Opening Moves by James Traynor Read Free Book Online

fleet-wide command nodes needed the stress test. We had to work out the problems and concerns in this live fire exercise before we attacked a real enemy, like the Tuathaan. All of this here?” he pointed at the images on the bridge's screens and in the holotank. “This is a war game, Corr'tane. Nothing more, nothing less.”
    “ I'm sure the Makani wouldn't appreciate being considered mere targets,” he smiled thinly.
    “ And since when do we care?” Tear'al replied haughtily. “It doesn't matter if the bombardment has little effect. The point is to test our targeting scanners and establish a good routine for our crews. When the time comes they will be ready.”
    As if it was rehearsed the first charged asteroid tumbled into Toklamakun's atmosphere.
    Corr'tane watched, fixated on the gradually shrinking orb and its course of destruction. He imagined every other pair of eyes in the fleet was also watching that same object at the same time, scrutinizing its path or preparing to ascertain its damage pattern, or perhaps just appreciating its burning glow as the friction of the planet's atmosphere heated one side of the solid rock to several thousand degrees. The targeting scanners noted the point of impact: the planet's main space port. A few missiles and focused laser beams rose to meet it, but with no effect. The asteroid's heavy iron core remained mostly intact, burying itself into the ground with the force of an angry god. It was a spectacular demonstration of destruction. As the fleet's sensors finalized gathering the impact's preliminary data, the rest of the asteroid's descended through Toklamakun's atmosphere in the most efficient pattern for causing a global apocalypse.
    “ I hear the High Strategos is saving your own research for the war itself, so not to tip off our enemies?”
    Corr'tane nodded. He was anxious to see the fruition of his long work in the fields of bio-weapons, but acknowledged they would best be reserved as a surprise for the Pact. “All in good time.” His eyes sparkled with the expanding red plumes of the bombardment. To witness such power was exhilarating. The Ashani had come a long way, and this would ensure they would continue growing forever.
    “Alas, we've got an audience. There are some Érenni ships on the system's edge,” Tear'al said.
    Corr'tane shot him a hard look. “Were they dealt with?”
    “Of course not. Let them watch this and spread fear in their people,” he grinned smugly.
    “ You complete idiot!” Corr'tane snarled. “If they get a good sensor sweep of this level of devastation and of the sheer number of ships we're fielding it'll betray our intentions! You don't build a fleet like this unless you plan to use it!”
    “ They will assume we are just being cautious of the Rasenni. The Pact's members are cowards who would rather prefer to bury their heads in the sand than consider the truth. They believed our story about the Aetu. They'll believe this, too.”
    “ This could jeopardize everything we've worked for!” he shot back. Hells, how could a former intelligence officer be so stupidly careless?! He hammered a button on a nearby communications' panel. “Flag to covering force. Are you in range of the Érenni vessels?”
    The answer came promptly. “Yes, Strategos. We are under orders to monitor them and…”
    “Those orders are canceled. You will move to destroy them at once!”
    “ Yes, Strategos. Executing now,” came the curt response, and an instant later the tactical display shifted as the vessels turned to deal with the unwanted audience. Before they even had a chance to bring their main batteries to bear, the Érenni ships vanished from the plot, the holographic visualization noting the tachyon impulse typical for a transition into the fold.
    “ Nothing will change. It'll just make the Pact more fearful,” Tear'al said, but not as confidently as earlier.
    “ For your own sake I hope you're right.” Corr'tane's voice was flat and cold.