The meeting after lunch was to assemble all of the issues into a single list and discuss it. Murphy assembled them all on a portable VR kit, and the list was displayed on the wall. They then sorted the items by Turner and Desai's initial impression of their order of execution:
Who draws up the by-laws (unchangeable) and the initial policies (changeable)?
Who files the incorporation papers?
What is the initial equipment requirement?
What is the initial staffing requirement?
What is the initial funding requirement?
Who (Earth or the Commonwealth) pitches in what with regard to staffing, equipment, and funding?
Where is the corporation located?
When will the other shares be issued?
When is the first meeting of the electors to elect the board?
Who calls and hosts that meeting?
Who is the interim head of the organization?
"OK, so let's start at the top and see where we get. Who's drawing up the by-laws and the initial policies?" Turner asked.
"I think Attorney General Goldberg and I can handle that task," Harrigan said.
He looked over to Goldberg, who nodded.
"I'll take the first pass, and then send my draft to him," Harrigan said. "He understands Earth law, and can make sure it's compliant, and we take full advantage of its provisions."
Murphy added Harrigan and Goldberg to the first item as the assignees.
"All right. Who files the incorporation papers? Actually, I think I want to defer that one. Next is, What is the initial equipment requirement?" Turner said.
"I think I can address that, Mr. President," Jan said.
"Go ahead, Admiral Childers."
"I think we need three armed courier drones plus a survey drone in operation per planet, plus spares. We're still getting reliability data on the drones, mostly because we haven't had a failure yet. Of the three, one is the emergency courier drone for a system incursion, the other two are bidirectional message traffic without round-trip wait times, and the survey drone is to keep tabs on a system incursion and provide plotting data to the response force. It is also a backup to the emergency courier drone.
"As for the weapons drones, four hunting parties of nine weapons drones and a command and control drone can pretty much clean anything out of a star system. Call it six hunting parties to be safe. If you consider even twenty near-simultaneous attacks, that comes out to only about twelve hundred drones all told.
"For freight ships, the currently planned one hundred and some colony freighters are about a third of what we need to handle all the intersystem traffic among the big systems. We need much smaller ships to handle runs to the new colonies. Perhaps twice as many small ships as the large ones, so perhaps six hundred small freighters.
"As for warships, we probably don't need any cruiser destroyers. My current thinking is more along the lines of a small manned ship as a drone tender. Just something to put command eyes and ears in the system where an attack is underway, as we did in Tenerife. Instead of a cruiser destroyer, I am thinking something with a crew of perhaps a hundred, but a cruising speed of up to 5g and hyperspace capability to hyperspace-6. We need twenty standby of those plus rotation, so say thirty total for a two-on/one-off operational posture."
The requirements appeared on the screen as Jan talked.
"I always wanted to ask you, Why do you use hunting parties with nine weapons drones?" Turner asked.
"One-on-one coverage for a squadron, plus a spare."
"I see. Why does the drone tender need to be so fast?" Turner asked.
"To keep up with the weapons drones, and for both to traverse the longer distances to the New Colonies in less time than it takes the incursion force to get within range of the planet."
"Ah. Got it."
"And the staffing requirements, Admiral Childers?" Desai asked.
"Those are determined by the ship crew requirements for the freighters and the drone tenders, plus the logistics requirements to support the crews, the ships, and the drones, Ma'am. If we're agreed on the ships, the crew and support numbers come from that. With the numbers I provided, we're looking at forty-eight thousand freighter crew and three thousand crew on the drone tenders. Support personnel is perhaps ten times that. Roughly half a million all told."
"That many for support, Admiral?" Desai asked.
"That's everything, Ma'am. Warehouse people, shuttle pilots, co-pilots, and load managers, repair crews, port facilities, headquarters staff – everything."
"That number may actually be a little shy, Madam Chairman. I think the Earth Navy is more like twelve to one," Turner said.
"But the freighters will require somewhat less support," Jan said.
"True," Turner said.
Desai looked from Turner to Childers and back.
"Well, you two should know if anyone does, Mr. President. Please proceed."
"Certainly, Madam Chairman. Initial funding requirements. We seem to have forgotten to include the finance ministers here, so why don't you take a shot at that, Admiral Childers?"
"Sir, I think the corporation ought to have one year's salaries, one year's supplies, and one year's payments on the construction bonds on hand starting out. The rest is small potatoes. Plus, it needs access to a twenty- or thirty-year bond issue for initial construction."
"The next question is who supplies what," Desai said. "The Commonwealth and Earth navies will both be downsizing, due to the effectiveness of the new weapons systems if nothing else, so staffing shouldn't be a problem. There will be plenty of experienced spacers about. The issuance of bond funding will have to come from Earth's banking system, I think. And the freighters probably come from Earth as well. The Commonwealth can take care of the drones and drone tenders. The funding we can use to balance the equation. I propose you and I handle this question between us, Mr. President."
"Agreed, Madam Chairman," Turner said. "The next question is, Where will the corporation be located? Your proposal specifies Earth currently."
"Because Earth is unique, and no other planet is, Mr. President," Desai said.
"Actually, if I might interject, Madam Chairman," Goldberg said. "I think the incorporation should be on Earth, for benefit of established Earth law and precedent, which favor a corporation of this type. Particularly the question of whether by-laws can be immutable. We can handle that within our current established law, which has already been upheld by the courts. But the location of the facilities need not be on Earth. This, too, is established law here. There must be an agent on Earth, but nothing more. So this is actually two questions."
"And the answer to the first question is it should be incorporated on Earth," Turner said.
Both Goldberg and Harrigan nodded.
"The meetings of the electors and board members can be on Earth as well. Probably should be on Earth," Goldberg said.
"All right. The answer to the other question is then more up in the air. Let's push that to the end as well," Turner said.
The list on the display kept shifting as people spoke, and as Murphy kept updating the working copy shown on the display.
"The next three all sort of run together, I think," Desai said. "When will the other shares be issued, when is the first meeting of the electors to elect the board, and who calls and hosts that meeting?"
"Clearly the shares can't issue until after the corporation papers are on file and accepted by the State Department, Madam Chairman," Goldberg said. "After that, the shares can be issued and the meeting called at any time. As there are three electors per planet, I think the easiest thing is to issue three shares per planet. Then it is actually nothing more than a shareholders meeting under the law. People representing fractional shares doesn't work as well."
"And who calls the meeting?" Desai asked.
"I think it should be multiple people, Madam Chairman, to show it is a multi-system effort. I would propose you, myself, a couple heads of state from the Outer
Colonies, and a couple heads of state from the New Colonies," Turner said.
"From the Outer Colonies, I would suggest President Harold Anderson of Paradiso and President Pavel Ustinov of Tenerife. From the New Colonies, how about one from ours and one from yours, Mr. President? From ours, Mayor Mark Lieber of Horizon would be a good choice," Desai said.
That surprised Jan. She didn't know Desai was keeping such close watch on the New Colonies effort as to be able to name individuals.
"On our side, I think Governor Maureen McClintock from New Earth would be a good choice," Turner said.
Turner looked back at the display. The remaining items were, Who files the incorporation papers, Who is the interim head of the organization, and Where is the organization located? Turner looked at his watch.
"Let's take a break here, and come back to the remaining questions after the break," Turner said.
"Agreed," Desai said and stood up.
Everyone went next door to the dining room for refreshments and snacks. As they were queuing through the door, Jan pulled Durand aside.
"I think we both know the planet that would be the perfect place to locate this organization. The organization's whole existence is predicated on the existence of a technology. Put it where the technology is," Jan said.
Durand's eyes widened in recognition.
"That might take some convincing," Durand said.
"Or not. We won't know until we ask."
"True. How about you and I take that assignment and leave it at that until we check."
"Works for me," Jan said.
After break, they got back together to tackle the last three questions. Turner called everybody to order.
"OK, now on to the last three questions," Turner said.
"A point, Mr. President," Durand said.
"Go ahead, Admiral Durand."
"Admiral Childers and I have some ideas on where the corporation should be located. Given that this question is now divorced from the question of where it is incorporated, we would like to research those ideas a bit more and report back to the participants, or to the chairs."
Turner looked at Desai, who nodded.
"Very well, Admiral Durand. You and Admiral Childers are assigned the question. You can report to the chairs, and we will pass it on to whomever is on the working committee at that time."
"Thank you, Mr. President," Durand said.
"We're moving right along. Two questions left," Turner said.
"A point, Mr. President," Harrigan said.
"Go ahead, Minister Harrigan," Turner said.
"Whoever is going to be the interim head of the organization should probably be the person who files the incorporation papers. Once the papers are filed, there's no way under the by-laws to name an executive without having board elections first," Harrigan said.
"That's actually a very good point," Goldberg said.
"So we arrive at the sixty-four-thousand-credit question. Who is going to head this effort up and assemble all the pieces," Desai said.
"Well, I think there's one obvious choice," Turner said.
People up and down the table turned to look at Jan. She was paralyzed for a moment before she could say anything.
"I can't. An Earth incorporation has to be filed by an Earth citizen. I recall that from the initial research," Jan said.
"True," Harrigan said.
"A point there," Goldberg said. "Admiral Childers actually is an Earth citizen."
"How can that be? I've sworn allegiance to a foreign power and waged war against Earth," Jan said.
"After the War That Didn't Happen, the new government under President Turner acted to correct a problem created by the previous government, which revoked the citizenship of dissidents in order to deny them civil rights. The Citizenship Restoration Act restored citizenship to anyone born on Earth. Were you born on Earth, Admiral Childers?"
"Yes, but–"
"And have you sworn allegiance to a foreign power or waged war against the Earth since President Turner assumed office?"
"No, but–"
"Then you are, under the law, a citizen of Earth, Admiral Childers. Right now, in fact, you have dual citizenship."
"That's a legal sophistry," Jan said.
"Nonetheless," Goldberg said.
"It won't work anyway. There's no way the Outer Colonies will accept me as head of this organization," Jan said.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Admiral Childers. For twenty-five years, the Outer Colonies have been wishing you were on their side. In this setup, you would be," Turner said.
"Madam Chairman?" Jan asked.
"I recall Admiral Jessen was highly recommended as your replacement recently. Is that no longer true, Admiral? Is he not up to the job?" Desai asked.
"No, he's up to the job, but–"
Desai held up her hand.
"Mr. President, I will take this action item. I need to review the impact it might have on our organization and personnel, including a certain reluctant nominee," Desai said.
Turner chuckled.
"Agreed, Madam Chairman. Mr. Murphy, if you could print up the current list with all the assignments and distribute them to everyone, please," Turner said.
"Yes, Sir," Murphy said.
"Next agenda item is private meetings. You all have an hour before dinner to consult with each other on your assignments," Turner said.
At that point, Turner and Desai got up and walked from the room.
Turner and Desai once again sat, alone, in the private sitting room.
"Miriam, I actually don't think Admiral Childers saw that coming," Turner said.
"Well, she should have. Honestly, Jake, Jan Childers is the one person who is respected enough to be unopposed on abilities, and who has the complete confidence of the two organizing governments," Desai said.
"Were those pro forma objections from her, do you think?"
"I don't think so. I think she was surprised, if not shocked. Bill Campbell, on the other hand, was completely unsurprised and more than a little amused by her discomfiture."
"I picked up on that, too. Admiral Durand as well," Turner said.
"Yes, of my little strategic triumvirate, Jan Childers is the one with a big blind spot where she herself is concerned."
"Can you convince her, Miriam?"
"I think so," Desai said. "There are a lot of other things involved, though. She comes as a package deal, with Bill Campbell and the children. So there are those considerations as well. What does he do if she retires from the CSF to take this position, how will moving and changing schools affect the children, all of those sorts of things. And she's just now started to think about it. Plus, those things are tied into where the operational location of the corporation is."
"I can see that. Durand and Childers looked like they had some idea where it should be located, they just needed to do some checking. What are they thinking?"
"I have no clue. As a political position that can be replaced at any time through the normal mechanisms of politics, the chairman is not privy to everything known by the professional staff. Nor should I be."
"Well, I'll be looking forward to their recommendation," Turner said.
"I as well."
"On to the bigger picture. I think today is going very well. There were no operational questions. You know, can we even do this? Protect every human planet from incursion? Ship all the freight? Provide respected and secure mail to everyone, literally everyone, in the galaxy? You would think those would be the hard questions."
"We're in a good position for now. What the organization does once the technology is replicated, what it does once people understand its strategy and plot against it, are questions for the future. Which is all the more reason to put Jan Childers in charge," Desai said.
"Agreed."
They looked out the window at the view, watched the boats on the Hudson River, both those crossing the river and those running its length. It was Turner who broke the silence.
"We're quickly coming to the one big question. Should we do this, Miriam?" Turner asked.
"And the subordinate question. Can we sell it to our legislatures? There is the issue of the equipment transfers and funding. We can't hand-wave our way around those like we did with the colonies agreement."
"I think I can, particularly if Jan Childers heads the organization. She's something of a hero here. Hometown girl makes good, comes back home to save the planet from itself. And you?"
"I think I can as well," Desai said. "As you say, particularly if Jan Childers heads the organization. For us, it's the starving immigrant defends her new nation story. Everybody loves that one. So we're back to your big question. What do you think, Jake? Should we do this?"
"Miriam, I think we'd be crazy not to. We have a chance – this one chance – to remake the future. I think we should take it. And you?"
"I keep trying to find the hidden flaw, and I can't. I think at some point you get to where you have to stop analyzing it, and just do it."
"Then we're agreed," Turner said.
"Yes, we are. Let's go make it happen."
"That whole thing about me being an Earth citizen is nonsense," Jan told Durand.
"Perhaps so. The law is always an approximation that sometimes fails in specific cases. But you should never turn down the occasional error in your favor. It gives us an option we didn't think we had," Durand said.
"But I'm happy where I am."
"Sure you are. Now. But when Desai starts downsizing the Navy because of Galactic Mail, will you be happy then? Where will all the challenges be then? And what's the career path for Jessen and Ming with you camped out in the CNO's office?"
"But what about Bill?" Jan asked.
"I was watching his face when they tried to shanghai you. He looked to be pretty pleased, actually."
"Yeah, but where does his career path fit in? And where does that leave you?"
"First question: I don't know. Second question: I hate to lose him, but I'll manage. Jan, you need to be the person that does this. You understand the long-term goals. The people who do is a very short list."
Jan watched the other people in the room for several minutes.
CHILDERS_Absurd Proposals Page 23
