Scaevola's Triumph (Gaius Claudius Scaevola trilogy Book 3) (24 page)

When Klendor arrived to collect him for the first inspection, Klendor immediately expressed disapproval. "You must wear your full uniform!"

"But . . ."

"It is most important," Klendor insisted. "The commander must show the importance of the situation by appropriate attention to the detail of his appearance! He must . . ."

"All right," Gaius groaned. It was true that all armies had rules, some more useful than others. This one would be a pain, but such pain had to be endured.

They arrived at the library, then entered an elevator of which Gaius had been totally unaware, then they began a surprisingly long descent. Then they walked along a corridor, and entered the defensive facility. His first impression was favourable. It took quite a while to get in, identities were checked, double-checked, orders were verified, then access was cleared. While they were being checked, Klendor thanked him.

"Why?" Gaius asked curiously.

"For agreeing to do this, and also for not asking to wear a gladius. That might have been embarrassing."

"We're not in the field," Gaius replied. "I would not wear a gladius inside the city of Rome."

"I still appreciate your not being difficult," Klendor nodded.

"I'm sure if I'd been a problem, you could have done this yourself," Gaius shrugged. "I'm the redundant one here."

There was a pause, then Klendor said, "Strictly speaking, that's not true."

"How come?" Gaius asked in a puzzled tone.

"I am here to assist you," Klendor said. "If you weren't here, neither would I be."

"I find that hard to believe," Gaius remarked.

"It's true. The orders were specific. Get you. Get an Ulsian who could work with you. My promotion was a reward for . . . well . . ."

"Putting up with my shit!" Gaius grinned.

"Ulsians wouldn't put it like that," Klendor replied, a trifle primly, "but essentially, yes."

"Klendor!" Gaius said, as he pulled himself to a halt. "I'm really glad I got you a promotion. And I really mean that."

"Thanks," a puzzled Klendor replied.

"Down here," Gaius continued, "if you want to say something, do something, just do it. No matter what, I'm going to have to trust your judgment, so I'm letting you know now I do."

"Thank you."

"Now, we have a job to do," Gaius added. "Let's do it."

They went down a further elevator to a control room deep below the surface, then access was obtained to the controlling rooms. Ulsians were huddled over screens. Then the impression deteriorated as everyone turned and watched him. He walked through the facility slowly, then left without saying anything.

Over the next few days, the same thing happened in the other sites.

"What we need," Gaius said slowly, "is to simulate an attack and I'm not sure how to do that, but . . ."

"No problem," Klendor said. "The military can throw some drones for them to practice on."

"Can we simulate an imaginary attack?" Gaius asked.

"Yes, but then we won't know how well they're shooting," Klendor pointed out.

"Before we worry about that," Gaius replied, "we need to see how long it takes to get around to shooting."

Klendor nodded, then said he would make arrangements. Gaius was given a small piece of equipment to take on his next visit; Klendor would not come, but instead monitor events, and ensure that the space-ways were clear of traffic. The last thing they needed to do was to annihilate a freighter that was accidentally in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Once again, when Gaius entered, all eyes were on him. He waited until attentiveness was at its lowest, then he hit the switch. A strange high-pitched noise filled the room. As Gaius suspected, the first response was panic. Ulsians started running everywhere, some to the door.

Some, however, viewed their screens, then saw nothing in particular to excite them, and began muttering something about "false alarm". After about a quarter of an hour, during which time Gaius had stood watching emotionlessly, they returned to their previous state. As agreed, Gaius continued to do nothing until Klendor reappeared.

Then Gaius angrily spat out the phrase, "You're all dead!"

They all stared, fearfully. Was this alien ordering their execution?

"If that were a real attack," Gaius continued, "you put up zero defence. Therefore the attackers could do what they wished. They would have killed the lot of you. Hence you are all dead, in the exercise at least." He paused, then said, "All those who ran towards the door instead of attending to their posts, line up over there."

Seventeen cowering Ulsians did so.

"On my planet," Gaius continued flatly, "you would now draw lots, and two would be beaten to death by the others." There was a deadly silence. "You regard this as uncivilized," Gaius went on, "you don't permit that sort of thing, but remember, the Roman army does not lose. One of the reasons it does not lose is that no soldier dares run from his post. Major Klendor will now dispense punishment." He nodded to Klendor.

"You are all replaced," Klendor said flatly. "That is not the punishment, although where you go to should be. You will be sent to an Assault Infantry Corps. Now, go!"

"The rest of you hardly shone either," Gaius said coldly. "Those responsible for the weapons system step forward?"

A number did.

"The weapons systems were not made ready for firing. Why not?"

"There were no enemy," one explained.

"You don't know that!" Gaius roared, and the Ulsian flinched. "The alarm went. That means someone thinks there is one."

"But I thought . . ."

"You thought!" Gaius roared. He moved slightly to one side, and when the Ulsian's eyes followed, he roared again, "Keep your eyes forward!" The Ulsian again flinched, and stared forward. Gaius roared again, "You don't think! Your job is to get the weapons systems going. That is all, and you failed. Major Klendor?" Gaius turned to Klendor, unsure what to do next with these.

"Evenings on fatigues, two weeks," Klendor said flatly.

"Gunners?" Gaius commanded.

More quite despondent Ulsians stepped forward.

"You did nothing? Why not?" he paused again, and roared, "Don't look at me! Look forwards, and answer promptly!"

"The weapons weren't primed. What could we do?"

"What could we do, sir!"

"What could we do, sir?" came the now frightened gunner.

"Yell and scream!" Gaius offered. "Get the others to start doing their job. If you can't do your job because someone else hasn't done theirs, then get them off their backsides."

Gaius paused and addressed them all. "Basically, this was pitiful. Next time, do better." He nodded and stepped back.

"Or else!" Klendor added, as he stepped forward. "You may not know this, but this has been a remarkably tame ending for you all. Perform like this when we return, and you will learn something about the Old Ways of the Ulsian forces."

"Now," Gaius said in a quieter voice as he turned to address them again. "I rather suspect most of you are wondering why I am in control here, aren't you?"

There were some embarrassed and guilty looks, but nobody said anything.

"You are wondering what someone from my times could possibly contribute?"

Again there was silence, accompanied by guilt and embarrassed looks.

"The reason, I believe, is that I didn't lose battles. Now, the question is, why didn't I? Well, the answer is rather simple. Man for man, my soldiers were no braver than the enemy, and our weapons weren't particularly better. The difference was, my soldiers used what they had more efficiently. Every man knew exactly what sort of things they had to do, and they practised and practised until they could do it in their sleep. My men were better because things didn't go wrong, and they didn't go wrong because everybody had drilled so much they couldn't go wrong. That is what you are going to do. You are going to drill and drill until you do everything properly by reflex. Then you will win."

* * *

Word quickly spread, and in the next inspections of the other sites, the performance was not quite so dismal, but it was still depressing.

"The problem," Klendor said, "is that they expect the automated system to commence, and it is better than they are, so they expect to have nothing to do during a real attack."

"Explain these automated defences," Gaius frowned.

So Klendor explained that the system was programmed to respond to incoming ships, determine their origin, then destroy those which did not have permission, or refused to obey the protocols of standing off until their status was cleared.

"In principle," Klendor concluded, "there is enough power to readily destroy this inferred attack."

"And how long has this system been in place?"

"Hundreds of thousands of years."

"So the enemy would know about this system?" Gaius asked curiously.

"Of course," Klendor replied. "We have always let our defensive strength be known. It is more of a deterrent that way."

"But these M'starn ignored the outer defences."

"That is true," Klendor admitted. "For some reason, they offered little or no impediment."

"In which case," Gaius mused, "we can assume the M'starn have worked out a way to defend against your defences. They would never have launched their first attack unless they were reasonably confident of eventual success."

"I can't see how they can be confident," Klendor replied. "Even with these pathetic performances, the automated defences are still efficient, the enemy will be destroyed, and before you jump down my throat, I agree that is no reason not to get everyone up to speed."

"I'm not going to jump down your throat," Gaius smiled, "but the argument is interesting. Can we set this as a problem for some attack forces?"

"We can't just destroy our own forces," Klendor protested.

"Of course we have to switch the real cannon off," Gaius agreed, "but we still have to practice. In Rome we were continually practising with wooden swords instead of steel ones, so those not on top of things got bruised rather than killed. What I'm asking is can you make some sort of practice weapon, to make an illusory defence that . . ?"

"It would be more efficient to make an illusory attack," Klendor nodded, "Then everyone can fire real weapons. I shall coordinate it."

Chapter 19

A set of repeat exercises began. Everything was too slow, and when the gunners pointed out there were no targets, and wanted instructions, Gaius ordered no firing. It was the time taken to get ready for firing that counted. Then came a set of exercises in which there were planned malfunctions. At first, this threw the defenders, but eventually they set about repairing things. On one site, the malfunction did not work, and when Gaius asked why not, a rather sheepish looking engineer stepped forward and explained he had done some diagnostic tests well before Gaius had turned up, found the fault and fixed it. He waited for the punishment, but Gaius grinned, patted him on the shoulder, and congratulated him. He instructed the engineer to make up a full procedure of such diagnostic tests, and instructed engineers to be carrying these out almost continuously while no other activity was under way.

Then the tests with the fake attacks were carried out. By now the units were operating smoothly, and in no time, the great cannon destroyed the drones.

This was followed by simulated attacks with real ships from deep space by sections of an Ulsian Space Corps. These were promptly detected and immediately destroyed, at least in the electronic simulation. Time and again the attacks came, every trick in the Ulsian book was tried, but the defences were impenetrable.

"We now have a defence," Klendor nodded.

"No we don't," Gaius muttered.

"Why not?" Klendor seemed almost angry. In his eyes the ground crews had performed admirably, and the attack forces had tried everything conceivable. "What more could they have done?"

"I don't know," Gaius frowned, "and that's what bothers me. The M'starn will be expecting what we've seen, and they're still coming . . ."

"You think they're still coming," Klendor corrected.

"I know they're still coming," Gaius countered. "So far they've properly executed a brilliant strategy, if their goal is to strike at Ulse. If that isn't their strategy, why have they done what they have?"

"Could be a feint, to divert our attention," Klendor offered.

"Some feint!" Gaius snorted. "They've conquered nearly an eighth of the Ulsian federation, and their supply lines are overextended. They're not going to do that so competently, then stop with a spare strike force and say, what now?"

Klendor looked downcast, and muttered, "I suppose not."

"They found a way through the rather formidable outer defences as if they weren't there," Gaius added. "Take my word for it, they'll have a plan to get through these."

"How?" Klendor asked irritably. He was irritated at Gaius' superior attitude, and also that Gaius was seemingly oblivious to the effect this was having on him.

"I haven't got a clue," Gaius shrugged, "and it scares the living daylights out of me."

"Why?" Klendor was puzzled. "We're doing all we can."

"Our job," Gaius said bleakly, "is not to do what we can. It's to win, or at least to win our battle. The libraries must survive, we've got to make sure that happens, and I can't see what we're not doing."

"Maybe we need help," Klendor suggested. "Perhaps our scientists could suggest something."

"Then talk to them," Gaius suggested. "Believe me, we need every bit of help we can get."

* * *

Gaius sat down beside Klendor, and stared at the Ulsian scientists. He realized it was probably rude, but he could not help it. They looked rather different from Klendor. They really did have larger heads, which Klendor informed him really did mean they had bigger brains. However their overall bodies were smaller, their hands were quite delicate, their eyes seemed almost as if they had difficulty with long range vision, and they did not look at all agile. It was almost as if they were a totally different species.