128 An Impossible Project

"The Council was just about to contact you." a councillor said the moment communication channels were open. "We are almost ready to deploy our first early warning satellite. It is currently being loaded into the payload bay of one of our ships. It should be ready for liftoff in-"

"Okay, that's enough detail, deploy it once it is ready." I said. "We have something more important to discuss."

"Something more important than those satellites, that's quite rare." said The Council. "The Council is listening."

"I want you to fit whatever ships you can, in balanced amounts, for these tasks: mining, cargo and orbital assembly."

"Would it be safe to assume that you are preparing to build a giant space fortress or something?" asked a councillor.

"No, not a space fortress, though I wish you were right." I said. "I also want you to gather your most brilliant minds and capable engineers for the speculative design of an interstellar colony ship."

"A… what?"

"Some of our guys from The Fleet State will join your people to assist them." I continued, ignoring the shock and confusion of The Core Council. "In addition to everything I've mentioned so far, you are expected to convert or build whatever facilities we might need in order to make progress in the design and building of the said ship."

"With respect, Mr. President, with what we have here, we are simply not capable of building a colony ship, or a manned interstellar ship – and here, you are asking us to build an interstellar colony ship." The Council said. "Furthermore, The Council thinks that it is not the best kind of enterprise in the current situation; the civilization is ruined and all our efforts are about saving what is left, or recovering what we can. Unfortunately, as the rulers of an officially recognized autonomous zone in the New Republic, we have to refuse."

That was definitely not the kind of answer I expected, or wanted.

"Are you kid-" I took a deep breath to let go of my momentary anger build-up. "The Fleet State's cargo and mining ships will assist you with material gathering… Look, I know you have little context, but believe me when I say that this might be mankind's only chance of survival. We recently found out that the evil AI is aiming to colonize other star systems, and unless we do the same, we will never be able to challenge its power in the future. Ever."

There was a long silence on the communication line.

"We understand your concerns. We will have to ask for some time before we can make a clear decision. Please, Mr. President, allow us to think about it for one Earth day." they said.

"One day?" I sighed. "You have your one Earth day."

And communications were cut.

"Get me the professor." I told Mei. Since the professor was aboard a shuttle, on its way back to Makemake, Mei had some difficulty getting to him.

"Here, we are about to establish connection." she said.

"Professor? Can you hear me?"

"Barely, but I guess that counts as a yes." he said.

"I don't want to waste much time. I've just contacted The Council, and ordered them to make the necessary moves in order for us to start the construction of an interstellar colony ship."

"Then why contact me in person? Looks like you've made your decision."

"I did, but they did not… yet." I said.

"What does that even mean?" he asked, with a confused tone.

"It means that they weren't very… keen to begin working on such a project at first, and they are still indecisive right now." I said.

"Ugh." said the professor. "The Council. I see."

"I want you to convince them to begin the project as soon as possible. Can you do that?"

"I can try." he said. "But it is a council."

I didn't really understand what he meant, but that was the last thing I was going to hear from him.

"Mei, where is Tachibana?" I asked.

"Will you take a break?" she asked me. "You've been ordering people around for the last few hours."

"I will take a break when this is all over." I said. "Now where did Tachibana go, please tell me!"

"Fine, fine." she said. "He just left the bridge but he didn't leave the ship yet. He must be somewhere near."

"Ah, just connect me to the ship intercom." I said. After an ear-tearing beep, I made a ship-wide announcement. "Commander Tachibana, Commander Tachibana… You are expected to report to the bridge ASAP. Commander Tachibana, report to the bridge, ASAP."

About a minute later, we heard someone running towards the bridge, making rapid clanking noises with his every contact with the metal floor. Tachibana appeared on the door as it slid to the side.

"Commander Tachibana reporting as requested, sir!" he said as he performed the sharpest salutation moves I've ever seen – unexpected from someone like him. Perhaps he was trying to mock the strictly military language I was using on the intercom (which I usually wouldn't pay much attention to), but not saluting back after such an effort would look disrespectful.

"Commander…" I said. "Before you leave to get aboard your own ship, I have a job for you."

"Yes, sir!"

"I assume you are already provided with all the details on the recon mission we've performed earlier, and the now-exposed AI colony ship."

"Yes, sir!"

Tachibana, for some reason, did not have the attitude of the free-minded, out-of-the-box thinking, rebellious commander that he was. It was a subtle change in his behaviours that would not be apparent to anyone but me or Mei.

"That 'yes, sir' somehow doesn't sound like you." I said.

"Yes, sir!"

"So why do you even bother with the 'yes, sir'?"

"I thought that not challenging the established military command chain is a good way to rise up in the chain itself… sir!"

At that point, I was thinking that maybe he was bitter over him, someone who has been a rear admiral for years in the Martian Navy, was now simply referred to as a commander, when, for example, Mei was a full fleet admiral by now. After all, it was true that his rebellious moves were the only reason for his being demoted.

"But why do you even bother?" I asked him again.

"To be trusted with the command of larger naval forces in the future, sir!"

"I already know exactly what kind of commander you are, friend." I said. "There must be another reason."

"There is no other reason. Sir." This time, his voice was not as high. I believed that there was something he was trying to hide, but I let it slip past for now.

"So, here is your task…"