***
A few minutes later, the First Officer called from the hangar to announce his team was formed and already on board the fifth fighter.
Gene said, "First Officer's inspection team is ready."
"Launch!" Mary ordered.
Another slight vibration went through the ship.
"Fighter five with inspection team away, ma'am," said Gene.
"Excellent. Let me know when they begin to board. You're doing a good job, Gene. Doris, thanks for keeping us straight. I owe you one," said Mary.
"I'll keep that in mind, Captain," Doris Springer replied.
***
Minutes went by as the squadron took its time in moving in on the derelict. With more practice and experience, they might do it in half the time. However, this was for training. Admiral Oden wasn't about to rush them while they were doing well, regardless of how slowly they performed. This was real and dangerous work, he knew, and they were inexperienced. It would be good training even if it took all day.
With all their ships in position, the fifth fighter approached from the rear of the derelict. The pilot was probably more experienced in what she was doing than anyone else. She was ready to slap the controls and duck out of the way while putting on speed in case the derelict had live robots on it and they resisted.
The tiny nimble fighter eased along until it was beside the engines of the huge derelict. Slowly the pilot nudged the fighter forward so that they didn't move too fast and put themselves in sudden jeopardy from any of the dead warship's gun stations. Finally the fighter moved closer to the hull of the derelict until it scraped it. She put up with the noise vibrating through her fighter until they were completely clear of the engines and next to what should be crew space inside the wreck. She cut the engines and pressed a switch. The fighter suddenly clamped down onto the hull of the wreck as the fighter's power was diverted to magnetic holding devices that pulled the fighter tightly onto the enemy ship.
"We're secure, Commander," she said.
"First Officer, you may exit the craft and begin your cutting as soon as we snap our shields in place. Crew, set your inner shields and verify seals," the fighter commander said.
Moments later he motioned to the First Officer and his team to proceed on their own tasks.
First Officer Garrett opened the fighter's hatch and stepped out. He was followed by four other personnel. Two carried heavy weapons with enough punch to knock out a Malakin robot with one hit. Each moved to a flanking position as the other three team members went about their tasks.
Each team member hooked onto a cable to an outside connection on the fighter and then played out the cable until they were a short distance from the fighter. If they happened to hit something that exploded while cutting, it was hoped that they were distant enough to lessen the number of casualties among themselves and especially the fighter crew who might be able to pull them back. First Officer Garrett carried another of the heavy weapons and completed the defensive circle around the two team members who worked at cutting through the hull.
Close to a half-hour later, an opening was in place through the hull into the wreck. Without hurrying, the team picked up extra air tanks to snap in place of their own when their current tanks reached near empty. They still had a half-hour of air in their tanks and wouldn't need to change quite yet. They would carry the extras along so they could do a fairly thorough inspection with minimal interruption.
First Officer Garrett floated down inside the wreck, playing out his safety tether to the rest of the team behind him. As soon as he was in position to look about and be sure they weren't walking into a trap, he signaled silently with one hand for a second member to enter. Another team member carrying a heavy weapon stationed herself beside him. As soon as she was in place, another team member entered. Finally only one team member was left on the outside of the hull. His job was to make sure that the tethers didn't become slack indicating a break. He would also warn the others if an enemy robot or suited warrior, though that was very unlikely after five years, should be wandering about on the outside of the hull.
First Officer Garrett moved through the ship, looking in each passageway and room as they came to them. Each of the team members did the same to double and triple check everything for safety. Within five minutes they came to a almost closed hatch that wouldn't budge. Garrett signaled the others to back up and then toggled his radio to make contact with the outside. "First Officer Garrett here. We've come up against a hatch that's stuck. Most likely, it's blocked by debris. I'm going to blast it open. Over."
Captain Manning listened and looked at the feed-in coming from Garrett's suit through his tether cable to the outside man whose communications were relaying Garrett's view. "Affirmative. You may execute, First Officer," she said.
Moments later she could see the hatch hit by the blast of the heavy weapon. The transmission feed was temporarily blinded before filters did their job. The picture restored itself a split-second later. The hatch was now open. Not far away was a Malakin robot.
First Officer Garrett didn't bother asking for permission to fire on the enemy robot. Almost instinctively he aimed and fired at the recumbent robot as it moved in response to the sudden blasting of the hatch. Another team member moved up beside him and helped to cover the room they discovered the robot in.
Captain Manning radioed the other ships, "Malakin robots active inside the derelict!"
Almost at the same time, two gun stations on her cruiser and one on each destroyer fired at guns on the derelict. The gunner from the salvage ship fired at the engines of the derelict. All the gunners hit their targets squarely on their first shot.
As soon as First Officer Garrett disabled the Malakin robot, he and one other team member fired on two more robots inside the same room, hitting and destroying those. Then they cautiously backed up toward the entrance they cut into the wreck. They felt the vibrations from the hits on the wreck as the gunners on their squadron's ships fired to take out threats. They reached the opening and leaped up one at a time to be helped out by the fifth team member. There they maintained their defensive perimeter until they were all on the hull. Then they quickly moved toward the fighter.
Even as they reached the fighter, gunners on the squadron warships were taking aim at more Malakin robots that exited through gashes in the hull caused by the battle that disabled the ship in the first place. First Officer Garrett slammed the hatch closed as he entered the fighter last. He dogged it shut and nodded.
The fighter commander said, "Break hull contact and get us out of here!"
Almost instantly the pilot was moving her hands over the control panels to perform what he ordered. The tiny fighter came free while the engines kicked in as the power was given back to those for propulsion.
The fighter commander called the other ships, saying, "We're pulling out of here now!"
It was hardly necessary for the warships' gunners since his fighter carried a responder that would keep their guns from firing on his fighter, but it was still a courtesy to let them know what he was about to do. It was more important for the other ships that their pilots know that the fighter would be taking off so they would give it room. More accidental rammings happen during battle than at any other time, especially if the participants neglect to communicate with each other.
The nimble fighter took off quickly, not giving the enemy time to aim at it if they were in a position to do so. Almost as quickly as the fighter got out of the way, the gunners on the warships and support vessels methodically took the derelict apart with accurate gunfire.
It was hardly necessary, either, for the First Officer to notify Captain Manning that everyone on his team was safe and well, but he did that too. "First Officer to Captain Manning. Inspection team safe and secure on fighter. No casualties incurred."
"Captain Manning to First Officer. Let your fighter commander join in the fun before returning to the Dust Bunny to debark. I'm sure we can all use a little realistic practice. Be car
eful out there, everyone. Well done, inspection team. I'll wait until you get back for your detailed report."
***
Within half an hour, the wreck looked more like Swiss cheese than it had before. All the fighters and gun stations on all the squadron ships took part in tearing the wreck into small pieces that soon drifted along together in close formation. Within an hour there wasn't a section large enough to hide one of the Malakin robots, which were all quite destroyed by then.
No hits were recorded on any of the squadron ships, not that the robots didn't try. Only good evasive maneuvers by the pilots of the ships kept them from being hit. Excellent gunnery kept them from having to evade for real for very long. Even when the last of the robots was destroyed, the pilots continued to perform evasive maneuvers as a precaution and to give the gunners more practice in firing while the ships evaded potential return fire.
***
Admiral Oden waited for the cadets to gather in the conference room. Normally, only a few ship's officers would use the room. However, he waited until as many as could be fit inside reached a place where they could see and hear the debriefing. "Well, I guess you got a chance today to show your stuff. You all did well. You went by procedures and worked well both as a team and individually. You certainly gave me and your instructor plenty to review for the next few days with all the combat videos."
There was a round of laughter among the cadets over the amount of work they created.
Dave continued, "Regardless, I will look at each and every video with enthusiasm and pride for what you accomplished. So, if you don't see too much of me in the next couple of days and nights, well I reckon that you'll know what I'm up to. The press is also invited to view any and all of the videos either with me or on their own. I think they'll see some fine work on the part of the Space Academy in ridding space of a real menace. I'm sorry I can't spend more time with any of you now, but I'm sure that I'll be looking up a number of you later to give you my personal impressions on the quality of the work you did individually. I may not get to all of you initially, but don't let that cause you to think that I don't care. Remember, I've got to also transfer to the other ships and view their efforts. So, I'll be visiting you concerning this probably until the end of the training voyage. Thank you for coming here on your own time. Dismissed."
***
Admiral Oden looked at some of the videos and caught sight of some of the shots from other ships in the squadron. He was impressed with the instinct of one gunner to go for the engines of the supposedly dead wreck. The gunner on that ship was one person he wanted to meet again, in particular. That kind of instinct was worth cultivating further. Somehow he hadn't noticed that instinct in that cadet before. Obviously his evaluation needed updating and soon. The last thing that Admiral Oden wanted to do was lose a possible career officer because Dave didn't provide his share of encouragement. Until his shot took out the engines, the guns on the wreck were alive, having come to life with Garrett's first shot. However, the enemy guns didn't get off a shot since they stopped moving as soon as the engines were hit.
Obviously, the wreck was playing possum. Dave's own report would go out shortly to the Navy to warn them of the new wrinkle in checking out drifting Malakin derelicts. However, Dave reasoned that if not for that one gunner they might have incurred damage and possibly casualties. That wouldn't be a very auspicious beginning while the training voyage was still in its first week.
Had he stopped the cadets early when it first appeared that the Malakin ship was a wreck again, it might have been possible to gather some more information on why the robots didn't know the squadron was present or how its engines came to be repaired. Admiral Oden speculated that the wreck didn't have any sensor capability remaining at all. He reasoned that the shot from the hand weapon caused the robots to become active again.
He kept his thoughts to himself as some of the journalists took up his offer to view the videos while he did. So far two of them had managed to keep up with him after almost twelve hours of continuous viewing. Neither of them appeared to be willing to give up on the task, either. Both remained quiet, making their own notes in professionally developed low whispers into their recorders, even as Dave made his. Nor did they bother trying to see what he was writing, on what they considered antiquated paper, apparently respecting his need to do his work without interruption.
Another combat video ended and Dave said, "Mark my place here so that I can pick up again in the morning with the next video. If the press desires to continue, please see that someone shows them all they want to see."
"Admiral," said Marcia, "you're turning in now?"
Dave replied, "Not at all. I just want to visit with a few of our future officers and chat with them on their conduct during the combat. I have a number of good comments to make to them that I want to pass on soon so that they'll know how well they responded. It's just an informal chat, though."
"Does that mean we can come along?" she asked.
"I don't mind, but you'll still need permission from the cadets in order to observe. Please do not try to intimidate them into agreeing because I have no objections. If you do, then I most certainly will object from that point on," said Dave.
"I promise," said Marcia.
"Yeah," said John, "I'll let Marcia do the talking. I'd like to observe a few of these chats."
"Then come along with me. Rich, looks like you can mark that spot for all of us right now. You won't likely need anyone to keep showing them unless one of the journalists decides to watch them anyway. Thanks for a good showing today," Dave said.
Dave left the conference room and made his way through the passages, followed by both Marcia and John. He got to the hangar and stopped beside one of the crew quarters. Dave knocked. A moment later, a naked woman opened the door. John shyly turned his head away quickly.
"Yes Admiral," she said.
Dave said, "Good evening. Thought I'd stop by for a chat if you're in the mood to talk."
"Oh yes, come on in please. You brought the press?" she asked.
Marcia said, "Uh, we would like to just observe some of the chats we've heard about. Of course, you don't have to agree. It's entirely at your discretion. You can even agree and then throw us out later if you don't like our looks."
John Christiansen nodded in agreement.
"Uh, well, okay. I guess I don't mind," she said. Noticing John's behavior, she pulled on a robe without much ado.
Marcia and John quietly followed Admiral Oden inside the cadet's quarters. They stood while Admiral Oden accepted a chair that Angela offered. She went and sat on her bed.
"Angela, you did a fine job yesterday. That was some of the best piloting I've ever seen. You've come a long way since you entered the Academy. Have you been practicing a lot?" Dave asked.
"It showed, huh?" she asked.
"It definitely showed. You just might be our top pilot now judging from what I saw," said Dave.
"Well, it's because of what you told me before. You remember?" she asked.
"Yes, I do. You applied yourself very well and I'm very proud of you. I'll be sorry to see you rotate to another job in slightly over a week," Dave stated.
"I don't mind. I'll be the best damn recycler there is, too!" Angela exclaimed.
Marcia held her hand up and asked when Angela looked at her while saying, "Yes?"
"I don't know what the Admiral told you earlier. It might be of interest to our subscribers to learn one of the Admiral's secrets for training fighter pilots. Would you mind telling me what he suggested to you?" Marcia asked.
"May I?" Angela asked of Admiral Oden.
"It's entirely up to you," Dave replied.
"Well, Admiral Oden suggested that I think of it like diapering a baby. Use swift sure moves to accomplish things before the baby has a chance to squirm about. I used to be too slow on the controls and create all kinds of yaw and pitch. If some of the trainers I practiced in at first had been real fighters, I would have created a new r
ecord for damaged fighters on landing."
"Admiral Oden, you've diapered babies?" Marcia asked.
"I've diapered a few," he admitted, realizing too late that he had just given away what might be vital information on his family whom many people still didn't even know he had.
"I take it then that you're married," Marcia said.
Dave said, "I'm afraid that you're beginning to interview me. This is merely supposed to be observation."
"Oh! I'm sorry," said Marcia. "You're quite right. It does sound like an interview. I was merely asking out of personal curiosity. No one seems to be sure if you're married or not. There was talk about it five years ago in Congress, but no one ever brought your family forward for interviews on how they felt about your illegal trial. I didn't mean for this to sound like an interview. It was purely personal curiosity on my part. I'm sorry."
***
A few minutes later, they were again in the passageway. John said, "Admiral, regardless of our differences, if you do have a family, they're out of it as far as I'm concerned."
"Why John, you do have a heart in there. I could really get to like you, you know," said Dave. "Regardless, thanks for the gesture. I will keep that in mind."
They continued to follow Admiral Oden as he went to another cadet's quarters and waited as he knocked on the door. Admiral Oden knocked twice more before he left and went to find another cadet to talk with.
"What'll happen to that cadet for not being in?" asked John.
"Absolutely nothing. I'll just talk with him later when he's not doing something else. The cadets have so little free time, I have to make allowances for them often not being in," Dave remarked.
"This happens often?" exclaimed Marcia.
"Often enough. It goes with the territory," said Dave.
"How do you get any rest yourself?" she asked.
"I pace myself. Besides, these chats aren't at all stressful for myself or them, except on the first one. Then they're scared as hell that an Admiral wants to just chat casually with them. They think they're being sized up or set up. They're partly right. I am sizing them up, but not to harm them. Everything I do is intended to help them improve. What I learn about them helps guide me in giving them the right encouragement at the right time," said Dave.
Paravoid (Rust Bucket Universe) Page 5