When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (34 page)

             
All over the planet, explosions had shocked the most powerful nations of Earth. In Europe, the United Federal Bank headquarters had been completely destroyed by a truck bomb left in the basement. Another device had taken down six satellite receiver towers across Asia. Brazil was reeling from a series of raids on military bases and prison transports. The coordination alone was staggering, as each attack had happened at almost the same precise moment, separated by thousands of miles. Group
s—
no,
armies
of soldiers fought brushfire skirmishes across the globe with local military. Each attack was targeted at infrastructure: fuel and natural gas lines, communication, defense services.

             
The darkest news came from Cairo, where the Terran Research and Development facility had been bombarded with mortar fire. One of the chemical tanks had taken a direct hit and lit off like a daisy cutter, completely flattening the structure. The far television showed an image of the Egyptian city, a massive crater carved from the eastern side. Counsellor Truman, one of Alexande
r’
s close friends and advisors, had been inside when the attack began. Though the recovery operations were still active, there was little hope of finding the politician alive.

             
Jerry slammed his phone on the table, fuming
.“
This is going to get worse before it gets better. W
e’
ve lost forty percent of our network on the planet
.
”

             
“What do you mean
?”
Alexander asked. He was weary from bad news. First Tallus, now this. It seemed like a lifetime ago since h
e’
d felt in control of his path. How could he run the galaxy if it was taken from him? It was more than he was ready to accept.

             
“Jonah has his soldiers taking down transmission towers. He wants to control the media on Earth, to put his own personal spin on all this. The
y’
re blocking news networks, only allowing one signal through. The
y’
re also shutting out receiver satellites. Terra Node is going to lose contact with the planet soon
.”
Jerry shook his head, running a spotted hand over his stubbly chin. Ever the businessman, he could
n’
t help but look for the angles
.“
Damn smart moves, if he can keep control long enough to capitalize
.
”

             
Colonel Selena, the Secretary of Defense for Luna, stepped closer to the table
.“
How was he able to pull this off? I mean, w
e’
re talking about a planet of over fifteen billion people. How big has Hammer become, and how could we not see this coming
?
”

             
Arthur was about to start an argument when Jerry stepped in
.“
Jonah is
n’
t the first head of a Martian splinter group. After the Coalition fell and the war ended, there were millions of rebels still itching to fight. Only their leaders stood down, and that did
n’
t sit right with those on the front lines
.”
He walked over to the monitor, pointing at a report. Jona
h’
s face stared back from an old photograph. The terrorist leader wore his usual expression of mild distaste, and his thin beard was still jet black. His name was blank; only the alias
Jonah Blightman
was printed
.“
This is what came out. Not just one fanatic, but millions. All Jonah had to do was convince those with his point of view that he was the biggest dog in the yard. After that, the
y’
d follow him everywhere
.
”

             
“And with a million-man army
,”
Arthur said
,“
how were we supposed to keep track of every possible citizen who might be associated with Red Hammer? The intelligence agencies had over forty different groups to watch at any given time, and tha
t’
s just between Earth and Mars. Titan still has cells we ca
n’
t catch, as does Europa. And outside of Sol we have even more
.
”

             
Selena was
n’
t satisfied
.“
But this level of coordination, you must have heard something. Somewhere, there has to be an analyst who did
n’
t have their head up their ass
.
”

             
“If Jonah is good at anything
,”
Alexander said softly
,“
i
t’
s being anywhere but where you think he is
.”
He took a sip of his bourbon. The High Chancellor looked up with bloodshot eyes
.“
He must have been moving people in small groups for years, slowly transferring the entire army to Earth.
I’
m sure a few loyal grunts stayed behind to rattle sabers and keep our eyes looking the wrong direction. I
t’
s an astounding success for them, and a miserable failure for us
.
”

             
The colonel walked the length of the room to the drink table and filled a cup with coffee
.“
Eart
h’
s forces are occupied with skirmishes all over the globe. Admiral Gilroy assumed command after General Burnside went missing
.”
She turned back to the assembled group, fire in her eyes
.“
I can have bombers in the sky in under an hour. We know h
e’
s inside the GMT. Why not just destroy it? The chance to take down Jonah Blightman comes maybe once in a lifetime
.
”

             
“No
,”
Alexander said
.“
I wo
n’
t condone an attack on our citizens. No matter who stands behind them. We have to trust Gilroy and the special forces
.
”

             
“The last I checked, sir, there were fifty thousand members of the special-forces units in Sol and about a million men wearing the Red Hammer. The military is still rebuilding, and you are in dire need of boots on the ground
.
”

             
Jerry sat down at the table, resting his head in his hands
.“
The draft was a good idea, we just did
n’
t implement it soon enough. I
t’
ll be a year or more before w
e’
re fielding a true ground force
.
”

             
“I would
n’
t have done that just for this. Jesus Christ, w
e’
re in the middle of an intergalactic war and we have rebellion to deal with? Why did he have to pick now
?
”

             
“I
t’
s the perfect moment
,”
a lithe voice said. All eyes turned to see Adeline entering the room. She handed her boss a cup of coffee and set another on the table in front of Alexander. Her dark blue suit was wrinkled from sleeping on a couch, but otherwise she looked remarkably put together
.“
We honestly ca
n’
t spare the men to fight at home when such a powerful enemy as the Boxti is on our doorstep. Jona
h’
s always been an opportunist
.
”

             
Jerry smiled ever so briefly, his face resetting at once
.“
Adeline has a point, sir. With the public already spinning in circles over the Nangolani and Tallus and the draft, this was the perfect moment
.
”

             
Arthu
r’
s phone rang and he stepped out of the room. He could be heard in the hall shouting for a moment. Before anyone could speak, he popped his head back in
.“
Sir, New Eden has one hundred thousand soldiers stationed on the surrounding moons that can be deployable in the next forty-eight hours. The Black Adders have a battalion tha
t’
s just finishing their deployment to Kronos
.
”

             
Alexander blinked to clear his eyes. He felt the room still spinning. Had there been a window in this room, he would have been able to watch the rescue operation continue to fail on Tallus. Only a thousand survivors had been pulled from the various islands of the planet thus far, and few more were projected. In the space of a week, his entire universe had been shattered beyond belief. He shuddered to think what would happen next. In fact, he was finding it hard to think at all. Every new challenge weighed on top of his chest, crushing the air from his lungs. Alexander had been raised to believe in the system, to believe that doing the right thing would lead to the right end. He sneered at the thought. That ideology had
n’
t prevented his fathe
r’
s murder. It had
n’
t protected the women and children of Tallus. He downed the rest of his drink.

             
“Tell them to activate every unit in the system. When those soldiers are finished training, I want them ready to deploy
.
”

             
Adeline frowned
.“
Should
n’
t we pull them all in now, sir? Why the delay
?
”

             
“Because the
y’
re green
,”
Jerry said
.“
Most of them have
n’
t seen a day of real combat. Pulling them out of training now will only shake them up more. Better to let them finish
.
”

             
Admiral Walker, looking much worse for wear, nodded and began to dial his phone
.“
I can have half of their force mobilized on Earth by the end of the month. The rest we can have standing by
.
”

             
An aide knocked on the door on the opposite end of the room. Jerry waved the young staffer inside. Shouldering past the people in the crowded room, he dropped a printout in front of the Chief of Staff.

             
Jerry looked down at the note, rubbing his face with his hands
.“
Alexander, i
t’
s from the Nangolani
.
”

             
“And
?
”

             
“The
y’
ve been tracking the group that fled from Tallus. If their trajectory remains the same, the
y’
ll be nearing Eros within the next twenty to seventy hours
.
”

             
The High Chancellor could
n’
t help but laugh. He lost control of himself, smacking the table. Tears streamed from his face as he fought to regain composure. The room stared, uncertain how to react. Finally, Alexander let out a breath and shook his head.

             
“Yeah, that sounds about right
.
”

*              *              *              *              *

              Cameron sat inside his pod, staring out at the vast empty tunnel. Had it been days or months or hours since h
e’
d been sucked into the void? Did it matter?

             
He reached into his flight suit, pulling out his silver cross and tossing it into the air. It floated in the zero gravity, but drifted steadily toward the right side of the cockpit.
Strange
, he thought.
I
t’
s like w
e’
re moving at different speeds.
He picked the cross out of the air and stuffed it back into his pocket.

             
It was warm inside the cockpit, much warmer than h
e’
d expected. Space was frozen and awful, making the ether a tropical paradise in comparison. Given his oxygen reserves, he figured he would die of starvation before anything else. It was
n’
t a terrible way to go. He flipped a few switches, trying to activate the engines for the fiftieth time. The cells shuddered and coughed and remained cold. Still dead.