A Faded Star (20 page)

 “Aye sir, recommend course two-zero-zero by zero
one-five,” Kelper said.

 You heard her, helm,” Hanlon said. “All engines ahead
flank.”

 “Aye, ma'am,” the helmsman said.

 Drogue and Hanlon studied the tactical display as the
ships steadied on their new course and increased their speed to maximum.

 “We're going to pass pretty close to that asteroidal
moon, sir,” Hanlon said.

 “That's where the rest of them will be, Captain. Look
at this. We could avoid the situation by making a ninety degree course change
to head below the plane of the ecliptic again. The problem with that is the
alliance will just settle in behind us and call our retreat a defeat.”

 “So we charge into their teeth and take as many out as
possible, sir?”

 “Too bad we don't have torpedoes that are harder to
detect... or a compliment of Rampart's drones.”

 “Work with what you have, Captain,” Drogue said. “How
would you maximize our survivability if Ktenu comes out from behind that
asteroid with a squadron of battleships?”

 “I'd use the interlocking defensive fire from
Broadsword and Rapier and put the battleships on our rear quarter. I would run
the engines past design specs to get as much speed as possible and to minimize
engagement time. A pair of battleships is far outside what we can handle. It's
also far outside the specifications of what the system we're supposedly
attacking has as well, sir.”

 “I'm in agreement with you, Captain, but Ktenu has
shown little willingness to stick to the rules. I suspect that's because he
thinks we've been cheating all along.”

 “Something about that has been bothering me, sir.”

 “What's that, Captain?”

 “The alliance didn't hesitate to ignore the rules as
soon as they thought we were doing it. It's almost like they expected us to
cheat. It makes me wonder if the races of the alliance are dishonest or cheat
at other things.”

 Drogue pondered Hanlon's observations for a moment
before responding. “Very insightful, Captain. You may be on to something there.
I also wonder if they've been more suspicious of us because of humanity's
history with the alliance. If they think we could turn on them at any moment
and attempt to wipe them out, they may treat us that way.”

 “I- ah, sir, there are before battleships coming out
just as we expected.”

 “Helm keep the throttle down. We're going to charge straight
at them and then turn just as we enter maximum weapons range.”

 “Aye, sir.”

 Hanlon said, “Weapons range in two minutes, Admiral. I
hope this satisfies their need to win against us.”

 Drogue turned and gave Hanlon a penetrating stare. He
held the look for long enough that Linis started to become uncomfortable. Just
as she was about to say something, Drogue said, “Miss Hanlon, are you sure you
aren't an intelligence analyst here on undercover assignment?”

 “Sir?”

 “Would you care to tell me why you think the alliance
commander feels the need to win against us?”

 “Well, I just figured since they defeated us five
thousand years ago they would want to make sure they feel they're still in the
superior position. If they felt we had surpassed them, they'd be in an
impossible position. They're already under threat of extinction from the crabs.
Perhaps they can't accept the idea their old enemy has grown and surpassed
them. It would make them think they were between two implacable and superior
enemies. With the ability for deceit they've already demonstrated, it seems
that they have the ability to lie to themselves just as easily as they do to
others. Following that line of thought, I just felt they wouldn't want to admit
they were in such a potentially desperate position. They already showed us they
believe they can use their defensive strategy to maintain moral superiority,
and that will win them the day despite obvious evidence to the contrary.”

 Drogue nodded and said, “Miss Kelper, weapons free,
fire at will.”

 “Fire at will, aye, sir,” Kelper said.

 Hanlon turned and started giving her attention to the
unfolding simulated combat. When Drogue tapped her on the shoulder. “You were
saying, captain?”

 “Oh, I thought we would be watching the battle, sir.”

 “It's a foregone conclusion we will be defeated here,
Captain. We may overfly them but, we'll be so badly damaged they'll just chase
us down and destroy us. Once we're done with this simulation, we go back to the
alliance space dock. Your insight makes a tremendous amount of sense. I want as
much insight into Ktenu as I can get. I was thinking Ktenu was just arrogant.
Actually, I thought the entire alliance military was just arrogant. Your idea
makes a lot more sense than mine does. When we get back, I want to feel out
Ktenu and his other commanders. I plan to force them into admitting they've
committed an atrocity so they'll have to leave humanity alone for as long as
they exist. Before I can get them into such a position, I need to understand
their motivations as well as possible.

 “If you have any other insight, please don't hesitate
to share it with me, Captain. The alliance is already on the defensive,
permanently, with the crabs. I intend to see them in the same place with us.”
As he finished speaking, all lights on the bridge went out.

 “We've been 'destroyed', sir,” Watkins said from the
darkness. “We have an incoming comm request from Commander Ktenu, sir.”

 “Put it up, Lieutenant.”

 “Shall I override and bring the bridge lighting up
first, sir?”

 “No. Let him see us in the glow of our consoles.”

 The display at the front of the bridge came on and
showed Ktenu's broad, triangular face. The expression mimicked smug superiority
to Hanlon's eyes. She waited for either Ktenu or Drogue to speak first. The
seconds ticked by and Ktenu's smugness slowly gave way to irritation.

 “Admiral Drogue. Your deception has been discovered.
The data you input for the last simulation was poorly done. The simulation
computer sent us correct data for your ship's hull strength. We know you've
been manipulating the data during our exercises. I expect a full accounting for
your actions when you return to space dock in the morning. Ktenu out.” The
screen went blank again.

 Hanlon said, “Sir, I have an idea.”

 “Let's hear it, Captain.”

 “What if we let the alliance believe what they want
about us, give them the idea that we're just as crass and deceptive as they
want us to be. Heck, it may even make them more comfortable with us.”

 “Care to go into specifics?”

 “Well, sir, here is what I was thinking...”

 The five alliance already occupied the briefing room
commandeers when Drogue and Hanlon entered. Behind Drogue and Hanlon were
Lieutenants Watkins and Kelper. The two junior officers, left with no seating
options, stood along the wall behind Drogue and Hanlon.

 Hanlon took her data tablet and tapped the interface
with the base main computer to input her briefing for the alliance commanders.

 “You were not granted permission to bring other
officers to this briefing, Admiral Drogue,” Ktenu said.

 “It was not forbidden, either. Lieutenant Watkins is
my science officer, and Lieutenant Kelper is my weapons officer. Their
perspective may be required for the postmortem on this fiasco of an exercise
series.”

 “Postmortem?” Ktenu was obviously confused by the
word. “Clarify yourself, Admiral.”

 “I mean this exercise was dead before it began. Both
of us set out to deceive each other. Our sensors from the first exercise
indicate you labeled your capital ships as battlecruisers and battleships. Far
in excess of the combat power your sensor estimates deem to be in the regular
convoy.” Drogue paused for effect while Hanlon brought the sensor logs up on
the briefing room screen. Drogue risked a glance over his shoulder and saw
Watkins, apparently lost in scrolling through something on his data tablet. The
man had proved his ability to infiltrate alliance computer systems once before,
he hoped the man didn't get caught. Turning back, he saw Ktenu studying the
data silently. “As you can see, Commander, your ships were given a massive
tactical advantage even in the first simulation. Our manipulation of the
simulator computer aboard our assigned ships is in response to your actions.
What do you say to this, Commander?”

 Ktenu made a strange chuffing noise in his throat
before responding. The Gol commander moved back and forth as through he was
unbalanced for a moment. The remaining commanders also had differing physical
reactions to Drogues full on attack of alliance actions in the exercise.

 “Admiral Drogue, we expected your kind would be unable
to resist the urge to try to manipulate the exercise from the start. We,
therefore, gave ourselves a reasonable enhancement of force based on our
observations of human behavior. We did not understand how far humans would go
to try to convince us of your supposed combat prowess.”

 Hanlon felt herself bristling at the accusations Ktenu
was spewing out. She leaned forward in her chair and opened her mouth to speak.
Drogue was faster to respond, though.

 “Commander, I object to your characterization of
humans. Your attitude bespeaks of prejudice and lack of comprehension of our
motives. We've only responded to your obvious inability to adhere to your own
intelligence department's projections on crab strength in the three selected
target systems. You either deceived us as to the strength of crab forces in
these systems or you cheated first, before you had any idea how we would
perform in the simulated attacks. We accept no responsibility for your
deceptive natures.” Drogue leaned back in his chair, his face an impassive
mask. He waited expectantly for Ktenu to respond to his argument.

 “Admiral, your protestations may be logical to you,
but we cannot allow you to gain the moral authority here. This is an alliance base.
Our second largest base, as a matter of fact. It is only second to our main
base. You will not usurp our authority here.”

 Drogue and Hanlon exchanged confused looks.

 “Commander Ktenu, are you insinuating that we're
trying to take control of the alliance base in some way?”

 “All authority is derived from moral superiority,”
Ktenu said. “Your kind are adept at amassing authority, but you won't displace
the command committee so easily. Your morality is demonstrably inferior to
ours. Your willingness to attack those who have not yet attacked you is the
first, and most egregious, of your moral inferiorities to the member races of
the alliance.”

 The Gol and Yaderiedea commanders rapped the table
rapidly with the backs of their hands when Ktenu finished speaking. They gave
the Hontoata and Unam commanders sharp stares until both joined in the rapid
tapping of the table with the backs of their hands.

 Ktenu's face took on a look of supreme smugness.
“There, you see, Admiral? The committee has spoken. Our authority is
unassailable by ones such as yourselves. Humans can never rival the morality of
the five alliance races.”

 Drogue and Hanlon looked at each other for a long
moment. Drogue said, “Would you excuse Captain Hanlon and myself for a few
minutes while we confer?”

 “Of course, Admiral. We will reconvene in fifteen of
your minutes.”

 The alliance commanders stood and walked from the
room.

 “What do you make of that, captain?”

 “It's like the alliance uses morality instead of
political capital to guide their internal political decisions. I wonder how
such a system evolved.”

 “It's unclear at the moment,” Drogue said. The
conversation was interrupted by the click of Watkins sliding a fresh data card
into his tablet. Drogue and Hanlon looked at him, the unspoken question in
their eyes Watkins glanced up, gave a slight nod and a wink before returning to
his task.

 Hanlon said, “Maybe they realized early on that
trading immorality was far too interesting and they couldn't handle it like we
can.” Her lips curved into a slight smile.

 Drogue shook his head and said, “Perhaps. We'll have
to get them back on track. If we're going to hit those systems per our plans,
we have to convince the alliance to release us and the ships as soon as we
can.”

 “Yes, sir. Maybe we can play this to our advantage.
Since we're so inherently immoral, or perhaps even amoral to these people,
perhaps we can convince them they can keep their hands clean while we go out
and take the distasteful steps needed to protect their alliance.”

 “That may make an appealing argument for them.
Personally, I'm having a tough time understanding these people.”

 “Me, too. All we can do now is make our proposal in
terms that use their frame of reference as best we can.”

 Drogue nodded. The officers sat in silence for the
remaining minutes until the alliance commanders returned to the briefing room.

 Ktenu spoke first. “Admiral Drogue, the time has come
to discuss how our non-aggression pact will continue. You have taught us much
over the last week both about how humans fight and how they think. The
psychology of your race is distasteful to the members of the alliance. During
the recess, the command committee has decided to disband our alliance and bring
humans back to their system of origin. Do you accept this proposal?”

 Drogue shook his head. “I do not accept this proposal.
Our pact was made by my civilian government, and I don't have the authority to
dispose of it. For you to change the terms of our pact, you must go to the
Lashmere system and renegotiate with my government. In the meantime, you must
abide by the terms you have already agreed to. Despite your assumption of our
moral inferiority, we are willing to continue the plan to raid the three previously
identified crab systems. Your forces desperately need those materials.”