Fleet have called it Operation Paradise.”
Unable to say a word, Michael stared at Jaruzelska.
“You can close your mouth, Michael,” she said. “There’s an initial briefing for you and your officers … Let me see, yes, at 04:00, but before that, I need to talk to you about the dreadnoughts. I have to know that they can do what’s expected of them.”
Despite the ungodly hour and the unremitting stress of a week spent on the Manovitz fleet battle ranges playing war games, all Michael’s tiredness had vanished, washed away by the prospect of action. The intelligence analyst was just winding up his briefing.
“Thank you. That concludes my briefing. Are there any questions?”
Michael asked the question on everyone’s mind. “The report’s graded A-1. Has Fleet explicitly confirmed that with the intelligence providers? We need to be absolutely sure on this. We don’t often see intelligence graded A- 1.”
“Yes,” the analyst said, “we have confirmed the grading. I can also tell you that Fleet has gone back channel to the head of the Hammer desk. She’s confirmed the source is impeccable. It has a good track record for being both timely and accurate. As to the intelligence itself, I can only repeat what I’ve already said: It is corroborated by what the Hammers are doing on the ground. Data intercepts confirm their 2nd, 18th, and 45th marine brigades have moved out of barracks to the Kerrivici marine base, which of course is one of the Hammer’s planetary assault training centers.
“Until we received this report, we believed those movements were simply part of some training exercise, but we now know that to be incorrect. Doctrinal Security is also on the move; we have intercepts confirming that their 116th Shock Brigade is en route to Kerrivici”-uneasy whispers ran through the room; DocSec shock brigades were notorious for their brutal suppression of dissent-“and there’s some evidence another DocSec regiment is on its way to Kerrivici, but we’ve not been able to confirm that. So yes, Fleet intelligence sees every reason to grade this report reliable. Are there any more questions … no? Thank you. The next briefer will give you a quick overview of Salvation. Lieutenant?”
“Thank you, sir,” the young lieutenant said when she took her place at the lectern. “If you would turn your attention to the holovid, you can see what Salvation looks like. In a word, wet. The planet is all ocean apart from a single island … here … with one settlement, New Hope. The breakaway sect-they call themselves the Salvationists of Kraa, or Salvos for short-live in a large gated community on the northern outskirts of the town, about a hundred thousand of them. Relations with the rest of the island’s population are good, mainly because they have learned the hard way to be tolerant, even to the point where they now accept AIs and geneering. Two more things to note. From a tactical point of view, the Salvos look like a soft target because they are so concentrated, but they’re not. We know from previous security scares that even if we alert them to the Hammers’ intentions, they will not move. They have always made it clear that they will fight and die no matter how many Hammers come after them. They are tough, they are well armed, and they are very determined. So the Hammers will have their hands full rounding them up. Second, Salvation has been declared a neutral planet under the Kalici Protocol. In theory, that binds the Hammers not to attack it, but that’s clearly a legal nicety they have no intention of respecting. A profile of Salvation is in your briefing notes and we have set up an AI knowledge base for more detailed enquiries, so I’ll stop there. Are there any questions?”
The conference room was silent. Michael glanced around; every last spacer present sported the same look of stunned disbelief on his or her face. He sympathized. A few hours earlier, the crews of the dreadnoughts were looking forward to a badly needed stand-down. Now they faced action against the Hammers and soon, a lot sooner than anyone had ever expected.
Jaruzelska made her way to the front of the room. “Thank you, Lieutenant,” she said.
“My pleasure, sir.”
“Right. I have some late-breaking news. Fleet intel says they have identified three Hammer stealthed reconsats in Clarke orbit around Salvation, so I think that removes any doubt that the Hammers are about to make their move on Salvation.”
Jaruzelska paused while a buzz ran around the room.
“I don’t have to tell you,” she continued, “that the next few hours will be bedlam. We have a lot to do and not much time to do it in. The operations planning teams are hard at it. They’ll present a first draft of the ops plan at 08:00 this morning. I want captains and execs there for that, plus your warfare AIs, of course. Unless there are any burning questions, that’s all.”
When the briefing broke up, Michael waved Rao and Machar over. “I know you want to get back to your ships,” he said to them, “but I think you can safely leave them with your execs for an hour or so. We need to talk.”
“Any chance of doing that over breakfast?” Rao asked hopefully.
“Lead on,” Michael said as a protesting stomach reminded him that it had been a long time since he last had eaten.
Michael pushed his plate away and commed the drinkbot to bring him another cup of badly needed coffee.
“It’s all a bit much, I have to say,” Machar said. “Salvation, eh? So much for the Kalici Protocol. Goddamn Hammers.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Michael said.
Machar’s concern was plain to see. “Well, I don’t suppose there’s any point in me beating the old ‘we’re not ready’ drum,” he said. “I imagine you’ve done that already, and the admiral told you … well, she told you …”
“To get on with it. Is that what you were trying to say?”
“Pretty much, sir,” Machar said.
“What about the ‘we shouldn’t do it because it might screw up Operation Opera’ excuse?” Rao asked.
Michael shook his head. “That didn’t fly any farther than ‘we’re not ready so please leave us alone’ did. Look, I understand your concerns, but you need to have faith in yourselves. I know we haven’t seen the plan yet, but I cannot see the Salvation operation being any more difficult than what we’ve just been through on the Manovitz ranges. So can we do it? Yes, we damn well can.” Michael was emphatic.
“I can only speak for myself, sir,” Rao said, “but I’m sure we can-”
“Sorry to interrupt, Kelli, but I am, too,” Machar said, “and I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. I just wanted to be sure the powers that be understood, you know …”
“That dreadnoughts are still an unknown quantity?” Michael said. “Yes, they understand that, even though the First has runs on the scoreboard. Anyway, you both did well this week, so it’s not such a risk. In any case, needs must. Throwing Salvation to the wolves is not an option. Think of all those bilateral security treaties that define our sphere of influence. If planets like Salvation, not to mention Kalici, New Kashmir, Bennet’s World, Panguna, Covoti-B, Lagerfeld, Gok-3, Yushiro-I can go on for hours, there are so many of them-cannot depend on the Federation’s promise to keep the Hammers at bay, we are in trouble. And here’s one other thing you need to think about. An operation to protect Salvation might be a distraction, but I cannot think of a better way to conceal the preparations for Opera. When we make our move, any intelligence the Hammers have on our buildup for Opera will be ascribed to the Salvation operation.”
Rao nodded. “One thing is for sure,” she said thoughtfully. “With all the pressure Fleet’s under, the last thing those scum-sucking Hammers will expect is a battle fleet operation against a tough Hammer target like SuppFac27 only weeks after having their asses kicked at Salvation … well, so we hope,” she added.
“That point had occurred to the admiral,” Michael said drily.
“But even so, sir, why use the dreadnoughts?”
“You know what, Kelli? That was my first question when the admiral told me we were tasked. The answer’s simple. Fleet is under enormous pressure; it’s barely holding the line against the Hammers. The dreadnoughts are the largest single tactical unit in Fleet’s order of battle that is not committed to current operations. Thirty capital ships, sitting around, not fighting the Hammers like every other ship in the Fleet. Everyone knows they are committed to Opera in just over a month, but beggars cannot be choosers. They are the only warships available.”
Rao and Machar both nodded, though Michael could see that neither was convinced. He was not concerned. Good officers-and his two dreadnought captains were good-always had doubts. It was only the bad ones who let those doubts stop them doing what had to be done.
