Starfist FR - 03 - Recoil (43 page)

“ ‘1) MADAM PRESIDENT, I HAVE THE HONOR TO INFORM YOU

THAT THE ENEMY HAS BEEN SIGHTED,’ insert the place and planetary particulars here, Goldie, ‘THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT

CIVILIAN AND SOME MILITARY CASUALTIES,’ add in what that ensign reported about casualties on Haulover, ‘ENEMY STRENGTH

ESTIMATED BY NAVAL FORCES IN ORBIT AROUND HAULOVER MINIMUM 10,000 PERSONNEL; ENEMY INTENTIONS REMAIN UNKNOWN

AT THIS TIME, BUT GIVEN HIS WELL-KNOWN PRACTICE OF HIDING

AND FORTIFYING TROOPS AND POSITIONS, I FEEL THIS ESTIMATE

(10,000) IS TOO LOW. THEREFORE, I AM DISPATCHING A RELIEF

FORCE STRONG ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH A FULL-SCALE INVASION

SPACE. ADEQUATE FORCES WILL BE HELD IN RESERVE TO DEAL

WITH CONTINGENCIES. ENTIRE TASK FORCE IS ON ALERT FOR IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT. YOU SHALL RECEIVE PERIODIC UPDATES.

“ ‘2) I AM INFORMING CONFEDERATION MILITARY COMMANDS

MESSAGE.

“ ‘3) RESPECTFULLY REQUEST ALL SCIENTIFIC AND EXPLORATORY

ASSETS NOW BE CONCENTRATED ON DETERMINING POINT OF ORIGIN OF ENEMY FORCES.

“ ‘AGUINALDO.’

“What do you think, Goldie?” Aguinaldo looked up at the lieutenant.

“Deathless prose, sir.”

“Okay, next message.” His fingers flew over the keys. “I want this to go to the commanders of all the Confederation forces with info to the chiefs of all the armed forces of all the Confederation member worlds. Info the president, Berentus, Cazombi, the service chiefs:

“ ‘1) THIS MESSAGE IS A WAR WARNING.

“ ‘2) RETRANSMISSION IS AUTHORIZED TO COMBATANT COMMANDERS ONLY.

“ ‘3) AN ENEMY ALIEN FORCE HAS LANDED ON,’ give the particulars here, ‘ESTIMATED STRENGTH OF INVADING FORCE ESTIMATED

TO BE AT LEAST CORPS SIZED, AS MANY AS 100,000 PERSONNEL.

“ ‘4) YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO DEPLOY, TWENTY-FOURSEVEN, ALL RECONNAISSANCE AND SURVEILLANCE ASSETS IN

YOUR RESPECTIVE AREAS OF OPERATIONS. REPORT TO THIS HQ

IMMEDIATELY, REPEAT, IMMEDIATELY ANY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY. NO INCIDENT IS TOO INSIGNIFICANT TO REPORT. LOCAL COMMANDERS HAVE FULL DISCRETION TO USE DEADLY FORCE AGAINST

ANY THREATENING ENTITIES DETECTED IN THEIR AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY. PLACE ALL COMBAT, COMBAT-SUPPORT TROOPS, AND NAVAL FORCES UNDER YOUR COMMAND ON ONE-HUNDREDPERCENT ALERT.

“ ‘5) ALL MESSAGES GENERATED IN RESPONSE TO THIS ORDER

WILL BE CODE NAMED “HAULOVER,” GIVEN FLASH PRECEDENCE, AND ADDRESSED TO ME PERSONALLY.

“ ‘6) STAND BY FOR CLARIFICATION AND FURTHER ORDERS AS

THIS SITUATION DEVELOPS.’ ”

Lieutenant Goldfarb’s eyebrows arched. Flash in communications code meant imminent enemy contact, and never having been on the cutting edge of a war, he’d never seen such a message. “That’ll get their attention,” Goldie whispered. “It might also get some innocent folks fried.”

“I’ll take that chance. Goldie, after this goes out you’ll be getting a flood of incoming messages. Give joint action to G2

and G3, info everybody else in staff and command. Now, I want this next one sent directly to that ensign on Haulover, Daly, with info to his chain.” The message read: HOLD THE LINE. HELP IS ON THE WAY. AGUINALDO. Headquarters, Task Force Aguinaldo

“Bitch of a morning, eh?” General Pradesh Cumberland chuckled as he sipped his coffee. The task force staff and commanders had just departed the headquarters briefing to begin their troop deployment missions. Aguinaldo stretched and yawned. “Why does all this always seem to happen between taps and reveille? Why can’t wars start at noon?”

“That was the quickest staff meeting we’ve ever had. I think it only took fifteen minutes to write the operation order for those troops.”

“I think this is it,” Aguinaldo said. “Haulover is an ideal

place to start a world-hopping campaign. Fine. We’ll draw them in and then kill them once and for all. And sooner or later, we’ll find out where they come from and shake their nest to pieces.” He grimaced, smacking a fist into a palm with a dull whack to emphasize destruction of the Skink “nest.” “But they aren’t stupid,” he mused. “They know as much about us, more in fact, than we know about them. Our weapons and tactics, how we think, how we operate. We bloodied their noses on Kingdom. They’ll have learned from that. You bet they’ll have some surprises for us this time.”

General Anders Aguinaldo was right about that.

Read on for a glimpse of
WINGS OF HELL

the next Starfist novel by The Grand Master sat at state on a raised dais in his hall. Idly, he watched as a diminutive female knelt before the low lacquered table sitting at his side in convenient reach of his hand. The female poured hot liquid from a delicate pot into a small cup on the table next to a slender vase that held a lone long-stemmed flower—the only ornament on the table. He continued to watch as she placed the pot on the table on the other side of the vase; then she picked up the small cup and delicately drank it down. Drinking complete, the diminutive female replaced the cup, sat back on her heels, folded her hands on her thighs, and waited as impassively as the four Large Ones stood to the rear of the Grand Master, swords ready in their hands to protect their lord from attack. Only then did the Grand Master look away from her and raise a languid hand in signal.

In response, a column of diminutive females appeared from a side entrance to the hall, each bearing a pot of steaming liquid, and went in precise order around the hall, kneeling next to small lacquered tables that sat between the pairs of Great Masters and Over Masters who knelt in ranks before the Grand Master. Each table held two small cups flanking a slender vase with a single long-stemmed flower. The females poured steaming liquid into the cups, then placed the pots on iron trivets that lay behind the tables on the reed mats that covered the floor. The Great Masters and Over Masters were the senior staff of the Grand Master’s corps, and the commanders of his major combat elements and their seconds.

Once all the Great Masters and Over Masters had been served, the Grand Master returned his attention to the female who had served him. When he detected no sign of distress in her countenance or posture, he nodded. She poured a fresh cup of liquid for the Grand Master. The Grand Master took the cup from her hands when she offered it to him, faced the assembled Great Masters and Over Masters, and raised the cup in salute. He waited a beat or two for the assembled upper-rank Masters to raise their cups in return, then spoke: “To our coming great victory!” He quaffed the steaming beverage, then held out the cup for the female to take and refill. The Grand Master’s voice was rugged and raspy; as with nearly all Masters of the Emperor’s army who attained such high rank, he had not exercised his gills in so long that they had atrophied, allowing air from under his arms, as well as from his lungs, to exit through his larynx, and affect his voice. When the Grand Master offered his toast, the assembled staff and major combat unit commanders replied in kind and quaffed.

“The Master, Leaders, and Fighters who attacked the Earthman Marines in their own lair did not survive their mission,” the Grand Master rasped. “But they killed or wounded many of the enemy. The survivors will have already sent a report on the encounter to their headquarters. The report will surely tell the Marine commanders that we are here, on this Earthman mud ball, and they will send more Marines for us to fight and kill.” He grinned, exposing pointed incisors. “We shall soon complete plans for the coming fight, and we will rehearse them until both our staffs and our fighting forces execute them flawlessly.

“This time, as never before, we shall defeat the Earthman Marines!”

Finished speaking, the Grand Master extended his hand for the female kneeling near his side to hand him his refilled cup. He raised the cup in another salute and roared, “Victory!”

355

The hall reverberated with cries of “Victory!” from his staff and senior commanders. Lieutenant General Pradesh Cumberland, Confederation Army, Deputy Commander of Task Force Aguinaldo, less formally known as “the Skink Force,” stood in the doorway of General Anders Aguinaldo, late Commandant of the Confederation Marine Corps, and cleared his throat. Without looking up from his console, Aguinaldo said,

“Come on in, Pradesh.”

Cumberland did so, shaking his head, wondering not for the first time how the Marine knew he was at the door. Or am I the only one who clears his throat instead of knocking? He closed the door behind himself.

“I’ve been going over the most recent personnel reports,”

Aguinaldo said as he finally looked up and waved his deputy to take a seat. He smiled wryly. “Ever since I sent that war warning to the commanders of Confederation forces, I’ve been inundated with requests—make that demands—from planetary presidents, prime ministers, dictators, and oligarchs that I immediately return to their control the forces they committed to the Skink Force, to defend their home worlds.” He snorted. “I even have demands from the senators from each of those worlds insisting that the units be returned.”

“But we—you—can’t do that!” Cumberland said.

“And I won’t,” Aguinaldo agreed. “We’ll need every one of those units by the time this is over. Besides, several of them are already in transit to Haulover.” He shook his head. “So much for the distribution limits I put on that message.”

“You knew the limits would be ignored.”

“I did, indeed.” He leveled a look at his deputy. “I think my war warning woke them up as much as the president’s public announcement of the Skinks’ existence.”

“A wake-up call they likely needed.”

“So long as it doesn’t cause a panic. I’m letting the president deal with that.” Aguinaldo turned his console around so Cumberland could see it. “A fresh communication from what I’ve dubbed ‘Confederation Forces Haulover (Provisional).’ ”

Cumberland quickly read the message: TO:

CG, TF Aguinaldo, Arsenault FROM:

Bhimbetka, Aladdin, LtCmdr, Cpt. CNSS

Broward County

RE:

Update of enemy order of battle, Haulover Sir:

Following detailed analysis of string-of-pearls mapping of Human world Haulover, determination has been made that enemy force is probable 50,000. Perhaps not all are combatant. Map with locations of sightings of enemy, including estimated types of units and numbers, is attached. Respectfully submitted, Bhimbetka, Broward County

“A probable force of fifty thousand,” Cumberland murmured.

“Which number probably doesn’t include support troops. So I’m staying with my earlier estimate of one hundred thousand enemy.”

“It could be more.”

“Indeed it could. That’s why I’m standing up the XXX

Corps in addition to the XVIII Corps. If we need them, they’ll be ready to go on a few days’ notice.”

Cumberland tipped his head back for a moment, thinking. He nodded sharply. “Andy, there was an American general in the late twentieth century, name of Powell. He established what came to be called ‘the Powell Doctrine.’ It essentially said that you should never enter a war unless you have overwhelming force on your side.”

Aguinaldo mentally rifled through his memories and quickly found the Powell Doctrine. “And it only held for a few years before someone with more faith in machines than in men

357

scrap-heaped it.” He thought for another moment, then added,

“As I recall it, Powell won his war against a huge army in a matter of days.”

“And the man who didn’t want to use enough soldiers made a war that threw his country and a large part of the rest of the world into a turmoil that lasted far too many years.”

“Your point is taken, Pradesh. You’re a good thinker; that’s why you’re my deputy. I will issue orders for XXX Corps to deploy to Haulover as soon as shipping is available for it.”

“Overwhelming force, sir?”

“Overwhelming force.”

• COVER
  
• ALSO BY DAVID SHERMAN AND DAN CRAGG
  
• TITLE PAGE
  
• COPYRIGHT
  
• DEDICATION
  
• PROLOGUE
  
• CHAPTER ONE
  
• CHAPTER TWO
  
• CHAPTER THREE
  
• CHAPTER FOUR
  
• CHAPTER FIVE
  
• CHAPTER SIX
  
• CHAPTER SEVEN
  
• CHAPTER EIGHT
  
• CHAPTER NINE
  
• CHAPTER TEN
  
• CHAPTER ELEVEN
  
• CHAPTER TWELVE
  
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  
• CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  
• CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  
• CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  
• CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  
• CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  
• CHAPTER NINETEEN
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  
• CHAPTER THIRTY
  
• CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  
• CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  
• CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  
• CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  
• CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  
• EPILOGUE
  
• PREVIEW