Stein rose up and walked away to the window. His shoulders were slightly shaking, the professor was laughing silently.
* * *
The Fifth Strike Fleet was stuck in the Solar system for a long time. The combat damage sustained by its ships required long-term repair under factory conditions, and the Martian shipyards were overloaded. In addition, the fleet had to re-form by two thirds. The losses in the Battle of Barnard-3 were catastrophic. The Fourth Fleet was completely lost, the Fifth Strike Fleet had to re-form, the orbital fortresses were destroyed This has seriously undermined the Federation Fleets operational capability. But these unfortunate circumstances have brought the people I needed within reach.
Good afternoon, Fleet Admiral, Sir, I greeted Nelson as soon as I made contact, Congratulations on your new rank.
Mr Chairman of the Commission of the Ministry of Defence, thank you, the Admiral smiled, You and I worked really hard that time. I see your shoulder straps have changed, too, Captain. Lets put aside ranks. What new adventure are you up to?
Ehh I knew my reputation wasnt always clear, but I havent offered anything yet, and youve already identified it as an adventure
Dont mess with my head, Igor. I didnt give you personal contact to get in touch with me for no reason. You and I both know that, so state it, state it.
I need your help, Mr Nelson, and I gave the Admiral a brief account of the meeting at the Ministry of Defence, after all, he had access to information. It was Inga whom I told something at my own risk, and in the case of the Admiral, I was quite sure.
The Admiral listened to me with a stone face.
Ten Titan class battleships steel cut through his voice, Have they lost their minds? How are they going to defend our planets?
I think theres a lot more than ten. We couldnt find all the docks.
So the General Staff wouldnt listen to your suggestions? That sounds like them, Igor. Im not surprised. Its a shame Tobolsky cant turn this around, but maybe he just believes them. They would have been in that fight themselves, on our battleships under the fire of the quargs flagship, to see what were really up against. To them, its just another enemy ship, albeit a very large one. And for those of us who have seen it in battle, it is clear that ten of these battleships is death. Quick and inevitable. How can I help you?
I need some advice first. I dont know anything about shipbuilding and the assignment of ships. I need carriers for, well, call it pursuit planes. Theyre very similar in mass, although theyre actually unmanned torpedoes with the characteristics of a pursuit plane and their own powerful EW systems. A classic aircraft carrier wouldnt suit me. Its too big to be effectively camouflaged. And I need ten of them, but each one will have only about seventy machines, placed as compact as possible. The dwelling sections are the bare minimum, and as for the weapons and armor theres no need for them. The size and mass of the ship have a profound effect on the possibility to make it invisible, were planning a surprise strike from the void.
The Admiral was pondering over it for three minutes.
Aircraft carriers and other warships really wont fit you, the Admiral finally announced his conclusion, but theres one interesting option. If youd shake out of Colonel General Knyazev ten medium troop transports, and give them a good clear-out, they can be converted relatively quickly to suit your needs. It will be a terrible makeshift thing, for sure, your torpedoes and pursuit planes will have to be released through the gates of the landing pods, but you could try to do that. Only if the Admiralty finds out weve squandered a dozen well-suited ships
Ill take responsibility, I told quickly, not letting the Admiral change his mind.
Khm well, yes. You really are the responsible person now, so if anything Come on, Igor, you know me. After Barnard-3, I could bring you a couple of aircraft carriers. But you should talk to Knyazev yourself, Nelson smiled cunningly, If I just start talking about his transports, hell slit my throat at once, and as for you, maybe hell listen to you first
Chapter 2
Mr Lavroff, what youre asking is beyond your authority, informed me gloomily the Minister of Military Production, Why on earth would I shift the ship repair schedule to reequip your transports? I have the Fleet order approved by the Minister of Defense, and I will be held accountable for failure to meet the deadline.
Zwerev pronounced all these correct phrases looking me in the eye, but I did not see the answer no in his gaze. Something kept the Minister from just telling me to fuck off. Well, Ill try to find the right words.
Mr Minister, I began carefully, You heard me speaking at the command meeting. If I may ask your opinion, do you also consider me an empty fantasizer?
Zwerev took his eyes off for a second, but quickly restored the calmness of his face.
I really thought so, the Minister confirmed, until yesterday.
So, what changed?
I visited the new shipyard where the captured battleship Titan is being repaired.
And what made you change your mind?
This ship We wont be able to build something like this in the next few years. Im not even sure were gonna be able to convert Titan, so that it could be controlled by a human crew. How could you handle it, Mr Lavroff? And you did it in combat, neutralizing the enemys resistance, and then you destroyed several enemy battleships. How?
The same way, Mr Zwerev, as Im going to destroy enemy ships under construction: with the help of the latest developments of the Lavroff Weapons Company, now renamed the FAWC, the Federal Advanced Weapons Corporation. But at that time I was able to do myself everything I needed, and now I need your help. Our company has no shipbuilding facilities and all public and private shipyards are full of Fleet orders, and they wont take my order for any money.
Are you so sure you can do what youre saying? Destroy ten docks behind enemy lines in quarg-occupied systems loaded with their ships?
But once I was there and I could come back
Military transport is not a medium-size recon ship, Mr Lavroff. You cant camouflage it that easily.
Well get through it. Review the information on Luyten-5 and Barnard-3, which also seemed hopeless. And also try to imagine for a second ten Titan-class battleships coming out of the hyper inside Neptunes orbit
Thats what I was thinking yesterday, looking at your trophy. Thats why Im still talking to you, Mr Lavroff, although I should have denied your request outright and write a memo to your immediate superior. And I know about your fights for Luyten and Barnard, as well as about Kapteyn and Gliese, in fact, I was curious about your biography after the meeting at the Ministry of Defence.
Will you give me the shipyard, Mr Minister? I asked a direct question, knowing that all arguments had already been exhausted.
Yes, I will. But I have a condition.
What is it?
You will personally lead the attack on the docks of the enemy. Otherwise, I do not believe in success.
Where should I take the ships, Mr Minister?
* * *
Jeff and Stein didnt make it in two weeks, but I didnt blame them, although I showed how unhappy I was that they didnt meet the deadline. I myself have been working on perfecting the structure of the medium-size transport, making infinite modifications in order to convert the troop transport into a kind of aircraft carrier. It took up most of my time, including part of my time at the Academy and my time at the Ministry of Defense. They also needed to be provided by EW stations and powerful computers that could make the stations work in coordination. To do that, I had to take two engineers from Jeff, which also affected his schedule. However, three weeks later, a prototype drone torpedo stood in front of me in the hangar of the aircraft carrier Wellington near the command pursuit plane, designed to control ten such items.