by Ryk Brown
Table Of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Frontiers Saga Part 2: Rogue Castes
Episode #14: A Line in the Sand
Copyright © 2020 by Ryk Brown All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
CHAPTER ONE
Nathan was exhausted, physically and emotionally. The last twenty-four hours had been some of the most difficult of his life. Millions of people had perished as a result of his actions. It wasn’t like he’d pulled the trigger himself, nor had he any reason to suspect such a horrific thing would happen. But that didn’t make him feel any better. Years ago, in his first life, he had returned the sons of Ancot back to their families. Those young men, most of whom had been doomed to die as cannon fodder for the Ta’Akar, had been given a chance to lead normal lives again. To find mates, to have families, to have a future. Now that future was gone, not just for the sons of Ancot, but for all of her people. One man had decided to sacrifice millions to protect something he had had no right to possess in the first place.
Nathan wondered what Lord Dusahn had felt in that moment. Frustration? Anger? Outrage? Defeat? Possibly even guilt? Probably none of those. Nathan suspected that, to his opponent, it was simply a numbers game. Takara was his seat of power. Corinair was merely an extension of that world, adding additional infrastructure and workforce. Ancot, which was mostly agrarian, was a cheap source of food. There was nothing on either Ancot or Corinair that could not be obtained from one of the worlds within the Takar system. Lord Dusahn knew this long before he gave the order that ended Ancot’s existence. Nathan was certain the Dusahn leader had felt nothing.
The problem was that Nathan did.
“Good morning, Captain,” the Ghatazhak guard at the door to the command briefing room greeted.
The comment took Nathan slightly aback. The Ghatazhak were not a talkative bunch, at least not outside of their own ranks. Those standing guard were even more tight-lipped, rarely saying anything other than announcing his presence in the room. “Good morning, Sergeant.”
Nathan took his seat at the head of the table. With the guards no longer announcing his arrival, his command staff, much to his liking, no longer stood for him. Another useless tradition struck down. “Good morning, everyone,” Nathan greeted, although his tone belied the sincerity in his statement. There was nothing good about this morning. It was the morning when he would learn the true consequences of his decisions.
Nathan quickly scanned the faces of his command staff. They all appeared to be in similar moods. “I don’t suppose anyone wants to go first?”
“The Ghatazhak suffered no casualties,” General Telles reported. “A few injuries, but nothing major. I’m also pleased to report that our new battle gear performed flawlessly. My analysis of all Ghatazhak combat telemetry confirms that, without the CAP system, our losses would have been about fifty percent.”
“So, the rest of this meeting will be bad news, then,” Nathan commented.
“I would like to add that the Ghatazhak fully support your decision to withdraw. The Ghatazhak do not fight battles that cannot be won. The moment you learned that our objective could not be achieved, and held, you changed tactics without hesitation. I would have done the same.”
“Thank you,” Nathan replied. “However, I suspect your men were less enthusiastic about it.”
“While they may have been disappointed, I assure you that they quickly came to the same conclusion I did, once they had all the information.”
Nathan looked at Vladimir. “Commander?”
“We have considerable damage to the port flight deck,” Vladimir reported, “as well as multiple hull breaches along the port side. Most of them can be closed in a week or so and the affected compartments repressurized, but the flight deck will take months to fully rebuild.”
“What about the port catapults?” Jessica wondered.
“Most of the damage is aft of the port large transfer airlock,” Vladimir explained. “We’ve sealed off that airlock for now. I can get the forward port flight deck operational in a few days if we close her forward blast doors and seal them.”
“That would make it into a hangar bay,” Cameron realized. “Are you suggesting we operate with only one recovery deck?”
“I’m telling you what we have and what we can do, in both the short and long term,” Vladimir explained.
“How many birds do we have left?” Nathan asked Commander Verbeek.
“Fifteen Super Eagles, four Reapers, two Diggers, and two Ranni shuttles,” Commander Verbeek reported. “We’ve got things set up well enough at the Aitkenna spaceport for now, and we’re conducting standard aerodynamic takeoffs and landings to save on propellant until Corinair’s refineries are back online.”
“The Forenta will arrive tomorrow with a full load of propellant,” Cameron reported.
“If you need us to, we can run the air wing with just the starboard flight deck,” Commander Verbeek insisted.
“I think we’ll keep you on Corinair for the time being,” Nathan told him. “We lost nearly half the Nighthawks, and Corinair has virtually no defenses right now. Better to keep as many fighters on the surface as possible until we get some jump missile launchers installed.”
“Understood,” the commander assured him.
“If we need to move you to a different combat theater, we’ll use the Gervais and the Inman,” Nathan added.
“Yes, sir.”
“Both are being loaded with supplies as we speak,” Cameron added. “If you have any special requests, let me know, and I’ll forward them to their load masters.”
“How long do I have?” the commander asked.
“They’re scheduled to depart this evening.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Commander Verbeek assured her. “I’ll speak with the Corinari and Gunyoki pilots as well, and see if they need anything.”
“How many Gunyoki did we lose?” Jessica asked.
“Thirty-four,” Cameron reported somberly. “Once those additional ships surprised us, they went after them with a vengeance. Without their sacrifices, we might not be having this conversation right now.”
“The rest are bunking with us down on Corinair,” Commander Verbeek added after a pause, “at least until you send them home.”
“I’d like to keep them handy until we’re back up to snuff,” Nathan stated. “What about propulsion and maneuvering?” he asked Vladimir.
“Both are fully operational,” Vladimir assured him. “Power generation as well. We should have all shields fully operational in a couple of days, and all weapons by the end of the week. However, we’re going to be dow
n to two forward tubes a bit longer. The entire power trunk along the ventral port side was damaged. The tubes and the plasma torpedo generators are fine, we just don’t have any way of sending power to them.”
“Could we jack them into the starboard lines?” Jessica wondered.
“Yes, but you’d have to fire them all at fifty percent,” Vladimir explained. “The result would be the same amount of energy spread over a greater number of torpedoes.”
“What about the jump drive?” Nathan asked.
“We were lucky,” Vladimir replied. “The damage to the port aft flight bay only took out two emitters. We can compensate by increasing power to nearby emitters, but that greatly limits our single-jump range.”
“How far can we jump?”
Vladimir looked uncertain. “According to Aurora, no more than fifty light years. But we can jump repeatedly, so that should help.”
“So we still have the same single-charge range, it just takes longer,” Nathan surmised.
“Unfortunately, no,” Vladimir replied sheepishly. “One quarter of jump energy banks were located just below the port aft flight deck. They were destroyed as well. I estimate our single-charge range to be about two hundred light years.”
“How long will it take to replace them?”
“We have to rebuild the port flight deck first,” Vladimir explained, “so again, months. As an intermediate step, I can set up a temporary bank of cells someplace and maybe increase that single-charge range to about three hundred light years.”
“We need a minimum of five hundred,” Nathan insisted.
“That will require use of the port forward flight deck,” Vladimir told him. “That’s the only place with enough room at the moment.”
“How long would it take?” Cameron wondered.
“I would have to create a new power trunk and run it from the bay to the port longitudinal trunk. That will require cutting through several bulkheads.”
“How long?” Nathan begged.
“At least a month,” Vladimir replied. “Less, if we can get SilTek to manufacture the energy cells and the power trunk for us. Our fabricators are already busy enough.”
“That will basically turn us into a heavy cruiser instead of a carrier,” Cameron pointed out, skeptical of the plan.
Nathan sighed. “I don’t see another way,” he insisted. “We’ve got worlds to protect, and we can’t protect them if we can’t reach them in a hurry.” He looked back at Vladimir. “We can defend ourselves, right?”
“Yes,” Vladimir assured him. “Other than the number one and two forward torpedo tubes, and the port catapults, the only other weapons we lost were one of the port midship heavy turrets and a few point-defense turrets. Everything else is good.”
“Repairs might go faster if we jumped to SilTek,” Cameron suggested.
“I’d rather stay put until Corinair’s defenses have been stabilized,” Nathan insisted. “Besides, it would take too long in our current state. Corinair is the Dusahn’s most likely target at the moment. At least we can defend her.”
“With the Glendanon alongside to support external repairs, we should be fine,” Vladimir insisted. “However, I’ll take all the help I can get.”
“I’ll put in a request to SilTek for the energy cells and power trunk,” Cameron stated.
“Don’t bother,” Nathan told her. “I’m planning on heading there myself after this meeting.”
“You are?” Cameron asked, surprised.
“I’ll need a list of all needed repairs and what assistance we might need to get back to full readiness to take with me,” Nathan told Vladimir.
“Just ask Aurora,” Vladimir replied. “She’s very good at such things.”
“Have you received a report from Doran?” Nathan asked Cameron.
“Yes. The major reports three hundred and thirty-two KIA, fifty-seven wounded, and fourteen still unaccounted for. Most of those were probably lost in the tanks when they were obliterated from orbit. Not really anything left.”
“How many tanks did we lose?” Nathan asked.
“Twenty-seven, with eleven more heavily damaged,” Cameron replied. “With Commander Prechitt gone, Major Montrose has assumed command of all Corinari and has declared martial law for the entire planet until their unified government is reformed.”
“Any estimate on how long that will take?”
“No idea,” Cameron replied. “He still hasn’t determined how many of their key cabinet ministers were executed and how many survived. Worst-case scenario is that they’ll have to hold elections to fill positions, which could take months. Overall, Corinair was pretty lucky. Most of the planet was relatively untouched by the battle.”
“What about the Glendanon?” Nathan asked.
“I spoke with Captain Gullen this morning,” Cameron replied. “Most of his damage is superficial, thanks to the Weatherly. A few shield emitters, three point-defense cannons, and damage to one of his cargo shells. They did lose two boxcars, though. That’s going to make it harder to move cargo.”
“The Corinari captured several Dusahn cargo shuttles, as well as a few troop shuttles,” General Telles stated. “Perhaps they could be adapted?”
“We should at least look at their technology,” Cameron suggested.
“Agreed,” Nathan replied. “Let’s get one back to Rakuen so Abby and Deliza can take a look.”
“I’ll have the Manamu ferry it back as soon as they’re done unloading the Corinari’s support gear,” Cameron promised.
“Has anyone had a chance to check the tunnels being built on Corinair?” Nathan wondered, looking at Lieutenant Commander Shinoda.
“I have,” the lieutenant commander assured him. “Once we were able to survey the planet from orbit, we detected at least twenty other wells being drilled, other than the ones in the cities that we were already aware of.”
“Wells?” Nathan wondered.
“That’s what we’re calling them, now that we know they’re roughly perpendicular to the surface and not parallel.”
“Why so many?” Nathan asked. “Weren’t there only about twenty work sites on Takara?”
“Twenty-three,” the lieutenant commander corrected. “Fewer on Ancot.”
“Ancot is considerably smaller than Takara,” General Telles stated. “However, both have extensive volcanic and seismic activity beneath the surface. Corinair does not.”
“I wasn’t aware that you were so knowledgeable about Corinairan geology,” Nathan commented.
“I am Ghatazhak.”
“So, their rocky planet saved them?” Jessica surmised.
“A greater number of fracture points were probably required to destroy the planet, and the rocky mantle likely slowed their progress,” the general explained.
“So, if we had attacked a week later, we might have lost both worlds,” Jessica concluded.
“Or a week earlier and we would have lost none,” Nathan countered.
“The project on Ancot was finished eleven days before our attack,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda pointed out.
“There’s no way we could have attacked before we did,” Cameron insisted, looking at Nathan. “You know that.”
“I do,” Nathan admitted, “but that doesn’t make it any easier.” After a sigh, he continued. “We may have liberated Corinair, but the cost was too high. We cannot make that mistake again. I will not make that mistake again.”
“Nathan…” Cameron began, but stopped when she saw the look of determination in her captain’s eyes.
“I take it you have a plan,” General Telles realized.
Nathan glanced around the room at his senior staff. “I intend to ask the Jung for assistance.” Another look around the room confirmed his suspicions. Every single one of them, apart from the general, was shocked.
“Nathan, th
e Jung still believe you’re dead,” Cameron reminded him. “Convicted and executed on Nor-Patri, broadcast to their entire population. If you show up on their doorstep asking for help, not only will they kill you on sight, but they’ll have an excuse to attack Earth again.”
“They already have an excuse to attack Earth again,” Nathan argued. “Assuming they haven’t already.” He looked at Lieutenant Commander Shinoda. “What does our latest Sol intel show?”
“The latest intel from the Sol sector is at least two weeks old,” his intelligence officer reminded him. “The Sol Alliance has attacked more than twenty Jung military installations, and not just along the border, but deep into Jung territory.”
“What about civilian casualties?” Nathan asked.
“So far, we estimate them to be light,” the lieutenant commander replied. “However, we have no direct recon data from Jung space. We’re basing that on media transmissions from Earth, which are likely more propaganda than fact.”
“I doubt Galiardi cares much about collateral damage to Jung civilians,” Jessica insisted.
“Regardless,” Cameron interrupted. “How are the Jung supposed to help us? Assuming they didn’t shoot you on sight, that is. Their ships don’t have jump drives. It would take them years to get here.” Cameron looked at Nathan, a terrifying realization coming over her face. “You’re not planning to give them jump drive technology, are you?”
“No, but I would if it came to that,” Nathan replied.
“Then what do you expect them to do?”
“I’m going to ask them to make me a caste leader.”
The room suddenly became deathly quiet…until Cameron spoke. “I’m afraid to ask the next question.”
“You’re planning on fighting him, aren’t you?” Jessica concluded, shaking her head. “Big mistake, Nathan.”
“I’m not planning on fighting him right away,” Nathan pointed out. “As long as we can keep the Dusahn contained, I’ll have time to train. Eventually…”
“That guy has been training since he could walk,” Jessica insisted. “You could train for years, and he’d still kill you with one hand tied behind his back.”
