After sitting on the bridge for over an hour, she turned command over to Lt.(jg) Templeton and walked to her quarters. But rather than sitting at her desk, she climbed onto her bunk and stared at the overhead as she continued to weigh and then discard options for recovering the people at the embassy.
Sydnee was brought back from her preoccupations when she received a call from the com chief via her CT.
"Captain, we've intercepted an encrypted message on the special frequency we've been using for ship-to-ship communications since we arrived here in the Yolongus star system. It's addressed to SM. I'm assuming that might mean you."
"Send it to my queue, Chief. Marcola, out."
The message appeared in her queue a second later. It was definitely encrypted and appeared as a jumbled mass of symbols and weird characters. The only thing perfectly clear was the letters SM at the top and WC at the bottom. Sydnee was quite sure those initials didn't stand for 'water closet,' but they might stand for Winston Cornwallis.
"Computer, show me the message after applying the first encryption algorithm in the file area assigned to Winston."
The image changed but appeared just as jumbled and unintelligible.
"The message is displayed," the computer said.
"Show me the message using the next encryption algorithm."
"The message is displayed," the computer said as the confused mess seemed to get even more confused.
"Show me the message using the next encryption algorithm."
"The message is displayed."
"That's the one, computer. Leave that message up."
The message on the computer monitor read 'At home friend An/Knife.'
Sydnee assumed the message meant that Winston had made it to the home of the Aleoxlene Reqoppl member where Anese and Blade had gone seeking information. For her response, she decided to use another new name for herself so it couldn't be tied to the ones she had used previously. She would use the first four letters of her last name, with the letter 'y' appended. She would use the same name alteration for Winston.
After entering her own message that read, 'If Corny, send agreed codeword to verify. Marcy,' she used the same algorithm from Winston's file that Winston had used for his message. She then ordered the com chief to transmit the response on the same frequency.
A few minutes later, she received another message. After decryption it read, 'No code agreed. Capital you?'
Winston had never established a secret codeword for communications, but Sydnee believed that if he were being coerced by someone, he would know enough to transmit some made-up word. If he had done so, it would tell her he was being forced to send the message. That he acknowledged no codeword had been established and there was no hesitation in the response meant the sender really was Winston and that he most probably had no one forcing him to send the messages.
Sydnee sent, 'Correct twice. Marcy.'
The returned message read, 'Pickup avail?'
'Not now. Stay low. Will come. Marcy.'
'Waiting for Marcy' was the final reply.
Sydnee leaned back in her chair. It was wonderful that Winston was alive and currently safe, but it added another layer to her problems. In addition to recovering the people from the embassy and dropping the package off, they now had to recover Winston as well. If Sydnee had a shuttle at her disposal, she would send someone immediately, but since all four of her shuttles were parked in the underground bay beneath the embassy, Winston would have to wait until Sydnee had one to send. Hopefully, he would remain safe until they could get to him.
* * *
Six days after arriving back on station, Colonel Dennier showed up at Sydnee's office. After being admitted, she sat down in one of the chairs without being invited to sit, but her superior rank entitled her to take such liberties.
"Captain, I was wondering if you had formulated a plan for recovering the people from the embassy now that you have an ace in the hole."
"Lately, I've done little else other than weigh alternative options for recovering our people."
"So you have a plan?"
"We can recover our people any time we want, but recovering them without providing proof to the Clidepp Triumvirate that we were behind the attack on the capital city is the problem."
"But what about Plelillo's son? I thought the whole idea in capturing him was to recover our people."
"I had expected to find some arch criminal that we could use to distract the Qummuc. I certainly never expected to find the Prime Minister's son aboard that yacht. My problem is I don't believe the Prime Minister would pull the APCs away from the compound if we attempt some sort of ransom plot. He'd want to keep it as quiet as possible, not send in all the forces at his disposal. And besides, for any kidnapping plot to work, we'd need a shuttle. We seem to be fresh out of shuttles at present."
"It's too bad this ship doesn't have a shuttle bay. We could have used that shuttle from the yacht."
"It wasn't Dakinium-sheathed. That's what's allowed us to penetrate the Clidepp Fleet defenses without alerting them to our presence."
"We could have pretended to be the Patoosch."
"After the attack, the Clidepp Fleet initiated a password system. We've noticed that each time the Patoosch has returned to the planet and requested permission to land, they've used a different code. I haven't tried to figure out the system they use for establishing the pass code, but it's probably complex and might even be something that's determined before the shuttle leaves the planet and heads home to the mining colony."
"We have the fighters. They're Dakinium-sheathed."
"Yes, but they hold the pilot, the weapons, the engines, and nothing else. There's no second seat in the SF4s."
"So what you're saying is that there's nothing we can do?"
"No, I'm not saying that at all. We do have one option."
"Which is?"
"Another attack on the planet. If we make it appear the new attack is the first step in a coordinated landing and incursion operation by Rebel forces, the APCs might forget about the embassy area and rush to where a landing by phantom Rebel ships seems most imminent."
"Phantom ships?"
"That's the way the press on Yolongus has been describing the Wing because no one saw or heard anything except the explosions. And the government seems intent on blaming the attack on the Rebels— at least publicly."
"Phantom ships. I like that. Perhaps we'll change our Wing designation to the Phantom Squadron. Too bad we can't paint an image of a specter somewhere on our ships."
"Yes, but that could increase your visibility during stealth operations."
"So where and when do we attack?"
"I'm still deciding that. I would like to avoid hurting any civilians. Casualties during the last attack were light because of the targets and the time of day, except at the secret police interrogation facilities and the slavery pens."
"Fanatical, decapitating scum who have no respect for the lives of others don't deserve any special considerations for themselves. They certainly don't extend respect to any of the innocent victims they behead."
"Yes, and I have no qualms about exterminating any members of similar rabid murderous groups we might encounter in the future."
"So where do we hit the planet?"
"When Admiral Carver attacked the Milori home world, she targeted munitions factories and telecommunication facilities first. Civilians are frequently used to make munitions and we're not at war with the Clidepp Empire, so I'm leaning towards limiting the attacks to communications facilities, which are often isolated towers."
Colonel Dennier nodded. "That sounds like a good strategy. The capital city will then be silent as well as dark. But how does that draw the APCs away from the embassy?"
"We'll also have to hit the homes of the three Triumvirate members. Or at least hit their compounds. According to the damage assessment photos taken during your attack, each of their compounds never lost power. So they obviously have their own emergency
generators. Usually, emergency generators are away from the house because of the engine noise. I want to put the Triumvirate in the dark and let them have a taste of what the city is enduring."
Dennier smiled before saying, "I'm sure they'll have replacement generators at their homes before the next evening."
"Yes, but I think the initial fear for their own safety may get them to react by immediately repositioning all available military and police resources around their own compounds. Especially if they believe the Rebels are massing for a ground assault with their capture as one of the prime objectives. We only need their attention to be focused somewhere other than our embassy for a few minutes. Our shuttles can launch in complete darkness, and by restricting their escape to oh-gee engines until they're in the upper atmosphere, no one should ever hear or see a thing. It'll be a real tight squeeze inside the four shuttles, but we should be able to recover everyone in one trip."
"It sounds like a plan. All we need is a date and time. When do we shove off?"
"First we have to identify all of the communication system locations in and around the capital. Then I have to coordinate the attack with the Major. I'll set a date and time after we complete those tasks."
"Are you going to release Plelillo's son now?"
"Not just yet. He's fine where he is. It's not the luxury accommodations he had on the yacht, but he's fed three times a day and has plenty of time to relax and plot his escape."
"Plot his escape?"
"Wouldn't you if you were in his situation? It's impossible of course, but that's what prisoners do."
"But he's an innocent civilian."
"Civilian? Yes. Innocent? Not so much. He or someone on his yacht spent most of the previous day communicating with someone— perhaps many someones— on the planet rather than returning to Yolongus and contacting them from there. And the two top representatives he sent to meet with us are escaped fugitives convicted of gunrunning. There's a lot more to this than just an innocent playboy enjoying his daddy's wealth. Don't worry, Colonel. He'll be released at the appropriate time. That's all I can promise right now."
* * *
It took several days to firmly identify all of the potential targets in and around the capital from old maps, surveillance photos, and computer records. The first priority was the military communication locations, followed by the secret police communication facilities, and then the civilian broadcasting stations, antennas, and towers. Lastly, the fighters would take down all remaining cell and microwave towers. Sydnee prepared a message to Blade in which she laid out the plan and proposed a specific date. The time of day would be three hours before dawn. She decided that time would find the most people still in their beds.
After the transmission was recorded and condensed to burst mode, it was sent. A reply came sooner than expected.
"Captain," Blade said, "we can't adhere to the schedule you propose. I haven't reported this because I didn't feel it was that important in the grand scheme, but since arriving here, we've had two births. Also, there are six more women with child who are within thirty days of delivery. The midwives tell me that the trip to the Justice would be dangerous for both the mothers and the babies. We can only follow your plan if we leave the pregnant women and two of the midwives here in the embassy. What are your thoughts on this? Blade."
After watching the vid message, Sydnee hung her head and sighed. She hadn't thought about the pregnancy issues when planning the attack. She should have because there had been eighteen births aboard the Justice since they had begun bringing former slaves to the ship. It had even been necessary to set aside an area as a nursery inside the overcrowded habitat container. The ship's engineers, with the help of the Marines, had walled off an area for that purpose so crying babies wouldn't keep the rest of the group awake at night.
The Justice presently had enough food to feed everyone for months, but if they remained where they were until all the pregnant women at the embassy reached full term, they could run out of food again. The number of people at the embassy meant that it was going to be standing room only in all four shuttles if they attempted to take everyone to the Justice in one trip, and that was not the kind of trip a pregnant woman near the end of her pregnancy could make, or should be asked to make.
But a second, later trip to recover those women from the embassy might not be possible. They had seemingly fooled the Yolongi Triumvirate once, and the second attack might fool them again, but the odds of getting away unscathed a third time dropped substantially. She didn't doubt they could execute a successful third attack with little or no damage to the ships or people. Their equipment and advanced technology almost guaranteed that. But it might be the final straw that, even without proof positive a GA ship was responsible, might drive the Triumvirate to declare a state of war with the GA. And that could end Sydnee's career. She had told Dennier she intended to do all the good she could while in command of the Justice, but she knew she could do a lot more good if she didn't lose command or possibly even be dishonorably discharged from Space Command. Lieutenant Milton had once told her while they were still aboard the Perry, 'Don't never do no wrong'. She was about to break that cardinal rule for the second time. But if it seems so right, how can it be wrong? she thought.
Sydnee took a deep breath and released it slowly as she thought about the pregnant women at the embassy who were unable to make the flight to the Justice until after their children were born. "Two steps forward and three steps back," she said as she shook her head very slightly.
Sydnee allowed herself a full day to consider and reconsider all the options before making a final decision. There were no completely right answers because all possible solutions required sacrifices.
When Sydnee sat down to record the message to Blade, it was with a heavy heart. She composed herself, trying to appear strong and confident, then touched the record button and issued her orders.
"Sierra-Leader, we cannot delay until all women reach full term and deliver their children. I imagine other women are pregnant but are not yet at risk for such travel as will be required under the present circumstances. The Yolongi were heavily involved in breeding programs to provide a never-ending supply of Terran slaves. It's better that we recover the women who are not yet at risk or we could be delaying the recovery for many months. That's time we certainly don't have.
"The women who are unable to travel should remain in the embassy. If an insufficient number of midwives volunteer to remain behind, you will select those who must stay. The women who must remain behind are far safer than they ever would have been in Sanctuary. They'll have all the food they require, and they're well beyond the reach of the Yolongi. They must remain in the bunker until another ship arrives to transport them to GA space.
"Provide a suggested timetable using the previously provided requirements. Juliet-Leader."
* * *
Chapter Twenty-One
~ April 18th, 2287 ~
Working with Colonel Dennier and Lt.(jg) Templeton, Sydnee created an attack plan for the Wing. If successful, the attack would cripple communications in the capital for days, if not longer. Since few broadcast towers should be undergoing construction or maintenance in the very wee hours of the morning, any loss of civilian life should be minimal. Everything in the plan was intended to make the attack look like a prelude to a full invasion by— someone. An hour before the SF4 attacks commenced, a burst of encrypted messages would be directed towards the planet from the eight SCI satellites previously placed into orbit. Because the tiny satellites were sheathed in Dakinium, neither the Clidepp Fleet nor the Yolongi military would be able to identify the origination point of the messages, so they should logically assume there were at least eight hostile ships approaching the planet. The encryption algorithm was intentionally weak so it would be easy to crack very quickly. When the message was decrypted, the code-breakers would be able to read Rebel orders in the Yolongi language that outlined their plans to seize the three Triumvirate leaders at their esta
te compounds and occupy all main government buildings, although no attack times were included. With luck, when the first communication towers began to fall, the Qummuc APCs around the embassy would be ordered to leave their positions and rush to key defensive locations around the city, including the estate compound of the Prime Minister.
At the embassy, the shuttles would complete loading just as the first air strikes began. The hold beneath the passenger compartment was already loaded with as much food as it could contain. The emergency food supplies remaining at the embassy were a thousand times more than sufficient to feed the women unable to make the trip and their progeny for as long as they had to remain there, although Sydnee didn't believe the women would be there for a period approaching even five years. At least not if she could do anything to prevent that from happening. And by not risking travel in a cramped shuttle, the pregnant women would be far better off.
Blade had positioned some of his Special Ops people on the second floor of the embassy. Their assignment was to watch the APCs and make sure every single one left when the air attack began.
* *
The Wing left the Justice right on schedule and flew to their attack positions. The Clidepp fleet should have been on alert but seemed to be asleep as the fighters used the planet's umbra to help mask their approach and atmospheric entry. When everyone was positioned, Colonel Dennier issued the order to commence their attack runs. Within minutes, communication towers were toppling and crashing to the ground following brilliant explosions at their bases. All over and around the city, communications came to a near halt. Only landline and ground-level line-of-sight communications remained in use.
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