by Jay Allan
“Well, Sir. I just wanted to make an observation about the destruction of our drones. The aliens didn’t just destroy them. They went out of their way to destroy them. It was almost as if they were so angry about being discovered that they lost their temper.”
“What made your think that, Commander?”
“Ah, well, I noticed that the alien ships fired on all of the drones, even the ones that weren’t close to them, and in some cases they kept on firing at the same drone even when it had stopped its active scanning. It reminded me of a berserk person with a gun, shooting their victim again and again, even after the victim is clearly dead.”
Shiloh and Howard exchanged a look as if to say ‘hmm, that’s interesting’. Shiloh made a mental note to suggest to the strategic Planning Group that someone make an attempt to come up with a forensic profile of the alien race’s psychological traits. If they were predisposed to behaving in a certain way, Humans might be able to take advantage of that. The rest of the debriefing went quickly, with nothing coming up that Shiloh didn’t know already. When the Admiral was satisfied that he had picked their brains clean, he let them go.
On his way out, Omar came over to Shiloh and said, “Victor, I’d like to hear a blow by blow account of your battle, but I’m just too tired to do it now. How about over breakfast?”
Shiloh smiled and said, “Sure. How’s 0730 hrs in the dining room sound?”
Omar sighed. “Too damn early but yeah, I’ll be there.”
After he left, the Admiral came over to Shiloh and said, “I take it from your expression that you thought the characterization of the alien behavior was significant?”
“Yes, Sir. My barbarian horde scenario is looking more and more likely. If they behave impulsively, we can turn that to our advantage.”
“I concur. Well, I’m off to my office. I’ll be burning the midnight oil to get ready for the committee meeting. There’ll be a staff car waiting to pick you up in front of the hotel by 0815 hrs. Good night Commander.”
“Good night, Admiral.”
CHAPTER 4: The Voters Will Never Believe This
The next day started well enough. Shiloh met Cmdr. Omar in the dining room for breakfast at the appointed time. They talked while eating, and Shiloh related to Omar what happened, without getting into the vision-thing. The time went so fast that Shiloh had to wolf down the rest of his breakfast in order to be finished by the time the staff car was scheduled to pick him up. Shiloh was the only one of his crew who had not been allowed to go on leave. But side from a sister and her family, who lived on the other side of the world and to whom he wasn’t really all that close, he didn’t have family to visit. Both parents had been killed in an aircraft crash when he was still at the Space Force Academy. If he had been allowed to leave, he would likely have gone on a long solitary trip into a wilderness somewhere and camped out for a week or more. But the prospect of spending his time off on Space Force business didn’t really bother him. Unlike the normal exploration missions, which at least had the potential for discovering something interesting, the anti-piracy/anti-smuggling patrols were excruciatingly boring. Now that Humanity was in a serious and, to Shiloh’s mind, desperate situation, being a Space Force Commander was suddenly a whole lot more interesting.
The staff car dropped him at HQ right on time. An aide showed him to the large room that was set up for committee sessions. Shiloh took a seat near the front. A few minutes later, Admiral Howard showed up with his staff in tow. Howard nodded to Shiloh and proceeded to give his staff some last minutes instructions. With that done, he brought a stack of file folders to the table in front of the raised dais where the committee members would sit. After organizing his materials, Howard turned around and leaned close to Shiloh.
“Glad to see you’re here on time, Commander. Let me brief you on how this is going to work. The Committee will show up in 15 to 20 minutes or so. They’ll take turns saying a few well-chosen but completely meaningless words. You have to remember that they are elected politicians. Then they’ll ask me to give them a verbal report to supplement the written report that I sent them late last night, and which they haven’t read yet. After that, they’ll ask me questions. The question period can go for as long as they wish. The shortest question period I’ve ever experienced was half an hour. The longest was a whole day and half of the next. Given the nature of what they’re likely to ask me about, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re at it all day except for the occasional break. I’ll need you to be available during the question period in case I need to check with you about a fact or get your insight on a question that I’ve been asked. I’m going to ask you to stay in here while I give my report so that you can understand the context in which the resulting questions are being asked. If you absolutely have to leave for some reason OR if you feel that I need to know something that can’t wait until a break, ask one of my staff to place a note on the table where I’ll see it. That way I won’t look silly when I turn around to ask you a question and you’re not there. If you and I need to discuss something, keep your voice down so that only I can hear you. Got all that?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Any questions, Commander?”
“No Sir.”
“Excellent. Now, let me give you a piece of advice. This will be your first and, if you’re lucky, only Oversight Committee hearing. I’ve gone through a few in my time. I’m used to them now. My advice is don’t get flustered. Keep your cool, and you’ll get through this okay.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Admiral.”
Howard nodded and turned away.
The committee room gradually filled with people who were either Committee Members’ staff or Space Force personnel. The Committee Members themselves began to trickle in at just about the time the Admiral had predicted. The session started half an hour later and proceeded exactly as the Admiral had described. When the self-serving opening statements were finished, the Committee Chair invited Howard to give his opening remarks.
“Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members of the Committee, as you undoubtedly know by now, the Space Force has lost some of its Brothers and Sisters. The crews of Exploration Frigates 319, 301 and 299 have apparently been the victims of an unprovoked attack by multiple armed starships that belong to an unknown alien race. We strongly suspect that the 233, which went missing last month, was also attacked, and it is now presumed destroyed. The report I have filed with the Committee goes into considerable detail about the events that have occurred in the last week. I will now summarize the major events that should be taken note of.
“It began with the routine survey of the target star system by FE 319. As per standard operating procedure, the 319 and the other exploration frigates of squadron SFE089 were each surveying a different star system in proximity to the system where the support group—containing tankers, supply ship and command/support ship—were waiting. When the 319 did not return from her assigned survey target at the expected time, and in light of the disappearance of the 233, the rest of the squadron was sent to investigate. Even though we had not met another alien race up to that point, contingency plans had been created with that possibility in mind. When the squadron, led by Commander Torres, arrived at the system where 319 had vanished, she deployed the squadron according to the approved contingency plans for such a mission.
“One frigate, the 344, was ordered to remain at the edge of the star system at a fixed location to act as a relay for the remaining members of the squadron. Those others proceeded to search for the 319 in a widely dispersed pattern. In order to cover the maximum volume of space in the minimum amount of time, the searching frigates launched reconnaissance drones. After some time had passed, the recon drone launched from Squadron Leader Torres’ ship detected a drifting vessel that had the right dimensions to be the missing 319. Now you have to remember at this point that the recon drones were using passive sensors only, as were the frigates. Passive sensors do not emit any electro-magnetic radiation that could be traced back to the sender. W
hat the drone detected was the shifting pattern of reflected sunlight from the 319’s slowing rotating hull. Squadron Leader Torres changed course to intercept, and directed the 323 and 299 frigates to rendezvous with the drifting ship as well. The other four frigates were too far away to get there in a reasonable length of time, and at this point, since they weren’t sure if the drifting ship was in fact the 319, Commander Torres decided that the other four frigates would continue to search their designated areas. When the drone made a flyby, it became clear that it was indeed the 319, and that she had been the victim of an attack by some kind of energy weapon. Torres then ordered all frigates, except for the 344, to rendezvous with the 319. While the drone was turning to make a second, closer flyby pass, Commander Shiloh, who is present here today and who was in command of the frigate 344 that was performing relay duty at the system’s edge, took the precaution of launching three recon drones of his own. They orbited his ship in order to give better sensor coverage of the immediate vicinity. This proved to be prescient because one of those drones detected an unknown and stealthy vessel moving towards the 344 from further out in the system. If the 344 had attempted to jump out of that system in order to bring back the collected data, as per Squadron Leader Torres’ instructions, it was highly likely that the unknown vessel would have detected the 344’s maneuvers.
“Because the unknown vessel was behaving in a hostile way, and by that I mean moving closer at slow speed without running lights or other normal emissions, Commander Shiloh made the decision, which I fully support and endorse, to open fire pre-emptively. After a short and vicious battle, in which the 344 suffered considerable damage, the alien vessel was disabled and presumed destroyed. This was due mainly to the imaginative use of recon drones as offensive kinetic energy weapons. Shortly after this battle the two frigates that were close to the 319 were attacked by other alien vessels, which apparently had been waiting in ambush near the drifting 319. As we learned later, this second firefight ended badly for our people. None of them was able to escape. There is evidence that their crews were killed either in the battle or later, when Acting Squadron Leader Omar made the difficult decision to destroy the remaining two lifeless hulks that the aliens were trying to use as bait for another ambush. It was the opinion of Squadron Leader Torres, which I share, that had it not been for the pre-emptive attack by Commander Shiloh, which sprang the trap prematurely, all seven frigates would have been ambushed and very likely destroyed. As bad as our losses were—three frigates and their brave crews—we should consider this encounter as a victory in the sense that half the squadron escaped unharmed, and a fifth frigate was able to return with only a handful of dead or injured crew.”
The Admiral paused and looked at each of the Committee Members in turn before continuing.
“As important as that is, what is even more important from the larger perspective of Humanity as a whole is that the surviving ships were able to bring back valuable data. Imagine for a moment if the ambush had succeeded as apparently planned. What if all eight frigates had been destroyed? An entire Squadron would have disappeared into the blackness of empty space, and we would have had no idea of what had happened to them. More ships would have been sent to investigate, and they too might have been destroyed. As it is, we have some very valuable data on these aliens. Enough to give us some idea of their technological capabilities, weaknesses, and even the way they think to a limited but important extent. It’s this factor that I’ll discuss first because I believe that while their technology is important, if we don’t understand how they think and react, then we’re operating at a severe disadvantage regardless of any technological edge we may possess.”
Howard stopped to take a quick sip of water from the glass in front of him.
“I’d like to begin the description of the alien behavioral profile by pointing out what they didn’t do. They didn’t send out one ship to explore that system the way we did. They didn’t send out ships that were designed for exploration. They didn’t attempt, so far as we know, to communicate with our ships. What they DID do is the following. They apparently attacked 319 without provocation. I say that because our exploration crews are under standing orders to attempt to make peaceful contact if they should encounter another space-faring race. The aliens also had seven ships in that system, seven ships that we know of. There wasn’t time for them to have called in reinforcements. Therefore they had to have been there from the very beginning. Now, as someone who has had military training, I’m here to tell you that you don’t send out seven or more ships to explore one star system at a time. It would take far too long to survey any significant volume of space that way. What the deployment of that many ships at one time tells me is that they were engaged in what is referred to in military circles as Reconnaissance in Force. You do that when you know that an enemy is out there somewhere, or if you suspect that an enemy MAY be out there somewhere. If these same aliens were responsible for the fate of the missing 233 last month, then they know that we are out here somewhere, and apparently they consider us the enemy.
“The strategy of setting up an ambush using the 319 as bait strongly suggests preplanning. The ships that they used to attack us seem to be very strongly armored with a single, very powerful energy weapon. That is NOT the kind of design that is optimal for peaceful exploration. It IS the kind of design that would be suitable for offensive operations. Because of the type of ships they deployed and the way they used those ships, I can only come to the conclusion that they weren’t out there to make contact. They were out there looking for a fight.”
The Admiral paused again to give the Committee Members time to absorb that final statement.
“Now consider that observation for a moment. What kind of race decides to act aggressively against an alien race about which they know almost nothing? That’s taking a huge gamble. The race they’re attacking could be vastly superior in terms of population, star systems, economic capacity and military might. We tell our people to try to make peaceful contact on the basis that we might be the new kid on the block, and we don’t want to piss off an older and potentially more powerful race if we can help it. For those aliens to have acted the way they did from the get go strongly indicates that they have a predisposition towards behaving aggressively. In our own history there have been people who were more inclined to fight than trade. The barbarian hordes that eventually overran Rome are a good example of that. I put it to you that part of the reason Rome fell was that it underestimated the aggressiveness and the determination of the barbarians. We must not make that same mistake. The worst thing we could do now is to shrug this battle off as an isolated incident and continue with business as usual. The SAFE strategy to pursue is to assume the worst-case scenario and act accordingly. In the worst-case scenario the very existence of Humanity is at stake. No less than a crash mobilization of industrial and military resources is required. If, at the end of the day, it turns out that we overreacted, then I will GLADLY offer my resignation, and I’ll be able to sleep well at night knowing that my family and all other families are safe. In my opinion, even if we move now with maximum effort, victory will not be a sure thing. However, the longer we delay, and the more we hold back from a full all-out effort, the greater the chances that victory will slip through our fingers.
“Let me explain why I believe this to be true. From the data relating to the combat between the alien ship and Commander Shiloh’s ship, we can make some reasonably good guesses as to the combat capabilities of the alien ships. The 344 was hit with a very powerful laser weapon. Experts have looked at the extent of the damage, and their unanimous conclusion is that the alien ship had a laser weapon that produced significantly more energy than both of the lasers on the 344 combined. Sensor data indicates that the alien ship was roughly the same size as the 344. To be able to generate that much more power from a hull of the same size is disturbing. It’s safe to say that they know more than we do when it comes to power generation. The combat data also shows that the alien sh
ip was more heavily armored. How much more is hard to say at this point. But what is clear is that right now our ships have inferior weapons and less capable defenses. While we don’t know for sure, it’s a safe assumption that they have more ships than we do at this point in time. If they had fewer, why would they put a significant percentage of their total fleet in a star system on the off chance of encountering an alien race?
“There are some encouraging indications that you should be aware of as well. At no time did any of our ships detect a sign that the aliens were deploying missiles or drones. That doesn’t mean they can’t. It may just mean that they don’t want to OR perhaps it just means that the type of ships they used in that engagement don’t carry them. But if these were their frontline combat vessels, that would tend to suggest that missiles and drones aren’t an integral part of their tactical thinking. If that’s the case, then we can use that to our advantage IF WE MOVE QUICKLY!”
These last words had been spoken with considerable emphasis, and again the Admiral made eye contact with each committee member before resuming his report.
“If we can develop and deploy combat drones in large numbers, then we may be able to offset their laser weapon advantage with standoff weapons. The other bright spot is what appears to be a much longer recharge time for their laser weapon. If we can get in two or maybe even three shots for each one they fire, and if we can upgrade our lasers, then we have a better chance of beating them in a standup fight. Unfortunately those are the only perceived advantages that we can see at this point.
“The question that I’m sure all of you would like to hear the answer to is this. Given the nature of the threat, what do we do now? A definitive answer will take some time to analyze and cost out. My staff is examining some short-term options that are worth considering right away, and an Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Group is in the process of being put together. They will generate a comprehensive long-term plan. I hope, but can’t guarantee, to have something for the Committee to look at in that regard in about a month’s time. However in terms of what we can do right now, here are some of the options that are being seriously considered.