Sword of Axia (The Arcadian Jihad) (25 page)

Bose didn’t even pause, he just pulled the man to the back of the room and handed him over to the guards who were stationed there.

“The punishment for treachery is death!” Gluck raged. “Take him to the condemned cell, he will be tried and executed immediately after we have finished here. I have decided to assume the General’s duties, I am now in command of the entire armed forces of Axia. Now, enough of this unpleasantness, let us look at the current strategic position.”

They looked at him with astonishment, at one stroke he had usurped the power of the military so that all power, civil and military within Axia, belonged to him and no other. Not a single one of them dared to lift a hand to object.

“Mr. Bose, as a reward for your loyalty I promote you to the rank of Brigadier General, you will be my second in command on the General Staff. How do you propose to deal with the approaching Rescom Fleet?”

Bose stepped forward promptly. “We’ll use the oldest trick in the Universe, Sir. Ambush. I aim to lure the traitors into our trap. You know that your daughter is with them?”

Gluck scowled. “Another traitor, they tell me she is an Orphexian witch. Is that true?”

“We believe so, yes.” Bose replied. “Secretary Kerawan is also a prisoner of Rescom. It is my suspicion that they will make use of him, his knowledge of our security systems in particular.”

“Another damned traitor, Bose. I want you to make sure he is killed if we get the opportunity, my daughter can be sent to Nabucco I and given time to reconsider her loyalties. Ten years should be enough.”

“Yes, Sir. In the meantime, I suggest we anticipate that the Rescom force will use our secret codes to approach Axis Nova, pretending to be friendly ships, we will prepare a suitable welcome for them. My plan is for our Fleet to wait out in hyperspace where they cannot detect us, but we will have a pre-determined position where we can ambush them. When they are within range we will fall on them with our entire force, they’ll be annihilated. I will lead the Fleet , we have managed to finish fitting out the Ahura, a Super Heavy Battlecruiser, she will be my flagship.”

“Excellent, Mr. Bose, excellent.
 
The Ahura, a mighty name for a mighty ship. It is exactly as I suggested.”

“Of course, Sir.” Bose’s face was expressionless. “Your daughter will be in danger during the ambush, Sir, she could even be killed.”

Gluck nodded. “It is war, Mr. Bose. We all have to take our chances, even Evelyn. Perhaps it would be better for her to die a heroine than serve a sentence on Nabucco I.”

“Very wise, Sir. I’m sure you’re right.”

System Standard 2728.1326 Battlecruiser Rex Vitas above Planet Axis Nova

They’re requesting authorization, Sir.”

The comms officer looked at Rusal. The Admiral hesitated for a few moments, was Kerawan telling the truth, were the codes authentic, or were they going to be attacked by the Axian defenses the second they realized that the approaching ships were the enemy? Yet surely the man had given them accurate information, he knew that his life depended on it. He had to take the chance.

“Very well, send the codes.”

The man keyed in the information, they waited for almost a minute, hardly anyone dared draw breath. They all saw the green light flash on the board.

“Codes accepted, Sir.”

“Very well, we’re almost within range of the outer defenses, go to battle stations, Mr. Gehlen, it looks like we’ve got them.”

The alarm klaxons echoed around the ship, in the hundreds of cruisers that made up the Rescom Fleet similar alarms called the crews to their stations. On the bridge of the flagship they watched the targeting indicators as the range to the Axian defensive platforms lessened. It seemed incredible that they had got so close without detection, yet there was no sign of the enemy reacting, they were still believed to be friendly ships.

“All batteries report closed up and ready to fire, Sir, targets are locked on, we’re awaiting your order. Coming into range in five, four, three, two, one, we’re within range, Sir.”

“Fire, Mr. Gehlen, order our ships to take out those platforms.”

Suddenly, the threat alarm echoed throughout the ship. Every eye looked at the screens, they were filled with the tiny dots that indicated a fleet of ship materializing from hyperspace.

“What’s happening, where did those ships come from?” Rusal demanded.

“They’re Axian ships, they came out of nowhere.” Gehlen looked stricken.

“Bring the Fleet around, Mr. Gehlen, it’s a trap. Instruct half of our batteries to switch targets and concentrate on those ships, the rest are to keep firing at the platforms. We need to…”

The ship lurched as a heavy particle beam blast from the orbiting platforms scored a direct hit.

“Warning! Warning! Starboard shields reduced to forty percent efficiency, severe damage to starboard navigational thrusters, additional power transferred to starboard engine to compensate!”

They looked at each other in horror as the full import of their situation hit them. They were fighting for their survival.

The dots on the screen grew larger, they were awed at the immensity of the enemy fleet. They were vastly outnumbered, the best estimate was three to one. Once more their choices were to turn and run and hope that a few of their ships might escape, or to fight to the death, for death was the only outcome they could expect. Rusal cursed under his breath.

“Call the President and the Vice-President to the bridge, we need a decision. In the meantime, Mr. Gehlen, try and stop the worst of the attack hitting our lightly shielded cruisers.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

The braced themselves as the ship constantly juddered and rocked with the repeated sledgehammer blasts. They maneuvered frantically to avoid the incoming fire and to position themselves to hit back with their own guns, but there were so many of the enemy, far too many. The bridge door hissed open and Serena entered with Evelyn, Nightingale and Yalonda. Nightingale had lent her some of her clothes, the tough wiry young officer had metamorphosed into a beautiful young woman. He looked past her, but there was no sign of President Xerxes Tell. The women were flung almost to the floor as another blast hit them.

“Starboard shield reduced to twenty percent efficiency, recommend urgent repairs!”

Rusal wished the damned thing would shut up, if they didn’t need a running update on the battle damage he’d have had it switched off. The crew helped the women back to their feet, there was no sign of Tell.

“Where is the President, Serena?” He turned to Captain Gehlen. “Captain, send someone to find the President, order Berg Smetana and Constantine Blas join us, I want them to be present as well.”

It was strange that Smetana and Blas weren’t on the bridge, when a fight started they were always where the action was at its thickest, ever since that fateful day on Axis Nova when they’d been sentenced and then rescued by the embryo Rescom force.

“They’re not here, Admiral. They’ve taken a shuttle and gone.”

He looked at Serena in astonishment. “You mean they’ve run out on us? Impossible.”

“They’ve gone over to the Axian Fleet to try and negotiate a way out of this attack.”

The bridge was silent for a few moments, only the occasional crash of a near miss disturbed the silence, the wail of a distant alarm.

“Say that again?”

“He’s gone, President Tell with Mr. Smetana and Mr. Blas, they took a shuttle across to the Axian flagship. It’s the Ahura, a new ship. She’s a new Super Heavy Battlecruiser, even bigger than the Sword of Axia, there’s no way we can oppose it in battle. We can’t beat them militarily, Guide Tell knows what he’s doing.”

“They’ll be put to death, every one of them. You know what the Axians will do.”

She inclined her head. “That may be so, but it is unlikely. But whatever the consequences, they are already on the way.”

They watched the screen closely, a tiny shuttlecraft was making its way towards the largest of the Axian ships. For a moment Rusal considered chasing after it to bring it back, but it was past the halfway mark, they’d be blasted out of space if they even tried. The Axians were obviously puzzled as much as he was, the gunfire had died down, it was as if a temporary truce had been declared. They had no cause to be concerned, the Rescom Fleet was once again trapped firmly between the pincers of the massive Axian Fleet and the powerful orbiting platforms, they could afford to be curious. Probably they were hoping to secure the Rescom surrender without the loss of any of their ships. It would leave them with the Rescom Fleet intact, it would be valuable to them, a fleet that could be sold and the profits distributed around the Axian crews. A good enough reason to hold their fire, profit was, as ever, the most powerful motivation in the universe. It always had been and always would be.

System Standard 2728.1326 Super Heavy Battlecruiser Ahura above Planet Axis Nova

The shuttle docked inside the bay of the massive ship, the largest warship ever built in the Nine Systems. The Axians had started building her immediately after the end of hostilities, when the Grand Pasha and his military advisors envisaged the possibility of a ship that would be needed to travel anywhere inside their empire to put down any future insurrection. It had twice the power of any previous Battlecruiser, the designers had intended that when it went into battle it would be unbeatable. The naming of the ship Ahura, the all powerful force in the universe, was not accidental. The outer doors to the shuttle bay closed and the three men waited while air was pumped in to normalize the atmosphere. Blas hit the switch to open the shuttle door and they climbed out to be greeted by an armed squad. Two men checked them for weapons but they had anticipated this and left their weapons in the shuttle. The leader signaled for them to follow him and ten armed troopers fell in behind.

“Where are you taking us?”

“To the bridge, the General in command asked that you be brought before him personally.”

The bridge was vast, twice the size of that on the Rex Vitas, there seemed to be an army of crewmen manning scores of separate control stations. In the center was a command chair, they were brought before the man who sat there.

“These are the ones who arrived in the shuttle, General.”

The man nodded at him to go. “Leave three of your men to watch them, if they try anything suspicious, they are ordered to shoot to kill.”

He was watching them with cold, piercing blue eyes set in a thin, expressionless and cold face. Blas stepped forward.

“I must insist on proper treatment for President Tell, he is under diplomatic protection as the elected leader of the Rescom Federation.”

“He is a traitor,” the man said coldly. “This Rescom nonsense is a rebellious organization whose very existence is treasonous. The lawful government is that of Axia and you are all subjects of Axia, you must obey the law. I am General Bose, before I sentence you to death for treason, tell me what you want. Why have you come here?”

“I wish to discuss a ceasefire, a treaty that will prevent any more bloodshed.”

Bose smiled grimly. “Out of the question. You’ve lost and you know it. What possible advantage could there be in my calling a ceasefire, I can destroy your fleet forever. You’ll have to do better than that.”

“It will save many lives, many of them your own men. Surely it’s worth calling a ceasefire for that reason alone.” Tell was desperate, that was obvious to everyone on the bridge. It was also obvious that he respected the lives of his men while Bose dismissed them as contemptible.

“No, Mr. Tell, unless you have something more to offer me, your request is denied.”

He waited for a full minute, but they were silent. He nodded. “I thought so. Take them down to the cells, I will pass sentence after I have consulted with the Grand Pasha. I suggest you prepare yourselves for death.”

“General Bose, a word before we go,” Smetana said quietly.

Bose looked at him, pleased that at least one man was about to beg for his life, he indicated that Smetana could speak.

“You are without doubt the living embodiment of this foul Axian religion. An evil, cheating lying piece of scum that would sell your own men in an instant if there was a profit in it.”

The General looked astonished, his pale skin flushed red before he calmed himself with a huge effort. “I will ensure that your death is the slowest, my friend, we’ll see how brave you are when you’re screaming in agony for the pain to end.”

The troopers marched them off the bridge and through to the depths of the ship where they were placed in the brig. The door banged shut, the key rattled in the lock and they were alone.

“Good move, Berg,” Blas said, “if there was any doubt about a death sentence you’ve settled it for sure.”

Smetana shrugged. “I didn’t like the jumped up little bastard, that’s all.”

“It’s alright, no one is going to die,” Guide Tell said.

They both looked at him skeptically. “With all respect, Sir,” Blas said. “I don’t think this Grand Pasha of theirs will let us live, we’re much too dangerous to him.”

“No doubt you’re right, but we won’t die, we’re here for a purpose, you will see later.”

To their astonishment, he sat down on the floor and closed his eyes, he appeared to be resting. Berg and Constantine sat down too, there was little else to do.