A Small Colonial War (Ark Royal Book 6) (19 page)

“I will,” Lillian said, quietly.  “I won’t even mention it to anyone else who might be interested in resisting.”

She swallowed hard.  It must be a common problem for the troopers.  If they were spotted, did they kill the spotter or risk being betrayed?  She knew she couldn't stop them, if she’d been armed.  If they wanted to break her neck and fake an accident, perhaps by triggering an explosion in the fuel tank, it would be easy.

“Good,” the leader said.  “Now ... what are you expected to do at the far end?”

Lillian nodded towards the rear of the giant transport.  “Get their boxes unloaded and head back to the colony,” she said.  “They don’t normally insist on riding with us, but Pat did have to take a couple of Indian soldiers back with him.  I’ve never had to do that, at least not yet.  I think they may prefer to use shuttles for themselves.”

The leader frowned.  “Or they’re worried about putting their soldiers in with defenceless females,” he mused.  Lillian shuddered at the thought.  “But you’d think they’d put the best of their men on Clarke.”

“Unless they don’t think the moon can be held,” Percy offered.  “If something were to happen to that carrier, sir, the Indians would be in a very bad position.”

“And so they might have rated the soldiers as expendable,” the leader said.  “I’ve seen that happen, Percy, but only on Earth.  I don’t think anyone would waste the training necessary to prepare men for Clarke so casually.”

Lillian looked from one to the other.  “How can you be so calm?”

“Panic wouldn’t actually help,” the leader pointed out.  “Do you know what they’re shipping?”

“We’re not allowed to open the boxes,” Lillian said.  “They told us that we’d be shot if there were any signs of tampering.  It could be anything from mass driver projectiles to ration bars and reading matter.”

“Maybe they should just keep eating our ration bars,” Percy said.  “A few weeks of chewing and farting loudly and their men will desert.”

“Indeed,” the leader said.  He smiled, suddenly.  “Most of
our
men deserted after eating them.”

Lillian smiled too, even though she knew they were trying to make her feel better.  “Are you going to try to open the boxes?”

“I’ll take a look at them,” the leader said.  “Percy will stay and keep you company.”

And make sure I don’t call the Indians while you’re gone
, Lillian added, mentally.

“It’s been a while,” Percy said, once they were alone.  “How were you coping down here?”

“It was better, I think,” Lillian said, slowly.  She wasn't sure why she wanted to open up to him.  They
had
been on the same ship, but they’d barely known one another.  Hell, he’d practically been her arresting officer.  “They were suspicious of me at first, yet I slowly earned their trust.”

“And then the Indians arrived,” Percy said.  He seemed inclined to repeat some of his superior’s questions.  “How many people are collaborating?”

Lillian sighed.  “There are around fourteen people who seem to have gone over completely,” she said, “but there’re over a hundred other colonists who are being pushed into assisting the bastards.  People like me, Percy; people who don’t want to find out what happens if we say no.  The line between outright collaboration and doing the bare minimum is getting thinner every day.”

“And they have you supplying military installations,” Percy mused.  “They’re certainly pushing the limits of the surrender agreement.”

“I know,” Lillian said.  “They took the governor after they occupied the colony.  I don’t know what happened to him after that.  Was he returned to Earth?”

“Not as far as I know,” Percy said.  “He may have been moved to the carrier and held there.”

Lillian blinked.  “The carrier?”

“The Indians have a supercarrier in the system,” Percy said.  “Didn't they tell you?”

The hatch opened, again, before Lillian could answer.  “The boxes are completely sealed,” the leader said.  “Breaking in would be easy, but sealing them up again to remove all evidence of tampering would be impossible.  I think we’ll just have to leave the mystery unsolved for the moment.”

Lillian breathed a sigh of relief.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “It’s ... I don’t know what to do.”

“Here,” the leader said.  He produced a small pen from his suit and passed it to her.  “This emits a very low-level radio signal.  To make it work, push the top down hard for thirty seconds; to deactivate the signal, click the top up again.  The next time you’re on one of these transports, alone, use the pen to signal us.  Do
not
use it within a kilometre of the colony or any Indian outpost.”

“James Bond would be proud,” Lillian said.  She examined the device thoughtfully.  “Can it serve as a real pen?”

“Of course,” the leader said.  “Just keep it in your pocket like you would with an engineering pen.  Even if the Indians confiscate it, they’d have to take the device apart to prove it wasn't anything other than a normal pen.  Just make sure you don’t try to use it anywhere near the Indians.  They may detect the signal and track it down.”

“I understand,” Lillian said.  She tucked the pen into her shirt and looked at them.  “I’m normally out again within the week.  Do you have anything in particular you want me to do?”

“Just keep your eyes open,” the leader said.  “And ... see if you can work out just how much freedom of movement we’d have if we slipped into the colony.  We need that sort of information.”

“I’ll do my best,” Lillian promised.  “And thank you.”

“Don't tell
anyone
about us,” the leader warned.  “No one.”

“I won’t,” Lillian said.

“Good luck,” Percy said. 

He waved cheerfully as he rose and headed for the hatch, followed by his superior.  Lillian took the driver’s seat again and smiled to herself as she heard the hatch opening and closing behind her.  The SAS wouldn't have any problems if they jumped down, she was sure.  It wasn't as if the transport was moving particularly fast.

Good luck
, she thought, feeling better than she had for weeks. 
I’ll see you again soon
.

Chapter Eighteen

HMS
Theodore Smith
, Hannibal System

“Welcome onboard, Captain,” Commander Sally Acorn said.  “The Admiral is waiting for you in the briefing compartment.”

“Thank you,” John said.  He would have liked a tour of the giant carrier - he hadn't had a chance to visit a
Theodore Smith
-class carrier - but he had a feeling there was no time.  The task force had been delayed long enough, giving the Indians far too much time to dig into the Pegasus System and ready their defences.  “Please show me to him.”

He looked around with interest as the commander led him through a maze of corridors.  It had been years since he’d served on
any
carrier and he had to admit that many of the lessons learned during the war had been integrated into
Theodore Smith
.  Her hull was armoured, her interior was designed to seal compartments and make life difficult for boarders and
everything
was massively over-engineered.  He had never met Admiral Smith, but if what he'd heard was true, the old man would probably have approved.  His namesake was definitely a direct descendent of
Ark Royal
.

The CIC was massive, crammed with consoles and holographic displays.  He took a moment to study the one showing the task force, then followed the commander through a hatch and into a small briefing room.  It was still large, certainly by
Warspite’s
standards; he couldn't help wondering if a small army of officers were expected to attend the briefing.  The compartment was just
too
large for two officers.

“Captain,” Admiral Fitzwilliam said.  He rose and held out a hand.  “Congratulations on your successful cruise.”

“Thank you, sir,” John said.  He shook the Admiral’s hand and sat as the Admiral indicated a chair.  “I’ll pass your kind words on to my crew.”

“The tactical staff are already analysing your sensor records,” the Admiral said.  “I concur, however, that the Indians are trying to muddy the issue of who owns the facilities within the system as a fallback measure.  However, from a tactical point of view, we can probably either claim everything we seize as the spoils of war or compensate the Indians for it afterwards.”

“That will cause political problems, sir,” John said.  “There could be another Terra Nova incident.”

“We’re not Terra Nova,” the Admiral said, curtly.  “And it’s pretty damn cheeky for the Indians to be investing in
our
system without
our
permission.  I don’t think the other powers will be particularly interested in setting a very dangerous precedent.  What’s to stop the Chinese from setting up a mining facility in New Washington if the Indians get away with doing it to us?”

“Nothing legal,” John said.

“The Chinese have every interest in keeping the Indians from creating such a precedent too,” the Admiral added.  He shrugged.  “All this will be moot, of course, if we fail to evict the Indians.”

He keyed a switch, activating the holographic display.  “You noted thirty-seven starships in the system, including one fleet carrier and twenty-two warships,” he added.  “That gives them a slight advantage in numbers and perhaps technology, although we do have more experience.  They may also have brought in reinforcements from Vesy.”

“Yes, sir,” John said.  “They have a second carrier battle group lurking there.”

“Which can be in Pegasus within two hours of deployment,” the Admiral mused.  “And if we let them unite the two fleets, we may be in some trouble.”

“That
would
let us snap up their settled worlds,” John pointed out.  “We’d have bargaining chips for the moment the war stalemated.”

“They wouldn't be particularly useful,” the Admiral pointed out.  “Ideally, we need to deal with the carriers separately.”

“Yes, sir,” John said.

He had his doubts.  The Indians presumably knew that they faced only one British carrier - and that her destruction would be enough to end the war.  In their place, he would have brought the second carrier into the Pegasus System and forced an engagement on favourable terms, relying on superior numbers to triumph over experience.  It would cost the Indians badly, but if they won the engagement they’d win the war.  Unless, of course, they lost both of their carriers in the fight ...

“And we also need more data from the surface,” the Admiral added slowly.  “I assume the recon platforms were placed correctly?”

“Yes, sir,” John said.  “There was no sign they were detected.”

“Then you’ll be returning to the system soon,” the Admiral said.  “You’ll be needed to collect data from the platforms - and the ground.  We need to know what we’re likely to encounter when we enter the system.”

He took a breath.  “This is pretty much the last chance the Indians have to avoid hostilities, Captain.  Either they pull back and concede the systems or they prepare to resist attack.”

“They won’t pull back, sir,” John said.  “They’ve already made a sizable investment in the system.”

“I know,” the Admiral said.  He studied the display for a long moment, allowing his anger to show.  “Such a fucking waste.”

“Sir?”

“If we win,” the Admiral said, “we will probably have destroyed at least one Indian fleet carrier - one
human
fleet carrier.  If
they
win,
Theodore Smith
will probably have been destroyed or - at least - severely damaged.  She’s built to take punishment, but the Indians can dish out a hell of a lot.  And
that
, Captain, weakens the entire human race against alien threats.  How can we unite against a new threat if we’ve wasted our strength in civil wars?”

John frowned.  “Is there a new threat?”

“Six years ago, the thought of aliens would have been laughable,” the Admiral commented, slowly.  “The highest form of life we’d encountered, away from Earth, were the neo-dogs of New Washington, creatures so easy to domesticate that they became popular pets for American children.  They certainly didn't possess any real intelligence.  We told ourselves that we were alone in the universe.  There were even cults that believed we were destined to spread through the galaxies, spreading intelligence far and wide.

“Now, Captain, there are two known intelligent races,” he added.  “One of them believed it had good reason to wage war against us, one of them was so primitive that contact with us proved disastrous to their society.  How do we know that the next race we encounter won’t be as far above us as we are above the Vesy?  Or that the next race we encounter will be so alien that direct communication is impossible?  That nothing short of total war will be enough to answer the threat they pose?”

John considered it for a long moment.  The Tadpoles were hard to understand, certainly when it came to talking about anything beyond hard science and numbers.  Their outlook on the universe was very ...
alien
.  The Vesy, by contrast, were understandable, perhaps
too
understandable.  They fitted into the same ecological niches as humanity ... indeed, in many ways, they were alarmingly close to humans.  Their resentment at looking up at the stars and knowing they were
taken
was easy to understand.  And they had good reason to want human technology for themselves.

“We don't,” he said, finally.  “There's no way to know what’s on the other side of the next tramline.”

“Exactly,” the Admiral said.  “I’ve actually tried to convince the Admiralty to put a freeze on further exploration until we rebuild our fighting power.  The Admiralty understood my point, I think, but it was impossible to convince the rest of humanity.  India ... among others ... objected to a freeze that would leave them permanently disadvantaged.”

John scowled.  “That probably didn't help their attitude toward us.”

“No,” the Admiral agreed, regretfully.  “It probably didn’t.”

He shrugged.  “Grab yourself a cup of coffee, Captain,” he added.  “We’ll start the main briefing in thirty minutes.”

***

The briefing compartment on
Theodore Smith
was designed to hold, if necessary, the commanding officer of every ship in the task force.  James, in order to keep the meeting under some kind of control, had ruled that commanding officers were to attend via hologram, rather than in person.  It was a breach of etiquette, at least as it applied on Earth, but he preferred to be efficient rather than polite.  Besides, there
was
a very real danger of the Indians launching a pre-emptive strike and, if they did, he needed his commanding officers on their ships.  The only officers who were attending in person were himself, his tactical staff and Captain Naiser.  Even
Susan
was attending via hologram.

“You have all seen the tactical situation,” he said, once the final holograms had blinked into existence.   Looking at them made his eyes hurt, but he ignored the slight discomfort.  “The Indians have occupied the system
thoroughly
and show no sign of being willing to withdraw peacefully.  Assuming the timetable holds true, they will be receiving the final ultimatum today, on Earth.  Ten days from now, the war will begin in earnest.”

He kept his expression blank with an effort.  The politicians hadn't
quite
realised that attempting to synchronise military and political operations across interstellar space was impossible.  There was no way to
guarantee
that the task force had reached its destination on time, no matter how much delay one built into the system.  By the time the Indians on Pegasus received their orders, they would have had plenty of time to prepare themselves for the inevitable attack.  He rather doubted they would do anything but fight.

But we do have to give them the chance
, he reminded himself, sternly. 
It was so much easier when we were fighting the Tadpoles
.

“We will assume, of course, that they are aware of our position,” he said.  Given the number of foreign ships that had followed the task force, much to his annoyance, it was pretty much inevitable.  “Accordingly, we will move up the tramline to J-35 and establish ourselves there after this meeting.  That will cut down on the warning time before we advance into Pegasus itself.”

There was a long pause.  “
Warspite
will travel ahead of us and make contact with the recon platforms, allowing us to obtain up-to-date information,” he added.  “Should the Indians not back down, we will commence offensive operations without further ado.  Smaller flotillas will raid the outskirts of their system, allowing us to gauge their strength and determination to fight.  We will also work to cut the Indians off from their supply lines.  I imagine the Indians will feel the urge to take the offensive sooner rather than later.”

He gritted his teeth in annoyance.  Every instinct told him to take the task force directly into the system and challenge the Indians to open battle, carrier against carrier. 
Theodore Smith
carried more starfighters, he was sure, and his pilots were more experienced.  But there were strong reasons
against
such a step, reasons he could not afford to discard.  Let the Indians be tested first, let their technological advancements - if they had any - be parsed out before he took the offensive. 

And besides,
he thought darkly,
we do have strong reason to keep the Indian fleet intact, if we could just stop them trying to take our worlds
.

“When they do,” he added, “we will be ready to meet them.

“This will, of course, require us to keep our distance from our foreign friends,” he warned.  “Once we enter J-35, we will go into stealth mode and conceal as much as possible; we’ll issue warnings to the observers, ordering them not to approach within one light minute of the task force.  Legally, we do have authority to drive anyone away if they get too close, but for political reasons we would prefer to avoid it.  Are there any questions?”