THE KOSTROMA SAGA by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 8 – BATTLE FOR MARS

 

09:24 (Shanghai Time)

Saturday, December 18, 2315

Grand Council chambers, government complex

Shanghai, China

Earth

‘’…while our ISF battalion in Ares City has not been seriously challenged yet by Spacers, it does not have the manpower to extend itself to other Martian cities. The two divisions we lost yesterday in orbit to that KOSTROMA were meant to allow us to complete our occupation of the planet. Unfortunately, we are now back to square one.’’ As Field Marshal Reyat Khan finished speaking, all eyes switched to Grand Admiral Ming Wa, sitting beside Khan.

‘’So, what is your next move, Admiral Wa?’’ asked Grand Administrator Li, not satisfied at all up to now with what he had heard. ‘’Since the ISF can’t send more troops to Mars without the support of the TCN, we now all depend on you and the Navy…or can we?’’

The underhanded criticism from Li infuriated Wa, a proud man with over thirty years of service, but he did his best to keep his tone neutral as he responded to Li.

‘’Sir, with all due respect, you are forgetting that the TCN is not and never has been a true combat fleet. It was formed over a century ago as a customs enforcement agency with a mandate and equipment list limited to the enforcement of space regulations and to fighting space contraband and piracy. The most powerful of our cruisers is still way outclassed in terms of firepower by that KOSTROMA, a lesson that was driven home yesterday at a dreadful cost to us.’’

‘’But that KOSTROMA is only an armed merchant ship, and it is alone, dammit!’’ objected the minister for commerce. Wa gave him a jaundiced look.

‘’Mister Sardakian, let me just give you a few simple numbers about that armed merchant ship. It has a total installed power of 25 gigawatts, compared to three gigawatts on our biggest cruiser. Its bow shield is made of two meter-thick ceramic-carbon composite, compared to forty centimeters on our cruisers and twenty centimeters

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on our frigates. When empty of cargo, the KOSTROMA can boost away at accelerations of over ten Gs, more than our fastest frigate. You will probably ask why it is so powerful, but the answer is quite simple: it was made to haul over twenty million tons of cargo over long distances across the Solar System. Such a powerful cargo ship, with its sturdy construction and its long range, was a perfect candidate for conversion into what can now only be called a battleship. As for being alone, do you really believe that the Spacers are not rushing right now to convert more merchant ships, which they own in abundance, into warships? Should I remind you that most of our resources in metals, chemicals and cryogenic fuel came from Spacer worlds, resources which have now dried up? Even if we wanted to build up a real battle fleet, I doubt that what we have presently in reserve on Earth would be enough to supply our shipyards.’’

‘’This is nonsense!’’ exploded the governor of Africa. ‘’Are you telling us that less than 350 million Spacers can outfight eight billion Terrans?’’

‘’And who are you thinking of sending up to fight the Spacers, Governor Zembelo? A bunch of illiterate farmers or social welfare recipients? And in what ships?’’

‘’Why not requisition merchant ships presently in Earth orbit and then arm them?’’ proposed the minister of industries. Admiral Wa nodded his head, finding that at least a practical idea.

‘’We could do that, Minister Titov. Unfortunately, our choice of ships presently available in orbit is severely limited.’’

‘’Oh, why?’’

‘’First off, the large majority of interplanetary ships which presently exist are registered on Spacer-controlled worlds and have fled Earth orbit during the first days of this crisis. Of the rest, more than half of the ships registered on Earth have defected, most of them after the news of our defeat around Mars.’’

‘’The families of those traitors should be rounded up and interned.’’ Growled Field Marshal Khan then, attracting a look of both contempt and revulsion from Wa.

‘’And you would do what with them then? Torture them? Execute them? What possible good would that do to us, apart from hardening the resolve of the Spacers? Besides, most Spacer families reside on their ships, not on the ground.’’ The big ISF commander glared at him, seemingly ready to jump on him.

‘’You speak like a weakling, presenting only excuses. Your people on Mars disgraced themselves when they surrendered to the Spacers yesterday. Are you also ready to surrender, Admiral?’’

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‘’GENTLEMEN, PLEASE!’’ shouted John Li while slapping his hand down on the conference table. ‘’We are not going to surrender, ever! However, we also have to face reality and take account of our limitations while formulating our plans. Minister Titov’s idea of arming merchant ships in Earth orbit is an excellent one, but it will take weeks and months to do that. Admiral Wa, how long was that KOSTROMA in refit?’’

‘’Over seven months, sir, and the work was centered mostly on its propulsion system. Modifying its lasers, even in secret, must have taken only a small fraction of that time. We could do the same to ships in orbit in a few weeks at most, on top of adding missile pods to them to complete their armament. The trouble is that training crews for war takes a lot longer than that. I hate to say so, but I wouldn’t have much confidence in merchant crews pressed hurriedly into military service.’’

‘’And what about the crew of that KOSTROMA then?’’ asked the governor of Europe, an Italian woman. ‘’What has made these men and women so effective up to now, since they probably never got any military training?’’ Admiral Wa thought over his answer carefully, dipping into his knowledge of history.

‘’The best example of a past analogy to our present situation would be the old War of American Independence, fought in the 18th Century between Great Britain and what was then its North American colonies, Madam Rossi. It started when the American colonists complained about not having a say in how the taxes collected from them by the British were used. Their rallying cry was ‘no taxes without representation’. At the time, the British had the most powerful navy of the time and a tough, disciplined army and also held a huge empire, while the American colonists were poorly armed and had next to no military training. Despite of these handicaps, however, the American colonists fought on for years, sustaining many defeats, but eventually won through sheer resilience and strength of spirit. They did so mostly by using their knowledge of their land and by adapting their tactics to it, fighting a guerrilla war against the British, who were accustomed to regulated, set-piece battles. In this case, you could compare the Spacers to the American colonists. They fight in an environment they know well, Space, but they also have the advantage of having a bigger navy than us. Most of all, they believe in their cause, and that is a factor we should not ignore.’’

‘’My soldiers believe in what they do, and they will cut to pieces these Spacers, once your navy finally brings them to the battlefield.’’ grumbled Marshal Khan, getting a dirty look from Wa.

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‘’The only thing your troopers have been good at up to now has been in beating and killing unarmed civilians, Marshal Khan. They have in the process reinforced the resentment of the Spacers towards Earth, as well as their will to fight. Furthermore, this war will be won in Space, and not on the ground.’’

‘’You are right, Admiral Wa,’’ cut in John Li, ‘’but that is why we have to win now in space, before the Spacers could arm more merchant ships like that KOSTROMA and before Earth is strangled by a lack of mineral resources. We need to secure at least part of those space resources and we need to do it now! So, what are you going to do to achieve that, Admiral?’’

Wa then knew that he could not tip toe any longer, or Li would not hesitate to replace him at the head of the TCN.

‘’Grand Administrator, we have up to now thrown our ships around in penny packets, mostly due to the multitude of tasks given to my navy. We need to concentrate our efforts in one significant push against a worthy objective. Right now, that objective must be Mars: it has many of the resources we need and it is the nearest to Earth. I thus intend to strike it with most of my fleet, or what is left of it. No troopships, just warships, so that we have a chance to overwhelm the Spacer ships defending Mars. I would also like to strike in more than one place at the same time around Mars. That way, if the KOSTROMA is really the only major ship the Spacers have around Mars, then we will be able to bypass it and, possibly, catch it in a pincer.’’

‘’Sounds like a good plan, Admiral. When could you launch such an attack against Mars?’’

‘’My fleet could depart Earth orbit tomorrow evening, after fueling up and filling its magazines. Give it five days more to get to Mars. Thus, we could start the battle for Mars around Friday evening, sir.’’

‘’Make it so, Admiral!’’ replied at once Li in a firm tone.

14:16 (Universal Time)

Wednesday, December 22, 2315

Downtown district of Ares City

Mars

‘’THIRD SQUAD, GO, GO, GO!’’

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Michel Koniev, preaching by example, sprung out from his temporary cover and led his squad into a mad dash across the street and towards the main entrance of the government building, while two other squads laid down a hail of automatic fire to force the ISF troopers inside the building to keep their heads down. A couple of ISF troopers still managed to take a few pot shots and a young Martian policeman to the left of Koniev abruptly stopped running and rolled to the ground, dead, while a few bullets whistled past the ears of the Hygiean security officer. He and seven members of his squad made it to the relative safety of the entrance, hugging the walls on each side of the glass doors. Michel took a chance and stuck his head out for a second, time for a quick look inside the lobby through the shattered glass doors. He had time to see three ISF troopers hiding partially behind the reception desk and one column before he had to hurriedly jerk back his head, in time to avoid a burst of five bullets which dug furrows in the concrete of the entrance arch. Taking a grenade out of one pocket, he pulled the safety pin but held the arming lever, then made a sign to the Martian on the other side of the arch. The man nodded his understanding and readied his automatic rifle. On Michel’s signal, he stepped quickly from behind the entrance corner and started spraying the entrance lobby with a long automatic burst. One second before that, Michel had released the arming lever of his grenade, starting the burning of the five second fuse. He then threw his grenade inside, making it bounce and roll on the floor. It finally came to rest against the outer surface of the reception desk. The grenade, part of the stocks of ammunition captured with the cargo ships of the Terran convoy destroyed by the KOSTROMA, was made of Metallex and designed to explode without producing deadly fragments. Metallex, an explosive with the surface hardness of aluminum and the density of steel, was however much more powerful than old-style chemical explosives of the past and produced a tremendous blast and overpressure. The explosion of Michel’s grenade blew out the whole glass front of the entrance, projected the reception counter and the two ISF troopers hiding behind against the nearest wall and killed by overpressure the three troopers. Michel did not even wait for the glass fragments to land on the ground before rushing inside the lobby, his rifle at the ready and with his seven fighters close behind him. He dispersed quickly his squad around the lobby and started climbing the main staircase at once, not wanting the enemy to have time to react properly. Just in case, he threw a second grenade before emerging on the first floor and waited after its explosion to climb the last steps. He fired a short burst, killing an ISF trooper who had just emerged from a room giving on the façade, then ran down the hallway towards that

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room. He now could hear a machine gun firing from that room. Borrowing a grenade from the woman following him, he primed it and let the fuse burn for three seconds before throwing it inside the room. The machine gun firing stopped with the grenade’s explosion, allowing Michel to step inside, his rifle at the ready. He found inside five dead Terran troopers, along with a machine gun on its support tripod. Through the blown windows, Michel was happy to see the rest of his platoon rushing in to enter the building, now that the ISF fire against them had died down. Confident that his fighters were going to secure the government building, Michel went out of the room and continued securing the building, one room at a time.

He was finishing clearing the fourth floor when he glimpsed through a shattered window a group of four ISF troopers and one man in civilian clothes who had somehow managed to find a way out and were now running across the rear lawn, trying to get to a parked air car. Michel then gave a short order to the four fighters who were with him.

‘’SHOOT THE BASTARDS DOWN!’’

The Martians didn’t have to be told twice, their hatred of the ISF soldiers having recently being reinforced by what they had found in the now liberated city jail, where the ISF had been holding and interrogating their prisoners. A hail of automatic fire cut down the four soldiers and the civilian, with more bullets fired at those who still moved afterwards. For good measure, Michel sprayed the air car, in case that a driver had been waiting inside, then ran down to the ground level to go inspect the dead. A mean grin came to his face when he turned over the dead civilian and recognized his face. Activating his helmet microphone, he then said a few words intended for his tactical command post, where Governor Watts was monitoring the fighting.

‘’Flag One, this is Koniev: Interim Governor Nguyen Vandong is now dead. Pass the word around, out.’’

ISF resistance, already shaky, soon crumbled, with the surviving ISF troopers retreating to their last stronghold on Mars: their underground base just outside of the limits of Ares City. That was however their death warrant, as the KOSTROMA then fired for the first time some of its heavy missiles to bombard the base, adding laser fire to them. With its sections systematically blown open to the rarified, unbreathable Martian atmosphere, the base became the tomb of the last Terran troopers. By the end of the day, Mars was back in the hands of its citizens and of Charles Watts, but the price paid

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for that was steep. Of all forms of combat, urban warfare always has been the costliest in terms of lives and of expenditures in ammunition. Charles Watts and Michel Koniev couldn’t care less about the ammunition expenditure, still having ample stocks taken from the ISF, but victory had cost them the lives of 184 Spacer fighters and had wounded another 209 men and women, including 35 Hygieans and two Jovians killed or wounded. Added to that was a total of 462 Martian citizens found murdered by the ISF while in captivity, with another 53 citizens freed in deplorable shape. The word of those Terran atrocities quickly went around the planet, then was retransmitted around the whole Solar System in what became the first war news coverage of ground fighting in over a hundred years in the history of Humanity. The Martians however fully realized that the war was still far from over and prepared with grim determination to repel the inevitable reaction from Earth, with the KOSTROMA overhead to protect Mars from orbit. Then, word came from Jupiter during the night: help was on its way.

21:33 (Universal Time)

Friday, December 24, 2315

Bridge of the Terran craft carrier TCNS SARATOGA One million kilometers from Mars

Grand Admiral Wa was studying the sparse telemetry data recorded and sent to Earth during the previous orbital battles around Mars when a bridge officer came to attention besides him.

‘’Admiral, a high-power radar has just painted us. It was a wave from one of the radars of the Mars orbital traffic control network.’’

Wa nodded in acknowledgement.

‘’So, the Martians undid their sabotage work…in time to catch us during our final approach. Any sign yet of enemy ships?’’

‘’Not yet, sir.’’

‘’Very well. I do not intend to rush in head first without looking, only to have the enemy chop it off. Launch our reconnaissance fighters. Their priority task will be to find that damn KOSTROMA.’’

‘’Understood, sir.’’ said the officer before turning around and walking away to pass Wa’s orders. The latter then resumed his study of the battle telemetry. In the last battle, the KOSTROMA had used the moon Phobos as a giant shield and hiding place to

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ambush the convoy of Commodore Bogdanovich. It could still do that again, but he expected better from Captain Forster, who had amply demonstrated by now her craftiness and cunning. She could also use the moon Deimos or any of the six large manned orbital installations around Mars as cover, or she could simply come straight at him and challenge him. Somehow, though, Wa didn’t think that Forster would choose that last approach. She had up to now done her best to minimize the risks to her ship and crew. While some would call that cowardice, Wa called it sensible prudence, especially when considering that the KOSTROMA was a converted merchant ship, and not a true warship. Wa also cared about his crews, which was why he didn’t want to risk his fleet without having conducted first a reconnaissance sweep by his embarked fighters.

Fourteen minutes later, four of the fighter craft carried by the SARATOGA left their hangar and, powering up their fusion drives, sped away towards Mars. Wa watched them go with mixed feelings. On one hand, they were his best tools to prevent an ambush against his fleet of 38 warships. On the other hand, finding the KOSTROMA would most probably mean quick destruction for them and the death of their crews. Wa wished that he could return to the peaceful days of simply enforcing custom regulations and dealing with space claim jumpers, but he was now stuck in a war that had to be fought to the finish. Another six minutes later, his sensors officer came to his command chair with a worried expression on his face.

‘’Yes, Commander Parawak?’’

‘’Sir, our long range optical and infra-red sensors have detected the fusion flares of five ships coming from the Main Asteroid Belt and heading for Mars.’’

‘’Show me on the sensors sphere!’’ said Wa, suddenly feeling dread, as he got out of his chair. Following Parawak to the three meter sphere which fused all the data collected by the sensors of the SARATOGA, Wa examined the five red dots barely inside the sphere, along with the symbols marking their direction of flight and deceleration. Parawak called up a detailed analysis of the dots on a separate display situated at the base of the sphere.

‘’From the visual magnitude and spectroscopic signature of those flares, sir, we can say that these are very powerful fusion drives. In fact, they are in the multi-megaton thrust range. They are also decelerating at five Gs, indicating that these ships are probably at only a fraction of their designed maximum mass.’’

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‘’Empty cargo ships, big ones.’’ said Wa with a sinking feeling, making the commander nod.

‘’Yes, sir. Since they do not appear to carry a significant cargo load, that means that they are coming to Mars to fight, sir. They would not do so if they were not armed as well.’’

‘’So, we now have five heavy converted merchant ships like the KOSTROMA heading to Mars and ready to fight us. If they have anything like even a fraction of the firepower of Forster’s ship, you can figure out our chances against those battleships in a straight fight, Commander.’’

Parawak looked at Wa with understandable concern: the crew of the SARATOGA, as well as the crews of the twelve cruisers and 25 frigates of the fleet, was very aware of the power of the KOSTROMA, their expected opponent. Many had reviewed their last will before departure and Wa had heard as well that a few lower ranking crewmembers had mumbled about the futility of their mission. Morale among the fleet was thus not optimum and the news that five more enemy battleships were on their way to Mars would do nothing to improve it.

‘’How long before those five ships enter Mars orbit, Commander?’’

‘’Approximately 22 hours, Admiral. They also could still alter their trajectory to end up behind us. If they do that, then we will be caught in a giant pincer between them and Mars…and the KOSTROMA.’’

‘’Very well. I want a complete analysis of those flares. Try to identify the precise ship class of these newcomers and find how much installed power they would have available for heavy laser batteries, plus of course their performances and specifications.’’

‘’Right away, sir!’’

Thanks to modern high-power computers, that analysis took only minutes, but Wa didn’t like at all what Parawak told him as he presented him a printout.

‘’Sir, we have identified the incoming ships. They all have empty masses above one million tons and have maximum loaded masses of more than ten million tons. In fact, we are going to face six of the ten biggest ships in the Solar System, sir.’’ Many heads around the bridge snapped around when Parawak said that. On his part, Wa felt acid burn his stomach.

‘’What about their installed power?’’

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‘’Assuming that they were not extensively refitted since our ship listing databank was last updated, the potential power of any laser battery they could have would be between 400 and 700 megawatts…for each ship. As for missile carrying capacity, they could carry thousands of missiles without even feeling the extra mass, sir. Their bow shields also have a minimum thickness of eighty centimeters of ceramic-carbon composites.’’

Wa massaged his right temple with one hand while closing his eyes for a moment: his fleet was going to be hopelessly outgunned against these behemoths.

‘’Thank you, Commander. Continue tracking those five ships and inform me the moment that our fighters will detect something. I will be in my day cabin in the meantime.’’

Wa kept a straight face while walking out of the bridge and into his day cabin, which was directly connected to the bridge. Once inside his cabin and with the door closed, he sat heavily in his work chair and slammed a furious fist on his desk while letting out a swear word in Mandarin Chinese. He was now heading with his fleet into a battle he could not possibly win once those five new enemy ships showed up. He however could not avoid or refuse combat without incurring the wrath of Grand Administrator Li. On the other hand, the lives of the more than 18,000 men and women of his fleet were in his hands. He could still fight, and probably lose, but turning tail now would very possibly mean the arrest of not only himself, but also retaliations against his crewmembers by the goons of the ISF. That left him only with bad options…and a steadily diminishing amount of time to decide what to do.

22:25 (Universal Time)

Terran fighter craft GREMLIN

Approaching the moon Deimos

‘’Ted, put our data link with the SARATOGA on continuous mode. If we find what I expect to find behind Deimos, we will have only seconds to give the alert to the fleet.’’ And before dying, thought Serena White, the pilot of the fighter craft. She was as scared as she had ever been as her craft rounded the irregular-shaped little moon, which measured sixteen kilometers along its biggest axis. Her three comrades were at least as scared as her but, like her, were not about to confess to that and kept watching their

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instruments or Space outside their cockpit, looking for the dreaded KOSTROMA. Serena’s heart suddenly sank when a growing portion of what had to be the bow shield of a huge ship started to become visible from just behind Deimos.

‘’I HAVE THE KOSTROMA IN SIGHT! IT IS HIDDEN RIGHT BEHIND

DEIMOS.’’

Serena was about to push her fusion engine to maximum power, to get the hell out of here, when she received a radio message through the headset of her spacesuit.

‘’Terran fighter craft, this is the MSS KOSTROMA, of the Spacers League Forces. Turn around now and do not open fire and we will not fire on you, over.’’ With blood draining from her face, she exchanged an incredulous look with her copilot before answering the call.

‘’Did you say that you are not going to fire on us, KOSTROMA?’’

‘’Correct, GREMLIN. We can now read your craft name via our optical fire control directors but will hold fire if you turn around immediately and do not fire.’’

‘’But…why?’’

A video link then was added to the transmission, letting Serena and her three comrades look at a young woman wearing a spacesuit with its visor open and sitting in a command chair.

‘’This is Tina Forster, Captain of the KOSTROMA. The why is simple, GREMLIN: we do not wish to spill blood needlessly. The incoming battle is futile in my mind and would only result in the deaths of thousands of brave men and women, people with which I have no personal enmity. Tell your three other fighters to turn around as well. If they continue on, then I will withdraw my offer of a truce and will attack your fleet.’’

‘’A…a truce, KOSTROMA?’’

‘’Correct, GREMLIN. Now, turn around at once, along with your three other craft, and tell your admiral that I want to speak to him. KOSTROMA out!’’

‘’What the hell was that about?’’ blurted Serena’s weapons officer, making her shake her head as she turned her craft around.

‘’Don’t care, Ryan! The only important thing is that we are not going to be vaporized. ALL CRAFT OF BLUE FOX FLIGHT, THIS IS GREMLIN: TURN AROUND IMMEDIATELY AND RETURN TO THE CARRIER.’’

On the SARATOGA, Wa was alerted within seconds and rushed out of his day cabin to go examine the sensors sphere with Commander Parawak and with the captain

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of the SARATOGA, Captain Vernon Hall, and Captain Theresa Margolis, Wa’s operations officer. He reviewed twice the retransmission of the conversation between the GREMLIN and the KOSTROMA, then passed a hand on his face.

‘’A truce? Who would have believed that?’’

‘’I do!’’ said Hall, somber. ‘’This Captain Forster seems to be a sentimental at heart, even if she has proved to be gifted at space tactics.’’ Wa gave a cautious look at Hall: the captain of his flagship had insinuated a few times during the past days his doubts about the wisdom of the Federation Council’s policies in its ways of dealing with Spacers. He had also been clearly critical of the conduct of ISF troopers towards Spacer civilians on Mars.

‘’So, you think that this girl is serious about an offer of a truce, Captain Hall?’’

‘’Yes, sir!’’

‘’Even if she is, sir,’’ cut in Theresa Margolis, ‘’we cannot possibly accept such a truce. We represent the interests of eight billion Terrans and cannot abandon our mission just to avoid casualties. We have to push on and destroy that KOSTROMA.’’ Wa, while he admired the keen intelligence and mastery of space tactics of his operations officer, also knew that she was an extremely ambitious woman with little feelings for others. As such she was quite unpopular in the fleet but she enjoyed strong political support and Wa could not deny her competence.

‘’You do realize the kind of casualties we will suffer in a fight against the KOSTROMA, Captain Margolis?’’

‘’I do, sir.’’ said Margolis, unrepentant. ‘’However, if we let time for those five other big Spacer ships to arrive and link up with the KOSTROMA, then our task will become impossible rather than just difficult.’’

Wa sighed with resignation: Margolis was right, like she often was.

‘’Very well. I will politely reject Forster’s offer of a truce but I intend for us to fight clean in this battle. If we find Spacer survivors after the battle, we rescue them and treat them decently. Also, under no circumstances will we bombard cities, unless we have clear, pinpoint military targets. I want no repeats of the excesses the ISF committed on Mars. Is that clear, Captain Margolis?’’

‘’Very clear, sir.’’ said the woman, coming to attention. ‘’What about our attack plan against the KOSTROMA, sir?’’

‘’As we expected, the KOSTROMA is using the cover and protection of a moon, this time Deimos, to await battle. It gives it very good protection against long range laser

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fire and missile attacks, but it also gives us a chance to outflank it and take it in a multiple pincer. We will thus proceed with our initial plan of attack, with our central objective being the KOSTROMA, behind Deimos. Rear Admiral Fu Lao Thai will take charge of our deep penetration force, while we will lead the main charge against the KOSTROMA. Commodores Henley and Visaya will lead the flanking forces. Start deploying the fleet for battle while I contact the KOSTROMA.’’

‘’Yes sir!’’ responded in unison Hall and Margolis. Then letting his two senior subalterns, so unalike from each other, take care of the fleet deployment, Wa returned to his day cabin and asked for a radio link with the KOSTROMA on the general space distress frequency. At this distance, the time delay between sending and receiving would be a bit over three seconds, something still manageable for a conversation. He got a video link within a minute, ending up with the head of Tina Forster on his video display.

‘’Captain Forster, this is Grand Admiral Ming Wa, aboard the TCNS SARATOGA. First, let me thank you for having given a chance to live to my fighter crews. Your sense of humanity is appreciated and has been well noted. Be assured that, whatever happens next, my forces will conduct themselves honorably and according to the laws of war.’’

‘’Thank you, Admiral Wa. I would however prefer that we avoid battle altogether. There is surely a better way than fighting to resolve our differences. As the old British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said in the 20th Century, it is always better to jaw jaw than to war war.’’

Wa genuinely smiled on hearing that.

‘’An interesting historical quote, I must say. I will have to research it later. Did you learn your tactical cunning from history books, Captain Forster?’’

‘’Partly, Admiral. Another old military quote says that, while professionals are predictable, the World is full of amateurs.’’

Wa laughed at that.

‘’Meaning that I am the professional and you are the amateur, albeit a gifted one. Well, enough of pleasantries. While I appreciated your offer of a truce, I must regrettably refuse it, Captain Forster. My orders leave me no choice but to impose the will of the Federation Council on Mars and on the Spacers League. However, in return, I am asking for you to surrender to my fleet. Such a surrender would be quite honorable in view of the odds against you. You must have by now taken stock of the size of my fleet.

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You may inflict heavy losses on my ships but, ultimately, your KOSTROMA will be overwhelmed…and destroyed.’’

‘’And I must refuse, Admiral Wa. What I am defending is bigger than my KOSTROMA, or even Mars. We Spacers have declared our independence so that we could be free of the tyranny of your corrupt and short-sighted political leaders, and we are ready to die to defend that cause. Be assured that we will also fight cleanly, although I cannot promise you that I don’t have a few surprises for you. I must warn you as well, before you decide to attack, that Spacer reinforcements will soon make your efforts fruitless.’’

‘’I am well aware of the approach of your five battleships, Captain Forster. They just decided me that I could wait no further before acting on my orders. I can only wish that you and most of your crew will be able to survive this battle. Goodbye, Captain Forster.’’

‘’And goodbye to you, Admiral Wa.’’

Wa then terminated the link and sighed, his heart heavy. He really would have wished to be able to avoid this.

23:51 (Universal Time)

Bridge of MSS KOSTROMA

Floating behind the moon Deimos

‘’Their fighters are now within extreme laser range, Tina.’’ Tina, her spacesuit visor now closed and sealed, sighed with regret as she looked at the waves of Terran ships and craft coming at her. Wa was concentrating his carrier and nine cruisers, plus two dozen fighters, in a massive frontal attack against Deimos and the KOSTROMA. His flanking attacks by a total of two cruisers and ten frigates, as well as his secondary attack, with one cruiser and fifteen frigates racing towards Mars itself, had not escaped her attention. In fact, with all the sensor systems in orbit around Mars sending their data to her and to Governor Watts command post in Ares City, she was aware with precision of every move made by the enemy. That still didn’t make her less bitter about this.

‘’Nine minutes before Christmas. What a lousy time to start a battle! Very well, Patricia: start firing! Pick up your targets in succession before they could come within missile range.’’

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‘’Aye, Captain!’’

Patricia O’Neil, who had become the unofficial weapons officer of the KOSTROMA, then started firing single laser beams at a time via the sole fire control director not masked by the moon Deimos. Tina was holding the KOSTROMA just below the moon’s terminator, thus hiding from the Terrans the majority of her ship’s bulk from their fire. The targets being small and very distant, it took about a second of laser fire before the beam brushed against one of the 24 fighter craft rushing ahead of the line of cruisers. At 2.1 gigawatt of power, that beam was however powerful enough to burn through the hull of the craft in microseconds and cause catastrophic damage. With the warhead of one of the missiles carried by the fighter touched off by the laser beam, the craft exploded in a ball of flames. Picking off her targets systematically and helped by the main computer of the ship, Spirit, which refined her aim, Patricia took less than three minutes to destroy the whole advance screen of 24 fighters. By then, the line of charging cruisers were still well beyond missile range of the KOSTROMA. However, the cruisers were now themselves within lethal range of one of the surprises Tina had reserved for the Terrans. Glancing at the sensors data fusion sphere, she saw that both of the Terran flanking forces, as well as the secondary attack force, were about to cross inside the equatorial geosynchronous orbit of Mars, along which were positioned dozens of satellites of various kinds, including the powerful radar stations of the Mars space traffic control system.

‘’Continue firing with lasers at the lead cruiser, Patricia. Let’s hold still with our missile fire until all the Terran ships are within lethal range. Frida, starts slow axial rotation of the ship.’’

‘’Aye, concentrating fire on the TCNS MOSKVA.’’ said Patricia, while Frida Skarsgard made the KOSTROMA slowly rotate around its longitudinal axis. That made its massive bow shield rotate as well, ensuring that any laser beam which hit it now could not delve on a single spot for more than a microsecond. In ships with light shields, that precaution would be next to useless, but against the two meter-thick shield of the KOSTROMA, the typical 150 megawatt laser beam from a Terran cruiser would normally take nearly a second to burn through and start to cause true damage. Against a rotating shield, that meant that a particular beam would wander continuously over the surface of the shield and simply dig furrows in it, without penetrating it.

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The unfortunate MOSKVA had not yet opened fire with its own lasers when the KOSTROMA’s beam hit its bow shield squarely. In a most ironic twist, the cuts to space programs ordered by the Federation Council months ago now played against the Terrans. The MOSKVA, like its sister ships, was already well over forty years old and had been due for an extensive refit to modernize its sensors suite and computers, on top of rebuilding its engines. However, that refit program, scheduled to be done by the Avalon Space Yards, had been cancelled and the MOSKVA still had the same old sensors and computers, now fully three generations behind in terms of top technology. Some of the new sensors and computers meant for the MOSKVA and its sister ships were in fact installed aboard the KOSTROMA, giving it a definite edge in sensors definition and accuracy. The 2.1 gigawatt laser beam burned through the bow shield of the cruiser in two tenths of a second and then dug its way along its central axis, piercing deck after deck. In a basic replay of what had happened to the cruiser of the unfortunate Commodore Bogdanovich, the MOSKVA was irretrievably damaged within seconds, with its central missile magazine hit and exploding after six seconds of firing. The internal explosion blew open nearly all the bulkheads of the ship before tearing the cruiser to pieces, killing all of its 430 crewmembers in the huge explosion.

As the catastrophic loss of the MOSKVA registered on the rest of the shaken Terran main force, Patricia O’Neil switched her fire to the nearby cruiser PARIS, shredding that cruiser to pieces in fifteen seconds of fire and leaving it dead in space, its radars, propulsion and main power offline. The cruiser MADRID was next in the KOSTROMA’s collimator. By now, even if Admiral Wa realized that his own fire would lack accuracy at this range, the surviving Terran cruisers and the carrier SARATOGA started firing their own laser batteries. The large majority of their fire missed by hundreds of meters or hit the surface of Deimos, wasting their power on simple dirt and rocks. Only two laser beams hit the part of the KOSTROMA that was visible, and then were not even able to stay steady on target, the servos on their fire control optics lacking the precision needed at such long range. With the axial rotation of the KOSTROMA aggravating the Terrans’ problems, they thus caused nothing more than a series of shallow furrows in the tough ceramic-carbon composite of the shield. The MADRID then exploded, weakening the Terran laser fire against the KOSTROMA.

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On the SARATOGA, Admiral Wa followed the action from his command chair, cringing at the beating his cruisers were taking. The KOSTROMA was however in an excellent tactical defensive position and had all the advantages…up to now. Wa saw that his flanking forces and Rear Admiral Thai’s force were now past the equatorial geosynchronous orbit of Mars and were starting to get into the rear of the enemy battleship. A few more minutes and the KOSTROMA would find itself inside a three-pincer pocket, with a powerful Terran force heading towards the low orbits of Mars. Forster would soon have to decide either to withdraw in order to protect the low orbits of the planet and avoid encirclement, or stay in place and die fighting. A shout from Commander Parawak, at the sensors, came just as Wa lost a fourth cruiser, the SINGAPORE, cut into two huge pieces.

‘’SIR, THE KOSTROMA IS STARTING TO BACK OFF FROM DEIMOS WHILE STILL FIRING. IT IS PULLING AWAY ON GRAVITY SAILS AT AN ACCELERATION OF 3 Gs.’’

Wa was impressed by that piece of data: three Gs on gravity sails alone, while backing off? The important thing, though, was that the enemy was withdrawing, as he had hoped for.

‘’Continue the charge and our laser fire! Do not let any respite to the KOSTROMA while our flanking forces are progressing.’’

‘’Aye, sir!’’

The cruisers assault force was well within the equatorial geosynchronous orbit of Mars and within 5,000 kilometers from Deimos, close enough to shoot missiles at the moon but not from the still retreating KOSTROMA, when Commander Parawak shouted again to Wa, near panic in his voice.

‘’WE HAVE MASSIVE MISSILE FIRING AGAINST OUR SHIPS FROM MULTIPLE POINTS, SIR.’’

‘’WHAT? FROM WHERE EXACTLY? HOW MANY MISSILES?’’

‘’FROM VARIOUS SATELLITES IN GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT AND FROM THE SURFACE OF DEIMOS, SIR. I COUNT OVER 200 MISSILES ON THE WAY.’’

‘’DAMN! SWITCH ALL LASER FIRE TO DEFENSIVE COUNTER-MISSILE FIRE, AUTOMATIC CONTROL, NOW! FORGET THE KOSTROMA FOR THE

MOMENT.’’

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Wa swore mentally as he understood what Forster had done: she had used all those captured missiles from the ISF convoy, missiles preloaded in launch boxes made to fit on Terran fighters and frigates, and positioned them on unmanned satellites. Those satellites had the advantage for Forster of being already equipped with sophisticated sensors because of their original purposes. Forster then had only to monitor the advance of his ships and then send remote command signals to trigger the firing of selected missile batteries. His cruiser assault force had already suffered heavily, with seven of his nine cruisers now either destroyed or dead in space, reduced to impotent hulks. His own SARATOGA had now been the target of the KOSTROMA for a very long minute, with grievous damage and casualties increasing steadily, and now he had to deal with about eighty missiles rushing towards his three ship-formation, if he could judge from his view of the sensors data fusion sphere. His flanking forces and his deep attack force were also under missile fire, trapped in pockets of expertly chosen killing zones between the equatorial geosynchronous orbit and the high altitude orbits of Mars. Wa felt his stomach turn acid as he watched the waves of missiles raining down on his ships, which were now desperately firing their laser batteries at the approaching tiny, speedy points. The cruiser CAPETOWN was first to be hit by at least two missiles, followed closely by the SARATOGA and then the BANGKOK. Out of eighty missiles fired at the main cruiser force, 64 were either destroyed by laser fire or missed, a very creditable performance by the Terran defenders of the cruisers. That however still left sixteen missiles to slam in the three ships and explode inside their hulls. The SARATOGA, being much bigger and bulkier than its two escort cruisers, attracted the worse of it, absorbing seven of the missiles, while the CAPETOWN took five hits and the BANGKOK four hits. Alarms rang inside the carrier and lights flickered while it shook from the hits, with main power failing after the sixth hit. Wa, sealed inside his spacesuit and still strapped to his command chair, could see thick black smoke starting to spew out of the air vents of the bridge. That smoke, coming from burning electrical cables, was toxic and would asphyxiate any crewmember whose spacesuit was not already sealed. That point suddenly became academic, as a geyser of sparks exploded from the ceiling of the bridge, with another geyser of sparks from the deck floor opposite it. Luckily, the laser beam from the KOSTROMA did not cut across the bridge, rather moving towards the outer hull. That still left the bridge open to space vacuum, with a hurricane sweeping through the compartment and sucking out anything not firmly fixed in place. A number of unfortunate crewmembers, including Captain Margolis, disappeared

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through the jagged holes, dismembered or ripped apart before ending in space, their spacesuits shred to pieces and not protecting them anymore. Wa gripped the armrests of his command chair with desperate strength to resist the storm, all the while powerless as he watched his men and women die around him. After about ten seconds the storm calmed down, leaving the shattered bridge in a dark vacuum. Only emergency power was on, coming from local batteries in the nearby damage control compartment. With no way to direct or even observe the continuing battle from the bridge, Wa was now useless. Captain Hall then shouted orders on the radio, asking for damage and casualty reports. The answers he got in the next minutes were grim: the SARATOGA was out of the fight for good and could not even propel itself in space, now being little more than a floating hulk. Nearly half of the crew was either dead or missing, not responding to calls to their compartments, and all life support systems were offline. After listening for nine minutes to this, Wa took a painful decision and activated his helmet microphone, speaking in as calm a tone as he could.

‘’Captain Hall, the ship is as good as dead. No sense in risking more lives in futile damage repair efforts.’’

Hall looked at him for a moment, obviously hating to take the decision that this left him, then nodded slowly.

‘’Understood, Admiral.’’

Hall then switched to ship-wide call and gave firmly an order.

‘’ABANDON SHIP! I SAY AGAIN, ABANDON SHIP! ALL CREWMEMBERS TO THE LIFE PODS!’’

On the bridge of the KOSTROMA, Tina had directed the fighting of her ship and the remote-controlled firing of her prepositioned missile batteries with an apparent impassive expression. In reality, each symbol on the sensors sphere that denoted a ship hit or destroyed added to her emotional distress. The voice of Patricia O’Neil then got her attention.

‘’Tina, the main cruiser force can now be considered eliminated. I’m receiving life pod distress beacon signals from around all the cruisers and the carrier, with none firing anymore.’’

‘’Good! What about the other enemy forces?’’

‘’The port side flanking force is now down to one cruiser and two frigates, while the starboard side flanking force is left with two frigates. The deep strike force is

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however still relatively intact, having lost only four of its fifteen frigates and being still led by one cruiser. That deep strike force is still pushing towards Mars lower orbits.’’

‘’Will it pass close enough to Phobos to come within range of its missile batteries?’’

Patricia took a few seconds to check that before answering.

‘’Affirmative! They will be in missile range of Phobos in about 26 minutes.’’

‘’Then let’s hurry there, to block their path from behind Phobos. Frida, go to maximum power on gravity sails! Get us as quickly as possible in an orbit 2,000 kilometers below Phobos. Patricia, if you get chances at laser long range shots on that deep strike force while we are moving, take them!’’

‘’Got it, Tina! What about the flanking forces?’’

Tina thought for a moment before answering the redhead.

‘’I will call them in the meantime. Our main worry now is that deep strike force. If it can get to low orbit, it could then seize Mars’ main orbital installations.’’ Tina then switched to the frequency the Terrans had been using up to now.

‘’To all surviving Terran ships still heading towards Mars, this is the Spacers League ship KOSTROMA. Be advised that we will not fire further on you if you turn around now and go retrieve the life pods containing the survivors of your cruiser force before leaving the Mars System. I say again…’’

She repeated three times her call, not receiving answers or acknowledgement. Anwar Duharto, monitoring the communications and electronic intercept suite, then spoke.

‘’Captain, I am detecting an exchange of encrypted radio traffic between the three surviving enemy forces. I can’t break the encryption, though.’’

‘’Hum, they probably are deciding what to do now. Let’s hope that they lost their appetite for battle by now.’’

Tina’s pious wish did not come to pass, however. Three minutes later, the surviving ships of the flanking forces turned around and powered their fusion drives to return towards the remains of their main force, but the deep strike force kept going towards Mars. Tina clenched her teeth, mentally swearing at the stubbornness and stupidity of that enemy commander.

‘’What the hell is that imbecile hoping to accomplish against us with one cruiser and eleven frigates, while we are still essentially intact and with five more big ships on the way?’’

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‘’Maybe he is hoping to be able to blackmail us by pointing his missiles at Martian cities?’’ suggested Frida Skarsgard from her pilot’s seat. Tina’s face hardened at that.

‘’If he really tries that, then there will be no pity for him. Are we going to be able to get ahead of him before he gets to Phobos?’’

‘’By the skin of our teeth, Tina. We always could go to fusion drive at maximum, but then we would have to endure a felt gravity of three Gs inside the ship, despite our gravity controls. If our gravity controls fail, then we will end up crushed to the deck.’’

‘’Then let’s do it! TO ALL CREWMEMBERS, PREPARE IMMEDIATELY FOR A LONG, SUSTAINED BOOST WITH A FELT THREE Gs OF GRAVITY. YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES TO GET SAFELY INTO PADDED SEATS, OR BEDS FOR THOSE NOT AT ESSENTIAL BATTLE STATIONS.’’

After waiting for the two minute delay to pass, Tina braced herself in her command chair, then looked at Frida Skarsgard.

‘’Go to maximum power as soon as I give the last warning, Frida. TO ALL CREWMEMBERS, WE ARE NOW GOING TO MAXIMUM BOOST. IF YOU ARE NOT IN A SAFE POSITION YET, LAY DOWN ON THE DECK AND HOPE FOR THE BEST. Light it up, Frida!’’

With the pilot pushing her fusion drive settings to the maximum, Tina and the others on the bridge were pushed deep in their padded seats, suddenly feeling three times their normal weight. They had to breathe in quick, shallow breaths, while their arms felt like they weighed a ton. The 27 million tons of thrust came out of the plasma exhaust chambers in blinding flares of lights tens of kilometers long, visible from the surface of Mars.

On the bridge of the Terran cruiser KOLKATA, Rear Admiral Fu Lao Thai, who already had his ships at their maximum acceleration rate of five Gs, snapped his head around in disbelief when one of his sensors operator announced that the KOSTROMA was burning a path towards them at eleven Gs.

‘’ELEVEN Gs? BUT THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! THE KOSTROMA IS A CARGO SHIP, NOT A TRUE WARSHIP.’’

‘’I’m sorry, sir, but that’s what our sensors say. It will be able to block our path to Mars before we could get past the orbit of Phobos, sir.’’

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‘’Should we change course and evade, sir?’’ asked the captain of the KOLKATA, strapped in his chair near the one of Fu Lao Thai. The latter shook his head angrily.

‘’NO! Our main force paid a dear price to allow us to go this far. We are not going to flee now, when we have yet to accomplish anything worthwhile.’’

‘’But, sir, we are clearly no match for the KOSTROMA, and…’’

‘’Are you questioning my orders, Captain?’’ shot back Thai, glaring at the captain, who clenched his teeth and shook his head meekly.

‘’No sir!’’

Fu Lao Thai got the first reason to regret his decision sixteen minutes later, when the KOSTROMA started firing its lasers at him from a distance he could not even hope to match. His cruiser, along with two frigates, quickly started accumulating damages and casualties as the laser beams turned the three ships into Swiss cheese. One of the frigates blew up first, with another then taking its place as one of the designated targets of the KOSTROMA. The KOLKATA then lost its main propulsion drive and continued on its course with only the limited help of its gravity sails. A second frigate blew up, victim of the utter lack of armoring around its missile magazines. Then, it was the turn of the KOLKATA to blow up, leaving only nine surviving frigates to rush towards Phobos and Mars. The crews of those nine frigates, already quite scared and expecting to die in the minutes and hours to come, never made it past Phobos. Tina Forster, watching closely their progress, remotely fired the missile batteries positioned on Phobos when the enemy force got within a mere 700 kilometers from the moon. The nine frigates were then confronted by a wave of forty missiles shot at them from what was essentially point blank range, with only seconds for them to react. With the laser fire from the KOSTROMA still chewing up their starboard sides, the Terran ships collided head-on with 33 of the forty missiles at a combined speed of seventeen kilometers per second. The sheer kinetic energy of the impacts was added to the explosive power of the missiles’ warheads, blowing to small bits the two leading frigates and ripping apart six other frigates. The last frigate in line, severely damage by a missile hit, was finished by laser fire from the KOSTROMA which cut it in two parts. Those parts then impacted the surface of Phobos, shattering its surface and sending big chunks of it flying off the moon.

On the KOSTROMA, now reversed and braking madly with the help of its fusion drive, Tina lowered her head at the destruction of the last attacking enemy ship. The

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threat to Mars was now over, at least for now, but at what was for her an awful price in terms of human blood spilled. That she had not suffered a single casualty aboard her ship, which bore only a few furrows on its bow shield as battle damage, was a relief to her, but she would never be able to forget all those dead men and women. Pushing a few buttons on the panels of her command chair, she switched her headset to the link with Governor Watts’ command post, in Ares City. Once the governor appeared on her display, she nodded somberly to him.

‘’Governor Watts, I can now announce to you that the enemy fleet has been defeated. The surviving cruiser and four frigates of their fleet are now busy rescuing the survivors from their cruiser group, 25,000 kilometers above Mars. The rest is now space junk. On my part, I have suffered no human casualties and only negligible damage to my bow shield. I intend to scour the debris from a group I just finished off, then I will go watch over the rescue of the survivors of the cruiser group. Shall I then take them prisoner or let them go back to Earth?’’

Watts, ecstatic at those news, still managed to answer her calmly.

‘’Watch them but let them go, once you are sure they are not coming back towards Mars. That was an incredible feat you and your ship just pulled off, Tina. Mars will be forever in your depth.’’

‘’Thank you, Governor. However, all those dead men and women represent an awful price for our victory, even if they were our enemies.’’

‘’I understand full well what you mean, Tina, and it is to your credit as a human being. Again, well done, you and your mighty KOSTROMA.’’ Watts then cut the link, leaving Tina to her thoughts.

‘’The mighty KOSTROMA… That has a ring to it.’’

03:17 (Universal Time)

Saturday, December 25, 2315

Bridge of Terran cruiser TCNS NOVGOROD

At site of debris field from the main cruiser squadron High orbit over Mars

Commodore Shandra Visaya, commander of the remnants of the outer flanking force, was reviewing the progress of the rescue efforts with Admiral Ming Wa, just

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rescued from his life pod and then brought to the bridge of the NOVGOROD, when the sensors officer shouted a warning.

‘’SIR, THE KOSTROMA IS HEADING TOWARDS US! IT WILL BE HERE IN FORTY MINUTES.’’

‘’Dear gods!’’ said weakly Visaya, sudden worry on his brown face. ‘’I hope that it is not coming to finish us. We have too little left to even hurt it.’’ Wa patted his shoulder to reassure him.

‘’Commodore, if I have read that Captain Forster correctly, then I believe that she is not coming to fight, but rather to help.’’

‘’Help us, Admiral?’’ said Visaya, incredulous. Wa nodded.

‘’You heard me right, Commodore. I believe that Forster is one of those sentimental idealists us professional military men tend to dismiss as fools. The problem for us is that she has proven to be no fool. Anyway, the best we could do now is to contact her and ask about her intentions. I will handle that part. Continue to direct the rescue efforts in the meantime.’’

‘’Uh, understood, sir.’’

Going to the V.I.P. command chair of the bridge, Wa sat in it and had an operator call the KOSTROMA, then transfer the call to his station. The face of Tina Forster broke into a genuine smile on seeing Wa in her video screen.

‘’Admiral Wa, you made it alive! I was hoping you would, along with as much of your crews as possible.’’

‘’Thank you for your consideration, Captain Forster. May I ask you why your ship is approaching us as we are picking up our survivors?’’

‘’You may, Admiral: I intend to offer my help and the medical facilities of my ship, which are extensive, to help treat your wounded. You have my word that any Terran wounded treated on my ship will be promptly returned to Earth once healed.’’ Wa only had to weigh that for a second before agreeing.

‘’Very well, Captain Forster. On my part, you have my word that my ships and crews will not commit hostile acts against your ship during our joint rescue effort. Does that satisfy you?’’

‘’Yes, Admiral Wa. I will reserve one craft airlock for the reception of your medical shuttles and will also have teams of hull repair technicians ready in case you

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need to get to isolated compartments. Know that we have portable airlocks and pressurized casualty carrying capsules, plus plenty of emergency spacesuits.’’

‘’Those could become handy, Captain Forster. I will tell the staff of the NOVGOROD to keep this channel open in order to facilitate the coordination of our rescue efforts. Hopefully, I will be able to see you face to face during the next few hours.’’

Wa then notified the communications officer about letting the radio channel opened and monitored, before returning to Visaya to speak with him.

04:25 (Universal Time)

Hangar Deck of the MSS KOSTROMA

Admiral Wa was pleased to see surprise on the face of Tina Forster when he disembarked from the first shuttle to bring wounded Terrans aboard the KOSTROMA for treatment. He however quickly went down the ramp to get out of the way of the medics and crewmen bringing out the wounded on anti-gravity stretchers. It was then the turn of Wa to be surprised at the sight of the collection of young teenage Spacers, led by a handful of adults, who were waiting to take charge of the stretchers. Tina joined him at the foot of the shuttle’s ramp and presented her right hand, which Wa shook after a brief hesitation.

‘’Welcome aboard the KOSTROMA, Admiral Wa. I hope that we will be able to forget about our differences, at least for a few hours or days.’’

‘’I hope so as well, Captain Forster. For the moment, though, the only thing that is on my mind is the care of my wounded men and women.’’

‘’And they shall be well cared for, Admiral. Let’s follow those stretchers to our medical center.’’

‘’You have a medical center rather than a simple infirmary? I am jealous, Captain. By the way, why are those kids here, in a ship at war?’’

‘’They are the children of our crewmembers and they normally reside on our ship with their families. I wanted to send them to a safe place, along with our youngest children, but they insisted on volunteering for war service. They actually proved quite useful, beefing up my medical evacuation teams and filling other low skill positions. I am very proud of them.’’

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‘’So you should be.’’ said Wa while eyeing a girl of maybe thirteen years of age comforting a wounded Terran crewmember by holding his hand while she helped also guide the anti-gravity stretcher along.

Going up with the stretcher cases in a cargo elevator to the Human Services Deck, on Level 16, Wa walked side by side with Tina Forster to the medical center, entering it via the emergency triage area. There, Doctor Maria Perez was already waiting with her medical staff for the incoming casualties and immediately sorted out the patients, with the most serious cases prepared at once to be operated on. Wa watched the process for a moment before nodding his head in satisfaction.

‘’I can see that your medical staff is very professional, Captain Forster. Your facilities are also quite impressive.’’

‘’Would you like a tour of our medical center, Admiral?’’

‘’If it does not inconvenience you, I would like it very much.’’

‘’It would actually be a pleasure, Admiral.’’

Tina then treated Wa to an hour-long tour of the medical center and of its pediatric section, situated next to the ship’s primary school. The fact that the KOSTROMA contained functioning schools from the levels of kindergarten to junior high, plus a large playground, astonished Wa.

‘’You have all this on your ship?’’

‘’And a lot more, Admiral. Don’t forget that, for Spacers, our ships are not only our way to earn a living: they are our homes as well. My KOSTROMA is fully certified by the Jovian authorities as a space community, partly because we have all the basic services available aboard for our crew and passengers and because we could even sustain a deep space scientific expedition for a year or more. Let me show you something else, Admiral.’’

Wa, already quite impressed, followed her out into one of the radial corridors running out from the ship’s central axis. Tina led him to the end of the corridor and opened a large armored sliding door on the outer wall. Taking a few steps, she stopped as they emerged into one of the boreal ecosystems inside the Bow Gravity Shield Deck and let Wa a few seconds to look around him. The old admiral was speechless at first, never having expected such a sight. He finally looked at Tina with wide eyes.

‘’This is absolutely incredible, Captain Forster. A forest on a space ship?’’

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‘’Actually, four forests, separated by airtight partitions to avoid losing everything in case of a single hull breach. Surrounding those forests are giant aquariums full of fish and marine life, topped by three levels of apartments with views on the forests. My crew and their families are now lodged in those apartments, having recently vacated their old quarters near the central axis.’’

‘’This must have cost a fortune to put in your ship, no?’’

Tina then turned somber, replying in a calm but firm voice.

‘’Yes, Admiral, it cost a fortune, but I used by own money for that. Why? So that my crew could live on this ship and still have contact daily with true natural beauty. I did all this without using public money, contrary to what many ignoramus on Earth would insinuate. It may look like an expensive luxury to Terrans, but for us it is our only way to have close to a life considered normal on Earth. We Spacers cherish nature, because we see so little of it, while too many on Earth have treated nature as something to be exploited for short-term gains. That still goes on today, while your government refused to take the measures necessary to stop this continued, irresponsible population growth on Earth which caused the overexploitation of the planet’s resources. Earth is polluted and poor because of Terrans, not because of Spacers, and we have been supporting our mother Earth for decades now, not the other way around. Yet, the government of Grand Administrator Li decided to paint us as the spoiled exploiters in the eyes of the Earth masses, and that to hide the failings of his own policies and those of his predecessors, switching the blame on us Spacers. Now we are at war because of this, with thousands of good men and women dead for nothing.’’ Wa, who had listened to her with an impassive face, then spoke in a quiet tone, avoiding to appear hostile to her.

‘’And why are you telling me this, Captain Forster?’’

‘’Why? So that you can repeat my words to Grand Administrator Li. Hopefully, they will convince him to become reasonable and stop the hostilities against us Spacers. He should now realize that he can’t win this war, while Earth will soon start to feel the economic pinch from our trade embargo. I am sure that the leaders of the Spacers League would be ready to listen to any reasonable offers of peace from Grand Administrator Li. Dropping his negative publicity campaign against the Spacers would be a good start on Li’s part.’’

‘’Very well, Captain Forster, I will convey your words to Grand Administrator Li. I however can’t guarantee you that he will be swayed by them, or that he will even listen

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to them. I may be Grand Admiral, but he is my superior and he makes the policies, not me.’’

‘’I fully realize that, Admiral Wa, but just conveying my message will already be a good step. Hopefully, common sense will then prevail.’’

‘’Hopefully. Time will tell.’’