Wing Commander #07 False Color by William Forstchen (novels for students TXT) 📗

only one your government's in hock to, after all. But you know I wouldn't pull the plug like that." He sighed. "I'm a patriot after my own fashion, you know, Max. I gave you that money because back then I believed in what you were doing. And I wouldn't jeopardize the Republic just because I've parted company with you over policy."

"So you'll just keep on doing your best to run me into the ground, so you can pick up the pieces later, is that it?"

"I want what's best for the Landreich. I just don't happen to think you fill that role any more."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Dan," Kruger said slowly. "Because the fact is that I intend to keep right on doing what I think is necessary. And I'll run right over you and all your cronies if you get in my way."

"Maybe," Galbraith said quietly. "But don't underestimate the strength of a democratic government, Max. You might find yourself facing a vote of no confidence some day, just as soon as you slip up badly enough. And I think if the circumstances were right that you'd find a lot of people backing my position . . . enough to vote you right out of office."

VIP Quarters, FRLS Independence Orbiting Vaku VII, Vaku System 0112 hours (CST), 2670.315

Admiral Geoff Tolwyn leaned back in his chair and rubbed eyes grown weary with fatigue. There was just so much to do, and so little time to do it in. And from the line Richards had been taking the last two days, the deadline for action was coming up fast.

Richards actually planned to drop the entire Goliath Project!

It was the discovery of the self-destruct system that had triggered the crisis, of course. Richards had cut off the survey work cold as soon as Bondarevsky had passed the word from the castaways as to the Karga's potentially lethal surprise. Tolwyn had gone along with it at the time . . . but only with the idea of pulling back long enough to find a solution to the problem.

Instead it looked like Richards would pull the plug entirely. Karga would be bombarded until she blew up, to keep the Cats from ever recovering her, and the battle group would tamely return to Landreich

All that Richards was waiting on was a chance to sit down with Bondarevsky and have him put in his own advice. Knowing Bondarevsky, Tolwyn assumed he'd be with Richards. He'd never been very confident in Goliath in the first place, and with the risk to the lives of everyone involved in the Project aboard a ship with an armed self-destruct system, Bondarevsky was almost certainly to vote in favor of packing up and heading for home.

It couldn't be allowed to happen that way. There were too many reasons why they had to put the supercarrier back in service. Reasons Richards and Bondarevsky didn't know about yet, and which Tolwyn was reluctant to share with them. If either of them turned out to be an agent of Belisarius . . .

Bondarevsky, now. Suppose he'd passed that "information" about the destruct program to them as a way to deliberately sabotage the project? The Belisarius Group would want the Karga kept out of the picture, and it was just possible they'd gotten to him . .

Tolwyn shook his head angrily. He'd been living with this paranoia for too long now. It was making him mistrust everyone. Bondarevsky wouldn't sign on with a bunch of conspirators like the Belisarius Group. Surely Tolwyn knew him well enough to have that much faith, at least.

The problem was, he'd lost the ability to trust. Even old friends like Richards and Bondarevsky raised distrust in Tolwyn these days. It made it that much harder for him to gain the support of the people he needed to rally against Belisarius, because he couldn't be sure enough of anyone to really open up to them when he had to. His months of tightrope-walking had already cost so damned much . . .

But the Goliath Project represented a chance to change all that, and by God he was going to see it carried out, whatever the cost. Karga was a resource they simply couldn't throw away.

He returned his gaze to the computer monitor in front of him, a summary report from the teams that had investigated the hangar and flight decks of the supercarrier before the bomb scare had caused Richards to pull out. The preliminary findings indicated that both hangar decks were well-stocked with Kilrathi planes, exact numbers still not determined. Until they got a close look at them there was no telling how many would actually be able to fly, but if even half of them were put into service they'd be a valuable asset all by themselves. The Karga had been one of the newest and most modern carriers in Kilrathi service, and the planes she carried were all first-line models that could outperform the antiquated Confederation cast-offs the Landreich was forced to rely on.

Tolwyn scanned the report. Light fighters, Darketclass, less than a squadron in the hangar decks but several more reported on the surface of the brown dwarf moon at the castaway camp. The Darket was small and agile, even better for scouting duties than the Confederation Hornet. Individually weak in shielding, armor, and weapons, they were often employed in fighting pairs by Kilrathi pilots to excellent effect.

Medium fighters, Dralthi Four-class, probably two full squadrons, most craft in good condition. The batwing shape of the Dralthi Four was fearsome to behold in combat. Tolwyn could still remember watching in frustration as squadron after squadron of the evil-looking birds had swooped low over the Behemoth during the battle that had destroyed the huge weapons platform. They were slightly weaker than their modern Confederation equivalents, but compared to the Scimitars and Raptors of the Landreich's arsenal they were a deadly match.

Heavy fighters, Vaktoth-class, many missing from hangars. Perhaps an eight-ship Kilrathi squadron left, though this