Into the Light by Jane Wallace

‘How’s it going there, Major? Can you fix it?’

A weighty hand dropped on to Tem Sevin’s left shoulder, jolting his attention from the three-dimensional reams of figures that scrolled down the viewer on his worktop.

Recognising his superior officer, Sevin hastily got to his feet and touched his right hand to his hairline. The salute was the extent of his deference: he looked squarely at the older man who stood on the other side of the chair between them. Steel-haired and weathered, Fleet Commander Brodie was in his late forties but remained as keen as any of the young blades in Coalition Space Command. He looked at Sevin expectantly, anticipating a solution not a problem. Sevin pressed his lips together and prepared to deliver the bad news on the ship’s navigation system.

‘There’s a problem with Astrigator,’ he began. ‘I’ve reconfigured it so we can at least access the cartographical updates but we’re never going to be able to use the whole functionality. It’s designed for quark or near-quark efficiency, not these old nanotypes.’ He gestured at the viewer with its animated version of the Coalition insignia in the bottom right-hand corner, a circle of six white stars rotating against a bright blue background. ‘Steam-driven, might as well be. They were running these old X-series when I started in the IPP and that was eighteen years ago!’

Brodie lifted a resigned eyebrow.

‘The central processors are too slow for the job, they’re practically antiques. If we could replace them with something more modern …’

‘Yes, well, we’re not going to get that. Not out here, anyway.’ Brodie’s morose gaze drifted over the top of the viewer and through the forward windows to the distant starlight of the Altan system half a million linials away. ‘Same old story - make do and mend, that’s what we’ll have to put up with. Criminal really. Just do what you can, Sevin. We’re lucky to have you onboard. These youngsters don’t seem to know anything.’

’That’s because they’re trained on the new models. Technology’s moved on since these old tubs were built.’ Sevin ran an eye over the rows of grey-uniformed flight officers seated behind him, each busy with his or her particular duty that kept Coalition Space Ship Vehement in motion. He jerked a thumb at the starboard window through which the bows of the two smaller battlecruisers which accompanied them could be seen. ’Valiant or Victory might have something we could borrow.’

Brodie snorted. ‘I don’t think so. They need every spare crank and bolt to keep them together. Outclassed by the Gharst, that’s always been the Coalition’s problem. Never enough resource, nobody can make a decision without recourse to committee. It’s a wonder we’re still here today.’

‘That’s the price of freedom. If the Coalition was a totalitarian regime committed to taking over its neighbouring systems, we might be as powerful.’

‘And that price can never be too high.’ Brodie sighed. ‘Ten years is a long time though, Major, far too long. It’s hard to imagine Charis and Altan in peace time. Damn tragic business, it really is. When I think back to what life was like before.’ The Fleet Commander swung his penetrating blue eyes to Sevin. ‘Do you remember what you were doing when you first heard?’

Sevin gave a wry smile at the familiar question. Most people could pinpoint the exact time and location of when their world changed forever. ‘I was watching the Auxo Philharmonic murdering the Bryghtlinger Symphony,’ he said. ‘They interrupted the performance halfway through to tell us the news. It wasn’t great before that, it got significantly worse after.’

Brodie laughed. ‘You hear some funny stories. I was at home watching the flickball with a few mates. The game was going great until we got a news flash to President Quiron saying we were at war with the gribs! We were trapwhacked, I tell you. I never thought it would go that far, I never did. I said at the time that things would never be the same again.’ His expression clouded. ‘I was right.’

‘You were surprised? Even after the attacks on Taranga and the other colonies?’

‘Well, I suppose I had my head in the sand. I was in the construction game, had my own company and everything, didn’t trouble myself with politics. It wasn’t until the Gharst took Tian that it really meant anything. Well, that was the start for everyone, wasn’t it?’

‘It should have been the end,’ said Sevin. ‘Everybody in the IPP knew what was going on. They couldn’t avoid it: we were on the front line most of the time, fighting the bastards back. Often we got there too late to do anything except pick up the pieces. It was barbaric, pure butchery.’ He broke off, trying to close his mind to the atrocities he had witnessed. ‘Grigor, my stepfather, and I filed report after report with our conclusions. Every time we came across them they had better weapons and faster ships. It was obvious they would hit a major facility on Tian or Gridon. And did anyone listen? No. The government blinded themselves to the situation. If they had acted sooner, those homeworlds wouldn’t be in Gharst hands now!’

‘Hmm, hmm. It’s no excuse, but there wasn’t the political will at the time for warmongering. Escovar and Thalia were at loggerheads over trade, the harvest had failed in Selene and there was a massive budget deficit. There just wasn’t the money to launch a major task force into Altan. And besides, everyone thought that Altan would get on with it themselves. Four planets, for the gods’ sakes, including Tian, a world dedicated to munitions manufacturing! They could have strung an army together.’

‘But they didn’t, or they couldn’t. And they still can’t.’ Sevin gave Brodie a sideways look. ‘I suppose that’s why we’re here?’

‘Our orders are to patrol the outer limits of the Altan system and keep a watching brief on non-Gharst occupied space.’

‘With a view to defending it if an attack occurs?’

Brodie inclined his head. ‘You may think that but I can’t comment. Need to know basis and all that.’

Sevin’s face darkened. ‘So we’re here to protect Borredan and Delta Nine?’

‘Keep an eye on them, yes.’

‘Babysit a factory planet and its satellite of fat cats, you mean.’

‘Zudan also remains independent, remember.’

‘Zudan? What will the Gharst do there? Pull up a deckchair and stare at the sea?’ Sevin was warming to his theme but a glint in Brodie’s eye cautioned him. ‘With respect, sir, shouldn’t we hit the problem at its source?’ he continued in a more level tone. ‘Take the battle to the Gharst’s front door. Focus the entire Coalition force in a combined assault on the Rikke system, a single strike to put the Gharst down once and for all. At the moment we’re spread so thinly we can’t defend anything, least of all ourselves. They can pick us off unit by unit.’

‘That’s one way of looking at it.’ Brodie ran a finger inside the mandarin collar of his uniform jacket. Like Sevin, he wore the Coalition inflight fatigues of baggy trousers and a loose-fitting parka of grey lartex with a white piping that signified his attachment to the main body of Space Command. Sevin, as a Special Operations officer, had a similar trim in sunrise orange. ‘But I’m sure our lords and masters have their reasons,’ he continued. ‘Ours not to question why, Sevin, only to obey.’

‘We are but soldiers in the vanguard of others’ ambitions,’ said Sevin. He looked over Brodie’s shoulder to where a slim man in the grass-green dress uniform and black beret of Ground Force was castigating a young recruit on the flight deck behind them. He could hear the braying and imperious accent, flaying his victim as skilfully as if he held a crop. The boy, barely eighteen, was on the point of tears.

There’s a case in point, Sevin thought, fighting an urge to slam his fist into Evan Reverre’s face. Everything about the man irritated him: his attitude, his slicked-back hair, the way his uniform clung to his sinewy body like a second skin, as if the clothes had deliberately been tailored too tightly. Damn it, he should be in fatigues with the sleeves rolled up like the rest of them, not lording around in the No 1 get-up. There were too many of Reverre’s kind in the Coalition’s top ranks, there by virtue of influence not competence, a fact that drove Sevin to distraction. Better soldiers went unrecognised while the well-connected used the army to fight their personal bids for glory. Reverre was a typical example. Born into the higher echelons of Selenian society, Charis’s smallest but richest planet, Reverre had bought his rank by donating money to the war effort. Once enlisted, he continued to jockey for position, not caring whom he trod on.

‘I suppose Reverre will be in charge of any ground operations,’ Sevin said.

’Yes, Colonel Reverre will be one of the commanding officers. I know there’s no love lost between the two of you, but he is very experienced in the field.’

Sevin’s eyes narrowed. ’If you mean the Escovar offensive of ’68, think again. That was Pateen’s triumph, not Reverre’s, although he’s always taken the credit for it. The man’s a snake.’

‘That may be but he’s also your superior and you’ll do as he orders!’ Brodie leant closer. ‘You might be Special Ops, Sevin, but that doesn’t mean you’re above the rest of us. At the end of the day, you’re soldiers like everyone else. You’d be wise to remember that.’

There was a flurry of activity around the comms station. One of the signallers caught sight of Brodie and rushed over to him.

‘Fleet Commander!’ she said, making a hasty salute. ‘Sorry to disturb you sir, urgent message for your attention.’

‘What is it?’

‘Dispatch just in from the Ministry. Highest level, sir. Your eyes only.’

‘Let’s have it then.’ Brodie strode over to where the other three signallers waited. One passed him a thin, hand-sized console. He flipped it open and held it to his face for a retina scan. Seeing the security procedure, the crew on the flight deck fell silent, some, including Sevin, drawing within earshot.

Brodie absorbed the information and looked up. ‘Borredan has fallen to the Gharst,’ he stated.

There was a gasp from the technician on Sevin’s right. Cries of astonishment broke out across the bridge.

’Coalition forces, mainly Thalian and Selenian troops, fought bravely under General Chon’s command but were unable to repel the greater number of Gharst forces and were compelled to retreat,’ Brodie continued, reading from the console. ‘Members of the Borredan Executive Council were taken prisoner last night. They were executed early this morning despite Coalition efforts at negotiation. Borredan was declared a subject territory of the Rikke system by Kenraali Haklang at 11:00 GST today.’

‘Gods above,’ said a flight officer.

‘What about Delta Nine?’ said Sevin, his voice seeming unnaturally loud in the stunned silence.

‘The Delta Nine government surrendered voluntarily a few hours later rather than face a similar fate,’ replied Brodie.

‘Fat-cat cowards,’ Sevin said, under his breath.

‘Sir!’ The technician next to him raised his hand. ‘Does this mean the Gharst are now in control of the entire Altan system?’

‘Yes, pretty much. Not a good turn of affairs.’ Brodie gave the dispatch back to the signallers. ‘Get back to your work and keep the news to yourselves for the moment. There will be an all-personnel notification going out before mess this evening so everyone will know soon enough. Dismiss.’

The crew returned to their stations, leaving Brodie lost in thought. Sevin approached him. ‘This has happened more quickly than we thought, sir,’ he said.

‘Yes.’ Brodie’s hand dropped from stroking his chin to hit his thigh with a smack. ‘Ah well, at least you’ll not be having to defend a worthless old factory planet now, eh?’

‘On the contrary, we’ll be on the offensive, wouldn’t you say?’ said Reverre who had sidled up to join them. He gave Brodie a comradely pat on the shoulder. ‘I’ll wager it’ll be a full-scale invasion of one of the occupied planets, foot and fleet, the whole works.’ He appeared to notice Sevin. ‘Ah, Major Sevin, you must be wondering what role Special Operations will take. Perhaps you’ll deign to join us on the front line, see some real action? Or maybe you can blow up a bridge or something?’ He gave Sevin a withering smile.

‘You’ll be working together on whatever tactics we employ,’ said Brodie before Sevin could reply, looking furiously from one to the other. ‘The Ministry will send new orders within hours and we shall need every resource to be in total co-operation. Do you understand?’

’I wouldn’t have it any other way, sir.’ Reverre twirled on his heels and walked away. Sevin glowered after him and fumed for the rest of the afternoon shift as he tried to synch Astrigator into CSS Vehement’s operating system.