Spacers thatchers gambit, p.1
Spacers: Thatcher's Gambit, page 1
Contents
Title
Copyright
Reading Order for Scott’s Books
Free Spacers Book and Map
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Glossary
A Note on Dawn Cluster Cartography
Free Spacers Book and Map
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Reading Order for Scott’s Books
Thatcher’s Gambit
By Scott Bartlett
Book 6 of Spacers, a military space opera science fiction series.
Thatcher’s Gambit
© Scott Bartlett 2021
Cover art by Tom Edwards (tomedwardsdesign.com)
Typography by Steve Beaulieu (facebook.com/BeaulisticBookServices)
This novel is a work of fiction. All of the characters, places, and events are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, businesses, or events is entirely coincidental.
Reading Order for Scott’s Books
At the time of writing, I have novels in 4 different universes, and a lot of readers have asked me for a chronological reading order.
I say: it’s about time. :)
This list is current as of May 4th, 2021.
The Ixan Universe
The Ixan Prophecies Series
Supercarrier - Ebook and Audio
Juggernaut - Ebook and Audio
Reckoning - Ebook and Audio
Capital Starship - Ebook and Audio
Pride of the Fleet - Ebook and Audio
Dogs of War - Ebook and Audio
Fleet Ops Series
Trapped - Ebook and Audio
Counterstrike - Ebook and Audio
Relentless - Ebook and Audio
Mech Wars Quadrilogy
Powered - Ebook and Audio
Dynamo - Ebook and Audio
Meltdown - Ebook and Audio
Infliction - Ebook and Audio
Spacers Universe
First Command - Ebook and Audio (Audio contains Books 1 & 2)
Free Space - Ebook
Wartorn Cluster - Ebook and Audio (Audio contains Books 3 & 4)
The Fall - Ebook
Empire Space - Ebook
Thatcher’s Gambit - Ebook
After the Galaxy Universe
The Unsung - Ebook and Audio
Unsung Armada - Ebook and Audio
The Crucible - Ebook and Audio
Mother Ship Universe
Mother Ship - Ebook and Audio
Want free books?
Scott is giving away the Spacers prequel, Captain’s Making, for free, along with 2 other space opera ebooks.
You’ll also receive the official map of the Dawn Cluster - a must-have for keeping track of the battles unfolding throughout the world of Spacers. (Also free.)
Tap here for your free books and map
Captain’s Making tells the story of how Thatcher’s grandfather helped shape him into the captain he is in Spacers.
Tap here to get Captain’s Making FREE, along with 2 other military space opera book
Chapter One
New Karlstad, Solna Colony
Trebuchet System, Candor Region
Earth Year 2291
“Asymmetric warfare,” Moll said as he strolled past row after stacked row of potato plants, each one an explosion of leaves sprouting from white plastic. “Tell me your thoughts on it.”
The sudden breaking of the silence made Akio Hata start, and he felt glad Moll hadn’t been looking at him. “It…depends on what side of the asymmetry I’m on.”
Moll gave a booming laugh without turning. “Good answer, Mr. Hata. You’re on the right side, let me assure you.”
“What do O’Neill Colonies have to do with asymmetric warfare, if I may ask?”
Now, the Sunder CEO did turn. “Ah. You know their name.”
Hata shrugged. In fact, he’d looked up the term using his eyepiece as they’d walked through the megalithic cylinder, but he didn’t wish for Moll to know that. The man was already too well aware that he had the upper hand over Hata. He’d clearly brought him here to rattle him—possibly as a final test of loyalty. Why else would he bother to let him in on such a mammoth secret?
Speculation as to what the giant cylinders were that Moll had been building in the distant orbits of Trebuchet System had run rampant on the instant comm networks for months. The most convincing theories had Moll constructing facilities for the purpose of developing research projects away from the prying eyes of the UNC, not to mention corporate rivals.
Some thought the structures were giant nanofabbers, meant to print parts for warships much bigger than the micro-corvettes he’d used to expand CoGs territory to four regions.
Others thought he was trying to reverse engineer jump gates—to tease apart the secrets of their construction, which the UNC had withheld from everyone for more than a century. Each cylinder’s diameter was only about a fifth the size of a jump gate’s, but for a while Hata had found himself buying into that theory.
Until now. Until he’d come here and found…plants. Just plants, all in orderly rows and spaced at perfectly even intervals, each of them growing from white piping that climbed in tiers for at least three stories.
“Of course, ‘colony’ isn’t quite right,” Moll said. He’d stopped at the border between the sea of potato plants and another section, equally vast, which contained what Hata’s eyepiece said were rutabagas. They inhabited a vast skeletal plastic structure, just like the potatoes. “By my order, the antimatter drives will be added last. I wished to conceal the fact they’d be mobile until the last possible moment.”
“O’Neill…ships?”
Moll grinned. “I believe you just named my new invention, Mr. Hata. Brilliant.”
Hata scrutinized that smile. He could never quite tell whether Moll was being facetious. “Everyone on the nets thinks you’re, um, liberating another of the UNC’s secret technologies. I didn’t quite expect to see…this.”
“Why, that’s exactly what I am doing.”
Hata shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“Until now, everyone other than the UNC who’s attempted closed-system hydroponic farming has failed. It’s the microbes, you see. Sooner or later, they accumulate in the water, circulating throughout the entire system, reaching every plant. At a certain point, you see mass die-offs. It’s inevitable, on a long enough timeline. Until now, that is.”
“What changed?”
“Ha! We began this conversation by talking about asymmetric warfare, Mr. Hata. I’m not in the business of divulging secrets that would spoil that asymmetry.”
Hata shook his head. “I don’t understand. No other corp cares that they haven’t figured out space-based hydroponics. It’s a curiosity.”
Moll nodded. “You’re right. They don’t care. Neither do they care that without constant exposure to planetary ecosystems, shipboard microbes would become a huge problem for human crews. Or the fact that they still have to regularly haul atmosphere up out of planetary gravity wells—air will only remain clean and safe for so many trips through a ship’s scrubbers before it must be replaced.”
“I can see the potential for savings, if you’re able to perform these functions in space with sufficient efficiency. Maybe that gives us an edge. But based on what you’ve told me, ‘asymmetric warfare’ seems like an exaggeration.”
“I appreciate your candor. It’s refreshing, actually—it tells me you aren’t just another sycophant. Your logic is sound, Mr. Hata, but only based on the information you’re currently privy too. There are facts about the near future that, if you knew them, would help everything fall into place. For now, suffice it to say that conditions throughout the Cluster will soon change dramatically, such that having this—” Moll made a sweeping gesture above his head, indicating the cylinder’s other side, which resembled the area they walked across except that the racks of crops there seemed to hang upside-down. “—will become a decisive advantage.
“Unfortunately, the changes I foresee will shock you. You are a man with a soft heart, Mr. Hata. I understand that. But you need to know that to realize our vision, CoG must ruthlessly exploit the conditions that will soon favor us. And when we do, I need to know that you are with me. That Kibishii is with me. Your troop ships will become even more important to our alliance than they are now, you see. I need you and your marines to be ready for what’s coming.”
“Yet you refuse to tell me what it is.”
“That’s by necessity.”
“Does Kong Hui know?”
“He does,” Moll admitted after a pause. “Balaska does not.”
“Why do you trust Kong and not me?”
“Because he has already put his life on the line for our cause multiple times. As you know, he’s doing so this very minute, while he advances our interests in Endysis.”
“Operation Pendulum.” That, at least, was no secret.
“Yes.”
Hata felt his mouth twitch. He’d heard from multiple sources that Operation Pendulum was as much about providing CoG military personnel with combat opportunities as it was about securing Endysis—not to mention Quadriga and Paraveil, the two regions that projected in a peninsula to Endysis’ south.
Ever since the wormhole’s collapse, PMCs had become terrified of losing employees to rivals once their contracts ran out. To combat this, CoG corps marketed themselves to both current employees and prospective hires by promising them regular action…along with increasing bonuses to crew for every enemy ship captured or destroyed.
“It isn’t difficult to tell that you view some of our moves as distasteful,” Moll said, and now all friendliness had vanished from his voice. “Like my destruction of Frontier Security, for example. But keep in mind that you’re the one who chose to break ties with them in order to join the Coalition of Giants. And we both know why you did it. You saw joining CoG as a sort of insurance policy. You know what our trajectory will be. None are positioned to meaningfully oppose us—not in the long term, and certainly not in the short term. You want to be on the winning side of history.”
Hata said nothing, trying not to let his resentment bubble up, as it so often did.
“But if that’s truly what you want,” Moll continued, “then you have to make a choice. Either you’re with us or against us. You can’t have it both ways. Swallow your self-righteousness, or pull out of this alliance and find some dark corner of the Cluster to die in, along with the rest. The time has come to give me your full commitment, Mr. Hata. That time is now.”
The LED-produced light glinted off something, catching Hata’s eye. It had come from atop a squat structure several hundred meters behind Moll.
A wave of fear washed through him. Could he really have…?
With the cylinder’s curve, the rooftop provided a better angle than it should have. Hata pictured a sharpshooter crouched there in Sunder green, his crosshairs directly over his target.
Surely I’m imagining things. But rumors flashed through his mind about the true nature of Captain Redding’s death, stoking his fear even higher.
Moll’s smile had returned, but this time it looked sinister.
That smile spoke volumes. I know that you know, it said. You know you’re always being watched. And that the choice I’m offering isn’t really a choice at all.
Hata breathed deeply. Moll was right. He’d chosen to part ways with Veronica Rose. And by joining CoG, he’d already made the decision Moll was confronting him with.
The opportunity to keep his conscience clean had long passed. Now, he would either need to live with the nightmares that tormented his sleep…or he would die.
For a moment, his death seemed the more attractive option. But he thought of the tens of thousands of Kibishii employees who were counting on him to lead them through the dark. To someday get them home…if such a thing was still possible.
“I’m with you, Admiral Moll,” Hata said. His voice sounded strained, and he cleared his throat, speaking louder this time. “Of course I’m with you.”
Chapter Two
Aboard Attack Shuttle One
Starling System, Recto Region
Earth Year 2291
“You’ve only gotten more serious since I’ve known you,” Emilio Garcia said from his seat, two down from Thatcher’s. “I thought I’d be a good influence on you, but I’m starting to doubt.”
Thatcher snorted.
“What is it?” Garcia said. “Why are you making that sound?”
“I’ve never heard the phrase ‘good influence’ perverted so badly before.”
“Well, now you’re just being unfair, which I’m certain you must realize. Surely you consider the infusions of capital from the coffers of Anvil Incorporated a good influence, for example.”
Thatcher glanced at Garcia, eyebrows raised. “About that. You do realize you’re investing in a dead company, right?”
“Ha!” Garcia said, with emphasis.
“What?”
“I’ve never heard the word ‘investing’ perverted so badly before. What I’ve been doing is flushing money down the toilet. A toilet named Frontier Security.”
Thatcher chuckled at the gallows humor—the only sort of comedy that suited him, these days. Not that he’d ever been one to crack many jokes.
As for Emilio Garcia…well, he was something of an enigma. At first blush, he’d seemed like exactly the sort of man Thatcher was built to detest, and even now he irritated him constantly.
Yet Garcia had stood by him when it felt like the rest of the Cluster had deserted him. He’d used his controlling interest in Anvil to lend money to Frontier at rock-bottom interest rates, at a time when no sane person would offer the company leverage—that was, when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.
With UNC regulators breathing down its neck and the majority of its warships trapped in Degenerate Empire space and therefore unable to service its contracts, Frontier’s board of directors had decided the company could no longer carry on operations. They’d begun the process of liquidating the company’s assets in order to pay its creditors.
Except, hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of those assets had fled south along the Dawn Cluster’s eastern reaches, until they ended up here, deep in Ascendant Horizon space. They’d stopped for repairs at the earliest opportunity, in Modal Pique, where the Jersey and any other ship under Thatcher’s command in want of repair had gotten it, on Anvil’s dime.
Technically, Garcia had lent the money to Frontier to effect the repairs. But in reality, he’d wired the funds directly to the Helio Bases where those repairs had taken place. If he’d actually sent the money to Frontier HQ for processing, it would have immediately been redirected to pay outstanding debts. Thatcher wasn’t totally clear on the legality of what Garcia had done, but he sensed that “questionable” could be an understatement.
The Anvil CEO didn’t seem to care. He’d continued to lend Thatcher’s fleet funds, to keep its larders well-provisioned, and its antimatter drives well-fueled. He still hadn’t found a buyer for the minerals that filled his freighters’ holds, mostly because there hadn’t been time for negotiations during the journey south, other than a deal that had fallen through the day before the final repairs had been finished in Modal Pique.
Either way, the Frontier-Anvil fleet sailed on, fueled by Anvil money and hope. Thatcher tried not to think about it too much. He was a starship captain, after all, not a corporate lawyer or accountant, and he had enough on his mind.
Though he did sometimes wonder why Garcia was going out on such a limb for him. The man often talked about how the New Jersey’s reputation helped keep Anvil stock prices high, but surely that wasn’t enough justification to take on such risk.
I know he met privately with Wilson before he died. Did Wilson have this effect on him?
