Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (26 page)

“You can look forward to a lot of changes over the next few years,” I said, just as the conveyance we were in began slowing down as we approached our destination.

We disembarked from the cars to find ourselves in a long slightly curved corridor that I realized was one of the outer rings that surrounded the station.  On both sides of the corridor walls, Cantolla Gates were lined one after the other, each with a destination tag over it identifying the location at the other end.  Every 8
th
gate had guard stations with four troopers.  Signal boards at each station indicated with an indicator the moment someone entered a gate, and an alarm would be set off if weapons were present on the person going through the gates.  Since I had an entourage of armed troopers, the alarm would be set off, but a guard at the station would quickly press an ‘all clear’ button that would prevent a stampede of troopers rushing to the area expecting an attack.  As we stood before the gate in preparation to enter, I could see the other side and trooper guards as well as Admiral Regeny next to a Nibarian in a captain’s uniform, whom I assumed would be Captain Mareoparen.

“Ahh, Tibby, You’re here at last,” Admiral Regeny said as he stepped forward, breaking protocol.  Typically, it is the captain on a ship who steps forward first to greet boarders.  “I don’t believe you and Captain Mareoparen have met before, have you?”

“No sir, we haven’t.  Nice to meet you, Captain,” I said as I nodded in his direction.  Back on Earth this would have included a handshake, but handshaking wasn’t a part of the Federation cultures.

“It is my pleasure, Admiral,” Mareoparen replied in the typical high-pitched voice of a Nibarian that always reminded me of a human speaking after breathing helium.  As Nibarians went, Mareoparen was a bit taller than most, but like his entire race, he had the rough treelike bark skin, though his skin color was a lighter shade of gray from other Nibarians I had seen.  I wondered if age or perhaps the region of Nibaria accounted for the differences, but it really didn’t matter.

“If you will please follow me this way,” Mareoparen said as he began to lead us down a corridor.  “As I am sure, you both are already aware, we don’t have all the fighters, patrol ships and other ships aboard at this time.  We only have enough to fill one launch tube.  I must say, Tibby, that your idea of the rectangular tubes for the launch bays is ingenious, it gives us four surfaces to park the ships on and to launch from.  With the 12 tubes on the ship, each with four sides, it gives essentially 48 launching areas that can all operate simultaneously.  If we are only launching ships, we can use both ends of a tube, and you then have 96 launching areas.  You can get nearly 100 times as many ships in space in the same amount of time as it would take for a starship.  That holds true for recovering ships.  And with this laser phalanx system you and Captain Slater came up with, even if we didn’t have shields, we could stop any torpedoes coming in.  I’ve been told that your man A’Lappe has found a way to launch ships with the RMFF’s active.  One that won’t send them all the way to the other end of the universe instantly,” he said through a grin.  “If that’s true, this ship will definitely be the ship of the future.”

“I hadn’t heard about this,” Admiral Regeny said. “Someone tell me how it works.”

“It works by a computer driven flicker in the RMFF shield, just long enough for the ship to fly through,”  Mareoparen said.  “But A’Lappe doesn’t recommend we use it if we are under heavy fire.  It is possible that in that microsecond the ship is passing through the RMFF that something could get in as well.”

“Tibby, did you know you about this?”  Regeny said in astonishment.

“I only learned about it a day ago.  A’Lappe mentioned it to me, but like the Captain here says, it should not be used if the ship is under heavy fire from the enemy.”

“How many flight briefing rooms does this ship have?”  Regeny asked, suddenly changing the topic.

“Ninety six smaller ones and twelve larger ones.  All of them can be linked into the main flight control center via giant vid screens so all pilots in each room can all be briefed at once,” Captain Mareoparen replied.

“Wow! Regeny exclaimed, “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the scale of operations this ship will be able to handle.  How about maintenance areas for keeping the ships serviced and repaired?”

“There are forty eight of those located at the mid points of the launch tubes. Each wall of the insides of the tubes has their own gravity fields, and each maintenance bay on each side can handle up to ten ships at a time.  So, you can have up to 480 ships being serviced or repaired at once.”

“By the stars, doesn’t it take a lot of space for all the pilots and engineers on a ship like this?”  Regeny asked.

“Not at all,” Mareoparen answered.  “Once all the Cantolla Gates are activated aboard this ship we only need to have enough pilots and staff aboard to accommodate one launch tube.  The rest of the personnel will be located on bases throughout the Federation.  In a time of need an alarm is given, in minutes those pilots and mechanical people will be pouring in through gates and headed to their ships, or stations, just as quickly as if they had been aboard the ship all along.  There is actually only a small permanent staff on the ship; the captain, senior officers, and a few others.  Their quarters are larger than most of the other quarters on the ship because they are permanently assigned to here, but by other fleet standards, they are smaller because it is possible for the staff to take shore leaves more often and return to their homes and families using the Cantolla Gates.  Other crew quarters are much smaller as well, instead of suites, they are only a small room with a private shower/toilet facility.  Rooms aren't luxurious, but they are well appropriated and comfortable for the short time they are used.

“So just how large is the permanent crew?” Regeny asked.”

“Two hundred and eighty, sir,” Mareoparen responded, “But the minimum number of crew aboard at any one time is over a thousand.  In case of a major assault that number can expand to eighteen thousand.”

“WHAT?  Eighteen thousand!”  Regeny exclaimed.

“Yes sir, eighteen thousand; of course, that includes pilots, ship crews, maintenance personnel, troopers ready for ground assault action, and other staff normally not aboard except in combat situations.”

“It must get rather crowded in a situation like that,” Regeny said.

“We don’t think it will, the way spaces are laid out and the location of Cantolla Gates aboard will localize people and their movements, so they won't be getting in each other’s way.  Oh, one more feature that we’ve just installed that you may not know about, Admiral,” Mareoparen said as he turned toward me, “A’Lappe suggested we add Cantolla Gate frames in two of the launch tubes; we can actually bring more fighter-sized ships from other locations if needed.”

“I didn’t know about that, but it certainly is a great added feature; do they fly the ships through or do you need to roll them through?”  I asked.

“You need to roll them through, but A’Lappe is working with a gate design that will mount at the end of the tube that he believes will allow ships to fly through,” Mareoparen replied.

“Tibby, do you have any special plans for where you will likely use this ship in action first?”  Regeny asked.

“Yes sir, I do.  I’m anticipating the Brotherhood will soon attack Weccies.  The people at Weccies have no idea what they are in for if the Brotherhood uses any of the ships they acquired from the Federation that possess RMFF capabilities.  None of the Weccies defenses will stop a ship equipped with an RMFF, and they will quickly be captured without help.  However, as you know, the Weccies refuse assistance in defending their planet.  I plan to have an interstellar-size Cantolla Gate hidden nearby, and a cloaked watch ship monitoring things at Weccies.  As soon as the Brotherhood shows up, I plan for the Maxette to be the first ship through.  We’ll wait until the Brotherhood has penetrated the outer defenses of the planet and is beginning an assault on the planet itself, and then we’ll go into action.  I’m hoping that once we save the Weccies, they may be a bit more cooperative with the Federation in trying to defeat the Brotherhood.”

“I can see where ships like this are going to give us a distinct advantage,” Regeny said, “How many more do we have in construction at the moment?”

“Three, Admiral,” I answered, “but if these ships work out as I hope, we will build 50 more as soon as we can.”

The ship was everything I had envisioned and more.  The War Room was nearly a duplicate of the one on the
DUSTEN
only just a little smaller, but its 3D display systems and other features were even more advanced than those on the
DUSTEN
.  Adjacent to the War Room was another room separated by a window which could be made opaque or transparent by a switch on the main control console.  This second room had 50 terminal stations specifically for monitoring and controlling ROV’s, guided missiles, and torpedoes.  On the opposite side of the War Room, was another room of about the same size that served as a command center for ground troops.  The floor inside this room was set up to project 3D displays of the surface complete with contours and other obstacles.  Infantry units and other machinery could be projected and displayed to scale and tracked on the map as well.  Even miniaturized projections of troopers in 3D could be replicated on the model and positioned according to GPS tracking systems that each trooper wore.  For this system to work properly three or more remotely operated satellite ships needed to be placed into orbit by the
MAXETTE,
or the ship could tap into and use existing satellites that might be in orbit around a planet.  Across the corridor from the War Room was a communication center patterned after the one A’Lappe had created on the
NEW ORLEANS
, from here specially trained troopers could monitor and intercept communications.

The last place I visited on the ship before the commissioning ceremony began was the small suite that would be my quarters when I was aboard the ship.  By comparison to my suite on the
DUSTEN,
it was tiny, but if compared to anything that existed on a ship on Earth, it was large.  It consisted of a bedroom, private bath, a kitchenette with food replicator, a dining area that could also serve as a meeting area suited for six people, a small but comfortable living room and an office/study.  The captain's quarters were identical to mine and there were two other identical suites available for other visiting dignitaries, should the need arise.  Admiral Regeny wanted to know where his suite was, and was shocked when I told him, “You don’t have a suite aboard the ship, Admiral.  There is no need for you to spend more than a few hours aboard the
MAXETTE
now that we have Cantolla Gates.  Besides you’ll be taking over my suites on the
DUSTEN,
and coming from the
DUSTEN
to the
MAXETTE
will only be like a short stroll down the hall to the nearest Cantolla Gate.”

I could tell the Rear Admiral wasn’t happy about the comment, but he said nothing.

“Tibby, this suite is awfully small,” Kala said.  “Where will the children sleep and play?”

“There will not be any children on this ship,” I said.  “The Maxette is strictly a military ship.  With Cantolla Gates and people being able to come and go easily, those with families will go home when off duty, so they can be with them.  I’ll be coming back to the
NEW ORLEANS
every night, unless there is a pressing need for me to be here.”

“It’s all so strange and … well, sparse,” Kala said.

“Maybe by Federation standards,” I replied, “but compared to ships on Earth, this is luxurious.  People aboard this ship won’t be on here for years at a time, or even months.  Every few weeks the crews will be rotated about, only the captain and a handful of senior officers will be aboard permanently.”

The commissioning of the ship took place in the largest meeting hall on the ship.  Leader Tonclin made an appearance arriving through a Cantolla Gate at the last minute before the ceremony.  Regeny made a speech about what a great man Captain Maxette had been, and that it was only fitting the ship be named after him.  Tonclin made a brief speech about honor, service, and dedication and the new direction the Federation military was going, and then it was my turn.  I had prepared a speech ahead of time, but at the last minute, it didn’t feel right, and as I stood up to speak, I set my notes aside and simply said what was in my mind.

“Up until this past week, we have been reactive in dealing with the Brotherhood’s aggression and attacks, and while we have been able to turn them back, we have done nothing serious enough to get them to give up their attacks and actions.  Just a few days ago we took the first offensive actions against the Brotherhood by capturing one of their major supply posts at Windsor.  We will be taking more offensive actions in the future and carrying this war to the Brotherhood instead of waiting for them to attack us.

“Today we dedicate this ship, the
MAXETTE
, to that effort in reaching out to strike a blow to the enemy.  We will no longer sit by idly waiting for them to attack and kill our citizens.  We will go after them, hunting them down and destroying them until they surrender, or until they all are gone.  This ship is a new step forward in revitalizing the Federation military.  It incorporates newer technology and methods that will allow us to strike against the enemy quicker and harder than ever before.  In the past, it was the Brotherhood that brought death and fear to the Federation, but now it is the Federation that will take fear to the Brotherhood.