Homeworld (Odyssey One) (80 page)

APPROACHING LIBERTY CONTROL

“COMMODORE, WE HAVE a comm request for you, sir.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Sir, it’s the president.”

Wolfe looked up, blinking as he tried to parse that in his mind.
Why would the president contact me?

He was just a damned failed commander of a destroyed base, but he was still a commodore, and when his president called…Wolfe sighed and shifted around.

“Put it back here.”

“Aye, sir.”

The first thing Wolfe noted when the president came on the screen was that it was pretty damned clear the man hadn’t been sleeping. The second was what he could see in the background. Wolfe’s eyes widened and he felt the first surge of real emotion besides self-pity since he’d left Mars.

“Sir! What the
hell
are you still doing at the White House?”

The traditional seat of power of the U.S. government had been adopted, for the most part, by the NAC after confederation. It was possibly the most well-defended residence on the planet—well, public residence, at least—but it was still just a
damned residence. It would stand up against an alien laser much the way a pack of matches would stand up to an inferno.

The president just cocked an eyebrow at his outburst, however, and stared until he slumped a bit.

“Sorry, sir,” Wolfe mumbled.

“Never mind that now. Wolfe, we’re not going to hold this line, I think you realize that.”

Wolfe nodded numbly. “Sir, that’s why you need to get on a shuttle and evacuate. The
Enterprise
and the
Odyssey
can—”

“We’re moving people now, don’t worry,” the man in the Oval Office said, but he shook his head. “I won’t be with them. Not my place, Wolfe. Bad enough that I’m about to be hustled down to that damned bunker….”

“Sir, I’ve read the reports.
You’ve
read the reports.” Wolfe knew that he must have. “The bunker won’t do
shit
against these things.”

The president shot him another look, but Wolfe wasn’t backing down or apologizing this time. Finally the president just waved it off.

“I know, but my keepers here,” he shot a scowl off screen, “they
insist
.”

He sighed, then shook his head, again. “Neither here nor there, Wolfe. The people who do make it off, they’re going to need a leader. Someone who can inspire, someone who will keep them moving forward. It’s not going to be me.”

“Sir, if you mean me, I…I can’t do any of that.” Wolfe looked sick at the thought. “I’m an administrator, that’s all. I can’t even get myself moving now that I lost Barsoom.”

“No, Wolfe, not you,” the president said sadly. “I need you to do something for me, though. Now listen carefully.”

“Yes, sir.”

STATION LIBERTY

“SIX MORE CRUISERS down. The rest are still coming.”

Gracen nodded, stony faced. The statement severly understated what they were seeing here. The defense grid had so far destroyed more than fifty,
fifty
, of the enemy ships and they hadn’t even flinched. Were she in command of any such force, she would have long since pulled back to regroup and reconsider the situation. What they were seeing was simply
inhuman
. It shouldn’t be happening, and they were all faced with a grim reality that left them in shock.

The bulk of the group was now approaching high Earth orbit and they’d begun taking out the satellite launchers that had fired on them. They were welcome to them. They were nothing but empty platforms now; the more time the Drasin wasted with the used launchers, the longer everyone else had.

“What’s the status on evacuations?”

“All civilians were moved successfully, but we only got about half of the non-essential military personnel off the station, ma’am.”

Gracen grimaced, but nodded.

That was as best she could hope, she supposed. There was every chance that evacuation was only a reprieve anyway, so who was she to say it would be any better for them on the ground?

“Initiate stati…” she started, but was cut off.

“The Block station’s opening fire!”

They only had indirect views of the Block space station, since it was in a counter orbit to Liberty, holding in geo-sync over China. The screens monitoring that part of the world were lit up with trails of fire and energy as the Block opened up on the closest Drasin with missiles and lasers. She could have wished for better coordination between them, but Gracen decided it was close enough for government work.

“Initiation station defenses, all emplacements, all weapons free. Fire at will.”

Liberty Station had been built as part of a space race with the Block, a military endeavor that cost trillions even without counting the development costs of the
Odyssey
and other similar ships. One of the things involved in its development and construction was, thankfully, an array of defensive weapons designed to act as a deterrent to future aggressions with the Block.

HVM launchers roared into action, spitting their lethal kinetic projectiles into space at a prodigious rate. Lasers whined into energy-depleting action, and short-range point-defense systems pivoted into place and began tracking smaller targets, waiting for them to get closer.

Space around the Liberty erupted into fire, smoke, and chaos as the Drasin struck back unflinchingly. A flash blinded their satellites on the far side of the planet and, by the time the optics rebooted, the Block space station was burning as it entered the atmosphere.

“Armor plates to best deflection!”

The Liberty had thicker plates than the
Odyssey
ever hoped to have, but Graven was well aware that they’d only last so long, and so long wouldn’t be long enough.

If her duty was to die here and now, however, so be it.

“Admiral! Signal from the
Odyssey
! They’re inbound on an attack run!”

Gracen twisted, glaring. “No! There’s no damn chance! Order them off! Order them off! The
Odyssey
and the
Enterprise
are to withdraw from Sol and regroup. They can’t do any more good here!”

The technician paled, but nodded and transmitted the orders.

A moment later he turned back, even paler than before.

“One word reply from Captain Weston and the
Odyssey
, ma’am,” he said shakily. “He says, ‘Nuts.’ ”

“Damnable fool,” Gracen muttered.

The station shook as a laser glanced off the armor, vaporizing a large chunk in the process. She gripped her console and glared impotently at the screens.