Scimitar's Glory: A Swordships Odyssey Novel

by Dietmar Wehr

  As she entered the conference room, she saw every CO except for Corregidor’s. Rostov was not present either. Before she had a chance to talk with anyone, Corregidor’s CO, Marcus Truman, entered the room followed by his XO.

  “Can everyone take a seat?” he asked in a tone that implied that it was more an order than a question. He stood behind the seat at the end of the oval table. When everyone was seated, he nodded and resumed speaking. “It’s unfortunate that three of our ships are still missing and must be presumed to still be in hyperspace. I ordered this meeting because I felt I’d waited long enough to reveal that Admiral Rostov committed suicide shortly after Corregidor emerged from hyperspace. He left a note saying that he regretted his decision that placed the fleet in this position and that he could not live with the consequences of his actions. When I became aware of his death, I assumed the position of Acting Fleet Commander as per regulations.”

  Truman continued talking, but Dejanus was no longer listening. She looked around the table until she found who she was looking for: Jake Molitor, the CO of the resupply ship, Reforger. He was clearly older than Truman and therefore probably had an earlier commissioning date, which would make him the senior officer in the group. According to regulations, he should be the new Acting Fleet Commander.

  “Just a minute, Commander Truman,” she said in a loud voice, interrupting him.

  Truman didn’t try to hide his annoyance. “It’s Fleet Commander Truman now, and I don’t appreciate being interrupted, Commander Dejanus.”

  “Your assumption of fleet command IS the reason for my interruption. I believe there’s a more senior officer at this table.”

  Truman shook his head. “Not possible. I checked the commission dates of every CO in the fleet who has experience commanding a combat-capable vessel, and I’m senior to everyone else.”

  “Not so fast, Marcus. The regs don’t discriminate between officers with and without experience commanding combat-capable ships. Jake?” she turned to look at Molitor. “What’s your commission date?”

  Molitor didn’t answer right away. He clearly looked uncomfortable. “I graduated with the Class of ’77.” Everyone turned back to Truman who, in turn, looked at Dejanus.

  “Are you really going to insist that we follow the strict interpretation of the regs when this is clearly a situation that the regs never anticipated?”

  “The regs are the regs,” said Dejanus. “If we don’t follow them now, we might as well just throw them out and vote on every decision. I submit to you that the regs were meant for exactly situations like this.” Without taking her eyes off Truman, she said, “Jake. Are you prepared to assume the role of Acting Fleet Commander?”

  Molitor stood up. “Yes. Under Regulation 13, section 2, as the most senior officer present, I’m assuming command of this fleet on an acting basis. Does anyone else besides Commander Truman object to this?”

  When it became clear that no one did, Truman gave a stiff nod and sat down. So did Dejanus.

  Molitor cleared his throat. He was clearly nervous. “I was not expecting to suddenly have responsibility for this fleet on my shoulders, and so I haven’t given our situation a lot of thought. What I think I should do now is get some input from the rest of you, so let’s adjourn this official meeting. I’ll meet with all of you in turn, either individually or in small groups, to get your ideas on how we can get everyone here back to human space.”

  When it became obvious that no one wanted to be the first to get up, Dejanus did so. That broke the logjam, and others got up as well. Since Molitor had been sitting on the opposite side of the table from Dejanus, other officers got to him first and had formed a small circle around him. Dejanus was prepared to wait her turn when she noticed that Truman was coming around the table and that he was looking directly at her. He stopped a meter away and folded his arms across his chest.

  “Do you realize what you’ve done, Dejanus?” he said in a surprisingly calm voice.

  “I think I do, but I’d be interested in hearing what it is that you think I’ve done,” she said.

  “Molitor isn’t cut out for fleet command. You heard him. He admitted that he has no clue what to do now. At least I had opportunities to interact with Rostov. I was his Flag Commander and unofficially his Deputy Fleet Commander. I sat in on countless planning sessions with him. He asked my advice on both administrative and strategic questions. Molitor is so far out of his depth that I think our chances of getting home have dropped to practically nothing. That’s what I think you’ve done.”

  “Well, if you had come into this room with the suggestion that your experience makes you more qualified for fleet command instead of trying to twist the regs to support your illegal attempt at command, you might have gotten more support. You might be right about being a better FC than Molitor, but you undermined your own position when you tried to get it in an underhanded way. But if it’s any consolation, I’m sure Molitor will transfer to Corregidor, and you’ll be able to give him the benefit of your wisdom just like you did with Rostov. And as for Molitor, you never know, he might just surprise all of us. At least he’s not afraid to ask for advice. If Rostov had been more like Molitor, we wouldn’t be in this situation now. I can live with what I did here.”

  Truman stared her in the eyes for a few seconds before turning and walking away in silence.

  Other officers must have been watching and maybe even listening to her conversation with Truman because a couple of them came over after Truman left. They congratulated her on taking the initiative to stop Truman from usurping the fleet command authority. The discussion then quickly turned to the fleet’s situation, the distance from human space and the food situation. They had also instituted rationing on their ships. She was surprised to learn that one of them had heard from a Corregidor junior officer that Truman had rejected any suggestion of food rationing and that the flagship’s food supply was now about half of what it was before the jump. The two officers suddenly excused themselves and walked away. Dejanus turned around to find Molitor standing nearby, obviously waiting to talk with her.

  “I’ve told the others that I want to have a one-on-one chat with you, Commander. It’s Tyler Dejanus, correct?”

  “That’s correct, sir.”

  Molitor laughed. “I still can’t get used to being addressed as sir by my fellow COs. I noticed that you had a chat with Truman and then with those other two officers. While you were doing that, I was taking a survey of who the officers thought would be best qualified to give me the advice that I clearly need. Several names were put forward, but the one that was suggested most often was yours, Tyler. So, I’m going to make you my Acting Deputy Fleet Commander. I going to transfer to Corregidor and I want you on this ship too. If Truman stays on board, that would be one Commander too many, so I’m transferring him to Reforger to take command of that ship. You will wear two hats. In addition to the ADFC slot, you’ll also be CO of Corregidor. Is your XO up to the task of conning Excalibur?”

  “I believe he is, sir. Are you sure you want me as your Deputy? I have a habit of annoying my superiors. I tried to get Rostov to forget about the jump to Alpha9, and it clearly pissed him off.”

  “I don’t want or need a yes-man. If you think I’m making a wrong decision, then I expect you to say so. That doesn’t mean I’ll always take your advice, but it does mean I’ll always listen to what you have to say. I’ll make the transfers official in a few minutes, but first I want to hear what you think this fleet should do now.”

  Dejanus took a deep breath while she organized her thoughts. “Well, I think our first priority is food. May I ask how much food Reforger has?”

  Molitor smile. “You may ask. As of now, Reforger has enough food to last the entire fleet for roughly two months. What’s your advice regarding our food supplies now that you know that?”

  “I think the fleet as a whole has to institute food rationing. Excalibur began doing it as soon as we knew we missed Alpha9. Some of the other ships did it too.
Corregidor did not; apparently Truman rejected the idea. It wouldn’t be fair if some ships continued to do it and others did not. Either we all do it or we all don’t do it, and I think we have to try to stretch our supplies as long as we can without inflicting serious physical or mental harm, sir.”

  Molitor nodded. “I agree completely, but as I’m sure you already know, we’re still not going to have enough to get us home.”

  “Which brings me to my next suggestion. We need to find a planet that supports the kind of plant and animal life that we can exploit as a food supply. I know that’s not going to be easy. We’ve already found dozens of life-bearing planets where the biochemistry isn’t compatible with human physiology, but we have found a few that are, which means there are more of them out there. And while everyone is anxious to take the shortest path home, we might be missing an exploitable planet that’s relatively close by if we don’t take some time to explore in all directions first.”

  Molitor took a few seconds to ponder that idea. “That delay in heading home will not be popular with a lot of people, but it’s an idea that I will give serious consideration to. That’s exactly the kind of thinking that I need. One thing though. If we explore this area of space first, we might run into another space-faring race that could turn out to be hostile.”

  Dejanus nodded. “Or friendly. I haven’t checked with my Astro on this yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that there’s more than one path back to human space. If we did run into another space-faring race, they might be able to clue us in on who else is in the neighborhood and who to avoid.”

  “I have to admit that would be helpful. Any other ideas?”

  “Not at the moment, sir, but I’ll let you know if I think of any.”

  “Very good. I’m going to reconvene the meeting. It’s time to start taking action.”

  When everyone was seated again, Molitor took a quick glance at a glowering Truman before he began to speak. “As a result of frank opinions and a few helpful suggestions, I now have a better idea of how to proceed. Before I get to that, I’m going to announce some personnel changes. My experience, as you all know, is mainly on the logistics side of things, which in this situation will prove quite useful I think. I do recognize that I lack experience in terms of strategic and tactical thinking, and I’m going to create a new position in the Fleet command structure to address that need. This new position will be the Acting Deputy Fleet Commander and the ADFC will act as my Executive Officer for fleet operations. When you receive orders from the flagship, they will likely originate from the ADFC who will be making sure that my decisions are being acted upon. You will treat an order from the ADFC as if it’s an order from me as the Acting Fleet Commander. And to avoid any confusion in case I am unable to perform my duties as the AFC, I’m now declaring that the ADFC will become the Acting Fleet Commander if something should happen to me. My choice for ADFC is Commander Tyler Dejanus. When Commander Dejanus and I transfer to Corregidor, she will also assume command of the Flagship as its new CO. Commander Truman will take up his new position as CO of Reforger. Excalibur’s XO will become her Acting CO.

  “That takes care of the personnel issues. Now to the main question of what this fleet is going to do to get us all back to human space. We need to try to stretch our collective food supplies as long as possible. What I want from each of you, as soon as you’re back aboard your ships, is a report on the food inventory. Once I have that information, Reforger will top up all ships so that we all have enough food to last for the same period of time. Reforger will act as the fleet’s food reserve. Rationing will be instituted immediately on all ships, with no exceptions. While this is happening, all 21 astrogation AIs will be tasked with determining all the possible jump paths back to human space. The ADFC will co-ordinate that effort. I expect this will take several days, and during that time I’ll be evaluating several other suggestions. A decision will be made by the time these other tasks have been completed. In the meantime, the fleet will stay together in formation. I will not be answering any questions right now. This meeting is now adjourned, and you are free to return to your ships. Commander Dejanus, please accompany me to the Bridge. Commander Truman, you are to return to your quarters and prepare for your transfer to Reforger. That’s all.”

  As Molitor made his way to the exit, Dejanus caught up to him. “I want you installed formally as Corregidor’s new CO before I head back to Reforger to get my gear. When I return here, you’ll have the opportunity to return to Excalibur to get your gear. I want one of us here at all times. I don’t trust Truman not to try something sneaky if we’re both off the ship,” he said as the two of them walked down the corridor.

  When they entered the Bridge, Molitor cleared his throat and began to speak. “I’m certain that at least one of your AIs was listening to the conference room meeting. Therefore, you can confirm to the other AIs that I am now the Acting Fleet Commander and that Commander Dejanus is now Acting Deputy Fleet Commander, as well as Corregidor’s new CO. Do you all accept this change in the command structure?” Even as he asked that question, the door slid open and Truman came running in with a weapon in his hand.

  “YOU’RE NOT TAKING MY SHIP FROM ME!” He aimed his weapon at Molitor’s head and fired.

  Chapter Three:

  Koenig tried to ignore the gnawing hunger he felt as he manipulated the controls of the Command Pod just for something to do. Dejanus had been gone for almost two hours. Could they really still be talking over there? He noticed that some of the shuttles were starting to leave the flagship and head back to other ships. That had to mean the meeting was over. A quick check confirmed that none of those returning shuttles belonged to Excalibur.

  “Flagship is requesting a visual channel with the XO,” said the com AI.

  Koenig activated the Pod’s communications equipment, and the screen in front of him formed an image of Dejanus with a sprayed-on bandage on the side of her head.

  “My God, what happened to you?” asked a shocked Koenig.

  “Corregidor’s CO assassinated Jake Molitor, the new Acting Fleet Commander and then tried to kill me to prevent me from assuming command of the ship. As you can see, I was hit, but it was only a glancing blow, albeit a painful one. Truman is now in the brig, and he’ll be facing a full court-martial for murder and attempted murder once things settle down. With Molitor dead, I’m now the Acting Fleet Commander, Wolfe. You’re now Excalibur’s Acting CO. I need to stay on Corregidor, so I’m going to ask you to personally pack my gear and have it sent over as soon as the shuttle gets back there.”

  “Unbelievable,” said Koenig. “What’s happening to us? Rostov commits suicide and Truman commits murder?”

  “Yeah, well, given that Truman is clearly mentally unbalanced, there’s now some doubt as to whether Rostov really did commit suicide. He could have been killed by Truman who then made it look that way. That’s going to be looked into as well. As for your question, I hope Truman is an isolated case, but our situation is creating a lot of stress, and some of us may not be as good at dealing with that kind of stress as others. After you pack my gear, I want you to send over the latest figures on Excalibur’s food supply. The whole fleet is going to start rationing, and every ship will be topped up to the same level to even the playing field. I’ll be sending a recorded message for Excalibur’s crew soon, but you can let them know of the change in command at your discretion. I wish I could offer you congratulations on your first command, but under the circumstances, it wouldn’t really be appropriate as I’m sure you understand.”

  “I do, sir. Same goes for your field promotion to AFC. I’ll get your stuff packed right away.”

  “Very good. Out.”

  It was four days later when Koenig entered the Bridge for his duty shift. He discovered his new XO asleep in the Command Pod.

  “Wake up, Eriko.” She must have been deep asleep because he had to repeat himself before she stirred. He wondered why the bio-monitor hadn’t noticed and prevented t
hat kind level of sleep.

  “Sorry, sir. I wish we had an AI programmed for interesting chitchat. It would sure help in staying awake.”

  Koenig chuckled. “That’s actually not a bad idea. I’ll try to remember to suggest it when we get back home.” He paused while she got up. “Four days now, and nothing from the AFC. The Fleet finished topping up its food supplies yesterday. She was supposed to have made a decision on our next move by now. I’m trying not to interpret this delay as bad news, but it’s hard.”

  “Well, before I dozed off, I noticed that Coral Sea sent one of its shuttles over to the flagship about”—she checked the chronometer— “75 minutes ago. I wonder what that’s about.”