Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Turmoil (10 page)

The helmsman worked
madly at his station, tapping controls, swiping and making gestures with his
fingers, hands dancing over the board.  A second later he nodded at the
captain.

"Mark,"
the captain replied emotionlessly.  She knew she'd lose one, quite possibly two
of her three destroyers in this initial skirmish, which was why she sent out
extended orders for the rest of her ships.  If her ship was ruled out of the
exercise, at least her captains will know what she wanted them to do.

The Confed cruiser adjusted
course slightly, to keep itself equidistant from her destroyer as well as the
last one, which had stayed on the same plane as the initial encounter. 
Low-powered laser blasts flashed across space; instead of the separate packets
of magnetically contained energy the the batteries fired normally, they just
used their targeting lasers adjusted to appear in the visible spectrum. 

Damage began to pile
up on the Watcher, and Lacer grimaced.  Her ship was losing combat
effectiveness fast as her ventral hull was opened up to space and her engines
sustained hits that reduced reactor power by half.  The last destroyer took
laser hits as well as two simulated torpedo hits; she was ruled destroyed by
the computer in charge of the exercise. 

Next came strafing runs
by the two dozen Confed fighters.  The Intruders especially, with their twin
autocannons and armor-piercing rounds, chewed up another destroyer and earned a
mission-kill.  Down to four destroyers now, the Lemurian destroyers had finally
reformed in a coordinated formation to chase down the Confed ship.  The Confed
captain knew it, as well, as she accelerated and changed course again, refusing
to allow the Lemurian destroyers to take any meaningful angle towards her and
close the gap.  In a tail chase it was anyone's game; the Confed ship's engines
were vulnerable, but she also sported two aft-facing torpedo tubes.

"Helm,"
the captain barked, "program in a series of S-turns for us so we can
uncover our main batteries better and let me know when you're ready to
send."  As it  was, her destroyers could only fire with one gun each while
they were pointed nose towards the Confed cruiser.  If they showed their
broadsides more, they could fire with their side batteries as well.

"Ready!"

"Send it and
execute!" commanded Captain Lacer. 

The Lemurian
destroyers swung to the right, doubling the number of shots going towards the
cruiser.  The Cobalt answered with another torpedo volley.  Countermeasures and
point defense combined defeated one, but the other scored a glancing blow
amidships on Watcher.  The bridge lights dimmed to nothing for a second, then
came back up to half.

"Mission-kill,"
replied the XO sullenly as she studied her chair-mounted display. 
"Torpedo detonated amidships opening Engineering to space and disabling
power distribution."

"We're
humped," Captain Lacer stated to the bridge crew, who chuckled grimly.

"That's the
technical term for it, at least," added the XO. 

"Well,"
Lacer continued, "unfortunately we can't get our hopes up too much against
a battle-hardened cruiser and her crew.  You all fought well; you didn't leave
anything on the table and performed just as I'd hoped.  Now let's see how the
rest of our force is doing."  She looked at on of the conn officers, who
took the cue and placed the battle telemetry and tactical model on the main
screen.

The Lemurians lost a
total of two ships destroyed and two mission-kills, but eventually the Confed
ship had broken off after soaking up some impressive damage of her own.  The
fighters had hacked away at the destroyers the entire time, losing five of
their number.  Overall, it was technically a success for the Lemurians since
the Confed ship broke contact and withdrew.  It was a Pyrrhic victory though,
because the entire Lemurian defensive force was essentially wiped out as a
fighting unit.

The ships all
returned to normal settings as far as computers and weapons went and started to
regroup.  They were scattered all over a good chunk of the outer solar system
where the ships had been ruled destroyed or disabled, and it would be another
ten minutes before they were all back in some semblance of formation again.

"Good work out
there everyone," Cory said over the Avenger Air Wing frequency. 

"Next time I'd
like to blow something up for real, though," stated Web over the comms.

"You say that
about everything, Web," she replied with a laugh.  "Why don't you
take your element and head out on a zero three five heading relative to me and
go shepherd in that last Lemurian destroyer."

"On the
way," he said crisply, and took the five other Talons he was leading with
him as he rode off at maximum acceleration.

That night found
Captain Elco and Commander Stone sitting in the Aft Quarter, the huge casual
mess hall at the aft of the main gun deck of Avenger.  It looked out through
two-story windows over the aft dorsal area of the ship, over point defense/AA
turrets, four torpedo tubes, and the aft main laser batteries.  Even with all
the firepower present in the scene, it was still a beautiful sight because of the
view it offered.  The stars sparkled, pinpoints of bright unfiltered white
light in the vacuum of space; the planet Lemuria filled up much of the viewport
on the ship's starboard side, and Loren was allowing himself to be distracted
by it as he and the captain ate their meals in silence. 

Lemuria wasn't the
prettiest world in the sector, but it had its charms.  Though the equatorial
region was too hot and swampy, the upper and lower latitudes were quite pleasant
for most humanoid life.  As he gazed out at the planet, he could see the
capital city where they'd spent the last week, surrounded by fertile plains on
one side and edging up against a snow-capped mountain range on the other which
stretched across almost the entire continent.

"You think that
planet's worth all those people suffering or dying for?" asked Elco as he
followed Loren's gaze and deduced what he was thinking.

"To them, it
is," Loren said without thought.  "I thought that about Toral when
the Primans captured it; I would have fought and died for my home and
family."

Elco just nodded
thoughtfully, the only sound between them the sound of the captain's fork
scraping the last remnants up off his plate.  "I said that to put some
perspective on what I have to tell you."  The captain's demeanor wasn't
usually chipper and carefree, but now he was especially somber.

"Governor
Broadbent has informed me that they'll be officially asking us to leave the
system.  They figure if the Primans come calling and they see our ships in
orbit they'll assume we have some sort of pact with the Lemurians.  The
governor is set on trying to negotiate something between them, along with just
barely a majority of their Parliament."

Loren was at a
loss.  He looked harder at the planet out the viewport, as if he could see the
governor and the other decision-makers in their chambers through the swirling
clouds of the upper atmosphere.  He wondered what they told themselves in order
to try and convince each other that standing there and waiting for the worst to
happen was a serviceable idea.

"I assume you
tried to explain to them how horribly wrong they are," Loren added as he
looked Elco in the eyes.

"I did, with
some examples and a chart I had on my data pad," Avenger's captain
replied.  "Here's the great part; they still want the transports."

Loren only shook his
head.  "They can't have it both ways," Loren argued.  "If they
want to appear unaligned, what will the Primans think when they show up and see
Confed transports evacuating the population?"

Elco only shrugged. 
"There's a few paragraphs in the starship command training manuals where it
tells you to always have the answers, even if you really don't.  It's bad for
morale, you see, if the crew thinks that I don't have a plan ready for any
situation.  Can't let anyone think we're fallible people.  Well, Loren,"
Elco leaned conspiratorially across the round table to his XO, "I have no
idea what to tell them."  He leaned back in his seat again, pulling down
on the cuffs of his uniform sleeves. "I said we could stick around for a
while out of sight, just a short jump out of the system, but I don't know if
they even want that."

Loren's mind raced
as he tried to foresee the repercussions.  "So will the navy let them keep
the transports even if we're not there?"

"I'm waiting on
the reply to that right now," Elco admitted.  "The first round of
transports is away and should get back late tomorrow for the next wave.  I
think, operationally speaking, we could spare them for a while, but I'm not
sure what the Governing Committee will do when they hear the news.  That's the
hangup; Admiral Bak has to pass that onto the politicians.  It's not an
entirely military matter because of the possible political fallout."

"Great,"
Loren muttered.  Then his head popped back up as he thought of another
problem.  "Does this mean all our joint exercises are over?"

"I'm afraid
so," Elco replied somberly.  "We're only here because I'm waiting on
the response to the issue of letting the transports keep running here.  As soon
as that's settled, we're supposed to break orbit and head out.  I don't have
much of a feel for what the military is capable of doing against the Primans. 
Can they handle themselves?"

"They're brave
and capable with what they've got," Loren stated proudly, "but they
won't last a half hour against a Priman force."  Gears turned in his head
as he tried desperately to think of a way to give the Lemurians a chance. 
"I could head back down and make a case to Captain Renner," Loren
finally said. 

"I thought
about having you do that," Elco admitted, "but unless the Governor
wants our help or lets his military fight, there's not much for you to
do."

"Why don't I go
anyway," Loren said in as compelling a tone as possible.  "I'll tell
Renner we'd love to stay on station if they want help.  Then when you talk to
the Governor, you can make the same offer.  Maybe we can convince them to at
least let us hang around the sidelines in case they need help."

Captain Elco grinned
as he took in Loren's determination and drive.  "With a team like
us," Elco said, "who could resist?"

Chapter Five

Loren had felt
better about his chances before he'd actually met with Captain Renner, who'd
done him the favor of flying up to Avenger to have the meet Loren had
requested.

They sat in the
small living area of Loren's cabin over small glasses of some amber colored
liquor Loren had offered.  While the captain of a ship had quarters that were
meant to host crew and other VIPs, the XO's quarters were more utilitarian. 
Still, it was a private space with a few touches that made it more personal, a
place where two officers could have a drink and discuss the fate of a
planet.    "It's called a Brandy Burner," Loren explained.  "The
highlight of the drink is to have it delivered on fire, naturally, but there
are some ridiculous rules about open flames aboard a starship or something to
that effect," he said dismissively with a wave of his hand.  "It's
silly, I know, but it doesn't change the flavor of the drink, so just imagine
you've blown out the flames and enjoy."

Renner tilted his
glass in salute, and Loren did the same.  "Not bad at all," Renner
said appraisingly after he took a sip.  "Is this your usual, then?"

"No,"
Loren replied with a straight face.  "I'll drink whatever's free or cheap;
this was a gift from my wife and since we don't often have much cause to
celebrate these days, I'll settle for commemorating a meeting of two
successful, handsome, great-smelling guys building a tiny bridge between their
governments."

Renner held up his
glass in salute again.  "Don't forget 'charismatic'."

"Of
course," Loren agreed.

"So,"
Renner began, "I passed on your suggestion for staying within the vicinity-
but not in the actual system- in case the Primans appear."

Loren raised an
eyebrow expectantly. 

"General Horle
loved it, of course," admitted Renner.  Then his gaze darkened as he
glanced down at the decking to try to conceal his feelings.  "He said
Governor Broadbent offered to take it under advisement."  Renner looked up
at Loren again.  "That means it's not likely to happen."

Loren only nodded. 
Badgering the man across the table from him wouldn't solve anything, so he
simply said nothing.

"I have the
suspicion that if things with the Primans do go bad," Renner continued,
"he'll wish he could contact you in a hurry, though.  That's the way he's
always been; talks strongly, but is never afraid to change his mind at the last
second."  Renner set the glass down on the table before continuing. 
"If you were to stay just far enough away from the planet so the Primans
wouldn't be able to detect you, how would we get hold of you if we needed
to?"

Loren  paused. 
Renner wasn't exactly advocating rebellion against the Governor, but he was
definitely willing to risk laying the groundwork for an operation that his
government didn't know about.  "And how much trouble could this get you
in?" Loren asked.

"Doesn't
matter," Renner replied instantly, "if it's what needs to be done. 
Look, I've been assigned to one of the destroyers; we're supposed to keep them
all gathered over the northern pole of Lemuria, weapons, deactivated, when the
Primans arrive.  If they start blasting everything and we're up against a wall,
how can we contact you?"

The number of ways
this could be used against Loren if it went badly were huge, but he wouldn't
turn the man away, either.  "Send a message to this location on regular
narrow-band long-distance frequencies," Loren said without any further
hesitation.  He got up and stood by his desk, tapping and swiping on the
surface for a few seconds.  He grabbed a data chip from a drawer, placed it on
the desktop, and watched it glow for a second as data was transferred.  He then
picked it up and underhand tossed it to Renner, who caught it.

"That's the
location of our inner-system relay satellite that we use to consolidate the
feeds from all the sensor platforms we have around your system.  If you send a
message there, we'll get it in real time.  I'll have to see what Confed allows
us to offer, though, but I'll let you know as soon as I have something."

Renner got up and walked
over to Loren, hand extended to shake.  Loren took it.  "Thank you,
Commander," Renner said.  "I'll do my best to make sure General Horle
gets a chance to use this."

The next morning,
Captain Elco was summoned to the Governor's residence for their daily
meetings.  This was different from his usual practiceof meeting in some random
administration building, but he was sure it had everything to do with the fact
that he
’
d told Governor
Broadvent that he had an answer from the Confederation
’
s Governing Committee.

"This is
definitely a change," Elco had told Loren before he'd stepped onto his
Freedom class transport in Cory's Warbirds' hangar bay.  "I don't know if
it's good or bad, but it definitely isn't the status quo."

Captain Elco had
left Loren in charge of Avenger, with Captain Oberon Montari of the battleship
Majestic in overall command of the three Confederation ships.

Loren paced
Avenger's bridge, a familiar place to him.  Not long ago, he'd have been
nervous if asked to spend any amount of time up here on the top of the ship,
but it was beginning to feel comforting.  The slightly dim lighting, muted
metals and gray colors, and backlighting of the holographic displays that once
lent a mystical air to the bridge were now just part of the experience for
him.  True, he spent a lot of his time a deck lower in the Combat Control
Center, which was his compartment to command, but the bridge was the seat of
power, a place that had used to make him nervous.  Now, he found himself
sitting in the captain's chair, no longer fearful or embarrassed at taking a
seat in the Important Chair, but simply striving to do everything he could to
be worthy of the seat.

"Captain's on
the surface," Lieutenant Caho reported crisply from the Sensors station,
finishing her determined race to identify the occurrence before Captain Elco's
transport radioed in the report on its own.  Formerly an Ensign, the human
female had been promoted after Avenger's last deployment as a result of her
contributions and Captain Elco's glowing FitReps.  She had a peculiar knack for
interpreting the raw sensor data more intuitively than the computers, and she
often raced herself to identify events before anyone else.  In this case, she
had followed Captain Elco's transport through the morass of traffic down to
street level, using Avenger's sensors and dead reckoning and eschewing the use
of the transport's transponder, which she would have considered to be cheating.

"Confirm
that," the comms officer echoed, having just received the call from the
transport's pilot.  He gave Caho a knowing wink, which she returned.  Loren
wondered if there was more between the two, but simply let it go with a secret
grin.

"Let's hope the
captain's day is uneventful and productive in all the ways that count,"
Loren wished.

Governor Broadbent
greeted Captain Elco personally at the foot of the Governor's Mansion steps. 
Situated a few blocks from the capital building itself, the mansion had two
main wings; one was residential, for the Governor and his family.  The other
was administrative, holding offices for some of his staff and places to do
business.

The government
district was a small one, but by Drisk tradition was carefully laid out.  Even
though Lemuria was an independent world, they still held to the same basic ideals
of Drisk society; the officials who served held short terms and had to be
considered experts in their field, as agreed by top authorities in their
sector.  Direct administration made up two square blocks, with another ring of
outer buildings dedicated to ancillary duties.  After that was one last ring
where the elected officials lived while in office, including the Governor's
Mansion.

The building was
constructed in an old fashioned style, with stone columns and concrete
construction, though highly decorated with ornate carvings and stonework.  The
stone was all pearlescent white, a local variety of limestone that had subtle
but elegant veins that shifted colors as they wound their way through the rock.

Captain Elco stepped
out of the hoverlimo to have Governor Broadbent waiting for him, hand
outstretched.  He shook it and then turned to grab his small briefcase, which
the driver had already retrieved and was holding out for him.

"Captain
Elco," Broadbent began amicably, "I'm so glad you were able to come
down as quickly as you did; we have some concrete answers to the questions you
and I have been batting around for the last day."

"Dare I ask if
it's good or bad?" asked Elco lightly as he fell in a half step behind the
governor.

"That depends
on your point of view and what you think the Primans are capable of,"
Governor Broadbent replied cryptically.

They walked
together, followed by two security guards, through the residential section of
the mansion.  The place was decorated neutrally, with lots of stone and splashes
of color where there were fabric details.  They walked on deep red carpets and
thick drapes covered the windows.

"You've noticed
the decor on this side of the building, eh?" Broadbent commented.  He
pointed with his chin to indicate the red and gold drapes.  "A bit gaudy
for me, but I can't change it; that's the point.  I just live here for a couple
years and then I move on, so there's no point in having me redecorate." 
He looked at Elco to see if there was any understanding in his gaze, but the
Confederation captain was a mask of neutrality.  Governor Broadbent didn't
speak any more as they walked the final few dozen steps to his study.

The room was huge,
several thousand square feet, and paneled in old, native dark woods highly
polished and streaked with age.  Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves took up two
walls; huge transparent armor windows took up the other two.  Governor
Broadbent indicated a wooden chair with an overstuffed seat pad for Captain
Elco to sit in, then slid into his own wheeled chair behind the immense desk
made of wood that matched the walls.  In a universal sign of how important one
was, the Governor had only a data pad and his comm device sitting on the
desktop; everything else was delegated away.

Governor Broadbent
sat in the chair with a crunch of leather, then leaned back as the chair rolled
slightly away from the desk.

"Captain
Elco," the governor began, "I first want to thank you and the
Confederation for the assistance you've already given us and for that which
you've offered in addition." 

That didn't seem
like a great start to Elco, who sat there impassively and was determined to
just let the statement come to him.

"My time in
office grows short, you know," Broadbent began, "and we'll be  having
elections soon.  Public sentiment has definitely leaned towards trying to
strike some sort of peace with the Primans, and all four of the candidates that
have been nominated to replace me have vowed to hold that ideal as well.  So
when I tell you this, I need you to know that it is not my own opinion, but
that of the majority of the people of Lemuria."  The governor took a deep
breath to gather himself, then fidgeted with the data pad on the desktop,
spinning it around with his index finger.  "The Parliament and public
opinion are agreed; we are asking you to remove Confederation forces from the
system effective immediately, regardless of the transportation issue which you
came here to discuss."  The man seemed to deflate, and for what it was
worth Elco could see he was unhappy with the resolution.

"We intend to
offer whatever we can in order to remain independent, and in any case any
resistance we put up will be met with a force we can't equal.  Our only hope is
cooperation."  Broadbent stared at Elco for a few seconds while the Confed
captain waited, then the governor continued.  "That said, there are those
who would like some sort of backup plan."

Now Elco perked up,
sensing that it was about to get interesting.

"I can't go
against the populace," Broadbent continued, "but I can put
contingencies in place should things not go as planned.  Late last night
General Horle mentioned that said you might find yourself in the immediate
vicinity even after you've left the system.  We wouldn't mind at all if you
chose to do so for a while, should things go, ahem, badly."

So now Elco and his
ships were an insurance policy.  He tried not to feel like he'd just won some
sort of consolation prize. 
Thanks for playing.  We know you didn't do well,
but at least you were there
.  He simply nodded as he digested the request. 
"If the Primans show up in force, and mean you harm, we
’
ll be here for some time,"
Elco began slowly, "I still only have three ships.  Granted, one of them
is a Starshaker class battleship, but even if we engage an expeditionary force
we can't protect you long term."

"I know,"
Broadbent acknowledged.  "But if things take a turn and we have a chance
to get just a few more people off planet, I'll take the heat from the citizens
for having this backup plan in place."  He gave a resigned smirk.  "I
know this must seem like we're not grateful for what you
’
ve offered, but it's all I can ask and stay within
the limits of my office."

"I
understand," Elco replied softly.  He did, in a way, though he didn't have
to like it.  "Do you need to have our ships move out right away, then, or
after my business is done here today?"

"I probably
seem ungrateful for having to ask," the governor continued, "but the
transport you arrived here in has a hyperdrive, correct?"  Elco simply
nodded.  "If it's not too much of an imposition, could you have the two
ships in orbit move out and return to them later today?  I hear your cruiser is
still farther out in the system on maneuvers, so is closer to a departure than
the others."  Elco simply nodded confirmation.  "I'd like you here
when I announce what I've told you, and I want to very publicly thank you for
your time here and your offer of help."