by Chris Hechtl
Catherine fought for composure. She knew it was futile; he should too. But he didn't. He was too obsessed with finding a way. Finally she inhaled and exhaled. "You just saw what happened with the prowlers, right? If he can do that, what makes you think he can't drop a nova bomb past all the defenses we can mount?"
"He won't! There are billions of people in this star system!" her father said impatiently, flicking the controls of the holographic projector.
"Holding them hostage won't help. He'll find a way and remember our history. He knows it too. He might use that as an excuse, that we're not worth the lives it will take to break in and save what he can."
"I'll do whatever I damn well please! I am the emperor! He is just a traitor! A traitor to his race!" the emperor thundered, turning on her with clenched fists. "Help me or leave!"
Catherine realized there was no reasoning with the man. She nodded once and then when he turned to issue orders to his assistant she quietly withdrew.
-~~~///^\~~~-
"I never thought a Fed would do that. Could do that," Admiral Cartwright said with a shake of his head. "Aren't there laws against it in the Federation?"
"Well, you thought wrong. We all did," Admiral Post said, clearly shaken. "They can be just as ruthless as us. He can be even more so if we push him."
"There is one thing more."
"Oh?"
"This just went from a blockade to a full-on siege. They can raid us with virtual impunity. Every time we try to strike back, they can get warning and our offense fails. Every. Single. Time. They will eventually wear us down. Or, they will bomb us into oblivion. There is nothing we can do to stop them. It's a numbers and waiting game and it's all on their side." He bit his tongue to stop himself from saying the war was lost. Defeatism would easily be misconstrued against him.
"Which will spur someone to demand action and retaliation," Admiral Rico replied. They were still assessing the damage. They had planned on cyber-attacks on naval ships, but apparently, infrastructure had been overlooked. That included civilian infrastructure. The one good thing was that the media was in complete disarray for the moment.
"Exactly."
Malwin shook his head. "What was that line about the best laid plans?"
"I don't know. But when politics get involved you can rest assured things not only get complicated, they get messy and can go south in a hurry."
"Right. So, how do we handle this?" Malwin asked.
His boss grimaced. "Deflect blame. There is no reason to blame one of us; there was no way we could have anticipated this or prevented it." He knew that wasn't completely true. But if they closed ranks, they'd avoid finger pointing and a scapegoat. "He'll go for that along with his attack plans. Work on clean up as well as a means to catch the raiders. If we can inflict return damage on them, trap them, they'll be more careful about a follow-up."
"Ah."
Admiral Post grimaced. "I think this was a one off, now we're warned. We can do something about the cyber security threat."
"True."
Admiral Rico scowled. "We're not winning this war. Not as we are. Not on the defensive. I don't know if anyone can get it through certain thick heads. And the new thing, holding out for rescue from outside? Not going to happen."
Malwin blinked and then looked at Lewis. He was surprised by the admission, and he could tell Lewis was as well. It could be a trap but at least someone else had faced reality. "I know," he said softly. There, there it was. His verbal admission of defeat. Where they went from there was anyone's guess.
"His highness wants us to find a way to protect the star too," Lewis stated.
"Oh, frack," Malwin sighed. "Does he realize how big the frackin' star is? How much real estate we're talking about?"
"No, to him it's just a glowing yellow dot," Admiral Rico said sarcastically. "I need a drink. Hell, I need a whole bottle."
"Frack. We're all screwed," Lewis murmured. "I think I'll join you, sir, if you don't mind."
"I do. You need to get on that plan and on the cleanup. If I'm going to get this roaring drunk, I'm not sure I want to wake up from it or not," Admiral Rico said as he rose from his seat and headed for the door.
Malwin grimaced and then shook his head.
-~~~///^\~~~-
The Dowager Empress shook her head as the Ramichov clan gathered virtually. It was obvious to even the youngest among them that they were not happy about the turn of events. And every single one of them seemed ready to point the finger at her son.
"Getting the hell out of here is sounding better and better every damn day," her niece murmured.
"Enough of that. The Admiralty and the industrial concerns are doing what they can to pick up the pieces. The same for the government. We need to show our firm support for our emperor. Our united support," she said, eyeing the images around her.
No one met her eyes. No one volunteered to go first or offer a suggestion. That was ominous she thought, very ominous indeed.
-~~~///^\~~~-
The ruling families were torn between trying to restore the government and social services while also acting on their GOTH plan. Their final GOTH plans were in a shambles though, the ships they'd held ready to run with had been affected by the cyber-attack. Some of the yachts and privateers had been shut down; others had been crippled or even destroyed by their own computers. It was going to take weeks to sort them all out.
Some people were certain they didn't have that amount of time, so they began to get even more desperate for a way out. Families began to band together to find ways to get out.
Eventually, as the telecommunications were restored and the true damage reports began to trickle in, work shifted to getting the families out. It was obvious that Horath was done; there was no way to come back and be ready to face the Federation navy. Even though the navy had hardly been afflicted the yards and their industry had been hammered. Public morale was in the dumps.
A few thought that Imperial intelligence would stop them. They were surprised when some were allowed or ignored to move. Initially a few pirate lords speculated that II had other concerns or that the agents had been bribed, coerced, or something else to look the other way.
The truth came out when a few of those same II agents quietly asked to get them and their families out too if they offered their support or covered for them.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Malwin snorted when he read the report that hundreds of civilian ships that had managed to purge their systems and go to backups were trying to leave the star system for Finagle. "Like rats deserting a sinking ship," he murmured.
Most had no idea what they were doing. Some were all talk; he knew that their ships were dead in space. A growing number were demanding the military help them. What did they want, a tow? He shook his head. There was no guarantee they'd get far. Many might not last a day in hyperspace. They probably had no idea the extent of the computer sabotage. They could just be jumping into oblivion.
Sometimes, in dark times he wished he could join them.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Catherine left her lover's side to go to the bathroom. Elvira was exhausted, the woman had labored mightily to get her command sorted out and back online. Catherine had finally gotten her to take a few hours off. That had been extended to a day as they'd traveled to the capital for a consultation.
She sat on the toilet and pulled out the handheld burn unit she'd hidden in pieces in a sealed plastic bag in the tank of the toilet. She put the pieces together and then stared at it for a long time. Finally, with steady hands she committed herself to action. She sent a single four digit code informing her people that she'd carefully placed or gotten to her side that it was time to act.
Once the signal was sent, she opened the device up and smashed the components. The plastic was biodegradable, the same for the circuit board. She stuck them in a cup of water for a moment to let them soften and then into the toilet. It only took a moment to flush them.
She just hoped the p
eople she was banking on would stay at her side and that they weren't too late.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Countess Newberry noted the report that Catherine was in the bathroom and a single brief unauthorized transmission had been sent. She was surprised that her techs had managed to purge their systems after the virus. Either they were good or they'd been kept offline.
If the message got through the mess in telecommunications, she doubted Ghadaffi's people would pick it up. It was just a single short text among many thousands of angry texts and posts.
And if he did, she doubted he'd act in a timely manner. It wasn't like it spelled out whatever was intended.
Either way, things were about to happen; she was sure of it.
Her fingertip hovered over a single button. Once she had committed the report to memory, she stabbed down on the delete key.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Elvira stared up into the night sky. For the first time in her life she was truly terrified for what the future would bring. Not of what one of her people could do to her, but of someone else. She realized she wasn't the only one.
She also realized it had united all of her people for once in something other than greed and a lust for power and prestige. Emotions like despair, rage, and helplessness were commented about in the media. How long it would last though … she wasn't sure.
The future was completely bleak now. She bit her lip, feeling her eyes sting as tears came. The war was lost; no matter what she did she couldn't turn it around for her people. Where they went from there was anyone's question.
-~~~///^\~~~-
The flotilla of prowlers monitored the situation and coordinated their actions through brief shielded signals to each other. They exchanged intelligence they and the recon drones seeded throughout the star system had gathered. When they had verified that there would be no surrender, one prowler was dispatched to carry the news out.
Once in hyperspace the ship carefully stuck to a preplanned course. She had no way to transmit an IFF in hyperspace, so she had to carefully avoid the hyper mines.
Chapter 58
Admiral Zhen and the remains of the Vengeance Fleet returned with news of the mines. They arrived in scattered fashion in the jump point zone.
To their dismay they were immediately fired upon by the trigger happy defenders even before their hyper wakes cleared and they could get an IFF off. Some of the smaller ships were damaged, some personnel killed. One CEV was turned into a derelict before the weapon fire was called off.
The arrival and friendly fire shocked and dismayed everyone, but the news that only half of the fleet had returned was even further shocking to everyone.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Admiral Zhen was on his flag bridge and still wording how he was going to explain the debacle and his return when CIC began to report about the carnage of the attack. SAR was doing what it could for the wounded ships. Fortunately, his battle cruiser had managed to take only one hit.
The forts were out and working on SAR with his own people. He wanted someone's head for the friendly fire but that may or may not come later. For the moment he was still coming to terms with his changed star system.
"What the hell happened here?" he asked, leaning forward and gripping a handrail as the main plot shifted to the rubble around the planet.
More than one person gasped in dismay at the sight. It got worse when windows appeared showing the rest of the star system.
"Sir, Admiral Horner is on the line," a chastened comm tech stated.
"Admiral … what happened?"
"I was going to ask you the same question," Admiral Horner asked, clearly unhappy about their arrival and the events around it. "I think you've got some explaining to do. I am glad I'm not in your shoes."
"Something tells me I'm the least of their concerns at the moment," Admiral Zhen said, surveying the mess of the inner star system. "The very least," he murmured.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Captain Hough grinned when he heard the report of the Vengeance Fleet's tattered return. "Serves them right," he murmured, flicking his ears to his crew. They smirked back or signaled agreement.
Contrary to Admiral Irons threat they could only perform another series of cyber-attacks. They'd already given it their best Sunday punch though, and the enemy was adapting. Any further attacks would be much tougher to perform.
There was one other problem with that scenario, the surviving Poltergeists had all fired their wads. They were all dry. Not that they were going to let the enemy know that.
He planned to give them another day, but he was pretty sure they weren't going to fold. Then he'd send most of his Poltergeists back to rearm.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Malwin, Theo, and Lewis were still in the Admiralty, still grappling with the damage and fallout. Things looked severe; all five yards were out of commission. The various reservations had been hit hard, just about every ship assembled had been turned into useless scrap in one way or another.
The reports of gobbler nanites were terrifying many engineers and techs away from the reservations all together. Maintaining order was a constant headache. The summary executions the emperor had ordered to restore order had only marginally put a lid on things.
Then the new news of the failure and destruction of the Vengeance Fleet hit them. It hit hard.
"I hope everyone has their will and last testament written," Theo said tiredly, not even joking. "We're done. If we survive the next cabinet meeting, I'll be damn surprised."
"Is that how it ends? Do we just walk in and let him cut our heads off?"
"I don't know of anything else we can do. We could probably kill him. Maybe. But the meeting is in the palace. Security is tighter than a gnat's ass," Lewis said.
"Frack."
"So, we can either do the job ourselves on our own terms or let him do it for us and put us out of our misery. Quite frankly if I'm going to die, I'm going to spit in his eye. As much as I'd like to make the son of a bitch work for it, I'm not quite willing to tear the rest of the system apart to save my own hide. Tempting but no."
The others grimaced but then nodded.
"And who knows, he might be reasonable," Theo joked. The others laughed bitterly.
-~~~///^\~~~-
The emperor was further enraged by the attack and furious over the losses in the Vengeance Fleet. It was all coming too fast and furious for some, bewildering his wife. She was stunned by the news that half of her family had been killed during the attacks.
Other families were getting similar news.
"This is their fault. I can lay this at their feet," Piotr snarled, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I'm done playing politics. They are done. It's time we purge them and start over," he growled.
"By them you mean who, the Admiralty? Cabinet?" Jezebel asked. She was starting to deeply regret not acting on her impulse to send one of the younglings away to Sigma sector. Now it might be too late.
It might be too late for a lot of things.
"Laying this all at their feet is the logical thing to do," Irazebeth said. "Ultimately, they did screw up time and time again," she said.
"Catherine won't like it," Jezebel said.
"If your granddaughter objects, then she can be removed as well," Piotr stated coldly. "After all, I still have other children. I never intended for her to inherit anyway."
Irazebeth blinked and then nodded. "Perhaps now is the time to do it. A clean break," she said softly.
Jezebel frowned but then shrugged. "As you wish. You'll need to bring Joseph in. As I understand it, he has not been paying much attention to politics at the moment."
"Then it's past time he learns," the emperor growled.
-~~~///^\~~~-
"With respect, it's time, ma'am. Now or never," Paul said as he came into the room.
Catherine looked up and then turned to him. "I see. And why is that?" She had already sent out the code and gotten the proper response. She was curious as to why P
aul was bringing it up.
"The countess has been informed the emperor is going to perform a purge in the cabinet. You are on the list if you object."
Catherine nodded. Her father had simplified things for her, and yet complicated them all in one master stroke. It was typical of him to be difficult. "Ah. He always liked to blame others for his own mistakes. All right. I think we're about ready anyway."
Catherine was unhappy with the purge and the way her father had arranged it. Her father was too smart and paranoid to go into space so everyone was coming to the palace.
Things were grim. She privately put the odds low of success for anything she did from here on out. But she was committed to try.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Contessa, the emperor's primary hand and occasional executioner was overseeing the preparations of the purge when she felt something wrap around her throat. Then everything faded out forever.
She was only the first.
-~~~///^\~~~-
One by one, or in groups of twos the Cabinet and Admiralty arrived at the palace. The emperor flat out refused to meet in space and was most comfortable in the security of the palace. A complete news blackout was in place.
The Cabinet and Admiralty assembled on time, no one dared be late. Doctor Mengla was not there however; she was busy on the other side of the planet and had been excused by the emperor.
Each of the group went through the layers of security. Palace security guards were out in force, some in gold, red, and silver powered armor suits.
In the council room there were three red guards, two Shinobi stationed in the room, one in each corner of the pentagon shaped room. One of the Shinobi stood directly behind the Admiralty side, the other male across from them. The emperor planned to use them to kill the people he designated.
