Wing Commander #07 False Color by William Forstchen (best books to read in life .txt) 📕

They're still getting the bulk of their shielding from the tender. Take that out and Karga has no shields. That's how her first crew was killed, stuck in orbit with no screens against the radiation and no engines to pull them clear in time. All I have to do is hit that tender, and we've solved the problem."

Mancini smiled thoughtfully. "And if you can minimize the damage to the rest of the ship, we might put a crew of our own aboard her. Think what a nice job a Kilrathi supercarrier raiding a few outlying colonies could do to turn up the war fever a few more degrees."

Williams shrugged. "That's a nice thought, but I'd rather be sure the carrier's out of action. If it comes to a choice, don't hesitate to blow it out of space."

"I'll be sure to stick to the appropriate priorities, Commissioner," Mancini said. "Count on it."

"You've never let us down yet," Williams said. "All right, you've both done an excellent job. Especially you, Mr. Banfeld." He paused. "You said Springweather reported some Kilrathi were working with the Landreichers?"

"That's what she said. Rescued from a habitable moon in the system, apparently." Banfeld made a dismissive gesture. "She didn't know much about them. She wasn't at too many of the briefings, and Richards and Tolwyn mostly kept her in the dark about the details of what was going on. But apparently they were survivors from the fighting who escaped before the end of the battle, and they were grateful enough to the Landreichers to help them with the repair job."

"I don't like it," Williams said. "A kil doesn't work with a human without a damned good reason, and they wouldn't think gratitude was reason enough to show a bunch of humans how one of their carriers was put together. Something's rotten here. I'd like to know what."

Mancini shrugged. "If our friend Zachary is successful, it will be a moot point," he said. "The Cats will be as dead as Richards, Tolwyn, and Bondarevsky. That's all that really matters."

"I suppose you're right." Williams sighed. "But it would have been interesting to know what could make a kid cooperate with a human. It would be useful if we could recruit a few agents on the other side of the border."

"We're doing fine as we are, Commissioner," Mancini avowed. "The Cats are easy to manipulate without having to get them as buddies. Or at least the ambitious ones like Ragark are. Everything's falling into place. All we have to do is make sure that this carrier doesn't disrupt the plan."

Williams nodded. The Belisarius Group was dedicated to rekindling the war between the Confederation and the Empire, and so far the plan to make it happen out here in the Landreich was going smoothly. In the two months since Richards and his expedition had been gone the raids had increased in frequency and scope, sometimes helped along by Banfeld's pirates. Kruger was facing a political crisis at home, too, brought on by Councilman Galbraith's faction and their demands for a larger say in government affairs. They were hamstringing Kruger's at attempts to increase his defense budget, insisting on pouring more money into domestic programs instead. And Kruger, being Kruger, was only making the situation worse by his stubborn attempts to prove he could run the Landreich without the support of his own Council. With luck the internal problems would be coming to a head just about the time Ragark finally moved in force. The Landreich would be overrun, and the Confederation would have to step in to stabilize the threatened frontier.

Yes, it was coming together nicely, the whole Belisarius operation. They'd named their group for the famous Roman general who had fought brilliantly for an emperor who had no military talent of his own, only to be betrayed by the suspicious ruler when it seemed likely the legions would offer him the Imperial purple. Belisarius had been a fool not to take his army and march on Constantinople to seize the throne for himself. The Belisarius group was determined that they would not allow the same kind of betrayal by civilian authorities at home to ever take place. They would do what Belisarius should have done—strike first, take power, and ensure the future of human civilization. If they had to sacrifice Max Kruger's Landreich along the way . . . well, that was a small enough cost to pay.

Banfeld broke in to his reverie. "When do you want us to hit them?" he asked.

"I want you to move as quickly as you can," Williams told him. "We want to nail Tolwyn and Richards before they have a chance to get the carrier in any better shape than it already is. And we want to make sure we hit them hard."

CHAPTER 13

"Among the pillars of victory, the first and greatest is the art of the unexpected, for it is by surprise that the Warrior achieves domination on the field of battle."

from the Second Codex04:18:21

Combat Information Center, FRLS Karga Orbiting Vaku VII, Vaku System 1447 hours (CST), 2671.011

Admiral Geoff Tolwyn settled into his captain's chair and thought once again how good it felt to be in command of a ship again.

The thought had occurred to him more than once since the beginning of the Goliath Project, but it still hit him every so often that he was fortunate to have a second chance like this one. For all of his reputation as a strategist and a brilliant fleet commander, Tolwyn had always secretly felt that it had been a mistake to give up his first and greatest love, ship command, in favor of the wider responsibilities of a ConFleet admiral. People often talked about the "loneliness of command," but the fact was that a captain knew his ship, officers, and crew far better than a flag officer could ever know his battle group or fleet. The decisions you made