Christopher Nuttall - Barbarians at the Gates

Bester, Zathras System, 4097

“Jump!”

Roman braced himself as space twisted around Midway . Despite all the promises, despite the underhanded diplomatic discussions between the loyalists and Governor Hartkopf, Roman had little faith in the man’s promises. Worse, Midway was alone, though an assault force was waiting to cover her withdrawal in the Vane System; the enemy fortresses guarding the Asimov Point could have blown her into dust before the drive recycled and she slipped back through the Asimov Point.

“Report,” he barked. “Tactical?”

“Nine fortresses on active duty, scanning us,” the tactical officer reported. He sounded tense, yet reassured. “They’re not locking weapons on us, or shooting.”

Roman allowed himself a tight smile. Midway was alarmingly close to the fortresses, so close that weapons lock would hardly be required to target and destroy them. But the fortresses could have tracked Midway with passive sensors alone, targeting her without revealing their intent until it was far too late.

The tactical display in front of him updated rapidly, revealing mine layers covering the Asimov Point itself and the fortresses—and a large battle squadron within easy reach of the gateway. The governor wasn’t taking chances with his safety.

“Transmit our IFF codes,” he ordered. If the governor had treachery in mind…he’d pay for it, eventually, but that would be small comfort to Roman’s crew. “Let them know who we are.”

Roman would have refused this mission if he’d been able to think of a better way to deliver a personal emissary to the rogue governor. But Admiral Drake had ordered it personally, which made Roman feel a little better. Besides, he didn’t want to let the admiral down.

He looked up at the admiral’s personal representative, his wife, Lady Tiffany. She looked calm and composed, although Roman knew it was at least partly an act. Her hands, clasped in front of her, betrayed her nervousness. It would be her first real diplomatic mission.

And if the governor planned treachery, she was walking right into his hands.

He couldn’t blame Hartkopf for wanting to keep the whole meeting under the tightest of wraps, but still…he had agreed to allow Midway to enter his capital system without opposition. Roman had agreed to refrain from active scanning, yet both sides knew that passive sensors could pick up a hell of a lot of information.

“They’re responding, captain,” the communications officer said. “They’re giving us a path to follow through the mines.” He paused. “Apparently, if we deviate from it, we will be destroyed.”

“No sense of humor, then,” Roman commented drolly. “Helm, follow their course and try not to bump into one of the mines.”

His crew laughed.

It didn’t help their captain, who sat back and watched as the system display rapidly updated, with the battle computers adding their own tags to further complicate the display. Multiple spacecraft—they looked like asteroid miners—plied courses between the asteroid belts and Bester, the primary planet in the system, with several large energy signatures orbiting the planet. And that didn’t count the dozens of warships, apparently waiting for an enemy to appear in the system, either.

It struck Roman that the governor had given up on any chance of securing additional territory for himself, a direct result of their operations near The Hive and Marx. A set of raids had kept Hartkopf and Admiral Justinian sniping at one another long enough to allow Admiral Drake the chance to build up the firepower to take them both out.

Bester was unusual in the Federation as the planet had actually been terraformed by the first settlers. It wasn’t common to terraform a planet when there were so many inhabitable worlds in the galaxy, but Bester had possessed five gas giants and enough asteroid belts to create a powerful industrial node. The first settlers had started the terraforming project, only to go bankrupt when the galactic economy went through a major crisis in the run-up to the Inheritance Wars. Afterwards, the banks were reluctant to invest in the system and while Governor Hartkopf’s predecessors had completed the terraforming project, they’d been unable to spark further economic growth.

Governor Hartkopf, ironically, might have been the first to succeed, if only because he was trying to produce a whole new war fleet. Given time, he could have built really scary defenses and a superdreadnaught fleet capable of taking on the Federation Navy.

Roman kept his expression blank, but he couldn’t help feeling some satisfaction. The warlord’s time had run out. Either he came to an agreement with the Federation, or he died when the Federation Navy forced its way through the defense and occupied Bester’s orbitals. He doubted that any of the governor’s allies would hesitate to kill their leader when the Federation Navy had them at gunpoint.

He glanced down at his console, and then up at Lady Tiffany.

“They’re coming to meet us in a space liner, My Lady,” he said, scanning the encoded message. “Do you want them to come onboard this ship?”

“If you don’t mind,” Tiffany said. “We may as well make it clear that we are talking from a position of strength.”

She was sharp. Roman had to give her that.

Rumor had it that she and the admiral were besotted with one another. Roman hoped that was the case. When Midway had heard the news, her senior officers had lifted a loyal glass of brandy and then returned to planning their next operation, a ceremony repeated across the fleet.

Roman kept his own counsel on the issue, but he knew that the governor didn’t have to travel in a superdreadnaught to make his point. Hartkopf had enough firepower to prevent Midway from escaping intact and to bleed the Federation Navy when it came looking for revenge. It said something about the governor’s willingness to meet with them that he’d actually come into interplanetary space.

Roman suspected that the governor was desperate to avoid admitting that he was meeting with the Federation. Or, perhaps, he was reluctant to allow Roman to bring his ship closer to Bester and the defenses he would have built as a matter of course.

The communications officer looked up.

“Captain, they’re demanding that Lady Tiffany goes to meet with them on their ship,” he reported. “They sound pretty insistent, sir.”

“I bet they are,” Roman said. He exchanged a long look with Tiffany, then looked back at the communications officer. “Inform them that they will be meeting with us on my ship. If they refuse, we’ll turn around and head back through the Asimov Point.”

There was a long pause.

“The governor has conceded the point,” the communications officer said. “He says that he’ll be on board in an hour.”

Roman allowed himself a relieved smile. He hadn’t decided if he’d been bluffing.

“Probably getting his finest uniform on,” Tiffany commented, and a wry chuckle ran around the bridge. “Is he bringing an escort?” Tiffany asked.

“I’d be surprised if he didn’t insist on one,” Roman said. “We may as well honor him as much as possible. It will be the last time.”

He smiled. Elf had already deployed her Marines to cover the negotiating team. If the governor believed he could bring a hijacking team onboard Midway , he was in for a very nasty surprise.

He settled back in his chair and concentrated on looking calm. Inwardly, he felt like panicking. Far too much could go wrong…and, of course, the admiral’s wife was on his ship. If the governor decided to launch a suicide attack…