Luke looked toward the plot. Shuttles with warbot reinforcements were still arriving from the Amazon.
There was activity around the third wormhole. A screen was zooming in. There were eight Battle Singer ships. They looked like the first and massed around twenty thousand gravons according to the sensors.
“Oh shit,” Luke said.
“Fiddlesticks,” Leonessa said.
“Full stealth,” Luke said. “Change course, try to hide.”
“Aye,” Halsey said.
Luke did the math. Even at bone crushing acceleration and deceleration they were days from the nearest wormhole. The Battle Singers would be on them before they could make it. One Battle Singer was too many, now there were eight of them.
“They are changing course and accelerating toward the Vress home world,” Halsey said.
“Well damn,” Luke said. “This is not good. I bet they will be picking up assault troops.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Ceres
Sonya tapped her fingers on the smooth plastic tabletop as she watched her intelligence officer standing and gesturing at the screen.
“I expect they will attack,” Lieutenant Commander Goodwin said. “On the surface, they do not appear to have enough ships for a full scale frontal assault. They are escorting a very large contingent of Marines and military police.”
“Why not reinforcements?” Sonya asked.
“We have received several communications between Ceres and the Jupiter Alliance,” Goodwin said. “The Jupiter Alliance is demanding the Ceres Constitutional government treat its workers better, lots of propaganda about the Ceres elite walking on the backs of the working citizens.”
“What would the Jupiter Alliance have to gain from invading and conquering Ceres?” Sonya asked.
Goodwin shook his head.
“Ceres is a fortress planet,” Fry said. “Maybe they want it as a buffer facing the Caliphate?”
“Possible,” Goodwin said. “But it is easy for the Caliphate to bypass Ceres and strike at the Alliance. The Caliphate also has control of several other asteroid colonies and outposts. The population of Ceres is twenty-five million spread out around the dwarf planet, a lot of people to conquer.”
“Unbridled aggression?” Harris asked.
“Can’t rule that out,” Goodwin said. “But it will take a lot of resources to conquer Ceres, we aren’t seeing a worthwhile gain.”
“Maybe it is the population,” Sonya said. “Remember what they did to Harris Town? Took the people and shipped them off? To a baby factory and who knows what is in Thebes?”
“That makes sense,” Goodwin said. “Depending on what they want them for. It would be a large, hostile population they could ‘disappear’ at will. We still don’t know what they were doing with the people sent to Thebes.”
“We need more information,” Sonya said but her gut feeling was she wouldn’t like the answers. More innocent people would die.
“Does the Staff Sergeant know?” Fry asked.
“If she does she isn’t saying,” Major Porter said. “Honestly, I don’t think she does. From what I gather, the Jupiter Alliance won’t share that kind of information with their cannon fodder.”
“That’s cold,” Fry said.
The Marine Major glared, “But true. The Jupiter Alliance has changed, and it is not an improvement.”
“How is our guest doing?” Sonya asked.
The Major’s demeanor softened.
“Doing well,” the Major said. “She is filling in a lot of blanks about a lot of different things. She isn’t a big fan of the JSP, even more so now.”
Sonya nodded.
“Keep me in the loop,” Sonya said.
“Will do ma’am,” the Major said.
“Transmission from Octavius,” Harris sent as Sonya was sitting in her room, curled up in a chair with a cup of tea, watching the news being broadcast across the solar system. It was talking about how the Ceres government was under the control of the Xu’an dynasty, the people were little better than slaves and the Xu’an dynasty was allied with the Caliphate against the Jupiter Alliance. Aside from the religious programming sent from Earth, it was about the only thing available.
“What’s going on?” Sonya sent opening the link.
“They say the Caliphate fleet is on the move,” Harris sent. “They are breaking into three fleets. One is on intercept to Ceres, the other is on intercept with Vesta. With one juggernaut heading to Vesta and four heading to Ceres. One juggernaut is remaining around Earth.”
“The war for Sol is beginning,” Sonya sent as she brought up a display of the Jupiter Alliance fleet en route to Ceres. Did they know? How could they not? The Jupes were days away from Ceres at their present speed. Perhaps they didn’t know.
“It is estimated Caliphate forces will arrive at Ceres in two weeks,” Harris said. “Vesta, maybe a week and a half.”
“Notify the Gallant and Valorous,” Sonya sent. “We will keep following the 5th Fleet until we know.”
Sonya stared at the view screen without seeing it. How would New Alamo and Athena act? Would they seek to help Ceres or Vesta? Could they afford not to? Would the Jupiter Alliance wake up and help or would they continue to betray their allies against the Caliphate?
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Rebellion
“Presidente Ernesto is requesting help,” Lee said as he entered the office. “He is the leader of Ark colony.”
James looked up at him from the couch where he had been reading a report on Project Defender. If they could gain control of Ceres and that large population, victory for the Jupiter Alliance might be assured.
“Why?” James asked. A quick scan by his InnerBuddy on news channels showed there were riots in the predominantly Hispanic colony.
“A story broke about how Manuel Oliver, the head of the local JSP office, raped a couple local boys,” Lee said.
James shook his head.
“Then he used his influence and authority to hush it up and make the parents disappear,” Lee said. “He also used Social Net to suppress the story, but it got out anyways.”
“Shit,” James said.
“The Presidente is worried about our continued support of his party,” Lee said. “He wants to know what we want him to do.”
“Tell him to hang the bastard,” James said. “We don’t tolerate pedophiles either. As harsh as he wants.”
“It will make us look bad all across the Alliance,” Lee said. “Manuel Oliver is also the son-in-law of Roman Frances.”
“Dammit. Supporting a pedophile will look worse,” James said. “Disavow him, dig up more dirt, downplay how bad it was if you can. We can still hold the higher moral ground, drag out the trial until people forget about him then exile him to some shit hole colony, tell Roman that’s the best we can do.”
“Yes sir,” Lee said turning around.
The door buzzed and James saw it was Admiral Iori Tetsuo.
James waved his hand, and the Admiral came in, he looked pale as he marched up to James and saluted. The formality put James on heightened alert and he stood up to face the admiral. He didn’t want the admiral, who had probably never held a real job in his life, towering over him.
Dropping the salute, the Admiral glanced at Lee before addressing the Secretary General.
“I have most dire news sir,” the Admiral began. “What we had thought to be asteroids captured and used for mining in orbit around Earth have in fact been weaponized and appear to be mobile. We have counted six of them.
James felt weak as he stared at the Admiral.
“How many and how long until they are ready?” James asked, sitting back down before he fell down.
“We count six,” Tetsuo said. “At least five are ready now because they have left Earth orbit. One fleet containing a single juggernaut is heading toward Vesta and the other force is heading toward Ceres.”
“Can we stop them?” James asked looking up at the Admiral.
> “I don’t know,” the Admiral said. “They also appear to have a large escort. With two battleships, ten cruisers, ten destroyers and a host of frigates. Each fleet also has a retinue of troop transports, and who knows how many troops are aboard the juggernauts. They could have a million or more. It looks like they are preparing for a major campaign against Vesta and Ceres.”
“And we will be next,” James said.
“Or the Namos,” the Admiral said.
“Can we be sure the next target will be the gutless Namos?” James asked.
“No sir,” Tetsuo said. “In fact, it might be best for them if they secured the Sol system before taking on the Conglomerate. Those religious freaks can be unpredictable.”
“Caliph Risyat is a crafty bastard,” James said. “Make no mistake. He knows what he is doing and why.”
The Admiral nodded.
“What should we do?” Tetsuo asked.
“What is your recommendation?” James replied.
Tetsuo looked between Lee and James.
“I would recommend we pull back our fleet, cancel our attack on Ceres and prepare to defend the Jupiter system,” Tetsuo said.
James glanced at Lee before turning back to Tetsuo.
“Thank you,” James said. “I appreciate your advice. What if Ceres beats off the Caliphate attack?”
“That is not likely Secretary General,” Tetsuo said. “The juggernauts have massive railguns. With enough time, they could stand back and rip Ceres apart.”
James nodded.
“How well armored are those guns?” James asked.
Tetsuo looked confused as he looked down at the Secretary General.
“They aren’t armored,” Tetsuo said. "They are mounted on the exterior of the asteroid. If they were to mount them internally, they would have difficulty building and maintaining them. Outside the vessel it is possible to bend them a little so you don’t have to aim the entire ship at the target to fire.”
“And if the Caliphate couldn’t rely on those monster rail guns?” James asked smugly.
“They would be forces to conduct an assault landing and take Ceres city by city, room by room,” Tetsuo said.
“There’s your answer then,” James said. “Continue the attack on Ceres. We will take down their defenses until we land our troops and take over, when the Caliphate attacks we will destroy those railguns and bog them down in a long costly war on Ceres.”
Tetsuo looked at James.
“There is a lot that could go wrong,” Tetsuo said. “If we can’t destroy the rail guns, if we can’t re-activate the defenses, if the Ceres government provides too much resistance.”
“Find solutions,” James said. “That’s what you military types are good at right?”
The Admiral’s face was neutral.
“Yes sir,” the Admiral said. “As per your orders we will continue with the liberation of Ceres.”
James nodded. The Admiral saluted and left.
“Is that wise?” Lee asked and James shot him a look.
“What do you mean?” James said.
“Wouldn’t it be better to ally ourselves with the Ceres Dynasty and fight together against the Caliphate?”
James smirked.
“And if we managed to fight off the Caliphate with the Xu’an Dynasty’s help? What then, back to square one. A standoff with the Xu’an dynasty. But if we conquer Ceres our ground operations will be better coordinated with the space operations. We rescue Ceres from the clutches of the Caliphate and bring it under our protection and control and the people will be better off. One step closer to uniting humanity. We can claim we knew about the Caliphate attack and we knew the Dynasty would betray their people.”
“Casualties will be high,” Lee said.
“But we still have project Gaia,” James said. “The Defender and the Blue Baldric program is working out well.”
Lee nodded but James could tell he wasn’t convinced.
“This also might be a chance to field test Project Defender,” James said and Lee’s eyes seemed to light up.
“That would be an excellent test,” Lee said. “I can deploy a regiment of ground troops with Blue Baldric officers. I think I can transfer enough Blue Baldrics from first Guards fleet to fill out a complete attack fleet at Thebe.”
James nodded. He would have preferred to wait on deploying the Defenders but perhaps this would work out.
“For the people,” James said.
“For the people,” Lee replied as he headed for the door a smile on his face.
James nodded. Lee would be happy since he would get to implement his pet project.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Josaka
Mark stared at the screen. The view was about twenty minutes old but Mark didn’t care as he watched the massive Topa vessel weaving the surrounding pattern.
“That thing is huge,” Ivan said as he admired the main screen and then the holographic patterns on the fingernails on his hand.
“Registers at almost a million gravons,” Mark said without taking his eyes off it.
“I wonder how many they have,” Ivan said.
“Two according to Bokran,” Mark said.
“That Mumbai snake is still here? I figured he would have fled for home when this started and Topa Suresh put you in charge,” Ivan said.
Mark shook his head, “No. He is staying here, acting as a liaison adviser. Doesn’t seem to want to go home, and he seems to have pull with the Conglomerate bureaucracy.”
“And with the disappearance of the sector capitals, the Topa are still helping us?” Ivan said.
Mark nodded.
“Bokran and the Bronkaw Grand Marshall must have pull in the Conglomerate,” Ivan said.
“Really,” Mark said. “Why?”
Ivan shook his head.
“Any word on Topa Suresh?” Ivan asked.
“Admiral Wise and New Alamo Intelligence have no clue,” Mark said. “The nearest they can figure is that Topa Suresh left instructions and authorizations in case he disappeared.”
“So why don’t the other Topa pull rank?” Ivan asked.
“The Topa never contradict or oppose each other,” Mark said. “We have never found a recorded instance of it, and we have looked.”
“You guys are asking the wrong questions,” Joel said from his seat as he stared at the sphere constructing a wormhole. He had a tendency to remain silent until people forgot about him, even though he usually wore enough red to make a fire seem pale.
“What question should we be asking,” Mark said looking over at the former prime minister.
“You should ask how we can make one of them things,” Joel said. “With something like that, we can bring the Conglomerate closer together.”
Mark nodded and stared at it.
“Why do you think the Topa didn’t use it like that?” Mark asked Joel.
Joel laughed in his gravelly cackle.
“Do y’all realize how little imagination the Topa seem to have?” Joel asked.
“They strive for stability,” Mark said.
“Sure,” Joel said. “But stability leads to stagnation. That’s what’s happening now. Like back in the Sol system. It has been stable, and that leads to stagnation, the scum rises to the top of a still surface and pollutes the lake until all the fish die.”
“Are you referring to the Jupiter Alliance?” Ivan asked.
“Sure,” Joel said. “And the Caliphate, the Saturnians, Neptunians and Belters. Heck, all of em. Living in their own little worlds. What do they have to strive for? What do they have to fear?”
“They need to fear?” Ivan asked, Mark could almost hear Ivan lift his nose into the sky.
“It ain’t fun,” Joel said. “But fear inspires people. Make’s ‘em pay attention and strive for somethin. The fear has to be real though.”
Ivan raised an eyebrow as he looked at Joel. Bruce could see the wheels turning in Ivan’s head as the Minister of Defense played with one of the
gems dangling from his ear.
“Do you know it is my job to protect people from what they fear?” Ivan asked.
“Yep,” Joel said. “As the Minister of Defense, if you do your job too well, people forget why they bother to keep you around. They get all peaceful like and become easy prey for the predators lurking in the shadows. That is why most great empires go through phases. They get weak, get stomped, and if they are strong enough they get up stronger, but by being stronger, in the long term they become softer. Then someone meaner comes along and stomps them so flat they can’t get back up. Happened to the Romans, the Greeks, the Spartans, the Ottomans, Brits, Spaniards, United States, all the great empires. They convince themselves of their own superiority and end up being conquered or devolving to an easily defeated pale shadow of what they were. Without a challenge worthy of their strength they got used to flexing their muscles and forget what they had muscles for because they were too afraid to use them for that purpose.”
“What are you trying to say?” Ivan asked.
“The shit is about to hit the fan,” Joel said. “Big time.”
“You think the collapse of the Conglomerate isn’t the ‘shit’ hitting the fan?” Ivan asked.
“Nope,” Joel said. “That’s just the tip of the ice berg boy.”
Ivan rolled his eyes and Joel chuckled.
“Don’t believe me then,” Joel said.
“What is your recommendation?” Mark asked Joel.
“Make allies,” Joel said. “Make an unbreakable alliance. Don’t settle for half measures, show the utmost loyalty and expect it in return.”
“You are talking about the Bronkaw?” Mark asked. Joel sounded a lot like the Topa in his advice.
“Yep,” Joel said. “And the Nalee, and the Caleet, heck the Chaska if you can manage. Bronkaw first though. They might be big and ugly but they still remember what honor is.”
“What is that?” Mark asked pointing at the Pral vessel building the wormhole.
“That new wormhole is only the beginning,” Joel said. “It will make sure you honor your oath. By this time next week, the Bronkaw will be knocking on your door. Better be ready for them.”
New Empires: Conglomerate Series Book 3 Page 21