The Frihet Rebellion

Princess Thalor shifted restlessly on her throne. There seemed so little to do, and certainly nothing that interested her. She had rejected the routine of court life. It seemed so trivial compared to what was happening in space around them.

She was aware that the Earth fleet had entered the Drago system some time ago, and that her own fleet had joined the others of the system to go out and meet it. She had heard nothing since.

Two guards stood nearby. Both were very careful not to look in the Princess’s direction. She understood why, but it irritated her. While she had no wish to have men lusting after her, she would have appreciated being treated as a person. One who was in the same room.

The only other occupant of the throne room was her native maid, Chia, standing some way back from the throne itself, unmoving unless required to do so.

So far in her short reign, the Princess had been given no Affairs of State to attend to, as the state was still being assembled from the wreckage of Earth rule and the aftermath of the revolt. Not that she regretted that. Affairs of State were something her father had always dealt with. They were not something she particularly wished to bother about. Wasn’t that why she had advisors and secretaries and however many other members of staff attached to the throne? She was the figurehead of Frihet by birth. She did not particularly want to play the part in ceremony and pantomime.

A heavy knocking on the throne room doors broke the silence. Her two guards, following their own protocol, drew their weapons stepped closer to her, as did her maid behind.

The Princess straightened herself and flicked up the throne’s HUD. The security cameras, connected into her system, showed her Field Commander Karl Langdon standing outside the throne room. He was alone.

“Enter,” she said.

The Commander pushed open the throne room doors and approached the throne, his head respectfully bowed.

“Do you have any news?” said the Princess, impatient at the man’s slow progress through the long throne room.

“I bring news of the battle, yes, Princess.” He reached his appointed place, stopped and raised his head. His weathered face creased into a smile. “We are victorious!”

“That’s wonderful news, Commander. Did we suffer many losses?”

“The final count is yet to be made, Princess, but we know we lost over two hundred ships, and more than that number in brave men and women.”

“And the enemy?” The Princess did not allow herself to dwell on the losses in their fleet. Such was the price of revolution, of war.

“The enemy are all but destroyed, Princess,” said Karl, a hint of pride in his voice. “Only two of their ships escaped, and one of those was so badly damaged, it blew up not long after it ran. Unfortunately, some lifeboats were seen leaving the stricken craft before it blew. A few of those have landed on the far side of our world. We are searching for the survivors.”

“And the other craft?” The thought of the enemy actually on her planet disturbed her, but she would not let that show.

“It has also landed on the far side, Princess.”

She could feel a sense of foreboding, a warning of danger from these unwelcome visitors to her world. She struggled not to show her concern.

“And the size of this ship that has landed?”

“A battleship, Princess.”

“A battleship.” She took deep breaths to calm herself. “Are you telling me we can’t find a battleship, one of the Earth fleet’s largest ships, on our own planet?”

“As you know, the jungles of the far side are largely unexplored, Princess. The foliage is dense…”

“But a battleship for God’s sake!”

Karl bowed in apology.

“We have people on the ground and in the air. We will find and kill the occupants of both ships, Princess. Be assured of that.”

“I hope so, Commander,” she said, forcing an air of nonchalance into her body language. “I would not like to wake tomorrow to find Earthmen at my throne room door.”

Captain Crawford Sumner tried to relax in his command seat, allowing none of the recent action, or the current stress, disturb his demeanor. With the battle lost, he had decided to follow the trail of Starfire, hoping he might, at least, help the Admiral and his ship. He had witnessed its destruction and seen the lifeboats, only a small number making it to Frihet. The bridge pod had been one of them. It seemed sensible to follow.

He brought Ameridian smoothly down to the surface of the planet. Among the thick jungle he found a long, near-straight lake, where the great battleship now floated. It had burned a wide trail through the surrounding trees and flooded the land either side with its landing.

“We’re not exactly well hidden, Captain,” said First Officer Basildon. “And our engine trail is a big arrow pointing right to us.”

“This jungle is healing itself incredibly rapidly,” said Sarah Davison, Communications Officer.

As was always the case, Sumner felt a slight tug inside at the sound of her voice. He wondered at the sense in bringing her onto the crew, and yet he always specifically requested her presence. He had it bad, and he was the first to admit it.

“Before long that trail will be all but gone,” she continued. “The re-growth rate, and the speed with which other trees and plants are spreading over the area, is amazing.”

“Let them find us,” said Sumner. “What are they going to do? Surround us? We could kill them all with one blast. There’s nothing they can throw at us that we can’t take and return ten-fold.”

“Excuse the liberty, Captain,” said Basildon, a little nervously. “But I don’t understand the logic in bringing us planet-side when we could have stayed in orbit? Splashing down on a big lake is not standard procedure.”

“There is an enemy fleet, still numbering near a thousand ships, out there,” said Sumner. “Every single one of them will be looking for either Starfire or us, because we’re the two that got away.” A wry smile creased his face. “Well, one of us got away safely at least.”

“But in orbit we could…”

“In orbit we could put up a fight, yes,” interrupted Sumner. “But eventually we would lose by sheer numbers. They will find it harder to see us here, lying silent in the jungle, with the water cooling our hull.”

“I understand, Captain,” said Basildon. “As always, you see the bigger picture. And what of Admiral Kramer and his crew?”

“We’ll go out and look for survivors once everything’s locked down safely here,” said Sumner. “I don’t hold out much hope. Those trees managed to scratch our hull. Lifeboats wouldn’t stand a chance against them.”

Admiral Jorcam Kramer winced as Doctor Moore tightened the bandage round his leg. He was one of the lucky ones. Around him, among smoldering wreckage and the walking wounded, lay the bodies of those less fortunate.

First Officer David Crane, his head bandaged, walked over, a little unsteadily. The Doctor, his job done, hurried off to find more wounded to treat.

“You okay, Admiral?”

“I’ve been better,” said Kramer. “What’s the situation?”

“Not good,” said Crane, sitting alongside. “The lifeboats weren’t made to withstand jungle like this. Most of them were ripped apart as they entered the trees. We have perhaps fifteen or twenty people able to function, another thirty or so too badly injured to be moved. The rest are dead or missing.”

He paused, wiping at a trail of blood that ran from his bandaged head, down his cheek, and dripped from his chin.

“The bridge pod fared better than most,” he continued. “But, as you know, it still only barely made it to landfall.”

Kramer said nothing, simply stared at the scene of destruction before him. This was not how things were meant to happen.

“We were so confident of putting down a small rebellion on one planet,” he said quietly, talking to himself. “Didn’t expect to find it had spread to the whole system. We had no chance against those odds. Our intelligence failed us. We should have known what we were up against before we left the Solar System. It’s not my fault.”

“Everyone from the President down was guilty of overconfidence,” said Crane.

“Words like that could put you in prison,” said Kramer, glancing around the scattered and ragged survivors. “The President has spies everywhere.”

Crane shrugged, uncaring. “If we ever make it home, I will gladly say it to the President’s face. This was a major screw up from the top down.”

“I agree,” said Kramer with automatic indiscretion, quickly dropping his voice to a whisper. “But if we do get home and you quote me on that, I’ll deny it.”

All around the crash site, the jungle was already edging back into the clearings torn by the Starfire’s lifeboats.