Admiral's Gambit (A Spineward Sectors Novel:)

by Luke Sky Wachter

  “You’re saying that this many ships represents a significant investment in resources and combat power, and the Rump Assembly can’t afford to lose them,” I said, my mind racing through the mental calculations as my gaze turned toward Officer Laurent. His face was carefully blank, not giving anything away at this point.

  “But the worlds we’ve seen so far haven’t been Core Worlds…or at least what pass for Core Worlds out here in Sector 25,” I said, thinking the idea through. I realized Yagar, and by extension this rump assembly of his, couldn’t afford to lose and/or replace this much assembled firepower. I continued, picking up steam as I went. “Capria’s SDF alone could out-fight this Sector Guard, we might not be able to muster this many light units all in one place but when you add in our heavies, as a matter of sheer tonnage we-”

  Tactical Officer Laurent cut me off, “If we pulled everything out of mothballs and crewed all our active and inactive ships, you’d be more than right, Admiral. Capria could take this Sector Guard outfit in a single firing pass. However, what System Defense Force would be willing to hand over most or all of its Fleet to a still-forming Sector Authority while the border is going up in flames and everything is still in flux?”

  “Meaning,” I inquired, pretty sure I knew where he was going with this but wanting to it from the horse's mouth as it where.

  “Don’t play the fool, Protector, it doesn’t suit you,” Akantha cut in irritably. “As even I can see, this force is probably everything this 'Assembly' of yours could muster from these larger ‘Core Worlds’ that you keep talking so much about, like your home of Capria. Politically, it must have been difficult to gather them for this "Sector Guard" Yagar is leading. If these ships were lost in battle against a supposedly friendly force like ours, how eager would those ‘Core Worlds’ be to hand over more units to replace the ones lost in battle,” she demanded scornfully, making it clear exactly what she thought of my supposed obtusity. “Not very,” she couldn’t help but add, putting another unnecessary period to the end of her statement.

  I scowled at her for a moment before turning back to the problem of this Sector Guard.

  “Yagar’s a power-hungry pig,” I said flatly, “but now that I think about it, it’s the reaction of my cousin Bethany that really bothers me,” I said, ignoring the sudden look of bloodthirstiness that leapt onto Akantha’s face at this mention of my Royal cousin, the Cadet-Princess. “She seemed far too willing to let Yagar and I duke it out, only interjecting herself the one time. As if she wanted to get on record opposing me and was in favor of whatever they have planned, but didn’t want to get too involved in the verbal firestorm. She’s up to something, mark my words,” I pursed my lips as I tried to imagine what wicked scheme Cottonmouth was involved in. Whatever Bethany had signed up for, she was up to her neck in it.

  “She’s blood of your blood, so I’ve stayed my hand. But step aside and her days of scheming in this world over,” Akantha said in an icy voice before baring her teeth. “Let her try her hand at scheming in the next.”

  “Not exactly the direction I was going for,” I said, briefly closing my eyes and shaking my head. My girl, always out to avenge herself on those who crossed her. “She’s more useful as an opposition weather gauge for now. Besides, you can’t just go around killing my Vekna cousins, Akantha. My mother’s still on the home world!” I exclaimed, as the thought of the consequences if Akantha lost her cool came home to roost in my brain, “If she was killed because you couldn’t restrain yourself, I-I-” I paused taking a deep breath. “But of course that would never happen, because I know you would never endanger my mother like that,” I said looking over and meeting her eyes to convey how serious I was on this matter. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her.”

  Officer Laurant cleared his throat, breaking the staring contest my wife and I were currently engaged in. I turned red, thinking of all the dirty personal laundry we were airing out right in front of him.

  “Thank you Mr. Laurent, for your assessment of the tactical situation. That will be all for the moment,” I said striving for formality to cover the embarrassment over this gross breach in social etiquette.

  After the door to the ready room had shut closed behind him, I looked over at Akantha.

  I was about to try and remonstrate with her, once again, on the need to refrain from fighting in front of my crew and to present at least a semi-united front when she carried on as if the conversation had only paused while Mr. Laurant exited stage right.

  “When city-states in a coalition each send a force to make up a part of a much larger army under unified leadership, each views their position relative to the other cities in the coalition, as well as the success of the army as a whole, before deciding whether or not to withdraw and/or increase their commitment,” Akantha said speaking with precision.

  I blinked, having to switch mental gears mid-train-of-thought. “Hmmm,” I wondered aloud, stalling for time as I gathered my thoughts on this new take on the subject, “under that premise, Yagar would need to put up a strong front to maintain control of his forces, lest they melt away from him just as they have from the MSP ever since the Imperial Withdrawal from the Spineward Sectors."

  From the look in her eyes, I could tell my Sword-Bearer had come to the same conclusion.

  "At the same time, he has to be very risk averse," I continued after a moment's pause. "He can’t afford to gamble and lose. Even a win against us would cripple his nascent little organization for good if the losses were too high,” even as I spoke, I wondered if following Akantha down this rabbit hole of supposition she was spooling out would be worth the time and effort when things were still happening out on the Flag Bridge. I couldn’t afford to miss any of the upcoming events, I mean ye-gods, Tremblay was at the con right now! Still, could I afford to offend my wife and unofficial ambassador to the Tracto Lancers? I finally decided, reluctantly that I couldn't.

  “Exactly,” she said sounding satisfied I was following her. “He needs to appear to have out-maneuvered you, or preferably have brought you in directly under his authority. But if you can cow him and bring him under your own authority instead,” she smiled grimly as she said this.

  “You heard the man,” I said, gesturing out to where Laurant had just exited back onto the Flag Bridge, “We could take either half of his force, but not both together. And with our speed and his angry, suspicious nature, I doubt he’s going to just let us roll up on him so we can remove their maneuverability advantage.”

  She shrugged, “Everything I hear says this ship would be the crowning jewel of his fleet,” she said icily, her mouth drawing up into a slight sneer as she looked at me.

  “To. Hades. With. That,” I said harshly.

  “Then stop chewing on what you can’t do and start using that fertile little mind of yours to come up with a plan that can win,” she said sharply, “one of the traits I admire about you is your ability to think on your feet, change direction and come up with a plan on the run, then promptly go for the throat of your enemy once it is exposed."

  I was rather surprised. This might be the first actual compliment Akantha had ever given me, outside of certain private moments, of course.

  Unaware of my current train of thought, Akantha continued as if I wasn’t distracted in the least by this monumental moment in our marriage.

  “So stop this whining and work on how to win this,” she said in that icy voice of hers I’d come so much to hate. After complimenting me, she reverted back to form, retreating into her Ice maiden shell.

  I opened my mouth for some pithy line that would showcase my indomitable will, but what came out was more of a whiney complaint than anything I’d said to date. “We need the blessing of the rump assembly, Akantha, or at least not their active enmity. Without their support this ship and its crew are in deep, deep trouble,” I said wearily. During the heat of the moment when Yagar was accusing me of being some kind of palace party boy, it had been easy to politely say 'screw you ba
ck twice as hard,' but sweet crying Murphy, now that moment was in the past all I could do was shake my head. This was not how I’d planned to return to Tracto.

  “No,” she shook her head without breaking eye contact, “maybe you think you need it, and a good number of your men may think so as well. But this ship and a significant portion of her crew never have, and as the Men of Tracto are my witness, hopefully never will ‘need’ the goodwill of this ‘Provisional Assembly.’”

  “They can cause us no end of trouble, Akantha,” I said patiently.

  “They already have, Protector. They’ve stolen a Constructor ship which could have built countless more miracles in the heavens for my home world. They sent your cousin and this Yagar to bedevil us. And if you are right, they have many more plots to unveil. But the worst thing they seem to have taken is the better part of your manhood,” she said cuttingly.

  I slowly stood up behind my desk. “Out,” I said, barely able to contain the molten fury boiling up inside my chest.

  She opened her mouth but I thrust a finger down on the desk of the table cutting her off. “Another insult, and I guarantee you don’t want to see what this 'gelded wonder' is capable off. If you haven’t anything constructive to say, then get the Hades out of my ready room!”

  She drew herself up stiffly as if she was going to stalk out the door. She paused and hesitated before her face hardened. “Find LeGodat; discover if he is still in a position of influence or power and the disposition of his force. Allies could be the difference between mere survival and ultimate success,” so saying, she stormed out of my office.

  I wanted to throw something at the door as she left and give vent to my fury at the way she continually called me weak and ineffective, turned around and complimented me, then went right back to deadly insults.

  I’d intended to find out where LeGodat stood and what he was currently up to the first chance I got! Now when I did it, she’d think she was steering me in a direction she desired. It was when I found myself thinking about not contacting LeGodat just to spite her that I knew I needed to take a breath.

  A smart play was a smart play no matter who suggested it, and she was perhaps more right than she knew when she said that securing allies could be key. My mind kicked back into high gear as I contemplated as many of the possible angles in this situation I’d landed us in.

  Victory, and even our long-term survival were still very much in doubt but the more I thought on our recent discussion, the more hopeful my outlook became. Which was why my stomach did a little more than a minor flip flop when the desk chimed and the Ex-Comm Technician informed me that LeGodat was on the line.

  Chapter 49: Maneuvers for Advantage

  I barely had time to make it to the Throne when the main screen went live.

  “Hello, Admiral,” said Colin LeGodat, looking every inch the seasoned professional as usual. With his uniform tightly pressed and his stiff bearing, he looked like everything you would expect from a professional military officer of the regular fleet. Who would have ever thought by looking at the man that he’d been a reserve officer on a glorified photo-op assignment? Until now, his ‘Light Squadron’ had been utilized only by up and coming assembly men in need of some good footage for the cameras back home.

  “LeGodat,” I said with a restrained nod, smoothing my uniform jacket as I settled into the Throne. On the outside I strove to be the very picture of reserved, when on the inside all I wanted to do was let loose a big whoop and toss off a grin of pleasure and satisfaction in the direction of Cousin Bethany. They may have tried to box me in, but I was still very much in the game. So instead of giving into a good bit of gloating, I was restrained and proceeded as I imagined a real admiral would; withdrawn, restrained and when appropriate, mildly pleased.

  “I have to say, Commodore,” I said, making sure to bring up his rank early on in the conversation, “it gives those of us over here more than a little satisfaction to see that your command continues in a good condition. Why, the last time we had visitors to Easy Haven,” I said, deciding this was the perfect time to do a little chest thumping for the benefit of any hidden listeners out there, “they needed a good lesson in manners and had to be taught what constitutes private property out here in the Spine. Though as always, I hope we can avoid any such similar interventions in the future.”

  “The 209th Light Squadron and Wolf-9 Base are both equally heartened at your return, Sir,” LeGodat said with a nod of his own and brief upward turn at the corner of his lips. “However, I am assured that we are all friends here in this star system,” he paused and I didn’t like the feel of that pause, not one bit, “that said, more than a few here presumed your Flagship… and you,” he hastened to add, “were lost to the chaos we’ve been hearing so much about on the border. Extreme measures have been suggested and called for. It does a mere Base Commander such as myself more than you are probably aware to see your command still hale and whole, and still out patrolling, Admiral,” LeGodat said with an open frown.

  I leaned back and swallowed, my mouth feeling a bit dry. “Tea, Yeoman,” I said turning my head, on the lookout for a pleasing feminine form in a uniform to carry out my orders. I suppressed a jump! The form I saw was certainly feminine and under other circumstances would have been pleasing enough. Then she spoke, and ruined the entire purpose of tea, which was to help steady my nerves.

  “That will be no problem at all, Admiral,” Akantha said, from right behind my elbow. I was forced to suppress a growl. This was about as unwelcome an eavesdropper at this particular juncture as I could imagine.

  I glanced to the side where Tremblay was watching me like a hawk. To the other was sweet Cousin Bethany, who looked far too eager to parse every single bit of meaning from this little exchange.

  I hurriedly focused back on LeGodat, adjusting my Throne so it turned ever so slightly away from my wife. They had me cornered and surrounded up here on the bridge, but I couldn’t let that stop me, not for a moment. I had to focus on the Commodore's situation here in Easy Haven, anything else was a slow road to suicide.

  I did a quick mental replay of what I’d just heard from LeGodat and I didn’t like it anymore the second time around than I did the first. As someone who considered himself something more than a mere political neophyte, I very much didn’t like what I was reading between the lines of LeGodat’s little welcome back speech.

  “Well,” I said trying to laugh off the worst of the implications, “rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated as usual, Colin.” I was trying to project a feeling of bonhomie, but was pretty sure that for the second time this day I was not only failing but failing miserably.

  “In addition to the ‘rumors’ spread about by certain…merchant crews on…leave, that your Lucky Clover had been taken by pirates,” Colin LeGodat said giving me a significant look.

  I just shook my head and chuckled, “What will they come up with next,” I said splaying my hands and shrugging.

  “More good news, Admiral,” LeGodat said and for as little time as I knew him, I would have had to say the smile he suddenly flashed my direction was decidedly false, “the reinforcements you ‘requested’ from Capria have finally arrived,” he said holding onto that false smile.

  The bottom suddenly dropped out of my stomach. “Reinforcements-” I said more than a little quizzically, my eyebrow rising unbidden. I didn’t recall requested reinforcements from Capria… had I? Or was this just another maneuver aimed at throwing me for a loop? I glanced over at Cousin Bethany, who was frowning at the Commodore. I tried to remind myself that not everything revolved around me, no matter how it seemed. There were politics going on back home that could reasonably account for reinforcements…

  I quickly scanned the tactical screen but failed to come up with any sign of these supposed Caprian reinforcements.

  “Why yes, Admiral,” LeGodat said with a tight smile, he seemed to be holding onto that smile with a death grip, “Apparently your new ruler, King James has responded to that
letter you had me relay for you,” he paused and pressed a few buttons on his own console, “ah, here it is,” he said as the hollow spot in my stomach continued to grow, until it seemed to have all the force of a white dwarf.

  “Dear Cousin,” quoted LeGodat, “in response to your plea for reinforcements, relief for the crew you currently have and ‘if possible’ more warships for your Fleet, we do most happily dispatch to your Confederation Battle Fleet three armed merchant conversions filled with enough men to not only offer every crewman onboard the opportunity to return home to their beloved Capria, but also to replace any losses incurred during your battles. If you cannot arrange another mode of transportation, you may use these same vessels to return the diligent members of your crew to their homes, as they have more than earned our gratitude. You may also use these vessels to support your good works out there until such a time as they are no longer required."

  By now my stomach had turned into a black hole. My initial urge to shout 'to Hades with that' and ignore these reinforcements, or better yet I thought eagerly, have a minor training accident that just so happened to destroy all three of the ships carrying these interlopers died a sudden death.

  All along, the crew of this ship had wanted to go home. They had followed me because I was the Admiral and probably more importantly, because the job we were doing needed done and there was no one else out here to do it. But suddenly all of that had changed. We were no longer alone and here was someone offering to give my overworked men some much needed relief. They probably wouldn't let the fact that this person was a questionable king dissuade them from taking the offer.

  I wanted to pull my hair out and scream. My next urge was to pull my hold out blaster pistol and shoot our beloved Confederation Representative right between the eyes as the diabolical nature of her plan started to become clear.

  As far as she was concerned, so long as I eventually turned up at Easy Haven I could throw in all the twists and turns I wanted. While irritating, all she had to do was put up with me and my little schemes until I showed up here. Whereupon she could simply lay down her little trump card and watch as my loyal crew disintegrated like steam from a kettle in their eagerness to get home and check on their loved ones.