Выбрать главу

I paused. “Sally,” I ordered, “stand to attention.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, standing up.

“By the power vested in me, I hereby promote you to Lieutenant,” I said, clearly. I’d wanted to do it ever since I’d become Captain, but now…who was going to disagree? Everyone knew that Sally had been badly treated by the UN and no one doubted her competence. It was a shame I couldn’t grant her seniority as well, but that would have pushed matters too far. It wouldn’t be long before she was assigned to a new starship where she would either rise or fall according to her merits.

I sat back down in the command chair. “Pilot, take us back to Earth,” I ordered. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. It was easy to be dramatic in the flush of victory. “It’s time to dictate terms to the United Nations and end the war for good.”

Interlude Four

From: The End of the Nightmare. Standard Press, New Washington, 2567.

The end, when it came, came swiftly.

The UNPF coup in orbit above Earth broke the power of the UN completely. As then-Captain Walker sent messengers to the occupied planets, the remainder of the UNPF and the UN Infantry swung to his side. Walker’s message was clear. The occupations were going to come to an end, provided that the Infantry were allowed to withdraw in peace. Planets such as Heinlein respected the ceasefire and generally permitted the UN Infantry to withdraw to bases out in the countryside, while they waited for transport to be organised back to Earth. Others, such as Terra Nova or New Kabul, resumed their civil wars at once without waiting for the UN to withdraw, forcing the Infantry to establish safe zones for their forces. There was a certain irony that General LePic, whose hands had been tied by UN Regulations, was able to impose peace on Terra Nova without those regulations. Indeed, many disbanded Infantrymen chose to make their way to Terra Nova to join him.

But that would come later. The messengers convinced most of the remaining starships to join Captain Walker in rebellion against the UN. Many of the crews had been frustrated, or treated badly by their superiors, or even hadn’t been paid for their services. Around 70% of the UN’s starships and all of their support bases fell into Captain Walker’s hands, while a handful of loyalists either vanished off into the Beyond or attempted to turn pirate. Several other loyalist vessels attempted to attack Earth and break the blockade, but the repaired orbital defences — firmly in rebel hands — were able to beat them away from the planet. The longer the blockade held, the more planets and asteroids that broke away from the UN. Mars declared independence after a brief rebellion and most of the outer systems followed suit. The long war was over.

It was not a neat and tidy process. The issue of reparations for damage inflicted and punishment for war crimes continued to hang over the proceedings. Were the UN soldiers guilty of breaking any laws, or committing war crimes? Would they have been allowed to pass unpunished if they had followed orders? What was a war crime anyway? And that, of course, ignored war crimes committed by insurgents, who had often had little choice. The issues seemed insolvable.

And this still left, of course, the problem of peace. John Walker had never intended to run an empire of any kind, yet was there any other solution? Others feared his ambitions or his control of a fleet strongly loyal to him personally. It was towards this end that Walker summoned representatives from each of the inhabited planets, including Earth, to a grand summit at Unity, where such issues would be decided.

Part V: Generalissimo

Chapter Forty

Unity was unusual in that it was the only UN-settled world that didn’t have a civil war or the prospect of one held in check by the Infantry. Although it did have four different ethnic groups dumped on the planet — Germans, Russians, Mexicans and Indians — they were dumped on separate continents and actually built separate lives, to the point where Unity actually had four nations. The distances between them helped prevent racial/ethnic strife, although the UN-backed planetary government lacked real power.

-Thomas Anderson. An Unbiased Look at the UNPF. Baen Historical Press, 2500.

“This meeting will now come to order,” I said, as calmly as I could. “Please could I have your attention?”

There was little fear of losing it, I reflected, as their eyes followed me. I’d hoped to have a relatively small conference, but I’d forgotten how many different factions there were in the Human Sphere. There were over five hundred actual delegates in the chamber, with an equivalent number of observers, reporters and other representatives. I’d planned to hold it onboard the Percival Harriman — our only battleship — but we’d been forced to move down to Unity. It wasn’t an auspicious beginning.

It had taken nearly a year to set up the conference, a year where I’d wondered if I’d lose control as quickly as I’d taken it. My UNPF — I’d decided that we’d simply be ‘Fleet’ in future, rather than any more Peace Force nonsense — faction was larger than all the others, but some elements of the old regime had tried to fight rather than submit, or even accept my offer of future service. We’d had to chase several starships into the Beyond, or catch and destroy others, and that still left the problem of cleaning up the Infantry. Some worlds had allowed the Infantry to disengage gracefully, others had continued the war right up until the conference itself…and God alone knew what we were doing to do about Terra Nova. Was it possible that that mess would ever be sorted out?

In the end, I’d imposed an uneasy peace, but I doubted that it would last forever. The power of the UN had been broken, but there were other factions that would make their own bids for power, now that the oppressor had been defeated. There were resistance forces that saw us as merely the continuation of the UN’s oppression and radical fanatics determined to punish Earth for centuries of oppression. The UN had kept the lid on hundreds of racial and religious conflicts — I remembered Muna with a wave of bitter regret — and now that lid was coming off. Fleet Intelligence — I’d given that to one of the handful of people I trusted completely — was predicting that at least fifty-two worlds would see outbreaks of civil war by the end of the following year. The UN’s baleful legacy would be felt for years to come.

“I am not a diplomat,” I said, into the silence, “so I trust that you will understand if I disperse with the usual formalities. I have read accounts of conferences that went on for years without producing any real result, but I see no reason why we cannot have the basis of a peace agreement within a week, perhaps less. I understand that many of you have grievances you wish to air, or demands you wish to make, but we are here to discuss the future of the Human Sphere. More mundane issues can wait.”