The Fight for Britannia 7: Civil War

by Saxon Andrew

  Devin nodded, “Yes Sir.” Devin left the meeting and knew there was no backing out. Innocent men were going to die but…in this current game, no one was innocent.

  • • •

  The Commander of the ten guards waited with Devin in a vacant office on the same floor as Admiral Bellemy’s office. The tension was high, and they had been waiting three days for all of Bellemy’s staff to be present. They left the office late at night and returned early in the morning the next day waiting for the order to carry out their mission. The Guard Commander touched his communicator and listened for a moment. He turned to Devin and said, “I’ve received the go order from Personnel, Sir.”

  Devin nodded and ordered, “Lead the way Captain. He followed the guards out of the vacant office. They arrived outside Bellemy’s office and the Commander held up three fingers. He lowered one of them and then the second. When he lowered the third finger, the guards rushed into the office. Devin rushed across the office and held up three fingers indicating there were three people in Bellemy’s office as the employees started screaming. The Commander and two other guards preceded Devin into Bellemy’s office. The guards rushed through the door and raised their blasters. Admiral Bellemy, Major Storm, and Bellemy’s secretary had a blaster pointed at them as the Commander ordered, “REMOVE YOUR HANDS FROM YOUR CONSOLES!!”

  Bellemy’s eyes were wide open and the guard’s eyes holding a blaster on him narrowed. Bellemy instantly raised his hands and then Bellemy said loudly, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY MIND?!”

  Devin stared at Bellemy for a long moment and then turned to the Major. He sent a quick thought to him, “You deserve this.” The Major’s eyes flew wide open as Devin said, “The Major is the traitor!”

  The Guard holding a blaster on the Major fired as Mark started to stand up and protest. The beam hit him in the chest and vaporized him. Bellemy stood up and shouted, “WHAT…WHAT…”

  The Commander of the Guards touched his shoulder communicator and said, “Carry out your orders.” Four Fleet Admirals were executed on board their flag ships instantly. The Guard Commander looked at Devin and nodded. Devin felt a huge wave of relief wash over him; there were no witnesses to be examined to prove they were innocent; he was in the clear. Devin turned to Admiral Bellemy and raised his hands, “Sir, I apologize for causing you to be subjected to this, but I was ordered here by the Prime Minister to uncover a traitor operating in your office. I was ordered to look at your mind and determine if you were a part of the treachery.”

  Bellemy’s expression turned angry, “I am no traitor!”

  “I saw that Sir and I will communicate that to the Prime Minister. However, the Major on your staff has been feeding information about our fleets to Britannia. Four Fleet Admirals have been sending him data that he forwarded to his contacts on Britannia. They have been executed for their crimes.”

  “Are you saying Major Storm was a traitor?!”

  “Yes Admiral. It was clear in his thoughts and he’s been doing it without your knowledge.” Bellemy fell back into his chair stunned by the events. Devin nodded to the guards and said, “The Prime Minister has been notified of your innocence and the rest of your staff has been cleared of any wrongdoing. I’m sure he’ll be contacting you shortly. I apologize for any distress this may have caused you.” Devin turned and left with the guards.

  • • •

  Admiral Bellemy decided he wasn’t going to wait for the Prime Minister to contact him. He immediately sent a call to the Prime Minister’s contact number.

  • • •

  The First Assistant looked at the Prime Minister and said, “Admiral Bellemy wishes to speak with you.”

  “Put him on hold.” The First Assistant pressed a button and turned back to the Prime Minister. “I’m terribly disappointed in this happening under Bellemy’s nose. Do we have anyone to replace him?”

  “He’s there because he can be trusted,” the First Assistant replied. “However, there are two other possible candidates that could take his place but by doing so we will have a negative impact on the pace of our plans.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Anyone that replaces him will have to get up to speed on the officers commanding our fleets and determine their strengths and weaknesses. That could take a while and push our plans back.” The First Assistant hesitated and added, “And if the first choice doesn’t work out, it could take even longer.”

  “Are you saying we’re too far along to make this change?” the Prime Minister asked.

  “I want to give you what you want but replacing him will cause a large delay.” The Prime Minister blew out a breath and the First Assistant added, “Bellemy is reliably loyal to you. I don’t know if anyone you choose to replace him would be as loyal.”

  The Prime Minister sat back in his chair, “He has been with me since the beginning.”

  “Yes he has,” the First Assistant replied.

  “Put the call through.”

  The First Assistant pressed a button and said, “The Prime Minister will speak with you now.”

  “SIR, I AM NOT A TRAITOR! I WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING DISLOYAL TO YOU!!”

  The Prime Minister’s tone was silky smooth, “I never believed you were a traitor. You are and will continue to be the Senior Officer on my staff. I do find it disappointing that a member of your staff was feeding information to our enemy, but I know you knew nothing about it.”

  “I didn’t Sir!”

  “I expect you to continue your excellent work and insure our fleets are ready when the time comes for us to move. Will you do that?”

  “You can count on it!”

  The Prime Minister waved his hand over his neck and the First Assistant ended the call. He looked at the Prime Minister and said, “You were right.”

  “About what?”

  “He is very frightened of you.”

  The Prime Minister smiled, “And that is what will keep him in line.”

  • • •

  Vickie was called into the Admiral’s office and he congratulated her on the excellent job of tracking the communications in and out of Bellemy’s office. “Thank you Sir.”

  “You should know that a plot against the Colonies was uncovered and it was being led by one of Admiral Bellemy’s subordinates.”

  “Sir, I worked in Admiral Bellemy’s office before I was transferred here. Who was the one guilty of plotting against the Colonies?”

  “A Major Storm was uncovered by Admiral McKay and he was executed for his treason along with four other conspirators. You are promoted one grade and the Colonies applaud your good work.”

  Vickie smiled and replied, “Thank you Sir!” Vickie left the Admiral’s office and rejoiced in the Major’s death. But…she found it hard to believe he was a traitor. She knew him and never had he given any indication of not being loyal to the Colonies. Is it possible he took a fall for Admiral Bellemy? It certainly wasn’t past Admiral Bellemy to do it. She thought about it and then considered that Devin had set the Major up. Was Devin capable of doing it? She blew out a breath and decided he wasn’t. Four other traitors were executed, and that showed Mark must have been guilty; Devin would never allow four innocent men to die just to kill Mark. She snickered as she realized that she would have allowed a hundred innocent men to die for the opportunity to kill him. But Devin wasn’t like her. She smiled; she was now a full Commodore and the Captain she had her eyes on was showing interest; her future looked bright.

  • • •

  Devin waited and knew he would be called in to report to the First Assistant. His mission was effectively over, and he struggled with what he was going to say. He contacted Charlotte and she offered a suggestion. Devin smiled and was amazed at her insight into his next steps.

  Devin arrived at the First Assistant’s office and waited for an hour before he was called in. The First Assistant smiled and said, “You’ve done an excellent job Admiral. I’ve been thinking about how to use you on other tasks.”

 
“May I make a suggestion?” The First Assistant’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded. “We know that information about our warships have been fed to Britannia and they probably have learned about our stealth scanner.” The First Assistant’s eyes opened wider and Devin rushed ahead, “That really won’t make a difference in the final outcome of any hostilities.”

  “How can you say that? They’ll be able to detect our ships!”

  “That just places us on an even footing and we far outnumber their forces.” Devin replied. “In the end, we will win any war that takes place.”

  “What is your suggestion Admiral?”

  “I believe that I can be a large asset if you allow me to take the undetectable ship I used to go to Britannia and listen to the thoughts of the crews on their ships. I can determine if they’ve managed to duplicate the stealth scanner and if they have any other technology we don’t know about.”

  “That’s extremely dangerous if they do have the stealth scanner.”

  Devin shook his head, “The stealth scanner cannot detect that ship, First Assistant. It has no metal in its hull and the energy it uses is below the threshold of detectability. I will need some modifications to the ship to insure anything I uncover can be communicated.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “I need a telepathic communicator installed so I can contact you instantly if I find anything dangerous to the Colonies.”

  “That might lead to your discovery and death Admiral.”

  Devin’s eyes narrowed and he said firmly, “Losing my life to defend the Colonies is a small price to insure its survival.”

  “We can assign a ship to be a contact for you.”

  “If Britannia has the stealth scanner, they will see the ship and might intercept my messages to it. I will, however, need a ship to drop me off close to Britannia, so I won’t waste any fuel carrying out my mission.”

  The First Assistant knew the Prime Minister was nervous about having a powerful telepath near him and had instructed him to assign Devin to a task away from Fleet Operations. This idea met the Prime Minister’s concerns and this telepath just might uncover something valuable. He smiled and said, “Your suggestion is a good one Admiral. Prepare your ship for your mission and try to stay safe.”

  “Thank you First Assistant. I’ll notify you when I leave.”

  “That would be good.”

  • • •

  Devin went to his ship and flew it to the construction hanger where the Stealth Scout was stored. He met the Lead Engineer and began issuing orders. The last order he gave the engineer was to remove the remote self-destruct mechanism and make it operate manually. The engineer didn’t question his orders; this was a Senior Fleet Admiral and he was going to make sure he left happy. Devin left the construction hangar and flew out into open space. He contacted Charlotte and said, “They bought it.”

  “When will you be leaving?”

  “The Lead Engineer insists the scout will be ready in a week.”

  “I’m going to miss your updates,” Charlotte replied.

  “I’d rather hoped you were missing me.”

  Charlotte chuckled, “Same thing. Be careful and stay safe.”

  “You do the same.”

  Devin flew back to New Sydney’s space port and turned his ship in to Fleet Control. He took a shuttle back to the construction hangar and watched everything being done to his new scout. He had the power system updated with a stronger unit and modified the uniform he’d wear with direct controls to the ship. At the end of the week, he notified the First Assistant that he was leaving and was called in for a meeting. The First Assistant met him in his office without a delay, which was unusual and immediately said, “I’m assigning you a mission to determine if Britannia has our stealth scanner on their ships. We don’t care about looking for other technology they might have.”

  Devin acted surprised, “You don’t want me checking on any additional technology they might have Sir?”

  “If they don’t have the scanner, nothing else they have will be important,” the First Assistant replied.

  “There’s a good possibility that I will be detected sending a message back to you. I probably won’t be able to scout them afterwards.”

  “Admiral that is a risk we feel needs to be made. Are you willing to do it?”

  Devin nodded, “Yes First Assistant. And if I don’t survive this mission, I thank you for the opportunity to serve the Colonies against its enemies.” Devin stood up and then turned back to the First Assistant, “I do ask that you not tell any of our scouts about my presence at Britannia.”

  “Why not?”

  “If Britannia does have the stealth scanner, then they know about our scouts and have been keeping track of them. You know Britannia has strong telepaths and there’s no certainty that they aren’t able to listen in to our scouts. If Britannia learns about my undetectable scout, they will be looking for me to arrive.” The First Assistant thought about it and Devin added, “It’s probably not an issue but I don’t see why we should take the risk.”

  “We’ll do it as you suggest. Good luck Admiral. Try to survive and make it back. I’m certain after this episode is settled, you will be a hero of the Colonies.”

  “Thank you, First Assistant but all I will have done is just my duty.”

  “What you’re doing is a lot more important than you know Admiral. You deserve any recognition you receive for your actions.” Devin went to attention, saluted the First Assistant, and left his office. The First Assistant watched him leave and smiled. This telepath would never be mentioned; it wouldn’t do for the citizens in the Colonies to know that Britannia was being spied on before the coming conflict. The First Assistant adjusted the thought blocking helmet and was looking forward to the Admiral leaving so he could stop wearing it.

  • • •

  The large scout transport arrived inside Britannia’s star system and the pilot turned to Devin, “I can move you in closer if you want.”

  “No, this is close enough. Thanks for the ride and you’re free to go once I clear your ship.”

  “Thank you Sir. Stay safe.”

  Devin shrugged, “I’ll do my best to survive. You do the same.”

  The pilot nodded and watched Devin leave the bridge for the small bay. The Prime Minister had suggested the Scout place a tracker on Devin’s ship, but the First Assistant had recommended against it. “Why do you not want to do it?”

  “Sir, the Telepath has watched his ship being prepared and if we put a tracker on it, he’ll know.”

  “Just have the pilot ferrying him out to Britannia do it.”

  “And the only way for the Telepath not seeing that the pilot did it is to have the Pilot wear a thought blocking helmet which will raise the Telepath’s suspicions. He’s proven his loyalty to the Colonies, and we aren’t certain that any tracker put on his ship might be detected by Britannia’s ships.”

  The Prime Minister chuckled, “You do see things I miss; good work.”

  “I’m glad that he’s left so I can take off this helmet. I don’t see how you can wear it all the time.”

  “You’d get used to it after a few years. You should consider continuing to wear it.”

  “I think I’m safe in my shielded office. I will agree to wear it outside of this building.”

  The Prime Minister nodded and left the First Assistant’s office.

  • • •

  Gemini looked at his Executive Officer and blew out a harsh breath, “What do you think about these orders?”

  Jacob Tobin raised a shoulder, “It’s obvious that the one who came up with them has absolutely no combat experience. Are you going to follow them?”

  “Do you think I have a choice?!” Gemini snorted.

  Jacob stared at Gemini and shook his head. Gemini stood up and went to the viewport in his office. He stared out in silence and Jacob asked, “What are you thinking Sir?”

  Gemini shook his head, “I’m in command of all th
e Colonies’ fleets but I have no authority to do what needs to be done. Bellemy knows my concerns about Britannia possessing technology we know nothing about, and he has ordered that each Fleet Commander will be responsible for training their individual fleets. He’s hamstrung me in getting our fleets ready for the coming fight. He wants us to attack with no backing out no matter what we run into.”

  “Do you honestly think Britannia will be a real threat?”

  “That’s just it; I don’t have enough information to know. I’ve insisted that we send scouts out to the other side of the core to look around and Bellemy vetoed doing it; he says sending more scouts only runs the risk of them being detected.”

  “But our ships are supposed to be invisible.”

  “And Bellemy says that so is Britannia’s and that we won’t run the risk.”

  “But he knows we have the stealth scanner?”

  “Jacob, I don’t believe Admiral Bellemy can tie two different thoughts together if his life depended on it and if you point out the failing in his reasoning, he will discipline you for insubordination.” Gemini paused and turned from the Viewport, “One thing I do know; the Admirals that led us in prior wars were all from Britannia and Bellemy has been notified that Britannia knows we are scouting them.”

  Jacob’s expression changed as he said, “They know we’re planning to attack them.”

  Gemini nodded, “They at the very least know that the Colonies are planning something against them. I suspect they’ve known it from the start and have been preparing for it.”

  “But we’ve not had scouts at Britannia for that long!”

  Gemini sat down in his chair and looked at Jacob intently before saying, “What I’m about to share with you must remain between you and me.” Jacob nodded. “The Prime Minister has insisted that about nine years ago Britannia shut off all communications with the Colonies and forbade the Colonies to send any ships into Britannia space.”

  “That’s common knowledge Sir.”

  “What if the reverse is true?”

  Jacob’s expression turned serious, “What?”

  “What if it was the Prime Minister who stopped all communications.”