Christopher Nuttall - Democracy's Might

“Excellent,” Daria said. “And you caught the spy.”

Colin nodded, looking around the conference room. Too many faces were missing. Jeremy Damiani, of course, was either a prisoner or dead. Salgak and the rest of the Geeks were on their starships; Hester and Hannelore were back on Jackson’s Folly, working frantically to organise the rebellion’s industrial base. If the attack on Morrison failed for a second time, all their efforts might prove futile. The Empire would have all the time it needed to launch an offensive of its own.

But they lost Wolf 359 , Colin thought. The courier boat had arrived just before he’d taken the squadron to Tabard. Cordova had scored a stunning victory, one that fully justified the rebellion’s faith in him. Right now, the Empire would be reeling. Entire families would be teetering on the brink of collapse. There would be no better time to resume the offensive.

“The spy’s message included the claim that we were not ready to resume the offensive,” Colin said. It had been tricky to make sure the spy picked up on it, but the message had been recorded and deciphered. They’d succeeded. “That is, of course, a lie.”

He took a breath. “We’re going back to Morrison,” he said. “We have the new weapons, new tactics… and this time we will not underestimate our enemy. This is how we are going to proceed.”

The plan was simple enough, but the basic equation hadn’t changed. He still had to knock Morrison out before advancing into the Core Worlds, knowing that failing to do so would leave the Morrison Fleet in his rear. And he was far too aware of just what an aggressive Admiral could do with the Empire’s preponderance of mobile firepower. Hell, given enough time, the Empire could cut loose entire squadrons of battlecruisers and send them to raid Colin’s rear. No, there was no alternative. They had to knock Morrison out — and soon.

And Admiral Wachter would know it too.

“Go back to your ships,” he ordered, finally. “We will leave in one hour.”

Daria hesitated, waiting until the others were gone. She even waved Mariko out, although Colin was sure that the tiny girl would be waiting on the other side of the hatch. It was rare to see them apart, even though they were clearly a mismatched pair.

“Good to see you enthused again, Colin,” she said. “I was worried for a while.”

“Thank you,” Colin said, sourly. It was funny, “I just had to learn from defeat.”

“Hell, we had to do that all that time,” Daria said. “Why do you think the League is composed of bastards? Never give up, that’s our motto. Whatever happens, never give up.”

Penny had never really felt nervous around Admiral Wachter, but she did now.

“Admiral,” she said carefully, “are you sure you should be drinking?”

Admiral Wachter looked down at his glass. It held an amber-coloured liquid that probably cost more than Penny would ever make in her life. The sight bothered her; Percival had drunk too, normally before summoning Penny for a little… fun . But Wachter was nothing like that, was he?

“I don’t know,” he said. He put the glass down on the table and looked up at her. “I received orders from Earth. They want the prisoners shipped back to them, immediately.”

Penny blinked in surprise. “Immediately?”

“I had them transferred to a Marine landing craft, then sent to Earth,” Wachter said. “They say they’ll honour my terms, but they don’t want me to keep them. What does that suggest to you?”

Penny had known Percival far too well. “That they don’t intend to honour your terms.”

“Or that they’re stalling,” Wachter added. “That they think they will win the war, even though Wolf 359 is gone.” He snorted. “I’m not supposed to tell you that, by the way.”

“Wolf 359 is gone ?” Penny repeated. “But… how ?”

“The rebels pulled off a daring operation,” Wachter said, shortly. “There’s a security clampdown, so I don’t really know anything beyond the simple fact that the shipyard is gone. And that leaves Terra Nova as the only remaining Class-III shipyard in the Empire.”

It was more than just that, Penny knew. Wolf 359 had supplied everything from starship components to colony farming equipment. The sudden destruction of the facilities would trigger shortages all across the Empire, probably setting off economic shockwaves that would do real damage to the Empire’s stability… if, of course, the rebels hadn’t been trying to undermine it themselves. No matter what the Thousand Families believed, it wouldn’t be long before the news leaked out. It probably had on Earth.

“They’ve also ordered me not to launch any offences against the rebel-held planets,” Wachter added. “I think they’re still trying to decide what to do.”

Penny winced. The Families Council needed three to four weeks to send orders from Earth to Morrison. By the time they made up their mind and the orders reached their destination, the situation might have changed radically. The rebel fleet was still out there, as proven by their attack on Tabard, and they clearly hadn’t given up on the war. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before they came after Morrison again.

“We could win this war now, if we launched an offensive,” Wachter said. “But no, we have to remain here. They’re not even ordering us to detach ships to Terra Nova…”

“It would take three weeks to get the ships there,” Penny pointed out. But he had a point. Terra Nova and Earth were the two systems the Empire could not afford to lose. Hell, if the rebels took out the shipyard orbiting Terra Nova they’d win even if they didn’t occupy the system. “Or maybe they’ve sent orders for you to do that and they’re still on their way.”

Wachter snorted and reached for the glass. Penny braced herself and picked it up, moving it carefully out of reach. Wachter gave her an odd look, then withdrew his hand. Penny tried not to sigh in relief. Percival would have given her anything from a beating to summary demotion to the ranks for depriving him of his pleasures.

“It doesn’t help to get drunk,” she said, quietly.

“No, it doesn’t,” Wachter agreed. “Do you realise we also had several new arrivals from Earth?”

Penny swallowed. Wachter had requested repair crews and more warships. He’d received Blackshirts and additional security officers. In theory, the Blackshirts were there to provide prisoner escorts, but Penny suspected that the truth was a little darker. If the Thousand Families decided they could disperse with the Admiral’s services, they could order their conditioned servants to remove him and they would obey.

“Yes, sir,” she said. She took a long breath. “Do you remember what I said to you?”

“I think you shouldn’t say that again,” Wachter said. “You know why I can’t take over the Empire.”

Because you’re loyal , Penny thought. It wasn’t something she really understood. She’d given her loyalty to Percival, not the Empire as a whole. But both of them had betrayed her, Percival by treating her as a slave and the Empire by searching for a scapegoat for the disasters in Sector 117. Wachter, on the other hand, deserved her loyalty. And yet she didn’t understand how he could be loyal to the Empire.

But she had read his file. He was minor aristocracy. If the Empire collapsed into outright civil war, his family would either be absorbed or destroyed by the other families. Could it really be so simple? Could his loyalty be nothing more than calculation? And yet he’d shown loyalty to his subordinates, purged officers — no matter their connections — who had abused their positions and, by doing so, had alienated his own superiors. He was, she decided, a very strange man.