Conquest of Earth (Stellar Conquest Series) (7 page)

Moments later, all the boards lit up and froze, with one icon blinking. Leslie looked to Repeth for permission, and then reached out a manicured finger to tap it. A male voice then spoke.

“How’s everyone there? The captain would like a SITREP, ASAP. We’ll be there in fifty-seven minutes, over.” Commander Rick Johnstone’s tones betrayed his strain. Repeth realized that of course her husband would be worried, especially as the most Absen would know at this point was a brief summary of the mission results, with its horrendous casualty report.

“Patch this data through,” Repeth said to Leslie, and dumped her suit’s mission record raw and unencrypted into the ether. Not only would it provide what Absen needed, but would reassure Rick.

“Retransmitted…they should have it shortly,” Leslie reported. “What now?”

“Now we wait,” Bull said.

“I have one question,” Repeth said. “Where do the Meme flush tubes go?”

Leslie replied, “To the backup control center at the Weapon. The laser.”

Repeth glanced at Bull and half-shrugged. “Damn. They’re vapor now.” Then she looked more closely at her commander. “Boss, you okay? Bull?” She was glad of her armor as she grabbed him before he toppled heavily to the floor.

Eventually
Conquest
arrived to hover on its jets high above the captured Io base and the smoking hole where the Weapon had been. Reports had flooded in as the gargantuan boat had neared the swift-moving moon of Jupiter. As the comm lag diminished, pinnaces descended full of Michelle’s telefactors, which quickly began to clear the rubble.

“How long until the base will be usable?” Absen asked the AI.

“Less than a day to reconnect systems to the armored command sections. A few more to make it permanently livable, as long as I stay near enough to coordinate all my bots. May I remind you that we still have the armed orbital bases to deal with?”

“That’s my first concern. Is Bannum down there yet?”

“She was on the first pinnace, and should be at the command section soon. In fact…” The comm crackled, and then a picture of the Sekoi female popped onto the main screen. Absen could see several figures in yellow behind her, and the elbow of a battlesuit at the edge of the display.

“Bannum, have you verified Leslie Denham’s identity?” Absen asked.

“I have, Captain. I am certain she is who she claims.”

“Thank you. Johnstone, I assume you and Michelle have control of the base computer systems?”

“Piece of cake, sir,” Rick replied. “Doesn’t look like there has been much advancement in cybernetics since the Meme took over.”

“Meme like stability and order, not progress,” Bannum replied. “Here.” She gestured for a yellow-clad human woman, who stepped forward. “Your Blend.”

“Leslie Denham, I presume?” Absen asked.

“In the flesh, Captain Absen. You can’t imagine how good it is to see you.”

Absen could see the woman’s eyes fill with tears and emotion. She reminded him of her mother. “You’re right, I can’t imagine, and it’s good to be back, but we have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said. “First on the list is getting those orbitals to defect. Do you think you can do that?”

“I think we can do it together. Can your people synthesize and transmit a view that makes us appear to sit side by side?”

Johnstone nodded as Absen glanced at him.

“Then run the signal through this base and its encryption protocols, please. I will broadcast it throughout the solar system.”

Absen waited while the transmission was readied, discussing with Leslie what they would say. When Johnstone gave him the high sign, the admiral spoke.

“Greetings, Jupiter facilities. On behalf of EarthFleet, the true human authority here, I’m asking you to give up your mistaken allegiance to an alien empire and serve humanity again. As you have seen, I have the military power to destroy you, but I’d much rather you take your rightful places alongside us, to restore your freedom and your honor.” Absen turned to his right, where he’d been assured the synthesized picture of Leslie Denham would appear, as if they sat together.

Then the yellow-clad woman spoke. “I’m Leslie Denham, a Command Level One Blend you knew until recently as Llewella. Unlike the rest of your overlords, I was not enslaved by the Pure Race. My mother freely decided to blend with Raphael, the one Meme who chose to defect and aid humanity four thousand years ago. Raphaela then married my father, Alan Christopher Denham, a warrior of great renown before the Empire conquered Earth. My siblings and I have worked for decades among you to keep the stories of the earlier days alive. Now, EarthFleet has returned, and with it, liberation. Now is the time to rise up and join your brothers and sisters against the Empire. Strike against the oppressors in any way you can. You have nothing to lose but your chains.”

“…and we’re off,” Johnstone said. “Nice speech, sir.”

“I think Leslie’s will be the more effective.”

“Sir,” Scoggins interrupted, “We have activity.” In the holotank, icons throughout the Jupiter system blazed with energy. “The orbitals are firing at each other!”

“Can we tell who is who?” Absen asked, standing up to gaze intently at the display.

“We’re trying to sort that out,” Michelle said. “One declared for EarthFleet almost immediately and seems to be trying to convince the others, but as for the rest…”

“Sir, one orbital has destroyed a shipyard.”

“Put me on broadcast,” Absen snapped. “Orbital platforms, this is Captain Absen. Declare your loyalty to EarthFleet immediately and cease all offensive cease fire or I will be forced to destroy you. Okuda, get ready to move. Ford, begin hitting noncompliant targets with a minimum particle beam strike starting with the one that fired on the shipyard. Knock them out, but don’t burn them to slag. I want prisoners.”

“Aye aye, sir,” the weapons officer muttered. “Firing.”

At half charge, a single energy cannon from
Conquest
reached across a million miles and slammed masses of charged particles into the offending orbital fortress. Wreathed in electrical discharges, it fell silent. “One down…”

Thrice more, great beams flashed across light-seconds, easy shots against nonmaneuvering targets, incapacitating the orbitals that refused to submit. Absen watched as ten icons turned green in the holotank, holding their fire. Soon, more green blossomed as most of the other installations – the three remaining shipyards, the dozens of mining stations, and the manned PVNs on Ceres – defected and declared themselves loyal to EarthFleet.

“What do you want to do about the mining stations and PVNs that haven’t acknowledged?” Ford asked, clearly eager to get in some more gunnery.

“If they have weapons that can threaten anyone else, and you can pinpoint those weapons, take out the threats. If not, let them sit there for the moment. They may change their minds. Hell, some of them may have internal factions fighting for control. Johnstone, tell Bull to leave a squad at Io base and get all the rest of the survivors back to
Conquest
. I may have more work for him to do.”

Even now, Cheng’s hands shook with reaction. He’d never killed anyone before, and it made him want to vomit. In fact, he availed himself of a trashcan from beneath the desk, turning away from the sergeant’s staring eyes and the blood pooled on the deck. Once he’d emptied his stomach, Cheng keyed for a robot to come clean up.

“I’ve eliminated two more loyalists,” Captain O’Rourke said as he stepped back into the command center, pistol smoking in his hand.

Cheng had no idea how the man could seem calm after killing twice. It made him wonder about his commander, and how long he might have been part of the resistance movement that everyone had heard rumors of.

O’Rourke gazed alertly around the room, not lowering his weapon. “Chief Shamblin, continue broadcasting our declaration of allegiance to EarthFleet, but maintain all systems at the ready.”

“Aye, sir.” The chief looked pale at the enormity of what they had done, but seemed determined. “What about Earth, though? Will they punish our families?”

“I don’t know.”

Cheng found himself suddenly happy the rebels –
EarthFleet
, he reminded himself – had destroyed the terror weapon on the moon that had been pointed at Earth for his whole life, an explicit threat to any who would oppose the Empire. Even though there was another moon-based laser, it pointed outward, away from Earth, and lovely Brenda’s legs. “What do we do now, sir?”

“I don’t know that either,” O’Rourke replied. “Wait for orders from our new commander.”

“Yes. Of course.” The reminder of authority comforted Cheng. Freedom sounded attractive as a concept, but what did one do with it? Then he remembered Brenda and thought of one thing he’d do. “Sir, do you think we might try to send personal messages to Earth?”

“Somehow, Lieutenant, I doubt that would be healthy for anyone receiving the transmission.”

“Yes, sir.” Captain O’Rourke was certainly the smartest man he knew. Cheng resolved to observe closely and learn.

“My ethics will stretch that far, yes,” Ezekiel replied drily. “He’ll never know the difference, and it’ll keep us all from going bonkers.”

“No sign of your mother?”

“If there was, we’d know.”

Spooky sipped from his glass, leaving the obvious unspoken:
maybe she’s dead
. More than eighty years had passed since they’d left Earth’s solar system. Anything could have happened. “At least the broadcast from your sister is good news.”

“Yes…” Ezekiel mused. “But we’re light-hours away from Jupiter, and from Earth for that matter.” He stood and swung his arms. “We have to head back, I think. All the action is going to be on Earth. We need to be there to help foment rebellion. For all we know, she’s there now.”

“Fine by me,” Spooky replied. “You think we can sneak by the Meme?”

“We have the latest codes from the Sentries, and we’ll keep on our toes, so yes, I think so. If not…we’ll run back to
Conquest
like a scalded dog.”

“I’ll feel better when I’m down on a planet,” Spooky mused. “I’m at my best among people.”

Ezekiel snorted.

“What?” Spooky swirled his Scotch.

“Yes, you’re such a people person.”

Spooky did not reply. Instead, he asked, “Can you make this thing go any faster?”

“I can make it seem that way, if you want. I’ll just have
Roger
speed up your sense of time passing until something happens. Take a seat.”

Sitting down, Spooky set his glass on an end table, closed his eyes and folded his hands. “Ready.” A moment seemed to pass, and then Ezekiel was calling his name. “Yes?” he said, opening his eyes.

“We’re entering translunar space. You want to see what’s going to kill us?”

Standing up, Spooky saw that Trissk was awake again, and he and Bogrin stood at the wide plate glass forward port. Through its preternaturally clear non-substance he could see Earthrise over Luna. Near the moon loomed eight Destroyers, scaled up by Roger’s organic VR to be visible. Behind he could see Earth’s four orbital fortresses, superdreadnought-sized weapons platforms composing a relatively cheap last line of defense.

Spooky cleared his throat. “I’m no space tactician, but this seems like a poor route to take, straight past all the enemy eyes.”

Ezekiel smiled, reaching out to manipulate large, shiny metal controls. In response to his adjustment, the view swung radically, as if they themselves had been thrown magically sideways and upward. “I just wanted you to see that view. In reality, we’re coming in as far from the Destroyers as possible. I’m counting on their underlings on the orbital fortresses not looking too closely at a Meme-grown ship like
Roger
.”

“So this is a true view?” Bogrin rumbled from Ezekiel’s other elbow. He gestured at the single orbital fortress visible well off to one side.

“Yes. Earth is between us and Luna, and since the Destroyers are all parked there next to the Weapon for mutual defense, they can’t see us directly. We have Meme recognition codes…why do you ask?”

“Because the orbital fortress’ main weapons array seems to be lining up on us. You may want to ask
Roger
to begin evasive maneuvers.”

“Shit.” Before Ezekiel completed the expletive, the view swung wildly, though the four bipeds inside
Roger
did not feel it through the VR. “Roger, get us down and into the water as fast as you can!” Abruptly their perspective stabilized, rock-steady except for its motion past the orbital fortress. “I’ve reset the program so it appears as if we’re pointed toward the enemy, but in reality,
Roger
is blasting for splashdown.”

Ponderously, the spherical orbital continued to turn itself and its large cluster of lasers in their direction. When it seemed to line up, it fired. Beams lanced out, visible only because of the simulation, crisscrossing around them but not striking. The artificial steadiness of the virtual reality made the danger surreal. In reality, just one of those beams would instantly fry little
Roger
and everyone within. They would never feel a hit before they died.