The red dots around the holographic Earth began to pulse, as did another red dot around Venus. “We have three Doom Stars,” Cassius said. “These will head out to the asteroid-cluster and do battle with them. We also have the missile complex on Luna, together with the old boosters and shock-trooper equipment on the Sun-Works Factory.” With more clicks sounding, the Mercury Factory appeared in red, as did the launch facilities on Luna.
“We’ll send a missile strike against the asteroids?” asked Gaius.
“In time,” said Cassius.
“We should hit them as far from the Earth as possible,” said Gaius. “If we strike the mass near Earth, the planet’s gravitational field might pull in some pieces that would otherwise deflect elsewhere.”
Cassius hesitated as he lowered his controller-unit. Examining Mercury, Venus, Earth, the approaching red cluster of asteroids and then the admiral and the former com-officer, he grew uneasy.
“You must see what I do,” said Gaius. “The farther away from Earth we strike the asteroids the smaller a nudge is needed to deflect them from the planet.”
“Where will we find these missiles?” asked Scipio. He clicked his unit. The red cluster of asteroids moved before them as it grew in size. “The mass of projectiles is staggering. The cyborgs have clearly waited until they could build up an unbeatable force.”
“I’ve grown weary of your cowardice,” said Gaius. “We are Highborn.”
“And Highborn cannot view reality as it is?” asked Scipio.
Gaius strode toward Scipio.
Cassius watched with interest. The tall Highborn intrigued him. If they possessed one fault as super soldiers, it was their tendency toward rashness. Scipio had a rare trait for a Highborn, a touch of caution. On the bridge, it had allowed him to see Hawthorne as dangerous. What Cassius needed to know was if with his caution Scipio still had enough courage.
“You will not utter the word
unbeatable
again,” Gaius said, clutching Scipio’s forearm.
Scipio wrenched his arm free and took a step back. “You’re an admiral of a Doom Star, and thus highly outrank me. But the Grand Admiral has called me to this session to speak my mind. Examine the situation, Admiral. We face a grave threat. It is daunting in the extreme and quite possibly is unbeatable. Yes, I speak the word again.”
Gaius growled low in his throat, stepped close and shot a fist at Scipio. The tall Highborn deflected the blow with a smooth karate parry.
“A fancy fighter, eh?” said Gaius. He raised his scarred knuckles and grinned at Scipio. “Defend yourself, boy.”
Scipio assumed a classic karate stance. “I have too much respect for us to mouth platitudes and fighting maxims now. Our existence is at stake.”
“And that makes you fear, eh boy?” Gaius asked.
Scipio spit on the floor as the fierce vitality of the Highborn blazed in his eyes. “You’re an old man, Admiral. You’ve become senile in your command shell.”
Gaius roared as he attacked, wading in with precision blows. Using his longer reach to advantage, Scipio danced around the bull-like admiral, chopping and kicking. Gaius shrugged off the meaty slaps and used his shoulders, upper arms and hips to absorb Scipio’s hardest kicks.
“Once I get my hands on you, boy, you’re dead,” Gaius growled.
“Hitting me doesn’t change the truth of our situation,” Scipio panted. “We lack the ships and the missiles to destroy or deflect the entire asteroid strike.”
“I piss on your truth,” said Gaius. “We are Highborn and we will fight our way out of the situation.”
“With what means?” asked Scipio.
Gaius rained haymakers. While dancing back and deflecting the nearest shots, Scipio was forced into a corner.
“Now I have you,” Gaius wheezed. He lowered his head and shot straight jabs and crosses. Several smashed through Scipio’s karate weaves and snapped the Highborn’s head back. Then Gaius stepped inside Scipio’s guard. With a cunning wrestling move and hold, the two of them smashed against the floor hard. Gaius quickly gained a submission hold around Scipio’s neck.
“This is how we’ll beat the cyborgs!” Gaius roared, as spittle flew from his lips. He applied terrible pressure. Scipio’s face turned red, purple and then white as he struggled to free himself. Not once, did he plead for mercy.
Cassius had seen enough. His old friend was a bull, and fully aroused now. In another few seconds, Gaius would kill Scipio. With a smooth lunge like a fencer, Cassius reached out, touching Gaius’s back with a shock rod at full power.
Gaius bellowed, releasing Scipio as he rolled over onto his back.
“Enough of this,” said Cassius.
Scipio lay panting on his back, blinking in seeming bewilderment. Gaius glared at him, building up the strength to rise.
“I had to shock you, old friend,” said Cassius. “This is a strategy session, not a sparring duel. First, however, I wanted to test our young officer. He has courage and faced you unflinchingly.”
“When I get up,” whispered Gaius, “I’m going to smash your face into pulp. No one shocks me and gets away with it, not even you.”
Cassius shook his head. “We don’t have time for that. And now that you’re on your back, you should know that the boy—that Scipio—is right. We lack the missiles and the ships to win this fight. So we’re going to have to do it another way.”
Scipio had been gingerly massaging his throat. Turning his head, he now stared at Cassius.
“I’ve given this much thought,” the Grand Admiral said. “Before we strike the asteroids with nukes, I’m sending Highborn to the cluster.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Gaius, clenching his teeth as he sat up.
Cassius shook his head. The old bull knew better than to try to sit up so soon. He’d taken the highest-level shock possible. But Gaius was a stubborn fighter, refusing to adjust to pain. Sometimes, one needed that kind of warrior.
“The Praetor once sent shock-troopers to the
Bangladesh
,” Cassius said. “I plan to use that tactic here.”
“The enemy asteroids have laser-turrets,” Scipio wheezed with his injured throat.
“Always with your defeatism,” said Gaius.
“You tested him,” Cassius said. “Now you will listen to his ideas without insult.”
“Bah!” Gaius said. “His manner sickens me.”
“We can’t all be the fighting Admiral Gaius,” said Cassius.
Gaius grunted, nodding after a moment.
“As to these laser turrets,” Cassius told Scipio. “It is the reason why I must perfectly coordinate the assault.” He turned around and clicked. “Notice the asteroids. They’re situated in such a way that those in front block those in back.”
Scipio studied the enlarged holoimage, and he soon nodded. “What do you hope the Highborn commandoes to achieve?” he wheezed.
“I have studied the Carme Incident in detail,” Cassius said. “Successful landings brought combat troops to the surface, where they defeated the cyborgs. The victors eventually shutdown the asteroid’s fusion engines.”
“How did you gain this data?” asked Gaius, who climbed to his feet.
“Hawthorne sent it to me.”
“How did the Supreme Commander gain it?” asked Gaius, swaying slightly.
“Apparently, the rulers of Jupiter are attempting to unite all premen into a giant confederacy. As part of their endeavor, they are sharing information.”
“How does this help us?” asked Gaius.
Cassius turned toward the viewing port, staring at the blazing Sun outside. In this thing, Scipio saw more clearly than Gaius did. The mass of asteroids…. “It is a desperate strategy.” Cassius shrugged moodily. “The Highborn commandoes must gain control of as many asteroids as possible. Once this control is achieved, they must fire the engines and redirect the individual projectiles on a new heading. The asteroids that continue on course, those we shall blast with nukes.”
Someone gingerly cleared a sore throat. Without turning around to see whom, Cassius asked, “Do you object to the plan, Scipio?”
“I would ask a question.”
“Ask,” said Cassius.
“How do you know the asteroids still have fuel or that their engines still work?”
“I do not
know
,” said Cassius. Silence greeted this revelation. He turned toward the two. Scipio touched his bruised throat. Gaius studiously pinned his fallen Red Galaxy Medal back onto his uniform.
“Hawthorne spoke strategic sense earlier,” Cassius said. “We cannot afford to lose the Earth.”
Scipio snorted.
“An inelegant agreement,” said Cassius, “but heart-felt. The Earth is the greatest industrial base in the Solar System. The cyborgs undoubtedly recognize this and have decided to obliterate it, thereby weakening us, possibly beyond recovery.”
“The commandoes are a gamble,” said Scipio. “The loss of the
Hannibal Barca
to cyborg assault troops during the Third Battle for Mars points to this.”
“Yes!” Cassius said. “I gamble. And because I do, I will use everything in my grasp in order to achieve victory. The premen have offered us their vessels. Therefore, I will use them.” He laughed. “I will even use the meteor-ship heading to Mars.”
“Is it possible that the meteor-ship can be of use?” asked Gaius.
“It’s more than possible,” said Cassius. “First, however, I must show you the last piece of my strategy. The premen will help us implement it. No doubt, in the absence of the Doom Stars they will attempt treachery. But I will take safeguards, the chief of which is placing you, Scipio, in charge of the new defensive arrangement of Earth.”
“What are you talking about?” grumbled Gaius.
Cassius told them, clicking his controller as he showed them the details.
It made Gaius grunt in seeming wonder, and he finally nodded at his old friend. “You’ve lost none of your guile,” he told Cassius.
Scipio grew quiet and his eyes narrowed.
It made Cassius even more certain that he’d chosen the right Highborn to command Earth Defense in his absence. “It is a massive responsibility,” he said.
“Why me?” asked Scipio.
“Because I think you’re one of the few Highborn who can work with premen.”
“Your Excellency?” asked Scipio.
“I watched you on the bridge as I spoke with Hawthorne. Certain of your reactions pleased me. It also showed me this hidden talent of yours that few Highborn possess.”
“Doing what you suggest, we risk losing our conquests on Earth,” Gaius said.
“Possibly,” said Cassius, “but it is unlikely. I will leave Scipio enough space assets to thwart any premen treachery.”
“Do you remember their Orion ships of several years back?” asked Gaius.
“Of course,” said Cassius.
“They may have more of those ships hidden.”
“Of course there are more,” said Cassius.
“Have our spies discovered this?”
“I don’t need spies to know that,” said Cassius. “Logic proves it.”
Gaius seemed to think about that. He finally grunted in agreement.
“We have little time to achieve all this,” Scipio said thoughtfully.
“True,” said Cassius. “But as the Admiral has said, we are the Highborn. And now the Solar System will see what that truly means. This is to be our hour, gentlemen.” He thumped his thick chest. “I will speak with their Supreme Commander again, and tell him his part to play.”
“I watched a recording of your first meeting,” said Gaius. “This Hawthorne is a proud preman. He might object in areas.”
“I give that a little less than a ten percent possibility,” said Cassius. “No. He will see his chance to regain much of Earth in my offer. Even more importantly, in striving to gain an advantage over us, he will help us more than he otherwise would consider wise.”
Gaius looked thoughtful until finally he grinned. “You are a sly fox, Grand Admiral. It is a spectacular plan.”
Scipio wasn’t as enthusiastic. But he also nodded. “It may work.”
“It must work,” said Cassius. “Our future rests on the outcome. So as Highborn, we will force events to move in our favor. Now, gentlemen, let us begin in earnest.”
Several hours later, Hawthorne strode down a gravel path in a park outside a former coalmine. He was in the Joho Mountains of China Sector. Evergreen trees surrounded him, filling the area with pine scent. Captain Mune marched behind at a discrete distance. Other bionic soldiers walked well in front, to the side and in the back.
Hawthorne clasped his hands behind his back. He had spoken with Grand Admiral Cassius again. They had talked about particulars so Hawthorne had a good idea about Cassius’s plan. The Highborn was so dreadfully arrogant and yet so piercingly brilliant.
Thinking deeply, Hawthorne now debated with himself. He halted and glanced at the mountain peaks in the distance. Many were capped with snow. Clouds drifted in the sky, while lower down an eagle soared serenely.
Below him underground was the headquarters for Earth Defense. He’d commanded here on the dreadful day the Highborn had dropped their meteors. They had killed a billion people. The weather patterns were still disharmonious because of it, effecting crops negatively.