Barbarians at the Gates Read Online Free PDF

outrank him and be able to tell him what was going on.
    The datanet should have linked him instantly to the senior surviving officer within range. Instead, it took minutes to sort through the conflicting tidal waves of data and finally locate the senior officer. Marius shivered again as he realized that the senior officer in the system—at least the senior officer plugged into the datanet—was a mere commander.
    Dear God, how high had the casualties been? What had happened onboard EDS1 to slaughter the defenders of Earth?
    “Sir, EDS1 is gone,” the pilot said, answering his unspoken question. He’d been flicking through what remained of the flight control network. “The station has been completely destroyed.”
    Marius cursed. The attack was internal, then; there was no way to smuggle a nuke or an antimatter bomb onto a defense station without help. It had to have been an internal detonation. Nothing else, not even a bombardment with compressed antimatter, would have obliterated the station so quickly. He accessed the network again and swore, angrily. EDS2 had gone silent. The senior officer was still a mere commander.
    “This is Vice Admiral Drake,” he said as he linked into the communications network. “Here are my ID codes and command authority. I suggest that you verify them, then open a secure link.”
    There was a long pause.
    “Admiral, I’m Commander Jacob Fallon, in command of EDS3,” Commander Fallon said. He sounded as if he were on the verge of coming apart, either through shock or relief. No one had expected an attack on Earth, let alone what had to be an internal rebellion. “Thank God you’re alive!”
    Commander Fallon sounded relieved to discover that someone was senior to him and could therefore take charge. Marius accessed his implants, briefly skimming through Fallon’s file. It was not a distinguished one.
    “Just so,” Marius growled. He would have to work with Fallon, no matter his limited experience. “We’re still alive and I, for one, intend to stay that way. You have my command codes. Declare a Case Omega and run through the network, then let me know if there is anyone senior to me...”
    “But sir,” Fallon protested. “I don’t have the authority to declare Case Omega.”
    “You’re in command of a battlestation,” Marius snapped. “You have the authority! Now, get in touch with the network and find out who’s in charge.”
    He disconnected from the network and looked over at the pilot. “Set course for EDS3,” he ordered. Fallon sounded as if he was on the verge of panic, which meant—if nothing else—Marius had to be on the scene to relieve him, if necessary. “Call up a flight of starfighters for escort and get them to fly top cover.”
    His implant buzzed as Fallon contacted him. “I ran a Case Omega, sir,” he said. “You’re the senior surviving officer within the Earth-Luna Sphere.”
    Marius nodded. The attack had clearly been carefully planned. Had they held off for another few minutes, he would have been in Navy HQ when it was destroyed. But if he’d maintained his original plans, he’d have been there at least ten minutes sooner. Which meant that if Senator McGillivray hadn’t wanted to talk with him, Marius himself would already be dead.
    The attackers, whoever they were, had planned to decapitate the defenses and they’d come alarmingly close to success. Their tactics showed a chilling level of ruthlessness. Breaking the taboo on using weapons of mass destruction on inhabited planets showed a single-minded determination to succeed, if only because of what the Federation would do to them if it won the war.
    “Right,” he said. “I am assuming command of the defenses of Earth. Give me a situation report, now.”
    “Sir, the datanet has been crippled,” Fallon said. “I barely know anything...”
    “Then give me what you have,” Marius said patiently, checking the shuttle’s ETA at the station. “What do you know about what’s going