Democracy's Light

Chapter Fourteen

There were some who said that the entire Hawthorn System was an artefact, created by supremely power aliens thousands of years ago… and, looking at the system as the 2^nd Fleet flickered into existence, Katy could almost believe it. The planets were maintained in unnaturally regular orbits, orbiting in a formation that suggested a long chain of beads, somehow perfectly placed to remain in a line. The outermost planet, a gas giant with its own series of moons, moved around the parent star far faster than the inner worlds, and yet it too maintained its position. It was almost a work of art… and the highly-classified papers Katy had read when she’d been assigned to the system suggested that that was exactly what it was.

The Empire had been reluctant to admit the possibility of far more advanced aliens and had created a scientific theory to explain that perfect orbits, in perfect lines, were possible, if very unlikely. Katy, who’d seen more star systems than the average traveller, was inclined to doubt the logic. The random effects of planets, jostling each other for supremacy, didn’t lead to perfect orbits, although most orbits were fairly stable. The Hawthorn System was just too perfect. It was also one of the most interesting systems to navigate. The gravity shadow literally stretched from the star to the outermost world, and, as it moved with the planets in their orbit, it produced a significant threat to anyone without up-to-date charts. Katy had ordered the fleet to come out of flicker-space above the plane of the system — the plane was perfect, naturally — just to make certain that they had accurate charts. A mistake would have been disastrous.

“The charts were fairly accurate,” the helmsman confirmed, finally. Gravity moved through space faster than light — unfortunately, despite considerable theoretical work, no one had managed to find a way to translate that into a viable faster-than-light communications system — and confirming the location of the planets was easy. It was far less easy to confirm the presence of starships or defence fortresses. Very few of humanity’s constructions in space were large enough to generate a gravity shadow of their own. “There are odd gravity fluctuations around the worlds, however.”

“Interesting,” Katy said, as the display updated. The fluctuations seemed to run from the star out to the outermost world, and then back again in a surprisingly regular pattern. There were, she’d been told, hundreds of scientists studying the fluctuations, trying to decipher their cause and meaning. One theory was that they were an interstellar communications system, although no one had ever detected a reply. “Adjust our course for Hawthorn and flicker us out when you’re ready.”

“Yes, Admiral,” the helmsman said. Space twisted around them and Katy winced, even though the transition shock was a lot smoother than on a smaller starship. “We have arrived at the edge of the gravity shadow.”

Katy looked over at the tactical officer. “The defences remain intact and IFF signals correspond perfectly to the recorded signals, including the emergency signals from Admiral Goodwin,” she said, calmly. “The only starships within sensor range have been identified as ships assigned to the Sector Fleet.”

“Good,” Katy said. Hawthorn had been stripped bare during the later stages of the rebellion. The Imperial Navy had dispatched everything they could in hopes of stemming Colin’s advance, even though some of the ships had mutinied once they’d left the system. Not all of them had made it to the Shadow Fleet, but those that had had been warmly welcomed. Hawthorn’s weakness had been a persistent worry, despite the massive defences; Admiral Wilhelm could have jumped Admiral Goodwin at any time. She was rather surprised that the Empire retained control the system.

Perhaps he still hopes that we will recognise his independence and forget about the cruisers he destroyed, she thought, coldly. Goscinny had made that point quite clear. The Empire might, in the interests of not having to fight another war so quickly, decide that the cruisers had been expendable, after all. Katy hated that logic, even though she couldn’t dispute it, for it sent the wrong message to other warlords. Punching out Cottbus, she felt, would be much more effective.

“Tie us into the system command network and inform me if there are any changes,” she ordered, as she stood up. She suspected that Admiral Wilhelm already knew that her fleet was on the way — his wife and ambassador could have sent him a message — and not flying straight into an ambush was an encouraging sign. “Communications, I want to receive a full report from each and every starship regarding their training progress and inform them that we will be holding a drill tomorrow.”

She left the bridge and walked quickly down to her cabin. As she had expected, Goscinny was waiting for her there, making small talk with the pair of Marine guards. Katy received their salutes, opened the hatch, and invited Goscinny into the room.

“No surprises, then?” Goscinny asked, as he took a chair without being invited to sit. He was an interesting conversationalist, Katy had discovered, but he could also be blatantly unfamiliar with military protocol. “Admiral Goodwin is still in charge and all is well?”

“It seems that way,” Katy agreed, tapping her terminal and requesting a secure link to Admiral Goodwin. They were, technically, equals, but under the old order he would have been her superior. Admiral Goodwin didn’t have a bad reputation — and nor, she remembered, did Admiral Wilhelm — but he had little in the way of imagination. He would be fine as long as he didn’t actually have a crisis to deal with. A safe pair of hands for an Imperial Navy base, in other words. “One moment…”

Admiral Goodwin’s face materialised in front of them. He was a short, balding man, with a slightly chubby face and body. He could have had both of those conditions corrected with ease, in any medical lab, and choosing to keep both of them suggested either supreme self-confidence or a sheer lack of concern about appearances. It made a pleasant change. In Katy’s experience, most men who had access to cosmetic technology gave themselves the bodies of Greek Gods, with the sexual stamina to match. It spoke volumes about their insecurities.

“Admiral,” he said, without preamble. “I can’t say how glad I am that you’re here.”

Katy felt her eyes narrow. “Has the situation changed?”

“We’ve been probed, from time to time, by unknown starships,” Admiral Goodwin said. There was a nervous note in his voice. “I attempted to order intercepts, but none of my starships were able to get close enough to positively identify or engage the intruders. I have a nasty feeling that someone is picketing the system in preparation for an attack.”

And has just seen my fleet arrive, Katy thought coldly. “I see,” she said. “And has there been any change from Cottbus itself?”

“Very little,” Admiral Goodwin said. His voice darkened. “I had several hundred merchant crews interviewed after visiting the sector, but they couldn’t say much beyond the fact that the former government seems to have vanished, the military seems to be in full control and control over the industries has been passed to the workers. A handful of other crews went into the system and never came out again, as far as we can tell…”

Katy nodded. It wasn’t that easy to keep track of commercial shipping at the best of times, even at the heart of the Empire, for merchant skippers seemed to take an unholy delight in confounding the Imperial Navy and the taxmen. Not that she blamed them for the latter, of course; the taxman was the enemy of all independent skippers. The independents also didn’t care about the standard sector lines and crossed them freely; the missing ships might have remained in the sector, or even crossed it and headed into the next sector. It could be years before a missing starship was declared ‘missing, presumed destroyed,’ and it wasn’t uncommon for ships to be declared lost in error.

“We don’t know exactly what’s been going on, but we do know that representatives from Cottbus have been signing deals with everyone in sight, including half of the new companies operating within the sector,” Admiral Goodwin continued. “I don’t have authority to interfere with them unless they break Imperial Law and so far they have merely agreed to assist in the exploitation of the sector. There’s a great deal of money involved and everyone is grasping at it.”

Goscinny leaned forward. “Have you heard anything political from the sector?”

“Nothing,” Admiral Goodwin said. “As per my orders, I haven’t probed the sector with any light units, so I don’t know exactly what is going on within the sector. I assume that you have new orders from Earth?”

Katy had to smile. The concept of the rebellion was clearly beyond Goodwin, so he had decided that orders from Earth were legal, regardless of who was actually issuing the orders. He was probably hoping that whoever came out on top wouldn’t want to remove him, as long as he didn’t do anything that would be regarded as a treacherous act. It wasn’t a position she envied him, but at least it had the virtue of simplicity.

“We are going to confront Admiral Wilhelm and demand explanations,” Goscinny said, firmly. “He will be unable to avoid taking notice of this entire fleet when it arrives at Cottbus and we can negotiate from a position of strength. Once we know what’s going on, we can deal with him.”

“I see,” Admiral Goodwin said. “And what, exactly, is the anticipated outcome?”

“We may offer Cottbus the same status as a first-rank world, although the concept has never been extended to an entire sector,” Goscinny said. “Complete independence is not an acceptable outcome. The unity of the human race remains our first priority.”

“I hope you manage to convince him of that,” Admiral Goodwin said. “There are no superdreadnaughts here, Admiral Garland; the largest ship under my command is a battlecruiser. If Admiral Wilhelm comes knocking, this world will not hold out for long.”

Katy nodded. The Geeks had invented all kinds of weapons to make battering away at a planet’s defences easier… and while most of them could be countered, Hawthorn’s defences simply hadn’t been a priority. No one knew just how many of the new weapons Admiral Wilhelm had, but he would almost certainly have sensor data, perhaps even from the Fall of Earth…

And if he has those missing four squadrons of superdreadnaughts, we’re going to be outgunned, she thought coldly. It might be time to start thinking about contingency plans.

“I intend to take the fleet through a week’s worth of exercises in deep space before I head to Cottbus,” Katy said, two hours later. The decision hadn’t been an easy one, but she was ruefully aware that her fleet wasn’t drilled to perfection yet. If the system was being picketed, and she would have been more surprised if it wasn’t being picketed, she couldn’t allow Admiral Wilhelm to realise just how unprepared her fleet actually was. It meant tempt him to do something stupid. “That gives you a week to get into the system and learn what you can.”

“We’ve worked under tighter deadlines,” Sasha assured her, from her relaxed position on the bunk. Katy chose not to speculate on what the three of them might be doing when they weren’t actually on a mission. Their mere presence was supposed to be a secret, even to most of her senior crew. “We watched your discussion with Admiral Goodwin. If Admiral Wilhelm is indeed picketing this system, it probably doesn’t bode well for the future.”

“Particularly as it would be fairly straightforward to picket the system without tipping off the defenders,” Charlie added, from where he was working on a suit of light combat armour. “There are any number of ways to slip a picket destroyer or a set of recon platforms into an inhabited system, regardless of the actual level of sensor platforms in the area. They wanted those ships to be detected.”

“I had concluded as much,” Katy said. There was something refreshing about their attitude, even if they were probably pushing the limits of insubordination. “That leads to yet another question, of course. Why?”

“We do seem to have more questions than answers,” Sasha agreed. Her voice was as cold and dispassionate as ever. “The most logical answer is that it is intended as a move in a war of nerves.”

She stood up in one smooth motion and started to pace the confined space. “There’s little point in picketing a system openly unless you intend to attack almost at once, because you would tip off the defenders and force them to redeploy, which would render most of the data you collected invalid,” she said, thoughtfully. “No attack has materialised, obviously, so we have two options; the attacks were called off because they didn’t see an opening, or they never intended to attack at all.”

“Or their actual target wasn’t here,” Sandra injected. “They may have seriously considered jumping the fleet once it arrived.”

“Which won’t help them unless they have a strike force within range,” Charlie said. “It’s a week between Hawthorn and Cottbus, so they would have to depart from here and race to Cottbus, unless they stripped Cottbus bare…”

“Impossible to know, one way or the other,” Sasha said, firmly. “I suspect that the Admiral intended to keep Admiral Goodwin on edge and disinclined to launch any adventures of his own, while reminding him of the cost of a war. Even if victory were certain if it came down to a fight, the cost would still be enormous — and the Empire cannot afford it. He may be calculating that the Empire would prefer to give him what he wants rather than pay the price for squashing him like a bug.”

She shrugged. “That’s not our problem at the moment,” she continued, changing the subject. “Our problem is slipping into Cottbus and finding out just what the fuck is going on, nothing else.” She looked up at Katy as she settled back down onto a bunk. “I have reviewed the data gathered by the merchant skippers. Reaching Cottbus itself shouldn’t be a problem, not with the cargo we’re carrying, and we should have no difficulty finding a buyer. Once we get there, we can get settled in and find a source of information.”

“Of course,” Charlie said dryly. “Once Sandra gets to work on a mark, they’ll give up everything and come back pleading for more.”

“Bastard,” Sandra said. She picked a shoe off the deck and threw it neatly at him, but Charlie caught it out of the air without looking at it. “Don’t worry, Admiral. We’ll find out what you need to know, before it’s too late.”

“Thank you,” Katy said, dryly. She had faith in Anderson, if not in his three agents and their plans. “Is there anything you need from the fleet?”

The three agents shared a long look. “I doubt it,” Sasha said finally. “We just need to slip up to the ship and disembark from your ship, without being noticed. We’ll cloak in the hanger bay and drift out to a safe distance once the Jefferson is outside the gravity shadow before we vanish. The pickets won’t even catch a sniff of us.”

“They better hadn’t,” Charlie said grimly, “or this entire scheme will be worse than useless. A sensor record that places us close to your ships will be far too revealing.”

Katy checked her timepiece. “We’re going to launch for the exercise this afternoon,” she said. “I assume that you can be ready to depart by that time?”

“Probably,” Sasha said. Her voice became contemplative as she considered the challenge. “Can you make sure that the hanger deck is clear? We don’t want someone taking a good look at the ship and realising that something isn’t quite right.”

“Of course,” Katy said. Anderson had briefed her on that personally. The Imperial Intelligence ship could pass for a standard ship normally, but if it were carefully examined, there would be no way to conceal its true nature. She had also been warned that any attempt to examine the ship that closely would trigger a self-destruct. “If it’s not a state secret, what exactly are you carrying?”

“Medical packages,” Sasha said. She grinned nastily. “Officially, they were smuggled out of the Halo Productions Facility by some greedy bureaucrats and sold to a smuggler who sold them to us. The further away from the Core Worlds, the more money you can get for them and the fewer questions asked. Admiral Wilhelm’s staff will be delighted to get their hands on them. They’re far superior to the Imperial Navy’s standard medical kits.”

Katy scowled. “I see,” she said. She wasn’t surprised to discover that the Thousand Families had kept life-saving equipment for themselves, but it saddened her. How many millions of lives might have been saved if that equipment was generally available to all? How many of her crew from the Havoc might have been saved? “What else have you taken over the years?”

“We had to smuggle in some serious drugs and pose as drug dealers once,” Sasha said, flatly. Katy stared at her. Very few drugs were actually illegal within the Empire — anything that kept the masses from thinking was fine by the Thousand Families — but those that were banned were truly unpleasant. Some of them made slaves out of those unlucky enough to become addicted, while others burned out the pleasure nerves and left the users haunted and bitter shells. “If we could survive that, we could survive anything. Nasty people, those drug dealers.”

“Good luck,” Katy said, unwilling to consider the matter further. “If there’s an urgent development, contact the fleet directly when we arrive at Cottbus. If not, get in touch with me through covert channels.” She stood up. “And, like I said, good luck.”