Damage Control - ARC (21 page)

Bill tried to pull himself up to his full
height, but he was still twelve centimetres shorter than me. I
think that had always bothered him. “You’ll recall, Commander, that
the commissioning ceremony was interrupted. It is the duty of the
flag officer to assign promotions.” I couldn’t believe he was
quoting book and verse to me in the middle of a battle.

“Look, Bill,” I pleaded, “I know these
people. They’ll try to take out our engines and shields so they can
board us.”

This was typical Bill under stress, relying
on rules and regulations. It was his way of coping. I knew that
following procedure meant nothing when you were dead, and I knew I
was right.

“Commander Laxmo, in the absence of Captain
Sanvari, I’m in command, not the commodore.”

Laxmo looked confused.

“Commander Laxmo, you’re in command and you
will obey my orders,” countered Bill.

“Really? We’re doing this now?” I shouted
over the noise of missiles hitting the hull plating. The Bodarians
had knocked out our defences, precisely and methodically, just as
I’d predicted.

“Don’t be so stupid!” Bill yelled at me.
“Just shut up and let me handle this.”

“You’re the one who’s being stupid,” I
screamed at him. “You never listen to anyone! They’ll have disabled
our jump drive and stolen our scout ships by the time we’ve turned
around!”

“Sir, what should I do?” asked Laxmo, but it
wasn’t clear who exactly he was asking.

“I told you, turn us about and jump us out of
here,” said my husband.

“No! Laxmo, give the order to launch. Get
those scout ships away,” I shouted.

“Commander Fielding!” The commodore
bellowed.

“It’s Captain Fielding,” I yelled, “and this
is my ship!”

“Two weeks ago you never even wanted the
bloody ship!” said Bill. “Now all of a sudden you’re ready to
command it.”

“No, of course, you’re right as usual.” I
said, “I didn’t want it, because you told me to take it. Honestly,
I’d rather go out there and take my chances in a scout ship than
stand on this Bridge while you get us all killed.”

“That’s insubordination, commander. You’re
relieved of duty! Security—” He never got to say anything else
because I slugged him a good solid right hander that knocked him to
the ground so hard he didn’t get up.

It was strange how everyone was more shocked
by me punching my husband unconscious than by the mass assault
going on outside.

“Laxmo,” I said, “you’re in charge. Do what
you’ve got to do, but let me get those scouts on their way.” I
could see the commander running through his knowledge of naval
regulations, looking for the paragraph on what to do when your
Captain’s dead and your recently non-commissioned Commanding
Officer has just knocked her commodore husband out cold, but he
couldn’t come up with anything. The only relevant regulation for me
was that striking an officer was an offence that resulted in being
cashiered out of the service, even if he was your husband and he
was being a complete dick.

As I clambered down into the hangar through a
section of twisted bulkhead, I was horrified by what I saw. All
around me were destroyed ships and dead crew. One section had
escaped relatively undamaged. It held a wing of scout ships that
were still operational. Some of the surviving pilots were trying to
put out the fires or help their injured crewmates. I recognised one
of them as Wilby and ran over to her.

“Is your team ready to fly?” I asked.

She looked at the pilots and their ships.
“We’ve got five Lonestars left, but only four pilots.”

It seemed like fate was pushing me towards
the one thing I’d been fighting for months. “Go,” I said to Wilby.
“Don’t wait for launch clearance.”

“Commander Veros is dead; his ship’s over
there,” she offered. Then she shouted out the order to launch to
the other pilots and climbed aboard her own craft. I made for the
ramp of Veros’s ship, the
Star Chaser
.

I did the short version of the startup
procedure and watched Wilby’s ship, the
Star Runner
, blast
out of the hangar at top speed. I knew if I stayed my career would
most likely be over. I would be found guilty of insubordination in
my absence and all my many achievements would be erased. My name
would mean nothing. I throttled up for take-off and followed the
others and left the
Talisman
behind.

Of the initial six groups of attack ships,
the Bodarians had lost three. What remained of one group was now
mounting a boarding action on the
Talisman
. The others had
turned to pursue the scouts. Each Lonestar was equipped with a
single-use hydrive, just like a galactic hydrive, but with a
shorter range. It was a one-way trip. They were charged up on the
carrier and their launch point was pre-calculated to trigger when
they reached a waypoint some distance from the carrier.

I got in behind one of the Bodarian ships on
Wilby’s tail and lined him up, then opened up with everything I
had. I took out half of the rear end of his ship.

Wilby hit the jump point and vanished.

I checked the other three had got away, then
lined up for my own jump.

My radio crackled with an incoming
transmission. “Honey, what are you doing out there? You can come
back in, now, okay? Look, I’m not mad at you. You were right, I
should have listened to you.”

I couldn’t bear to hear his voice. He would
talk me out of leaving. I shut off the comm unit. The
Star
Chaser
hit its jump point and the hydrive triggered. My
trajectory was set; soon I would be in another part of the Galaxy,
somewhere so far away that even getting home would take years. Even
if I’d wanted to go.

To read the rest of “The Scout’s Tale,” as well as other
tales, read
The Canterbury Tales
by Luke
Bellmason.