Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) (3 page)

Many of the sailors rolled their eyes at the eighteen year old Captain’s remarks. Captain Stone fought hard not to show his disgust. He should have been the one commanding the ship; not this kid. Suddenly, Stone nearly fell over as Angelica pushed the override button on her panel and pushed the acceleration paddles fully forward. Ten small ships came roaring in on the Jukebox as it accelerated away from the planet. She turned the ship ninety degrees and flew directly away from the incoming ships and then turned another ninety degrees as the ten ships gave chase. She looked at Captain Stone, who had been thrown to the floor with the violent turns and said, “As soon as you’re able to get the ship ready to fight, we’ll turn to take on them on.”

Stone picked himself off the floor and wondered how the ship had survived the severe turns. The gravity compensators whined but held. It took two minutes before all departments reported ready and Angelica flipped the ship end to end and roared back on the ten pursuing ships. She dove under them before they could change direction and the blaster batteries on the upper hull fired and hit all ten ships that missed with the beams they fired. The Computer announced, “Exercise over; all enemy ships destroyed.”

Angelica slowed the ship and picked up her communicator, “I was told that I was given a seasoned crew that knew how to function in a highly proficient manner. It took two minutes for you to report in ready for combat. The first unit to report ready was the upper deck battery. They are the ones that made the kills. You will improve your times or I will have you stay at battle stations with no free time. I am ashamed of your effort!”

Angelica looked at Captain Stone, “I thought you told me this crew was proficient.”

“They are, Sir.”

“Do you call two minutes proficient?”

“No Sir, the sudden acceleration and changes in direction threw them off their feet.”

Angelica stared at Stone and said, “Do we ever know when we might be attacked?”

Stone stared at Angelica and saw the menace in her eyes, “No Sir. I’ve never had a ship overload the gravity compensators like you just did.”

“That was actually lower than I intend to do on the next attack. This ship can handle a lot more than what you just experienced. The limiting factor on what it can do in combat is the limitations forced on it by the crew. You are going to have to learn to always be ready to brace yourself at any moment for acceleration. You will make sure the crew performs better during the next exercise, is that clear?”

Stone said, “Yes Sir.”

“I am not going to have my sailors killed because they aren’t ready. Now go and make sure they’re ready.”

Stone left the bridge and went to every section and read them the riot act. He stopped the Helmsman in the cafeteria and said, “I didn’t know this ship was capable of that kind of maneuvering.”

The Helmsman shook his head, “I didn’t either. She did things I would have never tried, Sir.”

“What was the readout on the computer?”

“According to the systems check, she’s right.”

“About what?”

“The ship could have made the turns more savagely than what she did. I suspect the next time we’ll really be in for a shaking.”

Stone nodded and the Helmsman walked away toward the chow line. Stone walked over and put his hand on a table that was anchored to the floor. He was going to make sure he was braced against something every moment he could. Perhaps he was hasty in his initial decision about this young Commander. He would have never flown the ship like she did. He didn’t even know the ship was capable of that kind of maneuvering. He reopened the tutorial in his cabin that night and saw the information was there in the gravities the ship could handle. He had just not applied the numbers into what sort of maneuvers that would take the ship to its limits. He realized that the Captain was right; the ship was capable of more than the crew could handle.

Suddenly he was thrown forward but he had been holding on to the table in his cabin. He rushed out his quarters and kept his hand on the wall as he ran toward the bridge. He could hear the compensators whining but he managed to get to the bridge in thirty seconds. The sections all reported in at sixty three seconds and the five attackers were hit with training beams by the port side blasters.

He looked at Angelica as she said, “That was an improvement. You actually performed better than I expected. I know you can do better. This is something we have to master to improve our chances of survival. Keep up the good work.”

Angelica turned off the communication system and Stone realized he wanted to do better. He saw this Captain really wanted to make sure her crew was ready for combat. All the old skills were antiquated. The crew had to learn new skills so that they could master this newest warship.

Ten exercises later, the crew reported ready in twenty three seconds and the ship’s crew came together to celebrate their achievement. Stone knew the lesson had been learned. Every crewman held on to something to brace themselves without thinking. It became second nature. It didn’t take long before the crew understood that their new Captain understood their ship better than anyone on board. Once that realization set in, respect for her followed.

• • •

“Dat, I’m back.”

“Good, stay put, Gresha and I are coming onboard.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“We’re going to see Admiral Hull.”

• • •

“We can’t allow that to happen Stein.”

“You know how he is when he makes his mind up.”

“We can’t allow it.”

“Loree, we’ll try to stop him. If all else fails, we’ll have to tell him.”

“We’re not supposed to do that until next week.”

“It would be more dangerous for him to go.”

• • •

“Gresha, Stein is back; are you ready to go?”

“Give me a minute. I need to close things down.”

“Did you tell your father that we were leaving?”

“I did.”

• • •

“Stein, take us to Earth.”

“Dat, I really think you should wait to go there.”

Gresha looked at Dat and saw his immediate frown. He looked at her and she shrugged. “Why?”

“Now is not a good time.”

“I’ll repeat myself, why?”

“Admiral Hull is planning a meeting next week. You should wait until that meeting.”

“Stein, I’m not accustomed to being left out of the loop. Unless you can tell me a good reason not to go, I order you to jump to Earth now.”

“Dat, please wait for the meeting.”

“Jump to Earth, Stein.”

“We can’t take you there, Dat.”

“So you’re in on this too, Loree.”

“Dat, do you trust us?”

“What kind of question is that? This has nothing to do with trust.”

“We have to tell him, Stein.”

“Tell me what?” Dat waited a few moments and said, “TELL ME WHAT?”

“There is an alien probe that has been following you wherever you go. We’re concerned that if you jump to Earth it will fire on you.”

Dat sat down in his command chair and was stunned. Gresha said, “What are you talking about?”

“The beings in the galaxy that defeated the Servants that invaded them sent probes to the Union immediately after the conflict ended and have been spying on the Union’s activities. The number of probes dramatically increased recently and it’s been determined that all the Major Flag Officers have one of their probes following them.”

“Why didn’t Admiral Hull inform me of what’s happening?”

“It’s been determined that the probes have broken our encryption and can hear any transmissions the Admiral makes. She also has a probe above Earth watching her.”

Dat sat in his chair and looked at Gresha. “Why is he going to be able to go to Earth next week if he’s in danger from that probe?”

“The Admiral is going to bring the new Jukeboxes in from the Colonies. She hopes it will delay any action the aliens might be planning.”

“New Jukeboxes?”

“Belwen developed new technology to strengthen them and they’ve been building the fleets in the Colonies for more than sixteen years. Most of the new recruits have been used to replace the veterans in the Union Fleets and they have been sent to the colonies to train on the new ships. Your children are there commanding one of the new battleships at this moment.”

“Who knows about those fleets?”

“The only Flag Officer is Kelli McCagg. She’s the only one that didn’t have a probe following her.”

Gresha looked at Dat, “If what he’s saying is true, you can’t go to Earth. It might precipitate a war.”

Dat was angry, “Is that why I’ve been kept away from the fleets?”

“Admiral Hull was of the belief that if you went anywhere near the fleets, the Aliens would suspect you were there to improve their fighting skills. She didn’t want to do anything to cause them to act before we could build enough ships to take them on.”

Dat sat and thought for a moment and said, “How was Katherine able to see their probes; we couldn’t see their ships when we talked with them.”

“Belwen developed an advanced probe that operates above the skip layer. Their probes don’t see them but our probes can see them.”

“Then she should have sent probes to their galaxy!”

“She did.”

“What?”

“She did.”

“And?”

“They’re a pretty nasty civilization.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have all the details. The meeting is to bring all the Flag Officers up to speed and get them ready to lead their fleets.”

“How can we lead ships we know nothing about? That’s ludicrous.”

“She sent a device to transfer all the information on them directly to your brain. Belwen developed the tutorial program and it is effective.”

“And just when was I supposed to get this tutorial?”

“I was to give it to you before you go to the meeting.”

“Dat.” Dat looked at Gresha, “If we’re being watched, that probe knows you and I both entered this ship. If we don’t go somewhere, it will suspect something is going on.”

Dat stared at Gresha and, after a moment, sighed. He looked at the ceiling and said, “Take us to the Alliance Capital. I’ve been asked to speak to an assembly of new recruits. Arriving a few days early shouldn’t be cause for concern. I’ll contact the officer there and tell him we need to get out.”

“That would be good. It’s important that you not change your behavior.”

“Give me a break.” Dat saw Gresha frown and said, “As soon as we lift, I want you to give me that tutorial. Is that clear?”

“Yes Sir. Make the call first. I’m reasonably certain the probe following you will intercept it.”

“How are we going to communicate?”

“All of the Union’s forces have been set up to use our new probe’s system. We’ve also developed a new encryption system that won’t be easy to break.”

Dat shook his head, “You don’t have any idea how angry it makes me to be left out of what’s been happening.”

“I believe I do. Make the call and put on the skull cap that connects you to my processors. I’ll activate the device and make the transfer.”

Gresha quickly said, “I’ll take the transfer after he’s done.” The computer paused and Gresha said, “Don’t even think about not doing it. I also command one of those fleets.”

“I will make your transfer after Dat is done. Now please make the call.”

Dat picked up his communicator and said, “When did you find out about this Stein?”

“When I went in for the software upgrade. I didn’t know anything either.”

Dat blew out a breath and forced himself to smile. “Put Admiral Gentry on my panel.” The Admiral appeared a moment later and saw Dat smiling, “Admiral, Gresha and I need to get out of the house. Is it possible for me to come now and speak to the new recruits?”

“Yes, we look forward to seeing you. Will you be coming down to the planet?”

“No, we like seeing a planet from orbit. We’ll stay on board until morning. Thanks for offering.” Admiral Gentry nodded and the panel went dark. “Now start that tutorial!”

Stein jumped away from Gresha’s home world and Dat put on the skull cap. He forgot his anger as he learned the capabilities of the Union’s newest warship.

• • •

The Leader looked over the head of the Seeker and listened to the conversation between Dat and Admiral Gentry. “Do you detect anything different in that ship?”

The Seeker read the probe’s data and lifted his head, “The power reading is about one percent higher.”

“One percent?”

“That’s the difference between the time it was sent away and current readings. Whatever was done to it didn’t make any significant change in the readings.”

“They sat on the ground a long time before they lifted.”

“I suspect they were trying to decide on where to go. It looks like the Admiral is trying to get ahead on his schedule.”

The Leader looked at the Seeker, “You’ve observed him do this in the past.”

“The Admiral doesn’t like being behind on his scheduled events.”

“Let me know if you detect anything different.”

“You know I will.”

The Seeker and Leader heard muffled screams in the hall outside the room and saw one of the local inhabitants being carried into the room. It was bound and gagged but it was still struggling against its bonds and the gag didn’t reduce the volume of its screams very much. Finally, the evening meal had arrived. The Leader volunteered to watch the Seeker’s panel while he dined.

• • •

Arve and Grest sat with Angelica in her quarters on board the Wellington. Arve looked at the flight recordings of her skirmishes and shook his head, “I don’t see how you avoided injuring your crew during these last maneuvers?”

Grest nodded, “I don’t see any way the sailors could have stayed on their feet.”

Angel smiled, “What I want you to see is that the ship is capable of maneuvering beyond the ability of the crew to handle the gravity stresses. The frame this ship was built on is incredible.”

“The gravity compensators aren’t designed to handle that kind of stress, Angel.”

“The old ones weren’t, Arve. The new compensators emit a whine that gets louder as it approaches it limits. The new Jukebox’s control systems are designed to prevent doing any maneuver that could damage the ship’s structure. However, the ability of the crew to handle these new limits is limited; sudden acceleration throws them off their feet. One of my engineers came up with an idea that was remarkable. He took a pair of magnetic shoes off a spacesuit and inserted a sensor inside them. Whenever gravity exceeded one and half G’s, the magnets would activate and keep their feet on the floor.”