Aneka Jansen 5: The Greatest Heights of Honour

by Niall Teasdale

Aneka nodded. Marchant had a population of thirty-two million, or had had. There had been some transmissions from the system before the Herosians cut them off. A fast attack, heavy bombardment of non-strategic structures, use of high technology. The world had been assaulted on the same day as Lonar and Beryum, but it was further away and it had taken longer for the news to get through.

  ‘What’s this one?’ Aneka asked, pointing toward a dot on the display. The word ‘Dokar’ appeared beside it.

  ‘Dokar’s the largest naval base in the border region,’ Ella supplied. ‘On our side anyway.’

  ‘They’ll want that out of the way next… How big are we talking?’

  ‘Very, but it’s not like I have the Navy’s deployment plans. They run joint exercises with the Herosians out of there every five years or so. It’s the main command station for the entire region.’

  ‘So… Beryum. It’s not just a resources thing, they want it as a staging post for Dokar.’

  ‘They could have attacked already…’

  ‘No. I doubt it anyway. Attack, then consolidate your position. They’ll probably want to concentrate forces as well. If Dokar is as fortified as you say they’ll probably want to bring in ships from Lonar and Marchant, then move together. Trying to coordinate a multi-pronged attack over these distances is just asking for failure, and it probably wouldn’t get you any real advantage. They’ll wait.’

  ‘That seems to be the word for this war,’ Ella commented. ‘Everything is “wait.”’

  ‘Yeah… I hate waiting, but it’s all we can do.’

  Interlude

  G268, 10.3.529 FSC.

  The designation on the Federation’s star charts was G268, which indicated that it had a habitable world, but no one had ever established a colony on it. There were a lot of worlds out there which could support Jenlay quite happily, and this one was well outside the Rim.

  Winter dropped her ship out of warp and began scanning immediately. The invitation she had received had carried enough information to make her extremely curious, but not enough to tell her exactly what she was looking for. More from habit than need, she began assembling a system schematic on the holographic display in her operations centre as the data came in.

  Eleven worlds, four of them gas giants. Two of those, the closest and furthest from the star, had beautiful ring systems and she devoted a microsecond to appreciating them before moving on.

  A G8 main-sequence star provided quite adequate warmth to the fifth planet. It was roughly Earth-sized, a little bigger, a little heavier, a little lighter on the gravity, a little thicker in the atmosphere. It had a small moon to which it was tide-locked. She estimated a day of around one hundred and fifty-five hours.

  Detecting nothing in the outer system, Winter poured power into her ship’s sublight drive, pushing on toward the inner planets. She suspected that the fifth one was going to be her target, but she was a thorough AI and wanted to be sure of her facts before committing.

  Closer still she could analyse the atmospheres of the inner planets. The outermost of them was an Earth-sized world, but a frozen ball of rock with an atmosphere of carbon-dioxide and nitrogen, and no water, even in the form of ice. Most of the rest were either too small or too close to the star to have an atmosphere worthy of the term, but the fifth world had an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere with no major contaminants. There was more sulphur than she might have expected and further examination indicated regions of heavy volcanic activity. Indications of young, jagged mountain ranges suggested a reasonable amount of tectonic movement. She was busy analysing the features to indicate likely areas of stability to narrow her search when her sensors showed two objects in orbit.

  They were big, metallic, and clearly artificial, sitting at the two Lagrange points preceding and following the moon. The closest to her was built along the lines of a spaceport and communications facility. She could see the huge arrays used for tachyon beam interception, and structures which looked like hangar bay doors. The other… was simply not supposed to be there.

  The sub-element of her mind which had been analysing the world’s surface had identified the most stable region of the crust and begun to detect signs of buildings when she heard the voice.

  ‘Sleep Brings Renewal to All Things,’ it said, ‘welcome to Shadataga.’

  Part Five: What Once Was Lost

  BC-101 Hand of God, 8.6.529 FSC.

  The huge display screen at the front of the Hand of God’s bridge was full of ships. The Garnet Hyde’s crew had been invited up to join the Hand’s crew as they met the incoming Old Earth fleet and it was quite a sight.

  ‘That,’ Drake said emphatically, ‘is a big ship.’

  He was right; the Helios was vast. Not as big as the Mordra Kai battleships the Xinti had built, but still far bigger than the largest Federation ships. It was more or less a cylinder of metal, the upper side of the bow sloping back from the gun port for the spinal weapons system. Three huge turrets were mounted on the slope, another, even bigger turret was mounted on her back, and the hull was dotted with smaller weapons. She was, as Tasker had said, a beast of a ship.

  ‘She’s primarily focussed on defence,’ Tasker said. ‘Offensive defence, but she was built to fight off attackers rather than perform assault operations.’

  ‘She looks like she could take on a fleet,’ Ella said.

  ‘She might not be that good. She’s got support though.’

  Aneka gave a nod; Al was flicking through the visuals, cataloguing the different ships and listing them for her. There were three more cruisers like the Hand, five ships which looked like destroyers, heavily armed and fast, and twenty frigates. There was also something else which Al had no classification for.

  ‘What’s that dumpy looking ship?’ Aneka asked. ‘The heavy one with the light armament?’

  ‘Oh! They did send her,’ Tasker responded. ‘That’s the Argus. She’s a logistic support vessel. Carries supplies for the other ships, and she’s got a command and control centre, extended sensors, all you need to coordinate a fleet.’

  ‘Well, all that should give the Herosians a scare when they see it,’ Ella said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Aneka said. She glanced at Drake and Bash, and saw that they were frowning too. ‘I’d imagine their strategy will change.’

  ‘Ours too,’ Drake replied. ‘With this force backing up the home front, I expect someone will decide they can be bolder.’

  Abby turned toward them, her expression momentarily distracted until she focussed on them; Aneka recognised the look of someone having internal communications. ‘We’re going to have a reception for the ship captains, some of your Representatives, and your Admirals, tomorrow night aboard the Helios,’ the brunette said. ‘We’d like you guys to be there?’ She was looking rather specifically at Aneka.

  ‘Captains want to meet me?’ Aneka asked, sighing.

  ‘Uh… Well it’ll help with morale…’

  Aneka looked around. ‘Anyone unavailable?’

  ‘Do I have to wear a gown again?’ Delta asked.

  ‘A dress, I think, maybe not a gown.’

  The Amazon-like redhead pursed her lips thoughtfully. ‘I guess…’

  ‘We’d be happy to come,’ Gillian said.

  B-101 Helios, 9.6.529 FSC.

  The Helios was definitely a working vessel, you could tell from the drab colour scheme and the holes in the mess room’s deck where the tables and benches had been unbolted to make some space for the reception.

  Drake had been quite impressed, which generally meant it was being run well, at least on first inspection. The crew of the Hyde had been given a tour of the ship’s more interesting regions, something which the politicians and naval officers were not getting. The ‘interesting areas’ had included as many spaces occupied by crew as possible, and Aneka had felt eyes on her every step of the way. She was not best pleased about it, but if the ex-elite guard of Yrimtan were bolstered by seeing someone who looked like her then she was going to bite her tongue and
live with it.

  Anyway, it was preferable to being stuck in a room, even a large room, with various Administration people and high-ranking Navy officers who were all worrying that no other systems had been attacked yet. There was a peculiar mixture of worry, relief, and anticipation in the room, and not too much mixing. Language was not much of an issue; the Old Earth officers were running translation software on their implants which did not have to bridge much of a gap, but the New Earth people, aside from Elroy and the Hyde’s crew, were feeling outnumbered and uncomfortable.

  That did not really matter, of course, because the point of the exercise was for Tasker and Peter Donnor, the Helios’ Captain, to usher Aneka from one Old Earth officer to another. It was mildly embarrassing. The crew of the Helios had been silent onlookers; the fleet’s officers, face to face with her, were acting like they were meeting a film star, or possibly a goddess.

  ‘Manu Dei really did a number on you people,’ Aneka muttered as they moved from one group to the next.

  ‘Occasionally,’ Donnor said, ‘if she heard about someone who was particularly skilled at combat, she would spar with them, give them pointers. When she did that it was a major event. Everyone who could manage it would attend to hear what she had to say.’

  Aneka nodded. ‘She was good.’

  ‘Even being given direct orders by her was considered an honour,’ Tasker added.

  ‘If it helps any,’ Donnor said, ‘after the few minutes I’ve spent with you, you’re nothing like her.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Aneka replied, ‘though I do wonder how stable I’d be after a thousand years without sex.’

  ‘Sex? Never really seen the attraction.’

  Tasker smirked. They were almost to another group of eagerly waiting ship captains. ‘I’ll have to have a chat with you later, Peter. In private.’

  Aneka rolled her eyes and then put on a bright smile as she reached out for the next hand which had to be shaken.

  ~~~

  ‘You know half of them are never going to wash their right hands again, right?’

  Aneka narrowed her eyes at her partner. ‘Comments like that will get you sent to bed, without any of the fringe benefits.’

  Ella giggled, took a sip from her glass of real, Old Earth, grape-flavoured wine, and then frowned. ‘I overheard something I think you should hear as well.’ She was offering a network connection and Aneka accepted it, Al patching the sensory data through in a window rather than playing it back as though Aneka was in the scene. ‘Ignore the boring lofangpee I’m talking to, listen to the voices on my right,’ Ella added through the link.

  ‘Al, filter it, would you?’

  They were both men and, as Ella had glanced in their direction, Aneka could tell they were Navy. One of them, a man with an impressive handlebar moustache, was saying, ‘The order went out a couple of days ago, as soon as we heard the reinforcements were coming. They go tomorrow.’

  ‘Is it really a good idea?’ the other replied. ‘Isn’t it going to leave Dokar open?’

  ‘Norton’s out there. You know him, he’ll not risk his own life by sending out too many ships.’

  ‘Right… So we send a force to Beryum and they get shot to gopi, and that gets us what exactly?’

  ‘We can’t just sit around doing nothing! Besides, we might win.’

  ‘Sure. We send ships they know all about up against ships we know nothing about, in an entrenched position. Did you never read Gobari?’

  ‘Well…’

  ‘You’re going to make full Admiral easy. You’re an idiot.’

  ‘And then the younger one stalked off,’ Ella said as the recording ended.

  ‘I’m amazed that guy’s made so far up the ranks,’ Aneka commented. ‘He seems to have a clue, and a mouth.’

  ‘Drake was right though, they’ve got bolder.’

  ‘Yeah. Not a good thing necessarily.’

  ‘Huh. I’ve got no idea what “Gobari” is and I can see that.’

  Tristar Township, 11.6.529 FSC.

  ‘FSA Director Admiral Jason Pierce called for calm today at a press conference with Senator Jackson Elroy. Continued reports of Herosian ships in systems throughout the border region and deeper into Jenlay space have resulted in panicked exodus from a few systems.’

  The news reporter droned on from Gillian’s wall screen, watched largely by Bashford and Aneka. Gillian and Ella had both decided that watching history unfold was becoming a lot less exciting than studying it in retrospect.

  ‘Admiral Pierce stated that all reports were taken seriously and analysed by a joint team of Navy and FSA analysts. To date, none of the sightings has carried sufficient validity to warrant further investigation.’

  ‘No one’s going to see their scout ships,’ Bashford commented, ‘even if they are sending them out.’

  ‘And I’m happy no one’s figured that one out,’ Aneka replied. ‘Can you imagine the panic if they think invisible spy ships are scouting out targets?’

  ‘You have a point.’

  ‘I’m just waiting for the other rumours to start.’

  Bashford turned to her, frowning. ‘Other rumours?’

  Yorkbridge Mid-town, 12.6.529 FSC.

  ‘You know,’ Bashford said from the wall screen, ‘if I didn’t know better I’d think you were running this entire business.’

  ‘You saw the news then?’ Aneka asked, already knowing the answer.

  ‘Two businesses attacked because they used to work with Herosian shipping agents, and the Peacekeepers are saying that there has been a rise in accusations that people’s neighbours are spies. Do you have a playbook for this stuff?’

  ‘I studied early twentieth-century history in school, and obviously it was a personal interest. If you’re going to fight in a war it’s a good idea to know about the past ones.’

  ‘It’s a shame some of our officers don’t seem to think the same way,’ Gillian put in.

  14.6.529 FSC.

  The camera crew waiting outside their apartment block was unexpected. Aneka did not recognise the reporter, or the station logo, but the small team of three seemed determined to talk to her and Aneka waived Ella back inside before frowning at the man in the grey suit who seemed to be the correspondent.

  ‘Watkis Mallroy,’ the man introduced himself, ‘of Front Line News.’

  ‘They were recently incorporated,’ Al supplied. ‘They appear to be someone’s idea of a way to make money by exclusively covering material related to the war.’

  ‘Oh,’ Aneka replied, ‘swell.’ Aloud she said, ‘Mister Mallroy, what can I do for you?’

  Mallroy glanced at his cameraman, got a nod, and turned back to Aneka, becoming all business. Aneka stopped her eyes narrowing; the little bastard was up to something.

  ‘Miss Jansen, you’ve been accused of aiding the Herosians following your saving of the Herosian Ambassador’s life…’

  ‘Accused by whom?’ Aneka interrupted. ‘First I’ve heard of it.’

  Mallroy’s expression faltered for a fraction of a second. Indecision, surprise; he had not expected that response, and he had not expected her to remain calm about it anyway.

  ‘I have a reliable source who…’

  Aneka smiled. ‘You got a tip, you don’t know who from, that the FSA was investigating me. The FSA has investigated me at the molecular level, Mister Mallroy, long before this started. The idea that I’d be working for the Herosians is so funny I can’t find it in me to laugh, but that’s really not the point…’ She looked directly into the camera before going on. ‘The point you can quote me on, and please do, is that this kind of thing is exactly what the Herosians want. People are sitting in their homes thinking, “I always said Mister Smith next door was weird, and he keeps playing his music too loud, he must be a Herosian spy.” So they report him to the Peacekeepers and people who should be finding real spies have to go look. It wastes time and resources, and it breeds paranoia. You’re all intelligent people, stop fucking about! Now get out of
my face before I have you arrested for false accusation.’

  ~~~

  ‘We tracked his “anonymous source” down to a rather sloppy ex-Humanity First member,’ Truelove explained over the wall screen. ‘He’s under arrest. He was screaming that you murdered Charles Hunter and had to pay when they dragged him off.’

  ‘Not actually a Herosian agent then,’ Ella said.

  ‘We’ve had to investigate every claim,’ Truelove replied, ‘and every claimant. It’s fucking irritating. So far we’ve had nothing come of any of it.’

  ‘Of course not,’ Aneka replied. ‘Like I said to Mallroy, this isn’t about anything the Herosians have to do, this is about the Jenlay sabotaging themselves.’

  ‘Yes well, Front Line weren’t going to use the interview, but we confiscated the recording and, oddly, it leaked. Elroy said to say that’s another one he owes you, though I’m not sure what the first one was. He wouldn’t be allowed to go on record saying the Jenlay were acting like a bunch of shazi.’

  ‘Not a politically astute move, no. I don’t think me growling at a camera is going to help that…’

  ‘There’s been a five per cent drop in false accusations since this morning,’ Truelove interrupted. ‘Not statistically valid, I’ll grant you, but even that will take some of the pressure off and the video hasn’t gone viral… yet.’

  Aneka thought about the Winters scattered around the city, all specialists in information management. ‘I’m pretty sure it will,’ she said.

  17.6.529 FSC.

  ‘Torem Ambassador Adjaxis was unavailable for comment today as the Jenlay delegation in Torem space announced the results of their meeting with the Torem Administration.’ The presenter on CFM was trying to keep her smiling demeanour going, but having increasingly more trouble. ‘The Torem are refusing to become involved in any conflict with the Herosians, citing the species survival clause in the Mutual Protection Agreement as their reason for backing out.’

  ‘This is going to come back to bite them,’ Aneka commented.