Hawk Flight (Flight of the Hawk Book 3)

by Robert Little

  Captain Muhr announced, “We’ve been hit by a fighter energy weapon, not critical, and we killed the fighter. We’ve launched a spread of light missiles at his flight, which is responding.

  Alexi kept a close eye on the power as the ship’s remaining lasers fired at the incoming digital missiles. The ship launched a second flight of pseudo missiles, these targeting the incoming enemy versions.

  Captain Muhr announced, “We’ve been hit with two missiles, and I am sorry to inform you that we have been destroyed. Stand down from general quarters. We’ll be keeping you informed.”

  Commander Sinclair commed his department, “Return all settings to normal, ensure that our energy weapons are online, and resume whatever maintenance you were doing prior to getting our asses handed us. My commendations to the entire department: you have transformed a filthy, unreliable department into one that functions as good or better than one half its’ age.” He listened as the department rang with laughter.

  Fighters from the Vickie located and attacked the Bon Homme Richard. Their computers awarded them a kill. The Vickie had moved well away from the area, leaving behind her fighters and the Los Angeles, posing as the carrier. The exercise turned into a route.

  Six hours after the conclusion of the exercise Captain Muhr held a briefing with his officers. He began, “This is the first large scale Naval exercise to be held in three decades. The general consensus is that it was largely a failure. Far be it from me to disagree. We’re going to cover the tactics, actions and results, but first I wish to tell you that the officers and enlisted of the Tillotson performed up to the highest standards. We didn’t suffer one single equipment or hardware failure, and were only discovered and attacked after we were ordered to move. Unfortunately, as you have just learned, tactical errors can get us killed.

  One of the purposes of this exercise, and those that will follow is to identify weaknesses in our ships and tactics. In our own reports, we will have the opportunity to identify internal weaknesses, as well as make recommendations."

  After a brief pause, he continued, "This ship is not merely old, it is old technology. We were easily located and our defenses were inadequate against a mere four fighters. They were able to approach to within less than forty thousand kilometers before launching a total of sixteen light missiles. We killed twelve of them. One of the conclusions we have already reached is that our radar and targeting systems are woefully out of date, and by this I mean to say, the Navy long ago developed better equipment and software. We are requesting upgrades to both.”

  “The first ought to be an easy fix; the second would require a minimum of one week in the yards. I assume that our operational tempo will ensure that we'll have to work with the hardware we now have. To that end, I've also requested that we be allowed to perform hardware upgrades that don't require lengthy downtimes. Don't hold your breath.”

  Chapter 17

  Over the next month, the small contingent of ships performed repeated exercises, ranging from destroyer-on-destroyer to four destroyers against the cruiser, four destroyers against carrier; one destroyer versus two or three destroyers.

  The old destroyers survived the high operational tempo, but not without frequent breakdowns to various systems. All four maintained a high state of readiness, but the crews got precious little rest.

  The Bon Homme Richard suffered a major breakdown and required a tender to help restart its’ shiny new fusion plants. It drifted for three days while crews frantically worked to restore power to the drive.

  The Los Angeles performed, although not up to design expectations. The captain worked his crew ragged. His ill-trained personnel gradually turned into a good crew.

  In the midst of the exercises, Lt. JG Lee returned to the Fisk, where he was again assigned to the bridge.

  Due to continuing crew shortages on the Défiance, petty officer Kana assumed most of the responsibilities of a CPO while the actual chief stood engine room watches, legally, a duty restricted to Lieutenants and above. The Navy buildup caught the Academy short, and it would take years to increase the size of the graduating classes.

  Enlistments were also below expectations and needs, largely due to public perception of the general decrepitude of Navy ships, poor living conditions and low rate of pay. The federal government was considering a bill to increase funding to the Navy, raising basic pay and increasing benefits, but even if it passed into law it would take many months to go into effect, and still more months for those effects to be felt.

  Meanwhile, some few ship captains were coping poorly with the increased operational demands, leading to higher than normal or acceptable attendance at daily Captain’s Mast, and plummeting morale.

  Other captains better managed their lack of personnel, the Los Angeles, Fisk and Tillotson being three examples.

  The final exercise went reasonably well. By that time, the Tillotson had managed to upgrade three of its’ sixteen radar emitters as well as the related software. Under power it was still measurably easier to track than a fourth gen ship, but it was now a warship.

  Chapter 19

  The Défiance docked in Elyse’ Secondary Naval Station, this one in a geo-synchronous orbit around the planet’s single moon, allowing it to permanently face the beautiful planet. Its’ location also allowed it to provide limited missile defenses for the planet.

  Kana wearily took a very quick cold shower, dressed and went to the head to check his appearance. He was due for a long leave while the ship was due for yet another series of hardware replacements and upgrades. He often wondered why the Navy didn’t just do everything in one long visit to a yard. He’d been told that it had to do with a combination of lack of money in the proper budgets, the ones associated with either maintenance or procurement; and, with a severe lack of enough ships and personnel to meet the greatly increased duties assigned to the Navy, which was due to a lack of funding in construction.

  His views tended to the belief that the Navy brass and their federal government overlords were idiots. He’d never actually met any of these high-ranking presumed idiots, but he had met any number of officers and enlisted who qualified as idiot savants, although without any trace of ‘savant’, but with all of the associated social graces accruing to the class.

  He ate a quick meal in the enlisted mess, briefly chatted with a female Marine who was both comely and avowedly available, waved and fled back to his bunk to grab his duffle. He liked her, but more importantly, he wanted badly to get off the smelly ship. That, and he had a date.

  He saluted twice and exited the ship into a huge corridor of the dock that stretched out endlessly ahead of him. His destroyer was a minnow in a dock designed for a whale, and his feet had to make up the difference. Had he been an officer, he would have gained access to transportation, although as an officer, he wouldn’t have been able to get that leave.

  It took him fifteen minutes to reach the dock’s shuttle bay, where he gratefully sat and used his pad to make a reservation for a transfer to Elyse.

  He fidgeted for nearly two hours before he was allowed to board a civilian shuttle. It wasn’t going where he needed to be, but it was leaving the moon for the planet, at least taking him closer to his goal, a communications petty officer with an improbable mop of curly red hair and a difficult to pronounce name of Linda Chicomuceltica. She was from the Guatemalan province of Central America, and had a measurable proportion of Native American blood in her veins, plus that red hair.

  En route he used his pad to alert her to his progress, such as it was, and they revised their scheduled meal to a later time. He also checked on transportation between the civilian field he was scheduled to land at, and the military field he wanted to get to. He found a Navy cargo shuttle that was slated to depart fifteen minutes after his estimated arrival time. His pad connected to the shuttle’s system and he verified that the craft ought to land in time to enable him to run the quarter mile to the Navy pad.

  He’d spent the better part of the previous year be
nding over cabinets with foul fumes emanating from them, rather than the proper amount of energy or data, so those four hundred meters were going to be a trial. On the other hand, she had natural red hair, although he was taking her at her word for that.

  He managed to make the crossing on time; unfortunately, due to his failure to check the weather he was soaking wet by the time he entered through the hatch.

  He deposited his duffle on an empty seat and gingerly sat down. An officer was seated across the wide aisle from him and grinned, “This is the wettest I’ve been since I reported aboard the Bhopal.” Kana looked at the equally wet lieutenant and replied, “Sir, are you saying that you can actually get wet on your ship?”

  The lieutenant laughed, “Once a month, whether we need it or not. What ship are you on?” Kana told him, “Sir, the Défiance, a second gen destroyer.”

  They both felt a subtle shift in gravity, and a moment later an enlisted crewmember opened a hatch, made a quick visual check to ensure everyone was seated, and promptly disappeared. A moment later Kana’s pad informed him that they were airborne.

  The flight to New Jerusalem took forty minutes, and by the time Kana stepped out of the shuttle onto the landing pad, he was dry and the sky was clear. He’d gained a couple of hours on the journey, and if he was fortunate, he could still arrive at the restaurant in time for his date.

  He walked to the Veterans Center, quickly checked in, received directions to the restaurant and once again ran up the street. He hadn’t had time for a shower and change of clothing, and just had to hope she didn’t mark him down for appearance and odor.

  Kana had met Linda through a mutual friend of theirs. She was from Earth, a system that provided a small minority of officers and enlisted to the Federal Navy. Actually, the two had yet to meet in person – all their communications had been courtesy of their pads. As a result, he knew a great deal about her thoughts and feelings, but didn’t know her in person, a fact that was about to change.

  She was sitting in the foyer of the restaurant, one they’d both chosen due to its’ proximity to the center as well as the prices of the meals. She turned as he entered, and stood, already smiling. His first thought was that his pad had utterly failed to reveal the fact that she had a fabulous smile.

  Linda was relatively short, neither slender nor stocky, and as she moved toward him, he realized that she moved like an athlete. He let out his breath and shook her hand, “Hello Linda, I’m Elliot. I’m pleased to meet you. Did I keep you waiting?”

  Her smile got brighter, “No, I just arrived. You look a little out of breath.” He nodded, “I had to make a choice between dropping off my duffle, taking a shower and putting on clothes that weren’t recently soaked, and arriving late, or making it on time, but in serious need of the aforementioned shower.”

  She asked, “Wet?” He nodded, “I ran four hundred meters through the rain to make the military shuttle to New Jerusalem.”

  She frowned, “You didn’t have enough time to change? Would you like to postpone the meal while you get cleaned up?”

  He took a breath and shook his head, “Difficult question.” She cocked her head, “Why so?” He told her, “If I run back to the center to change, I’ll be presentable, but I’ll also lose thirty minutes.”

  She had an amazingly mobile face, and he could see fleeting remnants of thoughts and feelings as she pondered his response. She asked, “Lose thirty minutes?” He nodded, “Yes. With you – I’ll lose thirty minutes with you.” She pursed her lips, which he realized were quite beautiful, and asked, “Are you flirting with me?”

  A puff of air escaped his lips, “I am hoping that you’ll allow me to remain here with you.”

  She narrowed her eyes and looked closely at him, “I’ve heard that you are a very confident man, yet here you are, acting all tentative and unsure of yourself.” Kana told her, “I’m very sure of myself – what I’m uncertain about, is your feelings.”

  She said, “Goodness, I knew you were a direct man, yet even so I find myself somewhat surprised; what are you saying?”

  Kana could see a bright intelligence in her eyes, and realized that she clearly understood what he was saying; she was pushing him to make a declaration.

  She liked him.

  He told her, “If you will allow, I wish to spend as much time as you and I might have available, in order to get to know each other.” Her lips might have pursed into a faint smile, “Purpose?” He grinned, “Now that I’ve met you in person? Grandchildren.”

  She smiled brilliantly, “You move very, very fast. However, prior to achieving grandparenthood, there would first be required a period of courtship, then a possible wedding or legally binding contract, then children, and only then grandchildren. I don’t know: why don’t we eat in this restaurant, and if you can show me you know what utensils to use, we can talk.”

  Kana grinned, “They have utensils here?” She laughed in delight, and bounced on her feet, “Yes!”

  She tucked her arm into his and said, “Show me what ya’ got.” He opened the inner door for her and said, “Salad fork to the outside left, smaller than the dinner fork.” She laughed, “When was the last time you had a fresh salad?” He shook his head, “The last time I was in port.”

  They were given a table assignment, and walked through a crowded room to a rear table. After taking their seats, they examined the menu and chose steaks with baked potatoes. Both chose tea – alcoholic beverages weren’t allowed outside of the port.

  The food was good, the meal fabulous. Afterwards, he could barely remember what the food tasted like, but all too soon they were outside on the street.

  She stood a little apart from him and looked up at the sky, roughly half of which was covered in scudding clouds. A brilliant moon reflected down onto their tree-lined street.

  She turned to face him and said, “I’ve been talking to you for three months. I liked what I heard, liked what I saw, but until tonight I wasn’t certain that the real you would resemble what I saw and heard on my pad. You can be a difficult man to read, but I think you like me, and I think I like you, so, what now?”

  He had come to the same conclusions she had, and simply asked, “I wish to invite you to breakfast.” She smiled, “What, no more talk of grandchildren?” He grinned, “I’ve already started on their names.”

  She tucked her arm in his and said, “I’m a little more focused on step one.”

  He asked, “Which is?” She smiled, “I’ll let you know.” He asked, “You’ll let me know?” Looking straight ahead, she said, “You won’t have to ask if you pass.”

  They both stayed in the Veterans Center, and spent the next eight days in each other’s company. On the ninth day, Kana asked her to marry him. She calmly accepted, figuratively tapping one impatient foot.

  Later in that conversation, she asked him, “I got the sense that you decided this the moment you met me in person.” He nodded, “Yes. I like the Navy, and I think I have a good future. Most people don’t understand, or think the Navy is for people who can’t make it on the outside. I don’t agree, and you are the first woman I’ve met who shares my feelings. Marriage with me will mean long separations, but I think the time we spend together will be wonderful, and I have plans after I get out. I want to emigrate to a frontier planet and form a shuttle service. Eventually, I’d like to buy a cargo ship. There are loans from the federal government that we can apply for, and I really think that together we can have a wonderful marriage and a good future.”

  She smiled, “Linda…” He raised his eyebrows questioningly, and she kissed him, “…the name of our first ship.”

  He grinned, “A much better name than Elliot.” She kissed him a second time, “Not so, my handsome fiancé, not so.”

  A day later they married in the Veterans Center. Neither had a great deal of money, nor did they have a lot of free time. Linda had to report back to her ship, a third gen destroyer named the Vincennes, a week before his leave ended, so they spent every s
ingle waking hour in each other’s company, savoring every moment, knowing they would not get many, not nearly enough.

  For Linda and Kana, marriage was as much a practical affair as it was one of love. They both cared for each other, but their choices were at least as much a decision of logic as it was of the heart. Kana knew that he had a lot to offer a woman, but he also knew that his chosen profession eliminated most likely candidates; for Linda, it was much the same.

  On her last free day, they went on a picnic, the first in many years for either of them. Kana lay on his back, looking up at the blue sky while Linda sat at his side, feeding him hardboiled eggs.

  The sky closed up with dark clouds, and they quickly packed up their things and ran for shelter.

  It never rained in space.

  He saw her off, and spent his last free days in the Veterans Center library. He wanted to know as much as possible about his ship, and to that end, he purchased a new pad that had more storage capacity. Being a cautious man, he kept the old one.