Princess Valerie's War

by Terry Mancour

  “I can see that,” murmured the Secretary. “It’s impressive. And you’d be willing to share this technology?”

  “With our firm and loyal allies,” Karvall agreed.

  “To be honest, Osiris has always enjoyed a very robust defense posture. And our economic position makes attacking us . . . problematic for the Great Powers. As a government, we’ve invested heavily in key industries and securities on each of the Great Powers’ central worlds, and we’d be able to bring significant pressure to bear economically, should they choose to be so foolish,” he said, smugly.

  Sir Alexi stared at him a moment, and then added, thoughtfully, “and how much economic leverage to you possess over the Sword Worlds?”

  Secretary Molina couldn’t stifle his laugh, and apologized. “My dear Sir, the Sword Worlds are almost five thousand light-years away from us. And we’re more than capable of fending off the odd Space Viking who is foolish enough to test our defenses.”

  “What I’m suggesting is far beyond a mere raid,” Sir Alexi said, quietly. “As a token of good faith, my lady Princess Valerie has authorized me to share this information . . . provided that it can be kept confidential,” he added. When he got a firm nod, he continued.

  “Our intelligence indicates that there’s a substantial increase in ship construction in the Sword Worlds and at their bases in the Old Federation. Substantial,” he repeated, for emphasis. “Now there are only a dozen Sword Worlds, and only a few real Space Viking planets, but when I say ‘substantial’ . . . well, we’re expecting between forty and fifty ships to be completed in the next two years. Maybe sooner. And that’s on top of the eighty already in military service amongst the Sword Worlds. The Royal Navy of Excalibur has over a score of ships greater than a thousand feet – warships, Excellency. By our estimation, the Sword Worlds will have a fleet of two hundred ships within five years. There are about two hundred independent Space Viking ships already in Old Federation space,” he added, helpfully.

  “But why?” the man asked, puzzled. “They can’t possibly think—”

  “They can and they do, Excellency. There is a powerful faction growing in the Sword Worlds that is seriously pursuing the idea of invading the Old Federation, with the purpose of conquest. Believe me, I am from the Sword World’s myself,” he added, “and I shudder at the prospect.”

  “Then all of these dire warnings the Atonians and the Isisians have been making over the years?”

  “They have at least a germ of truth to them, Excellency,” nodded Alexi. “There’s still much we don’t know – but what I do know is that if the Sword Worlds combine their strength under one banner, then the rest of the galaxy should fear. We’re descended from those you brand traitors and rebels – the core of the System States military that refused to surrender,” he reminded the diplomat. “My people study war the way yours study commerce, Excellency. And we have five hundred years of paranoia and vengeance to work off of. If the Sword Worlds invade, Osiris will definitely be among their targets. And you cannot use economic leverage to stop, say, ten ships from descending on you all at once.”

  The Secretary looked pale. “Are you trying to frighten me, Excellency?” he asked, calmly.

  “That is my entire purpose,” agreed Alexi. “Mr. Secretary, whether or not you decide to ally or even recognize Tanith, we respect and admire your civilization enough to want to warn you about this very real possibility. I don’t expect an answer this minute,” he added, “but do take it up with your superiors. Tanith is out there, willing to be your friend. And, I think it goes without saying, if you should choose to ally yourselves with Aton, Tanith would not consider that a favorable development,” he said, not mentioning how Tanith’s displeasure might be expressed. The news reports with the multiple raids would be floating back to Osiris through third parties in another few hundred to a thousand hours. That should galvanize debate, in one way or another.

  “I . . . see,” Secretary Molina nodded. “As far as an alliance with Aton, I don’t see that in our future, at least. Not while this government is in power. We’re proud of our democracy, and when agitators began something called the Osirian Popular Front – which was little more than a front for Atonian intelligence agents and paymasters – began fielding candidates a few years ago, we squashed the movement – utterly. The involvement of Aton was exposed, and we all but broke off relations with them. You could say that there is substantial resentment among the people of Osiris over the incident.”

  “That’s a good thing to know,” Alexi said, with a nod. “I understand that you must put this before your policymakers before you can act, but tell me, Secretary, is there any other way in which you suspect Aton is encroaching on Osirian interests?”

  The older man made a sour face. “Well, there is the Ausklis matter . . .” he said, uneasily.

  “I’d love to hear you tell me about it,” Alexi said, charmingly.

  “Well, we used to have strong trade with a world called Ausklis, about seventy light-years away. It used to be a pretty nice world, before the Interstellar Wars. The remnants of the Old Federation were trying to keep Baldur and Marduk from breaking away, and they used Ausklis as an example – they nuked the five biggest cities. They didn’t kill everyone off, of course, but the survivors decivilized for a while, before Baldur brought them back about two centuries ago.

  “Their primary export, besides the usual luxury goods, is molybdenum – that’s an important mineral. Place has mountains of the stuff, high quality, too. We used to import it raw and refine it, here, for use in industry. We had a good balance of trade going, too. But then Aton started aggressively courting the planet’s government, and about twenty years ago they had a revolution. Now there’s a puppet regime there, and they’ve stopped all direct trade. If we want molybdenum from Ausklis, we aren’t allowed to get it directly. According to some inane regulation it has to be transshipped to Aton first, for ‘processing’. And then they add a hefty tariff on it, too.

  “But what’s worse is what they’re doing to the people. The Ausklisians always had a very pleasant society, despite their hardships. But the Atonians have been systematically breaking down their traditional methods of governance and are trying to re-engineer the whole society. I can’t say the changes have been all bad – they’ve done a lot to improve the planet’s physical infrastructure, but they’re killing the social one. They even built a university there, a big one, to help keep Ausklis civilized – which is Atonian for ‘indoctrinated’. But they wont let our ships trade their anymore, and they have the beginnings of a naval base there. It hasn’t escaped the Osirian government’s notice that a major naval base within a hundred light-years of our world constitutes at least a theoretical threat.”

  “And of course you can’t do anything directly about it,” agreed Alexi. “That would upset your delicate balance.”

  “Exactly,” sighed the Secretary. “We can protest, but that doesn’t do much with Aton. We could go to war . . . but if Aton really wanted to ruin Osiris, they could. It’s like have a gingerbear sitting on your foot – how do you get it to move without getting yourself torn to pieces?”

  “It occurs to me, Excellency,” Sir Alexi said, casually, “that Tanith is currently at war with Aton. As a matter of fact, at this very moment ships from Tanith are attacking multiple targets within their sphere of influence. My own ship will be returning to military duty immediately after the conclusion of this conference,” he added, “and we will be striking Atonian military targets.”

  The Foreign Secretary stiffened. “The government of Osiris cannot condone any attack on Aton, with whom we have friendly relations,” he said, as if by rote.

  “Nor would I want you to, Excellency,” soothed Sir Alexi. “I’m just informing you as to my government’s position and intentions . . . and wondering, purely as speculation, how Osiris would benefit if the Atonian presence on – Ausklis? On Ausklis was neutralized?”

  “And trade re-opened?” the official asked, though
tfully. “That would benefit us greatly,” he admitted.

  “Then I suggest you send a ship to Ausklis about ten hours after my ship departs,” he advised. “A ship full of medicine and relief supplies. And maybe any former dissidents from Ausklis you trust to form a new government. Just as a precaution,” he added, with the smallest of grins.

  “I . . . I believe I understand, Excellency,” the man nodded. “And might I say that while Osiris probably cannot extend full diplomatic recognition immediately,” he said, stressing the word, “due to the undue amount of attention that might attract, if we were in a better economic position, then extending our commercial reach as far as Tanith would be quite natural.”

  “Exactly,” nodded Alexi. “No quid quo pros, of course. But a casual, under-the-table gentleman’s agreement?”

  “Tell me, Sir Alexi,” sighed the diplomat, “are all Sword World diplomats so subtle, tenacious, and well-spoken?”

  “I’ve been told I’m a bit of an aberration,” admitted the young knight with a laugh.

  “Thank God,” Secretary Molina smiled. “If I faced the prospect of an invasion of ships filled with the likes of you . . . well, I think I’d probably just go ahead and surrender now.”

  The next day Secretary Molina and a group of aides toured the Moon Goddess, where Sir Alexi had prepared a presentation featuring some of the trade items available at Tanith’s markets the potential advantages of a political alliance. The Osirians were impressed, but tight-lipped about whether or not such an alliance was feasible. That was sufficient, for the purposes of the mission: the goal had been to make the small empire aware of the possibilities.

  Fifty hours later, the Moon Goddess went into hyperspace and prepared for its first solo raid in the war. Thanks to the Osirians, Sir Alexi had far more information on the target than Space Vikings normally get -- Osirian intelligence agencies had thick files on Ausklis, thick enough to convince Alexi that the world was far more important to the strategic interests of Osiris than they’d let on. After reviewing the documents in hyperspace, Alexi could see why. Molybdenum was certainly the biggest prize Ausklis had, but it was by no means the only one. The world produced several kinds of rare earth minerals that were essential for any kind of sophisticated electronics or machinery.

  With that in mind, Alexi and his staff spent hours developing a raiding plan that encompassed the maximum financial gain, the maximum military gain, and the maximum political gain without endangering his ship or his crew more than necessary. By the time the Moon Goddess emerged over Ausklis in the final microjump, his staff was well-prepared and his men were well drilled in their missions.

  The 9600 mile blue-green planet’s single moon was unoccupied -- it was a mere 400 mile wide sliver of rock too far from Ausklis to make a good base. But two normal-space 500 foot patrol ships were in orbit, guarding Aton’s claim to Ausklis. Alexi wasn’t impressed -- he’d expected more. Destroying those ships was the first step. One was in high cis-lunar orbit, guarding the most likely space a ship would come out of hyperspace in. The other was in a much lower, faster orbit, where it could control the entry into the planet’s atmosphere.

  If both ships were allowed to engage the Moon Goddess together, they would be a challenge. So the Moon Goddess viciously and suddenly attacked the high-orbit ship by surprise. Launching two of her pinnaces after emerging behind the moon, the three ships sent a blistering salvo of missiles around the tiny rock towards the Atonian patrol when it made its closest approach to the satellite. The crew of the vessel had four minutes in which to react. A few anti-missile missiles were launched, but the devastating onslaught from the Space Vikings was decisive, and the nighttime sky of Ausklis lit up briefly with the flare of its demise.

  The lower altitude ship broke orbit almost at once, and began climbing towards the site of the battle to investigate. The two pinnaces emerged from behind the satellite and proceeded to engage the vessel, while the Moon Goddess stayed concealed. Faced with two opponents -- and unknown dangers beyond -- the patrol ship began attacking prematurely, hurling rockets at the extreme limits of their range. The Royal Navy men aboard the pinnaces were cooler heads -- they took turns slowly sniping at the ascending ship, luring it one way and then the other, always harassing but never quite engaging.

  After two hours of the cat-and-mouse game, the Moon Goddess emerged, far out of the patrol ship’s range, and began a rapid descent into the atmosphere.

  There were two ways a ship could enter the atmosphere of a world -- gradually, allowing the Abbot Drives time to slow the ship using the planet’s own gravitational field as leverage -- or rapidly, depending on the planet’s atmosphere to provide enough resistance to brake the ship’s speed while the Abbots punched back against the gravity well. The former method was preferred, because of the far smaller energy bill involved, but the latter method -- which could crash a ship, upon occasion -- had its tactical uses. Sir Alexi had decided that the tactical advantages were worth the risk and expense of a hard descent. Besides, it shaved almost four hours off of the descent time, and that time advantage could prove critical.

  The method of descent had another side-effect: the heat from the air friction around the ship was enough to ignite, making the Moon Goddess resemble a blazing comet of doom in the skies of Ausklis. In the three orbits it took to descend on the world, the ship would appear to be like a harbinger of peril to the people on the world below.

  Sir Alexi launched the other two pinnaces half way down the descent, taking personal command of one. The Moon Goddess herself, under Captain Molina, would continue towards the site of the Atonian naval base at the capital city. The other pinnace departed for the site of the molybdenum refinery, where it would take over possession of the highest grade metals stockpiled there.

  Sir Alexi’s team, comprised of thirty stalwart ground-fighters and a compliment of combat contragravity, were on a more important mission. As the Moon Goddess began to engage the anti-aircraft guns of the base half a world away, Alexi’s team landed just outside the rough circle in the forest that was the site of Aton’s educational outreach to the Ausklisians.

  Sir Alexi was going to raid the University.

  It was mid-day in this part of the world, which meant that classes were in session. The gleaming new ferrocrete buildings were filled with students and professors. The entire complex held at least a thousand students, and their quizzical-looking faces stared up at him as the pinnace hovered over the center of the campus, flanked by combat cars and aircav mounts.

  Sir Alexi descended in a command car, and as the square in front of an impressive-looking clock tower, and as his marines deployed around the area, menacing the cowed students with their carbines and submachine guns, Alexi demanded that the crowd produce a leader. When no one in particular would step forward, Alexi ordered the clock tower destroyed with a missile from a combat car.

  It didn’t take long after that for a pudgy little man to get pushed forward.

  “I-I’m Carlo Cintovera, the Chancellor of this University,” he said, shaking visibly. “W-what can I d-do for you g-gentlemen?” he asked, terrified.

  “I am Sir Alexi Karvall, Captain of the Golden Hand, the royal guards of Tanith,” Alexi boomed in his most intimidating voice. “The Princely Realm of Tanith is currently at war with the Planetary Republic of Aton,” he informed the man, and the crowd at large.

  “Well, we’re on Ausklis,” the little administrator replied. “You have the wrong planet.” From his voice, it was clear that that settled the matter, in his mind.

  “This facility was funded and staffed by Aton, was it not?”

  “Oh, yes, I’m Atonian myself! Proud Party member,” he added, almost by rote. “But we’re not military, here. We’re an academic institution. We’re civilians,” he stressed.

  “I understand that, Chancellor Cintovera,” Alexi said, coldly. “And I do not make war on civilians. However, I consider this university -- what’s the name?” he said, interrupting himself.

/>   “Farrinrose University,” the Chancellor said, proudly. “Originally it was Farrinrose Polytechnic, until Aton sent us a graduate-level humanities department. Now we’re more than just training technicians. We’re re-building a sophisticated civilization here, one bright young mind at a time.”