Sword of Axia (The Arcadian Jihad) (20 page)

“The bastard,” Berg snarled. “He made us look the other way with this surrender nonsense to give him the chance to get his troops and armor off the planet. If they’re headed for Corazon, you know what it means?”

They all knew. A massive Axian attack on the food planet. When the Caxas garrison had been severely beaten, they’d seen that the moon was as good as lost. But the moon of Caxas was only a jumping off point. The real target, the real prize, the key to the hearts and minds, let alone the stomachs, of the people of the Nine Systems, was Corazon, the vast hydroponic resources that were the main source of food for most of humanity.

“Get that bastard General under lock and key,” Smetana growled. “I want him held in the darkest dungeon we can find, the worthless piece of scum. Alert our forces to return to the ships, I want a token garrison left on Caxas, the rest of us are moving out.”

“But, how do you know they’re definitely attacking?” the trooper at the console said. “There’s nothing to indicate that Corazon is under attack yet.”

“Believe me, son, they’re on the way. Pack everything up, we’re moving out, you can send a signal to our ships, tell them to land outside the town, it’s all secured now. We’ll lift of directly from here.”

They watched their transport fleet as it slowly descended onto the flat ground outside Cax. Their troops were coming in from the outlying areas, traveling at high speed to reach the rendezvous and prepare for the next battle. Corazon. The ramps dropped down and the vehicles drove forward, Blas climbed out and went to the control cabin. He removed his suit with relief and enjoyed the sensation of fresh air circulating around him. The pilot was issuing a stream of orders to his crew, urging them to make it quick. When he paused, Blas walked over to him.

“What’s the news from Corazon, has the Axian attack started? Have you heard anything?”

“The news is good and bad, Captain. The good news is that there’s no sign of an invasion, not yet, anyway.”

“And the bad news?”

“The Axian Fleet, they’ve disappeared, they jumped into hyperspace, we’ve no idea of their destination.”

“If you were a guessing man, what would you say?”

The pilot didn’t hesitate. “Corazon, they’ll pop out of hyperspace and start deploying on the planet.”

“We need to hurry and get our people to Corazon. Send a signal to Admiral Rusal and advise him that the main attack is about to fall on Corazon.”

The man spoke into his microphone.

System Standard 2728.1311 Battlecruiser Sword of Axia above Planet Corazon

“What are you doing, Mr. Secretary, you’ve no business bringing me here. I insist on being returned to Axis Nova. My father will want me to be with him.”

The Secretary smiled coldly. “I have no doubt your father will want you near, but not for the same reasons you think.”

“What are you talking about, Kerawan?” Her eyes flashed with anger, she was on the point of entering his mind. She recoiled at the thought of what was inside that repulsive man’s thoughts.

“You think we don’t know about the extent of your treachery? I think it best that you stay on this ship until we have investigated further. I will order you and Nightingale confined to your cabin until we return to Axis Nova.”

“How dare you, I am the First Lady of the Nine Systems. I demand to speak with my father.”

It was time to use her powers, time to enter the mind of this evil man and twist him to her way of thinking. But was it really worth it, she thought of her warm, comfortable bed in her cabin, Nightingale would be waiting to help her undress and bring her a refreshing drink before she went to sleep. She needed sleep, so desperately. Odd that she would feel so tired, it was unusual. She realized that Kerawan was grinning at her. It wasn’t a pleasant expression, her blood chilled.

“You feel tired, I imagine, perhaps you would like to get some sleep?”

“Yes, yes, that would be nice.”

“It’s amazing the way a little extra in your food alters the way you think, isn’t it?” Kerawan smiled.

He’d drugged her, she realized suddenly that he had deliberately set out to prevent her from using her powers. Damn him, just let him wait until she recovered.

“You’re thinking that when it wears off you’ll be able to influence my mind, aren’t you? What a pity that the drug is circulating in your cabin’s air supply, I’ve had it closed off from the ship’s systems, you have your own, unique atmosphere. I hope you are comfortable and happy while we work out what to do with you.”

She didn’t hear the last words he spoke, she was fast asleep. Kerawan called for an officer to arrange for her to be taken to her cabin.

“Ensign Yalonda, take her to her quarters, take a portable air supply, otherwise you’ll be drugged as well.”

“Yes, Mr. Secretary.”

“Admiral, we’re coming out of hyperspace now,” a comms officer called. “We’re directly above the planet Corazon.”

“Good, begin disembarking our ground force immediately, then deploy our warships ready for battle with the Rescom ships. They’ll come at us as soon as they know we’re here.”

Alex Yalonda had been posted on the bridge ever since the debacle on Caxas. She’d heard Admiral Kahn and Shemal Kerawan discussing the best options and there’d been a procession of staff officers backwards and forwards, running tactical analyses and working through different scenarios. One suggestion they’d seriously considered was to mount an attack on the entire hydroponic chain, wiping out the means of survival for billions of people. Kerawan had even considered it.

“Yes, if we can’t have it we can at least deny it to the enemy. It’s a good suggestion, but we do need that food, it’s our best bargaining chip, the means of holding a pistol to our people’s head. ‘Follow us and you will eat, you won’t like the alternative’, yes, it’s powerful motivation.”

His view had prevailed and they’d decided to blindside the Rescom force on Caxas to pull out their troops to reinforce the surprised attack on Corazon. Yalonda had been alone on the giant Battlecruiser, one female soul amidst the legions that crewed the Axian flagship. It had seemed like a miracle when Kerawan had ordered Evelyn Gluck and her handmaiden brought up to the flagship, but he’d surprised them all by drugging the women. Yalonda called for two crewmen to carry the unconscious woman to her cabin. They all donned respirators and made certain that the air supply was connected, then they carried her through the ship to the spacious suite where Evelyn and Nightingale had their quarters, more accurately, their drugged prison. She put the code into the door lock and the door hissed open, they carried the unconscious woman inside and into the room. Nightingale was lying slumped on the bed, unconscious.

“Put her next to the other woman and leave us, I’ll make sure they’re secure,” she snapped to the men.

“Yes, Sir.”

They left her alone. She made the two women as comfortable as possible, then went outside the cabin and pondered the dilemma. To cripple the Axis attack from inside she needed more help, powerful help, she needed the two Orphexians. To bring them round she needed to stop the flow of the drug that swamped the air in their cabin. Now how could she do that? Who was the person most likely to know how it had been done? She thought of the engineering officer, the dark, attractive Ensign Han Vartem. He’d always made eyes at her. The problem was, did he think she really was a man and he was attracted to her masculine qualities? Or did some sub-conscious instinct make him aware that she was female beneath the male exterior? Then again, what did it matter, this was no conquest of an unwitting male, it was part of a deadly game of tactics and strategy that had been going on for a long time. A very long time, it was unlikely that anyone outside of Orphex quite understood the tremendous depth of their planning. She walked away to find Han Vartem, she was whistling like the young man she pretended to be. She knew the odds that Rescom faced in the coming battle, she had to have the help of the two Orphexian women to overcome the crew of the Battlecruiser. Without help, the Rescom Fleet would be blasted out of space, the odds were simply too overwhelming.

System Standard 2728.1311 Surface of Planet Corazon

Smetana’s force landed and deployed on Corazon. They watched the scanner repeater screens, waiting for sight of the enemy. There was little doubt of the enormity of what was about to face them. Intelligence had suggested that over a thousand of the Trifax Mk Vs were due to unload from the massed freighters and escorts that were even now landing on Corazon, an armored horde to face their force of less than four hundred N34s. There hadn’t been time to bring in any more and the Axians had used every trick, every subterfuge to bring massive force to bear on the planetary surface. There was more armor in the holds of Admiral Rusal’s ships circling the planet, thousands of miles away in space. But Rusal’s Fleet was so heavily outnumbered that he dare not allow the ships to leave and land on Corazon, if they were ambushed and didn’t return he would be stretched beyond any reasonable limits. What they had is what they would fight with. Smetana surveyed his captains, assembled ready to listen to his orders. They looked eager enough, if it was possible to fight off this enormous Axian force, these were the men to do it.

“They enemy is moving into formation,” Max Biermann said, coming to stand beside him. “We don’t have much time, Berg. The Captains need to get to their units and make them ready to deploy.”

“Very well, Max,” he looked at Blas on the other side of him. “Any word from the Fleet, Constantine?”

“Nothing new, Berg. They’ve got their own problems up there.”

He nodded. Then he spoke to his assembled officers. “This will be the most important battle of this war, of our fightback against the evil of the Axian regime that has devastated the peace and prosperity of the Nine Systems. Whatever obstacles we face, remember, this is a battle we have to win. We have to beat them on Corazon or we’ll lose forever. There is no win or lose, we either win this one or we die. Even to survive under the Axians means a living death, so let’s go out there and give our people what they need. Victory!”

They cheered him, applauding his speech, whistling and shouting their approval. A trooper came up to him, he listened for a moment and then held up his hands for quiet.

“I’ve just heard from the flagship, our Fleet has arrived above Corazon. A shuttle is bringing Guide Tell and Sister Serena down to the surface of the planet. You know what this means? The Rescom Federation is here, Rescom is Corazon. You can forget Isolde, Dafne or even Axis Nova. This is where we draw the line, we fight or die together on the surface of Corazon. Men, go to your units and give these bastards hell!”

Smetana caught the eye of Max and Constantine.

“What did they think they were doing coming down here? There’s no guarantee of a victory. If we lose they could be taken prisoner here on Corazon, which would be the end of our fightback.”

“It’s as you say, Berg,” Blas said grimly. “We win or lose here, on the surface of this planet. Everything else is just window dressing.”

“I hope they know what they’re doing,” he grumbled. But inside he doubted it. So did the rest of them.

System Standard 2728.1311 Battlecruiser Rex Vitas above Planet Corazon.

Their sensors had picked up the cargo ships with their escorts landing armor and troops onto the surface, but Rusal was unable to divide his Fleet to attack them. The main battle Fleet was the real threat. He needed every ship he had to withstand the might of the Axian Armada. The Axian horde that was fast approaching to intercept. He cursed the President and Vice-President for taking such an enormous gamble as landing on Corazon to join the fight there, but he saw their purpose. They were erecting the flag of Rescom on that planet. It would underline the importance of what those men were fighting for, the very survival of Rescom itself. If the two leaders were killed or captured, that could, no, it would be the end. Capture would be worse, they would become bargaining chips for the Axians. Better if they were killed, should he signal Berg Smetana to that effect? No, of course not, Berg was more than able to arrive at that simple conclusion, as was Constantine.

“Admiral, they’re closing fast, estimate one minute and twenty seconds.”

“Very well, Captain Gehlen, stay on course, we’ll cut through the middle of their fleet and try and separate their forces, then hit them from behind like before.”

“They could wheel on us and put us in a pincer, their Fleet is more than large enough.”

“In that case we have a fight on our hands, Captain. We’ll have to hope they don’t see it coming. Unless you have any other ideas?”

“No, there are just too many of them.”

“If they do encircle us, give the order to break into squadron-sized formations, we’ll have to break through the gaps in their lines independently and reform on the other side of the planet.”

Every crewmember on the bridge looked at him aghast. It was a last desperate measure, many of their ships would be destroyed when they broke formation, but it might be the only way to live to fight another day, at least for those that survived.

“Activate shields, order the main batteries to choose their targets independently and fire when they have the range.”

“Yes, Admiral.”

Gehlen gave the order, all they could do now was wait.