Crimson Worlds Collection III Page 3

  “It is extremely plausible that a residual First Imperium force or a natural event of some sort is to blame.” She didn’t believe that, not for an instant. But she suspected the truth of what was happening was far more complicated than an Alliance bid for power. She had well-placed double agents in the Alliance governmental departments, and none of them had alerted her to anything unusual. She couldn’t imagine any official operation of this scale completely escaping her notice.

  Huang leaned back, an unconvinced scowl on his face. “Minister Li, you know I have the greatest respect for your insight. It is why I am here this evening.” He paused, his eyes fixed on her shriveled form. My God, she is frail, he thought…age has really caught up with her. His voice softened. He knew Li An was a merciless viper, but he couldn’t help but feel a wave of sympathy at her frailty. “An, perhaps your people simply didn’t discover the preparations. The Alliance would have exerted every imaginable precaution…and you know Gavin Stark is highly capable.”

  She felt another rush of anger. The last thing she wanted from anyone was pity and reassurance. She’d lived a long time, and she knew didn’t have much left. But she was as mentally sharp as ever, and she wasn’t about to let anyone write her off and throw her on the junk pile. Her people hadn’t missed anything. Whatever was going on, she was sure Alliance Gov wasn’t behind it…at least not directly.

  “Mr. Chairman, what of the forces with Grand Fleet? We have had no reports of anything out of the ordinary.” She knew what his response was going to be, but she was grasping for any argument.

  “Yes, that is true.” His voice hardened again. “However, you know very well the fleet is still deep in Alliance Rim space and can only be contacted through the their Commnet system. And they have cut all access.”

  “Mr. Chairman, I understand the suspicion, but I must counsel extreme caution. It is understandable that the Alliance is reticent to allow us unfettered communication in light of what has happened.” She cleared her throat, mustering all the strength she had to keep her voice strong. “Indeed, what would we do in the same situation? If they are not responsible for whatever has happened at Wolf 359, it is highly likely they suspect us or the Caliphate.” She paused then added, “I submit that our response in the same situation would be similar to theirs.”

  Huang sat quietly for a few seconds before answering. “Certainly this is a dangerous and touchy situation. Yet we must look to our own security. If we cannot obtain facts, we must proceed on supposition. Inactivity is simply not an option.” He paused again. “I sent a communique to Ambassador Monroe at Alliance Gov just before I left to come here.”

  She felt a pit in her stomach as he spoke, but she managed to keep the emotion from her expression.

  “We have joined with the Caliphate in a formal request for direct communications access to our task forces in Grand Fleet.”

  She forced back the sigh before it escaped. “But Mr. Chairman, we are putting the Alliance against a wall. This is very dangerous…and it can only increase the tension level.” It was pointless, she realized. She needed facts to convince Huang, not vague warnings. Her life’s trade was information, but this time she didn’t have any. “I find it hard to believe that Admiral Garret would betray and ambush the forces that just fought under him.”

  That wasn’t a fact either, just an emotional analysis, but Augustus Garret was one of the few universally respected figures in all of the Superpowers. Li’s perspective was hardly an unbiased one with regard to the Alliance’s brilliant admiral. She’d even tried to have Garret assassinated during the Third Frontier War. But she’d come to respect him…and believe his word as much as she ever had anyone’s.

  “Minister Li, I have as much respect for Admiral Garret as a man as you do.” It was well known that Garret had tangled with both Alliance Gov and Gavin Stark. He was no puppet of Alliance Gov’s bureaucrats, and he’d proved it more than once. “But that is simply not sufficient to justify policy decisions.” He sounded almost regretful. “Consider our options. If the Alliance is able to capture or destroy our forces at Wolf 359 and those attached to Grand Fleet, we will be virtually defenseless in space. And the other Powers as well. The Alliance would be able to sweep up all of our colonies. They would utterly dominate space.” He paused again. “You know what that would mean to our economy and the balance of power on Earth.”

  Li was silent, listening. She wanted to argue…she was sure he was making a mistake. But his logic was flawless, and she had nothing to counter it.

  Huang sighed. “Do you think I want to bring us to the brink of global war?” He hesitated. “But what alternative do we have? If the Alliance is able to gain hegemony in space, what option do we have other than to expand the conflict to Earth? If we mobilize early, we may be able to gain the upper hand on Earth and offset their advantage in space.” He stopped again, looking into Li’s eyes. “Your own reports confirm that the Alliance has taken no detectable steps toward terrestrial mobilization.”

  “No.” She shook her head as she spoke. “They haven’t.” She’d tripled the assets watching Alliance military installations, and they all reported the same thing. The Alliance’s army was as inactive and atrophied as all the Powers’ Earth-based forces. Huang was right about one thing…any of the Powers that mobilized early would have a big advantage if it came to war on Earth.

  The two sat quietly for a few minutes. Finally, Huang turned his head back toward Li. “Minister, may I suggest that if you wish to prevent what it appears is rapidly becoming inevitable, you will redouble your efforts to obtain some quantifiable facts.” He paused briefly. “I’m afraid that nothing less will serve to stop what is coming.”

  She could tell from his voice he didn’t expect anything. He’s already resigned to war, she thought…and he thinks I’m a spent force, that I have nothing left. Am I? She took a deep breath. No, she thought, not yet. If anything followed her mortal existence, Li An suspected she was going to have a heavy reckoning. She’d answer for her sins, for the thousands she’d killed and tortured over the years. But she’d be damned if she’d go to her maker as a failure, a fool who failed to see what was happening around her.

  She knew how the Committee members thought. They were old men, insulated and living lives of almost unimaginable luxury. A century had diminished the fear of the horrors total war could unleash, the terror that had driven their great-grandfathers to sign the Treaty of Paris. They were all pampered and arrogant, accustomed to the privileges their power had always provided them. They and their families would be ensconced in plush underground bunkers while Hong Kong was being pulverized to radioactive dust. Li didn’t care much for the stupid, cowardly masses who would inevitably bear the heaviest brunt of war, but in her own way, she loved her country. And she didn’t want to see it destroyed, even if she herself was able to hide deep enough to survive the conflagration.

  “Yes, Chairman.” There was a renewed strength in her voice. “I will do whatever is necessary.”

  Chapter 3

  Foothills of the Red Mountains

  Northern Territories, Far Concordia

  Arcadia – Wolf 359 III

  “We have to keep moving, Kara. We can’t face them in the open again. If we don’t retreat right now, we’re not going to have any army left.” Colonel Edward Calvin had been one of the heroes of the rebellion, fighting alongside the legendary William Thompson. He’d served with the rebel army from the day the first shots were fired until the victory was finally won. After the Confederation Agreement was signed and the federals left the planet, Calvin accepted Gregory Sanders’ offer of a colonel’s commission in the armed forces of the new Arcadian Republic. He’d spent the last six years helping to build that force into a professional army…and three weeks watching it ripped to shreds and driven deep into the wilderness, very near to where the rebel forces had sought refuge during the nadir of that war.

  Kara Sanders’ face was streaked with mud, her dirty blonde hair tied back in a disheve
led ponytail. There wasn’t the slightest hint of the spoiled rich girl she’d once been. All that was left was the tireless workhorse who had almost singlehandedly kept the rebel army supplied with weapons and ammunition. That seemed like a lifetime ago now, yet here she was again, trying to keep another battered army in the field. Her assault rifle was slung over her back, the canvas strap slowly digging a trench in her shoulder. “We’ve given them Arcadia City…and now Concordia. If we don’t make a stand somewhere, what will we need an army for? They’ll control the entire planet.”

  “Kara…”

  “Don’t worry, Ed.” Her voice was hollow, lifeless. “I know the deal…and I don’t do foolish things, no matter how hopeless the situation. We will continue the retreat. There’s no other option.” She’d been through these hills before, during the darkest days of the rebellion. Defeat had seemed certain then too, yet events had taken a course she couldn’t have imagined. She tried to tell herself it could happen again, but she didn’t believe it. Kara didn’t believe in much anymore. She wouldn’t have thought it possible, but things felt even more hopeless now than they had in those difficult days of the rebellion when defeat seemed all but certain.

  She put her hand to her neck, felt a small lump of metal on a silver chain. It was a ring…Will Thompson’s Marine ring. Thompson had been Kara’s lover, the father of her son. He’d also been the commander of the Arcadian forces during the rebellion. He took a ragtag group of farmers, shopkeepers, and miners and turned them into a well-drilled army…one that ultimately drove the federal forces off of Arcadia, albeit with a little help from a small Marine relief expedition. William Thompson built his army into the instrument that won the victory, but it hadn’t been his fate to be with them when it arrived. He fell in battle near the lowest point of the rebellion. He died broken, believing all was lost.

  Kara had wondered many nights, lying alone, what thoughts had last gone through Thompson’s head. She liked to believe he hadn’t died in utter despair, the bitter taste of defeat thick on his lips as he drew his last breath. She wanted to believe it, but she didn’t. She knew him too well. He never even knew she was carrying his son. The two of them, both headstrong and difficult, had wasted so much time, years of an on again, off again relationship that seemed like a contest to determine which of them was more stubborn. When it really mattered they had no time left. The years since had dulled the edge of Kara’s pain, but the sadness was just as deep as ever. She knew it always would be.

  Now she’d lost her grandfather too, her last living relative. She’d been a few hundred meters away when he was summarily executed by the invaders. Gregory Sanders had been one of the original colonists on Arcadia and one of the wealthiest men on the planet. Already an old man when the rebellion began, Sanders took the field with the army, becoming Thompson’s second-in-command until he was captured by the federal forces. Released after the end of hostilities, Sanders was at the center of the organizational efforts of the fledgling Arcadian Republic, shouldering the burdens of building a new government after the war. Since the end of the fighting, he’d been prime minister, and he’d worked tirelessly to build the republic into something to be proud of…something that could justify, at least partially, the deaths of William Thompson and the thousands of soldiers who’d given their lives to its birth.

  Sanders had barely had time to figure out what was happening. Arcadia received a cryptic warning and distress call from the shipyards orbiting planet 5, and a few hours later the scanners started going wild. The landing looked like a textbook Marine operation, right down to the Gordon assault ships streaking through the atmosphere, fiery trails lighting up the pre-dawn sky.

  The troops streamed out of the landers and snapped into perfect formations, setting out immediately for Arcadia City. But the invaders didn’t behave like any Marines Sanders had ever seen. They moved right through the town, opening fire on anyone they encountered. Police, army patrols…even civilians who wandered into their path.

  The armored soldiers broke into the government building and dragged him from his office. He argued with them, demanding to speak with a superior officer, but they ignored his entreaties. They threw him down in the street and shot him in the head, right outside the park where William Thompson’s statue stood.

  Kara had been nearby when it all happened. She was transfixed in horror, motionless for an instant in her shock. Then she started running toward the main square in a suicidal rage, pistol in her hand, firing wildly in the direction of her grandfather’s murderers. Ed Calvin grabbed her and shoved her into a waiting transport. She clawed at him trying to get away, but he wouldn’t let go. She gave him a few good bruises that day, but he saved her life. He wasn’t about to allow her get herself killed for no reason…and he wasn’t going to let down Greg Sanders or Will Thompson. All he could do for either of them now was save Kara, and he made damned sure he got that done.

  They fled to the army’s assembly point and organized a counter-attack, trying to drive the invaders from the capital. They fought two battles, one on the edge of the city and the other at their rally point about ten klicks north…and the enemy crushed them both times. The army was far below half strength now and barely holding together, its morale leaden. The invaders didn’t just look like Alliance Marines…they fought like them too. The Arcadian forces hadn’t had a chance.

  Kara had wanted nothing more to do with politics and war. She’d spent the lonely years since the end of the rebellion at her family’s home in Concordia, living quietly with her son and working to aid the citizens who’d lost everything during the fighting. But she happened to be in Arcadia when the invasion took place and the capital was occupied. When she saw what was happening, saw her grandfather murdered, she knew she had to fight. Her first thoughts had been for immediate revenge, but Calvin had saved her from that foolishness. Now she devoted herself to a higher goal…winning this war, somehow. For her grandfather…for Will. For the future of her son and every other Arcadian. She had no official military rank, but the army to a man idolized her and treated her as its commander. Calvin was the military’s senior surviving officer, but all Arcadians were looking to Kara to lead them. Including Ed Calvin. William Thompson had been more than a general; he’d been worshiped by his troops…and by the entire population. And Kara had inherited Will’s place in the peoples’ hearts.

  They were heading into rough terrain now, the undeveloped badlands north of Concordia District. It was rocky ground, crisscrossed with fast rapids and deep gorges. Kara knew she had to move her soldiers quickly and get them entrenched high up in the hills. The enemy troops were better trained and equipped with powered armor and heavy auto-cannons. The Arcadians didn’t have a chance in a stand up fight. They’d tried that twice, and they had almost 6,000 dead to show for it.

  Worse, they’d all seen the streaks across the sky the week before…new forces landing near Arcadia. The enemy was easily strong enough to crush them already, and now it looked like they’d been reinforced. There was no choice but to abandon the occupied areas of the planet and force the invaders to dig them out from the rocks and gullies of the wild country.

  Kara knew deep down she was kidding herself. She knew her people had no chance, even in the mountains. They could prolong things, but they were too outclassed and outgunned to hold out forever. Digging in bought time…time to hope that help came from somewhere. But where, she wondered…who would come this time?

  Calvin interrupted her daydreaming. He had wandered to the flank, checking on the columns to the right. Now he trotted up behind her. “Kara, I remember this country from the rebellion.”

  “Yes, Ed.” She nodded, but didn’t turn around. “I do too.”

  “You know that section with the jagged gorge.” He sped up, moving alongside her as he spoke. “The one that zigzags back and forth half a dozen times?”

  She nodded.

  “That can’t be more than four or five klicks from here if we turn our heading west.”

&nb
sp; “I think you’re right.” She turned and threw a glance his way. “You thinking of that as a defensive line?”

  “Yes.” He was breathing hard as he walked and spoke. He’d jogged up and down the marching columns, checking on the men, and he was tired now. “Attacking across that canyon would be brutal. We might even be able to stop them cold if we get dug in deep on the far side.”

  She looked straight forward, hiding the doubtful look on her face. He was right; the terrain was extremely difficult. But it wouldn’t be easy getting their people across and into the position. And it would slow their movement…the enemy would catch them that much sooner. She’d been planning to continue the retreat, giving up ground in exchange for time. Still, she thought, maybe Calvin was right. It sounded like something Will would have done. She didn’t think they had a prayer of holding the enemy off indefinitely, even at the gorge, but nothing else she could think of offered that option either.

  “Why not, Ed?” She stopped and turned to look at him. “It’s as good a place as any to make a stand.” She paused. “If we can get the troops across. I’m not sure you remember just how brutal that ground is.”

  “Oh, I remember.”

  “You know our only hope is to hold out until help gets here.” She didn’t sound confident, but she hadn’t lost all hope yet.

  “And who will that be?”

  “Erik Cain and the Marines came last time. You remember, Ed. You were there.” She turned forward and started walking again.

  Calvin made a snorting sound. “A lot of the troops think it’s the Marines we’re fighting now. They think the Corps made a deal with Alliance Gov and sold out the colonies.”

  She stopped again, dead in her tracks, turning to stare at him. “I better never hear that from anyone in this army.” Her voice was edged like a knife. “You understand me, Ed?”

  “Sure, Kara.” Calvin’s voice was chastised, sheepish. “I didn’t say I believed it.”