We commed the admiral’s office and asked for any information available on the crews. We didn’t know exactly what we were looking for, but we both felt that we would know when we saw it. We had already experienced some of the problems that would arise out of throwing four people into the Hawk and hoping for the best.
Two days later we received our first batch of Hawks. They were both worse and better than expected. Some bases just did a better job with the detailed information we had given them. Those craft went into a hanger and even before their crews were off the ships, my own personnel were descending on them, and in the process hopefully generating a new appreciation for the bad spot humanity was occupying.
Elian and I greeted the four crews in a small briefing room. We gave them the opportunity to tell us a little about themselves, and we analyzed their responses carefully. It was easy to tell if a crew could work well together or not, and we were finding more ‘and nots’ than we feared. In fact, of these first four crews, only one even thought of itself as a crew. The others behaved as if they were ferrying a craft rather than learning to fight it.
We gave them a very brief presentation on the first contact with the bugs. This first briefing showed us that these crews were not at all prepared either mentally or otherwise for the tasks ahead of them. We hadn’t been prepared either, so they were getting off to the same start we had, with the tiny exception that they wouldn’t die here in this place as we had died in that one.
After they viewed the horrifying footage we cobbled together, Elian spoke to them. “Most of you have come from the fighter community, although I note that two pilots worked in larger craft. The Hawk is an incredibly tough bird that has proven itself to be the one single weapon we currently possess that can effectively attack a bug formation and survive the experience. It is being used as an attack craft, with some similarity to how you would use a Dash 6 in that role, although you’ve never actually used a Dash 6 as anything like an attack craft. However, do not for a single moment think that the two craft are similar, or can be fought similarly. The Hawk’s primary strength lies in its stealth. You have heard that a bug mother ship was destroyed two months ago. You may not have heard that that twenty-eight megaton ship was destroyed by twelve Hawks and one stealthed freighter. We used the freighter to ferry in one hundred Mark 65 missiles that we off loaded onto the Hawks, from which they were launched in waves of twenty-four. The last load was carried in toward the bug flotilla and launched at what we consider to be pretty long range. The bug ship was struck by an unknown number of missiles and destroyed. We had previously attacked three separate times, hitting it with as many as eleven 65’s without destroying it. At the present time, we are working on modifying a much larger craft which we hope will prove to be effective where the Hawk is limited, which is in it’s ability to carry only two Mark 65’s. The bug defenses are incredibly strong, and they managed to destroy half of all the missiles we sent in, so the Hawk, in the numbers available to us, is not sufficient to the task. That, however, does not diminish its importance. As soon as you four crews finish our simulators and we get your Hawks into shape, you’ll be heading out to various test ranges where we’ll show you how to fight it properly. Then, we’ll introduce you to the Dresden class of destroyers, and we’ll work up tactics that will permit that ship to get in close. It can carry approximately one hundred capital missiles, and it will be your mission to assist it to get close enough to the mother ship to take it out with one launch.”
Elian paused, looking at the sixteen men and women. It was already fairly obvious that some of these people were not going to make it through our training. Crap.
He looked at me and I stood, and asked, “Do any of you have any questions?” One, a Lieutenant Commander asked, “Lieutenant, can you give us some information on who will be leading us, who we report to?”
I looked briefly at Elian before answering. He grinned at me and looked pointedly at the wall. I said, “Sir, Lieutenants Turner and myself are in charge of this operation. It has proven to be very, um, different let’s say, from any previous experience you men and women may have had. I’ll tell you right now: if you have a problem taking orders from two brand new lieutenants, you may report to Admiral Lee’s office. His aide will reassign you to other duties. You have until sixteen hundred hours, local. After that, I will expect you to not only take orders from either Elian or myself, but to give this mission every single ounce of energy, experience and devotion you possess. Less than that will kill you and your three crewmates. Let me clarify that for you: If the bugs find one of our inhabited systems, it is our belief that they will attack and destroy it, and every man, woman and child on it will cease to be. We do not have the ability to pick and choose what fate or God has given to us. We are here, and the bugs are coming. If any of you question our ability to lead, well, I can understand that. Please ask us, or anyone else you can think of, whatever questions you now have.”
A senior chief stood up and asked, a little belligerently, “Sir, if you and Lieutenant Turner are, as you say, new lieutenants, how is it that two such junior officers have been given this responsibility?” I nodded and replied, “Good question, and one both of us have asked more than once. The answer is that we were in that first wave of Dash 6 fighters that met the bug fighters. We killed three of them with that fighter, which is pretty much a toy compared to their fighters. More than two thirds of the sixty-four fighters we started with were destroyed, along with five destroyers. Two cruisers and one destroyer were damaged so badly that they are still in the yards.”
“Elian and I discovered the Hawk, we drew up the proposal that led to its modifications, and we performed many of them ourselves, with our own two hands; we were the crew that sought out, located and attacked the closest bug flotilla, and we thereupon returned to attack with four Hawks, one captained by a Lieutenant Commander. At that time, I was a JG, by the way. Our crew recorded their communications; our crew, not merely Lieutenant Turner and Lieutenant Padilla.”
“I was the flight lead on those missions and Admiral Lee has seen fit to retain me in that position. We have designed and have been placed in charge of the modifications to the Dresden’s as well; we, and by ‘we’ I mean all forty-eight of the Hawk personnel who are all that remain of the Essex, worked around the clock to get the first Dresden into space. Our modifications, which by the way, were met with a great deal of resistance by pretty much everyone here, led to a first test flight that achieved an even fourteen G acceleration from that destroyer. It is faster than everything in fleet except for the Dash 6, and our own Hawks. Those Hawks, by the way, can do on average, a little over seventeen G’s. We’re going to be working with you to get that kind of performance out of your craft, as well as ensure that it is stealthier than a black hole. Its acceleration and its ability to run at up to six G’s and still be almost invisible are the reasons that the Hawk is such a deadly weapon. Any more questions?”
An ETech 6 stood up and asked, “Sir, I volunteered for this mission, but I have no experience with the Hawk, or with pretty much anything else you’re talking about. I don’t see how I can be of much use, sir.” He remained standing and Elian asked, “Are you requesting a transfer, or telling us you need training?” The ETech’s eyes brightened and he asked, “You mean I can remain with the Hawk?”
I grinned at him and said, “You have just become a brand new Hawk teammate. Congratulations. You can kiss sleep good bye, you’re going to get no leave, and you’ll be expected to think on your feet while sitting in a cramped cabin with three other terrified men and women, all of whom badly need a shower. And finally, you are going to have the unequaled opportunity to kill a mortal enemy of mankind. I do have one question of you, however.”
The ETech6 looked like he was going to faint, but he answered, “Yes sir?” I asked, “How good a programmer are you?’ He smiled and said, “Sir, that is kind of hard to answer.” I looked at him and said, “OK, here is your first assignment: find a way to operate your
Hawk and the other three in your group, remotely. You have until tomorrow, this time.”
He stared at me as if I was crazy, but he nodded his head and said, “Yes sir.” He continued to stand and I asked, with a little heat, “You are all that stand between humanity and death. Why are you still standing here?”
His eyes opened wide, and the reality of the death and destruction he had seen, albeit second hand, and which he was now being asked to forestall, hit him hard. He reached down for his small carry on bag and asked, “Can you direct me to our quarters sir?” I grinned at him and asked, “What do your friends call you” He was startled once again, but answered hesitantly, “Well, they don’t call me much at all, uh, I guess, except perhaps, ‘oblivious’.”
Elian and I laughed, and Elian said with a big grin, “From now on you are Etech6 Oblivious. Get going. Oh, we’re not going to tell you where your quarters are. I figure if you can’t find your own bunk, you won’t find the bugs either.”
He practically gulped, but he stepped carefully past two others and walked quickly to the hatch and turned left, which was the wrong way. Still, he was moving better than the others.
The lieutenant commander said, “Your methods are at best, unorthodox, lieutenant.” He wasn’t smiling, so neither did I. I said, “Lieutenant Commander, please report immediately to Admiral Lee’s office. I’ll tell them you’re coming.” He stared at me and asked in a tone of voice that dripped with condescension, “And why am I to report there?” I said, “You may tell his aide that I just fired you. You have your orders, commander. I have no more time for you.”
He continued to stare in disbelief. I looked at Elian but he was already working with his pad. In a moment he looked up and said, “Commander, as you seem to be very confused, we’re going to provide you with two MP’s who will escort you in the most expeditious manner to Admiral Lee’s office, which office is now working on your transfer. You don’t have much time, so I suggest that you stand outside this hatch, that one right there, and wait for the MP’s to show up. They’ll take it from there.”
I stood and said, “I’d like to see the hands of the good commander’s crew mates.” A chief and a lieutenant JG raised their hands hesitantly. I asked the JG, “Are you by any chance, a pilot?” He said, his voice almost squeaking, “Yes sir, I just graduated from Edwards.” I nodded and said, “Well, congratulations, you are now the pilot of that fine Hawk you just showed up in. We will provide you with a replacement crewmate, preferably a navigator. I take it that Oblivious is your fourth?’ He nodded his head and I said, “Well, you seem to have an excellent ETech, so that’s a good start. It will be up to you to organize your crew. The Hawk has four stations but in fact you could operate it from pretty much any one of them. We do that on a regular basis, there being no berthing quarters on it. I tell you now, one single person, no matter how wonderful, how talented or qualified, cannot fight the Hawk. It takes all four of you, working like the fingers of a hand to fight it to its full capabilities. If you think otherwise, report to Admiral Lee’s office.”
There were more questions. The crew people seemed to think that they had landed in another dimension, one that looked like their own, but was dangerously different. In a way, they were right to think that way. The bugs changed the world.
That afternoon we took all four crews up for a practice run. We used eight Hawks, with two crew from the just-arrived Hawks sitting in as observers. It was interesting to note the expressions on their faces when they entered the hanger and saw our Hawks. We had re-instituted the pre-space tradition of nose art, and when they saw Elian’s and my personal Hawk they stopped and stared up at it in wonder. Elian said, “R for Robert, E for Elian, revenge for what we are going to get. Those scars you see were made by very angry bugs. They failed to kill us, but we did not fail to kill them.”
The flight out proved to be terrific. It had been weeks since I had flown in a Hawk and it felt wonderful to once again be in space in this unique craft. I put my feet up on the panel and talked to my new crewmates who looked on in near horror as the ship rose up off the landing pad, in perfect formation with the other seven. Elian was my other crew. The chief was working on a niggling little problem connected with the fabrication of the support structures for the Dresdens, and Carolyn was working with her two other programmers on finding a way to increase the Stone’s sensor sensitivity.
Once we were at the proper altitude I told Hawk04, “You take the lead. I want us to head out to the gunnery range for a little practice.” A moment later, all eight Hawks accelerated away from the planet in perfect formation at a modest ten G’s. We spent a wonderful afternoon showing the ‘kids’ how to blow things up. We didn’t have missiles to spare for that demo, but we could get that effect in a simulator, which didn’t cost nearly as much. Even the small missiles ran to over a million credits. We did, however, have energy weapons, and we used them.
We returned the Hawks to individual control and handed them off to the new pilots. I said, “Play with it, but please don’t bump into anything.” My JG grinned nervously and asked, “Sir what do you want me to do?” I looked at him and said, “I’m going to eat my lunch, the ship is yours. Have fun. That is an order.”
He took me at my word, a good omen. Using our sensors he chose a course that wouldn’t ‘bump’ into anything and ran it up to max acceleration. As soon as I saw what he was doing, I knew we had a find. It’s what I did, and I couldn’t even pretend to understand a pilot who wouldn’t try to explore both the crafts’ and his limits.
He could hardly believe the result. Within moments he was asking questions like crazy. If he could find the answer by himself, I didn’t reply, and most of his first questions received silence. However, within a few moments he caught on and from that time on he only asked questions for which there was no easy way to find the answer otherwise. He was going to work out well.
On the way back, he played with Carolyn’s software, and I explained the history of it to him. His eyes had been wide all afternoon, but they got even wider when he learned that he was playing with software that a lowly ETech4 had written, mostly sitting just a meter away from where he was presently ensconced.
By the time we approached the base perimeter he had a pretty good handle on most of the basic abilities of the Hawk, and he was so excited I thought he was going to wet his pants.
A few minutes before entering the base perimeter I took back control and we descended in perfect formation onto the immense landing pad.
It was the last fun we were going to get for some time. We went through the new Hawks carefully, learning that our Fleet technicians were on average, either not very capable, lazy, or both. We spent more time fixing modifications than expected and as a result had less time for the crews.
The briefing we had given the first crews worked out reasonably well, so we continued to greet our new crewmates in roughly the same way. We had a few people in each group who were obviously not going to work out, and we sent them packing before they could get unpacked. We had hundreds of volunteers from bases all over the Sol system and we invited more than we needed, on the theory that more was much better than less.
It took two days to get the four Hawks fixed. During that time their crews worked on the simulations we had designed. They came away from them with a newfound appreciation for the Hawk. None of them survived that one particular sim, and the expressions on their faces were priceless when they learned that other crews had succeeded and survived. We watched those expressions carefully, and we realized something. The original crews had come through the furnace of combat and survived by learning that you had to push past indolence, past dedication and arrive at a state of existence where everything slowed down, where you were totally alive, and where nothing existed in your world save the destruction of every bug in the universe.
These people hadn’t been through combat, hadn’t seen their friends die, and hadn’t lost anything save for a little sleep on the voyage to Jupiter. We were differen
t from them, and while they realized it, dimly perhaps, they certainly didn’t understand what was ahead of them. It was our task to shepherd them past all the possible disasters that their own ignorance or lack of focus might bring. I didn’t know if we could accomplish that task. I wasn’t entirely certain we had.
We were receiving new Hawks on the average of two per day, which proved to be a bit faster than we could process the modifications that had been done poorly in about sixty percent of the time. Seventy percent.
We continued to make progress on the Stone, which could now do 14.23 G’s. Its original capital missile launchers had been removed and our crews were modifying a system out of a mothballed cruiser that would deliver one Mark 65 to each hatch every thirty seconds. Privately, I was going to try very hard to lower that time, but I didn’t want my crusty enlisted fabricators throwing a fit, or a wrench, at me. Well, a fit wouldn't hurt.
We now had three other Dresdens nearing completion of their engine modifications. We gutted their missile launchers as well, but we would have to wait until we finalized the design on the Stone before we could begin installing the new equipment.
Within the time frame given us by Admiral Lee, we received thirty-seven Hawks. Ten were very old and we quickly realized that it just wasn’t possible to bring them up to the required level. Those we used as trainers, save for four, which we modified into scouts, using only two crew, no wing weapons and extra sensors. Instead of missiles, we mounted large tanks that held reactor water for the mag bottles, giving it better range. With just two crew, we were able to fabricate a sleeping berth up against the stern bulkhead. Almost cozy, instead of really cramped.
Hawk Seven (Flight of the Hawk) Page 39