carried out against the ferry flight and the commodore's shuttle had
left the combined fleet without its appointed leader. So far, no
replacement had been announced, leaving the chain of command as it had
been, with A'baht as senior commander of the forces in Farlax Sector.
But Fleet Command had involved itself in the operational details to a
degree that sharply limited A'baht's command autonomy, and the
selection of a new commodore seemed inevitable.
In the meantime, though, there was work to do.
"General A'baht," said a new voice.
A'baht looked up to see Carson standing in the hatchway wearing a half
grin. "Stony," A'baht said, rising from his desk. "I thought I told
my aide to deliver you to the briefing room."
"The landing bay officer said the next gig was ten minutes behind me,"
said Carson, closing the hatch behind him and easing himself into a
chair. "I thought I'd take the opportunity to say hello."
Puffing out a breath, A'baht settled back into his chair and thumbed
his comlink. "Lieutenant, inform me when the others arrive."
"Yes, sir."
Switching off the unit and setting it on his desk, A'baht sat back and
let himself smile. "It's good to see you, Stony."
"And you, Etahn. I hear things have been a little rough."
"I'm glad to have you here," said A'baht. "This is a very green
fleet."
"I doubt that your training methods have softened with the years," said
Carson. "They'll be all right."
"A leavening of experienced crews and battle-tested ships among them
will make them better," said A'baht. "We've trained them hard, but
training is not the same as fighting. They got their first taste of
that at Doornik Three-nineteen."
"A bitter taste, from what reached us," said Carson.
"How did the new ships perform for you?"
"They held up well. The losses we took weren't design-related. A
couple of captains learned what not to
do next time." A'baht paused, then added gravely, "A couple of crews
bought me very expensive lessons that I will probably not have the
opportunity to apply."
"You don't think you're going to see home before this is over, do
you?"
"No--they won't make any changes now. But when the new commodore
arrives, I'll be reduced to a supernumerary--in fact if not in name,"
said A'baht.
"Already I'm little more than a mouthpiece for Fleet Command."
"It's that way sometimes," said Carson, his grin widening. "No one
wearing this uniform enjoys the latitude of a general in the Domean
navy."
A'baht flashed a brief, knowing smile. "Or enjoys the
responsibility.
If I had had that from the start--" "It's not the way Coruscant does
things--no matter who's holding the reins, there are always reins,"
said Carson. "Are you certain they're going to send someone?"
"I think the only thing that's stopped them from sending Ackbar or
Nantz to take command is the fear that they, too, might become
hostages," said A'baht. "I seem not to have many boosters at
headquarters."
"I told you--you should have let them make you an admiral," said
Carson. "I'd bet half your trouble with the command staff comes from
clinging to your old rank. Headquarters is full of newborn
traditionalists, and they can't get it out Of their heads that a
general should have dirty boots or wings. These lofty quarters"--he
raised his hands to take in the utilitarian suite--"are for
admirals."
"So you are saying that they offered me the choice of retaining my
Dornean navy rank as a false courtesy," said A'baht.
"Oh, I'm sure whoever signed off on the consolidation plan was
sincere," said Carson. "Generals are C-one, admirals are C-one--so
it's the grade that matters, not the rank, right? But old prejudices
die slowly--to say nothing of old rivalries."
"Foolishness," A'baht said disgustedly. "To judge a man by his
title--" At that point, the hatch opened and Lieutenant Zratha poked
his head in. "Admiral Tolokus and Commodore Martaft are in the
briefing room, sir. The others are on their way up."
"Thank you. We'll be along presently," said A'baht, standing. "Well,
Stony, time to don my tarnished title."
Carson was on his feet by then and saluted smartly--to A'baht's
surprise. "Sir, if I may say so, I can see no tarnish from here--and
neither will the others."
He moved a step closer and dropped his voice. "This isn't Imperial
City. We know who you are, General--we know that you belong. Just
lead the way. You won't need to wonder about whether we're
following.
They asked me to tell you that, sir."
A'baht showed a quick, tight smile. "Thank you, Stony," he said. "Now
let's go roll up our sleeves."
A'baht allowed Carson to go on ahead while he stopped to collect his
briefing officers from the staff bullpen. Without consciously
intending it, that gave him the opportunity to make an entrance,
sweeping into the room with two colonels following in his wake. The
five who were waiting there four commodores and an admiral, from left
to right a woman, three men, and a Norak Tull--rose smartly from their
seats and saluted.
"At ease," A'baht said, moving toward the center seat. "Let me
introduce Colonel Corgan, my staff tactical officer, and Colonel
Mauit'ta, my staff intelligence officer. They will have reports for
you later in this session."
The two officers took chairs flanking A'baht.
The general wasted no time on introductions or other social niceties.
"As you already know, you and your task forces have been sent here to
reinforce the Fifth Fleet in the effort to contain the Yevetha," he
said.
"We are no longer here as a symbol, or a warning, or a show of
strength, like some sort of War Day parade.
Our mission objectives are threat assessment and containment, and they
could grow beyond that at any time.
"We will operate as a single operational unit at double fleet strength,
with all ten task forces reporting directly to me through my command
staff. Each of your units will retain its current organization, call
signs, and command frequencies at the battle group, squadron, and
division levels.
"The one exception to that concerns your intelligence assets. All
prowlers and ferrets are to be attached to the newly authorized
Sixteenth Tactical Recon Group, and will be reporting directly to
Colonel Mauit'ta, effective immediately. He will provide you with
further details concerning basing and the transfer procedure.
Fleetwide tactical reports will come from Colonel Corgan's office.
You'll be expected to continue to provide your own local early-warning
and fleet defense patrols, using your recon wings and pickets.
"We've taken casualties and can expect to take 'more, but I will not
stand for any commander under me becoming blithe about that fact. We
should be prepared to accept every loss by enemy action that is
necessary to the success of our mission here-
-but I will not accept a
single casualty due to inattentiveness, incompetence, carelessness,
inefficiency, or preventable failures of ships and munitions. Our
enemy is smart, strong, and determined, and we're on his turf. I'm
asking for the highest possible level of combat readiness at every
level of your respective commands.
"While we're on the subject of losses--Colonel Corgan?"
Corgan nodded. "Fleetwide, we are twenty-six combat pilots and eleven
support pilots short of our authorized strength," he said. "Those
numbers reflect net losses from the Doornik Three-nineteen engagement
and the coordinated recon of the Cluster interior.
"Between reserves and resupply from Coruscant, we have rides
available--just no riders. One of the down sides of being a new combat
division scratch-built to specs is that we had very few experienced
pilots banked in nonflying posts, and most of those carry ranks that
ordinarily would exclude them from front-line combat units.
"When you return to your commands, please examine your crew and staff
rosters with an eye toward locating a minimum of six and a maximum of
eight pilots whom you could make available by transfer. We are
particularly hurting for experienced recon pilots."
Commodore Poqua leaned forward and rested her folded arms on the
table.
"Between the expansion to five fleets and the number of Rebellion
veterans returning to civilian life, none of us is in a much better
position than you are," she said. "I know that up until two years ago,
Task Force Gemstone typically had forty or more names in the bank. Now
those bank pilots are scattered on forty worlds, making babies and
tending gardens and flying commercial shuttles--if they're flying at
all."
"We're aware of the effect the drawdown has had throughout the Fleet,"
said A'baht. "But the need to balance our assets remains. Please
submit your transfer lists by fourteen hundred-today." He looked to
his right.
"Colonel Mauit'ta--the Yevethan force assessments."
Mauit'ta slid a datacard across the table to each of the task force
commanders in turn. Commodore Grekk 9, the Norak Tull, inserted the
card into the input stage on his armored thorax, and Poqua produced a
datapad from an inside pocket. The others let their copies remain on
the table as finger toys.
"Those datacards contain our complete and most current knowledge about
the Yevethan fleet," said Mauit'ta. "That includes recognition holos,
sensor profiles, an order of battle and ship inventory, last and best
sightings, and preliminary specifications for the hyperspace-capable
thrustship design now code-named Fat Man.
"The data we are providing to you is incomplete and in some respects
speculative. For example, the order of battle is based primarily on
astrographic deployment, since we have no direct information about the
combat
organization of the Yevethan fleet. But as the General has already
noted, one of our jobs right now is to fill in the blanks. We're
particularly eager for a chance to make a kill on a Fat Man--right now
we don't even have a good sense of what that will take.
"I'll let you review the force assessments in detail with your command
staffs, and limit myself to a summary overview. Based on a complete
analysis of our contacts with the Yevetha, we are currently estimating
their fleet strength at no fewer than ninety-three capital ships, of
which at least twenty-nine are Imperial-design vessels and the balance
are Fat Men.
"There are at least nineteen occupied and defended worlds, and there
may be twenty--Doornik Two-oh-seven hasn't been reconned yet. Eight
are defended by a mixed fleet, and we're considering that an indicator
that the Yevetha consider those principal targets. Five are League
members, and three are former colonies. The other eleven targets are
defended by Fat Men only.
"It is possible that the Yevetha have additional vessels cached
elsewhere--we hope to start reducing that uncertainty by expanding our
surveys of the Cluster.
But the biggest question marks" Grekk 9 interrupted the briefing at
that point. "The Imperial shipyards. Where are the shipyards?"
"Yes, Commodore--you anticipate me. We don't know where they are or
what's hiding in them. The probability is that the Yevetha have three
operational Imperial shipyards, all of which may be continuing to
produce copies of the Imperial ships in their inventory.
Four instances of duplicate Star Destroyer ID profiles were recorded
Carson spoke up. "Either they're trying to throw us off, or they're
duplicating systems without understanding them."
"We have an intelligence source that suggests the latter may be the
case," said Mauit'ta. "In any event, locating the shipyards is our
number-one intelligence priority. And when located, the shipyards will
be designated as primary targets."
"What about the Fat Men?" asked Martafl.
"Where are they being built? Given the numbers, we may need to worry
more about them."
"The thrustships appear to be built in surface yards, possibly on
N'zoth only," said Mauit'ta. "We've located two such yards, and those
are designated priority point targets."
"How do you intend to locate the Imperial yards?" asked Grekk 9.
A'baht interrupted at that point. "All of these issues can be
addressed at a later time," he said. "The point to impress on your
crews is that the Yevetha cannot be taken lightly. Considering only
their confirmed assets, they have more than sufficient strength to
overwhelm a single task force.
"For that reason, I have ordered that the minimum division for the
coming deployment will be two task forces. Token and Bellbright will
be paired under Admiral Tolokus. Apex and Summer will combine under
Commodore Carson. Gemstone will join Copperleaf, the flag task force,
under Commodore Mirx. Are there any questions on that point?"
There were none, Joint task force operations were part of both the
training and operational routine, and A'baht had left the natural and
familiar pairings in place.
But the order itself underlined how seriously A'baht viewed the Yevetha
threat. The commodores of the Fleet's task forces were not accustomed
to thinking of their commands as vulnerable. The typical composition
of a twenty-one-vessel task force included a Star Destroyer or fleet
carrier as flagship, two heavy cruisers and two assault carriers, four
escort frigates, and five gunships--a fast, flexible, and formidable
aggregation of firepower.
"What is our coming deployment?" asked Admiral Tolokus.
"I'm taking the fleet into the boundary systems of the Cluster," said
A'baht, turning his solemn and unblinking gaze toward the admiral.
"The big parade is
over. We're going to make it as hard as we can for the Yevetha to
keep track of us, while making it easier for us to keep track of
them.
"That includes recon surveys in fo
rce, filling the Cluster with as many
sensor buoys and probots as we can get, scattering ghost repeaters
behind in systems we visit, and sending a squadron to Doornik
Eleven-forty-two to look for a shipyard there," he said. "We don't
currently have the authority to initiate action against the Yevetha,
but we're fully authorized to use all available force if they show up
and try to interfere with our operations.
"In short, we're going to stretch the principles of free navigation and
legitimate self-defense as far as they'll go," said A'baht. "If our
presence persuades the Yevetha to seek a diplomatic solution, that'll
be fine with us. But if they insist on war, we have to make certain
we're ready to make them regret their choice."
A'baht swept his gaze across the faces opposite him at the briefing
table. "That's what I expect from you, and from the ships, officers,
and crews under your command.
Be prepared to fight when there is no other option--and be prepared to
win, because there is no other option."
Luke awoke in Mud Sloth's sleeper with an unaccustomed warmth beside
him and an unaccustomed memory hovering close to his thoughts. He
stirred, and Akanah melded her body against his again, skin touching
skin and coaxing slumbering senses to awaken.