When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (16 page)

*              *              *              *              *

              At her post aboard Tallus Node Bravo, Rebecca Barkovski dozed at her computer. Sh
e’
d taken the graveyard shift aboard the civilian vessel years before as a way to supplement her husban
d’
s meager income, but it never got easier to be so far from home three days out of the week. Even the beautiful vista, overlooking the nebulous Valley of Giants, had lost its luster after a thousand days. In this economy, however, any paying gig was important. They wanted another child, and there were few opportunities in the private sector on Tallus. So Rebecca resigned herself to her position and soldiered on.

             
The usual alerts flashed across her screen. An asteroid had been identified several million kilometers away. TSI had already flagged it for retrieval, so there was nothing for her to do. Fleet was engaged in some sort of training mission in the Valle
y—
nothing new there. She would have been more surprised if there
was
n’
t
another set of war games happening. A travel advisory was posted to all Terran planets until Fleet intelligence could determine where the Boxti armada was based. After a month without a sighting, though, most people figured the aliens had no interest in squaring off against humanity again.

             
An alarm sounded. Just an alert, not a full Bells-to-Hell shitstorm. Rebecca tapped a few keys on her keyboard to check the report. An Observer drone sent in a garbled transmission, something about an unauthorized FTL broadcast. The channel was unknown, but it did
n’
t give the civilian any reason to worry. Observers were notoriously neurotic and flagged just about everything that happened in space. Her first tour on the Node, an Observer had spent the entire shift insisting an invasion was imminent. After scrambling the entire Tallus SP, it was found that a cloud of debris from a passing junk hauler had drifted into Tallu
s’
gravity well. After that, Rebecca found it hard to take the little robots seriously.

             
She added the report to a list of items sent to TSI control back on the ground and gave it no more thought. A poker game was starting behind her, and she was pretty sure her co-workers still had money to lose. Smiling, she pushed away from her computer and drifted over.

*              *              *              *              *

              “Kilo, report
!
”

             
Only a few minutes had passed since initial contact with the Boxti frigate and neither Captain Dunham, nor anyone from his squadron, had so much as cursed over the radio. Kaileen could
n’
t shake the feeling that something had gone wrong. The odds had been heavily stacked in the Terran
s’
favor, including the all-important element of surprise. There was no reason to think complete victory had not been achieved, and yet the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end.

             
“Kilo, this is Overwatch. Report your status
.”
She looked at Gregorovich, frowning
.“
Sir,
I’
ve got nothing. We need to head over there and make sure the
y’
re alive
.
”

             
The elderly commander sighed, easing himself into a more professional sitting position. He paused, gathering his thoughts for an interminable few seconds before responding
.“
Are you giving orders now, Lieutenant
?”
He smiled, but his eyes were anything but warm.

             
Kaileen bit her tongue and let out a short breath through her nostrils
.“
No, sir. I am recommending that we investigate and make sure our fighter squadron is alive
.
”

             
Gregorovich yawned, stretching his limbs out like a cat
.“
But the
y’
re so far away. At Stride speed w
e’
re a half-an-hour from Venetian Four, and I had every intention of heading back toward Tallus after Kilo returned
.
”

             
“But sir
!”
She threw her arms in the air and turned toward the communications officer
.“
Can we get a visual on that sector of space? A satellite or something
?
”

             
Gregorovic
h’
s face reddened
.“
Lieutenant, belay that order
.
”

             
“Goddamnit
,”
Kaileen said. She hobbled over to the communication terminal, shoving the scrawny soldier aside and scrolling through the various contacts on the screen. She found one she liked and dragged it up, flicking it toward the main terminal. An image of the gas giant appeared, though nothing else could be seen
.“
Move us up a few hundred kilometers and we should have an angle over the top. W
e’
ll be able to see where they reported the contacts
.
”

             
“Lieutenant Nuvarian
,”
the Captain said
.“
Your shift is over. Go back to medical
.
”

             
Kaileen wheeled around, her eyes full of fire
.“
Sir
,”
she began.

             
“Not another word. Lieutenant Marcos can run the projector. Now get back to your physical therapy before I make it an order. There is nothing going on here
.
”

             
She felt her temperature rising, blood pumping hot through her veins. Her mouth was open before her brain could register the danger
.“
W
e’
ve lost contact with twenty fighters, and this is the first interaction with the enemy since Luna. What if this was an ambush? What if the
y’
re all dead already
.”
She was breathing hard now
.“
How can you be so fucking stupid
?
”

             
A second passed before her words struck him.

             
Gregorovich rose from his chair, his face red
.“
Get her the FUCK off my bridge
!”
He shook with rage, his cigar falling from his lips and tumbling to the ground
.“
I want her remanded to the brig. A
week
at half rations
!”
Two MPs appeared, hands on their holsters. They did
n’
t appear worried that the hundred-and-ten-pound pilot with one good leg would be a threat.

             
Kailee
n’
s momentary shock did
n’
t mean she wanted to go quietly. When the first MP grabbed her arm she brought her elbow back hard. The poor sergeant collapsed against the wall, gasping. The other soldier grabbed her wrist and bent it behind her back until she cried out. Together the two men cuffed the lieutenant and dragged her from the room. She looked at her feet as they dragged her briskly down the halls to the brig.

             
After an oxygen tank had proven faulty a week earlier, the brig had been temporarily moved to an adjacent escape pod. The small space was actually less hospitable than the brig cell, and the controls were all hardwired to a panel outside the airlock. One of the soldiers opened the door to the pod and guided Kaileen inside. Before shutting the door, he handed her a combat ration with a grin.

             
“
I’
ll be here if you want to go another round
.”
He sealed the hatch and disappeared from view.

             
Taking a seat inside the escape pod, Kaileen rested her head against the cool wall. The vibrations from the ship calmed her nerves and carried up inside her cast to sooth her sore leg. Before long, the adrenaline wore off and she fell into a fitful rest.

-                           
V                            -

              Alexander awoke aboard
Imperion One
, the capital frigate of the High Chancellor. Opulent to the point of excess,
Imperion
had been designed during the first years of the United Earth Council, after the Empirical War. The schematics sat unused for almost a half century before being revised by the Council  toward the end of the twenty-second century. Platinum and titanium composites covered every inch of the hull, gilded with a gold carbon fitting. The sleek and futuristic curves of the frigate made it the source of envy and admiration for every politician in the council.

             
The High Chancellor sat up from the couch in his office, shaking off the last vestiges of sleep. He rubbed his eyes and blinked until they became clear. Alice, a young staffer, appeared with a steaming cup of coffee and a piece of wheat toast. The chief executive took the cup and sipped, knowing it would already be the right temperature. The perks of the job were not lost on him. He grimaced at the bitter taste, but the drink was strong and exactly what he needed at the moment.

             
For a moment he was somewhere else, sipping piping hot and bitter coffee grounds from a rusty metal can. His senses are overwhelmed by the stench of smoke and blood and shit, and there are literally thousands of voices crying out for help or death or mama. As quickly as it began, the episode ended. Alexander was back in his room, surrounded by soft colors and solid wood furniture. His hands were still shaking as he wiped away the tears he knew had come.
Cry out the demons
, his doctor had always told him.

             
Once the caffeine kicked in, and he felt more composed, Alexander stood and walked out of the room. Donald appeared at his side, the silent shadow. Alexander gave him a nod but otherwise kept quiet. He was
n’
t sure if his voice would still shake.

             
As they neared the end of the hall, Alexander heard two men arguing loudly. Normally he would smile and enjoy the brief moment he had before joining in the conversation, but now it just tweaked his frayed nerves even more. Donald opened the door and they walked into the din.

             
Arthur and Jerry Ahmad, Alexande
r’
s Chief of Staff, sat in the conference room debating. Jerry, a former CEO, had never been a fan o
f“
the game
.”
Politics, as he would often say, was a place for the greedy and power-hungry. The age of representing the people seemed to have passed long before interstellar flight, but the added distance made ruling over a galaxy of individuals an impossible task. Alexander lamented the fact that, without his army of counsellors, presidents and governors, running the known universe would be a pipe dream. Not that h
e’
d asked for the job, but h
e’
d suffer through the role nonetheless.

             
Arthur had other ideas on the subject. Raised in a generation where the Terran Colonization Policy was almost a reality, he felt expansion was not only a goal but a destiny. Many of his contemporaries felt the same, and the chambers of the Centurial Council often fell into argument over the future of the human race. Alexander did
n’
t like the idea of turning a barely functioning federate into an empire. Two centuries had passed since the failed rule of Emperor Norton, and no one was eager to reopen that wound.

             
“Alexander
,”
Jerry said, standing
.“
About time you woke up. I figured yo
u’
d just decided to go peacefully rather than wade through another year of this crap
.”
He shook the High Chancello
r’
s hand with an iron grip
.“
Arthur here was trying his best not to fall behind in an adult conversation
.”
Jerry turned to face the young man
.“
I commend the attempt, but next time leave the politics to the big boys
.
”

             
Arthur turned beet red. He was used to sparring with Mr. Ahmad, but losing never got easier
.“
Chancellor, this idea of a draft is already kicking us in the teeth. The media is running with the idea that yo
u’
re preparing to garrison the colonies
.
”