by Ryk Brown
“Permission granted,” Nathan told her. “Notify medical. Standard quarantine procedures. None of our people are allowed aboard that ship until medical clears her crew.”
“Yes, sir,” Naralena answered.
“Looks like our fleet just got a little bigger,” Lieutenant Eckert said.
“Let’s hope a few more show up,” Nathan added.
* * *
“DSS Three just showed up,” Nathan announced as he entered the captain’s mess.
Vladimir was already starting on his breakfast. “That is good news.”
“Two recon ships are better than one,” Nathan said as he sat down at the table.
“What was wrong with the Falcons?” Vladimir asked as he ate.
“They don’t have room for a full sensor package, for one. They also aren’t really designed for long-duration missions. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it gets sitting in a cockpit for fourteen hours?”
“They have waste collection systems in their suits,” Vladimir pointed out.
“Those Scout ships already have a full sensor package, they just need a few upgrades. Those ships are also designed to support a crew for weeks. Not that they would need to. Not after we equip them with jump drives. But if necessary, they could loiter for long periods and collect massive amounts of intelligence.”
“This is true.”
Nathan took a bit of his eggs, following it with some coffee. “I talked to Cam this morning.”
“When did they get back?”
“Around zero five thirty. She talked to Abby.”
“Da? How is she doing?”
“Fine. She works in some planning office for the Terran camp.”
“I thought they were going to start integrating them?”
“It takes time. Abby thinks we should use some of the captured Jung antimatter cores to try and knock the battle platform out of FTL so we can get a good clean shot at it. She thinks that a sizable enough matter-antimatter event might destabilize the fields they are using to fold space around themselves. Think you can rig those cores up to breach on cue?”
“No problem,” Vladimir promised. “Slap some explosive on it, a trigger linked to a receiver, a little math to calculate when to send the detonation signals. No problem at all.”
“She said to make sure the mass of the device equals the mass of the antimatter stored within.”
“She says this to upset me, you know.”
“What?” Nathan wondered, seeming perplexed.
“Everyone knows this.”
“I didn’t know it.”
“You’re a pilot,” Vladimir replied. “How many cores have we collected?”
“Twenty, I think. I’d have to check with Commander Willard.”
“I do not believe it will take more than a few. Four, maybe five… Or six. I will do the math.”
“The sooner the better,” Nathan told his friend. “I’ll feel a lot better once we no longer have that platform headed our way.”
“Da, da, da,” Vladimir agreed. He pushed his empty plate away, picked up his mug of coffee, and took a sip. “Have you been to Porto Santo yet?”
“Haven’t had the time,” Nathan admitted.
“I was there for a couple hours yesterday. The beach on the southern side of the island is beautiful. It used to be a resort before the Jung invaded. It is mostly empty now. Lieutenant Telles told me that the mayor of Porto Santo offered to make it available to our crews for R and R.”
“Wow. That sounds great. I’m sure our people could use some. I’ll talk to Willard about arranging a rotation schedule, once we deal with that battle platform.”
“You know, the Ghatazhak are up to three hundred and thirty-two, now.”
“I thought the third boxcar wasn’t due to arrive until later today?” Nathan said.
“They arrived a day early. The sixth combat jump shuttle will arrive either late today or early tomorrow.”
“That’s great news,” Nathan said. “I know that Telles was hesitant to start deploying his men into trouble spots until he had at least five or six combat jumpers to support them.”
“He was planning on asking to keep one or two of the boxcars for their use as well,” Vladimir said.
“Yeah, he already asked me,” Nathan said. “He wants to use them as heavy jump transports to move vehicles or large amounts of troops at once. I told him he’s going to have to wait until we have a few more. Right now, we need those boxcars to be making regular runs between Earth and Tanna. The Earth needs food, along with… Well, they need pretty much everything, and Tanna needs immigrants from Earth to help them produce the goods that Earth needs. Those boxcars may not be able to move as much as the Celestia can in a single trip, but since they can multi-jump their way to Tanna, they can make about ten round trips in the time it takes the Celestia to make a single run. Once we get five or six of them making four round trips per day, we’ll be moving a lot of Terran emigrants there and a lot of aid back to Earth.”
“Even with ten of those things, it’s still going to take years for the Earth to get back on her feet.”
“But she will,” Nathan added, “as long as we can keep the Jung away from her.”
* * *
“Captain?” Jessica called from the ready room hatchway. “Got a minute?”
“Sure,” Nathan answered. He looked at Jessica, noticing that she was wearing ragged-looking civilian attire. “Costume party?”
“I’m going down to Porto Santo,” she answered.
“The Ghatazhak are having a costume party?”
“Preparedness drills. I’m leading a group of locals pretending to be insurgents. We’re going to take out their combat jumpers.”
“They know it’s a drill, right?” Nathan asked. “The Ghatazhak, I mean.”
“Of course.”
“Well, good luck with that.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we won’t even be able to breach their perimeter, let alone destroy anything, but Telles wants his new reinforcements to get some experience in dealing with Terran tactics, as well as those of the Jung.”
“Who plays the role of the Jung?” Nathan wondered.
“Some of Telles’s original guys, since they have experience fighting them.”
“Makes sense. Is that what you came by to tell me?”
“That, and that I’m going to need the names of the two Scout ship crews so that I can run them against the EDF records that we have.”
“You think the Jung have spies on the Scout ships?”
“Not really, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t have my people do backgrounds on all of them. ‘No one sets foot aboard any of our ships unless we know who the fuck they are.’ Your words, remember?”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t say ‘fuck’.”
Jessica smiled. “I embellished a bit. Makes you sound tougher.”
“I’ll see to it that you get all twenty-four names and service numbers,” Nathan promised. “We’re meeting with them all after the third crew clears medical. It would probably be a good idea if you were there as well.”
“I’ll try to get back in time. Pretty good chance that I will, since we’re probably going to get our asses kicked in short order.”
“Probably.”
“Wait,” Jessica said, suddenly realizing that something was amiss, “the third crew?”
“Yes,” Nathan said. “A third ship checked in a few minutes ago. Comms notified security.”
“I must have been donning my insurgency attire,” Jessica said, gesturing to her ragged clothing. “Speaking of which, I’d better head to the hangar bay, or I’ll miss my ride.”
“Have fun at the ball,” Nathan said as she left.
* * *
“What do you say to men whose homeworld has fallen apart while they’ve been in stasis,” Nathan said to Cameron as they walked down the ramp from the command deck. “Their families may have died while they were hiding out in some asteroid.”
“They were following orders,” Cameron reminded him. “Just as you were when you ordered us to abandon Earth just before the Falcons arrived.”
“And I’m pretty sure I would’ve had a hard time living with that order as well.”
“Just tell them the truth, Nathan. They’re not children.”
“They know most of it already,” he told her as they came to the bottom of the ramp and turned around to head forward, down the flight deck’s central corridor. “All three COs have been pouring over our ship’s logs since they got here.”
“That’ll take a while,” Cameron said. “It has been eleven months, you know.”
“Believe me, I know,” Nathan insisted as they approached the starboard flight briefing room. Nathan stopped short of the entrance, turning to look at Cameron. “All three of the COs in there are older and have more time in than I do.”
“But none of them has seen as much action as you have,” Cameron reminded him.
“Perhaps, but it still feels weird. Every one of them has the right to take command away from either of us, you know that.”
“Technically, one could make a case against that, Nathan,” Cameron insisted. “Remember, by the rules of its charter, the EDF no longer exists.”
“Would you buy that if you were in their shoes?” Nathan asked as he turned and stepped through the hatchway.
“Captain on deck!” Major McCullum barked as Nathan and Cameron entered the flight briefing room.
As he stepped up to the podium, Nathan glanced out at the room. The crews of all three Scout ships were seated in the rows of high-backed chairs. “Gentlemen, I am Captain Nathan Scott, commanding officer of the Aurora and currently the ranking officer of what was once the Earth Defense Force. By now, all of you are aware of the events that have occurred on this ship, on the Celestia, and on Earth, as best we know them. Our current mission is simple… Defeat the Jung, using whatever means possible. Not just for the Earth, but for all the core worlds, the worlds of the fringe, and those of our allies in the Pentaurus cluster. As long as the Jung military exists, all of these worlds are at risk, as well as countless others. For the Jung’s mission is also simple. They wish to rule everything, and everyone. We cannot allow that to happen, and until that possibility no longer exists, none of us are safe.”
Nathan paused and took a breath, scanning the faces of the men before him, looking for any indications of what might be going on inside their minds. Were they angry? Were they scared? Were they curious? What were the commanding officers of the three Scout ships thinking? As best he could tell, they were simply listening to him speak without expression. These were not recruits fresh out of the Academy. These men had been in space for quite some time, even before they had gone into hibernation.
Nathan swallowed hard before continuing. “Before I continue further, you should all be aware of one thing. The EDF no longer exists, just as the United Earth Republic no longer exists. According to the rules of the EDF charter, they ceased to exist once the United Earth Republic collapsed and gave in to Jung rule. Therefore, in accordance with terms of the Sol-Pentaurus Alliance, all assets once belonging to the Earth Defense Force are now under the control of the Alliance. Those members of our crews who left their homes in the Pentaurus cluster to come here and fight for Earth have become members of the Alliance. Those of us who were once members of the EDF have also chosen to become members of the Alliance, for our goals are the same. Now, each of you has a choice to make. You can join us, as members of the Alliance, and continue to fight, or you can leave now and return to the Earth, such as it is, to live out your lives. If you chose to leave, we shall do everything within our power to help you find your families, should they still be alive.”
Again Nathan paused, half expecting the room to explode in anger and confusion.
“You’re not really expecting any of us to leave, are you, Scott?” one of the COs asked.
Nathan offered a half smile. “Not really, no.”
“I think most of us would like to know what happened to our families,” one of the men said.
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Nathan promised, “although, it may take a while. We had a network in place for just that purpose, but the most recent attack has made matters even worse on the surface.”
“How bad is it?” another man asked.
Nathan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before speaking. “I’m not going to lie to you, it’s pretty bad down there. Infrastructure is all but destroyed in most of the major population areas, and those that were lucky enough not to be hit are being overrun with refugees from the fallout zones. Food, water, medical care, sewage, power… You name it, and the Earth is in desperate need of it. The only real break we’ve had is in the form of relatively mild weather that has kept the planet from becoming completely blanketed by radioactive fallout, but that’s probably not going to last.”
“Surely these Takarans have the technology to help clean up the Earth,” Captain Roselle suggested.
“Yes, and our allies are preparing to provide that technology as we speak. However, it will take time to get the resources needed to Earth.”
“Then there is some kind of plan?” another man asked.
“Right now, the plan is to use the Ghatazhak to help restore order, and hopefully hand control back over to the regional governments as soon as they are able to receive it. In the meantime, we have started evacuating as many refugees as possible to Tanna, one of our newest allies located about forty-seven light years away, out in the fringe. Those refugees in turn can help Tanna spin up her industry to provide Earth with the aid that it needs to recover.”
“How do you evacuate a planet?” Ensign Wells wondered.
“Right now, a little at a time, using the Celestia and three heavy transports from the Pentaurus cluster known as ‘boxcars’. Over the weeks ahead, as more of these heavy transports become available, our capacity to move people and aid between our worlds will increase. Right now, we can move about twelve thousand people per day. Within a few months, we expect that capacity to quadruple. Even then, it’s going to take years for the Earth to even begin to recover. Right now, our world is nearly as bad off as it was just after the bio-digital plague struck.”
“And if the Jung return?” Lieutenant Scalotti asked.
Nathan looked at the lieutenant. “If the Jung return and we are unable to stop them, then the Earth, as we know it, is finished. The Jung will wipe it clean and rebuild it to suit their needs. If you doubt me on this, just ask the people of Kent.”
Nathan scanned the faces in the room again. He knew full well that the recent destruction of Kent at the hands of the Jung was in the logs that these men had read, and he knew the impact of the words he had just spoken.
“What will our role be in this ‘new world order’?” Captain Roselle inquired.
“First order of business is to make your ships jump-capable,” Nathan explained, trying to ignore the captain’s cynicism.
“Obviously,” Captain Roselle agreed.
“The second is to give you some weapons.”
“Our ships don’t have thick hulls like the Defender- and Explorer-class ships,” Captain Roselle reminded Nathan. “Our ships are thirty years old, remember?”
“That’s why the third order of business is to install shields on all three of your ships.”
“What kind of weapons are we talking about?” Captain Roselle wondered.
“Laser turrets and plasma torpedo cannons,” Nathan replied. “We believe that by pulling a few of your propellant tanks from the lateral sides of your forward sections, as well as the outboard tanks in your drive sections, we can give you four laser turrets and two plasma torpedo tubes.”
“If you pull those tanks, you’re taking away half our propellant,” Captain Roselle argued.
“Trust me, Captain,” Nathan said, “with jump drives, you won’t need all that propellant.”
“That seems like a hell of a lot of refit,” Capt
ain Roselle said. “How long are we going to be down for, and what are our crews going to do during the refit?”
“Actually, Captain, your crews will be doing the refit, at least most of it. As for how long it will take, I don’t have that information just yet. I would expect a few months just to get you jump-capable. By that time, the Karuzara asteroid should be within a few jumps of Sol, so you can make port there for the rest of your refit.”
“Our FTLs are still in working order,” Captain Roselle’s cheng stated. “It seems a shame to tear them out and toss them aside.”
“The jump drive is our biggest advantage over the Jung,” Nathan explained. “It means we can move about with impunity. We can jump in, fire, and jump away, all within seconds. We can execute simultaneous time-on-target attacks, delivering ordnance onto a target from many different directions. The term ‘enemy lines’ no longer has significance. We could literally jump in and attack the Jung homeworld, if we chose to.”
“Why don’t we?” DSS Three’s XO wondered.
Nathan looked at the commander, having missed what he had said. “Excuse me?”
“Why don’t we just jump in and bomb the crap out of the Jung’s homeworld, just like they’ve done to ours,” the commander said. “Seems to me they have it coming.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Nathan assured him. “Unfortunately, we don’t know where the Jung homeworld is located, Commander…”
“Nash, Robert Nash. I’m the XO on DSS Three.”
“Oh yes, I heard about your CO,” Nathan said. “My condolences to you and your crew, Commander.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Like I said, we don’t know where the Jung homeworld is located. According to our allies, the Jung have purposefully kept the exact location of their homeworld a secret. Even their line officers don’t know where it is located.”
“A pretty good way to avoid being targeted,” Captain Roselle commented.
“Indeed it is,” Nathan agreed. “But that is where your three ships will come in. I want you to find the Jung homeworld.”
“It can’t be that hard to find,” Captain Roselle insisted. “There aren’t that many Earth-like worlds in the core.”