by Dietmar Wehr
“If we decide to build new ships designed from the outset to carry missile boats and be resistant to combat damage, then there are good reasons to consider building a carrier that’s bigger than our 300-meter diameter freighters. This schematic is offered as an example only.” The modified freighter schematic evolved into a larger sphere with two rows of missile boats tucked into its hull. “This example is a 600-meter diameter sphere. Each of the two rows has enough room for 15 missile boats for a total of 30, but that’s not all. A ship that’s twice the diameter has eight times the internal volume. That means that this 600-meter warship, which we’re calling a Battlecruiser, can not only carry 30 missile boats, it would also have room to carry enough missiles to feed 100 missile launchers, plus room for 10,000 infantry and 200 contra-gravity armored vehicles. This ship can carry out any mission that we might want to put into operation all by itself, from raids and/or ground assault to fleet vs fleet combat. There are two more advantages to this larger design. I mentioned that the internal volume is eight times more than a 300-meter ship, but the outer surface area of this ship is only four times larger than the 300-meter version. What that means is that we can afford to put a lot of neutron armor on this ship, and it would still have enough internal space for the power plants and maneuvering engines that would give this ship a decent acceleration even with all that armor. The thickness of armor I’m talking about here would be enough to shrug off even a hit from a fission warhead, and the larger surface area would allow for radar arrays that are powerful enough to scan right down to a planet from out beyond the hyper-zone boundary.”
“I wish that your people had come up with this concept sooner,” said Sorenson wistfully.
Foster was about to respond when Janicot held his hand up to her. “I’ll answer that one, Major. Madam Secretary, this battlecruiser is so massive, which also means expensive, that only Sparta could afford to build one here in our shipyards, and I’d venture to guess only one at a time?” He looked to Foster for confirmation and saw her nod. “It would also take a long time to build, so if we attempted to build it here, it would end up being a small part of our fleet. However, our dedicated Durendal shipbuilding complex will be able to work on multiple ships at the same time when it hits its stride, and the cost of those ships will be a tiny fraction of what it would cost us here. Having this concept earlier wouldn’t have done us much good without something like Durendal.”
“Yes, I see,” said Sorenson. “What’s the earliest that Durendal could build one of these battlecruisers, Major?”
Foster manipulated her data tablet, and a new image appeared above the table. “The first ship in a new class always takes longer than later versions because construction, even robotic construction, has to be optimized, and that can only happen during actual construction. P2’s best estimate is that the first ship will take 19 months to complete, with follow-on ships taking 15 months at first, but eventually we should be able to get that down to 12 months. The capacity buildup at Durendal now looks like this. To get the biggest possible head start on long term capacity, Durendal won’t even start building any ships for another 17 months. That means our first battlecruiser won’t be completed until mid-2550, but at that point it could finish a new battlecruiser about every 45-60 days because it’ll have multiple battlecruisers under construction at the same time.
“Alternatively, the complex would have the minimum capacity necessary to start building one battlecruiser within another six to seven months, and that one ship would be available by mid-2549. The downside to that is that we’d have a lot less ships in the longer run.”
“But we’d have at least one battlecruiser a lot sooner,” interjected Janicot.
“Yessir,” replied Foster.
“What are you thinking, Admiral?” asked Sorenson.
“I’m not sure yet, Madam Secretary. I need more information. Major, has P2 evaluated the combat effectiveness of this 600-meter design versus the 400-meter FED cruisers that we’re in the process of salvaging?”
“It has, Admiral. On a strictly head-to-head basis, one of these missile boat carriers with a full complement of 30 missile boats could take on a dozen FED cruisers with a better than even chance of winning.”
Now it was Janicot who had the feral grin. “So, in the time frame we’re looking at here, roughly two years, our combat effectiveness would just about double if we had one battlecruiser to add to our fleet of salvaged FED cruisers plus our own new light cruiser construction, correct?”
“Just about, Sir,” said Foster.
Janicot turned to Sorenson. “I can now answer your question, Madam Secretary. The problem I see with matching the FED’s buildup ship for ship is that we’d still be fighting an uphill battle against their Majestic computer’s ability to outthink our P2. It would only take one disastrous battle to upset the delicate balance of power in the FED’s favor. If we can gain a temporary degree of superior combat strength, we might be able to use that to set back their shipbuilding campaign so that we’ll have the tonnage advantage going forward. A ship that can shrug off fission warheads can also shrug off x-ray lasers and would be able to overpower whatever fleet of cruisers the FEDs might be able to field in defense of Makassar. It could then blast the industry there back to bare rock, and they’d have to start all over again from scratch while we continue building more battlecruisers. With the head start that we’d have at that point, they’d never be able to catch up, Majestic or no Majestic.”
Sorenson took a deep breath before responding. “It’s too bad we can’t use those billions of FED credits to expand our Durendal shipyard capacity. If we could buy all the shipbuilding equipment we needed instead of making it ourselves, we could have more than one battlecruiser ready in two years. But now that we’ve introduced our own currency, we can’t very well expect businesses to accept FED currency that they wouldn’t be able to spend elsewhere.”
Foster was stunned. Why hadn’t we thought of that? It’s so damned obvious now that someone has suggested it. If I tell them about Midgard, we’ll run the risk that the FEDs will learn about what we’re doing there if they conquer Sparta and interrogate Janicot and Sorenson. I’ve got to discuss this with Bret.
Janicot noticed Foster’s expression of surprise even as he nodded his agreement with Sorenson’s comment. Why is she surprised? It’s not like Sorenson suggested something that we can actually do. With a mental shrug he focused on Sorenson.
“Yes, Madam Secretary, it IS a shame that we can’t do that. Do you think my suggestion of speeding up construction of one battlecruiser is worth bringing to the Chancellor’s attention?”
“Yes, Admiral, I do, and I think he’ll approve that plan. I suggest that Major Foster be instructed to have her people begin the detailed design work for the battlecruiser so that we can start building it as soon as possible.”
Janicot looked at Foster and nodded. “I’ll get started on that right away, Admiral. Should I also begin design work on the modifications of freighters so that we have the option of conducting raids on Makassar in the short term?”
“Yes, let’s get that started too. Did you have anything else to bring forward today?”
“No, Sir. I’ve covered everything I wanted to brief you on.”
Janicot turned back to Sorenson. “Do you have any more questions for the Major, Madam Secretary?”
“Not at the moment, Admiral. I think we’re done here.”
“Very well then, you’re dismissed, Major, and thank you for an excellent briefing,” said Janicot.
Foster left in what she hoped would not be a suspicious hurry. She was anxious to have a private conversation with her husband.
Half an hour later she arrived home only to find that Murphy was still in bed and asleep. She put aside her exasperation that he got to sleep in while she had to go to work and woke him up. She quickly got him up to speed on the briefing and Sorenson’s comment.
“If we tell them about Midgard, we’ll run the risk of the FEDs fin
ding out about it. Keeping that shipyard complex running even if the rest of the SSU is conquered was supposed to be our ace in the hole. Security has to be absolute,” said Foster.
“You and I know about it, so we’re already running a certain amount of risk,” said Murphy. He decided not to mention the poison pill both of them carried around with them at all times to avoid being captured alive.
“I know, but just think of how much the remaining 200 billion in FED credits could do to speed up capacity expansion on Midgard’s moon. Sorenson was right. If one battlecruiser doubles our combat strength, then having four or five in the same time frame should allow us to run right over the FEDs with simultaneous attacks on Makassar and Earth. We could win the war in one fell swoop! Isn’t that possibility worth the extra risk?”
Murphy thought about that and finally came to the conclusion that it was worth the risk. “I think it is, babe, but letting them in on the secret is going to be one hell of a bombshell, and I can see some practical difficulties with trying to use all 200 billion FED credits. That’s a LOT of currency by any standard. If a ship lands on Earth with that much money and starts throwing it around, somebody’s bound to notice and begin asking questions. Even bringing it in in smaller batches could attract unwanted attention.” He paused and Foster waited. “Let me ask you this. In terms of the capacity buildup on Midgard’s moon, what’s the biggest bottleneck we face with expanding capacity by ourselves?”
Foster had to think about that. She called up some data from her tablet. “It’s the electronic components that take the longest to manufacture and install. There are so many different kinds of circuit boards for all the various robotic machines. Each circuit board requires the robot assemblers to be correctly programmed, and that takes a lot of the time to get it exactly right.”
“Okay, so how much faster would the buildup happen if we didn’t have to make all the electronic components ourselves?” asked Murphy.
Foster’s eyes opened wide. “You mean buy those components on Earth instead? That’s too complicated for me to figure out by myself. I’d have to get P2 to do the calculations, but I can already tell that the time savings would be significant, and since those components are low bulk items, one freighter full of them would satisfy our requirements for years. We wouldn’t need to spend hundreds of billions of credits. This is what…the second or third time you’ve come up with a breakthrough idea? I don’t understand why my staff and I don’t see these things that in hindsight look so obvious?”
Murphy shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say that you and your staff are too close to the problem. You can’t see the forest for the trees. I can look at it with fresh eyes, so to speak. Anyway, at least your team has something new to work on now, right?”
“Right. I have to get back to HQ. The Old Man and SecDef will almost certainly want me to brief the Chancellor about the Admiral’s idea. If I’m going to reveal the secret, I want to have all the numbers crunched before I let the Old Man in on it first. He doesn’t deserve to be blindsided by this bombshell in front of his boss and her boss.”
Murphy sighed. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re going to be working late tonight?”
“I’ll try not to but no promises.” She gave him a quick kiss and moved away before he could pull her down on top of him.
It was hours later when she felt she was ready to tell the Admiral. It was already evening, but when she checked, she found the Admiral still in his office. I don’t think he ever goes home when everyone else does. He waved her into the office and pointed to one of the chairs facing his desk. Janicot looked at her expression carefully. I don’t know if she’s bringing good news or bad, but whatever it is, it’s serious.
After sitting down, she took a deep breath and began speaking. “Admiral, may I ask you a hypothetical question?” He nodded. “If you were in my position and you had a project that could shift the odds significantly in the SSU’s favor but telling your higher ups about it could potentially tip the enemy off to the project and jeopardize its success, would you tell them, or would you go ahead and execute that project in secret?”
Janicot felt his heart rate speed up. My God! She HAS been hiding something from me! If she’s thinking of telling me now, then something’s changed. She’s waiting for an answer, and it’s a legitimate question. After a long pause, he said, “It would depend on how good that project could be and how likely it was that telling my higher ups about it would put the project at risk, but I can see circumstances where I’d choose to keep the project a secret. Since you’re asking me this hypothetical question, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you’ve kept something secret from me and SecDef and the Chancellor, and now you’re either having second thoughts or you’ve decided to let me in on it. Am I right?”
“Yessir.”
Her answer was heavy with guilt. Janicot kept his sympathy firmly in check. He’d reserve judgement on whether to give her a medal or court-martial her until he heard the whole story. “I’m listening, Major.”
Foster coughed awkwardly. She sensed his controlled fury lurking behind that calm reply. “The secret has to do with the location of Site X and the shipbuilding complex. The problem we faced was choosing a location for the shipbuilding complex based on a database of surveyed planets that we knew the FEDs also had. Any previously surveyed planet that we picked would also be a prime target for reconnaissance by the FEDs for the very same reasons. Surveying new planets was out of the question due to lack of time and resources. We had to come up with a solution that their Majestic would calculate was not worth checking. That solution was to use some of the requisitioned FED currency to set up a FED-chartered company that would pretend to raise investment capital on Earth and use it to build a new, robotic shipyard complex in a star system that was still under Federation control. The locals would be told that the ships built there would be sold to the FED Navy. The security risk was that if you, SecDef or the Chancellor knew that the project was located in FED territory and Sparta was invaded by FED troops, that secret might be revealed to them under interrogation, and the continued use of that facility by the SSU, even after losing Sparta and other major planets, would be lost. What made that prospect even worse was the fact that it was determined that the safest location for the Site X backup government capability was also in FED territory. It’s located in the same star system as the shipbuilding project.”
“So the gas giant moon shipyard site and the Site X asteroid location are…what?” asked Janicot.
“Decoys to throw the FEDs off the scent. Those sites were set up with minimal resources and personnel. If the FEDs find them, they’ll assume that we’ve lost those backup capabilities, and they’ll stop looking.”
“My God, no wonder you felt it necessary to keep this to yourself. This explains why you needed 23 billion FED credits. I always suspected that some of that money was earmarked for something you weren’t telling me about. Now it all makes sense.” He paused, then said, “I would have kept that secret too if I had been in your shoes. I have to wonder why you’re risking that project by telling me this now.”
Foster smiled. “It was the SecDef’s wishful thinking about using the rest of the FED currency that got me thinking. We used a relatively small portion of all that money to buy the minimum amount of equipment needed to make the complex self-sufficient so that it could expand its own capacity with local resources, but that’s doing it the hard way. What if we could expand capacity by using the rest of the FED currency to buy the equipment on Earth instead of manufacturing and assembling it ourselves? Capacity would ramp up much more quickly, and we’d be able to have more than one battlecruiser ready in two and a half years. If we had six battlecruisers ready, then, with their superior combat capability, we just might be able to destroy the FED Navy outright and win the war.”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” said Janicot softly. “I see your dilemma. You couldn’t ask for more money without being forced to explain why you needed it.” He
took a deep breath. “You did the right thing by telling me this now. It would indeed be a huge step forward if we could deploy those remaining billions and buy that extra equipment, but even I can figure out that getting that much currency to Earth and spending it without attracting attention is going to be pretty difficult. Do you have a solution to that problem?”
“I think we do, Admiral. When we took a good hard look at what all was involved with expanding shipyard and manufacturing capacity on Midgard’s moon, we were surprised to learn that the big heavy stuff, structural components, smelters, that kind of thing, takes relatively little time to produce. It’s the small components and especially the electronic components that take a long time to make. If we buy just the small stuff and stick to building the big stuff ourselves, the additional amount of FED currency required drops from 144 billion credits down to a mere 13 billion credits.” She noticed that Janicot looked skeptical. “Yes, that is a huge percentage drop, and it may sound unreasonable, but a significant portion of the 144 billion number was the cost of shipping those huge pieces from Earth to Midgard. The beauty of shipping only the small items is that they take up a lot less cargo space, and therefore three or four shiploads will suffice. P2 has crunched the numbers, and with that lower expenditure, Midgard should be able to deliver at least five battlecruisers within 30 months.”
