by Rodney Smith
* * * * *
At 1000 hours the K’Rang delegation arrived. Kelly thought they looked elegant in their maroon capes. The Angaerry delegation arrived next, in a tan uniform with a hat vaguely resembling an early American cavalry helmet. Admiral Chang and his delegation arrived next. He saw Kelly and waved him over.
“Kelly, Jotil Lenkva has asked you to sit in as her military advisor. She wants to ensure some nuance doesn’t get by her. We will start in 30 minutes. Go get you and your best translator into your dress blues and be right back here before we start.”
Kelly rushed to change. He snagged his best translator and got her changing. He dashed into his cabin and pulled his dress uniform out and quickly dressed. After he was properly dressed, he stepped out of his cabin and expected to have to send a chief to get the translator hopping, but she was right outside his door, waiting. He looked her up and down and her uniform was perfect.
He told her, “Good work and let’s go.” They marched together to the tent and were motioned over by Jotil Lenkva. She pointed out her seat and asked Kelly to take the one to the left of it. His translator would sit immediately behind him.
Kelly looked around at the other delegates. Each delegation had six members plus translators. The Angaerry delegation decided to speak K’Rang, so only Kelly had a translator. Kelly could probably do without a translator, but he wanted to keep his knowledge of K’Rang low key.
Admiral Chang started off the conference by introducing his delegation. Jotil Lenkva introduced her delegation, including Kelly as her military advisor. Shadow Force Commander (Baron) G’Rof introduced his delegation. With the exception of Kelly, the delegations were admirals or equivalent.
The first item of business was the cease-fire and armistice. All delegations agreed to a permanent cessation of hostilities. The next topic was the occupation of the K’Rang capital. This resulted in a great deal of controversy and much heated language, as the K’Rang wanted the occupiers evacuated immediately and the Galactic Republic wasn’t in that much of a hurry. The item was tabled for future consideration and other items were considered in its place. The discussions went on late into the night, breaking up when delegates had trouble remembering what they had agreed to.
* * * * *
Candy got a new message from Kelly. He told her he loved her; that the war was over, and they were in negotiations with the K’Rang to reduce them as a threat and ensure peace in their part of the galaxy.
He told her he was involved in the negotiations and he would be back to her as soon as the Fleet was released back to the GR. He had no idea when that might be. He felt that if they did their job right, it would result in years of peace. He closed the message with a short video of the K’Rang capital city.
* * * * *
The session began at 1000 hours, G’Durin time, as it had yesterday. The tenor and volume of conversations gave Kelly the impression that progress on the issues was not only possible, but also desired by all delegations.
Admiral Chang began the day by having his recorders read off the agreements from the day before. The agreements included: a permanent cease-fire, a diplomatic exchange treaty, and a right of free transit for ships across K’Rang space between the Galactic Republic and the Angaerry Republic. The disputed boundary in Angaerry space was ceded back to the Angaerry with all six planets. The issue of removal of the occupation forces and a trade agreement between the allies and the K’Rang were tabled for later.
Admiral Chang, with Ambassador Thorson’s help, began negotiations with cultural exchanges and disposition of the K’Rang Fleet. The negotiations went on all day again. At the end of the day, all items had been agreed to, although some had timelines and conditions before they could be implemented. The cultural exchanges and trade agreements were tied to establishment of K’Rang embassies in Geneva and the Angaerry capital city.
The K’Rang Fleet was limited to the current ships remaining in the Grand Armada, all 125 of them. Each ship would be identified and classified by type. Replacement ships could be built after the ship was scrapped in the presence of witnesses from the Alliance. If a ship was destroyed in a collision or other accident, evidence must be presented to the Alliance embassies before a replacement ship could be built.
A number of other agreements were accepted in principle, but would be held in abeyance until the occupation forces were evacuated from K’Rang space. The K’Rang Grand Armada was released to redeploy as the commander saw fit, as soon as prisoners were exchanged. Arrangements were made to transfer the K’Rang prisoners and those stranded in the Eridanus sector. 45 Human pilots and weapons officers were released from the K’Rang ships that rescued them. The Grand Armada formed into four relatively equal fleets and moved out to remaining shipyards in the four K’Rang Fleet areas for refit and repair.
* * * * *
LTG David Taylor met with Admiral Chang to discuss the occupation of the K’Rang capital. Admiral Chang was in a good mood, because he got almost everything he wanted in the negotiation. LTG Taylor started the discussion by pointing out that his Marines could continue the occupation indefinitely, but he didn’t recommend it. Now that it seemed they had made their point with the K’Rang, he recommended setting a date for redeployment from the K’Rang capital. Admiral Chang surprised him by telling him he could start preparing his Marines and move them back to the assault landing carriers as soon as they were ready. The Marines had already provided all the leverage he needed.
The K’Rang Elders and the Galactic Republic’s president had already signed their copies. The Angaerry High Minster would sign them as soon as the Angaerry Fleet returned to their capital with the documents. The official documents would be returned for deposit on Earth, on G’Durin, and on Gronir.
* * * * *
Admiral Chang called Kelly to his office in the tent complex. He had Kelly sit down and said, “Kelly, I have a request from Jotil Lenkva for you to be the first Galactic Republic Defense Attaché to the Angaerry. I’ll offer you the job, but this is entirely up to you. I realize you’re a newlywed and this is a hell of a thing to spring on your new bride, but consider it. Talk it over with her. Let me know what you decide.”
“I just want to thank you for all you’ve done to make us victorious. I consider your convincing the Angaerry to deploy their fleet was the decisive factor in our triumph. When G‘Rof realized 250 Angaerry ships with effective missiles stood in his path, it took all the fight out of him. He knew he had lost. I’ll savor that moment for a long time.”
* * * * *
With the negotiations complete, GR space tugs from Leonov and Gagarin transported in to tow damaged ships back to the spacedocks for repair or scrapping, depending on the level of damage. Using the rings, it only took three days. All damaged GR hulls had been retrieved and were home. Continuous search and rescue missions turned up another 24 pilots and weapons officers in their ejection pods. Over 700 crewmen were found alive in sealed compartments on the ships returned to GR space.
Admiral Chang allowed the 2nd Combined Fleet to return first, in honor of the beating it took and damage it caused to the Grand Armada. As soon as their Marines were back on the assault landing carriers, they departed. The Angaerry released all ships to return, except for a five-ship honor guard for Jotil Lenkva’s flagship. Ambassador Thorson would return with the Angaerry flagship, to take up his post as GR ambassador to the Angaerry.
* * * * *
Mary Chen had the extra large insta-shelter used for the negotiations broken down and taken back up to their carrier. She called down all the AS-500s as the final large insta-shelter was struck and packed. She folded the perimeter from the outside in and had Marines load their vehicles from the heavy battalion and HQ, then loaded the light battalions last. As the AS-500s lifted off one by one and cleared the atmosphere, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. They had made it.
Her brigade had conducted two combat assaults on an enemy capital under fire, occupied the center of government for two weeks, and
had a total loss of two Marines. She focused on those two Marines.
One had been a big strapping boy from the steppes of Russia. He was the oldest of four children, two brothers and a baby sister, that would undoubtedly miss him very much. His parents were both dead. Mary vowed to attend the ceremony. The other had been a member of the heavy battalion, Mary’s old unit. Mary knew him as an ambitious, patriotic Marine that hated maintaining vehicles. She remembered hearing him grouse as she held her 2400 hours vehicle re-inspection. He put in for a transfer to the 1st of the 15th Marines (Light) after Mary had moved up to brigade HQ, because he wanted to be up front where the action was. He had a wife, one son, and a daughter on the way. Mary vowed to be at his ceremony too.
* * * * *
Admiral Chang moved onto the Orion and was given Kelly’s cabin for the few days he would be aboard. He also reviewed his losses, reading down the list of battle cruisers, cruisers, destroyer, frigates, scouts, and support ships. He just read the ship names, occasionally remembering serving on board one or commanding another. He deliberately avoided counting them or turning to the summary page. He didn’t want to know the cost yet. He wanted to revel in his victory for a while longer, before he succumbed to the reality that it came at a high cost.
He knew there would be a victory parade for him when he returned. It was a tradition. It gave the public a sense they had a part in the triumph over the K’Rang. He knew better. As the commander, it all came down on him. Hundreds of ships were lost, with thousands of crew. He held onto the feeling of triumph, for it kept back the anguish at knowing that, on his orders, men and women gave their lives to put an end to the K’Rang hostility. He heard a knock on the door, shook off his melancholy, and said enter.
Kelly stuck his head in and said, “Sorry to disturb you sir, but I need something from my desk.”
“Come in, Kelly. Get what you need and sit down.”
Kelly said, “Yes sir,” and rifled through his desk for his supply report memory device. He retrieved it and sat down opposite the admiral.
Admiral Chang asked, “Kelly, have you ever lost a crewman?”
Kelly, sensing what was coming, answered, “Not yet, sir, I’ve been lucky. I know it's only a matter of time before I do. I’m surprised I didn’t lose one on this campaign, but I spent a whole lot of time with the Angaerry far from the battle.”
“Well, you have been lucky. I’ve lost scores, hundreds when I commanded ships, task forces, fleets, and battle groups. Now commanding an allied fleet, I’ve lost thousands. Thousands of fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters, sons, and daughters that will never come down for breakfast, celebrate a birthday, or hold their baby ever again. How do I face their loved ones? How do I justify their sacrifice?”
Kelly stood up, paced a bit and said, “Sir, you were chosen for your job because you showed the ability to lead men and women in battle and succeed. You’ve won a great victory against the largest K’Rang fleet ever assembled. It will be decades before they will ever be able to threaten us again, which seems unlikely. Look how quickly they agreed to every proposal you offered. They agreed to limit their fleet, to establish diplomatic relations, to give us unchallenged transit rights across their territory, trade and cultural exchanges. Is there any demand they did not agree to? No!”
“You will tell the families of those lost in battle that their loved ones were heroes and gave their lives in support of freedom’s perpetual struggle over tyranny – that they sacrificed themselves so their loved ones could live in a better, more peaceful galaxy.”
“Ask yourself one question, sir. Could someone else have done a better job? If so, why weren’t they here to do it? The answer is that you are the best man for the job and no one could have done it better. You have nothing to feel sorry for or to apologize for. Mourn their loss, but think how many more might have died if a lesser man had occupied your seat.”
Admiral Chang sat for a moment with his hands clasped almost as if in prayer and said, “Thank you, Kelly, your words mean a lot to me. Of course, I’m just going through the after battle what ifs. I’m sure Alexander crossing Mesopotamia or Halsey crossing the Pacific or Okasan crossing Taurus all had these thoughts. It is a terrible burden, but I'll have to come to terms with it. Thank you. If there's nothing more, I’d like some time alone until dinner.”
Kelly excused himself and left the admiral to his thoughts.
* * * * *
The Orion stayed on G’Durin for two more weeks, as the official presence of the Galactic Republic. Admiral Chang returned to his command ship, the Montpelier, and used Kelly’s gate to come down for further clarification and negotiation. The K’Rang initially supposed that the admiral was on board the Orion, but quickly surmised that something else was at work here. They correctly guessed that some sort of ring technology was at work, but couldn’t quite figure what.
After two weeks, an ambassador arrived through the ring and the K’Rang’s suspicions were confirmed. The ambassador asked for the use of a building as the GR interim Embassy, until a proper site could be found and an embassy constructed. He was offered several buildings or parts of larger buildings. Several of Kelly's sensor techs accompanied the ambassador on his house hunting tour, pointing out the obvious listening devices and many of the not so obvious ones.
The ambassador chose a two-story office building adjacent to the government center and proceeded to move in. Kelly requested a company of construction engineers to help the ambassador move in and adapt the building to GR power and communications systems. Orion’s ring was used to deliver the supplies and equipment needed by an embassy. The ambassador soon had a fully functional embassy, minus 90% of his staff. They were coming by normal space travel and would be here in a week.
Finally, Admiral Chang released the Orion to return on its own to Antares Base. He gave Kelly one last mission before he let him go. He tasked him to deploy five relay satellites along his path to GR space. He needed to get real time communications back up. Kelly didn’t know it, but he was going to hate this mission. Each satellite weighed ten tons, took up almost the entire ring bay, had to be handled in zero G, and required evacuation of the ring bay atmosphere for each launch. Each satellite took two days to receive and deploy. It took him twice as long to get home.
* * * * *
Kelly gave instructions to Chief B and his department heads to start bringing the Orion off wartime status while still two days out. Individual weapons were gathered, inventoried, powered down, cleaned, lubed, and stored in the weapons lockers and the lockers were sealed. Classified material was scrubbed from terminals and data devices. Wartime viruses, worms, and bugs were accounted for and sealed on dedicated data devices that went into Kelly’s safe. Codes and encryption devices were inventoried and stored in the sensor section’s safe and the safe was sealed.
The last of the patrol rations were cooked up and served to the crew in imaginative ways. Replicators were used to supplement the later meals. Award recommendations were requested, reviewed, and submitted.
Kelly thought how fortunate he was to not have any letters to write to next of kin. Then he thought of Admiral Chang and how many he had to write. He mentioned that he would be writing a letter for each captain of a ship lost in the campaign. Kelly had seen the list of ships lost. Admiral Chang would be a long while on that task.
Antares appeared on the edge of the long-range sensors and a cheer went up from the crew. Kelly watched it get larger and larger on the screen as they made a standard approach into the system. The Orion was ordered to dock at Antares Station for damage assessment. Short of some paint smudging, the Orion was in almost new shape.
Released from the spaceport, the Orion was instructed to land at Antares Base. The helmsman made a standard approach and was directed to a parking apron close to flight operations. As the ship was hooked up to water, power, and sewage, Kelly gathered his logs and data devices and headed over to Scout Force HQ.
He made it to Flight Ops, expecting to use it as a
shortcut through the building, when a running, screaming woman ambushed him. Candy had seen the Orion land and ran from her office to Flight Ops. The staff looked on, laughing, as she flew into his arms. Kelly and Candy hugged and kissed long enough for the staff to start coughing and saying, “Ahem.” When they broke the clench, applause rang out from the staff.
Kelly took her arm and led her outside. She flew into his arms again and kissed him.
“I’ve missed you so much. Are you back, or do you have to go back out again?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. I have to go see Admiral Minacci. I’ll know better after that. Can you walk with me over to HQ?”
She smiled and said, “I think I can. I was briefing the JAG when I saw your ship. I left in mid-sentence. I’m sure he’ll understand if I’m a little late getting back. Besides, I was almost done anyway.”
Kelly laughed and strolled to HQ. Candy left him at the door and returned to her probably steamed boss.
“Kelly was met at the anteroom door by his old captain, Edgar Timmons. He gave Kelly a near-crushing handshake and welcomed him back.
“It’s so good to see you. Admiral Chang has already called the boss and told him about you being requested to be the Defense Attaché to the Angaerry. There’s also a request from the new Ambassador on G’Durin for you to come in as his Defense Attaché. You must have impressed a lot of important people. The Angaerry High Minister personally talked to the President about you.”