Opening Moves (33 page)

Director Campbell glared at his colleague. “I'm sure the fact that our own species is divided into three major power blocks, and at least several dozen independent star systems, did just slip Secretary Randolph's mind. And regarding the Pact: with all due respect to the Secretary of State, those are
opinions
, and rather uninformed ones at that. I don't see how he can comment on the morals and ideals of races he has no real understanding of.”

“
But the evidence is there for all of us to see!” Randolph defended. “They refuse to help each other in their time of greatest need! It's tragic, and I am pleased we didn't pursue stronger ties with them because they are untrustworthy, self-interested and totally amoral!”

“
The United Nations in the late 21
st
century also provided the treaty framework to curb global war by multilateral action, and yet we got the Khanate, the Khalifate and the Third World War, and the First Solarian War, and the Second, too! Nations
do
act out of self-interest! Everything else would be madness. Your bigoted generalizations don't…”

“
Gentlemen, please.” President Solwyn's voice was a calm, clear soprano, but it cut through the two men's argument like a laser scalpel. Heated discussions between her Secretary of State and the director of the CSD were getting more and more frequent, especially on the issue of relations with alien races.

Campbell favored working with other powers to expand the Union's influence abroad with the idea of such an option also giving it more clout in the inner-human political machinations. Trade with foreign powers was advantageous to the Union's wealth, and good relations with alien nations carried at least the threat of them weighing in on disputes in favor of the North American Union.

Randolph's opinion was to keep Earth and the Union isolated from the alien influences, not only because they were a rogue factor in the game of human power blocks but also because he saw their ideas, customs and morals as detrimental to human society in general.

Striking a balance between the two of them would have been perfect: all the economic and diplomatic gains without any undue influence. But to Jennifer Solwyn that seemed like an impossible compromise right now. “Let's keep to the issue at hand, gentlemen: the Ashani.”

Campbell sighed, then composed himself. “We believe they will try to go for the Érenni home world itself, Madam President. If our foldspace charts are correct holding Senfina allows the Dominion to bypass other major colonies of the Republics. The star systems between Senfina and the Érenni home world aren't fortified enough to warrant individual operations. The Dominion's advance won't be threatened from there. And after the fanatical attack on Senfina we're no longer convinced their defenses will hold.”

“
They don't have the stomach for war,” Randolph added, and not to Campbell's pleasure.

“
For our response, Madam President, I'd recommend offering food and medical aide, but nothing more at this time,” the CSD's director stated. It was an empty gesture of goodwill. The trip to Érenni space took commercial craft almost three months. He sincerely doubted the Dominion would sit back and wait for that long to finish what it had started. And there would be the danger of commerce raiding, too.

“
At least we agree on that,” Secretary Randolph nodded, oblivious to Campbell's thoughts.

“
What's the position of the Armed Forces, General Ulysses?” Solwyn looked to her Chief of Staff.

“
We know little about Ashani capabilities yet, Madam President,” he answered with a Southern accent distinct from that of SECSTATE Randolph. “What we
do
know is that they're an advanced and clearly capable enemy. If you allow me the short recourse to our own history, their dedication to their cause carries shades of the Muslim extremist of the 21
st
and 22
nd
century as well as of the Japanese Empire's conduct in the first half of the 20
th
century. However, they seem to have no quarrel with us, and I recommend we do nothing to provoke them. Even Van Halen's Star is nearly two months away from the Dominion's borders on commercial drives. It's the Joint Chiefs' opinion that, in light of the military realities closer to home, we should not be interested in getting involved in a conflict halfway across known space. Quite frankly, the Dominion can't take on the whole Pact. I expect the war will end rather soon, especially if the Tuathaan become fully involved.”

“
Fine then, gentlemen,” Solwyn concluded. “We'll offer simple aid but nothing more direct for now. Director Campbell, keep up your efforts to get a full picture of what happened at Senfina. Once we've got that information we can truly see what the Dominion is up to.” She rose from her chair. “I'd like to be informed of any new findings the moment you've verified them. Now, if you'd excuse me, I've got a conference scheduled in
The Tank
.”

The three men left her office which was buried deep in the pyramid-like Union Tower rising out of Lake Michigan within sight of Chicago. President Solwyn walked over to a smooth door painted just as white as the rest of her office. As she approached its surface turned an obsidian black and slid back into the wall with a slight hiss. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The Tank
was the 28
th
century equivalent to the old 'red telephone' of the Cold War era, a secure communications environment in which the leaders of humanity could parlay with one another. The triangular room clad in deep blue marble was polished clean enough that one could have done surgery on an open heart in it. A small desk sat in each of the room's three corners, each adorned with a sigil of one of the three major power blocks: the eagle of the North American Union, the dragon carrying an olive branch in its maw of the Pacific Rim Alliance, and the golden stars on green of the Euromediterranean Confederacy.

Solwyn sat down behind 'her' desk and the door hissed shut again.

“
Chairman Zhou and Prime Minister Nordquist are already waiting, Madam President
,” Marston, her personal VI assistant announced.

“
Then let's not keep them waiting any longer,” she said and put on her poker face.

Out of thin air, two men appeared behind the other desks within a blink of an eye. On first sight the holograms were indistinguishable from the real thing, something also owed to the clinically clean nature of
The Tank
.

Chairman Zhou Jun of the Pacific Rim Alliance was a thin, bald-headed Chinese national. A horseshoe-shaped fringe of white hair made it look as if he wore a thin silver crown, an image not too far off the actual truth. He was, by far, the oldest of the three politicians, close to two hundred years, and much like a king: he had controlled the fates of the Alliance's five billion people for the past fifty-seven years. Despite his age, his eyes were a clear and striking black, and immediately belied strewn rumors of him no longer being at the peak of his mental capacities. His hands rested calmly on the desk's surface. They were smooth black artificial constructs, the result of a Nepalese separatist's bombing attack in his youth. He could have easily opted for re-growing the stumps back then, but had consciously decided against it. Open cybernetic implants often had a disquieting impact on others, a fact Zhou had played with masterfully throughout his career. President Solwyn knew of the rumors that his hands were by far not the only parts of him that had been replaced by sophisticated machinery. Given his energetic appearance despite his age, she was inclined to believe them.

The Euromed Confederacy's leader was the polar opposite of Zhou Jun. Emmanuele Nordquist was about her own age, combining the darker complexion of his southern European mother with the tall build and blonde hair of his Scandinavian father. He had an open, friendly face and a wide smile revealing a set of perfect teeth. Solwyn knew he had undergone several bouts of cosmetic surgery to build this perfectly attractive persona. The President was keenly aware of the fact that it was just that, an attractive public persona. One didn't rise to the top of a power block including such diverse national cultures as Sudan and Norway by being Mr. Goody Two-Shoes. There was steel behind that wide smile.

Each in their own way, both of the men she found herself facing were the most dangerous individuals she knew. But she kept her poker face.

“Gentlemen, my apologies for keeping you waiting. As you're certainly aware, matters of state have a habit of interfering with even the best schedule. But please, what can I do for you?” Playing the innocent, unknowing girl was a routine to relieve situations of tension. In truth, she had a rather good idea about what the other only two humans equal to her in political power wanted, an idea that was proven right by the next sentence.

“
Your deployment of a vast armada to Van Halen's Star has raised serious questions about the North American Union's commitment to the maintenance of peace and the
status quo
between us,” Zhou's voice was cold, contrasting starkly with the almost soft sing-song that underlay his Interlingo. “Military movements of that scale can easily be misinterpreted, with potentially fatal consequences, Madam President. As such, the Alliance has lodged a formal diplomatic protest and heightened our state of readiness in response.”

“
Van Halen's Star is the Union's most distant colony world, Mr. Chairman, nearly five hundred light-years away from Earth. That's not only at the end of a very long supply line, but also in the close interstellar vicinity of the Rasenni-Ukhuri border and the holdings of several smaller powers. Given the recent domestic developments in the Empire, I believed it to be a prudent move to deter possible aggressive moves in light of the Rasenni succession to the throne,” Solwyn replied in a cool soprano. “Secondly, given that the Union's armed forces assembled the force we've sent to Orion colony, in the orbit of Mars under the eyes of the whole solar system, it is somewhat disingenuous to ascribe some hidden motives to the whole operation. Calling it a 'vast armada' is also rather stretching the truth.”

“
Maybe so,” Nordquist interjected in a suave baritone. “But given that we're talking about a mobilization of nearly two hundred vessels, including twenty
Cortez
-class dreadnoughts, and close to three divisions of first-line troops you can, maybe, understand both my and the Chairman's reservations? You must be aware that this is enough raw firepower to waltz right over any other independent systems out there, and with three divisions of armor and your airborne infantry in tow... well, the move raises questions,” he shrugged.

“
Orion colony has a population of almost sixty million Union citizens, gentlemen. It has the military facilities to temporarily sustain the force we've sent there, both in space and on the ground. It is an exposed location due to its distance from Earth. Even the shortest path would lead a relief force across eleven foldspace junctions. Under the circumstances I believed it to be a matter of simple caution to strengthen the Union's garrison there in an effort to nip outside aggression in the bud. And with all due respect, Prime Minister, Mr. Chairman: the North American Union shifts forces the size of the taskforce we've sent to Van Halen's Star all the time, and so do both your nations, too. I don't remember the Alliance navy's 'surprise war game' in Chara this spring warranting diplomatic repercussions and raising international tensions, Chairman Zhou.” She turned her gaze to Nordquist. “Likewise, I am disappointed that my government's moderate position on EMC's handling of the Eridani Revolt last year is apparently not repaid in kind.”

Thirteen months ago the EMC colonial administration on Nouveau Paris in the Epsilon Eridani system had been overthrown by a rather well-armed separatist – or as they, themselves, had called it, independence–movement.

Nouveau Paris was one of the oldest and most populous human colonies, founded even before the discovery of foldspace and faster-than-light travel by sleeper ships sent out in the 22
nd
century. It was a cold, humid world with ice caps reaching several thousand kilometers from its poles, but its gravity and atmospheric pressure were almost Earth-like. And it had no seasons since the planet lacked an axial tilt.

Solwyn knew the EMC had enacted a communications blackout over the system, cutting its tachyon buoys out of the system. At the same time, its press had played up the insurgents as a fanatical fringe group of murderers and extremists. She also knew that nothing had been farther from the truth. Campbell's
Central Security Directorate
had had people on the ground who had supplied her with the real picture. He had never told her how he had managed to get spies into the inner circle of the movement, and she had never pressed the issue. But what had been obvious was that no small circle of extremists had the power and reach to take over half a billion people and the planet's orbitals. The insurgents had enjoyed wide popular support for their goals of independence from the EMC. The Confeds' forces had gone in guns blazing, and that had been the point when things had started to really go wrong.

The true extent of the casualties suffered in that first assault were still classified, but the Eridani defenders shot down fifteen warships and damaged another thirty. The initial landings had gone uncontested, but as soon as the five divisions of General Pavel Montoya's expeditionary corps had begun their operations, the Eridani militias had struck. Montoya's boys and girls had been among the toughest stock the Confederacy's military had to offer, and they had enjoyed a qualitative advantage in the equipment they used. But the insurgents, no, the Eridani Militia led by a former EMC officer, General Emile Danton, had outnumbered Montoya's forces. They knew the territory, and they had known where to strike. Danton made use of the age-old military maxim of
hit 'em where they ain't
, descending on the weakest links of Montoya's expeditionary force, conserving his sparse heavy weapons for crucial confrontations. The situation that had arisen from that had seen a reversal of the intended roles. Instead of hunting down the insurgency, it was Danton's forces who became the hunters. Afraid that the situation was getting out of control – which it had been, Jennifer Solwyn knew – EMC's high command had begun to frantically funnel more troops into the theater. Montoya's five divisions became ten, then twenty, then forty-seven. They had a full-blown quagmire on their hands. They would win most engagements but were on the way to lose the war. The comm blackout did only so much to keep the true state of the operations part of the rumor mill, but no government had the means to completely keep something of this size and magnitude under wraps indefinitely. The choir of voices of the other independent systems had gotten louder and louder with every passing week of the revolt. In the end the EMC had resorted to the orbital kinetic bombardment of rebel strongholds, breaking the militia's back when it wiped out General Danton's command bunker along with him and his staff. Things had returned to a chilly state of peace since then. Still, you didn't need to be a genius to realize that hostilities were just waiting beneath the surface to erupt again.