The Colossus, page 33
part #12 of Blood on the Stars Series
“Apologies, Number Eight, but my instructions are highly specific. The information I have for you cannot be transmitted over an open line.”
“Hallis…Colossus has been boarded. The enemy has exploited our low crew levels, and the ship is in extreme danger.” He knew he shouldn’t be discussing the tactical situation in such detail over open comm lines either, but there was no choice. Akella wouldn’t have sent Hallis unless the message was of extreme importance. He had to know…and he had to know immediately.
“You must save Colossus, Commander. The ship must return to Calpharon immediately.” There was a pause, and then Hallis reluctantly continued.
“It is the Others, Number Eight. They have returned. They have attacked and destroyed one of our fleets.”
* * *
Barron sat on Dauntless’s bridge, his eyes on the main display, moving back and forth between Colossus, and the approaching Hegemony fleet. Rogan and his Marines were aboard, and the desperate attempt to somehow stop the enemy behemoth was underway. Barron had felt a brief burst of relief when the cloaked ships made it through. The Marines’ mission was a difficult one, still a longshot, but at least they’d gotten to Colossus.
Now it was time to pull the fleet back, to avoid a deadly confrontation if possible. At least until he knew if Rogan’s people had succeeded. Even if the mission was a massive success, if Colossus was destroyed, the enemy fleet was still a terrible danger to his own. His strike force had been gutted at Santara, and most of the fighters he’d had left were outfitted as interceptors to face the new Hegemony squadrons. His bombers were weak, and currently deployed against Colossus. He had nothing left to throw at the enemy battle line, nothing to degrade the awesome power of their railguns.
He’d watched as Stockton and the interceptor wings cut into the Hegemony fighters, repaying the enemy for the damage they had done at Santara. That at least, had been gratifying, if not terribly material to the outcome of the battle.
Most of his thoughts were with the Marines he’d sent to board the enemy superbattleship. Bryan Rogan was one of his few real friends, and he’d long counted Anya Fritz on that list as well. Both of them were aboard Colossus, and despite his repeated attempts to hope for the best, the grim realist inside him couldn’t see a way they could get off the massive enemy vessel, even if they somehow managed to destroy it.
Barron had lost comrades before, and friends, and he’d endured it all. But he suspected every man had his limits, and his agony over Andi’s unknown fate had him close to his.
Andi, at least, had some chance to hide on Dannith. That gave her better survival prospects than Rogan and Fritz had, but Barron still couldn’t bring himself to believe she would make it back. He’d tried, worked hard to turn pointless, scattered hopes into some kind of faith that Vig Merrick and the others would somehow succeed. But whatever success he’d managed to attain had been fleeting, passing instants, followed only by renewed despair.
“Admiral…we’ve got an incoming communique.”
Barron turned toward Atara’s station. Her words were nothing extraordinary or unexpected, not with the whole fleet mobilized in the system…but there was something in her tone…
“Yes, Atara…who is it?” Was it a report from the Marines aboard Colossus, he wondered? No, he didn’t see how that was possible. Their portable comm units would never penetrate the imperial alloy in the hull. One of the other ships, one of his unit commanders, reporting some new development or asking for further orders? Or Jake Stockton?
“It’s from the Hegemony flagship, Admiral. A Commander Chronos. He says he is the supreme Hegemony commander on the Rim.”
Barron heard the words, but they didn’t register, not at first. “Commander Chronos?” Barron had heard the name, and he knew, from what meager intelligence had been gathered on the enemy’s command structure, that Chronos was indeed the name of the Hegemony commander in chief.
“On my line, Admiral.” Barron slid his headset over his ears from where he’d shoved it back on his head. He was tense, edgy. Was Chronos going to repeat the terms that had been offered before, to try to convince him to accept surrender?
Or had his communique ben prompted by what was happening on Colossus?
Barron felt a fleeting hope, a passing thought that there might be a way to save his people on the great ship, at least until reality reasserted itself. There was no way. Nothing the Hegemony commander could say to him would eliminate the need to destroy Colossus.
Or, so he thought.
“Admiral Barron, this is Chronos, Eighth of the Hegemony and commander of all Hegemony forces on the Rim. I will spare us any preamble and state my purpose directly. I am prepared to offer a truce, a cessation of all hostilities on the Rim, effective immediately.”
The words hit Barron like a hammer. That was the last thing he’d expected to hear, and he was immediately suspicious. Was the enemy trying to push him to accept their previous terms?
“We have already informed you that your proposed terms are not acceptable, Commander Chronos. There can be no peace while your forces remain anywhere on the Rim. If you withdraw your fleets and evacuate all occupied worlds, I am sure the governments of the Grand Alliance will be prepared to discuss terms of a lasting peace. Until that time…”
“We will withdraw all forces from the Rim, immediately or as close to such as shipping capacity will allow.”
Barron sat silent, stunned. His thoughts dueled each other, his mind struggling to accept what it had just heard.
“You will leave the Rim?” The words just blurted out. Barron had heard Chronos, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe any of it. It had to a be a trick…and he had no intention of allowing the enemy to deceive him.
“Yes, we will leave. The war will end immediately.”
“You will withdraw your battle line at once?”
“Yes, Admiral. We will recall all fighters, and as soon as they have landed, Colossus and our fleet will transit. All our forces will head to Dannith. From there, we will organize our withdrawal from all occupied worlds, and once complete, we will leave that world as well.”
“And I’m supposed to trust you?” Barron’s mind raced, trying to understand what was happening. Then, it came to him.
Colossus. The boarding teams must be in place…they must be close to destroying that monster from inside. They’re afraid they’re going to lose their superweapon.
“If you review your incoming scans, you will see that our fighter squadrons are all breaking off, and our battle line is decelerating at maximum thrust. All that remains is to contact your boarding parties on Colossus, and arrange for their return to your fleet.”
That is it. Colossus. Bryan and Anya must be close to completing their mission.
He felt a wave of pride, mixed with sadness. Destroying Colossus would be an immense victory, but it was going to cost a thousand Marines…and two of his closest friends.
“You expect me to allow that…thing…to leave this system? On your word of a truce?” Barron’s voice turned caustic, his growing anger driven by images of his friends and comrades, those lost, and those he was likely to lose in the next moments. The Hegemony had invaded the Rim, killed millions. He despised the enemy, and beneath his controlled exterior and his disciplined command persona, he wanted them all dead. One thing he damned sure wouldn’t do—couldn’t do—was allow Colossus to leave. Not if his people truly were on the verge of destroying the great ship.
“Admiral…we face a grave threat, one you know nothing about, but one that will endanger your people as it will mine. You must prevent your warriors from completing whatever insane attempts they have underway to damage or destroy Colossus. You must let us withdraw the vessel, so we can deploy it against the greater danger.”
“You think I’m going to believe you, accept this claim of some ‘greater danger’ out there…and let you withdraw that monstrous ship when my people can destroy it? Do you think I’m a fool?”
“I do not think you are a fool, Admiral Barron. Quite to the contrary, I have been profoundly impressed with the abilities you and your comrades have displayed. But it is essential that Colossus survive to face the true enemy. The ship is irreplaceable, and it must not be destroyed.”
“I’m afraid we have a different perspective on this, Commander. If there is any way we can destroy that thing, we’re going to do it.”
“Admiral, you must listen to me. Surely you can see you are outgunned in this system, that even without Colossus, our fleet can destroy yours. Such a struggle, desperate and bloody, would serve no purpose. Many of your people would die, and many of mine, and victory would be pointless, as we would all be helpless before the true enemy.”
“You speak of some enemy…but you are the enemy I know, the enemy that has killed our people, invaded our worlds. Your efforts to scare me with some unseen threat are not going to convince me to allow Colossus to escape, not if I can stop it.” He’s scared…scared Colossus is going to be destroyed. Bryan and Anya must be in position, ready to detonate the antimatter stores…
Colossus is one of a kind, Admiral…the greatest imperial technology either of our nations possesses. It can’t be destroyed. It must be preserved. You know nothing of the Others, of the threat they pose to all surviving humans, but you must listen to me. Please. We cannot lose the sole weapon strong enough to face them, to fight to save both the Hegemony and the Rim.” There was a pause. Then: “I will show you our good faith, Admiral. I will return the spies you sent to Dannith. They are here now, on my ship.”
Barron held himself stone still, every bit of his strength devoted to controlling his emotions. Spies on Dannith…could it be?
“I don’t know what you are talking about, Commander. I will accept your ceasefire terms, but I will not allow Colossus to escape, not if I can prevent it.”
“If Colossus is destroyed, if your desperate boarding attempt succeeds, we will lose the most advanced technology we have. My people will lose it, and your people will, too. We never came here to be your enemies. We came to bring you into the Hegemony, to safeguard your worlds and people, and I regret we attempted to do so by force.”
“I see things a little differently, Commander. You are invaders.” Barron felt rage swelling up from within, but his mind was still fixed on Chronos’s words. Spies? Was it possible? Was Andi alive? Did they have her?
He felt his strength, so powerfully fueled by rage and hatred for the enemy, begin to waver. It took all he had within him to remain firm, to stand ready to sacrifice Rogan and Fritz to see Colossus destroyed, and then to throw his fleet into a final battle, on that was likely to be nothing short of apocalyptic. Was he now going to have to sacrifice Andi, too? He’d feared for her life, convinced himself she would never return from Dannith, but if Chronos did have her, and he refused the Hegemony commander…
Even as his thoughts warred with each other, as he tried to convince himself Chronos was lying, that it was all some kind of bluff to confuse him, to divert his focus…the screen displayed a signal from Hegemony’s Glory. The image of a ship, battered, parts of its hull twisted into wreckage. Barron recognized it at once.
Pegasus…
And next to it, being led in chains from the crash site, Vig Merrick and the rest of Andi’s crew.
“I will put your comrades on a shuttle at once, Admiral, and send them back to you. They are unharmed.”
But do they have Andi…or is she still on Dannith? Or is she… He stopped himself, unwilling to even consider the possibility she was dead.
He struggled to hold back nausea, as his mind fought with itself. Everything in him that was human, the parts that made him a man, with emotions and wants and dreams, the place inside where his love for Andi lived, where his loyalty to his friends and comrades originated…cried at him to accept the terms, to take Chronos’s word the Hegemony would leave.
But there was something else there even deeper, a cold presence, a shadow of ruthlessness, the part that made him Admiral Barron, the source of his strength, of his discipline and his dedication to duty. His grandfather was there, too, and the faces of the warriors he’d sent to their deaths in his many battles. And from this part of him, the cold, rigid half of Tyler Barron, the response was a resounding ‘no.’ No, he would not believe Chronos. No, he would not allow Colossus to escape, not if there was any chance the desperate boarding action would succeed. He would not leave the Rim open to conquest, not bet away the last chance he had to save his people. Not on the word of an enemy. Not for Anya Fritz or Bryan Rogan.
Not even for Andi’s crew.
I’m so sorry my love, but I just can’t…
“No.” It was a single word, one syllable…and uttering it was the most profoundly difficult thing Tyler Barron had ever done. He stared straight ahead, and inside he felt cold, robotic, as though the man he’d been was gone, and only an icy warrior remained.
“You cannot destroy Colossus, Admiral Barron!” He could hear the tension in Chronos’s voice, almost a stark fear. He would have felt something like pleasure at his enemy’s distress. If he’d still been capable of feeling anything at all.
“If you are so worried about Colossus, Commander…here are my terms. Order your people aboard to surrender to the boarding parties, and depart this system at once with the rest of your forces.” His voice was cold, hard, desperate rage mixing with granite toughness. As a junior officer he’d been the scourge of the fleet’s poker games, a player known for his unpredictable play, and his stone-cold guts. But he’d never called an opponent’s bet on such a vast scale, challenged an adversary to call a bluff of such immensity.
But it wasn’t a bluff. He didn’t know what was happening on the enemy ship, but Chronos’s fear told him what he needed to know. He would spare Colossus, but only if the Hegemony leader surrendered the vast ship to him.
“That is ridiculous, Admiral. Colossus will withdraw from your space at once, but…”
“Colossus will never leave this system, Commander. Not unless you surrender it immediately.” The poker player was fully in command, and his eyes stared into the comm unit, every millimeter of his cold stare sending a message to his counterpart.
He didn’t know what was happening on Colossus, if the boarding parties would actually succeed in destroying the great ship, and if so, how long it would be before Fritz detonated the behemoth’s antimatter. But he was playing on Chronos’s tension and fear…and ignoring his own.
“Admiral Barron, I urge you to reconsider and order your troops on Colossus to stand down. I will arrange for immediate transport, both for your people from Dannith and your personnel aboard Colossus. We can end this bloody war now…”
“You started this ‘bloody war,’ Commander…if someone is going to trust, it is going to have to be you, because it’s not going to be me. You are here, in our space, with the blood of our people on your hands. Surrender Colossus now…or my people will destroy it from within.”
Barron seemed almost a spectator, watching the words come from his own mouth. It was fury, rage, frozen solid. He was ready to finish things, there and then, to commit his forces to the final battle, a desperate fight to the end.
But he wasn’t going to allow Colossus to leave the system, not if Rogan and Fritz and their people could destroy the thing.
No matter what it cost him.
Chapter Forty-One
Hegemony’s Glory
Lyra System
Year of Renewal 266 (321 AC)
“Chronos was silent, listening to Tyler Barron’s words…even more, to the iron in the admiral’s voice, the unmistakable grit of a man who would not yield. The Hegemony commander was frustrated and angry, but he couldn’t help but admire the strength evident in his adversary’s tone. Barron’s terms were unthinkable. Surrender Colossus? Leave the great imperial vessel in the hands of the Rimdwellers? It was impossible. But even as his thoughts raged against such an idea, he came to a harsh conclusion.
He didn’t have a choice.
Tyler Barron wasn’t going to yield. The Rim leader was resolute, hard as steel. Chronos had always considered himself a good judge of people, and he was confident in his read on Barron. The Confederation admiral would withstand any pressure, refuse any offer, respond to any threat with one of his own. Chronos wondered now at the wisdom of the original decision to commit to a military absorption of the Rim. The Council had clearly underestimated the Rimdwellers. He had underestimated them. He regretted now that subtler, longer term methods hadn’t been employed, that the Hegemony hadn’t worked to lure the Rim nations into its sphere instead of trying to conquer it. More than a century of easy conquests, of forcible absorptions feeding Hegemonic growth, had led to arrogance, to overconfidence. And now, he faced the prospect of surrendering the Hegemony’s greatest construct, its most massive warship…or seeing it destroyed.
He held his hand over the microphone and turned toward his aide. “I need an updated report from Colossus, Kiloron. I want to hear from Commander Ilius…so tell them to find him. Now!”
“Commander…I have Commander Ilius on your line. They patched him through.”
Chronos muted the connection to Barron. “Ilius, what the hell is going on over there?” Chronos could hear gunfire…not far from Ilius’s location. Whatever was happening on Colossus, the fighting was real…and hot.
“The boarders have taken control of one of the antimatter storage facilities, sir. We have them cut off, surrounded, and we’re pushing forward. But…”
Chronos frowned as Ilius’s voice faded to silence.
“But what, Commander?”
“Sir…we can overrun the enemy, but I do not believe we can stop them from attempting to breach antimatter containment. There are several full tanks in the space they control. It is only a guess as to whether they have sufficient ordnance to break through the imperial alloy shells…but…”
