“Probably,” Rebecca agreed. The Harmonies were proud, according to the files. They wouldn't allow just anyone to move into their sector. “Do they pose a threat to us?”
Captain Yasser glanced at his tactical officer, who looked worried. “They made no attempt to impede our transit, Madam Ambassador,” he said. “Technologically, they may not be any more advanced than the ships we thrashed during the Battle of Earth. But if they’d wanted to prevent us from passing through the gravity point, they could have done so. It won’t take them long to move into position to blast anyone using the point. Even now ...”
He keyed a command into the console. “As you can see,” he said, indicating a red sphere surrounding the five icons, “they have the ability to fire missiles into the gravity point from their current position. Even one of our ships would have trouble realising that they were under attack, let alone raising shields and activating point defence, before it was too late. If they moved closer, nothing would survive. A stream of unwary ships might be destroyed, one by one, until the defenders ran out of missiles.”
Rebecca frowned. “So they could stop us from getting through the gravity point.”
“Yes, Madam Ambassador,” the tactical officer said. “And we believe that there are other such constructions under way at the other gravity points within the system.”
“I see,” Rebecca said, slowly. “Did they say anything to us?”
“Nothing,” the captain said. “We’re not even sure if the fortresses are online yet or not.”
Rebecca looked back at the display. “There’s no way to be sure?”
“They’re not broadcasting active sensor scans,” the captain said. “But that doesn't prove anything, not really. They could have their missiles and energy weapons locked on us using passive sensors alone. There’s no way to tell if they’re armed and ready to fire or not.”
He dismissed the tactical officer with a nod, relaxing slightly as the younger man left the compartment. “Madam Ambassador ... Rebecca ... this isn't a good thing.”
“I know,” Rebecca said. “If they’re willing to break galactic law, captain, what else are they prepared to break?”
“Good question,” the captain said.
He tapped a switch. The starchart zeroed out, showing a cluster of stars surrounding Harmony itself. It looked odd, somehow, as if the kingdom had grown out in random directions. But it had, she recalled. The Harmonies had been spacefaring well before Persia had invaded Greece, intent on bringing the Greek cities to heel. They’d built their kingdom by moving through the gravity points, not by using the stardrive. It hadn't been until they’d copied the stardrive - at a price - that they’d started to occupy the stars closer to their homeworld. They’d been inaccessible without a working FTL drive.
“If they wanted to block an immediate thrust from the Tokomak, they’d need to fortify the gravity points here, here and here,” he said, tapping three stars near Harmony. “They have alienated their former masters, even without fortifying the gravity points; they may not have a choice, given the firepower disparity. But fortifying the points in our direction, at best, will start an arms race amongst the major powers, as well as pushing the others to start fortifying their own gravity points. I don’t like it.”
Rebecca cocked her head. “You don’t know they’re planning hostilities against anyone.”
“No,” the captain agreed. “But if I happened to have physical control of a cluster of gravity points - economically important gravity points - I’d start thinking about charging tolls too. I could probably even use my economic stranglehold to force the other galactic powers to support me. There’s no logical reason to have the gravity points out here fortified unless they did intend to exploit them.”
“I see, I think,” Rebecca mused. “Might they not be worried about the Tokomak trying to bypass the first set of fortifications?”
“They’d still need to concentrate on defending the shortest route to their homeworld,” the captain said. He shook his head. “I don’t like this, Rebecca. I have the uneasy feeling we’re caught in a trap.”
“But you don’t need the gravity points to escape,” Rebecca pointed out. “Odyssey does have a stardrive, doesn’t she?”
The captain looked irked. “Of course,” he said. “But how long do you think it would take us to get home if we couldn’t use the gravity points?”
“Years,” Rebecca said.
“Assuming a straight-line course, without being intercepted, we’d need at least seventy-one years to get home,” the captain said. “It would take us at least twenty years to reach Hudson Base.”
Rebecca considered it for a long moment. “Do you have any proof we’re in a trap?”
“No,” the captain admitted. “But my gut is telling me that something isn’t right.”
“Galactic order is breaking down,” Rebecca agreed. “That makes our mission all the more important, Elton. If we can mediate between the different Galactics in this sector ...”
“If,” the captain said.
Rebecca met his eyes. “If we had to force our way back through the gravity point,” she said, “could we do it?”
“No,” the captain said, bluntly. “Odyssey doesn’t have the firepower to take on five fortresses, even with the advantage of surprise. Those things are built to soak up a great deal of damage. We’d need more starships to assist us, at the very least.”
He looked back at her, evenly. “And if we had to pop through a gravity point and discover ourselves under attack ... well, it would be disastrous. We wouldn’t have time to raise shields before we were overwhelmed.”
Rebecca leaned back in her chair. “But you don't know we’ll be attacked,” she protested. “Do you?”
“No,” the captain agreed. “I have no reason to believe that the Harmonies are doing anything apart from securing their borders. But as the starship commander, it is my duty to make you aware of the military realities. And those realities say that the Harmonies have gathered the firepower to make transit through the gravity points a very uncomfortable experience.”
A very suicidal experience, Rebecca translated, silently.
She studied the display for a long moment, feeling cold. She’d never felt truly vulnerable, even when she’d negotiated with rogue governments on Earth. The Solar Union had been watching her, maintaining a teleport lock at all times. Hell, even the maddest government had known better than to alienate the Solar Union. Fanatics grew a great deal less fanatical when their leaders discovered they could be targeted and killed - ruthlessly - if they threatened the Solar Union. But here ... she was on a lone starship - she didn't count the freighters - in the midst of a giant alien realm. It was quite possible that no one would ever know what had happened to them, if they ran into trouble. She couldn't help feeling naked.
And yet, there was no real reason to panic.
The Harmonies, one of the major galactic powers, had contacted humanity, asking for diplomatic discussions. Turning back now, when they were so close to Harmony itself, would be a major insult. At the very least, it would be harder to request another meeting when the first one had never even taken place. She knew the risks, she thought, but she also knew the potential advantages. Even opening up a singular line of communication - with the prospect of an upgrade later on - was worth the risks. And, she had to admit, it wouldn't do her career any harm either. No one else had negotiated with the major galactic powers as an equal.
“They asked us to send an envoy,” she said. She looked up at him. “We have to carry on, I think.”
The captain looked displeased. She understood, better than she cared to admit. She was the ambassador, but the buck stopped with him. Captain Yasser was solely responsible for the lives of a thousand officers and crew, ambassadorial staffers and merchant spacers. He could lose everything, if he made a single mistake. And yet, his superiors wouldn't be pleased if he turned tail and ran. She didn't blame him for his concerns, but they had to press on.
> “They could have agreed to meet us somewhere neutral,” the captain said, finally. “Why did they ask us to their homeworld?”
“Galactic custom,” Rebecca said. “They’re the ones who issued the invitation, so they’re the ones who have to host the talks. And besides ... we want to see their homeworld.”
“True,” the captain agreed. He strode over to the food processor. “Coffee?”
“Please,” Rebecca said. She took the mug he offered her gratefully. “Captain, we cannot allow this opportunity to slip by.”
“I hope you’re right,” the captain said. He sat, facing her. She couldn't help thinking that he looked older, somehow. His face hadn't changed, as far as she could tell. It was something in the way he held himself. “But things are changing, Rebecca.”
“That’s been true ever since the Battle of Earth,” Rebecca said.
She took another sip of her coffee. “We upset the entire galaxy when we crushed a Tokomak fleet,” she added, quietly. “We showed them that the Tokomak can be beaten. Captain ... this is an opportunity for us to take a place amongst the oldest and most powerful races known to exist. No, it’s more than that. This is a chance to take a hand in reshaping the galaxy itself.”
“At a price,” the captain said.
“We cannot stand alone, Elton” Rebecca reminded him. “Not against the Galactics. I saw the same simulations you did. We could destroy a thousand starships for every one of ours and still lose. We need allies. We need people who can help us break up and destroy any countermeasures before Sol is crushed. And if that means taking a risk ...”
She sighed. “I understand your concerns, Elton,” she added. “And I appreciate the risk we’re running. But I don’t see any other choice.”
“Neither do I,” the captain said. “It just makes me wonder ...”
His eyes slid back to the starchart. “It just makes me wonder, Rebecca, just what they’re thinking,” he mused. “Surely they have to know they’re provoking their fellows.”
“They may think that they have to block all the paths to their homeworld,” Rebecca offered, after a moment. “They have enemies. What if one of those enemies decides to side with the Tokomak against them? The Tokomak could offer the galaxy, literally, to anyone who sided with them.”
“At the cost of remaining in eternal submission,” the captain pointed out. “But yes, you’re right. The Harmonies might not be attacked by the Tokomak alone.”
He traced out a chain of gravity points on the chart. “I’d prefer to send one of the freighters back to Hudson Base,” he said. “Captain-Commodore Longlegs needs to know about this ... I’m surprised she didn’t already know. The entire galaxy would be talking about someone fortifying a chain of gravity points. But we need all of the freighters with us.”
“You could hire a courier boat,” Rebecca offered.
“I’d be concerned about the crew trying to unlock the diplomatic cache,” the captain said. “I would happily bet you a thousand credits that the Tokomak designed the system to be unlocked, with the right codes. Even if we give them an encrypted datachip ... I wouldn’t care to gamble on it being impossible to crack.”
“And to think that all the files swear blind that courier boats are never molested,” Rebecca said, dryly. “I feel so betrayed.”
The captain smiled for the first time in far too long. “Everything is changing, just as you said,” he reminded her. “And old certainties are falling everywhere.”
Rebecca nodded as she looked back at the fortress icons. The Tokomak had insisted on keeping the gravity points completely demilitarised, a measure that came with a nasty sting in the tail. They were the ones moving forces around, weren’t they? They didn’t want anyone trying to impede their fleets as they tightened their grip on their empire. Free trade was the excuse, but the underlying motive was far more sinister ...
“I wonder,” she mused. “Is this the first sign of a general revolt against the Tokomak?”
“It could be,” the captain agreed. “But they’re right next door, as far as the Tokomak are concerned. They’ll be rushing to get their defences into place before they get hit.”
Rebecca frowned. “How would you do it? I mean, if you were in their place?”
“I’d try to build up my fleets as quickly as possible,” the captain said. “If I could, without being detected. Maybe start converting civilian starships to warships. It would be an uphill slog, though. Rebecca ... the Tokomak are supposed to be able to fight and win wars against all of the other major powers at once.”
“Supposed to,” Rebecca said. “Is that true?”
The captain shrugged. “It depends on the assumptions you feed into the simulations,” he said, quietly. “The Tokomak have the raw numbers, in theory. They have a vast stockpile of warships, missiles and other supplies ... they also have a cluster of naval bases in position to squash any uprising fairly quickly. They also have interior lines, allowing them to shift forces from place to place faster than any of their enemies. But, at the same time ...
“We know their officers are old, that none of them have seen a real war ... well, save for whoever survived the Battle of Earth. We also know that their weapons are outdated, although their first set of opponents may be no more advanced. Really, we don’t know how many of their reserve warships are functional. Do they even have the crews to refurbish and operate them? And now ... some of the Galactics are fortifying their gravity points. The Tokomak might lose the early engagements, dispelling their aura of invincibility. Who knows what will happen then?”
Rebecca tried to imagine such carnage, but drew a blank. It was just numbers, billions upon billions of lives that were truly nothing more than just statistics. They would have had lives of their own, reasons to live, but she couldn't grasp them. It was far beyond her comprehension. She would like to think that the elder races would have enough wisdom to refrain from pointless slaughter, yet nothing she’d seen in her career had convinced her that the older galactic powers were particularly wise. Their unchanging universe was changing ...
... And their grip on power was beginning to snap. Human powers had rarely reacted well to the loss of power, when they'd been aware that their rivals were slowly catching up. War had never been uncommon, wars aimed at preventing disaster ... they’d rarely succeeded, even when they’d been superficially victorious. The cost of war had been catastrophic, bringing down the victors along with the vanquished.
The captain shrugged. “It’s possible they’ll accept whatever losses they have to accept, just to punch through the gravity points and take the high orbitals,” he added. “They do have the resources to swallow those losses, if they wish. Like you said, they can trade a thousand for one and still come out ahead. It’s also possible that they’ll swallow their pride and come to an agreement with their former subordinates. We just don’t know.”
“That’s another reason to be out here,” Rebecca said. “We need to fill in some of those blanks.”
“True,” the captain agreed. “I just hope they’re not planning to bar our escape.”
“Me too,” Rebecca said. “Me too.”
Chapter Ten
People who do not learn from history always repeat it. And people who do learn from history have to watch, helplessly, as others repeat it. There’s no way to avoid making a greater and greater commitment to ‘help’ without being accused of being heartless, if not worse. In the end, we wind up helping so many people that we beggar ourselves.
I am not heartless. But I believe we should put ourselves first.
-Solar Datanet, Political Forum (Grand Alliance Thoughts).
“There are another five fortresses holding position near the gravity point,” Lieutenant-Commander Steve Callaway reported. “And I’m picking up hints of cloaked ships nearby.”
Elton scowled. They’d passed two more gravity points, since stumbling across the first set of fortresses, one of which had been heavily defended. The other hadn't been defended, as fa
r as his sensors had been able to tell, but there had been hints that dozens of starships had made their way through the system ... going where? He’d expected to encounter more freighters, yet there had been almost none. He hated to admit it, but his instincts were telling him that something was deeply wrong.
“Keep us on course,” he ordered, coolly. “Tactical assessment?”
“I’m picking up low-level sensor scans and shield generator pulses,” Callaway said, after a moment. “I’d say these fortresses were active, if stepped down.”
“They could be brought up to full readiness in seconds, Captain,” Biscoe commented. “And they’ll already have a passive lock on our hull.”
Elton nodded, curtly. “Communications, send a standard greeting,” he said. “And inform them that we intend to transit the gravity point.”
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