Chapter 34: Aftermath

As an Ambassador, Mike was granted immediate access to the reports from the battle, as well as approval to share them with his Spican hosts and the representatives of Deneb and Arcturus. Sharing the results with Charles was painful. These were his people, in fact many were his kith and kin.

"They didn't take kindly to offers to surrender. They would fire on whoever made the offer and continue to fight," Mike observed as they reviewed video of the main battle. "In the end, all but one of the First Family in the Central Zone were killed, and the majority of their families took their own lives in the First Families compound. The Fifth Brigade had to rescue the surviving maids before the matriarchs managed to kill them off, and the maids in turn managed to save the lives of some toddlers and infants. One boy saved his four sisters' lives, the ages there ranged from 13 years for the boy down to 7 years for the youngest sister. The rest are four and under."

"What was the total casualty count?" asked Yuki. She already knew the figures, but those around the table did not.

"There were about 230 or so First Family men, all but three dead. Another seventy-five or so wives and about four times that many their children – the First Family clans had large families – all dead but for 20 kids. Another three hundred or so innocents gunned down by Frontiersmen, almost three times that many wounded, about a hundred seriously – Kurt, most of those would be dead if not for the crew of the Diane Webber." Mike shrugged. "The population of Arcturus before this stupid little war was approximately ten thousand souls, so pretty well everyone knows someone who died.

"What a bloodbath!" exclaimed Kurt, shuddering at the sights on the video.

"How did the Solarian troops fare?" asked an equally revolted Shirley Templeton, Deneb Algenib's representative.

"Some light wounded, all back on duty," Mike responded. "Nothing like the butcher's bill incurred upon the Frontiersmen."

"Do you..." Charles began. He took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea who of the First Families survived? Did any of mine survive?"

Mike regarded Charles kindly, for he considered the Arcturan to be a friend, and a man of honour. "Two from the space station, one from the Central Zone, and the rest are children, mostly from the Lawton Clan. The report is that only one member of the Planetary Council, a Silas Lawton, survived to tell the tale. No wives, in fact other than the three men nobody over the age of fourteen. The First Families have left a fair number of orphans."

Everyone felt Charles' misery as if it were a palpable thing.

"The biggest and most immediate issue involves medical care. Located in the central zone was the local, and only, hospital. Right next door was conveniently located the doctors' offices and clinics. Almost every local doctor is now dead, as most of the doctors were First Family, and those who weren't ended up caught in the crossfire when the Frontiersmen fired upon the civilians. There is one doctor left in the countryside, and another one who is apparently a patient aboard Diane Webber. The hospital and clinic buildings themselves were pounded into rubble. The Diane Webber IS the only hospital they've got, and they suffered a lot of injuries. She has patients aboard who need more sophisticated services than she's able to offer, like neurological. She's asking for Solaria or Spica to find somewhere to care for those."

Kurt gave a grunt, but Mike realized that he was giving serious thought to the matter. It wouldn't do to press him.

"What of that poor, luckless innocent they planned to frame and execute?" wondered Charles, still shedding silent tears for relatives who were no more.

Mike consulted his notes. "No word yet. They're still scouring the City police stations and freeing local officers who had been imprisoned by the Frontiersmen when they disarmed them." He looked up at Charles. "I'll ask that you be notified as soon as he's found." Charles nodded in reply.

"Finally, there's the issue of reconstruction. We've touched on it, with the need for a replacement hospital and medical clinic. They also need managers, additional police, you name it. The entire administrative head of their society has just been lopped off, and it needs replacement as soon as possible. Planetary elections need to be held as soon as the rubble is cleared, if not before, and so on and so on and so on."

"I believe they will look most kindly on the Spicans," Charles opined. "They opened their hearts to our refugees, they provided medical services during the recent unpleasantness, and they continue to stand ready to provide such services."

Kurt had been sending e-mails through his PDA during this conversation. "First Minister Aiko Yamada will be holding a special session of the Assembly this afternoon to discuss our response to the situation on Arcturus. Charles, would you do us the honour of addressing that Assembly?"