Return to Sol: Attack at Dawn - An Epic Space Opera Adventure (Aeon 14: The Orion War Book 12) Read online

  The lavender-skinned woman nodded. As one of the oldest colonized star systems in the galaxy, Sirius had rarely suffered defeat in war, while also remaining largely insular. The latter was the only silver lining, as most places they spread their odious ‘Luminescent Society’ caste system to did not fare well under it.

  “Our plan is not to take or occupy the whole system,” Joe said, sending a wide view of the space around Incandus, the white dwarf star in the binary system. “But we’re going to hammer every military target around Incandus and Radius, stripping their defenses bare.”

  “And just leave them for whatever wolves may come by?” Trevor asked.

  “Or until we have time to deal with them after the war,” Joe said with a shrug. “Honestly, once we unseat the Hegemony, I’m rather hoping that we can have them form a new government, and deal with this mess themselves.”

  “Really?” Jessica gave a caustic laugh. “I wouldn’t trust them to form a responsible government if all of humanity depended on it. No, when we’re done with Terra, we need to make sure that Sirius isn’t a threat to anyone ever again.”

  Joe cocked an eyebrow. “Do you really want to be in the business of policing the galaxy?”

  “Do you want to be in the business of fighting wars like this every few centuries?” she countered.

  The man on the holo sighed. “I just want to retire.”

  “Didn’t you already do that once?” Iris asked.

  “Hush, you.” He gave a soft chuckle.

  “I’ll rally my fleet,” Jessica told him, changing the topic. “I’ll leave a few on patrol while the rest form up at the gates. Do we need to deal with S&R?”

  “Scipio’s going to jump a few recovery platforms in for that,” Joe replied. “Though feel free to lend any aid you can, so long as you’re ready to jump to Sirius in thirty hours.”

  “Piece of cake, sir.” Jessica gave him an impish wink. “Almost like we know how to ply the black or something.”

  A hint of light came to Joe’s smile, and he nodded. “Good, glad to hear it, Admiral.”

  The holotransmission terminated, and Trevor let out a heartfelt sigh. “I have no idea how he does it.”

  “Which part?” Iris asked.

  “Soldier on,” he replied. “There’s a man who just never stops.”

  Jessica nodded, smiling as a few memories came to mind. “He comes off as an easygoing guy, but he’s always pushing forward. Somehow, he just makes it look effortless.”

  “I suppose we should do our jobs now,” Iris said as she returned to her station. “We have a fleet to ready.”

  “Sure as hell do,” Jessica replied. “Karma, get me all-fleet. It’s time to bring justice to Sirius.”

  THE ORION FRONT

  STELLAR DATE: 05.12.8950 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Hale’s World, Hale’s Beacon System

  REGION: Midway Cluster, Orion Freedom Alliance Space

  “Admiral!” a woman called out, feet dragging as she ran through the deep snow, cheeks red from the cold. “A courier ship is inbound; we’ve received word from Command!”

  Svetlana twisted to the side, her skis blowing a plume of snow into the air as she came to a stop a few meters from Lieutenant Raini.

  It had been some months since the last few QuanComm blades linked to New Canaan and the I2 had burned out, leaving Svetlana’s Hoplite fleet to their own devices, deep in Orion space.

  “How long till they dock? Did they send a data burst?” She pulled her goggles up and set them on her forehead.

  “Just a few hours, ma’am, they didn’t know if the system was safe enough to broadcast their presence. There is a burst, but most of it is for your eyes only. I did get word that New Sol has fallen, though!”

  The admiral pulled off a glove, wiping a bit of melting snow from her cheek while she tried to process the information. “Well, shit…that’s some amazing news!”

  “Yeah!” Raini was grinning ear to ear. “Does that mean our mission here in the PED is over?”

  Svetlana looked around at the snowy slope lined with towering pines. “I suppose it might be. I hope our efforts here had a part in weakening New Sol. I guess we’ll know more soon.”

  “Yes,” the lieutenant nodded rapidly. “They have fresh QC blades as well, so we’ll be able to get up-to-date news. I know a lot of people have been getting nervous, operating off the grid for so long.”

  Svetlana nodded. Though she couldn’t blame anyone for losing track of her force. After the victory in Sullus, they’d continued their rampage across the Perseus Expansion Districts until arriving at Hale’s World, where she’d granted her tired crews a furlough in the relatively peaceful system.

  Anyone attempting to follow the fleet would have had to hunt through fifty lightyears of space in order to find the Hoplite force. Despite her crew’s growing unease, Svetlana hadn’t minded being cut off from the lines of communication or resupply. Their situation was not unlike the ancient Greeks whose namesake her fleet bore: alone, cut off, but still unstoppable, deep within the heart of an enemy empire.

  She was certain those Greeks would have stopped for some skiing as well—if such a thing had been done in ancient Mesopotamia.

  “Well, I suppose my reprieve is over,” Svetlana said to the lieutenant. “Was there anything else?”

  “Uhhh…” The woman appeared uncertain. “There’s a message for Colonel Caldwell, but I can’t find him anywhere.”

  Svetlana nodded in the direction of the nearby lodge, and pushed off with her poles, going slow so the lieutenant could follow after. “Did you check the southern isles?” she asked once underway.

  “The…you want me to check the entire islands, ma’am?”

  She couldn’t help a laugh in response. “No, Lieutenant, an ISF shore leave shuttle went down there this morning. Check with them. I recall the colonel saying he enjoyed coral reef exploration.”

  “Really?” Raini was struggling to keep up, slogging through the deep snow, so Svetlana slowed.

  “That’s what I heard. Don’t hold me to it. I can also pass the message to him.”

  “No, ma’am.” The lieutenant drew herself up. “I’ll hunt him down. I wouldn’t burden you with that.”

  The admiral smiled at the junior officer. “That’s good to hear, but if you can’t find him before long, let me know. He shouldn’t be that far out of touch.”

  Svetlana caught a brief flash of consternation on Raini’s face. Despite her words, she too had been out of Link range. One of the lodge’s ‘features’ was that there was no wireless signal outside of designated areas. She could have connected to the orbital satellite network, but the admiral wanted to at least get down the slopes a few times before duty called once more. The fact that she’d done two whole runs before someone found her struck her as rather surprising.

  It only took the two women a few minutes to reach the lodge, where the local staff greeted them with an enthusiasm that was so effusive, Svetlana suspected it wasn’t remotely genuine.

  Or maybe they really are this happy to get out from under Orion’s thumb.

  Though there were pockets of military presence, much of the Perseus Expansion Districts had virtually no Orion Guard presence. Local systems were left to fend for themselves, albeit with a strong undercurrent of fear that any misstep would bring the Guard swooping in to deliver swift and unpleasant retribution.

  The sentiment was so pervasive that, at first, Svetlana had believed Orion’s hammer must fall with some regularity, but though her fleet analysts had spent some time searching for recent police actions by Orion in systems they’d passed through, such events were few and far between.

  The entire oppression of the PED was managed through a well-orchestrated propaganda campaign.

  A damn sight cheaper than actively policing the PED.

  Once inside the lodge’s large foyer, the lieutenant bid Svetlana farewell and went ahead to the dining room, which had been claimed as the junior officers’ loun
ge. The admiral instead stopped at the coffee bar and ordered a latte, settling on a stool while connecting to the low-bandwidth network the lodge possessed.

  She hopped onto the planetary network, and then connected to the TSF fleet in orbit of Hale’s World.

 

 

  He sounded tired, and she didn’t blame him. Even with weeks spent in the dark layer between systems, there had been little real downtime for the fleet personnel.

  I guess I should let him come down and have his R&R before we have to leave.

  Sebastian had insisted she go first, and nothing she’d been able to say—aside from a direct order—would sway him. He was a good man, which was exactly why she didn’t want him burning out.

 

  Svetlana couldn’t help a soft chuckle.

 

  she rolled her eyes, knowing with how the courier corps prided themselves on short, efficient runs, he’d likely been chafing at the delay.

 

  The admiral heaved a heavy sigh.

  The rear admiral’s grin translated readily into his mental tone.

 

  Sebastian said with a languid wink in her mind.

  Svetlana downed the rest of her latte, and slid off the barstool.

 

  Having anticipated interruption, Svetlana hadn’t even unpacked her bags before hitting the slopes. While on the way up to her room to retrieve them, she called down to the valley’s port for one of the waiting fleet pinnaces to pick her up.

  The crew chief informed her he could have a bird at the lodge in ten minutes, and she thanked him, sighing at the shame it would be to leave so soon. She glanced out a window in the hall, her gaze lingering on the white slopes stretching to the low-slung clouds.

  “I’ll be back,” she promised, adding a wink for good measure.

  A creak in the floorboards behind her caught the admiral’s attention, but the reflection in the glass showed an empty hall. An instant later, her HUD’s Link strength icon displayed zero signal.

  Years of training kicked in, and she ducked, lashing out with a booted foot as something whistled through the air over her head. Her blow struck an invisible enemy, and Svetlana rolled backward, looking for something she could throw at the stealthed foe.

  A garbage can was at her left, and she grabbed it, flinging it down the hall, dumping papers and food across the floor as it sailed through the air, only to be knocked aside.

  Gotcha!

  A banana peel was stuck to the attacker’s chest, and while it didn’t tell the admiral exactly where the next blow would come from, it was better than nothing.

  Her combat HUD had activated automatically, and Svetlana’s predictive systems painted a rough outline of a person in the hall.

  Rising to her feet, the admiral eased backward down the hall, quickly pulling her winter jacket off and wrapping it around her left arm.

  “Bring it, bitch.” She had no idea if it was a man or a woman, but the epithet seemed appropriate.

  “Gladly.” The single word hissed from the enemy, and Svetlana’s blood pressure spiked.

  It’s a fucking Widow!

  If she were armed and armored, the admiral wouldn’t be overly concerned. Widows were, after all, just women—mostly. But with only a pulse pistol and nothing but the skinsuit she’d worn for warmth on the slopes, she wouldn’t stand a chance against the clone.

  Wait…why hasn’t she just shot me?

  “Admiral?” Lieutenant Raini’s voice came from the far end of the hall. “Your—”

  The woman’s voice cut off as she came into view and saw the trash strewn across the floor, save for a banana peel floating in the air.

  “Look out,” Svetlana shouted as the Widow turned on the newcomer, and a lightwand flashed.

  Not caring that it would do little harm, the admiral drew her pulse pistol and fired three bursts at where she guessed the woman’s head to be.

  A hiss of annoyance came from the creature, and then Raini joined in, firing on the banana peel.

  Her second shot knocked it off, but Svetlana could tell from the lightwand’s position that the Widow was still facing the lieutenant.

  “Hey, bitch,” she shouted, glad that the epithet fit so well.

  Her predictive analysis showed the enemy turning to her left, lightwand in her right hand, still directed at Raini, who was backing away.

  Without much thought, Svetlana unfurled her jacket and dashed toward the Widow, flinging it at her head a moment before slamming into her, sending them both to the ground. She kept her weight atop the invisible attacker as best she could, but the Widow’s arm came up, lightwand flashing toward the admiral’s head. Raini suddenly landed on the woman’s outstretched arm, her knees pinning it to the ground.

  The Widow whipped the lightwand around, the electron beam slashing across the lieutenant’s thigh.

  Raini screamed, but didn’t release her hold. Svetlana twisted and brought her pulse pistol to the Widow’s neck, firing once to let her know she was serious.

  “Drop the lightwand, or we find out how many blasts it’ll take to turn your neck into pulp.”

  The wand fell to the floor, lighting the carpet on fire.

  “Asshole,” the admiral muttered as Raini grabbed it and thumbed the weapon off.

  The blade’s glow disappeared, but the lieutenant convulsed as an electric shock hit her.

  The Widow bucked beneath Svetlana, so she fired another round at the enemy, but missed and splintered floorboards instead. In the process of trying to gain purchase, the woman pushed Svetlana off, and she rolled overtop the burning carpet before quickly scampering out of the way.

  The next thing Svetlana knew, the window shattered, and the Widow presumably went through it.

  “Are you OK?” She crouched next to Raini, whose thigh was sheared off nearly to the bone. “Nevermind. Stupid question.”

  A moment later, the wireless network was back, and the admiral tapped into the lodge’s emergency channel.

 

  Raini slumped forward in her arms, and Svetlana held the woman close, glancing around, not entirely certain the Widow was gone.

  A minute later, the medic arrived, and the hunt for the attacker was on.

  NAIL, MEET HAMMER

  STELLAR DATE: 05.14.8950 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: ISS Andromeda, approaching Holden

  REGION: Jewel Star System, Trisilieds Kingdom

  “Weapons, full spread on that target!” Corsia called out while noting a ship for her crew, and nodding with grim satisfaction when the Andromeda’s beams lanced out and cut deep into the hull of a Trissie cruiser.

  Her fleet had been fighting in the Trisilieds Kingdom for months, taking system after system, decimating every defense the Trissies possessed, and cutting off the supply lines that were keeping the inner systems of the Hegemony of Worlds in ore and exotics.

  Sephira chastised.

  Corsia laughed and shook her head. Even for an AI, it was easy t
o sometimes fall into old patterns while concentrating on other things.

  Corsia replied.

  Sitting in the ship’s command chair, the admiral’s daughter gave her a knowing smile, and the AI shifted her focus back to the view of the battlespace that filled the holotank.

  Though she didn’t need the visual to manage the battle—her own internal view being every bit as detailed—Corsia had found that the second view, compiled by the tactical NSAIs, could provide valuable insight that she didn’t always consider on her own.

  More than once since she’d led her fleet into the Trisilieds, battles had been won by an edge as slim as one gained from a second view of events.

  After so many near-wins—and a few losses—the ISF’s Twelfth Fleet was closing in on their goal: the Trissie’s capital system. But first, they had this final bulwark to drive through, a major starbase orbiting a brown dwarf a little over a lightyear from the capital.

  Normally, brown dwarfs were lonely travelers, typically only dragging a few smaller bodies through space with them. But not this one. Named Jewel, it had accumulated a significant number of companions. Two ice giants drifted around the small system’s perimeter at seven and ten AU, and within that, a veritable sea of smaller bodies made their home amidst a series of barely-stable orbits.

  The current battle took place above a band the locals called ‘The Sea of Glass’, a band of ice and frozen gas that stretched around Jewel, just over three AU from the star.

  In most systems, such a dense asteroid belt wouldn’t remain stable, but in the Pleaides, there was enough interstellar debris that the system was constantly replenished by extrasolar objects settling into the belt.

  Despite the fact that they were fighting a war in it, Corsia was fascinated by the Jewel. Without a stellar wind of any note, and a much smaller magnetic field than fully convective stars possessed, the brown dwarf’s system was a strange mix of stellar and interstellar phenomenon.