Live Free or Die-ARC

by John Ringo

  "We deal with that all the time," the general said, trying not to sigh. "We are especially interested in preventing additional bombardments."

  "There is sufficient power with the SAPL," Athena said. "However, as currently structured it is sub-optimal. This comes under the heading of asking a corporation to change its actions. There are legal methods to do so but I am unsure of your wishes in this regard. I also will need certain detection systems that you do not currently have installed. As it is . . . I'm mostly blind and I have both hands tied behind my back."

  "We are more than willing to rearrange SAPL," Tyler said, his brow furrowing. "As long as we can continue to use it for mining."

  "I have taken that into consideration," Athena said. "There is a need for dedicated Very Dangerous Arrays, seven at a minimum and as many as can be arranged down the road, as well as some rearrangement of the other arrays so that I have more rapid targeting ability. I will also need gravitational gradient detectors. They are producible with your current technology. And about a hundred dedicated and repositioned BDA clusters. With those I can increase the probability of stopping bombardment to the close order of one hundred percent. Absent a severe degradation in the security situation."

  "Are you aware of the issue with the Rangora?" General DeGraff asked.

  "I am," Athena said. "That is one of the potential degradations. But it should not be as big of an issue as your analysts think."

  "Explain," General DeGraff said, frowning. "I don't want an overconfident AI, Athena."

  "The major issue is, unfortunately, restricted from manipulation or control by the DoD," Athena said. "Direct conflict between the Glatun and the Rangora is a minimum of one year from present. But it is more likely to be in the region of five to seven. If Mr. Vernon's company continues to build the SAPL at its current rate, given its new fabber, Troy and the capability to build mirrors more powerful than the VDA, by the time I would postulate direct conflict between the Earth and Rangora, any Rangora fleet that passes the gate will be shredded. Stopping all the missiles they might throw is less likely but still potentially possible. With Troy, Thermopylae and, by then, Station Three partially online, they will not stand a chance. As long as your government or other parties on earth do not take steps that will prevent the continued construction of the SAPL."

  "Such as?" General DeGraff asked.

  "I can answer that one," Tyler said, making a moue. "SAPL is a form of investment. If the next Congress raises taxes, as they're expected to do, I will have to cut back on my construction rate on SAPL."

  "Hmmm . . ." the General said, nodding. "That makes sense. But I don't really see us being able to convince Congress to not tax Apollo Mining but raise them everywhere else." He paused for a moment and then frowned as something struck him. "Thermopylae? Station Three?"

  "What?" Tyler said. "You don't think I was just going to make one do you?"

  * * *

  "Professional and amateur astronomers across the world are watching in awe as Apollo Mining heats up a massive chunk of nickel iron in the main asteroid belt."

  The view shifted to Troy which was now cherry red.

  "Given that it has not even come close to mining out the asteroid the company calls Connie, professionals are wondering just what they are up to. Here is Fox News space analyst Dr. James Eager to explain. Welcome, Dr. Eager."

  "Pleasure to be here, Jamie."

  "So what are they up to?"

  "Oh, that's pretty obvious if you've been following all the developments with asteroid 318516," the astronomer said, smiling. He was wearing a tweed jacket that clashed with his strong upper-Midwest accent. "Apollo first stabilized the asteroid, then drilled it. Then, and coming from the background I come from I'm shaking my head about this, they then caught a comet and pulled a good bit of the mass into the hole."

  "Why?"

  "It's a habitat. Comets are mostly what we would call air. Frozen air, but air. Water and ammonia ice. Some oxygen and hydrogen sort of mixed in. But all of it compacted compared to air. Once the asteroid becomes molten, the comet will melt and then, well, boil. That will cause the asteroid to swell up like a balloon. Then you can fill the interior with air and you have an instant space station."

  "That is . . . amazing. How big?"

  "Immense. Twenty, thirty kilometers across? Depends on the thickness of the walls. Enough room for millions of people to live off-planet. My team has been watching this, on and off, for some time. But we think they made a really critical error."

  "Which is?"

  "They didn't get enough of the mass of the comet into the asteroid. It's not going to swell enough. It's like trying to blow up a balloon with only one lungful of air."

  "They've spent a lot on this project. There have been some serious questions raised by shareholders since its affecting their bottom-line. Here with us is Charles Carter, CEO of Roundtree Investments one of the many investment firms which bought into Apollo Mining. Good afternoon, Mr. Carter."

  "Good afternoon, Jamie."

  "I understand you have some hard questions for Mr. Vernon."

  "That we do, Jamie. Until recently, Vernon and his people wouldn't even talk about this project. It was just a line item on the prospectus. We had to find experts like Dr. Eager to tell us what it might be. And while the dividends from Apollo continue to be good, the PE ratio would be much better if they weren't involving the company in this boondoggle. We have a duty to our own shareholders and the fact that Tyler Vernon won't even take questions about this project is troubling."

  "Are you considering selling?"

  "Not at this time. The dividends, as I said, are still excellent and the PE is surprisingly good considering the amount being spent on this project, which is called Troy for some reason. Apollo remains a good investment. It's just that it would be a better investment if they weren't pouring money into heating up an asteroid for no good reason. It's not like a few million people are going to move off the earth into a habitat that's nothing more than a target for any attack!"

  "I see. Dr. Eager? Comments?"

  "I don't see any mining purpose to the process. The idea for a habitat has been around for some time and it's always in terms of habitats. But, as I mentioned, we think they got the mix of solids to volatiles wrong. It may be a very expensive, unsuccessful, project."

  "There is now a rumor that the project is intended to be a base for training the new Space Navy. Comment Dr. Eager?"

  "That's a possibility. It's kind of far out, though. I mean, the project is far from earth. Quite far much of the time due to its orbit."

  "Mr. Carter?"

  "If they're planning on selling it to the DoD, I wish they'd just say so. I suppose we'd get something for it that way. But not the cost of materials. The cost of palladium, alone, in the asteroid exceeds the entire DoD budget!"

  "Thank you for your thoughts, gentlemen."

  "Thank you."

  "Always a pleasure."

  "And there you have it. Another mysterious Vernon project. The one thing we at Fox News have figured out is that when Tyler Vernon seems to be doing something crazy, it's usually crazy like . . . a Fox! And in other news . . ."

  * * *

  "This item hasn't previously been submitted for budgetary approval, General," the congresswoman said, looking at the line item. "And it's a rather large oversight."

  "We hadn't been apprised of its availability," General DeGraff said. "However, I have a short presentation on the structure if I may be allowed three minutes."

  "Allowed," Senator Lamarche, the Chairman of the Select Military Affairs Committee said. The meeting was in a secure room, a very small room for the number of people filling it. "I am agog to see what you need an asteroid for."

  "Honorable Congresspersons . . ." General DeGraff said. "Behold . . . Troy . . ."

  "Oh . . . my God," Senator Lamarche said. "First question is reserved to the chair. Have you determined what the conditions of delivery are? I mean, for . . . what is it? Si
xty billion dollars do we get just the shell? News reports say that the material value of the shell is on the order of sixty-two trillion dollars, so it certainly seems like a deal . . . But what, exactly, are we getting?"

  "The shell," General DeGraff said. "A door. Not hinged or latched, just the interior open. The outer portion of the door is going to have to be about three kilometers across. Apollo is still considering exactly how to make a hinge and latch and opening and closing it will be . . . interesting. Drilled lanes to carry the SAPL beams with mirrors and collimiters for beam management. And, possibly, interior systems to permit rotation once we get enough grav plates and power installed. It won't be mobile, mind you. But it will be able to rotate. Slowly. Phase One is getting it expanded, into place and the door so we can do additional internal work. Phase Two will be installation of crew quarters and initial fitting out. We've barely scratched out the budget for Phase Two. But what we're currently concentrating on is completion of Phase One and budgetary considerations thereof."

  "Congresswoman Sanchez."

  "General, I think that . . . Troy is certainly amazing, but what, exactly, is the purpose? I can foresee this absorbing much of the total budget for the Space Navy. Is it worth it?"

  "Honorable Congresswoman, the SAPL, as it currently is arrayed, is what is called a soft target. Any enemy that gets into the system can destroy the SAPL piecemeal and especially the VDA clusters that are necessary to protect against aggressor vessels. Troy will be the final gatherer of the energies of the SAPL as well as a missile base and a secure holding base for the Fleet. It will absorb a significant portion of our budget, but it is, finally, a place from which we can do battle that is not an essentially soft target. We don't just have to take punishment and hope we survive."

  "Congresswoman Crosslin?"

  "That's all very nice, General. But what about Earth? What about our citizens? So far, losses to citizens have been much higher than losses among military personnel. If Troy doesn't protect citizens, and I don't see how it can, what purpose does it have?"

  "With Troy, what we can absolutely ensure is the protection of the system. Although losses have been horrible in these ongoing hostilities with the Horvath, since the advancement of the SAPL and gaining some knowledge of gravitics, we have been able to secure the system and our orbitals. The damage that we would take without such security is an order of magnitude greater. Securing the orbitals is the first duty of the Space Navy. Troy will serve as a base to absolutely shred any hostile coming through the gate. It will also be the primary base for counter-missile fire. Getting them when they are first boosting is important. They're much harder to find afterwards. Will it, absolutely, protect Earth from attack? No. But Troy, the SAPL and the developments we're making in detection technology and the reconfiguring of SAPL, with the enthusiastic support of Apollo Mining I might add, will combine to reduce the likelihood of further attack. If I may revise and extend, Mr. Chairman?"

  "Permission granted."

  "We are currently in a state of hostilities with the Horvath," the General said. "We don't have a declaration of war on either side. They just attack when they feel they are strong enough. Troy will act as a deterrent to such attacks. But the Horvath are not the only potential threat. The Rangora and the Horvath have just signed a mutual defense treaty. With the Rangora pressing into previously Glatun held systems, with the Horvath demands for the E Eridani and Cerecul systems in the Quadralineal Talks . . . we are facing the possibility of war not just with the Horvath but with the Rangora, who are a strategic threat to the Glatun, in support. Absent a sudden outbreak of sense in the galaxy . . . we're going to need Troy. We're not only going to need Troy, but more battle stations like her."

  "General," the Chair said. "I have seen the Strategic Polity Intelligence Estimates. And I can see the problems we're looking at down the road. But, frankly, I'm wondering how we can afford this. How many battle stations are you talking about?"

  "Apollo has designated three asteroids so far," the General said. "They are not insisting on payment during construction, just asking for payment on delivery. And since delivery is quite a ways out, we can start working on the budgets. But the expensive part, I warn you, is not the shell but the fitting out. That is going to get mind-boggling. Quarters for thousands of personnel. Control systems. Enormous power systems. Grav systems capable of adjusting the rotation of a nine trillion ton battle station. Orders of magnitude greater than one of the Constitutions.

  "However, the question is simple, Honorable Congresspersons. Do we wish to be, again, under the heel of the Horvath or do we wish for humans to be able to choose their own destiny? We, as yet, cannot make ships that can go toe to toe with even the Horvath much less the Rangora. But with Troy, we can hold our system. And, in time, reach the level of power and capability that will permit us to ensure our security for all time. I had, frankly, wondered how I was going to fulfill my Constitutional mandate when I took this job. Our only real defense was a mining laser that was vulnerable to a capable and cunning enemy. Even the Constitution classes are, frankly, barges compared to our known enemies or potential enemies. Important because with each problem we solve we get better and better. But not something we could use to hold the system. With Troy, Thermopylae and Station Three, I can protect my nation and, frankly, my world and my solar system. We, gentlemen and ladies, can do our jobs. Protecting American citizens from the wrath of our enemies. No pitch, no hype, no overstatement. We can do the job. What price are you willing to put on that?"

  Six

  Tyler's implant sent an urgent ding and he picked up. It was set for only three things. A Horvath attack, something happening to the girls or the expansion of the Troy.

  "Go," Tyler said.

  "We're getting expansion," Nathan said.

  "Finally!"

  The Troy was overdue to start expanding. When you're melting nine trillion tons of nickel iron, models only go so far. But it was at least a month overdue. And it wasn't like you could induce. They were already using 80% of SAPL and some other projects had had to be put on the back-burner.

  He spun around in his chair and put the view up on the wall-screen. He could view it through the implants but some things you just needed the emotional satisfaction of watching it on a nine square meter plasma.

  "How long?" he asked. "And . . . is it expanding?"

  "Slowly at the moment," Nathan said. "The models say it should expand slowly at first, then up to about 90% rather rapidly. Then, perhaps, a slight additional expansion but when it cools it's going to contract so . . . when it slows down that's probably what we'll end up with."

  "Okay," Tyler said. "How long for it to really balloon because . . ."

  "I hate waiting," Nathan finished. "Not long . . ."

  "Whoa," Tyler said as the nickel-iron asteroid started to grow in size very much like a balloon that was being inflated. A big, spherical, molten, metal balloon. "Cool. Is it really going to take a year to cool?"

  "Nine . . ."

  "Trillion tons," Tyler said. "Got it. Can't we speed that up? What about running a comet into it? They're cold."

  "You're insane," Nathan said, shaking his head. "Just fricking nuts. And, no, the problem is we can't get good heat transfer. The vaporization energy involved in sublimating a comet, and just about any comet that contacted this would completely sublimate, is high. But . . . well first, if we just impacted it even at low velocity, it would warp the shell."

  "Pass," Tyler said.

  "And most of the energy wouldn't transfer," Nathan said. "It's something we looked at but it's not really worth doing. What we are looking at doing is making a shield for it."

  "I don't think it needs more defenses," Tyler said, dubiously. "But if you think so . . ."

  "Not that kind of shield," Nathan said. "A large, and I do mean large, sunshield. To get it fully into deep cold. But even then, heat doesn't dissipate well in vacuum and, well, it's nine . . ."

  "Trillion tons," Tyler said. "What's th
e next iteration up from a trillion, by the way?"

  "We've decided it's a hell-of-a-lot," Nathan answered, grinning. "Wha-oh."

  "What?" Tyler asked, still watching the expanding sphere. He realized that the small dot in the view was the Monkey Business and shook his head. The support ship was closer than the Troy, how close he wasn't sure, but it still looked like a speck.

  "The expansion's already slowing," Nathan said, examining his figures. "The sphere also cooled more than expected. May be less than a year before we can get to work. But there's a problem."

  "Big problem, little problem?" Tyler asked, pulling up his own system to examine the sphere. "Little problem."

  "Right," Nathan said. "Little problem. As in it's got a 'small' problem. As in . . ."

  "I thought you said it was going to be ten kilometers across with a kilometer thick shell," General DeGraff said. "Not nine kilometers across with a kilometer and a half shell."