5. The Cruiser
"We have carefully considered your various submissions in this regard in each case," said Julius Dragard, Chief Officer of Defense. "And as much as we can certainly understand your motivation, we still have to reject your request and have rejected it this time as well.
It's a financial issue, of course. To build a warship larger than a corvette doesn't cost just a little bit more or double or anything like that. It costs many times more. Even many times more than the large orbital stations, for which we don't need any special high-tech. We don't have those kinds of reserves."
"And there's another reason," croaked Piper, who was hunched over in his antigrav chair but followed the progress of the meeting with alert eyes. "Let's say we encounter another intelligent and technologically advanced race. There are basically only two possibilities: Either we're stronger than them, in which case we don't need bigger ships, or they're stronger than us and have better technological capabilities - in which case even a much larger ship type won't help us if that happens."
All right, thought Commander Young, we know all that. So why am I here? The clock on the opposite wall showed December 15, 2210 - on the DREADED there would be enough things to take care of now. For example the duty rosters of the Christmas crew.
A little more diplomatically she said: "I am not surprised. But surely you didn't call me here to tell me that?"
"Correct," Dragard replied matter-of-factly. "That's just collateral, so to speak. The point is this: We agree that we need a formal high command for our now eight corvettes. Then we also have the civilian ships, which do their missions largely independently. But they should also be subordinate to a joint military command center that is authorized to issue orders when necessary. We would like to offer you this newly created position, Commander Young."
It was not easy to baffle Young, but she had indeed not expected this. Her standing in the informal fleet hierarchy had always struck her as somewhat dubious. A little too rebellious.
What was it now? Had she misjudged the situation? Was it an expression of a difference of opinion in the government? A compromise? A trap? Never mind, we'll see! You don't turn down an opportunity like that. Power to shape things was exactly what she had always lacked until now.
"I accept the offer!" she said in a firm and confident voice before the pause could get too long.
Dragard nodded, unimpressed. He seemed to have expected nothing less. "Coupled with that, of course, is a promotion. A Fleet Commander is normally an Admiral, but that might be a bit of a stretch in this case. So, welcome aboard, Captain Young. You will take up your new post immediately. We'll take care of the paperwork in the next few days - you'll get that sent to you then."
Piper leaned forward and whispered, "This job is primarily a staff position, of course, I'm sure you realize that. Fun excursions to other solar systems are cancelled under normal circumstances. As compensation, we would therefore like to offer you this - you can also consider it an early Christmas present ..."
He activated the control panel of the armrest and projected a holofield above the table. It lit up and showed ..., well, a ship obviously. The camera flew around the ship at some distance; a reddish sun came into view intermittently. This could only be Barnard's star - a few years ago the corresponding Tpoint had been discovered very close to Pluto's orbit.
Then a schematic drawing with scales was displayed, and Young lost her breath for the second time: about 200 by 60 by 60 meters!
"What the hell is that?" she asked, stunned.
YOU ARE READING
Piper (English version)
Science FictionThis is the first tiny part of a rather large SF project: a future history of mankind. It is told in the form of short stories. The time interval between the stories is a few months to a few years, the protagonists appear mostly only once, but some...
