by Chris Hechtl
“Heat warmed the metal attached to the truss. Over time it warped a bit. That's why you've got a racket in here when you are underway,” a structural engineer said, pointing to the beam.”
“Can it be fixed?” the Tauren chief engineer asked.
“Oh, aye. We're working on setting up a temporary support brace before we finish tearing this out and rebuilding it. But we should get it done in another shift.”
“Aye, then, we'll leave you to it,” the Tauren said, tipping a finger to his hat and then backing out. Hastily Abdul got out of his way. He didn't want to get squashed by the massive Tauren.
<()>^<()>
Boni noted an email from the various bots and A.I. running ONI. She checked it and was intrigued enough to set aside some cycles in her schedule to inquire further.
The initial inquiry was for updated information on the plagues. That had been supplied, but apparently, someone in Antigua had compared what they knew and what Dancer had carried. Dancer had apparently provided more intelligence than she should have had on the plagues.
That stopped her for a full microsecond. How was that even possible?
She ran a search and noted in several files it was mentioned that Dancer's information had helped a great deal. She checked the compressed copy of Dancer's log with the bullet points ONI was pointing out. There was indeed a discrepancy.
It was not possible for Doctor Taylor or some of the other medics to have provided the details they had. In fact, a scan of the material and a scan of their logs found that information but logged well after Dancer was dispatched back to Rho.
An organic would have referenced a chicken and an egg analogy. Of course that ancient riddle had been resolved ages ago by the understanding of evolution. This one had a temporal paradox for an answer, one she didn't like or understand.
She flagged it and sent her findings through the ansible to ONI. Commander Fletcher replied with a short note about a temporal distortion. That was illogical. She was not sure what it meant or how the data got into the courier's computers, but there was no way to resolve the issue.
She filed the problem under a possible recursive loop error and put it out of her active memory for the time being.
<()>^<()>
Captain Trudy Cooper grinned as the crew finished their survey of the rock. They'd done a rather thorough survey of the rock given its high value status as a metallic asteroid.
Nearly 80 percent of the four hundred plus megaton peanut-shaped rock was high value minerals and metals too. The shipyard was going to have a field day with it once her Pensacola got her back to where a tug could take care of it.
The even more fun part was that they'd found the rock by chance while on a training exercise. They'd set a beacon on her and then come back after the exercise had been completed.
“Captain, we're getting some sort of flack over the rock,” a comm rating said, shaking her head.
“Excuse me?”
“We're getting some flak from a civilian miner. He's claiming the rock as his.”
“Put it through,” the captain said, drumming her fingers.
“This is Cap'n Sorely; I claimed that rock as my own! Get your grimy mitts off of her!”
“Comm, put me through.”
“Live mike,” the comm rating said as the captain's eyes cut to the plot. An icon blinked indicating the location of the transmitter.
“This is Captain Cooper of the Federation ship Pensacola. First, the rule of law is first come first serve. We set a beacon on the rock. We've completed our survey; there is no sign of your presence on the rock now or ever. Therefore, we are claiming the rock under the treaty.”
“Now see here! I've been livin' here for my entire life, you claim jumper! I've known about that rock for half that!”
“And yet you didn't claim it,” she stated. “There is no claim in the official records, no beacon, nothing.”
“If'n I'd marked it, some other claim jumper would have come and got it! 'Sides, it wasn't like it was goin' nowhere, and I couldn't move her with my tug then. Now that I've got a refit I can now!”
“Well, Captain Sorely, I'm afraid you didn't follow the law. We're claiming the rock. If you wish to file a grievance, do so in court.”
“I'll … I'll …!”
“Yes?” she asked sweetly.
“Damn bullies!” The man sputtered and began to curse and threaten her with lawsuits.
Trudy realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere with the miner and she was wasting her time. “Captain, I hope we can do business together in the future. Until then, have a good day,” the captain said and cut the channel.
“Make sure we document everything and have it on secure backup. That includes this conversation and anything else he's transmitting. Make sure we send a copy to JAG so they can deal with it,” the captain ordered.
“Aye aye, ma’am.”
<()>^<()>
Shelby frowned as she looked at the proposed patrol patterns. They were still short on ships and would continue to be short until new construction made up the difference. She was still uncomfortable about releasing a cruiser to patrol some of the longer routes, but she could see where a tin can would run into some serious opposition.
She currently had three patrol patterns plotted, one centering around the Trajin Cluster moving in a loop there, a second going out from the capital down through Tau-1929 and Lebynthos and beyond to possibly Asterion IX and then back, and a third proposed to go west though she was in favor of holding off on that one.
After all, there were three dead systems on her western flank, not really something she needed to protect.
And then there were the pickets. Each ansible she deployed required a picket of at least a cruiser. That was another problem she didn't even want to think about for the moment. Each picket would need some sort of supply base as well.
Really, the pirates had the best base locations in the sector. They had great coverage from each.
Which just meant she was going to have to make sure her people took them away from them while preserving as much as they could to use later.
<()>^<()>
The hospital ship refit was going well, but Abdul still was checking the details. Robots were on the exterior hull repainting the hull into the traditional hospital ship livery of white with a green stripe lining the horizon. A red cross was blocked out and painted on the largest section of each flank, dorsal, and ventral side.
He'd heard about the traditions of noncombat ships, but until he read about the livery, he hadn't fully understood some of the restrictions. For instance they couldn't obstruct the enemy nor transport munitions. Obviously, they were going to be clearly marked. And he was fairly confident that each would make a big impact wherever they visited.
He definitely appreciated the large number of shuttles that were slated for the ship. They had to wait to take them on; the ship still had to finish the fitting out and go through a quick trial. One of the most critical was the vibration trial to make sure there were no problems that could effect the ship or crew.
After that another couple days of loading and she'd be ready for her new crew and mission.
<()>^<()>
Ayumu was surprised to be given command of a small knot of kids. Well, not kids but young people, younger than him at any rate. He kept it strict, and they were on their best behavior when the chief of the yard swung by for a surprise inspection. Once he was on his way, he returned to his planned lecture.
“Fans as you know are important to every ship and station,” he said in his best attempt at a lecture mode. His professors had been right; the best way to prove you knew something was to try to teach it. “Fans are needed to circulate air or it will create pockets of O2 and CO2 in a habitat. In theory you could exhale a bubble of CO2, and without a fan to blow the exhaust away, a person could suffocate themselves in zero g while sleeping.”
There were a few nods but a couple of grimaces and one rolled eyes.
“
So, it's important we get it right first time not skimp. And trust me, you don't want to skimp. This is serious and there is a test,” he said, eyeing them severely. “The ship's computers will be running diagnostics. And there is an inspection before a ship is released to the crew. Screw up your job and your section chief will come down on you.”
That got them respectful again. At least for the moment.
“Okay, we have to plug every fan in, pretty simple, right? But we also need to run a quick POST check. The best way to do that is before you install the thing. So, I carry a battery in my kit,” he said, pulling the two-centimeter cube out. It had a universal adapter wired to it. “Now, plug it in, check it,” he plugged the fan in. It immediately spun up. “Listen,” he touched one ear with his free hand. “We want to make sure the thing isn't grinding. Once you've done that, check the vents to make sure they are good, then unplug and you can finish the install.”
He unplugged the battery and then handed the fan and shroud to a Neopup named Porcha. “You can do it.”
She nodded and carefully hooked up the wiring and then pushed it into the recess before putting the shroud up. Four screws locked it into place.
“Adjust the fan shroud and we're good and can move on,” he said, taking his class to the next open vent hole. “Jim, you can unpack the next. The rest of you, pick a fan and shroud, put them together and head out to the fans on this deck and get busy,” he said.
The students immediately smiled at being given the task even if it was a simple one. Like him they were all eager to prove themselves.
<()>^<()>
Fat Ear felt a bit of relief over getting to the capital. That had been the easy part. But he was still kicking himself over his major error. In his haste to find out more information about the Federation, he'd forgotten one crucial detail. Well, no two. He'd forgotten that in the capital he would have no way to communicate with the Confederation or with other agents that might have been established there. He'd made a second error in abandoning his post without informing command.
Protocol said he should have sheltered in place and rebuilt a network out of natives on Lebynthos.
But, all that was in the past he thought as he stepped off the civilian shuttle. He was in the capital; he needed to find a job and a place to stay and then start working on building contacts.
Chapter 31
Tau-1252
Xiphos returned to the capital with news of Tortuga's capture. Shelby listened to the hot wash and raised an eyebrow at the report of combat. But, she'd been waiting for the call. Before she'd finished reading the initial report, she had already green lit the relief force.
At the center of the relief force was Prometheus. Her old command would be the lynchpin in the effort to strip the system. Shelby couldn't help but put a call in to Cynthia to see her off. “Ready for this?”
“We'll see!”
“Nervous?” Shelby asked with a grin in her voice.
“A little. But I think we can handle it.”
“Good girl. Do me proud.”
“We'll try,” Troll replied. It was her first true independent command and her final test of being a captain. She'd been both dreading it and looking forward to it.
“Good luck and safe sailing,” Shelby said, signing off.
She finally knew what Admiral Irons felt. Oh, she'd sent ships off before but this was different. This was her old command. There were still a high percentage of sailors and officers she knew on that ship. But she was doing it anyway.
Captain Zeb and his light cruiser Zeng He would be going along with them for the first leg of their journey. His ship was just an escort for that part; she would resupply in Tortuga before going on to scout the pirate's line of retreat and quite possibly Dead Man's Hand. Shelby fully intended to keep the pressure on the Neolion. She wanted him to know that no place was safe for him or his ilk anymore.
She trusted Zeb to get that point across without endangering his ship any more than necessary. He was to jump out if the pirates got too aggressive trying to run him out of the star system. The intelligence his command would accumulate was too important to risk.
Prometheus, one Liberty class tanker, one transport ship with personnel, Zeng He, two couriers, and three freighters synchronized at the center of the jump point. She silently watched, ignoring any attempt to interrupt her until they had jumped for Tortuga. Only then did she return to work.
<()>^<()>
Ayumu felt intense excitement over the trip. He knew the ship pretty well, though he hadn't had a chance to see some of the crew-only areas before.
He was killing two birds with one stone, quite possibly three. He was fulfilling a ship tour by being on Prometheus, being in charge of a machine shop as a newly-minted shop steward, and he had been told he might get tapped to be an engineering mate on one of the prize ships that would return to the capital.
That was too frickin’ cool by half.
<()>^<()>
Helen looked around the star system plot and nodded. Things were kicking into high gear. She'd thought it had been Prometheus's departure but it was more than that. Or, more precisely, it had started earlier than that. It had started with the arrival of the various convoys. She'd heard a few people talk about how they'd been practically spinning their wheels until the convoys had kicked everything into high gear once more.
And Shelby was the primary reason why. She was finally letting go and letting go with a vengeance. Her Eastern Mission with nine ships was moving out to the Tau-1929 jump point while Good Hope with eight other ships was moving out in the other direction. They weren't quite in synch but close enough. They were near identical flotillas too. She'd kept Melbourne as her flagship with two supporting hospital ships and two cruisers as an escort. Good Hope had only one cruiser and one destroyer as an escort.
They had agreed to keep two of the converted hospital ships in the capital for the time being. Their crews still needed fleshing out. She had made good on their equipment and stockpiled more during her rather harried time in the capital.
And, as if that wasn't enough, the three carriers had formed around Remarkable as their nucleus. She'd wished Captain Rogers good luck with his raid but he'd been a tad distracted with preparations for their first exercises. His mission would follow up to Tortuga but then move on from there.
<()>^<()>
Once things settled down again after the departures, Shelby was amused to see more civilian outfits and companies forming. The startups were fascinating. She was well aware that some of her people were investing their credits into the start-ups. Lieutenant Talon had sent out an email warning for everyone to do their homework before they took the plunge. In it he'd also warned not to bug him to do their research for them.
Some of the suppliers were welcome to her. Some dreamed big and wanted a shipyard but had no plan or funding.
If they could set up even a repair yard, she'd gladly send them work. She knew Governor Adrienne was trying to arrange low interest funding and Mister Muggs was working with the ansible to find a way to do that. But it was still in the tentative idea stage.
Abdul and Lieutenant Fixer had complained about being pestered. Apparently, Fred had suggested they be contacted and had erroneously given others their contact information. The station A.I. and Boni were now interceding on their behalf. They had set up a basic FAQ, and the two officers, as well as Shelby and other engineers, had contributed to it.
The most interesting discussion was with one group that wanted to build civilian ships. They obviously wanted to start with the real money makers, freighters. But that was where things broke down a little.
Shelby haunted a forum where they argued about the matter. The argument raged around scale.
Some argued that the company should start small with small freighters to get the concepts down and to have a product to demonstrate and sell immediately. But others explained patiently that a small ship used nearly the same size crew as a big one.
“Except for
the cargo management,” Lieutenant Talon interjected into the thread, surprising her. She hadn't realized he'd been haunting the forum as well.
“True.” A number of other officers stated.
“It is better to go big and haul more and get more bang for credit. A company is about getting the most credit from a venture.”
“They are slower though. It takes time to build a big ship. Also, where are we going to get the big civilian hyperdrives? Where are we going to get any for that matter?” one of the civilians asked.
“True, but you get the same habitat modules on a small freighter as a big one. The rest of the space is engineering, cargo, fuel, and so on. As far as the drives, we can look into licensing once you have facilities and backing.”
“True.”
“Some freighters used small engines and reactors too,” Lieutenant Talon stated. “There is a reason they were so slow. None of the cargo on long-haul freighters was needed right away.”
“Slow boat from another system?”
“Pretty much.”
“Oh,” she snorted. When Boni brought a new matter to her attention, she turned to it and only kept half an eye on the forum after that.
<()>^<()>
Fred came home to a mess in their quarters and shook his head. “Honey, I'm home,” he said out loud, carrying in groceries. To a pigsty he thought in annoyance. He put the groceries away and then wiped the counter with the dish towel. Phoebe had been complaining about the mess, demanding he hire a maid. He'd refused because she was home all the time. Most of the mess was hers. She was an adult, and she could clean up after herself.