Eagle (Jacob Hull)

by Debenham, Kindal

  Not that Jacob was anywhere near satisfied. Carmichael would have to be brought to justice before Jacob would be truly happy with the day’s events, and he knew it would take a lot more fighting and a lot more casualties before that would happen.

  All the same, Paz Banks and the rest of the Oathbound had definitely proved their worth to the Union. Suddenly aware he had been quiet in thought for too long, Jacob returned his attention to the image of the Oduran leader. “Please let me know if there are any issues in transporting them to the surface, or any supplies you need. We will try to help out as best we can.”

  “Thank you.” Paz hesitated, her expression uncertain and uncomfortable. “The provisions here will be enough for the time being, but we may soon be facing some shortages. I…dislike asking for more assistance, especially when the Union has already been so generous toward us, but…”

  “I understand.” Jacob glanced at the clock set into his desk, then turned his attention back to her. “The next message drone I send will be to the High Seat. Send whatever you need to me, and I will pass it on to Celostia.”

  “Thank you, High Admiral. May you be watched over in your trials.” With that final pronouncement, the leader of the Oathbound turned off the transmitter. Jacob stepped back and made a note to send an update to Celostia the first chance he had. For now, there were other problems that demanded his attention.

  “The Bulldog sustained some minor damage from railgun fire, but not nearly as bad as the Retriever.” Captain Gregor paused, and he carried some amount of the weariness in his expression. “Casualties appear to have been light. We’ve given the new armor concept another good workout again.”

  “Something to not make a habit of, Captain.” Jacob lessened the rebuke with a small smile. “All the same, your squadron performed admirably. I will make sure the Board receives a good report on your action today.”

  Gregor saluted, and Jacob returned the gesture before ending the call.

  Shaking himself out of his grim mood, Jacob turned to the next report on his agenda. It seemed like there was a never-ending flood of paperwork to deal with, each with some inflated level of priority. Somehow he’d never imagined the responsibility of the highest commander in the Navy involved so much desk-work, but he supposed someone had to do it.

  A knock on the doorframe dragged Jacob’s attention off of his console. He looked up and saw Al-shira stepping through the hatch and saluting. “Captain Naomi Al-shira, reporting for duty, Sir.”

  Jacob was lost just looking at her, and it took a moment for her words to register. He stood up and returned her salute, then motioned to the chair in front of his desk. “Reporting for duty? I was under the impression you saw your duty elsewhere, Captain.”

  “Circumstances changed.” Al-shira gave him a tight smile, crossed the room, and took a seat. “Admiral Borgens ran into me on Celostia and decided I would make an ideal courier. I’ve brought you the code alterations the Admiralty Board discussed at your last meeting.” She handed him her personal reader.

  “Oh. Good.” Jacob took the reader and hooked it into his console. Then he looked up. “Did you have any success with the records?”

  Al-shira shook her head, “No. Yeseti—or her friends—managed to clean them out. Both Admiral Borgens and I felt I could be of more use here, directing the Intelligence efforts against the Collective.”

  Jacob grunted. “Yeah, we could use the help.” He gestured to his reports. “We’re more or less already at open war with the Collective, though I wouldn’t feel comfortable attacking the system directly yet. All the same, I wonder how long it will be before we see an official alliance with the Odurans.”

  She frowned. “At this point, would that be such a bad thing?”

  He stared at Al-shira. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Remember the plan we had set up before Yeseti’s ambush?” Al-shira grinned broadly. “How much better would it be to catch both the Odurans and the separatists in the same trap together?”

  “So you think we can still trap them, even with Yeseti telling them about the trap?” Jacob felt a flicker of hope.

  “We can if we make the intelligence look compelling enough.” Al-shira gestured to the star map that showed Tiredel. “We likely have a bunch of San Marcos operatives ripe for the disinformation here. All we have to do is set up a scenario where they think Tiredel is much more vulnerable than the other areas they could hit.”

  Something inside Jacob felt terrible at using Tiredel as the bait. It was clear the Oathbound had already suffered so much, and now they had the extra burden of the new refugees to carry. How much more could the Union ask of them?

  He hesitated. “Does it have to be Tiredel? Can’t we try to lure them elsewhere?”

  Al-shira frowned. “The only other options are Erad or New Manassas. The people of Erad have already suffered through quite a lot, and as inviting a weak spot as it may be, Admirals Borgens and Siddiqui have been making quite a lot of effort to build up the defenses in as obvious a way as possible. New Manassas would be an excellent place, but it was also where you were planning the original ambush. Yeseti will be extremely skeptical of anything that comes to her from that area.”

  “Out of all our options, Tiredel would be the most advantageous to them in terms of symbolism. Sessors would be able to claim she had avenged Gates and his task-force, Carmichael will want to chase down his dissidents and finish them. Both of them would be able to wipe out the Oathbound, who they see as a threat.” Al-shira paused. “And, of course, if they attack Tiredel soon, it would give them both the chance to kill you.”

  He smiled broadly. “I’ve done something to upset them, have I?”

  She rolled her eyes. “One of your greatest talents, Ironsides. If I had a dust ball for every person you’ve managed to enrage, I could form a planet.” Then she grew more serious. “I don’t especially like it either, Jacob. The refugees here deserve more than a chance to be used as bait, but this is our best chance to end the war. If we manage to pull this off, they won’t have to worry about an Oduran fleet appearing in their sky to bombard their world, or a separatist fleet attacking their ships. Peace would make the risk worth it.”

  For another moment, Jacob fought her reasoning. Then he forced his own feelings aside. War did not offer him the luxury of only doing things he could be completely comfortable with—and it would hardly be the first time he’d had to send someone he cared about into a dangerous situation. “I would still prefer to prevent the alliance beforehand. Are there already indications he’s started working with the Odurans more closely?”

  Al-shira nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely. Right after the battle here, Carmichael started sending message drones out to every Union system nearby. In his broadcasts, he was careful to claim Navy abuses lead to the battles in Kryshaen and Tiredel. The man even accused the Navy of attacking peaceful envoys of the Oduran League in an attempt to stir up conflict and justify our control of the Union.”

  Jacob snorted in disgust. “Not something anyone in the Union would easily believe, but definitely something the Odurans would want a friend to say. He’s making them out to be the victims of our aggression so he can sell an alliance to his people and any potential allies in the Union.”

  “Exactly.” Al-shira shrugged. “I’d say they’ve already made an alliance, but they are still keeping it quiet. Sessors has probably already gathered a task force of some kind to send against us, if only to reassure her new friends, and it will be underway sooner rather than later. We’ll be hearing all sorts of ‘joint operations in the interest of self-defense’ nonsense from both of them right around the time it shows up, and then they’ll kick off a new round of assaults from San Marcos.”

  Jacob exhaled slowly. “So the Odurans get a forward base, just like they’ve always wanted, and the people of San Marcos get to leave the Union behind for the League.” He forced a smile. “At least we know where they will show up first.”

  “The question is if w
e can convince them to come here once they arrive. If we can do that, then we can trap the lot of them at once.” Al-shira gave him a grim smile. “So what do you think?”

  “It’s the best plan I’ve heard.” Jacob gave her a knowing look. “I’m assuming you already have a plan to start things off?”

  Al-shira chuckled. “You know me too well, Jacob.” She held out a hand for her reader, and he handed it over to her. “I think we should start by trying to identify which agents have infiltrated Tiredel. They may not have come in with the refugees like we originally thought, but Carmichael and Yeseti have definitely put people in place. From what I’ve heard, they’re already beginning to cause trouble down there.”

  Jacob blinked. “I thought we had a pretty good handle on the situation. All the military stations on Tiredel were warned about the possibility. How are they getting to our facilities if our forces already knew they were coming?”

  “They aren’t going after our facilities, Jacob.” Al-shira gestured at the bulkhead, frustrated. “They’re hitting water filtration sites, heating stations, power grid junctions, food distribution centers…” She trailed off and grimaced, as if she had tasted something sour and disagreeable. “We were prepared for attacks on our military facilities down there. There aren’t many of those, and the networks they’ve set up aren’t concentrated enough to overcome our security. What we weren’t expecting was for the bastards to spend their time making life on the planet generally miserable for the civilians—especially the Oathbound and the newcomers. Anything supporting the civilians is a prime target for them.”

  Suddenly, Jacob could understand her expression. “So they aren’t trying to gain anything militarily. They’re just causing chaos and suffering wherever they can.” The sheer hatred of those agents was incredible. How could they justify something like this? “Can you put a stop to them? Get rid of the whole lot?”

  Al-shira thought for a moment, then sighed. “I could guarantee you about ninety percent of them. These agents can’t have that much skill or subtlety to be attacking so openly or so quickly.” She grimaced. “The remainder, though, are probably the key players in their network. If we miss them during the sweep, then we might still be facing serious troubles down the line.”

  Jacob frowned. “Wouldn’t the ones we captured be able to identify the rest of their agents?”

  She shook her head firmly. “No. Whatever other skills they lack, these agents were trained very well in how to infiltrate our security, and they’ve established a kind of cell system to limit exposure between agents. The only reason I know so many of them are here is because Admiral Yeseti spent a significant amount of time editing files for personnel assigned to Tiredel. I was able to uncover several of her agents stationed there and noticed some of them were taking the opportunity to perform false background checks on some of the incoming traders. We can feed those agents false information, but we can’t find all of them.”

  Unsatisfied, Jacob sat back. “Okay then. Will you be working from the Eagle or from the First Shore base on Tiredel?”

  Al-shira hesitated. “It would be better to work from First Shore. Being on the ground in Tiredel would give me a better perspective on how things are going.”

  “As well as avoiding other problems, I’m sure.” Jacob couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of his voice, and Al-shira looked at him sharply.

  “I’m not avoiding anything. I’m dealing with it, which is more than you’ve done, Ironsides.”

  He met her glare steadily, and she finally looked away. “Anyway, that’s all the information I’ve brought for you. I’ll report to First Shore immediately so I can get started.” She stood and dusted off the front of her uniform. “While I’m gone, can I trust you to take care of yourself?”

  Jacob couldn’t help a bark of laughter. “I think I can do fine, Al-shira. Or at least, that’s what the High Seat seemed to think when he put me in charge of the entire Navy.”

  There was no humor in her tone. “Jacob, I’m serious. You’ve made enemies for life out of both the separatists and the Odurans, and that’s before we even take into account how much the Telosians hated you since Reefhome. Any one of them wouldn’t hesitate to infiltrate an assassin, plant a bomb, or do anything else that might lead to your death. Keep your security high and your bodyguards alert.” Al-shira glanced at the door where Jacob’s Marine sentries were waiting just outside. “Yeseti might have failed, but I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more assassination attempts. Sooner or later.”

  Jacob leaned back in his seat, raising his hands defensively. “All right, all right, I’ll make sure Major Rasband knows about the extra threat assessment.” He grinned. “The Marines are already paranoid when it comes to me; apparently Ashford had a few words with his replacement before he left. I have the impression I’m lucky no one has locked me in a cell for my own safety, yet.”

  That comment brought a smile back to Al-shira’s face. “Well, if you would stop running into dangerous, subversive factions, maybe you’d get more slack. You have no one else to blame for your reckless behavior, Admiral Ironsides.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s High Admiral Ironsides, to you, Captain Al-shira.” Jacob grunted when she straightened up and gave him a mocking salute. “Thank you, Captain, for your concern. I will try to be more careful.”

  “That’s all I could ever ask for, Jacob.” She shook her head. “We still have a long ways to go before Intelligence can recover—some people are recommending we just try to start from the ground up, build up all new contacts and new sources, since the ones we had are all probably compromised or suspect by now. I’ll get the job done for you here, though. You can count on me.”

  Jacob grinned tiredly. “I would never dream of doubting you, Captain.” Then he stood. “All right, I have a meeting with Captain Martino in fifteen minutes to talk about the readiness state of the Eagle. Do you have time to grab a bite to eat before you go?”

  He made the offer almost without thinking, and his breath froze in his throat when his mind caught up with his words. For a long moment, Jacob braced himself for her refusal. The moment stretched for what seemed like an eternity.

  Then Al-shira glanced at her reader, and then set it aside. “I might have time.”

  “It’s not inappropriate for me to be seen taking a junior officer out on a date?” Jacob’s voice was harsh from both confusion and disbelief.

  “A date? Why would you think it was a date?” Al-shira raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m more or less your local Intelligence chief now. I think a meal wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows.” She waved to where the guards were still standing outside the door. “Besides, we have the world’s best chaperones waiting right outside.”

  Jacob snorted. “True.”

  Al-shira stood, tucking her reader into a pocket. “So, High Admiral, will you escort your Intelligence chief to the nearest officer’s mess?”

  “I’d be glad to, Naomi.” Jacob stood as well and led her to the hatch. He glanced back at his desk for a moment, and realized something. If the Odurans made it to Tiredel in spite of whatever trap he set for them, they would want to raze everything on the planet. They wanted the Oathbound dead just as badly as Carmichael wanted the refugees, and that meant they’d bombard the place just as severely as they had done to Rigannin. He wouldn’t put it past the League to leave the world a smoking, uninhabited ruin.

  Unfortunately, that meant Al-shira, working in the Intelligence center on Tiredel, was going to be at risk. Unless he stopped them here, the Union wouldn’t be the only thing he lost—Naomi Al-shira would die as well.

  Somehow, that fact made all the difference to Jacob, as he closed the door behind him. Shaken at how much the possibility worried him, he turned and walked to catch up with Al-shira. He had plenty to do without imagining a nightmare for himself—but all the logical reasoning in the world couldn’t keep that scenario from haunting his thoughts for the rest of the day.

  Chapter Twenty-On
e

  Someone knocked at Jacob's door, and he looked up from his work. Leon stood there. Jacob smiled. “Captain Nivrosky, I’ve been expecting you. Come in.”

  Leon didn’t smile in return; his expression was woodenly professional. He stepped across the doorway and saluted. When Jacob returned the salute, Leon slid the door closed and walked over to the desk. He paused for a moment, as if arranging his thoughts, and Jacob waited patiently for Leon to compose himself. When Leon did finally speak, his words were cold and formal. “Permission to speak freely, High Admiral.”

  “Granted.” Jacob smiled. “We’ve known each other a little too long to stand on that kind of formality. I imagine you’re here to tell me why you shouldn’t go to the Manassas Fords.”

  The muscles along Leon’s jaw bunched. “Yes, sir. I feel Galahad would be of more use here, with the rest of your task force. You need every ship you can get when the Odurans get here. Sir.”

  Jacob nodded. “I understand why you would say that, Leon.” He stood and walked over to the projection unit. “Unfortunately, while I do value your ship and your help, I need you in Manassas much, much more.”

  He activated the display, showing the stars all along the border. The systems of Tiredel, Erad, and New Manassas glowed a bright yellow, marking the weak spots of the Union's defenses while the rest of the stars remained a non-threatening blue. “To lure the Odurans, we have to make them think they have an opening. Their intelligence likely has a strong estimate of our deployment patterns, thanks to Admiral Yeseti, and they probably know where our strongest commanders are posted as well.”

  Jacob highlighted Erad with the touch of a button. “This morning I sent orders to Admiral Mirov to redeploy the strongest forces he has to Erad. Admiral Borgens and Siddiqui have already been building up their own forces in the area as well. Between the three of them, they should be able to create a significant level of protection for Erad, or at least enough to hold the Odurans at bay until reinforcements arrive.”