Legions of Orion (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 1) (28 page)

The display changed
once more and lit up to show how each of the proposed Spacebridges
would link to the myriad of nodes around it. The shapes around New
Charon appeared to take up the lower corner of the
Nebula.

President Hobbs continued.

“
The question
is...what are we going to do? Somebody or something has been here
before, and there is a chance they could come back. Do we cede this
territory and the risk of provocation, or do we expand aggressively
and stake a claim to it? I have three options that I want you to
consider. Option one, we leave the Spacebridge open and continue to
allow military and civilian ships to exploit the area as quickly as
possible. Two, we establish a lookout station to monitor the system
and withdraw back through the Spacebridge. Three, we withdraw and
collapse the Spacebridge.”

She looked at each
of them, and it was clear there was as much surprise as there was
confusion. She turned to Defence Secretary Churchill who spoke
quietly.

“Ms President. Haven’t we already
decided on this matter?”

She shook her head discretely.

“
No, not any more.
We declared the system Alliance territory to ensure law and order
was maintained during exploration and exploitation. With these
discoveries, things have become more complicated. By staying, we
could be inviting trouble.”

He shrugged in
response and looked back to the others. A light flashed near the
representative of Orthrus.

“
Ms President. Over
seven thousand workers from my colony are already at New Charon. If
we withdraw, it will result in the collapse of three of our largest
employers. I thought the military assessment was that the system
was secure and safe for expansion. What are you
suggesting?”

President Hobbs smiled inwardly,
secretly happy at the question.

“
Thank you for your
question. Yes, until this discovery, we had assumed it was safe. It
would appear otherwise. Even so, the area offers strategic benefits
that could result in a golden age for our citizens. In my opinion,
we should seize New Charon with open arms, garrison the planets and
moons, and establish outposts as soon as possible. Within a decade,
this place could be the Nexus of a mighty Alliance of hundreds of
new worlds. Think of the opportunities!”

In an instant, the
worries of the Zealots, the Biomechs and any other dangers vanished
at the simple prospect of missing a great opportunity. She watched
them carefully, looking for those who might decide against the
plan.

“
You have all been
provided with full briefings from the military, astrophysics and
science divisions. We will reconvene in seventy-two hours for your
combined decision. Remember, you are considering not just our
future for the next few months, but for the next thousand
years.”

The Great Exodus that followed
the birth of the Confederacy also sowed the
seeds for the Great Uprising. Large numbers of men and
women brought up children with a distrust of the new system and
those that had emerged victorious. The technology, ships and
resources they managed to gain access to, were never explained;
that was until the Orion expedition. Only then would the true
extent of the Zealots’ benefactors be fully revealed and the path
laid down for the fledgling Alliance.

The Unforeseen Consequences

The events of the struggle to secure
Hades had occurred almost a month earlier, and still the news of
the battle continued to gather interest. Images of the ruined
buildings and hints of a long extinct civilisation had awakened
every entrepreneurial and adventurous spirit through the Alliance.
A decision had been made by the Defence Committee, a group of
colony leaders and the senior members of the Alliance government to
expand the settlement and exploration of New Charon. Just weeks
after the fighting, and there were science teams on a dozen moons
and teams on the way to the many planets. But for Spartan and his
friends, it was time to relax for a moment and to reflect on the
many decisions that would now have to be made.

Over thirty prefabricated units had
been brought to the surface by Alliance engineers to house the
hundreds of scientists, engineers and researchers who were busy
working on the site. One of these had been handed over to Spartan
and the APS Corporation to operate as their command centre for moon
security operations. It consisted of a central hub section that
contained several rooms, a meeting hall and evacuation station.
Around it, like the spokes of a wheel, were another six long
sections, each containing a series of small rooms. This were where
the power, sleeping and wash facilities were all based. One also
contained a full set of weapons, ammunition and equipment for two
APS Teams.

Spartan sat at the circular table,
along with Khan
.
The others were busy
providing site security for the big excavation work on the largest
machine found so far. Spartan had done his best to discourage them
from disturbing the great structure, but orders were orders, and
the Senate wanted answers, fast.

“How is Jack?” asked Khan in an unusual
show of interest.

Spartan smiled grimly.

“
He’s alright. The
injuries to his upper body were severe, and he’s still undergoing
medical treatment on the Royal Sovereign, the medical frigate that
came with the last batch of engineers. She’s docked with ANS
Beagle, right now.”

Khan nodded slowly at the news.

“Good, the boy put up a good fight, so
Wictred tells me.”

He leaned
over the table.

“
He won’t leave the
boy’s side,
” he whispered with a bemused
expression.

Spartan raised an eyebrow at his
comment.

“And you will leave mine?” he
suggested.

Khan appeared
nonplussed at
the point he was making. In
any case, it didn’t matter because the door hissed open, and in
walked an angry looking Teresa, flanked by two armoured Jötnar.
Gun, the leader of the Jötnar, and an old friend of theirs, stood
to her right while a younger, unfamiliar Jötnar stood to her
left.

“
Spartan, have you
seen what they’re doing?” asked Teresa.

She moved closer
and
stopped directly in front of him. Gun
spoke before Spartan could even answer Teresa’s
question.

“
We’ve just been
down there, and they’re reopening the dig. I told them what you
told me. But would they listen?” he said with a shrug.

Spartan nodded.

“
Yeah, I
heard.
I told them and so did the
General, but High Command have made this excavation a high
priority. They want whatever is underground to be dug out for study
by the Alliance Engineers Corps. Our job is to provide close
protection, escort and security services to all Alliance personnel
on this moon.”

Gun grinned at the last part.

“
Yeah, looks like
your company expanded at the right time, Spartan.”

Spartan glanced at
Teresa who was still angry.

“Look, we can’t stop them and...” she
glared at him as though she wanted him to do just that.

“
If we interfere
with Alliance business, we will just be replaced by another
corporation. At least this way, we can provide input and be there
when they screw things up.”

Gun moved over to
Khan who approached his leader, grasping his arm in a firm
handshake. It was a curious mimicry of what they had seen others
do.

“Commander Gun, how is the colonisation
of the second planet proceeding?”

“
Good, very good.
Our first ships landed, and we’ve traded resources on Hyperion for
three habitation modules for the surface.”

He looked to Spartan.

“
Nine hundred of my
people are already on the world, and more are
following.”

Spartan raised an
eyebrow at the number; it was larger than he had
expected.

“What about others?”

Gun grinned in that
classic expression he normally gave before doing something
dangerous. In the past, Spartan would have been ducking at this
point, in case they were about to be hit by heavy
weapons.

“
This is the
Alliance. W
e are one happy family.
Anybody can settle there.”

He looked to Khan who laughed before
doing his best to keep silent. Teresa looked at them both and shook
her head.

“
The heavy gravity
and thin atmosphere wouldn’t have anything to do with your decision
to settle there, now would it?”

Gun said
nothing
, but his amused expression
answered her question. The Jötnar, though human, had been
artificially created by the Zealots and their allies, using
advanced technology; the end result had been humans with genetic
memory that were adept at socialising and combat skills. One thing
that had caught many by surprise was how adaptable they were in
different environments. The air on Hyperion was a classic example.
Though breathable to humans, it wasn’t easy and took weeks,
sometimes months for a person to fully acclimatise. For some it
simply never happened, and they were forced to wear respirators at
all times. It was a different story for the Jötnar. Their oversized
organs, lungs and modified genetic structure, allowed them to
thrive in such conditions. The second planet of the New Charon star
system was another such world. It was rocky with no more than a
trace atmosphere, mineral rich and very heavy gravity of nearly
seventy percent heavier than Earth normal.

“What the hell are you planning on
doing there, Gun?” asked Spartan with genuine interest.

Khan and Gun looked
to each other
. Gun moved to the table and
sat down. The chair creaked at his great bulk but managed to stay
intact.

“
We can mine the
planet and use it as a source of revenue. But I have other ideas.
The high gravity will help keep my people tough and strong. It is
our one advantage over humans. I plan on using the planet to
guarantee our future.”

Spartan listened
with interest. The idea was, of course, reasonable, but it also
provided a germ of an idea for him as well. Khan saw his expression
and became equally curious.

“
What is it,
Spartan?”

Spartan
leaned
back in his chair.

“Well, I have an idea that could bring
you more money and also keep your reputation as warriors.”

Gun looked
interested. “Go on.”

“
Let us establish a
training compound on the planet. You will run it
, and we will supply specialists and equipment. I can
guarantee that APS and the Alliance Marine Corps will definitely
want to take advantage of a high gravity training
centre.”

Khan spoke
quietl
y into Gun’s ear and looked back to
Spartan.

“
Interesting,”
replied Gun.
“You’d have to cycle your
people. They won’t last long down there with the added weight. It
could work, though. It could work very well.”

Gun pulled out a
secpad and placed it on the table. It displayed a sequence of
images from
the dig site. Spartan looked
at them carefully, noting how a single shallow ramp had been built
to work down and around the buried object. He tried to imagine what
it might be, but from the rusted shape and broken sections, it was
almost impossible. He looked up to Gun.

“Any ideas?”

Gun looked surprised.

“
Me?” he answered,
pointing to his own chest. “I asked you because we have no
idea!”

Spartan looked back
at the device. Something caught his attention, and he tapped the
unit to enlarge one of the images. It expanded with only a low
degree of digital noise to obscure some of the shapes.

“Have you seen this part? It looks
burnt.”

Gun shrugged.

“
I need to speak
with the General. One moment.”

From his belt, he
pulled out his own device and tapped the option to request a
conversation with General Rivers. A box appeared with a waiting
message. He then looked again at Gun’s device.

“
Gun, we need to
stop this work. Look at the damage to this thing. One way or
another this thing was in some kind of action. Based on what we’ve
seen down here, I think it’s clear it wasn’t good. So far
we...”

He was cut short by the appearance of
General Rivers on his own secpad.

“Spartan?”

“General. I have imagery from the dig
site here on Hades.”

“
I don’t have long,
Spartan. I’m in the middle of landing scouting parties on three
other moons around this planet. What do you have?”

Spartan tapped the device and sent the
data directly to the General.

“Sir, it looks like these remains saw
some serious action at some point in the past. I recommend a halt
to the dig until we can learn more.”

There was no
hesitation from the marine commander, however.

“
Negative, Spartan.
My orders are clear. Our science teams need complete access to this
site and its objects. The longer we leave it, the greater the
chance we might have of hitting a problem once we are
overcommitted. I am monitoring the situation from here on ANS
Dragon. Keep an eye on things down there and keep me appraised.
Understood?”