Starhunt: A Star Wolf Novel (11 page)

What do we have on the docks here or at either of the advance bases that we can also throw into the donnybrook?

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Dear Stephen,

Nothing.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Dear Joe,

Come on now. I can look out my window and see six ships hanging in orbit—what are those, optical illusions?

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Dear Stephen,

Cruiser K-143 is the
Massion
, slated for advance duty in sector DL.

Cruiser K-146 is the
Specht
; Tyler needs that for some special project of his own.

Cruiser K-151 is the
Cutter
, slated to join its sister ship, the
Perry
as soon as its interior fittings are completed.

Cruiser F-93 is the
Burlingame
. ‘Nuff said about that.

Cruiser F-101 is the
Carver
. She’s also for sector DL.

Cruiser H-13 is only a hulk. She used to be the
Wilson
.

Any other questions?

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

What’s wrong with the
Burlingame
?

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

Surely you jest. I wouldn’t use the
Burlingame
for committing suicide. That ship is older than I am, and we’re both overdue to be scrapped.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

I don’t care how old it is, I want to know if it’s usable. Please authorize a status check.

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

Okay, here’s your status check, but you won’t like it. I could have told you how bad a situation this ship is in.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

There is nothing wrong with the
Burlingame
. Its generators work and it’s airtight. It needs some minor refitting, but we can use it.

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

In battle? Are you kidding?

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

I can’t afford to kid.

Who said anything about sending the
Burlingame
into battle? I want it for the milk run patrols in DV sector. That will free at least one good D-class ship for transfer to GY.

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

ITEM: the
Burlingame
’s system analysis network is no longer fully operational. So many new pieces of equipment have been added to that ship since she was commissioned that the network has completely broken down. If something were to go wrong, they’d have to depend on their secondary analysis system and perform on-the-spot checks.

ITEM: the guide rods for the power and control cables to the stasis generators have been removed. That ship cannot change heading in warp without her cables fouling. We have no replacements for the guide rods because the F-class generator configuration has been obsolete for twenty years.

ITEM: the phase reflex system is partially deranged.

ITEM: the phase adaptive system is totally deranged.

ITEM: the injective compensators would have to be replaced before that ship could pass her safety checks. Where are we going to find F-class compensators here?

ITEM: do you want me to go on? I can—the list is endless. The
Burlingame
? Uh, uh, not even for a milk run.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

We have no choice. We need that ship. We need any ship that holds air and moves.

I have the
Burlingame
’s log tapes in front of me. That ship has operated for six years without a full systems analysis network. The longest breakdown they ever had stranded them for only ninety-three hours.

The stasis generator guide rods were removed four months before the ship was decommissioned here. They were removed by the ship’s chief engineer because they weren’t working. According to the log, he put a “monkey crew” in the webs and they guided the cables manually. Apparently it worked; it says here that the ship operated more efficiently without the guide rods.

The phase reflex and phase adaptive systems are not considered “life-or-death” systems. A ship can survive without them, if necessary; the crew can do those operations manually. The
Burlingame
proved that.

Have the injective compensators rebuilt. (I don’t care where or how, just do it.) They’ve been rebuilt twice before; find out how they did it and do it again.

And so on.

Listen, our ships are built in triplicate, with fail-safe devices for every functions and activity. Stop worrying. The ship will work. We need her. It’s as simple as that.

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

All right, but you sign her papers, not me.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

Relax. It’s not as bad as you think. But I promise you that we’ll decommission her again as soon as we can.

Now, who have you got to crew her?

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

Attached is a list of available captains and first officers. Pretty skimpy, isn’t it?

Of the three captains, Weberly is holding out for a battle command. And I agree. I want him to take the new
Roosevelt
when it’s commissioned next month. Also available is Yu. He’s a good man, but he’s really not a space-going captain. He’s a—well, he’s a paperwork man. He’s at his best where he is right now, on Base K-7.

I think our best bet is to promote one of these first officers to captaincy, let him get his legs on an easy run. How about Korie, Perren, Freeman, Yang, or Colen?

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

How about Brandt? You skipped him. He’s an available captain.

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

I wouldn’t put Georj Brandt in command of a floating outhouse.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

Yes, but how about the
Burlingame
?

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

That’s what I was talking about.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

I repeat: yes, but how about the
Burlingame
?

What I’m getting at is that Brandt is starting to be an embarrassment to us. We’ve got to get him out of the way somewhere. He can’t stay at Threebase much longer. It’s starting to be a source of gossip.

Put him on the
Burlingame
. He won’t be any trouble there. Trust me.

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephens

Okay, but I’d prefer to put one of these first officers in there instead.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

Sorry, but I’m saving those men for better things. They’re trained for battle and that’s where I want to use them.

On second thought, though, you could assign one of them to the
Burlingame
as a first officer—kind of a backstop for Brandt. (That way, we’ll be sure there’s at least one man on the ship qualified to command her.)

See what the psych boys have to say. They’ll know which one will work out best.

Stephen

MEMO

FROM: Vice Admiral Harshlie

TO:
      
Base Admiral Farrel

Stephen,

Attached is the report from the psych section on the command of the
Burlingame
. Best choice for first officer would be Colen—but he’s already tapped to go out with Weberly on the
Roosevelt
. Freeman’s death and Yang’s transfer leaves only Korie and Perren. Psych recommends Korie. Attached is his file.

Joe

MEMO

FROM: Base Admiral Farrel

TO:
      
Vice Admiral Harshlie

Joe,

I approve of Korie. He has an interesting file; he shows promise of becoming a good battle commander when he grows up. Let’s keep our eye on him.

At the very worst, we won’t need the
Burlingame
for more than six or eight months. When and if we finally do get around to decommissioning her, please check Korie’s record again. I’ll want to see how he did.

After serving under Brandt, he’ll have earned a ship of his own.

Stephen

An army travels on its stomach.

—NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

The galley smells of coffee and ketchup. It is a bright room, but a small one. Divided by narrow tables and benches, it can serve a maximum of only twelve men at a time. Garish-colored condiment containers dot the tables. Three crewmen are brooding over their plates in a corner. In the opposite corner, with only a cup of coffee, is Korie.

As always, his appearance is impeccable. His light-colored hair has been parted with a ruler, his cheeks are plastic-clean, pink and shiny, no trace of razor stubble; his eyes are steely cold. He sips at his coffee thoughtfully. He stares at the table in front of him and at the opposite wall. The wall is pales green plastic, devoid of decoration; whatever Korie sees there remains his own private vision.

“This seat taken?”

Korie glances up. The speaker is Medical Officer Panyovsky; a thick man, wide Slavic face, broad chin, easy smile, clear eyes, thin brown hair.

“It is now,” says the first officer, a hint of a smile on his face. “Sit down.”

“I will. Just let me get something to eat first.” He steps over to the counter, draws himself a tumbler of orange juice, some toast, and coffee. “Hey, Cookie—how about flashing me an eggpack?”

“Right,” comes the answer. “Scrambled?”

“Yes, thanks.” Panyovsky comes back to the table and sets down his tray.

“You always eat such a big breakfast?” asks Korie.

“Breakfast?” This is a midnight snack for me. I haven’t been to sleep yet.”

“Oh. I just got up.”

The other widens his eyes in mock surprise. “You mean you do
sleep
? The crew doesn’t think you do.”

Korie allows himself a grin. “Well, I don’t do it much. It might be habit forming.”

Over a mouthful of toast, Panyovsky mumbles, “If I were you, I wouldn’t even admit an occasional nap—it’d spoil the image.”

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“My lips are sealed.”

“That’s going to make it awfully hard to eat.”

“For that I’ll unseal them.” The medical officer gulps his coffee noisily. “So, how’s the first-officering business?”

A shrug. “About the same as always.”

“Not really,” he says. “I hear we’ve been having some excitement the past few days.”

“Just an old bogie. Hardly anything.” Korie says it sardonically.

“Well. . . .”
Panyovsky is expansive. “At least it’s a break in the routine.”

“After a year and a half,” notes Korie, “
anything
would be a break in the routine.”

“A year and a half? Has it been
that long
?”

Korie nods. “Actually, it’s closer to two years. Two and a half more months and it will be.”

Panyovsky grunts; he sucks at his teeth. “You’re overdue for a ship of your own, aren’t you?”

Korie shrugs again. “I suppose so, but I have a feeling they’ve stuck me on this tub to get me out of the way.”

“Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know—maybe I stepped on somebody’s toes at Threebase without realizing it. I think the only way I’m ever going to get off is to prove myself in combat and make them notice me.”

“The
Burlingame
is not a combat vessel, my friend—”

“I’ve noticed that.”

“—and we are not in a combat area.”

“I’ve noticed that too. We’re here so that Calister Mines can’t claim they’re underdefended. Hmph. A fat lot of good we can do.”

“It doesn’t seem to me we’ve been doing that badly.”

“We haven’t had anyone to defend them against—how could we do badly?”

“I meant this bogie. You haven’t been doing too badly with that.”

Korie shrugs. “I have to prove myself to the top brass if I want to get off this ship. And I want to get off this ship.”

“You’re not alone.”

“Who else—besides the rest of the crew?”

Panyovsky grins. “Me. Barak. The captain. This ship is as popular as Gristler’s Planet during plague season.”

“Hmph,” says Korie. “I already knew the captain wanted off. It’s no secret. He takes no interest in running the ship.”