The Cost of Victory (Crimson Worlds) Read online

  Stark put up his hand, an impatient look on his face. "Yes, Number Ten, we can bypass the history lesson. Let's focus on the implementation of the Directorate's most recent operational plan."

  Mildly chastised, the woman cleared her throat softly and continued. "Yes, Number One. At our last Directorate meeting it was decided that, with the discovery of several additional excavation sites, the colonial population had become an unacceptable security threat to the overall operation. Removal has been completed in accordance with that finding."

  "Has there been any blowback from the implementation?" Andres Carillon was designated as Number Three in the Directorate. He was tall, well over two meters, with white blond hair and pale skin. To look at Number One, he could have been an accountant or a college professor; Carillon, on the other hand, was everyone's image of an evil spymaster.

  "No, sir." Number Ten paused to clear her throat. Carillon made her nervous. He made everyone nervous. "As per plan, we utilized our new variant of the G-11 virus family, which has a considerably higher mortality rate than the original. Unlike the versions used during the Unification Wars, this new strain carries a specific genetic marker rendering it impotent against anyone who has received the companion vaccination. Of course, only our personnel were given the injections."

  Carillon's usual grim expression gave way to a slight smile, which was somehow even more unnerving. "Was the virus 100% effective?"

  "Actual mortality among the population was in excess of 94%. The rest have been liquidated through conventional methods, though we have officially attributed all deaths to the virus. We have also utilized the plan to remove the Marine garrison. Their mortality rate was lower, approximately 50%, mostly because the commander responded quickly and put biohazard procedures in effect almost immediately. Nevertheless, the outbreak gave us the perfect cover to have the Marines ordered offworld. Carson's World is now occupied by two battalions of our new Directorate troops. A planetary quarantine is in effect. The orbital defenses remain manned by naval personnel, and there is a reinforced battlegroup permanently assigned to system defense." She glanced down at her 'pad for an instant. "Currently, the AS Sheridan and her group are on station, reinforced by the 3rd Cruiser Squadron."

  Carillon looked like he was about to say something further, but Stark spoke first. "Security seems well in hand." He turned slightly. "Number Six, what is the status of the actual excavation?"

  "Progress has been slow. As you all know, this is a very sensitive project from a technical perspective." Number Six was a woman, younger than Number Ten. Indeed, she was the youngest person present. Tall, with long blond hair and blue eyes, Alex Linden had risen faster than any agent in the Directorate's history. It didn't hurt her rise that she was drop-dead gorgeous and willing to use it; before she had been appointed to the Directorate she had been the lover of two of the men and one of the women in the room. But she was brilliant too, and cold-blooded. As well as the affections of a roster of highly-placed officials, she also possessed many of their secrets. Alex was a big believer in using both the carrot and the stick to get what she wanted.

  "We all know the difficulties involved, Number Six." Stark was amused at how differently he reacted to her than anyone else in the room. It was involuntary, and he found it interesting how difficult it was to suppress. Not that he would ever allow that to interfere with his decisions. But he realized he wasn't entirely immune to her charms. "I think what we need is a reliable estimate on when the shipment will be ready. We are going to need the maximum possible security on that. A full battlegroup, at least."

  Alex's smile was brief, barely perceptible, though Stark saw it as she had intended. "Number One, I am confident that the first shipment of items will be ready for transit within six months. With your permission, I will go to Epsilon Eridani IV myself to supervise the final security measures."

  "Yes, that is a good idea. You may leave as soon as you are ready." He paused for a few seconds. "Be careful out there." He doubted he would have added that if he were speaking to any of the others. Honestly, he wouldn't really have cared if most of the others made it back. But he'd miss Alex. He'd probably have to get rid of her one day, he thought, but for now he enjoyed having her around. "Number Ten, please clear Number Six through your onsite security and arrange a suitable cover that affords her any access she requires."

  "Yes, Number One. Consider it done." She kept her voice even and professional, for which she was pleased with herself. Number Ten hated Alex Linden. Bitch was the nicest thing she called her in private.

  "Very well. Let's move on. Number Four, what is the current status of our Marine Corps initiatives?"

  Number Four was the only member of the Committee not present, represented instead by a hologram of a professional, middle-aged man in a stylish suit, which was likely not at all what the individual in question really looked like. Stark was the only one in the room who knew the identity of Number Four, and he intended to keep it that way for now. Not even pretty little Alex had been able to charm it out of him, though she'd tried with commendable enthusiasm.

  "The plan is underway, but progress is slow." Number Four's voice sounded normal - too normal. A regular crowd wouldn't notice the perfection of the tones, but this was a room full of spooks, and they all could tell it was a fake. But it wasn't in any of their interests to push for information Number One didn't want to share. Not in the open, at least. "The political officers have been assigned to units currently in base. It is not practical to interfere with the command structures of deployed forces while they are on campaign."

  "What response have the political officers received from the Marine personnel?" Stark had a pretty good idea, but he wanted to hear it anyway.

  "There has been considerable resistance." The hologram moved naturally as Number Four spoke, turning to face whoever had asked the last question. "As you know, the Marines are recruited from among those who least fit in with the normal population. Their training builds on this, and the result has been an extraordinarily effective fighting force. The Corps fills a void in their lives, which creates a very high level of morale and élan. However, loyalty is largely to the Corps itself and not Alliance Gov. In fact, most Marine personnel harbor a level of resentment, at least against the system in general if not the government in particular."

  "Yes, yes, we are aware of all of this. It is the primary reason we have initiated this plan." Number One found himself looking at the hologram as he spoke. Damn, those things are realistic, he thought as he forced himself to turn away. "But what is the status of implementation?"

  "Few of the officers have truly accepted the attachment of political overseers. Instances of true insubordination have been rare, but there has been tremendous resistance to integrating the new officers into the command structures. Among the Marines themselves there has been considerable grumbling. To date, we have not implemented any disciplinary measures. In fact, with virtually the entire officer corps of one mind on this matter, it will prove to be extremely difficult to impose any serious penalties. At least conventionally."

  Stark reminded himself not to look at the hologram. Not for any particular reason other than it made him feel foolish talking to a laser-generated phantom as is it were a human being. "Do we have any reports regarding the impact on the operational efficiency of the units in combat?"

  "Negative." The hologram looked back at Stark as it answered his question. "Although some units with assigned political liaison staff have been deployed to campaigns, none of these operations have reached a decisive point as of yet. We do have reports that officers are generally keeping the political officers out of the chains of information and command wherever possible. Whether this is the result of multiple instances of individual resistance or a more orchestrated campaign of non-compliance is not yet evident."

  "I'd like to interject something into this debate." The gray-haired man sitting next to Stark had been silent until now.

  "Yes, Number Two, what would you like to a
dd?" Stark paid close attention to everything Number Two said. The old man would have been Number One himself, but he felt he was no longer up to the demands of the job, and he'd asked his protégé Stark to leapfrog him and take the Chair.

  "First, let me make clear that I am in complete agreement that something must be done about the Marine organization as well as the colonial governments, so what I say now is only intended in the context of how best to tactically execute the needed changes in the near term." He looked around the table as several of those present nodded their understanding.

  "I have some concerns about implementing these measures too quickly at this time. While the war has unquestionably taken an upward trajectory from the disastrous early years, it is far from over. I am extremely hesitant to do anything that might impair the combat effectiveness or morale of our forces until victory is assured.

  "We have managed to keep the empire out of the current conflict by an effective campaign of bribery and blackmail. However, if I understand Number Seven's report" - he looked briefly over at that operative, who nodded in response - "General Santiago has been removed from command and may, in fact, have been executed. In any event, he is certainly no longer in a position to sabotage Imperial combat readiness in return for the stipend we have been paying him. We know the Imperial high command is planning attacks on several of our colony worlds. I agree with our decision to withhold warning from our field commanders - the outrage caused by a surprise attack will be quite useful as a propaganda tool, both in terms of focusing the attention of the military and instilling a useful amount of fear and nationalism into the civilian populations. Overall, it is clear the war is escalating, not winding down. I must question if now is the time to tinker too significantly with the military."

  "Do we need to do this at all?" asked Number Ten. "It was relatively easy to maneuver the Marines off of EE-4. Perhaps we can handle things in a less sweeping manner. Maybe we don't need to completely eliminate the Corps. They are a very effective fighting force, and that is useful as long as we can maintain the requisite degree of control."

  Number Two took a drink of water and cleared his throat. "The Corps must be replaced by a more, ah...pliable organization, at least eventually. We all know our history. For nearly a hundred years, the current system has served to remove troublesome elements from Earth and turn them into a valuable resource off-world. The very nature of the system makes the entire force uncontrollable. If we were able to select their officers we might be in a position to work with the current structure, but they all start as privates. It is an interesting system from the perspective of the fighting man or woman, and I can think of no historical force where the officers were as loved and respected by the foot soldiers. There is no reasonable way to infiltrate and control the organization from outside. If we tried to sack the existing officer class and replace them with political appointees, we would face a force-wide mutiny.

  He paused for a breath. "We know why things were set up this way. The Unification Wars had just ended, and the government was in utter disarray. There was no choice but to deal with the military and negotiate the structure of the off-world service, and the resulting flow of military settlers helped build the early colonies. But our colonial presence was a fraction of what it is today, and the Corps was small....fewer than 10,000 during the First Frontier War. Even fifteen years ago there were only 40,000 in total. Now there are over 250,000 active duty personnel, armed with state of the art equipment and nuclear weapons. They have become too strong a force for us to allow outside of our control."

  He tapped a few times on his 'pad. "I just sent you each a dossier containing a watchlist of political trouble spots in the colonies. You will note the length of the list and the fact that almost every vital resource-producing world is on it. There are retired Marines settled on most of these worlds, creating an incestuous relationship we can no longer ignore. The Corps is extremely effective at combating foreign enemies, but if a colonial world rebelled, would they execute an order to crush the revolt?"

  He paused to let them consider what he had just said. "I am also sending you all an economic impact study that shows just how important our colonies have become to the nation." He poked at the 'pad again. "This war has been extremely expensive, and our economy, which was already precarious, has been pushed to the breaking point. If we were to lose the resources of the colonies, or even suffer serious disturbances, we could face total economic collapse within three years.

  "There is no doubt that we must take steps to insure our unquestioned control of the off-world military. But we cannot risk defeat in this war. Therefore, I counsel that we proceed with our initiatives, but slowly. If we experience pushback, indulge it for now. When the war is won there will, of course, be a significant demobilization of the Corps. That will give us the chance to make a more substantial move to take control...or simply to replace the entire structure."

  The room was silent for a moment. Some of the people present were thinking about what Number Two had said; others were simply hesitating, not wanting to express an opinion until they saw what Number One would say.

  Stark just sat quietly, amused by the fact that they all waited for him to express an opinion. Let them wait a while, he thought. They assumed we was stewing on what Number Two had said, but the two of them had already discussed the topic thoroughly, and they were both were on the same page. What Stark was really thinking about was Alex's legs. Specifically, some of the more interesting ways they'd been wrapped around him. She was wearing a very short skirt, something she’d made sure he noticed.

  Finally, he broke the silence. "I agree with Number Two's conclusions. We will proceed with the deployment of the political officers, however no coercive or punitive measures are to be employed until the war is nearing conclusion. We will push very softly on the Marines until they have won the war for us." He paused for a moment. "However, we might as well do some prep work. Instruct the political officers to compile a list of troublesome Marine personnel. When the time comes, we will deal with them first. Perhaps we can cut off the head of the snake, so to speak."

  He stood up and walked over to the window, looking out over the skyline as he continued. "I do, however, think this is an excellent time to step up the implementation of our program to establish greater control over the civilian governments of the colonies themselves. They have had far too much leeway in the past. I want each of you to review the dossier Number Two prepared. When we meet back here next month, be prepared to discuss the specifics for deploying Directorate enforcement personnel to colony worlds, beginning with the most troublesome ones. The war gives us an excellent opportunity, especially on the planets most vulnerable to enemy action - and the projected Imperial surprise attacks will only help in this regard. The pretext of improving defensive capabilities will allow us to established enhanced civilian monitoring in a clandestine manner. Let's also develop a plan to assign a Directorate supervisor as advisor to each of the colonial governments."

  Stark looked around the table to see everyone present nodding in agreement. "Lastly, Number Five, what is the status of our training program for our Directorate military units?"

  Number Five cleared his throat. "We have graduated two battalions, which have been assigned to Number Ten's EE-4 security operation. As we reviewed at our last meeting, we are still having difficulty with the powered armor training. The Corps has had a virtual monopoly on elite powered infantry for nearly a century, so we've had to start from scratch on our efforts."

  "What is the feasibility of ramping up the magnitude of the program?" Stark was looking down at his 'pad as he spoke. "We're going to need to move more than two battalions through at a time if we're going to replace the Corps within the next 5-7 years."

  "Sir, there are some difficulties we will have to overcome before a massive escalation of the program is possible." Number Five was always nervous when he had to tell Number One something he didn't want to hear. Troy Warren had been a corporate magnate and not
a political academy graduate like the others. Even though he'd worked his way onto the Directorate, he wasn't a career intelligence operative, and he sometimes felt like the odd man out. "Our instructional regimen is already substantially accelerated from the standard Marine curriculum. Our casualty rate during training is over 200% of that of the Marine course, despite the greater intensity of their program."

  Number Three scowled. "Are we overly concerned with casualty rates? It's not as if we are likely to run out of cogs any time soon."

  "It's not the recruits; it is the wasted cost and program capacity used on trainees who are going to end up in bodybags and not the battlefield." Warren was annoyed, but he tried to hide it. He was almost as scared of Number Three as he was of Number One. We already have to start with 4,000 recruits to graduate two battalions. If we could cut down the loss rate to parity with the Marines, we could more than double our output of combat-ready units."

  Number One made a face. "Are they really combat ready?" He started to turn to the hologram, but stopped himself again. "Number Four, you've had a chance to review the reports on our first two battalions. Would you characterize them as combat ready?"

  The laser-generated image turned toward Number One. "It depends on how you define the term." The Number Four projection paused for a second, then continued. "Against planetary militias or armed rebels I am certain they would acquit themselves satisfactorily. They have a substantial advantage in equipment over second rate or reserve units and would likely be used in situations where we had total local space superiority."