by Eric Thomson
“The attacks north and south of the capital in battalion strength should focus their interest,” Verrill glanced at his timepiece, “starting in about three hours.”
“Only if they don’t realize they’re diversions. At some point, the radio silence from Tianjin is bound to trigger some bright analyst’s bullshit detectors.”
An impish smile appeared on Verrill’s face.
“If Tran can secure the entire garrison, he’ll ask Steiger to simulate a panic that mirrors what’ll come from Holback, Oshin, and the other targets.”
“What is it today that people don’t bother telling me about these changes to the plan,” Decker grumbled.
“A last minute idea that Tran brought up just before he set out. He said it was something you’d do, given the chance.”
“Hah.” The Marine laughed. “That’s what I get for having pulled the same crap on my superiors back in the day. Good luck to them, in that case.”
He banked the combat car around a sharp curve, and then crossed the Yangtze River on a stone bridge that led straight into Tianjin.
Though the streets seemed quiet, Decker saw plenty of armed men and women standing in the shadows, watching and waiting.
They pulled into the freight yard through the open gate just as the last of the troops detailed to protect the mortar battery were climbing aboard personnel pods interspersed between the larger cargo pods from which the large caliber tubes would fire at their target.
When he’d ridden the rail weeks earlier, Decker had noticed that the pods could be opened not only on either side to make loading and unloading easier but also on top, and that’s what had given him the first spark of an idea.
Bringing twelve of the heavy Shrehari artillery pieces within effective range of the government precinct, unseen, hidden inside a freight train turned mobile gun platform, lay at the heart of the plan. A passenger train would follow immediately behind, carrying a large assault force, while all over the settlement area, including within Iskellian itself, small groups of sympathizers, stiffened by guerilla detachments, answered the call to arms.
Decker landed the combat car on the roof of a passenger pod immediately behind the power unit and locked it in place with magnetic grapples.
Moments later, the long string of metallic pods began moving west along the single rail shimmering faintly under the light of the stars. After the requisite safety interval, the second train followed. Soon, both were traveling at maximum speed towards Iskellian and what would either be a new beginning for Garonne or the end of the independence movement.
**
A soft but insistent chime jerked Colonel Harend out of a dream that involved his taking command of the Celeste National Guard in a ceremony dripping with bizarrely barbarian splendor. He tapped the screen by his bed with a fingertip, glad that Kozlev had opted to sleep in her own quarters once they’d sated each other’s appetite.
“What?”
“Sir, it’s Major Alegre. I’m in the ops center. We’ve been receiving contact reports from all over the place. Patrols catching sight of colonists up and about in the middle of the night, traveling in groups and in some cases appearing armed.”
Harend was instantly awake.
“From all garrisons?”
“Yes, sir.”
He jumped out of bed and got dressed.
“Alegre, put everyone on alert. It may be nothing, and if it is, we’ll call it a training exercise. I want a full report from each commanding officer.”
“Do you think the rebels are preparing to attack, sir?”
“No, dammit they’re just rehearsing for the next colony-wide half-marathon.” He stared into the video pickup and snarled. “Of course the bastards are up to something. Wake the command group and call them together, then institute a radio check with each garrison every fifteen minutes.”
“Acknowledged.”
The screen went dark.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Harend cursed while he fastened his tunic. “It’s just my damn luck that the rebels are launching something at the same time as my first false flag operation.”
When he entered the ops center, Major Alegre looked up, his face ashen.
“The Holback garrison just came under effective mortar attack, and some of their street patrols have been ambushed by armed rebel groups. They’re screaming for assistance.”
“Are we sure it’s not our people who somehow forgot to dial in the right target?”
“The local CO says it feels heavy like it’s not a hit and run but a sustained effort to knock them out, so I’d say no.”
Harend went over to the map projection. Small red icons were rapidly popping up to mark the increasing number of spots where enemy contact had been and still was being reported. So far, it seemed localized in Holback, but it was bound to spread. Coordinating attacks over wide distances could be difficult even with the best commo gear, which the rebels didn’t yet have.
He opened his mouth to ask for more details when Alegre, standing behind one of the duty operators’ shoulder, spoke.
“Oshin now reports that it’s under effective mortar attack as well, with patrols getting ambushed in the streets.”
Kozlev stormed into the ops center and joined Harend by the map.
“What the heck is going on, sir? I’m getting screams from my operatives, warning that the rebels have triggered a general revolt.”
“I thought you’d assured me no later than yesterday that all of the intelligence you’ve collected so far indicates the rebels don’t have the numbers or the weight of weapons to risk throwing everything away on a premature rising.”
He nodded at the map.
“So far, two district headquarters report coming under heavy fire. I expect to hear the same from Tianjin momentarily. In fact, I’m surprised it wasn’t the first to be attacked, seeing as it’s on the edge of bandit country.”
Kozlev stared at her CO for a few seconds, and then shook her head.
“I’m willing to bet they seized Tianjin before the garrison could call for help. It’s the one place at which they can throw the better part of their force.” She turned to the operations officer. “When did Tianjin last report?”
“Fifteen minutes ago. Why?”
“Who was on the other end?”
“The duty sergeant, Steiger. One of yours I believe.”
“And she reported nothing unusual? No rebel activity?”
“None.”
Harend glanced at her with a grim expression.
“If you’re about to tell me one of your specialists has gone over to the rebels or was one of them all along, spare me. Instead, figure out what the rebels’ game is.”
“Sir.”
“What is it, Major?”
“The maglev line to Zeli’s been cut again, this time very close to the terminus.”
Kozlev’s eyes roved over the map projection while she worked feverishly to put the pieces together.
“There can only be one answer,” she finally said. “I don’t know how they intend to do it, but we – Iskellian - are the actual target.”
“What?” Harend sounded incredulous. “How is that even possible?”
“A famous intelligence officer from the time before spaceflight once said that if you remove the impossible, whatever’s left, no matter how improbable, has got to be the answer.” She pointed at red icons marking reported enemy activity. “See how...”
Her voice faded when red icons appeared in and around Tianjin.
“Fresh contact reports are now streaming in from Sergeant Steiger. Tianjin is under attack as well.”
Alegre paused when a fresh red mark appeared along the Yangtze River.
“The transport commission reports that the eastern maglev line has been cut at the height of Odaran, where we had rebel activity a few weeks back during the escape.”
“You were about to say, Captain?”
Anger was beginning to creep into Harend’s tone.
“It can’
t be.” Kozlev shook her head. “If Tianjin is now also under attack, it makes no sense, especially if they’ve cut the line.”
“Pretend you didn’t just hear about the new contact reports and spit it out.”
“I was about to say,” she sounded shaken, “that a rebel force seized Tianjin and is using its railhead to send a strong force downriver to attack us. Here. Everything else is just a diversion.”
She whirled towards Alegre.
“Get patrols out into Iskellian. I need to know whether or not the locals are stirring.”
“If that’s actually the case, then why?”
“Decapitation,” she whispered. “I don’t know how they intend to do it with the forces they have, but that was the only answer before the latest reports came in.”
“They’ve cut the maglev line,” Alegre protested. “Why do that if you’re aiming a significant force from the highlands straight at Iskellian?”
“Because,” she said, “the report is either false, which means the transport commission has already passed over to the rebels, or they’ve well beyond Odaran. In fact, they could already be here. Do we have video from the yards?”
“Yes,” Alegre said after checking with the duty technician. “It shows an unscheduled freight arriving.”
He tried to call up a live feed.
“It’s dead now.”
“I guess that’s our answer about the commission,” Kozlev smirked. “Colonel, I believe Iskellian is under rebel attack.”
“Get the rapid reaction company out to the train yards, now!” Harend’s voice rose to a shout when the intelligence officer’s words finally sank in.
“And sound the general stand-to.”
“Sir,” Alegre’s voice had dropped to a whisper, “the entire sensor network is dead. We can’t see what’s happening anywhere.”
THIRTY-SIX
“Ready?” Talyn smiled at Corde, now occupying Decker’s old weapons station aboard Phoenix.
“As I’ll ever be.” She nodded nervously. “It’s been a while since I touched one of these.”
“Don’t worry, gunnery isn’t something you forget in a hurry, and the AI can help you.”
A chime rang out as if the ship agreed.
“Doesn’t your AI speak?”
Talyn laughed.
“It does, but Zack shut the vocal functions off.”
“Why?”
Instead of answering, Talyn entered a string of commands, and a clear alto voice rang out.
“All systems ready, Captain.”
“That’s you, Hera!”
“Yup. Some wag programmed it with my voice and locked out any attempt to make changes. Zack said that one of me aboard was already one too many.”
“The cheek of the man.” Corde smiled, her earlier uneasiness gone.
“Meh.” Talyn shrugged, smiling. “He’s like fungus – he grows on you to the point where you not only can’t get rid of him, you end up not wanting to try.”
She turned on the main screen and then Phoenix’s landing lights to illuminate the cavern. A pair of rebel troopers, part of their escort from the base, raised light wands and waited. She briefly flicked the position lights on and off twice, the agreed-upon signal, and then fed power to the thrusters and antigrav units.
Though she’d vowed never to go through the ordeal of piloting an FTL-capable starship in such a tight space again, Talyn bit her lower lip and gently followed the ground guides until Phoenix was above the riverbed, where the opening was at its largest. From there, some gentle maneuvering brought them out into the open night air.
She set the ship down on the flat, broad riverbank once occupied by the now long gone freighters they’d escorted to Garonne and breathed in deeply.
“That, believe or not, was the hardest part of our mission. Now, we wait.”
“You think it’ll work?”
“If it starts going off the rail, so to speak, I can guarantee Zack’ll do everything he can. Other than that?”
She shrugged.
“He’s good guy to have beside you in a fight, but a one-man army, he’s not. A lot depends on how badly we surprise the militia.”
**
Moments after the train came to a halt, pods disgorged armed rebel soldiers while, one after the other, roof hatches were flung aside to give the mortars hidden within a clear field of fire.
After making sure no militia soldiers lurked nearby, ready to pounce before the rebels had established a secure perimeter, Decker released the magnetic clamps and flew his combat car off the lead pod and down onto a wide gravel road running along the tracks.
The second train was due to stop several kilometers away in an area of warehouses fronting the river, not far from the government precinct, and that’s where they needed to be for the assault.
“The forward observers are in place,” Verrill said after listening to a muted radio transmission, “and the battery is ready to fire.”
“Crap,” he said a moment later, “a column of cars just emerged from the compound – estimated to be at company strength.”
“This is where the plan starts fighting for survival,” Decker replied, gunning his fans when they came out of a sharp curve and onto the main road cutting through town.
“I’ll bet they picked up on the mortar train. Our friends in the commission may have waited too long before cutting the yard’s security sensors.”
“I’ve warned them,” Verrill said moments later.
“All fine and dandy, but combat cars against dismounted troops isn’t what you’d call an even fight. Our best bet is to launch the attack now and make chaos our friend.”
They reached the spot where the assault battalion had disembarked only to find a small rear party waiting for them.
“Alfa and Charlie companies are across the river on the upstream bridge and advancing to the target,” the battalion executive officer reported, “Bravo and Delta companies are beginning to cross downstream. The locals have taken down any militia patrols they came across, so I don’t think the alarm’s been sounded yet.”
“It’ll sound any second now,” Decker replied. “They know we’re here. A rapid reaction force is heading for the yards. They just haven’t figured out yet how we’ll do it to them. Where do you want us?”
“I’d suggest the downstream crossing.”
“Works for me,” Decker replied. “Works for you, Verrill?”
The rebel leader nodded.
“I guess we leave our car here?”
“Not much use to us at this point.” He touched the XO’s arm. “The thing’s yours. Feel free to deploy it as you see fit. I’d suggest the park right across the river from the precinct. Clearest field of fire you could want; though I’d advise you to rig the weapons station for remote firing. No sense in risking one of your guys inside the damned tin can.”
At that moment, heavy gunfire erupted to their left, and all hell broke out over the radio.
“Sounds like the militia combat cars ran right into Bravo and Delta,” Decker said. “If Alfa and Charlie are within range of the target, I suggest the mortar battery open up now.”
**
“Time.” Talyn checked her seat harness. “Make sure you’re strapped in tight. Flying this close to the surface is going to make things rocky.”
“Already done,” Corde replied.
The captain and sole pilot of the smallest Q-ship in the Navy flicked on her thrusters, sending shivers through the hull. Phoenix immediately broke contact with the ground and rose slowly above the shallow riverbed. Talyn retracted the landing struts and then sent power to the aft thrusters, flying them upwards and out of the narrow valley. Almost immediately, the radio came to life with frantic messages on the government frequencies.
“Sounds like the party’s started,” she said, banking the small starship to starboard and Iskellian. “You can spool up the calliopes, but keep the main guns at weapons tight. I don’t want to increase the risk of collateral damage, especiall
y since my partner is going to be somewhere below us, no doubt leading the charge.”
**
“We’re getting reports of armed groups moving through Iskellian.” Alegre paused to regain some of his composure. “And we’ve lost contact with a lot of the regular patrols.”
Suddenly, the radio erupted with a string of shouts punctuated by the sound of gunfire and the screams of men who’d been shot.
“HQ, this is RRC,” the rapid reaction company commander sounded as scared as Alegre looked, “we’ve run into a large hostile force blocking the downstream bridge and are taking heavy fire. We can’t get across.”
“Estimated strength?” Alegre asked.
“A battalion, maybe a bit less,” came the reply.
“How did they get a battalion so close without anyone noticing?” Harend turned on Kozlev. “It can’t have come from the train yards. There wouldn’t have been enough time.”
The intelligence officer stared at the map projection while chewing on the inside of her cheek.
“A second train from Tianjin. It can only have been a second train, one which stopped around here.” She pointed at a spot near the center of Iskellian, between both main bridges. “Thanks to the traitors at the transport commission, we never saw it arrive. If they have a couple of companies trying to force their way across the downstream bridge, there has to be something crossing upstream. Not using the easier route when you’re ready to throw a major force at the most densely built-up spot in the downtown area just wouldn’t make sense.”
“Why haven’t we picked anything up yet?”
“Because you haven’t been looking, Major,” Kozlev snarled. “With the surveillance network down, you need to get eyes on our east flank, and I mean actual eyes, not a fresh batch of sensors – they’ve been singularly unreliable tonight.”
“What actually came in on that first train, I wonder?” She tapped her chin with extended fingers.
Chaos, Decker’s best friend for the night, was spreading his dark wings over Garonne’s capital. Things were about to get much worse, and only Rika Kozlev had an inkling of what was coming.