Conflict!

by Dale Moorhouse

  Sergei Romanov commed while I was talking to Sol and left a message. He had thousands of volunteers from Russia and her neighbours who missed out on the first immigration. Sergei said, “Things are not looking so bright in Russia right now for military pilots, many are being asked to resign. The economic measures put in place by the new government slashed budgets for replacement aircraft, and many of the top engineers have been redeployed designing spaceships for mass evacuation.

  “The navy has been hardest hit with all of their aircraft carriers either in mothballs or scrapped for the materials needed for construction of shelters and launch pads. Many smaller ships are being scrapped as well, and there will be a lot of sailors available for our naval arm shortly. My friends at the Warrior Training Complex tell me the naval arm is desperate for crew for the new ships being built, so I’m putting the word out to Russia’s navy for ship’s crew as well as pilots. I should have better numbers later this cycle.”

  I forwarded his message to Dimitri and Stan so they could coordinate the next steps and Stan got back to me a centa later, “Thanks for the heads-up. I just got off the horn with India, and now that they have installed shield domes they are downsizing their air force and navy. They want to keep some of their best pilots for their space efforts, but the rest are available for immigration. A little over three-thousand of their folks have passed the prescreening so far and will be ready for our evals and transport in the next few cycles.”

  “When it rains it pours,” I told Stan. “A few cycles ago I was worried about how few pilots we have, now I’ll soon be swimming in them if only half of them pass the evaluations. Please forward all of this to Mordechai ben Gouran, he’s taken over for Sol and is now Terran Fleet Director. He will need to know for his logistics planning.”

  The last call I made before heading for my meeting with the aircrews was to Ishmael who greeted me, “Good morning Jase, how many more ships are you going to need?” He chuckled when he said it, and I couldn’t help but think he already knew.

  My hesitation prompted him to say, “I don’t need spies, the Mmrrreeowwn have been abuzz with the call for more pilots, and I just got messages about all of the pilots coming available to you from both Stan and Sol, so my conclusion is you will need many more of both types. I’ve placed instructions to build twelve hundred fighters and six hundred bombers and will place additional orders when I have a better number from Mordechai. As I understand things, he is now the Terran Fleet Director. This is correct, Yes?”

  “Yes, it is, and those numbers sound a little low to me but should work in the short term. Mo will need more simulators and of course we will need ordinance by the shuttle load too.”

  “We will make that happen, Jase. What do you think of the FTL upgrade on the second group of ships? A group of Russian engineers carved out the specifications and provided all of the programs for the printers. All we had to do was plug it in, do a little debugging, and we were in production. If I didn’t know the original design, I would think they had always been that way.”

  “I think it is just what the doctor ordered, Ishmael, and I’m glad some Terrans were able to contribute. I am meeting with the aircrews in a few centas to discuss tactical doctrine and potential operations and how we can use the FTL capability will be a big part of what we discuss.”

  “Terrans are pulling their weight, Jase. The fresh points of view and the willingness to sacrifice all to accomplish the goal are refreshing. My people are lining up at our recruitment stations wanting to join in a fight they now think we can win.

  “We can begin delivering the new ships in a few cycles. Please let me know where we should deliver them.”

  “Will do, and thanks, Ishmael,” I said as I terminate the call.

  I headed for Hangar Two and found the aircrews were all there and waiting. I stepped to the front of the room as they all jumped up and saluted. I returned their salute and said, “As you were, ladies and gentlemen. I have an announcement to make before we get started on our goals for today.

  “I’ve just heard from our Weasel contact, Ishmael. Word of our recruitment and the early response has gotten to him, and he has given directions to his factories to build twelve hundred of the new fighters and six hundred more bombers plus full spares and ordinance including practice and war-shot. Deliveries will begin in four to five cycles, and yes, they are all Mark IIs with the FTL module.”

  As I expected the room bursts into a cacophony of hoots and hollers, applause and various excited utterances. As I waited for my audience to settle down, I saw Sol and David, his chief pilot grinning ear-to-ear. After nearly half a centa Sol made a loud and shrill whistle and the room quieted down. When everyone was seated, I continued, “Ishmael also tells me there are lines of young volunteers at all of his people’s recruiting centres, and many are signing up for flight training. The same is true to a lesser degree on Terra where Russia has thousands of trained pilots now out of work because of defence cutbacks, some of their neighbours are in the same boat. India will also be contributing thousands as well.

  “In the next few cycles, we can expect to see new faces going through their nanite treatments and orientation. We can easily expect at least a thousand pilots for training in the new ships. It sounds like a lot, but it is just a drop in the bucket when you consider our enemy has, at last estimate, over six million ships. This is what we have seen. I suspect there are anywhere from three to ten times that number if they are scouring every star in the arm as they move towards us. Thankfully, if they are spread out like that, we can deal with them as they come, but it is still going to be a job.

  “It is possible, and even likely the outlier swarms may proceed directly here once they are contacted by the main fleet. There is also the possibility we may have to move down their back-trail and scour them from every system we find. The real bad news here is that if we miss even one ship, we will have to deal with the king of all doomsday devices again someday. We don’t want that.”

  I went on to explain about the hidden cores and instructions Rusty found in the captured drones. I ended the briefing with, “At this point, we are still learning how bad it can be, and at the strategic level we are trying to plan for the absolute worst while hoping for the best. I wish I could be more definite, but we just don’t know enough yet.

  “In the meantime, we need to develop tactics that exploit the Plague’s weakness and play to our strengths. To do that I’m planning on taking the war to them starting with the tactic of asymmetrical warfare. Most of you from Terra know what I mean but those of you who are Mmrrreeowwn I will explain.

  “Asymmetrical warfare is warfare involving opponents, one of whom has vast power and resources while the other is comparatively limited in power and resources. One thing to always keep in mind, just because an enemy is larger and more powerful doesn’t mean they will win a war. Ask any of your fellows from the United States or England. Both countries have been on both ends of the spectrum concerning asymmetrical warfare, and you can learn valuable lessons from them.

  “You would be well advised to search our databases for articles about the American Revolution, the Russian Revolution, The American/Viet Nam war, the British in India and the wars in the Middle East. You should also look up the writings of Sun Tsu, in particular, his book The Art of War. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi is also a good read, and his strategies and tactics are still taught in business schools around Terra today. That is not just a suggestion. I expect all of you to read those histories, and the two books I just mentioned.

  “As we work together over the next few weeks, I will quiz each of you I come in contact with, and I expect you to be able to answer four out of five questions I ask. Your officers will do the same on a more regular basis, and I pity the individual who comes up wanting.

  “Now I’m going to turn this over to Sol Rosenblum who is now the Commander Air Group or CAG and his deputy.”

  Sol stepped to the front of the room and said, “Reading those mate
rials has just been posted as the first of this group’s Standing Orders. I very strongly suggest you all get busy on that in your spare time.”

  “Now the first goal today is to define small unit tactics and the strategies under which they will be most effective.”

  I could tell Sol and David Stein, his Vice CAG or VCAG, have this well in hand, so I quietly left them to it. I tried not to micro-manage, and my attempts often failed, so I found it easier on me and more respectful to the people I leave in charge if I just moved away and let them do their jobs. I have more coordinating and politicking to do, we have thousands of fighters and bombers to find homes for and will have thousands more before we know it.

  I stopped in at Mo’s office to find him in the middle of a heated discussion with a couple of Mmrrreeowwn and a Terran concerning hangar space. I stayed back and listened for a while signalling Mo to carry on as though I’m not there. The other three have their backs to me, so I’m not sure they knew I was there. I commed Elders One and Three and relayed what my implant was hearing to them and asked for a meeting.

  Elder Three told me, “Give us a couple of decas then come up to our offices. In the meantime, continue recording. I’ll be sending an escort for those three obstructionists in a few centas. If Mordechai can keep them occupied until they get there, I would appreciate it.”

  He signed off, and I signalled Mo to keep them busy. Mo has mastered the art of looking at someone as though they are the only focal point in the room while still being totally aware of his surroundings. He gave me an almost imperceptible acknowledgement, and I withdrew to the outer office to wait and see what happened next. I didn’t have to wait long, about two centas later Bebe showed up with one of her flying squads and listened as Mo wrapped up the discussion and dismissed the three individuals.

  When they came out to the outer office, her team grabbed them up and frog-marched them out of the room and down the passage leading to the lifts that will take them to the Elder’s offices. The last thing I heard was the Terran squealing about his rights as a Terran citizen—half of Bebe’s squad was Terran, and they weren’t buying it.

  9

  LIKE ANYTHING IN LIFE A good plan takes time to develop. Twelve cycles after I kicked off the meeting with the aircrews Sol commed and asked if he, along with Mo and David, could have some time to walk me through what his people have come up with. I told him to come by at 0600. I wanted Johnny, Ginger and Tuxedo in on this and I was hoping all of them could be available. I used my implant to place a group comm to them and told them what was happening.

  Ginger and Tuxedo were available, but Johnny said he would have to move a couple of things around and might be a few centas late. Johnny Townsend was still running our intel group but had been promoted as my deputy—the one who would take over in the event I was incapacitated. He was training his replacement, Silent, but still felt he needed to keep his hand in. Silent is a tall silvery grey Mmrrreeowwn who was once a warrior and Centurion.

  Silent, who never vocalizes, came over from fleet intel and Johnny holds him in high regard and confided in me that Silent was a far better choice for the director job than he was. Still, he was finding it hard to let go of the organization he’d built from the ground up. I would keep loading more on Johnny until he finally relinquished his ‘baby’ to Silent and moved on. Silent was aware of what I was doing and condoned it but also understood the investment Johnny had made in his group. All of his people were hand-picked and regarded by the intelligence community as the best of the best.

  I also commed Ishmael and invited him. I try to include him in these meetings partly because he is our supplier of fighters and bombers but also in part because he is scary intelligent and I like him. Ishmael is also well regarded by Dimitri Raselimov and Stan Miller who handles liaison with those Terran countries we have ties to. Stan is one of the friends I came aboard with and, while not formally educated, is blessed with a double helping of people smarts and a shrewd negotiator.

  Dimitri was a history professor at a Moscow university and had that in common with Ishmael who taught history in a Weasel university before being elevated to the Weasel liaison to the Mmrrreeowwn. The two of them love vodka and chess and often have several games going simultaneously.

  Ishmael suggested I invite Dimitri to the meeting saying, “Dimitri can do a quick analysis of the plans and structure from a people perspective, particularly from the standpoint of what is acceptable to our friends on Terra. If nothing else it will give him some insights in dealing with requests from the planet.

  “I, on the other hand, will be paying close attention to the material needs of the space force and will be able to take requests back to my factories for changes to existing craft or new design requirements based on mission profiles.”

  “That is not a bad idea, Ishmael. While we are on the topic of design, we require a carrier design for our fighter and bombers. While I planned on having some Leopard-Class ships based on the Talons built, I’ve come to realize I need something bigger to carry the small ships to large battles which I expect will become more frequent as the Plague adapts to the smaller hit-and-run raids. I also want to mix it up, so the buggers never know what to expect.”

  “My crystal ball told me you would come to that conclusion. We have some designs that we developed in concert with the Squids ages ago that have been languishing on the shelf. I’ve been working with our many-armed friends to adapt them to FTL which turned out to be relatively simple with the modular designs the Squids prefer.

  “Why don’t you and your CAG come to my suite next cycle for a cycle’s end meal and we can discuss what we have over a pleasant dinner? If you bring your mates, mine will have company and will not feel out of place at table.”

  “I will pass the invitation on to my mate and let Sol know as well. Thanks, Ishmael, I’ll see you at the meeting.”

  I quickly commed Dimitri and invited him to the meeting, and when I mentioned the dinner invitation, he responded, “Ishmael just sent me an invitation as well. He wants to discuss possible production of subassemblies as well as fighters and bombers by factories in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

  “Let me tell you, he sets a splendid table and his mate is a very gracious and charming person. Weasel cuisine is delicious and very filling. Be prepared to indulge yourself.”

  I greeted the attendees in the outer office and directed them to the large conference room next to my office. Johnny came in last, bringing Silent with him, and they sat towards the end of the long table next to Ishmael and Dimitri. We all knew each other, so we quickly began by having Sol and Mo present their TOE or Table of Organization and Equipment.

  The TOE was laid out Mmrrreeowwn fashion with fewer ranks than were used in Terran forces. The top of the food chain was the Commander Air Group or CAG, a title borrowed from a Terran Navy and converted to a rank. There were two steps, CAG and VCAG or Vice Commander Air Group. The next rank down was Captain, and there are three steps; Flight Captain, Squadron Captain and Captain. All of the rest of the flight crew are Immunae.

  Each squadron had twelve ships, and a flight had twelve squadrons for a total of one hundred and forty-four ships. The CAG and VCAG each had a squadron of their own independent of the other squadrons. On any carrier, there would only ever be one CAG, but depending on the ship there could be more than one VCAG, and each VCAG could command up to twelve flights in addition to his own squadron.

  Each Squadron Captain could appoint a deputy and the same held true with the Flight Captains. It was a general recommendation that the deputy responsibilities be passed around the group so that all squadron and flight officers got a turn at directing larger actions and eventually got squadrons or flights of their own as the forces grew or members were promoted or replaced.

  The flight deck crews were ranked similarly with the most skilled and highly trained holding higher rank and directing and training the lower ranks.

  So far, this made sense to me and I liked the idea of rotating the dep
uty Squadron and Flight Captain responsibilities. It should help identify those with leadership abilities while not offending those who are lacking. The Mmrrreeowwn have long since grown out of the envy that can be felt when someone was promoted over another, Terrans not so much and Weasels were an unknown quantity. We have hundreds of Weasels going through training at the WTC and will see the first Weasel flyers integrated with the Terrans and Mmrrreeowwn in another eighteen cycles. The reports from the training officers told me the new recruits were adapting well and causing no more problems than Terrans or Mmrrreeowwn. In fact, most Weasel recruits were acting like the experience was the best thing that ever happened to them.

  As the meeting wrapped up, I learnt that the flying officers and their men have been writing simulator programs to replicate what might happen in an engagement with different types of Plague ships and they need a few more cycles before they could identify a list of sound deployment tactics as a start. Those with combat experience were constantly reminding those without that plans seldom survive first contact with the enemy. A concept some had a hard time wrapping their minds around, but they would learn.

  Dinner with Ishmael and his mate the following evening turned out to be quite an affair. Elaine, Rachel and Svetlana got on well with Ishmael’s mate Jacky who is taller than her mate with sleek, soft fur that is a dark chestnut colour that lightens almost to white at the tips making her look like she has frost on her coat. Her large dark brown eyes are lively and reflect her joy in life and the presence of good company. I must confess, I didn’t see the paranoid or rabid behaviours mentioned in the database in any of the Weasels I have met so far, and I was going to ask for clarification the next time I met with the Elders. I suspected the two species remaining apart had more to do with the Mmrrreeowwn than the Weasels and if this was the case, I was going to insist on hearing the real reason the Mmrrreeowwn leadership felt such animosity.

  After a meal of some kind of roast fowl with a lightly steamed vegetable resembling asparagus Ishmael guided us to his office so we could discuss business while the ladies chatted and became more acquainted. He promised an excellent dessert later accompanied by a rare wine made from the same berries used in the dish.