Scout Force

by Rodney Smith

  “I was escorted to flag country and turned over to a stone-faced Fighter Force Lieutenant Colonel, wearing an aide de camp aiguillette on his shoulder. He told me to take a seat and wait. I waited. I waited over an hour before General Bugarov came in. She looked over at me with cold fury on her face. She had some short quiet words with her aide and went into her office. CPT Johnstone, her JAG, followed her minutes later. I waited an hour longer.”

  “LTC Matthews and CPT Willis came into the anteroom and came over to me.”

  “He asked me what was going on. Like me, they were met when they landed and escorted to flag country.”

  “I told him the same had happened to me and that I had been waiting over two hours. I explained what happened with the three K’Rang corvettes and how I was able to get the damage simulator to release control of my ship. LTC Matthews went over to the general’s aide, but was told he was to take a seat and wait.”

  “We were ushered into General Bugarov’s office after yet another hour of waiting. CPT Johnstone stood behind her. I was ordered to report in. I moved in front of her desk, saluted and reported.”

  “She looked up stone-faced and began, “2LT Kelly Blake, you are charged with three counts of willful disobedience of a direct order. To wit, you did willfully disobey a direct order not to engage K’Rang units without a superior force. You disobeyed a direct order to maintain tight formation during this exercise. You also disobeyed a direct order from your squadron commander to maintain your position until a recovery ship came and got you. You are charged with lying to a superior officer. To wit, LTC Matthews, your squadron commander, when you reported that your ship was disabled. You are also charged with conduct prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the service and with conduct unbecoming an officer. To wit, the above named offenses. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be taken down and used against you. You have the right to counsel and to have them present at all proceedings. If you understand these charges and your rights under the Galactic Code of Military Justice, indicate your acceptance on the tablet in front of you.’”

  “I was just about to protest that I didn’t know what she was talking about when Admiral Haddock-Halloway walked into her office. He looked around at what was going on and told Bugarov to send everyone away. He needed to talk to her now.”

  “We were ushered quickly out of her office by her aide and told to stand by.”

  “LTC Matthews came over and told me that this was bullshit. He would do everything in my power to get me cleared. He wouldn’t let her do this. There were safeguards in effect that would keep her from running roughshod over my rights.”

  “Just at that time Admiral Haddock-Halloway stuck his head out the general’s door and told us we were all excused and there would be no charges pressed here today.”

  We went back to the hangar deck and saw evidence tape securing my cockpit and a Marine standing guard. LTC Matthews called all of us into his office.”

  “He remarked that the episode we’d just witnessed was interesting and that she was obviously overruled. He told me not to let my guard down and that the little drill in her office was personal. She sealed my ship, so no one could check out my story. She probably had every tech in the fleet pouring over my ship with a fine tooth comb.”

  Kelly paused for a moment before continuing on. “Well, I wasn’t charged with anything. The fighter's record of the exercise and combat matched my story exactly. That didn’t stop General Bugarov from drumming me out of Fighter Force and sending me here. Of course, Admiral Haddock-Halloway’s parting shot at her was when he presented me with the Space Medal for my action against the K’Rang ships. After the ceremony, he called me into his office for a talk.”

  “He told me that he couldn’t stop her from reassigning me out of the Force. It wasn’t right, but it was within her authority and he couldn’t overrule her on that. He told me he’d take me on his staff, but thought that would cause him more trouble than he needed right then. He did thank me for saving his ship. If those corvettes had gotten through, they could have done serious damage to us. He told me that once General Bugarov leaves and if I wanted it, I could have a place on his staff. I was just to let him know and he’d arrange it. No matter where she sent me, he’d get me out.”

  Kelly looked in Tammy’s eyes, “The rest of the story you know.”

  Tammy uncoiled out of Kelly’s arms and said, “It’s a wonder that someone like her rose to such a high position. Is she still there?”

  “As far as I know. That’s enough about me. Shouldn’t we be heading back now? The sun is getting pretty low in the sky.”

  “Yes, help me with the cooler. I’ll carry the cooker. Take the blanket and towels. If you’ll get the anchor from up the beach, I’ll get the skimmer started.”

  Kelly stowed everything, pulled up the bow anchor, and coiled the line. He climbed onboard, secured the bow anchor and line, and pulled them away from shore with the stern anchor line. They got dressed as they made the run back to base.

  Chapter Six

  The post-refit re-launching ceremony was not much of a ceremony. Admiral Craddock made a short speech. The crew, standing out in the hot sun in their dress uniforms, appreciated the brevity. Then the crew boarded, lifted the ship, and moved it from the dry dock a quarter mile to the spaceport. From start to finish, the ceremony lasted 35 minutes.

  It took the crew another two weeks to sort out all the things the yard crew had gotten wrong. The crew moved all their gear on board and stocked the ship for a patrol. Kelly spent much of the time crawling through every space onboard the ship, following cable raceways and piping. If there was a problem with the ship he wanted to be able to track down the source.

  He also spent time learning the crew. Chief Blankenship, from the simulator, was the head of the sensor section. Chief Miller ran engineering. Chief Pennypacker ran the gunnery section. Chief Billings, the Quartermaster, ran the bridge crew. Chief Mess Management Specialist “Cookie” Austin ran the galley. Corpsman “Doc” Kumar ran sickbay. Yeoman First Class Benitez was the admin specialist. Kelly watched the crew work together and looked for tensions or problems that might come up during the patrol. With the exception of some normal ribbing for the new crewmembers (including Kelly), the crew was harmonious and worked very well together. The chiefs were firm, but fair in the real sense of the term. They looked out for their people and made sure each knew his own job and the job of the person next up in the chain of command. It was a good crew.

  The chiefs took great pleasure teaching Kelly their jobs. Gunnery was a cinch after his performance in the simulator. Sensors took a little bit longer. Each sensor package required a different technique. With ten different sensor arrays, it took him a while to gain a sense of how they worked. He’d never be a techie, but he thought he understood what the sensors were doing. Engineering was made easier by how much automation had been worked into the system. Simulator time had taught him all the positions on the bridge.

  His attempts in the galley were his only failure. He was just not meant to be a cook. His soufflé fell. He burned the roast. His baked potatoes came out crispy. The only thing he prepared properly was coffee. If anything good came from his stint in the galley, it was a healthy respect for the cooks and their work.

  During the shakedown flights, things went smoothly. A few glitches came up, but the crew resolved them quickly and efficiently. The captain put them through drills and still the crew came through brilliantly. True to his word, the captain gave him (and all the helmsmen) the controls and let them have their way. To his credit, he didn’t spill a drop of food in the galley, while he got the feel of the ship. The artificial gravity and stabilizers really did their job. He missed the feel of G-forces pushing him down in his seat, but he would get used to this.

  At the end of three weeks, the captain got called one morning to meet with the admiral. When he came back, he called Kelly and Chief Watson into his cabin’s conference room.

 
; “We got our orders. We have been ordered to the K’Rang frontier. We are to patrol along the buffer zone adjacent to the Aquila and Sagittarius sectors. The K’Rangs are supposed to have developed a new remote reconnaissance drone and we are to see if we can gain any information on this drone. There are indications that the K’Rang have been running it across the frontier into Galactic Republic space. As you know, that sector of space is almost completely dark space. There are only five or six solar systems in that area. Only one of them, 6664, has a habitable planet. We are to try and find out what the K’Rang are so interested in.”

  Chief Watson spoke up. “Captain, maybe that’s just how they conduct operational testing of their systems.”

  “No, Chief, if they were going to do operational testing, they have plenty of their own space to do that. Fleet Intel think they are after something in that sector, but they haven’t a clue what that might be. They haven’t gotten a track on one of these, but they did intercept some strange signals in the Scutum sector, right here in the middle of our patrol area. The habitable solar system is in there.”

  Kelly asked, “So when do we leave, Captain?”

  “We leave in three days and will be gone for a month. I won’t tell the crew what our mission is until we are underway. No talking about this, except among us three. Chief, plot our fastest course to Sagittarius Sector. Exec, study the patrol sector so you know your way around with your eyes closed. Look for any stellar objects that may not be connected with the planetary systems. I want you to know everything we can use to hide near or behind, if we need to. That is all for now. Let’s see what Cookie has cooked up for us.”

  Lunch was magnificent. Even though patrol ships of this size didn’t normally run their galleys when in port, Cookie had new galley equipment he was training his team on and had a training exemption. The main new addition to the galley was a synthesizer. It was supposed to be able to take trash and turn it into edible copies of common food items. Cookie wasn’t ready to try to create an entree with it, but he found it made excellent soups, stews, drinks, and snacks. Cookie had made a soup using fresh ingredients and one in the synthesizer. Neither the two officers nor Chief Watson could tell the difference. Coffee made in the pot and made in the synthesizer tasted the same. When Cookie served them beer, the captain pulled the plug until they could figure out how to lock that output and any other alcoholic spirit without using the captain’s password.

  “Kelly, do you have our requisitions into base supply yet?

  “No, Captain. I was about to send them off when you came back from seeing the admiral.”

  “I left a list back in my cabin. When we finish here, see me for the list and add it to our requisitions. They might come in handy on this mission.”

  “Aye aye, Captain.”

  * * * * *

  The third morning arrived. Kelly rolled over and kissed Tammy on her bare back. She squirmed contentedly. By the time he loaded his gear bag, Tammy had made coffee and handed him a cup. She looked beautiful in her blue silk robe, and a little sad.

  “You haven’t said how long you’ll be gone.”

  “No, Tammy, I haven’t. I’ll get back when I get back. That’s all I can tell you. I don’t even know how long this patrol will be.”

  “You take care of yourself out there. There are no strings between us, but I would like to see you when you come back.”

  “I’ll be back. Don’t get too lonely while I’m gone.”

  “Oh, I won’t, but I’ll always make time for you.”

  Kelly kissed her goodbye, picked up his bag, and went out to find a shuttle. He got to the ship before LCDR Timmons and stowed his gear. He walked through the ship, checking that everything was ready for patrol. Cookie handed him a cup of coffee as he passed the galley. Chief Pennypacker verified that the turrets were bore sighted so they would fire forward, aligned with the forward-firing cannons. Kelly had suggested to the captain that as nimble as the Vigilant was, having all nine barrels firing forward could make for a lot of firepower. It could come in handy in the right situation. Kelly had Chief Pennypacker put a computer program in to slew all turrets forward on command from the bridge.

  As he proceeded to the stern, he checked sensor diagnostics with Chief Blankenship. They were all operating at full efficiency. He looked into the crews’ quarters. Petty Officer third class Stinson was recovering from a bout of food poisoning, acquired on leave in the southern hemisphere. Corpsman Kumar was tending to him. All the rest of the crew was on watch or at breakfast. As he completed his inspection, he found that engineering was immaculate, as usual. Chief Miller fretted over Kelly’s coffee mug, in fear that he might spill coffee on something. The captain, Kelly, and Chief Watson were the only people allowed to bring coffee into Engineering. Kelly complimented Chief Miller on the state of Engineering and thanked him for keeping watch on the refit crew.

  “Thank you, sir, now please get your coffee out of here.”

  Kelly left, laughing, and went back to the galley. Cookie had his favorite, biscuits and gravy with two eggs, ready and waiting for him. He sat down with Corpsman Kumar and asked about Stinson.

  “He’ll be all right, sir. I warn these guys about the local establishments down south, but they don’t all listen. Stinson might listen to me in the future.”

  LCDR Timmons came in, loaded his tray, and sat down with Kelly. “How’s it look, Exec?

  “I just did a walk around from bridge to engineering. Looks pretty ship shape to me, Captain. I think we’re ready. The extra equipment you had me order came in last night. It’s stowed in engineering.”

  “I haven’t seen Chief Watson yet, have you?”

  Kelly looked up. “Here he comes now, Captain.”

  Chief Watson went through the chow line and came over and sat down. Corpsman Kumar finished eating and left to give them the table to themselves.

  “Chief, are all the crew aboard and ready for patrol?”

  “Yes, Captain, all present and either at their duty stations or here in the galley, except Stinson. He’s in his bunk, recovering from a case of stupid. As soon as he gets well, his butt is mine. Kumar told him the places to stay away from down south.”

  “Okay, then. We’ll secure the quarterdeck watch at 0900. Request permission from Port to launch and be on our way. Nobody leaves the ship without my permission.”

  Kelly excused himself and went to his cabin to check for last minute messages or changes to their orders. He had transferred Wanda’s personality file into his personal terminal. He wasn’t the captain, so couldn’t load his old fighter’s AI on the main computer, but she didn’t seem to mind being in just a terminal. She told him there were no official messages, but he had a few personal messages. One was from his parents, telling him when they would arrive and that they would be staying in VIP quarters on base, rather than having to do the daily shuttle from the civilian sector east of the base. Kelly sent them a message that he would see them when he got back. The second message was from Candy Craddock, wishing him a bon voyage and to be careful. She also said that she hoped he would come see her when he got back from patrol. The next message was a video file from Tammy, obviously created shortly after he left, she started the video wearing a towel, and got dressed for work while telling him to be careful and that she would be here when he got back. The last message was from LT Bell, wishing him good luck and thanking him for the suggestions helping to make their refit go smoother. Kelly looked at the time display, locked the computer and went to his launch position on the bridge.

  The captain was already in his seat. Kelly sat down beside him.

  LDCR Timmons keyed his mike and said, “Chief Watson, bring up the gangplank and secure the quarterdeck watch.”

  Kelly heard the gangplank come up and lock in place. He felt a slight pressure change in his ears, signifying a good seal on the gangplank. Chief Watson joined them and reported the gangplank up, locked, and the quarterdeck watch secured. The ship was ready for space.

  The c
aptain keyed his mike again. “Antares Base, this is Vigilant requesting permission to take off.

  “Vigilant, this is Antares Base, you are cleared for take off. Good luck and good hunting.”

  “Helmsman, take us up. Yeoman, start the log.”

  Kelly consciously kept his hand away from the controls. He was the exec, not the pilot. The ship rose smoothly, made a slow turn to port, and moved out to the west. After the ship was over the lake, the helmsman added power and pulled back on the yoke. The ship smoothly rose up, as the blue of the sky turned to the inky black of space.

  “Chief, would you enter our course?”

  “Aye aye, Captain. Navigator, your course is coming up.”

  “Helm, as soon as we clear the minimum safety distance, engage power 3 light speed and let’s get out of here.”

  The helmsman replied, “Course is locked in, minimum safety range in five seconds, four, three, two, one, engaging power 3 light speed.”

  The change over to FTL was smooth and the only indication of the change in speed was a slight blurring of stars in the view screen. The captain got up from his seat and said, “Exec, you have the conn. Chief Watson, join me in my ready room.”

  Kelly answered, “I have the conn.”

  The captain and the chief went into the ready room. Chief Billings came up and took Chief Watson’s seat. One of the galley crew brought fresh coffee. Kelly kept up a sharp watch on the sensors until they left the orbital plane of the farthest planet of the Antares system. They were now in clear space. It was never safe for FTL ships inside a system. There was always the chance that an in-system ship without a flight plan would move into their path. Kelly relaxed slightly and increased the sensor range as the helmsman increased speed in accordance with the course specified by Chief Watson. Chief Billings was just about to make a correction when the navigator increased the navigation shield’s strength in sync with the greater speed.