The Phoenix Darkness (49 page)

“Your Majesty is wise,” said Sir Reginald.
“But I fear her noble aims may well prove impossible, as Captain
Adiger has already stated.”

“We need a decision, Your Majesty,” said Sir
Daniel. “I would know how I ought to deploy my forces. The options
lie before you. Shall we marshal all our forces and send them to
Ophiuchus to deter or defeat the enemy, whichever they would have,
or shall we divide and split our forces between attack and
defense?”

He looked at her expectantly. They all did,
all her knights, even the quiet ones. They each had forces which
belonged to them that they’d sworn to her service, and now each of
them needed further instructions on how and where to deploy their
ships.

“We shall go to Ophiuchus System,” said
Kalila. “All of us together. If that intimidates the enemy into
withdrawing from battle, all the better. We shall have protected
our most important system and done so without any loss of life. And
should the enemy choose to cross blades with us there, we shall
give them better than they give back to us. Two to one, you say? I
believe we can make it three to one once we show them the ferocity
of our people!”

The knights let out a cheer. She was about to
dismiss her council of military advisors when a yeoman sprinted
into the room, looking winded and panicked. “I have an urgent
message for you, Your Highness.”

“Speak,” commanded Kalila. There were
standing orders not to interrupt her when she met with her
Joint-Knights-Commander, which was likely why no message had been
broadcast over the intercom, but in times of emergency there were
exceptions.

“Word has arrived from our forward listening
posts,” said the yeoman, looking terrified.

“Which listening posts?” asked Kalila,
feeling a sinking sensation inside her and knowing the answer
before it came.

“The DMZ, Your Majesty,” said the yeoman.

“And what do they detect?” she asked, hoping
against reason that it was a small force, perhaps a mere patrol
that had gone astray, or a scouting party which wished to observe
the Empire’s defenses along The Corridor.

“A fleet, Your Highness. At least three
hundred warships. And probably more.”

Damn!
So Calvin’s warning had finally
proven true. The Rotham fleet was on its way, no doubt led by the
ambitions of the Rahajiim. And three hundred warships, and probably
more…there was no system in The Corridor which could hope to repel
such an attack…

“And have we ascertained their likely
target?” asked Kalila. She needed to know where the Rotham were
going to strike if she was to be able to mount a proper defense.
That meant being there before the enemy arrived.

“No, Your Highness. It is impossible to tell.
There are dozens of systems inside The Corridor that will be within
striking range of the Rotham fleet. Any one of them could be the
target.”

Damn. Damn. Damn
. “Thank you, yeoman,
you may go,” said Kalila. She ran her hands anxiously through her
hair and looked back at the strategic maps on display before
her.

“I take it this means Your Highness has
changed her mind about her deployment orders,” said Sir
Reginald.

Kalila did not answer right away. To commit
her forces to defend The Corridor, that was her duty as the
monarch; she must protect her people. Even though she didn’t know
precisely where the enemy would strike, which meant she could
expect no advantage in the upcoming battle. If anything, she could
anticipate arriving too late. Yet she could not abandon her people.
But if she sent her fleets to defend The Corridor, what did that
mean for her core worlds against the usurper…?

“We have to defend against this Rotham
invasion,” said Kalila, believing there was no other choice.

“But, Your Highness, what of Ophiuchus? What
of the usurper’s imminent attack?” asked Sir Daniel.

“We cannot abandon Ophiuchus altogether,”
said Kalila, in agreement. “But neither can we abandon The Corridor
to alien invasion.”

“If I might make a suggestion,” said Captain
Adiger. “We could do as originally planned and defend Ophiuchus,
preventing the near enemy from capturing our most prized system.
Meanwhile, should any invasion by the Rotham occur inside The
Corridor, the people would blame Caerwyn for that, at least as much
as they would blame you. Our strategic position would not be
weakened.”

“But our people would be slaughtered!” said
Kalila fiercely. “I cannot abandon my people to the Rotham. I
will
not.”

“Then you would have us deploy our fleets
inside The Corridor,” said Sir Reginald. “Ready to defend against
the invasion.”

“Yes,” said Kalila. “I would.”

“But that would mean losing Ophiuchus System
to the usurper,” said Sir Daniel.

“If that is the price, then we shall be
forced to pay it,” said Kalila.

“If we lose Ophiuchus, we’ll lose the war!”
insisted Sir Daniel.

“If we lose The Corridor, we’ll lose the
Empire!” Kalila fired back, giving him a look of such intensity
that he immediately cowed before her.

“So then, it is decided,” said Sir Andris.
“We shall marshal all our forces and make for The Corridor, right
away.”

“Not quite,” said Kalila, staring back down
at the strategic maps below. “We still cannot abandon Ophiuchus to
the enemy without sending them some kind of help. One of you must
take your fleet and help to bolster their defenses.”

“But, Your Majesty,” said Captain Adiger.
“Anyone who would do so, they will surely fall in battle against
the usurper.”

“That may be so,” said Kalila. “Yet we cannot
set a precedent of abandoning our worlds that are threatened. Even
if we lose the system with the fleet defending it, we must show the
rest of our loyal worlds we will endeavor to defend them.”

“Even at the expense of defeat?” asked Sir
Reginald.

“Even at the expense of defeat,” said
Kalila.

“Your Highness, with all the respect in the
galaxy,” said Sir Andris, “I must advise against this plan. We
should not divide our forces, nor should we fight two enemies along
two different fronts. It is better strategically to either commit
all our fleets to defend Ophiuchus System or to commit us all to
defending The Corridor. To try to do both, forgive me, is
madness.”

“It may be madness,” said Kalila. “But we
have no choice. We must divide our forces accordingly. The majority
of our strength will go to The Corridor to repulse the Rotham
invasion. One of you will lead a fleet to Ophiuchus System to show
the galaxy we protect our own, and to make Caerwyn Martel think
twice before attacking.”

Her knights looked at her. She could tell
many did not agree with her strategy, but they stood there
obediently, notwithstanding. “Our best hope,” said Kalila, “is to
arrange for a ceasefire with the usurper in the interest of
protecting our Empire.” She turned to Captain Adiger. “Go to the
Bridge and see that news of the Rotham invasion is spread far and
wide. Call for a ceasefire with Caerwyn Martel, ask him to join us
in The Corridor, under a banner of truce, that we may repel our
common enemy together.”

“At once, Your Majesty,” he said, then he was
off.

“With any luck,” said Kalila, “there will not
be a battle at Ophiuchus System. However, if there is, it falls
upon one of you to lead the defense there. Are there any
volunteers?” She looked at her knights, knowing she was asking one
of them; essentially, to step forward and agree to suicide.
Therefore, she was not surprised when none of her knights
volunteered. They were each noble, loyal, and trustworthy, but they
also had a sense of self-preservation and none wanted to volunteer
to die for the cause. Even if, by the end of it, death was the
price required of them. Clearly none of them welcomed it, which
meant it fell upon her to choose.

“Sir Reginald,” she said, choosing him
because she believed his reputation, and considerable forces, would
have the best chance of intimidating the enemy. And Kalila still
pinned her hopes on the possibility that no battle for Ophiuchus
System need occur.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” asked the seasoned
knight.

She hesitated for half a second, needing to
find the strength within herself to ask of him what she needed to
ask of him. It was difficult, and she felt her heart twist inside
her, but she showed no outward sign of weakness, knowing it fell
upon her, as queen, to make such decisions. And she could not allow
emotion to prevent her from exercising the judgment of command.

“I would ask of you that you lead the defense
of Ophiuchus System,” she said. “Do you accept this charge from
your queen?”

“I accept this noble honor,” said Sir
Reginald, with no real alternative. He bowed his head,
respectfully. “As always, I am pleased to serve in whatever
capacity Your Highness would have of me.”

“Thank you,” said Kalila. She saw looks of
relief appear on her other knights’ faces. “The rest of you,” she
said, “gather your forces together. Send word to all of our allies
and to any who would stand in defense of the Empire; we shall group
here, in this system, then together we shall move to The Corridor
and there defend our brothers and sisters from alien invasion!”

***

“My Lord,” said the Minister of Strategy, as
he scampered into the throne room.

“You would kneel as you address your king,”
said Caerwyn from his perch upon the royal throne. Although the
chair was uncomfortable, it felt good to be sitting here at long
last, King of the Empire.

“Yes, Your Highness, my profound apologies,”
the minister said, bending his knee.

“Now then,” said Caerwyn, “just what is it
you’re prattling on about?”

“It’s the DMZ, Your Highness!”

“What about it?” asked Caerwyn.

“We’ve just received word, Your Majesty,”
said the Minister of Strategy, looking red in the face. “The
listening posts have detected sizable activity, My Lord.”

“Meaning what?” Caerwyn did not have time for
guessing games, he preferred his subordinates simply get right to
the point immediately.

“There is a Rotham fleet, Your Highness,” he
said. “Heading for the Empire. Three-hundred ships strong and maybe
more. They mean to invade The Corridor.”

Excellent
, thought Caerwyn. He knew
such a threat would require a response; the people expected nothing
less. But, more importantly, he knew his enemy, Queen Kalila, was
the type who could not allow such a threat to go unanswered. Which
meant she would divert her own forces to defend The Corridor,
leaving Ophiuchus System ripe for the plucking.

“The rebel queen,” the Minister of Strategy
continued. “She is sending warnings all across the Empire. She is
calling for a ceasefire and for our ships to meet hers, as allies,
to combine forces against our common enemy.”

Caerwyn put his fingers together, forming a
triangle, and spent the better part of a minute in silent
thought.

On the one hand, the people would see no
response by Caerwyn as a sign of weakness. If Kalila boldly
defended the Empire against the Rotham, and Caerwyn did nothing,
she would be lauded as a hero and him a craven coward.

Then again, if Kalila spent herself and her
forces in terrible battle against the Rotham, it meant two of his
enemies would spend their efforts in the business of exterminating
each other. Caerwyn could take Ophiuchus as he’d already planned
with little or no resistance, allowing him to keep the better part
of his forces intact, alive, and battle ready. Kalila, on the other
hand, would either be annihilated by the Rotham, leaving Caerwyn as
the sole monarch of the Empire and ending the civil war, or else
she will have spent so much of her strength defying the Rotham she
could no longer afford to oppose Caerwyn. He would have her
outmatched, outgunned and, with Ophiuchus in his possession, she
would not have the resources anymore to repair or rebuild her
fleets. She might be lauded as a hero, but when next they met in
battle, Caerwyn would have hundreds of ships fighting under his
banner and Kalila would have dozens; nothing by comparison. Then,
when he decisively defeated her, none could oppose him. They might
call him Caerwyn the Coward or Caerwyn the Craven, but he would be
king, and Kalila, she would be dead. Dead or else forced to bend
her knees before him.

“My Lord,” said the Minister of Strategy,
when Caerwyn gave no response. “What would you have us do? Shall I
give the order to send the fleets to The Corridor?”

“No, you shall not,” said Caerwyn, having
made up his mind.

“My Lord?” the Minister of Strategy looked
confused. “The people will expect us to respond to her calls for a
truce.”

“Let the people know we do not negotiate with
traitors to the crown,” he said. Then asked, “Did Kalila even
identify where the Rotham plan to attack?”

“No, My Lord,” said the Minister of Strategy,
still on his knees. “Our listening posts cannot ascertain that, so
it is impossible for her or us to tell. Only that the Rotham will
invade The Corridor.”

Caerwyn smiled. That meant Kalila would find
it difficult to timely arrive at whichever system was attacked, and
made it all but impossible for her to mount an effective defense.
“The Corridor is a massive swath of space,” said Caerwyn. “Of
course our fleets cannot be expected to defend it if we do not even
know which part of it is threatened.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” said the Minister
of Strategy. “Shall I continue to deploy our forces according to
the original design, then?”

“Yes,” said Caerwyn. “There is no need to
change our plans. If anything, this only gives us greater reason to
strike Ophiuchus System. Let us pluck it from our enemy while she
is least able to defend it.”

“Of course, My Lord.”