Rumors of Salvation (System States Rebellion Book 3)

by Dietmar Wehr

  Drake saw some of the people in the crowd wave to him and he waved back. A thought occurred to him. “What do they think is the relationship between you and me?” he asked.

  Ogawa’s expression lost its smile. “What do you mean exactly?”

  “I mean what status do they think I have here in relation to your Administration?”

  “Well ah…I explained…that is to say…they may have gotten the impression that you agreed to put yourself and your cruisers under the authority of the Office of the CEO.”

  Drake gave him such a hard look that Ogawa felt compelled to look away. “I did no such thing, CEO Ogawa. We never discussed any such arrangement. I assumed that you understood that I would be the acting leader of the island colony in addition to my rank and position as Fleet Commander of an independent military force composed of my ships, the volcano base and mining operations on the moon.”

  Ogawa was now looking at him again. “I over-estimated my influence with the Board of Directors. If I hadn’t made that claim, they would never have approved the transfer of ownership of the island. In spite of my efforts to keep that issue secret, it got leaked to the public who reacted with surprising enthusiasm to the idea, and by that point it was too late to try to deny it. I don’t expect you to take my orders, but I’m asking you to go along with the pretense in public. If this Majestic computer shows up and there’s a battle, you take whatever actions you deem appropriate, and if the issue comes up afterwards, I’ll say that I gave you complete freedom of action due to your extensive military experience. If that’s not satisfactory and you deny it in public, you’ll lose a lot of goodwill among the public, and that could get relations between your people and mine off to rocky start.”

  Drake wanted to curse out loud, but held his tongue. Damn the man for putting him in this awkward position. The problem wasn’t in going along with the pretense now, it was in the potential complications in the future. Sooner or later, the entire planet of Midgard was going to need one government if his long range plans for setting up a successor to the Federation was to have any chance of success. That was his project, and he doubted if Ogawa shared it as a personal goal. That meant that he, Drake, or his successors would, at some point, essentially have to takeover control of the main colony. Taking control as Ogawa’s equal was one thing. Engineering what would be seen as a coup by an apparently untrustworthy subordinate was a completely different thing. Drake had no desire to be an unpopular dictator. He’d much rather be a popular leader, and Ogawa had just made that goal that much more difficult to achieve.

  “I’m not making any promises about going along with this pretense in public. I’ll make my decision on that if and when I’m in that kind of situation. Let’s get the formalities over with. I presume that there are some documents that I have to sign? There better not be anything in writing about me being subordinate to you or anyone else.”

  “I can assure your there isn’t. The only document you need to sign is a simple acknowledgement that Midgard Colony has transferred legal title to the island, which by the way we’ve previously named Avalon although you’re free to call it anything you want. The signing ceremony will be witnessed by members of the media and will be transmitted live via video to the public. I took the liberty of telling the media people that you’d be willing to answer questions from them afterwards. I hope you won’t mind that little bit of political theatre. Think of it as a chance to make a good first impression on the people here.” He stopped talking when Drake’s expression looked like he was about to explode. However Drake quickly calmed down. Perhaps making a good first impression on the public wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  “Fine. Let’s get this over with,” said Drake. They got into Ogawa’s groundcar, and Drake was surprised to see Ogawa pilot the vehicle himself instead of setting the auto-pilot. As the vehicle approached the gate behind which waited the crowd, Ogawa slowed down.

  “I think they’re going to expect you to smile and wave, Fleet Commander,” said Ogawa as he started doing exactly that himself. Drake had already figured that out for himself based on the smiling faces and waves from the crowd. He put aside his anger at Ogawa and waved to the crowd as the vehicle passed by.

  That experience put him in a better mood by the time they reached the Colony’s Administration building. Ogawa led the way to a large room with a table and two chairs at the front. The rest of the room had rows of seats for the media people. Drake was certain there were videos cameras somewhere, but he couldn’t see them. Ogawa invited him to take one of the seats, and Ogawa took the other. He then leaned forward and spoke about the historic nature of this signing, etc. He took a large data tablet and with a stylus signed his name at the bottom of the displayed document. Drake took the stylus and quickly scanned the document. The room fell silent. Drake heard Ogawa cough, which he interpreted as Ogawa’s urging for him to get on with the signing. Drake smiled inwardly. If the pause while he read the document became awkward for the CEO, then that was just too bad. Satisfied that the document was exactly as advertised with no duplicitous clauses, Drake signed his name with what he hoped was a dramatic flourish. The applause from the media people surprised him. When the applause had died down, Ogawa announced that the Fleet Commander had agreed to take questions.

  As expected, the first question was a request to clarify the situation regarding the threat posed by Majestic and how the current situation came about. Drake decided to summarize the major events that led up to the deployment of the Majestic technology and how it had gotten out of control, as best he understood it. Some of the media people looked horrified when Drake described how the implants were capable of exercising complete control over individuals. When he finished, the next question was harder to answer.

  “Given your System States Union background and Midgard’s status during the war as a Federation planet, how would you describe your political views now, Fleet Commander Drake?”

  After a pause to organize his thoughts, he said, “The SSU is gone, as is the Federation, now that Earth has been devastated by the bio-weapon. The Empire is also an empty shell. Emperor…General Trojan told my people before he died that he believed Majestic’s prediction of a complete collapse of human civilization unless there was a strong, central government that could prevent planets from building fleets and weapons of mass destruction. We on Excalibur actually built our own version of Majestic, which we called M2, in order to try to anticipate Majestic’s strategies, and we took advantage of that capability to ask M2 about the future of human civilization. Our M2 told us that the real key to avoiding the chaos and misery of centuries of collapse was to build a collaborative political structure, one that gave its member planets plenty of local autonomy, with a military structure that was made up of volunteers from all member planets. If that sounds like the System States Union, then I would agree that there are a lot of similarities, but it means that Midgardians would be able to run their planet as they see fit so long as they don’t threaten anyone else. My first priority is to end the threat that the continued existence of Majestic poses to all humans everywhere. Once that threat has been eliminated, my personal long term goal is to begin the process of building that kind of decentralized, multi-planet political and military structure if for no other reason than to fill the power vacuum that exists now. If we don’t fill the vacuum, eventually someone else will, and their ideas of how to preserve civilization might be a lot different from ours.”

  Before he could continue, the woman who had asked the question interjected. “Did you just say that there’s another Majestic computer on Excalibur?”

  Drake smiled and shook his head. “There was, but there isn’t anymore. I ordered it disabled before we left to come here. The people who elected to stay on Excalibur were told of the potential danger of continuing to use that technology. Without any external threat to their colony, there was no longer any need for that capability. M2 no longer exists, and I can assure everyone that nothing like that will be built on
Midgard.” That seemed to satisfy the questioner. The third question was the one he was afraid would be asked.

  “How do you feel about placing yourself and your ships under the authority of CEO Ogawa?”

  “With regards to the question of my status vis a vis the Office of the CEO, the answer to your question has to do with a clear understanding of the expectations from both sides. CEO Ogawa has told me that when it comes to military decisions, I have complete discretion to act as I see fit and that he will back whatever decisions I make. I’ve told him that I will keep him informed of all developments that could potentially impact the Midgard Colony. That’s the kind of working relationship that I’ve found works best between a civilian head of government and a military leader. CEO Ogawa also understands that I wear two hats. I’m not only Fleet Commander, I’m also the Acting Colony Leader of the new Colony of Avalon Island, and that makes me a civilian head of government in my own right. The Colony Leader of Avalon Island is not in any way subordinate to the CEO of Midgard Colony. One person wearing both a civilian and a military hat at the same time is an unusual arrangement I would agree, but I think CEO Ogawa and I can make it work.”

  “Doesn’t your long term goal of a decentralized, multi-planet government imply that Midgard would have a single planetary government as well, and if that’s the case, how can the much smaller Avalon Island colony justify its claim of equal status with a Midgard Colony that’s over a hundred times larger?”

  Drake held up the data tablet with the signed document still showing. “This is how. Legal ownership of the island has been transferred to the new Colony without any conditions or restrictions. That by itself implies equality. If there was some kind of subordinate relationship between the two colonies, it would be spelled out in writing.”

  The questions after that were easier to answer and less potentially controversial. When the whole event was over and the media people had left, Drake and Ogawa shook hands one more time while exchanging the usual meaningless pleasantries. One of Ogawa’s staff drove Drake back to his ship. The sub-orbital flight back to Avalon Island was just long enough for Drake to catch a quick nap. He was looking forward to resuming the task of building Avalon City now that the island’s legal status was settled. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered when Majestic would attack.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Day 077/2557

  Avalon Island, Midgard

  Drake was floating face up on the surface of a calm, warm sea. The sky was blue, and the water was a pleasant green color. The relaxing sound of the water lapping up against his body was joined by a rhythmic buzzing sound that started out low but quickly grew in volume. With a start, Drake realized that he had been dreaming, and the buzzing sound was the sound of the communication device next to his bed. As he turned to accept the call, he could tell that Lorelei was now awake too. They were on board Europa in the comfortable quarters reserved for the C.O. It was a temporary arrangement until their own house was finished being built.

  “Drake here. What is it?”

  “Lieutenant Tully on the Bridge, Sir. Long range detection has just alerted us to the arrival of a single ship at a distance of just under five light minutes. Velocity is…SIR, that ship has just jumped away again!”

  As Drake tried to shake off the last vestiges of sleep and make sense of what he had just heard, he felt Lorelei’s hand on his shoulder. “Sounds like a quick recon, doesn’t it?” she asked in a low voice. He nodded. It did indeed sound exactly like that now that she’d raised the possibility. If it was a preliminary recon mission, the actual attack could happen at literally any moment. The distance made sense too. It was at the extreme range for the original Ether detection system that Majestic’s people had gotten their hands on.

  “Here’s what I want you to do, Tully. Notify Ops that I’m declaring a Stage One alert. All ship crews are to report to their ships. Vixen and Banshee are to go to full alert, but are to remain in their current orbit. I’ll be on the Bridge shortly. Drake clear.”

  Lorelei had gotten up and was already in the process of getting dressed. They had planned for exactly this scenario, and they both knew what they needed to do. As his Deputy Fleet Commander, she would transfer to one of the freighters. The freighter crews would man their ships, but the ships would stay on the ground in case the battle went badly. In that event, she would take charge of the emergency evacuation of the colonists on the island. Drake would assume overall command of the two cruisers in orbit, plus Europa and the two armed carriers, Coral Sea and Gambier Bay, currently still on the ground. As soon as all three were manned and ready, they would lift off and join Vixen and Banshee in orbit. When Drake and Lorelei were both dressed, they quickly hugged and kissed.

  “You better make sure you come back alive and in one piece, Roland Drake, otherwise I’m never going to forgive you,” said Lorelei with a trembling voice.

  Drake said nothing but hugged her tighter in response. He wasn’t going to make promises he wasn’t sure he could keep. If Majestic’s ship was going to be part of the attack that Drake was certain was imminent, it had to be destroyed at all costs, and he was determined to make sure this war ended here and now.

  “One more for the road,” he said and then kissed her again. They reluctantly let go of each other and walked quickly to the door. Out in the corridor, she blew him a kiss and headed toward the elevator that would take her down to the boarding ramp. He gave her a quick wave and ran in the opposite direction for the stairs that would take him up one level to the Bridge.

  As he entered the Bridge, he saw that a couple of the personnel hadn’t arrived yet. Tully saw him and got up from the Command Station. Drake checked the tactical display as he walked over to the young officer. No other ships had arrived yet.

  Turning back to Tully, Drake said, “I want you to retain command of Europa while I exercise overall fleet command. Unfortunately that means that I need to use the Command Station. You’ll have to take the Helm Station and con the ship from there. Any questions?”

  “No, Sir.”

  As Drake strapped himself in, he couldn’t help remembering the emergency sortie of the missile boat he commanded on the first day of the war. That 50,000 ton missile boat had seemed like a lot of ship at the time. Yet here he was commanding a 500,000 ton cruiser, plus four other ships of similar size. In terms of a military career, he’d come a long way.

  As the minutes ticked by without any new sightings, Drake began to wonder if this was a false alarm. It occurred to him that Majestic might be devious enough to arrange for a series of one ship ‘recon’ missions in order to make the human defenders of Midgard complacent and careless. It took almost ten minutes for all ships to be fully manned and powered up. Drake made a mental note to himself to figure out ways to get that time down. Now the question was should he take Europa, Coral Sea and Gambier Bay up into orbit right away, or should they wait until Majestic’s ships arrived. It would take several minutes to get into orbit if he didn’t want to damage ship hulls from air friction. That wasn’t enough time for enemy ships to penetrate any significant distance into Midgard’s hyper-zone unless they emerged from hyper-space with tremendous velocity. But that strategy had disadvantages, not the least of which was the risk of being committed to a vector that might prove to be tactically unsound. He also had to take into consideration which side of the planet Majestic’s ships might emerge on. If they happened to show up on the opposite side, it would take more time for him to maneuver his five ships to a spot where they could get clear shots. He thanked the Gods of War that all his ships had superluminal lasers that would allow them to fire and hit Majestic’s ships while still deep within the hyper-zone. If Majestic was hoping to catch his ships outside the hyper-zone with jump-capable missiles, it was going to be disappointed.

  Manipulating his station’s controls, he caused the main display to show the relative position of where the recon ship had appeared. It was at the one o’clock position, while Vixen and Banshee were at the fiv
e o’clock position. Even though they didn’t have a direct line-of-sight with the bogey, the Ether detection system was still able to detect it and vice versa. Majestic’s missiles could, in theory, engage in last minute maneuvers to curve around the planet if they weren’t going too fast, but having open space between both sides would give Majestic a lot more tactical flexibility.

  A ping from the display interrupted his train of thought. A red icon had appeared at roughly the five light minute range again, but this time it did have a direct line-of-sight with Vixen and Banshee. Drake waited for more ships to emerge, but none did. After 30 seconds, the bogey jumped away again. What was Majestic up to?

  “Commander Vixen on Tac Three, Sir,” said the Com Tech. Drake switched his headset over to that channel.

  “Go ahead, Rachel,” said Drake.

  “What do you want to bet that Majestic is waiting for more ships to reach orbit before it launches the attack?” asked Molitor.

  Drake smiled. Once again Rachel had demonstrated her shrewd grasp of strategy and tactics. “I’m not going to bet against you on that one, but I don’t see how having all our ships in orbit helps Majestic win the battle. Its missiles will still take almost an hour to penetrate this far into the hyper-zone. That’s plenty of time for us to maneuver and even leave orbit.”