First Command

by Rodney Smith

  * * * * *

  Alistair received a message containing his new orders. He and his cat were ordered to take a month off. He was pulled off mission status until the month was over. He was authorized to take his ship with him and use it during his leave. Working during these four weeks would be grounds for dismissal.

  Alistair talked to Rojo, “I assume from the tone of the order that they are serious this time. Now all we have to do is figure where we can go for the next four weeks and not work. Rojo, I hear Armstrong is supposed to be nice this time of year. I hear Armstrong is supposed to be nice anytime of year. Now who do I know on Armstrong? You know, if I’m not mistaken, Connie Cortez is on Armstrong.”

  Rojo wasn’t listening; he was too busy batting a fuzzy ball about the command console.

  He continued, “Rojo, I vote for Armstrong. What do you say?”

  Rojo let out a Merow!

  “I take this as an affirmative response, boy. Did I tell you they have wing fish on Antares? I hear they taste very much like sailor fish fillets.”

  Rojo jumped down off the command console and started doing figure eights around Alistair’s legs.

  “Oh, so that sounds good to you, does it, boy? Armstrong it is, then. I wonder if Connie can get some time off?”

  * * * * *

  The Vigilant was cleared for a standard approach into Antares Base. Kelly had expected to be directed into Antares Station first. He guessed the Admiral must be planet-side today. The Vigilant was directed to a parking space and the helm sat her down smoothly, without a bump.

  As the Vigilant was hooked up to water, power, and sewage, Kelly received a message to report to Admiral Craddock’s office. Kelly grabbed his logs and found the nearest shuttle to take him to Scout Force HQ. He was shown immediately into Admiral Craddock’s office. CDR Timmons was there.

  Admiral Craddock came around his desk and shook Kelly’s hand.

  “I just got a long message from Admiral Minacci about you. He was very impressed with your performance in support of his operations. He’s recommended the Vigilant for another campaign star and an Engagement Star for your combat with the two K’Rang scout ships. He assured me you’d get them both. Edgar, if this is going to become a regular occurrence I’ll have to see about putting out a policy on it.”

  “Minacci’s recommending that all task forces, fleets, and groups deploy with a Scout Ship in support. I think we can support this with our current strength and I am going to agree with his recommendation. We might need to add some ships to be able to accompany all groups, fleets, and task forces, but we can definitely support those heading into combat situations.”

  “Good work on this mission. I saw your report on the K’Rang scout encounter. We had your back if Paulo hadn’t been as appreciative as he turned out to be. That was a gutsy move. If the K’Rang had been smart enough to see what you were doing, you‘d have been in a tight spot. How did you know the pirates would surrender so quickly?”

  “Sir, I didn’t, but thought the presence of the K’Rang might have a positive effect on the Baratarians’ attitude once the 3rd ALG showed up.”

  “Well, good work, Kelly. Fleet Intel wants to conduct a series of debriefings with you and your crew on the K’Rang, the pirates and these Hooligans you mentioned, but you’ll have a few days to give your crew some time off. I’m taking the Vigilant off patrol status for the next 30 days. I need to give the other captains a chance at glory. The yard will want a few days to check out your ship. Plan on being here for a month, then we’ll talk about your next mission. Give your people some leave. Take some yourself.”

  The Admiral went back and sat behind his desk. CDR Timmons got up from the admiral’s couch and led Kelly out of the office.

  CDR Timmons grinned and said, “Kelly, it’s good to see you’re keeping up the tradition of the Vigilant being a one ship fleet.”

  They both laughed as they walked to the 21st Scout Squadron HQ offices. Timmons escorted Kelly into his office and offered him some coffee. Kelly fixed a cup and sat down in one of the chairs in front of CDR Timmons’ desk.

  CDR Timmons sat down and said, ”Damn good job, Kelly. I can’t believe how effusive Minacci was in his praise for you. Even discounting that he’s politicking for Scout Force to send a scout ship with him next time he goes out, he put in some pretty strong words. You’ll get a fairly high award out of him, I imagine.”

  “I was just doing my job, sir. Just like you taught me.”

  Timmons smiled at that. Kelly did, too.

  “I never taught you to take on a whole planet and win. You did that on your own.”

  “R&R directorate wants to interview you about the increased speed algorithm. It seems the Valiant had some problems with theirs. It sent them corkscrewing through space. It was a hairy ride for a few seconds until they emergency braked. They almost lost their stabilization.”

  “I only used the extra speed a few times on this patrol. FTL power five was as fast as we normally got.”

  “Well, they want to talk to you and Chief Miller, anyway. I’ll set it up.”

  CDR Timmons looked at Kelly with a smile on his face and said, “I have some news of a personal nature to share. Janey is getting out. It seems General Bugarov left a time bomb in her records and she won’t be promoted to Major. So, in the spring after she’s released, we’re going to get married. I’d appreciate it if you’d stand up with me as my best man.”

  Kelly beamed, “Congratulations, sir, and I’d be honored to be your best man.”

  “Keep this to yourself for now. She hasn’t told her family yet. I just proposed to her this week.”

  “I’m happy for you both.”

  Kelly turned somber. “Bugarov, it’s a shame she was so vindictive and destructive. She cost Fighter Force a lot of good officers. You’d think, now that she’s gone, personnel would consider some of the records for review and correction. I mean, there’s what, ten officers here alone that she discarded and I’m just one of them?”

  “Yeah, she was a real piece of work.”

  * * * * *

  The yard crew came on board the Vigilant and ran a series of diagnostics on the engines, sensors, shields, and weapons. They pronounced her in fine shape. The only damage they found was some minor stealth coating damage to the nose. They scheduled the Vigilant for two days hence to be put into drydock 7 for the paintwork. Kelly’s debriefing took place while the yard crew was doing its diagnostics.

  Kelly’s debrief went quickly due to his detailed logs and reports. They had only minor questions about Captain Alden and his fleet’s consist. A few questions about Steven Maynard were short circuited when Kelly pointed out the detailed biographical report in the file that they had missed. In less than two hours, he had answered all their questions and was released to go.

  CDR Johnson called Kelly into his office after the debriefers were finished.

  “Come in, Kelly. Sit down. I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

  Kelly was offered coffee, which he accepted, and he sat down.

  “I’d like to talk to you about your next assignment after you give up command. The normal career progression for a Scout Force officer is an assignment with Fleet Intelligence between ships. You’ve really impressed us. We’d like you to start thinking about what you’d like to do next. With your record, you can pick your next assignment. We think we can offer you a more rewarding job than shuffling paper in some headquarters. You have a long time to make up your mind, but think about what you want to do next and include us in your deliberations.”

  Kelly, sensing the office call was over, put his coffee down and stood up to leave. CDR Johnson personally escorted him out of the building, making small talk on the way out. All the way back to the Vigilant, he thought to himself that that was the worst sales pitch he’d ever heard.

  * * * * *

  When Kelly returned to the Vigilant, there were two messages from Candy in his queue. The first was a voice message, “Hey, Kelly,
Dad tells me you’re back in town for a while. Do you have time to come over to my place? You know you can stay as long as you like. Tammy has a few days off and she is staying with me. We’d love to have you over even, if it’s just for dinner. Say you will. It’ll be fun.”

  The second was a video message obviously from her house. Candy and Tammy were lounging in Candy’s living room, wearing their lounging pajamas – at least the tops.

  “Hey, give us a call back. I have a case of the latest vintage of the vidal blanc you like so much. It’s even better than the last year’s vintage, if that’s possible. We’ll cook some steaks and throw in some vegetables and have a feast. Come on.”

  Candy and Tammy stood up and twirled all the way around before sitting back down and closing the video. They were testing his resolve. That’s for sure.

  Kelly checked his schedule. He actually could squeeze in a week when the Vigilant went into the yard. It would take a few days to paint her and a day or two to dry. He could manage a week then. He filled out a leave form and emailed it to CDR Timmons. He reviewed other messages, and marveled as his approved leave came back almost instantaneously.

  Kelly looked through his calendar entries and saw no conflicts. He sent Candy a message, saying he could come over in a day for a week, and to chill down lots of the vidal blanc. He hit send and almost immediately a videoconference request came back. He saw it was from Candy and accepted.

  Candy and Tammy must have just come from the pool, because they were wearing only towels – and those loosely. Kelly looked over his shoulder to make sure he was alone in his cabin. He was.

  “Hey there. We just saw your message and had to see you. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. I’m also glad I didn’t have a conference table full of crewmembers.”

  Candy and Tammy laughed, cast aside their towels, and Candy said, “Why do you think we were wearing the towels?” The two dissolved into giggles and Kelly assumed they were well into a bottle or two of the vidal blanc, even though it was still a while before lunch.

  “Vigilant is going into the yard for a paint job. I can come over late tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

  Candy and Tammy said in unison, “Of course it’s okay.” Candy continued, “What time should we pick you up?”

  “How about dinner at the club at 1800?”

  “How about we pick you up at the club at 1800 and have dinner here at 1830?”

  Kelly laughed and said, “Okay, I’ll meet you at the club at 1800. I have to go do captain stuff now. Later.”

  He clicked terminate to end the video call and tried to get back to work. It was after lunch before he could fully concentrate again.

  * * * * *

  Admiral Minacci sipped a soft drink while the Chief of Fleet Operations, Admiral Christos Pouledoris, handled a call from Senator Colleen Santori that interrupted his office call. He couldn’t tell the topic, but by the Admiral’s body language and responses, it must have been good news. He put his drink down onto the coaster on the walnut end table as the call ended.

  “Well, that was good news. Senator Santori just informed me the Defense and Commerce Enhancement Bill passed with only one nay vote from that cowardly bastard Livingstone from Shepard and one abstention from that wishy washy Steele from Gagarin. Why does he even show up? He votes present or abstains more than anything else.”

  “While you were away, the Republic’s Assembly debated tripling production of transporter rings. It seems the freshman senator from New Alexandria, David Colton, is a whiz at bringing together a consensus. A massive transporter ring production station will be orbited over Carpenter. In a year, when the station is complete, they‘ll be able to produce one every two months after six months of initial production. The rings will be built in three separate pieces, so they can be laid side by side and sent through the existing rings to be opened on site. In another eight months they will have four rings to do a basic outfit of the second tier worlds. In five years most major systems will have a ring and all parts of the republic will be reachable in two days. Pretty soon, FTL power 6 will seem so slow.”

  Paulo said, “That’s great news, sir. My nerves really could have used some reinforcements on this campaign. If that private fleet hadn’t shown up, I might have lost it all. Even with them ready to spring the trap behind me, it was very disquieting to see that reduced, but still quite lethal K’Rang fleet in open space before me. A cruiser squadron would have been handy.”

  “Paulo, don’t sell yourself short. Of course we all want to have overwhelming force in any engagement, but you did a damn fine job with what you had. You destroyed a fleet more than twice your size, with only the loss of an assault landing carrier, a frigate, and a few light ships. I’m putting you in for the Distinguished Service Star.”

  Minacci whistled inside his head. The DSS was the second highest award for combat action in the GR.

  The Admiral continued, “If you have any officers or ships that deserve special recognition, let me know and I’ll expedite the processing and Senate confirmation.”

  “Sir, I’m recommending CDR Mike Milton for the Galactic Medal of Honor. He was my best assault landing carrier captain and he came up with the tactic of using the emptied carriers against the K’Rang. It was a heavy blow to lose him and the Yellow Jacket, but his attacks took out a large number of enemy ships, especially their support ships. He took out three of their supply ships and three frigates in his first attack. His second attack destroyed a light cruiser and damaged a second before they got him. He took away a large part of their defensive missiles with the support ships and their long-range offensive capability with the light cruisers. The final fight with the K’Rang would have been a lot more in their favor without Mike’s attacks.”

  “I’ll do what I can, Paulo. The Senate has been a lot friendlier lately. I don’t know why, but I’ll take advantage of that for you. Is there anyone else?”

  “Yes, sir, there is. You know I’ve been pushing to have a scout ship attached to each fleet, task force, and group. I had a young scout ship captain supporting me and he did one hell of a job. I would go so far as to say he was primarily responsible for my victory. His name is Kelly Blake. He’s a recently promoted Lieutenant frocked to Lieutenant Commander by Tom Craddock so he could take over his ship. If Blake is a typical Scout Force officer, I want a dozen. He was smart, capable, intuitive, and deadly.”

  “He won’t admit to it, but he forced the pirates’ surrender singlehandedly. He let me take the credit for it, but he lured two K’Rang scout ships into a very visible ambush that convinced the pirates they would rather surrender to us than the K’Rang. He blinded the K’Rang commander in the process. The K’Rang commander had to advance against me with no knowledge of the battlespace or my force. I’m putting a personal letter in Blake’s file to see to it he becomes a real LCDR as soon as possible. I’d like to recommend him for a DSS as well, sir.”

  Admiral Pouledoris took a sip of his coffee, thought a moment, and replied, “What other decorations does he have?”

  He glanced at his pocket terminal and said, “He has a Space Medal, a Silver Galaxy, a Joint Meritorious Service Medal, a New Alexandrian Order of Valor, and a Golden Shield of New Alexandria.”

  The Admiral whistled. “That’s a lot of hardware for only a frocked lieutenant commander.”

  “I told you he was good, sir.”

  “Put in your recommendations, Paulo. I’ll support them.”

  * * * * *

  LCDR Kelly Blake moved the Vigilant to the paint dock and gave authority to Chief Blankenship to start releasing half the crew on up to two weeks leave. The other half would start getting their leave after the ship was released from the yard. He put Connie in charge while he was gone. That evening, he met Candy and Tammy outside the O Club. They were both wearing thin shirtdresses that were buttoned low and hiked up well beyond the limits of propriety. They had Kelly sit in front with Candy, while Tammy climbed into the back. They motored out the main gate
to a grocery store and left Kelly in the car, while they hopped in for some breakfast items. They came out later loaded down with bags of groceries and tossed them in the trunk.

  Candy turned left out of the parking lot and headed toward the outskirts of town. Within two blocks she hit the flight controls and smoothly climbed to 1000 meters. She turned on the autopilot and leaned into Kelly.

  “Kiss me, you fool!”

  Tammy started laughing. “No, kiss me.”

  Kelly kissed Candy because she asked first and then Tammy. They were both good kissers. Candy set her car down softly next to her house with hardly a bump, gathered his things and the groceries and went inside.

  Candy showed Kelly up to a guest room and had him put down his stuff. Taking advantage of her being alone with him, she melted into his arms and gave him another smoldering hot kiss. She led him down to the kitchen, where Tammy was busily fixing dinner, wearing a chef’s apron and not much else. She took a break as the pasta was cooking to sit on his lap and give him a kiss.

  Tammy got up to tend to the pasta and Alfredo sauce, while Candy poured them all big glasses of the Armstrong equivalent of champagne. She handed one to Kelly and set one next to the stove for Tammy. Tammy came over and all three clinked glasses to toast Kelly’s arrival. Tammy plated up three servings of hot pasta Alfredo and carried them to the table. Candy brought over silverware and they all sat down to eat.

  Candy was first to ask, “How did your patrol go?”

  Kelly for once had a patrol he could talk about, and did, “Not too bad, rescued three damsels in distress, took out two K’Rang scout ships, and had a world surrender to me. Then for good measure, we helped to defeat a K’Rang invasion fleet. It was a typical day at the office.”