by Dietmar Wehr
“I’m sorry for the loss of your people, Premier Nogon. If we capture Ector alive, you have my word that he’ll be turned over to your government for trial if that’s what you want, although from what I understand, the people of Egonsby are pretty sick of years of his heavy-handed administration and will probably want to try him themselves as soon as a new government can be set up. As far as the gandolinium is concerned, at least the mine at the south pole is still intact. It better stay that way too!” Trask paused, then said,
“I’m sorry that we didn’t give you more warning about the booby-trap.” Nogon waived the apology away.
“No need to apologize, Prince Lucas. I’m just glad that you and your ships and people avoided the same fate. Amaterasu will be better off without a hostile Egonsby although without those three ships, we’re pretty much defenseless now aren’t we?” Trask hesitated then nodded. Nogon continued. “I’ve been thinking very carefully about your point that Amaterasu needs a strong Head of State with real authority over planetary defense. The problem is that none of the men running the various countries, would agree to one of their own being elevated to that position. Too many egos and too much pride involved. But they might be willing to accept an outsider. Someone like yourself perhaps. Would you be willing to accept the position of Planetary Head of State, responsible mainly for planetary defense, if it was offered to you, Prince Lucas?” The feeling of déjà vu was unmistakeable.
“We’d seriously consider such an offer, if it was made. It would be advantageous to both Amaterasu and to Tanith. Do you think such an offer is likely, Premier Nogon?”
“Obviously not right away, no. But I’m going to start pushing the idea and when the Planetary Council meets, which I suspect will be sooner rather than later, I’ll see how many of the others I can convince to support it. Would it have to be unanimous in order for you to accept the offer, Prince Lucas?” Trask was feeling more and more lightheaded. He wasn’t sure if he was thinking clearly anymore but Nogon wanted an answer.
“Unanimous would be better obviously but if some nations hold back, then it would depend on how many want me and of the exact terms, conditions and authority that the position would involve. The devil is in the details as they say. Until I see those details, I would not be able to give you a definitive answer.”
“Yes, I understand. Leave it with me for now and I’ll see what I can arrange. Will the troops on your ships be enough to secure the Capital?” Trask chuckled.
“Oh yes! We may not be Space Vikings anymore but we haven’t forgotten how to conduct a raid! I don’t mean to be rude, Premier Nogon but Admiral Harkaman is trying to get my attention so I’ll have to cut this conversation short. I’ll speak with you again after we secure the Capital.”
“Very well, Prince Lucas. Until then and thank you again for all your help.” With the conversation over, Trask stumbled to his feet and walked unsteadily over to where Harkaman was standing. Before he could say anything, Harkaman said,
“I can see that the painkillers are doing their job, Your Highness. I strongly urge you to retire to your quarters until they wear off. I’m confident I can handle the raid unsupervised.” Trask chuckled again. Of course Harkaman could handle the operation against the Capital without Trask’s supervision. He was the Admiral after all! Maybe it was a good idea not to watch it himself. He didn’t want to be reminded of the raids he ordered as a Space Viking.
“Alright, Otto. Get one of our junior officers to escort me to my quarters would you? Just in case I pass out on the way.”
When Trask woke up ten hours later, he couldn’t recall walking back to his quarters. The painkillers had worn off and the arm was hurting again but not as badly as before. Trask called the Flag Bridge and asked for Harkaman. He was told that the Admiral was in his own quarters sleeping but had left instructions to be awakened when Prince Lucas was awake. Trask told the Duty Officer to pass on to Admiral Harkaman that the Prince wanted the Admiral to join him for breakfast in the Officer’s Dining Room in fifteen minutes. He then asked the officer what the current status of the Squadron was. He was told that the raid on the Capital had gone smoothly. All five ships were now on the ground.General Ector was now in custody as were his senior officers. A curfew had been ordered for the Capital. Local police and military units were cooperating and the civilian population was calm and apparently happy with the fall of the Ector regime. Lucas thanked him and ended the call. Having slept in his clothes, he decided that a shower and change of clothing was in order. The self-molding cast on his arm made undressing and dressing a nuisance but he managed it and arrived at the Officers’ Dining Room to find Harkaman already there. Lucas told the robot waiter what he wanted to eat and then Harkaman filled him in on what had happened while he was asleep.
“The whole operation went about as well as anyone could expect. I took some liberties in sending out radio and video broadcasts in your name, to the effect that while Egonsby and Tanith might be at war due to the unprovoded attack by Ector’s ships, you understood that the people of Egonsby didn’t want this war and therefore it would be conducted solely with the aim of arresting General Ector and his senior officers. No military action would be taken by your forces against the civilian population if they remained calm and if the military and police cooperated, they would have nothing to fear from us either. The curfew was announced to discourage vandalism and looting, of which almost none has occurred. When the officers in command of the military units in the Capital learned that they were safe as long as they cooperated, they stopped obeying orders from Ector’s staff and Ector then realized that the game was over and surrendered. So that part of the operation is done. The question now becomes, what do you want to do now with Egonsby?” As Lucas took a sip of coffee, he realized that he still wasn’t as clear-headed as he normally was.
“Why should I want to do anything with Egonsby?”
“Well…if we just hand Ector over to the Stolgolandians and head back to Tanith, there’s going to be a power vacuum in Egonsby and eventually somebody will fill it and we might end up with another military strongman like Ector.”
“We don’t want that! I’m still a little fuzzy-headed from the medication so tell me what options are available to me now.”
“Okay. It basically boils down to two options. One option is that you declare Egonsby to be under the protection of Tanith until such time as an assembly can be elected which will thrash out a new constitution and interim government to be followed by new elections. The second option is to appoint either one man or a small group, to form a temporary government that can take over right away, with followup elections to come later. I’d recommend the second option. You wouldn’t have to stay here yourself for months, or designate someone to supervise the transition in your name.”
“I like the second option but I don’t know who to appoint. Do you have any suggestions?” Harkaman nodded.
“I’ve had my staff do some digging. As a result of Ector’s heavy hand in maintaining civil order, the jails are full of protestors, some of whom were quite prominent in Egonsby society before they were arrested. I think you would gain a lot of goodwill from the population, if you ordered all of the protestors released. There are over a hundred judges, lawyers, media people, industrialists, etc. among them, that are well respected by the general population. You could invite all of them to gather in one room and ask them to pick three or five names which you will then appoint as the temporary governing committee. We should make sure that the military will agree to support free elections before we leave. If they balk, I can let them know that Prince Lucas will not tolerate another military dictatorship in Egonsby and if there should be a military coup, then you’ll send our ships back here to reverse it. I think they’ll get the message.”
“I agree. Let’s arrange for all political prisoners to be released immediately then set up a suitable location and invite those hundred plus individuals to attend. I’ll speak to them briefly so that they know what I expect them to do and then we’ll
let them thrash it out themselves. Let’s inform the media of what the plan is too. If there’s live video transmissions of that group in action, then they won’t be tempted to make any unethical backroom deals.”
It took three days before the VIP Group as Trask began to think of them, started their deliberations. After a short speech where he declared that Tanith had no territorial ambitions with regards to Amaterasu, Trask went on to explain about the war that he was now involved in, against Space Vikings. As part of his long term strategy to win that war, he wanted to have strong and friendly allies. He repeated his assertion that Amaterasu needed a Planetary Head of State with sole responsibility for planetary defense. Therefore, as soon as an interim government could be appointed for Egonsby, he would take his ships back to Tanith. After receiving a standing ovation, he waived to the audience and returned to Nemesis to wait for their decisions. In the meantime, General Ector and his senior officers were transported to Stolgoland for war crimes trials. The Chancellor called the Planetary Council to emergency session. Egonsby was not represented at that meeting. With control over the south pole gandolinium mine now re-established, the Council voted to begin a crash shipbuilding program and surprised Trask by formally requesting technical assistance to build their own missile boats. Both Trask and Harkaman were at a loss as to how they found out about the missile boat project. Trask wanted to say no but Harkaman pointed out that if he did that, the Council could always go ahead and design their own from scratch. Then he came up with a brainstorm. Agree to provide the technical data for the missile boat if the Council would agree to let Tanith have the first four missile boats in exchange for a captured battleship. All four missile boats might not and probably would not be ready to be used in the defense of Tanith against the expected Space Viking attack but as Harkaman put it…
“Given their missile capacity and agility, I’d rather have even just one extra missile boat than an extra battleship, that we don’t have a full crew for anyway.” Trask agreed and sent the counter-offer to the Council, who accepted the terms almost immediately. The Council also discussed a proposal to offer Prince Lucas sole and complete responsibility and authority for planetary defense of Amaterasu. The motion was defeated after the Chancellor cast a vote against the motion to break a tie. When the VIP Group learned of the Council’s decision, they quickly came up with five names and Trask, after making sure that all five were acceptable to the senior military personnel, announced the appointment of an Interim Governing Committee consisting of the five people chosen by the VIP Group. The Committee’s first act of business was to choose one of their own to represent Egonsby on the Planetary Council, which was still in session. As soon as the Egonsby representative arrived at the Council meeting, he re-introduced the motion of offering Prince Lucas the new position of Head of State for Planetary Defense and this time the motion carried. With his ships just about ready to leave when the news arrived, Trask was not sure if he wanted to accept the offer or not.
“I was in favor of this kind of thing when Amaterasu had three battleships that could have been sent to Tanith to help us defend it but right now, Amaterasu is a strategic liability instead of an asset. Protecting Amaterasu as well as Tanith is one more headache that I don’t really want.” Harkaman nodded. They were in Lucas’ quarters enjoying a drink and cigars.
“There’s something that you should know, that will have a bearing on whether to accept the offer or not. I was going to tell you on the way back to Tanith. While we waited for the VIP Group to come to a decision, I took advantage of the lull in activity to do some strategic simulations of the expected Space Viking attack. Unless they come at us early, or in far greater strength than we were expecting, we should be able to prevent them from bombarding the Base at Rivington but that’s just the tactical side of things. On a strategic level, a successful defense of Tanith could lead to the defeat of Marduk. I’ll explain how.”
“We’ve already agreed that in order for all the existing Viking bases to be safe from raids by Marduk, Marduk has to be smashed first by a massive Viking raid. Tanith’s ambush strategy is the justification for calling for a mass raid on both Tanith and then Marduk. Now, place yourself in the Command Chair of the flagship of the Viking strike force. Let’s say you have 40 ships at your command. Your fleet arrives at Tanith. What would you do first?” Trask thought about that for a few seconds and then said,
“I’d attack the mining operations on the moon first.” Harkaman smiled. For a Prince, Trask was no slouch as a spacecombat tactician.
“Yes! Tanith’s ability to build and repair ships is dependent on extracting usable ores from the moon. Destroy the mines and the Base would be crippled, at least for the short term. What do you do after that?” Trask shrugged and said,
“I’ll commence a missile bombardment of the Rivington area from long range.”
“Right again. So let’s say you do that and the defense force of 15-20 battleships plus several dozen pinnace-sized vessels, starts to knock down every attack missile before it can reach a target. Keeping in mind, that your fleet has to be able to smash Marduk’s defenses too, how much of your offensive missile capacity are you going to be prepared to use up before you call off the attack?”
“I think I see where this is going. I don’t think I’d want to leave Tanith with less than half of my initial missile capacity. Two thirds would be even better since I’d want to have at least some missiles left over AFTER defeating Marduk’s defenses.”
“I agree. Two thirds would be better. Okay, so now your missile capacity is down to two thirds and you call off the bombardment and head back out to beyond the no-jump zone in order to hyperjump to Marduk, correct?” Trask nodded but interjected.
“But if we see the strike force pulling out, we send our ships and missile boats to Marduk which, when added to their local defenses, should be enough to fight them off, right?” Harkaman shook his head.
“You’re forgetting that our defense force will be and has to be, close to Tanith and therefore deep inside the no-jump zone. The strike force doesn’t have to get in that close. That means that they can break out past the no-jump zone before we can and therefore they’ll beat us to Marduk. We’d get there just in time to see their atomic missiles level the city of Malverton.”Trask turned white as a sheet with shock. Before he could say anything, Harkaman continued. “Marduk CAN be saved if we send our mobile defenses to Marduk before the attack but it would mean leaving Tanith defenseless. I’ve tried every strategic trick I can think of. We can save Tanith OR Marduk but not both!”After Trask recovered his composure, he said,
“How would accepting the Council’s offer affect the strategic outcome?”
“As Head of State for Planetary Defense, you would have the authority and means to shift the entire Base from Rivington on Tanith to a location on Amaterasu. Work on missile boats and ship repairs would be interrupted but not stopped altogether. Keeping the robotic units safe will ensure that you could eventually re-establish a presence on Tanith and even get the mines on the moon back in operation again. With the people and equipment safe on Amaterasu, you could leave Tanith undefended and our ships could make their stand at Marduk.” Trask looked at Harkaman carefully. He clearly wasn’t happy with what he just said even though it made a lot of sense. After an uncomfortable silence, Trask said,
“What are you not telling me, Otto?” Harkaman looked very uncomfortable. Finally he said,
“Even though it makes strategic sense in terms of the big picture, I don’t like the idea of leaving Tanith vulnerable. There’s a woman, who lives north of Tradetown, that I would hate to lose. If we pull out before the attack, she and all the others in Tradetown would be at the attackers’ mercy and they might be angry enough at not being able to destroy your ships, to take their anger out on the local population.” Oh so that’s it, thought Trask. Otto has a woman in his life now.
“The Tradetown people are my subjects too. They’re just as much my responsibility as the Rivington peo
ple. We’ll take the Tradetown people to Amaterasu as well.” Harkman sighed.
“I’m not sure that she…that all of them would want to go. Some of them can be pretty stubborn.”
“Those who are willing to relocate to Amaterasu will be taken along. I won’t force the rest to go at the point of a machinegun but perhaps we can make them safer by giving them the necessary supplies to hide out in the bush until the attackers leave?” Harkaman’s mood seemed to brighten at that suggestion.
“Yes, that might work.” Otto’s concern regarding the ah…Tradetown people, seems to have been dealt with, thought Trask.
“Let’s get back to the question of the Council’s offer. I see that it’s short on specifics. Before I accept it, I would want my new authority to be spelled out in detail. I’m also concerned that the general population might not want me as Planetary Head of State even though the Council has agreed to it, albeit by the slimmest of margins.”
