The Shadow of Cincinnatus Read online

  He sighed. “What’s next on the agenda?”

  “A deputation from Castile Sector,” Tiffany said. If she was annoyed at being treated like a secretary, she didn’t show it. “They want to discuss their future, now that Admiral Roper is dead.”

  “They supported him,” Marius said. Admiral Roper – another rogue warlord – hadn’t lasted long, but he’d distracted the Grand Senate from concentrating everything against Admiral Justinian. “What should we do with them?”

  “You’ll have to decide,” Tiffany said. “And I suggest you decide quickly.”

  Chapter Ten

  One of the unfortunate truths of military operations is that true surprise is very rare. When one side gets surprised, it tends to be because they missed something that hinted at the coming disaster and the other side got lucky.

  -The Federation Navy in Retrospect, 4199

  Base One, 4098

  “That’s the last of our squadrons, sir,” Lieutenant Juneau reported. “And just in time.”

  General Charlie Stuart nodded, slowly. God alone knew what the Marsha had been thinking when they’d lost a starship and failed to report it to the rest of the Outsiders. No, he knew what they’d been thinking. Losing a starship was akin to losing honor and they couldn’t afford to do that, not when it would be quite costly. But it had also sacrificed the advantage of surprise.

  It had taken years to build up the Outsider Navy, but he was uneasily aware that the Federation still had a considerable advantage. On one hand, the chance to bring overwhelming power to bear against the Federation’s Fifth Fleet was a godsend; on the other, it had the prospect of doing serious harm to his fleet while the remainder of the Federation Navy rapidly mobilized. And with a competent emperor on Earth, there would be none of the diversions caused by the Grand Senate. The full weight of the Federation would be brought to bear on the Outsiders.

  But if we don’t move, we will be discovered, he thought. The lost starship alone ensured it. It wouldn’t be long before Fifth Fleet started hunting in earnest for the mystery aliens, once they’d reinforced Athena. The war would become chancier at the worst possible moment. And if we are discovered, we will be lost.

  Charlie knew, without false modesty, that the Federation would consider them dangerous criminals at best, renegades, terrorists and traitors at worst. There would be no mercy, if they were discovered. He would be killed, along with everyone else who had been involved in building up the Outsider Federation. And both the Marsha and the Insects would be exterminated. Collectively, they were a dangerous foe. The Federation would consider them too dangerous to live.

  But the timing was badly wrong, he knew. The fleet had intended to have a great deal of support on the ground. And a number of planets had revolutionary cells that were ready to liberate themselves from the Federation. But there was no time to alert the rebels. Instead, they would have to make do with what the advance agents could muster when the shit hit the fan.

  No plan ever survives contact with the enemy, he reminded himself.

  “Record,” he ordered. “It is my belief that the current situation on Athena can only develop to our disadvantage. Governor Barany was a useful fool. This newcomer can hardly be more advantageous to us. It is my intention, therefore, to issue the start order in two days from now. We will enter the Athena System seven hours later and engage the enemy.”

  He took a breath. “Training schedules will slip,” he added, “but I feel we are ready to move on our targets. We will have the firepower advantage, as well as some new surprises. We will give them hell.”

  Tapping a switch, he saved the message and then sent it to the courier boat. It would be on its way to Sanctuary within the hour, but by the time it arrived at its destination the war would already be underway. They’d assumed as much, when they’d hashed out the final steps of the plan, yet it still bothered him. He would have preferred to have the council with him when he gave the order.

  Independent command, he thought, sardonically. Every commander in the Federation Navy would give his balls for the degree of independent authority you’ve been granted. And that will help ensure our victory.

  He shook his head. Fifty years of careful preparation and planning, twenty years of building up a fleet that could challenge the Federation Navy...and it was all about to be tested for the first time. There had been no way to carry out proper tests, not really, and simulations could only go so far. Now...the shit was definitely about to hit the fan and he had no way to be sure that everything would go according to plan. And if it didn’t...?

  “All command staff, report to Briefing Room A in twenty minutes,” he ordered, keying his console. “We have an operation to plan.”

  * * *

  Uzi had been midway through yet another training simulation when the holograms had frozen, then blinked out of existence completely. He’d wondered, in a moment of horror, if someone had deduced his identity and sent soldiers to try to arrest him, before the message started playing through the overhead speakers. All simulations and training exercises were cancelled; trainees were to return to their barracks, while commanding officers and trainers were to report to the briefing compartment. Uzi couldn’t help feeling a shiver running down his spine as he dismissed his men, then followed the other trainers through the ship. It sounded as though the Outsiders were finally ready to begin their war.

  The briefing compartment was jam-packed with officers, both dedicated Outsiders and mercenaries. Uzi joined the latter, knowing the former wouldn’t accept him, even though they’d be better sources of information. But it wasn’t really a surprise. The dedicated had always had their doubts about those who fought for money, no matter how trained and experienced they were. And in his case, he had to admit, they were right.

  He looked up and down the ranks of mercenaries, committing names and faces to the recording implant in his mind. They’d be checked against the Federation’s files, when – if – he made it home, then charged with high treason for assisting aliens as well as Outsiders. He wondered, absently, if any of them were also operatives from the Federation, but dismissed the thought with some irritation. There was no way to know – and besides, he shouldn’t know. His implants were supposed to be impossible to hack, but there was no such thing as a complete impossibility. What he didn’t know he couldn’t betray.

  “If I could have your attention,” a voice said, from the front of the room. “This will be a short meeting.”

  There was a long pause as General Erskine stepped up to the podium. He was a tall man, with short brown hair and a beard that had been neatly trimmed close to his skin. For some reason, the Outsiders were less worried about grooming than the Federation, something that bothered Uzi even though they were relentlessly practical. Maybe it was a sense of independence, or maybe it was just an attempt to set themselves apart from the Federation.

  “The offensive will be launched in two days,” the General said. “This fleet will depart from here to Target One.”

  Uzi kept his face expressionless, as did most of the mercenaries. The Outsiders, less used to concealing their feelings, showed a mixture of anticipation and fear. He didn’t blame them for the latter. No matter how much training they’d had, they weren’t ready for actual combat. They wouldn’t get over the fear until they’d actually seen the elephant and spat in his eye.

  But General Erskine has seen the elephant, Uzi thought. He was sure of it, even though he’d never been able to identify the man. And where did he serve?

  “We will be starting tailored simulations tomorrow, then continuing right up until the moment the fleet hits the Phase Limit,” General Erskine continued. “And some of you have to make a decision.”

  He looked down at the mercenaries. “We hired you to train our people as well as fight for us,” he said. “I understand that not all of you were enthusiastic about fighting the Federation. If you wish to back out, you will be held on a safe world until the war comes to an end or we can release you without compr
omising our security. However, there will be no further chance to change your mind. You either leave now or you will remain with us until the end of the war.”

  Win or lose, Uzi thought. He’d stay, of course. There was nothing he could do for the Federation on a safe world, assuming the Outsiders didn’t simply plan to kill them out of hand, once they were useless. It would be hard to blame them. Mercenaries went where the money was and the Federation had a great deal of money. And, if they were hired, they might prove to be chatterboxes as well.

  He looked at the other mercenaries, silently gauging their thoughts. Some would be worried about fighting the Federation directly, knowing that it would mean certain death if they were captured, others would be worried about serving paymasters who might lose the war. The Federation – his lips quirked at the thought – could hardly be expected to uphold any claims made by disgruntled mercenaries who’d been fighting on the wrong side. If the Outsiders lost, any chances of payment would be lost with them.

  As would any chance of maintaining the old mercenary structure, Uzi thought. The Federation had tolerated it because the alternative was driving the whole system underground – and besides, mercenaries came in handy from time to time. It would hardly be the first time he’d intercepted a Grand Senator trying to hire mercenaries for use against his rivals, or insurrectionists, or merely workers who wanted a fair deal. They could lose everything if they’re caught fighting the Federation.

  “The shuttle is already prepped for departure,” General Erskine concluded. “Those of you who wish to depart may proceed to the shuttlebay prior to 1800, when the shuttle will depart for a safer place. The remainder of you can report back here in an hour for a more elaborate briefing.”

  Uzi checked his internal chronometer. Unsurprisingly, the elaborate briefing would take place just after the shuttle had left. Anyone who wanted to remain behind with the fleet would be held in the brig, if they balked too late. He silently calculated their chances as a third of the mercenaries headed for the hatch leading to the shuttlebay, then gave it up as a fool’s effort. There was no way to calculate the odds without knowing the target.

  The briefing resumed an hour later. This time, the mercenaries and the Outsiders mingled together.

  “The target is Athena,” General Erskine said. He ignored a handful of muttered oaths from the mercenaries. They’d known they’d be going after a big world, but not the sector capital itself. “Our objective will be to secure the facilities on the ground intact, if possible. That would have been easy if the previous governor hadn’t been replaced by a military officer, one Commodore Garibaldi.”

  Uzi had to fight to conceal his surprise. Commodore Garibaldi? Was it the same Garibaldi who had delivered them to Hobson’s Choice? Or was it someone who happened to bear the same name? There were millions of spacers serving in the Federation Navy. It wasn’t beyond belief that the name was nothing more than a coincidence. But it hardly mattered, he knew all too well. He had to play his role to the bitter end.

  And if that means firing on the Federation Navy, he thought, I will have no choice but to obey.

  “As it is, we must expect some hard fighting,” General Erskine warned. “Commodore Garibaldi may have some reason to believe we will be coming.”

  Uzi was tempted to ask why they were even attacking Athena, if the attack was no longer a surprise. But a check of his internal databanks revealed the answer. Athena was a sector capital because it held five Asimov Points, two of which led deeper into the Federation. In Outsider hands, it allowed fleets to stab deep into the Federation’s guts; in Federation hands, it would allow the Federation Navy to mass its forces for a deep strike into the unknown. No, Athena could not be left untouched.

  “We will pass over the naval side of the action,” General Erskine said. “The landing plans are as follows...”

  He was definitely no amateur, Uzi decided, after an hour of going through the landing places, piece by piece. There was more rote behaviour called for than he would have preferred – he knew, all too well, that rote behaviour was predicable behaviour – but there was little choice. The Outsiders didn’t have many experienced officers, outside the mercenaries. And besides, who in their right mind would trust the mercenaries indefinitely?

  “Remember, we’re coming to liberate these people,” General Erskine concluded. “I will not tolerate any abuse of the local population, whatever the cause. Anyone responsible will face immediate court martial, followed by death if found guilty. I will not sacrifice their goodwill on the altar of expediency.”

  Good thought, Uzi thought, coldly. He’d known commanding officers who’d turned a blind eye to their troops misdeeds, either out of a misplaced sense of loyalty or simply a desire to avoid being blamed for whatever had gone wrong. It was sour in his mouth, but he couldn’t help feeling a flicker of admiration for the older man. Not everyone would have been so honest, or brutally determined to avoid disaster.

  But he knew the mercenaries weren’t likely to pose a problem. They’d been drilled in the Mercenary Code from the moment they joined a mercenary force. No one wanted to risk the Federation Navy coming after them for committing atrocities. The Outsiders, on the other hand, would be fired up after their first battle...and probably unready for the multi-sided chaos they were likely to encounter on liberated worlds. It was then that even the most capable force tended to commit atrocities.

  He listened to the final words of encouragement, then stamped back to his cabin and spent the next hour modifying the simulation. There was no point in showing anything but complete commitment to the cause, not now. As he worked, part of his mind worried over the problem of getting word to the Federation. There had to be a way to send a warning...but, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t find one. The starship crews were carefully isolated from the ground troops, and he didn’t have the command codes to operate a ship. All he could do was wait and see what happened when they arrived at Athena.

  Carefully, he started to compile everything he’d seen, heard and recorded into a single file, which he stored in his internal datanodes. As soon as there was a chance to take control of the communication system and send the message, he would, despite the risks. It was the only way he could think of to get a message back to the Federation.

  But, no matter what he did, he couldn’t see any way of getting a message back earlier.

  There was a tap on the hatch. Cleo stepped inside, looking lovely – and tired.

  “It’s been a long day,” she said. “But we’re finally moving!”

  “Yes, we are,” Uzi said. He’d seen more combat than anyone else on the ship, with the possible exception of General Erskine. It was nothing to be excited about, not really. Cleo didn’t realize it in her bones yet, but there was a possibility that she would be dead in three days, along with the rest of the crew. “And we have a shitload of work to do.”

  Cleo sat down next to him, then eyed the display. “What’s that?”

  “That is what the politically-correct called a multi-sided conflict zone,” Uzi said. “Anyone with any sense, however, would call it a shitstorm. There are too many factions involved for us to sort out who’s on what side. This faction” – he prodded the map – “might turn on that faction, then attempt to manipulate us into getting rid of its enemies. And that faction might hate us so much it launches suicide attacks, just to get at us. ”

  “I don’t understand,” Cleo said. “Federation loyalists?”

  Uzi shrugged. “Some of them, maybe,” he said. The Federation would have some supporters, if only among those who had done well under its rule. “Others will want power for themselves, or merely fight because they don’t know what’s going on. Some of them will definitely fight us.”

  He sighed, inwardly. It would probably help the Federation if he did encourage atrocities. And it would be easy, too. A few words in the right set of ears and there would be an outbreak of looting, raping and burning that would ensure the locals were inclined to welcome
the Federation Navy when it returned to Athena. But it wasn’t something he wanted to do, even without the risk of being caught and exposed. It would be disastrous in the long run.

  “We’re their friends,” Cleo said, shocked. She had no real experience of life in the Federation. She was an Outsider, after all, born in a hidden colony somewhere beyond the Rim. “Why would they fight us?”

  “A beaten dog will often stay with its master,” Uzi said. Psychology had always interested him. What made some men rebels, some men terrorists and some men slaves, doing nothing even as they were tortured, raped and killed by their masters? “And they may see us as just another set of masters. What we need to do, to secure our position, might well be seen as an attempt to take power for ourselves.”

  Idly, he wondered how the Outsiders planned to solve that problem, assuming they won the war. The Grand Senate had become a nightmare, at least in part, because of the problem of trying to run the entire Federation from Earth. It simply wasn’t an easy task. The Outsiders would have the same problem, at least to some extent. They could declare the worlds to be independent, he suspected, but who would protect humanity then?

  No one, he thought. The aliens would be free, ready to rebuild their forces and wreak their revenge on humanity. And that might be what they want.

  Chapter Eleven

  One of the Grand Senate’s many problems was that it took months to get news from the Rim, then longer still to get orders out there, while the situation might already have moved on before the Grand Senate ever heard of it. This ensured that problems along the Rim tended to get out of hand before Earth ever knew they were underway.

  -The Federation Navy in Retrospect, 4199

  Athena, 4098

  “There’s no point in worrying now,” Elf said.