In Enemy Hands

Theisman felt a moment of fear, but then she smiled and sat back once more, and he relaxed in relief. 'I think, though, Citizen Admiral, that I can show you how your command here in Barnett can have a direct impact on those social and economic questions. And, of course, on the direct, immediate military conduct of the war.'

'I'm certainly prepared to do anything I can to serve the Republic, Ma'am.'

'I'm sure you are, Citizen Admiral. I'm sure you are.' Ransom ran one hand over her golden hair, and when she resumed, her voice had taken on a seriousness, an earnestness, which Theisman hadn't really been prepared to hear from her.

'Basically, it comes down to morale,' she said. 'I'm not going to suggest that morale can overcome enormous material odds. All the courage and determination in the universe won't mystically enable a mob armed with rocks to overcome trained infantry in battle armor, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you it could, now would you?'

'Probably not, Ma'am,' Theisman admitted, bemused by the shift in her emphasis and intensity.

'Of course not. But if you want to arm people with something better than rocks, you have to buy or build their weapons. And if you want them to use those weapons properly, you have to motivate them. You have to convince your civilians that their military will use the weapons they're given effectively if you expect those civilians to dig in and build the weapons in the first place. And you have to convince your military personnel that they can win if you expect them to risk their lives. Correct?'

'I certainly can't argue with any of that, Citizen Secretary.'

'Good! Because you, Citizen Admiral, are one of the unfortunately few flag officers who have actually done that, won battles, I mean, and that's why I'm here. It's vital for Public Information to get the message that we have admirals who can win across to the civilians. And it's almost equally important to show both the civilians and our military how vital it is to hold systems like Barnett. That's why my technical people will be shooting a great deal of footage over the next few weeks. I'll assume responsibility, in conjunction with Citizen Commissioner LePic, for any censorship which may be required by operational security concerns, so please instruct your officers to cooperate by answering questions as fully as possible in terms laymen can understand.'

'I'll be happy to instruct them to cooperate with you, Ma'am,' Theisman said. 'But if the footage you shoot is for public broadcast, I'd like to have some input into the security concerns you just mentioned. I'm sure the Manties watch our media as closely as we watch theirs, and I'd hate to give them any clues as to our dispositions here.'

'Of course we'll consult you in that regard,' Ransom assured him. 'The main thing, though, is to be certain that the entire operation is properly handled. Information is another weapon, Citizen Admiral. It must be deployed and managed in such a way as to have the maximum possible effect, and that's why I decided to come to Barnett in person. Obviously, I have a great many responsibilities to the Committee and the Republic over and above those of the Ministry of Public Information. But to be completely honest, I feel Public Information is the most important job I have. That's why I'm here, and I hope I can count on you and your people to help me with my job.'

'Of course, Citizen Secretary. I'll be delighted to assist however I can, and I'm certain I speak for every officer here in Barnett,' Theisman assured her. We'd better, anyway, if we want to avoid firing squads, he added silently, and smiled at her.

'Thank you, Citizen Admiral. I appreciate that.' Ransom returned his smile with interest. 'And I assure you that Public Information will make the best possible use of our time here,' she added.

Chapter Fourteen

'All right, Commander. What's so damned urgent?'

Vice Admiral of the Red Dame Madeleine Sorbanne wasted no time on pleasantries, and her expression, as brusque as her tone, made it clear she had better things to waste her time on than courtesy calls from newly arriving starship captains who refused to take her yeoman's 'no' for an answer. The petite admiral had only half- risen to offer a perfunctory handshake, and she flopped back into the chair behind her desk even as she spoke. That desk, unusually littered with data chips and folders of hardcopy, lacked the spartan neatness that was the RMN’s ideal, and Sorbanne's short, white-stranded mahogany-red hair looked as if she were in the habit of running her fingers through it while she fretted.

Well, Dame Madeleine had plenty of excuses for her desk's untidiness... and any fretting she happened to be doing, Jessica Dorcett reminded herself. As the senior officer on Clairmont Station, Sorbanne had seen half her capital ship strength siphoned off to build up Eighth Fleet, but no one had bothered to reduce her command area or responsibilities to reflect her lower strength. And with all the comings and goings leading up to Earl White Havens eventual advance on Barnett, the bustling confusion of Clairmont’s local and through traffic must be enough to try the patience of a saint. Of course, no one had ever nominated Dame Madeleine for canonization, and Dorcett's request for an immediate personal meeting had clearly ticked her off.

'I'm sorry to interrupt your schedule, Ma'am,' the commander said now. She ignored the admiral's gestured invitation to take a seat of her own, choosing to remain standing at parade rest instead, and saw Sorbanne's eyebrows rise in surprise. 'Under the circumstances, however, I thought that I should make my report directly to you.'

'What report?' Some of the irritation faded from Sorbanne's tone. Her reputation for irascibility was exceeded only by her reputation for competence, and crispness diluted her testiness as Dorcett’s strained expression began to register fully. The commander hesitated just a moment, then drew a deep breath and took the plunge.

'Admiral, we've lost Adler,' she said, and Sorbanne's chair snapped suddenly upright. The admiral leaned forward, and her high-cheekboned face lost all expression, as if Dorcett had cast a magic spell.

'How?' she asked harshly, and the commander shook her head.

'I don't have all the details, Windsong was too far out for good tactical imagery, but I'm afraid the bare bones were pretty clear. We screwed up, Ma'am, and whoever planned the Peeps' attack had the guts and the smarts to take advantage of it.' Dorcett didn't like saying that, yet it had to be said, and her own anger, and shame, made her voice come out flat.

'Explain.' Sorbanne sounded as if she were regaining her mental balance, and Dorcett wondered how much of that was real and how much was acting ability.

'Commodore Yeargin had too few sensor platforms for complete coverage, Ma'am, so she placed what she did have to cover the most obvious approach vectors. Then she put her main force into Samovar orbit... and aside from detaching my destroyer division to cover the main asteroid processing node, she posted no pickets at all.' Despite iron self-control, Sorbanne winced, and Dorcett went grimly on. 'The Peeps came in from above the system ecliptic, which let them skirt the Commodores platforms and avoid my command's sensor envelope entirely And they also came in ballistic.'

'Peeps came in ballistic?' Sorbanne repeated carefully, and Dorcett nodded.

'Yes, Ma'am. They must have. Either that, or their stealth systems have achieved a much higher degree of improvement than ONI's been projecting. Even on the course they followed, they should have passed close enough to at least one of our sensor platforms for active impellers to've been detected.'

'They came in powered down all the way to attack range?' Sorbanne still seemed to be having trouble with the concept, and Dorcett nodded again.

'Yes, Ma'am. And I'm afraid that isn't all.' Sorbanne eyed her narrowly and made a 'tell me more' gesture, and Dorcett sighed. 'They used missile pods, Admiral,' she said quietly.

'Shit.' The soft, whispered expletive was almost a prayer, and Sorbanne closed her eyes. She sat that way for several seconds, then opened them and looked at Dorcett once more. 'What's the Peep strength in the system?'

'I'm not certain, Ma'am. As I say, we were too far out for really good scans, but my best estimate is four battlecruisers, six to eight heavy cruisers, and half a dozen light cruisers. My tac officer and I saw no destroyers, but I can't guarantee there weren't any.'

Sorbanne winced again, this time at the disparity in weight of broadside Dorcett's estimate suggested,