Against All Odds

by DePrima, Thomas

  "You're Jenetta Carver, not Jesus Christ, even if you do share the same initials. Don't beat yourself up over this, Jen. Save it for the enemy."

  * * *

  Chapter Seven

  ~ May 26th, 2282 ~

  Jenetta was on the bridge of the Colorado twenty-five days later as it entered orbit around Quesann. The Battleship Themis, with the Scout-Destroyer Amazon securely nestled beneath it in the special docking collar, was in orbit, as was the Scout-Destroyer Yangtze. Both bases along the Uthlaro border had been evacuated without incident and the Boreas and the Hyperion were expected to arrive within days.

  "Admiral, you're receiving a com message from Admiral Sprague," the com operator said.

  "Forward it to my briefing room," Jenetta said as she rose from her chair and walked to her office on the larboard side of the bridge."

  "Aye, Admiral," the chief petty officer at the com station said before she disappeared into the briefing room.

  Jenetta raised the com panel screen as she sat down at her desk and a head-and-shoulders image of Admiral Vincent Sprague appeared.

  "Good morning and welcome back to Quesann, Jen," Admiral Sprague said.

  "Good morning, Vince," Jenetta said.

  "I hope you had a pleasant vacation."

  "It was very pleasant— until I received word about the attack on Ekoqulith." Scowling slightly, she said, "I'm going to vent my displeasure for interrupting my first vacation in twelve years when we find out who was responsible for that attack."

  "I understand. I'm equally upset about having to evacuate my command."

  "Have your people settled in, Vince?"

  "We've finished shuttling everyone down, but they're still moving into their temporary quarters on the base. We haven't yet had time to remove all of the supplies, equipment, and ordnance the Themis transported back here. The Tsgardi may occupy the station temporarily, but they won't be dining on Space Command food or using Milori ordnance against us when we arrive to reclaim it."

  "Excellent. If the military arm of the Tsgardi Kingdom is as bad as their merchant forces, you can expect quite a mess when you get back. But you will get back and you'll have all the resources I can free up to help you get the station back in order."

  "Thank you, Jen. I'm looking forward to returning. I didn't like deserting our position. I've never run from a fight before."

  "You didn't run, Vince. It was an orderly strategic withdrawal in the face of overwhelming numbers. Our pullback was necessary while we marshal our forces for the fight ahead. We couldn't afford to lose you and your people needlessly and there was nothing to be gained by delaying the Tsgardi at that point. Where are the Milori, by the way?"

  "We've established a section in the housing compound for them here on the base. It's large enough to accommodate them and whatever number of Milori will be arriving from the other two bases." Changing his expression slightly, he added, "It's interesting, but their attitude seems to have changed considerably. When we first arrived at the station it was as if they suspected we planned to kill them, although they cooperated completely. Then after a few weeks, they began to understand we meant them no harm and they simply became— distant, remaining in the sections of the station assigned to them. When I notified them that we were evacuating the station and that they should prepare to leave, they offered to assist us in moving the supplies and ordnance. They were quite helpful. On the trip here they became almost cordial. Perhaps they appreciated the fact that we weren't going to simply leave them to face whatever enemy invader was on its way to the station. The Milori know they aren't loved within this territory or without, especially by the races they've subjugated with practices of extreme prejudice."

  "It would be unusual to love your conqueror, which is why we face such an uphill battle to win their trust. I wouldn't bet a single credit on my chances of surviving on Milor for a full day since I was the one who ordered the virtual destruction of their military/industrial complexes. We only targeted factories, power plants, and armories, but a lot of Milori had to have been killed in collateral damage. That we were only striking back after two attempts to invade our territory may not count for much. It may be generations before any Milori can think of me without their mind becoming clouded by a killing rage."

  "At least the Milori culture is so disciplined to following the dictates of their authority figures that most won't succumb to their baser instincts."

  "I hope so," Jenetta said. "The idea of establishing a compound for Milori assassins on the base isn't a comforting one."

  "I doubt you have anything to fear from these groups. They're all professional warriors who will follow their code of conduct to the point of dying unnecessarily if so ordered by their commander. I suppose your position as military governor of this part of space makes you their commander now."

  "That's an interesting speculation. I admit I hadn't considered it until now."

  "Their planetary government has ordered them to obey all orders from Space Command, so it's reasonable to assume they'll consider you their commander-in-chief."

  "Hmm, that would make things much easier in the days ahead," Jenetta said, thoughtfully. "We'll have to think of a suitable test."

  "I've heard that when Milori commanders are suspicious of a warrior's loyalty, they give him a weapon and order him to kill himself. If he does, they know he was loyal all along."

  "That would definitely establish a warrior's loyalty, but it's a bit more extreme than I was thinking and it does end a warrior's usefulness."

  "I believe the Milori reasoning is that warriors share common loyalties to command. If the most obviously doubtful of the group will comply, then it's assumed all are loyal."

  "It's a bit tough on the chosen individual," Jenetta said, grinning.

  "Yes," Admiral Sprague said, chuckling, "it's hardly something we'd ever adopt as SOP in Space Command. Will you be coming down soon?"

  "I'm going to contact Captain Erikson and have him separate his scout-destroyer from the Themis so we can dock with him using the docking collar. The Colorado is loaded from bow to stern with supplies and, given the lack of an orbiting station here, it will be easiest to offload supplies to the Themis so they can be loaded into full-sized shipping containers for transport to the surface along with whatever you brought back from the station. While at Earth, it made sense to fill every available niche aboard ship before we returned. My quarters are so crowded I can barely get to my bathroom."

  "I understand. That's the way it was aboard the Themis for our trip both to the station and back. Let me know before you come down and I'll arrange for a suitable greeting assembly."

  Jenetta smiled. "Thanks, Vince, but I've had enough of marching bands and large greeting assemblies for a while. I realize that protocol demands an assembly to greet a returning commanding officer and I wouldn't want to upset tradition, but let's keep it small. I'll have you notified before I come down so we can get the formalities out of the way."

  Admiral Sprague smiled. "I agree with that sentiment most of the time, but protocol must be observed. We are welcoming Admiral Kanes as well as yourself, after all. I'll keep the assembly as small as possible."

  Once most of the supplies had been offloaded from the Colorado and Jenetta felt comfortable establishing a time for her arrival on the planet, she had Admiral Sprague's aide notified. She then traveled to the surface with Lt. Ashraf while Admiral Kanes traveled down in a separate shuttle with his aide and the senior members of his staff. Protocol dictated that senior officers arrive in separate transports. She thought it was a holdover from the days when travel down to a planet's surface wasn't as safe as it had become and an accident could mean the loss of multiple flag officers.

  The small assembly Admiral Sprague arranged involved two hundred Space Command officers, NCOs, and crewmen, but at least there was no marching band. Since the base was now home to more than three thousand, mostly station personnel temporarily relocated from Coleman, Jenetta supposed that two hundred co
uld be considered a small assembly.

  Despite the absence of a band, the ceremony of greeting a returning four-star admiral followed formal SC protocol procedures, with Admiral Sprague and the base's senior officers lining up to welcome Jenetta back and greet Admiral Kanes. At least Jenetta didn't have to make any speeches, and the crewmen were dismissed as soon as the six 'oh-gee' vehicles filled with officers pulled away from the landing zones.

  The progress made in transforming the partially completed base into the headquarters for Space Command in Region Two was no less than amazing. Construction bots were hard at work everywhere, making good use of the materials delivered with the initial arrival of the battleships. A complete road system had been laid out as soon as the plans for the base had been finished. Necessary only to structure the flow of traffic, roads were no longer miles of concrete or macadam. Opposed-gravity vehicles didn't need paved surfaces. Instead, once the location was decided and the soil prepared, a groundcover of special grass was planted. It never needed mowing and retained its special color year-round. The color represented the roadway's intended use. Buried transmitters limited speeds and flying altitude, provided location coordinates, and notified the operator of other vehicles or obstructions ahead of the vehicle. Since the silent 'oh-gee' vehicles flew at five-or-ten-meter altitudes, depending upon their direction, there was no danger to pedestrian traffic.

  Once the roads and sidewalks were completed, lawns and general landscaping quickly followed. The base was quickly taking on the appearance of any base on Earth and Jenetta was so preoccupied with observing the changes she didn't realize where they were when the driverless vehicle slowed, sank close to the ground, and stopped at a gated compound. Two Marines saluted as twin gates rolled back to permit the vehicles to enter. It may seem sort of silly to have a gate as the 'oh-gee' vehicle could have simply flown up and over the obstruction, but once the compound was complete, such behavior would see the vehicle shot down in flames before it had gotten twenty meters inside the compound.

  "What's this, Vince?" Jenetta asked of Admiral Sprague.

  "Your quarters, Admiral. The base engineers have been working around the clock to get it ready before you returned."

  "My quarters?"

  "The Military Governor of Region Two needs a home that befits the status of her position."

  As the vehicle entered the grounds, a three-story-tall trapezoidal-shaped building that reminded Jenetta of the Royal Palace on Nordakia came into view. It appeared to encompass some three dozen acres. Half the windows on the top floor had large cantilevered balconies with roofs. A cascading waterfall fell from the roof at the front center of the building. Jen immediately realized that the compound walls projected a holo-dome image to hide the building from anyone outside the grounds. Important structures were often disguised this way either to reduce their susceptibility to attack, increase privacy, or simply to provide a more pleasant view in a crowded urban environment. From inside the grounds it appeared the residence was the only building for hundreds of square kilometers. From outside, the grounds appeared to be nothing more than an empty park with numerous fountains and beautiful landscaping.

  "A home?" Jenetta echoed. "It looks like a palace."

  "It is exactly that. It was modeled after your own royal palace on Obotymot. Remember that this planet will become the focus of governmental activity for thousands of light years, just as Earth is the focus in Region One. You are the leader of this arm of the government and that means you need a home that will impress visitors, while allowing you to entertain planetary leaders, dignitaries, and other important persons. The Governor's Palace will serve that purpose splendidly. The palace is far from complete, but your private quarters are ready to occupy. The rest of the building is still under construction and the two outdoor swimming pools that will be located in the center courtyard and garden area of the building are still nothing but large excavations right now. The exterior landscaping work is coming along nicely though and your gardens will be magnificent once the flowers begin to bloom."

  Jenetta sighed silently to herself. Performing as Military Governor was the part of the job she dreaded most. As a Nordakian Azula, and a Lady of the Royal House, she had been schooled in palace protocols, but that didn't mean she enjoyed engaging in such behavior. She was most comfortable on the bridge of a ship and longed for nothing more than a command position on a battleship. As she looked at the palace, she could almost feel her dream slipping away from her. Each additional mantle of office seemed to erect new barriers between her and the bridge of the once promised battleship.

  Over the next hour, Captain Neveho, the commanding officer of the base's engineering section that had come to Quesann with the initial arrival of the battleships, led the small party on a tour of the partially finished palace. The tour was naturally restricted to those parts that were safe to enter. Jenetta's personnel quarters occupied the entire top floor of one wing and were easily large enough to house a hundred crewmembers. Her bathtub looked more like a swimming pool than a normal bathtub and yet was dwarfed in a bathroom that seemed large enough to hanger a shuttle. No less than ten housekeeping bots were permanently assigned to just her quarters. They would ensure her laundry was picked up promptly and properly stowed upon return, that she had clean towels and fresh bed linens daily, and that not even a speck of dust could be found anywhere in her apartment. Of course, to keep them from getting underfoot, sensors in the apartment used her CT to track her movements so the bots always knew where she was. As soon as she left a room, the doors on their storage closets would pop open and they would rush out to perform necessary duties, re-entering their storage locations before she returned.

  "Whose idea was it to build this palace?" Jenetta asked when the tour was over.

  "It was part of the original plans for the base, as provided by Supreme Headquarters on Earth, Admiral," Captain Neveho said. "They took the layout of the base construction begun by the Milori and drew new plans for the entire base to be constructed in three phases around the existing, incomplete structures. The engineers had already begun preparing this site, sunk the shaft to tie in with the underground complex, and laid the foundation for the palace before you left. I guess you had so much on your mind you didn't question the construction activity out here and, with the holo-dome in place since work began, you wouldn't have noticed anything if you didn't come to the site to investigate why perimeter walls had been erected. The dozen M-designate ships headed this way contain most of the materials needed to complete phase one and future deliveries by Quartermaster ships will deliver the remainder of the supplies we'll need, such as the marble facing, over the next several years. The engineers have also built a private residence for the new base commander, Admiral Poole, on Admiral's Way, although nothing so grandiose as the Governor's Palace. Admiral Sprague is occupying the house until Admiral Poole arrives to assume his role as base commander. Temporary VIP quarters have been prepared on the second floor of the palace for Admiral Kanes and for Admirals Colsey and Mendez when they arrive. All resident admirals will of course have their own residence on Admiral's Way when phase one is complete. In phase two, residences for visiting admirals and dignitaries will be constructed. Phase three will see residences for officers and their families built and phase four will provide private housing for NCOs, crewmen, and their families."

  "Thank you, Captain. You've done an outstanding job in my absence."

  Captain Neveho beamed proudly and said, "Thank you, Admiral."

  "Ladies and gentlemen," Jenetta said to her entourage, "thank you for the warm reception. It's time to take my leave of you now because I need to meet privately with Admirals Sprague and Kanes. Only our aides will be joining us, so you may return to your duties."

  With Jenetta leading the way, the officers walked to a conference room that adjoined her quarters on the third floor. As they approached the room, Lt. Commander Ashraf hurried ahead to make sure the cleaning bots were back in their storage closets before the adm
irals and their aides entered.

  Jenetta walked past the large table and straight to a beverage synthesizer where she ordered a mug of Columbian, black, after placing a mug from a rack into the machine. When nothing happened in several seconds, she repeated her request. When still nothing happened, she said, "Display diagnostic routine," but the machine remained unresponsive. Turning to her aide she said, "Lori, call the palace mess steward and order a pot of Columbian for me, and whatever everyone else wants.

  After taking the beverage orders, Lt. Commander Ashraf used the com on the table to call the newly opened palace kitchen. She ordered the beverages and then told the mess steward to place a call to engineering so that someone would be sent to repair the conference room's beverage synthesizer.

  Jenetta settled into an 'oh-gee' chair at the head of the table, but held off beginning the meeting until the beverage cart arrived and everyone was served. They made small talk until the mess steward had left. Admiral's Kanes and Sprague took seats on her immediate left and right, leaving most of the table empty because their aides took seats in the chairs around the walls. Jenetta took a sip of coffee and approved of the taste. She then opened the meeting, asking Admiral Sprague to brief her fully on the evacuation of the station and relate any impressions he might have regarding the vessels detected approaching the station. He couldn't really offer anything revealing, but they spent an hour discussing the topic before Jenetta filled him in on everything she and Keith Kanes had speculated upon during the voyage back to Region Two. By the end of the meeting, all three admirals were in agreement that little could be done until the M-designate ships arrived at Quesann.

  * * *

  In the weeks following, the battleships carrying the station personnel from the evacuated Kanngari and Pellman bases arrived at Quesann and disgorged their passengers and cargo. As with Coleman, all ordnance, foodstuff, and equipment that could be removed had been loaded into the battleships. The loads were hardly noticeable in the enormous new warehouses built on the base, but the ships had practically been bulging at the seams for the month-long voyages. The two admirals, used to enjoying spacious living quarters, commented that there were so many crates, boxes, and shipping containers in their sitting rooms and bedrooms that they had to turn sideways to get to their bathrooms.