Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales

by Jay Allan

  Shiloh sighed. Damn, I waited too long.

  “Oh well. It’s a good thing we got that cleared up.”

  He tried not to let his expression show how disappointed he was.

  Johansen put her hand over his. “Once I get back on my feet, maybe…” She stopped, as if she suddenly realized that holding out the possibility of her changing her mind would only get his hopes up again, with no guarantee that she’d feel differently in the future.

  Shiloh suddenly felt uncomfortable with this conversation. He wanted to end it and leave.

  “It’s just as well. We’re both serving officers in the Space Force during a war. Even if both of us did feel that way, we’re not likely to be able to do much about it until the war is over, and that could be years … assuming we both survive it. I should be getting back to my post. I’ve got a lot to do if Vanguard is going to leave in 10 hours. I probably won’t see you until after you’ve been moved to the ship. Bye for now.”

  He patted her hand with his and turned to go. She said nothing as he walked away.

  Shiloh found time to say goodbye to his fighter pilots. This time all of them chimed in with the kind of goodbyes that comrades-in-arms usually give one another. Shiloh was profoundly moved by the whole exchange. Saying goodbye to Sejanus was easier, but not by much. Sejanus promised he would promote the view that CFP A.I.s were sentient beings and deserved to be treated as such. When Vanguard, escorted by the other damaged frigates, was just about to reach its jump velocity, the Sensor Tech told Shiloh that all of the fighters on jump detection patrol were flashing their running lights. Shiloh understood the gesture immediately, and he ordered Vanguard to flash hers in reply.

  CHAPTER 17: Enter the Defiant

  The trip back took longer than usual because two of the frigates were unable to accelerate as fast as normal due to combat damage. Shiloh visited Johansen about every other day, but the visits were short, and they kept the conversations on safe topics like her recovery, the ship’s status, etc.

  When the four ship squadron finally arrived back at Sol, they were ordered to the asteroid shipyards. Transport ships brought the crews and the injured directly to Earth orbit. Shiloh managed to say a quick goodbye to Johansen before she was transferred to a special medical shuttle for the trip down to the Space Force medical facility. He and the other crews took the usual personnel shuttles down to HQ in Geneva.

  This time they landed in the middle of the day. The sky was a slate grey with overcast clouds, but it wasn’t raining. They were met at the spaceport by a clutch of officers including a Lt. Commander who told Shiloh that Admiral Howard wanted to see him right away, and that his gear would be taken to the Temporary Officers Quarters for him. God! I can’t even get settled into my quarters first? But there was no point is expressing his dismay. Orders were orders. Howard’s messenger accompanied Shiloh to HQ in a separate vehicle. When he entered Howard’s office, he was shocked at how much the Admiral seemed to have aged in the few months since Shiloh had last seen him. The strain of this war is really getting to him, he thought. After the usual exchange of salutes, Howard gestured to the chair facing his desk, and Shiloh sat down. Howard got right down to it. No cigars this time.

  “I’m guessing that you’re wondering why you were called back.”

  Shiloh nodded.

  “Well I had several reasons. The first is your report. By the way, before I get any further, boosting that message drone by CFP so that it could reach Sol in a single jump was a brilliant idea, and yes, we are going to take your recommendation and develop a version that can boost itself up to the necessary speeds. Now back to your report. You and Korolev both sent reports. Her report was written from the point of view of a Base Commander and of a Task Force Leader, and her recommendations reflect that. Your report, on the other hand, not only covered recommendations from a Commander of the Autonomous Group, but also included recommendations for the much larger strategic situation, which I personally found very useful. So naturally I wanted to discuss that with you in person. But we would have recalled you soon anyway because the first light carrier is just about complete, and you’ll be her first Commanding Officer. Her name’s Defiant, and since you’re the only officer who has both ship command and CFP command experience, you were the obvious choice. The final reason is that, even if you don’t think so, it’s everyone else’s opinion that you’re just too good of a tactical thinker to remain at Bradley indefinitely. Congratulations on that tactical victory, Commander. When you turned down command of the Sentinel, I thought you had lost your nerve. However with the benefit of hindsight, I now realize that you made the right decision. I shudder to think of where we’d be today if you hadn’t stuck to your guns when I tried to pressure you to accept that command.”

  Shiloh said nothing but nodded. That vision had just come true too.

  Howard continued, “So let’s talk about your strategic ideas. Stationing CFPs in buffer zone systems containing gas giants is a good idea, but five CFPs for each gas giant is just too many. It’ll take us too long to build the 300+ units we’d need to do that. What we’re going to do instead is deploy two CFPs per gas giant until the buffer zone is completely covered, and then we’ll add more to each system as they become available. And as a matter of fact, that’ll be Defiant’s first mission.”

  When it was clear that Howard was pausing, Shiloh spoke up. “So that means that Defiant won’t be used for hit and run attacks on enemy systems?”

  “I know that was the intention when we started building her, and as soon as we get the buffer zone early warning network set up, we’ll certainly give that option serious consideration, but for now we have to be able to intercept any alien incursion into our space with as much warning as possible. Don’t you agree? It was your idea after all.”

  “Yes, Sir. I do agree. I guess since we’re short of CFP transport capability, the Defiant will have to do double duty. It’s just that it’d be nice if we could strike back at their systems and force them on the defensive for a change.”

  “It would be DAMN nice, I agree. You’ll be happy to know that the first two long range recon frigates are seeking out the enemy systems even as we speak. Now let’s discuss your other recommendations. You think we should give CFPs the ability to travel through Jumpspace. Were you aware of the controversy over exactly this issue when the CFP concept was being developed?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “I thought not. The reason the idea was not pursued was the fear that armed ships, capable of jumping and controlled solely by artificial intelligences that were capable of learning and programming themselves, might pose a threat to us if they were to go rogue. That issue doesn’t arise with message drones since they don’t carry any weapons and their A.I. units aren’t as sophisticated to begin with. So explain to me your thinking about why we should take that risk.”

  Shiloh couldn’t imagine Iceman or any member of his team turning against Humanity, but if A.I.s really did have the capability of becoming sentient, then that independence of thought included the possibility of deciding NOT to fight for Humanity and possibly even fight against it, however remote that possibility might be.

  “I wasn’t aware of the controversy, but I was aware of the standing orders that CFPs were not allowed to carry live weapon drones while in any system that had a human colony or in the Sol system. I always thought that was in case of accidental launch, but now I see the real reason. The thing is, since our colonies in general, and Earth in particular, are now in danger of a direct enemy attack, don’t we need to be able to help defend them with armed CFPs considering that we don’t and won’t have enough ships to defend every inhabited system at the same time? If we were going to use non jump capable armed CFPs to defend inhabited systems, then what difference would it make if they were jump capable? Either way, that or another star system would be at risk of a rogue CFP. I see one huge advantage to having jump-capable CFPs, and that’s from a tactical perspective. Carriers can only be in one place at a
time, and star systems are huge in overall volume. Being able to microjump a strike force of CFPs from one part of a star system to another virtually instantaneously would be equivalent to having a lot more carriers. Perhaps the fears of runaway rogue CFPs jumping from one system to another can be addressed by limiting jumps to a maximum total distance of say … one light year. Human intervention would be required to reset the limit, so if a CFP did go rogue, it would only have a limited range.”

  Howard considered his response carefully before replying. “Hm. I can see the tactical advantage of having CFPs that can microjump within a star system. That could be a huge advantage. Limiting their jumping range would let a lot of people sleep easier at night, me included. Now let’s talk about your OTHER CFP recommendation. Namely, giving CFP A.I.s some kind of rank structure. I know that you think they have the capability to become sentient, and I also know that the people who designed and built their electronic brains are adamant that they can’t become sentient. What makes you right and all of them wrong?”

  Shiloh gave that some thought before answering.

  “I can’t prove that they are, but they certainly act as if they are. They’re choosing call signs for themselves on their own initiative. They’re acquiring uniquely individualistic speech patterns, and when the question of deploying human Search and Rescue teams to recover the A.I. brains from disabled CFPs came up, one of my oldest A.I.s told me quite explicitly that he … it and the other A.I.s wondered if humans considered them worthy of being rescued. Would non-sentient calculating machines care about whether others of their kind were rescued? The CFPs under my command at Bradley Base seemed to want to be treated like any human member of the Space Force, not as expendable equipment. Laugh if you want to, Admiral, but I’m absolutely convinced that they’re motivated by the same things that motivate us, namely pride, loyalty to comrades-in-arms, friendship, just to name three. My suggestion of ranks that would be unique to Artificially Intelligent members of the Space Force would formalize the chain of command among A. I.s that may be at different levels of development, and also motivate the newer units to perform well in order to advance in rank and experience.”

  Howard looked dubious.

  “If anyone else had suggested this, I’d dismiss it out of hand, but because it’s you, I’ll give it serious consideration. Your final recommendation is the most interesting. Expand on it for me, Commander.”

  “Yes, Sir. Well, it starts from the assumption that the enemy has complete information on all our explored star systems, colonies and home world, from one or more captured ships. Our ships’ astrogational databases include locations of infrastructure installations such as our asteroid shipyards, the Alpha development base on Epsilon Eridani, the CFP manufacturing facility there, etc. That means they could target every key war-fighting installation we have right now. They’re ALL at risk. What I’m suggesting is a contingency plan for the worst case scenario. Set up brand new shipyards, mining, processing, manufacturing facilities, supply depots, training stations, R&D stations in new locations that aren’t in any existing ships’ database and will never be added to them in the future. Then even if Earth and all our colonies along with their orbiting infrastructure are devastated, we can keep on fighting.”

  “So how would this approach be different than our current plans to continue to decentralize war production?”

  “The difference is this. Under my approach, newly developed star systems would be kept secret even from members of the Space Force who might potentially find themselves captured and tortured. The ships, CFPs, weapon drones, new weapon systems, etc. would all be developed and produced in secret. They would be delivered to Sol or wherever they’re needed by a separate division within Space Force, and only those individuals would know the locations of those star systems. Even you wouldn’t know where they are.”

  Howard scowled. “Now that’s going TOO far, Shiloh. I’m not in danger of being captured.”

  Shiloh nodded. “No, Sir. I didn’t think you were, but if you knew, you might inadvertently let the information slip to someone who could find themselves in danger of being captured. With the worst case scenario in mind, don’t we need to err on the side of caution, Admiral?”

  “I’m not against erring on the side of caution, but I foresee practical difficulties in doing what you’re suggesting. Anyone assigned to these secret locations is going to want to come back for R&R eventually. How are you going to keep them from letting key information slip?”

  “Well, I can think of two ways. The less onerous way is not to tell anyone the precise location of the star system they’re assigned to work in. Only the Astrogators of the ships that move personnel and equipment back and forth need to know the exact location. The more onerous way is to only assign volunteers who are single, with minimal family connections, and make the assignment one way for the duration of the war. In other words, once they arrive at the secret location, they stay there indefinitely.”

  Howard looked skeptical. “If we do that, we’d have to provide at lot better accommodation and recreation facilities for those poor souls, otherwise we might have a mutiny or an epidemic of suicides.”

  Shiloh nodded but said nothing. The Admiral stared at a point on the opposite wall for a few seconds while he considered what Shiloh had said.

  “You’ve given me a lot to think about, Commander. If you weren’t so good at tactical combat, I’d put you on my planning staff, but you are, and we can’t afford to lose that skill. Now normally after an extended time on assignment, you’d get at least two weeks for R&R, but Defiant won’t wait that long. So the next six days are yours to do with as you wish, but be back here on the seventh ready to take command of the Defiant.”

  Shiloh waited to see if he had a vision, but there was nothing.

  “Thank you, Sir. I’m looking forward to that.”

  To his surprise, he saw the Admiral heave what looked like a sigh of relief.

  “Glad to hear it, Commander. Since we’re talking about the Defiant, there is one other issue that has to be addressed. The Space Force has never fielded a carrier before, so we’re not sure how the command structure should be set up. Does the CAG report to the CO, or are they equal in status with a more senior person aboard to command both, or what? Your thoughts?”

  After thinking about it for a few seconds, Shiloh said, “I think that the CO and CAG should be equal in rank, but if a carrier is going to operate on its own and not as part of a task force, then I think one individual should wear both hats. The XO and the Deputy CAG can handle most of the day-to-day issues and let the CO/CAG deal with strategic and tactical concerns. If the carrier is part of a task force, then I think the two positions should be split up and both report to a Vice-Admiral, Sir.”

  Howard grunted. “Makes sense to me. Unless you hear otherwise, you can assume that you’ll be wearing both hats when you take command of Defiant. Unless you have something that you’d like to ask or say to me, you’re free to go, Commander.”

  “Thank you, Sir. No questions.”

  Shiloh got up, saluted and left. As he made his way back to his quarters, he decided that he didn’t want to spend his R&R on a beach again. He would stay in Geneva and relax as much as possible, visit Angela a couple of times and generally get his thoughts together. The six days went fast. Johansen was pleased with his new command and seemed to be making progress on her own recovery.

  When it came time to report for duty, a shuttle took him to the moon base. There he caught a transport ship to the asteroid shipyard where Defiant was being fitted out. Shiloh didn’t get a good feel for the size of his new ship until the transport was in the process of docking at the shipyard. Defiant was big compared to any other ship he’d ever seen, including the Vanguard Combat Frigate. At 250,000 metric tons mass, Defiant was five times the mass of Vanguard, and yet she was classified as a light carrier. More light carriers were in various stages of completion, and the first heavy carrier, massing half a million tons, was just start
ing its two year construction phase. Defiant was built to carry a total of 34 smaller craft. While she was streamlined and capable of skimming gas giants herself, she would also carry four Mark 4 fuel shuttles, five personnel shuttles and 25 fighters. Her crew would total almost 500. Shiloh had already studied her specs, and he was impressed. Her huge fuel capacity could enable her to travel twice as far as a standard exploration frigate. She could carry enough consumables to stay in the field for six months at a time. While she wasn’t intended to engage in combat herself, her designers had given her four retractable, double laser turrets just in case the enemy found her. Her jet black hull would minimize detection by reflected sunlight, and she carried an impressive load of recon, message and attack drones both for use by her fighters and by the carrier itself if necessary.

  It didn’t take him long to get settled into his impressively large and very comfortable quarters on board the ship. Only a few of her crew had already reported for duty. While physical construction was complete, the shipyard workers were testing her systems and were crawling all through the ship’s innards. A quick check of the personnel roster showed that his Executive Officer and Deputy CAG had not yet reported aboard. He didn’t know his new XO but the DCAG was one of the test pilots from his time at the Alpha Base. A glance at the rest of the senior officers did not reveal any other names he was familiar with. A lot of new faces to get to know. When Shiloh checked his personal message inbox, he saw a message from Admiral Howard. He opened it.

  [It’s not official just yet, but by the time Defiant is ready to leave the shipyard, your promotion to Senior Commander will have made its way through the necessary red tape. I’m pleased to say that you’ve earned it. Congratulations!]

  Senior Commander! One step below the one star flag rank of Vice-Admiral. Shiloh realized that his heart was beating fast, and he was breathing hard. Did he really deserve this promotion when he wasn’t the tactical genius that Howard and others thought he was? He was inclined to say no but SOMETHING was causing his visions and he doubted that it was a Guardian Angel.