Of course, the station’s population was less than thrilled about what was happening planetside and the council’s seeming lack of concern for events. Station security had their hands full trying to contain the nearly full-blown riot aboard as terrified citizens tried to get some answers and reassurance from the government.
If they only knew what was going on with the council, perhaps the people on the ground and on the orbital might have been a bit more understanding. But then, perhaps not.
“This is insane!” Hyacinth Cresswell shouted. “I knew that this trade delegation was a terrible idea.”
“Calm down,” Triarch Kozen’ck said from his seat at the head of the conference table. “Getting hysterical isn’t going to do anything constructive.”
“Calm down?” Hyacinth demanded, standing and raising her voice to new levels. “We’ve got hostile ships attacking the outer system and you want me to calm down?”
“Yes,” the leader of the council told her, his antennae upright and erect. “Right now there is rioting on the orbital and down on the planet. We have to come up with a plan of action and we need to do it fast.”
“We can’t send additional ships to help,” Carriger Hroth, one of the lupusan female councilors pointed out. “Even at maximum speed, the warships would be three days in transit. If there’s still fighting going on by the time they got there, it would all be over. And if it wasn’t…” She put a clawed hand to her head. “I can’t imagine the kind of damage those ships could do to this system.”
“To Samair and Eamonn’s space stations, you mean,” Cresswell said with a bitter smile.
“No, I don’t mean that,” Carriger spat. “Get off your pulpit about First Principles, Cresswell. All the whining you do about it makes you sound like a child with a tantrum.” Hyacinth sputtered. “I think we need to send some sort of a relief force. We need to show the populace that we care about what is happening to their fellows at the gas mine. And besides,” she went on, “The Kutok gas mine is a critical part of our infrastructure.”
“What are you babbling about?” Hyacinth demanded. “We need to keep those ships here if the system is under attack!”
“We need to make sure that the gas mine is secure,” Carriger told her and the room at large. Kozen’ck’s antennae curled in thought. “Since the fleet, the civilian shipping, the power stations, even the orbital reactors all run on helium 3, we need to make sure we concentrate some of our defensive assets there.”
“We need them here,” the woman repeated.
Carriger glared at her. “Yes, Cresswell, I know that. But we also need them there.”
“What we need,” Kozen’ck put in, “is more.”
The lupusan nodded, as did others in the room. “Exactly.”
“Can we call back Colonel Gants and the Leytonstone?” one of the others asked.
Carriger shrugged. “Not easily. We’d need to send a ship to Ulla-tran, disrupt Chakrabarti and the talks and then get them recalled. We have no idea if they’ll believe us or even if they’ll respond immediately. And then it’s another month’s trip to come back. And if they kept to the schedule, the bulk of the delegation will be leaving Ulla-tran within ten days. There’d be no point in sending a ship. We’ll just have to wait.”
“This is a nightmare,” Hyacinth said, dropping her head into her hands.
“So then,” Kozen’ck said, leaning forward. “We need to send ships to the gas giant to show the flag, help secure the area.”
“Curroth and two of the corvettes,” Carriger said, consulting a datapad, referring to one of the two remaining destroyers in area around the planet. “That will leave Revenant and the remaining light units for defense.”
“We’re stripping our defenses bare.”
“Enough, Cresswell,” the Triarch said coldly. “You’ve made your point, but there is nothing more that can be done about that. We need to make sure that mine is well protected. And we need to be seen doing something.” The others looked as unhappy as Cresswell, but no one said anything. “I don’t want to send those ships away either, but it can’t be helped. We sent a lot of defensive assets away from the system with the trade delegation. Until they get back we’re just going to have to make do.”
“Could we get more?” Carriger asked. “I think I can find some room in the budget.”
The zheen nodded. “I think that might not be a bad idea. Get with the FP people, Samair, if you can swing it. What can we afford?”
“I’d like to see if we can get our hands on a few of those frigates they’ve been fielding,” the lupusan said, her voice speculative. “But we can see about getting started on laying down three or four more corvettes.”
“Won’t do much good now,” Cresswell grumbled. Then she sighed. “But I think it might be a good step.”
“So glad you approve,” Carriger said dryly. She looked away from her in disgust and then smoothed out her features. “I think we can get R3 Systems to build another pair of corvettes for us. In fact I think they’ll jump at the chance.”
“And First Principles?”
Carriger shrugged. “I’ll see if I can get enough credits together to fund another destroyer. If Samair is willing to go with our previous numbers, I think we can afford one on this quarter’s budget.”
“I’ll need to make a statement,” the Triarch said, getting to his feet. He gestured to the conference room door. “Not that much of anything I said is going to make any difference, not until the dust settles.” He buzzed. “I just hope that the battle is contained in the outer system. If the pirates get past Samair’s ships and come into the inner system… well.” He didn’t really need to go into further detail. He could see that everyone around the table was already thinking the same thing.
~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
“This is Vanessa Marchant with S-Int News. I’m here on the orbital station where Triarch Kozen’ck is holding a press conference. This reporter is hoping that we’ll finally start getting some answers about this supposed attack in the outer system.” She glanced over her shoulder toward where the zheen was stepping up to the podium. The other reporters were quieting down as he appeared ready to speak. “Let’s hear what he has to say.” The vid pickup zoomed in on the Triarch.
“Good afternoon. I am here to inform all you good citizens that the reports of the attack by hostile forces in the outer system are indeed true.” He had to pause here as the reporters began buzzing and speaking and eventually shouting over one another to be heard. He held up his hands for silence and it took nearly a full minute for control to be reestablished. “People, please!” Finally they quieted. “As I was saying. We’ve received an updated data burst from one of the ships out at the gas giant. A battle is waging right now between Seylonique forces and a fleet of pirate ships. Lives have already been lost and the battle is not yet over.”
He paused again, giving the reporters time to absorb the information. “As you all know, a good portion of our defensive ships are out of the system and are not expected back for some weeks. This is a fact we must work with, I’m afraid.” It was clear that the crowd was less than thrilled with this answer, no matter how true it must be. “In response, I have detached the destroyer Curroth and two of our corvettes to head to the outer system with all speed.”
“How long will they be in transit?” one of the reporters asked loudly. Strangely, none of the other reporters tried to voice their own question.
“As some of you may know,” Kozen’ck answered, his mouthparts wiggling in irritation. “As some of you may know, in a civilian vessel, the journey from the orbital here to the Kutok gas mine takes about a week. In our military vessels pushing their speed up, the trip can be halved. So three and a half days. I know,” he said, holding up one mauve carapaced hand, “three and a half days is an eternity as far as the battle is concerned. They might only show up once the fighting is over. There’s nothing we can do about that now. We can only send out what help we can to the outer system and hope that they
can arrive in time to help pick up the pieces. I know that fear is prevalent now. I ask for your patience and your courage.”
“What else are you doing to stop this?” There was a murmur of general assent for this question.
The Triarch buzzed, the zheen equivalent of a steadying breath. “I know we are all expecting firm answers and perfect fixes for this situation. But with the Leytonstone and her task force out of the system, there is precious little in the way of forces that we can send and still keep some defenses here. We have already started to step up new construction for more hulls and I will be speaking with Chief Samair about more of the Republic-class destroyers.”
“Isn’t that just closing the gate after the children have gotten out?” one of the reporters called out. There was a general sense of agreement.
Kozen’ck paused for a moment, but there was no sense that he was hesitating, only allowing for all of them to settle back down; forcing them to wait on him. There were more than a few moments of grumbling, as though the reporters couldn’t believe his cheek. “There might be some degree of that, yes,” the zheen agreed, nodding slightly. Before the reporters could start shouting again, he went on. “But we had no way of knowing that the invaders would show up just as Colonel Gants and his task force would be out of the system. If our battlecruiser had been here when the enemy ships showed up, perhaps things would be a bit different.” More grumbling. “As I said, I ask for your patience and your courage. We’ve sent everything we can spare to the gas giant to help with the defense. Once the battle is over, we will be working extensively to increase our defenses…”
Carriger Hroth sat with Hyacinth Cresswell in the otherwise empty conference room. Neither of the females liked each other, and the lupusan had great difficulty restraining her more feral instincts when it came to dealing with the human woman. If she didn’t need her now, Carriger might actually leap the table and attack her, feast on her flesh while she continued to whine. Carriger snorted. The annoying chit might not even give the satisfaction of screaming. With an effort, the lupusan forced her thoughts back to the matter at hand.
“I need you to join with me in the next council session,” she said, leaning back in her chair, tapping one claw on the wooden table.
Hyacinth eyed the predator suspiciously. She didn’t think of herself as a sheep or some other prey, but being around this… creature… always filled her with dread. Which tended to make her self-conscious and bitter. She tried to mask those feelings by projecting strength, but this tended to push away her fellow council members even further. But she controlled her feelings and managed a sneer.
“You need me?” she asked, sarcastic. “After publicly humiliating me in the last session?”
“Oh stop playing the martyr,” Carriger snapped. “You sound like a silly ass. You still have power and position, and you know your worth.”
“Do I?” Hyacinth couldn’t help but ask.
“Yes, you annoying squeak-ant, you do.” The lupusan grunted, wishing for the tenth time that she didn’t need to be here. “Now that you’ve managed to force me into a compliment, how about you listen to why I want us to stand together in the council?”
She crossed her arms. “Fine. Regale me.”
The predator gave her a sour look. Which she could tell brought a touch of fear to the other councilor’s eye, but far less fear than if she’d ramped up a full-on hunter aura. The councilor shuddered, but maintained her angry expression. “Because after this latest fiasco involving an invasion fleet, we need more defensive assets, Cresswell.”
“Tell us something that the good Triarch hasn’t already said,” she commented. “He’s already working to get new ships from R3 Systems and from First Principles.” Cresswell said the last almost like a curse, but Carriger didn’t point this out again. “So while I agree we need more ships, where exactly do you expect to get them from?”
“What about Tegean Industries and Vulcan’s Forge?” the lupusan pressed.
She blinked. “What about them?”
“They built some of the lighter units in our system defense forces.”
Cresswell scowled. “Yes, Carriger, I know that. The problem isn’t the companies; the problem is getting them the funding for more ships.”
The lupusan flicked her ears and smiled slightly. “I have a few places that we might be able to tap for funds.”
The woman frowned. “Tap for funds? Do you have any idea how much warships cost? How much the fuel and the weapons for those ships cost?”
“I’ve seen the budget reports, Cresswell. I know precisely how much all that costs. But if we can get more funding from private sources that can only be for the good.”
Hyacinth narrowed her eyes. “Why are you coming to me for this? You seem to have all the answers and a connection to these ‘private sources’ yourself.”
Carriger’s smile widened. “So do you.”
Hyacinth blinked in surprise. “So do I? Wait, you don’t mean-?”
“Exactly.”
“Wait, you want the council to personally fund the construction of a few more ships?”
Carriger gave her a look. “You’re not going to tell me that we all couldn’t afford it. That you personally couldn’t afford one of those corvettes we just ordered from R3 Systems?”
Hyacinth grumbled. “Yes, well, that isn’t the point. And anyway, why are you bringing this to me?”
“Because you know your own reaction to my plan,” Carriger pointed out. “And you know how the rest of the council is going to squeal when they hear it. But if we can show the populace that we’re building… what, another six or eight defense ships, I think it might make them retract their claws slightly. Give us some breathing room.”
“This is all well and good,” she said, hesitatingly. That was a lot of treasure that Carriger was suggesting. Assuming all of the twelve council members were on board for an equal share… They could do six ships. Maybe eight. “But that assumes that the battle going in our favor. That Samair and her little fleet manage to fight off the invaders and keep the real estate out there reasonably intact. We’re going to need a lot of fuel and refined minerals to build any ships and as much as I hate the woman’s guts, First Principles does have the largest supply of both.”
“And is selling them at the best prices,” Carriger added. “But you’re right. Hopefully, as you say, they’ll be able to win the day and keep our industry going.”
She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “I can’t believe I’m actually rooting for her.”
Carriger huffed. “Let it go, Cresswell. She’s been very good for the system, for the economy. And without her we’d be dead. In more ways than one.”
“Spare me.”
“So you’ll work with me to convince the others?”
She sighed. “Are we starting now? Or waiting until the Leytonstone, with Chakrabarti and the others get back?”
“I’d say we should go now, get started,” Carriger replied. “And once the others get back then we get another installment payment from them.”
“All right. And I’m sure those engineering firms would love the business.” She ran her hands through her hair. “All right. I’ll help you.” Then Hyacinth grinned. “If only to see the look on Harmon Kly’s face when he finds out about the plan.”
The two females approached Triarch Kozen’ck in his private office an hour later. “You… want me… to approach the rest of the council and propose that they empty their treasuries to fund a private fleet?”
Hyacinth and Carriger exchanged a glance. Hyacinth shrugged and they both looked back at the zheen leader. “Essentially, yes. Carriger and I crunched some numbers and…” the lupusan grunted and she grimaced, “Carriger crunched some numbers and we think we can bring eight more of the corvette-sized ships into the defense fleet.”
“Eight more ships,” the zheen replied, his voice low, his antennae swirling as he thought. “That certainly would help to keep things going with the press and
the citizens. If we can show them a new flotilla of ships, it might help to keep things calm.”
“That was our thinking,” the lupusan said.
He blatted a sigh. “All right, I think the three of us should bring this up in council. But, how many of those ships do you think we can get if only the three of us are for this? I’m not going to force any of our fellows to pay money out of their own pocket. If they’re willing, fine. If not, I won’t force them,” he repeated.
Carriger held up a datapad. “Spreading out the costs evenly, between the three of us we could put two ships into space. These are the figures.” She pressed a few keys and the information popped onto his desk computer’s monitor.
The zheen pressed a few controls and then clacked his mouthparts in surprise. “I don’t know what I was expecting, really, but that is a lot of credits.”
Carriger chuckled, flicking her ears. “It is a bit of a bitter pill, I’ll admit, but I think it’s one that we can swallow. And with the rest of the council understanding that we will control those ships directly…”
“We do anyway,” Hyacinth pointed out. “But these ones will be the personal property of the council, answerable directly to us, not to the system defense forces.”
“Now, that is something I can get behind. Even eight of them wouldn’t be able to attack the Leytonstone and win.”
Carriger shook her head. “Who said anything about attacking the Leytonstone? I’m just saying that if we need these ships for… special assignments… I don’t want to have to go through channels to get them cleared.”
A Greater Interest: Samair in Argos: Book 4 Page 17
