by Chris Hechtl
Most of the Yard's personnel were on refit and repair duty, so construction was slow. The frigate Jumping Jack and Apollo Class Corvette Charlie along with Kittyhawk and several other ships had been refit and returned to service. Xavier, Bismark, Prometheus, and other ships had swarms of work crews of organics and mechs crawling all over them inside and out. Now that Firefly had finished her repair and was out of her slip, her work crews had been reassigned to other duties.
The Yard was still coming alive, after all; engineers were scattered throughout the system and surrounding systems in various work projects. The fortresses, San Diego, the growing solar farms, plasma tap project, and others all vied for the best and brightest engineers. They couldn't drop said projects either, so a compromise had to be worked out. Work schedules were extended. New people were brought on board to help, but it would take time to train them up to standard.
There was also the issue of security, which meant each civilian had to pass a security check. That created a bottleneck in the process, a necessary one, but one the construction managers chafed under.
Civilian subcontractors were hired to handle some of the lighter manufacturing duties. Since the construction of the goods was off site, that required less of a security check but shipping to the military logistics hub. Lake Electronics, Dean Aerospace, Colony Makers, Sod Busters, and others competed for the contracts.
Prometheus launched with a bit of fanfare, briefly stopping everything in the Yard. She wasn't quite ready, but she was now ship worthy, able to move out under her own power, and with her on-board replicators, she could see to her own final outfitting as needed.
She started the third stage of her construction; she entered builder trials. The trials lasted several days before the ship was dialed in. She returned to the Yard and the fitting slips for the final stages of her construction. A week later she received a brief commissioning ceremony.
All the big names were on hand except Governor Walker and most of his supporters. He snubbed the party, making it plain in the media he wanted no part in “exporting jobs and our critical industry elsewhere when they are so desperately needed here at home.”
Horatio Logan was quite glad the stuffed shirt had kept himself out. He would have ruined the party anyway.
“I hereby christen this ship Prometheus; long may she live up to her name,” Doctor Thornby intoned. On the appointed hour Doctor Thornby ceremoniously pressed a large red button. A small air tube chuffed near the large window, sending a bottle of champagne winging across the void to the ship. It hit the ship's bow and shattered, spraying a glitter of vaporizing fluid and tiny shards of glass into the void. After a moment the ship began to move, drifting slowly out of the docking slip for hopefully the last time.
Horatio shook hands with everyone, including and especially his daughter, the Captain. He smiled proudly as she nodded and then took on her duties, shaking hands and handling the diplomacy of the occasion with quiet professionalism. She looked very good in her formal uniform; her mother would have been proud. He knew he was.
During the after-party, Horatio ran into Robert Dean. As a subcontractor Dean had wangled an invite to the party. Someone in the public affairs department had wanted to mend some fences so he'd gotten in. Horatio didn't care as long as the man minded his manners. Dean was a bit bitter over not having the industry that the military did; that was obvious and an ongoing complaint. One that Horatio was getting heartily sick of. The guy was narrow minded and thick headed, focusing on Pyrax to the exclusion of the bigger picture.
“Why are you sending Prometheus out there when she's needed here?” Dean demanded, waving a hand. He slopped his drink but apparently didn't care.
Horatio felt his jaw set as he rose to the challenge. He reminded himself to keep his temper in check; after all, this was a contractor, and there were journalists in the party. “Bull. Hephaestus was here for what, two and a half years? Don't give me that. She reported that every station and colony had been restored or at least restored enough to be functional on its own. The government can take it from there. We're not a free hand out here.”
“I didn't say you were,” Dean said, nettled.
“No, but you've been thinking it. And others too. You keep thinking small. You need to think bigger,” Horatio said, waving his hands apart. “Like the Admiral.”
Dean’s eyes flashed at the pointed reminder of the Admiral. He'd been in with the group to get rid of the Admiral and rather regretted that decision. “Which is hard to do; you're sucking every resource in the system up,” Dean said stubbornly.
“If you can build to spec, we'll hire you. If you don't cut corners and if your product isn't shit, then we'll keep hiring you. We need everything, and so does the civilian market. Shuttles, tugs, drones, mechs, you name it.”
“But, we can't compete with your replicators!” Dean said, throwing his hands up in despair. Horatio looked around subtly, noting the scene was attracting attention. He wondered if it was deliberate or not.
“If you can give me a competitive bid, I'll seriously consider it. Or,” he held up a finger “Or I'll take your bid and still make more on the side. But most likely I'll put the resources to other uses. We have a lot of things going on here, a lot of projects vying for attention and resources, and only so much of both available. If you can take the load off, we'd appreciate it,” he said.
He noted Dean's eyes gleam for a moment. He was fairly certain that the bastard was reading between the lines, but Horatio didn't care. Let him read whatever he wanted; it didn't mean he'd do anything he didn't want to do.
“With careful work you can build and ship products throughout the sector and eventually beyond,” he reminded the man. That idea seemed to intrigue Dean but he was stubborn.
“I still don't like Antigua. The competition...” He shook his head. “And Irons going there instead of here!” he growled.
“Can you blame the man?” Horatio demanded. “Here he got nothing but grief from everyone despite busting his ass to help. People tried to kill him how many times? Kidnap him?” He shook his head. “Look at the shit I've been going through! I still can't get the taxes out of the so-called government! Taxes meant to run the military! It's all tied up in paperwork,” he quoted snidely. He took a sip of his drink.
“That's not my thing,” Dean said stiffly. “So I know little about that. “My point still stands,” he said. “There is enough room for everyone at the table; we can all do our part. Everyone. Competition is a good thing; it's a healthy thing,” Horatio reminded him.
He noted he wasn't getting anywhere with that so he shrugged it off. Dean was a capitalist, but he wanted a monopoly, one under his banner. “Besides, Pyrax has larger resources for her industry with her five belts. The Eden belt alone was quite thick with material, all broken up from the planet when she was destroyed. There is a hell of a lot of concentrated material right there.”
“Yeah, but you Navy guys snapped up the best ones,” Dean complained.
Horatio shook his head. “No, there are thousands, hell, millions more. We picked up clusters. Some of the easiest stuff, yes. And yes, we mine it all, using grasers to break it down for the molecular furnaces and then sucking it all up. And yeah, we're going through material, and yes, we're still prospecting for more. We have to if we want to keep constructing. But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty more where they came from. Besides, there are others in other systems too. You just have to go there.”
“But sending stuff to other systems! I mean we need it here!”
“Again, bull. If the enemy shows up there, what then?”
“That's their problem,” Dean said with a sniff.
“And if they use that system as a staging ground to invade here? Like B101a1?” Horatio went on. “Think about that,” he said. “Now think about this, if the people in the system were your customers? Would you want them invaded? Wiped out? You lose a market right?”
“We have to get there first,” Dean growled.
“True, but you can hire some marketing guys, toss some samples together and ship them there. Hell, you don't have to just build shuttles either! Build modular space stations! Lots of things! Fuel filtration systems, pumps, entire systems right there! Ships like the idea of docking with a station, right? Hell yes they do. It means less wear on their own shuttles, and they can move fuel and cargo in and out faster! And if the planet has its own shuttle fleet they can move cargo to and from orbit on their own time table, delivering it to wherever they want it on the planet. Or stage it there on the station to move throughout the system or on to other systems! The same for fuel! All made by you or whoever builds it!”
Dean rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “That's an interesting proposal. But you're already doing that in Agnosta and elsewhere.”
Horatio shook his head. “For military vessels not civilian. Oh sure, we'll take them on for fuel or if they are carrying a cargo for us or going to do so. But civilians should have civilian facilities, built by civilians,” he said indicating Dean.
“I've been going about this the wrong way,” Dean murmured. “You are right.”
“Think of Dean shuttles going up and down all over the sector. Thousands of them. A space station or two in orbit of every planet with your logo on it. Your products can reach the markets in this part of the sector far faster than Antigua. Keep a good reputation, and you'll go far. You'll be entrenched when they are trying to break into the market.”
“I didn't know you knew such things, Horatio,” Dean said.
“I know a lot of things. I've been around, before, during, and hell, after the war. With age sometimes comes wisdom.”
“Well, you've certainly given me a lot to think about, Captain. My thanks,” Dean said grudgingly. He nodded curtly. Horatio nodded back. Dean left looking thoughtful.
Horatio watched him go and then snorted. “Let him chew on that for a while,” he muttered, downing his drink and then moving on.
Chapter 29
Ensign Esh'z was surprised and pleased by an invitation to the first intelligence workshop. He was heartily glad, not just because his peers had requested his presence, but also because he didn't want to have anything to do with the abortion clean up going on throughout the system. It was quite a mess, and heads were almost literally rolling over it. Those who'd thought they'd get out and be back to civilian life found out differently when they were handed over to the military justice system. Others who thought things would be business as usual were finding out the fun was over.
In a way he regretted not getting involved in it, but the day-in grind wasn't what he'd trained for; the intelligence gathering was. The shop was run by Lieutenant Commander Montgomery as senior officer and G-2 of the system. Lieutenant Teague, Ensign Barry, several other AI, and other organics the Veraxin Marine didn't recognize were also participating. The workshop had been called on San Diego. They were using the academy for the presentation since most of the academy was in recess for the week.
“It's time we put the service rivalries we've been building up aside and start comparing notes. We've got a lot to cover, not just the intel picture we've been building from civilian sources, but also the material we've recently acquired in Antigua and B101a1,” Monty said in his address to the group. “I think everyone in this room is familiar with the material we've picked up here in Pyrax and the Marines picked up in Agnosta. What we've got to do is identify the pieces we've picked up, sift through it with fresh eyes, and then see what we can put together. Admiral Irons has specifically called this conference for this purpose after he and his AI identified a major shift in the pirates modus operandi.”
The workshop listed the differences between the pirates and home fleet. “It's almost like they are a different culture. They share some of the same things obviously, but...”
“Reservist versus battle fleet?” A Neodog intel officer asked.
“More along the lines of raider militia and professionals. Though we do have some cross pollination indicators...”
The fleets encountered in the two recent battles had been more disciplined, they had better hardware, and their computer security was more efficient. That may have been caused by the capture of the ships in Pyrax, but there was no confirmation of that supposition.
“It could be that the raiders were a smoke screen. An act. All an act to let others think they were nothing more than common thieves and murderers. But for some reason, now they are changing, becoming a fleet.”
“Yes, we have seen an uptick in ships recently haven't we? And before, before there was one or two raiders, and they usually hit an area once or twice and then moved on.”
“And now...now they have more. They've been saving up the ships. That much is obvious. Salvage most likely, plus captured hulls. They've been putting all their ill-gotten gains to use. Their own use.”
“Yes, that is a problem.”
Waves of ships were now coming out of Horathian space, conquering the surrounding space and then moving on. Each wave was a task force. So far they had stopped three, the first in Pyrax, the second two in Antigua and B101a1. There was supposition of follow up forces and occupational forces.
“The question is, the hardware. How efficient is it? We know there is a big difference between civilian and military grade of course. And when you factor in the time since anything has been made...”
“But we can't just look at it with just salvage. Admiral Irons, Commander Sprite, and Firefly all identified new construction going on. Ships or ship components being mass produced. We need a hard look at their tech,” Monty said.
The others nodded. “This is getting complicated.”
“I'm wondering again what caused the change in tactics? Why did they start to pull the cloak off after how many centuries? Six? How long has this been going on? How deep does the plan really go?”
“Remember, we know a person with anti-geriatric treatments can live a good five or more centuries...” Lieutenant Teague said.
“Yes, but if you also factor in stasis...”
“Peter Pan? Yes...” Irene Teague's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“So, did the battle of Pyrax make them come out into the open and change tactics or did their own politics? Is this still part of their plan or did something change? Obviously tech may also be a factor. We've got indications of Vinatelli; we need to look more into that. Get a background on him, his schooling, anything we can get from Antigua,” Monty said. Teague and the others nodded.
“We've got more too. Command wants an appreciation of the enemy, how good their ships are, their crews, how they may fight, and anything else we can think of,” Ensign Barry said.
“But we can only estimate some of that. We need engineers to go over that,” Esh'z protested.
“Yes, and we have their reports. We can compare the various reports, see what their trends are for general classes and come up with a baseline, then adjust it as necessary.”
“Most likely upwards,” Teague said darkly. “They are getting better. We've gotten word that some of their ships are efficient enough to hit the low octaves of beta band.”
“Is that even possible?” a midshipman said, taken aback. He wasn't the only one; more than one officer looked affronted by such an idea.
“So much for having the high tech solution,” Monty said, quieting them down. “I think they want to win just as badly as we do, so they will do what they can to redress the balance into their favor as much as possible. We need to be on the lookout for that.”
“An upward curve,” Ensign Kamia said. She pulled up a graph, with the tech listed on the Y axis and time on the X. “This is where they started, based on the tech encountered in the raiders that hit Pyrax.” She plotted a red dot near the bottom. “The blue dot is the normal specs of the ships,” she said. A second series of dots appeared, much higher than the red. “Now, factoring in what we've learned in Antigua and B100 omega and B101a1...” more red dots appeared, these halving the distance to the blue dots. “Now, i
f this trend continues,” she drew a line connecting the starting dots to the secondary dots, and then projected it on upward.”
“It may not be that bad,” Irene said, waving a hand. “After all, they don't have milspec. So I think they should plateau out before they hit normal spec.”
“True.”
“I want to know what the hell caused the sudden jump, and how the hell they pulled it off in such a short time.”
“And what else is coming in the pipeline. We may only be seeing the beginning of this...” Kamia said.
“Let's not scare us or others to death. But you are right,” Monty said waving a hand. “Good presentation, copy it to each of us please,” he said with a nod to the AI.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“In short, sometime in the past twenty years they seem to have been upgraded. Better education, medical, and other factors. That's causing an evolution in their tech and threat level. They are making better equipment, and learning to use it properly. Or will over time.”
“Not quite. B101a1 was a mess.”
“Yes, but if you look at it, you'll see that they were using mechs for security, engineering support, and moving cargo. That is something new. They are freeing up people to do more important things.”
“I don't like the sound of that.”
“Neither do I. Do we have a possible source for this change?”
“From what we've picked up, an individual named Leonardo Vinatelli. An Antiguan who apparently emigrated to Horath sometime in the past twenty odd years. He was drawn there by a woman he married.”
“Honey trap?”
“It seems that way.”
“It is hard to believe one individual could change them so radically in such a short time.”
“I agree, but the indications are there. This Vinatelli character was some sort of engineering genius.”