All for All, page 5
part #3 of Cast Adrift Series
"I believe that concentrated a few minds," Nancy said. For a moment, she smiled in grim amusement. "I don't know for sure, because they were reluctant to discuss their contingency planning with me, but I had the impression they were considering securing Terminus before the Pashtali moved into the system and took over. It would have made a certain amount of sense. If they held the system, it would have kept the Pashtali from scattering them ..."
"And if they'd moved quicker, they might not need us at all," Abraham said, slowly. "Can we liberate the system?"
"The admiral will have to answer that question," Nancy said. "We don't even know for sure what's happening there. All we know comes from their ambassadors here."
"Who are presumably in contact with their homeworlds," Abraham said. He made a mental note to look for independent confirmation. The Pashtali had more than enough firepower to convince an alien government to lie on their behalf. They'd lured a fleet into a killing ground before, back when the war started. Why wouldn't they do it again? "Can we trust them?"
"Can they trust us?" Nancy studied her hands thoughtfully. "We need allies. We need a way out of this war before our economy implodes or the Alphans abandon us or the Pashtali manage to win. This may be our one chance to put together an alliance that will threaten the Pashtali with actual defeat, not a draw. Can we afford to let it pass?"
"And if they're not trustworthy, we'll be sending a chunk of our fleet into the meatgrinder," Abraham pointed out. "How long will the Alphans protect us?"
Nancy made a face. "I don't know."
Abraham nodded, then raised his eyes to the chart. The Pashtali were expanding in all directions, taking control of strategic points that would allow them to lock up the shipping lanes and keep their enemies apart without expending much of their military power. It was galling to know that humanity was just one small target to them ... his lips quirked as he realised they'd fucked up the timing. The Pashtali had started the next set of wars before crushing the human race, which meant they might be a little overextended ... but by how much? No one knew.
"This is the one chance we have," Nancy said. "They're not talking to us, not seriously."
"No," Abraham agreed. The peace talks were a joke. The Pashtali had made that clear on the very first day. They presumably understood humanity as little as humans understood them, but it was impossible to believe that anyone who started the talks by demanding everything first and then haggling was taking them seriously. "We don't have the power to force them to take the talks seriously."
"Not alone, no," Nancy agreed. "But as part of a greater alliance ..."
"If we can have the alliance," Abraham said. "We'll be taking a huge risk just proving we are committed."
"We're committed anyway," Nancy counted. "The Pashtali aren't going to go away, are they?"
Abraham laughed, humourlessly. "They attack us and somehow we're the ones who have to help them save face?"
"It's an old galactic custom," Nancy said. "And the only other option is fighting to the death."
"True." Abraham studied the chart. The human race was committed. There was nothing, up to and including outright surrender, that would convince the Pashtali to spare Earth. They'd been too badly battered by the fighting to accept surrender. They needed to make an example of the human race. "Damn it!"
"Quite," Nancy agreed. "If this works ..."
"Start drawing up the paperwork, nail down the terms," Abraham said. "Speak to the ambassadors again, tell them what we want in exchange for doing their dirty work. And when we get independent confirmation of the situation, we'll decide if we want to take the offensive."
"We need allies," Nancy said. "We have to take the risk or ... we'll be alone and then defeated."
"I know." Abraham scowled at the starchart. "But we need more than just allies. We need to knock the bastards out of the war before they knock us out."
He sipped his coffee. "And do you trust the Alphans to keep their word?"
"They have a long history of keeping their word," Nancy said, thoughtfully. "But none of us ever expected they'd just abandon much of their empire ..."
Abraham nodded, curtly. He'd always imagined the road to independence would be slow and steady, long and perhaps bumpy. He'd thought he'd spend years developing independent facilities on Earth, claiming more and more autonomy within the empire ... he'd even dared to wonder, at times, if humanity would have to fight for its freedom. Instead ... the Alphans had just grown tired of their empire and let the human race go. It felt almost like a cheat, as if they'd been deprived of the chance to prove they could stand on their own two feet. He'd never really understood how much of the planet's economy depended on the Alphans, not until it was too late. And now ...
"We never expected it," he said. "And how long will they keep their ships here?"
"I don't know," Nancy said. She looked oddly pensive. "I think they don't know either."
"No," Abraham said. He hated having to rely on something he couldn't control. It would have been better, in a way, if the Alphans had set a strict timetable. "What happens if we lose most of the fleet and then they decide to withdraw their ships?"
His mind churned. He'd never really thought of the Alphans as benevolent - they'd been imperialists first and foremost, who'd benefited hugely from all the benevolent things they'd done - but he knew there were worst masters out there. Humanity had been lucky. They could have been invaded and ruled by the Pashtali or ... he frowned as a thought struck him. Was it a plan to weaken the human race all along, to force them to call their former masters back to rule? Or was he just being paranoid? The Alphans could have won a civil war, if they'd decided to keep Earth for themselves ...
Although the system would have been incredibly banged up, he thought. And it might not have been worth the effort.
He studied Nancy for a long moment. She'd been a loyalist, back in the day. He had no reason to doubt her loyalties now, but ... he shook his head. He was definitely being paranoid. He was tired and cranky and paranoid and ...
"We're due to meet with the admiral shortly," he said. He checked his watch. The admiral should be on her way by now, unless a new crisis or three had exploded in the last few moments. "Hopefully, by then, we'll have the bare bones of a treaty or two."
"Nothing will be signed until Terminus is cleared of enemy ships," Nancy cautioned, warningly. "There's no way to change that, not in a hurry. They're not going to go out on a limb for us unless they're sure we're committed."
"And that there's a reasonable chance of victory," Abraham added. His lips twisted. They needed allies to win, but they could only get allies by winning ... "We'll do our best, but ..."
He shrugged, wordlessly.
***
Ambassador Yasuke kept his face under tight control as he finished reviewing the notes from the peace talks. He was no stranger to entitled arrogant ambassadors demanding everything they could get before talks got started - the humans joked about asses in ambassadors, which was often uncomfortably true - but the Pashtali were being absurd. They seemed to think the human race was going to give them everything, on a platter, and then hold peace talks? It made no sense. No one would agree to such terms and, if they did, there was no point in holding talks anyway. It was an insane mess.
He keyed his console, encrypting his private files. His superiors had hoped the talks would get somewhere, but it was clear they were going to be disappointed. The Pashtali just weren't taking them seriously. And yet, surely peace was their best choice? They'd attacked a dozen races, expanded their control too far too fast ... why had they bitten off more than they could chew? Yasuke didn't like the implications. Did they think they could copy everything the Alphans had done, when they'd ruled the known galaxy? Or were they following a plan no one else could understand? Perhaps they thought they could smash everyone within reach, then take over before their targets could recover and fight back?
Which is as good a theory as any other, he thought, as he stood. The Pashtali might think they can win by knocking everyone else down.
He frowned as he made his way to the door. It was astonishing how his position had shifted in the last five years. He'd been a viceroy, then a powerless ambassador, then a powerful ambassador ... it was confusing, something his people didn't handle very well. He'd wondered, at times, why he hadn't been replaced long ago. Perhaps he was considered the perfect representative, or ... maybe his masters thought he'd gone native. Or they couldn't find a replacement. A person of his rank had a lot of say in his assignments. Earth hadn't been seen as an important posting until the Pashtali War had broken out.
No, he corrected himself. It was one of the most important places in the empire, until we let it go. And then it became important again.
"My Lord," his aide said, as he stepped into the antechamber. The human looked nervous. No one enjoyed being the bearer of bad news. "The Minister for Industrial Production sends his regrets, but he's running late. He should be here in twenty minutes."
Yasuke nodded and made his way to the window. The humans understood the value of being punctual. It was unlikely the minister intended to be insulting. He put the thought aside as he looked down on the city. The Pashtali had done a lot of damage, shooting up buildings and bombing troop concentrations, but the humans were already making repairs. They had an energy, he reflected ruefully, that his own people had lost long ago. He wondered, sometimes, if they'd replace his people as masters of the known universe. But it wouldn't be easy. There were too many threats lurking at the rim of civilised space.
If they survive the war, they'll go far, he told himself. If.
Chapter Five
Solar City, Earth
"Admiral," First Speaker Douglas said. "Welcome to Solar City."
Naomi nodded, shaking his hand. The flight over the city had been a grim reminder of the human costs of war; the lives ruined, the homes destroyed, the uncertainty overshadowing men and women who'd been forced to flee from the invaders. The Alphans had set up a food distribution network to end world hunger, when they'd taken control of the planet, and the provisional government had tried to keep it going, but it hadn't survived the invasion. Parts of the planet had too much food for their needs, while other parts were starving. Even now, too many people were desperately short of food and shelter. It was just another reason to end the war as quickly as possible, before the planet collapsed into chaos.
"You know Ambassador Middleton," Douglas said, indicating the other person in the chamber. "She's been handling negotiations with the lesser powers."
"A pleasure," Naomi said. She'd met Ambassador Nancy Middleton before, at Admiral Glass's funeral. She wasn't quite sure how the loyalist had ended up working for the independence activist, but she was pleased to see it nonetheless. It boded well for the future. If there was a future. The Pashtali were still out there. "Has there been any progress in negotiating with the Pashtali?"
"No," Nancy said, curtly. "We cannot determine if they are stalling for time, as some of our analysts think, or if they honestly believe we'll give them everything they want if they demand it loudly enough. Either way, we cannot reasonably give them what they want as a precondition and they're apparently reluctant to make any concessions to us."
Naomi sighed, inwardly. She wished she was surprised. The Pashtali were powerful enough to wait out the clock, secure in the knowledge Earth would collapse first. They might be stalling ... or simply giving lip service to negotiations in a bid to appease galactic opinion. Or they might even think humanity would sell itself out for the best terms it could get ... no, that made no sense. They'd be offering some kind of concessions if they honestly believed they could force humanity to accept an unbalanced peace.
"We have made more progress with the lesser powers," Nancy informed her, once they'd poured themselves coffee and sat down. "Some of them are willing to work with us, if we prove our willingness to continue the fight. They want us to liberate Terminus."
Naomi listened as Nancy ran through the whole story. She wasn't too surprised the lesser powers wanted a show of faith before siding with the human race, although it was awkward because the humans could hardly end the war unilaterally. It took one power to start a war and two powers to end it. And yet ... she supposed it made a degree of sense. It would be easier to bend the knee to the Pashtali before joining the war, when the Pashtali might offer better terms in exchange for submission. As long as the Pashtali effectively ruled Terminus, they could keep their prospective enemies from joining forces ...
She mentally collated Nancy's observations with her own plans. Her staff had drawn up a handful of options, each one existing - for the moment - solely on paper. A couple could be adapted to the new reality, if she went ahead with it ... she took a breath. If she made a mistake ... how, she asked herself, had Admiral Glass remained in command for so long? Each and every one of his decisions could have led to utter disaster ... hell, the balance of power was so tilted against the human race that he could do everything right and still lose. And somehow he'd endured the pressure for nearly seven years before his death. She didn't know how he'd done it.
"My staff and I have been looking at options, purely on a contingency basis," she said, finally. She'd been cautioned political leaders didn't always like being told the military was planning operations, even if they never become anything more than ink on paper. It could be politically inconvenient if word reached the wrong pair of ears. "And they can be adapted to fit our needs."
Douglas leaned forward. "Can we win?"
Naomi hesitated. That was the rub, wasn't it? The war had to be won ... at the very least, they had to go back to the status quo ante bellum. And yet, there was no way to force the Pashtali to negotiate on equal terms. They had to make the war too expensive to continue and yet ... she scowled, inwardly. She had to make it clear to them, somehow, that any victory would be very limited in scope. There was little data on the enemy homeworld's defences, or on the defences surrounding their major worlds, but she had no doubt they'd be formidable. The massed power of the Solar Navy wouldn't be enough to crack them, even if the enemy warships were elsewhere. Her fleet would be bled white for nothing.
"There are some points I need to make, and make clearly," she said. She looked from one to the other, keeping her voice under tight control. They had to understand. "We will not win a total victory. There will be no victory parades on the alien homeworld. The best we can hope for, assuming everything goes our way, is a strictly limited victory. We must convince them that defeating us won't be worth the cost, a very difficult task. Ideally, we need to weaken them to the point other powers will jump on them - or they think they'll be attacked by other powers. Again, that will be a very difficult task."
"They do have enemies," Nancy said, slowly.
"Yes, but the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend," Naomi countered. "The Galactics might be quite happy to let us get beaten down, on the grounds we might pose a threat in the long run. Or they might be equally happy to let the war go on indefinitely, supplying us with ships and weapons to bleed the Pashtali instead of committing their own militaries to the war. They may dislike, even fear, the Pashtali, but as long as the Pashtali hold the whip hand the other powers will be reluctant to intervene too openly."
"Charming," Douglas commented. "You'd think they'd be able to stand up to the Pashtali."
"Interstellar power politics have always been about raw power, not principles," Naomi said, grimly. She'd spent enough time along the rim to be sure of it. "The Pashtali can get away with a hell of a lot, if the cost of bringing them to account is too high."
She took a breath. "We do have a window of opportunity, however," she said. "And we might be able to use it to win."
"But only a limited victory, as you said," Douglas commented. "What do you have in mind?"
Naomi took a datachip from her pouch and slotted it into the secure projector, then leaned back in her chair as the starchart materialised over the table. It was rare for admirals to give briefings personally - there were staffers for that - but she had no choice. The operational concepts were so highly classified that the officers who'd worked on them had been placed in lockdown, in a bid to ensure nothing - not even rumours - leaked. Naomi found it hard to believe anyone would willingly spy for the Pashtali, but she knew better than to assume it was impossible. The Pashtali could easily have recruited a handful of human turncoats and encouraged them to climb to the top. Hell, a mere five years ago, literally everyone in the navy had worked for an alien power.
And there are no shortage of isolated human settlements in disputed space, she reminded herself. The Pashtali could probably hire mercenaries as well as spies.
She put the thought aside and cleared her throat. "We have a brief window of opportunity, like I said," she started. "First, the Alphans are providing security for Earth. We have no idea how long the warcruisers will remain here, but while they do my staff believe the Pashtali won't risk a second invasion. The risk of starting a full-scale war with the Alphans would be too great."
"Unless they think the Alphans are bluffing," Nancy pointed out.
"It's a possibility," Naomi agreed. "Second, the Pashtali also have a string of border conflicts to handle before they turn their attention back to us. Most of those conflicts are minor, in the grand scheme of things, but my staff believe there's a non-zero chance of those conflicts either spinning out of control or the races and planets involved getting organised as a unit, given time. My staff didn't know, of course, that the races were already making approaches to us."
"It was highly classified," Nancy said.
Naomi nodded. "The basic operational concept was to take the fleet, all the warships we could muster, and raid along the edge of enemy territory, while Crossroads and the other captured ships slipped deeper into enemy space," she said. "Terminus wasn't on our original hit list, but there's no reason we can't strike the besiegers first. I'll have to direct a spy ship to investigate, just to determine what's really going on, before we commit ourselves. We can't risk heavy losses so quickly."
