by Bob Blanton
“That’s probably true,” Liz said. “Why bother, they just have to stand there and look tough.”
“Okay, now in the future, if you want to make an observation that can’t wait until the end, tell ADI to pause the video.”
“Yes, sir.”
“ADI, please rewind to the part before Catie added her commentary.”
The video started playing again.
“We discovered Zagawani, the planet you call Artemis, over one hundred of your years ago, before we had the ability to travel into space. Now that we are ready to expand our empire again, we have decided to bring it into the fold. As I’m sure you know, the system is very rich in certain elements around atomic number seventy-eight. Those materials are somewhat rare on most worlds. We intend to set up a mining operation to supply the empire with those metals.” The captain gave another tooth-filled smile.
“It is possible that we could share the system with you. Since we are mostly interested in the metals, possibly we could confine ourselves to the asteroid belt and one of the large moons of the big gas giant in the system. Another planet just to house people is not of much interest to us. We do not spend much effort on what you call terraforming. We are a hardy race, and we enjoy the challenge of surviving in hostile environments. The star system is not too far for us to travel to, so it is not too critical for us to establish a colony there.
“We would like to come to some arrangement to allow our people to visit the planet. Our people like to hunt, and we hope to find suitable prey on the planet. If not, we would consider bringing some of our more interesting prey from our homeworld. You might enjoy hunting with us. We prefer to use the methods of our forefathers from eons ago.
“We appreciate your offer of an escort to the planet. Please hail us as you approach our ship, we wouldn’t want one of our weapons officers mistaking your ships for some enemy and destroying them,” the captain said with yet another toothy smile.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Well, he certainly thinks his is bigger,” Liz said.
“Very threatening in a mildly threatening way,” Blake added. “I don’t think he paid much attention when they taught diplomacy.”
“And they might be interested in sharing, but what if we don’t want to share?!” Catie said. “He’s trying to scare us.”
“Definitely,” Blake said. “He’s implying that they own the star system and might let us continue to stay here. But I’m sure that wouldn’t turn out well.”
“He’s implying that they’re closer to the system than we are, so they would be able to resupply and reinforce their side faster than we can,” Liz said.
“That won’t work out for them,” Catie said. “I still can’t figure out where they come from. When you look at the stars in the region they’re coming from, there aren’t any that look like they would have evolved life.”
“Maybe they’re coming from another colony instead of their homeworld,” Liz suggested.
“I don’t think so,” Catie said. “I told you he was lying about that empire thing. They probably don’t have that many colonies, if any.”
“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Blake said.
“I agree with Catie,” ADI interjected. “The entertainment we’ve analyzed does not contain the references one would expect from a world that had multiple colonies. But they do reference space pirates and mining outposts on planets both inside and outside their star system.”
“How sure are you?”
“Eighty-two percent confidence,” AID replied.
“What more can we do?” Blake asked.
“I think we should send them packing,” Catie said. “Once they head back toward their world, we should follow them by jumping in behind them and leaving a probe. We’ll be able to figure out where they come from, and the probes will provide an early warning system for when they return.”
“I think we should back up a bit. We’ve got a year to figure that part out,” Blake said. “I was asking if we should do any more analysis before we bring Marc in.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“So, what do you think?” Blake asked Marc and Samantha after they had reviewed the video.
“He certainly wants to intimidate us,” Marc said.
“I think he’s a bully,” Samantha said. “He’s used to pushing people around.”
“That’s obvious,” Blake said. “The question is, is it just him who’s the bully or is that the way his government expects him to operate.”
“He has to have a lot of autonomy,” Marc said. “Unless they have quantum relays, he’s basically out of touch with his world.”
“I don’t think they have quantum relays. We detected a narrow-beam laser transmission being sent from the ship after our message,” Catie said. “They wouldn’t need to do that if they had quantum relays.”
“Probably not,” Marc said. “Well, if we’re going to be out among the stars, we’ll eventually run into this race again. We might as well face them early while we clearly have an advantage with the jumpdrive.”
“Yes!” Catie said, pumping her fist.
“She says she wants to send them packing,” Blake said to explain the outburst.
“I agree,” Samantha said. “Now, do we want to respond?”
“A real response would be six months from now,” Catie said.
“That’s true. What else can we do to prepare for them, besides listening in on the entertainment channel?” Samantha asked.
“We could lob an asteroid at them,” Catie suggested.
“What?”
“Lob an asteroid at them. There are lots of asteroids around; if we lobbed one in their path, we would be able to observe what they do about it, how soon they detect it, and whether they go around it or destroy it.”
“Sounds good to me,” Blake said. “How big an asteroid?”
“It has to be small enough that they wouldn’t have detected it.”
“Okay, lob away,” Marc said. “Keep me posted.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Dr. Metra, do you have a moment?” Marc asked as he knocked on her door jamb.
“Captain, what a pleasant surprise,” Dr. Metra said. “Are you the mysterious MM in my appointment book.”
“I am. I have to admit to being a bit of a coward. I didn’t want to start this discussion until I was completely prepared.”
“That sounds a bit ominous,” Dr. Metra said. “Please continue.”
Marc sat down in the chair in front of Dr. Metra’s desk, the one reserved for patients. He knew he was giving her the power position; he hoped that it would make it easier for her to answer his questions. Of course, she had never been reluctant to share her opinions before.
“I’ve noticed that you’ve been a little more on edge during the board meetings; I wonder if you could tell me why?”
“Oh, you mean like my comments to Admiral Michaels?”
“Yes, that and a little sensitivity around my comments about solving the Paraxeans’ problem.”
“I see,” Dr. Metra said.
“Can you help me understand what’s bothering you?”
“Certainly. I guess the best way to say it is to repeat what I said to Admiral Michaels. We have to stop behaving like children.”
“Like children?”
“There has always been some petty squabbling between board members,” Dr. Metra said. “I’ve ignored it before. But now I find that it bothers me.”
“You do realize that most of it is pressure release,” Marc said. “We enjoy teasing each other, and it helps to normalize the power difference between our positions.”
“Hmm, I’ve never thought of it that way. That makes some of the squabbling my children continued to do after they were adults make more sense.”
“You didn’t squabble with your siblings?”
“I grew up as an only child, as do most Paraxeans. My parents had my brother twenty years before they had me, which is typical except for those on a colony planet where they are
trying to expand the population. Since Paraxean women can have children well into their hundreds, they tend to space them out. And the Paraxean government is still encouraging a modest decline in our population. There were over twelve billion Paraxeans on the planet before we entered our enlightened age. It has been gradually declining. Right now, ADI tells me the population is around six billion.”
“Do they have a target?” Marc asked.
“Yes, the general hope is to bring the population down to around two billion,” Dr. Metra said. “Many still hope that we will be able to expand our colonization efforts to help achieve that. But only one-third of Paraxean women decide to have children, so it might not require more colonization.”
“That’s interesting,” Marc said. “I wonder how Earth will handle it if that percentage of our women decide to forego motherhood.”
“Already you have fifteen percent of the women in your first world nations choosing not to have children,” Dr. Metra said. “Add that to the fact that about fifteen percent also elect to have a single child, and you can see that you’re heading toward a gradual population decline. As the other nations allow women control over their reproductive rights, that trend will become worldwide.”
“Interesting. I’ve been studying the population trends, but more from a macro view. This will help me. But back to my question.”
“Oh, the squabbling,” Dr. Metra said. “Well, frankly, you and your board are probably the most powerful people in your world, possibly the galaxy. With the invention of the jumpdrive, you will define how sentient races move out among the stars. I just think you should act more mature and serious about it. You have to weigh your decisions against not only the wellbeing of Delphi Nation, or even Earth, but against the wellbeing of everyone in the galaxy.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“Oh, but I am. Unless someone else has something like a jumpdrive, it will be you who decides which star system the various races will be allowed to expand to. You may do it by ignoring certain systems that are within reach of civilizations like Paraxea, or you may actively encourage or discourage expansion into various star systems by races other than yours.”
“And you worry that we will favor Earth over say, Paraxea?”
“Yes. It is inevitable that Earth will expand faster than any other race since you have the jumpdrive. But will you even make the effort to allow other races to expand?”
“I can assure you that I don’t desire an exclusive Earth-based expansion,” Marc said. “But you’re right, we have to consider how we share that expansion with other races.”
“I suspect you will not be sharing the jumpdrive technology,” Dr. Metra said.
“I don’t expect to share that technology outside of MacKenzie Discoveries,” Marc said. “I certainly don’t think I want to share it with another civilization. Of course, if we discovered it, others might also.”
“Paraxea hasn’t, and they’ve had gravity drives for over two hundred years.”
Marc nodded his head as he thought. “Please feel free to come to me to continue this discussion. I don’t know the answer, but I do find your viewpoint helpful.”
“Certainly, Captain.”
Chapter 21
Get That Sub
“Prime Minister, thank you for joining us,” Marc said. He had gathered his security council to discuss the situation with the rogue submarine.
“If everyone will bear with me, I’ll bring the prime minister up to speed.
“Two weeks ago, Russia reported that one of their cruise missile submarines left port early carrying one of their admirals. It subsequently disappeared from the communication net. All attempts to reach it have been unsuccessful.”
“What does that have to do with us?” the prime minister asked.
“I’m getting to that. The submarine disappeared three days after Russia agreed to the SALT III accords, essentially agreeing to nuclear disarmament and the subsequent dismantling of their ballistic submarine fleet.”
The prime minister gave Marc an ‘AND’ look, wanting him to get to the point.
“The admiral who boarded the submarine just before it left port is a well-known hawk in the Russian military. He expressed strong opposition to the SALT III treaty throughout the negotiations, and also expressed his opinion that the only reason Russia was considering the treaty was because of Delphi Nation.”
“How can he blame us for advocating for peace?” Prime Minister Nazeri asked.
“He longs for the days of Soviet power.”
“So, what is he trying to do?”
“During the Ukraine crisis, he was heard advocating the destruction of Delphi City.”
“No!” the prime minister gasped.
“We are confident we can defend the city,” Marc said. “Based on Admiral Michaels’ analysis, we suspect that he actually intends to launch a nuclear strike against one of the small islands southeast of here. By doing that, he hopes that the nuclear fallout will make Delphi City uninhabitable.”
“We must evacuate the city!”
“Prime Minister, we will be able to deal with any radiation poisoning,” Dr. Metra assured the prime minister.
“Are you sure?”
“Quite sure.”
“Oh, good. But shouldn’t we still evacuate the city? The pain the people will suffer before they’re treated. The children!”
“Attempting to evacuate the city will cause other stress and problems. Also, if we evacuate the city, it is likely that he will learn about it and redirect his attack to someplace else. Someplace where we are not waiting for him.”
“So, what are you doing?”
“We know his destination, and his likely targets,” Marc said. “We have defenses in place to protect the city and the islands against a traditional missile strike.”
“Then we’re safe?”
“Not necessarily. What we can’t handle is if he launches his strike at point-blank range, essentially sacrificing his submarine in order to deliver the nuclear missiles.
“The American, Russian, British, and Australian navies are searching for the sub. Given that they know the general area he has to traverse to reach his targets, they’ve been setting up search patterns.”
“But it’s been two weeks!” the prime minister exclaimed.
“Correct; they’ve had some contacts that they believe are the submarine, but so far, it has eluded them. We’re here to review the plans Admiral Michaels has put in place and to look for alternatives and options.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” Prime Minister Nazeri said. She swallowed hard, indicating she wasn’t so sure she should be thanking Marc.
“Admiral, you have the floor.”
“Blake, are you guys getting this?”
“We are,” Blake said.
“Okay, let’s cover our defenses.
“First: Kal has erected a sonar net around the three islands. It goes out ten kilometers from each island. Unfortunately, that’s all we could manage in this short amount of time. We already have a sonar net around Delphi City that extends for fifty kilometers.
“Second: we have installed laser batteries on each island. They should be able to shoot down any missile that approaches from outside of one kilometer.”
“What about the Cook Islands government?” Prime Minister Nazeri asked.
“They were informed of the situation at the U.N., and we’ve privately discussed our concerns. The islands are small, with few inhabitants. They have quietly relocated the residents to other islands until the crisis is over.”
“Good.”
“Third: we have Foxes flying, or I should say hovering, over each island to strike the submarine as soon as it surfaces, if it surfaces.
“Fourth: We’re here meeting with you to explore other options.”
“You should put Foxes in the water,” Catie said. “They’re going to be faster and more maneuverable than submarines. You can mount torpedoes instead of missiles.”
“
That’s a good idea,” Admiral Michaels said.
“The pilots are going to hate you,” Blake said, giving Catie a poke in the ribs.
“I have a concern,” Kal said. “The submarine will have antitorpedo torpedoes, as well as ECMs; once they know they’ve been detected, they’re going to start launching everything they have.”
“Hmm,” Catie mused.
“We . . .”
“Wait!” Samantha ordered, “Wait!”
“Once the submarine is detected, we could hit it from the air using that Oryx railgun you designed for the Ukraine thing,” Catie said.
“How would that work?” Kal asked, looking worried. “It would have to get into position to fire, and the submarine will be submerged.”
“How deep can it be and still fire its missiles?” Catie asked.
“Fifty meters is considered the maximum depth,” Admiral Michaels said.
“Then that won’t be a problem. If you keep a series of Oryxes flying in a pattern at high altitude, say three hundred thousand meters, then they can strike the submarine with their railgun. One Oryx can cover the entire area, but it needs to be flying fast, at two hundred kilometers per hour, so you need to have several in the pattern.”
“Won’t the submarine be moving? How would we hit it from that distance?” Fred asked.
“From that altitude and at the velocity the railgun fires, it will only take about ten seconds for the slug to strike the submarine,” Catie said. “I don’t think it will be moving very far in ten seconds.”
“I agree, we should do that,” Admiral Michaels said. “How many Oryxes do we need, and how many do we have?”
“I can take care of that,” Fred said. “We can modify a few more and get them flying in two days.”
“More reason for the pilots to love you,” Blake whispered to Catie.
“We should contact the Americans and Russians to let them know what we’re planning,” Samantha suggested.
“I’ll have Margaret talk to the administrations,” Prime Minister Nazeri said. “Admiral Michaels, will you take care of talking to the military people in charge of the search?”