This is Cynthia Johnson with SolarNet News on location at Providence Station. We contacted Admiral Akira Tenaka an hour ago, and he has granted us a rare opportunity for a live, exclusive interview. Since Adimral Tenaka does not have his own office at Providence Station, we're going to hold the interview in the station's Starside Café. For those of you watching in Sol System, this broadcast carries a 35-hour communications lag.
CJ: Admiral Tenaka, I'd like to say it's an honor and a pleasure to be able to speak with you today.
AT: Thank you, Miss Johnson. I am glad for the opportunity to quell some rumors and let people back home know how their sons and daughters are doing on the front line.
CJ: Admiral, just 40 hours ago, Capt. Stephen Borschevsky confirmed the existence of a Ceti armada advancing into the Sol System. He also confirmed the destruction of TDS Heracles and the 151st Reconnaissance Squadron. Can you add any more information to what Captain Borschevsky told us?
AT: Yes, I do. Let me start by offering my personal condolences to anyone who had friends, family or spouses on Heracles or in the 151st. Just as a part of you has died with your loved ones, a part of me dies with each person who is lost under my command. We will hold a ceremony at Pearl Harbor this Friday to award and honor those who have given their lives for humanity.
I have also ordered the battle transcripts to be declassified and given to SolarNet News and other media outlets. These transcripts will show that the men and women who died did not die in vein. Their sacrifice saved the other four ships in the task force. They did not die quietly, and they did not die alone.
[Tenaka pauses, then looks away from Miss Johnson to gaze through the windows of the Starside Café. The lights in the Café dim, then are outshone by the crimson brilliance of Proxima Centauri.]
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Proxima Centauri shines through the windows of the Starside Café.
At far left shine the twin suns of Kentaurus Prime.
[Tenaka looks back toward Ms. Johnson.]
AT: I apologize for the interruption. Please, Ms. Johnson, continue.
CJ: Thank you, Admiral. Now, Captain Borschevsky told us that the Ceti armada is roughly equal in size to the Terran Defense Force fleet. However, a source with the Terran Intelligence Directorate told us the armada may in fact be more than twice that size. Just how many ships are we looking at, Admiral?
AT: I gave Captain Borschevsky orders not to reveal the size of the Ceti fleet until I could do so personally.
CJ: So which estimate is correct?
AT: No. Captain Borschevsky misled you, and I would rather he had said nothing. This Ceti armada has nearly three times the number of ships in the TDF fleet. They are throwing everything they have at us.
Some back on Earth will disagree with my decision to reveal this information. However, it would not have remained a secret long anyway, as is evident by the information you received from your source at Terran Intelligence. I would rather your viewers heard the truth from an official source.
CJ: Admiral, this news could cause a panic back home! Whose interests does it serve for you to say this?
AT: Ms. Johnson, your company's business is to find and report the truth. I am giving you the truth, and it will serve everyone's interests both to know the truth and to remain calm.
In my 20-year tenure as fleet admiral of the Terran Defense Force, I have made it my job to earn and justify the trust of the men and women under my command as well as the trust and respect of those we serve back home. An effective military requires integrity both to itself and to the Terran people. Officers who lie to the public forget who is serving whom.
CJ: What plans are being made for the defense of Earth right now, Admiral?
AT: I will not discuss the specifics of Earth's defense in detail. At the moment, my primary concern is Terran commercial and military holdings near Saturn: these are being packed and relocated to safer space as we speak. With luck, we will be able to buy enough time to have Saturn completely evacuated when the Ceti armada arrives.
Keeping a fleet of the Ceti armada's size in formation is not an easy task under any circumstances; it requires great care and coordination to keep that many ships in formation for any length of time. Doing that will slow the Ceti down. Now, maneuvering a fleet that large in hostile space is even more complicated, and if the Ceti do not know that already, we are going to prove it.
CJ: What do you mean? Can you give us any details on that last statement?
AT: I cannot give you any details right now. The reason I have worked as hard as I have to gain the public's trust is so that when I tell you I cannot talk about something, you will know there is a good reason why I must remain secretive.
CJ: Just a few more questions, Admiral. SNN has focused on the previous exploits of Excalibur and Drake squadrons. Excalibur Squadron was assigned to the Heracles task force. Where were the Drakes? And do you think the battle would have been any different if both the Drakes and Excaliburs had been there?
AT: Drake Squadron is on a sensitive assignment at the moment. But even if they had been there, I doubt even the Excaliburs and Drakes put together would have prevented the loss of Heracles and the 151st.
[Proxima Centauri rotates out of the windows' view; the Starside Café's lights return to normal.]
CJ: Thank you again for this interview, Admiral. On behalf of the people back home, and especially on behalf of the men and women of SolarNet News, I want you to know that we all stand with our friends and relatives in the Terran Defense Forces and place our faith in Earth's safety in their hands.
This interview is the first part of a week-long look at Providence Station, with a special focus on its officers and crew. We'll bring you updates, specials, and more during the next seven days. I'm Cynthia Johnson, and this is SolarNet News.