Chapter 02

Shield Research

Years earlier when Morgan is only twelve years of age he assists his father in troubleshooting the installation of a new defence shield system on a light combat ship for in-system security and customs work. The new shield is a HAK Systems design and this installation is important to the government’s decision to buy a large number of the new systems. The government of Acadia is interested in the system as all of their smaller combat ships are in need of major upgrades and the new shield system is smaller, provides a stronger shield, uses less power to operate, and it requires less maintenance. Thus it’s a lot cheaper to buy and operate.

However, this first operational deployment is not going well and the system isn’t coming up to full strength. Morgan and Len are busy testing the field strength of the four shield generators of the new system that replaced the six generators of the old system. All of the generators are providing the correct fields and field strengths for the full extent of their projected fields, but the total field strength is below the expected level. While Len measures the field strength outside of the ship Morgan is monitoring the power and generation settings inside the ship. At one point Morgan notices the power supply is fluctuating a lot, but not by enough to cause a drop in the generation of the shield field. He tells his father this and they run a set of tests with battery systems in the power supply system to level out the power supply. Once this is done to all four of the shield generators the shield immediately comes up to its full power and capability. Since this resolves the problem the design of the shield generator is changed to incorporate a small battery with a power level management system, and all goes well from then on.

In their later discussions Morgan asks, “Dad, why would the power fluctuation cause the shields to not work properly?”

After some thought Len replies, “Morgan, I don’t know why. The only thing I can think of is: the power fluctuation is causing a minor change in the shield frequency, but that should not cause a problem due to how small the frequency fluctuation would be.”

“Dad, would a frequency fluctuation on both shields cause them to not lock in and merge fields at their edges?”

“It shouldn’t. However, this is the first time anyone has designed a shield generator to cover such a large area. It’s possible the interface of the fields is a little more fragile than in the past shields. We’ll have to do a bit of research into that.”

Morgan frowns in thought for a bit, then asks, “Does the shield have a frequency it operates at?” Len nods. “Is it the same for all shields?” Len nods again, then frowns and slowly shakes his head. “I gather you think it’s the same for each shield but you’re not sure.”

“Morgan, each model of shield generator creates a shield of the same frequency, but it’s likely each model has a different frequency to the other models. Also, considering the problem we struck with this job I wonder if the power levels and type of power supply is introducing a variation in the shield frequency as well. We’ll need to do some research on this to find out what the answers are.”

“You may want to include research into seeing if you can read a shield frequency from outside the ship so you can get an enemy ship’s shield frequency and tune a beam to match it and penetrate the shield with less power. You should also look at creating a way to have all of the shields on a ship modulate their frequency together in a controlled way to stop the enemy from easily reading your shield frequency.”

“Good ideas, Morgan. I’ll raise all of this with the Company Board.”

The Easy Research

The HAK Systems Board approves a research project to look into the various issues raised in the talk between Len and Morgan. During the next four years the Shield Project Team determines every shield has its own frequency that is affected by its power supply system. While the frequency can vary due to the power system the variation is less than two thousandths of the frequency variation the interlock matching can handle. However, the frequency has to be stable for a few seconds while the interlocking of the fields is made.

The problem Len and Morgan encountered was the interlock was not being fully achieved due to the fluctuations on both sides. The use of the power level management actually provided a stronger shield and faster operation due to the easier and quicker interlocking. Thus all of the HAK Systems shields now incorporate batteries and power levelling systems.

Also, once they develop a coordinated shield modulation system it’s part of all of HAK Systems shield models, along with a set of programs to modulate the shields with a large number of different patterns.

The Shield Project Team also finds a way to read the shield frequency of a shield that’s in operation, then they work on a way to modulate a beam frequency to enhance the beam’s shield penetration capability. However, once they prove the concept and the design with a prototype they need to scale up the design and test it on different sized combat vessels. That’s when they run into the problem of a suitable test facility. While the HAK Systems research centres can handle a one tenth sized prototype the full sized unit requires a major combat spaceship to mount it on to test it and they don’t have any they can use due to the legal problems with owning an armed combat ship. Only governments can legally own such ships and the government of Acadia is not interested in having one of their few large combat ships set aside for the many months or years such research will take. Nor is the Rainbow Kingdom prepared to make a large combat ship available for research. That leaves only the Federation of Human Worlds as the only other government HAK Systems can talk to about such work as HAK Systems have research centres in only those three realms because they’re the only realms HAK Systems have close political relationships with.

Thus HAK Systems approaches the Federation about conducting the research as a joint project with the Federation Fleet to be carried out on one of the Fleet bases within the Federation region of control. However, the project is not as easy to organise as they thought it would be. In the end no agreement is reached and HAK Systems decide to not work with the Federation Fleet on any future military projects due to the way this project is mishandled by the senior administrators and managers of the Fleet and the Federation bureaucracies in general.

Due to corruption within the Federation upper management the project ends up in the Federation courts before it even gets started.

Note: The Federation of Human Worlds - called the Federation, is a collection of over two thousand planets in sixteen hundred contiguous solar systems, making it the largest realm in this region of space. Most of the planets have been settled for over a thousand years, but the Federation has only existed for five hundred years. For hundreds of years different groups had sought control of all the planets then one small group of planets created a mutual protection group which has since expanded to be the Federation as it is today. Due to the large size and mix of its members the Federation has a very large and mixed economy and population.

Due to the great number of different government and social systems in place on the planets that join the Federation there is a large variation in how the different bureaucracies and businesses operate in the Federation. Over the generations some families become great powers within the Federation businesses and government agencies.

Patents

The research work on the shields results in several new systems which can be patented and earn credits for the inventors and HAK Systems. Of the nine possible patents only seven are applied for as one is declared to be classified due to having only military applications and it’s better not to be documented outside of the company. Another is kept as a company secret because documenting it would enable others to quickly duplicate their work, while keeping the process in-house means they can limit who can build their new systems while allowing them to control the systems.

The seven commercial use patents are applied for in Acadia and the government grants the patents after following the due processes.

When the decision is made to seek construction of the full-sized systems outside of Acadia the Shield Project Team travels to the other realms to make their pitch for the work in that realm.

Communications

Every planet has a very fast electronic communications system of both wired and numerous wireless transmission systems. Each developed planet has a series of communications satellites in orbit around it and most of the solar systems have communications satellites to enhance the communications within the system, especially when there are two or more inhabited planets within the system or there is an extensive space industry in operation within the system.

However, the only way to communicate between solar systems is to have a ship carry the messages between the planets. Thus, while really important news travels between the solar systems a lot of the minor items are rarely known about off of the planet. For example: a blight that affects a large part of the food production on a planet is big news within that system and the news is sent to the central government of that planet’s realm, but it’s not likely to even be mentioned anywhere else, unless it has an effect on a luxury trade good. This means only the most important news is sent between planets and realms.

The Other Realms

When the Shield Project Team arrives at the HAK Systems Research Centre on the planet Purple in the Rainbow Kingdom the first thing they do is to provide the details of the commercial patents and their work to their local people and to apply for the seven commercial patents within the kingdom. This is required to ensure control of their designs in this realm. Once the patent applications are accepted and acknowledged they approach the Rainbow Kingdom government about being involved in the full-size projector project. The refusal to be involved is due to the issues of the resources needed for the research being a concern for the Defence of the Realm while the project has one of their major combat ships out of their normal service duties. The civilian patents are granted the same week as the official notice of the refusal is given to the Shield Project Team.

The next move of the Shield Project Team is to travel to the Federation and to apply for the seven commercial patents there. Once they get notice of the patents being accepted and being investigated they approach the Federation government about the project work. For two weeks the team is given the runaround by the government bureaucracy about who should be involved in the project as the request is coming from outside of the government agencies instead of from within the government.

When the Shield Project Team finally gets a useful response from with the Federation government they’re contacted by a Federation Fleet Unit that wants HAK Systems to assign all of their patents just applied for to the Federation Fleet as part of the Project Partnership Agreement. The assignment of the patents is refused by the HAK Systems Shield Project Team Manager, then the real trouble starts.

Federation Fun and Games

On the first working day of the fifth week the Shield Project Team is on the Federation planet of Admiralty the Team Manager is served with a Court Order concerning their failure to abide by the requirements of the Fleet Development Branch and suing them for millions of credits relating to the failure to meet those requirements. The Court Order requires the HAK Systems Shield Project Team to cease all current work on the project and to turn over all documentation to both the Court and the Federation Fleet Attorney General as part of the preparation for the court hearing in three weeks time. The Team Manager acknowledges receipt of the Court Order then he sends both parties copies of their correspondence with the several Federation agencies since they arrived, and nothing else.

The Shield Project Team also receives a report from the Patent Office of a challenge on their patents and thus the matter is on hold until that challenge is resolved.

Len Henry takes copies of the documents from the Patent Office and the Court when he goes to talk with his father about the matters.

After listening to what Ken has to say and also reading the documents Ken says, “I suspect someone in Fleet with connections to one of the big arms manufacturers wants to control the patents so they can give them to a family owned company and then be in a position to bid on the work and get the profits from the remaining parts of the research and the sale of systems to the Federation Fleet.”

“So it’s just a case of corruption!” Ken nods, and Len adds, “That’s too stupid to even think about. The patents are all on the commercial use and not the military application at all.”

“Son, if they get control of the civilian patents they can then force you to hand over the military developments from them.”

“Dad, not only can’t they get control of the patents, there are aspects of the designs that they won’t get at all as we have no documentation on them with us, just a couple of devices with their self-destruct charges.”

“Well, Len. What happens if they try to reverse engineer what you have from what is in the patents?”

“Without our help or one of the devices we have, they’ll blow up their plant due to the feedback in the power system.”

“Then fight like hell and let them blow up their plant.”

The next day the Shield Project Team Manager has a local lawyer go to the court and obtain an injunction to stop the Federation Fleet Attorney General, the Court hearing the case, and the Patent Office from passing any of the documentation on the patents of the case to anyone not part of the actual court hearings. Once the Court Orders for the injunction are issued the lawyer has them served on all of the parties.

After they’re served the lawyer is in a meeting with the Shield Project Team where she says, “Well, the injunctions are served. Why do you want them, as they have no practical meaning for the case?”

Bob Wilton, the Shield Project Team Manager, says, “That’s to protect us when the people they’ve given unlawful copies to blow themselves up by playing with what’s in the documents.” The lawyer frowns, so he adds, “The equipment in the patents is perfectly safe for civilian use and the levels of power required for civilian use. However, if you try to push military power levels through them you’ll get an explosive feedback as to get that amount of power into the system you have to disable the limiters which are the safety features on the patented devices. We have a totally different controller for military use, and there are no patent documents on it due to the classified nature of it. Now no one can legally play with the patented systems while this goes before the courts.”

The lawyer nods in reply, then takes her leave to return to her office.

After the lawyer leaves Bob turns to the team and says, “I doubt we’ll get any help with this project here. The only people named in the Court Orders are Len, Maria, and I, so I want the rest of you to pack up all of the gear, the documents, and go home tomorrow.” They all nod.

Late the next day the rest of the team leave the hotel they’re staying at with just their briefcases to carry the important items and some clothing. After taking measures to confuse anyone following them they go to the spaceport and buy passage on a Rainbow Kingdom passenger ship to the planet Blue leaving that night. They’ll travel from there to Acadia after they reach Blue.

The day after the rest of the team leaves Len and Bob pack up their rest of the clothing of the departed and ship it back to their homes on the planet University in Acadia. They also visit the storage facility where the prototype they brought with them is stored and totally destroy it in such a way as to make it impossible for anyone to recognise what it was, let alone try to rebuild it. They dispose of the many parts in a number of the rubbish collectors around the warehouse facility then they close out their lease of the building.

As they travel back to their hotel Bob says, “Well, there’s now nothing they can grab to help them steal our work. We just have to watch out for kidnapping attempts.”

“I’ve a few surprises for them when they try that, Bob,” is Len’s reply.

“Good. I wonder how long before they realise we’ve got the team and everything else of interest or value out of their reach.”

“Who cares? I don’t.” They both smile and chat on other matters.

Court

On the day they’re due to be in court Bob, Len, and Maria travel to the courthouse and are on hand when the judge enters to take his seat. The court is called to order by the Clerk of the Court and the case starts with the Judge saying, “Counsellor Johns, why has your client not complied with my Court Orders to supply copies of all of the documents?”

Nora Johns stands and says, “Your Honour, my client submitted to the court copies of all documents exchanged with the complainant.”

“I refer to the research documents for the project, Counsellor.”

“Your Honour, I don’t know what information you have, but my client has not been involved in any research with the complainant. My client wished to enter into a joint research project with the Federation government and submitted a proposal, a copy of which was supplied, but no agreement was reached. It took some weeks to contact anyone who was interested in conducting the research, but they imposed terms that my client found unacceptable and the discussion continued until my client was served with the Court Orders to appear here today. The reason my client wanted to enter into a joint research project was because they had previously carried out research of their own in Acadia at their own expense and they now need to work with a government to use a large combat ship for the next stage of the research and development work, so they came to the Federation for the access to a combat ship. The work has a number of civilian applications for which they have lodged patents for and are awaiting the issue of those patents prior to licensing them to the local manufacturers who can use them. The complainant has not paid a single credit to my client, nor have they provided them with any data, nor have they worked with my client on anything beyond a few hours of contract negotiations which fell through. Thus there are no financial claims the complainant can make against my client, nor any claims on any of the work relating to anything my client did prior to proposing the joint research project.” Nora sits down on finishing her short speech.