The Chosen

'Late for the dance,' he muttered. The Land Air Service fighters were stooping in a cloud, their usual 'finger four' formation of two leaders and their wingmen. 'But better late than never.'

The first tat-tat-tat of machine-gun fire sounded in the heavens, and spent cartridges guttered as they fell downwards towards the smoking crater that had been a train.

* * *

'You may survive a Santander victory,' John said. 'You certainly won't survive a Chosen triumph. Not by more than a few years, and your nation won't either.'

Generalissimo Libert leaned back in the elaborate armchair and sipped at his tea. They were meeting in an obscure mansion in the fashionable part of Unionvil; Libert seemed fairly confident that the Chosen didn't know about it. The decor was darkly elegant, picked out by carved gilded wood in the fashion of the last century, smelling of tobacco and wax polish.

'They have been unduly arrogant of late, yes,' he said.

'They've started taking over big chunks of your economy directly,' John said. 'Half your troops are under the command of Land formations in the Sierra. I'm surprised they've left you any autonomy at all.'

'I have made myself useful,' Libert said. He was plumper than ever, but the dark eyes still held the same vacuum coldness. 'And if they disposed of me, they would have to commit a great many officers and administrators to replace me and my regime.'

'That won't apply if they win.'

'It will apply, however, as long as this stalemate continues. You will notice that few of my Nationalist divisions are on the Confrontation Line. My ambitions were satisfied by winning the civil war here, and overfulfilled by the Sierran territory we have occupied.'

'The stalemate isn't going to continue. Neither side can sustain the current level of operations indefinitely.'

Libert nodded. 'That is possible. But for the present, I intend to maintain my posture of limited committment.'

'You've avoided formally declaring war on us. And we haven't declared war on you.'

'You maintain my political enemies.'

John nodded. 'However, General Gerard is dead. So are many of his troops.' Used up in stopping the first terrible impact of the war's opening offensive, and ground down since while Santander's army gained experience and built numbers. 'If you earn sufficient gratitude, we won't insist on a change of regime as part of the postwar settlement.'

'If you win.'

'If you stay on the fence too long, we won't have any reason not to include you with the Chosen on the chopping block.'

For the first time in the interview, Libert smiled. 'A matter of delicate timing, no? Late enough that I am not caught supporting the losing side by miscalculation; early enough so that my assistance is of crucial value and I retain bargaining power.'

John's face remained expressionless, a trick he'd learned in a lifetime of intelligence work and political negotiation. Murderous little shit, he thought.

But don't underestimate him, Raj cautioned.

John nodded. 'Now, assuming that the military situation shifts so that the Land is teetering on the edge,' he said, 'what terms would you suggest for giving them a push?'

'As a hypothetical situation?' Libert began. 'Perhaps. .'

* * *

''Ten-hut.'

'Gentlemen,' Jeffrey Farr said, laying his uniform cap and swagger stick on the table at the head of the room. 'At ease.'

The officers of the First Marine Division sat, everyone from the battalion commanders on up. They were a hard-bitten lot; most of them had been in the regular service before the war. All of them had seen action since then, in the Confrontation Lane and in countless pinprick raids along the Chosen-held coasts, or with the cross-Gut raid to destroy the Land's fortress. The Marine division was all-volunteer, too. Before the war that hadn't meant so much, but in the three years since the Land assault on the Confrontation Line, it meant that the Marines got the pick of the crop-those not content to wait for their call-up, the men who wanted to fight.

'Gentlemen, as you're all aware, we've been training for a large-scale amphibious assault.'

Nods. A lot had been learned from the assault across the Gut: new equipment, new tactics.

'All of you know the official story-that we've been preparing for further extensive spoiling operations on selected coastal targets. A few of you know the objective behind that: seizing Barclon and establishing a bridgehead for the new First Army Corps behind the Land lines on the southern lobe.'

A low murmur ran through the assembled officers. That was supposed to be deeply secret.

'Gentlemen, you are now to be told the real objective for which we've been training. That objective is part of an attack whose aim is to break the Chosen forever and end the war. I hope I don't have to emphasize exactly how crucial it is that this be kept secret; that's why you're only being told two weeks ahead. That leaves you short of time, I know. You're also forbidden-strictly forbidden-to tell anyone not in this room at this moment. That includes your junior officers, your wives, your best friends, and your confessors. Anyone who does, even inadvertantly, will be cashiered and shot. Is that understood?'

The Marine officers were leaning forward now, tense and ready.

Jeffrey turned to the easel and stripped off the cloth covering. 'Our objective is'-he tapped with the pointer-'the western shore of the old Imperial territories, at the southern entrance to the Passage. Where the war began, nearly twenty years ago-really began, not just the latest phase when the Republic came into it openly. Corona.'

Hardly a rustle from his audience. Jeffrey grinned tautly. 'I know what you must be thinking. The Chosen caught the Imperials with their thumbs up their bums and their minds in neutral, there. The Chosen aren't slackers and idiots, and they've had eighteen years to prepare.'

He swept the pointer from Corona, up the valley of the Pada, through the Sierran Mountains and down into the Union. 'But they also have all this to hold, and thanks to the native inhabitants and our encouragement, it's all in a state of revolt or incipient revolt. We've managed to free up twenty-five divisions from the Confrontation Line, and they're stripping everything they can from the Empire for line-of-communications security and to build a field army to match that. The Chosen empire is like a clam: hard on the outside, soft and chewy inside. . and if we can punch though at the right point, it'll slide right down our throats.'

He paused. 'So much for the theory! Now down to the details. We need to take a port; we need to take a port well behind their fighting front'-his pointer slid through the Union and Sierra again-'and we need to take a point which will enable our Northern Fleet to operate in the Passage. I hope I don't have to point out what that would mean.'

Another growl. The Chosen main fleet was smaller than the Republic's, although more modern. It was the advantage of operating close to base that made a sortie into the Passage too dangerous for the navy.

'It isn't going to be easy. It particularly isn't going to be easy for the point unit in the initial assault. Accordingly, I'll be making my headquarters with you, until the follow-on elements are ashore-'

He stopped, blinking in surprise at the barking cheer that followed that.

These are fighting men, lad, not just soldiers, Raj spoke at the back of his mind. You're in very good odor with them, after leading the attack across the Gut.

'Now let's get down to business.'

* * *

Shabby, Gerta Hosten thought, looking around the compartment.

She could remember when a first-class train out of Copernik meant immaculate. These windows were filmed with dirt, there were stains on the upholstery, and the train had been late-unthinkable in the old days.

Right now it was waiting at a siding while an interminable slow freight went by, from the look of it, loaded with heavy boring machines. They might be intended for anything from making large-caliber artillery to a dozen