Three Square Meals Ch. 095

He shook his head at her in pity and said, "This is why you'd have made a terrible Fleet Admiral. Good at posturing and self-promotion, but no ability to see the big strategic picture."

Devereux looked like he'd slapped her and she reeled back from him for a moment.

Buckingham had a sly smile on his face as he continued, "When we defeat the Kintark invasion without Blake's help, we can say he abandoned the Terran Federation in our time of greatest need. This is just the kind of opportunity we've been looking for to ruin his reputation!"

Gathering herself again, Devereux said sarcastically, "That's a wonderful plan, with just one minor drawback. How do you propose we defeat the Kintark alone, Fleet Admiral?"

Buckingham leaned back in his chair, looking calm and confident now. "If the Kintark want a fight, we'll give them one. They might have improved shields, but as you saw, it doesn't make them indestructible. We just have to make sure we heavily outnumber their forces. Assuming the Kintark are heading straight for Terra, it'll take four days for them to arrive. We recall all the border fleets and assemble every ship in the Terran Federation that can make it in time for the battle."

Caldwell gaped at him in shock. "What about the border planets on the outer rim?! We'd be abandoning them to the Kirrix for God's sake!"

Mishra nodded, equally appalled. "There's no reason to pull back the fleets on that border, they'll never get here in time!"

"We'll need those ships for counter attacks and to reinforce the Dragon March," Buckingham said stubbornly.

"But we have a duty to protect those worlds from the Kirrix!" Mishra balked. "This is insane!"

Buckingham slapped his hand down on the table. "Fuck the Outer Rim! If we lose Terra and the Core Worlds to the Kintark, we're finished! If the Terran Federation is defeated, do you honestly think the Kintark will give two shits about protecting those wretched planets?! They're hundreds of light years from their territory! Those border worlds are fucked whatever we do!"

Mishra shared a look of horror with Caldwell, but had nothing to counter Buckingham's argument.

"What about the borders with the Brimorians?" Weber asked, biting his thumbnail nervously. "Do we really want to remove the fleets from there too?"

"I want everything!" Buckingham demanded. "Admiral Morgan's fleet is too far from Terra to make it in time. We can move him to reinforce the Brimorian Border instead."

The admirals were too shocked to make any more objections, realising that the Fleet Admiral would not be dissuaded.

He nodded with satisfaction at their mute acceptance of his plan. "We can't risk this getting out to the general public, there'd be panic across the entire Federation. We inform only the relevant Admirals for the moment and keep this information as tightly controlled as possible. When all the fleets are in place, then we inform the rest of High Command."

Buckingham leaned forward and said in an ominous voice, "I will not see the Terran Federation crumble, with humanity doomed to enslavement and eventual extinction. I don't want to just defeat the Kintark at Terra, I want to humiliate those bastards and break their fucking Empire!"

Rising from his chair, he stood tall and declared, "We have four days to prepare for the Battle of Terra. Our very survival is at stake here, ladies and gentlemen, so make every minute count. You are dismissed."

The four admirals rose in silence and left Buckingham alone in his office. He walked over to his desk and brought up the Galactic Map, his gaze roving over first the Terran Federation and then the worlds controlled by the Kintark Empire.

"First, we deal with the Kintark, then we deal with you, John Blake," he muttered, a feverish gleam in his eyes.