The Lost Stars: Shattered Spear (22 page)

The three, lying in three adjacent med units, stared at her with varying degrees of incomprehension and disbelief. Finally, the most senior spoke up hesitantly. “Honored CEO—”

“President,” Iceni corrected.

“Honored . . . President, we failed in our mission.”

“Your mission,” Drakon said, “changed. The moment it became clear that you had no chance against the aliens and the rest of your unit died, your mission became to survive so that the records in your armor and your own personal observations could be of use to us in retaking Iwa for humanity.”

The woman’s eyes grew dark. “You are going to retake Iwa? Avenge our fellow workers?”

“Yes,” Drakon said.

“I will give you all you wish. Ask me! I will . . . I will even go back! I will go back there and fight them again!”

“I will, too,” the senior of the three added after a brief hesitation.

The third averted his eyes, shivering as he stared at nothing. Drakon, well aware of how stress could break anyone, spoke to all three of them. “I appreciate your volunteering. None of you will be required to go. All of you would need medical clearance before you can go, and that may take more time than we have before the assault force leaves here. Your observations, your experiences, anything you saw on Iwa, could be immensely valuable to us. When my people come by to ask you about them, be as accurate and complete as you can.”

“Yes, hon— Sir?”

“General. General Drakon.”

“You are no longer Syndicate?”

“No,” Drakon said. “We are free. And we will free Iwa.”

*   *   *

“KOMMODOR
Marphissa has shuttled down to the planet for a conference on the Iwa operation,” Iceni told Drakon as she prepared to leave his headquarters. “We’re going to be discussing how many warships to send. Do you want to attend?”

Drakon shook his head. “Not unless you want me there. I’d just endorse whatever you decided.”

“How sweet.” Iceni shook her head back at him. “That’s not a requirement for being in a relationship with me.”

He grinned. “Good thing, since I wouldn’t always do it. But in this case, I don’t know much about mobile forces. You do, and you’ll be talking to the mobile forces commanders, who seem to be very good at their jobs. Is Bradamont going to be there?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’d just be taking up space and consuming oxygen other minds might be needing.” Drakon gestured back toward the inside of his headquarters. “What I do need to be doing is figuring out how to take that underground enigma base.”

“You deal with your area of responsibility, then, and I’ll deal with
mine.” Iceni blinked and looked away. “How many are going to die this time, Artur?”

“I don’t know, Gwen.” He sought for the right words. “If we don’t do this, if the enigmas dig into Iwa and fan out from there, they’ll take down Imallye and every star system in this region. How many would die if that happens?”

“Too damned many.” She sighed, then forced a smile as she looked back at him. “Isn’t it odd to feel superior because you want to limit how many people die because of your orders? But we are better than the Syndicate, and whatever their reasons are we are better than the enigmas who would kill so ruthlessly and give us no opportunity to make a deal both sides can live with.”

“I think we’re better than Imallye, too,” Drakon said.

“That just leaves Black Jack, doesn’t it?” Iceni asked sarcastically. “We can’t claim to be better than him, can we?”

“We’ll have to try to better him,” Drakon said. “That’s the only way we’ll beat Imallye, the enigmas, and the Syndicate if they decide to throw in, too.”

*   *   *

ANOTHER
conference room, this time in Iceni’s complex. Just outside was the star system command center, with a truly awesome and immense display that sometimes seemed capable of showing entire planets at one-to-one scale. Iceni had learned that such displays were traps, though. Looking at them, it was far too easy to believe that they showed everything, in perfect detail. What was far harder to realize was that anything the sensors could not see, anything unknown, would not be shown on the display. As capable as they were, the automated routines running the displays were incapable of conceiving of the possibility that their image of the universe was incomplete. Of course, they weren’t capable of conceiving anything, just processing known data as
they had been programmed to do, but that was very easy to forget when gazing at the godlike perspective a command center display offered.

She entered to find Kommodor Marphissa and Captain Bradamont already waiting, standing beside their seats. Two other places at the table were actually empty, but apparently occupied by the virtual presences of Kapitan Mercia and Kapitan Kontos also standing at attention. “Take your seats,” Iceni directed.

Marphissa and Bradamont sat down at the same time as Iceni, but the two officers attending by virtual means remained standing.

Iceni glanced at the time delays glowing beside the two images. Mercia aboard
Midway
was several light minutes from the planet, which would mean an annoying but endurable level of delay in any inputs she had to the meeting. Kontos, though, was nearly a light hour distant aboard
Pele
. This meeting would very likely have been over for a while before Kontos’s image finally sat down in response to Iceni’s direction. But even though he would not be able to provide his own opinions and advice, Kontos would get to see the deliberations and send onward later any suggestions he might have.

She nodded toward Marphissa. “You did a very impressive job at Iwa and Moorea. I regret not being in the command center to greet you in person when you arrived, Kommodor.”

Marphissa hesitated in her reply. “I . . . understand . . . that you were . . . otherwise occupied, Madam President.”

Iceni frowned at Marphissa, puzzled by the vague wording. “General Drakon and I have established a personal relationship. There is nothing remotely odd about CEO sleeping arrangements changing. Why is everyone tiptoeing around the matter?”

“I don’t know,” Marphissa confessed. “It just doesn’t feel appropriate with you and the General. Talking about it, I mean.”

Bradamont looked amused. “Congratulations, Madam President. You’re transcending your previous role as a Syndicate Worlds CEO.”

Iceni switched her frown to focus on the Alliance officer. “What does that mean?”

“They don’t see the rules for a CEO applying to you,” Bradamont explained. “They’re treating your personal life with respect, not because it is demanded of them but because they think you deserve it.”

“I will never understand workers,” Iceni muttered, lowering her gaze to the table. Yet the implied compliment, if Bradamont was right, did make her feel very good. She composed herself, raised her eyes, and pointed to the two women who were present and the images of Kontos and Mercia. “We’re here not to talk about my love life, but about how to handle the operation at Iwa. I am open to opinions as to how many warships to take to Iwa and how many to leave here to defend Midway, and as to who should remain at Midway in command of that defense force.”

“The basic problem with the command question,” Bradamont said, all business now, “is that your best two possibilities are both commanders of your two strongest assets. I would nominate Kapitan Mercia, but you will want the battleship
Midway
at Iwa, so if she stays behind to command the defense that would require passing command of
Midway
to someone else not long before an extended combat operation.”

“I could leave Kommodor Marphissa here and command the flotilla at Iwa,” Iceni prodded, wanting to see how they could respond.

Bradamont exchanged a single glance with Marphissa before replying. “Madam President, I have reviewed the operations that you have commanded. You have some skill. But Kommodor Marphissa is very much your superior at commanding warships in battle. I would strongly urge you to assign her in command of the forces at Iwa.”

“A very blunt reply, Captain,” Iceni said. “Also, I believe, a truthful one. I need to be at Iwa to provoke an attack by Imallye there, but I agree that the Kommodor should command our warships against Imallye. Kapitan Mercia, reply with your suggestions as to who might serve as commander of
Midway
if you remain here to oversee the defense of this star system.”

“What about the heavy cruiser captains?” Marphissa asked. “Would any of them be acceptable as commanders of the defense at Midway? If we are taking both
Midway
and
Pele
to Iwa, then any defensive force here will be built around one or more heavy cruisers.”

Kapitan Mercia’s virtual image finally sat down. None of the others paid attention to that, being used to the way that virtual conferences could involve significantly staggered response times.

“
Manticore
has Kapitan Diaz,” Bradamont said. “
Gryphon
has Kapitan Stein, and
Kraken
has Kapitan Seney. Kapitan-Leytenant Lerner on
Basilisk
is too junior, and Seney is the least experienced of the full Kapitans. Either Diaz or Stein might be able to handle it.”

“Might be. Why would we have to leave Kapitan Mercia here? We have you, Captain Bradamont. You have ridden
Manticore
,” Iceni pointed out. “You, Captain, are known to
Manticore
’s crew, and you know Kapitan Diaz. Would you ride
Manticore
again, and give him the benefit of your experience at flotilla command if he were assigned to defend this star system?”

Bradamont only paused for a moment before nodding. “Yes, Madam President. Such a task would be fully in keeping with my orders from Admiral Geary.”

Kapitan Mercia’s reply finally arrived. “I will have to consider a list of possible replacements for command of
Midway
, Madam President, but I am hesitant to recommend assigning a new commanding officer to my ship so soon before what will likely be a major engagement.”

“Not to worry, Kapitan Mercia,” Iceni said, waving away her words. “As you will see before you see this reply, we have resolved that matter. You will remain in command of
Midway
and Kapitan Kontos in command of
Pele
.

“How large a force do we leave with Kapitan Diaz?” Iceni continued. “At least two heavy cruisers, surely.”

“
Manticore
and
Basilisk
,” Marphissa suggested. “One or two light cruisers, and four Hunter-Killers.”

“Make it two light cruisers,” Bradamont said. “That way Diaz will be able to split his force into two equal formations if necessary to guard against more than one threat vector. And I would suggest
Gryphon
instead of
Basilisk
. If Diaz does decide to split his force, the commander of the other group will need to be as experienced as possible.”

Marphissa nodded. “
Manticore
and
Gryphon
, then. Light cruisers
Osprey
and
Kite
. Hunter-Killers
Guide
,
Vanguard
,
Picket
, and
Watch
. That is my proposal for a defensive force for Midway, Madam President.”

Iceni looked toward the images of Mercia and Kontos, knowing that only Mercia was close enough to respond in any reasonable time. After a few more minutes, Mercia nodded. “I concur with my Kommodor.”

“Presumably, Kapitan Kontos will have no objections,” Iceni said, drawing grins from Bradamont, Marphissa, and a little while later from Mercia. Kontos had a firmly established reputation as someone who would respond to any order with enthusiasm and a sincere belief in the wisdom of both Iceni and Marphissa. “That means our force at Iwa will consist of
Midway
,
Pele
, the heavy cruisers
Kraken
and
Basilisk
, light cruisers
Falcon
,
Hawk
, and
Eagle
, and Hunter-Killers
Sentry
,
Sentinel
,
Scout
,
Defender
,
Guardian
,
Pathfinder
,
Protector
, and
Patrol
.”

“We will take Imallye with that flotilla,” Marphissa predicted. “And the enigmas if they dare to show their faces.”

“Even if they show up, the enigmas won’t show their faces,” Bradamont pointed out.

“Madam President,” Marphissa asked after wincing at Bradamont’s joke, “have you made any determination regarding the heavy cruiser captured during the latest Syndicate attack?”

“Yes,” Iceni said. “I have already been informed that repairs sufficient to return that heavy cruiser to combat status are unlikely to be concluded in less than a month, so odds are it will not be available to add to our forces during this operation. In any event, I do not intend to fully repair the heavy cruiser.” She paused to let that sink in and watch surprise appear on both Marphissa and Bradamont. “The heavy
cruiser will be offered to Taroa. They require a strong unit to protect the battle cruiser under construction there.”

Bradamont smiled. “That is an impressive gift, Madam President, one that will surely convince the Taroans and other star systems of the sincerity of your offers of alliance.”

Iceni shook a reproving finger at Bradamont. “We never use the word
alliance
to describe our association of star systems, Captain. It has bad connotations everywhere that was touched by the war, and in a century of war no star system was left untouched even if the losses were confined to young men and women sent to battle who never came home.”

Her smile gone, Bradamont nodded. “I understand, Madam President. My apologies.”

“You need not apologize, Captain,” Iceni said. “I am certain that no one in Alliance space ever calls themselves part of a Syndicate. We just need to be careful to avoid using terms that will prejudice those we want to view us with favor.”

“I understand,” Bradamont repeated. “I suppose if I were a politician I would have known how to say things, but if—” She stopped speaking.

Iceni gave her an exaggeratedly inquiring look. “But if?”