Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) (2 page)

Chapter-2

He’s not stupid… he’s possessed by a retarded ghost.  
— Justine Vogt

“Mr. President,” said Fleet Admiral Roger Kalis, “how many years have you spent studying military strategy and tactics?”

Confederate President Lincoln looked surprised by the question. “Why, none of course. My talents lie in politics. I spent over 30 years in the Alliance senate.”

“When you ordered Admiral Rawley to dispatch one of his task forces to Tucky,” continued Admiral Kalis, “what strategic military advantage did you expect us to gain by that move, in our struggle to fend off this new Union offensive?”

“Strategic military advantage?” asked Collier. “I’m not sure I understand your question, Admiral.”

“I guess what I’m asking, Mr. President,” replied Kalis “is
why
did you order Admiral Carpenter’s task force to leave Tensee for Tucky?”

Collier appeared startled. “Why? Because Tucky is a member of the Confederacy and entitled to military protection, the same as all of our other members, of course!”

“I apologize, Mr. President. I was unaware the pro-Union legislature in Ankfort had stepped aside so the secessionist convention members could assume their seats in the Tucky assembly.”

“Don’t be absurd, Admiral,” retorted Collier. “You very well know that hasn’t happened.”

“I know that, sir. I just wasn’t sure whether YOU were aware of it.”

“Now you’re being impertinent, Admiral, and I must say I don’t appreciate it one bit!”

“Impertinent, Mr. President? Forgive me, but do you have
any
idea what the consequences of your direct orders to 3
rd
Fleet have been?”

“Consequences, Admiral? Exactly what
consequences
are you referring to?”

“Mr. President, last September Admiral Rawley had an entire fleet — three full task forces under his command at Tensee. We placed him there for a specific purpose. Tensee is centrally located and in ideal strategic position to enable us to respond to Federal moves in that entire area of the Confederacy. This was a major keystone of our overall defensive strategy.

“But our strategic plan began to come apart when in October, the
Commander-in-Chief
personally ordered one-third of Rawley’s 3
rd
Fleet away from Tensee to Arka, just because of a small Union nuisance raid that actually damaged very little. In November, again under direct orders from the
Commander-in-Chief,
Vice Admiral Grove was forced to sub-divide TF-32 and send half to Souri under Rear Admiral Pike to drive out a small Union contingent there, after Souri’s questionable secession. 

“Then in January, in spite of absolutely solid intelligence pointing to an impending major Union assault targeting Tensee, the
Commander-in-Chief
inexplicably ordered half of Admiral Rawley’s remaining force to Tucky, for nothing more than simplistic political purposes, in spite of Rawley’s impassioned protests. Admiral Rawley tried desperately to get Carpenter to return to Tensee before the Yankees attacked him, but Carpenter refused to move without direct authorization from the
Commander-in-Chief,
who had personally ordered him to Tucky.”

President Lincoln Collier sat, mouth agape, unused to being lectured like an errant schoolboy.

“When an entire Union Fleet arrived at Tensee in February,” Kalis continued, “just as our intelligence accurately foretold, instead of a full fleet ready to meet it at 1:1 odds as we’d envisioned, Rawley only had one-third of that — only a single task force left to defend the strategically important Tensee system.

“Where were the rest of Tensee’s supposed defenders? They were accomplishing very little at Arka, Souri and Tucky under
presidential
orders! Although Chris Rawley conducted an absolutely brilliant defense and bled the Federals badly, being outnumbered 3:1 eventually forced him to withdraw from Tensee before he lost his entire command. 

“In early March, two full Union task forces attacked the two half task forces the
Commander-in-Chief
ordered stationed in Arka and Souri. Again, Admirals Grove and Pike bled the Yankees badly, but each being outnumbered 2:1, they were both eventually forced to withdraw to Missip. Recognizing the strategic value of the Tensee system, Rawley recombined the remnants of TF-30 and TF-32 and attempted to drive Loggins completely out of Tensee, before his expected reinforcements could arrive from Hio.”

“Admiral, I…”

“Mr. President,” Kalis interrupted, “when fighting at 1:1 odds our Fleet has NEVER failed to drive the enemy from the field of battle, as again evidenced by Rawley’s rout of Loggins on the first day of the
2
nd
Battle of Tensee
. When the expected Union reinforcements arrived, Admiral Grove was then at a 4:1 disadvantage and although she bloodied the Yankees badly, she was inevitably forced to withdraw, again leaving the Federals in possession of Tensee.”

“Yes, highly regrettable,” said President Collier.  “Admiral Grove erred badly when she halted pursuit of the Federal fleet on that first day of
2
nd
Tensee
.”

“Mr. President, my point is, if Admiral Rawley had had TF-31 available to him, which by any military logic he should have, he very probably would have never been driven out of Tensee in the first place, last February. But even if he’d had it available to him in April, he would have most definitely destroyed Loggins and then been in position to ambush the arriving Union reinforcements.”

“What are you saying, Admiral Kalis?”

“Mr. President, no disrespect intended, but you yourself just told me you have absolutely no experience in directing military campaigns or understanding of military strategy. Since October, an admitted amateur in military matters took it upon himself to overrule his bona fide military experts and personally order military units around for simplistic political reasons. Your orders absolutely wrecked our overall defensive strategy, resulting in the loss of over half a fleet and three Confederate systems.”

“Admiral Kalis, are you blaming ME for the defeats we’ve suffered over the past two months?”

“Yes, Mr. President, I am! Instead of having the flexibility to prioritize and meet the enemy on equal terms or better, Admiral Rawley’s two remaining task forces were forced to fight four separate battles against ten Union task forces over a six-week
period — the equivalent of over three full fleets… five times their own number and astoundingly, almost won all of them. This was in spite of having two-thirds of his forces sitting idle, when they were desperately needed most… simply because of political expediency overruling military necessity. 

“Mr. President, whenever you exert your ultimate
Commander-in-Chief
authority, you also assume ultimate
Commander-in-Chief
responsibility for the consequences resulting from those orders. Therefore, Mr. President, the direct responsibility for our military setbacks, the loss of Tensee, and for Christopher Rawley’s death, all lie directly with you.”

President Collier gaped like a beached fish — initially angered, he sputtered, but then sat stunned by the unassailability of Kalis’ logic. Slowly he leaned forward, plunged his face into his hands and murmured, “My God… what have I done?”

“Mr. President, I’m sorry. I feel what you are feeling now, every day. You did what you did for excellent political reasons — noble reasons. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the resources to spread ourselves so thinly for mere political and idealistic reasons. If we continue to do so, both our country and our cause will be lost. 

“Our Fleet officers and crewmembers are the finest in the universe. We
must
give them the freedom to utilize their training and experience to meet the military challenges of a relentless enemy having greater resources than our own, or else we will find ourselves a conquered people. There will be time enough for noble ideals
after
our independence is won.”

The next day, Confederate President Lincoln Collier publicly named Fleet Admiral Roger Kalis as
Commander-in-Chief
of all Confederate military forces, answerable only to the President, after the fact.

* * * *

The British peace envoys had been talking to Alliance Secretary of State Dwight L. Kenwood on and off, since arriving with Admiral Bishop the previous November. Over that time, Kenwood had spoken softly and respectfully, but was constantly claiming the need to “consult with the president” about virtually every British proposal for ending the war with the Confederacy. The president was never available for the British to negotiate with directly — always preoccupied with “important war matters,” declining even direct appeals made by the British ambassador several times.  

Even professional diplomats eventually get tired of constantly having smoke blown up their ass, placated by verbal sleight-of-hand, so the British peace delegation finally conceded their mission was a failure and disgustedly prepared to leave Waston. One final,
bon voyage
meeting with the Secretary of State revealed a far different attitude to the stunned British diplomats. The Union’s recent victories at Tensee had emboldened Kenwood into taking off the mask. The United Stellar Alliance had absolutely no interest in discussing “peace” with the Confederacy with them, or anyone else — they were winning.

* * * *

Chapter-3

Talent hits a target no one else can hit.  Genius hits a target no one else can see. 
— Arthur Schopenhauer

“Have Rico drag Bat along to all of our staff meetings from now on,” said Admiral Douglass Campbell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Couldn’t hurt. Bat, sure as shit, nailed that surprise attack on Loggins at
2
nd
Tensee
with that weird
sixth-sense
of his,” answered Admiral Simon Bradley, Chief of Fleet Operations.

“And see if you can find out who the hell killed Bat’s promotion, while you’re at it, will ya? Wouldn’t do for a couple of four-stars to be seen taking advice from a mere commander.”

“You think someone has it in for Bat, sir?”

“Somebody is sure as hell shipping a lot of classified information down South. Who else around here has the paranormal abilities it’s gonna take to smoke the bastard out? If I were actively betraying my country, Bat Masterson is the
last
person I’d want sniffing around behind me.” 

“I’ll get right on it. Might also give us a hint as to who’s playing it fast and loose with all this stolen info.”

* * * *

The new
Commander-in-Chief
of all Confederate military forces immediately ordered Admiral Eileen Thorn to take TF-20 and TF-22 of 2
nd
Fleet to Missip, to reinforce and take overall command of what was left of 3
rd
Fleet. Kalis also ordered Vice Admiral Carpenter, still loitering at Tucky, to bring his TF-31 back to Ginia, where he could keep his thumb on the boy. Carpenter hadn’t done anything
technically
wrong, as he’d adhered to chain-of-command to the letter. But Kalis needed officers who could think beyond
the book, when situations warranted it — and if ever a situation warranted doing what was
right
, instead of what was technically correct, it had been Tensee.

Kalis also had another problem beyond the loss of strategically important Tensee.  Christopher Rawley’s death was a staggering blow to Kalis’ command structure. Rawley had been a truly gifted combat commander. There was no replacing him, but if anyone could salvage
something
out of the Tensee debacle, it was Eileen Thorn. 

Another problem facing Kalis was that his computer friend
Bozo
had sent word the Federals were again amassing another “Grand Fleet,” with intentions of assaulting Ginia once again.  He needed to distract the Yankees — give them something
else
to think about besides Ginia for a while. Kalis initially intended to send Thorn on this diversion mission, but after learning of Chris Rawley’s death, he’d no choice but to send Eileen to sort out that mess out west that the president’s meddling had created. 

Kalis wondered if Chris’ protégé…
what was his name again?
Ah yes, there it is:
Ben Stillman…  I wonder if Stillman learned anything from his time with Chris and Eileen? Both spoke highly of him. I guess it’s time to find out if
Mr. Stillman will step up.

Kalis had no one else he could spare. 

* * * *

Admiral Simon Bradley, Chief of Fleet Operations walked next door and stuck his head into the office of his Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Enrico Melendez.

“”Rico, grab Bat and come see me, ASAP.”

“Aye, aye, sir, he’s probably down in the strategic combat simulator,” said Melendez. “I’ve had him running scenarios based on what we have, where and what we
think
we know of what the rebs have, where. I’ve been trying to prime the pump on that
sixth-sense
of his.”

“Never mind, I’ll walk down there with you. I need the exercise anyway,” replied Bradley.

When the two admirals entered the room containing the strategic combat simulator, they found Commander John “Bat” Masterson sitting in the main terminal chair with a virtual-reality helmet masking his features. The scenario he was working on was projected onto a large flat-screen on the wall, so they could easily see what he was doing.

“Looks like he’s controlling the Confederate side himself,” noted Bradley. “Most people just enter the parameters and let the computer postulate the results.”

“Bat has his own way of doing things,” replied Melendez. “He thinks he’s smarter than the computer, and from what I’ve seen, he just might be.”

“I need to talk to him.”

Melendez nodded and stepped forward to touch Masterson on the shoulder. Bat jumped like he’d been shot — and almost took Melendez’ hand off in the process. Melendez kept forgetting Bat had seen combat and didn’t react well to being startled. Masterson punched his scenario into freeze mode and ripped off the helmet. 

“Oh… sorry, Admiral.”

“My fault, Bat, I forgot.”

Noticing Bradley standing behind Melendez, Bat said, “Afternoon, Admiral Bradley. What did I do this time?”

Bradley snorted. “What makes you think you’ve done anything wrong, Bat?  Guilty conscience?”

“No, sir,” responded Masterson. “I’ve just been in the Fleet long enough to know, when two admirals actually walk somewhere in search of a lowly commander, it’s rarely a social call and never to deliver good news. I just figured my mouth had gotten me into some kind of trouble my brain hadn’t caught up with yet.”

Lowly commander… Yes, Bat has most definitely noticed being passed over for promotion.

“Actually, I just wanted to ask you something,” said Admiral Bradley.

“Fire away, Admiral.”

“First of all, I’m curious as to what you’re discovering with these scenarios you’ve been running?” asked Bradley.

“I think we’re in very deep shit, Admiral.”

That answer started both admirals. “Why would you think that, Bat?” asked Admiral Bradley. “Loggins has taken Tensee and Admiral McAllister is almost ready to launch an even bigger
Grand Fleet
to crush Kalis at Ginia.”

“Loggins lost most of two complete fleets and is currently so weak, two well-handled task forces could easily drive him out of Tensee, Missip and Arka completely,” replied Bat. 

“The rebels don’t have two task forces available to them in that part of the country — not with having to defend Ginia from McAllister’s new
Grand Fleet
. Loggins has sufficient ships to ward off anything they have left in that area, if they were foolish enough to attempt an attack.”

“McAllister’s fleet won’t be nearly as ‘grand’ by the time she actually launches, so Kalis won’t need all that much to defend Ginia with,” said Bat. “He could easily release one or two task forces from Ginia and send them to the western theater of operations, under a more aggressive commander.”

“What makes you think McAllister’s
Grand Fleet
won’t launch at full strength?” asked Melendez.

“Because Kalis is coming here first.”

“To Waston?”

“Among other places… a LOT of other places.”

* * * *

CONFEDERATE STELLAR ACCORD

FLEET MOVEMENT ORDER: CLASSIFICATION TOP SECRET ULTRA

May 3, 3862

To: Vice Admiral Benjamin F. Stillman, Commanding Officer, TF-21

From: Fleet Admiral Roger Kalis, Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Fleet

Subject:  Movement/Attack Order Authorization:  7T49KHE7A7K4X

You are hereby directed to attack Union Fleet construction assets at your own discretion, for the purpose of diverting current Union Fleet assets in Waston to the defense of as many different systems as possible. See potential target possibilities in intelligence report attached. You are directed to inflict maximum damage in the shortest time possible, before moving on to your next target. Number of different systems attacked successfully is priority over actual damage inflicted. Replenishment of armaments may be accomplished at “Grocery Store,” as necessity requires and time permits. You will ensure the safety of your command and return to the Ginia system as close to mid-June, as practicable. 

Fleet-Admiral Roger Kalis

Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Fleet

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Flash (05/09/62)

Rebel Attacks Stun Nation!
  – 
Celebrations over Vice Admiral Grant Loggins’ successful military campaign resulting in the capture of the secessionist planet of Tensee were still in full swing, when shocking reports were received today of widespread Confederate attacks at Maylan, Dela, Sylvania and Jersi. Specifically, Confederate warships attacked the
Starquest Aerospace
Fleet construction facilities orbiting Sylvania, while Confederate fighters were reported attacking a munitions plant at Jersi, an instrumentation factory at Dela and a major Fleet refueling depot in the Maylan/Discol system.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Flash (05/16/62)

Rebel Attacks Continue!
  – 
Confederate warships have reportedly attacked the
Starquest Aerospace
Fleet construction facilities orbiting Rilan, while Confederate fighters were reported attacking a reactor/drive plant at Massa, and fighter production facilities at Conn and Namshir.  

Admiral Douglas Campbell,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
is quoted as saying, “These hit-and-run, guerilla tactics being employed by the enemy are extremely difficult to thwart, as by the time local Guard assets can respond, the enemy has already escaped back into tachyon space. The Fleet is presently developing measures to destroy these raiders.” 

Multiple reports, by unnamed sources, appear to confirm rumors Confederate Vice Admiral Benjamin Stillman, who played a pivotal role in the destruction of the
Union Grand Fleet
at Ginia last July, is spearheading these Confederate raids.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Flash (05/18/62)

Stillman Doubles Back!
  – 
Confederate Vice Admiral Benjamin Stillman’s raiders apparently doubled-back after leaving the Rilan system and again attacked the
Starquest Aerospace
Fleet construction facilities at Rilan for the second time in three days, while Confederate fighters were reported attacking a factory producing missile-guidance systems at Massa, and crippled fighter production with a second strike at Conn and Namshir.

* * * *

Alliance Press (AP): Nork – News Flash (05/26/62)

Stillman Strikes Yet Again!
  –
Confederate Vice Admiral Benjamin Stillman’s terrorist raids continue as Confederate warships have reportedly attacked the
Starquest Aerospace
Fleet construction facilities orbiting Nork and at least one large missile is reported to have totally destroyed the Consortium Headquarters Building in Nork City. Meanwhile Confederate fighters were reported attacking a missile warhead production facility at Massa, an anti-matter production facility at Conn and a factory manufacturing life-support systems at Verm. President Pierre Marrot has assured the nation these raids will be stopped, but did not elaborate on how that might be accomplished.

* * * *

“Status report, please, Hal.”

The first shipment of 500 Russian-made Sukhoi 137 in-system fighters has arrived at Ginia and Admiral Kalis has already initiated training for Ginia Guard pilots to familiarize them with the new spacecraft. 3,000 Russian made anti-ship missiles and 4,000 anti-fighter missiles compatible with the Su-137 weapons systems have also arrived. The Su-137 is Russia’s newest in-system fighter, reputed to be the equal of a Demon and, when creatively handled, a highly dangerous foe to a Raptor. 

TBG production facilities in Joja are currently producing 15 long range and 20 medium range anti-ship missiles and 50 anti-fighter missiles per day. TBG engineers have recently initiated production process improvements, which are projected to shorten the build time of the
Infiltrator
class ships by four months, so the first seven production models should be ready for launch in February, 3863. The Confederate government has commissioned TBG to build an additional 100
Infiltrators
for $12.34 billion Confederate, equivalent to $185 billion US. We ar
e
expanding TBG production facilities to facilitate production of this order.

Remote controlled long and medium range anti-fighter missile sites have been placed on rock asteroids in the Ginia system. There has been no time for construction of magazines or reloading systems, so for now they are single-shot weapons, but better than nothing. Similar projects have started at Joja and several other Confederate systems.

Work on the nickel-iron asteroid-battleships continues, with significant amounts of titanium and other valuable metal alloys produced by TBG space-foundries being directed for use at Norf Fleet Shipyard and TBG production facilities. The excess is being sold on the Confederate and international commodities markets.