by Ricky Sides
“I know,” Pol said shamefacedly. “It’s pathetic, isn’t it?”
“Why no, it’s not. You build it someday. I’ll put it in the air there. You may as well add the multicolored light show too.”
“I think I still have the display panel for the scale model,” Pol said smugly, causing Tim’s eyes to widen in surprise.
“You thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“No, I couldn’t figure out how to make it stable in flight. Forward acceleration caused the wind resistance to topple it over.”
Pol grinned at Tim and added, “But you didn’t come to see me about practical jokes. What can I do for you, my friend?”
“I wanted to see you test fly the scale model of the new ship design. After all, Evan will be her captain, and I promised Lacey I’d look after him.”
“Ahh, then you’re a bit early.”
“Yea, I know the others will arrive in another few minutes, but I wanted to talk to you about the ship.”
“What would you like to know?” Pol asked.
“How it compares to the safety of the rest of the fleet?”
“Do you mean armor plating?”
“Well, yes, that too, but I really meant overall.”
“I like to think that each generation ship is a bit safer than the last. With that in mind, it should be among the safest in the fleet. However, it won’t have the triple walled hull of the Constitution, because we have since learned that isn’t quite strong enough to withstand some rocket attacks, and like the Constitution, this ship is going to be a battleship. Remember, we decided that another battleship would be most useful, in view of the past conflicts we’ve fought with foreign invaders.”
Pointing to the schematics on the table, Pol added, “It will have a four layered hull, honeycombed for strength and insulated. The windshield is always a weakness. This ship will have a smaller windshield to reduce that point of vulnerability. Instead of the Peacekeeper’s single pane of bullet resistant glass, the new ship will have two panes of glass, twice the thickness of that of the Peacekeeper. It will also have the same emergency backup video system the Arizona and the Constitution employ for use in the event the windshield is broken, or spider webbed to the point of making visibility an issue.”
“Good. That’s a great addition,” Tim observed.
“It will be equipped with a better grade of flight seats for the crew, and all crewmembers will have one. That’s a lesson we learned from the Valiant.”
Tim nodded in agreement. “I know we appreciated it when you upgraded the seats in the Peacekeeper. We can handle the stresses of g-force accelerations much better now.”
“They will need the added safety,” Pol said smugly.
“I know that look. Out with it, Pol. What have you done?”
“I was saving it for a surprise, but I’ll tell you. I may as well. You would never let me rest if I didn’t.”
“That hurts,” Tim said with a grin. “It’s true, but it still hurts.”
“Do you recall me mentioning during dinner last month that I thought I had worked out the means to double the acceleration of a ship by placing an extra emitter array in the extreme aft section?”
“Yes, I remember that.”
“Well, it worked. Oh, doubling the acceleration was unrealistic, but I believe it will accelerate significantly faster than any other large class ship in the fleet.”
“It’s a good thing she’ll have a comparatively young crew then. They’ll be able to handle the stresses better than an older crew,” Tim observed. Then he said, “The Arizona can fly at a little over seven hundred miles per hour. So, how fast will the new ship fly?”
“I’ll be able to give you a very good estimate after the scale model trials.”
“I know you, Pol. You’ve done the math, so out with it. How fast will the ship be able to fly?”
“With the expected payload, it should achieve eight hundred miles per hour, but as I said, I’ll know much more after the tests.”
Tim whistled appreciatively. “That will break the sound barrier. Not good for when you need stealth, but great for a host of other applications, and when they need stealth, the pilot needs only back off the throttle. You’ve outdone yourself.”
“If the numbers prove accurate,” Pol cautioned.
“Generally speaking, I’ve found that in the past, your projected results are usually too conservative. You normally exceed them. In fact, sometimes you have drastically exceeded them.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“What about the design? Is it still going to be the Constitution’s sister ship?” asked Tim.
“I do plan a few minor improvements to the interior, based on recommendations from Bill, but yes, the exterior of the ship will very much resemble the Constitution.”
“Ah, there you are, Tim. I was looking for you to remind you about Pol’s test today, but I see you’re already here,” Jim said behind Tim and Pol.
“I needed to talk to Pol for a moment about some questions I had about the new ship,” Tim stated.
“I’m ready as soon as everyone arrives, Admiral,” Pol responded. Glancing behind Jim at the people filing into the hangar bay, he added, “I see they are here.”
Lisa, Evan, Ralph, and Harvey were almost late for the test in the hangar bay. They had all been with the rest of their crewmates in advanced training class. Evan sometimes speculated that by the time their ship was built, they’d be the best-trained crew ever to take command of a vessel.
They stood together and watched as Pol put the scale model through numerous maneuvering tests inside the hangar bay. “I should ask Pol if he’ll save that for our child to play with someday,” Lisa said.
Ralph laughed and said, “Yeah, you should. I can just see the little guy terrorizing the cook aboard the ship with that thing in the mess hall.”
“Or girl,” Lisa said, pointing out that they didn’t know the gender of their child. Lisa and Evan had decided to wait until the baby was born to learn that detail.
Next, Pol took the scale model out the open bay door and began a series of maneuvering tests at high rates of speed with several drones flying near it to film its performance.
“It maneuvers within expected perimeters. Now, let’s try the speed test,” Pol said, and grinned at Tim who always got excited about speed testing new aircraft.
To conduct the speed test, Pol had drones set up along the course at the starting line, the five-mile mark, and again ten miles out to sea. The clocks of all three drones were synchronized, and the precise times the scale model passed them, was recorded. Everyone was impressed by the acceleration capability, but when Patricia ran the numbers at the conclusion of the test, she looked up at Pol in shock and said, “This can’t be right. You’d better do the test again.”
“I will be happy to do that. I fumbled the acceleration switch for the last one,” Pol explained.
After the second test, Patricia looked at Pol and smiled. “All right, how did you do it?” she asked.
“Did it make eight hundred miles per hour?” Pol asked with a pleased expression on his face.
“No, it broke one thousand miles per hour on both tests.”
“That can’t be right, can it?” asked Jim.
“The math says it was traveling in the first test at one thousand thirty miles per hour, and one thousand fifty the second,” Patricia reported.
“What about the acceleration?” Tim asked.
“Incredibly fast. Faster than any other test I’ve ever seen,” Patricia observed. Turning to Pol, she said, “Congratulations. It looks as if this design has broken every record in the books for a peacekeeper vessel’s speed.”
“If it proves true with the real thing,” Pol pointed out.
“It should.” Patricia responded. “The question is can the crew handle the acceleration. I know Lisa shouldn’t.”
Chapter 3
Six months had now passed since the peacekeepers went into sec
lusion. The Constitution was on an extended mission surveying the country in an effort to determine to the best of their ability the locations of the majority of the survivors. The Arizona was performing a similar mission. One by one, as their areas were determined to be safe, the base personnel would return to their former bases.
The Washington State people were the first to return, having done so the day after the meeting aboard the Damroyal with Jim. The Lake Charles, Louisiana, base was reopened the same week, as was Base 1, and the Tennessee Base. The rest of the Louisiana and Mississippi bases followed the week after, as did the Georgia and Nevada groups.
Now, two months after the meeting, only the Texas bases at Houston and Dallas remained to be reopened, and those personnel were living in the Citadel.
Life aboard the Damroyal had been difficult for everyone who had been forced to stay there during the worst of the plague crisis. Now that people had returned to their bases, leaving only the normal crew, the ship was much less crowded, which alleviated many of the difficulties everyone had endured.
Maggie sipped her coffee in the mess hall and smiled in pleasure. At least one good thing had come from all of the various groups and crews merging for the duration of the emergency. Disgusted when he tried to drink the stuff one of the other cooks called coffee, Cookie, the cook of the Peacekeeper, had shared his secret for blending a palatable beverage.
“Are you thinking of something pleasant, dear?” asked Pol.
“The coffee,” Maggie responded. “It’s much better now,” she clarified.
“Indeed it is.”
“Will you be leaving for the shipyards on the transport tomorrow, Pol?” asked Jim as he pushed his dinner plate away from him. He knew the separation from Maggie was going to be difficult for the scientist, but he had spoken to Tim about the matter. His brother had agreed that it was time Pol had a transport of his own. That way he could help oversee ship building concerns and travel back and forth to the Houston and Dallas sites where his expertise might be required as well. To that end, he had arranged a surprise for Pol.
“Yes. The ship construction crew is at the point where I’ll be needed to supervise the installation of critical power couplings and other components.”
“I can’t believe they built her so fast,” Jim stated. “They must have broken several records.”
“They missed their work, but there is another reason for the speed of construction this time. You see, when we originally built the Constitution, we had to do everything from a blueprint I had drawn, but that is only accurate to a degree. In practical application, we had to change many little details and all those changes took additional time. This time around, they have the records of the previous ship of that class to utilize, so we save time.”
Nodding his understanding, Jim said, “It was that way with the patrol ships, too.”
“Can she really be ready in a month?” asked Jim.
“Oh yes. She’ll be ready for the testing phase in twenty-six days. Testing should only take a few days, because they are testing all critical systems as they are installed.”
“Then, it’s time to end the crew’s training aboard the Damroyal and send them out on a mission in the Valiant. I don’t want them taking over the new ship with stale skills,” Jim stated.
Turning to Maggie, he said, “Is Lisa fit for duty aboard ship?”
“She can resume duty for another few weeks, yes. If I had my way, I’d prefer her to stay aboard the Damroyal until after the baby delivers, but that’s because I’m so afraid something will happen and she’ll lose the baby. It’s such a miracle that she was able to conceive this time, but she would want to accompany them. There’s no medical reason to assume she’ll be in greater danger there, than she is here aboard the Damroyal, as long as they avoid G-Force accelerations. I just won’t be there if something happens.”
“Do you want to temporarily transfer?” Jim asked. “I’ll arrange it if you do.”
“I can’t. I’ll be needed to oversee the medical concerns at the Houston and Dallas bases when we take the Damroyal there. Besides, they have a great doctor and she’s not afraid to ground anyone who needs it.”
“Have you told them yet?” asked Pol.
“No. I wanted to speak to Maggie first. Why?”
“They just came into the room. I leave at first light tomorrow. I’d love to see their reaction when they hear the news.”
“Now’s as good a time as any,” Jim said, and then he stood up.
Turning to face the crew who had trained so hard the past few months, Jim, accompanied by Lina, Pol, and Maggie, walked toward the row of tables where they had chosen to sit.
“Admiral on deck!” shouted Ralph when he saw Jim approaching their tables. There was a hasty rush as the crew in training shoved themselves away from the tables and jumped to their feet at rigid attention.
“Relax crewmen. I just stopped by to inform you that you’ll need to turn in early tonight. I’m canceling your entertainment privileges.”
“Are we being punished, sir?” asked Evan in a calm tone of voice as he wondered who had fouled up so badly as to cause a company punishment, which was rare but not unheard of aboard the Damroyal due to the stresses of overcrowding the past several months.
“No. You’re being activated. You’ll be taking the Valiant on an extended mission tomorrow, so I want you all to get a good night’s sleep. Report to my office after dinner for your orders, Captain.”
“That’s acting captain, sir, and yes sir, I’ll be there,” Evan stated, trying to suppress his excitement.
“Not this time,” Pol stated with a smile. “The council decided to make it permanent. You have proven yourself more capable than any captain in the history of the service prior to taking over a ship. There can be no doubt that you are more than qualified.”
“Thank you, sir!” Evan said enthusiastically, unable at that moment to contain his excitement at the news.
“You’ve earned it, son. I’m proud of you,” Jim said. Turning to face the rest of the crew, he added, “That goes for each and every one of you. You have all been drilled relentlessly for the past six months. No crew has ever received such advanced training prior to taking over a ship. There is no doubt in my mind that you will all serve with distinction.” Pausing, he smiled and then he said, “Now sit down and eat your dinner before it gets cold, then I suggest you all pack and rack out. It wouldn’t do to have Maggie disqualify anyone tomorrow, because they look as if they haven’t slept,” he added teasingly and then he turned and walked back to their table.
“She wouldn’t really do that, would she?” Ralph asked Lisa.
“Knowing Mom, she just might, so you’d better forget about staying up all night,” Lisa teased the strike team leader.
“Me? No way, I was thinking about you. It’ll probably take you all night to pack your wardrobe,” he added with a grin.
“I’m a ship brat, Ralph. I can always be ready to board a ship with half an hour notice. It takes you longer than that just to pack your socks.”
General laughter greeted her barb. The entire crew was in a great mood.
***
“Come in,” Jim said in response to the knock on his office door.
Evan entered the room and said, “Reporting as ordered, sir.”
“Have a seat and we’ll get right down to business.”
Evan nodded in greeting to his uncle Tim who was there, as was Pol, and then he took the proffered seat.
“Congratulations again on making the captain’s rank. As Pol so correctly pointed out, you earned it. You’re a dozen times more qualified to assume the position than I was when I first became captain of the Peacekeeper. Nevertheless, it’s the nature of some people to say spiteful things. So if at some point in the future anyone tells you that you got your bars because you’re my son, I want you to remember what I just said, because it’s the truth.”
“It is indeed,” Pol agreed.”
“Damned straight,”
Tim said with a serious look on his face. “No man ever worked harder for their bars. Your mother would be so proud of her son today,” he added.
“But now it’s time for the talk,” Jim said and paused.
“The talk?” Evan prompted in the silence that followed the comment.
“Yes, the talk, where we explain the responsibility that goes with the bars. In a month, we’ll be turning over one of the most powerful ships in the fleet to you and your crew. Tomorrow, you’ll be taking temporary possession of the Valiant, and unless something unexpected comes up that will last until your new ship is ready. Taking responsibility for such powerful ships is a serious affair. No ship’s captain in the history of the peacekeepers has permitted his ship to fall into the hands of an enemy. Only two have ever been boarded by an enemy.”
“The Peacekeeper and the Nevada,” Evan spoke up.
“That’s right. In the case of the Peacekeeper, the crew killed the boarders. In the case of the Nevada, it took the combined action of the crew and elements of the Jerome, Arizona, base.”
“I remember,” Evan replied soberly.
“Good. As a captain, you’ll have to swear an oath not to permit your ship to fall into enemy hands, no matter what it takes to prevent that from happening. You’ll also have to swear to do whatever is necessary to destroy a ship that has fallen into enemy hands, even if that means firing on it with peacekeeper hostages inside. If there is a senior captain available, you follow his directions on that matter, because sometimes, as was the case with the Nevada, we council members issue orders in an effort to save the ship and personnel remaining aboard when they have been boarded, but manage to maintain control of the ship.”
“I understand,” Evan responded when Jim paused to look at him in order to determine if he understood.
“The safety protocols for conducting operations with a ship are there for a reason. Those protocols limit the possibilities of our ships falling into enemy hands. There may be times when you are tempted to let lapses slide rather than address them with a crewmate. Don’t. There is too much at stake for you just to hope things improve. It’s your job as captain of the ship to make it happen. Likewise, there will be times when you are away on extended duty and the entire crew is exhausted. You may be tempted to trust the parking system to keep you above any possible threat. Don’t. Always maintain a watch. Remember that Jacksonville, Florida, APC photograph. That should help you remember to maintain vigilance.”