by Daniel Gibbs
"Then what will you do?" Miri asked.
"If we survive?"
"If we survive, yes."
Caetano shrugged. "I'm not sure. Al-Lahim pledged me sanctuary in the Terran Coalition. I suppose I could move to Brasilia and start a new life." A sly smile came to her face. "I also find space fascinating, so maybe I could do as you did. Become a spacer."
Miri smiled at that herself. "It can be an experience."
"Either way, it'll be something new," Caetano said. "And I'll do it as myself."
12
Pluto Base
Neutral Space
19 August 2560
Chantavit Li arrived at Pluto Base to find everything moving forward with final preparations. The fleet of stolen ships was assembled in formation, while the cruiser Marat and her squadron of military vessels were already gone. He felt approval at that. Regardless of the Gaon situation, the plan was proceeding smoothly, and the League was set to deliver two blows at their opponents.
The fleet was gathered near the rocky moon of the system's fourth planet, a Mars-like world with a greenish coloration. The Trifid Nebula provided a spectacular backdrop due to their proximity to it. Pluto Base itself was a great silver toroid with a central spire connected to the torus by four cylinders. Each end of the spire was tipped by a rectangular module, one for the reactor assembly powering the station and the other for the Socialization facilities necessary to turn the captured crews into members of Society.
After getting approval for his landing approach, Li brought his ship in toward the torus proper. The landing bay was ready for him. After easing through the atmospheric forcefield, Li shut down the vessel and departed.
By the time he stepped out, Commander Aristide was waiting for him. "Commander," he said politely. "All is going according to plan?"
"Of course." She motioned to the door with her right hand. "The Admiral is waiting for us."
Li nodded and followed Aristide through the base. A mag-rail car took them from the torus to the central spire, and it wasn't far from there to Hartford's office. Hartford was seated reading reports when Li entered. Li could immediately tell there was something wrong. "Admiral?" he asked.
"Where is Gaon?" Hartford's expression was stern. "You were supposed to bring her."
"She escaped due to Vitorino's bungling," Li said. "I've ordered our remaining assets on Lusitania to hunt her down."
"Ah. You blame Vitorino, then?"
"It is his fault," Li insisted. "As usual, he's more worried about his personal desires than our mission."
Hartford narrowed his eyes. "He says differently. In fact, he says you bungled the execution of the Shadow Wolf's captain while your people let Gaon escape."
There was something in Hartford's voice that Li didn't like. "Of course, he would blame me. He has no sense of Social responsibility. If he did, his people would have immediately worked with mine. It was their failure that let Gaon escape. As for the Captain of the Shadow Wolf, he was rescued by another party. Coalition Intelligence, I would imagine."
"So, you are deflecting blame onto him." Hartford stood from his chair. "Commander, I am willing to show leeway to subordinates when they fail, if the failure is from circumstances beyond their control. From what I have seen, you cannot claim this. Your failures are from your own overbearing ego and inability to look past your prejudices to those outside of Society. Because of your errors, Miri Gaon is free to pose a threat."
"She's trapped on Lusitania, Admiral," Li insisted. "Vitorino has the system locked down, and he'll never let the Shadow Wolf or any other ship depart. Not with the plan at this stage."
"Arrogant presumption continues to be your greatest flaw, Commander," Hartford said. His controlled expression turned into a scowl. "Vitorino reports the Shadow Wolf departed barely an hour after you did."
Li's eyes widened. "What? That's not possible. It has to be treachery!"
"Vitorino believes Coalition Intelligence arranged a deception that fooled his traffic control personnel. By the time he found out and ordered an intercept, it was too late to intercept the Shadow Wolf." Hartford smiled thinly. "We are fortunate they have little idea what our plan is, but now they know Vitorino is working with us. This is an undesirable complication."
"Should we abort?" asked Aristide. "If our plan is compromised—"
Hartford waved a hand and shook his head. "No, Commander, it's too late to abort. I received word today from Admiral Seville. The Destruction has departed for her rendezvous with the Coalition peace envoy. Operation Ehud has already begun. Our mission must proceed on schedule if we're to take advantage of Seville's actions." Hartford looked back to his monitor and the ships visible outside. "The Q-Ship fleet leaves in two days for Lusitania."
"I'll be ready to go with them," said Li.
"That won't be necessary," Hartford replied. "I'm sending Commander Aristide to oversee the operation. You will replace her as my External Security liaison."
"It's not the military's place to assign External Security officers!" Li protested. "The Director—"
"—agreed with my request," Hartford finished for him, turning to face him. "Your record of the last two weeks has been fairly questionable, Commander, with your repeated failures. You still have allies at External Security who see you as an officer of great Social consciousness, so I can't charge you with incompetence or wrecking, but I have all the justification I need to request your removal from the field phase of this operation."
Li smoldered. But given Aristide's expression, he knew Hartford's arrangements were a done deal. He nodded. "My place is not for me to decide, but society."
"As it is with us all. You are both dismissed."
The two External Security commanders left Hartford's office and entered the corridor outside. Li's smoldering anger was clearly noticed by Aristide, who nodded at him in a way he felt was to show understanding. "The Admiral is greatly worried about this Miri Gaon," she explained. "She caused him a great loss, you may recall. He gives her presence great weight."
Li nodded, and his smoldering turned to disgust. Aristide was being careful due to the system surveillance, but her words told him that Admiral Hartford's concerns about Gaon stemmed from individual considerations, not those of duty. "As long as he does his Social duty, all will be understood," Li said in careful response.
"Indeed."
That made Li grin a little. Hartford might have authority now, but if Internal Security ever had need to investigate his conduct, that would change.
After the operation was completed, Li might have to arrange an investigation.
13
The call came from Chairman Lowell himself. Henry and Miri brought along Tia this time, with the Tokarevs bringing along one of their officers, a Semyon Kuybyshev. They sat at the interview table and noted a larger crowd this time. Presumably, senior Guild officials were asked by their leaders to observe the proceedings.
Once again, the logs were played, during which Henry had nothing to say. He tried to get a read on the Council. They weren't happy, but whether or not it was from some kind of internal division, or simply the results being something they disliked, he couldn't tell.
When it was over, Khan called one of her computer techs in, a man who shared Henry's African ancestry. He spoke English with an accent that Henry figured came from Nyere or one of the other colony worlds settled by Africans before and after the Exodus. "Everyone in the computer division is in agreement," he said. "The logs are genuine."
"Thank you, Mr. Lumwe. You may go."
All attention was now on the interview table. "I've already taken measures to ensure no word of these logs gets out," Mavik informed his colleagues. "But I can't guarantee it remains silent unless the Council approves a complete shutdown of all our interstellar communications equipment."
"That's rather excessive," Tasa said.
"But necessary. We've had League agents on Trinidad before."
Sathasivam nodded. "I'll second the call, but I'd l
ike to rule on whether to act or not."
"Act in what way?" asked Lowell.
"Contribute ships to a fleet to thwart the League," Sathasivam answered. "We can't let them get away with this piracy. Or interfering in Neutral Space politics to this extent."
"I am in agreement," said Dr. Toussaint. "If the evidence is authentic, it's clear the League poses the greater threat."
"We could bring twenty ships from our main force," said Dulaney. "I'll lead them from the Mad Hatter. And we have allies to call in. Discreetly."
"We're in no shape to fight a war," said Tasa. "We reap the storm by confronting the League of Sol."
"It's a storm that's coming anyway, Liri," Lowell said. "The only question is if we can be ready for it. That means preventing whatever it is they're up to." He directed a look at the interview table. "Captain Tokarev, Captain Henry, if we agree to summon our fleet and aligned ships, what can you do to help us?"
"I will bring Cyrilgrad's ships," Tokarev said. "We must stop League, will sacrifice all to do it."
"Personally, I only command the Shadow Wolf," said Henry. "But between my First Mate and a couple other people I'm in contact with, I should be able to cast a wide net to get us some good talent among the independent spacer fleet. Anyone with an armed vessel that can help bring these Q-Ships down. Some of 'em will want a payday from it, but we could get a good amount of salvage, I think."
"The same will be true for all of us," said Dulaney. "Division of spoils will be necessary."
"We need no spoils," Piotr declared. "We fight to stop League. That is all that matters."
"We should have a firm goal in mind. Are we just to reclaim the stolen ships?" asked Mavik.
"Finding out what the League's up to would be nice. And recovering the missing crews," Henry suggested. "If they're still alive, then their testimony will seal the deal. Everyone in Neutral Space willing to listen will know that the League was behind it all."
"Then boarding parties will be necessary," said the old Saurian. He turned to Lowell. "I suggest we send the station militia out with the fleet. Together with whatever the others in the fleet can bring, we can take the ships back. Or a facility, if there is one."
"We bring boarding teams as well," Pavel said.
"We can carry some in our front holds," Henry offered. He was answered by nods.
"Shall we call for a vote, then?" Sathasivam asked. Henry saw him staring over the heads of those at the interview table. He glanced back into a gathering of stern expressions. These people believed in the evidence, and they were ready to act on that.
Lowell nodded his assent and Sathasivam made one immediately. Khan seconded. One by one, the hands of the station's guild leaders rose, the applause and approval from the gallery growing louder as they did. Tasa's came up last, as it was clear the Tal'mayan woman wasn't interested in the expedition but recognized the necessity of keeping a united front with her colleagues.
"Commodore Dulaney." Lowell turned his attention to the Spacer Guild leader. "In light of this ruling, the Council requests you make ready your ships. Secretary Ts'shris, the Council asks the Security Guild to call up the station defense militias. And, shut down all interstellar communications as of now."
"It will be done," Mavik answered.
"The fleet will make ready," Dulaney added. He glanced around the table. "Captains, I'd like you to attend our war councils. It'll take a day for me to gather all our ships in. We'll hold our first meeting tomorrow."
"We'll be honored to attend," answered Henry.
Piotr nodded in agreement.
Henry finally got out of the initial war council meeting and went to the lift back to the docking arms. The ride back gave him a chance to consider the outcome of the war council. Basic command and control was established, at least with every captain present so far agreeing to follow Dulaney's lead. Whether any new arrivals would do the same remained to be seen. The Tokarevs provided findings from one of their supporting scientists on how deflectors interacted with the EMP cannons. This would allow them to strengthen their deflectors against those weapons, a critical edge, given how capable the weapons were.
With the commitments they could confirm so far, the estimate was that they'd have at least fifty ships with them. Old military surplus, militarized civilian ships, salvaged ships; it would be an ad hoc force that would defy any organized tactical formation he knew in the CDF. They’d have to make up for it in other ways.
Which worried him. There were at least two League military ships out there: the cruiser Miri saw when the Kensington Star was taken and the Cobra that tried to intercept them at TR-778. Odds were they were part of a squadron of at least four ships, maybe five or even six. If they intervened, then the fleet as it was now might be in huge trouble. Military starships had the defenses and firepower to easily defeat most of the vessels present. A cruiser could overcome any of them. It would take everything they were projected to have to put down such a military detachment, and victory would rely heavily on the benefits of inverse-square laws—which would be undermined if any of the captains weren't willing to accept orders.
The lift came to a stop, and Henry walked on down the pathway to the repair dock where his ship was located. He felt thankful that Vitorino's payment had been an irrevocable funds transfer, since it gave him plenty to pay for repairs—and the station, while cooperating with him on the League issue, was not in a position to give him anything for free. It also let him give everyone a break by hiring a full repair team from the dockworkers to do all of the rewiring and fuse replacements to deal with the lingering effects of the League EMP weapon.
Two members of the repair team were busy on the exterior of his ship using the gantry cradle to fix the unseen hull breach in the stern hold. Two more were putting a fresh coating of material on the surface of the ship while Yanik observed. Henry stepped up beside him and asked, "Anything special?"
"A member of the Morozova crew provided us with new field settings for our deflectors," Yanik answered. "It will, we believe, increase their effectiveness against the electromagnetic weapon."
"Hope it works." Henry said that and, much to his chagrin, let out a yawn. He rubbed at his eyes while Yanik's yellow eyes focused on him. "Yeah, I think it's time for some rest."
"You have done much, Captain, and there is much more to do. Get your rest. Felix and I will see to the repairs."
"Thanks." Henry continued, stifling another yawn as he did. Just as he reached the airlock hatch, he turned. "Has Samina gotten her stuff out yet?"
"She informed me she would wait until near departure. She wishes to help with repairs."
"Well, no harm there," Henry said. "But make sure she's off the ship before we leave."
"It will be done. And you, Captain, should go to your bunk now, before you think of other things you wish done."
Henry chuckled. "Yeah, I probably should," he agreed before turning back into the airlock.
At the table in her suite, Ascaro gave her children a heartfelt goodbye, even as little Carmen urged her Mama to let her come and stay with her. To the request, she shook her head. "Not yet." The sadness in her voice betrayed her desire to say otherwise. "You can come back later, when it's safe."
Martzel quickly ushered the children away. He disappeared for a time before there was a distant sound of a door shutting. He returned moments later. "How are you doing?" he asked. "Truthfully?"
"I am either on the verge of accomplishing everything I dreamed of or I’m in a trap I can't escape," she answered honestly. "I'm working sixteen hours a day running four important ministries while trying to keep our planet's economy from collapsing. I have RSS guards outside of my door at all times. For my protection, of course."
"Of course." He kept his tone level, but the look on his face made it clear Martzel knew what she meant. "I'll reassure our friends of your health."
"Please do that," she said. "The secrecy will lift soon enough anyway. Vitorino is holding a rally and press conference to
announce the Emergency Government's membership and call the elections."
"I can come be with you."
"No," she urged. "Not yet. Not until I know for sure what is going on." Vargas is worried about something, but what? "Stay in Zalain until I call for you. The children need you more than I."
"We all need you, Paulina," Martzel insisted. "Please don't push us away."
"I’ll do what I must to protect you," she insisted. "I promise I will call you back to Gamavilla when it's safe. Until then, pray for us all, my love."
Martzel clenched his jaw as if to begin arguing. "Damn your job," he finally sputtered. "Please, Paulina, don't make yourself a martyr. Lusitania doesn't deserve you."
"Maybe not, but then it's my job to make her a place that deserves me," she assured him. "Goodbye."
She cut the line just in time. The doors to the suite opened, and RSS agents stepped in. A third agent, a woman, pushed in a cart with Ascaro's meal on it. "I've scanned it, Madame Minister. All is safe."
"Thank you." Ascaro tried to remain polite to the RSS agent, even if she couldn't help but see her as a jailor more than a protector. "Your name is…?"
"Generally speaking, Madame Minister, we do not personalize with our subjects," the woman answered. "As I am aware of your dim views of my organization, however, allow me to introduce myself to ease your mind. I am Senior Agent Camila Palmeiro, and I command the security detachment protecting your person."
"Senior Agent Palmeiro." Ascaro nodded. "I hope you understand why my views of the RSS are as 'dim' as they are?"
"You believe us thugs out to crush our own people. It is unfair, Madame Minister, very unfair. We sign up to protect our world."