166
Less than ten minutes later, as Ming had just finished informing Governor Vandong about the convoy disaster and the fruitless counter-attack, his communications officer ran to him, a shocked air on his face.
‘’Sir, there is something that you need to see immediately: the enemy is right now broadcasting to the whole Solar System, directly from the surface of Mars!’’
‘’WHAT? SHOW ME!’’
The officer used a nearby communications station and tuned it to the main public information channel of the planet, making the image of a man with grey-black hair appear. Ming recognized him at once, shouting in surprise.
‘’Governor Watts, here on Mars?’’
He then listened on carefully as Watts spoke firmly in his microphone while facing a camera in a small recording studio, standing behind a lectern bearing the blazon of Mars.
‘’…has started its fight to regain freedom from the tyranny of Earth. Spacers League forces now control the orbit of Mars, after having inflicted stinging losses to the Terran Navy. For anyone who would doubt my words about that, here are selected recordings taken after the three battles lost up to now in orbit by the Terrans.’’
To Ming’s fury, the broadcast then showed film footage of the debris of the four frigates of Barbanzon’s picket force, plus debris from the convoy escort ships and troopships, with the camera zooming on ship’s bow markings to identify the vanquished ships. The view then returned to Watts behind his lectern.
‘’To the Terran personnel still on Mars, I urge you to surrender in order to avoid unnecessary casualties. You are now isolated and cut from your supply route from Earth and are overmatched in terms of both firepower and numbers. If you surrender now, you will be treated well, unless you participated in one of the multitude of war crimes committed against Martian civilians, mostly by ISF troopers. If you continue to oppress the Martian people, though, then you can expect no mercy on our part. To the Terran Federation Council and to Grand Administrator Li, the true artisans of this totally unneeded war, I say this: enter now armistice talks with the Spacers League and stop this obscene waste of lives. If you don’t, then the Spacers League will have no choice but to declare a space embargo on all space goods and resources normally sent to Earth. This will mean no more hydrocarbons, chemical or metals, no surplus food from us Spacers, no new ships and no cryogenic fuel for Earth. Your industries will grind to a 167
halt, your workers will find themselves out of a job and you will run out of many things you take for granted right now. All that to satisfy the monstrous egos of Grand Administrator Li and of his corrupt council. This peace offer will be made only once, now. Earth will have to understand that the current status quo on Earth, with continued uncontrolled population growth and irresponsible pilfering of irreplaceable natural resources, cannot go on. The people of Earth will have to wake up to reality, deal responsibly with the multiples problems of the planet and, especially, to stop following blindly politicians serving it empty promises and unrealistic dreams. We of the Spacers League only wish to live in peace and to be respected as equal partners rather than continue to be exploited as if we are only bottomless resource pits for the sole benefit of Earth. We did not wish this war, but now that the Terran Federation Council has forced it on us, we will not relent until we win our rights to freedom and independence. In the name of the Spacers League, this is Governor Charles Watts, speaking from Mars.’’
Ming then realized that a heavy silence had fallen in the operations center and, looking around, saw that all his personnel was now looking at him, obviously hoping for some sort of directive from him. Right now, he was tempted to listen to his heart and to surrender to the enemy, in order to stop his men and women from dying needlessly. He knew however that Grand Admiral Wa and Grand Administrator Li would never pardon him for that. It thus came down to the good of his personnel versus his own professional survival. Something then snapped inside him and he rose slowly from his chair before speaking up to his personnel.
‘’Everybody will continue to man his or her station. I will be calling Governor Vandong in the meantime.’’
Going to his private office, Ming hesitated one last time as he was about to call Vandong on his videophone. He finally decided to call first his wife, who lived like many TCN personnel family members in Ares City.
‘’Ziyi, it’s me. Did you watch Governor Watts’ address?... You did? Good! Then you can realize what kind of dilemma I am facing now… Yes, I fully realize that, Ziyi.
However, I am more worried about the immediate repercussions for you and the kids. I have no confidence in Governor Vandong and certainly none in Colonel Da Silva. Those two are brainless bastards and are capable of anything. What I want you to do now is to quickly collect a suitcase worth of spare clothes, our valuables and as much cash as you can withdraw from the bank and to then disappear somewhere in town with the kids…
168
That’s right, you heard me well: I want you to disappear with the kids until further notice… Ziyi, I perfectly realize what I am risking personally, but I have to think about more than just myself right now. We have just lost over 30,000 men and women today and I have no wish to see more of them die, so do as I say and go! Don’t waste time either: the ISF may react quickly and try to arrest you as well as me. Please, go, now!
Whatever happens, know that I love you.’’
His heart heavy, Ming then closed the video link and waited ten minutes before doing his next call, to Commander Tomassi in the operations center.
‘’Commander, this is Admiral Ming. You will broadcast the following order to all the TCN personnel in and around Mars under my command: they are to surrender to the Spacers League at the first occasion and to stop immediately any hostile actions against Spacers. Make sure that those Spacer ships also get that broadcast. Then, tell all our headquarters personnel to go to their families and pack for eventual departure. Advise them to expect possible hostile reactions from ISF troopers and to make sure they have their personal weapons with them. Then leave the headquarters as well.’’
‘’But…and you, sir?’’
‘’I will take care of myself, Commander. Now, execute my orders and then go.’’
‘’Yes sir! It was a privilege to serve under you, sir.’’
Tomassi then terminated the link. Shortly thereafter, Ming heard him pass his directives by loudspeaker across the building. Ming waited another ten minutes, as he could hear people running around the corridors of the headquarters, before doing another call, this time to Vandong. By now he had time to think about his personal options and had made a number of resolutions. His tone with Vandong was far from the one that he had used with his wife.
‘’Governor Vandong, this is Vice-Admiral Ming. I am calling to announce to you that I decided to accept to surrender the TCN forces and personnel on Mars to the Spacers League, in order to avoid further useless bloodshed. I would strongly urge you to consider the same option, sir.’’
‘’WHAT? HAVE YOU GONE MAD? YOU CAN’T SURRENDER LIKE THIS! IT
WOULD BE TREASON!’’
‘’No, sir: it is simply common sense. We already lost over 30,000 people today and I am not going to sacrifice another 2,000 people in a futile fight that is lost in advance. We have no more ships to fight with and the enemy is about to get their hands 169
on a stockpile of more than 900 heavy ship missiles, with which it could bombard at will our base here in Ares City, or blow to bits any relief fleet.’’
‘’You coward! We just need to wait for more reinforcements from Earth and those Spacers will be then done for. You can’t give up this quickly, Admiral.’’
‘’Governor, you better get out of your world of dreams, and quickly! As for my decision, it has been taken and I will abide by it. Feel free to do a last heroic stand of your own when the Spacers will come for you. Goodbye, Governor Vandong!’’
Ming then closed the link and sat down, now feeling somewhat better. Taking out his personal sidearm, he made sure that a bullet was chambered and that its magazine was full, then put it back in its holster. Getting up, he did a last visit to the bathroom attached to his office, then waited patiently, his pistol in one hand, while contemplating the landscape of Mars through the thick armorglass panes of his office.
Ming had to wait about twenty minutes before the noise of booted feet in the corridor alerted him. He turned around to face the door and put his hands in his back before taking a deep breath. Thirty seconds later, his door was brutally kicked open and Lieutenant Colonel Da Silva walked inside with two ISF troopers brandishing automatic rifles. Da Silva was in combat attire himself and had his pistol in his hand as he eyed Ming with contempt.
‘’There you are, you coward! You are under arr…’’
He never had the chance to finish his sentence before Ming suddenly raised his pistol and fired on full automatic fire mode, spraying Da Silva from belly to forehead and killing him nearly instantly. In turn, Ming was gunned down at once by the two ISF troopers and killed, leaving blood splattered on the armorglass as his body slid down to the carpet.
13:49 (Universal Time)
Avalon Spaceport Orbital Terminal
Low Earth Orbit
Gustav Shomberg looked for a moment through the armorglass viewing ports of the Avalon Spaceport Orbital Terminal’ observation deck, examining with expert eyes the blunt arrowpoint-shaped ship he intended to board with his private secretary, Agneta Friedenhaller. He had designed the MSS FOR HIRE sixteen years ago and it had 170
proved to be a very successful design indeed, being then copied in good numbers. Built to carry hundreds of cargo containers across interplanetary space, it had the very useful capability to be able to enter planetary atmospheres and land vertically, including on Earth, thus delivering its cargo directly to its final destination, thanks to its huge gravity sail surfaces. It was nowhere as massive as the MSS KOSTROMA, having an empty mass of less than 100,000 tons, and it was not the fastest ship around but its versatility had made it a very profitable design, well like by its crews and owners. The MSS FOR
HIRE also had the additional benefit of having a captain who Gustav Shomberg knew well and trusted completely.
‘’Let’s go, Agneta. We should hurry before someone at the ISF or TCN wakes up and sends goons after us.’’
‘’You really think that they will come for us, Gustav?’’ Asked the beautiful blonde in her thirties standing at his right side. Shomberg looked at his fateful private secretary and secret lover with a fatalistic expression.
‘’Would you prefer to wait for them to have an answer to that, Agneta? Believe me, if they would not find me, then they would look for you, to make you tell them where I am.’’
The blonde, who was a lot more intelligent than some would judge just from her good looks and sexy curves, lowered her head, understanding full well what he meant.
‘’It is sad to see that things have come down to this for Humanity, Gustav, but I understand your stand and support you. Let’s go see your friend of yours.’’
Towing the anti-gravity platform supporting their luggage, the couple walked down the observation deck and took an elevator that carried them to the gate entrance leading to the boarding airlock of the MSS FOR HIRE. To Shomberg’s relief, there was no customs officer or ISF trooper at the gate, only a boarding agent of the American Shipping Lines, which owned the cargo ship. He thus approached the agent with Agneta with apparent calm and assurance, stopping in front of the young man’s counter and smiling to him.
‘’Good afternoon, sir. Me and my secretary would like to purchase passage on the FOR HIRE to Juno asteroid. Could I first call Captain Erikson to tell him I am here: he is a good friend of mine.’’
‘’Certainly, sir!’’ Said amiably the young agent, pointing the videophone set on his counter. ‘’Use Line Three to call the FOR HIRE, sir.’’
171
‘’Thank you!’’
Letting the young agent admire discreetly his secretary, the ship designer quickly got connected with Captain Harold ‘Red’ Erikson, a bear of a man with red hair cut short.
‘’Harold! This is Gustav!’’
Erikson smiled widely on recognizing Shomberg on his own video terminal.
‘’Gustav, my friend! And I can see your delectable secretary behind you. What can I do for you today?’’
‘’Oh, not much, really. I am simply here to get passage to Juno for a little private vacation. Stress at work is getting too high to my taste and I need to change my mind a bit.’’
Shomberg did a discreet sign at the same time on the video pickup, a sign that Erikson caught and understood.
‘’Uh, just let me check if I have a V.I.P. cabin still available for you, my friend.’’
Erikson then looked at another display screen and punched a number of buttons, then waited. Shomberg saw his face harden a bit after a few seconds, before he looked back at him.
‘’Could you pass me the boarding agent at the gate, Gustav?’’
‘’Sure, Harold!’’ Said Shomberg before turning the videophone unit towards the agent. ‘’Captain Erikson wishes to speak to you, sir.’’
Shomberg hid his sudden attack of anxiety as the agent spoke to Erikson: from the reaction of the captain, something was clearly amiss. Unfortunately, Shomberg may have been a genius at ship design but he knew nothing about counterfeiting identity documents and still carried papers in his actual name. He saw the agent hesitate a moment when Erickson asked him to let him and Agneta board without registering, playing on his prerogatives as a ship captain and providing the agent with fake names for Gustav and Agneta. The young man finally relented and smiled to Shomberg.
‘’You may proceed and board the ship, sir. Have a good trip to Juno.’’
‘’Thank you, young man. Let’s go, Agneta.’’
Forcing himself not to speed up his walk, Gustav went down the boarding tube with his secretary and their luggage platform and was greeted at the ship’s airlock by a female crewmember that had just finished talking with someone on her greeting counter’s videophone terminal. The young brunette saluted politely Shomberg and his secretary once he was inside.
172
‘’I have orders for my captain to escort you to your cabin, sir. We will be departing very soon.’’
This said, the brunette pushed a button, closing the thick airtight blast doors of the airlock before leading the couple down a long passageway, then up two levels by elevator, finally stopping in front of a cabin’s door, which she opened for Shomberg.
‘’Your cabin, sir. The captain is on his way to see you.’’
‘’Thank you again, miss. You were most helpful.’’
Gustav and Agneta then entered the cabin with their platform and closed the door behind them. Only then did Shomberg let out a sigh of relief.
‘’I think that we did the good thing by fleeing this fast, Agneta. I believe that they are already looking for us.’’
He then told Agneta about Erikson’s reaction on the videophone. Before she could comment on it, someone knocked loudly on the door of their cabin.
‘’That must be Harold, the captain: he never learned to buzz instead of pounding doors down.’’
Shomberg then opened the door, letting in the hulking red-haired captain, who eyed him critically at once.
‘’Alright, Gustav, what have you done to get yourself on the TCN wanted list?
You realize what I am risking by sheltering you like this?’’
‘’I do, Harold. To answer you, my crime has been to direct the refit of the cargo ship KOSTROMA eight months ago. The TCN probably wants to question me, not too gently, about that refit.’’
Erikson frowned for a moment, trying to understand.
‘’That’s it? Nothing else? No secret smuggling compartments on that KOSTROMA?’’
‘’Well, did you see the declaration made from Mars by Governor Watts less than an hour ago, about the defeats suffered in orbit by the TCN at the hands of the Spacers League?’’
‘’Yeah, what about it?’’
‘’Harold, I believe that the KOSTROMA destroyed those Terran ships. Officially, its refit did not involve the installation of any armament, but I told its captain how to get around that. I suppose that I could be accused of treason for that.’’
For a moment, Shomberg worried that his friend would drop him, but Erikson finally made a forced smile, still none too pleased.
173
‘’The things we have to do for friends. Like they say: a friend in need is a friend indeed. Alright, you may have just convinced me to do something I should have done days ago: defect to the Spacers League. I may be officially a Terran, but I have lived more than half of my life in space and I consider myself a Spacer. Besides, I was getting tired of all those insults and cold looks from these ignoramus on Earth. So, where do you really wish to go, you and your most lovely secretary?’’
‘’Any Spacers League-controlled world will do.’’ Replied soberly the ship designer. ‘’The further from Earth the better.’’
174
CHAPTER 8 – BATTLE FOR MARS
09:24 (Shanghai Time)
Saturday, December 18, 2315
Grand Council chambers, government complex Shanghai, China
Earth
‘’…while our ISF battalion in Ares City has not been seriously challenged yet by Spacers, it does not have the manpower to extend itself to other Martian cities. The two divisions we lost yesterday in orbit to that KOSTROMA were meant to allow us to complete our occupation of the planet. Unfortunately, we are now back to square one.’’
As Field Marshal Reyat Khan finished speaking, all eyes switched to Grand Admiral Ming Wa, sitting besides Khan.
‘’So, what is your next move, Admiral Wa?’’ Asked Grand Administrator Li, not satisfied at all up to now with what he had heard. ‘’Since the ISF can’t send more troops to Mars without the support of the TCN, we now all depend on you and the Navy…or can we?’’
The underhanded criticism from Li infuriated Wa, a proud man with over thirty years of service, but he did his best to keep his tone neutral as he responded to Li.
‘’Sir, with all due respect, you are forgetting that the TCN is not and never has been a true combat fleet. It was formed over a century ago as a customs enforcement agency with a mandate and equipment list limited to the enforcement of space regulations and to fighting space contraband and piracy. The most powerful of our cruisers is still way outclassed in terms of firepower by that KOSTROMA, a lesson that was driven home yesterday at a dreadful cost to us.’’
‘’But that KOSTROMA is only an armed merchant ship, and it is alone, dammit!’’
Objected the minister for commerce. Wa gave him a jaundiced look.
‘’Mister Sardakian, let me just give you a few simple numbers about that armed merchant ship. It has a total installed power of 25 gigawatts, compared to three gigawatts on our biggest cruiser. Its bow shield is made of two meter-thick ceramic-carbon composite, compared to forty centimeters on our cruisers and twenty centimeters 175
on our frigates. When empty of cargo, the KOSTROMA can boost away at accelerations of over ten Gs, more than our fastest frigate. You will probably ask why it is so powerful, but the answer is quite simple: it was made to haul over twenty million tons of cargo over long distances across the Solar System. Such a powerful cargo ship, with its sturdy construction and its long range, was a perfect candidate for conversion into what can only be called now a battleship. As for being alone, do you really believe that the Spacers are not rushing right now to convert more merchant ships, which they own in abundance, into warships? Should I remind you that most of our resources in metals, chemicals and cryogenic fuel came from Spacer worlds, resources that have now dried up? Even if we wanted to build up a real battle fleet, I doubt that what we have presently in reserve on Earth would be enough to supply our shipyards.’’
‘’This is nonsense!’’ Exploded the governor of Africa. ‘’Are you telling us that less than 350 million Spacers can outfight eight billion Terrans?’’
‘’And who are you thinking of sending up to fight the Spacers, Governor Zembelo? A bunch of illiterate farmers or social welfare recipients? And in what ships?’’
‘’Why not requisition merchant ships presently in Earth orbit and then arm them?’’
Proposed the minister of industries. Admiral Wa nodded his head, finding that at least a practical idea.
‘’We could do that, Minister Titov. Unfortunately, our choice of ships presently available in orbit is severely limited.’’
‘’Oh,
why?’’
‘’First off, the large majority of interplanetary ships that presently exist are registered on Spacer-controlled worlds and have fled Earth orbit during the first days of this crisis. Of the rest, more than half of the ships registered on Earth have defected, most of them after the news of our defeat around Mars.’’
‘’The families of those traitors should be rounded up and interned.’’ Growled Field Marshal Khan then, attracting a look of both contempt and revulsion from Wa.
‘’And you would do what with them then? Torture them? Execute them? What possible good would that do to us, apart from hardening the resolve of the Spacers?
Besides, most Spacer families reside on their ships, not on the ground.’’
The big ISF commander glared at him, seemingly ready to jump on him.
‘’You speak like a weakling, presenting only excuses. Your people on Mars disgraced themselves when they surrendered to the Spacers yesterday. Are you also ready to surrender, Admiral?’’
176
‘’GENTLEMEN, PLEASE!’’ Shouted John Li while slapping his hand down on the conference table. ‘’We are not going to surrender, ever! However, we also have to face reality and take account of our limitations while formulating our plans. Minister Titov’s idea of arming merchant ships in Earth orbit is an excellent one, but it will take weeks and months to do that. Admiral Wa, how long was that KOSTROMA in refit?’’
‘’Over seven months, sir, and the work was centered mostly on its propulsion system. Modifying its lasers, even in secret, must have taken only a small fraction of that time. We could do the same to ships in orbit in a few weeks at most, on top of adding missile pods to them to complete their armament. The trouble is that training crews for war takes a lot longer than that. I hate to say so, but I wouldn’t have much confidence in merchant crews pressed hurriedly into military service.’’
‘’And what about the crew of that KOSTROMA then?’’ Asked the governor of Europe, an Italian woman. ‘’What has made these men and women so effective up to now, since they probably never got any military training?’’
Admiral Wa thought over his answer carefully, dipping into his knowledge of history.
‘’The best example of a past analogy to our present situation would be the old War of American Independence, fought in the 18th Century between Great Britain and what was then its North American colonies, Madam Rossi. It started when the American colonists complained about not having a say in how the taxes collected from them by the British were used. Their rallying cry was ‘no taxes without representation’. At the time, the British had the most powerful navy of the time and a tough, disciplined army and also held a huge empire, while the American colonists were poorly armed and had next to no military training. Despite of these handicaps, however, the American colonists fought on for years, sustaining many defeats, but eventually won through sheer resilience and strength of spirit. They did so mostly by using their knowledge of their land and by adapting their tactics to it, fighting a guerrilla war against the British, who were accustomed to regulated, set-piece battles. In this case, you could compare the Spacers to the American colonists. They fight in an environment they know well, space, but they also have the advantage of having a bigger navy than us. Most of all, they believe in their cause, and that is a factor we should not ignore.’’
‘’My soldiers believe in what they do, and they will cut to pieces these Spacers, once your navy finally brings them to the battlefield.’’ Grumbled Marshal Khan, getting a dirty look from Wa.
177
‘’The only thing your troopers have been good at up to now has been in beating and killing unarmed civilians, Marshal Khan. They have in the process reinforced the resentment of the Spacers towards Earth, as well as their will to fight. Furthermore, this war will be won in Space, and not on the ground.’’
‘’You are right, Admiral Wa,’’ cut in John Li, ‘’but that is why we have to win now in space, before the Spacers could arm more merchant ships like that KOSTROMA and before Earth is strangled by a lack of mineral resources. We need to secure at least part of those space resources and we need to do it now! So, what are you going to do to achieve that, Admiral?’’
Wa then knew that he could not tip toe any longer, or Li would not hesitate to replace him at the head of the TCN.
‘’Grand Administrator, we have up to now thrown our ships around in penny packets, mostly due to the multitude of tasks given to my navy. We need to concentrate our efforts in one significant push against a worthy objective. Right now, that objective must be Mars: it has many of the resources we need and it is the nearest to Earth. I thus intend to strike it with most of my fleet, or what is left of it. No troopships, just warships, so that we have a chance to overwhelm the Spacer ships defending Mars. I would also like to strike in