by Ryk Brown
“Then they’re going to join our alliance?” Vladimir asked.
“Not just yet,” Nathan replied. “Seems they have a few concerns over what we’re trying to accomplish.”
“What, defeating invaders?” Vladimir questioned.
“They’re more concerned about our end game,” Jessica told Vladimir. “What we plan to do after we defeat the Dusahn.”
“Uh, return to our normal lives?” Vladimir suggested.
“They would like to see us do something to prevent these things from happening in the first place,” Nathan explained.
“Wasn’t that the plan all along?” Cameron wondered.
“Perhaps, in the back of my mind, I had always assumed that we would,” Nathan replied, “but I never gave much thought to exactly how that would be accomplished.”
“By building lots of ships,” Vladimir said, stating the obvious.
“The Tekkans are more concerned with the structure of the alliance,” Nathan explained. “They are concerned that such alliances generally fail, and they’re right. History is full of failed global alliances for peace, or for mutual protection. Someone always ends up getting their rights trampled. Big centralized governments controlling diverse and varied cultures are handicapped by their very nature. Creating something that will stand the test of time is no small feat.”
“Can we just defeat the Dusahn, first?” Cameron wondered.
“We can,” Nathan replied, “but the Tekkans are unwilling to fully commit unless they are comfortable with our end game. They need to know that the seeds we plant will grow into something they are comfortable with.”
“They’re afraid we’ll turn into the conquerors,” Jessica added.
“Fat chance,” Cameron laughed.
“It’s a valid concern,” Nathan said in their defense. “That’s why they felt the need to test us.”
“I still don’t understand how they managed to create such a realistic simulation,” Vladimir insisted. “How did they even know what the interior of the Aurora looked like? How did they know what we looked like, or what the ship could do?”
“Their simulation system actually reads our subconscious, our memories,” Nathan explained. “They create a realistic virtual reality using details from our own minds.”
“It would make a hell of an interrogation tool,” Jessica pointed out.
“It would be great for training exercises as well,” Cameron added. “You know how sharp I could get a crew with such realistic simulations? Imagine, battle-hardened veterans who had never actually seen real combat. The time and cost savings alone…that’s a weapon in its own right.”
“Not to mention the intel you could get from a prisoner on the enemy’s systems, capabilities, and tactics,” Jessica added. “If we could get just one Dusahn ship’s captain in that thing, we could learn everything we needed to know.”
“Unfortunately, the Tekkans are not ready to share all of their technology with us,” Nathan pointed out. “They are a business, after all.”
“It’s hard to imagine, an entire world owned and operated by a single corporation,” Cameron commented.
“Technically, SilTek is not a corporation,” Nathan corrected, “at least not in the legal sense as we understand it. It’s actually quite fascinating. The CEO is like a president, and the board of directors is like a senate. Everyone who lives on SilTek is a shareholder. The value of their shares is based on their contributions to the corporation. They even have senior shareholders who act as representatives for the common shareholders. It’s almost like a representative democracy, just with different names and structures. When you get right down to it, their goals are the same as any nation: Maintain a strong economy, and provide secure, comfortable lives for their citizens, or in the case of SilTek, its employees.”
“Do they receive paychecks?” Vladimir asked.
“They do,” Nathan answered. “Each according to their level of contribution.”
“Then they do have economic classes,” Cameron surmised.
“Yes, but as far as we could tell, there was no poverty, and very little crime,” Nathan told her.
“They were probably hiding that from us,” Jessica insisted.
“All I wish to know is what tech they are offering us,” Vladimir said, changing the subject. “I mean, besides automated fabricators.”
“They think they can improve our jump energy banks,” Nathan told him. “They believe they could double our single-jump range.”
“A thousand light years?” Cameron exclaimed in disbelief. “Is that even possible?”
“Hey, we did it before,” Vladimir laughed.
“Yeah, by riding an antimatter event,” Cameron reminded him.
“It is only a matter of power,” Vladimir told her. “We can create enough power with the ZPEDs, we just can’t store enough of it to dump into the emitters all at once. We don’t even have power conduits that can handle that much power. The energy from the antimatter event interacted with our jump fields from the outside.”
“They seemed confident it could be done,” Nathan told him.
“It would be an incredible tactical advantage,” Jessica commented. “We’d be able to attack the Dusahn anytime we want, and still be able to jump back and protect our allies on a moment’s notice.”
“Technically, we can do that now,” Cameron told her.
“Yes, but only by a small margin,” Nathan reminded her. “If the Dusahn figure out our limitations, they could use a three-front attack to force us to choose which ally to defend, and which one to let fall. A thousand light year single jump range would all but eliminate that tactic.”
“It will require a lot of overhaul,” Vladimir warned.
“They also offered better shields, and AI controlled early-warning and defense automation systems,” Jessica announced. “That would completely eliminate the problem of distrust between Rakuen and Neramese. They could program the AI to prevent either one of them from taking control and using the system against the other.”
“The Tekkans were actually quite interested in how we were managing the problems between Rakuen and Neramese,” Nathan said. “I think they consider it an insight into how our alliance would deal with its members.”
“Then you might want to avoid telling them that we assassinated one of their leaders,” Cameron suggested.
“Agreed,” Nathan replied.
“We did?” Vladimir wondered, stopping eating for the first time since dinner had begun. He looked at Nathan, then at Cameron. “Really?”
* * *
The four Orochi captains headed down the pier toward their waiting vessels.
“You would think they could add landing gear,” Aiden said. “I mean, who the hell ever heard of space-boats?”
“I don’t know, I kind of like it,” Kenji commented. “Reminds me of the summers I spent working at the marina, with all the ships rocking gently in their moorings.”
“You’re just weird,” Aiden insisted.
“I kind of agree with him,” Charnelle added. “There’s something romantic about it.”
“This is a water world, Mister Walsh,” Commander Kainan reminded him.
“You’re all weird,” Aiden insisted. “Where the hell are we going to land on Orswella?”
“Their main population center is on the edge of a massive inland sea,” Commander Kainan told him. “They have already prepared moorings in case we need them. However, we will be spending most of our time on patrol.”
“That’s fine by me,” Kenji stated. “I rather like my ship and crew.”
“You don’t even know half of them,” Aiden pointed out. “Speaking of which, it would have been nice to have a chance to train our new gunners before shipping out.”
“They’re gunners, Aiden,” Charnelle said, “how much do they need to kno
w?”
“They have all had plenty of time in the gunnery sims,” Commander Kainan reminded them. “They’ll be fine. Just give them some time to get acclimated to navigating through zero-g tunnels, and then drill the crap out of them. Use your smart-decoys as targets, and don’t forget to instruct them to put their weapons in practice mode first.”
“You make one little mistake, and no one ever lets you hear the end of it,” Aiden groaned.
“So, we’re going to be on patrol the entire time?” Charnelle asked.
“In the beginning, yes,” the commander replied, pausing at the gangway to his ship, “at least until additional Orochi arrive, or the Tekkans get a planetary defense system up and running on Orswella. See you up there,” he added, heading up his gangway.
“I still don’t understand why they didn’t automate our additional guns,” Aiden complained as the three of them continued down the pier.
“That would’ve taken a lot longer,” Kenji insisted. “Besides, the Orochi were designed to carry a crew of sixteen, so we’re still light.”
“Five was enough for me,” Aiden replied. “Three was even better. Now, I have seven.”
“And soon you’ll have fifteen, once they finish training the engineering techs,” Charnelle added.
“Don’t remind me,” Aiden groaned.
“You wanted to be in command,” Kenji teased.
“No, that was you,” Aiden insisted.
“Oh yeah.”
“I just wanted to fly.”
“Who would’ve thought you’d be good at both,” Charnelle added with a smile.
“See you up there,” Kenji said, heading up the ramp to Orochi Two.
“Don’t worry,” Charnelle said as she and Aiden continued down the pier. “In a few weeks, our full crews will include XOs, so you won’t have to deal with the management issues.”
“I don’t suppose there’s a chance I could convince you, to be my XO?” Aiden wondered.
Charnelle kissed him on the cheek, and headed up the ramp to her own ship. “No way I’m sitting second seat to you,” she called back.
“That’s what I thought,” Aiden said to himself.
“See you up there!”
Aiden took in a deep breath and sighed, heading down the pier to his own ship.
The Orochi were sizeable ships in their own right; not as large as a Dusahn gunship, but twice the length and four times the mass of a Cobra gunship. Their blue coloring allowed them to blend in with the waters on which they rested. Were it not for the amber trim running from stem to stern, they would be nearly invisible against the oceans of Rakuen. Despite their modest size, they carried considerable fire-power. Their jump missiles alone could bring down ships ten times their mass, and now, they had four additional plasma cannon turrets with which to defend themselves. The only problem was, they were boring to fly.
“How are we looking, Chief?” Aiden asked as he headed up the gangway.
“We’re full of propellant and have provisions stuffed into every nook and cranny we could find. Even better, we have a full complement of fifty-six jump missiles,” Chief Mando replied from the top of the gangway.
“Four fully-loaded Orochi,” Aiden said, pausing to look at the other three ships tied up nearby. “That is a lot of damned firepower.”
“I pity the bastards who try to attack Orswella, once we get there.”
Aiden stepped off the gangway onto the port side of his Orochi, pausing to look fore and aft. “These things are weird-looking, but they pack a hell of a punch.”
“They sure do,” the chief agreed.
“What say we try out these new-fangled grav-lift systems,” Aiden suggested, heading toward the hatch.
* * *
“Captain on deck!” the guard at the entrance barked as Nathan entered the Aurora’s command briefing room.
“As you were,” Nathan ordered, before anyone in attendance could stand. “I’ve read all your daily reports for the last ten days, so no need to waste everyone’s time briefing me on the events during my absence. Instead, I’ll ask questions, starting with Commander Kamenetskiy. Where are we with the long-range jump drive?”
“The second array and energy banks are operational,” Vladimir replied. “However, they still both share the same jump field generators, so there is only partial redundancy.”
“When do we expect to install the second set of field generators?” Nathan asked.
“All the fabricators are busy making missiles and missile launchers,” Cameron chimed in. “Once the Tekkan fabricators begin making missiles, we’ll be able to dedicate a few of our own fabricators to create new jump field generators.”
“How long?” Nathan asked.
“At least a few weeks before we can start assembling them,” Cameron replied.
“And another week, or so, to install and test,” Vladimir added.
“Any way we can speed things up?” Nathan asked.
“We need the missiles and launchers more than we need backup jump field generators,” Cameron insisted. “After all, our current generators are located in the most protected area of the ship. The likelihood of them being taken down is low.”
“Yet, it has happened before,” Nathan pointed out.
“That was before we got better shields and weapons,” Cameron replied.
“The Aurora’s current jump field generators are far more robust than before,” Abby added. “They are better isolated from damaging feedback loops, and they have their own inertial dampeners to protect against kinetic damage.”
“It would take a direct, unshielded hit to take them out,” Cameron insisted.
“And even if half of them were destroyed, the other half can be cross-connected so we could still jump, just nowhere near as far,” Vladimir added.
“Very well.”
“What about stealth jump capability?” Vladimir asked. “Have you decided whether or not to continue outfitting the Aurora with stealth emitters?”
Nathan looked to Abby.
“It may be possible to do both with the same emitter array, however, a lot of research and testing needs to be done. I mean, I haven’t even theorized how to combine the two.”
“Can we create a separate system?” Nathan wondered. “Array, power grid, field generators?”
“That would be the fastest way to get stealth capability,” Abby admitted.
“That’s no small task,” Vladimir warned.
“And it will tie up even more fabricators,” Cameron warned.
“Stealth is great for recon,” Jessica said, “but it’s not worth much in combat.”
“Then we concentrate on range for the time being,” Nathan decided, turning to Cameron. “How is the Orochi refit going?”
“One through Four completed their refit and departed for Orswella earlier this morning,” Cameron reported. “We were able to give them a bonus as well,” she added.
“Orochi One through Four have also been fitted with gravity lift generators,” Abby stated proudly.
Nathan looked confused. “I thought we were working on fitting the Gunyoki with the gravity lift systems?”
“We did, and it was pretty simple,” Abby bragged. “Or I should say, Deliza’s team did so. I only consulted a bit.”
“Deliza suggested it to me, and I gave them the greenlight,” Cameron said. “Now, the Orochi can be based on the surface, and not have to refuel in orbit after departure. It gives them far more flexibility in maintenance and deployment.”
“Well done,” Nathan congratulated. “How long until all the Orochi are similarly outfitted?”
“Orochi Fourteen just became operational this morning,” Cameron explained. “Fifteen and Sixteen will be ready by the end of the week. Orochi Five through Eight are in refit now, and should be operational in about a week. I estimate
all sixteen Orochi will be fully refit, crewed, and loaded with jump missiles by the end of the month.”
“Excellent,” Nathan replied. “How are we doing with planetary defenses?”
“There are currently ten surface-based jump missile launchers in total: five on Rakuen and five on Neramese. Combined, we have five hundred and twenty-eight jump missiles in inventory.”
“How long until both worlds are fully defended?” Nathan wondered.
“On our own, at least three more months,” Cameron replied, “five if we are including Orswella. However, with the help of the Tekkan fabricators, that could be cut down to three months.”
“The Tekkan detection grids will give us a big advantage,” Jessica commented.
“Agreed, but we don’t know how long it will be before they are operational. If we’re lucky, the detection grid will be ready by the time all the missile launchers are in place,” Nathan added.
“How long did the Tekkans say it would take?” Cameron wondered.
“They couldn’t make a solid commitment until they got more information about all three worlds,” Nathan explained, “but they did say that it usually takes two or three months.”
“Two or three months to build a planetary defense system,” Vladimir stated in disbelief. “Amazing.”
“You really have to visit their showrooms someday, Commander,” Nathan said. “You’d feel like a kid in a candy store.”
“We’d never get him back,” Jessica teased.
“How about you, Lieutenant Commander?” Nathan asked his intelligence officer. “Any significant intel?”
“All Dusahn ships, that we know of, are currently stationed in the Takar and Darvano systems,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda reported. “They have returned to their usual patrol schedules, concentrating on the worlds within the Pentaurus cluster, with at least daily visits to Haven, Palee, Volon, and Paradar.”
“What about Ursoot?” Nathan wondered.
“They seem to have lost interest in that world,” the lieutenant commander replied. “Their last known visit to the Ursoot system was four days ago. It’s too early to tell if they’ve abandoned it, or if they’re just not patrolling it as frequently.”