Less than zero (RN: Book 1) (2 page)

“The Earth Defence Pact currently has one hundred and twenty ships that can be considered patrol-class vessels. The measure of such a vessel being its size, speed, and most importantly, at least these days, its cost-effectiveness for the role.”

“One hundred and twenty! That’s a lot of ships. Yet you still can’t respond in time when someone calls for assistance. The solar system is far larger than I imagined.”

“I said we have one hundred and twenty patrol-capable vessels. I never mentioned anything about this number patrolling our system.”

“So, how many do patrol the system?”

“About nine at any one time.”

“Nine! Are you serious? Where are the rest?”

“You may remember that many of the EDP members have a presence on other worlds. Britannia alone has twelve colonies, with each of the other twenty-six members having their own colonies and interests to protect. Oh, and that number of patrol vessels also includes the ten percent that are mission incapable due to routine maintenance and repair. The rest are spread between patrolling the trade lanes, convoy duty, fleet maneuvers, search and rescue, exploration, deep patrol and a whole host of other activities.”

“But still, nine seems an insignificant number for what must be an incredible volume.”

“And the system is lucky to have that many. When Earth capitulated to The Koll, we agreed that no more than five ships would be on active local system patrol at any one time. The president took an enormous chance increasing the number to nine, but we had to do something in the face of the ever increasing bandit incursions into the local system. Do you have any idea of the number of emergency requests we receive weekly?”

“No.”

“Over two hundred, with a growing proportion of these related to bandit activity. Up until a few months ago we could just cope with one-on-one ship engagement, but the more recent incursions often demand two or even three ships respond to a pirate attack, and even then it can be touch and go. The bandits are getting braver, meaner and better equipped with every successful raid. Soon we may have to release heavier units for system security, and The Koll response be damned.”

“Can’t you just do that now? Introduce heavier units to help combat the threat?”

“Not without some careful consideration, no. Another part of the capitulation agreement was that the EDP police the outlying areas of this sector of space. Yet, The Koll increase this volume when they see fit and don’t allow us any more ships to do it with. They also promised to send support units should an engagement grow beyond our ability to control it. Yet again, the size of the engagement before they commit any support increases with no forewarning, so we have to serve more space, against greater odds, with no increase in resources. When we encounter force, we have to respond with greater force, which means our capital vessels are constantly dashing from one incident to the next, or loitering outside some bandit stronghold for months on end to prevent them foraying out. This ties up valuable resources that cannot protect other areas and huge gaps develop where further bandit problems arise. Such situations place an enormous strain on men and machinery when they can’t stop for rest and repair, and our assets can only take so much.”   

“I find myself lost for words as I truly had no idea as to the demands The Koll place on the, what from outside this room appear to be limitless resources. I’m beginning to understand the problems faced by men and materials, but surely there has to be some median. Can’t The Koll be made aware of our need for more resources in this regard?”

“The Koll rarely respond to our requests for mediation. They normally only show up to punish us for breaking some point of the capitulation agreement, and even then they rarely say anything.”

“Have you ever seen one? A Koll?”

“Not as such, no, as I’m told by those who are more familiar that they always wear some form of life support suit.  I’ve seen many of their minions, as have most people, but an actual in the flesh Koll? No, never. I did attend a discourse once where a Koll was present, but it was in the distance and I could only make out what looked like a prostrated suit of armour. It lay behind a series of sentry drones and no one was permitted to talk to it, or even approach it. I don’t think anyone has actually seen a living Koll.”

“Getting back to the materials situation. Can’t the other EDP members do something to help? Reassign ships and personnel to ease the load? It is a pact after all.”

“There are many EDP members who claim to be doing all they can to assist with the current unrest, people whose claims are not exactly correct in the truth sense. The core members, Britannia, the Americas, the German consortium, the European defense initiative, The Greater Asian union and so on, all pull more than their fair share. Yet, despite the speeches in great halls about all the members working together, many of the smaller members, and one or two not so small, are just coasting along and enjoying the subsidies without any real payback or involvement with the greater issues. In a recent members’ meeting, one of the less than helpful members asked, ‘What can we do in the efforts to defeat the bandits, as we only have twenty-two vessels?’ Not enough, or so they claimed, to offer any extra advantage to the current efforts.”

“You talk about the EDP like it has hundreds of vessels. Surely another twenty-two would make little difference? Why are you laughing?”

“Let me tell you about making an effort. Do you know how many ships Britannia currently has operational? Nineteen! And eight of them are gunboats. Our crews are run ragged by what’s required of them, but you don’t hear us crying in the half circle about our inability to make a difference.”

“Nineteen! I never knew it was so few. But surely this is due to the material limitations placed on you by The Koll.”

“That’s what’s so frustrating. The Koll allow us twenty-five ships per fifty million of population, and the population is currently 102 million, so we’re well under our allotted quota. As usual, the real problem is money. Last year someone somewhere thought it would be a good idea to upgrade the blue water fleet on some ridiculous nostalgia-driven tripe, even though they haven’t fired a shot in anger in over eighty years. Yet, despite the pressures the RNO are facing to do more with less, they’ve cut the orbital fleet to the bone to pay for new sails and bell-bottom trousers. The Royal Navy simply cannot afford two fleets, and up until recently there was even talk of mothballing our only FTL-capable carrier. But the Americans insisted she remain operational so they could get their money’s worth. It is half theirs after all. So they got their wish, the carrier remains and we continue to play second fiddle to the Americans and Russians by putting out brush fires whilst their fleets continue to do The Koll’s bidding in distant places.“

“So why gunboats?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Why would the RNO need so many gunboats?”

“Oh, that was never a military choice. After the unification, The Koll put the accountants in charge of acquisitions and they insisted we get the best bang for our buck. It was our original intention to place an option for ten of the new Bismarck class light destroyers that the German Consortium developed. They were only a concept at the time we considered them, but their blueprints made them look like some ridiculous super-weapon from a video game. They are compact, light, fast and manoeuvrable. Very expensive for their class, but with one hell of a sting for their weight. They ran rings around us during manoeuvres, but we spotted a few weaknesses, especially with the hull.”

“What was the problem with their hulls?  Were they too heavy?”

“No. In fact quite the opposite. They were far too light.”

“Too light! So they couldn’t take the punishment?”

“Oh, they could take the hits alright, but we based our purchase decision on an unapparent weakness. Did you ever see the footage from the Grey Day war manoeuvres?”

“Only those released to the news service. But I believe the censored recordings were something to see.”

“Huh, you have no idea. I commanded the Bristol at the time, and we were acting as official observers for the games when we witnessed the first Chinese brigade jump in on a German staging area. The speed with which the Chinese disabled the German light escorts had to be seen to be believed. It was truly remarkable. The first even moderately heavy German ship to respond was the Bad Nauheim, a Bismarck class, but she literally kicked down the door on her arrival. The seven Chinese ships lit her up from stem to stern so that her hull was completely lost amongst the energy splashes. The Chinese were only a mixture of light with some medium vessels, true, but they had over a hundred guns pointed at the Bad Nauheim, and she just shrugged it off with her screens deflecting everything they could throw at her. An incredible sight, I can assure you. She disabled three of theirs and would have gotten away, too, if a single 140mm training round hadn’t slipped by her screens and marked the hull over a magazine. This shot resulted in an instant destruction point awarded to the Chinese, and she had to retire from the games.”

“So... you never bought the destroyers because they dismissed the Bad Nauheim from the war games?”

“No, you’re missing the point. The round that penetrated her screens was only a dummy round with nothing more than fluorescent paint. Yet it still managed to bypass her fully active predictive armour and put a dent in the pressure hull.”

“I don’t see the significance.”

“Let me try to make this a little easier to follow. Do you know the doctrines that the different militaries use when designing weapons?”

“No, I’m sorry. I don’t know what that is.”

“Every military has to balance three crucial factors when designing combat vehicles of any sort. The Three P’s: protection, projection and performance. This basically boils down to armour, fire power and speed. Each nation has their preferences – for example, the Americans and Germans prefer projection and performance over protection, as armour adds weight and weight limits performance. But we British, however, we believe protection and projection to be the key. We always have. Right back to when we had a real military and not this stupid tin-pot mix of super-suits and automated fighting machines. We may take a little longer getting there, but we like to know we can take what’s offered when we arrive.”

“So because of what happened to the Bad Nauheim, you considered the German ships to be too weak?”

“Too weak in the metal hull, yes. In this instance we believe the Germans relied on energy screens to the point that they had sacrificed hull integrity to reduce weight for manoeuvrability. This is the reason we never followed our option to buy. They were simply too advanced.”

“I don’t follow you.”

“Yes, I can see how my explanation can be confusing to the uninitiated, so let me try again. The Germans are a bit unhappy about our knowing this, so not a word. Those energy screens rely on something called predictive banding, which has its limitations.”

“I’m sorry. Predictive ...what?”

“Predictive banding. They use a line of generators along the ship’s length to project donut-like fields, or bands, around the hull. Computers predict where a shot will strike and a band is formed to protect that area. Several generators can combine to reinforce one another, and together they generate enough power to defuse most energy weapons or shrug off practically any known projectile. However, they can only do this for about half an hour at maximum projection, as that’s how long the generators can run at full capacity without bleeding heat. If they don’t subdue or withdraw within this half-hour window, the generators can overheat and the screens can fail, exposing that weak hull. D’you see?”

“Sort of.”

“We believe this is what happened to the ...to the Bad Nauheim. She couldn’t withdraw as the Chinese had her surrounded, and she couldn’t lower a section of the screen to bleed the heat.”

“Soooo... how does this affect the British decision to –“

“Oh, yes. I was getting to that. Do you remember what happened at Devon?”

“The RN lost the battle and the planet fell to The Koll.”

“Yes, but the truth’s not as simple as that.”

“It never is.”