by Rod Carstens
Her understanding of what was about to transpire didn’t help Usiche's mood. She knew the game and understood the need for the hearings, yet she was angry, furious might have been a better word. Being dragged in front of a committee to be grilled was just part of the Kabuki Theater of politics. None of her answers would change the outcome of what had happened during the Xotoli invasion.
She was angry because they would be asking the same questions she had asked herself a thousand times since Rift. Had she missed something? Was there something else she could have done to prevent the attack? Could she have used different tactics and saved more lives? Her answer to each of those questions was "yes." A commander could always have done "something else" during a battle as large and complex as Rift. Yet none of those alternatives would have changed the course of the battle. They were matters of degrees, not major changes in battle strategy. Despite the fact that she had come to that conclusion, she would still feel the sting of those questions coming from others. Anyone who never commanded of men and women in battle would ever face those decisions. She had not wanted to order men and women, who had been her friends for decades, to their deaths. Yet she had done so. She had made the decisions that had to be made to win the battle, but she still felt the burden that all commanders felt after such a desperate battle. She had attended too many memorial services not to feel that weight. She didn’t need to be reminded of it by a roomful of politicians looking to increase their leverage and power.
Yet more was on the line than whether they second-guessed her decisions, namely her promotion to Admiral of the Navy by the new secretary general. Anddan Fallain Monnetal had been elected to secretary general by a small majority after a vote of no confidence for the previous one, who had unfairly been blamed for Rift. Because the invasion had happened on her watch, she had taken the responsibility. Usiche thought the former secretary general had done so with grace and wisdom. Monnetal was an unknown backbench career politician, a compromise candidate whom all sides thought they could control.
Another secretary general from Sol or Rigel Kent would have only confirmed to the other, less politically powerful, systems that their interests were secondary to the “big two” and the corporations. The Xotoli were truly a threat to all, and the outer systems were unwilling to hand over their security to the Top one percent of the Confederation. So after much negotiation, Monnetal had been chosen. Sol, Rigel Kent, and the corporations felt that a senator from the economically weak Ly system would be acceptable to the other outer systems. Most politicians had considered Monnetal a rural bumpkin who would have little more power than what they ceded to him. They had been wrong. He understood that the Confederation was looking for a real leader, not another corporate manager. They needed a face of leadership and determination they could rally behind.
Monnetal had done a tour in the navy as a lieutenant and saw some combat in the Breed Wars before moving into local politics. He had climbed his way up the political ladder to country, then planet, and finally system representation. He had served quietly in the Confederation Senate for years before emerging as the only candidate with enough institutional knowledge to manage the complexities of the office. He was also the candidate with the fewest political enemies, but the power brokers had underestimated him.
Monnetal was not the weak secretary general that various special interest groups had thought he would be. His years in the rough and tumble of local politics had produced a shrewd and tough politician. He recognized that he had the bully pulpit when he was elected. He also knew that the public longed for an identifiable leader. His first speeches recalled some of those made by other wartime leaders from history. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Marshall were names that had been used for comparison. He was wildly popular, but more importantly, he was growing into the job before everyone's eyes. In a few short months, he had established his leadership in opposition to the power brokers of the elite
Usiche had been working closely with him since he entered office a few months earlier. She had seen him work, and she had come to respect his quiet effectiveness. There was more steel and craftiness in him than many understood, and he was no blow hard who could only deliver moving speeches. Yet when he had called her in to promote her to Admiral of the Navy, Usiche had initially declined.
"Mr. Secretary, you know your enemies will use me to beat you over the head. I was in command on Rift. When you’re in command, it’s always your responsibility. So the surprise attack was my fault for not preventing it. They will not let it rest. There will be investigations, charges, and counter charges. You don't need that now," she had said
"That is exactly what I need, Admiral. I made you Admiral of the Navy because I can read. I read every after action and lessons learned report from that battle. If you had not been in command, I don’t think Rift would be in Confederation hands today. There isn’t another naval officer in the service who could have saved Rift. So I’m appointing you because you’re the right person for the job. Second, I want this fight now, not later. I want to beat these sons of bitches into the ground now so that we can get to fighting this war. I’m tired of giving rah-rah speeches. I got what I needed from them. I've got the public behind me. Now it's time to get down to business. The other reason I’m appointing you is that you’re not only the best military commander, but someone with enough political savvy to beat their political asses in their own chambers."
"I’m not the politician my father or mother is."
"No, you’re something else, Admiral. Before I read the reports from Rift, I watched your speech at the Naval Academy right after the battle. It was one of the best political speeches I’ve ever seen. You weren’t just making a speech to those graduates. You were making a speech to the Confederation. And you know it."
The secretary paused. Usiche knew he was right. She had planned every second of that ceremony and speech to have the maximum impact on everyone who watched.
"Not to mention how you brought some of the veterans from Rift to make your words real. No, not only are you a great commander, but you have political skills too. You're a combination of the political savvy of your parents and the steel forged from command in combat. And not just combat, but the last ditch, do-or-die kind of fight that was Rift, the kind of command that shows the leadership ability at the core of the commander. You’re my choice, and that means you’re the choice of the Confederation. Now, will you serve your secretary and the Confederation?"
Usiche had stared at the rather small, unassuming man whose will was holding the Confederation together.
"Yes, sir. I would be honored."
"As you well know, Admiral, this is a sword that cuts both ways. There will be times that you curse the day you ever said yes."
They both laughed, and then the secretary reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle and poured two glasses of Scotch. Then he offered her a cigarette. With his feet up on the desk, he took a long drink from his glass.
"Admiral, if we’re gonna win this war, you and I need to get to know each other real well. The best way I know how to do that is to get drunk with someone over some good food. Can you stay for dinner?"
"Yes, sir."
Once dinner was over, they sat down for brandy and cigars. The secretary general had his feet up on the table again. The dinner had been cordial with little shoptalk.
"Everything has been thrown out the window with this Xotoli attack. There’s a whole new reality facing the Confederation that many have yet to understand." Monnetal said.
The secretary general dropped his feet off the table and leaned forward.
"For the first time since humans began to leave Sol and establish new colonies, it’s vital that we come together to stand united. Time, light years and different genetics can no longer define who we are. We are all humans."
He made a fist and pounded it on the table to punctuate these last statements.
"We can no longer afford to walk around in our own self-interest worried only about our Breed or syst
em. All the Breeds have to put aside past history and come together as the human race. The systems and the Confederation must understand that unless we begin to depend on one another, we will not win this war. The Xotoli will walk right through us. You’ve fought them. Am I exaggerating?"
"No, Mr. Secretary, you are not. They are truly a threat to everyone and everything we are. I spent days walking around Rift right after the battle. I wanted to see for myself if the reports of their brutality were as bad as described. It was not an exaggeration. Bodies and limbs were piled up wherever the hybrids had encountered civilians. Men and women, no matter their age, were torn limb from limb. Some had obviously been tortured before they were killed. And the way the Xotoli used the hybrids was just as shocking. They’re used in waves of frontal attacks with no thought of casualties. The Xotoli intend to win at any cost and will take everything we have."
The secretary general nodded with a grim look on his face.
"Precisely. The Confederation must come together. Currently, with Sol leading the way, the richest systems expect to buy their way out of this with corporate security forces. So they’re unwilling to pay for a military capable of facing the Xotoli. They think that the corporate armies and a few private naval vessels are enough. I spent enough time in the Navy to know the Xotoli will go through those like a knife through butter. The private navies are under-trained and depend too much on technology. The outlying systems understand the threat, but don't have the votes to force the richer systems to pony up their fair share. Meanwhile, most of the money is coming from the outer systems. Some are paying more than they can really afford. Despite being dependent on the outer systems for their raw materials, the inner systems have forgotten that they stand on the shoulders of billions of people and complex supply systems that provide everything they need. The Four Sisters, as I’ve begun to call them, have completely used up their system’s resources. All they know is that they have everything they could possibly want at their fingertips with no concept of what it took to place it there. The ones who run things, the top corporate executives, politicians, and families with generations of wealth, are insulated from reality. When you have enough money to live on multiple planets or even systems, you lose sight of what keeps you there. We have created a level of super-rich plutocrats who feel no loyalty to anything but money."
He paused. Usiche had been watching Monnetal carefully. He had come from one of those poorer systems. Lalande was too far out and lacked any resources that made it worth the transportation costs to get them to market. Instead, the system was largely self-contained and did most of its trading with Wolf. It had become, in recent years, something of a destination where the super rich could build one of their many homes. It was famous for its beauty and climate. So Usiche thought the secretary was looking at the situation from the best possible position, from the needs of the outer systems and not from the abundance of the inner systems.
"That doesn’t even consider," the secretary continued, "the corporations who’re smiling all the way to the bank. They’re playing both sides. They sell their security forces to the rich planets while grabbing as many contracts as they can from the Confederation to build the needed ships and weapons to protect the outer systems. They have no interest except what makes them the most money. They pay little or nothing to the Confederation in taxes or fees while they depend on the Confederation for their protection. So you see, Admiral, I have quite a job on my hands. We cannot win this war with the situation as it now stands. We must change it. That is why I want this fight now. I want to begin to hit back at them, and you are my first salvo."
Usiche smiled at the naval reference.
"After your confirmation, I intended to create joint chiefs. They will be the commanders of the various militaries. It will be comprised of you, Marine Commandant Buchman, the Von Fleet Chairman, and the Ecomcon general, or admiral, or whatever he’s calling himself these days, and representatives from the Wolf and Rift militaries. The objective will be to coordinate our forces."
Usiche puffed on her cigar and took a long sip of brandy. It was Usiche's turn to look grim.
"Quite an order, Mr. Secretary," she said.
The secretary threw back his head and laughed. "I told you that you would come to regret taking the job."
"Just not so soon, Mr. Secretary. Now I know why you've been feeding me this liquor."
They both laughed. So had begun a strange friendship forged in the decisions of war for the survival of the human race. She saw him almost daily now for briefing. He was putting his office and the Confederation in her hands, and the first test was a political one. She would be damned if she was going to let him down. She stood at the table, waiting to be sworn in, as she watched the faces of the senators in front of her. Usiche knew that some were seeking to pin responsibility for the Rift attack on her, some for their own political reasons, others because they actually believed Rift was her fault.
She stood calmly, waiting patiently as the senators prepared for her testimony. She had known the committee chair, Jon de Bolton, since she was a child. He had been an old and trusted friend of her family for decades. She was glad to see he was in charge. The senator from Rift, Bivdar Xvati, had also become a close confidant. As Usiche had moved to reinforce Rift, he had smoothed the way through Rift planet politics more than once to assure that projects stayed on their timelines. She knew where he stood on the attack and would be a friend through this hearing. Anu Kago, the senator from Wolf, was another matter. He was leaning her way, but was a hard one to read. Wolves had little patience for incompetence in battle. Defeat was not in them.
Usiche thought that the rest of the committee would reflect the stances of their various systems on how best to respond to the attacks. She expected the senator from Ceti, now occupied by the Xotoli, to ask very pointed and difficult questions. If she were a senator from the only Xotoli occupied system, she would be as hard on the Admiral of the Navy as she could. Colbert Carroll, the new Von Fleet Corporation senator, was an unknown at this point. He was the only survivor of the Von Fleet headquarters on Rift. He had been taken to a Von Fleet ship for a security exercise just before the attack. She didn’t know his agenda. If he was like any of the other corporation representatives in the Senate or House, he had one thing in mind: company profits, no matter what the threat to the Confederation. He would likely see government as a wasteful corporation with no understanding of its real needs or purpose. Since Bowman Lewis vs. the Confederation had given the major multi-system corporations seats in the Senate and House, the political balance of the Confederation that had kept the peace for generations had been thrown into turmoil. It had still been stabilizing when the attack on Rift had occurred. Now the politics of this new war was still sorting itself out. Senator Bolton picked up the gavel and struck the block several times.
"Ladies and gentlemen, quiet please. The Senate's Armed Forces Oversight Committee's Rift and Ceti Investigation is now in session."
Staffers behind the senator and various other administrative staff sat down in their chairs. The session was top secret and had been closed to the press. The strongest security bubble the Confederation had was in place, sealing the committee room from any electronic eavesdropping, and no recording devices were authorized, except for a single secure recording by the Senate. Usiche stood silently and patiently, waiting to be sworn in, while the senators made a show of settling into place.
"Admiral, please raise your right hand," said Senator de Bolton.
Usiche did so.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"I do."
"Please be seated."
Usiche sat down at the table and folded her hands together on the surface. Usiche held her face in the cold and expressionless command mask. This battle was going to be a difficult one, and she would need all the control she could muster. Senator Jon de Bolton began the proceedings.
"The attacks on Rift and Ceti
were an unprovoked act of war by the Empire of the Xotoli. This treacherous attack was planned and launched while the Confederation was trying to establish peaceful communication with the Xotoli. The ultimate responsibility for the attack and its results rests on the Xotoli, whose attack was well planned and skillfully executed. It is this committee's responsibility to investigate these attacks and determine whether the command structure of the navy and legion discharged their responsibilities as protectors of the Confederation in a professional and competent manner. The Senate has further instructed this committee to identify any errors, either in judgment or in preparedness, by the armed forces of the Confederation. If any are found, it is this committee's charge to determine those responsible for these errors. We will begin our investigation with Admiral Raurk's testimony today."
The senator paused and glanced down at his display. Usiche sat patiently as she waited for the questioning to begin, the epitome of calm.
"The chair recognizes the senator from Ceti, Lia Katte."
Usiche glanced at the corner of her contacts. She had her notes plug inserted into her data port behind her right ear. Her staff had programmed it to show the operational clock for the raid on Von Fleet 703. The Marines would be inserting now. She and her Marines were both facing their first real test.
CHAPTER SIX
Xotoli Outpost
Exoplanet 1123.567
Von Fleet Planet 703
Destroyer Pollux
Bridge
Lieutenant Commander Zula Temesgen sat in the captain’s chair of his new command. In spite of being on Pollux for six months, it was still a thrill to sit on the bridge. He had watched Captain Grogen sit in the same position on the Cappella during the battle of Rift. She had led them through the largest and most critical naval battle in human history. Now he a ship of his own.