by D. J. Holmes
“Fight back?” Christine balked. “With what? We have almost no ships and no resources. We are still reeling from what they have done to Earth. How can we divert resources that our refugees need elsewhere?”
“Because we are at war,” James replied. “That’s why we are here isn’t it?” he softened his tone when Christine’s face tightened. “I know you know it is. But we cannot forget this, even with everything that is happening on Earth. If we do not respond correctly; we will simply be opening the door to another attack.”
“The Admiral is right,” Koroylov said as he raised a hand towards Christine, stopping whatever reply she was forming. “We need to give the appearance that we are not defeated. Both to our enemies, and to ourselves. Still, I’m not sure what you have in mind? Our resources are spread impossibly thin already.”
“They are,” James agreed. “But we will have to spread them further still. I believe we need to dispatch a squadron to contest the raids the Karacknids are carrying out. With the right commander, we may be able to win some small victories and limit the damage the Karacknids are doing.”
“What about Earth’s defenses?” Senator Nicholls asked. “You would have to send our best ships to face the Karacknids or they would be obliterated. What does that leave us with here?”
“Very little,” James answered honestly. “But I have an idea for that too. Really, it’s an extension of Koroylov’s idea. We know where the Karacknids’ home systems are. It’s extremely unlikely that they would seek to attack us along any other vector than from the German colonies. All the orbital defenses we have in the British, Russian, Canadian and Indian colonies are useless to us where they are. We could have them all towed here. That would boost our defenses significantly.
“That would be a big ask,” Soult replied. “It’s one thing for us to take authority to manage our refugees, but sending orders requiring all orbital defenses be brought to Earth, I suspect more than a handful of colonies will not like that idea.”
“We just have to remind them what will happen if Earth is attacked again and falls,” Christine insisted. When James looked at her she gave him a slight nod. “It’s a good idea. I’m not sure about sending warships that we desperately need away, but this would offset their loss and then some.”
“There is another benefit,” Koroylov added. “One I do not particularly like mentioning, but it must be considered nonetheless. Even if these ships we send out are attacked and destroyed by the Karacknids, the very fact that we were willing to send ships against them should suggest that we are not yet a beaten force. The act of dispatching such a squadron may delay any follow up attack the Karacknids are planning.”
“So this force is essentially expendable?” Rajesh suggested.
Koroylov nodded. “Like I said, it’s not our first consideration, but it is a reality. In war, ships and men often have to be weighed against tactical and strategic advantages. Showing the Karacknids that we are still ready and willing to fight may buy us the time and space we need to replace the number of ships we might lose in this endeavor.”
“Yes,” James said. “Koroylov is right. Though that is not my goal. Losing whatever forces we send out to the German colonies would further hurt our fleet’s morale. If it comes to it, losing the ships may be to our advantage. But we will be planning to succeed, not fail.”
“Who do we send on this mission?” Soult asked.
“I suspect Admiral Somerville already has a name in mind,” Koroylov responded as he nodded towards James.
“I do,” James replied. “Admiral Lightfoot fought a spectacular delaying campaign against the Karacknid invasion fleet through the German colonies. And he did so with warships that have none of the technological upgrades that we now have available. If he is given command of what remains of the Outer Defense fleet and the Havenite and Vestarian forces, he would have a small but powerful squadron that would be much more of an even match for a Karacknid squadron than anything else we have.”
“We would be sending our best ships,” Rajesh said. “That does not sit easily with me.”
“Lightfoot is a very competent commander,” Rear Admiral Nogamoro said. “His retreat from the Karacknid invasion force demonstrates that he understands discretion. I’m confident that if he found himself in a situation where it was necessary, he would fall back to Earth to bolster our defenses. He is not a Lam.”
Nogamoro’s words brought several nods and then a moment of silence from the gathered leaders. James understood, he had only learnt of Lam’s defeat in the Holstein system after the Battle of Earth. More than once he had wondered what several hundred extra warships would have achieved in the Battle of Earth. At the very least, they may have prevented a few extra nuclear missiles striking the planet’s surface.
“So,” James said to break the silence. “What are our thoughts on this? We don’t have to make a final decision right now, but if we accept the proposal, our new commander of Home Fleet and our staff officers can draw a more concrete mission plan. Then we can examine its feasibility in the next couple of days.”
“That is acceptable to me,” Christine said. She was quickly followed by all the other members.
James nodded as the final one gave his assent. “Thank you,” he said genuinely. “I will liaise with Rear Admiral Gupta and we will put together a mission brief and force composition for our final approval.”
“So Vice Admiral, we have dealt with your first two issues, what is the last one you have for us to address today?” Bernard asked, his tone made it clear he was not enjoying having the topics he could discuss being dictated to him.
James shot him a pleasant smile. “This one may be of particular interest to you. Along with a subcommittee to aid us in our relief efforts, I believe we should appoint a subcommittee to assess how best we can restore democracy to Earth and prepare our differing nations for what lies ahead. The UN system has failed us, that is evident to all. Nevertheless, if we are to survive the coming war with the Karacknids, our species will need to learn to work together as one in a way that we have never done before. I believe we should appoint a subcommittee to explore how best this might be accomplished. I imagined you might want to be a part of this Bernard?”
The look on Bernard’s face made James glance at Koroylov and wink. For the first time in the last several days, it looked like he had caught the British MP by surprise. “Well?” James prompted.
“I… ah, yes of course. I see it as one of our most important duties. I presume I would head up the subcommittee?”
James smiled again. “Actually, I have someone else in mind to chair the committee. Like the interstellar trade subcommittee you suggested that I be a part of, I think our duties on this Council would mean we are not best suited to chair other subcommittees. Unless you insist on chairing the subcommittee and everyone here agrees to it, I had thought Fairfax would be a good chairperson. He knows the political systems of our various nation-states intimately and he has a vast experience of working within the UN. Plus, he has assured me he has no intention of seeking re-election to any kind of office. So he has no personal political ambitions to attempt to further. What do you think Bernard? I would be happy to make you chairperson if you are not intending to seek re-election?”
This time, James couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows as he stared directly at Bernard. He meant what he said, if Bernard would publicly renounce his political ambitions, he would happily let him chair the subcommittee. But, if not, there was no way he would let Bernard get such power.
Bernard glared at James. Then he glanced around at the other faces of the council. It was clear he was weighing up his response. James took a moment to take in the looks that were being sent Bernard’s way. More than one of them held a degree of suspicion. Mentally James nodded. That’s right, he thought to Bernard. You don’t have many friends here. At least not yet. He suspected that given time, Bernard would seek to exert influence over every council member he could. That was how politicians worked.
“All right,” Bernard said when he turned back to James. “I’ll sit on this subcommittee, but if Fairfax does not behave, I intend to make my concerns known.”
Despite his sense of victory, James kept his face impassive. “I’d have it no other way, I need you to keep an eye on him.” Just as I intend to use him to keep an eye on you, James thought. Hopefully neither of you will be bothering me. When he had come up with the idea, he had thought it ingenious. By forming a subcommittee he could push Fairfax and Bernard off into a corner and let them fight things out without dragging him into it. One less headache to worry about, he thought with approval as the other council members weighed in on the idea.
Chapter 5
In the first century of the Empire refugees were all but unknown. With so many worlds and so much opportunity, people were flooding to the new colonies. That changed with the outbreak of the First Antarian War. People in their millions fled the outer reaches back towards the core worlds. The subsequent wars and border skirmishes that have been a constant reality for us ever since ensures there are always refugees fleeing one sector of the Empire or another. Despite the Imperial Fleet’s best efforts, sadly we cannot be everywhere at once.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
An hour later James gathered his things after bringing the meeting to an end. Though he was done with everything he had to do on UNS Earth, he knew he was needed back in the refugee camp. Trying to juggle two jobs was already proving all but impossible. He had handed over more responsibility to Hargreaves, but the junior MP had already been feeling overwhelmed. With a sigh, he shuffled his datapad and files into one pile and handed them to Emilie. “What’s next on our list for today?”
“May I have a word?” another voice replied.
James looked up to see Christine approaching. He opened his mouth to protest. He didn’t want to have to rebuff her invitation for a meal together a second time, but he really didn’t have time. The look on her face stopped him short. It was the same look his mother had had when she had been about to scold him, and the same Suzanna had used on him more than once. “Okay, I guess,” he replied instead and nodded for Emilie to head out.
“How do you think today went?” Christine asked as she took a seat beside him. She glanced around to make sure the rest of the council members had left.
James knew what he wanted to say. As far as he could see, the meeting had been a great success. He had basically gotten everything he wanted. The thought hadn’t occurred to him yet, but as he considered Christine’s question, he supposed that maybe he was better at being the Chairman than he had anticipated. Of course, given that Christine was asking him that very question, he suspected he was about to learn otherwise. “It went relatively smoothly,” he decided to answer.
“Smoothly,” Christine repeated. “Is that how you would put it?”
James sighed. “I thought I just did. Why don’t you come to your point?”
“No, no, you’re right. It did go smoothly,” Christine said as she rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think that is a problem?”
James couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s not the first word I’d use to describe it.”
Christine brought a hand up and rubbed her temples. “Fairfax told me you don’t like this sort of thing. But I didn’t think you would be this naïve. You have plenty of experience with politics. Have you ever known so many divergent personalities to be so amenable?”
“These are difficult times,” James said as he opened his hands. “We all need to pull together in one direction. We who have survived the last month are not the same as those who came before us. At least, most of us are not,” James added as he thought of Bernard.
“And you still can’t see the problem?” Christine pushed. James shrugged. “Let me put it like this, is everyone pulling together in one direction, or in your direction?”
James stared at Christine for several seconds. He wasn’t stupid enough to miss what she was getting at. “You think I’m abusing my position, in the very first meeting we’ve had?”
“Well, let me see,” Christine replied as she began to raise her fingers. “One, you rejected almost all the items each of the council members suggested be on the agenda. Two, you only proposed items that you wanted, and three, you are seeing your close friends and confidants assigned to key positions, Gupta commanding Home Fleet, Lightfoot commanding this squadron heading into German colonial space, Fairfax to the democratic subcommittee and McCarthy to this economic subcommittee.
“Fear and guilt may be causing many of the council members to agree with you without too much thought now, but if you keep going like this, in a couple of months’ time, when everyone starts to really question what is going on, your chairmanship is going to look like a dictatorship. I doubt you’ll find many people on your side then.”
“A dictatorship!” James said as he shook his head. “That’s preposterous. I have no interest in such a thing.”
Christine held her hands up. “What difference do your interests make? That’s irrelevant. The public perception is what counts. If the councilors come to think you have been manipulating them to get your own way every time, and they start to put that out into the public, you will lose any authority and goodwill you have. The whole point of being Chairman is that you facilitate the discussions and decisions, not anticipate and determine them.”
“What are you saying?” James asked. “I should just stand down already? You put me in this position! Someone needs to do this job. And it needs to be done right.”
“Exactly,” Christine said as she pointed a finger at him. “It has to be done right. You need to find a way to make decisions and plans where every council member will feel like they have been involved in the process.”
“Didn’t we just do that?”
Christine laughed. “No, I wouldn’t say that we did. We made the right decisions yes, I’ll grant you that, but not in a way that everyone will feel satisfied about by this time tomorrow.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Figure out a way to get everyone involved. For a start, you can’t just go around dismissing agenda items.”
James shrugged. “There’s no way we’re going to go through twenty items every meeting.”
“So figure out some way to sift through them. Perhaps only accept items proposed by two councilors or make it three if you want. I don’t care. You just need to make sure there are checks and balances on your authority. For if you don’t do it, someone else will. And I don’t want to see them taking your place.”
Finally James understood Christine’s concern. It wasn’t hard to guess who she meant by them. Bernard. If Bernard saw an opportunity to replace him as chairperson, he would. And if I give him that opportunity, it will be my fault. “Fine,” he acquiesced. “I’ll give it some thought. Perhaps I can send you some ideas for you to look over?”
Christine smiled, one of the genuine smiles she reserved for her closest friends. James remembered it well. “Now you’re starting to talk sense Admiral. Send me what you come up with and I’ll send you some other ideas for you to consider as well.”
James rolled his eyes. “How is it that you aren’t going to be the one accused of trying to be a dictator?”
Christine’s smiled widened. “You seem to be forgetting, I am an Empress. That’s just one step below dictator anyway, everyone expects me to exert a little control over upstart Chairmen.”
James rolled his eyes again. Standing, Christine winked and reached over to pat him on the shoulder. “I’ll take my leave. You have much to think about.” Without waiting for a response, she nodded to him then turned and walked out of the briefing room.
As soon as she was gone, Emilie stepped in. “What was all that about?” she asked. “Did she invite you out on another date?”
James narrowed his eyes at Emilie. He then raised a hand like he was going to punch her shoulder. He had made the mistake of telling her about Christine’s offer. Since t
hen his niece had been gently teasing him about the Chinese Empress. “Let’s just get back to the refugee camp, we have a lot to do,” he said.
*
UNS Earth, 23rd September 2481 AD.
“Admiral,” James said as he stood and saluted Gupta as she walked into the small briefing room he had been assigned on UNS Earth.
“Sit down,” Gupta said with a wave of her hand. “I’ll not have you saluting me. At least, not every time we meet. Once a day is good enough,” she added with a wink.
James saluted again, “Aye, Aye Admiral, once-a-day it is.” He smiled at Gupta and gestured her towards a seat. “The others should be here momentarily.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing them, I have hardly had a chance to speak to them in nearly a week,” Gupta said. “After serving under Koroylov and trying to put the fleet back together, I didn’t think life could have gotten any more hectic. I was wrong.” Then she paused and shot James a knowing look. “Have you spoken to Lightfoot since the battle?”