“So, Admiral, what is it that you needed to see us about?” A’Lappe asked as though nothing unusual was taking place outside the door.
“I’ve been thinking about the Cantolla gates and how best to use and protect them at the same time, and I’ve come up with a few ideas that follow concepts you have already expressed. It’s not practical for each ship or location to have Cantolla gates to every other possible destination. You would eventually require each location to have thousands of gates. You might be able to make a gate that can be configured for several different places, but you always need to contact the other end to make sure things are reconfigured as you need. Instead, I envision central hubs, similar to what A’Lappe has mentioned, that serve as transfer points. Large facilities that have gates connected to other hubs to ships and bases in their sector. That way, by passing through two or three hubs, in just minutes you can be anywhere in the Federation without having to duplicate or modify gates.”
“That’s what I have been thinking, Admiral, and it makes sense, but isn’t there the risk the Brotherhood could capture one of these hubs?” A’Lappe asked.
“Not really,” I replied. “Not if the hubs are on space stations located in remote sectors of the galaxy, and if they are all cloaked and protected with RMFF shields. Only top ranking officials in the Federation would know their exact locations in space; they would be off the normal traveled routes and invisible. Even people transiting through them would have no idea as to their locations. Each base can be configured with a self-destruct mechanism, so if a hub is captured it could be destroyed by a code sent from a command starship or Admiral Regeny’s office on Megelleon. Those codes, and the manner of their activation would only be known to the top command officers on those ships. Also, if a central hub were to be captured, all the corresponding gates outside the station need to do is shut down their gate. Once that happens the one on the station becomes useless. The entire process would be top secret, and very few individuals would know the truth of them. People passing through the central hubs could be led to believe that the hubs are on some remote planets or deep underground on any planet. They would never really know for sure. Only the commanding officer and his second officer of the facilities would even know what sector of space they were in.”
“Alright, but what if you want to move ships through gates? You need to have known entrance and exit points for them, and you can’t very well pass a starship through a central hub like you’re describing.” A’Lappe pointed out.
“Right,” I said. “For those, we will need special ships to serve as the nodes for the frame, as you pointed out to me when you first told me of your discovery. Three ships on each side of each gate spaced as you described. Each hub ship needs to be cloaked and shielded. They would be in or near the systems we need to move ships to the most often, and then would be moved about the system every few days so only those aboard the ships would know their exact locations. Once again, we would need a central hub area in space just for ships. That will be tricky, because we will need it to be someplace that ships passing through it won’t be able to determine the hub’s location. The central hub for the starships to pass through will have to be extremely large with many gates nearby. It will be impossible to have it inside anything, and therefore, it will be easy to locate and difficult to move. Anyone have any ideas how we might be able to do this?” I asked. The room was deadly silent. After a brief pause, Cantolla spoke up.
“We might be able to hide it inside a nebula.”
“Wouldn’t work,” A’Lappe said. “Each nebula is too unique and has its own unique radio frequency signal. Any ship passing through that gate would know immediately which nebula they were in.”
“Yes, but nebulae are so large, that the transfer point inside it would be impossible to find even if you knew which one it was in,” Cantolla replied.
“It’s too risky,” A’Lappe responded. “Sooner or later, they would be able to locate it.”
“We don’t need to come up with the answer right now,” I said. “Think about it. In the meantime, I need the two of you to work out the plans for transfer hubs large enough to send people and equipment through; items up to the size of surface transports. These facilities will need to have quarters on them and a permanent crew. However, we need that fixed staff to be as small as possible with other workers on it using the Cantolla gates to travel to and from the stations daily. See what you two can come up with. Take into consideration that we will need this facility as soon as possible, so factor that into your design.”
Just then my com link beeped, and I answered, “Tibby here.”
“Admiral, this is Kerabac. We have a message from Captain Wanoll requesting you to return to the DUSTEN immediately, there is an urgent message coming in from Rear Admiral Regeny.”
I left quickly with my parade of security forces and Marranalis in tow; I was amazed to find the two Federation Security guards waiting at the Cantolla gate to take over their duties from the NEW ORLEANS security team. “I alerted them while we were on the way here, sir,” Marranalis said when he saw my look. I nodded, “Quick thinking Marranalis.”
As soon as we were back aboard the DUSTEN we were directed to a small conference room near the bridge. As we stepped into the room, I was startled to see Admiral Regeny standing there with Captain Wanoll. “I keep forgetting how easy it is to get here now,” I said to Regeny. He smiled briefly and then replied.
“Under the circumstances, I felt it best if I came here and talk to you in person. Security is tighter here, and I am less concerned about spies than I am back on Megelleon.
“We’ve just received word that the Brotherhood is attacking the planets Kendrop and Gochian with the HAPRIN and attacking with heavy ground forces on the planets as well. Both planets are located on the Federation’s rim, but are in this sector. We do not currently have any starships in their vicinity. The only protection the planet has is two frigates, the GINWUNT and the AYRPRE, three corvettes and about three hundred fighters. The Brotherhood is attacking with the HAPRIN, eight corvettes and several hundred patrol ships and mirage fighters. All the ships appeared to have arrived aboard the HAPRIN. They are shuttling troops to the ground with patrol ships and attacking the smaller towns, taking them over completely and either killing or enslaving the inhabitants.”
“Is there a Cantolla gate on either planet or on any of the Frigates?” I asked.
“Negative, we haven’t gotten that far out yet with the materials to make them there and have been focusing on starships first and the planets and then down to the frigates,” eny replied.
“So the only thing we can do is fly there ourselves as quickly as we can.” I stated.
Regeny nodded and said, “I’ve already issued the orders to Captain Wanoll, and we’re headed that direction now with half the first fleet with us.”
“How long will it take us to get there, Captain?” I asked as I turned to Wanoll.
“We’ll be lucky to make it in a week at highest possible speed," he said. “We’re lucky that we were already half way out from Megelleon when we got the message, otherwise we would be looking at two to three weeks.”
“What can you tell me about these two planets?” I asked.
“From what I know,” Regeny began, “Kendrop is a mining and industrial planet with lots of heavy equipment and machinery along with factories. Gochian is mostly an aquatic planet rich in sea foods, which are its main exports, and it does a nice tourist trade as well. There is very little area on Kendrop suitable for crops because of all the mountains and rocks, so my guess is that the Brotherhood is interested in the machinery and metals there and possibly more slaves. Gochian I’m not sure about; most likely the Brotherhood will take a lot of slaves and eat well while they are there; they may hold wealthier tourists for ransom, but there is no telling with that bunch. Like Kendrop, there isn’t a lot of area for growing crops, so I doubt they want either of these planets for growing and producing God’s Sweat.
&n
bsp; “I also have another bit of news from Wabussie. His FSO agents have evidence that the Brotherhood may be planning a large-scale offensive against the planet Weccies. As you all know, Weccies is the major banking facility outside of the Federation, and while it is not a part of the Federation, its falling into the hands of the Brotherhood would be devastating for everyone. If the Brotherhood were to gain control over that wealth, there is no telling what they might be able to do. I’d like your thoughts on it, Tibby.”
“How soon does the FSO project the attack there might occur?” I asked.
Regeny responded, “At the moment the FSO is projecting possibly sometime next year. It will take a very concentrated effort to get past the Weccies’ defenses and there is no way they can do a sneak attack, unless the Brotherhood has a lot of cloaked ships.”
“I imagine we could provide a defensive fleet of ships around Weccies to help protect them, but we would be leaving many of our own worlds in danger to do so.” I replied. “That would be exactly what the Brotherhood would want. It could all be a trap to get us to move ships nearer to Weccies, leaving more of our planets at risk,” I said.
“The Weccies would never agree with that plan anyway, having a fleet of war ships in their area would appear as a threat to them. They would no more trust us than they would the Brotherhood.”
“There might be another way,” I said, “The Cantolla gates A’Lappe and Cantolla are working on, if large enough to pass star ships through, could enable us to respond to that area quickly if we have one near-by. These gates would have the ability to be cloaked and shielded, unless in use. If we can get them built and operational in time we might be able to hide a gate in the Weccies vicinity, and if the Brotherhood attacks there we could respond instantly,” I said.
Regeny tugged the skin under his chin as he considered my comments, “It might work. How close are they to having a system operational on that scale?”
“It could happen very quickly. It only would require six small ships to accomplish, and they would not need to be anything special. I think we might be able to have them in four or five weeks, but then we need to get three of them to Weccies, and that will add some time,” I said.
“Well, keep working on it Tibby, I know I always have you running at top speed, but we needed it yesterday again,” the Admiral said, “Now back to this matter at Kendrop and Gochian. What strategy do you think we should employ?”
“I’m afraid by the time we get there the battle will be over, and the Brotherhood will have plundered both worlds and left,” I answered. “Most likely they will take an exit route across the border and away from the Federation, so we are unlikely to have any contact with them. Admiral, correct me if I’m wrong, but so far the Brotherhood’s main focus on the worlds they have attacked is gaining resources and stealing military ships, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that and taking slaves,” Regeny replied.
“Well then I suggest we let them have the larger ships. Abandon them on the surface or in orbit and let them have them,” I said.
“Have you lost your mind?” Regeny exclaimed and then he paused a second and got a quizzical look on his face. “Or do you have something devious in mind?”
“You said that we only have two frigates and a hand full of corvettes there. If we have our troops abandon the ships, what do you think the Brotherhood will do?”
“Ah, well… they will take them aboard the HAPRIN and crew them with their own men and use them in the next battle against us.” Regeny replied.
“What if we booby trap those ships so they explode all at the same time, say a few hours AFTER the Brotherhood captures them?” I asked.
“Well, if they have them aboard the HAPRIN at the time, and in the hangar bay, the explosion would destroy just about everything in the hangar, “Regeny smiled, “It wouldn’t destroy the HAPRIN; the blast walls are too well constructed for that, but the ship would be severely damaged, and it would take some time for them to repair. Heck, Tibby, there are hundreds of fighters and patrol ships usually in those hangars, and if they are about to leave the sector, you can bet nearly all the smaller ships will be crammed in there. By the stars, Tibby, you would inflict a major blow to the Brotherhoods forces!”
“Marranalis,” I said turning to him, “What could we do to our ships there that would cause the greatest explosion of those ships?”
“A fusion reactor malfunction,” he answered. “If both frigates and just two or three corvettes exploded at the same time, inside the hangar, it’s possible it could breach the explosion bulkheads in the hangar as well. The damage could be quite extensive.”
“Get in contact with our troops at Kendrop and Gochian, tell their commanding officers to sabotage the reactors on the frigates and corvettes and then to abandon the ships. Make sure to tell them to only let those involved in doing the sabotage to know it is happening. Have them all coordinate detonation times, so they will all occur at once in about five hours and then have the crews all abandon ships and get to hiding places on the planets where they won’t be captured. I’m betting the Brotherhood is so arrogant with their past conquests, they won’t even suspect the possibility of sabotage to the ships and will simply park them in the hangar.”
“Right, Tibby,” Marranalis said, “I know just how to tell them to do it so it won’t be obvious. There is a way the computer can be programed to activate the reactor overload without setting off any alarms, and until the program activates, the Brotherhood will be completely oblivious to what is about to happen. The only way the Brotherhood could stop it is to disable the computer before it initiates the program.”
“Perfect. Get it done,” I answered. I turned back to Regeny as Marranalis left the room. “Well, Admiral, I think this should buy us some time and slow down the aggression of the Brotherhood for a little bit anyway. They still may be at Kendrop and Gochian when we arrive, trying to get the HAPRIN operational again.”
It was hours later before we had any reports back from Kendrop and Gochian, and when the reports came in it was not from the ships' captains, but from a base on the surface of Kendrop. The report said that the only conflicts going on anymore were on the surface with Brotherhood troops who had set down earlier. The ground bases had observed what looked to be an explosion on the HAPRIN shortly after the attacking ships had been recalled. Since the explosion, there had been no ships seen coming from or going to the HAPRIN, and the ship was motionless. The report also mentioned that all but one of the crews of the Federation frigates and corvettes had safely escaped to the planet’s surface; the other corvette crew appeared to have been destroyed by a Brotherhood fighter as they abandoned their ship in life pods.
“By the stars,” Regeny cursed, “they have no mercy at all. Even during the Solbidyum Wars 600 years ago, men in lifeboats were not fired on by either side. These Brotherhood goons have no respect for life. I wonder just how bad the damage is on the HAPRIN?” I hope it killed that Korgian blood sucker, Roritat, and his cohort Ming.”
“I doubt we are that lucky,” I said. “Knowing Ming he will remove himself far from any real conflict. He and Roritat are probably secreted away on some remote planet living in decadent luxury while plotting their next attacks. Until we get rid of those two, this conflict will go on.”
After discussing a few more minor details, I headed back to the NEW ORLEANS to see Kala and the twins, but I was told they were already aboard the DUSTEN, and in our suite; so with my now ever present guards in tow I headed to the suite and entered to be greeted by Lunnie walking across the floor while Reidecor sat nearby playing with his toes.
“Kala! She’s walking?!" I exclaimed.
“Yes, she just started this morning and hasn’t stopped since. She seems very pleased with herself about it.”
“Lunnie, come to daddy!” I said… she looked at me and laughed and then headed toward me, her little arms waving, as she wobbled across the room to me. “You are growing up so fast.” I added as she balled up her fist and lightly
bopped me on the nose as she laughed. Then she squirmed, trying to get back down on the floor. No sooner did her feet touch it, until she was off in Reidecor’s direction, only to stop too quickly and tumble on top of him. Reidecor laughed while Lunnie tried to right herself again.
“How is Reidecor reacting to Lunnie’s new skill? Has he tried walking too?” I asked.
“Not a step,” Kala answered. “He seems amused at her walking and is content playing with his toes, but he’s not tried to mimic her at all.”
“Was your sister like this when she was small?” I inquired.
“I really don’t remember to be honest. I was almost 4 when Lunnie was this age, and I really don’t recall much about her that far back. From what mother and dad said, though I think she probably was. I think at that age I was more like Reidecor and liked observing things and playing with my toes,” she laughed.
“Are you hungry? You look tired.”
“Yes, and yes... It’s been a rough day so far. The Brotherhood has attacked the planets Kendrop and Gochian out near the fringe.” I told her how we had our men there sabotage their ships and how the Brotherhood took them to the HAPRIN where they exploded and appeared to have disabled the ship, at least temporarily.
“Do you think her shields are down?” Kala asked. I blinked my eyes... we hadn’t thought of that. I jumped up out of the chair I had dropped in after playing with Lunnie, and headed for the door.
“Kala, you are brilliant!. I’ve got to return to the DUSTEN. I’ll be back soon,” I said.
I went out the door and started down the corridor so quickly that I startled my guards who were waiting outside. They rushed to get into their proper positions as I said, “We don’t have time for a parade now… just keep up, will you?”
Solbidyum Wars Saga 5: Desolation Page 22