Steve winced. Humans were humans under the skin, but aliens could be very alien. Perhaps that explained why the aliens had produced autodoc systems and other automated forms of medical care; there weren’t any doctors who were capable of moving from a patient of one race to a patient from another. The movie where an alien had been dissected by a vet might have been quite realistic after all.
“We should try to avoid such operations,” he said, although — not being a politician — he had no illusions about the prospect of switching from high-intensity combat to low-intensity in a heartbeat. “If we do, try to keep civilians out of the fighting as much as possible.”
Romford gave him a sharp glance, then nodded.
Steve reviewed the rest of the base, then teleported back to the starship to catch up on his briefings. Heinlein had expanded rapidly, to the point where two hotels had been constructed and regular tours were running from the colony to the various tourist attractions on the moon, while other tourists were being lined up for trips to Mars. Each of them was paying a substantial price for their tickets, which was going right back into the economy.
“We may well have solved the economic crisis,” Wilhelm said, after he’d finished talking about the new technology he’d introduced on Earth. “Right now, literally trillions of dollars worth of currency is moving around the world, thanks to us.”
“Good,” Steve said. International finance had always been a closed book to him, but he was prepared to accept Wilhelm’s word that more money moving around was a good thing. “Are there any problems? Or are we causing any problems?”
“It depends,” Wilhelm realised. “You know there’s a shortage of plumbers?”
Steve shook his head, not seeing the point.
“Space habitation involves a lot of plumbing,” Wilhelm said. “So we’ve been hiring plumbers — and other outfitters — at a terrifying rate. The net result is that we have driven down the number of plumbers available elsewhere.”
“Oh,” Steve said.
Wilhelm shrugged. “We’ve got several training camps up and running for newcomers, so I think this problem will eventually restore itself,” he said. “We may also have solved the education bubble.”
He snorted. “We don’t care about professional qualifications,” he explained, when Steve looked puzzled. “So we’ve been taking college-age students, exposing them to some proper training, then selecting the best. Our wages are high, so they can start paying off their debts in good order. Given time, maybe we can defuse that particular problem before it actually explodes. On the other hand, we have quite a few idiots who majored in Women’s Studies trying to learn which end of a screwdriver is the one they shouldn’t stick in an electrical socket.”
Steve frowned. “And are they actually learning something useful?”
“Oh, yes,” Wilhelm said. “We came up with some pretty graphic training videos to make it clear to them that mistakes would be harshly punished by the universe. And we made them all read The Cold Equations and write essays explaining how a series of minor bureaucratic oversights led to tragedy. Quite a few of them quit after reading the story.
“Overall, there will be quite a few bumps, but I think that most Western governments will quietly abandon any opposition to us within the next ten years,” he concluded. “We’re just too damn useful. And we’re taking potential troublemakers away from them. The rest of the world… not so much.”
Steve nodded. “Russia still irked at us?”
“I’m afraid so, even though we’re buying a lot of crude technology from them,” Wilhelm said, dryly. “I think they might well have real problems in the non-too-distant future, between the dongles and the introduction of fusion technology. Their public might start asking too many questions. China, on the other hand, might just adapt once again to the change in the world.”
“We shall see,” Steve said. He had no love for Red China, but he had to admire how the Chinese had adapted and just kept adapting as the world changed around them. And, somehow, the Communist Party had remained in control. Would that change, he asked himself, when their people had total freedom of communication? No matter what the government did, dongles were still slipping into China. “We shall see.”
The communicator buzzed. “Steve,” Mongo said, “we’re picking up a number of starships approaching the solar system. They’re completely unscheduled. Estimated time of arrival is five hours from now.”
Steve shared a long look with Wilhelm. There was no such thing as a schedule, but they weren’t expecting any visitors. It was possible that Friend could be returning to Earth, yet the alien had agreed to meet the human troops at Ying. No, he realised. It was far more likely that the newcomers were unfriendly.
“Deploy the automated defences,” he ordered. It was time to use a precaution he’d hoped never to have to use, at least for quite some time. Even now, if they lost Earth, something of humanity would survive. “And then order the Mayflower to leave orbit.”
“Aye, sir,” Mongo said.
“I’m on my way,” Steve said, straightening up. “And you’d better warn the governments below. The shit is about to hit the fan.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Sol System
“Earth’s governments have been alerted,” Kevin said, quietly. “They’re standing by.”
Steve gave him a sidelong look. “For what?”
“For what little they can do,” Kevin replied, evenly. “And for civil defence, if necessary.”
“True,” Steve said. He looked back at the display. Thirty incoming starships, some of them clearly very large. If they wanted to take Earth, Earth would be taken. “And maybe they can swear blind that they have nothing to do with us too.”
He thought, briefly, of Mariko. She’d flatly refused to go down to Earth or board the Mayflower, even though the latter would have given her an excellent chance of survival. Instead, she’d insisted on staying on the Warcruiser, despite the certain knowledge that the giant starship would be badly outmatched. Steve cursed himself, mentally, for not marrying her when he had the chance, even though he had no intention of leaving her at some later date. It would have shown just how much he cared.
Angrily, he pushed the thought aside. Earth’s time might be about to run out. He shouldn’t be thinking of anything but fighting to defend his homeworld, the world he loved. And he did love it. In the end, Earth was worth fighting for. But did he have enough tricks up his sleeve to save the planet?
“The ghost squadron and the Q-ships are in position,” Mongo called. “They’re ready to deploy.”
“Hold them in place,” Steve ordered. They’d run through countless simulations, trying to think of all possible contingencies, but the universe had presented them with overwhelming force. They could do everything right and still lose Earth to the enemy. “And inform everyone that Earth expects them to do their duty.”
Kevin snorted. “Couldn’t you think of a better quote to steal?”
Steve shrugged. “The old ways are still the best,” he said. “Besides, I couldn’t think of anything from Doctor Who that fitted the bill.”
Mongo chuckled, then glanced at his console as the enemy ships dropped out of FTL quite some distance from the planet. “Steve,” he said, quietly. “They’re here.”