Dubious Heroes: a novel Read online

  “Damn”, I said. “I was hoping we could at least recover Angie.”

  “One step ahead of you, boss”, Eng said, smiling. “Before the Bridge flooded and we lost power, I dumped her main code to chips.” He patted a suit pocket. “She’s still with us; just needs a new home.”

  “She isn’t the only one”, I said.

  “What about the ship’s reactor?” Scott asked.

  “I initiated an emergency shutdown”, Cozi said, “As soon as I’d heard we’d crashed in water. I also engaged the emergency containment system before we left. It will take a few hours to cool down, not that it really matters, with the containment.”

  “That’s what I was wondering”, Scott said. “As long as you’re not fouling the lake with radiation, no one is likely to go looking in it for anything. She’s just a big, inert hunk of metal, lying on the bottom.”

  “Ceramic, mostly”, Cozi said. “But yeah, you’re right.”

  “So, someone might show up to raise her, or they might not”, Eng said. “We come back in a few years, and we’ll probably find she’s still there.”

  I frowned. There were plenty of reasons why I didn’t like leaving the Revenge where she was, not the least of which was that it meant I’d lost another damn ship. Still, if we couldn’t save her, then we couldn’t. For now, anyway.

  “Fine”, I said. “We may as well get up there and rendezvous with the Defender. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long trip out to Phoebe.”

  “That’s a fact”, Scott said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  We did.

  Chapter 50

  We reached Phoebe in about a day. We could have done it faster, if Vassily hadn't insisted on being what I felt was overly cautious with his transits. I wasn't in much of a position to criticize; at least he still had a ship.

  Vassily, and the rest of us as well, would have been a lot more comfortable if Boo had been able to explain what had happened aboard the Revenge. My first thought was that Angie had simply done a quick transit, trying to move the ship out of harm’s way. That didn't make sense for a couple of reasons, though. First, Eng had sent her the coordinates for Triton; his thinking was that it was a friendly location, and they had facilities there to repair the Revenge. Even if Angie had changed the coordinates on her own, why keep the Revenge in a freefall on Earth? Even putting the ship into orbit would have been safer than what happened.

  All this meant was that what did happen was the end result of a bad transit. While Boo either couldn't or wouldn't explain, we did learn a few new things from him. With the latest version of the star drive, and its ability to transit in the vicinity of gravitational fields, DEC had incorporated a failsafe feature into the device. If you attempted to transit to a location which for some reason it decided wasn't safe, you'd return to where you'd left from. More or less. Boo wouldn't elaborate. The private consensus among several of us was that DEC didn't know quite as much about their devices as they wanted everyone to believe.

  Just to boost the creepiness factor up another notch, Cozi had also noticed that from the moment Angie engaged the star drive, until their 'return' to Earth, more than ten minutes had elapsed. None of us had ever heard of transits taking any time, let alone ten minutes. So, where were they, during that time, and why didn't any of them remember it?

  Someone suggested that the planetary rotation could account for the shift in location between departure and return, which sounded good to me. Unfortunately, it was Eng that pointed out that if this was the case, the Revenge would have reappeared to the west of Geneva, not to the east. Boo thought this was also interesting, but still wouldn't speculate.

  I'd expected to arrive on Phoebe to find Mac waiting for us, but the little rock was deserted, except for the TGS facility, and the AI running it, Gabana. I was hoping to hear something from him via Speedlink, but there was nothing. It was as though he and the Bismarck had vanished. Kyra thought he was probably quietly going around the outer system, taking care of whatever was left that needed doing. We had plenty of other things to keep us busy, anyway.

  Neither the Defender of the Crown nor the Erebus had sufficient space to house our crew, which left us with the tiny TGS ground facility. We spent most of the first day scavenging materials from a couple of storage hangars, disassembling them, then using the plasteel sections to build a couple of crude housing units adjacent to the control center. Life support, and consumables, like air, food, and water, were stripped from a few of the remaining derelicts on the moon. I don't know exactly what they did to the pre-packaged ship’s meals, but apparently, they'd last just about forever. As a serial label reader, it was probably one of those things I was better off not knowing.

  The end results weren't very pretty, nor were they luxurious, but they'd work, at least for a short stay. I had no intention of hanging around on Phoebe long enough to get tired of sleeping on the floor.

  Aside from taking care of the crew, another immediate concern was our status, since we had no idea what it might be. Were we considered alive, dead, or just missing? Were we fugitives? We weren't even sure if there was still a war going on.

  Thanks to Gabana's Speedlink connection, we were able to watch the newsnets without the huge lag, and even access several databases of archived information. The war wasn't over per se, although they had finally accepted Mac's offer of a truce. The UP didn't have much of a choice, really. Mac's forces had taken a sizable number of outlying UP stations, and most of the others had surrendered without a fight. There was no question he had the ships; I'd helped him get them. But, where had all the people come from? The only thing that made any sense to me was that he'd had a lot more people than we'd originally thought.

  Our own status was a lot less clear. Mac was officially a fugitive, wanted for war crimes, which was no surprise. As for us, the gist of the UP statements seemed to be that no one knew whether we were alive or dead, although the general public opinion leaned toward the latter. The UPDF was insisting that our lander, with me aboard, had been shot down, and that I was dead. It was thought that the Revenge had crashed as well, but the subsequent impact of the Princess of Arabia had eliminated any possibility of confirming much of anything. As we'd also figured, no one had seen the Revenge drop into Lake Thun; no one was reporting anything unusual in the area, aside from the effects of the blast. So, unless the ship began leaking toxic materials into the lake (not likely, according to people who would know), then she'd probably just sit there unnoticed, at least for a while.

  In a nutshell, we were officially missing, but presumed dead. If we made an appearance anywhere, there was no doubt they'd dust off a few arrest warrants, at least for me.

  We'd been on Phoebe for five days, when Mac finally arrived. Vassily was keeping the Defender in orbit, providing us at least a modicum of security. They spotted the Bismarck the moment she transited in. Two hours later, they were in orbit, and Mac, with a few of his crew, joined us on the surface via their lander. I had mixed feelings about seeing him. On some level, I still liked the guy, but that was clouded by what he'd done back on Earth.

  The tiny control center was crowded, as we managed to pack in myself, Kyra, Eng, Cozi, Lola, and Boo. Mac came in alone, and once he removed his spacesuit, I was shocked by his appearance. He seemed to have aged twenty years since we'd last seen him. He remained a large, imposing man, but you could tell from his posture, and see it in his eyes, that something vital was missing. I thought of all the things I wanted to say to him, but realized at once that there was no need. Anything I might accuse him of being, or any way that I might castigate him, he was already doing to himself. I wondered what the others would say to him.

  After a round of subdued hugs and handshakes, Mac dropped into a chair, and sighed tiredly. The rest of us found seats, or whatever flat surface was available. I leaned against a wall.

  "Well, here we are", Mac said, then paused, seemingly lost in thought. "On the one hand, we succeeded, even beyond my most optimistic expectations.
In that regard, all of you have a lot to be proud of. On the other hand, some things didn't go as planned. Just so you all know, what happened at Geneva was an accident. I wasn't sure whether I should threaten such a thing or not, what with Earth still being touchy about terrorists, even these days. But, I felt it might provide that extra ounce to tip the scales in our favor. Basically, that part of it worked. They were actively negotiating with us, until the situation... changed."

  "Should have known that the possibility, however remote, was there; something could go wrong. Nevertheless, I'd tried to think of every contingency. We installed our own commlink in the Princess, which couldn't be jammed. The AI aboard knew this was only a ruse, and she was to transit out before reaching Earth, whether she heard from me or not."

  "I forgot an important rule of warfare; never threaten anything you aren't prepared to actually do. Winifred, aboard the Princess of Arabia, felt she had just cause to modify her mission, and she did so, to all our detriment. We pled with her right up to the last second. Which doesn’t change the fact that I put her into a position where this could happen. I thought she would behave in a predictable manner, and she did not. Faced with the apparent death of someone she cared about, she reacted the same way a lot of us would have; she was in a position to retaliate, and she did so. I don’t think anyone should need more proof than that; AIs are people. Anyway, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

  No one spoke, and several looked away, as he sat there quietly. I figured someone had to say something, though.

  "I appreciate the apology", I said. "I think we all do. That said, it does nothing to lessen what I feel about three million, four hundred thousand people losing their lives, due to your folly. They were just ordinary people, minding their own business and trying to get by, and we took their lives from them. We've all seen the pictures from ground zero, and it's simply horrific. I'm having nightmares about it. Apologies won't stop those, and it certainly won't bring those people back."

  Mac seemed to deflate even further.

  "What would you have me do?" he asked. "Do you think I don't know all of that, or that you're the only one having nightmares? If I could make that one moment not happen, don't you think I would?"

  I didn't answer him. I wasn't sure I knew how. It was Kyra who finally spoke.

  "It happened", she said. "While none of us like it, it's history, it's over."

  "Ah, lass", Mac said, smiling sadly. "It's not over yet, but it will be, soon. I've spent the last few days seeing after my people and getting my affairs, such as they are, in order."

  "Your plans?" Kyra asked, even though she already knew the answer; all of us knew.

  "We won, you know", he said. "Yet, because of this thing that happened, there won't be any celebrations, not for us, not ever. We won, but at the same time, an atrocity was committed. You’ll all go down in history as heroes, but with an asterisk, and I’m sorry for that blemish. I’m the person responsible for it, so it's only fitting that I be the one held accountable. No one will be happy, but they'll accept it, and then this will be over. It's my hope that one day, the rest of you will be safe again."

  "There's a chance they'll execute you", I said.

  "I sort of doubt that", he said. "I'm much more useful to them alive, as an object lesson. They'll parade me into court for a lengthy public trial, then put me on display someplace, for the rest of my life. I suppose they could execute me, even though it's against United Planets law. Either way, I can't complain. Christ, I'm a hundred forty seven years old. I've had a pretty damn good run."

  "Will they come after us?" Cozi asked.

  “They probably would, if you were around right now", Mac said. "But, since you're all listed as missing, and more or less considered dead, it'll be easier for me to walk in, claim full responsibility for what happened, and let them have their day in court. Give it a couple years for the hubbub to subside, and when you do show up again, they'll likely just ignore you. Of course, that means it would be a good idea to keep a very low profile, and stay out of the public eye. Let all this die down, and the memory fade away."

  "The UP still has agents out there", Kyra said. "It won't be safe for us for quite a while."

  "I suspect you're right", Mac said.

  "Um", Boo said, "Does this mean that I'm dead, too?"

  "You weren't a part of this", Lola said. "I imagine your family has enough power to clear this up with the UP."

  "Doubtless", he said. "But if I'm alive, then someone is sure to figure out that you guys are, too. At least, everyone who was aboard the Revenge."

  "There should be some way to put you somewhere else, at that time", Lola said.

  "Maybe", Boo said. "Probably easier if I just stay dead, though."

  "This truly sucks", Eng said, which described the situation rather succinctly, I thought.

  "You mentioned something about our winning", Cozi said to Mac. "We've been watching the newsnets, and it doesn't look like anyone won much of anything."

  Mac smiled slightly, and a ghost of his usual self flickered in his eyes.

  "If you saw the reports, then you know the story", he said. "They're just not spelling it out for anyone."

  The stuff we'd seen at first showed several remote UP stations being hit. Minutes later, more news had flooded in from all over, of stations and bases being overrun by overwhelming rebel forces. Stations were captured, and a few destroyed, though in the end, it seemed as though most had simply surrendered without a fight.

  The longer I'd watched the reports, the more confused I'd become. Unlike the average viewer, I'd been there when all those ships had left Phoebe, and I knew that none of them had returned to the asteroid-belt base. I also knew that when they'd left Phoebe, none of them had more than a person or two aboard. Given that, the reports didn't make sense, unless there was something- something big- that Mac hadn't told us.

  "Well", I said, "Since they didn't spell it out for us, how about if you do the honors? We saw the reports, and it sure looked like one massive operation."

  "It was, indeed", he said.

  "So, where did all those people come from?" I asked. "I know they weren't aboard those ships when they left here."

  "I was beginning to wonder if anyone had noticed that", he said. "Much as I'd like to tell you, it's sort of a secret. Might come in handy again, in the future."

  "You're turning yourself in", Kyra said. "No secrets, not now."

  He studied her for a moment, before responding.

  "Fair enough", he said, then paused again, reflecting, I guessed. "It turns out that the best way to move a mass of troops secretly, is to not move them at all."

  "So, you had them in place, ahead of time?" Eng asked.

  "Not a bad plan", Mac said, "Though not as good as mine. They were never there to begin with.”

  People shifted in the room, and we all looked around at one another. More than a few eyebrows were raised. If anything, all the newsnet stories suddenly made even less sense.

  "Okay", I said. "I give up. From what I'm hearing, all you had were a bunch of barely manned spacecraft, scattered all over creation. How'd you take all those bases?”

  "Look at it logically", Mac said. "If there were no forces there, then we didn't take all those UP bases. Granted, it sure looked like we had, though."

  "We saw vids of the attacks", Eng said.

  "Don't get me wrong", Mac said. "We most assuredly raided a few of their bases, and we hit them hard. The fighting was fierce, and people did lose their lives. We were very careful to make sure that the media knew all about it. In some cases, we even embedded newsnet reporters with our strike teams, so they could broadcast the stories as they were happening. That way, we had live stories going out, from the middle of the action, and thanks to Speedlink, they went everywhere."

  "Which put you in a position to totally set them up", Kyra said, as it dawned on us what he'd done.

  "Bingo", he said, smiling again. "The bulk of what the newsnets reported as fact, never
even happened. The AIs run the Speedlink system for DEC, so, by using Doon’s name liberally- thanks for that-"

  "You're welcome, I think", I said.

  "- I was able to enlist their aid. The first thing I had them doing was some creative traffic control. Information that was beneficial to us got through, and anything that wasn't, didn't."

  "That's kind of... Orwellian", Eng said.

  "You betcha", Mac said. "They created the monster; we just used it against them."

  "So the only information most UP stations could get was what you wanted them to hear and see", I said.

  "Basically, yes", Mac said. "Not only news, though. Any communication, period. Stations trying to call one another, or back to headquarters, found that they couldn't reach anyone. They were on their own. On top of that, I had them make up a few interesting stories, to fill in the gaps where needed."

  "You mushroomed them", Eng said.

  "He what?" Boo asked.

  "Kept them in the dark and fed them bullshit", Cozi said. "Kinda like what DEC does to everyone. No offense, Boo."

  "None taken", Boo said.

  "Yup", Mac said. "Once they saw the vids of those attacks, then heard reports of other stations suffering a similar fate, all we had to do was show up with a ship, and demand they surrender, or else. Most of them couldn't give up and leave fast enough."

  "Which also left the UPDF with nothing to retaliate against", I said.

  "Nope", Mac said. "They can't attack what isn't there, which left them doing a lot of wandering around looking for the enemy. They're probably only just now figuring out that we snookered them."

  "And what happens when they do?" I asked.

  "Not a thing", Mac said. "As we speak the AIs are planting stories all over the net. I truly doubt anyone outside of our little group will ever be able to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the 'AI War', as they're calling it. So, even if they realized they've been had, it's far too late for them to undo what's been done. They'll hang onto power in the inner system indefinitely, but their days of controlling deep space are over. And none of it would have happened without all of you."