Rich Man's War Read Online Free PDF Page A

secure strategic assets on the ground. Government installations, the ground-side spaceports, infrastructure.
    “And it’ll be ugly,” he added. “Part of the reason we know about this movement is that we were able to identify particular officers in Murtada’s forces. A lot of them were involved in the initial massacres on Qal’at Khalil after the pirate attack there. Murtada has a thing for strong-arm tactics.”
    “What are the other parties doing about this?”
    “Union Assembly diplomats are making the usual overtures, but they’re toothless. Lai Wa seems content to let NorthStar take the lead in Hashem; we think there’s probably a quid pro quo arrangement there in exchange for concessions elsewhere in the Union. NorthStar has offered up intelligence and planning aid. They may even provide some of the heavy lifting to transport Murtada’s troops. It’s also possible they plan on providing manpower later to help stabilize the situation under a peacekeeping contract. We’ve got reports that they’ve increased training and simulations for occupation ops.”
    “And what are we doing?”
    Kiribati glanced at Yeoh before answering. “We’re moving in assets for evacuation. We have an Archangel Navy corvette in the system and a covert vessel under an Independent Shipping Guild registry should be there the day after tomorrow.”
    “Is that enough to evacuate our people? We’ve got a full consulate staff there, right? Some civilian business operations?”
    “Yes, sir,” Kiribati nodded. “The covert vessel should be able to handle the load.”
    Admiral Yeoh spoke up . “It wouldn’t hurt to have more in the way of military assets present, sir. Right now Prince Kaseem accepts his father’s instructions to allow foreign naval traffic, probably because it complicates Murtada’s plans. If and when Prince Murtada attacks, he’ll order all foreign vessels out of the system. That will naturally leave foreigners in the middle of a war zone until Murtada decides to let them go, and no one can say how long that might take. We need to be able to get in and get our people out as soon as the shooting starts—if not sooner,” she suggested pointedly.
    “It’s complicated either way,” Theresa said with a shake of her head. “If we wait too long, we put our people in jeopardy. However, if we pull out based on these suspicions, we could damage our relationships and maybe be blamed for creating a crisis atmosphere—especially if the king or Prince Khalil has some sort of diplomatic work going on to settle things down.”
    “More importantly, we risk tipping our hand if we move in too soon,” frowned Kiribati. “Keeping one or two ships in the area seems like a reasonable precaution. If we evacuate preemptively, we’ll give the impres sion that we know too much, which will jeopardize our sources.”
    “I understand,” Aguirre said, holding up his hand. “Admiral, we can’t pull out now. I know it’s tough, but we have to wait and see how this unfolds.”
    “Then as I said, sir, more overt military assets would help in the event of violence,” Yeoh replied.
    Aguirre glanced toward Kiribati, who nodded. “We can’t send in a large force,” Kiribati warned, “but even adding one more Navy ship to the mix is a definite improvement.”
    “I don’t see a drawback either, sir,” Theresa concurred. “We have every legal right to extract our citizens if fighting breaks out.”
    “Al l right, fair enough,” nodded Aguirre. “Admiral, go ahead and move some more people in, but don’t send anything big. We want to get un -involved, not sucked deeper into our neighbors’ mess.” He stared at the holographic star system and snorted. “NorthStar’s planning to put people on the ground to stabilize all this?”
    “I think so, sir,” Kiribati replied. “And frankly, the more deeply they’re involved in someone else’s civil war, the better off we are. It’ll take their attention off of