“How long will it take the Vraxar to analyse the ES Determinant’s data arrays?” asked Stahl.
“I have teams figuring it out. The early best guesses range from a month to five years.”
“Somewhere in between, then?”
“It won’t be five years,” said Duggan with certainty. “It won’t even be two.”
“We have new hulls in the shipyards?” asked Dawson. “Even during peacetime there is an ongoing programme?”
“You are correct. We are switching every yard to an around-the-clock shift.”
“There’s something you are not telling us, Fleet Admiral.”
“I won’t pull my punches, Councillor Watanabe. The Vraxar defeated the Estral, whom we know conquered thousands of worlds. The Confederation does not have the resources of fifty worlds, let alone thousands. It may be that the Vraxar deem us a minor prize – unimportant to their wider goals. Even if we assume that to be the case, we can be sure when they come next it will be with a crushing, overwhelming force.”
There were grimaces and looks of discomfort at this highly unpleasant truth.
“What do you suggest, Admiral?”
“And what of Atlantis?”
“We need to convince the Ghasts. This is their fight as well as ours. As for Atlantis? The only solution I can think of is evacuation. We have sufficient capacity on our Interstellars.”
“Evacuation is something we cannot agree to with a click of the fingers,” said Kemp. “You can understand this?”
“I can understand,” said Duggan truthfully.
“We will provide you with our decision shortly. As for the Ghasts – you may approach your opposite number once again and inform him there may be some flexibility in our position.”
“In the meantime, please begin the process of bringing the Interstellars back online. I’m sure it won’t be so easy to enact as it is for me to speak the words,” said Watanabe.
“Indeed it won’t be easy,” said Duggan. “Most of the carriers are still on the rebel planets Roban and Liventor from the time they were first populated. There is much for me to do, gentlemen. The rebellion on our frontier has not gone away and we have a new, proven enemy seeking mankind’s annihilation. Perhaps we could reconvene twelve hours from now?”
The agreement was made and the viewscreen went blank. For the first time he could remember, Duggan was hopeful the Confederation Council would be able to put their squabbling to one side and provide their full backing and support to the military.
There was a report on his desk – printed out in hard copy the way he liked it. He opened it and checked the summary from the ES Lucid’s in-depth scan of the wrecked Vraxar object. The mysterious cube wasn’t intended to explode and fracture the core of Atlantis in order to facilitate the formation of Obsidiar, that much was certain.
The current best guess was more unpleasant if that were possible. The Vraxar object was some kind of reactor with its own advanced power source. Some of the tech was similar to that found within the Confederation and long-since banned. The Space Corps’ best scientists believed the intention was to turn the Plangaean Sea into a gas of some type. It was certainly intended to kill everyone on Atlantis and it was this which had finally shocked the Confederation Council into full cooperation. Other than that, many questions remained unanswered.
Fleet Admiral Duggan put the report to one side. The events on Atlantis had decided his future for the next several years or more. He sighed and ran fingers through his short-cropped hair. A time of turmoil had come and he was starting to feel he might not be the man to handle it.
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Negation Force (Obsidiar Fleet Book 1) Page 26
