Riss Series 4: The Riss Accession (6 page)

"Captain Reese is right. And if we
did, we would be
stupid
,"
Sakaata
said. "I've fought with her. She's
neither a coward nor stupid."

"Enough. The Riss are allies, not
SAS. They and only they must decide the operational readiness of their cruisers
and personnel. The technology alone that they have provided and continue to
provide makes them a valuable ally. And at Fools Landing, they accomplished
what an SAS task force would have been unlikely to achieve." He looked
around the room at each person until they nodded. "Let's get back to
business. Admiral Zann, how are our SAS projects coming?"

"Slow but steady. Freeland is
running twenty-four hours a day and building new facilities to increase their
capacity. To date we’ve modified thirty Sharks, which have been distributed
equally among the Hunters in each task force. Three a week
are
being modified.
The new missile panels have been installed in twenty Lights and every Hunter,
and the new missiles are available for about twenty percent of the upgraded
cruisers. It will be another month before one hundred percent will be available
for those currently equipped with the panels."

"What about
Symath
? I understand
it can be used to make extremely accurate jumps," Unger said.

"Yes, it was critical to winning in
Tamerland
." Gebauer looked at me. "We skipped to within one
kilometer of the Raiders’ cruiser and destroyed it.

"Yes, and for providing targeting
information for missiles without sensors, which means they are harder to defend
against and have a longer effective range. It was a decisive factor at the
battle of Elbe,"
Sakaata
added.

"The Riss has shared
Symath
with the SAS,
but like navigational math, it requires extensive training. That is why Riss need
to be assigned to each cruiser. They are the only instructors at the present
time and would be critical in an engagement
,
until our Nav and
Tac
personnel
become competent."

"Why aren’t Riss on all our
cruisers then?"
Modero
asked.

Wattson barked, "Because our people
don't seem to know
friend
from foe." He gestured towards Terril and
the other Scorpion standing against the wall. "Reese and Pavao must have a
security team with them night
and
day and
Ghost
escorts when they travel in shuttles. After the last incident, all Riss were
recalled for their safety."

"What about now? I think discipline
has been restored," Botos put in, frowning.

"You think so?
On the way to
this meeting
,
two
Striker pilots accosted
Leader
Reese.
If it weren't for her Ghost escort
,
the space gods only know what would
have happened.
Reese, those two pilots will be demoted and returned to Eden. And there will be
an inquiry to determine whether their Commander was negligent." He paused
and took several sips of kaffa. "It's officers like those who degrade our
ability to wage war by threatening to drive our allies away. If it hadn't been
for Admiral Plimson and
Leader
Reese's
friendship
, we would have lost the Riss, their technology, and Freeland's
factories."

The room was silent when Wattson
finished.

"Reese, you know me, and I hope you
trust me. If you will provide Riss for my ships, I—"

"Yes, Admiral
Sakaata
, I do trust
you and Admiral Wattson, yet I can’t ignore being accosted by those
two
Strikers.
Maybe we are expecting too much. Maybe we humans are unable to get past our
prejudices even for loyalty to the SAS, threat to home and loved ones, basic
humanity, or risk to freedom and life."

as
Leader
.>

Nadya.> Strong negative
feeling
from Pavao.

A
feeling of certainty direct from Cethlion through Thalia.

resign
. No one wants
position
.> An image of me in a pit with hundreds of snakes and many Riss
looking down at me.

make tired.>

"It sounds like
you're
prejudiced
against humans."
Quinerly
crossed his arms and sneered.

"I have human Scorpions, Sharks,
and Intel personnel on the
Mnemosyne.
I'd
trust
any one of
them with my life without a second thought. And I'd risk my life to save any
one of them." I sat staring at the table for some time. "I don't know
of a solution, and I don't hear any attempt at one from you. Perhaps another
day," I said, rising and heading for the door with Pavao and our security
following.

Chaos exploded in the room as the door
closed behind us.

Admirals.> Pavao sent with a sense of amusement.

I said in
my defense, feeling like a little girl sulking.

solution.>

<
Touché
. I deserved that. Want to discuss
it?>

Mnemosyne
.>

* * *

In my office, I poured a glass of wine, which
I handed to Pavao, then poured myself a cup of kaffa. I wasn’t crazy about
wine, and it didn't help me to think.

"Well, Nadya, what now?"

"Wattson will call, want a meeting,
and blame the Riss for not cooperating," I said, feeling sorry for myself.

"He will expect you to solve the
problem.
In reality,
he has little control. You hold all the cards."

"Would you put a couple of Riss on
every cruiser?"

"The Riss may be the key to winning
the war or at very least reducing the carnage."

"
No
or Yes. Which is it?"

"No. "

 
"The SAS are the key to winning this
war. They must adapt if they are to lead. They must demonstrate to the JPU,
UFN, Riss, and Freeland that they should lead." I smiled for the first
time all day. "We will start a school for
Tac
and Nav
personnel and certify those who show an interest and aptitude towards
Symath
. And include captains."

"They won't like it." Pavao
smirked.

"That's the criteria to get a Riss.
If you want one, prove it, " I said.

Pavao laughed.

We were discussing the Invincible
project when my SID hummed.

"Nadya, Admiral Wattson on line
two."

"Yes, Admiral Wattson," I said
as soon as I saw him.

"Reese, I hope you're not thinking
of reneging on your agreement with Admiral Plimson."

"No more than your officers."

"The meeting didn't go well. My
officers don't know you and aren't sure what to expect. You have us
confused."

"We are either accepted as allies
and trust each other, or we are allies who don't trust each other. You and your
people need to choose. I will abide by your decision and tailor our support of
the SAS accordingly."

"I'll get back to you."

* * *

Two days later, Wattson requested a
meeting on the
Mnemosyne
. I couldn't help but wonder if he was a bit
nervous over the previous shuttle incident. Only Bradshaw accompanied him.

"Good morning, Admiral Wattson,
Commander," I greeted them as they exited their shuttle. My only concession
to his rank was that I met him when he arrived. This was a Riss ship, and we
didn't have military pomp and ceremony.

"Good morning,
Leader
Reese."

"Reese, please. I'll give you a
tour if you would like," I said. He had been on the
Mnemosyne
before, but then it hadn't been fully manned.

"I'd like that, but I'd like to
have our meeting first, if that's all right with you."

"Afterward, then." I led him
to my conference room and got him settled with kaffa.

He took a deep breath before speaking.

"I've had a day-long session with
my task force leaders and posed your question to them—allies who trust
each other or allies who don't. It shook them. They hadn't viewed the alliance
from your perspective. Your two biggest protagonists were
Sakaata
and Gebauer.
I expected
Sakaata
because you served as her XO, but Gebauer was a surprise. He admits
the concept of a human with a parasite upsets him, but he said he would trust
you in battle. He also made the point that the Riss technology, especially
Symath
, would be a
huge
advantage in
war.
Anyway
, by the end of the meeting, there was unanimous
agreement
they wanted
to be a trusted ally. And they would work to make sure their people understand
that any action against you or the Riss would be considered an action against
the SAS and would be punished accordingly." Wattson stopped to sip his
kaffa and watch me. When I didn't respond, he continued. "Reese, you have
to understand that is the best we can do. No one can guarantee some crazy
person or paid troublemaker won't cause a problem."

"I understand, and I'm satisfied
you’ve taken decisive action to restore discipline and gone out of your way to
protect the Riss and the alliance. But prejudice is emotionally driven and
can't be eliminated by logic, laws, or the threat of punishment." I held
up my hand before he could respond. "Here is what I’m willing to do. We
will set up a two-week school for navigation and weapons officers and captains
to learn
Symath
and its applications."

"As I understand it, no one can
learn
Symath
in a few weeks," he said, frowning.

"No, they can't. The two weeks are
to identify those personnel who are interested in
Symath
and
demonstrate an ability to master it."

"Why Captains?"

"What good is it if a navigation or
weapons officer knows
Symath
and the captain
does
n't believe
it’s a viable option in battle?"

"I see your point."

"For those ships where there’s an
interest and competent personnel, I will assign
two
Riss to
continue the training and to support them during an engagement."

"You are hoping that will also
reduce the overall risk
,
since the captain and Bridge personnel would support
the Riss presence." He nodded. "In a sense, you want to certify
people to host Riss on their ships."

"Yes. In addition to reducing the
risk, it will preclude assigning Riss, who are in short supply, to ships that
don't trust the Riss or their technology and will
therefore
be reluctant
to use it."

We spent the next two hours discussing
the details of the training. Wattson would enlist
Sakaata
and Gebauer
to give their battle experiences using
Symath
and
Osburne
his taking on
a
Medusa
without
Symath
.

When he left, I felt comfortable I was
keeping my commitment to Plimson to support the SAS and had minimized the risk
to the Riss as much as possible. It was probably a
good
agreement
since neither Wattson nor I was
completely
happy—he wanted Riss on every
ship
while I wanted
them on none.

* * *

The next two weeks were a whirlwind of
activity. The training sessions were expanded to include
XOs
, and backup navigation
and weapons officers, and were extended an additional two weeks. The results
were as I had anticipated. About thirty percent didn't trust the Riss or
Symath
. Another
thirty percent didn't have the aptitude to master
Symath
.

"Well, Reese, the results of the training
present us with a new problem, actually several." Wattson had called a
meeting with his task force leaders, Pavao, and me to discuss the results of
the
Symath
training. "On those ships where anyone qualified, there were
few
where
the Captain, XO, Nav, and
Tac
officers all qualified. To make it
worse, in several cases, a backup Nav or
Tac
officer qualified
but
not the
primary." He glared at me as if I had caused the problem and then sighed
in resignation.
"It would be comical if it weren't so serious.
We make plans
for war, but pretend peacetime prepares us. They send hundreds of senior
officers to the War College, but only ten to fifteen percent would make good
wartime leaders. Yet, the other eighty-five percent would be leading us in a war.
Your training confirms the same is true of our Nav and
Tac
personnel." He stood, walked over to a sideboard, and poured himself a
glass of wine.