20

“I read the database entries on that planet and looked at pictures, and I still think it’s uglier in person.”

Davidović’s observation summed up Kira’s feelings on Wilhelm. The planet was on the small side, with barely sixty percent of Earth’s gravity, with a barely breathable atmosphere, no potable water, and an average temperature that would turn any potable water to ice.

Somehow, it still had plant and animal life. None of said life was edible to humans, but it did provide the barely breathable atmosphere.

“About a third of the population of the Costar Clans lives on Wilhelm,” Zoric replied. “Twelve million people, with another four million stretched across the system. The asteroids here are worth mining, and I think every inhabited system in the Cluster has made a go at colonizing Wilhelm.”

“And ran out of resources to ship food,” Davidović said. “I’m familiar with the history.”

“More importantly,” Kira cut in, “what are we seeing for threats?”

She was in her Hoplite, but the Coalition Fleet hadn’t launched their fighters yet. She wasn’t seeing anything in terms of mobile threats on her own feeds, which made her nervous.

“There are fixed orbital defenses above Wilhelm, but they’re trash,” Davidović told her. “We had a plan to actually use missiles against them.”

Kira blinked.

“They can’t be that bad,” she argued. The stations would have multiphasic jammers aboard, even if they hadn’t come online yet.

“Orbital dynamics are orbital dynamics,” Davidović said. “They don’t have the Harrington coils to maneuver much, so smart missiles can nail down their positions with a decent degree of accuracy before they enter the jamming zone.”

“They still have plasma guns,” Kira pointed out. “I’m not sure the missiles are that cheap.”

Even if the stations were completely unable to move themselves from their fixed orbits, they’d be able to shoot down missiles by the dozen in the final light-second, where the artificial stupids would have to basically fly straight.

“Cheaper than dead ships,” Zoric said. “Scans are clear of ships, Basketball. Looks like even the freighters have left the system. It’s creepy as hell and worrying.”

Kira’s headware pinged on the fleet command channel and she switched over.

“Basketball.

“Demirci, it’s Admiral Kim. Are your people seeing what we’re seeing?”

“If you mean nothing, yeah,” Kira agreed, reviewing the data in the virtual display in front of her. “We’re making seven fortresses and about two hundred defensive satellites in orbit of Wilhelm. One of the asteroid habitat clusters has two fortresses and thirty or so satellites. Everything that can nova appears to be gone.”

“That’s exactly what I’m seeing,” Kim said. “We fabricated around a thousand smart missiles to use against the Wilhelm fortresses. Analysis says we’ll lose ninety percent of them, but it doesn’t take many big nukes to mission-kill fortresses that small.”

“That wasn’t in the plan dockets I went over,” Kira said. “When did that happen?”

“This was somewhere around Plan N, Demirci,” the Admiral replied. “We were expecting to have to clear gunships and corvettes. What’s making me think twice is that they haven’t raised their jammers. They’re waiting to see what we do.”

“They might be thinking about surrender,” Kira said slowly. “That would fit. We shredded their fixed defenses without losses at Arti, and enough ships left Arti that they know what we did.”

“Agreed.” The Coalition Fleet commander was silent for a few seconds. “I trust your judgment, Kira. Most of the rest of our subcommanders have blood going back years with the Clans. What do you think?”

Kira hadn’t even considered that, but Kim was right. The Costar Clans had been the primary opponent of any significant military force in the Cluster for a century—and the honors, by and large, had been pretty even.

Every senior officer in the Coalition Fleet had killed Costar Clans raiders and lost crews to them in turn. Even Kim, who was bending over backward to follow her King’s orders.

“I think it costs you nothing to talk and could save lives on both sides,” she finally said. “If we can get the Kaiser Clans to surrender without a fight, that’s half the population of the Costar Clans under Redward protection. Half their systems.”

“Only about a third of their industry and their raider construction,” Kim countered. “The Kiln is the biggest source of their actual ships. But you’re right. A chance for a bloodless victory.

“Thank you.”

“You’re the one who has to talk them down,” Kira said. “Good luck.”

* * *

For the second time in a week, Kira watched as Admiral Ylva Kim sent a mass transmission to the Costar Clans. This time, an entire planet was getting the transmission—a planet that had been settled and abandoned at least fourteen times. Each colony had left behind a small cluster of determined homesteaders who wouldn’t give up their new farms.

Those farms and the assorted abandoned miners had built a series of hardscrabble communities across the planet. Twelve million people sounded like a lot, but it was nothing versus a planet. The largest settlement any of the Coalition Fleet could detect was maybe half a million people.

“Kaiser Clans, I am Admiral Ylva Kim,” Kim introduced herself. “From the absence of nova-capable shipping in the Kaiser System, I assume you are aware of the existence and mission of the Coalition Fleet.

“It is my task, as mandated by the monarchs of the Redward System and by the leadership of the systems of the Syntactic Cluster Free Trade Zone, to bring an end to the threat of the Costar Clans’ raiders.

“When the dust settles here today, the Kaiser System will be a protectorate of the Kingdom of Redward,” she said firmly. “Ulli Novak is already preparing their divisions for an assault landing on Wilhelm and hostile boarding operations on the stations and habitats throughout this system.

“We have a plan in place to neutralize your orbital defenses. You lack the industry and technology of a major inhabited system and so you lack the traditional invulnerability of a home system.

“We are aware of the situations and problems that you have faced here in Kaiser. We of Redward are as guilty as anyone else of failing to provide the support you needed to survive. That changes today. As a protectorate of the Redward crown, King Larry and Queen Sonia will take direct responsibility for your situation.

“Tomorrow will be a better day for us all,” Kim told them. “But today you must decide if that tomorrow is one you will accept peacefully. Stand down your defensive stations and turn over control of your armories to Major General’s Novak’s people, and this transition can happen with a minimum of bloodshed—hopefully none.

“Fight me and I will break your defenses with fire and steel. I have fought the Costar Clans for my entire professional career. I will not weep to send more of your raiders to hell—but that is the past that we must all put behind us if the Syntactic Cluster is to rise above what we have been.

“My King, my Queen, they see a future where we stand together. I will work toward that vision until my dying breath. Your children will benefit from that vision no matter what you do today…but if you stand down, so will you.”

The transmission ended and Kira studied her scanners. The orbital forts’ jammers were still down. Everything looked very quiet.

“Helmet,” she hailed Sagairt. “Get your interceptors into space for assault-shuttle escort duty. Hold back the fighter-bombers for now but have them prep for mass launch.”

“What are you thinking, Commodore?” Sagairt said.

“I think the Admiral’s little speech might have an effect. I’m also thinking that I trust the Clans and the Institute as I far as I can throw that planet over there. So, let’s be very, very paranoid.”

“I can live with that. Interceptors launching. Standing by for updates from the Admiral.”

Kira cut the channel and turned her attention to the gray and ill-looking world ahead of them.

“Well?” she murmured. “Are we playing games?”

“Commodore, we have a signal from the surface,” Davidović reported. “The orbital stations have deactivated their sensors and appear to be commencing an evacuation.”

“Signal is for the Admiral?” Kira asked.

“It’s broad enough that we’re getting it too,” the tactical officer reported. “There’s a lot of hedging around the fact that nobody actually runs all of Wilhelm, but they’re ordering the stations to stand down.”

“Everyone who wants to fight loaded up and ran,” Kira guessed. “Those forts aren’t worth anything, so they’re concentrating forces for an old-fashioned slugging match with the Coalition Fleet somewhere.”

“My guess, too,” Davidović agreed. “And given everything I know about the Clans…it’s going to be at the Kiln.”

“Wonderful,” Kira said. “That’s our next stop.”

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