Tom laughed, "no, I'm not qualified for that. I've been staff all my life, never in a line command. A fleet commander needs line experience. Most likely it'll be Admiral Collins since he's got a lot of line experience. If he goes with the main fleet it might be one of the senior captains."
Then, looking thoughtfully at his hands for several moments, "I think it will be Admiral Collins, whether he wants to stay or not."
Looking around the room, "Admiral Lundblad has made comments or asked questions several times when I was alone with him that lead me to believe he doesn't think Admiral Collins would be a suitable overall mission commander, and with Admiral Lundblad in his 70s now, past retirement age, Vice Admiral Collins as next senior officer would be his logical replacement. I think he'll assign Collins to remain here and assign his current job to Faud; that would put Faud in the position to assume mission command in a few years."
"What about Vice Admiral Moreno?" Levi asked, "he'd still have seniority over Faud, even with Faud promoted to Vice Admiral."
Tom nodded, "true, but he's already nearing normal retirement age; although what should now be thought of as normal is questionable. I think Faud would get it, and I think that's what Admiral Lundblad is planning for."
Quanah laughed, "Faud certainly deserves the job. He's a lot more capable than some of the higher ranking deadwood. Anyway," he added, "I've said my piece on my preference. How about the rest of you? What will you do?"
Tom glanced over at Wren, who nodded. "We plan to stay here for now. As to a final move? We can decide that later."
After a short silence, in which nobody said anything, Sage finally said, "I don't have to wait to make up my mind. I'd like to stay."
Continuing, after looking at her hands for several seconds, "I'm the only one of us who's spent much time down below, and I'll say this; Alpha 2 is a beautiful planet. It has the mountains, forests, prairies, oceans that make it much like Earth without Earth’s overcrowding. I like it, and I like the people; and include the Torgai among them. Maybe I could even get used to the Kraa."
Raising her eyes, "it has all the variety anyone could wish for, and gives the chance of being in on the ground floor of developing a new society. I can't think of a better place to make a home once the Gath are gone and it's at peace again. “
“If I went with the fleet to Beta 3? What do I see? More fighting and killing, a regimented society for the rest of my life. Even if we're successful there, and the fleet moves on to Sirius, I'll be living out most of my days in a spaceship. I want more than that.”
“And," she added slowly, "I don't want to see any more of what I've seen here."
Then, looking at Tom and Wren, "I've been thinking of resigning my commission and joining the colonists. I don't think I could kill again, or order anyone else to go to their deaths. Enough is enough.’
Glancing over at Quanah, "I know you've had to kill too; but it's different face to face with blood on your hands, blood of both Gath and your own people. And what we did in the tunnels is chilling. I'll never be able to forget that."
Looking at Tom, "do you understand what I'm saying?"
Wren started to ask what they were talking about, but was silenced by a gesture from Tom, who turned to Sage and nodded his head slowly, "yes I understand. I'd think less of you if you could forget it. I didn't witness it, but it's not something to forget."
Wren looked at Sage for several moments, but said nothing, then, to change the subject, gave Levi a questioning look.
Levi glanced over at Consuela, who was looking confused, commenting, "some things are best left unsaid."
Then looking back at Wren, "since Connie's parents are leaving with the Bolivar we'll be going with them when they leave."
All eyes turned to Quanah, who sat quietly for awhile before looking up. "Well," he said, "for now I'll stay with the Alpha 2 part of the fleet. I don't know what I'll do later."
Later that night . . . .
After the others left Tom knew he couldn't evade Wren's question, which was soon in coming, "what were you and Sage talking about; what happened in the tunnels? I have a right to know."
Tom nodded slowly, "yes you do. But it can't be discussed beyond this room, with Sage most of all."
After a short pause, "after the first attempt at entering the tunnels failed, we used nuclear charges on some of the larger installations. But, frankly, the complexes were just too large and it was only partially effective. Then we went to the fall-back plan of poison gas for the rest, partly to avoid nuclear contamination. We drilled down to the chambers and pumped the gas in. Sage was leading a platoon that went in later to see the affect, and the sight was traumatizing I'm afraid. If only soldiers had been there it might be different, but the chambers appeared to be a residential complex full of families; males, females, and children."
Wren just looked at him with a shocked expression.
Tom continued, "we decided then not to send troop units below to inspect; only robots to retrieve useful equipment and for a general surveys. Bodies were removed only if we planned future use of a particular facility. If some Gath survive, so be it; they will be too few to cause a problem, and the entrances will be sealed in any case."
Elsewhere on the Stockholm . . . .
Vice Admiral Moreno sat unshaven and in his shirtsleeves behind the cluttered desk in his office in the logistics complex. Responsible for supply and logistics, with departure imminent the pace of final preparations forced an around the clock operation. While nearly midnight a constant stream of aids and department heads needing information or direction kept interrupting his briefing session with Dr Foley and Rear Admiral Okada. He simply had to get some sleep; he was beginning to lose focus.
The completion of the design and the construction of the weapons, shield platforms, and monitoring satellites would have to be done while the fleet was in flight, which meant any necessary raw materials not currently available had to be obtained from Alpha 2 and loaded before departure. Not only raw materials for the platforms and satellites, but the additional material to be converted into fuel for the fleet as well. The time was short, and the amount of materials required would strain the capacity of the shuttles even with around the clock operation.
The bright spot was that the Gath were no longer in a position to interfere with the resupply operation. While many of their installations had still not been reduced, the remaining Gath were pinned down either in underground facilities or in fixed locations, and if any aircraft remained they were sealed underground. Over the last few days the Gath enclaves on the islands had also been largely eliminated, and the few remaining Gath were being hunted down. This allowed the colonists to be used to help in the acquisition of the required materials. They knew where they could best be obtained, and a number of the new colonists from the fleet had been shuttled to the mainland for support.
In many ways the Gath installations were proving to be a boon. Some were being disassembled by teams from the fleet for the materials, while others provided ready-made facilities for housing personnel and storage of equipment and supplies brought to the surface. Metals particularly were being salvaged for storage on the fleet, saving the step of reduction of raw ores. Large stocks of fuel materials were also a major find; while not directly usable by the fleet, they could easily be converted.
But perhaps the biggest plus was the Gath equipment, much of it undamaged. They had recovered Gath two-person attack ships, larger ships fitted for freight or passengers and equipped for the Alpha 2 to Beta 3 run, laser cannons and shield generators, plus much more. Much of this was being transferred to the motherships to be analyzed, and in some cases to be modified for their own use. They could learn much by reverse engineering the finds: most of the Gath equipment, from ships to shield generators, was better than that possessed by the fleet.
Anything they could obtain from Alpha 2 would be a big bonus. While everything necessary for life support was available on a self-sustaining basis on each mothership, it
was much easier and efficient to obtain the materials now.
Two days later, on the Stockholm . . . .
Admiral Sixkiller had just returned from his final planet-side survey and headed for Admiral Collins' office to report. As operations officer of that part of the fleet still based at Alpha 2, reporting to Admiral Collins, Tom had assumed a dual role; his role with the fleet, but also the responsibility to oversee rebuilding the destroyed facilities on the planet. Several thousand fleet personnel had moved to the surface, some to aid in the reconstruction and some as permanent colonists. Moving equipment to the ground and constructing factories, laboratories, and other facilities was a major task and took up the bulk of Tom’s time. While still on the Stockholm, he and Admiral Collins, assigned as commander of that part of the fleet remaining temporarily on Alpha 2, would transfer to their new flagship at the latest possible moment.
Easing the job was the availability of the Gath facilities. Some of those proved ideal for conversion to human use, and saved the effort that would have been needed for new construction.
A not inconsequential additional part of Tom’s role was coordinating with the colonial government on incorporation of the new colonists into the infrastructure without disruption. A certain amount of friction was natural between the ‘old-timers’ and the ‘newcomers’, but as time went on it was being worked out.
These added responsibilities required Tom to spend most of his time on the planet, but fortunately he was able to delegate most of his fleet duties to others.
CHAPTER 8: Contact
(November 15, Alpha Year 52): The activity of cleaning and repairing the long-abandoned dens in the village of the long-dead headman Suth, largest of the Torgai centers, was in full swing. Ta and his group had moved from their village in the northern foothills, and now hundreds of Torgai were being shuttled in from the islands.
The leader of the island Torgai, Hath-Boc, had arrived the day before and been met by the Torgai Agent Jeff Armstrong. This had been a special meeting for both. Hath-Boc had been a young Torgai in the village where Jeff had grown up, and a special relationship had grown between them. The years older Hath-Boc had been Jeff's teacher and friend, and they had been inseparable. With Hath-Boc on the islands, and Jeff on the mainland, this was their first meeting in over 17 years.
For now Hath-Boc would become headman of the combined village since the number of island Torgai far exceeded the number that had survived on the mainland, but in the future some of the Torgai, including Ta and his group, would probably break off from the main group and form their own villages. But for now the Torgai would concentrate here to renew their links and reestablish those customs that had been allowed to lapse.
Before the Kraa Wars the Torgai had been divided into various clans, each with its separate customs. But since the Kraa conquest the customs had fallen into disuse, and had only partially revived during the second colonial period, to be again destroyed by the Gath invasion. It had been nearly 50 years since the traditional ceremonies had been practiced, and since they had been the gateway to manhood and the right to marry and raise a family their lapse caused much of their old clan unity to disintegrate. Even Hath-Boc, the overall Torgai headman, would have been relegated to secondary tasks in the old Torgai culture due to is failure in the last ceremony, and it was only his special knowledge of and relationship to the humans that allowed him to rise to the position he now held.
Not all customs could or would be revived, the ties with and dependence on the colonists had become too great, and many were no longer possible to re-institute. A good example was the custom of the Kraa clan to hunt Kraa packs.
Not all Torgai had chosen to return; some of the island Torgai had chosen to remain a part of the island culture that had developed, and many had chosen to adapt to the human culture in enclaves near the human settlements. But here, far removed from the human centers near the coast, those Torgai that chose to live in relative isolation and regain their identity could live until they reestablished their clans and gradually drifted off to form new villages.
To the colonists the growing presence of the Torgai in the foothills was welcome, since it created a buffer between themselves and the Kraa beyond the mountains; helping avoid possible human-Kraa friction.
A short distance from the village a shuttlecraft sat in the dusty area set aside for their use, with a number of humans, aided by Torgai, moving back and forth unloading crates of supplies. This was not the pristine Torgai village of years before. Some colonists working with the Torgai would also live here, and others who would return to study the abandoned city and archives in the mountain valley beyond would make this their base; but, to keep the isolation as great as possible they would occupy a separate area a distance away.
Sage had finished storing her possessions in the cubicle that constituted her sleeping quarters in one of the dome shaped buildings, unpacking some of the items and placing them on shelves, but leaving most of the containers unopened. While resigning her commission had been a major decision, she was glad now she had taken that step. As one of the first of the fleet to officially join the colonists, other than those originally scheduled to supplement the colony, she was excited by the new challenges and opportunities she faced.
While what Sage would do among the colonists hadn't been resolved before her decision, meetings with Kevin Murphy and Colonel Lopez had settled that. Colonel Lopez had tried to persuade her to become part of the colonial military, which Sage rejected. She had resigned her commission to make a complete break, but finally agreed to assignment as a captain in the colonial reserve; but wanted a civilian work role.
As it turned out, the colonists needed someone to fulfill a role she had undertaken by accident earlier, the colonist's dealings with the Kraa. Since she had already been recognized by Kraa-Ki as leader at the previous negotiation, she was the ideal candidate to continue that role; it would be less disruptive if that continued. So Sage was offered the assignment of Kraa Agent, and in that role would be based in the Torgai village to be near the Kraa, and also near the Torgai needed for communication.
Not far away, in the main Torgai village, Jeff was introducing his niece, Carlie, to Ta and several other Torgai. This was Carlie's first time on the mainland, at least the first she could remember, since she had been taken to the islands when just two years old. Within a few weeks over 3,000 Torgai would reside here, and it was just too big a role for Jeff to handle unassisted. Carlie had been happy to volunteer to take on the assignment as her uncle Jeff's assistant; after all, since she had worked with the island Torgai for so long she had little experience for any other line of work, and besides enjoyed the company of the Torgai. That she was fluent in Torgai, and had worked with Hath-Boc before on the islands, made it the ideal assignment.
New Athens . . . .
Kevin, Annette, and Eddie had just disembarked from the shuttle that had set down in a cleared area near the center of New Athens, or what remained of it. While a number of members of the work crew involved in removing rubble or new construction were visible coming and going, and other shuttles were in the process of unloading, the scene was still largely one of desolation. Kevin had been here several times before on temporary visits to go over plans or review status, but this was the first time for Annette and Eddie since the evacuations. Most of the original city had been reduced to rubble by Gath bombardments, and only here in the center had the area been cleared and new buildings started. Gradually the clearing and reconstruction was moving outward, and in time, with the new colonists coming down daily from the fleet, New Athens would become larger than it had been before.
Before landing the shuttle hovered for a time over the coast where, partially sunk in the clear water, were the hulks of part of the colonial fleet; and on the shore the remains of the original Argonaut from the first colony, Eddie's grandfather's colony. The Argonaut had been preserved by the second colony as a landmark, and Kevin and Annette had often spent time at the wreck. Now all that was l
eft was a partial hull sticking out from the sand beach, but it still was a strong symbol to all the colonists.
It was nearly 20 years since Kevin had first been at New Athens. It was much smaller then, with the old buildings still standing; and it was in one of those buildings that they had first been confronted by the Kraa. When he thought back to the early days of the colony that experience stood out.
It was difficult for either Kevin or Annette to recognize New Athens as having been their home for nearly 14 years, almost as long as their 18 years on the islands. When here before Kevin’s hair had been only slightly streaked with gray, and he still had the fit appearance from his life in the military. Now his hair was completely white, he had put on more weight than he should, and he found himself moving slowly from the arthritis that occasionally flared up. Glancing at Annette it was clear the years had been kinder to her. Her dark hair showed only occasional streaks of gray, appeared as trim and fit as she had in her 40s when they had left, and still retained the enthusiasm of those years. Now she looked forward to being able to return to the old Aberi city and archives in the mountain valley where she had spent so much of her time.
For Eddie, New Athens meant little or nothing. He had been less than two years old when the move to the islands occurred, and this was new and different for him, like visiting the old ancestral homestead; interesting, but without any real meaning.
Deep in a Gath installation . . . .
This had been Tom Ford’s first visit to one of the major Gath underground installations, and it was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Not the installation itself, but his memory of their arrival.
When they first stepped off the shuttle the smell had been nearly overwhelming, with the entire area covered by a hazy pall of dark smoke. When he asked General Solokov what it was, the General had looked quietly at him for a moment, then waved down a passing vehicle and motioned for Tom to get in. It was only a short drive and they arrived at where earthmoving machines were busy excavating long, shallow pits in the ground near others from which the smoke was emanating. Both soldiers and civilians were working near the pits, their faces covered with facemasks. Getting from the vehicle, General Solokov silently motioned Tom to follow, and led him to the edge of one of the smoldering pits.
The Final Act: Book III: The Settlement Chronicals Page 11