I choked at the suggestion, while Iglis laughed. "Pretty much the same in Intel: only two. No one believes you. You're always where the action is."
I laughed. "In a way, they are right. We aren't going to defeat them staying in Freeland, or with a defensive strategy. That would play into Neifeh's strengths, not his weaknesses. So eventually, we will have to engage him."
"Terril?"
"You said I could do what I wanted, so I asked for volunteers from the SAS Scorpions and the UFN commandos. If accepted, they would become Freeland citizens," She said, watching me for my reaction.
"Good idea and consistent with the Riss Nation philosophy. Get many candidates?" I asked, hoping I had done the right thing by making her a Riss-human.
"Ananke thought so, although it is getting less clear which idea is mine and which hers." She laughed.
Terrill brought me back to the question. "Twenty SAS and eleven UFN. We could get more over time, but I thought that a good start. With ten on each Riss cruiser and a contingency force on Freeland for replacements, rotations, and injuries, I'm shooting for one hundred to start with. I'm writing a manual defining initial training, rules of conduct and engagement, and duty." She laughed at some private joke. "When would you like them ready?"
"Well, Captain Pavao, when?" I said, trying to keep from laughing. Nance sat there with her mouth open, eyes round as saucers.
"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."