The Fifth Reich: Beyond The Stars

by J Palliser

  20

  Nineteen

  Deck 19, Armory, 0120 hours "Is this what ' a few times' means to you?" Zira asked as Sonya started the recording yet again. There was no response. "Hey, we've been here for hours. What are you looking for? Hey!" Zira said, poking Sonya in the side, hitting the bruise left by her fall.

  "Shit!" Sonya cried, rubbing her side. "That fucking hurts! Hey, Dejah could you guys take it easy with the inertial dampers next time?"

  "It is important to simulate combat conditions as thoroughly as possible in order to maximize the effectiveness of the exercise."

  "I take it that's a ' no'," Kara yawned. "That is correct." They had set up the recording of the last combat exercise to display on the main screen in the Armory, usually reserved for the internal security schematic. They sat side by side in fours chairs, staring at the recording. On the screen, a computer-generated representation of the Bismarckmade the sharp turn around the back of the Saurian dreadnought. The Kriegsmarine ship fired its pulse phasers, striking the port shield.

  "Wait!" Sonya shouted, jumping to her feet. "Computer, freeze!"

  "What?" Zira asked, confused.

  "There!" Sonya said, pointing to the aft of the Saurian ship.

  "I don't see anything," Kara shrugged.

  "One of our phasers struck the aft shield instead of the port shield," Dejah said.

  "So what?" Zira asked. "Computer, display tactical sensor readouts for threat vessel," Sonya said excitedly. The computer chirped in response, and two schematics of the Saurian ship appeared, showing the craft from the side and from above, each surrounded by four small arcs, representing the shields. "Got you!" she yelled through clenched teeth. Sonya turned around to see three deeply confused faces.

  "I think you might want to get some sleep," Zira said quietly, as if she was afraid of offending Sonya. Sonya grunted in frustration and turned back around to face the screen. "Computer, roll back recording five seconds and play at one quarter speed, and show tactical sensor readings." The computer chirped again, and split the screen into two. One half showed the recreation of the engagement, while the other showed the sensor analysis of the Saurian ship. As they watched, the Bismarck banked into its turn slowly, firing its phasers in rapid succession. Each shot struck the port shield except the last, which struck the aft.

  "Interesting," Dejah said.

  "What? I still don't see a damn thing!" cried Zira. "Computer, playback last 1.5 seconds," Dejah said. "Watch the aft shield strength." Zira stared at the readout. As the phasers struck, the bright arc representing the port shield gradually faded. With the last shot, the aft shield darkened slightly, then brightened heavily as the other shields dimmed.

  "Clever bastards," remarked Kara.

  "They reinforce specific shields after one takes a hit, drawing power from the others," Zira said.

  "It must be done automatically. It is too fast for manual control," Dejah pointed out.

  "And we are going to use that to beat them!" Sonya grinned.

  "How?"

  "Shuttles." This was met with silence.

  "Huh?" Zira asked after a few silent moments. "We use the phasers on the shuttle-craft to trigger the shield reinforcement on multiple shields simultaneously, while the Bismarck hits one of the others with everything we have."

  "Are you crazy?" Zira cried. "Those shuttles won't last long outside our shields." "They don't have to, just long enough for us to bring down their shields and beam the strike team directly onto their bridge, winning the exercise," Sonya explained. Again, the room was silent.

  "Your logic is sound, but you are making a critical assumption," Dejah said.

  "And what's that?"

  "You are assuming that they will react to multiple attacks the same way they react to a single attack."

  "They will," Sonya said confidently. "How do you know?"

  "Cause if they don't, we're screwed."

  "Those shuttles are going to get hammered," Kara said.

  "They won't see them as a threat. They're just shuttles," Sonya smiled wickedly.

  "You mean vampire bunnies?" Kara laughed.

  "Exactly."

  Zira and Dejah looked at each other in confusion.

  ***

  Deck 10, Crew Lounge, 0830 hours Sonya sat in the window frame, staring out into space, well apart from everyone else in the lounge. She had just taken her findings to Commander Saul, who had reacted enthusiastically, and promised to present her plan to the captain. As she waited for Captain Kurtz's decision, she went over her plan again. Or at least she had intended to. Her mind had wandered, thinking back over the last few years, wondering about her parents, and worrying about the next few hours.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Casana plopping down on the other end of the frame. "Hey, Harry, what's going on?" she asked cheerfully. "Don't call me 'Harry'," Sonya said automatically. "I'm just thinking."

  "About what?"

  "About tomorrow's exercise."

  "Yeah, I heard about your little scheme," Casana smiled.

  "Kara?"

  "No, Dejah. She asked my opinion on Saurian psychology."

  "She told you my theory?"

  "Yup."

  "And?"

  Casana shrugged. "I don't know. Sounds reasonable, I guess. It's not really my area of expertise."

  "What is?" Sonya asked pointedly.

  "You know: Exobiology, Chemistry, Military Science."

  Sonya turned to look her in the eye. "No, that's not what I mean," she said. "Oh, you mean my... ancestors? It varies. The Commission likes to mix it up a little. Let's see..." she sighed, closing her eyes. "Well, the last one was a surgeon."

  "Figured that would be in there somewhere," Sonya grunted.

  "Yeah, that came in handy," she giggled. "Let's see, he was-"

  "He?" Sonya said in surprise.

  "Huh? Yeah, the last host was a male."

  "And you remember that? What it's like, I mean?" Sonya asked curiously.

  "To be male? Sure, why?" Casana replied casually. "Well, to us non-sex changing races, that's kinda weird. Especially for humans. We've spent a good deal of our time trying to explain what being one sex is like to the other."

  "And how did that work out?" Casana said, tilting her head. "Mostly, we just argued about it. One side would try to explain to the other, who wouldn't understand. Then that side would make a statement about the first side, and they'd get pissed, and there'd be marches and boycotts and riots and crap. And we just went on and on like that, taking turns being offended."

  "And nobody ever got it?" Casana laughed. "No, they just got pissed," Sonya sighed. "Hell, for most of human history, those fights ended with men telling women to shut up and go back to making dinner and not voting. That's why the Reich has strict laws for civilians regarding those issues and regulations for those serving within the Reich. That's why, within the Reich, men and women serve equally." Casana laughed softly. "So, what's it like? To be a man?"

  Casana shrugged. "I don't know, I can't really explain it. It's different, but not really."

  "That was helpful," Sonya sneered. "Well, okay," Casana began, sitting forward. "It's different in a way because your body is different. Men are bigger, bulkier. They're bigger and stronger. And everything is rigid, stiff."

  "Yeah, I know that." Sonya snickered.

  "That's not what I meant."

  "And women?"

  "Women are smaller, more compact. They can stretch and they can glide. But it's all window dressing."

  "What do you mean?" "The big difference isn't what you are, it's what other people think you are. People think men are strong and brave and horny, so they are. And they think women are small, fragile, and shy, so that's how they are. But it's all an act."

  "An act?" Sonya asked skeptically.

  "It's unconscious, but, yeah, it's an act. It's not really who they are that matters, it's who they think they are. "

  "So, what, we've all brainwashed each other into
thinking we're different?"

  Again, Casana shrugged. "Sort of."

  "Again, not very helpful." "Well, it's sort of a yes-and-no kinda thing. On the yes side, our expectations of others direct their behavior, just as their expectations of us direct our own. We all just go along with it because it's all we've ever known, and we don't question it."

  "What? Of course we do! We question it all the time!" Sonya scoffed. "Yeah, intellectually. But people don't do things for intellectual reasons, they do them for emotional reasons. And emotionally, it's a lot easier to just accept what we have always believed."

  "And the on the 'no' side?" "Well, the reality is right there in front of us, and no matter how much we ignore it, we eventually realize that we aren't all that different. Eventually, something wakes us up."

  "Like what?" "I don't know. It depends on the person. Maybe something big, maybe not. One way or another, the reality that we are all alike sneaks through, and we glimpse the truth. Sometimes, it changes one person, sometimes it changes a whole species."

  "I suppose I can see that," Sonya admitted. "Before the Third World War, humans were obsessed with what it meant to male, and what it means to be female. We spent a lot of time figuring out where everyone was meant to be in society, what was natural and what wasn't. As I stated earlier, that's why the Reich has strict laws for civilians regarding those issues and regulations for those serving within the Reich. For the Reich, you're born a male or female, there is no in between nor any thought that you were born the wrong sex. Or what race 'mattered' or who's religion was superior."

  "And what happened?"

  "We pretty much attempted suicide. We're good at that, ya know. Killing. Humans have a gift for killing," Sonya said glumly. "Oh, that's not true!" Casana scoffed. "Of course it is! Look at our past. Do you realize how many humans were killed by other humans? Fuck, at some points in human history, it was considered a science!" Sonya said emphatically. "Do you know what happened after the First World War? The fucking Second World War! And not a hundred years later, 20 years later! And the same fucking people fought it, and millions of my people died, German people died for the wrong reasons and over lies perpetrated by propaganda by those who were hell-bent on destroying Germany!"

  "You can't judge a culture based on what they do once or twice."

  "Or three times," Sonya interrupted. "Or three times. You judge them by what they keep, no matter what. The most telling aspect of a culture is the things that they preserve above all else, the monuments, the documents, the things they see as icons. Things that transcend tangible existence and become ideas in and of themselves."

  "Like what? The Colosseum?" Sonya said skeptically. "Okay, a minor exception. But there are other things! Like the Great Pyramids, monuments to the dead. What about Stonehenge? And before you make fun of it, let me remind you that Kara's ancestors built that one!"

  "Okay, that's one, but-" "And the Eiffel tower? World Trade Center? Taj Mahal? Hell, you went to the Academy, do you remember the Petra? And, think of how many of the Seven Wonders were about war?"

  "The Great Wall." "Defensive. Doesn't count." Casana smiled. "So Earth had some dark times. Every culture does. The important thing is what happens next. What happened after the Third World War?"

  "After the Third World War, humanity was about as closed to extinct as we had ever been, and we were too busy trying to scrape by that we didn't have time to worry about what things were supposed to be like. Eventually, we realized that they aren't supposed to be like anything. Nature doesn't care about what things are meant to be, it cares about what they are. If it wasn't for the Reich, humanity would no longer exist."

  "And that is why humans are so well adjusted. They have accepted the reality that diversity is not the same as different, nor being politically correct is not the same as being right." Casana said, leaning back. They sat silently for a few minutes, staring out the window at the stars. "Where did all that come from, anyway?" Sonya asked.

  "My first host was a philosopher."

  ***

  Deck 2, Conference Lounge, 1400 hours Sonya paced outside the door, waiting to be called in. "Take it easy, Sonya," Kara said trying to calm her as she looked on. Sonya continued to pace until Kara grabbed her by the shoulders. "Sonya, baby, look at me," she pleaded. Sonya looked up, eyes full of fear. "It's going to be fine. It's a good plan. All you have to do is explain it."

  "What if I screw it up? What if I forget?" Sonya whispered, as though afraid the words could curse her.

  "Forget it? It's your plan!" Kara laughed. "Look, Harry-"

  "Oh, god, not you, too!" Sonya cried.

  "Sorry. Slip of the tongue," she apologized. "You're going to do fine. It's a good plan."

  "It's crazy." "The good ones usually are," Kara smiled. The door opened, and Lieutenant Commander Faulkner poked his head out.

  "Lieutenant, we're ready."

  "Aye, sir." Sonya closed her eyes, and stepped through the door. The room was long and narrow, arching gently, with a window running the length of the outside wall. At the head of the long conference table sat Captain Kurtz, with Commander Saul to one side and Lieutenant Commander Faulkner on the other. Next to Saul sat Commander Lange, and then Dr. Rollins. Across from them was Lieutenant Commander O'Slo, a tall Delkan and the Chief of Operations, and Dr. Akan, the Chief Medical Officer. Every one of them was staring at Sonya.

  "At ease, Lieutenant. I understand you have a plan for our last exercise against the Saurian," said Lange.

  "That's correct, sir," she said calmly. There was a brief silence.

  "Would you like to tell us?" he asked impatiently, destroying Sonya's calm.

  "Oh! Yes, sir. May I?" she asked, gesturing to the display console behind him. "I think it would be helpful," Lange said. Sonya walked down the outside of the table as the Senior Staff turned to face the display. She brought up the recording of the previous engagement.

  "After analyzing the sensor readings from out last fight, I noticed something odd in the Saurian ship's shield configuration," she said, tapping the screen. The recreation ran forward slowly, showing the Bismarck bank into its turn and fire. As the phasers hit, the screen froze. "Right here," she said, pointing to the Saurian ship, and the image was magnified, clearly showing the phaser striking the aft shield.

  "One of our phasers hit the aft shield instead of the port one," she explained. Sonya pressed another button, and the recreation moved back a few seconds. As it played forward slowly, the tactical sensor display appeared alongside. "After the phaser strikes the aft shield, its strength drops briefly, but then rises precipitously, at which point the other shields loose strength," she said, finishing just as the phaser struck and the shield was reinforced. The screen again froze.

  "We believe that the Saurian's have programmed their computer to reinforce any shield that takes fire with energy from the other shields. I propose that we use this against them, simultaneously striking all but one shield, forcing the Saurian to use power from that shield to reinforce the others. We then strike the weakened shield with everything we have. When the shield goes down, we board their ship," she finished. The officers looked at each other.

  "How do you know the Saurians are not controlling shield strength manually?" asked Lange.

  "The shield reinforcement occurs less than half a second after the shield is hit, much to fast to be done manually." "Alright, assuming you are correct, how do you know that the computer will respond the way you predict? Perhaps the shields will remain unchanged," the engineer continued.

  "Two reasons. First, if the shields are not reinforced, it will still keep them from reinforcing the target shield. Our calculations indicate that even if it is not weakened, it will collapse under a full volley without reinforcement."

  "And second?" asked Faulkner. "Psychology. Saurian's tend to deal with problems headon. They attack directly with overpowering force, crushing the enemy. They are set up for slugging matches, oneon-one. It follows they would optimize their war
ships to fight a single, heavy target, meaning that attacks will only ever come from one direction." Captain Kurtz turned to Lieutenant Commander O'Slo.

  "What'd you think?"

  "It's reasonable," she said quietly.

  "How do you propose we strike from every direction at once?" asked the Captain, turning back around. "Shuttle-craft," Sonya answered, pressing a button on the screen. It changed again, this time showing the two ships, facing each other. "We will make a full loop of the Saurian ship, offset from the horizontal plane." As she spoke, the image of the Bismarck moved forward, pitching up and banking to one side. It moved around the Saurian ship, passing high to its right before dipping down below the enemy and coming back towards the front. "During the maneuver, we will launch shuttle-craft periodically," she said as small representations of shuttles split from the Bismarck.

  "They will take up positions around the Saurian ship and, on command from the Bismarck, fire simultaneously at all shields, save for the port shield." Small orange lines extended from the tiny shuttles, converging of the Saurian ship. "The Bismarck will come out of the turn sharply, giving us a point blank shot at the weakened shield." The Bismarck passed below and in front of the Saurian ship before turning sharply into it. As it closed, several red dots fired from the ship, hitting the Saurian's.

  "Those shuttles are going to get butchered as soon as they are in range!" cried Lange. "No, they will not," said Oslo before Sonya could respond. "The Saurian's will ignore them, trying to save everything for when we close on them."

  "Why the port shield? Isn't the aft shield weaker?" asked Faulkner. "It is, but if the shield doesn't fall, we can turn away from the bow of the enemy, denying them a shot at us," Sonya answered as the fake Bismarck turned hard to right and moved away from the Saurian ship.

  "Will the exercise control protocols be able to keep track of what's happening?" Kurtz asked Lange.

  "They are designed to handle anything from one-on-one engagements to full fleets. This won't be a problem." The Captain leaned back in his chair for a moment. "What you are proposing is a return to fighter tactics," he finally said to Sonya. "The Kriegsmarine hasn't deployed fighters in combat for some time, not since the Luftwaffe fighter corps was formed." He paused, exchanging glances with each of the Senior Staff. "Let's hope it works," he said.