Victory in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 6)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “Nice flying, Hornet. You haven’t lost your touch.”

  “Not me, Hawk. Mandy, Pilot Adams. She’s going to be pretty good, someday.”

  Hawk and Hornet inspected the young woman under discussion, who blushed and dropped her eyes.

  “First, second and third squads, fall in!” Sergeant Nelson’s bellow could be heard across the training grounds and by the crews of the just-landed ships.

  Not to be outdone, Sergeant Stein bellowed the same command to his troops, only louder.

  After the battling squads formed up, Sergeant Nelson nodded to his counterpart.

  “Defenders of Tolimar, atten’ hut!”

  The flyers, held in the air by the Ballisonian gravity negator harnesses, settled back to Tolimar’s earth. Joining their two squads, they, and the rest, hustled over to form up in front of their prospective Sergeants. Three groups of eighteen men and women slammed to attention.

  “Defenders of Tolimar, dismissed!”

  Upon hearing Sergeant Nelson’s follow-up command, fifty-four defenders scattered to do whatever they did after a morning of gruelling training and competition.

  Nelson and Stein hurried over to connect with the group heading towards Trotzig’s ruined gates.

  “Commander Marston!” Sergeant Nelson came to attention and saluted. Sergeant Stein followed his example.”

  “As you were, Gentlemen.” Krag returned the salute.

  “That’s a good-looking troop you two have put together, Garon, Nellie.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  “Tribune Ambakai. I’ll bet you and your warriors would like to train against some new bodies.”

  “As would Sergeant Boulos, Commander.”

  “After we saw what your cats did to that Mortek command center, I’ll bet that they would like to have a good tangle.”

  “My cats?”

  “Yes, Sir. With all due respect, Sir. That is what our marines have come to call them. Griffin’s Cats, Sir.”

  “Tribune, are you alright with being called ‘cats’?”

  “Yes, Commander. Master Engineer Mack has shown us videos of Old Earth snow leopards. They are majestic creatures and fierce hunters. It is an honorable title. I would prefer ‘leopards’. But, ‘cats’ is acceptable.”

  “I’ll spread the word, Tribune. Griffin’s Leopards. A good name for a tough patrol. You and your Leopards can train with us, anytime, Tribune.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant Stein. We will take you up on your offer.”

  “You are going to regret that, Sarge.”

  After staring at the tag on the marine accompanying Tribune Ambakai, Nelson asked, “Why is that, Corporal?”

  “Tails, sir.”

  “Tails.”

  “Yes, Nellie, Krag interjected. You’ll find out. Now, you and Garon are just the people we need to see. Are you ready for a little seize and secure?”

  “Just give us the target, sir.”

  “Join us. We’re heading for a meeting at Shar’s”

  The two sergeants fell in behind Krag and Jean, who were leading the group. Jean stopped and stared at Trotzig’s ruined gate and destroyed walls.

  “Must have been quite a fight.”

  “Yes, it was, Hornet,” Sergeant Nelson responded as he waved a hand over the open grounds fronting Trotzig’s destroyed defenses.

  Krag’s group looked and saw the hundreds of mounds, still thousands of corpses and the hundreds of marines working to remove the blight from Trotzig’s grounds.

  “If it hadn’t been for Griffin and the alien tech, we wouldn’t be standing here, today. Krag saved our butts.”

  “I just flew around and caused havoc, Garon. You ground-pounders did all the heavy lifting.”

  “Well, we were losing. Yup, Hornet. Hawk saved the day.”

  Keiko was the only one who saw Krag blush. Interrupting, she asked, “Shouldn’t we get to our meeting? I’m sure that Tolimar’s power brokers don’t like to be kept waiting.”

  The walk down Trotzig’s main street took a while as the new arrivals ogled the destruction and ruin. They frequently paused to watch the hundreds of people working to bring their homes and businesses back from the wreckage of war.

  Finally arriving at Shar’s New Bar, Krag and Jean led their people through the swinging doors. Eying the long table where Tolimar’s powerful sat, Krag pointed to an open spot and mindspoke to Buster. Upon hearing the command, Krag’s android led Igaklay’s avatar to the spot and the two took up positions of observation.

  Nellie and Garon led Tribune Ambakai, Medical Guardsman Suraya, Vassal Gopai and Lance Corporal Wadji to a table. With a nod from Jean, Molly and Jesse followed, pulling up chairs and taking seats among the Elonian Guardsmen and Human Marines. Mack and Sue took stools at the bar, turned around and watched the proceedings.

  Shar began her rounds, approaching each group, taking orders and getting drinks distributed.

  “Hey, Shar. I thought that you’d be back at the old bar in Erstadt.”

  “Welcome back, Krag. Shar’s Bar One runs itself. With Tommy and Willy managing things, it practically runs itself. The usual?”

  “Please.”

  “Ambassador?”

  “Hot tea?”

  “Is black Pico okay? We’re pretty limited on teas.”

  ‘That would be fine, Shar. Thank you.”

  “And for you, Captain Forsythe?”

  “Beer.”

  Shar hustled off. Governor Kaufman rose and majestically held out an arm, palm up.

  “Welcome to Tolimar, Commander Marston. Speaking for the people of Tolimar, I can safely say that we are in your debt. We thank you for your service.”

  “Thank you, Governor. But I couldn’t have helped you without the support of my crew, Elonia’s gravity technology or Preceptor Igaklay’s jump drives and Ballison capabilities, we would never have been able to drive off the Mortek.”

  “Have a seat. Tell us why you have called this meeting, Commander.”

  Krag, Keiko and Jean took three empty seats, Krag’s at the head of the table.

  “We have a growing problem and an opportunity.”

  “And, what is that, Commander?”

  “If I may, Preceptor Igaklay, would you please set up a viewer?”

  Igaklay walked around to the center of the table, reached between Mz. Brandt and Mr. Meier then placed his communication pyramid in the center of the table. While returning to his position beside Buster, a three-dimensional image of the Cencore system sprang into view.

  Using his personal tablet, Krag began moving the cursor around the semi-transparent globe and highlighted his presentation.

  “A little background. From our previous intel, a Mortek fleet is comprised of one space craft carrier, two dreadnaught class battle ships, six cruisers, fifteen destroyers, sixty frigates and two-hundred attack ships. From what we extrapolate, the Mortek attacked with five of these fleets.”

  Krag paused to let those overwhelming numbers sink in. looking over the table, he saw Tolimar’s board, Feldmarshal Rosser and Major Wilson nod in understanding.

  “Between Odin, us and the rest of the Federacy’s defense fleet, we’ve destroyed a lot of tonnage and run off a lot more. With your defense of Tolimar and Arium you have destroyed even more.”

  Krag watched everyone in the room sit a little straighter, proud of their current accomplishments.

  “The quickly growing problem is that the Mortek are building a sixth fleet in Cencore. They currently are floating six cruisers, twelve destroyers and forty-one frigates.”

  “Are they battle-ready?”

  “From Captain Forsythe’s intel, we don’t think so. Captain Forsythe?”

  Jean stood. Krag sat.

  Taking control of the pointer, jean encircled a group of Mortek ships steaming towards the Bridgelen gate.

  “This flotilla of one cruiser, three destroyers and eight frigates appear to be the only ones under power. We are assuming that these twelve ships are all tha
t remains from the Cencore invasion. All of the other Mortek ships are floating with minimum energy consumption.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “We think that it means that the rest of the Mortek fleet is unmanned, or un-bugged.”

  This brought a laugh throughout the room.

  “We think that we can destroy them with our Stingers.”

  “That’s a lot of ships, Captain.”

  “Yes, Major. But we need to do something. If another Mortek fleet is formed, more of Humanity’s systems will fall.”

  “If that’s the case, with you attacking the Morteks, using your Stingers, why are you here?”

  “Because, Commander Kelly, we need pilots. When Fleet-Admiral Weiskoff evacuated Cencore and sailed towards Old Earth, he left fifty-one ships behind. Commander Marston?”

  Krag stood, Jean sat.

  “According to Heimdallr, there are fifty-one hulls floating in the Atlantius system. They are all in various states of disrepair. But they are hulls. We plan on getting them to Ballison and working them over, giving them all the toys that Griffin and the Stingers have. We’re turning them into battleships.”

  “Hoorah! You need pilots.”

  “You hit the nail on the head, Corry. How many retired pilots have you got?”

  “We lost some during the battle. I would say, maybe thirty?”

  “Can you get me a count? They need to be in good health. We’re going to jump them to Ballison, get them loaded up with nanites.”

  Feldmarshal Rosser mumbled into his throat mic. Then turned his focus back to Krag.

  “They’re getting rounded up now.”

  “Commander, I was thinking. You plan on destroying the Mortek ships in Cencore.”

  “That’s the plan, Major.”

  “What about the shipyards? Do you plan on destroying them, also?”

  “We can’t allow the Mortek to build more ships.”

  “Instead of destroying them, why don’t we take them back?”

  “That’s a new thought. Work through it.”

  “Nellie and Stein have two blooded squads. With gravity harnesses. We could use them as the tip of a spear and initiate a counterstrike to take back the yards.”

  “We don’t have any drop ships or hazardous environment combat suits.”

  “We do have a breacher ship.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. Limpet. And her crew.”

  “Then, all we need is a troop transport.”

  “I may have found one, Commander.”

  Everyone heard the announcement over Igaklay’s communication pyramid.

  “You’ve been listening in, Scotty?”

  “I was bored. Toast and Brooksy are looking for another hull. We just tagged a large freighter. If you can get her back to trim, I’ll bet you could put a couple of thousand marines in her.”

  “Could you send the specs to Griffin?”

  “I already have, Commander.”

  “Preceptor Igaklay?”

  “One jump drive coming up, Oh Captain.”

  “Now you?”

  “Just being part of the crew, Sir.”

  “And one for the breacher ship.”

  “Commander Kelly, could you send me those specifications?”

  “I’ll have Lieutenant Tillerson send them immediately.”

  “I’ll get that one ready for Fairstar, also.”

  “Thank you, Preceptor.”

  “It is my pleasure, Commander.”

  “Commander Wilson, get your breacher squads ready. Fairstar is doing a munitions run then coming here. She should arrive no later than tomorrow evening. She’ll take your squads and Corry’s pilots back to Ballison for the injections. Limpet is going to need her crew after the jump drive is installed.”

  “Roger that, Commander.”

  “In summary, we’ve got hulls and pilots travelling to Ballison for upgrades and nanites. You are also sending two breacher squads, Corry’s jump squad and a breacher ship for the same. A freighter is going to be converted into a troop transport.”

  “I do have a question, Commander.”

  “Yes, Garon?”

  “Weiskoff. What are we going to do about him and the remaining crew of Odin? They’re currently cooling their heels out on the other continent.”

  “Damn. I completely forgot about them. Any ideas?”

  “Well, Hawk, he is a vice-admiral. He does know how to command a fleet,” Commander Kelly volunteered.

  “That’s true, Krag. I don’t like him much, but he did put together a pretty good defense of Tolimar and Arium.”

  “What, Mr. Roth? Are you suggesting that we put him in charge of our fleet?”

  “That’s not going to happen with the Stingers and Fairstar, Hawk.”

  “I hear you, Hornet. The same goes with Griffin. But, for a fifty-ship fleet, he might be the best man for the job.”

  “That may be. But, how do we stop him from going all Federacy on us? After all, he’ll be in command of fifty war ships.”

  “That’s easy, Mz. Brandt. We slag his jump drives.”

  “How do you do that?”

  “Mz. Benton?”

  Everyone watched as Griffin’s software engineer stood, chewed a lip, scrunched her eyebrows and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Um, well, when we constructed the jump drive for Griffin and all the other ships, we encased them in a housing, in a containment housing. We submerged the artifact in one component of a bi-compound acid. We placed the other bi-compound component in an outer shell. Also, Igaklay, pardon me, Preceptor Igaklay mounted a quant-com in the container. If anyone does anything wrong, Preceptor Igaklay mixes the compound and the jump drive is dissolved in an acid bath.”

  “So, you got that bastard by the short and curlys.”

  “Yes, Mr. Roth. And remember, he’s our bastard. I flew under him. I didn’t like him, then. I probably won’t like him now. But he does know his stuff.”

  Krag looked at Keiko, non-verbally asking for permission. She nodded, in return.

  “It would be best if Ambassador Suzume spoke on that.”

  “Actually, it is required that we bring him back, Governor.”

  “Why’s that, Ambassador?”

  “Well, we have a situation to solve.”

  “And that would be?”

  “When we ran off the Mortek ships in Arium, one ship, a cruiser, surrendered.”

  “You’re saying you’ve got a Mortek cruiser?”

  “Yes, Mr. Burkhardt. And it’s crew.”

  “So, kill the bugs and grab the ship.”

  “That’s not our way. You know that, Mr. Blandini. We don’t murder the defenseless. And, we can’t send them back. Their leaders will kill them. So, we have, as prisoners of war, a Mortek crew and a Mortek cruiser.”

  “Where is she, now, this Mortek cruiser?”

  “On her way here, Mz. Brandt.”

  “And, what do you plan on doing with them, Ambassador?”

  “Well, that is the question that I am asking you.”

  “You want us to take care of those bugs that tried to wipe us out?”

  “Like I said, they are prisoners of war. What should we do with them?”

  “They’re bugs. Kill them.”

  “You know better than that, Feldmarshal. They may not be human. They may be our enemy. But they do need to be treated justly and honorably.”

  “Then, you’re recommending a prison. Here on Tolimar.”

  “On the uninhabited continent, yes. But, more than that.”

  “You think we should coddle them?”

  “No, Mr. Roth. Re-educate them. I’ve studied as much of the intel on Morteks that I could find. So have Honorable Vidhee, Preceptor Igaklay, and Buster. The conclusion is that the Mortek are an exploitive race, stripping worlds for their survival. They know no other way.”

  “Which is why we need to wipe them out.”

  “Only as a last resort, Major. But, do we r
eally want to go down in the history crystals as the generation that committed genocide of an alien race? Or do we want to be remembered as the generation that brought an alien race into an age of enlightenment?”

  “That all sounds grand and glorious, Ambassador, but how do we perform this noble deed?”

  “That is where you and the crew of the Mortek cruiser come in. They call their ship Cruiser One, by the way. We set up a secure area on the other continent. Then we begin training them on self-reliance, growing their own food, building their own dwellings, educating their own offspring.”

  “You’re thinking that we build them a farming and cattle ranch then teach them how to make it work.”

  “That’s my idea, Mr. Roth.”

  “Well, I don’t think much of it, Ambassador.”

  “I’ve got this, Ambassador.”

  So saying, Krag stood and Keiko sat.

  “Thanks to the Elonian and Ballisonian technologies, we have everything we need to completely wipe out all the Mortek in all of our systems. We have the tech, but we don’t have the delivery systems or the ships built. It will take a long time, maybe years, to get that done. In the meantime, more systems may fall and more of Humanity will be wiped out.”

  Krag looked over the room, evaluating his audience.

  “Another point. We took a look at Yeni Persia. It’s gone. There are thousands of ships in that system, including a massive, what we think to be, colony ship. Millions of Mortek have overrun Sasania. There is nothing left of Humanity on that planet.”

  “More reason to wipe those bugs out.”

  “As a last resort, I agree. But it is the last resort.”

  “Krag, may I?”

  Keiko and Krag swapped positions.

  “In Humanity’s past, we have done the same to each other. Look at Adolf Hitler, Alexander the Great, Genghis Kan. They all slaughtered thousands, millions, of their fellow men and women in the name of conquest and control. When they, in turn, were overthrown, their victims did not wipe out the attacking armies or their families. They re-established a controlled peace. Many times in the past, we established a means to coexist with our enemies. This is no different.”

  “They’re bugs, not Humans.”

  “They are intelligent, aggressive beings with the same right to survive as we have. What they do not have the right to do is survive at Humanity’s expense. If we can teach them that, then we can coexist. If we can’t then we make sure that they never have the chance to harm us again.”