The Fringe Wars

4.7

Chaos Management

New Sol, Darios

Reyne stood in the command room of the small slingshot launchpad in Thunder Canyon. The launchpad was on the opposite side of Darios from Sol Base, making landings and launches possible without the CUF being the wiser... at least for the time being. The warship sitting above Sol Base was currently focusing all its resources on that colony except for patrol passes covering a five-hundred-mile radius from the colony twice per day.

With the passes taking place like clockwork, it was easy to schedule landings and takeoffs. However, all the CUF had to do was change up its timing and everything Reyne was coordinating would be at risk.

Several ships could come in at once, since they were landing on the canyon floor rather than within a space dock. Each ship would be unloaded of its cargo of soldiers and munitions, tugged to the launchpad, loaded with food, and launched.

Yesterday, when the 3D printer arrived on the Lady Lilith, all other transports were put on hold for the larger ship, to minimize any risk to the printer... to Hatha's printer. The Lilith currently sat under camouflage nets made of philoseed leaves. Next to her sat Reyne's ship, the Gryphon, where Reyne would likely find his ship's mechanic, Boden, on board, even though it needed no work. Boden was in one of his quiet moods after giving up his Sweet Soy addiction for the fourth time. Reyne suspected it wouldn't be the last time.

Sixx was outside, currently in charge of hand-to-hand combat training. Many torrents were simply colonists who'd lost their homes and livelihoods. They ranged in age from twenty to seventy. There were few younger, since the Collective required a two-year service agreement for all colonists upon reaching the age of eighteen. The few younger torrents were colonists deemed unsuitable for service, either due to a physical or mental disability. Where the Collective saw weakness, Reyne saw opportunity. His daughter, Throttle, had been excluded from service because she was a paraplegic. Yet, she had become one of the finest pilots he'd ever seen. There was James, the autistic nineteen-year-old sitting in a makeshift cubicle in the corner of Reyne's command center, who tracked the inventories so precisely that there'd yet to be a discrepancy.

The comm screen before Reyne chimed. He accepted the call and took a seat.

Seda's face appeared on the screen.

"You had me worried," Reyne said. "You were supposed to call over three hours ago."

A couple seconds lagged before Seda spoke. Interplanetary comms suffered lags, especially as the number of sectors between the two people increased.

"I just got off a comm with Critch," the Terran businessman said. "Throttle picked him up yesterday, and they're safe."

"Good," Reyne said. "Are they headed here now?"

"No. We think we have a plan to buy you the time you need to finish preparing for Silent Night."

Reyne's brows rose in surprise. "Is this one of Critch's plans?"

Seda nodded. "It is."

"Don't tell me he's dragged Throttle into his scheming."

"He has."

Reyne scowled. "I already don't like the sound of it."

The CUF was celebrating a preeminent victory over the torrents after taking Rebus Station and Devil Town. With Ice Port bombed to hell and the CUF already in control of Sol Base, the torrent leaders worried the CUF would change its game from invading colonies to hunting down the remaining torrents. In response, Vym had led the sleight of hand of displaying an abundance of traffic in and out of the Space Coast. The ploy was working. The CUF disliked flying into the asteroid belt, since the rocks battered their larger ships. Instead, they'd stationed patrols to monitor movement, believing they were keeping tabs on the rebellion.

As sure as vigs stank, they'd figure out that the torrents weren't running. Reyne doubted he had a month to prep for the mission to reclaim Sol Base, dubbed Operation Silent Night. He'd been crunching numbers and talking with Seda and Vym every day to discuss the schedules and possible backup plans. To hear they had something that could take some of the pressure off relieved him. Many deaths could be prevented.

Reyne sighed. "All right. Tell me about it."

"They're heading to Myr..."

By the time Seda finished sharing everything he knew, Reyne's blood boiled with anger. Critch was on a suicide run, and he was taking Throttle with him.

"That is the worst plan I've ever heard," Reyne said.

"That's what you say about every plan," Seda said before he shrugged. "We can turn the war back to our favor by taking Sol Base, but if Critch's plan works, we give the Collective something to fear."

"I wish I had your level of confidence, but I've seen too many operations go sideways when the action starts," Reyne said.

"I'm counting on your trust more so than your optimism, Aramis. Silent Night is the most important mission in the war. If we can't reclaim Sol Base, then Parliament will win, and all our heads will be on pikes."

"It's not my head I'm worried about," Reyne said. "It's Throttle's head and the head of every other colonist's kid out there."

"Have faith," Seda said. "When I blew my plants, the Collective's financial foundation cracked. When we cut off their food supplies from Darios, the Collective will crumble practically overnight. They won't be forced to negotiate; they'll be forced to surrender."

Seda looked offscreen for a moment before turning back to Reyne. "Looks like I need to get on another comm. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Same scheduled time?"

"Let's plan on it," Seda said, which meant he'd likely be at least an hour late.

Reyne couldn't blame Seda for his tardiness. The man was hiding on an asteroid that was serving as the central communications and coordination hub for the entire torrent movement.

A chime sounded and Reyne looked down. He cut the connection with Seda and tapped his wrist comm. Sixx's visage came into view.

"What's up?" Reyne asked.

"We've got another tussle out here at Warehouse Three. Seems that a Spaten expected a bit more variety than cavote cakes now that he's on Darios, and a Darion seemed to think he's being rather ungrateful, being a 'guest' and all."

"I'll be right there," Reyne said and headed for the door. On the way out, he typed a quick message to Tully, Hatha's head of security, who was currently in the area. The infighting and arguments were increasing every day. The torrents were arriving hungry and ready for action. The Darions had spent months volunteering their time and energy to build the launchpad, and just when they thought they'd get a break, they were asked to work double shifts—which meant even more time away from their fields.

Both groups of colonists were scraping by. Both craved independence, and both were going to drive Reyne crazy.