by T J Bryan
Terrence had run out of breath and Abel knew it was best to let him continue.
"Just ask Dr Freydis at the hospital. And we are seeing psych issues as well. Especially by the crews working on Nomi's project. I think that when an apparatus sub assembly just takes off it seems to make people fearful and sometimes a bit strange...."
Again Terrance ran out of breath.
"Abel, we just have to ease up. We cannot keep up with this pace. It's a killer."
And now, thought Abel, he was about to demand more work to build pre-fab units for the moon fortress at Prince.
Abel said nothing for a long while.
Terrence did not look Abel in the eyes and Abel knew that Terrence was both embarrassed and somewhat desperate.
Terrence began again, "I know... well it's war. And I know the sacrifice the OCN is making, but we... My daughter Jen, she was at the Forth Battle of Wu on the Crusher New Kara with Silvi. I know Abel. But..." Abel could see that Terrance was at a complete loss to describe his frustration and the frustration of his guild members at the impossible and growing work load.
Abel rose. Terrence stood as well. "We know of the demands we have placed upon you Terrence and the Guild. Your sacrifices are equal to the sacrifices of the OCN. Someone once said that they who stand and wait also serve. And while I know you are not standing and waiting, your Guild is part of our efforts to save both the Commonwealth and civilization. Terrence, I have know you since we were in kinder school. Let's work together to do something to ease the burden on your members. I don't know what might help, but I know you will have suggestions. But I know this also Terrence, the OCN cannot fight and protect you and your families, without the Fabricator's Guild. Your guild is on the front lines of this battle to roll back The Dark, just as much as your daughter Jen who serves on New Kara. Now sit down. Let's figure something out."
...
Wu System - Dock side conference room - Year 3248 September 2 ET 06:01
After the formal introductions during the previous evening and a brief discussion of the need for a Xitang and Commonwealth Alliance, both sides adjourned for the evening. Before parting, Emperor Li Bain had told Toni, that the situation in Xitang was not entirely desperate, and that they had withstood numerous attacks by the Curved Dragons, who were the Megra, but that if they could not carry the war into Megra space they would eventually loose. Emperor Li Bain had further said that he believed the OCN to be in the same position; that of defence without the resources to go on the offense. Perhaps, he said, that together they might find the strength to take the war to the Megra.
As they parted company for the night, Xiahou, Minister of the Left, informed Captain Smilot that no Emperor had ever left the Xitang system in over three thousand years and that the Emperor's presence was a profound expression of their desire for an alliance and an offensive plan against the Megra.
The morning meeting was held in the conference room off the public dock of Wu Station. Not knowing the dietary requirements or desires of the Emperor, Captain Smilot had ordered a simple breakfast buffet with two urns of hot water and coffee tablets and New Carthago's best loose tea.
At precisely 06:00 six men arrived at the conference room all dressed in what Toni thought could only be described as antique armor. They were strong men with fierce expressions on their faces and they were covered in leather tunics studded with brass plates, buckles, and studs. Their hats, also made of leather, sported high plumes of colorful feathers, and in their hands they held impossibly long and heavy swords. Toni realized that such enormous swords, although impressive in their size and weight, would be useless in combat. They were simply too heavy, and a few well placed short sword blows would bring the guards down. Another ceremonial expression of wealth and ostentation thought Toni.
Moments later a short rather old man entered also dressed in silver finery. He took one long look about the room and proceeded to the buffet table. He ignored the food but did prepare a cup of Dragon Well tea from the counter top. He took a long time smelling the tea and then took a tiny sip. He took another larger sip and seemed to slosh the tea about in his mouth. Then to the surprise of all he spit the tea onto the floor.
A taster thought Toni. Someone to ensure that the Emperor's food and drink was not poisoned.
Then two more men entered the conference room, but they were dressed in a garments that seemed to combine both the silken elegance of the Emperor's robe with that of the military guards that proceeded them. Military officers thought Toni.
Finally Xiahou, Minister of the Left, arrived and stood just inside the entrance to the conference room After a full minute he stepped in. "All hail and bow before Li Bian, Emperor of Xitang, Ruler of the Celestial Skies, Dragon of Shen Shi, Protector of the Vassal States, Immortal of the Ages, Guardian of Shang, Destroyer of Gui, Right Hand of ..."
As Toni watched Xiahou he continued describing Emperor Li Bian's role as Emperor for almost ten minutes. But eventually he finished. Toni realized that this long list of the Emperor's powers or responsibilities was more for his own entourage rather than for the more practically minded OCN. Tradition must play a powerful role on Xitang and in order for the Emperor to even speak with mere mortals, he must reinforce his august presence to his own court to ensure success. Toni realized that if there was opposition to an alliance with the Commonwealth it would be within the Emperor's own power structure.
Finally Li Bian himself entered resplendent in a different garment and this one covered in brocaded images of birds of all kinds. And once again Toni could see the brocade moving with images of birds in flight and others nesting. The garment was not only beautiful, but to her mind astonishing in its' display of wealth and treasure.
Upon entry all but Xiahou and the six guards fell to the floor and bowed. Three times the seemed to bow before standing up. Again Toni realized that tradition was paramount to Xitang culture and to the power base of Li Bian.
Li Bian ruffled his long sleeves and drew out his hands. "May I shake hands with the Commodore of the Obsidian Commonwealth Navy and with the Captain of Wu Station. The honor is all mine."
As Toni took Li Bian's hand in a firm handshake she could not help but notice that the two men she assumed were military officers looked aghast at the informality of a handshake between their Emperor and these mere barbarians.
After the handshake two rather small men entered carrying a rather ornate gold gilded chair followed. The chair was placed at the far end of the long conference table. The power position thought Toni as she walked toward the other end of the table to balance the forces at play. After the Emperor's chair was placed firmly on the deck Emperor Li Bian sat. Toni sat at the other end of the table moments later. Captain Smilot did not seem offended at Toni's assumption of the power spot at the far end of the table. After all this was a discussion of an alliance between Xitang and the OCN. Further Smilot knew that the input of Wu would be included in any agreement and that in some sense as the longest and strongest ally of Jamon they well had a veto.
The old man whom Toni thought of as the Emperors food taster stepped forward and whispered something into Li Bian's ear. Li Bian nodded.
"I would like a cup of your excellent tea," said the Emperor. "Dragon Well from New Carthago I believe. Very fine. Very rare and most appreciated."
As the small man served the Emperor tea, Captain Smilot rose and prepared tea for Toni. Moments later Smilot placed the single cup of tea before Toni. Then Smilot winked at Toni from an angle that only Toni could see. No one else was offered or served tea. The only acknowledged equals in the room were the Emperor Li Bian of Xitang and Toni Hamilton Commodore and Area Commander of the Obsidian Commonwealth Navy.
After a few ships of tea Lia Bian motioned to Xiahou who stood. "I call upon our General of the Right to describe our great victories against the Curved Dragons."
One of the two military officers stood. Before speaking he nodded his head three times toward the Emperor.
"I am Xiang Yan, Ge
neral of the Right. I shall describe our state of war with the Curved Dragons. My Emperor has instructed me to be ..." Here Toni saw the general searching for a word. "To be frank in your language. That is to be infelicitously
blunt and abrupt. As much as I find such language painful I shall attempt to please my Emperor."
Xiang Yan went on for over an hour to describe the first contacts with the Megra and their initial probing attacks. He described the Xitang Empire in some detail. The Empire was made up of three tightly linked star systems with a common ancestry, and all held together by short and direct knot lines. As Xiang Yan described the economy and military capabilities of the Empire, Toni realized that they were a well advanced technological system, but like the Commonwealth had been isolated for hundreds of years. They had lost contact with their thin link to human space during and after the Great War, but prior to the war they had only occasional contact. The Great War had caused concern within the Xitang systems and they had prepared by enlarging and improving their fleet as they thought the war might well spill over into their space. In addition they strengthened ties to smaller less developed human colonies within their knot lines. One colony with whom they found alliance was not human at all. The were the Terantos who were masters at metal craft and high energy weapons. The Terantos had been welcomed into the Empire of Xitang, although they were called 'barbarian carrion' due to some environmental habit or condition. As insulting as Toni though the description, the characterization of the Terantos alliance was one of full and complete equality with Xitang. Toni found the stated equality in the alliance comforting but needing verification. Toni realized that what things were called by the Xitang had little to do with their true status. She would need to take care in their discussion not to be insulted or confused by names and categories.
The General of the Right continued with a brief history of the war with the Megra. The first series of attacks had begun only four years before and Toni recognized them as probing attacks similar to the first attacks at Wu. After a pause in fighting lasting almost a year the Megra had returned in force with over forty dumbbells and a much larger ship described as the Great Maw of the Eating Dragon. During the lapse in fighting the Xitang had boosted their fleet build and readiness and when the Megra fleet reappeared they managed to fight them to a standstill. Although they defeated more than half the Megra fleet before it withdrew, the cost to the Xitang and their allies was great. In General Xiang Yan's words the losses were 'unsustainable'. Another assault as powerful as the last they could not repel, and the Empire of Xitang would fall. However the Megra had not returned in force, but rather had continued sending harrying forces of perhaps five to seven ships the purpose of which the General assumed was to slowly erode the Xitang fleet. To date this strategy of the Megra was having the desired effect.
At this point the Emperor spoke. "As you can see, We of the Celestial Xitang Empire find ourselves in much the same state as you of the Jamon System Commonwealth and your allies. We are being eaten away by fleas as the dogs of war await our moment of weakness. Let us now seek alliance, shared fates, common weapons, and a inevitable victory in the destruction of this galactic plague."
Chapter One Hundred Seven
Jamon System - Admiral's Office - Year 3248 September 2 ET 16:08
Abel asked Bennet to inform those important personages waiting outside his door to have patience. Then Bennet ushered in Alice Brunner head the OCN Department of Procurement, Distribution, and Audit. As Alice entered Abel knew he needed to provide some relief, if only temporary to the Fabricators Guild. The pace of the war effort could not be reduced and even Terrence Van Vos knew this, but something must be done.
Alice entered Abel's office with a rather grim face. She sat down without saying anything and laid on the table no less than three inter-tabs. Abel realized that Alice was as they say 'loaded for bear' whatever that might mean. Abel took a minute to wonder what a bear might be.
Abel spoke first, "All right Alice what's the problem."
"The problem is Abel that the Assembly authorized two additional auditors last year. Then they began to ask questions. Lots of them. More that we could answer with our staff of three. Now some of the questions were valid but others simply stupid. We were asked to justify our purchase of 12,000 washers, you know those round shiny things with a hole in the middle. It took me three days to track down the justification and it seems that we needed the washers for your mine project. They were perfectly justified. Then they wanted to know why the specification called for them to be shiny? It was in the specification, but for the life of he I could not justify the added cost."
"And what was the added cost? For washers shiny or not?" asked Abel.
"Seems the shiny specification has been in the specs since the colony was founded hundreds of years ago and to make them un-shiny actually would add to the cost." Alice sighed.
Alice continued, "Then some genius asked where we stored the our emergency supply of carrot seeds. Carrot seeds Abel! I had no idea we stored carrot seeds. They seemed to be lost in that great cavern we use for dead storage. I had a team of six looking for a week but we could not find them. Those seeds had been in storage for over a hundred years, and why we became responsible for their safety I cannot fathom. But right there in the charter of the OCN was a section dealing with strategic goods and their storage. The OCN is responsible for the carrot seeds. Abel this is nuts."
"I thought we authorized an increase in your staff by four last summer. That should have taken care of the Assemblies investigations."
Alice winced, "Well it would have, but the Assembly authorized an increase in its' auditing staff of another six. I am so bombarded with auditing questions now that I cannot possibly answer without another 14 on my staff."
Abel sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
Alice continued, "Abel this cannot go on. Every time the Assembly adds audit staff the questions rise. Some of the questions are valid, but most are simply nonsense. We had a demand audit last week on shrimp production form Dios. They wanted to know why Shrimp production had increased while the input factors had remained the same. I told them that we were getting better at raising shrimp but they wanted a full justification to ensure someone was not sneaking away with shrimp foodstuffs. You know, that processed poop we feed the shrimp."
"Why are we responsible for the shrimp on Dios?" asked Abel.
"Oh Abel, you don't get out enough. The whole shrimp production project was your idea. Or have you forgotten. Somehow the entire process out on Dio remained the OCN's responsibility."
"And now you need more staff to respond to the Assembly's audits?"
"Yes. I need at least fourteen for this month. Next month the Assembly will add as many auditors, then I will need twenty to respond. Abel this simply cannot continue, and if it does our entire OCN will consist of nothing more than bookkeepers and accountants. I often wonder how many accountants the Megra have attacking our fleet."
Abel almost laughed, but he knew that Alice's frustration was real.
Alice continued, "Some how Abel following the Thorgaut Coup we became responsible for too many functions outside our essential Navy responsibilities. We need to get rid of these and concentrate on our task at hand; killing Megra. But even if we shed the bulk of these nonessential tasks, this continuing war of escalating audits is likely to continue. They add three auditors to ask questions and we need to add six to answer. Those answers result in even more questions so they add another six and we need twelve to answer. Abel this cannot continue. It is simply insane."
Abel began to understand the competitive cycle of bureaucracy that had so confounded Alice. "I'll talk to the Chairman about his Alice. I am sure there is something we can do to shed our non essential tasks and limit this war of escalating bureaucrats." As Abel said this he was unsure he could actually stop the battle of the auditors.
...
Wu System - Dock side conference room - Year 3248 September 2 ET 17:21
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br /> The discussions and exchange of information had gone on for hours and Toni and Smilot finally began to understand the Empire of Xitang. The similarities between Xitang's response to the Megra and that of the Commonwealth were similar. Both had been surprised and unprepared for an assault, and both found themselves burdened with allies who brought little to the table but their loyalty and faith in their ally.
Toni had found herself speaking for over an hour about the current state of the OCN and its' history in confronting the Megra. The Xitang seemed most interested in OCN weapons and Toni was worried that she might have revealed too much about both their strengths and weaknesses. The Xitang seemed most interested in the sand casters and the tactics of their successful use against the anti-matter torpedoes of the Megra. It seemed to Toni that they had no weapon similar to the casters. She dreaded to think of how the OCN might stand against dumbbells without casters.
However for every detail Toni provided to the Xitang about the strengths and weaknesses of the OCN they replied with a full description of the same as regards their fleet.
Xitang ships were armed with about eighty tubes capable of firing a missile with about the same power as a 'K'. They also had a unique defensive capability which had led to their doughnut shape. They could induce a huge electromagnetic field around their ships which deflected near misses that might otherwise cause damage. Even near misses by anti-matter explosions. The shielding however was useless if the torpedo or missile actually hit the ring of the ship. This single defensive capability had saved the Xitang fleet in it great battle with the Megra and the Great Maw of the Eating Dragon.
