Interloper (The Askirti Chronicles Book 1)

by Danny Brown

  Out of the sixty some-odd survivors of the Colt that could return to active duty, only about half of them were on the Nemesis. With the Nemesis being crewed by many thousands of people, there was room for that number and more. The Colt alumni had been met with open arms into the Nemesis family.

  One topic that had caught Jeri’s attention was the maneuverability of this beast. Though it dwarfed heavy cruisers in size, it could not only outrun them but out maneuver every heavy cruiser in the Federation thanks to an upgraded propulsion system that eventually would make its way into every ship at time of refit.

  Unbelievable, he thought to himself. She carries death in all its varieties, even unheard of speeds!

  The stealth was on-par with that of the heavy cruisers but was declared an ‘improvement.' The issue being how do you hide something so massive? That it compares with the level of stealth the cruisers could achieve was an apparent technological marvel, though Jeri had his doubts.

  All this firepower and it was almost brought to ruins by a single, incompetent leader.

  Jeri grimaced. He was determined to be the leader that his wife, Ester saw in him. He would be the man his XO needed him to be. There was no way he would allow this commission to make him grow in complacency, thinking himself invincible. If anything, it would make him more diligent and paranoid that he was covering all his bases.

  To he who much is given, much is required, he mused.

  ##

  Jackie had overseen the integration of the “backup bridge” within the flag bridge. The area was so large, only a few compromises were needed, and the commodore seemed more than happy to make them. The drawback to its locations was being under the thumb of the commodore should battle erupt. There was a reason the flag bridge was a separate entity unto itself, but compromises had to be reached for this ship to be at its highest state of readiness.

  Between fielding questions from techs, she was studying the same information Jeri was. She needed to be prepared to lead this ship in the event of her own captain’s demise, the only other person in existence to whom she felt a genuine connection. She knew Jeri, knew he would work the hardest out of everyone onboard to be the best at what he does. And she would not be doing her job if she did not try to match him in every area.

  She furiously worked her tablet over, studying the technical specifications of the Titan-class battlecarrier, reviewing the operational manuals for every likely thing she thought she could find herself touching, and reviewing materials on tactics, many of which were theoretical. Not that the Federation lacked in tactics, but as the technology changed, the tactics were slow to follow. Her Askirti heritage allowed her to absorb information rapidly, not just to remember, but to understand. With that comprehension came understanding, with that understanding came the realization their tactics for combat in fleet formations were wrong and did not play to their strengths as well as they might otherwise. She typed at a furious pace.

  ##

  Tabitha sat back mostly and watched as a corner of the flag bridge, so beautiful and pristine, had been ripped up to make way for the new backup bridge. The backup bridge was a tactic she soundly endorsed, though had they had any idea they would be in combat. She doubted the obnoxious Captain Breaux would have utilized it. She did not relish the thought of the Nemesis being so helpless again after they lost their primary bridge in an ambush. Thankfully Captain De Vitis inherited a very nice CIC, which was every bit as nice as the original bridge for the Nemesis.

  The installation of the equipment was complete, and the XO ran the techs around ruthlessly. She watched with amusement at the energy of the Nemesis’ new XO. Part of her amusement was the level of distraction she was to the male techs and staffers. One made the mistake of making a pass at her, it was then he learned the meaning of the nickname ‘Ice Queen’ that Tabitha had seen in her file, and now witnessed. She laid into him with a certain finesse that makes people believe they are in mortal danger. That tech later requested reassignment to a different section of the ship, along with three others with eyes for Jackie. Tabitha felt relatively sure between the XO’s beauty and her small frame that a certain level of coldness was required for people to take her seriously.

  “Commodore,” she heard called out. As she turned, she saw Commander Campo approaching her.

  “Yes, what may I do for you, Commander?”

  “Sir, I was reviewing the standard tactics for a fleet configuration this size, and I have some changes I would like to suggest.”

  That was not what Tabitha would have guessed she was going to say.

  “And since when did you learn how we would choose to leverage this ship or this fleet?”

  Commander Campo blushed. “I’m an excellent speed reader, sir,” she responded.

  “And what exactly brought you to the conclusion that our tactics are inadequate or in need of your changes?”

  The XO’s demeanor seemed to change. She looked down for a few moments, considering her response.

  “Sir, we were ambushed. The captain of this ship froze. Many good people died who did not need to. We have a serious problem in that how many other captains are a Captain Breaux, depending on the look of might without the practical implementation of such.”

  Bold but treading on thin ice.

  “While your point is well made, do you have anything else to justify my time reviewing your tactics other than the suspicion of incompetence in our leaders?”

  Jackie blushed even brighter.

  “Sir, imagine if five captains froze up. We have a situation whereby not being at war, we have promoted people by political capital and not on merit alone.”

  “People like me?”

  Tabitha thought if the XO blushed any brighter she might pass out.

  “Perhaps.”

  Career ending, if it was not someone else. But in these circumstances, I will take the uncanny assessment.

  “Okay,” she admitted, granted Jackie some slack. Tabitha agreed with Jackie, but it was hard to have that kind of open conversation with a subordinate. “You never did answer my question. Do you have anything else to justify my time reviewing your tactics?”

  “Sir, the short of it is we have improved our technology, but have not changed our tactics. We certainly need to get rid of some captains, but that is a policy decision. Our tactics were created around ship designed two generations old and are so old, our enemies all know them inside and out. Take the improvements in our stealth for a ship of this size, do we really need the same formations? Or our maneuverability? Most of the old tactics were designed around a slow, easy to spot large, high-value target. We are not so slow anymore, and are more stealthy. And we actually have much greater firepower.”

  “I see. And how does our personnel issue feed into this?”

  Crap, I just admitted to her my agreement! Tabitha thought.

  “Until we perform maneuvers and even war games, we cannot depend on the reactions of our cruisers and destroyers. I’m sure that most are fine, but look what happened to the Nemesis, and how unique is that or is it unique at all?”

  The commander handed her a data chip.

  “Summarize what I will find on this.”

  “Basically,” Jackie started, “we need to space the ships out more. The improvements to the Titan-class negate much of the close support. There a few ship placement changes, but it’s all evolutionary, not revolutionary. The ships in this fleet have changed since developing those tactics. I’ve created a category per type of enemy to provide optimal effectiveness whether it is a set of pirates or a Zikar task force. I’ve also include recommendations for variances based on enemy task force composition and which ships may be in our fleet at the time.”

  This woman intends to skip the rank of captain and take my job one day.

  ##

  That evening, Tabitha was reviewing the tactics proposed by the XO. She saw the if-then scenarios, the algorithms for what to do with what flavor of the enemy is. Each change included an in-depth analysis
and justification for such change. While most of it was evolutionary, some of it, well…. how did she think of that? At this point, she decided it would be best to bust out the simulators and plug these updates into them to measure estimated benefit over standard tactics.

  The flag bridge included an advanced and dedicated AI-based computer for running scenarios with inputting limited parameters. While it was far from perfect, it was useful for determining the overall effectiveness of a strategy given a set of circumstances.

  What she found was some of the new tactics scored a three hundred percent increase in effectiveness of the fleet for a given scenario. Not believing her eyes, she plugged in the parameters for more run of the mill situations and found improvements across the board, ranging from ten percent to fifty-three percent.

  She handed this to me, simple changes that will compound our effectiveness without building new ships! She asked for no credit for it either.

  She then updated her own algorithms, ones that would be used in real combat.

  ##

  It was late in the evening, Jackie was still hard at work on the now empty flag bridge. She was testing each console and retesting it to ensure it worked properly. It was important this worked right the first time and worked in an expected manner. The inclusion on the flag bridge meant they needed to set up a faux wall, at least to reduce the noise that could create confusion during a battle. The new “battle bridge” was not completely walled off, the new wall did not go to the ceiling and mostly provided a noise barrier.

  The mini-bridge was configured to approximate the bridge of the WFS Colt. Small and efficient. While not ideal, it would do in a pinch.

  Rick came in, bringing food with him.

  “Hi Jackie, thought perhaps you were hungry and might need someone to fetch something for you to eat!” Rick said enthusiastically. “Hungry?”

  Just then, Jackie’s stomach let out a massive rumble, probably caused by the smell of food which she had not had today.

  “Yes, quite. Thank you for bringing this.”

  “Alright, well, I brought enough for two, so it’s a date!”

  Jackie’s eye got wide.

  “Relax. I know I came on a bit strong before, but I would like to get to know you. Even if it’s just this.”

  “Just this, Rick?” Jackie said, taking a mouthful of food faster than she thought she would.

  “I like being around you, what can I say,” he said playfully. “Besides, you need me!”

  That got an eyebrow from her. “I need you?” she asked half mockingly.

  “Yes, you do. Food delivery services, you know!”

  She laughed.

  “I like hearing you laugh, it a beautiful sound.”

  She said nothing.

  “Not something I will rub in, but I do have to point out it mostly happens when you are with me!” Rick happily stated.

  “Okay, so your point?” she deadpanned as she munched.

  “You have one person you never have to hide your fears from, and that’s me.”

  Jackie sat quietly, not answering, just eating.

  “You are cold and distant because of a painful past. I understand that part, I do,” he said compassionately.

  “And, how would you? You know very little about me, Commander Amori.”

  The sudden use of his rank and last name was not a shift in the tone he wanted. He decided the truth was the best medicine here.

  “I understand the fear and pain of loss. My wife was traveling to see her parents,” he said quite seriously as he ate, “she had our daughter with her. Their ship was attacked by pirates who raided it to rob everyone. They then blew the ship to cover their tracks. That group wasn’t interested in human trafficking,” he said somberly.

  She looked sternly at him. “I’m so sorry. Is that why you became a marine? To find them and punish them?”

  “I was already a marine. But it did motivate me. I wanted to be the one who could make them pay, but I don’t know that the responsible group was ever found or ever will be.”

  “How did you….move on? I mean, you are interested in me.”

  Was that an open door? Rick’s interest suddenly piqued. Well, maybe not, but perhaps the landing pad to the spaceport a few miles away just gave me clearance.

  “Life is a special gift, one that is meant to be shared. My life is a gift, and it is selfish to keep it to myself,” he said gently.

  My father used to say something very similar, Jackie thought to herself.

  “Listen, you don’t need to tell me anything…” Rick started.

  “My husband was murdered right in front of me,” she said in almost a whisper, looking off in the distance, “cut into pieces while I was being raped and beaten. My children were skinned alive because I didn’t pretend to enjoy it.” At this point she was looking down at the floor, eyes closed and tears coming down her cheeks.

  Rick was stunned. He knew better than most you can never look at a person and understand their life or from where they came. But he never would have guessed the woman he loved, yes, loved very much, had experienced pain on this level. And now she cracked open the door, just a tiny bit, and shared a very vulnerable part of herself. Rick was not about to chicken out and add that rejection to her pain. But, he could see that she could not afford for anything to be fast. If she would ever be his, this would not be something that happened in a day or a week. Maybe not in a year. Maybe never. He had decided a long time ago what type of man he would be and knew what needed to happen next.

  “I’m sorry, Jackie. I really am. I want you to know that I am here for you and I am not going anywhere, and neither will the information you shared with me.”

  She felt the sincerity of his words and took comfort in them. It had been so long since she felt that unconditional acceptance.

  He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, gently squeezed once and let go. She immediately leaned into him and sobbed, at which point he put his arm around her, sat there silently and gave her the one gift she desperately needed. The gift of human compassion.

  Chapter 19

  Dennaway Star System

  En route to Wellington, capital planet of the Commonwealth

  The conference room for the flag bridge was huge. While the fleet lumbered through the Dennaway system at sublight speeds, they had time to kill. For many reasons that mattered only to the Commonwealth, the authorities banned FTL travel while in the system, which made it a frustratingly long trip to get from the Gate to the planet.

  All the captains with their XO’s attended via virtual conferencing. The captains would be attending the ceremonies, while the XO’s remained on board their ships, per military protocol.

  “At that point, I will present our gifts to the prime minister,” said Michael Trahan, a somewhat disgusting man, but apparently, the man of the hour for the Federation. “These are priceless artifacts that very well may be worth more than this battlecruiser, maybe more than this fleet!”

  The others at the table looked at him with a skeptical eye. Eccentric people sometimes made the wildest claims. To Jackie’s eyes, it just looked like a fancy katana and a set of scales used for measuring things in ancient times. Was this trash priceless? She couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

  One captain asked, “what is so valuable about a few museum pieces?”

  “Oh, that some may appreciate the finer things in life! The sword is called ‘The Sword of Her Vengeance’ and belonged to King Uther of the Commonwealth. It was lost during the first dynasty wars as their second fleet was destroyed at the hands of the Tutors almost five hundred years ago. As most of you know, or should be aware, we conquered the Tutors fifty-two years later. What is not public knowledge is that the sword survived and was recovered from a ‘private collection’ among the Tutors. This happens to be one of the Commonwealth’s most precious relics. It is considered blasphemous for it even to be handled lightly!”

  “What do you mean?” Tabitha asked.

  “
It cannot be carried, it must be sheathed, and the sheath must be worn,” he said.

  “Ha, you’ve got to be kidding!” another captain exclaimed.

  The man was short and very skinny, almost unhealthy looking, with a mousy face and a ridiculous haircut she supposed was the fashion. Jackie had a moment of amusement thinking about the diplomat wearing such an item. He would look silly. But no matter, at least that was on him.

  “Oh no, make no mistake,” the Mr. Trahan went on, “this is the fabled sword from lore for them. It would be a grave mistake and a diplomatic faux-pas to handle it any other way! I have had teams of people research this, and they all came to the same conclusion! And yes, I know it will look ridiculous.”

  At this point, he showed them a picture. The harness was all black leather. There was a strap going across the waist, another that went diagonally across the torso, and one reaching from the same shoulder down vertically to the belt. The hilt of the sword would be protruding prominently over the right shoulder of the person wearing the sword.

  “Why is King Uther’s sword so valuable?” Tabitha asked, to the irritation of Mr. Trahan.

  “Well, the materials used in it are, um, exotic. We do not know how to make this,” he answered, to the astonishment of all. “We don’t even know how old it is.”

  “How can that be?” Jeri asked.

  “Look, we don’t know everything. What we do know is that its mystery is part of its lore.”

  “Okay, so what about this scale thing. It looks like something handed down from the not-so-favorite uncle. What’s so special about it?” asked another captain.

  “Relic is right. This is a precious item we acquired many years ago at great cost. It is many thousands of years old.”

  He let that sink in.

  “It is known simply as ‘Her Scales of Justice,' and before you ask, to the best of our knowledge, it is simply made of steel. It is a religious relic that symbolizes the harshness of the justice dealt out by a prophet/goddess of theirs. It is another Commonwealth item that was lost to war long ago, traded, bought, sold, who knows. We caught wind of it about a hundred years ago and made a deal with the devil himself to get it,” Michael said.