Embassy (Wine of the Gods Book 26) by Pam Uphoff

Author:Pam Uphoff
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Publisher: Iron Ax Press
Published: 2016-07-07T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

11 March 3516

Nowhereistan, Earth

Captain Karl Mantigo didn't like his orders, but there they were in black and white. "What's one more step down the road to hell when you're three-fourths corrupted already?" And insane to boot, talking to himself. But this time he couldn't see any way out. He was going to kill innocent people.

No. Not innocent. These people probably killed all of our people who were stranded there. Other poor fools like me, too far down the road to even notice that whipping workers wasn't right. That killing the useless or rebellious was cold blooded murder. What a fucking mess. And I'm fucked right along with everyone else.

Lieutenants Chang and Larue were swapping uneasy looks. "Sir?"

"We are going to set an example. As you know the Hard Times Trading company, negotiating for twenty-eight Worlds that by right-of-discovery belong to Earth, is holding out for ridiculous wages and benefits. So we are going to go and shoot up one of the larger Worlds and give the rest something to think about."

"They don't mean, shoot civilians, do they?" Larue eyed the orders.

"They say to destroy infrastructure, avoiding casualties if possible while successfully completing the mission. Part of the problem is these new gates. The mining companies want to increase production since they can ship the ore home so cheaply. And sending in the army to fix their strike is cheap now, too. Six months ago the Earth was constrained by our own gates. Now, suddenly it's cheap to throw our weight around."

Chang looked a bit pale. "In other words, knock down the buildings. And if they weren't evacuated fast enough, too bad."

"With enough weasel words that they can hang us instead of them, if the Almighty Comet Fall finds out about it." Larue was much paler than anyone with his complexion ought to be able to achieve.

Mantigo nodded. "Exactly. We are waging war on civilians. So we will go slow, and we will give them lots and lots of time to evac. Got it?"

"Can they shoot back?" Chang was leaning away in unconscious rejection of the orders.

"They have plenty of mining explosives. Left there when the gates were closed. If they have anticipated an attack, we could be in trouble."

"What forces are they committing to this?" Larue was retreating into mechanical details.

"You will each have ten TCV's, rigged with the 105mm cannons and the 50mm machine guns. One squad each."

"So, twenty tracks, almost two hundred infantry. Christ. You know half the troops have been raised to think of the natives as subhuman. There is going to be a slaughter."

Mantigo nodded. "I will be in command of the tracks, Captain Ghadir is leading the infantry."

"Karl, I can't do this. You know what it is going to turn into." Chang was pale and sweating.

"You have four hours to make yourself so sick I have to put Jensik in your slot."

Chang closed his eyes in pain. "He's an innocent baby. You can't do this."

"I can do it as . . . properly as possible, so long as I have officers who are determined to do likewise.

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