Flagship (21 page)

"I don't think so," said Cole.

"I admire your audacity, Captain Cole," said Wilkie, "but your grasp on reality leaves a little something to be desired."

Cole nodded his head almost imperceptibly, and an instant later Lafferty's five men, Chadwick, and Gentry all had their weapons out and aimed at the guards.

"Is my grasp on reality getting any more secure?" asked Cole, tensing and breaking out of his manacles. The other five prisoners followed suit.

Cole turned to the guards. "Mr. Pampas here is going to disarm each of you in turn. If you offer no resistance, you won't be harmed. If you resist, or cause any problems before we leave, I have absolutely no compunction about ordering your deaths. Bull, collect their weapons, please."

Pampas went from one guard to another, disarming them. The very last one backed up a step and reached for his weapon. Val, who had posed as a member of Lafferty's team, drilled him squarely between the eyes with a beam of solid light, and he collapsed to the floor.

"He was warned," said Cole. "I want each of you to walk to the far end of the office. Gentry, did you bring that tape I asked for?"

She nodded and held up two rolls of tape.

"Mr. Pampas and Mr. Sokolov, take the tape from her, and bind each of our prisoners' hands and feet—you'll need knives or scissors to cut it; Gentry will supply them. And you might as well cover their mouths while you're at it." Sokolov seemed about to ask a question.

"It's all right, Mr. Sokolov," said Cole. "I know it's light in weight, but even Val couldn't break free of it."

Pampas and Sokolov went to work, while a couple of Lafferty's men pitched in and helped. The job was done in less than three minutes, and Cole turned his attention back to Wilkie.

"Are you all through with empty threats and false claims of victory, Secretary Wilkie?" he asked.

"What do you want?" growled Wilkie.

"I should have thought that would be obvious," said Cole. "I want amnesty for every man, woman, and alien serving under me, I want your pledge to keep the Navy out of the Inner Frontier, and"—he paused briefly—"as a public show of contrition for all the abuses of your administration, I want your resignation and that of your cabinet and advisors."

"Never!" said Egan. "I am the duly elected representative of the people!"

"I'm sure you are," said Cole. "I'm even sure it was an honest election. Well, as honest as elections get to be. But that in no way alters the fact that you are a disgrace to your office, and your continued presence in it is no longer tolerable."

"Says the mutineer!" said Wilkie contemptuously.

"Did Susan Garcia ever explain the conditions surrounding my act of mutiny?" asked Cole.

"No. Why should she?"

"No reason that I can think of," said Cole. He shrugged. "It's ancient history anyway. We're not here to rehash it, but to make some new history. I want you to summon your top three advisors. There's no sense having you resign if your successor is just going to carry out the same policies. We'll want a mass resignation."

"You go to hell!" said Wilkie.

"I don't think you understand your position, Mr. Wilkie—or ours, for that matter. If we walk out any of these doors while your government is in place, the very best we can hope for is a quick and painless death. Therefore, we're not going to do that."

"Do your worst!" snapped Wilkie. "I'm not resigning!"

"I want you to consider what our worst entails, Mr. Wilkie," said Cole. "You already know that we can't leave this office while you remain the Secretary of the Republic. The choice is yours: you can resign, or you can be removed in a more permanent way."

Wilkie glared at him and made no reply.

"I'm going to ask you again: will you tell your top three advisors to report here?"

"I will not."

"I think you've made a very unwise decision," said Cole.

"I can live with it."

"For about thirty more seconds," said Cole. "Val, will you come over here, please?"

The Valkyrie walked over until she was standing at Cole's side.

"The reason I asked for you rather than one of the others is because Mr. Wilkie has seen that your burner works. I wouldn't want him to make a foolish decision on the assumption that this was a ruse. Please point your burner at him."

Val raised her weapon and aimed it at Wilkie.

"I want you to count to ten," said Cole. "If he hasn't agreed to summon his assistants by then, fire the weapon."

Val began counting. On "six" Wilkie seemed to slump into himself.

"All right," he said.

"Damn!" muttered Val.

"Keep it trained on him," said Cole. "If the first three people to show up aren't his advisors, use it." He turned to Wilkie. "All right, Mr. Wilkie. A galaxy is waiting."

Wilkie touched three spots on his desk. "I need the three of you," he said. "Right now!"

"Colonel Blacksmith?" said Cole.

"Yes?" said Sharon.

"You're the security expert. Did that seem legitimate to you? No hidden signals, no codes?"

"It looked normal."

"Mr. Wilkie, what door will they come through?"

"Two will use the door you entered through," said Wilkie. "The third will use that one," he continued, pointing to a different door.

"I hope you're right," said Cole.

All three advisors arrived within two minutes. Cole had them stand behind Wilkie's desk, where Val and the others could watch the four of them, and then explained the situation.

"If you resign willingly, we have no further business with you," Cole concluded. "There will be no trial, no jail time, nothing but a complete retirement from public life."

"And just who do you think will replace us?" demanded one of them. "Yourself?"

"No," said Cole.

"So you'll hold an election?" continued the man. "Well, we
won
the damned election! You don't like our policies? I'm sorry about that, but you can't be so dumb as to think every policy in the Republic gets made in this room! Good God, man—we're governing sixty thousand worlds and fighting four wars!"

"Four?" said Sharon, surprised.

"You think the Teroni Federation is the only power that's opposed to the Republic? Where the hell have you been?"

"Where you couldn't reach us," said Cole.

"So you've taken it upon yourself to get rid of Secretary Wilkie and us," said the man. "What about his other advisors? One of them might have given the particular advice you object to. You'd better get rid of them all. Same with his cabinet. And of course you'll have to dissolve parliament. They might pass a bill you don't like."

"Who
is
this man?" demanded Val angrily.

"I'm Aloysius Chang, and I'm sorry if you don't like what I'm saying, but the truth is often uncomfortable." He turned to Cole. "You want to depose Secretary Wilkie? Maybe kill him? And you think that will change everything?" His face contorted in a sneer. "It'll change
nothing!
It'll just be a case of the king is dead, long live the king. You don't change something like the Republic by getting rid of one man— or four, as the case may be."

"You're right," agreed Cole.

"Well, then?"

"We have to start somewhere," said Cole, "and it makes more sense to start at the top than at the bottom."

"Do you think you'll live to see any noticeable change?" asked Chang.

"I'm the most wanted man in the Republic, standing here in the Secretary's office on Deluros VIII. I may not live out the afternoon."

Chang smiled. "Well, you're honest anyway, Captain Cole," he said. "But you're not realistic. The Republic is too damned big and far-flung for any change to have a major effect in one mere lifetime."

"You make a lot more sense than Wilkie does," said Cole. "Why aren't
you
the Secretary?"

"Come back in five years," said Chang with a smile.

"I think not," said Cole.

"Then leave now. I'll guarantee you safe passage out of the Republic."

"The hell you will!" snarled Wilkie.

"Shut up, Egan," said Chang, "and maybe I can save your ass." He turned back to Cole. "What do you say, Captain Cole?"

"You can do that?" asked Cole.

"In the Secretary's name, yes," said Chang. "Take my offer, Captain. You can't beat the odds."

"You had the Navy hunting us for four years and we beat those odds," said Cole. "Mr. Wilkie is in the best-protected office on the best-protected planet in the galaxy, and we beat those odds, too. Now you tell me it's a million-to-one against our effecting a change. Maybe you're right, but we're going to have to find out for ourselves."

"I bear you no ill will, Captain Cole," said Chang. "In fact, you are precisely the kind of man who explored the stars and created the Republic in the first place. But you are making a serious mistake, and I will do everything in my power to stop you."

"Well, I bear him plenty of ill will," said Wilkie, "and if we survive this episode, I plan to prove it."

Cole glanced at Wilkie, then leaned over and said, making no effort to hide the contempt in his voice, "How do you stand it?"

"If I wasn't here, things would be much worse," answered Chang just as softly.

"Wilson?" said Sharon suddenly.

"Yes?" said Cole. "What is it?"

"Wilkie has glanced very furtively at his watch two or three times in the last couple of minutes."

"Well, Mr. Wilkie?" said Cole. "Who are you expecting, and when?"

"No one," said Wilkie.

"Oh, for God's sake, Egan, don't be an ass!" snapped Chang. He turned to Cole. "We're due to have a meeting with the leaders of the parliament in about ten minutes."

"Here in this office?" asked Cole.

"Yes."

"You fucking traitor!" yelled Wilkie.

"Use your brain, Egan!" snapped Chang. "They've got eight men and women with their weapons out, and they're in enemy territory. If they don't know who's coming, they'll kill anyone who walks in through that door."

"How many are we expecting?" asked Cole.

"Six," replied Chang. "There's time to cancel it. I won't tell them you're here."

"No, let them come," said Cole. "We might as well have some unimpeachable witnesses to Wilkie's resignation."

"They'll claim it was at gunpoint and isn't valid."

"I think the leader of the opposition will take a different view of it," said Cole.

Chang shrugged, then checked his own timepiece. "We'll know soon enough."

Suddenly the building seemed to shake.

Cole frowned. "A quake?"

"We've never had one before," said Chang.

There was a massive explosion a mile to the north, the building shook again, and the air outside the window turned black with smoke.

"That's no quake!" exclaimed Val. "That was a bomb!"

"Planted?" asked Sokolov.

"Hell, no!" she said as five more explosions followed in rapid order. "Somebody got through the planet's defenses!"

Cole walked over to the window and looked out.

"A
lot
of somebodies," he said, as the massive court building across the plaza took a direct hit and collapsed in a pile of rubble.

"This has got to be their number one target," said Val. "We're sitting ducks here. We'd better try to get back to the ship."

"Forget it," said Cole.

"We can't just stay here!" said Lafferty nervously.

"Try to remember where you are," said Cole as another explosion rocked the building. "This office is the only place on the whole damned planet where you won't be shot on sight."

"I've got to contact the Navy and find out what's going on!" said Wilkie. "The Teronis weren't supposed to be within thirty thousand light-years!" He reached for a panel on his desk.

Cole grabbed his hand. "I don't trust you, Mr. Wilkie."

"Damn it, I have to know what's happening!" said Wilkie as a nearby explosion shook the building again.

"Mr. Chang, you contact whoever you need," said Cole.

Chang walked swiftly behind the desk and began touching various hot spots, asking terse questions, getting disjointed answers. After a moment he looked up, a puzzled frown on his face. "It's not the Teronis," he said.

"Who
is
it?" asked Wilkie.

"We don't know. But they're here in numbers, and they have formidable weaponry."

"Why didn't we have any warning?" demanded Wilkie.

"I don't know, Egan," replied Chang. "This is the first minute of a surprise attack. We're not going to get all the answers immediately."

A corner of the parliament building crumbled.

"You may not live long enough to get any answers at all," said Cole, looking out the window.

"How bad is it?" asked Val.

"The sky is black with ships, and they sure as hell don't look like the Navy's."

A light flashed on the desk.

"What's that?" asked Cole sharply.

"The parliamentary leaders," said Chang.

"Mr. Chang, go to the door and let them in one at a time. No Security personnel can enter. Val, if Mr. Wilkie tries to summon help from the corridor or anywhere else, kill him."

"I could kill him right now and save a lot of bother," she said.

"Just do what I say. Bull, you and Vladimir stand guard by the door. I think Mr. Chang is a reasonable man, but I won't bet your lives on it. If any Security personnel, or anyone besides the people we're waiting for, try to enter, or take a shot from outside the office, kill them."

Pampas and Sokolov accompanied Chang to the door. It split open, he quickly ushered in seven men and women, and it snapped shut again.

"Do we know who's attacking us?" asked one of the women.

"No," said Chang.

She suddenly noticed Cole and his team, and the bound Security men.

"What's going on here, Aloysius?"

"I'll explain it later," said Chang. "Right now we and Captain Cole seem to have an enforced truce while we're dealing with the greater danger."

As he spoke a bomb left a huge hole in the adjacent street, and the weapon-proof glass in the windows shattered.

"Captain," said Chang, "you've got a ship up there. Two ships, in fact. Can either of them give us a clearer picture of what's happening?"

"I'll have to see if either of them still exist," said Cole, pulling out a communicator. He decided to send it coded and scrambled, on the assumption that if Deluros survived the attack, he still had a planetful of enemies.

"Are you all right, sir?" said Christine's voice. Her image appeared and surveyed the room. "Who
are
all these people?"

"Forget that," said Cole tersely. "What's going on up there?"

"A fleet of maybe a thousand ships just appeared out of nowhere, sir," she said. "It looks like they're doing heavy damage to the planet."

"They're not bothering you or the
Sabine Nova?"

"Not so far. Most of the Navy has flown to meet them. I don't think they're concerned with a pair of ships that are docked in orbit."

"Stay
docked," ordered Cole. "This isn't our battle."

"Yes, sir."

"If I don't check in every hour, assume we're dead. Make one final attempt to contact me, Val, or Lafferty, and if you can't, then get the hell away from Deluros whenever you think the coast is clear."

"I won't leave you, sir."

"If I'm dead, I won't mind," said Cole. "Just follow my orders, damn it!"

"Yes, sir," she said miserably, and broke the connection.

"You're wrong, Captain," said Chang.

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Cole. "What do
you
think I'm wrong about?"

"You're a Man. This
is
your battle."

"We know who our enemies are, Mr. Chang," said Cole. "These guys don't even know we're here. If they kill us, it'll be by accident."

"You'll be just as dead."

"Spare me your moralizing. If they leave this whole planet in ruins, all that means is that the Republic can set up shop somewhere else and make a fresh start."

The light on the desk began flashing, and this time Wilkie responded to it, while Val kept her burner trained on him. He spoke in short sentences and low tones, and finally looked up. "The
Xerxes
has been destroyed," he announced.

"Wasn't that Susan Garcia's flagship?" asked Lafferty.

"It was the
Republic's
flagship," said Wilkie. "Susan Garcia is no longer aboard it." He frowned. "Fleet Admiral Bolinski was aboard it. His second and third in command were also killed."

"So who's in charge?" asked one of the politicos.

Wilkie shrugged. "The
Xerxes
was supposed to be impregnable. Most of our senior command was aboard it."

"So no one's directing our response?" asked another.

"Someone
must be trying, but there's no reason for the others to accept his or her authority. They're probably all acting on their own now."

"So much for the greatest Navy ever assembled," snorted Val contemptuously.

Wilkie seemed shell-shocked. He moved his hands in meaningless frantic gestures. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he said at last.

"Yeah, I'll bet that's what every beaten general says," she replied.

"I think, Egan," said another woman, "that you had better call Admiral Garcia back."

"Don't be foolish, Anya," said Chang. "She's half a galaxy away, and besides, her ship has just been demolished."

"It's not
her
ship," said Wilkie petulantly as the remainder of the parliament building collapsed.

"It's not anyone's ship, not anymore," said Chang.

"Are you blaming
me
for that?" demanded Wilkie. "Do you think Susan could have defended it any better than Bolinski?"

"We'll never know now," said an advisor.

The light flashed again, and this time it was Chang who began whispering with the voices at the other end of the transmission. Finally he looked up. "We're in
big
trouble."

"You're just figuring that out?" said Val.

"There's no central authority. The Navy's like a snake without a head. It's thrashing about with no direction."

Wilkie glared at Cole. "This is
your
fault!"

"I'm
not bombing your damned planet," said Cole.

"But if it wasn't for you, half the ships we had in reserve against the Teronis wouldn't be crisscrossing the galaxy looking for the
Theodore Roosevelt
, and I wouldn't have had to fire Susan Garcia." A tear, whether of regret or frustration or terror, rolled down his cheek. "She was the greatest military mind of her era."

Another bomb hit nearby, and the building literally swayed.

"I have an idea," said Chang. He looked at Cole. "I need to pull a more powerful communication device out of his desk drawer. May I?"

Cole signaled Val to walk around to the side of the desk where she could see exactly what Chang was doing. "Go ahead," he said.

"Thank you," said Chang, opening a drawer, pulling out a complex communicator, and putting it on the desk. He programmed in a complex code, and a moment later Susan Garcia's face—gaunter than Cole remembered it, but every bit as arrogant—appeared.

"Why are you disturbing me?" she said coldly.

"Deluros is under attack by an unknown foe," said Chang.

"Not the Teronis?" she asked as another bomb shook the building.

"No."

She smiled. "You do seem to have your work cut out for you."

"The
Xerxes
has been destroyed," said Chang.

"That's a shame," she said. "That ship was my home for eleven years."

"Admiral Bolinski has been killed. So have Admirals Palatine, Burstein, and Ngima."

"I'm very sorry to hear it," said Susan Garcia. "They were all good friends. But I don't know what you expect
me
to do about it."

"You know damned well what we want!" said Chang.

She uttered a cold laugh. "I admire your audacity, Aloysius. Was this
his
idea?"

"It was mine."

"You can guess my answer."

"You didn't hear my offer yet."

"Oh?" she said. "You mean there's more than simply the chance to die in glorious battle for the government that publicly humiliated me?"

"A lifetime appointment as Fleet Admiral, which can't be rescinded," said Chang.

"I thought I had that," said Susan Garcia. "What Wilkie gives, Wilkie can take away. You know the old saying, Aloysius: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

"What if Wilkie resigns his office conditionally upon your accepting our offer?" said Chang.

"What?"
bellowed Wilkie.

Chang turned to him. "Your office won't be worth two credits if we can't repel this invasion."

"Never!" said Wilkie.

"It's all right, Aloysius," said Susan Garcia. "I wouldn't have accepted anyway." Her image looked directly at Wilkie. "I hope you don't die instantly, Egan." She reached a hand out and broke the connection.

"Nice try," said Cole.

"I can't say that I blame her," replied Chang.

Another explosion, and two nearby buildings burst into flame.

"No vaporizer," noted Val. "Just thumpers. Level 3 or 4, or we'd just be a hole in the ground."

"It's not a suicide attack," said Cole. "I haven't seen any ships plunge down."

"You say that as if it means something," said the woman named Anya.

"It means they didn't come here to die," said Cole. "And that means they probably can't conceive of anyone having a more powerful pulse cannon than their own. If they could defend against a Level 5 cannon, they could create one, and clearly they haven't."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about," said Anya.

"He served in your Navy with distinction for almost twenty years," said Sharon proudly.

Chang stared at Cole for almost a full minute, studying him.

"Don't look at me like that," said Cole. "I have even less reason to love your Navy than Susan Garcia has."

Chang continued to stare at him.

"I came here to overthrow your government," continued Cole. "Now someone's doing it for us. I have no serious problem with that."

"Do you have a problem with eleven billion innocent men and women dying?" asked Chang.

"Innocent of what?" said Val sarcastically. "They all work for the Republic."

"Can you let them all die?" persisted Chang.

This time it was Cole's turn to stare. Finally he said, "If I agree to what you want, I'll ask a lot more than Susan Garcia did."

Chang looked out the window at his city in flames, then turned back to Cole. "List your demands."

"First, amnesty for every man, woman, and alien under my command," said Cole.

"Agreed."

"Second, complete control of the Navy for the duration of the battle. I don't want any freelancers, and I don't want anyone questioning my authority."

"Done—at least to the best of our ability."

"Third, a Security patrol to escort us to the shuttle that will take us up to the
Theodore Roosevelt.
I suspect that most of the people in this building are sure we're responsible for what's happening."

"All right," agreed Chang.

"Fourth, I want the entire government to resign. Not just Wilkie, but all his advisors including yourself, as well as his cabinet and the parliament."

"Never!"
shouted Wilkie.

"Shut up, Egan," said Chang. He turned to the politicians. "Will you consent to Captain Cole's demand?"

Another explosion, and the ceiling began caving in.

"Have we got a choice?" said Anya grimly, and the others nodded their consent.

"Yes, we do," said Chang. "But it's not a very palatable one."

"The rest of you can do what you want," said Wilkie doggedly. "I'm not resigning."

Chang turned to another advisor. "Mr. Berkmeyer, write up a brief statement of resignation and have everyone in the room sign it."

"I'm not signing anything!" said Wilkie.

"Captain Cole, you have my word that your conditions will be met," said Chang. "I think you'd better make your way back to your ships while you still have ships to return to."

"What about
him?"
said Cole, indicating Wilkie.

"He'll sign it."

"And if he doesn't?"

"We are on the thirty-seventh floor. If I have to throw him out the window, I will."

"You're out of shape," said Val. "I'd be happy to do it for you."

The ceiling crumbled a bit more.

"I'm going to trust you, Mr. Chang," said Cole. "Get us a Security squad to escort us to the shuttle, have a pilot waiting, and get the word to the fleet before we reach our ships."