Rumors of Glory (The System States Rebellion Book 1) (16 page)

Day 305/2541

Chancellor Belloc looked annoyed when he put down the
data tablet and regarded Frank Shaw. The Industry & Trade Secretary
suppressed the urge to sigh. He had a hunch that this conversation wasn’t going
to be pleasant.

“I don’t understand this sudden 180 degree change in
strategy, Frank. You’ve been pounding the table all along saying that we have
to capture the big freighters in order to establish a meaningful volume of trade
between SSU planets, and now you’re telling me that strategy was a mistake?
Your staff has had over three years to identify the economic challenges the
Union would face and figure out ways of overcoming them. How could they get it
so wrong?”

Now Shaw did sigh. The Chancellor was reacting exactly
the same way that he, himself, had reacted a week ago when one of his analysts
had presented that same report. It had taken Shaw a whole day to finally
understand what the new situation was. He doubted if the Chancellor would be
that patient.

“Do you remember us discussing the economic implications
of creating the Union three years ago, Nathan?” asked Shaw. When it was just
the two of them, he could refer to the Chancellor by his first name. Belloc
nodded. “Back then I told you that the proposed Union had to switch from a
single, large hub-and-spoke model, with Earth in the center, to a fish-net
model where the developed Union planets would each trade with one or two other
Union planets. I also said at the time that this assumption was based on very
preliminary computer studies, using extremely limited data on the economic
strengths and weaknesses of other planets we thought might join the Union. As
you know, my department’s top priority has been to gather the volume of data
necessary to get reliable results, using it to create a sophisticated
multi-planet economic model. Getting that data hasn’t been easy. Our requests
for it from other planetary governments only reached them after detouring to
Earth first. That detour took months, and getting the information back also had
to detour to Earth before heading back here. That’s the penalty of having 96%
of all shipping capacity controlled by Earth-based shipping companies using
their single hub-and-spoke model. Anything going from A to B has to be shipped
to Earth first and vice versa. The delay and extra cost of trading between each
other out here was one of the main reasons we felt we had to set up the Union
in the first place.

“Once we had enough data, my people were finally able to
begin designing computer algorithms to analyze that data and generate useful
insights into it. They finally completed that project a few weeks ago. Our
initial studies were all predicated on using the large 250-300-meter diameter
freighters that the big shipping companies tend to use. After all, the logic
seemed to be obvious. A 300-meter diameter freighter has 27 times the internal
volume of a 100-meter diameter freighter. That’s why spherical spaceships are
the preferred shape. A sphere maximizes internal volume for a given size. What
we failed to realize was that the reasons why the Earth-based shipping
companies use large ships has to do mainly with operating efficiency and only
secondarily with the nuances of the single hub-and-spoke model. When you’ve got
one hub, ie. Earth, and hundreds of spokes, which are all the other planets,
then it makes sense to have large ships you can send out to each planet twice a
year. That low frequency of visits means that there’ll be a lot of cargo and/or
lots of passengers waiting to be carried on each trip. Therefore you can fill
up a large ship. The operating efficiency comes from the fact that you don’t
need a crew 27 times larger to operate a ship that has 27 times as much
capacity.

“Well that’s all nice and fine for shipping companies,
but those aren’t our priorities. We’re more concerned with bringing down the
cost of trading with each other by having ships travel directly between Union
planets. All other things being equal, that means shorter distances, and THAT
means more frequent trips. So even if you’re going to use large ships, you’ll
still need more of them, and they won’t have anywhere close to a full cargo for
each trip. We understood that, but since our shipping companies would be owned by
planetary governments, we wouldn’t care if half-empty ships resulted in only
modest profits or even losses. The indirect economic benefits of the direct
trade would more than offset any out-of-pocket losses, and that doesn’t even
take into consideration the benefit of shifting military equipment quickly to
where it’s needed.

“It was that assumption of using lots of large ships that
was the flaw in our logic, but it took the computer analysis to point that flaw
out to us. No matter what we do, either with capturing freighters or building
them, we can’t acquire enough of the big freighters fast enough to exploit the
Union’s economic and industrial potential anywhere close to the max. Those big
ships just take too long to build. That’s why the report is now recommending
shifting our shipbuilding strategy to building much smaller freighters in the
50-80-meter diameter range. That’s small enough that we can use modular
construction techniques to almost mass-produce them. What they lack in cargo
capacity, they can make up for with multiple trips, AND since these small
freighters can also act as couriers, an indirect benefit will be faster
communications between all members of the Union. We’ll even be able to deploy
some of them to trade with nearby FED planets too. In fact, a couple of my
analysts are of the opinion that demonstrating the practicality of direct
trading links with small freighters might just be an excellent way of getting
more planets into the Union and away from the Federation.” Shaw was puzzled by
Belloc’s sudden change of expression. It almost looked as if the Chancellor had
just had an ‘aha’ moment.

“Yes, I think I see the problem,” said Belloc. “The need
for shipping capacity between all members of the Union will grow exponentially
as the number of member planets grows, correct?”

Shaw blinked in surprise. To gain that profound insight
just on the basis of the report and Shaw’s brief explanation was an impressive
accomplishment.

“Ah, yes, that’s an excellent way of describing the
situation in a nutshell, and given that the Union is expanding as fast as
formal applications for membership can reach us, the challenge of integrating
the economies of new planets would only get more and more difficult if we
continue to build a relatively small number of large freighters.”

Belloc nodded. “Okay then, I’ll approve the recommended
switch in building priority. Does it make sense to finish the large hulls that
we’ve already started?”

“Only if they can be completed in less time than building
a smaller ship from scratch. I’ve already checked. There are two that fit that
criteria. The others should be either scrapped or converted to military design
if possible.”

“Well, we need all the warships we can get our hands on,
so let’s pursue that option as much as possible. And speaking of warships, now
that we don’t want large freighters anymore, does that mean that we can
redeploy our current fleet of cruisers to something other than commerce
raiding?”

Shaw took his time answering. “I can’t speak to the
short-term military implications of doing that, but from the point of view of
conducting economic warfare, denying the FEDs the use of freighters they
already have by destroying them instead of capturing them, would slow down
their military buildup, and that has to be worth our consideration.”

Belloc nodded even as his thoughts returned again to the
desirability of using a super-Oracle type of device to analyze the hundreds of
variables that would affect that kind of decision. The Union’s head start could
rapidly evaporate if they didn’t get a handle on these sorts of complex
problems before it was too late.

“I understand. I’ll inform
SecDef
Sorensen that
her cruisers are to begin destroying FED freighters instead of capturing them.
I’m sure she’ll approve of that move. I want to now switch the topic to the
FED’s Oracle and Majestic initiatives. I presume you’ve read my memo?”

“Yes. If Lieutenant Murphy’s information is accurate,
then I agree that we should try to duplicate that technology as fast as
possible. It would help if we could get our hands on the technical specs of
their Oracle prototype. I don’t suppose that’s possible though.”

Belloc smiled. “As a matter of fact, your report has just
made it possible. Murphy wants us to set up a courier system using commercial
shipping between Earth and a planet that’s technically still in the Federation
but willing to trade with the SSU. While simple in theory, the practical
details are the problem. When we were still aiming to use large freighters, it
would have been difficult, not to mention suspicious looking, to assign one of
those valuable ships to a regular run between Sparta and a sympathetic
Federation planet. The actual volume of trade would be unlikely to warrant
using a ship that size. If anyone noticed that, they’d wonder why we’d be so
stupid as to waste a perfectly good freighter that way. It wouldn’t take long
before the FEDs would conclude that the freighter’s main cargo was information.
However, if we use a small freighter, then the trade volume relative to the
ship size won’t look so suspicious. There’s also the urgency. The tech data on
Oracle is on Earth now, but when they move their field operations to the
Franklin system, our agent will be cut off. We have to get the courier set up
before we lose contact with that agent. Being able to build smaller ships
faster will help us do that.”

Shaw thought for a moment. “Picking a planet that’s still
technically part of the Federation but is willing to trade with us will be
tricky. We could spend years asking around until we find one that’ll
co-operate. I’ll get my staff to begin work on coming up with a list of
candidates. One thing though, I’ve consulted some people on Sparta who are the
closest thing to computer design and manufacturing experts that we have. They
tell me that having the specs on Oracle might only be the start of what we need
to do. Oracle may involve a completely new concept in computer design. You know
that Sparta doesn’t yet have the capability to build our own computers. We’ve
always had to import them from Earth, one of many reasons to secede. Creating
an internal capability can be done, but it’ll take time, and catching up to an
experimental technology might take years. I just wanted you to be aware of
that, Nathan.”

“We can’t let it take years, Frank. Oracle is just the
foot in the door. This Majestic project of theirs is supposedly an order of
magnitude more capable. If we have our own Oracle and the FEDs have Majestic,
we’ll still be badly outmatched. If we can’t catch up to them on computers,
then we need to investigate other force equalizers. Have your people do some
brainstorming. I’ll tell SecDef to do the same thing from the military point of
view.”

“Okay, Nathan. Was there anything else?” Belloc shook his
head. “In that case I’ll be on my way. I’ll see you at tomorrow’s Cabinet
meeting.”

When Shaw was gone, Belloc leaned back in his chair and
thought about Murphy. Now that it looked as though they could actually make a
courier arrangement work, somebody had to be put in charge of setting up the
contact to Murphy’s partner and running the operation. Murphy couldn’t be the
courier himself, but he could definitely supervise the whole operation. Belloc
made a mental note to call Murphy back to his office to tell him the news.

                                                                        *
* *

Chenko dropped the data tablet on the desk in front of
him and leaned back in his chair.

“That tablet contains the debriefing reports of the
officers aboard Kursk, Commodore Stacker.” He paused as he watched the man
stand at attention in front of his desk.  “They paint a very disturbing but
consistent picture of what happened at Sparta. I’ve also read your report,
which paints a very different picture. I have to say, Stacker, that I’m
astonished you would have the gall to try to blame your own incompetence on
Kursk’s CO. Do you not realize that your command to abort the emergency
hyper-jump, which was broadcast to every ship in the squadron, was recorded by
the two ships that managed to jump away in time? Stevens attempted to do the
right thing by trying to jump away when the incoming missiles were detected.
There is NO military justification for staying and letting your ships get hit
and damaged. None whatsoever!” He paused again.

“May I sit down, Admiral?” asked Stacker. He flinched
when he saw Chenko’s face contort with rage.

“NO, you may NOT sit down. God damn you! Stacker, you’ve
put me in an awkward position, and I don’t like it! If it were up to me, you’d
be facing a court-martial for a variety of charges including criminal
negligence causing death. The only thing stopping me is that no flag officer in
Federation Navy history has ever been court-martialed for something like that.
It would be a very public and sensational trial that the media would have a
field day with. And because of that, the Council is reluctant to give their
stamp of approval. They want the whole affair to go away as quietly as
possible, no doubt because a court-martial would bring to light their
responsibility for putting you in charge of that mission. I’ve been…convinced
to offer you a compromise. If you’re willing to resign from the Navy right now,
no further action will be taken against you. It’s a lot better than you
deserve, considering the dead and wounded plus the loss of six cruisers that
you’re responsible for, but there it is. I need an answer right now. Yes or
no?”