All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) (4 page)

      Candy literally jumped for joy at the news.
 
“When were you going to tell me this?
 
Mo, I oughta brain you.”

      Moe faked cringing behind his desk.

      “I just found out before you walked in my door.
 
I told you as soon as I could.”

      Candy thanked him, totally forgetting why she came in to see him, and skipped down the hallway to her office.

Chapter Two

      The five shadow unified force commanders had been summoned in the middle of the night, ordered to put on their dress uniforms and report to headquarters.
 
The first tentative glow of dawn was appearing in the eastern sky when they gathered on the front steps of the headquarters building, where they were told to wait.
 
Their fogged breath was carried off in the brisk, early morning breeze.
 
Impatience had grown into annoyance when they were finally led inside the building and to the main conference room.

      Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Land Forces Marshall (Baron) T’Kana met them in the conference room and told them to sit in the five chairs arranged at the head table.
 
He directed Shadow Unified Force Commander M’Juna to the middle chair.

      “Gentlemen, the beginning of our return to greatness is upon us.
 
You have been summoned here this morning to pass judgment on the first of those called to account for the debacle that befell us.
 
He has just recently been brought into our custody, and your decision as to his guilt or innocence must be determined in the next six hours.
 
He has been advised of the charges brought against him and has legal counsel.”

      “I will leave you to study the charge packets in front of you and prepare your questions.
 
You may begin whenever you are ready.
 
I will retire to my office until you reach a decision.
 
Come to me with your decision and rationale in five hours time, no later.
 
Irrespective of any rash prior comments I may have made, I do not presuppose guilt or innocence.
 
I expect you to use your own experiences as combat commanders to determine if Baron G’Rof did all he could to defeat the Human/A’Ngarii coalition.”
 
Baron T’Kana spun on his heel and left them to their deliberations.

      Shadow Unified Force Commander M’Juna ordered the room cleared of admin staff as the five commanders reviewed the packets’ summary sheets.
 
After fifteen minutes, he called a break and addressed his fellow commanders.
 
“Gentlemen, I will not provide you guidance on how to proceed.
 
I will only tell you how I will conduct myself.
 
I do not care about Baron T’Kana’s comments of yesterday or of this morning.
 
We have a specific list of charges.
 
These charges have specific elements of proof.
 
As I said yesterday, it is very easy to judge after the battle is over and you have time to think and ponder, but quite different when your warriors are dying around you or are about to.
 
I consider myself an honorable K’Rang and will do my duty as honor prescribes.
 
I expect you will, too.
 
Call everyone back in and let us begin.”

* * * * *

      Lieutenant Colonel Angie Shappelle and Commander Tammie Nielson were to meet in the Galactic War College cafeteria to catch up on the latest happenings.
 
Both officers had been picked below the zone of consideration for promotion to the next higher grade – Angie to colonel and Tammy to captain.
 
Their promotion dates were still some months away.

Many flagships in the 2nd Combined Fleet under Admiral Levi, were destroyed or took heavy senior crew losses at the battle of G’Durin.
 
The losses incurred, especially in command positions and higher staffs, meant promotion numbers were dramatically up.

      In addition, attendance at the prestigious War College on Gagarin, normally reserved for captains and colonels, was granted for the time being to promotable officers at the lieutenant colonel and commander level who had distinguished themselves in combat command.
 
Both Angie and Tammy easily met those qualifications.

      Angie was first to arrive, got coffee, and waited for Tammy amid the clamor of several hundred simultaneous conversations as student officers took their only break of the day.
 
With the critical need for qualified senior officers, in addition to increasing the attendance levels, they had shortened the normally six-month course to four, but not the course requirements.
 
Class was in session six days a week and nine hours per day, with only an hour break at midday for lunch.

      Tammy rushed up in her normal flurry of activity and dropped her backpack on the table.
 
Her pocket tablet and several memory disks scattered across the tabletop and onto the floor.
 
Giving an exasperated sigh, she gathered her belongings and sat down, looking exhausted.

      “Do you have Colonel Benson for ground tactics?
 
He has us reading three historical tactical studies per night.
 
Last night was Cannae, Thermopylae, and Operation Overlord.
 
He thinks he’s the only professor we have.
 
Overlord was easily 80 screens.
 
I was up until 0200 reading.
 
I’m exhausted.”

      Angie smiled, passed Tammy two disks she’d missed, and said, “Tammy, it’s not nearly as exhausting as combat.
 
Let’s eat!”

      They made a quick dash through the buffet line and came back with salad and fresh baked bread, making short work of their lunch.

      Finished, Tammy took a sip of her tea and asked Angie, “Have you heard from Kelly or Candy lately?”

      Angie grinned and said, “Candy and Kelly both sent me birthday greetings last month.
 
She’s on G’Durin and he’s in Geneva completing the attaché course.
 
That’s gotta suck with her pregnant.
 
When is she due?”

      Tammy fiddled with a piece of romaine in her bowl, then said, “Six months, June here time.
 
I don’t know what that translates to on G’Durin.
 
Do you know if she is going to have the baby there or come back here for the birth?”

      “I think she said she wanted it to be the first human born on G’Durin.
 
The embassy has a well-staffed and equipped medical suite.
 
Kelly told me they could handle most major trauma there or stabilize and transport back here through the gate, if need be.”

      Angie abruptly changed subjects.
 
“Have you heard when the assignments people are coming through?
 
I bet they try and stick me on a flag staff.
 
That would be okay, I guess.
 
It would give me a chance to wind down a little after squadron command and here.
 
What are you hoping for?”

      Tammy crinkled her nose and said, “I don’t know.
 
I was looking forward to commanding the flight detachment at Antares, but now I’m promotable and they won’t let that job go to a captain.
 
I don’t know what I want.
 
Maybe I’ll get a Fleet Staff job in Geneva.
 
That would be sweet.”

      Angie started.
 
“Hey!
 
Look at the time!
 
I’ve got military geography with Lieutenant General Chong in fifteen and it’s clear across campus.
 
He loves lecturing you after class if you’re late.
 
Gotta go.
 
Later.”

      
 
Tammie watched her friend rush off.
 
She packed up her own gear, looked under the table to see if she missed anything, and headed off to her next class, profiles in leadership.
 
“One more month until graduation.
 
It can’t get here soon enough.”

* * * * *

      Shadow Leader M’Taso surveyed the world beneath her and chose a mountain valley large enough to meet the required specifications and with likely mineral deposits in the surrounding mountains.
 
She needed to further analyze the mineral content of the deposits as identified by the S’Kauf’s sensors.

      She ordered the helm to make a standard orbital approach and land in the center of the valley, next to a knoll overlooking a small river.
 
The approach and landing was the smoothest she had ever seen and she commended her helmsman for his skill.
 
Quickly organizing her scientists and crew into survey teams, she had them turn in for the remainder of the night and get an early start in the morning.

      The following morning, the crews left the ship and went about their assigned tasks.
 
Geology teams trudged up into the mountains, looking for various ores.
 
Xenobiology teams recorded and captured wildlife specimens.
 
Botanist teams gathered leaves, fruit, and bark of the local vegetation.
 
Environmental teams surveyed the air and water and tested for contaminants or dangerous compounds.

      As the local star reached its zenith, the close-by teams returned to the ship for a mid-day meal.
 
One of the xenobiology teams walked to the ship from upstream and, as it pushed up a small rise, came face to face with a worker insectoid.
 
The large dog-sized insectoid and the team ran in opposite directions.

      While the team ran back the way they came, circled around, and hiked to the ship, the worker made a straight-line dash to the burrow, leaving a pheromone trail, which alerted every other worker of danger in that direction.
 
Workers and soldiers swarmed down the trail in search of the danger, ready to engage in combat.
 
The workers and soldiers arrived at the end of the trail, found no danger, milled around scouting, and found the path made by the K’Rang team.
 
Over 70 soldiers and workers now followed the trail leading towards the S’Kauf.

      As the xenobiology team reached the crest of the knoll upon which the S’Kauf landed, they looked behind and saw a growing column of insectoids gaining on them.
 
The K’Rang dropped their equipment, kept the samples they had acquired, and employed the speed of their hunter ancestors to try and escape.
 
There were too many bugs coming at them from all angles.
 
Other colonies’ workers came across the pheromone trail and alerted their soldiers.
 
Soon there were hundreds of insectoids descending on the hapless K’Rang team.

      Like a black moving carpet, the insectoids covered the K’Rang team and when they dispersed, nothing was left. A sentient queen arrived on the scene, saw the team’s abandoned equipment, and sent soldiers out to scout the area in the direction they were running.
 
Within minutes, the soldiers came back, leaving a pheromone danger trail from the north.
 
The queen held back the soldiers until she personally viewed the situation.

      She crawled forward through the tall, feathery grass until she found a small rise overlooking the K’Rang scout ship.
 
She observed the comings and goings of ship personnel for a while, and then dropped down off the knoll.
 
She sent one soldier to alert soldiers from other colonies and give them instructions to pass on to their colony.
 
She touched antennae with another soldier and had him alert two other nearby colonies with sentient queens.
 
She gave a message to yet another soldier to pass to her own colony, and then found a cool shady spot to wait for dark.

* * * * *

      Alistair Bennett arrived, unescorted, unscheduled, and carrying Rojo, his white cat, in his carrier through the embassy mini-gate to assume his duties as the Chief of Station, the second most powerful position in the embassy.
 
His duties would include managing intelligence operations throughout the K’Rang Empire.
 
His office would be in charge of all intelligence operations conducted in K’Rang space or worlds by any agency of the Republic, military or civilian.

      Alistair grew up on the planet Archimedes, known as the Lost Settlement, which gave him a distinctly different outlook on things.
 
Thrown off course by their deranged chief astrogator, the settlement ship wound up 270 light years from the nearest human settlement and with no way to get back.
 
The settlers did what they could with all the modern tools and conveniences until their thirtieth year, when the power cells died one by one.
 
By then, they had converted to a sustainable nineteenth century steam powered society.
 
It wasn’t until their discovery in 2316 that the republic knew about their fate.