by Dale Musser
“You know that if you do, you won’t be living here. Your regular schooling and JAC training will be combined on a military base and you won’t come home at the end of the day. You won’t see much of us at all in the beginning. You’ll have only a few days off where you can come home that entire first year.”
“You make sacrifices, so I can too,” he said stubbornly.
“Have you talked to your mother and your sister about this?” I asked.
“No. Not yet,” he said.
“I think you should talk to them first and see what they think. Then sleep on it for a day or two before making your final decision.”
“I’m not going to change my mind,” he exclaimed.
“I’m not asking you to change your mind. I'm asking you to talk it over with your mother and sister before you commit to anything. Is that too much to ask?”
“No, I guess not. But, I won’t change my mind.”
“Alright. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry and I need to meet with the Sector Admirals in just over an hour. I’m going to ask Piesew to cook up a fubalo steak for me. If you like, I’ll have him make two and we can have lunch together.”
Reide looked up at me for the first time since we started talking. I knew he loved fubalo steaks almost as much as I did. “Yeah, that sounds good. I am a bit hungry.”
To be honest; I wasn’t thrilled about Reide wanting to join the JAC. I was afraid he would join, become disenchanted with it later, and then be miserable until he could get out. However, I could see where it could do him a lot of good. He’d learn more self-discipline and have a better understanding of real life situations, both of which he needed. I had no doubt that he would do well if he joined. He had already gained more martial-arts skills than most JAC members could hope to have coming out of the program. The same went for weapons handling and marksmanship. Even though he was just learning to fly, he had already demonstrated very good skills, so I had no doubt he’d excel in aviation as well. However, many of his recreational activities would be curtailed. He would have very little time to spend with his friend, Rory, and that would be hard on both of them. Because of Rory’s special condition he would not be allowed into the military, so Reide would have to go alone.
We had a nice lunch, though the mood was still subdued. Conversation was still centered around Reide’s questions and comments about conditions on Alamar-4. He was concerned about the woman we’d rescued and wondered what happened to her family. At one point, when I mentioned something about the brothel where he had seen the sexual torture devices, he asked shyly, “Dad, do you think Jenira was ever… you know… tortured like that when she was a slave?”
“I don’t know, Reide,” I said.
“Haven’t you ever asked her?”
“No. Neither your mother nor I ever ask her about anything that happened to her during the years she was enslaved on Goo’Waddle. I don’t think she wants to talk about it and we respect her privacy. If she ever does want to talk about it, I’m sure she will come to us.”
“Jenira said once that Ming wanted to eat Lunnie and me. Did he really say that?”
“Yes he did, when you were both still babies.”
“Then it’s true that Ming actually killed and ate babies on the moon?”
“I’m afraid so,” I said, feeling glad that we’d finished our steaks before he asked this question. For a second Reide looked ill, but he managed to hold down his lunch.
I was about to tell Reide I needed to return to work, when Kala and Lunnie walked in the door.
“Well look at this,” said Kala. “My two favorite men… and it looks like they just devoured a fubalo.”
“Yes… and regrettably, I need to leave. Regeny has called a meeting of the Sector Fleet Admirals.”
“That’s too bad, Tib,” said Kala as she gave me a quick kiss. It would have been nice to have you around for a bit this afternoon.
“Well, you’ll just have to make do with Reide until I can return. Besides, he has something he wants to talk to you and Lunnie about,” I said as I glanced his way.
“Oh?” Kala said. “What would that be?”
“I’ll let him tell you. I really must go now,” I answered as I headed out the door. I took one last glance back to see that Reide still looked sullen and a tad bit pale.
The meeting of the admirals went much as I feared it would. Regeny opened with his usual posturing and declarations, stating emphatically that the Federation finally “had the Brotherhood on the run,” and that from here forward it was going to be nothing but victories for the Federation. The looks on the faces of the other admirals in the room gave me the impression that most of them didn’t share his enthusiasm. Regeny was one of those individuals who had risen through the ranks beyond a position of competency. He wasn’t corrupt or immoral – far from it, in fact – but he just didn’t have the skills necessary to perform the principal leadership role of the Federation military. Beyond that, he tended to oversimplify situations or exaggerate them based on little more than his moods.
So here we all sat, listening to him order us to have an all-out assault on Glomar Rosa without collecting any advance intelligence of conditions on the ground. We had only scant ideas where the major enemy bases were located on the planet and we would be launching the blitz attack with little more than a guess as to where the civilian populations were concentrated.
At one point during the meeting, after several admirals protested that a global strike was unrealistic and dangerous, Regeny turned to Admiral Wabussie and asked how long it would take to gather the required intelligence. Wabussie responded that he couldn’t say with any degree of accuracy, as it would be even more difficult to secure spies on the ground than it had been at Alamar-4 – first, because the population was likely to be more spread out and, second, because the Brotherhood would surely have tightened up security on all the worlds they dominated after the attack at Alamar-4.
Regeny pressed Wabussie for a timeframe. Wabussie finally relented and said reconnaissance would require four months at best, but more realistically six months or even longer. Regeny flew into a rage and told Wabussie that he had less than four weeks to get the job done. Without actually providing a specific date, it was clear that Regeny planned to initiate an attack within the month. Sighs and moans rumbled through the room after he gave Wabussie his orders. At this point, Regeny was losing his audience and was letting his emotions rule his actions instead of his brain.
“Tibby, what are your thoughts?” he asked, turning his inflated chest toward me. I knew he wanted me to support his plan, and I also knew I needed to tread lightly with my response.
“I can see the value of acting quickly to retake Glomar Rosa,” I began. Regeny immediately began to relax and smile. “However, I believe it would be a huge mistake to attack without sufficient intelligence. I have to agree with Admiral Wabussie’s assessment that we need at least four months to get a team on the ground to collect the data needed to plan a successful invasion.”
“Preposterous!” Regeny roared. “I can't – I mean – we can’t wait that long! We’ll lose momentum with the Senate and the support of the people if we don’t act now!”
“Sir, that may be true, but if we don’t perform our due diligence as the only protectors of the coalition of free planets, we risk a huge disaster – meaning considerable casualties, Admiral. Under those conditions, we face an even greater risk of losing the endorsement of the Senate and the citizens. Even more important than all of these arguments, it’s a certainty that we would cause the death of thousands of helpless civilians in the process.”
Regeny’s face reddened as he paced the room. I had seen this reaction from him many times before. I knew he was about to do something foolish and I feared it would be something we would all regret.
“Are you saying that, if I order this invasion to take place in four weeks, you won’t lead it?” he demanded.
“I didn’t say that, sir. I said we need more info
rmation and that without that data an invasion is extremely dangerous. If anything goes wrong, the probability of disaster is very high. Massive casualties will never be acceptable to the Senate or the people, Admiral.”
“I see. So you wouldn’t do it?” Regeny asked again.
“No, sir, not without full intelligence,” I said.
“Very well then. I’ll do it myself,” Regeny huffed. “You can stay here with the First Fleet, hiding in Sector 1 under the pretense of guarding the Capitol and I’ll lead a combined fleet to reclaim Glomar Rosa.”
“Sir, do you think that’s wise?” asked Admiral Kophious. “It’s been years since you commanded a combat operation.”
“You too, Kophious? You don't have the guts for this either? Maybe you’d like to sit it out in Sector 1 with Tibby. I’m sure I can find a courageous junior officer willing to serve as your substitute. And I assure you, Admiral, I am well up on my battle strategies.”
“Uh… no, sir, I didn’t mean that,” Kophious acquiesced.
“Good. Then I expect you to follow orders. I’ll be using your ship as my flagship for the operation.”
I glanced around the room, registering the shocked expressions on the faces of the admirals.
“Now, unless more of you have useless objections, I suggest you begin prepping your troopers for the upcoming battle. I want everyone ready to attack exactly four weeks from today.” With that, he turned and walked out the door.
“Tibby,” Wabussie said as he approached me. “I think Regeny is losing his mind. There is no way we can gather any useful intelligence in four weeks.”
“I know,” I replied. “I don’t see any way this can end well. And I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
“I think I can tell you,” Admiral Kophious said as he joined us. “I’ve known Regeny a long time. One thing I know about him is that he likes being the center of attention. For more than twenty years now he’s been upstaged by you, Tibby. It’s been you who has made the plans, and you who has led the victories, and you who has gotten the glory and recognition. Regeny is barely mentioned in the news anymore, especially regarding his own military organization. He’s jealous. There’s no other way to say it. He’s getting close to retirement age. I think he wants to be a hero and get his name written in the history books. As it is now, he’d probably only be mentioned in a secondary fashion in conjunction with something about you, Tibby. I think today he walked into this conference looking for a reason to sideline you on this event, so he would be the one to lead the fleet into what he believes will be a huge victory. If you hadn’t disagreed with him, Tibby, I’m sure he would have found another reason to take your place as the commander of this battle.”
“So you’ll go along with his plans?” I asked.
“Yes, someone needs to be there to protect him. I also want to protect my ships. I agree with both of you. Nothing good is going to come from this venture without decent information. I only hope your FSO agents can pull off a miracle and deliver early data, Admiral Wabussie.”
“It’s going to be a real problem,” said Wabussie. “On Alamar-4 we had a clear geographical advantage, where the uninhabited oceanic hemisphere allowed us to deploy scouts with nearly zero risk of being observed. On Glomar Rosa the population is much larger and more widely disbursed. We have no clear avenue of entry and no landing location where we know we’ll remain undetected.”
“What about using a cloaked HALO jump from the edge of the atmosphere?” interjected Admiral Slater as he approached us.
“A HALO jump. I never thought of trying that. HALO jumping was controversial in my days back on Earth, but then I never knew anyone who had actually done one,” I said.
“It was used quite a bit in World War III. Our troops became relatively efficient at it, until the Chinese got wise and set up phalanx systems mounted on drones to track and fire at our men as they made entry. However, I doubt that even cloaking detection technology would spot our men. They’re simply too small a target. The Brotherhood’s detection equipment isn’t effective enough to identify anything smaller than a personal transport or maybe a message pod.”
“So then it sounds like you may be able to get at least some fundamental data in four weeks,” I said. “That’s one problem solved.”
“It’s not that easy,” replied Slater. “These jumps require special gear. I can get the plans from our Earth data cubes, but we’ll still have to train the men. Even with gear HALO jumps are risky and the training is intensive. Any kind of mistake will give us away, so everything has to be perfect before we can consider executing even a single jump. After they’re trained the troopers will have to start out with lower altitude jumps and work up to the edge of the atmosphere. That’s going to take time.
“We also have another problem. On Alamar-4 we were able to get components for Cantolla Gates to the surface. At Glomar Rosa the jumpers wouldn’t be able to carry anything more than the gate particles. The power pack assembly is too large and bulky drop in with the team without detection. We'd probably need to wait until the last minute to deliver a power unit to the planet. If anything goes wrong, our men would be trapped down there.”
“Do you think we can deliver the power unit in some sort of casing and in such a way that it would look like a meteoroid?” I asked.
“Possibly, but it has to be a highly controlled entry so it lands near our men. They have to retrieve it immediately, to minimize the risk of it being found and turned over to the Brotherhood.”
“So you’re thinking a night drop?” I said.
“Actually, I was thinking early morning, shortly before sunrise, when it is light enough to dampen the visual signature of any fireball trail that might identify the package as something other than a meteoroid as it enters the atmosphere.”
“Isn’t there some way you could do a controlled entry so it doesn’t leave a trail?” I asked.
“Nothing I can think of. Maybe A’Lappe or Cantolla can come up with something. However, anything that creates drag or flight dynamics, such as wings, produces an easily detectable image that the Brotherhood would immediately find suspicious. Besides, if it’s acceleration or direction appears in any way to be controlled, it will definitely catch their attention. Ultimately, it’s going to be seen, so it needs to look like a natural phenomenon, which means a meteoroid. Even trying to pass it off as space junk is problematic, as the Brotherhood would most certainly want to retrieve it.”
“Okay, I get your point.”
When the meeting concluded, I returned to the MAXETTE for a brief update with Marranalis, after which I headed back to the NEW ORLEANS. It was late in the afternoon and I didn’t want to deal with any more military matters that day.
I was expecting to find my family in the dining room when I returned, but again only Reide was there.
“So how did things go with your mother and sister?” I asked, referring to his desire to join the JAC.
“Lunnie thinks I’m stupid, but Mom is okay with it, if that is what I decide to do. However, she thinks I should give it more thought and I should talk to some of the people who have gone through the JAC program. She suggested I talk with Captain Mareoparen on your ship. I was hoping you could ask him if it might be alright for me to come to the MAXETTE to talk with him.”
“Hm. That might not be a bad idea. I’ll ask him tomorrow if you like.”
“Great, dad. Thanks.”
“Where are your mother and sister?”
“They’re on Earth with Cantolla and her team.”
“Earth? Oh, right. I forgot that the NEW ORLEANS in Earth orbit. Have you been to the surface yet?”
“No. I wanted to talk to you about Captain Mareoparen first.”
“Well, I'd like to go down and see things myself,” I said. “The last time I was there was before you were born, not long after the asteroid impact. I’d like to see how things have changed. Maybe I’ll take that new fighter A’Lappe built for me and fly down instead of using the Canto
lla Gates. Would you like to come along? I might even let you take control of the craft for a bit.”
“Really?!” Reide said with an excited smile that I hadn’t seen since our return from Alamar-4.
“Sure, why not,” I said. “Let me contact Kala and see how much longer they’ll be there. Of course, I also need to make some arrangements for the bodyguards to follow us in a separate transport, but after that we can be on our way. See if you can get us something to take along as a snack. I’m starting to get hungry. I suspect it’s going to be a while before we get back for a meal.”
It turned out that Kala and the landing party were near the former location of San Paulo, Brazil. Even though things on the ship were approaching the night cycle, according to Federation time, it was roughly midday in San Paulo. When Reide and I left the NEW ORLEANS, it became immediately apparent that Earth had come a long way toward recovery since my last visit. The dark, cinder-filled clouds that blanketed the entire planet had been replaced by fluffy white ones again. Large patches of clear sky could be seen in many areas, allowing an unobstructed view of the surface. The oceans were still a murky blue-gray and I wondered what life, if any, existed in them. Cantolla was pretty certain that, even with the tremendous turmoil the Earth had experienced, some microbes would still have survived and possibly thrived. Across the Northern hemisphere streamed long ribbons of much darker clouds, which I assumed were a result of the many volcanoes arching across the region that was once China, which was the site of the asteroid impact.
The planet was still far from being the lovely blue marble it had been. Even so, I felt a thrill, remembering what a beautiful planet Earth once was and knowing now that it was well on its way to returning to its former glory.
I let Reide take the controls for a while. He flew the ship like a veteran. This was no real surprise, though. Unlike his sister, Reide had done well with his lessons and had passed the test for solo flights in transports. Since the controls and navigation mechanisms of almost all ships in the Federation were basically the same, I knew Reide would have no problem excelling in the piloting portion of the JAC curriculum. I took the controls again shortly before we landed.
