by Chris Hechtl
“I think it will work. I think the destroyer and cruiser designs are good. Modular is the way to go—plug and play across the board. Now the question is, how much can we fit into each package and in what amounts,” Levare said. “The problem is they are all interlinked,” he said.
Sven nodded. Design wasn't really his forte however.
“We need power to run the weapons and shields unless we go without shields completely, which is a big no-no in my book,” Levare mused. “We're also going to need point defense and armor.”
“Armor takes up mass. The more mass the more fuel you need limiting your speed and range. Also, you need some emitters for gravity and inertial dampening. You can't turn a ship with a lot of mass quickly or accelerate too fast without having structural problems too,” Sven rasped. “Plus, it's a pain in the ass to make if you want anything like a composite.”
“Which means we have to decide where to put the thickest layers and how to apply it. Obviously, over the vitals,” Levare murmured, playing with the cruiser design. He tried different combinations in the simulator and then let it run while he applied the same formula to the others. What he got back was a range of variables describing the ship's max speed, acceleration, and range.
“You haven't even plugged in the numbers for the weapons. I was reading the briefs, energy weapons versus missile platforms. Has anyone considered plasma?” Sven asked.
“Plasma comes apart over any sort of distance. It spreads out in the void. It is also not very good against energy shields.”
“But would tear into armor if kept confined somehow. Like flame throwers.”
“Exactly, but again, range. And we'd need fuel for the plasma too,” Levare mused.
“Start with a balanced weapon and defense mix. We can always experiment with specialists later,” Sven argued. Levare looked up to him. “Having a generalist is the best way to go, you know that.”
“Agreed,” Levare said after a moment of thought. “Balanced mission design too.”
“You two are going at it?” Admiral Kepler asked as she came into the room. Both men looked up in surprise. “Sorry, we haven't met. Admiral Kepler. Jan Kepler,” she said as they slowly rose to their feet. They extended hands and took turns shaking hands with the newcomer. When they were finished, she took a seat.
“So, cruiser. I get that, but right now the brass wants us to start with the smallest ship. Quantity over quality. We can scale up or down.”
“Okay,” Levare drawled. He saved his work and then moved on to a proposal an R&D think tank had submitted. It was a combination battleship and carrier. “This one is interesting,” he said. He turned to the admiral as she studied the design, but he could see her reluctance all at once. “But you don't think so?”
“It's worthless,” she said. “Oh, there might be a few ideas worth translating over,” she admitted as he reared back in surprise. “But there are too many service problems with building a general-purpose vessel. A shooter versus a carrier, both in one package is … tight.”
“Can you explain further?” Levare asked.
“Fight the ship the way it is supposed to be fought. A carrier isn't supposed to get within range of the enemy. They stand back and service the fighters and bombers out of range of the enemy. Battleships are in the thick of it with screens of ships in between.”
“Don't forget defensive platforms too,” Sven rumbled.
“Or AWACS,” Jan added with a nod. “Having a remote support platform for command and control as well as sight is a good thing.”
“Ah, yes, support craft. I haven't gotten that far since we've got issues with the inertial dampeners. I understand Doctor Irons is trying to find a way to scale the inertial dampeners down to a fighter, but I haven't heard any reports on how that effort is progressing, if at all,” Levare admitted.
“I know. So, let's stick to the destroyer design,” Jan said. “I'm a shooter myself,” she admitted. “How soon can you get this design into production?”
“If the frame looks good, we can get a ship's architect crew working overtime on it. Between them, some A.I. support, and as much plug and play parts as we can get away with, I think we can knock the design out in a month,” Levare said.
“A month?”
“While they are finalizing the design, it will give my people time to ramp up production of the components. By the time the design is formalized and frozen, we'll have already started basic construction,” Sven explained.
“Ah,” Jan replied with a nod.
“The more cooks the longer the design process will take. That's why we were brought in, to shorten that,” Levare said to Jan. She grimaced but then nodded. Everyone wanted input on just about everything it seemed.
“Back to the carrier,” Sven said, using a gnarled finger to move the screen back to the carrier design. “I think the mining tender is the way to go initially. It has all the basic functions there. We can alter things here,” he said, pointing to a few points.
“Adding point defense and better engines isn't plug and play. You beef the engines up that alters the frame. More fuel means changes in mass and the frame too,” Jan warned.
“Ah, so you've tried your hand at design as well?” Levare asked.
Jan shrugged. “I dabbled in the games.”
“I see. Well, I think if we're going with the tug design …”
“That's not finalized actually. There is another design team working on the support craft. I checked in with them; they were still debating on wings.”
“Wings?” Sven asked. “Why do you need wings in space?” he demanded.
“To hang weapons off of and to hold fuel,” Levare said instantly. “They don't have to be aerodynamic though.”
“Exactly,” Jan said with a nod to Levare. Sven didn't say anything. “But I agree, the mining platform is the most viable.”
“The good news is, we've got a few in space now. We might even be able to pick one up and use it as a test bed for the conversion process,” Levare said. He pursed his lips as he checked the ship's files. “Yes, there is a ship up for auction. She's old, but it would work.”
“I'll see if we've got the budget to buy it,” Jan said, making a note.
“Okay, so, moving on …”
~~*^*~~
Jan shook her head as she came into Admiral Lewis's office.
“What? Something amiss?” he asked.
“No. Those two though, they've done more in a day than I've seen our own supposed design team do in a week!” she said.
“Two as in …?” he asked patiently as he set his briefing tablet down.
“The old guys that the general brought in. Saint Joy and Egger … whatever his name is.”
“Ah, the consultants,” Admiral Lewis replied with a nod. He'd gotten a missive from the general about giving each of them rank. He was sitting on it, unsure which way to jump.
“I was doing the rounds, checking on the progress. I sat in on the parasite design club, but they were just chasing their tails. I got frustrated so I jumped ship and went over to their side of the hall. Here they were, just the two of them, with designs all laid out. They were starting to debate the merits of armor and such, plus the weapon mix. But they already had a working model and a dozen sims!” she shook her head.
“They've got priority computer access. No doubt thanks to Hillman,” Admiral Lewis mused.
“I think I want to go with their designs. They had some telling points about the carrier design,” she said. She filled him in and showed him the basic design. He nodded. “We'll need to get that ship that is up for auction.”
“I'll put in a word. We don't have the budget for it, but we can work on that. If the seller doesn't run up the price,” he said with a grimace.
“We need more intel on how the enemy fights and thinks. Battleships we know about? Cruisers too, and I'm betting those smaller ships that Speedwell saw were support craft since they didn't try to engage her. But do they have parasite craft? Fighters? I saw the speculatio
n on their body size based on the size of their airlocks,” Admiral Lewis said. “Some of the eggheads did a possible volume study of the ships they've seen. If their WAGs are right, it indicates a large crew. That lends itself to a possible herd or hive mind mentality, which might explain why they favor battleships over fighters.”
“Again, WAGs are involved,” Jan warned him.
Admiral Lewis grimaced. “I know, I know,” he sighed.
“We can't take anything at face value, not without more intel,” Jan said. “If they are still puttering around in Rho like we're hoping,” she shared a brief look with her fellow flag officer. “It will take three or more years to get any intel back. If we get it back,” she observed.
“Hopefully, more ships can slip through their net. But I think they've slammed the door shut on anyone else escaping,” Admiral Lewis said.
“Yeah,” Jan sighed. “My thoughts exactly.”
“The good news is, with us stuck on defense, we've got the home court advantage. The advantage of the interior with short supply lines. They have to carry everything here,” Admiral Lewis said.
Jan nodded. “Yeah, but they get to pick the time and direction. So orbital forts are not very effective.”
“For defense, yes. But we'll need platforms to support them. I noted that the duo you mentioned put together an asteroid fortress plan. I've already submitted it to the military oversight committee for final approval.” He smiled briefly. “ …And we're already collecting rocks for it. Plus, they pointed out that everything should be plug and play between the fortresses and the ships, so ramping up production of components for the forts means we can skim them off for the ships,” he said.
Jan's eyes lit. “Now that's good news,” she said.
“Yeah, if they approve it,” Admiral Lewis said sourly.
Chapter 20
The following morning Admiral Kepler went back to the fighter design team. It was obvious from the moment that she came in that they hadn't made much progress despite the looming deadline. It had been extended twice. She was getting fed up with it and knew that they weren't taking the deadlines seriously.
Based on just the discussion she'd overheard in the first few minutes, they had reached a consensus to keep the tug models for training purposes, but the design team wanted something better. A purpose-built ship from the ground up.
That explained the sudden interest from the corporations wanting to get funding for their own designs to submit to the government she thought sourly. When there was a lull, she rose to her feet. “Yeah, a multiyear boondoggle—a billion-credit paper study. Pass. We need fighters now. Today, not paper studies and crap. Get it in space now or there is the door,” she said firmly, pointing to the door. “You've had six weeks to come up with a basic design. Get it done or I'll damn well find someone else,” she snarled.
That had everyone on edge instantly.
The team of five had changed a bit since the fighter design board had changed to the small craft design board. They had initially taken some ideas from video games over existing platforms. They'd quickly realized that although some games rooted their designs in some real-world physics, they weren't consistent. Nor were the game designers above bending the rules when it suited them.
“You've got until the end of today, midnight if necessary, to come up with a basic platform,” Admiral Kepler decreed. “Go through the various designs, run them through your tests to eliminate the ones that won't work, and then go from there.”
“But …,” Toby MacKenzie, a famous small craft designer, protested before he cut himself off when he saw her stern foreboding expression. “Okay,” he said weakly.
Admiral Lewis and Admiral Kepler had ordered them to focus on converting existing platforms into fighter designs for the initial push with a better design to be started afterward. But that hadn't stopped the debate; it had just changed the parameters. Some wanted to convert shuttles into the platforms while others wanted to convert tugs or space-only craft known as lighters. “The space tugs might work. The shuttle, no,” Pavel Scolnik said with a shake of his head as they tried to resolve the debate.
“Why not?”
“One, we don't need aerodynamic surfaces in space. Two, everything has to be geared to make the thing fast, nimble, carry weapons, ECM, fuel, and give them as much range as possible. A shuttle is a trash hauler. It's not built for being in space for days or weeks at a time. It goes up and down and that's it.”
“Weeks? You honestly think someone can sit in a cockpit that long?” Toby asked dubiously.
“Work with me. I could see shuttles being used as resupply vessels, especially the dedicated space ones, the lighters. The same for tugs. We can use the stock designs there,” Pavel said. That earned a grudging nod from some of the design team. “And we can probably start with basic tugs for the components of the first gen fighters.”
“We already are,” Jan interjected patiently. All eyes turned to her. “We've got two squadrons of them. They started flight tests last week.” Jan pointed out. The design team blinked at her owlishly. “What, you people haven't seen the data they've been bringing in?” she asked, picking up a tablet and waving it.
“That's part of our problem; we're overwhelmed with data,” Toby complained. “We really can't work with this sort of time crunch. There are too many places where things can go wrong just from being missed.”
“We've already been swamped by people wanting to become the next fighter jock who saves the human race,” Jan drawled. “By the way, I knew about the aerodynamic thing. But with wings … you have to store the fuel somewhere, and hell, you have to hang the ordinance off something, right?”
“True,” Pavel admitted with a slow nod.
“But I think you are right, a manned tug … could we go unmanned?” Jan asked. “Currently, our plan is to have four classes of fighter bombers. A general purpose, an unmanned design, an interceptor defender, and a dedicated bomber. We can customize recon or AWAC platforms on the basic design or on other platforms as needed. But again, what about unmanned? Telepresence?”
Toby shook his head. “No. The time lag for microwave or laser transmission becomes a factor over an extended range. You can't maneuver in real time against real threats, not when microseconds could mean the difference between life and death,” he explained. Jan nodded. “Besides, it'd be vulnerable to interception,” he pointed out without looking up from whatever he was reading.
“Oh. Good points,” Pavel said, making a face.
Jan sat back as she filed that away. He was right. It didn't free up the idea for in-close defense of a ship, nor an A.I. driven platform, but she decided to table the idea for the moment.
“We can borrow from the current space fighter games on the market. We can use them as sims and plug in real numbers; the physics engines are pretty good,” Pavel said. “You can use them to train the pilots initially,” he said.
Jan nodded slowly.
“There won't be any gimmicks though. No shields and pick-me-ups. Get people training now, and we can plug in hard numbers to replace variables as we develop the ship, right?” Toby asked, looking over to Pavel and then to the others.
“Exactly what I was thinking. I know we like the idea of using fighters since they can be mass produced and attrition well, but I'm not sure they are viable,” Pavel said.
“Oh?” Jan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“As you mentioned, time in space. They can't be everywhere all the time. Plus, we'd need AWACs, refuel … the whole kit and caboodle, and I don't think we have time to reinvent the wheel, let alone fine tune it,” Pavel explained. “The more support craft we have the less fighters and bombers. And don't get me started on trying to support, fuel, and maintain them!”
“Maybe. Everything is on the table at the moment. Every moment is precious though, that I agree with,” Jan said wryly. “Don't shoot something down and get cemented into one idea for the long-term designs. We need to do that eventually but remain flexible and
open to new ideas to add to the mix as they present themselves. But for the moment, focus on the tug design.”
“It won't be homogeneous across the navy,” Toby pointed out. “They'll have logistics issues plus training.” He shook his head.
“No, but someone somewhere will be new no matter what we do. We'll deal with it,” Jan said firmly. “For the moment, we need something in space.”
“So … we don't know if the enemy has fighters so we have to train for interception roles … I'd think bombers would be better but perhaps multirole platforms?” Shri Oden asked. Shri was the only Neo on the board Jan knew. She was a white Neoselkie, an accomplished and decorated pilot.
“Spare me the multirole. Specialists are best at what they do for a reason. I think a modular approach though,” Toby said as he played with the basic design. “Not that one,” he muttered, discarding a frame for another.
“Modular as in …?” Shri asked.
“Same frame, avionics, engine, power plant, skin, whatever we can get away with. But modify them for the specific role as the admiral mentioned a moment ago. That way they share most of the logistics tail and training,” Toby said.
“But we can outfit a ship as an interceptor or bomber. Got it,” Shri said with a nod to Pavel and then the others.
“Right. Speaking of bomber, do we have anything to use for ordinance? I'm thinking missiles, nuclear tipped obviously. But we don't know the ranges …,” Pavel said.
Jan rubbed her brow as the topic shifted again.
“Exactly. Fusion bombs to get through any energy shields the enemy ships have. I think a bomber carrying missiles intended to strike a ship is technically a torpedo craft though, right? So, shouldn't they be called torpedoes?” Shri asked. All eyes turned to the admiral.
“We'll let the nitpickers decide that one,” Jan said dismissively.
“Now, the missiles, obviously, they can't share a lot of components with the shipboard missiles,” Pavel said.
“Shipboard ones will have to be bigger to go the distance,” Toby pointed out as he flicked a finger to spin a tug platform. Jan craned her neck to see it. It had a long gun offset on the port side. She didn't like it instantly; symmetrical designs made sense when maneuvering. As she watched, a brief and apparently dirty sim came in. Toby didn't like what he saw so he went back to the drawing board.