Point of View

© 2019 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  rabbi-tom



“Merry? Merry? Wake up!”

The voice, knocking, and the trill of her cabin annunciator caused the palomino mare to finally awaken. It took her a moment to orient herself, and to notice the time. She sat up in bed, belatedly recalled that she was naked, and twitched the sheets around her before saying, “Come in. What’s going on, Ginny?”

The rabbit doe looked nervous. “You’d better come up to Command – Captain. There’s a message from God’s Armpit for you.”

At Ginny’s use of her title, Meredith immediately stood up, letting the sheet fall away from her, and started getting into the jumpsuit she had discarded two hours ago. If the lapine was embarrassed by the sight, she didn’t let on and the mare didn’t really notice, her thoughts jangling around in her head. God’s Armpit was Transcosm’s corporate headquarters; what could they want to say? She hoped it wasn’t to demote her – she’d only been Captain for a few weeks.

She was still rubbing sleep from her eyes as she stepped into the command compartment and sat down. “Sorry to have to wake you,” Jemel said, “but they sent this to all company ships.”

“All of them?” That had to be bad news. “Main monitor,” she said.

The display of their course to This Far shrank, replaced by the image of a solemn-faced kangaroo wearing a suit and seated behind a desk. “To all ships and captains of the Transcosm Company, greetings. I am Lavrent Khosrau, chief operations officer.” A subtitle carried his access codes to prove that he was who he said he was.

“No way to sweeten this, so here it is,” and the kangaroo leaned slightly forward. “The Kashlanin Imperial Fleet has massed on its border with the Terran Sphere, and Terra has declared a state of emergency. We expect the Colonies to do the same soon.

“Therefore, all Transcosm ships are directed to head to the nearest port or military base. We expect that all hyperspace beacons will be shut down, so get to safe haven as fast as you can. Imperial Chartering and all contracted parties are being notified, so there’ll be no need for you to do it, and there’ll be no penalties for late cargoes.” He swallowed and the image drew a little closer.

“Stay safe, everyone, and Deus protect you. Khosrau out.” The screen went dark, and was swiftly refilled with the navigation display.

Meredith’s throat was dry, and she swallowed hard. “Orders?” Jemel asked, the wolf half-turning in his seat.

She swallowed again. “Increase speed to This Far,” she said. “The bosses want us in normal space, so that’s what we do. Ginny, Elroy? We need whatever the engines have.”

“You’ll get it,” the beagle said.

“Okay. I want that recording flagged as priority for every briefing on all monitors. It may have been just for me, but you all needed to see and hear it too,” Meredith said. “I’m going to get some coffee.” She stood up, her tail swishing, and headed for the dining hall.

A few late to bed members of the second shift and early risers for the day shift were watching the message, and one or two glanced at her as she walked into the room. She nodded to them and went straight to the coffee maker, selecting a mug and grabbing the full carafe. As she poured the coffee, she caught sight of herself in the reflective metal cabinet door.

Her mane was disarrayed, and her face betrayed the fact that she hadn’t had enough sleep. Her eyes looked a little red. She set the carafe down and sipped at the mug, blew on the coffee, and sipped again as she turned and took a seat at a vacant table.

She looked up from the coffee to see the others looking at her. “Sorry for how I look,” she said, smiling slightly.

“That’s okay, Boss,” one said.

“Who could stay asleep with this rattling around in their heads?” another asked.

Meredith nodded, and raised a paw for attention. “We were headed to This Far before,” she said, “and we’re still headed to This Far – just a little faster,” and one or two chuckled. “And you heard the mel, no penalties, so we still get paid.” There were approving nods at that.

“Any danger of the Navy co-opting us?” one asked.

The mare shook her head. “A twenty-year-old cargo hauler? Not on your life.” She yawned and stood up. Refilling her mug she said, “I’m going to my cabin to freshen up. Someone tell me if anything else happens.” The crew muttered among themselves as she left the room.

As soon as the door was closed she slumped against it, fighting back the urge to curl into a ball as tears started to well up in her eyes. Her hooves clopped on the deck as she went to her table and put her mug down, then touched a small static holoprojector before sitting down. A three-dimensional image of Varan, naked and smiling, appeared, and Meredith wiped at her eyes as she gazed at it.

“Nar mō meschfikin aan, lir demef,” she whispered.


***


Sarafina al-Sakai hardly ever displayed her temper. It wasn’t good for underlings to see her angry.

But she was angry now, and couldn’t care less who saw it.

Particularly not the target of her anger.

“What were you thinking, you tawny whore?” she raged at the hologram of the Terran President. The lioness flinched at the words, but kept silent as the Admiral-General said, “Never mind, you’re not supposed to think; you’re supposed to shut your fucking mouth until I tell you what to do or say!”

“I thought it was what you wanted – “

“That’s just it, you thought! You thought! You didn’t have to think! All you had to do was read! You know how to do that, don’t you?” the leopardess asked in an acid tone. “I told you to read the emergency declaration!”

“I did!”

Her spotted face twisted into a map of fury. “Don’t interrupt me, whore, or I’ll have you shoved out an airlock,” she said. “You decided to add to it, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”

“Yes.” The President’s ears went back. “It’s what you wanted, though – “

A curt nod. “Yes, but not immediately, you cunt! You were supposed to issue the declaration first, and only after I had things under control would I have you warn the Imperials and issue the ultimatum! But no, you had to actually think you were doing what I wanted, instead of what I ordered you to do!” The leopardess paused to catch her breath.

The President wisely kept her mouth shut. It was a sign that she was at least capable of learning.

Al-Sakai visibly got herself under control and flicked her tail at the head of her security detail. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the panther nod, and she knew that the errant President would be properly disciplined by her paw-picked bodyguards. Nothing visibly injurious; although she was now marked to die, it could wait.

She hadn’t yet outlived her usefulness.

“We shall wait and see how the Kashlani react,” al-Sakai said, and the lioness relaxed but remained wary. “Once we see their response, we will adapt accordingly. Until then,” and she glared at the President.

She caught on quickly. “I say and do nothing until you say so.”

“Good.” She broke the connection and sat down, seething quietly. Once she had calmed herself down, she began to think.

Wretched, fucking . . . she had planned on having ten days. Ten days to bring the entire power apparatus under her control, Colonial as well as Confed, and unify the Sphere as it hadn’t been since the old empire had been destroyed.

Now she had only three days.

Damn it.


***


Felix al-Sakai sat across the desk from Mtenga Dawud, the head of the collection of worlds and spaceborne habitats outside the core of the Terran Sphere, and resisted the urge to fidget. A large part of Mother’s plans for him rested on how the maned wolf would react to developments.

Right now, Mtenga was in datatrance, an interface plug pressed against his skull as the lupine communicated with the Legislature’s AI and several key colonial worlds. The younger leopard had to wait, so he waited until the man blinked. Mtenga removed the plug and shook his head slightly. “Twenty years I’ve had that interface,” he remarked, “and I’m still not used to it.”

Felix made a noncommittal sound. “Your decision, sir?”

The maned wolf sat up, shifting to get a more comfortable position. “The Colonies have great reservations about this emergency declaration, Admiral, as well as questions over how it came about.”

“How – “

“We begin with the slow, but quite obvious, removal of Colonial officers and ratings from key positions in the Fleet,” Mtenga said. He smirked. “’Political unreliability?’ Pull the other one, Admiral; I was hearing that old wheeze before you were born.” Before the leopard could sputter a response, the lupine tapped the desk with a claw. “Then there’s the curious case of the Star City, Admiral.” He abruptly leaned forward. “What really happened?”

“We told you, pirates – “

This was waved away with a paw. “In that part of the Sphere? We doubt it. Finally, the attack on the Imperial Embassy on Terra, and this hunt for terrorists. I find it rather disturbing that all of those detained were Colonials, and the arrests took place in our part of the Sphere.”

“Questions about that should be directed to the appropriate authorities, sir,” Felix said. “I know nothing about that.”

“Hm, yes. Well, here is the decision of the Colonial leadership, Admiral al-Sakai. We acknowledge the Confederate declaration of emergency, and will support it by taking defensive measures.” He sat back. “We will not, however, place our ships under Confed control, and we will adopt a neutral stance between you and the Empire.”

“You won’t grant us control?” Felix said. “The Pact specifically requires you to do that!”

“True, if we are attacked,” Mtenga replied. “We have not been, and the President has acted aggressively toward the Kashlani by issuing an ultimatum. Don’t worry; we’ll still take defensive steps like shutting down the beacons, but that’s as far as we’ll go.” The wolf smiled. “You’d better get back to your ship, Admiral. You may need to be there in three days’ time.”

Felix stared at Mtenga, who stared back until the younger fur closed and folded his padd. “You may find yourself impeached for this,” the leopard said.

“I’m an old man,” came the amiable reply, “with nothing to lose. Impeaching me will only relieve stress, and executing me will free up consumables for someone else. Safe travels, Admiral.”

The leopard gave a barely polite nod and left the office, wondering what his mother would have to say.

And whether he still figured in her plans.


***


The petty officer was a stallion, big fellow too, the commander thought as the man entered the office and stood at attention. “Stand easy,” he said. “You’re Tariano Nguyen?”

“Yes, sir.” The tone was clipped, as if he was angry.

The wolverine was almost as well-built as the horse, just in case Nguyen felt like adding assaulting a superior officer to his record. Speaking of which . . . He glanced down at the padd in front of him. “Says here you were a junior lieutenant.” Before you got arrested.

“Yes, sir.” A slight change in tone. The stallion was wondering now what was going on. Good; fast on the uptake.

The wolverine smiled. “Want your old rank back? First Lieutenant?”

He was gratified to see the stallion’s stolid expression suddenly falter, to gape openmouthed at the commander. “F-First? S-Sir, I – “ He recovered and stood at attention. “I am honored, sir. May I ask why?”

“Sure. We’re doing something that should have been done a long time ago,” the wolverine said, “weeding out undesirable or unreliable officers from the Fleet and replacing them with better furs from the Core worlds.” He smiled. “So, Petty Officer, are you interested?”

It took maybe two seconds. Fast on the uptake.

“Yes, sir!”


***


The AI knew Purpose, as it slowly picked its way out of the hyperspace lacuna it had used to conceal itself from Imperial sensors. The core processor, a fifteen-liter tank of cloned nerve cells, was capable of managing a medium-sized city, but here it had simple tasks.

Stay hidden, and wait for Purpose.

Now, that Purpose had been given to it, and it made its way to the target against which it was told to sacrifice itself. It wasn’t allowed to think about it.

Its speed through the hyperspatial medium was on the bleeding edge of hyperspace dynamics.

But at any velocity, there is no naturally-occurring object capable of superluminal speeds.