For Honor We Stand (14 page)

“First,” Sahin responded, “I need to know how I am to address you.  Prince?  Minister?  Your Excellency?”

“‘Minister,’ will suffice, as I am meeting with you in the capacity of Foreign Minister.”

“Very well, then, Minister.  Based on what you have told me, I must tell you that the official position of my government is that what you have described to me is a purely internal power struggle.  Out of respect for the independence and sovereignty of the Rashidian Kingdom, and the statement in the Union Constitution that self-determination is a fundamental right of all sentient beings, it would not be appropriate for us to take any action relative to that dispute at this time.”  Max shifted visibly in his seat in objection to this statement.  One didn’t have to know Max well to see that he thought highly of the Rashidians as warriors and wanted them in the war on the Union’s side.  Sahin stilled him with a quick kick under the table.  Sahin wouldn’t presume to tell Max how to deploy his weapons in combat.  This, on the other hand, was the doctor’s field of battle and he knew what to pull out of the arsenal and when.

The Minister responded amiably.  “Perhaps I have not made myself clear.  We are not asking the Union’s assistance in putting down the Emir.  We are quite capable of doing that.  Quite capable.  In fact, I expect the Emir to be put down in the most emphatic and permanent manner within the next few minutes.  Rather, the King wishes to explore the possibility of the Kingdom going to war against the Krag.”

“Ah.  That is rather a different situation.”  The doctor acted as though the Minister’s statement constituted a revelation rather than a declaration of the glaringly obvious.  “My government’s position is that the Union would welcome any news that the Kingdom was entering the war against the Krag.  I’m certain that your highly capable General Staff can find suitable military objectives for your forces.  But, as I said, the Union’s strict adherence to principles of self determination for all peoples dictates that we allow your government to do what it wishes without our interference and in its own way.”

Diplomacy.  It was a dance as formal and precise as any Tchaikovsky ballet or Lenzi kineto-somatic poem.  Each man knew the steps and took them with precision and skill, staying in time with the music that they both knew by heart.  But, time was short.  The conductor picked up the tempo. 

The Minister picked up his coffee cup, sipped, again did his best to conceal his profound lack of approbation, and set it back down.  “Ambassador, the position of my government is that, were Rashid to enter the war on the side of the Union, it would be to the advantage of both powers to coordinate our activities to maximize the effect of our actions and to prevent one party’s forces from interfering with the operations of another.”

“So, you are proposing an
alliance
, then?”

“My government believes that the term ‘alliance’ connotes a more extensive level of integration of forces and unification of command than we would wish.  We are also concerned that, in the past, alliances have been the prelude to annexation.  We are adamant that our independence be preserved in all its aspects and attributes.”

“You may be assured, Minister, that the Union has never ‘annexed’ any independently governed system.  The objectively documented historical record amply documents this fact.  Every member joined voluntarily.”

“While that statement may be true, Ambassador, in a formal sense, that same objectively documented historical record amply documents that some of these systems ‘volunteered’ to join after being hemmed in by Union systems on all sides and having their trade strangled by tolls, tariffs, navigation restrictions, and customs rules, none of which the Union applies to its members or was applying to other similarly situated non-Union trading partners at the time.”

Touché.  “Minister, as we have both read the same diplomatic histories, it would be disingenuous of me to deny that the Union may have employed certain rather punitive economic measures calculated to add to its membership and territory early in its existence.  It was then, as you recall, picking up the pieces from the disastrous governance imposed by the Earth Confederation.  Current conditions, however, are fundamentally different.  Now that we are at war, with all the demands thus placed on our economy, manpower, resources, shipping, and manufacturing capacity, the Union desires no members who do not desire us.  In accordance with strict enactments of our legislative bodies, and the announced policy of our President, we simply do not employ those kinds of strong arm tactics on other humans any more.”  Not ever?  Well, hardly ever.  “In any event, annexation is a practical impossibility, at least under the present circumstances.  Our forces are put to full use defending our space and our worlds from the Krag.  We do not have resources to spare for the intimidation, much less the conquest, of any other power, particularly one as well and skillfully defended as the Kingdom. 

“Nevertheless, in recognition of the legitimacy of the Kingdom’s concerns, the Union is prepared to do the following.  First, we offer a looser mode of cooperation than an alliance.  I would suggest that the Kingdom consider joining the war effort as an Associated Power, much as have the Pfelung, a race known for their prudence, highly developed ethics, and staunch independence.  Second, the Union is prepared to give whatever reasonable formal guarantees the Kingdom may require to respect its independence and territorial integrity.  In that regard, I would note that the Union has, from the very day of its establishment, strictly respected the Kingdom’s independence, its sovereignty, and its borders.  We have been proving our good faith to the Kingdom for decades in the most convincing manner possible, by our actions.”

“That is, indeed, true.  We have never had any complaints about the Union as a neighbor.  I believe that such an arrangement might be acceptable to my government, subject to negotiation of the precise terms of the formal guarantees of our independence, and provided certain other appropriate provisions were made.”

“Such as?”

“We would require that our forces operate with complete independence and that participation in any given operation be voluntary.”

Sahin turned to Max, who understood that it was his place to articulate the Union’s position on purely military issues.  He did his best to sound diplomatic.  Really.  “That’s insane,” he said without a trace of rancor.  “Complete independence has never been the basis of any joint operations since the first human space forces were formed in 2034.  In combat, it would be a disaster.  Any time your forces and our forces happen to be involved in the same battle, there would be no overall commander.  Maybe the two commanders manage to cooperate and work out a joint plan, in which case only a little bit of time will be wasted while they do that.  Or maybe they won’t, in which case the two forces operate at cross purposes, don’t provide coordinated fire support, aren’t on the same communications frequencies, transmit sensor beams that interfere with one another, and get in the way of each other’s battle maneuvers.  Who knows, they might even get hit by each other’s missiles.  Mister Krag, who is not stupid by any means, figures that out, uses the lack of coordination to his advantage, and cleans the clocks of both forces.  I can tell you as a warship captain and a former tactical officer that unified command, at least at some level, is an absolute military necessity.”

“I accede to the Captain’s bluntly stated but obviously valid observation.”  The minister gazed longingly at his coffee cup, as though wishing it had coffee in it that he liked, considered taking a sip, and then decided against it.  “My government is not averse to the notion of coordinated commands on certain levels under some circumstances, but is concerned about placing large units on a consistent basis under the authority of Union commanders.  We do not wish our divisions and squadrons broken up and, for example, used piecemeal as replacements, thereby losing their cohesion and identity as Rashidian units.”

Max nodded, recognizing the validity of the concern.  “But at what level?  Fleets, task forces, operational groups, they are all assembled from certain building blocks.  The sticking point is the size of the blocks.  Will your forces always operate together at the task force level, or can the task forces be broken down into operational groups that will be used to help assemble joint task forces, or maybe even divisions that can be put together into joint operational groups?  And you can’t just decide at the beginning that everything will be integrated at a given level because operational demands are going to require different levels of integration.  We can’t do it under those rules.”

“Minister, Captain, if I may?”

They both looked at the doctor, both convinced that a man who confused Cruisers and Corvettes because their names both start with a “C” could have nothing to contribute to this particular aspect of the discussion.  The obvious annoyance displayed by Max and the Minister at being interrupted didn’t stop the Acting Ambassador.  It didn’t even slow him down.  “I do not have in depth knowledge of this business of ‘Task Groups’ and ‘Operational Divisions.’”  Max grimaced at the nomenclature errors.  “But it seems to me that these issues have already been worked out in detail and even approved at the highest level by both governments.  That agreement can be adopted by reference and this issue would be resolved.”  The minister and the captain looked at him blankly.  “
Equilateral
.  I was looking over your shoulder, Captain, when you called up the communications protocols to talk to those fighters.  You paged through an index that showed a detailed list of arrangements to determine what units would be integrated at what level, who would command them, when a unit could refuse to participate in an operation, and a whole plethora of similar matters.  It was all there in the exercise documentation.”

“There is a lot to be said for this approach, Mr. Ambassador, and we have indeed thought of it,” the Minister said.  “You may not be aware, however, that there are several ways in which
Equilateral
is an imperfect fit for the current situation.  Captain Robichaux could probably set them forth more accurately that I.”  He looked expectantly at Max.

Max nodded.  “OK.  I can see several differences.  First,
Equilateral
assumes three players:  the Union, Rashid, and Romanova.  What we’ve got now is the Union, Rashid, and Pfelung.  Second, that exercise was a joint task force operation.  We’ll be coordinating forces at the theater level, maybe higher.  Third, both us and the Rashidians have changed our order of battle since then.  We’ve shifted the building blocks around into a different force structure.  Fourth, since that time we’ve put the Talon missile through two upgrades, which will require changes in joint targeting parameters, and—fifth--we’re in the process of adopting a new fighter, the FS-104 Wildcat, with substantially improved operating characteristics over the FS-101 Banshee it replaces, which will mean some new fighter tactics.  So, there are going to be a lot of questions about joint operations and joint command that
Equilateral
isn’t going to cover.”

“So, there are going to be situations which, until more precise and detailed rules are worked out, will not be covered by the pre-existing framework, is that correct?” the Minister asked evenly.  “We will not be able to tell in advance how they will be resolved, and we will essentially have to rely on the commanders in the field to come to an accommodation and make the correct decision.”

“That’s right.  I can’t see how it could be otherwise.  But we need to remember that none of the people in question are idiots:  your commanders are damn smart and our commanders are damn smart, as well.  You put smart commanders in a battle zone and give them a problem, they’re going to find a way to solve it.  You don’t get to be a Commodore or an Admiral unless you have a truly outstanding ability to solve complex problems.  It’s what these guys do.”

Max could see that the Minister was still wavering.  He must have some very, very serious concerns about his people’s forces going into battle under Union Commanders.  The Kingdom had gone its own way for a long time.  Max didn’t know diplomacy, but he did know people, and he was pretty sure he knew what the Minister’s sticking point was.  “Minister, I know what you’re worried about.  I think we both know our military history and both know there are lots of examples in history of joint operations where a commander of a joint force has used an ally’s forces unfairly.  You know, he gives the glory missions to his own guys and the grunt work to the others, the low risk objectives to his own and lets the others take the heavy casualties.  I could give you a laundry list of examples, but I think you know them just as well as I do.  In the end, it all comes down to trust.  No agreement that we sign, no assurance that we give you, can take the place of your trust in the good sense and the good will of our commanders, just as we are going to have to trust the good sense and the good will of yours.” 

Suddenly, Max remembered something his Mother Goose on the
San Jacinto
told him,   “Giving your trust is like handing over your baby:  you can’t hand a baby to a position or an office.  You have to put that baby in the living hands of an actual person.”

Max said, “Minister, if I’m any judge of men, you’ve been following the conduct of the war very closely.”  He nodded his agreement.  “Then you know the reputation and the combat records of the Admirals we’ve got in the major operational commands:  Litvinoff overall, Hornmeyer and Middleton commanding the two major theaters, with Lo, Diem, and Barber running the Attack and Maneuver Groups.  Truthfully, sir, can you see
any
of these men turning into a Sir Ian Hamilton?  It’s almost absurd when I think about it.