Rumors of Honor (System States Rebellion Book 2)
Read Rumors of Honor (System States Rebellion Book 2) Online
Authors: Dietmar Wehr
By
Dietmar Arthur Wehr
Copyright
2015 by Dietmar Arthur Wehr
Contents
System
States Union:
Nathan
Belloc, SSU Chancellor and President of Sparta
Frank
Shaw, SSU Secretary of Industry & Trade
Mandy
Sorensen, SSU Secretary for Defense
Mykhel
Janicot, SSU Chief of Space Operations
Cmdr.
Roland Drake, missile boat commander
Bret
Murphy, former Federation navy officer
Captain
Cate Foster, FED naval officer and SSU spy
Commodore
Sandy Montoya, SSU naval officer
Commodore
Lee, SSU naval officer
Commander
Isoruku, SSU naval officer
Federation
of Planetary States:
Admiral
Sergei Chenko, FED Navy Chief of Staff
General
Frank Masterson, FED Army Chief of Staff
General
Jonn Trojan, Head of the Joint Army/Navy Planning Group
Commodore
Stacker, FED Navy
Captain/Commodore
Stevens
Colonel
Ericson, FED Army
Lorelei
Remington, FED Navy officer
Lieutenant
Morgan, FED Courier pilot
Sen.
Lieutenant Angelina Carter, FED Courier/Scout pilot
Ivan
Romanov, FED Navy officer
ACoS
(Army Chief of Staff)
NCoS
(Navy Chief of Staff)
AS
(Anti-ship)
A.U.
(Astronomical Unit equal to the average distance between the Earth and its sun)
AMM
(Anti-missile missile)
Kps
(Kilometers per second)
Klicks
(slang expression for kilometers)
FPS
(Federation of Planetary States)
SSU
(System States Union)
Maser
(Microwave version of laser)
HE
(High-explosive missile warhead)
KE
(Kinetic-energy missile warhead)
SecDef
(Secretary of Defense)
CO
(Commanding Officer)
XO
(Executive Officer)
WO
(Weapons Officer)
LO
(Logistics Officer)
SL
(Squadron Leader)
After
five centuries of exploitation and neglect by Earth, a group of the more
developed colonies on other planets have formed the System States Union and are
attempting to break away from the Federation of Planetary States.
After
an initial flurry of attacks, both sides have realized how unprepared they are
for military action. While the SSU continues to conduct economic warfare by
attacking civilian freighters, the Federation struggles to put into place its
long term strategy to overwhelm the Union with massive fleets and armies that
will be built using the abundant resources in the Franklin trinary star system.
By the end of the fourth year of the war (2542 A.D.), both sides are gearing up
for major military operations.
Day
363/2542
Trojan
entered his office and activated the screen that filled one wall. Oracle’s
intelligence update for today quickly appeared. The only thing of real interest
was the news that a Union commerce raider had made another attempt to intercept
a Navy transport ship leaving Hadley. Was it his imagination or was Hadley
getting more attention from the Rebels lately? He checked to make sure that the
audio channel to Oracle was open.
“Oracle,
analyze Union activity in the Franklin Tri-system and calculate most likely
reason for such activity,” said Trojan.
The
electronic voice responded instantly. “Eighty-nine point four percent
probability that the SSU knows about Project Springboard and is attempting to
disrupt the build-up.”
Trojan
shook his head. That didn’t make any sense. The project to build industrial and
military infrastructure in that star system was a closely guarded secret.
Springboard was the Master Plan to exploit the abundant mineral resources on
the airless planet Makassar, while also using the habitable planet Hadley as a
staging area for infantry and tanks, and yet Oracle’s calculations came up with
over 89%. Given the hundreds of variables that Oracle had included in those
calculations, there was very little reason for him to doubt it.
“What
is the most likely explanation for how the Union is getting information on
Project Springboard?”
“Ninety-five
point nine percent probability that one or more individuals within Joint
Army/Navy Planning Group is passing classified information to Union
intelligence operatives operating on Earth.”
“Son
of a bitch,” said Trojan softly. One or more of his own people a Union spy? How
could that be? Hadn’t they all undergone verifier tests? No, wait, come to
think of it, not all of them had been vetted that way. He seemed to recall that
several had not, but off hand he couldn’t remember exactly who they were.
Oracle would know.
“Check
records of verifier tests on members of the JPG. Which members were not given
the test?” asked Trojan.
“Captains
Foster, Hernandez and Senior Lieutenant Asikowa.”
“Scan
data-gathering activities of those three individuals since the start of the
Rebellion. Is there any unusual activity that would not be consistent with
their duties?”
“Captain
Foster has downloaded classified data on 34 occasions. No downloads were
requested by either Captain Hernandez or Senior Lieutenant Asikowa. Captain
Foster has made eight attempts to access and download technical specifications
of Majestic computer components.”
Trojan
cursed loudly and with feeling as he quickly accessed his desk’s communications
equipment to contact the head of HQ’s security detachment.
“Major
Kaiser here, General.”
“Major,
I want you to immediately cancel Captain Foster’s ability to access any
classified data files. She is to be located and arrested asap. If she’s not in
the building, you’re authorized to contact the local police and request their
assistance in locating and detaining her. Is that clearly understood, Major?”
“Understood,
Sir. May I ask what the charge will be for the arrest?”
“Espionage,
Major. She’s a Union spy.”
“My
God. We’ll get right on that, General.”
“Very
good, Major. Keep me posted.” When he was sure that the connection was broken,
he said, “Oracle, what is the most likely method for classified information to
make its way back to the Union?”
“There
is a 99.2 percent probability that devices containing the classified data were
transported by civilian freighter to a Federation planet that permits contact
with the SSU.”
Trojan
nodded. Yes, that made perfect sense. “Oracle, put the Army garrison at the
spaceport on alert. Send them Captain Foster’s picture with orders to detain
her if she attempts to enter the spaceport or board any ship. The crew of any
ship she attempts to board are to be detained too.”
“Army
units have been alerted.”
It
was time to notify the Army Chief of Staff. He contacted the ACoS’s office, and
when the Aide answered Trojan said, “Lieutenant, I need to speak with the
General on an urgent matter on a secure channel.” Trojan sighed. General
Masterson wasn’t going to like this.
Foster
relaxed a little bit as she got off the high speed train at the spaceport near
London. Meeting her contact at the spaceport nearest to Geneva was too obvious
a place for the security people to look if they started suspecting a mole in
HQ. Not that it mattered anymore. The Joint Army/Navy Planning Group would be
folded into the new 1
st
Fleet Army Force that was scheduled to set
up operations on Hadley in three more months. This would be the last time that
her contact’s ship would arrive on Earth before that move. If she was going to
extract herself from further covert operations, then it had to be now.
As
she made her way to the departure level, she patted the pocket containing the
data chips to make sure they were still there. This would be her most important
hand-off yet. The Union had the basic data on how Oracle worked and how it was
constructed, but the chips in her pocket contained precise instructions on how
to manufacture the components that an Oracle class computer was made of.
Without that information, it would take the Union months, maybe even years to
figure out the manufacturing process.
Once
at the departure level, she looked for the sign indicating the boarding gate
for the ship Titan’s Gift. She was glad that spaceports typically didn’t
concern themselves over off-planet departures. They were far more concerned
about arrivals from off-planet since that’s where the danger from alien plants,
animals and micro-organisms came from. It was up to ship crews to make sure
they let the right people on board their ships.
Eventually
she found the right gate. The ship’s captain was standing there with two other
crew.
“It’s
about time you showed up, Cate, and you couldn’t have picked a better time to
bug out. It looks like you’re blown. One of my crew is monitoring traffic
control chatter. The spaceport near Geneva is in lockdown. Army troops are
checking everyone entering the spaceport. They’re on the lookout for an Army
Captain. That’s all I know at the moment, but I think we should get you aboard
the ship without any further delay. Did you bring any luggage?”
Foster
shook her head. “I didn’t want to risk looking as though I wasn’t coming back.”
“Good.
My Exec will drive you to the ship. We’ll register you as a passenger under an
alias, and we’ll lift off on schedule in six hours time.”
“Why
wait for another six hours? Why not take off as soon as I’m aboard?”
“An
unscheduled departure would be a good way to draw attention to ourselves. I
don’t want to do that.”
Foster
nodded and let herself be led to the groundcar that the ship carried with it in
order to shuttle crew and passengers from the spaceport terminal to the ship
that sat almost a kilometer away. Five minutes later she was walking up the
boarding ramp. When she reached the top, she patted her pocket again to
reassure herself that she still had the data chips. One of the crew showed her
to her cabin. She was almost home free.