ore. Giant miners tore and dug and slashed and refined and concentrated. Storage
silos by the hundreds were built and were filled. Hundreds upon hundreds of
concentrate-carriers bored their stolid ways through hyperspace. Many weeks of time
passed.
But of what importance are mere weeks of time to a race that has, for many millions of
years, been adhering rigidly to a pre-set program?
The sheer magnitude of the operation, and the extraordinary attention to detail with
which it was prepared and launched, explain why the Strett attack on Ardvor did not
occur until so many weeks later than Hilton and Sawtelle expected it. They also explain
the utterly incomprehensible fury, the completely fantastic intensity, the unparalleled
savagery, the almost immeasurable brute power of that attack when it finally did come.
When the Orion landed on Ardane Field from Earth, carrying the first contingent of
immigrants, Hilton and Sawtelle were almost as much surprised as relieved that the
Stretts had not already attacked.
Sawtelle, confident that his defenses were fully ready, took it more or less in stride.
Hilton worried. And after a couple of days he began to do some real thinking about it.
The first result of his thinking was a conference with Temple. As soon as she got the
drift, she called in Teddy and Big Bill Karns. Teddy in turn called in Becky and de Vaux;
Karns wanted Poynter and Beverly; Poynter wanted Braden and the twins; and so on.
Thus, what started out as a conference of two became a full Ardan staff meeting; a
meeting which, starting immediately after lunch, ran straight through into the following
afternoon.
“To sum up the consensus, for the record,” Hilton said then, studying a sheet of paper
covered with symbols, “the Stretts haven’t attacked yet because they found out that we
are stronger than they are. They found that out by analyzing our defensive web-which, if
we had had this meeting first, we wouldn’t have put up at all. Unlike anything known to
human or previous Strett science, it is proof against any form of attack up to the limit of
the power of its generators. They will attack as soon as they are equipped to break that
screen at the level of power probable to our ships. We can not arrive at any reliable
estimate as to how long that will take.
“As to the effectiveness of our cutting off their known fuel supply, opinion is divided.
We must therefore assume that fuel shortage will not be a factor.
“Neither are we unanimous on the basic matter as to why the Masters acted as they
did just before they left Ardry. Why did they set the status so far below their top ability?
Why did they make it impossible for the Omans ever, of themselves, to learn their
higher science? Why, if they did not want that science to become known, did they leave
complete records of it? The majority of us believe that the Masters coded their records
in such fashion that the Stretts, even if they conquered the Omans or destroyed them,
could never break that code, since it was keyed to the basic difference between the
Strett mentality and the human. Thus, they left it deliberately for some human race to
find.
“Finally, and most important, our physicists and theoreticians are not able to
extrapolate, from the analysis of our screen, to the concepts underlying the Masters’
ultimate weapons of offense, the first-stage booster and its final end-product, the Vang.
If, as we can safely assume, the Stretts do not already have those weapons, they will
know nothing about them until we ourselves use them in battle.
“These are, of course, only the principal points covered. Does anyone wish to amend
this summation as recorded?” No one did.
The meeting was adjourned. Hilton, however, accompanied Sawtelle and Kedy to the
captain’s office. “So you see, Skipper, we got troubles,” he said. “If we don’t use those
boosters against their skeletons it’ll boil down to a stalemate lasting God knows how
long. It will be a war of attrition, outcome dependent on which side can build the most
and biggest and strongest ships the fastest. On the other hand, if we do use ’em on
defense here, they’ll analyze ’em and have everything worked out in a day or so. The
first thing they’ll do is beef up their planetary defenses to match. That way, we’d blow all
their ships out of space, probably easily enough, but Strett itself will be just as safe as
though it were in God’s left-hand hip pocket. So what’s the answer?”
“It isn’t that simple, Jarve,” Sawtelle said. “Let’s hear from you, Kedy.”
“Thank you, sir. There is an optimum mass, a point of maximum efficiency of
fire-power as balanced against loss of maneuverability, for any craft designed for
attack,” Kedy thought, in his most professional manner. “We assume that the Stretts
know that as well as we do. No such limitation applies to strictly defensive structures,
but both the Strett craft and ours must be designed for attack. We have built and are
budding many hundreds of thousands of ships of that type. So, undoubtedly, are the
Stretts. Ship for ship, they will be pretty well matched. Therefore one part of my strategy
will be for two of our ships to engage simultaneously one of theirs. There is a distinct
probability that we will have enough advantage in speed control to make that tactic
operable.”
“But there’s another that we won’t,” Sawtelle objected. “And maybe they can build
more ships than we can.” “Another point is that they may build, in addition to their big
stuff, a lot of small, ultra-fast ones,” Hilton put in. “Suicide jobs-crash and
detonate-simply super-missiles. How sure are you that you can stop such missiles with
ordinary beams?”
“Not at all, sir. Some of them would of course reach and destroy some of our ships.
Which brings up the second part of my strategy. For each one of the heavies, we are
building many small ships of the type you just called ‘super-missiles.”
“Superdreadnoughts versus superdreadnoughts, supermissiles versus super-missiles.”
Hilton digested that concept for several minutes. “That could still wind up as a
stalemate, except for what you said about control. That isn’t much to depend on,
especially since we won’t have the time-lag advantage you Omans had before. They’ll
see to that. Also, I don’t like to sacrifice a million Omans, either.”
“I haven’t explained the newest development yet, sir. There will be no Omans. Each
ship and each missile has a built-in Kedy brain, sir.”
“What? That makes it infinitely worse. You Kedys, unless it’s absolutely necessary, are
not expendable.”
“Oh, but we are, sir. You don’t quite understand. We Kedys are not merely similar, but
are in fact identical. Thus we are not independent entities. All of us together make up
the actual Kedy-that which is meant when we say ‘I.’ That is, I am the sum total of all
Kedys everywhere, not merely this individual that you call Kedy One.”
“You mean you’re all talking to me?”
“Exactly, sir. Thus, no one element of the Kedy has any need of, or any desire for,
self-preservation. The destruction of one element, or of thousands of elements, would
be of no more consequence to the Kedy than . . . well, they are strictly analogous to the
severed ends of the hairs, every time you get a haircut.”
“My God!” Hilton stared at Sawtelle. Sawtelle stared back. “I’m beginning to see . . .
maybe . . . I hope. What control that would be! But just in case we should have to use
the boosters . . .” Hilton’s voice died away. Scowling in concentration, he clasped his
hands behind his back and began to pace the floor.
“Better give up, Jarve. Kedy’s got the same mind you have,” Sawtelle began, to Hilton’s
oblivious back; but Kedy silenced the thought almost in the moment of its inception.
“By no means, sir,” he contradicted. “I have the brain only. The mind is entirely
different.”
“Link up, Kody, and see what you think of this,” Hilton broke in. There ensued an
interchange of thought so fast and so deeply mathematical that Sawtelle was lost in
seconds. “Do you think it’ll work?”
“I don’t see how it can fail, sir. At what point in the action should it be put into effect?
And will you call the time of initiation, or shall I?”
“Not until all their reserves are in action. Or, at worst, all of ours except that one
task-force. Since you’ll know a lot more about the status of the battle than either
Sawtelle or I will, you give the signal and I’ll start things going.”
“What are you two talking about?” Sawtelle demanded. “It’s a long story, chum. Kedy
can tell you about it better than I can. Besides, it’s getting late and Dark Lady and Larry
both give me hell every time I hold supper on plus time unless there’s a mighty good