by Chris Hechtl
“My heart bleeds. We're all running into personnel problems. I'd love to get my hands on some of the special helmsman and navigators, but I got my hand slapped for my trouble,” she said. “Don't get me started on Recon and others,” she said with a shake of her head.
Irene snorted.
“And I wanted more engineers. Spacebees specifically since we'll be building a lot of civilian infrastructure along with military. I asked for a platoon; I was told I might get a quartet—four engineers, three of them fresh from the school. One noncom and a trio of wet behind the ears enlisted with no field experience. No officer.”
“I think you just said my heart bleeds? Right back at you,” Irene replied with a smirk.
“Cute. Okay so, moving on …”
“Yes. Back to the historical Earth reference, the pirates seem to have a base in each sector called Tortuga. It's an ancient name for an island on Earth later called Haiti I believe.” She grimaced and checked her notes and then nodded.
“A base?”
“A capital. Look for an asteroid, moon base, station, ship … it could be anything.”
“Talk about needle in a hay stack,” Shelby grimaced.
“Exactly. Space is vast. Think centrally located near the shipping lanes if that helps.”
“Oh, it just narrows it down to a couple thousand parsecs,” Shelby said with a shake of her head.
“Glad to help. It could be in an empty star system or between systems. Historical references … it's a mess,” Irene said. “And they might have more than one base. But only one is named Tortuga.”
“Ah. Well, that'll be something to look for.”
“Right,” Irene said with a nod. “Now, I mentioned the pirates might be of different species. I was considering the problem with my staff, and we think we might use Ramichov's eugenics program against them as leverage …”
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Lieutenant Prometheus did manage to deliver a bit more from ONI in the form of the latest copy of the Horathian war book. He highlighted the list of known ships in Tau. He made it clear that some of the ships might have been lost or migrated to Upsilon sector or back into Rho. “It's all out-of-date of course,” he stated.
Shelby grimaced but nodded as she scanned the data. Dates were listed when you clicked for more details, as well as some source material. The two most recent entries were Gorgon and Chakrum, two Fourth Fleet destroyers that had gone into Tau and then had returned to Rho only to have been destroyed in Nightingale by Descartes and Loch. She felt for Captains Yu and Levinson for being stuck there where she'd left them on picket duty, but at least they were performing a vital protection of the crossroad star system.
There were four other ships listed as the most accurate and up-to-date information: an Admiral Hipper class heavy cruiser the mysteriously named Fancy of all things, her sister ship the Seydlitz, another Cutlass class destroyer the Cytheria, and the Damen class 8166, a medium multipurpose transport and support ship. All four ships had also been assigned to Fourth Fleet. For some reason, they'd continued on mission while the other Gorgon had tried to return to ET and the rest of Fourth Fleet.
It was a pity that Gorgon had been destroyed … not that she blamed Captains Yu or Levinson in the slightest! One didn't fool around with a pair of tin cans when you were in a frigate! It was just that she had been tasked with going to Tau, so she presumably had been loaded with a navigational database of that sector. To date they hadn't captured a Horathian version of that sector's navigational database.
Going over some of the other war book data …she shook her head. Hannah was one of two of the medium class cruisers listed; all they had was that she was a medium class cruiser. There was no data on the captain, or hell, even the specific make and class of ship she was! Veraxin? Federation? Other? No clue, so they couldn't judge her age, speed, or weapon mix. The same could be said about several of the other entries in the system, though there were a few other names, the Whidah, an infamous Baltimore class heavy cruiser, and the Saladin, a Salem class heavy cruiser jumped out at her. Whidah had something of a history as a pirate in Horathian folklore as did Saladin. Both were reputed to be tough customers.
She pursued the war book for a few more minutes, then set it aside. She'd have more time to go over it later. It was good to know, and she fully intended to brief her other captains once she had them on board.
The current plan was to snip out half a squadron each of North Hampton class light cruisers and Resolution Mark II class heavy cruisers from Third Fleet to make up her main warship component. The number of tin cans were still up in the air. She was holding out for Arboth class destroyers; there were no point whatsoever in sending Nelsons, Fletchers, or some of the other specialist ships. Those ships might be okay as convoy escorts, but they were specialists more suited for fleet action. She needed generalists. She knew the stats of an Arboth; they were hardy ships. They could take a beating and come back.
She still didn't know the number or type of support ships nor the number of ansible carrying ships, their escorts, or smaller ships. She'd put in for prowlers but had been denied. The prowlers were all needed at the front she'd been told rather bluntly by Commander Garretaj.
She'd also heard through Cynthia's sources that the Tau mission had been offered to the new crop of junior flag officers. All of them had turned it down. Most had cited the need to be on the war front. She knew the real reason; they wanted to get in on the action even though it might cost them an independent command.
So be it. She'd make the most of it.
Chapter 6
Shelby began to rebuild her staff and crew from the top down. That was the plan anyway, there was of course going to be bumps and diversions along the way she knew. At the moment, all she knew was it was her and Cynthia, Lieutenant JG Kettle, and ensign, now also Lieutenant JG Prometheus, for her core people. BUPERS had poached her ship's company to the bone; she'd even lost her bosun and steward in the process. She'd felt a bit raped by the process but intellectually knew it was all for a good cause. Her people would move on to other things, spreading what they'd learned to the new ships or commands they joined.
And she had to break in new personnel to replace them. Bully for her, she thought with a mental grimace as she looked at her first two officer replacements. Lieutenant JG Z'k'th'ss'th was a Naga, her TACO, and by his record, a good officer, but he'd graduated at the bottom of the tactical track courses. He was aggressive like his species, perhaps too aggressive. She missed Conrad already she thought. They'd given Z'k'th'ss'th time to season before sending him to her however, but she was certain he resented the posting. She looked up to him to size him up, then went back to reading the next file.
Lieutenant JG L'n'v'll, a male Veraxin, was supposed to replace Ensign Gunner. He seemed steady, though he'd spent most of his postings in the orbital forts or logistics, not an actual ship. Reading between the lines he'd applied for a shipboard assignment and had gotten Prometheus.
“Well, gentlemen, you seem to be a bit more advanced in rank than we're used to for the departments you'll be heading. That is a good thing,” she said with a nod. “Are you two up for going into the black?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” the Naga rumbled, flicking his mandibles.
“Yes, ma’am,” the Veraxin echoed.
“We are going into unknown territory, gentlemen. You'll be busy planning for that mission in addition to your shipboard duties,” Shelby said. “For the moment, both of you are senior department heads of the mission. Don't let it go to your heads. Undoubtedly, someone with higher rank in the mission will come along to take over eventually. But for the time being you'll get the points on your record … and any crap should you screw up. Don't screw up in other words.”
“No, ma’am,” the two aliens said in unison.
“Good. Check in with the XO when she is available. En … excuse me, Lieutenant Prometheus is currently keeping the duty roster among other things. See him for that.”
“I've already emailed them their schedule for the week, ma'am. Since both are department heads, they can make adjustments as needed.”
“Which they will once they've settled in and gotten to know the playing field,” Shelby said, looking up to the hidden speaker. Her eyes fell to the two aliens once more. The Naga was looking up with his rear eye set. “Dismissed, gentlemen.”
“Ma'am,” both said quietly as they stiffened, then clacked out. She wasn't sure how they could make clacking sounds on carpet, but they did. Once the tail of the Naga had S curled out of the hatch and the door had closed, she sat back and rocked in her chair.
“Problems with them, ma'am?” Prometheus asked.
“Eh? No. No, not that. I don't have a feel for them yet. Anything in scuttlebutt I should be aware of?”
“Not concerning them. I believe your steward has been chosen; a PO Bernard has just been added to the ship's crew list. No orders have been cut yet however.
“Okay, keep me posted. If you can, pull the records as you note them and …,” she smiled when the PO's record appeared on her tablet, “ let me and the XO get a look at them. Thank you,” she said.
“Just trying to be helpful, ma'am.”
“Well, you are. Good job,” she said as she picked up the tablet and then rocked slowly from side to side as she scrolled through the PO's record and bio.
“Ma'am, First Lieutenant Howard Jardin is at the lock reporting aboard,” Prometheus stated.
“Jardin? He's supposed to report tomorrow,” the captain said, looking up from her reading.
“He's here now, ma'am.”
“Have someone show him aboard then. I'll take him.”
“Yes, ma’am. He appears … ah. He wants to drop his gear off now he said, ma'am. He wishes to officially report aboard tomorrow.”
“Hmm,” Shelby murmured, tapping her lip. “Okay. He's the communication's department head, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay. Let him stow his gear. I have a feeling he wants some downtime tonight, right?”
“I'm getting that feeling myself, ma'am.”
“Very well. But if he reports aboard tomorrow drunk or disheveled, I'll have his ass. I don't run a sloppy ship. And if he has a hangover, I'll make him regret it. Thoroughly,” she growled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
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As additional personnel trickled in over the following two weeks, they reported to her for a quick meet and greet and then to the XO. She tried to scan each of their thumbnail bios, but it was difficult to keep it all straight with so many people coming and going. She knew that she'd get to know them better over time on the journey out.
Her intent to build the ship's company from the top down had been wishful thinking. She had a few holes in her departments, most noticeably her CMO and CE. The chief engineer was particularly vexing, though Oz had stepped up and was filling the empty shoes admirably.
In-between overseeing the ongoing repairs and refit, which was being drawn out way too long in her estimation, Shelby had to contend with Admiral Subert, his chief of staff, G-2, and others of the Pyrax senior staff. On top of the every-other-day interaction with one of them, she had to deal with Commodore X'll'rr, the nominal commander of TF3.2 also known as the Eastern Front commander.
The Veraxin liked to throw her weight around when it came time to allocating resources. It was almost a bidding process in some ways, but she had the edge since her orders came down from on high and her departure date was soonest while the commodore's was open-ended. The Veraxin was also focused on heavy metal warships, most noticeably capital ships which were in short supply in Pyrax. TF3.2 was supposed to be primarily a carrier-based task force, and she apparently didn't understand or refused to accept that fact.
For her part, Shelby knew she couldn't get anything larger than a heavy cruiser. But it didn't stop her from trying if only to settle for something she'd initially planned on getting anyway. She didn't want to appear as a doormat to the commodore and her staff after all.
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Cynthia noted the skipper was off ship, most likely in another conference so she checked the bridge then did a quick walkaround to get the pulse of the ship. She was settling into the XO slot fairly easy in her own humble opinion; it wasn't like she hadn't had enough practice! She'd been occupying the slot as well as her chief engineer slot for over a year. Oz had really stepped up as her XO in engineering country. She managed to finagle an overdue promotion to lieutenant JG for him, but couldn't go higher without losing his services. She didn't want to go over establishment. She knew it was a disservice to him, but had to resign herself to do something nice for him and his career to make up for it at a later date.
Oz was a big help overseeing Prometheus's refit, which was one of the reasons she didn't want to lose his services. He knew the ship almost as intimately as she and the skipper did; that was critical with the refit process. Perhaps more so in some areas since she'd delegated some tasks to him from time to time. He did his best to interact as an interface with the yard dogs since the ship was still missing a chief engineer.
They didn't just go over the basic overhaul checklist; they also moved in the ship's missing equipment that had been left out when she'd launched. The yard dogs also made a few adjustments and swapped out older equipment for newer updated equipment. Changes in the ship's stock specs would be minor, a few points shaved here and there, but as an engineer she appreciated the extra oomph when they needed to call on it.
She whistled softly as she went about her way before she returned to her office and the inevitable pile of electronic paperwork waiting for her. Lieutenant Prometheus seemed to take a positive zest in dumping it on her as his unofficial role as acting yeoman for the ship. She hoped that wasn't true; it probably wasn't smart or healthy to resent the ship's A.I. She couldn't help it; however, it was something that was nagging at her and growing.
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Without a proper planning staff, Shelby and her existing bridge crew stepped up to flesh out the outline from the Admiralty into a proper plan. The initial plan called for them to scout and to set up a base in Tau sector. While doing that, some of her warships were supposed to go on patrol, scouting the sector, establishing ties to the community while also providing aide and rooting out piracy. Shelby's specialist ships such as the hospital ship and engineering ships would make the rounds in the sector while under escort. They would help upgrade the various civilizations and address problems that they are confronted with to the best of their ability. All the while paving the way for the planets in the sector to rejoin the Federation.
She was pretty sure the goodwill would be a good incentive, but just getting rid of the pirate vermin once and for all so their planet's populations could live in peace would go a long way to put them on the path to rejoining the galactic community.
They had a list of tertiary objectives as well. Some were complex, some were seemingly simple on the surface but were time and logistics consuming. There would also be problems. Since for instance, the order to map the sector and routes into Upsilon sector would take an astrography team … which they were not going to have. And she couldn't dispatch her few ships to do the job, nor could she completely rely on any intelligence they picked up since it would be out-of-date and perhaps compromised, corrupted, or false.
At least there were no routes from Upsilon or Tau to the other sectors; everything ran through Rho. “What about the interdicted sector beyond Upsilon?” Cynthia asked as Shelby laid out that part of the plan.
“That's what it is, interdicted. We're not going to borrow trouble,” Shelby said as she shook her head.
“Oh. But what if trouble is in there and waiting to come out?” the XO asked, wrinkling her nose as she played with one of her curls, wrapping it around her finger.
“Tell it to wait a little longer,” Shelby said pointedly. Cynthia stuck her tongue out at her.
“Let sleeping dogs
lie is wise in my book. We don't need to go stumbling around and open up a hornets' nest of trouble,” Oz said softly.
Shelby snorted. “Oz is right; let's not go looking for trouble where we've been told specifically not to go looking. Where we happen to know trouble is already there. We'll have enough on our plate with Tau. I don't think we'll get to Upsilon for some time.”
“We don't even know what is there. Remember, Tau, Upsilon, and the rest of the outer rim are young stars. Many were only formed ten or twenty million years ago,” Cynthia pointed out. “I wonder …”
“You say that like it was yesterday,” Oz teased.
The XO turned to her former assistant with a mock glower. “Because in geological time it is. It is an eye blink. It takes billions of years to properly form a star system and a habitable planet.”
“Not necessarily. Not when people help the process along,” Shelby interjected. “But I see your point. What we don't know is how many of the terraformed worlds are still habitable. It isn't just the Xenos that their populations had to worry about. Artificial terraforming comes with risks.”
“Right. Like Kathy's World and some of the other planets in Rho. They have to be maintained or else they slip back into what they once were over time,” Oz agreed with a nod.
“Exactly,” Shelby replied with a nod to the Neogorilla.
“Suck up,” Cynthia mock accused. Oz turned to glower at the blond woman. She just glowered right back, knitting her eyebrows at him. He changed his expression, and she mirrored it. He chuffed in amusement, and she mimicked that as well.
“Children, please,” Shelby said with just the right amount of asperity in her voice to make the others in the room smile or chuckle. She shook her head mournfully. “I can't take you anywhere, honestly,” she said.