Christopher Nuttall - Barbarians at the Gates

FAS-836393 had no planets, not even a cloud of asteroids or comets. As such, the system was deserted, without even a smuggler or pirate base. Marius didn’t take chances—Admiral Justinian would probably have been able to deduce his destination—and ordered the liberal use of sensor drones to probe the Asimov Point prior to taking the fleet through to Delta Bannerman. The RockRat system—Delta Bannerman possessed no Earth-like worlds but it did have an abundance of asteroid belts, making it an ideal home for the asteroid-dwelling RockRats—was suspiciously quiet as the fleet crossed from one Asimov Point to the other. It was unlikely that Admiral Justinian had been able to subvert them, Marius told himself; it was far more likely that the fiercely independent RockRats had chosen to ignore his fleet. Marius had considered seeking their help to repair his ships, but it would only have given Justinian more time to cut them off even if the RockRats had agreed.

Golden Harbour was friendlier, although there was little they could do to aid his fleet. The twin planets were one of the strangest systems in the Federation, two water worlds orbiting surprisingly close together. The planets had been settled by mermen—humans who had undergone genetic modification to allow them to live and breathe underwater—and there were relatively few baseline humans in the system. Their handful of orbital facilities were barely sufficient to stand off a pirate attack, let alone a rebel fleet. Marius exchanged greetings with the planet’s president, warned him of the danger and wished him luck. There was little else he could do.

“That bastard Parkinson led us into a trap,” he said to Vaughn one evening. “What did the captives have to say for themselves?”

“Admiral Justinian was very keen to capture the Enterprise ,” Vaughn told him. “Justinian wanted the carrier intact to serve as his flagship. His Marines didn’t know why.”

“Ego, probably,” Marius said. “Or perhaps he was making a point.”

He closed his eyes. There was no way to avoid the consequences. ONI’s private evaluation of the situation made grim reading. The Federation Navy had somehow devolved into factions over the past few decades, while he’d been out on the Rim chasing pirates. Admiral Justinian might be the first admiral to rebel, declare independence and perhaps attempt to make himself Emperor, but he wouldn’t be the last. ONI suspected that at least a dozen more senior officers were considering rebelling themselves, either to ally with Justinian or betray him down the road—and the defeat at Jefferson would only embolden them. Even if they acted in isolation, without coordinating their forces, Marius’s force would be in real danger.

The thought was bitter, but Marius forced himself to study the situation unflinchingly. He believed in the Federation, in the unity of the human race. Only unity protected humanity from countless alien enemies, or even from its own darker instincts. How many would wage war if the Federation didn’t keep a lid on such conflicts? Too many, he was sure.

And that would tear the Federation apart.

The Inheritance Wars had come close to shattering humanity’s fragile unity. What would Justinian’s War—for want of a better name—do, with the Outsiders poised to take advantage of the Federation’s weaknesses?

He shook his head. Whatever happened, whatever the price, the fundamental unity of the human race had to be protected. The Senate might be corrupt, the Federation might be unwieldy and far too complex and restrictive, but it was all they had.

The alternative was chaos. On a galactic scale.

Roman had never visited Boskone, but he’d heard about the system. Quite apart from the fact that it served as a chokepoint along the Harmony Chain, it was unique in explored space. The system primary had one massive planet, a gas giant that might well have been a star if it had slightly more mass. Instead, it had given birth to a handful of moons, including an inhabitable planet. Life-bearing moons were rare, but Maskirovka was unique. No other moon had developed an intelligent race.

Even so, there was no time for sightseeing. They’d met up with the Fleet Train when they entered the system and started to reload the ships at once, while sending smaller ships back to the Core Worlds to request reinforcements. Roman had expected to be relieved, yet instead he found himself still in command as Enterprise struggled to prepare herself for the coming battle.

No one had any doubts that Admiral Justinian was on the way. If he punched through Boskone, he would be able to push out a defensive perimeter or drive on towards Earth. Either would be disastrous.

But attacking a strongly-held Asimov Point was a difficult task at the best of times. Pushing Justinian back would be costly.

Roman had hoped they would have several weeks to prepare before the system was attacked. Instead, the Retribution Force was still struggling when Justinian’s first probes transited the Asimov Point.

Boskone System, 4092

The display sparkled with red icons as alarms howled through the Magnificent .

“Admiral, we have recon drones transiting the Asimov Point,” the tactical officer reported. “The CSP is moving to intercept.”

“Order Mason to ready fighters and then prepare the remainder for antishipping strikes,” Marius ordered calmly. Mason could handle it. He was competent, even if he’d been demanding that a superior officer take command of Enterprise . “Bring the entire fleet to alert and prepare to engage the enemy.”

He settled back in his command chair. The Book insisted that all Asimov Point assaults had to be preceded by recon drones, just so the attacking force knew what it was about to face. It wasn’t a bad idea, even though it was predictable; there was no way to know what was waiting for the attackers until they actually went through the Asimov Point. If Admiral Justinian had had a pre-placed ship in the Boskone System, it shouldn’t have been able to pass through the Asimov Point with the latest updates.

One hundred and twenty enemy recon drones had jumped through the Asimov Point. Seventeen had interpenetrated and died in colossal explosions. The remainder were sweeping local space using active sensors, and had picked up the presence of superdreadnaughts and even a few of the Retribution Force’s jury-rigged fortresses guarding the Asimov Point. The CSP was killing those drones as fast as possible, but Marius already knew they would be too late.

As he expected, a handful of drones flickered and vanished, skipping back to Admiral Justinian with their data. Marius wondered fatalistically if Admiral Justinian would launch the attack at once, or if he would decide to suspend operations until reinforcements arrived from the Harmony Sector in order to give the Retribution Force absolutely no chance of escape.

Marius had picked the Boskone System to make his stand with malice aforethought. Boskone might have had only two Asimov Points, but it provided a place that Admiral Justinian would have to take in order to seize later nexuses in order to cut off a third of the Federation from the Core Worlds, or make another attempt on Earth. The crazed logic of the Asimov Points also made it difficult for Justinian to bypass the system using continuous displacement drive. Justinian could reach the Earth in a handful of months through the Asimov Points, but it would take him over ten years using stardrive.