by Kocho
As the first one to start the process Dejan was elected as a president of the new company and he represented them.
The African representative was a man with a hard history, obvious from his scars. He started with mining as a child for the groups that fought in Nigeria and it took him almost ten years to manage to escape. When he did he joined the resistance for a while helping to restore order to his country. Then he returned to the job he now knew well, mining. He had luck together with some of his former colleagues to strike a rich diamond mine that gave him a chance get rich fast. He used his wealth to open the company that was now partner in the TNMC. After the first contact and the announcement for the asteroid mining he realized that his continent and his people in a way were the ones that were in the biggest danger when the invasion troops would arrive. In difference with the other continents and in a large way thanks to the powerful countries in the world Africa had no real major power. The only one that could be said that it was close to that was South Africa who managed to avoid the civil wars that the other African countries had since the day they got their independence. The same conclusion was reached in several of the democratic countries of the continent. Old rivalries were forgotten and the African Union, a union that so far existed on a piece of paper and nothing else finally started working. The four months saw a massive intervention of the members of the league in the troubled zones on the continent. The large terrorist organizations, rebel armies that massacred entire populations were gutted, and in 2018 for the first time in 70 years Africa knew peace. He together with other independent miners that same as him worked hard and in most ways honestly, formed the African Mining Union. They took over some of the mines of the expelled foreign mining companies but they couldn’t take the place from the most powerful ones, who in reality used the cleansing to clear the way for their expansion using their influence in the governments of the African countries. When the need for asteroid mining rose and realizing that the continent had to be represented there Rene saw his chance, he proposed that the AMU take the mining and when Anthony searched for partners he approached him. Using the diamond minds and the reaches they had he managed to get the contract and a large amount of equipment. The support he got from his own country and from the South African Republic didn’t hurt either.
The last man was Anatolij the old Ukrainian was one of the richest people in his own country thanks to the mines his family owned even in the time of the Soviet Union. He was a corporate man but also a huge admirer of the space program, and as soon as the asteroid mining became a necessity he was trying to get the contract alone. But realizing that it would be almost impossible, and thanks to the personal friendship with Anthony he decided to join forces. When he did several other mining companies from Ukraine and Russia went along.
As he saw them he saw that they were watching with fascination as well.
Ceres field the view. The dwarf planet looked fascinating. As they watched they could see the first buildings being assembled and put in place on the Piazzi crater. The crater that was named after the man who first discovered the dwarf planet was chosen after an intense research conducted by the company and NASA.
It was on a stable position for building the surface base for the mining crew and also a good place for storing the material and the next phase of the plan he and his partners had.
“Well we are finally here gentlemen.”
Dejan smiled, and joyful smiles appeared on all their faces.
“Yes Anthony. It took time but everything is proceeding as scheduled. It was a good plan from the start. It will be hard but this might be the thing that will raise us over the competition.”
Anthony nodded at the comment from Anatolij and turned and looked towards the surface. The Tanteroga was almost 200 miles high above the planet, keeping a stable orbit. Most of the ships functions were monitored and controlled by the ships AI Marius. The AI, just the same as the others on the other ships always kept in touch with the crew of the mining ship offering instructions and help. The teaching of the new miners was done under its supervising and Anthony constantly talked with it. He enjoyed those conversations and from the chat he had with the others he knew they did too. It was unnerving at the beginning but as you got to know it the AI became a person and a real friend. Annoying at times but always there when u need it.
“How far are the negotiations for that factory ship that was broken?”
The Macedonian didn’t even turn as he asked the question. He was still watching the view. It might seem impolite but Le Blanc knew the feeling.
“The ship is ours Dejan. It is on its way towards here even as we speak. But considering that the engines are down it is traveling slowly. It will be here in a month.”
“The station should be finished by then and the mines opened.”
“The mining will start by the end of this weak as soon as the first workers arrive from the first site.”
At that moment Marius appeared. The four board members just smiled as the shimmering light appeared behind them. They just smiled as the AI with an image of an old man appeared.
“The base on the K1888 is complete and fully capable of continuing the mining independently of this ship, just as you required. The process will be slower but I must confess that it is surprisingly good considering your technology. You humans…you are a strange bunch…So advanced in some ways and yet still backwards in others.”
The comment brought out a discussion that Le Blanc had several times with the AI. It was new on the other three considering that they spent much less time on this ship.
“What do you mean by that?”
The AI turned toward the Rene.
“What do I mean? You should have been here half a century ago. Instead of that you chose to give up your space program and stay planet bound. And that now brings us to this…racing against time.”
The comment made them all smile.
“Well Marius nothing we can do. That is when you have politics.”
“Bah…it is always the same, you and your stupid politics. It seems that even eons apart you are still the same.”
“We may be Marius but we have other concerns now. That is a conversation for another time.”
“And one, we’ve had many times Anthony.”
“Yes.”
The AI smiled and drifted towards the window. It too seemed to admire the view.
“How far are we with the plans for the base and the shipyard Marius?”
The AI turned and a schematic appeared on the screen on the wall.
The image showed the layout of a vast base that extended through the entire Piazzi crater. Two slips were noticeable placed on top of arches raising two hundred meters up from the surface. Mining lanes for bringing the needed materials from the mines leaded towards two large buildings that represented the factories. They were placed close to the slips. The project looked impressive. A large station on the ice mantle on the far side of the crater represented the station that would produce the much needed air and water.
“As you can see I made some changes to your initial plan. I know that you wanted a closed dome base but for that to be build it will be needed much more time. Like this you will be able to start your operation quickly. When the factory ship is ready the production of your needed parts will be a lot faster. The first products from the factory will have to be for that ship. I made a list based on the information I have about the damages it sustained. It will be best if you land it and use the ship as a complete factory. Considering its size I would advise landing it on this edge right next to the slips. These lanes that you see will connect the ship with the shipyard. They are retractable so that you can retract them when you launch the ship.”
All four men watched the image with wide eyes. Compared with the other factories that were build and with the base around earth this was gigantic. And it was only the starting point. Plans for a far bigger base lay ahead. The plan was to build base with in Ceres, to build it with in the rocks with
the material that is mined. But it all depended on the battle. The base would be started now but it would take time for it to be constructed, time that depended on the defense of this system and on the stopping of the invasion. And that was something that they all planned to help with. That is why the shipyard was going to be built as quickly as it can.
“The construction of the shipyard is a priority and then we will immediately start the building of those corvettes you have in your database Marius. They are the easiest to build and I already arranged for the VASIMR engines to be built for them. I hope that we will manage to open a factory that will be able to produce the engines here.”
“That would increase the speed of ship production greatly Mr. Le Blanc. I incorporated those plans and the engines could be produced in the factory ship. I already sent the blueprints to my counterpart on board the Galucasa. By the time he gets here I believe you will have those plans improved.”
“Are the factory ships capable of producing those parts?”
“They produced engine parts and cells for the engines of the fleet during the trip. Compared to those your fusion powered VASIMR engines are simple. They were devised by Anaya based on the engines you devised. I must confess that the system holds much value and in some regards it is even better than the engines your ancestors used. It may be slower but it will provide much more stability and longevity Mr. Petrovski.”
“Thank you Marius. You can start with descending the ship as we planned.”
The AI nodded and disappeared. As it did they all returned to the window and looked out. The ship slowly started descending towards its destination, and as it did the crew on board started preparing for their new job. The mining of Ceres was about to start.
10 March 2019 13:00 hours
EDSF headquarters Washington DC
In the several months that passed since the first ten ships took their place above Earth the fleet increased considerably in both size and power.
Forty seven converted submarines were launched in the last six months and fifty more were to be ready in the next couple of months. Ten Orion class ships were finished too. In difference from the Los Angeles class the Orion’s held considerably more power.
Two main MAC guns that launched twenty tons tungsten projectiles at a speed of 200 km/s were placed on their ventral hull. They went the length of the entire ship and same as on the Los Angeles drew power from the fusion reactors. Six fusion reactors powered the VASIMR engine. The new engine was far more powerful than the previous generation that was placed on the first ten ships.
The battle cruiser was two hundred and sixty meters long, fifty five high, and ninety five meters wide. It was consisted of two parts.
One, the main structure that extended the whole width of the ship and had the coil guns mounted on its ventral side. And the other a wider section that extended to two thirds and was built around the main structure of the ship. To the SF fans the ship really looked like the BC-304 cruiser from the star gate shows. The design was adopted after the debate with the AI’s who after scanning through the offered projects and the TV shows offered several possible designs. The Orion class was chosen.
The main super structure was thirty four meters wide and it housed the crew quarters and main weapons systems. The rear wider section housed two hangar bays that were added on the super structure. They housed forty fighters in total. Beside the larger size and fighters the Orion’s had a lot stronger fire power. Four M-100 plasma cannons were placed on the front sides of the main structure. The plasma weapons were a perfected design of the ones that were worked on in the DARPA program. With the help of the AI and the knowledge that they provided the design quickly became operational.
Forty rail guns were placed along the main structure and on the hull of the hangar bays.
Sixty four dual kinetic weapon platforms combined with multiple aegis platforms were placed along the hull, covering its entire length with overlapping fields of fire. It also had twenty four launching platforms that could launch both conventional and nuclear missiles.
But the biggest difference was in the armor. Eight meters thick steel plates, two meters of titanium, a meter of armor that combined ceramics, carbon nanotubes, and titanium diboride and boron nitrides, and thirty centimeters thick plates of the electrical armor on the outside. The shields were the same as the ones that were first tested but they were far stronger considering the far more powerful engine. The hangar bays had four meter thick armor gates that could be opened and closed.
Fifteen more ships from this were under construction. Five of the Essex class a class of ship that was pure cruiser without any fighter wings, were also under construction. They were a little bit smaller than the Orion class with two hundred and ten meters long hull, fifty seven meters high and twenty seven meters wide at the nose and forty at the rear section that housed the engines. In difference from the Orion the Essex had one MAC gun same as the Los Angeles Class but it was by far more powerful than either ships. It launched forty five ton projectiles at a speed of hundred and sixty miles per second. It had ten fusion reactors that powered the VASIMR engines. Ten M-100 plasma canons, forty eight rail guns, forty missile launch platforms consisted its main offensive armament. Seventy dual kinetic platforms combined with Aegis platforms constituted its point defense screen.
The armor was also bigger with ten meters thick steel plates, five meters of titanium and one and a half meter of the composite armor plates of ceramics, carbon nanotubes, and titanium diboride and boron nitrides. It was also the only ship class to have actual shields beside the polarization that was allowed by the electrical armor. The shield emitters that were discovered on the Dacarian Cruiser that was captured, those that weren’t used on the battleship and the cruisers were enough to equip the five ships with shields.
The Essex class construction was made a priority and all five ships were expected to be finished by the end of the year.
The easiest construction was made on the space fighters. Considering the long experience with planes, the design of the fighters was quickly adopted and it was rushed in to production. Thousands of fighters came out of the assembly line of factories around the world.
The air wings of the battleship and the cruisers were returned to full strength during the first months of production and thousands of fighters went with the ships that carried the colonists to the outer planets. Pilots were easy to be found as they were recruited from the Air forces of every country, and even more were trained.
The fleet conducted regular exercises around the solar system and with each exercise the coordination and efficiency grew. And with that the same happened with its commanders who gained in confidence.
Johnson looked at the man in his office.
Captain Jennings was the first man to ever command an Earth space ship, the Deadalus, and the first one to lead a ship in to other system. He led the colonization of the planet Eden helping the transfer of nearly a million people in the past few months and tons of equipment to the largest of world colony. Eden was a planet located in the Alpha Centaury system. One of five but the only one habitable and it was almost Earths twin. He proved himself numerous times and even though he never had a command over a military ship he was the most experienced captain they had. The Deadalus was retrofitted and it was already a ship dedicated to the research that was going to be conducted by NASA and the other space agencies.
“You have done an excellent job so far captain.”
The younger officer smiled.
“Thank you Sir.”
“As you are well aware the colonization is over at least for the time being and all traces and records of it are being removed.”
“Yes sir. I expected to be given a new command.”
“You will take command of the Prometheus the first of the Essex class cruisers that will be operational at the end of the year. Before that you will command the John Paul Jones.”
“An Orion class Sir?”
“You seem surprised.”
Jennings inhaled and looked at the admiral.
“I expected to be given a command of one of the Los Angeles Class sir, to gain experience.”
Johnson smiled and stood up. He looked out of the window and then turned back towards the younger captain.
“You humor me. When it comes to experience you are the most experienced officer we have. You commanded the first space ship, took the first command of the Argus, then the Intrepid, and later the Hestia. You proved yourself time and again commander and so did your crew.”
“Thank you Sir. But I meant in military sense. I have no experience in that regard not for a long time anyway.”
“None of us has commander.”
“Sorry sir. What about the crew?”
“The John Paul Jones has a crew compliment of 300. You may choose your officers. I believe you will wish to take most of your former crew with you.”
“Yes sir. And I would like to have them on board the Prometheus as well later on.”
The admiral smiled at that request. The smile came from the knowledge that as of today Jennings was no longer a captain. He was promoted to admiral on the last meeting of the admiralty and was supposed to take the command of the Centaury system fleet or the Third fleet as it was called.
“That is yours to choose…admiral.”
Jennings opened the mouth to respond and stopped. It took a second before the last words of the admiral and their implication to reach him. He looked with a look that showed disbelief at Johnson.
“Hmm I would…Sir?”
“You are promoted to admiral captain. You are scheduled to take command of the Third Fleet and conduct exercise with it before taking it in to the Centaury system.”
As he did that he gave the new rank insignia to Jennings. The younger man smiled.
