Master General (The Aternien Wars Book 6), page 14
To Carina’s left as she faced the panoramic viewer was the Master Operator’s half-moon console, virtually unchanged from the one Cai Cooper had used. The tactical station was just aft of the commander’s chair and elevated above, but the design had been improved for speed and accuracy of input. This may have been Carina’s first time on board the Ascalon, but she’d trained hard on the new bridge consoles to the point where it was already second nature to her.
“Thanks to Training Master Reid and ADA, we managed to port across the Galatine’s neural interface for navigational controls,” Silus said, stepping onto the bridge beside Sparks. “It also means that NAFA can fly the ship independently, if required.”
Being able to see space as if the ship’s sensors were your own eyes and ears was an ability unique to Longsword Master Navigators. Carina remembered how this ability had allowed Amaya to fly the Galatine in ways that defied both logic and physics.
“How do you like the neural interface, Nadia?” Carina asked, curious to learn how her new pilot had adapted. “I bet it’s a trip!”
“I wish I could describe it to you, skipper,” Nadia said, stepping beside her station and resting a hand affectionally on the console. NAFA was already docked to her interface port. “When we’re connected, I become the Ascalon, as if the ship is a living, breathing thing. It’s like something out of a dream, but I’m awake and in control.”
“I added engineering stations at the rear of the bridge, just as Kendra liked them, and there are seats beside the Commander’s chair for Master Medic Vega, and any honored guests,” Sparks continued, completing the rundown.
The mention of an ‘honored guest’ made Carina look for the esteemed General. She found him reclined against the wall next to the door, still talking to Cai. He caught her eye and made a talking motion with his hand to indicate that Cai was still yapping at him about one thing or another.
“It’s an incredible ship, and I can see that she’s in excellent hands,” Carina said to her Master Engineer, and Sparks gladly accepted the compliment, appearing to grow an inch taller while beaming a smile back at her. “Now, we should get under way. Admiral Krantz is waiting for us at Terra Two.”
Straight away, the officers and their respective gophers all took their stations. KACEY flitted to Carina’s side, waved at her with a mechanical arm, then settled into the alcove next to the Captain’s chair. A tactical map of the Terra Three star system was then projected from her holo emitters. Carina was able to reach into the map and manipulate it, adding waypoints, selecting targets, directing scans, and more, like moving pieces on a chess board.
“Silus, contact space dock and clear us for departure,” Carina said.
Out of habit, Carina almost dropped into the seat at the right of the Captain’s chair, but just caught herself in time. Even so, Carter’s keen blue eyes had spotted her near-gaff, and the General made no attempt to hide the fact it had amused him, which only made matters worse.
“We’re clear to depart,” Silus reported. “All systems show green.”
“Engines ready, soliton warp drive spinning up,” Nadia added.
“Weapons and plasma shield also ready,” Darius chipped in.
Carina raised an eyebrow at her new Master-at-Arms. “Are you anticipating an attack, Mister Stone?”
“No, ma’am, though it doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” Darius replied, politely. “It’s hard to be taken by surprise, if you’re always ready.”
Carina nodded. “I like that philosophy, mister.”
Carina had liked her crew from the moment she’d met them, which was no surprise, since they’d all been carefully matched to complement her style of command. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. Individually, they all formed a part of the whole; together, everything clicked into place perfectly.
“Detach from space dock,” Carina said. Carter had finally finished his call to Cai and was now standing at her side.
“Mind if I take a seat?” the General asked, pointing to the position to Carina’s left. Lyra Vega had already sat in the chair to her right. “Unless, you’d be more comfortable swapping places?” he added, still grinning.
“This chair suits me just fine, thanks,” Carina said, smiling sarcastically at him, while inviting him to sit. Carter did so and JACAB lowered himself onto the General’s lap. JACAB and KACEY then began chatting again, though to Carina it sounded like more robot gossiping.
“Silus, contact traffic control and request a conduit through the soliton warp net…”
An alert sounded, cutting Carina off mid-sentence. Her pulse raced and her stomach did somersaults, then her augments kicked in to counteract the natural human ‘fight or flight’ response, so that she could think clearly, uninhibited by the spike of adrenalin.
“Report,” Carina said, calmly.
Carter fidgeted in his seat and massaged his silver beard, but while the General’s instinct was to take charge, he didn’t, and Carina appreciated his restraint.
“We’re receiving a distress signal,” Silus said. “It was broadcast in the clear.”
Silus worked his half-moon station in tandem with ATTIA, and the source of the distress signal was quickly identified. Carina saw the vessel appear on the holographic display that KACEY was projecting, and she grabbed the ship with her finger and thumb, then moved her hand toward the viewer, as if throwing the image onto the main screen.
“The ship is designated X-A2, and is a prototype of the new Aegis-class Battlecruiser,” Silus continued, as the image of the warship appeared on the screen for all to see. “She’s out on a shakedown test, with Captain Kurt Bentley commanding, but I’m reading a hull breach, aft quarter, engineering section, and the ship’s main drive appears to be thrusting out of control.”
“Hail Captain Bentley,” Carina said. Her augments had gotten her nerves under control, but they’d also amped up her senses, so she was fizzing like a shaken soda bottle.
The image of the battlecruiser faded and was replaced by the face of Captain Bentley, partly obscured by smoke. In the background, Carina could hear the crackle and fizz of broken electrical circuits and conduits, and the body of at least one officer was motionless on the deck.
“Captain Bentley, this is Master Commander Larsen aboard the Ascalon, what is your condition?” Carina asked.
“The Ascalon?” Bentley replied. The man’s hair was matted with blood, and he was barely managing to hold himself upright. It looked like the bridge of the X-A2 had taken a direct hit from an Aternien particle cannon. “I don’t know that ship, or you for that matter.”
“We’re new around here,” Carina said, managing not to roll her eyes at the pointlessness of Bentley’s response, given the dire straits he and his vessel were in. “Your status, Captain. Let us know how we can help.”
“Honestly, Commander, I don’t know what you can do,” Bentley said, wiping blood from above his eye, and smearing it across his smoke-blackened face. “We were hit by debris while on test maneuvers near space dock nineteen. A goddamn one in a million fluke. It punched a hole through the hull and took out our engine control interface. The fusion drive is locked open, and we can’t shut it down. The engineering level has been sealed off and I can’t contact my chief. We’re only running a skeleton crew.”
“Ma’am, if the X-A2 doesn’t shut down its main drive in the next fifteen minutes, the core will rupture and the ship will be destroyed,” Silus reported.
Carina nodded then turned back to the screen. “Sit tight, Captain, we’re coming to get you.”
She was about to close the channel when Bentley answered.
“Coming to get us?” the Captain said, scowling at her through puffy, red eyes. “Commander, you’re over a hundred thousand kilometers away, there’s not a chance in hell you could get here in time.”
“Let us worry about that, Captain,” Carina said. “Ascalon out.”
The crew of the Ascalon all turned to Carina, awaiting orders. She glanced at Carter, still seated to her left, and still rubbing his silver beard. She could sense that he was itching to make a suggestion, or even take command, but his ass stayed in his seat and his mouth remained shut. The message was clear; her ship, her call.
“Nadia, plot a short-range jump that brings us out five-hundred kliks ahead of the Aegis then accelerate hard and draw us level,” Carina said. Nadia nodded, then Carina turned to her Master-at-Arms. “Stand ready to take out the X-A2’s engines as soon as we’ve cleared the jump and matched speed. A cluster of swarm missiles should do it, we don’t want to blow the back half of the ship to pieces.
“Yes, ma’am…” Darius replied, smartly.
“Silus, prep our combat shuttle for immediate launch…” Carina hesitated. “I assume we have a combat shuttle?”
“Yes ma’am, I will ensure it is done,” Silus replied.
Then Carina turned to her new gopher, who was watching her as intently as the rest of the crew had been.
“KACEY, get to the shuttle and speed through the launch prep, we don’t have a second to lose,” Carina said.
KACEY warbled a reply, then the holo image she’d been projecting vanished, and the gopher raced off the bridge.
“JACAB, do you want to take her place?” Carina said, gesturing to the vacant slot.
JACAB looked up at General Rose, who nodded, then the gopher zoomed into the alcove reserved for commander’s assistant bots, and the holographic map was restored.
“Warp jump programmed in and ready,” Nadia reported.
Carina pressed herself back into her seat, though forcing herself to sit felt like trying to push the opposing poles of two superconducting magnets together.
“Execute jump…”
The Ascalon’s new-design soliton warp drive suddenly accelerated, like a laundry machine on a rapid spin cycle, and the ship jumped. For a second, it felt like Carina was being stretched like a rubber band, as time and space warped around them. Then they were snapped back to reality, and the holo map and viewscreen updated. They were five hundred kilometers ahead of the XA-2, but the experimental battleship was already going like a bat out of hell.
“Jump complete,” Nadia called out. “Main engines at full. Standby for gravitational maneuvering.”
The Master Navigator became still as she interfaced with NAFA and became one with the Ascalon. The soliton drive continued to spin, and the ship rode spacetime like a surfer riding a wave, matching speed with the X-A2 in a matter of seconds. The experimental battleship came alongside, and Carina heard the pulse of their main engines beat harder and faster. Gravitational maneuvers were cut and the sub-light drive took over. When Nadia was done, they were flying dead level with the X-A2 like the ships were tethered together.
“Great job, Nadia, Amaya couldn’t have done it better herself,” Carina said, pounding the arm of her chair with her hand.
“Swarm missiles away,” Darius added. Carina was impressed with how calm her Master-at-Arms sounded, and wished she could tap into his immense repository of chill. “Direct hit, their engines are offline.”
“Adjusting velocity to match,” Nadia said, cutting their own fusion drive so that they didn’t accelerate ahead of the wayward vessel.
“Ma’am, the XA-2’s reactor is going critical,” Silus reported. “I estimate a breach in ten minutes, thirty-four seconds.”
“Can you interface with their computer and shut it down remotely?” Carina asked.
“Negative, but Sparks and I can achieve this from their engineering deck,” Silus replied.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Carina tapped the image of the XA-2 in her holographic display and a real-time render of the ship appeared. She expanded the engineering section and tapped the emergency escape hatch on deck one, section B. “We head over in the shuttle, enter here, and shut down their core manually,” Carina added, relaying the target hatch to all stations.
Carina pushed herself out of her seat, which was becoming unbearably claustrophobic.
“Silus, Sparks, you’re up,” Carina said, pointing to the two officers. Both acknowledged her then handed control of their stations to their gophers. “Lyra, go with them. There may be wounded.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lyra replied.
The Master Medic departed with MEDS in tow. If Darius had been glacially cool, then Lyra was absolute zero. She gave the impression of someone who’d already seen it all, so that nothing phased her anymore. Carina turned back to the viewscreen and looked at the X-A2, while drumming her fingers against her thighs.
“You’ll wear a hole in your uniform if you keep that up,” Carter said. He was finally out of his chair, and stood next to Carina, hands pressed to the small of his back. For several seconds, neither said anything, before the General quietly added, “You should go too…”
Carina looked at him, surprised. “But in my final evaluation you said I should rely on my crew?”
“I did, speaking strictly as your evaluating officer at the time,” Carter replied. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “But your crew needs to see that they can rely on you too.” He shrugged. “Besides, you were right. I always led from the front, and it’s not for me to tell you how to run your ship.”
Carina frowned. “But if I go, then doesn’t that mean you just told me what to do?”
Carter rolled his eyes. “Look, do you want to sit on your ass and miss all the fun, or do want to get your hands dirty?”
“You know which I’d rather do,” Carina snapped back.
“Then get going, Commander,” Carter said, turning back to the viewscreen, looking as imperious as ever. “I’ll watch the Ascalon till you get back.”
THIRTEEN
HANDS DIRTY
Carina thumped General Rose on the shoulder then spun on her heels and ran for the door. As usual, the wily old goat was right. Her crew needed to see what she was capable of, just as much as she needed to evaluate their capabilities too.
“General Rose has the bridge until I’m back,” Carina said, also slapping Darius on the shoulder as she sped past.
Carina didn’t hear her Master-at-arms answer because she was already flying down to the central corridor toward the shuttle bay. Grabbing the door frame, she swung herself inside and found the combat shuttle ready to depart, her crew already on board.
“Change of plan, I’m with you,” Carina said, jumping into the shuttle. None of her officers appeared surprised by her sudden appearance, and KACEY was excited to see her. “Silus, you have the controls.”
“Very well, launching in ten seconds,” Silus said, as the shuttle bay sealed, and the hatch prepared to open. “Launching…”
The bay door retracted like the spring of a trap, and explosive decompression ejected the shuttle like a bullet from a rifle. Carina was pressed back in her seat, but despite the massive g-forces that were acting on them all, Silus managed to pilot the craft as if they were simply out on a pleasure cruise.
“Ascalon shuttlecraft, you have a little more than eight minutes left,” Carter said, speaking over their comm system. “JACAB has hacked the X-A2’s airlock control system and will have the hatch ready and waiting.”
“Understood, General, we’re almost there,” Carina replied.
Silus Grey may not have been a master navigator like Nadia, but he could certainly fly a shuttle, and Carina was impressed by how swiftly and smoothly her Master Operator completed the docking process.
“We have a hard seal,” Silus reported, as a weighty thump reverberated through the shuttlecraft. “I am somewhat familiar with the Aegis-class. I believe the station we require will be less than ten meters from our ingress point.”
“Then lead the way,” Carina said, inviting Silus and Sparks to head out first.
Sparks cycled the airlock and the hatch sprang open like a trapdoor. Smoke flooded through the opening and Carina tasted the acrid tang of burned electronics on her tongue. Silus entered first, and Carina observed that it was a four-meter sheer drop from the shuttle to the engineering deck of the X-A2, but for their augmented bodies, it was no more challenging than jumping from one square to the next in a game of hopscotch. Sparks and Lyra Vega dropped down next then Carina made the leap, with KACEY flying close by her side. Consoles crackled and sparked all around her and the deck was shrouded in a fog of smoke. Carina could see the thin scar left behind by the space debris as it had punched through the ship, moving at eight times the velocity of a rifle bullet. The damage was surgical, like a long needle piercing flesh, but appearances were deceptive, and Carina knew that the X-A2 was lucky to be in one piece.
“Six minutes, people, let’s snap to it!” Carina called, anxiously watching the condition report update on her comp-slate.
Her crew answered smartly, but the Ascalon’s officers hadn’t wasted a second. Checking around the compartment, Carina saw that Silus and Sparks were already clearing debris from the impact so that they could reach the engine room. Lyra was crouched down beside a woman in uniform, wearing the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Carina joined her Master Medic, brushing dust off the officer’s jacket so she could read the name tape.
“How is Commander Hansen?” Carina asked. She was no medic, but it didn’t take a surgeon to see that Hansen was missing her left leg below the knee.
“She’s lost a lot of blood, but the injuries are not critical,” Lyra replied, calmly working in tandem with MEDS, who was cauterizing the wound to the engineering officer’s leg.
KACEY bleeped an alert and Carina hurried to her bot, who’d found another wounded officer. The man was barely conscious, and Carina could see that shards of metal from an exploded conduit had become embedded into his chest and neck.
“Lyra, we have more wounded over here!” Carina called out, pressing her hand carefully around the wound to the man’s neck to slow the rate of blood loss.
Lyra arrived seconds later, med kit in hand. Her hands and battle uniform were covered in blood and smoke fogged her eyes, but she maintained the unflappable concentration of a chess grand master.
