Clidepp Deja Vu

by Thomas DePrima

  "I see."

  "The computer aboard the Justice has received a copy of this projected course. You may have this holo-disc so you can view the course in private any time. The image size is adjustable, so you can enlarge it to fill a room or even an entire shuttle bay to improve the image clarity."

  "I understand, Commander."

  "Good luck, Lieutenant."

  * * *

  Over the next two days, Sydney spent most of her awake hours either aboard the Justice or in the DS habitat containers that would be attached to the CPS-14 once it left the shuttle bay. The initials CPS stood for Central Propulsion Ship because the over-sized space tug formed the nucleus of a mini Scout-Destroyer assembled from various components, depending on the mission.

  The term 'habitat container' was a real misnomer, but to disguise their true purpose or function, regulations required that all containers be referenced only in that way. While a percentage of the habitat containers were genuinely devoted to living quarters, others were used to hold military cargo, conceal Marine aircraft, and even house the deadly weapons platforms that helped protect the CPS-14 when it was on a mission. When required, cleverly concealed hatches on containers holding the ship's weapons could be opened remotely by the tactical officer. Laser cannons or missiles could then be fired or launched within seconds on command from the captain or watch commander.

  From the outside, the black containers all looked alike and appeared to be quite innocuous. Eventually, space denizens would learn just how lethal the CPS could be, but they would never be able to determine from its appearance if they were facing a ship with the firepower of a mini destroyer or that of a reclamation vessel. For any military organization, the goal should be to make their enemies fear their weapons and resolve but also to have both their enemies and their friends understand that they would never use their weapons unless provoked beyond the limits of their government's established laws and policies.

  While the containers were attached to the keel of the Denver, they could only be entered via shielded access tubes that extended down into the container. While in the tube, a person was weightless because he or she was shielded from both the gravity plating in the Denver and the deck plating in the habitat. Sydnee needed to be sure that all systems were at one hundred percent and that every piece of equipment intended to be aboard the ship or in any of the habitat containers was actually there before the Justice deployed.

  The CPS-14 was also designed to accommodate up to four MAT-14 shuttles that attached to the hull, two on either side. The MAT designation of the shuttles stood for Marine Armored Transport, and the newest model was the 14. During the first mission, two enormous DS water storage tanks that allowed the Justice to hide at the bottom of a lake had occupied the lower shuttle attachment points on either side of the ship, but for the new mission, the Justice would have four shuttles. The sheathing of all components attached to the CPS-14 preserved its ability to travel at Light-9790, and the naturally black coloration of Dakinium was perfect for surreptitious military operations.

  Each evening Sydnee returned to the Denver in order to enjoy her assigned quarters for as long as possible. The captain's living quarters aboard the Justice were cramped and smaller than those assigned to a Petty Officer aboard the Denver. Since she would be unable to communicate with family and friends while outside GA space, she spent her last evenings aboard the Denver sending vid mails to family and friends informing them that she would be on an away mission that would prevent communications for as long as two years, and that she would notify them as soon as she was back.

  Sydnee almost bumped into Colonel Dennier, literally, while she was checking out the Marine FA-SF4 fighter aircraft in one of the habitat containers the day before they were scheduled to deploy. Each fighter naturally had its wings folded back in a parking position to fit inside the container. At the time of launch, a support platform holding the fighter in a nose-out position would extend from the container. Once the fighter was completely outside the container, docking clamps were retracted and the aircraft floated free, at the same time allowing the pilot to engage maneuvering thrusters. The fighter was too small to have FTL capability, but with its oh-gee and sub-light engines it was as much at home in space as it was in atmo. When entering the atmosphere of a planet, the pilot would simply unfold the wings and switch to oh-gee propulsion, although the main engines were always available when extreme speed was needed. When docking with a vessel, the procedure was simply reversed. Upon reaching the ship, the pilot used the fighter's maneuvering thrusters to properly position the fighter on the platform so the docking clamps could be reengaged before the platform was retracted.

  Sydnee had just finished discussing the maintenance condition of the fighters with the head mechanic, and as she turned to leave, she came within inches of contact with Dennier. She stopped in time, took a step back, and braced to attention. "I'm sorry, Colonel."

  "It's my fault, Lieutenant. I came up behind you. I was wondering what you were discussing with my chief mechanic."

  "I was checking to make sure he had received everything he needed before we deploy."

  "Very efficient of you. But if he hadn't, I would have informed Captain Lidden."

  "Yes, ma'am. But I'm the commanding officer of the Justice, and, as such, I have final responsibility for our mission. In the future, please send all such requests to me and I will forward them on to the proper authority."

  "You would have been sent a copy of the request if we needed anything we didn't have."

  "As the commanding officer, it's my responsibility to ensure everything we need for this mission has been requested and received. With all due respect to you and your rank ma'am, you and the chief aircraft mechanic are now part of my command. I've been told you've been briefed in that regard and have accepted the fact that I'm the senior officer aboard the Justice until we return to the Denver."

  Dennier smiled. "I've heard you're a regular little firecracker. It appears to be true."

  "Colonel, I do appreciate that reporting to an O-2 is going to be difficult for you, and I will endeavor to ease that as much as possible. I fully expect the Wing to operate somewhat autonomously under your command while assigned to my ship, but on those few occasions where command protocol dictates a standard reporting structure, it must operate without regard to official rank. I hope you will accept my orders without hesitation. In time, you might even come to respect my abilities."

  "That was a nice little speech, Lieutenant. Have you been practicing for this little confrontation?"

  "I think we both knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, Colonel."

  Dennier nodded. "Yes. And as you've said, I've been briefed about the command structure and agreed to it when I accepted this all-volunteer mission. Also, as you've said, it's difficult for a senior officer to report to a junior officer. I've been told you've earned the respect of everyone who has ever come under your command, both Space Command and Space Marine personnel. If that was not the case, I doubt you would have been entrusted with command of this sensitive mission. From now on, I think I'll address you as Captain, since you are technically the captain of the Justice. Perhaps that will make it a little easier on my ego."

  "Thank you, Colonel. I'll do everything I can to make the situation easier for both of us."

  * * *

  The next day, the Denver arrived at the point in Galactic Alliance space where the Justice would depart from the destroyer and then head for the border with the Clidepp Empire. As the ship came to a stop, Captain Lidden ordered the DATFA envelope cancelled and the airlock-style access tubes to the eight habitat containers sealed for separation from the hull. Meanwhile, the Justice was preparing to leave the shuttle bay.

  The Marine personnel assigned to the mission were either aboard the Justice, in one of the four shuttles that would dock with it, or in one of the sealed containers that would be attached to its keel. The Space Command crew consisted of twenty-four Space Command officers and enlist
ed, plus Sydnee. Marine personnel included Marine Captain Blade and his eleven Special Ops noncoms, First Lt. Kelly MacDonald and a platoon of Marines from the Denver, Lt. Colonel Dennier and her Wing of seven pilots, the thirty-three enlisted personnel who performed maintenance and flight operations support functions, and a staff of cooks and mess attendants for the Marine mess hall. The package being returned to Yolongus had been delivered by one of the shuttles. Since the ship would be away until their mission was complete, it had been loaded with everything they should need for the extended voyage, including two spare temporal envelope generators and enough firepower to start a sizable war. On the previous mission to Yolongus, an officer had been killed and a Chief Petty officer seriously injured because neither had personal armor. For this mission, Sydnee had insisted that personal armor be compulsory for every individual aboard ship, other than the package.

  Sydnee was acutely aware that in Space Command history there were no instances where a vessel having a crew of seventy enlisted and officers had officially been placed under the command of a junior officer before the mission commenced. She supposed that if the original mission had not been simply to take the Clidepp minister back to Yolongus and return she would not have been offered the command. At the very least, the mission commander should be a Space Command lieutenant and more probably a lieutenant commander. Despite what Dennier had said, Sydnee knew she was going to have problems if she had to give Dennier an order the colonel didn't wish to follow. She had expected the last mission with Blade to be bad given his more senior rank, but she expected this trip to be worse— much worse— and it would go on for a much longer period.

  * * *

  Lt.(jg) Caruthers was at the helm of the Justice when it was time to leave the docking bay aboard the Denver. On command from Sydnee, he raised the small ship up on a cushion of oh-gee waves, turned it around, and moved it to the temporary airlock area in front of a hatch in the outer hull. The airlock fit was tight, but he was experienced enough that he was able to properly place the small vessel within the alignment markers on the first try. When the bay's alignment-verification system confirmed the ship was properly aligned, all lights on the alignment-warning display on the bridge console went to green. Caruthers then carefully lowered the ship to the deck and sent the command to lock it down to keep it from moving while the air in the temporary airlock was evacuated. Since Dakinium wasn't magnetic, the airlock's semi-circular skid clamps rolled up over the skids, then recessed slightly to lock the ship firmly in place. Once the ship was immobile, the temporary airlock walls swung down from the overhead area to seal the ship in an airtight chamber against the outer hull. The oxygen in the airlock was then sucked out and pumped into containment bottles for temporary storage.

  The Justice deployed from the Denver as soon as the outer hatch had opened fully to allow his departure and the indicator light on the console showed that the skid clamps had rolled completely back into the deck. Once the ship was sitting a thousand meters away, the four MAT-14s left from a different bay and linked with the Justice. It only took minutes to get them properly aligned with the linkage systems. Automatic systems then activated, and all four small ships were pulled tightly against the Justice. Creating an airtight seal around the access hatch was the final step.

  While the pilots aboard the MATS were shutting down their systems, small, unmanned tugs began ferrying the habitat containers to the Justice where they would be attached using a modified version of the Lewiston container link.

  The Lewiston was the standardized linkage system used by all freighters in Galactic Alliance space. It normally allowed up to four full-sized, forty-meter-long cargo containers to be locked together, forming a single section. Abutted end to end, they extended one hundred sixty meters in length when complete. The entire section would then be added to a freighter's cargo load and increase the length of the ship by twelve meters— ten meters for the container and two additional meters required for the linkage. The modified link for the CPS-14 was only one-eighth as long and only held one twenty-meter-long container, but it formed the same type of airtight tunnels on the top surface that allowed full access to every attached container.

  While freighter containers were attached to the stern of a vessel, the CPS-14 habitat containers were attached to the keel. Once the eight containers were connected, the assembly hanging beneath the small ship would be twenty meters high and twenty meters wide. Like the full-sized Lewiston links, the modified links added twelve meters for each container, so the habitat group would extend ninety-six meters from bow to stern. It would actually be almost three times longer than the CPS-14 itself.

  As the habitat units were locked into position against the keel, automated systems completed all mechanical, electrical, and electronic connections. Engineers aboard the Justice supervised all work, then tested and certified connections and seals. When the work was complete, the containers were as much a part of the ship as if it had come out of the shipbuilding yard that way. Marines who had traveled over in the MATs walked through the Justice and descended the stairs into the tunnel created by the linkage system, then floated down into the appropriate habitat container via the access tubes.

  It took just thirty-eight minutes to fully prepare the Justice for deployment from the time it departed the shuttle bay. Anyone seeing the enormous configuration of the assembled ship would never guess it could have been launched from the Denver.

  * * *

  Chapter Three

  ~ November 13th, 2286 ~

  "Captain," CPO Lemela at the communications station said to Sydnee who had been occupying the command chair during the deployment operation, "the Denver is asking if we're ready to depart."

  "Engineering, are we a go?" Sydnee asked Lt.(jg) Galli at the console on the starboard side of the bridge.

  "The ship is secure and all power systems are in the green. Engineering is good to go, Captain."

  "Navigation, is the course plotted and laid in?"

  "The course is plotted and laid in, Captain," Lt.(jg) Olivetti said. "Navigation is a go."

  "Tac?"

  "The DeTect is clear," Lt.(jg) Templeton said. "All tactical systems have been tested and are ready. Tac is good to go, Captain."

  "Helm?"

  "Standing by and ready to build our envelope on your command, Captain," Caruthers said.

  "Com, inform the Denver we're ready to build our envelope and depart."

  Seconds later, CPO Lemela said, "The Denver wishes us a safe journey."

  "Tell them to keep a light burning," Sydnee said. "Helm, build a double envelope."

  "The double envelope is built, Captain," Caruthers said two minutes later.

  "Engage the drive to Light-9790."

  The image on the front monitor immediately shifted from real-time vid to the simulated view created from sensors on the hull as the ship was instantly at maximum speed. To anyone aboard the Denver who was watching, the Justice seemed to simply disappear. Since travel was inside a temporal envelope, there was no sensation of acceleration to the crew of the Justice. And since it was a double-envelope, which put the ship slightly out of phase with normal space, the chances of impacting anything, such as a planet, moon, asteroid, star, or even another spaceship, were virtually nonexistent.

  Lt.(jg) Olivetti at the navigation station said, "We're away, Captain. Expected time to Yolongus orbit is twenty-nine days, sixteen hours, twenty-two minutes, and— eight seconds. We'll cross into Clidepp Empire space in roughly— fifty-two seconds."

  Fifty-two point six seconds later the Justice entered the space of the Clidepp Empire.

  "Tactical, anything on the DeTect screens?" Sydnee said.

  "The DeTect screens are still clear, Captain."

  "Excellent. Perhaps we'll have an uneventful trip to Yolongus. We know the intruder detection systems of the Clidepp Empire warships can't see DS ships, so it should be clear sailing all the way."

  * * *

  "I was surprised when I learned you'd acce
pted this mission," Lt. Kelly MacDonald said after supper the first night out. She and Sydnee were sitting in the captain's office, enjoying a cup of coffee and talking about the mission ahead.

  "Why?"

  "It's just that you seemed so burned out after the last mission. By the time we got back you looked— haggard."

  "Then it was an accurate representation for how I felt. You know what pressure I was under. And the injury I sustained just compounded the situation in every way. When we got the temporal generator back into the proper hands at SHQ, all I wanted to do was climb into my rack and not climb back out for a month."

  "I felt the same way, and I didn't have anywhere near the responsibility you'd had on your shoulders. But mine was a quick month. It lasted just three days. By the fourth day I couldn't wait to begin this new mission."

  "Yeah, well, by the second day after we got back, I couldn't even stay in bed if I didn't drift off to sleep immediately. I was so keyed up from being in command of a mission that seemed to go south every time my attention was diverted for a second that I found myself either on the jogging track every few hours or simply wandering around the decks of the Denver. So, I decided I might as well do what's right and take the Clidepp minister back home. I figured this mission should be an easy run and I'd be able to fully unwind during the travel. When we get back to the Denver, I should be back to my old self."

  "We've got a larger crew this time out, and we've worked out the bugs with the Justice, so things should be a lot smoother. Perhaps by the time we get back, Lt. Aguilo will have the new combat range ready for use."

  "That would be great. I never truly realized how much I'd miss it until we no longer had it."

  "I know. Martin promises that the new range will make the old one seem like a run around the jogging track and will definitely be worth the wait."

  "There's nothing more fun than running around like a madwoman shooting bad guys for a couple of hours where no one ever gets hurt unless it's a bruise, pulled muscle, or sprain." Sydnee punctuated her testimonial with a wide grin, followed by a laugh when Kelly started it off.