Rumors of Honor (System States Rebellion Book 2) by Dietmar Wehr Page B

it?”
     
    He
shrugged. “Well, it’s just that you’re trying to use one machine to outthink
another machine, and if both of them are using logical reasoning, then our
Oracle will always be at a disadvantage. If we want to outthink Majestic, then
WE, and by that I mean we humans, will have to do it ourselves because we have
intuition and inspiration, both of which are not based on logic and therefore
can’t be predicted by logic.”
     
    Foster
shook her head. “Wait, how can we possibility outthink Majestic when it can
mathematically manipulate hundreds, maybe even thousands of variables at the
same time?”
     
    “We
don’t try to outthink it rationally. We base our choice of planets for Site X
and shipbuilding on something other than logic.” He paused to think. Foster
waited. “Where is Oracle looking for candidate planets?”
     
    “Ah,
well, it’s looking at SSU member planet star systems and star systems that
don’t have colonies on them.”
     
    “So
it’s not looking at star systems that have colonies that are still in the FPS?”
asked Murphy.
     
    “No,
of course not.”
     
    Murphy
smiled. “Then Majestic isn’t likely to be looking at those star systems
either.”
     
    Foster
shook her head. “That makes no sense, Bret. How can we set up Site X or a
massive shipbuilding operation on a FED planet?”
     
    “By
deception.” He could tell that his wife still wasn’t getting it. “Okay, let’s
use the shipbuilding project as an example. If we find a system with the right
resources that has a FED colony, we go there and pretend we’re a company
chartered on Earth that has entered into a contract with the Federation to
build a shipbuilding complex from scratch. As far as the locals are concerned,
that’s what it’ll be. We can even hire local people to work on the project.
Only the senior project people need to know the real story, and when the
complex finishes building ships and those ships leave, how will the locals know
that they’re not going to a FED naval base?”
     
    Foster
looked skeptical. “If someone from Earth arrives, they might check and find out
that there is no company chartered on Earth.”
     
    Murphy
laughed. “Then we set one up on Earth using the FED currency that SSU planets
collected when they issued their own currency. The entire enterprise can be
perfectly legit, except that the ships will go to us instead of the FEDs.”
     
    Foster
rubbed her forehead and said, “That is such a crazy idea.”
     
    “Which
is exactly why Oracle would never suggest it, and Majestic won’t think of it.”
     
    After
a few seconds pause, she looked at him and said, “It is just crazy enough to
work. But what about Site X?”
     
    “What
exactly is Site X? I mean, what physical form will that function take?” he
asked.
     
    She
shrugged. “It’s essentially a bureaucracy, that will co-ordinate logistical,
economic, and military policy.”
     
    “So
it’ll consist of people working in offices?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “And
if those offices happen to belong to a company that’s been chartered to build a
new shipyard…?” Her eyes grew wide.
     
    “You
mean combine both Site X and the shipbuilding in one location?” She stared off
into infinite space. “The backup Capital of the SSU located on a FED planet,”
she said softly. “I’m not sure I can make that big of a leap. It’s just
too…bizarre.”
     
    Murphy
nodded. “Exactly.”
     
    They
spent the rest of the evening, what little was left of it, working on the
details of how to make it work. When they were all talked out, they undressed
and laid face down, side by side on the bed. By mutual and unspoken consent,
they knew they were too tired to have sex. Foster looked at Murphy’s face and
saw that his eyes were closed, but she could tell by his breathing that he was
still awake.
     
    “There’s
one problem with the concepts we’ve been discussing.”
     
    Without
opening his eyes, he said, “What’s