Sol (The Silver Ships Book 5)

by S. H. Jucha

  “Greetings, Space Admiral Li Chong,” Alex said when the admiral sat down in front of his monitor. “Let me begin by updating you on the outcome of Admiral Portland’s attack on the station. At this time, his fleet comprises only his battleship, two cruisers, and five destroyers, which are making their way back to Saturn.”

  “Are we to understand, President Racine, that you’ve disabled or destroyed sixteen destroyers and two cruisers?” Chong asked after some quick calculations.

  “Unfortunately, that is the case, Admiral Chong,” Alex replied.

  “How many survivors were rescued?” Woo asked.

  “There were no survivors from the ships you enumerated, Tribune,” Alex answered simply. “Two destroyer captains decided to retreat, and we allowed them to do so.”

  “But how can there be no survivors?” Chong asked. He was incredulous and anger reddened his cheeks.

  “If I may, Admiral Chong,” Reiko said, stepping closer to the vid pickup. “I’m Captain Shimada of the destroyer Conquest stationed at Idona. The Harakens demonstrated a powerful weapon to Admiral Portland in hopes of convincing him to withdraw his forces.”

  “What sort of demonstration, Captain?” Chong asked.

  “The Harakens fired two small missiles toward an abandoned patrol boat, and what issued from the missiles dissolved every bit of metal in the ship. For some reason, Admiral Portland thought this was a hoax, and he sent a destroyer to investigate.”

  “And what did the destroyer discover?” Chong asked, already guessing the outcome.

  “That it wasn’t a hoax, Admiral. The destroyer was lost too … dissolved just like the patrol ship. Once the Haraken nanites hit metal, they continue replicating until all metal has been utilized … hulls, bulkheads, safety doors, escape pods, and the metal rings on the crew’s suits.” Shimada’s voice dropped as she enumerated her list, barely whispering by the time she spoke of the environment suits. “In this case, there was no one who could be rescued. The space around the demonstration was contaminated until the nanites reached the end of their lifespans. The president was specific in the distance the admiral’s ships were to remain from the demonstration site.”

  “Were all the ships in the battle … dissolved like this?” Woo asked, shuddering at the thought. She was struggling to wrap her mind around people who fought with weapons that ate a ship’s metal.

  “No, Tribune,” Alex replied. “After two of the four squadrons received our nanites attack, the destroyer escorts succumbed to metal fatigue. In advance of those ships’ demises, we eliminated those squadrons’ two cruisers, and destroyed most of the other two squadrons, which continued to advance on the station. Unfortunately for your people, our weapons are much too powerful for your warships. Most of your ships detonated after a single pass by our fighters.”

  Woo and Chong were stunned by the president’s words. Neither thought Portland would succeed against the Harakens, but they assumed there would be some sort of protracted battle with tremendous losses on both sides.

  “Did you have any losses, Mr. President?” Chong asked.

  “One of our older fighters was lost, but we recovered the pilot,” Alex said.

  “Not much of a fight for you, was it?” Chong asked. “I mean … not much chance for battlefield honors.”

  The muscles in Alex’s neck flexed, and he fought to maintain control. “War is not about honor, Admiral. It’s about death and destruction. The great accomplishments come when differences can be resolved and war prevented. Failing to achieve that goal, what follows is just fighting. But while we seem to be attempting to assign blame for the loss of UE crew and ships, why didn’t you send recall orders to Admiral Portland?”

  Chong looked completely uncomfortable with the question and even squirmed in his chair.

  “We both sent recalls,” Woo finally said. “Admiral Portland stated he was in possession of incontrovertible proof that your people were planning to takeover Saturn’s moons.”

  “That’s plasma vent,” Brennan declared, speaking up for the first time. “The Harakens didn’t move a ship until Portland’s forces came close.

  “My ship’s officers have been monitoring Idona’s space since the Harakens arrived,” Shimada added. “Tribune Brennan is correct. The Harakens were not making any move on Saturn.” Shimada knew that Woo knew this, but it appeared their personal conversation was to be kept private.

  “For all the good that information does us,” Woo said, “we now have to deal with the aftermath.”

  “Just for a moment, let’s put aside Portland and consider the much bigger picture,” Brennan said urgently, stepping toward the Haraken vid drone. “Tribune Woo, have you informed Admiral Chong of our conversations?” Brennan asked cryptically.

  “Do I know that the UE is in danger of going broke? Yes,” Chong declared angrily.

  Shimada and the other Earthers couldn’t believe what they heard, and the Harakens were signaling furiously back and forth.

  “Yes, well … I wouldn’t have put it so bluntly, Admiral,” Brennan said, glancing around at the surrounding faces. “But now that we’re all aware of the problem, let’s talk about the solution.” Immediately, Brennan had Woo and Chong’s attention. “We have a model for the way out of our gloomy future right here on this station, but it requires us to stop thinking in black and white, right or wrong, the UE or nothing. On this station, it’s compromise, tolerance, and goodwill that are working.”

  “Yes, with the Harakens as overseers,” Chong challenged.

  “Your pardon, Admiral, but that’s not really the case,” Morris piped up.

  “And you are?” Chong asked, having noticed the lowly lieutenant’s insignia.

  “Lieutenant Morris, Admiral. I’m in charge of the militia,” Patrice replied.

  “Allow me to bring you up to date, Admiral,” Alex said. “Major Lindling, the previous head of the militia annoyed me and has proven to have diverted huge amounts of funds from the station. At present, he’s in a holding cell.

  Chong glanced at his second screen to see Woo nodding her head in acknowledgment. At the moment, the conversation was too critical to divert his attention, but part of his mind was captivated that he was speaking in real time to a tribune on the opposite side of the sun from him and a station on the outer rim.

  “I was informed that Captain Yun was a good fit to help the station director and assigned him there,” Alex continued. “That left the militia’s control in the hands of Lieutenant Morris, who’s been doing a splendid job. Now, please allow her to make her point. Lieutenant?”

  Patrice Morris suddenly felt like a sports ball between two formidable teams. She glanced at Alex who smiled encouragingly to her.

  “The Harakens might have started the ball rolling, Admiral, by disarming the militia and convincing the rebels to come out of hiding, but since then it’s been Earthers, as the Harakens call us, who’ve been doing the work and putting this station back on its feet. The militia operates as the station’s policing and administrative force, but most of the troopers are on work assignment … maintenance on the station.”

  “Maintenance? Who trained them for that?” Chong asked, incredulous at the concept.

  “That would be my people,” Nikki supplied. “Since we maintained the inner ring for generations, we’re the best qualified to train other personnel. And since you’re probably wondering, Admiral, I’m Nikki Fowler, the station director and the ex-rebel leader. Personally, I like my new job much better.”

  Since Chong appeared to be busy trying to absorb the changes at Idona, Brennan seized the moment to drive his point home. “What these people are trying to tell you, Admiral, is that the old way … the UE way … wasn’t working here. The station was suffering from poor maintenance and credit flow, not to mention unchecked theft of funds by the military. The Harakens offered these people the opportunity to work together and save the station. Then they stood back. It’s the stationers who embraced the concept of cooperation, and it
is working incredibly well.

  “It sounds beatific, Tribune Brennan,” Chong said, regaining his mental equilibrium. “So in your house of compromise you’ve had no lawbreakers?”

  “Oh, yes, we have people, so naturally we have lawbreakers, Admiral,” Nikki responded. “We have a panel of five judges, who review each case. But unlike the UE, our judgments are not innocent or guilty, where the guilty receive one of two sentences, a life sentence or death. That’s a criminal waste of human potential. For instance, convictions for petty crimes receive station work assignments. This is tech work and requires training. A 50-hour sentence might be preceded by 150 hours of training. We’ve hired the majority of those who performed well in their training and sentencing hours.”

  “Even if what the bunch of you say is true, we won’t have the Harakens around to set up each colony. Will we, President Racine?” Chong asked. The response he received was Alex’s negative shake of his head.

  “But do we need the Harakens?” Woo interjected. “Tribune Brennan represents the corporations that will embrace whatever model boosts their profits. As for me, I want to see a viable government with a future and not one collapsing into chaos. If the military takes the lead to make peace with the rebels and we create local and more flexible judicial panels, we might create a stable, economic future.

  “I see two problems with your future, Tribune Woo,” Chong replied. “The first is that Lucchesi and the enclave of high judges will resist the curtailment of their power.”

  “Undoubtedly,” Woo said, nodding her agreement.

  “And the other problem, Admiral?” Alex prompted.

  “Not all naval officers are true to upper command. A good portion of them owe their allegiance to the enclave of high judges,” Chong acknowledged. “But, President Racine, after Portland’s debacle, I don’t see the enclave or Lucchesi, for that matter, mounting another run at you. So, if anything, your people and Idona are safe.

  “We didn’t come here to be safe, Admiral,” Alex replied. “We came here to find a peaceful way of preventing any more of your misguided fools from bringing warships to our space and forcing us to destroy them.”

  “So, if you can’t find a peaceful means of achieving your goal, Mr. President, you’ll resort to the subjugation of our entire system,” Chong challenged.

  Woo winced inwardly, but schooled her face to maintain a neutral expression. Her instincts told her Chong was reading the Harakens incorrectly, especially their president, but his decades of climbing the ranks under the UE’s harsh methods put him at a disadvantage.

  “Why are peace and stability so hard for you people to understand?” asked Alex, a disgusted expression on his face. “We have no intention of subjugating your system. If we wanted to limit your ability to harm us, we would simply flood your system with our nanites, programmed with a twenty-year lifespan, and let them enjoy an almost infinite meal of metal.”

  The Harakens knew Alex was bluffing, but the Earthers’ reactions showed that they believed what Alex was saying was a distinct possibility.

  “Wouldn’t that be the UE way, Admiral?” Alex added. “Use your greatest weapon against your enemy. Well, Space Admiral Li Chong, you can thank your good fortune that it is not the Haraken way.”

  “We have several more immediate problems,” Woo said, attempting to divert the impending head-on collision of Admiral Chong and President Racine. “News will reach the enclave and Lucchesi of Portland’s failure, and it’s not going to sit well with them. As Admiral Chong indicated earlier, the high judges have their pick of a good number of naval commanders who will gladly pick up the UE’s judicial banner. In the meantime, word will have spread that Portland left his post at Saturn uncovered. By the time he returns, there will have been ample opportunity for freighters and privateers to land and offload supplies and arms to the rebels. There’s every possibility that our militias on the colonies and domes of Saturn’s moons are about to be overrun.”

  Woo and Chong waited for a response from Alex, but he was lost in thought, communing with Julien. Eventually, Renée stepped toward the vid drone and thanked the tribune and admiral for their time and promised to be in touch.

  -20-

  Woo thought there was plenty of time before Admiral Portland’s report reached Lucchesi, which afforded her the luxury of carefully preparing the means to block his machinations when he did learn of the admiral’s defeat. But she miscalculated. When she confronted Lucchesi about his complicity in directing Portland at the Harakens, the tribune’s paranoia alarms were triggered and he took steps to protect himself.

  A trusted security officer was turned and assisted Lucchesi in planting an application in Woo’s comms console, which relayed her every conversation to him. Minutes after Woo’s conference with Chong and Idona Station, Lucchesi knew of Portland’s abject failure against the Harakens.

  * * *

  After listening to Woo’s conference comm, Lucchesi wasted no time in vacating his residence at the Tribunal’s retreat, ordering a shuttle for the trip to the Appalachian Mountains where he would attend an emergency meeting of the enclave of high judges, which he had called.

  The last words of the enclave’s spokesperson, echoed in Lucchesi’s head as he sat contemplating what he would tell the fifteen member enclave: “If it fails, and it’s our hope that it doesn’t, then you will resign your position, citing ill health, and we will nominate another in your place. Are we clear?” The problem was the failure of their plan had developed unforeseen consequences, and Lucchesi had placed not only his future in jeopardy but possibly the future of the enclave and the high judges.

  By the next morning, Lucchesi stood before the ornate doors of the enclave, waiting to be summoned. The same young man, who before had handed him the note with Portland’s name, stood patiently waiting beside him. A twitch in the attendant’s eyes cued his reception of a message via his ear implant. “Please enter, Tribune Lucchesi,” he said as the massive doors swung open.

  “What have you to report, Tribune?” the enclave’s spokesperson asked without ceremony.

  “Admiral Portland was repulsed at Idona,” Lucchesi announced. He felt it was okay to use the admiral’s name since the man was already outed as a judiciary underling. “Portland’s forces were destroyed by the Harakens two days ago — two cruisers, sixteen destroyers, and an additional destroyer lost before the battle began.”

  “The Harakens’ losses?” the spokesperson asked.

  “One fighter, with the pilot recovered,” Lucchesi said.

  Murmurs circulated among the enclave’s members, and the spokesperson briefly touched his ear implant. “The battle took place two days ago. How is it you are able to report it now?”

  “I intercepted a communication between the Harakens, Tribune Woo, and Admiral Li Chong. It was facilitated by the Harakens’ real-time comms capability.”

  “So your gambit failed, Tribune. Ready your retirement announcement.”

  “We have more pressing business than my retirement,” Lucchesi replied and proceeded to detail the entire communication he intercepted. When he finished, he waited while the murmuring resurfaced and the spokesperson tilted his head to isolate his ear implant from the noise behind him.

  “Leave us, Tribune. I suggest you enjoy lunch on us. We will call you when we’ve formulated our decision,” the spokesperson said.

  Lucchesi exited the room, and the attendant gestured down the corridor. “This way, Tribune. A meal is being prepared for you.”

  * * *

  It was a longer wait than the length of a meal. Lucchesi was tempted to pace, but the thought of the effort kept him firmly seated in a most comfortable chair. Late in the afternoon, the attendant woke him and summoned him back to the enclave.

  “Tribune Lucchesi, it’s our decision to leave in you place while the next events play out. You will take no active part in what is to come, and any critical votes by the Tribunal will require our opinion as to how you will vote. Are we clear?” the
spokesperson said.

  “May I ask what the enclave plans to do?”

  “No, you may not, Tribune. Leave us now.”

  Feeling evermore the chastened schoolboy, Lucchesi made his way out of the building for a private transport back to his waiting shuttle. Being taken out of the information loop scared him. He considered the possibility of continuing to report the conversations of Tribune Woo to the enclave, but the spokesperson was very clear. He was to take no active role.

  Lucchesi came to the conclusion that it was time to activate one of his “retirement plans.” Credits were stashed in hundreds of accounts across the system, but the difficulty would be in hiding his person. As much as he detested the idea, it looked to Lucchesi like it was an excellent time to schedule a week with a bio-sculptor.

  * * *

  Tribune Woo felt her reader hum in her hand and glanced down to see the sender. It caused her to misstep before she spun around and hurried to her private quarters.

  Locking her quarter’s door, she opened the message. It was short and written in open code. “Uncle Louie visited today. Don’t think he enjoyed his visit. Mum said you should expect a nice gift. Look for it.”

  Woo did have a sister and a nephew, but they were estranged. The sender was masquerading as her nephew when in reality he was the attendant that Lucchesi met outside the enclave’s door. It had taken years for Woo to place the lieutenant deep into the judiciary, and he was ordered to communicate only when critical information warranted it.

  Reading between the lines, it told Woo where Lucchesi ran to yesterday morning. If he was unhappy, it meant the enclave had disciplined him and taken control. Not a good thing from Woo’s point of view. The key phrases were the last two. “Mum’” meant the enclave, and “a nice gift” meant an overt military response. Finally, “look for it” meant soon.