22
It was a long five minutes, but eventually Admiral DeVore and the Wellington did surrender. In the wake of the overwhelming power of the MAD weapon, it wasn’t surprising. Still, he had to plan for all contingencies, seeing as the remaining fleet was still led by DeVore, and he didn’t trust her. At all.
Clement ordered all the remaining 5 Suns Alliance Navy ships to disgorge themselves of their weapons, dumping them in a specific area of space, which they did, as far as the Beauregard could determine. It was a lot of weaponry, conventional missiles, nukes, warheads, Hell Lances, scatter mines. They all were set adrift in space. Then Clement ordered the 5 Suns Navy ships to move off to a safe distance. He had Telco fire two conventional missiles into the floating pile of ordnance. The resulting series of explosions was both spectacular and rewarding. Clement had disarmed the enemy.
He ordered the 5 Suns fleet to make a course for the innermost habitable planet in the Trinity system, Alphus. Admiral DeVore never made direct contact with them during any of the negotiations.
The trek was a slow one, on thrusters only, with the Beauregard trailing the rest of the 5 Suns Navy fleet all the way. Nobli had privately informed Clement that the MAD weapon could likely never be fired again if they were to complete their trip home, and that suited Clement, who swore Nobli to absolute secrecy on the subject. No one needed to know the greatest weapon in the history of humankind couldn’t be fired again. Intimidation was the key factor; the weapon’s power had already been demonstrated.
At one point, one of DeVore’s remaining destroyers started to drift from the preapproved flight path. It was one that had taken a good deal of damage in the battle against the Earth Ark. Nonetheless, Clement, giving no quarter, ordered a double missile launch, the conventional weapons exploding near enough to the struggling destroyer for her captain to get the message. The ship chugged along, getting back into formation, but under great duress. Clement called on the fleet channel and ordered her to either be towed or abandoned by the 5 Suns Alliance fleet. Presently a heavy cruiser swept into position and put a tow line on her little sister, and further discipline was avoided.
Early on the second day of the voyage inward, Clement ordered Yan released from her cabin, and given free run of the ship again, except for the bridge. For his part he stayed in his cabin, out of the way of the crew, but assuring them at every turn that the fighting was over and they’d be heading home soon.
He was surprised when he heard the knock at his door, his monitor showing Yan standing outside. “Yes, Yan?” he said through the com.
She pressed the com panel outside his cabin to reply. “Permission to enter, Captain?” she said.
He hesitated for a second, then said, “You don’t have a weapon, do you?” It was supposed to be a joke, but even Clement wasn’t sure if that’s how he meant it.
“No, sir.”
At that Clement slid open the cabin door and stood to face his former first officer. It was the first time she had been in his cabin since the mutiny. He motioned for her to take a seat at the table across from him.
“Please,” he said. She declined with a shake of the head. Clement sat back down.
“What then, Commander?” he said expectantly.
“I don’t think I hold that rank anymore, Captain,” she said. Vaguely, he felt sorry for her, but he wasn’t going to let that affect his decision-making processes.
“I’m not sure it’s at all clear who holds what rank in what navy right now, Yan,” he said, trying to be comforting in some way, if he could. “You wear the rank of commander in the 5 Suns Alliance Navy, so that is how I will address you. Now, I assume you have something to say to me?”
She straightened and looked straight ahead, but not directly at Clement. “Sir, I came to apologize. The mutiny action was ill-advised, and I expect to be dealt with as any mutineer would.”
Clement held up his hand to stop her. “It was a mistake,” he said. “If I put everyone who had a mutinous thought or action on this mission up to the bar of military justice there would be no one left to fly this bird.”
“Sir, I—”
“Wait,” he interrupted her. “This mission put you and all the others under the strain of choosing between your homeland, your families, and the mission. You didn’t choose that. Admiral DeVore made that choice for you when she set us up for destruction at the hands of the Earth Ark. No one on this ship will be referred for judgment by me, in any navy, when we get home. You all did your jobs as best you could and quite frankly, I’m proud of all of you. You’re forgiven.”
“Sir, if you’ll let me finish . . . ”
Clement looked at her. Her eyes were red, she had obviously been crying very recently, and she looked disheveled, like she hadn’t slept well for several days.
Clement nodded for her to continue.
“I came here to apologize to you as your first officer, sir, but it’s more than that . . . ” She trailed off again, and now Clement was confused.
“Yan?” he said in a tone that indicated he was trying to reassure her. Now she looked directly at him.
“Sir . . . I’m trying to apologize to you as a woman. I betrayed you, betrayed the relationship and trust we had developed. That meant something to me, and I think to you too. I think I know how you must have felt being betrayed by Elara DeVore, and in many ways, I did the same thing to you. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me. That’s what I came here to apologize for. Sir,” she finished, and lowered her gaze, head down in submission.
Clement hesitated for a second, then he got up and went to her, put his arms around her as she leaned into his chest, crying softly. He kissed her on the forehead.
“You’re forgiven for that as well, Yan,” he said. She continued to cry. They stood there for a long time before she composed herself. She nodded at him and then turned to leave.
She got to the door before she turned back and said, “Thank you, Jared.” He smiled at her, and she left.
Then he sat down in his chair, and sighed.
After a trip of three days the fleet arrived and made orbit over Alphus, and the cleanup began in earnest. Clement sat on his bridge with his command crew, sans Yan, and watched as the 5 Suns Navy fleet followed his orders.
The crews were evacuating from their ships and heading for the surface of Alphus, one ship at a time. Clement had allowed them enough equipment to set up individual camps up and down the habitable strip of the innermost Earthlike planet of the Trinity system. Alphus was unique in that its sun-facing side was mostly too hot for life to thrive, except for a two-hundred-fifty-kilometer-wide strip of green which encircled the otherwise dry, desert planet just at the edge of its light side. There was a range of high mountains that defined the break between the dark and light sides of the tidal-locked world. These mountains received enough snow to create a constant runoff of fresh water down into the valleys below. The habitable zone of the planet ran the circumference of the planet, north to south, and it created a comfortable ring of life that could be colonized, or in this case, used to exile a crew of undesirables. Clement had no time to investigate the planet, to see if it had the signs of terraforming that her sisters Bellus and Camus had, but he suspected they would find that evidence eventually, along with the possibility of native settlers, as on the other two worlds. The ring of mountains that separated the light side of the planet from the dark side seemed very regular. It could have been the result of thousands of years of consistent tidal-lock pressure from the Trinity star, or something more . . . artificial . . . in nature.
Clement made the evacuated crews spread out along the ring, so that they couldn’t form communities easily. He wanted them to struggle on their own as much as possible, and certainly not work together with Admiral DeVore. If they were focused on survival, they would be far less likely to cause future trouble.
Once each ship was emptied and the crews relocated to the surface of Alphus, Clement ordered the ships of the 5 Suns Alliance fleet to be scuttled on the dark side. They did so one by one, the only exceptions being the former Rim Confederation Navy gunships. Clement wanted those for himself, eventually, so he had Ivan Massif program them for an automated burn to orbit around Bellus, out of range of any remote control the 5 Suns Alliance fleet survivors may have. After five days of this process, and relocating the crews to camps dotted throughout the habitable ring, it was time to deal with Admiral Elara DeVore, and the battlecruiser Wellington.
Clement went to the surface in the Beauregard’s shuttle, with ensigns Telco and Tsu aboard for muscle, along with Tanitha Yan. She had a decision to make. After looking over the large camp made by the Wellington’s nine hundred fifty crew and verifying for himself that they had proper supplies, access to water, and no weaponry, he went to a high ridge, looking down over the wastelands of Alphus’ sprawling desert. He sent orders for Admiral DeVore to join him there. Telco and Tsu stood watch for him, armed, as they waited for the Admiral to arrive. Yan stood off to one side, looking very unsure of herself.
To his surprise, DeVore came alone, without an escort of any kind. Clement waved off the young ensigns to a safe distance, and Yan stepped away so the two commanders could speak alone.
“Admiral,” Clement said, with only a slight nod of respect as she came up. They stood side by side on the ridge, not looking at each other, but rather looking out over Alphus’ searing wasteland instead.
“Mr. Clement,” she replied, not willing to acknowledge his rank in any way.
“Your surrender saved many lives, Admiral,” he said, trying to be a bit the gentleman.
“Your betrayal of the 5 Suns Alliance Navy caused many unnecessary deaths, all of them at your hands,” she snapped back. That set him off.
“You know damn well it was you who betrayed us. You never intended for my ship or my crew to survive. You planted a saboteur, deceived us by not giving us real nukes, and never told us we would be facing an incoming enemy force from Earth. Those who were killed died on the field of battle, honorably, with the exception of Captain Wilcock, who was executed by expulsion to vacuum for his treason. You sent flotillas to try and destroy my ship two separate times, but we had a weapon quite superior to anything in your arsenal,” he said, pausing before delivering the coup de grace: “Which is why you are my prisoner, and not the other way around.”
“We’ll figure out how to match your weapon, Clement. And when we do, there will be hell to pay for you and your worlds,” DeVore said.
Clement snapped around to face her. “Have you forgotten you come from one of those worlds, Admiral? Have you forgotten why we fought the War of the 5 Suns? Have you forgotten the people of Helios?”
“That’s ancient history, Clement. My plans for this star system are far more important than the inevitable death of three Rim planets which have no hope of surviving on their own.”
“These plans of yours, they’re more important than the rest of the 5 Suns Alliance? I’ve figured out your plan, Elara. You intended to come here and set up your own little despotic rule, free of the 5 Suns Alliance and any responsibility, all built on the backs of slaves left here hundreds of years ago by forces unknown. You planned to seize and reverse engineer alien technology, or whatever it was that left the terraforming tech on those planets. It’s why you were building such a large fleet at Kemmerine, to break away from the 5 Suns Alliance, and claim these worlds as your own,” he said.
“Perhaps,” she said, then looked away from him.
He eyed her. There was nothing left of his feelings for her. She was an arrogant despot, nothing like the woman he had been in love with so many years ago. He pressed his point to her. “Did you ever think that the terraforming technology on these planets could be used to improve life on the Rim worlds, or was it only to build your personal empire here?”
“It never crossed my mind, Captain. Not even for a second. Those worlds, that war, it’s all in the distant past for me. Trinity is the future, and regardless of this situation, my vision for this star system will prevail.”
“Your . . . vision?” He was getting angrier now. She still wouldn’t look at him.
“Perhaps my original intent was to prevent a cascading failure event from driving the 5 Suns Alliance into barbarism. That doesn’t matter now, anyway. The remainder of the fleet at Kemmerine will eventually come looking for us, and we’ll be rescued, and then we will take this system.”
“Delusional,” he said. “Your ships have been most helpful in replenishing the Beauregard for our trip back to 5 Suns space, Admiral. And when we get to Kemmerine, with our new weapon, your command base will become our command base, and the people there will have to decide to join us, or leave forever.”
“And just who is ‘us,’ Captain?”
“The Trinity Republic Navy, Admiral. Thanks to you I’ll have almost thirty ships waiting for me when I get to Kemmerine, plus science labs, transports, and battleships that can all be equipped with the LEAP drive. We’ll move the population willing to immigrate from the poorest planets in the 5 Suns Alliance to the richest ever discovered, where we will live in harmony with ourselves and our native brothers and sisters,” he finished.
She turned back to him. “Pie in the sky, Captain.”
He took a step toward her. “It’s clear you need a demonstration, Admiral. You may want these,” Clement said, handing her a pair of light-blocking goggles. She took them reluctantly and put them on. Clement signaled to Telco, who went to his com and communicated an order as they looked out over the empty plain of Alphus’ desert.
Slowly, from the sky, a dark shape began to descend, picking up speed and burning brighter with every second as it pierced the atmosphere. It was the Wellington, being scuttled in full view of her commanding officer. The ship descended with a haunting slowness of speed, seemingly dragging out its own death for its audience. As the flaming hulk hit the surface there was a blinding flash of the nuclear warhead Clement had ordered left aboard her, lighting up the sky in Alphus’ full red-yellow daylight. They all looked away from the brightness; even with the benefit of their protective goggles, it was a strain on the eyes. The light soon faded and Clement removed his glasses. In the desert, many kilometers away, the sight of a mushroom cloud grew in the sky like a fierce storm.
“I will see you hang for this, Clement,” DeVore said, dropping her goggles to the ground as if they were useless.
“That’s a discussion we can have if you ever get off this rock, Admiral. You and your crew are prisoners of the Trinity Republic Navy, the full force of which I have just invoked on you, your crew, and your ship. You will remain here, surviving if you can on your own resources and what you can find from nature. When I return to this system, I will deal with each of you appropriately.”
“Will you execute me, your former lover?” said DeVore, taunting him.
His head snapped around to her, his hand going to his cobra pistol in its holster. “I’d like to do that right now, Admiral. But I’ve decided that I like the idea of trial and execution by lawful forces better than a swift end for you. Captain Wilcock got lucky. He died in seconds. I want you to ponder your own demise, which is why I’m stranding you on this rock. For now.”
“I thought you would have learned your lesson about fighting powers bigger than you in the War of the 5 Suns,” DeVore said.
“Clearly not, Admiral, and neither have you, apparently. You’re the one who unwittingly gave me the most powerful weapon in the known universe. You’re the one who mounted it on a Rim Confederation Navy gunship, and you’re the one who put a rebel captain in command of it. Whatever you’ve reaped from this situation, it’s you that’s sown it.” He started to walk away from her.
“Our scientists on Kemmerine Station will soon develop your weapon too,” she said. “It’s undoubtedly based on the LEAP drive reactor.”
He looked back at her. “Thirty-four days from now those scientists will be our scientists, Admiral. I intend to take Kemmerine and make it our base of operations for the migration from the Rim planets to Trinity. And I think the 5 Suns Alliance government will find your little adventure out here to be very illuminating. Do they even know about LEAP technology? I doubt it. Hell, they might even join us against you when they find out the level of your betrayal. Now goodbye, Admiral, and good riddance.” Once again he turned to walk away.
“I’m still Elara DeVore, Jared. And whether you believe it or not, I still love you,” she said.
He turned back to her for the last time, shaking his head. “The Elara DeVore I loved died a long time ago. You’re nothing like the woman I fell in love with, Admiral. I’ve moved on. I suggest you do too. And by the way, I know you were the one who betrayed the Beauregard to the 5 Suns Navy, back in the war. I once swore I’d put a knife in the traitor if I ever found out who it was, and now that I have, I think somehow that being stranded here, your fleet and your dreams of power destroyed, is a much better punishment. You’ll have plenty of time to think on your past sins.”
At that, he started to walk away, the two ensigns going with him.
“What about me?” called Yan from behind him. Clement stopped to look at her.
“I assumed you’d want to stay with your commanding officer,” he said with a nod to DeVore.
Yan shook her head at him. “No, sir, not anymore. Not after what I’ve seen and heard.” She turned to DeVore. “Admiral DeVore, I hereby resign my commission in the 5 Suns Alliance Navy, effective immediately.”
“Think about what you’re doing, Yan,” said DeVore, a clear warning in her tone.
“I have thought about it, Admiral, and my decision is easy. After seeing your true nature I’d prefer to take my chances in an untried fleet with only one ship than to serve another minute under you, and those of your kind. I’ll gladly join the Trinity Republic Navy, if Captain Clement here will have me,” Yan said.
“I will,” Clement said quickly. “But I won’t tell you it will be simple, or as easy as leaving the 5 Suns Alliance fleet.”
“I’m well aware of that,” she said, then ran to catch up with him and the two ensigns.
“I would never have given you command of a ship, Yan. I suspected you were too self-serving, a spoiled rich girl. Then you proved the point for me. And I can now see that my judgment on that was correct,” said DeVore, turning away from her.
“Well, at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that my captain will never send me on a one-way mission to die, Admiral. That’s more than I can say about most of the poor souls that served under you.” And with that Clement and the rest were gone, leaving Fleet Admiral Elara DeVore to stare out at the glowing remnants of her once powerful fleet.