Riss Series 5: The Riss Challenge Page 11
"What about you, Damaass?"
Nothing shook the old grizzly. "The sooner the better. They can finish their training on-the-job."
"And where would you like to go first?" I shot back.
He didn't respond immediately. He sat sipping his wine and watching me over the top of his glass before responding.
"We could go liberate Fool's Landing, again." Damaass laughed. "Without the Asp."
"I wonder if Admiral Neifeh plans to use the same strategy as the aliens?" Alena asked.
"Something tells me the aliens were sweethearts compared to Admiral Neifeh and the JPU. It would be nice to know what he did in Fool's Hope when he invaded, and what he left—if anything—when they departed," Pavao said. "Maybe give us an idea of his strategy.
"Good, that's your assignment, Nance." I smiled. Captains Sheva, Alena, and I will go poke around the JPU. That should give us some indication of what they are planning. Damaass, more fighters, Wraiths, Kraits, exercises with the UPN and SAS squadrons. Hold them until we return, just in case.
"Three cruisers to JPU. Are you going to start a war?" Pavao asked.
"Seems fair. Neifeh did invade Freeland."
"What about me?" she asked.
"I leave it to your judgment. I'd rather Neifeh didn't figure out it was the Riss and decide to come back to Freeland in force. At least, for a while." I looked in Terril's direction.
"No. Rayborn, a Scorpion Master Sergeant, has decided to join Freeland's Blue Kraits. I'm putting him in charge of training, while I try to keep you out of trouble. Ananke tells me that's my primary responsibility," she said with a snort.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JPU - Alborz and Hayjar: Snooping
Doctor Dayton, I understand you were considering retiring," I said. It would be three days to Alborz, so I thought I'd hold a staff meeting each day to keep folks occupied.
"I only stayed on this long to work with the Riss. They're fascinating. When the rumors had Freeland captured and war likely, I had no reason to stay. When you turned up alive and wanting the old crew back, I decided to stay. Now Terril seems to have created a precedent offering SAS and UFN military to change citizenship. By the way, Terril, I'm jealous."
"I'd wager you would enjoy it, Doctor Dayton."
"What are you planning to do in Ablorz, Captain?" Byer asked.
"Snoop around and learn what military are there. It may give us an idea what Neifeh is planning.
* * *
I like what you've done to the uniforms," I said, noting she had more or less adopted Xun security uniforms, which had few decorations. She had kept the Riss-human-gray, but made it much darker. Rank was on the right sleeve—a cobra with a flared hood then stripes—and had guns and communication devices strapped to their arms and legs. She had a double cobra on her collar. "Who do we have with us today?"
"Corporal Wang, formerly from the UFN, and Private At'Telsa, from Freeland," she said, nodding at a small thin Asian-looking man and a slim woman several centimeters taller, with a long black ponytail. "Wang was a member of the UFN commandos, and At'Telsa was a member of the Blue Kraits."
* * *
The Mnemosyne was the first to enter, and the VTH showed Alborz space had only two Light cruisers within two light-seconds of the exit. The arrogance of the JPU! Or was it Admiral Neifeh? He was at war with the SAS, yet the closest space to SAS wasn't even on alert. As we slowly moved toward the planet, the VTH displayed another eighteen cruisers. They appeared to be the older ships, four Heavies and sixteen Lights. I guessed that made sense, since Alborz, Baraz, and Ihsan were the furthest from the SAS, and although close to Freeland, he thought Freeland neutralized. He would be more concerned with Hayjar and Mihr, which were closer to both the SAS and the UFN. And since the JPU had close to four hundred cruisers, he could afford to keep close to one hundred forty at home as a rear guard while he attacked with two hundred fifty-seven—one hundred fifty-seven modified and another hundred older cruisers as backup or to quarantine the captured systems.
The real question was what strategy the Riss should employ. My task force could quarantine Alborz, but was that the best use of the Riss fleet? If instead I just conducted a hit and run, the word would get back to Neifeh. And what kind of a reaction could I expect? Would he realize Freeland had been liberated and send a task force to destroy it, or would he ignore it and press on with the invasion of the SAS Darkov Sector? Salazar would have sent a large task force to destroy the Riss and Freeland. Would Neifeh divert a large force from JPU systems? Ironically, because of the spiders and Riss on board, we were better equipped to handle a large force of the modified ships than the older, unmodified ones.
My decision could mean the difference in the survival of the Riss and the SAS. I could inadvertently save the SAS and UFN and destroy Freeland and the Riss fleet. My obligation was clearly to the Riss; however, if the SAS lost to the JPU and then the UFN, so would the Riss.
The new chips currently embedded in the stealth material covering the outer skin had solved the problem of locating the Riss ships with a minimum of risk. The ping would easily be mistaken for static, even if someone were scanning on the ultra-low frequency we had chosen.
I didn't have enough information to do more than guess, and too much was at risk to guess.
Judging by the lack of activity with the JPU fleet, our ping didn't get intercepted or was ignored. Almost to the exit, I changed my mind.
* * *
Everyone stood when I entered.
"Good morning. Relax, please. Just a quick update. As you probably saw or heard, there were two bored sentries sort-of near the exit and twenty cruisers closer to Alborz. Surprising, because Alborz is the closest system to the SAS. I think our task force could take them out, and I would order that if I felt I could predict Neifeh's response. But I'm afraid I can't, based on one system's deployment. He's not as predictable as Salazar."
"You think he's invading the closest planets—Fool's Hope, Lycus, and Fool's Landing—and is counting on Freeland being...quarantined," Byer said, eyes downcast in thinking mode.
"That would be a reasonable guess, based on what we think we know. However, even if that is true, what is his deployment? Is he also invading UFN? And what is his end game? The Riss are not heroes," I said, knowing many would like the Riss to destroy these cruisers for the supposed invasion of the SAS.
"Nor cowards," Seng said.
Iglis nodded agreement.
"Nor cowards," Byer repeated. "You have a right to be concerned about Freeland, just like the SAS and UFN are concerned about their systems. I understand and stand by my decision to stay."
"Thank
you. We are heading for Hayjar, and the rest of the taskforce go to nearby systems. That combined with Captain Pavao's information should give us a clearer picture.
* * *
The trip to Hayjar took another four days. I had a lot on my mind but managed to push off tomorrow's decisions until tomorrow. I spent my time wandering the ship, talking with people, a little time teaching Si'jin, and had a couple of matches with Terril—without our companions' help.
* * *
I saw Terril talking to the two new guards, detailing their responsibilities. Basically, buckle into the Bridge chairs—it's out of your control.
The VTH came to life with JL-1 and JL-2 tags.
Twelve hours later, we had gotten close enough to complete our survey. Although the aliens had destroyed Hayjar's space station and repair facility, they looked to have a functional space station and limited repair capacity. We discovered ten Heavies and forty Lights. None had been modified. Their squadrons were orbiting Hayjar or docked at one of the newly constructed stations, all except for one squadron, which was four light-seconds from the Wave.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Freeland: Decision time
I managed to relax somewhat on the way back to Freeland. There wasn't much I could do until I heard from Pavao and Iglis had a chance to hear the news from the SAS and maybe even UFN.
We entered seven days later, and to my relief the system appeared normal—no JPU ships.
Jaelle's smiling face appeared.
"Nice to have you back, Leader. We've had no trouble. I'm conducting exercises with the two squadrons. I've notified them you are in the area and not part of the exercises."
"How did you know? We were in Battle Stations stealth mode."
"The new orbiting guardian, Iris-3. Pavao said Iris was the Greek messenger to the Gods. Anyway, besides notifying us of incoming ships, they ping for the new chips we are inserting on all upgraded cruisers. It works, because it immediately identified you as the Mnemosyne."
"How many do we have now?"
"I think Freeland is a bit nervous after Admiral Neifeh. They have a factory dedicated to them. Iris-4 was just launched. And they had a good punch. Fifty demons, two dragonflies, two dusters, five dummies, and twenty-five ghost fighter missiles—for the JPU modified fighters."
"That would be a good welcoming committee. Manned or unmanned?"
"While they are being tested, Damaass elected to have them manned. But they can be remotely controlled or put on full automatic."
"See you at the eighteen hundred hours meeting tonight. Mnemosyne out," I said, cutting the connection.
* * *
"Freeland is certainly alive with activity," I said as Jaelle entered and closed the door. I had invited the elders, Iglis, Byer, Seng, and the Riss-humans.
"That's because we agree with your observations about the JPU and the consequences for Freelanders and the Riss. We are developing evacuation and civil defense plans for Freelanders and the Riss," Ni'Shay said. Concern was written on the elders' faces.
"Terril, what is the status of your security program?"
"I'm informed by Master...Senior Sergeant Rayborn that they are making progress. Feeling the school has to be an evolving center, he continues to take in new applicants and filter out those who could never be good...right for elite security. Si'jin is now standard training. He has begun assigning teams with a senior person to evaluate individual performance, and he's producing a Cobra handbook. I think he's doing a good job."
"Sounds like it. Commander Iglis, what have you learned since we've been back?"
"All seven hours...sorry. I've pulled a lot of data from the Comstat network using my top access authorization but haven't had time to sort through it all. In general, the SAS appears to be playing a waiting game. ZigZag has gone dark, and as far as I can determine, no liberating force has been sent to any of the dark systems. No word from the UFN."
"That's a very cautious posture. I thought Admiral Wattson more aggressive."
"Maybe his hands are tied by the SAS Council...or he's waiting for the Riss to take some action," Byer said.
"I would think the SAS Council," I said, hoping they weren't waiting on the Riss to stop the JPU. Ironically, the combined forces of the SAS and UFN could stop Neifeh if they attacked, but their current isolation-defense was giving the JPU the advantage.
"Sheva, what did you find at Baraz?" I asked.
"It was very quiet. No one close to the Wave exit and only a single squadron of non-updated cruisers orbiting the planet—two Heavies and eight Lights," Sheva said, worrying her lower lip. "Neifeh obviously considers a good offense a good defense."
"The same configuration at Ihsan," Alena said.
"Pavao, find anything interesting?"
"Our good Admiral Neifeh appears to be adopting the Alien strategy: take over a planet and destroy the Comstat and any space-worthy ships. He is leaving a scout—which lies at minimum power near the exit from the Wave—and two Heavies and eight Lights. Those ships are the older models and haven't been upgraded. I visited Fool's Landing and found the same."
"I agree. Just like the Aliens, whose older cruisers and fighters are expendable, Neifeh considers his non-upgraded cruisers pawns. With a one-hundred-ship advantage, he can afford a war of attrition with the SAS or the UFN—not both. So failure to support the MSAs has put both empires at risk."
"They may weaken the SAS, but surely they can't defeat us," Byer said.
"The SAS has around three hundred cruisers, not to be confused with first-line warships. In fact, the development of the Hunter class of cruisers was an admission that many of the Lights were primarily meant for supporting the colonies and not capable of taking on the Raiders' ships.
"By comparison, the JPU has around four hundred cruisers, but unlike the SAS, these ships are maintained for fighting wars. So as a result of the war with the Aliens, the SAS has closer to two hundred sixty warships—and not all upgraded. The JPU could have as many as three hundred sixty. Therefore, the JPU don't have to destroy an SAS cruiser. Significant damage, or tying them up protecting or having to clean out a system works just as well."
"Well, Leader, do we hunker-down in Freeland like the SAS and UFN are doing in their empires, or...?" Pavao asked. I could hear people stop breathing, awaiting the answer.
"Well, Elder Ni'Shay, what would you and the elders of Freeland like the Riss military to do?" I asked. Silence. Eventually, they all rose and huddled at one end of the room.
I laughed mentally, long and hard.
"We the elders of Freeland did not do such a good job of managing the Freeland military before the Riss arrived. And we have watched the solutions that the governing boards of the SAS and UFN have produced and realize that civilians have no business running a war. Our first reaction would also be to hide and hope the problem went away, or that we would be ignored, or that some other simplistic solution presented itself. We have an excellent military and would rather leave it in their hands. An
d if you were to insist the elders do it, we now consider the Riss-humans elders of Freeland. Since they now have the majority votes and you speak for them, we await your decision."
"Well, Elder Pavao, what do you say?" I said. The other Riss-humans wore amused expressions—until it slowly dawned on them they would be asked the same question.
"As a former SAS captain, I say we go kick ass. As a Freeland elder, I say we hunker down and hope the SAS kick the JPU's ass. As a Riss captain, I say we are a small nation that can't take on the JPU by ourselves, yet we can't do nothing since the SAS seems to be letting Admiral Neifeh run the war. And as a citizen of the Riss Nation, I say the Riss Leader speaks for me," Pavao said. She had the nerve to smile, which generated snorts from around the room. "Sorry, Nadya."
"Zhang?"
"I agree with Pavao. We cannot stand alone against the JPU, but doing nothing is not a good strategy."
"Damaass?"
"If anyone is in Admiral Neifeh's mind, it's you, dybbuk. Even without you speaking for the Riss, and me, I'd trust your solution as the best we could make."
"Sheva?"
"Captain Alena has told me several stories about you and Admiral Plimson. Quite amusing, so long as you aren't Plimson. She says you once presented him with a proposal that every commander wished he would never have to consider, but that in the end, it was his decision, and he couldn't ask anyone else to make it for him. I suspect you know what he felt like."
"Elder Terril?" I smiled when her jaw dropped open. Then she smiled.
"As an ex-gunny, I say we go kick ass. As a new Riss-human, I leave the who, when, and where to my Leader," Terril said, managing not to smile. But laughs erupted from around the room. Even I laughed.
"Well, the consensus seems to be that we go kick ass. The ass in question seems to be Admiral Neifeh. And the messy details are being left to the Riss Leader," I said, which received a round of applause. "Alright, first we need to secure Freeland, because Admiral Neifeh believes in teaching people who upset him painful lessons. So, Iris is a priority. The new Riss fighters and crews are also a priority. Commander Byer, work with Commander Ja'Kazak of the Wraiths. If he can qualify enough pilots with your help, and we can turn out enough Wraiths to create two or three fighter groups of twenty to twenty-five, then you can distribute one of the Ghosts units among the other units. Ghosts and Wraiths are going to be critical in any engagement with the JPU, because we are going to be outnumbered.