by D. J. Holmes
After finishing his list of requirements, James began to work on his battle report. He had not had time to work on it since he had left sickbay. All his efforts had been given over to getting Drake and the colony ship ready to depart as soon as possible but Commodore West would be expecting a full report.
When the navigation officer announced they were coming up to Excalibur James was surprised by how quickly the time had passed. He had been lost in his thoughts reliving the battle. Writing the report had given him a chance to reflect on the life he had nearly lost. Between Christine, his growing love for the navy and his quest to rebuild his family name he had a lot to live for. He had nearly lost it all. Even though he knew they had saved almost forty thousand colonists he wasn’t sure he would make the same decision again. He had acted in the heat of the moment, not considering the implications of his actions when he had given the final order to close with the colony ship. As he thought about it he wasn’t sure that he was prepared to risk his future with Christine so easily. Still, now he had a second chance to make sure he got the things he wanted out of life.
As Drake excited shift space on the edge of the Excalibur system the bridge crew were on full alert. Within seconds the ships passive sensors were flooded with lots of data. “Tactical, what have you got?” James asked.
“Our gravimetric sensors are picking up a number of ships maneuvering around the system sir. They all appear to be following typical routes for system pickets. Around the planet itself, our passives have picked up a number electromagnetic radiation sources. The computer has identified Commodore West’s heavy cruiser Avenger and Rear Admiral Jensen’s Valkyrie. There are also at least another fifteen warships in orbit.”
“Thank you Sub Lieutenant Becket,” James responded. There were more ships in orbit around Excalibur than he had expected but if there had been a fight at V17 then it was likely some of the damaged ships were here affecting repairs. Satisfied there were no hostile threats in the system James stood to retire to his office. “Becket, you have the bridge,” he said as he turned and walked out.
*
James waited patiently as he sat in the adjacent room to Rear Admiral Jensen’s office aboard HMS Valkyrie. As Drake had made her way to settle into orbit around Excalibur, he had been surprised to get a summons to appear on board Valkyrie. Strictly speaking he was still under Commodore West’s command even though he would have to take Drake back to Britannia. Yet here he was. After only ten minutes, the Admiral’s aide appeared at the door and ushered him in before leaving James alone with the Rear Admiral.
As he entered Jensen stood and stepped towards James taking his hand. “Congratulations Commander, you pulled off quite a victory, I’m suitably impressed.”
Slightly embarrassed, James knew not to contradict a superior officer but he couldn’t help himself. “I’m sorry sir, but have you seen the damage reports on Drake? I allowed my command to be turned into a wreck.”
“Nonsense,” Jensen insisted waving her hand as if the damage was nothing. “You did better than anyone could have expected and from the way Governor Olsson tells it you’ll be receiving the Swedish Medal of the Sword. It’s the highest military medal they can award to a foreign national. You should be proud.”
“I am sir,” James quickly responded. “Proud of Drake and her crew but I didn’t expect to receive any praise for my actions. I was just doing my duty, that’s why we were at New Stockholm in the first place.”
At that last sentence Jensen lowered her eyebrows and gave James a piercing stare. “I must say, I was surprised to see Vice Admiral Cunningham send you to New Stockholm. After your contributions so far I thought you would have come in useful at V17. Have you and the Vice Admiral a history?”
Wincing, James tried to control his emotions before replying, her change of tact had caught him off guard. “We knew each other from the academy. He took advanced tactics and I was in his tutorial group for the simulator side of the class. Before we met here two months ago, I counted him as a mentor of sorts.” Looking down James reluctantly let out his next sentence, “I believe the Vice Admiral received a message from the King before he departed for the Void.”
“I see,” Jensen said carefully, a look of concern on her face. “Well, as I’m sure you can guess everyone is familiar with the news reports about Princess Christine. I guess it’s not too hard to read between the lines.”
Sitting down again Jensen motioned for James to join her at the other side of the desk. “In that case I have some good news for you. I’m not as close to the King as Vice Admiral Cunningham and I know a good officer when I see one. I have an offer for you. You may have noticed we have a few more ships here in Excalibur than strictly necessary, my own flagship included.” As James nodded she continued. “Well, we’ll be departing as soon as we finish up our repairs. We’re needed back at V17 as soon as we are ready.”
James nodded again; he assumed something had happened at V17 to let the four destroyers escape to attack New Stockholm.
As he didn’t say anything Jensen continued. “In order to break the blockade we have set up around V17, Chinese Admiral Zheng feinted a large attack with his battleships. As we gathered our fleet into one unit a number of fast destroyers broke from the Chinese fleet and managed to get to the hyper limit. We tried to stop them but the Chinese Admiral brought his fleet into range and we exchanged a number of missile salvos. We only received minimal damage, as did they, but it was enough of a distraction to allow the destroyers to escape.”
Though he didn’t want to delay the good news, James also couldn’t help asking, “What about the three destroyers that escaped from New Stockholm?”
“Sadly for them they decided to make a run at Excalibur,” Jensen said grinning. “They came out of shift space almost right on top of my squadron as we were returning here for repairs. Once Voyager and the other pursuing ships got here, they were all but trapped. Two of them were destroyed and the third took some damage before it reached the mass shadow and jumped out. Vice Admiral Cunningham sent word back to say that it managed to slip through the blockade and return to V17.”
“Good,” was all James said though on the inside he was more than happy. Any Captain that was prepared to be involved in a mission whose’s goal was to fire on civilian ships deserved getting caught under Jensen’s guns.
As Jensen continued James’ interest perked. “You can read the report of course. Why I’m telling you this is because one of the destroyers under my command took a proximity hit that momentarily knocked out her inertial dampeners. A quarter of her crew were killed and another two dozen severely injured. Her Captain was among the dead. I want you to take command.”
As she paused to await James’ response, he tried to speak. Feeling like he was back in sickbay aboard Drake he worked his jaw to try and say something as his mouth had gone completely dry. As the shock wore off he managed to get out a response.
“I’m honored sir, really I am. But I don’t have command experience on a warship. Surly there is a frigate commander with the experience to make a more appropriate Captain?”
Smiling Jensen answered, “under other circumstances you may be right but we are at war. You may only be the commander of an exploration ship but you have proven yourself in combat. I’ve requested that you be seconded to my command from Commodore West’s. She has already said yes.”
Pushing over a datapad to James, she continued, “I have given you a field promotion to Captain. I’m sure if you prove yourself the Admiralty will be happy to make it official at a later date. Right now I want you to go over to Raptor and officially take command. Once you have a feel for the situation there, you’re going to need to begin to fill in the missing personnel. You’ll find some men and women from among the other ships here in Excalibur that are ready for a promotion and so can fill in some of the gaps aboard Raptor. For the rest I suggest you take as many as can be spared from Drake.”
Nodding, James asked, “What is to happen to her?”
“Thank you sir,” James said with relief. He was half afraid Jensen was going to appoint someone else to take command of Drake and take her home for repairs. “Drake will be in good hands with her.”
“Very good Captain, now you have a lot to do. I suggest you make your way to Raptor and get to work. After you officially take command and get settled in, I want you to report to HMS Ghost at sixteen hundred hours. Captain Lightfoot is expecting you. The rest of the squadron and I will be returning to V17 but the Admiralty has something else planned for you two.
Recognizing the dismissal James rose. Before turning to leave he shook Rear Admiral Jensen’s hand again. “I want to thank you again sir, I won’t forget this opportunity.”
*
As James approached HMS Raptor, he couldn’t help but stare out the shuttle’s viewport with an open mouth. He had always thought Chinese ships were beautiful but Raptor had a beauty all of her own. At twenty eight thousand tones Raptor was the largest destroyer the RSN had yet built. She was three hundred and four meters long and at her widest point she had a beam of sixty meters and a height of fifty. Armed with four heavy plasma cannons, each of which made Drake’s look like peashooters, she could handle herself in a close fight. For longer-range engagements, she had two forward and rear missile tubes and a broadside of six missiles tubes on both her starboard and port sides. Her streamlined construction reminded James of a cross between a battleship and a submarine from the old 20th Century wet navies. Her sleek hull mimicked that of a submarine while the large plasma cannons poking out above her superstructure gave her the menacing look of those ancient battleships.
With a crew of two hundred she was designed to easily defeat anything smaller than herself and the strategists back at the Admiralty believed that with the RSN advantage in missile ECM she should be able to take on a Chinese light cruiser and put up a good fight. That was yet to be proven, for only six of the Crusader class destroyers had been finished when the war broke out. To his knowledge none had seen real close quarters combat yet.
As the shuttle rose up over the bow of Raptor to approach the shuttle bay James caught a glimpse of another identical ship orbiting Excalibur. With the shuttle’s view screen he zoomed in on the ship to see her name. HMS Ghost. So it seemed the Admiralty had a plan for their two Crusader class destroyers in the Void. As the shuttle docked, James took a moment before stepping off the shuttle and prepared himself to officially take command of his first warship.
Chapter 21 – A New Beginning
Destroyers are the workhorses of any fleet. In peace they are typically used as system pickets, convoy escorts and pirate hunters. In war, their fast acceleration and impressive stealth capabilities make them ideal for operating behind enemy lines. Yet, when larger fleet battles break out, they are always in the thick of the action helping to protect their bigger sisters.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD
21st April 2465 AD, HMS Raptor, Excalibur.
Stepping off the shuttle, James was greeted by a loud shrill noise bombarding his ears. After a few seconds, it began to break apart into the recognizable sounds of a pipe and drum band welcoming their new Captain aboard. As both feet came to rest on Raptor’s deck he offered a crisp salute to the assembled officers and crew. Not all the crew could fit into the shuttle hanger but a great many had tried.
A young looking man in an officer’s uniform stepped out of the crowd and offered his hand. He had to shout over the din of the welcoming band, “Welcome aboard Captain, my name is Lieutenant Romanov.”
James had to push down the tension that suddenly gripped his body. For the last half-century the Russians had been the bogeymen of children’s bedtime stories. Yet, after the Russian government had fled Earth with a significant part of their population, hundreds of millions had been left behind. At present, the old geographical area that had been Russia was a war torn patchwork of rival warlords. Some of the surrounding nations had begun to claim territory for themselves but with the possibilities in space no one wanted the expense of having to pacify a militant population. The costs simply outweighed the benefits. Over the years though, many Russians had escaped old Russia and sought to make new lives throughout Earth, and indeed, all the human colonies. No doubt Lieutenant Romanov’s parents or grandparents had been such people. Still, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was sure Romanov had struggled in the RSN because of his background. If James’ initial reaction had been one of caution, others would react with outright hostility.
With that thought James resolved to give Romanov all the respect he deserved as a RSN officer. Pushing away the last tension that had coiled around his body, he refocused on what the lieutenant was saying. “I was the third Lieutenant aboard Raptor but when our inertial dampeners failed Herrick, our First Lieutenant was severely injured and sadly Second Lieutenant Sanders died with the Captain on the bridge. I’ve been acting as the senior commanding officer for the last two days.”
Nodding, James made a mental note to review everything Romanov had done in the last two days. It couldn’t have been easy to be thrust from Third Lieutenant to senior commanding officer in the blink of an eye. James knew from personal experience; although he had been given a small survey ship not a damaged warship! A mistake or two would be understandable. As the last vestiges of the bos’n’s pipes and drums died down, James replied, “Thank you Lieutenant Romanov, you have put together a fitting welcoming reception.” Speaking louder for everyone to hear James continued, “I have to say that as the shuttle approached Raptor I got a good look at her. In my humble opinion she’s the finest looking warship in the British navy. I’m looking forward to taking command and I’m sure you all will live up to the reputation the late Captain Hooker has already established for Raptor, thank you all for your welcome.”
As he eyed the assembled crew he knew he had chosen the right words. On the shuttle ride over he had been able to briefly review Raptor’s files and he had seen enough to guess Captain Hooker had been well respected and would be missed. No doubt the crew were apprehensive about getting a new Captain and he wanted to win their trust as soon as possible. With whatever Jensen and the Admiralty had planned for them, they would likely need to be working as a team fast.
Lowering his voice again James turned back to face Lieutenant Romanov, “Do you have the necessary ship wide COM set up?”
“Yes sir,” Romanov replied, “this way.” As Romanov led him through a gap in the assembled crowd, James fished in his jacket pocket to pull out his orders. They were printed on an old fashioned piece of paper. It was a tradition going back almost a thousand years in the Royal Navy and it had been carried over into the Royal Space Navy. When they came to the podium, Romanov stepped out of the way and allowed James to stand behind it. When Romanov had taken his place back among the assembled crew he shouted, “Crew, about turn.”
With a single motion the crew turned through one hundred degrees and stood to attention with the sharp clang of their leading feet stamping on the shuttle deck. Looking down, James could see the podium was keyed into the ship wide COM so every crew member could hear him.
“Crew members of HMS Raptor,” he began in a slow measured pace. “I am Captain James Somerville. I have with me orders issued by Rear Admiral Orla Jensen on behalf of the Admiralty, they read; ‘Captain James Somerville upon receipt of these orders you are to report aboard HMS Raptor and assume the full responsibilities of the commanding officer. You are to carry out your duty in service to your country and your King. Upon reading these orders aboard Raptor to her crew you will be designated her Captain.”
Folding the piece of pap
er, James carefully put it back in his jacket pocket. He knew he would be getting it preserved as a keepsake. Then he looked back at the assembled crew. This was the point when Captains were often expected to make elaborate speeches to introduce themselves and impress the crew. James had already dismissed that idea; there was work to be done. “Crew members of Raptor, it’s a pleasure to have the privilege of being your Captain but I’m going to end the formalities here. I believe we will be getting new orders to leave Excalibur within the next twenty-four hours. That means we all have work to do if we’re going to be ready in time. I’ll be making a full inspection of each department once I have reviewed the ship’s logs. Until then I trust you to carry out your duty. You are all dismissed.”