by Don Koch
"Sam, this changes some things, we will still take our ten days but we will have to mix in some serious business as well. I am sorry about that."
"Well, that is no problem, it is why we are here, besides, I believe in that old saying about 'whither thou goest'" she responded.
He went on, "I really want you involved in the strategy meetings we need to have. You will see or hear things that I can miss because I am distracted with another point or have another viewpoint that needs to be aired."
"Barana, are Josh Adams, his wife and the Reevers still on station?"
"Please give them and my parents, grandparents and Uncle Pete my regards and ask them to meet with Sam and me in the large conference room in 20 minutes. Please invite Fador and those senior Antoran advisors you think would be helpful in a strategy meeting. Try to limit that to about five to ten persons. Oh, one more, is Master Gunnery Sergeant Wall still here."
"Great, he's hooked, is his wife JoAnn with him?"
"Good, please invite them as well. That should give us a pretty good crew to work with. His wife has a doctorate in Psychology and is absolutely brilliant and unpretentious. Bill is one of the best I know to manage troops. Well Sam, shall we do this the slow way or the fast way?"
"Lets go the slow route, I want to try that elevator again. Never been on something that fast with inertial dampers. It's kind of fun."
Barana commented in a disappointed tone,
Sam said, "I hope that was a joke."
Barana directed a private thought to Sam,
Hank and Sam arrived five minutes ahead of schedule to find that everyone was already there. As they entered, Sgt. Wall came to attention and stated, "Commander on Deck."
All in the room came to attention and Hank said, "At ease everyone. That is going to be hard to get used to. Please, everyone be seated. Let's start with introductions all around, let us know who you are, what are your areas of expertise and interest, then we can get down to business." After introductions, Hank continued, "Barana would you please give us a holo map showing us the position of the main force of the Glarin as well as our position along with a scale to show the distance between us. Also show us where they are expected to be in annual increments with a year marker to show location." The map came up instantly as he spoke adding the data as he requested.
"If you are wondering why Sam and I are here while still on our honeymoon, it is because we have new information that we feel should not wait. You folks are my primary advisors and general strategy group and we will be having more meetings over time to discuss developments, suggest alternatives and options. That assures the decisions I have to make are not done in a vacuum. Barana will be a part of this group as well. Most of you already know this, but some do not. Barana, is fully sentient and self aware, has access to mountains of data that we collectively could not begin to comprehend and is in fact the station. What the station feels, she feels. Barana is an equal partner in what we face. This is not common knowledge and will remain that way for a while. Frankly that is her preference and I happen to agree with it, though for slightly different reasons than hers. On a personal note, I can also attest to the fact that she is developing a wicked sense of humor."
Barana flashed a thought to Sam,
Sam responded,
"About 30 minutes ago we received new intelligence, thanks to Sam, that may change some of our assumptions. There is a second, though considerably smaller force of Glarin approaching this system. Barana please add group B to the plot with the same incremental data. This new group as you can see is a lot closer to us than the main group. I think this is what we could loosely term, 'a revoltin' development.' Barana is currently running a scan of our entire front to see if there are any more surprises out there. This one was not discovered earlier because of its proximity to the path of the main force and its small size relative to the main group. Also, you can do the math but it certainly appears that this smaller group either started here a lot earlier than the main one or can exceed the 6xSL that we have assumed for the Glarin. At their current speed, the main force is 25 years away but the smaller force is only 8½ years away. We had hoped to be ready for an encounter when the main force was 3 years out and thought this would give us about 22 years to prepare. This new data gives us only 5½ years to be ready with a force sufficient to face the additional threat because we do not want to wait until they are actually in system before we react."
"If we assume that the maximum speed of the closer force is still at the Glarin maximum, 6xSL, then there are some questions that need to be answered, such as:
How is it they are where they are and why?
Is the intent of this group the same as the main group?
Are their capabilities similar?
Can they be turned around?
What is their relationship to the main group?
Barana tells me that emanations coming from this group are distinctly different than the main group but are still definitively Glarin."
"This also means that we have several major issues to resolve in order to prepare. We are still lacking a military structure and the needed manpower to provide the necessary defense. We have a General but no privates. Hmm, that doesn't sound good. I think that there is going to be substantial culture shock with our introduction of people from Earth to Antorans and vice versa. Joann, I am hoping you can help us there with help from our Antoran advisors, assuming you are willing to sign on. Billy I have a huge role for you to play but I need to know when your enlistment is up and if you are interested. I know you have your 20 in but this is going to be something you can really get your teeth into."
Wall responded, "as usual Gunny, uh, I mean General, oh hell, Hank, I am a half step ahead of you. Joann and I talked this over after the briefing following the wedding and decided there was no way we were going to miss this opportunity and that really does go for both of us. My enlistment runs out in 35 days and this morning I sent my retirement papers in and took terminal leave. We are here for the duration. I can gather my stuff any time in the next week or so. But I am here and ready to start on whatever you have in mind. Just please don't make me a private again."
"Hardly, you, my friend, are going to be my new Command Sergeant Major. That will not be an easy job. Consider that there are 20 Type 1 Stations, each of them has 20,000 warships and some a few more. In addition there are 20,000 warships on each of the 80 Type 2 stations. That gives us a total of 2,000,000 plus warships. Each ship has a crew of 24, 5 officers and 19 enlisted, with other command functions on every 25th ship that can add up to two additional officers and 1 enlisted on those ships. That puts us somewhere over 48,200,000 persons just to man the warships. The deck crews for the same ships amounts to 8 per ship, 1 officer and 7 enlisted. That's another 16,000,000. That is a lot of people just to man the ships and this is just a preliminary estimate."
"A sizeable number of the crews are not people who can 'pull the trigger' and those are usually Antoran. Persons involved in communications, n
avigation, intelligence gathering, science officer and other non-combatant roles will naturally evolve to the Antorans. That still leaves us with massive numbers to recruit. We will need to take steps to avoid rifts developing between combatants and non-combatants. Non-combatant Antorans will be going in harms way to support the combatants without the means to shoot back. For this they deserve our admiration, friendship and support. They are part of the team and will be so treated. Think of them in terms similar to the Navy Corpsmen and Chaplains who are embedded with Marine Corps units and face the same hazards that we do. The stations will also need to be manned. I need to do more of a review here but at least 50,000 will be needed on this ship just to man the guns, The Type 1B's will need on the order of 40,000. We need to provide for the military command structure and this is not counting the administrative function."
"We are going to need a good solid officer corps. Josh, This is where I offer you a job and see if you are interested. We need structure and we need to have good people to manage it."
Col. Adams replied, "My wife Rosie and I were sitting with Bill and Joann when they made their decision. I had been thinking about the same thing. My wife looked at me when this happened and said 'well' with that look that long married folks know too well. Yesterday I submitted my resignation/retirement papers effective immediately. So I am foot loose and fancy free as they say and I do want in but please, please, please, not as a buck private." This brought a round of laughter and one Antoran advisor joined the laughter after Alex Stone explained the meaning of the reference to him with a grin.
"That is even better than I hoped, General. I am going to need a rough out of the command structure we will need ASAP."
Josh said, "General?"
"Yes, and that is with four of those nice shiny stars and the Eagle, Anchor and Starburst. I need someone I know and trust as my number 2. If you are going to throw at me the excuse I used that you don't have the knowledge base you need for that function, then I should tell you that starting this evening you will be sleeping in a training machine, in your quarters, that by the end of 30 days will give you everything we can jam into your head that is not already there concerning military structure, administration, space tactics, etc. You will have the equivalent of the content of every war college on the planet as well as some additional languages. Including Glarin. Rosie will probably hate me for this, but your night-time mind is going to be pretty occupied for the next month or two." There was more laughter from everyone.
Sam thought to Hank,
He thought back,
"Josh, joking aside, the machine is painless, assimilation is automatic and seamless. When you wake up each morning you will feel thoroughly refreshed. Barana can guide you in testing what you have learned. By the way, there are two learning machines in every bedroom. There are also two learning/medical machines in every dwelling unit. The latter is needed for installing enhancements. We will also be installing Command enhancements. There are several levels of enhancement, but we can talk about that at another time. The manpower we draw on really needs to be multinational and even interstellar. We have four good worlds with candidates out there who we will need to draw from. Looking down the road, in a few hundred years there will be a fifth planet to draw from."
"Next related item is a civil issue that can dramatically impact military capability and efficiency. The Antoran civilization does not suffer from a problem we have on Earth, namely, crime. When we start mixing our various civilizations together, we have to be prepared for that eventuality. This is an issue that I believe we will have to deal with harshly. How we deal with it must be firm and even-handed. I would ask that Alex, Mary, James and Louise Stone take on this project with Fador and advisors of his choosing."
"My initial thought is eviction, restoration to physical condition prior to service on the station that includes removal of any enhancement devices but I am happy to defer to your decision. My view may be too harsh. I do not wish to return a criminal to Earth with advantages he or she did not have prior to coming here. This would result in a return to Earth normal longevity unless they elect colonization. The work skills gained are not likely to be usable in a society without the technological base to which it can be applied. I would ask you to work on a structure that deals with it. Drug use will not be tolerated. Repeated alcohol abuse will not be tolerated. Assistance and counseling will be offered. Drunkenness will not be an accepted excuse for activities committed while so impaired. You will have to define abuse. Barana has standing instruction that anyone with a blood alcohol content of 0.06 is to be transported to a holding cell in the military sector. Those are some of the basic tenets that I would ask you to flesh out. A code of conduct for both civilian and military personnel."
"Barana will be the provider of fact in such cases since she can provide full and indisputable evidence. The mere attempt to commit a crime is sufficient for eviction. This is an issue where we have to be pretty resolute. You will essentially be establishing a court system and determining what exceptions are acceptable. There will be a single court system for anyone living on station that is involved in a criminal act and that includes both civilian and military personnel. Strictly military issues will be dealt with via Captains Mast or Court Marshal. This will include such things as AWOL, desertion, dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming, disobedience of a lawful order, striking a superior, and things of that nature. We will not protect troops for their misdeeds just because they are military. Also note that colonization is a potential option. Conditions will need to be established for that option."
"Now, that brings us back to where we started, the new group of Glarin. We have these questions that we started with and need to figure how we can get answers to them. Anyone have any thoughts on how we might proceed."
Fador rose and calmly stated, "Yes, I have a suggestion, let's go ask them." This startled almost everyone there except Hank, Josh and Bill. Fador continued, "You Americans have a saying that seems to fit this situation, something about going straight to the horse's mouth. I cannot perceive how we might resolve your questions short of a face-to-face confrontation. I think it is reasonable to go straight to the horse's mouth and ask. Our shields will prevent any opportunity for contamination or damage from them. We have the ability to kick them out of FTL where they are then vulnerable to the stations weapons. If they talk to us, we may get the answers we seek. If they fire upon us, that is an answer of sorts and you can respond in kind. In the meantime our AI's will be close enough to conduct a more thorough scan than we have had in the past. That alone is worth pursuing. That might give us our answers involuntarily or confirm or refute what they tell us. I would suggest we meet them with four - Type 2's and one Type 1. Use the Type 2's to bump them out of FTL. I understand that it should take them about 2 weeks to re-charge their capacitors sufficiently to let them again enter FTL and another 2 weeks to get back to top speed. That should get their attention. Their ships are considerably smaller than ours, about 10 miles long, as I understand it. While their capacitors are down, they will likely not have shielding capability. So unless they are suicidal, they should be willing to respond to a hail particularly when four vessels more than 9 times their size suddenly un-cloak before them and hail their fleet. The Type 1 would remain cloaked unless needed."
One of the Antoran advisors added, "I must agree, I am Ter-Amin and my specialty is scanning systems and analysis of data from those scans. The scans we have of the Glarin ships are old and were conducted from
a distance of about 2 light years. This means that while we have a pretty good understanding of the ship and its contents, the fine detail is lacking. This suggestion would give us a basis for comparison to see where the differences lie. Honored Barana would you please display the scan of the Glarin vessel we have and show markers to provide scale. The review of this original scan convinced us that the maximum speed was 6xSL. I won't bore you with the details but these items are the capacitors and are an integral part of a number of systems but primarily drive and shielding. Their atmosphere and its controls appear to be on a separate system. Most interesting however are these areas highlighted in red. They contain stasis units for about 700,000 persons. It would appear that they expect flights of long duration and have replaced creature comforts with this arrangement or, they are originally designed as evacuation ships. When we release a power surge at or near them, it causes the type of capacitors they are using for FTL to discharge every bit of its energy that must then be recharged and that is a time consuming exercise. In the meantime, they sit defenseless in space. It would appear that their weapons do not require the same capacitor banks to operate so they may still have some teeth. The stasis system is also on a different system that would not be affected by the power surge. The stasis area appears to be separately shielded and contains a separate power source with backup. It also takes up a relatively small part of the total volume of the usable space in the ship, about tube near LM3 on the ship that is 904' in diameter and about 1800' long. That area is essentially a capsule within the ship. Why so many is still a puzzle. We need to be close enough to do the kind of precision scan that only proximity will allow. We should be able to read them down to the very circuit boards and controls they utilize. In theory we could fully replicate one of their ships. That would be most advantageous in dealing with the main group. It would allow for precision targeting that I am sure the Glarin do not suspect is even possible. I urge you to accept Fador's suggestion in this matter. The amount of knowledge we could acquire about our foe is huge." With that he sat down.