Christopher Nuttall - Democracy's Might

He looked up. “Do you understand,” he added, “just how many people joined us when they realised there might be a chance at victory? Even if the odds were stacked against us, we had superdreadnaughts and determination and new ideas… and people, willing to fight beside us to bring down an edifice that blighted thousands of worlds and billions of lives. Your legacy is one of hatred, sown by your greed and determination to take whatever you wanted from the people who worked hard to earn it. And now they’re coming for you.”

Tiberius’s face tightened. “You may be right,” he conceded. “But we will have to see what happens before we surrender.”

“Be careful you don’t surrender too late,” Jeremy mocked, as Tiberius rose to his feet. “You might have nothing left to use as a bargaining chip.”

Tiberius looked down at him, but said nothing. Instead, he just walked through the hatch and vanished.

After a long moment, the guards returned and escorted Jeremy back to his cell.

He contemplated what he’d been told as soon as he was alone. It was possible it was a trick of some kind, but it seemed pointless. Why would the enemy wish to claim to be weak — or losing the war? They’d want to convince him they were winning, surely? And if it was the truth…

The thought cheered him and worried him in equal measure. Prisoners had been killed before on Camelot, just to prevent the rebels from liberating them. What would happen to him and the others? Where were the others? He could have kicked himself for not asking Tiberius that question. The young man might have known the answer.

He tossed possibilities over and over in his head long into the night.

“There was a message inserted into the communications network,” Gaunt said. “The rebels have taken Morrison and they’re on their way here.”

Adeeba smiled, watching as Frandsen trained a group of young men in using modified powered combat armour. Somehow, the underground had obtained it from a military base, only to discover that they didn’t have anyone who knew how to use it. They were lucky, Frandsen had pointed out, that they hadn’t stolen Marine-issue gear. That was keyed to a specific user and jammed up if anyone else tried to use it.

“Good to hear,” she said. “How did the message reach the communications network?”

“I’m not sure,” Gaunt admitted. She looked rather irritated with her next sentence. “They wouldn’t have told me in any case.”

She smiled, darkly. “The time may have come to start moving forward with our plans,” she added. “Do you have any idea how long it will take them to reach Earth?”

“They could be here by now,” Adeeba said. She shook her head. “There are just too many factors that might affect matters. They might well be able to get a message to us before they actually arrive…”

“Maybe,” Gaunt said. She looked down at her hands, then up at the young men. Most of them, Adeeba knew, had volunteered despite knowing the risks. They had nothing to look forward to on Earth. “Can we count on you to join us?”

“Of course,” Adeeba said. The alternative, she knew, was staying in the apartment or an underground base, hoping and praying that the offensive succeeded. She couldn’t endure much more of that . “What do you want us to do?”

“We’ve been trying to work out how best to act, when your fleet arrives,” Gaunt said. “The problem, of course, is timing. If we move too fast, we will be destroyed by the security forces before your fleet can intervene; if we move too slowly, we might not be allowed to join any post-war government. So… when the time comes, we will have to act fast. What would your people like us to do?”

“Shut down the defences,” Adeeba said, immediately. She doubted it was possible to take them all down, but the more the defences were weakened, the easier it would be for Colin to take the planet. It would also make it easier for the underground to secure targets on the ground. “And perhaps threaten the High City.”

“We shall see,” Gaunt said. She made the words sound vaguely threatening. “We shall see.”

Colin had — foolishly — expected Sol to look different. Humanity’s first star should have been special, somehow. But from five light years distance, Sol was no different from any of the hundreds of other stars visible through the observation blister. It was chilling to realise that the stars would still be burning brightly, millions of years after Colin himself was long forgotten. He contemplated the thought for a long moment, then turned and smiled as Jason Cordova and Daria were shown into the compartment. Behind them, Mariko brought up the rear.

“Well done,” Colin said. He’d had his doubts about Cordova, but he had to admit that the man had done very well. Very well indeed. “Without Wolf 359, the Empire will start to totter towards collapse.”

“Well done to you too,” Cordova boomed. “Without Morrison, the Empire will find it hard to mount a counterattack before time runs out.”

Colin nodded. The data the rebel spies had collected had identified two remaining fleets within the Core Worlds, one protecting Earth and the other protecting Terra Nova. Colin wasn’t sure which one to go after first; Earth offered the prospect of a quick victory, but Terra Nova was vitally important. He wouldn’t put it past the Thousand Families to prevent the massive shipyard from falling into rebel hands by destroying it.

And then there was the other problem. Their supply lines, already far too long, were even weaker now that they had almost reached Earth. Taking Terra Nova offered the chance to replenish their supplies without having to wait for new material to be shipped from Morrison — or Jackson’s Folly. It was all too easy to imagine the chain snapping, forcing them to abandon the offensive until they obtained new supplies. And every day they gave the Empire only gave the Thousand Families more time to prepare their fallback options…

He sat down and activated the portable display. A holographic image of the Core Worlds appeared in front of him, showing the location of known enemy fleets and fortifications. Quite a few worlds were heavily defended, even though they didn’t have superdreadnaughts of their own. The Empire had been willing to allow local defence forces for the worlds that had limited internal autonomy, but they had been reluctant to allow anyone outside the Imperial Navy to build anything heavier than a battlecruiser.

“The problem,” he said, “is that Terra Nova and Earth are close enough to allow mutual support. If we attack one, the other will send ships to assist our target. We therefore need to prevent them from doing that — and if we can get them to denude our target of its defences, it would be a definite bonus.”

“You won’t get them to denude Earth of her defences,” Cordova said. “I imagine they had an awful catfight over sending even one starship from Earth to Terra Nova, particularly after we took out Wolf 359.”

“Probably,” Colin agreed. He pointed a finger at Earth. “I want you to take your fleet, five of the arsenal ships and a handful of ECM-equipped destroyers and charge through the Sol System. Make yourself very noticeable, convince them that the entire fleet is raiding their territory. Don’t let them think about a threat to anywhere else.”

Cordova smiled. “And you will be taking the rest of the fleet to Terra Nova?”

“Yep,” Colin said. “We’ll give you ten minutes. If we’re lucky, the Thousand Families will recall the naval units protecting Terra Nova, leaving it ripe for the plucking. But if we’re not…”