Wolfhound

by Kindal Debenham

  “Yeah. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the private messages of his that got posted everywhere.” Isaac shrugged, but Jacob caught sight of the satisfied smile on the ensign’s face and sighed. He’ll never learn. “At least you get to do something exciting. I just sit around tinkering with power outlets all day.”

  Isaac dismissed the complaint with a roll of his eyes. “Oh please. Ever the martyr.” He jerked a thumb back over his shoulder. “Want to go get something to eat?”

  Jacob hesitated again, thinking of the inviting cot below. Then his stomach growled loudly, reminding him that there were other issues besides sleep to attend to. “Sure. Lead the way.”

  With that, the two ensigns began their way back towards the officer’s mess. As they walked, Isaac spoke up again. “You know, Engineering isn’t all that bad. You’ll get to know the ship pretty well, at least.”

  “True, but it’s not like I’ll ever see the outside of it.” Jacob sighed. “Say whatever you want, but fixing power cables and relay circuits aren’t ever going to be as exciting as firing at a target, or flying.”

  “I don’t know. I would kind of like to see the Capistan generator.” Isaac looked wistful. “You guys have to go over it tomorrow to get it ready for the next riftjump, right?”

  “Yeah. We want to make sure nothing shook loose after the first riftjump here. After all, if it blows up partway through the charge, this tour is going to end pretty quickly.” Jacob shuddered a little bit. “That would not be fun.”

  With a wave of his hand, Isaac dismissed the possibility. “You really think they would have gotten all the way out here without checking everything out? I’m sure you’ll find nothing wrong with the thing, and we’ll make the riftjump fine. Besides, Ensign Navaja is as smart as they come.”

  Jacob just grunted in response. Spoken like someone who’s never had to fix any ship larger than an escape pod. He was too tired to explain it, though, so he just let the comment slide.

  In any case, Isaac had simply kept talking. “So how is your lieutenant? Is he easy to get along with?”

  They came to a cross corridor that led to the starboard side of the ship, and Jacob took a small pause to think about his response. “Urleigh? He’s all right. I don’t think he’s too fond of Engineering either. I heard him talking the other day about how he had done a great job directing Countermeasures during his last post. He seemed to have to work pretty hard to convince everyone. Have you heard about how Laurie’s doing?”

  Isaac smiled a bit enigmatically. “Yeah. I have.” He fell silent for an awkwardly long moment, then blinked as if remembering that Jacob was there. “She’s apparently a prodigy at the whole point defense thing. They’re already talking about some of the incoming shots she’s picked off.” They turned left at the end of the cross corridor and continued towards the bow again.

  “I guess she’s fitting in quickly enough.” There was a pause as they continued along the corridor. Jacob flogged his tired mind trying to come up with a new topic of conversation, but in the end he just found himself following Isaac into the officer’s mess in silence.

  He smelled something warm and spicy as he walked in the door, and his mouth started watering. “So what’s for dinner?”

  Isaac made a face. “Some new recipe the cook is trying out. It’s supposed to be some kind of burrito, but I just stuck with the spaghetti rations from last time.”

  “Are you kidding? That smells delicious!” Jacob took his place in the buffet behind Isaac and helped himself to three tortilla-rolled helpings of tastiness. He was halfway to the nearest table before Isaac had finished picking out whatever food he had decided on. By the time his friend joined him, Jacob was already devouring his meal with incredible delight.

  Isaac snorted as he arrived at the table as he watched Jacob begin to wolf down one of the burritos. “You are really going to eat that trash?”

  “Hey, I can’t help it if I appreciate good food.” Jacob swallowed a mouthful of burrito and raised an eyebrow at Isaac’s two plates of gravy and mashed potatoes. “At least I’m not eating something that looks like soggy mush spread over Styrofoam.”

  “We’ll see who’s singing praises about their food once those things work their way through your system. Just don’t clog the head this time, all right?”

  Jacob snorted in half-agreement, half-annoyance, and there was a lull in conversation as the two ensigns ate. A while later, Isaac spoke up, his voice oddly pitched. “Did they serve this kind of food when you were growing up?”

  Jacob paused. The burritos had suddenly lost a lot of their appeal as the smell of his mother’s cooking beckoned to him from his memory. “Yeah. We ate a lot of stuff like this. Not much in the way of fresh vegetables or fruit, though.” He put down a half-eaten burrito to look curiously at Isaac, who was still poking a fork at his potatoes. “Why do you ask?”

  “No reason. I just heard that Urleigh might have been giving you a hard time lately. Schroder too. Just getting to know you a little better, see if I can help.”

  Disturbed, Jacob studied his friend. That’s not like him. Something’s off here. Fatigue prevented his sluggish mind from figuring the problem out. A sigh worked its way through Jacob in spite of himself, and he turned back to his meal. “Don’t worry about me, Isaac. I can take care of myself.”

  The Gunnery ensign looked askance at him as he shoveled another bite into his mouth. “Hey, I’m just making sure you don’t take a swing at the guy. Laurie’ll never forgive me if you do.”

  Jacob frowned. What’s Laurie got to do with this? As he pondered the question, a sudden spark raced through Jacob as he watched the ensign chew. In a flash Isaac’s odd behavior made perfect sense. He smiled before taking another bite himself. “So, do I need to chaperone you two?”

  Isaac nearly choked on his potatoes, coughing a little bit before he managed to swallow. Leaning forward, he looked around the mess before whispering to him. “Keep it down! You know as well as I do that we aren’t supposed to be doing anything like that. If we get caught...” The ensign drew a finger across his neck as his voice trailed off.

  Putting his hands up defensively, Jacob kept smiling. “Hey, your secret’s safe with me. What are you worried about anyway? Nobody’s even here.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can just talk about anything you want. The walls have ears and all that.” Isaac sullenly scooped another bite. “How’d you even find out, anyway?”

  He shrugged, waiting until he’d swallowed his latest bite before answering. “It just took me a while to put two and two together, really. You’ve been a bit calm lately, and Laurie suddenly seems awfully busy.” Jacob gave Isaac a kick under the table. “You could have at least told me, though. I may be in Engineering, but I’m not dead.”

  Incredibly, Isaac was actually slowly turning red. “Sorry. Just…keep it to yourself. We don’t want anyone finding out, or Piebald is going to butcher us.”

  “It’ll be fine. Stop worrying, alright?” Jacob took another bite of his burrito. He relished the spicy taste of the meat inside, and sat back in his chair to look around the rest of the empty mess hall. “So where is everyone else anyway? You aren’t missing a drill or anything, are you?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I think Countermeasures had a drill that was going to run a bit long today, so that’s where Laurie is. As for the other gun crew ensigns, they should be coming along in a few minutes.” Isaac looked thoughtful. “I don’t know why, but my gunners always seem to get done with the drill faster than they do. Either that, or maybe they all met up somewhere else.” He shrugged, and continued to digging through the plate of potatoes with relish, as if hurrying to bury the subject they’d left.

  Jacob took another contemplative bite before he heard a burst of laughter from outside the mess. It sounded like it was coming from much further down the corridor, and he thought he heard a murmur of voices approaching. “Maybe that’s them now.”

  As the knot of ensigns entered the mess, Jacob
felt his stomach curl in resentment. Schroder was there, talking and laughing away without a care in the world. The Helm ensign was obviously at ease with the other junior officers, the center of attention. Ever since he been assigned the Helm post, many of the other ensigns had taken to admiring Schroder. By contrast, Jacob felt little more than envy and bitterness toward the arrogant fool.

  Still, he managed to keep trying to convince himself to abandon his grudge. It’s not his fault he got Helm duty. He has a pretty good history in the Navy, and he isn’t that bad at steering. It’s just how the dice rolled this time. There’ll be other chances. Even as he told himself that, Schroder looked over at him and their eyes met. In that half a heartbeat, the bitterness and envy surged back up. Schroder gave him a mocking smile and a half salute.

  The other ensigns had followed Schroder’s gaze and laughed a little. The five ensigns settled down at the other table, obviously shifting to be as far as possible from where Isaac and Jacob sat. Jacob could have sworn he heard a few whispered comments about spacer rash and bad smells, but nothing clear enough he could respond to.

  Isaac chuckled and Jacob looked back to find him openly studying the others between bites. “It’s like watching a bunch of teenage girls. All gossip and cliques.” He shook his head in disgust, and then turned back towards his meal. Jacob noticed, however, that he looked a little more somber and seemed to want to finish the meal and leave now the others were a few feet away, chuckling under their breath.

  Jacob shared the feeling, and he finished the last of his burritos at a much more rapid pace than before. Isaac finished at about the same time, and as they left, Jacob grabbed an extra burrito to enjoy in his cabin. They walked past the table of ensigns, and as Jacob passed Schroder, he heard the wolfish officer mutter something about frontier spacers begging and scrounging for extra food. There was a flash of rage for a moment, but Jacob forced himself to continue out of the mess hall.

  His friend sighed as they walked along the corridor, headed back towards their quarters. Jacob grimaced at him while he jerked a thumb back at the door of the mess hall. “I thought we had at least left that behind at the Academy. Are other junior officers always this gossipy?”

  With a shrug, Isaac kept walking. He spoke as they reached the cross corridor a few moments later. “All I know is that I almost want to wash out this time to not have to put up with it.” He shook his head sadly. Then he brightened visibly. “Then again, the benefits are always interesting.”

  “What are you two talking about?”

  Laurie’s voice caught Jacob off guard, and he looked back at the port corridor to find her standing there, her eyebrows raised as if she had caught them at something. Isaac just gave her a cocky smile back, while Jacob looked for an answer that wouldn’t get Isaac killed.

  “Nothing much, just some of the problems I’ve been having with Schroder. What are you up to?”

  Laurie eyed Jacob suspiciously, then answered. “I was actually looking for you. I’ve noticed some of the turrets having problems, and I was wondering if you could take a look at them.

  Jacob nodded. “Sure. What’s wrong with them? Some of them shorting out or something?”

  She shook her head. “Actually, there seems to be plenty of problems at the moment. The mag-fields are out of synch, and some of the targeting computers look a little twitchy. Lieutenant Obermann actually commented on it and asked me to talk to the Engineering section about it. She said it might have something to do with the power connections.”

  “It might.” Jacob frowned, thinking of the unusual branched power line he’d found in the railgun that morning. “Do you have a list of which ones you’re having trouble with?”

  “Yeah. Here you go.” She handed him a small memory chip. “Sorry for the complaints. I just don’t want the lieutenant riding me about missing incoming shots any more.” Laurie looked over at Isaac. “So how’s the shooting practice? You getting better with the long range guns?”

  “Slowly but surely.” Isaac still had the knowing smile on his face, and Jacob suddenly felt out of place.

  “Well, I guess I’ll just see you both later. I’ve got to go get some sleep.”

  Laurie looked over at him, then back at Isaac. Her eyes narrowed. When she spoke, her tone was suspicious enough to melt deck plates. “Sure. You do look pretty tired. See you later.”

  Jacob nodded and made his way past her to the cross corridor back to his quarters. “All right, have fun.”

  She glared at him, but he moved around the corner before she could say anything. He smiled as he heard fierce whispers, Isaac seeming to be very much on the defensive. Then the fatigue crashed into him again. Right. Time to get some rest. A few minutes later, he’d managed to make his way back to the quarters, descend his ladder without falling off, and collapse on his narrow bed. He was asleep in moments.

  Chapter Five

  Seven hours later, Jacob pulled himself out of bed. He checked his reader sleepily as he struggled to wake up. All right, I’ve got a few hours before Urleigh wants me in Engineering. Might as well get some training in. After writing a brief note to his sister Catherine, he went to the mess hall, which was nearly empty, and grabbed some of the burritos left out for odd hours personnel. Then he went down to the training room. His journey took him from the forward starboard side of the deck, where the officer’s mess was located, down to the third deck and over to the forward port side.

  The training room had become his haven over the past few days. Here Jacob had the chance to escape Schroder, the cares of Engineering, and the disappointment of his expectations. There were training simulators set up along the right hand side, weight training and running machines on the left, and an entertainment room towards the back; it had everything he could ever need. It didn’t hurt that most of the other junior officers avoided the place and that he was generally ignored by the enlisted crewmen who did show up there. As a refuge, it was perfect.

  When he reached the training room, it was almost empty, just the way he liked it. A few crewmen and petty officers lingered nearby, but most of them weren’t interested in a lone ensign. The majority, in fact, seemed to be far more interested in the card game going on at one of the tables and the movie playing on the room’s sole video screen on the back wall. With an amused grin, Jacob picked out an exercise machine in a part of the room that was nearly deserted and started his workout.

  He went through a quick stretch routine, letting his muscles warm up. Then Jacob began to use the machine itself, his movements lifting the weights as he absentmindedly checked each exercise off his daily list. Come on, Jacob, just a few more and you get your reward. Once Jacob finished with his workout, he left the machine behind and jogged over to the real reason he had come to the room.

  The egg-shaped flight simulator was similar to the one he’d used on Graveston station, though smaller. It was against the wall opposite the exercise machines, along with the other simulators, looking for all the world like some series of ancient arcade games. Jacob ducked into the side of the simulator, pulling the hatch shut after him. He let out a little sigh of satisfaction as he slipped into the seat of the simulator and punched the start button.

  The side hatch sealed shut, instantly cutting off the noise and distraction outside. The projector lit up, but at first it was merely requesting information. Ensign Jacob Hull. Assigned station: Engineering, CNS Wolfound. Requested ship simulation. Jacob paused for a moment, considering his options. When he had spent personal time on the sims at the Academy, he had always chosen a Grannon-class transport ship, the same class as the Sprite had been. The days since the Wolfhound had launched, however had been devoted to a new ship. Ship type: Hunter-class destroyer. He smiled to himself, and settled his hands on the controls to either side.

  For a moment, the simulator went dark. Then, slowly, a starfield appeared on the projector above the console. As the simulation began, the console’s screen came alive with the specks showing the flow of dark energy. The ima
ge of his ship, identical to the Wolfhound, appeared in the center of the maelstrom of energy. Around his ship appeared a mass of debris, almost similar to the one the Wolfhound had maneuvered through near New Harel.

  For a moment, Jacob studied the field around his simulated ship, familiarizing himself with the obstacles immediately around him. His father’s voice came to him again as he did so. More pilots crash due to rushing into things than to taking too long. The smart ones think their course through. After watching the changing pattern of the dark energy flow for a time, Jacob went to work.

  His hands activated the DE sails, and as they flickered to life, a twist of the master power dial brought them a solidity that they lacked before. The image of the ship began to move, and the simulator allowed Jacob to feel an artificial tug as the ship lurched forward. Jacob moved quickly and altered the angle of the projected sails, letting them catch the dark energy and help him guide the ship where he wanted to go. He took hold of the wheel, firing the maneuvering jets to accelerate the process. Never underestimate the jets; they may be small compared to the sails, but every little bit of control helps. Jacob nodded unconsciously to his father’s instructions, and he carefully lined up the ship with his chosen course past the initial debris.

  With another twist of the wheel, Jacob turned the angle of the sails again, catching a flow of dark energy that pushed the simulated Wolfhound forward. Slowly at first, and then with greater speed, the destroyer glided forward past the first of the obstacles. The brake sails came on after a moment, controlling the acceleration before it went beyond his control. Other obstacles began to appear in the projection, and Jacob avoided them carefully. He kept the speed of his ship low, not wanting to push things too far and crash before he cleared the debris.

  After what seemed like a lifetime of navigating the artificial obstacles, the debris field came to an end. For a while, the screen was filled with nothing but the flowing specks of dark energy around the destroyer, and Jacob began to relax. Pushing the view as far out as he could make it go, he sighed and looked up at the main projection to watch the field of stars move around him. A feeling of peace grew within him, and for one sweet moment, Jacob could feel the weight of his situation, and of his life, lift from him.