by Chris Hechtl
“I know you do.” Horatio forced himself to take a step back when the exasperation burned through his synapses. “Okay, I guess I've got opening night jitters.”
The bug swiveled all of her eyestalks at him. “Nervous about going?” The bug asked sympathetically.
“In a word, yes. I've been here in Pyrax for over a century,” Horatio replied. He inhaled and then exhaled heavily. He hadn't faced it until last night. It had kept him up for part of the night. “It's been my home I guess you could say.”
“Leaving the nest is hard, sir. But we've all done it.”
Horatio snorted at the role reversal. “I know. I've been through it before. I've set down a lot of roots here.” He looked around the compartment. Just about everything in Pyrax had his influence. His stamp saying he had been there, shaped it, or influenced its design and construction in some way.
“Pyrax will always be your home, sir. But we, the navy I mean, we need you in Bek.” She wiggled her antenna at him. “You know it is the best decision.”
“Yes, I know,” Horatio said. “It's my gut; it's giving me butterflies,” he said. He finished the last report, signed it, applied his electronic key via his WiFi link, and then saved it to the central database.
“Take some meds or get so busy … oh.”
“What?” Horatio asked, eyeing her.
“I now understand why you were here. You were busying yourself to keep your mind off the trip to come. The dangers involved …”
Horatio nodded slowly as he realized she was right. “In a way, yes,” he admitted. “I've always been a hands-on sort of guy,” he said. “Keeping busy helps to keep my mind off the problem.”
“It is a distraction. It is also running away from the problem, sir. You need to be doing research and planning your moves, sir,” Captain I'rll reminded him gently.
Horatio made a face. “I've got the admiral's guidelines, his outline of objectives, and the other general ideas on what to do. I was planning on doing the reading while we were en route since I won't be able to do a whole hell of a lot of good anyway,” he said gruffly.
“You know you'll find something to do. Pester the engineering compliment if nothing else. Go in and do an inspection on the ship's engineering, get stuck in a Jeffery’s tube, that sort of thing,” the captain teased.
“Probably,” the commodore admitted cheerfully. He, like Admiral Irons, was well known for getting his hands dirty. “I hear Admiral Irons still does it from time to time so I should be in good company,” he said with a roguish grin.
The Veraxin clacked her mandibles in her specie's version of a tisk tisk. Horatio's smile broadened slightly.
“You are impossible. But I will miss you, sir.”
“I'll miss you too.” He shook his head. “Especially in Bek.”
“Of course you will. I'm indispensable. Unfortunately, there is only the one of me.”
“Thank the gods,” Horatio said with a grin.
“Funny.” she made a human shooing motion with her upper arms. “Now go on. Go play with the paperwork and assemble a staff. I've got this. I need to assert myself or people like Hsu or C'll'n'kk will think I'm as big a push over as you.”
Horatio sighed. “That last I can't do.”
The Veraxin froze then signaled second level confusion. “What … wait … the paperwork? Oh?”
“Caroline is light on crew quarters, every nook and cranny is going to be filled again. We're going with just six to eight officers; the rest will be civilian contractors.” He shook his head. “And believe me, the civilians are already pissing and moaning about the quarters, and they haven't even gotten on board yet.”
“Lucky you,” the Veraxin said.
“Yes. I'm so not going to enjoy the trip,” Horatio growled. After a moment, he shrugged such problems away. “Besides, they've got officers and enlisted up the wazoo there. The brass wants officers and enlisted here,” he pointed to the carpet, “where they can make a difference in the war effort, not in there. So, I'm going to have to assemble a staff in Bek for my sins. They are giving me one lieutenant and that's it. And I don't even get to set my claws into him or her until we're about to leave,” Horatio grumbled.
“Lucky you. At least I don't have to worry about getting drafted,” the Veraxin joked.
“Real funny,” Horatio mock growled as he rose out of the chair. “Okay, have fun,” he said waving a hand.
“And don't go chasing the yard dogs around. They've got genuine work to do; they can't play with you all day,” she said as she keyed the chair to reconfigure into a saddle. The chair changed shape. The desk altered slightly to suit her species as well.
“Yes, mommy,” he quipped as he walked out.
~<><{<^>}><>~
As his orders firmed up, Horatio felt out Admiral Irons for what he intended the commodore to do in Bek. It came down to Horatio serving as Admiral Zekowitz's deputy. Admiral Subert sat in for a couple of their conversations since he was the expert on the staff and paperwork side. He had been the one to nix the idea of promoting the rear admiral.
Admiral Irons had reluctantly agreed … most likely because he'd never met the other officer and didn't have a firm grasp of what was going on in Bek despite the downloads they had gotten.
“We're still working on budgets here,” Admiral Irons admitted. “I'm sending you with one. You'll have credit in your keys. It isn't as much as I'd like I admit. Essentially it is a credit voucher and a sign-off on a means to raise more capital locally,” he explained. “I know you know what I mean. Just be careful how you do it,” he said. Horatio nodded. “I've sent the orders to Admiral Zekowitz actually,” he said. “Damn it …”
“I know he should have been included in the conversation, sir. Unfortunately, he's in transit. And if you remember you picked the date and time,” Admiral Subert said gently.
“I know. That's because my schedule is all over the place sometimes,” Admiral Irons said. He'd called the meeting on the spur of the moment to fill a sudden void in his schedule. “So, he'll just have to play catch up. Where were we?”
“Bootstrapping them up to our level shouldn't be too hard in theory. But I'm just one man, Admiral. We've got a full staff here. A full engineering staff too, each with their own key sets these days. I don't see how I can run all over a yard, or in Bek's case yards plural, to plug myself into their hardware to upload keys,” Horatio said. “No way can I keep up with that sort of demand. And I have a finite number to begin with,” he warned.
“Heh, welcome to my world. And I've got desk duty and politics on top of all that, not to mention overseeing the star system and fortress network,” Admiral Subert said with a crocked smile.
“Want a tiny violin to go with your whine, gentlemen?” Admiral Irons teased. Horatio saw Admiral Subert scowl slightly. “If it was easy, I could send just about anyone. Obviously, it's not since you are going. Figure something out.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Horatio said with a nod.
“But you aren't going alone. This is why Admiral Zekowitz is going with you. He has the more advanced key codes. He also knows the players involved.”
“Ah,” Horatio said with a nod.
“Unfortunately, I can't give you or him or the others the full package; you don't have an A.I. embedded in you. The system is set-up so the A.I. has a third of the codes, your implants have a third, and the rest is from memory.”
“I … okay,” Horatio said pursing his lips thoughtfully.
“So, I'm giving you a high number of keys you can use but only the ones I can authorize given your limited implants.”
“I'd love to have an A.I., sir,” Horatio said. “But I'm not so sure about sharing quarters with one. Having one look over my shoulder or in this case through my own eyes?”
“You get used to it. Most aren't judgmental or at least, not as judgmental as Defender was,” Admiral Irons said.
“But what about you, Admiral, you don't have one I know,” Horatio said, eyeing Admiral Sube
rt.
Admiral Subert cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, I didn't see the need to wait for one to be created and implanted in me. I wanted to get here as quickly as possible. I'd mistakenly thought we could arrange the full package on this end. I ignored the warning Commander Sprite and Admiral Irons passed on that they have to be involved to set it up and initialize it.”
“Ah,” Horatio replied thoughtfully.
“Amadeus also passed on the A.I. for similar reasons. He needed to get into the field pronto. Sometimes I wonder what things would have been like if we'd reined him in a bit and sent him off with a proper force. I guess we'll never know I suppose,” Admiral Irons said.
“True. I wonder how his staff would have shaped up with an A.I. in the mix,” Horatio suggested.
“Different. The same for you, Phil,” Admiral Irons pitched.
“I don't know. I'm not sure, and it is a moot point at this time anyway.” Admiral Subert grimaced. “And I admit, I had reservations about sharing my body with a construct.” He seemed to shiver slightly.
“As I said, you get used to it,” Admiral Irons said. “Talk to one or to a shrink or something, Phil. You need to get over it sometime.”
“It is also major surgery. The downtime we can ill afford at this time,” Admiral Subert stated stiffly.
“True,” Admiral Irons admitted. “Well, we've laid the groundwork for them in Admiral Sienkov, you, Horatio, and Admiral Zekowitz. They'll be able to upgrade if we cross paths. With Yorgi it is a certainty, though I'm not sure when will be the best time. I'm already planning on throwing him into the mix as soon as he gets here.”
Horatio nodded. “And we're not going to have that sort of support in Bek. Are our flag lieutenants going to have implant key codes, sir?” he asked carefully.
“To their limits, yes. The A.I. templates do not have them since they aren't initialized. So stay safe. I know it's a lot of eggs in one basket, but it's all I'm willing to risk at this point,” Admiral Irons said.
Admiral Subert's brief head nod caught Horatio out of the corner of his eye. He turned to the other officer, but Admiral Subert nodded his chin back to Admiral Iron's holographic head bust.
“I think … I've got your initial outline. We'll have to stage the upgrades of course, or risk major disruption to the yard. I'd like to scrap all of their current projects, but I understand they employ a lot of civilian contractors in the ship building process. Now I see why you want a native on board, sir,” Horatio said.
“It is going to be an uphill battle at some points in the process and painful. But it has to be done, sooner rather than later. Hopefully, they've already laid the groundwork with the kits we've sent them earlier on Caroline.”
“Hopefully, sir,” Horatio agreed with a nod.
~<><{<^>}><>~
Once the commodore was off getting other forms of mischief, Captain I'rll checked in with Captain Perth to see how the overhaul of Caroline was going. The captain pulled his Chief Engineer Lieutenant Grant in to help answer questions.
“I know we're all busy, but first I wanted to congratulate the two of you on your well-earned promotions,” the Veraxin said, indicating the two officers.
“Thanks,” Captain Perth replied, glancing at the new rank insignia briefly before he looked at the Veraxin once more. “Mine was a surprise. I understand Percy's was more or less overdue.” He glanced at his chief engineer.
“Something like that,” the chocolate Neomutt muttered. He only had half his attention on the conversation as he finished up a last spat of paperwork through his implants. “I understand congratulations to you are in order as well, ma'am? You were recently promoted as well Captain? Is it JG or SG? Forgive my ignorance,” he said.
“Junior Grade,” the Veraxin replied, flashing her IFF to them. “It was inevitable I suppose. It isn't official yet, however,” Commander I'rll said, clearly pleased that Percy had noted it.
“Well congratulations, ma'am,” Captain Perth replied with a nod.
“Thank you. Now, shall we begin?”
“Yes, I suppose,” Captain Perth exhaled slowly. “To battle with the paperwork,” he said with a false smile.
“Paperwork, the bane of any officer's existence,” Lieutenant Commander Katherine Dvorsky, the new Chimera XO said. “It seems we're always fighting to the death over it or just about drowning in it,” he said.
“Something like that, sir,” Ensign Caroline murmured.
“Well, let's hope not. Remember, technically we're all on the same side,” Captain I'rll reminded them.
“You know the dichotomy between yard dogs, bean counters, and ship crew, ma'am,” Percy interjected as he wrapped up his paperwork and returned his full attention to the conversation. He sent a copy to the XO, captain, the various departments, and to the captain sitting across from him. When he was finished, he scratched behind his ear but then stopped himself when the XO gave him a dirty look. He let his paw drop. The new XO was a bit of a stickler about personal grooming habits in public. She'd even sicked the doc on him to see if he had fleas to make her point.
“Ahem, yes well, some of us have to stay in schedules and budgets,” the Veraxin replied with as much dignity as she could. “Despite the additional wear, I don't see a major refit needed. The grav nodes were a bit worn and stressed but within spec. They were also several thousand hours away from their mandatory teardowns so I can't justify pulling the pods and replacing all of them. And if I did you'd have to sync them up and then break them in.”
The captain nodded sagely. He glanced at the XO and chief engineer. The chief had obviously wanted to pull the grav pods, but was leery about the work and headache of breaking in a new set. “The time alone to get them synched up …,” he shook his head. “I'm afraid we'll have to find another method,” he said in agreement.
“We won't meet our schedule,” the XO said. “Sync up, wear in, and getting to know the new nodes is a hassle and a half. We'd definitely miss our departure date. It's been pushed back far enough I understand. The brass is starting to get anxious.” She turned to the chief engineer. “Chief, are you willing to give these a go?” she asked, eyeing him.
The chief didn't want to admit it, but the Chimera's black eyes unnerved him. It was one thing to have black pupils, but her entire eye was black. It looked freaky. She didn't seem to mind though. When she raised a sculpted eyebrow in inquiry, he settled himself. “Do I have a choice?” Percy demanded, spreading his hand paws apart. “Obviously everything is still in spec. We've got time on the nodes until they meet the mandatory teardown maintenance schedule. We've given every node and system a thorough inspection and overhaul. There might be something we've missed. Something stressed. Hell, even testing them might have stressed something. I suppose we won't know for certain until we're underway.”
“Getting hit with an engineering casualty in the rapids is the last place I want to encounter that sort of problem, Chief,” the XO said firmly.
“Tell me about it, since I'm the one who'd have to deal with it without being able to go out on the hull to inspect and fix the damn problem,” the chief replied with a grimace. “All I can say is, if we can replace the worst nodes, we should. Compromise I guess you could call it.”
“Damn hard on the equipment having to replace nodes after a single mission,” I'rll said, signaling second-level uncertainty.
“Heh, imagine if we were a civilian hull!” Percy replied with a snort. “I think someone needs to come up with a better, more hardened node design. I understand each time we transit the navigator is mapping the route and it gets easier.” He turned to the skipper. “Newt's still with us, right?” The captain nodded. “Good,” he said with undisguised sigh of relief.
“Repetition dulls the routine,” the XO murmured.
“Trust me, there is nothing routine about the rapids,” Percy said darkly with a shudder. “But we'll get it done. I do want to point out to you, Captain I'rll, that someone needs to take this into account with the admiral's Har
bor Station plan. Running the rapids isn't just hard on the helm team, it's hard on the equipment over time,” he warned. “We need a lot more redundancy than what we've got. And if this overhaul is in any way an indication, possibly overhauls after each run. Or we're going to have to slow down considerably,” he said, shooting a look of exasperation mixed with annoyance at the skipper.
“So noted,” the Veraxin replied, making the notation and bookmarking the conversation for her records. “So, you said the worst of the nodes. Are we talking the bottom 10 percent or …?”
“I think the worst six,” the XO said slowly. Percy's ears went back, but he didn't immediately object. “I think replacing those six and then tuning them, synching them to their sisters won't completely blow the schedule,” Commander Dvorsky said in a pointed suggestion to the chief engineer. “Anything more and we'll have problems.”
The Neomutt flicked his ears. He knew when to give and when to take. This was one of those give ground moments. He'd wanted ten, the XO was seeming reasonable by asking for six but they could probably settle for four if they had to. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to.
“True,” the chief replied with a reluctant nod. At least he was getting some replacements he thought to himself. Some was better than none. “The bow nodes take the brunt of the damage each time. I've got a list; I'll toss it your way. I know you've got it too, but this way we're all on the same page,” he said, pulling up his files.
“Good. While you are doing that, we need to go over the sensors. I understand the request for better long-range sensors but Caroline doesn't have the room in her sensor suite or her electronics to support it. We'd have to run new plasma lines as well. That'd take a major engineering redesign of the ship. And as you know, to wedge something bigger in, something else has to go. I'm afraid we're going to have to pass on that one Captain Perth,” the Veraxin said with a third-degree apology.