the fact that survivors from the
“. . and so, my fellow citizens, it is with the deepest regret that I have to tell you that as a consequence of what is little more than a sustained campaign of piracy intended to cripple our economy, the Federated Worlds Chamber of Deputies today approved the issue of a notice to the government of the Worlds of the Hammer of Kraa. That notice informs them that a state of unrestricted war is now in force. I signed that notice one hour ago.”
She paused, looking directly at the holocam.
“Let me say this in closing. It will take time. It will take treasure. It will take lives. But we will utterly destroy the current government of the Hammer of Kraa. Until that happy day, the Federated Worlds cannot and will not rest. From now on, one simple phrase will show us the way forward, and it is this: Whatever it takes.”
She paused again. With eyes filled with a sudden, terrible sadness, she continued.
“May God watch over us this day. Thank you for listening.”
Michael’s father sat there unmoving as Michael turned off the holovid. Eventually, a long time later, he spoke, his voice filled with the dying embers of hope destroyed.
“Michael?”
“Yes, Dad?”
“I can’t stop you from doing what you think is right. Promise me that when it’s all over, you’ll come home. Please, promise me!” he said, his voice breaking.
Michael pulled him close and hugged him tight. They stayed that way for a long time.
Wednesday, March 15, 2400, UD
Fleet Admiral Jorge sat down opposite an impassive Polk. Jorge’s heart was racing, and his stomach churned with a sick dread. He only had one chance left, and if he did not take it, he would finish the day facedown in the bottom of a quicklime-filled trench. Polk had not needed to threaten him. Jorge knew how things worked. He did not wait for Polk to open the proceedings.
“Sir, as you instructed, we’ve looked at the implications of the Feds’ declaration of war, and my staff and I are agreed that it changes nothing. We-”
Polk’s impassivity collapsed. “Changes nothing?” he hissed venomously, smashing the flat of his hand onto the desk, the sharp crack making Jorge jump. “Changes nothing? By Kraa, you had better pray that I believe that, Admiral.”
Jorge’s hands went up as if Polk were about to launch himself across the desk to rip his throat out.
“Sir. Bear with me, please,” Jorge pleaded. “Fleet has never, ever worked on the assumption that we could keep the Feds in the dark until we launched Operation Damascus. That would have been unforgivable. There are simply too many points of failure to be sure. So, while we hoped they would never find out, we have always assumed they might, and for that reason Rear Admiral Keniko and his planners have long had a fallback plan in case.”
Polk’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. This was news to him; it all sounded rather convenient.
Jorge plowed on. “Sir, I have Admiral Keniko outside. I think the best thing would be for me to have him explain the changes. I think you will see that far from setting us back, the Feds’ declaration of war may play straight into our hands. In a nutshell, we believe we can achieve all the operational objectives we set for Operation Damascus and possibly more. Our plans will change, but our objectives won’t. If anything, our chances of success are much improved. So may I bring Keniko in?”
Polk nodded, trying not to encourage the little germ of hope that had sprung to life.
Jorge returned, followed by an extremely anxious-looking Keniko. Polk was not sure why Keniko was looking so worried. Kraa’s blood, he was the only man in the room without a death sentence hanging over his head.
Polk did not waste time. “Let’s hear it, Keniko,” he growled, “and you’d better pray that I’m convinced.”
“Sir!” Keniko was quite unable to conceal the tiny tremble of fear in his voice.
Friday, March 17, 2400, UD
Without a moment’s hesitation, Michael was on his feet, folding Anna into his arms the instant she walked through the door into his cramped cabin.
“Anna,” he murmured, face buried in her neck. “Oh, Anna, Anna, Anna. .”
He stopped. Something was terribly wrong. Anna was not responding; she stood there stiff and unresponsive, arms by her side.
Michael pushed her back. “Anna?” he said, a sudden sliver of panic stabbing at his heart. This was not how it was supposed to be. “What’s up?”
Anna pulled his arms from her shoulders. With a firm shove, she pushed him away, eyes filling with tears as she sat down heavily on his bunk. Michael made to sit next to her, but her hand went up.
“No, Michael,” she said, her voice breaking. “No.”
“Anna!” Michael said desperately, stepping back, confused and afraid. “What’s the matter? For God’s sake, tell me!”
She stared at him for a long time before answering, making no effort to wipe away the tears that poured down her cheeks.
“Matter?” she said finally, her voice subdued. “What’s the matter? I’ll tell you what’s the matter. You think you can disappear for months on end? We thought you must be dead. Missing, presumed dead; that’s what they told us. And now-poof! You suddenly reappear like some sort of genie?”
“Anna,” Michael said, “that’s all in the past. That’s-”
“Shut up!” she hissed. “For once, just shut up. I don’t care what you think, I don’t care what you want, I don’t care what you say. And you know what?” She lifted her head defiantly.
“No, what?” Michael muttered miserably.
“You’re right. It is all in the past.” Her voice hardened. “It’s over, Michael. It’s over. You’re a damn fool. You can’t just walk back into my life and expect things to be back where they were. You can’t, you can’t,” she said, her voice breaking. She took a deep breath to steady herself, hands going to her face to wipe away the tears. “And I won’t let you. I thought you were dead. God help me, I thought you were dead. Far as we all knew, the
“Anna-”
“Don’t, Michael. Don’t say a thing. There’s nothing you can say. We’re heading for another fight with those damned Hammers, and I can’t, I won’t stand around wondering if I’m going to lose you all over again. I can’t go through that. I can’t. I just can’t.”
With that, without giving him a chance to say anything, Anna got to her feet and was gone, the cabin door hissing shut behind her with an awful finality. Stunned, Michael could only stand there openmouthed, staring at the door as his entire world crashed around him, every fiber of his body seared by flames of despair and loss, the pain so bad that he did not know how he would survive.
Two days and one massive, sanity-threatening alcoholic bender later, Michael had rationalized the pain away, even though deep inside losing Anna hurt more than anything had ever hurt before. With a mental shrug of the shoulders, he had consigned her to life’s out tray. He had made a promise to Corporal Yazdi, and he was going to keep it.
