Echoes of War Box Set, page 87
part #1 of Echoes of War Series
“Yes, General,” Hayworth replied, leaving off the snark.
“Very well. Dismissed. Captain Singh, please stay behind for a moment. I want a private word with you.”
The rest of those in the conference room dutifully filed out, leaving David and Singh alone. An imposing figure, Rajneesh Singh stood just a tad under two meters and had a colorful addition to the usual CDF duty uniform; a curved sword that hung from his belt. “What can I do for you, General?” Singh asked.
“Captain, this is an extremely high-risk assignment. I’m unwilling to order you to do it,” David replied earnestly.
“Let me allay your concern, General. I volunteered, as I’m certain my entire team will volunteer if given the opportunity.”
“You realize it could be a one-way trip with unproven technology?”
“Yes, sir. If there’s a chance to strike a blow on the League, a blow so mighty as to dislodge them from this fortress where they’ve rained destruction on us for nearly thirty years, then it's worth my life, and those of my team to strike that blow. What will happen is the will of Ik Onkar.”
David raised an eyebrow. “Ik Onkar?”
Singh smiled. “Our word for God.”
“I see. I thought that you were—”
“Muslim?” Singh continued to smile. “We still get that a lot. I’m a Sikh.”
David grinned sheepishly. “Well, I have nothing to do for myself but look silly, Captain Singh.”
Singh laughed and extended his hand. “Call me Raj. My full first name is Rajneesh, but it always gets shortened, and I’ve grown to like it.”
David took the outstretched head and shook it warmly. “David.”
“You might be interested to know that my last name, Singh, translates to ‘Lion.’ I found it quite ironic when I was posted to the Lion of Judah.”
“Perhaps God does work in mysterious ways,” David replied, still wearing the same sheepish grin. He felt terrible for disrespecting the man’s beliefs, even though it was unintended.
“One of the tenets of my faith is we do not believe there to be one absolute truth. So it’s entirely possible from my perspective.” Singh paused for a moment. “General, you must not hesitate to strike the hardest blow we can against the League. I’ve seen what it looks like after they’ve taken over a planet and forced its people into reeducation, as they call it. What remains are mere shells of what was formerly a robust population and people. No matter what it takes, we must win here.”
“We’ll do our best… and the League will do its worst,” David said, shaking his head. “Someday, we won’t have to get up every morning and plan how we’re going to kill people. Someday.”
“And on that day, I will celebrate, as will everyone in the Terran Coalition. But it’s not today. Today we must fight, we must fight with everything we have in us, with every ounce of courage and bravery. For if we do not win today, I fear there won’t be many more tomorrows.”
“I don’t disagree. Plan the best op you can, Captain. Godspeed.”
“Godspeed to you as well, General,” Singh said as he braced to attention before walking out of the conference room.
David sat there for a few minutes, reflecting on the battle that lay before them. All of it rested on the ability of Doctor Hayworth to make his technological solution work. He quietly prayed that the doctor would be up to the challenge.
Standing in his quarters, Admiral Seville squeezed the glass of brandy he was holding such that his hand hurt. Damn the Social and Public Safety Committee, damn them all! I delivered a victory, and now after all the blood that’s been spilled, they want to give it away to those damn fanatics. Downing the rest of the brown drink, he flung the glass across the room. It bounced off a wall, undamaged thanks to being a nearly unbreakable polymer. The doorbell to his quarters went off, and he angrily shouted, “Who is it?”
“Colonel Strappi, sir.”
“Come in.”
The door slid open, and Strappi strode in with purpose. “It’s time, Admiral.”
Seville shook his head angrily. “I should not have to beg the Social and Public Safety Committee to listen to me on this matter. I have successfully led this war! We just wiped out a fifth of the Canaan Alliance’s fleet.”
“Admiral, while I, of course, completely agree with you, you must realize the committee wants to see more losses inflicted on our foe. They want to erase the specter of defeat that has haunted us so closely these last months.”
“If they wanted to win, they’d send me the reinforcements I’ve asked for,” Seville replied.
“I cannot speculate except to say the committee believes those forces are needed elsewhere.”
“Yes, it’s our great affliction. Our territory is so vast, our massive fleet is needed in twenty places at once to secure it,” Seville spat, pausing for just a moment to collect his thoughts. “Is it time, Colonel?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then bring up the video link.”
In the few seconds it took Strappi to engage the real-time communications link back to Earth, Seville marveled at the incredible amount of resources that were going into this holocall. They were so far away from Earth that, on both ends, almost the entire power output of two large fusion reactors had to be used to power the link. After a moment, the holoprojector engaged, and they were suddenly in the meeting room of the State Security Committee. Seville bowed his head respectfully, as did Strappi.
“Mister Chairman, it is, as always, an honor to speak with you and the rest of your esteemed colleagues,” Seville said, with every fiber of his being seething inside.
“Admiral, thank you for taking time for this meeting from your assuredly full schedule as you seek to track down and eliminate the Terran Coalition’s military, once and for all,” Pallis said.
“Anything I can to help further the cause of our League is in no way a burden, Chairman Pallis,” Seville replied.
“Well then, Admiral, since time is at a premium, especially with the cost associated with this link, let’s get down to the matter at hand. What is your plan to finish off the Terran Coalition and Saurian Empire’s combined fleet? We understand from your reports it still exists, despite significant losses.”
“Chairman, right now, we occupy a position of strength. While weakened, the enemy fleet is still a formidable opponent.”
Several of the members of the committee looked at each other; one wearing the uniform of the League Navy spoke up. “Admiral, you have them at your mercy. Do you have a firm location on the Terran and Saurian fleets?”
“No, sir, I don’t. I’ve been holding my ships in closely, rather than send them out to search. I believe our foe intends to attack us again, and I want all of my strength in one place so that we might grind them into dust.”
Pallis shook his head. “Admiral, the committee does not believe this is the wisest course of action.”
Seville interrupted the chairman before he could begin to speak again. “Chairman, while I understand the desire and the very need to destroy our hated enemy, we must realize that for the last three months, they’ve won battle after battle. Now we have a weapon they can’t match. Prudence dictates we allow them to come to us yet again, and then we can strike the final blow. I’m certain of this strategy, more certain than I’ve been of any yet devised.”
“I’ve heard this before. You said it before we tried to bomb Canaan from orbit four months ago. We all know it turned into an unmitigated disaster that brought the Saurians into the war on the side of the Terran Coalition,” the same admiral fumed.
“We’ve succeeded today, Admiral. Let us not dwell on the events of the past. We must focus on destroying the Terran Coalition and her allies. Chairman, please give us a few more days. The Terrans aren’t going anywhere. They haven’t even broken radio silence for one of their news broadcasts. They’re hurting, but they’re planning something. I feel it in my bones. Dividing our forces now is exactly what they want us to do,” Seville said.
“Admiral Seville, you’ve earned my indulgence and by extension the indulgence of this committee. Don’t squander it. When we speak again, I want a concrete plan of action to destroy the remaining Terran Coalition forces,” Pallis replied.
“Yes, sir, I understand.”
“Very well, Admiral. We’ll speak again soon.”
As soon as Pallis finished speaking, the feed cut out, returning Seville’s quarters to its usual drab interior.
“Idiots!” Seville screamed at the top of his lungs. “They can’t run a war from thousands of lightyears away by committee!”
“Admiral,” Strappi said, trying to soothe the man. “Please, we must remain calm. The Social and Public Safety Committee is the embodiment of the will of the people, and the knowledge of the state. It can’t be wrong.”
“Oh, you’re a worthless fool,” Seville raged in return. “You believe that? If you do, try breathing in space without a spacesuit!”
“You can’t say such things, Admiral! Even if they are true,” Strappi replied, glancing around the room as if they were being monitored in some fashion.
“We have fought for nearly thirty years to liberate the Terrans. We’ve spilled the blood of so many sailors, it’s a mere statistic now that’s too large to conceive of,” Seville said, beginning to calm down. “I will not allow our success now to be thrown into jeopardy because some old men back on Earth want a quick win!”
“You need a convincing plan, Admiral,” Strappi said quietly.
“The plan is to wait for the Terrans to attack again,” Seville insisted. “They’re feeling us out now, they’ll come back, and we’ll crush them.”
“That’s not good enough for the Social and Public Safety Committee. You have to dress it up.”
Seville rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this crap.”
“I’ll handle it for you, Admiral.”
“Thank you, Colonel Strappi.”
“Of course, sir. Should I leave you?”
“Yes. I need some time alone to consider how we can draw out the Terrans and inflict a final, crushing blow.”
“Yes, sir,” Strappi said, standing and walking out of the room. Seville watched the hatch close and went back to his brooding thoughts. Once the minefield is fully reseeded, any attack they make will be futile. We need to tempt them into attacking us once more.
19
Three hundred lightyears away from the Lion and the rest of the joint fleet, the CSV Oxford and her merry band of intelligence analysts, led by Colonel Robert Sinclair, continued with their essential work. Striding onto the central operations center floor, with a mug of tea fitted with a spill-proof cover, Sinclair surveyed the team hard at work. He glanced up at the motto of the CDF Intelligence service, “In God we trust, all others we monitor,” which hung proudly from a banner in the ceiling of the cavernous room. Recent reports indicated that the fleet had taken a severe beating at Unity Station, but actual details were scant. First Lieutenant Alon Tamir motioned him over to his workstation with a wave.
“Colonel, do you have a minute, sir?” Tamir asked.
Sinclair slid into an empty chair next to Tamir’s station. “What do you have for me, Lieutenant?”
“We’ve been picking up a ton of League chatter coming into and out of Unity Station, sir. Making heads or tails of it has been difficult with that new encryption protocol they’ve been using.”
Sinclair nodded. The League sure had picked the wrong time to start getting some basic technologies right. “Tell me something I don’t already know,” he remarked in his perfectly British-accented voice.
“The energy associated with some of these transmissions is off the charts. There were at least two communications with Earth that contained real-time video links,” Tamir said, pride imbuing his voice.
Sinclair’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure?”
Tamir nodded, tapping some keys on his station and pulling up a chart. “See here, sir? As I said, the power output is off the chart. The only thing it could be is direct video link back to Earth or an equidistant point in space. Earth is the most likely target, especially combined with the vector the signal was going out toward.”
“Conclusions, then?”
“I believe that Admiral Seville was having a direct conversation with someone very high up in the League. Most likely the Social and Public Safety Committee.”
“No decryption of the conversation yet?”
“No, sir, and we won’t have it for several days. I do, though, have decryptions of some loose discussions between League ship captains in the fleet assigned to Unity Station. They constantly make reference to Seville wanting to keep them tied to the station. A group of them wants to hunt for us. This is a guess, which fits the facts, but is still only a guess… I think the Social and Public Safety Committee wants Seville to send out the dogs. Seville rightly believes he’s strongest at Unity Station and is daring us to take another shot at him.”
Sinclair found himself nodding again; Tamir’s conclusions, while taking several steps beyond what they had evidence for, were logical. More than that, over the time they’d served together, Tamir had rarely been wrong. He’d grown to trust him and the at times unique insights he saw in masses of raw intelligence data. “How many more ships has Seville gotten?”
Tamir shook his head. “He hasn’t made up for the ones we destroyed, but he’s received at least a hundred and fifty as reinforcements. Even without the mines, I don’t see how the forces we have are going to be able to win with anything like acceptable losses.”
“We need to get this information to Colonel Cohen. Can you patch us in from here?”
“Yes, sir,” Tamir answered; every station in the operations center had comms capabilities. He tapped a few keys, and they waited. “I’m not getting a response from the Lion, sir.”
“Most likely because they’re at EMCON,” Sinclair said, answering the unspoken question. “And they’re not going to break it, no matter what our message is. What rally point did they transit to?”
“Bravo, sir. The entire fleet is at rally point bravo.”
“Then that’s where we’re going. Keep working on the decryption, Lieutenant. I’ll be on the bridge getting this tub’s location changed.”
“Aye aye, sir!” Tamir replied crisply.
The most senior officers on the Lion, including Aibek, Amir, Calvin, and David, had assembled for a video link back to Canaan. Colonel Ronald Meier and Lieutenant Robert Taylor, in his capacity as David’s flag staff, were also in attendance. The purpose was to brief General MacIntosh on their progress.
David apprehensively looked across the room. While the team had a good plan, he was determined to request reinforcements and try to obtain replacement fighters, bombers, and Marines. “Lieutenant,” he began, addressing Taylor. “For this meeting only, we’ll drop our EMCON status. Punch up General MacIntosh, please.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Taylor replied crisply, pulling up what amounted to a galaxy-wide version of an old-school video conference, and engaging the link.
After a moment, General MacIntosh’s face appeared; it looked from the background to David like the general was in his office.
“Greetings, gentlemen,” MacIntosh began without preamble.
“Good morning, sir,” David replied. “We’ve got an update for you on our progress.”
“Very good. Time is a commodity we don’t have a lot of, so let’s get started.”
“Yes, sir. Our team has been working around the clock on this problem. Bottom line up front is we believe the solution is to use our commando unit to storm the League space station and disable the mines at their place of control.”
MacIntosh stared intently at them through the screen. “Sounds extremely high risk, General. Walk me through it.”
“The plan, sir, is they will breach the control room for the mines, which we have pinpointed with a high degree of accuracy, and use a high energy communication burst to contact us… then the fleet will begin its assault.”
“How many combat-effective ships do you have, General?” MacIntosh asked.
“Over ninety percent of them, sir. We continue to suffer from shortages of pilots, small craft, and Marines. I’m hopeful you can divert some to us to plus up our ranks.”
MacIntosh shook his head. “President Spencer and Chief Minister Obe have been convinced by the heads of their various militaries that we can’t afford to send reinforcements. This happens with what you’ve got or not at all. I’ll transmit our latest and greatest intelligence reports, but one fact concerns me. Seville’s gotten nearly two hundred more ships since the battle. Can you take that kind of force on, even without the mines in play?”
David’s face became ashen as he ran the numbers in his mind. “Sir, the rate of loss would be unacceptable. We’d be on almost equal terms again. Can we go to President Spencer together and argue for the home defense fleet to be sent?”
“Absolutely not, General Cohen,” MacIntosh replied with a tone of finality.
“Sir—”
“It's not happening. The home defense fleet is the only thing standing between an invasion of Canaan and the League if you fail. Politically, it’d be suicide for the president. The press would have a field day. It's out of the question, General,” MacIntosh said in a heated tone.
David furrowed his brow and nodded in return. “I understand, sir. What about fighter pilots and Marines? We don’t have enough to storm Unity Station, especially on the Marine side.”
“At the rate of reinforcement that Seville is getting, there’s not enough time for us to get more pilots, small craft, and Marines to you. What you’ve got is all you’ll get, General. Look, I know it’s a lot of pressure. If we can’t win now, there’s nothing wrong with telling me that. We’ll pull back and try again later. They can’t move the damn station on us.”
