Part 21 (1/2)

Robbins nodded her head as she took down her notes.

”Also, I'm ordering you to get some sleep. You'll burn yourself out and I can't afford to lose you.”

”Sir, I'll get some sleep when you do.”

Gruber grinned. ”Anne, I'm older than you, I can go with less sleep. Now please do as I ask. The staff can work without you for six hours.”

Colonel Robbins relented. ”As you wish, sir, but not one second more than six hours.”

”I'll make sure you get woken up,” replied Gruber, lying through his teeth. He did not intend to wake her up until her body was good and rested.

Robbins saluted and left to give the new orders to the staff.

Gruber stood up, walked over to the wall and studied a map hanging there. His mind was playing out the enemy's probable courses of action for the coming a.s.sault. He would have to pull a couple of battalions away from their place in the line to meet this new threat. However, if he got it wrong and they were attacked from another direction, there would be nothing to stop the enemy from taking the capital. It was the biggest gamble of his life. With a grin, he decided that unless something new came to his attention that they would go with his plan as it stood. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a fresh cigar. He lit it and savored the taste before exhaling. ”Come on you sons of b.i.t.c.hes, try forcing your way across my river and I'll kick your a.s.s all the way back to Kurgan s.p.a.ce.”

Chapter 32.

Admiral Sheridan wrapped up his briefing to Admiral Os.h.i.+ro on how he intended to defeat the enemy fleet in orbit around Derra-5 and asked for questions. When there were none, he stepped back and turned over the lectern to Lieutenant General Denisov, the ground force commander for the invasion. The general was his usual gruff, succinct self and concluded his presentation in under five minutes with an observation that there was an insufficient number of landing craft currently available for the a.s.sault to be conducted in one wave. He made sure everyone in the room understood that he would have to sequence his attack based upon the availability of the landing s.h.i.+ps. He did not see it as a showstopper, just something that the planning staff needed to keep a close eye on. Both men took their seats at the table across from Admiral Os.h.i.+ro.

”Gentlemen, I will take your proposals with me and present them to the Federation President when I see him in two days' time,” explained Os.h.i.+ro. ”I have no doubt that your plans will be approved. Therefore, you are to move ahead with your preliminary preparations. Admiral Sheridan will be overall in charge of the operation. I want you both ready to go when the order is given.”

Denisov nodded his head. There could only be one person in charge and it made sense for Sheridan to be that man. As long as he kept the Kurgan Fleet away from his landing craft packed with men and equipment Denisov would be more than happy just to lead the ground a.s.sault.

The meeting soon concluded. As always the staff officers who had quietly sat through the briefings at the back of the room and would have to do all the legwork rushed to ask their counterparts a million questions.

Os.h.i.+ro took Sheridan by the arm and together they walked to a window looking out into s.p.a.ce. Os.h.i.+ro handed Sheridan a note; he took it and read it over. With a stunned look, Sheridan stood there grasping for words to articulate how he felt. Os.h.i.+ro smiled and patted Sheridan on the back. He was about to say something when the door to the briefing room opened and a Marine captain entered, his face was ashen.

Sheridan waved the officer over.

”Sir, we've just received word that the Aquila has been destroyed,” reported the captain.

”My G.o.d, how?” asked Os.h.i.+ro. The Aquila was a fighter carrier and the flags.h.i.+p of the First Fleet tasked with defending the Earth.

”Admiral, according to the reports coming in, the s.h.i.+p's nuclear a.r.s.enal somehow detonated. The Aquila was being resupplied at the time of the explosion. Three other vessels were lost with her. Preliminary estimates put the loss of life at close to eight thousand.”

Os.h.i.+ro remained outwardly calm. ”Captain, pa.s.s this information to my staff right away.” The officer turned and walked towards a cl.u.s.ter of high-ranking officers.

”You were right to be suspicious, Admiral,” Sheridan said to Os.h.i.+ro.

”This is horrible. The enemy has people everywhere. We're going to have to double our surveillance and security measures or there will be more losses like this.”

Sheridan placed the note from Os.h.i.+ro in his pocket. ”Sir, we have to a.s.sume that they have people in key positions who have access to everything that we have. May I make a suggestion?”

”Please, go on.”

”Admiral, secrecy needs to be maintained or the invasion of Derra-5 will end in failure. We need the enemy to believe that we are going to strike somewhere else. From here on out, sir, I think it would be wise to identify Illum Prime as our objective. Their agents will undoubtedly feed the enemy this information and make plans to fight us there. I will inform my staff, and General Denisov's, to keep the real destination a secret until just before we make our jump to Derra-5.”

”Do it, and for G.o.d's sake Rob, don't let your guard down for one second. I'm beginning to fear we could lose this war before we've even begun to fight back.” Os.h.i.+ro excused himself and went to speak with his staff.

Admiral Sheridan knew that Os.h.i.+ro was right. If they didn't find out who was and was not a traitor in their midst and fast, they would always be looking over their backs wondering if the person in the room with them could be trusted. It was a surefire recipe for fear, paranoia, and scapegoating. It had to be nipped in the bud before it got out of hand. A thought crossed his mind. He called over his Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer. ”Master Chief Rey, please find Captain Jones officer and have him report to me right away.”

Rey nodded his head and went to find the fleet's senior medical officer.

Admiral Sheridan had no idea if what he was thinking would work. It was a long shot, but it was all they seemed to have. He reached into his pocket and felt the piece of paper in his hand. He deiced to wait until the room cleared before making a couple of calls. He just was not sure how he was going to break the news.

Chapter 33.

Tarina heard the buzzing in her head, but her weary mind told her to ignore it. She pulled a pillow over her head and tried to block out the irritating noise. A second later, the door slid open and the light from the hallway flooded in.

”Tarina, wake up. I have a message for you,” said Wright, his tone serious.

She instantly sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over at the clock on the wall. It was early morning. She flicked on the light switch beside her bed. The bright light bothered her tired eyes.

”I'll leave this with you,” Wright said as he handed Tarina his personal tablet and left the room.

Tarina shook her head trying to wake up. She stood up and took the device from her bedside table. On the screen was a message for her from Sheridan's father. Instantly, she found it hard to breathe. All of the suppressed emotions she had buried deep inside her heart flooded back. Why was the admiral calling her now? She knew Michael was dead. Hesitantly, she opened the message.

Admiral Sheridan appeared. ”Tarina, I know that you and Michael weren't seeing one another when the war started. However, I thought that you would want to know that based on the information that you brought back from Derra-5, Michael is still alive. He is down there fighting with the rest of the garrison. How he ended up there, I have no idea. Michael is listed as being a reconnaissance platoon leader attached to the divisional headquarters. I was told that you might be going back there. If you are, and if you see Michael, please tell him that his father loves him and that I couldn't be prouder of him than I am today.”

With that, the message ended. Tarina sat there staring down at the screen. She reached down and played the message again, listening carefully to each word to make sure that she had right. For a second, she thought she was going to be sick. It was all too much to comprehend. Tarina had just come to terms that Sheridan was dead. She walked over to the sink, turned on a faucet and gently washed her face.

The door's alarm buzzed.

”Come in,” said Tarina, wiping her face dry with a towel.

Wendy walked in. She stood there for a moment and then rushed over, wrapping her arms tightly around Tarina. ”Colonel Wright just told me. It's wonderful news that your friend is still alive.”

Tarina could not hold her feelings in check anymore and began to cry tears of joy. ”Yes, he is, Michael is still alive.”

Wright coughed at the open door, trying to get the women's attention. ”Tarina, Wendy, I hate to drop this on you at a moment like this but I have received just word that we have a landing craft on route to our location, ETA six hours. I need you to be ready to depart when they arrive. As soon as you have transferred the jump calculations to the landing craft's navigator, you will both proceed to Derra-5 as per your plan.”

Tarina wiped the tears from her face and handed back Wright's tablet. ”Thank you, sir.”

Wright smiled. ”I knew you'd want to know.”

”Come on,” said Wendy to Tarina. ”We've got a lot of work to do.” Together, the women headed to the flight hangar to join the technicians prepping their craft for its next mission.

Chapter 34.

At precisely 2000 hours, local time, on Derra-5 the enemy unleashed a barrage with every artillery and mortar piece they had with them on the planet. Seconds later, the sh.e.l.ls rained down on the Marine positions facing the enemy. Whole houses vanished in thunderous explosions as the wall of flame was crept forward towards the riverbank and then to the other side, pulverizing the city to rubble.