Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) Read Free

then at a 4:1 disadvantage and although she bloodied the Yankees badly, she was inevitably forced to withdraw, again leaving the Federals in possession of Tensee.”
    “Yes, highly regrettable,” said President Collier.  “Admiral Grove erred badly when she halted pursuit of the Federal fleet on that first day of 2 nd Tensee .”
    “Mr. President, my point is, if Admiral Rawley had had TF-31 available to him, which by any military logic he should have, he very probably would have never been driven out of Tensee in the first place, last February. But even if he’d had it available to him in April, he would have most definitely destroyed Loggins and then been in position to ambush the arriving Union reinforcements.”
    “What are you saying, Admiral Kalis?”
    “Mr. President, no disrespect intended, but you yourself just told me you have absolutely no experience in directing military campaigns or understanding of military strategy. Since October, an admitted amateur in military matters took it upon himself to overrule his bona fide military experts and personally order military units around for simplistic political reasons. Your orders absolutely wrecked our overall defensive strategy, resulting in the loss of over half a fleet and three Confederate systems.”
    “Admiral Kalis, are you blaming ME for the defeats we’ve suffered over the past two months?”
    “Yes, Mr. President, I am! Instead of having the flexibility to prioritize and meet the enemy on equal terms or better, Admiral Rawley’s two remaining task forces were forced to fight four separate battles against ten Union task forces over a six-week period — the equivalent of over three full fleets… five times their own number and astoundingly, almost won all of them. This was in spite of having two-thirds of his forces sitting idle, when they were desperately needed most… simply because of political expediency overruling military necessity. 
    “Mr. President, whenever you exert your ultimate Commander-in-Chief authority, you also assume ultimate Commander-in-Chief responsibility for the consequences resulting from those orders. Therefore, Mr. President, the direct responsibility for our military setbacks, the loss of Tensee, and for Christopher Rawley’s death, all lie directly with you.”
    President Collier gaped like a beached fish — initially angered, he sputtered, but then sat stunned by the unassailability of Kalis’ logic. Slowly he leaned forward, plunged his face into his hands and murmured, “My God… what have I done?”
    “Mr. President, I’m sorry. I feel what you are feeling now, every day. You did what you did for excellent political reasons — noble reasons. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the resources to spread ourselves so thinly for mere political and idealistic reasons. If we continue to do so, both our country and our cause will be lost. 
    “Our Fleet officers and crewmembers are the finest in the universe. We must give them the freedom to utilize their training and experience to meet the military challenges of a relentless enemy having greater resources than our own, or else we will find ourselves a conquered people. There will be time enough for noble ideals after our independence is won.”
    The next day, Confederate President Lincoln Collier publicly named Fleet Admiral Roger Kalis as Commander-in-Chief of all Confederate military forces, answerable only to the President, after the fact.
    * * * *
The Planetoid Discol, City of Waston
April, 3862
    The British peace envoys had been talking to Alliance Secretary of State Dwight L. Kenwood on and off, since arriving with Admiral Bishop the previous November. Over that time, Kenwood had spoken softly and respectfully, but was constantly claiming the need to “consult with the president” about virtually every British proposal for ending the war with the Confederacy. The president was never available for the British to negotiate with directly — always