by C. R. Daems
"Well, Zoe, what do you think Fossett will do?" Perkins had picked an upscale restaurant which specialized in Surf and Turf cuisine. The meat from some grazing animal raised on New Hope cut like butter and the local fish was flaky with a crusty topping and tasted delicious.
"Hard to guess when we don't know the status of the war. If things are going badly, he could reassign Simons to command another fleet."
"That would mean reassigning our two squadrons." Perkins took a sip of his Shirah-like wine and sighed with real pleasure. I liked Perkins. He thought before he spoke, had good judgment, and was not prone to panic.
"He could reassign Simons, but we aren't ready to be reassigned to a combat fleet—not for a while. He could give her three or four new squadrons to bring the Sixth back up to strength. Or, he could reassign Simons and give you the Sixth." I grinned. Perkins stared at me for a long time before smiling.
"That's funny in a way. In peacetime, we all dream of becoming an Admiral with a fleet under our command. Prestigious, and it has great perks. But in wartime you're responsible for thousands of lives. Look at Durban and Yorklan. Simons lost a total of six squadrons. That's a fleet." He picked up his glass and sat looking at the wine as he gently swirled it. "I would prefer to be an admiral in peacetime."
"To becoming a peacetime admiral," I said, raising my wine glass to him.
"How is your…upgrade coming?"
I laughed. "I have no idea. Mikel and his team are working night and day but haven't asked me for my help or advice. His idea sounds fantastic. The question is whether they are capable of implementing it, given the time restraints of the war."
CHAPTER TEN
Utopia: Admiral Fossett-What's Next?
"That's quite a victory, Simons," Fossett said when Simons had finished a summary of the engagement at Yorklan. He nodded and took a drink of his coffee before continuing. "It gives me hope that we might survive the Issog. But, without more Odin captains, that may prove to be a hollow victory. We're already down to eight semi-functional fleets. And if we win, how many will we have even if we get another two Odin captains and we can duplicate your Yorklan results?"
"Two to four, I would suspect, sir," Simons quickly said, obviously having given the matter considerable thought beforehand.
"That seems optimistic," Fossett said, frowning at her. "Mikel has two captains in training who appear promising, but it will be at least a month or two for the first, and five months for the second to become functional. And that assumes they complete the program, are as good as Zoe, and that I can find two Fleet Admirals who can effectively use an Odin squadron."
Simons nodded. "You have good reason to be concerned. I was very nervous about having a squadron leader who had the authority to take independent action. Fortunately, Zoe is an ideal Odin captain. She has extensive war experience, knows the Issog, and is aggressive but not reckless. Together we have developed some excellent tactics that have proven successful."
"That's the potential problem. Zoe knows the Issog and is a good tactician, and you're flexible and open to new ideas. Without that synergism, I fear future fleets with Odin squadrons won't be able to achieve similar results… In fact, I'd like to reassign you to a new fleet, but don't want to separate you and Zoe, and I understand her squadron needs significant repairs before they will be operational."
"I would like to stay with the Six Fleet, sir. Zoe has talked Mr. Mikel from Next Robotics into bringing his engineers to New Hope. He and his team are working on an idea Zoe has to make the Sixth into an Odin fleet. If it's successful, I could envision us shortening the war by a year." Simons went on to outline what Phase One was attempting to achieve.
Fossett sat tapping his fingers on his desk as he stared at his cup—like it had tea leaves he could read. "If the war with the Issog lasts another two years, we will be fortunate to have two or three nineteen-cruiser fleets with our current effectiveness. In that case, we won't stand a chance against the Arrith's twenty fleets—less if the war with the Issog lasts three years. If you approve Phase One, I'll authorize you to work on Phase Two while I bring the Sixth Fleet up to strength." He gave a snort. "I have to admit you were right about freeing Yorklan rather than defending Durban. The public is focused on the victories at Durban and Yorklan and less on the fact that we left them defenseless."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
New Hope
"Hi, Steven. Seeing as you brought everyone, I assume you have a prototype ready." I was surprised to see Kwon and Elaine with the team. "Kwon, Elaine, what are you doing here?"
Mikel spoke before either of them could. "This project is not only important, but time sensitive, so I enlisted their help. They have been working along with the team as the software was being developed. Kwon is the best person to help you get adjusted to the software, and Elaine has been developing a few simulations to test you."
"I think that was an excellent idea. A few days might make the difference. There is no telling what Admiral Fossett will want Admiral Simons to do, but he will want us back in the war sooner rather than later. Consequently, I doubt Admiral Simons will approve any delays to finish Phase One."
"I agree, so let’s load your implant with the new software."
* * *
"Zoe, you should also give this software package a name, separate from Plato, since it will remain dormant until you wake it, and you will want to shut it down when you're not using it," Kwon said a few hours later when the software had been loaded and two video monitors set up on the Bridge.
"Copernicus."
"Why Copernicus?"
"New way of thinking. Besides, I don't know anyone with that name, so I won't get confused."
"Fair enough. You must evoke the software with the command of your choosing. For example, Open Copernicus and to shut it off Close Copernicus.
I smiled and thought, Copernicus, eyes open. "Nothing happened," I said when nothing appeared to happen.
Kwon nodded and typed something on her laptop and the video monitor lit with the animation of an Issog cruiser tagged B1. After a few minutes, it fired four missiles.
"Think B1 fired four missiles," Kwon said. When I did, a tag 4/0 appeared below B1 and as I watched the zero began adding one to the count every second. "That is four missiles and the elapsed time since it fired them." She tapped on her laptop and the image disappeared and reappeared two seconds later. "Think B1 skipped two seconds," she said, and 4/20/S2 appeared below the B1 tag.
"That's a bit slow and will be somewhat distracting." I frowned, trying to think of doing that during a battle.
"I agree. The system engineers believe the program will eventually be able to interpret your recognition of each event and post it automatically. That is what you and I are going to be working on for the next few days."
Knowing we were racing the clock, Kwon and I worked straight for two days with only breaks for food, rest, and sleep. Slowly, the software began to recognize the input from my eyes that one or more cruisers had fired missiles or skipped—in a sense reading my thoughts based on what I was seeing.
"I pronounce you ready for Elaine," Kwon said late the third day. "I think the software will improve as you use it, but I suspect we don't have more time to test."
"Thank you, Kwon, for coming to help me. I doubt anyone could have achieved the results you did in three days." She seemed to know what I was thinking and just the right words or hints to keep me progressing.
"You're most welcome, Zoe. Anytime." She gave me a small bow and turned away as Elaine approached.
"Ready for some fun, Zoe?" She asked with her ever-present infectious smile. Although in her late twenties, she looked like a college freshman, with psychedelic running shoes, jeans, a multicolored tie-dyed T-shirt, and short spiky hair.
"Same exercises?" I asked, not sure what Elaine had in mind.
"Heavens, no. I've spent a week talking with Captains Bergan and Lahti going over your tactics. Based on those discussions, I've put together five scenarios. Ready? E
xercise one, in slowmo." She laughed and the monitor lit with four Issog cruisers at two light-seconds and four at four light-seconds.
Each day, Copernicus improved and it took me less effort to keep conscious track of the number of skips and missiles fired by enemy ships. By the end of a week, I felt the software was working well and that it wouldn't distract me during an engagement. Mikel appeared several hours into my seventh session with Elaine.
"Sorry to interrupt, Zoe, but I understand Admiral Simons has returned from her visit to Utopia and is interested in finding out how the…Copernicus software was performing," he said as he entered with two containers of coffee. He handed one to me and one to Elaine before walking to the monitor which mirrored what the software had in memory, side-by-side with the actual results. "I see Copernicus and the actual match, but I guess the real question is how well it will work in a real encounter. Right, Zoe?"
"True, Steven. At first I wasn't sure, because I had to concentrate on what each cruiser was doing. That distracted me from looking for opportunities. But the software has improved, or I've adjusted to it, or both, because the results are perfect, and I'm not even aware that I'm keeping track of the specific events."
"That's what I wanted to know. You've convinced me that the system has to fit in with the way captains work rather than forcing captains to fit the system." He smiled. "Would you say Phase One has proven the concept is viable?"
"I would, but that decision is for Admiral Simons to judge. But yes, I think Phase One is ready for Admiral Simons to see." I smiled and raised my mug to Mikel.
"What do you suggest for a demonstration?"
"Let her watch Elaine's Demo #2, which is a replication of the Odin squadron's initial engagement at Durban, before the first wave of the Sixth Fleet arrived. Then blank the simulator screen and five minutes later activate the monitor with the results from Copernicus."
* * *
Simons sat off to my right watching the simulator as I replicated the Odin squadron movements at Durbin. Lipscomb and Perkins sat to my left. When I finished, I closed the simulator.
"That was very interesting, Zoe. You explained what you did, and I read your squadron's reports, but seeing it in real-time action is far more impressive. Like watching a chess match where each opponent only has fifteen seconds to make a move." She stopped when her aid brought her a cup of coffee and a small raspberry tart. After a knowing smile, she took a bite of the tart and a sip of coffee before continuing. "It shouldn't have, since it's the game the Issog play with us every engagement, but the simulator somehow clarifies why they are so deadly."
After a moment, Elaine wheeled to the front the second monitor, which she had intentionally left off to the side. When the monitor was positioned where Simons, Lipscomb, and Perkins could easily see it, Mikel spoke.
"Admiral Simons, the first wave of your fleet is now entering the system, per your predefined schedule. This is the information you or they will have available." When he finished speaking, Elaine switched on the monitor and the eight Issog ships appeared tagged B1 through B8 and under each one: S#/# and the cruiser's relative position on the ESP.
Simons leaned forward and looked at the monitor for a long time. "What does the number under each tag indicate?" she asked, never taking her eyes off the monitor.
"S stands for the number of skips for that cruiser. S4 under B4 would mean that cruiser had used four of its eight skip-seconds. The second number indicates the number of seconds before that cruiser can fire again. For example, S4/22 under B4 would indicate the cruiser had fired twenty-three seconds ago and would be ready in twenty-two seconds." I nodded to Elaine, who activated the monitor. The time began decreasing, 21, 20, 19… "As you can see, it maintains the count until it reaches zero."
The monitor blanked for a second then refreshed and began anew. Simons stared at it for a long time without saying a word and with no facial expression.
"Mikel, can you run the simulation and this monitor simultaneously…in slow motion?" Simons asked without her eyes leaving the monitor. Mikel nodded to Elaine, who had prepared a copy of all the exercises so they could be repeated and slowed.
For the next two hours, Simons sat through the five scenarios Elaine had prepared, two of which replicated the Durban and Yorklan engagements. Finally, she sat back and rubbed her eyes and took a sip from the cup of coffee her aid had kept hot and full. "I was nervous when Zoe suggested we contact you, but I…we are desperate and willing to grasp at anything that will keep us afloat. I don't know what I expected, but this is far beyond my most optimistic vision. It’s more in the realm of what I would have wished for." She stood and stretched, then turned toward Lipscomb and Perkins. "Gentlemen, what do you think?"
"It's better than being there when the action took place, because I certainly can't keep track of each cruiser's skips and the time remaining before they can fire again," Perkins said. "But, I think it will take training to be able to digest the massive amount of information the system displays. Right now, I'd be lost and confused trying to figure it out."
"I think it might be too much information for most captains," Lipscomb said. The slight shake of his head and the tone of his voice left no doubt as to his disdain for the system.
"I agree that at first the data is overwhelming. But after you get used to the tag information, the senior captain can quickly grasp the current situation and make assignments to the squadron commanders. The squadron commanders only have to digest the information on the tags they are assigned. Perkins?"
"Initially, I would have said it gave us a thirty-second advantage over the Issog in the area, but knowing how many skips they've exhausted and the time until they can fire? That may give us a two-to-one advantage. It's new, and like anything new will require getting used to, but I like it," Perkins said, nodding slowly. Lipscomb shook his head but didn't say anything.
"Mr. Mikel, I'm approving Phase Two. I'm hoping you prepare training seminars for the captains, because I suspect the system will take some getting used to," Simons said. "I want the Sixth Fleet ready to introduce the Issog to the new system in four weeks. The Arrith are building new ships every day the Issog remain in Commonwealth space."
* * *
"What did you think of the training?" I asked Perkins as we sat sipping a red wine grown here on New Hope while awaiting our salads. I had to give him credit for good taste in restaurants. Before the Willows, I hadn't paid much attention to where I ate. Food was just food. But I had to admit eating at five-star restaurants was a treat. Not only was the food interesting but the atmosphere transported one away from war and killing. The Sands was a perfect example with its thatched covered tables, seaside decorations, sand on the floor, waiters and waitresses in swim attire, walls which displayed shifting water scenes, and its exotic menu of seafood from around the Commonwealth.
"The training was a good idea, but it creates a new problem," Perkins said after a sip of wine and a long look at the red liquid. "Within fifteen seconds, I know where the Issog ships are located, how many skips they have left, and how long before they can fire missiles…but…what is the best strategy? Do I assign squadrons to each one equally, concentrate on the ships with more skips or less, or send them to those who are prepared to shoot, ignoring those who aren’t?"
I nodded, understanding his dilemma. He could waste the time the information gained him with trying to determine how to deploy his squadron—he had information overload. I laughed.
"Maybe Elaine can help," I said, thinking about my strategy against the Issog. My tactics were based on years of experience fighting them. I knew how they liked to fight and had an idea of their probable responses.
"How?"
"What if we set up a scenario? Start with four Vamp cruisers. You decide on a strategy before you enter and execute it. I will control the Vamp cruisers and we can see how well or badly it works. Then try another and another against the same scenario. Then, we can evaluate which one works best, or feels the most viable," I said. Per
kins sat sipping his wine and working his way through his leafy-green salad without speaking. Eventually, he put down his fork and pushed the plate away.
"I like it, and we may be able to develop guidelines for other commanders. Since you won't know what tactic I'm planning, your responses will be unique each time, which will give us a good idea of possible Issog responses. We may find that the number of cruisers we encounter affects the tactic. I like it."
The talk turned to the new captains and newly promoted officers as we ate our way through seafood I had never heard of before, bathed in butter, garlic, and spices even Perkins hadn't tasted—delicious didn't come close to describing the meal.
"It's interesting when you think about it. The Issog have no way to produce new cruisers, so when we destroy one, they have one less. When they destroy one of ours, we have the ability to build another, although not as fast as they are being destroyed. However, their level of command experience remains relatively stable. We, on the other hand, must promote junior officers with little, and sometimes no, experience to command positions. Our level of command experience therefore deteriorates over time." He stopped awaiting a comment and continued when I only nodded. "You're a great example. How many of our current captains could duplicate your tactics if they commanded the Odin? Could Bergan or Lahti?"
Probably not, I concluded as I considered their after-action questions. "Their performance has been all I could ask for…but I have to agree with you. Theory is no substitute for experience, nor is experience in a non-decision-making position the equivalent to having the responsibility for making the decisions—and agreeing with the decisions afterward."
