Command Authority, page 23
part #5 of Last Hunter Series
24
Derek gave Commander McGregor the full tour of the ship. They started in engineering and wended their way through the various sections of the ship until they ended up at the bridge. The man didn’t even try to hide the awe he felt. He stood in engineering, gaping at the size of the space and the massive engines that drove the ship, he looked over the laser and missile batteries with hardly a word, and he ended the trip walking around the vast bridge and examining one of the consoles.
“Why don’t you sit over here, and I can show you whatever you like?” Derek said as he gestured toward one of the spare consoles. “Don’t worry. I can lock all the critical systems out, so you don’t do anything untoward, like firing a missile salvo at the space station.”
“That’s very reassuring, thank you,” McGregor said as he eased himself into the chair, which groaned a bit under his weight. “I’ve never seen anything like this, kid. Even when I was in active service, we never built anything on this scale. I served aboard a cruiser when I started out, and it felt huge. This thing puts Paul E. Cooley to shame.”
“The battleships were built to a scale no one had ever attempted before or since,” Derek agreed. “Hunter was built quick and dirty to fight a war that was already raging before she was conceived. If we were building them during peacetime with everything we’ve learned from the first invasion, I suspect things would have been somewhat different. Still, she and her sisters are what we have.”
“I sure as hell hope they are enough,” McGregor said as he turned to face Derek. “Since I’m a small craft pilot, maybe showing me the helm would give me a clue just how difficult this will be. I studied to be a helm officer but never actually switched tracks. It’s been a long time, but hopefully, I’ll recognize something.”
Derek knew that was a forlorn hope but didn’t say anything. The commander would figure that out on his own.
He brought up the helm controls and locked everything into simulation mode. Assured that nothing could affect the ship, he populated the displays with everything they had. Fusion drives, the independent quantum drive, and even the hyperdrive.
To say that that filled up the space with innumerable displays and controls was an understatement. Derek had seen what the controls for a cruiser looked like when he’d helped salvage some of the equipment from Hawkwing. Everything was more streamlined and intuitive with the newer systems. He’d even set up a simulator to practice operating a standard ship’s controls. Just because he was a helm officer now didn’t mean he could qualify to do so if they ever had to use something built in this century, and he wanted to be prepared.
Progress was slow, but Commander Golousenko said he was getting there. The two of them had been trading off training sessions so they could both become proficient in the ship they had and any ships they might chance across in the future. Derek had an advantage in understanding the old tech, but his department head had decades of experience with modern systems. In all, they were both learning pretty quickly.
McGregor looked over the bewildering array of controls and shook his head. “There’s no chance I’m going to understand any of this. I suppose that makes the point that things have changed a lot in two centuries. If we bring people aboard to try and run this ship, we’re going to screw up, aren’t we?”
“I’m afraid so, sir,” Derek said. “I’ve been training my department head on the helm controls, and he still hasn’t quite grasped all the aspects of it. We’ve been working hard for months, and he’s almost there, but he had been doing this on active duty right up until the invasion. Bringing someone else in that hasn’t used something like this? Sounds like a recipe for running over a space station while trying to leave orbit.”
The large man chuckled. “I think that’s something I’d prefer to leave off my resume, if you know what I mean. The admiral was adamant that he wanted to relieve the recruits and young people that didn’t know what they were doing as rapidly as possible. His words, not mine. He’s not going to be a happy man when I tell him that it won’t be so easy. He doesn’t sound like the kind that takes no for an answer, so I expect he’ll try something anyway.”
“I don’t know the admiral, sir, so I hesitate to comment. The one thing I will point out is that he knows you better than he knows my department head. How would you feel if he put you in command of navigation and helm? After all, my department head is only a lieutenant commander. You might just inherit the whole shebang.”
McGregor’s face paled, and he shook his head vigorously, which made his jowls move in uncomfortable-looking ways. “Don’t say nasty things like that to me, young man. The first thing I’d do is grab anybody with experience and put them to doing what needs to be done. My mother didn’t raise any idiots.”
McGregor laboriously got to his feet and looked around the bridge one more time. “I don’t know if we could learn everything we need to know in six months, even if we had that kind of time. Since the invasion started, how many battles have you been in?”
“More than half a dozen,” Derek said immediately, “though I’m not sure the one with the pirates counts. We were never in any real danger from them.”
“Pirates?” McGregor asked with a raised eyebrow. “We’re in the middle of an invasion, and you’re fighting pirates? That’s a story I think I’d like to hear over beers sometime. You left New Copenhagen after a fight and came here for another one. How soon do you think you’ll run into more people who want to kill you?”
Derek shrugged. “That’s kind of up in the air. The Locusts can be along at any time because they’ve got to be coming through hyperspace, and it’s been months since the gate network was destroyed. The Tardan military left New Copenhagen a month ago, so they’re nowhere near here, but there could be other colonization waves, and this is a prime destination. If so, we might have more military vessels to deal with and potentially some Novarite warships following them. Based on the cluster’s layout, I can’t rule out getting a surprise visit from anybody. We need to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice, even while we’re building up the defenses here.”
“Will more hands help? When they evacuated the Navy station, a lot of the noncombatants went down to the planet’s surface. We’re talking engineers and all kinds of other folks that didn’t have any business defending the station against people coming for it. There are also a hell of a lot of retired Navy personnel on Argent. If you’ve got problems getting basic systems operational, there are people down there who could help. I’m sure they’ve got plenty of supplies and equipment that would be useful as well. All you’ve got to do is convince the senior Navy officer in the system to let you have them.”
“That kind of argument is above my pay grade, Commander,” Derek said with a sigh. “Commodore Romanoff is very persuasive, and I expect he’ll eventually get his way.”
“I hope so, kid, but you don’t know Admiral Allen like those of us who live here do. The man is a marinet. He thinks he knows everything, but all he wants to do is micromanage the process and then complain about the results. If there was a worse person to put in command of defending the cluster than him, I have no idea who that would be. Maybe myself.”
“I think you’re a little too hard on yourself, Commander,” India McKinnon said as she stepped onto the bridge. “Sorry it took so long for me to get here. I’m Captain India McKinnon, Hunter’s executive officer. I’m told you need to look around, and I hope Lieutenant Calvo has been of assistance.”
“He showed me everything I needed to see, ma’am,” the rotund man said as he straightened as well as he could. “This ship is impressive. If you don’t mind, could we speak privately, just the two of us?”
McKinnon nodded. “Thanks for handling everything while I was gone, Derek. You’ve still got the conn for now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When the two officers left the bridge, Derek took over the temporary console. The first thing he did was monitor Navy frequencies and see what was available. There weren’t many radio signals detectable from orbit, and he suspected that had something to do with the Tardan military making certain they had absolute control over everything. The fact that some signals were popping up meant they hadn’t destroyed every single transmitter, so that gave him some options.
He sent a data request to the station for channels appropriate for Navy usage. He halfway expected to have to argue with someone, but the person on duty sent him half a dozen channels with information about who they belonged to with no argument. Going over the options, Derek decided the first people to talk to might be personnel. They really could use more trained hands up here. It wasn’t his job to make the arrangements, but he could find out what they had available.
When he sent a signal down on the appropriate frequency, he was rewarded with a connection and a pleasant female voice on the other end. It took the video a few moments more to connect, which said that the system they were using was probably jury-rigged. The person he spoke with was dressed in a modern Navy uniform with lieutenant’s tabs on the shoulders.
“Office of Navy personnel, this is Lieutenant Leslie Cohan speaking. How may I direct your call?”
“This is Lieutenant Derek Calvo of Delta Orionis. I’m calling on behalf of our senior officers to open a dialogue about what personnel might be available for assignment to our vessel.”
The woman blinked and then smiled a bit more widely. “I didn’t expect to hear from the people who freed our planet, so allow me to take a moment to thank you for what you’ve done. I think the best person to talk with would be Captain Kzar Torres. He’s not the senior man on the scene, but he knows where all the bodies are buried.”
Derek allowed himself to smile in return. “That sounds like who I need to speak with. Thank you, Lieutenant Cohen.”
“I’m transferring you now.”
The screen went blank for about twenty-five seconds, and then the image of an older man with dark gray hair and sharp blue eyes appeared. He said nothing, only studying Derek for an additional few seconds before the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.
“Lieutenant Calvo, I am Kzar Torres. I’m told that you need personnel for your battleship. I might be able to assist with that, but I will need to know more. Are you the appropriate person to speak with? Forgive me for saying so, but you seem… young for your rank. As a personnel specialist, I have an eye for what rank someone should be at based on their age, and I wouldn’t have expected you to be more than an ensign, if that. No disrespect intended.”
“No disrespect received, sir. I was enrolled at the Naval Academy at Faust when the invasion began. I have specialized skills in piloting battleships like Delta Orionis, so I was tagged for special duty and bumped up to midshipman. Because of the nature of the fight thus far, Commodore Romanoff felt the need to promote the entire bridge crew to ensign, and then later, he bumped me to lieutenant. I am somewhat inexperienced for some of the duties I need to carry out, but I’m doing my best.”
“I’m sure you are, and I respect your skills, Lieutenant. As I said, no disrespect intended, and in times of war, people find themselves promoted far faster than in times of peace. Anyone that studies history knows that to be true. If you don’t mind my asking, how does someone so young know how to pilot an ancient battleship?”
“A game, sir. Locust War Online. I was a tournament-level player, and so had more than a decade of experience as a helm officer aboard a simulated battleship. Many other individuals serving in bridge positions have similar backgrounds. Of course, we’ve now had a few months of experience and fought for real.”
“I won’t denigrate your experience, Lieutenant. Ten years of combat and operational simulations gave you the tools you needed to make the jump to serving officers, which demands respect. I’ll have to search around and see if I can find personnel with similar experience because that would be helpful. Other than that, what kind of personnel might we be able to supply that would help?”
“That’s Commodore Romanoff’s call, but we’re short on experienced personnel in every department. I suppose engineering is the best off, but even they have a bunch of people getting on-the-job experience.”
“I understand. I can’t make any promises because everything I come up with will have to be approved by Rear Admiral Allen, but I’ll start the ball rolling. We’ve got a lot of folks down on the surface that might be able to assist you in some manner or another. Is it only the one ship you’re looking to crew?”
Derek thought about that for a moment and shook his head. “We have other battleships that need repairs and updates to be combat capable. We really should get a team of people busy on that because this war isn’t going to slow down and wait for us to catch up. I don’t know how many of them are repairable, but we have eleven more battleships that could potentially be brought back into service. Fully crewed, that’s another five thousand people per ship.”
The older man frowned. “I’m not going to be able to help with that many people, but we can start making headway in picking out crews that could refurbish those ships. I can only speak to the labor portion of that, but I’ll put together a list of people that would help relieve some of the issues aboard your ship and start the process of repairing the other battleships. That will take a few days, but you’re going to have more volunteers than you need.”
“More hands are always welcome, sir. Thank you very much for your consideration and assistance. It’s deeply appreciated. We also have some older exploration ships that could use crews. That’s old tech, but the crews would be smaller.”
“While that makes the numbers easier, the lack of skilled people in critical positions becomes more problematic. Still, I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you, sir. We appreciate it. Delta Orionis out.”
Well, that was good news. He certainly hoped it would help them in the near future.
“Hey, Derek, do you have a second?” the communications officer asked.
“Sure. What have you got?”
“An anomaly. I’ve been monitoring the transmission signals around us, and I’m picking up something from the station. It’s low power, and I probably shouldn’t have been able to pick it up where we are, but I can barely make it out with the lack of other radio traffic. Honestly, I think it’s a wireless communication signal like those used by computer networks. It’s weird though. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Let’s take a look.”
The two of them made their way over to the young man’s console and began examining the data. Derek wasn’t a communications specialist, but he had more than enough experience to recognize when he saw something that didn’t belong. The signal in question seemed to be coming from the station, but it wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen before. At least not aboard a Confederation facility.
“That looks like a Tardan signal,” Derek said. “If this really is a computer network, they may have left whatever they were using aboard the station intact and operational. If humans haven’t been back there long enough to explore the place, we might be able to find something useful. The Tardans ran pretty fast, so they might’ve left things in a state where we could recover some data. Good catch.”
Derek made his way back to his borrowed console and put in a call to David Chen. He could work with Lisa to figure out what it was and access it without attracting Admiral Allen’s attention. If they could do this quietly, that would be a lot better.
Meanwhile, he’d better report this to Commodore Romanoff and Captain MacKinnon. If there was something they could use to their benefit, they needed to know about it. And, of course, if it was going to blow up in their faces, they needed to be ready for that, too.
25
Jack had just stepped out of the cutter when Derek walked up and nodded at Sara and Commodore Monahan as they followed him out.
“Pardon the interruption, sir, but I need to discuss something with you privately,” the young officer said.
“I’ll be with you in just a moment. Sara, why don’t you take our guest somewhere and discuss all the legal matters in private while I take care of this? Welcome aboard Delta Orionis, Commodore Monahan.”
The two women excused themselves, and as soon as Jack had some privacy, he returned his attention to Derek. “What’s going on?”
“A couple of things, sir, but the most important one is that the communications officer picked up a weak signal from the space station. I think it might be a wireless signal from a Tardan computer system. I’ve sent a message to David Chen, but I’m not sure how much luck he’ll have searching the station without being discovered. Even if he finds what he’s looking for, he won’t be able to access it without Lisa’s assistance.”
“I’ll talk to her and make the arrangements to have her go back over and help David figure out where that computer is, and if necessary, have him provide some kind of cover so she can access it without drawing undue attention to herself.”
“Actually, sir, she’s already been back on the station. Mister Chen had her accessing the computer network looking for something he found suspicious. You’d have to ask him for the details because I don’t know the specifics.”
“Thanks for the update. I’ll wait here for her, get an update, and then send her back. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?”
“Admiral Allen sent someone to inspect the ship. I suppose I could have denied him entrance, but it made more sense to give him the tour and see what the man had to say. It looks to me like the admiral intends to assume command of the ship—tactically or strategically—no matter what he might be saying publicly.”
Jack allowed himself a smile. “That particular discussion isn’t over yet, but I’ll take care of it.
“Yes, sir. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll head back to the bridge.”
Jack nodded his agreement and turned back to watch the large hatch where Lisa’s cutter would arrive. The wait gave him time to consider the brewing fight with Admiral Allen. There was no polite way of getting out of it. He’d have to put his foot down and insist on his own authority. That wouldn’t be fun, but he’d had that fight before.
