by C. R. Daems
"At first I could understand Lavett's concerns, but I now see that it elicits their complete support. That benefits the SAS, Riss, and them." Pavao sat back and took a drink of her wine.
"I too thought the Skippers behavior strange at first. Sorry, Skipper," Varisko said with a sheepish look in my direction. "I felt they were the enemy and should be treated accordingly. But they have bent over backwards to be cooperative every time I've been on an unannounced inspection. They greet me and my team with courtesy and respect."
"Yes, your Captain is a pleasant surprise, Varisko. Changing subjects, the Mnemosyne's structure—strange name, Nadya—will be completely assembled in a few weeks. I wish the internal components were in place. I can't wait for the trials. It's truly unique. With the hull's outer material and angles, it will be almost invisible to radar even at close range, and with its ten small engines you could rig it for silent-running by using only passive sensors and one or two engines."
" I'd like to be able to choose our battles or avoid them altogether, like the Riss did when some of the people on Saipha hunted them for their skins. Sometimes it's better to wait for another day. Unlike humans who number in the billions, the Riss number less than three thousand." I held up three fingers for emphasis.
"Speaking of the Riss, how many will the next group of Riss make?"
"Four hundred and eighty-four."
"Are you going to assign more to Corbitt and me or are you planning on assigning them to the Lynx. That would eliminate all of the navy personnel, but I'm not sure that would be a good idea."
"I intend to keep the numbers the same, but I’ll be rotating the Riss and Riss-humans. Elissa will replace Alena on the Merlin. Jaelle will replace Elissa on your ship, and Alena will move to the Lynx. I'm trying to give the Riss-humans the maximum experience, since they will eventually be the captains of the Riss cruisers." I took and sip of kaffa, while I sorted through my planned changes. "I'm assigning fifty Riss to help the work on the Mnemosyne and to get them intimately acquainted with the working of the ship. Another one hundred and eighty will be assigned to Freeland for now, leaving half the Lynx manned by Riss.
"Why so many to Freeland?" Pavao asked.
"I've decided having all the Riss on ships risks their annihilation. I plan to leave several hundred on Saipha and on Freeland to be sure there will be a next generation."
"A wise decision." Pavao nodded. "Enough, when do we start on the inside of the Mnemosyne?"
"It's time. Varisko, schedule a meeting with Da'Maass two days from now and invite captains Pavao, Corbitt, Commander Byer, Colonel Seng, Sa'Arkadi, and the Elders. You’re welcome to come and Terril will be part of my security."
"Thank you, Skipper."
"When we originally became Riss-humans, we chose the names of goddesses for our Riss companions, so I thought I'd keep the tradition with the Riss cruisers. Mnemosyne is the ancient Greek Goddess of memory and time. Since the Riss have the memories of their mother's mother going back generations it seemed appropriate."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Designing a Riss cruiser
Well, Captain Reese, We haven't seen you down here in sometime. I was beginning to think you were afraid of losing your current rank. I have a six and a seven-knot student who thinks you might be over rated." Terril grinned. Si'jin rank was based on who you could consistently best and who could consistently best you. Consequently, your rank was subject to change. Terril was currently a nine-knot. Only Master Wei held a ten-knot rank. I was rated an eight-knot.
"And what do you think, Master Terril?" I said, knowing Terril looked forward to our matches as much as I did and was reminding me I haven't been working out much lately.
"Alright, Master Terril. We could start off with a six-knot," I said, feeling renewed just thinking about the upcoming workout. I changed and found a crowd of Scorpions gathered in a circle around our workout area.
Terril motioned to a young, medium height, muscular woman. "Osisa, why don't you show Master Reese how stale she's gotten over the past month."
Osisa stepped to the left of Terril and stood ready, although to the casual observer she looked to be standing normally. I moved to the right of Terril.
As I did, Terril stepped back and Osisa exploded towards me. I blocked her right arm strike and rotated around her, driving an elbow into her back. I then dropped, executing a leg sweep. She managed to roll away as my leg touched her.
The battle continued for several minutes. I scored a half-dozen times, but to her credit, Osisa managed two scores, which would normally have put most opponents on the mat. Thanks to Master Wei's training, they were feather light.
"Stop," Terril called. "Alright, Master Reese, I guess that performance was good enough to keep you a seventh knot." Her lip twitched. "Now, Edmann, why don't you show Master Reese what a real seventh knot master can do. Edmann was a head taller than me, lean, with rip-cord hard muscles."
He stepped up to Terril's left looking relaxed but his eyes gleamed with excitement. Terril stepped back.
Edmann remained motionless, waiting for some sign of weakness. I approved. I made a slight forward movement and he spun with a back kick to my chest. I stepped in as the kick drove towards me. I spun sideways, and his leg slid by me. As it did, my left arm hooked under his leg, and I kicked out his right leg, driving him to the floor. I fell with him, landing an elbow into his spine before rolling off. Without protective equipment and my restraint, he would have had a broken leg and spine. With the equipment, the blow was without a doubt painful but not disabling. As I rolled to my feet, he spun to a standing position. Terril let us continue for several minutes, before calling a halt to the match.
"I guess you can keep your eighth knot, Master Reese. A bit sloppy but adequate. Why don't you give Osisa and Edmann some pointers and rest up.” She smiled. “Because I plan to give you some pointers before you leave."
I worked the two for over an hour. Terril was right. They were solid sixth and seventh ranked masters. Although they were officially Terril's students, anyone with a sixth or higher knot was considered a master and could teach Si'jin. Mostly we worked on counter moves to a couple of moves I had used during our matches. I knew Terril was getting ready for our match as the number of Scorpions watching dramatically increased.
"I hope you’re not going to disappoint me. You looked pretty slop…” She leapt at me with the speed of a Saipha snowcat. I wasn't prepared. She was right. Sloppy. But my reflexes limited the contact to two light scores. Time stood still as we lost ourselves in the beauty of Si'jin. Thanks to Master Wei, the blows we scored varied from soft to feather light. If we had been fighting Wei, our blows when we managed to get close, would have been like hitting a cloud of smoke. Terril scored three to my two, which I thought a respectable showing, considering I hadn't been working out for a while.
As we finished, the roar of stomping feet, clapping, and shouting greeted us. The Scorpions always loved a good fight, and I had to admit Freeland was a boring tour. As I left the area, two scorpions fell in behind me. Since the incident with Captain Lavett, they carried their hands closer to their shard guns. I wouldn't be surprised if Terril hadn't told them to shoot anyone who gave me a dirty look.
"Captain on the Bridge," Varisko said as I entered. I sat and waved her over.
"Have you prepared the list of personnel to be rotated?" Eden needed to know who was rotating so they could select appropriate replacements. Normally, one of the arriving ships would replace the ship that had been on station a year. That would have been the Merlin, if Corbitt hadn't chosen to stay. The Lynx remained on station permanently; therefore, this time personnel replacements would be necessary f
or the Merlin and the Lynx.
"Yes, Skipper." She handed me a chip, which I slid into my SID. Half of the primary Bridge crew would be rotated; however, they had requested reassignment back to Freeland on the next six-month rotation. Varisko nodded. "Most want to see friends and family, but want to crew with you, Skipper. And I've nobody I need to see, so if you don't mind, I've elected to stay."
"Thank you. You've proven yourself an excellent XO. I'd be glad to recommend you for a Captaincy. You've earned it."
"Thank you, Skipper, but I'm not ready. I have a lot to learn and this is the place where things are happening. Everyone feels the same."
"I certainly won't complain. I couldn't ask for a better group on the Bridge." The thought brought a warm feeling. They were loyal and good at their positions. I had hated the thought of replacing them. I settled back, feeling better about the upcoming rotation.
* * *
"Seng told me you're considering having special qualified Scorpion units aboard the Riss ships," Terril said as we waited for our shuttle to reach the Freeland space facility for the next phase of the Mnemosyne construction—internal functions. "I hope you're not planning to leave me behind."
"There is nothing in the world I’d love more than to have you with me. I struggle with the Riss Nation Navy concept every day. I'm high-Riss and sister to the Riss, but I'm also human and have many good friends—none better than you. I know I can count on the Scorpions with the help of people like you and Seng leading them. And I believe I will need combat troops in battle." I didn't believe the Riss were suitable in that role nor did I want them to become suitable. It was bad enough that they would be involved in space battles without hand-to-hand combat. And it would increase the risk of more dying. "The SAS is having the same problem with me. They understand that integrating the Riss into the SAS is not possible long term. Can I be a SAS officer and station commander, and the leader of the Riss? Or must I be one or the other? And if so, which? That is why the RNN Mnemosyne is so important. It'll separate the Riss Nation from the SAS and allow us to be allies. Then we can address the issue of how allies work together to our mutual advantage. In the end, it's a SAS decision not the Riss."
We lapsed into silence, each lost in our own thoughts.
Da'Maass was there as I exited the shuttle. My cheeks felt warm when he smiled but I put it down to the brisk walk from the ship.
"Good morning, dybbuk,” he said. Everyone is here waiting on whatever surprises you have today."
"I have ideas, Da'Maass, but I'll need you and your team to bring them to reality. It's my hope that what we accomplish today will benefit the Riss, SAS, and the clans."
"I believe you. And I will do everything I can to realize that dream. The men and women here are the people who will work on the Bridge."
The room was crowded and every chair around the table filled except for two. I counted twelve people.
Taking a deep breath, I said, "Good morning. You're going to be working on something new and hopefully exciting. The Riss are a small nation but I believe eventually we will need five to six cruisers. Hopefully that will keep everyone busy for several years." Pausing, I tried to gauge their reaction.
"I want seven panels, maybe six feet wide, to span a curved wall. Each panel will contains a full set of controls: radar, weapons, ECM—"
"Why?" a woman in the middle asked. She was wearing old fashion eyeglasses.
"That's a waste and costly," a short pudgy man said, frowning at me. At the same time, several conversations broke out. I waited for the room to quiet.
"First you are building a Bridge for Riss. They have longer arms and can reach higher and wider. Secondly, I want the operators to be able to switch functions. If, for example, radar goes out on one panel, I want to be able to switch it to another and have that function switched to the panel that lost the radar function. In addition, I want one station to be able to work two functions simultaneously. In other words, the Bridge of the Mnemosyne will have ultimate flexibility. The seventh panel is a spare or may in the future support another function. A large monitor should be mounted over each station to display the individual station's activity or other information."
I sat back and waited. After several minutes, the questions began, coming too fast to answer.
"What do the panels look like?"
"What controls does each function have?"
"Do the Riss need special controls?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, I leave the design in your hands. I'll have Riss available for you to determine control shapes, height consideration, etc., and a human to tell you the controls for each function. I leave the design details to you." That seemed to excite everyone. Da'Maass rose.
"Captain Reese, is providing us with an opportunity to help design the cruiser of tomorrow. I believe many of the Mnemosyne's ideas will eventually find their way into the cruisers of the other empires. And, maybe, we'll be one of the industrial complexes that specialize in building those cruisers. For now, it's not only work but exciting work that will allow you to use your creativity."
The room emptied, people walking with others in excited conversations. Twenty minutes later, another group entered. Da'Maass again began the meeting.
"For those who don't know her, this is Captain Reese. Captain, this is the group who will be working on your missiles." As Da'Maass finished, a tall, frowning man with a black, neatly trimmed beard on a narrow face spoke.
"I understand you like dumb missiles. That doesn't sound like the future, relying on luck to hit your target."
"Yes, one of the options on the SAS cruisers I flew was dumb missiles—with very advanced mathematics developed by the Riss. They proved effective in battle. You are going to help me develop the next generation. They won't be dumb, just a little retarded." I stopped to let the room quiet. Da'Maass smiled at my remark, some were speechless, and others immediately began lively conversations with the people around them. I held up a hand for quiet.
"First, we need missiles that can be launched unpowered so they can't be detected. For now, call them Dragonflies. They will provide the eyes for our retarded missiles with the warheads. Call those Demons. The Dragonflies will be able to adjust our Demons vector by a degree or two.”
"Why can't we adjust them from the ship?" A tall good-looking redhead asked.
"Because our third missile, call them Dusters, will be set to explode at some predetermined distance between us and the enemy, discharging a cloud of chaff debris similar to the ash from a volcano. The purpose will be to blind the enemies' missile-tracking sensors. The Dragonflies will be our eyes, over, under, and around the debris." I still liked dumb missiles but a slight adjustment would make them much more effective. But that wasn't enough. I wanted to decrease the effectiveness of the enemies' missiles. Ironically, the sophistication of their missiles was their potential weakness. Again, the conversation and questions went on for some time.
The sessions took three days by which time I was mentally exhausted. I had sketched out my concepts but it would be up to others to implement them.
Pavao’s voice shook me out of my exchange with Thalia. "You have my head spinning. I
don't know what I expected a Riss ship to look like. I guess a smaller version of a raider ship, since you agreed not to use SAS technology." She laughed. "Our high-tech geniuses are going to be devastated when they find out their latest smart missiles are less effective than old-fashioned cannon balls."
"I certainly see a future for the clans developing and building your Riss cruisers." Da'Maass gave me a hard look. "But I'll bet I don't see all you see."
"When do you plan to share this with the SAS?" Pavao asked, her smile gone.
"When it has been tested and we know it works. Then we will have something to demonstrate. The Riss want to be allies with the SAS and will share anything we develop. We've proved that with our navigation and missile algorithms and the fact that I've welcomed you and Corbitt to participate in every phase of the Mnemosyne's development. We have no secrets, but I don't want to set the wrong expectations or start rumors that may offset any advantage the new concepts may produce."
"Sorry, Nadya. You're right on all counts. We still have to produce a prototype system and then prove it works."
* * *
As Pavao had predicted, two Light cruisers arrived bringing one hundred Riss and replacements for the Merlin and the Lynx. The number of replacements was moderately large, since no shore leave was possible personnel were allowed to transfer after a year on station. The next replacements would require a Heavy, since neither the Merlin, Bobcat, nor Lynx was being rotated.
The Merlin had one hundred eighty replacements, the Bobcat twenty, and the Lynx one hundred sixty, which included three on the Bridge: Skadi on Helm, Parsen on ECM, and Gelman on Communications. I immediately, called a meeting of the Section chiefs, XOs, Captains of the Merlin and Bobcat, and the new replacements. We met on the Lynx in an empty shuttle bay.
"Attention,” Varisko barked as I walked into the room. Normally the presence of a Riss-human as Captain would have caused an explosion of raw emotions. But the news of my position was fairly common knowledge now and those joining the Freeland task force had been briefed before leaving Eden. Hopefully, those violently opposed opted out of the assignment.