by D. J. Holmes
“That’s easy for you to say,” Stephanie replied. “But I’ll try.”
“Ok, well we’d better go. Keep our people safe while I’m gone,” James said as he nodded to Stephanie.
“I will,” Stephanie promised as she gave James a sloppy salute.
The gesture made James smile as he walked up the shuttle’s ramp.
After he settled in, the shuttle quickly lifted off. Though there was a viewport that would have allowed him to look down on the huge refugee city that had been set up, James kept his eyes on the sky. He had seen enough of Britain’s wounds to last a lifetime.
As soon as the shuttle broke through the atmosphere, his professional interest perked up. Compared to what he remembered, Earth’s orbitals looked bare, painfully bare.
“It’s all gone,” Emilie said as she too stared.
James agreed, though he didn’t reply. Yes, there were some stations here and there, but Humanity’s capital now looked almost like a frontier world. With the debris and wreckage from the battle destroyed or towed to safety, there wasn’t much to look at in low orbit. The only real activity was the stream of shuttles going to the surface, bringing supplies to the refugees.
“Look,” Emilie said as her hand pointed toward where their shuttle was heading. “It’s like a graveyard.”
“Indeed,” James agreed when his eyes followed her hand. What was left of Home Fleet was sitting in high orbit. If Koroylov had sorted out the ships into those that were battle ready and those that were damaged, it was impossible to tell. Almost every ship had a number of battle scars. Many had gaping holes that were still open to space. Here and there, there were actually half destroyed ships floating beside intact ones. He has salvaged everything he can, James realized. Anything that was even remotely likely to be repaired had been saved. That is how bad our situation is, we’re going to need them all and then some.
When the shuttle closed with Koroylov’s flagship, Earth, James wasn’t surprised to see it too had taken a beating. It looked like two anti-matter missiles had scored proximity hits. One had taken out the nose section of the battleship, and there was a hole amidships that looked like it had destroyed at least ten missile tubes. Many more lives to add to the butcher’s bill. As the shuttle rounded the large warship, more reassuring signs of life came into view. Two small tender ships were carrying out repairs and there were a half-dozen shuttles waiting to land in the ship’s shuttle bay.
To James’s delight, when he stepped off his shuttle and onto Earth’s deck, Rear Admiral Gupta was there to greet him. She stepped forward with a wide smile and held out her hand. James took it and returned her smile. “It’s good to see you,” he said. “Though, you look a little worse for wear.” It was true, fresh was not a description that could be used for either Gupta’s facial features or the state of her uniform. James had suggested to Koroylov that he take Gupta and make her his second in command. It looked like the Russian president had been putting her to work.
“Talk about the kettle calling the pot black,” Gupta replied as she raised her eyebrows. “Did you bother to look in a mirror before boarding your shuttle?”
“Touché,” James replied. If he looked like he felt, he imagined his appearance was probably worse than Gupta’s. “Still, it’s good to see you.”
“And you too,” Gupta replied. “How are things down there? I’ve seen some holo recordings.” James didn’t try to hide the wave of anguish that Gupta’s question elicited. “That bad?” Gupta asked as she placed a hand on his arm.
“Worse,” James replied. “Whatever you’ve seen, it’s worse. I think we have had to harden ourselves to it. It’s the only way to keep functioning. But it is bad.”
“Well then, I’ll not ask anything more. We can save it for the briefing,” Gupta said. She slapped James on the shoulder. “We need to look on the bright side. At least we have something to try and save. That’s more than any of us expected a fortnight ago.”
James doubted Gupta’s optimism would come so easily if she had swapped places with him for the last two weeks, but he said nothing. “How is Koroylov?” he asked instead.
“Tired, disheartened, but determined at the same time,” Gupta answered. “Like the rest of us I guess. We got the fleet into a semblance of order and it’s time to decide our next steps. Hence this meeting. Koroylov is hesitant to make any more decisions on his own.”
“Then he is a wise man,” James replied. “But I imagine he’ll soon be regretting his decision to call such a meeting all the same.”
“Yes, I’ve said as much to him. Decisions by committee have never been the Royal Space Navy way. And yet, if we’re going to pull some kind of order out of the chaos, we will have to learn to work together.”
“That may be harder than defeating the Karacknids,” James said in all seriousness. Despite the price Humanity had paid to drive out the invading Karacknid fleet, he genuinely feared it would cost his species even more to try and work together. Centuries of history suggested it was all but impossible. But that has to change, James said to himself as he squared his jaw. It had to change, or the devastation he had witnessed on Earth would be repeated on every Human colony.
Behind his back, Emilie and Gupta shared a glance. Emilie nodded, James had been in the same mood for a while.
“Here we are,” Gupta said as they approached Earth’s main briefing room. “Most are already here.”
James gestured for Gupta to go first, straightened his uniform, and then stepped into the room. Though he had prepared himself, grief washed over him as he was greeted by so many familiar faces. It wasn’t their presence that hurt, it was the absence of those who should have been there as well. Two of his closest friends, Rear Admiral Sato and Captain Romanov, had been lost fighting alongside Koroylov’s forces as they defended Earth. Governor Pennington and Admiral Harborough had been killed when the Havenite flagship had been destroyed. Then there were Lieutenants Miyamoto, Yue, and Dzedzyk. All three had been killed when Golden Hind had been blown in two. They and so many others were gone. They’d given their lives to defend Earth. To make this meeting a possibility, James said to himself in an effort to curtail his grief. None of them would want him feeling sorry for himself. Not when so much was on the line.
A different familiar face made him stop short before the seat Gupta was leading him to. Lord Stephen Bernard was already sitting at the oval table. He was the MP for Winchester and the one who had been seeking to usurp James’ authority over the rescue of British survivors. “What is he doing here?” James growled to himself. He hunched his shoulders and set off towards the MP. He had endured enough of the pompous ass’s interference already. He wasn’t going to put up with it now. With his attention solely focused on Bernard, James didn’t notice the obstacle that suddenly appeared in front of his right foot. Clipping it with his toes, he almost stumbled. To his horror, he realized he had just kicked a hover chair. “My apologi… James said before he froze. “Fairfax?” he blurted out. His mouth hung open.
“Who else do you think it is you dolt?” Fairfax responded as he maneuvered his hover chair so that it banged into James’ shin.
“But… They said your recovery would take weeks if not months?” James replied. “And they said you would be able to walk again.” The last time James had seen Fairfax he had been sitting in a puddle of his own blood on Golden Hind’s bridge. That was just before Empress Na’s engineers had taken him away. James had asked Emilie to get an update on the former British Prime Minister and she had assured him he would make a full recovery under the care of Earth’s chief doctor.
“Aye, that they did,” Fairfax agreed. “But I’m not going to waste the next two months lying on a medical bed waiting for them to regrow my nerve tissues. All hands are needed on deck, isn’t that one of your sayings?”
“But your legs, if they can heal them?”
Fairfax waved away James’ question. “If they can heal them now, they can heal them later. Now, stop your belly aching. Yo
u need me far more than I need my legs, so just let it go.”
“I… I think you are making the wrong choice,” James replied as he tried to imagine what life would be like not being able to walk.
“Oh? You do, do you?” Fairfax replied as he raised an eyebrow. “So tell me, what were you on your way to do?” Instead of waiting for an answer, Fairfax turned and nodded towards Bernard. “I imagine you two have already hit it off. I’m sure whatever you are about to say to him would have started this meeting off on exactly the right foot.”
“I…” James found himself at a loss for words.
“Exactly,” Fairfax replied. “Exactly,” he repeated with a nod. “You see why I am here? Now, take a seat and let’s try not to blow this whole meeting up before it begins. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. I know Bernard well enough. But to beat him, you have to play his game.”
“Right,” was all James could say in reply. “I don’t suppose I have any choice in the matter anyway.”
Fairfax smiled. “Now you’re starting to make sense.” He waved for James to take his seat first and maneuvered his holo- chair into the empty slot beside him.
“Thank you all for coming,” Koroylov said as soon as everyone was seated. “We represent what has survived of our military and political leadership. I’ve gathered you here, firstly, because we need to figure out just how bad our situation is and how we can help one another. And, secondly, because it is my conviction that we must coordinate and combine our strength. The Karacknids may have fallen back, but when they deem us to be a threat once again, they will return. That means we have a second chance. But it is one that is limited, and so one that we cannot squander. Today’s meeting, and those that follow, will determine the fate of our species. So, let us begin.”
Chapter 3
From a few simple meetings, the edifice that would become our Empire grew. Though humble in nature, their historical significance cannot be overlooked.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
“Perhaps introductions would be in order Mr. President?” Christine suggested when Koroylov asked where everyone wanted to begin. “I know some of you, but certainly not all.” When she glanced at James, she smiled at him. He nodded to show his agreement and acknowledge her smile. There were quite a few unfamiliar faces.
“Of course,” Koroylov replied. “My staff have spent so much time trying to locate you all that I forgot you don’t know each other. Very well, let’s go around the table. As you introduce yourself, you may give us a status update on your area of responsibility as well.”
James leaned forward as Koroylov nodded to a United Colonial States Senator. All the people in the room around him had been through the same experience he had over the last two weeks. He was keen to see how they had managed. Unsurprisingly, as the Senator spoke, and then another shared their story, and then another, James grew disheartened. Their stories were all the same. Millions dead. Millions more left homeless and without any means to support themselves. The entire supply chain of food and other products on Earth demolished.
When it was his turn, James listed off the statistics and explained how his efforts were proceeding. “The fires in Edinburgh are out, but they are still burning in London and Manchester. We have cut fire breaks in both cities and there is nothing more we can do but wait until they burn themselves out. We simply don’t have the manpower or hardware to tackle them. We need all the shuttles we have focused on bringing in food and other supplies. If we don’t get more food, some of those we rescued from the wreckage may begin to starve soon.”
“We may be able to help you,” Christine said. “Empress Christine Na,” she added when everyone looked at her as she hadn’t formally introduced herself yet. “Though I imagine you all know who I am… China suffered six nuclear strikes. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Wuhan were all hit. We’ve lost one hundred and twelve million citizens.” Unsurprisingly, Christine paused as she shared her number. She visibly swallowed and wiped a small bit of moisture from her eye. Then she reset her expression and continued. “Nevertheless, my people are pulling together. We’ve begun taking in our harvest early and we believe we will have extra we can provide Britain and others with. It won’t be much, but it may tide us over until more support comes from our outer colonies.”
As Christine explained everything she had done, James sat back in his chair and stared at her. Despite the loss the Chinese people had suffered, both they and Christine had responded with admirable efficiency. Many of the political and financial centers of mainland China were gone, yet the populace hadn’t fallen apart. Mentally, James nodded in respect for Christine. For years he had thought that her marriage to Emperor Na had left her playing the role of a political figurehead. He had already started to realize he was wrong. Now, he knew it. She had learned more than a thing or two over the last decade.
“All right,” Koroylov said when everyone had finished giving their reports on what was happening within their countries. “Let me invite Rear Admiral Gupta to update you all on the status of our fleet and then we must decide what steps to take next. Rear Admiral,” Koroylov said as he gestured towards Gupta.
“Thank you Mr. President,” Gupta said as she stood. “I have prepared a detailed overview that each of you can take with you after this meeting. For now I will just cover the highlights. Let me begin with Earth’s defenses. We lost sixty percent of our battlestations and just over fifty percent of our defensive satellites. Many of those that remain have suffered some kind of damage or malfunction from the prolonged engagement. At the moment it’s estimated that Earth’s defenses are operating at about thirty-five percent efficiency compared to before the Karacknid attack. Though that is bad, our fleet is in a far worse situation. Excluding the forces Vice Admiral Somerville brought to the battle, eighty-nine percent of all UN warships were involved in the battle. Forty-one percent of those survived, but, at present, only three hundred warships are battle worthy. If we add in the ships of the Outer Defense Fleet, of Haven and of the Vestarians, our total number of battle worthy ships rises to three hundred and eighty-six. If the Karacknids return with a fleet of a thousand or more ships, they would be able to walk right over us without suffering anything more than a scratch.” Gupta paused to let her words sink in before continuing.
“Going forward, our numbers are not unlikely to change drastically in the coming months. We have around five hundred ships that need various degrees of repairs. Several repair yards survived the Karacknid attack, but, for the most part, we will have to tow our damaged ships out of the Sol system to colonies with functioning shipyards. That in turn will disrupt any effort we might make to construct new ships. Around thirty percent of our entire industrial base was concentrated in Earth’s orbitals. Much of that has been destroyed. There will be knock-on effects in every one of our colonies.”
James had to stop himself from shaking his head as Gupta spoke. He had been rushed to Earth’s surface so quickly he hadn’t had time to fully survey what was left of the fleet. What he had seen in his shuttle ride to Earth had been bad, but what Gupta was saying was far worse. And he guessed that her definition of a battleworthy ship was far looser than it would have been a month ago.
“Now you all know where we are,” Koroylov commented. “Each of our nations are in dire straits. Mars is helping as much as it can, and aid from our other colonies will hopefully begin to arrive soon. But it will take us many weeks to begin to get on top of the disaster that has befallen us. Perhaps worse, our military is months away from being able to put up any kind of serious defense. The question before us now is, how do we proceed? You represent the closest thing to leaders your nations have. There is no chance we could organize elections in your home nations, at least not for months. The responsibility to find a way forward has fallen on us. So, where do we go from here?”
“I’m not so sure what you mean Mr. President,” Bernard said a little too sweetly. “I thought this gathering was to coordinate our dif
fering responses so that we could help one another? It seems you are suggesting we attempt to do more?”
James wanted to groan. Already Bernard was making a nuisance of himself. When Koroylov shared a quick glance with Fairfax, James had to suppress a second one. If Koroylov and Fairfax were up to something, he knew it wasn’t going to be good. At least, though good it might be, it was going to cause him a headache. Over the last couple of years Koroylov and Fairfax had both pressured him with their political ideas of how Humanity should structure itself. A number of elements within the illegal organization he had set up with his fellow mutineers had wanted to adopt a more aggressive approach with the UN. Now that the UN is gone, and Earth’s political leaders, there never will be a better time for something new to emerge. It suddenly hit James why Fairfax was there. This was an opportunity the former British Prime Minister would not miss, not even if it cost him his legs.