CHAPTER 12

“Come in,” Alexander replied to the buzzer at his stateroom door. He half turned from his desk to see Nazeera and Nazar framed in the now open doorway. “Good afternoon, my friends please come in.”

“Hello Alexander,” Nazeera said, a sheepish smile failing to cover seriousness in her face.

Nazar was more relaxed. He ventured over to the desk and looked at Alexander’s work. His brows rose in surprise at the projected star fields. They were maps of the ten other cultures of the known galaxy projected along with the Chem Empire and the Terran Empire. Alexander highlighted several areas in the alien star systems, and added figures and numbers beside these areas. The Chem nodded his head in ill concealed eagerness. “Invasion plans!”

Alexander smiled at the assumption. “Far from finalized, they are sketches really, at the most. I am, you see, taking your warnings seriously Nazeera. This is nothing more than an amalgamation of data. It is a simple mental exercise, really.” Nazar was, however, correct. Alexander was studying the other species of the galaxy using the information available to him through the Chem data system. Each species was fascinating in its own way, but Alexander kept his probing to specific areas. Aside from the obvious military data he looked at historic conflict in the galaxy. Alexander was a believer in the repeatability of history, and there was no better way to anticipate a possible opponent than by reading their history. That was one area of information the Alliance, assuming it ever formed, would not have on him. He considered that an enormous advantage on his part.

“Still, it is an amusing activity in its own way,” Alexander noted. “A military conflict with a hypothetical Alliance would be interesting. If you will notice the relative positions of the Alliance, assuming all of the other cultures join it, it forms three separate fronts about Terran space. Normally this would be a cause of concern; however, the makeup of these particular regions is actually advantageous to a bold tactician.”

“You are nothing if not bold, my dear Alexander,” Nazeera smiled. She came over and sat upon the edge of his desk, professionally interested in what he had to say.

“How can it be advantageous to be surrounded?” Nazar asked.

“The wonderful thing about alliances, Nazar, is that each entity in the alliance is more concerned with its own hide than that of the whole,” Alexander said. “The key is simply to find out what will trigger that act of self over common good. As in everything else maneuver is the key. I would find a way to maneuver myself such that I force a predictable reaction from my adversary. Once I have forced them to react in a predetermined manner the battle is won.”

“As you did around my flank,” Nazeera reminded him.

“That was a similar situation,” Alexander admitted, “but I was not looking for a military victory. I was looking to give you the option of fighting or coming to terms. Had I stayed and faced you, fleet to fleet, it would not have given you much of an alternative. What I did was to take the first offensive move, that of the flanking, and the first overture of peace, the relinquishing of my captured border systems. My intent was to make my desire for a peaceful solution clear without seeming weak in the process.”

“It was a perfect balance, or so I thought, Alexander,” Nazeera said sadly. “If not for Bureel it would have worked.”

“I admit I overlooked that factor,” Alexander said. “Of all the things I considered a Chem civil war was not one of them. The Alliance, however, is damnably transparent. Their actions are necessarily predetermined. True, I am surrounded but I need only worry about three specific fronts, not a true spherical envelopment. These fronts can be further dissected into the member states which will provide the military thrust. For instance, consider the military heavyweights of this so-called Alliance: the Golkos and Seer’koh. Unfortunately for the Alliance they must attack along the same front. It would be much more advantageous for their two dominant fleets to be able to attack along different axes. They do form a more troublesome nut to crack but I wouldn’t need to dilute my forces to handle them. Then there is the Quotterim front. The Quotterim have a sizeable fleet of five hundred and fifty ships and they will be supported by three hundred and thirty ships supplied by the Bael and the Fen Dsi. Interesting numbers, these fleets, all no doubt designed to fill out the compliment of the standard Galactic cube formation.”

“You’ve done your research, Alexander,” Nazeera smiled. “Every empire has ancient fleets designed around the standard combat model: ten ships to a squadron cube, one hundred to a fleet cube, one thousand to an armada cube. Only the Chem and the Golkos have armada strength fleets anymore, but the remainders of the empires have fractional strengths based upon the standard model.”

“Yes, and you go even further in standardization, much to my surprise and pleasure. In each ten ship squadron is one battleship, two cruisers, four destroyers and three frigates. Each and every squadron complement is the same. A single scout ship is assigned to each squadron, accounting for the extra ships, but they are not generally recognized as fleet combatants.”

Nazar shook his head. “It is all very interesting, Alexander, but how does your knowing the complement and number of your adversaries help when you are so significantly outnumbered? By our estimates the Alliance could muster over three thousand ships. That is four to your one.”

Alexander smiled and leaned back in his chair. “That’s if you view the Alliance as a single entity, which I do not. Look at the Quotterim, the linchpin of the second front. They are not an overly ambitious or aggressive folk, even if they are frightened of Alexander. Take their fleet out of the second front and it dissolves. The Bael and the Fen Dsi would never cross into Terran space with so few ships between them. Then there are the poor Syraptose all by themselves. It’s quite simple, this Alliance puzzle. Their weakness is all too glaring.”

Nazeera could not help but feel a personal tragedy in her news. That such a spirit should be quenched by dissolution in his own people. Her own troubles served as a balm, allowing her to maintain the gravity which her news warranted. “As much as your ambitions pique my curiosity, Alexander, I’m afraid I must get to the reason for our visit.”

“What, this isn’t a social call? I am quite understandably crushed, Nazeera.”

The Chem Commander could not help but smile. Shortly, the smile faded and she said, “Alexander, I am afraid there is bad news, for both our causes. Bureel has killed the Elder and taken control of the Assemblage. In a very short while he shall assume the seat of the Elder. Our cause will be doubly difficult once he completes the Ascension.”

“Why has he not taken the seat yet? I assumed that would have been his first order of business.” Alexander asked, his energy somewhat dampened by the news.

“Even Bureel is forced to observe some Chem traditions,” she told him. “The right of Ascension can only take place at the alignment of the two Chem moons. It occurs approximately once every thirty decurns. The next conjunction is in twenty-two decurns. It is an archaic ritual, I know, but no Chem Elder has ignored it since recorded times. To do so would be an affront to all of our ancestors. Bureel would forfeit his support with such an act, and he is simply malicious, not stupid. He will wait.”

“Then we must find a way to stop him,” Alexander said. “Whatever the cost we cannot allow him to lay claim to the title!”

“We do still have your open challenge, Alexander,” Nazar said. “Is there a way we can use that to waylay Bureel’s plans? I don’t expect he would stop the Ascension just to face Alexander, but his failure to respond would throw some seeds of dissension in his support. It may be enough to even the military situation.”

“Not in time, I’m afraid, Nazar,” Nazeera said, her chin cradled in her hand. “They control the communications net now. Such a challenge would not get very widespread attention. I think you are on the right track, however. That would be the surest way of dealing with Bureel: expose him as the coward he is, and then kill him. Bureel, after all, killed the Elder by initiating the ancient conqueror’s right to challenge. Alexander cannot come to the Assemblage as a conqueror of Chem that would simply unite all the factions under Bureel. If Alexander were to come to the Assemblage, in some other fashion, it might be accomplished. I do not see how that can be done, though. Alexander’s movements are not always dictated by his wishes, at this moment especially.”

“You are correct, Nazeera,” Nazar admitted with a half strangled laugh. “I was thinking only of Chem, and I thought of Alexander as already more than half Chem. He has other concerns.”

“What’s this talk?” Alexander asked suspiciously. “If you think I’m about to leave you in the lurch you haven’t learned much of me yet! I came back to Chem for several reasons, one of which was to kill Bureel. I mean to accomplish that, honorably and publicly. I cannot see how that would do other than advance both our causes, unless you see something I do not. As to how to get me there why can’t we use my status as Head of State? Surely the Elder must meet with a Head of State?”

“That is, unfortunately not possible any more, Alexander. That was my other piece of bad news,” Nazeera sad somberly. “I just heard it on the Galactic net. The Terran Senate has named a President, and it is not you my dear. As I feared there has been a coup. I am afraid we shall soon be parted in our struggles for our own empires. I have no right to keep you here, though at the moment I can think of no one better to help our cause. Your place, as much as it pains me to say it, is in your empire.”

Alexander’s guffaw caught the two Chem completely off guard. “Is that all?” he laughed, and for the first time in a long while he laughed sincerely. It was, truth to tell, a rather comic moment for Alexander. The two Chem, both of whom were very dear to him, were so serious and concerned over his apparent loss of something he never really had—well, he simply couldn’t help himself.

He allowed himself the moment, but he knew that he had to get serious; Nazeera and Nazar were in a grim position. He could not let them in on that unbelievable secret, they would never have believed him anyway, so he covered it with bluster. “I wondered how long it would take those bureaucrats to gather enough guts to strike out on their own! Which one is it?”

“A woman named Faizah Sadat,” Nazeera told him, quite taken aback.

“I don’t know her,” Alexander said truthfully. “I might recognize her, but I don’t know the name. I am, unfortunately not a genius with names. Napoleon was. He could remember an entire regiment by name and association. Not to worry, though, I expected this. That problem will take care of itself.”

“You expected a coup, and did nothing to stop it?” Nazeera was incredulous.

Alexander shrugged, “Why on earth stop it, I needed it!” he said truthfully and then he waved off any further questions. “You see that I am no longer so sorely engaged as you thought, at least for the moment. Let us then take advantage of my present unemployment. As you’ve said we need to bring Bureel and myself together so that I can publicly denounce him, and hopefully incite him to a challenge. We’ll worry about how later. Where should this take place?”

“At the Assemblage,” Nazeera said flatly. “Preferably in full session.”

“Very well, now when will the Assemblage be in full session?”

“The Ascension,” Nazeera told him.

“The entire Chem Empire will be watching!” Nazar exclaimed.

“We have our where and when now,” Alexander smiled. “All that remains is how.”

“There is no longer a military option,” Nazeera reminded them. “We lost four out of every five ships in the battle for Chem. Brute force will not get us to Chem. However, Bureel also lost three quarters of his armada in the battle. The remainder are spread quite thin looking for us. Considering the weakness of Chem defenses, Bureel cannot muster above a hundred odd ships, it should not be outside of reason for a scout ship to reach Chem well before the Ascension.”

“Sneak Alexander to Chem?” Nazar grumbled. “I suppose that is the only logical answer. I wish there were a more honorable way, but it is Bureel’s lack of honor which forces us to this.”

“Even so, the route will not be safe, or easy,” Nazeera told them. “Chem is still several decurns from our present position. With luck a single scout ship could make it undetected in three to four decurns.”

“Then we still have some time,” Alexander said. “How far are we from the Terran border?”

“Four decurns at flank,” Nazeera answered.

“That is slightly over four of my days,” Alexander said. “Good! That should leave us with more than enough time. I need to confer with someone in the Terran Federation. Can a ship or shuttle be spared to run me to the border?”

Nazeera nodded. “Whenever you wish it. I would like you back ten decurns from this date, if possible, to give us a buffer. We dare not be late to the Ascension.”

“Understood,” Alexander agreed.

“In fact I think it best to send you with a few squadrons under the command of Nazar, just in case you are waylaid,” Nazeera told him. “In the meantime I will try and provide the rebels with something to keep them occupied. I don’t want them to forget about us, and I cannot bear waiting. The Kuntok shall make their searching dearly bought. If we keep the pressure on them I doubt Bureel will think we are stooping to scheming. The harder we press, the greater our perceived desperation, and the better he shall feel. If all goes well he shall feel quite secure that his Ascension will go unchallenged.”

“An excellent idea,” Alexander said, “and speaking of challenges I would like to make another address before I leave. I’ve let Terra announce their new President, but I don’t want that President to forget that I am out here!”