A Savage War Of Peace (Ark Royal Book 5) (35 page)

“Prepare for attack,” John ordered.  He
was
the military commander of the mission, but he would defer to Boone on the ground.  “Get as many people as you can into defensible positions and secure Fort Knight.”

“I can try,” Boone said.  “Many of the NGOs aren't respecting our authority so much, now.”

John groaned.  The Indians had started to offer basing rights to NGOs, even ones that couldn't be relied upon to toe the party line.  It had puzzled him at the time, until he’d realised the NGOs were largely working with Vesy cities that had already obtained weapons from the Indians.  The arrangement suited both parties; the NGOs got to introduce new ideas to the Vesy, while the aliens got their weapons from third parties.  Given time, the Flowered Clan would become the dominant force on the surface, while the Indians ruled the skies.

“Do the best you can,” he ordered.  “Have a word with the other military officers on the surface too.  Their bases may come under attack.”

“And none of them are as well-defended as Fort Knight,” Boone finished.  “And
we’re
not as well-defended as the Indian fortress.”

John sighed, bitterly.  “Do the best you can,” he repeated.  “I’ll speak to the Ambassador and get back to you.”

“Understood,” Boone said.  “Have a good one, sir.”

“Thank you,” John said.

He tapped a switch, closing the channel, and then glanced at his updates.  Ambassador Richardson had agreed to visit
Warspite
, but she needed to talk to two of the alien representatives first.  John groaned, then forced himself to focus on writing out a report to the First Space Lord.  It would be relayed to Earth before the Indian carrier entered orbit and then ...

They can't spare anything capable of standing up to the Indians
, he thought.  The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to admire the Indian who’d dreamed up the whole scheme, to shake his hand and then strangle him.  They’d taken the opportunities presented by Vesy and run with them, while the Great Powers had been arguing over just what should happen to the Russian deserters. 
We need to take the initiative, somehow, but we can't.  The bastards have boxed us in neatly
...

His intercom pinged.  “Captain, a freighter just popped through Tramline One,” Gillian said.  “She transmitted a sealed message for you.”

“Understood,” John said.  He wondered, briefly, if someone at home had
finally
realised that
Viraat
was missing.  “Send it down to my terminal here.”

The message, when it popped up on his display, insisted on a full series of security codes, fingerprint scans and DNA readings before it condescended to decrypt itself.  John cursed inwardly - anything so sensitive had to be trouble - then swore under his breath as the message activated, displaying an image of the First Space Lord.

“John,” the First Space Lord said.  “The World Court, after weeks of arguing, has finally come to a set of decisions concerning Vesy.  I’m afraid they won’t make your position any easier.  This message should be a day or two ahead of the official notification, assuming I’ve timed it properly.  It’s all the warning I can give you.”

He noticeably took a breath, then went on.  “There are a set of minor rulings, but the key one is that there is an immediate ban on selling weapons and ammunition to the Vesy,” he continued.  “You are
not
, under any circumstances, to supply the Vesy, friendly or unfriendly, with anything that can be used to wage war on their neighbours.”

“Tell me,” John snapped.  “How the hell are we meant to keep their friendship if we leave them defenceless?”

The recording, unsurprisingly, went on.  “This ruling is deemed to apply to every spacefaring human power, without exception,” the First Space Lord said.  “As such, the World Court will be pressing charges against anyone who breaks the embargo.  They have also decided that the Vesy System is to be left undeveloped, held in trust for the natives.  British claims to the asteroid cluster are to be abandoned. 

“I believe they expect you to enforce these judgements,” he concluded.  “I ...”

John paused the recording and swore, venomously.  How the hell was he meant to enforce such a ruling with three ships against an entire Indian task force?  Not to mention, of course, the other powers that might take exception to the World Court’s decree?  It would result in a battle shorter and more inglorious than the Battle of New Russia where, at least, one side hadn’t known it was badly outmatched until battle had been joined.

He forced himself to calm down, then restarted the recording.  “... Understand that you have too few ships to enforce the ruling,” the First Space Lord said.  “I have explained this to the PM and I believe he understands, but the media is producing a definite cacophony in favour of not making the situation on the planet any worse.  For the moment, therefore, you are to do nothing but keep Fort Knight secure. 
Do not
hand over any more weapons to the Vesy.”

“And lose their friendship once and for all,” John muttered.

“I'm trying to convince the PM to start the diplomacy to put together a multinational task force, but it’s slow going,” the First Space Lord concluded.  “There are too many interests that aren't in favour of the ruling.  If matters get badly out of hand, you are authorised to pull our people off the planet completely, by force if necessary.  We can leave the planet to the Indians until we have a chance to put together a joint approach.”

He paused.  “You are also authorised to open Set #3 of your sealed orders,” he added.  “Good luck.”

“Brilliant,” John said, as the recording came to an end.  He honestly couldn't remember feeling so screwed, even the moment he’d first laid eyes on the remains of HMS
Canopus
and known that Colin and he were stranded a very long way from home.  “Now what?”

Chapter Thirty-Four

“Fuck,” Joelle swore.  “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“I hope that isn't the kind of words you use at diplomatic meetings,” Captain Naiser said, as he passed her a mug of tea.  “Blunt as they are, they are a tad undiplomatic.”

Joelle smiled, rather dryly.  “I would use nicer words than that at the table,” she said.  She took the tea and sipped it, gratefully.  “All hell is about to break loose ...”

She stared at the frozen image of the First Space Lord.  The message was lethal, literally; she couldn't help wondering if the Indians had planned it that way all along.  If the British didn't supply weapons and training, as they’d promised, the Vesy would switch sides openly and the British position would crumble without the Indians having to lift a finger.  But if she defied the message and refused to carry out her orders, when they finally arrived, she would be fired and her replacement would do as she was told.  The delay would be minimal.

“I don’t suppose there’s any room to manoeuvre,” she said, although she already knew the answer was
no
.  The flat ban on exporting any more weapons and ammunition to the aliens left no room for creative interpretation.  “Is there no naval regulation you can cite to avoid having to carry out orders?”

“The orders would have to be illegal,” Captain Naiser said.  “That’s very clearly defined in the book, Ambassador.  I don't think that even the most cunning lawyer in the world could reasonably brand the orders as illegal.”

Joelle considered it.  “Couldn’t we claim they were encouraging genocide on the planet’s surface?”

“We’d have to be ordered to carry out the genocide ourselves,” John said, shaking his head ruefully.  “Even then, there would have to be a complete shortage of mitigating circumstances.  It wouldn't be the first time a town or even a city was hammered from orbit for doing something we disliked.  Everything else ...?”

He shrugged.  “We’re not being ordered to launch a coup against the duly elected government, or to disobey orders from that government, or to fire on British civilians without an extremely good reason,” he added.  “All we’re being ordered to do, Ambassador, is leave the Vesy to their fate.”

“Fuck,” Joelle said, again. 

“They’ll switch sides,” John warned.  “You know they will.”

“Yeah,” Joelle said.  “And who could reasonably blame them?”

She cursed under her breath.  The Captain’s suggestion - that the Indians had intended to create a situation where their allies could overrun everyone else, without interference from outside - made a great deal of sense.  Indeed, keeping the human warships out of the fight definitely gave the advantage to the Flowered Clan.  They had a vast stockpile of ammunition, plenty of weapons and probably quite a few other advantages.  Ivan’s forces were a great deal weaker and much less well coordinated.  Orbital bombardment would have altered the odds, but orbital bombardment was off the table.

“I can't,” the Captain said.  “I don’t think anyone
could
.”

“The folks at home will,” Joelle said, bitterly.  “They won’t understand why we lost control of our allies.”

She sighed in bitter frustration.  The Foreign Office
tried
to make sure its senior officials all had tours overseas, but not all of them made it.  She knew, all too well, that hundreds of people who had never left Britain were going to be second-guessing her when the inevitable inquiry began.  Captain Naiser and she were probably going to wind up being turned into scapegoats and then formally sacked for gross incompetence.  Or something.

Gritting her teeth, she thrust that thought out of her head.  She could worry about her career later.

“We need to get as many of our civilians out as we can,” she said, sitting upright.  “Not all of them will
want
to leave, but I’m going to put out a call.  The ones who want to stay can take their chances.”

“Put Fort Knight into lockdown again,” Captain Naiser added.  “Colonel Boone can make damn sure there are only a limited number of potential targets out there.”

“I will,” Joelle said. 

Captain Naiser paused, then spoke.  “Tell him to make sure that there are no aliens within the walls,” he added.  “If the Flowered Clan is planning an assault, they will probably try to make use of people on the inside.  We suspect they probably had spies among the aliens who gathered around Fort Knight.”

“That won’t go down well,” Joelle said.  “But I’ll tell him.  I’ll also speak to the other ambassadors - get them to do the same.”

“If they can,” Captain Naiser said.  “Some of the NGO bases are practically shared between two races.”

He shook his head.  “The Indians won’t honour the ruling,” he added.  He nodded towards the near-orbit display, which was showing the carrier holding position on the other side of Vesy.  “I think that carrier is sending a message to the World Court.”

Joelle nodded.  “Oh, yeah?”  She translated.  “Make me!”

“Exactly,” Captain Naiser agreed.  “Indeed, all hell is going to break loose, ambassador, and that carrier is going to keep the orbiting ships from interfering.”

“I know,” Joelle said.  She didn't know
precisely
what had happened on Earth, but she could guess.  The Indians and Turks - and probably a few more lesser powers - had drawn a line in the sand, daring the Great Powers to assert themselves.  And now the Great Powers were faced with the problem of doing just that.  “You can’t launch a first strike, can you?”

“It would start a war,” Captain Naiser pointed out.  “And even if we took out the carrier on our first attack, before it had a chance to launch starfighters, we would still be badly outnumbered.  I have
three
ships, Ambassador.  The Indians have thirty-four.”

He sighed.  “I don't think we have a military option here,” he added.  “Evacuation and then regrouping elsewhere would seem to be the best chance we have to salvage
something
from this disaster.”

Joelle looked him in the eye.  “What happened to the Captain Naiser who attacked a Russian base and a pair of Russian warships?”

“He wasn't so badly outgunned, nor did he have thousands of civilians at risk,” Captain Naiser said, irked.  “This is going to turn into a bloody mess no matter what we do, Ambassador, and we
cannot
win a fight against the Indians here.  Our political leaders have just knifed us in the back.  The Vesy will desert us in droves once the news reaches them.”

“I see,” Joelle said.  “Do you see any hope at all?”

“We might be able to hold Fort Knight indefinitely,” Captain Naiser said.  “We might be able to point out that an assault on Fort Knight by the Flowered Clan would risk starting a general war, if you wish to do so.  But for the rest of the planet?  I think the Indians have established themselves so firmly that dislodging them would require a major commitment.”

“And that isn't going to happen,” Joelle said.  “The PM wouldn't support something that would divert resources from Earth.”

“No,” Captain Naiser said.  “He wouldn’t.”

Joelle winced, thinking of the millions of British civilians who barely had enough to eat, no matter how hard they worked.  Britain had fed itself for centuries, ever since the Age of Unrest, but the bombardment had ruined a great many farms.  The mere suggestion of shipping farming equipment to Vesy might start a political landside, perhaps even an insurgency or civil war.  There were all sorts of rumours about what had happened to government inspectors who’d asked the wrong questions of angry refugees ...

“We can't give them anything more,” she said.  Factories?  They were needed at home to rebuild the defences, as well as the economy.  Jobs?  There would be a riot if British citizens thought their jobs were being given to aliens.  Economic support?  What did it matter if the Indians reaped the rewards.  “There’s nothing left to give.”

“I’m afraid so,” Captain Naiser said.

Joelle finished her tea, then rose.  “I’ll speak to Colonel Boone now,” she said, flatly.  “Let him know that all hell is about to break loose.”

She sighed, then met his eyes.  “Did we ever have a chance?”

“I think the Russians and the Indians, between them, ensured that we didn't,” Captain Naiser said.  “We couldn't outbid the Indians without pouring resources into Vesy.  And now ...”

He shook his head.  “We can give up our own claim to the asteroids, Ambassador,” he said, “but we don’t have the firepower to force any of the other powers to abandon
their
claims.  We might either wind up trying to force them out, once a multinational force is assembled, or trading something they want back home to convince them to give up their claims.”

“Recognition as Great Powers,” Joelle said, flatly.  “There’s nothing else worth playing for.”

She wanted to grind her teeth together.  It was generally agreed that the Great Powers worked together, recognising one another as equals; even when they disagreed, they stayed out of each other’s spheres of influence.   The Indians
wanted
such a status for themselves, even though they had been late to the party; the Turks, the Germans, the Brazilians ... they too wanted that level of recognition.  She made a silent salute to the Indians - they might get what they wanted, now they’d staked their claim so firmly - and then cursed them under her breath for what they’d unleashed.  If one power succeeded in elevating itself to the ranks of the Great Powers, what was to stop others from trying as well?

And we’re disunited too, after the war
, she thought, bitterly. 
The bastards might just win by default
.

“Thank you, Captain,” she said, aloud.  “Can I borrow your terminal?”

“It’s on the desk,” Captain Naiser said.  “Just ask the communications operator for a secure line.”

***

“Hey, Penny,” a voice called.  Penny looked up to see Allen Roebuck, an American reporter who had been attached to Fort Knight by CNN-FOX.  They weren't exactly friends - she knew she was competing with him for scoops - but she liked comparing notes with him in the bar.  “What’s all this about?”

“I haven't the slightest idea,” Penny said.  “All I know is that everyone with an outside pass has been called to the briefing hall.”

She sucked in her breath sharply as she followed Roebuck through the doors and into the hall.  It was a large room, easily big enough to pass for a ballroom, and yet it felt cramped.  The room was crammed with people; Penny silently thanked her parents for her height, then peered towards the podium.  It was empty, but a trio of armed Paras were clearly on guard, watching the crowd.  Unfortunately, none of them were Hamish.

Or perhaps I should be relieved
, she told herself. 
What would happen if he had to drag me out for asking questions
?

“There’s just about everyone here,” Roebuck said, shouting to be heard over the noise.  “I didn't know so many people wanted to get out!”

“It gets boring here,” Penny shouted back.  “Why stay inside the walls when you can visit the alien bazaar?”

She smiled inwardly at the thought.  The aliens had offered to sell her everything from artworks to pieces of carved wood ... and all they’d wanted in exchange was human money or technology.  Penny had refused to give up anything, but she’d heard whispers that not everyone had stuck to the rules.  Why would they, she wondered, when an alien-made carving would be worth millions when they got it back home?  Or alien-produced alcohol ... Vesy drinks tasted funny to her, but she’d drunk worse at Fitzwilliam Hall.  Maybe they’d even start a new trend on Earth ...

“It could be about the carrier,” Roebuck speculated.  “Everyone thinks the Indians are planning to invade.”

“I doubt it,” Penny said.  “They wouldn’t need a whole carrier to take this world from the natives.”

“If I could have your attention, please,” Colonel Boone said.  He stood in front of the podium, wearing body armour that made him look hellishly intimidating.  “We don’t have much time.”