by Dietmar Wehr
“Very well. I’ll be up the Bridge shortly, XO.”
“Understood.” Shortly turned out to be less than two minutes later. What Cmdr. Yakamura lacked in physical stature, he more than made up with the intensity of his personality. As Johansen surrendered the Command Station to her CO, she said.
“I have a feeling about this one, Skipper.” Yakamura looked at her in surprise.
“Well XO….that makes two of us!” Johansen stayed on the Bridge to see what the initial survey results would be. She stood behind Yakamura and off to one side. The remaining time to emergence from hyperspace went quickly. After the momentary disorientation of emergence was over, Johansen waited nervously for the initial reports. She looked over to the sensor station and saw several flashing red lights. Just then the sensor technician turned to look at Yakamura and said in an excited but low voice.
“We’re picking up lots of EM emissions. They seem to be coming from multiple sources that are very close to planets which could mean they have installations on those planets’ moons.” Yakamura acted as if he had expected exactly that news.
“Well we seem to have hit pay dirt, everyone. Our task now is to be a fly on the wall and get as much information about the alien presence in this system without taking a lot of risk. Getting only a limited amount of information back to HQ is better than not being able to get any back.” He turned to Johansen and said in a lower voice. “XO, I’d like your input into what we do next.” Without waiting for Johansen to reply, Yakamura got up and walked over to stand next to the Astrogator’s station. Johansen followed and stood on the opposite side. With both of them leaning over so that they could communicate with the Astrogator without being overheard, Yakamura said.
“Okay, Tony. Show me how we’re oriented relative to this star system.” The Astrogator acknowledged the request and manipulated his consol controls. A second later, the view screen in front of him changed to show a white disk in the middle with a surrounded by several planetary orbits as they would appear if seen from almost edge on. A flashing yellow dot represented Gnat’s current position and a dotted curving line showed the ship’s projected course if allowed to continue on as it was. Yakamura nodded.
“Hm. We’re about 30 degrees above the ecliptic headed down through it. Okay, now on another screen show me our system by system path since leaving known friendly territory.” The other screen showed a series of straight lines connecting dots with names listed as Zebra 1, Zebra 2, etc. all the way up to their current system which had been designated as Zebra 9. Yakamura nodded again and said.
“Just as I thought. Our paths through Zebras 1 to 9 has ended up taking the shape of a slight curve as we jumped from each star to the nearest star in the general direction that we wanted to go. So, if we wanted to curve back around towards home following a different path, what would be the nearest target system?” A dashed red line appeared from Zebra 9 through 8 more star systems back to the slightly green sphere of stars that represented friendly territory. The first star system along that path was a flashing blue dot.
“Do we have enough fuel to jump there and if so, how much longer could we stay in this system and still be able to jump to that target system?” That request took longer to fill. While the Astrogator was doing the calculations, Johansen looked at Yakamura and said.
“I like the idea, Skipper but if we don’t retrace our path, we run the risk of arriving in a star system that may not have any gas giants to refuel at. On the other hand, we know that Zebra 8 DOES have a couple of gas giants.”
“Quite right, XO. So does THIS system. There is a gas giant that’s on our side of the star. If there are no EM emissions coming from there, then I’m very tempted to head there while we continue to observe the activities in the inner system, then refuel and that would give us the backup fuel we’d need if this system..” he pointed to the flashing blue dot. “ turned out not to have a gas giant.”
As it turned out, they did have enough fuel to get to the flashing blue dot system but without enough extra fuel to spend much time observing enemy activity and the nearest gas giant also turned out to have some EM emissions. While Yakamura and Johansen were discussing whether or not to risk refueling at the nearest gas giant anyway, the Astrogator took it upon himself to do some calculations and presented his CO with another alternative. Jump back to Zebra 8, refuel, then jump sideways to another star system that was more or less half way between Zebra 8 and the flashing blue dot system, then over to the blue dot system in order to proceed back along the new return path from there. Both senior officers agreed that this new alternative was preferable to any other. And because Zebra 8 was closer to Zebra 9 than the blue dot system, it allowed the ship to spend more time observing enemy activity within the Zebra 9 system. Yakamura choose not to launch any recon drones. In order to get information that the tanker itself couldn’t, the drones would have to get close enough to the EM sources to run a high risk of detection. His orders told him to avoid tipping the aliens off that they were being watched, if at all possible. Their fuel situation allowed them to stay for another 36 hours and still have enough fuel to line up with and then jump to Zebra 8 and maneuver over to its gas giant with a 24 hour supply in reserve. During that 36 hour period, they observed enemy ships approaching and leaving the vicinity of a large rocky planet which wasn’t habitable itself and therefore appeared to be a mining outpost of some kind. Johansen felt like the Gnat was a ‘fly on the wall’ of this star system. The ships that were leaving were the most interesting. They seemed to head in one of two directions. One direction seemed to be towards another planet with alien activity but the second direction seemed to be headed into deep space and in fact the Gnat’s sensors were able to track a few ships actually entering hyperspace. Because these ships were being observed from only one direction, it was impossible for anyone to determine exactly which star system they were headed for although they could narrow down the field of candidate destinations considerably. Yakamura and Johansen took turns on the bridge so that they could get some rest. Johansen felt a profound sense of relief when Yakamura finally ordered the ship to line up its heading for a jump to Zebra 8. The jump itself was uneventful as was the refueling at Zebra 8. However, upon arrival at the halfway system which Yakamura decided would be known as Zebra 10, their plan hit a snag. Zebra 10 was also occupied by aliens. It only had one gas giant and it appeared that every single one of the dozen visible moons were home to some kind of enemy activity. Johansen was afraid that Yakamura would stubbornly insist on finding a way around this obstacle but he surprised her by bowing to the inevitable and declaring that they would be jumping back to Zebra 8 and then continue on back the way they had come up the Zebra chain of star systems back to friendly territory.
By the time Gnat arrived back in friendly territory, Johansen was shocked to realize that they had been gone for almost six weeks.
Admiral Howard dropped his electronic notepad on his desk, let himself drop into his chair and immediately reached for a bottle of whisky that he kept hidden in his desk draw. Admiral Dietrich, Chief of Personnel and Admiral Kutuzov, Chief of Logistics grinned in sympathy.
“I’d offer both of you some of this but I think I’m going to need all of it myself.” Dietrich laughed and said.
“Aw come on now, Sam. That wasn’t the worst session with the Oversight Committee you’ve ever had. Admit it.” Howard took a slug from his drink and slowly nodded.
“No. It wasn’t THE worst but it was damn close. I’d still like to know how the Committee learned about the arm-twisting we did to GED’s CEO. Any ideas on that?” Kutuzov looked at Dietrich and said.
“I imagine that the Committee has its spies in the Navy. They ARE the Oversight Committee after all. They’re SUPPOSED to know what we’re doing. Ya they reamed you a new one but at least they didn’t reverse the GED strategy. And now that the Committee has implicitly approved it, you no longer have to worry about potential legal consequences. We should thank our lucky stars…and the p
erson who leaked the info, that he or she waited until the Senate approved the Emergency Funding Bill AND Yakamura returned with the news of the alien outpost. Without that good news, the Committee might not have been so forgiving.” Howard nodded agreement.
“I think you’re right. Well Sergei, now that the funding bill’s been approved, I imagine you’re going to be even busier than before. How’s the planning for Operation Dropkick coming along?” Kutuzov rolled his eyes.
“My planners are stalemated. Half want to shift all military industrial activity and shipyard construction to multiple star systems that are as far as possible from where we suspect the aliens to be and the other half want to concentrate most of the buildup right here in Sol. As you know, there are Pros and Cons either way. Concentrating most of the activity here simplifies the logistics involved enormously but then we risk having most of our industrial eggs in one basket. On the other hand, dispersing the buildup minimizes that risk but slows down the pace of the buildup because each industrialized system will have to build its own infrastructure from scratch and you can’t really start building ship and supply factories until you’ve reached a minimum level of capacity in mining, refining and fabricating raw materials, not to mention the duplication in personnel.”
“So what’s the answer then?” Kutuzov looked thoughtful.
“Well…in light of what the Oversight Committee said this afternoon about wanting to see some tangible results from the buildup quickly, I’m thinking that we compromise the two extremes and concentrate the buildup in this system for at least the next six to nine months and then gradually shift additional capacity to rear area systems as it becomes available.” Howard nodded.
“I like it. That would simplify your personnel problems too, wouldn’t it, Sepp?” Dietrich nodded back at him.
“It certainly would. If we’re agreed that that’s the way we’ll do it…” All three men looked at each other and nodded. “then I’ll get my people started on the personnel side of Dropkick.” He paused and then said.
“Now that the SPG’s budget has been approved, have you decided on who will be running that group on a permanent basis?” Howard replied.
“No. Kelly’s done an outstanding job but I’m still toying with the idea of giving it to Shiloh. The scuttlebutt has it that most of the recommendations from the group so far, originated with Shiloh. On the other hand, I would hate to lose his tactical skills in the field.” Dietrich jabbed his finger in Howard’s general direction and said.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about Shiloh’s actions out there. I’ve read his combat report and I can’t help thinking that there’s something he left out. Don’t you think it’s strange that he would all of sudden deploy sensor drones for no apparent reason?” Howard chuckled.
“I know what you mean. It’s almost as if he had a gut feeling that his ship was under observation. I suppose it’s possible that he’s too embarrassed to admit that he followed a gut feeling. Still, I agree with what the Duke of Wellington said when asked after the Battle of Waterloo whether he’d rather be lucky or good. He said ‘I’d rather be lucky’. If Shiloh’s victory was just plain dumb luck, then I’ll take it for what it is.” Kutuzov leaned forward and said.
“Well whatever you decide to do with Shiloh, you’re going to have to make up your mind soon. If Shiloh’s going to steer the Strategic Planning Group, Dietrich will have to find another Commander to take the 144th.” Howard nodded and considered his options. He couldn’t help having a strange feeling that this decision was going to turn out to be very important in the long run and yet, Shiloh was only a Commander, one of just over two hundred currently qualified for ship command. How could the outcome of this war depend on this one man? With Dietrich and Kutuzov starting to become impatient, Howard made up his mind and said.
“Okay. I’ve decided. Regardless of whether Shiloh’s a tactical genius or not, he’s an experienced ship jockey and when we start getting new ships out of our construction program, we’re going to need all the experienced officers we can lay our hands on. So Shiloh will keep his SL slot for the 144th and Kelly will be promoted and confirmed as Head of Strategic Planning.” The three admirals then discussed other issues and eventually the meeting broke up with Dietrich and Kutuzov going back to their offices. Howard still wondered if he had made the right decision. He also wondered if he would EVER know. Sometimes he couldn’t help thinking that being an Admiral sucks.
Shiloh entered the main auditorium at Space Force HQ and spent a few seconds taking in the view of hundreds of SF personnel milling about and chatting prior to Admiral Howard’s briefing. It seemed as though every officer and quite a few NCOs and enlisted personnel, presently on Earth were here. Shiloh understood why perfectly. Howard was about to present a proposed plan for the first offensive action against the aliens and EVERYONE wanted to hear about it firsthand. With time running out and empty seats disappearing fast, Shiloh decided to take a seat in a row that was near the back of the room but also happened to be quite close to one of the large view screens strategically placed around the auditorium so that those in the middle and back could see any presentation just as well as those in the front. It wasn’t long before the rest of the empty seats were filled and the doors at the back were closed. When the overhead lights dimmed, the background chatter died away quickly. Shiloh saw Admiral Howard step out on the stage and over to a podium. Behind and to one side, a very large view screen dropped down and came to life. It showed a star chart with Space Force Base Bradley in the lower left corner as a green dot and a pulsing red dot in the upper right corner with white dots in between. Just as the background chatter started up again, Howard started speaking.
“This briefing will now commence. If you’re wondering why the Chief of Operations is giving this briefing, you’re not alone. I’m wondering the same thing!” That generated a wave of laughter. “The answer to that question is that a briefing like this was never necessary before. But now that the Space Force is transitioning to an elite military unit, that can and will conduct offensive operations, there will have to be some changes here at HQ and that’s why this is very likely to be the one and only time you’ll see the CoO give a briefing like this. In future, I would expect that my soon to be announced Deputy Chief of Operations will be doing the honors. Be that as it may, this time it’s my turn so let’s begin.” He paused to collect his thoughts.
“As I’m sure all of you have heard by now, our first attempt on long range reconnaissance was very successful. Cmdr Yakamura and his crew of volunteers were able to sneak into a star system, which is indicated by the flashing red dot on the screen, which clearly has an alien presence that looks as though it’s primarily mining-related.” The display now showed a blue line leading from SFB Bradley to the alien system.
“Analysis of Gnat’s sensor data has revealed that this target system, Zebra 9, has half a dozen different locations where industrial activity of some sort is going on. Now that we have a fixed target, the Space Force has requested and been granted permission to engage in a raid on Zebra 9. Therefore this briefing will describe how we intend to conduct that operation, which will be called Operation Dropkick. This raid will consist of three phases. The first phase will be to make sure that we retain both strategic and tactical surprise. In order to do this, each of the 13 star systems that lie between our Bradley Base and Zebra 9, will have all gas giants monitored by orbiting recon drones which will report any alien activity to message drones that will be deployed at specific locations at the edge of these star systems. As the raiding force enters each intervening star system, it will make contact with the message drone in that system and verify that it’s safe to refuel at the gas giant. If enemy activity has been detected near a refueling point, the raiding force commander will have several options. He or she can call off the raid altogether or use their remaining fuel to leapfrog past that system to the next star system in the line of advance or they might decide to wait a while to see if the alien presence is onl
y temporary. I would like to point out here how lucky the crew of the tanker Gnat was to have been able to refuel undetected in the star systems that are closest to Zebra 9. Given what happened to our ships in these other two systems…” the displayed showed two new yellow dots both off to one side of the blue line. “one would have expected there to be picket ships in the systems surrounding their mining operations to guard against exactly what we were able to do.”
“Once all of the refueling points along the way are under our observation, Phase Two will commence and the raiding force will leave SFB Bradley and proceed to the target. The raiding force will be designated Task Force 79 and will consist of a Command/Support squadron made up of a command ship and twelve tankers, plus six frigate squadrons.” He paused as the audience reacted with surprised chatter. After a few seconds Howard said.
“Let’s settle down, people.” When it was quiet again, he continued. “Committing one third of all active squadrons may sound like overkill however we do NOT want to underestimate the enemy. We’ve allocated one frigate squadron for each of the six mining locations in Zebra 9. When TF 79 enters the outer edge of Zebra 9, it will do so at a point that is equidistant from all six target locations or as close to that as possible. Three of the target locations are moons orbiting two gas giants. The commander of TF79 will observe the level of enemy activity at both gas giants and based on that information, will pick one as a refueling point. Phase Three will then begin with a high speed pass by each frigate squadron past its designated target. Depending on the effectiveness of the damage inflicted and the strength of their defenses, the task force commander will have the flexibility to order additional attacks. In any case, when the chosen gas giant has been cleared of enemy defenses, the twelve tankers will move in to refuel, escorted by a frigate squadron, and then head back out to a predetermined rendezvous point, where all ships will be refueled enough so that they can then make a long jump to the farthest refueling system they can reach. The idea here being that the task force will make the minimum number of hyperjumps back to Bradley as they can get away with, in order to get out of the enemy zone as quickly as possible. When the task force reaches Bradley, any casualties will be transferred to the base and the task force will then return to Sol. In the meantime, task force 80, consisting of four frigate squadrons, will be assigned the mission of protecting our Bradley base against any enemy retaliatory strikes that may occur subsequent to our raid. Four frigate squadrons will remain at Bradley from now one with each tour of duty lasting four weeks. While TF79 will do everything it can to avoid revealing the location or direction of SFB Bradley, we shouldn’t assume that the enemy won’t be able to figure out where to go for a counter-strike. Since Bradley will be a forward base for some time to come, we’ll start taking a series of defensive measures to protect it.”
