by Dave Bara
“So, she won’t get any special treatment from you?” Karina asked.
“I already said she’s lucky she’s not in the brig. Once we’re in Quantar space I’ll refer her to the Admiralty with my report. They can decide what to do with her.”
“So that’s it for you?”
“It is for now.” At that I stopped talking, and she let me. After a few minutes she rolled back over and was soon asleep. After our conversation, though, I found myself tossing and turning for almost thirty minutes. Once I was sure she was asleep, I got up and quietly went to my medicine cabinet in the washroom. I took out a timed sleep capsule that was set at three hours, poured water from the sink, and drank it down.
Then sleep came, and I drifted off, dreaming pleasant dreams for the first time in weeks.
To Quantar
The entire first shift bridge crew was back on duty a good ten minutes early. My timed sleeping pill had worked perfectly, and I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go, despite our current circumstances. Karina had tried once again to raise my spirits as we showered together, and this time I let her. The experience left me more than ready to take on the challenges of the day.
I read through my status report that I planned on submitting to the Admiralty upon our arrival in Quantar space. It seemed like ages since we had left, and I would be very happy to get back to Candle and conference with Maclintock again, or even Wesley. But there were things in my battle reports—the destruction of Impulse II and the confinement of Dobrina—that I wasn’t looking forward to explaining to either of my higher-ups. I’d disobeyed orders myself plenty of times, but my choices had never directly cost the lives of 172 of my fellow crew. That was an action that I couldn’t reconcile with my personal feelings for Dobrina, and I’d be glad to let the command structure above me figure out what to do with her. I was certainly in no position to judge.
Presently we cut the umbilical to High Station 3 and were on our way to the jump point to Quantar. Everything proceeded smoothly, and twenty minutes from jump space I ordered Dietar Von Zimmerman and Fearless through to Pendax. Zander would no doubt follow along presently. I wasn’t a betting man, but if I were a gambler, I’d bet that the next Imperial attack would occur at one of the Union’s core systems—Quantar, Carinthia, or Levant—and not at an outlier like Pendax or Sandosa. We still had seven functioning Lightships in the fleet and more than thirty Wasps, plus the local navies, which were slower but still packed a considerable punch. That would (theoretically) allow us to concentrate our Lightship assets on the main systems.
Prince Arin, though, was a wildcard. His ship had clearly received upgrades from Imperial sources, and a fleet of automated HuKs, suicide drones, and manned dreadnoughts led by him would be formidable. It seemed they were trying to force an endgame conflict by design, but on their own turf and under their own terms. The only remaining questions were where and when.
Via longwave probe sent through the jump singularity, Zander signaled Vanguard’s readiness to jump into Carinthian space, but I replied that he should wait until after we made the jump to Carinthia. I was anxious to get home.
Babayan signaled all green, and we made the jump. It was a relief to see the stars of home again on our displays. I ordered Duane Longer to take us to Candle at best speed, then called ahead to Maclintock and transferred my report packet. To my surprise, he signaled back within five minutes. I took his call in my office.
“Commodore,” I said.
“Captain,” he replied. “I’ve read your report on the battles at Skondar and Pendax. Pretty hairy stuff. I want you to know that both Starbound here at Quantar and Resolution in the Levant system have received most of the same weapons upgrades from the Historians that Defiant has. Looks like we’re going to need them.”
“I think so, sir,” I agreed. Maclintock looked pensive for a moment.
“Peter, we should talk about the issue of Captain Kierkopf and her confinement aboard your ship,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” I replied. I was prepared to defend my principles on the matter.
“Please explain,” he said straightforwardly. I straightened up a bit in my chair, conscious of the fact that I was under the gaze of my direct superior officer.
“Sir, Impulse II was damaged in the battle at Skondar. After taking field command of the three Lightships stationed at Pendax—with the other two captains’ agreement, I might add—we were faced with an attack by the Lightship Vixis. I had ordered Impulse II to dock for repairs at High Station Pendax. Once Vixis was engaged, Captain Kierkopf violated my field orders and brought her ship into the battlefield, unauthorized by me,” I said.
“I can think of many times you’ve violated orders, Captain,” Maclintock said to me. That stung. I decided to accept his version of my behavior for the moment.
“Yes, sir, I have. But in those instances I took what I believed was the only course of action to save lives. Captain Kierkopf’s actions, which were in direct violation of my field orders on multiple occasions, resulted in the deaths of 172 of her shipmates, including many marines I had loaned her after the battle at Skondar. I found her actions reckless and destructive, but even so, sir, I did not have her arrested pending charges. I merely confined her to quarters,” I finished. Maclintock got that pensive look on his face again.
“Captain Kierkopf is an experienced Lightship captain, Peter, a vital asset. They are hard to find and even harder to train. And we are at war, Captain. That merits some consideration. Defiant arrives at Candle in ninety minutes. I would request that you release Captain Kierkopf from confinement until such time as we can conference with the grand admiral and determine our next move. Will you agree to such terms, Captain Cochrane?” Maclintock asked. I shrugged in response.
“There’s nothing to agree to, sir,” I said. “You’re my commanding officer. I’ll release her immediately. Defiant out.” With that I shut off the two-way com. I didn’t really care if that pissed him off.
I called down to the security team posted outside Dobrina’s cabin and ordered them to release her, with the caveat that she was to stay off my bridge. I waited to see if Maclintock would call back to chastise me, but he didn’t, so I shut down my desk com and went back to my command chair to fume over a decision I greatly disagreed with.
The docking at Candle was uneventful, and after a few minutes Maclintock called me to his office for a conference. I was informed that Captain Kierkopf was invited also. I made for my stateroom to freshen up a bit. Karina was there, waiting, as usual, to pick my brain. She sat down on the bed as I swapped out my casual duty jacket for my formal one.
“What do you think he’ll do with Dobrina?” she asked.
“I’m sure I’ve no idea. But it will undoubtedly be different than what I would do,” I said.
“Why do you say that?”
I looked at her before turning to check myself in the mirror. “We’re very different people, Maclintock and I. He’s almost exclusively by the book. I rely more on my intuition,” I said. Karina leaned back on the bed, one arm propping her head up.
“Some would say you rely entirely too much on your vaunted intuition.” Now that one pricked my ego, and I didn’t like it much. I turned back to her.
“My intuition told me to marry you. Should I have considered all the facts and taken another course?” I asked in none too friendly a manner.
“That was mean,” she said. I shrugged.
“You started it,” I said. “Are you ready to go?”
“Ready to go where?”
“I think it’s likely the overall geopolitical situation will be discussed. I thought you might be interested, as a princess of Carinthia.” With that I donned my cap and started for the door.
“Now, wait just a minute, Captain. I’ll go with you under the condition that you stop being mean to me,” she said.
“I’m in a bad mood.”
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br /> “That you are,” she responded. We stood there at an impasse. I finally gave in.
“I’ll stop being mean if you will,” I said. She looked at me, head cocked to one side.
“Fine,” she finally said, then donned her formal jacket and cap, and we were off. The lifter down to the umbilical level took a long time coming. When the doors finally opened, we were both in for a surprise.
Inside the lifter were Captain Dobrina Kierkopf and her XO, Commander Treblont.
“We’ll take the next lifter,” I said automatically.
“We certainly will not,” said Karina, and she dragged me inside. I went to one corner, Dobrina to the other, leaving Treblont and Karina between us. It only took seconds for my wife’s patience to be exhausted and her noted Carinthian temper to kick in. She reached out and stopped the lifter between decks.
“All right, goddamn it, I’ve had enough of you two!” she said, looking to Dobrina first and then back to me. Treblont was smart enough to step back and get out of the way. “You’ve been comrades, friends, and lovers for more than two years.” I noticed a look of surprise cross Treblont’s face. “You,” she said, pointing at Dobrina. “I’m a princess of the realm, and I could order you to talk this out.” Dobrina’s head snapped around at that. Then Karina turned her wrath on me. “And you. You’re my husband, and although I am inferior to you in rank on this ship, I can make your life most unpleasant, and I think you know what I mean. I’ve had enough of this shit between you. I command you both to work it out.” With that she stepped back to the rear of the lifter and joined Treblont. I said nothing for a few seconds, until she kicked my boots from behind. It was a very immature gesture, but it was effective.
“She disobeyed my direct orders and got 172 of her crew killed,” I finally said. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing more to it.”
“And you disobeyed my orders aboard Starbound and convinced Maclintock to let you explore that Founder station at Jenarus when you knew there was trouble ahead. All those dead Imperial marines. But your decision only got thirty-three people killed. Or do the men and women who died under your command count less than the ones who died under mine?” asked Dobrina. I whipped around to face her.
“You lost your command. Your ship was cut in half, and I had to scuttle it,” I said.
“And you destroyed my first command without any orders to do so!”
“I also saved Starbound!”
“At the cost of the first Impulse!” she retaliated.
“So you’ve both made mistakes. Huge, costly mistakes. Lives were lost. Which one of you is the worse commander?” cut in Karina. “Go ahead, I’ll wait.” When neither of us said anything, she started in again. “Just admit that both of you have made poor decisions and let the higher-ups sort it out. You two seem to think this is personal when it’s not; it’s war. It seems to me that Dobrina is most upset at being judged, and you, Peter, are most upset at being disobeyed, which is something you’ve been proud of doing in the past.”
“But—” I started.
“No buts, Peter. You’ve both made mistakes. Now, both of you just admit you’ve been wrong, shake hands, and let’s be done with it,” said Karina.
I kept my place. I couldn’t bring my arm to move toward Dobrina. After a few seconds she stuck her arm out at me, stiff and formal. After a moment’s hesitation I reached out, and we shook hands. Then, like two boxers, we went back to our separate corners. Karina stepped between us again.
“Thank god that’s done,” she said, then restarted the lifter.
Maclintock’s conference room was laid out like a war council, which it was. Dozens of officers spread around the room in a circle, with the most important dignitaries taking up the first row of tables and adjutants and lower-ranking officers in the second tier. Dobrina, Karina, and I sat in the first row of chairs, facing the giant display screens. Treblont took up a position in the second row with several other junior officers. I regretted now not bringing my XO, but there was no one I wanted in charge of getting Defiant shipshape more than Lena Babayan.
On the conference room displays, all the remaining Lightship captains appeared one by one via longwave visual com, except for Wynn Scott of Valiant, who was still in traverse space and bound for Sandosa. As the clock to the start of the conference wound down, the Admiralty linkworks logo vanished and was replaced by the massive image of Grand Admiral Jonathon Wesley on High Station Quantar. Soon my father’s image also appeared and those of Duke Benn Feilberg on Carinthia, Admar Harrington of Pendax, and finally Prince Sunil Katara of Levant, who winked at me. I waved back.
The last to enter the room was Commodore Maclintock, accompanied by my old mentor Serosian, who was still Starbound’s Historian of record. He hadn’t volunteered to come with me to Defiant, and in the end I hadn’t asked him, feeling the need to move on in more ways than one. Still, he nodded to me as he sat down on the dais next to the commodore, and I returned his acknowledgment. Presently Wesley called the conference to order.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this conference is top secret and of the highest importance. Nothing said in here is to be repeated to anyone outside this room, including those of you on the longwave visual displays,” he said, then cleared his throat before continuing. “Obviously we are here in a time of crisis for the Union. The Lightship Vixis has reappeared in the Pendax system and was confronted by the Union ships Defiant and Impulse II. As all of you know, Impulse was heavily damaged and had to be scuttled in the battle. We will not be discussing the circumstances of that loss this meeting,” he said, looking down on me from above as mighty Zeus might look down on a puny human.
“In addition to the return of Vixis, we’ve had several incursions into Union space from other types of Imperial craft: HuKs and suicide drones, but no dreadnoughts. This begs the question of where they are. I’m going to solicit thoughts on this matter, and I’ll begin with the captain who has fought two battles with Imperial forces recently, Captain Peter Cochrane of Defiant.”
I was a bit surprised to be up first, but I reached out and activated my microphone. “Actually, Admiral, Defiant has been involved in three recent battles with Imperial forces: the attack on us at Sandosa, the rescue of Impulse II from Skondar, and our battle with Vixis at Pendax,” I started. “Each of these conflicts had its own unique setting and outcome. Sandosa showed us that the old empire had the will and the capability to influence a culture reemerging from the old Imperial Civil War era. Although the Sandosans did not use sophisticated weaponry, the Imperial forces had upgraded them to types of weapons they wouldn’t normally have had. We can no longer assume that any prewar culture we come in contact with has not been previously influenced by the Empire.
“At Skondar we encountered something I found extremely chilling. Not only did the enemy there have automatons similar in design to the ones Starbound fought at Jenarus, but we found what we believe was a manufacturing base, an old Imperial mining colony from which an army of these automatons was being constructed.”
“An army? By whom? For what?” It was Duke Benn Feilberg. I turned to my right to face his image on the display screen.
“The only sound military conclusion, Your Highness, is that someone was building an army in order to invade a Union world, or worlds,” I replied. “I don’t think I need to emphasize to this council what that could mean. The power of these automatons is considerable, greater than anything we have in terms of soldiers. An invasion by these things could lead to massive casualties on any planet unfortunate enough to be invaded. And lastly, I think it is safe to assume that Drava was not the only facility where they are conducting such activities,” I finished. Then Wesley jumped back in.
“And how was the battle at Drava concluded in your favor, Captain?” he asked. I looked down, as if intent on boring a hole in the desktop with my gaze. Wesley knew full well the answer to that question. It was in my report pa
cket. I didn’t want to answer, but I had to.
“Defiant deployed a new weapon—one only we possess—called a torsion beam. It was given to us by the Historians. The weapon has the ability to magnify the spin rate of any highly magnetic object, like a ship’s drive system or even a planetary core,” I said. The room stayed silent.
“And?” prompted Wesley. I took in a deep breath before continuing. This wasn’t something I wanted to talk about.
“And we used it on the magnetic core of Drava to tear the moon apart. A full analysis is in your report packets,” I concluded. But Wesley wasn’t finished with me.
“Would you please share with us your conclusions regarding the battle at Pendax?” he said. I leaned forward again and looked at each of the leaders of the Union in turn, ready to tell them the truth.
“The fact is that even with our upgraded weapons, the best we could manage with Vixis was a draw, if you call losing a Lightship and 172 of her crew a draw.” Dobrina stiffened next to me, but I wasn’t here to candy-coat anything for the sake of her feelings. “Vixis has sophisticated weaponry, analysis of which is in all of your reports. She’s a match for any of our Lightships, and she displayed an energy weapon, similar to what the automatons use in rifle form, that was powerful enough to cut Impulse II in half, even through her defensive fields. This coming battle will be extremely difficult, and all we can do is guess where they might strike.”
“Where would you strike, if you were them?” The voice came from my left, the deep baritone of my former mentor, Serosian. I turned to address him directly.
“I’d strike at any core world of the Union—Quantar, Carinthia, Levant, even Earth. Whichever is perceived as the weakest. It’s clear that they want to draw us onto their battlefield, to ground they know well, and that they know they will have an advantage there.”
“Are you suggesting we take the bait? Attack where they attack us? Play their game?” asked Serosian.