I stared at her. “Kitty…what happens if we get caught?”
Kitty shrugged. “How many members of the Brotherhood do you know?” She held up a hand before I could answer. “I doubt you know more than three at most – don’t tell me – and you won’t encounter many others face to face. What you don’t know can’t be forced from you. I only told you now because you need to know that you’re not alone.”
A nasty thought crossed my mind. “Kitty…how do we know that the Brotherhood is real?” I asked. “What if it’s secretly run by the Security Department?”
“They’d have rounded us all up by now,” Kitty said. “I suspect that they do have some idea we exist, but they’re not really capable of rooting us all out, for various reasons. Several…ah, friends went silent last year and I think that they did get caught, but they weren’t able to betray the rest of us.” She shook her head. “We’ll talk more about that later. Checkmate.”
I looked down at the board. She’d won, all right. “Neat,” I said, admiringly. I’d played Chess in the Academy team and declined an offer to play for the big leagues. Kitty made me look like a newcomer. “Why can’t we do something?”
“Like what?” Kitty asked, seriously. “What is going to happen to Heinlein is going to happen and there is nothing we can do to stop it? Look” – she continued, catching my expression – “suppose that you have Brotherhood cells on all of the starships. What would we do with them? How could we coordinate our actions openly and take the ships, knowing that everything would be so confused…and what if Heinlein attacks?”
“I see,” I said, but Kitty wasn't finished.
“The Admiral was convinced that Heinlein has no warships,” Kitty continued. “I suspect that they will have a few surprises waiting for us. They have to know that the United Nations won’t let their defiance pass. The last thing we need is a struggle for power when the fleet is under attack. Besides, who can we trust?”
I nodded, reluctantly. Everyone knew about the dangers of informers in the ranks, men and women who would betray their comrades to the UN Security Department for money, or power, or even under threat of blackmail. Who could we trust? We’d probably end up shooting at each other.
“We’ll talk more later,” Kitty said, standing up. “Get some sleep. You’re going to need it tomorrow.”
I couldn’t sleep very well that night, or the night afterwards. I kept working the problem, trying to find a solution, but Kitty was right. There was nothing we could do to prevent the invasion from taking place, leaving us all as unwilling participants in the UN’s plan. I thought, seriously, about deserting, but where would I go? Earth would hardly welcome me now. Three weeks later, when we arrived at Heinlein, I was still no closer to a solution.
The Admiral had claimed that victory would be easy.
Need I mention that it was nothing of the sort?
Chapter Fourteen
The UN claims to be expert in space combat, but the truth is that few are truly expert in space combat. The pre-space dreams of clashes between vast fleets of space dreadnaughts have not materialised. It is rare for any armed encounter between the UNPF and the pirates to involve more than two vessels, or indeed to end in anything, but a draw. True space combat is more theoretical than anything else. The UNPF’s failure to understand that this was a weakness cost it heavily in some of the main campaigns of the war.
-Thomas Anderson. An Unbiased Look at the UNPF. Baen Historical Press, 2500.
“Wormhole exit in fifty seconds, sir,” the Pilot said. “All systems are standing by.”
“Excellent,” Captain Shalenko said. He, at least, wasn't trusting his ship to a green Ensign when we entered a war zone. “All hands, this is the Captain. Battle stations. I say again, battle stations.”
I checked the duplicate tactical console quickly, confirming that I was locked out of the system – unless something happened to Anna. I doubted that it would matter that much – if Anna was taken out, the entire ship would probably be lost – but the Great God Regulations demanded my presence. At least the reporters weren’t on the bridge. The Captain had insisted that they remain in their stateroom until the system was secure and none of them, even Frank, had dared to argue.
“Systems ready, sir,” I said, when the Captain checked with me. If everything went to plan, I’d be nothing, but a helpless observer.
“Emergence,” the Pilot said. The wormhole twisted open in front of us and new stars started to shine through onto the ship. “We have emerged in the Heinlein System, sir.”
Captain Shalenko didn’t smile. “Confirm location,” he ordered. “Communications, link us up with the other starships.”
“Location confirmed,” the Pilot said. I checked myself and he was right. “We have emerged within two decimal places of our target coordinate.”
“The other starships are checking in now,” Kitty said, from her console. “Ah…not all of them have emerged in the correct locations.”
“Signal the Admiral, inform him of our status, and request orders,” the Captain said, a hint of frustration in his tone. I understood his feelings. If the remainder of the fleet had arrived in the correct locations, the Devastator would have been well-protected by the cruisers. As it were, we were dangerously exposed to anyone out there with weapons and bad intentions. “Tactical, bring up the main sensors and sweep local space. Report at once if you detect anything out of the ordinary.”
The Heinlein System took on shape and form on the main display. It was a fairly mundane system, as systems went; three rocky planets, two gas giants and one life-bearing world. Heinlein itself rated a 92% on the Planetary Scale – 92% like Earth – which made it habitable enough to support the human race without major terraforming efforts. The inhabitants probably wouldn’t want to move. By now, despite UN regulations, they had probably adapted the planet completely to their specifications. I winced when the scale of industrial activity became apparent. Heinlein was the most industrialised system I’d seen, short of Earth itself. The asteroid belts swarmed with miners and industrial stations.
I remembered what the Senior Chief had said about the UN needing to conscript trained workers from the colonies and shivered, despite myself. Heinlein didn’t seem to pay homage to the UN’s rules and, despite that, had somehow developed a vast industry. There had to be millions of trained workers the UN could kidnap and take back to Earth to turn into slaves, despite the dangers of trusting an industrial plant to conscript workers. Would it not be easier, I wondered, to train new workers on Earth?
“The fleet has finally responded, sir,” Kitty said. “The Admiral is ordering the fleet to form up on the flagship and has designated a spot for us.”
“Pilot, move us into position,” Captain Shalenko ordered, tightly. “Tactical, link into the fleet datanet, but remain alert.”
Twenty minutes later, the fleet was finally moving towards Heinlein. The Admiral had ordered us to emerge from the wormholes at roughly an hour from the planet, even though we could have emerged a lot closer, perhaps even in orbit around the planet. I hadn’t understood at the time, but I understood now. If we’d emerged in range of the planet’s defences in such a chaotic state, we’d have been turkeys in a turkey shoot. I was surprised that we hadn’t been attacked upon emergence anyway, but perhaps Heinlein was conserving its strength. Who knew what had happened since the last report had reached Earth?
“The Admiral is trying to contact the garrison, but there’s no response,” Kitty said, into the growing tension. I almost wanted the attack to begin, just to get on with it. The tension was almost worse than the battle. “The isn’t even any chatter from the planet’s surface.”
“They must have been wiped out,” the Captain growled. He didn’t sound surprised. I’d learned enough about supply problems to understand how the garrison must have felt. They’d been trapped and then starved out, or perhaps forced to expend all their ammunition…and then defeated. It would have been fairly easy without any orbital bombardmen
t system overhead. “I wonder if…”
“The Admiral is signalling the planet,” Kitty added. “Captain, would you like to hear it?”
The Captain nodded. “This is Admiral Hoover, Commanding Officer of Task Force 17,” the Admiral’s voice said. He sounded as if he were trying to be strong and resolute. It didn’t sound that convincing. “You are hereby ordered to comply with the terms of the UN resolutions concerning your planet and stand down all your defences, permitting my forces to occupy the planet’s surface. If you refuse to comply, we are authorised to use deadly force.”
“Well?” The Captain said, into the silence. It would take nearly seven minutes for the signal to reach Heinlein and another seven for the reply, if any. “Is there any response?”
“No, sir,” Kitty said. “I’m still not picking up anything from the planet at all.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Captain Shalenko said, tightly. “A planet with nearly a billion humans on must produce some radio chatter.”
Kitty looked flustered for the first time in my experience. “The briefing notes suggested that they had created a landline infrastructure for most of their communications traffic,” she said. “They may choose to limit their radio communications to prevent us from picking them up.”
“Good thinking,” the Captain said, grudgingly. “Try and see if the asteroid belts are producing…”
“Emergence,” Anna snapped, as red icons flashed into existence. “Five starships, unknown configuration, closing fast!”
“Stand by all weapons and defensive systems,” the Captain ordered, swinging his chair around to stare at the main display. Five blood-red icons were moving towards the green icons of the fleet with obviously hostile intent. “Point defence is cleared to engage incoming missiles. I repeat, point defence is cleared to engage incoming missiles.”
“I’m picking up targeting sensor emissions from the unknowns,” Anna said, as red-green sweeps of energy crossed the display. “They’re locking on…and firing.”
I blanched. No UN ship, short of a battleship, could have fired such a volley in one broadside, or turn so quickly and launch a second broadside. The fleet’s point defence systems were already locking onto the incoming missiles and torpedoes, burning them out of existence, but there were so many of them. I knew that some ships were going to be lost…
“The Admiral is authorising us to return fire,” Kitty said. “The cruisers are engaging now.”
The cruisers opened fire, but the newcomers, instead of closing for a standard engagement, vanished back down their wormholes and disappeared. The Captain swore a mighty curse in a language I didn’t recognise, but I understood. The Heinlein starships – if that was what they were – had tricked the cruisers into firing off expensive missiles, for nothing. The swarm of incoming missiles were striking home now; I saw a cruiser stagger, before somehow resuming its course and speed. The drive field had saved the crew, barely.
“Emergence,” Anna said, again. This time, only three starships appeared, shot their missiles, and vanished again. Lasers and other energy weapons raged out towards their prey, but seemed to have no effect. “Captain, they’re targeting the troop transports specifically.”
“Understood,” the Captain said. His gaze flickered to the display and he swore again. This time, I didn’t understand why. “Kitty, raise the Admiral and warn him of the threat to the transports. If we lose them, we may as well go home and abandon the entire mission.”
I saw what he meant, suddenly. The UN simply couldn’t afford to replace any lost starships and the troop transports, among the largest ships in the Peace Force, simply couldn’t be replaced quickly. It took years to build them, years that Heinlein could use to make itself all the more impregnable, or even take the offensive. I saw the UN’s dilemma clearly for the first time. If it took the boot off the colonies, the colonies would very rapidly out-produce it and eventually destroy the Peace Force. If it kept the boot on, it would find it very hard to maintain the tempo of operations. No wonder they were touting Terra Nova as a success! If the UN pulled out tomorrow, so what? Terra Nova wouldn’t be building starships anytime soon.
“The Admiral is warning the cruisers to continue to cover the flagship,” Kitty reported. “There is no explanation attached to the orders.”
Captain Shalenko said nothing, but I could guess what he was thinking. Coward.
“Continue to maintain watch,” he ordered, finally. “Engage any hostile missiles that come within range, regardless of their targets.”
“Aye, sir,” Kitty said. “Enemy starships have retreated again.”
“They won’t do anything else,” Captain Shalenko predicted. “Just by doing what they are, they’re tearing us apart.”
The next hour wore on slowly. Exactly as the Captain had predicted, the Heinlein starships kept jumping in and our, firing off their missiles and vanishing again before anyone could shoot back at them. Their only saving grace was that they didn’t have time to run proper targeting solutions, although it didn’t seem to matter that much. A cruiser was destroyed and another seriously damaged, left behind the rest of the starships. Somehow, I doubted that it would remain intact for much longer without the protection of the entire fleet. The battleship came in for particular targeting along with the troop transports, but our luck held. The Admiral survived the attacks and his ship remained intact. Somehow, I wasn't sure if that were a good thing or not.
“I’m now picking up sensor sweeps from satellites in Heinlein’s orbit,” Anna said. “I think they’re armed platforms and perhaps gunships. The Admiral is clearing us to engage anything hostile, but anything non-hostile is to be left strictly alone.”
“The Admiral wants the satellite network intact,” the Captain growled. “It’s probably rigged to transmit information to insurgents on the ground…and he wants it intact to save money.”
I would have liked to disagree with him, but how could it? The massive sphere of Heinlein on the display was blinking up more and more red icons, including some on the ground that appeared to be planetary defence centres fully equal to some of the fortresses the UN had built on Earth, back when it seemed that war with the colonies was likely. If they were anything like the ones on Earth, they would have been formidable threats at one time, but considerably less useful against an active drive field. That suggested that Heinlein had probably updated the systems to confront us.
“Anna, mark the location of the ground-based stations and mark them for later attention,” the Captain ordered. “Kitty, pass the data on to the Admiral and request permission to engage.”
“Yes, sir,” Kitty said. “The Admiral is responding; the fleet is preparing to force its way into orbit…”
“Yes,” Anna said, in delight. “We got one!”
A dull cheer ran through the bridge. One of the Heinlein starships had miscalculated finally and emerged far too close to another UN starship, which had opened fire at once without waiting for instructions. Before the Heinlein starship could wormhole out again, it had been bracketed and rapidly blown apart into an expanding cloud of plasma. I felt the exultation as well, even shared it completely. It was harder to remember that the Heinlein starships were only defending their health and home when they were trying to kill me, and Kitty, and the remainder of the crew.
“Signal the skipper with my congratulations,” the Captain ordered, a thin smile crossing his face. “If we can take out the other four ships, this will be much easier.”
“Captain, freighters and other starships are departing the planet’s orbit,” Kitty said. “The Admiral is detaching cruisers to halt them until they can be searched.”
Captain Shalenko muttered another curse under his breath. “They’re traps,” he predicted, grimly. “They could have left at any time, so why do they wait until we’re right on top of them?”
He keyed his console and opened a direct link to the Admiral. I only heard his side of the conversation, but from his face, the Admiral wasn't proving receptiv
e to his advice. I hoped that his career wouldn’t suffer because of it, although if that Kitty said was true, Captain Shalenko was someone else who had obtained his position through connections. The Admiral might find it hard to discipline him.
“John, stand by to take the point defence,” Anna said, suddenly. The skies above Heinlein were coming to life as the defences rumbled into operation. Several of them had been so well-stealthed that we hadn’t even realised they were there until they brought up their active sensors. “I’ll have to handle the planet-side operations myself.”
The console came to life in front of me and I checked it rapidly. We’d fired hundreds of laser pulses in the last hour and had actually drained the laser capacitors quite badly. Anna had solved the problem by linking the laser banks to the main fusion plant, but that was draining power from other parts of the ship. The reporters, I realised suddenly, might be in darkness. It probably wouldn’t matter. As much as I despised them, they would at least be alive to complain. The experience might even do them good.
Martial Law 1: Patriotic Treason Page 14