The room was packed with Royal Navy officers. With the exception of the saved pirate seats in the first row, every seat in the eight rows was occupied and a crowd of officers stood against the wall opposite from the door Hawkins had used to enter. Someone belatedly called the room to attention, and everyone stood up and at attention. Silence reigned as the pirates worked their way to their destinations. One could sense the resentment from the crowd. Part of that was due to these officers being picked up, bundled together, and delivered to Hartley like so much baggage. Part of it was due to an amateur picking their new commander. Of course, that amateur was the Queen, but she was still an amateur. After all, she was only a lieutenant junior grade when she got out. However, the majority of the resentment was that their new commander was not one of them. They knew he had good press, but they didn’t trust the press. They knew he had survived for years while conducting piracy, but that didn’t translate to military genius, probably just dumb luck and stupid Goths. They knew he was a peer, but the non-peer officers had had enough of peers running things, and the peer officers didn’t really think of him as one of them. No, this was not a happy group. Raferty Hawkins and his people didn’t much give a damn.
The three pirate squadron leaders walked ahead of Hawkins and would be seated on his left with O’Hare next to him. Behind him in the line were Tactical and Baby Doll who would be on his right when seated. As he stopped behind his seat, Hawkins glanced off to his left at the crowd of two dozen Royal Navy officers standing there. Raferty had been briefed on this group just ten minutes ago. They were from Naval Headquarters on Zelenka. They were here to “provide expertise as needed” and take the plan back to Zelenka to brief the powers-that-be at Naval Headquarters. Rafe was not happy. These people brought nothing to the briefing as far as he was concerned, and there was a very good chance that if word of his presence and plan were leaked to the press, one of these officers would be the source—not directly, but they would go home and tell their headquarters comrades who would tell more people who would tell family and friends. Hawkins thought it would take two days after the officers returned to Zelenka and then the Queen’s Hammer would be back in the media. He had to forestall that. Before coming out to the briefing, he sent a message to Admiral Wu stating he was keeping this group here on Hartley for the next seven days. For operational security, they would not be allowed comm with anyone, and he desired the CME’s support on this. He was certain Wu didn’t send these officers and would back his move.
Raferty started out formally. “Seats, please.” He paused to let everyone sit down while he remained standing. He said, “Before we get into the mission, I have a couple of items. I was going over the list of ship captains. There is one acting captain, Commander Lyle Fenner of Shannon, are you here?”
“Here, Your Grace.” An officer rose in the sixth row.
“Why are you the acting captain?”
Fenner shifted a bit before replying and then said, “Our captain was badly wounded at Excandor, and we are awaiting a new captain to arrive.”
Hawkins nodded. He recalled Shannon at the rear-guard action and the conversation between Fenner and Skyler Mallory as recorded over the command channel. He pointed at Fenner. “You performed well at Excandor. You are now captain of Shannon.”
A voice spoke up from among the staff members standing along the wall to Rafe’s left. “The incoming captain is a peer’s cousin.”
Hawkins looked at the group clustered to his left. “Performance interests me; pedigrees do not.” He turned back to Fenner. “You’ve earned the right to command Shannon. She is yours. Don’t screw it up.”
Rafe moved on to the next topic. He looked down at the front row and addressed the Royal Marine general seated there. “Brigadier, I understand you are the senior Marine present?”
“I am, Your Grace,” replied the tall, thin man as he stood up. He was approaching middle age but was in fit condition and conducted himself with bearing and dignity. “Brigadier Murray Dunwater.”
Hawkins nodded at him. “Brigadier, in the forces assigned to me, how many Marines are there?”
Dunwater instantly answered, “One thousand and thirty-four. All fighters, Your Grace.”
“Before we get into the plan details, I will tell you the Royal Marines play a key role in the attack on the base at Rurik. I want to put a large force on the ground, and they will blow through that base leveling everything in their way. This includes all the underground facilities which we know very little about, but we do know they have to be there. I figure you will have two standard hours for your attack. You will land in armed shuttles, and these shuttles will stay and provide you close-in fire support. Flot 1 people will crew the shuttles, and they know their jobs. We will coordinate all bombarding fires to ensure your safety as you sweep across the base. Due to time constraints, we will not have the luxury of a long bombardment before your attack. Can you do the mission with the number of Royal Marines on hand right now?”
“We can, Your Grace,” was the instant reply.
Rafe nodded. “Excellent. If, during the planning process, it becomes apparent that you need more people, let me know. I am all for the ‘can do’ spirit, but I don’t want to get a bunch of people killed because of it.”
“Of course, Your Grace. I will look closely at the base defenses, but I suspect they are geared for aerial defense, and there are only small security forces protecting the base at the ground level as the OrCons would never envision a ground assault that deep in their territory.”
“I’m counting on exactly that,” Hawkins replied. “Thank you, Brigadier.” Dunwater sat down.
Rafe said, “Time for the brief. Let me lay out my guidance to my operations department. This is a three-part plan. We will hit Selcouth, better known as the Metal Moon, as it orbits Zavodila in Orion space. That attack will be all destroyers, a mixed force of Royal Navy, and Pirate Flotilla One. They will move in through subspace and emerge on top of their target.
“The second part of the plan is an attack on Rurik. The OrCon ships there must sortie to answer the raid on the Metal Moon. We will let them get hours away and come out of subspace an hour from Rurik to force our way through the minefield there. We will hit the base with an aerial bombardment, and the Royal Marines will be landed on the base to complete the destruction, both above and below ground.
“The third part of the plan is defensive in nature. There are currently two enemy raiding forces operating around Wanderlust. With that base being empty of ships, one or both of those forces may attempt an attack on that base. We will have someone there to meet them.”
As Raferty pulled his chair out and was about to sit down, an officer in the last of the eight rows of seated officers stood up.
The man identified himself loudly to catch Rafe’s attention. “Commander Demeter Kittridge, captain of Crossjack, Your Grace.”
Hawkins nodded toward him as he settled in his seat. “Go ahead, Captain.”
The officer pointedly stared at Hawkins in defiance for three seconds before speaking. “The Metal Moon has both a military and commercial component. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians there at any given time. As a destroyer captain, I assume my ship will be part of the attack there. I don’t know if I can take part in a battle that might result in hundreds or thousands of civilian casualties due to my actions. I have to think about this.”
Hawkins knew this was more than a conversation about potential civilian casualties in a legitimate attack on a military target. This was about one ship’s captain not being happy about working for a pirate. There were undoubtedly others. Hawkins ran the ship’s name through his memory. Crossjack was out of the Hounds from Hell under Admiral Wallace Hargrove. Hawkins wasn’t surprised a ship’s captain from one of the two private squadrons would fire the first shot in this little tiff. Rafe shrugged nonchalantly. “Take all the time you want, Commander. As of now, you are relieved of your command.”
“You can’t do that!” Kittri
dge sputtered as his face blossomed with surprise.
Rafe smiled a very frosty smile. “Sure I can. In fact, you are getting off easy. Early in the beginning of Pirate Flotilla One, I had to relieve a ship captain because he absolutely refused to live up to the standards of the unit. I did the relief by going onto his bridge and shooting him in the head. It showed everyone that I’m to be taken seriously. I’m not shooting you, but now you all know I am to be taken seriously.” Hawkins flicked his hand toward the doors at the back of the room. “Run along.” He then looked at Cody, leader of Nemesis’s death squad, leaning against the back wall. “Cody, take two people with you and help this guy find his way to a quiet spot that is out of the way. He’ll be staying here for the next week. After that, I don’t give a damn where he goes.”
“Aye, Your Grace.” Cody motioned to a man and woman beside him and the three moved to the lone officer standing in the nearest row to them.
The man continued to protest and refused to take his gaze off of Hawkins. Cody moved in front of Kittredge and stopped facing him. The pirate calmly brought up both of his hands and shoved the officer backwards hard. Cody’s two companions caught the man as he stumbled backwards to them. They grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him out of the room through the rear doors before he could begin to protest or resist.
Rafe looked over at the staff officers standing along the bulkhead. He pointed at a man wearing commander’s insignia. “You. What is your name, please?”
“Commander Geoffrey Utley, sir.”
“You any good?”
“He’s quite good,” came a voice in the front row.
Rafe looked down at Admiral Levant. The Admiral nodded at him to confirm his endorsement. “He was the XO of a heavy cruiser at Electra and was recommended for a future ship command. He was wounded in the battle and has been a headquarters staff officer on Zelenka doing light duty as he recovered. I endorse him.”
Hawkins nodded. “That’s good enough for me.” He looked back at Utley. “How is that light duty working out?”
Utley responded instantly, “I’m ready to go, Your Grace.” Command opportunities can cure many pains and ailments. Hawkins pointed at him and gave a little blessing motion akin to a priest. “Take the empty seat, Commander. You are the new captain of Crossjack.” The man nodded and quickly moved to his new location.
Raferty now scanned the officers seated in front of him. “Anyone else?”
A stocky commander two seats down from Jack Wilson in the third row stood up. “I wish to be relieved, Your Grace.”
Jack Wilson spoke up quickly. “Sit down!”
The officer shook his head without looking at Wilson and stared at Hawkins. Rafe nodded at the man. He admired the calm approach the officer was displaying. A muted mutineer. You don’t see too many of those. Hawkins regarded him for a second and then granted his wish.
“As you desire, Commander.” Rafe gestured to the staff people standing to his left. “Please join the staff over there.” The commander nodded and moved down the row in that direction.
Raferty could see where this might go. Other ship captains could want out now. They would basically be leading a bloodless revolt against the pirate in command, figuring if enough of them asked to be relieved, then Hawkins himself would be recalled to Zelenka and replaced. It was easier to replace the one guy in charge than a bunch of ship commanders. A cute maneuver but Rafe could be cute too. He looked at Jack Wilson. “What ship are we talking about here, Jack?” The fact Wilson had spoken up told Raferty the ship in question was from DesRon 22.
“Jib.” Wilson said in a clipped tone. “A newly assigned ship.” He was plainly embarrassed one of his captains had abandoned ship, so to speak, and wanted to make it clear that man was not one of “his guys” but a newcomer not schooled in the ways of the ol’ Two Two.
Hawkins looked down at the pirates seated in the front row. He pointed at one of them. “Blondie, you are now captain of the Spinnaker class destroyer Jib. Congratulations. Don’t screw it up.”
Blondie sprang to her feet. “Aye, Your Grace!” She didn’t need to be told twice. She raced to the end of the row. She walked down the floor to the third row and then moved up that aisle to laterally leap into the recently vacated seat. She leaned forward to look down the table beyond the two intervening people and smiled at Wilson. He smiled back. Wilson knew what Rafe was doing.
“She’s a lieutenant, junior grade!” said a voice from the staff along the wall. Before coming to Hartley, the staff officers had done their research regarding Flot 1, but it would do no good.
“In your navy, yes,” replied Rafe immediately. “But not in my navy.” He paused and smiled. “And you are all in my navy now. Anyone else wishing to be relieved will find themselves replaced by a man or woman from my flotilla. They have all been at war for years and are well qualified for command. The only reason many of them do not have a command is there are no ships available. If ships become available now, I will happily put my people in them. So, whatever you all want to do.”
Hawkins calmly waited. He could see the Royal Navy officers in front of him running through the scenarios in their heads. If several more commanding officers resigned their billets, pirates would soon command a significant portion of the Royal Navy force. If that force won the upcoming battles, then the colorful pirates would look good and would get the majority of the media attention. The ousted commanders would look like quitters or, worse still, cowards. If Hawkins’ force was defeated, a large share of the blame could easily be put on the officers who gave up their commands so were not there at a critical time when their expertise would have been needed. This was a losing proposition all around, and the Royal Navy officers knew it. There would be no more commanding officers quitting as a matter of conscience or as a protest against Hawkins.
Rafe now looked at Logan standing along the back wall. “Assign four members from Predator to Blondie in Jib.”
Logan nodded and Rafe looked at Blondie. She nodded also. Both of them knew what Rafe meant. The four members transferred to Jib would be from Predator’s death squad. One never knew when a death-squad member might come in handy.
Raferty calmly surveyed the room as he waited for the next man or woman to sacrifice himself or herself. Nobody moved as the audience waited for him.
Hawkins turned to his briefers. “Let’s do it.”
Baby Doll stood up and clicked a switch in her hand. The briefing table before her lit and the room slightly darkened. “My name is Beatrice Domengeni. As the Duke of Black Hallow stated earlier, there are three separate but interlocking missions for our forces. This briefing is a general overview of each mission. We will brief intel and attack plans for each mission here and now. Further details will be covered in three separate mission breakdowns to be held at 1400 this afternoon in the locations listed on your handouts.
“The first mission is a destroyer attack on the Metal Moon in the OrCon home system.” A 3D display showed the Metal Moon in orbit around Zavodila. “The Moon is a mean distance of twenty thousand klicks from its parent planet. Zavodila’s outermost defense floaters can cover the Metal Moon during the majority of its orbit. No other man-made or natural moons are orbiting the planet.” Baby Doll had the display zoom in on the Metal Moon. “The Moon is thirty klicks in diameter. It is made of titanium. There are five docking rings around the circumference of the Moon. One at the equator and two to the north and two to the south. We have numbered the rows one through five starting from the north pole, so the equator is number three. Total berthing available is two hundred spaces of which thirty is given over to a shipyard centered along the equator ring. The division of berthing is the equator has eighty, forty each for the rings above and below the equator and twenty each for the top and bottom-most rings. Most of the docking bays allow for the ship to lock directly to the Moon for unloading large cargo from ship cargo bays in a direct manner. Some narrow berths save on room by consisting of a single long arm extending from the M
oon’s surface with the ship docking bow first and then attaching to the arm. People, goods, and small pieces of equipment are loaded and unloaded by moving inside the arm and then onto the Moon itself. These arms can be extended along the ship to allow for multiple entry points to the ship to speed up any loading or unloading process.
“The only other docking structure that concerns us is a block of floating berths located twenty kilometers over the Moon and in synch orbit slightly above the Moon’s orbit so as to deconflict traffic. This structure consists of ten floating docks lashed together for a total of forty berths. These forty spaces are for long-term traffic and shipyard customers awaiting work. These floating docks are basically a parking lot, and the vessels there are either empty or lightly manned. Sometimes, if the ship work is of a short duration, it is done here rather than taking them to the shipyard berths at the Moon’s equator. All these ships are cold tits and tied into dock power or Moon power to be used by the ships as needed. We see no possibility of any ships in either location immediately getting underway in the initial phase of our attack.
“At any given time, the Moon and the floating dock facility is over ninety percent occupied. Warships compose approximately one-third of the ships at anchorage but this varies day to day.”
“The Moon’s interior consists of supply areas, commercial offices, barracks for military and civilian personnel, recreation areas, and repair shops. Moon defenses consist of twenty missile floaters in a belt around Zavodila although only five to nine of these are close enough to support the Moon depending on the rotation of the two bodies. Forty floaters, equally divided between guns and missiles, orbit the Metal Moon just beyond the outer traffic pattern. Close-in defense is provided by defensive positions at the north and south poles of the Moon. These positions consist of missile batteries, lasers, and eighty-millimeter guns. Exact count is unknown as the defensive positions are recessed into the Moon. There are also gun, laser, and missile positions scattered within the Moon under its surface. They can be deployed through hatches as needed to meet the threat. Exact number is unknown, but there are at least twenty stations.” Baby Doll stopped and then asked, “Questions?”
Smoke on the Wind Page 10