LeGodat cheeks puffed out.
“You must really need me for something big if you’re ready to pull out all the stops like this. What’s the mission and why exactly do you need me, a broken down former Commodore, and don’t just feed me a line that it’s too repay a favor or return me to a former rank I supposedly deserve because one I don’t buy it and two I’m not sure I’m ready to climb back into the Confederation fleet harness just yet, if ever again,” he said with a flinty look in his eyes.
Synthia McCruise drummed her fingers along the metal pole beside his hand.
“Why are you being so obtuse,” she growled.
“Maybe because you took everything we worked for and threw it away! You say Jason Montagne’s illegitimate? Well he’s also the only reason seven sectors of the Spine are still a part of the Confederation! Do you honestly think the Empire was just going to hand those sectors back to the Confederation after they were all but directly sold to them? And where were you? Running back home abandoning everything we fought, bled and died for. The Confederation citizens of the Spine!” he exclaimed almost losing his grip and slipping off the bars.
Reclaiming his grip he started angrily forced his legs to move and started walking down the bars.
McCruise waited for the tension to die down before restarting the conversation.
“I think Charles Thomas and the Confederation Fleet that went with him would have a little bit to say in response to your ‘only reason’ but I’m not here to argue about Jason Montagne of all people with you. Whatever I think about him he’s not the hero you seem to think but I digress,” she said sternly.
“You want the truth? Here it is. There’s another crisis in an area you are intimately familiar with. Or at least as familiar with as anyone currently in the heartland,” she said finally.
“Stop playing coy, it doesn’t suit you. You mean the Spineward Sectors,” he said coldly, deciding to play her game, “but I’ll bite. I’m familiar with the area, although if we’re being brutally honest you’re just as or even more familiar with the region than I am all things considered,” he said tilting his chin toward his legs and thinking of all the time he’d been unconscious, “so what gives. What’s this crisis you can’t seem to solve without me?”
Her nose wrinkled.
“There’s bug sign in the Spineward Sectors, Commander,” Synthia McCruise said formally and drawing herself up in a way that made her seem more a rear admiral than ever before in this conversation, “and the Confederation needs your help. Your familiarity with the region, your command ability and your ability to inspire others, as evidenced by your time in command of the Wolf-9 starbase, all indicate to me and my supporters in the admiralty you are the man we need.”
“Bugs? In the Spine?” he asked quizzically, “surely we have more than enough forces on hand to deal with them now the Spine has returned to the Confederation for more than two years now,” he paused, “unless all that’s a lie too about the large redeployment of military assets. But regardless by the time we could gather a fleet and get there any bugs you’ve spotted would have already struck and been dealt with by the forces on hand or,” he continued grimly, “have already consumed the entire population and started on the biosphere.”
“Making this more a political wave the flag tour than a legitimate fleet operation,” he continued thinking things through.
Synthia McCruise ran a hand through her hair.
“If only it were that simple. What you say might be true if we were only seeing bugs hitting a world or two there’s been bug sign all over the region. Right now, all signs point to even more worlds being attacked than have confirmed sightings yet,” she said.
“All over the Spine?” he questioned, “the bugs are a sub-light menace, one that never spread that deeply into the Spineward Sectors in the first place. The few cases we had were always suspected of being introduced there by intelligent design and by that I mean post AI intelligent design…,” he frowned and then a dawning realization, “we always blamed the old AI’s for leaving them behind as some kind of failed ‘Operation You Lose’ event.”
“One where even though the human resistance won we’d lose but if there’s suddenly a mass of coordinated attacks in some kind of timed event, AI’s can’t reasonably be the cause,” his eyes cut to her sharply, “which only leaves a coordinating ‘human’ intelligence as the most likely origin point.”
“The Confederation is not yet ready to speculate as to the origin of this latest rash of bug attacks. Only respond to and quash it with overwhelming force,” she warned.
“You realize they’ve done it again, don’t you? There’s only one authority in human space with both a grudge to bear against the Spine and the resources to pull off something as coordinated as this,” he said ignoring the warning.
“Don’t go there, Commander,” she said flatly, “there are any number of potential bad actors on the Rim that could be behind this latest move, if it’s really a coordinated action in the first place.”
“Has the bureaucracy really got its hooks into you that deep, Synthia?” he asked shaking his head.
“I can list at least three organizations on the Rim with the means, motives and resources to pull off an attack of this magnitude off the top of my head, Colin,” she replied in a cutting voice.
“You’re still failing to mention the most likely cause, the Empire. It doesn’t like to lose, Rear Admiral. I’d think you’d have realized this by now,” LeGodat said pointedly, “just look at what they did to us. To you and me, Synthia! When they ‘Withdrew’ from the Confederated Empire, they weren’t above leaving a waste land seven sectors wide behind them on the way out as you and I saw personally in our little corner of the Spine.”
“Are you looking to start a war we can’t win? The Confederation is not prepared to engage in the same sort of speculation as you are, Colin. And what you may say privately to an old friend is something very different than what you as a Confederation Officer are authorized to say,” she said sharply.
“Political double-speak and threats? You can do better than that, Rear Admiral,” he said.
“You want my opinion? Fine, I’m not some kind of robot. Personally and speaking strictly off the record, I think Droids, Pirates or even, and I know you don’t want to hear it, the Tractoan System Defense Force, are all much more viable candidates for this attack. Possessing not only the means, motive and an axe to grind with the Spine, but the kind of close proximity that would make such a mass of attacks all much more likely than some kind of imperial scheme,” she said.
“You’re dreaming if you think Admiral Montagne would ever order such a thing. As for pirates don’t make me laugh,” he shook his head.
“I know you don’t want to hear this but your Little Admiral has changed, Colin. And like the Imperial Ambassador himself pointed out, the last person to use bugs in a military campaign was not the Empire. It was your much-vaunted Little Admiral himself. If he’ll use them once then why not again?” she demanded.
Colin LeGodat looked at her with a question in his eye.
“For one thing, he’s not even claiming to be an Admiral anymore, he went and made himself King of his old homeworld,” she said.
LeGodat shrugged as best a man holding onto a pair of rails can do.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to get off these monkey bars and sit down somewhere more civilized,” he said with a gasp of relief as the waiting hover-chair came back under his legs, allowing him to sit down.
“Of course,” she said, following him over to a waiting area.
“You were saying something about how he’s King now? I have to admit, for a man two years out of the loop, that doesn’t sound that unlikely for the Hero of the New Confederation,” LeGodat asked after they had transferred and he could sit back with relief, “and yes, before you ask, I’d heard about him using the bugs. While I don’t condone it, they were used against strictly military targets in an unin
habited star system already labeled with a plague status.”
“Hero, my backside,” Synthia McCruise said bluntly, “I can’t believe you’re still covering for the man. I don’t care if he thought the Empire turned those bugs loose on Tracto. Using those kinds of weapons makes you just as bad as the people you claim attacked you with them in the first place! And that New Confederation nonsense was nothing but treason disguised as virtue and a bad dream destined to fail as soon as it hit reality, all rolled up into one.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Now we will never know about the New Confederation, that’s for sure,” he said.
Her lips tightened.
“Listen to yourself. You may like to believe your Little Admiral is as pure as the driven snow, but he is now openly defying the terms of his exile to go fight the bugs and, by extension, breaching the very treaty that returned the Spine back to the Confederation,” she said.
“Hardly suspicious on its own, Synthia. You may have never liked him but Admiral Montagne, King or not, was never one for strictly following protocol when lives were on the line. You say we don’t have the forces to deal with it? Well, there you have your answer,” he said firmly, “and don’t blow sunshine at me. I know you didn’t come down here to talk politics with me. A broken-down old former Commodore with questionable politics can’t be needed simply for his supposed command and administrative abilities.”
“The truth is, we need you because while Commodore Hammer’s command stuck together—or in a few cases went off to a series of well-deserved retirements—the Easy Haven group was split, riven right down the middle. The group that disagreed with my decision to actively avoid courting treason and leave the Spine, has for the most part been placed on reserve status and mostly kept close to hand, incase their… questionable loyalties force them to act,” she said.
“This is not sounding like the Confederation you and I fought so hard to protect,” Colin said sardonically.
“Which in its own way has turned out to be a blessing all things considered,” she continued mulishly, waving her hands in the air, “just listen to me. Right now we’re short-handed and all 7 Sectors of the Spine are screaming for a relief fleet.
“With you as my second in command, rehabilitating those thousands of potentially disaffected Easy Haven fleet personnel is now possible. Not just possible but entirely probable. This is our window. We can fix things. Return to the Spine together in a righteous cause, save billions of lives and for a nice little cherry on top remove the pall our disunity has cast us all under since our return once and for all. Even the most ardent critic will be forced to put aside their past grudges but only if you will just get out of that chair and put the good of the Fleet and our own people first, this one last time.”
“So that’s what this is,” LeGodat said emotionlessly, “the job offer. The emotional plea. It’s the same game as last time. You want to use me to play fleet politics, clear everyone’s names and at the same time I’m sure use mine to springboard your career to the next level.”
“I’m playing politics? So what. This is still a good cause,” she said harshly.
“Do you want the honest truth?” she asked not sounding like she cared if he answered or not at this point.
Colin crossed his arms.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s Montagne or the Empire that’s done this. People are going to die and I’m not ready to stand around pointing fingers while people are eaten,” she said bluntly, “your offended that I’m going to come out this looking good if I can get you out of therapy and back into the fleet? Tell that to the people being eaten and see how much they care. Get over yourself. The people need you. I need you and your former crew definitely needs you. It’s time to act.”
“You still haven’t sold me on Montagne as some kind of secret evil mastermind,” said LeGodat arms still crossed, “you need me to save those lives? You just told me Admiral Montagne’s now on scene and everywhere I look the news is still blasting him for a pirate warlord with a fleet of warships. Why are you and I the Spine’s only hope when there’s another fleet already on scene?”
“Do you even listen to yourself sometimes? You actually want to leave the safety of seven sectors in the hands of a private citizen? An Exile? At best you’re asking for a provincial government made up of barbarians under a trade embargo to sacrifice everything out of the goodness of their hearts. Jason Montagne is a man with every reason to hold a grudge against the very people who need him right now and you ask why I don’t want to leave everything in his unsteady hands?”
“Fine you know what if you want it here it is,” she said, “in case you weren’t aware Jason Montagne is now charging a ‘tax’ on every world that wants his help. Not just a reasonable fee mind you to cover operating expenses but a flat 4% of every star systems gross Global Domestic Product! If he didn’t deliberately cause this for his own gain then he’s certainly taking every advantage of it because that kind of fee is space lane piracy,” she growled, “you may continue to believe he’s some sort of great hero and you’re welcome to, but the rest of us can’t look at a WMD bug user holding entire worlds over a barrel and just shrug our shoulders. Each person’s entitled to their own opinions and you can have yours. But I don’t have that luxury. A portion of the Confederation’s under attack and I refuse to stand by and do nothing.”
“Just like you refused to stand by and do nothing when the Spine was being invaded by a fleet of imperial partisans?” LeGodat asked neutrally, “I think we’re reaching the realm of a circular argument over here. For my part I genuinely hope you succeed in raising a relief fleet. I mean that.”
Synthia McCruise removed her admiral’s hat from under her arm and firmly squared it away on top of her head.
“But you’re not going to help. You’re mad at me and I get that. But letting personal animosity or jealousy be the reason people die is beneath you. I also know that being in this place is hardly conducive to an even temper. So I’m going to leave for now and let you think about my offer,” she said tightly, “I hope you make the right call after you’ve had the time to calm down.”
Colin LeGodat stopped, started to bristle and his shoulders slumped.
“I appreciate the offer, Rear Admiral. Really I do,” LeGodat said wearily, “and I promise to think about it. But I have to admit I’m still probably going to decline.”
“Unlike you I do not have that luxury,” McCruise said with a nod and then turning on her heel she marched out of the room.
“What a mess,” LeGodat said after she’d exited. He was left to wonder what exactly he was going to do?
Chapter 44
Spalding into Trouble
Spalding dragged himself onto the bridge just as the ship finished jumping. Falling to the floor he flopped onto his back breathing heavily and dripping blood as everyone reappeared and started moving around him.
“Spalding! What happened to you man?” the Admiral asked looking down at his battered and bloody form.
“The Spindles, Sir,” Spalding gasped for breath, wiping a bit of blood out of his eye, “we can’t take much more of this. There’s a temporal flux each time the ship jumps and it’s getting worse.”
“Temporal flux? What are you talking about,” demanded the First Officer.
The XO turned to the Admiral.
“Are you saying we can’t used the Elder Tech Jump Spindles again, Spalding. As in not anymore at all or just for now?” the Little Admiral asked intently even as he leaned down to look at Spalding’s head with concern, “your hair’s burned off on the side,” he observed.
“Sir!” protested the Executive officer, “it looks like someone hit the Commodore in the head. Or maybe he bumped into a ruptured conduit and burned the side of his head. Either way it’s no surprise he’s not making sense, this man needs to be down in medical,” he said.
Spalding instantly rallied pulling himself part way off the floor, enough to grab the Admiral by the middle of hi
s uniform jacket.
“No doctors!” he said sharply before getting back on track as was only right and proper, “if we jump again we’re doomed. We’ll all go up in a great fiery blaze! Another transfer like that last one and they’ll get into the anti-matter generators for sure and then all bets are off, Sir,” said Spalding pulling the Admiral close enough that the new king could feel his hot angry breath, “All. Bets. Are. Off!” he emphasized, “I need time to make repairs.”
The Little Admiral nodded slowly.
“Sir!” protested the First Officer.
“If he was just hit in the side of the head why is his leg clearly damaged, I don’t know of a conduit rupture other than a plasma line that could do something like that and that doesn’t look like plasma damage,” cut in the newly crowned King.
He turned back to Spalding.
“If the Chief Engineer says we need to hold off on the jump drive for a few days to make repairs then that’s what we’ll do. Stop and fix things,” he said calmly.
The tactical officer and chief of staff both made noises of protest.
“Sire I don’t object to the Chief Engineer’s proposal, in theory, or say he’s necessarily wrong but even a day lost could see another world attacked and destroyed,” protested Lisa Steiner with an intense voice.
“King Jason there’s been 36 recorded Swarms at this point in time and the Spineward Sectors has already lost three worlds. That number would be at least double if not for our actions,” advised the Tactical Officer.
“I’m aware of that,” the Admiral said shortly.
“Most of the core-worlds in this and each sector are so afraid of their worlds being attacked when their system defense force is absent or weakened that they won’t dispatch anything larger than a few destroyer squadron to assist the worlds roundabout them,” warned the Tactical Officer.
“I said my decision stands. That’s the end of it,” iron entering the Admiral’s voice.
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