Alliance ascendancy, p.1
Alliance Ascendancy, page 1
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
PLANS
SOLUTIONS
DISCOVERIES
ARRANGEMENTS
BRIEFING
DEVELOPMENTS
PREPARATION
TEST
SECOND TEST
TRADE EXPOSITION
SMART CLOTHING
EXPLORERS
RESCUE
PARIS
DIVERSION
MISSION BRIEFING
FREIGHTERS
UPDATE
INVESTIGATION
PROPULSION
FURTHER PREPARATIONS
ASSEMBLY
COUNTERATTACK
RECKONING
NEW BEGINNINGS
ALLIANCE
DAY BEFORE
WEDDING
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
Three weeks ago…
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
It was a routine run, boring actually. A small armada of freighters had just left their home world, Celanar, on a cargo run to a non-Confederation world about 6 light-years out.
The armada consisted of three Confederation military escorts that had been converted for civilian use a long, long time ago. The ships were jump capable, with an old jump drive that could only go a couple light-years on a two-hour recharge. The ships had glitchy shields and modest armaments. Thankfully, they had been sufficient to hold off the pirates in this region of space.
“Have you heard the rumor that a new member, I think they call it Earth, has developed a jump drive that can cross the sector in an hour? I’m really struggling to believe it’s true,” Snowtin, the ship’s captain, asked.
“No. Pure science fiction,” Jezob, the ship’s engineer, replied.
Snowtin and Jezob were Lanocean, the intelligent species on the planet Celanar. Their planet had joined the Confederation about 15,000 years ago. It was located 1,137 light-years further out on the Orion arm of the Milky Way, at the far edge of the sector the Confederation called 3F. Earth was in the middle of the sector; Karagon at the opposite end, closer to the galactic core.
Celanar was a relatively small planet, only 84% the diameter of Earth, with 72% of the gravity.
“I heard that the Earth people rescued the Confederation Armada, who were losing a fierce battle with some enemy force.” Snowtin had been creeped out by this and wanted to know if Jezob knew anything.
“Where do you get this stuff? No one can beat the Confederation. Heck, this crappy ship is 15,000 years old and still holds off the pirates from non-aligned worlds.”
“Ironic, isn’t it. In school they taught us that the Confederation came to save us some 15,000 years ago. Promised to protect us. They also taught us that the Confederation fought a war to end all wars about 10,000 years ago, so we would be safe. But when’s the last time a Confederation war ship has come here? One was supposed to have been here 20 years ago. But I never saw it.”
A loud thump rumbled through the ship. “What the hell was that?” Snowtin shouted.
“Checking.” A pause. “Look at this. It’s the craziest looking pirate ship I’ve ever seen.” Jezob popped up the image of a long narrow ship with what looked like boulders glued on the side.
“Is there stuff crawling on the outside of that ship?”
Another thump rocked the ship.
“Check this out. A pirate ship is firing at that thing. But I think it’s hitting us instead.”
Another thump rocked the ship.
“Captain Snowtin, Brezwell here. We’ve just taken a hit from the pirate ships. Are we free to return fire?”
“One shot. Make it good. Then let’s jump to the first recharge point. I’m jumping in 10 seconds. The pirate weapons aren’t very effective, but too many hits and they may break something. So follow along quickly.”
…
“Captain Snowtin, Brezwell here. Confirming that we’ve lost the pirates. But whatever was crawling on that rock ship seems to have gotten onto yours. Sending a picture.”
“That doesn’t look good. Can you…” Snowtin was cut off mid-sentence by a gut-wrenching scream emitted by Jezob. Turning, he saw that some sort of dust monster was eating him. Thumb still on the transmit button, Snowtin screamed. “Dust monsters! Dust monsters! Run! Report this to Central Command!”
Those were the last words spoken before a spear of dust penetrated Snowtin.
CAPTAIN BREZWELL’S SHIP
Captain Brezwell had heard of the dust monsters before but didn’t really believe it was true. However, the terrified screaming coupled with the dust cloud that was racing around the lead ship changed his mind.
“Emergency jump. We need to get out of here.”
The emergency jump reserve wasn’t much, but it was enough to jump them 10 AU away from the infected ship.
“Grav-drive. Maximum power!” he shouted to the helm. “Turn us around toward home but make it a broad turn. We don’t want to get anywhere near the contaminated ship. Go to warp once you’ve obtained the right vector.”
With the course updated, Captain Brezwell started the search for the third ship in their armada. “Hmm… No sign of it. They must not have made the jump.”
Then with urgency, he snapped, “Comm, get me planetary security on Celanar. We need to let them know what’s happened.”
HEADQUARTERS, HIGH COMMAND, NEW LOREXI
“Admiral Jo-Na. We just received a report of what appears to be Enemy activity in Sector 3F.”
A thought shot through the Admiral’s mind. Sector 3F is where Earth is located.
“Where in 3F?”
“Along the border with 3G.”
How in the world did the Enemy get there? the Admiral thought.
“Should I forward this information to Councilor Mi-Ku on Earth?”
“Yes. Please do. He’s the only one that might be able to handle it.”
PLANS
[Monday, 06.02.2031] PRESENCE PROJECTOR, AMBASSADORS OFFICE
“Ambassador Mi-Ku. Thank you for accepting my meeting request. I hope this time is convenient for you.”
“Ambassador Sa-Na. Thank you for arranging this meeting. Celanar and the Lanocean people have been on my mind since the last Enemy sighting. I assume that’s the reason for the call.”
Ambassador Sa-Na was Lorexian. He was the Ambassador from the Confederation to Celanar. He occupied an avatar in the form of the Lanocean people, the native species on Celanar.
“Yes. We no longer have Fleet protection, which leaves us exposed to many threats. The Enemy is the worst and the recent sighting has our population in a state of panic. But our economy is also suffering from resurgent piracy.
“We need help. You are our representative on the Central Council and the Ambassador to Earth, the wealthiest and most powerful planet in the galaxy. I’m hoping there is something you can do for us.”
“Has your Representative in the Confederation Senate filed a claim for assistance?”
“Yes. Formally, he was told that it would be some time before assistance could be rendered. Informally, it was suggested that the only real source for help in the foreseeable future would be from Earth.”
This was the sixth call of the same nature that Michael had received since the disastrous defeat of the replacement Armada four months earlier. His friend, Jo-Na, had been promoted to the highest military rank in the Confederation and now headed the Central Command in the aftermath of the scandal. They had spoken of the issue many times and Michael understood the truth of the situation, which was much worse than Ambassador Sa-Na knew.
“Do you have anything you can offer the Earth Alliance in terms of a trade deal?”
“Mi-Ku. We are a poor world in a hostile region of the galaxy. Without Confederation help our planet will be wrestled from our control within a year.”
“Do you have mining capability?”
“Yes. But we have no claims to mine.”
“Do you have manufacturing capacity we can leverage to your defense?”
“Mi-Ku. I don’t understand. I’ve never had to bargain in this way for Confederation support in the past.”
“I know. But the Revelation on Earth was only six years ago. The humans are a very clever and resourceful people. They are generous and committed to supporting their Confederation allies. But the only thing they really have to give is their inventiveness. They’ve made tremendous strides forward in propulsion, shielding and ship production, but otherwise have only a nascent industrial base.
“The only way they can actually help you is through partnership. They have little more than shields they can actually give you.”
“Ambassador Lo-Pa from Peralon told me this. I struggled to believe that it was true. But I know you to be a person of honor Mi-Ku. Can you suggest a next step?”
“Work with your Lanocean Alliance to come up with a list of ways we can work and trade together. You know their capabilities better than I do.
“In the meantime, I’ll work this at my end. This week, the Earth Alliance plans to take up legislation to respond to the vacuum left by the Fleet’s withdrawal. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. I’m sure there will be some way we can help.”
EARTH ALLIANCE HEADQUARTERS
Over the weekend, President Lee of the Earth Alliance had sent a meeting request, asking to meet this morning in his office. Michael knew the context, knew the importance. But also knew the fine line they’d need to walk.
“Michael. Thank you for meeting with me. I’m worried about the Co
“Another request came in this morning from the planet Celanar. It’s a little over 1,100 light-years from Earth, further out on the spiral arm. The Enemy was spotted in that area recently, which has them in a panic. But that’s not their only problem. There are other spacefaring species in their region of space that are not Confederation members. One of those species has been aggressively pirating the commercial freighters coming and going from Celanar. Without Confederation support, their planet will fall to marauders before too much longer.”
“Unbelievable. So, there are now seven planets asking Earth for protection.”
“Yes. And more will be coming soon.”
“Do you have a proposal for us?”
“I do. But the truth is that we need an Earth solution to this problem, not a Lorexian one.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“From the first days of our expansion, the Lorexians had the resources to solve every problem. The good news was that they were willing. The bad news is that they are no longer able.
“My point is that a Lorexian solution would be to go in and do everything for the ally. But Earth can’t do that. It simply doesn’t have the resources.
“Earth’s real resource is its creativity, its ingenuity. Earth can’t solve its neighbors’ problems, but it can help them solve their own problems.”
“I appreciate the insight and agree with the principle, but I’m not sure what actions that implies.”
“The broad outline of my plan is to deal with the security problem first. Initially we use Space Force in the same way we did in Andromeda. We send ships capable of building planetary shields to every ally that requests them. The difference will be that we charge our allies for this service.
“We will also make Space Force available to assist with commercial transport, which will be another paid service.
“Most of our allies will not have the means to pay. We solve this problem by scouting nearby space for Transluminide deposits, stake the claims and assign them to the ally for a finder’s fee of 33%.
“Those simple actions will stabilize the situation while increasing overall prosperity in the sector. But we will need to expand Space Force to do it and the expansion must happen quickly.
“Therefore, I also propose adding more manufacturing lines to increase both Cruiser and Fast Attack Ship production rates.”
“How many are you thinking?” President Lee interrupted.
“Initially, I think we should increase the target Cruiser force from 30 to a total of 50. Similarly, I think we should increase our current Fast Attack Ship force of 100 ships to 300. I also suspect that we’ll need to add a smaller ship for escort services.”
“That will tremendously increase crew requirements. Won’t it?”
Michael smiled at the question. “Yes. We will be crew limited. That’s why I think we need to push for a Sector Security Alliance. It would enable us to levy taxes and to recruit crew from other planets within the Alliance.”
“Can we roll this out step by step? I doubt we’ll have support for establishing a security alliance at this point.”
“Agreed. Would you like me to propose this at the meetings this week?”
“Yes. If nothing else, it will get the Advisory Council thinking.”
AMBASSADOR’S OFFICE
“Michael.” Pam called out. Pam was Michael’s assistant and had been for the last 25 years, since long before the Revelation. “James just called asking if you have a minute for him.”
“Always.”
James and David appeared in a flash of brilliant light.
“Michael, I know you’re planning to speak with the Advisory Council later this week. David and I have an update that may be relevant.”
“Thank you. What is it?”
James looked to David, who answered, “James and I did a quick survey of the area around Celanar. We found a group of Enemy infiltrators that recently emerged from stasis. They captured the two freighters that have been reported missing. They also appear to have captured one or more pirate ships from non-allied planets. The two freighters are the only jump-capable ships. But the Enemy doesn’t seem to know that yet. These two are the only immediate threat.
“The pirate ship we found has a primitive form of superluminal propulsion with a top speed of only 2 times light. The ship that had been carrying the Enemy in stasis has a top speed of 0.2 times light. So, all but the freighters are years away from Celanar.”
“OK, we’re going to need to deal with this before too much longer.” Michael said.
“I’ve sent the positions and vectors of the ones we found to your queue,” David said with some pride.
“Thank you, David. Anything else?”
“Yes,” James said soberly. “I popped over to the Enemy home world for a quick look last night.
“They are preparing for a massive attack as we’ve known they were. But they also have some experimental device that may be able to open the rift early. I doubt they’ll get there in the next year. But the fact that they’re working on it means they’re trying to get here before the next natural opening, which is in 15 years.”
“Thank you, James. Do you know how close Eugene and Kelly are to a solution?”
James studied Michael for a second. “Yes. But you should ask them about that.”
James turned to David. “Ready?”
David nodded and the two disappeared in a flash of light.
As Michael’s eyes cleared from the blinding flash, a thought ran through his mind. They’ve found a solution but haven’t told me. Not good.
PROFESSOR SCHUDEL’S OFFICE
“Professor, thank you for taking my call.”
“Always a pleasure to speak with you Michael.” Professor Hans Schudel was the Ascendant that headed the Mines and Mining Department at the Ascendance Institute on Earth. His work in establishing core mining around Earth had enabled the Space Force buildout. His theories about Transluminide deposits in brown dwarf systems had led to claims of over 200,000 kg. earlier in the year.
“I spoke with the Ambassador from Celanar this morning. They’re going to need our help also.”
“Celanar? Not sure I’ve heard of that one.”
“Their star’s designation is 3F1265. They’re about 1,100 light-years further out this arm at the far end of the sector.”
“I’ve heard that there are a lot of pirates out that way. Which is good news from a Transluminide perspective.”
“Really? How?”
“There are almost no Transluminide economies in which piracy exists. That means there should be numerous deposits. All we’ll need to do is go look for them.”
“Can you draw up a list of candidates?”
“Sure. Will only take an hour or so. Are you going to seek authorizations for the other lists I’ve drawn up for the other planets?”
“Yes. It’ll be presented for approval to the Earth Alliance this week. I plan to include Celanar.”
“Then I’ll get you the list this morning.”
EUGENE’S LAB, INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
Part of the recognition package Eugene had received in January, was a formal position at the Institute. For now, all that was required of him was research. If he continued at the Institute for three years, then he would be expected to teach as well.
His position included a well-equipped lab and a large research budget. He shared the lab with Kelly, who had received a comparable package.
“So, today’s the day?” Eugene asked.
“Yep. All the kinks have finally been worked out. Now we get to see if dimension 601 does what the Lorexians predicted it would do.”
In preparation for the planned test, Eugene had built and instrumented a test bed. In principle the test was easy. He’d replicated two glass tanks. One was set up as a fish aquarium. It had the standard pump, light, fake sea grass and a couple of goldfish.
The other had been set up as a terrarium. It had both LED and fluorescent lights, a couple of mice, a heartleaf philodendron, and a small barrel cactus.
An array of test equipment was positioned above the tanks. It included sensors and recording equipment of various types. It also included a power cube that powered the tanks and the test gear.
