by D. J. Holmes
Just as James opened his mouth to call an end to the simulation so he could inform Black of his conclusions, a command console beside Foster blared. “What is it? he asked.
“A flash alert,” Foster said as she swiveled in her command chair and tapped on the command console. Its blaring ceased and she spun back to James. “It’s Home Fleet, they have just jumped into the system!”
James’ heart went through a tangle of emotions in quick succession. Excitement, fear, and anxiety washed over him. “Pull up the sensor feed on the Beta shift passage. I want to see,” he demanded at once.
The holo projector cut away from Black’s simulation to a picture of empty space. James looked at Foster in confusion. “Sorry Admiral,” she said hastily as she looked down at her command console. “Home Fleet is not coming from the Beta shift passage, but from Alpha.”
James’ heart went through another series of flutters. If Home Fleet was coming from the Alpha shift passage that meant they had fallen back to Human space through the Chinese or perhaps even the British colonies. That explained their months long delay, but not why. What could have made them take such a long detour? he asked himself. When the sensor feed on Home Fleet finally appeared in front of him, he had his answer. Less than a third of the ships he had expected to see where there. His fist tightened when he saw IS Earth, Admiral Gupta’s flagship, was not among them.
“So many gone,” Foster said, then blushed when James looked at her. When he looked back at the image, he saw that even those that were there were traveling at a snail’s pace. That suggested that some if not many of them were badly damaged.
At once James was on his feet. “My compliments to Captain Black on her demonstration. Inform her that she has my full support. But I must leave immediately,” he said as he made his way out of the simulation control room. Before Foster could catch up with him, he had crossed the hangar and opened the access hatch. Commodore Jefferson was already waiting for him. He saluted and spun around to follow James. “I have ordered your shuttle prepped already Admiral; they should be ready to go.”
“Thank you,” James replied. He didn’t add anything else as he moved as fast as he could whilst retaining some level of dignity. Whoever was the senior commander of the remnants of Home Fleet would have already transmitted their mission report. It would be sent to Charlton House in England where the Headquarters for the Imperial Fleet had been set up. He intended to be there when it arrived. “Back to England,” he called to his pilot as he raced up the shuttle’s access ramp. He threw himself into a chair and strapped himself in. Though the loss of so many ships was devastating, one face was kept firmly fixed in his mind. Gupta had been his first Lieutenant on his first ship, HMS Drake. She had been his closest friend ever since. She was the best Admiral he knew. He couldn’t have lost her, he just couldn’t.
Chapter 9
At the site of every city destroyed in the Karacknid War lies a cenotaph marking the lives lost. Perhaps none are so poignant as the one at the Imperial Academy on the Moon. No nukes fell there, however. The cenotaph records another loss Humanity suffered in that war. Listed there are the names of every ship, Flag Officer and Captain lost defending Humanity’s freedom. The list is long indeed.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising 3002 AD.
By the time James’ shuttle brought him to Imperial Fleet HQ, the initial report had arrived from Home Fleet. James found himself a quiet office, locked himself in, sat down and pulled up the report on his datapad. He was relieved when he saw the report was sent from Argyll, but then he saw Captain Rivers and not Admiral Lightfoot had sent it.
Though he was sorely tempted to skim the report to see why the fleet had taken so long to get home, and why it was in such a devastated state, James forced himself to begin at the start and read slowly. Almost at once he had to put the datapad down. Though sent by Rivers, it was obvious that the first parts of the report had been written by Lightfoot’s hand. In great detail, not hiding any of his emotions, Lightfoot had outlined what had happened in the Jaranna system and the sacrifice Gupta and Commodore Flew had made. For several minutes James was lost in memories. Gupta had been a First Lieutenant, then Flag Captain, and then a Commodore and Admiral in her own right. More importantly, she had been his best friend. On many occasions she told him what he needed to hear when no one else would. She had been there for him when Christine had left him as a young Captain, and then when Suzanna had been killed. As an officer and a friend there had been no equal in James’ eyes. More than once he had witnessed her risk her life to uphold her duty and protect those under her care. Now she has made the ultimate sacrifice, James thought as a tear ran down his cheek.
He could easily picture her in the situation Lightfoot had described. Her fleet had been surrounded, there had been no other chance of escape. She would have given her life gladly to see the rest of her fleet get away. Whilst the thought made James’ love for Gupta grow all the more, it did nothing to ease his grief. He clenched his teeth, rage flaring up within him. The Karacknids had already taken so much from him! Now they had taken her too! And not only from him. The Imperial Fleet needed every able officer they could find, and Gupta had been one of the best commanders they had. The list of officers who James would trust with a battle fleet to face off against the Karacknids was getting smaller and smaller. For several more minutes James thought over all of Gupta’s accomplishments. Time and time again she had showed a strategic and tactical acumen that would be desperately needed in the future. That would be desperately missed.
She made her choice, James reminded himself as he felt a wave of despair threaten to well up. She chose to protect her people. Just as you would have done. With that thought he picked up the datapad again and continued to read. He wanted to know how Lightfoot and the others had made use of Gupta’s sacrifice.
As he read, James lost track of time. It was too easy for him to picture exactly what the fleet went through and how Lightfoot was thinking in each of the situations they found themselves in. As he followed the fleet’s progress through Karacknid space his emotions oscillated up and down. He was impressed with Lightfoot’s tactical decision making and the actions of Scott, Jil’lal and several other officers. And yet he grieved the loss of each ship that was destroyed or had to be abandoned. He was also concerned by several things that the fleet discovered. Their raid through Karacknid space had revealed just how hard it was going to be to defeat the Karacknids once and for all.
Then, when it came to the Karacknids’ surprise attack at their staging world outside Humanity’s border, James’ heart went out to Lightfoot. He had been tricked and he had lost so many ships and lives because of it. James wasn’t sure how he might react if he lost a battle so decisively. He would probably run from the very thought of taking command ever again. And yet we cannot lose Lightfoot, James thought. Not after having just lost Gupta. They couldn’t afford to lose another one of their best commanders.
As James read on and came to the after action report, he found out why the report had Rivers’ name attached to it. Lightfoot had been badly injured as Argyll fled the battle. Though he was concerned for Lightfoot, it was probably a small mercy. He had been kept in a stasis pod to allow his head injury to be examined by a specialist on Earth in case it might deteriorate. At least he wasn’t conscious for the long journey back to Earth from the Karacknid staging planet, James thought. It would have been a living nightmare for Lightfoot, he would have relived the defeat over and over again in his mind. At the end of the report, Rivers had compiled a list of all the ships, officers and crew lost during the entire mission, along with quite a number of recommendations for promotions and commendations. James slowed his reading. As he read the lists of names and ships, memories flooded his mind. Many of the officers and ships he had served with at one time or another. At least those who survived will know the sacrifice their friends made accomplished what we sent them out to do, James thought. He had known for months that the raid on Jaranna had contributed to forci
ng the Karacknids to retreat from Alliance space. Lightfoot, Rivers, and the rest had spent months running from the Karacknids without knowing if their attack on Jaranna had worked. You succeeded, James thought to Gupta. He reset the report back to the start and started reading again. It was his last link to his friend.
*
Sometime later James heard the office door unlock. Anger spread across his face at being interrupted. Then he saw it was Christine, she had someone with her who obviously had access to override his lock. As soon as the door was open the other man stepped out of sight and Christine rushed in, closing the door behind her. “I’m so sorry James,” she said as she moved to his side and knelt beside him. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated as she grasped one of his hands.
Though he wanted to pull his hand back and be left alone with his grief, James didn’t. He knew he needed her comfort, even if it wasn’t his first reaction to accept it. “Thank you,” he forced himself to say. “I’ll be ok. I feared this was what had happened. But it’s still hard. We can’t keep losing everyone around us.”
“I know,” Christine said as she stood. “We can’t, and we won’t.” She had a tear in her eye. “But if we’re going to make that a reality, then we need to win this war. And in the short term, that means we’re going to lose more.” She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Your country has already asked too much of you over the last two decades. And now we are asking even more. I wish I could take away your pain.”
“I know,” James said. He looked up at Christine and smiled. He reached up and placed a hand on hers. “I know. I just wish it had been me. I should have been the one to lead that fleet.”
Christine whipped her hand away. “You can’t start thinking like that! Not now. Not when we need you more than ever. You had to stay here. You had a duty to fulfill. Gupta knew the risks she was taking when she accepted the mission. She chose to make the sacrifice she did. You should not take that away from her by feeling sorry for yourself.”
James sighed. Christine reached down and turned his chin so that he was looking up at her again. “Don’t start this. Gupta and I had a few long hard chats before she left. She told me about how you were on Drake after I decided to marry Na. And how you were on Regin after Suzanna. You’re not going there again. Do you hear me? Not when Gupta was the one who pulled you out of that dark place.”
James’ thoughts swirled. He knew he was prone to disappearing when grief overwhelmed him. He knew Gupta would hate it with a passion if he let her death affect him in that way. And yet knowing it and doing something about it were two different things.
“Come on,” Christine said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. “I can’t control your thoughts, but there were two pieces of advice Gupta gave me. One, I’m to not let you wallow on your own.” She waved her arms to take in the small office. “Especially not in some dark alcove in the back end of nowhere. And two, you are to be reminded of your duty. Captain Rivers is just forty-five minutes out. I’ve asked for him, Admiral Jil’lal and Captains Scott and Gar’am to meet us here. I’ve assembled my Inner Council. We need to get a face to face debrief with the survivors. Figure out what condition their ships and crews are really in, and start to make plans. If the Karacknids are setting up a new staging base to invade our territory, then another attack could be mere months away. We don’t even know if this is the only base. We need to start making preparations at once.”
Reluctantly, James allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and led out of office. He could remember all too clearly Gupta’s anger the last time he had disappeared into his grief. As he walked, Christine’s words sank in. If the Karacknids had been working on a new supply base from which to launch another attack, that meant they had no problem invading Human territory while they were still heavily engaged against the Alliance. If they were prepared to fight on two fronts like that, then there was nothing stopping them from already having a fleet on the move towards Earth. On the other hand, now that we know about it, it might be possible to stop their attack before it can properly begin, James thought. Christine was right, they had some important decisions to make! With a gentle twist of his wrist, James shook off Christine’s grip on his forearm. When she turned around, clearly about to scold him, he reached out and took her hand instead. Then he continued to walk with her side by side. “Thank you,” he said with a smile. “You’re right. We have work to do.”
Christine nodded in satisfaction and turned her head back to look in front of her. From the set of her shoulders and jaw James knew she was determined to make the best of a bad situation. That was her duty as Empress, whatever befell her people; Christine needed to be the one to go on, no matter what. As do I, James reminded himself, he was to be Emperor in the not too distant future.
*
When they got to the large briefing room, the rest of Christine’s Inner Council were already there. A number offered their condolences to James as he moved past them. James smiled and thanked them, keeping his emotions to himself.
“All right,” Christine said after taking her seat. She opened up her datapad and glanced at it. “We still have almost forty minutes before the senior Captains from Home Fleet get here. We will have lots to discuss and decisions to make after we hear what they have to say. Probably the next few days if not weeks will be taken up by our response. Are there any other items of business we could get out of the way now?”
Admiral Koroylov was the first to speak, “We need to make some decisions regarding the Alliance fleet that is scheduled to arrive three weeks from today. There has been some difficulty ensuring we have enough ship births to station them here in Earth’s orbit. However, now that there are many births assigned to Home fleet ships that will not be needed any more, that is not likely to be a problem. The second issue we need to think through is what do we intend to use the Alliance ships for? I’ve had my staff officers draw up a number of training scenarios, but it will be good to get a more concrete series of plans that we can prepare training simulations for. However, Home Fleet’s return may force our hand on this issue.”
“Indeed,” James said as he nodded. After stepping down as President of the Russian Star Federation, Koroylov had accepted the position of Admiral within the Imperial Navy. Though without an actual fleet to command, Christine had put him in charge of the strategic planning division based at Imperial Fleet headquarters. “I’m afraid Koroylov is right. The two of us have tentatively discussed sending out elements of the Alliance fleet with some of our new warships to probe the Karacknids’ borders and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Yet if the Karacknids are already preparing for a second attack against us, we will need to keep the Alliance fleet within the Sol system. Whatever else happens, we cannot allow Earth to be attacked again. We still have far too much of our military industrial complex focused here to risk losing it to another raid.”
“Then the Alliance fleet will be based here on Earth in the immediate future,” Christine responded. “Admiral Koroylov, you can draw up simulations focused on defending Earth from another attack. If we are attacked, we will meet the Karacknids with everything we can throw at them. What’s next?”
“There is the delegation from the Conclave species that Captain Kansas informed us about,” Fairfax brought up. As he spoke he looked to James and winked. Captain Kansas, or Emilie as James always thought of her, was his niece. Whilst Fairfax had likely meant the gesture as a sign of respect, Emilie had accomplished a great deal on her mission to the other side of the Gift’s second wormhole, it just reminded James of how long it had been since he had seen her. Even her last communication was six months old. For all James knew, she could have been killed as well.
Unaware of the thoughts his words had stirred, Fairfax continued, “We have been making preparations, but the information Admiral Somerville’s niece shared with us was limited. We have little to no idea of what kind of living quarters or amenities the different alien species that make up the Conclave might ma
ke use of. And then we have the diplomatic side of things to think about. Again, we have very little to go on from Captain Kansas with regards to how to negotiate with the conclave delegation members. Though I suspect Home Fleet’s return will have an impact on this. Ideally we would like to be speaking to them from a position of strength, not one of weakness. They could arrive at any time over the next month, if they do, I fear they may find us in quite the commotion.”
“They will see things as they truly are,” Senator Nicholls responded. “There’s nothing we can do about that, but surely that is for the best. If they are truly going to stand up to the Karacknids, they should know the risks.”
“Of course they should,” Fairfax agreed, “though there’s no harm in us giving them a bit of confidence as well. I’m just suggesting that we keep the Conclave delegation in mind as we think through our reaction to the loss of most of Home Fleet,” as he finished speaking Fairfax turned to Christine and held her gaze for a moment.
