Less than zero (RN: Book 1) (4 page)

“Yes, can you pass me the, er ... thank you. Excuse me ….I had no idea.”

“And nobody does. And it would be a pity if anybody did find out, if I make myself understood.”

“ Eh ...perfectly.”

“I don’t wish to sound overly censoring, but I’m sure you understand how unfortunate it would be for certain higher-ups if such truths became public. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

“I understand completely, Air Marshall. You can count on my confidentiality.”

“Hmm.  I’m not so sure. And my actual rank is Senior Commander, not Air Marshall.”

“Senior Commander? But your profile states that –”

“Yes, I know what my profile states. I was promoted belatedly for bravery in the face of overwhelming odds after Devon. By The Koll, if you can believe it. But the bestowment of Koll offices is nothing more than a low simpering to win the loyalties of the new generation of EDP officers. And whilst many of the newer recruits shine their medals with pride, such pacifications mean little to veteran Earth pact officers.”

“I apologise, Commander.”

“Senior Commander.”

“I’m sorry – Senior Commander. If I may continue...?”

“Certainly.”

“The Koll had a great number of ships, true. But even so, how did they overrun the Chinese forces in so little time? I mean, even disorganised, the Chinese are still a formidable military.”

“A pertinent question, and also so very true a statement. As I mentioned, The Koll used no clear stratagem other than absence of strategy, which many military thinkers regard as a stratagem in itself. I personally believe the opening bombardment was what caused such disarray amongst the Chinese.”

“Bombardment? I thought they engaged directly?”

“I apologise, that’s an error on my part. This information was never made public, as many see what The Koll did as an existence-ending scenario that could cause panic during a time of crisis. The Koll entered the system pushing hundreds of boulders and asteroids ahead of them, and even though the majority of them missed the staging areas, the Chinese lost a quarter of their fleet before they even saw a Koll ship. It was following this that The Koll dove in. If any assemblage of planning can be found in what happened next, it’s that The Koll arrived, gained their objectives and now held a beachhead deep within our core systems.”

“Their actions seem almost desperate.”

“That was our initial impression. All the people behind desks believed they had gained what they did by blind, unreasoning violence and nothing more. But to an experienced combat man, something did not feel right. And on later reflection, we came to believe the presumed chaos was part of some greater stratagem that we just couldn’t, and still can’t, see.”

“Tactics aside, how were they able to overwhelm the remaining Chinese fleet so quickly?”

“Sheer numbers. The Chinese heavies were more modern and equal to, if not better than The Koll equivalents. And as unlikely as it may seem, they had more of them than The Koll. So The Koll needed to remove them, and quickly. An old military adage states that to remove small you must use big, to remove big you must use small. Have you seen those three-pronged Koll fighters, the ones that look like a grasping eagle’s claw?”

“Pictures, yes.”

“These things are literally can openers, and there were thousands of them ripping and shredding and tearing at hulls. Hundreds of them crawled across the Chinese ships like insects, whilst The Koll heavy platforms fired right into the seething masses with no thought for their own pilots. So with their sensors and targeting arrays torn from their hulls, the Chinese ships were blind and hopelessly uncontrollable. Many captains panicked, with fleeing ships colliding with The Koll or their own forces. If the Chinese opened a port or hanger to return fire or launch a fighter, dozens of the talon ships crawled into the interior. Given the circumstances, I’m actually surprised the battle lasted as long as it did.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine the carnage.”

“The carnage was complete. But despite this, do you have any idea how many Koll ships the Chinese took with them?”

“Given the description of The Koll strategies, or lack of them, I couldn’t possibly hazard a guess.”

“Please, humour me.”

“Well,  Air Marshall ... eh, Commander. Please forgive me. I have no idea, but I will name a figure purely for the sake of your asking. I can’t hope to have any real meaning. But, and given the circumstances… a couple of dozen?”

“Not even close.”

“I did say my number had no mean –“

“Three thousand.”

“Three thousand!”

“Yes.”

“I...”

“A surprising number, you would agree?”

“Surprising, no. Astonishing; absolutely. How did they manage such a feat if they were as overwhelmed as you say?”

“The Chinese are a tenacious bunch who never like to surrender. Especially if they believe backing away from a confrontation, no matter how hopeless the outcome, will lead to a greater danger at some future time. They will stubbornly continue despite the most horrendous losses, even deliberately sacrificing their own men in some final measure if they believe a great evil is defeated. That final measure was the Fujian provincial station.”

“But ... didn’t you say the station hadn’t been completed?”

“I did, and it wasn’t. At least not in the sense of it being a functioning trade port. The commercial docks may have been little more than a skeleton, but the military annex was complete and fully operational. When it became clear that the fleet was lost and something needed to be done to prevent The Koll advance, they launched every Xīng lóng weapon they had.”

“Xīng lóng!  I know this. I read an article on the Chinese military budget. It means star monster. No! Star dragon.”

“Very astute.”

“But these weapons were banned, under the Vienna Pact.”

“Banned within our system, yes. But if the Chinese want great flaming chunks of moon raining down on their extra-Sol colonies, who are we to stop them?”

“So how many did they launch?”

“Eight.”

“And…what happened?”

“When the Chinese realised no hope of victory remained, they gathered their remaining few dozen ships in a sacrificial sphere and waited until the majority of The Koll had moved in, then they launched. Eight weapons left their silos, but only three managed to reach the mass. A mass composed mainly of the talon fighters and other light ships. The majority of the heavier vessels having remained outside the effective kill zone, which was unfortunate. Still, three thousand craft in a single strike is impressive.”

“And then?”

“Then The Koll moved on the station and then the colony, which they literally erased from the planet’s surface. They moved on to Earth later that week, and the rest you know.”

“That’s when the EDP forces surrendered.”

“Mark my word, young man. I’d be careful of whose company I was in when making such statements, if I were you. Despite what you people printed in the broadsheets,

‘surrender’ never has been and never will be the correct statement for what occurred. The EDP forces were ordered to concede before a defensive shot had been fired. An incredible order that we greeted with disbelief and justifiable near-rebellion. To be in command of a powerful fighting machine, a machine you know can defeat the enemy, and then to receive orders to step aside so a hostile can seize your world is beyond any despair you can imagine. We knew our heavy ships to be more capable than the rest. That with the majority of their talon fighters gone and many of their heavies crippled, we could make a stand and possibly change a foregone conclusion. Every one of us believed it was better to die on your feet than live on your knees, and our fleets damn near mutinied when the order came. Dozens of ships refused to accept the surrender order, only to be forced to do so by the pointed guns of their own comrades. Many ships fled rather than capitulate. Some to seek out The Koll on their own terms. Others for their own reasons.”

“And this is when you...”

“And that’s when I deserted, yes. Deserting our surrendered forces and turning my back on Earth in a time of great urgency was the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make. It’s an action that can never be undone, can never be correct no matter your motives. It’s not like we were petulants running away from home only to return when it got dark, with everything quietly forgotten and a warm blanket tucked about you. When you turn your back on your country, on your world, the lines are cut: the bridges burnt. I remember sitting in my cabin feeling as if I’d gone from riding on the clouds to falling down a well. A deep well. After the initial jump there was only the unrecoverable plunge with danger on every side. I was no longer a senior commander in a formidable machine. I was a traitor, an outcast: less than zero. Yet it seemed so right at the time. But the crew of the Bristol were with me to a man, and we vowed to find a way to conquer The Koll and free Earth from their control.”

“How long did you last?”

“Three months. The Bristol’s gate drive failed, leaving us stranded. The structural drive rings were full of cracks, which led to a fatigue fractures. They were never properly repaired after the battle at Devon.”

“Who found you?”

“A Koll patrol vessel. It vanished the moment it saw us, only to return with eight more. We destroyed one and damaged two before Fleet Marshal Quincen contacted us personally.”

“And he convinced …?”

“He is a very convincing man. He carried truths that had to be realised. Truths that no amount of hot-headed moralities or never-say-die attitude could do battle against. What were we hoping to gain? What were we to do for food, fuel, supplies? The Koll controlled everything, where everywhere.”

“And if the drive hadn’t failed?”

“If the drive hadn’t failed we’d have never been caught, but it did and we were.”

“And that was nine months ago.”

“Ten. And I’ve been behind a desk stamping papers ever since.”

“But stamping papers must be preferable to the stockade, and they allowed you your rank.”

“Rank means nothing to a ship commander behind a desk. It’s more of a daily slap to the face. A reminder of who you were, what you once did and the worthless creature you’ve become. And believe me when I say that jail is often preferable to writing reports for twelve hours a day. Even if you do get to go home at eight p.m. Home being what is.”

“I believe the Bristol is being refitted.”

“Yes, I know. Her hull has been extended and strengthened, and her turrets upgraded. I applied for an inspection tour, but they refused my application on grounds of secrecy.”

“Another slap in the face?”

“I just add it to the bitch list.”

“So the public forums say you’re meeting with the Joint Commanders tomorrow at ten a.m. Any idea what they want to see you about?”

“Not really. They’ve probably decided to send me to jail after all.”

“Or maybe your report on rubber stamps was lacking?”

“Quite. But I’m beyond caring what these people think.”

“You’ll let me know what they tell you?”

“It depends on what prison they send me to. Prison if I’m lucky. I am a traitor to the planet, after all. But I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”

“No matter what they decide. If I or my colleagues can be of any service …“

“I’m afraid our time is up.”