“Yes,” said Alicante. “We’ll have an answer in two weeks’ time.”
“Sir,” he told Alicante, “Isabella doesn’t have that long.”
“Clarke’s right,” said Pascari, grimacing like the words pained him. He reminded them all about Vortex and Sentinel.
“You have a suggestion?” asked Alicante.
Clarke did.
“We get to Dione ourselves,” he said.
“Alicante, your castaways have gone insane,” said the white haired officer. “They’re suggesting we commit suicide.”
“Five destroyers plus escorts are enough to defeat Dione’s garrison,” Clarke said. “It’s almost a Backwater System, isn’t it? Hell, if the rumors are true, the EIF’s funding comes from those, right? I doubt Dione is getting any reinforcements from them.”
“Planetary defenses, maybe we can take, but we’ll never be able to hold the planet!” said the man in an exasperated tone, like a teacher dealing with a slow and annoying student. “What about the systems’ defenses? They’ll come at us and wear us down in days!”
“We don’t have to hold the planet for days,” said Clarke. “Only for a little while. Daneel Hirsen’s message said he’d be ready to extract Isabella when we arrived. We get there, we get her, we get out.”
“The Systems Alliance isn’t going to like it,” Alicante said.
“I thought they didn’t like the EIF anyway,” said Navathe. Clarke nodded at her discretely, to let her know he appreciated the assist. It was nice to know he had allies after all. Navathe had lost friends, too, thanks to Tal-Kader. She wanted to save Isabella as much as he did. “It can’t get much worse.”
“It can,” said Alicante. “Much worse. Right now, the Systems Alliance has their hands full trying to suck up to Earth while remaining in control of the Edge’s cash flow. They are surviving thanks to Tal-Kader giving Earth the appearance of a tight control over all systems, which would make an all-out war against the Edge too costly for all involved. If we make too much of a ruckus…then Tal-Kader will come after us in earnest. Shit will get nasty, fast. And if we manage to threaten them…Earth may sense weakness and come at the Edge in full strength.”
Clarke’s jaw almost dropped with surprise. Had his ears deceived him? Here was an EIF commander talking about Tal-Kader like it wasn’t a tyrannical abomination that should be destroyed as soon as possible.
Goddamn it, I had to stumble across the only reasonable EIF man today.
“Are you for real?” asked Pascari, his face red with fury. “Let them come! With Isabella, we’ll have the support we need to defeat Tal-Kader. If Earth tries to mess with us, we’ll starve them out! We own the oryza deposits, Alicante, not them.”
The look on Alicante’s eyes was troubled. The Hawk’s commander hid his hands under the table and straightened his back. “It’s not our decision to make,” he said. “This is a decision for the higher-ups. We’re talking about risking everything we’ve achieved so far, for a woman we don’t know.”
“Reiner’s daughter,” Pascari reminded him.
“It’s not our decision!” said Alicante.
“Very well,” Pascari said. “You want an order? I was Antonov’s right-hand man. With him gone, I’m Jagal’s provisional branch director, and I’ve the power to make an executive decision in an emergency. This is an order, Commander Alicante. Task Force Sierra is to head for Dione as soon as possible. You’re now under my command.”
To put someone as bloodthirsty as Pascari at the helm of any military vessel was probably a poor idea. Clarke had little doubt he’d come to regret it…but right now, seeing Alicante reel in surprise as he realized that Pascari’s argument was right, Clarke couldn’t help but cheer for the guy.
We may not like each other, but, right now, we’re on the same side. Clarke was fairly sure Pascari wished revenge for Julia. Clarke wanted to save an innocent woman from torture and death. Different objectives, same direction.
Alicante looked around, like begging for help from his officers. “The Independent is not going to like this.”
“If they don’t jump at the chance of saving Reiner’s legacy, then the committee are traitors to our cause and should be replaced,” said Pascari.
Navathe and Clarke exchanged another alarmed look. The EIF was ruled by a committee?
By Reiner, that explains why they never get anything done, thought Clarke.
“He’s right, you know,” one of the destroyer commanders said. “That’s a Reiner we’re talking about.”
Many others followed suit, expressing their approval. Many of those officers had been the most scared-looking ones at the start, but were now the most anxious to prove to the others their loyalty to the cause.
Alicante’s expression was downcast, defeated. He looked at Pascari.
“A word, Pascari?”
Clarke, Pascari, and Navathe followed him outside the conference room.
“Look, I understand your points, really, I do,” Alicante said. “I didn’t want to mention this in front of the other officers, but…we’re not ready to assault a planet. My men…they’re good sailors. But they don’t have the experience. There’s a reason Sierra is a scout force only. We’re meant to enter combat only as a last resource. The Independent sends the newbies to train safely with us because there’s little risk they’ll screw up and get killed! You know what will happen when Sierra strikes Dione? We’ll wash against their defenses and break, Pascari!”
Something clicked at the back of Clarke’s head. The officers behavior. The lack of deference in the way they talked to Alicante.
Sierra is a training designation for the rest of the fleet, Clarke thought. But that was only half the story. It was also a convenient place to send the EIF officers that didn’t make cut for the fighting. The troublemakers, the incompetent. A safe job to keep them occupied where they could hurt no one.
Not even Alicante seemed fit to lead the group.
Dear gods, you don’t like to make things easy for us, do you?
“Well, Alicante,” said Pascari, a strange glint in his eyes, “if it’s experience you need, you’re in luck. Joseph Clarke has plenty of experience. Decades of it. He was a destroyer commander during Broken Sky. I’ve seen him keep calm during pirate attacks and get us out of an SADF ambush that should have killed us.”
Clarke blinked. He hadn’t expected to hear this. Pascari hated him. Why was he building him up?
“It’s true,” said Navathe. “He outwitted a planetary garrison to bring us here, using only a Free Trader. With five destroyers, there’s nothing Tal-Kader can do to stop us from getting Isabella.”
Clarke could feel the other’s gazes on him, as intense as a targeting laser. He wasn’t one to get flustered easily, but the weight of the faith his two shipmates were putting on his shoulders was colossal. It was the kind of faith that could get a lot of people killed if Clarke made a mistake. It was the kind of faith that could get people killed even if he did everything right.
“Is that true?” Alicante asked him. “Can you take Dione?”
That was the crux of it, wasn’t it? It didn’t matter what Clarke thought. If he refused, Sierra would lack competent leadership when the time came. If he said yes, and he failed…
“No,” said Clarke, at once. “No lone man can take a planet. But Hawk can. Your sailors can. I can show you how.”
I hope. Oh, Reiner, don’t let me be wrong.
“But,” whispered Alicante, “you’re not EIF.”