Valor At Vauzlee

by DePrima, Thomas

  During Hubera's tirade, the other admirals just looked on dispassionately. The silence lasted for several seconds after he finished.

  "Donald," Admiral Moore finally said, "we all understand your frustration, but the fact is that the actions of Lt. Commander Carver did save Higgins. It was her battle plan tactics that reduced the initial threat by two-thirds and gave our people a fighting chance. No one is saying that she did it all by herself, and no one ever meant to imply that. Our people performed heroically, and that heroism will be properly recognized. But our forces were nearly destroyed, and in the end we would most likely have lost the station if Lt. Commander Carver hadn't taken out that battleship when she did. All of our analysts have agreed on that. Those facts can't be disputed."

  "She violated her orders by deviating from her course," Hubera contended. "I told you she would. She was ordered to go directly to Higgins. And then—" Hubera paused for a second as if groping for a point to make. "then she tried to take full credit for the victory at Vauzlee."

  "The news articles about Commander Carver's involvement at Vauzlee were written by newsies covering the arrival of the artifact convoy at Anthius," Admiral Moore said. "She had absolutely nothing to do with them. She was on picket duty around Higgins when those stories were written and filed. And we've already reviewed that allegation about her deviation. We decided that she had a valid reason for ordering a minor course change that added less than five minutes to a twenty-eight day voyage. I like to think that, in her place, I would have taken the same action. The issue before us this morning is Admiral Holt's recommendation that Lt. Commander Carver receive the Space Command Cross for taking decisive action that saved Higgins Space Command Base from near certain destruction. We've viewed the bridge logs from the Song that show the dilemma that Commander Carver faced. We watched as she weighed the options and decided to deviate from her established course despite the possible repercussions and career dangers. Do you dispute that her actions were directly responsible for the survival of the station?"

  "No," Admiral Hubera snapped through gritted teeth and then ground them as he slipped into silence. It pained him so much to admit it that he wouldn't even look up.

  "Then all in favor of approving the medal award?"

  Even Admiral Hubera raised his hand with the rest, but he still didn't look up.

  "And all in favor of awarding the second Purple Heart to Commander Carver?"

  That was basically a rubber stamp vote. No one could deny that Lt. Commander Carver had been shot by an enemy combatant while her ship was rushing to join the forces defending Higgins.

  "And all in favor of approving the Bronze Comet recommended by Captain Gavin for her outstanding service aboard the Prometheus and Song at Vauzlee?"

  Again Admiral Hubera raised his hand without looking up. He was hoping to get this business over and done with now.

  "The medal awards proposed for Lt. Commander Jenetta Alicia Carver by her commanding officers have been unanimously approved by this Board. That concludes the medal award discussions for all personnel participating at the Battle of Vauzlee and the Battle for Higgins."

  A collective sigh of relief wafted around the room. Admiral Hubera, although admitting that she deserved the awards, had kept them talking about Commander Carver for hours while he tried to convince them not to award the medals because it would turn even more attention her way. They were all weary of the duplicitous discussion.

  "This Board has spent an inordinate amount of time discussing one young officer today and during the past year," Admiral Moore said. "We know that the attacks on the Mawcett convoy and on Higgins were being planned while Lt. Commander Carver was still in stasis sleep in the Hokyuu life pod, and we know now that it was a fortunate day for us when she was found and awakened. No one has ever suggested that the actions of Lt. Commander Carver alone have knocked the Raiders to their knees in this part of space, but neither can anyone deny that in the decade before she was awakened, the situation had gotten progressively worse. There seemed to be no relief in sight. Unassisted by Space Command, she did annihilate Raider-One, and along with it fifty-eight Raider warships and more than eighteen thousand personnel. The Raiders lost another two warships and two thousand personnel when she destroyed those two vessels while acting as captain of the Vordoth. A prisoner that she brought to Higgins provided the information that allowed us to engage the Raider forces at Vauzlee, and information found there informed us of the attack on Higgins. Having that information prevented us from being caught totally unawares. Many of Space Command's finest men and women died in the two recent confrontations, but each engagement must still be looked upon as outstanding victories in our battle with the Raiders. The series of events set in motion by Commander Carver's actions have brought about such incredible changes that we now see freighters and passenger ships again plying the space lanes in Galactic Alliance space with little fear of attack.

  "Commander Carver is due to arrive at Earth soon and the date of the Medal of Honor ceremony has been established. I'm proud that I will be able to welcome this exceptional young officer back to Earth, and that I will be the one to place the medal around her neck. She deserves it, and all of the other honors we bestow upon her.

  "Once Lt. Commander Carver has received her medals, including the Tawroole Medal of Valor from the Nordakian planetary government, I expect that she will slowly recede back into the fabric of the Space Command family. She has never sought publicity, and in fact has tried to evade the newsies whenever possible. Her renown can be attributed solely to the outstanding noteworthiness of her accomplishments. She is a superior officer, and will always be an invaluable asset, but with the Raiders so badly hurt that they will probably not show themselves openly again, I expect that there will be few opportunities for her star to ever again shine as brightly as it has this past year. She will take her rightful place as a line officer, and I know she will perform her duties to the absolute best of her abilities. I fully expect that she will one day rise to command a battleship, and I know she is up to the task.

  "Are there any other comments before we move on?"

  "I'd like to say something about Carver," Admiral Hubera said.

  Half of the Board members rolled their eyes, while the rest simply sighed silently and closed theirs for a few seconds.

  "I want to apologize to my fellow Board members," he began contritely. "I realize that it must seem like I've made a personal crusade of protesting all the attention paid to Lt. Commander Carver. I did so only in what I felt were the best interests of the service. It's been my belief that I had to temper what I perceived as almost hero worship among some Board members. If I offended, I'm sorry. I agree with Richard that Lt. Commander Carver's time in the spotlight is almost over. In the decades ahead, as she functions as the second officer aboard the Prometheus, I feel confident that she will develop the maturity necessary to advance in rank, and fully expect that one day she might even become a warship captain. Since I'm almost eighty-five now, I don't expect that to happen within my lifetime, but I believe that it might happen."

  "I disagree," Admiral Hillaire said.

  "You do?" Admiral Moore said in surprise. While Admiral Hubera had always appeared to oppose Commander Carver's actions, Admiral Hillaire had been a staunch supporter.

  "Oh, not that Lt. Commander Carver will one day get her own warship, but that it won't happen in Donald's lifetime. If he wasn't healthy, he wouldn't still be an active member of the service, which means that he can probably expect to live the average lifetime of one-hundred-thirty to one-hundred-forty years. And I believe that Lt. Commander Carver will get her first warship before Donald even hits the century mark."

  A chuckle passed around the room as Admiral Hubera scowled and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

  * * *

  Chapter Nineteen

  ~ October 27th, 2268 ~

  The Song arrived at Earth Station Two just twenty-nine seconds behind the Prometheus, after t
raveling to Earth at Light-262, the highest speed available to the older destroyers in the convoy.

  While the Song was docking at her assigned docking pier, the press was lining up to greet Jenetta. She walked to her briefing room for one last review of her prepared speech once the ship was docked and the airlock seal verified by the station dock master. She had just completed reading her speech aloud when she was informed by Lt. Ashraf that she had special visitors waiting in her quarters. Knowing that neither strangers nor even dignitaries would ever be allowed into her private quarters without her advance permission, she ran there with all the enthusiasm of the twenty-two-year-old that she basically was. Space Marine Corporal Matthews braced to attention as she approached but she hardly glanced at him as she darted into her sitting room. Her visitors were there alone, sitting on a sofa; a tray of light snacks sat on the end table next to the sofa. The cheese, crackers, uncooked vegetables, and dips appeared untouched.

  Without even giving them an opportunity to stand up, she ran to the sofa and dropped to her knees in front of her mother and father as they leaned forward to rise. All three hugged and cried for minutes. For her parents, having lived for so many years with the report of her loss, she was returned from the dead. For Jenetta, it was a reunion that, during the early days in the Raider detention center, she had almost forsaken hope of ever enjoying again. No one said anything for several minutes. Tears of happiness flowed freely from Jenetta and her mother, while her dad's eyes were moist and a few tears trickled down his cheeks.

  Jenetta's dad, trying to get his own feelings reined in after they had worked through the first of their emotions, said in a cracked voice, "Now is this any way for the captain of a GSC Heavy Cruiser to act?"

  Jenetta sniffled and wiped away her own tears of happiness as she stood up. "No sir. I'm sorry, sir." The formality was a game that they had always played at the house when sentimentality started getting the better of them.

  "That's better. Now tell us all about this ship of yours, Captain."

  "Well, it's not really my ship once I deliver it to the Mars shipyard, Dad. I was only placed in command to bring it here. I'll be resuming my position as second officer aboard the Prometheus."

  Her father looked at her and smiled. "I'm prouder of you than I can say, Jenetta. I'm proud of all my children, but for you to overcome the handicap of that incident at the Academy with then Professor Hubera, and to become a Lieutenant Commander, and the captain of this cruiser, albeit a temporary appointment, by the tender age of thirty-three, makes my chest swell with pride."

  "Thanks, Dad," Jenetta said, feeling a lump form in her throat at this expression of admiration from her father, her own personal hero.

  "Even Billy, who's a Commander now, hasn't had his own command yet, while you've had three ships."

  "Only two were GSC ships, Dad. And only this ship was really an authorized posting."

  "Since you're being officially recognized as the first captain of the Prometheus, that's an authorized posting also; even if it did occur after the fact." Touching the two pips on her collar, he said, "You know that, or you wouldn't be wearing that second pip. But whether authorized postings or not, it makes no real difference in the long run. Each was indisputably a command. And while performing as the captain of this cruiser you took your crew into battle and destroyed a Raider battleship, saving Higgins. It'll all be in your file and will weigh heavily with the Promotion Selection Board, and ultimately with COAC, when your name comes up for consideration." Lowering his voice a little to indicate that it was a confidence, he added, "Secretly, I think that Billy's a little worried you'll make captain before he does."

  "That's silly. He has seven more years of commissioned service and he's only one step away from captain."

  Jenetta's father laughed. "And you're just two steps away; and a Medal of Honor recipient after Saturday. That, combined with the Space Command Cross you'll be receiving soon, the two Purple Hearts, Bronze Comet, and the Space Command Star makes you the most highly decorated officer on active duty in Space Command."

  "It's still silly. I won't even be eligible for promotion to Commander for almost three more years. Billy will be eligible for promotion to Captain before then, since he was promoted a month earlier than I was. Besides, you've always told us that we shouldn't be in competition with each other. You've said that you just wanted us to be ourselves."

  "Billy's the eldest, honey," her mother reminded her. "It's understandable that he might feel some embarrassment about possibly being surpassed by the youngest."

  "And the numbers you're quoting are just the normal ‘minimum years in grade' guideline," her father said. "It can be waived for officers showing exceptional leadership or meritorious service. I'd say that your performance over the past year definitely puts you at the top of both categories. You've repeatedly proved your fitness for command. You only need confirmation by the Selection Board. And there are more Commander positions available each year than Captain positions. One thing is for sure, when your name comes up for consideration, the board members won't have to be reminded who Jenetta Alicia Carver is."

  "But I was just promoted eight months ago."

  "They only placed you where your number of years of commissioned service indicated that you could be. I think that it would have been a bit too much to promote you directly to Commander from Ensign, especially since you still look like a recent Academy graduate. Lieutenant Commanders, on average, have attained their rank when they've had between fourteen and eighteen years of commissioned service, but some have achieved it in as little as eleven years. You have a little more than twelve years now, even if all but a year was in stasis sleep. At the very least you would have achieved Lieutenant and been knocking on the door of Lieutenant Commander if they hadn't overlooked you during the search for Hokyuu survivors. I'll be surprised if they don't consider you when the Promotion Selection Board convenes next September. Up to ten percent of the officers named on the Selection List can be early promotion, you know. That would make you available for promotion by the fourth quarter of next year."

  "How do Richie, Andy, and Jimmy feel about my promotion and postings?"

  "They're all happy for you, sweetheart," her mother said. "Even Billy. You can't fault them for a little jealousy. Andy and Jimmy are both hoping to receive promotions to Lieutenant Commander this coming year. The GAC has made special arrangements with SC for all of them to be here for the ceremony. Billy and Richie are already in port. Andy and Jimmy are expected in before Saturday."

  "I can't wait to see them. It's been so long since we were all together."

  Jenetta half-turned and said, "Come," when the computer interface announced that Lieutenant Ashraf was at the door.

  "Excuse me, Captain," Ashraf said as she entered the room and braced to attention. "The press is still waiting out on the dock."

  "Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll be there in a few minutes."

  "Yes ma'am."

  Jenetta turned back to her parents as Lt. Ashraf left. "Space Command wants me to do this interview. I couldn't face the newsies when the court-martial was over and ran away from them. Why don't you come along, and when it's over I'll give you a tour of the ship."

  Ten minutes later, Jenetta was stepping up to the podium on the small temporary stage erected by the spaceport's dock personnel. A Marine security detail, insisted upon by Marine Captain Galont, had cleared the way for her, and now stood nearby to protect her from overzealous newsies, or perhaps them from her if they encroached too far. She read the statement that she had prepared while en route to Earth and then answered questions for about an hour. Not that she could really add anything that hadn't been stated already during the court-martial, but the court's video records and transcripts hadn't been released to the news services yet so the reporters were still hungry for information, and it was her first statement to the press. They also plied her with questions about her role in the battles of Vauzlee and Higgins, but she declined to answer, citing the fact
that it would be inappropriate until the official reports were released by Space Command. As the reporters hurried away to write and file or transmit their stories, Jenetta returned to the ship with her parents. She knew her father wanted to see the Song and her mother just wanted to be with her and hold her hand, so both would appreciate the tour.

  "That was an excellent presentation, Commander," her father said as they walked back aboard the ship.

  "Thank you, sir. I've had a long time to prepare myself."

  "What's this I hear about an intruder on your ship that tried to assassinate you?"

  Jenetta looked at her father and asked cautiously, "Where did you hear that, Dad?" Although it had been months since Pretorious had snuck into her quarters and tried to ‘conclude their business,' she didn't believe that the story regarding the assassination attempt had yet been released.

  "Oh, a newsie asked me to comment on it while you were answering questions from the press." Her father tried to look nonchalant, but didn't fool Jenetta. So many people within Space Command knew of the event that he might have picked up information about it on the base, and was offering her an opening so that she could present the information to her mother on her own terms before it became public. "There're also some persistent rumors circulating that you developed the battle tactics used at both Vauzlee and Higgins," her father said.