by T J Bryan
The quarters' chime rang and Fivecent's voice interrupted their discussion. "I have a change is status. One of the Spikeys just blew apart. Well not exactly an explosion, more like it just fell to bits"
Emmitt stood, "I'm returning now."
Emmitt and Silvi entered the bridge as Fivecent hovered over his console. He looked up as they entered. "Yes, one of those Spikey's just fell apart. There were a few internal energy spikes on the thing, but one moment it was whole, and then next it was just a pile of floating rocks, sand, dust, organic compounds, and bits of metal. And a lot of fission signature radiation. But it wasn't fission that got them. It must have been those X-ray plasma blasts."
"And the other Spikey?" asked Emmitt.
Fivecent turned to the console but continued speaking. "There still slugging it out. But now that unknown thing is concentrating its' fire on a single Spikey."
"Any further scan data on that other thing?"
"Other than those energy discharges for the plasma gun, I can get nothing. It seems to have no mass and no internal energy signature. And that's impossible. But I have enhanced the visual and I have an idea of its' shape."
"Bring it up on visual pleas."
The left hand side of the vid screen flashed and a fuzzy image appeared. It was round almost a sphere.
"What's the size? Dimensions? Can you tell that Mr. Haugen?"
"Yes that easy. It is about 20 kilometres wide and about 30 long. It's not exactly round it's more like an egg shape."
As they watched the surface of the egg shaped ship began to flicker and glow with an odd blue light, much like the light they saw at the Poly trading system. Then after a few seconds the glow intensified and then burst in a seemingly solid stream at the remaining Spikey. From the bridge they could see a steady stream of missiles leaving the spikey and striking the egg shaped ship."
Silvi asked, "Are those Spikey missile strikes doing any damage to that Egg thing?"
Fivecent replied, "I can't tell from this distance. But if I were to guess I'd say the Spikey must be firing them for a reason. They might shoot missiles in a hopeless situation, but I suspect that the missiles must have some effect. The Egg is taking about four or five hits in the gigaton range every minute or so."
"Well," Emmitt said, "Looks like we won't have to wait for weeks or months. The Egg got one Spikey and I suspect that this fight will resolve itself in a few hours or days at the most. Mr. Asgeir we will hold our position here unless either of those things head our way."
Moments later Fivecent shouted, "Got him. The Egg got the remaining Spikey ship. Same result it just fell apart."
"And the Egg? What is it doing? Is it moving?"
Fivecent replied, "Nope. Just sitting there. No wait. It's gone. It's gone!"
"What?" asked both Emmitt and Silvi simultaneously.
"It was there a moment ago. But now it is gone. It's not there."
"You must have seen it move?" Emmitt said.
"Give me a moment to check the vid log feed. Nope. One second it's there and the next it's gone."
Meg called out. "Something big just appeared off our starboard. It's huge."
"Bring it up on vid" Emmitt ordered.
The vid screen flashed and all they saw was a white wall of the Egg ship pockmarked throughout by what could only be described as blackened dents. Then they noticed a long blackened slash about 3 kilometres long on the side of the ship. She had been damaged by the Spikeys. From inside the Egg they could dimly perceive a dull orange glow. No internal structure was visible, just a glow of deep orange.
"Take no action." Shouted Emmitt. Silvi knew that Emmitt never shouted, but it was clear that the Egg thing had pulled up along side the Greenland.
"How did it get here?" Emmitt asked.
Fivecent replied, "It just appeared. I know one thing for sure. It did not travel from the battle site to our starboard side by moving in any way we understand. It just appeared. I checked my log. The thing went poof over at the battle scene and then went poof next to us."
A few moment later the Egg thing just disappeared again. It was gone with no trace of movement.
Emmitt finally sat down in the captain's chair, "Mr. Asgeir. Take us to Dello and home."
Chapter Fifty Six
Jamon System - Habitat - Old mining Dock - Year 3246. August 8 ET: 09:40
The passage from Arn through Dello to Jamon was uneventful. But upon entering the Jamon entry portal Emmitt was surprised to be greeted by the enormous hull of a Greayson dreadnaught. Or at least half the hull. They had been greeted by the new Commonwealth OCN Monitor Esjan. After transmitting summaries of their reports they continued home. A profound sense of relief washed across Emmitt, Silvi, and the crews as they passed the OCN Esjan and entered the Jamon system and headed toward the Habitat. Twenty two hours later they docked at the Old Mining Dock. On approach they noticed six ships tied up to either the public dock, or the Old Mining Dock. Upon entering Jamon Silvi and Emmitt submitted reports to Abel detailing the voyages, their defence of Wu, and their losses. Silvi knew Abel would be disappointed in her first fleet command and she was prepared to accept full responsibility.
After docking Emmitt and Silvi let all of the crews, except for a handful to perform watch duty, depart first. Then the emissary from Wu, Nellis Freemont, walked onto the deck to be greeted by the Chairman. Emmitt and Silvi followed.
As they entered the cold dock they were greatly surprised that hundreds of citizens stood on the dock and cheered their arrival. Abel, the Chairman, and Helen stood at the gangway and much to Silvi and Emmitt's surprise they saluted as Silvi and Emmitt stepped onto the dock. A small band was assembled at the dock and began to play some music Silvi did not recognize, but the music had a happy feel to it. Silvi for the first time in weeks smiled. She was glad to be home.
A microphone stand had been set up on the dock and Stephen Klein of the mid-day news was standing nearby with a video camera. As Silvi scanned the crowd she saw many happy reunions as crew and families were reunited. Then she saw, standing just behind Abel the families of those who had not returned. Silvi was again struck by a deep sense of self doubt and sorrow.
The Chairman made a mercifully short speech about duty and the pride the Commonwealth felt in its' new navy. When he concluded Abel motioned Silvi and Emmitt to follow back onto the Iceland and into the supercargo mess for a private conversation.
"I have reviewed your reports, and I find your actions exemplary," Abel said. "I am proud of both of you. The entire OCN shares my pride in you and your crews. In fact the entire Commonwealth is overjoyed with your success and your return."
Emmitt smiled a bit, but Silvi simply did not understand such praise in light of eleven deaths and the loss of two ships.
Silvi looked down at her hands as she sat in the mess. Before Abel could continue she spoke. "I failed. I simply failed. I was not up to the task. Please relieve me of any more duty in the OCN."
Emmitt saw concern and sympathy flash across Abel's usually stoic face.
"Silvi I know how you feel, but you did your duty and your brought your fleet home against great odds. No one else in the OCN could have performed as well as you did."
Silvi shook her head 'no' as she continued looking down.
"Silvi, now listen to me," said Abel. "The OCN needs, no, it requires, officers of your native skills, determination, and now your combat experience, to continue in service. So the answer to your idea of quitting is rejected. You will continue to serve. I have a new ship for you and you will begin a shake down of her tomorrow with a new green crew. Now you are dismissed."
Tough talk thought Emmitt, but he knew that Silvi had to work through her grief and sense of responsibility before she could command a ship in battle again and there was no better way to accomplish this than work. Work on a new ship. Work with a new crew.
Silvi had given up her apartment at the time she became captain of Ragnarök. She wanted to be out of a ship and into the Habitat in order
to break her foul mood. She found herself wandering the Old Mining Dock and when she passed several new OCN crew she did not recognize they saluted and smiled. Silvi felt strange. Silvi ventured to the Public Dock and Nolo's diner. She was not particularly hungry but she wanted to be among people and unlike previous visits during the food shortage the diner was full.
Millicent Nolo spotted Silvi standing and waiting for a seat. Milli rushed out and grabbed Silvi's hand. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
Silvi was surprised and embarrassed by Milli's reception. Patrons at other tables nodded their heads in agreement and one child, perhaps 5 or 6 came over and thanked her personally. "My mom says you saved us. Thank you." The child then raced back to its' mother and hid behind her chair.
Milli found Silvi a seat immediately brought her a cup of Silvi's favourite black coffee. Much had changed during Silvi's long voyage. As she looked about she noticed that young adults were no longer wearing rebreather hoods. Only the very old and the very young seemed concerned with the vacuum. Repairs and the return of aggressive maintenance had lowered the potential for a blow-out considerably if not entirely in certain sections of the habitat.
Another major change was OCN crews were now wearing uniforms over their ship suits rather than shorts and tank tops. The uniforms looked smart Silvi thought although she wondered how white uniforms withstood dirt and grease. She did notice however that the lapels of the white uniforms showed the colors of the station upon which each crew member served. Red tabs for a captain, yellow for a pilot, and all the other colors randomly selected from Helens grab bag of shorts so many months ago. Silvi smiled recalling the day Helen rushed out to buy shorts and tank tops. It seemed like ages ago, but it was only a bit more than one year. And in that year so much had changed.
Finishing her coffee Silvi stood to leave but spotted Farn Mayer headed toward her table. Silvi could see that Farn wanted to talk so she returned to her seat and Milli brought more coffee for Silvi and a cup of tea for Farn.
"It's so good to be home," Farn said. "And now that I am here I want to go out again." Farn laughed. Silvi understood her feelings. While home was comfortable, neither she nor Farn were any longer comfortable or content to live in the Habitat. Their place was onboard a ship travelling the void.
Farn sipped her tea. "Nomi has decided to stay here in the Habitat. She thinks her astrogation work is done and now has some new project I cannot understand. I asked Dilli and he said that her new equations were so esoteric he had a hard time following them. I'm worried about Nomi and the intensity of her concentration these days. She just turned 15 and if anything she should be a bit more social. But she simply refuses to interact with anything but her inter-tab. The new project is consuming everything she has."
"So you don't know what the project is at all?" asked Silvi.
"Just a bit. Nomi has some idea about propulsion systems for starships. Beyond that I simply do not know."
Silvi decided to change the subject, "What has Abel assigned you to do?"
"That's the scary part I think. He is giving me a ship; SAR 1019. He wants me to train a crew and when ready we are to start what he calls a 'reconnection survey.' The idea is to follow the old trade routes and see if we can reconnect with any isolated systems that may have survived the Great War. I am very excited by the assignment, but the idea of training a new crew and then commanding a ship is frightening."
Silvi laughed.
"Abel says I should not be frightened since I have studied under you Silvi. He says your the best captain we have in the OCN, and frankly I know it is true."
Silvi was about to object when Dayna English, the one of the Watch Officers, came to their table. "Thank you Captain Karrlson for keeping my son Robbie safe. It must have been terrible at Wu, but you brought him home and I am grateful."
Silvi remembered Robbie English as part of the crew of Róta. Robbie had been badly burned and had spent several days in the doc-box. "And how is Robbie?" Silvi asked.
"Doing well. He is still at hospital with the rest of the crew. He hates it there. He wants to return to Róta and Dr. Freydis Auber almost has to tie him down to keep him there."
Silvi realized that she must visit the hospital, and although she was tired she and Farn set out for the Collegium hospital wing. They arrived about suppertime at the Collegium and as they crossed the campus toward the hospital wing they heard loud rather raucous music coming from the gymnasium next to the annex. Farn tugged on Silvi's arm and they entered the gym. It was a dance, and there in the middle of the dance floor were the Banshees and most of the younger members of the OCN as well as the undergraduates of the Collegium. Silvi thought to herself what a contrast with the days of looming famine when no had the energy to dance and fun was drowned out by fear.
Moments later they entered the hospital. The passageways and rooms seemed quiet as Farn asked the desk clerk where they could find the injured crew of the OCN. The desk clerk laughed and said most of them were at the dance in the gym, but a few were still confined to bed and could be found in rooms 34A through 36B. Silvi led the way having been in that section of the hospital before. Most of the beds were empty although two were occupied of the seven injured on Róta. In one bed they found Robbie English watching a vid of the mornings arrival ceremonies. He looked up and seemed startled by Silvi's appearance.
Robbie struggled to sit up and Silvi told him to remain as he was, but still he wanted to adopt a more military posture even though he was confined to bed.
"When do we leave?" Robbie asked.
Silvi replied, "When you are healthy Robbie. That's when we leave."
Robbie replied, "Well, I'm ready now."
All three laughed and Silvi began to understand how seriously the OCN crews took the concept of 'duty.'
Silvi was exhausted and thought she would spend the night in the Iceland's supercargo quarters so she set out for the walk to Iceland on the Old Mining Dock. Soon she entered to complex of hatches and airlocks that separated the living quarters of the Habitat from the dock. The Watch Officer on duty, who Silvi did not recognize, saluted her as she entered the passageway.
"Commodore Karrlson, your ship is at berth 4. Just beyond Iceland. And thank you for bringing our crews home."
Silvi replied that it was an honor to bring the OCN home and then thought berth 4? Beyond Iceland? She continued across the cold deck of the Old Mining Dock and past Iceland and came to berth 4. She looked out the plasticene windows and saw the ship its' running lights ablaze and its' hatch open. A Greayson Destructor, and on its' main hatch cover it bore the name 'Ragnarök.'
...
Jamon System - Collegium Small Classroom - Year 3246. August 12 ET: 11:12
Abel adjusted his chair and sitting around the table were the experienced captains of the OCN; Helen, Emmitt, Silvi, Old Man Marx, Mia Nordlicht of the Banshees ship Sváva, Vidar Thoranson of the Brynhildr, Jason Mill of the Róta, and Toni Hamilton of the Kára. Jason had arrived in a slider chair direct from the hospital and was heavily bandaged.
Abel began, "I have met with each of you about your new responsibilities to the OCN and the Commonwealth but I wanted the chance for us to discuss these assignments as a group of experienced captains. We have six more green captains in the wings, but I thought it best we discuss assignments among ourselves first."
There was no objection and Abel continued.
First I have asked Helen to assume the directorship of our new Naval Department at the Collegium. I have urged her to make sure that the new department is open to all Collegium students who have qualified for entry to the school. Others may qualify by advancing on the CTS simulators. I don't want to make the same mistake as we made in the past as to who would and would not make good OCN crew. Our previous pre-selection criteria were clearly a mistake. As Helen told me yesterday, 'let the cream rise to the top."
Silvi laughed as did a few others.
"Helen has recommended Meg Asgeir to assume the captaincy of the Greenland an
d I have agreed. She is a good pilot, but more importantly she has the thoughtful demeanour and clear leadership skills we need in a armed freighter captain."
Abel continued, "I have asked Emmitt to assume the position of Director of Naval Construction. And before any of you object let me be clear. Today we cannot build anything like a Greayson ship, nor can we even repair one if heavily damaged, but we must begin today to master the skills needed for ship and weapons construction. May I remind you that our supply ship provided only 8,000 'K' class missiles of which we have used more than 200 in the Battle of Wu. We may not be able to build ships in the short term or even the intermediate term, but we desperately need to learn how to build Greayson quality munitions."
Abel continued, "When we select a new captain for Iceland, and when we have sufficient crews I expect Iceland to become more than an armed freighter. She will also serve as a SAR carrier. When all five of her SARs are ready the Iceland will be part of Captain Karrlsons Combat and Patrol group: the C&P. Until that time Toni I expect you to drill your SARs hard. Your backup of Captain Karrlson's initial punch will be the knock out blow to any criminal groups we encounter."
Silvi knew Emmitt was not excited about leaving Iceland, but he understood the need for his leadership here in the Commonwealth. They could not simply rely of ancient Greayson technologies forever. Soon even the supply of SARs would run out.
"I have selected Commodore Karrlson to form a Combat and Patrol, unit of Iceland and five of our SARs the purpose of which is to patrol the knot lines and keep them open for commerce. Right now that is just the lines to Wu and New Carthago, but I expect that we will have more shortly. Commodore Karrlson will assume command of the Destructor 815 which we have named after her previous proud ship the Ragnarök "
Abel stopped for a moment to sip his tea. "Captain Marx you and Captain Thoranson will join Silvi in this effort together with three new green crews from our newly re-commissioned SARs. I expect new trade routes to be opened by Farn Mayer who I have appointed as Commodore of the Recovery Survey of the OCN. I call it the R&S. I have given her three SARs and I have asked that she begin the exploration of old trade routes to locate any systems which have survived the Great War and are ready to rejoin civilization. However Farn may well depart alone before the her entire fleet is ready. We must start the recovery effort now."