Something was wrong. Nathan was pulling the joystick to the left to try and line the ship up to dock with the station. But for some reasons, the ship was starting to roll to her right. “What the hell?”
“I’m reading an unknown failure in the bow maneuvering thrusters, port side,” Cameron said.
“No kidding? I’m telling her to roll left, but she’s rolling right.”
“Well stop it,” she ordered, as she struggled to try and figure out what was wrong.
“Stop what?” Nathan quickly took his hand off the joystick, startled by Cameron snapping at him.
“Stop maneuvering.”
“I’m not touching anything.” Now Nathan had both hands hovering in the air over his controls.
Cameron’s eyes were darting about her console, as her fingers danced across the smooth touch-screen surface in an attempt to deal with the problem. She knew something was wrong. She just had to figure out what it was, and then come up with a solution. “The thruster is firing on its own.”
“Well shut it down and switch to backups.” Nathan was well aware that she already knew what to do, and that telling her to do it was unnecessary. But they had not gotten along since day one, and he wasn’t sure exactly how to deal with her when he was at the helm. So he had been forced to chose the only logic course, and just tell her everything, just to cover his own butt.
“Working on it,” she assured him, more calmly now that she knew what needed to be done. “It’s not responding. The right roll thruster is still stuck open and firing.”
“Get it shut down, Cam. We’re going into a roll.”
“Backups are not responding.”
Suddenly, an alarm sounded, followed by a computerized voice. “Collision Warning. Collision Warning.”
“Range to station?” Nathan requested after the computer voice alerted him to the additional problem. They were coming dangerously close to the station, and if they didn’t slow their rate of approach soon, the thrusters would not be powerful enough to keep them from colliding and causing massive damage.
“Twenty kilometers,” Cam responded after glancing at the range readout. She immediately turned her attention back to the thruster problem. “I still can’t get it to stop firing.”
“Cut the fuel flow,” Nathan suggested.
“Already tried, no good. I’m jettisoning the entire maneuvering pod.”
“What?” Nathan’s eyes went wide. “What the hell am I supposed to maneuver with?”
Cameron rolled her eyes, wondering why she had to explain the obvious to him. “If we jettison the pod, we stop the burn before the roll becomes unrecoverable.” She was abnormally calm, talking as if she were reading from a manual.
“What about the fuel flow?”
“The unrestricted flow will be sensed by the line pressure monitors, causing the fail-safes to trigger at the source end of the line.”
Nathan had no idea what she was talking about. But it didn’t matter as she wasn’t waiting for him to agree with her.
“Pod is away.” she announced confidently. “Now try and get us out of this roll.”
Nathan grabbed the joystick, again pulling it to the left. But the Aurora handled differently than the Reliant had in simulations. The Reliant was a much older ship, and was designed to fly on more gentle maneuvering curves. The Aurora was not as restricted in her movements and could assume almost any flight attitude the pilot desired. It was like comparing an airliner to a fighter jet, and Nathan had little experience in flying the latter.
“Our roll is starting to oscillate,” Cameron warned as she watched the ship’s attitude display. As the ship rolled on her longitudinal axis, the ends of that axis were starting to trace circles that were widening slightly with each revolution.
“Slave the bow docking thrusters on the port-side into the stick to replace the missing pod,” Nathan ordered.
“They’re not going to be powerful enough,” she warned as she followed his instructions.
“Override the safeties on the chamber pressure to get more power out of them.”
“They’ll blow,” she warned. Cameron switched her comm channel to send an urgent message ship-wide. “Attention, Attention. Emergency evacuation. Sections twelve through fourteen. Decks C, D, and E. Seal off forward primary bulkheads.”
Damn it. I should’ve thought of that.
“Overriding safeties. Maximum chamber pressure reset to twenty-five percent above normal.”
Nathan again pulled the joystick to the left, this time favoring the bow thrusters by angling the stick slightly forward as well. More alarms started sounding, and Nathan noticed a red warning light flashing on Cameron’s console, increasing the size of the knot in his stomach. Suddenly, the flight console shook slightly and Nathan could feel his seat wobble, as a distant muffled explosion was heard.
“The chamber blew,” Cameron said. “We’ve got a hull breach, Deck D, section thirteen. Damage control teams responding.”
“Casualties?”
“Unknown,” she answered.
“Range to station?” The explosion in the docking port chamber had done exactly what Nathan suspected it might do, adding enough counter force to take the oscillation out of their roll and allow the remaining maneuvering thrusters to stop it altogether. Of course, Cameron didn’t bother to acknowledge that he had successfully stopped the roll. But they were still closing on the station, and would soon collide with it if he didn’t stop their approach. Nathan knew that he couldn’t use the forward braking thrusters, as there was only one left in working order on the right of the bow. That would put them into a slow flat spin instead of slowing their approach.
Ten kilometers,” Cameron updated.
The warbling collision alarm became more frequent as the computer voice upgraded the warning. “Collision Alert. Collision Alert.” Nathan knew he had to do something fast before it was too late. He glanced over at Cameron, thinking he saw a momentary look of satisfaction on her face. She was sure it was about to be another failure with Nathan Scott at the helm.
“Warn the station to evacuate the decks facing us,” he ordered as he pulled the stick back hard. “Pitching over.”
“What?” She hadn’t expected that.
“Do it!” Nathan watched the attitude indicator, stealing glances at the forward view screens. The view of the approaching station dropped quickly away, replaced by the black field of stars. He was flipping the ship end-over to point her tail at the station. “And bring the main drive online!”
“You’re going to cook that station!” she argued as she sent out the warning message.
“I’m just gonna singe them a little,” he muttered to himself.
He pushed the stick forward and held it just enough to stop the end-over flip. With the Aurora now coasting toward the station tail first, he gave the order. “Give me a one percent burn on the mains.”
Nathan sensed Cameron’s hesitation, sending her an insistent look.
“Firing the mains at one percent.” She tapped a few buttons and brought the main propulsion system into play. “I hope they got out in time,” she added, as if pointing out his mistake.
Although Nathan appeared confident, he felt like he was about to piss himself. Apparently, the captain hadn’t been exaggerating when he bragged that his sim operators would make him cry.
“Collision Alert. Collision Alert.”
“Range to station?”
“Five kilometers,” she answered. “Closing at five hundred meters per second.”
“Mains?”
“Burning at one percent.”
“Any casualty reports yet?”
Cameron looked at the message board on her console. “Five injured, twelve missing.”
“Damn it!” he muttered.
“Collision Alert. Collision Alert.”
“Four kilometers, closing at three-seventy-five per second.”
Nathan wanted to add more power to the mains, but he knew that if he wasn’t already cooking the hull of the station, increasing his burn would.
Three kilometers.” Cameron reported calmly. “Two fifty closure.”
Nathan’s pulse was racing, and he felt his heart beating in his throat. He glanced over at Cameron. She was cool and calm, just like always. But then again, she wasn’t the one who was going to have to explain to the captain why they barbequed the station.
“Two kilometers,” Cameron updated. Nathan could sense the satisfaction in her statement.
“Collision Alert. Collision Alert.”
Nathan’s optimism was almost gone. It’s not going to work.
“Message from the station,” she reported. “There hull temp is critical. They report structural failure in thirty seconds.”
It felt to Nathan as if Cameron were saying ‘I told you so.’
“One kilometer, one hundred closure.”
“All hands! Brace for impact!” Nathan resigned.
“Eight hundred meters, fifty closure,” she updated.
Nathan expected the computer voice to remind him of the impending collision, but it did not. They were going to strike the station, but there was a chance it might only be a bump.”
“Five hundred meters,” Cameron announced, pausing for a moment before continuing. She couldn’t believe what her instruments were showing her. “Zero closure,” she added. She felt like she had been betrayed at the last second, just as she was about to witness another crushing blow to her adversary.
“Kill the mains!” he ordered. “All stop!”
“Mains are offline,” she announced as she shutdown all maneuvering and propulsion systems. “All systems reporting all stop.”
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. “Damn, that was close.”
“Attention. All hands secure from collision alert,” Cameron announced. “Repeat, secure from collision alert.”
Nathan should’ve thought of that one too, but at the moment he didn’t care. He was just relieved that he hadn’t destroyed the station.
“We are still rolling slightly,” she pointed out to him, making sure that he realized it was not a complete victory.
Suddenly, the lights in the room brightened, the projection screens surrounding them turned blue, and the back half of the room swung open.
Nathan nearly leapt from his seat as he left the simulator, not waiting for any critique.
“Fifteen minutes!” the sim controller called out to Nathan as he passed by.
Nathan waived acknowledgment as he exited the simulation center and headed down the corridor.
“You’re at the helm on the next one, Ensign Taylor,” the technician informed Cameron as she calmly got up and stretched her muscles. They had been sitting in the simulator for more than three hours.
“No problem,” she smiled on her way out.
The sim controller sitting behind his console above and behind the simulator bay just shook his head in disbelief. “That is one icy bitch,” he commented to the floor tech after Cameron had left the room.
Just then, the comm system buzzed. “Flight Simulations, Lieutenant Jacobs,” the controller answered after pushing the speaker button to take the call.
“Work Taylor just as hard,” the captain’s voice announced.
“Yes Sir,” the controller answered as the line went dead.
“Damn, he was watching that?” the floor tech asked.
“The old man sees everything.”
Vladimir stood at the monitoring station in the reactor control room. Located just aft of amidships inside the forward edge of the propulsion section, it was directly aft of the ships four antimatter reactor plants. From here, every detail of each of the Aurora’s powerful antimatter reactors could be monitored and adjusted. Vladimir was busy taking readings as he made some adjustments to one of the reactor’s electromagnetic containment bottles when the chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Patel entered the room and approached him.
The chief was an older man from India, in his early fifties, with a deeply receding hairline. He was heavy set, and like Vladimir had a passion for his work. He had quickly come to favor the Russian, taking him under his wing and bestowing more trust in him than any of the others on his team.
Accompanying the chief was a tall, distinguished, elderly gentleman, with stark white hair and dark eyes. He was also a civilian, as evidenced by his lack of uniform as well as the way he carried himself. Vladimir instantly pegged him as a scientist, undoubtedly coming to admire the Aurora’s advanced systems. There had been more than a few of them coming by lately.
“Vladimir,” the chief greeted, gesturing him to step aside for a private conversation. “One moment, sir,” the chief told the elderly visitor. He led Vladimir away from the elderly gentlemen to speak privately. “I have a favor to ask of you,” the chief said in hushed tones.
“Anything, sir.” Vladimir had great respect for the chief. He had been a wealth of information and support as Vladimir learned his way around the Aurora’s many systems.
“This man is from Special Projects. He has a team coming aboard as we speak. He has instructions to install and test some very important equipment on board this ship.”
“What kind of equipment?”
“It’s classified. All I know is that we are to give them everything they need, without question. These orders come directly from Fleet Command.”
Vladimir looked puzzled. “What would you like me to do, Sir?”
“I need someone to take care of this team, to be the liaison between them and the Engineering department.”
Vladimir did not like where this was going, as it sounded like he was going to be taken away from the work he loved in order to baby sit a bunch of scientists. “You want me to do this? Vladimir asked. He wasn’t asking a question as much as he was pleading for a way out of the assignment.
“Please, Vladimir,” the chief begged, do it for me. I have so much to oversee already. I need someone I can trust to make decisions on their own.”
“But sir…” Vladimir stopped in mid sentence as the rest of the Special Projects team entered the room, led by a stunning blonde woman. Vladimir’s concentration was suddenly lost.
“Don’t make me order you, Ensign,” the chief smiled, knowing full well that Vladimir would take the assignment willingly, especially after seeing the woman.
“Of course, Sir. It would be my honor,” Vladimir insisted, straightening his uniform.
“Good.” The chief turned back toward the elderly gentleman as the rest of his team gathered beside him.
“I’d like you all to meet Ensign Kamenetskiy. He is my most trusted engineer. He knows almost as much about this ship as I do. I have given him orders to provide you with whatever you need. Vladimir, this is Doctor Karlsen, the project leader.”
Vladimir immediately shook the elderly gentleman’s hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“And this is his daughter, Doctor Sorenson,” the chief continued.
Vladimir took the woman’s hand, albeit with far more interest. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Ma’am. If there is anything I can do for you, please, do not hesitate to ask.”
Unimpressed by Vladimir’s charm, Doctor Sorenson wasted no time getting started. “You have two unoccupied spaces on either side of the main engineering section, do you not?”
“Yes ma’am. They are to hold the shield generators. They are due to be installed in a few days.”
“Not any more, Ensign,” she advised coldly. “There has been a change in plans. Loading ramps have already been attached to these compartments. Please unlock their exterior maintenance doors so that we may begin loading our equipment as soon as possible. And see to it that no one is allowed into either of these sections without clearance from us.”
“Yes ma’am,” Vladimir relented, a bit confused.
“Also, we will need isolated and exclusive access to two of your reactors. The ones that were to power the shielding systems and energy weapons should work nicely.”
Vladimir was shocked. She was asking to take one half of the ships power generation capacity offline, to be used solely by their little project? He looked to the chief, who simply nodded his approval. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” he relented.
Doctor Sorenson looked at him for a moment before handing him a list. “This should cover it, Ensign.”
Vladimir looked at the list, his eyes widening and his mouth agape. “May I ask what experiments you are doing that would require all of this?”
“You can ask,” she responded as she turned and exited the room without answering.
Vladimir watched as Doctor Sorenson and the rest of her team exited the room, still in shock at her response.
“You’d better get started,” the chief laughed, looking at the list in Vladimir’s hand. “It looks like you’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Vladimir turned and looked at the chief, a look of betrayal on his face.
“Oh, Don’t be that way, Vlad,” the chief insisted. “Maybe you will learn something new? They are very smart people! This Doctor Karlsen has written many interesting papers on field generation!”
“Bah!” Vladimir exclaimed, wadding up the piece of paper and shoving it unceremoniously into his pocket. “Lucky for you, he has beautiful daughter!”
The thin blue beams of light dancing about Nathan’s body flickered out, the hum of the machine fading along with them. With a slight jolt, the narrow platform Nathan was lying on started sliding out of the medical scanner and back into the empty room. As the platform came completely out of the tube, Nathan sat up and looked toward the control room window above.
“That’s it, we’re all done. You can get dressed now,” the technician announced over the loud speaker.
Nathan hopped down off the platform. The scan was the last of a series of tests each of the crew had to go through as part of their pre-flight physical by the ship’s chief medical officer. It had taken several hours to complete, requiring him to dress and undress several times. But it was a break from the back-to-back simulations that the captain had been putting them through for the last week.
The simulations had been brutal, with every possible problem that the programmers could imagine being thrown at them. In fact, there had been a few that Nathan was pretty sure didn’t even comply with the known laws of physics. The only saving grace had been that at least his arch nemesis, Ensign Taylor was being put through just as much hell as he was. Only she seemed to be coping with it a lot better. Nathan was sure that when the time came for her physical, they would discover she was not entirely human.
Wearing nothing but his underwear, he made his way across the cold, bare floor to get to his pile of clothing sitting in on one of the chairs. As he started to put on his pants, the door swung open and Ensign Nash walked in, fully clothed, a big smile spreading across her face when she saw Nathan standing there with a surprised look on his face, not yet half dressed.
“Well, well,” she teased as she removed her shirt. “Doesn’t this seem familiar?”
Nathan freaked, looking up to the control booth, sure that the technician overheard her remarks.
“Relax, Ensign. He can’t hear us,” she whispered as she tossed her shirt on one of the chairs and started removing her boots.
“Look, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Nathan said. “You know, since we saw each other at orientation. But the training has been crazy and…”
“…Don’t sweat it,” she smiled as she wiggled out of her pants, leaving nothing covering her but panties and a sports bra.
Nathan was suddenly reminded of that night, staring at her reflection in the mirrored tile on the wall of the anteroom in his father’s home, as she was pulling her skimpy evening dress back on.
“I got what I wanted,” she told him, stepping toward the scanning platform. She hopped up on the platform and laid down, calling out to the control room above. “Let’s get this over with! It’s freezing in here!”
“Alright, then,” Nathan said. He pulled his shirt on, collected the rest of his things and made a beeline for the door, adding “I guess I’ll see you around, then.”
Jessica just smiled a satisfied little smirk as the scanner platform began sliding her into the scanning tube.
Most, if not all of the Aurora’s skeleton crew took their meals at the same time while they were still in port. It was probably the only time they would ever be able to dine together in large groups once the ship was underway, and the captain thought it would promote bonding amongst the over-worked crew. It had been something that his wife had insisted on when his children were growing up, and for the most part it had worked as his family was still close despite the fact that they were always separated by vast distances. Nevertheless, most of them still broke up into groups of two, three, or four, as one might expect, sharing conversation with the few friends they had made in what little free time they had during this hectic period.
The galley itself was not yet completely operational. The hot and cold service lines were installed, as were most of the cooking appliances, but there were no cold storage units installed other than a few temporary refrigerators brought up from Earth to serve in the interim. Because of this, they couldn’t keep much in the way of inventory on board. Most of their food had to be prepared planet-side and shuttled up to be reheated, which was another reason for everyone to eat at once.
“She is unbelievable!” Vladimir complained as ate. “She is, how do you say, a real ball buster, yes?”
“Yeah,” Nathan laughed. “That’s how you say it.”
“Ensign, I need this, Ensign, I need that! She always needs something! And when she gets it, still it is not enough! He paused to take another bite of food. “I spend three days waiting on this wretch of a woman.”
“What are they doing?”
“I have no idea! Can you believe? All I know is, they need tremendous amounts of energy. And they are doing something outside, on the hull. With the shield emitters, I think. I don’t know. They don’t tell me anything. All I know is that this woman is making me crazy!”
Nathan had not known Vladimir for very long, just over a week. But he had never seen him so worked up about anything. He was usually very easy going, letting everything roll off of him. “If she bothers you that much, why don’t you ask to be reassigned?”
“I cannot,” Vladimir explained, shoveling more food into his mouth. “The chief chose me, personally. Besides, this woman, she is beautiful!”
“Ah, now it makes more sense,” Nathan exclaimed.
Vladimir looked at him funny. “No, you do not understand.”
“Oh I understand, alright,” Nathan laughed, as a message came through on his comm-set. “Hold on,” he told Vladimir, keying his mic. “Ensign Scott.”
“Captain wants to see you in his ready room right after chow, Sir.”
“Understood.” Nathan’s expression suddenly soured.
“What is it?” Vladimir asked, seeing the change in his friends mood.
“The captain wants to see me.”
“This is bad?”
“I haven’t been doing so well in the simulations,” Nathan admitted. “I think I might be getting fired.”
“Nathan,” Vladimir explained, “In the military, they do not fire you, they reassign you. They could demote you as well. But you are already only ensign. And that is the lowest rank an Academy graduate can have, I’m afraid. So he cannot demote you. But he could give you really bad job. Like, maybe waste processing plant.” Vladimir shuddered at the thought of the place.
“Thanks for the pep talk there, Vlad. You’ve really cheered me up.”
“What are friends for?” he responded as he finished his meal.
“Well, I might as well get this over with,” Nathan decided, rising from the table.
“Think positive thoughts,” Vladimir advised him. “And keep chin up, always look strong and confident.” Vladimir moved closer and lowered his voice. “That way, no one knows you are scared like little bunny.” Vladimir laughed and slapped Nathan on the back, sending him on his way.
“Ensign Scott, reporting as ordered, Sir.” Nathan stood straight as a board, eyes straight ahead. The one thing good about standing at attention was that I made it easier for him to hide how nervous he was.
“Ensign Scott,” the captain began. “At ease.”
Well at least he’s still calling me ensign. That’s a good sign.
“How’s the training going?”
“Sir?” Nathan wondered if it was a trick question.
“How are you doing in the simulations?” the captain asked more directly.
“There’s definitely room for improvement, Sir.”
“Yes, Ensign. I’d have to agree with you on that.” The captain leaned back in his chair, something he liked to do while considering his next statement. “And how would you say Ensign Taylor is doing?”
“Better than I am, Sir.” Nathan figured if he was going to be honest, he might as well be brutally honest.
“How so?”
“She knows her flight and navigation protocols better than I do, Sir. And she stays more level headed under pressure.”
“And you feel that’s a good thing?”
“I would think so, Sir.”
“Why?”
“Sir?” Nathan was confused, unsure of what the captain was getting at.
“You seem to think that Ensign Taylor has an advantage over you at the helm, because she is more level headed under pressure. I’d like to know why you think that’s an advantage.”
“I believe it allows her to think more clearly, weigh all her options, and choose the best course of action.”
“And you don’t think you’re capable of doing that?”
“I didn’t say that, Sir.”
The captain leaned forward on his desk again. “But you do think it gives her an advantage. What are you doing that she is not?”
Nathan stumbled for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. “Sir, I believe that I get too emotionally involved in the situation.”
“You mean, you take it more personally?”
“Yes, I believe so, Sir.” The captain was looking at Nathan, like he was waiting for him to elaborate further. “It’s, it’s like I’m fighting a battle, Sir. Like it’s me against the scenario, and I don’t want to lose.”
“And you don’t think Ensign Taylor has this same problem?”
“No Sir, she doesn’t. She just looks at the problem, and calculates the safest solution.”
The captain leaned back once more, taking in a deep breath. “If you don’t bet big, you don’t win big,” he mumbled.
“Sir?”
The captain rose from his chair and started making his way around to the front of his desk as he spoke. “Mr. Scott, there are two kinds of officers. Those that follow the book, and those that use it as a general guideline.” The captain sat down on the front of his desk, facing Nathan. “Are you following me so far?”
“I’m guessing that Ensign Taylor’s the first kind of officer, and I’m the second?”
“Actually, Ensign Taylor probably has the damned book memorized,” the captain chuckled. “Hell, she probably sent the brass a list of grammatical errors.”
The captain’s joke raised a smile on Nathan’s face. For the first time since he came into the ready room, he didn’t feel like he was in trouble.
“You, on the other hand, “you’re the one saying, ‘there’s a book?’”
Suddenly, Nathan became nervous again. Captain Roberts could see the uncertainty in Nathan’s eyes, and decided to cut to the chase.
“Piloting a ship, that’s a monkey skill. I can teach anybody to fly this ship. Hell I can just tell the computer where I want to go and the ship will go there. ‘Flying’ on the other hand, well that’s a feeling, an instinct. And you can’t teach instinct. You’re either born with it or you’re not. I can sharpen it for you, but first you’ve got to have it.”
Nathan looked at the captain, not sure if he was understanding him correctly.
“That’s right, Mr. Scott, you have it. Hell, you’ve got it in spades. But, either you don’t realize you have it, or you don’t believe you have it. I haven’t figured that out yet.” The captain rose, walked back around and returned to his seat. “Now Ensign Taylor, she doesn’t have it. She’s a skilled pilot, to be sure. And she’s definitely as cool as they come under pressure. In fact, she’s the perfect type for a navigator, and a top notch one at that. But the helm is not where she belongs.”
Suddenly it dawned on Nathan. “Are you saying…”
“That you’re my new helmsman, Mr. Scott.”
Nathan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “But Sir, don’t you think that…”
“…A simple thank you sir would be the correct response.”
“Of course, thank you sir. It’s just that Ensign Taylor has been doing so much better in the sims than I have. Hell, I crashed and burned most of them!”
“But not all of them, Ensign. You even managed to pull through a few that there wasn’t supposed to be a way out of!”
“But I don’t see how…”
“…You need to give yourself a little credit, Son,” the captain said. “Do you really think Fleet just tossed me whatever graduates nobody else wanted? Hell, I handpicked every last one of you.”
Nathan was taken aback. Up until now, he had been sure that getting assigned to the Aurora had been either some cosmic joke, or the result of his father’s influence.
“I picked you to be my helmsman, and Ensign Taylor to be my navigator. You wanna know why? Two reasons. First, 'cause you’re both perfect for the job, and second, 'cause you’re polar opposites. You two fit the bill perfectly. Now all I’ve got to do is get the two of you to stop arguing like an old married couple and start working together.”
Nathan’s head was reeling from his sudden change of fortune. Ten minutes ago, he was sure he was about to get thrown off the ship. And now he was being offered the job of lead pilot, which also meant he was about to be promoted.
“Sir,” Nathan said. “May I ask a question?”
“Please do.”
“If you knew what positions you were going to assign when you picked us, why did you put us through all this cross-training, this competition?”
“That, is an excellent question,” the captain admitted, seeming quite pleased that Nathan was finally thinking instead of reacting. “I needed a way to make you want the position, a way to make you realize what you were capable of in the helmsman’s chair. And of course a little cross training never hurts.”
Nathan stood silently for a moment, thinking about everything the captain had said over the last few minutes.
Captain Roberts opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small black box, tossing it to Nathan. “You might want to put those on, Lieutenant Scott.”
Nathan opened up the box to see a pair of lieutenant’s Bars inside.
“I’ve given you both the afternoon off, so get some rest. You’ll both be back at it at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow.”
“Yes, Sir!” Nathan snapped to attention and saluted.
“Dismissed, Lieutenant.”
Nathan turned to exit, but paused before leaving, turning back to the captain. “Thank you, Sir.”
The first thing that Nathan wanted to do was share his good news with the only friend he had on board, Vladimir. But having never gone as far aft as the hangar bay, he was finding himself a little lost wandering the corridors of the lower aft decks where the engineering spaces were located. He was almost about to give up when he heard someone arguing nearby. Nathan followed the sound of their voices, realizing it was Vladimir. When he turned the corner, he found himself in the corridor outside the starboard shield generator compartment, one of the two spaces being used by the Special Projects team.
“I cannot give you so much power,” Vladimir was telling Doctor Sorenson firmly.
“Cannot, or will not,” she challenged, only a few inches from his face. It was an unusual sight, being that his mighty Russian friend had a good 30 centimeters on her.
“I cannot give you that much power at once,” he argued. “It is too much. The lines will overheat.”
“They will not!”
“Protocols state that I cannot exceed the maximum energy transfer rating for that line. I would have to install additional lines from reactor all the way to you.”
“Then do it. What’s the problem?”
“What’s the problem? Do you realize how much work that would be? It would take days!” Vladimir noticed Nathan approaching, welcoming the interruption. “Oh, hello Nathan,” Vladimir greeted, shifting his focus away from the irritating woman. “I see you did not get fired.” he joked, noticing the lieutenant’s bars on his collar. “I hope you do not think I am going to salute you now,” he added, shaking his hand.
“Excuse me,” Doctor Sorenson interrupted, refusing to be put off by Nathan’s intrusion. “We weren’t finished…”
“…Oh, where are my manners,” Vladimir apologized mockingly. “Nathan, this is Doctor Sorenson, the irritating woman I told you about. Doctor Sorenson, this is Lieutenant Scott. He is the pilot, you know.”
Nathan started to offer his hand in greeting, but thought twice about it when she started in on Vladimir again.
“Listen, don’t think that you can just brush me off like this…”
“…Please, Doctor,” Vladimir objected, having finally had enough. “Will you stop talking for just one minute? I’m trying to congratulate my friend on his promotion. Do you have no manners?”
“Are you going to give me that power or not,” she demanded.
“Not,” he answered calmly, knowing full well that the calmer he got the madder it made her.
“You leave me no choice but to go over your head,” she threatened.
Vladimir wasn’t affected by her threats. “Be my guest.”
“Fine! I’m going straight to Commander Patel.” she announced, as she stormed off in a huff.
“He is not commander!” Vladimir yelled as she walked away, not wanting to let her get the last word. “He is lieutenant commander!” Vladimir watched her go, hoping to get one more reaction from her, but got nothing. “Bah.” He turned to Nathan, “Do you see what I have to put up with?”
“Vlad, do you really think you should piss her off that way? I mean, she seemed really mad.”
“Not to worry,” Vladimir assured him.
“Yeah, but she’s going to your chief.”
“She will not find him. He hates her more than I do. So then she will go to XO, who will tell her that such decision must be made by the chief. Eventually she will come back to me. But by this time, she will be more reasonable.”
“And then you’ll give her what she wants?”
“Of course.”
“Then why not just give her what she wants in the first place?”
“It is not so simple.”
“You mean what she wants is not simple?” Nathan was getting more confused by the moment.
“That? No, it is easy! One day, at most.” Vladimir could see that Nathan was not following him. “If I always run when she calls, then I am running, running, running, all the time. This way, we fight, she gets mad and leaves me alone for at least an hour, maybe two. This way I get work done. And she thinks twice before asking me for something else.” Vladimir smiled, sure that he was making perfect sense.
“Okay.” Nathan was still confused, but he was pretty sure that Vladimir had things well in hand. “You were right about one thing, though,” Nathan agreed. “She is hot.”
“Yes! I told you this!” he exclaimed as they started walking down the corridor towards engineering. “You know, I was not kidding before, I will not salute you.”
“Calculating new course,” Cameron said. “Transferring course to helm.”
Nathan watched as the new plot drew itself out on his navigation display. He was about to change course when he realized she wasn’t sending him in the direction he asked. “Wait, that’ll take us around the debris field. I wanted to go through it.”
“It’s safer to go around,” she argued, confident she was correct.
Nathan couldn’t believe she was doing this to him again. Ever since the captain had made him the helmsman, she had taken every opportunity to get in his way. “We don’t have the time to go around. Besides, the sensors show most of them are no bigger than a meter. And the shields can handle that.”
“If we go around, or more precisely up and over, we can skim through the less dense edge of the field, thereby reducing the risk to the ship. Once we come out above the field, we can punch it up to twice light and then drop out again a few minutes later on the far side of the gas giant. At the most, we’ll lose five minutes.”
“But that’ll put us in the wrong tactical position,” he insisted. “If we plow straight through, the debris will scatter their sensors and they’ll never see us coming. And when we come out the star will mask our sensor signature and obscure a visual track. We’ll have a clear shot!” Nathan was beginning to lose patience with her.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit obvious?”
“It’s obvious 'cause it works, Cam!” Now plot the course I asked for!”
“Fine, if you want to take unnecessary risks, just remember I’m on record as being against it.”
“The course?” he pleaded.
“It’s coming.” Cameron began plotting the course, but in no particular hurry.
But it was too late, as the ship was already entering the debris field. And with the radioactivity from the debris scattering their sensors, Cameron wouldn’t be able to plot a course with any degree of accuracy.
“Well, great,” Nathan exclaimed in frustration. “Forget it, Cam. You’re too late.”
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked as she realized they had already entered the debris field. “I didn’t get the course plotted yet!”
“No kidding,” Nathan said. It was the third time today he had been forced to ‘wing it’ because Cameron was too busy arguing with him to do her job in a timely fashion. And each time the scenario had ended poorly. It had been much the same way for the last few days. Every time he asked for a course, she objected. Every time he tried to deviate the slightest bit from flight protocols, she would quote the manual, chapter and verse. A few times she had been right, and Nathan had been the first to admit it. Even if it had been after the fact on a few occasions. But most of the time, he had good reason to stray from protocol. And to make matters worse, he knew damned well that she was aware of it despite her usual objections.
“You’re too far below your proposed route,” she insisted.
“How do you know?”
“We’ve been on this course for two minutes. You changed your angle slightly on the way in to avoid that large piece of debris in our path, and you didn’t compensate with a course correction afterward.”
“Probably because my navigator didn’t give me a course to begin with,” Nathan mumbled.
“You still need to come up at least two degrees.”
Nathan was getting tired of her games. “You know what? Thanks, but no thanks. If I’m gonna screw up, I’d rather do it on my own.”
Cameron said nothing. And a few minutes later they exited the debris field, out of position, the sensors immediately triggering a contact alarm. Nathan could feel his heart sink as the inevitable downward spiral that had recently ended so many of their simulations was about to begin.
“I’ve got four Jung ships, closing fast dead ahead,” Cameron announced, satisfaction evident in her voice.
“Like we didn’t see that coming.”
“They’re firing missiles. Tracking twelve inbound. Impact in three seconds.”
For a split second, Nathan contemplated maneuvering to avoid the incoming ordnance. But with the missiles only three seconds away, there wasn’t much use. And the simulation ended poorly, yet again.
Cameron felt a slight bit of guilt as Nathan resigned to inevitable failure. But as far as she was concerned, it his own fault for not listening to her in the first place.
The lights came up, and the screens again switched back to pale blue as the back half of the room swung slowly open.
“Scott and Taylor, you’re ordered to take a fifteen minute break, and then report to the captain’s ready room,” the sim controller announced over the comms. It had been entertaining to the sim technicians at first. They all knew there was going to be friction between the two of them after the captain had promoted Nathan. But after three days of the same old arguments, it was beginning to look like they were never going to get past their differences. And apparently, the captain had grown tired of it.
“You know, if you’re gonna keep sabotaging me at every opportunity, we’re never going to get out of this simulator and onto the bridge,” Nathan said.
“Don’t try to blame me because your crazy ideas never work.”
“They never work because I never have any solid navigation behind them! And who’s fault might that be? Oh, I don’t know, the Navigator, maybe?”
“You just want me to sit idly by and watch while you fly us into who knows what? Well that’s not the way my job works, mister.”
“That’s Lieutenant to you, Ensign!” Nathan knew that pulling rank on her was not the best strategy. But of course, that hadn’t stopped him from saying it.
“I believe, Sir,” she responded, emphasizing the word ‘sir’. “That it’s my job to point out available alternatives, Sir.”
“Point out, yes! But you argue with me until my only choice is to do it your way or fly by the seat of my pants! I’m pretty sure that’s not in your job description, Cam. But I’m sure you’ll check the book and let me know if I’m wrong.” Nathan got up and left the simulator. He needed to be as far away from Cameron as possible right now, even if only for a few minutes.
Cameron topped the ramp leading to the command deck and turned toward the bridge. It had not really come as a surprise when the simulation control officer told them to report to the captain. She knew that Nathan and her were not meshing as a team. But she was equally sure that she had been correct to point out the flaws in his unorthodox solutions. It wasn’t her fault if he couldn’t admit when he was wrong. If he would just heed her advice more often, she was sure that they would be doing a lot better in the simulations.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like he was out to get her, to make her look bad. But surely the captain would see through his little charade? Surely the captain would recognize that Nathan had no discipline, and no respect for procedure. The guy just jumped in and made things up as he went, with no planning or foresight. That was probably just fine for him before, when his daddy’s money and power could pull his butt out of whatever fire he inadvertently jumped into. But this was different, he might be taking the entire ship into the fire with him.
Cameron tried to calm herself. After all, he was just the helmsman. It was the captain that would be making such decisions, not Nathan Scott. And the captain knew what he was doing. He had an exemplary record, she had checked. He had demonstrated the ability to innovate while respecting established protocols and procedures. If the captain veered away from policy, it was for good reason, and with the full understanding of not only what, but why he was doing so. The captain would never ‘wing it’ as Nathan had so frequently done.
Cameron turned the last corner before arriving at the bridge. She was mentally preparing to defend herself in front of the captain against any unjustified attacks that Nathan might launch at her. She would make sure that any decision the captain made was based on the truth, and not on the wild accusations of Lieutenant Nathan Scott.
Cameron’s determined pace suddenly slowed as she saw Nathan standing outside the entrance to the bridge. She was instantly curious as to why he was standing there, apparently waiting for her. But all she could bring herself to say was “Lieutenant.”
“I thought we should enter together,” Nathan said. “We are supposed to be a team, after all.”
The gesture surprised Cameron, but she wouldn’t let it show. “As you wish.”
They entered the captain’s ready room together. Only this time, as the senior officer, Nathan would announce their presence.
“Lieutenant Scott and Ensign Taylor, reporting as ordered, Sir.”
Both Nathan and Cameron raised their hands in salute.
“At ease,” the captain instructed, adding “close the door, please, Ensign.” He waited a moment for Cameron to close the door and return to stand at ease next to Nathan before he began. This time, his tone was far more formal than it had been in previous meetings.
“It has come to my attention that your performance in the flight training simulator has fallen far below acceptable levels. The report states that on multiple occasions you failed to act as a team; you let personal differences interfere with the timely performance of your duties; and you failed to achieve the goals of the given scenario on at least thirty percent of your simulations.” Captain Roberts leaned back in his chair. “Thirty percent? Hell, I should’ve canned you both at five percent.”
“Sir, I take full responsibility for our poor performance,” Nathan said.
“Well that’s certainly admirable, Lieutenant. But I don’t remember asking for your opinion just yet.” The captain sat there staring at Nathan, waiting for him to say something else. But Nathan only swallowed, hard. He looked at Cameron next, but her eyes were staring straight ahead, and as usual, her expression was cold and emotionless.
“I spent the majority of what should’ve been my rack time last night, reviewing the video logs of your simulations. And I have to say that I am appalled. In fact, I’m not really sure which one of you I should be chewing out. Hell, if you two were married I’d be advising you both to seek divorce lawyers.”
Captain Roberts got up and walked around to the front of his desk, just as he usually did when he was trying to make a point. Only this time, he stood in front of his desk instead of sitting. He folded his arms in front of his chest, looking long and hard at each of them.
“Normally, I’d send you both packing and call up any cadets that have passed their sim qualifiers to replace you. But since we’re due to start trials in a few days, I don’t have that luxury. I know the two of you can fly this ship. And since I’m going to be on that bridge telling you what to do, all you have to do is execute my orders,” he said. “And you will do so without hesitation. Is that clear?”
“Yes Sir,” they responded in unison.”
“And just in case, by some horrifying twist of fate, you should have to take action without orders, I’m going to give you some right now, so there will not be any confusion.” The captain turned to Nathan, speaking to him directly. “Lieutenant. You shall follow standard flight operational protocols, without deviation, unless you are one hundred-no, make that one hundred and fifty percent sure that doing so would result in unacceptable risk to this ship or her crew. Is that understood?”
“Yes Sir!” Nathan answered.
The captain then turned his attention to Cameron. “Ensign Taylor. You are the ship’s Navigator. That means you plot her course. But it also means that you do whatever is necessary to help the helmsman fly this ship. Yes, it is your job to offer alternatives. But if the helmsman says he wants to fly this ship into the sun, you’d damned well better give him the course he asked for before you offer alternatives. Is that understood?”
“Yes Sir!” Cameron responded, swallowing hard.
“Dismissed, Ensign.”
Cameron snapped a salute, turning and exiting in proper military fashion. Nathan continued to stand, frozen, wondering what would come next. Apparently, the captain had a bit more butt chewing specifically targeted at him.
The captain waited for Ensign Taylor to leave before continuing. “Lieutenant, I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding going on here. I’m pretty sure that when I made you helmsman, I put you in command of the flight team. Granted, at least for now that only means you’re in command of Ensign Taylor, but you are in command. That’s why I made you a lieutenant in the first place. But after watching you two love birds squabbling in my flight simulator for the last few days, I’m not so sure that was the right call.” Something he had just said triggered a thought in Captain Roberts head. “Wait, you two aren’t, I mean, you’re not together, are you?”
“No Sir,” Nathan protested.
“You don’t want to be, do you?” The captain knew he was probably over-stepping his bounds, as there were no set rules against such fraternization, as long as it didn’t interfere with one’s duties. But it would’ve explained a lot.
“God no, Sir,” Nathan reassured him.
“Good.” The captain breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had just dodged a bullet. “Just make sure you keep it that way.”
“No problem, Sir.”
“Listen, Lieutenant, the most important part of being in command, is being able to make the call when it needs to be made. Now there’s nothing wrong with listening to the advice of your subordinates. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with admitting that they’re right and following that advice. But you do not debate the issue, Lieutenant. Not on the flight deck. That’s what briefing rooms are for, son. Just remember, right or wrong, any decision made too late, is a bad decision.”
The captain rose from his desk and made his way back to his chair. “Now I suggest that you go and work things out with Ensign Taylor before you turn in for the night. I don’t want to find you lying in Medical later with a knife in your back.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Now fix this, Lieutenant, or I will.”
“Yes Sir,” he assured, snapping a salute.
The Aurora’s hangar bay was only dimly light, allowing just enough light so that a person could make their way through safely. Although the facility was finished and ready for operations, the Aurora’s spacecraft and flight personnel were not due to arrive until well after the first shakedown cruise. For now, the massive space was being used as a staging area for components and supplies waiting to be installed or put into storage.
Nathan wandered between the stacks of boxes and equipment. “Taylor!” he called out. “I know you’re in here!” He was lying, as he wasn’t really sure she was there. He had gone to her quarters after leaving the captain’s ready room, looking to make peace with her. He nearly had to order her roommate to divulge her location. Even then, she was only guessing that Cameron had come here, as it was one of the few places still left on the ship where she could be alone with her thoughts.
“Come on, Cameron! We need to talk!”
“What the hell do you want?” she finally answered.
Nathan spun around, trying to locate where her voice had come from. “Where are you?”
“Back here.”
Nathan looked toward her voice. She was sitting on one of the rolling step ladders normally used for accessing the cockpit of fighters. There were a row of twelve of them neatly arranged against the far wall of the hangar. She was sitting at the top of one of the middle ones.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked as he approached.
“This is where I come to think.” Her voice had a melancholy he hadn’t heard from her before. “But you must’ve talked to my roommate to find me, so you already know that.” She was being logical, as usual.
“Why here?” Nathan asked as he reached the row of step ladders. He was trying to establish some sort of rapport with her before hashing out their differences.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because it’s the largest open space on the ship. I mean, everywhere else is so cramped. Well, not cramped really, just no wasted space, you know? It kind of boxes you in, compartmentalizes your thinking. Here, everything is wide open.” She looked down at him, standing at the bottom of the step ladder next to the one she was sitting on. “I know, it sounds stupid.”
“Actually, it sort of makes sense when you think about it.”
“So, what do you want, Nathan?”
“We’ve got to figure out how to make this work.”
“That’s easy,” she quipped. “Resign your commission.”
Nathan was pretty sure she was joking, but decided not to test her.
“You know,” he began as he started up the step ladder, “the captain asked me if you and I were together.”
“Oh God,” she exclaimed, realizing what he meant. “I hope you set him straight!”
“Of course I did,” he assured. “I mean, come on, you and I?”
“Please, you are so not my type,” she insisted.
“Me neither,” he agreed as he sat down at the top of the step ladder next to hers. “I mean, nothing personal,” he added, realizing he might have offended her. “I mean, you’re really cute and all but…”
“…You can shut up now, Lieutenant.”
“Okay, then. Moving on.” There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, as Nathan tried to figure out what to say. “Listen, I know you hate me. But we have to find a way to work together.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “I do hate you.”
Nathan didn’t know how to react to that. Finally, he turned towards her to say something and noticed a big grin on her face. “Oh, that was real funny,” he admitted, a bit relieved.
“And it felt really good, too,” she laughed.
“Let’s be honest with each other,” Nathan suggested. “Let’s get everything out in the open.”
“I thought that’s what I was doing,” she added. He was making it too easy for her.
“Enough, already,” Nathan objected. “Okay, fine. Tell me what you hate about me.”
“You sure you’re ready? I mean, we could be here awhile.”
“Okay, let’s make it easier. Just give me your top three reasons.”
“You’re a cocky, arrogant, pretty little rich boy, and you’ve probably always gotten by on your charm, good looks, and your daddy’s money. And I seriously doubt that you’ve ever taken anything seriously your whole life.”
Nathan paused for a moment, a little taken aback. “Well. I’m pretty sure that was more than three reasons. But, I will admit that there is probably a little truth to some of that.”
“Some?”
“Okay, most.”
“Most?”
“Don’t push it, Ensign.” Nathan took a deep breath before continuing. “You’re right, about all of it, actually. But that was before I enlisted. Since I got into the Academy, I’ve actually been trying to do my best. For the first time that I can remember, I actually believe in something, I actually care about something.” He paused to look at her. “Something other than myself, I mean.”
“And I’m just supposed to believe you?”
“Well, I guess you don’t have to. But it is the truth.”
“Okay. Fair enough, I guess.” Cameron wasn’t quite sure what to believe. Nathan was opening up to her, which was something that she wasn’t used to, at least not from men. And certainly not from Nathan. Most guys had found her too cold and calculating to ever get close to her in any real sense of the word.
“So,” Nathan said, breaking another uncomfortable silence. “My turn?”
“Fair is fair.”
Nathan began an exaggerated ritual, rubbing his hands together and pretending like he was loosening up for something really big.
“Alright already! Out with it!”
“You’re cold and dispassionate, you refuse to admit when you’re wrong, and you’re always trying to prove to everyone that you’re better than me.”
They sat there for a few moments, each thinking about what the other had said, trying to decide what was true and to come to terms with it.
“Well, you make me sound like a real bitch,” Cameron mumbled.
“I wouldn’t say that. I may have overheard others toss that word around, but…”
Cameron cut him off with a slap of the back of her hand against his shoulder.
“I am not dispassionate,” she objected.
“Maybe that was the wrong word.”
“So what do we do?”
“I don’t know, call a truce maybe?”
“I guess I can live with that,” she resigned.
Nathan held out his hand, which Cameron reluctantly shook. “Alright then.”
Cameron rose from her perch and made her way down the step ladder. Once back on the deck, she turned back to Nathan. “You know, I wasn’t trying to prove that I’m better than you,” she explained as she turned to walk away. “I already know that I am.”
Nathan just smiled and watched her walk away, thinking, she really is a bitch.
It had been a long walk back to his quarters from the hangar bay. And all Nathan wanted to do was climb into his bunk and stay there. The day had been long and exhausting, at least emotionally if not physically. And he suspected that despite their truce, the next few days were not likely to be any easier.
Nathan was sure that he had done everything possible to try to work with Cameron. In fact, he had purposely avoided giving her a direct order whenever possible so as not to make her feel like anything other than an equal partner. But after listening to the captain, he was starting to wonder if that had been a mistake. Nathan had never cared much about rank. He followed and respected it, after all, the Fleet was a military organization. And like any other it depended on rank and discipline in order to function, which he understood fully well. But having rank had never meant much to him, personally. Of course, that could’ve been because until now he had always been pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole. Nathan liked his job. He loved piloting the ship. But as far as being in charge was concerned, it was starting to feel more like a punishment than a privilege.
“There you are!” Vladimir declared from his bunk as Nathan entered their quarters. “I was starting to wonder if you had fallen asleep in the simulator!”
“I’ve spent the last couple of hours being verbally assaulted,” Nathan explained as he took of his uniform shirt.
“What are you talking about?”
Nathan kicked off his shoes and fell onto his bunk, rolling over onto his back before continuing. “First, I was getting chewed out by the captain. Then I got an ear full from Cameron’s roommate.”
“The little red head?” Vladimir inquired. “She is full of fire, that one.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. Then, I had to do a little verbal jousting with Cameron in the hangar bay.”
“This does not sound like a good time,” Vladimir sympathized. “What did the captain want?”
“Let’s just say that if Cam and I don’t get our act together and start playing nice over the next few days, you’re gonna have a new roommate.”
“Bah! It will never happen, my friend. You will do fine, you will see.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure, Vlad. We’ve been screwing up the simulations left and right! If I was the captain, I wouldn’t let us fly a cargo shuttle, let alone a starship.”
“Nathan, you worry too much. These simulations they put you through, they are crazy! They could never happen! These people who make them, they are reading too much science fiction. Trust me on this, such things do not happen to people such as us.”
“I don’t know,” Nathan objected.
“Listen, when they give you normal stuff, you know flying around, dock with this, dock with that-this you do okay, yes?”
“Sure, but…”
“…The captain, he knows this, trust me.”
“Maybe, but it’s not about flying the ship. It’s about Cam and I not getting along.”
“Yes, of this I have heard.”
“What?”
“Everyone knows this,” Vladimir explained. “They say you are like old married couple,” he laughed. “Hey, maybe you should sleep with her!”
“Oh, that would really help!” Nathan protested.
“Okay, then maybe I should sleep with her?”
“Get serious.”
“It’s a big sacrifice, yes. But for you, I am willing to do this.” Vladimir joked.
“No thanks,” Nathan chuckled, “That won’t be necessary.”
“Are you sure? I can go right now. I am always ready to serve.”
“Enough, already!”
They both had a good laugh over the idea, after which Nathan decided to change the subject. “So, speaking of woman problems, how are things going in your part of the ship?”
“Better,” Vladimir said. “She is not as bad as before. She is still a pain in my ass. But at least not as often.”
“What happened? Did you sleep with her?”
“No, of course not,” Vladimir protested. “Not that I wouldn’t, because of course I would if necessary.”
“For the good of the ship?” Nathan teased.
“Yes, for the good of the ship!” Vladimir announced proudly. “For the Aurora!”
“For the Aurora!” Nathan laughed.
Captain Roberts entered the briefing room at exactly 0800 hours, his data pad in one hand and his coffee mug in the other. “Good morning gentlemen,” he greeted, as he made his way to the head of the table and sat down. Commander Montero, his executive officer and his chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Patel were already seated at the table. “Thank you for coming. I know you all have more than enough work to do since we’re still so short handed. So I’ll try to keep this meeting as brief as possible.”
The captain took another sip of coffee before continuing, calling up his notes on his data pad as usual, to ensure that any pertinent information he might need would be at his finger tips. He was a man who believed in being well prepared whenever possible.
“The reason for this meeting is that Fleet Command is anxious for us to get underway on a limited test run of our primary propulsion systems. It seems that there is some concern over the efficacy of their design, as well as their projected performance capabilities. If that turns out to be the case, Command would like to be able to address these problems before the Celestia is fitted with the same propulsion systems.”
“Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Patel interrupted, “I am not aware of any of these concerns you speak of. In fact, our simulations predict that we should be able to reach eighty percent the speed of light, instead of the original projections of seventy-five.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you at all, Chief,” the captain assured him. “I’m quite sure you’re correct. All I know is that Command wants us to be ready to depart for a basic lap around the block in twenty-four hours. If there’s some other reason for these orders, they’ve decided that I don’t need to know. What I do need to know is are we ready for a basic test sail?”
“All flight systems are online and ready, sir,” the chief assured him. “And main propulsion has been ready for several days now. However, we do not have all of our weaponry installed, and we have no energy shielding installed, as the team from Special Projects is still using those spaces.”
“Well, do we have any weaponry?”
“Yes sir, we have most of the forward rail gun turrets installed and ready, but all guns aft of amidships have yet to be hooked into main power. We also have the forward torpedo tubes ready to go, but the aft tubes still need to have their loading systems installed. All of those components are still sitting in the main hangar bay.”
“That reminds me,” the captain interrupted, turning to his commander. “We need to move as much of that stuff in the hangar bay into the cargo holds for the time being. We’re going to need room for shuttle craft to operate out of the flight deck if anything goes wrong during our first sail.”
“Sure, Captain,” the XO promised. “But some of that stuff is pretty big.”
“Well, move the smaller stuff out, and slide the bigger stuff off to the sides out of the way. We don’t need the whole bay, clear. Just enough room for five or six shuttles should do it.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ve also insisted that we at least get ammunition for our rail guns, and a dozen torpedoes, just in case. Something about sailing out in a warship without any bullets just doesn’t sit right with me. Even if it is just a few laps around the block.”
“Captain,” the chief asked. “I just want to remind you that we’ll be operating with only half our designed reactor capacity, since the Special Projects people hijacked the other half.”
“Really?” the captain asked, somewhat surprised. “That’s a lot of power. What the hell are they doing with it?”
“I really do not know, sir. They aren’t talking. Best I can tell is that it involves the shield emitters, since they’ve hijacked them as well.”
“Maybe a new type of energy shielding?” the XO theorized.
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Any idea when they’ll be finished?” the captain asked.
“Not really. But they haven’t been asking for as much lately, so maybe that means they’ve completed their work.”
“Let’s hope so,” the XO added. “Those people make me nervous.”
“Well, will two reactors be sufficient?” the captain asked Chief Patel.
“Yes sir. More than enough, for a little trip around the neighborhood. But we won’t be able to use our FTL field emitters until after we get our other two reactors back.”
“Understood. Okay, so that brings us to the crew,” the captain said, turning toward Commander Montero.
“We’ve got one full skeleton shift trained and ready, Captain,” the commander responded. “I wouldn’t want to go into battle with them, but they should be able to handle a basic test sail without screwing anything up too badly.”
“Very well.”
“That reminds me,” the commander added. “How’s your little training project going?”
“Lieutenant Scott and Ensign Taylor are at least trying to work together. They still have a long way to go, but I think it might do them some good to get out of the simulator and into real space.”
“I hope you’re right,” the commander cautioned. “I’ve seen some of their training tapes, and I’ve gotta tell, Skipper, those two scare me.
“Okay, so I guess I can tell Command that we’re ready enough, then.” The captain leaned back in his chair for a moment before continuing. “There’s going to be an inspection tomorrow morning by Admiral Yamori. Let’s make sure we’re ready for it.”
As the Fleet was only about thirty years old, there were only four admirals in the ranks. Admiral Yamori was in charge of fleet development, which included the special projects division as well as the design and construction of new ships to fill out the Earth’s burgeoning space defense force. Prior to his service in the fleet, he had commanded several sea-going warships in the Eurasian navy. Once the Data Ark had been discovered, he had retired from the navy to study physics and advanced spacecraft design at the European campus of the Ark Institute. He was the only admiral in the fleet that had never actually commanded a space vessel. But then, his position was about building them, not operating them.
“You’ve made remarkable progress, Bill,” the admiral praised, as they strolled the corridors of the engineering section. “Especially considering how under staffed you’ve been.”
“Thank you, Sir,” the captain responded. “We’ve been working around the clock to try and get her ready. But a lot of the credit goes to the station crews, Sir. They’ve been working their tails off, every minute of every day. We couldn’t have gotten this far without them.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“It also was a big help to have most of the components available in our hangar bay, Sir,” Commander Montero added. “We never had to wait for anything to be shuttled up to us.”
The admiral had started his tour at the bridge, worked his way aft, and had just finished up in engineering when they met up with doctors Karlsen and Sorenson in the corridor.
“Ah, Doctor Karlsen,” the admiral greeted. “And Doctor Sorenson. A pleasure to see you, as always. I hope everything is going well for you?”
“If you’d like to take a look for yourself, Admiral, we are ready.”
“Excellent.” The admiral turned to the captain and the XO. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen. I’ll meet up with you later on the bridge.”
“Yes Sir,” the captain agreed. The captain and the commander, snapped to attention, saluting the admiral as he departed.
The admiral followed the two doctors past the armed guards that had been at the entrances to both the port and starboard shield generator bays since the special projects team had come aboard.
“I’d love to be a fly on that wall right about now,” the XO commented as they headed for the bridge.
“I have a feeling we’re going to know all about it soon enough,” the captain assured him.