Dark Matter (54 page)

Of course, just to be on the safe side the plan was that the communications would go down and stay down.  However, the Sunarr didn't know this.  They hadn't let on that there was anything wrong with their communications system.  Nevertheless, the evidence had been there each time it had happened.  At first, they had reacted swiftly to the loss in communications.  They drew their weapons and ordered all of the people in the room they weren't guarding out.  However, by the fourth time they hadn't panicked, they just secured the humans they were guarding in their current location along with any others and waited until communications were restored.  They even let the humans continue with what they were doing. 

13:30
              10 November  [13:30  10 November GMT]

Unity Command HQ, Berkshire Downs, West Berkshire, England.

General Sir Charles Beaconsfield lifted the phone.  It was a secure line to his counterpart in the USA, but with the Sunarr around he was not counting on it being that secure.

'Hi Sam, how are you?'

'I'm fine.  Looking forward to the dinner later.  All my guests are coming with no exceptions and the preparations have all been made.  How about you.'  General Sam Colt replied.

So
, Charlie translated,
he has all of his forces in place and everything is ready, good.

'I'm good too, better than that actually.  I've had to expand my guest list for another couple of people.  The catering is all set, as are the seating arrangements.  The last minute additions will have their own table, they will be all right they are used to winging it.'  Charlie replied, letting Sam know he too had all of his forces in place plus an additional two squadrons of fighter aircraft.

'That's great to hear Charlie.  I hope your party goes well.' 

'Yours too old friend.  Don't be a stranger.' 

'Nor you.  Take care.'  Sam acknowledged.

Both the Generals had spent the last few months working quietly behind the scenes.  They had used the success of the tripartite exercise to make some changes in their respective forces.  Unlike their Russian counterpart their forces were much more closely scrutinised, this was why they had had to use the exercise as a launching pad for a joint forces strategy.  By gaining approval for this new strategy, they managed to circumvent the normal command structure and create their own from scratch.  The new force, named Unity, quickly became the focal point for career hungry officers and service personnel.  In some instances, existing bases had been moved over to Unity, but mostly they had new temporary bases as Unity was designed to be a mobile and quick reaction force.  This had been the real lesson of the tripartite exercise. 

Although most battle plans don't survive the first engagement, the tripartite exercise had shown what could be achieved with smaller, more mobile forces.  In one engagement alone, a force of just three thousand had taken the offensive against a defending force of five thousand.  Normal military doctrine called for attacking forces to be three times the defending force to achieve victory.  The commanding officer of the attacking force was well aware of this and the three generals had expected to see them quickly defeated.  This was not the case however.  The commanding officer split his forces, again against doctrine and created two main forces one thousand strong each and ten of just a hundred.  These he called his berserkers. 

The berserkers found small gaps in the defending force and engaged them in close quarters thereby removing the defender’s advantage in numbers.  The berserkers kept the opposition so busy that the two main forces managed to circumvent the defenders and attack from the rear.  They cut the defenders in two and seized their HQ, further debilitating them.  They then issued false orders and had them in total disarray. 

The generals had watched in complete amazement as the defender’s artillery and air support, obeying the false orders, consolidated their fire on their own troops.  When the defenders finally surrendered they had calculated what the effect would have been if it had been a real battle.  The results were incredible.  Fifteen hundred defenders dead plus two thousand wounded.  The attacking force only sustaining fifty dead and eighty wounded. 

The following day two more commanding officers followed this new tactic and found similar results.  It worked equally well for both offence and defence.  After the exercise concluded the commanding officers were interviewed all observing that it was the new Doran communications system that had allowed such flexibility and responsiveness.  The final paragraph in the official report summed it up.

The Doran communications system permitted each commanding officer to monitor and order all his forces in real time whilst monitoring how each unit was holding up.  It also allowed each unit to report back the forces it had engaged.  This meant that the commanding officer was presented with a real-time map of both his own forces and the opposition.  Those using traditional battle plans were essentially constrained by them.  Their reactions were slow and information gained was not used to good effect. 
Real time information became the ultimate weapon.  The future had arrived.

The Americans and British had both licensed the Doran technology from the Russians for Unity.  They had been practising with it ever since.  Unity, outside of the American and British command structures also borrowed from the past.  Gone were the commercial businesses providing support services such as catering or vehicle maintenance.  These were now the sole responsibility of the troops themselves.  “Cooks can Kill” became a mantra in Unity with every member of Unity becoming a soldier first and a cook or vehicle mechanic second.  The combined force also left behind their traditional service ranking.  There was no separation between those in the air, at sea or on land.  They were one force, with one uniform and one command structure.  Even their pay and benefits were standardised. 

The Unity project was being funded jointly by the USA and Great Britain with an initial agreement for three years.  The funds had been made directly available to Unity’s Commanding Officers making it the first military force in history to be free from civilian control.  If Unity was successful then the Russians would join it at the end of the three years.  Until then General Sam Colt and General Charles Beaconsfield jointly had control of their own private army. 

16:30               10 November  [13:30  10 November GMT]

Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.

Gregori Stephonovich Ivanskiy inspected his honour guard.  They were all Spetsnaz.  All under his control.  All handpicked.  They were here, in the Kremlin itself, to demonstrate Russian training, as part of the anniversary celebrations.  They would be performing for the invited dignitaries, including the Sunarr. 
Especially the Sunarr
, he thought quietly chuckling to himself.  The officer saluted smartly at the General, which he returned.

'You have a fine body of men here Dimitryi Yevganiv, you should be very proud.'

Dimitryi swelled at the praise, especially the General's use of the word
very
.  The General was not known for his over use of praise.  New to his position, Dimitryi Yevganiv was keenly aware of the anniversary plans and the pivotal role he would play.  He was not about to let down his General or his Motherland.

Gregori Stephonovich left the officer to his men and headed into the Georgievsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace where the reception was being prepared.  The last time he had been in here was the reception he had given for the Americans and British prior to the tripartite exercise.  That seemed like a lifetime ago. 
So much has changed since then, not least my perception as to who the real enemy of Russia is.

After the tripartite exercise, he had had his officers debrief their men, and they in turn were debriefed.  The fighting effectiveness of the Americans and British had never been in question, but what they learned was that they were ordinary men.  They worried about their children, about their own futures and often questioned their role.  In short, they were just like Russians in every respect except language.  However, what they all said was the same. 
The rich seem to get richer and we fight other people’s wars.  Nevertheless, that's the job.

General Ivanskiy was pleased. 
For once, we are all fighting the same enemy.  All for the right reasons.  This is the people's war and one I fully intended on winning.

12:30
              10 November  [17:30  10 November GMT]

Northeast Corner and East 57th Street, New York
.

Jay arrived home with mixed emotions.  Keen to get the evening over, she was not looking forward to it.  She struggled again with the idea of killing.  The Sunarr had been on Earth for a year now and it hadn't been a good year as far as she was concerned.  They had spread distrust and envy.  They had undone a lot of the good work she had spent so much of her life trying to achieve.  Old rivalries had flared up, new ones had appeared.  The rush for gold had caused enormous problems.  Border conflicts raged.  All the time the Sunarr mouthed platitudes.  All the time they were removing the future of mankind.  Some nations were facing bankruptcy; the rise in the price of gold had created an unhealthy amount of inflation.  Some countries greeted all this believing that their gold reserves were making them more prosperous.  Even though it was all an illusion, the effects were very real.  All the time the Sunarr were making more and more promises of technology and medicines whilst taking the gold for themselves.  It seemed like every day another of the scout vessels would dock with the mother ship, undoubtedly off-loading another consignment of gold.  Sometimes she saw two or three in the same day.  It was as if the very lifeblood of the Earth was being drained away.

Her two Sunarr bodyguards,
soldiers
, she reminded herself,
after all I am their prisoner
, escorted her into her house.  One in front the other behind her.  The caterers had arrived some time before half of them were busy in the kitchen preparing the food the rest laying out the formal dining service and silverware in the Dining Room.  A single catering firm had supplied all the staff, including the butler who met Jay in the entrance hall. 
He's young and fit for a butler
, she thought.  He looked quite handsome in a virile kind of way.  He didn't seem very much at ease.  Normally the butlers she employed took control of the house in which they worked, this one seemed like it was all new to him. 
Perhaps it is, we all have to start somewhere.

He took her coat welcoming her, but then seemed unsure as to what to do with the coat or what to do next.  Jay smiled warmly at him and decided to help out.

'Would you like to show me how the preparations are going?  You can put my coat in the closet.'  She pointed to a door in the hall.

'Thank you ma’am’ He said.

He showed her into the Dining Room; it looked resplendent with all the fine china laid out and the candelabra lit.  It lifted her spirits; she had forgotten how stunning the room looked on formal occasions.

'Is my daughter home?'  She asked.

'Miss Kapoor I believe is overseeing preparations in the kitchen.'  His tone implied that this was neither warranted nor desired on his part, but his face was impassive.

'Thank you.  Please carry on; I'm not expecting the guests until seven thirty.'

The butler withdrew and Jay headed off into the kitchen to see her daughter.  Sam was drinking a glass of wine and inspecting the menu.  Sam had been a real dilemma for Jay.  She had not wanted her daughter to be here this evening, but neither had she wanted her to be elsewhere when the plan was put into effect.  She wanted to know that her daughter was safe, but that meant putting her in harm's way.  They had talked about it at length on the last spa day.  Sam had been adamant that she wanted to be here for the anniversary dinner.  She knew the risks but Jay still couldn't think of her as a grown woman capable of making her own decisions.  To her she was still the little girl that she had read bedtime stories to.  Sam stood as her mother approached and kissed her gently on both cheeks.  The time she had spent in Europe several years before still evident in some of her mannerisms. 

'It’s good to see you mother.'

'And you too pumpkin.'

Sam looked at her mother; she hadn't called her pumpkin in years, decades.  It showed where her mother's mind was.

'This pumpkin has grown out of the pumpkin patch you know.'  Sam said.  It was a gentle rebuke, designed to reassure her mother rather than chastise her.  Jay took it and her face brightened.

'Thank you Sam.  I'll be glad when tonight is over.'

'So will I.  Come on, let’s take this bottle upstairs, and get ready.'

Sam grabbed another glass for her mother and guided her upstairs so they could take their time getting ready.  It was the best way to wait for the dinner party to begin.

17:30               10 November  [17:30  10 November GMT]

No.1 Carlton Gardens, Westminster, London, England.