Riss Series 5: The Riss Challenge (26 page)
"What are you suggesting, Leader Reese?" Wattson asked.
"I made Admiral Haddad a promise I intend to keep—to confine the JPU to their planets. Our best chance is right now, while they are weak. We will do it on our own if necessary, but it will be faster if we have help. If nothing else, we need help guarding Freeland while the Riss Navy shuts down each system."
"You're serious! I thought it was just a burst of anger. You certainly have the right, given what he had done to the Riss on his ships." Wattson stared at me for a long time. "Isn't that revenge?"
"No. Like the aliens, I'd prefer they accept the inevitable and abandon their spaceships without a fight."
"Who will monitor them if you succeed?"
"The Riss will accept the responsibility."
"The UFN will support you. I agree that war with the JPU is inevitable, eventually. And they are not a nation to take lightly. They have certainly taken a page from the Alien handbook. Their next fleet will be larger, and their ships built on the medusa concept. I too would rather fight them now."
"I'll need Plimson's approval, but I tend to agree with Admiral Zhu."
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Freeland: red-Wraiths
I requested a meeting with the elders and the Riss-humans to discuss our preparation for our invasion of the JPU. When everyone was settled down, I began.
"Good morning, we have survived again, thanks to help from the SAS and UFN," I said.
"After a lot of arm twisting," Sheva said.
I had recalled her from Eden and Zhang from Daiyu. They had arrived late yesterday.
She continued. "Many of them believe they shouldn't have helped save the Freelanders and the Riss. They don't understand how close the JPU came to defeating the SAS, and that only Riss intervention saved them."
"They may have the glory. I'm content we were able to save Freeland and the hundreds of Riss here. Now we must prepare to quarantine the JPU."
"I can't believe we're going to do it," Alena said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Isn't that vindictive?" Zhang asked.
"As Leader, I have declared quarantining the JPU the word of the Riss. If I'm wrong, I should be removed as Leader. I believe it is neither punitive nor vengeful but self-defense, since the JPU wants to exterminate the Riss. I would ask you to query your companions and search your consciences. If you disagree, you are free to leave."
"Anyone like to discuss my decision or feel he or she can't live with it?" I asked. I spoke for the Riss, with their permission, but not necessarily for the Riss-humans.
"Vesta is right," Zhang smiled as he said it. "The difference between self-defense and vengeance or punishment and vindictiveness is in the intent of the individual performing the self-defense or punishment. Killing the Aliens was not self-defense, since they did not want to kill us, merely confine us. Confining the JPU to their planets is not vindictive under the circumstances unless we further destroy what they have on the planet. And Vesta believes you are neither vengeful nor sadistic, based on your treatment of Freeland. I agree."
"Good try, Nadya. But no one wants the Leader position. Yes, I'll wager you were out-of-your-mind, kill-something mad when you made that declaration for the Riss—but not wanting vengeance, only to stop the madness. I doubt if any of us wouldn't have wanted pure and simple vengeance for an act so evil. I did. It took Cethlion a long time to calm me down," Pavao said to nodding heads.
"First we need to secure Freeland from attack, since the Riss cruisers are going to be the main force behind the quarantining of systems. I believe the SAS and UFN will station squadrons here as support, but I'd like additional Irises. They were very effective against the JPU invasion force." I paused for a drink of kaffa. "Damaass, you are the project manager for the next generation of Wraith fighters. I need them today, so you are already late."
"You don't like the current version?"
"I want an Alien version," I said, enjoying the time with my Riss-brothers and sisters.
"Alien version?" Damaass stared at me for a few moments, then laughed. "No human pilots, throw-aways."
"Exactly. Remote controlled ship killers. I want them loaded with enough explosives to breach any ship, even the JPU's super-Heavies, and hopefully continue their destruction once they have breached the hull. Something like the old-earth Bunker Buster missiles, except I want Cruiser Busters." I smiled.
"By the space gods, Nadya. The next war..." Pavao whispered.
"Maybe it will stop wars if we can prove we can confine war-like groups to their planets. Regardless, the new Wraiths are a Freeland secret." I caught each person's eyes. "Perhaps it would help if they looked like the current Wraiths. Oh, Pavao, we are going to need another Riss cruiser specifically to monitor the quarantined planets. Sounds like something you would enjoy."
"Are you thinking of making more Riss-humans?" Pavao asked.
"No. I thought maybe the Riss along with small attachments of Wraiths and Kraits could monitor each planet. Terril, you are the best person to monitor the Krait expanded role."
"Gee thanks," Terril said, trying not to smile. I thought she was enjoying her new responsibilities and being a Riss-human.
"Three months. We can't give Haddad or his replacement more time than that."
* * *
I looked around the table to Admirals Plimson, Wattson, and Zhu. They would be instrumental in quarantining the JPU. Although I didn't think Haddad would be ready to attack Freeland for at least a year, probably longer, I couldn't take a chance I was wrong. Freeland was the heart of the strategy: the Wraiths would be key to a quick destruction of the remaining JPU cruisers, and the new Riss cruisers along with the attached units would be key in maintaining the quarantine.
"Reese, I understand that you plan to quarantine the JPU. That seems...inconsistent with the Riss philosophy, although a majority in the SAS would applaud the idea." Plimson sat back and took a sip of this after-dinner wine while watching me.
"Actually, it was inconsistent with the Riss philosophy to oppose the Aliens, since they didn't want to kill anyone. Except for my agreement with you, the Riss would not have fought the Aliens." I grinned. "The JPU not is not only at war with the Riss, but they intend to exterminate the Riss. We want it to stop, and quarantine seems the best solution with the least amount of killing."
"What would you like from us? Long wars aren't popular. People prefer short wars and treaties, and they feel we've had the short war and are ready for the treaty," Plimson laughed.
"The Riss are prepared to take on the JPU without any support. I merely want protection for Freeland, since we can't be in two places at the same time."
"The Riss are going to defeat the JPU alone?" Wattson asked, frowning.
"No, I need a deterrent force in Freeland, which may be called on to fight. It's part of the MSA and also in your direct interest. The JPU is building super-Heavies for the express intention of dominating the three empires. So, you get your non-war, keep the Riss through the MSA, but I don't know about the treaty. You can say you are working on it."
"How much support and how soon?" Wattson asked.
"Given the Riss destroyed sixty at Ormazd, Sivas, and Mihr, our combined forces destroyed sixty at Hayjar and Afyon, and Hadded lost close to one-hundred-fifty at Freeland, the JPU's forces are down by close to two-hundred-seventy. Even given we had underestimated their numbers and they had about four-hundred, he can't have more than one-hundred-thirty, and sixty-six are tied up in SAS space that the JPU occupies. Therefore, he can't put together a fleet of more than a hundred, with maybe ten super-Heavies. Freeland will have twenty Irises as a defensive line, and I'll leave two Riss cruisers. If I can have six squadrons from the SAS and six from the UFN, I would think that enough to defend Freeland."
"Barely," Wattson said.
"True. But if he did attack Freeland, it would guarantee the quarantine would be in place within months. Therefore, I doubt he would attempt such a foolish move, or that the Jahaba Supreme Council would allow him to strip the JPU like that, or that they wouldn't be more concerned with the Riss invading the JPU."
"You have my commitment, Reese," Plimson said looking to Zhu, who nodded.
"Leader Reese, you also have my commitment," Zhu said.
"Wattson, given Reese's analysis of the JPU's current strength, release one of the Home fleets to get rid of the JPU occupying our systems before they are recalled. That should give the Riss less resistance."
"How are you going to enforce the quarantine?" Plimson asked. "Will you want our support?"
"No. The Riss will assume full responsibility for the quarantine," I said. Zhu clapped his hands several times.
"A very strong anti-aggression message. The Riss enforcing the Aliens' goal of quarantining evil nations." He raised his glass to me. "I love it. I'm tired of wars and aggressive men wanting to force their ideas on others."
"I agree with you, Admiral Zhu. Hopefully, this will make them think twice."
* * *
I stood with the other Riss-humans a hundred meters away from the new factory at Zsolt—a two-hour shuttle ride from the capital—staring at a Wraith fighter.
"Internally, we are calling this version, Red Wraiths," Damaass said, a grin splitting his bushy face.
"But it's black," I said, knowing I was being baited.
"The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse rode horses of different colors. Pestilence rode a white horse, Famine black, Death pale, and War red," Damaass said. "Red has a two-stage explosive system. Several kilometers before contact, the first releases an explosive package that explodes inward, breaching the hull. On contact, the second explosive package is delivered to either a weakened hull or a breached one. In total, it has the equivalent force of ten missiles hitting the same spot. We are experimenting with several types of remote controls. Right now it's limited to another piloted Wraith, but the Riss believe we can make it work with a Dragonfly from a Riss cruiser. That would make it much like a stealth missile."
"I'm glad you chose red rather than black, although black is probably more appropriate," Sheva said. I agreed.
Walking around the Red Wraith, I thought it looked exactly the same as the piloted version, including the pilot's compartment.
"Good work, Damaass. How many by our estimated invasion date?"
"Six for sure, but we are shooting for ten. Commander Sorin assures me he will have enough pilots for two detachments fully trained to operate the Red Wraiths." He waved at the largest of the three factories, a three-story gray steel structure that looked like it could hold a Riss cruiser. "The plans for the new Riss...mini-cruisers are ready for your review." Inside, he walked over to a two-meter square model of a cruiser looking similar to our standard cruiser and just as ugly. Damaass reached over and pulled off the top, which showed an area like our current level three.
"We included a recreational area, because we weren't sure how long the crews would be on station before being rotated or what other uses the new mini-cruiser might be put to." He reached in and removed level three, revealing the level two. "Standard Bridge, but we were able to cut the Riss, Wraith, and Krait crew by half. We used some of that savings to add two banks of fifty-centimeter lasers that can be used where missiles may not be necessary." He reached in and removed the second level, revealing the bottom level. "Here, we replaced seven of the small engines with twenty-five-percent larger ones. This ship will be able to catch anything in production today. Even with only half the missile capacity, it's one deadly goddess."
"And versatile," Pavao said. "With eleven JPU planets, that will put eleven hundred additional Riss in space. The Riss will need to begin producing the next generation of Riss soon."
"And we will need an additional twenty units of Wraiths and Kraits—eleven plus replacements for rotations," Alena said.
"Alena, work with Commander Sorin and Damaass to ensure we have units as the minis come off the production line. Terril, work with Colonel Ja'Shar on the Kraits units."
"Cobras?" Terril asked.
"No. Not for now," I said, hoping that would never be necessary. I turned to Damaass. "When can we have a mini in production?"
"First one in four to five months. Once the bugs are eliminated, I'd say one every three months."
"Build another plant," I said, running the numbers in my head. We couldn't afford to leave the system too long without a full-time guard. Part-time might work for the first two years, but not forever.
"How are we paying for this?" Damaass asked.
"A good question, but not really relevant. Since it is for the defense of Freeland, a tax if necessary. But I think the SAS and UFN will pay for continued upgrades under the MSA," I said to snickers from everyone.
"That's funny. We are charging them to add technology which makes them defenseless against us," Zhang said.
"Think of it as the cost of maintaining the peace." I grinned.
* * *
"Good morning," I said as everyone found chairs. Tomorrow, our invasion of the JPU would begin, and this was the last chance to answer questions, so I had invited the elders, Riss-humans, and the SAS and UFN station commanders—Admiral Sakaata and Red Admiral Kishi. "The Riss taskforce leaves tomorrow for JPU space. That is, the six Riss cruisers: Mnemosyne, Minerva, Maat, Elpis, Themis, and the Artio. The Eirene and the Druantia will remain on Freeland. Captain Pavao is the Riss Leader while I'm gone. Any questions?"
"I know the JPU has suffered a lot of losses in recent encounters with the SAS, UFN, and Riss, but do you really believe six Riss cruisers are going to quarantine the JPU?"