by D. J. Holmes
Fairfax snorted, making everyone look at him. “How many politicians have you dealt with over the last several decades Grand Admiral? Do you think these would-be-dictators will just give up power when they start to feel a financial pinch?”
James took a deep breath. He knew Fairfax was right. “What are you suggesting?”
Fairfax shook his head. “Nothing at the moment, I’m just making sure we understand the full nature of the problem. I believe there’s more,” he added as he turned back to Russell.
“Indeed, though this is sketchier intel than what I have shared up to this point. We are getting reports of pro-empire movements on most of these planets. Like all good dictators, their desire not to join the Empire seems like it may be going against the will of the general populace. Though of course, there are those who genuinely do not want anything to do with us. As far as we can tell there has been no violence yet, but tensions are high.”
“There is our problem,” Christine said as she caught James’ eye. “We swore to protect all of Humanity. If these groups who have seized power will not even allow the people to hold a referendum, what are we to do? You want everything to be done democratically. So do I, but politics is rarely so clean.”
“There is another problem,” Andréa said as she re-joined the conversation. “I don’t know about the other systems Russell is referring to, but New Delhi accounts for eight percent of our heavy metal output. I knew supplies from the Indian colonies had been disrupted, but I didn’t know why. I was hoping it would only be a temporary thing. If this is permanent, it’s going to cause some significant bottlenecks in our warship construction. Bottlenecks that we can ill afford.”
“What are we talking about then?” James asked in concern. “Some kind of military intervention? If they won’t give up power peacefully, are we really prepared to do that?”
“Not at the moment,” Christine reassured him. “But this is a serious development. If a counter political entity arises, it could fracture our species at the very moment when we need to be united. Plus,” she gestured towards Andréa, “if it hampers our ship rebuilding efforts, it could put all of our species in jeopardy. This is a delicate situation, that I will grant. If we go in with too heavy a hand, we could turn other smaller colonies against us. Yet we may not be able to simply let them be.”
“What assets do you have in the New Delhi system?” Fairfax asked Russell.
“I have one IID frigate and a couple of freighter Captains keeping an eye on things,” Russell answered. “We have had little success making contact with anyone on the planet surface though. Culthrapori has the colony locked up tight. Ambassador Bracey is there, but she is being kept well away from the general public.”
“All right,” Christine said in a tone that indicated she had made a decision. “I want to put together official diplomatic envoys and send them to each of the worlds Russell has identified. We’ll figure out the wording over the next couple of days, but I want to deliver a direct message to each colony’s government. We’re going to remind them that with the worlds that have already joined the Empire and those that are looking set to do so, they need us far more than we need them. For protection and for trade. We will advise them it’s in their best interests to hold a free and fair referendum on joining the Empire. We can make it clear that if they do as we ask; we are prepared to provide them with important roles in our government.”
James had to bite his tongue, Fairfax had been right, he’d dealt with enough slimy politicians to know exactly what those who had seized power in New Delhi and elsewhere were like. He detested the idea of giving them a position within Christine’s government. But then she probably did too. A necessary evil, a voice said in the back of his mind, James couldn’t tell if it was Suzanna’s or Christine’s, they had both given him more than enough lectures about politics and diplomacy.
“Whilst we do that, I also want plans drawn up to carry out a blockade of New Delhi and even an occupation if necessary. As a last resort of course,” Christine said as she rested both hands on the desk in front of her. “But one we will at least plan for. Admiral Koroylov, General Johnston, are our forces in a position to carry out such a mission?”
Koroylov, who was once again an Admiral and in charge of the Fleet’s strategic division spoke first. “It should be relatively simple Empress,” he assured Christine. “New Delhi had several warships stationed in the system when news of the attack on Earth came through. Russell informs me that they are all under Culthrapori’s control, however, a small squadron would be able to neutralize them. Blockading the colony would be even simpler. Given that almost all the freighters coming to the system would be coming from Imperial worlds, an embargo would cut off most of their trade overnight. It would be impossible to stop some smugglers getting through, but a small squadron, perhaps ten or twelve frigates and corvettes, would be able to maintain a relatively efficient blockade.”
“Can our fleet spare such a force?” Christine queried.
“If it is deemed necessary for our political and military aims, then yes, we can do without a handful of corvettes. If the Karacknids come back, they would hardly make a difference.”
Christine turned to Johnston “If we need to land marines?”
“That would depend on what kind of preparations Culthrapori has been making,” Johnston answered more slowly. “There were a number of Indian army regiments stationed on New Delhi. If Culthrapori has gained control of them and their heavy weapons, occupying the colony, or even just trying to occupy the capital would be costly. At the moment we have one division of imperial marines trained and kitted out. The vast majority of them are veterans from the UN marines. Three more divisions are scheduled to come online within the next two months. That would give us a force of forty thousand Marines. That would be more than enough to take the colony. The problem would be transporting them to New Delhi and keeping them in supply. As you know, Andréa is already crying out for more freighters to supply our shipyards.”
Christine nodded and turned to Andréa.
Andréa shook her head. “There’s no way I can spare enough freighters to keep a force of forty thousand marines in supply. Perhaps one division, but not four.”
“Then one division it will have to be,” Christine replied. “General, you can draw up your plans based on being able to bring one division to New Delhi. You can brief us on what options your staff have come up with at our next meeting. I’m sure it goes without saying that keeping civilian casualties to an absolute minimum would be vital.”
Johnston nodded and replied in a serious tone. “I’m sure it also goes without saying that any kind of military landing on a colony will cause collateral damage. Sending in the marines should only be considered if such a price is willing to be paid.”
“Yes,” Christine agreed, “of that I’m all too aware. But this development is serious. If New Delhi and several other colonies band together, tensions between our two political entities are bound to run high. We cannot afford a minor skirmish with them, let alone a civil war. So all options must be on the table. For now at least,” Christine said as she looked around the room, showing her advisors how serious she was. “Now my Chief of Staff, what are the other items on our agenda. I hope there is some better news to follow this?”
As Fairfax called on Andréa to update everyone on how their efforts to rebuild Humanity’s war fleet were going, James only half listened. Forming an empire where Humanity was united in their efforts to stand up to the Karacknids was the only way he could see his species surviving. Yet if it was accomplished with the sword rather than diplomacy, he wasn’t sure if the result would be any better than being conquered by the Karacknids. Christine’s quickness to order preparations for the Imperial Navy and Marines to be used to solve the problem of New Delhi was concerning. What would you do in her shoes? he asked himself. As an Admiral he had been called on to put the good of his fleet above the individual fate of some of his captains. He had even been forced to sacr
ifice some of his forces in order to save the rest. Was that really any different than being forced to intervene in New Delhi in order to protect the Empire? James wasn’t sure, but he did know one thing, he didn’t like where that kind of logic may take him. Equally he did not like the idea that the actions of New Delhi and the other colonies siding with her could lead to a civil war. That would be bad for everyone. It would likely seal Humanity’s doom at the hands of the Karacknids.
Chapter 7
The Constitution of the Human Empire extends certain rights and privileges to all its citizens and the citizens of its allies. Those same rights are almost always extended to other sentients outside of that sphere, but there have been notable exceptions in the Empire’s history.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising 3002 AD.
England, the next day
When James stepped out of the official residence he and Christine had stayed in and walked towards the waiting shuttle, he frowned. Major General Johnston was standing beside the shuttle’s ramp. The shuttle was supposed to take him to Beijing for a meeting Christine had asked him to chair about expanding the agricultural production in some of the more mountainous regions of western China. There was nothing that should have concerned Johnston. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he approached the marine.
“There’s a slight change of plan,” Johnston said as he gestured for James to ascend the shuttle’s rear ramp. “We’ll explain inside.”
“We?” James asked as he walked past Johnston. Once inside he saw that Admiral Russell was already seated and strapped in. “Admiral?”
“Sorry for the subterfuge Grand Admiral,” Russell said as James sat down beside him. “There never was a meeting in China. We have another task in mind for you.” Russell nodded to Johnston who sat down opposite James.
“You know about the Karacknid general Hux’lar we captured on Holstein,” Johnston explained. “I lost one of the best special forces marines I have ever known in the mission. We’ve been interrogating him. The last update I shared with the Inner Council was two weeks ago. Since then we’ve hit a dead end. Hux’lar has largely kept his lips shut. Other than throwing insults at us, we’ve been getting nowhere. We thought we’d try a different tact. Some of our analysts think part of the problem is that Hux’lar has a disdain for anyone of lower rank than him. The theory is that if he meets our Imperator, then maybe we’ll get him to open up a little.”
“Imperator?” James asked as his eyebrows rose. “You mean me? I’m not even an Emperor yet.”
“Does Hux’lar know that?” Russell responded.
James shook his head, more out of bewilderment than to answer Russell’s question. He had been expecting a boring trip to China, not a face-to-face meeting with one of the Karacknids who had invaded Human territory and attacked Earth. “Why do you need me?” he asked. “If I am to pretend to be an Imperator rather than myself, why not just get someone else to play the role? Someone who is trained in interrogation?” Johnston and Russell shared a glance. “Well?” James prompted.
Russell was the one who answered. “Given who you are, your experiences and accomplishments as an Admiral, we thought the real thing would be better than an actor. We want to rattle him if we can. Pull him off guard and see what happens. We figured you’d have as good a chance of doing that as anyone else we might bring in.”
James rolled his eyes, but before he could complain about how busy he already was, the scenery out of one of the shuttle’s viewports got his attention. “Where are we going?” He asked when the blue of Earth’s sky gave way to the black of space.
“The Moon,” Russell replied. “IID has a black site there. That’s where we are holding Hux’lar.”
“That seems a little overly dramatic,” James responded. “What’s wrong with holding him on Earth?”
“I know I wasn’t here when the Karacknids attacked,” Johnston said, “but I’ve been among the people since I’ve been back. There is still a lot of anger out there for what they did. There are groups calling for the complete end of the Karacknid civilization. They want nothing short of nuking every Karacknid planet. They may be small, but they can rile up a lot of anger in the general populace. What do you think would happen if word got out that we were holding a Karacknid commander hostage? Especially one that was a part of their invasion force?”
“Point taken,” James replied with a nod. “I’ve been briefed on a couple of the groups.”
“It’s also cheaper,” Russell chipped in. “If he was on Earth, we would need quite a large security detail. Where we’ve got him on the Moon, there is no one around for miles. So we only need a couple of squads of marines on guard duty along with our operatives.”
“I’m sure Andréa would approve of that,” James responded. “As long as that is your only reason and it hasn’t had anything to do with torture?” he continued as he turned to Russell and raised his eyebrows. Whilst he was as angry with the Karacknids as anyone on Earth, he wasn’t willing to see Humanity become what the Karacknids were in order to defeat them.
“That might depend on how broadly you want to define torture,” Russell said slowly.
“Tell me,” James responded, his tone hardening.
“We’ve been feeding him, though from the amount he has been eating and the feedback he’s been giving us, I’d say he’s not enjoying it,” Russell said. “The last I checked; he’d lost ten percent of his body mass. The medics assured me it is mostly muscle and he’s still doing fine, but I imagine it’s uncomfortable for him. We are not starving him. Heck, we’re not even doing it on purpose. It just seems he doesn’t appreciate the different kinds of food we’ve tried to give him.”
James nodded. “That I won’t feel too bad about. Perhaps we should contact the Varanni and see if they have food recommendations. Perhaps we’ll have to ship something in from their space. Maybe if he gets a good meal in his belly he’ll be more talkative. Is that all I need to know?”
Russell shared a glance with Johnston. “There’s one other thing. We had to declaw him. It was that or keep him strapped up on a bed for months on end. We thought the declawing more humane. He was simply too dangerous with his claws. Leaving him with them would have endangered anyone who came into contact with him. Plus, he might have been able to cut his way out of his holding cell. They are just as deadly as a marine’s nano carbon knife.”
“I suppose he didn’t take that too well either,” James said as he thought through the ethics of what Russell had done. Technically, they had maimed Hux’lar, possibly even for life. Yet in another sense, they had done nothing more than disarm him. He was an enemy combatant. Something to talk with Christine about, James decided. So far in the war they hadn’t bothered to take prisoners. The Karacknids that had been stranded on crippled ships after the battle of Earth had been left where they were. On Holstein, the Karacknid ground troops had fought to the last soldier. Eventually they would have to start taking prisoners. Especially if the war got to the stage where they were invading Karacknid worlds. He and Christine were going to have to figure out how to deal with prisoners of war and Karacknid civilians. If there even was such a thing.
“That’s an understatement,” Russell replied with a chuckle. “But it had to be done. It wasn’t entirely conducive for getting him to open up. But at least we don’t have him chained up twenty-four seven.”
“What have you got out of him so far?” James asked as he forced himself to dismiss his concerns about Hux’lar’s treatment, the Moon was fast approaching and he didn’t have time for such niceties.
“Nothing more than what we shared with the Empress’s Inner Council,” Russell answered. “He has confirmed that he was the commanding officer of the Karacknid forces on Holstein. Beyond that, and his rank, he has given away very little. He has had a lot to say as you might imagine, but none of it has been useful intelligence. “
“What kind of approach do you want me to take?” James followed up.
Russell pulled out a data
pad and handed it to James. “Analysts have suggested you adopt a somewhat friendly attitude. If you go in as our Imperator who has been impressed by the Karacknids’ martial prowess, perhaps he will give something away about their Imperator or society. We’re hoping a fresh face with a fresh approach may yield something.”
James scanned the datapad and its suggested questions, then glanced at Russell. “And if he just wants to heap insult upon insult upon us?”
Russell shrugged, “Then go with the flow. You’re here to be you.”
“Right,” James said in a tone that suggested his confidence in the whole idea wasn’t the highest. For the rest of the trip he read through the datapad. He had a strong suspicion what he was being asked to do would utterly fail. As far as he could tell, the Karacknids invaded their enemies because they felt them inferior. Whether racially or technologically, it didn’t matter. Meeting with the leader of a species his people had invaded and almost wiped out was unlikely to overawe Hux’lar. I’ll give it my best shot, James said to himself.
