Miller looked through the list. Most of these guys – he used the collective term, although three of them were women – had fit what he thought of as 'the profile' for an agent. There were some people who were just never satisfied with the way things were. Who thought things could be better. More, should be better. They saw the problems in anything. Some people might describe them as having a chip on their shoulder. Acting as an agent for a foreign power, for their home planet in fact, in their minds often filled the bill of "doing something about it."
Miller wondered how many of them were still in the CSF. Of course, in an open society like the CSF, you could often find out things like that. He turned to his terminal.
Several hours later, Miller had a plan.
Of the dozen people in Clifton's reserve from eight years prior, four had retired and eight were still in the CSF. Clifton had also done research on their families back on Brunswick. Miller could get that updated in six weeks or so, one round-trip of the courier electronic message system. Probably not threaten the families. That, in his experience, just didn't work that well. But promises of support for the families was something he could probably use.
Maybe he could get someone else in the embassy, like the Brunswick Citizen Services Office, to get in touch with the contacts about the opportunity to send funds home to family, or some charity, or something. Something where Miller could get a chance to look them over, chat them up a bit. See how they were doing.
And how he might be able to help.
An Absurd Proposal
"You've been awful quiet today," Bill said as he took his seat on the porch.
"Just thinking about that last conversation I had with Admiral Durand," Jan said.
"Where are you headed with it?"
"Something I'm afraid he'll think is absurd."
"Oh, this sounds good. Whatcha got?" Bill asked.
"Well, think about it. This technology is going to leak or be reproduced, right?"
"Of course. They always are."
"How long do you think we have?" Jan asked.
"Twenty years."
Jan raised an eyebrow.
"OK, ten minimum. Probably more like fifteen," Bill said.
"That's what I was thinking. Another question. Let's say the Outer Colonies attack us, and we have this technology in place, enough at least to really clean their clocks for once. How long will it take for the elites to re-establish control once we move out?"
"Ten years."
"Really? That long?" Jan asked.
"Yeah. We've kicked that scenario around, and that's what we figure. Lots of moving parts involved."
"OK, so we have an overlap. Five years until we pull out, and then maybe ten years before the elites re-establish themselves. Meanwhile the technology leaks. So there's a fifteen, maybe twenty year window before everything is right back to where we are now. More dangerous, actually."
"Yep. I don't see any way around that. It's a structural astro-political issue," Bill said.
"What if we kicked over the ant hill?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Give the technology away," Jan said.
"To the Outer Colonies?"
"No. To Earth. Have them get their automated factories turning out colony ships."
"And then offer a ride out to a new colony to anyone who wants to leave the Outer Colonies?" Bill asked.
"Yep. Cut their best and brightest out from under them, let the elites rule over the remains."
"But won't the elites establish control over the colonies as well?"
"Could, but it's a lot harder, I think, especially if we mix the colonists up a bit. Not have each shipload all from one planet," Jan said.
"How many new colonies would you establish?"
"As many as we have people for. With a round trip on average of six weeks or so, and maybe another six weeks total of loading and unloading, three dozen ships could establish about a hundred and fifty colonies. Per year. Do that for that ten year window...."
"And you have fifteen hundred new colonies. Wow. That's ten times as many as we have now, total," Bill said.
"And no reason to stop there."
"Durand will have a hemorrhage."
"Why?" Jan asked.
"It's just not how he thinks. He thinks in terms of keeping secrets."
"We would keep it a secret – from the Outer Colonies. Just share it with Earth. They can ship out lots of their people, too, if they want to go. Fifteen hundred colonies would take a lot of people."
"Do you think they'll be able to get them off the VR?" Bill asked.
"Maybe. President Turner and I correspond. They're having some success with getting people out of the house, interested in reality again."
"Man, oh man. Where do you come up with this stuff?"
Jan turned and gave him a big smile.
"I'm an outside-the-box thinker."
"Ha! You don't even acknowledge the existence of the box."
"Box? What box? I don't see any box...."
Bill was right. At their next meeting, Admiral Durand was not happy.
"The idea is preposterous," Durand said.
"Of course, it is," Jan said cheerily.
"Out of the question."
"Why?" There was steel in her tone now, but Durand missed it.
"For any number of reasons," Durand said.
"Name one."
Durand finally caught her tone.
"You're serious."
"Damn right I'm serious. Name one." Jan said. "I can give you a whole bunch of reasons it's the right thing to do. You said it yourself, Jake. Within twenty years – probably more like ten to fifteen – the technology will leak or be reproduced anyway, and then everybody and his brother-in-law will have it. And no matter what we do on the Outer Colonies, the elites will re-establish themselves within a short period. We have an advantage for a short period of time where we control the outcomes. Or else in twenty years we're right back where we are now. Not interested.
"Further, we can establish trade routes to all the new colonies. We'll know where they are. We can treat them fairly, get their business, and keep them happy. When the Outer Colonies show up to cheat them, they'll be in a position to say, 'No, thanks.' We're talking about fifteen hundred new trading partners.
"As for running into a hostile alien race, sixteen hundred and fifty planets sounds better to me than one hundred and fifty planets. As a race, humanity will be safer.
"Compared to all that, your downside is what, exactly?"
Durand stared at her, his eyes unfocused as he ran through the possibilities.
"Fifteen hundred colonies," Durand finally said.
"Something like that."
"Do you have any idea how many people that is?"
"No. A lot. That's what I need you to do. Put flesh on the bones of the proposal. How many people does a colony need to succeed? What initial supplies do they need? How big does a colony ship need to be to carry it all? Can we make it out of modular components? You know, like three battleship drives on one frame or something. Something Earth can build in their automated factories. Assume you had orders to do it. How would you do it?" Jan asked.
"How likely do you think it is we actually get orders to do it?"
"If you look into it, and you decide it's workable and would have positive outcomes – basically, if you warm to the idea – then I think it's very likely we can sell the idea to higher."
"And if we work up all the numbers and it won't work?" Durand asked.
"Then we drop it. I'm not a moron, Jake."
Durand nodded.
"OK. All right, we're on it. Let me see where we get with this."
He shook his head.
"Jan, you really do come up with the damnedest stuff."
Training
There were thirty people in the classroom in the Class 1 secure basements of the Network Operations Center. They were: Rear Admiral Harmony Zhang, her chief of staff, and her division tactical off
icer; Zhang's flag captain, Senior Captain Boris O'Connor, his current XO, and his senior tactical officer; and eight each of the soon-to-be captains, executive officers, and senior tactical officers of the new squadron. Some of them had been recalled in the middle of a deployment. Others had been due for rotation. Some of them were to be promoted into their new slots, while for others it would be an assignment within grade.
None of them had the slightest clue why they were there.
When Admiral Jan Childers, Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jeanette Xi, head of the Tactical Division, Vice Admiral Tien Jessen, head of Jan's special black planning group, and Vice Admiral Megan Ming, Jan's chief of staff walked in, shock ran through the room. Whatever it was, it was big.
Everyone stood. Jan walked to the center of the room.
"Be seated, everybody."
Everyone took their seats. Xi, Jessen, and Ming took seats as well.
"None of you has any idea why you're here. You got pulled out of whatever you were doing and brought here to Sigurdsen by the fastest means available, even if that meant dispatching a destroyer as your personal limousine and pulling extra g to get here on time. None of you have been told a thing about what's going on. Well, now you're going to find out.
"In a couple of weeks, the CSF will take delivery of a new-build squadron of its first new ship class in twenty-five years. It is a radically new design that re-writes a lot of the rules and throws the rest out altogether. Admiral Zhang, you are being promoted to Vice Admiral, and will command the squadron."
Jan walked up to the front row as Zhang stood, and she shook Zhang's hand.
"Congratulations, Admiral."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
Jan turned to the senior captain sitting two seats away.
"Captain O'Connor, you are being promoted to Rear Admiral, and will have the squadron's second division."
Jan shook O'Connor's hand.
"Congratulations, Admiral."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
Jan walked back to the front of the room as O'Connor sat down.
"The rest of you will be the squadron's captains, its executive officers, and its senior tactical officers. For some of you, this will involve a promotion, for others it is your next assignment at your current rank.
"Know this, though. You have all been personally hand-selected by me and Admiral Xi, from across the entire CSF, without regard to the importance of your current duties. It is the most important staffing selection Admiral Xi and I have ever made. The successful working up and deployment of this squadron is essential to the CSF's mission and our ability to carry out that mission into the future.
"Your new assignment is not a secret. The capabilities of this new class of ships, however, are. Their capabilities have been so closely held a secret that, by telling you, I will be doubling the number of people in the CSF who know the incredible advancement in our war-fighting ability these ships represent.
"We're calling this new class of ships cruiser-destroyers, hull classification CD. This is a ruse. While the crew complement of these ships falls between that of a cruiser and a destroyer, these ships are superior to current-generation battleships. It is not for nothing the class leader has been named for Shiva the Destroyer. A pair of these ships will have the ability to successfully engage multiple enemy squadrons, regardless of class, with impunity."
A murmur ran through the room at that.
"See for yourselves," Jan said.
She waved to the large display in the front of the room, and the new ships' capabilities, basically her notes to Jessen of seven months prior, came up on the big display at the front of the room.
Jan let several minutes go by as the group absorbed the details. There were a number of audible gasps as people read the display, and excited murmuring among them as they pointed out specifics to each other.
Jan held up her hand, and the room quieted.
"You think you see it, but you can't yet fully appreciate it. I personally was on Shiva for an interstellar run. We made a seventy-light-year crossing in five hours. I was in a flotation bed in my cabin, but in full-immersion VR I was on the bridge. I left one morning, put in a full day's work at the other end, and was back by noon the next day. Ladies and gentlemen, it was an indescribable experience.
"So, what now? For the next two weeks, you will have training here, in these basements. Much of that will be done in full-immersion VR, in the actual bridges you will use aboard ship. A quarter of your crews will come from Admiral Zhang's Artemisia. They will be training up on the new ships' systems over the next month. The rest have been pulled from crews awaiting assignment or from ships on station here on Sigurdsen. They've been trained up on ships systems already.
"And your ships will begin arriving in two weeks."
More excited murmuring at that.
"I would normally ask for questions at this point, but I don't have all week to answer them."
That brought some chuckles.
"Instead, I'll let the training answer them for you.
"Admiral Jessen, they're all yours."
Jan, Xi, Zhang, and O'Connor had a working lunch in Jan's office as the others in the classes had lunch downstairs.
"We left the selection of your flag captains up to you, Admiral, but I'm afraid we've severely limited your choices. You have to pick from the eight captains we've picked for the squadron," Xi said.
"I don't think that's a problem, Ma'am. Just from the first morning's training today, they all look good to me. What do you think, Boris?" Zhang asked.
"Absolutely, Ma'am. There won't be any issue there," O'Connor said.
"I don't think there's any hurry in choosing your flag captains. See if it looks like someone is more your style or there's more rapport there. You'll be in class together for two weeks," Xi said.
"And you have first dibs, Ma'am," O'Connor said to Zhang.
"On the subject of ships, The yard has recommended the Shiva for your flagship, Admiral Zhang. She's been doing the run from the yard and back, and she's pretty well shook out. Nothing worse than confusion in command structure when the flagship suffers an engineering failure in combat. The rest of the ships are all wet-paint new-build," Jan said.
"The Shiva is fine as flagship, Ma'am," Zhang said.
"I think the next ship into the system for division flagship is best. Longest time to shake out," O'Connor said.
"Well, they're all going to come in pretty fast, a ship every day or two, but I take your point. I suspect there is going to be a lot of operation in sections of two ships each, given how powerful these ships are. Extending that would make the senior ship of each division's second section the next two ships in, then fill out the other four, right?" Jan asked.
"I think that's right, Ma'am," Zhang said.
"The other thing we did is there are four captains for whom this is their second stint in command, and four captains who took a promotion on this assignment. So for the two flagships and the two senior ships of the second section in each division, you can have the more senior officers, and the more junior officers for the four junior ships in each section," Xi said.
"That should work out then, Ma'am," Zhang said.
"That all being said, Admiral, all eight ships, all eight captains, and all the responsibility for the squadron are yours. We tried to give you a good setup to choose from, but the ultimate choices are yours. We won't back seat drive for you," Jan said to Zhang.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Zhang said.
"No problem, Admiral. You were selected, among other reasons, because of your tactical successes in section and division operations, and the last thing we need to do is handicap you from doing what you're good at. Any questions for us?"
"How long are we going to have to work up, Ma'am? We have totally new ships, with wildly new capabilities like the drone weapons and the sheer speed, and completely new maneuvers to work out. It's a tall order," Zhang said.
"That's something I can't tell you, Admiral. You will pro
bably be based out of Sigurdsen, because all the planets in the CSF are within six hours for you from here. The most important thing is to be able to find you. So if your maneuvers take you out of Sigurdsen, you need to leave a forwarding address.
"As for if or when that call may come, we simply don't know.
"What we do know is it looks like several Outer Colony systems are coalescing into one or more political and military units, and their only two choices are to fight each other or to fight us.
"We need to be prepared for the situation where they choose us."
Zhang and O'Connor made all the internal squadron staffing decisions by the end of the two weeks training. The selection of captains followed the outlines they had talked about, with the more senior captains commanding the flagships and the first ship in each division's second section.
During the training, a fleet freighter came in and began unloading drones. Hundreds and hundreds of drones, a thousand in all. Two hundred were courier drones, three hundred were interstellar missiles, split evenly among kinetic, warhead, and beam weapons, and five hundred were ship-to-ship drones, one hundred and twenty-five each of kinetic and warhead and two hundred and fifty beam weapons.
Three courier drones were dispatched to each of the other thirty-one Commonwealth planets, two to be held there for emergency messages, and one to begin regular courier service back and forth to Sigurdsen. The other hundred were held at Sigurdsen for emergency use and replacements.
The ships came in over the course of the two weeks after training. CSS Freyja and CSS Shiva showed up in-system together. The yard hands turned the Shiva over and left on the Freyja. Two days later, they were back with the CSS Odin, then at two day intervals came the CSS Hera, the CSS Osiris, the CSS Devi, the CSS Thor, the CSS Athena, and the CSS Isis.
The organization of Squadron 201 shook out as follows:
First Division
CHILDERS_Absurd Proposals Page 5