SWEET HOME ALLE BAMMA (SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA) (19 page)

Then I asked A’Lappe, “Where is the next closest facility?”

“On Colangee, but there is only one moderately equipped facility located there that I know of; it could turn out a ship a day at best.”

“Admiral, if you’re up to it I think you, A’Lappe, and I need to take a test flight in my little baby to assess its capabilities.”

“As much as I would like to go, I’m afraid I must stay here to attend to Federation matters,” replied Regeny.  “However, one of my officers could join you and report back to me on the ship’s operation.  I think Lieutenant Commander Blissop would be a good choice.  He was one of the top Federation pilots when he was flying.”

“Whatever you think best, Admiral,” I replied.

Since Lieutenant Commander Blissop wouldn’t be available for the next two days, I sent A’Lappe back to Cantolla’s lab to see what the two of them could accomplish by then, while I spent some extra time with Marranalis and the recruits to advance the training programs and with Kala to catch up on some administrative matters.  I invited A’Lappe and Cantolla to dine with Kala and me on the second evening; but strangely they both declined by way of separate, somewhat cryptic messages advising that a breakthrough was near and they would be working through the night in an effort to complete some prototypes.

I really wanted to take Kala on the flight with me; but with A’Lappe, Lieutenant Commander Blissop and I onboard the ship was full.  As a seasoned pilot and one of the best in the Federation, I felt it best to let Blissop run the little ship through its paces.  We launched from the small hangar on the underside of the ship and accelerated to an incredible speed in seconds.  Even with the gravitational field dampers engaged, my stomach still had to manage a mild effect from the G forces.

“I guess I’ll need to modify and strengthen the gravitational dampers,” remarked A’Lappe.  “I didn’t realize that the ship’s added power exceeded the capacity of the existing system.”

“This ship is fantastic,” Blissop exclaimed like a boy in a toy store.  “I’m registering speeds one and a half times that of the fastest ships we have in the fleet at the moment.  If you can add a cloaking device, this craft will be incredible!”

“I only wish I could give it RMFF capabilities; but it’s not possible at this point to produce a field generator small enough for this ship.  The generator would be bigger than the ship itself,” A’Lappe said.

“The maneuverability and speed of this ship are unmatched; if you can create an independent cloaking device for it, I don’t think the RMFF will be needed.  I assume weapon capabilities are intact while cloaked?” Blissop asked.

“Yes, in this case cloaking poses no problem for the weapons.  Unlike the constraints created by the combined RMFF/cloaking functions on the
NEW ORLEANS
, cloaking does not need to be deactivated to fire weapons from this craft.  In fact, at my first available opportunity, I hope to make some modifications to the
NEW ORLEANS
so the RMFF and cloaking device are not linked.  It was an accidental discovery made by Kerabac that revealed the specific conditions required to produce the cloaking effect.  I’ve since discovered that the RMFF is not necessarily required to produce these effects; and the independent version of the cloaking device doesn’t require near the energy to operate as the RMFF-dependent version.”

“Tibby, the admiral is going to be genuinely excited when I tell him about this ship,” Blissop said enthusiastically.  Then in a more disappointed tone he continued, “But I fear we won’t be able to get these ships for years.  The military is required to submit a request to the
Senate and, after five to eight years of debate and arguments as to the merits of adding this new craft to the fleet, we may be authorized to build a dozen or so, just to try them out.”

“I can solve that problem,” I said.  “I’m under no restrictions by a
Senate or anyone else.  I can order the fabrication of as many ships as I want for my own security forces; and if I choose to let the Federation borrow those ships in defense of the Federation, no one will have a legitimate foundation for complaint.  I can build a fleet of thousands without making so much as a scratch in my wealth.

A’Lappe, when we get back to the
NEW ORLEANS
, I want you to contact the shipyards on Plosaxen, Gingham and Colangee – and, of course, speak with Orcpipin at the Nibarian shipyard.  Get quotes as soon as possible; and tell them I want several hundred of these ships on an expedited schedule.  After a price is established, tell them I will pay double for every ship they commission and deliver in perfect operating condition within 30 days.  An incentive program that strong should inspire them to suspend their other projects and make this a priority.”

A’Lappe laughed.  “I think they’ll drop everything and have crews working around the clock from now until then.”

“If we can build this fighter fleet quickly and quietly, we should soon have enough squadrons available to protect the
NEW ORLEANS
, the
CACHATORA
, the
DUSTEN
and
the
URANGA
and also serve as escorts for solbidyum transports; and we can have more fighters fabricated for starships at facilities in other sectors as deliveries progress.  Agreed?”

“Agreed,” replied A’Lappe.  “This would be most effective.”

“I’m just glad we are not back on Earth,” I said.  “A job like this would take almost a year to get out the door – just for
one
ship.  It’s the automated fabrication capabilities that are key to making this solution possible in the first place.”

“I hope I can have the design for the cloaking device ready by the time the first ship is ready to come off the assembly line,” said A’Lappe.

“If not, that feature will have to be added later,” I replied.  “Actually, I think it’s best if the cloaking device is installed by the Federation military rather than at the factories anyway; so provide the fabricators with a design that includes the required space and infrastructure, but have the ships delivered without the actual device installed even when you do have it ready.  We should retain control of our cloaking technology – and other proprietary inventions, for that matter – mainly to minimize the risk of revealing such critical capabilities to the Brotherhood or other enemies.  Obviously, they’ll sooner or later manage to obtain this or other forms of cloaking capability by other means; but let’s not make it too easy for them.

“As soon as these ships are complete, I want pilots waiting for them at the factories.  Once each ship passes commissioning and test flight protocols, I want them dispatched immediately to the
CACHATORA
, the
DUSTEN,
the
NEW ORLEANS,
and the URANGA with whatever orders and protocols are defined by Admiral Regeny.  Try to work it out so each star ship and the
NEW ORLEANS
are continually protected by squadrons of equal size as we grow the fleet – assuming, of course, that the admiral approves.  If he doesn’t, then order them all to respond to the
NEW ORLEANS
; we will take in tow what we can’t fit in our hangars.  We’ll need them sooner or later, I’m sure
.”

“I don’t think the admiral will reject your idea – not after I report to him,” assured Blissop.  “I’d like to see every star ship supported by at least fifty of these flying miracles.  We need a name for it, A’Lappe.  Did you or Galetils have a name in mind?”

“We jokingly referred to its development as the
Blackhole Project
,” said A’Lappe, “but we never managed to settle on a name for the design.”

“Hmm.  How about we call them the
Mirage Fighters
?” I suggested.

“That works for me!” Blissop said.

“It’s as good as anything else, I think.” said A’Lappe.

“Good,” I said.  “From now on this is a
Mirage Fighter
; and I think I will name
this
ship the
ALI
, after a famous pugilist back on Earth.”

On the way back to the
NEW ORLEANS
Blissop let me fly the ship.  The controls were similar to those of the
TRITYTE
and other patrol ships, which I had never actually flown myself outside of simulations.  It was actually quite simple to maneuver manually; and it was equipped with a computer system similar to the
TRITYTE
that would navigate and fly the ship by voice commands, if one elected to do so.  I was a bit apprehensive about landing the ship in the hangar bay, until Blissop reminded me that I didn’t need to manually do so.  I simply instructed the
ALI
to dock and the maneuver was performed automatically.  We barely had the hangar door sealed and air pressure restored before the admiral and Kala were there to greet us.  As we stepped out of the
ALI
, the admiral said, “So, how was it?”

Blissop could barely contain his excitement.  “Admiral, you won’t believe it.  This thing is 50% faster than the fastest ship we have at the moment.  Not only that, it maneuvers like a dream… and even though we haven’t tested it in an atmosphere, I think
– from what I have seen anyway – it will outperform any in-atmosphere aircraft we or anyone else has.”

“Great!  Now all we need to do is convince the
Senate that we need some…and by the time they decide to fund a few, when you and I are long dead, our grandchildren might – I say
might
– be able to see one or two of them fly.”

“You’re going to see them a lot sooner than that, sir,” Blissop said with a gleam in his eye.  “Tibby is ordering several hundred as his personal security ships – and he’s going to loan them to the Federation until the
Senate gets around to funding them.”

There was no verbal reaction from Regeny to this announcement.  For the first time since I arrived with the solbidyum and met him at the dinner gala on Megelleon, I saw the admiral shed a tear.

Aside from training FSO operatives, overseeing Marranalis’ work with the Special Ops troopers and tending to the daily tasks of shipboard life, the rest of the trip to Plosaxen was relatively uneventful.  A’Lappe and Cantolla were able to get the personal cloaking device to work for up to an hour and a half.  I felt this duration was acceptable; but A’Lappe was certain that they could improve on that capability.  In the meantime, they began producing cloaking units for all the Special Operations troopers, FSO agents and for my security force.  A’Lappe didn’t have the same luck with the cloaking device for the Mirage Fighters, but both he and Cantolla felt that they were making significant progress and would have it working within a few days.

Component fabrication for the first 10X fusion reactor was quickly completed and the unit was assembled in the compartment that had originally been designed for it.  From there it would be transferred to the star ship
URANGA,
which was also scheduled to receive the first 25 Mirage Fighters to come out of the plant at Yoroa.  A factory on Plosaxen had been located to build a second 10X fusion reactor and work was underway to have it ready for the
CACHATORA
,
which had just left the Enpowor System for Plosaxen after being relieved by the star ship
SHANKUNO
.  All three star ships and crews had been tested and certified as being clear of Brotherhood members.  Between the three ships a little more than 3,500 Brotherhood members had been discovered and discharged from duty, a number that bothered the admiral greatly.

“By the time we’re done purging the ranks,” he said, “we stand to lose over a quarter of our forces.  I am afraid we may lose a few ships as well.”

“By my estimate you will lose nearly a third, Admiral,” A’Lappe said with a rather serious look on his face, “but it’s inevitable, given all that has transpired and considering how long the Brotherhood has been operating free of detection or opposition.”

The admiral looked at
A’Lappe a moment and shook his head.  “I received word today from Senator Tacfacs of Plosaxen that the Senate is considering provisions for amnesty to any Brotherhood members who wish to disavow themselves of the Brotherhood and swear full allegiance to the Federation.  They would still be allowed to remain in the Federation military with their current rank, but they would be transferred to support positions and removed from high-security defensive and combatant duties.  Personally, I don’t know how I feel about it.  I can understand that many may have been drawn into the Brotherhood without knowing the full intentions and purpose of the cult, but part of me wants to hang the lot of them!

“Tacfacs wanted my thoughts and opinions on the matter.  I told him that I’m in favor of it, with one uncompromising condition
– each individual that accepts the offer of amnesty must provide every detail of knowledge they have on the Brotherhood’s membership, operations, base locations, resources…
every shred
of information.  I also told him that I didn’t want the FOI handling it.  He balked on that one, so I told him why.  I didn’t tell him about the FSO; I said only that the military would set up its own investigative team to obtain and analyze the data gathered from such interrogations.  I’m not sure how well that went over, to be honest.  I also suggested that individuals who provide key information that leads to the successful shutdown of a significant element of Brotherhood operations should be allowed to re-establish themselves with combat units in their original positions after one year with probationary oversight.  He seemed to like that idea.  He’ll be headed back to the capital tomorrow to resume discussions.  He thinks a vote on the issue could come as early as a month from now.  That’s unbelievably fast for the senate.”