Operation Juggernaut headquarters, Karrigal Creek, Terranova
Admiral Jaruzelska looked up as Michael pushed open the door to her office. “Come in; take a seat.”
“Sir,” Michael replied, mystified by the summons. As Operation Juggernaut’s launch approached-not that there was a definite date for J-Day yet-Jaruzelska had become remote and unapproachable. It had been weeks since Michael had done anything more than pass the time of day with her, and even then not often.
And all the time there was the nagging fear that Hartspring might have done to Anna what he had promised to do, a fear feeding an angry frustration that threatened to spiral out of control.
“Right, let’s get started,” Jaruzelska said. “We’ve just received an intelligence report from the NRA. It seems the Hammers may have gotten wind that we’re up to something. Worse, they know that I am involved. The only good news is that the NRA’s source says the Hammers have no firm idea what we’re planning, though knowing how their minds work, I’d bet my life their money’s on a coup.”
“So what does that mean for us?” Michael asked.
“We’re bringing Juggernaut forward, probably to the last week of July. It’s earlier than we wanted, and we won’t have all the auxiliaries we’d like, but that can’t be helped. Now that the Hammers suspect something, they’ll be pushing hard to find out what we’re doing, and I wouldn’t discount the possibility of the Hammers running interference as well.”
“Interference?”
“They’ll pressure Ferrero into taking preemptive action against people like me. They’ll try to cut the heads off Juggernaut, and I’m one of the heads. There’s a good chance they’ll manufacture a crisis to help them do that.”
“Like an assassination or something?”
“That would do. It’ll be much easier for the Hammers to get Ferrero to move against us if there’s a state of emergency in force.”
“Will any of this stop Juggernaut?”
“Not if we move fast,” Jaruzelska said, “and that’s why I need you to go back to Commitment early, through Scobie’s.”
Michael frowned. “But I’m going back with you, in the Iron Lance.”
“Pay attention,” Jaruzelska snapped, her face marred by a peevish frown. “I said to go back early, by way of Scobie’s World, before Juggernaut launches.”
Michael’s stomach knotted. Much as he wanted to go back-if only to see Anna again-doing that meant getting past DocSec border security. “Umm, yes,” he said, “I guess.” He shrugged. “Can’t be any worse than going back in Iron Lance.” That was a lie; it would be much, much worse. “But can I ask why?”
“You can. The peace treaty allows both sides to maintain their networks of surveillance microsats, but we cannot provide any material support to the Revival and NRA, and that includes comsat networks. Needless to say, Fleet has ignored that prohibition, but thanks to all the ships the Hammers have in Commitment nearspace, our comms have become a very hit or miss business-mostly miss, I’m sorry to say.”
“Because we can’t afford to get caught?”
“We have to keep the Hammers thinking that we’re complying with the treaty. But our bandwidth has been close to zero for most of the last few weeks, and if we’re to bring Juggernaut forward, there’s a pile of planning material we have to get to the NRA. We can’t get dirtside safely without their help.”
“And you need a courier to do that?”
“Just in case we don’t get our comms back. The NRA and Revival need our latest plans for Operation Juggernaut. We also want to give them a brevity code book.”
“Brevity codes?” Michael shook his head in disbelief. “Talk about primitive.”
“I know, I know,” Jaruzelska replied, “but we need a fallback if we don’t have adequate bandwidth to the NRA on J-Day. If we have to make mission-critical changes at the last minute, the NRA has to know.”
“Okay, sir,” Michael said after a moment’s thought. “I can see why you need a courier, but why me?” He paused. “I’m not saying no,” he added, “but if I’m going to do this, I need to know.”
“Because we have access to only two valid Hammer IDs: yours and Marine Shinoda’s-sorry, she’s Sergeant Shinoda now. Luckily for us, your IDs were never handed back to the spooks in Department 66 after you both got back from Commitment; it was an administrative error …’
Administrative error, my ass, thought Michael. Somebody thought they might come in handy one day.
“… and they’ve been sitting in Fleet intelligence all this time. We have friends inside 66, but they can’t generate brand-new IDs without a lot of very awkward questions being asked. Anyway, will you do it?”
Michael swore under his breath. He shivered at the memory; walking up to the black-uniformed DocSec immigration officers had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. There’s no way I want to do this, he said to himself, but how can I say no? Duty has me by the balls, and Jaruzelska knows it. “There is one problem, admiral,” he said eventually. “What about the Hammer’s border security records? We left Commitment to go to Scobie’s World, and we never went back. Department 66 will need to fix them; otherwise we’ll be arrested the minute we arrive.”
“They will be,” Jaruzelska said with some asperity, impatient now. “We’re not stupid. Our friends in 66 can do that without any questions being asked.”
Fuck you, Michael thought, glaring back at Jaruzelska. It’s my life you’re gambling with.
Jaruzelska’s hands went up when she saw the look on Michael’s face. “I’m sorry. You have every right to ask,” she said.
“I’ve been lied to a lot lately,” Michael replied. “I don’t take much on trust anymore.”
“Fair enough.” Jaruzelska paused for a few seconds before she went on. “Look. This is not about IDs. I want you to go. You’re the best person for the job, and I trust you to get it done.”
“Relax, admiral; I’ll do it,” Michael said. “Has Shinoda agreed?”
“She has. She’ll be here next week along with the four marines who’ll make up the support team. I’ve arranged for one of our friends from 66 to be here tomorrow; he’ll help with the detailed planning. I’ll let you know when he arrives.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Once outside Jaruzelska’s office, Michael stopped. The relationship between him and the admiral had changed. He’d ‘yes sir, no sir’ the woman until the cows came home.
But trust her? Not a chance.