by Cliff Deane
“Sir,” asked Flynn, “am I correct in thinking that you didn’t want to take the other Captain’s and XOs was to make sure that Volodin couldn’t cut off the head of our command structure?”
Sky King smiled and said, “Why, gee, I never thought of that.”
Captain Flynn began laughing and said, “Liar, uh, sir.”
23 October 2116
On Station aboard RSN Soyuz
70,000 miles Portside of Holly Thorne
Admiral Volodin and his staff were waiting just inside the landing bay. “Welcome, Admiral King and the lovely Captain Flynn. I am thrilled to have you aboard,” said Volodin as he and his smiling staff shook hands with the two Americans.
Volodin led the way to the Admiral’s Dining Room on D Deck. The Dining Facility was arranged for a formal Dining-In of Officers of the SRI-F Naval Services.
Upon King’s arrival, Admiral Volodin introduced the USSDF contingent, before handing each a one ounce shot of vodka. This proved to be the first of many. Both Sky and Flynn were glad they had taken the alcohol neutralizing capsule before departing the Leyte Gulf. The recipe of that simple capsule remained one of the great secrets of the United States. It was also only issued to senior officials when dealing with the SRI-F, especially the Russians. An interesting effect of the capsule was that it gave the indication of being mildly “buzzed.”
Following twenty minutes of mingling with the SRI-F Officers, the dinner bell pinged softly. This alerted everyone to take their seats, and at 1900 hours the first of several courses were served. The initial course was the old Russian staple of a small bowl of hot Borsht, a somewhat bitter soup made primarily with beets, meat, and potatoes.
To cleanse the palate, a small Blini or Russian pancake was served, topped with black sturgeon caviar.
This was followed by a salad called shuba, which covers salted herring with layers of grated boiled vegetables, beets, onions and mayonnaise.
This led to the main course of Beef Stroganoff enhanced with Russian sour cream, a variety of mushrooms, and interesting variations of hunting/game meats.
Dessert was a simple honey cake. This delightful dish, the medovik, involves alternating ultra-thin layers of honey infused sponge cake and served with sweetened Russian sour cream.
The drink accompanying the dinner was a tea, or medovukha, a sweet drink made with fermented-honey, and kvass.
Both Americans were highly impressed with the fine meal, and so complimented Admiral Volodin.
“Admiral Volodin,” offered Sky King, “this incredible repast has far exceeded anything we might be able to produce aboard an SDF ship. My earnest compliments, sir.”
Volodin smile seemed to light up the room at what he was sure were the heartfelt accolades of his SDF guests.
“Sky, oh, please, may I call you Sky?”
“Of course, my friend,” said Sky King, “I would be honored.”
“Wonderful,” bellowed Volodin, and you must call me Nico (Neeko).”
The festivities continued with the normal slate of Russian dancers. By the end of the party, Sky was surprised Volodin hadn’t managed to come up with a Russian Dancing Bear.
At precisely 2200 hours, Volodin left the festive atmosphere with the pronouncement that he and his new friend Sky King must retire to his Ready Room for a discussion of somewhat more formal matters. Nico and Sky departed and soon arrived at the Admiral’s Ready Room.
Admiral King noticed that the metal flooring of the SRI-F Cruiser was not covered in the rubberized, and far more quiet flooring of SDF ships. The soothing colors covering the passageways of the SDF ships were also missing as the RSN preferred the battleship gray coloring.
Once in Nico’s office, he immediately poured two shots of vodka, then placed the bottle on the table, between them.
“Salut, to the making of new friends, and peace throughout the galaxy.”
King, of course, had to offer a counter toast before any serious talks could begin. He said, “To the end of strife between our governments. Let us be the catalyst for such a movement.”
Both men laughed heartily before Admiral Volodin said, “Admiral King, I thank you for the impressive report prepared for us demonstrating your success in moving this comet. This is a milestone in Earth’s history, and I am saddened that the Russian Federation has been unable to assist in this endeavor.”
“My friend,” said King, while trying to maintain a comradely tone to the meeting, “I completely agree, and I would like to offer this small gift to you. If you are willing, I would be amenable to allow a three-man team, plus yourself aboard the Leyte Gulf. You and your team would be allowed to participate in the operation of one of our one-thousand kWh laser generators during its firing on Holly Thorne.
“In this way, it can be recorded that the RSN did, in fact, have at least a small part in the operation. I believe history will remember this bit of cooperation very well.”
For the first time, King realized that Volodin was not only surprised, but moved by this gesture. He was most pleased with the offer.
“I, I don’t really know what to say. Of course, I accept, but I must tell you that I would have never considered, for even a second, such a thoughtful gesture on the part of the SDF. Is this offer from you, or from your government?”
“It is from me. I will not discuss it with my government until after the deed is done.”
Volodin was, yet again, caught somewhat off balance with this surprising turn of events. He asked, “Will you not be in trouble for such an independent action?”
“Possibly,” replied King, “but what can they do, retire me?”
Volodin lowered his head and shook it several times before leveling his eyes on his American counterpart. “Amazing, if I were to do such a thing, the RSN High Command would have me thrown into a Siberian Gulag or spaced. Is what you have just told me the truth?”
“Yes, Nico, you and I come from totally different worlds. That is a truism that saddens me deeply.”
Nico quickly turned the conversation in several new directions.
Once the SDF Officers had returned to their Shuttle Craft, Nico thought, yes, Sky, different worlds indeed. I will be saddened to be the cause of your end, but I have my duty…
24 October 2116
Admiral’s Conference Room
On Station aboard Leyte Gulf
70,000 miles Portside of Holly Thorne
Vice Admiral Perry and Sky King discussed the previous evening’s festivities.
King said to his superior, “Sir, I must say that Admiral Volodin is far more congenial and likable than his predecessor, the late Admiral Petrov. He is a magnificent host and puts on a fabulous dinner. He is obviously well educated and culturally refined. His Officers appear to respect and probably fear him. After all, he did Space an Admiral of the Russian Space Navy. That alone gives him lots of street cred.
“His appearance would make an excellent recruitment poster. He is handsome, fit, always composed, and certainly politically savvy. The man-made significant efforts to give me the impression that he has no animosity toward the USUG-C. I could have easily believed in his sincerity.
“Dolph, I swear, I believe that Volodin could drink any other human being under the table. Admiral, this man is dangerous, and I must say that I did not believe much of what he said. I am absolutely convinced that when we have completed our mission with Holly Thorne, the SRI-F Fleet will attack us. I’m not sure how he plans to accomplish this, but I have an idea.
“If I was in his position, I would fire nukes at our comet. I would also conjure up the position that SDF claims of success were untrue. During the attack on Holly, I would also launch a few nukes in our direction, probably ten, one for each ship. The claim would be that pieces of comet destroyed our vessels.”
Vice Admiral Perry listened intently and remained silent during Sky’s briefing before saying, “Your brief is certainly thorough and most informative, but do you really think the SRI-F would risk war on a planet-wid
e scale?”
“Dolph, I believe the SRI-F believes they can avoid such a war by utilizing my scenario. Even if they fail, the claim will be that those missiles fired at us was purely accidental. Their apology will be profound. No, sir, I do not think that the SRI-F believes this incident, several hundred million miles from Earth would constitute a USUG-C attack against them.”
“Damn, Sky, I wish I could poke holes in your concept, but the scenario does appear sound. I’ll take it up with President Greene and the COS. Sky, when do you anticipate the earliest completion of Operation Holly Thorne?”
“Sir, we are convinced that we will reach our goal on or about 15 July 2117. I think the real danger from the SRI-F will occur between the 28th of December and the 1st of January 2118.”
Perry said, “Sky, I won’t ask if you have a defensive plan because I know that you do. Please enlighten me.”
Admiral King said, “Our defensive posture will be to begin reducing our assault on Holly Thorne two days before our announced date of 15 July 2017.
“Sir, since our mission began, Holly Thorne has been throwing large chunks of debris in our general direction. Using the mining vessels, we have focused on converting our laser crews from simple techs to precision gunnery crews. This has had good success. I believe that we have an excellent chance of destroying any missiles directed toward either Holly Thorne or us.”
Sky continued saying, “Upon any SRI-F assault against either Holly Thorne or Taffy III, we will immediately turn our one-thousand kWh lasers onto the SRI-F vessels, along with our Phaser Arrays and Railguns. We certainly have the SRI-F Fleet outgunned. If they attack, we will be ready and waiting. Since their attack will come as no surprise, they don’t stand a chance against our firepower.
“Upon our return to Earth, I plan to submit a detailed plan to add these large array lasers to our fleet. I will also outline the training program for gunnery crews.”
“Sky, you have an excellent plan in place, but I must tell you that destroying the SRI-F Fleet without Presidential approval may not be well received. I have a meeting scheduled with the COS today. Maybe we can get in to see the President then.”
“Understood,” said Admiral King, “but, sir, no matter what the eventual fallout is, I will not stand down should the SRI-F initiate an attack against us. I also have live, streaming video arrays up and recording each SRI-F ship, so if they do attack, we will have a video proving their treachery.”
“I understand and unofficially approve of your plan. I’ll be back in touch with you right after my meeting with the President. I feel certain she will approve, but she has to make that call. Keep Taffy III safe, Sky.”
“Yes, sir, I will.”
“I know you will, Sky. Dolph: Out.”
25 October 2116
Presidential Conference Room
White House, Washington DC
The usual suspects of the Operation Holly Thorne Committee, Mr. Gordon Winters, the NASA Chief, Dr. Tyler Deen, CDC, Vice Admiral Adolphus Perry Commander of the US Space Defense Force, General “Triple H” Howard, Chairman of the Joint Chief’s, and Mr. Mack Holland, Chief of Homeland Security milled about the room. They were discussing the destruction of the Chinese Space Cruiser Changsha, and the lack of any response, at all, from the SRI-F. It seemed as though the SRI-F Chairman had elected to ignore the entire issue.
As President Eileen N. Greene entered the room following her Chief of Staff, retired Lieutenant General Harry Wolfe.
“Take your seats, please,” said President Greene, as the group quickly found their seats around the Conference Table.
“All right, gentlemen, let’s get this show on the road. Gordon, what’s new from NASA?”
“Yes, Madame President, thank you. I have just received a report this morning from CIA that they believe the SRI-F has decided that they have no defensible position to blame us for the loss of the Changsha. Therefore, the Intel Community believes that the SRI-F will just ignore the whole situation.
“Our satellite images, which are in your packets, clearly show that the SRI-F Space Force construction sites all seem to indicate vastly speeded up production of new Space Cruisers. I have also noted in the photos, what appear to be new modifications to their vessels. We believe that the SRI-F intends to beef up the armor plating on the hulls, and as you can see, they are adding additional rail-gun blister arrays.
“Additionally, it is clear, from our humint that they have developed a new shielding technology. Madame President, I believe it is time to add this enhancement to our current ships. The secret is apparently out, and if we fail to install this shielding system, our ships will be sitting ducks. We have had the technology for some time but did not wish to install it until the SRI-F developed the technology.”
The President interrupted and asked, “Gordon, I was made aware of this at the morning security brief, but I allowed you to restate it for the rest of the committee. What I should have asked this morning, but didn’t, is; were we aware that our enemies had developed this technology?”
“Ma’am, I do not have that information, and therefore, anything I might offer is pure speculation. Ultimately, no matter how they obtained this technology, they do have it, and we had better install our own version,” replied NASA.
“Admiral Perry, are you prepared to make the appropriate modifications?” asked the President.
“Yes, Madame President, we are able to add the shield generators on station. The generators, themselves are of a relatively compact design. DARPA has assured me that it will take less than a week to complete the shield upgrades.”
“Excellent,” said President Greene, “please proceed with the installations. It is a pity, though, that we will be unable to have them installed on the Holly Thorne Fleet.”
“Yes, Madame President, but neither can our enemies upgrade their vessels opposing Taffy III,” added the Chief of Staff.
Greene smiled and thanked NASA for an excellent briefing. She then turned her attention to Dr. Tyler Deen, the CDC Director. “Dr. Deen, are your plans in place, and prepped for the possible pandemic headed our way?”
“Yes, Madame President, we have ultra-hardened our level 5 facilities. The proposed staff have all been notified and have agreed to the assignment. I have also maintained regular contact with Fort Detrick. The Army Corps of Engineers has also added significant landline communications should the normal forms of commo fail. I am confident that our preparations will be completed before Holly Thorne reaches us in only seventeen months.”
“Thank you, Doctor, please keep the COS up to date on each phase of your mission preps.”
“Of course, Madame President.”
“Admiral Perry,” said President Greene to Vice Admiral Adolphus Perry the Commander of the US Space Defense Force, “What have you to report to us on this day? Good news, I hope?”
“Madame President, as always seems to be the case, I bear both good and not so good news. In case anyone here is unaware of the latest developments in Operation HT; Admiral Petrov reportedly suffered a massive stroke while in conference with the Senior Captain of the SRI-F Fleet, Captain (P) Nicolay Volodin.
“We believe, however, that upon Petrov’s arrival aboard the RSN Soyuz, he was immediately taken into custody and executed by being sucked out of an air-lock. Captain Volodin was, some seventy-minutes later promoted to the rank of Admiral and given command of the SRI-F Fleet.
“Admiral King and Captain Jessica Flynn, Commander of the SDF Cruiser Leyte Gulf, were invited to attend a promotion party for Admiral Nicolay Volodin, who replaced the late Admiral Petrov. Admiral King reported that Volodin is quite the engaging man. His photo and bona-fides are in your packets.
“Following the party, Admiral King reported that he is convinced that the new SRI-F Admiral will declare that Operation Holly Thorne has failed and then he will launch nuclear missiles at the comet and at Taffy III to reduce our Space Combat Force by 70%. If Volodin is successful, he will claim that Taffy III was destroye
d by cometary fragments.”
President Greene interrupted and asked, “Admiral, do you believe that this Volodin character is capable of pulling off this Act of War against the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany?”
“No, ma’am, I believe that Admiral King is well prepared for just such a maneuver from the SRI-F Fleet. One of Admiral King’s fleet adjustments has been to train the Laser Technicians to be top notch Gunnery Crews.
“His plan is to vastly reduce the laser firings against Holly Thorne, and re-aim them at the SRI-F Vessels. Their mission is two-fold; first to destroy the enemy fleet, then engage the slower moving nuclear missiles. A 1,000-kWh laser generated beam will slice through the enemy ships with incredible ease. This coupled with the simple fact that lasers are a form of light. Their bursts will reach their targets in less than one second.
“Admiral King’s plan to defend the comet and his Taffy III fleet is sound. Madame President I hope that you will approve this scenario as King proposes. If he must wait for your approval, Taffy III will be destroyed, and Holly Thorne will become Mount Everest sized rocks which could strike both the Earth and Luna.
“Ma’am, no matter whether you approve King’s plan or not, I do not, for one second, believe that he will allow his command and Holly Thorne to be destroyed. He will, like the great commander and tactician that he is, destroy his attacker. I not only support his plan, but I also will not attempt to dissuade him from acting on behalf of his fleet.”
President Greene took her famous position of placing her steepled fingers in front of her mouth and tapping the two index fingers as she considered the dilemma before her. After a few seconds, Greene said, “Admiral Perry, I approve of Admiral King’s plan, and I want that decision to be plain to each of you around this table. Is there any discussion on this issue?”
Greene looked around the table and into the eyes of each member of the Holly Thorne Committee. The Chief of Staff turned his eyes to the President and said, “Madame President, your decision is sound. My only comment is to suggest that the USUG-Confederation put out a media blitz on the success of Operation HT. I suggest we get the PR Office on board immediately following this meeting. We must try to keep the SRI-F off balance. I also agree with Admiral Perry, in that the SRI-F Fleet will attack as soon as the mission is complete. May I bring the PR Office on board?”
