The Shadow of Cincinnatus by Nuttall Christopher

Author:Nuttall, Christopher
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: science fiction, military SF, space opera, space fleet, galactic empire
ISBN: 9781606193198
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
Published: 2014-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

In making sure that the workers had nowhere to take their complaints, the Socialist Faction ensured that trouble built up and up until it finally exploded. Ironically, their system worked; the Socialist Faction was a dead duck by the time disaster struck.

-The Federation Navy in Retrospect, 4199

Sol, 4100

“So we have another riot on our hands,” Marius said, sharply.

“No, sir,” General Thorne said. “We have a strike.”

Marius met his eyes. “Explain.”

“The workers at the Fredericksburg Stardrive Plant have gone on strike,” General Throne said. “They’re refusing to go back to work until their demands are met. And the strike is already spreading, even though we cut communications as soon as we heard what was happening. We have strikes developing in a dozen other plants on Luna.”

“I see,” Marius said.

Professor Kratman leaned forward. “And what do they actually want?”

General Thorne eyed him suspiciously. “I fail to see why their demands are important.”

“Answer the question,” Kratman growled. It might have been decades since he’d set foot on a command deck, but he still knew how to command. “What do they want?”

“Basically, an end to the emergency procedures and protocols,” General Thorne said. He produced a datapad from his belt and passed it to the Professor. “We can’t grant any of them without risking production levels.”

Marius winced. Production was a long-running battle between the different factions in his cabinet, particularly with the war well underway. The Federation Navy needed everything from new starships to fortresses and other weapons, as well as an endless supply of new recruits and spare parts. And creating new training camps for crewmen had, in its turn, created new problems too. The only force that seemed to be adapting successfully to the new regime was the Marine Corps, which had its own training methods.

And they don’t need to know so much about what they’re doing, Marius thought. But experienced officers in the Navy do.

He pushed the thought aside, then looked at Tully. “You have something to say?”

“We should consider giving them what they want,” Tully said. “The emergency measures were successful in producing some material, but in the long term they risk doing considerable damage to the Federation’s infrastructure.”

“We cannot give in to blackmail,” General Thorne countered. “And this is blackmail! They will accept our surrender, then make some more demands until they find something we literally cannot give them.”

“I think you’re overreacting,” Tully said, coolly. “Right now, this is a minor problem. If you overreact, it could become a major problem.”

Marius felt his head starting to pound, again. There were just too many problems to handle one at a time. If the Outsider War hadn’t begun, there would have been time to rationalize the Federation’s industry, along with its educational system and just about everything else. But the Outsider War demanded their fullest concentration, which meant reforms had to fall by the wayside. They couldn’t surrender. All they could do was hang on desperately and wait for the tide to turn.

He looked up, towards the holographic starchart in the corner.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.