Chapter 18: Preparations Gone Awry

The first order of business for the newly operational factory was to extrude the core components of its first clone. Fully half of the station's replicators were tasked with fabricating the supporting equipment and containers that would preprocess the raw materials consumed by the factory.

The two factory replicators would be positioned in a line with the raw material entry ends facing one another. The structure housing the 48 industrial replicators that were currently in orbit was positioned to form a T with the two factory replicators. The direction of flow was reversed on the first double ring of twelve industrial replicators. They would be tasked with pre-processing the raw materials needed by the two factory units.

The shipyard was ready and waiting for Sir Galahad when it returned to orbit Azahar after delivering its load of propulsion units to a score of rogue asteroids. Captain Collins eased his ship into the framework of the shipyard, set his watch crew, and transported down to Barcino with his senior staff.

Tuan finally understood the benefit of such a large residence when Constance invited the senior officers of Sir Galahad and Delta Company to dinner the evening that the shipyard began working on Sir Galahad.

During cocktails before dinner, Major Sarah Bronson asked her hostess, "I've seen a pair of massive triple-barrel turrets floating near your stockpile of habitat pods. They're not listed in your inventory report and I've been wondering what in the world they're doing here. Can you tell me what they're for?"

Constance blushed and tried not to choke on her drink. Tuan was nearby and spoke as he approached, "Constance had a moment of paranoia several weeks ago and thought we needed some big guns to protect us from raiders, be they rogue asteroids or savage invaders. We had intended to mount them on the industrial station, but it's actually not heavy enough to be stabilized against their recoil. Do you have any suggestions for using them?"

Bronson smiled, but was sympathetic when she said, "Big guns do make a girl feel less vulnerable, and those are really big guns." Her smile morphed into a puzzled expression when she added, "They look a bit like plasma cannon, but they're so big!"

Constance found her voice. "The turrets you saw are fully automated 210mm plasma cannon in triple mounts to give continuously overlapping fire when operated in sequence. There's not a good place on the station to mount the behemoths without them getting in the way of something or something blocking their field of fire. I had intended to ask Captain Collins for a recommendation for the placement of these weapons. We also have a dozen dual 38mm pulse cannon turrets that we intend to mount on defensive platforms in the vicinity of the station. Their counter rotating barrels give them twice the rate of fire of the 38mm units typically deployed as point defense weapons."

Bronson chuckled, "Oh my, you did have a moment of weakness, didn't you? I'd be happy to look over your planetary defense plan. I have some experience with weapons from an encounter with Sa'arm frigates at Sa'Triste."

"She's being modest," Collins interjected. "She designed the armament modifications to all of the ships that participated in an expedition deep into Sa'arm-controlled space, and she served as the fleet weapons officer. We were jumped by an overwhelming force and managed to fight our way out thanks to her preparation and guidance."

"I'm afraid that our planetary defense plan is primitive: 'need guns, build guns'. We're kind of stuck at the 'have guns' step and don't know what to do next," Tuan volunteered while trying, unsuccessfully, not to laugh.

Commander Patrick Kehoe filled the awkward silence by remarking, "I've been inspecting the progress you've made with the underground facility: very impressive. The excavation of the main chamber has started and only a few tunnels don't have the outer set of blast doors operational."

Tuan remarked, "The biggest headache was getting survey benchmarks established in such a large area for the laser transits that kept the tunnels aligned. The spiral ramps were a nightmare to survey. We actually considered excavating a huge cylinder, installing the spiral ramp, and then backfilling the hole."

On cue, Aswani approached Constance, "Dinner is ready, mistress."

Asimov was due in three weeks, and Tuan and Constance's attention was in a four-way split along with the industrial resources of Azahar. The excavation of the mysterious tunnel complex was nearing completion, but there were blast doors and a massive interior structure to fabricate along with HVAC and atmosphere processors. The construction of the two domes that would house Delta Company was almost complete over one of the entrances.

The modification of Sir Galahad was occupying all of the resources of the first operational factory-class replicator. At this stage, Sir Galahad was a source of raw materials, not a consumer as the aft section was being dismantled down to the spine. Even the undamaged sections between the bridge and acceleration compensator were being recycled as scrap.

The construction of the third factory replicator was in progress by the second one, and the raw material flow had to be adjusted to accommodate the changing needs of the production schedule. Sir Galahad was providing most of the steel and copper needed for the new factory.

Last, but certainly not least, was the research facility needed by Professor Avalareddy to replicate Dr. Brown's collection and begin developing carbon-dioxide-tolerant strains of vegetation. The four new greenhouse pods were in place and ready long before the plaza or anchorages for the two pods brought from Earth were completed. The central dome would be started as soon as the two original greenhouses were in place.

Nancy and Judith wandered through the CIC on their way home after delivering more industrial pods to the Marine complex. Nancy made the casual observation, "You know, we have several hundred pods in orbit to replace the pods on any colony transport that shows up, but what are we going to do with the pods full of colonists that they're bringing us?"

Constance gave Nancy a classic dear-in-the-headlights look and softly breathed, "Oh, shit!"

Tuan laughed, "Talk about target fixation! We've been concentrating so hard on the trees that we forgot about the forest! What are we going to do when Asimov arrives in less than three weeks with 96 pods loaded with Marines?"

Nancy rolled her eyes and took Judith by the hand. "We're going to get something to eat and head back to the station. You geniuses need to get busy."

On the way out Judith could be heard saying, "How on Earth did they manage such high CAP scores?"

Constance's jaw dropped, but Tuan just started laughing and shouted, "That is a very good question, Judith." When the two turned to look back, Tuan wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at them. "Git! Cheeky concubines shouldn't stand around to gloat after upstaging their sponsors." Constance finally managed a chuckle.

The naval architect sent to Azahar by Admiral Forney was the technically capable, but socially inept, Lieutenant Denise Williams. She expressed her concerns about harmonics and angular moments during high-performance maneuvering as well as several other obscure engineering terms. She rather bluntly remarked, "Major Bronson, I don't think your plan to mount three rings of pods on Sir Galahad is going to be stable."

"I had wondered about that myself when Admiral Forney first proposed the configuration," Bronson replied. "The two cargo sections of Sir Lancelot ships aren't long enough to accommodate three rings of pods and the corridors that connect the leading end of the pods to the rest of the ship. Do you have an alternate configuration in mind?"

In less than an hour the two engineers were happy with a new arrangement, and they presented it to Captain Collins who expressed mixed feelings. "I like the fixed bay between the two rings of pods. It can serve as a secondary weapons platform. Any chance of mounting medium- to long-range guns in that position?"

Bronson laughed. "Not the monsters that are floating around outside looking for a home, but maybe something like the single mounts of 130mm plasma cannon that we installed on the Castle-class ships that escorted us at Sa'Triste."

"I know that you think of them as a pacifier, Major, but guns do provide a level of comfort to a crew under fire and people are less likely to make poor decisions if they believe they're fighting back. No one is at their best when they feel like a sitting duck," Collins pointed out. "Sir Galahad is a great deal heavier than the Castle-class ships and the plasma cannon would not be as hard to control. See what you can do even if you have to reduce the number of pod mounts."

"The really nice thing about the pod concept, Captain, is their universal mounts," Williams pointed out. "The mount can accommodate not only habitat pods, but also cargo bay pods, auxiliary fuel pods, and hangar-bay pods. They can even house an auxiliary weapons platform making it quick and easy to tailor the ship for a wide variety of missions."

You could almost see the wheels turning in Bronson's head as that simple concept sank in. She had been struck by inspiration when she remembered a report she had read, but she was not yet ready to share her thoughts.

"One other weakness of Confederacy warships is their total dependency on a central AI," Collins remarked. "I'd like to be able to breathe and shoot back even if the AI is disabled. Admittedly it would be a luck shot, but warships should have a viable alternate to every critical system. We don't need a second AI. The emergency systems can be less than optimal. They just need to be functional."

They unanimously agreed that when the aft section of Sir Galahad was stripped to the spine it was to be reinforced but not lengthened as called for in the original plan. The plan was further modified to accommodate only 24 pods in two C-shaped rings of twelve with a compartment between them that could be configured for storage or auxiliary fuel as well as accommodating eight additional point defense gun mounts or possibly something with a bit more firepower. The lighter and missile bays would occupy the ventral opening of the C-ring arrangement of the pod mounts.

While Lieutenant Williams finalized the modification specifications for Sir Galahad, Major Bronson began drafting a preliminary plan for planetary system defenses that included a self-propelled platform for the two plasma cannon turrets and point defense satellites that could be placed near the orbiting station plus sensor and missile platforms that would be located well outside the orbit of the two moons.

The design and planning was not limited to the naval architects. Over in the McKinsey study, Constance was shaking her head. "We didn't plan ahead when we dropped the colony AI and our pods at this site, Tuan. We have ours, the botanists', and the ten temporary pods along a single, straight corridor with our backup CIC and a transporter room at one end and a blank wall at the other end. Not a very efficient layout."