Clidepp Deja Vu

by Thomas DePrima

  When Blade emerged from the elevator on B2, he received a standing ovation. The slaves had originally been a bit disoriented as they were herded aboard the shuttles, but as slaves they had been trained to do what they were told without argument. Since arriving at the embassy, they'd had time to think about things, talk among themselves, and evaluate their situation. The promise of soon-to-be-realized freedoms in the GA now appeared as a reality.

  "Okay," Blade said, "thank you, but time is short and we have to get you aboard the shuttles. It will be very crowded, and you will all have to stand until we reach the ship that will be taking you all to the GA. But the trip isn't that long and you will all be fed and provided with a place to sleep once we get there. All of the other slaves from the facility are already up there. We didn't have to leave anyone behind. If any of you were in the Sanctuary caverns, you'll be pleased to know that everyone from the second cavern are also already aboard the ship. Before we leave…"

  Blade paused to take a message from one of the Marines on duty in the security room. "Sierra-Leader."

  "Major, about three dozen armored personnel carriers just took up positions around the embassy's outside walls. The gates into the compound are closed and locked, but that won't stop oh-gee vehicles. Should we activate the Automatic Perimeter Defense System?"

  "What are the APCs doing?"

  "Just sitting outside the wall, sir. I guess they're watching for any sign of activity inside the compound."

  "Did it appear like they were passing by and merely paused for some reason?"

  "No, sir. It seemed like the embassy was their destination. They might be waiting for orders before attacking."

  "Okay, activate the APDS. And let me know immediately of any changes. Sierra-Leader out."

  "A number of Yolongi military vehicles have arrived outside the walls of the compound," Blade announced to the former slaves. A number of women grew fearful and began crying because they saw their new freedom slipping away.

  "There's nothing to worry about," Blade said. "This embassy is considered GA space, and if they enter the grounds, it'll be recognized as a formal act of war against the GA. So I want everyone to relax. We won't be leaving as quickly as I thought, but there's absolutely no danger. Even if they were able to breach the perimeter walls, there's no way they can reach us down here. We have plenty of food and water, and this bunker is as secure as the GA could make it. We could remain here for many years if necessary, but I assure you that won't be necessary. Your days as a slave in the Clidepp Empire are over. You're free."

  The former slaves immediately began talking among themselves as Blade walked to the elevator. He wanted to get eyes on the situation so he went to the second floor. From there he could walk up to an observation post on the roof.

  The observation post allowed Blade a view of the entire compound and surrounding wall. He could have simply looked at the monitors in the bunker's security room, but he wanted to see the situation with his own eyes. There were armored personnel carriers just outside the wall on all sides of the compound. Each APC had what appeared to be a 40mm chain cannon mounted in a turret.

  After watching the APC's for a while, Blade sighed and returned to the bunker. The DS shuttles were completely impervious to laser fire, and Blade doubted that a 40mm round from an APC would even mar the surface. So the problem wasn't one of fearing the Yolongi weapons. The problem was that if four shuttles left the embassy while someone was watching, it could confirm that the embassy wasn't as empty as the Clidepp Triumvirate had previously believed, which in turn could support the idea that the GA was behind the attack on the city. Blade knew it was far better that the government on Yolongus not have any proof of recent embassy activity. That meant the shuttles couldn't leave while the APCs surrounded the compound.

  As Blade exited the special elevator on B3, he headed for the security room. Once there, he composed a message for Colonel Dennier and another for Sydnee. The burst-mode encrypted messages would be directed at one of the spy satellites that had been placed in orbit around the planet and then retransmitted to the appropriate parties. The laser transmission beam would necessarily be a little wider than the narrow laser messages sent previously when communicating with the Justice because they didn't have an exact location for the Marine Fighter Wing, and the Justice wasn't currently in line of sight, so the satellite would relay that message from satellite to satellite until one had a direct line of sight to the Justice and identification had been confirmed.

  * * *

  Sydnee was working in her office when she received a call from the Com Chief.

  "Message from Sierra-Leader, Captain. It's coming through satellite network retransmission."

  "Send it to my queue, Chief."

  "Aye, Captain, you have it."

  Sydnee called up the text message, decrypted it, and then sighed when she had read it. She knew things had been too good to last and that they were pressing their luck with the most recent trip to the surface. But it had been a necessity. Though she had wanted to get all the slaves on board, the food was even more important.

  "Well, at least we'll have two hundred thirty-five fewer mouths to feed, plus the Special Ops team and half our Marines from the Denver."

  She had been procrastinating sending a status report to the Denver because so much had been happening, and she had wanted to wait until she could report matters with some certainty, but it was time now to compose a long report for Captain Lidden. It would be a vid message, but first she needed to organize her thoughts. Using her official ship's log for reference, she began preparing notes on everything that had happened since her last report. She hadn't realized just how much she hadn't reported until she finally finished and organized her list an hour later.

  Since Yolongus was roughly eight hundred four light-years from the border with GA space, the message to the Denver would take just under eleven days to reach the ship if the Denver was near the border. And a reply couldn't be expected for perhaps as long as twenty-four days. It could be days longer if Captain Lidden had to send a message to SHQ/SCI and wait for a reply.

  Sydnee rose from her chair and checked her appearance in a mirror before sitting back down to record the message. She dreaded reporting the events of the past weeks and could only imagine what Captain Lidden was going to think when he viewed it.

  Sitting up straight and holding a viewpad with all her organized notes, she began. "Priority One message to Captain Anthony Frederick Lidden, commanding officer of the Denver, GSC-DS2026, in Region One, from Lieutenant(jg) Sydnee Marie Marcola, commanding officer aboard the GSC-CPS14 Justice.

  "Sir, I apologize for the tardiness of this report but a great deal has happened, and the outcome has been very uncertain..."

  * * *

  "The commander of the APC unit sent to watch the GA Embassy compound reports that everything there is quiet," Danttan said in the Triumvirate's first meeting of the day. "They arrived an hour before dawn and surrounded the compound. They saw a couple of bodies moving around inside the walls, but that's all."

  "What kind of bodies?" Plelillo asked. "What race?"

  "It's impossible to know from simply seeing an infrared image and thermal imagery. All you see is a large yellow blob from the body heat. You can't identify the race. Since the sun came up, all they've seen is the embassy's Yolongi caretakers tending the grounds."

  "Damn. I know the attacks were made by the GA. I feel as sure about that as I am sure that the sun will rise again tomorrow."

  "Should we enter the embassy compound?"

  "Of course not. That's GA territory. We can't enter unless invited. To do so would be an overt declaration of war. But if we can get proof that they were behind last night's attacks, we'll make that declaration without hesitation."

  "You would really declare war on the GA?" Mewaffal said. "I thought you were only posturing."

  "We can't allow an enemy to attack us and not retaliate with all the force at our disposal. If we let anyone get away w
ith something like that, we're finished. No one will fear or respect us. And when it comes to nations, you may want other nations to like your nation, but they never really do and never will. People can like other people, but nations never like other nations. Only sophomoric idiots believe that's even possible. Their diplomats and politicians may pretend to like your nation, but that only lasts as long as they are getting what they want for their nation. If that ends, the so-called friendship vanishes faster than a free lunch at a public gathering. The only guaranteed way to have other nations like your nation is to let them tread on you. They still won't really like you, but they'll like being able to use you as their doormat.

  "Fear is different. Fear is honest. Fear is intrinsic. Fear is— intestinal. It's far more important that other nations fear your military might. When nations fear one another they show proper respect for each other and actually get along much better because no nation needs to constantly prostrate itself in a ridiculous effort to have the other nations like it. Respect is what all nations should seek from other nations."

  "But if we attack the GA," Danttan said, "they'll retaliate against us. And nations that attack the GA quickly get destroyed and absorbed by them. Remember the massive empires controlled by the Milori, the Tsgardi, and the Uthlaro? They're all gone now. Well, not gone exactly. The star systems and people are still there. But the territories have been completely absorbed by the GA. And all because they foolishly attacked the Galactic Alliance. The Milori actually attacked them twice. After being defeated and sent packing the first time, the Milori stupidly attacked them a second time. That left the GA with no choice but to decimate the Milori forces and take over their former empire. I understand Carver just about destroyed the Milori home world in the second war. The lesson here is that you don't attack the GA unless you want Admiral Carver to come here and do the same to us."

  "I don't care how big or how powerful they are. We cannot afford to appear weak in their eyes. They must respect our military might, even if they don't like us, and even if they are more powerful."

  "I usually agree with you, Gustello," Danttan said, "but in this matter I have to go along with Kurrost. While I will order our people to attack GA ships if you tell me to, I believe such an attack would be a serious error. I doubt that they would ever fear our military might."

  "So you recommend that we merely allow them to come here and destroy our cities whenever they feel like it?"

  "We could always abolish slavery and establish friendly relations with the GA," Mewaffal said. "They wouldn't attack us if they didn't have the major grievance of our Terran slaves. It would also rid us of the Aleoxlene Reqoppl. With no slaves to free, they would disband."

  "Are you insane? Where do you think most of our personal wealth has come from? Slavery is the most profitable cash crop in the universe."

  "Gustallo," Danttan said, "we all have more money than we can spend in our lifetimes. Perhaps it's time to step back a little and enjoy life."

  "You can resign your position if you want and go retire to a warm, comfortable villa somewhere on the planet, but I'm not resigning. It took us a long time to reach this level in the government, and I like my life as it is. And don't tell me you don't enjoy your position. When was the last time you missed watching a beheading at your police-training academy? I've seen the expression on your face and the glint in your eyes when you cleave the air with your hand to signal the executioner to proceed."

  "I have my weaknesses. Yes, I enjoy the power. Perhaps I've enjoyed the power even more than the wealth we've accumulated. Which is why I don't want the GA to come here and destroy everything."

  "They can't control the massive empire they have now, so they're certainly not going to annex us simply because we fought back following their attack on our capital."

  "It's not certain they did attack us," Mewaffal said. "Our forces haven't found any sign of attack aircraft at their embassy compound, nor have they seen any sign of the missing slaves at the embassy. And the statement from your informant that the GA was taking slaves off the planet is not proof the GA was involved. Perhaps it was some rogue Terran organization that works like the Aleoxlene Reqoppl but one with some limited ability to take slaves to freighters heading towards the GA. And perhaps they're not even freeing slaves. They might be stealing slaves here to sell them somewhere else in the Empire. Or perhaps it's the Raiders. They, easier than anyone else, could get away with pretending to be Space Command. Their organization was founded by Terrans and seems to still be managed by Terrans. And they certainly have the resources to build enormous, powerful ships that are far faster and more militarily sophisticated than our own."

  "You can suggest alternative identities of the attackers all day long and I will still know the GA is responsible. But the GA isn't stupid. They'll not place incontrovertible proof at our feet. But they were responsible for the attacks. I know they did it. And when we destroy their embassy the way they destroyed our power grid, we'll get our proof."

  * * *

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~ February 4th, 2287 ~

  When Commander Bryant entered the captain's bridge office for the daily briefing, he found Lidden sitting with his chair in a reclined position and his eyes closed. The XO wondered for a second if the captain was sleeping. Bryant's position as second in command aboard the ship meant he didn't normally have to wait to be admitted once his presence at the door was detected by the annunciator system. If Lidden wanted privacy, he could order the system not to admit anyone until approved, as opposed to his established protocol that allowed his second immediate admittance whenever he approached the office door if Lidden was alone.

  Bryant waited a full minute for some acknowledgement before finally saying, "Are you awake, sir?"

  "Yes, I'm awake, XO. Have a seat. I'm thinking."

  "Yes, sir."

  After waiting in silence for several more minutes, Bryant asked, "Would you like me to come back later, sir?"

  "No," Lidden said, touching the button that would raise his chair to a standard work position. "I received a Priority One message from Sydnee an hour ago while I was in the shower."

  "And— you're upset because it wasn't really an emergency?"

  "Oh, it's an emergency alright. We may soon be at war with the Clidepp Empire."

  "What? No."

  "Yes. But it hasn't come to shooting yet. Correction, the Clidepp Empire hasn't retaliated yet. We've attacked them and done plenty of shooting and bombing."

  "Bombing? Good God, no. What has Sydnee done now?"

  "She laid waste to their capital using the Wing I placed under her command."

  "She destroyed their capital city?"

  "Not quite— destroyed. She ordered her Wing to attack all power-generating and distribution facilities in the capital. And they performed the mission as ordered. The capital was left in complete darkness. Or nearly so because there are always emergency generators standing by in some locations. We have no idea what the loss of life is."

  "Lord no."

  "I'm afraid so. She confirms that she gave the order and is personally responsible. She says that neither Colonel Dennier or Major Blade should be held accountable at all. She says they were only following her orders."

  "Have they come under attack by the Clidepp fleet?"

  "No. As far as we know, the Clidepp Fleet doesn't even know the Justice is in their solar system."

  "I don't understand. How can we be at war if they don't even know one of our ships is there?"

  "The Yolongi secret police, at least one of the secret police groups— there are three— have surrounded our embassy in the capital."

  "But there's nobody there except for a few Yolongi caretakers."

  "That was the case."

  "Who's there now?"

  "A few hundred or so Terran slaves, Blade and the Special Ops team, and four of our Marine fire teams."

  "But they haven't been attacked yet?"

  "Not yet. Here, I'll play the Priority O
ne message to bring you up to speed."

  After the message ended, Bryant stood up and walked around the office several times. "What a mess."

  "It gets worse."

  "Worse than being at war with the Clidepp Empire?" the XO asked as he retook his seat.

  "Only on a personal level. I've just received word that Sydnee is one of the handful of Space Command officers approved for early promotion. Lieutenant(jg) Sydnee Marcola is to receive a half stripe and become Lieutenant Sydnee Marcola."

  "Why is that worse? You've been lobbying for that promotion for some time now."

  "I know. It's just that she might see it disappear before she even has a chance to change her uniform's rank insignia."

  "You mean if we are at war with the Clidepp Empire and she's charged with being responsible for it?"

  "Yes. Of course, I might suffer along with her. I'm the one who passed on the orders to find and recover the SCI agent at all costs. It's the 'at all costs' that might be my downfall."

  "But you must have supporting documentation that shows SCI ordered you to send those instructions."

  "Nope. My briefing was face to face and was not recorded. I was told the matter was so secret they couldn't even send a Priority One message ordering me to do it. Normally that suggests that someone doesn't want there to be any record whatsoever of the order. They knew the only way I could convey that instruction was via a Priority One message to Sydnee, so they were forced to approve that, but the only fingerprints on any of this so far are mine."

  "You don't think they'll stand behind you?"

  "I honestly don't know. What I do know is that if this situation worsens, someone is going to be left holding the dirty end of the shit-stick. I'm afraid that might be me. I've been there before, if you remember. That's how I wound up on the Perry. Someone under my command got a little lax with established procedures during a freighter interdiction, and when the axe fell, my neck proved to be the only one under the blade."