The Lotus Eaters

Chu's XO, Ibarra, shook his head and placed one hand over the fire controls. 'No, skipper, don't do it.'

'Why?'

The exec smiled, sadly, answering, 'While it might still have done Orca some good, I'd have said, 'Damn the carrier, and every frog aboard.' Now?' The exec shook his head. 'Skipper, Miguel never turned off his clicker. Think about that. Even at the very last moment it was 'mission first,' as it should have been. You shoot now, let them know how frigging quiet we really are, you throw away a part of what the men aboard Orca gave their lives for.'

'We'll get 'em, skipper, never fear,' Ibarra said. 'But we'll do it at the time that's best for us, not for them.'

'All right then, we'll wait,' Chu agreed. 'But we're going to shadow that bitch for a few days and, if war has broken out above and we can tell it has, I'm killing it.'

Chapter Twenty-six

—though the lessons of ancient Rome, Greece, and Sparta are not perfectly supportive of the timocratic ideals put forth in this work, we should not lose sight of the valid lessons they do have to teach or illustrate. Among these is that only an armed citizenry, and one which is trained to arms, has a hope of maintaining its own political power and freedom in any degree whatsoever, that they can only gain any degree of political power and freedom through either the use or the threat of use of arms, or the withholding of those arms when the state needs them, and that, whatever their stated intent, those who would deprive the people of arms inevitably also deprive them of political power and freedom.

—Jorge y Marqueli Mendoza,

Historia y Filosofia Moral,

Legionary Press, Balboa,

Terra Nova, Copyright AC 468

Anno Condita 472 Executive Mansion, Hamilton, FD, Federated States of Columbia, Terra Nova

The Shimmering Sea was, as far as the Federated States and her Navy were concerned, their pond. Oh, the Taurans could come in and play, but they'd do so—had done so—with an FSN nuclear sub shadowing them from a distance. Unseen, unheard, the FSS Oliver Meredith had tracked the Gauls long before they'd passed the island of Cienfuegos. The Meredith had recorded the whole engagement between Orca and the Gauls.

That record, digitally sent to Hamilton and reduced to script, now sat on the desk of the President of the Federated States, Karl Schumann (Progressive), brought there by none other than his Secretary of War, James K. Malcolm.

'The Gauls fired first?' was Schumann's only real question.

'Yes,' Malcolm admitted, reluctantly, 'but they had reasons. That sub was attempting to get into a firing position against their carrier. After being spotted. That indicated hostile intent.'

'That's speculation,' Schumann answered, calmly. 'Moreover, it's speculation colored by your affection for the Gauls. Though why you have that affection after they let us down in Pashtia, I admit I do not quite understand, James.'

Malcolm opened his mouth as if to speak, then suddenly closed it again and went silent. Though silent, he thought, What is it? The fucking spics in Balboa do a mission and let Schumann take credit for it and he suddenly takes their side? Or is he afraid they'll reveal the truth after he took credit for it? Whatever it is, he should be slapping the Balboans silly and he won't.

Far worse, from Malcolm's point of view, Schumann picked up his phone and dialed a number. In French not quite so good as Malcolm's own, Schumann said, simply, 'About the Balboans, Mr. Ambassador? Tell your country to back the fuck off.'

Sub Pens, Puerto Lindo, Balboa, Terra Nova

Fernandez, Fosa and Carrera, all three, were waiting inside the concrete pen as Chu climbed out of the hatch atop the sail and descended the brow to meet them. Alongside, a crew was in the process of fitting the new boat, name still undetermined, with diving planes and torpedo pods.

'What happened?' Carrera asked.

'We penetrated their screen,' Chu answered, 'but the frogs killed Orca.'

'Was it Orca that destroyed the Tauran frigate?' asked Fosa.

Chu nodded his head, wearily. 'Yes, sir, the frigate and a frog sub we made as being an Amethyst Class. The frog fired first. Orca had to fire in self defense. And later, Miguel only shot up the frigate after a bunch of them had him boxed in and were salvoing torpedoes on his ass.

'We hung around shadowing their carrier in case war broke out. It didn't seem to have happened, so we came home.'

'No,' Carrera said, 'war didn't break out. I'm not sure why, really.'

'I'm sure,' said Fernandez. At Carrera's raised eyebrow he added, 'I've got my sources, Patricio. Their general, Janier, isn't ready. He even tried to call off the pursuit of Orca. And apparently the FSC is not happy with the Gallic 'allies,' either.'

Carrera didn't enquire further. Fernandez had his sources. He did say, to Chu, 'It was still touch and go for a