"I appreciate that," said Ana. "I'm sure I'll be much safer." Ana thought that if she was going be spending a lot of time with Tonya, she was going to have a talk with Hrothgar about what was and wasn't okay for them as a married couple.
"Ana," Mandor asked, "will Dr. Mason and Dr. Bauval be joining you?"
"I'm afraid not," Ana said. "They had business they couldn't get away from." Actually, they had been furious that she was going on the trip. Amber had put her foot down and said that if Ana was going to do something this foolish; she was going to have to do it without her. Ana had said okay and gone to pack. She wasn't sure if Amber had been more hurt or shocked. Pierre had looked solemn as she left, but he'd agreed that she had to do what she thought was right. Ana thought he might have been a bit proud of her, but he was going to stay with Amber.
Mandor nodded. "Then we can get down to business." He gestured for everyone to sit. "Cedeforthy is in a very delicate position right now. The Earth Federation is making noises about taking the planet back, and everyone is on edge. First and foremost, we have offered union with the Concord to Cedeforthy, but there are a couple of problems."
"I thought the emperor had accepted," said Ana.
"He has, but that's one of the problems, actually. The charter of the Sentient Concord mandates that the worlds of the Concord have a representative government, not a monarchy." Jeroen stirred uncomfortably at that. "In addition, the planet is not unified. Nanak can make agreements that the Lyonan Empire will join, but what about the rest of the planet? There is also the problem of your people, Ana."
"Why are they a problem?"
"Because the charter of the Concord also states that on planets with indigenous peoples, everyone must agree to union. The humans of the Lyonan Empire can say yes, but unless the Taelantae also agree, Cedeforthy cannot be included in the Concord."
"But they are subjects of the Empire," Jeroen interjected.
"Which goes back to the problem of empires not being acceptable," Mandor replied.
"This sounds like an impossible task," said Captain Mellouk. "If the planet isn't unified, then the Concord can't really offer them union, right?"
"Essentially, you're correct," Mandor said. "Right now, Cedeforthy is sitting in a grey area. The Senate passed a resolution to make it a protectorate of the Concord. We are trying to guide Cedeforthy toward union with the Concord thorough education and economic ties, but until the planet is unified, we can't really offer full citizenship."
"So I'm not a citizen," Ana said, annoyed. She had worked hard to become a part of the Concord. It seemed to her that this was just another way to keep her people down.
"You were granted citizenship here on Dawn," said Mandor. "You're also a citizen of Cedeforthy."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Ambassador Nu'Falla, on Cedeforthy, has been in talks with Emperor Nanak about committing to a representative government."
"He can't do that!" said Jeroen. "How would we ever keep peace? It just won't work!"
"Not at first, no," Mandor said. "Not at first, but it will in time. The current plan is centered on education. We've been building schools and hospitals. You have to understand, this isn't my plan, or my area of expertise, but it is a long-term plan. It will take decades for everything to fall in place."
"I still don't understand why you want me," Ana said.
"Nanak wants you to convince your people that they can and should go to school. Before a representative government can be put in place, the population has to be educated. Nanak is going to assume the role of planetary governor in addition to that of emperor. As planetary governor of a protectorate world, he has the power to enforce Concord law on everyone on the planet."
"He is going to conquer the world?"
"Yes, and we are going to help him do it."
Tonya stirred uncomfortably.
"Something to say, Commander?'
"This doesn't seem right, Admiral."
Mandor shrugged. "Not my decision, to be honest. I've seen the analysis done by the government machine intelligence; in the long run, the loss of life will be diminished considerably if we go this route. With Concord intervention, loss of life will be under one percent."
"Please tell me that I don't have to be a part of that."
"As far as I know," Mandor said. "There are no plans for direct intervention by Concord troops, Harris. We'll supply equipment and training to the Lyonan army. Once the planet is unified, we'll be ready to assist in the transition."
"I think the commander has a point, Admiral," said Captain Mellouk. "This is awfully imperialistic for the Concord."
"Yes, it is, but that was the decision of the Senate. I've spoken to Admiral Macklin about this as well," Mandor said. "He thinks that this is likely training."
"Training?"
"The Earth Federation is tearing itself apart right now. He thinks that its collapse is inevitable. I agree, although it will take decades and be very blood and violent as it happens. The bottom line is that there are a lot of worlds that are going to need a government, Cedeforthy is the test-bed for the plan to bring the worlds of the Federation into the Sentient Concord."
"Is that why the Federation is anxious to stop us?" asked Tonya.
"No. We don't think they actually care about Cedeforthy, only what we’ve found in the system."
"Found?"
"The Nurgg were in the system because of a massive installation in the upper atmosphere of the system's gas giant. It's of Achenar construction, and as yet, we have no idea what it does. Captain Viknorov of the Arcturus thinks that it may be an advanced weapons research facility. We have scientists pouring over it. The Federation has to know about it by this time. It could give us a significant advantage in a conflict."
Tonya nodded. "I can certainly see why they wouldn't be happy about us having it."
"There is other technology in the system, too, that we don't think the Federation knows about. There is ancient equipment on Cedeforthy that isn't of Achenar make."
"Was it made by my people?" Ana asked astutely.
"We believe so."
"What kind of equipment are we talking about?" asked Tonya.
"The archaeological evidence suggests that about fifteen thousand years ago, the Taelantae fought a war against the Theta on Cedeforthy."
"And you think they won?" Tonya said.
"We think they built a system of machines that disrupted the abilities of Thetas," Mandor replied. "We don't know how yet. They did win the war, but only at great cost. Their civilization was destroyed in the process, but the Taelantae survived. The Thetas were put into containment vessels and sealed away. We have to know how this technology worked, and to do that we need to have full access to the planet. We need this union as much as Cedeforthy does, and we are going to make it work."
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Centaur translated out of hyperspace just four light-minutes from Vesuvius, the third planet orbiting the bright, hot yellow dwarf star of the system. The secondary star, tiny, white and only fifteen percent of the mass of Sol, orbited nine hundred million kilometers from the primary. The smaller star was far enough away not to affect the transit. It was still dangerous to come in so close to the primary in an uncharted system, and Captain Singh had pushed his ship right to edge of the safety zone. His navigator had brought the Centaur in a little too close to the inner edge of the hyperlimit, and the ship lurched and bucked its way through translation.
"Talk to me!" Singh demanded.
"We've got damage alarms throughout the ship, Captain," Mary Santiago reported. "We've lost thirty percent of our negative energy nodes and have buckled hull plates all along the port side of the ship. Armor integrity is down forty percent. We also lost atmospheric integrity in the shuttle bay. No serious casualties have been reported."
"Thank the gods for that," said Singh. "What is our position relative to our target?"
"Our position is actually very good, sir," Chief Madison said. "
I know it was dangerous, but we've essentially jumped out right on top of the planet. Even with the loss of some of our nodes, we'll be in orbit in just under fifteen minutes."
"McCray?"
"I'm reading two Empire destroyers in orbit. They are both Lidskjalf class. I'm not detecting any other mobile power sources in the system. There do not appear to be any fixed orbital defenses," said the chief petty officer, relief clear in his voice. Orbital defenses would have been very bad news for them.
"Let's go to full alert and power up the weapons, shall we?"
"Yes, sir," Santiago said grimly. She punched the alert button and fitted her helmet onto her head. The ship had been at a high readiness level since just before they jumped in, which probably accounted for the few casualties from their insanely dangerous jump into realspace. The crew had known the transit would be dangerous and had been prepared, minimizing the injuries.
"Well, they've seen us now, Captain. The two destroyers are bringing up their engines to full power. It's going to take them a few minutes; they were both cold."
"Alter course to bring our weapons to bear, but continue to decelerate," Singh ordered. "And keep our port side away from their missiles, if you can."
"Aye, sir," replied Madison. "I'm altering course now to enter hyperbolic orbit around Vesuvius. We'll reach relative rest with the planet in eleven-point-six minutes."
"We'll be within our optimal missile range in just under eight minutes," McCray added. "We'll be in range of the missiles from the enemy destroyers thirty seconds after that."
"They're getting started slower than I expected," Santiago said as the ponderous Empire vessels began to pull away from the planet.
"Those Lidskjalf-class ships don't have much inertial dampening," said Madison. "They're barely making a hundred gravities. I'd estimate they're pushing ten gees aboard ship – they'll have some deaths from that."
Singh studied the plots on his air screens. "Helm, alter course to take us around the larger of those moons. We should be in missile range just before we pass behind them. That should add a few seconds to their firing solutions."
"Aye, sir."
The Federation destroyer was larger and better armed than either of the Empire vessels, but two on one were never good odds. Anything that gave his ship the slightest advantage had to be taken.
"The Empire ships are reversing course to maintain firing solutions, sir."
"Much good may it do them," Singh said. The Empire ships had figured out that leaving the planet defenseless wasn't the best idea. Singh had been hoping they would continue to accelerate away from it. It would have given him time to launch his assault force before engaging them.
"Sir," said Lieutenant Mitchell, "I'm getting a transmission from the destroyers."
"Let me hear it," Singh answered.
The speaker's accent was thick but understandable. "Unknown Federation vessel, this is Captain Erika Myrkjartan in command of the Imperial Starship Hrimfaxi. You are trespassing in Empire space in violation of the Treaty of 2930. You will enter orbit and surrender your vessel immediately."
"I guess that means they haven't broken our transponder codes," Singh said. The Empire captain hadn't named the Centaur in the transmission; the enemy ships didn't know exactly who was attacking. May as well make it official, he thought. "Open a channel, Lieutenant."
"Channel open, sir."
"This is Captain Hiran Singh of the FSS Centaur. The Hrimfaxi and –" he glanced at his displays "– the Balmung are ordered to stand down immediately and prepare to be boarded. The attack against the Federation world of Serendipity at Pi Orionis has been traced back to this system. We are here as police forces tracking war criminals. Under provision twenty-seven of our governments' treaty, we are authorized to track criminals through each other's space. Any aggression against this starship from yours, and we will be forced to assume that you are culpable in the crimes against our planet. Under those circumstances, we will respond with deadly force."
"What proof do you have of our involvement in this attack you speak of, Captain Singh?" the Empire captain asked. She had a curiously light soprano voice, at odds with her guttural accent. "What is it you think to achieve with just one ship?"
"Your involvement is something we are here to investigate. We require access to your ship logs and navigational data. As to what we wish to achieve, well, restitutions, for a start, Captain. We had millions of civilian casualties on Serendipity."
"Onde ånder," Captain Myrkjartan muttered.
A countdown timer appeared on Singh's display. He had no idea what the captain had said, and didn't really care.
"You are now running out of time, Captain," he said. "I recommend that you stand down your vessels, or I will have to consider this admittance to your guilt in the matter."
"Sir, they've closed the channel."
"They are opening missile ports and powering up weapons, Captain."
"I guess we have our answer, sir," said Santiago.
"Indeed we do," he answered. "Opening their missile ports is certainly a sign of aggression. Guilty or not, we'll be fighting them now. Chief McCray, you may fire when in range. Try to disable the ships rather than destroy them, but don't take any chances with them by trying to be too nice."
"Yes, sir." Singh could hear the chief and his crew issuing commands to the battle computers. They would be concentrating fire on the Balmung first, since it was closest.
Captain Singh felt the shudder through the ship as the countdown reached zero and eight high-velocity missiles launched from the Centaur's forward tubes. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He'd just ordered an attack that might start a war, not to mention the loss of human life involved.
"Missiles away, Captain," McCray said unnecessarily.
"Deploy a stealthed recon drone," Singh ordered.
"We'll be passing around the alpha moon in six seconds," said Madison.
"Drone away, sir."
The drone relayed information on the relative positions of the enemy ships and missiles, in real time, to the Centaur via entangled-pair communications as the Centaur passed out of direct line of sight of the enemy ships. The drone was so small – barely thirty centimeters – it was unlikely, given the poor relative technology levels, that the Empire ships could even detect it.
"They're launching counter missiles, sir."
"Lock our primary cannon onto those launchers and fire as we clear the moon."
"Yes, sir. We should have firing solution in –" McCray paused to consult his screens "–three-point-two seconds, Captain."
The Centaur came out from behind the moon moving at better than six thousand kilometers per second. The enemy ships were dropping behind the planetary horizon, shedding the velocity from their abortive burn.
Four two-meter-diameter beams of linear photons slashed out at the Empire ships. Intense as those beams were, the ships could take it. Thermal superconductor radiated the induced heat away from the line of contact to be dissipated evenly across the hull, but delicate sensors and external weapons mounts were vaporized. Defensive fire capability suddenly dropped, and the two surviving missiles from the Centaur struck the Balmung at almost ten percent of the speed of light.
Each of those missiles had separated into five twenty-five-megaton fusion warheads just before impact. The armor and thermal protection of the ship shattered under the combined blasts, and the fusion warheads vaporized the entire forward half of the ship. The Balmung tore itself apart with secondary explosions before the fusion engines lost containment and plasma enveloped the wreckage.
Singh frowned; he hadn't intended to kill so many of the enemy personnel with the attack. He hadn't wanted to kill any of them at all, but then, he hadn't exactly expected them to surrender, either. Maybe the other ship would back off now that they knew they were outmatched.
"We've got incoming!" Upper Shipmate Dimitri Bjorgan suddenly exclaimed. "Twenty missiles inbound from the planet." He was one of McCray's weapons crewmemb
ers.
"Counter missiles!" Singh shouted. None of his plans had counted on the planet having missile defenses. Fleet Intelligence had assured him that it didn't. He should have known better than to rely on them. He hoped it wouldn't cost him the lives of his crew.
"Counter missiles away, sir. T-minus twenty-two seconds."
Singh tensed as the electronic countermeasures and decoy launchers went to full power. The missiles on his plot were just the first wave from the planet; another wave was launching, and the other destroyer would be coming back around the planet in less than a minute.
"Do you have a fix on those groundside launchers?" asked Singh.
"Yes, sir," McCray answered.
"Kill them, please, Guns."
McCray smiled at the appellation despite the tension. "Missiles away, sir, maximum burn. Computer is locking on with the defensive batteries."
Electronic countermeasures and decoys disabled the target lock or distracted six of the incoming missiles. Counter missiles did even better, destroying another twelve. The remaining two got within twenty thousand kilometers of the Centaur before the defense lasers overcame the enemy missiles' ECM and targeted them.
One of the missiles was vaporized harmlessly, but the other detonated, and the Centaur bucked as if it had been hit by the wrath of Shiva.
Damage klaxons shrieked throughout the bridge, and Singh felt the telltale tightening of his pressure suit that marked the loss of the ship's atmosphere.
"What the hell was that?" Singh demanded, even as another wave of counter missiles left his ship.
"Graser beam, sir. Fission-bomb-pumped gamma-ray laser warhead, to be more accurate," McCray answered grimly. "High-yield fission warhead, by the way."
"The beam tore through the forward decks," reported Santiago. "It missed vital systems on the starboard side, but passed through the crew quarters before hitting the forward starboard fusion reactor. The reactor went critical and was ejected. Damage control teams are en route."
"Damn it!" Singh said.
Fission warheads hadn't been used by the Federation in over a hundred years. They were dirty weapons, impossible to safely store and transport. Graser warheads were even nastier, using the energy of an atomic explosion and funneling a high percentage of it into a focused beam of streaming neutrons. The entire beam path through his ship would be radioactive, and Singh had little hope that anyone along that path was still alive.
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