Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) (56 page)

Malthus just looked surprised, as if he had never even considered the possibility, then he laughed. “We have ten times the number of ships that you do. I could defeat you easily with only half the forces under my command. You bluff terribly Commander, as we both know you hold an empty hand.”

“I observe your ships Senator. They are wrecks, anything that could be bought at the cheapest, knockdown price. The rest are a bunch of privateers and mercenaries, pirates and cutthroats. All they care about is money. How long do you think they will stand by your side and fight when the dying starts? I meanwhile command the elite of the Confederation Navy, ships born and bred for war, with a crew that is highly motivated and will fight to the death to stop you. Surrender now and I will let you live. Fight and I
will
kill you.”

“I don’t plan on surrendering, not when I have victory in the grasp of my hand. Watch Radec, as I destroy every last thing that you hold dear.”

“I’ll take that as a no then,” Jon said, gladly. “I was hoping you would say that, as I have already sworn a great many oaths that you will die for your crimes. I wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone.”

*****

Malthus shook his head, astonished at the arrogance of the man. He was all but defeated, but just refused to accept it.

“What are your orders, Senator?” Captain Miller, Commanding Officer of the
Revenge
inquired. As Malthus’s flagship, it was the largest ship in his fleet, a converted cruise liner, extensively modified while still retaining the luxury of the original ship. Nothing like the drab, utilitarian ships of the Confederation Navy.

“Radec will never attack us,” Malthus gloated. “Even if he is crazy enough to try and do so, his crew would mutiny and kill him first. It would be suicide. Therefore continue with the original plan and engage the station. Remember, do not destroy it, as I have promised Radec I would let him watch as I killed his family. The others I care little about—kill them all.”

Captain Miller hesitated. The reason he had been selected by the Senator to lead these ships was his military experience, something that was severely lacking in the rest of the fleet. For he had once been a captain in the Imperial Navy, before he had abandoned that career to seek his riches as a soldier of fortune. Yet he had never forgotten his past, or the names from it.

Sometimes, late at night, after the enlisted personnel had departed and the senior officers had called it a night, the Fleet Captains gathered for drinks. With the lights turned down low, the shadows growing in length, they had remained and, in hushed whispers, spoke of these people. For more than one of them had been in an impossible situation, a no-win scenario, a hopelessly lost cause. But their orders had always been the same.

Listen. Watch. Wait—but never to interfere.

For then these unmarked ships appeared, ships that appeared in no navy database, crewed by names that were whispered in awe amongst the fleet. For it was these people who always did the impossible, achieved the unimaginable, won the insurmountable. Miller had never considered that one day he would be on the opposing side of these people, yet here he found himself. With a fleet powerful enough to defeat the entire Confederation Navy, facing one small unarmed station, and a tenth of the Confederation Navy—but both led by these very same people for whom losing was a complete anathema.

“A problem, Captain?” Malthus inquired, noticing his hesitation.

“No Senator,” Miller hurriedly reassured him, before turning to relay his orders.

*****

“Communications,” Radec called, after the view-screen went blank. “Do we have long range communications? Can we signal the rest of the navy?”

“No, Lord Radec,” the officer replied. “They are jamming all communications, including our access to the Tachyon relay network.”

“Very well,” Jon sighed reluctantly. “Then it looks like we do this ourselves.”

“My Lord,” the Captain replied, aghast. “You cannot be serious. We cannot hope to be victorious against such an armada.”

“I concur Captain,” Jon replied reluctantly. “But perhaps it is enough that we simply deny Malthus his victory.”

“I don’t understand,” the Captain replied confused.

“Malthus wants the station.” Jon pointed at the installation on the tactical display. “More specifically he wants the occupants of it, my family. For he believes that their deaths will avenge his own. I propose that we deny him that. Open an encrypted communication channel with the station. Use a tightly focused laser to carry the communication. They cannot jam that, and it is impossible for them to intercept, as it is line-of-sight only.”

With a nod of understanding the Communications Officer established the connection with the station, several hundred kilometres distant, via the tight-beam laser. “Connection established.”

With a look of surprise, then relief, David McNeill appeared on the view-screen. “Commander, are you a sight for sore eyes. Things were just about to get unpleasant.”

“What’s the situation over there, David?”

“The station is on full alert, with all our weapon systems armed and ready. I have my security team and the marines preparing to repel any boarders, the civilian crew are in medical, as that is the most heavily protected part of the station.”

“Understood Lieutenant. This is what I need you to do. You are to give the order to evacuate the station, everybody is to make their way to the shuttles and wait for my order to evacuate. Once we are in position, the 4
^th
Fleet we will provide covering fire for the shuttles to leave the station, and for you and the crew to escape.”

“Commander,” David disagreed. “You cannot seriously mean to abandon
Terra Nova
. This is our home.”

“Lieutenant,” Jon snapped. “We don’t have time to debate this. We don’t have the ships to defend the station. We’ll hold the line just long enough for you to escape. That is all we can hope to accomplish.”

“Understood Commander,” David agreed, reluctantly. “We will await your signal to commence the evacuation.”

“We’ll signal you when we’re in position,” Jon acknowledged, terminating the communication.

“My Lord,” the Captain inquired confused. “I don’t understand. How can we protect the station? The enemy fleet is already between them and us.”

Jon looked up into the face of the older officer, holding his gaze. It made him remember why he had argued with Sterling so long and hard against accepting this position. For he never wanted to command again, never wanted to be in this position. One where he had no other option but to order others to their deaths. “There is only one route,” he explained. Trailing his finger along the tactical display, from the current position of the Confederation Fleet to the station, his finger passing through the mass of enemy warships blocking their path. “We go through Malthus’s fleet, then we turn and face them—head on. We hold the line, just long enough for the shuttles to escape.”

“Then what, my lord?” the Captain demanded, wide-eyed. “We will be trapped between the enemy armada and the station, with nowhere left to go.”

Jon let his eyes close, as he whispered. “There we all die.”

*****

All over the Confederation 4
^th
Fleet, captains, officers, enlisted crew—and marines, all fell silent as Jon’s voice echoed across every command deck, room and corridor throughout every ship in the fleet.

“Men and women of the Confederation 4
^th
Fleet I want to take this opportunity to address you all. If you have not already heard the rumours, the threat we face is real and significant. We face a hostile fleet far larger than our own. A fleet large enough to pose a substantial threat to the entire navy. A military force large enough to threaten the existence of the very Confederation.

“We are unable to call for reinforcements, as they are currently blocking long-range communications. Additionally, we cannot withdraw, as they threaten a civilian station, which contains over three hundred men, women and children, including my own family.

“We are left with very few options, none of which are good. The most rational option for us is simply to withdraw, to fight another day, at a place of our choosing, and hope the odds are more in our favour. All other roads most likely lead to defeat, and our eventual deaths.

“From the moment we are born, there is only one certainty in our lives—that eventually we will all die. Many of us live long, promising lives, full of joy and happiness, to make the most of the short time that we have. In that time, many of us start our own families, to give us the impression of immortality. So that when we die, a small part of us will live on through our children. However, this is nothing but an illusion, as eventually even they will pass on, along with their memories of us.

“Yet there is a way that each of us can obtain true immortality. Not through the lives we live but, instead, by our actions and words, our very deeds. For these will live on in the memory of others, long after we have passed away. They will echo down the dusty halls of history for all eternity, and reverberate through the minds of generations yet to come.

“They can read how, although vastly outnumbered, we stood firm. They can hear how, although faced by almost certain death, we did not waver. They can understand that, although frightened, we did not succumb to fear.

“You do not know the people on this station, but I do. They are just like you and I. They share the same hopes and dreams as all of us. They want to grow old surrounded by their friends, family and loved ones, but, unlike us, they are offered no choice. They will have to fight, and they will die. If we flee, then they will be condemned to a certain death, as we are the only glimmer of hope they have left.

“I have spent almost my entire life in the Navy. I have tried to live my life by its founding principles of strength, honour, courage and sacrifice. If I am to die, then I cannot think of a better reason to do so, knowing that my death will have some meaning. Furthermore, our sacrifice will send a message that will reverberate throughout the Confederation—that we will not run, we will not hide, but we will fight for what we believe in. That is a powerful message indeed, for the enemy we face will know we will never surrender, but we will fight for every planet, every system. They will go into the next battle, and the next, knowing we will fight to the last. That no matter how many battles they win, there will always be another—and they will never win this war.

“This is not your fight today, but it will be one day. When it is your loved ones who are threatened, who cry out for your help. Therefore today we draw a line. We will not give into threats and intimidation, but we stand tall and strong and let it be known by all that we will fight, and die, for our convictions, so that our families and children can live on, in happiness and freedom.

“For today we reach for immortality.”

The command deck of the
Invincible
fell silent as the last words of the speech echoed away, consumed by the silence on the bridge.

“We’re really going to do this?” The Captain’s voice was still tinged with disbelief.

Jon simply nodded, before turning to the Helm Officer. “Signal the rest of the fleet and set a course directly for the station, flank speed.”

At a nod from the Helm Officer, everybody on the bridge could feel the vibrations from the ship’s massive engines, as they quickly went to full power, the fleet slowly, but with increasing speed, approaching the station—and the enemy fleet.

“Three minutes until contact with the enemy fleet,” the Operations Officer announced.

“Sirs, what about our fighters and missiles? We’ll soon be within range,” the Tactical Officer reminded them.

“Keep them,” Jon ordered. “At this range, with the enemy forces bunched so tightly together, they will be ineffective anyway. We’ll keep them for point-blank range, when we are amongst their ships. There we can ram them down their throats and they can do the most damage.” Jon reviewed the updating tactical display, before pointing his finger at a spot near the centre of the enemy fleet. “We’ll pass through the enemy fleet there.”

“But my Lord, that is where the enemy fleet is most concentrated,” the Captain exclaimed.

“Exactly,” Jon agreed. “They will be so concerned about not hitting each other, they won’t give us a second thought.”

“It’s going to be a tight squeeze manoeuvring between so many other ships.”

“That’s why, instead, we’re going to punch a hole straight through them.”

*****

“Confederation ships accelerating, on an intercept course,” an officer shouted out across the bridge.

“Ignore them. They are just trying to distract us. Continue with your assigned task,” Malthus disregarded the warning. “As soon as we are close enough, launch the assault shuttles. The sooner they depart, the sooner I will have Radec’s family in my grasp. Then we will see how confident he acts.”

“Captain,” an officer interrupted Malthus. “We are detecting an energy spike in one of the asteroids that is in close proximity to the station.”

Captain Miller frowned, before turning to Malthus in explanation. “We discovered a number of these orbiting the station. Sensors indicated that they seem to be hollow. It’s not unusual for these deep space stations to push out asteroids, and then mine them during the construction of the station. It’s cheaper than shipping out the refined alloys.”

“Then perhaps you can explain why an empty, hollow asteroid is emitting a power signature?” Malthus demanded.

Miller was about to reply when a blinding light suddenly erupted ahead of them. Brighter than any sun, it grew in intensity until the bridge crew had to shield their eyes. The light then suddenly leapt across the vastness of space, colliding with a frigate, a privateer that was the vanguard of the fleet. As the crew watched on in growing horror, the ship started to glow, first yellow and then red. After that, all that remained was a ball of white light, growing in size, before it vanished—along with the frigate.