control.
“An example needed to be set,” Imera said calmly. “You of all people should be aware of what happens when order is not enforced. War is a horrible thing. But what is one planet weighed against a civil war threatening trillions of lives?”
Chapter 6: A Dirty Little Secret…
“If I have learned anything Admiral,” Cat answered dryly. “It’s that every life is precious to the one who holds it.”
Senior Fleet Admiral Imera’s image appeared to lean forward. “A noble thought I’m sure,” he said dismissively. “But not every life is significant in the grand scheme of things. The lives we would have spent on Mardarus III would have bought the survival of the GCP.”
“So your argument is that the wholesale genocide of an entire planet is justifiable to protect the GCP?”
“You see,” Admiral Imera continued, “Our goals are not so dissimilar. Stand down. Allow my officers to board your vessels. Once again let us put the madness which was Mardarus III behind us. We have lost all communication with our agents in that system… but I’m sure you know that. Restore our communication links and allow us to take control of that system. We can end this war before it even begins.”
“You’re a pompous...,” Cat began before she could stop herself. “The GCP was founded to protect the peoples of the Coalition… not the other way around.”
Imera shrugged. “Times change Cat. The GCP is an entity and force unto itself now. The lives of countless individuals and corporations are tied to its continued survival. Surely you can see that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?”
Cat smiled as she leaned back in her command chair. “The needs of the many do generally outweigh the needs of the few. Where we disagree is ‘who are the many’ and who are the few’. The GCP has lost its way Admiral. This is a situation I am committed to correcting. And Admiral… You should know I do not stand alone.”
The main door to the Yorktown’s bridge opened and Admiral Bud Faragon walked in. Cat had subvocalized a request for him to come to the bridge the moment contact had been made with the attack force. The GCP’s most esteemed and venerable admiral stepped down to the captain’s chair where Cat was seated.
“Admiral Imera,” Bud Faragon said by way of acknowledgement.
The holographic image of the senior fleet admiral paused as he did a double-take. “So the rumors of your demise were exaggerated.”
“I think we both know what happened that day so many years ago. Your sponsors that have their collective hooks in the Grand Senate were not amenable to the technology the Hupenstanii were developing. They had too much invested in controlling the commerce that had built up around fixed jump points to tolerate something that would disrupt that market. The only solution they would accept was to silence me and the Hupenstanii.”
Admiral Imera leaned forward in his command chair. “What you say is pure speculation and I might add, libelous. There is no proof that your accident was anything other than that. And the Hupenstanii were isolated to control a plague that ravaged their home world and threatened the very existence of the GCP.”
Admiral Faragon nodded but it was not in agreement. “From what I have read, a very convenient plague for the factions that would benefit from the suppression of Hupenstanii hyperfield research,” Bud answered dryly.
“Decades of independent study by the best scientists in the Coalition has failed to corroborate a single aspect of the theories you presented to the Grand Senate all those years ago. No my friend, the simple truth is the Hupenstanii engaged in dangerous biomedical research and they made themselves plague carriers. Their continued isolation is the only way to keep the Coalition safe and it has nothing to do with a now thoroughly discredited conspiracy theory involving suppressed jump technology.”
“Then it might interest you to
“An example needed to be set,” Imera said calmly. “You of all people should be aware of what happens when order is not enforced. War is a horrible thing. But what is one planet weighed against a civil war threatening trillions of lives?”
Chapter 6: A Dirty Little Secret…
“If I have learned anything Admiral,” Cat answered dryly. “It’s that every life is precious to the one who holds it.”
Senior Fleet Admiral Imera’s image appeared to lean forward. “A noble thought I’m sure,” he said dismissively. “But not every life is significant in the grand scheme of things. The lives we would have spent on Mardarus III would have bought the survival of the GCP.”
“So your argument is that the wholesale genocide of an entire planet is justifiable to protect the GCP?”
“You see,” Admiral Imera continued, “Our goals are not so dissimilar. Stand down. Allow my officers to board your vessels. Once again let us put the madness which was Mardarus III behind us. We have lost all communication with our agents in that system… but I’m sure you know that. Restore our communication links and allow us to take control of that system. We can end this war before it even begins.”
“You’re a pompous...,” Cat began before she could stop herself. “The GCP was founded to protect the peoples of the Coalition… not the other way around.”
Imera shrugged. “Times change Cat. The GCP is an entity and force unto itself now. The lives of countless individuals and corporations are tied to its continued survival. Surely you can see that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?”
Cat smiled as she leaned back in her command chair. “The needs of the many do generally outweigh the needs of the few. Where we disagree is ‘who are the many’ and who are the few’. The GCP has lost its way Admiral. This is a situation I am committed to correcting. And Admiral… You should know I do not stand alone.”
The main door to the Yorktown’s bridge opened and Admiral Bud Faragon walked in. Cat had subvocalized a request for him to come to the bridge the moment contact had been made with the attack force. The GCP’s most esteemed and venerable admiral stepped down to the captain’s chair where Cat was seated.
“Admiral Imera,” Bud Faragon said by way of acknowledgement.
The holographic image of the senior fleet admiral paused as he did a double-take. “So the rumors of your demise were exaggerated.”
“I think we both know what happened that day so many years ago. Your sponsors that have their collective hooks in the Grand Senate were not amenable to the technology the Hupenstanii were developing. They had too much invested in controlling the commerce that had built up around fixed jump points to tolerate something that would disrupt that market. The only solution they would accept was to silence me and the Hupenstanii.”
Admiral Imera leaned forward in his command chair. “What you say is pure speculation and I might add, libelous. There is no proof that your accident was anything other than that. And the Hupenstanii were isolated to control a plague that ravaged their home world and threatened the very existence of the GCP.”
Admiral Faragon nodded but it was not in agreement. “From what I have read, a very convenient plague for the factions that would benefit from the suppression of Hupenstanii hyperfield research,” Bud answered dryly.
“Decades of independent study by the best scientists in the Coalition has failed to corroborate a single aspect of the theories you presented to the Grand Senate all those years ago. No my friend, the simple truth is the Hupenstanii engaged in dangerous biomedical research and they made themselves plague carriers. Their continued isolation is the only way to keep the Coalition safe and it has nothing to do with a now thoroughly discredited conspiracy theory involving suppressed jump technology.”
“Then it might interest you to
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