Bayley, Barrington J - Novel 10 by The Zen Gun (v1.1) Read Free Book Online Page B

all depleted and below strength—why, the very name of
Ten-Fleet is a lie, as well you know. Some of the ships might have been in the original Ten-Fleet, but most of them
are scavenged from defunct units."
                 Archier
nodded. He recognised that for a long time now the empire had maintained itself
more by bluff than anything. The chief strategy of Star Force was to see to it
that no worlds harbouring fond thoughts of secession got a chance to build star
fleets of their own, and that could not be done effectively with only the five
fleets that remained.
                 All
the same, he wasn't sure he liked the sound of Menshek's defeatist tone.
"Well," he countered, "the information here doesn't make it seem
the Escorians have a main fleet—not a
purpose-built one. It's mostly converted civilian ships. They probably hope
they're a match for us, weakened as they are."
                 "Let us hope they're not right."
                "On the face of it, it's rather
brave of them—but what do you make of this item, Menshek?"
                 Archier
pointed to the second paragraph of the data summary. Unlike the first
paragraph, it ended with no codes for obtaining the full data in detail. It
simply read: 'Oracle predicts presence in
Escoria of weapon CAPABLE OF DESTROYING EMPIRE. Locate at all cost or
convincingly demonstrate non-existence.'
                 Menshek's
face became grave. "If that is
in the Escorian fleet's armoury, we had better look out."
                 "I
can't say I've ever paid much attention to Oracle," Archier said, with an
attempt at lightness. "It seems a bit too close to superstition to
me."
                 "I'm
afraid I don't share your disbelief, and I'm not superstitious either."
Menshek shifted in his seat uneasily.
                 "There's
a story that a few years ago it predicted the total collapse of the
Empire," Archier continued. "But the Empire is still here . . .
frankly I don't want to believe such.
. . .
                 "It
also forecast the Hisperian uprising at a time when our intelligence service
had no inkling of what was afoot," Menshek interrupted. "Remember,
Oracle is only a data machine. All it does is sift data on a huge scale— all available data from every known source. But it does have
mysterious properties. It correlates data according to rules of its own—or else
according to no rules at all—and its conclusions are seemingly plucked out of
thin air. But that's because it has no organised data store, so it's impossible
to determine how any particular prediction was arrived at."
                 "Exactly! It could be guessing—or simply repeating
empty rumour!"
                 "High-order
guessing is probably the best way to describe its working method," Menshek
admitted. "And sometimes it does simply
repeat rumour. But I hope you aren't thinking of neglecting that order from
High Command."
                 "There
isn't any High Command," Archier said bitterly. "Didn't you read
paragraph three?"
                 "Yes,
I read it," Menshek replied, his voice quiet and matter-of-fact.
"It's hardly unexpected. We weren't put in Condition Autonomy for
nothing."
                 "What
do you think's happening?"
                 The
parchment had ended with the news that there would be no further communication.
High Command had closed down. The fleet admirals now had no one to issue them
with either orders or information, and in effect were obliged to consider
themselves imperial autarchs for all provinces outside Diadem.
                 The
situation would continue until the Imperial Council itself despatched the
official interdict standing down Condition Autonomy to some lesser status.
Archier had wondered what would happen if that interdict never came. It was
conceivable that the five fleets would eventually become the