Exodus: Empires at War: Book 8: Soldiers (Exodus: Empires at War.) (6 page)

“Not so fast,”
cautioned Countess Esmeralda Zhee, leader of the Opposition Party and a sworn
enemy of Sean I.  “I’m still not sure we shouldn’t cut our spending. 
After all, the Cacas are beaten, driven from our space, and the space of our
ally, the Republic.  And since there is no way we can invade them, I see
no reason to throw away money like this.  It’s a lost cause.”

“And if they
come back, Countess?” asked Schmidt, glaring at what he thought of as a very
stupid woman.  “What do you propose to do then?  Throw bad language
at them?”

“We sent them
out of the Empire with their tails between their legs,” argued the woman,
crossing her arms over her chest and returning the glare of the Baron. 
“Why in the Galaxy would they ever want to return here?”

“You know they
still occupy New Moscow?” asked Marconi, closing his eyes and rubbing his
temples.

And I know
how he feels
.  Schmidt had beaten his head against the wall of
stupidity the selfish noble woman had erected against all reason.  It was
frustrating dealing with someone who only thought of herself and her own
desires, which description fit most of her party.  Marconi had once been
the head of the Opposition, but he, at least, had retained a sliver of respect
for the Empire he served, and that had been enough to sway him to the Emperor’s
side when he had been exposed to an actual military operation.  Zhee would
never go to the front.  The chance of death or injury would be a major
inconvenience as far as she was concerned.

“I really don’t
care if they occupy those upstarts,” said the Countess, her nose rising in the
air.  “What have they ever done for us?”

“They’re human
beings, Countess,” said Schmidt, choking off what he really wanted to call
her.  “And while the Cacas occupy their space, they’re only a short hop
from our borders.”

“And we have the
largest fleet in the region already,” continued the woman, as if Schmidt had
never spoken.  “And a young genius in charge.”  She said that last in
a sarcastic tone.  Everyone knew how she felt about the Emperor, and she
made sure that they were constantly reminded of that fact.

“So you will try
to block this appropriation in the Lords?” asked Schmidt, cutting to the chase.

“Of course.”

“And you will once
again fail,” replied Marconi.

“I owe it to our
own to keep trying to stop this madness of continual spending on the military.”

“Very
well.  Try as hard as you want.  On the popular vote of this
committee this appropriations bill will be submitted to the Lords at the next
session.  On to the next order of business.”

This measure
what about creating new peerages in order to reward those who had proven
deserving of them, mostly from actions of heroism in the war.  Again, the
vote was unanimous to present the entire list to the complete House, the only
dissenting vote again Zhee’s.  And again Schmidt simply blew her
off.  Her dissent really didn’t matter.  But he could see how it
might become a problem in the very near future, when the threat of the enemy
was not as immediate as it had been.  And then he would be forced to ask
for a very different vote in the House of Lords.  A vote of impeachment,
followed by a trial for treason.

Chapter Four

Aside from the occasional
genocide, oppression, evil and torture, etc., it is inarguable that public
policy could be implemented more rapidly in an autocracy.

David Harsanyi.

CAPITULUM, JEWEL, MARCH 3, 1002.

“His Majesty,
the Emperor Sean Ogden Lee Romanov, Sean I.  And the Empress Jennifer.”

Everyone around
the table stood, bowing toward the door where the broad shouldered young man,
wearing the dress uniform of a Fleet flag officer, stood with his arm around
the beautiful redheaded woman who was his bride.

Sean escorted
his Empress across the room, heading for the high table, the multitude of
noblemen and women, officers, scions of the Commons, bowed slightly as they
passed.  The people at the high table bowed deeper as he seated Jennifer,
then took his own chair at the center of the table, looking out over the room.

“Everyone please
take your seats,” said Sean in a voice that was amplified throughout the huge
dining room without sounding like it was being reproduced.

The people sat
back in their seats, picking up wine glasses, chatting quietly in the manner
that made the entire room fill with murmurs.  Sean’s sensitive hearing
picked up bits and pieces as he looked over at Jennifer settling in her
chair.  Snatches about himself, Jennifer, her pregnancy.  Not all of
it complimentary, the speakers forgetting that Sean possessed augmented
hearing, if they had ever thought about it.  Sean recognized some of the
voices, and catalogued those in his memory for future use.

The wait staff
started to bustle out of the kitchen, some with chilled bottles of wine to
refill glasses, others with platters stacked with bowls of the soup that was
the first course.  Sean and Jennifer were served first, bowls of steaming
seafood chowder made with fresh caught fish and sea life sending a savory odor
into the room.

“This is really
good,” said Jennifer as she dipped her spoon into the bowl once again.

Sean blew on his
spoon for a moment, then sipped the soup from it.  The rest of the room
set to their soup at that moment, and Sean smiled at the obvious follow the
leader motions of the room.

Someone started
pinging their spoon on their mostly empty wine glass, getting the attention of
the room, and the talking died down to first a low murmur, then silence. 
A young ensign, looking to be just out of the academy, stood at one of the
Fleet tables, holding a wine glass in her hand.  Her voice cracked as she
spoke, raising the glass into the air.

“Ladies and
gentlemen, the Emperor.”

“The Emperor,”
said the hundreds of voices in the room, raising their glasses and taking large
swallows in the honor of their ruler.

Sean lowered his
own glass, setting it back on the table, his eyes still scanning the
assemblage.  He caught a face staring at him out of the corner of his eye,
and turned his gaze quickly to find Countess Esmerelda Zhee staring at him with
an angry expression. 
I almost wish I could make her go away
was
his thought as he returned the gaze, matching her anger with an even
expression.  He still wasn’t sure why she held such animosity toward
him.  She was a political enemy, but most people didn’t let politics rule
their entire life the way this woman did.

The second
course came out, again a specialty of the Emperor’s private chef.  
This was also fish, and was followed by a course of prime rib, then a
pasta.  After that, for anyone who still had room, a desert.

As the plates
were being cleared away and more wine poured, Sean went over his speech in his
head.  The holos were out in force by now, floating around the room, ready
to record his words so they could be rebroadcast around the Empire.  It
was theater, plain and simple, a way to give the straightforward words some
punch from the pomp and circumstances surrounding the event.

“Your attention
please, ladies and gentlemen,” said Sean, standing and letting the sound system
once again amplify his voice so that it sounded to everyone in the room like he
was at their table.  The sound in the room dropped to a whisper, then down
to nothing as every face turned his way.

“As you know, we
have kicked the Cacas out of the Empire and Republic both.”

The room erupted
into cheering, glasses were raised and clinked together, everyone celebrating
the victory.

“But this
doesn’t mean we have won the war,” he continued, raising his hand to quiet everyone. 
“I wish it did.  I truly wish the fighting was over, that we had taught
the Cacas a lesson and that they would never return to our space.  That we
could return to a stance of peace, or at least as much of one as our normally
feisty neighbors would let us.”

There was some
light laughter at that last line.  The Empire had been at peace with most
of the neighbors for quite some time.  The exceptions had been the
Lasharans and the Fenri, neither the most reasonable of species or
nations.  The other nations hadn’t been as belligerent, mostly because of
having had their asses handed to them in past wars.

“I’m afraid that
won’t be possible as long as the Ca’cadasans are still around as an organized
Empire.  Maybe after we have totally destroyed their fleet and knocked out
their manufacturing base, we can have peace with them.  But make no
mistake.  They want us gone.  Destroyed, extinct.  And they are
not going to stop until we are.”

There were some
murmurs at that, and Sean found himself looking at Zhee again, who was again
giving him her glare.  She had her own political agenda, and the reality
of the Universe had nothing to do with it.

“They still have
a presence in New Moscow, and we need to get rid of that presence, get it out
of our backyard.  And they will be reinforcing there in the near future,
intelligence tells me within ten months.  From there they will again
attack our Empire, and the Republic.  Instead, I plan to beat them to the
punch and hit them with an operation in the next five months.  Due to
operational security, I can say no more about that.  Just know that we
will kick them out of New Moscow space, and from there we will plan our own
thrust into their space.”

Sean really
hadn’t given out any information that the Cacas couldn’t guess at
themselves.  Instead, he had just used disinformation to further his
cause.  This information would get out to the spies the Cacas had
scattered around the Empire, and when more and more Imperial ships started
poking around in the Kingdom of New Moscow, they would associate them with the
offensive they knew was coming in five months.  And then, when the real
offensive kicked off in less than two months, they would be surprised.

“Plan on us
being engaged in a war of survival for a century or more.  This is something
we as a people are not used to.  The human species is used to fighting
short, sharp wars, no longer than a couple of years.  But this foe is too
big, there is no possible strategy to knock them out of the war with one hammer
blow.  Or even with a dozen.  This is going to call for some
sacrifices.  More among the aristocracy and the wealthy class than others,
since they can afford the sacrifice more than the working class.  But they
will be called on to sacrifice as well.  Sometimes that sacrifice will
entail property, or work hours.  Sometimes it will call for their
lives.  Lives sacrificed now and in the near future will pay off in lives
saved further on.”

Sean stopped for
a moment, his eyes roaming over the crowd, taking in the mostly attentive expressions. 
Many of them were in one of the services.  Others would soon be going into
one or the other.  Not all of them would come back.  In fact, that
might be true for most of them.  If they lost this war, that would be true
for all of them, to be followed by the rest of the human species.

Sean stood for a
moment, thinking, dismissing the rest of his memorized speech for the
moment.  He decided to instead go with his heart for the last.

“You all know
that I didn’t plan to be in this position, to become the Emperor on the eve of
the greatest war our species has ever faced.  I expected my father to rule
for many more years, maybe for another century.  And when he died, my
brothers were next in line, while I had planned for a naval career. 
Circumstances beyond my control gave me the crown.  Other circumstances
brought war to our doorstep before I could even ascend the throne.  I
would have preferred to have been the Emperor to have led my species, and those
others who inhabit our Empire, into a golden age of peaceful expansion. 
Instead, I find myself leading us into this fight.  My heart breaks every
time I think of what we have to face.  But I am determined to win, and I
think that if the rest of our species can muster the courage and determination
that we can win.  So,” he finished, grabbing his wine glass and raising it
into the air, “to victory.”

The room erupted
into a loud and long cheer, a celebration that would go out over the media to
the entire planet and beyond.  Sean dropped back into his seat, and
Jennifer put her arms around him.  And Sean hoped that the
disinformational part of his speech would do what was intended.  That the
Cacas would be caught off guard when his forces rolled into New Moscow space
and kicked them out.  And that the offensive would catch them enough off
guard that they could rescue most of the people the Cacas had in their death
camps.

*    
*     *

“So, what do you
have for me?” asked Special Agent Sonia Rupert of the Imperial Intelligence
Agency.

“Not a whole
lot,” said the Maurid known as
Striped Wolf
to the agent.  The
strong and smooth moving alien was mostly several shades of orange, like a
large tabby cat, though in form it was closer to a canine, though not quite
enough to mistake it for a real wolf.  One look at its large cranium and
intelligent eyes would disabuse anyone of the notion that it was an
animal.  “My masters kind of left me to my own devices as they fled your
space.”

“Do you expect
them to get back in touch with you?”

The creature
stood there on all fours for a moment, then shifted to a bipedal stance, its
front feet unfolding into hands.  Its rear extremities stayed in the
configuration of feet, though they also could become hands at need.  “I
hope you don’t plan on trying to use me in a manner I don’t wish to be used,
just because I am not in touch with my masters.”

The Maurid
flexed her hands, revealing the razor claws that were her primary natural
weapons.  Sonia stared at those claws in fascination.  She was
augmented herself, with the same kind of strength and speed as a Ranger or
Naval Commando, if not the same mass.  Her lesser mass made her a little
weaker and a little faster.  But here was an unaugmented creature that she
was sure could rip her apart without much effort.

“I would not
think of capturing you,” she told the creature.

“And I know
that’s a lie,” said the Maurid, showing her sharp teeth in an intimidating
smile.  “I know I would consider such an action, if it was in the best
interests of my mission.  You are not stupid creatures, so I am sure that
you think the same.  Which doesn’t mean I would do such a thing, or that
you would, but it doesn’t hurt to be just a little cautious.”

“OK.  I can
say that such has been discussed at levels above mine.  And it has been
vetoed by my Director and the Emperor.  You have been useful to us in the
past, and we suspect you will be at least as useful to us in the future. 
If not, we have no doubt that you will not reveal anything you don’t want to
reveal.”

“Very well,”
said
Striped Wolf
with another smile.  “Since I am stranded here, I
have no choice but to trust you.  But while we are talking about this, I
really could use some more supplies.”

“Anything else
for your comfort?”

“I have all the
comforts I can desire, with the exception of a male of my species.  Which,
I am afraid, you cannot provide.”

“I wish we could
help you there,” said Sonia, who had been celibate herself since starting this
mission, not having time for a love life, or proximity to anyone she would want
to have sex with.  “You have my com address.  I expect you to get in
touch with me if you hear anything of interest.”

“Of course,”
said the Maurid, sitting back on one of the rocks in an almost human posture,
this time unfolding a rear extremity into a hand and stroking her fur. 
“And thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not forcing
me to try and run back to my so called masters.  That in itself is a gift
beyond measure.”

“You really hate
them that much?”

“I really hate
them that much,” she said, showing her fangs in something which could never be
mistaken for a smile.  “The sooner you make them go extinct, the better.”

*    
*    *

Capital Police
Lieutenant Ishuhi Rykio, also known to some as Captain Rykio of Imperial Fleet
Intelligence (Reserve), looked out of the window of the transport that was
taking him over the Sutter Range, which bounded the city of Capitulum to the
southwest.  He had thought about taking the train, which actually would
have gotten him the scene faster than the subsonic transport that was built for
city patrol.  The train traveled at a thousand kilometers an hour, the
transport at six hundred.  But the transport gave him the advantage of
looking at the scene from overhead while coming in, getting the overall layout
of the area.

They crossed the
midline of the range, falling into a valley that was sparsely lined with luxury
homes that took advantage of the high view.  Ishuhi’s implant, connected
into the planetary database through the police net, gave him basic information
on each residence as it entered his line of sight.  Size, layout, cost,
names and occupations of residents.  A glance at the small river down the
center was labeled as soon as he looked at it, and with a thought he brought up
the speed and temperature of the water.  Most of this was information that
any civilian implant could give on this, the capital planet of the
Empire.  With the exception of the residence info, which would have been
limited to the name of the primary owner, unless there was a privacy block in
place.