by John Ringo
“We need access to some of this tech,” Edmund said. “For field rations. Current field rations aren’t very good.”
“We’re working up some food service regulations,” Mbeki commented. “I’ll make sure you get copies.”
“Ships used to be hard pressed for water,” Herzer commented.
“Again, the dwarves came through for us,” the skipper replied with a smile. “The ship is supplied with two rather large water tanks, located in the bilges. Potable water is pumped in and out. They have to be cleaned from time to time, which is a chore and a half, but they carry more than enough water for the voyage and are easily refilled. We also chlorinate the water so that it doesn’t go bad. We pack dried corn, beans, wheat and rice in steel barrels as well, all of them vacuum packed. Then there’s canned beets, turnip greens, tomatoes, what have you. Dried fruit, also vacuum packed. Storing it all is, of course, difficult. But the worst part is meats. We’re working on oversized canning processes for those, but for the time being we’re stuck with salting.”
Herzer had tried the salt beef and wasn’t impressed.
“Better than monkey on a stick,” he said.
“And that is?” Commander Mbeki inquired.
“Field rations,” Edmund interjected. “A form of jerked and dried meat mixed with fruit. Together with parched corn it’s the standard field rations on the march.”
“You haven’t lived, Colonel, until you’ve lived for a month on fried monkey on a stick.” Herzer grinned.
“I’ll take your word for it,” the skipper replied. “Well, this has been a pleasant interlude, but I think we should get back to work. Commander Gramlich, have you concluded whether you’re willing to risk the catapult? This is not something where I’m prepared to give you an order.”
“I’ll do it,” Joanna said. She’d finished off half a cow’s carcass while the others had been having their more limited meal and now looked in a far better mood. “Like Herzer said, it might be a blast.”
“Very well,” the skipper said. “Chief Brooks!”
“Sir,” the NCO said, climbing up onto the landing platform.
“Have this knocked down and prepare the launching and recovery teams. Commander Gramlich is going to be giving the first demonstration of the launching catapult.”
The table was knocked down, the riding harnesses were attached to the dragon, the longboat with the recovery team onboard was launched and the catapult was prepared. This mostly consisted of ensuring there was pressure, drawing back the launching platform and cocking it.
“All hands, make sail,” Chang ordered, to be repeated by bellows all down the ship. “Helm, come to heading zero-one-three.”
“Zero-one-three, aye.”
“Prepare for launching.”
The ship came around until the wind was blowing directly onto the launching platform with the ship sailing towards it to maximize the effect. As the sails were unfurled and tightened the lively ship picked up speed until she seemed to be flying over the light waves, even given the gentleness of the breeze.
“She’s a tidy ship,” Chang said, smiling for the first time in a long time. “Commander Mbeki, launch when ready!”
* * *
The catapult had been modified for the dragon. Now there were two separated perches for her feet. She gingerly got on them and gripped tightly.
“Commander,” Chief Brooks said. “When the lead perch reaches the edge it’s going to detach and fly away. We’d like you to have let go before then, but if you haven’t, let go of both of them right after or you’re going to be trying to lift them as well as the riders.”
“Got it, Chief,” the dragon replied. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
“Lieutenant Herrick?” the chief said, pointing to a large lever to one side of the platform. “If you’ll do the honors.”
“Everyone ready?” Herzer asked, putting his hand on the lever.
Jerry and Koo gave him a thumbs up and Joanna just growled.
“Okay, on three…”
“Wait!” Jerry said. “Does that mean…?”
“That means when I say three I’m going to fire you,” Herzer replied. “Now get ready. One, two, THREE.”
Herzer pushed forward, hard, on the lever and was rewarded by a high-pitched whistling noise. Then the catapult engaged and the dragon flew forward with a bellowed “Oh, shiiit!”
The catapult accelerated fast, but not excessively so, and Herzer could clearly see that Joanna had let go before the end of the launch. She pushed forward with her own strength as her wings flipped open and she soared upward, instantly in full flight.
“That was COOL!” she bellowed. “Let’s do that AGAIN!”
“First get the men on shore,” Mbeki yelled. “Then you have to land. Then you get to try out the catapult again.”
Joanna waved an assent, then headed for the rapidly receding shore.
“Prepare to come about,” the skipper said. “Might as well be in closer when we try to recover them.”
* * *
In no more than thirty minutes, two wyverns and a dragon could be seen approaching. As they got closer it was clear that there were only two riders.
“Lieutenant Herzer,” Commander Mbeki said. “Get aloft and prepare to land the dragons. Skipper, recommend we come into the wind and reduce speed.”
“Sir,” Herzer interjected. “The last time Joanna seemed to have more problems with us being really slow than not. Recommend… well I’m not sure what I recommend, but Joanna needed a higher speed.”
“What about the wyverns?” the skipper asked, testily.
“Either we increase speed for Joanna, sir, or we see if they can land at a higher speed.”
“Prepare to come about!”
The ship tacked back into the wind and left all its jib sails flying.
“Speed twelve klicks, sir,” the officer of the deck said. The speed of the ship was measured by a small propeller at the rear that carried the information to a readout via a complicated set of cables and gears.
“We’ll see how they do at this clip,” Mbeki said. “We were barely doing six before. Up you go, Herzer.”
Herzer climbed up on the landing platform, picked up his flags and pointed at Jerry. This time he maintained a good entry and there was barely a thump when the wyvern landed.
He climbed down and walked over to Herzer, shaking his head.
“When I saw how fast it was going I thought you were nuts,” Riadou said. “But I think it’s easier. More speed means we have more control on the way in.”
“Makes sense,” Herzer said, pointing at Koo. Koo’s landing, too, was much easier. Finally there was only Joanna to land.
Joanna also had an easier time on the glide path but she had more of a tendency to drift to the side. The ship could not point directly into the wind and the wind across her was pushing the larger dragon sideways. As she got on final approach the disturbance in the air from the ship’s sails threw her off path and it was clear she wasn’t going to hit the platform so Herzer waved her off. She had enough airspeed to recover and flapped back up to altitude. On the second try she figured out how to correct for drift and came in straight as an arrow. At the last moment she backwinged and then dropped, heavily, onto the platform as the two humans hit the deck. The entire ship shuddered at the impact of the multiton dragon but the platform held.
“That was… interesting,” Joanna said. “But I did it!” she added with a grin.
“Meeting in the wardroom,” Duke Edmund said, from the stairs. “There’s a skylight so Joanna can stick her nose into things.”
* * *
Everyone had some point that they felt could be improved on the dragon landing and launching system. And they hadn’t even tested the launching on the wyverns or seen if they were willing to land a second time.
“Tomorrow for that,” Skipper Chang said. “General Talbot, with your permission I’d like to spend one more day in the bay doing work-ups. I know that
puts you behind schedule but…”
“Better a functioning dragon-carrier when we get to the Isles.” Edmund sighed. “Agreed. But just one more day.”
“Most of the changes aren’t crucial,” Evan said, looking up from his notes. “The biggest one is some place for the flag guy to hide.”
“We’re going to need a better term than ‘flag guy’ as well,” Commander Mbeki said.
“How about landing orders officer?” Jerry said.
“ ‘Keep your eye on the loo!’ ” Joanna chuckled. “ ‘Follow the loo!’ No, just doesn’t have that ring to it.”
“Okay, landing signal officer then,” Jerry said. “We’ve also got the problem of five dragons and three riders.”
“Do you think you can work Herzer up on-board?” the duke asked.
“I don’t know, sir,” the warrant officer replied, seriously. “Training usually takes several hundred hours, not just a few hours in the air. And then there’s landing. I’d rather he learned that on land, if possible.”
“And keep in mind that once we get to sea it just gets harder,” the XO pointed out. “This is a mill-pond. Out in the Atlantis it’s solid rollers, even if we’re not having a storm.”
“We won’t launch in foul weather,” the skipper said. “But storms do come up suddenly. It’s something to keep in mind. Think about a good foul weather recovery system.”
“Other than going for a swim?” Herzer asked.
“In the North Atlantis, which is where we’ll be engaging the invasion fleet, that’s not going to be possible,” the XO pointed out. “The water will kill a person before we can get them out. It will be on the deck or nothing.”
“I think that’s about it,” the skipper said, rapping his knuckles on the table. “Unless you have something to add, General?”
“No, nothing,” Edmund replied. “I think today went quite well.”
“Better than I anticipated, frankly,” Chang replied. “General, I’ll see your party at dinner?”
“Of course, Skipper.”
“Very well, people, good work today. Flight operations commence at dawn tomorrow.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“And what were you two doing today?” Edmund asked when he entered his cabin, Herzer trailing behind. Rachel and Daneh were sitting at the table, looking at papers spread over the surface.
“Mostly checking out the ship’s medical facilities and general health issues,” Daneh answered. “They’ve got an excellent infirmary and the two medics were smart but they’re not very well trained. We also checked out the meal preparation area. The cooks are well versed in sanitation, which I was delighted to discover. All in all it’s a well-designed ship and a well-trained crew.”
“That’s good to know,” Edmund replied, tiredly. “Frankly, it’s more important to the mission than that the dragons work. They might be helpful in the Isles. Then again, they might not be. I still don’t see where they’re an offensive weapon.”
“I’ve got some ideas in that area, sir,” Herzer said, diffidently. “But I want them to get more comfortable in carrier operations before I bring anything else up. It’s going to mean the wyverns carrying a fair amount of weight if it works, which means they’ll have to use the catapult.”
“We watched one of the landings,” Rachel said. “It was very cool.”
“It was very hairy from where I was standing,” Herzer said. He felt as drained as if he’d run the Hill a dozen times. “I think there’s going to be a fair number of the riders that won’t hack it. You have to be very confident in your flying and confident that the LSO is giving you good steers. When you land normally, the wyvern does most of the work. You just point in a general area and they land. This way… the rider has to really steer the beast to a landing. It’s not easy.”
“None of it’s easy,” Edmund replied. “The system that’s been set up for moving them around, feeding them, launching them. The system that Evan has for moving them in and out of the weyr bays, all of it is even more complicated than I think you realize. Which is good.”
“Good?” Daneh said. “Why?”
“So far, New Destiny has been very good at collecting, and even feeding, large masses of troops,” Edmund said. “I’m surprised that they are, because they’re not very good at using them. Paul’s group tends to be very controlling; they don’t think an idea is a good one unless one of them has it. They wouldn’t have let someone like Evan have his head and just figure things out. They would have stopped Herzer when he went up and tried to control the wyverns on the way in. I think they would have even stopped him after it was clear it worked. Again, if they don’t have the idea it is, by definition, bad.”
“Your point?” Daneh asked.
“It’s pretty clear; I don’t think they are ever going to be able to match this sort of ability. They may have, probably do have, wyverns and even dragons. But I don’t think they’ll be able to come up with all the things necessary to use dragon-carriers. And even after we use them against them, if we do, they won’t be able to match our quality. It’s like the Blood Lords in a way. Having a capability that your enemy cannot match in war is a wonderful asset.”
“If they can’t match it, sir,” Herzer said. “I don’t really see that they won’t be able to.”
“Oh, they may figure out how to land them and take off,” Edmund admitted. “But I don’t think they’ll be as good at it as we’ll be. And we’ll keep improving. Because we let people like you, and Jerry and Evan and even Commander Mbeki just figure out what to do. Rather than telling them what to do.”
“You’re talking about initiative,” Rachel interjected.
“Absolutely. It’s something that we support, stress even. It’s something that New Destiny suppresses. In time, I hope to prove to them how wrong they are.”
* * *
Herzer waved Koo down and ducked into his station as Nebka’s wings brushed just past his head.
“That’s a center shot for Koo,” he called down to pri-fly from his station at the front of the platform. The cuplike station had been hung off the end of the landing platform by a team under Chief Brooks and it lifted his head and shoulders just over the platform itself.
“General,” the skipper said. “I think these flyers have got the technique down. We’ve launched wyverns, landed wyverns and launched and landed Commander Gramlich. I say we head to sea.”
“Concur,” Duke Edmund said.
“Commander Mbeki, cease flight operations. Helm, come to heading zero-seven-five. Set full sail.”
“Zero-seven-five, aye.”
“Now you’ll see what sailing is all about, General.”
“Looking forward to it, Colonel.”
* * *
Herzer was at pri-fly when the ship passed out of the bay and into the open ocean. As soon as it was beyond the protecting arms of the bay, they hit the full swells of the Atlantis and the ship, under full sail, started to corkscrew through the waves.
“Oh, my God,” Jerry gasped, grabbing the handrail at the rear of pri-fly. “We’re supposed to land in this?” From below the squawks and bellows of the wyverns filled the air.
“This isn’t bad,” Commander Mbeki protested. “The seas are only two and a half, maybe three meters.”
As he said that one of the seas first lifted then dropped the stern of the ship and Herzer staggered across and slammed into Duke Edmund.
“Steady, Herzer,” the duke said in a strange voice. Herzer glanced at him and for the first time in his memory saw Edmund Talbot looking strained.
“I’m going to head below,” Talbot said. “I’ll just… I’m going to head below.”
“Very well, General,” the commander replied. “Take care.”
With a nod Edmund headed for the companionway.
“I’m going to check on the wyverns,” Jerry said, staggering across the deck. He slid sideways as a rogue wave pitched the ship to the side and was caught by one of the relief quartermasters who was standing b
y to take over the wheel. He shook his head and plotted a course for the companionway and after a few false starts made it and started to head below.
By this time, Herzer was feeling the first hint of queasiness and looked appealingly at the commander.
“Gets everyone at first,” Commander Mbeki said, in a kindly voice. “The center of the ship’s where the motion’s the least. And if you have to go, try to do it over the lee side. That’s the side the wind’s not blowing from. And keep it off the decks.”
What had been a light breeze felt like a gale as Herzer staggered across the deck and headed down to the maindeck. He managed to make it halfway up the ship by holding onto the railing on what he’d come to learn was the “starboard” side — in landsmen’s terms the right if you were looking forward in the ship. The wind that had been pleasantly warm seemed to have dropped twenty degrees and he was feeling decidedly chilly. But the motion was less here. His stomach was feeling better. On the other hand, he was starting to shiver and the wind seemed to be cutting to the bone. There was only one choice. He’d run below, get his coat, and head back up here. Maybe he’d just sleep here; he didn’t seem to be in anyone’s way.
Decision made, he crab-walked across the deck, occasionally scuttling from side to side, and made it to the stairs down. He’d taken to going forwards down the stairs but this time he carefully turned around and lowered himself with hands on both railings. Despite that, he slammed into the wall as the ship hit a rogue wave. He staggered down the corridor to his room, grabbed his jacket — noticing in passing that Rachel was in the bottom bunk moaning, with a bucket by the side of the bunk — and was just opposite the officer’s head when he realized he had no more than three seconds before he was going to throw up.
He made it into the head, hung his head over the toilet and began to spew.