Sunny Zinnes seemed almost stunned at the sudden turn in the conversation and stared at her for a long moment. “How do I think you should start negotiations?”
“Yes,” Ayan said. “They’re going to have to communicate with me soon, so give me something to start with, like what this is really all about. Is there some transgression I missed and should address?”
“Transgression?” Minister Zinnes asked.
“Yes, something we’ve done that brought this on, a law we broke, or some line we crossed,” Ayan asked, trying not to sound as exasperated as she felt.
“You helped the Warlord recruit new people, started establishing military bases without their clearance. I’m sorry, Ayan, but I wouldn’t put myself in your position. I’m a better diplomat, but if I found myself in your place I would tell the Carthans that you’re willing to negotiate terms while they occupy Haven Shore, and you might get them back to the table.”
“What do they want? Resources? Housing? To address me as a security concern, or-“ Ayan stopped, recognizing a glimmer in Sunny Zinnes eye. “It’s housing – they’re short on facilities, so they want ours.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you, Ayan, it’s outside of my mandate,” Sunny replied, smiling a little. “Good luck.”
Ayan watched as the hologram faded. “So we rescued hundreds of their people, and now they’re all out of room.” Ayan said. “I’ve never heard something more wrong-headed in my entire life.”
“Could that really be what’s behind this?” Lacey asked. Lieutenant Garrison joined them, ducking to avoid the hatch’s upper seal. He was one of the tallest humans Ayan had ever seen. “Did I hear that right? They’re surrounding our home because they’re low on bunk space?”
“I know that’s not all,” Ayan said. “Our recruitment drive had to be the breaking point. We’ve been testing them, pressing at the boundaries of the rights they gave us when we settled here.”
“Pardon me for saying, but they gave you those rights,” Lieutenant Garrison reminded gently. “Everyone knows that you’re the signing Sovereign. So far more than half the people in Haven Shore have been happy with it too, especially since you and the Council generally don’t back down when the Carthans tell you that you can’t do this or that.”
“Either way, we kept pushing,” Ayan said. “And while the Carthans weren’t able to repair any of the old structures on Tamber and they were taken over by gangsters or squatters, we built something brand new.” She gestured at Haven Shore. “It’s one of the only large residences with anti-bombardment shielding on Tamber, and as of today, everything in that building is working. They’ve been waiting for this.”
“Son of a bitch,” Garrison grumbled. “I just traded for a new sofa.”
“There’s no room for a sofa in your quarters,” Lewis said.
“Sorry, Lewis, it’s for my apartment in the Everin Building. We can’t spend every minute together for the rest of my life. I’m starting to feel like I’ve never known anything but the inside of my quarters and your cockpit.”
“I understand,” Lewis said. “Maybe some space would be good. I have noticed that you depend on me for most of your social interactions. You should find a few agreeable humans. I know they will probably pale in comparison to me, conversation-wise, but it may be the best thing for you nevertheless.”
“Is there anything I can be doing on top of my regular duties captaining the Clever Dream?” Lieutenant Garrison asked.
“No, but you’re going to want to strap on a sidearm,” Ayan said. “Make sure your suit’s ready for action just in case. I don’t think the Carthans are going to negotiate.”
“Aye, aye,” Lieutenant Garrison said. “Good luck.” He turned and bumped his head on the hatch before making his way to the cockpit.
Ayan opened communications with the Triton directly and waited for them to connect from their end.
“If the Carthans aren’t going to negotiate,” Lacey said. “Wouldn’t it help to address everyone in range?”
The thought hadn’t occurred to her. “You mean a general transmission to everyone on Tamber?”
“Yes, like a speech, but short, and-“
Oz appeared above the tactical projection in the middle of the room. “How are things at point-blank range?” he asked.
“The same. They’re holding on our border. I get the feeling that they’re organizing more forces before striking.”
“Or they could be trying to locate you,” added Carl Anderson as he appeared beside Oz. “They know where we are, and how we fit into your command structure, but you’re the owner of Haven Shore, and you have six other armed claims on Tamber. They take you out, or take you hostage, then get you to sign it all back to them, and they get Haven Shore for a bargain. That’s the only way the British Alliance would approve a property transfer.”
“I’m an idiot,” Ayan said under her breath. “Lieutenant Garrison,” she called down the hall to the cockpit. “Get us away from Haven Shore and anything that could interfere with our cloaking systems.”
Ayan watched the Clever Dream manoeuvre into a steep climb, weaving and twisting into the air. Within a second, three beam weapon strikes swept across their energy shields, and several heavy projectiles narrowly missed them, exploding against the surface of the water.
“Ayan, are you all right?” Carl Anderson asked.
Ayan checked the status of their cloaking device and the origin point of the attacks. The Cray Severn, the Carthan Command Carrier was responsible, but their beam weapons had done no damage. The cloak was intact, and Ayan knew how they were spotted. “We disturbed the surface of the water when we turned away. Our cloak will work as long as we try not to disturb the atmosphere much.”
“You have to find a good landing place under cover,” Oz said.
“We will,” Ayan replied. “Don’t worry about me, this fight is obviously on, and we have to show them that they’re taking on more than they can bear. Can the Triton take the Cray Severn in a surprise attack?”
Oz thought for a moment, looking at something Ayan couldn’t see in his hologram. “Give me fifteen minutes to secure any unvetted crew in their quarters. I’m not going into battle with unknowns running around. As far as winning an engagement against the Cray Severn? In a surprise attack, I know we can cripple her – it’s the four destroyers they have for support I’m worried about.”
“We only need to destroy their lead ship,” Ayan said. Lacey’s jaw dropped.
“I need to confirm,” Oz said procedurally, “you said destroy, not disable.”
“Destroy,” Ayan repeated. “The Carthans have taken this too far already. If we succeed in defending Haven Shore, they’ll just regroup and come at us again, and they’ll win. We have to demoralize them completely, hit them with the Triton’s torpedoes, then you have to disappear so they can’t retaliate against you.”
“You’re right,” Oz said. “And we’re lucky we have a top-notch tactical officer here. Commander Agameg’s telling me we can have a full volley of torpedoes ready to launch in ten minutes.”
“While you do that, I’m launching with the Rangers, they’re almost ready,” Anderson said. “What did our British Alliance friends say about this, just out of curiosity?.”
“They’re sitting back and enjoying the show,” Ayan said. She was thankful for the Clever Dream’s excellent gravity control systems as she saw the ship dip into a large jungle cavern and hover. Lieutenant Garrison and Lewis were several steps ahead of her, hiding the ship until they were needed. “I won’t soon forget.”
“Maybe Ayan should make a speech?” Lacey broke in unceremoniously. “I mean, if the Carthans won’t listen to us directly, maybe Tamber should know what’s going on?”
“No doubt people on Kambis are watching, too,” Oz said. “Good idea.”
The tactical hologram alerted everyone that the energy shield surrounding Haven Shore was taking orbital strikes from two of the Carthan destroyers. “Looks like they’ve giv
en up on finding you,” Oz said. “Can we have a full volley of torpedoes ready in five minutes?” he asked over his shoulder. He nodded at a response and looked back to Ayan. “Agameg says we can strike in seven. You’d better get going, Carl.”
“Aye,” he told Oz. “Stay safe, Ayan,” he said to her.
“You too,” Ayan replied. “Wait until I finish talking to everyone in the planetary system, then hit that command carrier as hard as you can.”
“Aye, Commander. Don’t leave anything out, it might be the last thing they ever hear.”
“We have a response from the Carthans,” Lacey said. “It’s text only.”
Ayan accessed it and was confronted by a document that was thousands of words long, bearing the digital seals of most of the Carthan administration. “Lewis, can you summarize this? It looks like a petition for nationalization.”
“You’re right,” Lewis replied. “The Carthans are claiming that two of your claims are illegal, and that Haven Shore is no longer sovereign territory, but a privately owned section of land. With this document, they’re nationalizing it, making it the property of the Carthan government and your people have one hour to vacate the property.”
“Then it’s official,” Ayan replied, a chill running down her back. With a gesture, she opened communications on all channels, relayed through their fighters, Haven Shore, their captured bunkers, and every other broadcasting system the Clever Dream could access. It was as though the reality of the situation smothered her anger. Ayan’s mind had never been so clear, and she knew exactly what to say. “I’m Ayan Anderson, and I negotiated for Sovereign status with the Carthan Government nearly a year ago. They provided us with a land grant that we used to build a home. While we built our main habitat, we continued our active partnership with the Carthans, clearing Order of Eden forces from Tamber, rescuing over a thousand of their people, and we assisted in the maintenance of security over large sections of Tamber. We didn’t do this for free. We made sanctioned land claims, were paid small fees for our rescue efforts and for our patrols. Just a moment ago, the Carthans made it clear that they want us to leave the home we built so they can make it their own. After everything we’ve done for them, despite the partnership we’ve nurtured, the Carthan government has turned on us. One of our most seasoned captains said something only days ago that I wish I had taken to heart: Never trust a government that brainwashes their criminals to become soldiers.
It is important to me for everyone within range of this transmission to know that the Carthans are opportunists, slavers, and our relationship with them has come to an end. They have fired on our main civilian structure, the Everin Building, and on my command ship. Haven Shore and Triton Fleet will not abide this. We must protect the most vulnerable of our people, and we will do so using the full extent of our arsenal. Please, if you value your lives and property, do not interfere.”
Ayan ended the transmission and opened a channel to the Skyguard. “Slick, are you ready?”
“Aye, Commander. Your orders?”
“The Clever Dream will be joining you in destroying all armed elements of the Carthan fleet near Haven Shore’s perimeter. Other targets will be marked as they become relevant.”
“Aye,” Slick replied. “Understood.”
Ayan opened a channel to the Triton. “You have a go. Destroy the Carthan command carrier and fall back to assess further targets.”
Agameg’s hologram appeared in the middle of the room. “Understood, we are proceeding.”
“Where’s Oz?”
“He is taking care of another urgent matter. I doubt it will take more than a moment. You’ll also be happy to know that Rangers One and Two are be available for orders. The cloaked shuttles have passed their test.”
“Thank you,” Ayan said. It only took her a moment to bring one of the Carthan Destroyers up on the tactical display. Two of them were hanging back, orbiting a mining asteroid. She sent an encrypted message signalling her orders to her father.
The Clever Dream was taking off again, whirling towards Haven Shore to join the offensive against Carthan forces. Ayan caught sight of Lacey out of the corner of her eye. The poor woman was as white as a sheet, and looked uncertain for the first time since she’d known her. “Are you all right?”
“You just declared war,” Lacey said.
“They didn’t give me much choice,” Ayan said. “Are you all right here while I help in the cockpit?”
“I’m fine. I mean, I think I’ll be fine.”
“Good,” Ayan said.
“Do you think we’ll win?” Lacey asked.
“It’s too early to be sure,” Ayan replied, leaving for the cockpit.
CHAPTER 36
Shadow and Fire
Carl Anderson knew who his best and brightest Rangers were. He hand picked his team of fourteen and knew they’d perform the grisly duty ahead admirably. As the pair of small cloaked shuttles approached the Carthan destroyer, he found himself wishing that Alice and Remmy were on his team.
Regardless of his offhanded wish, the collection of rangers he had with him were excellent mental and physical specimens. He was glad for the regimen of fitness and youth restoration medication he started when the first group of rangers began training. Carl didn’t know how he’d keep up with them without the pharmaceutical assistance. He didn’t have time for most of the physical training that would improve his reflexes and muscle memory, but he looked like a well-built man of forty, a marvel of medical technology. He didn’t expect to be on mission with them under such dire circumstances, however.
The shuttle door opened, baring one entire side of the large converted escape shuttle. He pushed out of the shuttle compartment first, leaping towards the destroyer only a hundred and three metres away. Anderson could see the rangers from both shuttles following his lead. Their cloak suits kept them just as hidden as the pair of ships delivering them, which used exactly the same cloaking technology. They added a few extra layers of material and emitter bands to the hull, and thanks to the shuttle’s small size, the new technology worked perfectly.
The destroyer reminded Anderson of a lounging beast, watching the distant fighting, waiting for the order to attack. The Carthans may be some of the most socially crude people Anderson had ever met, but they weren’t stupid. They believed in enslaving debtors, reprogramming criminals so they could serve their sentences as soldiers and public servants, they even believed in privilege by birth and the separation of the classes. Their social backwardness made them even more dangerous. Anderson had never seen evidence that any soldier ever questioned their orders, and he knew the Carthans believed in defending their way of life, even in the darker corners of the galaxy, like the Rega Gain System.
Anderson struck the hull. His suit protected him from most of the impact, and the outer layer of his armour stuck to the surface. To his right there was a large quad-turret; the gunnery team of two sat in a transparent metal cockpit watching a tactical hologram. Anderson stood and walked to his position, right under the guns. As he drew nearer, he could see that the ships that the Carthan carrier used to protect itself were scattering, and the Triton took a few hits from their torpedoes before cloaking. One of the gunners regarded the other, shocked and dismayed while his partner stared at the hologram, agog, shaking his head.
Anderson crawled under the main body of the turret and waited as the rest of the rangers got into position. They walked, ran, and crawled to their targets. Major sources of power, big energy taps like turrets, beam emplacements, and sensor arrays, and crevasses in the hull were their points of interest. After a couple more minutes, the last Ranger was in position, lying against the hull where two main thruster pods connected to the ship.
That was the signal. Without hesitation, Carl Anderson took two six centimetre wide, eight centimetre long cans off his back and affixed them to the hull. He continued affixing more devices around the turret mount until there were fifteen ringing the weapon emplacement. He was behind; most of the othe
r rangers had finished, and passive sensors in his suit told him that the ship had detected the new devices attached to the hull. They had minutes before the commanders of the destroyer sent troops out onto the hull. He finished getting out from the underside of the turret and pushed off hard.
Everyone activated the devices they planted, and they began to burn tiny holes into two hundred and ten sensitive spots across the ship’s hull. If all went well, there would be no decompressions, no immediate reason for anyone aboard that ship to seal portions of the vessel off, and they wouldn’t figure out what was going on in time.
Airlock doors opened nearby, and a group of four soldiers rushed out, each headed towards one of their cutter cans. It was already too late.
The cutter cans were starting to penetrate the hull, burning holes only half the width of a human hair, and nanobots programmed to disrupt major systems were pouring into the ship from all sides. They would provide data taps that the Triton could use to connect to the destroyer’s core systems.
The Carthan soldiers on the hull didn’t see any of the rangers; their cloaking systems were working perfectly. Three of the cans failed to cut through the hull, but the first of the systems, the ship’s main thrusters, deactivated. The nanobots there sent a signal indicating that the Triton could control the destroyer’s main thrusters. The lights in that section of engineering flickered and went out. It was working. Less than a minute later, other lights in the midsection of the ship winked out. The gunnery team Anderson noticed before hurriedly departed from their posts, climbing down into the ship as their systems went dark. That was it, the fearful strike Ayan and Oz would need to terrify the Carthans. Carl Anderson rarely felt such satisfaction. One of his shuttles signalled him, and he curled up into a ball. The interior of the shuttle appeared as he passed through the cloaking field around its side door.
He couldn’t suppress a grin as he helped the next ranger into the shuttle. The Rangers had just completed their first space combat mission.
Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades Page 29
