by CJ Williams
“I guess I need an army of thirty-five hundred, then.”
“However,” Freddi caveated. “Those numbers are based on an allocation of ninety square feet per soldier, with slightly more for higher ranking personnel. Doctor Higgins directed that the engineers use the standards found in US Army Regulation 210-50; much to the dismay of many of your soldiers who believe that regulation to be too cramped. In your case, you are not billeting humans so the restrictions do not apply. Storage for a robotic fighter is limited only by its physical size. If you are just talking about mules, they take up about ten square feet. My interior living space could reasonably store thirty-four-thousand of them.”
Luke perked up. “That’s two divisions! Now we’re talking.”
“Indeed,” Freddi said. “However, I believe a redesign would be much smaller and more mobile. I suggest we try to accomplish that with a three-square-foot form factor. That would give you a maximum of about one-hundred-thousand combat units.”
Luke leaned back in his chair. He had been thinking of this all wrong. He didn’t need a platoon or a battalion or even a brigade to escort him into enemy territory. He needed a real army to annihilate the Greys that were holding Annie. Another thought occurred to him.
“How long does it take to replicate a soldier?” he asked. “It takes days or weeks when we’re talking about spaceships. But I recall that George could whip up a standard shuttle in just a couple of minutes.”
“Depending on several variables, I believe a basic combat unit would take less than a minute. However, once we decide on what you want, it could still take several weeks to produce the type of army you are describing.”
“Let’s check it out,” Luke said, standing up and stretching. “Show me your design of a mobile combat unit.”
A new hologram appeared in front of Luke. It was the same turret as was on the mule, but this time it was mounted on only two wheels, like a miniature Segway. They were not even wheels as Luke looked closer. They were spokes that ended in curved strips of metal that gave it some spring. As he watched, the unit moved back and forth, the spokes rotated easily giving it solid footing on uneven terrain. It could spin, turn and reverse its direction of travel with ease.
“Give it some intelligence,” Luke said. “Enough so that I can give it a general order and it will figure out the best course of action on its own. I don’t think it has to be as smart as a shuttle, but maybe somewhere close.”
“I would recommend Level-Sixty,” Freddi suggested.
“Sounds good.”
The mobile gun disappeared to be replaced almost instantly by the same thing, but this time there was a slight bulge on top of the turret, which presumably held the AI brain.
“Would you like to rerun the attack simulation from earlier with this new variant?”
“Yes, I would,” Luke said. This would be an interesting exercise. He suddenly felt a little more positive about the outcome.
The Luke simulacrum reappeared, this time flanked on all sides by eight of the little combat rover units.
“Simulation started,” Freddi said.
The Luke hologram ran toward the headquarters building as before. The rovers dashed forward with him, opening up a fierce offensive against the simulated Greys. One of the rovers suddenly darted to one side and in seconds, had flanked a unit of Greys and wiped it out. It hurried to another pocket of hostiles and did the same. Then another rover took off, and another. In no time, the Luke figure was all alone and running like mad to avoid enemy fire. He almost made it to the front door of the headquarters before being mowed down by snipers firing from the building’s windows.
“Simulation ended,” Freddi said apologetically. “I thought it would be more successful.”
“Not at all,” Luke said with a smile. “How do you eat an elephant?”
Freddi paused. “I’m not sure I understand your reference in this regard. Did you wish to break for a meal?”
Luke chuckled. “One bite at a time. It’s a metaphor.”
“Ah, understood. A complex endeavor takes time.”
Luke returned to his chair, satisfied that he had made some progress. “More coffee,” he said to the replicator. After retrieving the mug, he leaned back and sighed. “Run the simulation again. This time, double the number of rovers and include instructions that no more than half of them can move off on their own.
The holograms reappeared and the simulation began. At the very outset, eight of the rovers dashed off to engage pockets of hostiles. Luke again ran toward the headquarters building. Halfway there, four of the remaining eight rovers split off. Then another two and finally, one of the remaining pair, shot away. Luke’s hologram didn’t quite make it to the front doors.
“We’re not going to solve this in an afternoon,” Luke said to himself. “But I think we’re on the right track.”
Chapter Eight – Force Protection
Princess Carrie and her senior advisors examined the view screen. “I’m not sure what I’m looking at,” she said to Patrick.
“I believe this is the actual boundary of Grey territory agreed to in the Treaty between humans and the beings we call the Greys.”
The title at the top of the screen was Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the Nobility (humans) and the Sig-injong (hosaegga). It appeared to be a map of the galaxy from long ago.
“Is Sig-injong what we call them or what they call themselves?” Carrie asked.
“They call themselves Hosaegga,” Patrick replied. “In their language, it would translate into wise being.”
“Okay,” Carrie said. “Sort of like homo sapiens. I guess we all think we’re so smart.”
“And so you are,” Minister Baegchi said. “You should never doubt that for a minute. His Majesty’s intellect is far superior to those horrible creatures.”
Carrie didn’t respond to Baegchi’s observation. She had inherited him as a consequence of keeping King Haejeog’s Council of Advisors. Although he was ostensibly an advisor, she rarely got any useful guidance from his frequent contributions. She tended to consider him more of a sounding board from Haiyanas’s upper class point of view; besides being an incredible suck up.
“That’s an interesting map,” she said. “It appears the Nobility never recognized that much territory as actually belonging to the Greys. The one Annie gave us showed they rule over half the Galaxy.”
“True,” Sadie agreed. “But tens of thousands of years have passed since the treaty was signed. It is not unreasonable to assume they expanded their holdings during that time.”
“Or maybe they lied,” Baegchi suggested.
“Either way,” Carrie said. “This is proof that we do have a treaty with the Greys. I’m glad Sadie managed to pry this away from the librarians. Can you give me a quick summary of the terms?”
“Of course,” Patrick replied. “Essentially it acknowledges there are differences in our cultures, that both of our societies find the other repugnant and that we agree to avoid entering each other’s space under pain of severe penalties in territory and other remuneration to be determined at that time.”
“What a lovely agreement,” Carrie said. “If it turns out they actually established a foothold in Fifteenth Family territory, then they violated the treaty.”
“Not necessarily,” Baegchi said. Carrie had learned the man was also a terrible pessimist. “The Alliance colonies may have violated it first. That means we’re the ones in the wrong. I wonder what they’ll want from us. Surely not our own system!”
“If I may,” Patrick interjected, cutting off Baegchi’s speculation. “I would not hasten to admit such a breach of the terms. At the very least, the territorial boundaries noted in this treaty do not include the Commander’s early colonies. Also, this map does not include the territory of the Fifteenth Family. King Yeol Daseos, the first of that line, came to power long after this treaty was agreed to. In other words, a case could be made that thus far, no breach of this agreement has occ
urred by either side.”
“That’s good to know,” Carrie said. “I suspect the Greys are trying to use a supposed violation as leverage to get replication technology. I bet any purported breaches are only in the minds of the Greys.”
“So far,” Baegchi persisted. “What if the Greys have already killed Her Highness Annie and His Majesty goes after them for revenge. If he did, the King would violate the treaty and put all of us in jeopardy!”
Carrie hissed and aimed a stern glare at the outspoken minister. “Counselor Baegchi, you might want to consider your words very carefully when discussing the King. Your comments just now could be interpreted as seditious. Keep in mind that I am not as easy going as my older brother.”
Baegchi visibly shrunk in his chair. “I beg your pardon, Highness. I misspoke. I just meant His Majesty is worried about his queen.” He looked around the table for support but the other attendees studiously avoided eye contact.
Sadie interrupted the conference by sending Carrie a mental message. The Commander’s fleet has just returned. It is entering the Haiyanas system at this time. Lulubelle will be landing momentarily.
“Meeting adjourned!” Carrie announced abruptly, jumping to her feet. Without explanation, she ran from the conference room and down the corridor toward the palace entrance. By the time she reached Sadie’s parking area in front of the palace, Lulubelle was touching down. Carrie waited impatiently for the Starfighter’s cargo bay to open.
Lieutenant Elaine Cain was the first to emerge from the spaceship. She marched up to Carrie and fell to one knee. Carrie’s heart rose into her throat when she saw tears welling from the Lieutenant’s eyes.
“Your Highness,” Elaine stammered. “I accept full responsibility for what happened. During a battle on Planet N93-4, I failed to provide the Commander with proper support. He was forced to commandeer an empty troop ship and proceed alone into Grey space in pursuit of Queen Annabelle. By the time I realized what happened, we could not find his gravity wake. I accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”
Carrie had no idea how to respond. Luke had gone into Grey space after Annie? Had the ridiculous assertion by her idiot minister come true after all?
Grant saved her the trouble of responding by walking up behind Elaine. “It’s not her fault, Carrie,” he said. “No one can control Luke when he gets some kind of harebrained idea in his skull. The damned Greys took Annie off the planet and Luke chased after her like a damned fool. His orders were to come back here and wait. He’s probably in a Grey goat jail by now, but I have no idea where.”
*.*.*.*
Luke sat on the top of the scaffolding he had erected in the simulation room. It gave him a bird's-eye view of the desert terrain test area. The display was scaled down to fit an entire countryside into the available space.
“Okay,” he said to Freddi. “Except for me getting killed, that went pretty well. Let’s run the simulation again but this time in a rolling hills, forested environment.”
“Acknowledged.”
The holographic view below morphed from the desert landscape into one with green valleys, bubbling brooks and scattered forests.
Luke’s force was again being led by his own holographic image, that Luke had suitably named Barrett, his own middle name. In this case, Barrett’s hologram included a Level-Twenty AI, so rather than simply watch from his homemade grandstand, Luke communicated directly with his virtual counterpart. He gave strategic commands to direct the overall flow of battle to Barrett, while the hologram carried out the tactical details of managing troop movement.
“Simulation starting,” Freddi announced.
“Launch recon drones,” Luke said.
Small gravity powered drones lifted off and swarmed toward an alien town to the north of his force’s position, some at high altitude, others skirting in and around the treetops. Each one had visual recognition built into its sensor systems to distinguish between equipment, vehicles, artillery and Grey soldiers. They transmitted information via Barrett, to Luke, who used it to create a mental map for his situational awareness. The drones reported a major enemy troop concentration to the southwest of the town.
“Get more detail,” Luke ordered, and the drones responded, streaming back dozens of video and electronic reports.
The encampment was a regimental headquarters, a significant threat that had to be addressed. Part of that concern was inside the town itself. The local citizenry would respond once Luke’s army moved into the city. Luke had to determine Annie’s whereabouts quickly, before the Greys either spirited her away once again, decided to kill her, or teamed up with the military.
First objective was to neutralize the enemy regiment.
Luke spoke aloud. “Deploy the First Division’s Second Artillery Brigade to attack the regiment and send Third Armored Brigade to flank it to the east. Make sure that once we attack, the Grey forces cannot engage our own.”
The artillery began their fire mission on the Grey military encampment. Luke tapped into the reconnaissance drones to verify their targeting. The headquarters went first, erupting in flames. A maintenance depot followed suite with rounds dropping through its thin metal ceilings, followed by the ammo dump. Each barracks received a high-explosive round dead center. Radio traffic on Grey frequencies burgeoned with shouted orders and frantic questions.
With the interdiction underway, it was time to launch the main attack. “All units,” Luke said. “Advance on the city.”
The infantry units, composed of the speedy little rovers, surged forward. A fierce resistance was almost instantaneous. Carefully hidden gun emplacements located around the downtown perimeter opened up and began to pick off the rovers one after another. The rovers scurried quickly behind available cover and darted forward in pairs, leap-frogging each other while providing covering fire. It kept them moving forward, but the advance slowed to a crawl.
“I need air support on those snipers,” Luke ordered.
Close air support drones, three times larger than the recons, launched and surged forward. They began pouring heavy caliber slugs into the enemy, zipping left and right to avoid the anti-aircraft fire in response. Their loss rate was high, but the cost was worth it. While the enemy was distracted by the airborne threat, the rovers dashed forward and penetrated the city limits.
“Have Second Division’s First Brigade counterattack the enemy’s perimeter defense from the inside,” Luke said. “I don’t want to fight them on the way out. Everyone else push toward the city center.”
Normally, at this point in the virtual battle, a simulation of Annie would mentally connect to Luke, and let him know where she was held captive.
The idea was that in real life, once Luke got close to her position, he would be able to establish a mental link with her and together they could figure out how and where she was being held.
This time however, Luke reached city hall and there was nothing. Annie? He called out. He was so wrapped up in the simulation he started to panic. Then he pulled back. It was just a sim he was watching.
“Freeze simulation!” he barked. “Freddi, what the hell is going on? Where’s Annie?” The simulation faded away and Luke angrily climbed down from his scaffolding.
“I apologize Commander. She has been calling out to you. Her location is a mile north of the city in a maximum-security prison for high value detainees. Please standby.”
Luke growled under his breath while he waited. He didn’t like surprises these days. A tough simulation was one thing, but a screw-up was different.
Freddi spoke again. “I found the problem Commander. A randomizing variable in the simulation positioned the hologram of Annie in an underground containment area. As you will note, there is a hill between that location and your position. The terrain is blocking your reception. In this case, I am not sure if the scenario is realistic. Your own experience would be helpful.”
Luke thought about it. On Earth, he often talked to Annie from orbit. Even from the moon at times.
But in those cases, either George or Sadie relayed the mental communications. Terrain didn’t often block their connection, but on those occasions George linked them together. He explained as much to Freddi.
“If I may,” Freddi replied. “I would suggest that we include personal communication drones in your equipment schedule. However…”
“However, what?” Luke barked.
“I am not confident that our current drone design is suitable for managing that type of critical transmission. I suggest you consider having a higher-level, ground-based AI manage all communications. It can launch repeater drones depending on the circumstances, presumably when you penetrate the city limits. Once contact with Annie is made, the AI can either manage the link between the two of you, or hand it off directly.”
“All right,” Luke said. “Replicate a copy of yourself into a mule and we’ll restart the simulation.”
“If I may…”
“Now what?”
“It occurs to me that we have not considered your family’s safety once we extract them from confinement.”
“Good point,” Luke said. “Suggestions?”
“If I am going to be on scene anyway, rather than a standard mule, I suggest I take the form of an armored personnel carrier to provide for her safety during our egress.”
Luke nodded. “A battlewagon, huh? I like it. Show me what you’re talking about.”
A multi-wheeled van appeared. The slanted sides were covered with reinforced armor. Twin cannon barrels pointed forward and on the top, a dozen round disc-shaped drones sat in small cradles. Mounted on the front, behind a double row of bull bars and combat shields, a small jump seat provided an excellent view of the terrain ahead.
Luke peeked inside through the back-loading doors. There was enough space for two solidly mounted captain’s chairs, a baby bassinet and cupboards with food and medical supplies.
“This is good,” Luke said. “But add some bulletproof windows. We’re going to break her out of prison and it feels like a jail cell in here.”