by Chris Hechtl
“Oh.”
“So, back to the safer option, it is a consideration in Project Pestilence's chances of success. If they use this as a template, there is no telling how much of their Federation has the nanotech,” Dame Mengla stated. She looked over to Duke Stayne, but the man said nothing in support. No help there obviously she thought in internal disgust.
“So, attempting to infiltrate their lines and expose them to it would be a waste of time,” Admiral Grant said, picking up the thread with a grateful nod to the dame.
“Exactly.”
“But they aren't in the other sectors yet. Even if it doesn't work fully, it will hurt. It will also sow fear and terror and make them think twice about coming after us. It will force them to keep some assets home in order to protect themselves. I want this project rammed through. Expedite it. Get me a list of what you need and get it written up for a black budget rider. I'll make sure the House of Lords passes it,” the emperor stated.
The room was a bit quiet.
“Well?” the emperor demanded. “I want this spread far and wide—the sooner the better.”
“Sir, we'll have chaos. It will hit our holdings in those sectors.”
The emperor's smile was cold and nasty. “Exactly. We'll distract them and hit them where they live. They are soft hearted for the alien creatures, right?” he demanded snidely. “So, they'll do anything to protect them. They'll have to stop attacking us and divert funds and ships in order to save those they can.”
“It's possible, sir, the reverse is true. They could come after us harder out of vengeance or to stop us, sir,” Admiral Cartwright warned.
The emperor leveled a look on him for popping his idea. “Do it anyway. That's an order.”
The group nodded. “Yes, sire,” many murmured, though some clearly didn't have their heart in it.
~~~^~~~
“Thanks for throwing me under the bus back there,” the countess hissed to the duke once they were out of the room.
“I was trying to delay and distract him. I didn't know he'd get that upset over it,” the duke replied with a shrug.
“I thought we were supposed to work together?” the countess demanded as their security teams escorted them through the palace to their waiting shuttle.
“We are. But you of all people should have known some sort of recriminations over this incident were coming. They were long overdue. Better to air them in a controlled environment then blindside him.”
“He should have known. We did brief him …”
“Obviously, he didn't pay attention or someone filtered it. Or it was too much to absorb or he forgot. Either way it's done now,” the duke replied. “Deal with it.”
“Gee thanks.”
~~~^~~~
Later that evening the emperor was still seething over the unsanctioned use of Xeno nanotech as he entered his residence. His staff immediately picked up on his mood and spread a word of warning.
His wife did as well. It took a little bit of prompting to get him to unload.
His mother showed up partially through his story and listened quietly. When he was finished, his wife and mother talked to him about it.
“I admit it was a foolish thing to do,” the dowager empress said slowly.
“It's like giving a loaded pulser to a toddler! Are they all like this?” the emperor demanded. He tried to get up to pace, but his wife's hand on his shoulder tightened and firmly pressed him back into his seat.
“Spirits of Space I hope not!” she murmured with a shake of her head.
“We have to trust our people to some degree,” the dowager empress said reprovingly.
“How much I'm starting to wonder about. Obviously, the intelligence shop has had a far too long leash. Far too long. And for far too long. That is going to have to change,” the emperor stated firmly.
“You said they have some of that here?” Irazabeth asked. She shivered. “I want it gone. Far away from here. Drop it into the sun or a black hole or something!”
“We need the weapon, if only for the fear factor it generates,” Jezebel stated, giving her daughter-in-law a quelling look. “The good news is they know we're willing to use it now. Pity it missed before,” she said with a shake of her head.
“If it had worked, we'd all be in a world of hurt,” her son said. Jezebel looked at him. “I read the plans of Pestilence, Mother. An outbreak would spread to other star systems as people fled. Project Pestilence is actually planning on that to spread the plagues,” he explained. She nodded. “Now, if one of our ships encountered it, things would get ugly. If they brought it back here ….” He shook his head as she pursed her lips in thought.
“That's what I mean!” Irazabeth stated waving a distressed hand. Visions of what the Xenos had done during the war were ingrained in everyone's psyche. Why they weren't bothered with it as much as she was she didn't understand.
“But the samples they have here are contained,” Jezebel stated. “And as you said, Irons figured out how to stop it. We should look into how he did that and add it to our own plans,” she said to her son.
Before he could reply, Irazabeth interrupted. “So, you are saying we keep it?” Irazabeth asked, feeling like she was the only rational one in the room.
At least it seemed like they were finally coming onboard with her. She shivered internally. Some weapons harmed the user as well as the intended victim and therefore should never be used.
“It's been here this long, and we didn't know. It's the sort of Ace you don't give up easily. It could come in handy someday,” Jezebel murmured thoughtfully as she tapped her index finger to her lips.
Her son looked at her and then to his wife. “She's right,” he said, patting her hand gently and then removing it. He gave it a squeeze. “I don't like it any more than you do. But I won't allow it to be here. That part I won't compromise on, Mother,” he said, addressing the last statement to her. “I already issued orders to have them moved to a different star system. There are enough off-the-beaten track to stick them in.”
“Okay,” she murmured, nodding. She could see the writing on the wall; she was outnumbered. The best course of action was to go with the flow. But one thought did occur to her. “I wonder if Irons will use that nanotech cure to clear the infested planets?”
That brought both of them up short. The mother and son paused to look at each other thoughtfully. After a moment, her husband answered.
“I don't know. The good news is they are ruled by a dumb mind, not a full Xeno. At least we think so,” the emperor stated. “No one has made a detailed study of such things since the Xeno war after all.”
“Perhaps we should. We may never know when we'll need the knowledge, if only to defend ourselves,” Jezebel murmured.
He snorted. “I doubt it'll come to that. They are too squeamish.”
“Mishandled that nanotech could be our doom,” Irazabeth stated. “Having some sort of insurance policy, a plan in place to deal with an outbreak is only smart Pyotr. Think about it.”
“Or this plague of yours. If it pisses them off, they might use their own nanotech against us. Did you consider that?” Jezebel asked carefully.
“I … did to some degree,” the emperor stated slowly. “But in order to use it, they have to get past the fleet and the defenses we've got. And even if Horath falls, the Empire will survive.”
“Only if we're somewhere else when it does. And only if we can escape.”
“I … don't think it will come to that. I know it won't so we have nothing to worry about,” the emperor said firmly to both of them.
“Do we?” his mother asked as a parting shot as she left the room.
Chapter 21
Dd01ns Second Fleet
Admiral White checked the local status boards and then switched to the download of the Federation board. The news was there, or at least some of it. No news from TF3.2 and he couldn't see it as “no news is good news.” No, the absence of information wasn't good at all. At the moment thou
gh, no one could do anything about it.
It all boiled down to TF3.2 and how Admiral V'r'z'll arranged her force. He knew she'd brought her fleet train with her. From the reports that his staff had dug up for him, she had kept the fleet train in tight with her main line which meant the entire force had to travel at the speed of their slowest unit. Which was the ansible transport.
That meant they still had weeks to get to Garth. Weeks of not knowing if they got there safely and what they encountered when they did arrive. Weeks of not knowing bugged the crap out of him, especially since he knew the Veraxin admiral was operating on old information about his own unit and attack.
Well, he'd taken the only steps he could to keep her informed by sending the prowler back in. With any luck they'd get through Dead Drop and arrive before she did. They could then apprise her of his situation as well as everything they had seen. Hopefully, he'd get the ship back he mused to himself as a light blinked for attention.
“Sir. CIC reports a force has jumped in outside the Dead Drop jump point. Status is tentative at the moment.”
“Understood,” he growled. Well, it looked like the waiting might be over he thought.
~~~^~~~
Captain Dukajin Albu was in his own modest opinion one of the best cruiser squadron commander's in the fleet. His ship the Lizzy Borden, an Admiral Hipper class Heavy Cruiser, was after all one of the most famous in the Gather Fleet, and he kept her running smooth as silk. He had inherited her from Admiral Mueller and was quite proud of her battle honors.
But even he was nervous about seeing the enemy ships, and in those numbers, CIC was reporting. Some of the contacts were tentative. So far everything matched the downloads he had received from the Retribution Fleet.
He had wanted to be in Battle Fleet for a while when the pickings had gotten slim in Sigma. He was pretty sure just about everyone in the Gather Fleet were chagrined at passing over Rho. They'd been through it so often no one had given it much thought. Tau was too far away, which left Pi and Sigma if you wanted to be home within twenty years.
He'd been fortunate. He had been near Sigma's Tortuga base when the recall order had come in a decade prior. He'd hated sitting on his laurels in the empire once he'd gotten there and had jumped at the chance at the refit in Garth. He knew none of his crew were happy about going toe-to-toe with another warship. No pirate in his right mind liked the idea of that. You didn't profit from getting holes blown in your ship! A good pirate was a thief and an assassin, able to slip in, take the target out with little muss, no fuss.
And he was a good pirate he thought.
“Okay people, here's the drill. We're going to get a contact report off pronto as ordered. Order all ships to send the sensor data they've got to the courier. Do that now. Plan Zulu is in effect.”
“It should be Omega. Or oh shit, let's get the hell out of here,” the XO said under his breath.
“What was that?” the captain demanded sharply.
“Nothing, sir,” the XO said with a grimace. He saw the captain's look and turned away.
“Split off Damion Drake and Garrot as planned. They are to drop back and go into stealth as they swing wide. We'll set up Ghost profiles of them to make the enemy think they are with us for as long as possible. At this range, it should work. They are to run silent and keep a laser on us with their sensor feeds as long as possible. We'll cut them loose if we get bounced.”
“Silent and deadly. Yes, sir,” the XO replied with a nod.
~~~^~~~
Trajan noted the CIC report as well as the fact that it was small, most likely a scouting force. He immediately ordered the picket force to react but the cruiser navigators had known what they were about. They were far out of position.
“Argus flotilla to intercept. CAG, launch when ready,” he ordered.
~~~^~~~
Captain Albu noted the immediate snap movements of the enemy ships. He was grateful that they were not in immediate danger. Each of the ships in his squadron had a laser line on the courier and his flagship, feeding them tactical information from their sensors. It was interesting to note several ships were missing. At least two CEVs weren't where they were supposed to be. Not really his problem though.
“Sir, cyberattack,” a rating reported.
“Shut down all communications except secure lasers to the ships in the squadron. Do not accept any others. If we break a link, too bad.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“Guns, bring up the primary target. Let's see if we can't piss them off and stir up a hornet's nest while we're at it,” he said.
“Right. Let's cause some hate and discontent, aye, sir,” the TAO said with a feral grin. She turned and began to issue orders to her tactical department.
“Cruisers target ansible platform with a missile and rail gun spread.”
~~~^~~~
Sensors picked up the weapons fire, predicted the course and then CIC reported it to Admiral White and his staff.
“Sneaky. They know we can't move the platform. It can't dodge, so we've got to interdict the fire.”
“And quickly, sir. The further out the better.”
“Agreed. Get everything we have between that fire and the platform. Build a wall of fire if you can.”
“Already on it, sir. The orders went out. Fighters are launching as we speak. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot available. But we're sending what is.”
“Good.”
~~~^~~~
“Order the remaining ships to come about. Damion Drake and Garrot are to detach once we've got a ghost of them up. Make sure of it before they move off,” he ordered. “Order the courier to jump as soon as her drive is recharged.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“And someone get me a damn ham sandwich and a beer! If I'm going to be stuck here, I might as well do something constructive,” he growled.
One of the best things about being of Romanian stock was his supposed ties to Vlad Tepest, the dragon, or as many others saw him, Dracula. Well, he did have a taste for blood, and he was quite good at sneaking about. It was time to prove it.
~~~^~~~
Hurranna saw the incoming fire and realized they had only seconds to react. “Okay, people, the idea isn't to break it up it's to deflect it,” she explained as she rapidly issued orders to her Artoo unit and weapon controls. “Coordinate your weapons fire for max effect. Just a little bit is all we need at this distance. So, anyone played billiards? Get the English right,” she said as one of her pilots chortled over the open line.
“Let's let her rip!” she said as her fighter unleashed her missiles in one massive spread and then she chased them with rounds from her guns.
~~~^~~~
Commander Bleakly got the alert that Hurranna's squadron was firing. He didn't understand why, there was nothing in range. That confusion ended when he saw the radar return. “All fighters steer clear of the incoming spread. But try to knock it off course!” he said as Hurranna's Artoo flashed out a frantic warning.
He cursed when his own Artoo unit confirmed the course projection. Then there wasn't time for words as he dived into his own weapons and fired what he could while he had the chance.
~~~^~~~
Commodore Vargess appreciated the fighter's efforts, but he judged them as mostly futile. The hits they were scoring were turning the rail gun rounds into powder and gas. Both still had mass, and both were still traveling in a cloud towards the platform. Granted the cloud was dispersing slightly and would take days to get there, but it was eventually going to hit. He shook his head but didn't issue the recall order or the order to cease fire. They might get lucky.
~~~^~~~
Captain Albu saw the fighters firing into his swarm, tearing it up. They might just tear a big enough hole for the ansible to slip through. Can't have that. “We're not going to make it so easy for you. No, not this time.”
He turned to Celest, his TAO. “Guns, fire another spread on the platform. Fire at random intervals as we move. Stop w
hen we go into stealth. Comm, order the other ships to do the same,” he ordered. She nodded once and turned and began to issue orders.
He listened to the orders being repeated back and smiled like a shark. “Try and deal with that,” he murmured.
~~~^~~~
“Damn!” Kyle cursed as he ran the plot. “Sir …”
“I see it. Pass the word through the ansible and then shut it down. Lock the core down as best you can and then order it to jink. Use the tachyon link.”
“Yes, sir. We'll lose the core or most of it,” Leopold warned as the orders went out.
“Anything we've got left is a gift,” the admiral grated out between clenched teeth. It was a bold move, a smart move. He could appreciate that even if he didn't like having a smart opponent.
“Should we order the ansible transport to prep another platform, sir?” Leopold asked.
“Hell no!” the admiral said as he looked up to the A.I.'s avatar. “Not with those ships stooging around. Not until the coast is clear. We'll just have to make due.”
“Aye aye, sir,” the A.I. replied as the admiral returned his attention to the plot.
~~~^~~~
He tried to play for time; wanting to be sure they got the damn platform once and for all. But, as more and more enemy ships piled on, joining in the hunt, his options became fewer and fewer. He was tired; they'd spent days running from one area only to have to change course again as fresh ships appeared to cut him off.
“Okay, we're going with snoop and poop. Drake and Garrot, your show. You are on your own, don't blow it,” he said coldly knowing there wouldn't be a response. He waited a beat and then continued. “Scissori and Kachin Dao, your mission is also on. I say again, you are a go. Split off now. We'll go with Ghost One. We'll let them run the rest of us out of town,” Captain Albu stated.
He hated that his two heavy and two medium cruisers were being chased out and that he had to leave behind four ships, all light cruisers. By rights his ship should be remaining behind. But he had his orders.