The Wars of Zegandaria by Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (find a book to read .txt) 📕

- 'Indeed, sir, you are right,' the Adjutant spoke with some resignation, but not out of servility or sycophancy, but out of sheer pragmatism, as he did not want to strain the General's already stretched to the limit nerves with the situation at hand. 'What they have done is a grave mistake that may well decide the outcome of the war.'

The general ran his fingers through his shaggy hair for a moment, as if to keep some thought from escaping. Then very slowly he proceeded through his teeth:

- Isongdar, explain to me again how the whole thing came about, in as much detail as you like.

- To the best of my knowledge, sir, from the information I got from my spies, Mark Lenner, Paul Zolsky, and a few other as yet unidentified people captured some of ours and took their identification cards, then used our speeder to get to the border crossing and, using the hostages they took as cover, crossed the border into Ubunder.

- 'And?,' said the general in a tone that sounded something between melodramatic, angry and annoyed. 'Then?'

- 'Then their trail is lost,' the adjutant muttered. 'I have not been able to get any further information on the matter from our intelligence.'

- 'But the reason why an ordinary private like Lenner would take ordinary soldiers hostage and cross the border remains unexplained?,' the general ranted.

The Adjutant lowered his eyes in silence, but remained silent, leaving the General to ponder aloud.

- 'The risk is too great to use them in a simple prisoner exchange,' he continued his reasoning. 'Something much greater and perhaps even vital lies here, but what?'

- 'General, with all due respect,' the adjutant ventured to mutter, 'shall I order the speeder to be prepared for your departure?'

Paley waved a hand. The gesture was difficult to define, but the adjutant chose not to press the point.

On his way out, he cast a glance at the general. He had his back to the hydron door through which the adjutant was now leaving the commander-in-chief's office.

The Adjutant was well aware that the two of them were about to have a security conference with Governor Gordon Elmbaum, which could not be delayed because of the civil unrest that had broken out in the polis. There was nothing to be done. Things had to be brought to a head.

^^^

Gene Paley was a hereditary military man. His father, Sir Lenworth Imbus Paley, was the founder of the Elohyn military in general. As such, he wanted his son to continue his work and not let him down. He had a great deal to do with the rebirth of the Military might of Elohy. He created the battle corps without waiting for any thanks. He built up the military discipline and strength of the soldiers. The young lions of Imgradon were his idea! And it was already paying off!

The construction of the Urus Onx spaceport was again in his time. This military facility was truly impressive. Everything in it had been thought through beyond measure. It had as many as six main docks for launching shuttles, plus a special hangar where the speeders making intraplanetary flights would stay. Not far from the spaceport was a special production hall where the so-called Voltan shuttles were manufactured, and also Destroyer-class speeders. One of the significant differences in the combat aircraft of Elohy and Ubunder was the radar system. The Ubunder ones had a greater radar range, but the Elohyn ones were far more accurate. It was a tactical advantage Paley intended to exploit, especially with the additional deployment of troops into enemy territory. Some of the medium-range proton missile developments were located there. Dangerous weapons indeed, hidden deep underground in special halls.

However, he knew that a man so successful must constantly meet expectations. Otherwise the road to doom was too short. There weren't too many who could actually threaten his life. But he was always reassuring himself against possible assassination attempts, and there had been quite a few so far. As much as he struggled to remember, there were some discrepancies between Isongdar's words and his actions. He suspected him of playing a double game with Governor Elmbaum - the commander-in-chief of Elohy - but there was no real evidence yet.

He had set a trap for his adjutant and hoped he would bite. Then he'd get even with him too harshly.

Gene Paley knew about the huge war losses on the fronts and was under no illusion that he was already on the governor's list. Well, maybe not today, exactly. Maybe some other day. But sooner or later he would fall victim to his enormous ego, which would not forgive him a single transgression, since only Paley came close to his power, and Gordon did not like to share anything with anyone.

Gene Paley could also see where all the conflict was going. He had spies everywhere. Under his pressure, he had organized quite a few purges. Very urgent ones at that.

- 'Isongdar, you're playing a dangerous game, but definitely not with whom you should and can get away with,' he muttered. 'Only I still need you to lead the Governor by the nose, or at least to try.'

He needed to visit the spaceport and check on the progress of military developments. Then he had to drop by the Intendant's as well. The list was endless. Had he known what awaited him, he would never have gone into the military field. But he knew how to do absolutely nothing else. And that scared him. Yes he was a good military man with real merit, but the same bureaucrat as his boss. And nobody liked bureaucrats.

Politically he was stable because he had maintained a relationship with all the union leaders who served the military industry and who had the merit of getting him elevated to that post at the cost of huge bribes.

The Admiral knew that Ubunder outclassed them militarily, chiefly in their excellent weapons, but in quantity the superiority was on their side. Their engineers had put into action some new developments that he hoped would change the course of the war.

Unfortunately, time passed, and he heard no concrete news, only sketchy rumors of utter failure, and that was not good. It was heading for doom. His own doom. Why did anyone have to resist in such a way that wasn't very relevant. Only because there was no other perspective. Yes, Paley was a proponent of military force and dominance, but if my interests were preserved, he was willing to come to the negotiating table. Time passed, and he had never received any real offer to quell the conflict. Instead, new fronts were opening up and his military forces were gasping to respond to the changed situation. The general was far from retirement and could not pass the responsibility to another. Even if he wanted to.

He had to keep up. There was no going back. Any day could be his last if some things slipped from his hands. But he kept believing and hoping. Every minute the situation was changing.

Today he planned to make an urgent inspection of a combat corps before it left for the front.

- 'The speeder's ready,' Isongdar reported again, as much to strain the superiors. 'After he had gone out, he had checked again. Everything was excellent and he had returned to inform the General.'

- 'Tell them I'll be in shortly,' he instructed without further ado.

- 'Fourth Battalion is ready for inspection, sir,' he turned to his commander.

The speeder flight took no more than half an hour to cover the thirty-five zegandarian miles northeast of the polis. Not far from here were the Plexoniars mines, but the distance between them and the military site was no less than eight miles - with the air boundaries also heavily guarded.

Here the soldiers were trained in the utmost secrecy. They gave their best, but none of them made the faintest attempt to stand out. This was the principle. On the battlefield all were equal and there was no room for superfluous ego.

The real reason, however, for Paley to come and inspect the battalion was of an entirely different nature. If he wanted to get an update on the situation at the base, there were enough classified reports and no reason to go just like that. He was to meet personally with a person about whom he had been supplied with valuable information. The person in question was named Andrew Dislan and was in charge of base maintenance. Few even on base had heard his name. He himself tried to appear so unassuming as not to attract undue attention. He generally had a hard time tolerating people.

Paley decided to make a formal round of the facilities and examine the soldiers as he had promised. While the routine checks were going on, he kept struggling to meet the technician in question somewhere. Yes, the base was huge, but not so huge that they couldn't find one particular person.

After leaving his adjutant to deal with the technicalities, he went to check on the maintenance squad himself, without arousing any undue suspicion. Everything was going more than well, but something happened that surprised him slightly. He almost ran into the technician in question. He mumbled something that made him even more embarrassed, almost expecting a court martial for disrespecting his superiors.

- 'Are you Andrew Dislan?,' spoke Paley, quite formally, as if the incident in question had never taken place.

- 'I am,' he replied as if on command. 'Excuse me, General Paley, for having to look more at my feet.'

- 'I haven't noticed anything wrong,' the general coughed. 'Do you know he wants to see you after all?'

- 'Who are we talking about?,' he asked as if pulled out of a dream.

- 'Well, about your grandfather,' muttered the general calmly.

- I am an orphan, sir.

- I understand you, but think of yourself.

- What you say cannot be true. I'm just a farmer's son, Ben Elight. I earned a scholarship for those qualifying courses in mechanics and nanorobotics, and space welding. You see what I do, I just fix stuff.

- 'Oh, don't be modest. Your talents could be useful to the outcome of the war,' Paley said, very mildly. 'Actually, things are basically quite simple. He just wants to meet you. Just once. If it doesn't suit you, you'll leave.'

Dislan looked at him incredulously. He couldn't possibly assume that a general could talk to him like that. Their meeting did indeed take place in complete secrecy, in one of the most secluded halls of the repair depots. The general wore a hyon silencer. But it wasn't necessary. There wasn't a living soul around. Dislan had cruelly insulated himself against potential human interference with his work. Even his immediate supervisor sought him out on average once every two weeks, and then only to give him a report on the work he had done.

- 'I take it your decision is final?,' he asked him one last time.

- 'Yes,' Dislan confirmed unequivocally.

- It is your right to decide that. But beyond the family stuff, which doesn't concern me, let's cut to the chase. What are you developing at the base?

Dislan brightened and told him very carefully about the new developments in tachyon engines, which were in a very early stage, but they had already made a ship capable of running on such an engine. The purpose of the project was receptive.

- 'And may I ask the name of this ship?,' quickly interjected Paley.

- No, sir, it is not even within your jurisdiction to give you that information.

Paley wasn't yesterday's man. The Gato commander-in-chief of the Zegandaria High Council alone was above him. But he was long gone. 'But perhaps they might have made the ship earlier? Who knows?,' he thought.

Before they parted, though, he decided to ask the young man one last and very unambiguous question.

- 'Don't you feel alone among these machines? You