Rumors of Honor (System States Rebellion Book 2) Page 4

  “If you’re wondering if we can match that kind of military buildup, the answer is no, and here’s why. Even though the SSU currently has 144 member planets, only a dozen of those have a sufficiently large population and industrial base to even consider building hyper-jump capable warships. Now if we had an abundant and essentially free source of raw materials, we might be able to ramp up production too, but we don’t. On all our developed planets, untapped resources are all owned by somebody, and that means those resources have to be bought in order to be used. As it is, we’re stretching our financial resources to the limit just building a handful of ships per year on each planet. The bottom line is we can’t allow the FEDs to get their arsenal ramped up if we want to avoid being swamped with FED ships and tanks. At the very least, we have to knock their capacity back in order to delay their overall timetable so that we have more time to figure out a viable counter-strategy. Operation Sledgehammer is designed to accomplish that goal, but Makassar is just half of the operation.

  “The Franklin Tri-system also includes a habitable planet, Hadley, which the FEDs intend to use as a staging area for their million-man army. Hadley is perfect for that mission. It has a lot of land area, most of which is unsuited to agriculture and is therefore available for military use. Total civilian population is somewhere on the order of 25 million. Because of its proximity to SSU planets, Hadley will also be their forward HQ for their entire campaign. We know that they intend to put their ultra-sophisticated planning computer there. General Jonn Trojan will use that computer to run their entire war effort. We have it on very good authority that when it becomes operational, that computer will give the FEDs a major advantage. Anything we can do now to disrupt the logistical and administrative buildup on Hadley will help us as we try to level the playing field with our own planning computer, which unfortunately will not be ready as soon as theirs. We know that the FEDs have taken the possibility of a space attack on Hadley seriously. They’ve put their most vital installations deep underground, so even though we know where those installations are, our missiles can’t reach them. However, there will still be plenty of less vital military assets on the surface, the loss of which will throw a monkey wrench into their carefully crafted timetables.

  “So we’re proceeding on the assumption that all of the FED’s mobile defenses will be deployed near Makassar. That’s what we would do if we were in their shoes. Any damage we might cause on Hadley would be a mere nuisance compared to damage inflicted on Makassar. Therefore, all four heavy cruisers, under the overall command of Commodore Montoya, will conduct a low level attack on Makassar. Your neutron armor should enable you to destroy all the ground installations at your leisure. Those targets are your only priority. If, after destroying all ground targets, you still have missiles to spare, only then are you authorised to engage FED ships if the opportunity presents itself, but don’t go hunting for them. I’ll be quite happy if you accomplish the main mission and return without engaging in battle with their ships. Do you have any questions, Commodore, before I continue with the other half of the mission?”

  “No questions at this time, Admiral,” said Montoya.

  “Fine. I’ll now describe the part of the mission involving Hadley. The patrol cruisers, Waterloo, Jutland, Dogger Bank and Midway, under the command of Commodore Lee, will conduct a high speed attack on specific targets on Hadley. As I indicated earlier, we don’t expect Hadley to have any mobile defenses in orbit. However, it would be prudent to assume that they’ll have ground-based anti-ship missile batteries. We have some idea of how many they had planned to have available, but those plans could have been upgraded, so be prepared for that possibility, Commodore. Your cruisers won’t have the benefit of neutron armor, but they do have considerable AMM capability. That, combined with a high speed pass, should allow your task force to get through this with minimal damage. Data on precise targets will be forthcoming. In terms of timing, our planning people have agreed that both attacks should commence at the same time. Because of the location of the targets on Hadley, Commodore Lee’s task force will have to time its attack run very carefully. Therefore you’ll have to adjust your timing to match Lee’s, Sandy.”

  “Not a problem, Admiral,” said Montoya as he looked over to Lee and nodded.

  “Very good. I’m giving all of you 24 hours to familiarize yourselves with the details and to co-ordinate your actions when you arrive at Franklin. All ships will lift tomorrow at 0800. Does anyone have any questions?” No one did. “In that case, this briefing is concluded.”

  When the holographic display faded and the lights came back on, Drake stood up and left the room, unaware that Commodore Lee was taking note of his departure. Lee then followed Janicot as he exited the room. When Janicot became aware that Lee was following him, he stopped.

  “Is there something you wish to discuss with me, Commodore?”

  “Actually there is, Sir. I’m concerned about Commander Drake. Given what happened with his first cruiser command, I wonder if I’ll be able to rely on him when the shooting starts.”

  Janicot paused before answering. “I wouldn’t have assigned him to command Jutland if I didn’t have confidence in his command judgement. His first cruiser mission may have ended badly, but he did acquit himself well commanding a missile boat in other combat situations. He’ll follow orders. Anything else?”

  “No, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

  Day 88/2544

  Janicot noticed Foster’s expression as she entered his office. He pointed to the chair facing his desk, and she sat down without a word.

  “From your expression I’m guessing that you have bad news, Major?” asked Janicot.

  “Yes, Sir. With Oracle now operational, we’ve just asked it to give us its evaluation of the most likely outcome of Operation Sledgehammer. It’s predicting a complete failure of the Makassar component, Sir.”

  Janicot was speechless with shock for a few seconds. “How is that possible, Major Foster? Our ships have neutron armor for God’s sake!”

  Foster nodded. “Oracle is predicting that the FEDs will have developed atomic warheads that can penetrate the one mm of armor those ships carry.”

  “Wait a minute. Why would the FEDs suddenly feel the need to develop those kinds of weapons when no one has used or needed anything like that in almost five centuries?”

  Foster sighed. Hindsight was such a bitch. “Savannah, our first heavy cruiser, demonstrated its neutron armor when it engaged in combat with, and successfully defeated, a FED cruiser in Earth orbit eight months ago, Sir.”

  “Oh, hell!” Janicot silently cursed himself for his short-sightedness. At the time it never occurred to him that deploying an armored cruiser as a commerce raider would generate these kinds of repercussions. Now it was all too obvious. He had screwed things up big time. Did I just lose the war for us? That thought was so terrifying that he had to close his eyes and hold his breath for a few seconds. He then remembered that he wasn’t alone. He made a conscious effort to regain his composure as he opened his eyes and looked at Foster.

  “Is there more?” he asked.

  Foster cleared her throat before answering. “Not yet. We’ve asked it to evaluate our best short, medium and long term strategies, assuming that its Makassar prediction is correct. It’s still working on those requests, Sir.”

  “Good. Naturally I want to hear those results as soon as you get them. Have you formed an impression of how our Oracle compares with the original yet, Major?”

  “Yes, Sir. Even in the short period since its completion, I’ve already seen enough to say that its speed and capacity to handle complex questions is comparable with the FED prototype, but that’s just Phase One of course. The big question is how much more capable will it be when we finish doubling the size of the device in Phase Two?”

  “Any chance it’ll be as good as the Majestic device they’re deploying on Hadley?” asked Janicot. His hopes crashed when he saw Foster shake her head.

  “No, Sir. I feel s
afe in saying that. Majestic isn’t just a bigger computer. It’s comprised of an improved kind of computing architecture. If Majestic was the same size as Oracle, it would still be significantly more capable. The fact that it’s also bigger just makes the difference in capabilities even more noticeable.”

  “I see. How big would our Oracle have to be in order to be in the same league as their Majestic, Major?”

  Foster’s eyes widened when she heard that question. “I ah…that’s a difficult question to answer, Sir.”

  Janicot smiled in sympathy. “I know I’m asking a tough question. What’s your best guess?”

  “Ten times as big…maybe…but you see, Admiral, I’m not even sure if it’s possible to build a comparable computer using Oracle-type components, no matter how big it might be. There comes a point where you get diminishing marginal returns to scale. In other words, the technology has a built-in limit to how effective it can be. Any attempt to scale up an Oracle device will eventually reach a point where the device will be twice as big but will NOT be twice as effective, if you see what I mean.”

  Janicot did see what she was getting at. Doubling Oracle’s size in Phase Two was probably worthwhile. It might even be worthwhile to double it again in a Phase Three, but that effort would almost certainly delay progress on developing their own Majestic technology, and hopefully Oracle would be able to tell them if that trade-off was worth it or not. The FEDs had a head start in computing capability and in developing their raw industrial potential. Either one by itself was bad enough, but both together was a terrifying prospect. Somehow the SSU had to make an end run with something the FEDs weren’t working on.

  “You call me when you have those long term answers, Major, and I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night. Are we clear on that?”

  “Clear, Sir.”

  * * * *

  Day 89/2544

  Trojan woke to the sound of the navigation alarm. He was getting close to his destination and needed to slow down. The needle-nosed reconnaissance craft that he was using as his personal transport was capable of sustained flight at Mach 3. Even so, the trip from 1st Fleet/Army HQ on Hadley’s Alpha continent to the new backup facility here on Beta still took long enough that he’d been able to enjoy a nap while the craft flew on auto-pilot. The external view on the video screen showed a heavy cloud cover below him, but he wasn’t worried. The craft’s auto-pilot knew where they were. He ordered the auto-pilot to begin a controlled descent and establish radio contact with the Air Defense center guarding the backup site.

  “Site B to 1FA01. We’ve received your transponder ID. You’re cleared to land. Welcome back, General.”

  “Thank you, Site B. How’s the weather down there?”

  “Better hurry, General. Meteorology is predicting rain any minute now. We’ll have a groundcar waiting for you.”

  “Sounds good, Site B. I’m dropping through the cloud cover now.” It only took a few seconds for the external view to show his destination. The backup command facility at Site B had started out as a duplicate of the underground command facility where 1st Fleet/Army Force was currently headquartered, but it had quickly become something else. The primary site on Alpha continent housed the Oracle computer, but because the Majestic device was so much larger, installing it at the primary site was not possible. Site B was the solution. Trojan chuckled as he remembered the engineers explaining to him how they intended to install Majestic at Site B. The machine was so massive that it would be more efficient to build the duplicate command facility around Majestic. The machine’s components would form the walls inside the facility. Trojan and his people would literally live and work inside Majestic.

  That concept had presented some interesting engineering challenges. Unlike the primary site, they couldn’t hollow out a large space deep underground and then build the facility afterwards. At Site B, they started with a narrow valley. They then constructed the facility from the bottom up at the base of the valley, with Majestic’s components installed inside what appeared to be walls up to a meter thick. When Majestic was finished being assembled, the top of the facility would be added, and then crushed stone would be layered on top. Each layer of crushed stone would be melted and allowed to cool as a solid slab of stone before another layer was added. By the time the whole process was finished, the valley would be filled in completely, and no one would be able to tell that there was anything unusual beneath it.

  But that was still in the future. Right now, the valley was only partially filled in, and Majestic was still in the process of being installed. Trojan ordered the external camera to zoom in to the site. The facility looked like a huge maze with things moving through and over it. Those things were construction vehicles carrying the pre-fabricated ‘panels’ of computer components that would be connected together to form rooms and corridors.

  Trojan let the auto-pilot take the recon craft down to 500 meters altitude, at which point the Air Defense Center computers took control and brought the craft to a soft landing at the makeshift spaceport that was just over five kilometers from the construction site. Trojan checked the time before exiting the craft. He still had a couple of hours of daylight left, plenty of time to inspect progress on the project. As he stepped down onto the ground, he took in a deep breath. The air smelled sweet and moist with that noticeable odor that always seemed to precede rain. He noticed a flash of lightning in the distance and counted until he heard the thunder. As he waited, he saw the groundcar approaching. It pulled up in front of him and the rear door slid open. He stepped inside and by the time he was seated, the door had closed and the vehicle was smoothly accelerating under the control of its own auto-pilot.

  “Take me to the Project Offices,” said Trojan. The auto-pilot repeated the destination. There was no rush to get to the temporary quarters that he knew were set aside for his use. He wanted to get a good look at the site while there was still enough light to see it. No sooner had the auto-pilot confirmed the destination then Trojan started to hear rain hit the roof of the vehicle. That would reduce visibility from the Project Offices observation deck a bit, but at least it wouldn’t interfere with the work. Majestic’s component panels were all waterproof.

  “Project Admin, can you hear me?” asked Trojan. A familiar voice came back almost immediately.

  “Loud and clear, Gen—“

  “This is ADC! Orbital radars have detected incoming missile attack! All personnel head for the shelters! I repeat! We’re under missile attack! Head for shelters now!”

  The excited voice of the Air Defense Center technician was replaced by the familiar voice of the member of his staff who had started to greet him. “General, there’s not enough time for you to get to our shelters here! Suggest you tell the vehicle to stop where you are! It’s unlikely the missiles will hit near you!”

  “Okay, Sam. You head for the shelters. Auto-pilot, stop the vehicle here!” He heard the electronic confirmation as the vehicle came to a stop.

  “Good luck, General!” said Sam. Trojan heard a click that told him that communications had been cut.

  “Show me where we are,” said Trojan. The small display above him came to life with a topographical map of the area and a yellow flashing dot to indicate where the groundcar was. Trojan noticed that the road he was on followed the contours of a ridge. On the other side of that ridge was the valley where Site B was being constructed. The ridge was high enough that someone on top could also see the spaceport. He decided he needed to see what the incoming missiles would be targeted on.

  “Open the left door!” When the door slid back, he saw how hard it was raining now. If he left the vehicle he’d get soaked in no time flat, but he was damned if he was going to sit here when his people were in danger. At least he could see what was happening if he could get to the top of the ridge. “Remain here until I return!” He didn’t bother to wait until the auto-pilot had confirmed its orders. Once outside the vehicle he looked at the side of the ridge. It was covered in vegetation which
would be slippery from the rain, but there were enough bushes to grab hold of that he thought he could manage it. It was a good thing he carried a pair of gloves. A lot of plant life on this planet had thorns, and he didn’t relish the idea of clutching the wild plants with his bare hands.

  The climbing wasn’t as difficult as he had expected. Just as he made it to the top of the ridge, he heard a sound coming from behind him, from the general direction of the spaceport. He saw three yellow streaks coming down from the sky. Missile warheads, still hot enough from air friction to give off a glow, were plunging toward the spaceport. The sound he heard was the CRACK that the point defense rail gun cannon made when its accelerated metal slugs left the gun barrel at three times the speed of sound. One of the plunging warheads exploded in mid-air, then another. Just as Trojan hoped all three would be intercepted before hitting the ground, more streaks emerged from the rain clouds. He didn’t bother to count them. There must have been at least a dozen, and not all of them were heading for the spaceport. A couple seemed to be coming right at him. He fought to overcome the surge of fear that threatened to paralyze him. It was unlikely that missiles fired from deep space would be targeted at an otherwise vacant spot that just happened to be occupied by a two-star general. He quickly realized that those two warheads were still a fair distance away, and although they were moving in his general direction, they would likely be a kilometer or more away from him by the time they hit the ground.