|
The Meeting - Part Five
The Politics of Failure
20-03-2268
Commonwealth Naval HQ
Jovian L-5
Yves Dupuis sat in the shadows of the conference room, in awe of the powerful names
and faces he saw around him. It was one of the largest meetings he had ever
been part of, and it boasted more brass and senate cronies than he'd seen in a
single room. As a lower-ranking officer in the administrative branch of Naval
Intelligence, and as one of the youngest people in the room, he felt distinctly
out of place. His recent promotion to Lieutenant still felt unreal to him, and
he hadn't expected to find himself participating in a high level meeting like
this so soon, but he was starting to feel like the sacrifices he'd made were
starting to pay off.
There was a great deal of subtle political positioning
and discussion that he had trouble following. But there was a kind of
excitement and sense of opportunity feeding his ambitious side that kept him
riveted to the proceedings. The meeting was turning out to be something of a
scolding, and had nothing of the dignity nor decorum he imagined high-powered
meetings should have. He hadn't been called upon to deliver his information to
them yet, and he was wondering if he would even get the chance. Dupuis had
known that this was going to be a tough meeting going in, but he hadn't
imagined that it would get this bad. This was not going to be a debriefing, as
it was initially described to him. It was shaping up to be more of an
inquisition or a maybe even a straightforward mob lynching. He felt bad for the
poor fool that got stuck wearing this one. Careers got destroyed in meetings
like this. But they also got made, if you played cards right. He still felt a
little excitement at being asked to sit in this room, the Big Room; the
conference room designed for Navy HQ as a replica of the main council chamber
on Earth.
Sitting near the end of an enormous black glass-smooth
conference table, in this shadowy room, with the who's who of Commonwealth Navy
brass and politicians was intimidating enough. But to be seated opposite
Colonel Chen was downright terrifying. That woman was, without a doubt, the
most intimidating individual with whom he'd locked eyes. Ever.
He took a sip of water from the glass placed in front of him, hoping no one would
hear how loudly he swallowed, and tried to place the glass back exactly on the
same ring of condensation, as if to minimize any traces of his presence in the
room. He reminded himself that he was supposed to be here; that his presence
had been requested as an intelligence analyst and technical consultant. He
glanced at the reversed glowing lettering of his name 'Lt. Yves Dupuis' on the
nearly invisible nameplate on the table in front of him, announcing his
identity to Colonel Chen directly across from him. He still wasn't used to the
new rank in front of his name, making him feel a little as if he was granted
the new bars by clerical error; a mistake that would be discovered at any
moment.
The Colonel's calm but piercing gaze made him wish
he'd used someone else's name. From the tone of voice of whoever was yelling at
that moment, he was pretty sure that there were others in this room also
wishing that they were invisible right about now. This was turning out to be a
meeting for recriminations. The politicians and navy brass looked like they
were preparing for a feeding frenzy.
Blame was being hurled around the room like manure
from a spreader, and no one wanted to have any stick to them. He lifted his
eyes from the flat display screen in front of him to view the same images on the
giant screen at the end of the table to his right. The shouts were quiet now,
as everyone paid attention to the recording. He recognized this part of the
briefing as it played. He'd heard the transmission recordings many times
already, so he knew how it ended. He hated having to listen to this part again,
but at least it was getting to be near the end, and he would soon be out of
this meeting, back at his little desk, in his little cubicle office on the
lower decks of this station.
Everyone else seemed to be looking down at their
screens as they listened to the recordings. Everyone, except Chen. She never
stopped scanning the members of the room with eyes as dark as the gleaming
table between them. She watched them all, as they listened to the recording of
ship-to-ship comm chatter. The comm traffic all seemed to be very normal, while
a computer-generated schematic showed a reconstruction of the position and
formation of the now-dead ships. Then they heard the voice of Admiral Devette
as his recorded voice spoke from beyond the grave, from that day on the bridge
of his cruiser the Syracuse over two weeks ago. The volume of the recording gained
a few decibels as they came to the moments of interest.
"Still no sign that we've been detected."
said the overconfident voice of the late Admiral. "The debris field is
turning out to be excellent cover, Captain. Good choice. They're just sitting
there, waiting for us to pulverize them. Stand by to deploy the fleet as
planned. I want everyone to hit them at the same time."
The Captain of the Danube-class cruiser must have
nodded during that brief pause. "All ships, this is Captain Marberg.
Assume attack formation Beta and."
"Captain, we've got hostile contacts appearing
all around us." This was the distressed voice of one of the bridge
officers. "More are still appearing.dozens of them, sir."
"Tell me what you're seeing, WEPs."
The captain replied to the Fire Control Officer. There was nervousness in his
voice already.
"They're still popping up, all around us,"
said the incredulous WEPs officer. "They look like mines, or maybe gun
platforms. They're going active everywhere, and it looks like."
They could hear the sounds of explosions as the Syracuse was
rocked by hit after hit. Amid the noise, fragments of both the Captain's and
the Admiral's voices were heard above the pounding explosions and frantic
reports of the bridge crew.
".walked into a trap!"
"Someone must have tipped them off that."
".the hell didn't we detect these things
earlier? They're everywhere."
"Taking damage to all systems. We're losing.."
"Reports of damage . from all.."
".weapons offline. Hull breach aft of."
".got the Mistral requesting
permission to withdraw. The Victorious is also ."
". with heavy damage to..."
"Get us out of here, Captain! NOW! GET US THE
HELL OUT OF."
The recording ended after a few
more seconds of static. Dupuis wasn't sure if the static was left in
intentionally or not, but its effect was far more dramatic than silence would
have been. It was all followed by silence in the room for a few moments anyway.
One of the Senators down at the other end of the table
finally broke the silence.
"An entire fleet, including a Danube-class
cruiser, several highly decorated and experienced Captains, and Admiral Devette,
were all lost in what was supposed to be a surprise raid to take out the
Crack-In-The-World group. Vice Admiral Wexler, would you please explain
to me why this happened?!"
The Vice Admiral cleared his throat at the other end
of the table and spoke in his best I'm-in-command-here booming voice.
"In response to your request, I'd like to introduce you to Lieutenant
Dupuis. He's one of the intel officers who was involved in the planning of this
strike, and he's been kind enough to prepare a summary of the most recent
analysis reports for this meeting. Lieutenant?"
This was it. This was the reason he'd been called into
this session. For a moment he was paralysed by indecision. Should he stand?
Should he go to the podium in front of the big screen? Should he just start
talking? He could feel the eyes of everyone, particularly those of Colonel
Chen, fixed on him. Waiting. He decided to simply stand where he was to address
them. His chair slid silently on the carpet as he stood. He swallowed hard,
wishing he'd taken another drink of water.
"Gentlemen. And, um, ladies..um.Sirs. As you have
just heard, our fleet was led into a trap, ambushed, and entirely wiped out as
it lay in wait at the Amarid debris field in the Tau Ceti system. It was
supposed to have been our trap. Instead, we walked into one and lost an
entire battle group. The strike fleet we assembled for this mission, a total of
22 ships, is presumed destroyed. We don't have specific numbers, but it is
possible that some of those vessels were captured by the Indies. So not only have
we lost a large number of vessels, but the Indies have possibly gained strength
in the process. Fortunately, it should be some time before they would be able
to deploy any of this materiel against us.
"We're still analyzing the available telemetry from
the nearest FTL relay to determine the nature of the weapons used against us,
but it appears that the attack was made by some form of stealth gun platform
equipped with some form of beam weapon, likely a higher intensity particle beam
weapon, or some form of disruption projector, not unlike that used by our own
disruptor missiles. These weapons platforms are far more advanced than anything
the Indies were thought to have acquired. As I said, we're still not sure
exactly what they used but it's clear."
Senator Hartwick, chairman of the Naval Oversight and
Appropriations Committee, interrupted him. "Lieutenant, what's CLEAR is
that we got our asses whipped in a humiliating ambush," he said. The Senator
bellowed on to the rest of the room, completely ignoring Dupuis. "We lost
almost two dozen ships and crews. That's over two thousand lives, ladies and
gentlemen. Do you have any idea of the expense of that kind of
catastrophe? Do you have any idea of the impact of this kind of loss on our war
effort? We're losing ships faster than the Indies are, and they turn around and
start using our own ships against us every chance they get. We can't keep this
up." The Senator turned and aimed his next volley at Dupuis. "You
helped planned this raid? YOU tell us why it failed. It was supposed to take
out the Crack-In-The-World. It was supposed to be infallible. It was
supposed to strike a much-needed blow for the Commonwealth. It was supposed
to be a highly publicized victory for our strained and war-weary population.
What I want to know is: How did those Indie bastards know we were
coming?"
Dupuis could see the direction this
was starting to take, and felt a tightness growing in his gut. Accusations were
being aimed in his direction. Some of them were sticking to him already. He had
been involved in the analysis of the intelligence data gathered about the Indie
battle group, and he'd helped set up some of the parameters of the strike. He
wasn't the main strategist for that strike, but he knew that making excuses
would only sink him in deeper. He realized this was only going to get uglier,
so he took a deep breath. Fear gripped him even more tightly, but somehow he
managed to speak.
"You are absolutely correct, Senator Hartwick.
This was a severe loss of military hardware and skilled personnel. We cannot
ignore the impact that a loss of this magnitude will have on our war effort, on
the security of our shipping supply lines, and on the morale of the people who
rely on us. I am also aware of the most recent statistics of Naval losses. This
is one of the largest single defeats we've suffered since the independent
movement started pirating our supply routes and stealing naval vessels. This is
worse than the debacle at Metallake. It rivals our recent losses at Midway."
The bitterness felt by the Navy brass at the mention of Midway was almost
palpable. He instantly regretted bringing it up. "Our attack was planned and
coordinated carefully so as to catch the Crack-In-The-World and her
battle group at a vulnerable staging area, while they re-supplied with
Indie-sympathetic commercial vessels. We took great pains to set this one up.
This operation involved months of intelligence gathering and careful work. It
simply should not have failed. But it did." Murmurs of protest could be heard down
the table as he spoke, and he tried to finish his point by speaking louder and
a little faster. "You are absolutely correct when you say that it failed
because someone betrayed us. You have already stated the obvious conclusion:
Someone knew we were coming. But frankly, that is not the most important
question we face." he paused for effect, taking a moment to glance around the
room before continuing. That last statement got the room quieter. He was not
enjoying himself. In fact he was so terrified, he wasn't sure he would be able
to muster enough saliva to continue speaking in a coherent way. He dared
another sip of water, which normally would have been a mistake. But this crowd
was politically astute, and they understood the role of drama and theatrics in
this kind of forum. They waited in silence for him to continue.
"We know exactly what the Indies have, because they
got much of it from us. We can calculate with a relatively high degree of
accuracy how many ships the Indies have, and what their capabilities are. Up
until recently, our biggest problems have been finding them, and choking their
supply lines. They have very limited military manufacturing capabilities. Starship
R&D, test programs, and shipbuilding are not something they have access to.
Not yet anyway, and not of a scale that poses any significant threat at this
time. We knew this when we planned the strike. It should have worked whether
they knew we were coming or not. The attack group we sent in to get the Crack-In-The-World
simply should not have failed, even if we were detected early and an
all-out engagement ensued. The fact that it did fail confirms for us something
that we have been suspecting for some time: That the Indies have been getting
some help from someone else," he paused again as the room began to settle.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, there is another party involved in this conflict, and
its time that we faced that fact."
"Nonsense!" Bellowed Hartwick and he addressed the
chamber. "A monkey in a spacesuit can do more damage with a toolkit than an
entire fleet, if he has the right information. All you need is good
intelligence. Our enemy, is somewhere amongst us! Ladies and gentlemen,
we have ourselves a spy problem, not some mysterious new power with super
weapons." The Senator turned and faced Dupuis with a searing glare and an
accusatory tone. "Let's not get distracted from the issue at hand, Lieutenant:
That issue is the security of our Naval Intelligence Network. How did the
Indies know we were going to hit them there and then?!"
Dupuis remained on his feet,
consulted his notes, and tried to regain his composure. He couldn't think
straight. He looked directly at the Senator. "Security is, indeed, an important
issue Senator. Their knowledge of our plans indicates a disturbing breach. Even
though they must have known about our plans, the Crack-In-The-World and
her battle group did not destroy our strike force. They were the bait. The
Indies have always known that this group was a priority target for us. But the
weapons that wiped out our ships were of a new variety. We are still trying."
"Yes, we heard." Interrupted the Senator, "You and
your people are '.still trying to analyze the data'. Well I have another
solution, and it was tabled before the joint council weeks ago. We step up production
at the shipyards and we build a bigger and better fleet! Then we go and crush
the bastards!"
Colonel Chen continued to listen and watch in silence
with those piercing dark eyes. Vice Admiral Wexler rose to speak again in his
best good-ol'-boy baritone drawl that always seemed to put people at ease.
Dupuis felt a palpable relief when the Vice Admiral finally came to his
defence. "Of course, the Crack-In-The-World group already knew we
were going to try to hit them. They've always known that we'd try to hit them.
They're just too much of a target for us to ignore. They were even alerted to
our efforts to locate them by a recon mission a few months back. That was the
same mission responsible for gathering key intelligence on their strength and
movement. They aren't idiots, and they already knew we'd found them at one of
their hiding places."
The Vice Admiral continued slowly, letting the members
of this meeting digest the information. "But all of that was taken into
account. The inexplicable thing is that they knew exactly where and when
we'd be lying in wait. This was not a lucky guess on their part. They
had time to prepare for us. Hell, they filled the entire region with some form
of stealth weapon, and they let us waltz in and get comfortable. They even
dangled the prize in front of us by bringing the Crack-In-The-World
group in for re-supply exactly as expected. Gentlemen, we were played like
fools."
"And that's exactly what we look like, isn't
it?!" replied Governor Ledbetter. "We went from an assured victory to
a humiliating defeat in minutes. The entire Commonwealth Navy looks like a
bunch of fools, and those of us in the government are the fools who back you
and pay for these precious ships you keep throwing away. What we need right now
is to know how the information got to the enemy, and then we need to show
everyone in the Commonwealth that we can gain the upper hand. We need to take
back the initiative."
The room erupted in a roar of
agreement and other sounds of assent. Two politicians leaned their heads closer
together to share a comment before Senator Hartwick took the floor again,
waving his arms to restore order.
"Ladies and Gentlemen." He took in the room
in a sweeping dramatic look that made his gaze move over them like a lighthouse
beacon. "We demand a thorough inquiry into this obvious breach of
security." He slammed his palm onto the glassy black surface for effect.
"And we want justice for some downright atrocious planning. Someone from
within our own naval intelligence organization, whether by accident or by
design, did not take sufficient security precautions to protect these plans."
He glanced at Dupuis, still standing there. "More importantly, we need to send
the Indies a message of the strongest kind that we will not cower; we will not
give in to their terror tactics. I say we assemble a fleet faster than they
would imagine possible and crush them once and for all. With my funding bill
before the senate right now, our shipyards can start really doing what they
should have been doing for months now: Building a Commonwealth war machine that
will crush this group of pirates once and for all. I'm prepared to open
discussion for an amendment that would attach a security rider to that, so we
can tighten things up in our military forces, and stop the pathetic
haemorrhaging of intelligence to the enemy. In fact, we need to become more
vigilant across all sectors of our society, ladies and gentlemen, if we want to
preserve our security and our way of life."
The room was taking on the air of a parliamentary
session, and the politicians were warming up their rhetoric and getting in line
to take their turn on the floor. The murmur grew louder as more raised their
voices calling for the blood of the traitor and the blood of the Indies. Dupuis
took this opportunity to sit down.
Vice Admiral Wexler cut through the cacophony,
bellowing "Gentlemen," with his powerful voice, and quickly had the room calmed
again. "Ladies," he then looked directly at the Senator. "If we could keep
pouring ships and crews at the Indies, then we would have already won by
attrition. We are, after all, the best equipped and trained force in known
space. However, we need to find them, first. We simply do not have the
resources to assemble an operation like that. Not yet. Our forces are committed
elsewhere, and the President has made it clear that we are not to thin
ourselves out any more than we already are. We need more time.
"Now, Senator Hartwick, we are all
aware of the industrial interests you represent, and how happy your
constituents would be if the government approved that funding bill quickly.
We'll build more ships, I'm sure. But we need time to build that fleet you so
badly want to assemble Senator Hartwick. We need time to train the crews. I
agree that we need to reclaim the upper hand from these terrorists as quickly
as possible. We need to take SOME kind of action and we need to take it now.
Our current priority, as stated by President King himself, is to learn more
about the Indies, and to cut off any intelligence leaks. In the process we may
learn more about the origin of this new kind of weaponry they seem to have. We
have been fighting the Independent forces in a guerrilla war for almost fifty
years now, without any decisive advantage. The last few years have seen
hostilities escalate dramatically as they've grown more powerful, and more
determined. The harder we try, the worse the problem becomes. We need to learn
to fight them more on their own terms.
"The trouble is we've been thinking too much like..
well, like the Navy."
Hartwick took the bait and questioned Vice Admiral
Wexler. "What exactly are you getting at Vice Admiral?"
Wexler did not respond. Instead, he looked at Colonel
Chen, nodded, and sat down again. The entire room turned to face the small,
middle aged woman who was clearly still very fit under her highly decorated
military tunic. Colonel Chen looked back at most of the individuals in the room
in a subtler version of the senator's sweeping lighthouse gaze from a few
moments earlier. The effect of her quiet regard was far more disturbing than
anything the senator had managed to evoke. Finally Chen rose and spoke in a
clear and controlled voice. "The Independent forces have been successful
with small-scaled, hit-and-fade attacks for many years. They use subterfuge
where we use force. They use guile where we use by-the-book, academy-approved
battle plans. They favour speed and mobility over our fortress bases, rigid
patrol routes, and cruiser blockades.
"Simply put, we need to change and adapt our
approach to match those of the Independent Navy." Referring to the Indies
as a naval force sent a disturbance rippling around the room. There was a hint
of admiration when Chen spoke of the tactics favoured by the Indies. "We
propose a small mission deep into Indie territory that will disrupt their
infrastructure and compromise their interests. Such a mission will also provide
you with your answers to the security questions, and may even provide you with
your photo-opportunity victorious moment with which to appease your weary
constituents. We have a mission in preparation that, with luck, could solve
several problems at once."
Senator Hartwick, cheated of the chance to showcase
his oratorical skills blustered onward. "How do we know this little strike
will uncover the spy? Unless .it's a setup!" A knowing smile spread across
his broad jowls. "But wait a minute, if it's meant to trap the traitor in
some kind of a sting, then how will it hurt the Indies?"
Chen responded quietly. "Despite the budget
changes outlined by your own recent funding bill, Senator, the Navy still runs
a special service under the command of the Naval Intelligence branch, known
simply as Covert Operations. You may also recall that I am attached to this
branch. This service has certain assets operating under deep cover close to the
Independent Navy. Certain of these assets may have been compromised. Without
going into details, we will be making contact with, and further use of one of
these assets one way or another, to respond to your needs for retribution."
The small Colonel then returned to a sitting position
with smooth agility. She made it clear she had nothing further to say. There
was a brief silence followed by a murmur of questions from Senators. Vice
Admiral Wexler deflected the questions with a single statement.
"The Covert Operations branch of the Naval
Intelligence Service is already in the advanced stage of planning in this
operation. For obvious reasons, there will be no further discussion of the
details. Are there are any further questions? Very well, that is all."
Governor Ledbetter braved a single question as the
military personnel in the conference room stood and started to collect their
documents. "Who's going to keep watch on the watchers, Vice Admiral? You
seem to be placing too much emphasis on the Naval Intelligence Service. How do
we know they aren't the ones selling our secrets?"
This halted everyone. Chen looked at him with a hint
of amusement before answering. "We are in the advanced stages of planning
this operation. Mission briefings are being prepared as we speak. However, in
order to guarantee the security of the mission objectives, the final decisions
regarding the personnel for this mission have yet to be made. Rest assured that
all service branches of the Commonwealth Navy will be represented by their
best," she said. She then turned and began to gather her things signalling
the end of the meeting. Ledbetter didn't look satisfied.
Dupuis was relieved to have been left aside in that
discussion, and was eager to leave the room. As he hastened toward the exit,
Wexler, standing with Colonel Chen, called to him.
"Lieutenant Dupuis. A word, please, before you
go."
He felt the surge of nervousness rise again as he
turned to walk toward the officers. He snapped to attention in front of them,
fixing his gaze somewhere neutral between them. "Yes, Admiral."
"At ease, Lieutenant. As you already know this is
Colonel Chen. Colonel, this is Lieutenant Yves Dupuis, with Naval
Intelligence." They exchanged almost imperceptible nods. "Dupuis is a
very bright and promising analyst; one I'd hate to see lynched in some bullshit
political game," Vice-Admiral Wexler paused for effect to let that sink in
before turning again to face Dupuis.
"I'll get straight to the point, Dupuis. Because
of your involvement in the handling and analysis of the recon data from our
undercover asset in with the Crack-In-The-World, and because your
involvement with the planning stages of the failed raid, you have gained the
attention of people looking for someone to blame. Trust me, this is not the
kind of attention you want to have. These are powerful people. They are
precisely the people you don't want to get noticed by."
"I see, sir," was all Dupuis could stammer
out. And here he thought he'd almost gotten away clean.
"No, I'm afraid you don't see. Those people that
just left are already working on court martial charges aimed at you. In the
past few days, I've seen two other bright young careers sacrificed to these
jackals. Those 'bright young careers' are people you know. People you've worked
with on this. Hell, I'll probably have to face a board of inquiry myself, next
week. But I'm only going to be inconvenienced. Vice Admirals rarely get axed,
but you know the navy: 'Shit rolls downhill' and all that. Its people
like you that get real damage, and these harpies are looking for a scapegoat;
someone who they can make look like a spy, so they can look like they caught a
spy. You see what I'm getting at? The risk to your career is greater than you
think."
"What." Dupuis tried, but failed, to
swallow. "I mean. What can I do, sir?" Nervousness was escalating
into real, honest-to-goodness, fight-or-flight terror.
"We're working on it. For the moment, it means
you're going to have to go away for awhile; do some.field work for a
change," Wexler said. The Vice Admiral then reached into the folder he
carried and produced an envelope. Dupuis saw his name written on the envelope,
and watched Wexler's perfectly manicured hand as he held it out to him.
"Briefing's at oh-seven-thirty tomorrow on Saltlake Base. I suggest you
get your things together, and get on the next shuttle over there. Read this
carefully and don't be late."
Dupuis stood in silence, envelope in hand, still
trying to process what he'd heard. The Vice Admiral straightened slightly,
signalling his dismissal. "That is all for now Lieutenant," Wexler
added. "You have your instructions. Dismissed."
Dupuis snapped to attention and saluted, grateful for
the automaticity of this act from his academy training. "Sir," was
all he managed to say, instantly embarrassed that he hadn't properly addressed
Colonel Chen. The salute was returned almost as an afterthought as the Vice
Admiral and the Colonel turned to confer with each other, ignoring Dupuis as if
he'd already gone. There was nothing else to do except oblige them, so he left.
____________________
|
