squadrons, an impressive number garnered from far flung districts that, so far as they knew, had not raised any eyebrows among the Rebels. Of those, 27 had received the quick upgrade and were already in position one jump outside the system. The rest would arrive soon. Only five of the fast squadrons were manned with Terrans. There were simply no more Terrans to be had at the moment. Serge had agreed to provide his own protection for Parsons’ World, and Trexler suspected his traders were up to the task.
He considered the five fast squadrons manned by Terrans. If all five had come, that meant that Ellie’s squadron was among them. Where was she, and how well protected was she? He didn’t know.
He did the math: 160 cruisers, and 68 of them manned by Terran crews, most of them untested in battle. He called Sam Taylor. “This is going to be a real management problem.”
“It is. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and we’ve been running simulations. I wish we could speak freely, but we can’t yet.”
“No. Not yet. As soon as I make my drop-off, I’ll join you. Until then, you’re in charge out here.”
“The big boss will be here soon.”
“Sam, he’ll need time. You’ve had what… weeks to think about this? We’re going to lean heavily on you.”
“Initial action scenarios are the most critical, and I’m prepared. Once things get heated up, it’s all going to be on the fly. There’s no way to plan for that, and I’m not trying.”
“You’re right. Let me be blunt. How are we going to distinguish the ships manned by Chessori.”
“Our special ships are going to get a hard work-out. They’ll be first-in.”
They stared at each other. “They can’t be wrong,” Trexler stated softly, thinking about what would happen to Empire crews if they tried to take on the Chessori. They’d be sitting ducks, with no chance of fighting back.
“There will be mistakes. We’re going to take losses, Ray. That’s the nature of the beast.”
Trexler nodded. “Do me a favor. Get creative.”
“Aye, aye, sir. We’ll start with a clean sheet of paper and see what we come up with.”
“Start with this: park the fighters. Reassign the Terran pilots and gunners to cruisers. If you have enough, spread them out among the frigates. We learned a few things at Orion III. Capital ships are the key. Think about it, Stu, and we’ll talk more when I join you.”
Two frigates, stuffed to the gills with Reba’s Raiders, landed on Aldebaran I while the rest of the squadron remained in a stationary orbit far above the port.
Seeton had made arrangements for Waverly’s men. They were to disembark from the two frigates over a period of many hours so as not to arouse suspicion. Trexler was first off, and he made his way to Seeton’s headquarters, escorted by three sergeants and a lieutenant, all wearing side arms but without assault weapons. Carrying assault weapons would, again, have been completely out of the ordinary. His escort waited outside the Sector Headquarters building while he went in.
Seeton’s office was huge. He greeted Trexler with a tight smile and outstretched hand. “Colonel Waverly has told me all about you. I hope you’re as successful here as you were with Korban.”
“There are a lot of unknowns, obviously. We have no idea of Rebel numbers or dispositions. You probably know there are a lot more of us out there than you can see.”
“I do, and I only just learned of your suspicions that a lot of Rebels will show up without Chessori. I wish I’d known sooner. I’ve pulled in a number of squadrons from my districts. I’ll join them before things get started here on the ground.”
Trexler raised his eyebrows. “I thought you would focus on the ground effort.”
“What good will I be here? As soon as Jim gets started, the scree will take me out. I’ve had a long time to get ready for this, and I haven’t been idle.”
“Hmm. How much of our plan do you know?”
“Darn little, and I’m not pleased about it. This is my sector, you know.”
“You’re right, sir. We’ve done you a disservice, and I apologize. We’re learning as we go. We’ll do better next time.”
“We’re all learning. I hope the learning curve is steep and in the right direction. Truth be told, until today it was my understanding that my ships would be useless against the Chessori. I only pulled them together in case our plan failed. You probably know that our fallback position has always been to leave with as many assets as we could gather together, to join with Buskin to fight another day.”
“Uh, how many have you pulled together? Surely you couldn’t know the timing of this battle.”
“The approximate timing was not difficult to figure out. I sent out orders months ago. They’re here, though they believe their only purpose is to flee.”
“How many, Admiral?”
“All of them. I’m leaving nothing behind for Struthers.”
“How many is all of them?”
“673.”
“Ships?”
“Squadrons.”
Trexler felt the blood rushing to his face, and his legs suddenly felt weak. He reached behind him for a chair and sat down.
“You’re talking about more than 8,000 ships?”
Seeton nodded and sat down behind his desk. Waverly took another chair.
“I wish we’d known,” Trexler mumbled to himself. Lifting his gaze to Seeton, he said, “It’s a gift. We need to get them trained. Does our fleet commander know about these ships? They were not included in my briefing.”
“He does not. Remember, my purpose for gathering them together was to flee if you fail here against the Chessori. But what training do they need? They’re already trained. They’re fully operational squadrons, Admiral.”
“Unless you’ve been doing some special training, they’re not trained to fight a battle of this scale.”
Seeton stared at him. “Perhaps not. Chandrajuski knows our skills and limitations. He’ll provide direction.”
“He’ll have to. We’ll need to get word to him as soon as he arrives.”
“I have a courier in position to reach my ships with just one short jump. It just needs to know if they should flee or fight.”
“How are they positioned?”
“They’re all together. It’s probably the largest massing of ships in the history of Empire.”
Trexler stared at the ceiling in contemplation. “This could seriously change our battle plans. Where and when your ships come into the system needs to be considered. It’s going to be real confusing for a while. We might want them to wait, but they’re slow ships; they can’t wait too long. We have to somehow sort out the Chessori-manned ships from purely Rebel ships before committing them. I’ll get started on it as soon as I’m done here.” He turned to Waverly. “What do you need from me?”
“There are a lot of Chessori ground troops here, Ray, and there are a lot of Chessori ships. Seven are in port here, there are dozens spread around the planet at other ports, and there are lots more of them in space. I need them taken out.”
“I met with a Chessori trader at Orion III. He claims they’re not all bad.”
“Reba set our rules of engagement early on in the battle at Orion III, sir. They’re simple: so long as the scree is sounding, all Chessori, armed or not, will be killed on sight. We learned it the hard way, trust me. I need to know that’s how you’ll operate. I’ll have enough to deal with without having to worry about Chessori reinforcements.”
“Agreed. What’s your plan?”
Trexler learned that Seeton had strategically hidden caches of food, water, heavy weapons, and medical supplies for the Raiders. They would not have to carry supplies on their backs, a matter of great significance to soldiers on foot. Entry codes for every facility on the planet had been provided to Waverly, and every armory and gun emplacement at every port would be locked. The Chessori would not have access to those codes.
