To-Ling flushed slightly. “Is it my turn now, Commodore?”
“No. Well, maybe.” He shook his head. “Look, Commander. I’ve been very impressed with the way you handle your job. You’re good.”
He shrugged. “I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. However, because you impress me, I will tell you this. Changes are coming in the Fleet over the next few years. We cannot afford to waste good officers just because they have some silly prejudices.
“You know as well as I that you’re overdue for promotion to command and to Captain. If you could put aside these silly ideas of superiority, you’d be a good one. Don’t let your mouth keep you from realizing your potential.”
She frowned. “What do you mean, ‘changes are coming’?”
He shook his head. “I can’t go into detail. But I suspect you’re going to see a real shakeup, with some being forced out, and others gaining rapid promotion.”
“Like yours.”
He nodded. “Like mine.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Commander. I cannot tell you more, and I have no business lecturing a senior officer like an Ensign. But I strongly urge you to take a hard look at your opinions and your prejudices. They’re holding you back.”
She was looking thoughtful. “I’ll think about it, Commodore.”
Kas straightened. “Good. Now, about these daily reports…”
Tremling was not the only problem case among the officers. Ra-Lavon, the Supply and Administrative Officer, and Raskin, the Gunnery Officer, for instance.
They were like two sides of the same coin of bigotry. Ra-Lavon had already shown himself to be openly hostile to outerworlders in general and Kas in particular. Raskin was equally hostile to innerworlders, and delighted in annoying them by acting as coarse and offensive as possible. The two were constantly irritating each other. Moreover, since one was a staff Commander and the other a line Lieutenant Commander, their constant bickering was affecting crew morale. Kas called them to his cabin together.
Feigning a towering rage, Kas ordered the two of them to convert an empty storeroom into a double stateroom, which they would share for the remainder of the voyage. “You’ll either learn to get along, or one of you will kill the other and I’ll execute the survivor,” he roared.
It was not just the officers, of course. He knew they hadn’t found all the stills and drug labs aboard, though they destroyed them as quickly as they were found. But he’d had to break four petty officers down to able spacers and two others had lost a stripe. That wasn’t the worst, though. Three spacers and two civilians were in the brig. He’d been forced to order three floggings.
Hardest of all was being forced to order the execution of a man who had attacked and killed another with a weapon he’d found. The man had pleaded, begged, and fouled himself in fear; but Kas had no choice. He had to show the crew in the strongest way possible that he would enforce discipline. He personally triggered the blaster bolt, then had the corpse put into a stasis chamber, to be jettisoned once they had returned to normal space. Only the man’s DNA-coded ident tag would complete his round trip ticket. Then he went to his cabin and threw up.
Time still dragged but finally, eventually, the jump timer clicked down to emergence.
Kas was pacing the bridge, fretting, when they emerged, and the viewscreens leapt to life. Kas forced himself under control. If Starhopper were detected Kas would learn of it instantly. It would accomplish nothing to hound good people.
He could stand it no longer and was about to demand a report when the chief sensor tech spoke. “Nothing detected, Commodore,” he reported crisply. “No hazards and no ships.”
Kas’ shoulders sagged, but it would have taken a careful observer to notice the slight change. Kas sighed. “All right. Maintain all sensors on max. If Starhopper or any other ship emerges, I want to be notified immediately.”
“Aye, Aye, sir,” the tech responded in the same crisp tones. Kas keyed his ship’s comm. “Commander Tremling,” he said, “Your repair crew is cleared to work outside. But no one works outside alone.”
“Yeah, yeah,” came the response, but then, just as Kas was about to roast the man’s ears, a reluctant “sir” was added to the bald acknowledgment. Kas glanced at To-Ling, who rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly.
“When your people have completed the damage assessment, Commander,” Kas continued, “You will deliver your report in person in my cabin. Preslin out.”
He sighed. Yet another bitch session with the engineer. So far, his and To-Ling’s efforts had largely been in vain. Tremling seemed to prize his lack of military bearing, manners, and standards of hygiene. It appeared that Kas was going to have to make good his threat to reduce the man in rank. He grimaced.
The problem was that Tremling was right. Kas almost certainly did not have the authority to reduce an officer in rank. Moreover, someone as abrasive as Tremling would never have made Commander in the first place if he did not have influence somewhere. Tremling would be certain to howl to anyone within reach when they returned to Prime, and Kas would be in trouble again. Pankin’s voice rang in his memory, telling him to keep his head down and stay out of trouble.
The problem was that Tremling had a disastrous effect on morale and discipline in the Engineering Department. How could the junior officers and senior petty officers be expected to maintain discipline among the enlisted people when the senior Engineering Officer was so unmilitary? He suddenly got a glimmering of an idea, but pushed it to the back of his mind. He had more immediate concerns.
“Astrogation, begin recalibration,” he instructed, noting with satisfaction that Lieutenant Commander Be’Rak, was already hammering at her keyboard. A large, if fleeting, grin accompanied her crisp “Aye, Aye, sir.” Kas suppressed a smile of approval.
He beckoned To-Ling. “What do you think, San? Have we lost Starhopper?”
The tiny woman shrugged, but her expression was grim. “Too soon to say, sir. Her nav comp was slaved to ours, so in theory she should have emerged at the same time and place we did. But we know so little about Jump space,” she continued. “She could emerge at any moment or perhaps not for two or three hours.”
“If she emerges at all,” Kas finished. To-Ling nodded soberly.
Despite To-Ling’s obvious disapproval, Kas remained on the bridge, hovering over sensor techs and pacing until he learned that the damage control team was returning aboard. With a scowl, he returned to his cabin to await Commander Roi Tremling’s arrival.
While he was waiting, he fleshed out the glimmering of an idea he had suppressed before. By the time Tremling arrived, Kas was almost cheerful.
He was unsurprised when Tremling appeared unkempt as ever. He restrained himself as the officer gave a detailed account of the damage Rekesh had suffered.
Kas relaxed somewhat when Tremling concluded his report. The only serious damage had been caused by only a few hits by destroyer-based weapons. The smaller weapons of the corvettes had been unable to inflict more than minor damage. It could have been much worse. More important now was the fact that none of the repairs would require special expertise. Only normal damage control would be required — which left him free to deal with Tremling.
The man was staring at him with a wary, frankly hostile expression.›From his oddly stiff posture, Kas suspected Tremling was carrying a concealed recording device.
Kas straightened. “Very well, Commander. Now all I have to deal with is you.” He glared at the dumpy, rumpled figure. “Upon consideration, I have decided that you were correct before. I probably do not have the authority to reduce you in rank, even temporarily. Nor do I have grounds to confine you to your quarters, much as I would like to.”
The wary expression began to fade into a satisfied smirk as he continued, “What I do have the authority to do is determine your duties. You are hereby relieved of your duties as Engineering Officer. I’m assigning you a special project.” The smirk faded to alarm.
With grim satisfaction, Kas gave
his orders. Starhopper ’s crew had made use of one of Rekesh ’s shuttles during the quest for a plague cure. First, they had stripped out the food synthesizer to install in Dr. Kor-Nashta’s improvised quarters in the bio lab. Later they had stripped out some of the vessel’s accommodations to give Ro-Lecton room to synthesize the plague serum. Now the shuttle would provide Kas with an excuse to remove a serious irritant from the crew. Since the hangar deck had to remain unpressurized to preserve the bodies stored there, and Kas had forbade the crew to operate in suits alone, Kas gave Tremling four hours to move from his cabin to the shuttle. He would remain aboard while he examined “every bolt, nut, circuit board and connection” on the shuttle, and made repairs as necessary. “And I don’t mean just running diagnostic programs. I want every piece physically examined and checked out!” Kas finished.
Tremling was shocked. He was well aware that this was a sentence of solitary confinement for an indefinite period, but he suspected that Preslin had found a pretext for the action that fit within Fleet regulations — barely.
Once they installed a spare food synthesizer, there was no reason Tremling could not live aboard in comfort indefinitely. Since the shuttle was designed to serve as a lifeboat for forty people if necessary, it carried full ‘fresher facilities and food and water supplies for a month.
“You can’t do this!” Tremling exclaimed.
Kas shrugged. “I think you’ll find I can,” he replied in a satisfied tone. “But I suggest that while you are moving aboard, you arrange to hookup to the ship’s library. Perhaps you’ll have time to review Fleet regulations. Particularly those referring to the authority of the commander of a warship in time of combat. You might also,” he added, “review the standards of hygiene and conduct for Fleet officers.” As soon as the engineer stormed out, Kas summoned Tremling’s assistant, Lieutenant Commander Wor Sha-Tren. Sha-Tren seemed only a small improvement over Tremling insofar as appearance was concerned. At least Sha-Tren bathed regularly, though his shipsuit looked as though he slept in it.
Kas merely stared at the man for a few moments. Aside from meeting him for a few moments at his awakening, Kas realized he had not even seen the man since he had come aboard. Evidently, Sha-Tren wasted little time on social contacts.
More importantly, the man seemed angry for some reason. His every movement was calculated to offend. For some reason Sha-Tren wanted Kas to know he was angry.
After a moment, he remembered. Sha-Tren felt that he had been betrayed. He claimed to have had a “deal” arranged that permitted him to remain permanently on Prime. Given the man’s abrasive surliness, Kas suspected that Sha-Tren had made Lieutenant Commander only because his wealthy family had bought him the promotions. Even without his obvious display of anger, Sha-Tren was rough-edged. Clamping down on his temper, Kas explained that Sha-Tren was now Rekesh ’s Chief Engineer, and told him why.
The man’s eyes widened as Kas explained Tremling’s “special assignment”, but Kas noted that he immediately straightened, and his replies to Kas’ questions and comments began to be sprinkled with ‘sir’s’. When Sha-Tren left, he walked with a stiff straightness, and even threw Kas a clumsy salute. It appeared that Kas’ actions with Tremling were already showing dividends.
However, while personnel matters occupied a lot of time, there was no shortage of opportunity for Kas to worry about Starhopper and her crew.
After delaying for three ship ‘days’ Kas could wait no longer. Every hour they stayed in this system was another hour of danger for Rekesh. With a sense of despair, he gave the order to begin accelerating toward their programmed jump point. Nevertheless, he ordered a continuing watch for Starhopper. Though the Astrogator focused on the approaching jump point, the main bridge screen was directed aft. Kas knew that even if Starhopper emerged she would not be visible at this distance. However, he could not bring himself to realign the bridge screen. It would be a betrayal, somehow. A final admission of Starhopper ’s loss.
They were less than half an hour from the jump point when the Comm Officer shouted, “Emergence, sir! A ship!”
Kas whirled. “Is it Starhopper?”
The lieutenant frowned. “The ident beacon’s wrong, sir. She claims to be Starhopper, but the beacon is not the usual automated one. Either their ident beacon was damaged or…”
“… Or someone’s making a crude attempt to impersonate her.” Kas finished. “All right. All sensors on that ship. We have to know if she’s Starhopper within the next ten minutes if we’re to abort jump.” He turned to Til Be’Rak, Rekesh ’s Astrogator. “Is that about right, Commander?”
Be’Rak flashed him a blinding grin. “We could stretch that a minute or so if we had to, sir, but for every minute of delay, that’s a minute we’re accelerating at. 5G away from her.”
Kas grinned back. “Right. Thank you, Commander. I…”
“Incoming transmission, sir!” the Comm Officer interrupted. “Vessel continues to identify as Starhopper, but transmission is voice only.”
Kas frowned. “Well, now we’ll know. Put it through.”
The large bridge screen flared for a moment, then faded to blackness. “ Starhopper to Vir Rekesh,” a voice began, “This is Captain Rom Reffel aboard Starhopper. Mayday. I say again, Mayday. We have taken serious battle damage. Captain Ler-Traken was badly injured, and had to be placed in a stasis pod. Most of the rest of the crew are injured to various degrees. Request assistance.” Rom’s voice continued, but Kas was no longer listening. He could play it back later.
“Abort jump!” He ordered. “Adjust vectors to bring us around in minimum time. Make max boost toward Starhopper!”
Before he was even finished speaking, To-Ling was streaming orders.
It took almost a full day to vector the huge battle cruiser around and reverse course, another two days to drive back across the system, and yet another two days to slow the big ship and match orbits with Starhopper.
Kas replied to Rom’s first transmission almost immediately, but the lightspeed lag of more than half an hour prevented two-way communication for nearly two days. They established two-way communications as soon as possible, of course, but even then, lightspeed lag of minutes prevented most contact. Kas would receive a transmission from Rom, and reply. But before Kas’ message arrived, several minutes would have elapsed, during which Rom might have sent additional transmissions on totally different subjects. By the time Kas’ message arrived Rom had to try to figure out which message Kas was replying to, and how it might affect the messages he had sent in the interim. The same applied in the other direction, of course, and until the lightspeed lag was reduced to seconds instead of minutes, little could be accomplished.
Nevertheless, Kas finally got a coherent picture of Starhopper ’s condition.
When the enemy fleet had emerged, Starhopper had her inboard lasers deployed, in accordance with Kas’ standing orders. Ler-Traken had immediately ordered all weapons to open fire, and Gran had responded quickly, firing the lasers and even the quick-firers in Starhopper ’s nose.
For a moment, it had seemed they would reach the jump point unscathed. Then one of the destroyers had hit Starhopper ’s bridge with a particle beam, nearly destroying the Astrogator’s console, and inflicting either direct or decompression injuries on nearly the whole crew.
“If our jump comp hadn’t been slaved to yours there’s no telling where we might have ended up,” Rom said. “But even so we almost dropped out of jump several times. It was only thanks to Tera and Edro that we made it at all. Edro cobbled together controls that let Tera manually control emergence.”
Til Be’Rak’s eyes widened. “Manually? But that’s…”
“Impossible?” Rom’s grin was detectable even over the voice-only transmission. “I’d have agreed, until I saw Tera prevent us from dropping out of jump, then manually recompute the emergence using the captain’s station, then manually drop us out of jump. Sheol, I’m amazed we’re even in the right galaxy, never mind the right system! She
hasn’t slept in forty-six hours, so I just ordered her to bed. She deserves a medal, Commodore.”
As more information poured in concerning the battered Starhopper, Kas began assembling repair crews. He relented and allowed Tremling to take charge of the team. Kas also alerted Ro-Lecton. He was pleasantly surprised when Tremling immediately established communication with Toj Kray aboard Starhopper and began drawing tools and supplies from Rekesh ’s stores.
Aside from the Astrogator’s station and the com system, Starhopper ’s damage was not serious. There were several hull breaches, but all but one were in the ship’s huge cargo bay, which had already been in vacuum.
The other one, of course, was on the bridge. Rom had managed to slap a self-sealing patch over the holes left by the particle beam quickly enough to save the crew’s lives, barely.
Unfortunately, several large pieces of the Astrogator’s station had struck Captain Ler-Traken, gashing his head, and smashing his left thigh. Worse, a large piece impacted his left side, shearing off his left arm at the elbow.
Edro had been quick enough to apply a tourniquet to the arm until the stump could be sealed. A quick examination convinced them that the captain’s best chance would be treatment aboard Rekesh. They put him in the sick bay’s stasis pod and Rom had assumed command.
Luckily, the civilian techs aboard Rekesh were qualified to repair Starhopper ’s Astrogator’s station, and they had plenty of spares and parts.
As soon as they pulled alongside Starhopper, they extended a pressurized tube between the two ships’ personnel airlocks, so they could avoid the necessity of suiting up to move between them. Kas followed the medical team aboard, even elbowing aside the repair techs. He accompanied Dr. Kor-Nashta to the bridge, while Ro-Lecton and the rest of his team went directly to the sick bay and the stasis pod.
Everyone on the bridge displayed injuries to some extent. Rom’s right arm was in a sling. Edro hobbled on a makeshift crutch while favoring a heavily bandaged left leg. Both of Gran’s hands were bandaged, and the blackened com panel revealed the reason. Kor-Nashta wasted no time in pushing Edro into the padded captain’s chair and scanning his leg. “Compound fracture of the tibia,” she said tersely. She raised her wrist com. “Doctor Ro-Lecton, I need a stretcher on the bridge,” she snapped. Without waiting for a reply, she whirled on Rom, who tried to wave her off. “It’s just a dislocated shoulder,” he protested.
Deagth ship quest Page 24