by Don Koch
"Fair enough."
Hank made the introductions and then asked the President if he had some ideas about how he would like to proceed that would give him and his people a comfort level.
"When I spoke to you four days ago I set about immediately building a consensus amongst our politicians and military leaders to move this thing forward as quickly as is reasonable. The Rangers are going to be a big help in this if our plan sounds ok to you. Building the consensus was quite a bit easier because a few things helped pave the way. The Rangers reached out to quite a number of the politicians and military leaders they know and that made this proposal all the easier. What we would like to do is to transfer ship and crew to you a few at a time. We will bring each ship home and determine who wishes to accept the offer you have made. Those that do not wish to join you will be discharged and free to return home. There will be a reasonable severance for them so they can become reacclimated to civilian life. We will then transfer the crew, crew's family and belongings to you along with the ship. The ship will be decommissioned and sent to our yards for refitting as a commercial vessel. These will then be sent to you for any modifications you feel appropriate to make. I do understand that some modifications will be under seal as required by your constitution."
"This will keep our shipbuilders busy until we can find other employment for them. We expect to offer a service to our people that go to space with you. That is the opportunity to sell their property if that is their desire or to retain it with some level of maintenance to be determined. We would hope that many will want to return. For those who have retirement time, that will be held in our Federal bank to grow and be available when they would reach ordinary age for retirement. Since I understand that they will have advanced health care under your system, we will use those funds dedicated to health care, to supplement retirement funds. Our normal lifespan is in the 100 to 110 range. We will halt retirement payments at age 120 but the principal may continue to earn interest when held in savings in our Federal Bank."
"We currently have 25 million persons in service, about 12 million of that on ships. We would like to phase out our ships first and then start reducing the shore based personnel after that. We have about 40,000 ships of all sizes. Our thought is to start with the largest vessels first and go on down from there. Some vessels are so specialized that our only choice may be to scrap them. We would seek advice of your people for that. Obviously there is a lot of detail missing. At this point we are thinking about transferring about 60,000 persons per day if you can handle that number. If I had to guess, I feel that about 75% of our space military will want to go with you. Probably about 40% to 50% of our ground fleet likewise. I could be off with my estimates but my advisors feel that is a pretty good number. So what do you think of this plan? We can be ready to start in five days and we actually have a number who would like to start today."
"Joe, Josh, Sam, Rose, June, how does this feel?"
Joe commented, "Mr. President you are far further along than I would have expected. Your plan really seems work-able and we will have no problem with the numbers you have cited. I want to be sure though that everyone understands that we will try to keep crews together that want to be together, but not all of your ships are going to be on one Station. We will plan to have all from Malone do their first tour in the Region unless there are specific requests or desires for exploration duty. Our fleet is currently growing and in a short while, we will have grown from 100 Stations to 160 Stations. Just this week, we will be adding 5 new Divisions with about 25 new Stations. So they will all start out here on Station One, Barana or on Station 17, Hokulani. By the time the Gorth issue is done they could easily be spread out over the 28 Stations here or any of the Stations in the entire fleet. We will also track to assure that people can return to their home systems periodically. Station 17 will be going back to Exploration duty after events in this region settle down and we have a sufficient number of guardian duty Stations posted here. They can elect to return to Malone pretty much at any time. Some people can't handle our environment while others thrive in it."
Josh added, "I understand that you may want to maintain some special operations personnel for certain Malone efforts. With that, we have no particular issues and have some suggestions as to how we might maximize their effectiveness on planet as well as with the Fleet. In particular, I am thinking of your Ranger Corps. I do not think you need to be in any particular rush to eliminate that, but we do need some discussions concerning how they will interact with us. You have a model that is of particular interest to us since it promises to be a highly effective tool for specific local situations. Your dealing with the Rotagilla incursion was extraordinary."
Henry Raven observed, "Sounds like you are referencing the Destiny."
"Precisely. The Destiny is an unusual platform anywhere. By our standards and technology, that ship was extremely vulnerable, yet we see what it accomplished in the right hands. That is a response team that should be maintained, so the question is how to do that under our structure."
Fador who had been looking pensive throughout the discussion interjected. "Actually what you appear to be thinking of is quite doable under our structure. That is not really an issue. The issue is not really one of formation, rather it is one of equipment. There is one major consideration that is pretty easily overlooked. That is, it is easy to overlook the technological advantage available to you. Recently you have started to look at the inventory we have of advanced technology stored at Tau Ceti. You also know that Henry has approved the building of two new classes of warship that will be allotted to the Stations in large quantities. We can build a ship or ships of considerable size in a very short time. Such ships can be tailored to the particular need. Our current warships are probably akin to a small patrol ships or destroyers for this comparison. We have templates for what would be more like a cruiser in comparison. Henry has ordered that we commence building that vessel and provide 160 to each and every Station. The fabricators to build that class of ship are now completed and in fact operation of those fabricators starts today. Since our 'patrol class ships' are so overwhelming, and are based at a Station, there has been little need for anything else. At Tau Ceti we have a number of experimental ships that we have designed and built but have never put into commission. One vessel that comes to mind is one we tried about 150 years ago but did not build more. Not because it was faulty, but because we did not have an immediate use for it. Once we build such a prototype vessel, we do not scrap it. We place the proto-type in storage along with the fabricator used to construct it in case at some point we want to build more. That ship is the basis for what will be our light cruiser class of ship. It is also a very good special operations platform."
"Anytime a new development comes along, it is incorporated in all existing prototypes. If you are looking for a prototype to replace Destiny, that ship is just the thing. We can have it here in about a week or less ready to use. We have the high speed capability now in all our Stations and it has been installed in this ship. Normal operating crew is about 2,000 to 2,500 and it carries two full Patrols of Warships, that's 50 warships with some maintenance crew. In all we are looking at a total complement of about 2,000 with room for another 500 for special operations. It has the same cloaking, scanning and shielding capability as our Stations. It uses the same kind of power plants as the Stations. This vessel has special operations in its genetic makeup. The only thing it does not have is an AI and someone on Malone may have resolved that issue. Obviously, this vessel is too small for the Station sized AI. It does have computer cores that should be more than sufficient for something of a more suitable size, in fact, probably excessive."
Henry Raven reacted, "Good Heavens, you're talking about Lorena Sanders' project."
"Yes I am. I would suggest that we have Barana check the matrix Lorena has established to determine if the necessary ethics controls are in place and work with her if not."
"Well Mr. President, I have to say that I
did not see your comments coming, but I thank you for them. We have been concerned with the massive exposure we have to catastrophe due to the huge populations on our Stations. It has been the one thing that gives me some sleepless nights at times. The idea of sending a vessel in harms way with a crew of 2,500 or even 10,000 is one thing, but to send a vessel with 7 million, 40 million or 100 million persons into the same situation is the stuff of nightmares. This new class of vessel allows us quite a bit more flexibility. Our Stations become bases and the cruisers become our direct contact vessels along with a larger vessel that will be our battleship class. It sounds to me like we are both heading in the direction I had hoped for. We have some obligation to assist you in avoiding financial loss for the condition you now face. Your actions have made that a practical reality. You may in fact have some gain from this. Your plan appears workable and I think we should start on this as soon as is reasonable. We can utilize those that are ready now to help us work out the kinks in the plan. We can formalize our agreement during the coming week. The creation of some special ops platforms makes a lot of sense, and as you have heard, we have already acted on that. We will work out a plan so that we can have dual access to some elements of that capability."
"I think we should proceed as you suggest and modify time lines as necessary. I think that Josh, working with Generals Raven or their designees will be able to come up with a working plan for a Special Ops unit utilizing as much of the Destiny's crew as are willing to sign on. We can house the Destiny replacement in one of our bays. It is tight but it was designed to fit. I expect that the home base for this crew will be Station One so they will be in quarters on Station under normal circumstances, until we see how all of this will work."
"Mr. President, how does that sound to you?"
"General Stone, that is perfect. I can tell you how to reach Charles and Lorena Sanders. They will probably hate me for it since they are still trying to squeeze in a belated honeymoon. Whatever comes of this, I think that it would be wise to avoid discussion of her work except in command circles. If she is successful, I suspect that it is not something that should become common knowledge. There are too many inappropriate uses for it and we would be better off without that."
"Mr. President, I agree, we intend to keep this quiet. Also there is no need for you to bear the guilt trip of disclosing where they are, we know where they are and we will take care of that from here. We will keep you informed. Am I correct that Brent and Melissa will be your alternate contacts until you have a new Chief of Staff in place?"
"Yes, indeed. In fact they will be my contacts even then. I trust them implicitly. In some cases they will represent me if I am tied up with something I can't avoid."
"Well it looks like we have our work cut out for us. I have some special people arriving tomorrow to help with the Gorth issue. That may intrude from time to time as we go ahead with recruitment." The President and his crew returned to Malone except for the Generals Raven and a few of their children to discuss more of the details and hammer out an agreement.
"Fador, will you and Barana please see to getting that ship out here. I understand that with the new fabricators, we will have the full allotment for this class of ship on all stations in about a year. The battleship class will be a bit quicker at about 10 months. I think the priority on distribution should be to our exploration Stations. So the first 80 battleships and the first 400 cruisers should go to the exploration units of Divisions 4 and 20. The next 80 battleships and 400 cruisers should go to the exploration units in this region for Divisions 10 and 17. Following that I want full complements for all Stations in Division 1. After that, distribute the ships to active battle fleet and then to everyone else."
"That is workable Henry."
Chapter 28: Replacing Malone’s Destiny
Destiny in Malone Orbit –
April 5 – C Day 584
As the Ravens were preparing to leave Station One, Henry Raven asked Barana, "Barana, can I ask you to do me a favor?"
"Would you transport Janet and me to the bridge of the Destiny instead of Malone?"
"Not a problem."
Their sudden appearance on the bridge of the Destiny startled the Captain Paul Foster, "I have heard about this transport method but you still about gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry about that Paul but you know the old saying about good news travelling fast and I have some for you and the crew."
"Well, as it happens, the entire crew is on board. Why don't I gather the officers and senior NCO's in Wardroom One and we can pipe to the entire crew from there."
"Works for me."
Ten minutes later all officers except a bridge duty officer were in the wardroom and the crew was listening in from the mess.
Foster said, "Listen up, Ranger Raven has some news for us. He tells me it is good news. Colonel."
"I know that you wanted to stay together as a crew. One part of the good news is that is going to happen. Apparently, our actions at Rotagilla were observed by the Antorans and they commented that it was the best special ops exercise they had seen and they did not want to break up that platform." He waited for the cheers and murmurs to die down and then continued, "We will be posted initially on Antoran Station One, Barana. That is the largest of the Stations. I have seen the quarters on that Station and most of you have not seen anything comparable. Every apartment has a view that is tough to match anywhere."
At that point, Barana interjected,
"Thank you Barana, I would be honored and thanks." A holographic view of a Station apartment appeared showing a short tour of the rooms and ending up on the deck where a view of the mountains was shown. "The Malone Cruiser, Destiny, will be decommissioned and sent to the Naval yard in orbit at our moon for refitting as a commercial freighter. Its final configuration will look quite different. You probably won't recognize her but whatever her new name is, Destiny will also be displayed in parenthesis. We will be receiving a new ship that will be housed in one of the commercial bays on Station One. Our new ship is exciting from the description I heard in just the past hour." A space borne view of the ship appeared as he spoke. "I am seeing this for the first time with you, thank you Barana."
"The thing you can't tell from this view is scale. This ship is about 5 miles long and 4,800 feet in diameter. It is one big puppy and I am told it is the Antoran cruiser class."
"This ship is a prototype that was built about 150 years ago but was not used. The Antorans did not have a use for it at the time. It has been sitting there at Tau Ceti waiting for us to come along. The Commander of the Fleet has ordered 40,000 more to be built, so this is a ship whose time has come. It will be a general use cruiser as well as a special operations platform. It has firepower that is difficult to imagine."
"Some of the advantages for this vessel are that is really fast. It can travel at speeds in excess of 2.5 million xSL. At that rate we can cover almost 7,000 light years per day and more. It can go from one end of the galaxy to the other in about 15 days. That is hard to imagine and gives us a very quick response time. It has scanning capabilities that outreach its speed. It can find a life pod without beacon in a system the size of the Malone System. A black hole can be located with precision at a distance of 100,000 light years. Our techs are going to have fun with those scanners. The shields on this ship absorb the energy from weapons fire against it to supplement power for operation of the shields. She likes to be hit because she can't be hurt. That is a luxury you have never had. We will have a normal complement of 600 persons to operate the ship and that does not include warship crews. We carry two full Patrols of warships, that's 50 of them, e
ach with a crew of 25. Total ship capacity is 2,500 and we carry stasis units for 5,000. Since we are a special operations platform, we will likely carry 20 to 30 T-Raptor teams, probably more."
"I have to tell you that this is for me, one of the more exciting events to come along. You will be the first to man this class of vessel. This ship is intended as a first response troubleshooter. This ship will be the front line. Barana, would you please give them a tour of the ship so they can have an idea what the amenities are like."
Barana then proceeded to give the crew a 45 minute tour of the ship. Following that, Barana fielded questions for another hour.
Henry then noted that they had taken up far more of Barana's time than intended. Barana replied that multitasking was a routine for her and if more questions came up she would be happy to respond. "Ok crew, you have heard what Barana has to say about the Destiny replacement. I know all of you have discussed this with your families. How many of you want to stay on?"
Everyone on board wanted to stay on. All had already discussed the transfer with their families and all were ready. "OK, no sense stalling any longer. Our ship arrives in about a week. Meanwhile we will want to get settled in on Station. You will also need to start training for the new ship. Once on ship and settled in your quarters, we will transport you down to your families to get them transferred as well. Your new quarters will provide orientation information relating to the Station. You will all be the first ship to transfer. Are you ready to do this?"
A loud cheer went up throughout the ship.
“One more thing you should know is that Antoran tradition calls for the AI to adopt it's own name when it becomes self aware. So we will not have any control over what our ship will be called. I know that you would all like to see the Destiny name continued but that is not our call. We will, however, install a plaque in memory of our old ship.”