Chapter 64

McCock called his staff meeting to order. The layout was unusual in that McCock sat at the middle of one long side of the table with his people crammed closely together along that side and nobody sat on the other side; that side was occupied by the two tiers of projections of the full staffs of 119, GmBH, GMBH, Bollard Line and those from The Manor House on Gorgipest.

McCock welcomed them and asked Sir Henry Bollinger to present the intell update of events.

Sir Henry started his summary at the arrival of the Chencon fleet at the southern border of the Kingdom. The stark recitation of events still caused reactions of shock and sadness among the listeners. The end was a bit more up beat as it covered the progress to that point on Mountserrat and ended with a report on the coms,

"I contacted Baron Granville i a w Commodore's instructions and there will be comsats in place mid first watch today; we will spend until eight middle watch testing and checking and the plan is that at eight morning watch every com and screen which has still got power even if it is not powered up will start an alarm signal. There will be a recorded message from the Palace announcing that at midday, King Harold will address his Kingdom. The good Baron and I agree that the net will not be opened for public use until after the message and the King will make that announcement and warn users the net will probably be jammed by users. Granville wants to get local authorities to compile a list of their populations so he can collate it and then publish it; they do have some 'puter capability some of which is the smaller sized equipment from the government departments which were told to bug out. The Commodore will now allow some questions. Please identify yourself and then ask the question."

"Trudie Kowalski, Sir Henry, what are the Chencons aims? To date, it just seems like senseless destruction."

"Not quite, Your Highness; The damage to Mountserrat and Damasa was strictly limited to the major population centre. In both cases the expenditure of energy burned both capitols down to bedrock but nothing else was targeted. We don't know about Morrisberg on Renmark as only a Chencon task force was dispatched there and the Lord Protector's fleets destroyed it. Harbouria on the other hand has been destroyed as a planet and that was deliberate. Speculation only but as the jus ad bellum for the Chencon expedition was the alleged damage to New Liege which we know was minimal, the Chencons decided to present a totally destroyed planet as evidence of a Mounty war crime. The selectivity of the damage would indicate a plan but the reason behind the plan is unguessable. Ah, Sung, you've got something?"

That vid showed a very haggard Yin Sung almost hidden by a large vid screen,

"Yin Sung, Chenologist, MUGC. I have been examining the material from the destroyed courier and I've got a strong feeling that the Chencon Grand Admiral has gone rogue. The 'puter files and the chips give me the impression that their Committee wanted their fleet to stop on the border while the Committee negotiated with Elizabeth from a position of strength. There is mention of long term plans having to be moved up in time. I had Rosemary question some captured Chencons about the Grand Admiral and she formed a picture of an ascetic descendent of a long dead Chen dynasty. The overall picture is terribly incomplete but I think the Armada has gone rogue."

"Sung, Rosemary Peebles, I'll have another meaningful talk with Sat; I've felt he is not dealing straight with me" spoken in a flat emotionless accentless tone which caused Slow Gort, for one, to gently shudder.

"Joshua Galbraith, where are the Chencons now?"

"My Lord, they are heading galactic west away from Harbouria still in the Perseus arm, destination unknown. They have detached two DDs as of this morning which are heading galactic south east presumably expecting to link up with either the Renmark detachment or the supply train. We have a UVA tracking them."

"GmBH?" asked McCock after no further questions to Sir Henry.

Theo Avers presented a one minute update on the yards and manufacturies of Gorgipest followed by a similar report from Paul Avers on Chagos who reported a full order book for the dock but as yet no client, except Bollard Lines, was interested in Adama power plants.

Baron Galbraith of Gorgipest presented the financial report for the conglomerate which showed a small positive growth overall with all financial institutions consolidating after the tumult of the past several years.

The discussion on the royal summons was desultory and largely ineffectual in forming any coherent policy in the absence of an agenda. Trudie made two points; firstly her impression was the King was seeking support for his House and a form of government and secondly, those holding Montrose as their liege lord were to wear the uniform prescribed and attend the House of Lords as attendants of Montrose; a procedure sheet was available on Trudie's PDA general page for all to peruse; she would be garbed in the Amaranti colours and would be on the arm of Viscount Washton.

McCock had the Chencon DDs shadowed by a U90 with its sitcom deployed beneath the layer. This had caused a small hassle as Sir Henry had originally dispatched a U40 for the task as the 90 inventory was being worked hard; with his Commodore's consent, Sir Henry recalled U99 from its tagging role with the supply train and dispatched a second 40 to reinforce the remaining UVA. Sir Henry reported the supply train had drifted somewhat in the cosmic winds but not significantly enough to be other than a scientific note.