Empire Ascendant

by Dietmar Wehr

  Terranova had already given that a lot of thought. “Three task forces: my 2.2, Sonia Neilson’s 2.3 and Trev Xavier’s 2.4.”

  Brandenburg exchanged a quick look with Delacor before responding. “You feel comfortable taking those two along?”

  Terranova shrugged. “It’s either take them along where I can keep an eye on them, or leave them here. My recommendation includes bringing the other three task forces back to the Capital System as insurance against a Shogunate or Delisani surprise attack.”

  Brandenburg turned to Delacor. “What’s your feeling about that, Elona?”

  Delacor’s face broke out in what Terranova could only interpret as a predatory smile. “I’d rather the two of them stayed here where I can keep an eye on them.”

  Brandenburg recognized that facial expression too. She had seen it before and knew that it meant Elona had something up her sleeve that she was confident would keep Xavier and Neilson neutralized. Terranova was shaking his head and was about to say something. Brandenburg spoke first.

  “I have faith in Elona’s ability to ride roughshod, if necessary, over Romeo and Juliette. So, here’s what we’re going to do. All task forces will be recalled to Capital System. When they get here, Admiral Kosigan’s TF2.5 and Admiral Lee’s TF2.6 will be attached to your 2.2, and that combined force will be designated as Second Fleet. Admirals Rickover, Xavier and Neilson will comprise First Fleet under Elona’s personal command. Second Fleet will not execute any strike mission unless and until I give the green light. And I want it understood that I may not give the go-ahead at all. I realize that it would not be a good idea to keep all our ships here indefinitely. If the strategic situation isn’t resolved one way or another within...six weeks, I’ll consider alternate deployments. Any questions?” She looked at Terranova.

  “Not right now, Contessa. If you give me the green light, I may have some questions then regarding my rules of engagement when I’m at New Mount Fuji, but there’ll be plenty of time to ask them later.”

  Brandenburg looked at Delacor.

  “No questions, Contessa,” said Delacor.

  “Good! Since TF2.2 will be ordered to return here, it doesn’t make sense to send Valley Forge there just to turn around and come back. The recall order can be sent by courier. You and your flagship’s crew might as well stand down for some R&R until the rest of the task force arrives, Marcus.”

  A big grin broke out on Terranova’s face. “Thank you, very much, Contessa! The crew will be glad to hear that, and so am I.”

  After a few more minutes spent in friendly chitchat, Delacor and Terranova left. As they descended the escalator, Terranova looked at Delacor.

  “If Xavier and Neilson are conspiring against the Empress, their task forces will outnumber yours two to one.”

  Delacor kept her focus straight ahead as she replied. “You’re assuming that the other ships under their command will go along with what could only be described as treason. They may not. Engaging in something illegal out on the frontier would not look as disturbing as would open acts of treason in the Capital System. Don’t worry, Marcus. I’m not counting on Romeo and Juliette’s good behaviour. I’ve taken precautions.”

  “Oh, really? Anything you’re willing to tell me about?”

  “No.”

  Terranova couldn’t help smiling. When it came to power players, Elona was in a class all by herself.

  Tanaka Shogunate Capital (New Mount Fuji):

  Tanaka roared with elation. In wiping out Delisani’s fleet with zero losses himself, Admiral Hashimoto could not possibly have done any better.

  “New orders for Admiral Hashimoto! He’s to take his fleet to New Danzig and eliminate Emperor Delisani’s rule. That order can be carried by a missile supply ship. I want him to have plenty of munitions. I also want an occupation force including ground troops sent to Avalon, with a second troop convoy to be sent to New Danzig to arrive after Admiral Hashimoto’s victory there. Send out an alert to all fleet elements and all systems. The Shogunate is at war with the Delisani Empire, and make sure the public learns of this first glorious victory! Tomorrow will be a Day of Celebration!” He paused and swaggered around his Throne Room. His elation was giving him a feeling of power that not even his favorite drug could match, and a familiar sensation came from his groin.

  “Send word to my geishas that I’m feeling particularly frisky today,” he said with a laugh.

  Tau Ceti Empire Capital (Corona):

  Second Fleet Flagship Valley Forge, thirteen days later.

  Terranova woke to the sound of a high priority call.

  “Accept call, audio only,” he said. He checked the time. It was the middle of the night both on Valley Forge and in Corona’s capital city.

  “Sorry to wake you, Marcus, but we just got word from a freighter that the Shogunate fleet in Avalon has left, and they were headed in the direction of New Danzig.”

  “The whole fleet?”

  “Yup. The whole damn fleet. Apparently, the admiral, who we think is Hashimoto by the way, got new orders from a Shogunate freighter that had a military-grade L-drive. It joined the fleet when they left.”

  “Military-grade, eh? I’ll bet that was a missile re-supply ship,” said Terranova.

  “That would make sense.”

  “Does Contessa know this yet? If she’s going to let Second fleet off the leash, I’d like to get started as soon as possible.”

  Delacor laughed. “Way ahead of you, Marcus. You didn’t really think I’d tell you the news first and the Empress second, did you? She knows and has already given the verbal green light. Official orders are on their way, including Rules of Engagement and what she wants done with Tanaka himself. I’ve already ordered Second Fleet be put on alert. I know some of your ships have personnel on the planet. They’re in the process of being notified to return to their ships. As soon as they’re aboard, and you have the official orders, you can break out of orbit. Good luck, although I know you won’t need it, and good hunting, Marcus.”

  “Thanks, Elona, and thank Contessa for me too. I know she’s rolling the dice here, and I appreciate her confidence in me.”

  “I will.”

  The click told him that the connection had been cut. He jumped out of bed just as the Flag Bridge called. “Terranova here. Let me guess, the Fleet’s been put on alert, right?”

  “Ah, yes, sir! How did you know?”

  “Didn’t you know, Lieutenant? Admiral’s are all psychic. It’s a requirement of the rank. I’ll be on the Flag Bridge soon. Out.”

  Task Force 2.4 flagship Agincourt:

  Xavier woke to the sound of the Flag Bridge calling.

  “Accept call, audio only.”

  “Lieutenant Haskel, Admiral. The Com Station has picked up an alert order from HQ for Second Fleet. Apparently Second Fleet personnel who are on the ground are being told to return to their ships asap. You left orders to be informed if this happened.”

  “Yes. You did the right thing, Lieutenant. Any orders for us?”

  “No, sir.”

  “I see. Carry on, Lieutenant. Out.”

  Xavier got out of bed and went over to his desk. He activated the communication unit. “Com Station, this is the Admiral.”

  “Yes, sir! Lieutenant Pommeranz, sir. What can I do for you?”

  “I want to speak with Admiral Neilson. She’ll be on Ardennes, and I want this call to be on a secure channel. I’ll provide the encryption key.”

  “Yes, sir. Visual as well as audio, Admiral?”

  “No, audio only will do fine.”

  “I’ll have that set up for you in a few seconds, Admiral. May I put you on hold?”

  “You may.”

  Xavier would put the hold to good use thinking about when and how to move against the Empress. He and Sonia had been tiptoeing around the issue for months due to the need for communications security, but now that they were both in the same star system and close enough for real time encrypted voice communication, they would
not get a better opportunity to firm up their plans.

  “Please enter encryption key,” said the electronic voice.

  Xavier smiled. “Victory goes to the brave.”

  “Secure audio channel has been established,” said the electronic voice.

  “Trev? Is there a problem?” he recognized Sonia’s voice.

  “Not a problem, my dear partner in crime, an opportunity. Terranova’s fleet has been put on alert and is preparing to head to New Mount Fuji.”

  “Has this been confirmed?”

  “The alert order from HQ was picked up by my com section. It’s confirmed. I think it’s time we firmed up our plans, don’t you?”

  “Oh, yes. I’m sick of this waiting and pretending! Let’s kill that arrogant bitch and take her place as Co-Empress and Co-Emperor.”

  Xavier chuckled. Sonia was so hot-blooded! “Patience, my love, patience. We have to wait until Second Fleet has left the system. Then, as soon as either Agincourt or Ardennes is directly over the Capital, that ship will fire all its lasers on the Palace Tower and keep firing until it’s a pile of red-hot slag. The only thing we have to make sure of first is that Empress Contessa is actually in the tower. How reliable is your TO?”

  Neilson chuckled. “Oh, he’s very reliable. I took the liberty of seducing him a few times. I hope you don’t mind, lover, but he seemed like the type that would be susceptible to sexual manipulation. He’ll do whatever I ask him to do.”

  Xavier actually did mind, but now was not the time to pursue that matter. A little voice in the back of his mind asked him if he was also in sexual thrall to Sonia. He told the voice to shut up. “A necessary sacrifice for the greater good. He’ll have to be eliminated though after we ascend to the pinnacle of power.”

  “Of course, lover! Now tell me, how reliable is your TO? Did you seduce him or her?”

  “Not necessary. I discovered that his ambition trumps his sense of morality. The promise of a fast track to flag rank was quite enough.”

  “Excellent! That just leaves TF2.1. How will Rickover react?”

  Xavier had already considered that question. “If we wait until the Fleet is in the middle of a night cycle, with Rickover and all the other COs asleep, the laser strike will be over by the time he and they wake up. Brandenburg will be dead, and nothing Rickover or the others do will bring her back. You and I will have proclaimed our joint ascension to power to the Fleet, and I expect that Rickover will accept the fait accompli rather than ignite a civil war. Our first order of business will be to demand personal oaths of loyalty from all senior officers, and we’ll have weeded out those who refuse by the time Second Fleet gets back. At that point, Terranova will be presented with the same dilemma: acquiesce or fight a civil war.”

  “Rickover I can see bowing to the reality of the situation, but Terranova scares me, lover. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about him and Brandenburg. If they’re true, if she and he were lovers at some point, he just might be pissed off enough at her assassination to start a civil war.”

  “A risk we’ll have to take. I don’t see any way to avoid it. For now, we need to play our role as loyal officers a bit longer. Not a word to anyone, especially not to your TO. Okay, Sonia? We can’t afford to slip up now.”

  He heard her sigh. “All right. I suppose I can play the game a bit longer, but my body aches for you, lover.”

  I wonder if that’s true. It could be, but she’s perfectly capable of playing a double game. That thought made his shiver. “As does mine for you too, my love. I’ll call you again when Second Fleet has left.”

  “Until then.”

  He switched off the com device and leaned back. He had never had cause to doubt her devotion to him until now. Her admission of seducing another man to get her way left him wondering whether she was using him the same way. Maybe the Empire’s not big enough to have both a Co-Emperor and a Co-Empress. If she’s thinking the same thing, then I better eliminate her before she eliminates me. Dammit, why did she have to reveal that side of herself?

  Six hours later.

  The first thing Delacor did when she arrived at her office was to check the status of Second Fleet. It had broken out of orbit and was just about to transition to uber-space. The second thing she did was to check her com log for incoming messages. There were two. One from Ardennes and one from Agincourt. Both were communication logs covering the previous 8 hours. Both showed an exchange of encrypted data between the two ships. The two lovebirds didn’t waste any time discussing Second Fleet’s alert order. I wonder what they said to each other.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Two days later.

  Xavier entered Yamato’s Main Bridge. Only the Tactical, Com and Astrogation stations were manned since it was in the middle of the night-cycle duty shift. Normally the Tactical Station would be manned by a junior tactical officer, but tonight was special. Xavier’s co-conspirator was manning the tac console after convincing the more junior officer to swap duty shifts. The TO looked at Xavier and nodded. The other two officers were not in on the plot, but they were also junior officers, and Xavier had no doubts that with his rank, he could intimidate them into doing what he wanted. They hadn’t even bothered to look to see who had just entered the Bridge. Xavier moved quickly and quietly to the Tactical Station and leaned in close to his TO so that the two of them could speak low enough to avoid being overheard by the other two officers.

  “We’ll be directly over the target in another three point four minutes, Admiral,” said the Lieutenant.

  “Very good, Lieutenant. Make sure you notify me when we’re down to one minute.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Xavier went over to the Com Station. The officer jumped in surprise when he realized who was now standing beside him.

  “Lieutenant, I need to make a confidential call to the Empress, and I need to do it from your console. I want you and the AO to leave the Bridge right now.”

  “Yes, Admiral.”

  As soon as the two non-conspirators left the Bridge, Xavier established a comlaser video channel with Ardennes. He was soon looking at Neilson.

  “Ready, Admiral?” he asked. He saw her take a quick look around.

  “Yes, I’m ready, Admiral Xavier,” she said in a professional tone for the benefit of the recording that both of them believed would become a historical record.

  “One minute to firing position, Admiral,” said the tactical officer.

  “Power up the lasers, Lieutenant,” said Xavier. He heard Neilson give the same order to her TO.

  “Lasers are powered up and are ready to fire,” said the officer a few seconds later.

  Xavier, who had been checking a chronometer, looked at Neilson’s image. “Both ships will fire simultaneously after a ten-second countdown that starts…now!”

  Delacor woke up to the sound of a low rumble that was totally unexpected given the fact that she was in her office under the Imperial Palace Tower, thirteen levels below ground. When the rumble showed no signs of stopping, she grew alarmed and rushed to the Command Level that overlooked the multi-story tactical display in the Operations Room. The personnel manning the consoles looked at her with stunned expressions.

  “What the hell is happening?” she asked.

  “We’re not sure, Admiral. It sounds to me like something is happening to the Tower.”

  A shiver of fear went up Delacor’s spine. “Throw an external view of the tower on one of these screens!”

  When the image coalesced, Delacor was overwhelmed with horror at the sight meeting her eyes. The massive tower was gone. In its place was a pile of rubble that looked to be about twenty stories high, and the interior of the pile was red hot. As far as Delacor knew, Empress Contessa had been in her quarters at the top of the tower, which meant that she was now dead. Only the combined firepower from a battleship’s lasers could have done so much damage that quickly. Never in her worst imaginings could Delacor have believed that Xavier and Neilson would execute such a heinous act.
She longed to grieve for her friend, but forced herself to push it aside for a later time.

  “Admiral! The Empress…!”

  Delacor knew she had to react quickly if she was going to get control of the situation.

  “The Empress is dead. I’m declaring a State of Emergency. Do we still have tactical and com systems? Come on, people! Get it together!”

  While she was waiting for confirmation that the Operations Room was still able to see what was in orbit and communicate with the Fleet, another image appeared on one of the displays. It was what was left of the civilian tower where Delacor lived. They tried to kill me too! If I hadn’t decided to sleep in my office, I’d be dead now. I have to get Fleet com back!