us back three. When the rest of the new ships come online that’ll help, for a while. But it’s a stopgap measure at best. We’re already losing support in the frontier systems. Soon it’ll be the core systems. And the Unity can’t keep demanding ever-higher dues from the member merchants. Some have already dropped out. If the dues go up again to fund more ships and more crews, more merchants will pull out. And then it’ll all fall apart.
Eventually the systems that refuse us admittance will come to realize that we’re the only hope they have against the pirates. But by then it’ll be too late. Once we’re gone, the pirates won’t have any reason not to raid those systems. There’ll be no one to stand between them and the pirates.
The navies of the core systems do a decent job of policing their own systems, but that’s as far as they go. We’re as close as there is to a galactic police force and we’re failing.
The energy seemed to drain from his body. I’m so desperately tired. Tired of fighting, tired of losing ships, tired of burying good men and women—those we can find enough of to bury, that is.
Kalen took a deep breath and opened his eyes , steeling himself. “Enough wool-gathering. This pity-party is over. I have a job to do.”
He stood , squared his shoulders and exited the ready room, resuming his seat in the command chair. Someone had to coordinate the cleanup and rescue operations with the less senior Captains. As always, someone had to take charge.
Right now t hat someone was Kalen Jeffries.
“So how close are we, Jern?” Penrod stood in the middle of the stronghold’s command center. Around him, dozens of workers rushed here and there installing sensor consoles, viewscreens, workstations, and other furnishings and equipment.
“Less than a week. All the major installations are done. We are down to the small stuff now. We start filling the weapons lockers tomorrow. The missile launchers and energy weapons are already in place. Those eight massive power generators are operational. You will have plenty of power for the energy weapons and the shield array. With our multilayered overlapping shields, this fortress could hold off a fleet of the best the Unity has at their disposal. Also, we have moved many of the larger nearby asteroids to provide additional shielding from external assault. Anyone wanting to attack us will have to approach from the directions we dictate. And, of course, while they are doing that, the asteroids we have equipped with missile launchers and energy projectors will be blowing them out of the sky. Whatever ships manage to survive our outer perimeter will have to deal with the dozen ships we can house in the hidden hangar bays here.”
Penrod shook his head in amazement. “I have to admit, I gave you an aggressive deadline I didn’t think you could meet. You not only beat my deadline, you’ve exceeded my expectations for the finished result. I’m impressed. Very impressed.”
“Thank you, Tarl. I am proud of the work we have done here.”
“As well you should be. Nothing like this has existed before, to my knowledge. ” He lowered his voice. “Even at full strength, we want the location of this base to be a secret.” He glanced at the multitude of workers milling around them. “What about all these witnesses?”
“ They will not be a problem. They were all brought here in our ships, so they do not know the location of this base. They have been here the entire time. No one has yet left.”
“Still, they have information about the design of this base. Someone could use that information to exploit any weaknesses we might have overlooked.”
“There are no weaknesses, I assure you.”
“ Maybe; but better safe than sorry, Jern. When this place is fully operational and you return the workers, see that there’s an unfortunate accident and they all suffer from explosive decompression. There’s an old saying on my home planet: Loose lips sink
Eventually the systems that refuse us admittance will come to realize that we’re the only hope they have against the pirates. But by then it’ll be too late. Once we’re gone, the pirates won’t have any reason not to raid those systems. There’ll be no one to stand between them and the pirates.
The navies of the core systems do a decent job of policing their own systems, but that’s as far as they go. We’re as close as there is to a galactic police force and we’re failing.
The energy seemed to drain from his body. I’m so desperately tired. Tired of fighting, tired of losing ships, tired of burying good men and women—those we can find enough of to bury, that is.
Kalen took a deep breath and opened his eyes , steeling himself. “Enough wool-gathering. This pity-party is over. I have a job to do.”
He stood , squared his shoulders and exited the ready room, resuming his seat in the command chair. Someone had to coordinate the cleanup and rescue operations with the less senior Captains. As always, someone had to take charge.
Right now t hat someone was Kalen Jeffries.
“So how close are we, Jern?” Penrod stood in the middle of the stronghold’s command center. Around him, dozens of workers rushed here and there installing sensor consoles, viewscreens, workstations, and other furnishings and equipment.
“Less than a week. All the major installations are done. We are down to the small stuff now. We start filling the weapons lockers tomorrow. The missile launchers and energy weapons are already in place. Those eight massive power generators are operational. You will have plenty of power for the energy weapons and the shield array. With our multilayered overlapping shields, this fortress could hold off a fleet of the best the Unity has at their disposal. Also, we have moved many of the larger nearby asteroids to provide additional shielding from external assault. Anyone wanting to attack us will have to approach from the directions we dictate. And, of course, while they are doing that, the asteroids we have equipped with missile launchers and energy projectors will be blowing them out of the sky. Whatever ships manage to survive our outer perimeter will have to deal with the dozen ships we can house in the hidden hangar bays here.”
Penrod shook his head in amazement. “I have to admit, I gave you an aggressive deadline I didn’t think you could meet. You not only beat my deadline, you’ve exceeded my expectations for the finished result. I’m impressed. Very impressed.”
“Thank you, Tarl. I am proud of the work we have done here.”
“As well you should be. Nothing like this has existed before, to my knowledge. ” He lowered his voice. “Even at full strength, we want the location of this base to be a secret.” He glanced at the multitude of workers milling around them. “What about all these witnesses?”
“ They will not be a problem. They were all brought here in our ships, so they do not know the location of this base. They have been here the entire time. No one has yet left.”
“Still, they have information about the design of this base. Someone could use that information to exploit any weaknesses we might have overlooked.”
“There are no weaknesses, I assure you.”
“ Maybe; but better safe than sorry, Jern. When this place is fully operational and you return the workers, see that there’s an unfortunate accident and they all suffer from explosive decompression. There’s an old saying on my home planet: Loose lips sink
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