by Robert Boren
***
Trey woke up, spooned against JJ. She turned her head towards him.
“Oh, you’re awake?” Trey asked.
“I have been for a little while,” she said. “Just enjoying the closeness.”
“You were on fire last night.”
She turned around to face him, looking into his eyes. “We both were. I’m still ready if you want more.”
“I think we’d better get up, honey, but we can look forward to it tonight.”
“Fair enough,” JJ said, getting out of bed. They got into the cleansing unit together and then got dressed.
“What do you want for breakfast?” Trey asked.
“One of those breakfast burritos from the stand by the bridge?”
“Comfort food,” Trey said. “Sounds good. Butch, wake up please.”
“No commentary,” Trey said.
“Oh, you’re already awake,” Trey said.
“I woke her earlier, just to do a check,” JJ said.
They left the stateroom, stopping for breakfast, then going to the bridge. Skip and Sondra were there.
“Good morning,” Captain Clarke said.
“Good, there you are,” Skip said. “Aeon is having a rough time.”
“He is, huh?” Captain Clarke asked, sitting in the Captain’s chair. “What’s going on?”
“His forces tried to hit ten more worlds late yesterday. The target worlds have been preventing his forces from setting up those speed loaders for troops, and the planets are being very bold in their defensive tactics.”
“That’s good. How bad have the reactions been?”
“Railgun attacks on civilian areas,” Skip said, “but they’ve been doing that anyway, just to soften things up for their troops.”
“Okay. Anything else going on?”
“Commercial ship movements are increasing rapidly,” Sondra said.
“That’s good.”
Nolan entered the bridge. “Good morning, everybody.”
“Good morning,” Captain Clarke said. “What are you up to today?”
“I was going to ask if JJ needed my help on the refinery waste containers.”
“That would be great, Nolan,” JJ said. “When do you want to get started?”
“I’m ready any time,” Nolan said.
“Good, let’s go to the lab.”
JJ and Nolan left the bridge.
“When are we going on the attack again?” Skip asked.
“I’ve been working that issue. We’ve got a couple targets lined up. I’m hoping to get approval on a plan by later today.”
“Will we be involved?” Sondra asked.
“No, probably just the Zephyrus class ships, and only to place a bunch of pilotless flight suits.”
“Good,” Sondra said. “The less risk, the better.”
“Worried?”
“Aeon has a huge technical team at his disposal. They’ll figure out how to exploit a weakness eventually.”
Captain Clarke stood. “I’ve got a meeting. Talk to you guys later. Keep a good eye out.”
“Will do,” Sondra said.
It took Trey about ten minutes to get to Vermillion’s office.
“Thanks for coming, Trey,” Chairman Vermillion said, ushering him into his conference room.
“Want AIs on speaker?”
“Not at first,” Vermillion said.
They sat at the table, Vermillion speaking into his PA, Simone’s face filling the screen.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Good morning to you,” Captain Clarke said. “Something happened?”
“I was contacted by Katerinolia and Admiral Peteralinia of Pentant Simtar this morning.”
Captain Clarke sat up straighter in his chair. “Interesting. Wasn’t Katerinolia the person who had to flee during your last call?”
“That is correct,” Simone said. “They would like to become allies.”
“I thought the Central Authority was running their government,” Vermillion said.
“The population rose up and kicked the Pro-Aeon people out of the government,” Simone said. “Admiral Peteralinia is the new Prime Minister.”
“Wow, really?” Vermillion asked.
“Yes,” Simone said.
“How do we know we can trust them?” Captain Clarke asked.
“Here’s what they proposed,” Simone said. “We have a joint video meeting, to include their entire legislature and Prime Minister.”
Vermillion smiled. “So we know they are really in control of the government. Good idea.”
“What if they’re all in with Aeon?” Captain Clarke asked.
“That’s my main concern, but we know there is bad blood between Admiral Peteralinia and Aeon,” Simone said. “That said, we must proceed with caution, and we need a strong firewall between us.”
“This is too beneficial to ignore,” Vermillion said. “Let’s set up the meeting.”
“How much do they know?” Captain Clarke asked.
“They still think I’m on Animus,” Simone said. “I took the call via Cyrus.”
“Good, so you didn’t admit that the Spitfire has been completed,” Vermillion said.
“I wouldn’t disclose that without an okay from you two and Drake,” Simone said.
“Drake,” Captain Clarke said. “Do we tell them about him?”
“You put the AIs on speaker?” Vermillion said.
“You expected it?” Simone asked.
“Yes, I remember,” Vermillion said.
“That was before your time, wasn’t it?” Captain Clarke asked.
Vermillion chuckled. “How old do you think I am, Trey?”
Simone snickered. “I remember reading about that. Before my time too.”
“Drake, do you have any objection to us going forward with the meeting?” Vermillion asked.
“Butch and I have been working on a proposal for the next attack,” Captain Clarke said.
“Good,” Vermillion said. “Where and when?”
“There are bases on Avid One and Portuna. Both are between Devonia Axxiom and Earth. They’d be used in an attack on Earth.”
“We weren’t planning on it,” Captain Clarke said. “We want to use pilotless flight suits. Shall we present it now? It’s not completely done, but your input will help.”
“Please,” Vermillion said.
“Butch, woul
d you like to explain it?” Captain Clarke asked.
Vermillion leaned back in his chair. “I really hate to say this, but I’m not too concerned about laws which nobody is enforcing. We can go back to them when the civil war is over.”
“I agree,” Captain Clarke said.
“I understand and agree,” Captain Clarke said.
“How many freighters will we have to use?” Vermillion asked.
“Butch?” Captain Clarke asked.
“Should I be worried?” Simone asked.
“Yes,” Captain Clarke said. “Aeon has a massive technical team, and they aren’t stupid. They’ve also got data from several engagements now. They’ll improve their capabilities. We’ve always known that.”
Simone nodded. “Okay, I agree.”
“All right, we’ll go ahead with the Pentant Simtar meeting,” Vermillion said. “Simone, could you make contact and lock down a time, please?”
“Of course,” Simone said.
“Are you sure?” Vermillion asked.
“I agree with that,” Captain Clarke said.
“Okay, I’ll call them from the Spitfire, then, and let them know,” Simone said. “If that’s okay with you, Mr. Chairman.”
“I see the benefit. Please go ahead.”
“I’ll go have my chat,” Simone said, her face disappearing from the screen.
Trey stayed in his seat. “Are you okay, Mr. Chairman?”
Vermillion smiled, reaching for his liquor cabinet. “Drink?”
“Sure.”
Vermillion chuckled, pouring whiskey into two crystal glasses, sliding one across the table to Trey. “Cheers.”
They both had a sip.
“You liked the idea of Simone fessing up about the Spitfire,” Vermillion said.
“I was going to suggest it. Drake beat me to the punch. You have reservations?”
“You know me. I’m slow to trust, and like to hold things back as a result. Do you think we can trust Pentant Simtar?”
Trey took another sip. “I think they need us as badly as we need them.”
“You don’t think they’re secretly on the side of Aeon?”
Trey shook his head. “No, too much has happened. Too many people have died. I remember my studies about Pentant Simtar, and I’ve spent time on that planet. They take the safety of their citizens extremely seriously. I always figured they’d split from Aeon. They don’t like authoritarian leaders. That’s part of the reason they were so troublesome for the Samson Corporation early on.”
“And yet Aeon decided to publicly execute Senator Peteralina. Aeon isn’t stupid. Why’d he do that?”
“Maybe he’s gone crazy,” Trey said.
“If he’s crazy, he’s crazy like a fox.”
“I don’t follow.”
“He’s maneuvered himself into a position where it appears he’s losing, but there’s not a way we can beat him, at least on our own.”
“He does know how to play his strongest card,” Trey said. “His resources are so vast. I’m interested by the success the targeted planets are seeing. That might be our real ace in the hole, and Pentant Simtar could help us rally other planets to resist. If we can get enough planets on our side, Aeon loses.”
“Or he changes strategy, and if it takes enough time for us to rally the worlds to our side, he might get in a better position for a space war.”
Captain Clarke finished his glass of whiskey. “Okay, I understand your concern. He might bring out a thousand new Razor ships by that time, and he might already have many more ships than we realize. He can beat us with a large enough fleet, if he’s learned enough from the prior engagements.”
“If he gets a cloaking device, we’re done,” Vermillion said. “That’s what keeps me up at night.”
***
Stuart Cain was sitting in the Captain’s Chair on the Forestall bridge. Admiral Boeraton came in with X22954.
“Hello,” Cain said. “Something happen?”
“I got a private call from the Prime Minister.”
“Oh, that’s why you wanted me up here?” X22954 asked.
“Yes,” Boeraton said. “Clear the bridge please.”
“Go ahead,” Cain said to his first mate and navigator. They left the bridge. “Why didn’t we use the conference room?”
“Let’s just say it’s more likely there will be somebody else listening in.”
Cain chuckled. “Well, I guess you would know where the bugs are. No offense.”
“None taken,” Boeraton said, sitting in one of the observer’s chairs, X22954 taking a seat next to his. “There have been some developments.”
“From the look on your face, they aren’t good developments,” X22954 said.
Boeraton nodded. “Pentant Simtar broke from the Central Authority. They declared their independence this morning.”
“Really?” Cain asked.
“Yes. They removed the Pro-Aeon legislators and Section Heads from office and threw them in prison. Admiral Peteralinia is the new Prime Minister. Oh, and the Overlords have been released from prison as well, so this will be very difficult to undo.”
“How’s Aeon taking it?” Cain asked.
“With blind rage, of course. There’s more. Word has been passed very effectively about our planet conquest strategy. We can’t get speed loaders installed. All planets are resisting… or at least the ten that were attacked yesterday.”
“Is Aeon going to lose?” X22954 asked.
“Certainly not, but both of these developments are setbacks. I suggest we hasten our trip to the Clan Zone. How quickly will we get the data from our Clan allies?”
“I’ll go call U67444 now if you’d like.”
“Do that,” Boeraton said. “If he stalls, apply pressure. I want us out of here in a matter of hours, not days.”
“Yes sir,” X22954 said. He left the bridge.
“You look scared to death,” Cain said.
“We need to look extremely busy during times like this,” Boeraton said. “That will reduce our communication with the Prime Minister.”
{ 6 }
Disk Mode
S imone went into the small conference room next to the bridge. “Silver, call Kaleb in here, please.”
“And call Cyrus, please. I need a quick chat with him.”
done.
Kaleb came in. “Everything okay?”
“Wow, you got here fast.”
“I was on the bridge.”
The screen lit up, Cyrus’s smiling face filling it. “Hi, Simone.”
“Hello, Cyrus. I’ve been given permission to tell the leadership of Pentant Simtar that I’m in command of the Spitfire. We’ll be setting up a meeting with them soon.”
Kaleb flashed Simone a shocked glance.
“That’s great,” Cyrus said. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“No problem. They probably won’t call you again, I’m going to talk to their Prime Minister now, but just in case, you can forward them to the Spitfire from now on.”
“Will do. Good luck in your meeting.” Cyrus’s face disappeared from the screen.
“Pentant Simtar threw off their Central Authority occupation?”
“They did, and they declared their independence as well.”
Kaleb grinned. “This is good news.”
“Yes, it is. Silver, please reach out to Prime Minister Peteralinia and Katerinolia. Bounce it around as usual, we don’t want to give away our position.”
“Did you see the trouble Aeon is having in his latest round of planet invasions?” Kaleb asked. “He tried another ten this morning, and is having the same problems he had yesterday.”
“Yes. I’m glad word is getting around.”
Kaleb smiled. “I’ll bet it’s Hamilton Zenos.”
“Well, that is the task I gave him, and we know how good he is at that.”
“Good. Don’t reveal yourself in the meeting, please.
The screen lit up, not split this time, Katerinolia and Prime Minister Peteralinia sitting next to each other at a conference table.
“Greetings,” Peteralinia said. “I trust you are well.”
“I am, and you?”
“We’re good,” Katerinolia said. “We’re enjoying the troubles Aeon is having. Hello, Kaleb. Long time no see.”
“Good to see your face,” Kaleb said. “Both of you.”
“Likewise,” Peteralinia said. “You met with your leadership?”
“I did, and they were quite pleased with the prospect of an alliance. If you could suggest a time, I’ll make sure we are ready for the meeting you suggested.”
