Wrath of Axia (The Arcadian Jihad) (26 page)

“Why would we use any tricks, Colonel? It is a simple matter of a surrender.”

“So you’re giving up, are you?”

“Us?” Nightingale managed to make it sound so incredulous that Blas laughed out loud. As if the Colonel’s forces didn’t out number them, by almost ten to one. “You misunderstand. We are offering you a chance to surrender.”

The Colonel scowled and shouted, “Damn you, this is a trick.” He raised his hand to signal his gunners. As he had threatened, there was a burst of laser fire, but it sailed overhead, missing the two women completely. He turned and shouted at his men. “Fire again, you fools, you can’t miss.”

Saffron and Nightingale stood watching with calm eyes, as a laser burst ripped towards them and missed again.

“It’s no good, Colonel, you’re finished,” Nightingale told him.

In anger he ripped out his sidearm and pointed it in their direction, at least, he tried. His hand shook and shivered, but he could not draw aim on the two women. His face was red, his fury overwhelmed him and he ran back to his vehicle. Without climbing aboard, he ranted at the crew, “Shoot them, kill them, they’re using tricks to play with our minds.”

A trooper climbed out and faced him. “Sir, they’re women. We can’t just kill unarmed women in cold blood.”

“Damnit, I gave you an order, kill them, now!”

“But Sir, I…”

He got no further, for the Colonel pointed his pistol at the man’s head and pulled the trigger. There was a blinding flash and the man’s head disappeared, and his body fell to the ground. It wasn’t enough.

“I told you, shoot them. If you don’t, I’ll personally kill the lot of you cowardly scum.”

Other crews had climbed out of their vehicles to watch the astounding picture of a senior officer screaming and drooling spittle on the battlefield. They saw him drag another man out of the vehicle and put the gun to his head. There was a burst of laser fire and another body hit the ground. This time, it was the Colonel. A lieutenant had walked over to speak to him from another armored vehicle and acted to stop the slaughter. For a few moments there was silence between the officer and the two women. Then he looked at them.

“I couldn’t allow my superior officer to kill people at will, but I am not able to surrender. No matter what you do to us, I will not surrender a superior force on the battlefield.”

“There is an honorable alternative,” Nightingale said to him. “What do I call you?”

“I am Lieutenant Harris of the Tricon 5
^th
Armored Division,” he said proudly. “What is the alternative?” His eyes were filled with suspicion.

“Just listen to the President of the Nine Systems. The President has the power to issue you with orders, does he not?”

“You mean Fabian Bartok?”

“No. He is not the President. If you would agree to a truce and listen to what President Xerxes Tell has to say, afterwards, you may continue the battle if you wish. We will not interfere further. You have my word on it.”

“How do I know you would keep your word?”

This time, Saffron spoke to him. “Lieutenant, whatever else you have heard, do you know of any time when an Orphexian has lied? We are trained to speak truth, nothing more.”

He nodded. “I have heard the same thing said. I agree, let’s listen to this President of yours.”

Blas was astonished, but he used the comm system to report to Rusal. Tell agreed at once.

“Don’t you see? If I can convince these men of the truth, they will take it back to their barracks and the word will spread. It’s a unique opportunity.”

“It’s also an opportunity to get yourself killed,” Rusal growled.

“We’ll take precautions, Admiral. It’s a chance worth taking.”

Rusal nodded. “Very well, but I’ll take some precautions of my own.” He looked for his adjutant. “Put out a call for Captain Alex Yalonda, please. I want her here.”

“Yes, Sir.”

An hour later Rusal was standing on the south wall of Sana city, flanking Xerxes Tell. On the other side of the President was Alex Yalonda, Captain of the Magellan and an Orphexian woman. He’d asked her if she had the power to prevent the enemy from targeting the President.

“Within limits, yes. At any distance, no.”

“In that case, we’d better prepare to put ourselves between the President and enemy fire. Is that clear?”

She nodded. “Of course, Sir.”

The first sign of the returning forces was a huge dust cloud. Then Blas’ depleted force came into view. A mile behind them trundled the vast army of Tricon armor. Blas reached the walls and swung his ASFVs around so that they faced outwards, but their guns were pointing straight up to the sky. The Tricon army stopped four hundred yards away and formed a huge, plasteel wall that stretched across the plain. Their guns too, were pointed at the sky. The crews climbed out of the vehicles and formed a vast crowd that stood in front of the armor, but the Rescom officers were aware that each vehicle was still manned by a gunner who could bring their weapons into instant use. To Rusal’s horror, Tell walked into the center, an artificial amphitheater created by the vehicles, to speak. He climbed onto the hull of a Rescom vehicle and stared down at the assembled troops.

“Firstly, my thanks to the two Orphexian ladies who persuaded your officer to listen to what I have to say. They used their mind control abilities to prevent your Colonel from killing them, so they can hardly be blamed for that.”

There was a ripple of laughter.

“I assure you that everything you see or hear now is truth. There is no trickery, no mind control. Even if that were possible, I have no idea what these ladies can and can’t do.”

Someone shouted, “I wouldn’t mind finding out,” and there was more laughter. He held up his hand for quiet. Then he went on to explain what had happened five years ago.

“As far as we know, there were two plots to seize power. The first used a double to pretend to be me, once they’d kidnapped me and spirited me away to Hesperia. The second, not knowing that the President was now in fact a doppelganger, poisoned him. That’s the way that Fabian Bartok took power. I have no idea who the first fake President was. One day we’ll find out, I’ve no doubt. The poisoner and mass murderer Fabian Bartok is still in power, of course.”

He paused for breath.

“You may wonder at my choice of words, ‘mass murderer’. On Hesperia, the local population is being systematically hunted down and killed. Their planet is being taken over to turn it into a vast burlash plantation. There are also huge flocks of Galuppi birds. They’re importing them to make a hunting ground for the Tricon nobility, the senior politicians and military leaders. In this way, the beautiful and historic planet of Hesperia is about to become a cash cow for the major landowners. They are Grand Admiral Rad Bose and his brother Pieter Bose. I have little doubt that other planets are targets for their ruthless program of exploitation. Some of you men are from those planets, so you must suspect what is going on.”

There was a nervous shifting of feet as men swapped glances with each other. Tell had hit the mark with that comment. Many had seen changes on their home planets and been unable to understand the reason why. He sensed their dawning realization and pressed the point home.

“What I offer you is exactly the same as I offered before, when you voted for me. Nothing more. Nothing less. People will once again have rights, and there will be no mass arrests, no forced labor gangs. No confiscation of property. People will have the right to live in peace, to have enough food to eat, to plan for the future and their children’s future. And if you are unhappy with my government, vote me out of office.” He paused again and looked at them, deadpan. “If you feel strongly enough, I’d sooner you do that than poison me.”

The group of men erupted again into laughter.

“It is only by a strange quirk of fate that when Bartok poisoned the person he thought was Xerxes Tell, I was already a prisoner on another planet. I want an end to these Machiavellian politics. It will end. That is my promise to you all.”

Blas could see that he had them. Their faces carried the expressions of men who had seen the light, men who understood how they had been conned by their leaders. If there was anger on those faces, it wasn’t for Xerxes Tell. The ground echoed to the roars of approval. Rusal looked across at Alex Yalonda.

“I think our army just got bigger.”

She nodded and the both walked out with Tell as he went amongst the Tricon troops to be with his new allies. Trusting them was a masterstroke, showing them that he had as much faith and trust in them as they did in him. Many would have thought of Fabian Bartok, who never went near his troops unless he was surrounded with legions of bodyguards.

That evening they met in the underground headquarters. This time the room was packed with the new faces of the senior enemy officers who’d joined them to swell their ranks. All had the same question on their lips. “What next?” They waited for Rusal and Tell to give them answers, but were interrupted by a comms sergeant. He hurried in with two signals, one from a monitoring stations and the other from Berg Smetana. Rusal read the first and called for quiet.

“The enemy’s Grand Fleet it heading this way. They’re travelling at sub-light speed, estimated to arrive in orbit inside of eighteen hours.”

The room went quiet as they listened. He read out the second message.

“Berg Smetana is in position behind the enemy land forces, and his attack will be underway inside an hour.”

“In that case we should attack immediately,” Blas said. “Now that they’ve lost a good part of their force we can hit them hard enough to finish them.”

He stopped when he heard a gentle cough beside him. Lieutenant Harris, the Tricon lieutenant.

“Mr. Blas, Sir, those are my people there. Many of them are old friends and comrades. I’d like to give them a chance to surrender too. We could spare the lives of those that are not happy to support a corrupt government.”

Tell nodded. “He is quite correct. Many of those men will be fighting out of ignorance. They don’t know the truth. Lieutenant Harris, approach your comrades and ask them to join us. I will go with you.”

There was a collective gasp. Xerxes Tell was a known risk taker, but this was too much.

“Mr. President,” Rusal said firmly. “It’s an insane risk, I beg you to reconsider.”

“I will go with the President,” Nightingale said. “I can protect him.”

“Thank you, in that case there is nothing more to discuss. Lieutenant Harris, form up your forces, we have little time. Admiral, I imagine that you will be busy with the enemy fleet?”

“I will,” Rusal said grimly. “They’ll take some stopping. Mr. Blas, would you go with the President?”

“Me? I thought I would be more use on the bridge of a battlecruiser.”

“I want you here, Mr. Blas. If they get past us, and manage to land on the planet’s surface, we’ll need all the resources we can muster to fight them. When we’ve beaten them, we can go after Fabian Bartok on Axis Nova.”

“No, Admiral, this is where the final battle will be. Fabian Bartok is on the flagship of the Grand Fleet,” Nightingale said.

They looked at her in surprise. “You’re sure?”

“He’s there.”

Blas and Saffron watched Harris’ armored force move out to meet the enemy. Nightingale was inside his own vehicle with President Tell. At least her mental powers would offer him some protection. If he was killed, it would be a disaster beyond all reckoning. Blas shrugged, he had his own battle to fight, but it would not do to divert his attention by concern about something he had no power to influence. They watched Rusal walk up the ramp and board his ship. Other crews were boarding their own vessels. Their force had been brought up to a strength of almost a thousand ships, thanks to the crash program of building and repairs in the planet’s shipyards. Many of the ships were unfinished, but they were out of time. The shipbuilders were traveling with the fleet to continue their work during the battle. It was the only way. They watched the vessels take off from this and other nearby space docks, and then the city of Sana seemed to go quiet. Blas turned to Saffron.

“It’s time to check the defenses. If our ships can’t stop the enemy, we’ll need to give them a hot reception here.”

Saffron nodded. “Do you think the defensive guns on the walls will be sufficient?”

He nodded. “I hope so. It’s all we’ve got, and if the artillery doesn’t stop them, we’re in trouble.”

But by the time they had completed a circuit of the walls Blas knew that they were in trouble. The shipbuilding program had stripped away too many men and too much equipment from the city defenses. The gun crews were not blind to their problems. He spoke to the sergeant in charge of the pulse cannon that was strategically positioned near the east gate, closest to the enemy.

“It’s like this, Sir. We’re at half strength and our spare power packs have been taken to equip the armored vehicles. I know they need it, but we’ve barely enough power for more than one or two hours firing. After that, we’ll be down to throwing rocks.”

“Perhaps they won’t even get this far, Sergeant,” Blas said. “After all, this is only the last resort.”

“We all know that,” he replied. “But in my experience, it always comes down to the last resort. Maybe the Admiral will stop the Grand Fleet getting through, and maybe President Tell will persuade the ground forces to surrender and join us, but what are the chances of both of those things happening? Not very high.”