Opening Moves (23 page)

“
We'll soon find out,” Tarek admitted darkly. As the ship careened forwards he suddenly wondered if they could decelerate fast enough to avoid hitting the planet that was by now filling their view.

The ship shot through the minefield, thankfully not setting off any of the silent defenses. Orbital command had left that section offline not just for the human freighter but for the system defense ships retreating behind the planetary defense grid.

The brief fight in the face of the advancing Ashani fleet had been short and decisively beaten. None of the gunship units made it back and only two frigates managed to get back from their system patrols in time, the other three groups offering target practice for the Ashani heavy warships. A sizable force had been stationed in orbit including a handful of cruisers. These vessels now formed up alongside the weapons' platforms to act as additions to the planetary defenses, as facing the Ashani in open battle was suicide. Though Tarek doubted that sitting in orbit with the massive bull's eyes of their emission signatures painted on them was such a much better alternative.

The IRON MAIDEN cut its engines and to everyone's relief the G-forces disappeared. Alexej put the ship into a steady orbit and began firing retro thrusters.

“Wait,” Tarek interrupted him. “Don't kill too much velocity, just keep us going around in circles over the planet. We might want that speed if all goes badly here.”

“
Badly?” Rául shook his head, sounding surprised. “This place is a fortress: mines, guns, fleets, hell, even a battle station! The Ashani would be insane to attack a place like this!”

“
I don't think they brought all those ships all this way just to pick off some freighters and then go home,” Annie commented from her chair. It was rather unusual for her to add an opinion to proceedings. Most of the time she simply observed events and followed orders. But then this was somewhat of an unusual situation. “They're going to hit this place.”

“
Then they'll get their feline asses kicked.” Rául slapped his hands together. “And they'll deserve it.”

“
The Érenni have spent the best part of a year fortifying this place,” Tarek said, gazing wistfully at ships rushing around in the distance. “It's probably better defended than Earth. I can't see how they can break the defenses. Trying would be a slaughter.”

“
But they will attack,” Annie said with quiet confidence. “We should be ready to run, just in case.”

Tarek turned to Alexej . “Do we have enough fuel to make it out of the gravity well?”

“Yeah,” the big Eurasian native nodded. “But we won't be able to go all the way back to human space before we'll have to reload. No chance. With current fuel levels I'd give us twenty-five light-years, tops.”

“
Okay,” he nodded. “Okay, let's keep the passengers aboard. They wanted to go to their home world and we can still do that. It'll be safer than here. Anyway, it'd take too long to unload them and I don't like giving back money.”

That got an agreement from Rául.

“We wait here until the Dominion retreats, then make for Akvô,” Tarek outlined. “Once we drop off the passengers we run for home, any questions?”

“
Just one,” Annie spoke. “What if the Ashani don't go away and instead smash through the defenses?”

Tarek shrugged. “We follow the same plan only a hell of a lot faster. With half the Ashani navy around us I think we can make it out in record time, don't you Alexej?”

“Or die trying,” the pilot growled.

“
There we are, we have a plan.” Tarek grinned to show his confidence, a feeling he didn't have but wanted to at least inspire in his crew. “A good plan. We'll run away no matter what, get the hell back to Earth and never speak of this again. Deal?”

“
Deal,” the crew said in unison.

Tarek returned his attention to the scene outside as shown on the MAIDEN's sensors. It was shaping up to be a nasty battle and they were in for a ring side seat. The Dominion's forces slowly formed up and arranged themselves into squadrons beyond weapons range, a few million kilometers away from Senfina. The sensors couldn't make out any vessels fitting the mold of troop ships which seemed odd for a planetary attack force. But then, it was a small wonder Winters' ship got any kind of look at the attacking forces at all, given the amount of electronic distortions being thrown around out there. Either way it was more a conundrum for the Érenni military and not them. All Tarek wanted to do was survive, and in that he was no different to anyone else on the ship. Politicians and generals might see war as a means to gain something tangible for themselves, or to live up to some sort of ideal, but for those actually doing the fighting survival was high on their list of priorities. Their own survival, the survival of their friends and comrades, the survival of those they were sworn to protect and fight for. Tarek remembered a quote he had heard his father use. His old man had said that in war there were no winners or losers, just survivors.

As the Ashani fleet arrayed for battle, survival was the only objective of the defenders of Senfina.

“War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men.”


              
Georges Clemenceau, French President During World War One

“I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” 


        
General Charles de Gaulle, Leader of the French Resistance During World War II and Post-War President

C H A P T E R  7

Ukhuri Home World, the Ukhuri Regime.

June, 2797 C.E.

“Fellow members of the People's Council,” Merr'Quan Hoth began his announcement to the leaders of the Ukhuri regime. “Today is a day which will go down forever in history.”

The dusty assembly chamber remained mostly quiet. The large round chamber rose up in concentric circles on ever higher tiers, each tier holding slightly more representatives then the previous one. At the very center was a flat circular area from which addresses were made to the People's Council, and surrounding it was the 'First Circle', the tier closest to the floor and home to the greatest and most wily of the Ukhuri leaders. Merr'Quan paced the open floor as he spoke, his words reaching back through the chamber to the very farthest circle.

“Today we see a strike for justice!” he continued. “Our friends in the Ashani Dominion have begun a campaign to drive out the piratical Pact raiders who have for so many years dogged and preyed upon them. They have begun attacking bases in the Pact which have harbored and given shelter to raiders with the knowledge and permission of those same governments.”

There were a few murmurs in the oppressively warm chamber. Its thick concrete walls and armored roof were great for protecting the rather paranoid representatives from attack, but the construction was certainly not designed for air circulation. Up on the Third Circle a relatively new politician watched the great orator speak. He, like the rest of his generation, had done his part to fight the Rasenni. He was a veteran of a dozen raids into Rasenni space and had their blood on his hands and their looks of fear and pleading imprinted on his mind.

More than a hundred years ago the last days of the occupation had been hell for both sides as law and order broke down and a slaughter had erupted. The Ukhuri would never forget the villainy of the Rasenni occupation forces razing entire cities to the ground out of sheer spite as they withdrew. As far as he was concerned, the war was still ongoing, and only when Rasenna Prime was a ball of ash would it be over. Representative Merr'Uht focused his mind and continued to watch and listen.

“
We in the Ukhuri Regime know a little about justice,” Merr'Quan smiled to the crowd. “And we do not condemn the Ashani for this attack, no. We support it!”

Again the chamber was slightly quiet, Merr'Uht was straining to hear a conversation in the Second Circle when a delicate breath blew in his ear.

“The poor old fool,” a feminine voice murmured. “Watch closely, Merr'Uht. This is how a political career ends.”

Merr'Uht glanced to the side, recognizing Ta'Kai, a well-known and highly intelligent professor at the home world's most prestigious university. Her gift of intellect had seen her readily elected to the People's Council and she now occupied a position equal to Merr'Uht. He nodded to her and kept watching the rather well staged speech.

“However, even though we cannot provide direct assistance to the Ashani due to our own quarrel with the Rasenni, we will support them and recognize the legitimacy of their war,” the speaker called out, his rather large belly prominent as he raised his arms.

“
That's a mistake,” whispered Ta'Kai again. “He is associating us with the Ashani attack which is extremely unwise.”

“
How so?” Merr'Uht frowned, irritated at her interruptions. “Merr'Quan has been very careful in his dealing with our neighbors.”

“
Very careful, indeed,” she smiled thinly. “But he has also been played by them. They have filled his head with dreams of glory, of wresting worlds from the Pact and the Rasenni, which will never happen.”

Merr'Uht gave her a surprised look. He hadn't heard any of this. “How do you…?”

“I have my means,” her smile grew. “And let us leave it at that.” She returned her calculating gaze to the chamber floor. “Merr'Quan has placed us in a problematic position. We are hurtling towards a standoff with the Rasenni at the same time as a full scale war erupts on our borders, thanks to the Ashani. This should be a time of caution, not recklessness.”

“
The Rasenni are weak,” Merr'Uht growled impatiently. “And their new Emperor seems even weaker than the last one! This is the
best
time to capitalize on their failings!”

“
No, it isn't,” she replied evenly. “It's the
worst
time because without a strong central authority the Rasenni principalities will act alone, and we've seen in the past the individual houses are far more warlike than the Empire as a whole. If we press on, one or more of the principalities will go to war. Then their intricate system of alliances and loyalties will kick in, and in the end the Emperor will have no choice but to support them. If he doesn't he'll wake up one morning with a knife to his throat. Or he won't wake up at all.”

Merr'Uht did not respond straight away, instead looking down at Merr'Quan. The man's family had been instrumental in the resistance movement and his own exploits had the masses hail him as the greatest living Ukhuri. Surely he would not do something so foolish as to start a full war before his people were ready? “I refuse to believe Merr'Quan would wish to start a war with the Rasenni, no matter how much he desires it. He's no fool and has said time and again that we must build our strength before challenging the Empire. Those are his own words, Ta'kai:
Only when victory is certain should we act
.”

“
You are correct. That's what he
said
,” she agreed, sounding almost sad. “I expect he doesn't realize his actions will lead to war. He has had too much Ashani poison dropped in his ears lately.  Merr'Uht, he trusts them when they say the Rasenni will retreat from Oscan, when I think they will fight for it. It may be him talking, but the words come straight from the Ashani strategoi.”

Merr'Quan was still pacing the floor, now talking about the weakness of the Rasenni and how they had mercilessly destroyed a lost and damaged Ukhuri ship. It was the sort of speech given before war was declared.

“We cannot risk a war,” Ta'Kai said. “The Ashani want us distracted. They
want
a war between us and the Rasenni. They want our two peoples to bleed each other dry so that when the victor emerges they can come and strike him down.”

“
Even if Merr'Quan doesn't see that, the First Circle must,” Merr'Uht prompted in weak protest. “He cannot act alone. He must have the backing of the People's Council.”

“
Look around you,” she told him mildly. “See how they all hang on his every word? None of them would question him. They would follow him blindly into the teeth of hell itself. At any other point I'd have called that an admirable quality. But a war against the Rasenni Empire will put our whole species at risk. We all joke about them being decadent and weak, but remember what happened when we pushed them off the home world. Or when the Ortani pushed them too far,” she warned him. There was no longer a species called the Ortani.