by John Ringo
"Oh, it's not good," the secretary of state said. "It's refreshing. We actually have a declaration of war."
"By the Horvath?" the President said, sighing. "How many more ships do they have to lose to get the picture?"
"Not the Horvath, Mr. President," State said. "The Rangora."
"Oh, hell," the President said, hanging his head in his hands.
"They are activating their mutual defense treaty with the Horvath."
"Against the U.S.?" the President asked. "Makes sense. We're the only ones fighting."
Every other major country in the world was working on space warships. But the U.S., due in great part to its continued production of heavy warships over the years, was the master of the complex task of "systemology." Systemology meant getting everything in a large and complex piece of hardware, such as a warship, to work together as seamlessly as possible.
It wasn't a field that was well understood. The people who worked in it had finally started to adapt terms from the software industry to explain their jobs to family and friends. The "platforms," vessels from fleet oilers to supercarriers, were hardware. But to get that hardware to work properly it needed "software," people, who could move around and do their jobs without conflict. And "legacy" software, people who had spent years in the environments, the NCOs and senior officers of the Navy, were critical to keeping the whole system running.
Running a warship was a dance and the dance depended upon the three-dimensional nature of the dance floor, the ship, and the dancers, the people. It also depended on more than one platform. A Carrier Vessel Battle Group required support from shore, generally delivered by the Carrier Onboard Delivery planes, another structure, as well as oilers and even repair ships. And all the structures, carriers, Aegis cruisers, frigates, fast attack subs, each had to be designed to work not only as ships but as warships.
After WWII, the only major superpowers in the world were the U.S. and the Soviet Union. They were the only countries with the need, funding and resolve to make major platforms. And Russia had never been a major seapower. It tried to catch up throughout the Cold War but the best it could do was some subs that were a fraction of the ability of U.S. subs. It never was able to field a supercarrier.
The U.S. also had one of the most robust space industries in the world. For all the "international" aspects of the ISS, if it hadn't been for treaties and basically being a nice guy, most of the ISS module would have been better produced in the U.S. The Russians had some good, robust space tech. But the reason it had to be robust was that its quality control sucked.
Thus, whereas the U.S. had managed to field not only nine Constitution-class cruisers but six, so far, Independence-class frigates, and the Troy, the only other country to make a functioning warship was Britain, which had fielded a single Clarke-class corvette. It was working on a Churchill-class cruiser, equivalent to the Connies in ability, but was running into constant snags.
The U.S. had, for years, been called the World's Policeman. Now it was, in addition, the only hoplite standing at the gate. This had caused some angst in the international community, especially with Russia and China, because instead of the Horvath holding the orbitals, the U.S. now held them.
It was causing more angst with the American electorate because they saw the U.S., arguably, as the only country that was defending the planet. And they were the only people paying for it. Troy, alone, had already cost $68 billion and the budget for next year was another $148 billion. With the current make-up of Congress the question was not "Is Troy worth it?" Everyone agreed having a defender at the gate was a good thing, one heck of a lot better than more gutted cities or another damned plague, and Troy seemed to be the best bet. What was being asked was "Why are we the only people paying for it? And why are we the only country providing Marines and sailors to man it?"
"No, it's against Terra," State said. "Then it goes on to list the 'top fifteen tribal groups' which are definitely included. We, of course, top the list but there's something in there for everybody. Russia, China, India, Great Britain, Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina... They even include Peru and Chile for some reason."
"Doesn't Apollo have a lot of civilian contractors from South America?" the President asked.
"Ah," State said, nodding. "That explains it. They also are cutting off all communication through E Eridani. No ships, including 'neutral' shipping such as Glatun, no hypercom."
"We're on our own," the President said.
"Yes, Mr. President."
—|—
"So does that mean we can expect Rangora ships coming through the gate?" Kelly asked.
Tyler looked at the missive he'd received and shrugged.
"Who knows?" the tycoon said leadenly. "We already have Rangora ships coming through the gate. They were just their old ones and squidded by Horvath. The big problem is, this is effectively a fuel embargo. We can't power our plants without helium. And we can't produce enough helium to fuel the fleet, much less all the support ships and Troy. No collimator production, no laser welders, no mirror production. And we haven't replaced all the mirrors the Horvath just trashed. I'm not sure we have enough helium to finish the gas mine. And the government is going to want it for terrestrial power plants."
"Their closure of coal and nuclear plants does appear shortsighted," Granadica said. "There is an additional problem."
"I really don't need to hear," Tyler said. "But go ahead."
"I am, in fact, quite low on fuel," Granadica said. "We were expecting our delivery next week. I am about two weeks from being out of power."
"I need to think," Tyler said, getting up and walking to the door. "I also need to do something I hate."
"What?" Kelly asked.
"Talk to politicians."
—|—
"We were at peace before you American cowboys unilaterally declared war on the Horvath!"
The way that summits usually worked was that lower-level functionaries met for months beforehand to set out the agenda and decide what their bosses were going to say to each other. Then the bosses shook hands, signed the agreements and had a photo-op showing what great good friends their countries were.
When one of the most powerful empires in the local region declares war on the whole planet, some of the diplomatic niceties get cut. The group had almost managed to get through the smiling photo-op before the president of Burundi, just about the only remaining functional sub-Saharan country other than South Africa, got into a fight with the French prime minister over covert French support for a Hutu rebellion.
"I seem to remember something about a plague that killed a billion people before we declared war," the POTUS said.
"What do you call The Maple Sugar War?" the French prime minister shouted. "Paris was standing before you idiots provoked the Horvath! And now we're at war with the Rangora because of you!"
"Would you have preferred forty Horvath ships in our orbitals?!"
"They weren't bombing our cities before you went to war!"
"Excuse me," the premier of China said. "I must point out that we did not care for the loss of Shanghai."
"Since this has already descended into a shouting match," the British prime minister said, "I think it useful to put this on the table. Negotiated surrender. The Horvath are simply impossible. They don't seem to understand the concept of negotiated agreements. The Rangora are, it is understood, somewhat more civilized. Surrender to the Rangora with the agreement that the Horvath are not involved."
"You're actually advocating that?" the President of the United States asked, horrified.
"I am simply putting it on the table," the Brit said. "Someone will eventually." He carefully did not look at the French prime minister. Everyone else avoided his eye as well.
"This would cause great internal difficulty," the premier of China said. "China does not greatly care for foreign domination."
"Out of the question," the president of Burundi said. "As long as we can avoid being a colony we should fight."
>
The POTUS almost said "What's this we stuff, black man?" but managed to hold his tongue. Burundi had enough problems at the moment. Landlocked, with every country around it effectively a failed state and much of the rest of the continent depopulated. Kenya, Burundi and South Africa were pretty much it for Africa post-plague.
"India has had its experience of being a colony," the Indian prime minister said, smiling slightly. "We politely decline the concept."
"Nein," the prime minister of Germany said somberly. "There are arguments, but it would not be accepted by the German people."
"Anybody in favor?" the POTUS asked, looking at the French prime minister.
"We are all mad," the prime minister muttered.
"Was that We or Oui?" the President asked, confused.
"I suggest a short recess," the British prime minister said. "So that we can discuss in a less formal setting the task before us."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Tell me you can speed things up," Tyler said.
Byron Audler was a mechanical engineer with a background in ship design and construction. He'd worked on the Constitution project prior to being hired by Tyler as the manager of the Wolf gas mine project.
"Be nice," Byron said, looking at the figures. "Problem being, I'm not sure where to get the power to speed things up. We were expecting—"
"A delivery next week," Tyler said. "I heard. I've been taking a look at the data. There aren't any major stocks. The plants run by the power companies were running on 'just in time' deliveries to cut down on inventory. Troy has about enough for a month. Granadica is down to two weeks."
"Can Granadica fab some temporary processors?" Byron said. "We can put them right on the lower plate. There's He3 in the atmosphere at that level. Not much, but it's something."
"That's a possibility," Tyler said. "Look at it. I've cut the production on the twin for the time being. What you need is first priority. I'm going to head back to Earth to talk to the powers-that-be about stopping all terrestrial use until we're up."
"I think they're going to be a bit too busy to talk," Byron said. "Big summit and all."
"I'll crash it if I have to."
—|—
"You really threw the fox in the chicken coop with bringing up surrender," the POTUS said.
The leaders of the top fifteen nations by economic and military power were, unusually, feeding themselves off of a buffet table. The agreement was that this was going to be a summit, not a display of who had the most able aides. They all knew that no one person knew enough to make every decision without input. But the rough draft of what an interstellar war was going to look like had to come from the leadership. Then they'd see if they could get their individual countries to go along.
"If I had not, the French would have used the whole meeting to slowly wear away at everyone," the British prime minister said. William Dasher was the first Tory prime minister of Britain since Margaret Thatcher. The Tory Party had practically renamed itself the War Party and it held a solid majority of the House of Commons based on a "Security First" campaign. In that, he was not far different from the POTUS.
William McMurry, former governor of Oklahoma, was an OIF veteran with a degree in history and international law. He wasn't about to consider either surrender or compromise with the Horvath. He knew history. Including recent history.
"As they are still attempting." Dasher gestured with his chin at the French prime minister who had button-holed the Russian president.
"Think he's going to make much headway?" the President asked.
"No," the prime minister said. "But for some very interesting reasons—"
"You have been reading the same reports I have been reading, ja?" the German said.
"Eavesdropping, Hans?"
Hans Adler was from the Center-Right German Security Party. The, many, European detractors of the GSP often used a stiff-armed salute when it was mentioned. The GSP was in favor of withdrawal from the EU absent a unified military force and had increased military spending for the first time in three decades. Much of it at the expense of treasured domestic programs. The compulsory civil service, which for decades had had "draftees" working in retirement homes, was now compulsory military service again.
The GSP made the French somewhat nervous to say the least.
"Including myself in the conversation," Adler said. "The Johannsen reports are what you are discussing?"
"I was about to," Dasher replied.
"What's Johannsen got to do with it?" the POTUS asked. "As I understand it, the Glatun vaccines make us pretty resistant to any more bugs."
"But the effect remains," the Hans replied. "And grows and grows," he added with a growl.
"Younger populations, William," Dasher said. "You know the McDonald's theory of warfare?"
"No two countries with a McDonalds will go to war," McMurry replied. "It's been pretty thoroughly disproven. Bosnia comes to mind."
"The effect held for some time," Adler said. "The reason was poorly understood."
"Most democracies of the period when it was proposed were relatively old," Dasher said. "They had had their baby-booms in the '50s and '60s. By the time the theory was proposed, the median age had risen."
"Young societies fight," McMurry said, nodding. "That's what you meant by Johannsen's. That report I've seen but it was a different thrust."
"The French have not had the same population boom as many of us," Adler said, shrugging in a most Gallic fashion. "Not so many blondes. They remain very pacifist. As may be said for Greece, Italy and Spain."
"The Russians are growing like a yeast infection," McMurry said, rubbing his chin. "Scandinavia, eastern Europe in general. Not Japan, though."
"The Japanese do not take well to having their cities destroyed," Dasher said dryly. "They also do not surrender easily."
"It is worthwhile to keep in mind that Russia, France and China have long been in a loose alliance to check American power," Adler said. "Russia is growing, yes. But it is, shall we say, less responsive than some to popular wishes."
"China seems to be onboard," McMurry said, frowning.
"'A Fool lies here who tried to hustle the East,'" Dasher said. "Whatever the Chinese seem to be doing, expect a change."
"I'm sort of glad the French are clearly against a full war movement," McMurry said. "If they were raising tidings of glad joy I'd have figured it for a pump fake. But here's the truth. We're strapped. I ran on securing the orbitals, securing the system and kicking Horvath ass..."
"That sounds vaguely familiar," Dasher said.
"But we can't do this alone," McMurry continued. "And that's what's been happening. The mood with the people who elected me is that if we could let the rest of the world be bombed, let 'em burn. There's exceptions, of course..."
"I would hope so," Dasher said. "I mean, we are up there as well."
"We had little in the way of a space program when this started," Adler said. "We are trying to catch up."
"But everybody is going at this separate," McMurry said. "We need to get everybody behind the wheel."
"With the U.S. deciding when and how to push?" Dasher asked.
"Sorry, gonna be blunt," McMurry said. "Who else? The U.S. has the biggest and most proven military, the largest and most robust economy and the best space program. Basically the only space program since everyone else quit when the Horvath showed up."
"Which is mostly Apollo," Adler said. "There is a great deal of discontent about a single man holding the power to destroy the world."
"That's excessive," McMurry said.
"Yes," Dasher said. "Destroying the planet would take him at least six months. Destroying the biosphere? About sixteen days."
"There are lockouts on SAPL," McMurry said. "Which you know. It can't target inside of the moon's orbit without control from Space Command. None of which changes the fact that we can't keep this up alone."
"Despite your current defense spending," Adler said, "which is not, in fact,
anywhere near full war footing, you still have the highest GDP in the world."
"So you're saying that the U.S. is able to defend all of Earth, the entire solar system, on its own dime," the President said. "Think about that, Hans."
"We have been thinking about it," Dasher said. "And discussing it. No one likes the conclusions. The Chinese, Russians and French are trying, very hard, to ignore them and act as if everything is still status quo ante. It is not. This is the reality as it stands today. Despite the fact that the U.S. took, as a percentage of productivity and population, the most heavy damage from the Horvath attacks of any advanced country in the world, the U.S. has come out of that more hyper dominant than before the attacks."
"The U.S. is the only country with the economic, technological, industrial and political power to support a large space navy," the German prime minister said. He looked up as the Indian prime minister drifted over.
"Having a conversation amongst the adults?" Arjuna Bhatnagar said.
India had taken relatively little damage from the Horvath attacks but its capital of New Delhi as well as its richest city, Mumbai, had both been gutted. The Johannsen Plagues, on the other hand, had killed nearly a fifth of their population. Economically and as a society, however, they were bouncing back fairly quickly. India had a history of major plagues and recovery that gave them an institutional knowledge McMurry mildly envied.
"Not at all, Mister Bhatnagar," Dasher said. "Just explaining some facts of life to the President."
"Who is still not enjoying the experience," McMurry said, his jaw working.