The Santana Nexus (Junkyard Dogs Book 3)

by Nolte, Phillip

  Kresge stopped her there. "Opposing alliances with roughly similar capabilities keeping each other in check. It all sounds so reasonable doesn't it? That, of course, is part of the problem and I think it's really important that you see how innocently and naively a government can get involved in something that takes on a life of its own. Amanda? Would you continue please?"

  Amanda picked up where Faiza had left off:

  "...These conglomerations of Governments have quite often wound up equal enough in their strength that the existence of the opposing factions actually works to keep peace as each block believes itself powerful enough to render any kind of conflict unthinkable. And so it goes. These arrangements often work rather well for a while but it seems there are always some nagging, unresolved, rogue currents that seethe beneath the surface of an otherwise calm appearing sea.

  All is well and good until one of these rogue currents comes boiling to the surface. A conflict develops between two nations, governments, or planets who are members of opposing factions. Such an event often acts as a catalyst that rapidly precipitates an escalation into a much larger conflict. Soon all the players from the two opposing Pacts are engulfed in a war that few of them wanted but none of them can gracefully pull back from.

  In the past, these catalytic events themselves have often involved relatively minor players, each of whom had some obscure, centuries-old axe to grind. Emboldened by the strong allies they are aligned with, they clash with the offending member of the other block and, almost without warning, a minor, insignificant and often incomprehensible dispute explodes into a huge conflagration that throws much of mankind into a state of war. World War I on Old Earth and the more recent "Succession War" resulted from exactly this type of aptly named "entangling alliances" scenario..."

  Kresge interrupted again. "'Entangling alliances' is a particularly appropriate way to describe this important mechanism. Just so you know, the term was coined by Thomas Jefferson of the old United States of America over seven hundred years ago." The two girls nodded their understanding. "Okay, Faiza, your turn again."

  Faiza picked up the thread again:

  "...Back on Old Earth, the first of these huge conflicts, World War I, was started when an old, decaying nation called Austria-Hungary, the citizens of which harbored an ages-old hatred of the neighboring Serbians, found a reason to declare war on their sworn enemies. In reality, both the Serbians and the Austrians had been spoiling for a fight for as long as either of them could remember. A small group of Serbian radicals kicked the whole thing off by assassinating the Austrian crown prince and his wife. Over the course of the next few months, nation after nation, honoring the terms of the mutual protection treaties, came to the aid of their allies and almost in the blink of an eye, all of the major powers on planet Earth were at war with one another. Millions died..."

  Kresge stopped the reading to make another point. "This is a perfect example of what appears to be a more or less insignificant event triggering a major catastrophe. Part of the problem was that during this time frame much of mankind was still under the rule of a Monarchy of one kind or another and the inevitable ruling classes that go along with this form of government. The leaders had the power to more or less do pretty much what they wanted. Pride and anger combined with a strong sense of self-righteousness among those who control armies is a recipe for disaster. Most of the people who fought and died in that war were never asked for their opinion. Any questions to this point?"

  Neither of the two girls had any questions.

  Amanda continued the reading of the lesson:

  "...The Succession War was precipitated in much the same way though the initial triggering events were considerably different. The conflict started out innocently enough but soon snowballed out of control. Though many of the details are still disputed, it is generally agreed that the beginnings of the conflict center around events that began on Meridian. Kahlid Abdallah, the Emperor of Meridian at that time, was a visionary and fervently believed that the way forward for Meridian, and indeed the Islamic Alliance, was to phase out the Monarchies and establish democratic governments. His reforms were very progressive and his beliefs dictated equality and voting rights for all members of society of all classes, including women.

  Taking a page from the model provided by an old Earth empire called the 'United Kingdom,' his idea was to retain the royals more or less as figureheads or as advisors but to leave the actual governing to elected representatives. He believed in his vision so strongly that he abdicated the Meridian throne and the machinery to create a democratic republic was set in motion. The transition was surprisingly peaceful on Meridian. Experts believe this occurred because the Emperor was well respected and the population was well educated. The reaction in the rest of the Santana Quadrant was totally unexpected. Meridian was still in the process of sorting out how their new government was going to work when a fervor for similar reforms stormed outward to engulf many of the other Islamic worlds.

  ...The results were mixed, with a great deal of unrest and uncertainty surrounding the reforms. Some of the most intense opposition to the "democratization" of the Islamic worlds occurred on Jasmine and here the attempt at making a similar transition to democratic rule was to prove catastrophic..."

  "So the Succession War actually began on Jasmine?" asked Faiza.

  "That's what the current consensus is," replied Kresge, "Though the framework for a problem was spread throughout the quadrant. Let's read on."

  It was Faiza's turn to read again:

  "...The Emperor of Jasmine's grand plan to abdicate and initiate the formation of a republic was, predictably, opposed by factions within his own household. The emperor's brother-in-law, rallying a group of powerful traditionalists around the emperor's only son, Merrikh, attempted to install the boy on the throne of Jasmine and retain the Monarchy. Civil war erupted on Jasmine and several of the planetary governments which had resolutely remained monarchies came into the conflict on the side of the Uncle and the Prince. Other planetary governments came to the aid of the revisionists and the familiar arrangement of entangling alliances wound up drawing almost all of Humanity in on one side or the other of what became known as the Succession War..."

  Faiza stopped here and said, "Some of the planets that were involved are still Monarchies, Commander."

  "That's correct, Faiza, a number of them remain rigid monarchies. The political forces we've been studying in today's lesson are still very much alive and well. Do either of you see the implications for the situation we are currently experiencing here in the Santana Quadrant?"

  "This is why my father wanted all of those diplomats to meet face to face," said Faiza.

  "That is certainly one of the reasons," replied Kresge.

  Amanda finished up the chapter:

  You could argue that it all happened because a handful of selfish and non-progressive people were unwilling to step aside in the name of progress and were unwilling to give up their influence. This author won't argue about that issue. The point is that the age old habit of forming these entangling alliances provided a mechanism for a chain reaction event that rapidly took on a life of its own. Millions died as a result.

  The Uncle was killed in the final Naval battle of the War out near New Ceylon. We have proof of this because his remains were actually found and identified. What happened to Prince Merrikh remains unknown with certainty but he is believed to have been killed during the same final battle when the ship he and his Uncle were on was attacked with overwhelming force and destroyed. Many of the nearly five hundred personal who died on that ship were never recovered due to a series of catastrophic explosions that made any recovery effort of human remains nearly impossible. Death in one of these explosions is now accepted by most authorities to have been the fate of the Prince...*"

  *Hartwell Wrist Comp reference entry highlighted for further review by Amanda Steuben and Faiza Saladin. One of several selected readings assigned by Oskar Kresge as part of a special educatio
n program. Excerpt is from "How to Start a Really Big War: a Discussion of the Forces That Place Governments in Conflict." By Thomas Patton.

  "I need to get back up to the bridge," said Kresge, "I want both of you to think about the profound importance of what we've just gone over. We'll talk more about it as we get further into the material. Good job, both of you!"

  Kresge left for the bridge.

  Chapter 37.

  Catskill-Soroyan System, on board armed freighter Aladdin, near the Piedmont Mining Station, January 9, 2599.

  Captain Ferrikan Rashad of the freighter Aladdin, was aware that he and his men were becoming frightfully bored but he wasn't quite sure what he could do about it. The Aladdin had been dispatched to this remote system with orders to keep the miners bottled up on the station to ensure they didn't become a nuisance in this system or somewhere else. Rashad and his crew had been assured that their assignment was "very important" to the Sheik of Barsoom's Glorious Revolution. The miners had taken refuge within the partially hollowed out asteroid beneath the mining station. Neither Rashad nor any of his men had seen any of them for more than a week now.

  Originally designed to be a freighter that could also serve as an armed escort for freight convoys, the Aladdin was armed with a top-side turret that contained a single, one hundred gigajoule pulse cannon. While she was no match for a mainline destroyer or even a gunboat, she still presented a formidable enemy when opposing unarmed ships. Or unshielded installations like the Piedmont Station. Her pulse beam weapon was more than powerful enough to penetrate the exposed walls of the semi-permanent mining station.

  Rashad's orders had been to secure the system and keep the miners from organizing and becoming a threat. When the Aladdin had first arrived, the station had been almost fully occupied. Captain Rashad had demanded that the miners surrender and open up their station to occupation by the small force of soldiers on the armed freighter.

  The miners had refused. Lacking enough men to force the issue, Rashad had come up with another solution. He had ordered that the above-ground portions of the station be evacuated and had punctuated his demand by turning the Aladdin's pulse cannon loose on random areas of the mining station. The evacuation had proceeded very quickly, if not very smoothly, after several warning shots from the Aladdin's small but formidable cannon had left a series of sizeable holes in the station.

  Since that event, which had occurred some two weeks earlier, there had been little for Rashad and his crew to do. They simply kept an eye out for any activity on the station. If a light went on somewhere they would issue a warning followed by a short waiting period and then follow up by firing a pulse bolt into the offending area of the station. At the present time, the station had a number of non-spec openings in it but the Captain and crew of the Aladdin hadn't been called upon to create any new ones for nearly a week now.

  Captain Rashad was making the rounds on his freighter. He stopped and spoke with the two men currently on duty manning the cannon. They weren't sitting at the ready in the cramped turret, instead they were in the compartment beneath playing cards while they waited for a call to action from someone on the bridge. Rashad left them to their game. This "siege duty" that he and his small force had been tasked with might be considered important by someone higher up, but Rashad was finding it to be grindingly boring. Back on the bridge, he initiated another scan of the mining facility, to see if anyone had been foolish enough to poke their nose above ground.

  He almost wished that something would happen to help relieve the boredom.

  He had forgotten the salient advice that his mother had given him so many years ago: Be careful what you wish for...

  ***

  Catskill-Soroyan System, Piedmont Mining Station, January 9, 2599.

  On board the Piedmont mining station, Chris Hartmann, acting Director of Security, was watching the armed freighter through one of the windows of a restaurant on the lowest above-ground level of the mining station. He and the miners had discovered that they could go into many of the above ground areas of the station in reasonable safety if they were careful to take certain precautions. Making sure that the lights remained turned off was one of those precautions. He could see the armed freighter parked a short distance from the mining facility with its small but eminently lethal pulse cannon aimed at the station. Next to Hartmann, also observing the freighter, was Henry Fitzhugh, the governor of the colony.

  "Bastard sure looks smug out there, doesn't he?" said the Governor.

  "Yeah," replied Hartmann, "but smug only goes so far. To my way of thinking he's taking a hell of a big chance by staying so close to the station. He's only five hundred meters away! I wonder if we could get close enough to him with a mining sled and a portable mining laser to burn through the airlock and take over that ship? I'll bet he wouldn't be so damned smug then!"

  "I assume you want to do this without getting yourself killed?"

  "That would be part of the plan, yes," replied Hartmann. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe if we had the right kind of diversion. What if we had a commotion of some kind in the upper part of the station to distract them?" He thought a bit more, "Or maybe we could send out a couple of unmanned sleds and keep that gun occupied firing at them. Meanwhile we use another sled and sneak out from underneath the station and get to his airlock. Or maybe we could just place a really big charge of explosives on the bottom of the ship..." Hartmann stopped here as though he had come to an impasse.

  "I don't have any objection to us getting this monkey off our back," said Fitzhugh, "but I don't think I can condone a suicide mission. Let's hold on for bit and see if a better opportunity pops up. We've got plenty of supplies. I'll bet we can last another month or more without any trouble."

  "I know, Hank, but this situation just galls me. I hate not being able to fight back against these goons."

  Both men were distracted by a small pinpoint glint of light from the direction of the system hyperlink point. As they watched, they observed two additional flashes, each occurring about thirty seconds after the last.

  "Looks like three ships have just translated into the system," said Hartmann. "More of these confounded terrorists, I'll wager. Maybe we'd better get back down into the rock to the communications center to see if we can find out who it is and warn everybody that we might be getting some of that action we've all been wishing for."

  Chapter 38.

  Federation Experimental Prototype XC-89.

  "...A bold attempt by the federation to produce a totally new class of ship, the XC-89 was given life by the marriage of two light cruisers, one from an older class of ship and one from a newer class. The designers wanted to retain the more modern and more powerful dual reactor system of the Brooklyn class cruiser that had donated the aft portion of the ship. To do so they had separated the ship right at the main bulkhead on the forward end of the reactor chambers. When adding the bow section from the other donor, an older Argus class cruiser, the designers cut through the hull of that ship two meters aft of the bulkhead just behind the front main battery, leaving behind a ring or 'skirt' of hull material.

  The diameters of the two sections of the new ship at the junction were slightly different and the aft section was actually just enough smaller in diameter that it could be slipped inside the two-meter skirt that had purposely been left on the bow section. A series of slender wedges removed from the skirt allowed the builders to 'crimp' the skirt down around the stern section. When completed, the joint area consisted of two massive bulkheads welded to one another with the overlapping skirt portion of the bow's hull welded onto the hull of the stern portion for good measure. The joint area was perhaps the strongest part of what was a very stout ship.

  The resultant hybrid ship is only a little longer than a destroyer. Imagine a standard light cruiser that has been shortened by about a third of its normal length. This design decision makes the proportions of the ship look just a little "off" in that it appears to be rather short and fat compared to a regul
ar cruiser. The awkward, slightly stepped down ring at the joint between the bow and stern portions, does nothing to make the design any more aesthetically pleasing.

  She also has no traditional bridge superstructure, as that portion had not been included from either of the donors. Instead, the ship is conned from the auxiliary control room that is located in the upper forward portion of the stern donor ship, right up against the dual bulkhead. The lack of a recognizable bridge, the unconventional fin system and the fact that her proportions just don't look right, are a few of the issues that kept the ship type from getting past the prototype stage. Good designs have been passed over for dumber reasons. With full cruiser power and just over half the mass, this ship has an extremely high thrust to mass ratio which gives it a high acceleration/deceleration capability and also renders it highly maneuverable.

  As if the ship wasn't odd enough already, what really sets this prototype apart and takes it from the merely 'risky' design category and consigns it to 'full-on ridiculous,' is the choice of armament. Here the designers really went out on a limb and the main armament on this prototype is as far removed from conventional as anything ever attempted before. For one thing, there are only two pulse cannons in the main battery armament and these are a pair of highly experimental Bofors rapid fire emplacements mounted on the centerline, just in front of the joining ring. To provide a full 360 degree range of fire for the pulse beam system, the rear main battery has been removed and the opening where it had resided has been somewhat hastily covered with a makeshift patch. The designers envisioned this abbreviated cruiser type being used as a planetary defender or a diplomatic escort ship, so they had insisted, perhaps somewhat naively, that all of the armament be retractable. They reasoned that with all of the weapons retracted, the ship would display a smooth, non-threatening exterior.