Totality's End, page 3
“Why was it designed in the first place?”
“It’s a command and control function.”
“Oh.”
I remembered that huge room I’d been in when Guinevere had talked about what we faced now. All those single chairs in the middle of nothing. And the screens she’d been manipulating at the time.
“So you’re saying I could run a battle from that chair?”
“Yes, of course. That’s one of its functions. I could keep you current on all three jump points simultaneously.”
“And what if I can’t handle that much information all at once?”
“Then I’ll cycle it to you at whatever speed you can manage.”
I sighed. I could see the uses, but was I ready for that? Stow that. I had to be.
Reports never ended, so panic attack over, I went back to them.
Resolution slid out of the shipyard bay an hour later, several hours early. Ida gave me no warning, just put it on my screen. Once fully out of the bay, Helm took her away at a safe speed, pointed her towards an empty vector, and pushed in the speed. The ship seemingly shot away, accelerating a lot faster than any ship I’d seen before. Once well clear of the reserve fleet, he stopped.
Two hundred and twenty five Mustangs launched from one side of the ship, and ten seconds later, two hundred and twenty five more did. That was fifty more pilots than Solace had, so Peng must have called in more from one of the wings she was going to move already. They went out for a minute at full speed, then curved around and came back. The first wave then went back in the launch tubes, with the second following a minute later.
Five boring minutes later, with Ida telling me to wait, the same thing happened on the other side. Considering the number of pilots involved, getting them from one flight pod to the other one, and out of one bird and into another on different pods, then launching again, five minutes was fast. Especially when you consider the travel cars, as the League called them, had to bottleneck through the pod joins to the central hull.
With the birds back on board, the ship vanished. Ida moved my local scan screen to show it was now near one of the asteroid fields, and the Mustangs had already launched again. This time they stayed out.
“Ida, why is the ship called Resolution?”
“Isn’t that what we want?”
I found I couldn’t argue with that. We did want that. It was just a pity that wasn’t going to be forthcoming anytime soon.
“Admiral Donaldson would like to see you in his office,” she said, fifteen minutes later.
Now what? We’d long since established that after telling me that, she also informed the captain, so there was nothing for me to say or do now, except rise, and go through the magic door to my ground office. From there to his office was a route I knew well now. I was surprised to find Mira there as well when I arrived.
“Come in, Karen,” he said. “We’ve got a job for you.”
They both smiled at my frown. I kept walking though, and sat in the indicated lounge chair.
“What sort of job?”
“Since you have the only jump capable ship,” said Mira, “we want you to go and collect some people for us.”
Not at the moment I didn’t.
“What people, from where?”
“We’re holding a summit, so they’re the ambassadors of our remaining allies, trading partners, and a few others who’re unhappy with the Alliance at the moment. We’ve got some from further away coming through Void station as well.”
“How long will that take?”
“Not long. The ones you’re picking up will be in a shuttle already. You pick the shuttle up and put it on your flight deck, then go on to the next one. Once you get back here, they’ll all launch, and land on the station. The summit is being held there.”
“So a milk run?”
Donaldson chuckled. It had been a long time since anything a warship did had been called that.
“We convinced Arthur to let you have some scan of the areas around each pickup system. And Mordred has identified some targets for you to hit along the way. If you want to.”
“Anything to relieve the boredom. There’s only one problem.”
“And that is?” asked Mira.
“I don’t have a jump capable ship at the moment.”
They both looked at me as if I’d gone crazy.
“Why not?”
“Resolution came out of the shipyard early a short time ago, and is out being acceptance tested at the moment. We’re planning on moving there after that’s complete, which should be sometime this afternoon. Then the crew will need some time to adjust to a completely new ship design, for them.”
“Suck it up, admiral,” said Donaldson, smirking. “You leave at one thirty. Captain Noble will get the list of stops and recommended hits shortly. I think you’ll find the move will be accelerated then.”
“And if the ship fails acceptance testing, and needs to go back into the yard?”
“It’ll cause a diplomatic incident that will irreparably damage our reputation in the eyes of the only species who still like us,” said Mira.
They both looked serious, but Mira couldn’t hold it, so spoiled the effect.
“I’m told Uchawi hasn’t had a new ship return, ever,” said Donaldson. “I doubt she’s intending to start now.”
“There’s always a first time.”
“There’s looking on the dark side too much, as well. I know you’re having to spend a lot of time on the ways an attack can go wrong for us, but you need to keep a positive attitude.”
“I’m positive there’s a first time.”
Mira grinned, but Donaldson just shook his head.
“Well, you better hope it’s not today then. Anyway, enjoy yourself while you’re out there, because once you get back, you’ll be joining us.”
“Joining you for what?”
“For the summit,” said Mira. “There’ll be a meeting after everyone is off their shuttles, followed by an official dinner. Your attendance is mandatory.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone knows you run the Terran fleet now, and they’re not interested in meeting anyone else.”
“I’ll be there as well,” added Donaldson. “But it’s you the military people will want to see.”
It was a woman thing.
“It’s not a woman thing,” said Mira. “But you are the proof that things have changed for the better.”
“Have they?”
“You don’t think so?” asked Donaldson.
“Maybe here on Terra they have. But out with the fleet, we’re still seven hours from disaster.”
“Not today, though.”
“Promise?”
The look on his face caused Mira to start laughing.
Six
I stepped out of the magic door, and stopped abruptly.
This wasn’t my den.
“Welcome to Resolution,” said Jack. He must have been warned I was coming back. “I assume you know about our orders?”
“Yes. I got them.”
“The basic ship testing is complete, and while we’re still moving people, the ship can do the mission. We can use the suggested targets as testing as well. And with the magic doors, it doesn’t really matter where we are.”
“Where are we?”
“Back near the shipyard. If you’ll follow me, ma’am, we’re late for lunch.”
I dug the box I’d picked up on my way back out of my pouch, and handed it to him. He looked surprised for a moment, then read the name on the top. He chuckled.
“You beat me to recommending it. How do you want to do it?”
“Anyway you want, captain. Is the wardroom in the same place?”
“No. Follow me.”
He led me out into Aide’s office, then the passageway. Everything was bigger. Even the marines standing guard seemed to be bigger, but that might have been my imagination. The room we went into was, of course, also much bigger than our previous wardroom, and I’m not sure that word even applied now. But it was still only supposed to be for the flag staff on the ship. All of prime and second shifts were there, although some of the latter were still yawning.
Jack walked straight up to where Helm was sitting, and loomed over him.
“Lieutenant Meyers,” he barked, loudly, “you’re out of uniform.”
Helm startled quite dramatically, and tried to figure out what was wrong with his uniform.
“Up!” Jack barked again, and the poor guy got up so fast his chair went over backwards.
The whole wardroom was watching in silence now, although there were a lot of smiles on faces. The look Jack gave Helm made him brace to attention.
Jack removed the insignia off his right shoulder, getting a look of pure confusion from Helm, and then as the other side came off, some sort of realization started crossing his face. Jack then replaced both with Lieutenant Commander insignia.
“That’s better,” said Jack, this time smiling.
The realization still had a lot of confusion in it.
“Well?” I said. “You’ve been promoted. Are you just going to stand there?”
“Ma’am?” he croaked, and just about the whole wardroom started chuckling. “Oh.”
He saluted Jack, and had it returned, and then they shook. Jack passed him the box, and the room exploded with congratulations. The two of us took our seats, and then finally, as if coming out of a dream, Helm picked up his chair, and did so as well.
There was nothing traditional about it, but it showed just how well Jack got on with his bridge crew.
“If I could have your attention,” said Chef, into the hubbub that followed, and the room quietened again. “The kitchen is not yet operational, so I’m afraid you’re eating takeout. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Stewards came out with plates, and when mine was put down first, I found it was full of a selection of my preferred Chinese food. And as I looked around, I realized we were all getting individual selections. If this was takeout, then someone had gone to a lot of effort to set it up. Or maybe Ida had simply sent someone a list, given she watched us eat all the time. The food was, of course, superb, and it was a pity to rush it a bit.
But by a quarter after one, prime shift were on the bridge. It had the same three main chairs as Solace had, but this bridge was so much bigger for additional flag staff, and it had several sets of visitor’s chairs as well. The senior pilots and marines sat in them, while the rest of prime shift took their positions, and double checked their screens were set up the way they preferred.
Jack looked at me, and I nodded.
“Helm, do we have our first destination locked in?” he asked.
“Ready.”
“Ida, is the jump sled ready?”
“Ready.”
“All stations ready?”
“Ready,” said the rest of them.
“Go.”
Resolution moved. We appeared in orbit of a planet, with a station a safe distance away. The scan said we’d moved only two systems away, which made them neighbours we were supposed to be supplying, but hadn’t been until three weeks ago, when Julie Watts had started hiring jump sleds. We’d gone past through the system twice, going to and coming back from the Alliance meeting station.
“I’ve got a pickup location,” said Coms.
“The sled is down there,” said Ida. “Letting them know they’ll be moving.” Pause. “They’re on a trap on the left flight pod. Bringing them down now.”
“Aren’t they supposed to be left on the deck?” I asked.
“We need to test the elevators anyway,” said Nav. “And our next jump takes us into a combat situation, so we thought it best to not scare the shit out of our guests.”
“I guess that’s a good idea. But why would they be scared?”
“There’s a few things we want to try,” said Helm.
“I’ve okayed them,” added Jack.
“Fine. What are we doing next?”
“There’s a Jintah fleet on its way to Terra,” said Ops. “We’re going to drop by and say hello, then go straight on to our next pickup.”
“Okay. Let’s get on with it then.”
“Ready,” said Helm.
“Ready,” said Ops.
“Go,” said Jack.
We moved, and suddenly the view out the front windows was constantly changing, as the ship appeared to be rolling. I started to feel nauseous, since it was going so fast.
“Why are we pin wheeling?” I asked.
“Because we can?” responded Helm, without looking around.
The screen in front of Ops was showing turrets firing, launchers launching, and both recharging or reloading, almost all at the same time.
“If I throw up, things like extra thin bars on shoulders can be withdrawn.”
The constant movement stopped abruptly, and that was almost worse.
“There you go,” said Ida. “I’m overlaying the windows with screens, and adjusting for the spin so there doesn’t appear to be any.”
“Jumping,” said Helm, and we moved again, this time to somewhere not far away, and looking back at the fleet we’d just been near.
Or what was left of it.
“Hell,” said Scan. “Did we do all that?”
“We did,” said Ops.
“What just happened?” I asked.
“Ma’am, we jumped into the middle of their formation, and rotated in a fast spin, firing at everything in range. Both battleships were destroyed, the carrier is not much better off, and we took out eight cruisers as well. The secondary armament got hits on most of the rest of the fleet too, but only did minor damage.”
“Our shields are still at sixty two percent,” added Nav.
“After being in the middle for so long?” asked Jack. “That’s impressive.”
“More impressive than my gunnery,” admitted Ops. “That took twice as long as it should have. Sorry, I underestimated the spin speed we could manage. And seriously overdid the number of turrets firing at each target. But, I’d call that a successful combat test!”
“I think we pissed them off,” said Scan. “Are we moving on, or what?”
What remained of the fleet was now visibly turning towards us. Since there were only cruisers left, that showed either guts, or stupidity. They should have been running from us.
“Move us along,” I ordered.
Seven
We repeated the process another nineteen times.
After the first three, though, we stopped doing wild gyrations, and just hit the targets and whatever else could be lined up. Ida did secondary turret shifts so we could hit more, and we moved from enemy fleet to enemy fleet ripping the middle out of their formations. With each hit, Ops and Helm got better at it, and by the last one, they had more than half our turrets firing at individual targets all at once. Between each enemy fleet, we picked up a shuttle.
The Intrepid class had the same number of turrets and basic positioning of them as the Battle class did, but they were bigger, had one extra barrel, and fired much bigger pulses. According to Ida, the Imperium classified this as a behemoth class ship, and after the disappointments of our mark ones, this ship was finally living up to the hype.
With twenty shuttles on board, most on the flight decks now after being down and up on the elevators once each, we jumped back to Terra, and into an area of space near the station that had been cleared for our arrival. We arrived pointing at the station, and after Nav gave the front shuttles permission to launch, they all started crossing over.
“Ma’am,” said Ida. “Use the rift to your station office, and I’ll send the travel car to where the reception is happening.”
“Do I need to change?”
“No. Not for this.”
I looked at Jack.
“We’ve got plenty to do,” he said. “Only half the birds are tested, and now the ship’s been blooded, we need to double check everything. Eng wants to do some speed tests too. We’ll complete moving crew, pilots, and marines over as well.”
“Carry on then, captain.”
I rose, walked a longer distance than I was used to getting to my den, and went through the magic door to my station office. There I went to the nearest travel car station, which was open and waiting for me, and was whisked somewhere else.
The door opened into a large room with a round table in the middle, and around it were chairs of many sizes and shapes. None of the guests we’d picked up had arrived yet, but there were people here already. I recognised Imperator Hunter, Admiral Jane, Lia and Chloe Hunter, and Lyla Cowan. There were others I didn’t recognise, and most of those were not human, but the Ralnor and Keerah were obvious, and there was some sort of short humanoid with a dog face next to a tall thin person of indeterminate gender. Some were in uniform, and others were not. The only non-human I recognised was Metunga.
Mira walked up beside me.
“The League has sent representatives,” she said.
Obviously.
“What’s going on?” I asked her.
She smiled at me, but said nothing more, just led me over to where the other uniforms were standing apart from the civilians. Donaldson was there as well, and she left me next to him.
“Am I the only person here who doesn’t know what’s going on?” I asked.
That was greeted by a lot of chuckling.
“Don’t worry,” said Cowan. “We’re not here to do anything. Just look decorative for the delegates. The summit is about trade, but it seems they need to see that our military covers all species and genders.”
“Is this about joining the League of Worlds?”
“Not as such,” said the Imperator. “But we’re hoping it’s a starting point. The first thing is getting permission for jump capable ships visiting their worlds from whoever has them, since no other ships can really get to some of them anymore.”
The delegates from Shaydow came out of the travel car just then, and the room quieted. The doors closed behind them, they were welcomed by Mira, and waved forward into the room. The doors opened again, and the next delegation came out, which I thought might have been one of those a long way away who’d come here through Void Station.
There were thirty delegations in all by the time everyone had arrived, and they all had both civilian and military in the party. All of the military made a point of acknowledging me in whatever way they did such things, and I found it embarrassing, but tried to hide it.
