200 lines
9.6 KiB
Plaintext
200 lines
9.6 KiB
Plaintext
From: Adam Crozer <crozer.adam@lunalines.com>
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To: Underway Reporting <quetelet@report.int.lunalines.com>
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Received: from relay4.local.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
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by int-03.lunalines.com
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for quetelet@report.int.lunalines.com
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with ESMTPSA id d6aY341Pf3
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Received: from qec.lrpf107
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by relay1.qec3.rs001.l4.earthsys.gov
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Subject: Final report, LRPF Quetelet
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf8"
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Date: 15 Sep 2421 13:42:01 +0000
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Date-Local: 15 Sep 2421 13:42:01 +0000
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Adam Crozer, master of LRPF Quetelet on the regular Ganymede-Luna
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run, reporting to headquarters Luna Lines. A complete log dump,
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including current ecliptic coordinates (ref. WAS94) and projected
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vectors to intercept, will promptly follow this report as
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transmitted.
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Our situation is dire, with no realistic prospect of relief. To
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summarize the current incident:
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We departed Ganymede on schedule at 1900, 10 September, with our
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full complement of crew and passengers aboard. Per instructions
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from home office, shortly before departure we also embarked Amelia
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Nine, Earthgov expedition support director for the Voortrekker
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project, and Joel Kenyon Fredericks, a deputy military attaché
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rotating home from the Ganymede mission.
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Our run was initially uneventful; we passed through the outer
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system and transited the belt without incident, finding Ceres
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Hollow traffic control no more than ordinarily
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unprofessional. While the treaty announcement of 13 September
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raised tensions among crew and passengers alike, no mishap ensued.
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At 1533 on 14 September, our navigation surveillance systems
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reported a probable Earth naval combatant with a heat signature
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indicating a hard burn to match our vector. At 1612, we concluded
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that the as yet unidentified ship was shaping to match our vector,
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and would intercept us well short of any circumlunar approach
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lane. We adjusted course to maximize time to intercept, and the
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unidentified ship adjusted her own burn to compensate. We estimated
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intercept within approximately twenty-six hours.
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At 1644 on 14 September, we received a hail from the ship,
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identifying herself as ENS Kearsarge under Captain John
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Whitlow. Whitlow instructed us to cease acceleration at once and
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heave to for boarding and the arrest of the passenger Amelia
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Nine. Whitlow further instructed us to send no transmissions for
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any reason, whether via QEC or conventional emission, and that he
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would fire into us if we did not immediately comply with his
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instructions.
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Given Whitlow's apparent readiness to engage in hostilities against
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an unarmed civilian vessel, and further considering his highly
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atypical instruction to make no transmissions, I concluded that
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surrender was not in the best interest of Quetelet or her
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complement.
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I informed Mr. Fredericks of the situation, and asked his
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advice. He at once volunteered to send and sign a message to
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Kearsarge, demonstrating his presence aboard Quetelet and claiming
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her under secondment to the Foreign Affairs Office, thus protected
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by diplomatic immunity under the definition established by the
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Earth-Luna Memorandum of Consular Understanding, 2397. We
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transmitted this message at 1732 on 14 September. We have received
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no response.
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In following discussion, Mr. Fredericks confirmed my appreciation
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of Whitlow's probable intentions. Mr. Fredericks further noted
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that, in light of the recent treaty of alliance, we could at best
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expect to be interned following a surrender, and that, considering
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the no-communication order, he personally thought it more likely
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none of us would long survive such an action.
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At 1749 on 14 September, we went to maximum emergency acceleration
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and again adjusted course to maximize time to intercept. Kearsarge
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again adjusted to match us and further increased her own
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acceleration.
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Kearsarge has continued to close us, and as of now we project her
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no more than four hours thirty minutes from extreme weapons
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range. We have no reason to doubt that Whitlow will fulfill his
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prior threat at the earliest possible time, and we have no ability
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to defend ourselves from such action.
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We do not know with certainty what has driven Whitlow to so
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contravene the accepted usages of interplanetary law and custom,
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but - following further discussion with Mr. Fredericks and Amelia
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Nine - I strongly suspect his orders are, by any necessary means,
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to prevent certain information now in the possession of Ms. Nine
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from reaching Luna. Therefore, at the request of Mr. Fredericks,
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and with the consent of Ms. Nine, I include the following:
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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Hash: SHA1
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I am Joel Kenyon Fredericks, most recently the deputy attaché for
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military affairs in the Ganymede consulate of the Luna Free State.
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On the evening of September 13, I was approached aboard Quetelet by
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Ms. Amelia Nine, a citizen of Earth, with a request for political
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refuge under the terms of the Lunar Declaration on Human
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Rights, 2354. Being empowered to respond to such a request on
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behalf of my government, and having judged Ms. Nine's reasons for
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so requesting to fall within the relevant terms of the Declaration,
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I proceeded at 2054 on September 13 to grant Ms. Nine's request.
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Following this discussion, Ms. Nine disclosed to me information held
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by her government in extreme confidence. Specifically, she advised me
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that Earth's heavy spaceborne industry has recently achieved the
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ability to construct armed combatant vessels equipped for superluminal
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travel.
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Ms. Nine substantiated this statement with copies of documents
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obtained by technical means from the archives of the prototype
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project. While Ms. Nine's collection does not describe that project in
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complete detail, the engineering drawings and correspondence therein
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suffice, in my judgment, to confirm her statements.
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Based on examination of those drawings, I would provisionally classify
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the prototype they describe as a corvette or gunship type. Due perhaps
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to constrained generation capability, she is described as mounting no
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power weapons, and only four frigate-class kinetic bombards. Her
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internal spaces include eight large launch bays, each equipped to
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support four LCA(H) 1180 or compatible landing shuttles.
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Based on known capabilities of similar types, this ship most likely
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can deploy mechanized formations, in battalion to division strength,
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within two hours of arrival in orbit. However, such landings could
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only take place unopposed; this ship's weakness as a combatant renders
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her largely ineffectual in reducing defenses of any strength.
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In particular, a ship of this type could not hope to approach within
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weapons range of Luna, even via FTL drive, without being engaged and
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destroyed by our planetary defenses. Should she survive long enough to
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launch her boats, they would meet the same fate, inflicting minimal to
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no damage on our installations in return.
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However, the existence of a working Earth FTL prototype is nonetheless
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frightening. I most strongly recommend this matter be discussed among
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the parties to the new treaty, and that no effort be spared to obtain
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dispositive information regarding her full capabilities, and the
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current state of Earth's naval construction programs, particularly in
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their Ganymede yards.
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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Version: GnuPG v1.4.12 (GNU/Linux)
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v/HKGX/QV2hD7qI8gFjDJgtUXMtEoadRohbDMfTCPlojuciY/o6fMSvZ+kUp2met
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=sUfE
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-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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If preventing this disclosure is indeed Whitlow's purpose, perhaps
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he will desist when the transmission of this report proves that his
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mission has failed. But I am not optimistic. Therefore, in the
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interests of simple humanity, I have advised our passenger
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complement of our current situation, and made available our QEC
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sender for brief personal messages. We will append these to our log
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dump, to be transmitted following this report.
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In a similar vein: Thecla, I know you'll see this. I'm sorry to ask
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it, but will you please bear the news? I'd rather it came from a
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friend. Give Tim and Bertie my regrets and my love, and tell
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Susanna and Marigold I'm sorry I couldn't make it home for their
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birthday and they'll always be my favorite little squirrel butts.
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Kearsarge is now within two hours of firing range, and continues to
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ignore our hails. I will transmit this report momentarily, followed
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by our log dump and our passengers' personal messages.
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Of note: Ms. Nine has requested that she be placed in a lifeboat
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and the lifeboat then jettisoned, in the hope that Kearsarge might
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be satisfied with her capture alone, or might be diverted long
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enough for Quetelet to reach safety. Given Whitlow's apparent
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intentions, and the certainty that Kearsarge carries launches
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capable of overhauling our own boats, I declined her request: we
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all have to go, looks like, but none of us has to go alone and
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afraid.
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All the same - she was clearly terrified at the prospect, but she
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fought for it anyway, and made us convince her it wouldn't help
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before she'd concede the argument. I think that was the bravest
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thing I've ever seen anyone do. Her people deserve to know that.
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Finally, I wish to state for the record that my crew has performed
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admirably throughout this ordeal, and I confide they will continue
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to do so, right up to the end. Almost everyone is downship in the
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passenger cabins right now, looking after the souls who've
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entrusted themselves to our care. I didn't order that; my people
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decided on their own to do it, and set to with a will. For all that
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I regret we've come to this, my people could not have done me
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prouder.
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Adam Crozer, master of LRPF Quetelet, signing off.
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