Admiral Michaels had done some back off the envelope math on the minimum time it would take for an SLN fleet to pay her a visit. She assumed Thenuwara would move faster than anyone would believe possible from Battle Fleet, but would still have to deal with the SLN's bureaucracy and logistics support. And she assumed Manticore had not pushed their 'Case Lacoon' to the New Capetown – New Beijing Bridge yet, mostly because she had access to a high-level outline of that plan courtesy of the first courier boat the Secretary of State had sent back from Manticore. She'd declined to order Marrone back immediately. That might be a mistake; he had far more experience commanding a fleet of the wall than she, much like he had none of her high-level administrative experience. That was why he had the detached field command – that, and he could have been detached before Rivendell left the League. But the Manticorans, Graysons, Beowulfers, Andermani, and even Havenites all knew each other in this alliance; Rivendell was a new player from an unexpected part of the galaxy. They needed the relationships that could only be built with a large presence out at Manticore. And beyond that, they needed the reminder that Rivendell's hardware was real, not some simulated worst-case of what someone with basically Solarian tech could do.
Still, she wished her calculations said she had another six months. Marrone would be back, and the third flight of Aes Sedai combined with Marorne's six from the first flight would give her 30 DN(P)s instead of the dozen, all which had been just out of the yard when Marrone departed, that she had. Or better yet the eighteen months that would give her all 42. As long as she were dreaming, she might wish for the SD(P)s that were even now being laid down, or a powerful Alliance fleet to back up her own.
Despite how much the initial reports said their new allies were willing to trust them with, they didn't think Rivendell needed to be urgently rushed additional defenses. Perhaps they were correct. She had what was clearly the most modern wall of battle in her region of space, and only a handful of systems had more effective fixed defenses than the system defense pod network they had in place. And she had dispatched a fairly significant mobile component to the other four worlds of the Republic and to the terminus system of the new wormhole bridge. In part, that was because she might need it; if Harriet II Sanderson decided the Republic was worth raiding with SD(P)s and those SD(P)s had even the most crude of multi-drive missiles, then the fixed defenses might not be enough. And the bridge to Spindle had no fixed defenses; they were being built now as plans set up to defend five systems were hastily reworked for six. Then there was the other reason for dispersing some of her fleet – no one back on old earth should be aware that she was not decommissioning one Assassin for each Aes Sedai, nor should they have the slightest notion that her handful of Windfinders existed at all.
With a Battle Fleet Admiral other than Indira Thenuwara, Caitlin could likely have simply ensured there were no more than 42 warships roughly the size of a waller in the system, and he would have been content to believe that was all she had. Thenuwara, on the other hand, would know what forces she was supposed to have and what responsibilities she was supposed to have; if told the Rivendell Navy had elected to consolidate its entire wall in the capital, she would see through that lie immediately.
"CIC reports the contact as eight Vega-class SDs and screen." Michael's flag lieutenant relayed to her. "They have informed the Council that they're simply playing a courtesy call on the Republic … but they fired off a bunch of recon drones."
"They'll show exactly what we want them to see, lieutenant." Michaels told him. The man was old for his rank by the standards of most navies, even the SLN, but the old Rivendell Navy drew its junior officers from ex-SLN enlisted. It was an unusual arrangement, but given that it drew all of its officers from former SLN personnel, there wasn't much choice. The Navy could hardly bring in people at less than their SLN rank, and every navy needed ensigns and junior lieutenants. The practice shouldn't be needed in large scale now that the former SLN training center on Rivendell was producing officers for her navy directly, but the large number of mustangs had been useful in some ways. And she had made a concerted effort to integrate Rivendell Navy personnel with the staff she'd brought over from the SLN.
[break]
"I understand you have a sector detachment's worth of stolen ships and mutinied personnel, Admiral Michaels. Yourself most senior among them."
"I'm afraid the SLN did not relay all the information it had on our status to you, Admiral Thenuwara." She said. "All of the former SLN personnel you speak of resigned from the SLN effective the day the secession vote passed. Though we do have a handful of people who I hope can beg a ride home from your fleet; the vast majority of the personnel in my fleet were Rivendell citizens by birth, marriage, or naturalization already and those who chose to serve in the Rivendell Navy without prior Rivendell citizenship have, of course, been granted fast-track naturalization. But the new arrangements have left some people stranded who were previously unable to return the SLN.
"As for the ships… if you examine the legal records of the acquisition of the ships for this sector's former Frontier Fleet detachment, you will find that the vast majority of them were in fact leased from the Rivendell Navy, and that those leases had a clause which terminated those leases if Rivendell should ever secede from the League. As for the few that are not… we are prepared to purchase them from League at their new-purchase price."
"Somehow I don't think they're prepared to accept that offer back in Old Chicago at this time. Having said that, I'm also here to formally request any intelligence your government is willing to share regarding Sanderson's recent conquests."
"I'm afraid it took us by as much surprised as everyone else. We were aware they were expanding and upgrading their forces, but the degree that they have shown is troubling."
"And no one in the sector except Rivendell and the League will even try to fight against ships of the wall."
"Frontier Fleet officers are rarely fools, and OFS officials have a finely honed self-preservation instinct, yes."