"This manual will take a while to look over, but your meeting transcript looks great. This is the perfect example of why Bryant and I want to push you along. You are smart, authoritative, tactically skilled, and a good manager. From your last command, I know that this "tough love" displayed in the first meeting will turn into camaraderie. And, you have tact, as you've displayed in the way you handled Vice Admiral Leeds and tried to play me. You can be trusted. I have asked Admiral Leeds to give you your head, when possible. If there is a Group situation and the Task Commander can't be there, she will give you temporary field command of the Group. That will give you experience and keep your whistle wet." Nichols explained.
We spend the next half hour just chatting about the old days with just two Groups, nearly four squads, no Mobile Fifth, and no Task Commands and, projecting the future based on where we are at now. It is relaxing and fun, but at fifteen forty hours, Nichols rises.
"We better get going. It takes ten minutes to get there and another ten to get positioned. That's if everything goes to the schedule." He laughs.
We walk silently down the corridor. We exit the lift nine levels below on six and turn left heading for the large amphitheater. Everything goes like clockwork. I am reassigned, first, since all other moves stem from that. The other promotions and assignments take another hour. By seventeen-thirty hours, we are on our way to a small dinner buffet. At nineteen hundred, I excuse myself and my senior officers. We have a lot to do. We grab a small meeting room on the same level of the Midgard.
"Have you all examined the manual?' There are nine nods of assent.
'...Anyone have any questions or observations?' I ask.
"Yes Captain, I do have an observation for the rest of the team. I went over the manual carefully, and I believe that if we follow it to the letter - and in sequence, we will find all consequential problems while maintaining a safe environment. I can see that experience and a lot of thought went into this. I was also elected to be a kind of spokesperson. We all agree that you are not a hard-ass - you are just trying to look after our wellbeing. Some of us know people on the Shenzhen. We think you are concerned for our safety. We are happy you came along just in time to stop us from flying around in a potentially dangerous vessel. We will do the job as you asked us to do it.' The Lt. Commander was just about yelling as she looked around at her other officers. 'Let's welcome our new Captain." She finishes as she puts up her right arm.
The other eight do the same as they all call out in unison. "Rah." It is the traditional OESA cheer.
"We'll drop over to the Loki, in an hour to take a tour. I know the Carriers, but I need to meet some of her crew and just chat with them a little. And, I want all of you with me, if you don't mind. In the meantime, let's all head to the bar and have one to celebrate our good fortune." I suggest to a chorus of nods and verbal assents.
We all enjoy a drink together, then shuttle over to the Loki, starting the tour in engineering. A party of ten of the ship's senior officer makes everyone nervous, so we spend time in each department relaxing everyone. Then, we make small talk with them. We go to weapons, after an hour in engineering, then to medical, repeating the same process at each location. After three hours, I make my apologies to the other Senior Officers and tell them I must get back to the Midgard.
I feel almost besieged during the two weeks of classes. They are intense. And, it’s an independent learning program, so I pack in all I can. Some nights are spent traveling so I can be on another command vessel in time for a class. Though they are nearly fifteen light-years from each other, the two Theatre Commands are each only ten light-years from the Valhalla. So, by planning carefully, I can go from the Midgard to the Valhalla, take a class, then go to the Asgard and take another class then go back to the Valhalla. This means I never have to travel more than eight hours in one shot.
Each night, I get reports from the Loki. Testing is going well. Fusion reactor one has a problem in its cooling system at one hundred ten percent of maximum volume. It was fixed by a specialist from the Midgard so we wouldn't have to take it to a dock. The shielding in one section of the ship is fluctuating when we're drawing a lot of power for other systems and stressing the shield with energy hits. Loki's own engineering team found a loose power coupling and fixed it. Day five of the testing is the most frustrating. It involves the AMPE engines. They both cut out at power equivalent to thirty-five percent of light speed, in static testing. This is not acceptable. We usually travel at twenty but can go up to forty percent in an emergency. During shakedown, we have to test it to forty-five percent. We are looking for a Failure Mode prediction of near sixty, not thirty percent.
All Carriers have an exceptional level of engine expertise, on board. You don't want to be stranded in space thirty light years from help with no FTL engines. It turns out to be a defective magnetic trap. One of them holds hydrogen particles, and the other contains the anti-hydrogen. The hydrogen trap is cutting out as its field has to contain more particles, at higher demand rates. Though the anti-matter unit passed, it seems prudent to change it, too. Anti-matter protons coming in contact with the engine housing could destroy the ship. So, I direct Elasima to have the crew pull both and check out the license and batch numbers on them. They are from the same production run. I order them both replaced with ones from a different lot. Fortunately, the Midgard had stock. Ours are all the same as the bad one. Day eight finds problems with two banks of fifteen dual cannon assemblies in one of the gun placements. Again it turns out to be elemental confinement units, which are the same as the ones in the AMPE engines. They ar from the same production run, too. Again, we requisition two from the Midgard to replace the ones in the failing unit and the other placement. Both the engines and the cannons test out to one hundred and ten percent, and project to twenty million shots before failure. This is nearly double the requirement. It's excessive for the cannons, but the engines could pulse twenty thousand times in one twenty light year trip. Day twelve brings problems with the Ion Propulsion. It is the field coil that magnetically accelerates gas to high speed just before the components that electrically charge it. It's made by the same company that supplies the trap coils. By day fourteen, the testing phase is still not finished as I leave the Midgard and board the Loki. I spend an hour going over the accumulated results with my XO. We still have twenty percent of the testing phase to complete before we can go on to the shakedown runs.
"Elasima, I am going to let you finish this phase. You are handling it just fine. I will spend my time on the bridge, studying for my program and visiting the crew. It will give me a chance to get to know a few more people." I explain.
"Thank you for the confidence, Captain. And, good luck with your studies." He responds.
Testing finally ends after three weeks. We found an unusual number of issues. Most related to one company's production. I prepare a preliminary report for my superiors.
MEMO
From: Captain K. Brubacher Commander ESS Loki
To: Vice Admiral Helena Leeds Commander Phoenix Fleet
C.C. Admiral Stephen Nichols Commander Theatre Nine
Re: T&S ESS Loki
Date: Oct 24, 2255
Sir,
This is a brief preliminary report on the testing and shakedown of the ESS Loki. Today, the testing phase was finished, to our satisfaction. My XO, Commander Elasima managed this operation, under my supervision. I must say that he has been most thorough and professional. It has taken us a week longer than projected to complete this phase because of extensive required repairs and modifications, necessary to make the vessel flight-worthy. For the most part, this has been caused by failures of electrical parts manufactured by one company. I will attach a list of the offending items. This ship was at risk of failure or catastrophic explosion from the time of its delivery. We will begin the shakedown phase tomorrow morning. I will keep you apprised every few days. A final extensive report will be presented, at the end of shakedown cruises.
Captain Kurt Bruba
cher
I order the helm to set a course taking us from HD75829 to HD 75809 a yellow star just one and a half light years away. Astronomers are still studying their motions to determine if the two stars are a binary pair. I command the Loki Navigation and Helm team to jump with velocity set to five percent of light speed. It will take twenty-eight hours and fifty-five minutes to make a journey that usually takes a little over seven hours. We will be able to test all systems except propulsion at full power, or greater. I direct the shields set to one hundred ten percent of maximum. We crawl to the jump point on a long acceleration ramp, first with the IPS than with the AMPE system. Both operate flawlessly. When we activate the Casimir emitter, it opens the Minkowski Space-Time Vortex in the correct location and trajectory, and we are off. The entire crew diligently spends that twenty-eight-hour period monitoring all systems carefully and reporting their readings every fifteen minutes.
We are all very relieved when we finally arrive at our destination. The system boasts two GLZ planets that support life, and one is a paradise sustaining a beautiful, intelligent humanoid species.
"Post your leave bulletin.' I tell my Exec. 'It's still your show, so you should do it, and in your own name. Just copy me on the memo." I add.
A moment later there is a chime notification from my data pad.
MEMO
From: Commander Elasima Executive Officer ESS Loki
To: All officers and crew ESS Loki.
Re: Testing and Shakedown
B.C.C. Captain Kurt Brubacher Commander ESS Loki
Date: October 26, 2255
All,
I am pleased to inform you that arriving at HD75809 has completed the testing phase of our task. There is still a lot to be done, but the next segment of the operation will be managed by Captain Brubacher.
I want to take a moment to thank you all for a job well done. We have completed a daunting task and eliminated many dangerous issues, at the same time. The Loki crew has brought this vessel to a state of readiness capable of completing the required shakedown cruises. You did it as a team, and without injury to any of our people.
In recognition of a job well done. I am placing the entire vessel on rotating shore leaves. Department heads and shift commanders are asked to provide a timetable for your crews so all personnel may enjoy equal time ashore during the three-day period. I hope that all will have a wonderful vacation, but will remember they represent the Loki and the OESA, when ashore. I ask you not to abuse this privilege. It is imperative we depart HD 75809 at thirteen hundred hours on Monday, October 29th OESA time, if we are to maintain our mission timeline.
Commander Elasima
"I guess you had it ready to go, eh El?" I ask.
"Yes, sir, that was the plan.' He responds with a wide grin. "May I ask where you're going?" He adds.
"I will take full advantage of the next shore leave. I will grant a week after the shakedown. And, I will take the whole seven days, since I have you, a second officer, a third officer, and a fourth officer to rotate in command, in place of me. But, I need to complete this final day's analysis and put the entire results into a package that will be part of the overall report. Then, I need to study like hell. The course I am on is intensive. And, I will rotate with the other three shift Commanders to run the bridge. You are ordered to take the entire three days ashore. You've worked your ass off, and you deserve it. But, I am staying aboard, this time." I explain to him.
"Thank you, Captain. I appreciate the compliment, and the leave. I will enjoy it. But, I have a question that's been nagging at me." El states in an enquiring manner.
"What's that, Commander?" I ask
"What do they teach on that course, anyway? They sure have you laboring your butt off." He asks with genuine concern.
"Well, it is the equivalent of two full-time university-level semesters. There are six classes in each one. The same subjects are taught in each - just more advanced in the second one. It is classed as a fellowship over and above your graduate degree. You can add Ph.D./GOP after your name if you want. But, we use titles so much that I would never use it. I don't ever display my Ph.D. - without this designation. Anyway, the courses are Military Law, Defensive Tactics, Offensive Tactics, Regional Strategies, Accounting for CEO's, and Managing Human Resources in a large enterprise. But, they are very different from anything you've seen in the Command Program. Military Law concerns treaties and sovereignty. It also includes the makeup and conduction of military tribunals and trials. The next semester is an in-depth look at the Criminal Code. The tactical courses concern Defensive and Offensive battle planning at the Group, Task Force, and Fleet levels. The second semester is combat methods at the Theatre and Quadrant Levels. It's probably okay to just pass it if all you want is a star or two. But, if you want to go to the very top, you need to genuinely learn it and a logical way of planning. I can see that this gives a potential Flag Officer the grounding necessary to go to the top. The rest will be gained by experience and on-site lessons from your immediate Commanders. The Accounting and Human Resources programs take you all the way into HQ. You learn a lot about why things are done, not just how to do them. And, you learn a lot of the ins and outs of the service, in those programs." I explain.
"Wow, it sounds like a lot," El says.
"Yes, but an Officer's Commander recommends the candidate for the program when he feels you’re ready for promotion - if he feels you are Flag material. I can tell you that I would recommend you, so far. Keep up the good work! Anyway, you don't seem to be afraid of exertion, and your Academy marks were excellent, so I think you'd breeze through it." I stop before I get carried away and turn it into a pep talk.
"Anyway, thanks for the information. And, thanks for the leave. May I be excused, please?" The Commander asks.
"You're dismissed, and make sure you enjoy your shore leave." I offer with a smile as El turns to exit the bridge.
There wasn't a lot to do in command of the bridge while the ship was orbiting for three days. Aside from asking for status, every quarter-hour or so, I had a lot of time on my hands, so I decided to do my analysis of the final test, from the bridge. Each day, I'd spent three to four hours just examining all the reports and numbers, before running the Finite Analysis Software, which analyses sub-systems and parts individually to determine their weaknesses. It takes things a little deeper than the Failure Mode Analysis. I would complete this part at my station. When the shift ended, I would finish the software portion at my desk, in my office, then begin composing the actual report for that phase.
I call the data up, on my pad, then send it to my internal com. Everything from the flight is there. Quarter-hour reports on the performance of engines, shields, environmental, navigation, power generation and utilization, recycling, gravitation, inertial dampening, computer throughput. Network demand, Network performance, CPU, and every other system and sub-system you could think of - except weapons. They were not tested throughout the trip. Weapons testing would be done during each of the next shakedown cruises. Medical and the Galleys ran different kinds of assessments during the run. Medical put all systems into extreme operation with no patients. Their reports included the hardware used in pathology, diagnostic imaging, and a host of other areas. They even ran all the surgical operating room lights continuously for the twenty-nine hours. The Galley kept all ovens, burners, fryers, and heat units running, off batteries, for the twenty-eight hours. The hangar bays fixed static loads to the magnetic catapults and cycled them fourteen thousand times during the trip, recording the vibration and loads of each cycle. Each of the launch bay doors was opened and closed fourteen hundred times simulating the launch of fifty-six hundred Raptors in groups of four. Compartment doors were closed and sealed four thousand times during the excursion, and docking seals were tested a thousand times during the same period. While all the ship analysis was going on, each Raptor was latched in place and run at twenty percent velocity for a hundred hours while temperature, vibration, and efficiency of engines we
re monitored. Shuttles were put through the same challenges. Even the high tower turret trucks in the storage area executed a thousand withdrawal and insertions of items. In all, there were nearly a thousand pages of reports to digest. Over a hundred and ten failure analysis would come from those reports.
After spending the shift going over the numbers, I begin entering them into the program, at my office station. The final step is put them all together in one final analytical calculation. According to the testing results, we should be able to run everything on the ship at one hundred twenty percent of maximum for ten years without a failure. Of course, that analysis does not include incidents out of the norm, like the vibrations experienced when your ship is hit by an enemy missile. However, that analysis would be done, too - in the next phase.
I work straight through to four hundred hours on that first day, finally quitting for efficiency reasons. I head to bed, waking at ten hundred thirty in the morning. After a cleanup and breakfast, I get right to it, and by the time the shift starts at eighteen hundred, I have completed all the analysis. With that in hand, I will compose the report from my duty station. In the end, I don't really get much time to study, but the narrative is finished by the end of the stay at HD75809.
Righteous Reign The Series: E-version Boxed Set Edition Page 37