Riss Series 5: The Riss Challenge (19 page)

The VTH came to life seconds later with fifty colored dots: eight yellow, sixteen red, twenty-four green, one blue for the Dynasty, and the Mnemosyne displayed in white. Interestingly, only the green cruisers and the Dynasty had their weapons online. My SID lit with Byer's face. I hit connect.

"Captain, two shuttles destroyed approaching the Mnemosyne. Nothing else is in sight. The shuttle bay is closed, so we can't get at the two shuttles there," Byer said.

"Good work. Return to the ship."

My SID lit with Seng's face. I hit connect.

"Captain, the threat is contained. Thanks to the Cobras and Terril putting us on alert, no one managed to do more than breach the hallway. We think we have them all, but we're doing a room-by-room search. The Riss have made the shuttles nonfunctional."

"Continue Ship Alert status until you've finished your search, Colonel. The Scorpions came through again. Good job." I cut the connection.

Red lights began flashing in the hallways and in each unit.

I had just finished the thought when the Bridge faded into a mist and the Riss looked like furry wraiths. Just as quickly, they became solid again.

I sent with the warmth I felt toward my trusted friend.

she sent with a laugh.

I asked Thalia. She hadn't said anything, and I was suddenly concerned.

< Stopped pain, most bleeding. Need surgeon remove bullet in shoulder. Need rest to fix.>

"Zo'Imre, you and Te'Bandi help Admiral Zhu," Terril said as we proceeded to the infirmary.

"When you get time, Doctor Dayton, Thalia says I have a bullet in my shoulder, and I'd like you to look over Admiral Zhu. They appeared to have mishandled him. What's our status?"

"Two Cobras killed, two wounded and will recover. Three Scorpions killed and four wounded. They will also recover. My staff has things under control, so let's have a look at you," Dayton said as she began removing my clothes.

I sent to Thalia as my world began to slow around me.

* * *

I asked as I returned to consciousness.

I opened my eyes to see Terril leaning against the wall talking to Admiral Zhu, who was sitting up in the other bed.

"How long? Anything exciting happening?" I asked.

"I'm told Admiral Erdogan has every available cruiser and fighter searching the area around the Wave entrance for you," Terril said. "However, the Red and Yellow fleets don't appear to be participating."

"It appears Admiral Erdogan is using an interim decree issued by some group in Parliament to arrest you and me as possible traitors. I'm sure he intends to kill us while trying to escape. The Red and Yellow admirals are loyal to me and unhappy with the way Admiral Erdogan assaulted the Dynasty, so they won't assist him."

"If I remember right, Admiral Erdogan's command ship plus three of his Heavies have Riss on board," I said, thinking out loud. This was a worst-case scenario—having to fight a ship with Riss on board.

"Don't forget the stealth fighters and Riss missiles," Zhu said. "In a way, Admiral Wattson was right to be concerned about giving the UFN Riss technology."

"In a way, he was right, but not about the UFN. The SAS has its own Admiral Erdogans. Admiral Yorke is an example, although he is not alone. Given the right circumstances, they would behave in a similar manner as Erdogan." I shrugged in resignation. The solution was not isolation but ensuring sufficient safeguards that Riss technology wouldn't be used against the Riss. There were too many good men like Plimson and Zhu. "Do you know if all the UFN ships have been updated with the new software I brought last time I was here?"

"Yes, I made sure every updated cruiser had the latest software and missiles installed. You do see the future." Zhu's last words were so quiet, I almost didn't hear them.

"I think it's time Admiral Erdogan and I met," I said, getting out of bed and dressing. "Care to join me, Admiral Zhu?"

"I'd be honored, Leader Reese."

* * *

I surveyed the VTH, noting the three distinct groups: green, red, and yellow. Only the green taskforce had their systems active and appeared to be conducting a search of the area next the entrance to the Wave. The red and yellow taskforces were many light seconds away from the green taskforce and content to remain were they were.

I clicked on Iglis's channel. "Commander Iglis, do you have access to the UFN Comstat?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Good. Please send the following message to Emperor Okuda at Daiyu:

E
MPEROR
O
KUDA, YOUR
G
REEN
A
DMIRAL
E
RDOGAN HAS ARRESTED
I
MPERIAL
F
LEET
A
DMIRAL
Z
HU AND ATTACKED THE
R
ISS
N
ATION
C
RUISER
M
NEMOSYNE, APPARENTLY WITH THE AUTHORITY OF THE
I
MPERIAL
P
ARLIAMENT.
T
HIS UNPROVOKED ACTION VOIDS OUR
M
UTUAL
S
UPPORT
A
GREEMENT AND CONSTITUTES AN ACT OF WAR AGAINST THE
R
ISS
N
ATION.
A
S A CONSEQUENCE, THE
R
ISS WILL NO LONGER PROVIDE OR SUPPORT THE
R
ISS TECHNOLOGY ON
UFN
CRUISERS.
B
E AWARE,
A
DMIRAL
E
RDOGAN'S ATTACK ON THE
M
NEMOSYNE RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF
SAS
PERSONNEL ATTACHED TO THE
M
NEMOSYNE AS PART OF THE
MSA
BETWEEN THE
SAS
AND THE
R
ISS.
T
HAT ACTION CONSTITUTES A WAR ON THE
SAS
.
R
ED
A
DMIRAL
N
AKAO AND
Y
ELLOW
A
DMIRAL
L
UO HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO ENTER THE WAR.
I
WILL HONOR THEIR NEUTRALITY.
L
EADER
R
EESE OF THE
R
ISS
N
ATION.

"You're serious? Of course you are... I ‘ll send it right away," she said, eyes wide with shock. I clicked off.

I clicked on my SID and sent, "Staff meeting in thirty minutes."

"I'm hungry. Admiral Zhu, would you like to join me for a bite to eat before the staff meeting?"

* * *

"I wanted to give you a status update and hear any of your concerns. As you are undoubtedly aware, Green Admiral Erdogan arrested Admiral Zhu—on his own initiative or by order of the Imperial Parliament. Apparently, groups within the Imperial Parliament can issue temporary orders in the Parliament's name. This may be what Erdogan is operating under or it could have come from the Emperor. But his attack on the Mnemosyne is a breach of the MSA between the Riss and the UFN, an act of war against the Riss and the SAS, since it is common knowledge that this ship has SAS units aboard," I said and was greeted with silence. "The good news is that the admiral in charge of the red and yellow fleets in the system appears to be taking a neutral position. Green is actively searching the Wave entrance on the assumption we are trying to escape. We are right now moving toward his search area in stealth mode. In a couple of hours, I will initiate Battle Stations, since we are going to engage Admiral Erdogan and his fleet."

"Good, Riss and Scorpions died because of his treachery," Seng said, then chocked out a laugh. "Sorry, Leader Reese. My human reaction—get revenge. I've been with you long enough to know that isn't why. But I'm afraid I'm going to enjoy it just the same." Seng gave Byer a wry smile, who gave a sharp nod in agreement.

"Getting more killed to avenge those he killed is not the Riss way. We stay to stop Admiral Erdogan from committing an atrocity on Dunn to Riss and Freelanders and to determine if his actions were with the Emperor's approval. We will not leave our people in harm's way."

"I haven't heard anything back from the message you sent to the Emperor," Iglis said.

"That will be interesting," Zhu said quietly. "I'm afraid I too wish for revenge for Xun, who was like a daughter to me, and the many others who died trying to stop Erdogan's commandos. I can understand why my brother Zhang is so at peace. While killing is killing, killing out of hate or revenge is not the same as for protection.

* * *

"What do you think, Admiral Zhu?" I asked. We were now within sixty-six thousand kilometers of the nearest of the green squadrons, in the area with Admiral Erdogan's command ship, Golden Tiger.

"Amazing, that you can get so close without being detected. He must have fighters in the area. Unfortunately, they are Ghosts thanks to the Riss technology and can't be seen. But to answer your question, fire and skip. Once you fire, they will know your approximate location, and the fighters will eventually stumble upon you."

"Yes, we must get Admiral Erdogan stupid mad," I said.

Zhu nodded quietly.

Fifteen seconds later.

The Mnemosyne shuddered twice as twelve Demons streaked toward the unsuspecting four cruisers. They would have only seven to eight seconds notice at this distance. Not enough time for an alert operator to say the words, four incoming missiles, even if his system sensors could have detected some radar activity from the Demons.

I turned to face Admiral Zhu.

"Thank you, Leader Reese. Without Terril, I couldn't have appreciated what just happened. Salazar would be very unhappy to know the Riss are not only telepathic, but intellectually superior to humans." He laughed.

"Byer, Seng, Status is Standby for the next one and one-half hours."

* * *

The attack went as smoothly as it had on green squadron one. Twelve hits on the four targeted cruisers: one disabled, one with major damage, and two with minor damage, which did not mean men and women hadn't died. We again skipped, this time toward green squadron three, which I expected to be on high alert and anticipating our arrival.

* * *

I smiled. MIC was an abbreviation for the Maintenance Identification Code that would cause any chips—in this case with an UFN identification number—to begin broadcasting. Instantly, over a hundred tiny blinking white lights appeared. I clicked on Byer's channel.

"Yes, Captain."

"Captain, I'd like you to send out ten Ghosts and shoot down a few of the UFN fighters." I smiled at the shocked look on his face.

"Ma'am, we'll try, but they have stealth fighters...it's going to be difficult to find and target them."

"The Riss mechanics have upgraded your fighters. Your monitors will identify them for targeting, and your upgraded missiles will have no problem destroying what you target."

"Upgraded—"

"You may want to hurry, before one of those hundred swarming around the area bumps into us by accident."

"Yes, ma'am. Launching ten Ghosts," he said, still looking dazed. I cut the connection.

Ten blue dots appeared on the VTH, streaking away for the Mnemosyne. They wouldn't appear on the fighters' monitors since I had told Riss mechanics only to initiate UFN codes. I thought the addition of the SAS fighters might confuse the Ghost pilots since they hadn't trained with the new system.

I watched fascinated as blue dots approached the white dots, entered their area, and the white dots began disappearing. When over half of the white dots had disappeared, I clicked on Byer.

"Ma'am," he muttered, but his eyes never left his monitor feed.

 "Call off your Ghosts, Commander Byer. I want to leave the area," I said, and his gaze jerked back to me.

"How? Why? That means—"

"That means that Riss technology cannot be used to kill Riss or their friends. I have Admiral Neifeh to thank for reminding me the technology doesn't have a conscience and doesn't care who created it or for what reason."

"A timely lesson. I've recalled the Ghosts, Captain," he said and clicked off.

"I would imagine you have made Admiral Erdogan very angry. He's losing face with his people," Zhu said. "And it could cause his allies in the Parliament to turn against him."

"Stupid mad?" I asked. Zhu didn't answer for a while.

"You're waiting, hoping he will do something against logic," he said, stroking his chin. "I don't know. Erdogan is an excellent tactician..."