1922: Tau Past, #3

By Richard R Lockwood

In Tau Past - 1921, Admiral Kosciusko decides Earth needs a new wonder and begins a huge pyramid in Texas. He plans to make it the heart of a galactic republic. In 1922 his new jump carriers begin exploration of the regions towards the Orion Nebula. Alpha discovers the Hell Road and Hell Station is founded. 
The new Tau Fleet is growing quickly, but that means they will bump into problems even faster. Dealing with  the implications of light speed and folding space is not easy for most and impossible for some. Lothar von Richthofen discovers he has a talent for it and begins to move up the Tau ranks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard R Lockwood
• Release date: Oct 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215927632

Richard R Lockwood

Was born in Miami FL. Worked for the University of Florida until I retired. Been married to the lovely Cecelia for 40 years now, proof that I'm a lucky guy. Now living on the Nature Coast in Citrus County. Enjoy all kind of wildlife, especially reptiles and insects, so I'm pretty sure I'm in the right place. When I'm not writing I enjoy wood carving. Both of the heads beside me in the picture are cedar from the Chassahowitzka Forrest. I also love to walk my dog Bark Anthony. Probably need to go do that now. A Chronology of the Twins Alternate Universe novels and some thoughts and rationales - https://www.ricklockwood.net/Chronology.html My Books on Books 2 Read - https://books2read.com/ap/RaZ9Br/Richard-R-Lockwood  

Book preview

1

In the very south-easternmost part of Germany, tucked under the Austrian city of Salzburg to the north, and surrounded by snow capped mountains of the Bavarian Alps, lies the city of Bischofswiesen, home of the 232 Mountain Infantry Battalion, a unit that absorbed some of the members of the famous Alpenkorp after it was dissolved at the end of the Great War.

One of the former members of the Alpenkorp, a lieutenant who had distinguished himself in the war in the same manner as hundreds of other lieutenants, was walking home and just about to reach the little cottage he shared with his wife, when he noticed a white platform float down and settle in the glare of a streetlight in front of him. Two men were on the platform; both were dressed in black utility uniforms without distinguishing marks.

Like most of the military men in Europe by this time, the lieutenant had heard of this mode of travel. Though he had never seen it himself he was familiar with the stories of their spacecraft from his friends who'd seen the Tau squadrons in Paris and London. He was not worried; he knew that if they wished him harm they would have done it from high above, so he walked over to the men and wished them good evening.

Good evening to you too, Lieutenant. Am I speaking to Erwin Rommel?

You are.

I am Admiral Kosciusko and this is Lieutenant Jansen of the Tau Fleet. I was wondering if I might be able to speak to you for a short while. I know you are about to get home. If you would like to bring your wife to join in this discussion, that would be acceptable.

If the master of the Tau Fleet wishes to speak with me, then I am at your service. And Lucie does not get to participate in many events in my life, I will accept your kind offer to include her. If you would wait for one minute please, I will fetch her.

Of course.

It only took a moment for Rommel to wrap his wife in an overcoat and hurry her out of her kitchen and out the door. Please, liebchen, I need you to tell me I'm not dreaming, he told her. When they were outside their door the pad floated down to their little patch of snow covered lawn.

If you would please join us, the Admiral held out his hand and Rommel guided his wife up onto the pad. A moment later they were gliding into the bridge of a warship that Rommel realized must have been hovering right over his house.

Mein Gott, he thought as he looked around, but there was really nothing distinguishing about the room except for the giant display, surrounded by a railing and a circle of bridge stations. An expert map reader, he saw at a glance that it showed Bavaria, and that the view was in motion, shifting towards the middle of Germany.

Please have a seat, the Admiral gestured towards the chairs closest, and took a seat in the command chair. I'm sure there are many stories that have been told about me; I will start with us and get to you. In 16 years, in the future that I came from, the world will suffer through a war more savage and destructive than the one you just endured. I came back in time to prevent that war, and I am now certain that it will not happen. But still there were casualties, and one of those casualties will be your career. You will not become Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, known as the Desert Fox for kicking British butts all over North Africa, please excuse my language, Frau Rommel.

It sounds good to me, Herr Admiral, she replied.

Good. So I have a question for you, Lieutenant. Most of the time one army will line up against another, and the winner will possess the land. But sometimes you need a special unit to go far away and get information, or rescue prisoners, or destroy something critical to the enemy's war effort. Who would you call?

Admiral, my jaeger battalion can do just about anything, but I don't think that is the answer you are looking for or you would be talking to my Oberst. Who would you call?

I would like to call you.

Ha, I must have some reputation in the future. Perhaps we can talk about it over a beer sometime, but right now, Admiral, I would appreciate it if you would be a little clearer about what you are asking me.

In the future, before I became an admiral, I was a member of what we called special forces, somewhat like your Alpenkorps. We were called on when a mission had to succeed, when information had to be obtained, when someone had to die, but the government of my country did not wish to invade another country to accomplish those goals.

You wish me to join such a force?

No, Lieutenant. I wish you to recruit it, train it, and lead it. Do you recognize the area we are above?

Of course. It is a famous castle in Wurzburg, the Marienberg Fortress. It looks busy.

I bought it and workmen are installing modern power and communications. We will also upgrade the defenses, but that effort will not be done in such an obvious way. This is where the unit will be based, and this is where some of the training will happen, but the unit will operate all over Earth, in space, and on other planets. I can be an instructor, which will make it easy to have that beer, but I will not be going on any missions or my Lieutenant Jansen would have a heart attack.

I'm beginning to see, Admiral. You are asking me, in front of my wife, if I wish to become master of that fortress, and the commander of an elite military unit that will operate all over human space?

I apologize, Lieutenant. Usually I get to the point a little quicker.

No apologies are needed, Admiral. I appreciate your kindness in allowing Lucie to be here, when I change both our lives, and accept.

2

So this is Hell, said Jade Lee from the bridge of the Bee Hive as she approached orbit around the purple planet.

Welcome, Captain Lee, said Governor Franz von Hipper from the bridge of the Alpha. "I invite you and your wing leaders to join us on the Alpha for whatever your next meal might be."

Thank you for the invitation, Governor. Will lunch in an hour be good for you?

It will be good for all of us, Captain. I'm looking forward to talking with you about Tau construction methods.

Yes, I can see Hell needs a few things. Have you surveyed the place, Governor?

We were just about to do that. See you in an hour.

Von Hipper cut the connection and turned to Captain Souchon, Why didn't you recommend that, Willie?

Survey? I just shoot things, Franz.

You could shoot the planet with some of the rail gun ammo, said Lothar von Richthofen, sitting with them on the bridge, and use the passive sensors to image the internal structure, Governor.

Thank you Lothar, that's a good idea. Proceed, also radar and thermal imaging while you're at it.

Aye aye, sir.

Someone has been studying, said Willie as they watched the young officer leave.

Yes, said Franz, turning to Willie, and someone just lost a fine young officer. I need wing leaders, too.

I see this Governor of Hell thing has gone to your head, Franz. Do I need to hide my other officers from you?

Most of them are on loan to us, but Lothar and Heinrich are Tau. I'll keep the whole reserve wing when you go back to Earth.

Governor of Hell, Robber Baron, there doesn't seem to be much difference.

You're the one who wanted one of these long powerful things between your legs, Willie. I'm glad you finally have something like that.

Now you're being cruel, Franz. How much longer will you stay on my ship?

Let's see. We planted the factories yesterday evening, they'll come online in about six hours. Admiral Ortega told me the first step is usually to produce a Baby Luxury liner to use as construction headquarters. I'm afraid I haven't thought beyond that.

You'll have three factory lines, Franz. I'd produce some more seeds just so you have plenty of capacity for whatever you decide.

You're right, Willie. If I'm going to be Governor of a whole system, I'll have to think bigger than any Admiral in the Kaiserliche Marine.

And no budget problems! Your little factory in the back yard will produce whatever you want. No wonder you're looking a little stunned, Franz.

It shows? I'm not surprised. Anyway, Ortega told me to keep the reserve wing and half the Marines.

The Governor of Hell is blaming someone else for being the bad guy?

I can see we're going to have a lot of fun with the title. Don't you need to clean this place up if we're having company?

No, it's not your ship anymore, Mr. Ex-exec. Besides, except for Nakamura slouching at the Pilot's station, everything is perfect. Louis already corrected all the errors of the previous exec.

I'm sure Louis is exhausted.

They got a message from Lothar that he had fabricated drone sensors in his cruiser and would begin dropping them around the planet. Heinrich Kroll and another officer were flying their cruisers in close orbits to produce the radar and thermal maps. Ten minutes later data started pouring in to their bridge display. Lothar placed three sensors around the factory site, then proceeded to place more in an enlarging spiral around the original ones, shooting the ground every ten minutes to give them new looks at the sub-surface structures from different directions. They soon became absorbed in discoveries.

Look at this canyon under the ice on the south pole, Franz. It's as big as anything on Earth.

Captain, said Nakamura.

What is it, Naga? said Willie.

"A cruiser has left the Bee Hive, sir."

Both officers ran to their cabins to step through the refresher and put on fresh uniforms.

Alpha was orbiting Hell at 5000 kilometers. Louis Chabeaux met the cruiser as it parked next to the carrier, waiting in an open bay on the sixth level. Eight ladies left the bridge of the cruiser and coasted over to the bay opening using their impeller belts, touching lightly down on the deck as he ordered the gravity to ten percent.

"Welcome to Alpha, he greeted them. I'm Lieutenant Commander Louis Chabeaux, the new exec. This gentleman is Lieutenant Commander Owen Conway, the new flight boss. The Captain will meet us in the dining room."

Jade looked them over, I'll save the introductions until then. It's a pleasure to meet you both, we've been watching your reports for some time.

Louis waved an invitation and the group stepped onto two pads and were lifted up through the ship to the dining room deck. Commander Souchon and Captain von Hipper were just entering the room from the cabin deck.

Commander Lee, said Willie, I'm Captain Souchon. I think you already know the Governor of Hell.

Yes, she replied. You know, with a purple planet you could have called it Radish or Beet.

On the theory that I might get more respect as the Governor of Radish? Franz replied with a smile. Thank you for your suggestion, Commander.

Commander, said Willie, you've already met my exec and my flight boss. This officer is Lieutenant Commander Jun Tanaka, on loan to us from the Imperial Japanese Navy. Next to him is Lieutenant Commander James Madison, and I think you know our chief Pilot Lieutenant Commander Marko Talyenko.

Jade looked them over for a moment, then began the introduction of her officers, Ugo Mahire from Xinjiang, leader of my 1st wing, Li Qin Chiu from Beijing, 2nd wing, Jiang Wenxia of Chongking, 3rd wing, Yu Zilin of Shenyang-it's called Mukden now but you can have that argument with her, Zhang Bing Bing from Guangzhou, 4th wing, and I think you may have met Ruth of the Mmagam, my Reserve wing leader. Ng Yu Mi of Kunming is my flight boss, and Commander Qing Zhou Lin, my exec. Isn't Naga on this ship?

Um, Lieutenant Commander Nakamura has the bridge, said Willie.

But you're in orbit, said Jade. Is he in trouble again? I was looking forward to seeing my friend.

I'll summon him, replied Willie, It's a pleasure to meet you all.

And Lothar, said Qing, we'd like to meet him as well. He's impressed a lot of people with his maneuvers.

Yes he has, said Franz. He's also on his way. How was your trip out here?

Boring, replied Jade as they made their way over to the food modules. We placed 70 relay satellites on the way so just about every system between here and Earth can be monitored. Hell is the nicest system we've seen since we left O'Neal.

You know what they say, chimed in Louis, France for the food, and Hell for the conversation.

Here's Naga, said Willie as Nakamura entered the room.

Jade, Qing, said Naga, you came all the way out here to rescue me?

No, said Jade, we came out here to laugh at you. She turned to Franz, Not many officers can get in trouble the way Naga can.

And now he's in Hell, laughed Qing as she came up to give him a hug with Jade.

Yes, said Owen as he watched Naga get hugged by two beautiful women at once, he looks like he's in Hell.

3

Kyril Baitchkov glanced nervously into the full length mirror and adjusted his suit one more time, then looked at the monitors beside the door. Mother of God, he thought, if I had known they were watching us all the time... But then it would have changed nothing, I always act as if others are watching, but now I know it is true.

The Princess Irina Gagarin had shown him the banks of monitors at the Peterhof, and the monitor room at the Winter Palace was almost as large. An officer of the Grand Duke's Guard was always on duty in both locations and could summon a force of gunships and cruisers in an instant.

But in the anteroom to the press hall there was only one officer and four soldiers. One of the soldiers was seated at a work station to the right of the door and his control panel had a special device on it. Irina had told Kyril that laser fire could be directed anywhere in the room if the speaker were ever in danger. Or at me if I say something stupid, he thought and examined himself again in the mirror.

Princess Gagarin arrived and distracted him with a quick smile, I'm sure you're ready to face the world, Kyril, then a quick glance at the monitors to judge her audience, then a nod at her announcer.

Her Master-at-Arms opened the door, stepped through and bellowed, The Grand Duke's Minister of Information, The Princess Gagarin, Irina Dmitrieva! then stepped to the right. She followed him through the door and Kyril focused his mind and followed her.

Thank you for coming, ladies and gentlemen, she began, "and I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. The Grand Duke has many plans for the coming year; we expect it to be an exciting one for our country and our people.

"Now, as all of you know, I do not like to talk about myself when I am up here at this podium, but sometimes personal events have an impact on the state. As some of you may know, I have recently become the mother of twins over the holidays. This little miracle has caused me to make adjustments in my life, just as it always does for any mother who is similarly blessed. One of those adjustment involves the man standing beside me, Kyril Baitchkov, who is nervously waiting to replace me here. He is my new Deputy Press Secretary, and I hope you will treat him with the same civility and respect you have shown to me. Remember, he now has the power to order you dropped out of a balloon five kilometers over the Baltic.

Our country has made great progress over the last year with the leadership and guidance of the Grand Duke. It has been my pleasure, and my great privilege, to be able to work with you in this great effort of informing the people of what we do on their behalf. And now, I will step aside and let Kyril carry our banner forward. Thank you. She nodded her head at the audience, then stepped back and left through the door behind them to polite applause.

Ladies and Gentlemen, began Kyril. She had told him he would have to step right in and take control or it would be hopeless. "I am Kyril Baitchkov, some of you may have known me as the managing editor of the Voice of Peter. But enough about me, I have three announcements to make, then I will take questions.

"My first announcement concerns our neighbors to the west. The situation in Poland and Germany will be the subject of a regional conference to be held in the city of Riga in two weeks. The Grand Duke will send our Minister of Finance, Mikhail Ivanovich Gromov, and similar representatives will attend from the other countries.

My second announcement concerns the New Year's gift to the people of Peter from the Grand Duke. He held up a small black object, it looked like a tube about three centimeters wide and fifteen long. This object is a radio, and the Grand Duke's factories are producing thousands of them right now, even as I speak. He twisted one end of the object and a moment later the audience could hear, ... even as I speak.

As you can hear, Kyril continued after he turned off the device, "it is now possible to listen to this press conference over the radio. Your audience has just become much larger, as has mine. These radios will be distributed throughout Peter in the coming month, in Moscow the month after that, and in other cities after that. The Ministry of Information will broadcast news, and for those of you who are fans, like myself, that includes football. At other times we will broadcast music, and on Sundays religious services from various cathedrals around the country.

"Now you may be thinking, just as I did when I first learned of these radios, that they will kill the newspaper industry. That may be possible, but I don't think it will happen. I think the newspapers will survive if they do the things that radio cannot do. That