Minutegirls

by George Phillies

  "It's better to strike first, effectively, than to sit and wait," Fuller answered. "Sitting and waiting is lackadaisical, unmanly, and endangers our Republic. We have two targets for a counterpunch, each needed some while to get there. We could send a fleet component to Sol, attack the FEU there, and establish the principle that they face retaliation if they attack us. Alternative: rent a half-dozen pairs of Pontefract tube transports. We know where the nearest warp junction from Sol outbound ends. It's 40 light years out. Set up the junctions, move our fleet out, and hit them in a place where they expect no attack at all, admittedly a decade or more from now.

  "If Earth will not act," Senator Thorne said, "the States of Lincoln are substantially on our own. We can ask the outer colonies for support, but economic realities say that we will net few ships out of that. With President and Federal Senate divided, Shell Game is not helpful. I believe Grand Commodore Kalinin's statements were correct, and there must be a very extensive fleet mobilization, up to about ten times our current deployment or more, on the lines of the Grey or Umber plans. These plans do not diverge for a year, but advance preparation is needed to pursue Grey at that time. I will support either, if that's the only way to get a majority. And yes, Thomas, this does mean I must sip from the poisoned chalice and advocate a Tax Referendum to pay for those plans."

  The room was absolutely silent.

  "A tax referendum?" Senator Sugiyama said. "That is a very radical step. These Plans lead to enormous tax burdens, perhaps even one tenth of income. Many voters will question our rationale. It would be necessary to have an extremely strong case to present to the public, or the Referendum will inevitably be rejected. Is it plausible that such a case can be made?"

  "The basic question is military, John," Molitor answered. "And it is not a question readily answered. Are we at war with someone? Who? Will they attack again? How hard and when?"

  "Can we get the attention of the Federal authorities?" Caravelle asked. "To help us answer those questions? Or are they fixated on Peking?"

  "No one but the FEU ever wants to attack us," Fuller said. "Except the people who touch our land borders. Those are just border squabbles. List them, and we have a list of plausible enemies. Yes, it could be Gujarat, but why? And the Frenchcat? I allow the funny diagnosis was right; he/she was some sort of boystoy. We've even spotted their bordello by looking down from space."

  "Perhaps our attackers will give up," Steinmetz said, "They appear to have taken 100% losses, and have no idea what to expect. But many people are very stubborn. In their predicament they could try reconnaissance probe attacks, ships, not torpedoes, to see what we are doing. Or they could reasonably try a much larger attack. If they have decent data, they see that five or tenfold increases get them parity, in which case, oh, a 25-fold increase to 250 million tons of attacker would be expected to get them great superiority. If nothing changed here. Even with Bellerophon and Monstrator both fully on line, we'll need to roust the Umber hulks out of ordinary to have the force needed to face a quarter-billion tons of FEU warships. And winning assumes someone in the Self Defense Fleet can figure out how to maneuver five hundred or a thousand line-of-battle warships effectively."

  "Next year," Sugiyama said, "We can start complaining at the FEU. That may give away who is attacking us. I agree it is an FEU ally, but which one? Attacking the FEU may not stop the ally, not if its identity is hidden from us, but it will bring the FEU into the conflict. Such a decision does not appear wise. I am also concerned that the Intelligence Corporations on which we rely so heavily have totally failed to give us advance warning of the technical base behind the attack. I had always believed that the FEU was substantially stronger than any of its allies. It is inapparent that most recent attackers, whoever deploys Doormouse and Dragon and the like warships, can be weaker than the FEU, not unless they built, deployed, and lost a very small fleet of extremely expensive ultratech warships."

  "And while we are doing this," Fuller said, "the pantywaists running the Federal Senate are sitting there preparing to argue up and down the aisles with the President, instead of preparing for the shooting war that we already have in our front yard. I view their position to be highly untenable. I am, however, most grateful to Senator Thorne for the fine gift of potential support for the Umber plan, which at least provides some response to the challenges that we face. Mind you, if there were no need for that mobilization, I would oppose it as a waste of the hard-earned tax dollars of our country's long-suffering taxpayers, and I shall hope that careful study will minimize the estimated needed tax."

  "Having also read carefully your very thoughtful written comments," Molitor said, "I would like to attempt a summary of the very broad agreement I think I heard, unless there are objections. I will also interpolate a few remarks," He waited. "Hearing none, I would say: We have no idea who the attackers are, except that they do not appear to be the FEU itself. If they are the FEU, they are not using FEU ships built at Sol. Therefore, attacking the FEU at this juncture might be like the Athenian attack on Syracuse, in the Pelopennesian War. It would be an action that, unless successful, which is unlikely, would serve primarily to bring into the war on the other side a very strong and capable opponent. We may try diplomatic means to ascertain our opponents. We may berate our Intelligence Corporations, who do not appear to have done anything wrong other than failing. It is possible that we faced a few hand built ultra-high-quality warships, but it is far more likely that the unknown opponent works on the same scale as the FEU, but with much better engineering support. I can't imagine who these people are, either, but perhaps salvage work will eventually find something useful. Then we can go to war with Nippon or Java or Guyana or wherever. In the meantime, there is a reasonable chance, since these people have not yet tried diplomacy, that they will simply attack us again, with a substantially bigger fleet. When? How much bigger? I do not quarrel with any analysis, but it does not really say when, let alone with how many ships. We don't have that data, and no one seems to know how to get it. Perhaps we should take a careful look next at the Grey and Umber plans? I'd propose to see what size opponent attack we will be able to stop, by which date. Is that also agreeable? Seeing no objection we turn to the mobilization plans..."

  Molitor shuddered internally. The States of Lincoln were in the unfortunate position that there was absolutely no information on who was attacking them, let alone why or to what objective. One could run down a list of all the Earth's nations, finding only that each was less credible as the attacker than the last. Nonetheless, one or more of them had to be responsible. Unless, of course, you believed that some of Star Commando Jill's opponents were involved. That was absurd, which was why he had persuaded the Dark Lady to launch a completely hidden research project focused on that possibility. Preparing against an attack on an unknown scale was a nightmare. How much did you spend? The worst part about it was that the threat of such an attack forced up taxes, restricted economic growth, and made you weaker in the long run. There seemed to be no way out of the predicament. History would judge in the end, but with modern medicine you could no longer even assume that you would be dead of old age when the historians came calling.

  Chapter 24

  "When Winning, Let the Enemy Move First.

  When Losing, Retreat is Sometimes the Best Option"

  ...from Sanshiliu Ji (The 36 Strategies) (ca. 500 AD)

  AZORES CONVENTION NEGOTIATION FACILITY

  TERCEIRA, AZORES NEUTRAL ZONE

  January 3, 2176, 11:50 AM

  Rafael Kiethley strode down the double walkway from the Ambassadorial airliner. His two fellow negotiators kept post three steps behind him. His 747, one of two still flying in the world, was newly refurbished, its paint job gleaming brightly in the overhead sun. The ambassadorial escorts stood smartly at attention at the bottom of the ramp. There had been some discussion as to which group to send. Sometimes, the correct message had to be sent. The four Junior Girl Guides had been carefully trained. They and their parents h
ad been advised that possibly life would be more interesting than usual for the escorts. The Junior Girl Guides had gleefully volunteered. Kiethley allowed that a two-hundred-year airliner could not make a rapid escape. Indeed, if shots were being fired, neither he nor his escorts were going anywhere near an aluminum bubble full of flammable hydrocarbons.

  His right foot hit the ground. The Junior Girl Guides pivoted, facing along the path toward the main building. He moved to the ambassadorial golf cart, waited for his fellow negotiators to be seated, took a firm hand on the steering tiller, and engaged the electric drive. The cart accelerated to its maximum two miles per hour. Kiethley inhaled, smelling the sea air. He had been waiting more than a year for the time to have elapsed so that he could make his presentation, needing all the while instead to listen to European falsehoods about their conduct. Now he could correct the record. The position only appeared desperate. Everything was going to be fine.

  MAIN HALL, AZORES CONVENTION NEGOTIATION FACILITY

  TERCEIRA, AZORES NEUTRAL ZONE

  January 3, 2176, Noon

  The Main Hall's two sets of doors slid open. An unsmiling Kiethley led his two fellow ambassadors into the American side of the room. For once he was happy that armored glass separated the facility into two halves. His European opposites were about to get a nasty shock. There was no reason to give them the opportunity to do something that they would soon have cause to regret. Through the open doorway opposite came three Europeans. Over the last year, the Europeans had randomly put forth as their junior delegate a bipedal cat, a creature later identified as an elf from some obscure European fantasy novel, and at least two reconstructs of Homo neanderthalis. This time the three European delegates were Homo sapiens.

  "I am the Senior European Delegate," announced the youngest of the three Europeans, a dark-haired, somewhat short woman. Kiethley smiled blandly. Almost all European women were short. For today, the Europeans had chosen to replace their entire delegation. To the best of his recollection, he had never met any of these people. First the other two Europeans, and then Kiethley's delegation, identified themselves. The opening ritual completed, the six delegates sat. In the two far corners of the Hall, the neutral observers followed the example. An Afghani, Kiethley noted, and the representative of the Empire of Japan that he had requested. These were people from places not noted for their ability to keep secrets, and with a long record of experiencing the unpleasantness of warfare at first hand.

  "The purpose of this meeting," Kiethley announced, "is to discuss European violations of Article Five of the Azores Convention, and to request proposals for reparations. The further purpose of this meeting is to discuss our long mutual understanding that while we might decline to discuss an issue, we would not knowingly make false statements, because the making of false statements would render these meetings even less functional than they presently are." The European Ambassador attempted to interrupt.

  "Your time will come, Senior European Delegate. The issue at hand, of which you cannot possibly not be aware, is the large-scale European attack on the United States, involving more than 600 warships, the largest massing more than four million tons, which occurred on November 18, 2174 at 9:08 PM, local time. The attack occurred in the Alpha Centauri system at the Clarksburg Warp Gate. My junior delegate's display is showing the location in European Warp Point Coordinates, as recently supplied by you, and the date and hour of the attack, in local time here.

  "It is my clear recollection that the Federal European Union has previously and regularly stated that it was their intent that our discussions of ownership of the Clarksburg Warp Gate and environs would be based on peaceful means, and that even if the discussions proved unsatisfactory to the Union that there was no interest in resorting to military force. Yesterday, New Washington was advised that these expressions of intent were less heartfelt than had appeared, in that we have now received a message torpedo from Alpha Centauri, and the States of the American planets Lincoln and Markoff of the American Alpha Centauri system, describing in considerable detail your massive attack. Because European messages travel via warp gate, rather than through normal space, it is inescapably the case that the FEU learned of this attack well before a message torpedo from Alpha Centauri could have reached us through normal space. Indeed, given that you do have a military command structure, the FEU must certainly have been aware of your attack while it was still in its planning stages, and must also have been aware of the attack's outcome for more than a year now. However, instead of calling the attention of the American delegation to the facts of the situation, the European delegation here has lamentably instead maintained that a state of peace prevails with respect to the Clarksburg Warp Gate.

  "With respect to our claims that such attacks occurred, we have prepared a set of image records, showing the various Union ships entering through the Warp Gate, engaging in battle the American forces defending the Warp Gate, and being destroyed. I shall now present several examples." Kiethley gestured to the American Junior Delegate. The wall displays came to life, showing peculiar starships--a dodecahedron and and a white shell--glowing brilliantly and then blowing up. "We do not need to discuss whether or not the first starship is European, or whether it belongs to some other nation, because after the first Clarksburg event the Federal European Union supplied images of identical ships, and identified them as European. We do not need to discuss whether the other starship is or is not European, because it appeared in the presence of European ships, and fought alongside them. Under Article 19 of the Azores Convention, mercenary, allied, and popular volunteer forces are grouped with regular military forces." The European delegation stared slackjawed.

  "In dealing with this attack, valuable munitions belonging to the United States were expended, wear and tear on military appliances was incurred, and Americans were inconvenienced," Kiethley said. And if you think, he allowed, that we are going to tell you our casualties, you are again in error. "This was a European violation of Article 5 of the Convention, and we expect to receive reparations, as specified under Article 6. We are also concerned that the Federal European Union appears to have misrepresented its position with respect to the Warp Point, by failing to mention a major war, and wonder what proposals you have for restoring the mutual confidence without which it will be impossible to continue these negotiations. We are, of course, not unaware that the European Union may make a counterclaim for damages, owing to the outcome that of the approximately 600 European ships the Union deployed for the attack, approximately all 600 ships were destroyed. We categorically reject that claim in advance, thereby relieving you of the tedium of advancing it.

  "We would remind the European delegation that continued attacks on the United States could very readily be interpreted as a de facto European decision to abandon the Azores Convention, and resume the Incursion War--as you call it, the American Civic Tranquility Operation--in which case the peace that has reigned across the world and the heavens for the nearly thirteen decades will be replaced with a general war in this Solar system. We do not believe that such an eventuality is desirable, but if the Federal Union forces the issue, general war will come to pass. We believe that the calculus of forces shows that such an outcome will be unfavorable for Europe and its allies." The Afghani and Japanese neutral delegates were looking remarkably uncomfortable. They were required to sit and listen, but from their fidgets their desire to bolt for the door and telephone home was evident. Renewed war would assuredly have totally unfavorable outcomes for the habitability of the rest of the planet, no matter whether Europe or America won.

  The Senior European delegate moved her jaws, but no sounds came out of them. She tried to get words out, but alternated between mumbling and gaping like a fish out of water. She finally managed "I have no knowledge of these matters. To the best of my knowledge, we are at peace. I have no information on a major battle. Because I have no knowledge of these matters, I shall have to refer them to Brussels."

  "I am completely sympathetic to
ward you personally if you have been placed in an indelicate position," Kiethley said benevolently. "We certainly cannot complain if you need to consult your superiors. Nonetheless, we would not wish history to record that we did not warn Europe or its allies of these events, and would be remiss if we did not undertake corrective action, so within the next day the United States will commence large-scale video broadcasting, to all the peoples of the world, using their languages and raster standards, of the record of these negotiations over the past several decades, and the full and detailed outcome of the battle. We are saddened that the threat of war will frighten some people. We are equally confident that the peoples of the world will be gladdened to learn that the Federal European Union has greatly widened its receptiveness to the legitimate processes of modern medicine, as witness the bodily forms of several of your recent junior delegates. I have no more to say." Kiethley ended his remarks. There was very considerable reason to suppose that the FEU's government had been pulling the wool over the eyes of its people, both with respect to peace and with respect to bodysculpting, a condition that was with some luck about to come to an end.

  The European delegation stared through the glass. "As your delegation has presented its issues, and we have no further...no, wait, I must express the hope that the United States does not take steps that would alarm or distress public opinion, in ways that would make a rational solution to this question more difficult than it already is, such as by broadcasting to the general public, that does not need to know the details of the situation, inflammatory images that were meant to remain confidential. And as you have presented your issues, and I must request instructions, I must ask that we adjourn," the European delegate said. Her eyes had gained a distinctly wild look. Her colleagues were twitching. The two neutral delegates were wiggling and staring at their exits.