First Strike (36 page)

“Apparently so,” Sooraya said.  “Intelligence doesn't have a file on him, but there are a number of male senior officers in the Hegemony Navy – just not very many of them.”

“Interesting,” Tobias mused.  And also dangerous, he admitted, privately.  The Hegemony females were worse than the human patriarchs who thought that women should be left barefoot and pregnant while slaving over a kitchen stove.  Even now, there were parts of Earth where women were very much second-class citizens.  Their men claimed that women were supposed to be under men, unsuited for the rough and tumble of political life, or even controlling their own destinies.  The Hegemony females actually had some measure of
 
proof
 
for their claims.  Any Funk male who rose to become a senior officer had to be far
 
better
 
at his job than a female officer.  At least the Funks didn't have any tradition of officers sleeping their ways to important posts.

He shrugged.  “Tell him that we will return his personnel to the Hegemony once the war is over,” he said.  “Until then, they will be well-treated in a POW camp on Terra Nova or Earth – any of them who wish to defect will be welcome to do so.”

“Yes, sir,” Sooraya said.  “Should we add a warning against murdering their own crewmen?”

Tobias nodded.  Some high-ranking Funk POWs had murdered subordinate officers, for no reason that made sense to the human mind.  Tobias was inclined to wonder if they’d been fearful that their subordinates would pay off a few private scores now that they had been reduced to equality, but at least two of the murders hadn't even made that much sense.  The sociologists had finally suggested that the Funks had wanted to kill the weak.  Tobias had privately given orders that all such murders were to be prevented.  One way or another, they would make the human race look bad.

A long moment passed as messages raced to and from the planet.  “He’s accepted your terms,” Sooraya said.  “They don't want to lower their shields, however, until they receive assurances that we've disarmed the mines.”

“Unsurprising,” Tobias said.  “We’ll get around to them once we’ve finished securing the system.  They can keep their shields up until then.”

He tapped his console, assigning a handful of starships to take up defensive positions.  The Funks had used the defence of Hammerfall for propaganda, even though the system had been rendered effectively useless.  Now that humanity had taken the system, the Empress would be under immense pressure to launch a counterattack as soon as possible.  ONI had been tracking enemy transmissions and noted that several more squadrons were being deployed to face the human advance, forming a defensive line that would combine with the fixed defences to stall the human fleet well before it reached Hegemony Prime.  It was a pity that the deep-strike concept remained a concept for the moment, but there was little hope for developing it until thousands of additional missiles were produced.  The last report had warned of delays in missile production facilities.

Still, Hammerfall’s capture would look good, at least on paper.  The Funks themselves would probably know better, but the Galactics – and human public opinion – was unlikely to see anything other than another world falling to the human advance.  Once again, a fleet numerically superior to its opponents had been defeated, even if it hadn't been as crushing a victory as the Battle of Terra Nova.  They’d even captured another half-wrecked superdreadnought.  Given enough time, the raw material of the hull would be broken down and turned into new weapons and starships for the Federation Navy.

“Organise the reporters so that they can inspect the captured fortresses,” he ordered.  PR reared its ugly head once again.  At least most of the reporters from Earth were sensible – and those that weren’t had their reports heavily censored before they were transmitted home.  The Galactics were less sensible, but they didn't have the sources human reporters could develop.  One particularly enterprising reporter had apparently seduced both a missile tech and a Russian soldier on Garston.  “And then see if we've captured a tachyon beam array.  If so, I’ll use it to report to Earth.”

He allowed himself a grim smile as the fleet stood down from battlestations.  They’d won – and the Hegemony had taken another blow – but how long could they go on?  What had an ancient king, back before the Roman Empire, said about a costly victory?

One more victory like Hammerfall and Earth might be ruined…

“That’s interesting,” Joshua said. “Are you sure about this?”

The rodent-like alien nodded. Plenty of pirates had been scared by the destruction of Shadow and the – presumed – capture and interrogation of the habitat’s population, but the intelligence networks that attempted to track potential targets were still active. The pirates, Joshua had discovered, beat even the Association hands down when it came to building multiracial coalitions. They’d managed to seduce or corrupt a vast range of bureaucrats from a dozen different races.

“There is little room for error,” the alien assured him. Like the crab, he was an information broker first and foremost, although he had a less stellar reputation. “I actually had their drive signatures monitored. Three squadrons of superdreadnoughts have departed the sector; the remaining two squadrons are attempting to convince observers that all five superdreadnought squadrons are still in the sector.”

Joshua frowned, looking down at the raw data. Every starship had a unique drive signature, but it was possible to distort it to the point where it was difficult to positively identify the starship at long range – and few would dare to slip close to a superdreadnought just to get a more accurate read of its drive fields. And yet the report had the ring of truth. The only reason he could think of for the Funks attempting to convince observers that they were still at full strength was that they were no longer at full strength – and
 
that
 
meant that three squadrons of superdreadnoughts had gone somewhere else. But where?

There was no logical reason for the superdreadnoughts to be deployed against the pirates, even if the Hegemony believed that Joshua and his men were still a threat. Superdreadnoughts were designed for destroying enemy fleets and invading hostile planets, not for routine anti-piracy operations. They would have no trouble swatting any pirate ship that came into range, but any pirate ship worthy of the name would smell a rat and start running long before the superdreadnought had a chance to blow them away. Fifteen superdreadnoughts were massive overkill against pretty much anything short of another interstellar power… and the last thing the Funks would want was to tempt the Tarn into crossing their border and snatching a number of undefended worlds. In fact, the performance – the attempt to convince everyone that fifteen superdreadnoughts were still there – might be aimed at the Tarn. They weren't the most powerful of the Galactics, but with the Hegemony on the verge of collapse and fighting one war against Earth, the Tarn might be able to topple the Funks and destroy the Hegemony.

And yet...where had the superdreadnoughts gone?

A human might have been tempted to lay a trap for the Tarn – and the Funks were more imaginative than anyone would have preferred, a lesson Joshua had learned when they’d attempted to trap and destroy his fleet. But they wouldn't want to risk playing games when the Hegemony was in a dangerous situation, not when the game could spill out of control. And besides, assuming that they’d intended to lure the Tarn into a trap, why wouldn't they put up a show of weakness instead of strength? It made little sense. Applying human logic to aliens was often nothing more than a way to be wrong with confidence, but even the most cunning Funk wouldn't want to risk expanding the war. The Hegemony had too many enemies.

“I’ll want the hard data, of course,” he said. “I assume you’ll want the regular payment?”

“Yes, My Lord,” the alien said. His race had been spread throughout the Association by the Cats, although they had never developed spaceflight on their own or built an empire like the Funks – or humanity. There were enclaves in a hundred different Galactic powers, giving them unprecedented access to information and technology. Some of them had made common cause with humanity right from the start, even though they preferred to work indirectly. The Funks didn't treat the enclaves on their worlds particularly well. “And I wouldn't object to information on your operations either.”

Joshua snorted. There were limits to how far he trusted any information broker. One of them had probably sold Shadow out for a large infusion of cash. Why would the Funks bother with torture when a few thousand credits would loosen lips? Even in the midst of a growing economic crisis, the Funks could easily scrape up enough galactic currency to make someone rich for life.

“Maybe later,” he said. The encounter suit he wore concealed everything human about him, but someone with access to information from Shadow could probably guess at his race. This asteroid was even less civilised than the previous asteroid, if such a thing were possible. If they realised just who and what he was, they’d sell him out to the Funks before a Funk battlecruiser turned up with orders to blow the asteroid into a cloud of debris. “Here.”

He passed a loaded credit chip over to the information broker and retreated out of the doorway, into the asteroid’s massive cavern. It was a crude piece of work, generating gravity by rotation rather than using a standard gravity generator, inhabited by criminals, drifters and rebels with nowhere else to go. He’d been careful to bring along a small army of bodyguards just to ensure his own safety, although no one could be relied upon completely. The Funks had put a massive price on his head...

...And so had Earth. Joshua had known that that would happen, sooner or later, but it still hurt. He knew that the Federation Council had had little choice. One thing that annoyed all of the major galactic powers was piracy – and Joshua had become the greatest pirate in the galaxy’s recent history. It didn't matter to them that it had been a military tactic aimed at keeping the Hegemony off-balance, at crippling the Hegemony’s economy, not when the effects of Joshua’s activities had spread far beyond the Hegemony’s stars. Admiral Sampson had told him, right at the start, that he might be declared rogue, that Earth would disown him and put a price on his head. It was funny how much it still hurt, when the bad feeling he’d created by going to the stars and building his own commercial empire had washed off him like water off a duck’s back.

He smiled, rather bitterly.
 
Who had it been who’d said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel?

The asteroid was poorer than Shadow had been – and almost certainly known to the Funks, even if they hadn't destroyed it – but it had been able to supply some of the weapons and equipment he needed. He’d worried about the risk of exposing himself to detection – someone with a brain might put together his different purchases and realise that he was supporting an entire fleet, not to mention a rebel army – yet there had been little choice. His plans had been too far advanced when Shadow had been destroyed and pulling back now might have been disastrous for the rebels. Some of the Gobble cells wouldn't get the word in time and launch their uprisings without support from his fleet. It would be a nasty shock for the Funks, but they’d still control the orbitals and they’d be able to bombard the rebels into submission.

Shaking his head, he allowed the bodyguards to lead him back to
 
Blackbeard
. It was only a few hours to the nearest interstellar communications array, and then they would be free to advance on Tauscher. One way or another, the Hegemony’s supreme self-confidence wouldn’t survive the war. Who knew? Maybe it would shock them into becoming a civilised race.

* * *

“You do realise that they disowned us?”

“Of course,” Joshua said. He’d been the only person mentioned by name, but then he was one of the few humans – at least prior to the war – with a reputation that had spread beyond the Nine Stars. The remainder of his human personnel would probably be able to return home and slip back into civilian life – or go to the Federation Navy, if they chose to remain in service – but he’d never be able to go home. At least the people who worked for him would be safe. He’d passed ownership of the company to one of his subordinates, creating the impression that she’d managed to launch a coup and take over against his will. It would probably serve as a plausible motive for turning pirate. “But does that really mean that we don’t have any obligations to Earth?”

“They sent us out here to do their dirty work,” Kang grunted. He’d spent most of the last month working with the Gobble rebels, helping them learn how to use their new weapons. “And if they catch us, they’ll put us in front of a wall and shoot us out of hand.”

“We knew the risks when we took the job,” Joshua said, flatly. He had his own doubts, but he’d never had much sympathy for people who signed contracts without reading the small print first. At least Admiral Sampson hadn't lied to him. “Those superdreadnoughts have to be going to the war front.”

Tracking Hegemony starships wasn't easy – the only way to locate them without maintaining a permanent recon post in a system was to track their transmissions – but it was clear that a number of starships were moving toward the war front. The Hegemony had clearly decided that taking the risk of thinning the defences on their other borders was preferable to admitting defeat and asking for reasonable terms from the human race. From a human point of view, the incredibly wealthy and greedy Hegemony wouldn't be giving up anything more than a couple of rebellious planets by conceding human independence, but it would be a colossal loss of face for the Empress. The kind of mindset that would take the risk of the war suddenly turning into a four-against-one conflict rather than merely accepting reasonable terms was alien to him, although some humans had shown a similar desire to keep fighting against all logic and reason. Hitler and Napoleon, for example, had both kept fighting even when they could have won a liveable peace.

Karla snorted. “Don’t you think that ONI will already know about them?”

“I don’t know,” Joshua said. He’d often shared information with ONI before he’d become a pirate, but he didn't know just how widespread humanity’s intelligence network in the Hegemony actually was. Certainly ONI had concentrated on spreading the net as widely as possible, yet… just how many assets could they have hundreds of light years from Earth? And besides, he’d never been particularly impressed with human intelligence services even before First Contact. It was too easy for analysts back home to assume they knew everything when they were only looking at a small part of the puzzle. “I do know that if they
 
don’t
 
know about the newcomers the Federation Navy is going to be in for a nasty surprise.”

“Assuming that they challenge the Federation Navy,” Kang said. He grinned, unpleasantly. “First rule of combat; fight where your opponent is weak, not where he is strong. Why send fifteen superdreadnoughts against a force that has already destroyed or captured ten of them when there are nine vulnerable targets behind the lines?”

Joshua blanched. “You mean
 
Earth
?”

“But Earth has to be heavily defended,” Karla countered. “Surely the Federation Navy has reserves there...”

“Maybe,” Joshua said. He wasn't so sure. The Federation Navy kept its exact strength secret, but Joshua had had plenty of experience with constructing, purchasing and maintaining starships. Mentor had brought some mobile fabricators to Earth to assist in human development and expansion, but those – and the additional ones Earth had acquired since – had limits. Building the fleet that had retaken Terra Nova and given the Funks a bloody nose might have only been possible by skimping on planetary defences. Earth’s population might have been much more armed than it had been before First Contact, yet no amount of weapons in private hands could defeat a force holding the high orbitals. “But we have to warn them. Even if they already know...”

“But that would allow them to locate us,” Kang said. “And they would know that you were alive.”

Joshua shrugged. “I doubt anyone believes that I died on Shadow,” he said. The Funks had proclaimed his death, but they hadn't managed to produce a body. Deep-space combat rarely produced bodies, so the Funk claims wouldn't be disbelieved on that ground, but Joshua had been quick to contact the rebels. They’d know better – and so would any skilled information broker. “Besides, we’ll use one of the spammer hack workarounds we took from Earth. They won’t be able to locate us in time.”

He stood up. “Take the helm,” he ordered. “We have work to do.”

“Yes, boss,” Kang said. “Do you intend to let Earth know about Tauscher?”

“It would only upset them,” Joshua replied. “Besides, someone might intercept the signal and let the cat out of the bag too early. We’ll just warn them about the superdreadnoughts and nothing else.”

Admiral Sampson had given him a copy of a limited edition dictionary to serve as the base for a simple substitution cipher. It had amused hell out of Joshua when he’d discovered that even the most advanced Galactics hadn't been able to eliminate spam email, despite having far more control over the tachyon-burst network than any of Earth’s pre-Contact computer authorities. No one would think twice about a message that tried to sell Admiral Sampson pornography, but Sampson would know what it meant. Fifteen superdreadnoughts were heading for humanity’s lines, perhaps even heading for Earth. He would have time to prepare a reception committee.

The asteroid had no quantum gate to use as a transmitter, so
 
Blackbeard
 
made the flight through quantum space to the nearest gate in the sector. It had originally been built by the Cats, unlike most of the later gates in the Hegemony, and was over five thousand years old, far older than anything built by humanity. The gates built by the younger races didn't have the same elegance as the Cat-built gates – and they wore out far quicker than the original gates. It was quite possible to imagine the slow decay of the network until the association finally collapsed into rubble, leaving countless stranded civilizations in its wake. How long would it be until someone rebuilt a galaxy-spanning power?