Kelly Blake 3: Where the Stars Are Few and Far Between

by Rodney Smith

  After five days of drills, Kelly announced the end of the cruise and put them on course for Antares Base. He also announced two days liberty on a 50% manning basis. He wondered how many of the crew would spend that time asleep in their bunks, as he’d worked them pretty hard.

  Calling a meeting of his A team, department heads, XO and Chief B, he thanked them for their hard work. He also told them when he returned that he would inform Admiral Minacci that Orion was mission ready. This caused a murmur around the table. He calmed them and told them he didn’t expect everything to be 100%. It never was, but all his key concerns had been addressed. He could see the department heads ticking off the items in their heads and finally saw agreement in their eyes. They were ready. Now all that was needed were orders sending them out on a very long voyage. That depended on Fleet preparations for battle.

  * * * * *

  Kelly was sandwiched between Amy and Moira as they ran him through the wedding plans. They had invited four hundred guests, including seven senators, 13 representatives, 12 cabinet members, 23 admirals, 10 ambassadors, and two planetary governors. The GR president was invited, but had not responded yet. Candy would have three bridesmaids: Angie, Tammy and Connie Cortez, participating under special orders. Kelly chose Edgar Timmons as his best man. Steven Maynard and Alistair Bennett would be his groomsmen. Steven was a former pirate and Alistair was a former assassin – what better men to stand up with him? His officers from the Orion offered their services as ushers.

  The wedding would be September 22. It was a date Fleet Operations guaranteed would not interfere with pending operations. A small restaurant from the new GR world, Barataria, would do the catering. The chef insisted and underbid the lowest bidder by a considerable margin. Moira and Amy were unsure of the quality at that price, but were convinced when Sally Halstead, the chef, prepared them dinner one evening at Candy’s house. Sally said it was a personal favor to the liberator of Barataria. Several senior ship’s cooks heard Sally Halstead was catering and volunteered their services. A local four-star restaurant next to the reception hall offered her the free use of their kitchen. Every top tier chef knew Sally.

  * * * * *

  Shadow Leader G’Motta lost another ship to the Human fast attack ships. Even though he averaged a ship damaged or lost every week to the fast ships, he preferred them to the fat slow ones. The fat slow ones carried more missiles and saturated his defenses more easily. He almost always had a ship lost or damaged when the fat slow ones attacked. The fast ones only got through to him once a week. It was the grim math of war.

  G’Motta had requested permission to advance his frigates into Human space to discern where the ships were originating. He sent a pair in to see if they could find the source of the attacks. There must be an asteroid base or a small orphan planet. The ships were too big for known Human carriers, unless the Humans had built a new jumbo carrier he knew nothing about. His frigates found nothing for a distance of 10,000,000km. They made a max speed dash back to the picket line at FTL Power 3 when attack ships were detected inbound. They barely made it under the protective umbrella of the picket line before the attack ships hit.

  G’Motta had learned painfully how to reduce the threat from the fast ships. He requested three anti-fighter cruisers from the Armada Commander and stationed them behind the center of his line. This gave him needed depth and a second barrage of anti-fighter missiles. They also had the new long-range anti-fighter missiles that could reach out 1,000,000km. If launched when the fast ships were first detected, they could interfere with the fast ships’ target run. He also stationed his frigates with their twin close in defensive systems between every two ships in the main line. It provided a final defensive line against inbound missiles.

  The T’Pok were not all that useful against the fast ships. The fast ship was almost a match for the T’Pok once they’d fired their heavy anti-ship missiles and they had better anti-fighter missiles. The T’Poks were losing almost a quarter of a squadron each time they engaged the fast ships. G’Motta really didn’t know if the fast ships were better or if the T’Pok pilots just didn’t have the true warrior spirit. He scanned through the data files of the last three attacks, looking for things he could turn to his advantage.

  * * * * *

  Kelly was called to Admiral Minacci’s office, and was shown right in. The admiral was at his desk pondering over a desktop terminal. Kelly marched up to his desk and stopped. The admiral looked up and motioned him to sit. He kept reading for a bit more, then looked up again, passed Kelly another of the larger desktop terminals, and said, “Read it, it's your draft operations order.”

  Kelly scanned his way through the document, looking for specified and implied tasks. He found them on page 10: Make best possible speed through K’Rang space, avoiding contact as much as possible. Contact the A’Ngarii. Gather as much information as possible on the A’Ngarii without endangering Galactic Republic-A’Ngarii relations. Facilitate the diplomatic team’s negotiation with the A’Ngarii. Gain the A’Ngarii’s cooperation, or at a minimum, their neutrality in our campaign against the K’Rang. Return to GR space at best possible speed once mission complete.

  Kelly would be embarking a diplomatic team of five, an ambassador-at-large, one assistant, one xenobiologist, and two translators. It looked like Connie just lost her cabin to the Ambassador. He wondered what language the A’Ngarii spoke and how Humans would speak it.

  He would also be embarking a Fleet Reporting Officer to assist in gathering information on the A’Ngarii. Kelly wondered who that would be. He had a favorable experience with one on the Vigilant years back. In fact, that one would be one of his groomsmen. They were unusually dedicated and capable individuals.

  He read the rest of the document and it was just amplifying data and instructions to the specified tasks. This was a well-written order. They normally had contradictory tasks and functions to be carried out. This one was clean and simple in wording. It would be complex in execution.

  He looked up and the admiral was looking at him. “What do you think?”

  “This is a simple order, sir.”

  “That’s what I thought, too. How unusual to get a clean operations order. Admiral Chang must have made an impact at Fleet HQ. My order for Barataria was twice this long and contradictory in places.”

  “I don’t know if they're asking for comments, sir, but I would like to have a reset code for the mini-ring. If the A’Ngarii aren’t as friendly as we’d like or the K’Rang get to them first, I’d like to be able to disable the ring and be able to reactivate it. No use giving them a portal into our space or a working ring.”

  Admiral Minacci responded that what he said made sense and forwarded that comment to the order originator.

  * * * * *

  The 112th Heavy Attack Ship Squadron was reassigned to the 5th Heavy Attack Ship Wing under the 2nd Combined Fleet. Tammy and Commander Tanaka were reviewing their draft operations plan. The 5th Wing would initially operate out of Rigel Prime, in support of security for the right flank of the main effort. Another wing had the left flank security mission. Yet a third wing would reinforce either wing, as needed.

  They would use the Rigel Ring to transport to the Fleet ring ship. They would work in concert with Scout Force ships operating deep in K’Rang space, in support of the combined fleet and independently. If the scouts detected a large concentration of K’Rang ships, they would alert the wings. The purpose of their attacks was to provide time for the Fleet to react, or they could destroy the concentration on their own, if within their capabilities.

  Tammy liked the plan. It was simple and gave them the most operational flexibility. They could attack in wing formation, single squadron, or in sequential squadron attacks. Tammy proposed using one ship as a pathfinder to go through the ring first to find the enemy, determine the best attack option, and call back with an attack plan. That way the wing could come through the ring ready to strike.

  Commander Tanaka liked the idea and offered it u
p at the wing commander’s operations review. It was adopted and the squadron commanders chose their XOs to fulfill this function. Tammy had named her own mission.

  * * * * *

  Admiral Hasselrode had 20 of his 24 ships out on training cruises. He was awaiting the arrival of the next transport bringing the fillers for the remaining ships. These would be Fleet officers and ratings, so they would be split out among all ships and cross-leveled. He hated to break up crews at this time, but he couldn’t have too large a percentage of Fleet personnel on any one ship. Fleet personnel were just not flexible enough for Scout Force’s independent way of operating. It had been tried before, to disastrous results. They got better over time, but time was not on his side. He’d split them up and the crews would train them in the Scout Force way.

  He had his first chance to see the operations plan. He liked it – simple and to the point. Scout Force was to provide one scout ship to each fleet, task force, and group, out of the squadrons on Antares Base. They would provide security along the axes of advance. 1st Scout Force Division’s mission would be to patrol in the three wedges of K’Rang space created by the 1st and 2nd Combined Fleets’ attack toward G’Durin. He was to have his ships on station two days after the main attack commenced. Their objectives were to: Destroy enemy commercial shipping, locate and report enemy concentrations and FTL shipyards, and destroy enemy major combatants within capability.

  The date of the attack had not been set and still depended on Admiral Chang’s assessment of when the forces were ready. John felt he would be ready no matter which date was chosen.

  Ships would operate out of Glenn initially, using the Glenn, Rigel, and Aldebaran rings to bring them to their infiltration points. One squadron would operate in each of the top two wedges. The lower wedge would be split between two squadrons due to its size. Exfiltration would be the reverse of the route used going in – or using the fleet ring ships once available. He called in the squadron commanders to brief them on the plan and to get their input.

  The four squadron commanders worked out patrol zone boundaries in their areas of responsibility and proposed having half of their ships on patrol at any time. This would give them six ships on station for a month, and six ships recovering and preparing to deploy. They divided their patrols zones into six relatively equal sectors. One ship would patrol each sector. There would be a one-week overlap between incoming and outgoing ships to facilitate local intelligence coordination and hand off.

  He approved and congratulated them on their implementing plans. Then he gave them the bad news of the need to spread out the incoming Fleet personnel. The meeting got quite heated and went on late into the night. They were finally released once Admiral Hasselrode determined they were all equally unhappy with him.

  Chapter Six

  Kelly was doing a walk-thru inspection. He had a full crew now, veterans mixed in with first timers, and he wanted to start putting faces to names. He started in Engineering with Lieutenant Commander Brown, Lieutenant Jenkins, and Chief Miller. Chief Miller broke out into a big smile when he saw Kelly.

  “How are you, Chief? Where have you been the last three years?”

  “I’m doing great sir. I was at Bureau of Ships. I was part of Lieutenant Commander Brown’s design team.”

  “It’s great to have you aboard, Chief. Lieutenant Jenkins, where do you come in from?”

  “I’m coming in from Fleet, sir. My last assignment was engineering on the Juarez.”

  “Glad to have you aboard, Mr. Jenkins.”

  Kelly moved next to weapons, where he met Lieutenant Commander Susan Shaw, Lieutenant Chip Stewart, and an old friend, Chief Pennypacker.

  “How are you, Chief? You did say you would ship out with me again some day.”

  “I’m just finer than frog hair, sir. I heard you were getting another ship and just had to try and join up.”

  “Lieutenant Commander Shaw and Mr. Stewart, where were you before here?”

  Lieutenant Commander Shaw answered, “I was a gunnery instructor at the Academy, sir.”

  Lieutenant Stewart said, “I was a gunnery officer on the Plymouth, sir.”

  “I’m glad to have you both aboard. I want to thank you both for volunteering to usher at my wedding. Especially when you would have received an invite anyway.”

  They all started laughing at that and Kelly moved on to sickbay.

  “Rajna, it’s so good to see you again. Having you onboard as a PA will be great for the crew’s health and well-being. How does your mom feel about you being a PA?”

  “She would much rather that I be a doctor, sir. I just told her that I’m sneaking up on it. She was not amused.”

  Kelly laughed, shook Rajna’s hand, and moved into operations, where he met Lieutenant Commander Eric Baume, Lieutenant Handel, and Chief Rodriguez.

  “Lieutenant Commander Baume, welcome aboard. Where are you from? What was your last assignment?”

  “I was junior Ops officer on the Defiant, sir.”

  “Oh, the new battle cruiser. How do we compare?”

  “No comparison, sir. You are about one-fifth her size and have one-sixth her armament, but it’s a pleasure to be here, sir. I wanted my own Ops shop.”

  “I’m glad you’re here. You’ll teach me the right way to fight my ship, won’t you?”

  “I’ll give you my best effort, sir. I believe you have already met Lieutenant Jan Handel and this is Chief Yuri Doborov.”

  “Indeed I have. Lieutenant Handel was my OOD on the trip here from Leonov. I see you are both Space Warfare Officers. I will propose that you two and the Exec establish a training program to qualify as many of the officers as possible as SWOs. This ship is too big to run like a normal scout ship. I’ll include myself in your SWO class.”

  “Certainly, sir, the Academy has a syllabus and a course plan. I’ll get it and coordinate with the Exec.”

  Kelly turned to Chief Doborov, “Good to meet you, Chief. What was your last assignment?”

  Chief Doborov answered, “I was an instructor at the Academy, sir. I ran the Ops simulator.”

  Kelly said, “Welcome aboard,” and moved on to supply.

  Lieutenant Commander Juan Obregon, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Sarah Tsao, and Chief Larry Houston stood by in supply.

  “Lieutenant Commander Obregon, how goes supply?”

  Lieutenant Commander Obregon answered, “Sir, the mini ring revolutionizes supply. I just wish I had this on my last ship, the Gorbachev. I’d like to kiss whoever invented it.”

  Kelly laughed and said, “I’ll let my folks know you appreciate it. I suggest you kiss my mom. I don’t know how Dad would take it.”

  Lieutenant Commander Obregon blanched and said, “Oh, you’re one of those Blakes!”

  Kelly laughed even harder, then asked Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Tsao, “Where did you come in from?”

  “Sir, I came out of the base supply directorate. I was bored processing supply requests, heard you were looking for volunteers, and here I am.”

  “Glad you’re here. I’ll try and keep you from being bored.”

  “Chief, where was your last assignment?”

  “Sir, my last assignment was with the battle cruiser Waterloo. I was held back because of a blown knee. I was going through surgery when the Waterloo was ambushed and killed. I volunteered for the Orion because I want to get back in the fight.”

  Kelly gripped Chief Houston by the shoulder and said, “I can’t promise you a fight, but know that your service here will be meaningful and it will make a big difference in how the campaign comes out.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Kelly climbed up a ladder to the CIC and found Connie Cortez.

  “Connie, I want you, Lieutenant Commander Baume, and Lieutenant Handel to set up a SWO qualification course for all the officers, even Rajna, even me. I want as many qualified SWOs as we can achieve. I want officers that can run this ship and fight her if you and I get knocked out. Find out what we need to train the enlis
ted space warfare curriculum, too.”

  Connie answered, “Will do, sir.”

  Kelly pulled Connie into his office and closed the door behind. He told her to sit.

  “Connie, I just found out yesterday that we will have an ambassador and his staff embarked when we leave. I’m afraid I’ll need to bump you from your private cabin for this mission. As long as I’m discommoding people, I will need you to inform all the officers to double up. We will have other guests on board this trip, so no private staterooms.”

  “Damn, sir, and I just unloaded all my frilly pillows and stuffed animals. No problem, sir, I’ll give them all the bad news. Who else do we have coming aboard?”

  “The ambassador will have two assistants and two translators. We’ll also have a Fleet Reporting Officer riding with us.”

  Connie’s eyes went wide. “Anyone we know, sir?”

  “Don’t get your hopes up. The operations plan just said reporting officer, not a name. You two did part on good terms, I hope?”

  “Oh yes, sir, Alistair and I parted as friends when I went to Fleet. There was no way to maintain the relationship. I get a message from him occasionally.”

  Kelly sat down and the two of them worked out the details on their upcoming training cruise.

  * * * * *

  Admiral Sue Thomas sat through her morning staff briefing, marking ships off as they briefed their readiness status. Ship after ship reported green in all status categories: personnel, armaments, engineering, supply, and training.

  She turned to her operations officer and told him to prepare a fleet on fleet exercise for late next week. She wanted to pit the Bolivar against the deGaulle and Wellington. Normally it was the other way around. Two blue defenders against one red attacker, but Admiral Thomas wanted to be different.