A few minutes later, she straightened in her chair and made eye contact through the glass pane. "Sir, Commander Argat will speak with you." She called out as she waved him in.
"Argat, I am Vice Admiral George Bryant and I command the Fleet that met you, today. I am sorry for any losses. We only believed we were defending ourselves, our people and our territory. In our Empire we offer our hand in friendship when we meet someone. We offer the right hand; because, it is usually the one that holds a weapon. We are in effect welcoming discourse without the threat of battle. I offer you my hand now." Bryant said as he extended his right hand toward the alien. There was a substantial pause.
"Thank you, sir. I welcome discussion with you." Argat responded as he took Bryant's hand. George noted that, though the skin was silken, the touch was cold and clammy.
"Very good, sir.' Bryant responded with a smile as they shook hands. He went on slowly; maintaining intense eye contact with Argat; though, he did not know whether or not Argat could gauge his sincerity by his facial expression. 'We do not wish to attack your worlds. In fact, we can barely maintain the space we control, now. Humans are a curious lot; and, it was that curiosity that dragged us all the way out to the borders we have now. As we spread out, we met similar species who wished to share in our technology, wealth and system to create a strong mutual bond. Inside that territory are nearly fifty other species, we do not govern. We control the space around their systems; but, we leave them alone. The Empire exists for the benefit of its members; not for the demise of non-members. The border we protect was set as a goal nearly two centuries before we ever got there. It was a goal to create a buffer that would give the Empire space to defend itself. It was also a large enough region to use for the study of this part of this galaxy. The only battles we have fought since this expansion were either with our own people to quell rebellions like the ones at Rho; or, to defend ourselves against outside attacks like yours. I personally have suffered because of decisions made at Rho. I was forced to make some very harsh decisions at one of those incidents, myself. I cannot express to you the depth of guilt and remorse I have felt because of this. But, it was necessary. We have seen these rebellions last centuries and kill millions, if not quelled completely and immediately. We do not take those actions lightly. They are done for the benefit of the more than five hundred billion citizens we protect. We believe that, a small minority should not be able to threaten the well-being of the vast majority. We have not acted aggressively toward anyone as we expanded." Bryant stopped there to allow his words to penetrate and to give Argat time to respond. There was another long pause.
"Yes, I understand your meaning; and I sense your remorse in the actions you felt necessary at Rho. But, taking those actions into account; along with the fact that, yours is an Empirical state; and, looking at the relatively fast expansion of your Empire; can you blame us for thinking we should act to prevent an attack?" Argat was quite eloquent as he responded.
"No sir, I cannot blame your people at all. But, I do wish to prevent a war. If your people attack, we would be forced to bring all available defenses to face the threat. If we each put hundreds or thousands of war ships on the field, millions will die. This is unnecessary; since, we would never attack you, in the first place. I am prepared to take steps to ensure your confidence in our trustworthiness. I have the power to make agreements for the Empire to establish new relationships, protect our territory and improve the commerce for our people and their partners. Do your people make such agreements with others?" Bryant finished.
"Yes, Admiral we do. We adopted the idea from your people. Over centuries of watching you, it was one of the things we adopted that improved our lot." Argat replied.
"Good. Do you know what a treaty is?" George asked.
"Yes sir, we like the agreements you call treaties. We have treaties with several other systems farther away from Sol than we are located. Are you proposing such a treaty?” The alien asked.
"Yes, Argat; I am. I have the authority to negotiate such an agreement for the Empire; but, I would need to meet with someone at a similar level from your world. I would like us to trust each other and be friends - not enemies." Bryant offered.
"I am not authorized to conduct such a negotiation. However, I am sure my people would send a representative or empower me, if they knew all this." The gray said.
"It was my intention to release you, anyway. What is left of your armada is not a threat to us; and, we do not keep or kill our prisoners. We will assist in reviving your vessel; and, I will release you on the hope that, you will go back and speak to those in authority. I sincerely desire us to reach a peaceful settlement; so, we can enjoy peaceful relations with each other. We would trust your people as a neighbor; since, you spent centuries visiting us without relative harm. It would be good to know we have a friend on our border." Bryant replied with a smile.
"Very good, Admiral. I will convey your wishes to my people." Argat attempted to return the smile to George, unsuccessfully.
"Please call me George. On my world friends call each other by their first names. I hope we will become friends." The Admiral said as he stood and offered a hand.
"Thank you, George. You may call me Argat. I too hope we can become familiars." The gray responded. Surprisingly, he had finally chosen a correct but uncomfortable word to convey a thought. His command of English impressed George.
With that, the meeting ended. Bryant sent off the expansion proposal and battle summaries the next day as promised. The report was filed within the structure of existing normal digital documentation; but the proposal was presented as a one hundred eighty-page document complete with supporting graphs, charts and ancillary references. He had been able to take a little time to personally see Argat and his contingent off on their thirty-seven light year trip home. Assuming the Gray's technology had similar limitations, Bryant knew he would not hear back for between two and three weeks, at the earliest.
…………………………………………………………………
You will be receiving another handout, now. It brings you up to the present." I finished as I tapped my data pad and turned to exit the room.
Chapter 9 Expansion!!
May 23, 2248
"As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." Abraham Lincoln
On Tuesday May 23, 2248, George Bryant received a bulletin from headquarters. By then, he had negotiated a treaty with the Grays. The Empire would create a small dent in its outer boarder at Lambda Bootis. Essentially this would cut a notch into the border allowing for three light years’ territorial claim around the entire Lambda Bootis system. Since, it was not inhabited by humanoids or members of the Empire this was a small price to pay for peace. In return, the Grays agreed to a mutual non-aggression clause; to establish immediate diplomatic relations with the Empire; and, to meet to negotiate mutually beneficial trade pacts at the earliest opportunity. George had again been heralded as a hero of the Empire. The Boots’ embedded press corps filed story after story about him and the incident. He was called to Headquarters and presented with the Orion Peace Award by the Emperor, in person. This award had never been presented to a military representative. In nearly two and a half centuries, it had only been awarded to diplomats twice before. But, it was the bulletin that really meant something. It was directly from the C&C; and copied to the Emperor, First Minister, Council Members and all OESA Quadrant, Theatre and Fleet Commanders. It made official the adoption of the Boots' Fleet expansion plan which would commence in the Boots Fleet, immediately. For a bulletin, it was a relatively long document, outlining the entire plan, presenting new chain of command block diagrams and generalizing capital and operational budget increases for each level to attain the goals outlined in the plan.
George had been in constant contact with Bill Stephenson throughout the wait; and during a visit to headquarters, had sat with him updating Stephenson on the specific plan for Boots should the overall proposal be approved. So, it was le
ss than a day later when, Bryant received warrants promoting the appropriate people to the correct levels so they could be assigned to the positions George had reserved for them. In addition, there was a warrant for Marie's promotion to Commander for her work in aiding in the peaceful resolution of the Gray situation. Locally, she had already risen to the rank of Lieutenant Commander; but, George had expressed his desire to elevate her and the divisional staff to departmental level. They had already aided more than four hundred after the great loss of life during the battle with the Grays. Many of those had suffered greatly at the death of friends; and, would have normally gone to Earth or Rigil for help. Boots had kept them functional and had helped them recover because of Marie and her people. She was also awarded the C&C Order of Merit.
Bill sent an additional private memo to George. He advised him that, he had lobbied the C&C to make Counseling a service wide divisional operation; but, wanted it to go departmental. He had not pushed for that; because he wanted to offer departmental headquarters command to Marie; since, she had created the whole structure. But, he didn't want to make that offer until George and Marie made their relationship more permanent "if you get my drift". He knew, if she was made a departmental HQ commander, they would transfer her to Rigil; unless, she was married to a Fleet Commander. Then, they would allow her to operate from his Fleet. It was Bill's way to give his blessing and prod them along. During the waiting period Marie and George had become closer. She virtually lived in his quarters, now. He could no longer envision life without her. They both found it hard to keep the outward appearance of a professional relationship. Both wanted only to be in each other’s arms, when they were together.
Once he had a full grasp on the document's contents, he called in his chief.
"Come in." He called as he waved without raising his head, when Moahu knocked on the door frame.
"I guess you failed me, Moe." He said as he held the data pad displaying the document over his lowered head for Tahu.
He raised up and watched Moe a few seconds after he felt the pad's removal, from his hand. He couldn't seem to erase the ear to ear grin on his face as he watched the Chief navigate the document page by page. Thank goodness the Chief never looked up at George as he read on.
"Wow, this is great, Admiral. They went for it all." The Chief called out.
"Yes, you will be busy Moe. You need to prepare positional offers for Tom Stevens, Grace, Steven Nichols, Marie Ste. Laurent and Brigadier Malcolm. You need to arrange a meeting; so, I can go over plans and expectations with them. Once they accept the offers, you need to post the announcement of their promotions. You also need to post only the basics of the expansion; so, all our personnel will understand what is happening. And, most importantly you need to arrange the promotion ceremony and one hell of a party for them all - even better than your last one; if you can top it. Can you handle all that Moe? I'd like to have the offers on my system in an hour.' Bryant said through his big smile; then added. 'And Moe - you did a great job. Thank you."
"No sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I can't believe I almost rejected this position. I love this job. And this makes it worth all the work" He said as he shook the data pad in the air; then, banged into the doorframe in his haste to exit the Admiral's office without so much as a "by your leave". George could only chuckle about it. It was great to see Moe so enthused.
Fifteen minutes later, his system enunciator alerted him to an electronic memo. It was from Moe and all the offers were impeccably done and complete. George added his signature; then, sent each to its appropriate recipient. Half an hour later, the enunciator announced more incoming. As he opened the e-mails, he saw, they were responses from all concerned accepting their offer and agreeing to attend a meeting at thirteen hundred hours. Another alarm turned out to be a memo from Moe advising of the meeting at thirteen hundred and that Hangar-A would be empty for the ceremony at fifteen hundred hours; and A and B, on both Carriers, would be set up for the dinner / dance to commence at eighteen hundred. There was also a request for authorization for galley overtime for both carriers. They would bring in additional teams to get it done on time. He okayed the expense.
At thirteen hundred all the requested personnel were at his door; along with Moe and his personnel, accounting and logistics managers.
"Let's head to the boardroom. We'll have more room there." George ordered as he grabbed his data pad.
"Everyone get comfortable. Moe get the galley to send up refreshments and light food. We'll be here about ninety minutes." George ordered.
When everyone was seated and relaxed he hit an icon on the pad sending an image to the projector.
"This is the plan for the Fleet as it will be when this is all done. As you can see, we will essentially have four Groups that cannot officially be broken into squads. Each Group will have a Carrier, a Cruiser two frigates and a sub. Two supply vessels are actually going to be attached to the Task Force Commands and will be servicing two group commands. Each Carrier will house a Group Commander who will report to a Task Force Commander. The Task Force Commander may use each Group independently or together. Group Commanders will hold the rank of Commodore Level seven. Task Force Commanders will be at Rear Admiral level eight. Each Carrier will also hold a regimental marine command at the rank of Colonel which is level six, with multiple battalion commands. Two regiments will be under the control of the Task Force Level Seven Brigade Commander and the Brigade Commands will be under the command of the Fleet Level Division Command who will be a level eight general officer. The marine regiment will be staffed at a level around two thousand including operational and command personnel. This will put the division at a level just under nine thousand including command staff. That means that, each Group will incorporate five warships manned by around ten thousand three hundred personnel, in total. Fleet capacity will rise to twenty warships, four supply vessels and between thirty-five and forty thousand, including staffs. So we will need to acquire two additional carriers, two additional frigates and two additional subs along with all the people it will take to man them and create the commands and staffs we need to manage the operation. We will need nearly eighteen thousand additional people to man all this. Three more people will need to move into flag positions for the new Commands; and we will need two additional Brigadiers; once, General Malcolm is ensconced as a division commander. This will create openings which will ripple down through the Groups. We will also need additional senior officers to command the new vessels and senior staff for the departments and shift commanders. Again this will ripple down through the Groups. So, you will all need to build a list of recommendations for the senior staff you will need and who will replace them in their current positions. Once you have figured it all out you will need to create a list of new personnel you will need to fill new or vacated positions. I have one of Grace's officers as a Group Commander, already. I will need one more recommendation from her and two from Tom's Group. You may also draw from headquarters or other Fleets to fill those most senior positions; but, I caution you. It is important to develop the rising stars within our own Fleet. You will be surprised at what you will find; and, you’ll maintain a lot of loyalty for it. We need to fill those other five senior positions, quickly. Those people need to be in on the planning and development. I will want your recommendations by tomorrow. We will need to complete promotions and assignments within the week. Once all our internal moves are complete and we begin to draw outside personnel, there is a formula provided by the C&C; so, all Fleets will share in new graduates from the Academies. For every new officer and enlisted we take on, we will be able to draw one experienced person from each Quadrant Command. So, our ratio will be one new for every four experienced people.
While we were all waiting for HQ, Stephen was developing a plan to accept the new builds. There are already two carriers, two subs and a frigate in various stages of assembly that are allocated to us. The additional frigate parts are being produced now and its assembly will begin within the mon
th. So, Commodore Nichols has prepared a list of specialists he will need to supervise assembly and testing; and for worthiness trials. He will be drawing from all your existing personnel; but, you will get all these people back within four months. They are all on temporary assignment, attached to his temporary Hardware Acquisitions Command. Moe, he has also called for one of your accountants and one person from logistics. I hadn't thought of that need; but Stephen tells me that, if we want to keep things within Fleet procurement policies, it would be wise to have the experts on site. These people will be travelling between Boots Fleet, Rigil, Earth and 44 Bootis to keep up with all the assemblies. The total Acquisition Command personnel need is seventy-four people; so, I have released the Admiral's Craft for his use. It is the only jump capable vehicle big enough to handle the requirement; but, small enough to be efficient. It will be their homes for the next four months. Stephen, feel free to use all the facilities and stores. I want you all to be happy and comfortable. We are asking a lot of your temporary command. Stephen is scheduled to leave here with his Command on May 29th; so, I would like to hold the additional flag level promotions before that. That way, he will know who he will be dealing with. Grace and Tom have to determine who gets existing assets and who gets the new ones. I assume Grace will give Stephen the Columbia Group; since, he will be away most of the time; but, if you want to give him the new group that's okay, too; since, he'll be able to deal with himself okay.' George had to pause for the chuckle that went through the room to die off.
'You'll all need to develop you staffing plan and training plans for new and promoted personnel. You will need all the ship execs to arrange quartering for all personnel as it changes. You need an indoctrination plan; so, newcomers are made aware of Boots policies and expectations, immediately. You will need to keep personnel and payroll updated on your plan and its disposition at all times. We need everyone paid the right amount, on time. I know money isn't that important when your room and board and all your daily needs are covered; but, we all need to know we can rely on our supervisors.
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