“Yes Sir I do. I lost three of my flight on the Ark Royal that way.” He paused and then added “I will do my best Sir.”
Dave nodded.
“What do you need Li?” asked Rihan.
“Nothing really Maam. Facilities on this ship are amazing.”
“I will drop in to see you and the squadron later this afternoon for a chat” said Dave. “Let’s say at 1500. I won’t eat up too much of your time. Half an hour will do.”
“Look forward to it Sir.”
“Thanks Li and welcome aboard.”
“Thank you Sir, Maam.”
Li got up and left the office but a few seconds later he came back in. “Please excuse me but are you two married?”
“Is it that obvious?” said Rihan with a big smile.
Li smiled, turned and left the office with a big grin on his face. Dave looked at Rihan and couldn’t help but lean over and give her a kiss on the cheek as LCmd Jim Bucknell’s big frame came through the door. He already knew about their marital status so he wasn’t taken aback. He motioned to the chair and Rihan nodded. He sat down and looked at them both without saying anything.
They went through the same preliminaries.
“My dad was in the Marines, his before him, it was in the blood Sir. Couldn’t escape it. So naturally I followed suit” said Jim. “I came through the ranks. First saw action back in ‘97 retaking the Shando over Pela. Got promoted quickly as you do in a conflict zone. At the time I was quite happy as a Sgt but got sick and tired of these pups with pimples telling me they knew better.” Rihan chuckled at that and Jim smiled back at her.
“One thing led to another and I ended up with a pip on my shoulder. Received the Distinguished Service Cross when I was with Bravo Coy, 4th Marine Bn in ‘08 - you know when the embassy got sacked.”
“In Lenda?” asked Dave.
“Yeah, bloody mess that was. Didn’t think I’d come out of that alive.”
“Few did” said Dave.
Jim nodded, the recollection having changed his demeanour to a more sombre one. “Where was I? Yes... Ops Officer with the 2nd Expeditionary Bn. Earmarked for more action but in the end spent the time warping from one planet to another. Four months of that drives you crazy I can tell you. Thankfully I scored the OC’s job with the 30th then. Been in command for two years now. Good bunch of guys...and gals of course Maam.”
“Good to hear Jim” said Rihan with a smile. “I note here that you’re short about ten troopers even after incorporating the old Hermes marine detachment.
“That’s right Maam. Some of the troops were still on leave when we got the hurry up to join you. They just didn’t get back in time. Hopefully we can have them join us before we head off for the longer mission.”
“Are any of those shortages from the armoured troop?”
“No Maam. All four battlewagon crews are at full strength.”
“Good. Is there anything your company needs?”
“What, on this cruise liner” said Jim with a smile. “Compared to some of the old tubs we’ve been assigned to, this is heaven. If you asked the lads to sign up for a five year tour in this ship I reckon most would.”
Dave laughed. “How do you assess the readiness and effectiveness of your company?”
“Give us a day or two to go through the equipment inventory we have on board and check it for serviceability and we should be ready to go. It all looks brand new. As for effectiveness, well I rate the company as attack capable Sir. We finished a pretty gruelling exercise out in the desert about six weeks ago. They performed very well. Before that we went through the close quarters course at Ft Bellerdale. Lost two troops to broken legs but otherwise got a big tick of approval from the course staff. The lads have just come off two weeks leave and while they were grumbling about that being cut short, they’re right to go.”
“Good to hear Jim” said Dave. “Have you or any of your company had much experience working with droids?”
“We did the standard synth workup that was part of the three year training cycle but that was two years ago. From the briefing we had last night these droids here are another generation again. There’s so much to get a handle on Sir. I plan to have my troop commanders start that droid sim training tomorrow while their troops sort out the new equipment.”
“If I may be candid” continued Jim and he paused.
“Go on” said Dave.
“Well I am not all that comfortable with having whole platoons let alone a whole Bn of droids operating independently.”
Dave nodded. Rihan waited but saw that Dave was still thinking so she chimed in. “I think we should start putting a section of these droids through their paces in the shuttle hangar. That way we can at least see how their new AI performs in interpreting objectives, assessing the situation, developing plans and issuing orders.”
“Good idea Maam” said Jim.
“Can we actually get some of these droids out of their pods?” asked Dave.
That stopped them in their tracks. “Don’t know” said Jim eventually “but I’ll get my XO onto it. She’s good at that type of thing. You met her in the hangar yesterday – Tammy Jahir.”
“Yeah” said Dave. He was deep in thought.
“Well I think that about covers it Jim” said Rihan. “The Captain wants to address your troops later today. Does 1600 work for you?”
“We’ll make it work Maam.”
“Wonderful. I like your attitude.”
“That’s as well Maam. It’s the only one I’ve got” and he gave her a wink. “Nice to meet you Sir.”
“Yes thanks Jim. I’ll see you later” said Dave.
After he left, Rihan asked “what’s on your mind?”
“I do hope these droids don’t give us more trouble than they’re worth?” responded Dave.
“We just need to start small and keep a close eye on the way they behave. We can always stop using them if they give us trouble.”
“Yeah that’s good advice” said Dave but Rihan could tell he was still pondering.
“Come on darling. Time for lunch.” She held out her hand and he looked up at her. He liked what he saw, took her hand and stood up.
“Where’s the mess again?” he asked.
Rihan just shook her head.
Chapter 12. Resolute in warp to Klaster 1200, 13 May
“Gee” said Dave as he entered the officer’s mess “there’s dozens of us.”
“Bodies everywhere” said Rihan. “I like that table over there Dave. I think we should put our name on it.”
Dave looked askance at Rihan.
“Rank has its privileges!”
“Oh why not” said Dave in a moment of relapse.
“Leave it to me” she said and Dave watcher her take Cranky Jack, the steward, aside.
He also watched Cranky go over to the table and direct the subalterns at it to move. He saw their looks directed at him and cringed. ‘What have I done’ he said to himself, regretting this lapse of judgement.
Cranky came back over and ushered them forward. Rihan turned to Dave and said “See all fixed!”
Once they sat down and Cranky left he turned to Rihan and said “Rihan we shouldn’t have done that.”
“Oh nonsense darling. We deserve it more than them, surely.”
Dave looked in earnest into her eyes, making sure she was engaged. “Don’t do that again.”
Rihan looked hurt. He couldn’t help but reach out and take her hand. “I’m sorry darling but please don’t do that again.” She lowered her head and nodded.
Art and Sue joined them both noting Rihan’s demure disposition. Art thought it best to talk shop. “I’ve been going over the latest intel on Beta Phi. Guess who’s at Niku?”
Dave’s focus was broken. He looked across to Art. “Who?”
“Pious and Packer.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it looks like Justine was recalled after our little escapade on Soln and Pious opted to go with her. The
re’s a signal here apparently directing Pious to confirm his intention to retire or return to duty.”
“What?” asked Dave incredulously.
“I’d say he’s smitten with the ice maiden” said Art.
“Well that was obvious Art” said Sue. She looked across to Rihan “don’t you think so?”
Rihan nodded but really her thoughts were still with Dave’s rebuke.
“They’re in real danger then” said Dave. There was decisiveness about his statement that no one dared follow. “We need to find out for sure.”
“What do we need to find out?” asked Chase as he joined them, forcing Art and Sue to shuffle along so he could fit in.
“Pious and Packer are at Niku” confirmed Sue.
“Oh boy that’s not a good place to be” said Chase. He looked to Dave who he knew had a soft spot for the Commodore. He could see though that Dave was deep in thought. Everyone at the table was now looking at Dave as he assessed options.
Aubrey came over with a plate in hand, looked at the company all looking at Dave. She assessed correctly that someone had said something causing Dave to start planning. She sat down quite content, having seen this many times before. She munched heartily into a corn cob.
Finally Dave emerged from his pontificating looked around at the others staring at him and said “What?”
Chapter 13. Resolute in warp to Klaster 1300, 13 May
Rihan followed Dave into his office and closed the door behind her.
“I’m so sorry Dave I don’t know what came over me.”
Dave was already in his seat. He looked up at her with compassion and then patted the seat beside him. She came over and sat down. He took her hands in his. “It’s all right partner. We’re a team. We sink or swim together.”
She was overcome with emotion and in that moment she loved him even more. She kissed him on the lips, gently. He responded in kind, then parted her lips with his tongue. She welcomed it in with a brush of her tongue and then a retreat. He followed until she pushed back. She grabbed the back of his neck and he hers.
Then he pulled back. “Later darling” he said with a smile. She had that twinkle in her eye which always excited him. He so wanted to take her here and now but the knock on the door put paid to that. Rihan gave him a look which said ‘Oh blast’. He smiled and they both regained their composure.
“Come in” said Dave.
“Good afternoon Sir” said Julian Smythe. “Am I early?”
“No, no, no” said Dave “please take a seat.”
They went through the same preliminaries as they had with the other interviews.
“Well Sir to be honest this is not my prime area of interest. Back in the day my father insisted I do propulsion physics for my doctorate. He was a renowned propulsion engineer in his own right. Kings College and all that. I was snapped up by the Fleet, offered an indecent amount of money to join a project team and ended up working on the initial phase of the program that has delivered the engine systems to this great ship. But I hated it Sir. AI was my main interest. Was then and is still now.”
Julian looked to his two hosts, could see that that they were enthralled, felt a certain satisfaction at his ability to entertain and continued. “So you see after two years I jumped ship and went back to Oxford, completed my second doctorate in Artificial Intelligence, majoring in robotics. Trouble was the only place I could gain useful employment was back in the Fleet. Thankfully I ended up in the Advanced Research Labs where until two weeks ago I was quite content. Then these two heavy set chaps turned up and escorted me off the premises and deposited me in front of Admiral Yomoto, no less.”
Dave was more than enthralled now “Go on.”
“Well I complained bitterly about being pressganged but he can be quite persuasive.”
“Quite” chimed in Rihan.
“Just so Maam. Anyway next thing I know I am agreeing, well that is how the Admiral referred to it, to a two year posting to this ship as the engineering officer. Now let me get one thing straight. I have no experience what so ever of working in an engineering section on board a ship. None. Finito.”
Dave and Rihan looked to each other in absolute disbelief at what they had just heard. Then they both broke out laughing. Julian was at first unsure but then as they looked at him he decided to join in and laugh with them.
“Ludicrous isn’t it Sir.”
“Yes indeed Julian, absurd” said Dave. Rihan finally stopped laughing and Dave added. “So how do you see us proceeding.”
“Well Sir if I were you I would appoint that Gunter chap straight away. He’s very good really for a grease monkey.”
“You know that he used to be a cryptologist” informed Dave.
“Oh well that explains it. I knew straight away that he was too smart for engineering.”
Rihan couldn’t hold it any longer and was now belly laughing. Dave had not seen her like this for a long time. When she managed to regain her composure Dave spoke. “But you are the most knowledgeable person we have concerning these new drives.”
“Well that may be the case Sir. I am more than happy to assist Chief Rapperberg. Consider me as a consultant if you will.”
“What do you know about droids?” asked Rihan.
“What particular aspect?”
“All aspects.”
“Well then, in all modesty, I’d have to say I know a fair bit.”
“A fair bit?”
“Well apart from my doctoral thesis I helped write the AI for quite a number of the droid projects conducted at the ARL over the last five years. Of course I am bound by confidentiality not to disclose details.”
“Of course” said Rihan. She looked to Dave.
“Hum” he said with a smile. “Julian it’s your lucky day.”
“It is?”
“Indeed. Hand back your engineer overalls. Set up shop…um…”
“I’ll find a place for him” said Rihan.
“Good. The XO will find a place for you to hang your hat. What I want you to do is become our droid expert. Find out everything you can about them and find out how we can modify their behaviour if need be.”
Julian was dumb struck for the first time in the meeting. He sat their smiling at both of them.
“How does that sound?” asked Rihan.
Julian snapped out of his demeanour and looked earnestly at Rihan “Like a dream come true Maam – a dream come true. I’ve changed my mind. There is a god after all.”
Dave laughed. “Julian if you ever get bored of this line of work take up stand-up comedy. You’re a natural.”
“Why thank you Sir” and Julian joined in with a big smile.
After he left Dave turned to Rihan “Ask Gunter to come up straight away. We need to sort this out right now.”
“I’m on it” said Rihan. She hailed Gunter and it took him just seven minutes to arrive. He was a little short of breath having literally run from the back of the ship before taking the elevators up to A Deck.
“Aagh Chief come in” said Dave.
Gunter took a few deep breaths in and sat down. “What’s the emergency?”
“No emergency chief” said Dave.
Gunter looked to Rihan with a puzzled expression. Rihan played a straight bat. Getting no satisfaction from her Gunter looked back at Dave “How can I be of service Sir?”
“What do you think of this Smythe fellow?”
“That’s not fair Sir. He’s my senior officer.”
“Gunter I need your advice. What do you think of him?”
“Well he’s not an engineer type really sir. More your boffin. He’s smart that’s for sure.”
“Is that all?”
“I thought he was right about the engine speed test Sir. He doesn’t lack for courage. He took on that specialist, which was a sight to behold. In fact most of us in engineering were craning to watch the encounter if the truth be told.”
Rihan was smiling now. Dave was still trying to remain serious.
> “He can be quite funny Sir in that toffy British tradition. If you know what I mean.”
“We know” piped in Rihan. Gunter smiled back at her.
“OK I’ll get down to the brass tacks Gunter” said Dave. “I want you to take over engineering as of now. It’s worth a commission. I will appoint you initially as a 2nd Lt and if things work out after twelve months you’ll get your second pip.”
“That’s very nice of you but I’m not an expert in these new engines. Mr Smythe is.”
“He has agreed to serve as your consultant.”
“Has he?” said a wary Gunter.
Dave nodded.
“Well…” and Gunter went silent. A whole minute passed. “OK Sir I’ll do it. Thank you for your vote of confidence in me. I won’t let you down.”
“You haven’t yet Gunter. Better see the XO here for a berth on B deck.
“Right…” Rihan rose and escorted him out. He was still deep in thought as he turned for the elevators.
When she returned, Dave asked “Whose next?”
Rihan looked at her console. “2nd Lt Jasmin Morales, the new deputy Comms Officer.”
“Ask her in please.”
Jasmin entered like a ballet dancer with grace and poise. Her long dark hair was up in a ponytail and her deep brown eyes scanned the two senior officers before her.
“Sir, Maam” she said as he sat down.
“Fresh out of the academy?” asked Rihan.
“Not quite Maam. I’ve been working at Polaris HQ these last six months.”
“Good” said Rihan and she gave this young officer a warm welcoming smile. Jasmin relaxed a little.
“Since your career is only just starting” said Dave “perhaps you can tell us a bit about what you did before joining and where you see your career taking you.”
“Not much to tell I’m afraid Sir. I was born and raised here in Nova Vista. I mean back in Nova Vista” she said with a slightly foolish smile. “My folks weren’t happy that I joined up but they’ve got used to it. At least my Dad was glad I specialised in Comms. He’s a communications technician at Micon labs.”
Dave gave her a warm smile “I see. It says here on your file that you have a watch certificate already.”
Insurrection: Book 3 of Warner's World Page 9