Sol (The Silver Ships Book 5) (19 page)

The lights on board the Haraken fighter brightened, and Franz went back to the cabin to wake Reiko.

“We’ve landed at Idona?” Shimada asked.

“Yes, Captain, if you will follow me. We have a meeting to join.”

Shimada stood up, stretched, and then dutifully followed Franz. But many aspects of her flight still disturbed her — the shortened flight time, no engine noise, no sensation of flight, and grav plating in a small vessel — to name a few.

After an eye-opening walk through a busy and bright main corridor, so unlike her last visit to the station, Cohen and she joined a meeting in the lobby of a sleepover, and Shimada was promptly introduced to the principals attending the meeting.

“Captain, we appreciate your help,” Alex said. “We would like you to review each of the ship types in the approaching fleet and give us a summary of their capabilities.”

“I have been ordered to assist you, Mr. President, but I believe this will work best if you are straight with me from the beginning.”

“You have a reason to believe we won’t be truthful, Captain?” Alex asked.

“If I may, Mr. President,” Franz said. “The captain has taken offense to my statements about our travelers.”

“Travelers? That’s what you call your fighters? Interesting, but am I expected to believe they can traverse a system without refueling?” Shimada asked, staring at the faces surrounding her. “And that your travelers don’t need to rearm?” she added, holding out her hands as if asking for sanity.

“Yes, Captain,” Tatia said quietly.

Shimada looked around, and every Haraken, human and SADE, was nodding their affirmation. Her eyes landed on Franz, who wore just the slightest smile. “It looks like I owe you an apology, Commander. Sorry.”

“One thing you should know about our Commander Cohen,” Renée declared. “He’s a most direct and honest individual.”

“Apology accepted, Captain,” Franz said graciously.

“Yes, well … it’s not polite to overwhelm your associates on the first meeting. You should dribble out your extraordinary capabilities in small doses,” Shimada said contritely.

“Noted, Ser, you would prefer me in small doses,” Franz said, a wide grin spreading across his face, causing Shimada’s cheeks to turn rosy.

“Well, now that intersystem relationships are well in hand, may we get down to business?” asked Alex, which caused Franz to grin wider and Reiko to blush redder. Alex turned on the holo-vid, and Julien connected the room’s occupants with those waiting aboard the fleet’s ships and the holo-vids. “Captain, we encountered the
Hand of Justice
in my home world’s system. Are there any differences between that ship and this one?”

As Shimada peered at the image of the battleship, which filled only part of the holo-vid, it sprung to fill its entire width. “That’s impressive. How much would it cost to buy one of these?” Shimada remarked, which earned her a round of chuckles and eased some of the tension in the room.

“This is the
Guardian
, the admiral’s battleship, which will be the fleet’s flagship. It’s similar to the
Hand of Justice
, but not as powerful,” Shimada began. For the next hour, she detailed ship type, armament, and capabilities, while the SADEs built models of the UE’s fleet capabilities.

Once Shimada was done, she stepped back and watched the president’s people use the holo-vid as a planning tool, formulating scenarios as the fleet came at them intact or breaking into various formations. The scenarios got more complicated and the holo-vid changed its display so rapidly that Shimada could not keep track of the myriad versions of their plans.

At one point, Shimada turned and whispered a question to Cohen. When the commander replied, he placed his lips next to her head, his breath warm against her ear. Despite her inclination to discourage the Haraken, she couldn’t resist composing the occasional question for the commander.

“Okay, Captain Shimada, it’s your turn,” Alex said. “Help us with the nature of the admiral.”

“You mean aside from the fact that he is one of the biggest butt-kissers and hard-asses in UE naval forces?” Shimada replied.

“You had to know that was coming,” Tatia groused.

“Then a scenario for you, Captain,” Alex said. “Suppose we demonstrate to the admiral that we have a dangerous tool that could annihilate his fleet. What would he do?”

“Could you give me more details about this tool?” Shimada asked.

Tatia sent in the open to the group. Affirmations of Tatia’s opinion poured onto the conference comm from every ship’s captain and commander.

Renée volunteered a contrary opinion, privately to Alex. When Alex hesitated in his reply, Renée decided to take the initiative.

“Captain, while my partner is still searching for the appropriate words, I will save us some time. The president has an uncanny intuitive sense, and he feels he can trust you, but his mathematically wired brain must still calculate the probabilities of whether responding to your question is beneficial or detrimental to our people.”

Shimada hid her laughter behind her hand. It was obvious that the president’s partner was having a good time at the man’s expense. However, the president merely smiled good-naturedly and shrugged.

Julien sent to the group. He did so enjoy these moments that were in such contrast to the logic and order that dominated his crystal core.

“It’s a demonstration of our nanites technology, Captain,” Alex said. “The admiral would observe via his telemetry the disintegration of a small vessel.”

“How long would this process take?” Shimada asked.

Alex looked over at Z, who said, “A vessel the size of one of your patrol ships would be absorbed in a few hours.”

“And you could envelop the entire fleet if you wished? Dissolve the ships right out from under the admiral?” Shimada asked. When Z nodded his affirmative, Shimada replied, “Then it’s foolish to show your hand with a demonstration. If you can defeat the fleet in one move, you should do it.”

“And, at the same time, we would prove to the populace of Sol that Harakens are as proficient at warfare and murder as Earthers,” Julien added.

Alex looked over at Tatia, who was smiling. “An officer made in your image, Admiral,” Alex acknowledged. “Humor me, Captain. Suppose Admiral Portland sees this demonstration. What does he do?”

“Portland will realize that he is up against a dangerous weapon, and he’ll abandon the sledge-hammer approach and divide his forces into squadrons for a multi-pronged attack,” Shimada replied. Turning to the holo-vid, she said, “Idona and the fleet, please.”

Julien manipulated the holo-vid display for her, and Shimada asked, “Can you add the traffic lanes for freighters and passenger ships, approaching from inward, at the same time as the fleet arrives?”

Both Julien and Z searched for arriving ships from the fleet’s telemetry scans, calculating their velocities, arrival times, and comparing them to the UE fleet. Then Julien added colored lines, red for freighters and blue for passenger ships, to the holo-vid.

Shimada smiled and shook her head in wonder at the completed display. She studied the holo-vid for a while, and then said, “If you proceed with your demo, Portland will probably divide his command into at least three smaller fleets. His battleship will anchor the center contingent and will hide among these arriving civilian ships so you can’t use your —”

“Nanites,” Julien supplied.

“Yes, nanites,” Shimada said, nodding to the SADE. “The other two groups composed mainly of destroyers, possibly a cruiser, and smaller ships, will circle left and right of the station to engage your forces. Meanwhile, his main force will come straight on until he has the station surrounded.”

“Captain, how sure are you that Admiral Portland will use the civilian ships as a screen for his main force?”

When Shimada heard the voice issue from the base of the holo-vid, she mouthed the word “who?” to Franz. He whispered in her ear, “Wing Commander Ellie Thompson.” It was odd to Reiko how quickly Franz’s murmurings in her ear had shifted from disconcerting to pleasant.

“Quite certain, Commander,” Shimada replied. “It’s a tested and proven UE naval tactic, and one of Admiral Portland’s favorites.”

“Everywhere you go there’s a Downing, a García, or a Bunaldi,” Tatia grumped. “Must be a defect loose in the human genome.”

Alex stared at the holo-vid and, as the silence dragged on, Reiko looked back at Franz, who signaled silence with a finger to his lips. She glanced over at the admiral, who had assumed a parade stance, and did likewise. The only one moving was Renée, who stood behind the president, her hands on his shoulders and occasionally stroking a finger lightly along his neck or ear. The intimacy of their connection so prominently displayed in public seemed out of place to Shimada, but glancing around at the other Harakens, patiently waiting, it was accepted, if not expected.

After a quarter of an hour, the Haraken president got a smile on his face that spread into a grin, and his people relaxed their stances and began smiling as well.

“We’ll start with our demonstration here,” Alex said, manipulating the holo-vid and pointing to a location. “It will give the admiral time to observe and make his next maneuver. Captain Shimada, I will need one of your patrol ships, with a pilot and a crew member. Both need to be EVA qualified for a spacewalk and able to follow our orders explicitly.”

Shimada nodded her acceptance, confused by the sudden turn of events in the room.

“Commander Cohen, I’m sure that Captain Shimada hasn’t had a proper opportunity to see the station’s improvements,” Alex directed. “Why don’t you take the time to introduce her to the new face of Idona?”

Franz gallantly offered his arm to Reiko, and, when she accepted it, he steered her out of the planning room.

When the doors slid closed behind Franz and Reiko, Tatia eyed Alex. “Renée suggested you trusted her,” she said, nodding toward the door Shimada had left through. “But I have a feeling you didn’t share the entire plan.”

“In fact, I do trust her, but we are surrounded by UE people, who are observing our every movement, most are curious, but some are definitely spies, based on comms the SADEs are monitoring. What Shimada doesn’t know, she can’t inadvertently share.”

“So what’s the real plan?” Sheila asked, her voice coming through the holo-vid.

“Oh … I told Captain Shimada the truth,” Alex replied with a big smile for those around him. “We’ll start with the demonstration, and that will be the bet that the admiral will focus on throughout his campaign.”

Groans elicited from the holo-vid. Most Méridiens were not aficionados of Alex’s card games, while many of the New Terrans loved to join Alex at his home for a few games with the ancient deck of cards.

“Okay … so we’re playing poker. What’s the bet?” Tatia asked.

“When do you win at poker, Admiral?” Alex asked cryptically.

Tatia knew the answer to this one, but didn’t quite see how it applied. Nonetheless, she dutifully responded. “When you make the other players believe you have the winning hand, whether you do or don’t.”

Alex smiled at her, winked, and then left the planning room with Renée.

Tatia offered Julien a quizzical expression as if to say, “Help me out.”

Julien smiled brightly in reply, and sent via the conference comm.

In the corridor, Reiko slipped her hand out of Franz’s arm, but he seemed not to take offense. “Is that typical of your president … his decision I mean? Ask his military advisors for their opinion, and then choose to do something entirely different?”

“It’s an unusual relationship we have with our president, and it’s a long story, best related over a meal,” Franz hinted.

Reiko ignored the offer and continued her line of thought. “Your president seems intent on hearing what Julien has to say.”

“Hmm … yes. I believe they’re kindred spirits who’ve found each other.”

“But Julien is an AI … I mean you speak of him as if he’s human,” Shimada said. When she realized Franz had stopped walking, she turned back to face him.

“No, Julien’s not human, but maybe something better,” replied Franz, his hands on his hips while he considered his reply. “You ask why the president listens to him. It’s because Julien is probably the kindest, gentlest individual among us … he’s our conscience, you might say.”

The arrival of a UE destroyer captain on station had not gone unnoticed by the rebels. Her uniform incensed many among those whose families had suffered at the hands of the military forces. When word reached Vic, the opportunity for payback seemed too good to pass up. He rallied two cronies, who felt as he did about UE naval officers. The captain was reported to have attended the Haraken president’s planning meeting, so they waited unobtrusively in the main corridor for her to appear.

When the captain exited the meeting on the arm of a Haraken commander, the three men slid out of sight and trailed the couple who appeared to be window shopping.

Reiko couldn’t believe the transformation Idona had undergone. Her last visit to the station was about forty days before the Harakens arrived, and, at that time, she worried over catastrophic accidents that appeared imminent and might damage much of the station, to say nothing of the potential loss of life.

When Reiko was first posted to Idona, less than a year ago, she was shocked at the state of disrepair, the huge vacancy of shops and tenants, and the attitude of Major Lindling. Her first report up the chain of command was lengthy and detailed, and she waited for a response, something that would give her approval to take action and reverse the downward spiral of the station, but only a single terse reply was forthcoming.

As captain of the
Conquest
, her job, she was told, was to intercept rebel supporters and privateers, who preyed on the freighters and miners traveling between the belt and Idona, and nothing more.