“One. We will increase our operational capability by fifty percent. The UNF proposes sending forty battle groups of three to engage in the initial wave of attacks against major Swarm outposts. Depending upon size and disposition of our forces, they will act in support or take lead.”

  The head of the Shipping Guild, believed to be on the fence but a likely fourth vote for Harkness, interrupted the Admiral.

  “If I may,” said Tarrance Hawthorne. “One hundred twenty vessels constitutes a ten percent increase, assuming we are focused exclusively on capital ships.”

  “Correct, Council Hawthorne. The UNF plans to leave most of its fleet behind until assured the Swarm is fully engaged and not able to attack their planets.”

  “I see. How long will they deliberate before sending relief? Our forces will bear the brunt until then.”

  Harkness nodded to Yusef, who took the floor.

  “Council Hawthorne, all our first-phase battle groups will be prepared to jump as soon as Lightfoot returns home. Our drone ships will monitor the battles on this side. We hope to send orders through them within five standard days after we engage the Swarm. If our Central Command feels it safe to do so, they will send three times the battle groups across the divide.”

  “Thank you, Adm. Matook. Council Harkness, please continue.”

  “Two. The UNF approach to disrupting the Swarm Crust is innovative and should allow us to destroy a single battle group in half the time with half the resources – even during the first phase of the operation. Their technique of creating a wave distortion field using dozens of small fighters they call Hornets will confuse Crust nanodrones and open holes for swift, effective bombardment. This will also reduce close-quarters combat, which has devastated our warships in the past.”

  Kara saw Hawthorne nod approval along with the Dumas. She felt confident in four votes. The others held a stoic pose.

  “Third,” Harkness said. “The UNF has developed a way to track movement through black substrata. For the first time, we can see the enemy before it reaches the exit aperture. We can determine its course and intercept before it has time to reset for combat. The element of surprise will be ours. We have always played from behind, Council.”

  “If I may,” Angel Duma said, raising his hand. “These points are impressive, Admiral. Let us say for argument that our alliance with the UNF works as planned. We turn the tide of battle. Do you or Adm. Matook have a timetable for the operation’s length?”

  Harkness glanced at Yusef then across the bench to Angel.

  “Council Duma, nothing in war works exactly according to plan. What the UNF presents to us is potential that can be realized quickly. Relative to our struggle with the Swarm, it might seem overnight.”

  Angel nodded. “I understand, Admiral, but I think the Council needs to know a general estimation.”

  “Adm. Matook and I discussed it. The timeline is goal dependent. If we wish to wipe out the Swarm in its entirety? Standard months at best. If we wish to neutralize their fleet so it no longer poses a threat to the free worlds? Three to four standard weeks. The other target is the Empress herself. Intel suggests a single assassin killed the last one. We will need a massive commitment to kill this one.”

  “What would be your recommendation?”

  “Neutralize. Force them into retreat to the Converted worlds. When we have a buffer, we contemplate the next steps.”

  “What of our forces? How many will we lose?”

  Harkness did not hesitate to deliver the news.

  “Best case? Ten percent. Likely double. Even then, we’re talking about half what we’d lose defending one world from Conversion. The toll will be high, but the war won. The slaughter will end.”

  Hawthorne spoke. “Admiral, you mentioned a caveat.”

  “Oh, yes. If we agree to the union, Lightfoot will take a group of Orzed inspectors to their systems. We will verify their claims.”

  Kara glanced at Yusef, who winced. He didn’t know about that condition, but she thought it reasonable. They could travel the Collectorate in a day or two showing off the UNF. A slight delay.

  “Well,” Duomo Peron said. “That’s quite the presentation. A two-hundred-year struggle ended in weeks.” Olivia and her brother smirked. “Never have I heard a sillier fantasy. Adm. Harkness, I never took you for a fool. Until today.”

  27

  E XETER WASN’T SURPRISED WHEN Sha reported the Questar was coming about. Exeter wanted to blame Enfante, but the old man’s antics weren’t responsible. Questar wouldn’t make this move without clearance from the Admin Council.

  “Raise the ULI,” he told Baz.

  The pentagonal interface for all-things Lightfoot ballooned between the bridge crew. Exeter grabbed images from Deck 1, where the Hornets prepared to launch. He selected an array of vidcams from inside the two-person attack craft. He positioned both holos close and chest high.

  “All Hornets, establish a lock on Questar. Engage the noose on my command.”

  Lex swung about. “Sir, Questar’s Captain wants a word.”

  “Open the channel. Questar, this is Capt. Exeter Woolsey. How may I help you?”

  “Capt. Woolsey, we’re detecting quite a few energy signatures spiking from your stern. Are you preparing to launch fighters?”

  “Drills, Capt. Huma. We run our pilots through their paces every day. We see you’ve altered position.”

  “We’re not the ones under quarantine, Capt. Woolsey. I’ll kindly ask you to stand down from drills.”

  Over Exeter’s left shoulder, Myles Enfante groaned. Exeter tapped off his transmitter.

  “You have a suggestion, Admiral?”

  “He’s testing your resolve.”

  “Are you saying he won’t fire if I stand down?”

  “He will if he’s following orders. He’d rather you shoot first. That way he won’t feel compelled to take it easy on us.”

  “You’re not helpful. Stand back there out of the way.” He tapped on his transmitter. “Capt. Huma, if you return to your previous position, I’ll cut short the drills.”

  During seconds of silence, Sha highlighted Questar’s movement, which was slow but unabated. The warship swung around to Lightfoot’s port stern, now a kilometer out.

  Lt. Simian Gray, in charge of weapons systems, raised the alarm.

  “Sir, she’s all but on top of us. I recommend activating the skin.”

  “Granted.”

  Lightfoot’s armor could sustain heavy bombardment. A distortion wave called the skin helped. Once triggered, it surrounded the ship in a translucent cocoon which dispersed the focus of energy weapons upon impact. However, the skin drew heavily upon Carbedyne reserves. Every UNF Captain understood: Only activate the skin at the onset of close-quarters combat.

  Exeter stared inside the Hornets. His pilots hid within bronze battle armor head to toe. It melded the best components of the Talon black bodysuit with the shape-shifting armor Amayas Knight created for the Splinter Vanguard. Pilots not annihilated during combat had oxygen reserves to drift in space up to five hours.

  The latter fact did not comfort Exeter as he prepared to give the most important order of his career. He doubted it lessened the nerves of those warriors, either.

  Capt. Huma did not respond.

  “Hornets, this is your Captain. It’s time to set the noose. Launch.”

  * * *

  Protocol inside the Chamber House vanished when the Perons tore into the proposal, calling it everything from a fairy tale to a long con.

  “You will grasp at the thinnest straw to pursue your goals,” Garruth Peron accused Adm. Harkness. “How do you not see what these miscreants truly are?”

  “Council Peron, I have served Orzed for thirty years,” Harkness shot back. “I did not rise to this bench because I’m a politician. I am a military man, which is a distant cry from your family.”

  “I will not have you …”

  “You will, Garruth. You and your sister left the recommendation to the expert. I made it. Now you question my intellect and integrity. I do hope the others of your bloc recognize what has happened. The Perons are afraid they’ll lose leverage because they know this alliance with the UNF is our key to victory.”

  Most of the Council were animated in their response, although the two in the Perons’ bloc appeared unfazed.

  “As a member of that bloc,” said Council Suthern, who spoke for the first time in either session, “I am insulted, Admiral. You do not give Cleo or me credit for thinking independent of the Perons.”

  “Then what say you, Council Suthern?”

  The woman shared a nod with Duomo Peron, as if receiving permission to speak.

  “I’ll admit your case is persuasive. But your case is actually their case.” She pointed to the delegates. “And their case lacks credibility with one key element you seem to have ignored.”

  “Which would be?”

  “Until yesterday, we had no evidence of multiple universes. We also have no intelligence the Swarm have shown any interest in this science until recently. Yet these people will lead us to believe the Swarm have not only embraced multiple universes but developed the technology to travel back and forth between them. For reasons contrary to logic, the Swarm intend to invade another universe, leaving themselves vulnerable to the Confederation.”

  For a moment, Kara feared Council Suthern might have given her bloc the upper hand. Her argument made a certain amount of sense.

  “Council Suthern,” Harkness said. “Do you understand the Swarm’s ideology?”

  “I do, sir. The Swarm act in accordance with their Empress and the message of their God.”

  “Correct. Are you familiar with the mindset of either?”

  Suthern scoffed. “Of course not.”

  “My point. The Swarm have killed billions for God and the Empress. If they were told to attack another universe, would they refuse the order?”

  Duomo Olivia Peron, largely silent after she accused Harkness of being a fool, stepped in with laughter.

  “They might not refuse, Admiral, but they’d have a difficult task without the tech. You can’t convince me the Swarm have developed the means for this travel in so short a time.”

  “Our guests provided proof of Swarm invasion, Liv.”

  “A few ships. Easily destroyed, as I believe the record shows. The Swarm are not competent to cross, nor do they have the will.”

  “And if they did have both,” Garruth added, “why should we stop them? Our guests have opened an interesting avenue. We allow the Swarm to attack their fleet while also suffering considerable losses. We take advantage of the Swarm’s weakness here and go after them without assistance from the UNF.”

  “Much more economical,” Liv said. “We’ll save lives and resources, and we’ll be much better positioned when the Swarm’s leftover fleet retreats home.”

  Harkness was right. Debate didn’t matter; the votes were baked in. Kara saw their case falling apart and couldn’t think of a damn thing to turn the momentum. No flowery words, apologies, or additional evidence of the Swarm’s ability would change minds. Best hope: a split vote. She wondered if the Peron bloc might bring Shipping Guild leader Hawthorne to their side for a majority.

  At her flanks, Rikard and Henri seemed speechless. Yusef bowed his head before he reached inside his suit and retrieved the hand-comm. He didn’t tell her his backup plan, but she suspected the angle he intended to take. Maybe they ought to accept defeat and cut bait.

  The Dumas did not enter the debate. Did they see the futility? Or did they have a backup, too?

  If so, they waited too long.

  Duomo Peron said, “Enough. I call for an immediate vote.”

  * * *

  The Hornets sprinted from Deck 1, but they did not cluster like their insect namesakes en route to Questar. Instead, the sharp-nosed fighters executed the Precheck maneuver. Each Nav AI calculated a micro-jump to a target destination which formed a “noose” around the Orzed warship. Carbedyne thrusters, using a plasma derivative that also powered Lightfoot’s particle missiles, exploded in a white-hot burst.

  The fighters zoomed twenty times faster than any ship in normal space, too quick for traditional surface cannons to intercept mid-flight. Thirty Hornets took position around Questar.

  Exeter opened the channel to Capt. Huma.

  “Questar, if you are unable to come to a full stop at once, we will help you solve the problem.”

  “Capt. Woolsey, this is a tragic miscalculation,” Huma said. “Stand down your fighters, or we will destroy them.”

  “For what, Captain? Observing your movements? Watching you encroach the Lightfoot quarantine zone?”

  “You claim to be an ally but prove yourself otherwise.”

  The channel closed from the other end.

  “They’re adjusting their cannons, sir,” Sha said. “Targeting the Hornets and Lightfoot.”

  “All Hornets,” Exeter said. “Tighten the noose.”

  The human eye would’ve been hard-pressed to see anything unusual. The holos, however, showed a networked screen form around the Questar. Sprays of light linked the thirty fighters then targeted the warship. Pulsating waves passed through the armor, disrupting Questar’s internal command functions.

  A few surface cannons fired but missed wide.

  Questar continued on course but only because of inertia.

  “Their engines are offline,” Simi said. “They’ll recalibrate in less than a minute, sir.”

  Exeter breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Let’s extend their down time.” He studied the noose and found the six fighters he needed. “Aft Hornets, target the coupling bolts on their engine array. Short bursts. Keep it gentle.”

  Thin blasts from the fighter turrets impacted the surface around the thrusters. The operation lasted less than a minute.

  “Report, Sha.”

  She smiled with glee. “Disabled, sir. They’re not going anywhere.”

  “OK then. Let’s hope this doesn’t get us into too much trouble.” He tapped his comm. “Hornets, make for home.”

  It was quick, easy, just like he’d drawn it up. Not the identical steps for disrupting a Swarm Crust but close enough. Exeter was young but not a fool: This might have been a sterling case of beginner’s luck.

  “Questar, this is Capt. Woolsey. Please respond.”

  Huma did not hesitate.

  “What have you done to my ship, Woolsey? This is an act of unprovoked aggression.”

  “No, Capt. Huma. This was an act of self-defense. You violated the terms of the quarantine with the intent to do my ship harm. We have temporarily silenced your weapons and engines. Your internal drives will recalibrate soon. I would advise you don’t use the engines until the necessary EV repairs are finished.”

  “This will not stand, Woolsey.”

  “I should point out that you will be a sitting duck for the next few hours, and I can obliterate you with one missile. But I won’t because that would not be self-defense. I will move Lightfoot to a safe distance, Captain, but I will not jump into worm. Please respect my choice not to harm anyone on Questar.”

  He cut off the channel and waited until the Hornets landed.

  “Sha, move us away. Ten kilometers.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  The bridge crew glanced at each other and Exeter as if unsure whether to celebrate.

  “I couldn’t breathe,” Baz said. “Is that what war’s like?”

  “No, Baz. Breathing isn’t a problem. It’s staying alive.”

  Exeter swung around to Enfante.

  “Did I ruin our chances?”

  The old man reached for his comm.

  “I’m not sure you ever had one, Captain. I’ll check in with my man, assuming he’s not under arrest.”

  Why would Harkness be arrested?

  Exeter realized how naïve he’d been. Seconds later, his sudden sense of dread took on tangible form.

  “The other ships in Questar’s battle group have gone to worm, sir,” Sha said.

  “Toward us?” He asked, knowing the answer.

  “They’re seconds out. No time to jump.”

  * * *

  “Your motion is absurd,” Harkness told Duomo Peron. “We have not heard from everyone on the Council.”

  Peron shifted her eyes to the Dumas and Hawthorne to her left.

  “Speak. Then we will vote.”

  “My sister and I are satisfied with the Admiral’s recommendation,” Angel said. “What harm is there in sending delegates to their planets to prove their claims?”

  Abby piggybacked on her brother.

  “We should vote to table our decision until after verification.”

  Shipping Guild leader Hawthorne reacted with a vigorous nod. Kara thought the Dumas’ practical request shifted momentum.

  Garruth Peron did not agree.

  “We delayed a vote yesterday to hear their full proposal, which now stands before us. They come to us not out of generosity but desperation. They claim to possess thousands of powerful warships but admit they are a young navy. They claim to track wormholes, which is fantastical by any measure.”

  “Claims which are easily verified,” Abby shouted.

  “Any further delay will be a stall tactic destined to fail. When my son Alazar returns, he will vote down the proposal. You simply will not have the numbers, Council Duma. My sister has set the motion to vote on the proposal. I second the motion.”

  “And just where is Alazar?”

  The Perons stared down Abby with blood in their eyes.

  “Doing the business of this Council,” Olivia sniped.

  “Are you sure he’s not dead?”

  The question stunned even Harkness. Angel grabbed his sister and forced her to sit down.

  “I apologize,” he began, but got no further when Abby resumed.