“She already has a crew, a good crew, but they’re not immune. It’s an excellent suggestion, Ray, if we can find room for them.”
“If she needs a bigger ship, we get her a bigger ship.”
“We should include a pilot,” Mike said.
Trexler frowned. “We’re already severely understaffed. Let’s assign Godfries to Earth, I’ll come up with a pilot for Krys, and Godfries and Buskin can train as many more admirals as they need from recruits on Earth. Will that work?”
Buskin was tight-lipped, but he nodded his head. Mike coughed into his fist. “Uh, I think you might want to consult Krys and her captain on this before you assign anyone.”
Trexler smiled. “We will. They’re a small, tight group, and they’ll have to get along with each other.”
“I will Test each of them when you’ve made your final selections,” Ellie added.
Admiral Stuart Godfries arrived and was introduced. “I have a new assignment for you, Stu. You’re going home,” Trexler said gravely. He explained the full situation. When he was done, Godfries leaned back in his seat. Silence prevailed for a time, a long time, as he considered the new assignment. When Godfries lifted his gaze back to the group, he looked first to Buskin, then to Mike, and finally to Trexler.
When he spoke, it was softly. “Ray, you’re thinking too small.”
“I’m not infallible. That’s why I brought you.”
“We’ve talked about how the nations on Earth need something to pull them together before they self-destruct with the knowledge of extraterrestrials. This is the perfect opportunity. I’ll be sitting on literally thousands of potential men and women to man our ships.”
His gaze shifted to Buskin. “If your training facilities are up to it, and the simulations aboard ships are excellent training grounds, we can train our own guys, and they’ll all be immune. We might even be able to ship some back here. In time, we won’t need Parsons’ World for training anymore.”
“Where will you get all the recruits?” Mike asked. “We’re trying to keep knowledge of the Empire a secret.”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s going to stay a secret, not if keeping it a secret means the extinction of our species. We’re better than that. I’m thinking we might bring entire squadrons of fighter pilots on board.”
“You’ll upset the balance of power.”
“Maybe, but what if we rotate recruiting among all the major powers. We give up a squadron, then another country does the same, then another one, and so on. When we’ve gone the circuit, we’ll start over. Everyone will be sucked down at the same time.”
“You won’t keep that a secret.”
“Not for long. We’ll work up to it as quickly as the politicians can get their parts done. In the meantime, I can work some personal contacts.”
He stared around the table. No one rebutted his plan, and he turned back to Mike. “Parsons’ World and Shipyard are converting our ships to fast ships, but it’s a slow process. What’s slowing it down? Production or installation?”
Jons answered. “Installation. Mainly, the guns. They require a lot of cutting and fitting, and these are all special materials that require experienced craftsmen.”
Godfries turned to Buskin. “Do we need the guns, sir?”
“Hmm. Stronger weapons would be nice, but fast ships alone would make a huge difference. We could get by with just installing new AI’s. If we can upgrade the shields while we’re at it, so much the better. The guns could come later.”
“The new AI’s are programmed for the upgraded guns and shields,” Jons said. “I’ll have to find out if we can adjust them without starting over from scratch. I think it can be done.”
“Mike,” Godfries said, “we can do the installations on Earth. We have a tremendous pool of manpower. Just send us a few trainers and all the parts.”
Mike looked to Admiral Jons who shrugged his shoulders. “This is manufacturing stuff, and Serge’s guys are doing all of it. They’re flat out at the moment making the modifications to the ships that are already here. I’ll have to check with Serge and his managers. It will mean a reduction in current output. I don’t know how much.”
“But in the end, it could mean an increase in output, right?” Mike asked.
“Yes, Sire, if we live that long.”
Mike’s lips pursed. Managing resources was always a balancing act, but mismanagement of this one could have dire consequences.
“Stu, you can’t hide all these ships on the ground,” Trexler said in exasperation.
“Not right away, we can’t.” He looked to Buskin. “The mechanics of the situation demand these ships be somewhere within the inner system.”
“Correct. It would be nice if we could station them a quick jump away through hyperspace, just keep a few observers in the system, but if we jump in after the Chessori, it would be a stern chase. We might never catch up.”
“Not without fast ships, and even then we want to hold that secret in reserve until it’s needed. We have to hide out on or near Earth. I suppose Mars might work, but we want to be hidden from the Chessori as much as from the people on Earth.” He looked askance at Mike and waited for his reaction.
Mike thought for a moment, then his eyebrows rose and a smile lit his face. He nodded his head, and Godfries continued. “We hide in the ocean.”
Buskin straightened. “No way!”
“It can’t be done?”
Buskin turned away, a look of intense dismay on his face. “It can for the smaller ships. I’ll have to check to see if it would work for frigates and cruisers. That’s not the issue. These ships will be crewed by Empire crews as well as your own. Speaking just for myself, I’ve spent most of my career in the emptiness of space. The thought of all that water around me makes me ill.”
“Do the crews have to know?”
“They’ll know,” he said, nodding his head. “It would be a terrible test for them. I don’t know if I can hold them together under those circumstances.” He considered the idea, and his shoulders shuddered. “I’ll give it a try. I make no guarantees.”
“We have some pretty sophisticated listening devices spread around our oceans, Stu,” Trexler said. “So do other nations. You’ll be discovered.”
“Time, Ray. I’m just buying time until we no longer need to hide. And we really want to keep the element of surprise if we’re attacked. I’d love for any approaching Chessori fleets to think they’re approaching an undefended planet. How about you, sir?” he asked Buskin.
“To have such an advantage would almost be worth living in the sea for a while.”
“The ship modifications have to be done on the surface,” Jons stated. “The AI has to be completely deactivated, then a new one installed and exhaustively tested before it’s signed off as battle ready.”
Godfries closed his eyes for a moment. “The small ships are not a problem, we can house them somewhere. Frigates and cruisers are a problem.”
Mike spoke up. “I’m an engineer. I think you can hide them in natural formations like the Grand Canyon. Nets could be constructed that would stretch from one side of the canyon to the other, and the nets could incorporate whatever wiring is needed to fool satellites. It would cause a lot of inconvenience, but it could be done.”
“Mountain passes might work, too,” Godfries added.
“Most of them have major roads through them.”
“Hmm. We might have to engineer a landslide or two.”
“You’re talking major inconvenience to the populations,” Mike said.
“Better inconvenienced than dead, Sire.”
“Are you the one to make all this happen?” Mike asked.
“I am if Admiral Buskin will have me.” Buskin nodded his head solemnly in acceptance, and Godfries turned to Trexler. “You’re our commander, sir. I’ll commit to you. Just know that this is just a plan, the broad outlines of a plan, and parts of it aren’t going to work out.”
“The weakest link is politics. You’ll have to go to Earth with Mike. You two can get things started, but you’ll have to continue that battle without him, and it will be a battle that cannot be neglected. You can’t run roughshod over them, Stu.”