Democracy 01 Democracy’s Right by Chris Nuttall

Author:Chris Nuttall
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-07-17T09:02:17+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Flickering in…now!”

The General Montgomery shivered as the starship flickered in, a good few light-hours from the verge of the system. Colin braced himself as the flicker-shock passed over him, swallowing hard to prevent himself from actually throwing up on the deck, then caught himself as the display lit up. They'd come in so far from any gravity shadow to avoid detection, but if Commodore Gallatin and General Thomas were feeling paranoid, there’d be a handful of destroyers on scouting duty.

“Nothing detected within sensor range,” the sensor officer said, running through the scans. “Passive sensors report that we’re clear.”

Colin scowled. A star system was vast. The empire Imperial Navy could be hiding within the system, drives, shields and sensors stepped down, and they wouldn’t know about it until they brought up their drives. Active sensors might have revealed anyone trying to hide, but they certainly would have revealed the Shadow Fleet’s presence to anyone with detection systems. If there was a destroyer lying in wait, the brief fluctuation in the cloaking field might have been detected as they flickered in, spoiling the ambush. Macore was familiar territory, but now it was effectively occupied by the Empire. The outlying settlements and mining stations would either be occupied or under observation themselves, unable to escape or even fight when the Empire came for them.

“Laser links established,” the communications officer added. “The fleet is checking in, sir. No problems reported as yet.”

Colin watched as the display started to fill with icons, each one signalling the presence of a starship somewhere further within the system. Macore had once had hundreds of freighters and STL ore miners working the system, but now there were only a handful of starships within range, probably working under Imperial supervision. The administrators, if they had arrived, would be keen to reboot Macore’s economy as quickly as possible, if only so they could loot it. They'd probably start pushing the ships back into operation as soon as they arrived, sweetening the pot with a few deals aimed at Macore’s native corporations, offering them a place within the Empire. It had worked in hundreds of other worlds and they would see no reason to change their methods, not even with Macore. After all, it was only a difference in scale.

He steepled his fingers as he contemplated the image. At first, the Empire would make little headway, but later, they would win converts, if only people who wanted a peaceful life. Cordova’s advice had been to study history outside of military history and Colin had taken it, downloading a few hundred banned history texts and studying them when he hadn’t been on duty, encouraging David Houston and others to do the same. The chances of continued resistance depended on the perception of success, either through liberation from the outside or military victory, which meant that Colin’s raid had to be a success. They had to embarrass the Empire in a manner they couldn’t deny…

“All ships have checked in, sir,” the communications officer said.

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