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room.
For a frontier orbital base the room was richly appointed, with dark wood
paneled walls, soft indirect lighting, and even a real oak table taking up
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most of the center of the room. The chairs around the conference table were
all high backed, heavily cushioned and covered in the dark navy blue of the
fleet. In front of each desk was a small ensign denoting the rank of the
military officers present, and most of them were three and four stars.
The short recess was nearly over and Jason moved to his position sitting
directly behind Admiral Tolwyn. He looked over at Hunter, who
Tolwyn had picked as his second aide for this meeting, and Ian winked.
"Make it?"
"No and I'm ready to burst," Jason groaned and Hunter smiled.
Why Tolwyn had picked the two of them to serve as his aides at this meeting
was beyond Jason. He knew the admiral's regular staff officers were seething
over being cut out of this armistice meeting and Jason could only surmise that
in part it was an act of friendship, to let him in at an historic moment, but
also as a sort of window dressing for Tolwyn to have two of his most decorated
and famous officers sitting directly behind him.
He looked around the circular table and saw that nearly everyone was back from
the short recess, aides sitting erect behind their superiors who were talking
softly to each other, some serious, others chuckling over a shared witticism.
Most of the laughter came from the civilian side of the room. A door at the
far side of the room opened and everyone rose, the military personnel coming
to stiff attention as the President of the
Confederation, Harold Rodham, stepped into the room. Jason had first met him
at the Medal of Honor presentation and was surprised with how short he really
was, something the holo films never seemed to pick up on.
"Be seated, please," Rodham said quietly.
Jason could feel the electric tension rippling through the room.
"I'm prepared to hear any last minute presentations, but I want it done in a
calm and logical fashion."
Jason knew that it was futile. In any other setting, without a sea of admiral,
commandant and generals' stars around the table he might even have been
tempted to speak up but Admiral Tolwyn relieved him of that by coming to his
feet.
"Admiral Tolwyn," Rodham said nodding his head.
Tolwyn looked around the room and then focused his attention on the civilians
sitting around Rodham.
"You are all well aware that I am the most junior officer sitting at this
table; perhaps for that reason it might be best for me, as a front line
officer, to review one more time our objections to this armistice which you
seem so intent on formalizing."
Jason could see Rodham bristle slightly.
"What you are agreeing to is a freezing in place of all forces until such time
as a peace commission can be established, agreeable to both sides, who will
then negotiate a permanent cease fire between the Terran
Confederation and the Kilrathi Empire. At the same time you are agreeing to a
freezing of all construction of military ships, the refitting of vessels
currently in dry dock, and the enlistment of new personnel."
Rodham gave a curt nod of reply.
"I find it difficult at best to accept this."
"You're in the military and don't you forget that you are under civilian
control, so you'd better accept it," Rhonda Jamison, the foreign minister who
had been the key negotiator for the armistice announced coldly.
Rodham extended his hand towards Jamison as if to calm her.
"Go on, Admiral."
"I am not a politician, I am a warrior, following in the thousand year
tradition of my family who served in the ancient navy, army, and air force of
Britain and the space forces of the Confederation. My family has seen the best
of those moments, proud of the memory of six Victoria Crosses in
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our past. Tolwyns served at Waterloo, on the Somme, in the Battle of
Britain, at Minsk and the siege of London and shed their blood heavily in this
latest war. We have seen the best and we have endured the worst, and sir, I
fear that this decision might very well produce the most disastrous defeat in
the history of the human race, and perhaps even spell its eventual
annihilation."
Jamison sniffed and then shook her head angrily.
"Admiral, we are not discussing genealogy or ancient history, a passion
I find many military men are fond of indulging in. We are discussing real
politics, the here and now."
"And so am I," Tolwyn replied. "Eighteen months ago I feared that at best the
war would simply drag on forever and more likely would eventually lead to our
defeat. And then, with new tactical innovations and the latest improvements in
technology we appear to have not only reached a balance but in fact, for the
first time in thirty years of fighting, appear to have at least gained an
edge. We found two weak spots: their logistical support, and their
construction. We found the ways to hit at them, to slip past their main battle
fleet and we are hurting them. Our intelligence net has detected that some
ships are forced to go into action with less than seventy percent of their
standard armaments. We've noticed dozens of small signs. The crucial, the
absolutely crucial element in this is to keep the pressure on them, not to let
it up." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]