Decisions 2

"Explain what?"

"Explain why you are so convinced the academy is the best choice."

"I would also like some information on our potential options." ARC chimed in. "I might not have a final say in the matter, but I might be better able to inform your decisions if I know more about what will be considered a positive or negative."

"Well there's a lot to unpack there. For reason, probably the biggest, is information. I imagine you will need to know at least a little bit of someone's background before you start negotiations with someone right Diana?"

She nodded.

"But that is only half of it, your half. The half involving the education I would receive is more important if our goal is the preservation of our species. If I can be taught how to fight like someone else then I can learn how best to counter it, like I mentioned earlier, but there's more to it.

Presuming I get a good enough handle on not just the general tactics and military situation of the galaxy as a whole, I should be able to give you an idea of which parties we can take in a fight, and which ones we should avoid. It could mean the difference between life and death if it comes to the point where our options are fight or flight."

"I believe my own analysis systems should be good enough to give you an on the spot threat assessment."

"I don't think that's true anymore ARC. This Split thing is a whole new can of worms when it comes to combat capabilities, from what I can tell that applies to both offense and defense. If we don't even know what the weapons look like, how can we hope to assess their level of threat based on visuals before its too late?"

"A fair point."

"I'd like you to get to work on learning about these threats so it isn't an issue in the future, but for now focus on the pressing concerns. I think we'll need an industrial base before we do anything aggressive."

Diana tugged his arm. "I have a question about the information aspect. Why are you convinced that this will be the best source? Surely the Scholar and the Captain would be good enough for our purposes right?"

"Maybe the best quality, but we can neither guarantee that, nor can I say that having a set of intel different from the norm is a good thing. I don't necessarily want to know the 'best' information first either.

In all of the cooperative test operations I did in the academy, I found the ones that were most difficult to coordinate with an ally on were the ones where we were working off of two different sets of intel. Most of the time, the intel wasn't even wrong or vague. Even knowing the specific capabilities of one ship in a fleet can alter your strategy to accommodate."

"So you would rather know exactly what everyone else knows and nothing more rather than know more than them?" Diana was confused on this point. Generally speaking, knowing more than your diplomatic partner, be they friend or foe, was a good thing.

"Not exactly... If I had to elaborate, I would say that its more along the lines of needing the base level of knowledge that should be expected. You could describe our situation as 'new'. We know how things operated back home, er, back when home existed, but we have absolutely no idea how things run here beyond the theoretical.

There was a whole class I had to take about how there were different practices aboard different ships despite them being physically the same in every aspect. An reassigned from one ship to another might do everything perfectly according to theory, but mess up in some way in the eyes of that ship's crew.

Right now, I think we are kinda like that new engineer. We know how most things 'should' work, but we don't know what everyone else does and what we should be doing, much less why."

"Am I correct in assuming that class was called 'Culture in Carriers: How to Manage Procedural Differences between Fresh and Veteran Crew Members'?" ARC had scanned his course registrar for something that matched.

"I think that was the name."

"Overall score of 98%, note from the professor expressing excellence in the field. I believe it is safe to assume he knows what he is talking about, though I worry it is not applicable in this context."

Diana had not considered this aspect. "It would be nice to get a broader idea of what people think..."

"Right? Plus, we could use that to our advantage. If its true that they really haven't figured out the rocket, then there have to be other things they don't know about. That sort of knowledge could be very good bargaining material."

"There is evidence to suggest that might be the case. When the Captain boarded and began the unlock sequence, he expressed surprise and interest at various objects in the room." ARC recalled the Captains actions in the brief amount of time he had contact with him. "There is of course the possibility that his body language differs from yours, or that he was surprised at us having reached that level."

"No." Diana had experienced their mannerisms. "Their body language is pretty much the same. I think his interest was genuine as well."

"Yeah, I didn't see a single electronic device. I take it you gave the Scholar that tablet?"

Diana nodded. "Do you think it's all Split powered?"

"Something like that. None of the materials or lights indicated that there were wires. Usually, I would expect to see some sort of service panel or material inconsistency around where the wires would be embedded. I can't rule out the possibility they are just advanced to the point of not needing those things."

"No. I think it's safe to say they aren't that advanced in regards to electronics. The Scholar was fascinated, nearing the verge of worship, by the tablet. That seems inconsistent with someone who is familiar with such things."