Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) (16 page)

• • •

The Denver arrived at Dizzy’s mini-fleet and three hours later was given orders to take part in an evasion maneuver. Mark read the exercise’s instructions and said over the ship’s intercom, “We will be jumping to open space shortly and taking part in an evasive maneuver. We have been ordered to escape three Jukeboxes that will jump in on us and give pursuit. Have your weapons set to training and let’s see if we can win this.”

The crew went to battle stations and Mark saw all departments check in. He watched the countdown and saw Jillian with her helmet on and her visor down in the chair to the immediate right of his command chair. He gripped the ship’s controls and said, “Jump in three, two, one…”

The Jukebox broke into normal space and Mark hit full acceleration and watched his visor for the pursuers. They appeared immediately behind him and spread out as they gave chase. Mark pushed the wheel forward and dove below their approach and the three ships moved to cut the corner. Just before Mark pulled back on the wheel he heard Jillian say, “One of them has jumped and I believe they are anticipating you going vertical. It will appear as you reach the top of the curve.”

Mark had pulled back on the wheel and wondered how she had known he was going vertical. The Denver screamed out of the dive and went vertical as the two ships had already turned vertical and were closing in on his line. He pushed the wheel hard forward and the Denver dove again. The port and starboard side blasters had a clear shot at the two ships that had started moving vertically ahead of his climb and they were both hit. Ten rear blasters fired at empty space behind them and kept firing as the third Jukebox appeared and was hit by all ten blasters. The ship’s speakers announced, “Exercise is over, victor is Denver in fleet’s fastest time.”

Mark slowed the ship and brought it to a stop. The three Captains of the pursuers appeared on his panel and congratulated him on his win. Mark smiled graciously and as soon as they disappeared from his panel, he stood and said, “You have the ship, Lieutenant.” He stormed off the bridge and disappeared through the entrance.

Jillian watched him go and wondered what was bothering the Captain. She saw a message come in from fleet and read it to the bridge crew, “We have been ordered to report to space port and have two days liberty due to our victory.”

“Sir, you better check with the Captain first.” Jillian’s eyebrows went down and Tara said, “The Captain doesn’t allow liberty very often.”

Jillian looked at the microphone on her visor and said, “Captain, the Denver has been ordered to Space Port and given two days liberty for the excellent job. I will send them in shifts so the ship will be manned appropriately.”

“It’s your ship, Lieutenant; so do what you deem appropriate.”

The bridge crew was stunned and then grew excited at the prospect of liberty. Jillian wondered what was going on. After a few minutes she began to suspect what it was. She didn’t like what she was thinking.

• • •

Jillian sat in her cabin and thought about Captain Anderson. He was without doubt the most handsome man she had ever seen but his negative attitude destroyed his good looks. The crew called him the Tyrant. She looked him up in the Academy’s database and saw that he was voted the most popular cadet in his class. The photo of him with his graduating class showed him with a huge smile and his arm around two other cadets. What had changed him?

She shook her head and decided that wasn’t her problem; however, the way he was treating her was. She knew he was on the bridge and she left her quarters and went to the bridge. She found it empty except for the Captain. He had ordered the entire crew to the surface and he had remained on the bridge for the first day. She entered the bridge and saw him staring out of the view port. The armor had been raised and the view was extraordinary. The Milky Way was far below and was incredibly beautiful. She took a breath and walked forward. Mark turned and saw her. His expression was neutral. “Sir, permission to speak frankly.”

Mark stared at her and said, “I really don’t want to hear anything you have to say, Lieutenant.”

“Then permission to tell you what an ass you are, Sir.”

Mark stared at her and a small smile appeared on his lips. “Have at it, Lieutenant.”

“I am here to learn how to command a Jukebox Battleship and you are damaging my chances of learning what I need so that I can command it successfully.”

Mark’s smile disappeared. “Go on.”

“I am getting the sense that you read my bio and are avoiding any confrontation with me because of possible repercussions from my family.” Mark just stared at her and Jillian said, “You should treat me like you do everyone else on this ship…awful.”

Mark took a deep breath and blew it out. He nodded and waved her away. Jillian turned and took a step to leave…but then she got mad. “What changed you since you left the academy?” Mark looked at her and his eyes narrowed. “You were voted the most popular cadet in your class. What changed you?”

“I was given that recognition by the female cadets. I won it with my looks, not my personality.”

Jillian was surprised by the response, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Mark’s eyes narrowed, “Be careful, Lieutenant. You’re close to insubordination.”

“How many females were in your class, Sir?”

“Eighty.”

“There were five hundred and twenty males. If all of the female cadets voted for you, you would still need a third of the male cadets to vote for you and they would number more than three times the females. You won it on your merits not your appearance. Or are you really that bad at math?”

Mark’s frown was huge but he started thinking about what Jillian said. She saw the wheels turning and waited. After ten minutes Mark said, “How did you know I was going vertical after the dive?”

“I studied your recordings in Fleet’s database.”

“What?”

“I was allowed to select the ship I would train on and I looked at all the ships in Commodore Banks’s unit. I chose to train with you. I naturally looked at your training records.”

“For God’s sake why; my crew calls me a Tyrant?”

“You know about that.”

“That’s the nicest term they use. But how did you know?”

“You’ve did that in every escape maneuver at the Academy. It’s worked in the past but now it can be anticipated if the ones chasing you take a moment to look at the database.”

Mark nodded slowly, “I’ve developed a predictable pattern.”

“I saw one of their ships jump and it was clear they were anticipating your vertical move.”

“Why did you choose my ship?” Jillian remained silent and Mark said, “Answer the question, Lieutenant.”

“Your reputation for being a stone hearted officer gave me hope that you would not be intimidated by my parents. I want to earn my command; not have it handed to me.”

Mark blew out a breath, “You are fighting to make it on your own merits and not who your parents are.” Jillian nodded. “Well, I planned to outright fail you until I learned who your parents are. So you’re right about me treating you with kid gloves.”

“Really?”

“Really. I don’t like anyone to challenge me. However, I’ve watched you operate your board and I’ve looked up your Academy records as well; your scores are remarkable Lieutenant. I’ve tried to lie to myself but the truth is that you are a superior pilot to me. I’ve also seen the crew has already developed a respect for your ability during the last exercise. I’m of the opinion that you will make a great Commander.”

“Why can’t you act like this with your crew?”

“I thought you were smart enough to figure that out on your own.”

Mark looked away and Jillian stared at him, “You lose the female’s focus and the male crew members resent you.” Mark’s eyes went wide and Jillian saw she had it right. Both of them were trying to make it on their ability. Jillian shook her head, “Captain, you are the most handsome man I’ve ever seen but I didn’t select you for your looks. I need you to show me how to command a Union Warship. Everyone on this ship is depending on you to make the right decisions to keep them alive. Your looks have nothing to do with your ability to make that happen.”

Mark leaned back in his chair and rocked slowly back and forth. “Is there anything else, Lieutenant?”

“No Sir.”

“I will treat you as I would any other trainee. You will pilot the ship in our next maneuver.”

Jillian smiled, “Thank you, Sir.”

Mark nodded and said, “We’ll be chasing the London.”

Jillian knew he didn’t have to drop that little tidbit of information. She saluted and he returned it. She left the bridge leaving a Jukebox Captain thinking about the award he received at the Academy.

T
he crew was back on board the Denver and the Bridge Crew saw the Captain sitting in his command chair staring at his panel. Jillian entered the bridge and saluted. Matt returned her salute and said, “Take the ship out of Space Dock, Lieutenant.”

“Yes Sir.” Jillian wondered what had the Captain’s attention. She took control of the Denver and moved the ship out of dock and moved several miles away from the giant station. She brought the ship to a stop and waited on the Captain to issue her instructions. The crew sat nervously for thirty minutes wondering what was going on. Finally, Mark lifted his microphone and said, “Attention all members of the crew. Please report to your training rooms for a video conference.” Mark looked up and said, “The personnel on the bridge will remain here.”

Fifteen minutes later, every training room had Mark’s face on the wall monitor. Mark said, “I’ve been thinking about how we can fight our ship and increase our chance of survival against multiple threats. I want your input on what I’m presenting so if you see a flaw in my logic, interrupt me and point it out.” The crew was nervous; no one was going to challenge the Captain on anything. Mark looked at the camera and said, “I know all of you are thinking; that you will not say anything challenging my point of view; but this is important. We are all on this ship together and your performance has been outstanding in the recent exercises we’ve participated in. You know more about your area of expertise than I ever could. The ship needs your wisdom.”

Mark paused and said, “Where is the most dangerous place on the Denver for an enemy to attack?” Mark waited and sat back in his chair with a relaxed expression. After ten minutes Tara said, “Most of our weapons would be available to use against an enemy on the ships flanks.”

“Very good, Lieutenant. You just won an extra day of liberty.” Mark looked at the camera, “Someone in the blaster crews tell me why she’s right?”

A Midshipman in the Forward Blaster Unit said, “There are only eight blasters on the bow and tail; there are more than three hundred lining the ship’s hull.”

“Very good, Mr. Orton.” The Midshipman was surprised the Captain knew his name. “But isn’t there another reason?”

“There are only three penetrator tubes on the bow and tail, Sir. There are eighty tubes on the flanks.”

“Very good, Mr. Vaughn. So if the majority of our weapons are on the sides of the ship, why do we run or attack with the bow?” Everyone remained silent. Finally, Lieutenant McAfee from engineering said, “If we’re running or chasing, we’re using the rear thrusters to escape or move in on a target.”

Mark smiled, “You’re exactly right, Lieutenant McAfee. And all the training we’ve done as pilots is to use the ship’s superior maneuverability and speed is based on using the rear thrusters to move the ship. We have not given thought to what we’re doing to our weapon units while we’re jerking the ship around in violent turns.” Mark leaned back in his chair, took a breath, and blew it out. “While you were taking liberty over the last two days, I went to Mr. Orton’s blaster and looked at the recording that was done during our last exercise. I had the computer run the simulation and I tried to track the ships that were chasing us. Guess what I discovered?”

Orton said, “You constantly lost lock on your targets because the ship twisted and turned your blaster away from the target putting the hull between the target and my blaster.”

Mark smiled and nodded, “Give Mr. Orton a cupiedoll. I was totally frustrated at getting a target locked in long enough to get a shot off. The ship twisted and rolled and, quite frankly, I’m genuinely surprised that any of you were able to hit the pursuers. That had to be totally frustrating for those of you manning the ship’s blasters.”

Petty Officer Bohannon yelled, “Welcome to our world, Sir.”

“I am responsible for that. I haven’t really factored in the difficulty of getting an enemy ship targeted with the current maneuvers I’ve been using. So I’m going to try something new and I need you to tell me if it works.” Mark paused and pulled up an image of the Denver on the monitor. It started moving and Mark said, “Here is what I saw; whenever I made a radical turn with the Denver, I turned the wings so the bridge would stay on top of the ship. If I made a hard right turn, I brought the left wing up and turned into the move with the bridge on top.” Mark removed the image and said, “Now that is required if gravity or an atmosphere is acting on the ship as the turn is being made. However, outer space is airless and weightless. Keeping the bridge on top of the turn isn’t necessary.” Mark started another video and this time the Denver made a hard right turn and the wings stayed on the same plane they were on through the turn.” Mark said, “Can anyone tell me the benefit of flying the ship this way?”

Orton said, “My blaster would remain in position as the ship turned. The ship wouldn’t move between me and the targets I lock on.”

“Sir, can you fly the ship that way?”

Mark tilted his head, “I really don’t know, Miss Arnold. I will have to unlearn some behaviors that are habitual. However, I am going to make the effort to fly the Denver that way in all future maneuvers.”

Lt. McAfee said, “Sir, you have us here for another reason. You could have made this change and just told us what you were doing. What’s really on your mind?” The entire crew expected the Captain to chew the Lieutenant out. Everyone started looking at each other waiting for the screaming to start.