Koban 6: Conflict and Empire (15 page)

Then suddenly someone said, “Not privacy mode, merely muted, thank you very much. I can hear you both, but there was no need to share presidential morning sounds was there?”

MacDougal sounded a bit peeved, as the distinct and universal sound of an automatic flush was heard in the background. New technology hadn’t eliminated water as the simplest waste mover on planets with plenty of water, and the advanced and rapid purification process used on spacecraft had long ago entered homes and businesses everywhere, to release clean and sanitized fluids back to nature.

“Sorry, Mr. President,” Tet offered, smiling at how red-faced he knew MacDougal would be at the moment, since he’d also hear the toilet sounds echoed in their joint mental link.

“Shove the Mr. President guff this damned early in the morning. Dark of night actually, for me anyway. And that goes for you too Cal. I won’t invite you fishing for Gulpers next month if you get all formal with me. What in hell’s happening? Where did you say you were? A place called Tanner’s world?”

“Yes, Sir. I was supposed to pick up supplies to deliver to Zanzibar, only to find that a PU merchant ship, named the Streaker had been here several days ahead of me, and loaded them up for delivery. Anyway, a lost charter isn’t why I called you. It’s about the PU merchant ship that made the run, and just returned so quickly. And that’s partly the problem, because it’s a new T-cubed ship. I think it blazed a trail directly there, and then directly back to here.”

Stewart’s concern was the wrong one. “We know the PU intends to compete with us with transport, even on runs out to Federation planets. That’s why I told them we were allowing free entry, to spark some healthy interaction and competition. If they don’t reciprocate for Hub worlds, we can…” Mirikami apologized, but interrupted.

“Excuse me Stu, I think Cal’s description of their blazing a trail is what he’s calling us about. Is that it?”

“Yes, Sir. At the main spaceport, I confirmed the Streaker’s captain was given a copy of our procedures for indirect entry and exit at all Federation planets, but we didn’t know they even knew where any of the colonies were. Apparently, Zanzibar’s coordinates were shared here on Tanner’s world by some of the colonists, those evacuated for advanced medical treatment after the Ragnar fleet’s attack. When the Streaker returned, it did a White Out at two hundred miles above the equator, directly from level three. No effort was made to conceal their trail. I spoke to one of their crew, who didn’t know I was a Kobani shipping competitor, and she said they did the same thing at Zanzibar. She bragged about how fast and accurate T-cubed travel is. They have no idea why we’re using a level one arrival and departure at our worlds.”

Mirikami explained, for Stewarts benefit. “We know the Empire has infiltrated tachyon wake monitor ships, and they’re trying to find our worlds from tachyon traces when we’re in level two or three. We’re dropping down to level 1, where we can’t be traced, and do that while we’re not moving directly towards any star system. We’re still ten light years from a colony when we turn towards them, and even farther away from the Koban system. It adds days to the transit, but it doesn’t lead the enemy straight to a potential target.”

“So? The Empire already knows where Zanzibar is. That cat’s already out of the bag.”

Cal told him what Mirikami expected, and dreaded to hear. “Sir, the Streaker was followed back to Tanner’s world. There was no second burst of gamma rays here, but we know the Empire uses ships that swallow them. I checked with an automated patrol boat we posted near Zanzibar, about twenty light years out from them, closer to the Empire to watch for traffic from there.

“With roughly a 200 light year radius for tracing T-cubed travel, and about 150 lights for slower T-squared movements, it recorded the Streaker’s arrival and departure, exiting from level three right over the colony. However, when the Streaker left, a second T-cubed trail started behind them inside the Zanzibar system, and followed their path to the limits of the monitor’s detection range. The monitor didn’t have a record of the second ship ever arriving at Zanzibar, so it came in using level one at some earlier date, and sat there waiting. I’m certain that Tanner’s world has been found by the Empire, which means the rest of Human Space will be identified soon as well, since there are two other Rim worlds within 200 lights of them.”

Tet agreed, with a distinction. “The enemy will think they’ve found higher population Federation worlds, since they don't know there are two political entities in this galactic spur. It’s only a matter of time before they follow the web of Jump traffic to other Rim worlds and from them to the Hub.”

Stewart reacted as Mirikami expected, and approved. “We have to warn not only the President of Tanner’s world, we need to meet with President Strickland, to let the PU know what’s coming. It may not be pleasant making contact directly with her, if the attempt leaks to her political opposition. Perhaps you can use your friendly relationship with Vice President Bledso, who surely still has connections within the navy. You worked with one of her Admirals at Poldark. If she’s still active duty, perhaps you can reach Bledso through her?”

“That would be Admiral Foxworthy. She’s been promoted since her defense of Poldark, and she has command of the PU’s first fleet now. Henry’s troops are transported by, and provided support by first fleet elements. I can find out from him how to reach her through backchannels. It’s too bad we don’t have any Kobani with the navy anymore. Comtaps are so much faster. We need to convince them to mobilize quickly, because we know the Empire is ready to pounce. I’ll get right on that.”

****

Bledso beamed, “Captain Mirikami, I’m delighted to see you again. I presume you’ve still not allowed President MacDougal to give you a more deserving designation or official title?”

“Madam Vice President, I’ve fought a constant battle in that regard. Captain of a ship is what I’ve always wanted to be. If my poor old Flight of Fancy could have been given new T-cubed Jump engines, and converted to a warship, I’d be at her helm. I’m proud to captain the Mark, but she wasn’t intended for humans. However, the title Captain is the one I relish most, on the Bridge of any good ship under my command. I’d be surprised if the same wasn’t once true of a former admiral who rose through the ranks, surely aspiring to command her own ship.”

She laughed, and agreed. “It was my fondest aspiration as an ensign, to be captain of a warship seventy years ago, so I sympathize with your reluctance to allow anyone to take it away from you. I wasn’t nearly as resolute as you.”

She smiled and shook her head, “Even so, I can’t pretend that’s all you are to the Federation. Admiral Foxworthy is not given to hyperbole, and she told me that it was vital for the future of the Planetary Union that I meet with you as soon as possible. I commandeered a cruiser yesterday, to meet you here, in orbit around a Rim world with a name I hardly remembered.

“And before we get bogged down with the use of cumbersome titles, you invited me to call you Tet when we first met on Poldark years ago, and I’d like you to call me Adriana. I know you know I’m the VP of the Planetary Union, just as I know you are effectively the Secretary of the Navy, or maybe Military Chief of Staff now, or some equivalent title, since it’s been a couple of years since Medford refused to recognize the Galactic Federation. What do you know about something that threatens the PU? I don't for a moment think it’s the Federation itself threatening us, and it certainly isn’t the Krall.”

“No, it certainly isn’t us Adriana, but it’s indirectly tied to our joint defeat of the Krall.”

She was taken aback. “How so?”

“You know the story of how the Olt’kitapi inadvertently unleased the Krall on the galaxy, but even we in the Federation didn’t know exactly what the threat was they feared, which induced them to risk arming the barbarian Krall with advanced weapons, expecting them to become their defense force. In the last six months, we’ve discovered what that ancient threat was. It’s called the Thandol Empire and stretches along the Milky Way’s
Sagittarius Arm, and a common boundary is located where our Orion Spur branches away.

“Apparently, as a result of our defeat of the Krall, the Thandol are no longer deterred by that species implacable ferocity, and have decided to take possession of the stars where the Olt’kitapi once lived, and which the Krall took away from them. They were the foe the Olt’kitapi feared. The Empire has already attacked three of our new colonies and announced their intent to annex all of our volume of space. We’ve hit back at them twice, to attempt to dissuade them, and we’ve guarded the locations of our other inhabited worlds. We have a thousand ships distributed among our new colonies, and more than that at Koban, but we doubt the Empire will hesitate to invade if they find a major population center.”

“Why does that automatically make them a threat to the Planetary Union? We’re a separate political entity from the Federation. As you well know, we haven’t even officially recognized you yet, thanks to the stubbornness of the LOR party. Our volume of space was never part of the Orion Spur occupied by the Olt’kitapi.”

Mirikami shrugged. “Claiming the former Olt’kitapi region is merely a pretext. They want the entire Spur. They’ve attacked two of our colony worlds that were never used by, or within the Olt’kitapi volume, or even used by the Krall.

“We don’t believe they know anything about Human Space, or even the full extent of Federation territory for that matter, since they haven’t found Koban, which is on the far side from them.

“After their first attack, we made peaceful contact with one of their conquered and subservient races, called the Hothor, and from them we have learned more about the Thandol and their Empire. They rule a volume of stars at least as vast as what the Krall controlled, but it’s not nearly so desolate and unpopulated. That’s because their strategy wasn’t to exterminate the twenty-six species they encountered. They don’t exactly enslave the species they meet, but they do control them rigidly and ruthlessly, taxing them and requiring them to support the Empire.

“They forcibly annexed each civilization they encountered, making them subservient to the Thandol and their Emperor, and although they’re being exploited, they’re allowed to self-govern their existing worlds within limits. Future expansion hopes and colonization by these species is terminated, and revolts, or even displays of resistance against the Thandol are brutally punished. They are allowed to conduct strictly regulated trade with nearby species, and of course they are required to trade with the Thandol at a market disadvantage.”

Bledso stopped him there, wanting to cut to the chase. “Tet, you’ve told me this mystery empire is a threat to the Federation because they want the former Olt’kitapi stars. I have to ask, although I dread the answer because you brought me way out here to Tanner’s World. How are we involved with what sounds like your problem?”

“The Empire doesn’t know the PU exists, at least not yet. However, one of your new T-cubed merchant ships, the Streaker, came out here and talked a warehouse manager into letting them transport a cargo originally intended for one of our ships. It ran supplies and equipment out to our colony of Zanzibar Redoux, which is one of the three colonies the Empire had previously found and attacked. Our ships take precautions on such flights, to prevent their being traced in Tachyon Space to and from their ports of call. The Streaker was cautioned by the port authorities here of our required entry procedures, and given a copy of that in writing.

“That captain didn’t follow those precautions, and we now know that an Empire ship followed them back here. The Thandol will believe they’ve finally found a developed Federation planet, and we expect them to send a large fleet here in the near future, to either capture Tanner’s world, or destroy as much as possible if unable to hold it.”

Bledso shrewdly pointed something out; uncomfortably aware of how cold it would sound. “You know that Tanner’s isn’t actually part of the PU. They’re in Human Space, where we provide interstellar security, but they’re an independent Rim world. You’re already fighting the Empire, so why don’t you ambush them here, with that five thousand ship fleet you so proudly showed off to former President Medford?”

Mirikami knew the game, and explained what he was confident this former Admiral already had deduced. “Even if we do that, from here they’ll definitely detect Jump traffic in and out of other nearby Rim worlds, and they will follow some of that traffic to the richer worlds of the Hub. Despite controlling a far larger volume of stars than in Human Space, we believe they have roughly a similar population to that of the PU, and little of it will be trusted to fight on behalf of the Empire. As I said, we’re sure they want to take possession of the entire Orion Spur, no matter who they find living here.”

Now the admiral, rather than the politician she’d become, asked a military question. “If you’ve fought them twice, how do they measure up to the Krall?”

“Does the fact that they hid from the Krall for nearly twenty thousand years tell you anything? They have weapons technology nearly as advanced as the Olt’kitapi gave to the Krall, and they have weapon types we don’t have, but which we understand and can copy if we wish. We’ve not seen or heard of anything they have to match the gravity control of the Dismantler ships. I think that weapon, which was only considered a construction tool by the Olt’kitapi, is what held them at bay from facing the Krall. They don’t believe we have that weapon, which is correct, we don’t. Nevertheless, I think the Federation and the PU match up reasonably well with them technologically, now that we both have T-cubed travel. Nova bombs have proven devastatingly effective against them, but they have a similar weapons delivery system that could be modified to do the same thing to us.”