“With all due respect, sir, what the hell happened?” Herzer asked, taking a cup of coffee from a senior NCO with a nod of thanks.
“A group of assassins descended on the training facility,” Edmund said. “We’ve only got the first words off of the semaphore. Apparently some were human but the rest were some sort of large bug, sort of like a giant scorpion…”
“Possibly solfugid mods,” Megan said, shaking her head. “Basically giant camel spiders with metallic mandibles. The same thing that Celine sent after Minjie Jiaqi’s assassin.”
“The personnel were sleeping so they went through the barracks… well, there weren’t any survivors,” Edmund said. “The message made it sound rather bad.”
“Didn’t they have guards?” Herzer growled.
“They were well guarded, Major,” General Galbreath said sharply. “A company of legionnaires with Blood Lord officers. We don’t know what happened to them.”
“Probably poison spiders,” Megan said, thoughtfully. “That was how they got through to whatsisname.”
“A response team from Seventh Legion got most of them,” Edmund said. “Apparently the rest escaped into the night. They’re either still out there in hiding or they’ll go on a rampage in the area.”
“So what now?” Herzer asked.
“Well, we’re going to have to form a scratch team,” General Galbreath said, looking at him pointedly.
“Oh, Christ on a crutch,” Herzer muttered. “Let me guess.”
“You got it,” Edmund replied. “You’re now the head of the Icarus assault team. Congratulations. It comes with a promotion.”
“Oh, crap,” Herzer muttered. “I won’t ask ‘why me.’ ”
“There’s more,” Edmund said, looking at Megan. “The team had been analyzing the systems on the ship and they had come to the conclusion that it was going to be necessary to have at least one Key-holder on the mission. I’d been discussing it with Sheida. Effectively, since Norau is carrying the ball on the mission, the choice comes down to you or me. I’d been arguing, quite hard, for me. Sheida disagrees.”
“So do I,” Megan said, shaking her head. “You’re too involved in the planning for the assault on Ropasa. You can’t leave. I’m… less important.”
“Like hell you are,” Herzer protested. “Without you we’d be planning on an invasion without the bare minimum forces we need.”
“But the most important parts of the politicking are done for the moment,” Megan pointed out. “I’ll be back to the capital in three or four months. Nothing really critical should come up between now and then.”
“Megan,” Herzer said, closing his eyes, “this is not your… This is not something that you’re trained for or… this is not your — Damnit!”
“Herzer,” Megan said, laying a hand on his arm. “This is something that has to be done. And I’m the best person to do it, apparently. Who goes? Edmund? Sheida?”
“Yes!” Herzer said. “Edmund is damned near as good at surviving as I am! Sheida is… She has a background in surviving.”
“So do I,” Megan said angrily.
“Not this!” Herzer snapped. “I don’t care how well planned this mission supposedly is! It’s going to turn into a blindsided cluster fisk! I can feel it! I don’t want you in the middle of that!”
“And you’ll be there to protect me,” Megan said, smiling faintly. “Besides, we’re going to have to train for this, right? Which means we get more time together. You’d been complaining about not seeing enough of me.”
“When the air is whistling out of your suit, what am I supposed to do but watch you die?” Herzer asked bleakly.
“I’m going, Herzer,” Megan said flatly. “That’s final.”
“I know,” he replied, flexing one muscle in his jaw. “But I don’t have to like it.” He paused and shook his head. “I don’t like any of it. I don’t even know the plans. I mean, I know that the team planned on going up to the ship and seizing it. But I don’t know how they were going to get there, what the ship is like, what the battle plans were… Jesus! And everyone that knew the plans is now toast!”
“Not quite everyone,” Edmund said. “Evan Mayerle was consulting on the mission. He wasn’t part of the team so he was off-site when the attack occurred. He’s still alive and he knows the plans and the details of the ship. The basic mission is simple; take control of the ship and ensure that New Destiny does not. If you can’t ensure it, make sure that the ship is unusable, probably by crashing it into the Moon.”
“That would be… bad,” Megan said, frowning. “That would mean both sides would lose the power.”
“Better that we lose the power than New Destiny get it,” General Galbreath said. “I’m afraid that, given the conditions, it’s unlikely we can lock New Destiny out entirely. It’s complicated, but you’ll get fully briefed.”
“But we’ve got serious personnel shortage,” Edmund added. “Besides the fighters, the team has to have people who know how the ship systems work and they’re incredibly ancient. That ship has been out there plying its path for well over a thousand years. It’s been maintained but never really updated; there was no need. We’d found or trained people on the old-style computers it uses, engineers for the ion drive engines and pilots for the shuttle craft…”
“Shuttle craft?” Herzer asked. “What shuttle craft?”
“I’ll get to that,” Edmund said. “But they’re all dead. We need to find replacements and we’ll need to find them fast. We’ll get to work on that. You concentrate on the strike personnel. The Icarus team, I always thought, was too small. It was concentrated on getting in and doing the mission but I’d been arguing that they weren’t prepared for things to go to hell in a handbasket. I don’t have to worry about that with you in charge.”
“No, sir,” Herzer said dryly. “I mean, they’ve already gone to hell in a handbasket. All we can do at this point is steer.”
“You can draw on anyone you need, Major,” General Galbreath said. “And I do mean anyone.”
“Where are we going to get the techs?” Herzer asked.
“We’ll be going over records,” Edmund said, frowning. “Unfortunately, most towns didn’t record what people did pre-Fall and if they did they haven’t told the federal government. The census didn’t record it, either. So the only place I know that has lists of people’s training, pre-Fall, is in Raven’s Mill. We’ll probably start there and work our way out.”
“We can’t exactly take out ads on this,” Megan pointed out, shaking her head. “There are probably a thousand people in Norau with each of the specialties we need. But finding them is going to be tough. Especially with the time constraint.”
“I’ll put Lieutenant Van Krief to work on it,” Edmund said. “She’s a miracle worker when it comes to ferreting out information. And I’ll get June Lasker from Raven’s Mill with the records from there and put out a call for similar records.”
“Where were they training?” Herzer asked.
“A facility near the Pizurg reactor,” General Galbreath said. “I assume you’ll want to use the same facilities.”
“Rather than reinvent the wheel, yes, sir,” Herzer replied. “That’s near Tarson and Harzburg. Joy. I hoped I’d never have to go up there again.”
“You won’t be going to Harzburg,” Edmund said. “And for the time being you’ll need to stay here in Washan while we assemble lists of potential personnel. Again, you concentrate on the strike operators. We’ll find the techs.”