Starcorp 1: Escape from Sol

Four months had passed since the United Front Pact Members pledged to support each other in any military conflict with the starcorps. Since that time all attempts by BX01 Starcorp League to negotiate a deal with the United Front Pact States that they could live with were rejected. This the UFP states did with next to no thought given to their offers. If they gave any response it would always be a reiteration of their initial demand, without variation. The growing impression within the general populace of both sides was that an agreement between them was impossible.

Eric Gourmand had been the Chairperson of the BX01 Starcorp League for seven years, by this date. During the twelve years before this, he sat on the Starcorp League Defense Committee. His total tenure as a Representative to the Starcorp League was twenty-three years. For the whole of his time the dominant concern of the league was the threat from Earth. The distressed planet was essentially a petri dish for the cultivation of hostility towards the starcorps. The Defense Committee was put in place seventy-two years earlier to maintain an up to date threat assessment of the planet. There was a tiny minority of people that could claim to be as knowledgeable as Gourmand on the social and political dynamics of Earth, and its industrial and military disposition. There were none that could claim to be more so informed.

Gourmand knew that there were Earth leaders that would jump at a chance to do harm to the starcorps, but he was anticipating that these inclinations would amount to nothing in the short term. He had no doubt that the growing splinter groups of rogue militant Earthers would become increasingly involved in acts of sabotage, terrorism, and piracy. He forecasted that these acts would become a growing problem for the starcorps even if a concerted military action from Earth never came.

Regardless of this thinking, Gourmand knew that a full-scale military action from Earth was possible. He was only too aware that Earth had the potential to assert itself with overwhelming military might. This belief notwithstanding, in the past he calculated that the leaders of Earth would not seriously entertain this thinking for another ten years at the earliest. Over the past several months, this belief eroded away. As of this day, he was all but convinced that the United Front Pact members were well past thinking of armed conflict with them.

The league had been accumulating reports from dozens of sources about a military buildup on Earth. Their concerns about what the United Front Pact States were doing had grown ever since they surrendered management of Earth Space to them. This was aggravated by the restrictions that the United Front Pact States put on their presence in Earth Space. Starcorp spaceships and spaceplanes were seldom allowed any closer to Earth than the orbit of the Moon. The handoffs of goods were conducted in space whenever possible. The United Front Pact States had effectively turned all of Earth Space into a no-fly zone. The position of the BX01 Starcorp near the outer boundary of medium Earth orbit was tolerated with tight restrictions.

The growing presence of Earth patrol crafts did much to incite the suspicions of the Starcorp League. This protective barrier screamed of secrecy, and there was only one thing they could think of to warrant this kind of territoriality, a military buildup. Over the past four months, the starcorps’ monitoring of electronic transmissions and communications emanating from Earth grew tenfold. What few starcorp representatives that were allowed down to the planet were encouraged to note any unusual news and gossip about industry, trade, armed forces and politics. Collectively this study produced a picture of a planet on a mission to reinvigorate its military in the short term.

The league chose not to react to their growing suspicion of Earth’s military buildup while they thought it safe to do so. This belief in their safety was engendered by the fact that there was no evidence of an inordinately large increase in Earth Orbit traffic. The League Representatives were advised by their military thinkers that Earth could not hide a functioning Space Force. They were told that training flights and joint maneuvers involving multiples of dozens of crafts would have to be conducted to produce an effective fighting force. It was explained to them that this training would have to be performed in space and that this could not be concealed from them. Up until two days earlier this event had not been seen by them from their high orbit locations. Since that time, a continuous parade of spaceplanes in large formations were being observed above the planet’s atmosphere and moving about in medium Earth orbit. This set off an alarm within the league. In response to this alert, Gourmand called into session an emergency assembly of the BX01 Starcorp League.

“This assembly is in order,” Gourmand declared after rapping his gavel onto the sound block.

The BX01 Starcorp League held its assemblies within the Large Hall of the Legislative Tower inside the Starship Berenberg. The hall supported seating for five-hundred people. It was, essentially, a large auditorium. Small desks, with chairs behind them, filled the hall in a U-shaped formation. The desks were situated in a checkerboard pattern and divided into six sections by five aisles. All the chairs faced inward towards a large semicircle dais that protruded out from the wall. The dais had three levels. The chairperson sat behind a desk on the top level. Secretaries and clerks filled the bottom two layers. The wall behind the dais was one large monitor that was connected to the auditorium computer. As Gourmand spoke a large webcam transmission of him doing so displayed at the center of the monitor. Also, speakers about the room amplified his voice. The auditorium computer was programmed to do this for which ever person that initiated their personal webcam and microphone and was recognized by the chairperson.

“We will dispense with the roll call and the reading of minutes for this session if there are no objections.”

Gourmand paused to give time for someone to obtain the first position with the auditorium computer. After two seconds of waiting for a Representatives name to appear on his display, Gourmand concluded that there were no objections and moved on to the reason for this unscheduled meeting.

“It is the suggestion of the League Defense Committee that we do a go-no-go vote on Operation Exodus. Is there any discussion?”

Gourmand expected all present to have read the League Defense Committee report. That report was flagged Security Level One and electronically mailed to all them. It was for this reason that he did not think it necessary to read it. Time was at a premium and possibly running out. It took less than a second for half a dozen representatives to trigger their webcams in response to his query. Their webcam transmissions appeared, side by side, across the top of the wall monitor, from left to right. Each video was one-fourth the size of Gourmand’s. They appeared in the order that they arrived in the system. The white indicator lights that bordered their desks lit up as well. Their names appeared on Gourmand’s personal monitor. They were situated in the same order as they were on the wall. The queue went from the top down. Gourmand activated the first Representative with a touch of his hand to the name on his personal monitor. An instant later that Representative’s webcam transmission replaced Gourmand at the center of the monitor. Gourmand’s webcam transmission moved to the bottom right of the monitor and shrunk to one-fourth its original size. All the other webcam transmissions disappeared from the monitor.

“The Chair recognizes the Representative from F-J-0-1,” Gourmand stated an instant later.

The Representative from FJ01 called for a debate on the question on an Operation Exodus go/no go vote. His motion was quick to be seconded, and most the other Representatives supported this request.

“The yeas have it,” Gourmand acknowledged. “The chair will entertain up to two minutes of speeches on this subject.”

The webcam transmission of the Representative for GH01 suddenly popped up on the wall monitor. The white-display-lights that bordered his desk lit up to mark his location in the room. They also served as visual proof that the system was working correctly.

“The Chair recognizes the Representative from G-H-0-1,” Gourmand announced.

“Mr. Chairman,” Representative GH01 called out. “There is no going back from this action once we start it. If we are wrong about the threat level, then we will be venturing out into the void without cause. This is not something that should be done based on speculation. Mr. Chairman, I advise that we wait until we are sure that Operation Exodus is the last option open to us.”

After GH01 had deactivated his microphone, the illumination about his desk went out. The video of him slid to the lower left and shortened to one-quarter of the size that it was when he was speaking. It lingered there for ten seconds. As this was happening the jeers from half a dozen other Representatives in the auditorium could be faintly heard, and three more Representatives popped up onto the wall monitor. Gourmand unblocked the Representative at the front of the queue.

“The Chair recognizes the Representative from L-L-A-0-1,” Gourmand announced to the floor.

“Mr. Chairman,” the Representative from LLA01, spoke out from behind his desk. “This report by the League Defense Committee provides no definitive proof that the United Pact States are planning to do us harm. The bulk of their intelligence before this suggested that the Earth was decades away from mounting any kind of military action. I don’t think this report disqualifies those earlier studies of Earth. I believe that another four weeks of study is appropriate ahead of bringing this to a vote.”

As soon as LLA01 deactivated his microphone the video of him slid to the lower left and shortened to one-quarter of the size as well. It lingered there for ten seconds and then faded out. Jeers of a small number of Representatives made a weak attempt to fill the auditorium. While this was happening the videos of four Representatives appeared in the top-left-corner of the wall monitor. Gourmand gave recognition to the Representative at the top of the queue and unblocked his webcam in the same moment.

“Mr. Chairman,” the Representative from RSE01 began. “I submit that this build up is just a lot of saber rattling. It is my belief that the United Front Pact States are putting on a show for our benefit. This is all theater. We already know that the Earth is too disorganized to produce a large space force in the short term. This fact has already been established. Mr. Chairman, we’re being intimidate. They want us to accept their terms. What we should do here is ignore this.”

The jeers were much louder when RSE01 deactivated his microphone. As his video slid away to the bottom left corner of the wall monitor, the webcam transmissions of twenty-four Representatives appeared on the top of it, in rapid succession. Once again Gourmand recognized the Representative at the top of the queue and unblocked his webcam. A second later an enraged Representative from DKL01 began to reverberate the auditorium with his oratory.

“Mr. Chairman, my colleague from R-S-E-0-1 is taking a naïve view of these events. Past reports about Earth’s capacity to develop a space force were based upon analysis done before the United Front Pact came into existence. Earth has clearly demonstrated that it has a growing military presence in space. To what extent is irrelevant. We must act to secure the survival of the starcorps. If we do nothing, we risk becoming subjugated by Earth, either through coercion or force. This is no longer simply a possibility. This outrageous reparation demand is proof of their intentions. It would bankrupt us all. The United Front Pact States would be able to buy all our starcorps for several thousand times less than their true value. We are well past the question of should we leave. Operation Exodus may have been created as a last resort plan, but I submit to you that the time is now. This is not something that we can afford to dither about. We must leave this system. This is now a question of when should we leave and not if we should leave. Mr. Chairman, Operation Exodus must be put into motion as soon as possible. If we wait for proof of Earth’s military intentions, it could cost us everything.”

When the Representative from DKL01 deactivated his microphone, a roar of support filled the auditorium. His argument was a foretaste of what was to come. The next six speakers echoed this thinking and were lauded with equal fervor for their thinking. Over the next hour, the opposition to activating Operation Exodus was silent but for one. His argument was taken with the usual disdain. The last four speakers were all for putting the plan in motion. After the last speaker had spoken, there was silence for nearly a minute and then Gourmand began to speak.

“If there are no objections I move that we put the question to a vote.”

An instant behind this motion the webcam transmission of the XRT01 Representative popped up on the wall monitor and on Gourmand’s personal display. He activated the Representatives microphone with a touch of his hand to the display.

“The Chair recognizes the Representative from X-R-T-0-1,” Gourmand announced.

“Mr. Chairman, I move to suspend the rules and have the vote taken on this main motion by a two-thirds vote.”

An instant behind this the webcam transmissions of a dozen representatives popped up on the wall monitor. Their names appeared on Gourmand’s personal monitor at that same instant. Gourmand saw no need to acknowledge the XRT01 Representatives motion. He knew what was about to happen. To save time he simply activated the microphone of the lead representative on his monitor as he spoke.

“The Chair recognizes the Representative from N-K-0-1.”

“I second the motion,” the NK01 promptly responded.

“It is motioned and seconded to suspend the rules and have the vote taken on this main motion by a two-thirds vote,” Gourmand reported to the hall. “All those in favor so indicate now.

The webcam transmissions of thirty-six Representatives suddenly appeared on the wall monitor in response to Gourmand’s request. The white-display-lights on the desks of these representatives lit up as well. Five seconds later their numbers were tallied on the monitor under the heading “In Favor.” In that same instant, the webcam transmissions of the representatives and their display lights winked out. Gourmand remained as the only webcam transmission on display by the monitor.

“Those opposed so indicate now,” Gourmand called out.

The webcam transmissions of the remaining twenty-eight Representatives suddenly appeared on the wall monitor. The white-display-lights on their desks lit up as well. Five seconds later their numbers were tallied on the monitor under the heading Opposed. A second behind this Gourmand declared the result.

“The affirmative has it and the vote to activate Operation Exodus will require a two-thirds majority vote.”

Gourmand paused to give weight to his last remark before speaking again.

“Those in favor of activating Operation Exodus vote yes. Those that are not favor of activating Operation Exodus vote no.”

A second behind this statement the desks that the Representatives were sitting behind were lit up with green or red lights. The desks of those that were in favor lit up with green lights. The desks of those that were opposed lit up with red lights. The auditorium computer quickly tallied the votes and displayed it on the wall monitor and on Gourmand’s personal display. The Chairman noted this and announced the result to the all.

“The affirmatives have it, Operation Exodus is a go.”