Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) (9 page)

“I know, Rico, I know. Have you asked him about the cyber-attack yet?”

“Yes… he said we’d been down that road before and gotten shot down by
‘the heavenly powers above,’
so why bother exhuming that moldy, old body?”

“Bozo,
again?”

“Bat thinks that Bozo might be sentient and actively working for the other side. He says nothing else makes any sense at all.”
              “My God.” Admiral Bradley shook his head and then reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a set of four-star admiral collar insignia and tossed them to Melendez. “The word just came down. Congratulations on your fourth star, Admiral.”

Melendez blinked.  “Ah… thank you sir.  This is… um… unexpected.  What’s up?”

“Blame Bat. Pin your old ones onto
his
collar and then get yourself and Vice Admiral Masterson over to the tailor to get new uniform jackets fitted.”

* * * *

“I wish I were going with you, Drix,” said Region-Master Raan. “But you are up to the challenges ahead, better than any other Rak master that I know of.” 

“I just wish it fell to another to initiate a conflict against these
‘ultimate predators,’
  against whom it has been prophesied we cannot win,
Region-Master,” replied Quadrant-Master Drix.

“I know, but it is also prophesied that this conflict is vital if our inherently violent race is to mature and become ‘civilized’ enough to survive in this universe. Even the staggering number of deaths we face is preferable to the extinction of our entire race.”

“Agreed, I just wish that… never mind, Master. The duty has fallen to me and I will endure it. When will you be departing for Cylvaan?”

“In three turns,” replied Raan. “I have completed my negotiations with Fraznal and he has agreed to send his primary deputy administrator to help initiate reforms to the way that Trakaan planets are administered within Region-6, beginning with Cylvaan. When do you intend to begin towing this station to its new destination?”

“The last of the supply modules to be attached to external pods to hard points on the peripheries of the station, will be completed by the end of this subcycle. Then, adding just over half a cycle transit time for the station to reach Golgathal, we should be ready to begin offensive operations against the aliens in approximately seven or eight subcycles from now.”

“Golgathal?  Is that what you’re calling that planet?”

“Yes… in the ancient tongue it means,
Lethal Dawn
.”

“Appropriate. Have no fear, I will forward additional supplies, planetary settlement gear, colonists, and more imperial Fleet units as soon as they arrive.”

“Thank you, Region-Master.”

“Dol go with you, Drix. Were you not Supreme-Master Xior’s son, I would adopt you and make you my own.”

* * * *

Chapter-10

If I had my choice, I would kill every reporter in the world…but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.
— Major General William Tecumseh Sherman

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Flash (11/02/62)

Tensee Retaken by the Confederates!
  –  Alliance Press has learned that Vice Admiral Marin Carlos’ forces were overwhelmed last September, at the captured planet of Tensee.  AP sources tell us that Carlos had only a single task force defending the planet, when an incredibly strong enemy fleet, under Confederate Admiral Eileen Thorn, emerged at short range and surprised his defenders there. It was Thorn’s surprise attack from behind that destroyed Admiral Joseph Bishop’s Grand Fleet at
1
st
Ginia
, during the first major battle of the war.               

Chief of Fleet Operations, Admiral Simon Bradley, is quoted as saying, “We feared the Confederates might have sent reinforcements to bolster their forces in the western theater, after their devastating losses to Admiral Loggins at the battles of
1
st
and 2
nd
Tensee
. We here in Waston were totally unaware that Vice Admiral Carlos ordered half of his remaining strength into blockade duties in the Arka and Souri systems. It is now readily apparent that Carlos erred badly, in not concentrating his strength at Tensee.”

Admiral Bradley then went on to say, “The sheer distances involved and the resulting communications delays makes us extremely dependent upon wise decisions being made, and actions taken by our commanders in the field. It is enormously regrettable to discover that Vice Admiral Carlos was not up to the rigors of independent command.

“The loss of yet another task force and subsequent loss of the planet itself at
3
rd
Tensee
makes our positions at Missip, Arka and Souri untenable with the strength we have remaining in that area, so orders have been issued for Rear Admirals Turner and Tygilski to withdraw to Illini.”

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Flash (11/03/62)

Terrorist Group Claims Responsibility for Nork Cyber-Attack!
  –  Alliance Press has received a message from a group calling themselves,
Friends of the Confederacy
, claiming responsibility for the cyber-attack that unfolded at Nork, which was timed to coincide with Confederate Fleet Admiral Roger Kalis’ fleet-strength raid there in September. The message also indicated the group has a complete set of records for all of the data they claim to have stolen and have offered to restore everything “as it was,” before the attack,
if
the United Stellar Alliance is willing to sign a treaty of peace with the Confederate Stellar Accord and to pay unnamed reparations for loss of life and property caused by the “unprovoked attacks upon the Confederacy” by Federal Fleet forces.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Release (11/04/62)

President Marrot Repudiates
Friends of the Confederacy
Report
  – Today, President Pierre Marrot ridiculed the plausibility of a shadowy terrorist group having the computer sophistication necessary to accomplish the kind of cyber-attack that paralyzed Nork financial institutions in September.

“The ABI is currently investigating the case, but I can assure you that this supposed
Friends of the Confederacy
group is merely trying to take credit for someone else’s work, and in no way had anything to do with the cyber-attack… nor do they have copies of the stolen data,” said Marrot. “They are merely a group of Southern sympathizers trying to blackmail the Alliance into relinquishing a major portion of our territory to the insurrectionists, which will never happen as long as I am president.”

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Release (11/05/62)

Friends of the Confederacy
Challenges the President!
  – Today, Alliance Press has received another message from the shadowy terrorist group in response to President Marrot’s recent repudiation of their claims. In that message, the
Friends of the Confederacy
issued a challenge of their own, offering to “prove” their claim by reinstating the data stolen from the Nork Stock Exchange. The message went on to say the Federal Government will then have to take their claims of their ability to restore all of the missing financial data seriously, and any continuance of the current economic chaos will then be solely by their own choice.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Flash (11/8/62)

Nork Stock Exchange Records Restored!
  –  Alliance Press has received reports that following an unexpected power outage, the computers of the temporarily closed Nork Stock Exchange rebooted with records from the day prior to the mass cyber-attack apparently, fully restored.  NSE officials said trading could not resume until all of the data could be verified for accuracy as thoroughly as possible, and new security software employed. Computer expert Dr. Edward Glendar, Dean of the Nork Polytechnic Institute’s School of Computer Science described September’s cyber-attack and today’s mysterious restoration of the missing records as, “the most disturbing events of the age.” 

Dr. Glendar went on to say, “The entire concept of computer security has just been turned on its head. Everything we thought we knew about safeguarding computer data has been thoroughly invalidated. These people, whoever they are, appear to have the ability to circumvent all of our safeguards and can do whatever they like to virtually any computer system in existence, with complete impunity. If this threat cannot be nullified quickly, the future implications to civilization as we know it are staggering.”

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Release (11/09/62)

Alliance on the Defensive!
  –  A recent press release by the Alliance Fleet has confirmed an earlier unsubstantiated rumor that due to recent losses incurred in action at Maylan, Nork and Tensee, and the current economic chaos that is adversely disrupting the industrial output of the nation, the Alliance Fleet has temporarily fallen back into a purely defensive stance. 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Douglas Campbell, is quoted as saying, “We have temporarily suspended offensive operations against the insurrectionists, due to the effect that the current financial crisis has had in interrupting our normal supply chain, and therefore our ability to acquire additional units to replace those lost in combat. This move will enable us to shorten our defensive lines and provide us with better mutual support between our remaining assets. Enlistment and training of additional Fleet personnel continues unabated.” 

Admiral Campbell is also quoted as saying, “The enemy has constantly claimed that they have no territorial ambitions, other than the planets they now occupy… we shall see.”

When asked later if the Confederates were to honor a potential “cease-fire,” would the Alliance Fleet continue to honor such a “cease-fire,” after reacquiring the strength to resume offensive operations? Admiral Campbell answered, “All military personnel prefer peace to war. The military does not start wars…  politicians start wars. It is my personal hope that the nation’s differences might be reconciled during this interval, but failing that, perhaps some form of agreement between the two antagonists might be reached to extend any cease-fire that both sides might be honoring. That decision, however, will ultimately rest with the president.”

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Waston – News Flash (11/11/62)

Friends of the Confederacy
Terror Group Claims Federal Officials Now Safe from Consortium Blackmail!
  –  Alliance Press has received another message from the terror group claiming responsibility for the September cyber-attack on the nation’s financial institutions. In this message, the group contends over a thousand high-ranking federal officials have been on the Consortium of Industrial Management’s payroll for years and subject to their will, under threat of blackmail. The group also claims all numbered bank accounts containing bribery funds for these officials have been closed and all computer records incriminating said officials have been purged, so that these officials can safely escape the “errors of earlier days” and fully resume a career of honest public service.

The group also warned that corrupt officials who declined their “gracious invitation” to abandon their corruption and return to virtuous service, according to their oath of office, would be named in later messages, including hard evidence of their corruption. 

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Release (11/14/62)

Polls Show Public Now Favoring Peace with the Confederacy
  – A recent series of Alliance Press polls have revealed a stunning shift in public opinion towards the ongoing war effort to force the rebellious Southern planets to rejoin the Union. Recent events appear to have produced a remarkable change in overall public opinion, as 46% now favor ending the war and allowing the South to remain independent, with just 33% opposed and 21% undecided, as compared to 37% in favor, 49% opposed and 14% undecided just this past August. 

Governor Isaac Poling of Verm, a leading proponent of the new peace initiative, said recently, “Over $2.5 trillion worth of equipment and over 300,000 lives have already been lost in this war and we’re no closer to subduing the insurrection than when we started. Now we’re suffering from economic warfare on a scale previously undreamed of.  Our economy is in shambles and no one trusts the banks, or any of our other financial institutions to keep their money safe from electronic thievery. We’re effectively reduced to hoarding what little cash we have left, by hiding it in a mattress. 

“We have been out-thought and out-fought at virtually every turn. Isn’t it time that we finally admit to ourselves that we just do not have the resources or the expertise to bring this war to a successful conclusion? If the Confederacy remains independent of Alliance control, so what? Haven’t they
earned
that right?”

* * * *

Uncertainty
was the watchword throughout the Alliance federal government.  Hundreds of corrupt federal officials were torn between exaltation at the news the Confederate hackers had erased the records of their previous misconduct from Consortium computers, and the shock that all of their ill-gotten gains had abruptly disappeared. Some were gladdened by the opportunity and rededicated their remaining careers to a return to honorable public service, while others remained firmly entrenched in the Consortium’s now empty pockets, out of little more than habit. Most were somewhere in between the two extremes, but virtually
all
were terrified by the Confederate threats to name names and provide hard, physical evidence of their wrongdoings to the media — a media that had also recently slipped completely out of the Consortium’s grasp. The proverbial
Sword of Damocles
dangled precariously above everyone’s head.

Fortunately, the Alliance had 21 other planets, whose economies hadn’t been totally wrecked by the Confederate raid… affected yes, but wrecked, no.  The financial chaos was less intense the farther one got from Nork. 

President Marrot had, all but physically, thrown J.P. Aneke
out of the Oval Office and strongly suggested that he return to Nork before he summoned the Federal Marshall’s Service to arrest him. Marrot also used the financial crisis to sweep all of Aneke’s minions out of his cabinet, blaming the lot of them for “advising disastrous policies that have brought our beloved nation to the brink of despair.” 

As far as the war was concerned, Marrot was desperately trying to cobble together some sort of financial package that might put the Alliance’s industrial machine back to work, making new weapons on a grand scale once again, to thwart the immediate threat of complete Confederate military victory.  He was playing for time — time to rebuild his war machine and to find commanders who could win against the rebels. 

Marrot hated doing it, but events virtually forced him to call the British ambassador to the White House, to see if he would be willing to reopen the “peace talks” on behalf of the Confederates, which he had so solidly rejected just seven short months earlier. Perhaps if they were
talking
about peace, the Confederate Fleet just might stop plastering the hell out of the Alliance during the process.

* * * *

International stock markets eventually settled down, significantly lower in value, but at least they managed to stop their initial free fall after the Alliance Stock Market shut down operations, after having lost all of its data. That didn’t stop most foreign governments from grousing about the war between North and South overflowing into harming humanity in general, and their own economies in particular. Some blamed the Confederacy for launching the attack. Some blamed the Alliance for starting the war, and some blamed both. 

Foreign governments were terrified at the prospect of finding themselves on the receiving end of a similar cyber-attack, such as the one that decimated the Alliance economy, thus criticism of the Confederacy was a bit more circumspect than that leveled at the Alliance. If they did indeed possess
that
kind of cyber-weapon, no one wanted to irritate the Confederacy too badly. But international tensions continued to escalate, as blame and finger-pointing evolved into threats and warnings. The one constant was that all of mankind continued expanding their militaries as fast as possible, in full expectation of needing them before the international financial crisis was over.