ROMA

by R. A. Ender

  It had been many days in hyperspace, many days of boredom and the ever present background stress of anticipation. Now, it was only minutes in hyperspace and the overwhelming feeling of fear was visibly showing on all the faces around him. Sitting squarely and upright in the command chair, Fleet Admiral Richard Hilbornus was no longer watching his monitors or the clepsydra. He was watching his crew.

  Now, he thought to himself, it is time to lead them. And with that, Richard took one last look at the main display. The screen was filled with the huge, lightly blue and white planet of Tionaga. Already small glistening flashes betrayed the location of some ships and structures, especially the huge Olympus Jump Gate which was to be their hyperspace exit point. After a brief look, he stepped down from his seat and walked to visit with each crew member individually.

  He briefly spoke with the young officer responsible for the medical condition of the ship. Though mostly a relay station for information from the medical bays, if casualties became high and medical bay was overwhelmed, it would be their only means of knowing how many crewmembers were out of commission.

  As was typically the case for a battle, all crew were at their stations. Those stations would be filled with crew, as each position was usually held jointly by three crew on different shifts. During a battle, they were all present, helping, working and ready to replace a fallen comrade. The only exception was, in fact, the command deck, where there was a single crew person for each station. If the command deck was destroyed, having all your people killed was not a good idea. Therefore, a backup crew was stationed in the backup command deck, located much deeper in the ship. Captain Shelbus was in command and would be in constant communication with Richard through his audio headset, but would not participate in the battle unless the main command deck was destroyed. The third command deck crew was stationed throughout the ship, and individual crew members could be called in to assist at any time. It was the best distribution they could manage to ensure the long-term survival of the ship.

  After his brief chat with the young officer and a firm squeeze of his shoulder to convey confidence, Richard moved onto the best of his current class of students. Officer third class Bellona Boudicca, or Bell as she was called by all the crew, had excelled when she had first boarded the ship nearly four years ago. Quickly rising during her first training year, she was the first to ever command a full watch of the ship in her first year as an officer trainee. Since that time, she has proven to be the best that Richard had ever seen. Before the war broke out, he had planned to ask her to remain with his crew on the Caesar Augustus, something he had never done before. But the war had forced her to remain beyond her final year of training, and at this point, she was a member of the crew and no longer a trainee, though her rank remains until she can be promoted officially with the approval of the Commanding Admirals Council. She now carried the field rank of Ensign and would likely be promoted to Lieutenant junior grade after the war.

  There was no one better to manage the most important station for the survival of the ship, of that Richard, was certain, and that was why she commanded damage control. It was her job to monitor all the internal systems related to crew survival, a mammoth task to be certain. Critically, though, it was her duty to report and act on threats to crew safety. It was Bell who would act to seal off sections that threatened other parts of the ship, leaving the crew inside to fend for themselves, or more likely, to die. It was a critical station usually helmed by the most seasoned veterans. It didn’t require superior hand and eye coordination or lightning reflexes, but it required a firm mind, a strong will, and a patience usually not found in someone as young as Bell. But, she was the best and had proven to be the best damage control officer he had ever worked with. It was a brutally stressful position, but so far she had handled herself.

  “How are you feeling?” Richard asked as he came up beside Bell and placed his hand on her shoulder.

  She immediately looked up and smiled at him. “I am feeling quite nervous, actually.”

  Richard smiled broadly. Damn, he thought, She is not afraid to be herself even with her senior commander. That is confidence!

  “Well, if you didn’t feel nervous, I have enough nerves to go around. But, we’ll do great together, I know it!”

  “As do I, sir. Thank you for the opportunity to serve with you.”

  And with a nod of acknowledgment and a squeeze of her shoulder, he walked over to the next station. On the way, he shot a glance over his shoulder to check the time. The numbers had just slipped below four minutes left.

  Walking to the rear of the command deck, he took a few steps down into the tactical control pit. All the tactical control and monitoring stations were located at the rear of the deck and lowered into the floor. The design made it next to impossible for them to see the main display, thereby avoiding distractions. Though the main display was useful for an overall picture, it was next to useless for the defense of the ship.

  Standing at the main position, back facing toward the front of the command deck, was Commander Sara Dard. Her upright main tactical control station was a unique design she had created. She stood upright, no chair was present. All the controls were adjustable based on the height of the officer present. In addition, it was the only station with safety harnesses. Every other station had a chair with secure side arms that was bolted very close to the control station, thereby securing the occupant. Since she was standing, there was a need for a means to keep her from falling over when the ship lurched, as it did on occasion in battle. Sara had insisted that that position was the best for tactical reasons, keeping the mind sharp and focused as opposed to the daze that can happen from sitting too long. It also suited tactical crews which are often drawn from the Adiutrix and spent their early careers standing guard for hours at a time.

  After a brief wave to acknowledge her, Richard approached each of her crew individually to give a brief word of encouragement and a squeeze on the shoulder. In all, Sara commanded five crew. They were arranged from left to right as energy weapons, projectile weapons, defensive weapons, shielding, and finally a relay station to the main hanger command, where they managed the flight crews and small craft, including the Squalus Fighters. All the stations were tasked with monitoring and ensuring the systems were ready and available to Sara, the tactical officer when she needed them. It was her duty, alone, to use the combat systems of the ship, receiving direction from the commanding officer as to the overall strategy and purpose of the ship.

  After speaking to the final crewman, Richard turned around to walk back over to Sara. He quickly looked over her head to see the countdown, which became two minutes and thirty seconds exactly as he was looking. Moving his eyes down to see Sara, he was faced with a big smile and a confident set of eyes. Sara was ready. And Richard knew he could count on her. She was the best tactical officer in the Confederated Defense Force bar none.

  As he got close she spoke first. “My guys are ready, Admiral. We will make you proud.” She beamed with confidence and an obvious excitement. Tactical officers constantly trained for combat though they were just as happy to compete against each other across the galaxy by the simulator. Any good officer never desires combat, as they know that the lives of their friends and crewmates are threatened every time. An unanticipated defense of the ship always puts the tactical crews in foul moods. It has been Richard’s experience, though, that the opposite is true of offensive actions. That always seems to give the tactical crews a little pre-battle thrill, though the foul mood tends to return as soon as the guns open fire.

  In response to what Sara said, Richard approached her and gave her a strong hug. It was not common for commanding officers to hug their crew, but his crew was different. His crew was as close to family as he had ever had in life. And when he felt his family may not survive, it was important to convey his love for them. If he didn’t, he knew there was always the chance of deep and lasting regret.

  Sara, of course, hugged him back as she always did. When
they pulled apart, she had a small tear in her eye that she quickly wiped away. Richard looked her in the eye, and said, “You always do me proud. You are the best.” And finished with a big smile.

  Sara also gave a big smile, with a strong wicked streak and said, “You’ll miss me when I retire then? After today, I think I’ll have one foot in the grave!”

  Richard gave a joking shake of his head and gave her a pat on the shoulder as he turned to climb back out of the tactical pit, and over to the main engineering monitoring station. A single officer watched the display that directly fed information from main engineering to the command deck. Typically, this is an important station, but not on the Caesar Augustus. The longest lasting friendship on board was Richard and Chief Engineer Mato. When he needed something from engineering, he called his friend directly. When Mato had a problem, he would call the command station directly. It was not the usual way, but it worked for them. At this busy time, Richard knew better than to bother Mato as he readied to take the ship out of hyperspace and transfer the enormous power generated from the huge graviton fusion drives into the defensive systems. Instead, he asked the young officer if there was anything to report. There was not, and Richard gave him a few encouraging words before moving on.

  Finally, approaching the last station, navigation, Richard walked up behind Lieutenant Jen Klodokus, placing his hand on her shoulder and looking up at the main display that filled her field of vision. Before looking at the image displayed on the screen, Richard snuck a peek up at the clepsydra. It now displayed only 57 seconds remaining. Moving his gaze down to the main display, he saw the huge beautiful picture of the planet. He knew that as they exited hyperspace, that image would be overlaid with multiple customized pieces of information useful to Jen’s navigation of the ship.

  On most Confederate ships, navigation is the job of two crew members. One is in charge of all ship systems related to propulsion, and the other is in charge of the sensors and the exterior environment. In the case of the Caesar Augustus, there were three stations to allow Jen to train two navigators. She still maintained her “T” license. “T” licensed navigators were first introduced for the Tomauri Class Cruiser. Due to the near starfighter method of flying a Tomauri cruiser, with its large maneuvering jets, it required both navigation roles to be combined, otherwise, the speed and maneuverability were compromised. It was felt at the time that the physical requirements of this type of navigation were beyond human abilities. All “T” licensed navigators were from the Vev’Tev. Jen was the first and only “T” licensed human navigator. Like most of his senior crew, Jen was the best in the fleet.

  Without looking up at him, she spoke after he had been there for a few moments. “Honestly, you think we’ll survive?”

  From above her head looking down, Richard couldn’t quite see whether she was smiling and playing, or was speaking seriously. That unknown lasted only a moment longer before she looked up a bit with a big smile on her face.

  Richard just nodded his head and shook her shoulder a bit in a friendly way. “Don’t scare your navigators. You guys make sure we do survive. You ready?” he asked her.

  “Absolutely! Looks like the garrison is holding up at the space lane exit beacon as expected. We should come out right on top of them. It will be raining red, blue and green on them before they get their umbrellas up!” She responded.

  With that, Richard turned around strongly and with purpose. He marched up to his command chair and sat down. Keying a button on his display he opened the line from his headset to the backup command deck.

  “Robin, can you hear me?”

  After a second, a clear response came through his earpiece. “Loud and clear, Commander. We are ready down here. Good luck!”

  Clicking the line off, Richard keyed another button and opened a line to engineering.

  “Mato. Do you have everything you need?”

  The response came immediately this time, Mato also using a headset for communication and he always left his line open to the Command Deck. “We are ready.”

  Clicking the line off at his end, Richard stood up and pressed another button on the way up.

  “Attention all crew of the Confederated Union of Worlds Defense Force Vessel Caesar Augustus. Man your stations, the battle to free our homeland begins now!”

  And with that, Richard saw the sparkling halo dance on the main display for an instant as the ship exited hyperspace as the lead ship of the fleet. The navigation overlay dropped across the beautiful picture of Tionaga hanging against the black of the heavens. The deck plates began to vibrate from the weapons fire that was already pouring down from the ship onto the IAE garrison fleet below their position. Even before Jen nosed the ship down toward them, the faint wisps of the energy weapons fire could be seen rising across the display, painting red, blue and green light across the black tableau of space.

  CHAPTER 38

  It was moments like this that reminded Richard what a ship he commanded. His Kordont Emperor Class Battle Cruiser was unique in the fleet. As his ship nosed down to bring its main forward guns into the battle, it was the main display that reminded him. The main display of most ships was a large rectangular screen. His ship pioneered the newest military option, the 180 display. His display was curved and showed the full 180-degree view of space from any side of his ship that he chose. In addition, the display curved up onto the ceiling revealing the 90-degree view of space from the ships midplane, either up or down depending on the 180-degree view chosen. This was the most immersive display ever deployed on a command deck in the fleet and it gave brilliant pictures.

  Richard simply sat and watched as his ship sank, sending the image of Tionaga and the starscape up onto the ceiling and eventually out of sight. As that beautiful image rose away, an even more exciting and vibrant one rose up to fill the command deck with color and light. The small IAE garrison fleet began to appear, all dark gray hulls against the black infinite background of space. Their shields were shimmering as traces of multi-colored lights struck down at them like raindrops from heaven and splashed against them. The splashes scintillated with brilliant reds, yellows, greens, blues and a few violets. The color danced for a moment before disappearing as they were absorbed.

  But the light rain of color quickly became a torrential downpour as all the ships of the fleet, all eight hundred, brought their main forward guns on target and began pouring a torrent upon the small garrison. No longer were the shields able to absorb the small weapon's output generated by the few ships with ventral guns. Now, the rain of color pooled and mixed together as it rested on the surface of the shields. The colors swirled and jumped, and splashed as new hits of energy created waves in the old.

  Richard was captivated by the image. As the Admiral of the Fleet, he could have attempted to coordinate the battle directly, but he knew all his squadron commanders were ready. They had all been given a small number of ships to command and direct. They had trained and planned for weeks and were ready to lead their ships into battle. All Richard had to do was monitor each squadron from his command deck and assign them to different targets if needed. But with a small garrison force, each squad had received a single ship as its target by the automated fleet assignment system. With such overwhelming force, there was no need to micromanage. Even his own ship knew what to do without him needing to comment. Jen would maneuver, Sara would target, and Mato would ensure they had the power they needed.

  This was the best possible military scenario and Richard was happy to let the machine he had trained for years run as it was designed to.

  And then, suddenly before his eyes, he watched as the ocean of energy that had been growing on top of the IAE fleet suddenly dim and disappear. In its wake, only the blackness of space remained.

  For the briefest of moments, Richard thought they had obliterated the enemy, vaporizing them into non-existence. But, his training kicked in immediately and he knew that was impossible.

  Without thinking, he spoke aloud to no one in part
icular. “Where did they go?”

  Though he asked without desiring a response, more of a shock reaction, the answer came from somewhere on the command deck as it should in a properly trained military environment.

  “They jumped, sir!”

  Richard was already looking at his command display and checking for sensor data to explain what happened. His mind raced. They couldn’t have calculated run to jump information that fast and without maneuvering! What in hades!

  “This is command. All ships initiate active scans. All commanders, watch your monitors and stand by for fleet orders.” Richard shouted into his station after punching the button to open the line to all the ships in the fleet.

  Almost immediately, his display began to report extensive amounts of new system-wide information as all 800 fleet ships began sending out scan waves and receiving information back. It showed no ships in their immediate area, and quickly the sphere of visibility expanded from their position and they began to see that there were no ships anywhere in Tionaga near space.

  This was not surprising, as the system was firmly under IAE control. There was no commercial or non-military traffic one would expect in the system during peacetime. But, it was a little surprising that all the IAE garrison fleet was huddled together in one place and apparently ready to jump.

  “Robin, thoughts?” Richard asked into his display but this time opening a line only to Robin in the bowels of the ship in the backup command deck.