by NB VanYoos
* * * *
The next day, Tyler sat patiently through various speakers at the conference. The agenda included additional readiness reports, funding, troop strengths, and deployments. He watched as the Marshall made note of everything before sending it off to their staff for analysis and evaluation.
At lunch, he and the Admiral’s staff reconvened for briefings and order changes. Officer Slaas dutifully reported Officer Kiir agreed to meet with them. The meeting was set for the day after tomorrow in the Admiral’s quarters.
Tyler still didn’t know how he would recruit the man, but at least he had agreed to meet with him. Tyler knew he would be surprised when only the Admiral attended the meeting, or then again, he may suspect it and hopes to gather information. Either way, they had to risk it. Tyler assumed that whatever was said would likely make it back to the Vice Admiral. Therefore, he had to play it cool.
Already, his staff had prepared several scenarios for handling the supply crisis. A contact in the Office of Regional Affairs had provided information on empty, portable, storage systems that could be launched immediately to handle the overload in production.
Apparently, the storage systems were originally commissioned for a new mining facility that had been slated for construction the previous year. The bad news was the target asteroid was overrun by Krildon forces and the construction of the facility was cancelled.
The Admiral’s memories called up the incident and Tyler recalled the vicious battle for that single rock. At the time, the loss had been substantial due to the rich ore that particular asteroid field contained. Now, however, it was a stroke of good luck. Based on recent intelligence, Krildon never exploited the field after they captured it, so neither side benefited from the battle.
A young officer finished reporting by stating the launch date was preliminarily set for the following week, assuming nothing jammed up the works. Everything would be done through private contracting, so the military bureaucrats couldn’t stop the process if the Vice Admiral felt threatened.
Tyler and the Marshall were delighted, although neither showed such emotions. Let them see what we can still do! Tyler thought. He knew the Vice Admiral would fume over their quick solution to a serious problem. The rest of the Supreme Military Command Staff wouldn’t be as surprised, the Admiral was known for his expert supply chain management.
According to their sources, the Vice Admiral was approaching the problem through the existing military resources and was running into the typically slow processing of such a big problem. Tyler was happy they were delayed. Ironically, it was probably the first time the Admiral was happy about bureaucratic red tape.
The Marshall concluded the report by indicating funding could be provided through the Admiral’s discretionary account. The funds had originally been earmarked for flagship weapon systems upgrades, but since that had been destroyed, the money was available for other uses.
Everything fell into place, and Tyler was impressed with the efficiency and speed of the Admiral’s staff. It was no wonder the Admiral was a hero. Tyler noted the Admiral’s memories indicated every staff member on the team had been approved by the Admiral himself. Tyler thought his selections superb.
Tyler made sure the Marshall set aside some of the funds for a night on the town for the staff. The Marshall nodded confirmation as he jotted down additional notes.
The last of the reports on the previous day’s work was the current analysis of the readiness and scheduling of the new equipment. According to their best estimates, the Vice Admiral’s plan required cutting all corners, skewing their timeline by at least thirty to forty percent.
The Admiral’s staff developed a more accurate projection of seven to eight months before most of the equipment could be properly fielded. This mirrored the estimate Tyler had derived based on the Admiral’s prior experiences. According to the staff, they suspected the Vice Admiral was proposing to bypass systems testing in favor of pure field trials.
While that appeared feasible on the surface, everyone knew system’s testing was a critical aspect of the overall testing cycle. Most of the electronic and computer systems were new designs requiring proper testing before integrating them in space.
Tyler called up an incident many years back where skimping on systems testing resulted in an attack cruiser incorrectly setting a course for the sun. The testers couldn’t fix the problem and had eventually abandoned the ship, watching in horror as it flew into the star. Since that incident, the military enforced rigorous system’s testing cycles, primarily due to the Admiral. The Vice Admiral was taking an enormous gamble.
Finally, the discussions turned to the new information released during the morning session. Everyone agreed troop strength and deployments were not an issue in any proposed attack plan. They had plenty of supplies and carriers to transport troops where they were needed. The problem was they had no ships to transport them to. Until the new ships were deployed, the troops remained in training.
This was to their advantage. Tyler felt confident they could recruit many on the Supreme Military Command Staff with this information. It would be a hard sell, but wielding the Admiral’s status, past experience, and knowledge of history, could make it happen.
Many admitted they were still loyal to the Admiral but feared repercussions from the Palace and the Vice Admiral. Some even confided they felt threatened.
Let them use strong arm tactics, Tyler thought, they’ll never buy loyalty that way. He sensed Regent Sneerd’s hand in play.
They ended the meeting with orders to begin compiling all their information into a comprehensive report Tyler would deliver at the end of the conference. He knew they needed more time, but he felt pressured to sow the seeds of dissent sooner rather than later.
As Tyler and Marshall Sliss walked back to the conference, the Marshall added additional information withheld from the luncheon meeting. Although nothing had been confirmed about the scrilt, he noted that his informants released a report commissioned by the Palace Intelligence Office warning of the possible use of scrilt in weapons manufacturing. The report, never published to the military, outlined several theoretical uses for the substance.
The report was so highly classified, its unauthorized release resulted in treason charges followed by execution. The Marshall was emphatic about that fact as he shared the information with Tyler. Apparently, the report was squashed by Regent Sneerd, and although it was rumored some resources were allocated to dig up more information, the priority was significantly lowered.
The Marshall said they were trying to track down some of the scientists who had created the report, but it appeared their names had been faked. He finished by admitting that although they probably wouldn’t get more information, the reaction at the Palace was, by itself, rather interesting.
Tyler agreed. If the Palace was reacting to the scrilt the same way they were, why did they squash the report? It didn’t make any sense, unless they had additional intelligence not mentioned in the report. Maybe they’d already made their own discoveries concerning scrilt, and wanted to keep it covert. Maybe that was the edge the Vice Admiral had in his back pocket?
Tyler thought briefly about the note from Nayllen. Maybe that was the information Nayllen wanted to share? Perhaps he had access to the missing intelligence and was willing to share it with the Admiral. Why would he do that? Was he a big supporter of the Admiral’s? Tyler couldn’t figure out the motivations, but suddenly, the meeting at the casino seemed much more important than suspicious.
The rest of the short walk back to the conference was used to deliver a short synopsis of Nayllen Hooss. According to the Marshall’s sources, Nayllen sat on the board of various military equipment manufacturers, chairing several. As most of the companies were private, it was nearly impossible to uncover how much Nayllen owned. His connections ran through the entire gamut of Poolto government from the military, the Supreme Council, and right into the Imperial Palace.
His previous government service
was a bit of a mystery. Although he had served in the Diplomatic Corps, his records of stations and duties were sealed and inaccessible. They required an Imperial Order to release the documents, something the Marshall could not obtain.
Like Councilor Beerii, the Marshall surmised Nayllen ran nearly all the companies for which he was on the board. It was rumored he had an intelligence background from his days in the Diplomatic Corps. The Marshall admitted he was unnerved by the fact that someone so influential had never crossed his path. He concluded he believed the man was both dangerous and powerful.
Tyler thought about his meeting. An intelligence background made him dangerous, but he could prove to be a possible asset. With Nayllen’s connections, Tyler envisioned him having access to greater information than the Marshall could ever obtain. Marshall Sliss almost admitted as much. If he truly wanted to help the Admiral, then he could be a valuable ally.
Tyler made up his mind. He would meet with Nayllen and see how it played out. If they were truly out of the game, as Nayllen insinuated, then they had to use whatever options were available to get back in.
Tyler and the Marshall entered the conference room ready for additional hours of speakers. At this point, the only thing interesting him was further details on the Vice Admiral’s plan. Unfortunately, that wasn’t scheduled until the following day.