Micah shrugged. "That just makes it more likely that he'll be killed resisting arrest. We'll have the element of surprise and overwhelming force. I don't care how tough and smart he is; without ships and weapons, we can brush him aside."
Van-Lyn shrugged, his expression skeptical. "Perhaps. I certainly hope you're right, because the other major problem is our own people."
Micah flushed, and his expression turned dangerous. "What do you mean? Are you saying that our own people might disobey my orders?" He swelled up visibly. "They're Fleet, and they'll do as they're told!"
Van-Lyn shrugged again. "They're Fleet, but they're not robots. Many of them have been stationed here for years. Some even consider themselves rimworlders now. Most, especially the officers, pay attention to the sector news. They've seen the good Cord has done for the sector. Besides, Cord's nearly fanatical loyalty to the Emperor is well known. It may not be easy to convince them that Cord's a villain."
Micah's flush of anger began to fade as he realized that Van-Lyn had a point. After a moment, he released his pent-up breath with a mighty whoosh. "You may be right, Jamin. If so, this is probably the most serious problem we'll have. How do we handle our own peoples' foolish support of Cord and their blind loyalty to the Emperor? If we just circulate the message, at least half of them will think it's a fake and a forgery. We have to come up with a way to deal with our own people before we can even begin to work on fighting Eron's treason."
The planning went on far into the ship's "night." Micah and Van-Lyn began screening their subordinate officers. They made up lists; officers they could count on, those whose loyalties were in doubt, and those most vocal in their support of Cord. Micah and Van-Lyn determined to sound out those on the second and third lists, finding out who was reliable and who was not, and shifting their duty assignments. When the shoe dropped, Micah wanted people that he could trust in positions of authority and power.
There would be resistance, of course. Non-routine reassignments would generate questions and resentment. However, Micah was confident that he could handle it. After all, he was the supreme Fleet officer in the sector. He also controlled access to communications with higher authority.
After Van-Lyn left, Micah became lost in thought. Van-Lyn's hatred and contempt irritated him more than he'd like to admit. Oh, he guessed he was rather a mystery to the old man. Why would a member of one of the wealthiest families in the Empire become involved in smuggling and any number of other illegal activities?
Van-Lyn just didn't understand. Coming from a certain social strata required a certain very expensive lifestyle. Certainly, his Fleet salary had never met his needs. Joining the Fleet had been his father's idea. He'd discovered early on that young Micah had no interest in or talent for business. When he finally ran out of patience, Jonas Senior had decreed that Micah accept the Fleet commission he'd purchased. So Micah had joined the Fleet, after being told in no uncertain terms that if he resigned, he'd be cut off from his father's money and power. His younger brother had become heir apparent to Jonas, Inc.
For a long time, all had gone well. True to his word, Micah's father, and later his brother, had used money and influence liberally to ensure Micah got fast promotions and plum assignments, well away from any danger of injury or death.
Micah's luck ran out during his last posting. Commodore Jonas had been given command of a supply base comfortably close to Prime. For over three years, he'd spent most of his time shuttling between his base and his vacation home on Prime.
Micah sighed as he stared out the viewport at the planet orbiting below. His planet, just as Nemesis was his ship. At least under his control. The old Emperor had deeded the entire Thaeron system to the Fleet. Micah snorted. Not that it was that much of a system.
Oh, it had a G9 star, and a system of 12 planets; but only Thaeron was inhabitable. Not that Thaeron was such a bad planet. In fact, it was very Prime-like. However, except for a few square miles devoted to the Fleet base, and a scattering of facilities to provide rest and recreation services, the whole planet was uninhabited. It was pretty from space, though. Well, to be honest, it was a nice planet. Those R amp;R facilities featured everything from snow skiing to lazing on tropical beaches to hunting Thaeron's weird fauna.
The system was heavily fortified, though it had never been threatened. Micah had many of the fields of drifting minefields dismantled after complaints from the captains of the rim tramps that made Thaeron a regular port of call.
Micah dragged his thoughts back from the view. He'd been happy at his last command. Life had been good.
Then some nosies from the Fleet Investigative Service had descended on his base. They'd been pursuing an undercover investigation for almost a year, and they arrested several dozen of Micah's officers and men for participation in a huge theft and smuggling ring. Why, Micah himself had been subjected to an intense grilling that lasted almost a full day.
He'd protested of course. He'd immediately returned to Prime and complained directly to the Commander in Chief of the Fleet, Fleet Admiral Chu-Lo himself.
He'd been shocked and humiliated. The old man had not only offered him no sympathy, he'd called him an incompetent fool, among other things.
His brother hadn't been much better. He'd called Micah names, too. His own brother — and his younger brother at that! He'd told Micah they'd get him out of this last scrape, but there would be no more help from the Jonas family. Micah would be on his own. Micah's protests were ignored. The family would buy him another star, and arrange a transfer, with no charges filed. Then they'd be finished with him. No more money to supplement his Fleet salary. No more influence used to get him his choice of assignment. Micah would be cut off from the Jonas family's wealth and power.
So, Micah was promoted to Rear Admiral, appointed Commander, Rim Sector, and shipped off to Thaeron, as far from Prime as Fleet Admiral Chu-Lo could find. He'd been here for six years now, and it was obvious he'd be here until he retired in ten years.
But Micah wasn't taking his humiliation lying down. He'd show them. He'd show them all!
Micah wasn't stupid. He'd learned how his officers and men had betrayed him, and the mistakes that had gotten them caught. Surely, as the Commanding Officer of an entire sector's forces, he'd be able to do a better job — and make sure he wouldn't get caught. He'd make his own fortune. When he retired, he'd return to Prime in triumph. He wouldn't have to piddle along on a Rear Admiral's retirement pay or worse yet go to his brother, hat in hand.
He'd done it, too. He had over thirty million crowns stashed in numbered accounts on half a dozen worlds near Prime. Directly or through intermediaries, Micah had a piece of every illegal enterprise in the Thaeron system and many others throughout the rim. By judicious use of his transfer authority and by trading on the Jonas name, he'd managed to surround himself with people he could trust — trust to help him defraud the Empire.
He'd even managed to get back at his brother. One of his clandestine contacts had underbid Jonas, Inc. on a supply contract then, with Micah's help, provided less than the required amount of substandard weapons system power cells. Micah had simultaneously denied his brother the lucrative contract, and made nearly a million from it.
But Micah was careful, even though he seemed to be getting away with everything. He constantly reminded himself that the traitorous officers at his last command had thought they were getting away with it, too, until FIS grabbed them.
So he wasn't too surprised when he discovered that an investigation was underway. Oh, the indications were subtle: several new officers and enlisted people transferred in, unrequested. Files accessed without apparent reason. Other seemingly minor occurrences. It all added up to FIS. However, Micah had set up warning systems and several alarms had gone off.