The Final Act: Book III: The Settlement Chronicals

by W. J. Rydrych

  Taking a seat at the head of the table, Admiral Lundblad nodded to the others in the room, and looked expectantly at Honecker. Vice President Petri took the chair to his right.

  "Captains Sixkiller, Honecker, good morning," Admiral Lundblad said, after some initial arrangement of papers, "I've gone over the committee recommendations, and decided to invite Vice President Petri to this session. Please summarize what those recommendations are for the Vice President and my staff."

  Captain Honecker rose and stepped over to the lectern containing his notes, and, looking at Admiral Lundblad, "as you all know, a taskforce was recently formed, which I chair, chartered to review all aspects of the tactical approach to the recovery of Alpha 2. For a quick summary, the taskforce has concluded a major change is required in the current plans for passive shielding of both the motherships and attack ships, and adhering to the current plan could be a disaster.”

  After a pause, Honecker continued, “that blunt statement was to get your attention, and I see that I have. But having done so, my obligation is to propose how to correct those problems, and that is what I will try to do.”

  Admiral Lundblad said nothing, watching Captain Honecker speculatively.

  Captain Honecker continued, “as you are aware, the primary concern is enemy laser fire, since an attack by missiles can be handled by our very capable anti-missile defenses. Defense from enemy laser fire is currently dependent on ablative ceramic shielding for both motherships and attack ships, and, since this shielding vaporizes under fire, it must be quite thick, and hence heavy. For lasers of the power of those carried aboard our own motherships continued laser fire on the same spot for a period of thirty seconds can burn a hole through approximately one meter of shielding; and we have no insight into the power the aliens might have available. With this in mind mothership shielding is planned to consist of three one meter thick levels, each separated by a flexible carbon composite material, with a single one meter covering for attack ships. The thickness of the ceramic plates and the added weight, particularly for the attack ships, could put us at a disadvantage, since we don't know if the Gath have a similar problem.”

  “Further,” Faud added, “the problem of cracking of this thick ceramic coat under stress hasn’t been solved and is starting to jeopardize schedule. While we could possibly scale back on thickness, we could only do that by assuming undue risk."

  “Additionally, for the attack ships,” Faud continued, “the shielding adds over 20% to weight, which has a drastic effect on performance, and the cracking problem is particularly apparent under the stress of combat maneuvers. In fact, our analysis shows complete separation of some of the ceramic plates is possible under extreme maneuvers."

  Continuing, after enough time to allow his comments to sink in, "this is the crux of the problem. We might be able find solutions for the motherships, but the limitations the shielding places on the attack ships are simply unacceptable. I've discussed the problem with Admiral Collins, with members of the scientific staff, and others such as Captain Sixkiller, and the consensus is that, if something is to be done, it must be done soon.”

  “Bluntly," he looked over at Admiral Lundblad, "we're designing an attack fleet which lacks the speed and maneuverability needed to be able to succeed against an enemy that is likely to greatly outnumber us.”

  Admiral Lundblad looked coldly at Honecker for several seconds, "so explain to us how you propose to correct this ‘shortcoming’, assuming one exists."

  In response to Admiral Lundblad's challenge, Captain Honecker leaned forward, "in the past we have usually used armor of some type to shield equipment from battle damage, or kept it far away from the scene of battle or hidden. Ablative ceramic armor has all the shortcomings the old armor plate did, dead weight traded for maneuverability.”

  “Now, we know,” Faud continued, “that the Gath ships had very little in the way of armor during their Alpha 2 campaign, but then that wasn’t a problem for them since they weren’t opposed by a battle fleet. But now we have to assume they expect an attack and will redesign their ships to repel that attack, which means shielding their ships in some way from our laser fire. However, we can’t count on their using heavy passive shielding like we currently are planning. Not when other options are available."

  Looking around the silent room, "the Alpha 2 archives has been of great importance in the design of much of the equipment for the armada. Admittedly, the archives lacks information for weapons and military hardware, but still some of the basic technologies that are present allow extension for military use. Unfortunately, we must assume there was an archives on Beta 3 to which the aliens have access, and may have had access for hundreds of years. If true, we can expect their capabilities to at least be on a par with ours, if not more advanced."

  "Initially our look for a solution concentrated on the attack ships, and we found in the archives something that that could be adapted to provide ‘active’ shielding; something the Gath could very well find as well. If they do, and we continue to depend on passive shielding, they’ll be able to fly circles around our attack ships. And you don’t defeat an enemy with greatly superior numbers unless you can outmaneuver him."

  Rocco Petri asked from the far end of the table, "what do you suggest? You do have a recommendation?"

  Admiral Lundblad watched Faud carefully, "I've seen the recommendation in your report, but it will be new to the others here, so please continue."

  "Possibly," Faud responded, "which is why I've asked Captain Sixkiller to attend. I'm sure all of you know Captain Sixkiller. He has responsibility for weapons development for the armada, including oversight of the NQ Programs, which most of you know of as the 'No Questions' set of development projects." Turning to Captain Sixkiller, "I'd like Captain Sixkiller to discuss one of those projects which, we both believe, shows considerable potential. A project sometimes referred to as the 'Foley Shield’."

  Admiral Lundblad nodded to Captain Sixkiller, "hello Tom," he said, "I'm afraid all I know of the 'Foley Shield' is from Captain Honecker's report, which lacked detail in that area."

  Captain Sixkiller smiled, "you may have under its project name; Project Perseus."

  "Ah, yes," Admiral Lundblad nodded.

  "Project Perseus,“ Captain Sixkiller began, looking around the room, "is an attempt to develop a low weight defense for spaceships, or any other type of vehicle, against energy emissions such as solar flares; which by its very nature has potential for protection from energy weapons as well. Out of this effort has come a first prototype which looks very promising. The originator and project manager is Dr. Foley, hence her people like to refer to it as the 'Foley Shield'. While the 'Foley Shield' doesn't do what the 'mythical' Perseus shield did, reflect Medusa's image back and destroy Medusa, it does appear to absorb the energy of the laser, protecting the vessel itself."

  Pausing for a moment, "a partial correction to that previous statement. Captain Honecker has, or will later suggest, a tactical approach which will, in fact, make use of the shield to 'partially' deflect rather than absorb laser fire. I think, however," he added, looking at Admiral Lundblad, "before Captain Honecker addresses that question, I'd like to have Dr. Foley describe exactly what the capabilities are, and what the current status is. Dr. Foley is waiting if that meets your approval.

  Plus," he smiled, "meeting Dr. Foley can be an experience by itself."

  Admiral Lundblad nodded, pushing a button and speaking to the guards outside the conference room, and about 15 seconds later the conference room door opened and Dr. Foley entered. Dr. Foley was a tall, rawboned, unsmiling woman of indeterminate age with iron gray hair pulled back and tied in a bun. She was dressed in a gray business suit and vest, with a white 'frilly' blouse, and wore steel rimmed glasses.

  Captain Sixkiller stood, "Dr. Gertrude Foley," motioning for her to take a seat at his side, which she ignored, taking a chair near Admiral Lundblad at the head of the table instead.

  Admiral Lundblad smiled with amus
ement, "Dr. Foley, maybe you could explain this 'Foley Shield' to us?"

  Dr. Foley looked unsmilingly at Admiral Lundblad, "that's why I'm here. Call me Gert, everyone else does."

  Taken aback, Admiral Lundblad just nodded.

  "Well," she began, "the idea for the shield comes from sections of the archives that have, as yet, only been partially deciphered. It relates to a method for providing shielding against ultra violet and gamma rays for planets that lack a sufficient magnetic field or atmospheric protection, and for spaceships as well. But we have enough of the general idea to move ahead, and have concluded the method has significant military potential as well. In short, the shield has the capability to absorb laser energy, and in fact feeds on that energy to strengthen itself. Such a shield appears completely effective against laser fire, even the most powerful land-based lasers, absorbing the energy before it can reach the structure of the ship itself."

  Looking around, "that means in both directions; laser fire from the ship would also be absorbed, so the shield has to be lowered to allow firing. Since use of energy weapons and use of the shield are mutually exclusive, a single energy source may be shared by both; meaning the shield can be implemented with only minimal weight additions."

  "Is there a level of laser power that can breach the shield?" Admiral Lundblad asked, “I don’t believe in magic, everything has a downside.”

  Dr. Foley shook her head in the negative, "no, as long as the initial shield force is established at a high enough level the laser energy serves to strengthen it. But, a downside does exist; repeated laser fire can raise ship temperature because of energy absorbed by the shield. It's possible that, with continual, long-term fire, the crew of smaller ships could be 'cooked'.

  “More likely,” she added, “would be some system failures."

  "It can't be made effective against projectiles?" someone asked.

  "Captain Honecker interjected, "I'll answer that one. The answer is no, and it also means we can't use laser fire as an 'anti missile' defense when the shield is up, but must depend on missiles ourselves. While the inability to use laser fire against enemy missiles when the shields are up is a definite downside, we believe we have developed a tactical approach to minimize it."

  Captain Honecker then nodded to Dr. Foley to continue, "Gert," he said.

  "Just a minute," Admiral Lundblad said, "how long after the shields are lowered before laser weapons can be fired? And then how long after firing before the shields can be again in place?"

  Dr. Foley smiled grimly, "yes, you've hit on our major design problem. With the prototype, 5 minutes, both cases," then, "we project an improvement to under a minute."

  Admiral Lundblad responded, "not good enough. We'd need a time measured in a very few seconds, especially for raising the shields."

  Dr. Foley looked thoughtfully at her hands, and after a number of seconds looked up and gazed unwaveringly at Admiral Lundblad, "well, Admiral, given a little more time and more resources, ten to fifteen seconds is feasible for bringing shields up. I can't commit to more than that, not and meet the deadline. If design changes can be implemented enroute, then almost certainty the shields can be brought up in under ten seconds, possibly under five, but at some number of seconds we hit a wall even if we use a supplemental energy source."

  Adding, "the time for the shield to be brought down is about the same if it hasn't been strengthened by laser fire, longer if it has."

  Frowning, she paused for a moment, and then looked at Admiral Lundblad again, "if the decision involves making improvements enroute, I'd be perfectly willing to tag along and supervise any necessary changes."

  Lundblad looked thoughtful during the following several seconds of silence, before glancing over at Honecker, "you propose the shield for both motherships and attack ships?"

  Captain Honecker nodded, "yes, and for the shuttles as well. The problems are fewer for the motherships and shuttles since they can keep the shield up continuously; the motherships can continue to launch the attack ships and missiles, and the shuttles have no need to ever lower the shield. Of course it does limit use of the mothership lasers for bombardment or defense. But," nodding to Dr. Foley, "Dr. Foley tells me that, with the greater power sources of the motherships, the shield-on switching should be better than for the attack ships."

  Admiral Lundblad thought for a moment, "you briefly described in your report a tactical approach to minimizing the impact of the shield-switch time for the attack ships. Would you expand on that?"

  "Yes," Honecker answered, "we think we have. To be fully effective it presumes implementation on the motherships as well as on the attack ships. When in a defensive role we suggest the mothership shields be left up permanently, with defense against missiles left to their own missiles and the attack ships. This allows the attack ships to operate inside the shield of the motherships, and to fire their own laser weapons all they would have to do is move out and position themselves outside the mothership shield when needed; 200-300 meters is far enough. From that position they can fire their lasers, and then retreat back to the protection of the mothership shield. We think that approach yields the mothership adequate protection from missile attacks; and of course the shield provides the protection against lasers, even large ‘land based’ versions."

  “We are also studying the effectiveness, as well a the method of attachment, if attack ships on ‘ready duty’ are removed from the hangers, where they would currently be housed, to the outside hull.”

  "However, the direct combat role of the attack ships poses more of a challenge," Honecker continued, "but we think we have a solution. While a direct hit on the attack ship is fully absorbed when the shield is up, a glancing hit or near miss is deflected, sending it off at an angle. This means a shielded ship creates a 'shadow' protected from laser fire, which we propose to utilize."

  "What we're saying," Captain Honecker added, "is the attack ships would work in groups of two or three, allowing one to operate with shields down while making use of the shadow and deflection attributes of the other two; but even the shadow of one would be sufficient."

  Faud looked carefully at Admiral Lundblad, "our simulations say the tactic will work as long as the attack ships have sufficient performance. It's not perfect, but, on balance we believe the advantages in attack ship speed and maneuverability will outweigh the disadvantages."

  Admiral Lundblad nodded thoughtfully, "interesting," he said, "and there is still time to implement?"

  Captain Honecker nodded, "barely, but a decision would have to be reached soon. One more thing,” Honecker added, “the proposal is to completely eliminate the ablative shield on the attack ships, but to merely reduce the thickness of the mothership ceramic shield from the present three meters to one meter. We have to retain some passive shielding for thermal protection during the Alpha B flyby."

  After several more minutes of discussion, questions, and answers, Dr. Foley left, and the meeting continued.

  Admiral Lundblad glanced over at Captain Sixkiller, "you're right; meeting her is an experience," then turning to Captain Honecker, "the point's been made, I'll have my staff take a priority look at the Foley Shield, and also the attack ship tactical approach you propose. If they confirm what we've just heard, it could be an answer."

  Then, looking at Captain Sixkiller, "Tom, will you coordinate with the taskforce and Dr. Foley? I want to be ready for a decision by the end of the month."

  As the room cleared Captains Honecker and Sixkiller left together and walked to the nearby transport station, pushing the button to call for a vehicle. The transporters were magnetically supported vehicles that traveled at high speeds in tubes that interlaced the massive station, allowing rapid travel to nearly any point. Within less than 30 seconds a vehicle pulled up, the door automatically opening.

  "Well," Honecker said, as they entered the transport, "it went a lot better than I expected."

  Tom Sixkiller nodded, "don't underrate Lundblad. I expect he felt uncomfortable w
ith the current design approach but simply hadn't had anything workable proposed before. He probably welcomed, and expected, some proposal. Don't worry, he'll take an honest look at it. From my past dealings with him I find him more flexible than most people seem to think."

  Captain Thomas Sixkiller was another of the recently promoted young 'hotshot' admiral candidates. In his mid 40s, he was almost the opposite in appearance and temperament from Honecker. Well over six feet and with a rugged build, quiet and slow in demeanor, behind which he hid a brilliant scientific mind. Tom was a descendant of a member of a small band of Sioux Indians that, because of its proximity to a major metropolitan center, became very wealthy when casino gambling became an Indian monopoly in the state. Beginning with gambling distributions to the tribe, the Sixkiller family had, through wise investments over the years, joined the 'super rich'.

  Without a need to work, the increasingly wealthy and aristocratic Sixkiller family found its own path to public service. Tom's Great Grandfather had started the tradition when accepted to Annapolis and becoming a naval officer, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. Since then each generation, in an unbroken line to Tom's day, had chosen a military career and risen to high rank.

  Capping his Annapolis training with a P.H.D. in Engineering from MIT, Tom had, except for the mandatory two year tour after his commissioning, never been a line officer or in command of a spaceship. He had come up through the staff side, with much of his time in the research laboratories. Married for over 20 years to a senior engineering specialist, who along with his three teenage children would also be on the Alpha Centauri mission, his and Faud's background couldn't be more different. Perhaps it was these differences that made them such close friends.