Angles of Attack (Frontlines #3)(15)
“If I had to choose just between those, I would much prefer perishing in battle,” Brigadier Park says. “But I suggest we find a way to avoid such a limited variety of options.”
“I’m with you there, General,” Colonel Aguilar says. “Question is, what do we do with all these ships and combat troops if we can’t go back the way we came?”
“We can’t go anywhere but the solar system,” Colonel Campbell says. “There’s no other transition point anywhere else in Fomalhaut. Light-hours and light-hours of Not a Damn Thing.”
“Our transition point isn’t safe. We already had half a dozen seed ships on our tail when we made it through on the way here, and God only knows why they didn’t just follow us through and finish the job. We go back that way, we’ll run right into the middle of a Lanky proximity bio-minefield. Or worse, six or ten seed ships loitering by the transition point to blow us to shreds as soon as we’re out of Alcubierre.”
“We can’t stand up to multiple seed ships with what we have, not even with Regulus,” Colonel Campbell concurs. “Forcing the blockade just isn’t an option. If we can sneak back into the solar system and get a whiff of things first, we’d have a better grasp on the situation. Maybe they stopped at Mars for now, and the fleet bases in the outer system are still there. The Titan anchorage has a full wartime supply stock. That’s a lot of food and ammo sitting in storage. Maybe there are even fleet remnants we can add to the task force.”
“That’s an awful lot of maybe,” Lieutenant Colonel Reddicker says. The stocky infantry officer crosses his arms in front of his chest and leans back in his chair. “We go back that way on the carrier, I’ll have almost two thousand grunts camped out on the flight deck, all helpless. They kill that carrier, those men are all going to die without ever getting the chance to fire a shot back at the enemy.”
“We will not load up all our troops and transition back blindly,” Colonel Aguilar replies. “We’ll send a recon team through first.”
“Through Alcubierre? You can’t shoot pods or drones through the network. Not without sticking your nose out the other end of the chute.”
“So we send one ship,” Brigadier Park says. “A small ship, with good sensors. Your little spy ship. It has stealth capability, does it not?”
If we were all in the same room, I have the feeling that all heads would be turning toward Colonel Campbell right now. He looks surprised for a moment and then shakes his head.
“Indy? Yes, she does, but that’s a no-go. I’m tasked with orbital defense by the colonial administrator. If I leave, nobody is covering for the HD grunts from above.”
“I’m fairly sure your ship is still an NAC Fleet Arm asset,” Colonel Aguilar says.
“And I’m fairly sure I have rank seniority,” Colonel Campbell replies. “But even if I didn’t, you folks are going to turn blue in the face if you’re going to hold your breath waiting for me to leave orbit without civilian authorization.”
Several of the other NAC officers chime in, and for a few moments, the conference feed is cluttered with a bunch of staff brass cross-talking in escalating volumes while the SRA officers watch the proceedings silently. Then the colony administrator speaks up, and the military officers fall silent as the tech who runs the feed mutes out their audio.
“Colonel, I do appreciate your willingness to adhere to Commonwealth law,” he says. “But if any of those warships decide to take on the colony, we’ll be dead meat with or without you.” He looks to a spot somewhere offscreen and then shakes his head slowly. “Look, if we don’t find a way for you to get back to the solar system, we’re all going to bite it anyway. Either when our supplies run out in a few months and we starve to death, or the Lankies show up and gas us all. From where I’m sitting, the best use for your ship is doing exactly what the general proposed, and scout a path for the rest of you all back to Earth. Or at least the outer solar system. You have my authorization to leave orbit and discontinue your current mission.”
Brigadier Park nods at the administrator, who returns the nod curtly. Colonel Campbell merely shrugs.
“Fine,” the colonel says when the tech restores his audio. “That’s settled, then. But I’m still not excited about transitioning back blindly. Even under stealth, they’ll shoot Indy to shards if they’re staking out the Alcubierre node. And you all wouldn’t know what happened until we were overdue a few weeks later. At which point you’ll have no options left other than a suicide run of your own. And I have to be honest, General: It bugs me to know that you SRA boys and girls will have no skin in the game.”
“I am not familiar with that idiom,” Brigadier Park says. “What does ‘skin in the game’ mean?”
“That means you are risking nothing in this operation,” Sergeant Fallon supplies.
Brigadier Park looks at the officer next to him and mutes the audio feed on his end. They engage in a short discussion. The general is as calm as he has been since he joined the feed, but whatever they’re discussing must make the other officer uncomfortable or upset, because his expression gradually turns from neutral to visibly perturbed. Then it looks like they come to some agreement as the other officer nods and lowers his gaze. Brigadier Park turns back toward the camera and turns his audio feed back on.