by Terry Mixon
“I appreciate the update, Arbiter,” he said formally. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to continue to funnel the communication between the civilian authorities and my command through you. Honestly, during this crisis, I think that the Arbiter Guild is going to play a key role in maintaining the stability we need while the new leadership gets on their feet.”
She smiled slightly. “I think you’re doing them a disservice, Admiral. Each government has a clear line of succession. Even as we speak, the highest-ranking survivors are taking the helms of their various governments. Things are a mess, but you can rest assured that they’re going to do everything they can to help you win the fight that’s coming.
“But your point is a good one. The Arbiter Guild will continue to work with everyone involved to smooth the process and assist in any way that we can.”
“Good,” Brad said. “Then if you could start getting me the names and basic information for each government’s space vessels, we can start putting together the grand force we’re going to need to defend the Jovian system.”
Brad immediately dispatched some of his smaller ships to scout the likely line of advance that the force that had attacked Mars had used. He knew he was taking a risk, because the refueling depot would be guarded. Unfortunately, they didn’t find anything.
In the few days that it’d taken them to search, Director Kernsky had gotten the majority of the mercenary ships and companies sorted out. They didn’t have anything larger than destroyers, but what ships they did have were powerfully armed and crewed by experienced personnel.
The various armed forces of the different political entities that made up the Jovian system were slower to gather, but they were beginning to show up in force as well. Even though Arbiter Blaze had insisted that he was in overall command, he felt it would be best if he focused his attention through a single person to convey his orders to those ships.
As the combined force was gathering around Io, he turned his attention to the commanding officer of Io’s own militia space forces, Commodore Giles Buckley. He was the most likely candidate for the job.
Even though Brad had more than enough on his plate, he knew that he had to take the time to meet with the man face to face. Buckley was waiting to meet Brad when he docked at the Io shipyards.
The man’s appearance wasn’t anything like what Brad had guessed based simply on his name. Rather than a tall, thin white man with blond hair like he’d imagined, Buckley was a short, rotund man with deep black hair and a dark reddish-brown tint to his skin.
It took Brad a moment or two to figure out the man had to have an American Indian genetic background.
Buckley smiled knowingly as he extended his hand. “It surprises everyone the first time,” he said with a hint of humor in his voice. “I obviously took after my mother. Welcome back to the Io shipyards, Admiral.
“While we’ve never officially met, I have seen you around and about the shipyard on occasion, back when you were a simple mercenary. Though I’m given to understand that simple may not be the appropriate descriptive term. Your reputation precedes you and I’m looking forward to working with you.”
“I hope you still think so once we’re done talking,” Brad said with a slight grin while he shook the man’s hand. “I’m afraid that I’m about to make your life significantly more complicated than it was just a minute ago.”
Buckley shook his head. “If you’re going to ruin my day, let’s at least do so over a decent meal. I took the liberty of having something brought to my office so that we could eat in peace and discuss whatever you needed to speak about without distractions.”
With that, the man led Brad and his escort to the offices of the Io space force.
Brad left all but two of his Marines in the outer office, with the intention of posting the remaining two outside the door while the two officers ate and talked.
Before he opened the door to his office, Buckley gave Brad a grin of his own. “I understand that you’ve come to give me a surprise, so I don’t feel badly by having a surprise of my own for you.”
Before Brad could respond, Buckley opened the door and he saw what Buckley had meant. Seated at a small table near the desk, eating something out of a cup with chopsticks, was Agent Kate Falcone.
“Don’t you just turn up in the oddest places,” he said as he stepped into the room and extended his hand. “It’s good to see you again, Kate.”
She set her cup and utensils down, rose to her feet, and pulled him into a hug instead. “You saved my ass from a black-site prison. That deserves more than a handshake.”
Once that was done, she stepped back and looked at him with her hands still on his shoulders. “You’re developing a bruise on the left side of your face. I’m assuming that means you’ve been in the thick of it.”
The corners of his mouth twitched upward. “Not intentionally. That’s just how things worked out this time. What brings you to Io? Please tell me you’ve got some good information on where the OWA is coming to refuel. We could really use it.”
Her expression turned a bit sour and she shook her head. “I wish I did, but the Agency is in the dark just as much as you are. They have to have a facility here somewhere, but none of the operatives we have looking for it have found any evidence that tells us where to look.
“That probably means they have it fiendishly well hidden and are using some kind of civilian facility to camouflage it. We’ll keep looking, but it’s going to be difficult to find it and deal with it before they leave Saturn.”
At Buckley’s gesture, Brad sat next to Falcone and started searching the bag of takeout Chinese for something that would suit him. His skill with chopsticks was limited, so he availed himself of the fork.
“I don’t suppose you happened to bring any good news to go with that?” he asked with a lopsided grin. “I could sure use some right now.”
“How would a drone carrier and its escorts of your own sound?” she asked. “I realize that’s not exactly a battleship, but used in an intelligent way, it could provide quite the boost to your offensive capabilities.”
Brad certainly wasn’t going to turn down additional ships. Like she said, a drone carrier could be a real asset if someone used it well.
“This is one of the Fleet units that I heard about? I’d wondered why they hadn’t been included in First Fleet.”
She shook her head with a grimace. “Sadly, the OWA managed the same sort of trick they pulled with their new battleship. There was a mutiny on board the drone carriers and their escorts, and then heavy fighting between the loyal and mutinous units. At least one drone carrier got away intact, but we think a second one escaped with moderate to heavy damage.”
“Perfect,” Brad muttered. “One more club in their hands to beat me with.”
He smiled sourly and gestured for her to continue. “So, where does the drone carrier I’m getting come from? The Agency?”
Kate nodded. “We’ve been testing one for our own use, not as a weapons platform but for scouting large areas of space looking for the Cadre, now the OWA. Don’t worry; we can replace the stealthed reconnaissance drones with weapons easily enough, though the intelligence you could get from the eyes in the sky might be very useful.”
“The extra ships will help. Thank you. And I’ll consider how the recon drones might prove helpful.”
He looked over at Buckley, who was eating fried rice and listening intently. “As fun as this reunion is, I came here to see you, Commodore. We’ve got to work out the specifics of how the Jovian security forces are going to operate with my Fleet units and the mercenaries. And now the Agency units.
“You’re the man on the scene, so I think you should be in tactical command of the Jovian units. Just like my other Commodores, I’ll pass along the strategic directions and you’ll work with the people you know to make the magic happen.”
Buckley nodded. “That’s basically what I expected to hear. I’m ready and my people will make sure that everything works as s
moothly as it can. We’re only going to get one shot at this, and we’ve got to make it work the first time.”
“And the Agency is going to be able to provide more than just firepower,” Kate said. “I’ve got a lot of information about the Jovian system that we can go over to help try to narrow down where there refueling base is located.
“Taking it out won’t make the fight for Jupiter any easier, but it will cripple their advance on Mars and Earth. Given enough time, the forces around Earth can get their act together and participate in the defense of the Inner System. To do that, it falls to us to stop them here.”
Brad knew that was a tall order, but he had to play the cards he’d been dealt or fold. He wasn’t the kind to just give up, so he’d find some way to stop the Cadre and save humanity. Somehow.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brad arrived back at Incredible a few hours later, still without a concrete plan to find the refueling station the OWA had to have in the area but feeling a little better about his chances of finding it before the hammer fell.
It turned out that it was his day for visitors. Captain Alycia Nah was waiting for him in the docking bay. She wasn’t alone. Standing beside her was an attractive auburn-haired woman that Brad knew well but hadn’t expected to see anytime soon: Dr. Gina Duvall of Serenade Station.
He smiled. “It’s good to see you, Doctor, though something of a surprise. I’m a little bit busy, but is there something I can do for the Doctors’ Guild?”
“Think of this as something like a house call. If you’ve got just a few minutes, I’d like to inspect the replacement we grew for your hand. It won’t take very long.”
Now very certain that something odd was going on, Brad nodded. “Of course. Nah, I picked up some new information while I was away talking to Commodore Buckley. Once I’m done speaking with the doctor and letting her poke around as much as she likes, I’d like to have my core flag officers available for a conference call. Can you set that up for me?”
His flag captain nodded. “Of course, sir. We’ll be set up in the wardroom when you’re ready. I also have some new information to add to our tally, but it’s not very important in the grand scheme of things.”
With that out of the way, Brad led Dr. Duvall back to his office. Once they were safely behind the guarded door, he turned to the woman and smiled a bit lopsidedly.
“Not that I’m unhappy to see you, Doctor, but what is this really about?” he asked as he sat on the edge of his desk.
“The Cadre, or whatever they’re calling themselves these days. I have information that they’re active in the Trojans. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind of information that I could just send to you. It had to be delivered in person and in a way that didn’t raise suspicion beyond a certain threshold.”
Without asking, she stepped over to the bar built in his office and poured herself a little of something with a red tinge of color to the liquid. She sipped it and nodded approvingly.
“You’re familiar with how the Doctors’ Guild works, so I don’t need to explain how we try to maintain our neutrality in things that are going on. You were present when the Guild decided that the Cadre had violated our rules and would no longer receive any medical treatment.
“What you might not realize is that we also decided to begin gathering information about Cadre operations in case it became necessary to share that with Fleet or perhaps even the Mercenary Guild.”
Following her lead, he poured himself a very small glass of whiskey and sipped at the fiery liquid. “And it’s now time to share that information? I hope this doesn’t mean that the OWA is active in the leading Trojan cluster.”
“The opposite, actually. We have a number of general physicians that visit the various stations and settlements in the trailing Trojan cluster to take care of their general health needs. Over the last several months, we’ve become aware of a change in behavior there.”
Brad frowned, concerned with what she’d just said. “That is troubling. What type of altered behavior are we talking about?”
“The people have become more afraid. They’re jumpy. Some of the folks that the doctors doing the visits know well have vanished and no one will tell them where they are. In fact, all of our usual sources of information have simply dried up.
“It’s as if they were warned not to talk to the doctors about anything at all. Even the number of visits by people that need care has dropped precipitously. Statistically, that’s impossible. What that tells me is that the OWA is doing something in the area.”
That certainly did sound suspicious. “If that were all you had to say, you could’ve still gotten me the information without coming in person. There something you haven’t told me yet.”
Her expression grim, she nodded. “While we never told any of our personnel to try and gather more information, I’m very much afraid that one of our physicians may have asked the wrong question of the wrong person.
“A small ship with a medical team and supplies—a mobile clinic, if you will—has gone missing. I’m very concerned that the OWA now has my people.”
That was about what Brad had expected. “We’re going to be searching the entire Jovian system over the next several days, so we’ll be happy to keep an eye out for your ship and people, but I just can’t devote a specific group of ships to search for them. I’m sorry.”
“I think you misunderstand,” she said tossing back the last of her drink. “I’m not asking that you help me find them, though I want that. I’m saying that they are an opportunity for you to find where the OWA is hiding.
“Most people don’t know it, but all Doctors’ Guild ships carry locator beacons. Their use is meant to be for indicating a ship that’s been infected with some plague and should be avoided. Something like a quarantine light. A warning to stay clear.
“An even-less-known fact is that it can be made to transmit remotely and on frequencies that aren’t normally monitored. If one of your ships comes within range of where our missing ship is being held, you can trigger a response that might very well go unnoticed, and then turn the beacon off again.”
Brad had to admit that the news did open up some possibilities. Combined with the arrival of Falcone and her secret carrier, that might just give them the edge they needed to find the secret OWA refueling depot. If, of course, they could be subtle enough.
“I think I might have a plan that helps us both,” Brad said with a smile. “You realize that, technically, you’re not violating any of your oaths. You’re not telling us where the OWA is hiding anything. You’re not divulging any secrets that your patients may have passed along.
“All you’re doing is asking us to locate a missing vessel and giving us the key to find it. If the OWA just happens to be holding your ship in a location that sensitive to them, that’s hardly your fault, is it? And if we rescue your people and smash the OWA facility, well, those kinds of things happen.”
She smiled coldly at Brad. “That’s exactly what the board said. I wish I could give you more information, Admiral, but at this point, I’m not sure that you need it. On behalf of the Doctors’ Guild, we thank you for your assistance in this matter.
“I realize that you’re a very busy man, so I’ll let you get back to what you need to be doing. I did bring along a number of physicians in case something untoward happens during the search. It might be helpful to have a lot of medical personnel on hand if things go…badly for someone. We have a lot of friends in the trailing Trojans. We’ll want to save as many of them as we can.”
Captain Nah was waiting for him in his office when he finished with his meeting with Duvall. She stood as Brad walked in and took his seat, and before resuming her own.
“What have you got for me?” he asked. “I hope it’s good news.”
She nodded. “It’s good news though, in the scheme of things, probably not extremely helpful. Still, everything helps. Dr. Duval arrived with a fleet contingent that had been stationed in the leading Trojan cluster at the reques
t of the Doctors’ Guild.
“No big ships, but I doubt you’ll turn away six destroyers and a dozen smaller ships. The destroyers are half-and-half Warrior-class and Bound-class.”
“I certainly won’t turn my nose up at that,” Brad said with a smile. “I’m sure Commodore Bailey will be thrilled to have additional Bound-class ships. I remember being told that these ships were out here, but I’d forgotten in all the excitement. Is that it?”
“That’s it,” she confirmed. “I have the others standing by for a videoconference with you. If you have no further need of me, I’ll get back to my bridge and get to a few other tasks that have been awaiting my attention.”
He checked his desk comp and found the communications link already set up, just waiting for him to join. Once he did so, video images of Commodores Bailey, Nuremberg, Jahoda, and Buckley appeared. Also joining them was Director Kernsky.
“Thank you very much for joining me,” he said. “Since we’ve last spoken, I’ve come into possession of a couple of bits of information. Please check to make absolutely certain this channel is encrypted on your end while I do the same.”
He double-checked the status of the communications link and confirmed that it was encrypted at the highest level. That didn’t necessarily mean that the OWA hadn’t penetrated it, but this was the best he could do to make sure what he said next didn’t get out.
Once each of the others had verified that their links were similarly encrypted, he continued. “Actually, I suppose the first thing that I should do is address one bit of housekeeping. Director Kernsky, I’m afraid your title really isn’t conducive to commanding units in space. It’s more of an administrative title than a command one, so I believe that it’s best you assume the rank of Rear Admiral so that it’s absolutely clear to the mercenaries who is in command of their operations.”
