by Ryan Krauter
Enric Shae woke with a start as his personal comm channel signaled an incoming request. He hadn't realized he'd been dozing, so he glanced at the old fashioned analog clock on the wall of the Senator's immense office while rubbing his eyes and shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. It was 0315 hours, the middle of the night. Who in the blazes would call at this time? And who had his private number? The only real possibility was a Priman agent, and as he looked at the identifying information about the caller, his fears were confirmed.
His stomach groaned, a combination of consuming nothing more than cups of stim-caf for the last ten hours and the nervous reaction to the identifier.
He tapped the 'receive' button, and a face that he barely recognized appeared on the screen.
"Enric Shae," the man said. He was a Priman, older and with the physique of someone who'd formerly been in shape but had begun to lose that battle. He wore a uniform that seemed to be a mashup of military dress and high executive. "I am the Priman Commander."
Shae swallowed and tried desperately to not look nervous. He recognized the man, had in fact met him ever so briefly when he'd gone to Priman space to negotiate the sham 'treaty' on behalf of Senator Dennix a year or so back.
The Priman gave the tiniest of smiles. "You recognize me, do you not? I realize your time among my people was mostly spent with subordinates, but I remember you well."
Shae nodded. "I remember you, sir."
"Good. I would talk with Senator Dennix. Now is a good time." The Commander simply leaned back in his chair in the darkened room he was broadcasting from, staring at Enric expectantly.
"I'll go get him."
Fourteen
Enric Shae stood outside the inner quarters of Zek Dennix. While he had housing elsewhere in the city, he hadn't gone there in as long as either of them could remember. Zek had once accidentally admitted that he felt as though if he left the building for too long somebody would try to wrest control for themselves.
To that end, he'd had quarters intended for visiting dignitaries renovated as his personal living space, complete with a private gallery that led to his main offices as well as back entrances to a number of other spaces in the building. Enric could see the man had begun to show signs of paranoia; not the healthy sort that kept politicians in business and on top of the game, but the kind that would get a normal civilian checked into a facility where there were padded edges on everything and people always spoke slowly and softly to people for their own well being. Soon now, the Primans would finally ditch Dennix, and Enric sincerely hoped they'd follow through on their part of the bargain to prop him up in the Senator's place.
For now, all he could do was enter the code to open the door, which slid quietly into the wall. He took a few steps into the dimly-lit chamber and tapped the wall console, bringing the lights slowly up to half bright.
He stood in the main living area, though he could see the double doors to the master bedroom were ajar.
"Senator," Shae called. No answer, so he did exactly what he'd been ordered to do.
"Senator!" he said, noticeably louder. The Senator only trusted one person to enter his quarters, but Enric didn't want to startle the man, either; he wasn't entirely sure the Senator wasn't armed in there, and he didn't want to find out.
"What?" came a muffled response.
Best to just shock him to full consciousness. "The Priman Commander is waiting for you on the comm system. He called me directly and he said he'll hold the connection while I get you."
Shae heard scrambling, something hitting the floor, a few muffled curses, then the lights went on. A minute later, Senator Zek Dennix emerged from the master bedroom, dressed in fresh, pressed clothes and running a cleaner through his hair.
"I'll take it here in the sitting room." Dennix pointed to a screen on the wall near a bookcase that held some old fashioned paper books.
The Senator sat down, composed himself one last time in the way only a seasoned political veteran could, then nodded to Enric, who transferred the connection.
The face of the Commander appeared, someone Dennix had never seen in person before. Always his dealings had been with Priman handlers; sometimes messages were passed through Shae, a source of deep irritation to Dennix. Talking to the Commander face to face, though, was both a relief and source of much concern.
"Senator Dennix," the Priman began, "I am short on time so I will be brief. I have an opportunity to seize a great number of our holdings and place them firmly under Priman control right now. This cannot be ignored, so I will be arriving in the Delos system within twelve hours with a sizable fleet. When I arrive, you will have your fleets stand down and not approach my vessels. We will enter high orbit over Delos, and together and I will announce the formal integration of the Confederation into the Priman hierarchy. You will continue to rule, nothing will change. This merely cements the treaty stipulations we've been working under these past months. Your population will formally recognize the change of status from adversaries to partners. The rest will sort itself out in due time. You shall have your peace, Senator, and you can claim it all as your own doing for all I care. I simply need to remove the Confederation from my list of active enemies."
Senator Dennix didn't know what to say at all. He knew, as an abstract idea, that this day would arrive, but not this soon! This should have taken years to arrange, and now he was being told to expect a turnover within twelve hours! He had no idea how this was going to go smoothly, but obviously there wasn't much choice to be had. He would make do, somehow.
"Commander," he replied, trying his best to not let any cracks in his composure show through, "there is an issue that will require addressing before you arrive." He took a breath and saw the annoyed look on the Priman's face, but pressed on before the other man had a chance to speak. "We recently received an all-frequencies message from Admiral Nodam Bak, in command of a fleet near the front lines. He claimed there was an attack force arriving to destroy us. I assume that he was talking of your force?"
The Commander stood up and leaned in towards the camera pickup, annoyance turning to barely bridled anger. "I am the one in charge here, Senator! Those absurd claims are from a fleet containing the biggest obstacles to our consolidation; Avenger, Majestic, Nodam Bak, Sirian Elco, Loren Stone! You are accountable for them and their actions, Senator, and they are trying to steer events to their own ends. Perhaps they favor endless conflict. Perhaps they want the military to control the Confederation. I do not know nor do I care. They are an impediment, a thorn in the side of my people and should be considered the same to yours as well. Who will you side with, Senator, because I must know this instant how my fleet will disperse and organize upon arrival at Delos!"
Dennix froze. Who was right? Did it matter? What if Bak and Elco were telling the truth, that the Commander was there to level Delos and take power? But then Confed would never stop fighting and the Commander would be no better off, would he? So then what if the Priman was telling the truth; that they were arriving to enforce their end-game and place Confed under their control with himself, Senator Zek Dennix, at the head of the table? Who should he side with? He apparently didn't have time to decide. The Primans would be here first, that was for sure, and he wouldn't have any help; he'd ordered Enric Shae to block further transmissions from Admiral Bak, told the military to disregard the rogue signal, and even turn away the few offers of help that came trickling in after the message was received. There was no help coming; that made the decision a fairly simple, if painful one.
"We await your arrival in peace, Commander," Dennix replied flatly.
The screen went blank and Dennix sat there, shocked, unable to move or think clearly. The world had stopped spinning, and all he could hear was the rush of blood in his ears, like listening to the ocean in a seashell. Finally, he noticed Enric Shae standing off behind him, face an impassive mask, no emotion. He couldn't read the man, but their fortunes were tied together so he assumed Enric would take the next step with pragmatism.
"Enric, there is the small, off chance, slightest risk that this may not go well for us, either at the hands of the Primans or our own populace. Maybe even the military. It's just too soon, dammit; the people aren't ready to transition yet." He paused, ashamed to ask the question but knowing it must be done. "Do we have a plan to get out of here if necessary?"
"I can make some calls."
The Commander severed the connection and laughed, glad he'd stayed in his VIP cabin to make the call. It might have bolstered the crew if they saw him make the deal and force the Confed politician to grovel in front of him, but he hadn't wanted to take the chance of an insubordinate response.
It didn't matter in the end, in any case. Once they arrived over Delos, they'd level the capital, destroy what few ships were there while their shields were down and submissive, then be waiting for the pathetic little Confed fleet to catch up with them along with Ravine and her foolish followers. He'd have to destroy her vessel immediately so she couldn't try and usurp his power somehow, but once that problem was taken care of, he'd rally another force of ships and move on to the Talarans, and then the Hamm Collective, and the Dreen, and all the way into the galactic core. Nobody would stand up to them once this spiral arm was his.
Tash stood next to the ship's captain, hands clasped behind his back in an unconscious mimicking of Velk's posture and bearing. As much as he despised the man, it was not for his abilities to command ships or men. No, it was because the men and women of the Priman military truly respected and liked Velk, whereas Tash knew they simply followed his orders. If somebody had pointed out his parroting of the former Commander's traits, Tash would probably have reacted badly.
Right now, though, he was riding high. They'd revert in the Delos system in less than a minute and proceed at max speed right to the planet itself. Based on what they found there, they'd disperse the fleet as necessary and deal with the ships they found. His analysts assured him he'd have almost ten minutes before the remains of the Confed fleet could arrive and cause problems. His jamming would be in full force by then, both within his own fleet and affecting the rest of the system if need be. Nothing was going to stop them.
"Reversion," announced a bridge officer from off to the side. The front bulkhead of the bridge shimmered and appeared to vanish, holographic fields creating a virtual view of the system ahead. A smaller holographic display, much like Confed's own ships sported, sparked to life on the port side of the bridge as well. Tash strode a few steps forward, inspecting Delos. Several Confed navy vessels were identified, all holding station with weapons unpowered and shields down. There was a Centurion class defense platform ahead as well, bit it too looked like it was at a complete stand-down.
They'd be in orbit in ten minutes.
"Lieutenant," Elco said softly from where he'd taken a seat next to Caho's station in the sensor shack at the rear of the bridge, "we have a problem."
"This is in addition to all our standard problems? Something new?" she asked with a straight face.
"Yes. New and horrible."
"What do we need to do, sir?"
"When we get to Delos, the Primans will have a head start. They'll probably be right over Delos, right in the middle of everything. They'll have twice as many ships as us, be in a better tactical position, and will have us reacting to their moves instead of us calling the shots. This all ends, though, if we destroy the rogue Commander's ship. Kill him, the jamming signal drops. A few hours ago, we received a text burst from the new Priman Commander and her force, along with some tasking from Admiral Bak. The Commander assured us that if we destroy this Tash fellow's ship, the jamming signal will reset because it's coordinated under his authority on that particular vessel. When the signal resets, the Commander will regain communication and take control of all Priman forces. The goal, Lieutenant, the only thing we need to do, is find out which ship is Tash's. The Priman Commander will be looking too, of course, but the only thing that concerns me is finding Tash's ship and ending it violently. I need you to tell us which ship he's on, Lieutenant."
Caho understood. Rarely was the captain so somber. Serious, yes, but he spoke now with a gravity that emphasized the importance of this task. She took it as a badge of honor to identify the rogue Priman's ship before the other Primans did.
"I'll find them, Captain."
Tash was trying his level best to not laugh. They'd arranged themselves in orbit high above the capital city.
"Captain," Tash said evenly. "Let's show them some sort of parade formation, let them think we're showing off a bit. In reality, we need to make sure we get maximum coverage of our weapons on the capital."
Captain Toron, master of the ship Pincer, showed a feral grin. He'd followed the leadership's policies as they'd gone back and forth, but right now, in this moment, he saw the endgame his people had been promised all those generations. The humans wouldn't surrender, and now they would perish.
"Establish a connection to Senator Dennix," commanded Tash. "I want to see the look on his face when we open fire."
Dennix received the hail he'd been dreading. It was the Commander, and he knew the Priman expected a quick reply. The Senator sat at his desk, back straight, clean garments, polished rings; he'd look regal when he met with the Priman later. He tapped the flashing icon to accept the connection.
"Commander," Dennix started. "Welcome to Delos. I trust our preparations are within the guidelines we agreed upon?"
"Oh yes," the Priman agreed. "You have done everything I asked. Your ships, your capital, your entire Confederacy; they all look so vulnerable like this, I suppose. Good thing we have such a fine working relationship, right?"
Dennix suddenly got the chills. Despite his best efforts, a shiver raced down his spine
"Good riddance, Senator Dennix," said the Priman, formerly impassive face turning angry as the facade crumbled. He turned his head ever so much. "Open fire!"
Dennix froze as the Priman turned back to look him in the eye. "Your people were so foolish to trust you," Tash scolded. "You are dishonorable, unworthy. You'd turn your back on your own planet just to keep yourself in power, in control, the trappings of materials. You should be the first to die!"
Dennix looked at Shae, panic on his face, as the first massive laser bolts came crashing down onto the capital district. The ground shook, explosions rang through the windows as they shattered, and Shae raced to grab him as Senator Zek Dennix simply passed out.
The opening salvoes of Tash's fleet concentrated on two objectives: saturating the capital and therefore the government's ability to operate, and neutralizing the Centurion defense platform close at hand. The battle station was equipped with huge shield generators, and in an application such as this where it orbited a fixed location above the surface, the shields were able to be projected outwards, serving as a first line of defense against shots from out-system. The shields could be repositioned as needed to intercept laser blasts, detonate inbound torpedoes, even affect the trajectory of kinetic weapons. The station took the full brunt of a full barrage from thirty cruisers, though, and with shields down was quickly overwhelmed. A handful of Confed ships in the area started to realign themselves as well, and the force that laid the initial bombardment on the capital shifted fire to them, the savage massed fire quickly rendering the Confed vessels into flaming, debris-spewing wrecks, shedding lifeboats as they were dragged into the upper atmosphere of Delos.
"Senator!" Dennix heard, and realized he was shaking violently. It angered him for some reason, more so than having his building destroyed while he was inside it.
He swung his hands at the direction the voice was coming from and the shaking stopped. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Enric Shae hovering a step beyond his reach, a mix of concern and perhaps annoyance on his face.
"You dragged me down here?" Dennix asked, and Shae only nodded. "Thank you."
Dennix stood up slowly, on one knee, then levered himself to a standing position with the help of a table. He looked aroun
d and realized he was in some sort of storage space. It was dimly lit, cluttered with metal boxes, containers, and lighting that was either in power save or perhaps on batteries if the power grid had been destroyed by Tash's shots.
"Where are we?" he asked Shae.
"Sublevel storage," Enric Shae offered, "under one of the research wings. Nothing important above ground to blow up, so I figured we would wait here for a minute. But we shouldn't stay long."
"Why not?"
Enric paused, looking at Dennix as if the man has just proposed a hiking trip to the moon. "Because the day only ends two ways. First, the Primans win. They'll come back and reduce the surface even more, making sure our infrastructure is gone. They'll land and occupy the place, and they sure as hell won't be saving a spot for us in their plans. We don't want to be captured by them. Second, our navy wins. And if they do, they'll be coming for us. Right or wrong, evidence or no, they'll want us out of here. Maybe they'll try running things on their own, maybe they'll try and get some new people in here, but I guarantee you we have no friends out there, either. The only way we survive is to not be here when the dust settles. Then we figure out who's in charge and what to do. We live to fight another day."
Dennix was about to argue and then simply gave up. Enric could see it; the man's shoulders slumped, his eyes sunk to the ground, even the skin seemed to hang off his jaw and thickening neck. Whatever grand plans he'd been harboring these last couple years, whatever visions he'd cooked up of himself and his glorious years of rule, it was all over as of right now. The absolute best he could hope for today was exactly what Enric had just suggested. They simply needed to survive, and then see what options there were left. The mighty had fallen.