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  The Final Battle

  ( Helfort's war - 5 )

  Graham Sharp Paul

  Graham Sharp Paul

  The Final Battle

  Sunday, March 24, 2402, Universal Date

  Commitment planetary nearspace

  Hell Bent was in a race it could never win, and Michael Helfort knew it. “How long?” he asked the battered lander’s command pilot.

  “Provided the battlesats don’t get us first,” Kat Sedova replied, “the first missile salvo will be inside hard kill radius in two minutes.” Her voice was barely audible over the racket of pulsed antiship lasers chewing away at Hell Bent’s ceramsteel armor.

  Fear churned Michael’s guts. It would be five minutes before Hell Bent could jump safely into pinchspace. “I guess this is it, then,” he said.

  “I’ll jump us just before the salvo gets that close. We might get lucky.”

  Michael glanced across Hell Bent’s cargo bay. He threw a smile at Shalini Prashad, the best political mind in the New Revolutionary Army’s political wing, the Revival; she stared back at him, eyes wide with terror. He turned to the two NRA officers who were sitting alongside him. “We still have a good chance,” Michael said, making himself sound confident, “even this deep inside Commitment’s gravity well.”

  “Let’s hope so,” General Cortez replied, grim-faced. “If we don’t make it …” His voice trailed off into silence.

  Major Hok said nothing, her face grim.

  Nothing more needed to be said. After more than a century of brutal, bloody conflict between the Hammer of Kraa and the Federated Worlds-a conflict fueled by the Hammers’ religious fundamentalism-humanspace teetered on the edge of the abyss, and every soul onboard knew it.

  The Hammers had been the only polity to weaponize antimatter. None of the other major systems of humanspace had even tried. They had judged it impossible, only to find how wrong they had been when in a single brutal attack the Hammers had used missiles with antimatter warheads to destroy much of the Feds’ fleet at the Battle of Comdur.

  Now the Hammers were constructing a new antimatter plant-with help from the Pascanicians-to replace the one the Feds had destroyed at Devastation Reef. Once it was on-stream, the Hammers would have the antimatter warheads they needed to defeat not just the Feds but every last system in humanspace. Nothing could stop them. Billions would be plunged into slavery, their only task to serve the all-powerful Empire of the Hammer of Kraa.

  Michael closed his eyes. He told his neuronics to bring up his favorite picture of Anna. He sat back and waited for the end.

  Monday, March 25, 2402, UD

  Offices of the Supreme Council for the Preservation of the Faith, city of McNair, Commitment planet

  “They’d have had a damn good reason to waste one of their precious landers like that,” Jeremiah Polk said. “The NRA and the Revival are gambling and gambling big, and we don’t know why.”

  “Let’s be realistic, Chief Councillor,” Viktor Solomatin, the Hammer of Kraa’s councillor for foreign relations, said. “The only people who can help that heretic scum are the Federated Worlds, but with Caroline Ferrero as moderator, that will never happen.”

  Polk leaned forward to look Solomatin right in the face. “Care to back that up, Councillor?” he said.

  “That’s why I wanted to see you, Chief Councillor. The Fed charge d’affaires has just forwarded me a personal message from Caroline Ferrero. She wants to know whether we would agree to a cease-fire.”

  “Kraa! The woman hasn’t wasted any time,” Polk said. He took a deep breath to control a sudden rush of excitement. “She’s been moderator for what … a week?” He paused to think. “Two questions,” he went on. “Why would the Feds propose a cease-fire, and why would we agree to one?” Again he stopped, a finger tapping his lips. “That said,” Polk said, “I think we know the answer to the first question.”

  “One of my staff members summed it up nicely: Caroline Ferrero is the right appeaser at the right time.”

  “So it seems, but should we agree to a cease-fire?”

  “The Feds always believed they would defeat the Hammer of Kraa. It was an article of faith, but when we dropped antimatter warheads into Fed nearspace-” Solomatin’s voice was animated now, his eyes glistening, his excitement unmistakable. “-we destroyed that belief. Ferrero doesn’t think the Feds can win, not anymore. That gives us the leverage to accept their offer, but on our terms, not-”

  Polk’s hand came up. “What terms?” he said.

  “The Feds must halt their fleet rebuilding program; they must terminate all research into weaponizing antimatter and agree to verification inspections.”

  Polk frowned, unconvinced. “The Feds will never agree to that,” he said. “Even they aren’t that stupid.”

  “They’re frightened. Trust me; they’ll agree.”

  “Morons,” Polk said; he shook his head dismissively. “The Fed fleet’s still a serious threat; given enough time to rebuild, it could defeat us. So I cannot understand why Ferrero’s being so lily-livered. She doesn’t have to be.”

  “It doesn’t matter why. We need to negotiate hard to keep the Feds as weak as possible until the Hendrik Island antimatter plant comes online, which it will as long as we keep the Pascanicians happy.”

  Polk looked hard at Solomatin. “I though we were keeping them happy,” he said.

  “Oh, we are,” Solomatin replied. “We can’t afford not to.”

  “No, we can’t,” Polk said, his eyes glittering in anticipation, “and if we have to tolerate those bloodsucking assholes to get our new antimatter plant, then that’s what we’ll do. And when it’s operational, the Federated Worlds will never threaten the security of the Hammer of Kraa Worlds again.”

  Saturday, April 6, 2402, UD

  Clevennes, Asthana planet

  The young woman put the mug of steaming hot coffee down on the table beside the man’s bed and leaned over to look him right in the face. “Feel better?” she asked.

  “Yes.” The voice was scarcely a whisper.

  “You had us worried. Those comatropic drugs are very unpredictable.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Marnie Bakker,” she said. “I’m with the Revival. We handle things here on Asthana. It’s good to meet you, Michael.”

  “Ah, yes,” Michael mumbled. He looked around. “Where am I?”

  “You’re now in one of our safe houses. A Revival team smuggled you out of Haaken Military Hospital.”

  “I don’t remember that. Where’s Kat Sedova? Is she okay?”

  “She’s somewhere else. Better that way. This planet is infested with Hammer agents. Everybody knows a Fed lander dropped into Asthana nearspace, so they’ll be out looking for you.”

  Michael’s eyes flared wide with alarm. “Looking for me? They don’t know I was onboard, do they?”

  Bakker shook her head. “Don’t worry; they don’t. They just like to get their hands on any Feds who end up here.”

  “What about your people?”

  “Cortez and Hok are okay. Prashad didn’t make it. The Revival will miss her.”

  Michael said nothing for a moment; Prashad’s death was a serious blow. “We needed her,” he went on. “I didn’t know her well, but everyone said she had the sharpest political mind of any Hammer. Sorry. You don’t like to be called Hammers.”

  “No, we don’t, even though we were all born Hammers. ‘Revivalists’ will do. Anyway, here’s the plan. As soon as the doctor says you’re okay to be moved, we’ll relocate you to another safe house.”

  “Cortez and Hok will be there?”

  “They will. Sedova, too.”

  “I hope Admiral Jaruzelska’s in a good mood,” he said. �
��We’re screwed if she refuses to help us get the Fed government to back the NRA.”

  “Stop worrying, Michael,” Bakker said. “She knows the Hammers have to be beaten, and she knows we can’t do that without Fed support, so why wouldn’t she?”

  Because I betrayed the trust she’d always shown in me, Michael thought. That’s why.

  Thursday, April 11, 2402, UD

  Graymouth, Asthana planet

  Marnie Bakker’s eyes betrayed her apprehension as they flicked from side to side in a restless search for anything out of place. Her anxiety was contagious. Michael’s nerves were a mess. His mouth was dry, and his heart was racing. For all he knew, there could have been hundreds of Asthanan Community Safety agents in crowds thronging Graymouth’s busy town square, waiting for him to break cover, waiting to arrest him, waiting to hand him over to their DocSec masters.

  Finally Bakker nodded. She turned to Michael. “Okay,” she said. “My people say there’s no sign of CommSafe, so I think we’re good to go.”

  “You sure?”

  “No, not really. CommSafe has more agents than you’ve had hot dinners, and even though we do our best to ping them, we can’t know them all.”

  “Great,” Michael muttered.

  “Let’s do it, and don’t forget the bailout plan if it all goes to shit.”

  “I won’t,” Michael said, sticking close to Bakker as she set off for the Asthana Communications building, the largest and most imposing on the square.

  The months had not been kind to Vice Admiral Jaruzelska. She had aged. Dulled gray by fatigue and stress, her skin was tight across a thin, angular face, her eyes sunk into black-dusted wells.

  Jaruzelska was angry: eyes narrowed, cheeks red, lips thinned into a bloodless line, fingers drumming on the desk.

  For an eternity after the pinchcomm call stabilized, nothing was said. “Admiral,” Michael said at last, “it’s good to see-”

  “You have one minute, Helfort,” Jaruzelska said, “and that is all. If you cannot convince me I should talk longer, the next time you hear me speak will be when I give evidence at your court-martial, and believe me when I say that day will come. You betrayed me, you betrayed the Fleet, you betrayed the Federated Worlds, and for what? A goddamned woman!”

  In an instant, fury engulfed Michael. It took an enormous effort to choke back his angry response. He took a deep breath. “What I have done-and why-is irrelevant. This is not the time or the place. I-”

  “How dare you!” Jaruzelska barked. “Never in our history has one officer done so much damage, and not just any officer. You. The most decorated, the most experienced, the most promising junior officer I have … the fleet has ever seen. And you threw it all away because you loved a woman. It makes no sense, and you must stand trial for what you have done.”

  “I agree, and if you listen to me, I’ll surrender myself to you here on Asthana.” The lie threatened to stick in Michael’s throat, but he did not much care anymore. If he betrayed Jaruzelska’s trust one more time, what did it matter? There was too much at stake.

  “That means you’ll be court-martialed for what you’ve done. You do know that?”

  “So be it.”

  Jaruzelska stared at Michael for a good minute without saying a word. Then she nodded, and a fleeting smile flitted across her lips, a smile that came and went in an instant. “You always were a clever little bastard, Helfort.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That wasn’t a compliment,” Jaruzelska said. She paused; her eyes bored into his, her gaze so intense that for a moment Michael was worried that she somehow had uncovered the lie. “Now, stop wasting my time. What is it you want to tell me?”

  “Watch this, admiral.”

  Jaruzelska looked right at Michael for good minute after the holovid clip had ended. “So you want me to come to Asthana to talk with this General Cortez?” she said at last.

  “You need to hear it from them, sir. And we need to start moving things forward. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “You haven’t heard the latest news, have you?” she said. “The Fed government has offered the Hammers a cease-fire.”

  Michael’s mouth sagged open. “A cease-fire?”

  “Moderator Ferrero and Chief Councillor Polk announced it at a media conference on Scobie’s World. Fleet found out only afterward; it seems we weren’t important enough to be consulted.” The bitterness in Jaruzelska’s voice was plain to hear. “She wants to conclude a full peace treaty inside three months.”

  “Why the rush?” Michael said. “All that does is make the Federated Worlds look weak.”

  “It does. Problem is that Joe Public thinks a treaty will put an end to the fighting between the Federated Worlds and the Hammers. Let me see … ‘so we can look forward with absolute confidence to a new era of peace and prosperity’; that’s what our new moderator said.”

  “Anyone who thinks the Hammers are interested in peace and prosperity is a moron.”

  “The average Fed does think that. Ferrero’s never been more popular.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “I’ll come to Asthana to meet with General Cortez. I’m due some leave, and since everybody thinks the war is over, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

  “Cortez will be pleased.”

  “I doubt that, Helfort; not when he understands just how much things have changed back home.”

  “What are you saying?” Michael protested. “That it’s all over? That all we’ve got to look forward to is life as one of the Hammer Empire’s vassal states?”

  “I didn’t say that, Helfort!” Jaruzelska said with some asperity. “Right now I don’t have anything good to tell Cortez, but if Polk and Ferrero think people like me will just roll over, they are mistaken, so let’s not give up just yet. Believe me, we are a very long way from beaten.”

  It sure as hell doesn’t look that way to me, Michael thought. “Understood,” was all he said.

  “Okay, I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve made the arrangements. Oh, there’s one more thing before I go.”

  “Sir?”

  “I have decided to decline your offer to turn yourself in, Helfort. We have bigger things to worry about right now.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “Don’t thank me. I knew you were lying.”

  And with that, before Michael could respond, Jaruzelska cut the call and the holovid screen went blank.

  Cortez, Hok, and Sedova were sitting around the battered kitchen table waiting for Michael when he and Marnie Bakker walked in.

  “Well,” Cortez demanded, the strain showing on his face, “what did she say?”

  “She’ll come to talk with you, General,” Michael replied.

  “Thank Kraa for that,” Cortez said with a broad smile of relief.

  “I’m afraid there’s some bad news, though. You know that the Federated Worlds has a new moderator?”

  “Yes, Caroline Ferrero. What of her?”

  “We thought she’d tone down the peace rhetoric once she took over the government and became responsible for the security of the Federated Worlds, right?”

  “Our political analysts were pretty confident on that score,” Cortez said. “Sniping from opposition is one thing; carrying the can for humanspace’s wealthiest system is another.”

  “Well, the analysts were wrong, General. She’s offered the Hammers a cease-fire, and they’ve agreed. The next step is to sit down and negotiate a formal peace treaty.”

  “We’re screwed,” Cortez whispered, “absolutely screwed.” His head slumped, and his hands massaged his temples as if to make the bad news go away. “I’m not sure how the Revival can survive this,” he said, looking up. “Without the Federated Worlds’ direct support, the NRA cannot deliver a military victory, and Polk will take full advantage of the, the … what’s the phrase?”

  “Peace dividend?” Hok said.

  “Yes, Polk will use the peace dividend to make sure the Revival c
annot win a political victory either.”

  “Things might look bad right now, General,” Michael said, trying to make himself sound upbeat, “but we can have faith in Admiral Jaruzelska. If she says we are a long way from being beaten, then I think we should believe her.”

  “I wish I could,” Cortez said. “Problem is, I can’t.” He pushed himself to his feet with an obvious effort; he looked like a beaten man. “Come, Major; we have a report to write.”

  In silence, Michael watched them leave. “Damn, damn, damn,” he muttered. “What the hell do we do now?”

  “Michael!” Sedova snapped. “Didn’t you tell me once it’s not over until the Hammers bang the coffin lid down on us?”

  ”I think they just did.”

  Sedova thumped the table with both fists “Bullshit!” she snapped. “What is the matter with you?”

  Annoyed now, Michael scowled at her. “Piss off. I’m not in the mood for any rah-rah speeches.”

  “And you won’t get one, but you need to lift your game, son.”

  “And why should I do that? I think it’s over; I really do. The Hammers will win; the Feds, the Revival, the NRA will lose; and I’ll never see Anna again because Jeremiah fucking Polk will never rest until DocSec gets its hands on me, and when they do …” Overwhelmed by the extent of the defeat hanging over their heads, Michael could not go on.

  “This is not over, Michael. Jaruzelska said so herself. If she says it’s all finished, then fine. I’ll accept that and go find myself a job somewhere the Hammers won’t bother me.”

  “Have to be a long way away,” Michael said. “When it comes to empire building, a megalomaniac like Polk won’t stop until he’s got his foot on every last system in humanspace.”

  “I’m sick of your sad face, so I’m off to find a beer. Feel free to join me when you’ve got your shit back together.”

  And when will that be? Michael asked himself as Sedova stormed out, slamming the door hard behind her.