Riss Series 5: The Riss Challenge (32 page)
When the super-Heavy carrying Admiral Bishara finally exited the Wave, the JPU invasion fleet was down to twenty-five functional Lights. The SAS and UFN also had twenty-five functional cruisers; however, five were Heavies and one a Hunter. And Admiral Kishi and Gebauer had Heavies, and the six Riss cruisers were still functional, although three were in yellow condition. And we had all of our Irises.
Thirty seconds later, the super-Heavy skipped four light-seconds in the direction of Freeland.
"Captain Reese, unless you come out of stealth mode and face me, I'm going to make Freeland a nuclear wasteland."
I clicked my SID to Commander Byer's channel.
"Yes, Leader."
"Prepare your red-Wraiths, all of them. I'm going to skip toward the Valiant to within five thousand kilometers. After you exit, I'll go active. You will need to destroy that beast within fifteen seconds, or you may not have a ship to come back to. At that distance, if they get off a missile launch, it will take only one second to reach us."
"Understood," Byer said, and began shouting orders.
I waited several minutes to give Byer time to prepare, hoping Bishara wanted to kill me more than to destroy Freeland.
Sure enough, five minutes later he repeated the message.
I had no sooner finished the thought, than the Bridge faded to a mist for several seconds and reappeared.
"Release red-Wraiths," I said, crossing my fingers because it made me feel like I was doing something to help.
"Wraiths away," Byer said.
"Fool. I'll still destroy Freeland after I kill you—" he began when he saw me, but was interrupted when the Valiant shook, and he stumbled.
My eyes flew to the VTH. As they did, the Valiant's tag turned yellow for several seconds, then red, and several seconds later disappeared as the Mnemosyne shook violently when the energy from the Valiant's explosion reached us. I sank back in my chair in relief. That had been a dangerous gamble—an all-or-nothing solution I had discouraged in others. When I stopped shaking and looked at the VTH, UPN Lights were disappearing. I assumed they had cut their power in surrender.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
JPU: Quarantine
The next day, I called a meeting with Kishi, the UFN squadron leaders, Gebauer, Vitkus, the Riss-humans, and Ni'Shay. Admiral Dubler had been killed, along with three of the UFN squadron leaders. We had won, but the cost had been high.
"First, I would like to thank you and your troops for standing with the Riss. We could not have defeated the JPU force without your help. We owe Admirals Zhu and Plimson for standing by their commitments and the loyalty they command with people like you."
"What now?" Gebauer asked.
"We need to collect the prisoners for transportation back to the JPU—"
"You are going to return them?" Kishi asked in disbelief.
"Yes, we are going to return them to some planet. It won't matter, since the Riss are going to quarantine the JPU," I said. "They have proven themselves evil. Admiral Salazar invaded Freeland with the intent of making slaves of the Freelanders and hunting the Riss to extinction. Admiral Neifeh invaded Freeland and left Freeland in the hands of a psychopath. Freeland would have become a playground of unbelievable atrocities. Admiral Haddad had every Riss the JPU captured skinned alive. And Admiral Bishara had the full intention of making Freeland a nuclear wasteland. The Supreme Council appointed these men to lead the JPU Navy and sanctioned their actions and encouraged their aggression. They must not be allowed to commit such acts again."
"Do you need help, Leader Zhu?" Kishi asked.
"I believe the JPU fleet now consists of less than fifty cruisers and has no capacity to produce anymore for at least a year. If the UFN and the SAS would like to help get rid of those, we would welcome their support. However, we'll eliminate them all with or without help."
"How are you going to keep them from building more?" Gebauer asked.
"We are going to station a new class of Riss mini-cruisers...called Cerberus, in each system. In fact, Captain Elissa informs me the first prototype is available for viewing, if any of you would like a tour." I said, and received hands or nods from everyone.
"How long will the quarantine last?"
"Until the Aliens come to relieve us!"
* * *
My shuttle delivered us to Cerberus-1 later that day. It looked like a miniature copy of the Mnemosyne on approach. On the one hand, the first level was smaller, since it would only hold five Wraiths, two Reds, and twenty-five Blue Kraits. The engines, on the other hand, were bigger than the standard Riss cruiser. The third level was still a garden, albeit smaller, and the other sections were correspondingly smaller due to the reduced crew. Only the Bridge looked exactly the same.
"With those engines, I imagine this cruiser can really move," Vitkus said after touring the engine room.
"Our engineers think over six hundred gravities."
"Nobody's going to outrun it," Admiral Kishi said smiling.
"Those Cyberus cruisers would be nasty ships to fight. Between those minis, standard cruisers, and Irises, Freeland is becoming a military power," Gebauer said. "Speaking of which, I imagine the SAS will be ordering Irises as soon as I complete my after-action report."
"Admiral Zhu is also interested. Saved many lives here." Kishi nodded agreement as he entered a note on his pad.
"And they can be customized to meet your needs." I laughed. But they cannot be used against the Riss.
* * *
I felt guilty, as survivors frequently do. The Mnemosyne hadn't suffered any damage or loss of life during the invasion. The Druantia, although operational, had sustained substantial damage—thirty deaths, eleven Riss. The Eirene was also heavily damaged—twenty-five deaths, twelve Riss. The Elpis, Artio, and Themis had escaped with less damage but not without casualties—thirty-three deaths, thirteen Riss. Freeland estimated four weeks to repair the damage.
"Terril, ready for some action?" I asked. She seemed to be present half of the time.
"My heart still hasn't recovered from that close encounter with Admiral Bishara. I used to think Scorpions were crazy. They're sane compared to you."
"I'll take that as a yes. Staff meeting tomorrow. We need to begin planning the final phase of the quarantining of the JPU."
* * *
"What's new, Commander Iglis?" I began when everyone was seated.
"I gave Admiral Bulter a general account of the battle with Bishara as you asked. He indicated that Admirals Plimson and Zhu wanted a conference with you to discuss the JPU and an MSA."
"Tell them I'm available at their convenience," I said turning toward Captain Pavao. "What is the status with our prisoners?"
"The wounded have all seen doctors. Admirals Vitkus and Kishi were good and provided medical support. We've cleaned out three of the Lights that were in good condition and are housing them there for now. We have a few Kraits guarding the Bridge and touring the ship, but the prisoners realize that all the weapon systems are inoperative and hijacking the ship would mean immediate destruction. What do you intend to do with them?"
"Return them to some JPU planet, then destroy the cruisers." I hadn't worked out all the issues, but they would be released so long as they didn't do anything foolish before then. After all, they weren't going to join the JPU navy, so they weren't a threat. "Elissa, what is the status of the mini-cruisers?"
"I'm hoping we can test Cerberus-1 over the next two weeks and resolve any problems. Cerberus-2 is in production, and the factory foreman, Ti'Mima, thinks he can produce one every two months once the prototype has been approved."
"How do you plan to police the JPU in the interim?" Zhang asked.
"Suggestions?" I countered, using Wattson's technique. "There are eleven systems, so it'll be two years before we have enough Cerberus cruisers to cover them all, and ideally, we need twice that number to have easy replacements."
"What if we have two of us tour the planets without a Cerberus once each quarter, to ensure there is no space activity?" Zhang said.
"We could install Irises in each JPU system," Sheva said with a laugh. "Shoot anything that enters the system."
"Are we going to do ground inspections?" Alena asked.
"No. I like the Alien model—we don't care what you do, so long as you don't fly."
"Are we going to sell Irises?" Pavao asked. "Another potential Pandora's box."
"Yes, I want to keep the Riss as a link between the SAS and the UFN—peacemakers. We can customize the Irises for each empire or even system. However, the Riss software will ensure they can't be used against a Riss ship."
"Sneaky," Elissa said.
"Paranoid," Sheva said.
"Dybbuk." Damaass laughed and raised his glass of wine to me. "She sees into their minds."
* * *
Plimson arrived a week later and Zhu the following day. Both were accompanied by two squadrons to relieve the ones on Freeland. We met on the Dynasty with the normal formality I'd come to dread. Plimson invited new squadron leaders, Admirals Caldwell and Valado, in addition to Admiral Gebauer. Admiral Zhu invited his taskforce leader, Blue Admiral Iwata, and his two squadron leaders, Admirals Lyang and Tian. I noticed Master Wei was now Admiral Plimson's security, and Zhu had a new man by the name of Yu, who also had two red dragons on his collar like Xun had.
"I think we finally have the public on our side. They are beginning to recognize how big a threat the JPU was. They still don't realize how big a part you played, but they love the idea that you are going to quarantine them," Plimson said. "The SAS Council also like the Iris concept. They want to negotiate a contract, a rather large one I suspect." He laughed.
"The Emperor and the Imperial Parliament are also interested. It simplifies security and is cheaper than cruisers and hundreds of crew, which are an ongoing cost. And I would imagine the SAS would like Freeland to maintain their fleet's Riss technology as would the UFN." It was his turn to laugh. "I suspect mostly to ensure we have like weapons."
"Trust does not appear to be in the human DNA," Plimson agreed. "Butler said to thank you for allowing your new security chief to keep him in the loop. You probably extended that courtesy to Admiral Zhu's security chief."
"Yes. I'm hoping the closer we work together, the less we will have to fear from each other."
"Do you want our help in quarantining the JPU?" Zhu asked.
"I don't think so. If I'm correct, the JPU has no more than sixty cruisers left, maybe as few as forty. And it would not surprise me if they were all at Ormazd protecting the Supreme Council."
"That's a fair number of cruisers, seeing that you only have eight. Although those ugly cruisers are nasty. If you're right?" Plimson asked.
"I'm hoping we can get them to surrender. The Riss don't want to kill the JPU for their actions. They just want to stop them from doing it again."
We spent the next couple of hours answering detailed questions about the battle of Freeland. It was clear the Riss could not have stopped the JPU if it hadn't been for the SAS and UFN squadrons. On the other hand, it was clear without the Riss coordinating the assignment of targets, the JPU would have won, since many missiles would have been wasted on crippled or destroyed ships. Afterward, I took everyone on a tour of Cerberus-1.
"Still ugly, but I'll bet it's a match for anything built today," Plimson whispered, implying he knew we had something no one had, and he approved.
Zhu leaned close, "I think I'll order one for my command ship: fast, peaceful, and deadly," he said, echoing Plimson's thoughts. Plimson and Zhu agreed to leave squadrons on Freeland while the Riss went in pursuit of the last JPU cruisers.
* * *
"Zhang, you are Leader on Freeland. We are heading for Ormazd and hopefully a peaceful ending. I leave it to you and Ni'Shay whether you allow planet-side leave. And you should meet with the merchants. There is no reason, after we quarantine the JPU, that they can't start trading in the UFN and SAS."
"Good luck, Leader Reese. Vesta and I hope you succeed without any more violence."
"We leave in two hours for Ormazd. We will enter at Battle Stations but in stealth mode and coordinate our tactics based on what we find," I said.
"Probably another Neifeh or Haddad or Bishara. Seems to be the only cloth they have," Pavao said, rising to go.
"Be thankful they don't have a dybbuk like our Leader," Damaass said.
"Fair winds and gentle breezes." Sheva stood, raising her glass in a toast.
"Fair winds and gentle breezes," echoed through the cabin.
* * *
The change in status went through the ship, and Mnemosyne came alive as everyone assumed their duty station, ready for whatever was to come. I hoped with Zhang that there would be little bloodshed on either side.
"What do you think, Nadya? Another Haddad, another massacre?" Terril said, echoing my thoughts.
