Rumors of Glory (The System States Rebellion Book 1) (15 page)

Day 74/2541

Janicot woke to the sound of an incoming call.

“Accept audio only,” he said.

“Mykhel, sorry to wake you in the middle of the night,
but I thought you’d like to hear the news.”

Janicot recognized the voice as belonging to Belloc. “Go
ahead, Chancellor.”

“A FED courier has just arrived in-system and transmitted
their response to our prisoner exchange proposal. They’ve agreed to it without
conditions or reservations, and they’re proposing that the exchange take place
on a date to be set by us, on the fourth planet in a star system half way
between Sparta and Earth. My staff tells me that the fourth planet has a rocky
plateau that’s the only landmass on the whole planet. The rest is all water.
Each side will send one unarmed ship. When both ships have landed, the
prisoners will walk to the other ship at the same time.”

“That’s good news, Sir. I’ll get my people to arrange for
a ship to take back our reply as soon as possible.”

“Very good, Mykhel. I hope you’ll be able to get back to
sleep.”

The click told Janicot that Belloc had hung up. He
thought briefly of trying to go back to sleep but decided that wasn’t going to
happen, and if he was going to be up at this hour of the night, he might as
well get things moving on the exchange sooner rather than later. It was with a
certain amount of glee that he told his computer to call his Aide.

                                                   *  
*   *

Day 175/2541

Former Navy Lieutenant Bret Murphy pressed the buzzer and
waited.

“Who is it?”

The female voice had a suspicious tone to it. Murphy
grinned. “You ordered a gigolo?”

He heard a chuckle followed by, “It’s about time you
showed up. Enter.”

The computer-controlled door slid open. Murphy stepped
into the dark room and looked around. He saw the silhouette of a woman’s body
against the low, indirect lighting behind her. He waited until the door slid
shut.

“I made sure no one followed me. Did you?” said Murphy.

“I was very careful. Since this is going to be our last
time for a while, I slipped on something special.”

She stepped closer. There was barely enough light for him
to see that she was wearing a tight-fitting, practically transparent garment
with strategically placed dark patches.

“Very nice. Now come here, Captain,” ordered Murphy.

Army Captain Cate Foster giggled again. “Your wish is my
command, Lieutenant.”

An hour later, they were catching their breath, lying on
the bed with their arms around each other.

“So it’s official then?” he asked.

Foster sighed. “Yes, the SSU has accepted the proposed
rendezvous point, and they’ve set the date for 63 days from now. That means our
ship will have to leave in 72 hours. The call for volunteers will hit the media
channels tomorrow morning. That’s why I said this will probably be the last
time we see each other before you leave.”

“Unless you resign and come with me,” he said softly.

“Don’t make it any harder than it already is. You know as
well as I do what an opportunity this is for the Union. Even though I was
raised on Hekla, the fact that I was born on Earth and that I’m in the Army has
allowed me to fall through the cracks insofar being vetted by verifier. Add to
that the fact that I’m assigned to the Joint Army/Navy Planning Group, and that
means I’ll have access to the Federation’s most important secrets almost as
fast as the Chiefs of Staff. How can we throw that away by me resigning?”

“I know. But it’ll be hard waiting months, maybe even
years, on the other side of the front line, not knowing if you’re okay or not.”

“Same here, babe. As long as I don’t have to undergo the
verifier test, I should be okay, but I’ll be wondering what the Union will have
you doing. I hate the thought of you being an officer on a Union navy ship
being shot at by FED ships. Do you think there’s any way you could come back
here on a freighter without the FEDs noticing?”

“You mean on a regular freighter run from a Federation
planet that’s willing to trade with the Union?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I guess it would have to be something
like that, but that’ll only work until Trojan sets up the joint Fleet/Army
Force HQ on Hadley, which is scheduled to be in about 18 months. Maintaining
contact after that will be damned difficult.”

He took his time answering. “If I were to come, it would
put me AND you in danger if I’m discovered. I think the only way to send
messages back and forth would be by using someone the FEDs don’t know about, as
a courier.”

“Damn.” She said it softly but with meaning.

He said nothing as he stroked her naked back. After
several minutes of mutual silence, he said, “I can’t stay as long as I usually
do, babe. If you’ve got anything new for me to carry back, now’s the time.”

“Oh shit, I forgot. You won’t be able to carry anything
back except what’s in your head. All Union prisoners and volunteering
sympathizers will have to undergo a very rigorous search before they get on the
ship. If the FEDs find anything incriminating, the smuggler will be arrested
and tried as a spy. I don’t want you to risk that. When the courier is set up,
he or she can carry the data chips back. You should get rid of the ones you
have now as soon as you get back to your place.”

“Damn! The technical data on their Oracle computer alone
might make a huge difference.”

“I know, but it’s too risky. Promise me you won’t try to
smuggle it out.”

After hesitating, he said, “I promise.” He checked the
time on her chronometer. “Guess what we have just enough time to do before I
have to go?”

She gave him a deep, throaty chuckle. “If it’s what I
think it is, I get to be on top this time!”

They both laughed as she moved to straddle him.

63 days later:

Drake stepped off the boarding ramp with the others and
got in line. He cursed the high humidity. The freighter crew claimed the
outside temperature was mid 80s, but it felt like it was over 100. No wonder
the planet had never been colonized. This plateau wasn’t big enough to house
more than a few thousand people, and there was no farm land at all. Any
colonists would have had to resort exclusively to aqua-culture for food. He
looked in the distance and saw the freighter sent by the Union. Unlike
freighters belonging to Federation-based shipping companies, like the one the
FED Navy had charted to bring them here, the Union freighter had the SSU symbol
painted in bold red on its hull. When all the prisoners and volunteers had
lined up at the base of the ramp, the FED Officer in charge used a bullhorn to
give them last-minute instructions.

“NOBODY MOVES UNTIL I SAY SO. WHEN I GIVE THE GO AHEAD,
YOU’LL START WALKING AT A MODERATE PACE. STAY TO THE RIGHT OF THE GROUP COMING
THE OTHER WAY. NO COMMUNICATING WITH ANYONE COMING THE OTHER WAY. ONCE YOU’RE
PAST THE OTHER GROUP, YOU CAN DO AS YOU PLEASE.”

Drake heard similar instructions being given to the other
group by someone from that ship. He watched the other ship and saw a flashing
green light at the base. That must have been a signal to start.

“BEGIN WALKING,” said the officer.

Drake quickly realized that the instruction to walk at a
moderate pace had been entirely unnecessary. The plateau had looked flat enough
seen from the top of the boarding ramp, but the ground was actually pretty
rough, with broken layers of stone to step carefully on or over. It was going
to be difficult to look up in order to make eye contact with Lor without
tripping over something.

As the other group got closer, he slowed a bit so that he
could take frequent glances at them without falling down. There she was! She
was having the same problem that he was. There weren’t going to be any long
looks between them. Waving was probably not a good idea either. She was getting
closer, but every time he glanced at her, she was looking down at the ground,
and he was sure the reverse was also true. He decided to step out of line, stop
and pretend to be adjusting the fit of his boots. As he went through the
mechanical motions, he looked at Lor. She was finally looking back at him, if
only for a second, and there was a slight smile on her face. He thought that he
detected a slight nod too. He nodded back.

“KEEP MOVING!”

Drake was sure that was intended for him. It didn’t
matter. She was past him now. He got up and resumed walking. As soon as they
were past the end of the other group’s line, his line dissolved. Those who were
sure-footed enough walked faster, while others kept to their own pace.

They had to line up again when they reached the boarding
ramp of the Union ship. He could see Union Navy officers who were asking each
person for name, place of birth or residence, and other personal information.
No doubt everyone would have to undergo a verifier test just to preclude the
possibility of FED spies. He looked around to make sure that every crewmember
from the Valley Forge was accounted for. When he got to the front of the line,
the officer requested his personal information.

“Roland Drake, born on Sparta. I’m a Commander in the SSU
Navy and CO of the cruiser Valley Forge. My crew are all here as well.”

The officer looked at him carefully. “We were told you
might be returning. Welcome back, Commander.” He handed Drake an ID chit
produced from the handheld device he was using. “Next!”

59 days later:

Murphy stepped up to the table where two Union Navy NCOs
were seated. He handed them his ID chit, which one of them inserted into a data
tablet.

“Lieutenant Bret Murphy,” said the NCO whose nametag read
O’Reilly.

“That’s right, Chief.”

“What was your former assignment, Lieutenant?”

Murphy took note of the fact that the Chief didn’t have
to refer to him by his former rank but did so as a courtesy. “I was a liaison
officer to the Army Logistics Division.”

O’Reilly nodded. “I’m sure the Union Navy can use you,
but you’ll have to pass the verifier test, you understand.”

“Of course, Chief, but I also have some information that
I think the Senior Naval Officer will want to hear about. Can you arrange for
me to meet with him?”

O’Reilly exchanged glances with the other Chief. Murphy
understood that look. It was the kind of look that NCOs shared with each other
when they had to be polite to an officer whom they considered to be full of
shit.

“I can’t get you in to see the CSO, Lieutenant, but I can
pass your request on to his Aide.”

Murphy decided not to press the issue. Talking to a
five-star Admiral’s Aide probably was the limit of the Chief’s reach.

“Whatever you can do will be appreciated, Chief.”

Day 300/2541

Janicot opened the door of his inner office and stood on
the threshold. There were two men sitting in the waiting area. He recognized
Cmdr. Drake but not the other man who was not wearing a uniform. His Aide came
over to him.

“Who’s the civvy, Lieutenant?” asked Janicot.

“He’s a former FED Navy officer who claims to have
important information, Sir.”

“Oh really? Hm. Bring him in. You may as well listen in
too.” By the time Janicot sat back down behind his desk, the Aide and the
civilian had entered the room. Janicot pointed to the two chairs that faced the
desk. When both men were seated, Janicot said, “I’m Admiral Janicot, and you
are?”

“Ex-Lieutenant Bret Murphy, Admiral.”

“Well, Mr. Murphy, anyone who’s willing to fight for the
Union is welcome. I understand that you have information you think will help
the Cause. I’m eager to hear it.”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you for seeing me, Admiral. As I’m sure
you know by now, hundreds of Army and Navy personnel who are sympathetic to the
SSU either resigned voluntarily or were discharged after failing their verifier
tests. However, I know of one individual who has not been tested and who has
access to information on the Federation’s strategic plans. She’s elected to
stay in uniform in order to pass that information along to us, if we can set up
a secure way of communication.” Murphy noticed a change in the body language of
both the Admiral and his Aide.

“Now that IS interesting. What more can you tell me, Mr.
Murphy?” asked Janicot.

“She’s an Army Captain. I’m not sure if revealing her
name would be wise of me at this point in time. She’s assigned to the Joint
Army/Navy Planning Group. That’s the group that’s developing sophisticated
computer technology to manage all of the Army’s and the Navy’s logistical,
administrative and, if necessary, strategic planning. They’ve already got a
prototype which they call Oracle, but they’re now working on a much more
capable version which is codenamed Majestic. She had already passed some
technical data on the Oracle version to me, but I wasn’t able to get it past
the FED body searches prior to boarding the exchange ship. If we can set up a
courier posing as a crewmember of a freighter that travels between Earth and a
planet that the Union can access, then this courier can contact her on a
regular basis and bring back data chips on their computer project and strategic
plans, perhaps even fleet deployment data.”

Janicot nodded. “We already knew about Oracle but not
about the upgraded version. It’s a damn shame that you couldn’t bring back that
tech data. I think we’re going to have to try developing our own Oracle and
Majestic systems, and having a head start would have made a huge difference,
but at least we now know about this Majestic project of theirs. I take it that
Majestic will be built on Earth?”

“No, Admiral. The plan is to build it somewhere in the
Franklin Tri-system.”

“Franklin?” said Janicot in surprise. “Do you know why
they would want it there?”

“Yes, Sir. Oracle picked that star system for three
reasons. One is its strategic location. It’s much closer to the SSU than Earth
is. Another reason is that it contains a habitable world, Hadley, which would
be perfect as a staging area for large formations of Army units. Finally, it
has a planet, Makassar, which has a very high concentration of metals and would
be the perfect place to establish large scale shipbuilding infrastructure.”

Janicot leaned back and nodded. “Yes, of course. With
ships and troops concentrated there, having their strategic computer in the
same system would minimize communication lags. It all fits. If they’re going to
go to all the trouble of building up industrial infrastructure there, they must
be planning on building a lot of ships.”

Murphy nodded. “At least a thousand, Admiral.” He saw
Janicot’s face go pale.

“My God. I had no idea this war would reach that kind of
scale.” He paused and then said, “That has to mean that the overall Field
Commander will be stationed there as well. Have they picked an Admiral to
command their campaign yet?”

“General Jonn Trojan will be the senior FED officer in
charge. He’s apparently been given a blank check.”

“Wait a minute,” said Janicot. “You’re telling me that an
army general is going to be in command of fleets containing hundreds of navy
ships? What the hell does Trojan know about strategic fleet deployment?”

Murphy shrugged. “I can’t speak to that question,
Admiral. I was told that the Navy Chief of Staff initially resisted that
appointment but is now supporting it. If I had to guess, I’d say that running
the joint army/navy planning group along with experience in using their Oracle
prototype probably had something to do with it.”

“It probably had a lot to do with it,” said Janicot.
“It’ll take years before they can start using ships built in the Franklin
Tri-system. What can you tell me about their strategic thinking in the interim
period between now and then?”

“Their main priority now is to hold on to as many planets
as possible. The few ships they have left after their disastrous raid on this
planet are to be used to discourage key planets from jumping over to our side.
The 20 additional cruisers that were authorized initially will be upgraded
versions of the standard patrol cruiser, and those will be used to protect
their shipping from our commerce raiders.”

“Do you know what kind of upgrades those 20 cruisers will
get?” asked Janicot.

Murphy shook his head. “No, Admiral. Captain F—, ah, the
Captain was still working on getting the upgrade specs downloaded when I left.”

“I see. Is there anything else you can add that we might
find useful?”

“Not really, Admiral.”

“Okay then. You’ve given me some very useful information,
and on behalf of the Union I thank you. Can I assume that you’d like to
volunteer for our Navy?”

After a slight hesitation, Murphy said, “I’ll serve
wherever you think I can make the most contribution. However, if given a choice
I’d prefer to work in establishing and maintaining contact with our embedded
Captain.”

Janicot looked at his Aide who raised an eyebrow in
response. “Is there something I should know with regards to you and this
Captain, Mr. Murphy?” asked Janicot.

“We’re lovers, Admiral.”

“Ah.” Janicot said nothing for a few seconds. “Well I
can’t promise anything, but I’ll take your request under advisement, Mr.
Murphy. Please make sure my Aide knows how to reach you, and thank you again
for bringing this to my attention.”

Janicot stood up and offered his hand. Murphy shook it
and headed for the door, with the Aide in tow. Before reaching the door, Murphy
turned around.

“I just remembered something that the Captain heard
through the grapevine. I don’t know if it’s true or not,” said Murphy.

“What was that?” asked Janicot.

“Well, apparently General Trojan was discussing the new
Majestic computer’s projected capabilities with the Navy Chief of Staff. The
grapevine claims that he told the NCoS that Majestic would be worth a hundred
of their proposed new battleships, all by itself.”

“Very interesting. Thank you, Mr. Murphy. Lieutenant, you
can send in Commander Drake now.”
Might as well get this over with before I
head over to Sorensen’s office
, thought Janicot.

Drake knew he was in trouble the instant he stepped into
the Admiral’s inner office and saw the expression on his face. Janicot didn’t
say a word as Drake stepped up to the desk and said, “I’m reporting as ordered,
Sir.” There was still no verbal response. Janicot wasn’t even looking at him
now. He was reading a data tablet on the desk in front of him. Drake remained
standing. Even at the best of times, sitting down without being invited was not
recommended behavior in front of a senior officer. And this was not the best of
times.

Finally, Janicot looked up at him as he leaned back in
his chair. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Commander. I’m VERY disappointed
that you managed to get one of our dearly won cruisers shot out from under you
on your very first mission.” Janicot waited to see how Drake would react to
that and nodded mentally when Drake didn’t try to make excuses.

“I can’t help but wonder if you were promoted too
quickly. I’m not going to demote you, if only because it would send the wrong
kind of signal to other officers that failure will be punished. However, past
success or failure WILL play a role in determining where we assign you next.
Right now, we have a temporary surplus of experienced officers as a result of
the exchange. Giving you another combat command when there are other officers
who have not yet been given a chance to show what they can do would, in my
opinion, not be in the best interests of our Navy. Therefore you will be
assigned to command one of our freighters when the next command slot opens up.
Under the circumstances you should consider yourself lucky to get that. You’re
dismissed, Commander.”

“I understand, Sir,” said Drake in a carefully controlled
voice. As he turned and walked stiffly out, he wondered if the rumors of glory
would ever come true for him.

Janicot watched him leave.
I don’t know if you have
the right kind of tactical skills we need, but you certainly have the right
psychological makeup. You didn’t bat an eye, and you didn’t make excuses. Maybe
you’re not a lost cause after all, Commander Drake. We’ll see.