Rogue Powers

by Roger MacBride Allen

  "And why is that?"

  "These carrier ships are the largest men-of-war ever built by the League. Their function is analogous to that of an ocean-going aircraft carrier: They carry fighter and attack spacecraft, and deploy these fighters in battle. The idea is simple: The carrier serves as a forward base. The fighters and attack ships can return to the carrier rather than to home base, and can thereby be shorter-range, lighter, faster, and carry less fuel and more armament then a fighter forced to travel from a distant base."

  "But this sounds as if the carriers are ideal for space war."

  "In theory, they are. However, like the old ocean-going carriers, including the namesakes of the Yorktown and the Impervious, these carrier ships are extremely tempting

  and vulnerable targets. Because they are so large, their fusion rocket engines must be very powerful, and of course a fusion engine emits a lot of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum. The Yorktown’s engines, for example, would be detectable at least a light year away. Beyond that, of course a large target is easier to pick up on radar than a small one. For these and other reasons, it's easy to find one of these ships. The enemy, having found it, will certainly try to destroy it, both because it is a great threat to him, and because destroying it will remove such a large fraction of our war-fighting capability.

  "There is an additional problem with the three ships in question. They are old—of old design and old construction. They have been more or less mothballed for decades. Upgrading a forty-year-old engine or attempting to retro-fit a modern system into these old hulls is far more difficult and expensive than starting from scratch on a new ship."

  "We are all naval officers here, Commander, and all have no doubt heard these arguments before. What made you pursue your views so vigorously, so publicly, all but forcing a prosecution, risking damage to your career, or even a term in the brig?"

  "My experiences in the New Finland star system soon after the League-Guardian War began."

  "Could you elaborate?"

  "Objection! The prosecution must object in the strongest terms." Captain Tsung had been waiting for this, and dreading it. He had to try to cut this line of questioning off. "The defense is attempting to bring in extraneous side issues. How the defendant came by his view is irrelevant. For that matter, the defendant's views are themselves irrelevant. The defense it attempting to build a case on the altar of duty. This, too, is beside the point. The only issue here is whether or not the defendant did indeed violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice by making certain statements. The defense admits he did indeed make such statements. As this is the only point on which the case turns, I respectfully request the bench to instruct defense to rest so we may proceed to the prosecution."

  Pete looked on admiringly at Tsung. The old snow-'em-with-everything routine. Every possible argument for ignoring side issues. Not a bad gambit. If the judges bought just one bit of Tsung's argument, they'd have to buy the whole thing. If they did that, the defense was dead. Pete and Captain Brown had been expecting this, and Pete was ready to do his bit. It would require a little sarcasm, and better for assistant counsel to be snotty then let Brown himself get in trouble with Leventhal for being disrespectful.

  Pete stood up slowly. "Your honors, I must raise a number of counter-objections. Captain Tsung knows damn well he's stuck with the unpleasant job of trying to throw an interstellar hero in the brig, and he's doing his best— doing his duty, if you will. Fine. But don't let him tell you how to do your job. If you wish to cut off the defense, you can decide that on your own without his help. Furthermore, five minutes ago my learned friend was foregoing his opening statement and reserving his case—and now he wants to shut down our key witness after five questions! Your honors, I submit that entertaining such a motion, permitting such a strategy, would deny our client's single chance to defend himself. As it is, he will be heard only in a secret proceeding. Allow him at least that."

  "It seems to me, Captain Gesseti, that we now have the choice of being instructed by either the prosecution or the defense," Leventhal growled. "We shall confer." The five judges bent their heads together and whispered briefly. Finally, Leventhal addressed the court. "In this matter, we overrule the prosecution. We find that it is conceivable that reasons could exist that would compel the defendant to act as he has. Therefore, the search for such reasons in the experience of the defendant is not irrelevant. Defense may proceed with the current line of questioning."

  "Thank you, your honor," Pete said as he sat down. It had definitely been worth all the trouble to get Leventhal on the court.

  "Let me restate the question, Commander Larson," Brown went on. "What were the experiences in the New Finland system that led you to your views?"

  "It began with the loss of the Survey Service transport Venera," Mac began. Pete and Captain Brown had rehearsed Mac very carefully, and Mac was a quick study. He gave his testimony calmly and carefully. "Many Survey personnel were lost with the Venera. The Survey's commanding officer, Captain Driscoll, decided to launch the Survey ships with undersized crews rather than have the program cancelled altogether."

  And Driscoll had been looking at a court-martial herself for that decision, until things had broken the way they did, Pete thought. Then she was suddenly a far-sighted hero.

  "As the court might know," Mac went on, "First Lieutenant Joslyn Marie Cooper Larson of the Britannic Navy and I were the entire ship's complement aboard the League of Planets Survey Ship Number 41, the Joslyn Marie. I was in command of the J.M. and named it for Lieutenant Larson, who is my wife.

  "While on her first Survey mission, the I.M. was intercepted by a messenger drone with orders to proceed to New Finland. All anyone in the League really knew at that point was that contact with New Finland had been lost, and some group named the Guardians had attacked and conquered the planet. Up until the time of the attack, no one still alive, except a few historical specialists, had ever even heard of the Guards.

  "The only other thing we knew was that the Guardians were rapidly setting up a system of interceptor missiles capable of detecting the burst of radiation peculiar to a starship reentering normal space from C2 space. However, the system was designed for the sensors to look out into deep space. Once inside the New Finnish system, ships were safe from the missiles. The I.M. was the only ship in position to get to New Finland before the anti-ship missiles were all in place. If the I.M. hadn't been in the right place at the right time, there wouldn't have been a chance."

  And that's what saved Driscoll, Pete thought.

  In the steady voice of an officer reporting the results of a routine assignment, Mac talked on. "We launched for New Finland and arrived at that star system safely. The drone which intercepted us also carried a new device. It was the key components of a receiver unit for a matter transmitter. We were ordered to get that device to New Finland, assemble the complete receiver, and receive from deep space 5,000 League troops so as to counterattack the Guards. Obviously, using the matter transmitter got the League around the anti-ship missiles and gave us the element of surprise.

  "The troops arrived safely—though I understand there was an accident on the ship that transmitted them toward us, the Mayflower, after the last of the troops got off, and it will be some time before they risk using the matter transmitter again.

  "With a great deal of luck, courage, and sacrifice, the League troops and the Finns were winning. We would have driven the Guards off the planet and out of the star system. Then we discovered that a ship called Leviathan was on its way.

  "Leviathan is—or rather was—basically similar to the Eagle and the other carriers, except for three major differences. One, she was much larger than our ships. Two, she was designed to enter an atmosphere; she could operate either in air or space. The third difference was that Leviathan was a lighter-than-air craft. Leviathan used a combination of aerodynamics and the lifting power of hydrogen gas to keep her in the air.

  "The points central to this court-martial are
these: Leviathan was by a factor of a thousand the most powerful ship in that system, but she could have been destroyed at any time by a single nuclear weapon. Our side did not do so because the controls operating the anti-ship missiles were aboard her. The missile system was designed so that

  it would fire at any ship entering the system unless it was told not to. A dead-man system. Destroy the control system, and there would be no way to tell the missiles to let a ship past. If we had blown Leviathan, the missile system would have kept the New Finnish system sealed to our forces for perhaps fifty years, during which time the Guards could have returned by controlling the anti-ship missiles from outside the star system, obviously, the League didn't have the missile control codes, so we couldn't do that."

  "In other words," Brown put in, "had not circumstances made the League and Finn forces hostage to the continued existence of Leviathan, she could have been destroyed easily."

  "Perhaps not easily, but there is no question that we could have blown her. As it was, we were forced to board Leviathan and take over the missile-control center long enough to send a self-destruct to all the missiles. That left the way open for League ships to enter the system."

  "What happened to Leviathan then?"

  "After the last of the boarding party had gotten off the ship, we used the fusion engines of a lander craft to melt through the hull. They had relied on that hull, made of an extremely tough material, woven metallic super whiskers, to protect the lift cells, which were filled with hydrogen. When the flames finally burned through to the lift cells, Leviathan was destroyed by explosion and fire."

  "You have touched lightly on your own part in all this. Did you not in fact take command of all the League and Finn space forces when all the more senior officers had been killed?"

  ;;Yes I did."

  "Did you not in fact plan and lead the boarding operation, and personally use the missile-control system to send the self-destruct? Furthermore, was not your lander the last ship to leave Leviathan, remaining there at great risk and at your specific orders to pick up any survivors and ensure that the enemy ship was destroyed?"

  Mac hesitated. "Yes, that is correct," he said.

  Pete smiled. It was hard to be a modest hero under oath. Brown wanted to make sure the record showed what sort of man they were putting on trial.

  Brown went on. "I have here a list of decorations awarded to you. Have you not in fact received the New Finnish Gold Lion, the U.S. Legion of Merit, the British Victoria Cross, the Britannica Order of Honor, The League High Cross, the Finnish Hero's Medal, the League of Planets Survey Service Stargrid, as well as the Republic of Kennedy's Purple Heart, Silver Star and Medal of Honor, as well as many other honors and citations?"

  Mac shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, that is correct."

  "Commander Larson, where is your wife? Have you seen her recently?"

  "She was reassigned to the Navy Yards at Britannica. I haven't seen her in some months.'

  "Was she not in fact transferred away from the Survey Service base shortly after you first spoke out against deploying the three carriers?'

  "She was ordered back home within thirty-six hours after my first statement."

  "Has it ever occurred to you that the two of you were separated as a punishment for your statement, punishment without benefit of trial or appeal? Was this not indeed persecution and harassment of a heroic man and woman because of your—"

  "Objection!" the prosecutor shouted. "Counsel is clearly not questioning the witness, but making a speech. I request that this leading and biased so-called 'question' be stricken from the record."

  "I withdraw my last question," Brown said smoothly. Getting the judges to hear it was enough, on the record or not. And it didn't hurt to tweak the opposition before turning Mac Larson over to him. "Your witness, Captain."

  Captain Tsung was clearly rattled enough for Brown's purposes. He rose uncertainly and approached the defendant. "Ah, ah, Commander. I'm certain that no one in this court questions your courage, or your contribution to the

  war effort ..." Tsung's voice trailed off for a moment. "But that is not what is on trial here, Commander Larson. You base your assumptions on the vulnerability of the three carriers on the fact that you were present when the Leviathan crashed."

  "Yes, that is correct."

  Pete bounced up. "I'd like to clarify the answer to that question. Commander Larson did in actual fact command the ship that wrecked Leviathan, and the larger ship was destroyed by his command and according to his plan. Excuse the interruption," he said brightly, and sat back down.

  Captain Brown leaned over toward his assistant counsel. "That wasn't approved courtroom procedure," he whispered to Pete.

  "No, but why let Tsung make Mac seem like he was standing around watching the world go by when a giant spaceship just happened to crash in front of him?" Pete replied. 'Mac came as close as anyone ever has to winning a war single-handed."

  "Except the was isn't over yet. No one's found the Guardians' planet."

  "Don't remind me."

  Tsung seemed more and more unhappy about the job of prosecuting Mac. "Ah, Commander. Conceding mat you did indeed destroy Leviathan, how does that bear on the vulnerability of the League carrier ships? After all, Leviathan was destroyed in large part by fire, in an atmosphere, while flying as an aerodynamic vehicle, under circumstances wholly different from those the Eagle and the other carrier will experiences. Our ships are, after all, incapable of entering an atmosphere, and certainly do not carry large lift cells filled with hydrogen gas."

  Mac smiled slightly. "Forgive me, Captain, but I don't think you've done your homework. I was debriefed very carefully after the missile "system was destroyed. In that statement, which I can see on the prosecutor's table, I reported that the Joslyn Marie at one point attacked the

  Leviathan using space-to-space torpedoes." For the first time, Mac's voice and manner showed some emotion, some passion. Even talking about the carriers here, in court, got him visibly angry. "As I noted in the debriefing, the Joslyn Marie, although perhaps a thousandth the mass of the Leviathan, was able to make several direct hits on the big ship. As I have stated already, we could not risk the destruction of Leviathan, and so the torpedoes were armed with conventional explosives. The/.M.'s attack was a partially successful attempt to prevent the big ship from launching fighters against the League and Finn forces." He paused, then went on in a louder, almost threatening, tone. "As I reported to the debriefing team, if we had armed theI.M.'s torps with nuclear warheads—which we could have done easily—there is not the slightest doubt that the J.M. could have taken out Leviathan. Those hits made by conventionally armed torps prove that a ship the size of the / .M. could certainly destroy the Eagle, and the people and equipment aboard her. And I might add that the Guards know all this as well as we do. They have learned it the hard way. They foolishly put all their eggs in one basket. We must profit from the enemy's error instead of making the same fatal mistake ourselves. The secret we are trying to keep is no secret to the enemy—it is secret only to our own people and the men and women aboard those carriers."

  Tsung knew when to quit. "Thank you, Commander. No further questions."

  Pete popped up again. "The defense rest its case at this time, your honors. By prior agreement with opposing counsel, we will waive our concluding statement. The prosecution may now proceed with its case if it so chooses." In other words, we're quitting while we're ahead. Pete thought.

  Tsung had the sense to request a recess for lunch after Mac's testimony. He needed time to collect his thoughts and get his notes in order, time to relax and plan, and he

  needed to give the judges time to forget a bit of Mac's impressive bearing. So far nothing had gone his way, and he was determined that would change.

  After lunch, Tsung began his case by quoting Mac's statements and showing a recording of one of his interviews. The message was the same one, but put in far less respectful tones.

  Mac and Pete watche
d the screen impassively as Mac's image spoke. "The carriers are deathtraps. They are sitting ducks. We are told that these ships were built 'to interpose powerful forces across the spacelanes in times of crisis.' Those ships were never needed for that, in all the years they were on active duty. They were mothballed because modern weapons and tactics—and the absence of a major war—made them useless.

  "Their true purpose, the true reason that these ships were built, the true reason that they are now being re-commissioned, is that admirals like to have big impressive ships to fly around in. Every cost-effectiveness calculation, every war game, every strategic plan, has shown that these ships are as much liabilities and targets as they are advantages and weapons."

  Tsung stopped the recording. "That, your honors, is what Commander Larson had to say to the public last week. That statement was carried on Kennedy's largest video network. It was widely quoted. Commander Larson has said the alleged peril these carriers face is a secret— but that peril is no secret, thanks to him. Fortunately, none of his statements have gotten into the off-planet press as yet, though that is but a matter of time. No doubt ships are carrying copies of our war hero's opinions to every major world in the League.

  "And what effect will that have on the war effort? Commander Larson gave up his efforts to discuss his views through normal military channels and instead went public. How will it serve morale, fighting spirit? Can it serve but to discourage the men aboard those ships? Can it but give aid and comfort to the enemy for him to hear that we

  regard our own ships as admirals' toys, sitting ducks, deathtraps?

  "Your honors, I will present no witnesses. I could exhaust us all with a stream of experts on strategy and tactics who would confirm what I have said, and then the defense would dredge up its own experts to refute me. I could call Captain Josiah Robinson, the commander of the Eagle, and he would be happy to tell you the high state of readiness his ship is in, and how his men are reacting to Commander Larson's statements. But you are all naval officers, and you know all these things.