“In the final analysis, one can’t have too many friends and Irapce considers Mantis and her crew that.”
“… and we you. Now, tell us what you’d like us to do at the Academy.”
“Well, Ximon, we would like you, Elsbeth, Shao, and Raiza to give the presentations you gave when you were last here. It’s a new group of students, after all.” He then leaned in and whispered, “I do also have some other matters to discuss with you in private.” He then said more loudly, for the larger audience, “… and I do want you to sit in on a panel discussion we’re having in two days on starship operations.”
Ximon nodded and looked keenly at him. “We’ve got all those discussions ready and will happily assist however we can.”
Things devolved to general, benign conversation after that and they established that Elsbeth, assisted by Peter, would give the first presentation that afternoon. Ximon, Raiza, and Shao would each talk the next day. The panel discussion would be the day after that.
After brunch they went back to the villa and relaxed. When Elsbeth got picked up, Peter, Ximon, Raiza, Mantis, and Euclidia went with her. Silas and Shao disappeared to the beach. Elsbeth’s presentation went well and the audience seemed receptive, though their technology was different enough that she had to ‘dumb it down’ in parts and the audience had to take some of it ‘with a grain of salt.’
The crew got some food to eat in the villa, but Kanebti had also arranged for them to eat at the Base club which was just a kilometer from their villa. It was an old building with fading appointments, but a lot of history. The food was all Irapce standard fare, but there were enough options that everyone could find something they liked.
Ximon received a message asking him to join Kanebti at his office after dinner. A car would pick him up. Ximon readily agreed, though he was a little confused as to what Kanebti might want to discuss.
Kanebti’s office was nice, though not huge. It had what looked like wood paneling in a medium brown, maroon furnishing, and a good-sized desk. They sat at a small conference table in front of the desk and Kanebti offered Ximon a drink of Kava, a local alcohol made from an apple-like fruit. Ximon readily accepted, though he found it a bit oversweet.
Ximon started. “Major, I must say I can’t think what you’d want to discuss with me in such a setting.”
“Ximon, please call me Khalid. Certainly, we know each other well enough for that. I’ve got a couple issues to discuss. On one I’d simply like your professional opinion. On the other, I’d like your personal opinion and I’d like to avoid the oversight of officials, ours or yours. You understand, I’m sure, and I assume I can trust your discretion.”
“Certainly. Whatever I can reasonably do to help. As you say, one can never have too many friends.”
Kanebti smiled. “Very well. Let me lay out the first issue.”
He explained that they had been having increasing problems with what he called pirates. A ship would jump into system, lie in wait for a few days, attack something, and then jump out of the system as the ships of the System Guard approached. Since the pirates had jump drives and almost no Irapce ships did, there was no way they could follow.
“So, how do we combat such a thing?”
Ximon thought for a minute and studied Kanebti’s dark, hawk-like face as he spoke. “Well, I assume you know the answer. If I can use an old analogy, it’s a bit like infantry trying to chase cavalry – they have a speed advantage so chasing them down only works if they make a mistake. So, then your other option is to protect the main targets they might go after, either to deter them or to give battle on your terms. You could use a mix of fixed defenses, as well as ships stationed near key points. Of course, that means you either have to read their minds or protect everything of importance, which you likely don’t have the resources for.”
“You are correct. We try to protect key points, but we can’t protect all the ships in between or some points that are less important and which we can’t spare resources to protect. It’s a strategy with limits.”
“As I would assume. The other option is to attack their supply line. Virtually any ship jumping into the system will have to refuel before they can jump away. So, they either have to come here to buy fuel, get fuel from some other base, skim one of your gas giants, or skim a body of water. If I recall correctly, the only large, unfrozen water is on this planet, so I assume that’s out. Likewise, I assume you don’t let them openly buy fuel. That leaves the gas giants or fuel from another base. You can try to monitor whether anyone one is illegally selling them fuel, but the gas giants are the bigger problem. Your best bet is probably to patrol there – ships, sensors, and such. Gas giants are large things to protect, but you can probably initially concentrate on the nearer gas giant and just have sensors in between because I don’t think you have too much of interest out past the farther gas giant. But, tell me, why are you particularly interested in this problem?”
“I’m interested from two angles. First, I sit on a council that is looking at dealing with this problem. Second, I am heavily involved in planning exercises and training events and I want to ensure we’re dealing with this realistically. Your thoughts are largely in accordance with mine, though I’m not sure we’ve fully considered this idea of illegally buying fuel. It’s hard to believe that anyone would help pirates thus.”
Ximon just shrugged, knowing that it was, sadly, all too likely that someone would help pirates thus if the price was right.
So, they discussed various ways that such an illicit fuel supply might work, from remote bases to fuel ships to leaving bladders of fuel at desolate points.
When they wound down, Ximon was still a bit confused. “But certainly, the KSF temporary base would be willing to help with this problem. Why not use them?”
“We will try to do so. That’s actually a third angle for me – I’m on a panel discussing how to work with the KSF and Republic in general. But I wanted to validate my ideas before bringing them up there.”
“You must be very busy and very important, being involved with all these councils and panels.”
Kanebti laughed. “Sometimes, but rather than being important, our leadership just assumes that those of us in academia have plenty of spare time to be part of such discussions. They probably rightly assume that we like to hear ourselves speak. To make matters worse, I published a couple of articles on working with you and with the Republic in the future, so I was branded an ‘expert’ or, perhaps, a heretic.”
“I can easily believe that. Well, I hope that helps.”
Kanebti smiled. “It does, it will help me in all those angles. However, that’s not the only issue I wanted to discuss with you. The next issue could be considered politically sensitive and I’d really appreciate your discretion and candid thoughts. I won’t ask you to be disloyal.”
Ximon was a bit hesitant. He didn’t want to overstep his bounds or cause problems for Cochran’s mission. “I’ll do what I can, but I may have to be careful, depending on the focus.”
Kanebti poured more Kava and motioned Ximon to continue. “It’s nothing dangerous or classified or anything. I just want to understand the mindset of the Republic from an informed, but unofficial angle.”
“Well, I’m about as unofficial as you can get.”
Kanebti smiled at that. “As I said, I’m on this panel working with the KSF and the Republic. My previous interactions and publications give me weight beyond my rank. So, we’re discussing how to best work with the current KSF mission and how to work with the Republic in the future. A lot of that is purely political, but I’m still on the fringes of that.” He thought for a moment and then went on. “So, my real questions to you are: One, what do you think the Republic truly wants to accomplish with a base here? Why do they want it? What do they want from us? Two, what can we reasonably ask of them in return? How can we best use Republic technology or equipment to strengthen our system defense?”
“Wow! Those are not small questions and I’m not sure
I’m well-suited to answer. I can only give you my thoughts. They’re completely unofficial, and they may not be worth the cost of the Kava.”
“Your personal thoughts are exactly what I’m looking for. I assure you that I won’t quote you or attribute them to you unless you ask me to.”
“Ok, then here we go. As best I can guess, the Republic wants a base in this area to support their other operations – primarily Scout missions – in this sector and beyond – a place they can refuel, repair, and relax. They’d also like to establish trade as much as is beneficial and cultivate potential allies for down the road. I’m sure they’d also like your insights on the area and on other potential powers close by. But I think they’d be happy with any combination of those. Basically, as you said, they’d prefer friends in the area, rather than enemies. Again, that’s my speculation, but I can tell you from experience that it was always nice to have a base you could go to if you got into trouble. The other thing I would say is that you can allay any fears about the Republic trying to ‘take over’, make you a colony or whatever. The Republic isn’t too much involved in that game and you’re too far away for them to reach that far. Sure, decades from now they might approach you about becoming a protectorate or a member, but that depends greatly on how things shape up over time.”
Kanebti considered that all silently for a moment, nodding slowly. “Most of that coincides with my thoughts. But to the other question, what should we ask in return?”
“I certainly can’t advise you on negotiating techniques to use on my own government, primarily because I lack the knowledge. But I can tell you this – the value of that base to the Republic, and their willingness to invest, will be based on several things.” He held up and counted off fingers as he spoke. “How permanent that base is, the size or capability it has, its proximity to your home planet, and the trade and relations between you and them. A temporary base like the one now is useful, but it would probably remain a small collection of ships and structures if it’s temporary and that far out. So, if you’re willing to do some kind of long-term lease, say 20 or 50 years, on an area closer to this planet, its value to them will go up and what you can ask for would likely increase. It doesn’t sound like you’d be willing to allow a sizable base on the planet, but you might consider leasing some remote island or area. Similarly, if you could lease them, er, us, a spot on your moon, that would be valuable. If you can’t do that, allowing a base in orbit or at a fixed point relative to your planet that would be only slightly less so. So, I think those things will control the value of the base to the Republic.
“As far as what to ask, I’m sure a lot of that is political – good trade deals, using local labor and shipping, annual fees, that kind of thing. I can’t even speculate there. But, in terms of your technology and System Guard, you could ask for combinations of small things or big things depending on that value. Based on last year’s exercise, I would think you’d want some long-range sensors, perhaps some fixed sites, but also some satellites and ship-based systems. You might also ask for some command and control, missile, or fighter systems. Depending on that value, you could probably ask for some small ships as lease payment. For instance, I’ve heard historical references about old surplus ships being transferred in exchange for land rights on certain possessions. That might be reasonable here. For that temporary base, you might ask for a surplus scout ship or transport per year. For a larger, more permanent base, you might ask for a surplus destroyer and a few smaller ships a year or several ships for a 20-year lease. Again, I’m just speculating.”
Kanebti nodded and motioned for Ximon to continue. “I quite understand. Please, go on.”
“The other thing you might ask for is services and training. Depending on where the base is, the Republic might agree to provide a certain number of patrols at the gas giant or on a certain trade route. They could potentially help cover that gas giant for you. Additionally, you could ask them to provide faculty for your Academy, provide technical assistance, and so forth. If you’re interested, you could ask to send a certain number of your personnel to the Republic each year for training, or to serve in different roles. That’s not an uncommon arrangement.
“One other thing you could consider is an information or intelligence sharing arrangement. You could agree to share information on this system, this sector, or on certain other powers. Certainly, the Republic could share navigational and planetary information. As you know, the Scouts roam around gathering that kind of data for a living. That could be useful if you decide to ‘branch out’ to nearby systems.
“Anyway, that’s what comes to mind. The biggest thing I think your people need to decide is what kind base they’ll agree to. That’ll allow you to then negotiate realistically. If you demand a dreadnaught for this kind of temporary arrangement, that’s not going to happen. On the other hand, if you give a 50-year lease for a large island off your coast, you can ask for a lot more than a few fighters.
“I can’t really guess at what the ‘exchange rate’ for technology or ships to land would be, but I think that’s the key factor. Ultimately, I’d encourage you to convince your government that some kind of base, with appropriate agreements, is in your best interest. I honestly believe that you’ll get some definite benefits from an arrangement with the Republic and there’s little downside. They could help with things like your piracy issue and better equip you to deal with such things. Also, God forbid, someday some unfriendly neighbor might appear on your doorstep and it’d be good to have a friend. I think that’s my two cents’ worth.”
Kanebti pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and then smiled. “I can ask for nothing more. That’s exactly the kind of thinking I wanted to explore. If you knew more, it wouldn’t be fair for me to ask. I’ll certainly consider these thoughts as I put together my ideas for those councils and panels. I appreciate it greatly.”
Kanebti smiled and continued, “I’d also like to extend our hospitality to you. If every six months or year or so, you and your crew want to spend a few days here and teach a few lectures, I’ll be happy for you to do so as long as I’m here and, after that, you might become a fixture.”
“We’ll certainly keep that in mind. We had to come through Irapce anyway, but we really enjoy our time on your planet and base. On most of our planets, if we had a base this nice, the government would consider selling it to a land developer and setting up a base in a far less-desirable area.”
Kanebti laughed. “Luckily, we’re able to argue that there’s too much invested here, that we’re tied to the spaceport, and so on. Ximon, one other thing I’d suggest. While we couldn’t host you here for more than a few days here, I think you’ll find much of the rest of the planet beautiful as well. I’d suggest you come back sometime and spend a month or so visiting different areas.”
Ximon thought about that for a moment and smiled. “We rarely stop long enough to do that, but I’ll definitely give it some thought. I assume visas and such wouldn’t be a problem?”
“Not at all and, if they are, you’ve got friends in government. I’ll put together some ideas on things I think you should visit and send that to you.”
“I’d appreciate that. Maybe that’ll help tempt us enough to break down and do it.”
“Consider it done.”
“Hey, I do have one other question for you about robots. I’ve only seen a couple fairly primitive models here, so it doesn’t look like you use a lot, but I didn’t notice any overt prejudice toward Raiza, Peter, or the others when we were last here. What’s the view on the planet as a whole about them? Would we have issues if we visited other areas, even with a ‘less human’ bot like Euclidia?”
“There’s little opposition to them that I’m aware of. We just haven’t seen the economic value in investing more in them, though that’s been discussed. Some remote areas might fear robots such as Euclidia, but most wouldn’t even consider that Raiza might be one. I can’t see it being much of an issue, at least in the areas I’d suggest.
”
“Glad to hear that. That’s actually one other technology thing you might consider. You could ask for some specialized robots in whatever deal you make. They might help with asteroid mining, operating in dangerous environments, or that kind of thing. If you get a chance, you might talk to the KSF about getting permission to visit a robotic base we have in the Zased System. It’s pretty impressive and the head is a great guy, er, robot. That’d only be two or three jumps away for you.”
“I’ve heard of this base and, frankly, it’s fueled concern about the Republic with some. They fear the Republic is working to surround us and expand here.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. Again, the Republic just wants outposts they can stop at, whether a tiny base there or whatever you might arrange here.”
“I thought as much. I will consider whether I can ever arrange to go there or have someone else do so.”
“Whenever we come back this way, if we’re going that way, we can offer you a ride.”
“I appreciate that hospitality.”
They drank some more Kava and said goodnight. Ximon could feel a substantial buzz from its effects. Kanebti dropped Ximon off at the villa.
The next few days were both fun and relaxing. The crew enjoyed the beach, the jungle, and the villa. Their lectures all went quite well. The discussion was interesting. In addition to a few Irapce officers, there was a random merchant captain on the panel, along with a Lieutenant from the KSF Mission, and Ximon. Most of the rest of the crew was in the audience. They discussed several challenges with starship operation, especially between systems and the Academy students asked questions. They clearly had both a keen interest and a lot to learn about travel at jump distances. Ximon called on several of the crew when answering a few of the questions posed to him. After the discussion, there was a small social in the building’s foyer and the students asked many additional questions. Raiza attracted a lot of the questioners because of her beauty. Several others were interested in the (more obvious) robots – Euclidia and Mantis. Everything was good-natured and several students jokingly asked if they could join the Mantis on her travels.
Vast Mantis Page 4
