by Kal Spriggs
Lucius stared at the screen. He felt… lost. The recovery of the Dreyfus Fleet contained too many variables, too many unknowns for him to plan. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but this certainly wasn’t it, he thought. Half formed mental pictures of drifting hulks or plague-filled tombs, mental daydreams of mothballed vessels… All that evaporated as he stared at the screens.
The six super-capital ships of the Dreyfus Fleet formed a battle front. Dozens of cruisers and destroyers, and hundreds of fighters, hung in space, formed up in a battle formation. Thirty or more transport vessels hung behind the formation, some massive, some small. Every ship, fully active, apparently fully crewed.
“We’re getting a message for you, Baron,” Brunnetti said.
“Put it through.”
“To the commander of the vessels who came here, welcome. We’ve waited a long time. We’ve trained and prepared over the past eighty years, and we’re ready to take up the fight. Please come aboard the Patriot, we have much to discuss.” The eager voice cut off, and Lucius found himself speechless. He took a deep breath.
“Have a shuttle prepped. Inform Colonel Proscia I’ll need a Marine escort.” He thought for a moment and then opened another link, “Emperor Romulus, would you—”
“I’ll be there, Baron.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Lucius said dryly.
***
Lucius stepped out of the shuttle into a massive chamber. Hundreds of Marines, dressed in the archaic uniforms of Amalgamated Worlds, came to attention.
The sight of who stood at the end of the shuttle ramp to greet him caused Lucius to miss a step. Kandergain shot out a steadying hand. Lucius flashed her a grin of thanks, and immediately turned his attention back to the Admiral awaiting him. He looked, startlingly, similar to the pictures in the history books. In fact, he looked younger than the last pictures, taken as he led his fleet out. Finally someone who can take charge of this mess.
He came to the end of the ramp and saluted, “Admiral Dreyfus, I have to admit I’m rather surprised to meet you face-to-face.”
“You would be Baron Lucius Giovanni then?” He asked, giving a warm smile, then holding out a hand for a shake. Lucius noted the man had a firm, but not overpowering grip. “Thank God there’s finally someone here who can take charge of this mess.”
Lucius felt his jaw drop at the echo of his own thoughts, and at the idea that he was expected to know what to do. “I… think we need to talk, Admiral.”
“Yes, Admiral, we need to discuss the use your fleet is put to, and address many crises that have to be dealt with.” The young Emperor spoke, stepping past Lucius to take the venerable Admiral’s hand. “I’m Emperor Romulus IV, of the Nova Roma Empire.”
Admiral Dreyfus’ eyes narrowed slightly, “Yes, I’m certain we have much to discuss.” He released the Emperor’s hand and nodded in recognition, “Kandergain, I see you’ve got your finger in things again. I take it that you believe our time has come to surface as well.”
Both the Emperor and Lucius turned inquisitive expressions her way.
Kandergain merely smiled mysteriously, “Well, I suppose, seeing as I’m here, and they’re here, you could take things that way.”
“Ah, how I did miss these stimulating one-sided conversations.” Admiral Dreyfus smiled, “But, gentlemen and lady, please step this way.”
***
Lucius had a suspicion that he could have landed his shuttle on the briefing room table.
He felt a slight surprise as they stepped around it and then into what had to be Admiral Dreyfus’s private quarters. Lucius felt an almost church-like reverence for the room. As he looked around, it seemed much like any decent officer’s office. A handful of plaques from former commands, a few pictures of family, a desk, couch, and several comfortable chairs.
Admiral Dreyfus seated himself behind the desk and sighed, “I gather from your near-tumble, and the surprise evident even now, that Kandergain didn’t tell you much.”
Lucius snorted, taking a seat, “She didn’t tell me anything, save to keep an open mind.”
“Yes, that is like her.” Dreyfus said, casting a scowl towards the woman. “In any case, if you haven’t guessed, my fleet is fully manned, fully armed, and fully operational. We’ve used a combination of longevity drugs and hibernation sleep to wait these past eighty years, hiding in the clouds of Sanctuary.”
“But… why?” the young Emperor asked. “Why did you hide here? Wasn’t your mission to track down the Agathan Fleet?”
Admiral Dreyfus sighed, “Yes... to the knowledge of most of Amalgamated Worlds, our mission involved the destruction of the Agathan Fleet. My orders, the orders of every man and woman in my force, were to find and kill every man, woman, and child who left in that fleet, and to recover the ships or destroy them.” He lifted a sheet of paper, and passed it over to Lucius. “I received this from a friend. A short time later, Kandergain contacted me, with a similar story. You can see where this leads.”
Lucius glanced over the document. The memo outlined the collapse of Amalgamated Worlds with startling accuracy. The date at the top posted only a month after the departure of the Agathan Fleet. “So… you believed that Amalgamated Worlds lay on the brink of collapse, and you… ran away?” he asked, confused.
“No.” Admiral Dreyfus shook his head. “I chose to help lay the groundwork for the survival of the human race.” He sighed, “there are a dozen dead civilizations we’ve found so far. I didn’t want humanity to be the next. I hand picked every sailor and marine in my fleet. When Amalgamated Worlds gathered their families as hostages, I arranged for them to be put on ships. We gathered everything we needed to start, or restart, a civilization.” Dreyfus pulled up a hologram on his desk, displaying numbers and data, “We recruited civilian scientists, doctors, teachers, and engineers. Behind the show of a force set on vengeance, we created a force designed to defend humanity.”
“And then you hid?” Lucius asked incredulously.
“Yes, we hid. I had no all-seeing glimpse of the future. All I had was the word of a rogue psychic, and a pencil-pusher’s analysis. For all I knew, Amalgamated Worlds would survive a thousand years.”
“But it collapsed seven years later, instead,” Emperor Romulus said.
“Yes, it did. And we waited.” The old Admiral let out a long sigh, “A handful of people knew our location, and they knew that when right time came, we could be called on to come forth, to begin rebuilding.”
“You didn’t have any contact with the outside?” Lucius asked.
“Little. Every now and then someone came. Kandergain dropped in every decade or so.” Admiral Dreyfus shrugged, “Mostly we trained, stockpiled weapons and ammunition. The eggheads talked about government and laws. The scientists played with their toys.”
“So now, what?” Lucius asked.
“Now, we turn things over to you.” Dreyfus answered. “You’re the man who found us. You’re the man in charge now.”
“You don’t even know me,” Lucius said.
“Trust me,” Dreyfus said, “If Kandergain says you’re the one… then you’re it.”
“I—”
“I think we’re ranging a little away from the important thing, right now,” the Emperor said. “Now that we have the Dreyfus Fleet, we need to use it. Nova Roma is currently under the control of the Chxor. Admiral, you once defended my world from the Wrethe, when they attacked human space almost ninety years ago—”
“We have other issues besides that.” Kandergain said.
“My people are dying. Every day we wait thousands—”
“I know exactly how bad it is on Nova Roma right now, trust me.” Kandergain’s impassivity disappeared, replaced by something dark and angry. “And I know something that everyone else seems to forget. The Chxor are not the main threat. The Balor will exterminate humanity. They will eat or enslave every last man woman and child.”
“The Balor aren’t on Nova Roma, they aren’t butchering my people!
”
Kandergain sighed, “No, they’re not. Currently, a significant force of them are headed here, though.”
Into that silence, Lucius spoke, “The Balor are coming here?”
“Yes.”
Lucius stared at her. He realized suddenly that some of the darkness, some of the anger in the psychic woman lay in another emotion.
Kandergain felt fear.
Even in the midst of battle against the Chxor, when the War Shrike heaved around them, he hadn’t seen fear in her face. Lucius hadn’t thought the woman knew how to fear.
But she feared the Balor or, at least, feared what they might do.
“How long do we have?” Lucius’ voice felt weak.
“Two months, more or less.”
“Why even defend this—”
Lucius’ head snapped around, “I did not fight a battle to save this system from the Chxor, did not lose many good men in battle, just to abandon it and its people to the Balor.” He stared at the boy Emperor, wondering if the time had finally come to sever ties with his home.
He stared at the boy and something told him that the time had not yet come.
But it would soon.
He turned his gaze back to Kandergain, “Can we defeat them?”
“Balor ships are faster than most of this fleet. Also, their weapons outrange even the heaviest gun batteries aboard these ships.” She shrugged, “Their missiles are smaller and faster, and carry heavier payloads. The War Shrike has more acceleration than anything but their fighters, but one of their battlecruisers carries a heavier armament. All of their ships mount shields, actual shields, not defense screens, that you need to hammer before you can even damage the ship beneath.”
Lucius met Dreyfus’ eyes. “We’re going to need a battle plan.”
***
CHAPTER XI
March 3, 2403 Earth Standard Time
Faraday System
(status unknown)
“You promised what to the Garu?” Admiral Dreyfus demanded.
“The terms of our original alliance stated that they would receive all of the transport vessels of the Dreyfus Fleet, after we recovered it,” Lucius said, massaging his head.
“That’s thirty four ships!”
“Thirty seven ships,” the Garu spokesman corrected. “Your ammunition ships are transport vessels as well.”
“How are we supposed to fight a war without transport ships?” Admiral Dreyfus snapped.
“The Garu people, of course, would be willing to lease some vessels back to you, at a reasonable price, considering the current situation.” The Garu leader spoke in a polite tone.
“At the time, I thought that warships would be more important than the logistical chain.” Lucius said, with a shrug. “As it is, I still believe so.”
“I see.” Dreyfus turned his gaze to the Garu leader. “What kind of reasonable price are we talking?”
“We are not unreasonable.” The man smiled, and Lucius winced. “We wish duty- and tax-free trade with any world that comes under your protection.”
“That seems pretty reasonable…” Dreyfus frowned.
Lucius held up a hand, “Any world?” He asked, eyes narrowing. “You’re essentially stating that we’d be blackmailing worlds to open their trade to you. If they didn’t, they’d lose our protection.”
The Garu man’s eyebrows went up in mock surprise, “Why, I do suppose it could be seen that way. Certainly a suspicious government, not… fully appreciative of the benefits of free trade, might come to believe so.”
“If you deal tax-free with a dozen worlds, you could undercut the prices of any other merchant.” Lucius said, “You’d have a monopoly on trade within a decade.”
The Garu man shrugged, “There are many families and clans within the Garu. We would still have competition. A healthy economy requires such.”
“I see.” Lucius frowned. “We’ll talk more on this later. In the meantime, ‘recovery’ of the Fleet is not yet complete. The crews, their cargoes, and their passengers must still be offloaded.”
“Under some interpretations of the law, a ship’s cargo—“
“Under my interpretation, Admiral Dreyfus owns those ships and that cargo until they’re offloaded.” Lucius snapped. “You’re already getting far more than you or I planned for, don’t get greedy.”
The Garu man smirked slightly, and bowed. “Understood, Baron. We will have to discuss the exact terms of the lease at your earliest convenience.”
“Agreed.” Lucius growled. He waited for the trader to depart, then turned to face Admiral Dreyfus, “How long do you think, for your people to off-load?”
“It’ll take time.” Dreyfus shrugged, “Families have lived on those ships for eighty years. Most of that for many of them was in hibernation sleep, but even so, they’ll have to pack and unpack their private possessions.” He frowned, “All of the manufacturing equipment we can offload in a couple weeks. The scientists and their labs… some of that we’ll need to build facilities for. Some of those facilities need to be in space or on an uninhabited world, just for safety.”
“Some of their projects are dangerous?” Lucius asked.
“Some of those scientists are dangerous,” Dreyfus shrugged, “I took a couple of them out of mental institutions. One of them…” He chuckled, “Well, he means well, but I honestly feel uncomfortable being in the same star system as his experiments.”
Lucius winced. “There’s plenty of uninhabited systems in the vicinity. If all else fails, there’s Alpha Seven at Zeta Tau.”
“Yes, I think an out-of-the-way spot is best for some of them.”
Lucius spent a moment in thought, “My staff is meeting tonight to discuss the defense of this system. Can you have your—”
“We’ll be there, Baron”
***
“We need to talk.” Lucius said as he stepped into Kandergain’s quarters.
Kandergain, seated in a chair already, gestured to a chair across from her. Lucius had a sneaking suspicion she expected him. “Yes, Lucius, we do need to talk.”
Lucius again felt the same sense of bitterness. He clenched his jaw, “Why didn’t you tell me that the Dreyfus Fleet lay manned and armed, just waiting?”
She cocked her head, “Do you want the truth?”
Lucius threw his head up, “Of course I want the truth.”
“Then here it is, Lucius. You didn’t need to know.”
“Of course I needed to know!” Hands clenched, Lucius shot to his feet, “I lost one hundred and seventy two people taking this system! I still don’t know how many millions of civilians died! All that time, that entire force lay there waiting!”
“Are you done?” She asked, her voice cold.
Lucius let out a short angry breath, forcing himself to calm. He really didn’t want to. “Yes. I’m done.”
“Then sit.” Her sharp words startled him into his chair.
She stared at him for a long while, and Lucius realized she, too, had grown angry. “First, Lucius, the universe doesn’t revolve around you.” She shook her head, “I didn’t know the Chxor came here, I didn’t know you fought a retreat against them before you went to Alpha Seven. I’m not omniscient. I couldn’t have told you the fleet lay hidden at Sanctuary without knowing that.”
“But—“
“Second,” She cut over his words, “What good would the fleet have done you? You couldn’t have reached it without drawing the Chxor’s attention. If it came out of the clouds of Sanctuary to fight, the Chxor would have seen it coming. What would they have done, seeing an overwhelming force bearing down on them?” She demanded.
Lucius knew, he looked away.
“Say it Lucius.”
“They would have gassed the entire population, rather than let it fall.”
“Exactly.” Her icy voice continued, “Third, the success against the Chxor by you made you a hero, Lucius. You saved a planet, you saved the colony of Faraday. I don’t think you realize how much t
hat means right now.”
“I lost—”
“And third,” Kandergain spoke over him again, “The few million people who died on Faraday are only a drop in the bucket, Lucius.” She shook her head, “I’ve watched billions die, so far, killed systematically by the Chxor and slaughtered by the Balor. I’ve fought, as hard as I can, to save individual lives, but we’re in a war for species survival.” She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, “When it comes to it, I’d have let you lose here at Faraday, I’d have let the entire populace die, if I thought giving you the Dreyfus Fleet would ruin humanity’s last chance.”
She stood from her chair and went to the window to stare out at the battle-scarred city. “Lucius, the human race is doomed.” He could hear the despair in her voice. “We’ve garnered the attention of two powerful races and neither has any problem slaughtering us to the last babe. This is a war of survival.” She let out a long sigh, “Part of what makes you a great leader, Lucius, is your compassion. You care about your people.”
She turned to face him, “Right now, you feel used. You feel manipulated. You think I let your people die for no reason.” She met his gaze with her chocolate brown eyes, “It’s understandable, admirable, even, in a way.” She shrugged, “But if you can’t realize that I’m doing my best to help you, to help the human race, then I think it’s time we go our separate ways.”
“I...” Lucius put a hand over his face. “I just want to know why. Why have I been manipulated? Why did you tell Dreyfus to hide in the first place… What are you trying to accomplish? What makes you think you can judge things so accurately?”
Kandergain took her chair again in silence, she stared at Lucius for a long time. “Now we get to the hard questions.” She closed her eyes, as if she hoped to find inspiration behind her eyelids. “You know what a precognitive is?”
Lucius frowned, “A psychic who can see the future, right?”
She shrugged, “In a manner of speaking. Most can’t do much more than catch glimpses of the near future. Some can get fleeting impressions of events to come. Every now and again, there’s the occasional precog that can see more than that, sometimes much more.”