Haraken (The Silver Ships Book 4)
Page 24
* * *
Gino regarded the anxious faces of the Leaders, who surrounded him.
“What was the president’s response?” Katarina inquired.
“I don’t know. He ended the comm without replying,” Gino said. His legs unsteady, Gino braced himself against the back of a couch.
“Do you think he will blame us for Mahima’s actions?” asked Bartosz Rolek, his mind replaying images of the recent battle, the fighters’ destruction, and the tally of the dead pilots.
“Alex? I mean President Racine …” Gino clarified. “No, I don’t think he’ll blame us. He’s not that kind of man.”
“You sound unsure,” Devon O’Shea said. His feeling of trepidation was the same as the others. “What if the Earthers fail to subjugate his worlds and choose to destroy his cities as a warning to us? What would he do then?”
“Then we might have two unimaginable problems,” Gino replied, “the Earthers and an extremely angry Haraken.”
* * *
As Alex cut the comm, he was pleased to see that the ships were headed out of system at max acceleration. He sat down at his desk to mentally compose messages for key people on both planets. They wouldn’t arrive before the Earther ships entered the Oistos and Hellébore systems but would arrive soon after and in time to warn his people while the Earther ships made their way in system at sub-light speed.
“What do you think are the Earthers’ intentions?” Renée asked in the privacy of their cabin.
“I don’t care,” replied Alex, his jaws clenching and unclenching. “When a nest of biters moves too close to your home, you destroy it. They have no respect for any life but their own. It’s either you or them.”
“Surely there are innocent people aboard, such as Administrator Wombo, Alex. Can’t something be done for them?”
“These ships are led by two powerful men, High Judge Bunaldi and Speaker García, who have complete control over their ships and carry military forces to enforce their wills. I don’t believe there will be an opportunity to separate the good from the bad.” When Renée appeared crestfallen from his response, Alex folded her in his arms, but hardened his own heart against the deaths that were to come.
-25-
“Comms, announce all clear from FTL exit. Guide, I require a star fix,” Captain Chofsky ordered. The Hand of Justice made the jump to Oistos, New Terra’s location, based on the guide’s estimation as it worked to match Leader Ganesh’s data to its own star maps. The process was fraught with potential errors, and the guide chose to err on the conservative side of calculations, lest it destroy the battleship by jumping into the system’s gravitational well.
“Captain, the ship is presently located one-quarter light-year from a star that matches the description we received,” the guide replied. “A second jump is required.”
“Prepare the jump, guide. Place us a half-day outside the system. We will execute in eight hours,” Chofsky ordered.
“Orders received,” the guide replied.
Eight hours enabled Chofsky to feed and rest the crew. UE crew traveling via FTL experienced an unnerving amount of physical and emotional distress, and captains, who cared about the welfare of their crew, as Chomsky did, took pains to break the longer jumps into shorter ones to allow their crew to recover. This was not to say that Dimitri Chomsky could be considered a sensitive man. On the contrary, he was considered one of the UE’s brilliant tacticians, and as such he believed in keeping his crew in fighting trim rather than exhausting them through prolonged FTL conditions. Chofsky’s diminutive size belayed the power of his personality. Blue-eyed and blond-haired with gray streaks he refused to cover, Chofsky was considered tough, fair-minded, and a man of few words, who demanded the best from his people.
“Status, Captain Chofsky,” Bunaldi commed from his suite.
“We will make a second jump of a quarter-light-year in eight hours, Judge,” Chofsky replied.
“Very well, Captain,” Bunaldi replied.
“You shouldn’t give the man so much leeway,” Theostin scolded as she paced the room. She was still smarting from the obliteration of her fighters with so little to show for their loss. Damn these Méridiens or Harakens or New Terrans or whomever they are, Theostin thought.
“So you would suggest that we ignore our good captain’s decisions about this ship until such time as we desperately need him to fight to survive?” asked Bunaldi, a bemused expression on his face.
“Pah!” Theostin replied and waved Bunaldi off with a hand. That the high judge continued to display his amused smile as she paced the room only infuriated her all the more. Theostin desperately wanted revenge.
* * *
President Maria Gonzalez picked up her reader to catch up on the news of the day.
At first, the arrival of the Haraken Money Maker at New Terra, back in service as a fighter-carrier, and Alex’s message relayed by Captain Durak that a ship claiming to be from Earth entered the Méridien system, gave Maria much cause for concern. But as the days passed and nothing else happened, life returned to normal.
The Money Maker was stationed off Niomedes, and Captain Durak took to rotating his pilots and flight crew planetside for some relief. New Terra’s rudimentary habitats, originally the planet’s early space exploration experiment, now resembled vacation resorts, thanks in large part to Haraken technology and support.
Only days ago, President Gonzalez, Ambassador Eric Stroheim, Captain Durak, and Mutter received an update. Previous messages detailed the arrival of the UE battleship and the escalation of tensions. In this newest message, Alex said, “We are about to enter a deadly contest of wills and fighters. No good outcome can be expected.”
Maria, for one, was unsure whether the outcome Alex was referring to was the contest or something else. Eric Stroheim, who had become a valued colleague throughout the years, clarified Alex’s message, saying, “In the president’s mind, the encounter will settle nothing and will only be a harbinger of worse things to come.”
The news article on Maria’s reader shifted to the image of Captain Durak and Mutter. Maria had long since accepted the Harakens’ preference for eschewing bureaucratic channels in order to expedite their communications.
“Good evening, Captain Durak, Mutter,” Maria said.
“Pardon the interruption, Ser President. We have important news to share. An enormous
ship has exited FTL outside the system. It matches the description of the UE battleship, the Hand of Justice,” Durak said.
“Is it alone?” Maria asked, sitting upright in her lounge chair.
“Affirmative, Ser President,” Durak replied.
“What do you think this means?” Maria asked. She was staring intently at Mutter, who she hoped would understand her underlying concern.
It wouldn’t have always been so for Mutter, but life with the Harakens and the Swei Swee had done much to broaden her understanding of the subtleties of species communications.
“Ser President, I am dismayed to report that I consider the arrival of this battleship, unaccompanied by our ships, bodes only ill for New Terra. All preparations should be taken to defend this system against the Earthers,” Mutter replied.
“No news from Alex?” Maria asked. It did not seem the time to be concerned with titles and decorum.
“None yet, Ser President,” Durak replied.
“If the UE ship made for FTL prior to our president becoming aware of its intentions, I would expect that he will soon inform as to present conditions while the Hand of Justice makes its way in system, and I would expect one or both of our carriers will be following shortly,” Mutter added.
“What about the possibility that the Haraken ships were destroyed?” Maria suggested.
“That is illogical, Ser President. Méridien is a rich opportunity for the Earthers. If they engaged our ships and defeated them, which is a possibility but has a very low probability, then this battleship would have remained in the Méridien system to reap its rewards,” Mutter explained. “No, the logical events are that the UE commanders have run afoul of our president and admiral. Somehow the Earthers discovered New Terra’s location, and the Hand of Justice has come looking for easier prey.” Inexplicably, Mutter froze, dropping any semblance of human mannerisms.
“What’s wrong, Mutter?” Durak asked. He couldn’t resist reaching out a comforting hand for Mutter’s shoulder, SADE or not.
“If the Hand of Justice has come to New Terra,” said Mutter, her persona mannerisms active again, “then there is a high probability that unless the Reunion was destroyed it was sent to Haraken. For a moment, I feared for the Swei Swee, but Cordelia and Captain Tanaka will not let the Earthers harm the Swei Swee.”
Mutter’s fear for the Swei Swee was a strong reminder for both Maria Gonzalez and Ahmed Durak that SADEs were fundamentally different from them. Mutter’s primary concern for the Reunion’s intervention in the Hellébore system was for the Swei Swee, not the humans. Still, both humans were comforted by the fact that Mutter volunteered to leave Haraken to lend support to New Terra.
When the call was finished, Mutter returned to a fugue state, researching the data Julien had uploaded onto the Money Maker’s controller for her. It contained Alex’s and Julien’s hundreds of attack scenarios in addition to many of the epic battles of ancient Earth. For a SADE devoted to music, there was much to learn about defending a system against a superior force.
* * *
Captain Durak retrieved his crew and pilots, who were on rotation planetside on Niomedes, by the time the Hand of Justice made its way through Oistos’s ring of ice fields. As the battleship passed Seda’s orbit, Maria, Eric, Ahmed, and Mutter received Alex’s final message. In many ways, it was encouraging — Haraken’s ships were unscathed and the Last Stand chased the battleship. That Haraken travelers defeated tens of UE fighters was another piece of good news, until they heard Alex’s warnings that the battleship possessed enormous weaponry yet to be employed.
When the message ended, Ahmed and Mutter shared disappointed looks. Nothing in Alex’s message contained a battle plan, a strategy to defeat this enormous interloper. The two stood quietly with their thoughts. Mutter recalled her observation while she was still on Haraken that an extraordinary number of factors would need to be present to precipitate dangerous circumstances. So much for the laws of probability, Mutter thought.
“I believe I see the predicament, Captain,” Mutter finally said. “We face a foe of overwhelming superiority, but we are a considerable force unto our own. We have an ally trailing our enemy, requiring we employ our force in a strategic manner that complements our ally’s capabilities,” said Mutter, quite pleased with her deductive reasoning.
“Mutter, please remember that you are the SADE and I am the human,” Ahmed said, staring blankly at Mutter.
“Your pardon, Captain, but I believe my studies of warfare tactics have just yielded results. Would you agree our primary goal is to prevent the Hand of Justice from reaching New Terra?”
“Yes,” Ahmed agreed.
“Then, as you humans would say, ‘Fortune is on our side.’ Niomedes is between the battleship and New Terra, which will necessitate the Earther ship make a near pass of this planet, and because our ship resembles a freighter, any course we choose as we exit Niomedes’s orbit will appear nonthreatening to the Earthers until we launch our fighters.”
“Mutter, I’m sure that you’re aware of Alex’s estimates of the battleship’s armament and fighters. While our sixty-four travelers are impressive, they aren’t a match for the Hand of Justice.”
“This is understood, Captain. I did not say we would engage them. We will employ one of our president’s time-tested ploys. We will bluff.”
-26-
Commodore Reynard was extremely grateful for the saturation of Méridien tech throughout New Terran society. With the systems’ FTL station and relays, communication with the New Terrans would be instantaneous. It was a tremendous strategic advantage over the Hand of Justice. The battleship entered the Oistos system about 110 degrees off the carrier’s port quarter. It said something deprecating about the Earthers’ jump accuracy. New Terra was on a near pass to the carrier, while Niomedes lay between the Earthers and New Terra. It looked to be a race to the New Terrans’ home world, and the Hand of Justice had a head start, but the Last Stand was faster.
“Greetings, President Gonzalez,” Sheila said.
“Commodore Reynard, I have never been happier to see your carrier,” Maria replied. She stood in front of a vid cam in a Government House conference room, surrounded by ministerial staff, Terran Security Force (TSF) commanders, and Eric Stroheim. Her communications staff split her view screen to display Commodore Reynard and Captain Manet on one half and Captain Durak and Mutter on the other half. “Two questions to begin, Commodore. What do you believe are the intentions of the Earthers, and do you have a plan for containing any negative intentions?”
“To date, Madam President,” Sheila replied, “High Judge Bunaldi has been intent on coopting the Confederation into the UE, but we have frustrated his tactics at every turn. We don’t know whether the high judge is a true believer or just driven to deliver a successful mission that will promote him within the UE hierarchy. Regardless of the reason, it makes no difference to us. Bunaldi is here to subdue New Terra and gain leverage against us and the Méridiens. You’ve heard that he’s sent his explorer ship to Haraken,” Sheila said.
“Exactly how far do you believe the high judge will go to secure this leverage, Commodore?” Maria asked.
“We believe he intends to hold New Terra hostage by any means necessary, Madam President,” Sheila replied.
“Does his ship possess the capabilities to hold an entire world hostage?” Eric Stroheim asked.
“This battleship is quite formidable, Sers,” Captain Manet replied. “While we haven’t seen inside the Hand of Justice, it bears a striking resemblance to the Reunion’s design but on a much grander scale. If we were to extrapolate, the battleship probably contains twice the number of fighters as our carrier plus it boasts a large complement of powerful missiles and rail guns.”
“Rail guns?” Minister of Technology Darryl Jaya asked.
“Theoretically, Minister Jaya, these weapons use magnetic acceleration techniques to launch heavy-metal slugs along rails to destroy their targets with massive kinetic energy,” Mu
tter replied. “Based on the size and number of ports on the battleship, which we assume hides the rail guns, they could reduce Prima to rubble within a half-day.”
Except for the brief engagement years ago between Downing’s coconspirators and the president’s people, New Terra, in its 700-year history, had never witnessed an assault within its planet’s airspace. Now danger came in the form of other humans who were willing to reduce New Terra’s primary city to rubble for political gain. It was a devastating revelation. Maria wished now, more than ever, that she had pushed Alex to trade for beam-capable travelers.
“So what’s your plan, Commodore?” Maria asked.
“I will let Mutter explain, Madam President,” Sheila replied. “She has designed a rather ingenious plan.”
“Thank you, Commodore Reynard,” Mutter replied. That she was able to contribute to the plan to protect the humans who protected her Swei Swee shifted Mutter’s kernel integration in ways that emulated excitement on an elemental level. “The strategy is to neutralize the Hand of Justice’s early entrance into the system. They must not gain New Terra’s orbit before the Last Stand. The favorable alignment of Niomedes and New Terra will aid us in our endeavor. We will direct the battleship outward of Niomedes, extending their course and allowing our forces to engage them before the Earthers reach New Terra.”
“But the high judge’s ship will elect to pass Niomedes on an inward line, Mutter. It’s the shortest distance to New Terra,” Eric Stroheim said.
“Precisely, Ambassador Stroheim,” Mutter replied, experiencing elation as she thought about her subterfuge. She was sure Julien would recognize her value in this regard. “We will emulate our president’s favorite technique of provoking his family and friends to make impractical bets during his archaic card games.”