Never Surrender (The Empire's Corps Book 10)

by Christopher Nuttall

  Jasmine scowled. Stewart was effectively her XO; it was his duty to remind her of potential issues with her planning. But, now she’d made the decision, she really didn't want to be questioned. Watson was right. They needed a diversion and an attack on Governor Brown was perhaps the best idea they could muster. States that were ruled by a single person tended to be very sensitive to threats to their leader. If nothing else, there would be one hell of a succession crisis.

  “They attacked Avalon itself,” she reminded him. She’d caught up on the news from the front on Saltine. “They made a determined effort to kill Colonel Stalker and the President. I don’t think they can complain if we return the favour.”

  And we might spark off a civil war, she added, silently. Everything she’d heard from Stubbins and Paula - and Pete - suggested that Governor Brown was presiding over a patchwork state. Without him holding the whole edifice together, it might collapse into chaos. The Commonwealth would have a chance to build up its might while Wolfbane turned on itself.

  She wondered, absently, if Colonel Stalker would approve. He’d always had an idea of war as honourable, something that Jasmine didn't understand. There was a difference between clinging to one’s ideals and allowing them to hamper operations. But, in the end, the decision rested with her. Governor Brown’s removal might help the Commonwealth win the war and that was all there was to it.

  And if Admiral Singh dies too, we might well win quicker, she thought. Admiral Singh might have lost Corinthian, but she was no idiot. And she had a burning lust to prove herself by stamping her will on the universe. Who knows who will replace her if she dies?

  “Then we should ensure he has the best possible chance to succeed,” Stewart said. “Do you have a way to get into the shipyard?”

  “I think we have only one option,” Jasmine said. The old trick of shutting down all emissions and just drifting through the defences was not going to work here. “We need to get them to take us inside.”

  Stewart lifted an eyebrow. “You plan to bribe our way inside?”

  Jasmine shook her head. “There’s an ore freighter docking here tomorrow,” she said. “We’re going to take it, then load it with ore and set course for the shipyard. Their procedures insist on any incoming ships being searched thoroughly before they enter the shipyard ...”

  “Which will make it impossible for us to sneak through,” Stewart pointed out.

  “It will,” Jasmine said. “They will board us, like they did earlier. At that point, we take their ship and use it to pass through the defences.”

  Stewart smiled. “And then?”

  “We bail out once we’re in the shipyard, then trigger a core breech in the ship’s drives,” Jasmine said. “That should cause enough confusion for us to get to the habitation nodes without being detected, as we’re already be inside their defences. From there, we go to the armoury and take control of the missile pods, then turn them on the shipyards. And then we slip out and sneak back to the freighter.”

  “I see,” Stewart said, after a long moment. “It sounds remarkably complex.”

  “It is,” Jasmine said. “However, I don’t see any alternative. I don’t know if there’s a self-destruct system on the shipyard, but if there is I doubt they would let us get hold of it. Any other damage we can do would be wholly minor, given the sheer scale of the installation.”

  “There is another possibility,” Stewart offered. He tapped the shipyard diagram with some force. “We could deliberately set out to butcher the workforce.”

  Jasmine blanched. It was easy enough to consider assassinating Governor Brown, but she didn't want to think about slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocent workers. And yet, didn't Stewart have a point? The workers would be hard to replace, thanks to literally centuries of damage to the Empire’s educational system. Hell, even the workers who could train newer workers would be killed. Wolfbane might not recover for centuries.

  But she didn't want to cross that line. It would be a step too far.

  She frowned as a thought occurred to her. “You think we could kidnap them instead?”

  “I don’t see how,” Stewart said. “There aren't any freighters within the shipyard, as far as I can see, and they wouldn't have any difficulty catching up with us if they did. I think we have a choice between killing them all, or at least as many as we can catch, and letting them live.”

  “We’re not going to become murderers,” Jasmine said. There were people she would gladly kill - Governor Brown, Admiral Singh - but she wasn't going to slaughter far too many innocents, even if their deaths were a tactical advantage. “Leave them in place.”

  “I hope you can live with yourself later,” Stewart said. “And what about our friends?”

  “Good question,” Jasmine said. Gary and Kailee might come in handy for something, but right now she couldn't think what. “Maybe they should go with the freighter when it heads to the out-system.”

  “Gary has been learning to hack,” Stewart reminded her. He looked at the terminal, thoughtfully. “Carl actually managed to have a long chat with him ...”

  There was a tap on the hatch, which opened. “Speak of the devil,” Stewart added, as Watson stepped into the compartment. “We were just talking about you.”

  “Ah,” Watson said. He grinned, openly. “And to think I was going to ask the doctor for something to keep my ears from burning.”

  Jasmine gave him a sharp look. “What were you and Gary chatting about?”

  “Games,” Watson said. “Gary played a lot of games on Earth. It seems he even had quite a reputation online at one point. He even hacked some of those shitty terminals they hand out to children - you know, the ones with cameras that monitor what you do when you use them.”

  Stewart shuddered. “They were being used to spy on kids,” he said. His face twisted in disgust. “Hardly anyone gave a damn ... or dared to protest. It was Earth.”

  Jasmine winced. What did it say about Earth that someone could put a spy camera into a child’s room and hardly anyone dared protest? But Earth had had literally trillions of spy cameras scattered through the CityBlocks ... and even then, the crime rate had been astronomically high. She rather doubted that hacking the devices had been hard, even though Earth’s students learned very little about how computers actually worked. And Gary had probably escaped detection because there were just so many of the devices.

  Maybe they just didn't care, she thought. Or told themselves that they were fighting crime by scattering cameras everywhere. But they are useless without someone monitoring the take ...

  She pushed the thought aside and leaned forward. “Can he crack a mil-spec system?”

  “Perhaps, with a hacker kit,” Watson said. “He was very cagey about just how far he’d gone on Earth. I think he might have a chance, but he’d have to try to be sure.”

  Jasmine winced. The Empire might have tried to give each planet a united datanet, but military and political datacores were rarely tied to the network. There had always been nightmares about hackers breaking in and triggering all sorts of disasters, no matter how many precautions were put in place. But then, there had been so few qualified WebHeads when the Empire’s time finally ran out that there might have been a very valid threat. A security officer might know nothing more about how a computer actually worked, let alone how to fix it, than the average civilian.

  But they do work all kinds of protections into the computers, she thought, sourly. It might not be possible to break into the system.

  “I’ll talk to him about it,” she said. It would be useful to have a human in the loop, rather than rely on a hacker kit. “But I don’t know if we could trust him on a mission.”

  Watson frowned. “You don’t trust him?”

  “I would prefer not to have to count on him being brave at the right time,” she said. Gary had had an opportunity to shoot someone, to save Kailee from being raped, and he’d muffed it completely. “A panic attack could screw the entire mission.”

/>   She sighed, inwardly. She hated the idea of taking Gary on a mission that required bravery; he might have been training - Kailee was very good at providing incentive - but he simply wasn't very brave. It might be years before he overcame his mental blocks, if he ever did, and became an effective fighter. She couldn't recall ever encountering a marine recruit who’d been unwilling to actually hit someone.

  “Then set up a laser link,” Watson suggested. “Have him do his work from a distance, if possible. It should be workable.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Jasmine promised. It did seem like a good idea, although the freighter couldn't be that far from the shipyard or time-delay problems would start to crop up. The speed of light only seemed fast when compared to a planet’s surface. “It will need to be planned carefully.”

  She looked up at him. “What did Paula say?”

  “She said she would be happy to accompany me,” Watson said. “I explained the dangers and she accepted them.”

  “How brave of her,” Jasmine said. “I expect you to keep an eye on her, understand? And not just in bed.”

  “Of course,” Watson said, offended.

  He passed her a datachip, which she slotted into the terminal. “A free trader can be here in five hours, if we put in a request for them to visit within the next hour,” he continued. “Paula and I will board, then bribe our way down to the planet. It will mean riding in a transit crate, but that will get us past the customs monitors without having to register our entry and having our DNA checked against the register. Pete says the system is almost foolproof.”

  “Really?” Stewart asked. “Some fools are actually quite smart.”

  Watson didn't rise to the bait. “I can take a handful of weapons with me,” he added, “or try to obtain more on the surface.”

  “Take them with you,” Jasmine said. It was a risk, but if Watson were caught the entire mission would be blown anyway. “What do you plan to do after striking at Brown?”

  “I plan to go underground, then start looking for other targets of opportunity,” Watson said. “It's quite likely there is an underground movement by now; Paula says there were several budding independence movements when Earth fell and Brown took over. I can join them and offer my support. We’ll be there when the Commonwealth eventually invests this system.”

  Unless civil war breaks out, Jasmine thought. It was hard to judge for sure. Neither Paula nor Stubbins could be expected to know the current state of affairs. The underground might have an opportunity once Brown’s subordinates have finished killing each other.

  “Workable,” Stewart growled. He didn't seem pleased by the development. “I suppose it is workable. But very dangerous.”

  “There’s no alternative,” Watson said. “You need a diversion ... and this is our chance to take a shot at Governor Brown himself. I didn't sign up to be safe.”

  “There’s a difference between being brave and being reckless,” Jasmine said. “But you’re right. And good luck.”

  She rose to her feet and held out her hand. Watson took it; they shook hands, firmly. Stewart hesitated, then shook hands with Watson too. Jasmine felt an odd pang in her chest, then pushed it aside, sharply. Watson was right. The risk had to be taken ... but so much could easily go wrong.

  “The ore freighter is due here tomorrow,” Jasmine said. She glanced from one to the other, willing them to understand. One way or the other, they would give Wolfbane a very bloody nose. “We have only a handful of hours to get everything ready, then catch up on our sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.”

  Chapter Thirty

  The senior leadership, however, tended to be treated differently. If they were willing to bow the head to the Empire, they would be treated as quislings, rather than outright enemies. They would be ideally placed to exploit their homeworld on the Empire’s behalf - and they would know everyone who was likely to pose a threat in the future. Indeed, it says something grim about human nature that many leaders were quite willing to sell out their subordinates, if only to protect their own lives.

  - Professor Leo Caesius. The Empire and its Prisoners of War.

  Wolfbane System, Year 5 (PE)

  Admiral Rani Singh knew, without any reasonable doubt, that patience was one of her strong suits. It had kept her going when her commanding officer - her former commanding officer - had blocked her career, after she'd refused to sleep with him. Indeed, Admiral Bainbridge had suffered when she'd launched her coup and taken control of the fleet base he’d regarded as punishment duty. Patience had given her a chance to stick a knife in his back and take power for herself.

  But she also knew the value of acting fast, when opportunity presented itself.

  She felt a flicker of cold frustration as she walked down the corridor towards the Governor’s office, escorted by a pair of heavily-armed guards. Wolfbane looked like more of an armed camp than ever before; she’d seen hundreds of soldiers patrolling the streets, while the bodyguards on duty had searched her thoroughly and scanned her body down to the atomic level before allowing her to proceed. Governor Brown, it seemed, was feeling paranoid ... and she had to admit he had good reason. The war was threatening to stalemate, something that would encourage his enemies to consider removing him from power.

  And yet that might well cost Wolfbane the war.

  It was a bitter thought. Rani had been military dictator on Corinthian, the empress of a tiny empire that should have grown to rival Wolfbane. Now, after she’d lost Corinthian, she was just another subordinate of a greater man, although she had to admit that Governor Brown was far more decent and capable than Admiral Bainbridge. But she was under his command, serving his will ... and, whatever his skills, they didn't include making war. Priceless opportunities to strike deep into the heart of the Commonwealth had been wasted because the Governor was unwilling to commit himself. The Battle of Thule had been a victory - of that, Rani had no doubt - but it had also showcased the Commonwealth’s technical superiority. And now the Governor was nervous, concerned that his overwhelming superiority in numbers could be negated by a single technical silver bullet.

  Rani’s lips twisted in disdain as the door opened, allowing her to walk into the Governor’s office. If the Commonwealth was so advanced that one of their new-build cruisers was more than a match for a full-sized battleship, the war was already lost. The Commonwealth would advance from star to star, systematically destroying any enemy force that refused to surrender, until they took Wolfbane itself. But they hadn't. And that told Rani, who was far too used to seeing inflated estimates of enemy firepower, that their technical advances were much overrated. Dangerous, yes; decisive, no.

  “Governor,” she said, as the door closed behind her. “You wanted to see me?”

  “I did, Admiral,” Governor Brown said. He rose to his feet behind his desk, his calm eyes fixed on her face. “Please, be seated. I will have coffee brought to us.”

  Rani sat, keeping her face expressionless. The Governor was an odd duck; power-hungry, like so many others, but less interested in military force than she had expected. But then, he wasn't a military officer; he’d served as a corporate liaison officer before politics had thrust him into the Sector Governorship. His decision not to focus on the military struck her as foolish - the ties that had bound the Empire together were gone - but it might serve a useful purpose. There was no way he could serve as a military leader.

  Certainly not the type of leader we need today, she thought, vindictively. No proven competence, no track record of looking after his subordinates, nothing to keep men serving him when the source of all power and authority is gone.

  A maid, wearing a long flowing dress, poured them both cups of coffee, then retreated, as silently as she had come. Rani sipped her coffee and smiled, inwardly; the Governor might not be inclined to wrap himself in luxury, unlike some politicians and officers she had met, but he did like his coffee. Governor Brown sat back down and sipped his own coffee, clearly intent on taking a break before sp
eaking. Rani felt another flicker of irritation, but forced it down into the back of her mind. The Governor could still have her executed if he felt like it.

  Which is another problem, she thought. The military is shot through with commissioners, spies and assassins. He’s got us so paranoid that we don’t know who we can trust to watch our backs, when the shit hits the fan.

  She allowed herself a moment to glance around the office. It was large, easily twice the size of a battleship’s bridge, but surprisingly empty. The desk sat in front of a giant window that stared out over the city below; the walls were lined with bookcases and datacores, yet most of the space was wasted. She wasn't sure, despite herself, if the office was a statement of power - a large room in a mansion suggested wealth as well as power - or a warning that Governor Brown had no interests apart from power. There were certainly no pieces of artwork, photographs of his family or anything remotely decadent anywhere within sight.