Honor & Renown: A Peacekeepers of Sol Universe Novella by Glynn Stewart

Author:Glynn Stewart [Stewart, Glynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Faolan's Pen Publishing
Published: 2023-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

9

Christopher had left no leeway in the standing orders for the Marines guarding his flag bridge: Travis Reynolds had access. Period. Otherwise, he knew, the Royal Marines would have found any and every excuse they could to bar the BAST executive from the squadron’s command center.

For the first time since writing those orders, Christopher regretted them.

“Travis, this isn’t the time or place,” he told his friend. “This is a military situation.”

“No, it is a diplomatic situation,” Reynolds snapped. “One that a military response will only aggravate. The situation is in hand, Admiral, so long as you follow the plan.”

“The plan?” Christopher asked. His voice was cold. He was surprised at how sharp the chill running through his emotions was. Reynolds didn’t understand how dangerous the path he was walking was. He’d just entered the command bridge of an Admiral in a star system hours, at best, from open conflict… and started undermining said Admiral’s authority.

“Yes,” Reynolds told him. “The plan. My plan, Christopher. The last thing anyone wants here is violence, but our Chinese and American friends have talked themselves into a mutual corner.

“It is our responsibility to play the mature adult in the room and talk everyone off the precipice. The simplest and most reliable way to do that is for us to comply with the Americans’ orders.” He raised his hands. “I know that goes against the grain, but the reality of the situation is clear: we can’t stop them, the PLASN can’t stop them, and trying is only going to get a lot of people killed.

“But if we cooperate, we encourage the civilians to cooperate and we make it clear to Governor Ko and Shangjiang Chu that they are stuck. They can stand down, plead overwhelming force to their superiors, and we can funnel money and resources behind the scenes to compensate them at the Americans’ expense while saving everyone’s face.”

Travis Reynolds, Christopher reflected, was very much a businessman. He recognized the concept of face and reputation… but not the underlying realities of honor and principles.

“You talked to Parker-Kennedy, didn’t you,” he said instead. “How?”

“Yes. And so long as we accommodate the initial request to return to orbit, she guarantees the safety of all Commonwealth-flagged shipping as well as this Squadron.”

Reynolds had no idea what he’d just admitted, but from the body language of the Marines who’d followed him into the flag bridge—Christopher’s orders said they had to let him in, but they knew he shouldn’t be there!—they did.

“I asked a question, Em Reynolds,” Christopher told the executive. His friend had just admitted to treason in the face of the enemy. Everything on the flag bridge was recorded—though as the Admiral, Christopher had near-total control over what happened to those recordings.

“We have not received any transmissions from the USSF formation. How have you communicated with Admiral Parker-Kennedy?”

Reynolds made a dismissive gesture.

“We built this ship, and we made arrangements for confidential communications,” he said. “That’s irrelevant. You have to stand down, Christopher, not do anything to make this worse.

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