2024-2025
"The batteries are holding stable", Catherine Dennis announced out loud - though it was wholly unnecessary as her entire team could see it on the screens. The new capacitor, twice as powerful as the old one, hummed steadily. As the minutes ticked on, a wave of satisfied murmurs went through the audience.
"Okay, that clinches it people. This works! Someone call Kate and let her know that she needs to touch base with Dynetics!" Dennis barked and her personal assistant sprinted to a computer. "But that's for her team. You people, our next project awaits, so let's grab a quick toast for this success and then it's back to fiddling with the prototype engines!"
Her people lifted their paper cups in unison. Work in the R&D establishment was never done.
***
"You should be smiling, Admiral", Hanson commented as he stepped up to Richardson. The fleet commander was ignoring the hubbub and kow-towing of the party, spending his time staring out one of the grand windows overlooking the Thames. The spring rain was beating London hard.
"Really?", Richardson shot back, turning to face the civilian. Hanson had apparently packed on even more kilograms.
"Your second shipyard just started construction and should complete before the end of the year, unless my boys are sorely mistaken", the administrator explained.
"Ah yes, of course", Richardson responded, even managing a smile. "Just worried about the competition, who have been far too quiet", he continued.
"I see. I'll leave that to you uniformed folks. Plenty enough stress on my head just running the industrial side", Hanson chuckled, nodding to the admiral as he aimed towards a waiter carrying a tray full of seafood snacks.
***
In May, the media across the world went bananas as PATO launched "
America", the first Orbital Weapon Platform, was launched. Funnily enough, it was commanded by Captain Benhamin van Eekelen, a Dutch national. The OWPs would all be named after PATO member nations. Despite counter-arguments from both China and Russia, PATO maintained that OWP24A class was not in violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, as it did not carry weapons of mass destruction, merely a single gauss cannon for self-defense and as part of the older US Missile Defence System. This hardly calmed down either the conspiracy theorists nor non-PATO countries. China and Russia vowed to take action.
"Let them. There is nothing they can do and the quicker we get Orbital Command properly up and running, the safer we are. It doesn't matter whether their industry is fully transformed already - PATO has a significant lead and the Chinese are not so stupid as to launch nukes over this", Admiral Richardson explained to the PATO civilian leadership via a video conference.
***
Hanson shook hands with Conrad Hilton, the great-grandson of the original Conrad, as photographes blazed away. Hanson found it difficult to suppress his laughter - very few analysts could have predicted that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Incorporated would extend to space ship construction - but it had, through shrewd business sense of figuring that the most lucrative future lay in space. Buying a number of small start-ups and various commercial projects had got them sufficient know-how to make a good bid. Rest was lube and lobbyists. While PATO's civilian side was largely responsible for the construction of the shipyard, Hilton would be responsible for its day-to-day operation and growth - though still largely based on contracts that Hanson handed out. It certainly helped that one of his dummy companies had just gotten fifteen percent share of Hilton Builders, the new company that would run the shipyard.
"We haven't yet received any actual contracts Hanson", Hilton whispered while still displaying a dazzling smile to the cameras.
"Easy easy, it'll come. The eggheads are still debating their end of it", Hanson whispered back.
"They better or Aunt Paris might not visit your summer cabin any more", Hilton ended with a serious shake. Hanson nearly winced.
"Just few more days and Einstein will be locked down", Hanson assured the slick businessman.
***
This time Hanson shook hands with a Dutchman, as the Vollenhoven Shipwrights opened. Multiple European companies had joined forced to compete for the bid and ensure that the second commercial shipyard came under European control, similar to what the defence sector had done with EADS. The Dutchman was entirely professional and remained silent.
The journalists, on the other hand, did not:
"Any idea which corporation will control the next shipyard?" One shouted. Hanson stopped and turned to face them:
"PATO now has four shipyards, two naval and two commercial. That should be enough for the time being. Currently, our goals are to improve the manufacturing base here on Earth. There are still millions and millions of unemployed people in the Organization and it is my goal to find a job for each and every one of them!"
"What will Vollenhoven build?" Another asked.
"Well, I was going to leave that to the new operators but why not, since you asked. Vollenhoven Shipwrights will be building our first cargo ships!"
***
"Hey Michael, thought you wanted to know that your missiles are finally in production", Rear-Admiral Martin Schelleis said to his phone. "Yes, my people just got the heads-up from the factories, a hundred pieces each for testing and evaluation, it says."
"Yeah, I heard about the Chinese shipyard. Shouldn't be much of a problem. Surprised it was them first and not the Russians, eh? I bet Takei has his people watching the Chinese like a hawk. How many stations does he have now? Yeah, five."
"You know Woodcock is livid that I'm getting my first ship before he does? Yeah, so turns out that building a cargo ship is piss easy, compared to a survey ship. So despite Einstein being half-done when Buffalo was laid down, it'll still be done months before! Yeah yeah, I won't rub it in his face. What's that? Well now mister Vice-Admiral, that's a secret!"
"Haha, yeah, we'll start hauling that stuff to the Moon as soon as we can. Buffalo is damn small for a cargo ship, you can't compare it to a seagoing vessel, more like a Galaxy or Antonov, right? Right, so it'll take a while to haul all the required infrastructure for the Moon base with just one ship."
"Yeah yeah yeah, you do that and I'll tell Sophia that you like 'em big and thick! HA! Anyway, I'm off to lunch, good talking to you, uh-huh, bye now"
***
"Welcome to Orbital Defence Command, Commodore", Vice-Admiral Takei said as he shook the hand of Commodore Samuel Ali.
"Thank you sir, it's a pleasure to be here", the sandy-haired man answered.
"Space, the final frontier, eh?" Takei grinned. Ali merely nodded.
"You'll wear two hats, now that we're growing. You'll be commander, Earth Squadron and commander, OrbDiv 1 as well", Takei explained. "Captain van Eekelen handled all that but now that there are two divisions in the squadron, it was time to snatch one of you commodores from the missile corps. Anyway, my admin will upload all the necessary information to your pad. Your command awaits, Commodore", Takei said. Ali saluted, Takei saluted back and the younger man turned on his heels.
***
"There we go, the embassy contact just left", Jackson Burnett said to his throat mic, hidden under his coat. The well dressed man he was observing got into a wholly unremarkable hybrid Ford and drove away. "Let him go, the State will deport him in a couple of days, we'll focus on the illegals", Burnett heard in response. Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Joyce, the rising star of Naval Intelligence and the current head of Intelligence Office, didn't have jurisdiction over the case but FBI had invited him along as professional courtesy.
"Teams check in", Burnett ordered and paid attention, making sure that all teams responded. "Air one go, mobile two go, foot three and four, hold", he continued.
The helicopter had been making a lazy, wide circle over the quiet Virginia suburbia. Having received the command, its pilot turned her stick down hard, tilting the nose and pushed the throttle up, making the helicopter increase velocity rapidly. Her passengers, four members of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, clad in black-and-blue nomex suits, checked their MP7A2s. The second that the helicopter slid over the target house, two massive Chevrolet Suburbans busted into the front garden of the house, their tires screeching.
"Foot three go, foot four go", Burnet ordered as he sprinted at the backdoor. Tossing the raincoat off, he revealed the duranium vest he was wearing, embroidered with the gaudy yellow FBI letters. The other members of the two covert surveillance teams did likewise. HRT fast-roped down from the helicopter, kicking in the upstair windows.
A long burst of fire tore through the front windows, as someone inside did not appreciate the FBI agents unmounting from the Suburbans. The agents ducked for cover, as the 7.62x39 rounds easily punched holes into the car-van hybrids.
"Upstairs clear", Burnet heard from the HRT. His team had just kicked the kitchen door in thanks to a Halligan tool. "Get down to basement before they burn all evidence", he ordered the team behind him. The shooter in the living room was obscured by some furniture but Burnet's fellow agents took little chances, spraying the entire area with bullets. "Ground floor clear", someone reported.
An explosion shook the building. Burnet cursed to himself, stepping back to the basement stairs. Sure enough, smoke greeted him, mixed with the smell of cordite, gunpowder and blood. He lobbed a flashbang down the stairs and waved the heavily armoured HRT members to go ahead. The MP7s sang the song of their people, intermixed with the heavy bark of a Saiga-12. Burnet gingerly stepped down the stairs. Team four had been taken by surprise by the claymore and Burnett didn't dare to hope that any of the four agents could be resuscitated. One of the HRT guys was sitting down as well, bleeding profusely but the other three were standing in a semi-circle around the targets. Burnett checked their bloody faces against the pictures he had in his datapad.
"Joyce, it's safe to enter. We got all five of them, unfortunately dead. Looks like they managed to burn their computers but I'll have the data boys go over them just in case", Burnett reported. In moments, the young man in naval uniform stepped into the basement as well:
"Russians know how to put up a good fight, eh?"
Burnett merely grunted. The director was not going to like the publicity, of losing four agents and getting few more seriously injured and making zero arrests.
***
"So how did you spread out the prototype batch?" Vice-Admiral Michael Hood asked. His four division commanders were sitting in his office. Commodore Sophia Gibson, head of Earth Corps as well as 1. Missile Division, took the question:
"My division is fully loaded with Hellstones, sir. Second division has Hellstones in two missile complexes, rest have old conventional missiles. Third and Fourth division have only conventional ones."
Hood nodded.
"What's the logic behind that?"
Captain Charlie Hutchinson answered that one:
"Well sir, we figured that this gives us the most flexibility in any situation. If, God forbid, we have to launch against a non-TN capable enemy, we can use the third and fourth divisions. If we have to launch against a TN-capable enemy, we can use the first and second division. That was the original idea. Unfortunately the prototype batch was too small to fully kit out second division with Hellstones. In any case, that was the plan and it still works, sir", the officer explained.
Hood nodded again.
"I see the value in your proposal. Tell you what. I'll push Hanson to get us more Hellstones so that second division is fully loaded with them too. I'll let him dismantle the extra conventional missiles that are now in storage. I assume that nobody has any objection against that? I mean, if we can't subdue any Earth-based enemy with 320 super nukes, it won't matter because there will not be any civilization left on the planet anyway!"
The four officer unanimously agreed.
"Okay then. Next, the plan has changed, we're not going to get Skybolts for our side of the service. Yes, I know, it's a disappointment but Richardson is pushing for the creation of Mobile Command hard, so the Skybolts will go there instead", Hood explained.
***
On 28th of September, 2015, seedy Internet boards exploded as the latest OWP24A to roll out of NAVAL-1 was named
Poland. Under Lieutenant Commander Robert Chambers, it joined the OrbDiv 2.
***
Lieutenant-Commander Matthew Warren stood next to Rear-Admiral Martin Schelleis watching the handover as
Buffalo became part of PATO fleet. It was ironic but also symbolic that the first actual ship of the grand alliance was a small freighter.
Buffalo class Cargo Ship 10000 tons 84 Crew 217.6 BP TCS 200 TH 150 EM 0
750 km/s Armour 1-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 2/2/0/0 Damage Control 1 PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 14 MSP
Cargo 5000 Spare Berths 3 Cargo Handling Multiplier 20
Saab NT-50 (3) Power 50 Fuel Use 6.83% Armour 0 Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 315 000 Litres Range 83.0 billion km (1281 days at full power)
Honeywell SQR-105 (1) Sensitivity 2 Detect Signature 1000: 2m km
Teledyne SAR-104 (1) Sensitivity 2.5 Detect Strength 1000: 2.5m km
This ship is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
"Take it easy out there Warren. You're going to break all Apollo records anyway, so there is no need to push your ship or your crew. Get the tracking station to the Moon, I mean Luna, drop the poor bastards manning it, and come back. I cannot stress too much how important this is - there cannot be any accidents or injuries or the like, ja?"
Warren had already learned that when under stress, Schelleis would occasionally slip into his native German. So he suppressed his sarcastic nature:
"Yes sir, you can trust me. Smooth sailing, all the way, and safely back to port. No shenanigans, whatsoever", he assured his superior.
"Sehr gut. After that, it will be maintenance facilities for the Orbital Command and their Luna Squadron, after which the Moon City infrastructure is to be hauled over. You'll be a busy man, that is certain! Safe journey."
Warren saluted the admiral and marched off, as best as he could, in the microgravity of the shipyard. He had entertained hope that he might get to command one of the OWP24A's but that production line was being shut down for now. Rumours claimed that NAVAL-1 was preparing for the big brother - OWP24B - but nobody knew for sure. Warren had not dared to hope that he would get an actual ship until the day that the orders for his transfer from reserve to Logistics Command arrived.
"Captain on deck!" Command Master Chief bellowed as Warren floated through the transit tube. Somehow CMC had managed to conjure up a whistle and had pressed some junior enlisted to using it. Warren knew it was sacred tradition but the noise had always struck him as cacophonic and just awful. Nevertheless, he saluted the PATO flag and waited for the noise to die down.
"As you were men. Chief, walk with me to the bridge", Warren said. The grim faced senior enlisted nodded and together they "walked", in essence floating and pulling at hand holds, with an occasional kick or two, made their way to the bridge. There were no windows, as all views from outside were provided by sensors and cameras.
"Take us away, at ten percent power. We'll do a flyby of the ISS, then accelerate to full power for the flight to the Moon. Chief, is our cargo checked and secure?"
"Aye aye sir!"
"Then, let us go where only twelve men have been before!" Warren couldn't help himself.
What had taken Apollo 11 three days and four hours, took
Buffalo mere seven minutes. However, without a space port on Luna, the unloading of the tracking station took over two hours. Regardless, the entire mission took only three hours and thirty-nine minutes, from departure to refueling back in low Earth orbit. Unfortunately, the small freighter would need to perform four more missions to fully transport a single tracking station - yet it was done by early evening on the same day.
***
Okay, finally done. Sorry for the edits, there were more stuff happening than I had anticipated, this early in the game, so I thought it safer to post what I had at that point and then continue later. Next time, Luna City and actual survey missions!
. Will follow, but I am no good with names (and realistically they should go for something boring like the Coalition of Allied Nations or whatevs).
