The GALEX Incident
Part 3
Sitting between two radar terminals, Ino and her new teammate discussed the upcoming mission. Ino kept her face buried in her notes, trying to hide how uncomfortable she felt.
Ino’s teammate was a Junior Tactical Officer, just two years older than herself. He was a colony-born Human who had never set foot on Earth, and he preferred to be called Prisban. Ino did not press for finer details about Prisban, not because he was unwilling to share, but because he had questions for her and was quicker on the draw.
Ino could speak three languages: Spanish, Esperanto, and English, with Spanish being her native tongue. Meanwhile, Prisban could speak Portuguese, French, Italian, English and Esperanto. Ino wanted to continue the conversation in English, but Prisban was excited to meet another Esperanto-speaker and wanted to test his own command of the language.
“I have never heard an accent like yours before.” Prisban said in Esperanto.
“What part of Earth are you from?”
Ino rolled her eyes and resigned herself to discussing personal details in her least favorite language.
“I have a Patagonian accent.” She explained in Esperanto.
“I’m from Tierra del Fuego, at the bottom of the world. Very cold year-round, lots of mountains, hardly any sunlight. How did you learn Esperanto?”
“All the kids on Terra Nova learn Esperanto in the first grade.” Prisban replied.
“That language is used to teach children the basic skills needed to learn other languages.”
“So Esperanto is a gateway drug to other languages!?” Ino tried and failed to suppress a laugh.
“I’d love to see what my parents would think of that. They’re Esperantists.”
“I guessed that.” Prisban said, pointing at the name tag on Ino’s uniform.
“There aren’t a lot of people out there named ‘one who hopes.’ Not that it’s bad thing, of course. So... are your parents those politicians who showed up at the Coalition Congress talking about creating a common interstellar language?”
“Yes, that’s them.” Ino grumbled.
“The less I talk about them, the happier I am.”
Prisban got the hint. He unzipped his messenger bag and withdrew a tablet computer and a manila folder stuffed with documents. Both the folder and tablet had a large red sticker stamped across their front sides. The word “SECRET” was spelled out in large white letters against the red background.
“How about we talk about the war game instead?” He offered.
“I’ve done five war games before this one, so I have plenty of knowledge I’d be happy to share with you.”
Ino and Prisban engrossed themselves in the official documents, excited to learn just what scenario Admiral Ruel had cooked up for the war game.
...
Part One: The Situation
RED FLEET has used orbital bombardment to force the surrender of GREEN HOMEWORLD. The civilian populace of Green Homeworld has risen up against occupation and is now waging an armed insurgency against Red Fleet, who has taken significant losses of personnel and damage to starships. The Coalition has dispatched TASK FORCE HURRICANE to liberate Green Homeworld via planetary invasion.
Part Two: Your Mission
Intercept TASK FORCE HURRICANE and inflict damage that would cause the planetary invasion to be aborted. Your primary target is the Coalition battleship Betria. (CSN-102)
Part Three: Execution
All ships participating in the war game will use laser-based SIMULATED WEAPONS. The Master Simulation Controller will monitor all action from the Science Vessel Oppenheimer and will make the final judgement on the results of simulated combat action. Simulation Controllers will be stationed aboard all participating vessels. All commanders will take orders from Simulation Controllers.
Any ship declared “destroyed” by the Oppenheimer will break formation and await new orders from the Simulation Controller.
Any ship declared “damaged” by the Oppenheimer will download a damage program from the science ship, then commence damage control training and simultaneously continue with the original mission.
Part Four: Sustainment
The replenishment vessel Lee R. Tregrutha will provide refuel and resupply to all Coalition ships in the AO.
The replenishment vessel Escanaba will provide refuel and resupply to all Red Fleet ships.
Green Homeworld is located in a dense nebula, where cloaking devices and ship-based stealth technology are more effective. To simulate this, Simulation Controller has handicapped certain ship-based sensor systems for all ships participating in the exercise.
Furthermore, Red Fleet has taken significant personnel losses from conducting a recent planetary invasion. To simulate this, Simulation Controller has handicapped the total available manpower of Red Fleet.
Part Five: Signal
The Coalition Commander’s callsign is “Aslan.”
The Red Fleet Commander’s callsign is “Tash.”
The Simulation Controller’s callsign is “Ramandu.”
Fleet commanders are authorized to create and issue callsigns to vessels under their authority.
...
Ino and Prisban set the operational order aside and picked up the tablet computer. It contained data about the two opposing fleets.
“Our side has forty-seven ships.” Ino said in English. “The Coalition has just fifteen.”
“But all of our ships are Frigates and Corvettes.” Prisban pointed out. “The Coalition fleet is nothing but Cruisers and Battleships.”
Ino studied the technical readouts of the Coalition vessels, and then used the tablet computer to compare them to the
Defiance.
“Mosquitoes. We’re a swarm of mosquitoes.” Ino muttered to herself. Ino pointed to a line of explanatory dialogue in one of the documents and began to read aloud:
“The purpose of this exercise is to investigate the tactics and strategies currently used to defend Coalition Super-Capital ships against attacks by smaller and more numerous hostiles, (colloquially known as ‘wolfpacks’) as well as investigating the latest developments in anti-swarm tactics.”
“Interesting.” Prisban said. “I did an exercise like this about two years ago, and the Coalition annihilated Red Fleet without much trouble. I wonder why the top brass decided to re-use the scenario.”
There was a loud lurch, followed by Commander Thulani’s voice over the intercom:
“Attention crew, launch procedures are underway. Standby to run post-launch checklists before we join formation with the rest of Red Fleet.”
Ino took in a deep breath.
“Here we go.” She said.
Ino stood up, wobbling a little under the pull of artificial gravity. She moved around the CIC, flipping power switches as she went. Radar scopes, sensor managers, comms relays, and a wide array of other sensor and data computers came to life.
“Let’s get to work.” Ino declared. “That Coalition fleet isn’t going to defeat itself.”
Prisban let out a chuckle.
“This war game is scripted, Esperanta. Last time they ran this scenario, the Coalition defeated Red Fleet with zero casualties in return. They’re gonna bust us up.”
“Maybe.” Ino replied with a shrug. “But I’m still gonna play to win. What about you?”
…
The next few hours were filled with frantic preparation as the
Defiance got underway. Ino and Prisban consulted with Commander Fanin about the simulated nebula that would be part of the war game. After talking it over for an hour with Commander Fanin, Ino contacted the leading member of the sensors team and told him to disable specific sensor systems prescribed by the Simulation Controller. The
Defiance was flying partially blind.
Meanwhile, Ino had opened up the ship’s Codex. Every Coalition warship had one, a digital repository of all knowledge about the universe. Ino pulled up the design schematics of both the
Defiance and its target, the battleship
Betria.
…
After a few hours of spaceflight, Prisban noticed a malfunction in one of the emergency power supply systems that served the CIC. He decided to open up a panel in the ceiling and crawl into the cable array above to try and fix the issue himself. As Prisban clambered into the ceiling, teetering on a stepladder, his wallet fell out of his pocket and hit the floor with a dull thud.
“Hey, Esperanta? I think I dropped something.” Prisban called out.
“It’s your wallet.” Ino said, looking up from her studies. “I’ll put it on your desk.”
Stepping away from her computer terminal, Ino bent down to grab Prisban’s wallet, which had fallen open. Inside she found the usual things, his military ID card, his Terra Nova colonial ID, a picture of his parents and someone who looked like Prisban’s brother… and…
Ino froze. She had spotted a third ID card in the back of Prisban’s wallet.
“No way.” Ino whispered to herself.
“What’s wrong?” Prisban called down from the ceiling. He could not see Ino from his position, but he could hear her voice.
“Nothing.” Ino said, then looked down at the interesting ID.
Prisban’s third ID card was one Ino had seen before… about two and a half years ago. Before joining the UN Military and signing up for service with the Coalition, Ino had been a student at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. While there, she had gotten involved in a student organization… a political group to be specific.
During one of those political meetings, Ino had met a representative of a secret society. She thought the two of them had a good conversation and Ino spent the next year trying to join that secret society, only to be ignored outright. Eventually, Ino had given up. Now, she was staring at
that insignia once again: a four-pointed compass surrounded by olive branches.
Prisban was a member of the
Order of the Pathfinders, a Galaxy-spanning society publicly operated as a humanitarian organization, dispatching volunteers across the Galaxy to build schools and hospitals and shelters. They claimed their organization was modeled after the Peace Corps from Pre-FTL Earth… but in dark corners, there were whispers and rumors that the Pathfinders were secretly aiding and abetting those who would dismantle the institution of slavery through violence.
Ino deposited Prisban’s wallet on his desk and then reached up to untie her hair, letting it fall loosely around her shoulders. She also opened up her personal bag, looking around for the mini makeup kit.
Ino wanted to be friends with Prisban now.
“Hey, did I ever mention what I did in college?” Ino called up to the ceiling hatch.
“Honestly, I thought you just joined your parent’s Esperantist party.” Prisban called back. “Did you?”
“Oh, God no.” Ino replied. “I wanted to get away from my parents, not join their party.”
“Didn’t go into politics at all then?” Prisban asked.
“I did.” Ino replied, adding a subtle hint of blush to her cheeks. “I just joined a different political party. I joined Solidarity.”
There was a loud bang. Prisban had hit his head after jumping in surprise.
“Solidarity?” He repeated. “As in the
Synthetic Solidarity Party?”
“Yup.” Ino said, feeling glad to know she had his attention.
“You know, you do strike me as the type of person who would support the rights and freedoms of Sentient AI and Synthetic lifeforms.” Prisban said, sticking his head out of the hole in the ceiling. “Good to know I’m among friends here. Most military folks I’ve met hate the idea of giving Synths the right to vote.”
“Not me.” Ino replied, giving Prisban the cutest smile she could manage. “I got to meet a Synth after I started college. Only had to talk to him for an hour before I was on-side.”
“You didn’t get to meet a Synth until you were an adult? You poor, sheltered child.” Prisban said in a softer tone. “Still, it’s good to know you’re on the right side of history with us.”
Prisban withdrew into the ceiling again, leaving Ino to wonder if she could convince Prisban to let her have another shot at joining the Pathfinders. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud chime from the astronavigation computer Ino was using earlier.
A message had appeared overtop of the project Ino was working on:
Calculations complete – No faults detected
