A Small Colonial War (Ark Royal Book 6) Read Free Page A

Either way, the colony couldn't hold out any longer.
     
    The Governor evidently agreed.  “Contact the Indians,” he ordered.  “Now.”
     
    Lillian swallowed as she tapped commands into her console.  The Indians hadn't even tried to open communications.  She couldn't help wondering if that meant the Indians had no interest in demanding and accepting surrender.  The remaining defenders were still trying, but their position had been hopeless from the start ...
     
    “I have a link,” she reported.  The screen blinked to life, showing a dark-skinned man with a neatly-trimmed beard.  “Governor?”
     
    The Governor cleared his throat.  “I am Governor Harry Brown, Governor of the Pegasus System.”
     
    “I am General Anjeet Patel,” the Indian said.  He didn't seem inclined to beat around the bush.  “Your position is hopeless.”
     
    “I understand,” the Governor said.  His voice was tightly-controlled, but Lillian could hear the hint of anger underlying his words.  “I wish to open talks ...”
     
    “My terms are quite simple,” Patel said, cutting him off.  “You will order your remaining defenders to surrender and open the doors, allowing my men to occupy the colony.  You will make no attempt to destroy your computers, your life support infrastructure or anything else that may be required.  You may destroy classified files, but not anything relating to the colony and its personnel.”
     
    He paused for a long moment.  “For the duration of the present emergency, Clarke III will be governed under Indian military law.  Your people - military and civilian - will have nothing to fear as long as they obey orders.  Prisoners will be treated in line with the standard Luna Conventions.”
     
    Lillian nodded to herself, unable to keep herself from feeling relieved.  The Great Powers showed no mercy to insurgents, revolutionaries and terrorists, but the Luna Conventions applied to national troops who hadn't been caught breaking the laws of war.  It would have been insane for the Indians to act otherwise, yet the mere act of starting a war was insane when it would only weaken humanity.  Who knew what the Tadpoles would do?
     
    “I understand,” the Governor said, stiffly.  “However, I am quite unable to acknowledge the permanent surrender of either the colony or the system itself.”
     
    “That is understood,” Patel said.  “My men will advance to secure the colony.”
     
    His image vanished from the display.  Lillian heard the Governor mutter a curse under his breath before keying his wristcom and issuing the surrender order.  She felt an unpleasant knot in her stomach as she watched through the cameras as the Indians closed in on the defenders, who had dropped their weapons and were standing with their hands in the air.  The Indians seemed to be trying to be reasonably civilised, but they were still careful to escort the prisoners - at gunpoint - into a tracked vehicle before opening the doors and entering the colony. 
     
    “Purge the classified files,” the Governor ordered, quietly.
     
    He sounded defeated.  Lillian felt a chill running down her spine as she keyed the command into the system, starting off a process that would wipe, reformat and finally destroy the classified datacore.  The Governor hadn’t had many secrets, she was sure, but destroying his codes and ciphers was a tacit admission that all was lost.  She nodded to herself as the destruction was confirmed, then verified; she glanced at the Governor, who was watching as the Indians slowly advanced though his colony.  Civilians who stumbled into their path were told to return to their quarters and wait for orders.
     
    “At least they're not brutalising the civilians,” the Governor mused.  He sounded as though he were speaking to himself, rather than to her.  “But they’ll need them, won’t they?”
     
    Lillian nodded.  Clarke wasn’t a habitable world.  It had taken two months of