Looking at the screen, there was no doubt. They were losing. Although the Jovian fleet had managed to win the local battles, the cold numbers indicated that for every Samothrace ship destroyed they had lost two and a half. Data from the rest of the system were even worse. The main istalations of Mars and Venus were smoldering remnants after the collapse of the orbital legions. And subsequent bombardment. Earth on the other hand was in much better condition. The Yanks would be contemplating their next move. After all they had all the time in the world. Arch-Strategos Marseti watched her comrades discuss what to do.
"We have to attack their fleet in the Trollans before they reorganize and resume their attack on Earth," Strategos Richard Van Buren bellowed, his tawny hair glistening with sweat. "If we move out of the gravity well they will choose the vector of each engagement with their molehole capacity". Señor Merearch Shimpson responded.
"I don't need a little girl who never soiled her hands to remind me," he said, pausing and looking at the rest of the command, "but it's our best chance to cause the most damage to the Samothrans and allow the domination's defenses to reorganize.
The looks of the majority of those present approved of what Van Buren was claiming. Their pride led them to claim revenge and their instincts blood.
That was existence for a Draka. Domination and conquest. An existence that had been denied to most of those present. Born into the final society. Born without a war to fight and with servants who longed to please their masters. Only the first generation remembered what war was and even they had only participated in the subjugation of the wasteland that had been the territories of the alliance. Marseti stand and cut Van Buren's monologue short, She didn't want the strategos to stage the whole meeting.
"Well, I think it is clear the path ahead of us, we will start in the predetermined pattern, with the Danube class carriers in the center of the formation, I will command from the Ozymandias.
Once we have overcome the gravity well we will wait for the attacks of the Yanks. And the Danubians will alternate jumps behind their positions to force the close combat. That way we will get the most out of our ships with Molehole drive. We will leave the Jupiter Probince facilities operated by a skeleton contingent and the serfs. Each one of you take care of the preparations of your respective commands you are dismised."
With that the various officers rose by rank and began to get out of the room followed by the silent figures that one might have forgotten existed sitting behind their masters. as the last group exited Serena marcheti issued an order through her neura link to lock the doors and open the protection panels exposing the transparent aluminum dome of the floor that allowed one to see jupiter in all its glory sliding do to the slow rotation of the abitat.
The moods in the room still smelled of anger and drakensis were made to destroy their enemies on the battlefield. Eviserate them in swift movements. But this battlefield is not one of speed and carnage. It is one of antisipation, methodology and calculation.
The Draka domination was never a naval power. Even during the final war the combat at sea and in space was dominated by the alliance. The domination had only won by the effect of the virus and the agreement that let the remnants of the alliance to launch their Ark to Alpha Centaury.
This time it would be different. The Yankee systems were a little better, their crews were more highly motivated overall than those of the domination fleet. When only one tenth of the crew is thinking about how to win the battle while the rest is thinking about how to please their masters and avoid punishment it generates a little chronic time wasting. Enough to be noticed. Added in this case to the greater number of ships with moledrives. And the domination did not have any card up its sleeve.
They where going to lose.
After leaving the command building of the Jupiter's legions, which resembled the wall of a Roman fortress curved over the cylindrical orisont of the abitat. Serena climbed into her electric charriot. Ordering it to take her to her residence.
The ride was smooth over the manicured streets as the artificial sun illuminated the sky like a golden pillar, the weather was as always optimal. Inside the colony surrounded by hanging gardens and cultivated fields it seemed that the war was an abstraction.
The servants attended to the fields maintaining the artificial routine of everyday life, ducking their heads slightly as their carriage passed by.
The large mediterranean style vilage looked like something out of an 18th century Spanish painting located in the center of the habitat. A huge statue of a silver sea dragon decorated the front fountain. When the charriot stopped at the entrance of the house three figures were waiting for her, two were girls with light brown hair like her hair, one with brown eyes and the other with a little more height and golden eyes.
The third figure was a middle-aged woman of rather similar features but noticeably shorter and of a more delicate build. There was a certain fear in her eyes as she avoided direct contact.
"Welcome home mastha." The woman spoke in a soft tone. Then the golden-eyed girl ran to Serena. "Mom, did you defeat them? It's over?" "Not yet dear" as she lifted her up in one embrace and hugged the second girl who had run a little slower with the other. "I will have to go away for a couple of days with Carla and Sofia so you will be the master of the house while we are gone Nadia."
A mixture of pride and surprise appeared on the girl's face. As she placed her and the other girl on the floor."It's a big responsibility, you'll have to go over everything with Irene." At this the woman who had kept her distance looked at her with surprise. "Mastha won't need me to accompany you if your absence is going to be long." "Don't worry Irene, it will be a couple of weeks at most, I can manage." After she said that, Irene began to sob. As the girls exchanged looks of dismay. Serena let out a breath through her nose and walked to almost come in contact with Irene. With her teacher's closeness, she began to pull herself together.
"Lunch is ready in the main chamber, although the young lady ate at noon." "I don't think she would refuse some cake to go with it.
As they ate in the small dining room for family members Serena entertained her daughter by asking her about the details of the last few days at home and going over the chores they would have to perform. After the meal Nadia and her servant Sara retired to "get on with their chores" leaving Serena and Irene alone. The latter stood up on the sumptuous cushion that marked her place on the floor to Serena's right.
"The situation is so desperate?" An inpertinent and inappropriate question from a serf. "Chances are that within two weeks I will be dead." as she said this, Serena removed a vapor atomizer from the pocket of her uniform and inaled.
Looking her in the eye, she said, "I have taken many precautions to try to safeguard the serf population. The troops that will remain here are minimal and all of them are young. If we are defeated the defense network will be deactivated in three weeks. The Yankees will show their courage and shame by taking the Abitats to liberate you."
"Please stop it, don't talk like it's an analysis. What is going to happen with Carla nad Sofia, they are going to accompany you on this suicidal ride. what am I going to tell nadia? How am I going to control her if something happens to you."Serena's blood was on fire. With an unnaturally swift movement she stood up and grabbed Irene by the arm.
Irene was petrified Serena's pheromones were saturating her. "Don't talk to me as if this is something I want. On the contrary, I don't have a master over me to protect me and bear the difficult decisions. If I die Dr. Allende has instructions to euthanize Nadia along with the rest of the infant drakas after the enemy takes over the abitat."
"NO , she is as much mine as she is yours" Serena grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to the floor, crowding on top of her. The anger she felt was mixed with surprise and admiration that she could dare so much for a serbus. "What do you want her to die fighting the marines and get dissected. or if she's lucky she'll end up in a zologic or prition for a couple of centuries with a sign that says behold the last of the drakas. I'm not going to let them make her the equivalent of the little girl begging for food from a genisar."
Irene kept quiet, fear had overwhelmed her, three centuries of biogenetic engineering dominated her. Serena knew it, she tasted it in her scent. She herself was on the verge of giving in to the sexual instinct to assault her. Just the thought in the back of her mind that deep down they were both slaves, just in different hierarchies keep her on control.
She squatted down and cut her off. Cutting the contact. Feeling as if an electric charge dissipated. "Go away, I need to be alone."
In a whisper and with unblinking eyes Irene replied "No, please don't. There has to be another solution and if there isn't, I want to be with you" She wanted it too. But it hurt her to see the purple marks on her neck.
"There is no other solution even if we try to escape. the most we could do is take the ozymandias."
"And why don't we do that the ozymandias is huge. we could take all the infants on it plus the family and crew" "And go where? jump a system go to one of the outer colonies we would end up having to run with the samoteans behind us until we had a mechanical failure in some uncharted system or they lose interest. Not to mention that the ship is not designed to colonize systems. It would just be a slower death."
"What if we didn't have to colonize a system?" "what do you mean." Irene smiled with that smile that characterized her witty argumentation. "You Drakas are so smart you never see the forest for thinking what you are going to do with the wood of the tree" Serena twisted an eyebrow and made a gesture to continue" The updated models of the moleholes say that the thruster should not be used in a gravitational well because it causes parallel universal displacement." Serena opened her eyes " Yes we have no way of knowing what parallel universe we would end up in or at what time but by mathematical determinism the earth would be there and it would be probabli abitable"
Carla Marcheti was buckled up on her bridge checking the repair reports transmitted through the archaic transduced telephone. The voice of Chief Technician Leandros was completely unrecognizable."Our best estimate is 4 more hours to complete repairs" "Understood chief somewhat disappointing I hope there are no setbacks" At that moment she received a communication on her interactive screen. She extended a cable from her earring and made a direct connection. the visual representation of her mother formed as she stood two meters away.
"The most modern ship in the fleet and has sexioned most of its systems and access points.""Underestimating the yanks is expensive especially in cybernetic warfare, the outbound preparations are within parameters."
"I have new parameters for you to execute, Irene is taking them in person" That surprised Clara, Irene was her mother's personal servant and almost a sister considering they both came from the same womb. But it was irregular for her to bring military documentation. Of course the last seven days had not been regular at all. "Well I look forward to receiving her." "I will be arriving in eight hours to take fleet command."
Her executive officer Raiju Oshi floats over to stand next to the captain. "That's new, maybe the strategos has some special plan that wasn't discussed at the meeting." "Unlikely, most likely Irene simply managed to talk her into coming and this is a justification for contravening the general instructions on personal servants" "I never thought Irene was so capricious" "She has her moments like every servant in chief". "Yeah maybe your mother shouldn't have had her edited so similar to her features it make tings messi" Looking into oshi's golden eyes framed by his straight black hair somewhat long for the convenience of the micro gravity service. "You sure are chatty today. What's the matter, you miss your favorite mount. What's his name, Gaston, isn't it?
"Of course I miss him, and don't talk that way about him. I distinctly remember you had nothing but praise for both his cooking and his intercourse. I know the cooks here aren't bad, but you can't compare it to gaston's bread" Carla smiled "A You are so cute when you get overprotective of your servants".
At that moment, the scratchy phone rang again. Gaston looked at it "I hate that thing." "So do the Samoteans." Clara answered "Understood. Escort her to my cabin."
"Raiju you have the bridge." "Understood."
Clara glided down the corridors and elevators at high speed.
Her ability to move in micro gravity allowed her to reach her cabin before Irene and her escort.
When Irene arrived accompanied by one of the logistics assistants. He gave her a military salute typical of the old genisars.
"Mr. Chiliarc Marseti the servus Irene de marseti to your presence" "Understood assistant return to your post".
Irene made a bow appropriate to her rank and Carla showed her to her cabin. Where she proceeded to embrace her. Her mother's scent was impregnated in Irene which reinforced her suspicions. "What are you doing here Irene this is no place for you not when we go into battle this is not a test cruise between jupiter and mercury." Irene looked at her with a certain amount of annoyance at the insinuation, which for a moment reminded her of when they were children and there was no real hierarchy for them. "You're done" "Careful Irene this is my ship not the family home, I'm going to punish you if I have to" Irene realized that she had been overreaching.
"I'm sorry but I understand the situation that's why you have to see this." Irene said as she connected a cable to her neura link. Clara took it and plugged it in. Downloading the information she needed in an instant, she then continued the conversation through the neura link. "This is crazy, a single ship in an unknown situation." "It's an opportunity and it's an order from your mother." "I recognize your fingerprints all over this. But it's true that it's more interesting than the prospects of battle in the trollans."
Chief Engineer Radeck was somewhat annoyed after 12 hours of work with the repairs of the last battle to be called by the captain to her cabin was not something he wanted. Whether it was the whip or the carrot. He was too tired.
He remembered the time when he was young and longed for the masters to reward him. Many times he dreamed of becoming someone's personal servant and leaving the fleet behind. But that had been decades ago. He was truly grateful that the captain had only required his body once. It was a normal part of the new command, a way of marking familiarity and belonging. The masters knew all the buttons to push but the buttons were simply worn out on him. It was like a tool that had worn out in a particular way. Fitted to a job.
By the time he reached the door of the captain's cabin. He knocked three times announcing himself. "Assistant Chief Engineer Radeck reporting for duty." "Come in."
Radeck entered the room where he saw the captain in her usual black uniform hovering in front of her desk and a servus he recognized as a family servant.
"Welcome Radek . I need you to prepare a simulation of failure on impeller number 4. Measurable effects have to resemble a real event." Radek did not know how to react. "But Captain, I don't even know how long it would take to prepare something like that. Clara looked at him sympathetically which puzzled him even more. Was she insane, could a master be? "You have nine hours to do it."
"I understand captain."
"No, you don't, but you will when the time comes and you will probably help save us all."