by Jay Allan
Yakamura and Johansen took turns on the bridge so that they could get some rest. Johansen felt a profound sense of relief when Yakamura finally ordered the ship to line up its heading for a jump to Zebra 8. The jump itself was uneventful, as was the refueling at Zebra 8. However upon arrival at the halfway system, which Yakamura decided would be known as Zebra 10, their plan hit a snag. Zebra 10 was occupied by the aliens. It only had one gas giant, and it appeared that every single one of the dozen visible moons was home to some kind of enemy activity. Johansen was afraid that Yakamura would stubbornly insist on finding a way around this obstacle, but he surprised her by bowing to the inevitable and declaring that they would be jumping back to Zebra 8 and then continuing back the way they had come up the Zebra chain of star systems to friendly territory.
By the time Gnat had returned to friendly territory, Johansen was shocked to realize they had been gone for almost six weeks.
-o0o-
Admiral Howard dropped his electronic notepad on his desk, let himself fall into his chair, and immediately reached for the bottle of whisky that he kept hidden in his desk drawer. Admiral Dietrich, Chief of Personnel, and Admiral Kutuzov, Chief of Logistics, grinned in sympathy.
“I’d offer both of you some of this, but I think I’m going to need all of it myself.”
Dietrich laughed and said, “Aw, come on now, Sam. That wasn’t the worst session with the Oversight Committee you’ve ever had. Admit it.”
Howard took a slug from his drink, slowly nodding, as he said, “No It wasn’t THE worst, but it was damn close. I’d still like to know how the Committee learned about the arm-twisting we did to GED’s CEO. Any ideas on that?”
Kutuzov looked at Dietrich and said, “I imagine that the Committee has its spies in the Navy. They ARE the Oversight Committee, after all. They’re supposed to know what we’re doing. Yeah, they reamed you a new one, but at least they didn’t reverse the GED strategy. And now that the Committee has implicitly approved it, you no longer have to worry about potential legal consequences. We should thank our lucky stars, and the person who leaked the info, that he or she waited until the Senate had approved the Emergency Funding Bill AND Yakamura returned with the news of the alien outpost. Without that good news, the Committee might not have been so forgiving.”
“I think you’re right,” Howard agreed. “Well Sergei, now that the funding bill’s been approved, I imagine you’re going to be even busier than before. How’s the planning for Operation Dropkick coming along?”
Kutuzov rolled his eyes. “My planners have reached a stalemate. Half want to shift all military industrial activity and shipyard construction to multiple star systems as far as possible from where we suspect the aliens to be, and the other half want to concentrate most of the buildup right here in Sol. As you know, there are Pros and Cons either way. Concentrating most of the activity here simplifies the logistics involved enormously, but then we risk having most of our industrial eggs in one basket. On the other hand, dispersing the buildup minimizes that risk but slows down the pace of the buildup because each industrialized system will have to build its own infrastructure from scratch. And you can’t really start building ship and supply factories until you’ve reached a minimum level of capacity in mining, refining and fabricating raw materials, not to mention the duplication in personnel.”
“So what’s the answer then?”
Kutuzov looked thoughtful as he replied. “Well, in light of what the Oversight Committee said this afternoon about wanting to see some tangible results from the buildup quickly, I’m thinking that we compromise the two extremes and concentrate the buildup in this system for at least the next six to nine months. Then we’ll gradually shift additional capacity to rear area systems as it becomes available.”
Howard nodded. “I like it. That would simplify your personnel problems too, wouldn’t it, Sepp?”
Dietrich nodded back at him as he replied. “It certainly would. Are we agreed that’s the way we’ll do it?”
All three men looked at each other and nodded.
“Then I’ll get my people started on the personnel side of Dropkick.” Dietrich paused before adding, “Now that the SPG’s budget has been approved, have you decided who will be running that group on a permanent basis?”
“No,” Howard replied, “Kelly’s done an outstanding job, but I’m still toying with the idea of giving it to Shiloh. Scuttlebutt has it that so far most of the recommendations from the group originated with Shiloh. On the other hand, I would hate to lose his tactical skills in the field.”
Dietrich jabbed his finger in Howard’s general direction and said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you about Shiloh’s actions out there. I’ve read his combat report, and I can’t help thinking there’s something he left out. Don’t you think it’s strange that all of sudden he would deploy sensor drones, for no apparent reason?”
Howard chuckled. “I know what you mean. It’s almost as if he had a gut feeling that his ship was under observation. I suppose it’s possible that he’s too embarrassed to admit that he based his action on what was essentially a hunch. Still, I agree with what the Duke of Wellington said when asked after the Battle of Waterloo whether he’d rather be lucky or good. He said ‘I’d rather be lucky’. If Shiloh’s victory was just plain dumb luck, then I’ll take it for what it is.”
Kutuzov leaned forward. “Well, whatever you decide to do with Shiloh, you’re going to have to make up your mind soon. If Shiloh’s going to steer the Strategic Planning Group, Dietrich will have to find another Commander to take the 144th.”
Howard nodded and considered his options. He had the strange feeling that this decision was going to turn out to be very important in the long run, and yet Shiloh was only a Commander, one of just over two hundred currently qualified for ship command. How could the outcome of this war depend on this one man? With Dietrich and Kutuzov starting to become impatient, Howard made up his mind and spoke.
“Okay. I’ve decided. Regardless of whether Shiloh’s a tactical genius or not, he’s an experienced ship jockey, and when we start getting new ships out of our construction program we’re going to need all the experienced officers we can lay our hands on. So Shiloh will keep his SL slot for the 144th, and Kelly will be promoted and confirmed as Head of Strategic Planning.”
The three admirals moved on to discuss other issues, and eventually the meeting broke up with Dietrich and Kutuzov going back to their offices. Howard wondered if he had made the right decision. He also wondered if he would ever know. Sometimes he couldn’t help thinking, being an Admiral sucks.
-o0o-
Shiloh entered the main auditorium at Space Force HQ and spent a few seconds taking in the view of hundreds of SF personnel milling about and chatting prior to Admiral Howard’s briefing. It seemed as though every officer, and quite a few of the NCOs and enlisted personnel presently on Earth, were here. Shiloh understood why, perfectly. Howard was about to present a proposal for the first offensive action against the aliens, and EVERYONE wanted to hear about it firsthand. With time running out and empty seats disappearing quickly, Shiloh decided to take a seat in a row that was near the back of the room. It happened to be quite close to one of the large view screens strategically placed around the auditorium, so that those in the middle and back could see any presentation just as well as those in the front. It wasn’t long before the rest of the empty seats were filled, and the doors at the back were closed. When the overhead lights dimmed, the background chatter died away quickly. Shiloh saw Admiral Howard step out onto the stage and walk over to a podium. Behind, and to one side, a very large view screen dropped down and came to life. It showed a star chart, with Space Force Base Bradley in the lower left corner as a green dot, and a pulsing red dot in the upper right corner, with white dots in between. Just as the background chatter started up again, Howard started speaking.
“This briefing will now commence. If you’re wondering why the CSO is giving this briefing, you’re not alone. I�
�m wondering the same thing!”
That generated a wave of laughter.
“The answer to that question is that a briefing like this has never been necessary before. But now that the Space Force is transitioning to an elite military unit that can and will conduct offensive operations, there will have to be some changes here at HQ. That’s why this is very likely to be the one and only time you’ll see the Chief of Space Operations give a briefing like this. In future, I would expect that my soon to be announced Deputy CSO will be doing the honors. Be that as it may, this time it’s my turn, so let’s begin.”
He paused to collect his thoughts.
“As I’m sure all of you have heard by now, our first attempt on long range reconnaissance was very successful. Cmdr. Yakamura and his crew of volunteers were able to sneak into a star system, indicated by the flashing red dot on the screen, which clearly has an alien presence that looks as though it’s primarily mining-related.”
The display now showed a blue line leading from SFB Bradley to the alien system.
“Analysis of Gnat’s sensor data has revealed that this target system, Zebra 9, has half a dozen different locations where industrial activity of some sort is going on. Now that we have a fixed target, the Space Force has requested and been granted permission to engage in a raid on Zebra 9. Therefore this briefing will describe how we intend to conduct that operation, which will be called Operation Dropkick.
“The raid will consist of three phases. The first phase will be to make sure that we retain both strategic and tactical surprise. In order to do this, each of the 13 star systems that lie between our Bradley Base and Zebra 9 will have all gas giants monitored by orbiting recon drones. They will report any alien activity to the message drones that will be deployed at specific locations at the edge of these star systems. As the raiding force enters each intervening star system, it will make contact with the message drone in that system and verify that it’s safe to refuel at the gas giant. If enemy activity has been detected near a refueling point, the raiding force commander will have several options. He or she can call off the raid altogether, use their remaining fuel to leapfrog past that system to the next star system in the line of advance, or they might decide to wait a while to see if the alien presence is only temporary. I would like to point out here how lucky the crew of the tanker Gnat was to have been able to refuel undetected in the star systems closest to Zebra 9. Given what happened to our ships in these other two systems—” the display showed two new yellow dots, both off to one side of the blue line “—one would have expected there to be picket ships in the systems surrounding their mining operations to guard against exactly what we were able to do.
“Once all of the refueling points along the way are under our observation, Phase Two will commence and the raiding force will leave SFB Bradley and proceed to the target. The raiding force will be designated Task Force 79 and will consist of a Command/Support squadron made up of a command ship and twelve tankers, plus six frigate squadrons.”
He paused as the audience reacted with surprised chatter. He let it go on for a few seconds before he resumed speaking.
“Let’s settle down, people.” When it was quiet again, he continued. “Committing one third of all active squadrons may sound like overkill, however we do NOT want to underestimate the enemy. We’ve allocated one frigate squadron for each of the six mining locations in Zebra 9. When TF 79 enters the outer edge of Zebra 9, it will do so at a point that is equidistant from all six target locations, or as close to that as possible. Three of the target locations are moons orbiting two gas giants. The commander of TF79 will observe the level of enemy activity at both gas giants and, based on that information, will pick one as a refueling point. Phase Three will then begin with a high-speed pass by each frigate squadron past its designated target. Depending on the effectiveness of the damage inflicted and the strength of their defenses, the task force commander will have the flexibility to order additional attacks. In any case, when the chosen gas giant has been cleared of enemy defenses, the 12 tankers will move in to refuel, escorted by a frigate squadron, and then head back to a predetermined rendezvous point, where all ships will be refueled enough that they can make a long jump to the farthest refueling system possible. The idea here is that the task force will make the minimum number of hyperjumps back to Bradley in order to get out of the enemy zone as quickly as possible. When the task force reaches Bradley, any casualties will be transferred to the base, and the task force will then return to Sol. In the meantime, Task Force 80, consisting of four frigate squadrons, will be assigned the mission of protecting our Bradley base against any enemy retaliatory strikes that may occur subsequent to our raid. Four frigate squadrons will remain at Bradley from now on, with each tour of duty lasting four weeks. While TF79 will do everything it can to avoid revealing the location or direction of SFB Bradley, we shouldn’t assume that the enemy won’t be able to figure out where to go for a counter-strike. Since Bradley will be a forward base for some time to come, we’ll start taking a series of defensive measures to protect it.
“Task Force 79 will be commanded by Senior Commander Yakamura, whose familiarity with Zebra 9 will stand him in good stead. The six frigate squadrons will be the 51st, the 77th, the 98th, the 102nd, the 144th and the 153rd.”
He paused again, then said, “That concludes the overview of Operation Dropkick. I will NOT be taking any questions. However, if any of you have comments or suggestions that you feel would help make this operation a success, you’re welcome to submit them in writing to my Office. Before I end this briefing, I have a few other items to communicate to all of you.”
“Since meetings like this won’t happen very often, now would be a good time to bring you up to date on what will be happening here on the Home Front over the next weeks and months.
“First, two new types of attack drones have been successfully tested and will be put into volume production very soon. One type has a depleted uranium kinetic energy penetrator warhead, while the other has a sub-kiloton tactical fission warhead. Unfortunately, neither one will be available for Dropkick, but we expect to be able to equip some squadrons with a few of these beauties before too long.
“Second, an in-house ship design bureau has now been established. It has already started working on detailed designs of a long-range reconnaissance ship, as well as a combat frigate that will have 150% more tonnage than an exploration frigate, with hull armor, more powerful lasers and enhanced ECM/Stealth capabilities. When we are far enough along the design process that we feel we can begin actual fabrication of parts, we will NOT be going with the old process of building one prototype ship first, to be extensively evaluated before any more are built. We can’t afford the time for that anymore. Multiple combat frigates and, to a lesser extent, long-range recon frigates will be built at the same time. While that is going on, a SEPARATE design team will be working on an Autonomous Fighting Platform which can be thought of as a very large drone, with high endurance and capable of carrying its own standoff weapon systems. Once we have that design perfected, actual construction will be relatively quick. You can expect to see big changes in our force structure before the end of this year.
“That brings this briefing to an end. Let’s all wish the men and women of TF 79 good luck and good hunting.”
With that, Howard turned and left the stage. The lights came back up, and everyone started to leave while they chatted with one another. Shiloh stayed seated. He didn’t mind being one of the last to leave while he pondered the raid profile. He was both excited and apprehensive about his squadron being part of the raiding force.
-o0o-
When Shiloh stepped back onto his repaired ship, it felt like coming home. Even though all Exploration Frigates were nearly identical in basic design, somehow this particular ship gave him a sense of familiarity that would have been missing from any other ship. As he stepped through the airlock connecting the asteroid repair facility to the ship, he saw his new XO standing ther
e to greet him. With Johansen back from her recon mission and now waiting for a command of her own, Admiral Dietrich had paid Shiloh a singular honor by letting him pick his new Executive Officer. After going through the dossiers of several dozen potential candidates, Shiloh had picked Lt. Cmdr. Svetlana Chenko. The main reason he picked her was the persistent reports by her superiors to the effect that Chenko brought an unusually serious attitude to her duties, and Shiloh thought that would be exactly what the Space Force in general, and his ship in particular, now needed.
“Glad to see you were able to report to the ship so quickly, Commander.”
Chenko saluted and said, “Thank you, Commander. I understand that you specifically requested me as Executive Officer.”
Shiloh returned the salute and responded with, “Yes I did. I’m certain that we’ll work well together.”
With the saluting out of the way, Shiloh started walking towards the Bridge and said, “Has the ship’s new second Officer arrived yet?”
Chenko, who had fallen in step with her CO, said, “Lieutenant Commander Farnsworth arrived on the previous transport. I’ve asked him to get up to speed on the current status of the ship’s repairs. I understand that it’s taken longer to finish them then was originally estimated.”
Shiloh grimaced. “Yes, the estimate of three weeks was overly optimistic, but I understand that most of the delay is the result of last minute modifications that were ordered by our Chief of Operations. I’ve been told that at least one of her lasers is being upgraded to a more powerful model and that some of the ship’s hull will have armor added to it.”
He paused and then asked, “What percentage of the crew is aboard right now?”
Chenko didn’t hesitate in responding. “We currently have 34 out of 77 onboard. Do you have some idea of when the ship will be expected to be ready for duty, Commander?”