“Farmers upset about the price of fuel and a drop in the price of produce, played by senior school students from two private schools. They were always intimidated by the cadet troops and dispersed without actual contact.”
“I had no idea…”
“You wouldn’t. You were Spaceforce-designated. You were on your shuttle training flight.”
“And Kvannis knows these plans?”
“To the centimeter. He knows how far ahead you have to reserve the buses. He knows the exact coordinates of every room in every building.” Laurent looked at her quizzically.
“Do you think Kvannis expects these plans to be followed? In general or in detail?”
“Commandant, I must admit Iskin Kvannis and I were not particularly close. We had had… disagreements. His intent, he had told me, was to get rid of me for being, in his words, insufficiently respectful of his position once he became Commandant. Because I did not like him, it is possible that I have not fully understood his thought processes. And I have no idea what insight he had into your thought processes, or if he thought Colonel Stornaki would take over the Academy after he left.”
“Points taken,” Ky said. “Conclusion?”
“I think he expected Stornaki would be named interim, and Stornaki would do what Kvannis told him. Surrender the Academy, even. I’m sure he knows you’re the new Commandant. He knows you were trained for Spaceforce, and your experience was entirely in space warfare. He may expect you to follow the plan because you have no expertise in land warfare, or he might think you will do something different but equally inept.” Laurent tipped his head a little.
Ky nodded. “Then I think I should surprise him by doing something different and effective. Don’t you?”
He smiled at her. “Yes. Did you have something in mind?”
“Indeed. But if you have any ideas, I’d rather hear yours first.”
“The plan as it is could be improved by adding that engineer brigade and moving some dirt around, to the consternation of the Port Major Garden Club. Adding some artillery, air defense emplacements, surveillance drones… do we have any hope of getting such resources from the Joint Services HQ?”
“In other words, augment the current plan? With resources we almost certainly could not get within a tenday, let alone create real defensive positions?”
“That’s true. If we expect an attack that soon, about all we can do is evacuate the likely targets—the President, the senior legislators, the heads of departments—but we can’t. I raised that possibility and everyone acted as if I wanted to kidnap them and put them in prison—”
“Everyone is going to have to accept the necessity,” Ky said. “We don’t have the troops, equipment, or time to make that area really defensible, though we don’t know the actual time of attack. We know the other side has subverted part of AirDefense: they were able to send planes up from Ordnay to intercept an aircraft carrying rescued personnel.”
“What happened?”
“Better planning,” Ky said. “I regret the deaths of those pilots, but we got the survivors safely to Port Major.” He nodded and she went on. “We don’t know whether Sea Force has been subverted as well, so attacks from ships at sea, or troops transported by sea, could be involved, as well as Land Force units moving into the city. We would need much longer—and we don’t have it, because the other side has to move quickly; they can’t easily hide out for a half year. Now that they’ve started, speed is their ally.”
“So—how are you going to convince the government officials to leave—and where will you take them? And what about the damage the attackers will do to the buildings?”
“The buildings are less important than the people and the data—data transfer needs to start today. I need to talk to the President and the Council today without telling them more than they need to know. And we need to convince Kvannis that our plan is his plan because I—the idiot from outer space—can’t think of anything else. So we’re going to act as if that plan is our plan. There will be drills. We’ll get those buses, load ’em up, drive over there, and have cadets march around. We’ve got two small airfields—who’s reliable in AirDefense, do you think?”
“Well… there’s Basil Orniakos, but your aunt the Rector had a feud with him last spring. I’ve heard rumors he’s gone over to the rebels, but I don’t believe it. He was in my class here, and it’s my belief he’s rock-solid loyal, but could be pretending to defect.”
“AirDefense faculty here?”
Laurent looked down, frowning. “I can’t be sure. I don’t want to accuse anyone unfairly—”
Ky let out an exasperated hiss. “Colonel, I have to trust someone, and I’ve decided to trust you. So let’s deal with the loyalty due fellow officers as subordinate to the loyalty due Slotter Key as a whole. Is there anyone on the AirDefense track here that you trust unequivocally?”
“No,” he said, meeting her gaze. “Commander Vinima made… comments during the time you were in Miksland that indicated his lack of respect for former Commandant Burleson and his adherence to Kvannis. His second, I believe, transferred to the Academy when Vinima became chair of the department.”
“Then I will get in touch with Orniakos, through proper channels.”
“And the rest of your plan?”
“Remove the human and data targets, and appear to be following the old plan, in order to lure the opposing force into a trap.”
“There’ll be damage…”
“To structures. Which can be rebuilt. If we have the right combination of weaponry, damage will be confined to the government corridor, but evacuating the closest buildings would be a good idea.”
“That might actually work,” Laurent said. “But you still need to find a secure place for the President and the others.”
“I need staff,” Ky said. The plan was crystallizing now, and she could almost see how the parts would mesh. “We’ll need three different groups to pull this off. Command structure for each.” She felt the familiar excitement, energizing. “I’ll want your recommendations for the main group, and your support when I tackle Joint Services HQ.”
“It’ll take me the rest of the day—”
“Fine. I’ll see the President and the Rector. Keep in mind that this new plan is not for anyone else. No one, as this point, but you and me.”
“Yes, Commandant. But what about General Molosay?”
“I will inform him in person, but not via any communications device.” And not yet, she thought. They would be lucky if they had ten days, extremely lucky if something delayed Kvannis twenty days. She wished every meteorological and mechanical disaster on him and his forces.
By midnight, when she finally got to bed, Ky had talked to President Saranife, the Rector of Defense, and the few others she felt she must inform. She had a list for the next day’s calls as well. Colonel Laurent had prepared an organizational chart for the operation she’d outlined and they’d spent a couple of hours after supper refining it.
The next day Ky informed the entire faculty that the Academy’s traditional duty of protecting the seat of government might be called on, and advised them to be ready for sudden schedule changes.
“You mean someone might actually invade the city? Who?”
“Dissident elements of the military,” Ky said. “Possibly led by the former Commandant—”
“Are you sure he wasn’t abducted?”
“Yes,” Ky said. “We have evidence that he was plotting to overthrow the government and dissolve the union, restoring at least one southern continent to political independence.”
“That’s ridiculous; they can’t possibly expect to win.”
“Be that as it may,” Ky said, “General Molosay told me that in his opinion an attack is possible, and that the Academy would be expected to follow Emergency Orders Local and protect at least the two most important government buildings, Government House and the Presidential Palace. The Joint Services Headquarters expects to be fully engaged as well, so this is our problem, like it or not. Plans for this have been drawn up, as you know, and yearly drills held—”