“Neither did I and I like it this way.” Mimi’s eyes sparkled. Her expression suddenly changed and became serious. “What can you tell me about the drones? Was their formation rows and columns, random or in some pattern?”
“It was two concentric cylinders with the control ship in the very back. Why?” Sabrina asked.
“My ex-boyfriend works in Intelligence. I want to show him up that I got the first real information from you before he did!” She grinned widely.
Alina laughed. “I had a friend in school who was a lot like you. I haven’t talked to her in years. We should spend lots of time together!”
“Speaking of which, my mother and some of the ladies get together after work in the school gym for exercise. It might be a nice time to get to know the people who live here. Folks start showing up around 1900 hours.” Mimi’s communicator sounded for her attention. “Uh, that’s Dad! Got to go! See you later!”
Sabrina watched Mimi bounce out the door. “I’ll bet she’s a handful for her parents.”
“No doubt.”
At 1900 hours, after having spent the rest of the day in combat simulators, Alina and Sabrina appeared at the gym wearing their workout clothes. Mimi was jogging around the far end of the indoor track when they arrived. She quickly ran over to them and introduced them to the other women in the gym. There were almost as many men in the gym as there were women, but Mimi made no attempt to introduce them. That was probably a good thing since that reduced the flurry of new names by half. Once introductions were made, Mimi suggested they warm up by running laps around the track.
Flight crews maintain their physical condition by using the exercise features built into their flight seats. Even the best flight seat, however, is no match for real exercises like running or swimming. Alina and Sabrina quickly found themselves short of breath.
Mimi suggested they stop and catch their breath at the edge of the mats being used for martial arts instruction. They joined the familiar warm-up and concentration exercises along with rest of the class. Mimi wandered off to join a pick up basketball game.
At the end of half an hour of exercises, the instructor, a heavily tattooed female Marine, paired the class for practice of the combat moves. The exercises were familiar and relaxing for Alina even though they brought back memories of her troubled youth. When the class was officially scheduled to end, the instructor challenged anyone in the class to a one-on-one round with her. When there were no takers, she wandered over to Alina.
“I think someone here is sand-bagging us.” Her grin was devilish. “I think there is someone here who could beat the pants of everyone in this gym except me. Isn’t that right Captain?”
All eyes turned toward Alina. She looked down and shuffled her feet. “I don’t know.” Her voice said one thing but her body language said another. She did know and resented the fact that this pug of a woman half her size had challenged her. Alina was concerned that she was not likely to be allowed to stay if she was always picking fights.
Sabrina moved forward to intervene. Mimi caught her by the shoulder. She whispered in Sabrina’s ear. “Don’t. It’s a test. We need to see what she does.”
“Captain, I wish to show these folks what proper execution of the arts they have been studying looks like. According to your records, you hold several prizes in martial arts competition.”
Alina looked down. She spoke softly, “Yes, it’s true, but I have killed people this way. Please don’t make me do this.”
“Time to exorcise the demon. Captain, please follow me into the ring.”
Alina reluctantly followed the Marine lieutenant into the ring. They assumed a fighting pose and quickly engaged. Alina was good and the audience who had gathered around the ring was impressed with her skill, but the Marine was just a little better. After one particularly brutal round, the two women stood warily moving in a circle around the ring. A man stepped into the ring behind Alina. Sabrina started to move and prevent what she feared would happen next. Mimi held her down. “This is the test.”
Sabrina looked at Mimi with wild eyed terror. “She’ll kill him!”
“Not him,” Mimi replied confidently.
The man reached around and grabbed Alina’s breasts. Alina exploded. Her elbows flew back only to impact a body wearing combat armor. Instead of the familiar sound of crunching ribs, Alina was surprised to hear dull thuds. Her foot kicked back and high to hit a solid surface instead of the softness she expected. Her leg was kicked out from underneath her forcing her chop to go wild and instead of hitting her assailant’s throat, hit the combat armor protecting his chest. She went down face first to the mat in a series of thudding noises as she collapsed. He followed landing solidly on top of her. Locking her in a full nelson as they fell and knitting his fingers behind her neck, he pinned her to the mat.
Alina screamed in protest as the man’s weight crushed her into the softness of the mat.
“My goodness, she’s fast!” Mimi said to Sabrina. “But Rev Schwartz is faster. He’s a former Marine combat instructor, but now he teaches grade school. See the lady sitting across the parallel bars? That’s his wife. She’s on the review committee.”
“Does this mean we get sent back?” Sabrina asked, frightened.
“No, I don’t think so. She is as dangerous as you said she is. If he hadn’t been wearing combat armor and been as skilled as he is and as heavy as he is, she could have killed him. We had doctors standing by in case.” Mimi shook her head as Alina continued to scream and writhe trying to break free. “I’d hate to see what she’s like when she’s not already tired.”
“She’s worse drunk. We must never allow her to get drunk.”
“Hmm, tough one. We have lots of social drinkers here and wine is part of our ceremonies.”
Rev Schwartz attempted to get up off Alina a couple of times, but each time he did, she attempted to attack him again. Finally, exhausted and defeated, Alina started to cry.
“Welcome home, Alina Darwin.” Rev Schwartz softly said into her ear as he gently stroked her long hair. “You will be safe here.” He looked up at his wife who smiled with approval.
DEPLOYMENT - CHAPTER SIX
DEPRESSED AND DESPONDENT, Captain Rachel Solomon sat across the table at the shipyards’ officer’s club from her parents both of whom were wearing the uniform of Space Force Commodores. In fact, in an unusual exception to policy, her parents served together on the same ship as the military attaches to the diplomatic mission negotiating the Swordsman planets’ secession from the Federation. Her husband, Dr. Isaac Cohen sat beside her. His mood was as dark as hers.
“Rachel, the military is always like this,” her father said. “You’ve only been at this a year. You are trying to accomplish what normally takes ten years. Designing a new type of ship from scratch is not an easy undertaking. I don’t think you understand how far you have come in this time.”
“But Dad, we’re not designing a new ship.” Rachel responded.
“No, you are taking bits and pieces of four big ships and bolting them together to form one huge ship,” her mother offered. “No one has ever attempted anything of this scope before. It takes time. It’s difficult engineering.” She turned to Rachel’s husband, “Isaac, I think your idea of pulling the parts from that old hospital ship languishing in the bone yard was brilliant. Who would have thought that a battleship and a hospital ship would be built on the same space frame. It certainly shortened the design and construction time.”
“Thank you, Avi, but the idea to bolt in the mid and aft sections from the cargo ship was Rachel’s. It seems that Saturn Space Industries built a lot of ships on the same frame and with the same propulsion unit.”
“Where did the idea to combine all the drives come from?” Greg asked.
“Dad, it started with a comment you made,” Rachel replied. “You said you were concerned that the drive would not be powerful enough to handle the weight. Once we added the modules from the retired passenger liner for the rehab center and living quarters
we knew we would not be able to make a full G in hyper drive. I ran the problem by Reuben and he came up with the idea of using four drives. He designed the structure that allowed us to use the cargo ship’s drive as the center drive and array the other drives in a triangle around it. Apparently the space between the drives is critical so they don’t interfere with each other. Reuben spent a month on the problem before he was satisfied he solved it.”
“How’s he doing by the way?” Avi asked.
Rachel said, “He’s bored. The research lab isn’t as much fun as he thought it would be. He and Suwanee love that they are assigned together, but I think he would rather be working here with me.”
Greg laughed. “Looking for a little action?”
Isaac chuckled and said, “His words exactly.”
Greg looked at his daughter and proudly said, “Life with my Rachel is certainly never dull!”
“Daddy! I wish you would quit saying that!”
It was Isaac’s turn to laugh. “But, sweetheart, it’s true and I love you for it.”
“How is his brother Rashi doing?” Avi asked.
“Rashi’s project is blowing up in their faces, literally. The new missiles are detonating prematurely and no one can figure out what is causing the failures. He is working overtime to solve the problem and I think his marriage is suffering.”
“I wondered if marrying Esther Sherman was a good idea,” Avi mused. “I know they were childhood sweethearts, but that does not always translate into a successful marriage. I wish there was something we could do for them.”
“I’m not sure there isn’t,” Rachel said. “When I get to staffing my ship, I’ll need to pull in a wide variety of people and Rashi’s munitions experience will be critical.”
“I must admit that a hospital ship with the armament of a battleship is a strange duck and you will have your hands full, but aren’t you asking for trouble if you have both of them under your command?” Greg asked.
“Actually, only Rashi would be under my command. Esther is a civilian and would be under HIS command.” She poked Isaac in the ribs and grinned. “As a pilot, I would have her flying one of the med-evac units and not a combat unit.”
“Rashi and Reuben are both pilots,” Greg observed.
“They would be more valuable as engineers. I can find pilots. It’s the ships that concern me.”
“Why is that?” Greg asked.
“The Space Force has not been forthcoming with other support. I know I will have the two destroyers I am supposed to have but they are stalling me on the P I ships and the pickets. I am getting mixed answers on the med-evac units.”
“And then there is the issue of crews,” Isaac interrupted. “I am having difficulty recruiting medical personnel. Doctors generally try to avoid going places where they might get shot at. There is something to be said for the controlled chaos of an inner city hospital. I may be forced to staff the hospital ship with recent med school grads and the odd bored retiree. It will not be an ideal situation. I suspect we will have the same problems once we start recruiting combat crews.”
“You know that Admiral Sherman is very interested in this project,” Avi commented.
“I had heard that,” Rachel replied.
“Admiral Sherman has a way of making projects he cares about happen,” Greg smiled. “I’ll bet if you get your cobbled together battle wagon out to him, you will find more support there than here.”
“Do you really think he could help us?” Isaac asked.
Avi smiled. “Let me put it to you this way. He told me if you didn’t stop there on a recruiting trip with your new ship, he would be personally insulted.”
Isaac grinned, “Then, we shouldn’t disappoint him should we? I heard their new med school at New Boston should be graduating its first class next spring. I know there are not enough internship opportunities for all of the new doc’s. And they will be trained with all the new technologies. Do you really think we could pick a few of their fresh MD’s?”
“And RN’s and LPN’s I think,” Avi offered.
“Sweet,” Isaac said.
“Do you think Admiral Sherman would loan us a few ships?” Rachel asked.
“I know two P I ships who would be personally insulted if you didn’t ask,” Greg suggested.
“Do I have to listen to them whine?” Rachel asked.
“They promised to be good. No whining, but they are looking for action, too. They’re bored. They know you’ll take them where the action is.”
“Wait a second,” Isaac interrupted. “You’re talking about ships like they’re people. What’s going on here?”
Rachel took his hand. “We talk about them like they’re people because they think they are people, very special people.”
Isaac shuddered. “This is too Asimov for me. They are machines, right?”
“Yes, they are machines and they know that, but they are so well programmed they think like people. There is a huge debate whether they are actually self-aware or only programmed to appear that they are. As far as I am concerned the difference is insignificant.” Rachel replied.
“I can’t believe this,” Issac said.
“Believe it. What until you meet them. Speaking of which. Do you think Peter would re-program my ship’s computer? I could use all the help I can get.”
Greg smiled, “He asked that question, too. He said that I shouldn’t bring it up, but if you asked to tell you he’d be thrilled.”
“Who’s Peter?” Isaac asked.
“Dad’s cargo ship,” Rachel answered.
“Another computer?” Isaac asked.
“Yes,” Rachel affirmed.
“I can’t take any more of this!” Isaac exclaimed.
The others seated around the table laughed at his anguished expression.
“Get used to it,” Rachel said. “Say, have you heard from David?”
“David is deep in his studies,” Avi said. “I’m worried about him. Law school has become an obsession. I can think of worse obsessions to have, but I’m afraid he’ll burn himself out.”
“I agree,” Greg said. “He’s working much too hard. He’s scoring near the top of his class and Harvard is not exactly the easiest law school, but the grades don’t matter to him. It’s like the law has become his new lover and he is utterly devoted to her. He is entirely out of control. He has no social life and no other interests.”
“Isn’t there a woman in his classes he could be interested in?” Isaac asked.
“We asked around. His room mate said he gets passed at all time by both women and men. He’s just not interested.” Greg answered.
“Does he fly at all?” Rachel asked.
“Not enough. He piloted the ship that took the class on a field trip to the moon, but I think that’s it and he only did that because his adviser ordered him to. He didn’t have enough current flight time and was in danger of losing his pilot’s rating and his pilot’s salary. I talked to his adviser and he was the one who told me about David’s obsessive behavior. We’re not the only ones who care about him.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Rachel asked.
“Short of kidnapping him and stranding him on a desert island, I don’t think so,” Greg replied.
“We could at least try,” Rachel said.
“Yes, we should,” Isaac added.
“Whatever we think, there a couple of admirals out there who really want him to finish school. I think we should give him moral support, but we should leave him alone,” Greg cautioned. “His school counselors are aware of the problem and can deal with it. If they think they need help, they have been told to call us.”
“When is the ship scheduled to start its performance trials?” Avi asked, changing the subject.
“Two weeks,” Rachel replied. “The engines have been static fired and responded properly. All the control and maneuvering function problems have been fixed. The plan is to take it out of the service bay two weeks from Monday.”
�
�Are they doing a manned test or a remote control test?” Greg asked.
“Preprogrammed and remotely monitored,” Rachel replied.
“Even in the area near the shipyard? What about all the other ship traffic?”
“They are demanding that all other shipping clear the area when they take it out the first time.”
“They really don’t trust it do they?” Greg observed.
“No, not really,” Rachel said.
“Only time will tell. I think it should be fine, but it’s their job to err on the side of caution,” Greg said.
DEPLOYMENT - CHAPTER SEVEN
COLONEL REGINALD CONNORS, Marine commanding officer of the special training program for military academy students on their summer hiatus looked up at the young man who had been ushered into his office.
“Stand at ease, Cadet.”
Colonel Connors glanced down at the file on his desk before addressing the cadet again.
“Cadet Winthrop, I am surprised you are here. As a Swordsman, you are no doubt aware that virtually everyone here at Parris Island hates you. Whatever hell on earth you have endured at the Academy will pale by comparison to what you will suffer here. I am sure you are an honorable and honest person, but your religion makes you the enemy. Are you aware how difficult that is going to make your summer here in training with the Marines?”
“Yes, sir, I do, sir.”
“You realize that every Christian evangelical in camp is going to seek you out for special attention and not all of that will be benign?”
“Yes, sir, I do, sir.”
“You realize that every son of a serviceman whose father died in combat against the Swordsmen will be going for your throat.”
“Yes, sir, I do, sir.”
“May I ask why you chose to come here?”
“Yes, sir, I came to learn to fight.”
“You certainly came to the right place. Your reports on your combat skills from the academy classes are quite good, but they will be children’s games compared to what you will face here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Cadet Winthrop, I have reviewed your files. I am aware of the circumstances of your father’s death. The ship that shot your father’s helicopter down had two people in it. I understand you have encountered one of those people in the academy and that she broke your nose. Is that correct?”
Solomon Family Warriors II Page 70