Molarians. Every other inhabitant of the planet was massacred."
There was some surprised buzzing. Most of them had heard of the destruction of Braccio II, but some, perhaps a fifth of them, had not.
"The Inner Frontier is supposed to be a no-man's-land, with no political loyalties to any empire, federation, or other political entity. The Republic has constantly ignored that fact. It could even be argued that many of the Navy's actions ultimately have a beneficial effect on the Republic; they recruit or impress crewmen for their vessels, they take materials that are needed within the Republic, they confiscate food that is vital to the worlds of the Republic
"All that is on one hand. On the other is that the Navy has operated on the Inner Frontier without any military or moral restraint for longer than any of us has been alive. Thus far, no one has lifted a finger to oppose them, to remind them that they have no right to be here.
"That is about to change."
He surveyed his audience. They looked more curious than uneasy.
"I'll be honest with you. Commander Forrice was my closest friend, and a vital cog in the functioning of the Theodore Roosevelt. Even so, I would not be taking this action to avenge him. He was a military officer, he was aware that he was taking a chance traveling so far from his ship, and he paid the price—a terrible price.
"But yesterday two million innocent civilians were annihilated, not because they refused to reveal our location to the Navy, but simply because they didn't know our location. That arrogance and aggression cannot be allowed to stand without a response."
One of the newer captains stood up, and Cole gestured for him to speak.
"Are you seriously suggesting that we take on the Republic's Navy with a fleet of fifty ships?" he asked.
"No," said Cole. "I may be morally outraged, but I'm not suicidal. We will not venture one centimeter into the Republic. What they do within their domain is their business, not ours. But from this day forth, the Navy is no longer welcome on the Inner Frontier. We will make it clear to them that if they enter it without our permission, they will suffer the consequences. We will not allow another Braccio II."
Perez stood up. "How are we going to stop them? We can shoot down ten ships, but what if they come back with fifty, or three hundred? We can protect some planets from retaliation, but there are thousands of populated worlds. How do we protect them all?"
"We start by picking our spots," said Cole. "We don't attack every Republic ship, not in the beginning. We attack those where we know we can win a total victory, and until we're stronger we take no credit for it. We let the Republic worry about who is destroying those ships that enter the Frontier."
"They'll just send the Eighth or the Eleventh Fleet," said another captain. "Neither is stationed that far away."
"Commander Jacovic," said Cole with the hint of a smile, "would you like to tell them why that won't happen?"
"The Republic is engaged in an all-out war against the Teroni Federation," replied Jacovic, standing up and facing the assemblage. "They are at almost equal strength. If the Republic moves either the Eighth or the Eleventh Fleet, they will lose galactic sectors containing upwards of three thousand worlds."
"And they're not going to open the door to the Teronis just to chase what they think are a couple of outlaw ships on the Frontier," said Cole.
"For a while," said Perez. "If we kill enough ships, they'll have to notice us."
"I agree," said Cole. "But we're not going to sit still and wait for that day. When the Theodore Roosevelt arrived on the Inner Frontier we were a fleet of one. Today we're a fleet of fifty-one. We'll keep recruiting more ships with grievances against the Republic—they should be easy enough to find—until the day that we're willing to let the Navy know exactly who they're up against. In the meantime, the Platinum Duke, who has no love for the Republic and even
There was some surprised buzzing. Most of them had heard of the destruction of Braccio II, but some, perhaps a fifth of them, had not.
"The Inner Frontier is supposed to be a no-man's-land, with no political loyalties to any empire, federation, or other political entity. The Republic has constantly ignored that fact. It could even be argued that many of the Navy's actions ultimately have a beneficial effect on the Republic; they recruit or impress crewmen for their vessels, they take materials that are needed within the Republic, they confiscate food that is vital to the worlds of the Republic
"All that is on one hand. On the other is that the Navy has operated on the Inner Frontier without any military or moral restraint for longer than any of us has been alive. Thus far, no one has lifted a finger to oppose them, to remind them that they have no right to be here.
"That is about to change."
He surveyed his audience. They looked more curious than uneasy.
"I'll be honest with you. Commander Forrice was my closest friend, and a vital cog in the functioning of the Theodore Roosevelt. Even so, I would not be taking this action to avenge him. He was a military officer, he was aware that he was taking a chance traveling so far from his ship, and he paid the price—a terrible price.
"But yesterday two million innocent civilians were annihilated, not because they refused to reveal our location to the Navy, but simply because they didn't know our location. That arrogance and aggression cannot be allowed to stand without a response."
One of the newer captains stood up, and Cole gestured for him to speak.
"Are you seriously suggesting that we take on the Republic's Navy with a fleet of fifty ships?" he asked.
"No," said Cole. "I may be morally outraged, but I'm not suicidal. We will not venture one centimeter into the Republic. What they do within their domain is their business, not ours. But from this day forth, the Navy is no longer welcome on the Inner Frontier. We will make it clear to them that if they enter it without our permission, they will suffer the consequences. We will not allow another Braccio II."
Perez stood up. "How are we going to stop them? We can shoot down ten ships, but what if they come back with fifty, or three hundred? We can protect some planets from retaliation, but there are thousands of populated worlds. How do we protect them all?"
"We start by picking our spots," said Cole. "We don't attack every Republic ship, not in the beginning. We attack those where we know we can win a total victory, and until we're stronger we take no credit for it. We let the Republic worry about who is destroying those ships that enter the Frontier."
"They'll just send the Eighth or the Eleventh Fleet," said another captain. "Neither is stationed that far away."
"Commander Jacovic," said Cole with the hint of a smile, "would you like to tell them why that won't happen?"
"The Republic is engaged in an all-out war against the Teroni Federation," replied Jacovic, standing up and facing the assemblage. "They are at almost equal strength. If the Republic moves either the Eighth or the Eleventh Fleet, they will lose galactic sectors containing upwards of three thousand worlds."
"And they're not going to open the door to the Teronis just to chase what they think are a couple of outlaw ships on the Frontier," said Cole.
"For a while," said Perez. "If we kill enough ships, they'll have to notice us."
"I agree," said Cole. "But we're not going to sit still and wait for that day. When the Theodore Roosevelt arrived on the Inner Frontier we were a fleet of one. Today we're a fleet of fifty-one. We'll keep recruiting more ships with grievances against the Republic—they should be easy enough to find—until the day that we're willing to let the Navy know exactly who they're up against. In the meantime, the Platinum Duke, who has no love for the Republic and even
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