April 5: A Depth of Understanding (18 page)

"I sort of doubt you'd be making it by hand," April said, skeptically.

"Well no, but we're just playing with the first couple small batches to see what it does. One of the fellows said it will be like trying to build a machine to make cotton candy rope, because it seems to stick to everything else just as well as itself."

"Then it should be a good adhesive."

"Yeah, if you could make it and apply it as it's being made. It would be a solid lump if you tried to put it in a squeeze tube. The one fellow trying to make modified Bucky tubes go inside each other is frustrated. The modified tubes have to be grown together. Short smaller diameter pieces don't want to move down a tube, they stick."

"It still sounds like you are going to get something useful."

"Almost certainly.
What
we'll just have to wait and see."

"Everything working out on the snowball job?"

"Yes, the machinery is all made. We just need quantum fluid from my mom and we'll have it in time if she doesn't have any major breakdowns. Getting enough for that project you requested will be a few weeks," Jeff looked around like he was afraid to speak any plainer. "I hope we have time and nobody pushes the date up from the deadline they gave."

"But we can afford it?"

"Yes, I twisted some arms and got payments. Some that were late and some actually
early
. I have come to trust your hunches. Do you really think we'll need them?"

"I don't know. Do you think it was Lichtenstein that nudged the ITU to put pressure on us?"

"Uh, no. But this means we'll have 22 or more of the big weapons," he said even lower. "Do you have any idea, even as big as China is, what that many would do to them?" he asked.

"Here's the thing. If you do get into a shooting war and use eight or ten on China, supposing it's their ships that are sent out with a UN blue blaze on their nose and we know who to blame, do you want to face the rest of them with nothing left to shoot? Don't you think they could get pretty ugly if they think we've shot ourselves empty and can't respond?"

"This isn't like when they stole
Eddie's Rascal and
we were on our own. They are threatening all of Home and we can let the militia have the first chance at them," Jeff said.

"I'm good with that. Consider us back up if they can't handle it. You still don't want to release your fusion weapon design to the militia do you?"

"No," he said quickly, but had that look he was thinking about it. "No, I'm sorry I even had to build them. I barely trust myself to not use them unless they are the last resort. I still see the militia as a bit of a mob. If any of this was rational we wouldn't need the bombs. I want us three to be the last line they have to push past, to force their use. I shouldn't even have to guess what they will do if they were reasonable people. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, China got a good look at what you can do and they changed leaders, but it was a near thing. You came way too close to devastating them. Every time I think they can't be that stupid down there they prove me wrong. Maybe it is somebody else pushing this, but it smells like China. If it turns out to be the USNA I'll be surprised. They didn't say boo when we took out their other rail gun satellites before we moved. It scares me I can't predict what they'll do."

"They seem to be having enough trouble consolidating their hold on North America to want to fight us too. They sure backed off on the propaganda, compared to before the coup."

"Unless they suddenly learned to be subtle," April agreed.

"I'm going back to the moon when the snowball ship work is done, if you're of a mind to come along for any reason."

"I'm wondering
where
I can be of any use if the UN does come for us. It might be safer down as far as you've tunneled."

"You should know Heather intends to be involved, if they send a ship or a fleet and do a lunar orbital maneuver. They may take up lunar orbit and survey the surface for dangers and then do a deep radar sweep of trans lunar space before committing to intercept Home. We've been talking about it and we have some strategies. That's part of why I've decided to put two of the fusion weapons in lunar orbit instead of Earth orbit. Central might become a target instead of Home. They have sufficient delta-V to do a lunar orbit intercept without any modification. The updated codes will be on your pads. Heather will sit in on the Assembly by video link later."

"Sit with me?" April asked.

"Of course," Jeff seemed surprised she asked.

* * *

April came to the cafeteria a half hour early. Jeff was sitting against the wall, right against the edge of the raised dais, but at the normal floor level, with a seat empty beside him. He was leaning over the empty seat, speaking earnestly to Barak.

They finished and leaned back when she approached and took her seat.

"May I sit with you tonight?" Barak asked, politely. "You weren't saving the seat for anyone else were you?"

"Not at all. I'm always happy of your company," she assured him.

He sat back and relaxed at that. April looked around. Lindsey was sitting at some distance in the corner of the room, notebook open in front of her, just like she'd said was her intent to make her habit. Amos was off in a corner with his guards and gave a single nod when their eyes met.

"The eleventh Assembly of Home is called to order," Eduardo Muños said softly. He didn't depend on bombast and volume to maintain order.

"The primary business of this session is the notice given Home by the ITU, an agency of the United Nations, that all positions of particular use as sites for communication devices such as the metastable Lagrange points are subject to their licensing authority. I ask you to hold ordinary business for another session."

"The aggressive nature of this notice hinges on two points. The notice has no authorizing signature and a deadline is immediately imposed with no discussion, backed up by a threat to seek force to enforce their decree."

"If you have not read the emergency push through notices in the Home net this morning please do so rather than put questions to the floor. Likewise if you are unsure of who the ITU is, or their usual business or anything about the United Nations please consult the web first while the discussion advances."

"I'd like Mr. Lewis as administrator for Mitsubishi to gift us with his thoughts. Then Mr. Davis as coordinator for the militia, then open it to questions and resolutions from the voters."

Aprils dad stood up. "I have not contacted Mitsubishi about this notice. They were not named in it, but rather Home the political entity is addressed. It seems to me as long as they ignore the physical owners of the habitat I can only cause problems for them to drag them into the discussion and put them in a position where they might have to take a political stand. They have given me wide latitude to act in the past and I'm going to assume they retain confidence in me until told otherwise." He sat down, with his usual brevity.

Jon Davis stood up, pacing to the front of their makeshift stage. He scowled in thought.

"The Assembly has already issued a statement that we will not tolerate armed Earth ships beyond the line of L1. It may seem obvious that to issue this notice is to challenge that, but that is not how Earth politics, Earth thinking, works."

"By raising the issue of licensing locations they claim authority that would supersede our declaration. Of course if they have such authority they have the moral right to enforce it! It is nit picking, but we must address the fact they have no authority over any of our affairs past L1. Certainly not over the whole solar system as they are trying to grasp. We should have done this before, but we worked from the opposite train of logic. If you can't enforce it you obviously have no right to make rules and law."

"Now, as to if they
can
enforce it, they are in a bad position to take military action against us. We moved out here specifically to give ourselves time and distance to see an attack and react to it. We have as many armed ships as any one Earth power could bring against us and our weapons are technically superior."

"The greater danger is the threat of sanctions. People expect you to defend yourself from violence, but how do you hold the moral high ground and demand someone sell you items at gun point?  If you need food and medicine to survive, it is easier to wage a passive aggressive war of denial than direct attack. A nation can say: Go buy it elsewhere. We simply choose not to do business with you. They have the psychological edge with the public. The fact there is no other source will be lost on much of the public."

"How do we counter that? Two ways I can think of and perhaps you can think of more. We can force or trick them into taking aggressive action first. This is dangerous. In space warfare the advantage is overwhelmingly with the one to fire first. Our declaration helps there, because we have established there is a line they have notice they must not cross. Just bringing an armed ship across L1 will make much of the public feel they were asking for a response as much as actually firing. The portion of the public who feel my country right or wrong don't concern us, their favor is lost before we start."

"The other counter is not as pretty. It is to identify who sent this ultimatum without the courage to put their name to it, or at least ID who volunteers ships to enforce it and not only wipe their military force out to the last ship and man but punish the Earth side territory harshly. So harshly that others are afraid to join an embargo. The down side to this is – when does it end? Shall we have a permanent relationship with Earth powers and needed suppliers based on being a bully? That is unstable and eventually has to end, badly." He walked back and sat.

"I have a com call from Heather Anderson I'd like to entertain," Mr. Muños told them. "She is calling from the moon, but she is certified as a Home citizen and voter."

"It is my intent, if Earth powers breach the L1 line, to consider them not only as a threat to Home but to the people of Central. Unless home militia requests I desist from engaging them with a private message and coordinates strategy, I reserve the right to act in self defense when confronted with armed Earth ships. A lunar orbit phase in any attack on Home is likely. Their armed presence in our exclusion zone is evidence of intent to attack us to me. We are on record as partners in the exclusion zone. My area of engagement extends to the entire lunar surface and the entire orbital envelope. Indeed it extends back to Earth orbit with some limitations. We could however use the help of a spotter ship on the opposite side of the moon. Such a spotter could be passive, as I expect any Earth force to aggressively sweep with radar, or active, depending on their capabilities and willingness to take risk. Private message me to volunteer. I'll pick the one with the best experience and equipment."

Several ship owners were seen to suddenly need their com pads.

"Mr. Duval. What are your thoughts sir?" Muños asked. Duval was a ship owner and long time resident. He stood and spoke with the soft Deep Southern accent of his youth.

"Various Earth powers hold assets beyond L1. If they wish to tell us what to do on our home ground we can impose restrictions of our own. The lunar colonies of any violating powers can be informed the are no longer welcome on the moon. Sanctions can be applied to their receiving supplies. Indeed letter of marque can be supplied to let us seize ships and supplies destined for those bases. They can be put in the position of having to abandon their sites or starve. If they orbit armed forces that is violation of our exclusion, but if they should land armed forces at their bases, that makes them clearly culpable too and we can take whatever direct action we deem proper against their bases, including removing the residents and shipping them back to LEO."

"Mr. Davis." Muños nodded at Jon.

"You raise an excellent point. The militia will make contingency plans to blockade or expel lunar residents whose countries oppose us and the right to issue letters of marque at need will be requested of the Assembly when we get to that point later."

"Thank you," Muños said after he sat. "The chair recognizes Ms. Raines."

"If we are sanctioned does that mean they refuse to buy our exports as well as refuse to sell to us?" she asked. "I'd hate to see us start using tariffs and export restrictions like an Earth government would. That starts down the road to big government and punishes our own businesses as much as the opposing governments to make a political point. But if they refuse to buy, can we make sure they don't bypass that on the sly? We make quite a few drugs and specialty materials that are very hard to replace. With the current shortage of lift capacity I believe it would be very difficult and expensive to set up manufacturing elsewhere. At the least, could we ask our merchants to voluntarily sell to other nations first? If scarce items have a bigger market than the supply, let our enemies be the ones shorted when they are identified."

"Mr. Singh?" Muños seemed slightly amused. It wouldn't surprise Jeff if he knew what he'd been doing and what he'd reveal to Ms. Raines. Jeff stood and gave a little bow to the lady still standing, not sure she wanted to yield the floor.

"Loretta, North America imposed import restrictions during the war. We didn't make it a point of our treaty terms to remove them, feeling they were cutting off their nose to spite their face. China, although not in a declared war with us, similarly forbade importation of several Home products. Not specialized chips or crystal substrates, because the state needs those, but most of the pharmaceuticals. Most manufacturers have put pressure on customers in other countries to not divert a portion of their order to either country. In one case I know a Korean distributor had his next order shorted and when he inquired why, was told since he'd sent that portion to North America he must not need it locally." He paused and looked distressed.

"How to say this? Since there exists a market and our firm owns a shuttle capable of water landings in international waters, we've been supplying some of these goods ourselves. We pay double the market value to the manufacturers to offset their losses and just
gouge
the hell out of the North American or Chinese buyers. Asking four or five times what other countries pay."