The Commander (29 page)

How long have we been here
? Annie wondered as she looked across the valley.
Has it only been a month?
A lot had changed since their arrival. It was a settlement now, not a refugee center.

Annie carried her tray around the tables that filled New Hope’s center plaza to join Solomon and Camila for lunch. In the distance, shuttles were either taking off or landing from the airport.

“You did a good job on the permanent replicator pad,” she said to Solomon. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” he replied modestly. “That was all Josh Howell. He and Lauren were responsible for the design work. Did a lot of downtown planning, too. As long as the river doesn’t dry up, we’ll be okay.”

Camila wouldn’t accept any conditions on their achievements. “If that happens they can just extend the pipeline another mile to the sea. I don’t think that’s going away anytime soon.”

“True.” Solomon smiled at his girl. The affection between the two was obvious to all.

“When are you going to tie the knot?” Annie asked. “We could use a good party.”

Camila smiled sheepishly. “Few weeks.”

“Really?” Annie was delighted with the decision. “Congratulations! You kids need to start pumping out babies.”

It was Solomon’s turn to look embarrassed. “Well, that’s why we’re rushing it a bit. We’re kinda already down the road on that one.”

Annie burst into laughter. “That’s fantastic. I’m so proud of both of you. You’re a good example for the community.”

“If it’s a girl, we’ll name her after you,” Camila promised.

Annie blushed at Camila’s statement. “I am so honored,” she said sincerely. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, you could start by telling us your real name,” Solomon said drily.

Annie blanched at his question. “I…”

“Oh, come on,” Solomon wheedled. “Everybody knows it. We just go along since you seem so intent on keeping it a secret, but you’re not fooling anyone.”

Annie sighed. “It was
Sadie
, wasn’t it?”

Camila rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. “Duh! She’s never once called you Theodora or Teddy. And of course, Millie went around asking everyone if they knew Annie Daniels before.”

Annie shook her head. “Drat that girl.”

“Don’t blame her,” Solomon said. “
Sadie
’s always called you by name. At least fifty other people heard it and most of them have asked me about it. It’s no big deal. To everyone here you’re Theodora. It’s not like anyone here knew the commander or cares that you’re his woman. Is that what drove you away?”

“Solomon!” Camila chastised her lover. “Not fair.”

“Sorry,” he said, clearly not so. “Slipped out.”

“No,” Annie said. “It’s okay. I suppose there’s no reason to keep it a secret anymore. I loved being his ‘woman,’ as you say, although the title was a bit irksome; kind of a fifties throwback.”

“No kidding!” Camila exclaimed.

Solomon wisely kept quiet.

“We were crazy about each other. But I was a danger for him. You ever hear about the bomb-in-the-head story?”

Camila and Solomon both replied with a blank stare.

Annie shrugged. “I guess not. Well, the short version is that I was a danger to Luke, especially with the way we felt about each other. I was afraid that one day I’d distract him once too often and George would kill him.”

“That’s insane!” Camila was incredulous and angry at the idea.

“I agree,” Annie said. “But I think I was the one who went insane. I can’t explain it. But I made a big mistake leaving him.”

“Then go back,” Camila said. She took Solomon’s hand. “I can’t imagine being away from this guy now. I haven’t known him that long, but I would die before letting him go; that would kill me. From everything I heard you two were the same way.”

Tears ran down Annie’s cheeks and Camila apologized.

“I’m sorry, honey. I wasn’t thinking.”

Annie wiped her face. “It’s okay. To be honest, I’ve thought about returning to Moonbase. But I can’t depart just yet. I already ran away once so I’m not in a hurry to abandon you guys.” She looked around the town square. “We’ve got a few things left to do before I would be comfortable leaving. But this place is already night and day from when we got here.”

It was true. The most important achievement was getting the replicator transported to the planet’s surface; that took two days. The next task was to reposition one of
Marco Polo
’s massive generators to power the final installation. When the replicator produced the first batch of goods, a combination of foodstuffs and tools, the colony transformed overnight.

Brought together by adversity, the colonists were reborn, dedicated to a shared goal. Instead of simply struggling to survive, everyone’s new philosophy was to build the greatest community ever.

“What’s your recommendation, Colonel?” Luke asked.

Colonel Brad Lindsey was the senior Army officer onboard
Lulubelle
. With him was the 4
th
Battalion CO. They sat facing Luke under an open, chalet-like, canvas tent. The briefing area was part of the bivouac set up by Colonel Lindsey’s troops. The three men were clustered around an old-fashioned briefing board made of cork on a wood backing. A dozen maps and charts were pinned to it, ranging in scale from the entire planet to the local area.

Luke had tasked Colonel Lindsey to survey the planet and develop a proposal to keep the few members of the surviving population alive. After analyzing the data gathered from reconnaissance flights and
Lulubelle
’s electronic scans, they had identified around five hundred thousand humans in small clusters around the planet. They were all that remained of the one billion people who had populated this world. The Bakkui objective to annihilate a planetary population was terribly effective. Over ninety-nine percent of the population had died.

The local culture was nothing exceptional. Before the bombardment started, it was a feudal society with fiefdoms spread around the globe. Local kings ruled their own territories on each continent.

When kingdoms bumped into each other, the inevitable result was a combination of land swaps and royal marriages. The hierarchy kept the people poor and the common folk uneducated. Luke found it noteworthy that even as a feudal society, the planet fit the galactic norm of non-violence.

The population remnant would need assistance but Luke had no experience know what that meant. He brought the army down to help, they had a background in dealing with refugees.

“At the very least, I suggest leaving Company B from the 2
nd
Battalion, Commander,” Colonel Lindsey recommended. “Their focus is combat support and Captain Barrett is best at handling people. Most troops call him ‘the chaplain’.”

“Is he that religious?” Luke asked.

“Not at all,” Lindsey said. “Just a good people person. Makes his men feel good.”

“Will the 2
nd
Battalion CO squeal when we take Company B?”

Lindsey chuckled in a gravelly voice. “Of course he will. But I already told him it’s coming and frankly, he agrees. Barrett is not the best combat guy, but he’d be great at putting this place back together. Good leadership skills. He’s an administrator at heart, not a warrior.”

“Is this a fool’s errand, Brad?” Luke asked the colonel. “Tell me the truth.”

Lindsey stood and walked to the edge of the chalet where he leaned against the tent pole to admire the view. Their encampment was located in a grass-covered valley that had escaped bombardment. The land sloped gently away to a mountain lake.

Luke had thrown in a fishing line two days ago and pulled out the local version of a trout. It weighed in at five pounds. It was the first time since leaving Earth that Luke wished he had a cell phone. He wanted a picture of the thing.

“Yes, Commander. It is a fool’s errand. But it’s one that needs to be done. These people are human. They don’t deserve what happened. At least we can give them a chance. I’d like to leave a whole brigade here but I understand you need to maintain a combat force.”

Luke pressed the Colonel about his answer. “You know that whoever is left behind is very much at risk from another attack. Since we knocked out the Bakkui ambush they may want to retaliate.”

“I know. But you could leave a couple of warships. Take enough time to put together a large replicator unit. We could gather any locals that would come together. Plenty of them will starve if they stay out on their own, especially with winter coming on. George tells me this place has a rough cold season.” Lindsey paused to gaze at the scenery one more time. “But this planet would be worth it.”

“You’re making me all teary-eyed, Brad,” Luke said.

Lindsey looked back, his scarred face slightly abashed. “I know.
Getting
too sentimental in my old age.”

“Sounds like it’s more than that. What is it about this place?”

Lindsey shook his head as though to clear away unwanted memories but then he spoke anyway, the words coming out on their own. “Reminds me of when I was a kid. My grandparents had a place in Oklahoma; looked at lot like this. Ever hear of Beggs? Not many people have.”

Luke shook his head, amused by the rough warrior’s maudlin reminisces.

“Small town. Not more than a thousand people, I expect. Been a long time since I thought of it. Be nice to retire in a place like that…like this. With a little effort, a man could really make something of it.”

Luke leaned back, pushing the small chair onto its rear legs. George
, anything new from the probe to K18.

Yes, Commander. As suspected the planet is fairly advanced, on par with Jigu. I perceive you are implementing your revised strategy.

“I am indeed,” Luke said aloud.

“What’s that, boss?” Lindsey asked.

“Nothing, Brad. I like your idea about Captain Barrett.”

Luke handed a folder containing a sheaf of papers to Lindsey. “See what you think of this, Colonel. We might be on the same track.”

Lindsey took the file and started reading through the documents. As he read, Luke watched the man’s face light up.

Before Lindsay was half-finished, he looked up at Luke. “You serious about this?”

“Unless you can talk me out of it.”

“No. I like it. A lot.” Lindsey went back to the documents, more slowly this time. Thirty minutes later he looked up again. “I’m in. I assume you know this is at least a full brigade. Probably need some of the 2
nd
as well.”

“Set up a screening process,” Luke suggested. “See how many volunteers there are. Also, I need you to tell me how many soldiers I need to keep on
Lulubelle
. I went with two brigades at the outset because that was the recommendation. But so far, we haven’t needed anything like that.”

Lindsey nodded. “I thought you had too many soldiers myself, but it wasn’t my place to criticize.”

“All I need is a police force,” Luke acknowledged. “Something for ground protection when we’re on a new planet. I don’t see me ever needing fifteen thousand guys. That’s just hard on everyone.”

“Got it,” Lindsey said. “I’ll make sure you’re not shorted. What else?”

“I’m giving you a mission, Brad. And it’s not to sit around fishing. I want to dedicate this entire planet to combat support. I’d like to see shipyards, R&D, everything we need to carry this battle into bad-guy territory.”

“That’s not a short-term objective,” Lindsey warned. “You realize that.”

“I understand. But you’re getting a head start. It took me eleven months just to launch our first Mars colony.”

“I thought George gave you all that.”

“He gave us replicators and gravity drive, that’s true. But we designed the warships, the tools, the force fields and the procedures. You’ll have all that from the get go. And enough people to make it work. I don’t think the locals can be much more than a distraction.”

“No,” Lindsey countered. “Not a distraction. This is their planet, after all. My goal is to bring them into our century, those who want to. That’s something for our Captain Barrett to work on.”

“Sounds good. I didn’t mean to imply we shouldn’t take care of them. I like your approach.

“What about self-defense?” Lindsey wanted to know. “We need protection until everything is up and running.”

“I’ll leave a contingent here. I can give you twenty warships to start, and about fifty fighters. Keep in mind, however, that the space forces will not be under your chain of command.”

“Seriously?” Lindsey didn’t like that idea.

“Air power needs to be separate. They need to set their own priorities.”

“Right.” Lindsey grinned savagely. “I forgot you were an Air Force weenie in the old days.”

“Still am, Brad.”

“Okay. I can live with that. What do you need from me?”

“I’ve given you a rough outline. Get your staff together and put some flesh on it and we’ll meet back tomorrow. I’ll allow a few of my people on
Lulubelle
to volunteer, but I’m going to be fairly stingy where that’s concerned. Anything I can’t give you, we’ll get from Moonbase. You won’t have to go without for long.”

“What about AI? Are you going to give me one of those smart boxes?”

“Absolutely. In fact, I’ve already talked to George about it. I didn’t like the last one he produced on Jigu. It had a little too much character for me. We need to do some groundwork first, however. And get you a large-scale replicator going.”

“I would appreciate it,” Lindsey said.

Luke thought the man already looked ten years younger. It wasn’t a surprise; this
was
a great planet. It
would
be nice to find a place like this and settle down someday.

# # #

“How did it go, Commander?” Carrie asked.

“About the way we thought,” Luke replied. “He tried hard not to show it, but he was like a kid at Christmas.’

Carrie grinned. “I like the idea. It’s kind of a tribute to all those people who died. It means their passing wasn’t in vain. It means their spirit will live on.”

“Well. I think it means we need to vaporize the ones that did it.”

She frowned at his interpretation. “Kind of a harsh way of putting it.”

“Kind of a harsh way to die, if you ask me. Not really all that poetic when you think about it. Anyway, we need to send an inordinate amount of supplies down to Bradley’s planet. I told him he could look for volunteers from the crew but that we would exercise a fairly strong veto.”

“Okay.”

“And I promised him twenty warships.”

Carrie hesitated a fraction of a second before replying. “Okay.”

“And fifty fighters.”

“Okay,” she groaned.

“And a large-scale replicator.”

“Commander!”

“Relax,” Luke assured her. “We’re going to build him one and set it down. The problem is that this is going to take a bit more time than I wanted.”

“Why are you giving him so much more than you did the Jigu?”

“Think about it. We’re making him start a planetary colony with half the people and almost none of the resources that the colony ships have. I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave without leaving enough for him to get started. It’s gonna be rough on Bradley’s planet for a while.”

“I know. It’s just that we don’t have a resupply built in for ourselves.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. Did you look at the probe reports for J9580?”

That brought a smile back to Carrie’s face. “I did. How did that little guy get overlooked by the Bakkui? It was great!”

“Probably by being so small. George, display the area around J9580.”

The wall dissolved into a star chart.

“Zoom back to include Earth,” Luke said. “Show our current location and the rest of the star systems we’re talking about. Then add the known forward edge of Bakkui territory.”

A circle labeled Earth appeared on the wall. To the left of Earth, along the galaxy spiral was Jigu, in System J64. Moving in toward the galaxy center, on the edge of the adjoining spiral was
Lulubelle
’s current location on J97. Further in that direction was System J9580. Beyond were systems for future visits, K18 and K39. All of the new star systems lined up in a straight line. Past those systems, the devastated area of the Bakkui covered the chart.

In that part of the galaxy, all of the drones returned with nothing but images of destruction. The depiction of the enemy’s advance was a menacing reminder of what they faced.

“Look at 9580,” Luke said. “It’s practically next door. George, what’s the travel time to get there?”

“Approximately seven hours, Commander.”

Luke turned to Carrie. “Have engineering finish the pieces for the large-scale replicator as quickly as you can. I’ll stay here to see it gets put together. While we’re setting that up, I want you to take a fleet of warships out to 9580. George said they have a unified government and that their culture is a lot like Jigu. See what you can do.”