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Contessa Sario Brandenburg scowled at the Chancellor’s message, no, not message, the Chancellor’s order telling her that her company’s fleet of 13 freighters was going to be temporarily commandeered by the Navy for an indeterminate period of time. She snorted. Like hell, temporary! His vision of uniting all of humanity was going to take years, maybe even decades, and since his government was essentially broke, they wouldn’t be giving her company’s shipyards contracts for new ships any time soon. Those shipyards were currently empty, and it looked like they would stay that way for the foreseeable future, which meant that the company’s shipping business was the only thing keeping it afloat. And that bastard now wanted to take that away too! Her competition would be rubbing their hands in glee at this news. Their fleets were too specialized to be really useful to the Navy—although in the long run, the Chancellor might eventually need their ships too— while her company’s ships were perfect for any attempt to land large numbers of ground troops and their equipment on a hostile planet. Every single one of her ships had the capability to carry hundreds of people, such as ground troops, at the same time as thousands of tons of cargo, such as assault shuttles or contra-gravity tanks. A ship devoted exclusively to passengers plus a ship devoted solely to cargo could, in theory, carry the same number of troops and equipment as two of her ships, but deploying the troops and equipment would be more difficult because the men would have to be shuttled across to the cargo ship a few at a time.
She shook her head in dismay. No, she doubted if her company would ever see those ships again once the Navy got their hands on them. They were just too damned useful. Her dismay turned to anger. She was not going to let that bastard destroy her company, even if it meant abandoning Earth and setting up shop somewhere else! But that was easier said than done. Red Shift Inter Stellar was a publicly-owned company, which she controlled with her 21% ownership stake plus the right to vote another 13% of the outstanding stock. That 34% had allowed her to vote in her slate of Directors, but it didn’t mean that she could do whatever she wanted with the company or its assets. Any major change had to be approved by the Board of Directors who understood that commercial law required them to represent and protect the interests of ALL shareholders. Failure to do so would leave the Directors open to lawsuits and potentially even criminal charges if their actions were too blatant. If she was going to do anything, it would have to be both legal and subtle.
“Show me the current status of all company freighters,” she said to her office computer. The information appeared on the wall opposite her desk. Three freighters were currently orbiting Earth. The Navy would get their hands on those for sure. Two more were on their way back to Earth. With no way to contact them while in uber-space, they were likely to be commandeered too. That left eight that were at or en route to various star systems as part of the circular routes that would eventually bring them back to Earth before they headed out again. If she could get a message to each of them to forget about returning to Earth and to head somewhere else instead, then she could keep them out of the Navy’s hands at least temporarily. She wondered if the company’s corporate yacht could do the job.
“Can Peregrine intercept all eight outbound freighters before they return to Earth?”
“Negative,” said the electronic voice.
“How many intercepts could be achieved?”
“Four, with a sixty-one percent probability of intercepting one more.”
“Show me which ones.” The data appeared on the wall and Brandenburg nodded. Corona was the key interception point. If the corporate yacht went there first and left messages, three freighters would receive them in time. And if the yacht then headed for Savannah, it would stop one for sure and possibly another depending on when the second freighter arrived.
“Show me the legal status of the five possible interceptions.”
It took her a while to work her way through the many pages of legalese, but she eventually found what she was looking for. Each freighter had been financed with a separate issue of bonds. The bondholders as a group had the right to demand that the company redeem their bonds if certain covenants regarding the company’s financial position were violated. Seizure of a freighter would allow the bondholders to invoke that right, regardless of whether the seized freighter was financed by their bonds or not. In other words, if even one freighter was seized, all bondholders could demand that the company buy back their bonds, and if it didn’t have the capital to do so—which it didn’t—then the bondholders could take legal title to their respective freighters. An idea was beginning to form in her mind. If she could buy up all or almost all of the bonds related to those five freighters and then force the Navy to seize at least one of the other freighters, she could invoke the redemption clause. That would result in the company defaulting on the obligation and those five freighters would then become her property. Nice in theory, but the devil, as they say, was in the details, and those details would take a while to nail down. Before she started working on that, there was something she needed to do.
“Contact Captain Jerred and notify him that Peregrine is to be made ready for an FTL voyage as soon as possible. All crew are to be recalled immediately. When the ship is ready to depart, he’s to notify me personally, regardless of the time of day, and he’ll then receive further instructions.” With that out of the way, she got down to the task of planning the freighter snatch.
Two hours later, Brandenburg leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh of relief. Every detail had been worked out, and all the necessary actions to get the ball rolling had been made. She reviewed the sequence of events just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything important.
Her personal investment holding company would begin to sell all liquid assets in an orderly way so as not to draw attention to it. In less than an hour, she would sign for a personal loan of 1,597 million credits using her stock in RSIS as collateral. That money added to the funds from the sale of investments would be used to buy up bonds for the four freighters that Peregrine was certain to be able to intercept as well as the company’s mobile shipyard, Vulcan’s Forge. It was capable of interstellar travel and would be the ideal foundation to create a new shipbuilding division based in Corona. She had determined that Corona was the ideal location to start again. As luck would have it, Vulcan’s Forge bonds were selling for less than par value due to the fact that the shipyard was not building anything at the moment.
When the Navy came to take possession of the three freighters in orbit, the company would refuse to grant them access, and the Chancellor could then be expected to issue a decree seizing the ships. By then, she would own a majority of the bonds for the four freighters and shipyard and her lawyers would invoke the redemption clause. As the Chairperson of the Board, she would order the CEO to declare the company in default. Her lawyers would then file court proceedings to take title to those assets. A little bribe to get a swift verdict from the judge and the freighters waiting at Corona and Savannah plus Vulcan’s Forge in Earth orbit would be hers. Plans were already underway to convince as many of the shipyard workers as possible to join her in voluntary exile on Corona. Vulcan’s Forge could take some of them there, and one of her newly-acquired freighters would make a secret rendezvous in the solar system with a fleet of shuttles carrying the rest of the personnel and their families before heading back to Corona. She and her personal possessions would be on one of those shuttles. She hoped she could convince her children and siblings to come with her. Peregrine would be back at Earth by then. It was a shame that she couldn’t use it to go into exile in style, but the Board well might consider such an action theft since Peregrine belonged to the company and had not been financed by any bond issue. Having accomplished all that needed to be done now, Brandenburg decided to start packing the things that she wasn’t prepared to leave behind when she left. It was unlikely that she would be able to return to Earth in the foreseeable future.
––––––––
ADMIRAL KHEGAN STOOD up as Arronax entered the conference room. The Chancellor wasted no time in getting down to business.
“Will the Fleet be ready by the deadline, Admiral?” he asked as he sat down at the head of the oval table.
“There’s been a development, Chancellor. It doesn’t appear that we’ll have all the troop transports that we were planning on by then.”
“Why not? I thought that court order giving the Navy the right to seize those ships was sufficient.”
“Oh, it was sufficient to seize the ships that were already in orbit and the two that arrived shortly thereafter. However, according to the company’s own schedule, three more ships should have arrived back by now, and they haven’t. Furthermore, I’ve just learned today that Contessa Brandenburg, the Board Chairperson and largest single stockholder, managed to acquire legal title to four of the eight freighters that aren’t back yet, including the three ships that did not come back on schedule. I’ve also learned that she has apparently left Earth altogether. We think she’s gone to Corona, but we’re not sure. There’s also the curious disappearance of the company’s mobile shipyard, Vulcan’s Forge. It’s FTL capable, and it left the solar system five days ago. The company’s FTL yacht, Peregrine, left around the same time. My analysts believe that Brandenburg has abandoned her position and interest in Red Shift Inter Stellar. When the news of the Navy’s seizure of the orbiting freighters was announced, the company’s stock plunged, and the bank that loaned her almost two billion credits with her stock as collateral has written off that loan since the collateral is now worth far less than the outstanding loan.”
“That bitch!” snarled Arronax. “I hope she likes it on Corona or wherever the hell she went because if she ever steps foot on Earth again, facing charges of fraud and financial malfeasance will be the least of her problems. What does all this mean for the attack?”
“It means that only two thirds of the ground forces will be able to be transported when the Fleet deploys, Chancellor.”
“It’ll have to be enough. I want all frigate and transport COs, along with the ground force senior officers, called to a briefing tomorrow morning. I’ll attend and say a few inspiring words at the beginning, then you’ll present the plan.”
“Yes, Chancellor.”
“Now, before I sign an Executive Order authorizing the seizure of all of RSIS’s remaining assets, I want you to present the attack plan to me as if I was hearing it for the first time right now. Think of it as a dress rehearsal for the briefing tomorrow.”
“Very well, Chancellor.” Khegan cleared his throat while he organized his thoughts and began speaking.
The following morning, as Arronax stepped on to the raised platform and walked over to the podium, every officer in the auditorium stood to attention. He had let it be known he expected that show of respect whenever he addressed military personnel in person. When he reached the podium, he paused to look at his officers carefully. The range of facial expressions was interesting to say the least. A few officers, mostly older as far as he tell, had looks of disapproval. Some of the newly promoted commanders were smiling. The majority were neutral.
“Be seated.” When everyone had sat back down, he nodded. “I know there have been rumors flying around that something big was in the works. I think that on the basis of this briefing, you can all safely assume that something big is in the works. My Intelligence Division has learned that the remaining members of the Commonwealth have plans to form a new collective organization called the Confederation of System States, and Earth will not be invited or allowed to join.” He paused until the collective murmuring had died down again.
“I can see that this disturbs some of you, and so it should. Earth is being abandoned in its hour of need. Those other systems can’t expect us to just sit idly by while our biosphere and economy continue to degrade to the point where millions starve to death. I’m here to tell you that we will not sit idly by. We’re going to take action, and all of you sitting here today will be the instrument of Earth’s righteous anger. In a moment, Admiral Khegan will brief all of you on an operation called Glorious Salvation. It will be the first of many such operations as the Navy forces these ungrateful colonies to bow to our needs. I would hope that when your ships appear in the skies over these planets, their governments will acknowledge how overmatched they are and surrender without a fight. But you have to be prepared psychologically for combat if they resist, and that also means enforcing Earth’s collective will even against passive resistance by the civilian population of those planets. As an absolute last resort, I am now officially authorizing the use of fission warhead missile bombardment of civilian populations.”
That generated a surge in chatter. Arronax saw officers shaking their heads, and no one was smiling now. When the chatter didn’t look as though it was going to die down quickly, Arronax pounded his fist on the podium.
“QUIET!” With silence restored, he turned to look at Khegan for a second before turning back to the audience.
“If any of you are incapable of obeying that kind of order,”—he paused for effect—“then you notify Admiral Khegan after this briefing of that fact, and you’ll be relieved of command of your ship. These are desperate times and call for desperate measures. I suggest to all of you that you think long and hard before you turn your backs on the poor and starving people of Earth.” He paused again and glared at the officers. Some of them turned away.
“Admiral Khegan will now brief you on Operation Glorious Salvation.”
As Khegan got up from where he was sitting and came over to the podium, Arronax sat down in the vacant seat in the center of the first row that had been reserved for him.
Khegan took out his data tablet in order to refer to his notes, took a quick look at it and began speaking. “The objective of Operation Glorious Salvation Phase One is Corona.” That caused another stir of murmuring. “Quiet down, people. I understand your concern. We know that Corona has been building a system defense force, but Intel believes it to consist of less than ten small, non-FTL capable craft armed with spinal lasers. There are unconfirmed reports that they may have a limited missile capability. Our approach is straightforward. Squadron Alpha will be commanded by...”
