Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales

by Jay Allan

  “Our Exploration Frigates were not designed for this kind of combat. We can improve their combat capabilities by adding additional hull armor and by upgrading their lasers. That would be just a stopgap measure. In the longer term we’ll need larger and more powerful ships, but that will be covered by the report from the Strategic Planning Group. Right now we can improve our chances of winning encounters by changing our operational doctrine. We should not be sending out frigates to a particular star system in anything less than squadron strength. And two or even three squadrons operating together would be even better. I’ve already ordered the recall of all our Exploration Frigates so that they can be reassigned in light of our new doctrine. The Space Force is going to have to transform itself from a paramilitary organization concerned mainly with catching smugglers and scouting new star systems, to a purely military organization, one that is organized from the outset to deal with external threats. That means we need to start changing the ‘corporate culture’, so to speak. For example, up until now, the Space Force hasn’t had or needed a medal that would recognize exceptional conduct in a ship vs. ship battle. I’ve changed that. From this point forward, all commanding officers who distinguish themselves in combat will be awarded The Distinguished Combat Medal. It will take the form of a small red star on a jet-black board that can be pinned to the chest or lapel, and it will provide a concrete symbol and reminder of our new orientation.

  “Another example of changing the corporate culture will be the testing for, and development of, strategic and tactical skills. Those officers who have an intuitive feel for combat tactics need to be identified in order to be fast tracked to command positions. The Space Force Academy will start teaching classes in tactical combat. Officers will be encouraged to be aggressive in their thinking, and those who aren’t able to develop the ‘killer instinct’, for lack of a better phrase, will be assigned to less critical areas such as logistics and support operations.

  “We also need to seriously look at a crash program for the development of drones specifically designed to inflict damage on an armored target. The normal acquisition process, which takes years, is no longer acceptable. Therefore not only will I be submitting a proposal in the immediate future requesting such a crash program, but it will also contain a faster acquisition model that this Committee will have to approve. Speed is now more important than accountability. I cannot emphasize this enough. While I appreciate the fact that this Committee has to make recommendations to the Grand Senate which has the sole authority to approve new spending programs, I also know that this Committee DOES have the authority to authorize the reallocation of previously approved spending initiatives for emergency uses. I am asking you to approve the use of 200 million Credits that have been set aside for preliminary Pre-Colonization Ground Surveys, for the purposes of initial design, testing and pre-production tooling for the Advanced Combat Drone Program. It will require additional funding later. Because time is of the essence, and we literally cannot afford to waste even a single day, I’m asking this Committee to approve that reallocation request NOW, this very day.

  “There are two other initiatives that can and should be started immediately. We need to have far better intelligence with regard to where the enemy is at any point in time, as well as where they’re from. The first requires the establishment of a network of passive sensor satellites in our frontier star systems and in the systems just beyond our frontier. They will take time to design, produce and deploy. However, we can begin to use our tankers in a long-range reconnaissance role, where they will be self-sufficient in refueling capability, giving them a much longer range. In that role, their mission will be to creep into an unexplored star system that may have an alien presence of some kind, and they will then passively scan for any signs of the enemy, including ships, colonies or industrial infrastructure. I cannot overemphasize how hazardous this duty will be. Our tankers will be totally defenseless. If they are discovered, they will likely be destroyed. I’m going to be asking for volunteers, and if a sufficient number of personnel volunteer, we’ll only ask each of them to go on one of these long-range recon missions. Multiple missions like this would be tantamount to asking them to commit suicide, and I’m not prepared to do that … at this point.

  “There is one final recommendation, the importance of which cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, it is not something that the Space Force can accomplish merely by deciding to do it. Yet its success is absolutely vital to our chances for victory in the months and years ahead. The Space Force needs to build its own internal industrial infrastructure and shipyard capability, and the sooner the better. The kind of force structure that is needed will be impossible to acquire if we must pay private sector companies to build it. Even with this internal capability, the fiscal demands will be onerous. Without this internal capability, we may as well give up right now and wait for the aliens to arrive. What I’m referring to specifically is the acquisition of, or at least the use of, one of the Universal Fabrication Complexes owned by GED. I’m aware that GED has repeatedly refused to sell a UFC to the Space Force in the past, despite very generous offers. I even understand why they insist on keeping a monopoly on UFCs. The ability to make anything, including more UFCs, using robotic equipment and asteroid-based resources means that GED can manufacture and assemble an Exploration Frigate for a cash outlay of just one or two percent of what it would have cost them using more traditional manufacturing techniques. If they then sell the ship to us, even for a greatly reduced price, they would still make an enormous profit. I have no philosophical objection to GED making money, but I do have a serious objection to their greed threatening the very survival of the Human Race. For the Greater Good, they must be convinced, either by persuasion or by legislation, to give up their monopoly on the UFC technology. I’m not insisting that they be forced to give it to us without some form of compensation. Rather, I’m suggesting that compensation is a question that can be resolved later. We need access to the UFCs NOW! While we won’t be able to start building new ships right away because they haven’t been designed yet, we can certainly start building more UFCs. The kind of output of ships and equipment that we will very likely need will require hundreds of UFCs. And we can reach that level of capacity through geometric growth if the existing units reproduce themselves, with the new units doing the same over the next few months. The classic example that illustrates this concept is that of starting with one Credit and doubling it every day. Do so, and in less than a month, you’ll be a millionaire. To give you some idea of how urgent it is that we start this initiative immediately, let me provide another example. If, as I’ve been told, it takes approximately one month for a UFC to reproduce itself, and if we wait one month before starting this program, then at any point in the future we will have only half as many UFCs as we would have if we started today. Half as many UFCs will translate into half as many ships. And half as many ships could very well mean the difference between survival and the genocide of Humanity.”

  The Admiral paused to take another sip of water before adding, “This concludes my opening remarks. I’m now prepared to answer any questions members of the Committee may wish to ask.”

  The Chairman of the Committee nodded and looked at the other members before responding.

  “On behalf of the Committee, I’d like to thank you, Admiral Howard, for that very comprehensive and insightful report. You and your staff have obviously given this unexpected development a lot of thought in the short time that was available to you. Speaking only for myself, I admit that I’m somewhat overwhelmed at this point by what has happened and by what the implications are.”

  Shiloh saw most of the Committee members nodding their agreement to that. The Chairman continued.

  “Given that we haven’t had time to read your report as carefully as it warrants, I’m going to ask your indulgence when we ask questions that are already answered in the report. I think you can safely assume that this will be a long session, Admiral. As the Committee’s Ch
airperson, I have the privilege of asking my questions first. My first question is this…”

  -o0o-

  Many, exhausting hours later, when he and the Admiral left the Committee room, Shiloh realized he was sweating.

  “What happens now, Sir?”

  Howard snorted.

  “Now? If by that question, Commander, you mean what am I personally going to do, the answer is I’m going to go back to my office and have a stiff drink, or two. If you mean what happens next in the process here’s that answer. The Committee will meet ‘In Camera’. That means privately. I think I’ve convinced them to take this seriously. If they agree with that assessment then they’ll report back to the Grand Senate, which will debate the supplementary budget that the Executive Branch will be tabling. Unfortunately that will take several weeks. The government can’t just ask for vast amounts of money. They’ll need to make a detailed request that will take time to compile. And there’s no way around that. That’s where you can make a valuable contribution. I’ll have my senior planning staff member contact you to start the Strategic Planning Group. The two of you can then figure out who else should be in the group. I will temporarily reassign anyone you need. Don’t waste any time with this. We need creative thinking. The end result doesn’t have to be a polished report. That’s not the group’s objective. What I want to get from the SPG is recommendations and ideas, the more ideas, the better. In terms of recommendations, I want to see the whole gamut, ranging from what kinds of R&D we should be conducting, to force structure, deployment, infrastructure, and anything else you can think of. No area is off limits for consideration, but speed is essential. Anything the group comes up with can be revisited and polished later. Cost estimates are a must, but no one expects them to be dead on accurate. Ballpark figures are okay for now. The SPG report will form the skeleton that the Emergency Supplemental Budget request will be built around. Do you understand what I’m asking for, Commander?”

  “Yes, Sir, but I do have a question.”

  “Ask it.”

  “The group could spend months coming up with ideas. How do we know when to stop brainstorming and give you what we have so far?”

  “That’s a good question.” The Admiral stopped walking and looked thoughtful. “Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll give you two days to identify and collect the rest of the group, three days to brainstorm ideas, and five more days to crunch the numbers and prepare a report. That means that two hundred and forty hours from now I want a preliminary document in my hand. Remember, substance is more important than format. It doesn’t have to be pretty, okay?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  Howard nodded his approval but didn’t continue walking immediately. “One more thing, Commander. I’m sure this next point is redundant, but this is too important to risk a misunderstanding. I don’t expect the Planning Group to work 24 hours a day, but I also don’t expect its members to work from 9 to 5. Do you understand what I’m saying, Commander?”

  “Loud and clear Sir.”

  “Good!”

  They started walking again. When they got to the Admiral’s offices, Shiloh saw that a Lieutenant Commander was waiting in the outer office. The Admiral made the introductions.

  “Commander Shiloh, this is Lieutenant Commander Amanda Kelly, my senior planner. Kelly, this is the Officer whose reports you’ve been studying all day. He’s going to be temporarily assigned to the SPG until his ship is ready for action again.”

  Kelly and Shiloh shook hands and exchanged the usual pleasantries. Howard gestured to his inner office and led the way. Once inside, he pointed to two comfortable chairs facing his desk. After everyone was seated, he leaned back and looked at both of them carefully.

  “This Strategic Planning Group is an unusual creation. Right now it’s very ad hoc and unofficial. Eventually that will change, and it will become a formal department with its own budget and bureaucratic red tape. But for now, because it’s unofficial, we have the flexibility to bend the rules a bit. Normally the senior ranked officer would be in charge, and I’m aware that Commander Shiloh is the senior officer. However he will be returning to his ship in several weeks, and I think continuity of leadership of the planning group is more important than following the normal rules of seniority. Therefore I’m going to make Commander Kelly the Team Leader of the Special Planning Group.”

  Kelly smiled and said, “Thank you Sir.”

  Howard shook his head. “Don’t thank me, Commander. I’m not doing you any favor. The Team Leader is going to get a lot of flak from the legion of armchair critics who think they know more than you do. If I’m doing anyone a favor, it’s Commander Shiloh. He gets to fight this war on paper for a few weeks, before going back to doing it for real. Now that I’ve thrown you into the deep end, Kelly, I’m going to tie one hand behind your back. As Team Leader you have the ultimate say in how the group operates and what goes into the report. But because Commander Shiloh is the only ship CO who has won a battle so far, his insights deserve to be taken seriously. I’m not saying you have to accept every idea or suggestion that Commander Shiloh makes, but I do expect you to listen to them carefully. I trust that will not be a problem, Commander?”

  Kelly shook her head. “No problem at all, Sir.”

  “Excellent. What do you need to get started?”

  Shiloh and Kelly looked at each other, and then she said, “Well Sir, we’re going to need physical space to work. The conference room downstairs will do to get started but we’re also going to need cubicles and desks, terminals to do research, and eventually we’re going to need room to store records that need to be kept in a secured location.”

  “Yes, I see. Hmm.” He pondered that for a few seconds then smiled. “I have the perfect solution. The sub-basement in this building was originally designed to be secure against chemical, biological and radiological attack as a backup facility. It’s set up with a conference room, offices, kitchen facilities, storage areas for records, and even temporary sleeping accommodations. Best of all, it isn’t being used. Only personnel who are authorized with the necessary biometric data on file can get access, and I’ll arrange for your team to get access. That will undoubtedly take a couple of days to arrange, so you’ll have to make do with the facilities above. Is there anything else you need to get started?”

  Neither Shiloh nor Kelly could think of anything else.

  “Good. In that case I’ll leave you two to get started while I make some calls.”

  Shiloh and Kelly saluted, and as they turned to leave, Howard said, “Remember Shiloh, two hundred and forty hours.”

  Shiloh chuckled and replied, “Yes Sir, I’ll remember.”

  As the two of them walked through the outer office, the Admiral overheard Kelly ask Shiloh, “What’s the deal with two hundred and forty hours?”

  CHAPTER 5: You’re Not Nearly Devious Enough

  After spending the most recent 72 hours in the sub-basement think tank, Shiloh emerged from the Space Force HQ and realized that he had lost track of whether it was day or night. He had been expecting evening dark and instead was blinded by the late morning sunlight. He was dog-tired, but Admiral Howard had his report, and they had completed it within the 240 hour deadline. The Admiral had generously ordered them to take two whole days off, and Shiloh intended to spend the first half sleeping, and the second half eating decent meals. His mind was so preoccupied with the prospect of sleep that he almost walked right by Lt. Cmdr. Johansen who apparently was waiting for him.

  “Forgot me already, Skipper?”

  Shiloh jumped with surprise. “Angela!”

  “So you do remember me. That’s nice to know. Jeez, Skipper, you look like hell!”

  He laughed. “Tell me about it. I’m not even sure what day it is. My stomach is telling me it’s time for supper, but somehow I don’t think it’s that time of day.”

  Johansen nodded and smiled. “Lunch actually, and I have a suggestion in that regard. Why don’t you join me for a nice, leisurely meal
with an alcoholic beverage of your choice, and I’ll tell you the good news?”

  Now it was Shiloh’s turn to smile. “It’s a deal. Lead the way, XO.”

  Twenty-five minutes later they were seated in a quiet and comfortable restaurant, with a beer in Shiloh’s hand and a glass of red wine in Johansen’s. She broached the subject first.

  “I heard that you asked for me to join the planning group.”

  Shiloh nodded. “Yup. The Admiral said that you were ‘unavailable’. He didn’t elaborate. Damn strange, too, considering we didn’t have any trouble getting anyone else we asked for, even though some of them had to come from a lot further away.”

  Johansen looked amused. “Yes, well … the Admiral had a little assignment for me. I guess he felt he couldn’t risk telling anyone at the time, but I don’t see any reason why I can’t tell you now. The Admiral wanted my help in convincing GED to allow access to the UFCs.”

  Shiloh waited for her to continue. When it became obvious that she didn’t intend to, he prodded her.

  “Well? Did they agree? Come on! Tell me!”

  His XO laughed. “Yes they did! All of the UFCs they have now are already busy making more. It won’t be long before we have several, then dozens of them.”

  “That’s great! So how did you and the Admiral convince GED’s Board to give up their monopoly?”

  Johansen looked around before answering. “That’s just it. The Board didn’t give up anything. We bypassed them altogether. You see, up until now we’ve dealt with the Board as a whole, and everything was done out in the open. When I suggested to the Admiral that we consider unconventional strategies, he took that to heart. After he appeared before the Oversight Committee, and you joined the SPG, he called me in. We kicked around a few scenarios, starting with the hijack idea I suggested and gradually migrating to other less dramatic and less risky possibilities. What we finally came up with was so damned obvious that we both cursed ourselves for not thinking of it sooner.”