Sol (The Silver Ships Book 5) (26 page)

“I see two problems with your future, Tribune Woo,” Chong replied. “The first is that Lucchesi and the enclave of high judges will resist the curtailment of their power.”

“Undoubtedly,” Woo said, nodding her agreement.

“And the other problem, Admiral?” Alex prompted.

“Not all naval officers are true to upper command. A good portion of them owe their allegiance to the enclave of high judges,” Chong acknowledged. “But, President Racine, after Portland’s debacle, I don’t see the enclave or Lucchesi, for that matter, mounting another run at you. So, if anything, your people and Idona are safe.

“We didn’t come here to be safe, Admiral,” Alex replied. “We came here to find a peaceful way of preventing any more of your misguided fools from bringing warships to our space and forcing us to destroy them.”

“So, if you can’t find a peaceful means of achieving your goal, Mr. President, you’ll resort to the subjugation of our entire system,” Chong challenged.

Woo winced inwardly, but schooled her face to maintain a neutral expression. Her instincts told her Chong was reading the Harakens incorrectly, especially their president, but his decades of climbing the ranks under the UE’s harsh methods put him at a disadvantage.

“Why are peace and stability so hard for you people to understand?” asked Alex, a disgusted expression on his face. “We have no intention of subjugating your system. If we wanted to limit your ability to harm us, we would simply flood your system with our nanites, programmed with a twenty-year lifespan, and let them enjoy an almost infinite meal of metal.”

The Harakens knew Alex was bluffing, but the Earthers’ reactions showed that they believed what Alex was saying was a distinct possibility.

“Wouldn’t that be the UE way, Admiral?” Alex added. “Use your greatest weapon against your enemy. Well, Space Admiral Li Chong, you can thank your good fortune that it is not the Haraken way.”

“We have several more immediate problems,” Woo said, attempting to divert the impending head-on collision of Admiral Chong and President Racine. “News will reach the enclave and Lucchesi of Portland’s failure, and it’s not going to sit well with them. As Admiral Chong indicated earlier, the high judges have their pick of a good number of naval commanders who will gladly pick up the UE’s judicial banner. In the meantime, word will have spread that Portland left his post at Saturn uncovered. By the time he returns, there will have been ample opportunity for freighters and privateers to land and offload supplies and arms to the rebels. There’s every possibility that our militias on the colonies and domes of Saturn’s moons are about to be overrun.”

Woo and Chong waited for a response from Alex, but he was lost in thought, communing with Julien. Eventually, Renée stepped toward the vid drone and thanked the tribune and admiral for their time and promised to be in touch.

Woo thought there was plenty of time before Admiral Portland’s report reached Lucchesi, which afforded her the luxury of carefully preparing the means to block his machinations when he did learn of the admiral’s defeat. But she miscalculated. When she confronted Lucchesi about his complicity in directing Portland at the Harakens, the tribune’s paranoia alarms were triggered and he took steps to protect himself.

A trusted security officer was turned and assisted Lucchesi in planting an application in Woo’s comms console, which relayed her every conversation to him. Minutes after Woo’s conference with Chong and Idona Station, Lucchesi knew of Portland’s abject failure against the Harakens.

After listening to Woo’s conference comm, Lucchesi wasted no time in vacating his residence at the Tribunal’s retreat, ordering a shuttle for the trip to the Appalachian Mountains where he would attend an emergency meeting of the enclave of high judges, which he had called.

The last words of the enclave’s spokesperson, echoed in Lucchesi’s head as he sat contemplating what he would tell the fifteen member enclave: “If it fails, and it’s our hope that it doesn’t, then you will resign your position, citing ill health, and we will nominate another in your place. Are we clear?” The problem was the failure of their plan had developed unforeseen consequences, and Lucchesi had placed not only his future in jeopardy but possibly the future of the enclave and the high judges.

By the next morning, Lucchesi stood before the ornate doors of the enclave, waiting to be summoned. The same young man, who before had handed him the note with Portland’s name, stood patiently waiting beside him. A twitch in the attendant’s eyes cued his reception of a message via his ear implant. “Please enter, Tribune Lucchesi,” he said as the massive doors swung open.

“What have you to report, Tribune?” the enclave’s spokesperson asked without ceremony.

“Admiral Portland was repulsed at Idona,” Lucchesi announced. He felt it was okay to use the admiral’s name since the man was already outed as a judiciary underling. “Portland’s forces were destroyed by the Harakens two days ago — two cruisers, sixteen destroyers, and an additional destroyer lost before the battle began.”

“The Harakens’ losses?” the spokesperson asked.

“One fighter, with the pilot recovered,” Lucchesi said.

Murmurs circulated among the enclave’s members, and the spokesperson briefly touched his ear implant. “The battle took place two days ago. How is it you are able to report it now?”

“I intercepted a communication between the Harakens, Tribune Woo, and Admiral Li Chong. It was facilitated by the Harakens’ real-time comms capability.”

“So your gambit failed, Tribune. Ready your retirement announcement.”

“We have more pressing business than my retirement,” Lucchesi replied and proceeded to detail the entire communication he intercepted. When he finished, he waited while the murmuring resurfaced and the spokesperson tilted his head to isolate his ear implant from the noise behind him.

“Leave us, Tribune. I suggest you enjoy lunch on us. We will call you when we’ve formulated our decision,” the spokesperson said.

Lucchesi exited the room, and the attendant gestured down the corridor. “This way, Tribune. A meal is being prepared for you.”

It was a longer wait than the length of a meal. Lucchesi was tempted to pace, but the thought of the effort kept him firmly seated in a most comfortable chair. Late in the afternoon, the attendant woke him and summoned him back to the enclave.

“Tribune Lucchesi, it’s our decision to leave in you place while the next events play out. You will take no active part in what is to come, and any critical votes by the Tribunal will require our opinion as to how you will vote. Are we clear?” the spokesperson said.

“May I ask what the enclave plans to do?”

“No, you may not, Tribune. Leave us now.”

Feeling evermore the chastened schoolboy, Lucchesi made his way out of the building for a private transport back to his waiting shuttle. Being taken out of the information loop scared him. He considered the possibility of continuing to report the conversations of Tribune Woo to the enclave, but the spokesperson was very clear. He was to take no active role.

Lucchesi came to the conclusion that it was time to activate one of his “retirement plans.” Credits were stashed in hundreds of accounts across the system, but the difficulty would be in hiding his person. As much as he detested the idea, it looked to Lucchesi like it was an excellent time to schedule a week with a bio-sculptor.

Tribune Woo felt her reader hum in her hand and glanced down to see the sender. It caused her to misstep before she spun around and hurried to her private quarters.

Locking her quarter’s door, she opened the message. It was short and written in open code. “Uncle Louie visited today. Don’t think he enjoyed his visit. Mum said you should expect a nice gift. Look for it.”

Woo did have a sister and a nephew, but they were estranged. The sender was masquerading as her nephew when in reality he was the attendant that Lucchesi met outside the enclave’s door. It had taken years for Woo to place the lieutenant deep into the judiciary, and he was ordered to communicate only when critical information warranted it.

Reading between the lines, it told Woo where Lucchesi ran to yesterday morning. If he was unhappy, it meant the enclave had disciplined him and taken control. Not a good thing from Woo’s point of view. The key phrases were the last two. “Mum’” meant the enclave, and “a nice gift” meant an overt military response. Finally, “look for it” meant soon.

Woo reread the message, committing it to memory, and deleted it. Within minutes, she was ensconced in the comms station, with the room to herself. “Hello, Julien,” she said into the headset after setting Idona Station as her comm request.

“Greetings, Tribune Woo. How may I be of service?”

“It’s vital that I speak with Admiral Chong.”

“One moment, Tribune.”

“Go ahead, Tribune,” Chong replied as he sat down in front of his monitor.

“Is this a private conference, Admiral?” Woo asked.

“On my end, I make any comms facilitated by the Harakens private, or at least as private as the Harakens allow it,” Chong replied, almost snarling the word “Haraken.”

“Apologies, Julien,” Woo said attempting congeniality. “This is Admiral Chong’s usual demeanor.” Woo didn’t expect a response from the SADE and wasn’t surprised when she didn’t receive one. “Admiral, I received a message from my nephew today.”

That caused the slouching admiral to sit upright. “And?” Chong asked.

“The enclave has cut Lucchesi out of the loop and is planning an imminent military action.”

“Any more details?”

“None.”

“What are the possible actions of the enclave?” Julien asked.

“As we told your president, Julien, we have suspected a significant number of warship captains and commanders owe their careers to the high judges,” Woo replied.

“Would the crew follow an errant captain or commander?” Julien asked.

“That’s supposing the crew knew that their commander wasn’t following naval orders,” Chong said.

“So the enclave could be considering anything from tactical strikes against their opponents, the two of you and Idona Station, to a massive strike against pro-naval forces,” Julien surmised. “This has come quickly to light. How?”

“We just received a message from someone placed inside the enclave —” Woo began to explain.

“Yes, Tribune, your supposed nephew. This I understand,” Julien said, interrupting. “But how did Tribune Lucchesi deliver his information so quickly to the enclave?”

Woo was about to explain the timeline when the heart of Julien’s question hit her. “That overblown piece of waddling fat,” she exploded.

It took a few more moments of expletives before Chong was able to ask a clarifying question of the tribune.

“On my private console, Admiral,” Woo finally said. “Lucchesi must have a soft-tap on my lines.”

“So Tribune Lucchesi and the enclave are now privy to the substances of our entire conference comm,” Julien stated.

“You have my profuse apologies, Julien,” Woo said.

“Apology accepted, Tribune. I understand that communications are a challenge in your society. Harakens prefer open communications, but we are considerably less worried about someone stabbing us in the back for what we say.”

“Julien, we will need your real-time communications systems to give us an edge once the enclave’s plan becomes clear. Can we count on it?” Chong asked.

“That will be the decision of our president. Did you have anything else to discuss?” When both humans said no, Julien closed the comm.

Julien located Alex with Renée and the UE scientists and decided his communication with Woo and Chong would be appropriate news for everyone present. When the group’s conversation lulled, Julien casually announced that it appeared the UE was about to break out in open revolution.

“Julien, you’re the driest wit I have ever met,” Yoram said, looking the SADE up and down.

“You have no idea,” Alex added. “So, my friend, would you care to elaborate or should we just start guessing?”

Julien smiled and then related everything he heard and surmised from the conversation with the tribune and the admiral.

Renée was the first to comment. “From what I’ve read of Earth’s history, revolutions, once they’re started, do not often achieve the goals of those who fomented them.”

“In this case, Ser,” Olawale said, “it might be more of a coup to divert the Tribunal from an undesirable path.”

“You have to remember, Ser, the UE started from a grassroots swell of those seeking justice against the widespread criminality plaguing their communities. The institution of the high judges was the first leg and therefore the most entrenched leg of the Tribunal,” Priita explained.

“At this point, the enclave members are probably well aware that they’ve taken their role too far, considering the economic conditions of the solar system, but they can hardly reverse course now. If they did, it might spell the end of their role in the UE,” Edward noted.

“The question we must consider is how far the enclave might go to protect its position,” Alex stated.

“My sons, before I lost them —,” Boris began, drifting for a moment in his memories, and then refocusing his thoughts. “Um … my sons had officers’ positions on the bridges with a variety of captains and often spoke about their superiors’ affiliations. Often a captain would make it clear he favored the judicial branch of the Tribunal and expected his junior officers to fall in line with his sentiments. Over the course of their years of communications with me, I would surmise that those sentiments were shared by as many as one of every four commanders.”

“Black space,” Alex swore. “I was hoping for a much smaller number.”

“What about senior command positions?” Julien asked.

“This has been going on for centuries,” Nema said, looking at Boris.

“Quite right,” Boris agreed. “Nema means that the enclave has had time to cultivate its initiates, insert them into officer training school, and support them attaining the highest positions … admirals, commodores, and captains of capital ships.”