I knew we were closing in on our missing ships when the local authorities greeting us grew increasingly hostile. A rumor spread that Kenneth Phon and his fleet had turned pirate and had set all the Golden Worlds ablaze, venting and looting every transport they came across. I was very glad to have my escort of cruisers then and let Commander Gautier handle the conversations with the locals, though if they had stopped to ask themselves why a handful of Spartan light cruisers were allowing what looked like a private custom-built racing yacht to follow them around, things could have gotten more difficult for me.
We found what was left of the Solarian/Pentaminc fleet at Two Worlds as Director Sharkey had said. I located the Phoenix and sent Commander Brennon a request to talk. He responded immediately.
"Commander Phon! I can't tell you how glad I am to see you!"
"Requesting permission to dock, commander," I said.
"Absolutely. You're timing couldn't have been better. We really need you right now."
"Why is that?"
"The locals have basically put the entire fleet under house arrest. Not long after we got here, news of the colonials' raids got out and, though we were obviously not involved, they refused to give us permission to leave for fear we would go off and join them."
"Well, fortunately, I just spoke with the director of Spartan Interplanetary Defense, I'll see if I can't pull some strings to get the fleet released. Go ahead and have your crews prepare to depart. One way or another, this fleet is leaving."
Commander Brennon gave me a relieved smile. "So, you're returning to take command?"
"If your commanders will follow me. Please schedule a meeting with them in two hours. I'm going to need to brief you all on the situation."
"Are we working for the Spartans now?"
"Let's just say we're allied with them, but first we have to go join up with those renegade colonials ships.
* * *
The race which had colonized the local worlds called themselves The People and reminded me of sloths. They had sloping foreheads, shaggy body hair and a dopy expression similar to the animal's. The local governor, who had been too busy to take any of the commanders' many calls, responded immediately to my request to talk.
"Directly please be answering yourself, Citizen Kenneth Phon, to the entrance security forces," he said the minute we connected.
"And why would I do that?" I asked.
"Numerous and various crimes and piracy complaints others have charged against you."
"If that were true, that would be quite a trick as I only entered the Golden Worlds 15.35 STU ago."
"A court of adjudication will have to determine that."
"I'm afraid we don't have time for this nonsense. I'm under direct orders from the Spartan military to collect those Solarians causing you trouble and remove them from the Golden Worlds."
"Say you the Spartan military?"
"You can check with Director James Sharkey of the Spartan Interplanetary Defense yourself, if you like. In the mean time, I suggest you dismiss these obviously spurious charges and assist our fleet in its departure."
"Please leave not the system while we consult."
The connection ended while, no doubt, the governor made frantic calls to the Spartan ambassador. Meanwhile, having docked the Argippus in the Phoenix, I brushed past a startled flight deck attendant with a casual "good afternoon." I made my way straight to C&C, which was being used for temporary storage, and booted up the com panels in one of the pods.
"Commander Phon? Are you already onboard?" Commander Brennon sputtered when he saw me log onto the network. "I apologize for not being there to greet you, my protocol officer should have—"
"Don't worry about it. We have work to do and not a lot of time for ceremony."
"What is this about? It must be serious to drag you back."
"It's about the Cacks and, yes, it's serious but I'd rather wait until the commanders' conference before I say more."
"Well they're ready to go now. As soon as they heard you'd returned, the commanders all wanted to speak with you. They're logged into v-space now."
"Very well, let's begin." I had to wait a moment while my avatar reloaded into the system, but a minute later I stepped out into what I thought of as generic conference room number one. A couple dozen senior commanders, Harlow among them, all sat around a staid conference table while the rest lurked invisibly in spectator mode. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid I'm back."
"Welcome back sir," one young commander said earnestly. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you all too, though," I paused and searched the faces of my commanders. "I don't see Commander Knight here."
"Chris was out with the LCs and FACs scouting when Two Worlds went into lockdown," Harlow said. "He's been playing cat and mouse with the local authorities ever since."
"Can we communicate with him?"
"We get regular updates from him through some carefully placed recon drones."
"Good. We're going to need what's left of his wing, but before I tell you why I've come—and I know this is without advance notice—please give me a quick update of the fleet's status."
My commanders stirred uncomfortably. The traditional conference presentation was made with mind-numbingly boring charts and graphs prepared before hand by an army of media specialists, the topics laid out and everything scheduled well in advance. It was a safe way to bore one's commander into thinking one had been busy.
"Commander Brennon has already apprised me of the situation with the locals. How combat ready are we?" I asked.
"The ships are all repaired and ready for combat, sir," Commander Debbie Fowler said, sounding much more authoritative than she had when I had first promoted her. "Things are still somewhat bolted together so I can't say they're as good as new, but they're as good as they can be short of a complete refit."
"How are supplies?"
"Short as always," Commander Mike Williams said. "We're nearly out of missiles and drones and we are lacking spares for many critical ship systems."
"And why is that?"
"We have no funds," Harlow said. "The locals won't let us leave port much less sign any work contracts. They won't give us any money either, though they'll give us all the loans we can ask for. We're currently leveraged up to our eyeballs."
"Well, I have one bit of good news then," I said. "Earth has given us billions of terra which I am releasing to get this fleet ready to fight."
Expressions of almost rapturous joy flitted across their face only to be replaced by suspicious and puzzled frowns. No doubt they realized this was an unthinkable amount of money and only a truly desperate government would hand over that much at once.
"In addition to re-equipping ourselves, I'd like to gather all the supplies we think the other fleets might need."
"Sir? What other fleets?" Debbie asked.
"The colonials."
"Sir...according to the local media...nearly all the colonials have been destroyed. The fleet split up to raid separate worlds and after some initial success, were overwhelmed by the locals. What's left of them are trapped in a system designated AIV0454 where they are trying to negotiate a surrender. The only reason they haven't surrendered yet is that the locals demand their surrender be unconditional."
"That is most unfortunate." I fumbled with the media controls, loading Director Sharkey's maps and gravimetric plots. "Because we're going to need all the help we can get." I laid out the size and scope of the pending Cack offensive. When I had finished, my commanders just stared at me in stunned silence. "This is now an existential struggle. We are the only ones standing between the human race and extinction. We're going to need all the ships we can get and if any Solarian starts surrendering now, it's only going to make our job that much harder.
"I don't know if we are going to win this struggle. I guess survival is never guaranteed for any species. But if the human race is to go extinct, I would rather the other races remember us as courageous and determined, not as weaklings who died begging others for the right to live. Who knows, we may yet win. We've faced these odds before."
I paused to gauge their reactions and realized my little speech was unnecessary. Whereas before I might have seen the blanched faces of barely concealed fear, I now saw only grim determination. These weren't the inexperienced vac-suckers they had started out as. They were now hardened and experienced veterans.
"I've read somewhere that God humbles the proud but gives grace to the humbled. I think our prouder brothers in arms have now been humbled and by God's grace we may now lift them up and humble the Cacks."
I paused and smiled at them. Surely no finer force had ever served their people so faithfully.
"Prepare your crews. As soon as they're ready, we're going to rescue our friends, unite the fleet and kick the Cacks collective butt one last time.
* * *
Once I began paying the fleet's long overdue bills, the local authorities decided I really had come to take charge of our wayward ships, dismissed the charges against me and sent us on our way. Using Chris's wing of LCs and FACs to scout ahead, we began our search of the Golden Worlds to find what had happened to our missing colonials. We knew we had arrived when, the local authorities began attacking us on sight. A couple of captured pilots confirmed the remains of our missing fleet were trapped in system AIV0454. They had not yet surrendered, but the locals knew that if they could keep a large Solarian force from rescuing them, the alien's victory was assured.
"We have to make them think every human ship has come to rescue them," I told Chris during our planning session.
"I understand." Chris looked skeptical. "But do you think my wing can pull that off?"
"You'll have to be careful not to get too far ahead and be cut off. The main fleet will attract most of their attention, but I want them to hear reports of our ships attacking nearly every system simultaneously."
"We won't be able to take out the hard targets," Chris warned. "We're mostly talking hit and run tactics here."
"Yes. We're looking for chaos and confusion. If you can't take a target out, don't engage it. I'd rather you fly by and wipe out every civilian ship and station than get involved in a slugging match with a military cruiser."
Chris smiled. "A single cruiser is no problem, but I understand what you're saying."
We advanced upon AIV0454 leaving entire systems burning behind us. Chris did his job so well we split the fleet in order to approach from multiple directions. But as we transited into the system, we found no sign of either friend or foe. Chris sent his ships further and further out, looking for our missing fleet, but the entire area had been deserted. We found no survivors and no wreckage, or any sign they had ever been there.