by Bob Blanton
“Okay, but what about the Middle East?”
“If Russia and the U.S. stop fighting proxy wars there, that should help. Plus, the U.N. now has the ability to clamp down on their source of cash. Coal is back on the table since its use in the production of polysteel is non-polluting. So, an embargo on Iran’s oil will actually work. Who’s going to take the risk of sanctions by buying oil from Iran, when it’s relatively cheap on the open market. The Saudis will see the writing on the wall, and without the world in fear of Saudi oil being pulled from the market, it will be easier to apply pressure on them.”
“What about Turkey?” Samantha said. “None of those arguments seems to apply to them.”
“Not directly,” Marc said. “But they’re the gateway to the Middle East. If you lower the significance of the Middle East, you make it easier to contain Turkey.”
“But the Armenians and the Kurds?”
“That is a problem. But without the other conflicts in the area, it’s harder for Turkey to take advantage of that situation to exert more control over them. The world can restrict those conflicts to the region, and wait it out.”
“What about Israel?”
“And, getting rid of the proxy wars, with better containment of Iran and the Saudis, it’s possible that diplomacy might actually work. Israel isn’t going anywhere, so if we can turn down the heat, they might actually figure a way to work things out.”
“And global terrorism?”
“It takes money. The U.N. can starve Iran and the other bad actors into submission; again, it’s about containment.”
“And Africa?”
“Conflicts there are either petty border conflicts or wars over resources. If you stop the major powers from funding those wars to gain access to the resources, the temperature will come down. If we start bringing in material from the asteroid belt, it makes it less attractive to manipulate the situation in Africa for those same resources. The U.N. will have some maneuvering room to start to deal with the poverty and starvation. Don’t get me wrong, there’s always going to be some warlord who thinks he can make a power grab, but remove the funding, and it’s less likely to escalate beyond the local area. Who knows, we might get rid of most armed conflicts in ten years.”
“That sounds too Pollyannaish,” Samantha said.
“Maybe, but I think most of the conflicts in Africa will shift into something resembling organized crime. They will still exist, but the impact on the local population won’t be as devastating, and it might give the governments the room they need so that they can actually start to function like real governments.”
“Tell that to Mexico.”
“They’re getting a handle on it. Look at Guatemala now. They’ve gotten the cartels to stop fighting in the streets. They’re still trafficking drugs, growing opium, cocaine, and other illegal activities, but they’re trying to stay off the radar. I predict that in another five years, Guatemala will become a lot more like Costa Rica. With a solid economy and acceptable rule of law.”
“And all it takes to make this happen is for Russia to sign the SALT III Accords.”
“That, and for the U.N. to finally step up and become a governing body for the world. They have to be able to react to these regional conflicts with authority, not tiptoe around the members of the Security Council and only issue proclamations.”
“I hope you’re right,” Samantha said.
Marc stood up and moved around the desk until he was standing next to her. “It doesn’t sound good when the foreign minister doubts the foreign policy of her president,” he said as he pulled Samantha into a hug. “I might need to administer some discipline.”
“I think some gentle persuasion might work better.”
ADI locked the doors and told Messina to cancel Marc’s next two appointments and not to disturb him for an hour.
◆ ◆ ◆
“How goes the survey?” Marc asked as he and Samantha joined the conference.
“We’re setting up the third camp. We’ll be here at least a week while Dr. Pramar does his tests. We’re close to the arid region now. It’s pretty hot and dry,” Blake said.
“So how much of the planet is desert?” Samantha asked.
“Over sixty percent of the land is desert,” Blake replied.
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not so bad,” Catie interjected. “Dr. Qamar says the planet just came out of a really deep ice age. Its plant diversity wasn’t enough to survive the changes, which resulted in a lot of extra desertification. But that also means we wouldn’t have much competition for introducing the plants from Earth that we might want to grow here.”
“But deserts aren’t the best places to grow plants,” Samantha said.
“No, but we can bring in ice asteroids for a few years and shift the climate. They’ll also provide plenty of water for irrigation,” Catie said. “The area around the equator is nice, so you just need to be patient.”
“How many years is a few?”
“Two or three,” Catie said. “It really depends on how big a hurry you’re in. You can always throw resources at it. Build more gravity drives, so you can move more asteroids.”
“Are there enough?”
“Sure, the belt is rich. Lots of ice asteroids out past the first gas giant.”
“The good news is that we’ve gotten the data back from our survey of the asteroid belt,” Blake said. “Like the planet, it is loaded with platinum group metals. This place is literally a gold mine.”
“But, Dr. Qamar also says that there is enough exposed metal ore that it can be detected from light-years away,” Liz said. “It might be why that starship is heading this way.”
“There’s a good chance that they are already aware of how rich the asteroid belt is,” Blake said.
“Maybe,” Marc said. “Did ANDI figure out the language?”
“Yes, he did,” ADI said. “We are now analyzing the signals from their internal television and radio broadcasts.”
“And what have we learned?”
“Their skin has a blueish tone to it,” Catie said. “They look pretty big and bulky. Their TV shows are really violent, lots of shows about space pirates and war. Their pirates look like Klingons.”
“That’s not ideal,” Marc said. “They wouldn’t happen to be speaking Klingon?” he joked.
“NO!” Catie groaned.
“The question is, are we willing to fight to hold this planet?” Blake asked.
“Let’s not go there yet,” Marc said. “We shouldn’t read too much from their television. Earth’s television isn’t much different than what Catie described.”
“It’s not, but what do you think would happen if a U.S. exploration ship happened upon a planet this rich that was just being claimed by another country or world?” Blake asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I bet we would try to convince the other ship to leave. We’d tell them how long we were watching the planet; we might even claim that we’d been there before to survey it and that it was ours,” Blake said.
“So, what do you propose?”
“We put a presence here now. Make it significant, and do what Catie suggested: start talking to them now, using the time lag to imply we’ve been here for over six months, maybe even a year; that we just now happened to notice their starship approaching.”
“What kind of presence?” Kal asked.
“I’d station the Victory here with a couple of Hyrax squadrons.”
“What about the planet?” Samantha asked.
“Build a settlement here at the edge of the desert. Dr. Pramar says this location is ideal for a large grain operation. Throw it up fast, so it’s established before they arrive.”
“And when will that be?” Marc asked.
“They are traveling at 0.45 times the speed of light,” ADI said. “That means that they will arrive in this solar system in approximately thirteen months.”
“We don’t know if they�
�re capable of accelerating to a higher speed,” Catie said. “They might be able to get here faster if they’re motivated, but probably not much. But odds are it would only speed up their arrival by a month or two. Who would waste time in transit unless they couldn’t go faster or couldn’t afford to?”
“Are we confident that we can colonize it?” Marc asked.
“Definitely; the only question is how much terraforming we have to do,” Blake said.
“What about the air?”
“We need to up the oxygen content,” Blake said. “Other than that, it should be fine.”
“What does that mean?” Samantha asked.
“It’s like living in Denver, Colorado,” Blake said. “A little thin, but you’ll get used to it.”
“But I see you’re still in your suits,” Marc said.
“Dr. Parmar and Dr. Magor are being extremely cautious. They’re asking for another two days before they let us out of the suits,” Blake said. “But all of their tests indicate that the air’s fine, no bad stuff.”
“Okay, let’s plan on poking the bear once you’re clear to breathe the air. Having you talking from the surface without any protective gear would enhance your position,” Marc said.
“Okay, we’ll set it up,” Blake replied.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Alright, what location would provide the best backdrop to say, ‘We own this place’?” Blake asked as he led everyone out to the center of the compound.
“There’s a site about fifty klicks that way where you’d have the mountains in the background,” Gary said.
“Hmm, that sounds nice. Let’s go look at it. Catie, you want to come?”
“Sure, what are you going to build there?”
“Let’s see what it looks like first,” Blake said.
“You know, we can review the video instead of going out there, it would save a lot of time.”
“There’s nothing like standing there and looking around. Come on, let’s go.”
“Jeep or Lynx?”
“Lynx. Liz, you coming?”
◆ ◆ ◆
“This is perfect,” Blake said. “Those mountains look great. Now, what should we build here?”
“What’s the effect you’re going for?” Liz asked.
“I want to look settled in, like I’m running a big, well-established colony.”
“Governor McCormack,” Liz teased.
“Exactly, but with a little more respect next time,” Blake said.
“This spot makes sense for a base,” Catie said. “There’s a river over there, it’s pretty low right now, but Dr. Bremer, our climatologist, says we’re in the dry season.”
“Chief Bayless, what can you put up in two days?” Blake asked.
“I can put a treehouse up over there,” Chief Bayless said, pointing to the big tree behind Blake.
“Come on, this is important,” Blake said.
“Everything is important with you officers,” Chief Bayless said. “My team has been working full out for two weeks. Now you want us to accomplish a miracle in two days.”
“Not a miracle, just a little magic,” Blake said.
“It’s all for video,” Catie said. “We can fake anything the camera isn’t going to be looking at.”
“Now you want me to be a Hollywood set designer!”
“Come on, Chief, you can do it,” Catie encouraged.
“Do you care what it costs?” Chief Bayless asked.
“Not really,” Blake said, wondering where this was going. “We’re not spending any money here, so what kind of cost do you have in mind?”
“We’ll need printer time,” Chief Bayless said. “We could print up a nice façade for you in a day. Then as long as you just film from one side, it’ll be perfect. We can put some side walls up, so it doesn’t look fake.”
“I like that and don’t have a problem allocating the printer time,” Blake said. “What else?”
“We can build an office for ya, just the one room with a door and a window that looks out on those mountains.”
“With a wood desk?”
“Yeah, yeah, if you authorize the printer time. We don’t have time to be chopping down any trees and making lumber.”
“Okay, and?”
“You can bring your fancy chair down from the Roebuck, and some of the small furniture you have there. But I tell you it’s going to cost.”
“I already authorized the printer time,” Blake said. “What else do you need?”
“That case of scotch you have stashed in your cabin,” Chief Bayless said.
“What, you want my scotch!” Blake yelped. He was also wondering how Chief Bayless knew about it. “Who did he have stow the scotch?” Blake wondered. “It had to be that person who had ratted him out to the chief.”
“I have to motivate the team. This is going to take a strong, coordinated effort. If you want it done right, you have to put that scotch on the table.”
“Come on, Uncle Blake. I think Liz has a little scotch stashed away that she’ll share with you.”
“Hey, don’t go giving away my scotch!”
“The case minus one bottle,” Blake said. He figured he could stretch a bottle for the next three weeks. He did have that case of Irish whiskey that the chief must not know about.
“Done!”
Chapter 16
Run Silent
“Admiral Petrosky, what a pleasure,” Kapitan Rokossovsky said as he greeted the vice-admiral of the northern submarine fleet at the gangway to the Novosibirsk, the newest attack submarine in the Russian Navy.
“It is my pleasure, Valentin,” Admiral Petrosky said.
“What can I do for you, Admiral?” Kapitan Rokossovsky asked. He was a bit surprised at the admiral’s use of his first name. The had a long history together, and he owed much of his success to the admiral, but they weren’t exactly friends.
“I need some help, let’s talk in your cabin.”
“Of course, we can toast our friendship.”
Kapitan Rokossovsky led the admiral into the Novosibirsk and down to his cabin. The admiral had to suffer the formal salutes of the various submariners they encountered. The presence of the admiral required that such formalities be conducted.
“Here we are,” Kapitan Rokossovsky said. He immediately went to the sideboard and grabbed two glasses and poured vodka into each.
“To our friendship!” the admiral said, raising the glass.
“To our friendship!” Kapitan Rokossovsky replied, and the two submariners tossed the vodka down. “Now, what can I do for you, Admiral?”
“Did you hear about the new treaty?”
“I heard that our president had agreed to the SALT III treaty,” Kapitan Rokossovsky replied with obvious disgust.
“Yes, he is abandoning our goals of restoring Russia to her place as one of the elite world powers.”
“Why do you say that?”
“After the humiliation in Ukraine, now signing the SALT III treaty, next he will be agreeing to cut back on the military. He has already agreed to decommission all our ballistic submarines. And these will be next.”
“Surely we will still need our attack submarines!”
“We will, but he will surrender them. Our economy cannot support our military unless we expand our trade, increase the number of countries in the EAEU. Without the nuclear threat to back it up, how will our military keep the members from straying. I will bet that Belarus will join the EU within the year.”
“Ach, what can we do?!” Kapitan Rokossovsky asked.
“That is why I came to you. All this is because of that Delphi Nation. I want to wipe it off the map as we should have done during the Ukraine incident.”
“I’m sure there are many world leaders who would like to do that.”
“Then let’s do it.”
“What?”
“Let’s wipe it from the map.”
“How? It would shoot down any missiles we fired at it.”
�
��I have a plan. Will you help me?”
“You mean to use the Novosibirsk?”
“Yes! We need to leave today. Then we can make for that pissant floating city and destroy it.”
“How?”
“I said I have a plan. You must trust me. Do you trust me?”
“I owe you my life. But what will happen after we do?”
“We will be heroes. The president will reverse his position. And Russia will step forward and demand the respect she deserves.”
“But what about their space station?”
“Once we show them that we can and will strike at them, they will be too afraid to strike back. Other countries will join us and put them in their place.”
“So, what now?”
“We must leave port. Are you ready to sail?”
“We are supposed to sail tomorrow, so everything is ready. But we have to wait for permission.”
“We must sail today, now.”
“I . . .”
“I will clear the way. I am not the admiral of the submarine fleet for nothing.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The Novosibirsk made its way out Zapadnaya Litsa naval base, traversing the Litsa Fjord to the Motovsky Fjord. It finally reached the Barents Sea one hour after setting sail. No one questioned the admiral’s orders that they be allowed to sail.
“Rig for silent running,” Kapitan Rokossovsky ordered.
“Aye-aye, Captain,” the helm replied.
“What are our orders?” Commander Kerensky, the XO of the Novosibirsk, asked.
“They are sealed,” the captain replied.
“But I am supposed to confirm them,” the commander said.
“I am here to confirm them!” the admiral snapped. “Now back to your post!”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Why did the Novosibirsk leave early?!” Admiral Demichev, the admiral of the Russian Northern Fleet, demanded.
“It was under orders from Admiral Petrosky, sir.”
“I am not aware of any such orders? Call them!”
“I cannot, sir. They have gone silent.”
“Already!” The admiral slammed his phone down. He picked up the message that had been delivered to him, announcing that the Novosibirsk had left port a day early. He had his spies in Naval Intelligence tracking anything unusual or out of the ordinary. They were to report to him immediately. But this report hadn’t come until over an hour after the Novosibirsk had sailed. “Heads will roll.”