by Ryk Brown
“You’re patched in, sir.”
“Admiral Galiardi, this is Captain Cameron Taylor, commanding officer of the UES Aurora. You are attacking a ship carrying the daughter of the late President Dayton Scott, who has broadcast her claim of heir-to-office. This attack is in direct violation of the United Earth Constitution, as well as EDF policy one seven five, section four, subsection B. This policy demands that you verify the identity of the claimant. Furthermore, by failing to do so, any junior officer near you is required to place you under arrest and assume your responsibilities. I call upon any EDF officer in the position to do so to follow EDF procedures in this matter and place Admiral Galiardi under arrest. If you do not, the admiral and all the forces that follow him, will be considered members of an armed insurrection and will be met with all the force at my disposal, which is considerable. I beg of you, Admiral, do not force me to spill the blood of my own people.”
Talisha Sane pushed her Nighthawk’s nose downward, pressing the jump button on her flight control stick. A moment later, she found herself deep in the Earth’s atmosphere, skimming the tops of buildings and dodging trees as she snaked her way toward the Winnipeg net-hub.
“Multiple contacts,” her AI reported. “Six EDF Super Eagles are attacking the Voss, and six more are defending the QRT Reapers against our P-Seventy-Twos.”
Talisha glanced at her tactical display, checking that the other five Nighthawks in her flight had jumped in behind her. “All right, people. Let’s get those Eagles off the Voss’s back. Weapons free but try to disable only. We don’t want to kill anyone.”
“So we’re just going to play tag with them?” her wingman surmised.
“That’s the idea.”
“That’s a rotten idea.”
“Don’t I know it,” Talisha agreed, adjusting her course to intercept the nearest Super Eagle.
“Cape Town has just jumped into the system,” the tactical officer in the capitol complex command center announced.
“Order her to intercept the Aurora and destroy her,” Admiral Galiardi immediately ordered.
“Admiral, with all due respect, perhaps we should attempt to disable her instead,” Lieutenant Commander Perrin suggested. “She is a considerable asset.”
“Captain Taylor has already demonstrated that she is complicit in this insurrection attempt and has threatened military action against her own people!” the admiral barked.
“More accurately, she begged not to have to fire on her own people.”
Admiral Galiardi glared at the lieutenant commander. “An armed insurrection during a time of war is an act of treason. For all we know, this is an attempt by the Jung to weaken us from within. Now, are you going to follow my orders, or do I need to replace you as well?”
“Cape Town is moving to intercept,” Kaylah warned from the Aurora’s sensor station.
“She’s painting us,” the tactical officer added. “She’s bringing her big guns to bear.”
“He’s just trying to scare us,” Cameron stated.
“Incoming message from the Cape Town,” Ensign Keller reported from the comm-station.
“Stettner?” Cameron asked.
“No designator,” the comms officer replied. “Message reads: Aurora, lower shields and power down weapons, or you will be fired upon. Prepare to receive boarding party.”
“He’s awfully confident,” Cameron decided.
“Cape Town is firing!” Kaylah warned.
“Big guns,” Lieutenant Yuati reported. “Clean miss across our bow.” He looked at the captain. “A warning shot, I’d guess.”
“Next one won’t be,” Cameron surmised.
“Surely he knows that we’ll be difficult to destroy,” the lieutenant commented.
“This is Stettner’s chance to make a name for himself,” Cameron explained. “Besides, he doesn’t have to destroy us. He just has to keep us from backing Miri’s claim.” Cameron glanced at the Cape Town’s track on the tactical display superimposed on the bottom right corner of the main view screen. “Comms, prepare to drop a stealth comm-drone aft, so the Cape Town doesn’t see it.”
“Destination?” Ensign Keller asked.
“Orochi strike group,” Cameron replied. “Send them targeting data for the Cape Town for an immediate missile strike, shield busters only.”
“Loading message,” the comms officer acknowledged.
“Let’s see how cocky Stettner is without shields,” Cameron stated.
“Our shields won’t stand up to her big rail guns for more than a few shots,” Lieutenant Yuati warned.
“I don’t plan to let them,” Cameron replied.
“Where the hell are all these Eagles coming from?” Josh exclaimed as he jinked the Voss hard to port and rolled her over to avoid an incoming air-to-air missile. “I thought we had air cover.”
“They’ve got a lot more fighters than we do,” Nathan reminded Josh. “And Gunyoki fly like tanks in the atmosphere.”
“I have a feeling Galiardi has figured out where your sister’s transmitting from,” Loki surmised as the ship rocked from incoming weapons fire.
“Are our gunners doing anything?” Josh exclaimed.
“Not exactly a picnic for us, either,” Corporal Vasya defended over the intercom.
“Incoming from the Aurora,” Jessica reported from the auxiliary station. “Cape Town is challenging her. Cam’s going to take down Stettner’s shields to teach him a lesson.”
“This is going to escalate quickly,” Nathan sighed, holding on tight as the ship rocked from more weapons fire. “Miri,” he called over comms. “Time for your second broadcast.”
“Holy crap,” Aiden exclaimed from the bridge of his Orochi. “I never thought I’d be ordering a missile strike against an EDF capital ship.”
“I’m so glad I’m just your XO,” Ledge opined.
“Pass the word to all Orochi,” Aiden instructed his comms officer. “Ledge, prepare a full strike package, busters only.”
Ledge took a long breath as he programmed the missile launch control computer. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Secure comm-link from Captain Tegg on Orochi Three,” Ensign Yamma announced from the comm-station. “Sending it to your comm-set.”
Aiden tapped the side of his comm-set. “What’s up, Char?”
“Are you sure about this, Aiden?” she asked over comms.
“Above our pay grade, Char,” he answered. “Besides, we’re just taking out their shields.”
“Thirty seconds to launch point,” Ledge warned from the tactical station.
“Don’t be late, Char,” Aiden added, tapping his comm-set again to end the call.
“I call upon all command-level officers of the Earth Defense Force to honor their oath to protect the Constitution of the United Earth Alliance and obey the orders of their commander-in-chief. I have broadcast my DNA to the entire world, and I offer to provide a live sample for your testing. I only ask that you lay down arms long enough…”
“Turn that off!” the admiral barked.
The communications officer in the capitol complex command center immediately switched off the speaker, silencing the transmission being heard by the entire world.
“What happens if we take out the net-hubs?” he asked his subordinate.
“That would cripple all data comms around the world,” Lieutenant Commander Perrin warned.
“But we’d still have the satellites, right?” the admiral surmised. “We’d still have command and control?”
“Yes, but the planetary economy would come to a stand-still. Banking, stock markets, civilian air navigation, law enforcement, and emergency services all depend on the net,” the lieutenant commander insisted. “Not to mention that doing so would be an act of treason in itself.”
“Do it,” Admiral Galiardi orde
red.
“Admiral…” the lieutenant commander began to object.
“Admiral!” another voice called from the doorway as he entered.
Admiral Galiardi turned toward the exit, spotting Doctor Hellinger held up at the entrance by security. He waved his approval at the guards, allowing the doctor to enter.
“Admiral,” Doctor Hellinger continued as he approached. “I have received Miss Scott-Thornton’s DNA transmission. It is a perfect match to her DNA profile on record. She is Miranda Scott-Thornton.”
“Those results could be faked,” the admiral insisted with a dismissive wave.
“Perhaps, but not without great difficulty,” the doctor argued. “The tests were performed using standard EDF medical DNA scanners. The device ID encoding matches the ID on file for the Aurora’s medical department.”
“It could be from a hair sample,” the admiral argued. “A hair from an old hairbrush or something.”
“The DNA scan was performed on a live being, not a tissue sample. The equipment used for samples is completely different from the equipment used on a live person. The ID coding would show that. It is her.”
“You cannot be certain of this!” Admiral Galiardi barked, nearly losing control of his normally calm demeanor.
“Of course not,” the doctor admitted, “but I am certain enough to testify in court that at this moment in time, it was reasonable to assume that she is who she claims to be.”
Admiral Galiardi glared at the doctor. “Are you challenging me, Doctor?”
Doctor Hellinger stood his ground. “I am merely doing my duty as a doctor and an officer, by providing you with information. What you choose to do with it, I cannot control. However, I should remind you that, as the chief medical officer for the United Earth Alliance, I have certain authorities that you should consider before making your decision.”
Admiral Galiardi turned away from the doctor. “I don’t like challenges, Doctor. Especially during times of crisis.” The admiral raised his hand and snapped his fingers, summoning the guards. “Place the doctor under arrest.”
“On what charge?” Doctor Hellinger demanded.
“Sedition, treason, aiding the enemy…I’ll decide later.”
“Admiral, you cannot do this!” the doctor objected as the guards dragged him away.
Lieutenant Commander Perrin stepped closer to the admiral, keeping his voice low so that only the admiral could hear him. “With all due respect, Admiral, you are violating several EDF policies as well as several laws,” he warned, hoping to persuade his commander to take a more reasonable position. “Doing so could work against you once the current situation is resolved.”
“I will not risk the safety of Earth and the entire alliance on the basis of a single unverified DNA transmission,” Admiral Galiardi replied, his voice equally as discrete.
“Admiral…” the lieutenant commander pressed.
Admiral Galiardi raised his hand, cutting the lieutenant commander off. “You are about to cross a line, Lieutenant Commander, one from which there is no return.”
The tone of the admiral’s voice and the look in his eyes were all the lieutenant commander needed to convince him.
The Cape Town slid into position directly ahead of the Aurora on the same orbital plane. At more than three times the Aurora’s size, she easily dwarfed the ship she was training her main guns upon.
Dozens of flashes of blue-white light appeared on all sides of the massive Protector-class warship, none of them more than a few hundred meters from her shield perimeter. A split second later, the inbound missiles were penetrating the target’s shields.
Flashes of energy inside the Cape Town’s shield perimeter bathed the ship in brilliant, yellow light. The massive dump of energy reached her shield emitters, overloading them until they exploded in showers of sparks. All around the ship, their shields shimmered momentarily, then disappeared.
“Cape Town has lost all shields!” Kaylah announced from the Aurora’s sensor station.
“I guess she doesn’t have layered shields after all,” Cameron surmised.
“Her big guns are locking onto us!” Lieutenant Yuati warned. “They’re charging rails!”
Several pale-blue flashes appeared all about the front of the Cape Town on the main view screen.
“Cape Town is firing!” Kaylah announced.
The view screen flashed as the Aurora’s forward shields took repeated direct hits from the incoming, explosive rail gun rounds, violently rocking the ship.
“I guess we’re not getting any more warning shots,” Cameron stated.
“Forward shields down thirty percent and falling fast!” Kaylah warned.
“Channel all available power to forward shields!” Cameron instructed. “Helm, hard to starboard. Mister Dorsay, jump us twenty kilometers past them as soon as you get a clear jump line. Comms, order the Orochi to launch the second strike, and inform the Voss that we are taking live fire from the Cape Town.” Cameron paused a moment, taking a breath. “This just became a shooting war.”
“My God,” Ensign Yamma exclaimed from the Orochi’s comm-station. “The first strike took out all the Cape Town’s shields!”
Aiden said nothing, equally shocked. He knew the shield busters worked, but they had never taken out all of a target’s shields in a single strike.
“They’re ordering the second strike,” the ensign added in equal disbelief.
Aiden sighed. “Pass the word to the rest of the group,” he instructed. “Second strike in one minute.”
“Aiden,” Ledge objected. “Taking out their shields is one thing, but…”
“Again, above our pay grade,” Aiden reminded him.
“But…”
“We have our orders, Commander.”
“Yes sir,” Ledge acknowledged, calling up the second strike package.
The Aurora lurched violently as a flash of light from their shields filled the bridge.
“Shields down to forty percent!” Lieutenant Yuati warned. “Suggest we target the Cape Town’s big guns!”
“Helm, jump us past the Cape Town!” Cameron ordered. “Her main guns won’t be able to track that fast. They’re for distance, not close-in combat. That’ll buy us half a minute.”
“Cape Town is jumping!” Kaylah warned.
“Belay that!” Cameron instructed, glancing at the mission clock.
“Jump flashes!” Kaylah added. “Second strike! A clean miss! Missiles are headed for the planet.”
“Tactical!” Cameron barked. “Override codes! Detonate those missiles!”
“Detonating second strike missiles,” the tactical officer acknowledged.
“Kaylah, where did the Cape Town jump to?”
“I show her one hundred kilometers ahead, slightly higher orbit,” the sensor officer replied.
“Helm, jump us to a position twenty kilometers off her stern, same altitude,” Cameron ordered. “Comms, another broadcast on all channels and frequencies. I want the whole damn planet to hear this one!”
“All channels and frequencies, aye!” the comms officer replied. “Tied in, ready to broadcast!”
“Admiral Galiardi, by refusing to submit to a legal claim of heir-to-office, and by ordering your forces to fire upon vessels attempting to enforce this rightful claim, you have committed an act of treason against the people of Earth and have, just as you did when you failed to provide support to our allies in the Pentaurus sector, violated your oath as an officer of the Earth Defense Force. Surrender yourself to your junior officers and submit to the rules of the worlds you are sworn to protect, or we will use deadly force against you and all those who defend your illegal actions. To all officers of the Earth Defense Force, I urge you to honor your own oaths and refuse the admiral’s illegal orders. Do not force us to attack you further!”
“Jumpi
ng in three…” the navigator began to count.
“Comms, direct channel to the Cape Town,” Cameron ordered.
“Two…”
“I want to speak to Stettner,” she added.
“One…”
“One moment,” her comms officer replied.
“Jumping!”
Blue-white light flashed across the bridge as the Aurora jumped past the massive Protector-class vessel, taking up a new position twenty kilometers past her, still in Earth orbit.
“Tactical, target her aft main guns, but don’t fire until I give the order,” Cameron instructed.
“Helm, ninety to port and roll twenty, if you please,” Lieutenant Yuati instructed.
Cameron tapped her comm-set again. “Cape Town Actual, Aurora Actual!” she called.
“Ninety to port and roll twenty,” the helmsman acknowledged.
“Aurora Actual, Cape Town Actual,” Captain Stettner’s voice crackled over comms. “Taylor, have you lost your mind!”
“Stand down!” Cameron insisted. “Galiardi has been lying to everyone! The Jung didn’t violate our space! It was a false-flag op by the Dusahn to keep us busy while they invaded the Pentaurus sector!”
There was no response.
“Their main guns are coming around,” Lieutenant Yuati warned. “They’ll have us locked in again in fifteen seconds.”
“Stettner! For once in your life, don’t be a pawn!” Cameron yelled over comms. “No matter how you look at it, Galiardi is committing treason! If you continue to support him, you’ll be just as guilty as he is!”
Again, there was silence.
“Cape Town’s aft rail guns have locked onto us,” Lieutenant Yuati reported. “I have targeted key sections of their jump arrays with our point defense cannons. We should have no problem taking out their jump drive.”
“Goddamn it, Stettner, don’t make me disable you!”
“The universe is not black and white, Taylor,” Captain Stettner finally replied over comms. “That’s always been your problem.”
“Their aft guns are charging rails,” the lieutenant warned.