“Belinda!” shouted Malissa. Belinda was getting mighty sick of Malissa’s recent practice of shouting for her rather than hailing and asking for her in a normal tone. It was at times like this she wished she wasn’t in the next office.
“Yes Chief Minister” said Belinda looking none too impressed as she entered the spacious office. She had already spoken to her boss about this practice and how it bordered on abuse.
Malissa shook her head. Yes she knew she shouldn’t but with the war in full swing now her days were becoming more and more frustrating. “Sorry” she blurted out, almost dismissively. “Look what Pious and Yomoto have agreed to.”
Belinda came around and leaning over Malissa’s shoulder she read the message on her terminal about the ‘supportive’ role of the Federation Fleet. “What’s wrong with that?” said Belinda cocking her head and looking down at Malissa like a frustrated teacher at a slow student.
“Don’t you give me that look” said Malissa. “It’s bad enough that I am in effect a bystander while these fleet officers fight my battles…”
“Our battles” corrected Belinda.
“Yes, our battles. But having to wait for a whole week to find out that they are making key political decisions here…” said Malissa with a frustrated expression on her face as she struggled for the right words.
But Belinda wasn’t going to wait. “We already went through this and you agreed that because of the time differences Pious would represent us on political decisions. I bet Yomoto has stewed over it too. But his staff would have persuaded him that it’s the right thing to do.”
“Oh and you think it’s the right thing to do too?”
Belinda just gave Malissa one of her ‘what did you expect’ looks.
“Do you know how much blood and treasure we are spending on this war right now?” asked Malissa.
“Yes I do actually…”
“Well you should appreciate that our people, our voters, are not going to be pleased when they hear that despite all that sacrifice we will be playing second fiddle to a rogan ragtag resistance outfit. Have you thought about that?”
“That is a natural emotional reaction but not a sound rational one. As it says there…” said Belinda as she took the liberty of scrolling the message down a little further to the Analysis section. “The consequence of not following this course of action is that we’ll probably have to fight another war down the track. So the wise long term option is to swallow our pride and go along with this. I am sure you can bring the people along on this.”
“Oh you are, are you? Have you seen the latest polls?”
“Yes and they show an increase in your approval rating.”
“We are still in negative territory and if it hasn’t escaped your notice we have an election just a year away.”
“Oodles of time” said Belinda. “Thanks to Warner we now have a base in rogan territory…”
“It’s going to be unusable this time next year…right before the election. It’s not going to look so terrific then” said Malissa with a rising degree of tension and frustration.
“If we agree to this we’ll have one of their friendly home systems” said Belinda trying to remain calm but finding that more and more difficult. “Things are going better and faster than we envisaged. We need to stay the course and we need to keep an eye on our long term interests. Forget the elections.”
“What?” said Kaito Tanaka, Malissa’s Chief of Staff (COS) who had the room on the other side. With the voices rising, he decided it was a good time to stick his nose in.
Malissa showed him the message. Kaito began pulling on his chin, which he did when thinking deeply. He was doing it more and more these days. He finally finished reading and stood upright. He looked at Malissa and then Belinda to whom he asked “And you think this a good idea?” She nodded. He turned back to Malissa and asked “You don’t?”
Malissa gave him a wan smile and then responded “It’s probably the right thing to do for the long term, but I am worried about the short term…the elections.”
Kaito nodded and then pulled on his chin again. “A lot of water’s going to pass under the bridge before those elections. Things could still go either way. If they go south and we agree to this proposal then we’ll be seen to have abdicated leadership. That won’t be a good look. A strong political leader such as yourself could probably survive and carry the day based on our good standing in other areas. But…a new leader, with less cred behind them…well it’s going to be real tough.”
Warning bells sounded inside Malissa’s brain. She knew what Kaito was angling for here. “That kite has already flown Kaito. I’m not going to be contesting the next election. I’m sticking to the regulation two terms.” She gave him her most serious look.
Kaito nodded. He was content to chip away for now, though he knew that he had to convince Malissa to run by next February, otherwise they faced annihilation at the polls.
“Well?” asked Belinda.
“OK” said Malissa “but you had better come up with a really good line for me to peddle on this.”
“I’m on it.”
Chapter 36. Slidwon 1600, 13 September
It had taken Nestor’s 1st Imperial Guard Division all day to redeploy the 2,000kms from their field training area to the capital of Slidwon. He had to requisition every transport shuttle he could lay his hands on and it was a painfully slow process to ferry them to Slidwon spaceport, form up and then start moving. He had ordered his 2nd Guard Brigade (Bde), which arrived first, to secure the spaceport. The next of his sub formations to arrive was the 3rd Guard Brigade, equipped with the new ‘walkers’.
He ordered them to secure the Imperial Circle, which housed all the major government institutions, including the Supreme Council building but not the ISS ‘complex’. The latter was located in the adjacent Kenrudim district, where many of the prime corporations had their headquarters. In fact, the whole district was dominated by a series of incredibly tall building all trying to outshine their neighbours. A famous celebrity had once referred to it as ‘dick central’ and that had been its unofficial monikers ever since.
The prospect of having to fight in such a hi-rise urban environment was Nestor’s main concern. Well that and the fact that his 1st Bde had not yet arrived. He was no longer responding to calls from his uncle who he swore should have had a better appreciation of military logistics.
He was beginning to receive contact reports from the 3rd Bde as they bumped up against the rebel 33rd Bde. He knew the commander of this Bde and respected his ability but he also knew that he had the superior firepower. He had given the go ahead for his rocket units to engage in indirect fire and the first salvoes were now being fired.
He knew that by this time tomorrow he would be known for the rogan that deployed heavy weapons against his own people. But he didn’t care. In fact he welcomed it. If he had to level the entire district, so be it. The battle for Slidwon had begun.
Chapter 37. Intikrus 1700, 13 September
Angina just could not hold back the tears when she read the message from Milus informing her of Jebna’s death. She had setup shop in Marra’s HQ. In fact Marra was with her discussing options for moving ISS personnel when the message came through.
Marra swallowed hard when she saw Angina so emotionally distressed. In all the years she had known Angina she had never seen her lose her composure - not once. She could only imagine why. But her inquisitiveness must have shown on her own expression. Angina passed over her communicator and then Marra realised. It had long been ISS gossip that Angina was having it off with Jebna but it had never been confirmed.
“He was a good rogan” said Angina regaining her composure. Marra nodded. “We will make then pay for this.” Angina wiped her eyes with a tissue. “How long?” she asked.
“You’ve still got an hour. It’s only ten minutes by hopper. You still reckon Cheklin’s the place to be?”
“Yes. Come on we need to finish up here pronto. So how many t
roops are we taking?”
“Three thousand or thereabouts. It’s all that Veego can carry. It could have been more if we could find those transports that should have been on station.”
“Were they from the Likta Corporation?”
“Why yes.”
Angina smiled. “Bacun Likta’s been quite effective. Thank the gods he’s on our side.”
“Except it’s worked against us here.”
“True but those people in Qwantum will be glad” said Angina, referring to the mass evacuation that would soon be underway there.
“But not the First Consul.” It was he who ordered the use of the mass exchanger in the Qwantum system as punishment to the uprising on Q2.
“No” said Angina with a disapproving tone. “OK Marra, I’m sending you the list of station chiefs I consider friendly. Sound them out for me and warn them to be on guard. You have my authority to make whatever decisions you need to protect this system and to assist in the protection of others. I’ll be in warp for three days. Once I get established on Cheklin I’ll see what we can do to get you some fleet support.”
“Here’s my list of the people we need to pick up here” said Marra.
“I don’t need to see it Marra. I trust you implicitly. Besides I have to write a message to Jebna’s wife before I go. She will be heartbroken.”
That revelation surprised Marra in more ways than one. “I’ll leave you to it then. I’ll call back here in thirty.” Angina gave her a brief smile. As Marra closed the door on her way out Angina wondered if Jebna’s wife would be alive to receive the message.
Chapter 38. Neeblo 2000, 13 September
Felis replayed the media report on the situation in Slidwon. It was clear they had been gazumped. He had formed a company of volunteers into a scratch security force but they had virtually no training, save for a smattering of ex warriors. They were being housed in one of the nearby factory buildings. His first call was to their commander an ex Lieutenant named Bugina Farnus.
“Sir” she responded.
“There may be trouble, double the guards and come over here.”
“What right now?” she asked.
“Yes right now.”
“OK.”
Felis shook his head as he terminated the call. He hailed Meelanda but got no answer. He hailed her again. Then he remembered that she would be in the middle of another rally. “Evie” he hailed.
“Felis?” said Evie. The sounds of a large crowd and the echo of Meelanda’s voice could be clearly heard by Felis.
“It’s started. You need to wind up things there asap and get back here.” There was no answer. “Evie did you hear me?”
“Yes…all right, will do.”
Next Felis hailed Kraag Balun, an old Fleet buddy of his who he had just recruited to serve as his ops officer. “Kraag it’s starting. Make sure your wife and kids move to their safety loc, notify the others and get over here.”
Felis barely heard the affirmative response from Kraag. He hesitated for a moment with this next call. It was to the ISS station chief, Arkimon Fetula. This was the moment at which their trust in the ISS would be put to the test. It was taking him several minutes to make contact. Felis was becoming quite anxious as the communicator rang.
Arkimon pushed aside the slender arm of his favourite escort. He was still breathing hard from their sexual exertion. He glanced at the huge mirror on the ceiling, lit from a lamp with the plush purple shade that the bordello regarded as chic but which would be frowned upon in the circles Arkimon’s high status family normally moved in.
He finally managed to extend his arm and pick up his communicator. He didn’t bother to look at the name of the caller. “This had better be good” he said in a gruff manner.
“Arkimon Fetula?”
“Who is this?”
“Felis Draag.”
“Who?”
“Felis Draag. Your boss told me to call you when the time had come to secure the Dogon.”
‘Shit’ thought Arkimon. He never thought it would happen. He had assumed all along that Angina was blowing hot air on this. ‘Fuck, it’s real!’ He pushed his escort’s leg off his and sat up in the bed.
“Are you still there?” asked Felis.
“Yeah, I am still here. What makes you sure it’s started?”
“Turn on any of the indie channels. You’ll see.”
“Give me five and ring back.”
Arkimon got to his feet ignoring the pleas from his escort to stay. He pulled on his trousers and gave the command to display the media screen. His escort rolled over onto her stomach and with a groan pulled a pillow over her head.
There it was, yesterday’s report of what the media was calling a ‘standoff’ around the ISS ‘complex’ building in Slidwon. He let it play for a few minutes taking in the smattering of information that passed for facts these days in the media report.
“Shit” he said out loud. His escort just groaned again from under the pillow. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and pondered. ‘So who’s going to win out of this?’ he asked himself.
His communicator rang again before he could reach a conclusion. The next media report began playing and the banner line read “Thirty Third Brigade backs ISS.”
“Draag?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“OK I’ll do it. First thing tomorrow morning.”
“That’s not going to be good enough. You need to do it now.”
“It’s going to take some time to round up the force.”
“OK but start now. Odds are we will get visitors tomorrow.”
“Right…” said Arkimon who was still trying to ramp up his mind on the actions needed. “OK, how can I contact you?”
“I’m messaging you my details now. From here on in I will coordinate all military and security actions. You will handle all the details of the security side but you come under my command. Is that clear?”
“I answer to the Director of the ISS. I will cooperate with you but I am not under your command.”
Felis was in no mood for a battle of egos here. “As long as you cooperate fully we will have no problems.”
“OK then, I will stay in touch.”
Arkimon terminated the call and then made another to his head of operations, Salinta Fekris. He ignored the tired voice that was none too pleased to hear his and simply said “You know that contingency plan I had you draft for the Dogon, implement it now and I mean now. Send a team to arrest the Deputy. He’s no longer a good guy.” He hung up, giving Salinta no opportunity to question his order.
He got dressed in a hurry, swiped his communicator over the console that lay on the dresser and said “Thanks honey. Same time next week, OK?” He registered the moan as a confirmation and closed the door behind him. There was so much to do and Arkimon knew he would be getting no sleep tonight.
Chapter 39. Phantom over Cheklin 0520, 14 September
2nd Lt Alice Wu saw it first, the icons appeared on the holo and her initial reaction was ‘missiles’. But a second later the icons had not changed colour and were still being identified as shuttles.
She quickly hailed Aubrey.
A minute later Aubrey ran in, still in her shorts and Tee. Alice pointed to the holo.
“I see them” said Aubrey as she rubbed her eyes.
“What do you think Maam?” asked Alice. “ There’s twenty one of them. Heading….ooh…probably to the space station. But why?”
“I have no idea. Reinforcements maybe. Yeah probably to shore up the defences at a time of crisis.”
“Do you think they have detected us?” asked Alice.
“None of our sensors indicate that, right?” Alice shook her head. “So I think it safe to assume they don’t know we are here.”
“Besides” chimed in Neo, who was still trawling through all the media reports, “if they had, they would be exposing all those unarmed shuttles.”
“Very good Neo” praised Aubrey. She paused for a moment. ‘So wha
t is going on?’ she asked herself.
Chapter 40. Hopper to Neeblo 0530, 14 September
Oscren Mila was flying the hopper at max speed in a race against the coming dawn. He had to get Meelanda, Evie and Erkum back to Muktikis. He knew that the hopper’s jamming suite would protect them from the imperialist radar but it was the ladar being directed down from the Dogon space station that he feared.
He glanced back at his nervous passengers but only for a brief moment.
“Are we going to make it?” asked Meelanda.
“I’m sure of it” said Oscren not betraying his own concerns. He heard the hail from the command centre, responded and kept nodding his head as he took in the information being conveyed.
Erkum looked on impatiently. Finally he said “what is it?”
Oscren held up his hand to tell Erkum to wait. Finally he finished the call and turned around briefly with a smile. “The Dogon’s ours!”
Two hundred ISS troops had taken control from the fleet personnel without a fight.
Chapter 41. Neeblo 0600, 14 September
As the hopper was landing Fetula Arkimon hailed Felis to report that all ISS detachments had reported occupying their key objectives. “Bar one” said Fetula. “But don’t worry that fellow in Neentum won’t live past the day. It will be ours by night fall.”
“Good, but you must ensure that production at the missile and fighter facilities continues. We’re going to need them” said Felis.
“Don’t worry it will. Oh and please advise our new President that we have rounded up the current councillors. They will be despatched shortly.”
“No they won’t” said Felis emphatically. “Detain them for sure but do not harm them. That is our new President’s orders. Do you understand?”
“If you say so. But you are making a mistake.”
“We don’t think so. We’re not simply replacing one cabal with another. Things are going to be done differently from now on. There will be no killings except where there is armed resistance. Is that clear?”
Resilience (Warner's World Book 6) Page 8
