Admiral's Fall

by Luke Sky Wachter

  “So we’ll have to fight anyway,” Akantha shrugged, “who says we have to carry their water?” She thrust a finger at the delegation, “Why not wait until after their fleets have held the line and taken as much punishment as they can handle before moving out?”

  Most of the people on the other side of the table began to look concerned.

  “First, the region would fall into anarchy and chaos and second…I don’t think we’d have a very good chance of holding off either the Empire or the Confederation all by ourselves,” I said frankly.

  “I’m surprised to hear such words of enlightened self-interest from a man with your reputation,” said the Rep. from Hart’s World.

  “I see that, like most, you failed to look into just how—and who—it was exactly that gave me the reputation you speak of,” I said without looking at the Hart Worlder.

  “Enough,” Kong Pao said to the Hart Assemblyman and turned to me, “you can see the issue. Whatever mistakes that were made in the past, we’re all in the same boat now. Either the Reclamation Fleet is stopped or they’ll link up with the Confederation Fleet in Aegis and this sector will be lost. It won’t just be Sector 26 that falls back under the Empire.”

  I scratched my chin to relieve a sudden itch and frowned.

  “It feels like we’re missing something here. Why would Imperial partisans like the Reclamationers link up with the Old Confederation in Aegis unless someone told them too?” I asked.

  Kong Pao frowned. “It’s possible they have no intention of linking up. They might not even know about each other. The Reclamation Fleet remainders may just be determined to push our Flotilla back out of their Sector,” he said after a minute.

  After he said that Kong Pao and the Hart’s World representative shared a telling look.

  “There’s something you’re not telling me,” I said with certainty, “because it still seems to me that the idea they’re trying to link up is thin unless there are other factors involved. Like, say, the Empire making another push into the Spine.”

  “There’s no evidence of that,” the Hart Worlder said with certainty, “our top military experts have assured the committee that it is most likely one of two things. A natural response to our Flotilla reclaiming the majority of Sector 26...” He paused and then didn’t continue.

  “Or?” I asked when it was clear he wasn’t about to say anything further.

  “It appears there was an incident involving a freighter full of wounded and fleet dependents. Despite multiple warnings the freighter refused to surrender and, while fleeing, came into the line of fire with the expected results,” the Sector Judge said after a pregnant pause, “at least that’s what the report says.”

  I closed my eyes. “And just which ‘hero’ commanded this particular fiasco?” I asked.

  Once again the two men shared a look. “You may have heard the name before. A Rear Admiral by the name of Bluetooth is in command of the Confederation of the Spine Flotilla,” said the Grand Assemblyman from Hart, “but before that he was a Captain in the Sector Guard. Speaker Isaak’s own personal boat driver, at that.”

  “You mean the Battleship Newton perhaps? That Captain Bluetooth?” I said with a frown.

  “The very one,” agreed the Hart’s World representative.

  I scowled. The captain of Isaak’s flagship and a Sector Guardsman as well, and now this? Nothing I’d seen or heard of the good captain, now Rear Admiral, endeared him to me. Especially not after this latest fiasco.

  “So they really might be out for simple revenge and not part of a broader scheme,” I said, silently cursing the muddy waters Isaak and his bully boy had managed to stir up.

  “Either way I don’t see how it matters to our discussion here,” said Kong Pao.

  “I don’t see how you could think that,” I said, looking down my nose at him.

  “Even if it’s all part of a larger scheme, the Imperial partisan fleet still needs to be stopped. Or would you prefer to wait until they drive into Sector 25 broadsides flaring and link up with a hypothetical third force?” asked Kong Pao.

  “There is that,” I said unhappily.

  “We can only plan for what we know and take what preventative measure are available to us,” said the Judge, “but the sad fact is that as things stand if we do nothing we’ll be overrun.”

  “It’s that bad, is it?” I said unhappily.

  “With the addition of your Fleet we should have the numbers to bring them to battle and defeat them,” said Kong Pao.

  “Which would then free up your Flotilla to join forces with Manning and bring a speedy resolution to your Aegis problem,” I suggested.

  “If the Assembly so wills it. I can’t see the future,” said Kong Pao.

  “No, you just try to guide it, knowing all along that the man at the top has already bungled one campaign,” I said flatly.

  “I wouldn’t say that,” said Kong Pao.

  “No, but I would—and in fact just did,” I paused to consider things more fully. “Look, you want my fleet. I get that. And considering the situation this Sector is about to find itself in, I’m willing to oblige. But only if my terms can be met,” I said strictly.

  The smiles that had started to appear on the other side of the table immediately fell.

  “What is it you were thinking?” asked the lead negotiator, Judge Pao.

  “Last time you got the patriotic rate. This time you’ll pay what we’re worth,” I said, looking at him calmly.

  “I’m still not hearing an offer,” said Kong Pao while beside him his fellow grand assemblyman from the trade and war committees looked like was having a migraine.

  “To start off, I want a full pardon for myself and the members of my fleet for our supposed use of bio-tech weapons. The Bugs. Second, your government will immediately recognize that all warships currently in our possession from the Battle of Black Purgatory belong to us and I’ll expect the deeds to them handed over before we set course for Sector 26. And that’s just getting started,” I said.

  “You can’t be pardoned for something you haven’t been charged with. However, an immunity deal is possible, shielding you from prosecution,” the Sector Judge said after a moment, “although I’m not sure if such an action is within my purview.”

  “It sounds like unless you were specifically ordered not to in your ‘guidelines’ that this is within your power. You’re a plenipotentiary representative after all,” I said, baring my teeth.

  “Anything I did would need to be reviewed, approved and countersigned by the Speaker and Judiciary Committee before it carried the weight of law,” Kong Pao said after a moment, “immunity deals, especially a retroactive one like this, are more complicated than you might imagine.”

  “Then I guess it will depend on just how badly you guys need me,” I said with a shrug, “I’m sure if you don’t and I’m just some kind of fallback position instead of the vital component you say is necessary to save the government and our beloved Spine from invasion, that you’ll find a way to make it happen. If not, then I am more than happy to spend my time here in Gambit repairing those very same warships we took from Black Purgatory.”

  “I understand your position,” Kong Pao nodded.

  “You really are an autocrat of the first stripe aren’t you boy?” The Hart's World representative growled. “Bad enough you stole those ships from Easy Haven, you abused your position as Grand Admiral to take the lions share from the Purgatory battle as well.”

  “I’m no boy, Sir,” I said, leaning forward and giving him a look that could have sanded paint off duralloy.

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” the Grand Assemblyman leaned back with a ‘harrumph.’

  “No you meant it in the tyrannical monarchist manner. I read you loud and clear, Assemblyman,” I said flatly.

  The other man had the grace to look half way embarrassed, at least at first, but then he rallied and looked back at me with an angry stare of righteous indignation.

  “That’s
'Grand Assemblyman',” he muttered.

  “So you say,” I sniffed. I dismissed the man and turned back to the Sector Judge. “Other than that I want it made clear from the beginning that if—and I want be clear it is an ‘if’—I bring the MSP to 26 then I do so as the commander of an Allied force. I am not accepting reinstatement into the Confederation Fleet, but so help me I will accept a writ of command for all forces deployed into 26 and more specifically the battle or campaign against the Reclamationists whichever it may turn out to be,” I said and then after consideration I added, “we can keep to basically the same terms as the Multi-Sector Patrol Fleet had with the New Confederation Fleet as it regards captured warships with the understanding that all ships will be transferred to Tracto before being apportioned. You can send your prize court out to us and we’ll staff half the members.”

  “You might as well just cut our throats now if you intend to bleed us that heavily,” the Hart’s World Rep, cried rising out of his chair in protest.

  “Sit down, Mr. Haversham,” snapped Kong Pao. He turned back to me, “Is that it?”

  “Every time I deal with you people I keep having to count my fingers after. So yes, there is more. On top of all that I’m going to have to insist on the first year’s estimated trillium trade placed on deposit in Tracto as a retainer. So that if for some strange reason, say the New Confederation thinks it’s found a better deal after we make possible the liberation of the rest of the Spine and decides they don’t want to pay whatever Tracto-an prices, you negotiate with Akantha later. This way we’ll be paid regardless,” I said unrelentingly.

  “Why don’t you just rob us now and get the pretenses over with!” shouted the Hart’s Worlder, thumping the table angrily.

  “No matter what I agree to it's not like I have those kind of funds on me. The treasury will still be required to disburse the funds. That’s the best I can do,” Kong Pao said, ignoring his fellow delegate and splaying his hands.

  “Oh, I’m sure you didn’t come here empty-handed. How about for starters you agree to deposit the entire amount you were sent with? After you finish negotiating a price, we’ll load up a few freighters with your fuel and take them with us to wherever it is we need to go to receive the rest of our payment. As soon as we’re paid, we’ll release the loads on those freighters and, if for some reason your government can’t cover it, we’ll just consider the funds you left here as a deposit on an order you no longer want. In which case we’ll keep them as a penalty,” I said with a shark-like expression.

  “You drive a hard bargain,” said Kong Pao.

  “You’re insane. You can’t possibly think we’ll pay you a full year in advance! We don’t even have a solid revenue stream set up. This is spaceway robbery!” snapped other Grand Assemblyman.

  “No, this is me covering my bases. The last several times I came to an agreement with you people I’ve been left out in the cold. This time I expect to have a nice little nest egg to come home to when things go wrong and you try to toss me out the nearest airlock,” I said.

  “Don’t you mean ‘if’ things go wrong?” asked Kong Pao.

  I stopped to consider it. “No, I think the way I put it is best. Oh yeah, and you can tack on an immunity deal for whatever I have to do to get rid of the Reclamation Fleet too. I’m not about to do your dirty work only to be prosecuted for it later, thank you and good night,” I said.

  “Okay. I’ll do what I can but no matter what I sign here it will have to be reviewed by the Grand Assembly for full implementation,” said Kong Pao.

  “What?! You’re going to cave and give him everything he wants, just like that?” demanded Mr. Haversham.

  “Just like that,” agreed Kong Pao, “in case you haven’t noticed, in no small part thanks to our esteemed Speaker, we’re not exactly in the position to take a hard negotiating stance.”

  “I can’t believe this. We’re going to be crucified in Committee when we hand this bill of goods over for review,” said the Hart’s World representative, looking worried.

  “Anyone who thinks they can do better is welcome to try. But I’ve known the Admiral for some time now,” the Judge said, nodding to me. I returned his nod before he continued, “But there’s a reason they sent me out here and it’s because no one else is likely to get a better agreement or ‘deal,’ as you call it, than what we have right now.”

  “I don’t see how,” agreed the other man cynically, “as you pretty much just agreed to whatever he told you.”

  I clapped my hands together, gaining both men’s attention. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll have my fleet’s legal team get with you, Judge Kong, and we’ll see about drafting an ironclad version of our agreement.”

  Kong Pao nodded his agreement.

  “In that case it seems like I’ll need to get my fleet ready for deployment while you wrap up your negotiations for Tracto-an trillium with Hold Mistress Akantha here,” I said, standing up and heading for the door without bothering to shake hands.

  Frankly, I was more than a little put out by the Judge once again serving as the face of the Grand Assembly in its seemingly eternal attempts to take advantage of us.

  I guess it really was like they said: you never can trust a politician. The Judge may have started out with the best intentions, but at this point he was compromised simply by serving the people he was.

  As far as I was concerned, the New Assembly was rotten to the core. And I intended to hold onto that opinion until they proved different.

  Chapter 35: Isaak’s Rage and the Sector 22 Conspiracy

  “Monsignor Raipur Rajputan, where are my ships?” hissed Isaak Newton, Speaker for the Grand Assembly of the Spine and as of today and for at least two more months Governor of Sector 25.

  “I’m afraid they have been delayed again, Speaker Isaak,” the Monsignor said with a stone face.

  “You promised me your people would rally to the new Government. I received personal assurances that if I relied upon your Sector for support, you would provide a fleet of ships,” glared Isaak Newton.

  “And we will, Speaker Newton. Just as soon as a few unexpected difficulties back home have been ironed out,” the Monsignor said coolly.

  “Where is my Fleet, Monsignor?!” roared Isaak Newton.

  “It is coming, Speaker Newton. Please wait for just a little longer. I am assured by the home office that our Sector Assembly will be dispatching a large fleet in support of the new Multi-Sector Government as soon as they have finished conscripting spacers and setting up the appropriate revenue stream. Even with the best will in the galaxy you can’t take an uneducated sod buster from a farm and turn him into a trained and educated operator of such a complicated thing as a starship,” the Monsignor said calmly.

  “You told me your fleet was weeks away from my Sector,” Isaak Newton said with deathly calm.

  “Indeed I did, Speaker,” Raipur Rajputan said with a smile.

  “Well it’s been months and I still don’t have my ships,” Speaker Isaak said in a rising voice.

  “Are you aware that my name Raipur Rajputan is not the name I was born with?” the Monsignor said in a seeming non-sequitur.

  “I honestly could care less unless the knowing would somehow bring me the fleet you promised, but now clearly have no intention of providing any time in the near future,” Isaak Newton said bitterly.

  “Raipur Rajputan is a Village in Khanna Tehsil in the Ludhiana District of Punjab State. That village provided one of our most storied and famous diplomats, and as tribute to a pinnacle of what you would call our diplomatic caste, every major Ambassador from Punjab State for the past thousand years has cast aside their old name and taken up the name Raipur Rajputan upon assuming their duties,” said Monsignor Raipur Rajputan.

  “I’m going to assume there was a point in there somewhere,” sniffed Isaak.

  “The point,” the Monsignor said with clear irritation in his voice for the first time in this meeting, “is that no one but our best negotiators are give
n the name Raipur Rajputan and sent on a mission like mine. If Monsignor Raipur Rajputan says the ships are coming then they are coming, and if he says they were delayed then they were delayed,” the Ambassador finished with exasperation.

  “That and a tenth-cred will get me a cup of coffee, and right now as you can see sweet words and coffee is all that I have,” growled Isaak Newton.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way,” said the Ambassador.

  “Not as sorry as I am that your fleets have failed to arrive as you Raipur Rajputan promised me they would,” Isaak paused and then cursed. “Sweet Crying Murphy this is a disaster. The Grand Assembly is losing confidence in my decisions. Murphy wept, but I’m now questioning my decisions too—no thanks to you! I threw Montagne over the side because you promised me a fleet the size of the one I already had, and right now...well just look at me? I made myself into a fool because I trusted you, and all you can do is assure me your people would never have sent a man with your name to give me the assurances you did unless they really and truly and honestly, and so on and so blasted forth, actually meant it,” continued the Speaker, “poppycock!”

  “I can’t help you with your internal philosophical issues, Speaker Newton,” Monsignor Raipur Rajputan said stiffly.

  “No, but you can help me with your fleet,” Isaak shot back.

  “For the last time—” Raipur Rajputan started only to be cut off by an angrily waved hand.

  “Oh, I heard you plenty fine the first time. It seems that all that’s left to me is to eat some humble pie and beg Jason Montagne for the scraps from his table,” Isaak Newton said bitterly.