“Can we afford not to?” Malin asked.
“We have to act fast,” Drakon said. “We’re taking more losses every minute, and we have no idea how much time we have left before the troops outside the perimeter launch their assault. We’ll go in simultaneously from all sides, using every surface chaff round we have to provide cover. We can’t afford to have the attack falter or hesitate, so we’ll personally have to lead it and keep everyone moving.” He moved his finger around the virtual display before his face, knowing that the motion would be seen by the others even though they were at different places around the perimeter. “I’ll lead the attack from this quarter, you from here, Conner, you from here, Bran, and you from this quarter, Hector. Have some weapons set up on the outer defensive line to fire on auto controls to make it look like the perimeter is still being defended. The moment I give the attack order, we completely abandon the outer lines. Everyone is to charge inward at the base.”
“Win or die,” Kai remarked with resignation. “It beats hiding in a hole until they come to kill us, I suppose.”
Malin spoke to Drakon on a private channel that neither Kai nor Gaiene could hear. “This is insane, General. I’m sure that Colonel Morgan would approve.”
“She’d be surprised that you came up with it,” Drakon replied on the same channel. “But, yeah, it’s the sort of thing she would do. Morgan is probably dead, you know.”
“Yes, General, I realize that.” It was impossible to tell Malin’s feelings about Morgan likely having died already. He ended the conversation without saying anything more.
But Gaiene came on next. “General, this is going to be a rough one.”
“We’ll get through it,” Drakon said. “You three, you and Kai and Rogero, have been my invincible trio through a lot of fights. This is just one more, right?”
“Invincible doesn’t mean indestructible,” Gaiene said, sounding wistful. “Since there is a more than reasonable chance that we won’t be able to talk after this is over, I want you to know that Lieutenant-Colonel Safir has my strongest recommendation to become commander of my brigade should there be an opening for that position in the near future. She is highly competent, respected by the troops for all the right reasons, and has been pretty much running the brigade anyway.”
“I’ll remember that,” Drakon said. “But you and me, we’ve got to make it, right? These kids wouldn’t know what to do without us.”
“Ah, yes, these kids.” Gaiene paused for a moment. “I should have had kids. But they would have been so ashamed of me the last several years. It’s better this way.”
“Conner—”
“Do not worry, General. I won’t let you down. My soldiers won’t let you down. We’ll take that damned base.”
“I never doubted that, Conner.”
Gaiene looked back at him with those dark eyes, and his mouth bent into that old grin. “I’ll see you later, General.”
“Yeah. See you later.”
“It’s Black Jack? You’re certain?”
“They are Alliance battle cruisers and escorts, Madam President,” the command center supervisor said. “We have positively identified several hulls so far, and one of them is Dauntless, Black Jack’s flagship. They are accompanied by the Dancer ships, but those have headed for the jump point for Pele at a high rate of acceleration while the Alliance formation has remained near the hypernet gate.”
Black Jack. Not the Syndicate. Not a coordinated attack, but a source of support. Iceni took a deep breath to steady herself, then froze again as the supervisor looked to one side with a startled expression. “What is it?”
“Colonel Rogero, Madam President. He’s alive. He’s trying to get through to you.”
She started breathing once more. “Link him to me. Private circuit.”
Iceni had been raised not to believe in higher powers that looked out for those who did the right things and punished those who did wrong. Most of what she had seen in the Syndicate, in which those who did wrong won higher promotions and gained higher salaries, and those who did right often ended up as victims, had done little to change her mind.
But at the moment, she was seriously considering offering any sacrifice demanded to whatever power was looking out for her.
The man whose image appeared before her wore a uniform torn and blackened by smoke, but his expression was strong and firm. “Madam President. If I couldn’t have gotten through, I would have acted as you previously directed. But I was able to establish contact and await your orders.”
Iceni gasped with relief before she could answer. “Colonel, I hope that Captain Bradamont will forgive me for saying that at the moment you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
Rogero grinned through the smudges on his face. “I’m sure that Captain Bradamont will understand.”
“How did you survive?”
“My vehicle halted just short of the weapons buried in the street, so none of the upward-focused explosions hit it. A blast from one side was absorbed by one of my escort vehicles that had came up on that side. The blow from the other side struck the forward portion of my vehicle, killing the driver and pinning me in the wreckage for a while. The doctors on the scene wanted to send me to the hospital, but with the help of some of my soldiers who arrived on the scene, I convinced the physicians that I had work to do. Do you have a plan?”
“I’m developing one. I need your ground forces,” Iceni said, grateful again that Drakon had chosen to leave Rogero here. “All of the ground forces. The citizens are within a hairsbreadth of erupting into violence at locations all over this planet.”
“Yes, Madam President, I agree. Request permission to speak freely.”
“Colonel, don’t bother with the formalities right now! We don’t have time. Tell me what I need to know.”
“Very well.” Rogero gestured all around him. “I’ve already given orders for all ground forces to mobilize. They are gathering at mobilization sites as we speak, but I must to tell you that we have to handle them carefully. They are on edge. My soldiers trust me, but the local ground forces are less reliable.”
“What has them on edge?” Iceni asked. “Anything specific, or the same sort of anything-that-could-possibly-be-wrong rumors running through the citizenry?”
“Something very specific concerns them,” Rogero said, both voice and expression now grim. “They fear being ordered to undertake compliance actions against the people.”
“And you believe they might refuse such orders?” Iceni said.
“Yes, I think the local ground forces will certainly refuse to obey those orders, and even my own soldiers probably will not obey.”
“I want alternatives, Colonel,” Iceni said. “All of my training tells me to send every soldier out with orders to open fire on any citizens who don’t disperse and return to their homes. My instincts tell me that such actions would shatter, perhaps beyond repair, my efforts to create an alternative to the Syndicate way of governing.”
“I concur, Madam President,” Rogero said. “If we send armed troops out to confront the rioters, some of the soldiers might open fire, either out of obedience or out of fear if confronted by a dangerous mob.”
“And there is this, Colonel,” Iceni added. “Whoever stirred this up, whoever brought this planet to the brink of mass chaos, wants me to order compliance actions. They want me to kill large numbers of citizens. Do you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Then give me options that don’t involve mass murder.”
Rogero inhaled deeply, looking away as he thought, then back at her. “There is one option that might work. It is a dangerous option, because if it fails, we won’t have the ability to try anything else.”