"Good. After a therapist has had some time with him, you may be able to visit, but I still wouldn't advise it. The recommendation I'll be putting in my report will suggest a deep brain scan and a non-public execution. Use his body and scans for further investigation after his death. The alternative is even more grim. This construct would require invasive biological correction before you could expect any real progress in his condition."
The suggestion surprised Jake, who had never dealt with an examiner before. "Did you recommend this kind of disposal for anyone you've seen before?" He wasn't opposed to the notion of executing Wheeler, but it would be the first official act of lethal punishment for the Haven Government.
"No. This is the first. The Order, or Regent Galactic, whoever made this thing created something that was already broken. He's hard wired for sociopathy and hate. The only thing he doesn't hate is himself. The Wheeler creature will never stop trying to destroy everything you're associated with. If a day comes when he can no longer pursue any of you, he'll find something else to corrupt or destroy in the name of just correction. This is most likely why he was put in charge of the remaining forces in the Haven System. Forces that, by my estimation from what I've seen so far, were largely untrained and sub-par. This part of the Order Fleet mostly consists of greedy incompetents with the exception of some of the command branch. Many of the best ships and personnel were quietly moved out of the Haven System before we arrived. I'll have a clearer picture of things in the coming days, as me and my people have a chance to scan more captives, but I doubt my assessment will change. Do you have any other questions, Admiral?"
"Not right now, thank you, Examiner," Jake replied, reeling at the man's estimation that the Haven System was being held by tens of thousands of the Order's least effective people. That's ringing true, though, he thought. There were so few Order Knights. Most of the capitol ships we've boarded don't have a single squad. There were other signs as well, including the gun-shyness of the fleet in general and the unwillingness of Citadel to work with them.
"Very good, Admiral. Please contact me anytime with questions. I'll be filing reports daily. I'd ignore most of them, since it's a normal part of processing and I'm sure you have a dozen or more people under you who can give them a look, and I'll be sure to mark anything warranting your attention for you."
The window disappeared and Jake looked around the large bridge. Technicians quietly scanned the stations, copying local data and looking for hidden files. His squad guarded the door or stood nearby. Some of them were officers, and they assisted with the direction of the recovery teams.
Jake thought about what he just learned, ignoring the interface as it passively competed for his attention. He'd faced zealots from the Order before, they definitely seemed more dangerous using less equipment. There was an ominous feeling brewing beneath the tide of data he was facing, under the growing desire to join Ayan aboard the War Forge and continue attending his duties from there.
Where the ominous sensation came from eluded Jake for a moment, then he put his hand down on one of the arms of the command seat. A chilling thought occurred to him. If this fleet, multiple battle groups, is what the Overlord will give officers he sees as largely incompetent, then what kind of hardware is everyone else using? What about their specialists? The next wave of knights and captains? He thought he'd seen most of the technology that the Order had, at least in blueprint form if not in person. There were fewer than a thousand framework soldiers in the fleet holding the Haven System. What happened there? He did a search of the data Haven had already collected from the ships they were capturing. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for. Wheeler ordered them to be boxed and sent out of the system. He actually thought the Overlord would take direct control and use them against him. Wow, that is a very serious kind of crazy.
With an intention to look into it more later, Jake moved on, thinking about the expensive ships the Order had in the system. The new cruiser class was a problem, but they couldn't have too many of them in the Cluster, could they? Even the ones they'd run into were new to him, not actually new. Most were over ten years old, relatively new, sure, but not compared to what Haven Fleet was using. He hadn't checked the ages of the ships they just captured, though, and that felt like an oversight.
Then, with hurried gestures he brought an entire holographic interface up using his command and control unit. Flicking through data collected from all the capture teams, he focused on one fact to start, one thing that would prove his theory: the average age of the vessels. That proved nothing, since it came up as fourteen years. With a hurried hand, he looked for other things the large capitol ships had in common and found it. With the exception of the ship he was standing on and several destroyers, every vessel in the Order's fleet in the Haven System had failed at least one shakedown cruise test then been sent back for refurbishing. All the ships that didn't fit in that category were from Tafford's main fleet. Jake looked into the commanders of the ships, most of whom were in the Shard when it was destroyed, and found that they were all guilty of unlawful fraternization, and black files were kept on them that tracked signs of disloyalty. The signs ranged from the consumption of foreign propaganda to favouring profit over fealty to the Order.
It was only when Veras cleared his throat from where he stood nearby and asked; "Are you all right, Admiral?" that Jake realized he was clenching his jaw, nearly sneering.
"We just culled the weak from the Order's ranks for them," he forwarded his findings to the rest of the admiralty, the commanders immediately beneath him, closed the holographic display, then let out a rueful laugh. "We wiped out their rejects and idiots, taking a beating as a reward." It was time to move on. Jake predicted that taking more time to thoroughly examine the ships they captured wouldn't produce anything they couldn't find in the data they copied from them. "Pass the order: begin a full spectrum hard scan of the entire ship, finish data collection, and complete the retrieval of all captives. We have one hour to get it done. We'll watch droid ships feed this thing into the War Forge's intake systems by this time tomorrow. First round's on me."
"Yes, Sir," Veras said, happy to hear the change of plans. Maybe he felt that the processing of the Ascent One was taking too long as well, or he liked the idea of having drinks with Jake. It was something he could find out tomorrow. For the moment, Jake started making his way to the nearest functioning launch bay. It was time to take his place aboard the War Forge.
Thirty-Six
Resolution and Expansion
* * *
"The Admiralty is in agreement," said Lamonthe's hologram. Most of the other people in the room were actually present. Admiral Unlo Kulsh was sitting beside the holographic Lamonthe, which prompted Ayan to have a humorous thought. The height difference between them was extreme, Lamonthe's life-sized depiction was over twice as tall, so wouldn't it be nice to reduce the hologram's size? If it wasn't such a serious discussion, she'd do it. The admiralty could use a moment of levity. On his side of the darkly decorated room were several other Rear Admirals, including Grey, who was just back from touring the ships left in his battle group.
To Ayan's right was Terry Ozark McPatrick, on her left was Admiral Doolth, who was just back from her post, commanding Nafalli ships who were still busy assisting with Order Captives. There were several Rear Admirals behind Ayan as well. What Lamonthe said was true, the Admiralty agreed that there were two important matters that had to be discussed and decided before they moved forward. What exactly the fleet would do next was another matter. Nothing was decided. The room was split.
Lamonthe called this meeting, and the rumour concerning its topic got out minutes later. He wanted to discuss the problems concerning automated defences and holding the Haven System. Two hours later, at the time of the meeting, the whole admiralty with the exception of Jacob Valent who was attending to a pocket of resistance aboard the Hargrove, an Order Destroyer, the attendees organized themselves so they sat or stood against one side of th
e meeting room or the other. The space was round to help prevent the appearance of such splits, but you couldn't force two opposed groups of leaders together, no matter how you designed a room.
The numbers were fairly equal, which wasn't promising. "What do you think the admiralty has come to an agreement on?" Ayan asked. Since her speech she'd seen her political support rise and there had been an outpouring of sympathy from across the fleet. The Nafalli saw her unintentionally public promise as an act of high honour, and her grief as something that would become strength when her mourning eased. To Ayan it felt like cheating. Using something private, an obvious, deep injury that she would have tended to on her own, to draw sympathy, but there was no taking that unintentional airing of grief back. The holograms of Nafalli leaders began appearing on her side of the room. They were probably invited by Admiral Doolth, either as witnesses or as support. It changed the balance of the room, giving more weight to Ayan's side.
"Holding the Haven System would be unwise. It would require our entire fleet and more to do so effectively now that the trust in automated defence systems has broken down," Lamonthe said, speaking quickly to get through his entire statement. The next words he said had to compete with objections from Ayan's side. "We should follow through with a plan Admiral Ayan Anderson already had in place: we scout the last systems on the list, the ones outside of the Cluster, build a secret base there and regroup. Have a public facing point of contact for new recruits. That public receiving station would move, and that would make recruiting more difficult, but I still believe it's the wiser course."
Admiral Doolth raised a furred hand and patted the air, a gesture of placation, one that requested patience, and the room quieted. "This is not the will of the Nafalli."
A Nafalli from the other side of the room, an Elder named Choffen, but not a military leader, took a half step forward. "The masters of ships, and of this overly long conflict have decided to stay. I urge you to reconsider on behalf of the innocent."
"You are the only Elder who does," Doolth said. "We welcome you as a courtesy. Your opinion does not reflect the majority."
Choffen dropped a hand on his snout, lowered his head and stepped back. "I will only state this once so it can be heard by our allies. There is an opinion amongst some of the Nafalli people here that our fleet should break up so it would be easier for us to settle in the peaceful places in this sector."
"So our tribes can be the poor minority wherever we go? Here we have a chance at building a new nation that celebrates our culture and keeps family together." The next part was spoken in Nafalli. Ayan's translator spelled it out for her. "We must be brave, we can't lose heart. Imagine an entire continent to ourselves. Partners that want us here, and a place where we can help build a new destiny. I would like my grandchildren to grow in the forests, the fields, to know the carefree adventures of youth in clean air and waters. I don't want to hear any more talk of splitting our tribes up. I won't see some of them become victims, the rest forced to depend on the kindness of others in cities and stinking worlds choked with industry or regulations that weren't made for us."
"I apologize," the Elder, who didn't look so elderly with his black and caramel coloured fur, said as he bowed his head low and left the room.
"I'm sorry," Doolth said, turning to Ayan, speaking quietly in English. "I'm afraid that may not be the last we hear of that nonsense. There is a small but vocal minority who have been made weary by the trials of the last few years."
"I understand," Ayan said.
"Well, suffice it to say, there are civilians who don't believe staying here is a good idea, either," Lamonthe added. "Their opinions matter, even after you browbeat them into shutting up."
"Let's vote," Ayan said, launching a simple poll on Crewcast. It would reach every citizen in the solar system as well as the ones on the Pelican and other ships at a distance with quad drives. The question was simple: Should we stay in the Haven System and fortify it even though we will eventually be attacked again?
"That's a referendum without foundation. The people have not had time to be educated on the issue," Lamonthe protested, several of the people on his side of the room nodding.
"It's a poll," Ayan defended with a shrug. If you say the will of the people is to run, then a casual poll that touches more than half the population should reflect that. "You should vote." As she said so, she did so, tapping YES. "Besides, the Pelican is going to get this, there are thousands of people aboard that ship who've never set foot on Tamber. They should sway the poll results in your direction. A lot of them just lost their world, so they understand the circumstances of being homeless and the advantages of running," she looked to Rear Admiral Grey, who nodded at her.
After he tapped his answer on his right command and control unit, he stood up and crossed the room to her side. "I agree with your methods if not your opinion, Admiral. I'll go with whatever you decide, as it should be."
"He raises an interesting point," Admiral Terry Ozark McPatrick said. "This isn't a vote at any level, whether it's civilians, serving soldiers or the Admiralty. This is a debate at the highest level. When it's all said and done, Ayan is still Queen. There is no higher rank in the solar system."
"But she is not the absolute master of this military organization," Lamonthe countered calmly.
"Yes, she is," Admiral Doolth said. "According to the Nafalli."
"She is the master of its equipment and technology," Jake's hologram said as it materialized. He had obviously been listening. "The alliances and development of what we have are largely thanks to her. Negotiations with the Carthans brought about her ownership of this solar system, and no one has had more contact with Lorander. Even though she's subjected to this kind of time-wasting navel gazing, she still oversees the development and maintenance of the entire fleet. If there is anyone who can make the ultimate decision as to where it goes and who it will fight, it is her."
"Says her consort," Lamonthe said clearly.
"Where are you now, Admiral? What kept you from this meeting?" asked Admiral Unlo Kulsh.
"I'm on the bridge of the Merciless," Jacob replied, his expression grave. "The remaining forty-nine crewmembers of the Hargrove have more spine than the rest of the Order. I ordered my people off that ship because our scanners detected that the Order soldiers left there managed to wire a destruct device using the main reactor. They threatened to detonate it if we didn't leave. I gave them terms."
"And they were?" asked Kulsh, his Mergillian expression showing impatience through narrowed eyes and broad, tense lips.
"Surrender or I'll destroy your ship. Their time's up," Jake turned to his right. "Tactical, launch." With a flick of his finger, the view changed. A hologram of the Merciless appeared with the Hargrove in the distance. The battered destroyer's lights were starting to come back on, its rear engines firing. The data to the side showed that the shields were still down and point defence systems were inoperable. Three torpedoes were fired from the Merciless, their path traced by navigation lines. For little more than a second, everyone in the room watched as those three deadly antimatter projectiles made their way between the ships. A flash of light overwhelmed the destroyer for an instant, and when it was visible again one half was open to space, the decks inside were burned and white-red hot, warping as they cooled. "A waste of life, but we've been making threats for hours against Order soldiers that tucked into defensible cabins inside ships that surrendered. They won't put their weapons down. It's time we deliver on those threats so they reconsider. The Merciless is moving on to the Kazan, where there's another group of Order soldiers hiding in the engineering section. We've told them they have one minute to surrender and come out. I hope your meeting is adjourned by the time we either have them in custody or have burned them out. If there is a vote, and I hope there isn't, Admiral Anderson has my proxy. It's what a good consort would do." Jake's image flickered out.
That was a side of Jake Ayan hadn't seen for a while. He could be more direct and vicious
than Lamonthe or anyone in that room. There were still pockets of resistance aboard the Order ships in the system, and while she wished there was another way, the fleet couldn't afford taking the time to pursue alternatives. Burning them out, as Jake said, was the fastest method they had. A short message from Jake on her command and control bracer said; Last hold outs on Kazan have surrendered. His method was working. Making an example of one ship probably saved lives on both sides. Even still, the steely gazed version of Jake she'd seen that day left her with mixed emotions. It was a little frightening but seeing that he was still capable of it only bolstered her faith in him personally and professionally. At the same time, she couldn't wait until they had time together again. Seeing him, even like that, was enough to make her ache, she felt his absence more than ever. "The poll is still being taken," Ayan said. "I'll take the results into consideration."
"So you're making this decision alone?" Lamonthe asked.
An idea occurred to Ayan then, and she brought the ownership document for the Rega Gain, now the Haven System up so everyone could see it. "No, I'm not." With a few flicks of her finger she added Admiral Doolth, Oz, and Jake's names to the ownership. She needed one more, so she added Minh-Chu as her tie-breaking fifth. Then, with no hesitation, she set a trial time on the new ownership of the solar system and finalized it. "You're all witnesses. I have just shared my ownership of this system with Admiral Doolth, Admiral McPatrick, Admiral Valent and Wing Commander Minh-Chu Buu for the next three years." A chirp on her command and control unit informed her that conclusive poll results were ready and she looked at them. Seventy-nine percent of Haven citizens replied. Seventy-three percent of those people voted that they should stay and defend the Haven System. "I believe my decision reflects the will of the people when I say we're staying. I only need two more monarch owners of the Haven System to agree. I'd like to hear Admiral Doolth's decision."
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14 Page 30
