Stone and the Ravens (Guardian Stone Book 3)

by Don Koch

  Barana interrupted,

  A look of alarm crossed Felis face, “How do you know that name? He was one of the very few criminals ever found in our society. About 40 years ago, he was tried for several murders. Our court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. On his way to execution, he disappeared. The following day he stole a shuttle that exploded about 500 miles from our ship. His body was found in the wreckage and it was cremated. We later found that he had prearranged a delayed unlocking of his confinement space.”

 

  “That is amazing. Yes, I would talk to him.”

 

  “Tillib, this is Felis Skante, why have you done this thing?”

  “So you have discovered that I still live. I promised that I would have my revenge on all Rota A before I died. When I escaped I went to a secret laboratory and transferred my entire self to the main computer. You see I am a Rota B that you overlooked. I did not carry the characteristic look of a Rota B. You missed the fact that I was not telepathic. I was very good with computers so it occurred to me that might be how I can exact my revenge.”

 

  Folis continued, “How?”

  “When I take over the main computer, I will kill all five ships slowly. You will not be able to stop me. My links are undetectable. When I turn off life support, you will all die and you can't stop me.”

  “But Tillib, you have already been stopped. Those links have been found and severed. You are now in an isolated data storage unit made to appear as though you are in the main computer. If you attempt to activate those linkages, you will activate an erasure program and you will die.”

  “What, that is not possible. Did you think that I would fall for such an implausible lie. I am much smarter than that, I will show you. . . There, now you are finished. . . What is going on? Why is this not working? What have you done to my links? How have you done this?”

  As the rant continued, Felis again spoke, "Tillib, I did not lie to you. I tried to warn you but you did not listen. Your own willingness to kill so many has condemned you. I am sorry for you. Goodbye."

  "Nooooooo…"

  Folis said that the Supreme Council had heard what had just transpired and has ordered that the section of isolated data storage unit containing the erased Emot Tillib be removed and destroyed physically. “It is hard to believe that much hate exists and in a place we would never have thought to look for it. I apologize for what your generosity almost brought about. This is appalling. Barana, it appears that you have much more to teach us than we have to teach you if you are still willing.”

 

  “Oh but it was our fault. We assumed that we knew more than we did and that arrogance almost cost all of us dearly.”

  Sam said, “Be thankful that did not happen after you started across intergalactic space, had you gone that route.”

  Hank noted, “Let's talk about something a lot less depressing. Do you have a proposal for how your population might want to be distributed?"

  "We have only a rough idea, but by tomorrow that should be solidified. We want to be sure that those in our population that have long term friends have the opportunity to stay together. That consideration should be complete by then. Our computers are working on this as we speak."

  "Since we are adding so many people to our fleet we need to rethink the amount of hardware required. It is fortunate that we recently added five new Divisions to our fleet, that is 25 Stations that will grow to 50. We are also substantially increasing the number of systems we have agreed to protect. In the past two months, we have added 20 more occupied systems to our protection envelope. On top of that we have at least 9 more systems with habitable planets that we will need to include if they become occupied. The likelihood is that we may need even more Stations. The additions to personnel from this region will put us over our 50% of capacity benchmark that I have been using determine the number of Stations we need. I am asking our Shipyards at Tau Ceti to build five additional Divisions to hold in reserve and activate as needed to the Fleet. When this is done, each Division will consist of a Type 1 Station, four Type 2A Stations and 5 Type 2B Stations. Right now we have 144 Stations in the Fleet with another 106 of our Type 2B Stations on order. That will bring us to 250 Stations by this time next year. I will ask Tau Ceti to build 5 new Type 1B Stations, 20 new Type 2A Stations and 25 Type 2B stations to hold in reserve and be activated as needed. That brings our potential Station count to 300."

  "I talked with Barana and Fador earlier today and we all believe that our production capability is up to the task but they think I may be generally a little too conservative. We may find it necessary to increase our production capacity soon so I am putting together a group to be chaired by Joe Carson to look at those needs and do something about them. In the discussions I have had with Tau Ceti, they too feel I am a bit conservative. They indicated that they could easily build additional fabricators that will more than accommodate any request that we might raise. That is something I am not used to and I find the experience to be novel. They expect to produce the Type 1B's at the rate of one per month. It takes our Type 2 fabricators 21 days to produce a Type 2A or 2B Station. We have 10 fabricators working now and that gives us one new station every two days. Today they have completed eleven new fabricators meaning that they will now produce a new station every day. Based on this production, all 25 Division will be at full Station allotment by late August. Tau Ceti advised that they might even be able to accelerate that. They have mining ships out now securing the needed materials, particularly water. They are confident they can do it and told me that they anticipate the need for even more. As you all know, a month ago, I ordered the building of a new construction facility at Helena."

  "It did not take much convincing to get the crews at Tau Ceti rolling on Helena. They gave me a standing ovation. You'd have thought I was some kind of celebrity or something. They clearly like the idea and expect to have it all operational by next spring. Its hard to believe how quickly they can put things like this together. They really did like the extra protection from Division 8 and Charles Ames-Smythe takes this responsibility very seriously. He has the whole system covered like a glove. His early warning system is a joy to watch. He even has other Divisions that are on standby attempt to penetrate his umbrella. That gives his crews some real practice. Hope we never need it."

  "I am going to assign another Division for Helena in the next few days. They are going to disguise the fabricators so you won't know what they are even if you were looking directly at one. Likely choice is Sean O'Connor and Maudie of Division 16. He has done wonders with every assignment I have sent his way. I intend to talk to him about it later this morning."

  Sam observed, "That sounds like a really good idea. I think we are all ready for a break. Lets continue this t
omorrow.”

  “Agreed.”

  # An hour later #

  "Hi Sean, how is it going?"

  "Really great. Just had a visit with me mum and I think she is now ready to move on Station. My missus loves the idea which is a huge plus. How is your missus?"

  "Ah, she is starting to feel the weight of the family additions and has not quite gotten used to the notion that your children can chat with you before they are even born."

  "I would very definitely have a tough adjustment in that area as well."

  "Well I have a little job for you that I think you will like. I would like you to take your entire Division, all five Stations not presently committed, two more that will be available at the end of June and the rest when they become operational and set up the security for Helena much the same as has been done by Charles for Tau Ceti."

  "Wow, you know I have been itching for that assignment and was tempted to request it. I have had quite a few discussions with Charles and we see eye to eye on quite a few things. We kind of push each other to be more. I really appreciate this opportunity. When can I start."

  "Well, a lot of your crew has not seen home for a while. What say you start in three weeks."

  "Perfect, this will really be interesting. Thanks again boss. This is the plum I have wanted. It will be fun challenging Charles. He is good people."

  "As are you Sean. By the way, Charles suggested that you might be interested in this assignment and you were on my 'A' list. Talk to you later."

  # May 13 – C Day 622 #

  Folis was addressing Hanks Team again, "I have never seen my people so excited about anything. I do not think that there were many that got much sleep last night. The allocation plans are ready for your review and hopefully approval. We have anticipated a breakdown now with the current number of ships available and where you expect to be in another year. Even the smallest group is close to a million persons so we are able to pose a really decent cross section of talents in each allocation. While we do not have AI's, we do have pretty good computing systems that include consideration of many factors, not the least of which are personal relationships. Those we did not want to disturb since that would not be good for general mental health."

  "Folis that is a very good point. In fact, I have asked Barana to review the work your people have done in preparing for this. She was impressed."

 

  "We have alerted all Stations about what we are doing and have given them a rough timetable so they know when to expect you. Your ships will be the delivery vehicle for the transfer to the Stations. The operators of each of your ships will be the Rota crew that will go to each of the new Type 1B stations, that will be about 13.6 million for each."

 

  Chapter 40: State of the Fleet

  Station 1 in the Malone System –

  June 30 – C Day 670

  Fador asked for a meeting with Hank, his senior staff and all Station commanders. When the conference was ready and everyone was ready, Fador started with, "It has been just shy of two years since our operations began with Henry Stone at the helm assisted by Barana and I as the leadership for the fleet with all of you assisting. This fleet has become a formidable force for good and I expect that it will continue to do so. My reason for calling this conference may seem a bit mundane but I think it important for reasons I will explain. We are currently called the Antoran Fleet and while I happen to think that is rather nice, being an Antoran, I fear that the name is too parochial. True it is how we started but it is not what we have become. We have assumed a role in guarding the civilizations we find that they may grow and prosper without fear that someone will take that away. I am here to suggest a name change. Since it is our Antoran name we are suggesting be changed, we Antorans felt you would not object to our suggestion concerning what the name should be. We would like to suggest that the name be changed to the Galactic Guard. Now your first reaction might be that seems a bit over reaching. But then I ask you, how many of you thought two years ago that we would have a coverage area that is 16,000 light years in length and have it this soon? Where will we be a year from now or two, or more? I would ask that you consider and adopt this change by acclamation."

  Many were surprised at the request but agreement could be seen around the conference. Chou Sing, Commander of Station 4 opined, "That just makes good sense and removes a source of potential friction as we grow. It also reflects what we do."

  Isaac David, commander of Station 9 added, "I agree. It is an idea whose time has come and it does convey our potential scope. I like it."

  Raxs noted, "It is good to hear the source of this suggestion. It identifies what we are becoming. I too like it and commend Fador for his recommendation."

  Hank said, "Does anyone here have an objection to the proposed action?" Waiting for a moment, he said, "All those in favor please signify by saying Aye."

  A tumultuous "Aye" arose from all attending the conference.

  Hank went on, "Honorable President Fador, the change of name you have recommended has been accepted by acclamation without objection by commanders of the Stations of the Fleet. Henceforth this fleet will be called the Galactic Guard. Outstanding suggestion. I also want to express my gratitude and thanks for all that the people of Antor have contributed to this Fleet and its activities. The permanent home of the Galactic Guard will be Antor II at Tau Ceti." This was met with another cheer of acclamation that brought a tear to Fador's eyes.

  Barana stated,

  "Excellent suggestion Barana, please do so."

  # July 1 – C Day 671 #

  Hank went on to provide an all Stations update that he expected to become an annual event. It was being broadcast to every Station, including those on exploration duty. The Rota B crisis was over and it was hoped that the Antoran Fleet could restore a sense of normalcy to those systems most impacted. This was a difficult task since most of the systems had suffered constant harassment from the Rota B species for almost 6,000 years. Adapting to the new reality of self-governance was a new experience to many in the region. Raas and Nardo were relatively new to the Rota B trepidations so they had the least amount of adjustment to make to the new conditions. At the other extreme, Peck had been under the Rota B thumb of oppression since the beginning of the 6,000 years and required considerable help in getting to a point where they could help themselves. For this reason Hank had assigned Station 9, Flametta to Defense guardian duty at Peck.

  Hank made sure that Flametta had a full complement of cruisers and battleships on assuming that assignment. He also assigned the new Station 21, Nadia commanded by Richard Dawson to Peck since he felt that the capacity of two Type 1B Stations might be necessary to retrain the populace.

  A similar situation existed for the Lubin System. They had not been occupied by the Rotans for very long, so were expected to make a more rapid recovery.<
br />
  The Foalar System populated by the Gar species had been occupied for nearly 1,000 years so their adjustment was expected to be more of a strain on that population.

  Hank released Divisions 10 and 17 for continued exploration after assuring that each of the exploration team Stations had its full complement of cruisers and battleships.

  He also completed the Division 4 and 20 complements of cruisers and battleships on the theory that exploration units were the most likely to need the flexibility that they provided. There were now 160 Stations, 1,152 battleships and 10,001 cruisers in service fleet wide. All were manned and operational. The shift in operational tactics was also beginning to show. The stations determined that they would be more effective if they were frequently moved around within a system even though no one under their protective envelope had the ability to track a cloaked Station.

  Hank asked for a special conference with the commanders and AI's for each of his exploration Divisions, 4, 10, 17 and 20. He started the conference with, "Greetings to all of you. You all now have a full complement of new ships that essentially changes the way you can approach a dicey situation. You have all seen the training materials that accompany the new ships and how to use that capability. I suspect you all knew without being told. It is probably a more natural extension to what you were all used to from your prior service. You also now have large contingents of the Rotan B species aboard. When they revealed themselves, they pointed out that there are two other groups in this Galactic arm doing essentially what we do but without the technology base that we have and without the equipment. They are roughly some distance ahead of your current line of travel." He provided approximate coordinates where they were last known to be active.