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Chapter 19- Foresight and Planning

<UEF-A 'Tiamat'> August 13, 2085

"Today," Captain Kai stated, looking at the individuals assembled in the fleet tac room, "We plan not just the for the future of our crew, but also for those that will join us." The assembly was small, only a handful really. Canith was there, of course, as the entire plan hinged on him. Terry was there, as was Desmond, Aris, and Snow. Several others that was rather suprising was Sylvie, both as the captain's daughter and as the ship's 'Provisions Officer'. The first officer, Harris, wasn't there. Instead, he was at the helm and had been briefed by the captain in private, and had passed along his recommendations through him.

Of course, everyone in the room had been sent a memo about what this meeting was about, so there was not any gasps of surprise, only looks of resolve and maybe a glimmer of mischief in one or more eyes.

"As you all have the rough outline about what the goal is, this meeting is to work out what we need in a ship, both from the crew standpoint and from the tech standpoint. If we will be doing this, we go big. The current Tiamat is only an exploratory cruiser, and is at capacity. What has been suggested is a supercapital ship." This had not been in the pre-breifing, and there was several interesting reactions. A couple gasps of surprise, a couple stunned expressions, and Snow, sitting in the back, with a wicked chuckle.

Once everyone had gotten themselves under control, Sylvie was the first to respond. "A ship that size will of course have need of larger hydroponics, both from the provisional standpoint and for filtration. The crew size will of course be larger as well. I seem to recall something about the larger the ship, the less self sustainable it became."

There was one other attendee to this meeting, and at this point they made their presence known. "That was for the longest time the main reasoning, yes, but due to levels of technology and space travel at the time, that most did not see bigger being better for anything other than a warship, and earlier limitations on funding. This will not be the case here." Aura appeared on the table between the various individuals and sat down.

"The first problem. Levels of technology." A 3-d representation of the Tiamat flickered into life above Aura. "At the time of commission, this vessel was considered one of the most advanced. Some lesser examples. Every crew quarters have access to a PGU, as does most vital areas of the ship that would make use of one. Most major systems are tied to AI's, so that in the event of a catastrophic event the ship can perform triage measures, such as shutting bulkheads and rerouting power on an intelligent and decision based manner." As they spoke, different sections lit up with annotations.

"All of these things are good, but flawed in their own way. The PGU's are a power drain in and of themselves, mainly due to each unit pulling power for themselves. One improvement is to have one PGU, but have it set up in such a way for it to parallel process requests across the ship. This cuts power usage down by 70%, with no degradation of usage. Another is the concept of individual AI's running different systems. Granted, as this ship is configured there is no problems, but for the new one I would suggest a different concept." The various primary and secondary ship systems became highlighted in numerous colors. "Instead of having one AI shackled to one or two systems, instead have the same amount of AI, but have them work together from the outset."

This drew several confused looks, as there were only three individuals in the room that actually followed this logic chain. Desmond spoke up for this. "Right now navigation doesn't communicate with, say, life controls, which of course doesn't talk with shields. What Aura proposes is they all communicate and work together, similar to how the bridge crew works together."

Aura nodded. "An apt description, Lt. Desmond, and very accurate. They would essentially shadow the crew's operation crew, only be on the digital side of things. efficiency would be raised, and the ship 'could' essentially run itself if no one was available. This would decrease the overall crew requirement on the bridge at a given time. What's more, to bridge the gap further, I propose this." What appeared to be a visor appeared on the display this time, with more annotations. Canith picked up on this line right away.

"Aura, you finished the calculations and the trial runs then?"

"I did. What this does is simple. Anyone who is familiar with a Data Dive will understand this better, but it allows the operator to interact with data streams as easily as an AI does, but this allows for the manipulation of the physical world simultaneously. Some training is required, of course, to be able to fully utilise it, but the theory is that one person could pilot the ship, in combat situations, and have full control of all systems. Add in the AI for support, and one person can, for roughly 4 hour periods, run the bridge in shifts."

Those that were the usual bridge crew looked at that device in awe. Terry had complained that no one could do much to alleviate the strain the crew was on due to spacial limitations, and this was already shaping up to cut it back in multiple directions.

"As these are only the first of many, I will move on to my next point." The designs all faded away and charts displaying sizes for rooms and bays, hallways and equipment. There was even a rough 3-d concept for the floor plans, similar, yet not quite the same as the previous blueprints.

From the size alone the current Tiamat could have parked in hydroponics and still had room to manuever. As for decks, there were a lot more. The original Tiamat had 5 decks, with three of them being double decks. This new one had twenty decks, with areas that would require multiple floors simply took that space, but used multiple floors to do so.

"The concept of super capital class ships is not new, just was not feasible due to the scale. Capital class ships are more feasible, and allow for almost as much flexibility, but are smaller in scale." Numbers and lists filled the air around the proposed ship's floor plan.

"Crew size would be larger, of course, but it need not be uncontrollably large. Extra pilots and a merged repair crew, suitably expanded of course, for the manned fighter squadron. Expanded engineering crew, including power, shields, propulsion, and general repair. Also suggested is more for hydroponics, janitorial crew, and food preparation/ servers in the galley. Currently, the crew roster contains 50 entries. You could easily expand to four times that many, and still be under what one might be considered 'minimum staff' and still run the ship comfortably well. All this, and still have room for an order of magnitude more personnel."

Each floor was highlighted in turn, showing who would go where. The numbers were definitely sound, and it was large enough to be a small city by itself. Even the captain looked shaken at this. "That is still a lot of individuals. Would we even be able to take on that many unnoticed?"

Aura turned to face the captain squarely. "If we pull this off, I have the solution to that as well. But we must return to the matter at hand." This time, all the primary and secondary systems were colored on the new diagram. "As you can see, the areas of influence on this ship is much more overlapped. A similar number of AI will fulfill the required roles as easily as on this ship. I suggest, however, that the AI be allowed access to their full systems as well. As an example, navigation able to access propulsion, and life support contact hydroponics. This, paired with both the physical and digital overlap, will allow for more automation and better real-time analysis of issues in different sections."

One selection of ship sizes was highlighted and was selected and enlarged. As they were only lists and charts as the details were not put into place yet. "This centralized area is where I suggest the current 'E-deck' be located. On the actual blueprints, they will be labeled as storage and laboratories. This, of course, is so all you will need will be available, without tipping off to what it is for."

Snow simply nodded once. "I will need a list of hardware for expansion, but it shouldn't be anything that can not be explained away. Things like cryo-pods can be used in a medical facility, so no one would ask about there being a dozen or so added to the lab."

"Excellent. Just send the full list you will need to me, and I will take care of it." Aura spoke, nodding to the arctic wolf. "As for other areas, the original concept for this ship is to have the most up to date hardware and software. If you can think of any special accommodations, feel free to message me with the particulars."

Once more the lists faded away. "As I have not actually shown a picture of the blueprints yet, I took the liberty of accessing various records and other blueprints of similar projects, and determined that this would be the most feasible design." Finally a very sleek looking ship that was much longer than it was wide or tall was displayed. It had a massive single engine on the end, with nacelles on either side. There were several docking bays along each side for access from either direction, which hinted at the fact that this ship could not land like the current Tiamat could on a planet.

"I notice that there is a much larger hanger area. How many more craft will be capable of docking in there?" This question came from Desmond, as he would be in charge of ship defenses.

"At current figures, we would have room for between 20 to 30 shuttles, 3 scout ships, and 6 fighters with full kits and spares.Between this squadron of fighters and the ships offensive and defensive capabilities, I am sure you will be happy with the potential." He sat back at this, stunned at the very large complement compared to what they had now. "Of course, this also does not account for the drone fighters either.

"The what?" he asked, confused.

"AI controled mini fighters that can be slaved to either the main ship for a swarm or to individual fighters as escorts. 6 fighters, after all, is rather small for a ship this size. With 20 drone fighters, however, this becomes a different story."

As Canith stared at the ship, the others asked Aura about various capabilities and parameters, but he did not hear them, as he was caught up in the thoughts of what was to come. An hour later, Snow and the Captain turned to him again. "Well, the ship is starting to look like a plan, now we just need you to be in shape for it." Kai said, before turning to Snow. "How far along is he, and how soon could we begin initial recon?"

Snow smiled, with a hint of fang showing. "He's getting there, but right now we are still trying to nail down the full genetic masking. Surface scans are good though. It's mainly the DNA scanners at the moment that will flag him. Give it a couple weeks to a month and he should have the knack for it. Then it's a matter of practice and discipline."

Kai gave a huff, then nodded and walked out, waving absently as he left. Once he was gone, Snow turned to Canith, as the Captain had been the last to leave.

"So now that you already have an expedition planned out, or at least the start of one, looks like I get to grill you on how you should keep the whole 'I am an anthro that can transform to appear as a pure human' gig under wraps. If word got out about this, you would only be an excuse for the pure factions to start a war against us."

Canith grinned as he stood up, and then shifted to a human form. "I don't know what you are talking about. I'm a pure human, I swear it!" He said with an affronted tone to his voice and a shocked look to his face. "If I do see any anthros running around, I will be sure to let you know." He held this for effect for a minute, then shifted back with a sigh.

"Of course I'll be cautious. I see no point in being antagonistic. They will only see me as human, and if I do need to shift, I will do it after ensuring no one can see. If someone does see, I'll do what I can to minimize it- like for instance, claim it is a hologram projection that only makes it appear that I am a dragon. I think I can throw something together to imitate that."

"Having a backup plan would not be a bad idea. Of course, try not to kill anyone either- that would lead to questions, and we both know that would be bad."

They both sat there for a minute, thinking on that, before Snow continued. "Also, I believe that with a few tweaks in the pod we can essentially pause the cycle that the Tiamat initiated with you, as opposed to how it's set to permanently freeze after some time away from the ship. Your predecessor, Sean, had probably frozen as a herm at this point. I wonder what ended up happening to him. . ." Snow got a thoughtful look on his face at the last part.

"Actually, I have been keeping tabs on him until recently. Whatever you did to him, he hasn't really been running his mouth. Mainly he has been hunting for employment where he can, and trying to find others that are either foxes or herms. Incidentally, no one seems to want to put up with him much."

"What do you mean 'until recently'?"

"Ah, yeah. Well, he was aiming to pick up this one fox, and while they had shown initial interest, they turned him down. He became agitated, and went to follow them, but something blacked the monitors out for about a minute. After they came back online, neither him nor the vixen was to be found, and Aura did a station sweep and could not find either one there either. It appears like they simply vanished."

Snow got a brooding look on his face at this. "I hope that he's alright, as I heard he had sworn that he would get his revenge, or show you your place, or something to that effect during your brief meeting."

"I would agree with you. He might be vindictive, but he should not be killed for it. I wouldn't want that."

They lapsed back into silence for a moment, then Canith sighed and stood. "I have a few things to take care of down the hall, so I will catch you later?"

Snow nodded. "Yes, later." Then he waved farewell as Canith left to go down the hall to the Sys Admin room.

As the door to the room shut, Canith turned to the main tank, where Aura had already appeared. "What wasn't you telling them in there." He didn't ask, and although he was not angry, one could tell he was certain that the AI had left something out.

:Mainly small things. Like the fact that the primary interface for the drones to be slaved to the ship would have to be through me, and would require yours, the captains, or the first mate, at least a combination of two of them, to activate them in that mode, and likewise to disengage them. Another thing is that for all intents and purposes, this new ship would BE it's own city. Fully self sustaining, with a new type of drive that would be both overkill for smaller craft and also potentially deadly if breached.: Aura was back to speaking directly though the uplink, so an eavesdropper would not have heard this.

Canith also switched to non-verbal as a response to this. :When and what are you referring to.:

Aura brought up the schematics for a drive unlike what he had seen before. :Scientists have finally harnessed dark matter, and with the information I have accessed, could build this. The core is relatively small in comparison to the new ship, but would be nearly the size of the entire engineering section on this ship. Any smaller, however, compromises the shielding and could cause . . .: The paused for a moment, calculating. :An analogy for the explosion would be the birth of a neutron star. The initial explosion would probably take out neighboring planetoids, then the draft back would either create a new, short lived star, or would create a black hole for an undefined amount of time- either is probable. I have allocated roughly three times the amount of shielding and armor around the core as would be necessary normally to be safe.:

Canith had to grab a chair to sit down. That kind of destructive power was more than just a bit excessive. :I have to ask, but why was this not weaponized. They did nuclear bombs, when they could be used for power. Wouldn't this be no different?:

There was almost a smirk in Aura's digital voice. :They cannot, as the calculations to make a bomb would indicate that they would need half an atom of dark matter to make it safe to fire it at a target and not get caught in the apocalypse that followed. And as you cannot create that little dark matter, or reduce it to that amount without it detonating, weaponization is out of the question. In fact, the entire project almost got scrapped when this was discovered, but the idea of the extra shielding made it theoretically possible. The power output, however, was beyond anything short of several cities worth of power in the smallest amounts. Thus why I recommend this method.:

Canith had to nod at this logic- too large for safe weaponizaion, to much power for anything less. It would allow for plenty of power draw, without endangering any other systems. :If that's the case, I want one or two of the scientists on board that were in on the project. If something goes wrong, we need experts.:

Aura nodded once. :Already planned for. Initial goal was to have them in on the 'design' phase, and have the likely candidates for 'Anthro-acclimization' be present on the build team. Along with several others of like persuasion, have them be the only ones on the ship during the actual heist. With them on board, and once away, you can explain the full deal. I suggest you have Snow teach you some telepathic ways of blocking either memories or the ability to speak of said memories in case someone decides they don't have it in them to go through with it.:

Canith grimaced at this, but understood the necessity of it- loose lips on a project like this could get hundreds killed. :Alright. Anything else?:

:Not at the moment.: Aura said, laying down. :I have already begun creating the falsified documents for your infiltration, and will finalize them once you have passed all of Snow's tests.:

Canith nodded a final time, then turned to leave. :I will need to inform Snow of the new training I will need, as it will probably delay us leaving some.:

"A mind-block? It's not common to do, but it's actually not hard- assuming you have the finesse for it." Snow replied to Canith's question a while later. They were both reclined in Snow's office on E deck, with Canith in human form again. It still wasn't quite there, but it took practice. "The general concept of it is that you isolate the 'idea' you wish to block. Once you do that, you just cut off any access to it. With enough pressure, you might be able to break through, but it takes a very strong mind to do that. Otherwise, they feel like they forgot something, and cannot remember it. The larger the idea or memory, the more it affects them. Take Sean for example."

Snow stood and started pacing. "Someone like him doesn't have a terribly strong mind. Yet the concept made up years of his life, and part of his very identity. He was born an anthro fox, you know. But messing with DNA can be tricky, so only ark ships do it. He knows all this. But when he sees his dual gender, he cannot remember why he is upset about it- not at the fact of it, but rather whether he was born that way, or something happened. He probably is rather forgetful right now, or thinks himself so."

Canith thought on that for a moment or two before responding. "So if it's large enough, it can affect the psyche. What about small things?"

"Not a problem. Usually no repercussions. occasionally you get one that tries to stubbornly cling to it, and it can drive them a touch crazy, but nothing bad. After all, this day and age is there truly anyone that is not crazy?"

Canith grinned at the truth to that. "So you said the general concept. How hard is it really?"

Snow got an evil gleam to his eye. "Still haven't figured it out?"

Canith frowned, then thought back. As he did so, he felt like . . . not like he forgot something, but that he had overlooked a detail. "Sneaky, when did you block my memory of you teaching me how?"

Snow broke in to a full fanged smile. "It was to prove a point." With a mental twist, the block came loose and Canith remembered the first part of the conversation. And the fact that now that he knew what to look for, it was easier to notice the framework Snow used to block the memory, and how to replicate it.

"I find your teaching in this manner oddly enlightening, if a bit disturbing. What if I hadn't noticed?"

Snow shook his head. "You would have been back in here five minutes later. You have a clear mind, and the patterns of thought are well laid out- blocking something like that is like trying to box in a river instead of trapping a rabbit. The trap holds something in, but the river just flows around, over, under, and eventually through. It's why you are so resistant to it, and why you will excel at it. Just don't do it too often- you don't need a trail of forgetful people trying to figure out why all of them are forgetful all of a sudden.

Remote space station, many light-years away

The screaming had finally stopped a short while ago.

"Man, I knew the boss could be cruel, but that was extreme sounding. And to her own kind no less." One scruffy looking human said to another, while around the grimy table several others and a few anthros of various breeds and species nodded in agreement.

An anthro, a ragged looking bear with multiple scars crisscrossing his chest and face, covering his right eye as well, spoke next. "Normally speaking, if someone comes to the boss with info, I have seen her pay them. This guy though- something was Wrong with him, if you catch my drift. Like he wasn't quite there. Almost feel sorry for the poor bastard."

It was at this moment that the vixen in question came into the room, closing the door behind her. A mad giggling sound could be heard slightly before the seal closed. "Well boys, I got our 'informant' to finally give me the info he promised." She glanced back at the door and gave a small shudder. "Before any of you make any assumptions about this incident, let me make something clear. Someone fucked with that poor soul's head, blocking out the information. I had to be fairly . . . Persuasive . . . to break through whatever they did. And he asked me to."

Everyone around the table looked around at each other and several shuddered at this revelation. The boss, however, kept talking. "What he finally told me was rather interesting. He told me of a ship with tech and personnel on it that ole Earth would pay a fine ransom for- not pirate mind you, but not far off. They operate on an exploratory mission, and have gene tech on there that is beyond what Earth ever could imagine, as it was developed by renegade anthro scientists based off of the original tech that made them in the first place." She gave them a moment to let that sink in. Her crew wasn't dumb- they got the hint pretty quick. Wicked smiles and fanged grins soon spread around the table in anticipation.

"So boss, is our goal to take the ship, or to blow it up? I would imagine they would not like to be parted with it." The original human said, pulling out a knife and testing the edge a bit, before pulling out a whetstone and sharpening it further.

Now the vixen began grinning. "We take it, of course. What would be the challenge of just blowing it up." There were a few snickers at this, and they bent to developing a plan to track down this ship and take it.

Back in the room, strapped to the table, was a sorry excuse for a fox. His fur was disheveled, and missing several patches. His eyes, wild with madness, flickered here and there. But worst of all was his voice. Sporadically he would let loose a bark of laughter, or devolve to maddening giggles. But in his few windows of lucidness, words could be heard from him- hoarse from the screams.

"You bastards will pay, hehehe, pay good for kicking me off. And that pure human scum with you too. Hahahaha. . . "

Looking close, one could see that although at first glance it appeared that he had been tortured, the truth was far darker. The 'boss' had not lain a finger on his body except to strap him in. He had stripped and climbed on the table willingly. What she had done was brute-forced the lock on his mind from the outside. His psyche was virtually shattered from the ordeal, and both would bear the scars from it for the rest of their lives. But as a result, she had a full run-down of his memories of the Tiamat, and he had all his memories back in razor sharp clarity. And Sean was mad about it, in more ways than one now.