Cluster Command: Crisis of Empire II (9 page)

“Which brings us to the rebels,” Tenly said impatiently. “Let’s get on with it.”

But Senda wouldn’t be hurried. “All in due time. First, it is necessary to understand why the Haiken Maru brought Cernians and humans to Teller in the first place. As I said earlier, the ancestors of both groups were originally brought to Teller as contract labor: the Cernians to work the mines and the humans to work the farms. And they weren’t chosen casually. The Haiken Maru puts considerable time and thought into the matter.” The holo changed to show shots of Cernia.

“Cernia has a very red sun, plus large areas of triple-canopy forest. As a result, members of my race cannot tolerate direct sunlight for extended periods of time. We evolved on the forest floor, developing our green skin color as protective coloration. Due to the low light levels found there, we also have excellent night vision. That, plus our short height and low incidence of claustrophobia accounts for our selection as miners.” The holo shimmered, giving way to shots of emaciated-looking humans tilling fields with hand tools.

“We Cernians are vegetarians, but since we cannot work in the open, the Haiken Maru brought in humans to grow our food. humans have always been good at agriculture and can tolerate a great deal of direct sunlight. During the early times, the humans were better paid and better treated than the Cernians, but that advantage has slowly slipped away. Today, farm humans are no better off than Cernian miners.

“Haiken Maru management regards both groups as inferior, claiming they have become so mutated and inbred that they are little better than animals.” He paused. “This claim is absurd. Both groups have more than adequately large gene pools.”

“Plus, there’s strong evidence that outside genes are sometimes added to the local pool of both species,” Merikur put in dryly.

Senda’s lips turned downwards. “General Merikur is correct. There is evidence of traffic between the government of Cernia and the Cernian miners. There also seems to be considerable commerce between pirates and human farmers.”

“All of which brings us to the rebellion,” Tenly added impatiently.

“As you wish,” Senda replied. “Actually, the rebels are nothing new. For a long time, members of both races have escaped into the jungle. Although ‘escape’ doesn’t accurately describe the transition from one kind of hell to another.”

The holo changed to a point of view shot as the camera walked down a jungle trail. Vegetation pushed in from both sides, strange sounds came from all around, and the sun was a dim presence far above.

“The hostile environment is partly due to Teller’s ecosystem, which has its share of unfriendly animal and plant life. Far worse, however, are some off-world life forms imported by the Haiken Maru. This is a good example.”

The jungle trail dissolved into a shot of an innocent-looking, broad-leafed plant. “This is called ‘Nakada,’ which in the language of my people means ‘painful death.’ Brief contact with this plant makes us very ill and prolonged exposure is fatal. The Haiken Maru imported this plant from Cernia and used aerial seeding to spread it across the surface of Teller.”

The picture changed once more. This time it showed a large snake. “As those of you born and raised on Terra may already know, this is a fer-de-lance, a rather large and venomous reptile harmful to both races, but lethal to humans. These are examples only. The Haiken Maru has imported other hostile life forms as well. In spite of that, the rebels are not only surviving, they are by all accounts flourishing.”

Senda pushed a button. The holo disappeared and the gray curtain slid closed. “I mention this for three reasons. It tells you the Haiken Maru is ruthless. It tells you the rebels are tough. And it tells you we are in deep fecal matter. Making the whole thing worse is the fact that over the last few years, the rebels have received outside help.”

Senda raised his eyebrows in a gesture equivalent to that of a human pursing his lips as he considered how to proceed. “It is no secret that the Cernian government is split into two factions. On one side are those who desire independence from the Pact and feel war is inevitable; on the other side are those—like myself—who favor membership in the Pact, if that membership can be obtained as full and equal partners.”

For a moment, there was silence in the room. Everyone knew what Senda had left unsaid. The truth was that while the Cernian Confederation would be a tough nut to crack, the central fleet would eventually win, and Cernia would be reduced to glazed rock. Weakened though it was, the Pact was still stronger than the Confederation. This more than anything else accounted for Senda’s devotion to Windsor. It was Senda himself who broke the silence.

“There is little doubt that those who favor Cernian independence have smuggled arms, ammunition, and other supplies to their countrymen on Teller. Haiken Maru security forces simply aren’t numerous enough to stop them and General Merikur’s predecessor made no effort to do so. In addition, I suspect that a Cernian insurgency expert known as ‘Jomu’ has been sent to Teller. His leadership, plus the smuggled arms, have apparently tipped the balance in favor of the rebels. Jomu belongs to that fraction of our government which believes war is inevitable. It is their desire to recognize Teller as an independent state preparatory to annexing it to the Cernian Confederation. Once they secure a base on Teller, they believe their forces can withstand not only Cluster Command, but units from the central fleet as well. And even if they’re wrong, Teller could still be useful as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.”

“But,” Senda added with one of his upside down grins, “we Cernians are not the only problem on Teller. As General Merikur once pointed out to me, some humans never give up, and the farmers of Teller are a case in point. It seems the human rebels managed to hijack a ground shipment of rare ores a year ago, and have since used it to buy arms from the pirates. They too are harassing Haiken Maru operations and laying siege to settlements. As a matter of fact, the two groups seem to have entered into an uneasy alliance. Between them they’ve managed to slow production to a crawl. As I mentioned earlier, Port City is under siege, and contact with outlying mining and agricultural stations is via armed convoy, since aircraft are vulnerable to ground fire.”

Senda smiled around the room. “To sum up, things have reached a critical stage on Teller, and we need to respond. Governor?”

As Senda took his seat, Windsor stood. “Thank you, Eitor. You’ve done an outstanding job of pulling it all together. There’s only one factor left to discuss and that’s the Haiken Maru.”

He picked up a bound document and held it out for them to see. “I received this a few hours ago. You’re all welcome to read it, but I’ll give you an executive summary. The Haiken Maru is demanding that I send in the marines and restore peace to Teller.”

Lieutenant Commander Moskone frowned. “Assuming we restore peace and, from what Eitor says it wouldn’t be easy, we’d be supporting the moral equivalent of slavery.”

“And almost guaranteeing war with Cernia,” Von Oy added thoughtfully.

“The law is the law,” Tenly countered. “It’s our job to enforce it, not to make it. And if Cernia wants war, we’ll give it to them. Sorry Eitor . . . but that’s how I feel.”

Windsor nodded gravely and smiled. “You all have valid points. I must confess that I don’t see an answer yet. He turned to Senda. “Eitor, I want you and Anson to leave for Teller as soon as possible. Try to find a solution everyone can live with. Anson, I can’t put Eitor in charge because most humans wouldn’t accept him, but I want you to follow his advice on political matters. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Excellent. I’d go myself if I could. But, unfortunately, we’ve got other problems as well. They’ll keep Captain Von Oy and myself occupied for some time. As soon as we put some of them to rest, I’ll drop into Teller for a visit.”

Merikur cleared his throat. “Sir?”

“Yes, Anson?”

“Who signed the communication from the Haiken Maru?”

“One Nola Rankoo.”

“She tried to kill you, Sir.”

Windsor nodded. “She tried to kill all of us, but we don’t have any proof. Or did your interrogation turn up something new?”

Two aliens had survived the ballroom massacre with only minor wounds. Merikur’s intelligence people had debriefed them extensively—and gotten nothing. It wasn’t that the aliens were taciturn; on the contrary, they babbled everything they knew—but what they knew was worthless.

One prisoner had been a mercenary pure and simple; the other was a political crazy who spouted endless drivel. Neither knew who’d organized or paid for the assassination attempt. Both believed no humans were involved. Nola Rankoo and her agents had hidden their tracks well.

“Nothing new, Sir,” Merikur replied. “I’m afraid that’s a dead end.”

Windsor rocked back and forth on his feet. “That’s too bad. I’d love to nail her hide to the wall. What will you do with the two assassins?”

Merikur looked Windsor in the eye. “Bury them.”

Chapter 6

Merikur headed for Teller with 1,000 of his 1,500 marines and seven of his thirty ships. He had left the remainder under the command of Captain Von Oy, who would need them to keep a damper on the rest of the cluster while Merikur was gone.

Merikur was using Commander Yamaguchi’s cruiser,
Resplendent,
as his flag ship. He also had two transports, two destroyers, a destroyer escort and a scout. They were two hours out of Augustine when he put the scout to use. Lieutenant Commander Moskone took two steps into Yamaguchi’s day cabin, snapped to attention, and rapped out, “Lieutenant Commander Moskone reporting as ordered, Sir!”

Merikur smiled. “Cut the crap, Paul, and have a seat. Coffee’s over there.”

Once Moskone was settled in with a cup of coffee, Merikur got down to business. “Paul, I’ve got a little chore I’d like you to handle.” Merikur tapped a sealed document case with his right index finger. “I want you to take this to Admiral Oriana at Scorpion Base. It contains a report on what’s happened so far, and a request for a thousand marines. From what we’ve heard about Teller, I think we’re gonna need ’em.”

Moskone raised an eyebrow. “Whatever you say, Sir, but why not dump it in a message torp?”

Merikur shook his head. “Because the Haiken Maru has an extremely effective intelligence network. If we send the message by conventional means, chances are they’ll intercept it. That’s why I waited until now. No one will know you’re heading for Sector HQ. Take the scout. Just make damned sure nobody sees that report except Oriana. Okay?”

Moskone gulped his coffee. “Agreed, Sir. I’ll have a drink at the officer’s club for you.”

Merikur nodded. “Make it a double.”

###

An hour later the small scout broke formation and headed for Sector Headquarters. Merikur watched it go via the ship’s plotting tank. The scout was a tiny spark of red light as it swung away from the rest of the fleet and picked up speed. “Good luck, Paul,” Merikur thought. “We’re all going to need it.”

A few minutes later Merikur headed for his cabin, the same stateroom he’d shared with Bethany on the uncomfortable trip out. At least he’d have it to himself this time.

The door slid open to reveal an enormous pile of baggage. Merikur stepped through the hatch and looked around. “Bethany, what the hell are you doing here?”

Bethany stepped out of the sleeping cabin. “Why Anson, is that any way to talk to your devoted wife?”

God, she was beautiful. She didn’t even have to work at it; she just was. He struggled to put a frown on his face. “I thought we agreed that you’d stay on Augustine . . . How did you get aboard anyhow?”

Bethany smiled. “I changed my mind. As for getting aboard, that was easy. I just told the officer on duty that you wanted me here.” She paused for a second. “You
do
want me here, don’t you?”

Merikur searched her face for some sign of sarcasm and saw none. His reply seemed to come without volition. “Of course I do. Welcome aboard. The sleeping cabin is all yours.”

For a moment he thought she might—hoped she might . . . but instead she smiled and said, “I’ll get my luggage out of your way in the next hour or two.”

###

The trip to Teller was uneventful and quite pleasant. There were regular workouts with Eitor in the gym, and instead of dreading his stateroom as he had on the way out, Merikur looked forward to going there.

It was a haven, a hideaway from the pressures of his job where he and Beth spent long hours together. They talked about everything, their childhoods, their likes and dislikes, everything.

Everything but her previous marriage. The trip was over all too soon.

The fleet dropped out of hyperdrive a safe distance off planet and blasted in towards Teller. A quick check revealed nothing but an old freighter and a few satellites in orbit. Nevertheless Merikur ordered the single destroyer escort and a destroyer to patrol a half-light out. If anything came his way he wanted to know about it. In the meantime, the cruiser and the remaining destroyer would provide protection for the two transports.

There were two ways he could arrive. The friendly way, “Hello, just dropped in to see if I could help.” And the threatening way, “Hello, I just landed with a thousand marines. Now whose ass am I gonna kick first?” It took Merikur about ten seconds to decide on the second approach.

###

Like everyone else, Artha Nugumbe ran out into the street when the first sonic booms began to roll across the sky. At first she was scared. Who was it? Friend or foe? But her fears disappeared as a low-flying LCS (Landing Craft Shuttle) did a slow roll revealing its Pact design.

So the new Governor had enough balls to send in the marines. Good. Maybe there was hope after all.

She went back inside and began to summarize her reports. Maybe someone would read them for a change.

###

On the other side of Port City, Arthur Treeling felt his erection disappear. Climbing off the frightened farm girl he rushed to a window and threw it open. A sonic boom rolled across the town and shattered a window across the way.