by Kal Spriggs
Dawn felt her stomach sink at that. She had assumed it was just another canned training scenario, using made-up names and fictional locations. That was how she'd trained under Amalgamated Worlds and later under the Dreyfus Fleet.
“The Revolutionary Islamic Brigade made extensive use of suicide bomb attacks, often followed up by small arms fire to target first responders,” Ensign Shan said. “I based the raid you conducted upon an actual raid I participated in against one of their safe houses.” She gave a tight smile, “I was on point breaching the second room.”
Dawn winced at that. Behind her, Lance Corporal Sutton raised a hand, “Ma'am, how did it turn out?”
“We sent ten personnel there to take down one of their regional commanders,” Ensign Shan said. “We did capture him, but in the process we lost five personnel, three of them to the suicide bomb attack. I was shot twice and it took some significant recovery time. Since we were operating under the radar, trying to avoid Chxor attention, I wasn't able to receive attention from a doctor for three weeks.”
Dawn nodded at that. Tehran had been unique among most human worlds in that they'd had a civil war of sorts during Chxor occupation. She hadn't heard all the details, but some of her friends had mentioned fanatical attackers who had baited the Chxor into murdering hundreds of millions of their fellow citizens in retribution. The rest of the population had turned on those fantatics and they'd fought it out, both sides trying to stay hidden from the Chxor occupiers who took any sign of violence as insurrection and criminal activity.
“So,” Ensign Shan said, “When I had Ensign Giovanni position herself where she did, I drew directly from the incident. The intention was to put you in the right mindset: research your enemies, learn their capabilities, and be ready for just about anything.”
“Thank you, ma'am,” Gunny Tam said. “Now, we'll start with Staff Sergeant Witzke's squad...”
***
“You were late to your shift,” Lieutenant Busch snapped.
Alannis looked up in surprise. “Ma'am, I volunteered to assist in the Marine training this morning. I notified you about that yesterday and I coordinated with Petty Officer Johnson.”
She realized almost instantly that she'd given her the wrong response. Her face flushed and Lieutenant Busch's eyes darted to where the single communications tech sat. Tech Specialist Peck had his head down, but there was no way he could have missed Lieutenant Busch's angry opening or Alannis's calm response.
“Forcing a non-commissioned officer to cover down on your duties is irresponsible, especially so that you can go play Marine. This is a military warship, Ensign, not your personal pleasure yacht!” Lieutenant Busch's voice had risen to a shrill shout.
“Lieutenant Busch!” a voice interrupted. Alannis looked up, surprised to see the face of the ship's Executive Officer. Commander Bowder had just come through the hatch and his face had settled into a stormy expression.
As her boss turned, Commander Bowder glared at them both. “My office, both of you, now.”
Alannis popped to her feet and she and her section chief followed the XO through the corridors. It was a long walk, and crewmen along the way stepped out of the XO's path and then gave them sympathetic looks as they followed in his wake.
“Close the hatch, Ensign,” Commander Bowder said as they came to his office. He took a seat behind his desk. “What was the meaning of that public outburst, Lieutenant?”
“Ensign Giovanni was late to her shift, sir,” Lieutenant Busch said. “Besides that, she's been insubordinate from day one and it is clear she thinks that her assignment with communications is below her.”
Alannis swallowed her immediate protest. For one thing, she didn't want to reinforce Lieutenant Busch's comment that she was “insubordinate.”
“Ensign Giovanni volunteered to assist our Marines in their training, since they're building unit cohesion for the first time as a new unit,” Commander Bowder said. “She received my approval for that training, pending her coordinating that with you and her petty officer... did she not do that?”
Lieutenant Busch flushed, “Sir, she did, but it wasn't proper for her to force Petty Officer to cover for her. Her assignment is to my department and I don't think she is putting proper weight to her duties there.”
Commander Bowder looked between them both. “Lieutenant Busch, in the future, you will keep all such disagreements in private. Never rebuke an officer in a public forum.” His gaze settled on Alannis and his eyes narrowed. “Ensign Giovanni, you are dismissed.”
“Sir,” Alannis popped to her feet. She hurried out of the room, her stomach in knots. She closed the hatch behind her and she hoped that whatever words the two were about to have in private that it wouldn't come back to make her life more difficult.
***
“I trust you resolved the situation?” Captain Daniel Beeson asked as his XO finished relating the details of the encounter he'd had with Lieutenant Busch and Ensign Giovanni.
“I had a long discussion with Lieutenant Busch after I dismissed Giovanni,” Commander Bowder said tiredly. “And while my inclination was to place the lion's share of the blame on the Ensign...” he shook his head, “that would be a disservice. A certain amount of working to appease your superior is called for, but even after the counseling session, I get the feeling that Lieutenant Busch isn't going to let things rest.”
“Any idea why?” Daniel asked. He still didn't have a good feel for his communications officer, but he had some suspicions.
“Lieutenant Busch knows the technical side of operations,” Commander Bowder said. “But I don't think she has a good feel for the personnel side. I'd say it was a blind spot or weakness, but it almost feels like she doesn't want to improve. I've discussed it with Chief Davis. He says the petty officers in her department aren't about to complain openly, but...” He shrugged. “It sounds like she's a spiteful sort, quick to correct someone and if she's wrong, she throws her rank into the mix to force her subordinates to back down.”
That's what I was afraid of, Daniel thought. Lieutenant Busch had just come from an assignment with Research and Development. She had a glowing review for her technological background. Her previous assignment, though, had been aboard a Fleet Resupply Ship, the Belgrade.
While she had a good review from that command, if Daniel remembered correctly, the Belgrade's Captain had been relieved of command after the Dreyfus Coup for gross incompetence. Lieutenant Busch might well have excellent potential, but her first assignment may have soured her or even ruined her career entirely.
That's the problem, he thought sadly, one bad command can destroy an officer. If that was the case, it might be best to ensure that this was Lieutenant Busch's final assignment. The Fleet didn't need officers with toxic leadership and for all of her technical ability, the Fleet could do without her services if she was beyond redemption.
Still personnel was the main purvey of the ship's Executive Officer and Daniel wasn't about to undercut his authority. “So, what do you intend to do about it?”
“I think no matter how much I work with Lieutenant Busch, the well is already poisoned between her and Ensign Giovanni,” Commander Bowder said. “It's just as well, I suppose, as we discussed before, Lieutenant Commander Douglass is short-handed at Tactical so I'll transfer her there.” His XO gave a slight cough, “I have to say, I've been impressed with her performance so far. I've only seen one attempt to curry favor and she shot that down admirably. I think putting her to the test would be good for her development.”
“What about her volunteer time training with the Marines?” Daniel asked.
Commander Douglass gave a slight smile, “While I understand she signed up for that under a lighter workload, I think it would be good for her to try to balance a heavier training workload against her additional duties.”
Daniel returned the smile. The best way to develop young officers was to push them hard. Busy officers rarely found time to get in trouble. “Sounds good. Keep me updated wi
th Lieutenant Busch. If you need me to get involved...”
“I'll let you know, sir,” Commander Bowder said. He scowled as he considered it, not that Daniel blamed him. If Daniel needed to become involved, then it would mean that Lieutenant Busch wouldn't respond to the XO's efforts. That itself would probably mean she was beyond redemption.
“Now,” Daniel said, “Let's discuss the next set of ships drills. I want to push all departments, feel them out and develop where their weak spots are, so we can hammer those in the following set.”
“Excellent, sir,” Commander Bowder grinned. “I have a few ideas we can try out.”
***
“Ensign,” Lieutenant Forrest Perkins said with a nod as his newest charge entered the department office. “Thanks for meeting me before my shift. With our work schedule, this is the only time I could fit your counseling session in.” Though if he ever thought he'd be doing an initial counseling on the Emperor's little sister, he'd be darned.
“Not a problem, sir,” Ensign Giovanni said. She met his gaze with a solid expression of her own, not much of a surprise considering what he'd read about her background as soon as the XO told her she'd be transferring to his section. She looked a good deal like her brother, much shorter than his own one hundred and eighty centimeters and with the same olive skin and dark, curly hair, though hers was quite a bit longer than her brother's, though still within regulation. She's a pretty one, he thought, which isn't something I should notice.
“Now,” Forrest said. “I want to get several things out in the open before we start working together. First off, you might have heard that I'm originally from Saragossa.” The colony had been on the edge of human space, equidistant with Nova and the Chxor Empire. It was now a member of the United Colonies... but once upon a time it had been a powerful star nation of its own. “Just so you know, I lost family just after the Nova Roma Empire raided the system. Then again, every Saragossan lost somebody. That said, I'm not about to hold your background against you. I know you weren't behind the policy that sacrificed us to turn the Chxor's attention elsewhere.”
Though if I ever do serve with an officer who had some role in that, he thought, I'm probably going to have to request reassignment. He had been aboard a civilian merchant ship during the attack, far from home. He'd been there for the aftermath, though, and he'd seen millions of his countrymen die as a result.
“All that in mind, I've also served under your brother as his flag lieutenant,” Forrest said. “And before you even think it, I'm not going to let that affect how you work with me. I respect your brother, but I know he's not the sort to play favorites and I'm not about to do that either.” He held her gaze until she gave him a nod. She didn't flinch or frown, either, so it was clear she hadn't expected him to show her any favors. Good, Forest thought, not that I expected her to act like a spoiled princess, but it is good to get a feel for her.
“Now then, I don't know if Lieutenant Busch did an initial counselling with you in communications and I don't really care.” Personally, Forrest had not been impressed with Lieutenant Busch, but he wasn't about to say that to her former subordinate. “The purpose of this is to tell you your duties and responsibilities. From here I'll show you your station and introduce you to your section. I'm certain you've seen some of our maintenance reports in communications as we send them out. While we're operational, there's still a lot of little kinks to work out.”
“Like the maintenance update synch, sir?” Ensign Giovanni asked.
Forrest nodded, “Exactly that. We have a dozen new systems, hardware and software, that aren't talking together the way they should. It's like that throughout the ship, and we've got civilian engineers like Rory and Feliks working on those systems, sometimes while we're using them for a drill. So I expect you to be flexible.”
“Yes, sir,” she nodded.
“Lieutenant Commander Douglass heads up the tactical department and he'll be your senior rater,” Forrest said. What that means for you is that he'll expect you to do your job and he's not going to be dealing with you directly, unless you're on shift and I'm not. So if we're doing a drill during the late shift and I'm not here yet, you'll be implementing his firing orders until I come online. Same for if we're in battle, of course.”
They'd do a hand-off if they had time, but under combat situations, the man – or woman – on the spot would retain their position until the incoming officer had time to be fully briefed.
“Now,” Forrest said, “I know I gave you the full tour, so we won't go too much into the physical locations.” Besides, if she hadn't already climbed everywhere on the ship she could in her off-time, then there wasn't much hope for her. That was the first thing any good officer did: familiarize themselves with everything they could. “We have the front and rear Exotic Particle Cannons, or EPCs, a battery of four at each.” The heavy weapons were the equivalent of what Emperor Lucius Giovanni's battleship, the War Shrike, had mounted. Except the War Shrike had mounted a total of four of the weapons, in sponsons designed to fire forward and to the sides. The Constellation mounted eight in total, with a phased array bank that could, in theory, fire in all directions. With the projectors mounted internal to the hull, they should also be more survivable.
“Here in fire control we also have responsibility for the pulse cannons,” Forrest said. “Up until now, my primary focus has been there, with missile and fighter interception. I've discussed it with Lieutenant Commander Douglass, and we'll slot you there as primary, which will let me focus on the EPCs, so that Lieutenant Commander Douglass can look a bit more at the big picture.”
“Yes, sir,” Ensign Giovanni grinned. Clearly the idea of manning guns got her excited. Me too, Forrest thought, the bigger the better.
“Now then, we're still developing the full manual, but I've transferred a draft to your account. I'd like you to review it...”
***
UCS Constellation, Shadow Space
September 3, 2407
“Adjust fire,” Alannis snapped as the enemy missile flight died. “New target priorities coming up.” She felt sweat bead her forehead as her fingers flew across her console. Lieutenant Commander Douglass had just uploaded targeting priorities for an inbound flight of fighters.
Alannis's problem was that half of the inbound fighters were bombers... and she had to pick those ones out from the damaged sensor data. It was one part guess-work and another part intuition and she selected the priority based off that, even as she engaged the weapons systems. The phased array banks along the Constellation's hull realigned, the semi-solid crystalline gel within reconfiguring at her commands... just as the pulse cannons opened up.
The enemy strike squadrons reacted instantly to the incoming fire, but a half dozen of them died before they could evade. Hopefully those were the bombers rather than the screening fighters.
I'll know in a second or two, she thought as the enemy fighters swept through the final defensive fire.
At least a couple of the enemy bombers must have survived, because a moment later her console flashed with damage error codes. “We've lost forward fire control,” Alannis said. She was glad this was a drill, else that would mean almost thirty personnel were dead or wounded. “Reconfigure rear fire control to use our forward arrays,” she announced.
She saw Petty Officer Muna bark out commands. A moment later, Tech Specialist Spurlock dove under her chair and opened a control panel under her console. Even as she queued up targets for the rear pulse cannons, he was resetting circuits within the console to bypass commands from the forward fire control so that her rear beam generators could push to the forward arrays.
“Forward systems up,” Petty Officer Muna called out a moment later.
Yet there were no more targets on her screen. The surviving fighters had withdrawn out of range and it looked as if Ensign Scott Yamahito had eliminated the enemy missile platforms at range.
“End-Ex,” Captain Beeson said over the ship's intercom. “All exercise personnel, e
nd of exercise. Return to normal operations and reset all damage control.”
Alannis gave a sigh and sat back. Tech Specialist Spurlock crawled out from under her console, “Sorry about that, ma'am.”
“Not a problem, thanks for getting that online,” Alannis said. She hadn't really noticed him diving under her feet, she'd just continued working at firing solutions. “Need me to move out of your way while you reset everything?”
“If you don't mind, ma'am,” Spurlock said. “The bypass is easy enough, undoing it takes a lot more work, though.”
She stepped away from her station while he set to work.
“Good job, Ensign,” Lieutenant Commander Douglass said from behind her. She spun in surprise, “Thank you, sir.”
“No, thank you, Ensign,” Lieutenant Perkins said with a smile, “If not for the damage we took, I would have said you nailed all of the enemy bombers. Not bad for the little bit of targeting data you had. As it is, I wouldn't be surprised if the XO cheated a little bit.”
“Sir?” Alannis asked in surprise. This was supposed to be their last major drill before they arrived at the Hachiman Gu system. The heavy drill schedule had been exhausting, but at the same time Alannis had finally felt like she was really being challenged. It shocked her to think that the XO would cheat, though.
“Got to exercise the damage control crews, right?” Lieutenant Perkins said with a wink. “Besides, in an exercise like this, if you ain't cheatin' then you ain't trying.”
“Exactly, Lieutenant,” a voice said from the forward hatch. The XO had just stuck his head inside. “In fact, Lieutenant Perkins is correct, you took out the entire bomber squadron, which is why I did have to 'cheat' in order to give our damage control crews some proper exercise.”
Alannis stood a bit taller at that praise.