Trade World Saga

by Ken Pence

  The laser installations were going slower than expected because the ES ship power supplies were ancient and they had to be upgraded. Luckily, we had plenty of the duplicate power supplies – they were the first manufactured items the Earth research groups had built. Earth power systems were much smaller, more reliable, and had three times the output of the older systems. The engineers on the ES ships were not going to let the new systems get hooked up until their captain explained that the old system would be their redundant backup should the new system fail. Lucky the newer systems were tiny compared to the old.

  The lasers required heavier cabling and a gas dynamic lasing component with heavy cooling. Tuning them was difficult until the ES people realized that these weapons would penetrate better using variable frequencies. They had been totally won over when the lasers were test fired away from the city and they saw the difference.

  It took two weeks to retrofit the six lasers on the smaller ES ships and the 12 on the cruiser.

  The missiles were going nowhere until a local supplier found a shop that could manufacture the cylindrical body to precision. Field neutralizers were available and the Exploration Service had a design. We had 120 made for the price of ten once Captain Umma started haggling – he was awesome. We used some Ultrex shaped charges we had for the warhead and used some surplus MemDexs for the brains. The missiles would be smart. Shuma used extra suit field projectors for the controls and drives. The field projectors were spare parts but we didn’t need them because the things never broke down. The whole design came together and we had a missile that would go 0.25C, hit an enemy shield, neutralize one shield area, penetrate and explode.

  We tested two and looked for vulnerabilities. The missile was vulnerable while being deployed and in the second or so matching shield frequencies. They did blow respectable crevices in our heavily shielded targets. Tod had mentioned making this type of weapon and the explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) would punch through layers of hull.

  We mounted the darn things in racks of five each that could be swung out from any quadrant of a ship so each ship had thirty. We couldn’t imagine using one but – hey – Castellano thought – if you wish for peace be ready for war. He started to wish those bad guys he had heard about last month would come around but he knew his grandfather would have said: Be careful what you wish for…you may get it.

  ***

  Shuma approached Lieutenant Commander. “You may be missing an advantage. I have been examining your computer systems.”

  “Yes,” Castellano said realizing this Bellatrix scientist always had useful ideas. “What are we missing?”

  “You have to be stopped in space to use your lasers effectively do you not? Your enemy must also be stopped.”

  “Yes that’s right,” Castellano answered. “We don’t get instant penetration. We had tried explosive-pumped x-ray lasers at one time but we never got them working. Do you have a way we can get instant penetration?”

  “No. That is interesting. I had never thought of a bomb-pumped x-ray laser…” Shuma said and paused while he absorbed the idea. “No. There is a way we can use our current lasers in a new way.”

  “Go ahead,” Will said, intrigued.

  “We can slave the targeting controllers together to several laser projectors so they target the same points on a moving target from a moving ship. It would double or triple the energy against their target. I could also slave several ships together if the ES commanders were willing,” Shuma said.

  “That is so simple,” Castellano said and saw Shuma take on a dejected expression. “No, no,” Castellano corrected. “It is a brilliant idea. I do not see how we missed the obvious. I do not think the ES ships will let us do much more. They almost rebelled when we upgraded their power units with the new designs but they might…if you could program the Osprey and train our people first…we could do another demo for the ES. They would see the benefit. When can you start?” he asked.

  Shuma looked uncomfortable. “I already wrote the programs – I wanted to test them on the ship and work out the problems first. It is a matter of calibrating the projector turret latency.”

  “As fast as you can,” Castellano said thinking about the local that had had his skin flayed by the criminal interrogators. We better be prepared. “How long will it take?”

  “I do not know. Can you give me tech support?” Shuma asked.

  “Anything you need,” Castellano said hoping they would have the time they needed.

  ***

  Donald Beasley contacted Castellano, who was off-planet, in the Osprey. “How are the preparations coming?” he asked.

  “Fine ambassador,” Will said. “Ships are about as stout as we can make them without building more. We don’t have time for that.”

  “How are your plans coming for defense of the embassy?” he asked.

  Will Castellano paused. As a naval officer he understood naval conflict and had been trained on theories of space battle but the defense of land based strong points had never been his forte. “We are about to test a new laser targeting system up here. As soon as we finish this test, I will have my development team finish our installations at the Embassy. Is that acceptable?”

  “Sounds good, Commander. Let me know how my people can help? Beasley out.”

  Castellano signed off and cursed his nearsightedness. He didn’t want to tell Beasley that his development team was one Bellatrix scientist and a tech. He turned to his senior chief and told him to contact the master sergeant at the embassy and have him profile their possible defenses. He then turned back to Shuma who was about to run their first laser targeting test at some nickel-iron asteroids – having run out of target drones. “Whenever you are ready,” Castellano said.

  “Firing,” Shuma said while they observed the target on their displays. The focal point came nowhere close to the asteroid. “Adjust one variable Oakley. Fire.”

  This focal point was even more off target. “Adjust one variable at a time Mister Oakley. Acknowledge.”

  “Yes sir @@$%%(^*,” Oakley said using colorful metaphors. There was a short pause and Oakley came back with, “Ready.”

  “Firing,” said Shuma. This time the focal point was in line with the target. “Align the other plane.”

  “Sir,” Oakley said as some more cursing and clanking sounds came through. “Ready.”

  “Firing,” said Shuma and the scintillating flash of a hit appeared in their displays. “Good Oakley. Now let’s work on turret two.”

  Twenty minutes later, Oakley had sighted in the second turret.

  “Now we will try them together on a faster target. Can you pick one?”

  “Targeted,” Oakley said.

  “Firing,” Shuma indicated and the focal point was directly on the small asteroid, which shown briefly and then flew apart. “Very good, Oakley. Now we will try moving in the opposite direction. Let me know when you are ready to pick targets.” Shuma said with the Osprey moving at about 12 kps.

  “Ready,” Oakley said.

  “Firing,” Shuma said and again there was some latency caused from the mechanisms more than the computer lag time.

  It took another six hours before they had coordinated the other four lasers. They could control three at a time because of the way they were mounted. It wasn’t an ideal arrangement but it was a heck of a lot more powerful than before. Castellano was pleased though Shuma kept thinking up new improvements.

  Castellano had to sidetrack Shuma from trying new improvements. “A decent weapon now is better than a perfect weapon too late.”

  Shuma thought Castellano’s paraphrase was brilliant and Will wasn’t about to try to dissuade him about that. Will also told Shuma he wanted him to think up defenses for the embassy. Shuma quickly pulled up aerial views of the embassy and started making notations on his touchpad that had become his constant companion.

  ***

  The report from the master sergeant was grim. They had suits and standard carry weapons but nothing crew
served that could touch an airborne attack or a large ground attack. They hardly had enough crew to man the Osprey, much less defend the embassy. They did have a fairly powerful laser and molecular disruptor on the Shuttle – Albert. Castellano assigned Shuma to search through all their Earth literature and anything he might come up with to protect them from space based attacks by molecular disruptor, kinetic weapons and lasers. Castellano took a couple of Marines with him and headed over to the Eugene Hotel to talk with Eugene Bradley Phillips. Will hated that old bastard – excuse me – young looking bastard but Phillips always seemed to have resources and sources unavailable elsewhere.

  Phillips was walking out to greet them as they just entered the lobby.

  Boy, this guy must have this place wired to greet us so soon, Will thought.

  “Commander Castellano, how nice to see you,” Phillips said. “Would you like to talk in my office? It will be more private. Do you want your men with you? I don’t bite,” he said.

  “You men get comfortable out here,” Will said in a way that meant they better be on their toes and watch his back.

  Phillips motioned to the front desk with his hand and an employee came over to see if the men wanted anything. “Right this way, Commander,” Phillips said while escorting Will back to his lavish office and past his receptionist who was a looker on any planet.

  “So. You are here about the Allung Brotherhood. I expected you sooner,” Phillips said.

  “The who…” said Will.

  “I thought you knew since you’ve been so busy preparing,” Phillips quipped.

  “We didn’t know their name but they are bad actors and apparently have a reputation for following up their threats.”

  “Let me fill you in commander. I was going to contact you if you hadn’t contacted me. A team for the Allung Brotherhood came to Bellatrix to find out about Earth. They bought Earth technology, stole some, killed four natives that I know about,” Phillips said.

  “We only knew about the one they tortured,”

  Castellano said as Phillips went into more detail.

  “They killed two during the thefts when they did not know how to get more items and the third was a delivery person to the embassy. He was apparently questioned about details on embassy staffing and security. The fourth was a worker at your dock where you fitted out the Osprey.”

  “That clears up a lot,” Castellano said. “What are they after?”

  “Ah…the question,” Phillips leaned back. “My sources say that these beings move into an area with a lot of muscle and demand constant tribute. They are the interstellar protection racket. The authorities, typically the ES, have to look the other way because they aren’t strong enough to stop them. They come in with overwhelming force – based on their scouting of the area and destroy anyone who opposes them. They destroy the businesses of any competition. They stay in force ‘til resistance stops and then leave an occupying force. They enslave any scientists or tech help they want. They enslave many others for unknown reasons.”

  “Did you get a feel for when they’ll be back and in what force?” Castellano asked.

  “I expect them back any time. I don’t know what force they’ll bring with them but it will be designed to overwhelm and capture the entire Earth contingent. I hope you and the Exploration Service will be able to stop the space assault. I have been training my security forces in irregular warfare,” Phillips said as he leaned forward on his desk.

  “You’re kidding,” Castellano said.

  “No. I’m an old man though I look young. I read all the time and have seen decades of wars on Earth. I know how to make improvised explosives. I was into chemistry as a kid and there are no regulations here to control any of the chemicals. They are going to run into IEDs and equivalents of RPGs.”

  Castellano laughed. “You are teaching these people how to make improvised explosives devices and rocket propelled grenades?”

  “We have caches of weapons and explosives all over the area. I have extras but I need some protection from space-based attacks. I’ve trained my security staff to work in cells so no one knows too many others,” Phillips said and pulled out a bottle of Earth sherry. “Rare dry Amontillado if I’m correct,” and poured two glasses of the beautiful amber liquid.

  “How did you know? Hell – I don’t want to know,”

  Castellano reached over and accepted the glass. He took a sip. “Umm, thank you. I can see how you made your money. We need the explosives and RPGs. I’ll send over a vehicle and a team to retrieve them. Just tell me where. I know you have a field generator that will protect a block but I don’t have a defense for space borne lasers yet – working on it,” Castellano said.

  “I see you have intelligence sources too,” Phillips said laughing.

  “Not as extensive as yours…” Castellano said. “We’ve made enhancements that may give us a chance but I won’t say more as it doesn’t help. Would ten sets of encrypted comm gear help you coordinate? They are powerful and small.”

  “That would help a lot. Let me know if you come up with a defense for the lasers. You can’t move a building out of the line of fire.”

  “Heard that…” Castellano agreed, finished his drink and walked out. “Sergeant, get a utility vehicle over here and pick up a load of explosives and RPGs.”

  “Explosives,” the sergeant said incredulous.

  “…and RPGs,” Castellano replied.

  “No shit, pardon me sir,” said the sergeant.

  “See Mister Phillips here,” said Castellano.

  “Utility vehicle. Right away sir,” the sergeant replied and looked over at Phillips with a lot more respect than he had thirty minutes prior.

  Self Correcting Error

  Shuma approached Will. “I have been thinking about kinetic and laser defense. Your literature discusses liquid armor and armor made of silica. The silica is suspended in a low viscosity fluid with a small percentage of sulficant to keep the particles separated. A sharp kinetic strike will force the particles together and distribute the force. I thought about this and came to the conclusion that we could produce a liquid shield.”

  “That is a lot of thinking Shuma. We used to make bullet resistant vests with liquid layers but not against lasers,” Castellano said.

  “My replicator can produce crystals in nearly unlimited quantities. I can produce nearly any crystal now: aluminum oxide with chromium or beryl and vanadium. I was experimenting with more complex molecules and these two were not difficult to synthesize.”

  “Shuma, you can make rubies and emeralds?” Castellano asked.

  “Essentially. We could make a slurry of these with silica and suspend it in a shield to defend against kinetic and laser weapons,” Shuma said.

  “How can we make a shield though? How would it work? Would it work?” Will asked.

  “The math says it would disperse even multiple hits on the same spot. We can make it. We use the pressor beam that lessens gravity on the side where the beam hits but disperse the field. That pushes matter away. We pump the silica fluid up and let it spread over the surface of the field and collect any from the bottom and recycle it,” Shuma said.

  “Would it not spread unevenly and leave areas unprotected?” Will asked.

  “A major problem I considered but I worked out a solution. We use sulficants and a static charge to separate the particles evenly. Pouring a statically charged, dark powder onto the surface of a liquid shows how it works. The powder spreads out as soon as it hits the surface of the fluid,” he said.

  Castellano was dubious. “I do not think it will work.”

  “I have a working model, Will,” Shuma said using Commander Castellano’s first name for the first time.

  Castellano was surprised but smiled and said, “Let me see.”

  They walked to a lab off the embassy courtyard. The scientist gave the lieutenant commander a set of goggles and put a pair on himself.

  “You could not have done this in two days,” Will said.
<
br />   “I used a small time acceleration field. It took half a day to produce the time distortion field like you have on your planet. The information was in the Osprey computer. I worked almost a month and a half on this project – plus the crystal and silica production. I have been working around you humans too long. I am picking up bad habits,” Shuma said then turned and jabbed a button. “Firing.”

  A bright patch lit up on a small, glowing dome as a laser fired.

  “How long can the field resist?” Will asked.

  “This laser and field would be the equivalent of two of our new ship lasers aiming at the same point on the embassy field. The energy is reflected outward through the fluid – like fiber optics, but with the ability to withstand much more energy. It would take many, many hits to do anything. A small amount of fluid vaporizes on contact with the beam but that too disperses and dissipates energy.”

  “You are awesome,” Will said.

  “I am realizing that but you beings have so many nice gadgets.”

  “Where did you learn that word?” Will asked.

  “Oakley. He helped me assemble equipment.”

  “I should have known. You will pick up bad habits from him,” Will said and shifting to a serious note, “Begin the embassy installation as soon as you can.”

  “It really should not take long. The hard part is manufacturing the fluid, figuring out percentages of chemicals, and how to collect the fluid around the base before recycling it. The pressor is one of our two spares and they never break.”

  “Great. Make enough fluid for a field over the block with the Eugene Hotel. They have a field generator. Have local shops make the collection trough for the bottom and use the other pressor unit there. Show them how to do it. Use Oakley to make the fluid if you can automate the production somewhat and do it within your time field so we can get it installed this week…embassy first of course,” Will stated.