Winds of Vengeance (16 page)

“You are making wild suppositions.”

“I don’t think so, Ana.” Harmon shook his head. “I do not believe the Mules today would seek to harm us, save only to protect themselves. But we have seen abuses of power throughout our history, political position used to marginalize, even enslave others. Our history is full of abuses, genocide, war. Can you imagine if one group had been demonstrably superior? Stronger, smarter, longer-lived?” He paused. “No, the Prohibition was a bad law, cruel and unjust…but we lie to ourselves if we don’t acknowledge that we understand why it came to be.”

He sat for a moment before continuing. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I couldn’t repeal the Prohibition even if I wanted to. The Mules have seen to that. Their proclamation has everyone up in arms. I can get plenty of support for an assault on the Compound…but any effort to give in, to repeal the Prohibition, would be dead on arrival.” He turned toward Frasier.

“Connor, I want you to plan an assault, one with non-lethal weapons. I know this puts your people in greater danger, but I don’t see a choice. We can’t give in to the Mules’ demands. If we did, there would be rioting in the streets within hours, and outright anarchy by the next day.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, sitting quietly. “But I’m not ready to send armed Marines to kill them either. There has to be a solution for this…something short of genocide.”

“Max…”

“I’m sorry, Ana, but there is just no choice. If I don’t do something now, you can be sure whoever replaces me will be far harsher.”

“Hieronymus is there.”

Harmon looked stunned.

“What?”

“He went two days ago. He was going to try to talk to them, to find out what they were planning.”

“And he hasn’t returned?”

“No, but that isn’t unusual…” Her voice trailed off for a few seconds. Then she caught Harmon’s expression. “No, Max…no. The Mules would never harm Hieronymus.”

“I hope you’re right, Ana.” Harmon’s voice had less certainty. He looked across the desk at Frasier. “A hostage?”

Frasier nodded. “Possibly. They have to know we wouldn’t do anything to risk Dr. Cutter.”

Harmon took a deep breath. “I want that assault plan ready to go by tomorrow, Connor. I need your people ready to go on an hour’s notice.”

“Yes, sir.”

Harmon turned toward Zhukov. “I’m sorry, Ana…I really am. But I don’t think there is any choice.”

*    *    *

“The Mules couldn’t have done more for us. People were afraid of them before, but now that will intensify dramatically. We must use this to our advantage. It just may be the thing we need to gain control of the Assembly…if not the presidency itself.” Jacques Diennes stood in the center of the small cluster of conspirators. The Human Society had already been gaining support among the NB population, and now he was determined to squeeze every bit of advantage from the Mules’ defiance.

“What do you think President Harmon will do?” Emi Kahn spoke softly, as Diennes himself had. They were in the restaurant’s front room, near the bar.

“What can he do? I suspect, left to his own devices, he would give in to the Mules, grant them whatever they asked for. But he will be unable to do that. He is barely holding on as it is…if he moves to repeal the Prohibition and pardon the Mules now, the Assembly would impeach him immediately…and reinstate the laws.” He glanced at his companions, moving his eyes from one to the next. “No, my friends, he will have to take some kind of action…and if he orders an assault, every dead Marine becomes an asset to us, even if they Tanks. And when we take power, we will implement our plan, make the changes we have so often discussed. When the vote is restricted, the future of the republic will rest firmly in the hands of naturally-born human beings, the way it was intended to be.”

“We must be careful, Jacques. There is opportunity, but if we move too aggressively, we could push the NBs who don’t support us to the Tanks. That could be a coalition that stops us cold.”

“You’re right, Emi. My enthusiasm nearly got the better of me. We must act quietly, spread the word to those likely to vote for us without galvanizing the Tanks against us. And we must suggest the Tanks are aligned with the Mules, that they are capable of the same kind of action.”

“The Tanks? I agree that human purity must be maintained, but the Tanks are not in the same situation as the Mules. They have the right to produce more of their kind, currently at least…and they are far more integrated with the NB population. I’m not saying there couldn’t be a few terrorist incidents, but most Tanks are fairly moderate in their views.

Diennes looked right at his colleague. “There is no question, you are correct. But does that matter? The Mules’ action gives us the tools we need to inflame public fear of the Tanks. It is too useful to pass up, whether it is based in fact or not. The Tanks will oppose us in any vote. We must neutralize them by any possible means.”

Kahn was silent for a moment, an uncomfortable look on her face.

“Emi, I need your help to win this election. Tell me you’re with me, whatever it takes. Whatever propaganda we have to spread about the Mules.”

Kahn shifted on her feet nervously. “Jacques, you have my total support…but I think we should make our case honestly. Our cause is a just one. Perhaps we should…”

“We’ll lose unless we discredit the Tanks, Emi. It’s that simple. If we’d had this chance ten years ago, before so many of the clones reached voting age, maybe. But their total numbers are not far behind our own, and even reduced to samplings of eligible voters, the spread isn’t that much wider.”

He paused, flashing a glance at the others. He knew they were with him one hundred percent. But Kahn was the smartest of the group. He needed her.

“You know we don’t do as well with the Pilgrims as with the younger NBs. If we don’t get a massive majority of the new generations…and at least forty percent of the Pilgrims, we don’t stand a chance. And the only way we have a realistic shot is if we scare the hell out of people…make them think the Tanks are next, that one day the clones will come to exterminate them…and the other NBs.”

Kahn was still silent, her expression broadcasting her discomfort. Finally, she nodded her head slightly. “Of course I’m with you, Jacques.” She paused for a few seconds. “I just hope we can win this honestly…but I will do whatever you need me to do.”

Chapter Thirteen

Planet X

Far Beyond the Borders of the Imperium

This is Vengeance One to all units. The moment we have awaited has come. The human enemy has been contacted, and one of his vessels has been destroyed. The moment of vengeance is upon us. All status one squadrons are to deploy immediately. The orders are clear. Find the enemy’s base.

A single drone was allowed to escape from the destroyed enemy ship. All forward units are to follow it, to find the way to the heart of the human infestation. Status two and three squadrons are ordered to report to home base on Planet X, to concentrate and prepare for fleet action.

The intelligence cut the transmission, returned to its analysis. The humans had been contacted, but now patience was important. The intelligence had reviewed the Regent’s failure, its aggressiveness in launching what had amounted to piecemeal attacks against the enemy. Vengeance One would not repeat that mistake. The forward units had a single purpose. Reconnaissance. The main forces, the status two and three squadrons would wait. They would wait until the enemy’s fleet had been drawn deeper into the trap. And then they would strike with overwhelming force.

The enemy will be annihilated. The Regent will be avenged.

Admiral’s Conference Room, E2S Compton

System G-35, Eleven Transits from Earth Two

Earth Two Date 11.26.30

“The analysis of the drone leaves no doubt. A force of First Imperium vessels intercepted
Hurley
, and presumably destroyed her. The operating assumption of the previous twenty years, that all First Imperium vessels had been destroyed by the Regent’s self-destruct command or in the fleet’s subsequent engagements against residual forces, has been proven false. We know
Hurley
was attacked by ten enemy ships, and that she engaged in a running fight while attempting to disengage.”

Isaiah Kemp was standing next to the large display screen, gesturing toward a series of diagrams as he spoke. He held a small tablet in his hand, but he had hardly referred to it during the presentation. It was clear he had memorized the data.

“Captain Heflin and his people managed to destroy several of their pursuers, but they were unable to clear the enemy jamming. The drones were a last ditch effort to get word back to Earth Two. From the condition of the drone, we can conclusively state that it was attacked. It is a reasonable assumption that all or most of the remainder of the drones were destroyed.”

Nicki Frette sat at the head of the table in the admiral’s conference room, watching her tactical officer brief the others. Many of the republic’s ship designs had done away with space-wasting facilities like large briefing rooms, resources that had become anachronistic in the age of vastly shrunken crews. But
Compton
had been built as a fleet flagship, and she maintained the extensive admiral’s office and conference facilities of the Yorktown class.

“We can only speculate as to
Hurley’s
fate, however the data provided, which includes acceleration factors for the pursuing enemy units, combined with the code omega designation attached to the drone, strongly suggest that she was overtaken and destroyed. AI analysis of the situation suggests a survival chance of less than one percent.”

“Thank you, Commander Kemp.” Frette turned and looked across the table. The captains of her heaviest ships were present…and the others were connected through the information network. “That brings you all up to date on the current situation. We are here to discuss our options and determine the fleet’s next action. Before we proceed, are there any questions?”

“You suggested enemy acceleration rates in excess of 80g. Does this mean we are facing antimatter-powered vessels?” It was Josie Strand, Captain of E2S
Starfire
.

Kemp turned and looked across the table. “With Admiral Frette’s permission, I will refer that question to Commander Minh.”

Frette nodded, and Ang Minh stood up. “There is no way to know that for sure, Captain Strand. Antimatter is the only fuel source known to us that can generate thrust of that magnitude and in the manner depicted in the drone data. Coupled with the fact that we know First Imperium ships utilize antimatter as a fuel source, and Captain Heflin’s statement that he believed he was facing imperial ships, it seems reasonable to infer that, first, we are indeed facing an antimatter-capable enemy, and second, it is likely the First Imperium, at least in some capacity.”

“Would you care to assign a percentage likelihood to your assertion?”

Minh glanced at Frette. The admiral paused for a second, and then she nodded. Josie Strand was a brilliant young officer, one of the smartest Frette had ever encountered…but her mathematician’s mind was always trying to reduce diverse possibilities and options to mathematically definable terms. If she ever learned to counterbalance her computer-like brain with some ability to follow her gut, Frette knew she would be truly formidable.

“Well, Captain, any number I give you can only be considered an estimate, based on instinct as well as data…but I would say there is a ninety percent chance we are dealing with the First Imperium. Or some entity closely related to it.”

Frette could see the expressions on her officers’ faces, and she could almost hear the questions they were going to ask. She hated to shut down the debate, but there wasn’t time to waste with pointless chatter. If they were dealing with the First Imperium, they had to make some decisions. Now.

“Before we get too deep into fringe possibilities, let’s assume we are facing a First Imperium force. We have no data to suggest the size or the power of what is opposing us, no idea what they know about us, save that they discovered and presumably destroyed
Hurley
.”

She looked down the table, staring intently at each officer in turn. “So the first question is crucial. What do we do? Press on and try to gain more intel? Or return to Earth Two immediately?”

“Do we have enough force to proceed, Admiral? Certainly we do if there are only seven enemy vessels remaining, but what if
Hurley
faced only a portion of an enemy force?” Raj Chandra spoke slowly. Chandra was the commander of
Excalibur
, one of Frette’s battleships. He was another Pilgrim and an old comrade, and she had long found his low-pitched and accented voice almost hypnotic.

“We have no idea what we face.” Strand looked at Frette as she interjected her own answer, and then back to Chandra. “Indeed, an analysis of the situation strongly suggests the enemy force numbers more than the seven vessels remaining after
Hurley’s
destruction. Captain Heflin was clear that his people had found an enemy probe before the detected any vessels. The mathematical probability is strong that the ships that engaged
Hurley
were some kind of sentries, hiding in the outer system waiting for an alert. This was a common tactic of the First Imperium both during the war back in human space and the fleet’s journey across imperial space. As such, based on
Hurley’s
analysis that the system in question was unlikely a particularly important—or even inhabited—one, it seems highly likely that multiple systems are thus protected, and this implies enemy strength many times that of the single squadron that engaged
Hurley
.”

“I am inclined to agree with Captain Strand.” Hiroki Akira sat at the far end of the table. Akira was a Pilgrim like Frette and Chandra, and he skippered
Legatus
, the second largest ship in the fleet. “I think we have to proceed under the operating assumption that we are facing a more substantial enemy force than was typical of the incursions after the destruction of the Regent. Perhaps there was a node of colonization out here we didn’t know about…or some larger force that had been deployed far beyond the conventionally accepted imperial border.”