The last two officers seated to her left were both old faces: Commander Grant and Commander Kaufman. Alex noted that Barbie looked both better and worse than when she had met with the pilot two days ago to inform her of her promotion and new position. Gone was the soulless look in her eyes, along with the rigid tenseness Grant had adopted after the death of her RIO in their last battle. The puffy red eyes and flushed face, as if she had been crying, were new, but despite these new additions Alex could see that Barbie was more relaxed, and some of her old confidence had returned. The brilliant smile and easy demeanor were still missing, and she still had a slightly haunted look about her, but Alex knew it was only a matter of time before Barbie returned to her old self.
Commander Kaufman, on the other hand, looked nothing but worse than the last time Alex had seen him in the Fenris' galley. Still bandaged, missing the last two fingers of his left hand, and sporting a limp from a still-healing broken femur, Alex could not tell if he had begged, bribed, or bullied his way out of Folkvang's sick bay, but she was not going to look into the situation too closely. She wanted and needed her CAG's experience and leadership down in Valhalla's hangar decks.
The only person missing from this meeting was the marine battalion commander, Colonel Douglas Hendrix. Alex had received his message that he and his XO would be dirtside conferring with Marine High Command and would be returning aboard on the fifteen-hundred shuttle.
Thinking of executive officers brought Alex's mind to the man sitting at the foot of the table, directly across from her. Commander Anthony Ruggs, her new XO. Alex had never served with him before, but his reputation had preceded him; she knew him to be an outstanding officer and a trusted, proven leader. Though not as tall as Greg, Tony, as he liked to be called, still towered over her at one hundred seventy-six centimeters. Alex guessed he massed somewhere in the neighborhood of eighty-five kilos. He wasn't overly muscled, but it was obvious that he kept himself in shape. He had an open face, dominated by both an aquiline nose and a bushy gray mustache. His hair, matching his mustache, was mostly gray, flecked with black, and stood out in stark contrast to his dark complexion. Whereas Dr. Stratis' skin tone was obviously the result of long-term solar exposure, it was just as readily evident that Tony's was due to his Mediterranean ancestry. What Alex noticed most about her new XO was his eyes. She remembered her first impression of them when she had initially boarded, thinking they were a soft, sleepy brown. After he had escorted her to the command deck and she had officially taken command of the Valhalla, she had spoken with him at length. During that conversation, Alex was held enthralled by how intent his gaze was, and she saw both great compassion and great intelligence there. She knew then that he was not a man to underestimate, and that his reputation was well-deserved.
Alex coughed lightly and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. It was time to start this meeting.
* * *
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let's make this fast, as we still have a lot to do before we launch this afternoon," Alex said, getting the meeting rolling. She pulled her cigarette case from her jacket pocket and extracted one. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em." She then offered the case to Commander Kaufman, who took one with a nod of thanks. Alex heard Dr. Stratis tsking as he watched not only Alex and Kaufman, but Tony as well, blow smoke before settling down.
"Let me start off by saying that I'm sorry, but there is no time for pleasantries right now. Normally I like to start off my first staff meeting by getting to know all of my officers, but we're racing against the clock. We are to rendezvous with Admiral Tanner's Home Fleet ASAP so he can transfer his flag from the carrier Heimdall to the Valhalla, and to that end we are scheduled to launch at eighteen hundred today. So let's dive right in," Alex said in a matter-of-fact voice, the tone of command unmistakable.
"Heron, status report."
Heron had placed her data pad on the table during Alex's opening comments. Now she retrieved it, double-checking her answers before replying.
"Well, Captain, looks to me like the yard did one hell of a job putting her together. I've gone over the reports of my predecessor and can't find any of the usual post-trial-run repairs or problems that typically turn up. All engines are on line, the Humptys are good to go, and the P-Drive is fully functional. All in all, she looks ready to run to me."
"Good to hear." Alex nodded toward her friend and then turned her gaze on to her tactical officer. "Commander Fain, weapon status, please."
"Yes, ma'am," Fain answered in a raspy voice, and, sitting up straighter in his chair, he closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the information Alex had requested.
"All energy mounts are fully functional and have only a minimal amount of wear on the focusing lenses. Basically, only what accrued during Valhalla's gunnery trials. Also, we are the first ship to have the newest model of focusing servos, giving us an additional thousand-kilometer range on our energy mounts. Unfortunately, even with the increased range, distance and jamming still leave missiles as our long-range weapon of choice, but the first Xan-Sskarn we meet that are foolish enough to get within our new energy envelope will get a nasty surprise." A ghost of a smile appeared on his face before he continued. "Missile and KEW launchers are at one hundred percent. PDLs and PDGs are all tied into the point-defense computer, and diagnostics on that are all in the green." He opened his eyes, and Alex felt his gaze lock onto her.
"We are armed to the teeth, and my crews and I are ready to dish out a world of hurt," Fain growled.
Yes, definitely a predator, Alex thought, then pulled herself away from his cold, dead gaze, glancing down at her pad and the list of questions she had prepared.
"With this heavy a weapons load-out, what is the status of consumables?"
"All magazines are completely stocked, and as I am sure the captain is aware, the Valhalla carries several manufacturing plants that are capable of an impressive range of output, including ordnance for both the launchers and the PDGs." A rare smile crossed the commander's face.
"Which, I must say, is a great relief to me, ma'am. Because you are right—we are packing a massive weapons load-out, and if we didn't have the capability of rearming ourselves, we would burn through all of our on-board magazines in any kind of prolonged engagement, and I hate having to wait on tenders."
"It's a relief to me as well, Commander." Alex returned his smile. "And I know what you mean—I don't like waiting on tenders any more than you do. I always feel vulnerable during a reload."
"Ensi—" Alex began, then caught herself. "Sorry, I mean, Lieutenant Green, how are your sensors? You going to be able to find some Sallys for Commander Fain to play with?" Alex knew how best to address her questions or concerns to her former crew members to set them at ease. If it had not been for his dark complexion, Alex was sure that he would be blushing furiously. As it was, a grin found its way onto the lieutenant's face as he looked down at the table top.
"I don't think I'll have a problem finding playmates for the commander." Green's deep baritone filled the wardroom as he tried to fit into his surroundings. Alex could see that he was well aware of the fact that he was the most junior officer present by a wide margin and was making a conscious effort not to be intimidated by it.
"The Valhalla's sensor suite is light-years ahead of the Fenris'." Green looked around guiltily as what he had just said registered.
The face of every member of the Fenris' crew around the table closed as each of them turned their thoughts inward to memories that haunted them.
Alex was the first to shake herself out of this retrospection. She had had quite a bit of practice in the last few days. She saw Lieutenant Junior Grade Green open his mouth in what she suspected was an apology, and Alex knew that no matter what he said, it would only make the situation more uncomfortable. So, she decided to spare him the embarrassment.
"Thank you, Emanuel," Alex said as she watched Green close his mouth, a sheepish expression still on his face. Oh, well, she thought to herself, we've all tasted our
fair share of boot leather. It comes with growing up.
"Doctor, how are things down in sick bay?"
"Thankfully quiet, ma'am." Stratis was still leaning back in his chair, twirling his stylus, seeming oblivious to the stares his causal attitude drew from the other assembled officers.
"Though," he continued, "I would like to see both yourself and Commander Kaufman down in my neck of the woods as quickly as you can manage it. You both have suffered severe trauma, and I want to make sure that whoever put you back together again knew what he was doing."
Alex was not quite sure what to make of the doctor's statement. It made sense that he would want to check up on both her and Kaufman's injuries, but the way he had presented his request left her wondering if he was speaking from bravado, or, like some of her own past observations, experience in dealing with somewhat dubious medical practitioners.
"I'll be sure to stop by as soon as my duties permit." Alex felt safe in that response. While she knew how to treat with her former crew, she was still feeling her way with the new and didn't want to start things off on the wrong foot by rubbing someone the wrong way.
"Which, of course, means I'll see you sometime six months from now." The doctor's smile was infectious, and Alex felt herself responding in kind. She was starting to like this man and was getting the feeling that he was as good as his records indicated.
"I see you've dealt with reticent captains before, Doctor," Alex said.
"One or two," Stratis responded. Sitting up, stylus halting its twirling, his smile vanished as he continued in a brisk, professional tone. "Seriously, though, Captain, I would feel much better if I could see how you are recovering from your injuries. Commander Kaufman as well."
"Very well, Doctor, as soon as my duties permit," Alex replied just as professionally. "Commander Kaufman as well." She could see the grimace on the CAG's face at that, but he kept any comments to himself and just nodded his assent to the doctor.
"Thank you, Captain," Stratis said, leaning back in his chair, his stylus beginning to dance in his hands once more.
"Lieutenant Commander Albers, if you please." Alex turned her attention to the other side of the table.
"Oh, communications is just fine, Captain. I've got a small variance in one of the phased arrays, but I have two of my techs and one of Commander Denton's engineering crew looking at it right now. They should have the jitter tracked down and taken care of soon. Other than that, everything is looking good." Lea's words seemed almost to run together.
Alex stared at the young woman as she continued to recite the status of her department, amazed not only at how fast the woman was speaking but at the fact that it appeared that Lea had yet to take a breath.
"Thank you, Commander," Alex said forcefully, realizing that if she did not interrupt, her communications officer would happily report the status of every single circuit of the Valhalla's entire communication network. Then she would no doubt move on to every one of her communication techs. Alex was grateful to see that her interruption of Lea's litany had not seemed to upset the young woman. Lea had simply beamed a very toothy smile at her and settled back into her chair with a content look on her face.
"My turn, I believe, Captain?" Jeffrey Tucholski asked, seeming to break with his evaluations by showing some initiative and speaking up. But it seemed to be a short-lived personality change, as he remained silent, staring at Alex, obviously waiting.
"Yes, Commander," Alex finally said, realizing that Tucholski was not going to say anything more until he was asked, "it is indeed. Proceed."
"Yes, ma'am." He cleared his throat and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "Currently, all navigation systems check out at one hundred percent. I have full response from both the Particle Drive as well as the Heisenberg Umeko Muxlo Dimensional Drive."
Alex was surprised to hear the full name of the jump engines used. She couldn't even recall the last time she'd heard the proper name for them. From the looks of the rest of the staff, they were surprised as well, all except Lea Albers. Alex surmised that the reason for that was that Lea lived to hear as many long, complex words spoken as possible. Even if she was not the one using them. She gave a mental chuckle at that, while continuing to watch Tucholski.
He had paused in his report, and it took Alex a moment to realize that he was waiting for her to tell him to continue. She was definitely going to have to do something about this young man's initiative and self-confidence, but now was not the time for that.
"Please continue, Commander."
"Yes, ma'am." He cleared his throat again, as if starting over from the beginning. Thankfully that was not that case, as he had a tendency to speak slowly and deliberately. The antithesis of his bouncy friend, Lea.
"I have several course plots for our rendezvous with Admiral Tanner on my board at this time, all of which are constantly updating as we speak. I have nothing else to report at this time, ma'am," Tucholski ended formally.
At least he's thorough, Alex thought. Multiple, updating course plots are a pain in the ass to maintain for any long period of time, especially with all of those different variables. Just thinking about it gives me a headache, but Tucholski seems to love it. Well, more power to him. As long as he gets me where I want to go as quickly as possible, he can crunch as many numbers as he wants.
"Barbie?" Alex asked, turning her attention to her new wing commander.
"Well, Skipper, I've got ten full squadrons down on the hangar decks. One hundred forty Valkyries, and all of them the new variant," Barbie said proudly.
"Ten squadrons—that's a big step up. You up to the challenge?" Alex knew that Barbie was, but it was more important that Barbie think that she was equal to the task. Alex shouldn't have worried.
"Oh, it's a bit overwhelming, but I'm sure I'll manage. Besides, I've got some damn good flight teams down there." Talking about her people seemed to light the fires in her eyes, lifting her one step closer to her old self.
"How do you have your squadrons bedded down?"
"I conferred with Hangman here"—Barbie nodded her head toward Commander Kaufman—"and we decided to go with odd squadrons port, even starboard, and subdivide the wing into two flights, Alpha and Bravo."
Alex, while not a Valkyrie pilot herself, knew fighter doctrine well enough to understand the reasoning behind the split. All of fleet's ships of the line carried Valkyries, and one could not command such a ship without knowing how to deploy those Valkyries correctly. So she knew that splitting the wing into two flights would allow her to run fighter ops round the clock, with each flight taking shifts, or, in a worst-case scenario, should either flight deck or even the flight itself be taken out of commission, viable command cohesion would be maintained.
"Anything else?"
"No, ma'am. I've checked on all my birds, and they're all fully functional. My pilots are ready to ride." She turned her gaze to Commander Fain and Lieutenant Green. "I just hope that when you two boys find your playmates, you don't forget to invite me to the party."
That elicited a bark of laughter from Fain, but Green only smiled, obviously still embarrassed by his faux pas earlier in the meeting. The rest of the assembled officers laughed lightly as well.
"Okay people, settle down," Alex said as she chuckled herself, checking the time on her pad. "We're almost finished here, and the sooner we wrap this up, the sooner we can adjourn for lunch."
The laughter died down quickly as all eyes turned toward Commander Kaufman.
"Well, CAG, looks like you have everyone's undivided attention," Alex told Kaufman. "So, what have you got for us?"
"Yes, ma'am." Kaufman winced in pain as he tried to sit up straighter in his chair. "You all heard what Barbie had to say regarding the Valkyrie wing, so that takes care of that. As for the rest, well, down in the bays I've got a handful of shuttles, enough assault boats to land the entire battalion in one flight, and five Lokis. Plus full flight crews for all of my birds, so I'm sitting pretty. No double shifts for an
yone, at least not right now."
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