Mutineer's Moon

“By Ninhursag’s estimates, our Imperials are outnumbered almost ten-to-one, and anyone as paranoid as Anu will have automatic weapons in strategic locations. We’re taking in a force of just over a thousand people, almost all of them Terra-born, but our own Imperials are going to have to be in the van. Our Terra-born are all trained military people, and they’ll have the best mix of Terran and Imperial weaponry we can give them, but they won’t be the equal of Imperials. They can’t be, and, at the absolute best, the fighting is going to be close, hard, and vicious. Our losses—” he swept the watching eyes without flinching “—will be heavy.

“They’re going to be heavy,” he repeated, “but we’re going to win. We’re going to remember every single thing they’ve ever done to us and to our planet and we’re going to kick their asses, but we’re also going to take prisoners.”

There was a formless protest at his words, but his raised hand quelled it.

“We’re going to take prisoners because Ninhursag may not be our only ally inside—we’ll explain that in a moment—and because we don’t know what sort of booby—traps Anu may have arranged and we’ll need guides. So if someone tries to surrender, let them. But remember this: our Senior Fleet Captain has other officers now. We can, and will, convene courts-martial afterward, and the guilty will be punished.“ He said the last three words with a soft, terrible emphasis, and the sound that answered chilled Colin’s blood, but he would not have protested if he could have.

“There’s another point, and this is for our own Imperials,” MacMahan said quietly. “We Terra-born understand your feelings better than you may believe. We honor you and we love you, and we know you’ll be the other side’s primary targets. We can’t help that, and we won’t try to take this moment away from you, but when this is over, we’re going to need you more than we ever needed you before. We’ll need every single one of you for the fighting, including Colin and all the children, but we also need survivors, so don’t throw your lives away! You’re our senior officers; if anything happens to Colin, command of Dahak will devolve on one of you, and taking out the southerners is only the first step. What really matters is the Achuultani. Don’t get yourselves killed on us now!“

Colin hoped the old Imperials heard the raw appeal in his voice, but he also remembered his earliest thoughts about Horus, his fear that the northern Imperials were no longer entirely sane themselves. He’d been wrong—but not very. It wasn’t insanity, but it was fanaticism. They’d suffered a hell on earth for thousands of years to bring this moment about. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that even if they heard and understood what Hector was saying, they were going to take chances no cool, calm professional would ever take, and it was going to get all too many of them killed.

“All right,” MacMahan said more normally, “here’s what we’re going to do.

“We’re leaving Nergal right where she is with a skeleton crew. There will be one Imperial, chosen by lot, to command her in an emergency, backed up by just enough trained Terra-born to get her into space. I hate asking any of you to stay behind, but we have no choice. If it all comes apart on us in the south, we’ll take the bastards out with a nuclear demolition charge inside the shield, but that’s going to mean none of us will be coming back.”

He paused to let that sink in, then went on calmly.

“In that case, the remaining crew members are going to have to take Nergal out to rendezvous with Dahak. Dahak will be expecting you and won’t fire as long as you stay clear of Senior Fleet Captain Druaga’s kill zone. You will therefore stop at ten thousand kilometers and transmit Nergal’s entire memory to Dahak, which will include the findings of Senior Fleet Captain MacIntrye’s court-martial and his decree of pardon as Planetary Governor. Once that’s been received by Dahak, you will once more be members of Dahak’s crew and the Imperial Fleet. Nergal’s memory contains the best projections and advice Colin and the Council have been able to put together, but what you actually do after that will be up to you and Dahak.

“But that’s an absolute worst case. Think of it as insurance for something we truly don’t think will happen.

“The rest of us will take every cutter and ground combat vehicle we can muster and move south under stealth. We will take no fighters; they’d be useless inside the enclave, but more importantly, we’ll need every Imperial we have to run our other equipment.

“We’ll be going in through the western access point, here.” Another portion of the holo map glowed as he spoke. “We have the codes from Ninhursag, and there’s no indication they’ve been changed. We’ll advance along these axes—” more lines glowed “—with parties detailed to each transport. Each attack party will be individually briefed on its mission and as much knowledge of the terrain as Ninhursag was able to give us. You’ll also have Ninhursag’s personal implant codes. Make damned sure you don’t kill her by mistake. She’s one lady we want around for the victory party.

“If you can get inside on the first rush, well and good. If you can’t, the assault parties will try to prevent anyone from leaving any of the transports while the reserve deals with each holdout in turn. Hopefully, if any of them try to lift out to escape, they won’t all lift at once. That means Dahak may only have to destroy one or two of them before the others realize what’s happening. With us inside and an active Dahak outside, they’ll surrender if they have a grain of sanity left.

“All right. That’s the bare—very bare—bones of the plan. My staff will break it down for each group individually, and we’ll hold a final briefing for everyone just before we push off. But there’s one other thing you all ought to know, and Sergeant Asnani is the one to tell you about it. Sergeant?”

Andrew Asnani stood, wishing for a moment that he was still Abu al-Nasir, the tough, confident terrorist leader accustomed to briefing his men, as he felt their avid eyes and tried to match the colonel’s calm tone.

“What Colonel MacMahan means,” he said, “is that there were some unexpected developments inside the enclave. Specifically, your agent Ramman tried to betray you.”

He almost flinched at his audience’s sudden ripple of shock, but he continued in the same calm voice.

“No one’s entirely certain what happened, but there were rumors all over the enclave, especially among their Terra-born. The official line is that he was caught out by Ganhar, their chief of operations, admitted he’d been passing you information for decades to earn the right to defect, and tried to shoot his way out, but that Ganhar out—drew and killed him. That’s the official story, but I don’t think it’s the truth. Unfortunately, I can’t know the truth. I can only surmise.”

He inhaled deeply. He’d seen the southerners, been one of their own, in a sense, and he was even more aware than his listeners of the importance of his evaluation.

“It’s possible,” he said carefully, “that Ramman succeeded in giving his information to Ganhar before he was killed. He hadn’t been told any more than Ninhursag, but if she could figure out what was coming, so could he. If that happened, then they may be waiting for us when we come in.” His audience noted his use of the pronoun “we,” and one or two people smiled tightly at him.

“But I don’t believe they will be. If they planned an ambush, they’d’ve watched the drop site, and if they did, they know no one went near it. Of course, they may realize there could have been a backup, but I watched closely after the news broke. I believe the Imperials themselves believe the official story. And, while it may be that their leadership chose to put out disinformation, I don’t think they did.

“I think,” he went on, speaking more precisely than ever, “Ganhar told Anu and the others exactly what they told the rest of their people. I think he knows we’re coming and deliberately helped clear the way for us.”

He paused again, seeing disbelief in more than one face, and shrugged.

“I realize how preposterous that sounds, but there are reasons for my opinion. First, Ganhar was in serious trouble before they began their counter-attacks. Jantu, their security head, had his knife out, and from all I could gather, everyone expected him to stick it in. Second, Ganhar only inherited their operational branch after Kirinal was killed; he’s new to the top slot, and I think actually being in charge did something to him. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but Abu al-Nasir was important enough to attend several conferences with him, and he let his guard down a bit more with their ‘degenerates’ than with their own Imperials. That’s an unhappy man. A very unhappy man. Something’s eating him up from the inside. Even before the news about Ramman broke, I had the impression his heart just wasn’t in it anymore.