Merkiaari Wars: 02 - What Price Honour (60 page)

Meyers turned and regarded the holotank. It was still somewhat jarring seeing a battlespace consisting of a map of green hills and valleys, and not the more usual blackness of space populated with coloured icons representing ships and battle groups. The three dimensional map was perfect in its details. It could be zoomed in to show a single APC racing over the ground, or out to show the entire continent as seen from orbit. It was currently centred over a complex of valleys to the south of a city called Maseru. Maseru was shown at the top left corner of the tank while Charlie Epsilon, Burgton’s camp, was two thirds of the way down. Between the two, a blip crawled southward along one of the valleys. It was that innocent seeming blip that was worrying her.

“Show me the breakout please,” she said.

An ensign sitting at the holotank controls made a few adjustments and the battlespace reformed.

Meyers leaned on the consol to study what the tank was showing her. The enemy had broken through in three places. The central column was pushing forward and heading directly for Charlie Epsilon, while another two had turned aside to roll up the natives where they were struggling to reform the line and oppose the movement. It was obvious they were outgunned. Even without the evidence before her, she would have known that. Most of them were civs—if any Shan could be termed such. They only had their hand blasters to fight with.

The remnants of the Shan military had been placed at the far ends of the frontline, in an attempt to anchor it. It was there that they were at their strongest. Burgton had placed some of their artillery in the centre with his own guns at Charlie Epsilon, and a good thing he had. He was now facing a battle that he had done everything in his power to avoid—a battle against a superior force from poor but fixed positions. Such a situation negated his viper’s speed and manoeuvrability, which was why he had been avoiding it. If he pulled out, he would be giving the Merkiaari free and open access to the south, and leaving almost half a million people to die. Perhaps worse than that from Meyers’ point of view, he would be giving them an open road back to Zuleika and the spaceport.

Things were coming to a head down there. She could feel it. The battle about to take place at Charlie Epsilon would be a turning point. She had to ensure it turned her way.

“Show me Charlie Epsilon.”

The battlespace reformed once again. Burgton obviously had no plans to pull out. His men were digging in. She keyed a control and a window seemingly hovering over the camp opened full of text. She scrolled down the list noting the number of defenders and their weapons.

“Any chance of getting another supply drop to them before they’re hit?” she said not liking what she found.

Joshua shook his head. “The General has been receiving drops from
Grafton
almost constantly since he learned of the break out, but he only has the two
Wolfcubs
. They’re on their way back to
Grafton
from their last run now. They won’t have time for another.”

Meyers nodded and closed the text window. “Give me a real time view over the camp.”

The map was replaced with satellite imagery showing Burgton’s vipers digging like demons at the wet soil. Still more were using their weapons to blast down trees while hundreds of Shan hitched themselves to ropes and pulled the logs back to camp. She ignored the murmurs of awe as a pair of vipers hefted a tree between them and trotted back to their dugout. They dropped the thing in front of it and ran back for another. AARs were raving at the trees and blasting them into tooth picks. She assumed the idea was to deny the enemy cover. Already a huge cone was taking shape with its narrow end pointed at Charlie Epsilon. Suddenly she realised what it was meant to be. It was a funnel. Burgton was offering the enemy an easy path to follow. Zooming in she found the now expected Marines burying mines and other explosives in a frenzy, while vipers dashed about adding their own nasty surprises. The Shan field guns, together with Burton’s howitzers, had been moved back from the perimeter and sighted upon the cone to add their destructiveness. In many places, pits had been dug with one sloping side facing the cleared zone. Burgton’s rocket launchers had been driven down the ramps. Only the launch racks were showing above ground.

“This is going to be ugly,” Joshua whispered.

“You’re not helping!” Meyers bit her lip and rubbed her forehead trying to think. She had to do something about this goddamned mess before it was too late. “Get me Captain Alston.”

“Captain Alston… not Captain Fernandez, ma’am?”

“Yes… no.” She took a breath. It wasn’t good procedure for her to contact Alston directly. It could be seen as a snub to her flag captain. “Get me Tomas first please, Joshua. Sorry for my bad temper.”

Joshua smiled briefly. “Part of my job, ma’am,” he said while he called the bridge.

She snorted feeling her mood lighten. “That’s as maybe, Joshua, but it’s still bad manners on my part.

“I have Captain Fernandez for you, Admiral.”

She took her aide’s place before the consol. “We have a situation at Charlie Epsilon, Tomas.”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on it, ma’am.”

“I knew you would be. I have something in mind that might help the situation, but there could be consequences… no scratch that. There will be consequences. A board of inquiry at the least.”

“I’ll back you on whatever you decide…”

She raised a hand. “I know you would, Tomas. But this decision is mine, and mine alone to justify. I will be contacting Liz shortly. I just wanted you to know what I’m doing, and that I’m not going behind your back because of a lack of confidence in you.”

“Thank you, Admiral.” Fernandez smiled briefly. “But that wasn’t necessary.”

“Indulge me. It makes me feel better.”

Fernandez nodded. “Good luck.”

She broke the connection. “Get me Captain Alston. A secure channel please, Joshua.”

Joshua nodded and contacted
Sutherland
. The monitor flickered and Captain Alston appeared.

“Good afternoon, Admiral.”

“Liz. Are you alone?”

Alston blinked. “I’m in my quarters… alone, yes Admiral. Is something wrong?”

“I want an immediate block on all further launches. I have a special op for your people. It will take all of them.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, all. I’ll wait while you pass on the order, Liz. I don’t want a single ship in the air until I say.”

“Yes, sir, Admiral.” Alston turned away to give the order. A few moments later she turned back. “Done.”

“Good. I’m going to ask you to begin recording this in a minute, Liz, but first I want to discuss the operation. General Burgton is digging in at Charlie Epsilon. He’s not pulling back.”

“He can’t,” Alston said.

“He could actually. Unless you’ve seen it, you can’t imagine how fast a viper can move, but Burgton won’t pull out and leave them to die. We’ve just about gotten to the point where joint operations between us are paying off. We can’t let them scurry back into their holes, Liz. We haven’t the numbers to fight them alone… not if we want some of the natives alive when Fifth Fleet arrives.”

Alston nodded grimly. “Agreed. Harmony is a charnel house.”

Meyers nodded. She was still having nightmares about what was happening down there. That was another reason for her decision. Decisions based upon emotion were suspect but not necessarily wrong. She would stand by this one.

“I want you to pick two pilots, Liz. I want your most reliable. I don’t care if they’re from the same formation. I want your best… clear?”

“So far,” Alston said.

“When the time comes, I want you to put them in direct contact with me. I’ll brief them personally. They will launch with the rest of your ships, and be protected by the fighters until they’re in position, but they’ll have their own special target to deal with. The main operation is primarily going to be a bomb run. There are two columns currently attacking Point Zero. I want them smashed.”

“Could be messy, Admiral,” Alston warned. “They are fighting at almost hand to hand ranges now.”

“I know. Blue on blue is always a nightmare, but doing nothing would be worse. All we can do is limit the damage as best we can.” Blue on blue was a term given to casualties caused by friendly fire. Not that any fire was ever friendly.

Alston nodded. “I’ll get on it right away. With so many Interceptors unaccounted for, together with what happened to us at Maseru, I’ll want extensive fighter cover for my bombers.”

“Agreed. You run this however you think best. The two pilots I mentioned… I want them armed with Zeus III missiles.”

Alston’s jaw dropped. “But… are you sure?”

Meyers nodded solemnly. “The target is the Merkiaari reinforcements we’ve been tracking. You know about that?”

“We’ve been tracking the transponder.”

“Good. We can’t see them, but we know they’re there. We can’t hit them with anything like precision with conventional warheads. That’s why we’re using Zeus.”

“But the Accords specifically prohibit nuclear detonations in atmosphere. The Council will crucify you. You can’t…”

She raised a hand to silence the protests. “I have the authority, Liz. I alone will pay the penalty.”

Alston’s jaw clenched. “That isn’t what I meant. Of course I’ll back whatever you decide, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth the price you’ll pay. You’re throwing your career away… and maybe your life too. You know the penalty if a court decides against you.”

“I know, and I’ll pay it if it comes to that. I don’t think it will.”

“How can it not? The Accords are clear. There’s no wriggle room, Admiral. They were written that way on purpose.”

Wriggle room? She grinned. “There is only one possible justification for what I’m about to do, Liz, and that’s preventing the extinction of an entire race. Put that together with the loss of Burgton and his vipers, and the probable loss of our alliance with the Shan if we do nothing…” she shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

Alston didn’t look convinced. Her eyes narrowed. “How do you feel about stacking the deck a little more in your favour, Admiral?”

“Go on.”

“Contact the Elders and ask them to make it an official request… or at least inform them what you plan, and ask they back your decision. What can it hurt?”

It could hurt a lot if the Elders said no, but she didn’t think Kajetan would allow that. She was one hard lady.

“I’ll contact them, but in the meantime, I want you to set up for the operation. I’ll brief the two pilots you choose after I’ve spoken with Kajetan.”

“I understand, Admiral.”

“Begin recording now, Liz.”

Alston nodded. “Go ahead, Admiral.”

Meyers took a deep breath, determined to give an order that might see her out of the service in a firm voice. “Captain Alston, in my opinion the situation on Child of Harmony represents a clear and present danger to the Alliance. General Burgton and his men are severely outnumbered. They’re in danger of being wiped out as are our Shan allies. Losing such a resource would be a devastating loss to the Alliance, and one I cannot in good conscience allow. I am hereby authorising your use of the Zeus III tactical nuclear missile, in whatever numbers you deem necessary, in the furtherance of the mission previously discussed.”

“I must ask for the codes granting you nuclear release authority.”

“Of course,” she murmured. “Keyboard entry.”

“Preparing to copy, Admiral.”

Meyers quickly typed a string of text and transmitted it. She knew the codes were correct and active. As always, the codes for this and other contingencies had been given to her upon taking command of the task force. She waited while Liz carefully checked and matched the relevant portions of the code to her own command codes.

“Authorisation is accepted, Admiral. I estimate the operation will commence at nineteen-hundred. I will contact you with an update when I know more.”

“Get it done, Liz.”

Captain Alston nodded. “
Sutherland
out.”

* * *

Camp Charlie Epsilon

“They’re making their run now,” Commander Heinemann said, one hand cupping his ear and listening to his comm intently. He had a direct link to
Sutherland,
and through her to the fighters making the attack on the Merkiaari approaching Charlie Epsilon.

Burgton nodded. They were too far away to see the results of the attack except via satellite, but he had little doubt it would succeed. Zeus was hardly what one would call a subtle weapon system. Meyers had surprised him with her willingness to deploy it—surprised and pleased. Very few naval officers would have the guts to deploy even micro nukes like Zeus within a planetary atmosphere, even when the situation so obviously warranted it, for fear of retribution from their superiors. Meyers would have her judgment closely questioned when all this was over. If he had anything to do with it, she would come through unscathed.

“I have Major Papandreou on the line,” Flowers said raising a hand from out of the shadows to attract attention. “He has disengaged and is on the way.”