Chapter 6
“Permission to come aboard.” Jimmy said almost perfunctorily as the canopy rose. The colonel in command of the Aberdeen saluted as he climbed down from the nose of the fighter ship. The shuttle bay of a Hudson class destroyer was not large and it had been a tight squeeze getting the Valkyrie inside. Still, it was quicker to dock with the ship rather than land at the small starport and take a shuttle up.
“Permission granted sir. Welcome aboard. Is there anything I can get you?” he said as Jimmy returned the salute. Murky was helping the two women from the main hatch. If his mind wasn’t occupied with other things, it would have struck him how odd the quartet looked, with all of them climbing out of the Valkyrie wearing bathing suits. He was certain that he looked doubly odd with his boots and flight helmet. Murky was also wearing the chest plate of a set of flexarmor over a light civilian shirt.
He spoke as he started walking, with the colonel and the others following in his wake. “What about that vehicle on the island?” Murky had briefed him between contacts with Earth and the local authorities about the supposed strike team.
“They surrendered without firing a shot to scoutship three, sir. It appears that if they were a strike force, they somehow got rid of their weapons before we could get to them. They’re claiming to be a survey team.”
“What do you think Colonel Corvus?” He noted the man’s name badge for the first time. The ship was assigned to the Twelfth fleet and he didn’t recognize either the man or the name.
“I sincerely doubt they’re any kind of survey team, sir. Too pat of a story. Problem is, once the local law enforcement gets wind of this, they’ll take over and probably be compelled to let them go.”
“Get on the horn and get a team down there pronto. Their weapons didn’t dissolve into thin air. I don’t care what the local constabulary says, we’re not turning them over until we we’ve got them dead to rights.”
“We also don’t want their conspirators knowing what has happened for as long as possible.” Murky added. Word of the fight with the destroyer had probably spread over the entire planet by then, but he still held out hope they could expose more of them. He glanced at Jimmy, knowing he would have to give much more detailed explanations in the near future. For right now, Jimmy was accepting and dealing with each issue as it came up. Blame and explanation could come later.
Jimmy continued. He knew the layout of the old destroyers intimately and he was headed directly for the main superstructure. “Get a detail down there to pick up our things from the Senior Commander’s residence. I don’t think we’ll be going back there. Plus, for the time being, we need four jumpsuits.” Colonel Corvus motioned to his aide, who trotted off immediately. “I’m assuming local command Colonel. Make a note of it and send a notice to the local government. I’ll need all local data routed to my command center.”
“We’re not headed for the bridge?”
“No. I’m not taking direct command of your ship. That’s your job. I’m going to use the staff room as a command center until more of our ships can get here.”
The aide returned just as they arrived. The staff room was built into a space created by the framework supporting the armored bridge capsule. Large armored windows were fitted between the pylons, allowing a sweeping view of the forward half of the slender ship. He only took a moment to recall his wedding in an identical room on a sister ship a decade ago.
The corporal handed out the four suits, as well as light ship shoes for the women, who were still barefoot. Jimmy was already operating several controls at the end of the long table. A series of plasma screens descended from the ceiling, along with a large holographic projector. He shrugged into the one-piece uniform and zipped up the front. He noted approvingly that the colonel’s aide had gotten his size right. Murky, on the other hand, had not fared as well. His jumpsuit fit his body, but the legs were several inches too short.
“I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have anything in storage to fit you.” The young man explained. Murky simply waved him off, being used to the problem. The greater part of his height was in his long legs. He made do by stuffing the cuffs into his boots, just as Jimmy was doing.
“What is your crew status?” Jimmy asked.
“We are ten percent above skeleton crew. I’ve already issued a recall for the rest of the crew.”
“Maybe if your crew was here to do their jobs, somebody might have spotted that ship before we did. Your ship is here for planetary defense, not for the crews to go on vacation.”
The criticism stung the officer; especially coming from a man who was obviously a decade his junior. He had heard about the man from Commander Adams on more than one occasion, and he had to bite his tongue about it being obvious that Argus was there for vacation. He was too professional a soldier to call a three star commander a hypocrite to his face.
“We’ve established a standard rotation according to fleet regulations Commander.”
“I’m sure you have.” Jimmy said dryly, letting the matter drop. “The E.T.A. for the Osiris and the Cincinnati is just over three days. Until then, this ship is the best thing protecting this region. Issue orders for your entire crew to be ready for pickup at the main starport in two hours. Use a scoutship to shuttle them up here once they’ve gathered.”
“We will still be technically short handed. My XO is out-system and my CMO hasn’t arrived yet. I can conscript a doctor from the Starport.”
“That’s not necessary. Doctor Rokowski,” He addressed Susan, “I’m activating your reserve status. Take charge of the medical bay.”
“How did you know you could do that?” she challenged with mock gravity.
He either wasn’t in a mood to carry on with her or didn’t notice her expression. “You have a problem, Doctor? It’s my job to know those things. It’ll just be until we get some more ships on station.”
“Yes sir!” she grinned, almost snapping off a salute, thinking the better of it at the last moment. The aide started to lead her, but she waved him off. “I know exactly where the medical bay is kid.”
Jimmy didn’t even watch her leave. His eyes were on the tactical readouts. “We can live without your formal XO for the time being. I don’t want anybody lower than your third in command on the bridge at any time.”
“Understood. Is that all sir? I need to get to the bridge myself.”
Jimmy waved him off, keeping his attention on the holographic tactical display. The officer snapped to attention and turned on his heel to leave.
Murky watched the door slide shut
behind him. The conference room was one of the few on the ship that had powered
doors since it was not designed to be sealed off. “Weren’t you a little hard
on him about the crew?
“There’s a fine line between following the rules and doing your job. In my
opinion, he was letting the whole crew relax too much here. He may have thought
coming in here that an attack was impossible. He was wrong.”
Murky faced him, starting to speak when he noticed Jimmy glaring at him.
“So we’re bait?” Steel blue eyes locked with hazel. There was ice in his words.
He didn’t quite know how to respond. He knew the next words out of his mouth couldn’t be ‘it was Tova’s idea.’ In fact, it was, but that didn’t excuse his culpability in the ruse. “The idea was that I’d be able to protect you.” Boy, that was weak.
“Murky, I don’t get you. One moment you’re a brilliant officer, the next, well, I don’t know what to think. I wouldn’t mind if it was just me! I’m a soldier, just like you. Our wives aren’t!”
“Now wait, Jimmy. I’ve been through some of the same training as you.” Dona protested.
“Dona, you haven’t fired a gun in anger since…”
“Yeah, since that time I killed someone to save your life.” There was an edge of anger on her voice. They both killed someone that day. For Jimmy, it was the first of many, though he rarely saw his enemy face to face as he had that day. She almost never mentioned it, but he knew she would never forget that instant where she had picked up the powerful laser pistol and shot the man who was about to gut him.
Jimmy was too angry still to realize how upset his wife was. “I’m not exactly a close quarter fighter Murky. What would you have done if things had gone bad?”
“It wouldn’t have.”
“You don’t know that. Listen, I don’t know exactly what you do for Tova and I probably don’t want to know the dirty details, but there isn’t anybody who can predict what will happen in a fight.”
“So says the man who just took all of us right into a fight with a destroyer!” Dona glared at him, her hands on her hips.
“Well, what was I supposed to do? Murky’s the one who called you to the ship, and now I know we couldn’t have left you there to fend for yourselves. What was I supposed to do, drop you off at the starport and hope that ship didn’t make an attack run there? Keeping you on the Valkyrie was the least of several evils.”
“We don’t even know if that destroyer was here for the same reasons. For all we know, it was here to pick somebody up.” Murky countered. He didn’t believe it, but it was certainly possible.
Jimmy started to say something, then thought the better of it. “I suppose you’re right about that. I guess I really don’t rate anything more than a simple assassination attempt. Just let me know about this sort of thing, will you.”
“Well, I hoped nothing would come of it and we’d be able to have a vacation like you were supposed to.”
“Humph. That’s over and done with. I don’t think I can relax back there right now.”
“I don’t see why not. They’ll think twice about coming here as long as we’re looking for them.”
“No. I really don’t think a lone destroyer would have gotten this far into our territory alone. A cruiser, a battleship, maybe, but not a heavy destroyer.”
The communication console chirped. A bridge officer appeared on the screen. “Commander, you have an incoming tight beam transmission.”
“I’ll take it right here.” The screen winked out for a second, then back on. The officer was replaced with Major Steve Garrett, his liaison officer at command. Time to get to business, he thought.
The bridge of the Aberdeen wasn’t large and comfortable like the newer ships. It didn’t have a monstrous holographic tactical display. In fact, it didn’t even have room for one without ripping the entire armored capsule off the superstructure and replacing it. Instead, it was a cramped darkened chamber with dozens of screens and readouts, looking more like the cockpit of a large aircraft than the control center of a major warship.
It didn’t require a sophisticated command and control center. Ten people were all that were required to man the bridge, including the Commanding Officer. There were as many screens mounted from the ceiling as there were on the various control consoles. Narrow windows at the forefront of the chamber gave them a view of the single large turret and the smaller secondary gun mounted on the upper deck of the slender ship. Etched in the armored glass was a graduated site, intended to aid the helmsman with Ion Lockin targeting if for some reason he couldn’t use his screens.
The Command chair was set toward the back or the Bridge where there was a view of the whole operation, as well as a mostly unobstructed view of many screens and the forward portholes. It was still the older type, a small seat with padded arms set on a pedestal, rather than the lower, more plush types used on many of the new ships. Colonel Corvus shifted on the lightly padded seat, more at ease standing as he had done on his old command, a Union class destroyer. Despite the cramped quarters and outdated equipment, he was generally more comfortable in one of these trusty old ships. It felt safer somehow.
He wasn’t comfortable at the moment. He was too much of a professional soldier to let Argus rattle him, despite the rankling feeling that the criticism left. It stung more since the man was actually right. In following the letter of his regulations instead of the intent and relying on good judgment, he had been caught with his proverbial pants down.
“Sir, we have an incoming transmission from the Nimitz.” The communication officer was the closest to the command chair.
“Put it through to Commander Argus.”
“Sir, it’s for you. It’s Commander Adams.”
He nodded, and the call was switched to one of the screens set in his own console. Adams was an older man, with dark gray hair pulled over the top of his head and tied into a loose ponytail. He had the look of one of those men who you didn’t tell to adhere to grooming standards. One snowy white streak of hair extended over his head like the proverbial skunk stripe. A scar, only slightly deeper than the natural creases in his leathern face, ran across one eye and down his cheek. It was generally hard to tell when the man was pissed, or just looked normal.
“I just got word about the destroyer Corvus. What’s your status?”
“We’re on full alert, Commander. The full crew is being recalled, and most of them have returned to the rendezvous point.”
“That’s not what I meant Vince. I mean what shape is that old bucket of yours in?”
Corvus was taken aback for just a moment. What details were being forwarded to the old Commander? “We’re in top shape sir. We weren’t directly involved with the battle.”
Adams squinted at him, the effect just as chilling as staring down the barrel of a rifle. “Then what the holy crap took that destroyer out? It certainly wasn’t one of those piss ant K12s!”
Corvus bit his lower lip. He had been on the bridge of the North Carolina, and later, the Virginia with Adams for some time before he got his own command, and he had a taste of just how he felt about the young commander on several occasions. He was certain that it burned his gonads that he was now the same rank as his one time commanding officer. He tried to think how to couch his explanation.
“No sir, none of the K12s were involved in the battle either. There was another ship in the vicinity with a superior officer who took over the situation and ordered us to fall back and protect the settlement in case there were other ships in the area.”
“Well, that makes perfect sense, though I’m not aware of any other ships patrolling that area. None of our ships are assigned there. What is it, some of Bradtt’s 7th Fleet snooping around looking for a score? He likes to send Vanzandt class ships on deep patrol.”
“No sir, it was…I think the ship is classed either a mini-destroyer or a fighter bomber.”
“A Fu…a freaking fighter bomber! You mean to tell me that somebody took on a destroyer with a fighter-bomber? Just who in the hell was in command of that ship?” Corvus was certain steam was coming out of the man’s ears.
“Commander Argus, from the 3rd Fleet.”
He braced himself mentally, though he didn’t show any difference outwardly. Instead, Adams surprised him. He laughed. “Why that little glory hound son-of-a-bitch. What the holy hell is he doing there? Sitting on a beach?”
“As a matter of fact, sir, they were wearing civilian beach clothing when they arrived. It appears they were staying at the Senior Commander’s residence.”
“Oh, so Argus has time for a vacation. That’s real interesting. We’re out here getting our asses killed and he’s sitting on his little beach blanket yucking it up. That figures.”
“Do you want me to take command of the local situation since he’s on official leave?”
Adams considered for a moment, finally smiling. The effect wasn’t pretty. “You said ‘they arrived.’ Who else was with them?”
“A two star commander named Bedarest, and their wives.”
“Damn, Tova’s flunky. No, I don’t want you to take command. Consider yourself fortunate if all this goes south. Your fat will be out of the fire. Think about this Corvus, we’re all one big happy Starforce. He’s a superior officer and face it, you screwed up. Now it’s all on his shoulders. He’s in command until Miami sends somebody to take his place, if they do. Adams out.”
“He did what?” Commander Morrow rubbed his high forehead, pushing back the strands of white hair that had slipped down over it.
Major Steve Garrett was slightly taller than the older man, and was older than he looked. His boyish features and bright blonde hair was what disguised his age. “It was a destroyer called the Gladenshire sir.”
“Yes, I got that in the first report. What’s this crap about Jimmy taking it on with the Valkyrie?” Morrow had a habit of pacing the Command Communication center. To counter it, he took to walking the perimeter of the large circular room, stopping at various stations and watching as the personnel tried to do their jobs with their ultimate superior looking over their shoulders. His aides had long ago become accustomed to this and hovered nearby in case he had some order to relay.
“Sir, it’s not like he hasn’t done it before.”
“I know that Steve.” Morrow had a habit of calling his subordinates by their first names, though most of them never dared to use his. He stopped a moment, leaning on a console and pretending to study the readouts there. Steve couldn’t help but notice the older man wince. He hoped he was the only one to see it happen, especially since he had been previously told to mind his own business. “In the final estimation, it’s just a single ship approaching a sparsely populated planet. Damned boy take too many chances for my tastes, that’s all.”
“Yes, but the result can’t be debated. A Hudson class like the Aberdeen, especially since she’s not been retrofitted yet, probably would not have fared too well slugging it out with a heavy destroyer. Fortunately, the ship appears to have been alone.”
“I don’t know about that.” He pointed to the large main status screen mounted overhead above a series of smaller screens. An orange dot indicated the small task force guarding the vacation world. A number of yellow, green, blue and red indicated the distribution of the four other main fleets currently maintained by the Starforce. The 12th, noted in orange, were spread throughout the inner ring worlds. One especially bright dot indicated Adams’ main task force, currently patrolling the Solar System. Red highlights identified the largest fleet, the 3rd, which was tasked with taking the Deltans head on. They were spread across the front lines, with the 7th (yellow) and the 9th (green) defending fallback positions. The smallest fleet, the 15th was represented by yellow lights spread throughout the remaining American space.
“We’re getting spread thin, and deliberately so. Every time some Deltan ship shows up at a minor colony, we get a governor demanding fleet protection. Before too long, we’ll have a ship sitting at every planet we even have a listening post. We have to regroup and get back to concentrating on the enemy.”
“The board won’t like that.” Steve countered.
“The board is only concerned with their own divisions. I’m not drawing protective fleets off of planets with billions of people just to protect a few hundred thousand.”
“If we pull back now, that will allow the Deltans to entrench further in the occupied territory.”
“I know, but for right now that’s what I want them to think.” He stopped as a new man approached.
Barron Tova had ascended through the ranks at much the same rate Morrow had over that last decade. It always struck him odd that the man, who had for so long been bent on his own accumulation of power, was finally satisfied with his position on the Board of Eight. He had his own ideas about it, but he was still openly shocked when Tova took his name out of consideration for the Senior Commander’s post when Veeraden resigned a year ago. It was as if the man was actively avoiding the very top spot.
Tova wore his standard duty uniform as if it were his dress clothing. It gave him a crisp military neatness, but the whole look came off as smug and haughty on the man. It was like the man liked his clothing neat simply because of the shear luxury of having it so. One could tell at a glance that the man was a bureaucrat, and not a soldier. Firstly, there was the dearth of campaign ribbons on his breast. Consider that with the five-pointed cluster of stars on his lapels, and it was clear that this was a man who had risen through the ranks in the boardroom rather than the battlefield.
Morrow knew the man was an absolute patriot, and fully dedicated to the cause, but there was a certain air of decadence to the man that seemed to indicate something less than wholesome. There were, from time to time, accusations of corruption made against him. Nothing ever came of it, since nothing was ever tied directly to him. He sometimes thought the man fostered the accusations himself just to construct an elaborate façade.
Commander Tova was responsible for logistics. Instead of worrying about what ships would be where to fight which enemy, he was charged with making certain the soldiers were clothed, that food was delivered, that various and sundry offices had pens and paper and portable data pads. He was actually in charge of more people than any fighting commander.
Somehow or another, it had also become Tova’s job to handle certain aspects of security. He had a nose for ferreting out leaks, especially since nobody suspected the “Store Manager” was also the one keeping an eye on things. Very few people knew the Office of Special Investigations eventually reported to Tova.
“Your spooks are going to get Argus killed before we can even get his new fleet in place.” Morrow accused as the man approached him.
“Oh, I sincerely doubt Bedarest would have any trouble handling a few assassins. Especially since he was expecting them.”
“That’s not what I was talking about. They didn’t just send commandos to attack him, they sent a whole damned destroyer.”
“Now really, Bob. I hardly think they would send a destroyer to take out a single person…”
Morrow shoved his pad into Tova’s hands. “Read that. It was intercepted about twenty hours ago. It was transmitted directly to that ship from their fleet orbiting Noach’s Rest.”
“I assume, without looking at a map, that these coordinates are for the island they were staying on?”
“That, and Ocean City. If he hadn’t taken it on himself to attack and destroy that ship, there would have been significant civilian casualties. I wouldn’t even put it past the Delts to drop some dirty nukes, since there’s little military value to the planet.”
“I seems to me that it is of more importance that a capitol ship was within, hmm, how long from the time the message was intercepted till the attack?”
“Five hours. Yes, I’m deeply concerned that the ship was only five hours, probably even less, away from Pyrus. That’s why I didn’t countermand Argus’ orders to have the Cincinnati and the Osiris rendezvous with him there. Like him, I don’t think that ship was by itself.”
“That still fits with their recent deployment. Pure divide and conquer.”
“That’s enough of this discussion out in the open.” Morrow turned, with Tova and Garrett in his wake. He stopped a moment and turned to Garrett. “Get on the beam with Argus and tell him as quickly as he feels the situation at Pyrus is secure to get back here with all haste. Also, tell him since these attacks were directed specifically against him I’ve moved his daughters into my apartment here at the center, just in case.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’m worried we’re going to have to bottle him up for the time being.” Tova remarked.
“This whole vacation thing for him isn’t turning out how I planned. I want him kept safe, yet I turn around and he’s attacking Deltan ships by himself in that little ship of his.”
“If we could duplicate that ship more closely, we would likely be winning the war right now instead of trying to cover every little tear in our defenses with a bandaid.”
“Barron, you had that ship in your hands for almost eighteen months while he was in the academy. You know as well as I do that the Blackhawks were the best we could come up with. Okay, enough of the old crap,” he closed the conference room door behind them, “What about the projects?”
“The Mars project is ninety percent complete, though with some of the materials diverted to the Miami project, it may not be completed first after all. The Miami project is actually closer to completion. It is actually being stocked right now.”
“And security?”
“Our best intelligence still suggests that the enemy is focused on the Mars project. Since the Miami project is all being done ‘in-house’ I suspect they still believe it is a hardened bunker, basically an extension of this very base. Of course, ever since their base on Phoebus was uncovered and destroyed, I don’t think they have been able to get too close an eye one what we’re doing there.”
“What about the ‘vendors’ we’re using for the Mars project?”
“They are all still checking clean. You know how difficult it is to keep a control when thousands of people are being employed for such a large undertaking.”
“Yes, Barron, but you know as well as I do that if they actually got wind of what we were doing, it would paint a great big juicy target on both planets. I hate to think what may happen here if a Torg were to get through.”
“I really don’t think they could get close enough with one of those any more. Not with five of the America class ships close at hand. They have a hard enough time tangling with one of them, let alone five. Before too long, I think we may see a change in their tactics. Our improved battleships have rendered their old bombardment ships obsolete.”
“I don’t really care how obsolete they are, they’re still a damned powerful weapon. All it would take would be for them to improve their protective tactics to the point they could get one of them in place. Imagine if they sent one in protected by, say, five battleships and a whole squadron of destroyers.”
“I don’t have to imagine. Look what happened at Hunderaga.” Only weeks ago, the Deltans had actually sent two massive torpedo gunships against the older colony. If they had not blundered into two task forces on station for planned war games, they would have easily broken through and wreaked havoc on a planet that boasted over five billion souls.
“I’m going to convene the board, Barron. We have to come up with an effective counter to this divide and conquer campaign of the Deltans without leaving too many worlds utterly defenseless. I’m going to propose a massive reevaluation of our fleet deployments. I’m planning to propose bringing more ships forward and taking the Delts on more directly.”
“Is that such a good idea? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until the two projects are complete?”
“Perhaps, but a redeployment will serve to further divert their attention away from the projects. Plus, once they’re complete, we’ll have no choice but to take them on more directly. If I were them, I’d be scared to death of what they will represent.”
“Which is all the more reason to draw attention away. I agree with you Bob.”
“Good, I’ll need your support. Sent out the notices through private channels. We’ll convene the Board as quickly as everyone arrives.”
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