Rumors of Honor (System States Rebellion Book 2) (10 page)

Foster’s
voice was subdued when she replied. “You should know, Admiral, that Oracle is
predicting a 78% probability that at least one civilian target on each side
will be destroyed by nukes if the short term strategy fails.”

“My
God,” said Janicot solemnly.

“Yes,
Sir,” agreed Forster.

“Is
there more?” asked Janicot after a few seconds of reflective silence.

“We’ve
covered the highlights, Sir. The rest is detail.”

Janicot
sighed. “Okay, let’s hear the detail.”

Chapter Seven:

Day
090/2544

Trojan
was back at 1st Fleet/Army Force HQ by the time Commodore Stevens’ ship was in
orbit around Hadley. With the After Action report on the Battle of Makassar
having been transmitted while the flagship was descending into orbit, Trojan
knew what had happened. He had reviewed it minute by minute, with Oracle
providing analysis as the battle progressed. Trojan knew he wasn’t an expert in
space combat tactics, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Stevens
had screwed up. By the time the Commodore walked into Trojan’s office, the
General had decided what to do about it.

“Have
a seat, Commodore,” said Trojan in what he hoped was a neutral voice. Stevens’
expression suggested that he knew he wasn’t going to get a pat on the back.

“Thank
you, General. I take it you want to discuss the battle.”

Trojan
waited until Stevens was seated. “That’s correct. I’ve reviewed your AA report
and I’ve watched the data replay. What’s your assessment of your performance,
Commodore?”

Stevens
sighed. “Well, in hindsight, it’s clear that I made a mistake waiting to see if
the Union ships would surrender. I should have ordered additional Mark 1
missile strikes much sooner, before those ships had a chance to fire on the
planet.”

Trojan
was surprised that Stevens was so forthright. It took a lot of balls to admit
his screw-up when his career was on the line. Whatever one might say about his
tactical judgement, Trojan respected the man for his moral courage.
Unfortunately that didn’t negate the fact that he had screwed up. Preliminary
estimates of the damage to the industrial infrastructure on Makassar were that
the entire military buildup would be delayed by at least eight months.

“I’m
glad you agree with my own assessment. Under the circumstances, I don’t see
that I have any alternative but to relieve you of command of the space-based
forces in the Franklin Tri-system. If you have a recommendation for your
replacement, I’ll consider it. You’ll be returning to Earth on the next
available transport.”

“Now
just a minute! Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Chenko gave me this command! I don’t
recognize your authority to take it away!”

Stevens’
reaction surprised Trojan, and he shook his head sadly. His respect for Stevens
had just taken a nose dive. “First of all, Admiral Chenko nominated you for
that command but I, as Commander-in-Chief, First Fleet/Army Force, had the
final say. Secondly, as CINC1FAF I have the authority to give and take away
commands for all Army AND Navy personnel assigned to the 1FAF, and that
includes you, Commodore. You can protest to the NCoS when you get back, but you
WILL be on the next transport, even if I have to order marines to physically
carry you on board that ship. Have I made myself clear, Commodore Stevens?”

When
Stevens replied, it was clear that he had calmed down. “You may technically
have the authority, General, but this decision isn’t going to go over well back
on Earth. I’m not going to beg for my command, but I’ll just point out that
I’ve learned a valuable lesson from this battle, and I won’t make that mistake
again. Isn’t that worth some consideration?”

Trojan
gave that some thought. Giving people a second chance was a principle that he
had applied in his rise up through the ranks, but Oracle had just recalculated
the odds of a successful outcome of this war with and without Stevens in a
command position, and the odds were greater without him. Oracle hadn’t made a
mistake so far, and until it did, Trojan wasn’t going to ignore its
recommendations.

“Some
consideration? Yes, but not enough to change my mind. You’re dismissed,
Commodore.” Stevens got up and quickly walked out of the office without even
bothering to salute. Technically, that by itself was an act of insubordination,
but Trojan decided not to make an issue out of it. Stevens’ career would take
enough of a hit from Trojan’s decision. Pursuing a charge of insubordination
would just be kicking a man when he’s down.

Day
155/2544

Chenko
ordered his desk computer to turn on the wall screen to the necessary media
channel. He recognized the craggy but still handsome face, with the head
covered in white hair, as the well-known interviewer and media talking-head
that so many of Earth’s citizens listened to on a weekly basis.

“My
guest tonight is retired Commodore Stacker. Commodore, as you know, the Navy
has just released details of what is being called the Battle of Makassar. As
someone with direct combat experience fighting the Rebels, what’s your
assessment of Commodore Stevens’ performance and his removal from command?”

“Well,
first of all, I want to thank you, Larry, for having me on your show. Not only
do I have personal combat experience fighting the Rebels but I also have
personal experience fighting beside Commodore Stevens. He was Captain of my
flagship during the battle over Sparta. We all know that battle didn’t end
well, and as the Officer in overall command, it was my duty to take
responsibility for the loss. Now you have to understand, Larry, that there are
details of that battle that were made public, and there are details that were
not made public. I’m not at liberty to reveal the latter, but what I can say is
that the outcome would have been very different if I had had a different Flag
Captain. The top Navy Brass decided to ignore Captain Stevens’ performance and
promoted him to Commodore against my recommendations. Now we see the result of
that folly.”

“I
see. Do you think that putting an army general in overall command of First
Fleet/Army Force was a wise decision?”

Stacker
smiled and spread out his hands. “Well…what can I say, Larry? An army general
is in command and the first naval battle under his command goes badly? That
should not surprise anyone. First Fleet/Army should have been given to a naval
officer. General Trojan’s appointment is, in my humble opinion, a blunder that
could jeopardize the entire war effort.”

Chenko
swore out loud and ordered the display off. Rumor had it that Stacker was
trying to get elected to a Federation position. Maybe it was time to leak ALL
the details of his actions at Sparta. Let’s see him try to weasel his way out
of that!

Day
159/2544

Belloc
dropped the data tablet onto the oval conference table and looked at Sorensen.
“So Sledgehammer actually accomplished its objective, at least in part?”

“It
appears that way, Chancellor, although the damage assessment is only an
estimate. Oracle predicts the FED buildup will be delayed by at least five
months, perhaps as much as eight months. That extends our window of opportunity
by the same amount, which is a good thing because it’ll give us more time to
build up our stockpile of fission warheads. It also gives us more time to set
up Site X and maybe even locate a suitable planet to use for shipbuilding.”

“I’m
still not convinced that we shouldn’t just use a planet in an uninhabited star
system that’s already been explored and surveyed. There must be thousands of
them,” said Belloc. “

“Well,
yes and no. Preliminary exploration has identified thousands of planets in star
systems that haven’t been colonized, that’s true, but very few of those planets
have had detailed mineral surveys done on them. Those kinds of surveys take
time and money and were usually done in star systems that have habitable
planets. We can identify the best already-surveyed planets that are in star
systems that also have colonized planets, but the problem there is that the
FEDs would have that very same information too. Their Majestic is bound to
consider us developing a surveyed planet or moon as a shipbuilding site as our
best counter-strategy and will act accordingly,” said Sorensen.

Belloc
leaned back and thought about that for a while. “Okay, so we don’t pick any
known high source of minerals. Instead, we’ll pick a lesser but still usable
source of minerals that has other things to recommend it, like proximity to a
colonized planet for example. There has to be a lot of those. Even if the FEDS
already have the same information, their chances of identifying the right one
will be slim, right?”

Sorensen
nodded. “That might work. I’ll have our Oracle do a search and come up with a
list of candidates.”

“Fine.
Now let’s talk about the proposed attack on Earth. Is there a name for this
operation yet?”

“Operation
Sorcerer. Admiral Janicot’s staff is recommending that Sorcerer kick off on Day
233 of next year.”

 “I
suppose Lee is going to be in charge of Sorcerer?” asked Belloc.

Sorensen
shrugged. “He is the most senior line officer we have now that Montoya’s no
longer with us, and he did accomplish his mission at Hadley.”

“Okay,
then. I’m approving the operation and the proposed execution date. What’s next
on the agenda?”

Day
105/2545

It
was raining again when Trojan’s groundcar pulled up to the entrance to 1st
Fleet/Army Force Backup Command. The carefully designed tunnel entrance into
the hillside had a rocky overhang that not only protected vehicles and people
from the rain but also hid the entrance from surveillance by hostile spacecraft
or satellites. Not that it really mattered. It was already obvious from the
last attack that the Union knew the FEDs were building something here. Trojan
just hoped they didn’t know that Majestic was here and was now operational. As
he got out of the vehicle to allow the biometric scanners to confirm his
identity, he nodded to the guard.

“How’s
the new baby, Samuels?” The guard smiled with pleasure that a three star
general remembered his name and the fact that his wife had recently given birth
to their first child.

“She
and her mother are doing just fine, General. I’ll tell her you asked about the
baby. How come it seems like it’s always raining when you come here, General?”

Before
Trojan could answer, there was a flash of lightning and the sound of thunder.
He laughed and pointed to the new 1st Fleet/Army Force unit patch on his
shoulder. The guard noticed that the patch had a gauntleted fist holding
lightning bolts and laughed too.

“Got
it, General. You’re cleared to go in.”

Trojan
thanked him and walked through the doorway after the round, collapsed-metal door
had slowly rolled to one side. Seconds later he was descending a very long and
fast escalator. When the escalator slowed down at the bottom, he was met by his
deputy in charge of Majestic Operations.

“I
still don’t understand why you couldn’t just transmit Majestic’s output to HQ
instead of me having to come all the way out here in person,” said Trojan.

“You’ll
understand once you see it, General.”

Trojan
noticed that his deputy had a strange tone to his voice. Three hours later, in
his office, Trojan finished reading Majestic’s report.
My God, we had no
idea what this machine would be really capable of,
he thought to himself.
After pondering the implications of Majestic’s recommendations with the help of
a couple of stiff drinks, he called his Deputy into his office.

“Did
you read the whole thing,” asked Trojan.

His
Deputy nodded but said nothing.

“I
don’t see any alternative but to follow the plan, even if it does mean
violating the oath I took when I put on this uniform. I need to know if I can
count on you to cross that line with me.”

“We’ll
be called traitors, you know,” said the Deputy.