Aurora Renegades

by G. S. Jennsen

  — Eleanor Roosevelt

  21

  SENECA

  Cavare

  Intelligence Division Headquarters

  * * *

  Richard went straight to Division from the spaceport. He skipped his office and Graham’s office to find Will down in Strategic Development in Tessa’s lab.

  On seeing Will, he had to fight off the urge to grab him and kiss him rather vigorously. But they had an audience, so he settled for a hug and a murmured endearment.

  While he’d been gone his husband had thrust himself right into the middle of a host of terrorist attacks and assassination attempts and God knew what else. Administration my ass.

  Satisfied Will was generally unharmed, if a bit exhausted-looking, he pulled back from the embrace. “I’m glad you’re safely inside Division. I assume the building and perimeter have been swept for explosives?”

  “They have.”

  Richard’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You weren’t safely inside until about ten minutes ago, were you?”

  Will’s grimace told him what he needed to know. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

  “You are. What’s the latest from Military Headquarters?”

  “Field Marshal Gianno’s dead.”

  “What? You’re certain?”

  “They found her body in the rubble an hour ago. It hasn’t been made public yet.”

  Gianno had just been on the Stalwart II; they’d shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Miriam was…he honestly wasn’t sure how Miriam was going to feel about it. He took a half-step back…and internalized the information. He was a military officer who had outlived a lot of other officers. A curse, but only because it was a blessing.

  He nodded soberly. “What else?”

  “Two hundred eighty-three confirmed dead so far. The good news, if there is such a thing, is that much of the military leadership was attending the Federation Worlds Symposium that day and escaped harm. No, there’s more good news. Tessa here has already helped us track down and arrest three of the perpetrators.”

  “Nice work, Tessa.”

  He received a mumble and a sloppy hand wave by way of response; he noticed the glyphs on her arms had expanded to almost completely obscure her mocha skin. A morass of code scrolled faster than he could track across the three screens in front of her. He lowered his voice. “What is she doing, exactly?”

  “Cleo’s been recording the transmission signal details in the OTS channel whenever Tessa has eavesdropped through the VISH. Now they’re scouring the logs for hooks back to the participants and cross-checking them against the chatter around the time of the bombing.”

  “Huh.” He smiled a little. “What’s your role here?”

  “Well, she’s been producing actionable intel every fifteen minutes or so for the last three hours.”

  “And you’re authorized to act on this intel?”

  Will shrugged. “Yes? Mostly? Graham left me more or less in charge. He’s with Chairman Vranas tonight. Because of the field marshal, I think.”

  “Of course. They were—”

  “Faith Quillen is in Cavare.”

  They both turned to Tessa, but she had her nose back in the screens and was again ignoring them.

  Detaining Quillen would be a big win in the battle against OTS, so Richard ventured in anyway. “Tessa, can you find anything else on her? A location, for instance?”

  The Prevo held up a finger. They dutifully waited.

  “Location is going to require more nodes of contact, but she gave the order to activate the explosives at Military Headquarters…and before she did she received orders to do it from someone on Romane. Hey, Navick, this is your guy from Pandora.”

  “The one Devon had the run-in with?”

  “Is that where the particulars came from? Hang on one. I’ve matched the transmission to Quillen with what’s tagged as prior communications from this guy, but this time he had to forego his usual safeguards. Maybe because Romane was kind of on fire at the time or something.”

  She straightened up in her chair. “Ooh, we had separate chatter on Romane a little while earlier—and there’s enough for a ground location. Sent it to Requelme, since OTS could still be holed up at the same spot.”

  Richard rolled his eyes at the ceiling. Much of the public criticism of Prevos was ill-informed if not outright false, but one thing was true: they held zero respect for proper procedures and policies. The Federation might be well on its way to having diplomatic relations with the IDCC, but it did not have those relations yet, and there were rules to be followed when sharing classified intelligence information like this.

  Or not.

  Tessa spun her chair round and round and round, sending her long braids trailing behind her. “I’ve seen this before, I’ve seen this before, where have I seen this before…Sutton, I have permission to access Level IV surveillance databanks, right?”

  Will made a face. “Cleo does.”

  “Good. Oh, I haven’t seen it before—but she has. High-level Alliance surveillance. Nice. Navick, do your former politicians realize how good we are at spying on them? Okay, standard filtering and such. Now to find….”

  Abruptly Tessa kicked her chair back so hard it slammed into the wall behind her. She stared up at them, synthetically-enhanced eyes sparkling and wide. “Son of a bitch. I know who he is.”

  22

  SCYTHIA STELLAR SYSTEM

  EAS Stalwart II

  * * *

  Everyone agreed Scythia publicly siding with Miriam Solovy was a coup for Volnosti.

  Everyone also agreed it would likely lead to an actual coup there, or a serious attempt at one.

  Winslow couldn’t let a defection of this magnitude stand. She’d done a reasonable job of blaming Messium’s ‘defection’ on Admiral Rychen, portraying the Messium government as being under his thumb and beholden to the large military presence there.

  But Scythia? Land of bright teal waters and happy, peaceful industry, with but a tiny military outpost of little note? Its support was not so easily mischaracterized, which left Winslow with only one good option: reverse it.

  The one thing they hadn’t known was whether Winslow would attempt to reverse it via subterfuge or direct assault. Attempting both at once had seemed a doubtful choice. But here they were.

  A shockwave generated by a negative energy missile detonation passed over the Stalwart II, and the floor beneath Miriam’s feet shuddered.

  The very destructive and very expensive bombs were thus far the sole weapon which was able to reliably counter the strength and resilience of adiamene hulls. They did it by creating vortexes of unnatural forces which the miniscule seams where adiamene transitioned to viewport, engines and weapons could not withstand, thereby ripping the vessels into pieces.

  Miniaturized versions of the bombs used in the Metigen War had begun to be produced several months earlier and fitted for missile deployment. But most military vessels used laser weapons, not physical, perishable projectiles, so the fitting required physical reworks to the weapons housing of individual ships. Thus the rollout had been slow.

  All her new offensive ships were equipped with them, but practical storage requirements meant the on-board supplies were low. At least they were low for everyone.

  The Stalwart II had been designed with an extra layer of shielding, two hundred meters out. Among other uses, it protected the ship from the full destructive force of the negative energy weapons. It had a few drawbacks, including being a tremendous power draw, and as such hadn’t yet been deployed on most vessels. But this was a command ship. The command ship.

  After confirming they’d suffered no damage from the detonation, Miriam studied the tactical map. Despite the ship, she wasn’t a battlefield commander, but she was learning fast. Thomas helped with frequent but discreet, unobtrusive analytical assessments which appeared on a screen to her right.

  Admiral Solovy (EAS Stalwart II): “Squadron V5B, concentrate your efforts on Quadrants A throug
h C and protect the defense array.”

  Matched against her fleet was an entire brigade-strength force. Fullerton had learned his lesson from Messium and brought far larger numbers to bear here. She was buoyed by the thought, however, that it may constitute the bulk of the forces in the Eastern sectors Winslow managed to retain control over.

  The military was falling Miriam’s way.

  The political class wasn’t proving as easy. Scythia stood to be a win on that front, but first she had to keep it.

  Scythia

  The wreckage of the bombed-out Astral Materials corporate offices had been cleared away, leaving a jagged half-shell façade of a building to overlook the waterfront. Under the light of a full moon it cast sharp shadows on the ocean waves and the boardwalk alike. A monument to OTS’ violence and terror.

  On the positive side, the fact the entire area remained cordoned-off allowed Malcolm’s team to sneak through without worrying about curious pedestrians. Plus, the state of emergency which had just been declared thanks to the battle going on above was emptying the streets across a far larger region.

  He motioned Grenier and Rodriguez forward to clear the next block. The government administration complex was ahead and to the left, a block in from the waterfront.

  They were stealthed—but not invisible—they were few, and they needed to hurry.

  They reached the complex without incident, as the streets remained quiet. But once there they were met with a chaotic flurry of activity. Understandable. The planet was under attack, and this was the hub of its government.

  The governor’s chief of staff met him at the entrance. Malcolm didn’t want to cause a panic by sauntering in with a group of heavily armed Marines, so he ordered his team to remain in the background and cloaked. But he needed to take command of the situation.

  “Ms. Cardona, Colonel Malcolm Jenner.”

  “Yes, Admiral Solovy told us to expect you. We haven’t seen any problems here yet, other than a series of increasingly strongly worded communiques from the prime minister to the governor.”

  “Has he responded to any of them?”

  “The first one. The counter-response from the prime minister was brief and somewhat rude. They got worse from there.”

  “It probably won’t be long then.” Malcolm glanced around the bustling hallways. “We need to get most of these people out of here. I recognize you’re in a crisis situation, but I need you to send every person who isn’t absolutely essential home immediately. Fifteen minutes from now, I need there to be less than ten non-security personnel in the building.”

  The woman’s eyes widened. “Less than ten?”

  “And eight is preferable to nine. These people will be safe at home. They’re not safe here.”

  “Right.” The muscles in her jaw twitched once. “I’ll get on it. But first let me take you to the governor.”

  He brought his people in then. They received a number of startled gasps, but those here understood the stakes tonight and were less surprised than they might otherwise have been.

  The distinctive blue-on-white ‘Volnosti’ emblem on their shoulders over their Alliance gear broadcast his team’s allegiance, and he figured anyone who strongly disagreed with the governor’s decision had resigned in a fit and departed.

  Cardona directed them into the office and headed off to clear the building.

  Malcolm shook the man’s hand. “Governor Jayce.”

  “Colonel. I confess I was skeptical the prime minister would dare try to forcibly depose my administration. But after receiving some rather colorful correspondence from her this evening, I believe she would burn me at the stake if she were able.”

  “Not going to happen, sir.”

  “Good.” The governor looked around and frowned. “Are some of your people stealthed? Or is this all of you?”

  “That’s classified, sir. I can only say that we will protect you.”

  He nodded. “I’m certain you’ll do your best.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m linking us into your government security channel now. If you could authorize your security personnel to follow our orders?”

  “If you believe it’s necessary. They’re good people, well-trained—but we don’t see a lot of action here.”

  “I understand. I’ll only use them in a support capacity.”

  Malcolm spent the next few minutes assigning the security officers to watch and guard positions. Mid-way through, Cardona reported on the departure of all but a handful of aides, and those aides were brought into the governor’s suite.

  Sensors were placed at all entryways, including the non-obvious ones. In a smaller perimeter around the suite, proximity micro-bombs were also placed.

  Rodriguez came on the comm from his surveillance vantage on the roof. Two dozen Marines en route from the northeast. ETA three minutes.

  Colonel Jenner: Understood. Update every ten seconds.

  He turned back to the governor, whom Paredes was helping don a tactical vest and a personal shield. “It’s time.”

  EAS Stalwart II

  “They’re drawing our forces too close to the planet. All offensive formations, you need to control the battlespace. Pull them to where you want them—which is not up against the planet.”

  Trusting her pilots knew how to do such a thing, Miriam’s focus couldn’t help but drift to the larger strategy. The why.

  Fighting in the shadow of a planet constrained everyone involved, on both sides. It limited movement and firing options. So why were Fullerton’s forces this intent on keeping the fighting there?

  She peered at the display. They’d also stopped attempting to disable the defense arrays in the last few minutes. She didn’t need Thomas’ help to decipher this one. They expected to be able to use the arrays against her forces soon.

  She switched comm channels.

  Admiral Solovy (EAS Stalwart II): “Colonel Jenner, expect incoming.”

  Colonel Jenner: “They’re on approach now, Admiral.”

  Admiral Solovy (EAS Stalwart II): “Then I will leave you to it.”

  She returned to studying—

  A brilliant explosion lit the viewport, far larger than any which had come before.

  Admiral Solovy (EAS Stalwart II): “Squadron Leads, report.”

  V5B Primary: “One of the negative energy missiles missed its target and exploded in the upper mesosphere.”

  What would that even do? She watched in horror as the atmospheric clouds surrounding the explosion roiled and churned. A second explosion plumed nearby, but the turmoil gradually subsided.

  V5B Primary: “The explosion and its aftereffects took out five of our fighters and a frigate. All indications are the other side suffered worse.”

  She gritted her teeth.

  Admiral Solovy (EAS Stalwart II): “To all ships, I say again: draw them away from the planet. Disengage and pull back. Make them come to you.”

  Next she activated a private channel. “Admiral Rychen, any ideas are most welcome.”

  “You already stole all my good ones. They want us dead, so they’ll chase us if they must—”

  He cut off abruptly. And not merely his voice—the channel. She checked the Churchill’s position. “Redirect heading S 62° -51°z E.”

  As they swung down toward the profile of Scythia, the dreadnought came into view. White-blue flames poured out of its impulse engines, and it seemed to be having difficulty maintaining course. The hull looked to be holding, as it had been one of the first ships to be retrofitted with adiamene after the end of the Metigen War.

  “Lieutenant Renato, have all Rescue Units prepare for deployment. Major Halmi, I need information on what hit the Churchill.”

  “It doesn’t appear anything hit it, Admiral. The Bismarck had an unobstructed view and tracked no projectiles. Here’s vid coming in now.”

  A new screen to her left opened. The Churchill was engaged and firing two of its uniquely healthy supply of negative energy missiles at the Provence, when suddenly bo
th impulse engines exploded. To her eye it looked as if they exploded from within.

  Impulse engines didn’t malfunction—not military-grade ones—which left one conspicuous option as the likeliest scenario: sabotage. It was a concern they carried with them every day. Most of their people were loyal to her, Rychen or both, but there were a lot of personnel, and they couldn’t know every one personally.

  Her gaze rose to the viewport once more as the Churchill crashed into one of their own ships, sending it tumbling off-course. Then its bow dipped toward the planet below.

  The ship itself was still intact. Many, many people were still alive onboard—but not for much longer.

  There was nothing she could do for them. They were all highly trained. They would know how to effect an emergency evacuation. If no one panicked, there were enough shuttles and pods for all of the twenty-one thousand people onboard.

  But what there was not much of was time.

  “Get every craft that can serve a rescue function into the Churchill’s vicinity now. Fullerton won’t allow his people to fire on escape shuttles, and if he allows them to fire on rescue personnel I will string him up and gut him myself.”

  Scythia

  When the Alliance infiltration team breached the building, Malcolm activated the official broadcast system.

  “This is Agent Robertson of Scythia Administrative Security. You’re trespassing on government property during a state of emergency. State your purpose.”

  He watched the cam feed as the point man swept the entry room. “This is a matter of Earth Alliance security. We have authorization to be here.”

  “My department doesn’t have any record of such authorization.”

  “It’s, um, classified. Strictly classified, and direct from the prime minister. We need to take the governor and his deputy into protective custody.”

  “If a threat exists to the personal safety of the governor or his staff, as head of security I need to be made aware of it.”