so the user could run faster, jump higher, and carry a heavier load. The personal shield could withstand a blast rifle bolt. He checked that his shield was on full and followed the last squad out onto the tarmac.
As soon as he reached the ground, he looked back and gave thumbs up to the copilot. The landing craft immediately lifted straight up, climbing high enough to provide active surveillance of the battle area. As it moved into position, it began broadcasting a battlefield image to the ground forces.
Peacemaker: The Corona Rebellion 2564 AD Page 3