The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (27 page)

“
Gentlemen,
”
Chris said without looking around. He heard Adams and Latawski begin to leave.

A crease appeared on Irpal
’
s face. Chris couldn
’
t interpret the expression.

“
I would request that your military adviser remain, to listen,
”
she said, her voice taking on a slightly disdainful note. Chris felt surprise start to show on his face and tried to suppress it. The day
’
s shocks just kept coming. The Aèllr damn near regarded Battle Fleet as a mafia like organisation. After the Contact War they
’
d pointedly convicted Admiral Lewis in absentia for war crimes.  

Irpal waited until Chris had seated himself.

“
I would like to start by saying that between Aèllr and human, there is no alliance, agreement or entente. We desire with you, none of these things. What I have come to speak of is your war with the Faceless Ones.
”

“
Who?
”

“
The race your people know as The Nameless.
”

“
I see. What is it you wish to tell us?
”

“
You wage war against them.
”
Irpal
’
s voice made clear that this was not a question.
“
Yet significant number of your armed vessels, they remain on our mutual frontier.
”

Chris swallowed carefully and briefly wished he
’
d thought to have water brought in.

“
We intend no hostility against the Confederacy. We have however always been in the practice of maintaining a border watch force. We have merely continued our existing posture,
”
he said carefully.

Irpal stared at him for a moment before replying,
“
yet were we to choose to move against you, those vessels would cost us little, delaying us not at all.
”

Behind him Chris sensed rather than heard the Commodore stiffen. Irpal
’
s over large eyes flickered towards him before returning to Chris. Was this the moment some had predicted, when the Confederacy chose to stick in the knife?

“
I am here to offer our assurance that this is unnecessary. Prime Speaker Unqin offers her assurance, her personal assurance, that there will be no move against you while the Faceless remain a threat to you.
”

Chris considered his options before replying.

“
Delegate Irpal,
”
he started,
“
as you have said, there is no alliance between us. The history between our races has not been
…
good. This is the first face-to-face contact between Aèllr and Human in twenty years. I must therefore ask why this approach, why now?
”

“
The conflict against the Faceless, it is not going well. It is our belief that your defeat in this war is all but inevitable.
”

“
We aren
’
t beaten,
”
Latawski snarled,
“
We be…
”

“
Commodore! Stay silent or leave!
”
Chris snapped back over his shoulder.

Irpal again glanced toward the Commodore before looking back to Chris, who continued:
“
Delegate, whatever your government believes, the war against the Nameless is not lost and we will wage it to the end of our strength.
”

“
That humanity will fight is something we
do
believe. But we also believe that despite your bold words, your race
’
s chances of survival are limited. By retaining war vessels on our border, you limit those chances still further.
”

“
Be that as it may Delegate, I still do not understand, why this should concern the Confederacy government?
”

“
The concerns of my government are primarily internal, as is natural. But it would be a mistake to remain oblivious to events that takes place beyond our borders. As much as we have been able, we have therefore studied the Faceless.
”

“
What have you learned?
”
Chris asked.

“
A number of facts, Ambassador, but among those, one is salient. Humans, Aèllr
…”
Irpal paused, and shook her head, an oddly human gesture,
“…
they make no distinction between us.
”

“
But
…
oh,
”
Chris hesitated as realisation dawned. This contact wasn
’
t about the Aèllr demonstrating their strength or their mercy. This was about fear, Aèllr fear.

“
You think the Nameless will turn on the Confederacy as soon as they have destroyed us.
”

“
We do not
‘
think
’
Ambassador. It is another event that is all but inevitable.
”
Irpal replied evenly.

“
You
’
re using us as a shield!
”
Latawski said. This time Irpal answered him directly.

“
Circumstance has made you our shield,
”
Irpal replied.
“
Were our roles reversed, can you truthfully say you would do any differently?
”
she said before reaching down beside her chair and picking up an envelope, which she passed across to Chris.
“
This is little enough but it is all that we know of the Faceless. If we obtain more, we will make it available to you. While there are those within my government who view the extermination of your race as an undesirable outcome, we will not actively involve ourselves. We will defend our own territory but this is as much active assistance as we are willing to offer. But for as long as the Faceless remain a threat, we offer guarantees we will make no hostile move against human territory.
”

“
In the name of self interest,
”
Chris observed.

“
Quite so, Ambassador. It is the purest of motives. Please inform your governments that we will not prove a distraction. Concentrate on winning your war. If you can.
”

Chapter Eight

Drawing of Battle Lines

17
th
January 2067

Burns. Probably the injury most feared by any serviceman. It wasn
’
t the pain or loss of functionality they dreaded. It was disfigurement. Yet military service carried so many risks of suffering such an injury. For that reason the burns wing in Douglas
’
s underground hospital was large, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and manned by medical personnel versed in the most up to date treatments. Although huge, the bulk of the unit had never seen a patient until the day they launched the anti-ship missiles. Even now, nearly two weeks after the event, every bed was occupied.

One hundred-and-eighty-three civilians and five marines had been killed outright by backwash from the missiles. Those closest to the silos had been burnt beyond any kind of recognition. There were another five hundred-and-seventeen cases of serious burns and more than three hundred more minor cases, as well as dozens with trampling injuries. Eulenburg found the smell on the unit, a mix of antiseptic and burnt flesh, absolutely sickening, but even so he spent time there every day.

Brigadier Chevalier wasn
’
t the worst injured person on the ward but he was still a horrific sight. The clear plastic sheeting coving his face protected his seared flesh but did little to hide the worst of his injuries. His arms were laid out on top of the sheets and his left hand was swathed in bandages, where the doctors had amputated the charred remains of the fingers. The steady bleep of the monitoring machine changed pace as the Brigadier started to wake up. Even now the Brigadier seemed intent on living a regimented life, waking as he did around 7pm each evening.

“
Alfred?
”
he whispered.

Eulenburg stirred from the chair he
’
d been drowsing in.

“
I
’
m here Sebastian.
”

Chevalier moved sluggishly as his drugged brain slowly spun up.

“
There was
…
a woman
…
child
…
were they
…
?
”

Chevalier had asked the same question every day since he first woke. Every day Eulenburg had to give the same terrible answer.

“
The woman, she
’
s here, in one of the other wards. The child was too badly burned. The surgeons couldn
’
t save him.
”

Beneath the plastic bandages Chevalier
’
s eyes screwed up. Probably the worst thing about the drugs was that he didn
’
t seem to have any memory of the days since the attack. Each day the news hit him just as hard as it had the first time her heard it.

He went still again and after a few minutes Eulenburg decided he had gone back to sleep, so started to gather up his work.

“
Alfred?
”
his voice was a little sharper than it had been.

“
Yes, I
’
m still here.
”

“
How long?
”

“
It
’
s been eleven days.
”

“
What have I missed?
”

“
They haven
’
t attacked again, but they haven
’
t withdrawn either. The Americans launched a strike with their space fighters. They burned down a couple of escorts and badly damaged a cruiser but lost half their fighters doing it. The Nameless have been keeping their distance but they are deploying scores of satellites.
”

“
They
’
re going to move against us again,
”
Chevalier said slowly.

“
Yes, the commanders at Endeavour and Anshan believe it will be a sustained bombardment.
”

There was a long pause before Chevalier replied.

“
You said they
’
re launching satellites.
”

“
Yes.
”

“
Then they intend to make a landing.
”

“
You believe so?
”

“
If they intended bomb…
”
Chevalier broke off coughing, then groaned as the movement jolted damaged flesh.
“
If they intended to bombard, they would have already done it by now. They
’
re going to make a landing.
”
By the end of the sentence the Brigadier
’
s voice had reduced to a near croak.
“
You have to be ready.
”

“
We will Sebastian. You rest now.
”

He needn
’
t have spoken. The Brigadier had already drifted off again.

At the double-doors into the ward, his two marine bodyguards were waiting patiently. Eulenburg hated to think of them as such, but that was exactly what they were. After ordering the launch of missiles that had killed or maimed hundreds, he could no longer walk safely around his own base. But that wasn
’
t his biggest concern. Bombardment or landing, Eulenburg had no particular conviction on which of those two courses the Nameless would take. The question that occupied his every waking moment was whether he could turn the Nameless aside when inevitably they came again.

“
Admiral Eulenburg.
”
Helen Reynolds, the British Governor was waiting in his outer office. The past few weeks had seen the Governor become a regular visitor. Prior to the attack on Baden, Eulenburg would have said that Douglas was well prepared to accept and care for the civilian population, should it ever become necessary. He would have been wrong. The fleet didn
’
t have the mechanisms in place to manage the sheer mass of humanity inhabiting the subterranean world of Douglas. There were plenty of toilets, washrooms, sewage plants and the rest of the physical infrastructure. But the necessary bureaucracy just wasn
’
t there. Instead Eulenburg had been reluctantly forced, to use the civilian structure. He would have liked to have used them on an unofficial basis. That way he could have dipped into the administration as he required it, ignoring or sidelining any troublemakers. But Governor Reynolds was too canny for that. Much of his unhappiness stemmed from having to acknowledge the bureaucracy
’
s own chain of command, which meant requests had to go through the civilian governors. Reynolds had become their de facto spokeswoman, a position made uncomfortable by her very clear disapproval of his conduct so far.