projection table were fullâthe same people as previously but now including Reichardt and also Chief Boyle, Head of League Affairs. Still no Chief Shin. It surprised Sandy a little; Ibrahim was usually more consensual in interdepartmental matters. Matters with FedInt must be bad then.
Reichardt was the FSAâs favourite Fleet Captain, and Sandyâs in particular. He was a Federation loyalist and a pragmatist, meaning that heâd repeatedly demonstrated a commitment to the idea of the Federation, with all its constituent parts equal, and not just some parts above the others. Given recent turmoil in Federal governance, Fleet command had found itself without Grand Council guidance, thanks to the counter-coup the FSA had pulled to dispose of the previous Council by force, after that Council had used Operation Shield to frame-and-remove the FSAâs newly acquired teeth to solve a dispute over the Federal Constitution.
Operation Shield had been implemented with Fleet help, hardly the first time Fleet had been found meddling in Federation governance to achieve outcomes some Fleet Captains desired. Post-coup, the FSA had gone after those captains hard. Several had surrendered and were in custody. One had suicided. Others remained in service, Fleet command refusing further action, but with trials ongoing. And a few more, most embarrassingly for Fleet Command, were OWOâOperating Without Ordersâwith ships and crew.
With chain of command inoperable, Reichardt had moved his carrier Mekong to immediate Callayan defensive orbit and declared himself at the FSAâs disposal until a more traditional chain of command had been reestablished. Two more carrier captains had followed suit, and a number of smaller vessels. The Federation media were calling it The Emergency, the temporary suspension of democracy in the Federation, until Ranaprasanaâs Grand Committee found a mutually agreeable way to put it all back together again. Reichardt was now called by many the FSAâs pet carrier captain. Sandy knew that the opposite was true, that far from being anyoneâs pet, Reichardt was probably the most free-thinking senior captain in the Fleet. Naturally Fleet had therefore not seen fit to promote him to Admiral, despite his obvious qualifications. The FSA had needed a means of enforcement against powerful Fleet Captains in their even more powerful warships, and Reichardt had volunteered himself and his carrier. He didnât care what it cost him, he was in Fleet to do the things that needed to be done, and took all personal satisfaction from that. Unsurprisingly he and Ibrahim, while not always in agreement, got along perfectly.
âSelf-inflicted E.L.E. has been a theory in Fleet for a while,â Reichardt continued, âbut I donât think itâs ever been a favourite theory. Having it confirmed changes the picture quite a bit. Certainly it explains Pantala, the old Talee stations there, where League picked up their biological replication technology. Small outposts like that could have abandoned as soon as it started and headed home. Records that the outpost ever existed were then probably lost.â
âAnd League has found several more of these outposts,â Ibrahim added. Ari gave Ibrahim a particularly long and hard look. Heâd phrased it as a statement, not a question. So heâd known for a while, probably in that secret file every new FSA Director got immediately upon appointment and was then forbidden to share with anyone else.
âYes,â said Reichardt. Fleet, of course, was an information world unto itself. Like a secret society, sharing with almost no one. All that time out in the cold convinced them that no one else understood these matters like Fleet did or could be trusted with the knowledge. True or not, the belief had spawned a dangerous elitism. âWe think at least two. Though weâre unclear on what if any technology was harvested at these points.
Reichardt was the FSAâs favourite Fleet Captain, and Sandyâs in particular. He was a Federation loyalist and a pragmatist, meaning that heâd repeatedly demonstrated a commitment to the idea of the Federation, with all its constituent parts equal, and not just some parts above the others. Given recent turmoil in Federal governance, Fleet command had found itself without Grand Council guidance, thanks to the counter-coup the FSA had pulled to dispose of the previous Council by force, after that Council had used Operation Shield to frame-and-remove the FSAâs newly acquired teeth to solve a dispute over the Federal Constitution.
Operation Shield had been implemented with Fleet help, hardly the first time Fleet had been found meddling in Federation governance to achieve outcomes some Fleet Captains desired. Post-coup, the FSA had gone after those captains hard. Several had surrendered and were in custody. One had suicided. Others remained in service, Fleet command refusing further action, but with trials ongoing. And a few more, most embarrassingly for Fleet Command, were OWOâOperating Without Ordersâwith ships and crew.
With chain of command inoperable, Reichardt had moved his carrier Mekong to immediate Callayan defensive orbit and declared himself at the FSAâs disposal until a more traditional chain of command had been reestablished. Two more carrier captains had followed suit, and a number of smaller vessels. The Federation media were calling it The Emergency, the temporary suspension of democracy in the Federation, until Ranaprasanaâs Grand Committee found a mutually agreeable way to put it all back together again. Reichardt was now called by many the FSAâs pet carrier captain. Sandy knew that the opposite was true, that far from being anyoneâs pet, Reichardt was probably the most free-thinking senior captain in the Fleet. Naturally Fleet had therefore not seen fit to promote him to Admiral, despite his obvious qualifications. The FSA had needed a means of enforcement against powerful Fleet Captains in their even more powerful warships, and Reichardt had volunteered himself and his carrier. He didnât care what it cost him, he was in Fleet to do the things that needed to be done, and took all personal satisfaction from that. Unsurprisingly he and Ibrahim, while not always in agreement, got along perfectly.
âSelf-inflicted E.L.E. has been a theory in Fleet for a while,â Reichardt continued, âbut I donât think itâs ever been a favourite theory. Having it confirmed changes the picture quite a bit. Certainly it explains Pantala, the old Talee stations there, where League picked up their biological replication technology. Small outposts like that could have abandoned as soon as it started and headed home. Records that the outpost ever existed were then probably lost.â
âAnd League has found several more of these outposts,â Ibrahim added. Ari gave Ibrahim a particularly long and hard look. Heâd phrased it as a statement, not a question. So heâd known for a while, probably in that secret file every new FSA Director got immediately upon appointment and was then forbidden to share with anyone else.
âYes,â said Reichardt. Fleet, of course, was an information world unto itself. Like a secret society, sharing with almost no one. All that time out in the cold convinced them that no one else understood these matters like Fleet did or could be trusted with the knowledge. True or not, the belief had spawned a dangerous elitism. âWe think at least two. Though weâre unclear on what if any technology was harvested at these points.
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