In Earth's Service (Mapped Space Book 2) (34 page)

I silently cursed his
arrogance. The Matarons weren’t our friends and never would be. Any help they gave
us would only ever be to their advantage, not ours!

“So what does this
technology do?” Secretary Stilson asked with less unease than Minister Shankar
had shown.

“It’s a quantum tunneler,”
the Chairman said, clearly glad to get away from the subject of who was
providing the technical expertise. “It tunnels through hyperspace.”

“Hyperspace?” a quasi-Euro
Union accented man sitting beside Governor Metzler spoke for the first time. “That’s
an unproven theory.”

“Unproven to us, but a known
physical dimension beyond spacetime long accessible to the Hrane,” the Chairman
explained. “You see, while the Hrane are far ahead of us, in galactic terms
they are a mid level civilization. Their ships are slow compared to the Tau
Cetins, but hyperspace gave them galactic reach.”

The technician at my
feet groaned and started to rise. I snatched the stunner off the console and
shot him again, then gave the guard a second jolt for good measure.

“Galactic reach?” Vice
Chancellor Liang mused, wondering at the possibilities. “And we can use this
technology ourselves?” My threading decided he was from Xin Guizhou, a PFA Core
System world ninety eight light years from Earth.

“We can use the salvaged
technology,” the Chairman corrected, “but synthesizing it for large scale
exploitation is far beyond our industrial capability, at least for now.”

“How does it work?” the
quasi-Euro asked.

“It generates a micro-singularity,
an extreme gravity point which pulls a sliver of our spacetime through
hyperspace.”

“Sounds like a black
hole,” Minister Shankar said.

“It’s a point of
infinite density and zero volume,” the Chairman said, “which produces an effect
similar to what a very small black hole would do.”

“My dear Manning,” the
quasi-Euro said in a recognizably Ardenan accent, “wormholes are extremely
unstable and quite unsuitable for interstellar travel. To my knowledge, not a
single civilization in the Orion Arm employs such technology.”

“That is true, Senator
Proche,” the Chairman conceded, “which is why we’ll be injecting exotic matter
into the sliver to inflate and stabilize it, creating a bidirectional wormhole
large enough and safe enough for our ships to use.”

“The energy requirements
must be incredible,” Shankar said thoughtfully.

“They are, but thanks to
our friends, we have sufficient generating capacity.”

That’s what the Kesarn siphons
were for, to power the Hrane quantum tunneler! It would make the depot ship
undetectable, because she was running on dark energy – the first human ship
ever to do so!

“And are our mysterious
friends also providing us with exotic matter?” Minister Shankar asked. He was
almost certainly from the Indian Republic world of Hindrati nearly two hundred
light years from Earth.

The Chairman nodded. “Enough
for several strike missions. We are negotiating for more, but it is a difficult
material to procure. For now, our entire stockpile is aboard that ship, heading
to its assigned position.”

“It doesn’t look
underway,” Minister Delgado said, puzzled.

“This is a live data
stream from a camera drone, coming from the edge of the Duranis-B system. What
you’re seeing occurred almost two hours ago, the time it took for the signal to
reach us. Our ship will arrive at its assigned position an hour from now, at
which time it will begin deploying the tunneler. This signal is currently
encrypted, but soon we’ll open the feed to every news organization here.”

“Is that wise?” Secretary
Stilson asked, “considering the importance of security.”

“Propaganda is also
important, Mr. Secretary,” the Chairman replied. “I organized this trade
congress specifically to lure every media organization in Mapped Space here.
Soon, their ships will be racing each other back to the Core Systems, carrying
news of our triumph to every human inhabited world.” Realization spread across
their faces, then he motioned to someone off screen. “General Trask will now deliver
the tactical briefing.”

Domar Trask appeared
wearing a dark blue uniform with a gold star on each collar – not a uniform I’d
ever seen before. He nodded crisply to the assemblage then the holographic
image of the modified depot ship was replaced by a view of a ringed gas giant distinguished
by bands of brown, orange and white and orbited by dozens of moons of various
sizes. It could have been any one of a thousand such planets in Mapped Space.

“As you know, the outer
defense perimeter has a gravity barrier preventing unauthorized superluminal
flights into the system,” Trask began, immediately causing my stomach to turn!

The dead EIS agent,
Tiago Sorvino, suddenly screamed his warning at me from the grave:
aleph-null!
There was only one human controlled system in all of Mapped Space important
enough for a system wide gravity barrier!

“Our fleet will commence
its attack here,” Trask continued, indicating a spherical marker to the left of
the gas giant. “This is where the wormhole exit will appear, five million
kilometers from Jupiter. This is how we will avoid the outer system defenses. We
will never cross them. Four battle groups will simultaneously attack Earth Navy
installations on the Galilean Moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.” Four
triangular indicators emerged in a line from the spherical wormhole marker,
then diverged on separate courses toward their respective targets.

“Saboteurs will disable
the Galilean Detection System before our fleet exits the wormhole. They’ll
never see us coming. The first Earth Navy will know of our presence is when we
open fire from orbit. Without GDS targeting data, their surface and orbital
defenses will be compromised while we will destroy Earth Navy’s shipyards,
maintenance docks and supply bases. At any one time, a third of all Earth Navy
ships are at the Galilean Bases for refit and repair. Most will have skeleton
crews and cold energy plants. None will be ready for battle, making destroying
them on the ground a simple matter. The attack will last forty minutes by which
time Earth Navy will be crippled. Our fleet will then withdraw back through the
wormhole before other system defenses can be deployed.”

Aleph-null! Aleph-null!
Aleph-null!
It rang like a clash of
symbols in my mind.

“If we can send our
fleet through a wormhole,” Ambassador Delgado asked with a trace of irritation,
“why did you make us spend months coming all the way out here?” She was from Inalis
IV, a cold Union affiliated world settled from South America. She’d had the
longest voyage to reach the conference and would have an even longer return
trip as she’d have to steer well clear of the Solar System after the attack.

The Chairman nodded
sympathetically, sending his voluminous jowls jiggling. “What better way to break
the myth of Earth Navy invincibility than by destroying their main bases and a significant
portion of their fleet from eight hundred light years away, watched by every
news network in Mapped Space and by thousands of honest, law abiding citizens,
all of whom will take what they see back to their respective homeworlds to
spread fear and doubt. And in the Solar System, twenty four billion people will
watch it live, the day it happens. I have seen to that.” He paused, letting the
breadth of his plan sink in. “In a few hours, the Mavia will be famous.”

“Mavia?” Secretary
Stilson asked.

“My penchant for ancient
Earth history,” the Chairman confessed. “I took the liberty of naming our
secret weapon after Queen Mavia. She led a revolt in three seventy eight AD
against the Romans in southern Syria, defeated them several times and
eventually made peace on her terms. Rather apt, don’t you think?”

“Only if we achieve a quick
victory,” Secretary Stilson said, “and freedom from Earth’s interference.”

I’d never considered
Earth to be an interstellar Rome. Most colonies were self governing with little
or no interference from Earth Council, except where Access Treaty matters were
concerned and in those cases, opposition was not tolerated. Without Earth
policing the worst of humanity, mankind would have suffered a setback by now
far more damaging than the thousand year Embargo. Most human colonies would
agree the arrangement worked well, but clearly not all.

“Our joint declaration
will immediately follow our victory in the Jovian Moons,” the Chairman said.
“It will be issued here, by all of you, and will be carried across Mapped Space
by the media, lighting a fire Earth will be unable to put out in a thousand
years.”

“It will take two years
for news of this to spread to every colony,” Minister Delgado said.

“By which time,” the
Chairman added confidently, “it will be all over.”

“Don’t be so sure of
that,” Vice Chancellor Liang warned. “An unprovoked attack will unite the four
Earth Collectives like nothing else could.”

“And some of the
colonial worlds,” Doctor Sohrab added thoughtfully.

Trask stepped forward,
breaking into the conversation. “While we have the Mavia, Earth Council will have
to recall a large part of its operational fleet to protect the Solar System from
more wormhole attacks. That will leave weak forces out here for our fleet to
deal with on equal terms. Earth Navy will still outnumber us, but they’ll be
spread thin. They can’t be everywhere and protect the Solar System at the same
time, whereas we will concentrate our forces and pick our targets, fighting
only when we have local superiority.”

“We don’t have to defeat
them,” the Chairman added, “just force Earth Council to negotiate.”

“They won’t negotiate on
enforcing the Access Treaty,” Vice Chancellor Liang said, “but Earth will
retaliate. They will strike our bases, our shipyards and while they can rebuild
theirs, we will be unable to do the same without Earth’s help. It may take them
years to recover, but they will recover. How long can our fleet survive without
support?”

“Longer than you might
think,” the Chairman said, nodding to Trask who walked to the main doors.

Looks of shock appeared
on the delegate’s faces when the doors slid open and my brother walked into the
room, fully armed and dressed as a Brotherhood Captain, watching them through
his optronic eye.

“This is Captain Rix,”
the Chairman said. “He speaks for the Brotherhood.”

Senator Stilson voiced what
they were all thinking, “This man does not belong here!”

“On the contrary,” the
Chairman replied, “Captain Rix is an essential member of our group. The
Brotherhood has an extensive logistical network beyond the reach of Earth Navy,
a network that will keep our fleet operational for as long as we need it. Isn’t
that right, Captain?”

Rix approached the
conference table, sweeping the table with his cybernetic cyclops eye before
speaking. “Seven Brotherhood Chapters have agreed to support your fleet. The
remaining chapters will not attack your ships or raid your colonies … for now. They
may even join later.”

“If we win,” Senator
Proche said with a trace of cynicism.

“Certainly not if you
lose,” Rix said sharply. He started walking slowly around the table, gauging
the strength of his audience. “Most of our bases are outside Core System space.
All the large ones are, but we also have several smaller bases closer to Earth.
Their locations will remain a secret, whether you win or lose. To preserve that
secrecy, our navigators will pick up your ships from agreed locations, pilot
them to our bases for repair and return them to you.”

For the first time,
Governor Metzler spoke. “Hardfall is one of these pick up points. It will also
serve as our main base in Outer Draconis.”

“We have a number of
such bases prepared,” the Chairman said, “all under the control of our people,
all well defended. Martial law will be established to ensure Earth loyalists
give us no trouble.”

“Considering we already
control all communications in and out of Hardfall and the other bases,” Metzler
said, “it could be a year or two before Earth Navy even realize where our bases
are.”

“How many ships is the
Brotherhood providing?” Senator Proche asked.

“None!” Rix said. “We
will not do any fighting for you. We will not rescue survivors or conduct
evacuations. We will not break Earth Navy blockades, carry supplies or aid your
wounded. All we will do is repair battle damage. Any ship not flagged as a
Separatist ship is a legitimate prize. If any of your ships fire on any of
ours, the deal is off.”

“And what does the
Brotherhood receive in return for this generosity?” Minister Delgado asked.

“We will be paid in
credits and equipment,” Rix replied. “Terms have been agreed.”

“Quite reasonable terms,
I assure you,” the Chairman added. “Even if Earth Navy blockades our worlds,
which we know they will, this arrangement ensures we will continue fighting.
Earth will have to agree to negotiate eventually. In the meantime, we are still
discussing the possibility of Brotherhood ships acting as privateers on our
behalf. Any Brotherhood privateer would be granted full immunity for past indiscretions
and their Captains would be offered commissions in our fleet.” The Chairman
turned to my brother. “What would you think of commanding a Brotherhood
squadron,
Admiral
Rix? Would that interest you?”