"The improved recreational capacities should ease the boredom on extended voyages and permanent postings," Jenetta said.
"But there's no swimming pool, squash/handball courts or hot tub aboard my new SD command."
"Have you changed your mind about accepting the command? It's not too late, you know."
"Okay, what gives?" Eliza said. "I recognize that tone in your voice. You're putting us on, aren't you?"
"Not at all. I'm being perfectly serious."
"Then you're not telling the whole story," Eliza said. "What did you leave out?"
Jenetta couldn't hold the ultra serious expression any longer. As her face broke into a huge grin, she said, "Everything I told you is true, but…"
"But? But what?" Christa asked.
"The yard engineers have modified the SD plans to include a docking collar for the keel of all new Scout-Destroyers."
"So we can dock with one of the CPS-16s and use their facilities?"
"No, so you can have your own facilities. The running track, squash/handball courts, swimming pool, and hot tub are part of a special habitat container that can attach to any ship with the right docking capability. All new destroyers already have that capability so they can transport multiple habitat containers without stowing them inside the ship. Now, all new SDs will have the docking capability as well. And we'll be retrofitting all older SDs so they can enjoy the same recreational features as the new ships."
"So both my ship and each CPS-16 in my squadron will have them before we depart on our first mission?"
"Yes."
"Great. I can hardly wait to go."
"Well, at least finish your dinner before you rush off to jump into a hot tub," Annette said with a grin.
"Yes, Momma," Christa said, returning the grin.
At that moment, Kyle, who was being fed by Celona, burped up some food and all attention became focused on the babies.
"I hope you'll both be able to come to Kyle and Kaycee's first birthday party on August 9th," Jenetta said to her sisters.
"That's up to you, Admiral," Eliza said with a grin. "Will we still be in port?"
"Christa should be here unless she has problems with her shakedown cruise. I'm not sure about the Ares at this time."
"Then let's just say we'll definitely be here unless our Space Command duty takes us away," Christa said.
~ ~ ~
When Christa arrived in the outer office of Admiral Holt the next morning, his aide told her to go right in. Christa paused for just a second as she approached the doors to his inner office and straightened her uniform before stepping into the area where the sensor would acknowledge her presence and open the doors.
"Come in, Christa," she heard Admiral Holt's booming voice say as the twin entrance doors temporarily slid into their storage pockets. Christa walked directly to Admiral Holt's desk and then braced to attention.
"Commander Christa Carver reporting to the Admiral," she said, looking straight ahead.
"At ease, Christa," Holt said. "Have a seat."
Christa sat in one of the oh-gee armchairs facing Admiral Holt's desk but remained rigid.
"We've known each other long enough that you can relax a bit more than that in my presence."
Christa smiled and relaxed her posture as she said, "Yes, sir. It's wonderful to see you again."
"And you. I'll bet you're glad to be out from behind that dirt-side desk."
"Yes, sir, I certainly am. I'm really looking forward to being back in space again."
"I can imagine how you feel." Smiling wistfully, Holt added, "If only I was young enough to captain a ship once again…" His face relaxed into seriousness as he dismissed the thought. "Well, if wishes were G.A. credits, we'd all be wealthy beyond belief. What has Jenetta told you about your mission?"
"Just that the number of sightings of Denubbewa warships in Region Three has been increasing at an alarming rate and our job is to track them down and destroy them."
"That's all?"
"That's all she told me. She said you'd brief me completely at the appropriate time. Is there more?"
"Yes, quite a bit. It's accurate that we want you to take your squadron of CPS-16s and hunt for Denubbewa. But we don't want you to destroy them immediately. We want you to tail them and see if they lead you to any motherships. After destroying the mothership, you can destroy the warships. The reason for not destroying the warships immediately is because there has only been one reported sighting of a Denubbewa mothership in Region Three during the past eighteen months, and there has to be more than one out there."
"Just a single mothership sighting with all these warship sightings? That's a bit unusual, given what we know of them and how they operate."
"That's why we need to follow them and see if they lead us to where the motherships are hiding. The A.B. believes they may be using a tactic utilized by the Raiders— hiding in hollowed-out asteroids. Or they might possibly just have assembled a number of small asteroids and attached them to the mothership's exterior to mask its presence."
"That's an interesting theory."
"So we can't destroy the Denubbewa warships at first sight, as much as we'd like to. When you spot a warship, assign one of the vessels in your squadron to tail them discreetly while the rest of your ships search for others. And there's another task you're to perform. We want you to fly through all asteroids in your search area and take images of the interiors to see if they're hollow to any degree. This last task is Top Secret. We don't want anyone to learn what we're doing. All information gathered as a result of the fly-throughs is to be stored in your SD computer system under tight security until you're ordered to submit it to SCI in a Priority-One communication."
"Are we looking for something other than Denubbewa motherships?"
"We're looking for anyone who has created a place of concealment. It doesn't matter if it's the Denubbewa, Raiders, Uthlaro rebels, or simply smugglers. While we have star charts of Region Three that show all of the planets large enough to support life, we need more information. We want to chart every planet, asteroid, space station, and derelict ship that could be used by criminals, slave traders, or smugglers."
"That's quite a task."
"Yes, but double-envelope capability and the new Marc-One speed makes it practical to commence such an operation."
"So we're not just hunting Denubbewa. We're hunting criminals and making new star charts."
"All these tasks are crucial if we're to maintain law and order in Region Three and destroy enemies of the G.A., such as the Denubbewa."
"Anything else, sir?"
"I think the tasks I've enumerated should keep you busy for a while," Holt said with a grin.
"I suppose how long we're busy depends on the size of the territory we're assigned to cover."
"It's sizeable. You'll get the actual location specifics with your orders after the A.B. officially approves the officers I'm naming for command."
"Do you know when that will be, sir? I'm anxious to get the crew shakedown cruise out of the way."
"All four of the new SDs have completed an initial space trial with skeleton crews experienced in SD operations, as well as with shipyard inspectors, so you'll really only be evaluating the crew performance of the people assigned to the new ship. Most are experienced hands. The only question about the vessel is its performance with the new docking collar and special habitat container. As you know, the SDs were re-designated by Jenetta to drop bombs after the Denubbewa showed up, but attaching a container to the keel makes that function extremely dangerous and almost impractical. However, each SD will carry a full load of WOLaR bombs, and in the event it must serve as a bomber, the habitat container can be released and then recovered later after the enemy is destroyed."
"How long does it take to eject the container and prepare for a bombing run?"
"I'm told the ship can make the initial transition in less than two minutes, but it can take as long as thirty minutes to recover the container and l
ink up afterward."
"That's not a problem if the Denubbewa, or any other enemy, have been destroyed."
"The first SD to receive the new docking collar— your ship— still needs to have the release and recovery tested by SC personnel in open space. That's one of your tasks during the shakedown cruise. Your engineering staff will use a couple of small robotic tugs to recover the container after it's detached from the SD and you perform a simulated bomb run."
"Yes, sir."
"Are you staying with Jenetta or in the BOQ?"
"Jenetta wanted me to stay at her house until I ship out."
"Good. You'll probably hear of the appointment approvals from her first, but your new orders will be sent to you about the same time. I guess that's about all for today, Christa."
Standing up, Christa said, "Thank you for your confidence in me, Admiral."
"As soon as I heard you were available, I wanted you to be part of this. You've done spectacularly in every position you've held, and I know you'll perform with that same degree of intelligence and fortitude in this new role. Dismissed."
Christa braced to attention briefly, then turned on her left heel and left the office. Admiral Holt smiled as the door closed, then returned to the report he'd been preparing when Christa arrived.
* * *
Chapter Six
~ June 29th, 2290 ~
One of the innumerous tiny ships normally used to ferry workers, inspectors, security personnel, and crewmembers around the shipyard in orbit around Lorense-Three floated gently towards an enclosed dock at the end of two long rows of tethered spaceships. Everywhere one looked there was activity, and the sight wasn't lost on the six Terrans crowded around the viewing bubble at the bow of the shuttle.
"The rumors are true," Vyx said. "They are working like there's no tomorrow."
"But they only do that when there may not be a tomorrow," Byers said. "Where's the Scorpion, Vyx? I don't see it anywhere."
"The yard manager told me it's inside that enclosed dock directly ahead."
"Why?" Nelligen asked. "I thought the work was done."
"Probably because it might attract too much unwanted attention if it was out in the open. It's not a Space Command ship or military vessel. It was originally made in an Uthlaran shipyard, so it really shouldn't be here in the retrofit shipyard."
"It's a shipyard, isn't it?" Brenda asked. "And the ship belongs to the SCI. Why wouldn't it be here?"
"Because this is a Space Command shipyard for the construction and refitting of Space Command vessels, not for retrofitting undercover vessels. We don't want people questioning our presence in a Space Command shipyard unless they have adequate security clearance. Many vendors supply materials and parts to Space Command, and that stuff is delivered by ordinary freighters. They might mention what they saw to the wrong person."
"It sure took them long enough to make some simple modifications," Kathryn said.
"Simple?" Vyx said. "What makes you think they were simple?"
"You said they were going to increase our speed. Aren't they just adding something to the engine?"
"First, as you can see, they're extremely busy here," Vyx replied. "I'm grateful they were able to do the work at all. Second, much of the increased speed will be owed to the work performed on the hull. We've seen just how vulnerable we are in Region Three, so they've sheathed the whole ship in Dakinium. We need both extra speed to keep one step ahead of the criminals in Region Three and better hull protection. Okay, we're here, so let me concentrate on aligning this ship's airlock with one on the dock."
"Aren't we going to need EVA suits?" Byers asked.
"No. The spacedock is fully pressurized. It makes it a lot easier to do the work if you don't have to wear a bulky spacesuit during an entire shift. But be careful because I've also been told there's no gravity where the ship is being retrofit. That has to make the heavy lifting work required for building new ships and retrofitting older spaceships a snap, but we'll have to take care not to float off the deck. They didn't give me any magnetic boots. I assume there are lots of handrails inside."
Vyx deftly maneuvered the small shuttle alongside the dock, then used short bursts with the thrusters to align the ship with the airlock. When he believed it was perfectly aligned, he touched a contact point on the console. The ship confirmed the positioning and extended a robotic arm to attach to the spacedock and pull the small ship tightly against the floating building. Once the ship was abutted against the dock, an airlock seal inflated to make the small tunnel airtight. When the computer confirmed the seal, Vyx opened the hatch and the six passengers transferred to the dock.
As they entered the building, they found themselves on an enclosed observation track that extended three-quarters of the way around the area that housed ships being built or modified. The observation track had gravity decking set to Earth Normal so they were able to walk without a problem. Large observation windows into the work area allowed them to see the Scorpion.
"It looks exactly the same as when we left it three months ago," Byers said. "I thought you said they were supposed to sheath the outside in Dakinium."
"According to the yard manager, they have," Vyx said.
"They couldn't have. Wouldn't it be black now? That's not Dakinium. It's still the same tritanium outer skin. How long is it going to take to have the hull covered?"
"I've been assured that it's Dakinium. The scientists at Space Command have learned how to colorize the Dakinium to any color they want now. I told them I wanted them to match the old hull exactly so that no one would know it was Dakinium. You'll see the difference the first time I open her up. We should be able to reach Marc-One now."
"Marc-One?" Ursula said. "What's that?"
"It's still Top Secret, so don't repeat this. It's the fastest speed anyone can currently travel. It was named after the captain of the ship that discovered how to modify our existing technology to significantly increase the speed. It's roughly Light-14,686."
"Holy krapolie," Byers said. "Fourteen thousand, six hundred eight-six times the speed of light? That's, uh, about thirty times our old speed. We're going to get wherever we're going before we even leave the place we were."
"Now you guys all know why I was pushing extra hard to get the new skin for the ship. It's the special sheathing that makes the speed possible. But that's also Top Secret so don't tell anyone. I sold SCI on the idea that Region Three is so huge that if we don't get the new skin, we'll never get anything done out there."
"And we still get the Dakinium advantage of being almost indestructible?" Byers asked. "I mean with the color not being black."
"According to Admiral Bradlee— yes."
"Great," Nelligen said. "Now we can either outrun everybody or just let them pound us until they run out of ammo."
"It's even better than that," Vyx said. "The new skin allows us to go out of phase with normal space. If anybody fires a missile at us when we're out of phase, the missile will go right through us."
"What?" Byers said. "Right through us? Out of phase? That's crazy."
"I didn't dream it up. I'm only telling you what I was told."
"Is this another one of Carver's inventions?" Byers asked.
"Admiral Carver?"
"Yeah."
"Well, as I understand it, she pioneered it. By accident."
"Accident?" Nelligen said. "How do you develop something like this by accident?"
"Many of Earth's greatest advancements have been the result of accidents down through the centuries. Fortunately, the people credited with discovering them were smart enough to realize what they had, or what had happened and what it took to duplicate it. Until Carver discovered the speed advantage and then the out-of-phase advantage, everyone thought Dakinium was only useful to make a hull impregnable to most attacks. Of course, that's pretty damn important when someone is shooting at you, but the other Carver discovery is just as important. If she hadn't stumbled on the speed advantage, we might still be limited
to Light-480. I suppose someone else would have eventually had the accident and discovered it, but who knows if they would have realized what had happened and how to do it again."
"Right time, right place, and the smarts to recognize the discovery," Nelligen said. "Makes all the difference."
"Now hold on a minute, Vyx." Byers said. "Look at that hull plate just ahead of the forward hatch opening. It's a different color. That's the plate we had to replace after that cargo container shifted during loading and damaged the previous plate. They haven't sheathed the hull with tritanium-colored Dakinium, and there's the proof."
"We'll, it certainly looks like the plate we used to fix the ship. I suppose the color difference could be owed to the way the lights in there are illuminating the hull. But there's only one way to tell for sure."
Vyx turned and walked to a door that opened into the area where the Scorpion floated.
"Vyx," Brenda said loudly, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to take a look."
"You don't have an EVA suit on, you reckless fool."
"Don't need one, my love. According to the gauges here, the air pressure is equal on both sides of this wall."
"But you don't have a tether."
"It a sealed chamber. I can't get lost in space."
Vyx depressed a button on a panel next to the door and they could hear locks releasing. In no more than seconds, the massively thick door opened about an inch and stopped. Vyx grabbed hold and pulled it open enough to squeeze through. Then, while Brenda held her breath, he kicked off from the wall area on the other side of the observation door and sailed slowly across the roughly fifteen-meter distance to the Scorpion.
There were no handholds on the ship in that area, so even though Vyx was able to easily check his forward progress when he reached the ship, he had no way to stop and move to where he wanted to go. He managed to grab a small cover over an exhaust vent and come to a complete stop. Then it was a matter of moving slightly downward to where the discolored plate was located without pushing off a little too hard. He did it near perfectly and managed to get a good look at the hull plate. But he continued to slide slowly down the hull until the hull curved under and he was no longer in contact with the ship. For several minutes he made exaggerated movements like he was trying to swim, but it got him nowhere. Although the area was pressurized, it was gravity-free and there was nothing to push off from.
Changing of the Guard (A Galaxy Unknown - Book 11) Page 7