He then described Apraxin's Liberation Task Force. When he'd finished, a hand thrust up, and Peixoto pointed. "Yes, Doctor?"
"Mr. Prime Minister, that is a rather modest force. What makes you think it can do the job?"
"Most of the conquered planets informed us of the number of alien emergence loci, so we know how many fewer they have been from world to world. Some of the ships left behind with the conquering colonists are undoubtedly transports, and supply vessels left to support the conquerors until they can support themselves. But others are warships; Morgan's squadron provided information on how many to expect."
Peixoto's gaze had been on the people in the room. Now he scanned the faces on the monitors. He had their attention.
"Also, judging from the elapsed time between worlds, the armada remains in the system's fringe for about a Standard week.
"We also assume that they expect us to make a stand farther within the Commonwealth. If so, they probably leave behind no more fighting ships than they consider necessary."
He scanned the people in the chamber. "We've had to make numerous assumptions, and add modest safety margins. While keeping in mind that the ships of the Liberation Task Force will not be available to Admiral Soong's Provos."
He pointed at an upthrust hand. "Yes, Senator Bomboulis?"
"Why send a liberation force to New Jerusalem? At this time, I mean. Why not send Apraxin's force with Soong's? And hold the New Jerusalem division to help defend some other world?"
"We have two reasons. One, we lack knowledge of how the enemy fights. The ground units we land on New Jerusalem will be accompanied by several savants, as will Apraxin's and Soong's space forces. They should give us very important information on how the alien fights. And two, if we undertake to defend a world on the ground, the alien can send in more and more forces to overwhelm our own. While if we land a liberation force well after he's left, the alien defense is unlikely to receive reinforcements. As I pointed out earlier, we have compelling reason to believe that they do not have instantaneous communication."
More hands had popped up; the prime minister waved them off. "Now we will hear from our director of industrial mobilization, and our minister of war. Please jot down any further questions; I will invite them afterward. Our time is limited, and Mr. Shin and Mr. Stavrianos will no doubt anticipate many of them in their presentations."
The director of industrial mobilization spoke first, followed by the minister of war. When the meeting was again opened to questions, the first hand raised belonged to the chief of Senate Liaison. The prime minister pointed. "Senator Bomboulis," he said.
"Wouldn't it be simpler and less expensive to make warbots in the form of floaters? Because human soldiers walk upright on their hind limbs doesn't make it the optimum design strategy."
"A perceptive question, Senator," Peixoto said, "but I believe you'll find it is the best design strategy. General Kulikov, why don't you explain."
The general rose; he preferred to speak on his feet. "The human nervous system," he answered, "evolved to operate an erect, bipedal body with upper appendages which manipulate objects. And beginning in infancy, each of us spends years mastering their function. The warbot servo is designed to operate using those same neural circuits in the manner for which they evolved, and in which the person learned to use them.
"In the late 28th century, when warbots became feasible, alternative design strategies were tested. All but the bipeds presented serious training problems, while biped servo design proved less difficult than expected.
"So when the present emergency struck, we went with a biped design. Plans already existed for large-scale production. Have I answered your question?" Kulikov finished.
Senator Bomboulis nodded. "You have, General. Before my election, I was a professor of history at the University of Kaunas. So I am well aware how little appreciation and support your peacetime defense efforts received-both your predecessors' efforts and your own. You have my sincere admiration and gratitude for your dedication, foresight and ingenuity." He paused, then chuckled wryly. "Not to mention your thick skin."
When the meeting was over, the president walked to his office, briskly as always. He was thinking about something Kulikov had failed to mention. A bot design, loosely speaking, only recently in production, and not bipedal at all. Not a fighting bot in the conventional sense, though in its way, military. But it wasn't time yet to make it known, even to the cabinet. A leak would result in problems he would gladly do without.
Chapter 26
Warbots
On their way to various training areas, B Company's trainees had seen the new building grow from bare, bulldozed earth to a completed structure in under four weeks. The largest in the regimental area, it even had two stories. They'd wondered what it was for. Now, obviously, they were about to find out.
Entering it, they filed into a small lecture hall and sat down on its benches. It smelled like newly-sawn lumber and fresh paint. Then someone, something entered and stepped to the lectern. "I am Lieutenant Mei-Li Huygens-Gurejian," she said, "from New Netherlands, in Spain. That's on Terra. I have two children, and for four years I was a lecturer in history at the University of Barcelona. Until I was afflicted-and I do mean afflicted-by cascade syndrome, the major killer of young adults on Terra." She spread her arms. "So when I had a chance to contribute to the defense of my species and my children, I took it. Without hesitation."
A mother! thought Jael Wesley. More than seven feet tall, and steel! Here to protect her babies. A thrill ran through her. Glancing sideways at Esau, she laid her hand on his.
Huygens continued. "Two years ago I was five feet four and weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds. In secondary school I was a competitive gymnast. It developed excellent balance and coordination, very useful for warbots. Now I'm seven feet three, and weigh four hundred forty-seven pounds; perhaps less than you thought. In the Core Worlds, materials engineering is quite advanced."
Jael didn't understand everything the warbot said, but she got a sense of it. And she was impressed by the bot's clear female voice. She'd expected a baritone, a voice like the bot's on the cube they'd watched.
"I see one of you is female," Huygens added, and Jael felt herself blushing. "As I still am in all but body. My viewpoint remains essentially female-a female soldier's-and my feelings are still female, though in some respects different than before." Her fingertips passed down her body almost to the knees; her arms were long. "Obviously I'll have no more children, but I've had my quota, and with cascade syndrome I couldn't have had more anyway. Nor could I have mothered the two I had much longer; I was expected to die within weeks at most. But now, if I survive this war, I can be with them. I may very well not survive, but if we lose the war, my children would die."
She paused, then laughed. "They've seen me like this, incidentally. I had five days leave before I shipped here. They're eight and five years old, a girl and a boy, and at first they were very shy with me. But within a couple of hours, the shyness was gone, replaced by curiosity. Argop loved using my arm for a chinning bar. We did some hugging and kissing, too," she added chuckling. Jael found herself loving this seven-foot metal woman. "Kissing went better for me than for them. My sensorial package-the senses built into this servo-includes a good sense of touch and being touched. And my brain translates it into familiar feelings. But touching me? I'm afraid I'm not the best for snuggling with." Her audience laughed nervously. "Krikor, my husband, says he'll be glad to get used to it, but I told him he should find a female companion anyway. One who'll be a good surrogate mother for our kids, and whom I can get along with when the war is over."
She sounded almost serene as she said it. It struck Jael that this woman had needed to examine her feelings and make adjustments fast. But then, having a deadly disease, she must have gotten used to doing that. And now she had a life again, and a purpose.